Amortentia

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A Scorose Fanfiction by Goldensnitch18

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Rated M for Scenes of a Sexual Nature & Language

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Summary: In their sixth year, rivals Rose and Scorpius

have a moment of terrifying clarity when they

both inhale the sweet smell of Amortentia.

One year later, Rose is finally single and Scorpius is

determined to snog the crazy out of her.

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Disclaimer: I am not profiting from this story.

Anything you recognize belongs to the great and mighty JKR.

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Beta Magic: Many thanks to harpersbizarre and dragonjess

for their time and work on this story.

Chapter Fourteen

In a cruel turn of events, it got easier for Scorpius and Rose to keep their hands off of each other after that first day. This was mostly because they were together substantially less time than they had been before. Albus was furious at the world and heartbroken, but the very next day he was just hungover and miserable, and Rose had pulled him away after Transfiguration. They had wandered up into an abandoned classroom near the Divination Tower and sat on the floor against the desk at the front of the room.

"How's your head," Rose asked him, and he snorted.

"Feels like my brain's been stomped on by a Thestral and shoved back in my head."

"How much did you drink last night?" She brushed a lock of his hair back from his face to see his bloodshot eyes.

"Not enough." She should have reprimanded him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She probably would have done the same thing the night she had found out about Rowan if her parents hadn't been there.

"So, what do we do now?" She pulled on his arm, taking his hand between both of hers. She rested their clasped hands on her lap and leaned her head onto his shoulder.

"You're going to take care of her," Albus croaked, his voice breaking, dragging Rose's heart down with it.

"What about you?" she asked softly.

"I have the boys."

"And, me. I don't want to be something Alice got in the divorce. You're mine too." Al leaned over and kissed the top of her head, and Rose shifted into him, curling against his chest.

"You won't be. I just can't be around her. I'm pissed at her, and I'm pissed at James. One of them should have told me. She should never have agreed to date me, but..." Rose felt something wet hit her cheek, and she knew he was crying. She couldn't bring herself to bring attention to it. She just held her body against his and hoped he was getting some comfort from her. "I love them, both of them. Those bloody fucking arseholes." He pulled away from Rose, rested his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands.

"I know you do." Rose rubbed his back as he leaned forward. She wished there was something she could do for him. "I would stop talking to her, if you wanted me to." The words hurt her, but they were true. Alice and Albus were both her best friends. She had grown up with them both. Learned to walk with them. Learned to talk with them. Learned how to be a friend with them. Learned how to share with them. Learned to play Quidditch with them. They were her everything, but in the end, Alice had fucked up. If Al asked it of her, Rose would tell Alice she needed a break. She would tell her that Al needed her right now, and she would be his rock, and his alone, but she knew Al too well for that. She knew that he was his father's son, and Harry Potter was nothing if not loyal.

"No," Al said tensely, "don't do that." Rose nodded even though he couldn't see her face.

"I love you," she told him. "I'm so sorry." She had rubbed his back and held him for another half hour. They had gone to lunch where she had watched him push his food around from the Ravenclaw table while Alice silently did the same in front of her.

Rose hated that this separation of her two best friends also separated her. She wanted to hold Al and let him cry whenever he needed it, which she was sure he hadn't done in his dormitory with his friends, but he put up walls, and he wouldn't let anyone in after that first day. So, instead, she had listened to his request and tried to be there for Alice. She hated that it meant she rarely had time with Al, but she listened. Alice became her study partner for nearly every subject, except Ancient Runes. Rose took to spending more time in her room with Alice or the regular library with all of her girlfriends, which Scorpius complained about every night during their rounds. He insisted that it wasn't his fault Alice had ruined everything, and he shouldn't be punished, and, Merlin, did it seem to him like he was being punished. He missed Rose, and he hated it.

