Chapter 42: Second Chance

"Malfoy."

Scorpius took a deep, shaky breath and didn't look up. He was standing behind his desk with his hands clasped in front of him and his head bowed in sadness, disappointment, and shame. McGonagall was standing on the other side of his desk, but I couldn't see her expression. Had it worked? Had my charm erased all the memory that she had about Scorpius and me?

"Yes, Professor. I understand. I—"

"What was I saying?"

Scorpius jerked his head up, and stared at McGonagall. When he saw what I assumed was a blank expression on McGonagall's face, his eyes darted to the door that led to his quarters, and when he saw me, I turned quickly and pressed my back to the wall next to the door. But the damage was done. He knew that I was standing there and he knew what I'd done.

My chest was heaving as I listened to the two of them.

"You were just—" Scorpius began, and I clenched my fists, begging him in my head to just take this opportunity and not be an idiot.

"Oh, right," McGonagall said, and my heart leapt to my throat as I listened to see if it had worked. "The staff meeting tomorrow night. You wouldn't mind going down to the kitchens beforehand and picking up some snacks for everyone, would you? I won't have time, and I promised I would bring something this time when the last meeting took so long."

I heard Scorpius clear his throat, and he paused before he answered. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my breathing. The charm had worked, and now all Scorpius had to do was go along with it. Please, Scorpius. Please.

"Professor, I…" I wanted to burst through the door and scream in Scorpius's face. DON'T RUIN THIS. IT'S OUR ONE CHANCE. I was screaming at him in my head—begging and pleading with him to just go along with it. It was the only way.

And then… I nearly collapsed to the floor in relief when I heard him. "Sure, Professor. I'll be sure to bring something."

"Excellent. Thank you," McGonagall said briskly. "Well, I will see you tomorrow night. Have a good evening."

I held my breath as I waited for the door to Scorpius's office to close so that I would know that we were safe. It seemed like an eternity as I waited, holding my breath the entire time.

I had barely heard the door snap shut when the door to Scorpius's quarters was swinging open, and Scorpius rounded on me as he slammed the door shut and flicked his wand at it. I heard the lock click into place, and he threw his wand across the room before grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. I stared up at him with wide, scared eyes, waiting for him to speak—waiting for him to do anything.

"What were you thinking?" he growled.

"I—Scorpius," I breathed, my voice trembling. "It was the only way. It had to be done or you—"

"That wasn't your decision to make!" He said, shaking me hard once.

Anger flared inside me and I reached up and shoved him away from me. "But it was your decision to tell her everything even though I begged you not to! How is that fair? How is it that you—"

"She already knew everything, Rose!"

"You could have denied it!" I said loudly throwing my hands into the air. "You could have acted like you had no idea what she was talking about and that Hadley was crazy and—"

"And then how would it be?" Scorpius shouted. "Everything we did would be under a constant microscope. She would never stop watching us. We would never be free. We would—"

"And you thought being separated would be better than that?" I yelled back. I just didn't understand how he couldn't see how wrong he was about all of this—how absolutely stupid and foolish his plan to admit everything was, and how I had saved both of our asses.

Scorpius ran a hand down his face and took a few steps toward me, closing the gap between us. Then, surprising me, he took my face in his hands, and the look of fear and anger and indignation on his face softened significantly. When he smiled at me, I gasped because I hadn't expected that reaction in the least.

"Scorp—"

He cut me off my leaning in and placing his lips on mine. Just as it always did when he kissed me, my heart stuttered. My shoulders sagged as I relaxed a bit and I slid my arms around his waist to pull him close. I tried to open my mouth so I could taste more of him, but he pulled away, and let out a small noise of disappointment.

"You are absolutely the most stubborn woman on earth," Scorpius murmured before leaning in again and beginning to trail kisses along my jaw.

I sighed and tilted my head to the side to give him better access to my jaw and neck. "And you're the most stubborn man," I breathed.

Scorpius moved to the other side of my face and I tilted my head in the other direction as he used his thumbs to tilt my head back. I moaned softly when his tongue brushed my neck, and my moan turned into a soft cry when he bit my neck and tugged at the skin there before pulling his teeth away and soothing his little nip with his tongue.

