A/N: Hi... I'm so sorry I fell off the face of the earth for a few weeks. I even had the chapter done but I was just so busy with life and such. I spoiled y'all with quick updates, didn't I? Everything should be back on track now, so don't worry! Enjoy this next chapter - we are in the home stretch! :(

Also be sure to let me know your thoughts!

Chapter rated M for language and sexual content

Chapter 39: What Are We Going to Do Now?

When I woke up the next morning, it took me a second to adjust to my surroundings. Light was streaming in, hitting me squarely on the right side of my face, and when I opened my eyes, I had to squint against the onslaught.

I turned my face a bit and realized that I was draped over Scorpius. He was underneath me lying flat on his back with one arm tossed over his eyes and the other underneath me. I was on my front, halfway on top of Scorpius with my head on his chest and my right leg hooked over his. We were both naked with his black bed covers draped over us, having spent the night devouring each other in the bed in which I had promised Scorpius I would have my way with him. And I certainly had, until we had collapsed into this position and fallen asleep against each other in the dark hours of early morning.

I had just woken up from an incredible dream with Scorpius and I making love in front of the fire we had been sitting in front of last night, and I couldn't help the stab of disappointment when I woke up and realized it had all been a dream. That's what all of yesterday had felt like—a complete dream that I would wake up from any minute.

Yesterday had been the perfect day. After we had eaten breakfast, Scorpius had taken me out and we had walked around his family's beautifully manicured property, hand in hand, as Scorpius told me all about his family history and his childhood.

He had told me about how lonely it had been to grow up as an only child of a father who was an only child, and a mother whose only sister lived in France. He had told me how he would just walk these grounds, thinking about what it would have been like to have a brother or a sister to play with. He told me it hadn't always been bad, and then he had taken me to a place where his father had taught him how to play Quidditch. In that same open field where Scorpius's father had first taught him how to catch a Snitch, Scorpius and I had laid on our backs underneath the afternoon sun with me curled against his side, watching as the clouds floated by.

He had kissed me so tenderly underneath the sky that I had nearly wanted to cry. The whole day had been like that—Scorpius being so sweet that it left me on the verge of tears. He had rolled me beneath him and kissed me for a long time under that afternoon sky until we were both breathless, and he moved to my neck to kiss it and murmur how much he loved me.

When we got back to the house, Chuckie had put some sandwiches on the wicker table where we had eaten breakfast and we ate them quietly before Scorpius had stood up and taken my hand silently before guiding me up to his childhood bedroom.

He made love to me for hours, until I was too exhausted to go on, and after that, he had just buried himself in between my legs—unable and unwilling to stop pleasuring me—and destroyed me with each orgasm he gave me.

We showered after that, and he gave me a red silk robe to change into, and he slipped on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and nothing else. We ate dinner in front of a roaring fire in one of the many rooms of the house, sitting cross-legged in front of each other and talking about nothing, my hair still wet from the shower, and his flopping sexily on top of his head.

Before we had gone back to his room to finish our night wrapped up in each other, he had taken me outside to see the stars, and I told him that I couldn't wait to spend years and years of our lives having this view and experiencing days like this.

It had all been absolutely perfect, but waking up next to him was still always the best part of my day. I smiled and inhaled his scent from his chest as I listened to his heartbeat. He stirred beneath me, and I rested my chin on top of my hands that I laid on his chest, and I stared up at him.

Scorpius blinked rapidly before looking down at me, and a sexy, sleepy smile slowly graced his lips when he saw me staring at him.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said. He brought his hand up and brushed some of my hair out of my face. It was involuntary when I leaned into his touch.

"Good morning, fritz."

Scorpius bent one arm behind his head so he could prop himself up a bit, and his other hand went to my arm so he could trail is fingers across it.

"I had so much fun yesterday," I said. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"Thank you for coming," Scorpius said. "I didn't know how it would go over, waking you up so early for it."

I grinned. "I'm not a morning person."

He arched an eyebrow. "And yet you're up before me."

I smiled and shifted a bit so I could kiss his chest. "That's because I was dreaming about you," I said as I trailed kisses along his chest. He let out a small sigh that urged me on. I braced my arms on either side of Scorpius and shimmied down a bit to kiss his stomach. He arched a bit as the sound of his breathing picked up its pace.