As she was quick to remind Scorpius, it wasn't like Rose was having any fun. Alice was weepy and withdrawn. She was hard to get things out of, and she looked miserable nearly every moment of every day. Meanwhile, Scorpius' new study companion, Albus, had a recently acquired shit temper and a general 'who gives a fucking Knut' attitude about everything, including his lessons. Al was turning in his homework, but he was doing the bare minimum to fly by. The exception to this was the Quidditch Pitch where he seemed driven to exhaust himself into the inability to think properly. Scorpius and Rose had found themselves scrambling Tuesday morning with they realized that Alice and Albus were due to have rounds together that night. It had taken massive favors owed and persuasion to fix that problem nearly immediately, but Rose and Scorpius had done it anyway.

Three weeks after the breakup, nothing much had changed, but Scorpius was beyond frustrated. He had been planning to woo Rose during their study times and convince her that there was no time like the present to start dating. They had seemed to be off to a good start that first day, and then nearly all of their time was stolen. He felt bad for Al, and, if he was honest, for Alice too after he saw how miserable she clearly was, but he needed to get Rose on board with being with him, and this situation between their best friends was not helping.

He had tried to talk to Rose about spending more time together when they were studying Ancient Runes, but he had felt like a clingy idiot. He'd let it go without really finishing his thought. She had let him drop it without much of a fight, which just irritated him more. The Saturday of their third week back at Hogwarts, Scorpius was determined to get things back on track, and that was why he was fidgeting with his wand as they walked down the halls of the school during rounds.

"How is your grandmother?"

"I think the same. She could be worse and no one telling me, and I wouldn't be surprised," he told her truthfully. Now that he knew, he hoped his parents would be more forthcoming, but there was no promise that they would be.

"Surely now that you know, they wouldn't."

Scorpius scoffed. "You would think."

"I'm sorry they are all so stubborn," Rose sighed and shook her head.

"They think they're protecting me."

"I know."

"What about your family? How are they?" It was lame, but he didn't want to talk about his grandmother. She was sick, and there was nothing he could do about it. He hated it.

"Good, I think. I was thinking about not going home for break, but I miss them. I think I'm going to see if they'll let Al come visit so I can spend some time with him."

"That would be nice. Probably safer than sending him home with James."

"Do Harry and Ginny know?" Rose asked. One of the reasons she wanted to have Al stay with her was to avoid him killing James if he went home.

"I don't know what he's told them. They know Al and Alice broke up. It's not like he could keep it from them." This was true. The entire school, even the teachers knew that the couple had ended things. Hannah had tried to talk to Alice about it exactly one time, and Alice had absolutely lost it on her and told her not to talk to her about it again. She had rushed out of the infirmary and left Rose and Hannah to stare sadly at each other. Hannah had asked Rose to take care of her daughter for her and to please let her know if there was something she or Neville needed to know. Rose hadn't known if Alice sleeping with James and then dating Albus fell into that category, so she just nodded and walked after Alice quietly.

"We'll just have to keep him distracted."

"You mean, you and I, together?" Scorpius asked, infusing his words with sarcasm. "I didn't think we were allowed to be together anymore."

"Oh, shut it." She laughed at him and bumped his shoulder with hers. "It's Alice and Albus' fault. I would much rather be back to studying with you," she admitted quietly.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Me too."

"I miss you." Rose told him sadly, and she reached down and laced her fingers in his. He didn't pull away, but he did stop walking.

"Will you have a date with me for Valentine's?" He asked, and she gaped at him.

"Like a real date?"

"Well, in our library."

"Oh." She was relieved and disappointed at his words all at the same time. "Yes. I will."

"Good." He picked up her hand and kissed it, and then he let it go, and they started walking again.

XXX

A week later, Scorpius was eating breakfast with Albus when he heard from his Dad again. Al was shoving food around his plate with his fork, and Scorpius was trying to ignore him and listen to Euan and Darius. Lately, Scorpius was moving from supportive friend to pissed off Head Boy. Al was seriously slacking off, and Scorpius was going to have to give him a kick in the arse if he didn't get his shit together soon. It wasn't something he was looking forward to.

