Eep! I'm so excited that so many people are enjoying this story. Thank you so much, and please keep letting me know what you think!

Chapter rated T for language and suggestive themes.

Chapter 12: Haven't You Ever Had Your Heart Broken?

I had a massive headache and my mouth was insanely dry. I could feel the sun shining on my face, so I closed my eyes tighter and curled up into a ball, yawning as I did so.

After another moment, I gave in and opened my eyes completely and jolted a bit—I wasn't in my four-poster—this was not the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory.

I frowned and turned over, and when I did, I almost yelped. Malfoy was slumbering in a chair a few feet from the bed, his hands resting against his stomach, his feet stretched out and crossed in front of him, and his head falling to the left—his left.

That was when all the memories from the night before all came rushing back—Hadley sneaking me into that old classroom even though I told him a hundred times that I had to go to bed because we had Quidditch practice in the morning; Hadley and me snogging (while I held down my gags, playing my part); Hadley's hands under my skirt, pushing it up—me telling him to stop, remembering—god, remembering—the reason why he had broken up with me in the first place. It was like nothing had changed.

And yet everything had changed, because this time I had a knight in shining armor. Yes, I, Rose Weasley, had a real, genuine white knight. A man who had lifted me up into his arms and carried me back to his quarters to take me away from harm—a man who would protect me. A man who—if I wasn't mistaken—would have taken a swing at his student last night if I hadn't stopped him. Whoever said chivalry was dead had never been swept off her feet—literally—by Scorpius Malfoy.

I watched Malfoy sleeping and smiled as my heart fluttered and I remembered his strong arms carrying me and cradling me last night. Then I quickly tried to hide my smile but I couldn't. How could I keep from smiling when I had a goddamn white knight? I smiled bigger and snuggled into the covers—Malfoy's covers, Malfoy's bed—inhaling deeply. It smelled like him. Like soap and cinnamon. I closed my eyes, smelling deeper, never wanting to be out of this bed, away from my knight.

I smiled and opened my eyes—hoping to get a good look at him before he woke up—and my stomach clenched with nerves and my heart skipped a beat. Malfoy was awake and he was looking at me.

"Hi," I said, stretching in his bed like a cat.

"Good morning," he said, his voice husky from sleep. I tried not to shiver at the sound of his voice, although my eyes fluttered a bit.

I didn't know what to say or do. He was rubbing his eyes, and stretching while I watched him, waiting on what he would do or say.

"Sorry," I began.

He held up a hand to silence me, and I quickly complied, realizing I wouldn't have known what to say next anyway. He then stood up, stretched, and walked toward a door that I assumed led to his bathroom. I kept watching him until he was out of sight. After a moment, I heard the sink running for a second and then I heard the unmistakable sounds of teeth brushing. I smiled, and without thinking deeply about what would happen next, I pulled the covers off me and walked toward the bathroom.

I stood in the doorway, and he looked at me through the mirror, continuing to brush, raising his eyebrows only slightly. He pulled his wand out of his back pocket and with a flourish, conjured a toothbrush for me. I smiled and walked up to the sink.

As we brushed our teeth together, I couldn't get over how normal this seemed—how… domestic. Like we were a married couple—together for years—brushing our teeth together in the morning without thinking anything of it. Several times, I caught him glancing at me through the mirror, but I kept my eyes forward. If I looked at him like this, my imagination would run wild, and that wouldn't do right now. I was trying to keep my cool—maintain an air of mystery. So far it wasn't working.

I looked up into the mirror. Yeesh. I tried not to cringe. I looked pretty bad. My eyes were red and puffy and my skin was splotchy and my hair was a mess. I reached up to run a hand through it as Malfoy leaned down to spit. He rinsed off his toothbrush and pulled out a drawer to throw it in. Then he leaned toward me, and I thought he was going to kiss me or embrace me or something and I froze—my heart leaping to my throat and beating so loud that I swore he could hear it—but he only reached around me to grab his mouthwash. I released a breath I hadn't known I was holding. He grinned to himself and I narrowed my eyes before I leaned into the sink to follow suit and spit like he had.

