Author's Notes:

Major changes to this chapter over Rev. 1.0, for the sake of continuity to the remainder of the fic. SPaG corrections, additional scene added, more foreshadowing plugged in. An additional ~4,000 words worth of new material here. Hope you like!

CHAPTER 5: CASUALTY OF DIVISION

Tuesday, July 1st, 2031 (night)

Scorpius gave Rose two nights alone after their encounter, wanting her to come to terms with their situation. The entire time, he'd suffered for it, however.

The Veela within, only just beginning to regain its strength after using up much of its vital energy to appear to Rose in the dream, had constantly demanded Scorpius go claim their mate, and the beast clearly wasn't happy accepting Eleri's body as a substitute for their lustful nature. Its verbal abuse had only gotten worse yesterday when he'd learned from his dad's own mouth that the man had mated Rose's mother on the same night he'd been visiting Rose in her sleep. His Veela was extremely resentful of the fact that its father (who shared its life with Draco) would claim a second mate, when Scorpius wouldn't even go after their first.

Things had finally come to a head tonight at dinner when he'd yelled at his grandmother when she innocently asked him how he was feeling. After apologizing profusely and explaining that things weren't going as smoothly as he'd hoped, and that as a result, he was irritable and easy to rile (his grandfather had simply scowled at that), he excused himself from the rest of the meal and scurried up to his bedroom for some privacy. There, he'd wanked hard to the too-real vision of licking Rose's sweet creamy release from her thighs and pussy, but even that wasn't enough to sate the damned Veela within. It bitterly huffed that it thought Scorpius was acting like a vagina himself for refusing to go claim his mate right away, and in desperation, he'd struck a deal with his other half: he'd visit Rose in the dream world tonight and attempt to kiss her. The Veela tried to negotiate a little grab-and-squeeze in there, too, but after a drawn-out mental battle, eventually settled on the idea of simply tasting her lips.

It still called him a wimp, though.

Yeah, no performance pressure there.

As he showered now, Scorpius considered his new lot in life once again. It was the strangest sensation sharing his body and his consciousness with another being that, no matter which way you turned, you could never get away from. Quite honestly, he was beginning to feel mentally and emotionally suffocated by his Veela half. As an only child growing up in a really big home that was mostly empty, he'd come to appreciate the quiet and calm of having his own space; he'd always liked to relax in solitude while reading, scheming, or flying–his three favorite hobbies before puberty–and later, when he'd discovered his dick, wanking. When he'd gone off to Hogwarts, he'd discovered quickly that it had seriously cramped his style and frequently pushed the boundaries of his patience to share a dorm with four other blokes. There had been times he'd just wanted to scream at them all to shut the fuck up and get out for a little while so he could have enjoyed a single blasted hour of peace.

Living with the Veela was like living back in the dorms – only it was exponentially worse, because there was no escape to the library or the Quidditch pitch or to the lake shore when silence was necessary to keep him sane. His bestial side never shut up, except when it was sleeping. It constantly had something snarky to say to or about him, too. In truth, the thing didn't seem to like him very much, which was odd given they'd resided in the same body together for the entirety of their lives. Although they hadn't had any conversations prior to the Veela coming fully awake, it wasn't as if they hadn't shared Scorpius' early life experiences.

Or maybe that was the problem. After all, his Veela had been a front-row voyeur for all of Scorpius' life until the Transition. Maybe the creature hadn't agreed with how Scorpius had conducted his life thus far, or how he had treated its mate as a young man.

He definitely knew it didn't approve of his cautious approach to Rose now, and it was doing everything in its power to try to bully him into claiming her as soon as possible. Its approach had become more and more creative over the last few days in that respect, too. For instance, it had taken to getting even with his refusal to listen to its demands by flashing in his mind erotic fantasy images of Rose at every opportunity, causing him to, quite literally, perk up in his pants at the most inappropriate times. Like yesterday, when he'd been standing in line at Flourish & Blotts, and the Veela had decided to take that exact moment to throw at him a hot vision of him shagging a seventeen-year-old Rose against a wall in the dungeons back at Hogwarts. The fantasy had included that sexy, plaid uniform skirt of hers shoved up around her naked waist and his mouth latched onto her throat. She'd been bare-bottomed, dripping wet, and had panted his name in his ear as she'd held on for dear life during his pounding of her pussy. Scorpius had instantly sprung a boner so hard (and painful) at the imagining that he'd had to button his robes together in the front to cover the tell-tale bulge in his trousers, and had limped out of the shop in a hurried gait to quickly Apparate home to take care of the problem.

When asked by Marcus Zabini what it was like to be possessed by the Veela, the best example Scorpius could come up with was to equate it to having a Siamese twin whose mental maturity level was that of a very temperamental, incredibly horny sixteen-year-old boy. The beast's sole focus seemed to be in claiming and then shagging its mate into the mattress, hopefully impregnating her in the doing, and jealously guarding her away from any and all who threatened those plans. It was, quite honestly, the most overly-sexed, obsessively annoying creature he'd ever known (which was saying a lot, considering he was best mates with Marcus, who'd fuck anything and was often quite irritating on purpose).

For all intents and purposes, the Veela was a being all unto itself; it had a consciousness, emotions, dreams, wishes, and wants. It's only failing was, it didn't have its own body. It had to share a physical form with Scorpius, living off of him like some kind of parasite. The thought kind of sickened him, honestly. How his father and grandfather had coped with such a thing for so many years made him respect them all the more.

Which brought him around to another unpleasant thought: his father had mated Rose's mother! How in the seven layers of Hell did something like that happen? The whole thing of second mates had been explained to him, sure, so he got the mechanics part of it down, but why Rose's mother? Maybe it had something to do with that set of rather sexually-charged exchanges between the two parents at tea the other day. They had seemed terribly familiar. Had his dad once had an affair with Rose's mum? Was such a thing even possible as the woman hadn't been his mate until the other night?

How that relationship would even work was confusing to him. Was Hermione Granger-Weasley now a Malfoy? Was she legally his step-mother, or did the Ministry not recognise such a thing until they officially married in the traditional human way? Scorpius also understood well that the Veela's ultimate purpose was to impregnate his mate, and that the Third Mark would ensure such a thing happened. So that meant Hermione had conceived the night his father had mated her. That child–a male, without a doubt, as a Malfoy had not had a daughter in centuries–would be a sibling to both Scorpius and Rose. Would he inherit Theodosis' curse as well?

It was all a little too weird for his tastes. Now he understood how the royalty of Europe must feel, with all the convoluted intermarriages.

Rinsing the shampoo out of his hair and the soap off his body, he shut the water off, toweled himself down, and brushed his teeth for bed. That done, he hopped in between the sheets and turned off the lights with a wave of his wand. When he'd finally laid his head back upon his pillows, he engaged in one final conversation with his Veela with the intention of making his animal side understand who ruled the roost.

"Remember: only kissing tonight," he firmly established.

"Shall I cluck at what a chicken shit you are," the Veela snarked, "or would mewling at your pussy-ness be preferred?"

Scorpius restrained his temper, bit back a nasty retort, and struggled to keep his blood pressure at somewhere below the level of the ceiling so he wouldn't suffer a fatal aneurysm. "If we push Rose too fast, she'll do something drastic – like run straight into Corwin's bed and stubbornly chain herself there. You know what would happen then. Even if he is a wanker, I don't relish the idea of explaining to the family why I murdered my own cousin, thank you very much." He sighed. "We're trying to woo her here. Wouldn't you prefer our mate to want and like us of her free will?"