Scorpius murmured my name, and I looked up at him through my lashes as I placed hot, opened-mouthed kisses from one side of his hips to the other. One of his hands came down to tangle in my hair, and I felt a slight pressure of him trying to urge me down. I just grinned and moved back up to kiss his stomach. He sighed in disappointment, but it warped into a little sigh of pleasure when I moved up a bit more and latched my mouth onto his nipple.

I moved to straddle him as I bent my head and sucked on his nipple, my hair forming a red curtain around my face until Scorpius moved it and bunched all of it in his hands. I rolled my body up slowly so that I was sitting straight up on his lap. I braced my hands on his stomach as he gripped my hips and I moved to slide along his hot erection. It was so rare that I got to be the one in control—the one doing the teasing—it was always Scorpius teasing me to the point where I would have to beg him to just take me. Now, seeing Scorpius beneath me, his neck arched so his head was tipped back into the pillow, his eyes squeezed shut tightly, and his mouth falling open in pleasure while he breathed heavily, I knew why he did it. If I looked half as pleasured when Scorpius was doing this to me as Scorpius did right now, I totally got why Scorpius did that to me. It was an incredible fucking turn on.

I slid along his length a few more times until I was desperate to have him inside me. I scooted back a bit and reached forward to grip his hard length that was slick with my arousal and his own. He opened his eyes to watch me as I moved my hand up and down his length. I lifted up a bit, and just as I was about to glide over his cock and put him inside me, there were two swift knocks on the door. I gasped and fell onto his chest as I reached back and pulled Scorpius's blanket over us just as the door opened and a small elf walked in the door.

Scorpius groaned, and when I saw the Malfoy elf, I couldn't help but chuckle into Scorpius's chest. I turned to look at the elf with my head rested on Scorpius.

"Good morning, Chuckie," I said. He couldn't see anything with the cover draped over us, but I was clearly on top of Scorpius, and we were both pretty clearly flushed with arousal. I didn't know if Chuckie could tell, but to me it seemed so obvious…

"I—" Chuckie swallowed. "I'm so sorry to interrupt Master and his missus."

I laughed. "I'm not his—"

"What do you need, Chuck?" Scorpius said in a hoarse voice.

"Master Scorpius told me yesterday to wake him and Ms. Rose when breakfast was ready."

Scorpius blinked slowly and shook his head, clearly annoyed with himself at the oversight.

"All right, thanks Chuck. We'll be down in a minute."

"Thank you, sir," Chuckie said before quickly scooting out the door and practically slamming it shut behind him.

I buried my face in Scorpius's chest and laughed.

"I gotta have a talk with that elf."

I leaned up and looked at Scorpius. "It's your fault. Haven't you ever fooled around with a girl in your room before? You didn't lock the door, you chump?"

Scorpius arched an eyebrow and with a salacious grin, he gripped my hips and flipped us over so that I was underneath him and I felt his erection pressing against my stomach.

"You're the first girl I've ever brought here, Rose," Scorpius said. He was being playful but I could see the deep sincerity in his eyes. "Excuse me for not being privy to the behavior of teenagers."

It was my turn to arch an eyebrow. "If you don't like teenage behavior then maybe you shouldn't—oh!"

I was cut off by Scorpius sliding swiftly inside me. I moaned as he moved his hands down to spread my legs apart so he could go as deep as possible.

"Fuck, Rose," he said as I clenched around him, unable to contain the movement as my walls begged to have him moving inside me.

"Scorpius." I wrapped my legs around the backs of his thighs and pressed my palms to the small of his back to bring him closer. He put his elbows on either side of my head and slipped his hands into my hair, gripping tightly, restraining me. I moaned his name again as he began the slow slide in and out of me. He was so deep and so thick, and he was moving so impossibly slow, making me feel every hard, hot, silky inch of him. I rolled my hips toward him, trying to get more friction as I felt every inch of him against my sensitive walls.

"Scorpius," I panted. "Please." I wasn't sure what I was asking him for, but he seemed to know everything I wanted anyway. He licked my neck, and I tilted my head to give him better access. I was panting so hard—my breathing and his the only sound in the quiet room. Scorpius pulled out so that only the tip of him was inside me. I whimpered, and then he plunged all the way back in, making me arch and groan. He stayed deep, circling his hips and screwing inside of me. I whimpered again, desperately wanting more, but also never wanting him to stop that torturous movement.

