Author's Notes:

Revision 2.0 of this chapter - November, 2015: Just cleaned up some grammar and word choices, tightened up some dialogue. Hope you like it!

CHAPTER 7: CASUALTY OF INSECURITY

Saturday, July 5th, 2031 (morning-afternoon)

Scorpius was in a sour mood the next morning. His Veela had made a bargain with Rose last night that had not been to their mutual satisfaction.

Sure, he'd get a month in which he'd be allowed to romance the girl of his dreams and win her affection properly – but he'd only get to spend half of that time in charge of his own body. The creature within wanted its chance to get physical with their mate, and Scorpius was only going to be allowed to watch, not really participate. Technically, yes, it would be his body that touched her, but it would be the Veela at the helm; he'd be relegated to some secondary bystander who could watch, hear, taste, smell and feel, but couldn't control a bloody thing. His bestial other half had made it clear last night that he could and would dominate their shared body to get what he wanted, and his host would have little say in the matter.

Was this normal? Had his father and grandfather had similar problems controlling their Veela sides?

He wasn't about to ask them. Some things were just too personal, and besides, he still had his pride. This was something he and his Veela had to work out.

Sitting down at the desk in his room, he got out parchment, quill and ink and composed the letter he'd been mulling over since breakfast. It took him half a dozen tries before he was satisfied with the note:

Dear Rose,

I realize that it's very short notice, but if you have no other plans, I'd like to call upon you tonight and take you to dinner. May I pick you up at your home at seven o'clock? Please provide your response and the address by return owl.

Yours,

Scorpius

He sent the message off with one of the Eagle owls from his family's Aviary, and after went into the library to read more on Veelas.

His other half was, he noted, strangely quiet today, as if it were slumbering. The feeling he got was that it was exhausted, but content that it had won its concessions last night from its mate, and therefore unconcerned with the petty day-to-day comings and goings of its host, simply waiting for its next chance to be with Rose. Thankfully, that meant Scorpius could concentrate on the few books in the world (all of which his family owned) dedicated to the study of the strange humanoid creatures.

Unfortunately, he'd read all of these same books before, and found nothing newly illuminating within their pages. There were no references made to the Elohim, the male Veela in any of the professionally published treatises. The research on the Veela species seemed to be primarily fixated on the females, called Amazons, and then only a generalization of their known characteristics. There were a few references to the species' origins, somewhere in Turkey, in a former colony known as Amastris-Amisus. It was almost as if there was some giant conspiracy to keep the information about the males out of public knowledge.

—Which sounded pretty ridiculous and paranoid.

Perhaps he'd do better to look back over the journals of his long-dead ancestors who were at the heart of his curse instead? Maybe the diary of Lycinus could offer some insight?

An hour later, Rose's return message was delivered to him by the house-elf.

Sorry, but I'm busy dealing with an acute case of Cyclic vomiting syndrome tonight.

~ R

He grinned at her cheekiness. His mate was one in a million, seriously. He penned a quickly reply while the house-elf waited.

My Darling, Sweet, Very Witty Mate,

Drink water and take a sedative potion to relax the gag reflex. I'll pick you up at seven.

Forever devoted,

S

p.s. I noted that you accidentally neglected to include an address for me in your last response, but don't despair! I think you'll be pleased to know that I had the forethought to have my family's owl traced the first time. Consequently, you won't need to worry about me getting lost or being late for our first official date.

He waited for the return note, anticipating it be full of venom, but was disappointed when after two hours, nothing more arrived. He knew that meant she had probably scampered from her flat and gone to a friend's or family member's to hide out and avoid him. It was a good thing he knew where every single one of the Weasleys and Potters lived.

He Floo-called his favorite restaurant in Paris to make tonight's reservation, and then spent the rest of the early afternoon reading. He took high tea with his grandmother and Ms. Granger at three in the Grand Parlor, across the hall.

"Rose sent me a note earlier saying she was going to hide out at her cousin, Lucy's flat to avoid your date later tonight," his new step-mum blurted with a conspiratorial grin right as she lifted the heirloom Victorian Era china cup to her lips to sample the Moroccan Mint his grandmother had chosen to accompany the afternoon's delights. Clearly, the woman was on board with his mating of her daughter.

"Which I can take to mean that she's really cowering over at the Potter's?" he dryly concluded with a roll of his eyes.

"Scorpius," his grandmother reprimanded him for his impolite bluntness, but Hermione merely laughed it off.

"Precisely," she replied, and actually sniggered as she quickly swallowed a sip of tea. "My baby thinks she's so clever, but as sly as a Slytherin she will never be. She has my penchant for books and riddles, but too much of her father's candor to pull off a truly solid sneaky plan."

Scorpius stared at the woman a moment, considering her words. "You were a Gryffindor, right?"

"That I was," she stated with a small measure of pride in her tone.

He recalled the conversation he'd had with his father about his mating this witch and threw her a smarmy grin. "Dad says you've always walked a thin line between being a lion and a snake. In fact, he seriously questioned whether you should have been resorted back in school."

"Did he really?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

He nodded with sham solemnity, playfully winking at his grandmother to appease her embarrassment over such indecorous conversation. "Oh, absolutely! He even went so far as to have a crown commissioned this week to redub you his 'Slytherin Queen'."

The tinkling laughter in the room from such an outrageous falsity made everyone break out into smiles. "You're as cheeky as your father," Ms. Granger complimented with good cheer.