He could feel his Veela's prickly impatience steadily mount. "She will. Leave me alone with her for a minute, and I guarantee she'll like us just fine. She'll be crawling all over us to mate her."

"I don't want to trick her into it," Scorpius argued, letting some of that heat under his collar flare into his tone. "If we use your Veela powers to force her to heel, she'll resent it and make us both pay for it later when the pheromones wear off. She's the type to hold a grudge, too. She could make the rest of our lives miserable, if she wanted to. Is that what you want?"

The Veela growled, but did not reply. Scorpius could feel it mulling over his words.

"Look, just let me take lead on this one," he negotiated. "I wasn't on my game at the Tea Shoppe, but I can control my temper now that I've got a better feel for her. She's scared and feeling defensive because this has been dropped into her lap without warning, that's all. I'll be charming and polite tonight, show her how I've changed. Then, when the time's right, I'll kiss her – show her that we can be chemically compatible without tricks. If I can arouse her interest with good conversation and a round of solid snogging, she won't want to snap our dick off. We'll both get what we want that way, yeah?"

The Veela sulked, but did not reply. Clearly, he heard the wisdom in his host's words, but was resentful that Scorpius was going to be the one in charge.

It was enough of a concession for Scorpius to relax a bit. He closed his eyes and calmed his mind, letting the mating magic take over then. All he had to do was concentrate on her face in his mind's eye, and a psychic bridge between them opened. Using the invisible spiritual tether that connected their hearts to each other's now they their fates had been linked by the arcane cosmic power that controlled such things (God, Fate, whatever it was called) Scorpius mentally stepped out of his body and into Rose's mind as easily as if he'd stepped from one room in his house to another.

X~~~~~X

Entering another person's mind was the easy part as long as you were strong in mind magic – which a Veela, apparently was and in spades. Scorpius had discovered that little detail after his first successful attempt to break into Rose's thoughts a few nights ago.

The thing about walking from one's familiar and predictable skull into the grey fog of another person's head, however, was that it was nearly impossible to discern what kind of a violence one would encounter once there – especially if the sleeping party was having a nightmare at the exact moment a mental link was established. Their fear and paranoia felt very real to an interloper, and the same dangers applied to Veela mind magic as it did to wizarding Legilimency: it was quite possible one might go mad from the things they were exposed to while in another's psyche.

As soon as Scorpius entered Rose's noodle tonight, he felt that fact rather keenly; her elevated terror gripped him in with an icy hand and shook him to his core. Panicked that there was something truly wrong with his mate, it took him two tries to magically lock onto her avatar – the dream representation of Rose's self. He figured that if he couldn't coax her into coming out, he'd just have to go in and pull her out the old fashioned way.

The dark mist around him began to disperse under the weight of his and his Veela's combined wills, but there endured an incredible resistance when they tried to alter the dreamscape itself. Rather than waste any more precious time and energy trying to dismantle the nightmare, they decided to leave it in place and moved into it to rescue their mate from her bad dreams. Parting the haze, he stepped through into her consciousness…

…and stopped on a Knut, some sixth sense telling Scorpius and his Veela alike that something just wasn't right about the pastoral scene ahead.

They stretched out their enhanced senses, seeking the source of the creepy feeling.

It was nighttime, and a full, round-faced moon filled the sky. Before them stood a white, two-story house with scalloped blue and bronze trim. It was dark and there were no sounds coming from inside. The small front lawn was meticulously manicured, the shrubberies well trimmed, and the rose bushes at the base of the house were in full, glorious bloom. The little, white fence surrounding the property had a tiny bronze latch that…

Ah, there it was – the source of his unease: the front door.

Disturbing the idyllic picture of suburban utopia was the image of a distinct, bloody handprint smack in the middle of the front door. It glistened wetly against the matte white backdrop of the house. What would appear a brilliant crimson hue under the sun's brilliance was an indigo-blue under the light of the silver moon above.

"Rose?" he and his Veela called out together, extremely worried, charging forward up the walk. Cautiously, they pushed opened the front door, careful not to smudge the blood. "Rose? Where are you?"

Inside, they discovered the house a shambles. Where walls hadn't tumbled down under the weight of a fire that had already burned itself out, they were charred and damaged beyond the ability of even a well-executed Reparo to fix. Clinging remnants of yellow-white striped wallpaper bubbled, peeled, and curled away from the wall. Furniture and decorative items were scorched beyond repair or lay as melted lumps atop the ash-streaked carpet. The stairs leading up to, presumably, the bedroom area had fallen through to the basement, leaving a dangerous pit of jagged, broken boards in the middle of the room.

"Shit." Seriously alarmed by the amount of destruction all around and his mate's conspicuous absence, he called out for her, nearly shouting the roof down. "Rose, where are you?"

An odd sound off to their left captured their attention. There - someone was crying.

Stepping with great caution upon the weakened floorboards, he and his Veela made their way into an adjunct room off the main hall. Opening a door to a back bedroom, they found Rose. She was curled into a foetal position, lying on a rug in the middle of the otherwise empty room. All around her, scorch marks patterned the walls and flooring.

"Mate!" Scorpius' Veela cried, anguished by the scene before him. Quickly, the beast took control of their shared body, shoving Scorpius' consciousness back, and moved to kneel at Rose's side. "Rose, look at us, please!"

Violently, Rose shook her head, refusing the Veela's request. Instead, she covered her face with her hands and quietly sobbed.

As his distraught Veela tried to soothe their mate with hesitant, gentle touches, Scorpius took the time to observe and learn what he could about the situation. The first thing that caught his attention was that this avatar of Rose appeared not as a woman in her mid-twenties, but as she'd been at seventeen. He found that odd. Why project a younger, more coltish, less confident image of herself into her dreams when she'd clearly blossomed into her namesake as an adult woman? The second important observation was that she seemed extremely disheveled, as if she'd been ravaged or in some sort of scrap. Her hair was bound in a tight, crimson braid that trailed down her back, just as she'd worn back during their school days. Here and there, strands had come loose, however, and curled with sweat against the back of her neck and temple. Her Hogwarts uniform was a right mess as well; the dress shirt was un-tucked and several buttons had been undone, revealing a pale pink bra underneath, the blue and bronze-striped tie was unknotted and loosely draped around her collar, and the charcoal-grey skirt was shoved up around her hips, revealing no knickers. From this angle, Scorpius could clearly see the trail of blood smeared between her pale thighs.

"Oh, no," he whispered, suddenly comprehending the reason for Rose's tears: her psyche had her locked into a nightmare of having been victimized. The blood of her innocence represented her shame at defilement and served as notice to others to stay away – just like the warning on the front door.

Christ, surely declaring her his mate hadn't made her feel this this, like she'd been dirty and fouled… Had it? Or had something else in her life been responsible for such a degree of self-loathing? Maybe it was just her subconscious fears manifesting instead – her imagination running wild? Whatever the cause, Scorpius had to do something to end it and bring Rose back up through the layers of her unconscious mind to a lesser degree of sleep where she had more control. This level was clearly one of her deepest, residing in her subconscious, where one's darkest thoughts resided.

"She hates me this much?" his Veela despaired.

"Maybe not," Scorpius tried to reassure his bestial twin. "It might have nothing to do with us. Could be something that happened to her in the past that she's buried deep down."