When the post came, Draco's owl dropped a note next to Scorpius' plate and headed back out of the Great Hall without stopping. Scorpius picked up the letter and examined his name on the front. He almost didn't want to know. He peeled the seal open and pulled out the parchment.

Scorpius,

I wish I had better news, or that I didn't have to do this through owl post, but you need to know. Your Grandmother went into St. Mungo's yesterday. She should be going home as soon as they get her pain managed, and my father hires a healer to come to the Manor to care for her there. They said that she's worse, and we probably only have a couple of months left. I'm so sorry, son. I wish I could send better news. Narcissa loves you. She says that she is so proud of you and hopes that you won't let her distract you, as if that is even possible, but do your best.

Love,

Dad

Albus was looking at him when he finished reading the letter, so he handed it to him. Scorpius watch Al's face fall as he read the words. "This sucks," Al said as he handed it to Euan.

"Yeah. It really does," Scorpius agreed.

"This year is really not going the way it was supposed to," Al finally picked up a sausage and took a bite. Scorpius just stared at his juice and thought about his grandmother. What would his world be like without Narcissa? What would his grandfather do? Most days Scorpius was pretty sure that she was the only thing that got him out of bed. After the war, his father had bounced back, changed, gotten a job and made a reputation for himself. Lucius and Narcissa had mostly lived the same as they always had, and they seemed dependent on one another to continue doing so.

"Fuck," Darius said, his eyes on the letter.

"Let's go to the pitch," Euan told them. "Blow off some steam. I think we could all use some fun and not practice," he gave a pointed look to Albus who had been running the team ragged, but the captain ignored him.

"I'm in," Darius said.

"Ok." Scorpius nodded.

Al shrugged, and they took it as agreement.

XXX

Later that night, Scorpius and Rose met in the common room before rounds. "You got a letter this morning," she said before he could get in a word.

"We're not talking about that."

"I want to know," she assured him.

"It's your birthday." He frowned. "I'm not ruining your birthday."

"You can't ruin my already awful birthday." It really hadn't been awful, but it hadn't been great. She had woken up that morning, hoping to steal Scorpius to study, but it hadn't happened. He had gone out to the pitch with Albus, Euan, and Darius, and Rose had been left with her girlfriends. There was nothing wrong with her girlfriends per se, but nothing had been the same since Alice and Albus had broken up. Alice was distant, and Tamsyn and Poppy were trying to cheer her up all the time, and Rose felt guilty for not being with Albus and pissed that she never had any time with Scorpius anymore. She had meant it when she had said that she was not going to play fair, but her plans for that had been ruined when their only time together alone was rounds at the end of the day. She was hoping to change all that on Valentine's Day, but that was still nine days away, and nine days seemed like a long time when she already hadn't kissed him in twenty-eight days.

Scorpius sighed, shook his head, and handed her the paper he had shoved in his pocket. He watched her eyes follow the words his father had written. She closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him to her. She rested her head on his chest and felt him sigh deeply again. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't really know what to feel." He pulled her in tighter. "What if she dies before I get to see her again?"

Rose pulled back and put her hand on his cheek. "That won't happen. Write your dad back, and tell him you want to see her before … the end. Neville will let you go home, I know he will." She had been with Rowan last year and seen him excused for Quidditch trainings. There was no way that Scorpius wouldn't be able to go home to be with his family when the time came.

"I will." He leaned his forehead down to touch hers and wished for the millionth time since that she had said yes to being his girlfriend. She would be with him now, and he could pull her into him and let her make him forget about St. Mungo's, and his grandmother, and whether or not he was ever going to see her again. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wrapped gift. "Happy Birthday," he told her softly, and she grinned, grabbing the small box.

"What is this?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"Open it."

Rose pulled at the paper to reveal a small box. A small, square, jewelry box. She looked up at him and hesitated. "Is this …"

"Open it!" He rolled his eyes, and her fingers shook as she pulled the top open to reveal a small black key.

