Here We Go Again

Chapter 23: Stubborn Love

POV: Scorpius

Bang. Bang. Bang.

This was not my week.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

This was not my bloody month now that I come to think of it. It has been one mess after another. I should have seen it happening and done something to avoid it. Instead, like the damn right idiot that I am, I watched it clutter together and then snowball out of control.

It was all my fault.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Oi, mate!" Entering the empty Transfiguration classroom, Lucas Zabini shook his head at me when he saw me splattered over my desk. "Keep hitting your head that way and you are going straight to the Hospital Wing with a concussion. That won't excuse you from the Potions exam we have tomorrow."

I frowned at him, my left cheek glued to the surface of the desk. "It's not about the exam."

"Then?"

I frowned harder.

"Oh." He cleared his throat as he carefully walked over to me. Beside me, as if they were composed to be another person, Zabini picked up one of the many books I had brought in from the library and that were piled on my bench. "What are you trying to find in these books, mate? I doubt there is an answer of why you snogged Madison Mulciber in here." If my eyes could shoot fire Zabini would be ashes on the ground. "Honestly, The Secrets and Riddles of the Human Mind won't help you. You already know what happened."

I rose up into a full sitting position and yanked the book from his hands. "I fucking know that, Lucas! But how the hell am I going to explain this to—Argh!" I stopped my rant to throw the book across the room. It landed with a thud that knocked down a goblet on the professor's desk.

Zabini rolled his emerald eyes at me. "Malfoy, that girl bewitched you. It's that simple. Tell Rose what happened, tell her that Mulciber used Amortentia on you and she will believe you. Mulciber is a foul creature, mate. Rose wouldn't doubt it for a second."

I slammed my left fist on the surface of my desk. "I don't want to believe that Madison did that to me, Zabini. How could I? We're friends. If I go doubting her I'll be just like everyone else in this bloody castle that thinks the worst of her."

My fellow Slytherin scoffed. "What would you rather believe, then, mate? That you are sincerely so enthralled with Mulciber that your hormones were incredibly out of control that you had to snog her? Come on, Malfoy! Wake up and smell the deceit, she potion-ed you right up!"

I banged my forehead against the desk again. "It honestly is impossible for me to see another girl that is not Rose. No one has ever—in the history of me being a bloke—appealed to me the way that my girlfriend has!"

"There was Emily. For a bit, you saw her."

We looked at each other, Zabini and I, and we were both reflecting the same miserable gaze.

"I'm sorry, mate. I shouldn't have brought her up," mumbled Zabini, looking apologetic as he ran a hand through his curls. "You know I've never been one to think things through before I say them."

I shook my head slowly. "No, it's fine. You're right anyway." I inhaled deeply, the image of a comatose girl in my head. It hurt my heart. It pained me that she was laying in a room inside the castle, yet so far gone in her mind. "For a bit it was Emily. For a moment I thought she could be the one for me. Obviously, I needed to sort out my emotions to figure out how I felt for her, but...But she came close."

"My point, Malfoy, is that if there is anyone in this castle that could ever rob Rose from your attention, it's Emily. Mulciber could never come close to either of them. Sure, you befriended her and whatever, but that never stopped the fact that she is a bitch. She bewitched you, mate. That's the truth."

I groaned.

I was desperately trying to find something that would steer me away from that conclusion. I could not and did not want to accuse Madison Mulciber of such betrayal. Despite the hatred people in this castle have for her, I understood her. We understood each other. It wasn't a soul-touching thing, mind you, but it ran deep enough for friendship to sprout. We both bonded over the rejection and discrimination we had to face every day of our lives for being related to ex Death Eaters. We sympathized with each other—how could I accuse her of something so low?

"Listen, mate," Zabini spoke once more, this time squeezing my shoulder with his right hand. "You're a good bloke and everyone knows it. Rose knows it, too. She knows how much you love her. Hell, everyone in this bloody castle knows it. You earn my respect for being so torn about this. Not many blokes feel guilty about slipping."

I frowned, not at him, but at what he was saying. "You mean, like Al?"

Disappointment passed through his eyes. "He's an idiot if he thinks no one in Slytherin knows he's shacking up with that girl Ophelia. How can he do that to Nia, mate? Crazy as she is, she's an absolutely kind and loyal person. She doesn't deserve this."

"I know," I sighed. "I've tried talking to Potter about it, but the git is just not getting it. He doesn't listen to reason. I...I hope Liam finds out and breaks it to Harper. He's the only one, aside from Potter, that can tell her something so delicate."