Oddly, his Veela seemed even more distraught by that idea. It seemed to retreat into itself, its emotional grid locking down and away from Scorpius' ability to read.

Taking advantage of his Veela's withdrawal to push his way to the forefront of their shared consciousness once more, Scorpius took back his body. As gently as possible, he gathered Rose into his arms. "Rose, baby, this is only a nightmare. Just a dream. It's not real."

Shaking her head, refusing to look at him, his mate cried harder. "Not a dream. He hurt me."

Carefully, he pried her hands from her face. She kept her eyes tightly sealed, however, refusing to look at him. Cupping her cheek, he forced her chin up, hoping to impart his willingness to listen. "Who hurt you, baby? Tell me."

She went as still as if she'd been hit with a Petrify spell.

"Rose?" A hollow, sinking dread in the pit of his stomach made his guts roil. "Who did this to you?"

Her lids abruptly opened up, and there were horrible, empty chasms where her eyes had once been.

"You did."

Scorpius fell back onto his arse and scuttled backwards until his spine connected with the wall. Under his ribs, his heart was a violent drum, chasing the heavy beat.

"You did this to me, Scorpius Malfoy," she vehemently accused. The house gave a furious shudder around them.

"I… I couldn't have," he murmured. "I wouldn't have hurt you like this!"

Rose nodded, crawling towards him. "You did. You've stolen my life from me."

"I-if this is about the mating," he stammered, licking his dry lips, "Rose, I never meant to scare you with it. I've never wanted you to feel this way about us."

"You've hurt me so much," she whispered, agonised. Stretching forth a hand, she stroked her fingers across his cheek. "Why do you always hurt me?"

Sorrow and regret passed between them, where their skin connected. It was nearly a tangible thing to Scorpius' heightened senses – the scent of falling rain and the taste of ash. He wasn't sure if he was responsible for projecting those feelings into the dream, or if these were Rose's emotions, so connected were they right then.

Something shifted inside his heart in that moment.

The block he'd put on his feelings the day of graduation, when he'd sworn to himself as Rose had walked away without even a glance in his direction that he would forget her and find someone else to warm his bed, started to come down. He still wanted her, and still loved her despite her infuriating stubbornness and her viper-like tongue. The years hadn't changed that fact (even though they had changed her from a mildly-unattractive duckling into a gorgeous swan).

He sighed, resigned to his conundrum.

"I'm sorry I can't give you what you want and change this mating between us," he told her. "We're all bound by magic here that can't be undone. But I promise you I'll try to make you happy, if you'll let me, Rose."

Rose crawled into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. "Save me, Scor," she pleaded and softly began crying again. "Give me back my eyes. Save me."

His Veela pushed its way forward, joining him in promising, "We will always save you, love."

They wrapped their arms around her, closed their eyes, and concentrated on breaking through the waves of her emotions to recreate her nightmarish world. It was difficult to reshape the fantasies of someone else's mind, but not impossible as the two combined bent all their mental fortitude to the task.

Within moments, the cosmos of their entwined minds rescued the three of them from Rose's tormented dreams.

X~~~~~X

The morning sun's light was a warm caress against Scorpius' skin, and the breeze from the carousel's endless whirling whipped through his hair. With a mental thought, he slowed down the roundabout so it moved at only half-speed.

At his side, Rose's white stallion moved up and down in counter to his own horse's pace. "You did it again?" she demanded, clearly angry that he'd invaded her mind. "What happened?" She released the brass pole and rubbed at her temple. "Why does this feel… off?"

"You were having a rather disturbing nightmare," Scorpius explained. "My Veela and I pulled you out and brought you here."

She bit her lip, frowning. "I remember falling asleep, but I don't remember having bad dreams."

Well, thank Slytherin for the mind's uncanny ability to protect itself from horror.

"What was the nightmare about?"

Scorpius shook his head and shrugged, not wanting to upset her further.

Time for a little distraction…

"It's been a few days. I suppose you've heard the news about our parents by now?" he asked.

A healthy blush coloured Rose's cheeks. "I heard." She sounded disappointed, a little bitter. "Mum came crawling home the next afternoon after being shagged to within an inch of her life, and announced that she was your father's mate, but they'd decided not to change her last name so as not to convolute things for–" She hesitated, clearly not comfortable finishing that sentence.

"For our mating," he offered.

Turning her head, she looked away, concealing her expression from him.

Scorpius cleared his throat and tried not to let his disappointment sound in his voice when he changed the subject abruptly once again. "I miss riding on these things." He slapped the side of his enameled mount under him. "A little too childish for people our age, I suppose, but the carousel always reminds me of happier times." Petting the carved mane, the horse came to life under his fingers. Neighing, it snorted with faux pleasure at his touch. "The one in Paris was always my favorite. When I was a kid, my parents would take me to visit it every autumn, until I went off to Hogwarts."

He didn't need to elaborate why those trips abruptly ended, as Rose had been in the same classroom with him that first year when the Headmistress had come to give him the news that his mother had died.

Glancing down at her as his mount headed up, he noted his companion turn back around, interest and astonishment alighting her features.

Her odd expression was unexpected. "What's wrong?"

She seemed to be mulling something over, and then she reached out and touched her own mount's mane, stroking gently. It came to life with a joyful whinny. Surprised, Rose jerked back. Her horse shook its head and indicated with a toss of its snout that it wanted her to continue petting it.

The most beautiful smile overtook her face then: that of first discovery.

"You've never ridden a wizard's carousel," he realised, dumbfounded.

Rose nodded, and reached out to pet the mane, which had become real hair under her fingers. "Oh, it's–!" Her eyes shot to the poll in the middle. "Doesn't this hurt it?"

A grin tugged at Scorpius' lips. "No, they aren't alive in the traditional sense. It's just an animation spell, like a Howler. They're wood straight thought, no nerves or sensations and no consciousness of their own."

"You're sure?" She sounded suspicious.

He nodded. "I asked the same thing when I was six. Refused to get on one until someone explained it to me. Mum took me over to the operator and he showed me how it worked."

"Oh." She seemed quite impressed, her fingers lifting a few strands of the mane and rubbing it between her fingers. "Still, that's quite a feat of magic." Her gaze slid towards him and she seemed to consider her next words carefully. "Paris, huh? I've never been."

He threw her a hesitant smile, pleased that she was asking him something about his past and not outright screaming at him to let her out of the dream. Maybe their parents' mating had something to do with her very slight change in attitude? "It's certainly brighter, louder, and livelier than London, but definitely worth visiting. You'd love the shoppes on Le Petit Marais, their version of Diagon Alley – especially the bookstores. You could get lost in there for hours… which would be Heaven for you, I bet. And there are nice boutiques and restaurants right there on the main strip, too." He smiled, recalling happier times. "Their Quidditch shoppe isn't as big as the one in The Alley, but their potion's emporium has ours beat, hands down. Three floors of additives, catalysts, combustibles, bases, and decomposers – everything you'd need to brew any kind of potion you wanted. You could find some really weird things pickled in jars there. It was my second favourite place to visit in Paris."

Rose looked at him as if she was seeing a side to him she'd never guessed existed. A pretty blush covered her cheeks. "You sound like you enjoyed it very much."

Scorpius shrugged, embarrassed that he'd sounded like a namby-pamby in front of the girl he still very much fancied. What man went on and on about shopping, for Merlin's sake? "Good memories. Anyway, La Ville de L'Amour is where my mum and dad officially mated and I was conceived." He gave her a leering, suggestive smirk. "I guess they got caught up in the city's allure, too."

