Chapter Five
Anger, Jealousy, and Fear

Dear Rose,

First off, I want to tell you how long I have been waiting to talk to you about this. Every mother looks forward to the day when their daughter asks the question, "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH HIM?"

Though I am surprised that the boy in question is SCORPIUS MALFOY, the answer is the same. He's a BOY. He's not supposed to make sense. It's sort of like your father and I in OUR 6th year. He had NO clue whatsoever. Didn't I ever tell you about the time I turned a flock of angry canaries on him? He still has the scars. It still makes me angry when I think about how hurt I was.

But it's the other way around for you. HE likes YOU, YOU don't like HIM. All I can say to you for now, Rose, is to just wait for events to unfold. As for this Garrett boy, I don't know what to say. I never had two boys after me at the same time. Just . . . listen to your heart. It will never lie to you. If it SEEMS Scorpius is serious about you, give him a chance. He may surprise you. And who knows? Maybe you'll learn to like him, too.

With All My Love (to your brother, too),

MUM

Your father sends his love also! (Though he was rather peeved to learn that Draco Malfoy's son is the one seeking after your heart)

The week sped by, Rose and Scorpius sneaking glances at each other and sharing secret smiles, oblivious to the fact that everyone knew, including the staff, that they were doing so. Her mother was right. Scorpius had surprised her. As for her father's feelings on the delicate subject, she just rolled her eyes, feeling excited about her rebellious acts. It was all part of being a teenager.

"Remember that in order to join us on the overnight trip you must turn in your permission form signed by a parent or a legal guardian. Any forgers will be banned from not only this trip, but also any others that may occur during your remaining time at Hogwarts," said Johnson at the end of DADA on Friday afternoon. "Including Hogsmeade Trips."

He came around and picked up the forms that had already been signed, allowing them to talk quietly amongst themselves. Rose took the opportunity to share a glance with Scorpius, who had also already turned in his form. She was distracted and a bit peeved when Garrett, who was sitting at the table in front of her, turned around in his seat to talk to her.

"So, Rose, have you been thinking about me?"

Jessica, who had been talking with Albus, looked up at his voice, eyebrows raised in shock.

"Yes, Garrett," muttered Rose. "I have."

"And?"

"I still need time to consider your offer."

Garrett looked unhappy with this news. "I've given you a week! How long do you need?"

"Longer than a week, Garrett."

"Rose," he said, almost pleadingly, "I can give you so much more than Scorpius Malfoy can! What's holding you back? Him? When he was the one who made you cry, who was the one who made you laugh?"

Rose furrowed her brow in confusion. "That would be Albus."

"Exactly my point!"

"What point? That I should date my cousin?"

Garrett blushed. "No! That you shouldn't date Malfoy!"

"Who said anything about dating anybody?"

"ME! I want to date you!"

The class fell silent, staring in their direction. Scorpius narrowed his eyes, glaring at Garrett.

Rose felt strangely calm, despite all the staring eyes. Even the professor was watching them, holding his breath to see what would happen. While Garrett sat there, fuming, she calmly turned a page in the book she was reading.

"Well I'm sorry, Garrett. I just don't know if I want to date you."

"Who doesn't want to date me?"

"Uh . . . apparently me and the male population."

Laughter erupted around the room. Garrett's face was turning red with anger and humiliation.

"You say that now, but you don't mean it, Rose."

"Oh, trust me, Garrett, I mean it."

She rolled her eyes at Jessica, who snorted with laughter.

Garrett, arrogant pride damaged, turned back around to face the front of the class. Rose noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Scorpius was glaring at the back of his head. She sighed. Not again.

At the end of class Rose hurried after Scorpius, who had his hand already groping for his wand as he advanced on Garrett, who was too distracted by his anger to notice Scorpius trailing him.

"Malfoy!" Rose shouted, ignoring the staring eyes. Scorpius didn't pause as he abandoned his attempt at finding his wand, ready to use his fists instead.

"MALFOY!" Rose screamed, shoving past students. Garrett turned at the sound of her voice, caught sight of Scorpius and bolted down the hallway, knocking down students and ignoring their angry outbursts. Rose abandoned her bag and ran after Scorpius who was far ahead of her and right on Garrett's heels.