After he glugged some mouthwash, he left the cap off and handed me the bottle. I tried to suppress my smile and failed as I took the bottle and poured some into my mouth.

This was eerie. It was also… strangely erotic.

He started to watch me as I swooshed the tingling, minty liquid around in my mouth. Our eyes locked through the mirror, and unconsciously, I moved closer to him. I had to get closer—he was like a magnet. I could feel him in my core—at the very center of my being—and in that moment, I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to reach over—a finger on my arm, a touch on my face, anything would have sufficed. I just wanted his hands on me. No. I needed them on me.

I didn't get my wish though. He finished before me, spitting into the sink, wiping his mouth with a towel and then heading back into his room. I exhaled and tried not to smile like an idiot—again—but I was failing dismally. I spit into the sink, screwed the cap back on the mouthwash, and put it back in the place he had taken it from. I tried to brush my hair with my fingers, and I managed to make it lie a little bit flatter as I pulled it over one shoulder and headed back into his room.

When I got back in, he was sitting in the chair he had slept in, and he gestured toward the bed. Sit, he was telling me. I complied and sat down, crossing my legs and facing him.

He was so bloody handsome it was distracting. His hair was swept to one side, and he had some stubble on his normally cleanly shaven face. I wanted to tell him that somehow he looked even better with that stubble, but I figured it wasn't really appropriate. He looked serious, and playful flirting about his five o'clock shadow probably wasn't the best idea. He was still wearing the white shirt and slacks he had found me in, but one extra button was unbuttoned. I forced myself not to stare at his chest. I was wearing my school skirt and the white button down, and just then I noticed that the first several buttons were still unbuttoned from when Hadley had undone them last night. I tried not to think about Hadley, and I decided not to button up the buttons. What was the point? Malfoy had already seen me at one of my lowest points so what did it matter if he saw the tops of my breasts?

He looked at me, frowning slightly.

"Talk," he ordered.

I narrowed my eyes in mock confusion. "About…"

"Rose," he said. It was a warning—don't mess around. Don't be cute. I'm not in the mood. "Last night."

"It was nothing," I said quickly.

"Didn't look like nothing," Malfoy said, his voice still a bit husky. I shivered.

I then shrugged and looked down at my hands that were resting in my lap. "It was what it looked like," I said quietly.

"It looked like your boyfriend was forcing himself on you."

I could hear the anger in his voice, and I shrugged again, not looking up. I felt suddenly ashamed—like my teacher had caught me doing something bad and was now giving me a talk about how disappointed he was… which, coincidentally, was exactly what had happened and was happening.

"Rose," Malfoy said, making me look up. His gray eyes were piercing mine. I sighed. When would my heart stop thumping?

"Look, it's a long story," I said, my voice shaky.

He leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows as if to say, "I've got time."

"Well," I said, looking down again. "The short version is that Hadley broke up with me last year because I wouldn't have sex with him and he cheated on me with some girl, and the only reason I got back with him this year was so that I could break up with him and hurt him and…" I stopped myself. I couldn't tell him the real reason—that I'd thought I'd seen him lurking in the corner that night Hadley asked me to be with him again and I hoped he would hear and I hoped he would get jealous—could I?

When I looked up, Malfoy looked severely annoyed. "And?" he hissed, raising an eyebrow.

The next sentence came out as barely a whisper. Just do it, Rose. What's the worst that could happen? "And…" I said. "To make you jealous."

"Rose—"

"I mean." I rushed through the next part. "I know it doesn't even make any sense because why would you be jealous of anything I was doing and why would it matter to you that I'm with him because it's not like there's anything between us or anything so why would you even care, but—I mean, I know you made it clear and you… I don't know, I…" I trailed off after spitting out that last bit.