His partner cleared her throat. "How very romantic."

He paused and looked at her. "Are we actually having a pleasant conversation? Does this qualify as talking then?"

He'd meant it to be teasing but clearly, it had been the wrong thing to say.

"Why am I here?" she demanded, sitting straighter in her horse's saddle and attempting to cover her bared legs with the skirt of the summer dress Scorpius had conjured for her to wear. "I told you I didn't want to see you again."

Discouraged by her abrupt change of mood and the ice in her spine, Scorpius frowned. "Yeah, well, I ignored you, baby." Swinging his leg over the side of his saddle, he dismounted his ride. Instantly, his horse became solid and unmoving again. With a thought, he first slowed and then stopped the carousel's motion, too. Crossing over to Rose, he lifted a hand to help her down from her feisty mare. "Come on. Time to get off the ride."

That dangerous glint was back in her eyes, coupled with a stubborn set to her jaw. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Scorpius. Now, let me out of here so I can get some real rest. The last time we played this waltz, I was exhausted the next day. I have practice tomorrow and can't afford to miss sleep."

It was a tremendous effort for him not to lose his temper, especially with the Veela snickering at him in the back of his head as if to say, 'told you so.' Taking a deep breath, he left his hand up between them and jerked his fingers in a 'get your arse down here' gesture.

"Stop being so stubborn, Rose. At least let me help you down."

She considered it, but seemed on the verge of rejecting his offer.

Purposefully leering and smirking at her, he withdrew his hand. "Fine." Crossing his arms, he sat back on his heels and let his gaze roam over her from top to bottom. "Give me a nice show when you try to get down on your own. That dress does wonders for my libido already, but with it shoved up around your hips…"

Sighing in anger, Rose glared at him. "You control the dream. You're the one making me wear this ridiculous get-up. Give me Muggle jeans instead."

"Naw, I've decided that I love looking at your sexy legs too much."

Snarling something under her breath about all Slytherin males being perverts, she flipped her leg over the opposite side of the horse, giving him a nice peek at the white satin knickers he'd ordered up for her, and then she hopped down all on her own. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten that she was in heels. When she came down, one ankle gave and she stumbled to her knees.

"OW!" she yelled.

The sound of his mate in distress pulled at Scorpius in a way he'd never believed possible. He'd been able to bypass the instinct in the nightmare because he'd known that wasn't the conscious part of Rose, merely a little part hidden within her mind. This, however, was the whole and real deal before him, spiritually speaking. Her pain triggered his Veela's instincts to protect and care for her.

Hurrying to her side, he knelt down just as she'd turned her ankle and looked at it to assess the damage. "Oh, hell!" she grumbled, trying to undo the strap of the shoe he'd created to go with the dress. The angle wasn't good for her reach, however.

It was perfect for Scorpius', though.

Gently, he started unbuckling the shoe's strap. Rose jerked and hissed in pain. "Let me help," he bid and slapped at her hand as she reached out to shove him away. "Geez, Rose, you act like I'm going to cut your foot off. Just hold still." With infinite care and patience, he got the shoe out of the way and the leg straightened. Rubbing over the injured spot, he willed her pain away. It was his dream to control, after all, and although it was difficult to manipulate her physical body within it to do as he wished, he did have some influence over how the environment affected them. "Better?" he asked, smoothing his fingers over her foot and ankle, caressing it to ease the lingering ache.

Uncharacteristically, Rose did not reply.

Glancing up at her quickly to assess her mood, he found her staring at him with open-mouthed bewilderment. An attractive flush covered her cheeks again, hedging down her throat to the dip of her cleavage. Scorpius' eyes followed the descent, and he was forced to swallow down the tide of rising lust within him at the mouth-watering display of her flesh.

Rose whimpered, and the sound drew his attention back to her face. As their eyes met again there was a shift in the air between them. Sexual tension sparked against his fingertips as they gently brushed against her skin. Her eyes widened, the pupils expanded, and she licked her lips in nervous anticipation.

"She wants us! Quick, jump her now!"

Mentally ignoring his Veela, Scorpius let his fingers continue their curative massaging of Rose's foot instead. There was no lewd fondling, no crude innuendo to be found in his actions. This was merely him caring for his mate. He wanted her to see and understand his intentions, and to note his high regard for her.

At least, that's what he kept repeating as a mantra in his head to keep his body still. It was a struggle not to launch across the distance to cover her body with his own, as the Veela was insisting. "Patience," he counseled his impulsive other half. "One step at a time. See, she's letting us touch her. This is progress."

"Do you like this?" he softly asked her.

Rose took a shaky breath. "Yes, it's better now. Thanks."

"Should I stop?"

She nodded. "Yes, please."

Without any argument or resistance, he withdrew from the massage, wanting to prove to her that he respected her requests. "The other shoe should come off, too, so you won't trip again." With a mental thought and a sideways glance, the remaining heel disappeared, leaving Rose barefoot. Regaining his height, he offered her his hand again, this time to aid her in standing up. Very hesitantly, his mate accepted the offer, and he pulled her to her feet, steadying her before letting go and stepping back. "Will you walk with me a bit, before we call it a night?" he requested.

Brushing her dress off, she took a step back. "Do I have a choice?"

Scorpius sighed. It had been a long night, and yet, they really hadn't spent much time together at all. He was beginning to realize that dream trips were really exhausting on his physical body. The last one hadn't been longer than this one, and he'd felt like shite the next day. This one might very well require he stay in bed a few more hours. "Yes, you have a choice. I just was hoping… We seemed to be getting along there for a few minutes, and I really liked it."

This open honesty stuff was unfamiliar territory for him, but he was trying, realizing that Slytherin tactics just weren't going to cut it if he wanted to win her trust.

He cast a side-long glance in her direction and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. "Didn't you like not fighting with me for even a little while?"

She considered him in silence for a moment, and then walked past him, stepping off the carousel. "Maybe," she offered, and kept going, heading into the empty field that surrounded them. The soft, green grass at her feet was peppered with flowers that matched the pattern on her dress, he realised.

Maybe, huh? Well, it was a start.

He chased after her, catching up after only a few strides. "So, let's swap stories." He waggled his eyebrows with scandalous implication. "You tell me what your mum said when you finally pinned her down, and I'll cough up my dad's side of things."

Looking away quickly, she cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable. Would she talk to him again, or remain obstinate in her refusal to have anything more to do with him?

Just give this a chance, he hoped.

She never broke stride as she opened up to him. "I'd spent the night at mum's cottage, waiting for her to get in. I'd intended to confront her about her relationship with your dad the second she stepped through her front door. I mean, I'd already guessed that something was going down between them, especially after what had happened at Madam Puddifoot's. It was really obvious that she was panting after him that afternoon… like she was in heat or something – which is definitely not a phrase I've ever wanted to use about my mother, I'll have you know."

The dress strap on her left shoulder began to slip down her arm as she moved, giving Scorpius a nice peak at her pale peach-coloured bra. He didn't think Rose noticed it, however, as she kept ranting on, arms flailing in the air as she spoke with increasingly emphatic heat.

"Plus, her bedroom looked like a tornado had touched down. There were discarded outfits everywhere, and orphaned shoes that I still can't pair off. That is so not like her! Mum hasn't shown that kind of interest in a man or put out that kind of effort for one in… well, ever, not even for dad. So, it wasn't like I didn't know what she'd been up to. But still… ew. Who wants to think about their parents doing it?"