"You were right," he said against my neck.

"Hmm," I hummed, my brain foggy from what he was doing to me.

"You were right to do that memory charm," Scorpius pulled back and looked at me. He started rub circles on my jaw with his thumbs, and I was trying so hard to concentrate on his words, but it was always so difficult when he was touching me. "I was wrong," he said quietly. "I don't ever want to be separated from you—"

"And taking her memory was the only way to keep that from happening," I interjected breathily.

He nodded with a small smile. "I love you so much, Rose," he said before sliding his hands down and pulling my robes apart. The robes dropped to the ground so that I was left in my school skirt, stockings, white shirt, and tie. "If I had to leave you…" He loosened my tie and pulled it off as he spoke. He tossed it onto the love seat in his sitting area. "If I had to leave Hogwarts…" He slowly began to unbutton my shirt, and I kept my eyes on him. "I would die."

"Scorpius."

I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to just rip off the clothes and be done with it, but he was taking his slow, precious time, and I wanted to shake him and tell him to just get on with it. The fear that had been gripping me for the past two days was gone, and now I just wanted for Scorpius to remind me that he was real and that we weren't going to be apart anytime soon and that we were safe.

Scorpius reached behind me and unzipped my skirt and then pulled back as it dropped to the floor. Now I was just standing in my stockings and underthings. Scorpius leaned in and when his breath brushed my neck, my eyes fluttered closed and I took a deep, shuddering breath. He trailed his nose around my neck and I tilted my head back as I reveled in the gentle hint of skin on skin.

"You smell amazing," he said as his nose trailed into the place where my neck met my shoulder, right above my collarbone. I sighed. "I wouldn't have been able to live without your scent for months." He pressed his lips softly against my collarbone, and I reached forward and gripped his hips, trying to anchor myself so I wouldn't collapse into a puddle on the ground. I could feel my arms and legs trembling with need and adrenaline.

"Scorpius," I breathed his name.

"You're perfect," he said as he began to place open-mouth kisses along my collarbone. "I can't live without you," he said as he reached behind me and unclasped my bra. My already straining nipples peaked even harder at the rush of cold air. "No one is going to take you from me," he said as he hooked his fingers in my stockings and squatted as he slid them off of me. I don't know how I was coherent enough to realize I had to step out of them, but somehow I did, and when Scorpius stood back up, I gasped when he yanked me against him with his arm tightly around my waist. I felt him hard against me when I looked up at him, and where I expected to find desire in his eyes, I saw a fierce intensity that I hadn't expected—it was an intensity laced with worry.

"You know, don't you?" he whispered. "You know how much I love you? You know I would do anything for you?"

All I could do in this state—with my breasts pressed against his chest and the area between my legs impossibly slick with desire—was nod.

Then, all in quick succession, he slammed his mouth to mine and lifted me up quickly so that my legs were wrapped around his waist, and he carried me to his bedroom.

I watched him as he tossed me on his bed and crawled up in between my legs. He reared up onto his knees and yanked his shirt over his head and tossed it to the side. My eyes raked greedily over his toned chest and stomach, and I drank in the beautiful sight of him as he leaned forward to divest me of my last article of clothing.

He hooked his fingers in my small, black, lace panties and pulled them down my legs before throwing them over his shoulder with a salacious smile and moved between my legs. He propped himself up on his elbows and pushed his material-clad erection into the wet, sensitive flesh between my legs. He thrust against me a few times before I got frustrated and moved my hands to fumble with the clasp of his slacks.

Scorpius pushed himself up on his hands and watched me as I pulled him out of his pants and gripped him tightly with both of my hands. His eyes fluttered a bit, and, being overcome with an idea, I shimmied down so that Scorpius was straddling my face, and then I took him in my mouth and sucked him hard and deep. He gripped the headboard and groaned loudly.

"Rose. God, fuck, Rose."

I moved my hands to grip his arse cheeks and push him into my mouth so I could take him deeper. I could feel him quivering beneath my touch, and it only spurred me on, making me suck him harder, wanting to bring him to the edge. He groaned out another curse, and I knew he was going to come so I dragged my bottom teeth along the bottom of his shaft, and I felt him jerk violently before he yanked himself out of my mouth, hooked his hands under my armpits and hauled me up the bed. Then quickly, he kicked his pants the rest of the way off and shoved two fingers inside me. I arched off the bed and moaned loudly. He was only putting his fingers in me to make sure I was ready, however, and after he was sure that I was wet enough, he pulled his fingers out, gripped my knees to spread my legs wide and thrust hard and fast inside of me.