They all exited out into the fields by the lake, and Rose watched in dismay as Scorpius tackled Garrett to the ground, his fist making contact with the Gryffindor's face.

"MALFOY, STOP!"

Curious students gathered around the two boys, some chanting, "Fight, fight, fight!" while others watched with worry, wondering who would come out victorious.

"STOP. IT. YOU. JEALOUS. IDIOT!" Rose screamed, putting herself between the two boys and pushing against Scorpius's chest, the Slytherin not budging, fists clenched at his side while he glared at Garrett who had blood dripping down his chin from his split lip. "That was completely inappropriate, Scorpius! What's wrong with you?"

"Stay out of this, Rose. This doesn't concern you."

"Doesn't concern me! It does if you go around picking fights with every boy that shows the slightest bit of interest in me!" she screamed, shoving against his stone hard body. "Over here. Now."

He shook his head stubbornly, refusing to move.

"MOVE OR I'LL HEX YOU!"

He glared at her for a split second before he followed her away from the gathered students.

"Scorpius! Why did you do that!" she demanded. "That was immature and childish!" She winced, noticing how much she sounded like her mother scolding her father after he had done something Hermione found inappropriate.

He noticed and smirked. "You're beautiful even when you're yelling at me."

She rolled her eyes, but still blushed. "Don't distract me!" she snapped.

He only continued to smile at her with that breathtaking grin of his.

"Stop it," she said halfheartedly, gazing at him.

"Stop what, Rose? Being in love with you?"

Those words snapped her out of her daze. She gave him one fleeting glance before she went back to Garrett, who was sporting a bloody nose and a rather nasty bruise on his cheek.

He caught sight of her and cringed. Rose felt very sorry for him. "I'm sorry, Rose! I didn't realize you were taken!"

"I'm not taken!" she snapped, turning to glare at Scorpius who smirked, casually leaning against the trunk of the tree, arms folded across his chest. "Here," she said more gently, taking his arm, "let me help you."

Glaring over her shoulder at the still smirking Scorpius, she led Garrett back to the castle.

"Today really isn't my day," muttered Garrett. Rose laughed embarrassedly.

"Sorry about the whole dating thing, Garrett. I just don't . . . feel comfortable about that sort of thing yet."

Garrett nodded reluctantly. "I can wait."

Rose smiled at him sadly. He just didn't get it.

. . .

Rose stood with Albus and Jessica at the edge of the forest a couple of hours later with the rest of the class. Professor Johnson was reading names off of a list, checking who was present and who was absent.

He reached the end of the list and then folded it up. "Okay. That's everyone. Mr. Potter, take the lead. I'll see you all tomorrow evening."

"You're not coming with us?" a Slytherin girl squeaked, clutching her friend's arm.

Johnson winked at Rose and then nodded at Albus to continue.

Albus obeyed, looking nervous like everybody else as he started down the path. One of the only ones who wasn't afraid was Rose, who looked around at all the dark looming trees with interest.

"There are werewolves in here!" she heard someone whisper.

"Vampires too," said another.

Rose rolled her eyes. Such chickens.

"Albus, do you know where we're going?"

"Of - of course, Jessica. We just follow the path," came his nervous reply.

"What path!" Jessica exclaimed angrily. Rose saw that they had run into a dead end.

"Hmmm," she said, looking at the trees that surrounded them on all sides. They must have been walking longer than she had realized.

"Where exactly are we suppose to be going anyway?" Garrett said, coming to stand next to Rose. His injuries were completely healed, looking as if he had never gotten in a fight to begin with. Albus shrugged.

"Typical," Jim Hawkins smirked. "The Gryffindors got us all lost."

"I stayed on the path!" Albus shot back at him.

"Would you like to lead us, Hawkins?" Rose asked coolly.

Hawkins only glared at her.

Rose rolled her eyes at her peers, who were appearing completely helpless. She pulled out her wand and performed a four-pointer spell.

"Our best bet is to go north. This way," and she took the lead.

