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Push & Pull

Chapter 16

Freedom

"We shouldn't be doing this," Scorpius looks around as if someone will jump out of the shadows and grab Rose right there.

"Come on Scorp, I can't just sit in a tent for the rest of my life," Rose rolled her eyes, dragging him along.

"Of course you can. I'll even wrap you in bubble wrap so you can't hurt yourself," he said smartly, grinning like an idiot. Rose giggled, slowing her pace and walking next to him. Rose hadn't felt more alive in months. Her face burned from the cold, but that didn't stop her huge smile. She looked over at Scorpius, surprised at the warmth that gathered in her stomach. It spread to her whole body, and it was is if she was tingling with energy. This is what it's like to be happy with someone, Rose told herself, Scorpius is a really good guy. Just let yourself fall for him.

"Wait," he pulled Rose back a little, and her heart skipped a beat. Did he see something? Were they still safe? She glanced around as if she would run into the danger immediately. "Did you just call me Scorp outside of the bedroom?"

Rose blushed, and she took a deep breath, calming down. She smiled to herself.

"Is my name too long, Rose?" he teased, grinning as he pulled her closer. Rose's heart swelled and she turned bright red, embarrassed of the nickname.

"I don't know, I thought it was cute," she mumbled into his chest.

Scorpius wrapped his arms around Rose, kissing her head and messing up her hair, "It is. I like it."

He released her and she proceeded to drag him along, looking at the beautiful fronts of the shops. She still couldn't tell where they were, but she could see a ski lodge down the road. At the moment however, her toes were too cold to think of anything but hot chocolate.

"Food?" she asked, pointing at a sandwich place.

"I had other ideas," he grinned slyly, taking the lead.

They hadn't been out for long, but the sun was already starting to set. It cast beautiful lights on the snow and odd shadows on the street. As they walked, Rose appreciated the serene beauty of the small snow town that they found themselves in. Woodsy accents reminded her of old vacations to the lake: sandy toes and laughing with her cousins. Of course it was way too fucking chilly to think of the lake house just then.

Scorpius led her to a building tucked next to the slope with large beautiful windows. As Rose entered, she got the impression that it wasn't the kind of place she typically ate dinner. The lights were dimmed low, and the tables were comfortably spaced against a wooden wall. There were antlers adorning lights on the ceiling, and the long bar was calling out to her. When's the last time I had a drink? She wondered briefly.

"Reservations for Smith," Scorpius told the hostess.

"Right this way, Mr. Smith," she responded in an accent Rose couldn't quite place. The hostess grinned at Rose as she turned and led them to the back of the room. They sat themselves and Rose appreciated the heat being pumped in from the fireplace behind Scorpius.

"Could I offer you a sample of any of our wine selections?" the hostess asked. Scorpius responded as Rose considered the hostess. Australian? She guessed. It would probably be snowy there this time of the year.

Quickly, a large glass of red was placed in front of her, and as Rose sipped she swooned a little.

"Yes," Rose said, "This one please!"

Scorpius laughed and asked for the bottle.

"Have you been skiing?" Scorpius asked. Rose fell easily into the facade. Being away from the tent helped to clear her head, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd been out for a fancy dinner.

"I haven't," Rose admitted, "I tagged along with a friend once, but I was too scared of the ski lift to try."

"You Rose? Scared?" Scorpius scoffed.

"I don't like uncontrollable heights," her voice rose in defence.

"Don't you fly?" he countered. She crossed her arms indignantly.

"Control! That's totally in my control. A ski lift could break at any moment." He laughed at her.

Luckily the hostess brought the wine and notified them that their server would be over shortly. Rose covered her embarrassment with a deep sip.

Just as she reached to refill her glass, the waitress took their order. Rose thought the Asian-inspired cuisine was out of place, and it served to throw her even more from her place of hiding. They ordered a couple of appetizers and an entree to share. As the waitress left with their order, Rose caught Scorpius's eye and couldn't help the small smile that spread across her face. He grinned in kind, reaching out and taking her hand. She could almost imagine that she was at a nice quiet trip with her lover until Albus and Sam walked in and took a place at the bar.