"Faster, baby," I moaned into his ear. "Come on. More."

Scorpius latched his teeth to my neck and picked up the pace of his thrusts. It felt too good, and I was so unbelievably close.

"You feel so good," Scorpius rasped in my ear. "So tight. So wet. I'm dying inside you. I can't take it."

"Come on, Scorpius," I said as he plunged in and out of me. "Make me come."

Scorpius pulled out and slammed hard back into me, and I came with a loud, shuddering moan. My arms flew up and I pressed my palms flat against Scorpius's headboard as I thrust my pelvis up to him, riding out my orgasm. Scorpius didn't stop—he put one hand on my hip and brought his other hand in between us to stroke my clitoris, making me jerk and moan with the extension of my already powerful orgasm. He leaned back to look at me, and then with a grin, he reared back on his knees and pulled me up to his lap. I straddled him, grinding into him as I put both my hands on the sides of his face and kissed him hard. He held my hips tight enough to bruise as he yanked me down into his throbbing length. He was blind with lust, grunting with each movement. Scorpius brought his hand in between us again, and with one stroke, I was coming again, thrusting into him mindlessly, calling out his name in between long, hard moans.

Scorpius groaned loudly and spilled himself inside me. He came so hard that I felt his fluids slipping out of me and moistening his thighs that I was writhing against.

I panted against him limply for several moments, then slowly raised up and pulled off of him—whimpering as I did so—and then threw myself backwards onto my back with a delighted sigh. He was on his knees in between me, and I bent up my legs on either side of him so he could see everything.

I smiled up at him and put my hands behind my head. I was sated and I felt so contented and spent that I could have gone back to sleep and slept for days.

"Keep that up," he said, gesturing toward my position, "and we'll never get out of this bed."

I laughed and moved my legs so I could dig my heels into his back and pull him closer. He shook his head with a smirk and put his hands on my legs to run his hands up and down them.

"That was…" I sighed and shook my head. Scorpius and I always had good sex, but sometimes, he just blew my mind. "What got into you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Scorpius said as he moved to sit with his legs crossed and he brought one of my feet into his lap and began massaging it. "You're always wild for me like that. Or did you forget?" I moaned softly. The man knew how to use his hands.

"Keep that up and we'll never get out of this bed," I said, throwing his words back at him.

Scorpius chuckled softly, and I sighed.

"I don't," I said.

Scorpius frowned in question.

"Want to ever leave," I finished. "This bed or this house. I love it here, Scorpius. I don't want to go back to the real world."

Scorpius smiled sadly. "That feeling is mutual," he said. "I want to stay here forever with you."

"One day," I said with a smile before I reached up and put my arms on his neck to pull him down on top of me. I sighed and wrapped my arms around him as he buried his face into my neck. "We should go downstairs before Chuckie gets the wrong idea," I said with a smile.

Scorpius shook my head and kissed my neck. "He walked in on us naked with you on top of me. And there is no way in hell he didn't just hear you. Believe me, he's already gotten the wrong idea."

I flushed. I was so used to being able to be as loud as we wanted that I hadn't thought of Scorpius's elf being able to hear us. What made me feel the most strange—and what really caused my flush—was that I didn't even seem to care too much.

"Well—"

"He's too much of a professional to say or think anything about it," Scorpius said. "Don't worry."

I shrugged. "I'm not."

Scorpius propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me. He shook his head as if he was in disbelief. "How did I get you? How did we end up like this? Here?"

"Don't bother to question it," I said with a laugh. "If I tried too hard to think about how lucky I am, I would go crazy."

I plopped down across from Albus at the Slytherin table at dinner later that day.

Scorpius and I had gotten back to Hogwarts just about an hour or so earlier, much to my dismay. I was trying not to be so sad about being back to the real world, but it was difficult when the past day or so had been the best time of my life.

I sighed and forced a smile.

"Hey."

Al jumped and looked at me. "Jesus. Rose, when did you get here?"

I gave him a look. "I literally just sat down. What—"

"Where have you been?" he snapped.

"What—I—I was with Scorpius," I stuttered, confused by his outburst. "I thought you knew."

