4Written for the Tutshill Tornadoes, Round One of the QL as a reserve for their Chaser One. Prompts: 4 (poem) 'Hour' by Carol Ann Duffy, 9 (restriction) no using a '?', and 11 (song) 'Fever' by Peggy Lee.
Pairing: Scorose
If You Dare Challenge: 54. Come Back Here
Disney Character Challenge: Maximus
Delirium Quotes Challenge: 1. "I love you. Remember. They cannot take it."
Book Quotes Boot Camp Challenge: 17. I had no choice. Love does funny things to people. – True Believer.
Burn
They warned me to stay away from you.
"Oh darling Rosie, he's a Malfoy. You don't want to get mixed up with them, they're all the same," said my father with a scowl.
"The closer you get to Malfoys, the more you get burned." my mother told me, a sad expression on her face.
I tried to stay away from you. I passed you in the hallways with a defiant look on my face; I ignored you whenever I possibly could.
But you were an outcast. People whispered about you in hallways, and people avoided you like people with allergies avoided their allergies.
But there were always times when something unconceivable happened, when they got their allergic reaction by accident. Or if they knew what they were doing, but couldn't stop themselves. People who are allergic to fur but love animals. People who are allergic to wheat but love bread.
I was curious about you, and yes, I even pitied you. You looked so alone, alienated even from your fellow Slytherins. You always had an emotionless face, and the only time I saw sign that you too were human was when someone mentioned your father. Your eyes were filled with an anger and passion that I'd never seen before, as if you could burn something up with your mere path of sight.
If you get too close to fire you burn, but the fire also gives off a warmth that you need to survive.
You were that fire.
Everyone knows how Rose Weasley never gets things wrong and never fails to solve a problem. And you were an unsolvable puzzle, with your emotionless façade that I saw break when you thought you were alone, in Moaning Myrtle's washroom.
I, with my books in my arms, headed down to the washroom that no one dared approach. Moaning Myrtle's washroom. I could finally get some peace (well, more peace than I could possibly get anywhere else) and get some work done without Albus bothering me.
I heard Myrtle talking, and stopped in my tracks. I mean, she did talk to herself. But this wasn't the normal sadistic tone she took when she was pitying herself and talking about all the terrible things people had done to her. Her voice was soothing, as if she was trying to comfort someone.
Then, I heard another voice. It was a voice I recognized at once. Scorpius Malfoy. His voice was choked up, and I could barely understand what he was saying. I was so shocked that I couldn't even take another step forward to spy on what was happening. Scorpius Malfoy, who always ignored all the comments people said about him. Scorpius Malfoy, who always acted like nothing could knock him down. Scorpius Malfoy, who seemed oblivious of the piercing stares aimed towards him.
"He-he's g-go-going b-back to Az-azk-azkaban. H-he was f-finally l-let out b-but apparently the oh-so-glorious Harry fucking Potter," his voice was stable on my uncle's name, but only out of the pure rage, "d-decided that i-if he was out, he w-would cause too much trouble."
I bit my tongue, and held myself back. As much as I wanted to go out there and protect my uncle's name and pride, I was curious on what this was about. That didn't seem like a decision Uncle Harry would make, and this was completely different from what I had read in the papers. But I knew I could never trust the papers. I would have to write to mum later.
"He's g-going to b-be there for f-four-fourteen more years. I h-haven't seen him s-since I was a b-baby so I don't e-even know why I care so m-much but m-mother misses him and s-she can't deal without h-him, lately all s-she's b-been doing is drinking and Myrtle, I j-just don't know what to do!" He took a deep breath, as if to calm himself down. I heard him sniffing, and assumedly wiping his tears up, gathering his composure.
There had been rumours about Astoria Malfoy drinking, but none had been confirmed. No one could exactly just barge into Malfoy Manor after all, especially since Draco Malfoy himself was no longer there to impose a threat. Of course, Lucius Malfoy had passed away years back, and after that Narcissa Malfoy had mysteriously disappeared. Their family was a mysterious one, and no one really knew what was going on with them.