They all walked on in silence, most of them too afraid to speak as the darkness gradually enveloped them.

"Some light, please, Albus," Rose asked politely. Albus lit his wand and the others followed suit.

"I think we should set up camp in the first clearing we come to," Jessica suggested. Rose smiled gratefully at her. Even in the possible moment of danger Jessica was calm. Albus tried to be appear calm too, but his worried eyes betrayed him.

"I'm too young to die!" the same Slytherin girl as before shrieked. Rose knew who she was . . . but had forgotten her name. Was it Taylor Cashmere?

"Shut up!" Rose snapped. "Something might hear you!"

Taylor fell silent, suddenly wide eyed as she looked all around them at the dark trees. Rose rolled her eyes. She was pathetic.

Sometime as they were walking Scorpius casually came to her side, hoisting her big bag off her shoulders and putting it onto his own back. She smiled slightly without looking at him.

"Rose!" Jessica said excitedly, pointing ahead of them. "I see a break in the trees!"

"It's about time!" Albus muttered. They quickened their pace slightly until they reached the large clearing, all of them rushing through at the same time, tripping over their own feet and collapsing on the ground.

"Really! Why be so dramatic!" Rose snapped, standing next to Scorpius who was putting down his bag and Rose's.

"Okay," Albus said, clapping his hands and looking around at them all. "We need to set up camp."

"Who said you were to be leader?" demanded Hawkins. Albus raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry," he said sarcastically. He raised his hand. "Who votes Hawkins as leader?" No one raised their hands. "Me as leader?" Everybody raised their hands. "That's settled then. Now, someone should start a fire."

"I'll do that," piped up a Slytherin boy by the name of Tony Caldwell. He pulled out his wand and recruited some of his friends to help him build a large pit for the fire.

"Now, who has the tents?"

"I have Gryffindor's," Rose said, making to pick up her bag but Scorpius heaved it over his shoulder. She smiled at him and led him over to where she wanted to set it up.

"And Slytherin's?"

Hawkins, who was still angry, heaved his bag back onto his shoulder and went to set it up next to where Rose and Scorpius were setting up Gryffindor's.

"What are we suppose to do for food, Potter?" a burly Slytherin named Travis Langdon asked.

"I've got that covered," Jessica said. She opened her bag and they watched in amazement as she pulled out enough food to feed the entire castle.

"How'd you get that?" Albus asked her, examining a basket filled to the brim with biscuits.

"I've been sneaking food from the table all week."

"I haven't seen you doing it!"

"I've been sneaking it, Al. You weren't suppose to."

Smiling and shaking her head at him she went to go help Rose, who was laughing at Scorpius who was tangled in the canvas of the tent.

"This is bloody useless!" he said, laughing at himself. He suddenly tripped, knocking into Rose and bringing them both to the ground.

Jessica laughed. "You two are helpless!" Shaking her head some more she pulled out her wand and went about setting up the tent.

"That's one way to do it," Scorpius said as the tent neatly set itself up.

Rose took his hand. "Let's go see how Albus is getting things done."

Jessica watched their joined hands as they walked away, smiling to herself. As much as Rose denied it, she was madly in love with Scorpius Malfoy.

. . .

As the sun set and the moon rose, Rose found herself sitting next to Scorpius in front of the blazing fire Tony and his friends had so expertly made. Everyone was gathered around it, laughing and roasting the marshmallows Jessica had stolen from the castle. Rose softly laughed at them. These were the same students who had been screaming their heads off during the journey, and now they were laughing and singing the Hogwarts School Song, arms wrapped fondly around each other's shoulders as each sang their own tune.

"Um . . . Rose? Can I talk to you?"

Rose rolled her eyes at Scorpius and turned to look at Garrett, who had come to stand next to her.

"You just won't give up, will you?" she asked wearily.

He grinned swiftly at her, but then glanced at Malfoy's scowling face.

"Over here?" he suggested, gesturing away from the fire.

"Fine, okay."

She stood up, glancing at Scorpius as she did so, then followed Garrett away from the fire and the smirking faces watching them.