She sighed, pulling her dress strap back into place and covering up once more. Scorpius mentally tsk'd in disappointment.

"In any case, when she finally showed up back at her cottage around noon the next day, she had that special glow about her and was smiling like the cat that had caught the proverbial canary. We had it out, and she'd admitted that your dad and his Veela had mated her." She made a face like she'd bitten into sour lemons. "Did you know they'd secretly been in love with each other since they were teenagers? They'd lost their virginities to each other just before the war got into full swing, but because they'd been on opposite sides, it hadn't worked out. They'd gone their separate ways until this whole situation with us brought them back around."

No, Scorpius did not know any of that, and it made him feel both angry and sad that his father had neglected to mention such an important thing. What about his mum, Astoria? Had that meant she'd been an alternate choice for a mate – nothing more than a second broom taken off the bench and put into the game? He knew there had been resistance from both of them regarding their mating, but he'd always assumed his father had given his whole heart to his first mate once the deed had been done. Had his mother known that not been the case?

"All right, Malfoy?"

He blinked and looked around. At some point, it seemed he'd stopped walking, but hadn't been aware of doing so. Rose was several feet ahead of him, staring at him now with concern.

"Y-yeah, fine," he answered. "It's just… I didn't know that, about them being in love all these years."

As if she'd just caught on to what he was implying regarding his mother's place in that mess of tangled emotions, Rose cringed. "Oh, I'm… I'm sorry if I caught you off guard. I wasn't thinking about… That is, I didn't mean to–"

"No, it's fine. It's good." It wasn't, but he didn't need her to feel guilty for being the bearer of bad news. "I needed to know, right?"

"I suppose."

Neither of them spoke for a bit, the awkwardness of the moment a heavy burden to distribute between them.

"You going to tag me in or should I just shove you aside again?" his Veela snapped.

"Jesus, grow some patience, will you?" he growled back.

"What?!" Rose demanded, now looking a tad alarmed.

Scorpius blinked, unsure as to what she was referring. "What?"

"You were grumbling something under your breath about 'patience'."

"I was?"

"Yes." She gave him the hairy eyeball. "Were you supposed to take any special Ministry-directed meds with dinner?"

He rolled his eyes and chuckled, his bad mood evaporating in the face of her bizarre accusation. "Don't worry – the evil overlord gene skips generations in the Malfoys I'm told, so no need for medication… yet." He clapped his hands together, getting them back on target. "About the whole parents mating thing… My dad also looked blissed out at lunch that next afternoon, but was smiling like I'd never seen him do before. And he sported a rich series of love bites along his throat – both sides! Your mum's an animal, baby!" He grinned as she marched over and lightly slapped his arm in rebuke. "Seriously, the minute I got to the top of the stairs leading to the private wings, I knew he'd taken a new mate. I just didn't know who she was until dad confirmed it. Their mating scent, though, gave it away. It's all over his side of the house."

Rose was thinking about what he'd said; he could practically hear the gears turning in her head. "What's it smell like?"

He couldn't help the smile that crept up his cheek. "It's earthy and spicy at the same time, like ripe apples mixed with his favourite cologne. Can't really explain it, but it reminds me of Hogwarts at night, just after a springtime rain. Combine that with some exotic incense and… yeah, that's what it's like."

Brow furrowed, she bit her lip. "Mum smelled kind of like that, too, now that I think of it."

"Each mating pair is different," he explained, cognisant that her hand had brushed his twice now as they continued their walk-to-nowhere, causing his blood to rush through him both times. "You can always tell when my grandfather has allowed his Veela out to play because the area around him smells like Firewhisky and cloves."

"What do you mean 'allowed his Veela out to play'?" Rose inquired. "I thought the Veela was always just there."

This was one of those delicate topics he'd hoped to impart a bit at a time so it wouldn't blow up in his face. It seemed he'd have to introduce the subject a little earlier than expected. "After the first mating, the Veela is typically satisfied, I'm told." Of course, he wouldn't explain why that was just yet; too much information could spook her – especially when talking about making babies. "It tends to settle down, sometimes even falling into torpor after having achieved bonding to its mate successfully. As a result, it only puts in an appearance randomly after that, or so I'm told."

"And the scent only appears when the Veela wants sex?" she asked.

"Something like that, yeah."

She was quiet again. "So, it's possible to mate once and then, maybe never again?"

Again, he came to a quick halt. Rose was right with him this time.

Firmly, he shook his head. "Not going to happen, baby. Veela are sexual creatures, same as humans. The biologic and chemical drive is the same. You can't just shut it off, especially after it's had a taste of pleasure from its perfect woman." Unflinchingly, he met her eye to drive his point home. He didn't want any misunderstandings later. "Understand that the Veela will never give you up, Rose. It wants you, and not just for a one-night fling. And it needs you to feel complete. You'll help tame its more feral instincts and allow it to complete its destiny. That's the whole point of mating only one woman. The mate is both the Veela's anchor and its life's purpose."

Their tentative truce began to dissolve almost immediately after he'd started talking. By the time he'd finished, however, Rose looked set to unleash a firestorm upon him. "So, because he wants something–me–I'm just supposed to just give up my life, my dreams, my wants? Is that what you're telling me? That I mean less than he does and we're not equal in this mating? Fuck. That." She got right in his face, snarling and ready to go down fighting. "You can tell the little blighter he can kiss my lily white arse. I'm not interested in his bill of goods. Find some other witch to obsess over." She poked him in the chest. "And if he tries to force me, tell him I'll defend myself – violently."

Inside his head, Scorpius' Veela ran the gamut of emotions as he listened to her get her rant on: irritation, exasperation, anger, and finally settling on amusement.

"Sweet fuck, I love her," it thought, chuckling.

"If you do, then let me diffuse the situation, yeah? She's still frightened of you. More so now, I think. Let me fix it."

The Veela graciously stood back, continuing to allow Scorpius the run of the floor. "Be my guest. I'm having fun watching her threaten you."

"Technically, she threatened you."

He felt the Veela's mental shrug. "Just get to the kissing thing soon. I'm losing patience."

Scorpius sighed and held up his hands in the universal sign for 'I come in peace', trying to talk Rose down from the ledge. "Calm down, please. I told you, we'll work this situation out. I won't let him force you, Rose. I already said I wanted to go at this slowly. I want us to court you, properly. All I'm asking is for that chance. We can hammer out the other details as we go."

That compromise seemed to pacify her a bit. She stepped back and eased off the rage gauge. "I still don't understand why a Veela needs a mate at all. What the hell does it mean that I'm meant to tame its personality flaws?"

"It makes perfect sense if you understand what Veela really are under the glamour: they're monsters. Which is why they're classified as Magical Creatures," he explained.

"No, that's not right. My Aunt Fleur is a Veela and–"

"–she's only considered a Magical Being when she's in her human form. The minute she transforms into her Veela side, if she can transform at all, she's reclassified as a Magical Creature, just like transformed Werewolves and transformed Vampires," Scorpius explained. "When their bestial side is dominant, Magical Beings lose their legal rights. They can be hunted, incarcerated, and killed during those times, just like any monster. Remember the jailing of those female Veela cheerleaders for the Bulgarian team during that one Quidditch World Cup years ago? The League used iron on them to hold them down until they'd calmed. Iron burns Veela like it does the Fae. There was also the Ministry-sanctioned purging of Dementors and Giants post-war. The Aurors fell back on old laws to justify the near genocide of both species." He frowned at her. "But you should all know this. Your mother's been at the forefront of the movement to change the laws regarding such things for two decades. Whenever she made progress in the push for equality for different species, The Daily Prophet would be all over it. That was big news in my house."