"What is this?" She reached out and touched it. She could feel the magic there.

"It's the key to my flat. I had it made to allow you to apparate directly in. The wards have been set up now."

"This is …" Rose trailed off and stared down at the key in her hand. It was silly for her to get emotional about a stupid key, but it meant a lot to her. After everything that happened with Rowan, Rose could appreciate the value of this key, her ability to pop in and out whenever she felt like it. She imagined that Rowan would never have been able to give her something like this for fear that she might … might … see something she shouldn't. She'd asked Scorpius to wait for her. She had no right to demand or expect him to do so, but he was, and he was willing to prove it.

"Is it okay? I was going to get you something else, but I thought..." Scorpius trailed off when she looked up at him and smiled.

"This is perfect." She leaned into him and kissed him softly, letting her lips linger on his even though she shouldn't. Twenty-eight days, and she still felt a pool of desire form in her belly at the gentle brush of his lips against hers. She wanted to kiss him harder, run her hands up his skin and feel him, but she couldn't. He deserved better than games tonight. "Thank you," she told him.

XXX

Rowan Wood was a fucking idiot. He knew that now.

No. That wasn't even true.

Rowan Wood knew he was a fucking idiot the very first time he'd kissed another girl other than Rose. It had been the summer before his seventh year. He and Rose had been together for nearly a year, and he hadn't gotten much further than feeling her up. He was desperate for her. He got hard nearly every time they fooled around, and it was fucking awful when she finally pulled away, every single time. He wanted to make her feel good, and he wanted to feel how tight and wet she was. Rose had been a virgin when they started dating, and after a year, Rowan was ready to change that.

That summer he had spent most of his days at a training camp put on by the Montrose Magpies. Each day he was put through the ringer and left exhausted. He would shower and fall into his bed and wake up when it was still dark the next day to do it again. Rose would come over at night occasionally, and they would roll around on his bed, rubbing against one another, her moans making him crazy, but never once did she let him slip his hand into her waistband, no matter how hard he tried.

One night in the beginning of August, they had gone to Roy Barley's home. Roy was a Hufflepuff in Rowan's year, and his parents had a pool and had gone out of town for the week. Rowan and Rose had both drank that night, definitely more than they should have, and he was worse off than her. She had dragged him behind her into the den, and they put their drinks on Roy's dad's desk. Rose had kissed him softly and pushed him down onto the couch as she giggled. His head swam as he had taken in the sight of her wild red hair and her pink cheeks above the small mounds of beautiful breasts peeking from her tank top. He hadn't been able to believe how lucky he was to have her.

She had wiggled her hips a little, accentuating the curves he loved so much and making him want those long legs below her shorts to wrap around him. With slow, agonizing steps, Rose had climbed onto his lap. Her mouth had started on his neck, and he had let out a guttural noise as her teeth grazed softly over his skin.

"Rose," he had moaned, pushing his hands up her sides.

"Rowan." She breathed as she moved her mouth to claim his, her hands on his cheeks. Her tongue tasted him, and he eagerly responded. She ground down into him, and Rowan rocked his own hips up and into her. She moaned against his lips.

He had placed his hands on her hips, and he was guiding her, bouncing her softly against his jeans, desperately wishing the fabric would go the fuck away. He needed her. He needed her so fucking bad. He moved his hands down to feel her thighs under his fingers, and he nearly lost himself in the softness of her skin.

"I love you," she had whispered into his ear.

"I love you, too," he told her, and he did. Fuck, if she wasn't perfect than he was pretty sure the perfect girl didn't exist. She was everything he could ever want. Rowan had moved one hand back up over her shorts and pushed it under her t-shirt. His fingers cupped her breast over her bra and squeezed softly. Rose was breathing heavily, and he was struggling to think straight.