She folded her arms across her chest, leaning against the trunk of a tree and staring up at Garrett expectantly.

"Well, Rose, your choice is obvious."

"Choice? Obvious? What are you talking about?"

"Malfoy is very capable of protecting you," Garrett went on as if she hadn't interrupted. "What you see in him, I have no idea. Maybe you've connected with a softer side of him, I don't know. If you trust him, that's reason enough for everyone to trust him."

"Wow, Garrett," Rose said, eyes wide. "That's sweet of you. But nothing is going on between Scorpius and me."

Garrett smiled at her, shaking his head. "Oh, there's something going on. Everyone knows how you two are always smiling at each other, even when you're insulting each other. As if it's all game and the two of you are playing it. If that is the case, you're playing it very well."

Rose felt herself begin to blush.

"Just let me kiss you, Rose," Garrett whispered, gently taking her face in his hands. "Just once."

Rose's eyes found Scorpius, who was glaring into the fire. While he wasn't looking she leaned up on tiptoes and kissed Garrett on the cheek.

"Not there, Rose," he murmured, closing his eyes and leaning forward. Scorpius looked over to them and Rose turned away from Garrett, his lips brushing across her cheek.

"Don't, Garrett. You'll just make things more complicated and delicate then they already are. Just . . . don't."

She removed his hands and walked away from him, towards the tents, her heart thudding. What had stopped her? She liked Garrett. He was handsome, and funny, and had never hurt her like Scorpius had. She stopped and stared at Scorpius. He was so attractive, she thought, blushing at herself. The fire played on his face, lighting his hair like a fiery halo of light. She wanted him to kiss her. Not Garrett.

Rose blushed as Scorpius's eyes met hers. She wanted him so much that she felt tears spring to her eyes and fall swiftly down her cheeks. He looked alarmed, slowly standing up. Suddenly Jessica was at his side, putting a hand on his arm to stop him.

"This requires a girl friend," she said pointedly, smiling at him. Scorpius hesitantly nodded, sitting back down. He watched Rose disappear into the tent with Jessica after her.

"Okay, Rose, tell me what's going on," Jessica demanded, looking around the inside of the tent. It included a kitchen and a sitting room. It looked exactly like the common room, much bigger on the inside than the outside of the tent. Rose was curled up on one of the sofas, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. Rose shook her head rapidly, eyes wide and full of more tears. Jessica sat next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Tell me."

It all suddenly came tumbling out of her mouth, words tripping over themselves as sobs shook Rose's shoulders.

Jessica nodded, even though she barely understood a word Rose was saying. She only caught occasional words like "Garrett" and "Scorpius" and once she thought she heard something along the lines of "Jim attacked because of me."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jessica said, holding a hand up to silence Rose. "Let me get this straight. You went to get your notebook from the Astronomy Tower when you ran into Jim Hawkins who grabbed your butt, then you found Scorpius, held his hand while he cried, then told him about Hawkins grabbing your butt, and the next thing you knew Hawkins was in the hospital wing puking up blood because he was attacked by Malfoy, who's madly in love with you?"

Rose nodded, more tears falling down her cheeks.

"Then Garrett Bellorum asked you to be his girlfriend, you politely declined, then he asked you again during class today and Scorpius overheard and then attacked him at the lake?"

Rose nodded again, banging her forehead against her knees.

"Then just now Garrett told you he wanted to kiss you and you realized you wanted to kiss Scorpius and that you finally realized you were in love with him too?"

Rose started sobbing again. "Scorpius. Ruining. Everything!"

"And now you blame Scorpius for all of this because he's been in love with you forever?"

"We're suppose to hate each other! But he's ruined that by liking me!"

"You mean loving you, Rose."

"Whatever!"

Jessica pursed her lips, like she always did when she was thinking. The tent flap suddenly opened and Albus climbed in, temporarily letting in the sound of laughing and singing. Albus immediately closed it and went over to Rose, bending down to hug her.

"Did Malfoy hurt you?" he demanded, eyes flashing.

Rose shook her head rapidly. "No, Al, it's nothing like that."