He nodded and looked at his plate, deflating a bit as he did so. "Oh, right. I forgot. How was it? Where did he take you?"

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" I asked as I scooped potatoes on my plate. "I thought you knew," I said again.

"No, he just told me he was taking you away and he needed to sneak you off the grounds. Nothing else."

"Oh," I said, trying to contain my giddy smile at my memories of the Manor. I was dying to gush about everything Scorpius had said and everything we had done. What I really want to do was shout it from the rooftops, but since my relationship with Scorpius was a secret, telling Albus would have to do. I leaned forward. "He took me to his house, Albus, and my god"—I leaned back and stabbed a piece of roast beef before shaking it off my fork onto my plate—"you should see this place. It makes our houses look like fucking shacks. It's beautiful and huge, and oh my god, he was so romantic. The things he was saying"—I shook my head as I sliced my roast beef and shoved a piece in my mouth—"he said that one day we would live there together. Can you believe that? I wouldn't even begin to know how to live in a house like that. It was—Albus?"

I stopped myself when I saw that Albus was staring at his plate with his eyes flooded with tears.

"Albus, what's wrong?" I reached forward and put a hand on his arm and he looked up at me.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "I'm fine. Tell me more about—what—where did he take you?"

I gaped at him. "Albus, what the hell is going on? What's wrong?" Suddenly I perked up when awareness washed over me. "Where's Fergie?"

I looked over at the Gryffindor table and spotted Fergie, sitting at the edge of a group of Gryffindors. He was facing this way, looking as miserable as Albus did, and when I looked at him, he caught my eye and then looked away quickly.

"Albus, what happened? Why are you and Fergie fighting?"

Albus released a small, miserable sound. "We broke up," he said quietly.

"What?" I nearly shrieked. "Why?"

"Rose—"

"I was gone for a day and a half—what—oh my god, Albus, what could have happened in less than two days? When I left—"

"It's fine, Rose."

"No it's not! Albus—"

"I—Rose, please—I—"

"Albus," I hissed, leaning forward. "What. Happened?"

"I—erm—Rose"—he swallowed—"God dammit! I didn't want to do it. I don't even know why I… I didn't—fuck—I didn't even enjoy it! I—"

"What happened?"

Albus look at me with fear and sorrow etched all over his features. "I cheated on him."

My mouth fell open in horror and I just gaped at him, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do. He cheated on Fergie—the boy who loved him more than anything and would do anything for him. Naturally, my first reaction was pure, unadulterated rage. Anger washed over me and I clenched my jaw before standing up abruptly.

"Rose, wait!"

Albus reached forward and grabbed my wrist.

"God, Albus! Are you fucking kidding me? You idiot," I hissed between clenched teeth. I wanted to slap him.

"Please, Rose, don't go."

He looked so broken and shattered that even though I was livid with him, a deeper part of me wanted to help him. I was enraged with him, angry beyond belief, but I could tell he was absolutely distraught. And he was my best friend. I couldn't just leave. Dammit.

I sat back down. "Explain," I spat out.

Albus sighed deeply. "He… We fought." He ran a hand down his face. "I don't even know what the fight was about now, but I remember just being freaked and upset. We never fight. Ever. We never have. So I… I was scared. I don't know. When I left, he was so mad at me, and I was scared because I realized how scared I was—how much I loved him and how much I didn't want him to be mad at me or break up with me. It scared me that I needed him that badly… I don't… Does that make sense?" He looked up at me with wide, searching eyes, and my heart broke for him. I should have been mad—I was mad—but when he was so broken, I couldn't help but want to comfort him. And besides that, I did know what he meant. I knew exactly.

"Yeah," I said. "It does. Go on."

Albus reached forward to take a drink of water and I saw his hand trembling. I reached forward to place a comforting hand on his arm as I felt my anger dissipate. He looked up at me with a weak smile.

"I…" He sighed. "So I went to the Room of Requirement to play and let off some steam, and… he… fuck, I can't tell you this, Rose. You're going to be so pissed at me."

A deep part of me already had an inkling of what happened, but I needed to hear it before I flew into a rage. "Tell me, Albus," I said firmly.