"It's his grandmother's fault," Draco called from the door as he entered the parlor and joined them, pressing a kiss to his mate's cheek as he took a seat next to her. "Everyone knows it's the Blacks who are a bit off in this family, never the Malfoys."

Scorpius reached for a tea sandwich and downed it in one bite and swallow. "Ah, that explains it then."

His grandmother lightly slapped the back of his hand once in reprimand. "I didn't raise you to eat like a barbarian, Scorpius. Chew your food. And watch how much you consume! It won't do for you to show up bloated for your first actual date with your mate."

"See what I mean?" his father joked, and suffered a narrow-eyed stare across the table from his own mum as she brought her tea cup to her lips. He held his hands up. "Kidding, mother! You're perfectly rational and splendidly mannered!"

Narcissa nodded once, pleased with her ability to browbeat the Malfoy men into shape. "So, Scorpius, darling, where do you plan to take your lovely mate this evening? Oh, I do hope it's the restaurant in Paris with the skylight that your grandfather took us all to back when you graduated!"

They sat around discussing first date opportunities until five, when Scorpius excused himself with a gracious 'thank you' all around for the advice, and headed up to his room to begin preparing for the night's excursion.

In the shower in his private bath, he thought back over what his step-mum had said about how to win over Rose's affections, and decided to try out at least one of her options: presenting his mate with hand-picked flowers. He hoped that the romanticism of such a gift would be enough to merit an actual kiss from her before the night was through. To be able to finally press his lips to hers in real life...

That thought led to others, and within seconds, he sported a thick, painful arousal. Palming his hard length in hand, he closed his eyes and stroked up and down to the fantasy of licking every inch of his mate's naked body. He orgasmed hard to the imagined vision of being on his knees before her and tongue-fucking her soft, moist pussy until she came. The daydream was so real that he swore he could phantom taste her salty-sweetness in his mouth even as his seed jettisoned all over the tiles and down his tightly-gripped fingers.

Knees shaking from the power of his climax, he leaned against the wall after and let the sluice of warm water pour over him for another few minutes before finally getting out and drying off.

Right as he slipped the towel from his hips in preparation for dressing, the Veela within 'woke-up,' and it was practically purring as it relived his thoughts from the shower.

Sweet, pretty mate, it hissed with longing.

Instantly hard again, Scorpius was forced to take care of business a second time, and to wash up once more before he could dress. Swallowing a bitter-flavored Restorative potion helped to erase his post-masturbation lethargy and re-energize him.

With a clear head, he then had a very stern discussion with the other half about tonight's date. To his surprise, the beast inside didn't debate with him. It didn't put up any kind of fight, apparently still sluggish from its all day snooze. Besides, with the agreement in place, it held little concern for Scorpius' wishes; it knew what it wanted and what it was now allowed, per the deal it had with Rose. He sensed it would simply take what it wanted within those guidelines as it wished, whether its host liked that idea or not.

Just don't do anything to fuck up tonight for us, he cautioned his Veela. If you use your magic to force her into something physical with us, it's showing her disrespect and will only end up backfiring on us. Try not to enthrall her and let her experience us naturally this first time. It'll go a long way to earning her trust.

His Veela was silent for a moment, considering that. I'll think about it, it agreed.

Given the circumstances, Scorpius knew that was the best he could hope for from his internal monster.

X~~~~~X

Saturday, July 5th, 2031 (night)

Scorpius Apparated to the Potter residence, having gone there twice to visit Albus during the summer when they'd been younger and closer acquaintances. The house looked exactly the same now as it had years ago: a two-story Tutor, slat shingles, ivory stucco walls with dark brown trim. The fenced-in front yard was the same, too, with its neatly manicured lawn, boxwood shrubberies, and random patches of annuals planted here and there for color.

It was twenty to seven, according to his Muggle watch. If Rose was here, he'd just pass off his early arrival as eagerness and win points. If she wasn't, well, that's why he'd given himself the head start. If she decided to lead him on a merry goose chase, he could use the spare minutes to track her pretty arse down.

To save him the time and effort of actually knocking and inquiring within as to whether she was present or not, he performed a quick Point Me spell, and indeed, the wand indicated that Rose was inside the Potter residence.

He hid the roses he'd picked from his grandmother's greenhouse behind his back and headed for the door and knocked.

The wait as he heard people inside shifting about seemed longer than it actually was, and then Albus Potter was blocking the entrance. "Hey, Scor!" his former Housemate in Slytherin greeted him as he took in Scorpius' night-on-the-town robes from head to toe, a mischievous smile gracing his mug. "She's in here, sulking, refusing to get changed. Wanna come in while I badger her into a pretty dress?"

From behind Potter, Rose's shout could have brought down the house. "Albus Severus Potter, you are a gormless, Class-A traitor, and officially on my shit-list!"

Cringing at the shrill tone and the threat, Al snickered. "You'd better have brought flowers," he wisely cracked. Those emerald orbs gave him the roaming eyes again, and the guy whistled. "Looking good, at least."

Not prone to blushing, in general, Scorpius could feel his cheeks heat-up under Albus Potter's scrutiny nonetheless.

Despite having grown through their teens together, and been assigned the same House, he and Al had never been as tight as Scorpius had been with Marcus Zabini. They'd hung-out on occasion back in school, sure, but Potter was Rose's cousin, and because of the intense rivalry between he and Ravenclaw's Princess, he and Albus had never been able to develop as close a friendship.