Albus looked at Jessica, who widened her eyes meaningfully. Albus nodded once in her direction, indicating he understood.

"Do you want to talk to him?" Albus asked, sitting on the other side of her. Rose looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Do I look like I want to talk to him?"

"You look as beautiful as always, Rosie," Jessica said comfortingly, stroking her friend's hair.

Rose snorted, wiping her mascara smudged face. "I probably look like a raccoon."

"A very pretty raccoon," Albus said with a smile.

"Oh, shut up, Al."

"Come on, Rose. I'll help you clean up," despite Rose's protests Jessica heaved her friend to her feet and dragged her over to the bathroom. Seeing that the tent was magical, it had a bedroom for the girls and one for the boys, both with their own bathroom. It was very convenient.

As Rose washed her face, Jessica brushed her dirty-blonde hair. Both had changed into their pajamas, ready for bed. The other girls in their dorm, Alicia Thomas and Victoria Clearwater, left the room, also dressed for bed.

"You should talk to him," Jessica said, squeezing toothpaste onto her toothbrush and then handing the toothpaste to Rose. "Tell him how you feel. He loves you, he'll understand."

"He doesn't love me. He's in love with me. There's a difference."

"No there's not!" said Jessica, knowing she was just making up excuses not to talk to Scorpius. Rose ignored her, brushing her teeth. Jessica rolled her eyes as she began the process of brushing her own teeth. The door to their bathroom suddenly opened and Alicia poked her head in.

"Um . . . Rose? Malfoy's outside. He wants to talk to you."

Jessica raised her eyebrows meaningfully at Rose, who rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Thanks, Alicia."

"Your welcome."

Rose took her sweet time rinsing her mouth out, than as she made a scene by slowly walking towards the door Jessica lost her patience. "Merlin's Pants, Rose! Stop dragging around! Your future husband is waiting!"

"He is not my future hus - "

"Yeah, yeah. Still in denial, I get that," Jessica interrupted. She took Rose firmly by the arm and marched her out of the girl's room and into the main room of the tent, where the boys were all sitting and talking. Garrett glanced at her and sort of smiled, but the hurt expression on her face had him immediately looking away.

Jessica roughly pushed Rose out of the tent flap, almost sending her sprawling onto the ground. Rose caught herself just in time, stumbling a bit.

The fire was still roaring, two or three couples snuggled around it and whispering to each other. Feeling uneasy around her fellow students who didn't mind their public displays of affection, Rose went to sit next to Scorpius, who was staring into the fire. She sighed. He looked so adorable, brow furrowed as he glared at the crackling flames.

"You . . . uh, wanted to talk to me?" she asked uneasily.

It was a moment before he answered, slowly turning to look her in the eye. He barely managed to miss her red eyes.

"Why were you crying? Was it something Bellorum did?"

"No," Rose said quickly, afraid he'd jump to conclusions and attack Garrett again. She frowned at him, tears threatening to fall again. "It's something you've done, Scorpius. It's something you're doing."

He looked confused, making him all the more attractive. "What am I doing?"

She suddenly erupted into tears, overwhelmed by the night's events and the terrifying realization of how she felt about him.

"Rose, please don't cry!" he whispered, taking her into his arms and stroking her hair. His touch, surprisingly, was much more welcome than Jessica's or even Albus's. She couldn't remember a time she felt safer. "It kills me when I make you cry!"

"Oh, Scorpius," she cried sadly, burying her face into his chest. "You're making me fall in love with you!"

Scorpius fell into stunned silence, listening to Rose's terrified crying. He imagined what she was feeling, remembering how scared he had been when he realized he loved her.

"It's all moving too fast," she continued, tears steadily falling down her face and onto his shirt. "I'm scared, Scorpius, and I don't know why!"

Scorpius blinked, gathering himself together. He needed her to stop crying, or he might break apart himself. He couldn't stand seeing her so sad and afraid. He gently took her face into his hands and brushed away a tear with his thumb.

"Someone so beautiful shouldn't be so sad, Rose," he said firmly. She gazed up at him, and he thought he saw a glimmer of hope in those deep chocolate colored eyes. She closed her eyes as Scorpius cautiously leaned down to kiss her, but she put a hand to his chest and stopped him. He gave her a questioning smile when he saw she was blushing furiously.