"Is that really necessary?" She glared daggers at her cousin, who pretended to be totally oblivious to the couple in the corner.

"It is entirely necessary," Scorpius responded, squeezing her hand and letting it go in favor of finishing his glass of wine, "You have to remember how big of a risk this is." Rose was pulled roughly back down from the clouds, and she frowned.

"Can you tell me more about the Death Keepers?" She lowered her voice, leaning in on the table, "Nobody knows anything, it's like you hold all the cards here."

He let out a short laugh with no humor, "If only you knew how true that were," he muttered ominously. Rose's brow furrowed in confusion, but she waited patiently as Scorpius glanced out the window. Two skiers zoomed by, and while Scorpius let his gaze wander, Rose's attention was fixed on her companion.

"When I graduated and joined the Aurors, I heard a little of the Death Keepers," he pulled his hand to his face, biting at the side of a nail, "Old Voldemort fanatics, we assumed." Rose made a sound of agreement. That makes sense from their name, she thought.

"They were known for petty theft, attempted kidnappings," he continued, "They weren't trying to make their intentions known. Most were non-violent. I actually didn't know the depth of their dealings until Harry dropped the file on my desk." Rose imagined a younger Scorpius drowning in paperwork when Uncle Harry, all serious, brought the file. He would have been super dramatic about it. "Wait, I thought you said you didn't know what they want," Rose said. Scorpius glanced around quickly, probably making sure nobody was eavesdropping.

"It's a bit more complex than that," he responded, "They had a network of illegal trade of magical objects, but it seemed focused on the payoff. One past attempt at infiltration led to an altercation, causing the death of two Muggles. It wasn't a pretty case, but Harry had hope with me."

Rose felt pride in her chest. Of course Harry would place trust in Scorpius. He was a good wizard.

"After a few weeks I had done well. Taken out some smaller names, closed off some of their trade routes. I had some knowledge of their inner workings. At the time I was investigating a warehouse of stolen objects. It was a big bust, so Harry sent your cousin, Teddy, along with me and a team. It ended up being a lot harder than I had anticipated."

Scorpius paused suddenly. Rose opened her mouth to urge him to continue, but closed it again quickly. He looked lost in thought. Scorpius bit his nail again, apparently deep in the memory.

"There were some bigger guys stationed to protect the artifacts, but like nothing I had seen before," he ran a hand through his hair, "Rose this was the kind of man power that they'd have on a hideout. And it was."

"A hideout?" she asked.

"Like a home base for their operations," Scorpius explained, "It was more than we could have hoped to find."

"When we went in, cleared out the place, we only found two or three artifacts; a lot less than we had expected. But we learned so much more. There were tables and walls full of information about the trades. Coded, of course. That took a long time to decipher. But the most disturbing part was when Teddy found your picture."

"What?" Rose gasped, leaning forward more. She was forced to lean back when the waitress came over with the food. There was a beautiful Tempura Prawn plate with a salad, some sort of fried chicken with a peanut sauce, and a beautiful steak. Rose might have been too wrapped up in the story to eat, but she hadn't had a proper dine-out like this in a few weeks. While she pulled a few pieces of chicken onto her plate with a fork, Scorpius cut the steak in half. She started with a bite of salad, and was surprised by the bite of spice to it. She took a sip of her wine, and her tastebuds were in heaven.

"Tell me more about my stalkers," Rose prompted, starting in on the steak. Scorpius twirled his fork in his hand, finishing the bite he was on.

"They had your weekly schedule down to a point," he told her, "Possible grocery points, dinner places, drinking habits. We contacted Harry immediately. He came down, and while we found tons of information about the routes, there was no information about any one person. Except for you. And no ties as to why. Why the hell would this illegal trade business want to know what days Rose wanted to stay late at the office?"

