Discovering

Discovering

Chapter Six

Breaking

Scorpius Malfoy woke up on the day Rose Weasley was going to break up with him with no idea that Rose Weasley was going to break up with him. He had left her the night before after rounds to talk to her friend. He was very much in love with her and was of the opinion that she was coming around to being quite fond of him as well. They had been together for over a month and she seemed happy with him. She seemed to enjoy lying next to each other in bed reading and whispering softly to each other as he held her. She seemed to enjoy having her hand in his as they walked down the hall to their next class or did their rounds. She had even decided to tell her parents about them and made it clear that she intended to give him her virginity. All in all, he thought they were doing amazing.

After he left her to talk to Celia, he had then come down to the Dungeons where he walked into an explosion. It seemed there was no need for Scorpius to talk to Al. From what he gathered Natalie already knew what had happened and wasn't feeling forgiving. When she saw Scorpius come into the room, she turned to Al in a fury and slapped him across the face. "We're done." She shrieked at him and left him standing in the middle of the room, his face beat red.

"You told her?" Scorpius asked, not sure why his friend would have done that. It seemed cruel.

"No, I didn't have to. She figured it out." Al told him rubbing his cheek. "Evan was practicing with me, when he came up here without me, she asked where I was. He told her Celia had come down to the pitch and he was sure I'd be up in a minute, but a minute was over an hour so she filled in the dots."

"What were you doing, Al? I thought you were happy." Al shrugged and ran a hand into his hair.

"I've always wanted Celia, I had no idea she was interested in me, so I moved on. When she came down to the pitch and told me she wanted to be with me, I just couldn't resist. I kissed her. She asked me to stay and I did. Now I feel like such an ass. I told her I wouldn't break things off with Natalie. I really didn't mean to hurt Natalie, it just happened."

"It didn't just happen, you made it happen. You could have walked away."

"Thanks, Scor. That really helps." Al shook his head. "I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll die in my sleep and I won't have to see either of them tomorrow."

"That's the spirit." Scopius had told him as they walked up to their rooms.

The following morning he woke up, went to have a shower, dressed, and met back up with Al to go down to the Hall. He felt bad for him, even if he was an idiot. When they walked into the Great Hall, it was obvious the entire school knew what had happened. half the room was staring at Al, while the other half whispered in their ears. Scorpius looked over at the Gryffindor table to see Celia. She squeezed between Abby and Rose staring down into her plate. They walked over to sit across from them.

"How bad is it?" He asked as they sat down.

"Natalie had a little scene, but other than that it's just whispers."

"They'll have something else to talk about tomorrow, Celia, try to just get through the day." He tried to encourage her, but if he knew that the something else was going to be him and Rose, he probably would have just kept his mouth shut.

"I'm sorry." Al told her and she tried to smile at him. "I'll ask her to back off."

"It's not your fault." She told him, but Al didn't believe her. It was his fault.

After breakfast he went to Muggle Studies and Rose went to History of Magic. They kissed briefly before parting and she told him she would be in the Library during break. He joined her there and they worked on homework. They went to Potions together, and then ate a pretty quiet lunch with their friends. Al and Celia were both having horrible days and try as they might no one could really cheer them up. After lunch Scorpius suggested they go to his room over break, which they did most Fridays, but Rose told him she was swamped with work that week and needed to go to the Library again. This was the first time Scorpius thought something might be wrong. Rose loved the library, but she'd never skipped their Friday escape to his room to spend time alone.

"Red." He leaned in and kissed the spot in front of her ear. "Are you all right?"

"Yea, I'm sorry. We can have some time alone after dinner?" She suggested and he nodded and left her to her studies.

During dinner Scorpius sat with Al at the Slytherin table. "So, how'd it go?" He asked Al, who shrugged.

"Natalie won't talk to me. I tried to talk to her about leaving Celia alone. Her problem should be with me, not her. Everyone else thinks I'm a huge jerk also, so all in all the day was not so hot." Scorpius looked around the table, no one was really paying attention to them.

"How about Celia?" He asked in a low voice.

"I don't know." Al responded equally quiet. "I think I should probably give Natalie some time to recover before I walk around snogging Celia."

"Yea, you're right." Scorpius told him, and looked over at Rose. She was talking to Abby and Celia and seemed sad. He was really starting to worry. He considered asking Al if he knew what was wrong, but decided against it. His friend had a difficult day as it was. He didn't need to worry about nothing.

After dinner, Scorpius met Rose by the Gryffindor table. "Ready?" He asked holding out his hand.

Rose nodded and gave her friends a weak smile. "I'll see you guys later." She told them, before taking Scorpius' hand and walking with him toward the dungeons.

"So, did you have a good day?" He asked her.

"It was long. Yours?"

"It was okay. I feel bad for Al and Celia."

"Me too. Natalie was so awful this morning. She called Celia a slut in front of half the school."

"Why didn't you guys tell us at breakfast?"

"Celia doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. She feels horrible about what happened."

"Al wants to be with her. He thinks it's best to give it some time though."

"I agree. Natalie has been hurt enough." They walked into the Slytherin common room and noticed Natalie immediately. She was surrounded by her girlfriends, including Rose' cousins Lucy and Roxanne. She wasn't crying, but it seemed like she had been recently.