Rose frowned, shifting from foot to foot. Clearly, she hadn't known.

With a frustrated groan, she covered her eyes and seemed to just fold in on herself. Her bum connected with the soft grass as their feet with a cushioned 'whump' as she took a seat, sitting tailor-style. Her dress flowed over her knees, hiding her legs from his purview. "This mating thing just gets better and better, doesn't it?"

Scorpius sat down next to her. "It's got its perks. Veela may be classified as monsters, but they are undeniably beautiful. I've seen my Veela fully transformed, soon after I recovered from the Transition. Trust me, you'll think him hot. Shit, I did, and I'm not even into males."

Rose smiled at that and shook her head as if she couldn't believe he'd just said that.

Encouraged, he continued to list the merits of a Veela mating. "Plus, they're monogamous. He won't even look at another girl. You're it for him. And with you as his mate, you'll give him a reason never to become the monster he could be – a purpose beyond the need for violence and lust that is a male Veela's innate nature. You're his light of hope to be a better, more loving creature, rather than simply a creature designed for war and… uh, baby making."

"So I'm to save him from himself and a life of loneliness. And what do I get in return?"

Scorpius felt his insides flutter as he knew where this conversation was heading. There was one thing a Veela could give its mate that no one else on the planet could: the best sex of her life. The knowledge of seduction and carnal technique was programmed into their very cells. Fucking was like breathing for them – something intrinsic to their nature. Because they were wholly focussed on pleasing their mate first and foremost, that translated into an intimacy and passion during sex that was unmatched by any other species on the planet.

In asking such an innocent question, Rose was tiptoeing into territory Scorpius was sure she wasn't ready to face.

The ever-cunning, predatory Veela, however, was more than willing to take things further. It had also sensed where this discussion would take him and Rose, and now he covertly slid his consciousness forward to share Scorpius' body. Once the two melded, Scorpius was also ensnared by the idea of seducing his witch: "You will never want for anything, our sweet mate," he and his Veela replied. "We will provide the world to you if you ask for it. We will devote all of our energies towards your happiness." They reached up and stroked over her cheek with a gentle touch. "We promise you will never know anything but the ultimate pleasure in our bed."

Unfortunately, Rose's reaction to the offer Scorpius and his Veela made was not what they'd expected. Her eyes widened until there was too much white showing, and there was real terror in her features. "Scorpius? Your Veela… Please don't let him near me!"

"Back off," he quickly commanded his Veela. The last thing he wanted to do was to frighten Rose again. She'd suffered enough under the sway of her earlier nightmare, and for whatever reason, it seemed she really was afraid of his Veela.

His other half despaired at its mate's reaction to its presence. "Why?" it nearly sobbed and retreated into itself, giving up control again to Scorpius.

"He's not trying to hurt you," he explained. "He only wants to know you better. It hurts him that you don't even want to say 'hello' to him."

Rose shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure why, but… he scares me."

"Is it because of what I said earlier, about Veela being akin to monsters?" he asked, concerned if that would be the biggest stumbling block of all when it came to this mating. His girl's dislike of him could be something overcome over time, probably, but if she was truly bigoted against breeding with a creature from a different species, that could be the hex on the whole relationship.

"I don't… I don't think so," she hesitantly admitted.

Well, that was something of a relief, although Scorpius noted she hadn't completely dismissed the idea, so there was always the possibility she just hadn't determined where her prejudices lay yet. The Wizengamot was still out on that point, it seemed.

"It's not something I can control," she explained, struggling to articulate her concerns. "It's like… like that feeling you get when you enter a dark room. You tell yourself there's nothing there to be afraid of, and even if there were, you can handle it, whatever it is. But somewhere in the back of your mind, you feel fear anyway. It's irrational, inexplicable, but very real." She glanced at him from the side. "Whenever the Veela appears, it feels like I'm walking into that dark room. I can't see anything, but I can feel him." She closed her eyes and shivered. "I feel him inside me, slowly taking over."

"It's the mate bond. I feel it, too," he said, slowly reaching out to brush a strand of her glimmering, auburn hair off her pale cheek. She didn't jerk away, which he took as a good sign. "It's why I can be here now, in your dreams. We're connected by an ancient magic more powerful than either of us. It's changing us, drawing us closer."

Rose allowed him to gently trace her jaw with the back of a finger, and to turn her head more fully towards him.

"You never answered my question," she whispered as he leaned in trying for a kiss. Her heavy lashes fluttered, and then he was staring into the deepest, bluest oceans of her soul, drowning in them. "What will you give me, Scor? If I give up everything for you, what will you give me in return?"

"Unequivocal adoration," he murmured, captivated by the moment.

Rose gave him a small, sad smile, as if he'd failed some sort of test and she'd been disappointed by that fact. "If that's all I expected out of a relationship, I could just get a puppy and be done with it." She sighed. "What about fidelity, honesty, physical compatibility, and mutual respect? Don't I deserve those from the man I marry? Can't you offer those things to the woman you'd take for wife?"

Scorpius was too tongue-tied to know how to properly respond. His hesitation cost him.

Rose sighed again and made to get up, but Scorpius' Veela moved quickly, taking complete control of the body in a flash. It shoved Scorpius to the back, assuring he couldn't act to counter, and grabbed hold of Rose before she could make her feet. In a smooth move, he rolled her onto her back and leaned over her, pinning her with his greater weight. A blink after they'd settled, his shirt was gone, and from his bare back, Scorpius could feel the weight of the creature's wings as they emerged, stretching wide. "Physical compatibility I can definitely give you, mate," the Veela teased, pressing his nose against her throat and inhaling. "God, you smell so nice. Your scent intoxicates me."

Pushing against his chest futilely, Rose began to panic. "Stop. STOP! Please, no!"

"Hold still," the Veela growled, gripping her wrists and holding them down so she wouldn't use those sharp nails of her on him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You will! I know you will!" she countered, nearly screaming. Tears flooded her eyes. "Let me go!"

Inside, Scorpius could feel his Veela's despair ringing through his head, stabbing into his heart.

"Best let her go," he counselled his bestial side with a weary sigh of his own. Clearly, Rose wasn't in any frame of mind to have this confrontation yet.

The Veela was heartbroken by his failure to win his mate's acceptance. "But… I only wanted to be near you again," he confided, his voice as brittle as his emotions right then.

The sick, hollow feeling of the Veela's guilt and regret gnawed away at Scorpius' innards. It left a bad aftertaste in his mouth. "Leave it for now. I'll smooth it over," he promised the dejected creature.

Conceding defeat with great reluctance, the Veela whispered, "I'm sorry" to his mate. Then, he lifted her hands and kissed both the right and left the knuckles… and he let her go, drifting back into the dark recesses of the consciousness he shared with his host.

Instantly, Scorpius was thrust back into the dominant position within his body. The abrupt change was accompanied by a strange shuddering sensation, as if he'd been heartily shaken. He felt the heavy weight of his Veela's wings lift from his shoulder blades as they melted away into the magical ether, and the shadows in his vision cleared like a morning fog lifted by the sun's rays. His head itched, as his longer hair reverted to his usual shorter length, and his Veela fangs retreated back into his gums. Every muscle in his body twitched all at once, and then he returned to a state of natural balance and a sense of rightness.