"You're her friend, Malfoy. That's reason enough for you to tell her what Al is doing."

This time I did frown at him. "You're her friend, too, Zabini. You tell her."

"You're the one that knows everything. Potter doesn't tell me these things for a reason, Malfoy. He knows that I love everyone too much to let it proceed the way that it is. But I have suspicions and I hear rumours. You, on the other hand, have seen it. You owe it to Nia as a friend to let her know."

Bang. Bang.

"I can't handle this right now," I hissed as I smacked my head against the desk once more.

Bang. Bang.

"—Oi, what's going on in here?"

Fuck you, Merlin. Fuck you to the fiery depths of hell.

Cringing and damning the Father of Magic for the cruel joke of fate, I slowly picked up my head and turned to look at the door where the new, feminine voice was coming from. There she was, Madison Mulciber, smiling bright and her eyes focused only on me.

I had summoned my demon.

"What are you doing here?" I asked with a lot more animosity than should have been required.

She seemed not to hear it. "We've got a tutoring session tonight, Scorpius. It's for that Potions exam tomorrow, remember?"

"I sent you a note in the morning," I replied. "I can't do it tonight."

She looked puzzled. "Then why are you here surrounded by books?"

"Did you not get my note?" I frowned.

Clearing his throat, Zabini said hastily, "I'm going to dinner. See you later, mate." And with that, he was off. Bastard left me alone with the girl he told me I should doubt.

Mulciber must have noticed my frown, but mistaken it for one of disappointment rather than a completely anguished one. "Not to worry," she said as she approached, swinging her schoolbag around to her front and unzipping it in the process. "I brought refreshments. I know you're worried about tomorrow's exam, and seeing as we might be here all night, I made sure we'd have something to eat."

She pulled out two chunks of something wrapped in cloths. I looked away from it and looked into her eyes. "I don't want to study."

"I know, but you need it."

"I don't want to study, Mulciber."

"Potions is not so difficult if you give it a chance," she continued, clearly not listening to me. She placed the food and her schoolbag on the counter of my desk. "In the book your father published, The Art of Potion-Making, the first two chapters are filled with tips on how to achieve accurate potions in the simplest methods. If you study these techniques you'll find yourself—"

"I don't want to fucking study!" And I lost it. "Don't you get it, Mulciber?! I don't want to sit in a classroom with you! I don't want to be around you! Take your books and leave me the hell alone!"

I stood from my seat in a harsh manner, knocking down the piled books next to me, hearing them fall and scattered around the girl's feet. My eyes found hers and in their reflection I could see the cruel silver of the Malfoy genes burning in my orbs. My hands shook with anger and desperation.

She looked so tiny now.

"I'm sorry," I breathed, somehow remorse finding its way past my walls. "I didn't...I'm sorry, Madison. I just can't be around you right now. I need you to go."

She waited a few moments before speaking. "This is because of the kiss, right?" I cringed and she noticed. "You're such a loyal boyfriend, Scorpius. Look at you, you're so tortured and unstable about it. One kiss with another girl and that charming personality gets replaced with an unhinged man."

"I love Rose with all my heart, Madison."

"I know you do," she replied as she reached for my hand and squeezed it. "It took several attempts of Amortentia to have you crack." An evil took upon her eyes and she sunk her sharp nails into the skin of my wrist.

Her nails held on tighter as I attempted to pull my wrist from her clutch. "Are you fucking serious?" I hissed. "We're friends, Madison! Why would you do that to me?! I trusted you!"

"That's your fault," she hissed back. "You see the consequences of hanging around with those half-bloods? They've clouded your judgment! Just because they see rainbows and unicorns everywhere does not mean you should, too. Wake up, Malfoy!"

"I'm done with you!" I pulled my arm, and by the sting, I was sure she drew blood and ripped the first layer of skin right off.

She cackled. "No, I'm done with you! You served a purpose, Malfoy! You were just a pawn in this, while little Rose Weasley is the target. She thought she could look down on me, pity me, make me feel like less...But I'm going to knock her off her broom. I'm going to enjoy watching her cry and push you away. She is never going to be happy again, I've made sure of that."

Gathering her schoolbag, the evil Ravenclaw bitch headed out of the classroom.

Apparently I didn't need all the magical books around me. What I was going to need were muggle tools: a bible, a cross, and holy water.