And then the whole broom closet incident back in fourth year happened between him and Al, and well, he'd never really been comfortable around the guy after.

Scorpius had no issues with alternative lifestyles, but having a wizard cry on your shoulder because you kissed him and decided that it just wasn't your thing was seriously awkward stuff—especially after your snog partner just confessed to a serious case of love for you. Letting someone down was hard enough, but when it was someone you'd wanted to be good friends with…well, no chance of that happening after all of the cards had been laid out on the table.

He and Albus had never spoken of that one-time event, but Scorpius had always known that the guy had carried a small torch for him ever after. So, yeah, the way Al was sizing him up now made him a little uncomfortable and definitely self-conscious, as he was quite sure Al was thinking about him in a sexual manner by the way his eyes reflected some serious heat.

Almost predictably, the Veela in his head didn't like the attention it was getting from the male either, as it began growling in Scorpius' head in warning. Apparently, his other half was as heterosexual as they came.

Clearing his throat, he got right to the point. "May I see my date now?"

"Don't you mean 'mate'?" Al asked, smirking.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "It's supposed to be a secret, Rose," he admonished her by raising his voice and projecting it over Al's shoulder. "You're telling the whole world my family's private business, you know."

She appeared at the door, her features set in a mask of righteous fury. "Considering you're forcing me into a life-long commitment, and my whole family is going to have to accept that I'm marrying the man I've professed undying hatred for on more than one occasion, I think a little explanation is in order," she fired back. "It's either that or they're going to start suspecting me of drug use."

With each angry inhale she took, Scorpius was mesmerized by the cotton of her tight t-shirt being stretched ever so slightly over her nicely rounded breasts, accentuating them. The Veela was similarly enchanted, so much so that it was uncharacteristically silent, focused on every breath its mate took.

"Drug use…that would be…bad, yeah?" he murmured, watching as her nipples grew taut under his intense gaze.

"Oh, for the love of—" she huffed, and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "I'm up here, puppy dog," she indicated her face with an emphatically pointing finger. He met her irate baby blues and grinned. She sniffed with disdain and turned away. "Could you be any more despicable?"

Well, sure, the Veela snarked.

Shut it, he warned his annoying half.

At the Veela's prodding, Scorpius followed her into the living room, and Albus smoothly moved out of the way, letting the battle between the sexes commence with an unapologetic grin.

Behind him, he heard the front door shut as he nipped Rose's heels through the room and into the adjoining kitchen, where she had obviously made a fresh pot of tea.

"You're looking delicious, baby, and you expect me not to notice?"

In a smooth move, he presented her with the roses wrapped in some of his grandmother's floral crepe and tied off with a silken blue bow.

Between one breath and the next, Rose simply stopped. It took her several seconds to decide to put the empty tea mug down on the counter, though, and to reach out to take the flowers from his hand.

"T-thank you. They're lovely."

She fingered the ribbon.

Taking the initiative, Scorpius stepped closer. "May I please take you to dinner tonight?"

"Say yes!" Albus' voice shouted from the other room.

What he said, the Veela echoed Potter's sentiment.

Rose stared up at him with trepidation. She was biting her bottom lip, and all Scorpius could think of in that moment was how much he wanted to suck that sweet-looking, slightly chapped skin into his mouth and kiss it hard.

"Please," he whispered, for once agreeing with his accursed side.

She dropped her gaze to the flowers. "I should put these in water."

Scorpius swallowed his disappointment, but refused to give up. She'd promised that they could go out once a week in real life, and although it had been the Veela who had negotiated for it, he definitely wanted this chance, too. "We'll go wherever you want," he conceded, again taking Hermione Granger's advice to heart. "You pick the venue. Anywhere in the world you want that we can Apparate or Floo to."

She ignored him and opened a cabinet, reaching up on tip-toe for a vase on a top-most shelf. Being several inches taller than her, it was an easy reach for Scorpius, who stretched and procured her desired object and passed it off to her.

"Muggle or wizard, doesn't matter. You name it."

Filling the vase with water from the tap, she slipped the ribbon and crepe paper off the bundle of roses and arranged them to her satisfaction in the glass container.

"Doesn't matter?" she asked. "Hmmm…What if I said I was in the mood for escargot?"

Scorpius grinned. At least she was considering the idea and not hexing him out the front door. "Then I'd say you're in luck, as I know the perfect restaurant in Paris that serves the finest in French cuisine. And we already have reservations there for eight o'clock, in fact, if you're interested."

Glancing up at him, she raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Lasagna?"

He leaned his hip against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "Zabini's family's restaurant in Rome. They're open late on the weekends."

"Hamburgers."

He chuckled. "There's this great little diner in Texas I've been to once. If we left now, we'd be in time to catch their lunch crowd, thanks to the time difference…"

"Ah!" she cut him off, "I didn't finish!" She held a finger up between them and waggled it at him. "Authentic Kobe hamburgers."

He rolled his eyes. "Tokyo is a little hot and humid this time of year, but I'm game...although it's the middle of the night over there right now."

Clever, boy, his Veela reluctantly congratulated him for the first time.

Rose looked at him with the same grudging respect. "You're too smart for you own good."

Scorpius shrugged. "I'm Slytherin. We're designed to have an answer for everything." He risked getting a little friendlier by gently tugging on her tee's sleeve. "Come on. It'll be fun. Promise."

With a sigh, she headed towards the living room. "Fine, but we're going casual. Nothing fancy. I'm in a jeans kind of mood." Before she stepped through the arch and into the other room, she stopped and looked back at him. "Is it just me and you? Not him?"