Rose felt her stomach drop at the sight of her tear stained face. Was Scorpius going to cry? Was he going to be able to sleep? Was he going to be able to talk to her without feeling an intense pang of loss? She felt like a monster.

They walked up to his room and Rose dropped her bag on the floor while Scorpius put his on his desk. He removed his cloak and hung it in the closet. The he proceeded to change into jeans and a t-shirt. This wasn't anything strange. Scorpius always changed when they spent the evening in his room. Rose took her cloak off and laid it with her bag.

"Come here." Scorpius asked. His voice was husky and sexy. Rose moved over to him and let him trail kisses down her chin. "I love you." He told her in that same voice. It made her want very much to lay on his bed and let herself get lost in him, but his words were like a dagger through her heart. He moved towards his bed and they sat next to each other. Scorpius put a hand into her curly red hair and pulled her towards him He kissed her softly and bit her lip teasingly. He felt something wet touch his lips and pulled back. She was crying.

"Red? What's wrong?"

"I…" She didn't know what to say. She wanted to just keep pretending, keep giving him hope, but the longer this went on, the more it would hurt him. "I need to tell you something." She grabbed his hand and held it tightly. "I can't do this anymore. I love you, as a friend. That's it."

Scorpius just stared.

He knew this was it.

He had known all day if he really wanted to be honest with himself.

She was ending it.

Forever.

"Okay." He told her, trying to hold himself together, trying to make his heart stop pounding.

"Okay?" She asked, letting go of his hand. "That's it?"

"What do you want me to say Rose? You never wanted to be with me. I was living on borrowed time." He stood up and walked over to the door. "I think you should go." He opened it and waited, he could hear the pounding in his ears now, it was deafening. How could she not hear it?

"Scorpius, please, don't be like this." She stayed put on his bed, refusing to move.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked her, he stared, willing her to move away from the bed and to leave. He wasn't going to last much longer before he lost it.

"Just shut the door, come talk to me." Scorpius looked into the empty hallway and then shut the door. He moved back over to the bed and sat next to her.

"I'm so sorry." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck. He breathed in her scent and held her closer. Would this be the last time he held her? She pulled back, still holding him, and leaned her forehead against his. "I wanted to fall in love with you." She said softly and he needed to kiss her. He couldn't let their last kiss be overshadowed by her tears. He kissed her, pushing her down onto his bed. He laid over her pressing his body against her, his tongue slid into her mouth and she grabbed his shirt, holding him onto her. Scorpius freed his hands from behind her back and began to slide them up her sides. She arched into him with a soft sigh. He moved his hands again to her vest buttons and began to pull them apart.

Rose turned her head away from his kisses and grabbed his hands with hers. "No," she was breathing heavy, her chest was expanding and he could see the very tops of her breasts. He longed to finish unwrapping her and taste her nipples again. "We can't do this." She told him.

"Why?" His voice was as rough as hers.

"Because I just broke up with you."

"Technically, we were doing this before we were dating."

"Scorpius, don't you think this will hurt you more than anything?" She pulled herself out from under him and tried to fix her hair.

"I just want you." He told her.

"I know." She left the bed and picked up her bag and cloak. Rose grabbed the door handle and turned back to him. "I really am sorry." She told him, and then she was gone and he was left lying in his bed alone. His entire body still ached for her, but the growing pain in his chest was the worst.

The next day was Saturday. When Scorpius went down for breakfast he felt the whispers before he even reached the Hall. They were like knives sliding into his heart. He couldn't believe that everyone knew already.

How did they know already?

It had always amazed him how quickly word spread in this school. He saw people staring as he took his seat at the Gryffindor's table with Albus and Evan at either side of him. Because he had been so focused on the stares and whispers, it took him a few seconds to realize Rose wasn't there.

"Where is she?" He asked Abby and Celia, who shared a look, and then Abby said, "She's not feeling well."

"She was fine, what's wrong?" He was genuinely concerned. It wasn't like he'd stopped caring about her overnight. He was still in love with her and he wanted her to be okay.

Abby looked at Celia for help. "I don't think she slept last night." Celia told him. "She might just need the weekend to recoup."

"Recoup? This is what she wanted, isn't it?" He didn't understand. Rose wanted them to be over, why wouldn't she be sleeping?

"I think she's just worried about you." Abby said quietly, noticing that there were people trying to hear their conversation.

"Okay." He wasn't convinced, but he let it drop.

There were a few minutes of silence and then Al looked up at the fake snow falling from the ceiling. "I can't wait to practice in this." He groaned and Celia grinned. She knew that Al hated Quidditch in the winter, but it was part of the game.

"Come on, Mate, it's good for the soul. I love our practices in the snow. We'll be ice by the end of the day and then we can sneak a butterbeer from the kitchens, eh?" Evan suggested and Al cheered up slightly.

"Would you mind if I came to your practice?" Celia asked them.

"Uh…" Al looked at their friends uneasy and then shrugged. "Sure. It's just practice." The truth was he was terrified that Natalie would get the wrong idea and freak out. When he'd come into the common room last night and seen her surrounded by her friends he felt like dirt. He really didn't want to rush things with Celia, hoping that if he gave it some time Natalie might move on before he did.