Rose snorted, "My life is not that interesting," she said, but despite her laugh, Rose couldn't hide that she felt very uneasy about the intrusion of privacy. Scorpius eyed her warily, clearly picking up on her discomfort.

"Yeah, it couldn't have been for anything good," he said quietly, "Harry assigned Teddy to the trade deals, and asked if I would take your case. Protect you. I said 'Why not Teddy? They're close, aren't they?' but he told me Teddy was too high-profile. He'd had the Gringotts break-in case just a month before."

"Oh, I remember that," Rose interrupted, "They'd used him as a spokesperson to ease public unrest. Some of those rich pureblood families were pissed about their money."

"Wouldn't you be?" Scorpius countered, taking a bite of his salad. Rose grinned back at him and shrugged, throwing in the towel. He wasn't wrong.

"If Teddy had been hanging around you, the Death Keepers would know," he nodded, affirming his own conclusions.

What does illegal trade have to do with me?

They ate in silence for a bit, and Rose distracted herself with appreciating the spread of food in front of them.

"This is real good," Rose said between bites, and Scorpius laughed. By the end of the meal they were good and stuffed. The bottle of wine was empty, and Rose figured she'd probably drank most of it. Her cheeks were tinged pink, the only giveaway to her lightweight nature. Scorpius squared the huge bill, despite Rose's protests.

"What money are you gonna pay with?" he had laughed. Rose puffed up and pouted as if it would make any difference. They passed by Albus and Sam at the bar, and Rose punched Scorpius in the arm to point them out. When the pair left, they were grinning like idiots.

"Did you see that?" Rose asked as if he were blind. When she had glanced at them, there was no mistake that Sam was feeling Albus's bicep.

"Albus and Sam? Of course Rose, they're watching us," he rolled his eyes at her.

"Noooo," she giggled, "It's his signature flirt. Sam is putting the moves on Albus," she said in a funny voice. Scorpius stared at her seriously for a moment then she wiggled her eyebrows at him. They both broke out into laughter, heading down the street together.

As they walked, a little blue dress caught Rose's eye. She stopped suddenly, almos taking Scorpius down on the icy walkway.

"That dress is the fucking cutest," she said bluntly, putting a hand on the store window. Rose was the worst impulse shopper. It took her almost a full minute to peel herself off the glass.

"Do you want it?" Scorpius asked, looking it over.

"I have no money silly," Rose shook her head.

"But I do," he grinned.

"No way am I letting you buy me an expensive dress," she said immediately, "I can buy my own clothes when I have my own money."

"Just try it on," he grabbed her hand, pulling her into the store, "It is really cute."

They walked in, and they were greeted immediately by a worker.

"Just looking," she said on instinct with a grin, "Thank you so much." She was apparently the only worker in the store, and ran off to continue arguing with some woman about the availability of ten expensive new season items. Rose found the dress quickly, and happened to pick up five more on the way. Scorpius gave her a look.

"It's a good store!" Rose had said in defence. She headed back to the changing rooms and was thankful that nobody had to let her in. She left the door open for Scorpius, but he waited patiently by the door. Rose hung up the clothes and turned to him expectantly.

"Are you gonna come in or not?" she asked, "You've gotta tell me if the dresses are cute."

Looking around to be sure nobody was watching, he stepped into the small changing room with Rose. Suddenly they were very close.

"I'm not sure there's enough room for you to change with me in here," Scorpius whispered, slipping his hands behind her head and pulling her lips to meet his.

Rose wasn't sure if it was the wine, the warm store, or the thoughts swirling in her head, but when her lips met his, she felt her skin burn. She sighed into the kiss, and Scorpius silenced her with his tongue. She moved her hands to undo his thick jacket.

The store wasn't empty on a friday night. There were other people in the long set of dressing rooms, but the worker seemed to busy to care about them just then, and Scorpius had looked hot all night.

"Here?" he laughed against her lips, shrugging out of his jacket. He grabbed his wand and muttered a quick silencing spell, and another that Rose recognized as an illusionist spell.

"What did you just do?" she giggled, shrugging out of her own coat.