He flexed one hand and became aware that each of his limbs was now under his control again – except the pounding erection between his thighs, anyway. That thing had a life of its own, as it always had since he'd hit puberty. He tried to ignore it, however, for there were more important things to consider just then. Like Rose was still freaking out.

"Rose, calm down, it's just me now – Scorpius, the chap you'd love to hex into oblivion," he attempted to soothe her. "The Veela's gone. He's retreated."

Her struggles ceased, but to his utter surprise, she burst into tears.

Aw, shit. This dream visit was really not going well. First the nightmare, now this. What a total mess!

He gathered her into his arms, sat them up, and held her in his lap, whispering apologies in her ear for unintentionally frightening and upsetting her. Rose was, at first, hesitant to accept his comfort, but eventually, she relaxed against him, and even hugged him back as she cried her eyes out against the cradle of his shoulder.

When her outburst tapered off at long last, she hastily leaned back and wiped at her eyes. "You must think me a baby," she murmured, clearly mortified. "I'm not sure what's come over me. I've been up and down since… well, since the Tea Shoppe visit."

"It's my charming personality," he tried to joke, hoping to cheer her a bit. "I've always had this effect on you, if you'll recall."

His teasing worked, somewhat: she cracked a tiny smile. "You have, actually." She became serious as she tilted her chin up and met his eye. "You're the only boy to ever make me cry, Scor."

A sharp pain of regret flashed through him. "I'd take it all back, if I could."

They stared at each other, and that buzzing tension between them once again became a living, thrumming energy in the air.

"I want to kiss you."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing."

"Then do it."

"Okay."

They met in the middle, and it was… Wow. A jolt of electricity went up and down his spine and his heart started racing.

And it ended far too quickly for his tastes.

In the next second, she was out of his arms and off his lap, moving faster than a World Cup Snitch. "No, no, no! I can't do this," she protested, pacing back and forth, flustered. She ran her hands through her hair and brushed down her dress, clearly agitated. "I can't be just another one of your belt notches."

"What? You wouldn't be!" Scorpius protested, getting to his feet as well. "Why would you think that?"

Rose gave him a pointed side-long glance. "Because that's your well-established pattern, isn't it? I've been paying attention since we were fifteen, and I've seen it played over and over again. It's always the same modus operandi: you get all hot and bothered over a witch, you pursue her and win her over, but as soon as you rub the new off the relationship, you toss her over for the next bit of totty. I recall the lines of crying girls back in our last two years of school, not to mention the trail of broken hearts the papers have reported over the years since. I won't be like those women!"

Fuckin' a, she was never letting go of his past, was she? "I can't change how things were, Rose, but it won't be like that with us, I swear! You're my Veela's mate. It can't be."

Resolute in her decision, she firmly shook her head. "You said earlier that the Veela goes into a kind of torpor after mating, which leaves you, its host, free to do as you please after everything's over and the mate bond's been established. Your pal, Fang-boy may be monogamous, but your track record speaks for itself, Scor. I won't be the naïve wife who accidentally walks in on her cheating husband in bed with another witch. That would kill me."

Bloody fucking hell, she really didn't trust him at all. Not that he'd ever given her reason to, really. He had been kind of a wanker towards her when they'd been kids. Still… "Look, I'm tired of this constant push and pull between us," he said, exasperated and ready to tear his hair out. "Tell me what I should do to fix this. Tell me how I can get you to trust me."

"Let me go," she suggested. "Stop pursuing me and let me come to you on my own terms, if I decide to."

"I can't! It's not up to me. You're my Veela's mate. He's chosen you, and the magic compels him to follow through. There's nothing I can do. We're both stuck in this arrangement."

She threw her hands up in the air. "That's just it. Don't you see? I don't want to be stuck with you. I want a choice in who I marry. I want a say in my own life! Besides when it comes right down to it, all you're willing to give me is, maybe, good sex. That's not enough for a marriage to work – or for it to overcome infidelity." She ran a hand through her long, crimson hair, pushing it away from her face. "Frankly, a lifetime of continual heartbreak isn't worth it in trade. I'd rather just stick to my vibrating wand and buy that puppy for companionship, thanks."

He actually growled as his masculine pride was stung to the core. "How do you know sex is all I can offer you? It's not like you've given me much of a chance to prove myself to you! And we've kissed all of one time, Rose." He held up a single finger, to emphasize his point. "One time. Tonight. And there was no tongue. How do you know you won't like that side of our relationship? I might just blow your mind."

She looked at him like he'd lost his marbles. "You really don't remember, do you? We've kissed before, Scorpius. Obviously, that time wasn't that memorable for either of us to pursue it further, though."

He frowned, confused by her pronouncement. "What? When did that happen?"

"My point exactly." She rolled her eyes. "It seems that during the post-N.E.W.T.s party, we'd both had a little too much of Zabini's bootleg Firewhisky. I don't remember it either, but Molly, Eleri, Lily, Lucy, the Finnigan twins, and Alicia all insist that you and I went down into the dungeons that night and snogged. And petted and… did other stuff." Her cheeks bloomed with colour and she unconsciously dropped her eyes to his crotch. "But that twonk, Macmillan caught us and broke it up. Alicia told me that when she asked you about it the next day, you didn't have any memory of the event."

They'd done 'other stuff'? Really? Shit, why couldn't he recall that? What sorts of 'other stuff'? Not sex, surely, or Rose would have said as much. He doubted he'd be breathing right now if he'd fucked her and forgotten; she'd have hexed his bollocks to explode and stepped right over his dying body without a second glance. As for the rest… Yeah, sure, he remembered that conversation with Longbottom: she'd asked him an odd question about having fun the night before down in the dungeons and hinting about getting caught doing something with his pants around his ankles, but he hadn't known what she'd been talking about. Now, as he wracked his brain again to remember the details, he still couldn't recall anything of that night.

"Sorry, baby, but I really don't remember that happening. If your friends are to be believed, then my reason must be like yours: an alcohol-induced blackout." He reached out and cupped Rose's chin, lifting it and letting his gaze linger on her red lips. "I'm sorry that the memory is lost to me. It was probably fantastic."

He felt his pulse speed up as her tongue peeked out and swiped across her bottom lip, as if she was thinking similarly.

"Want to try again now?" he offered. "Maybe it'll jar both our memories."

Rose's reaction to the proposal set his heart to pounding. Her pupils blew wide, and her breathing kicked up a notch, as if she were both torn and excited by the idea. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

Scorpius slipped a hand over her hip and latched on. He applied the slightest bit of pressure, and they moved closer to each other until they were flush. "It would certainly answer some questions I'm sure we both have, though. Aren't you curious?"

Her breath panted hot against his bare chest. "It… it could be an experiment," she hesitantly agreed, and slid her hands up his tight abs, running her palms over every ridge and plane. "Just to see if we can remember." Her fingertips danced over his ribs and skimmed across his nipples. Scorpius shivered and lust shot straight to his groin. "Gathering evidence, that sort of thing."

Now he was the one panting.

He dropped his head towards hers, moving in for the kill. "Sure, you can think of this as a test if you want."

Lids lowering, she whispered, "Right."

He went for it all soft and gentle, letting his mouth glide over hers with the barest of strokes.