                                                                           XXXXXX

"She's mental! Absolutely bonkers. Insane. Loopy. Nutters. St. Mungo's escapee. Deranged. Crazy. Psychotic. Barmy. Berserk. Demented. Cuckoo—"

"Yes, I get it, Potter. Madison Mulciber is off her bloody rocker," I grunted as I had a frowning competition with the face reflecting off my friend's green eyes. "Now that that's established, can we please come up with a plan to stop that hag before she ruins my relationship with your cousin?"

Sitting across from me on the chunk of cement that the Gamekeeper calls a bench, Al pulled out one of his muggle sticks of fire from its box, put the box back into his robes pocket, and then he lit it with his wand. He placed the cigarette between his lips, inhaled, locked eyes with me, and then exhaled the smoke out his nostrils. "Mate, Rose and Mulciber have been on horrible terms with each other since the first year of Hogwarts. She'll never believe anything that comes out of her mouth. You're in the clear."

Waving away the smoke his stick was producing, I frowned at him. "I am not in the clear! Rose is going to butcher me when Mulciber talks to her! I have to find a way to stop that bloody Ravenclaw!"

"Ah, so we're talking about silencing her, then?" He drew another puff of his cigarette. "Lure her to the third floor. It's still abandoned, since people think it's haunted or whatever, and then we can Avada Kedavra her. Of course, you'll have to kill her, but I'll help you dispose of the body. Murder is in your genes and loyalty is in mine, so you know we'll succeed in this."

Frowning more than I've had for the past week, I leaned forward and punched Potter right on the chest and with all my strength. He wheezed and choked on his nicotine at the same time.

"Oi!" He coughed roughly. "It was a fucking joke!"

"It's not a fucking joke!" I yelled out him. The unsuspecting sound sent crows flying away from the patch of vegetables we were sitting by. "My relationship is on the line, Albus! I cheated on Rose! Do you know how terrible I feel?!"

His entire face was red and his eyes were throwing daggers at me, but he contained his anger. He extended his cigarette to me. "Take it. It'll relax you," he said passively.

I looked at the white stick with disdain but took it anyway. I'd try anything that would get me to calm down for a moment. I just needed a second of clarity to get the facts straight. I mimicked what I'd seen Al do several times with it. The smoke burned my throat and I started coughing.

Potter smirked.

"Look," he spoke through his clear amusement, "you're making a storm in a goblet of water, mate. Rose hates Mulciber, Mulciber hates Rose—it's that simple. You don't have to say anything because anything that comes out of Mulciber's mouth Rose will immediately categorize as a lie."

I tried the cigarette one more time a little more cautiously. One puff, then I immediately spit the smoke back out. "But Rose warned me from the beginning about her, Al. And even if she didn't believe Mulciber, I still cheated on her. I can't live with that."

"Yeah, well, you're going to have to, mate," Potter replied as he took back his muggle stick. Before he took a puff from it, however, he said, "Don't worry about it. Eventually it's not going to bother you and then you can get on with your relationship as normally as before. Right now, though, you're letting it screw you over, Malfoy. You haven't spoken to Rose in three days—not that she's noticed because of the whole Emily thing, but eventually she will. Just let it go."

Un-bloody-believable. "Let it go?" I repeated. "That's your advice?"

He shrugged.

"Fucking lovely, Potter." I stood up from the bench. "You're horrid at relationships, you know? It's not bloody wonder you're throwing yours down the drain."

He stood, too. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means, you dunderhead! You've been rendezvousing with Ophelia De la Cruz all over the Slytherin Common Room! Everyone bloody sees it, and you're an idiot if you think no one is ever going to tell Nia about it. How can you not feel a little remorse and tell her about it?! Better yet, why the hell don't you ditch De la Cruz and fix things with Nia before you muck things up?!"

"This isn't about me!" shouted Potter. "And whatever I do with Ophelia or Nia is by business, not yours!"

"—Oi!" Before I could snarl back all the frustration and anger I had built up inside me, some related to Al, a thick mane of blue hair, worried grey eyes, and pale face appeared from behind my best friend. "What's this, lads?"

Al's furious green eyes turned from me to look at his older, adoptive brother. "Nothing," he said through his teeth. "We were just talking."

Teddy scoffed. "Yeah, because that's how two best friends talk with each other. And what the hell are you doing with that?" He took the cigarette from his brother's fingers and tossed it on the ground. As his foot smashed it, he took the opportunity to smack Al upside the head. "If Mum finds out that you're smoking these and she will neuter you, Al."

Al let out a humorless, mocking laugh.

Teddy stared at him with an unimpressed gaze. "I'm serious. Go freshen up and head to the Headmistress' office. Mum's there waiting for you, Lily, and James."