"If anyone looks right at us, their eyes will glide straight past as if this dressing room were never here," he shrugged, "A little one I picked up from Teddy actually."

"Come here you hot, smart man," Rose said comically, pulling him close by the shirt. His lips were on hers again, traveling quickly down her neck. Rose went weak in the knees.

For a brief moment, Rose let herself relax into the feel of Scorpius. His warm body through thin layers of clothing. The hardness of him rubbing roughly into her thigh. This was a man that she could see herself with. In every touch, she recognized what had been missing in all her past lovers. She couldn't name it, but knew that nobody else had it the way he did: passion.

He pulled her pants and panties down, and she shook her hips, wiggling her way out of them. She moved her foot to step out of one pant leg, but Scorpius seized it, kneeling between her legs and tossing it over one shoulder. He wasted no time at slipping his tongue around her clit, using rough movements with his mouth. Rose gasped, throwing her head back and relaxing into the feelings. God, the things he can do with his mouth, Rose thought. She slipped her fingers into his hair, holding him against her. Her enthusiasm caused him to pull back, and she felt him smile against her skin, "Calm down," he spoke against her pink flesh, vibrating her core and causing goosebumps to raise on her skin, "I'll have my way with you yet," and she moaned loudly as he slipped two fingers into her. She was so wet already that they slid in easily, and her walls clenched around him. Scorpius curled them deliciously, and Rose felt a beautiful pressure inside of her. His tongue was back on her clit immediately, and Rose felt a slow build start in her. Everytime she was almost there, Scorpius would change movements. At one point, Rose grew so frustrated that she cried out when she lost her orgasm.

Finally, so frustrated and done with the ordeal, Rose pulled him up as fast as she could. Scorpius laughed at her enthusiasm, and she ignored him, pulling his pants down roughly and slipping her shirt off. His long, hard erection met her, and Rose's mouth watered in anticipation. She was so ready for him that she spun around and leaned forward, giving him full access to her dripping wet pussy. Scorpius wasted no time, steadying her with one hand, and aligning himself with the other. Rose realized then that she was facing the dressing room mirror. She got one look at herself and felt her vagina clench at the empty air. Rose looked thoroughly fucked, and they hadn't even shagged yet. Her hair was thrown to one side, and her face was filled with desire. As Scorpius entered her, she saw her face emanate pure pleasure, finally finding a kindle for her built up tension. Scorpius fucked her hard, and fast. With one hand on each side of the mirror, Rose had a wonderful view. Her breasts, held by a white lacy bralette, jiggled in the cups with each thrust. She looked to Scorpius and met his eyes. She felt a fresh gush of wetness flow from her as she held his gaze, watching the way his mouth hung open a little as he slid in and out of her. His eyes were glazed over, lost in the sensations of her. Finally, she felt herself slip into an orgasm, clenching tight around his thick, hard cock. Rose moaned loudly, and Scorpius grabbed her hips more roughly, pounding into her relentlessly. She watched him through the mirror as she came, seeing him gasp as he felt his own release. Watching Scorpius's face as he came was the hottest thing that Rose had ever seen in her life. His eyebrows relaxed, and he leaned his head back slightly, giving himself in to her body. Scorpius stayed in Rose for a moment longer, and Rose gasped, trying to regain her breath.

Scorpius and Rose left the store hand in hand. As they were walking, they ran into Alice and Roxanne.

"Hey guys!" Rose grinned, "How's your night been?"

"Well," Roxanne made a show of thinking, "When you guys disappeared for an hour into a clothes store, we looked for places to drink since tonight is going just fine, thank you very much," Roxanne gave Scorpius a pointed look. He rolled his eyes at her.

"They're a little out of our price range, so we grabbed some firewhiskey and figured we could head back to the tent," Alice held up two paper bags.

"Sounds perfect to me," Scorpius responded, "Have you guys seen Albus and Sam?"

"We think they already headed back after their duty," Roxanne responded.

"Perfect, let's gooooo!" Rose barrelled ahead, hoping she was heading in the right direction.