Not a chance, his Veela growled.

Solemnly, Scorpius shook his head. "Package deal."

Rose dropped her eyes to the floor. "Oh." A tiny mar appeared above her brow, and he knew she was internally debating something that was uncomfortable and coming to a conclusion she didn't like. "Fine, then," she resolved, her eyes locked onto the wall, a glint of steel in their turbulent depths. "He'll get what he wants."

Scorpius didn't like the vindictiveness contained in her tone. "Rose, I–" He stalled, knowing she'd probably scratch his eyes out if he said he was sorry to her. They both knew the score; neither had any choice in this mating, really. In that moment, he felt every bit as helpless as she, as they were both captives to the Veela's whim. "Let's paint the town red tonight."

He stepped towards her, and her eyes instantly locked upon his every move. It seemed she wore mistrust like a second skin around him, but he refused to let that deter his intent to win her affections. He very lightly brushed a stray curl from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear.

"Let's take it as it comes, and don't be afraid, neither of us."

Her cheeks pinked. "You're not afraid of this."

His lips trembled with the truth, and he dropped his hand to very tentatively enclose his fingers around hers. "Yeah, actually, I am."

Her eyes widened with surprise mingled with doubt, and she searched and assessed his face for long seconds for truth. Whatever it was that she saw within and upon the curves and angles of his countenance was obviously good because in less than a minute, she was noticeably more relaxed. Pulling away, she turned and headed through the living room and down the attached hallway, purportedly for a bedroom. "I'll just transfigure my clothes and get freshened up. Don't change. We'll keep your reservations. Be out in twenty."

With that, she was gone.

Scorpius collapsed against the counter in relief as he let out a relieved sigh.

"She likes you," Albus confidently assured him from the open kitchen entryway. He slouched against the jamb, arms crossed, and gave Scor a secret smile. "Just too stubborn to say so. Same as you, I think."

"Merlin, I hope so."

The guy's grin was positively wicked. "Well, don't forget to bring me left-overs," he bid, turning to head back into the living room, turning on one of those Muggle televisions and flicking through channels. "I've never tried escargot. Sounds positively disgusting. But since you're paying for it, it'll be like the mini-date we never had."

Scorpius followed his friend, and took a seat next to him on the sofa to wait for Rose.

"You're never letting that go, are you?" he asked Al.

From his peripheral vision, he watched Al shrug. "Can't. Sorry."

Bloody hell.

X~~~~~X

Scorpius couldn't take his eyes off of her. Rose was absolutely stunning, wearing an outfit that was both provocative as well as stylish for Parisian nightlife. Man, could the girl transfigure!

She looked like a fantasy in a flowing, gold and bronze dress with matching strap heels, and she'd gone for a warm, sultry look with her make-up. Her glossy vamp lipstick just begged to be eaten by his mouth.

The overall picture served to distract his Veela from interfering in the evening's discussion, as his rather juvenile, sex-crazed bestial side was too busy ogling its mate and imagining all sorts of naughty things to do to her to participate in the conversation. Unfortunately, the dual side-effect was that Scorpius kept getting hit with pornographic flashes, causing the blood to flow away from his brain into his nether regions, and making it hard to concentrate. His cock was so hard in his trousers at one point that he had to rearrange his napkin on his lap and scoot closer to the table to hide his embarrassment from his date, who had inconveniently chosen to sit to his left side, rather than across the table from him.

Somewhere between the end of the main entrée and the beginning of the dessert course, she finally decided to call attention to his behavior. "You keep squirming," Rose commented with an innocent expression as she brought her wine to her perfectly painted lips for a sip. "Is everything alright?"

Scorpius hadn't been sorted into Slytherin for nothing. He'd recognized the faux concern by the twinkle in her eye. She knew exactly what was going on with him and why. His girl was, apparently, more wily than he'd given her credit. For some reason, that made him even harder for her.

Deciding to play along, he leaned closer to her, as if to whisper in her ear, and lay a warm hand on the top of her bared thigh under the tablecloth. "I was just wondering how soft your skin was," he murmured, breathing a hot puff of air against her neck's pulse, "and whether your lips taste as good as they look."

Slowly, she set her glass back down. "It's terribly impolite to leer at your date, you know," she whispered, turning her cheek ever so slightly into his. Those Merlot-red lips maneuvered towards his ear. "She might decide you only want her for a good–" She dramatically paused and barely whispered the last word. "–fuck."

Scorpius and his Veela both were nearly panting with need. The throbbing in his shorts was now a painful ache. All that wanking not more than a few hours ago and it still wasn't enough to keep his dick from wanting a go at her.

Take her out of here and back to our bed now, his Veela whinged. Hell, just take her into the coat closet for all I care! Just let me have her!

Calm down, he tightened his rein on his other half, mentally fighting to restrain the impulses beating at him behind his eyes. She's setting us up to push us into breaking the agreement. We're supposed to be courting her, not mating her yet. If we try to do that, we'd only be proving her point that we're untrustworthy and she could nullify the agreement. She'd never love or trust us then.

Minx! His Veela hissed. She's teasing me!

Teasing us, you mean, Scorpius reminded his monster. Let's turn this around on her, shall we?

His Veela was quiet for a moment, considering that. For all its immaturity, it had a sharp intelligence and a cunning nature. Make her desire us just as much? Good plan, boy. Give me the body for a second.