His mouth leaned down to the soft skin of her neck, and Rowan had nipped at her before kissing her tenderly in that spot, making her moan. He delighted in that sound, it was perfect. The hand on her thigh moved slowly then, feeling the denim of her shorts, moving between them. It popped the button there, and she didn't stop or notice or something. She just moved to kiss him, and he moved his fingers up to brush against her knickers and pushed them down.

She was off of him in an instant. Rose's fingers clasped the button back together, and she stared at him while her breathing was still heavy. "Rowan!" she said, exasperated.

"What?"

"You know I'm not ready for that."

"Are you kidding?" He was still trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened. The Firewhisky he had drank was not helping.

"No, I'm not kidding." She looked hurt, and he knew he should feel bad. They had talked about it so many damn times, top half only, bottoms were off limits, but he was so fucking hard and, "You brought me up here!"

"I thought …" She pushed her hair behind her ear and stood. "I guess I shouldn't have. I clearly gave you the wrong impression."

"Seriously?" He stood up and threw his hands into the air. "You were fucking grinding on me like you were about to shag me!"

"We do that all the damn time, Rowan. I still don't shag you."

"Well, maybe that's the problem!" He knew immediately it was a mistake. He shouldn't have said it, never would have said it without a little help from his potent friend.

"You're drunk," she said sadly. "I'm going home." She had turned to leave, and he had grabbed her hand. "We'll talk tomorrow." She pulled her hand back, and he let her go, watching her walk away from him in those perfect shorts.

"Fuck," he said again, picking up his drink and emptying it. He had known he was being an arse. Somewhere under the alcohol and the erection, he knew that he and Rose had talked about their boundaries very clearly and agreed that any change of them would be made when they were both sober and not already dying to feel more of one another, but he didn't care. He had been waiting a year, and he was so tired of her getting him hard with her perfect body and those whispers in his ear and then expecting him to just cool off and be okay.

"Trouble in paradise?" Rowan had turned around to find Annie Foster standing in the door frame. Annie was one of his Chasers. She was also one of the girls Rowan had dated before Rose. One of the girls who hadn't minded his fingers, or other parts of him, finding their way into her shorts.

"It's none of your fucking business, Annie." He told her tensely, and she had laughed as she shut the door.

"Rose is a good girl Rowan." She made her way to him as she talked, and he couldn't help but notice how incredibly short her skirt was, how small the bikini top she was wearing was. "She's going to make you an excellent wife one day. You will be quite the power couple. The Quidditch Star and the Golden Duo's Daughter." Rowan had frowned at this. It wasn't like it hadn't crossed his mind, or that she was even the first person that had said this to him, it just was the first time someone had said it like it was a bad thing. "But, what about right now?" Rowan had set down his drink, and Annie leaned into him. She had grabbed one of his hands and set it at the hem of her skirt while her other hand brushed against the front of his jeans and then rubbed softly against them.

"What about it?"

"What do you want right now, Rowan?" She had asked, and her mouth had been inches from his. He had smelled the Firewhisky on her, and he could still taste his own. He knew whatever was happening wasn't good. It was fucking bad. It was so fucking bad. "More importantly, is Rosie going to give it to you?"

"She's my girlfriend," he had said, reminding them both.

Annie had smiled. "Don't tell my Devin, and I won't tell your Rose." She had pressed her body against his then, her lips pushing hard against him, her tongue flicking against his lips to request entry into his mouth. He had squeezed the hand on her thigh and moved his other to grip her other side. She had moved both of her hands up to wrap around his neck and pull him closer, and he had spun them, so he could pick her up and set her on the desk. Annie had moaned as his hands pushed her skirt up, and the sound shook him.

It wasn't Rose's moan.

She wasn't Rose.

He had stumbled backward, his balance failing him as he teetered, but did not fall. "Fuck." He had said, staring wide-eyed at Annie. "I have to go." He had crossed the room in a heartbeat, pulling the door open and getting the fuck out of there.