"I didn't even want to do it, honestly. The entire time we were… you know… I didn't enjoy it… But I was playing and he just showed up, and I was scared and pissed at Fergie, and… Lysander started telling me he loved me and that he was sorry for everything, and then he was kissing me—"

I jerked my hand away from his arm. "God dammit, Albus. Lysander? Really?" I was shaking with anger—enraged all over again that this had happened.

"The whole time I didn't… Rose, I don't have any idea why I did it."

"Do you want to be with Lysander?"

"No!" Albus was shaking so hard I could see it. "No, Rose, god—I love Fergie. I love him so much I can hardly stand it." His voice was trembling and starting to rise. "I didn't want to—I don't know why—I love"—he sobbed—"I love Fergie, I don't—"

"Albus," I said quietly, reaching forward to squeeze his arm as I glanced around quickly and saw a few people staring. "Shh, Albus, people will hear you."

"Let them hear!" Albus said loudly, as tears began to slide down his cheeks. "I deserve it! Who cares—I—"

"Okay. Al, stop. Okay." I stood up and rushed to the other side of the table. I put my arm around him and pulled him up. "Come on, let's get out of here." Albus put his arm around my shoulder and held me close as he tried to hold back his tears until we were able to get out of the hall. On the way out, I glanced at the Gryffindor table and saw Fergie watching us with his eyes filled with unshed tears. I gave him a small, weak smile and turned back to usher Albus the rest of the way out of the hall.

I guided him to an empty classroom, and shut the door behind us before Albus collapsed into a chair and started sobbing with his face in his hands.

"I'm so—s—sorry, Rose," Albus said when he looked up at me, tear streaks marring his handsome face. "Why did I—w-what have I done? I love Fergie!" he yelled. "I don't—remember…" Albus took a deep breath and blinked slowly. "Remember when I told you that I didn't—that Fergie didn't light me on fire the way Lysander did?"

I nodded with my back against the classroom door. I hated seeing my best friend like this, but I didn't know what else to do right now.

"I was wrong… Rose, Fergie lights me on fire like nothing ever has. I—it was just a different kind of fire, you know? S-see, I had mistaken the lust and anger and frustration that I felt for Lysander for a fire that I should feel—a fire that was good and, you know, burned me in the right way—but it is nothing compared to the lust and love and passion and utter joy that causes a fire in me from Fergie. It was a different kind of fire, and I didn't know the difference. B-but the thing is that it s-scares me. It's—god, it's too much! The way I feel about Fergie overwhelms me, and then Lysander was there and he was familiar, and I just… Even though I didn't even want to do it, I just did it. And god, I've never regretted anything more in my life."

"Albus… I… You should tell Fergie all of this."

"I tried," Albus said desperately. Standing up from his chair, he began pacing back and forth. "He won't talk to me. He won't even look at me."

I shook my head. "You're wrong about that," I told him. "He was watching you the entire time we were in the Great Hall. He wants to talk to you, I'm sure. He's just… he's hurt, Al. You hurt him."

"You think I don't know that!" he shouted. "I know what a complete fuck up I am."

"It's okay, Al," I said softly.

"Look… I just… Thank you. But I think I need to be alone."

I nodded, understanding completely. "I'm… Albus, I'm sorry I wasn't here for you."

He looked up at me sadly. "No, Rose, no… it's… It's not your fault. None of this is your fault." Albus walked up to me and embraced me. I hugged him back tightly.

"It's gonna be okay, Al," I said against his chest. "We'll get you through this."

Albus pulled away and turned his back to me as he began to cry again. Wordlessly, I turned and walked out of the door, giving him some time alone as I closed the door softly behind me. As soon as I heard the snap, I heard my cousin begin to sob loudly and agonizingly. I closed my eyes tightly and leaned against the door.

"Rose?"

I gasped when I saw Scorpius round the corner. The tears that I had been keeping at bay came down in a torrent as I rushed to him and threw myself in his arms.

"Shh." Scorpius wrapped his arms around me and ran his hands down my hair.

I wasn't even sure why I was crying. Nothing had happened to me, but it was all just a culmination of all the raw emotion I'd felt this weekend with Scorpius and my sadness, combined with how terrible I felt for my cousin. He was right when he said he fucked up, but I absolutely hated seeing him like that. Even through all the times that he had broken up with Lysander, I had never seen him the way he is now.