...

When they arrived back at the tent, Rose tried to make as much noise as possible. She giggled, blaming it on the firewhiskey she had opened as she walked back to the tent, but it was really just in case Sam was really putting the moves on Albus. Much to her disappointment, when they walked in, Sam and Albus were simply sharing some tea.

"You're doing it wrong!" She giggled, walking up to Albus. He watched in horror as she poured some of the whiskey into his tea.

"You've soiled perfectly good tea!" Albus shouted in indignation.

"Hey, tea with whiskey is pretty good!" She responded, sticking her tongue out.

"Not cinnamon and watermelon!" he cried.

"Who the fuck drinks watermelon tea anyways," Roxanne muttered, taking Rose's bottle and drinking a deep swig of it.

After Albus poured his tea down the drain (Why did you do that, you just wasted perfectly good whiskey!?), the group passed the bottles around, asking about their days. They recounted pretty typical sightseeing, and the conversation dissolved into banter.

"I can't believe you drink skim milk," Roxanne scoffed, "Who the fuck wants water with their milk?!"

"I just preferred the taste," Alice shrugged, struggling to keep a straight face.

"The taste!?" Roxanne shouted, "There is no bloody taste! You want some now? I'll pour you a glass of water with a shot of milk you bloody twat!"

Rose stood and wobbled a little.

"You good Rose?" Alice asked, clearly happy to change the course of conversation.

"Totally fine," she responded, "I'm just gonna run and pee real quick."

"I'll go with you," Roxanne responded, "I should probably leave Alice to think about what she's done."

They exited the tent together, and both took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Being social is hard," Roxanne said, starting the walk away from the tent.

"You've fucking telling me," Rose shook her head, "We've partied a lot recently, but being around people every day," she sighed, "Shit."

They walked in comfortable silence for a while, and Rose watched the trees as they stepped. It had started snowing lightly, and it was absolutely beautiful. The silence of the forest rang in her ears like a chime of bells. It was comforting and serene.

"You totally fucked Scorpius in a dressing room didn't you," Roxanne said suddenly.

"What the hell?" Rose laughed.

"Rose Weasley, I don't think you've taken an hour trying on clothes in your whole life," she smiled. Rose simply shook her head.

"We should head back," she responded.

"Oh you totally did," Roxanne turned around, leading the way back to the tent.

"I didn't even buy the cute blue dress I went in for," Rose realized out loud.

Luckily it was easy to see their way back because of the light footprints in the new snow. They passed a familiar rock when Rose stopped suddenly.

"Hey Roxanne, do you see those other footprints?" Rose asked, pointing to a third set leading off from theirs.

"What the-" Roxanne was interrupted as a spell flew from the trees. Rose ducked, just missing the spell meant for her. Roxanne fell roughly to the snow. Rose reached for her wand, but the assailant was faster. Rose was hit in the back, and felt every muscle in her body tense as she went face-first into the snow.

She felt her heart beat fast in every inch of her skin as footsteps slowly crunched towards her in the snow. Rose felt tears form in the corners of her eyes as the ambush stood over her.

"You're smart, Rose," a deep unfamiliar voice sounded from over her, "Lucky for me you 're too fucked to retaliate."

Author's Note - Thanks for a great 2017 y'all! My job's gonna demand a lot of my attention until about June, so I apologize for my partial hiatus. I might still be posting, I might not, but again, you will eveeeentually see an end to this story. I have no estimation on how many chapters this will end up being, but thanks for hanging along for the ride. I have to say, I've fallen in love with where this is going. PLEASE continue to comment. If you point out plot holes and loves and hates, I will likely not comment back, but you probably will see them addressed in the story! Thank you for your continuous support, I am so happy that my little drawlings get read by someone. I hope that all is well with you, beautiful wonderful reader, and that this story will start to keep you on the edge of your seat, ready to have your mind blown. (Realistically, I feel like I've given you NO information, so be ready for that shitbomb to drop.) Stay warm!