Kissing Annie had been the beginning of something that he had let spiral out of control way too fast. He never let himself be alone with Annie again, but he also never told Rose what had happened. At the end of the training camp, the Montrose Magpies had invited him to sign with them effective upon his graduation from Hogwarts. He had agreed and then gone to a party they were hosting. One of many he would attend over the next year, as often as his breaks would allow it. Occasionally, Longbottom would let him out for a long weekend if there was a training they wanted him at. He was Head Boy, after all, the Gryffindor golden boy. Everyone looked up to him, and no one suspected a thing.

At that first party, the team had gotten him absolutely shitfaced to initiate them into their tribe. Rose hadn't wanted to come, probably to avoid putting them in the same situation that had caused their last argument. Actually, after that argument, he and Rose had never been drunk around each other again. The Keeper of the Magpies had come over to him with some girl whose name he didn't even remember and told them to "have fun." She had pulled him into a bedroom with a sly grin and used her mouth to make him forget that Rose had ever existed.

The next day he had barely remembered the girl going down on him, but he knew that it had happened. He tried to convince himself that he was a worthless piece of shit that needed to confess, but when he saw Rose that day she had kissed him softly and asked him if he wanted to go play Quidditch at her Uncle's with Albus and her cousins. He had smiled down at her and nodded, pushing the mistake from his mind. When she had pulled him away from the pitch in September and let him touch her for the first time, he hadn't known what to think. It had been the beginning of something new between them, and for a while, he behaved and the incident seemed like it was going to be a one-time thing.

When the spring came, his trainings started. He was pulled out of Hogwarts for the weekend twice before Easter and then three times before the year ended. Each time he went, he intended not to drink, not to be an idiot, not to cheat on his bloody girlfriend, but he failed each and every time. He never mentioned Rose to the team, and they never asked. He got smashed, and when a girl would inevitably come up to him with no intention of talking, he would end up with her in an empty room where he would bury himself inside of her as she moaned beneath him. It was disgusting. He was awful. He knew it, but he couldn't stop, and he couldn't tell Rose.

She was still perfect. She was still beautiful. She still loved him. She still had her wit, and her fire, and her laugh. That damn laugh, and when they were alone it was like she couldn't get enough of him. She would pull him into a broom closet, usually after Potions or Ancient Runes, and he would press her up against the wall and touch her until she came, and then she would return the favor. After Graduation, when she had whispered in his ear that she was basically giving herself to him on a fucking platter for his present, he had known that this would be it. He would have her, and he would be able to control himself and finally stop being a shit boyfriend, but he was wrong. He was so, so, so wrong.

He was good for three entire weeks, and then he had gone out with the team after practice. The girl had been staring at him the entire night. When he went out to get some air, she followed him. They didn't even bother to find a room. He held her up against the side of the pub while she wrapped her legs around him. He wasn't even that drunk when it happened, but he'd gone back in and drank some more and apparently decided it was a good idea to go see Rose.

She had rightly dumped his sorry arse that very night. Well, her father had kicked him out, and then she had dumped his sorry arse in a howler. Like an idiot, Rowan had told his father the truth, confessing everything, and Oliver Wood had been livid. He had made Rowan feel like the worst kind of human being, and Rowan had deserved it. He had stopped drinking, and more importantly, stopped fucking slags in bars because he was drunk. Oliver had made him start going to a Healer that specialized in addictions, magical and otherwise and paid the man well to keep his mouth shut about seeing Rowan. Something like this could ruin his career before it even started. He had really just started focusing on the actual Quidditch and not the bars some of the teammates went to after.

Rowan had thought about trying to get ahold of Rose over and over again, because, fuck, he needed to talk to her. He needed to tell her that he was sorry, and that he loved her, and he had accepted that he had problems and was getting help, and he wanted her to wait for him if it wasn't too late. He wanted her to give him a second chance to be the guy she had thought he was. By the time Christmas came around, he was desperate to see her. He thought about owling, but he figured she wouldn't respond

Instead, he knocked on her front door in the evening a few days after Christmas. He knew he was taking a risk. He knew that her father could open the door and possibly curse him before he had even realized it, but luckily her mum had opened the door.