"What happened?" Scorpius said when he pulled back to look at me.

I shook my head. "Albus cheated on his boyfriend," I said quietly so Albus wouldn't hear us.

"Oh man. With Scamander?"

I nodded. "And now Albus is killing himself over it, and I saw Fergie, and he—"

"Wait," Scorpius said, looking at me incredulously. "Albus's boyfriend is Fergus Bossenen? He's gay?"

I laughed and wiped my tears. "No one ever believes it. Yeah, he is."

"Wow. Okay. Well do you think there's any chance…?"

"They're both clearly madly in love with each other. If they can talk it out, it might be okay."

"Are you okay?"

I sighed and smiled. "Yes. I'm fine. I don't even know why I'm crying. I'm being stupid."

Scorpius shook his head. "No you're not. Rose, this is one of the things I love most about you." He smiled. "You've got this tough exterior. You—you act like you don't care, but you're really one of the most compassionate people I know."

I rolled my eyes, trying to tell him that he was wrong. He just only thought the best of me. "I'm not—"

"No, you are, Rose." He reached up and cupped my face in his hands. "You… You just go to bat for people. For everyone—Albus, your brother, everyone you care about. And you don't even realize it. You don't realize how much you care. You know… One of the first times we spoke—in that Quidditch locker room—"

"Mmm," I said suggestively, wiggly against him. "If only I'd never seen you naked. Then I would have never known what I was missing."

He shook his head and grinned at me. "Look, when you even thought I was suggesting that Hugo wasn't fit to be Quidditch captain—which I wasn't suggesting—you jumped to his defense so quickly. Because you care about him. You care about people. And I hate—god, I fucking hate him for making you think that caring makes you weak."

I didn't have to ask who Scorpius meant when he said "him." Hadley.

"He made you think that if you care, you just get hurt, and you're weak and… fucking less. But that's not true, Rose. Caring makes you strong." He stepped a bit closer even though we were already practically as close as we could get. "It makes you fearless. And brave. And you—Rose Weasley, you are all of those things."

I smiled up at him, tears flooding my eyes.

"But you pretend to have this tough exterior—like you don't care. But you do. And you aren't fooling me," he said with a broad, sexy, beautiful smile—a smile reserved for me. I melted. "You aren't fooling me," he said as he nuzzled my nose with his. "I know you care, and you don't have to hide it from me."

I leaned in a bit and kissed him lightly. Then I pulled back to look at him. He was still cupping my face in his hands and rubbing circles with his thumbs on my cheeks.

"I love you," I said as if I couldn't believe it. "Man, I just really love you. It's crazy."

Scorpius laughed a deep, sexy laugh and leaned in to kiss me again. "I know the feeling," he said when he pulled back. "Do you… are you coming back to my quarters?"

I sighed and my smile faded a bit. "I'm gonna stay here for a bit and wait for Albus, you know… I just—I wanna make sure he's okay."

Scorpius nodded and smiled. "I understand. Do you—did you eat? I saw you in the Great Hall, but I wanted to make sure."

"I ate some, but—"

"Well, I'll go to the kitchens and have the elves make you a sandwich or something."

"Scorpius." I shook my head with a smile. My man was always so worried about me. "I'm fine. You don't have to do that. Wait, how did you know I was here anyway?"

"I saw you and Albus leave the Great Hall. I followed you because you both seemed upset and—wait don't change the subject."

I smiled and tightened my arms around his waist. "Look, I'm fine. I—"

"You have to eat something."

"Okay, how about this? Get food and bring it to your quarters. Whenever I'm done here I'll come to you, and then you can feed me all the sandwiches you want. Deal?"

For a moment he looked like he wanted to protest, but then Scorpius just nodded. "Deal."

I squeezed him and he kissed my forehead before we pulled out of each other's arms.

"Good luck," he whispered before he turned and walked down the corridor.

I watched him walk away and felt a longing in my heart that frightened me. He hadn't even gotten out of my sight and I already missed him.

I sighed and moved to sit against the door of the classroom that Albus was in. I could hear him on the other side of the door, sobbing quietly and whimpering Fergie's name. Each sob was like a twist of a knife in my heart, and I wished that there was anything I could do to make it better, but I knew there wasn't. The only thing that would make him feel better was to go back in time and erase what had happened, but I knew that wasn't possible. Albus would have to live with what he had done and hope that Fergie would eventually forgive him.