"It's okay, my dear Scorpius. Your father also had many troubles when he was your age, he came to me too, unsure of what decisions to make which path to take," Myrtle soothed.
"My father made stupid decisions," said Scorpius, voice full of resent.
"He had no other choice. His father expected much of him, as did You-Know-Who. The only other option would be to die."
"I would have rather died than do something that goes against my beliefs!" Scorpius lashed out.
"Sometimes your beliefs clashed. He didn't want to kill Professor Dumbledore, oh no he didn't, but he had to. He wanted to make his father proud and make sure his father wouldn't beat his mother for birthing a useless and terrible child like him."
"He didn't even end up killing Headmaster Dumbledore. He was a coward."
"He was a brave coward. And a handsome one, too," said Myrtle dreamily. "You look a lot like him, you know."
I took a step forward, leaning against the wall to hide myself from possible view. I looked at the bathroom mirror on the wall. It showed his reflection, sitting on the ground with his knees gathered up to his chest, looking so lonely and so terribly miserable.
"Mother has told me that enough times. Sometimes, when she's drunk, she thinks I'm him and starts crying while holding onto me, blaming me for all the terrible things that he's done, asking me where I've been. Later, she doesn't even remember any of it," said Scorpius spitefully.
"I think you should go now. It's around the time when that Weasley girl comes around to do her work here. She's not so bad, nothing like her father," Myrtle mused.
Scorpius sighed, and got up. His eyes trailed to the mirror, and his eyes met mine. I let out a squeak in horror and started backing away.
He looked terrified, and he was frozen in shock, until he let out a shout. "Come back here!"
I turned out, running, but the books in my arms slowed me down. I cursed my inability to run quickly. His hand latched onto my wrist and he spun me around. Surprisingly, his eyes were not filled with anger, and instead fear.
"You-you-" he started, attempting to shout at me but failing, hands gripping onto my shoulders painfully.
His vulnerable silver eyes flickered, and I could see them filling up with tears once more. He tried to say something, attempted to shout at me in anger, but couldn't. His whole composure drooped, and he dropped his forehead onto my shoulder.
I stood there, too shocked to move or even say anything.
I could feel the cloth on my shoulder getting wet with his tears, and his hands trembling as he gripped my shoulders even tighter, as if to stop himself from breaking down.
After a while, he pulled away and wiped a hand across his eyes, and his emotionless mask was back on.
"I'm sorry. Please just forget everything you heard and everything that just happened."
It wasn't easy to forget with a photographic memory.
You were so vulnerable in that moment, and brushing aside all the warnings that my parents had given me, brushing aside all the warning my friends had given me, I began to wonder who you really were. I began to care for you, and wonder if you were okay whenever I read something about his father or mother in the news.
Sometimes I forgot that you were just my age, so young to be going through everything you'd gone through.
And then I fell for you. Hard.
"The Head Girl is… Rose Weasley!"
The Great Hall was filled with applause and I couldn't help but smile in pride.
"And the Head Boy is… Scorpius Malfoy!"
The Great Hall, seconds ago filled with thundering cheers and applause, went completely silent, and then people started whispering to each other in shock.
The professors began clapping, and I followed their example. What had happened that day, what I had witnessed, was still strong in my mind.
No one else clapped.
"You will have to work collaboratively to come up with some Inner-House things that will encourage interaction between all four Houses," Uncle Nev-no, Professor-no, Headmaster Longbottom said, putting emphasis on four.
"But Uncle Neville!" I whined.
Sure, he wasn't my blood uncle, but he practically was.
"I told you not to call me that here!" he scolded. "It's Headmaster Longbottom for you here!"
Scorpius watched this interaction with bored eyes.
"I have classes to go to," he said.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Be respectful!"