She had frowned at him, and then pulled the door shut so that it was only wide enough for her body to fit in the opening. He guessed that Ron was home, but in another room.

"Rowan, what are you doing here?" She sounded surprised and exasperated at the same time.

"I wanted to talk to Rose, to apologize."

"She isn't here. She's at Scorpius' flat with some friends."

"What?" It was his turn to be surprised. Scorpius and Rose hated each other. There was no way she would be caught dead at his place, with or without her friends.

"They've gotten quite close." Hermione said, and he just stared at her, wondering if she was saying what he thought she was saying.

"I … Are they …"

She cut him off. "What do you want from Rose, Rowan?"

"I just want to apologize."

"Then write a letter. She's moving on, and you should, too."

"Who's at the door, Hermione?" He heard Ron say from the other room, and Hermione glanced back at him. "You should go, Rowan. Please don't come back." She shut the door in his face then, and he stared in disbelief.

"Moving on with Scorpius Malfoy?" He asked, but the door was silent.

After that, he had asked around about Rose. She was not dating anyone, and she was definitely not dating Scorpius Malfoy, thank Merlin. His friends still at Hogwarts that year did tell him that she and Scorpius were friends now, that working together as Head Boy and Girl and their best friends dating had seemed to bring them around. There was a rumor apparently that they had gone on a date to Hogsmeade, but it had seemed to be just a rumor and nothing ever came of it. He still didn't really love the idea of Scorpius and Rose being friends, but at least, they weren't dating. Scorpius was a giant tool and he and Rowan had never really gotten on well, which had worked out for dating Rose because she hated the Malfoy git.

After hearing this news, Rowan decided that he needed to see her. He didn't want her getting any closer to Malfoy or some other guy before he could apologize and tell her that he was still in love with her. That was how he ended up in Hogsmeade the weekend before Valentine's Day. He knew it was a Hogsmeade weekend, and Rose had always gone to Hogsmeade, usually with him, so he was hoping that he could run into her there, and they could talk.

He started in the Three Broomsticks, mostly because it was warm, and he knew Rose had liked to sit in there for hours chatting with their friends. He walked in, and it was already full of students, laughing and talking, and shouting. He ran his eyes over the crowd, searching for that head of beautiful red hair, and he found it quickly.

He thought about buying himself a tea to warm up, but he figured he should probably talk to her first and see if she was willing to give him a minute. He approached her table slowly, noticing that it was full of girls, which made him let out a sigh of relief. Rose's back was to him. Alice and Tamsyn were sitting on either side of her, and Poppy was directly across from her and facing him. Poppy laughed at something Tamsyn had said, and then her eyes flicked up and met his.

"Bloody fuck," she said, her mouth dropped open, and she dropped a biscuit.

"Hello, Poppy," he said to her, and he saw Rose's body go rigid. Probably not the best start.

Alice and Tamsyn looked up at him as well, the latter grabbing Rose's hand tightly. Rose spun slowly, her disbelief being revealed to him as she turned in her chair.

"Rowan. What are you doing here?" Rose asked.

"I … uh … wanted to talk to you." Poppy snorted, and Alice and Tamsyn glared at him.

Rose's mouth fell open. "You want to talk … to me?"

"Yes. Outside, maybe?"

"No," all three of her friend said in unison, and he looked around the table.

"I'm not going to hurt her," he promised them.

"You mean more than you already did?" Poppy snapped.

"Stop," Rose said softly, looking at Poppy. "I guess … a minute would be fine." Rose stood and waited, so he started to move back outside.

"Are you sure?" one of the girls asked.

"You don't owe him anything," another added.

XXX

Rowan had stopped and waited for her on the side of the Three Broomsticks, and she stopped a few moments later, a couple feet away from him. "So?" she asked as she crossed her arms.