I pulled my knees up, wrapped my arms around them, and rested my chin on my knees, fighting back tears as I heard the anguish from the other side of the door.

I didn't know how long I stayed there. I had drifted off a few times, only to be wrenched out of relaxation when one particular loud wail of grief came from the other side of the door.

"Dammit Albus," I whispered to myself.

After a little while longer, I couldn't take it anymore, so I stood up and paced in front of the door for a few minutes when I heard footsteps coming down the corridor. I turned, expecting to see Scorpius rounding the corner and expecting to have to scold him for worrying so much about me (while secretly reveling in it), but I was surprised when I saw the brown tousled hair, strong jawline, and lithe frame of Fergus Bossenen round the corner.

"Fergie," I said with shock laced in my voice.

"Hey," he said, his voice hoarse. Albus let out a loud hiccup from the other side of the door and Fergie looked at it. "Is he okay?"

I hesitated, not wanting to make Fergie feel bad when he was the one who had been wronged. But I couldn't lie. "No. No, he's not."

Fergie nodded. "Yeah, well, neither am I." The bitterness in his voice didn't go unnoticed.

"He feels terrible about what happened, Fergie," I said, desperate to defend my cousin and make Fergie take him back. "I mean, I'm not defending what he did. He really, really fucked up, but he—I mean, honestly, he doesn't even know why he did it. He regretted it as it was happening."

"Yeah," Fergie said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "He mentioned that."

"Look, Fergie, he—"

"I feel like a fucking fool, Rose. I mean," he ran a hand through his hair. "This is exactly why I was hesitant to get serious with Albus in the first place. I fucking knew he was hung up on Scamander. And now…" he trailed off and looked at the ground.

"He doesn't want to be with Lysander," I assured him. "He made a mistake because he's afraid of how much he loves you—"

"That's bullshit, and you know it."

"No," I said firmly. "It's not. He's scared out of his mind. He was then and he is now. I mean, god, listen to him. It's killing him."

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to make sure he wasn't doing anything crazy. I have to go."

"Fergie—"

"I can't, Rose. I just… I can't."

The words echoed in my head, and I felt my legs tremble from the memory the words incited—they were eerily similar to the words Scorpius had said to me after he'd found out about the note I'd sent to McGonagall. I can't, Rose. I just fucking can't. I shivered, feeling as if I had just been dumped when I watched Fergie walk down the corridor and round the corner. It was the first time since I'd heard about what happened that I was genuinely afraid that Fergie wanted nothing more to do with my cousin, remembering how I'd felt that Scorpius wanted nothing more to do with me, that he hated me. But he'd come—that was something. He still cared.

Not even a minute after Fergie had rounded the corner, I heard the classroom door open, and Albus stepped out.

"Hey," I breathed, terrified of the way Albus looked. His eyes were red and puffy and his hair was a mess, but it was the look of complete and utter indifference that racked me. It looked like he just didn't have it in him enough to care about anything anymore.

"I heard him," Al said. "He was just here."

I nodded even though Albus wasn't asking me.

"He didn't want to see me."

My chin quivered as I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Al."

He just nodded. "I'm gonna go down to Slytherin." He turned to go. "I'll see you."

I grabbed his elbow and he turned back for a moment. "I'll come with you."

Albus just shook his head. "I just need to be alone. I'll see you tomorrow or something."

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked gently, touching his shoulder.

He shook his head. "Probably not." Then he shrugged. "But I've got no one to blame but myself."

"Al—"

"I'll see you, Rose," he said before turning and walking quickly down the corridor.

I sighed and ran both hands down my face. I needed to see Scorpius. He would hold me and tell me everything would be okay and that Albus would get through it and he would be okay. He would tell me he loves me, and he would make it all go away, if only for a night.

I walked in the direction Albus had gone, thinking about all that had happened over the past few days. It was safe to say that I was overwhelmed. Albus was distraught, Scorpius had practically said he wanted to marry me and spend our lives together at Malfoy Manor. Albus looked as if he would never be happy again, and me and Scorpius were talking about forever.

"Rose."

I jumped and looked up.