I saw a hint of a smile, and he rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."
I gaped in shock. Scorpius Malfoy was bantering.
Uncle Neville gave a smile to me and left us alone.
"Uncle Neville's my Uncle!" I defended.
"Not by blood."
"By heart, he is."
He rolled his eyes again. "Anyway, let's both come up with three ideas and meet up later." He gripped the straps of his backpack, before nodding a goodbye and was on his way.
"Hey! I didn't even agree to your idea!"
"Well you didn't disagree, either."
She could have sworn she saw a smirk on his face. And it was beautiful.
You had never opened up to someone before. You had never said anything to someone without being cold and unemotional either, other than Myrtle, I guess.
It was a change. I was surprised. And allured, too. Now that I got a taste of what heat from fire was like, I wanted more. Fire is very enticing to look at.
"Scorp!"
He raised his eyebrows. "Last time I remember, we weren't close enough for you to call me by a nickname."
"Who cares! Scorpius is a weird name, Scorp sounds a lot better," I said nonchalantly. "Anyway, the dance planning is going really well! Slytherins are mixing with the other houses too!"
"We're not that different, you know."
"I know, I know, but I didn't expect it to be going this well!"
"Oh… but… Uncle Neville said that we… kind of…" I trailed off, looking away.
"Get on with it."
"We have to go together or something because we're Head Girl and Boy and we need to set an example."
He was silent for a while, and then he shrugged. "Okay."
I gaped at him. "I expected you to say something like 'ewwww I have to go with her' or something."
"You're not that bad, you know. Probably an eight," said Scorpius with a straight face.
I held out a fist at him. "You're asking for a death wish."
He let out a twinkling laugh. It was the first laugh that I had ever heard from him, and it was beautiful.
But maybe I was just as enticing to look at, because one day you told me that I was beautiful. Something no one other than my parents had told me, and everyone knows you can't listen to your parents on things like that, they're your parents, and of course you'll be beautiful in their eyes.
His breath came out foggy in the cold winter weather. We were outside of Honeyduke's; we had just had some Butterbeer and had come out.
We had gotten a lot closer while doing our Head Girl and Head Boy duties together. He was his true self when he was with me; he laid down his mask. Of course, there were lots of people who whispered about it, The Golden Trio's Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger's daughter, friends with Draco Malfoy's son.
Both of us felt an attraction towards each other; I had never met someone who I could just be with without feeling pressured about who my parents were, and he had never met someone who didn't judge him or ostracize him because of the same reason.
And… we had chemistry, too.
"Rose Weasley," said Scorpius.
"Yeah, what is it-" I started, mindlessly turning towards him.
He sucked in a breath, before closing his eyes and leaning forward quickly, and placing his soft lips on mine. It wasn't my first kiss; I had gone out with a Ravenclaw boy in Year Five, but he didn't like the fact that I was around Albus and James so much, although they were my cousins. So I broke up with him. But it felt like my first kiss.
I squeaked in surprise, and he started pulling away, but I closed my eyes and gripped the back of his head, pulling him back towards me.
His tongue shyly poked its way into my mouth, and I smiled, despite the fact that we were in the middle of kissing. After we pulled away, breathing hard, we just looked at each other, cheeks flushed: not only from the cold but from the kiss.
Our fogs of cold breath mixed.
"You're so beautiful," he breathed, looking down at me.
I buried my face into his chest, embarrassed. He wrapped his arms around me, and I hugged him tightly, just so happy.
My father didn't react well. His mother was too drunk to care.
"No to Malfoys, Rosie Posey. You know I love you. I'm doing this because I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt by him. And he will hurt you. Look what happened to your mu-"
"Ron!" Mum interrupted him.
"You and Draco Malfoy had something…" It was a statement, not a question.
She looked away. "It was nothing."
"Don't tell her it was nothing! You fucking loved him and he lied to you!" Dad shouted.