Scorpius was flat-out shocked. You're actually asking?

His Veela grumbled, and out of spite, pushed Scorpius' consciousness aside, slipping into place as the dominant in the body. As soon as that shift happened, he reached up and put slight pressure on Rose's cheek where it lay against his, subtly releasing his chemical scent markers upon her skin. Rubbing it in by pretending to show affection, he let his unique pheromones work their magic upon her—and upon every woman in the place, as they drifted on the air.

That done, the Veela pulled back and let Scorpius have control once more.

You're an evil git, he congratulated his other half as he pulled away and noted Rose's eyes widen with lust, her cheeks rouge with blood, and her lips part with desire. But effective.

The Veela did not reply. It merely smirked with satisfaction as it watched its mate's need rise to the surface.

The maitre d' appeared just then with their pudding and espressos. He placed the gelato dessert and two spoons between them, as they had indicated upon ordering that they'd wanted to share. Without a word, the waiter retreated again, leaving the two of them alone in their silent contest of wills.

"You keep squirming," Scorpius artfully pointed out to his witch, sitting back in his chair, removing his hand from her person and reaching for a spoon. Dipping it into the cool strawberry dessert, being sure to catch some of the melted fudge that dripped off the top, he paused with it at his lips. "Everything alright, baby?"

Rose blinked several times, clearly caught in the haze of yearning and finding it difficult to concentrate. "What?"

Licking his spoon clean in a challenging manner, he tweaked an eyebrow at her. "It's terribly impolite to leer at your date, you know."

It took several more seconds for that to sink in, and then Rose caught on. Her nostrils flared as she sniffed the air and she rubbed a finger across her cheek. "You did something."

Scorpius dug into another bite of the ice-cream. "Did I?"

She glanced around, noted the other women in the place all staring with blatant yearning at Scorpius and grabbed his hand as one actually got up from her table next to them and came to stand at his side, a business card in her hand. Scorpius ignored the woman, and held out a spoonful of dessert for his mate to taste.

"Try it," he prompted with a devilishly sly grin. "It's strawberry and chocolate—your new favorite combination."

Rose scowled at him, refusing the offer. "I know what you did, you fink."

"Your outfit is quite beautiful," he countered, sinuously weaving the spoon before her painted lips. "Enough to dazzle a man with your beauty, and make him desperate for your body. You exude lust, baby."

Through narrowed eyes she glared at him, and then she chuckled. "Touché." Her lips wrapped around the spoon, and she "mm'd" low in her throat to purposefully arouse him.

It worked.

They called the dinner a draw soon after and left the restaurant, and its gaggle of enchanted women behind.

X~~~~~X

"Admit it, that was fun," he argued as they walked along the eastern, lesser populated sandy beach side of Villefranche sur Mer, side by side.

He'd brought her here by Side-Along Apparition after they'd gone a safe distance from the restaurant to use magic out of the public eye. Both had their shoes, and he his socks, in their hands, and the white, still-warm sand bunched between their toes as they slowly meandered down the shoreline.

Pushing strands of wind-blown hair off her face, Rose laughed. "Okay, I admit my duplicity, but you were still a rotten fink to let your Veela use his wiles like that. The poor woman with the business card just stood there, waiting for you to notice her!"

Scorpius sneakily grabbed a hold of her hand and laced his fingers with hers. "Only had eyes for you, baby."

"It's the dress."

He shook his head at her claim. "It's you." He stared up at the moon's three-quarter face, his mood shifting towards a more somber contemplation. "I think, Rose, it's always been you."

She sniffed in denial. "Scor, how many women have you slept with? Seriously?"

Between one step and the next, he stopped, his incredulity hitting the roof. "What kind of question is that?"

Removing her hand from his, she continued forward without him, her bitter voice carrying back on the wind. "It hasn't always been me, and you know it. There have been dozens of women in your life. You don't want this mating anymore than I do. You're only saying that to win me over because you have no choice either. The magic makes you want me."

He dropped his shoes, lunged forward and grabbed her, turning her to face him. "That's not true! I…"

He took her shoes from her hand and tossed them away, too, stepping into her private space in the same action.

"Rose, I've wanted you since our school days. You were my first lo–"He stopped that line of through and cleared his throat. "But you'd made it abundantly clear over the years that you'd never want me that way, so eventually, I gave up the idea." Very cautiously, he reached up and touched her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "This mating has given me a second chance though. Sure, it's accelerated and forced us together, but…it's not like I never wanted this anyway. This is just the kick in the bum I needed to move on that desire."

He leaned his face closer, angling for her lips.

"Believe it or not, Rose, I never forgot you, despite the years."

Behind his eyes, his Veela pushed forward.

"We never forgot you, mate."

Almost like clockwork, Rose's body began trembling with fear. "Scorpius, your Veela is loose!"

To his immense surprise, Scorpius could feel his other half's great disappointment at her reaction to him. He pushed forward the rest of the way, taking the body without his host's permission, relegating Scorpius to an aside.

"Mate, you don't have to fear me," his Veela spoke, its voice that low, smooth tone meant to soothe her.

She closed her eyes. "I…have trouble believing you. My instincts scream at me not to trust you." She nervously wet her lips, preparing for the kiss that she felt was to be forced upon her. "I know I made a bargain with you, but…the truth is you scare me."