"Hadley. Jesus, you scared me."

Hadley was standing down the corridor a few feet from me, watching me walk toward him. When I got to where he was, I moved to walk past him, but he grabbed my elbow.

"Don't touch me," I snapped, wrenching my elbow from his grasp.

"Rose, I have no idea what I did. Please just talk to me. You hit me in the face in the middle of the Great Hall, and you're clearly pissed at something I did, but I can't remember any reason why you would be so pissed. I—"

"You wanna know why I'm pissed, Hadley?" I said, rounding on him "Because I was a fucking idiot. And I refused to see you for who you really are. I have been a fucking fool, and I'm done."

"But Rose—"

"Time and time again you have shown me who you are, and yet every single time, I let it slide. No more. Not ever again."

"Just tell me what I did, Rose!" Hadley said, throwing up his hands in frustration. "How can I—"

"You wanna know what you did?" I said, taking a step closer to him and dropping my voice to a dangerously low tone. "You got drunk at that fucking party and you forced yourself on me. Again." His mouth fell open in horror. "You touched me and you would have—my god, you would have raped me if Sc—Malfoy hadn't come along and stopped you. And the thing is," I said with a humorless laugh. "It's not the first time! It's not the first time you've forced yourself on me, and I forgave you. Every time you fucked me over, I forgave you, and I'm done. I'm done being the girl you use like a piece of junk!" I moved passed him to walk down the corridor.

"Rose, please. I'm so sorry."

"Fuck off, Hadley." I turned back to face him. "Don't ever come near me again. I don't want to talk to you. I don't even want to fucking look at you. You disgust me."

I gave him one last look before I turned my back on him and stomped down the corridor.

"I saw you," he called after me.

I clenched my jaw and stopped, my back still to him.

"With Malfoy."

A cold chill ran through me, and I froze, unable to move to face him or to say anything. What was he talking about? What did he mean? How had he seen us? We were always insanely careful. We—

"The night of the party." I heard him walking closer. "You told me to go, and I did at first, but… I don't know, I just sensed something was off, so I went to find you… I saw you. You were standing in the doorway to the Room of Requirement. He kissed you and then you went inside."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, because it was all I could think to say. My heart was hammering in my chest and I thought I might be sick.

"Is that why you wouldn't fuck me, Rose?"

I turned to face him, a look of horror on my face.

"You wanted so desperately to protect your fucking virtue from me, but you were so willing to give it up to a guy you've hardly known two months."

"Fuck you."

"Yeah," he said angrily. "I wish."

I moved my hand to grip my wand.

"Don't bother trying to erase my memory if that's what you're going to do," he said, looking at my hand on my wand. He smiled a disgustingly vile smile. "I already told McGonagall."

My mouth fell open and blind rage washed over me. Before I even knew what was happening, I had my wand held out in front of me, and Hadley was flying across the corridor and slamming against the wall. He groaned, and I ran up to him, squatting down as he tried to maintain his consciousness.

"You bastard!" I shouted in his face. Then I pointed my wand at him and performed a complicated memory charm—one that would take away all memories he had of me and Scorpius together and telling McGonagall and everything, but I made sure he had everything else—I made sure he still knew how much I loathed him. After a moment, he blinked up at me blankly, and I stood up, tucking my wand away.

"Rose?"

"Like I said, Hadley. I'm done."

And with that, I ran down the corridor as fast as I could to Scorpius's quarters. I could hardly see where I was going—I was blinded by tears and rage. Before I knew it, I was inside Scorpius's quarters and he was standing up from his bed in a rush, coming over to me so quickly it was as if he had apparated.

"Rose."

"Scorpius," I cried.

"Rose, what happened? Is it—?"

"He knows. Hadley. He knows about us. He saw us."

Scorpius sighed as if in relief and he reached up to wipe the tears from my cheeks. "Rose, it's fine. Calm down. I'll do a memory charm and it'll be done."

"I already did a memory charm!" I shrieked and gripped Scorpius's shirt in my hands.

"Oh. Okay, then it's fine. It's—"

"No, you don't understand," I said, banging my fists once on his chest. He grabbed my wrists and searched my face and I let out a choked sob. "Scorpius… he told McGonagall."

Next chapter:

"I'm sorry... I wish it didn't have to be this way."