Without a word or another glance to us, Teddy and I watched Potter stalk his way out of the hidden crook by the trees of the grounds and towards the populated area.

I sat back down on the block of cement and the older wizard did the same.

"Something's up with him, huh?"

"Just being a proper prick, is all."

Teddy fixed those silver eyes on me and studied away for a silent moment. Before I could excuse myself, because I just did not want to be around people at the moment, he asked, "what is it with you? Girl troubles?"

"How'd you know?"

"It's nothing with the family, I know that much. Victoire and I had breakfast with Narcissa and your parents yesterday morning and they're in perfect condition. I know Emily still hasn't woken up, but James told me you were the last one to visit her last night and that he heard you mumbling something about Rose. Clearly you need a pair of ears to talk about her, but you're best friend is currently not available."

I sighed. "Not to mention my other best friend is currently busy being a git."

"That's why you've got a cousin," he said with a smile as he slapped my back and then wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Tell me all about it, Scor."

Inhaling a bubble of morning air, I decided to take the plunge. Maybe Teddy could be the one with the answer I desperately needed to fix the mess I got myself into. "I messed things up with Rose," I said sadly. "There came a moment when I should've trusted her, you know? When I should have listened to her words of caution, but instead I ran off and did what she told me not to. I chose her over someone else, Ted. How could I do that?"

He looked slightly confused—granted, I didn't give him details to begin with—but he seemed to have found something to say, anyway. "Mate, relationships aren't perfect. I know you believe yours and Rose is, but it's not. You're going to disagree on things, you're going to argue, and occasionally either one of you is going to screw things up. That's just how it goes."

"I know I'm not perfect, Ted, but I try to be. I love Rose that much. I love her so much that I know she deserves perfection. I don't ever want to let her down or hurt her."

"Perfection doesn't exist, Scor," he said. "All you can do is show her how much you love her every day that you're with her and let her accept that; with flaws, mistakes and all." He pulled his arm from around my shoulder and continued talking. "Take Victoire and I, for example. When we first started dating..."

Whatever else he was saying, I stopped hearing it. He had raised his hand to run his fingers through his blue hair and a golden band around his finger glittered in the sunlight and caught my attention.

Teddy and Victoire's relationship was sort of like mine and Rose's. Just like them, Rose and I had known each other since we were children and grew up as platonic friends. Just like them, we had a connection that was obvious to the eye; a connection that most people saw developing into something more. Just like them, dating other people failed miserably because we only wanted to be with each other. Just like them, Rose and I loved each other more than anything in the world. And just like them, I knew that one day we'll be working on spending the rest of our lives together.

"...and she hexed me good! Of course, she was in the right. I was a complete asshole and deserved to be strung up by my—"

"You're brilliant, Ted!" I stood up again and took off running.

I heard him shouting for me, but I didn't turn back. Instead I ran and ran and ran. I ran past through the grounds, weaving through the students, until I saw the massive doors to the entrance of the castle.

My heart was beating uncontrollably, my lungs burned, but nothing could stop me.

"Careful, you idiot!" Accidentally shouldering past a Hufflepuff Fourth Year I knew to be Saar Finnegan's girlfriend, the Gryffindor snapped in protection mode.

"Sorry!" I called back, not looking at them as I made it through the doors and onto the main entrance.

I didn't know where I was going or where I needed to go, but all I did know was that I was scouting the sea of students for a particular redhead.

After running through the first two levels of corridors, after dodging Lucy Weasley and her brother Artie, even a secretive-looking Freddie, I found the exact redhead I was looking for. She was sitting at the bottom of a staircase with her arms wrapped around a crying James Potter.

Without stopping my sprint, I yanked Rose from her seat and onto her feet. She gasped loudly, startled and scared, but I didn't stop pulling her until I found an empty classroom and shoved her in.

"Are you insane?" She slapped my chest with her hands. "James needed me back there, Scorpius! I need to go back to—"

"Stop talking, Rose," I pleaded her through my heavy breathing. She raised her left brow at me, clearly getting upset, but I didn't allow her the time. With my right arm thrown around her waist, I pulled her towards me and looked straight into those hazel eyes that always melted my heart. My eyes flickered down to those shapely, red lips, and I could not help myself from kissing them.

She kissed me back tenderly. Her arms went around my neck and she pulled herself even closer to me.

Merlin, I love this witch more than anything.

"Rose," I breathed as I pulled away. My heart was beating wildly, my insides were filling with my love for her, that the upcoming words felt like water. "Rose, will you marry me?"