Scorpius' Veela very slowly moved those last inches to close the gap between them, pressing their foreheads together. "I want you above anything in this world, Rose. I have since the first moment I saw you. I've never even considered another for my mate. It's always, only been you." He kissed her very chastely on the corner of her lips, not quite a real kiss. "I can't help my nature. I can't help these feelings I have for you. And I can't undo the past or the mistakes that any of us made. But I can love you now, my pretty mate, if you'll let me." He rubbed his nose against hers. "I ache for you."

Her quickened breaths against his face signified her heightened fear. "But I don't ache for you," she stubbornly denied.

The flash of hopelessness that accompanied her words was intense as his Veela despaired. Scorpius pushed forward during this moment of weakness, sensing the beast's mounting frustration and knowing it could only end in a negative way if he didn't temper the creature within with a little dose of patience and faith.

"Rose, just kiss me."

Her lashes fluttered to half-mast. "Scor?"

He nodded. "I'm here. Do you want to kiss me?"

Her attention dipped to his lips. "You, yes. Him, no."

"Package deal," he reminded her, as the Veela inside began mentally ripping its hair out in disappointment. "Try it, just once."

Please, his Veela begged inside. Please let me taste you! I need you!

"You'll be in control?" she asked him. "You, not the Veela?"

Scorpius nodded. "We're together, but I won't let him hurt you."

She licked her lips again. "Okay," she finally capitulated and let her lids float back down to await his kiss.

Slow, he cautioned the Veela. Gentle.

I know.

Their lips met, melted, and his heart beat into his throat, pulsing along the heated, shared air between them. She was so warm, so soft and inviting as her hands roamed up his torso to wrap around his neck and she pressed her curves into his. They both moaned at the sensation of that first real kiss as they pulled apart and were persuasively drawn back together by an animal need for skin on skin, to delve deeper, to sip and lick and savour.

In mere moments, the greed became a consuming, fiery coercion starting in his belly and moving outwards to burn and pound through every vein and artery in his body. He needed more…and more…and fuck all, more. Boldly, he slipped his tongue over her bottom lip, parted her mouth and tentatively stroked against hers. She tasted of the strawberry gelato and the wine from earlier, and something else that was uniquely Rose's flavour alone. It intoxicated Scorpius and his Veela both.

Passion blazed out of control between them, causing his witch to tighten her grip about him.

"Oh, gods!" she whispered around kisses as they ravenously ate at each other's mouths, her consternation clear in her tone.

Scorpius held her tighter, his covered erection resting against her abdomen in full prominence, and it was difficult for him to contain the Veela's urge to pump his hips and rub against her.

Somehow, they ended up on their knees in the sand, and then she was on her back and he was looming over her, lying atop her. Their lips never parted long enough to speak as they kissed away the years of misunderstandings.

Clearly, they wanted each other. Rose could no longer deny the connection.

When the sea water coldly splashed against his toes, Scorpius was jolted out of their romantic embrace.

"Damn. We should go," he murmured and shivered, bucking against her thigh when her fingers ran through his hair. "Rose, the tide's coming in."

He pulled away just long enough for her senses to return, and the desire to cool.

She searched his features again. "Was that both of you?"

Wordlessly, Scorpius nodded. Inside, his Veela hovered on the edge, waiting for her to next words to either condemn or free him. The desperation of his bestial side was palpable.

She seemed to carefully consider that. "It wasn't as scary as I'd thought it would be."

Triumphantly, his Veela shoved its way to the surface, taking control again, eager like a little boy to speak to her. "I didn't use my powers on you, Rose. Not once," it bragged with some pleasure. "Scorpius said it would show you respect." He looked at her lips with half-lidded, silent wishes to return to them. "Did you enjoy it, though, without my Veela magic?"

Hesitantly, his mate reached up and brushed the long hair that the Veela sported out of Scorpius' face, letting her fingertips slide down over his shadowed cheek. "Thank you for that," she murmured. "Yes, it was good."

Turning into her hand, he placed a kiss upon her palm, and stared at her with a mischievous gaze. "Then, can we do it again? Like, now?"

Rose huffed in a laugh and lightly tapped him on the side of the face. "You're a regular Casanova." She shook her head, smiling. "No, now get off of me before we end up underwater."

The Veela sighed and grumbled under its breath. "You're no fun, mate." With that, he retreated and let Scorpius have the body back.

The two laughed as he helped his witch up from the sand, and waved his wand over both of them to Scourgify the itchy granules from their clothing and hair and skin. With that done, they collected their footwear, he held onto her and this time, she took them by Side-Along Apparition home to England.

X~~~~X

At the doorstep to her flat, they appeared with a loud crack, and she dropped the wards in preparation for going in for the night.

"Well," she began, and Scorpius could feel the wall coming up between them again as the earlier passion became just a memory, "That was a lovely evening. Thank you for it." She held out her hand to shake. "I suppose I'll see you next in my dreams, per our required arrangement."

Scorpius frowned.

This was not at all how he wanted their first date to end, as if they were strangers who hadn't just shared the most delicious kiss in the history of mankind.

Ignoring her outstretched hand, he swiftly moved in, pinning her between his body and the door, and slanted his mouth over hers. Capturing her lips once more, he kissed her with all of his pent up feelings. With a moan, Rose dropped her wand, her shoes and her mini bag in the hallway and flung her arms around his neck, giving into him once more. They kissed until his lips felt bruised, and although his Veela pushed for more, Scorpius kept it only to the kissing, knowing it was important to build up his mate's trust in him.