For several moments, he just regarded me. I couldn't decipher the expression on his face.

"So," he began slowly. "You got back with Hadley so you could—what—make him suffer or…"

"I…" I hesitated. "This is going to sound so stupid."

"It already does," Malfoy snapped. I frowned and looked at my hands again. Why was he reprimanding me? I wished we could go back to last night when he was just holding me… caring for me.

"I had this whole thing planned—how I would break up with him and humiliate him, but… Shit…" I said. It did sound stupid now after… After everything. "But it would only work if I could make him love me again."

"Jesus Christ." Malfoy stood up from his chair and turned around so his back was to me. He stood with his back to me for several moments before muttering, "You're so fucking young."

Is that what this is about? Again? Seriously?

"I'm seventeen," I said. "First of all." I straightened up, glaring at his back. Of age, I wanted to add. "Second of all, don't you… Haven't you ever had your heart broken? Haven't…" I sighed. "God, haven't you ever been so hurt that you would do anything to get back at the person who hurt you?" I paused but he didn't turn around or say anything. "Well, I have," I said. "And it fucking sucked, and I… I don't know, I just wanted him to hurt the way he'd hurt me."

"God dammit, Rose, you are the one who got hurt!" Malfoy whipped around, his face contorted in anger. He looked so sexy. Focus! "He didn't get hurt by forcing himself on you. You got hurt, again, you got hurt—Jesus, Rose, what would you have done if I hadn't shown up? Huh?"

I faltered. "I… I don't know," I admitted.

"Goddammit," he muttered again, turning around and putting his hands firmly on his hips.

"I'm sorry?" I said. It came out as more of a question.

He sighed. "Don't apologize"—he turned around—"Don't fucking apologize."

He was looking at me and his features softened a bit. He was gazing at me with those intense gray eyes, and my heart was fluttering and my goddamn fingertips—as if on cue—started to tingle. I rubbed the pad of my thumb across the tips of my other fingers, and he glanced at my hand before looking back up at my face. He was staring at me so intensely for so long that for a moment I forgot what we were even talking about or where we were or what was happening. My heart was pounding until he finally sighed, and it was like I let out a breath that I'd been holding all that time.

"You should go," he said. He seemed to deflate.

"What?" I said, confused by the sudden change. "Why?"

He glanced down at my mouth, and my heart fluttered again. "Because I want to kiss you, and if you don't leave then I will."

I had to stop my mouth from dropping open as I felt my heart start pounding again and my fingertips were tingling so badly that it was like they had fallen asleep and were trying to wake up.

"I want you to kiss me, though," I said, my voice breathy. I bit the corner of my bottom lip. He looked at my mouth again before he turned around, crossing his arms.

Unthinking, I scooted off the bed and moved to stand behind him. I could see his back muscles rippling under his shirt. I was standing behind him, my front almost touching his back, and I reached around him and touched his forearm.

"Rose," he said in a low voice.

I trailed my hand along his arm and then moved so I was standing in front of him. He looked down at me before turning and walking away. When he was near the bathroom, I stayed where I was, but I tried something else.

"Scorpius."

It worked.

He looked over his shoulder at me, frowning, looking torn.

"You have to go."

"Why—"

"Because," he turned around, throwing his hands up. "You look fucking beautiful and you're in my goddamn bedroom and just fucking last night your boyfriend tried to fucking rape you so I'm not going to kiss you."

I gaped at him. "I wouldn't have let him rape me."

"Let him," Malfoy said with a short, humorless laugh. "I don't think he was really concerned with what you were going to let him do."

"Scorpius…" I tried again.

He looked at me for several long moments before he shook his head.

"Fuck it," he said, taking a few long strides and closing the gap. I gasped when he reached me, held my face in his hands, and put his mouth to mine.

Next chapter:

Albus and Rose get into another fight. She makes a few startling confessions.