"Scorpius," I cried out loudly. He was looking deeply and sincerely into my eyes as he thrust into me over and over. I tried to put my hands all over him—on his face, his chest, his stomach, his arse—I just wanted to touch him everywhere. But he kept his hands on my knees, making me impossibly spread so that I felt every single sensation as he thrust in and out of me.

"I'm coming," I whispered fervently as I stared back in his eyes. "Come with me, baby, please."

Scorpius nodded once, and then he pulled out slowly so that only the very tip of him was inside me, and then he slammed inside me and I arched as he ground against me, and then my walls were clenching around him and I was shuddering violently as he spilled himself inside me.

I moaned loud and long and over and over and over as he extended my orgasm as he continued to grind into me.

Finally, he collapsed onto me and I wrapped my legs and arms around him tightly, not wanting this connection to ever break. We were both panting and trying to catch our breaths as we came down from the high of our orgasms.

"I love you," he breathed in my ear. "I'll always love you."

Thump, thump, thump.

Thump.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Thump, thump.

Thump, thump, thump, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

There was a loud, booming, ominous knock on the door. My eyes fluttered open, and I found Scorpius lying naked still halfway on top of me, just as we'd fallen asleep. I tried to turn out of his grip, and he had me pretty well pinned.

How did he not wake up from that knocking? It was so loud, and it—oh, my god—it just kept getting louder and louder.

I frowned and glanced at the door that led to Scorpius's quarters. It made no sense that someone was knocking outside that entrance—the door was hidden to outside eyes, and the entrance only opened for Scorpius and me. The only other person who knew about that entrance to Scorpius's quarters was—

McGonagall!

I nearly screamed when I realized that she was the only one it could be. I scrambled out of bed, finally getting out from under Scorpius, and I reached for the nearest article of clothing, which happened to be Scorpius's white shirt.

"Scorpius!" I hissed, shaking him. What time is it? It was so dark and I could hardly see. Why is everything so cloudy? "SCORPIUS!" I shouted. DON'T SHOUT! A voice in my head screamed. SHE'LL HEAR YOU! Clearly that voice meant nothing to me, though, because I screamed again and suddenly Scorpius shot out of bed.

"She's here," Scorpius said. His eyes were dark, almost black, and he had a blank expression on his face.

I fell on my knees next to the bed where Scorpius was still sitting. "Scorpius, what do we do?"

Scorpius slowly turned his head to face me, and I shivered when I saw the look in his eyes. "There's nothing we can do."

I immediately began to weep uncontrollably, and Scorpius slowly slid out of bed without consoling me or even looking at me. He didn't even bother to get dressed, but instead he just walked to the door.

"Scorpius!" I tried to tell him that he was naked, but he didn't care. He pulled the door open, and McGonagall was standing there, looking scarier and angrier than a dragon.

In fact… She seemed to even have scales and I could swear I saw little puffs of smoke coming out of her nostrils. And when she spoke, her voice was like the screech of a gigantic bird.

"You thought that memory charm would fool me? Well guess what?" She bared her sharp teeth, and when large wings sprouted out of her back, I tried to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth. "It wore off."

Then suddenly, she swooped into the room. "EXPELLED!" she screeched at me, her gigantic wings flapping. "FIRED!" she screeched at Scorpius. I buried my face into the bed, trying to stop my tears and hide from the monstrous creature in front of me, and when I finally lifted my head up again just to see, she had morphed and now she was an enormous bird of prey with Hadley's head.

"SCORPIUS!" I cried out.

And then I sat up suddenly in bed with a gasp and tried to drink in my surroundings.

I was breathing heavily, and Scorpius wasn't beside me. It was dark out. McGonagall wasn't in the room. There was no one in the room but me, no sounds but my own frightened panting.

"It was a dream," I said to the empty room.

I exhaled and sagged in relief. Where was Scorpius?