When he felt he'd made his point, he slowed them back down, and finally pulled back. "Yes, Rose," he pressed his forehead again to hers. "You'll see us in your dreams."

Giving her a lopsided smile, he playfully winked at her, stepping back and raising his wand.

"Best first date I've ever had, hands down, baby. Thank you for taking the chance. See you tomorrow night."

With that, he Apparated home and slept better than he had in days.

X~~~~~X

Sunday, July 6th, 2031 (morning-early afternoon)

"Corwin's quarter-century birthday is coming up," his grandmother reminded them all at brunch that morning. "The McLaggens are holding a big celebration for him this weekend, and we've all been invited. I've already responded with our assured attendance." She leaned forward across the table to conspiratorially address Hermione. "His grandmother, Athena, hinted at a big announcement in the wings. I suspect his mother and father have finally picked a wife for the boy, given traditional pure-blood custom."

Scorpius' Veela growled with displeasure at his cousin's name, causing four sets of eyes to look at him sideways.

"Scor, darling," his grandmother gently addressed him. "You haven't touched your poached quail eggs. Is anything the matter?"

He set his juice glass down and politely wiped his mouth with his napkin. "No, grand-mere, I'm fine."

"Is there something on your mind then?" She pressed the bounds of good propriety in inquiring about his personal issues over the breakfast table.

Well, he might as well address the elephant in the room, as it was clear by the way everyone was sitting up straighter and leaning a bit forward in their chairs that they were waiting for him to talk about his adventures from the night before.

"My date went very well last night. I took your advice, all of you. Thanks for that."

His grandfather actually folded up and put down the Sunday morning paper and delicately inhaled. Across the way, he spied his father's nostrils flare as he, too, scented the air. Both gave him the same expectant look. He shook his head to let them know that things hadn't progressed quite that far yet.

Hermione leaned forward, eagerness in her eyes. "You got that pigheaded daughter of mine to admit she liked you," she accused with a smile.

Scorpius couldn't help but feel a bit smug that he'd managed to accomplish a bit more than that actually, but he said nothing. The truth must have been obvious on his features, though.

"Oh!" Ms. Granger cried out in happiness. "You actually kissed her!"

He scratched the side of his head, feeling a tad embarrassed to be discussing such intimate things so openly and with these people. His family had always been rather private about their matings. Even the discussion between him and his father about his own second mating had been a 'typical guy' conversation:

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"Was it amazing?"

"Absolutely."

"Go, dad!"

There had been more, obviously, but no special details about the actual fuck-fest. Draco had simply smiled, and covered as he was in love bites, and looking as knackered as he had, Scorpius had filled in the blanks without having to be told. They'd spent more time talking about the legal arrangements of his father's new mating, and how the mating wouldn't interfere with Scorpius' eventual marriage to Rose, and how Scorpius felt about having a step-mum than they had about the actual physical goings-on of the event itself. Now, he was openly talking about his own success over a meal, something usually not done.

"We kissed," he admitted, trying not to blush like a virgin. "She was receptive to both me and the Veela."

His father chuckled. "At the beach?"

That had been Draco's contribution to yesterday's advice. Scorpius nodded. "And at the door, when we said goodnight."

Narcissa let out a sigh of happiness. "How romantic! There's to be two matings in one year in this house!" She turned and reached out for her husband's hand, looking at him with ridiculous doe eyes. The man looked at his wife with a knowing smirk on his face. It was clear what was going to happen between those two at some point today.

Scorpius looked across the table at his father…only to find the man giving his mate the same look.

Wiping his mouth, he placed it alongside his plate as was proper and politely excused himself, feeling acutely uncomfortable as the only un-mated one at the table. Making his way up to his room, he sent out a Floo call for Marcus, needing to talk to a friendly ear. They agreed to meet at the Leaky Cauldron for drinks in an hour.

As he changed clothes for the jaunt down the Alley, Scorpius contemplated that for the first time in his adult life, he'd been a 'fifth wheel', and he hadn't liked the feeling one bit. It made him awkward, out of sorts, his good humor instantly cast aside in favour of brooding over the problem of being mate-less.

That, of course, led down the slippery slope of "what if?" scenarios…

What if she never came to care for him?

What if she refused to let him give her the first mark in two weeks, despite the agreement?

What if she continued to see Corwin?

That last had him in an extremely sour frame of mind when he'd finally Floo'd and met up with Zabini.

X~~~~~X

Sunday, July 6th, 2031 (afternoon)

Four shots of Firewhisky later, and Scorpius was spilling everything to his best friend, including details of last night's rendezvous, and his fears.

"Sorry I can't do more to help, mate," Zabini said. "Just try not to let your worries get you down. No way to know where this thing with Weasley will go. Maybe she liked kissing you enough last night to kick your cousin to the kerb today."

Half an hour, two more shots and a beer later, Eleri came through the pub on her way into the Alley. Scorpius called her over and she came to join him and Zabini. After another round of shots, Marcus split, having made late lunch arrangements with the Longbottom witch.

Eleri was strangely quiet when it was just the two of them after that, and Scorpius was taking that strained silence to internally debate the best way how to tell her that their previous arrangement was now null and void without hurting her feelings, or getting her so angry that she retaliated by telling Rose about their illicit affair.