Her small, pleasure-filled gasp in response encouraged him to press a little harder, slowly turning up the heat by increments until things began to really boil between them. With small laps at her seam, he teased and challenged her. More, baby. Open up for me, he silently willed. Tentatively, she followed his lead, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

Putting the brakes on and landing the broom was impossible at that point, especially once the Veela crept up and merged with him to join in the fun. After that, his mate became his whole world. Her taste, her scent, and the way she felt so perfect and right in his arms was all that mattered.

Rose, it seemed, was similarly enchanted by what they were doing. She made adorable little mewling sounds in the back of her throat as the hint of sweet, juicy strawberry flavour flooded Scorpius' mouth. When it was chased by a hint of earthy, rich chocolate, she moaned louder and began pressing her body against his with blatant sexual interest. As the kiss evolved and the unique flavours melded and intensified in his mouth, she became more frenzied. Her short, round fingernails dug into his shoulders and she rubbed her pelvis against his in a silent appeal for his sex.

Scorpius' cock throbbed for all kinds of release as her fit, lithe body repeatedly brushed against his. Years of pent-up secret desire for this witch rather violently exploded out from him as they both surrendered to the moment, and the next thing he knew, she was on her back in the tall, green grass and he was between her legs, dying to get inside her. He shoved his hands into her soft, beautiful hair and held her still as he ravaged her mouth, suckled on the creamy skin above her pulse, and nibbled her earlobe. With his nose shoved directly to her skin, he inhaled. The scent of her body's desire surrounded him, and made him mad to taste every inch of her.

Her hands were everywhere on him; running through his hair, gliding over his spine, cupping his arse, smoothing up his sides to grip his shoulders. Her nipples were hard, little peaks that he could feel even through her bra and the cotton of her dress. Her thighs tightened around him, keeping him close.

Well, there was no question: their chemistry was utterly undeniable – even without the Veela amping things up with his mating hormones and pheromones. He'd have loved to have pushed that fact further, but he recognised that his bestial side had cheated, and that Rose would most likely be resentful of that fact once she figured it out. It was time to pull back and to give her space so she could accept the cold, hard fact that they wanted each other – and that they both had, most likely, always felt that way.

Pulling his mouth from hers, he throttled back on the passion and allowed them both to catch their breaths. "Didn't bring back any memories," he admitted, "but I definitely think that answers all sort of questions, don't you?"

Rose's cheeks were flushed with blood and her eyes a bit glassy as she looked up at him through a half-lidded stare. "Huh?" She blinked several times. "Oh… oh, yes. Um…" Her attention turned back to his lips in a silent appeal for more.

He nearly gave in.

Let me mate her now, his Veela demanded.

No, it wouldn't be right, he refused his other half. You used your Veela wiles on her – and don't bother trying to deny it. I know the strawberry-chocolate thing was an aphrodisiac you pumped through my mouth to ensnare her. She'll be roaring mad at us as soon as she figures that out, too, and you know it. Besides, this is only the dream world. Mating her here won't count. We have to be awake to bond her to us.

Snarling in frustrated anger, the Veela threw up its hands and sulked away into the depths of Scorpius' mind, realizing the truth in his words. It seemed it had decided to throw in the towel for tonight, thank Slytherin.

Reluctantly, Scorpius rolled off of Rose. "Well, baby, I think it's clear that we're as physically compatible as two people could possibly be. Clearly, this part won't be a problem for us."

Her reply was to turn onto her side away from him and remain mute.

Discouraged by that, Scorpius slammed his fist into the ground. "Is that so bad? Merlin's hairy balls, Rose, why is it so hard for you to accept that there's something between us – something that could be good if you'd let it?"

Rose sat up and opened her mouth, ready to blast him a new one. "I…" Her anger drained away and she faltered, appearing incredibly torn as to what to say. Clearly, she was struggling with articulating her feelings. "It's… It's because… being sexually compatible with someone isn't the same thing as… well, as loving them. Wanting to s-shag you and trusting you with everything I am are two completely different animals, Scorpius!"

He reached out, moving slowly to make sure she was aware of his intentions before grasping her two hands in his and lifting them. "Tell me what I must do."

One of her lovely, sharp eyebrows rose, as if she were surprised by the offer. "Well, to start, you'd have to start being honest with me. But as a Slytherin, isn't that against your very nature?"

He pursed his lips and sighed. "I've been told I'm more like my mother than my father, so I suppose not."

"Your mother wasn't sorted Slytherin?"

"Hufflepuff."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

He felt his cheeks heat at that admission. Not that there was anything wrong with being a Hufflepuff, but he'd had a certain reputation back during his Quidditch days for talking trash about the Golden Badgers. Now, he was confessing to being more like them at his very core than a Silver Snake.

Rose was probably tickled pink by that admission.

And since she had asked him for truth, and he'd already 'fessed up to something embarrassing, he figured he might as well go for broke: "I fancied you all through school."

His mate's head jerked back, and she looked at him as if he'd just grown a second head.

"It's true," he admitted. "Being a wanker to you was always a way to keep your attention on me, and off the other boys. I didn't realize what I'd been doing until fifth year, of course. It took seeing my git cousin flirting with you to get it. By then, though, I figured it was too late to change things between us. So, after I realised that our situation was hopeless, I doubled my efforts to make you as miserable as I was. I punished you because I couldn't have you. Stupid, I know, but too much testosterone really fucks a fellow up."

Rose stared at him with incredulity – which morphed into fury in record-breaking time. "You can't say that!" she vehemently insisted, shrugging off his hands and getting to her feet, righteously indignant. "You can't just treat me like shite for so many years and then blame it on… on… some misplaced, twisted idea of romantic interest!"

He got to his feet as well. "Why not? It's true. You wanted honesty from me. Well, there it is."

"I… You… NO!" she shouted. "You can't!"

A thought occurred to him then that sent tongues of hope dancing through his system. "You know what I think, Rose? I think you did exactly the same thing to me. You were horrible to me from Day One without any provocation and for a reason I can't even begin to understand, but I think, as the years went past, you began to fancy me as well." He stepped back into her private space and slid his hands down her waist to grip her hips with both hands in a possessive hold. Her body quivered, but she didn't push him away, he noted. "Why else would you follow my… exploits… with other witches so closely and for so long?" He leaned forward until his mouth was pressed against her ear. "Why else would you be so angry with me, if a part of you didn't believe I belonged to you in some fashion, too?"

She kept her hands fisted at her sides, but Scorpius could feel from the anger and humiliation radiating from her that he'd hit the nail on the head.

Scorpius decided that there had been enough revelations for one night. Exhaustion from holding the dream world in stasis around them for so long was beginning to take its toll. It was time to wrap things up for this session… and he intended on leaving Rose with something to think about.

"Your misguided pride, baby, is all that keeps us from enjoying each other, from allowing me to court you properly, and for us to have fun and try to make this a good mating. From you enjoying this." With a slight tilt of his pelvis, he rubbed his steely arousal against her thigh, letting her feel how very hard he was for her.

A moan slipped her lips again and her breath hitched.

He pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.

"Think about it, Rose, until the next time we meet here."

With that, he stepped away from her and released them both from the dream.

His eyelids popped open to the familiar sight of his bedroom.

And he had a raging hard-on that wouldn't be ignored.

"You should have let us mate her, dream or not," his Veela snarked as Scorpius reached for his dick and started stroking, determined to exhaust himself so he could finally get some sleep tonight.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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