"Scorpius . . . I . . . " she looked away from him, cheeks flaming. "I've never been kissed before."

Scorpius didn't know what to say. He had never thought about her never having been kissed. This was a moment she'd remember forever.

"I'm scared I'll be horrible at it," she whispered.

"Rose," Scorpius said seriously, taking her face into his hands again and looking deep into her eyes, "you could kiss as horribly as a hippogriff and I wouldn't mind."

Rose snorted. "How do you know hippogriffs are bad kissers? What if I'm worse than one?"

Scorpius smiled warmly at her. "Are you scared I won't be pleased?"

She gulped, nodding. Scorpius laughed fondly, bringing her close to him and resting his chin on the top of her head. "I want to kiss you, Rose, but I won't if you don't want me to."

"I want you to!" she admitted, blushing with embarrassment.

"Are you sure?" he teased. She rolled her eyes at him and he smiled, lovingly twirling a strand of her hair around his finger.

"Stop that," she snapped, pushing his hand firmly away.

Scorpius caught her hand in his own, his free hand taking her other one. He grinned at her expectant and impatient face.

"Shall I kiss you, or you kiss me?"

Rose glared at him. "You're purposely making me angry!"

"Yes," he said, smiling, letting go of one of her hands and bringing it to her neck. "You're adorable when you're mad."

Rose's lips pouted at him and he gazed at them, mesmerized by their fullness and perfect shade of pink. She noticed where his attention was fixed and went very still, holding her breath as he cautiously leaned forward, closing the gap between them. When his lips were a heart beat away he hesitated, his eyes flickering to her wide ones. He sighed inwardly. She was so innocent, so sweet and vulnerable. She was his Rose. His beautiful, clever, shy Rose. His stubborn, obnoxious, annoying Rose. His Rose. He'd never get tired of calling her his.

He softly pressed his lips to hers, smiling slightly as he put his fingers gently to her pulse, feeling it beating wildly.

She slowly, cautiously started to kiss him back, adorable in her inexperience.

"Calm down, Rose," he murmured with an amused smile on his lips, eyes closed as he basked in the beauty of the moment. Kissing her was perfect. She was perfect. He felt like he could take on the whole world.

"And you were worried you'd be horrible at this," Scorpius sneered, her hands grabbing the front of his shirt as she clung to him, still terrified by what was happening and what she was doing.

"Shut up, you fool!" she snapped, causing him to abruptly throw back his head and roar with laughter.

"Oh, Rose!" he said dramatically, bringing her hand to his thudding heart, "I swear you'll be the death of me! Only you could say something so adorably innocent at a time like this!"

Rose blushed and smiled as he wiped tears from his eyes, shoulders still shaking from barely compressed laughter.

"I do try," she teased, snuggling up closer to him. He laughed softly into her hair, closing his eyes and kissing her tenderly on the forehead.

She looked up at him and casually leaned up and kissed him softly, closing her eyes on his amused grin.

She took a deep rattling breath, her eyes fluttering open again. He grinned at her and she smiled shyly.

"I'm not so bad, am I?" he asked, pretending to be worried. Rose began to giggle as she wrapped her arms around his waist, relieved to be in his arms, even if for only one night.

Scorpius took her hand, tangling their fingers together as he gazed into her wide, innocent eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rose," he breathed. "I'm sorry for a lot of things. But not for this. I'll never apologize for loving you."

Rose smiled at him, her whole face lighting up. "I don't want you, too."

Scorpius grinned at her. "Now that you've declared your undying love for me, I have the right to beat an oaf like Garrett Bellorum's face into the ground, do I not?"

Rose giggled, resting her head against his chest and listening to the beating of his heart. Silence stretched out between them, but it was not awkward like it had once been.

Rose knew the moment was delicate, and one that she would remember forever, even if this relationship didn't work. One thing was absolute: Scorpius Malfoy would always hold a very special place in her heart.

Hahahaha...jealous idiot.

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