"Alright, so per my side of our bargain, I'm reporting in," Eleri informed him, squirming in her seat. "I met with Rose on Thursday. I listened to her rather impassioned and determined speech declaring that she intended to find a legal loophole around your Veela mating of her, and to keep seeing Corwin. She's resolved that your cousin's it for her. I tried to convince her to kiss you in real life before she made such a mistake as throwing you away, but she was adamant that no matter what, she was going through with her plans." Her tired, violet eyes met his. "I don't think you're going to ever get her to take this mating seriously, Scor. She's made it clear she'll bide her time until she finds a way out and then she's going to drop you for your cousin. I'm sorry."

Stunned, Scorpius' looked down at his chest. No, his heart was still in there, beating away. He could feel it pounding under the ribs, drumming out a painful beat. Sure as shit felt like he'd just had it ripped out and thrown to the floor, though.

Had last night been Rose simply playing along, biding her time, as Eleri put it? True, she hadn't even wanted to come out on the date with him, and it had taken a lot to convince her…

He quickly went back through the events one by one, flipping through random conversations, trying to look for clues to either confirm or disprove Eleri's words.

"…you're forcing me into a life-long commitment… my family is all going to have to accept that I'm marrying the man I've professed undying hatred for on more than one occasion…"

"…you don't want this mating anymore than I do."

"…our required arrangement."

Merlin's hairy balls, how could he not have seen it? He'd been so enamored of her response to the sexual stuff that he hadn't even realized that none of it had touched her heart. Hell, her reaction to him on the beach and even at her door might have been no more than residual from the Veela pheromones from the scent-marking. Once the fog of lust had cleared, however, she'd been business as usual, hadn't she?

Rose didn't want him, and she'd made it clear over and over again that she wasn't going to be his. She intended on fighting him legally, if necessary, to force him to stay away from her. She was going to keep fucking his cousin.

NO! his Veela screamed in his head. No, no, NO! She's mine!

The animal part of him wanted to immediately go and kick down the door to her flat, to let loose all of the Veela magic and force the marks on her in her own bed, to make her his mate right away. That would be rape, though, and Scorpius knew she'd hate him forever for it. Besides, Rose was just vindictive enough to make him pay for the rest of their lives together if he dared to take her against her will.

Fine, she wanted to play this game with him, then Scorpius could, too. He'd spotted the loophole in their negotiation almost immediately in regards to taking lovers, but at the time the terms had been spoken aloud he hadn't thought it important. Now, he knew he could use that ambiguity to his advantage. After all, it had been the Veela that had stated that it wouldn't touch anyone else, but Scorpius hadn't made any such agreement. He hadn't had any say in it at all, in fact.

Bargain or no, he hadn't been sorted into Slytherin for nothing.

"Busy for the rest of the afternoon?" he casually asked his sometimes-lover, sweeping all of his romantic feelings for Rose under the carpet and holding tight to the anger to fuel his resolve. If his mate intended on continuing a relationship with Corwin in secret, then Scorpius saw no reason to remain faithful either.

Uncharacteristically, Eleri blushed and looked aside. "And Rose?"

He did something then he'd never done in their decade-long relationship: he touched her in public in a very intimate manner. Touched and kissed her, in fact.

Luckily, his Veela was still too furious over being tossed over for Corwin that it was in its own little bubble and not interesting in what Scorpius was up to just then.

"We had an agreement, El," he informed her, nibbling down her neck, wearing down her reservations. "You're living up to your end, so I should, too." He bit her at the back of her neck, a spot he knew would claim her submission easily. She relaxed against him in an instant. "Besides, I'm in need of a release right now. So, let's Floo back to your place so I can fuck you six ways from…well, today," he grinned at his own unintentional joke.

Her reluctance was quickly overridden when he bit her again above her pulse and shoved his hand under her skirt and between her legs, caressing her sex over her knickers. Her passion thus inflamed, Eleri easily gave in and gathered her things, hurrying to the Floo, Scorpius right behind her.

X~~~~X

"All set here?" the weekend bar hostess asked the burly, handsome blond sitting in the corner booth, putting some swing into her hips and a bat to her eyelashes in the hopes of receiving a good tip from him tonight...maybe even in more ways than one.

As a Quidditch groupie in her off-time, she recognized this one as the Keeper for the Montrose Magpies, and was hoping to add him as a notch in her bedpost to go along with the others on the pro-circuit that she'd already sampled.

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks," he politely said, clearly distracted by the attractive couple who'd been sitting in the partitioned booth next to his get up, throw some galleons onto the table and make a hasty retreat for the Floo.

It was clear what the pretty brunette and that sexy platinum-haired fellow were going off in such a rush to do. Did her customer know those two, she wondered? Had he been spying on the couple? Maybe she was an ex-girlfriend and he wasn't quite over her? His face was certainly dark with a frown as he watched the couple whisk away in a jet of green flame.

To her surprise, her intended quarry abruptly stood up and passed her a handful of galleons. "Sorry, this should be more than enough to cover the bill," he excused himself and headed for the front door as fast as those long, powerful legs of his could carry him. The thundercloud of emotion that trailed behind him left her shivering in its wake.

There went one very angry young man.

Yep, the dark-haired bint had to have been an ex of his for the jealousy had been as plain as day on his face.

Oh well, there went her chance for a good tup!

She looked into her palm at the gleaming gold coins. At least she'd gotten the other kind of tip, and it looked to be at least five times the amount owed, meaning she could finally treat herself to a nice take-away dinner tonight.

"Thanks! Come again," she called after him as the door shut behind with a tinkling of bells.

TO BE CONTINUED…

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Cyclic vomiting syndrome is a real ailment. I didn't make it up.

Please review!