"I just … I wanted to tell you I'm sorry." He stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Okay." She stared.

"I … I stopped drinking."

"That's good." Her heart was racing.

"I haven't been with anyone since … that night."

"Okay."

"I was the biggest fucking idiot in the world. I had you, the perfect girl, and I … I just shit on that, and Rose" - he moved close to her and grabbed her hand with his, but she didn't uncross her arms - "I'm so, so, so sorry. I wish I could take it back and just go back to what we were. I know that isn't possible, and I … I know that I hurt you, but … I'm trying to get better, and I guess I just … I was hoping that you would give me another chance someday. Maybe not today, or next week, but one day."

Rose stared at him, her eyes wide, and her arms fell down at her side. He kept holding her hand. "You want me back?" she asked incredulously, and he nodded.

"I love you."

Rose laughed harshly and then forced herself to stop. "Rowan, I'm glad you're not drinking, and I'm glad you've stopped sleeping with random girls in bars, but if you honestly think that I would ever go back to you, then you clearly don't know me." His face fell. "And, you're too late anyway. I'm involved with someone else and he ... " Rose thought about Scorpius. She thought about the words he had told her in reference to Rowan. He had all of that crap that I get plus you were crazy in love with him. She was crazy in love with Scorpius now, and it was way more than she had ever felt for Rowan. They weren't together yet, but she knew they would be. She needed her parents to know him, and she needed to figure out exactly what she was going to do after school without worrying about what he wanted, but then … then they were going to be together. "He would never, ever make me feel the way you did. Ever."

Rowan rubbed at the back of her hand. "Who is it?"

"It doesn't matter, Row. You need to go. Thank you for coming to apologize. It means a lot." She pulled her hand back and turned to go. Behind her, she saw Scorpius standing there at the edge of the building. His fists were clenched at his sides, and he was openly glaring at Rowan. "Scorpius, what are you …?"

"Can I punch him?" he asked her, closing the few feet between them.

"No, you can't," Rose told him sternly.

"So, it's true. The two of you …"

"We're just friends, you fucking arsehole," Scorpius told him. "But, I would still punch you in your fucking cheating face if she wouldn't hate me for it." He was leaning towards Rowan, pointing his finger into the older boy's face.

"Come on, Scorpius." Rose grabbed his arm gently and turned him

"Stay the fuck away from her, Wood!" Scorpius growled and let Rose guide him around the corner.

Rose pushed him all the way inside the Three Broomsticks and back to the back of the pub where they walked into the storage room again.

"I fucking hate that arsehole," Scorpius told her, kicking a bag full of something that was lying on the floor.

"I promise you don't hate him nearly as much as me."

"Then you should have let me punch him in the face," he shouted.

"Scor! Stop yelling at me! I didn't do anything! I'm sorry you didn't get to punch Rowan to make yourself feel better, but this isn't about you! In fact, pretty much anything to do with Rowan besides the fact that I am not now, nor will I ever be, getting back together with him has nothing to do with you." Scorpius deflated, his fists unclenched, and his ego seemed to calm down.

"I was listening to you around the corner. I heard you tell him …"

"That we are involved?" Rose smiled softly.

Scorpius pulled her hands down and moved into her. "But, not together?" He asked her softly, and she leaned into him.

"We will be," she whispered.

"Why don't we just be now," he asked her, his body reacting strongly to her promise and her presence so close to his. It had been over a month since he had really touched her. That ghost of a kiss on her birthday wasn't cutting it. He was a starving man standing in front of a buffet.

"Scor…" She pulled back, and he whined.

"Rose."

"You know why," she reminded him.

"I don't have to like it." His lips were so close to hers that she could feel his breath. He leaned into her and buried his face in her hair to keep from kissing her. "If that idiot touches you again, I'm going to hit him." He didn't need to see her face to know she was rolling her eyes.

Thank you for reading. I would love to hear what you think of this chapter!

XOXO

Meg