I blinked rapidly and realized that the door that led to his sitting room was closed. That door was never closed. But that answered my question about Scorpius, as I saw a small sliver of light coming out from under the bottom of the door.

I swung my legs off the side of the bed and found the white shirt in which I had wrapped myself in my dream. I shivered at the memory of the dream, and then padded slowly to Scorpius's sitting room as I attempted to push the memory of the dream from my brain.

When I pushed the door open slowly, I saw Scorpius sitting on his couch in his slacks with a small glass of amber liquid in his hand. His chest was bare and glowing in the light of the fire that was crackling in his fireplace. He looked up slowly when I came in the room and frowned.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Did I wake you?"

I shook my head and moved to the couch so I could curl up in his arms. He draped his free arm around my shoulders and I snuggled closer. "I had a nightmare."

I could feel him shift, and I looked up to see him looking down at me. "Did you?" he said. I nodded, and he sighed. "So did I."

"About—"

"Yeah. She came back and fired me."

We sat in silence for a while, and I took comfort in sound of Scorpius's heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest. He smelled like soap and mint and sex and brandy.

For a long time, neither of us spoke. Scorpius would occasionally sip out of his glass and I tried to get closer to him and he held me against him tightly. I could tell he was shaken by everything that had happened over the last few days just like I was, especially if we were both having nightmares about it.

I stared into the fire and tried to forget about everything that had happened. Instead, I sent myself to my happy place, which now just so happened to be Malfoy Manor in the open field where Scorpius's father had taught him to play Quidditch and where Scorpius had kissed me sweetly and told me how much he loved me. When I closed my eyes and turned my face so the entire left side of my face was resting on Scorpius's chest, I could smell the field around us and I could feel the sun shining down on us, warming us in the chilly November air.

"Rose."

Scorpius's voice interrupted my thoughts, and I hummed to let him know that I was listening.

"Rose," he said again. "We have to be more careful."

I nodded slowly. "I know."

"I mean it, Rose. We can't risk anything anymore."

"I know."

"No more sex in classrooms. No more touching or kissing in public at all no matter how secluded we think we are." His voice was slow and measured as if he was explaining a complicated potion to a student. "If we want to do anything it has to be in here. In my quarters."

I sat up to look at him with one hand on his shoulder and the other on his thigh. "What about the Room of Requirement?" I asked quietly, glancing at the floor and remembering our night in there together.

I looked up at him when I felt his hand on my face, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear. "Yeah," he said. "I had fun that night. We can do that again." His features that had softened deepened into a frown again. "But we have to make sure no one sees us go in. Or come out."

I nodded in understanding and stared into his beautiful gray eyes that had a slightly orange tint in the light of the room.

"I won't risk losing you again, Rose," Scorpius said firmly. "For the past two days I've been scared out of my mind. Terrified of losing you. I haven't been able to concentrate or think about anything other than losing you." My heart clenched at his words, his confession of love and adoration for me and his fear of losing me.

"You wouldn't have lost me," I assured him in a voice barely above a whisper. "We may have been separated, but you would never lose me."

Scorpius smiled at me weakly and moved his hands to the back of my neck so he could pull me in for a kiss. His lips moved against my slowly, and inadvertently, my hand on his thigh slipped upward a bit.

Scorpius pulled away from the kiss but didn't take his hands off my neck. Then he rested his forehead against mine and sighed. "I shouldn't need you this much," he whispered.

I felt my chin quiver with emotion, and I had to fight to hold back the tears of the powerful emotions that Scorpius always stirred inside me. I knew exactly what he meant. It didn't make sense how hard and fast I had fallen for this man in just a matter of months. It took me by surprise every time I looked at him and realized the depth of my feelings for him.

"I love you," I whispered back. My hand slipped a little bit more on his thigh, and he pulled back and looked at me.

"I'm taking you to bed," he said in voice full of sensual heat and promise.

"Okay," I breathed. And then I gasped and giggled when he stood up quickly and scooped me up into his arms.

"I hope you don't mind being tired for your classes tomorrow."

I just smiled, and as he walked us into his room and he slowly laid me onto his bed before crawling in after me, I knew that everything was going to be okay.

Next chapter:

We get a new perspective.