"He didn't lie to me! He just… his mother was so important to him, you don't understand. Before she disappeared, she asked him to marry Astoria. After she disappeared, he felt like it was the one thing that he could do! We left each other with mutual understanding. He loved me and I loved him but we understood. And then I fell in love with you again."
"Scorp is different from Draco, anyway. Dad, he's different. He's been through so much, suffered so much because of his father. He's so different, the only similarity is their appearance."
"He's a Malfoy. They don't change," Dad argued.
"You've never met him! You can't judge him when you've never met him in your life!"
"Ron… just let her. If she's happy with him, just let her."
"But he's going to hurt her—"
"And you can't say that you've never hurt mum, either!" I argued.
He was silent.
"That's what I thought."
That Winter Break was awkward and silent.
We just wanted to stay together.
"We only have a few months left in Hogwarts…" I trailed off.
The silence filled up what I meant. We only have a few months left together… until my father will probably ban me from seeing you.
"I'm going to miss you, Rosie," said Scorpius, gathering me into his arms.
"I'm going to miss you too. But come visit the Burrow. Dad will come to like you, I swear, and Mum already likes you, I can tell."
"I love you. Remember. They cannot take it. They can take anything, but they cannot take my love for you away," he said cheesily.
"Scorp, you're being overly cheesy again," I teased.
"You know you love it," said Scorpius smirking.
"Mmff," I said, into his shoulder, not wanting to admit it. "Now… tell me why you punched my ex-boyfriend."
I pulled away from his hug, looking at him straight in the eye.
He gulped. "He was talking trash about you! And then my arm moved on its own. I had no choice. Love does funny things to people."
I smiled a little, to show that I wasn't angry. "Thank you, Scorp."
"You know, that Muggle poem is so true. 'Love's time's beggar.' There's never enough time, with love."
I sighed, a terrible sense and feeling of ending coming onto me.
"There's enough for us."
If only that was true.
When I was with you I was as radiant as the sun. If you were fire, I was the sun. Together we burned so brightly. I was supposed to burn and get as scar, but your fire helped me continue to shine, and we warmed each other up.
And we beat the cold together.
"Dad… this is Scorp." I bit my lip nervously.
My father held out his hand stiffly, and Scorpius quickly took his hand and shook it. I could see that my dad was gripping his hand really tightly, but Scorpius didn't bat an eyelash.
"Nice to meet you, sir," said Scorpius, smiling at him.
My father just grunted. Well… at least he was trying. He turned to Uncle Harry.
When Scorpius' eyes found Uncle Harry, he stiffened considerably. He still hadn't forgiven him because of what had happened to his father.
Uncle Harry came to say hello. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Rose's uncle, Harry."
"He knows who you are," I said, laughing awkwardly to cover up Scorpius' silence.
"I don't understand why you send my father back to Azkaban," said Scorpius silently, shaking from rage.
I slipped a hand into Scorpius', trying to calm him down. He relaxed, and took a deep breath.
"I don't know where you heard that, but I promise you, I didn't send your father back into Azkaban. It wasn't my decision. It was the Wizengamot who decided that."
"My mother doesn't lie," replied Scorpius. "All she says is the truth. The bloody painful truth."
"Scorpius… whether you believe it or not, I voted against your father going back to Azkaban. As you probably know, your father and I went to school together. We were enemies, but I guess you could say I knew him well. He might have been… a coward, but he wasn't evil."
Scorpius shuddered, suppressing a sob. I hugged him tightly.
"Thanks, Uncle Harry," I said quietly.
We were beautiful, and so radiant. Together, we could do anything.
"You may kiss the bride!"
Scorpius smiled down at me, before kissing me deeply. I reached for his hair, and tugged at it softly as I kissed him back.
We pulled away, cheeks flushed like they had been the first time, breaths mixing and mingling.
"I love you, Rose Malfoy. You're so beautiful."
"I love you too."