Vermilion (SCOROSE)

11. Thursday, November 2nd, 2022: In which I'm caught in a shitstorm: Part 2

Thursay, November 2nd, 2022, Later than late.

There he was.

Scorpius Malfoy.

He stumbled towards me like he was on a pathway swarmed with snakes. A childish smile played in his eyes and his cheeks were like a baby's, so impossibly pink that you had to pinch yourself to understand that the color was even possible.

I blinked twice to comprehend the spectable before me.

Was he drunk?

"There was a party!" He shouted into my ear, as if I couldn't hear him. "I left because some girl started snogging me against my will!"

He sounded exceedingly excited for someone who had just been molested by a random girl.

Then, he chuckled hysterically to himself, before his face changed completely and he was pouting. "I'm thirsty."

I sighed, not believing this was even happening to me. "Leave me alone."

I turned around, marching ahead against the snow, to where, I didn't know.

"Rosie, I forgive you for being a meanie to me today, you really hurt my feelings though."

I stopped in my tracks, and I didn't even realize that I had found drunk him so amusing until he cheered and exclaimed, "You look so pretty when you smile! How do you do that?!"

Holy Mother of Merlin.

Scorpius Malfoy was a completely different person when he was intoxicated.

I was containing the urge to burst out laughing, just the sight of him in such a vulnerable state warmed my heart...I wanted to squeeze him, and not with manual strangulation like usually, but by humane hugging. 

"You hurt my feelings," he repeated, pouting again like Hugo still does sometimes.

He looked so innocent. His eyes weren't dead, cold, burning with anger or arrogance or amusement or anything, he was Scorpius Malfoy. Right there, right then. In his most naked state, and do forgive the awkward word choice, but truly, all that occurred to me was that word again and again during that moment. Again, not in that way. By God. 

He didn't expect any attacks from me, all of his defenses and barriers were down. The rain colliding on to him just made the vulnerability even bolder, screaming to be noticed. The rain was so cold, zooming into my head like bullets. It danced atop both our heads before draining on to our faces. 

It started to dawn on me how much I'd really hurt him a few hours before then, by probably confusing him and playing games with him as if he were a toy. He considered me a mate, and I had just poked around carelessly, not understanding boundaries. I didn't consider the bloke a mate. I had no idea why he chose to stick around. 

We were two really awkward mates, and I wondered how from just three weeks ago till now I had gotten so close to him. I saw him every day and I talked to him every day now. And, not everything about him seemed to chew away at my insides anymore. He had been a pleasant surprise of a person. I mean, most people are just terrible when you spend more time with them and see who they actually are.

"I'm so sorry, Scorpius, I shouldn't have joked about something as ridiculous as that, I mean--"

Scorpius gasped before barking out, "DO YOU EVER REALIZE YOU'RE A COMPLETE BITCH BUT, LIKE, YOU DON'T MEAN TO BE BUT, LIKE, YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU'RE SO BLIND???"

My ears were ringing. Had he woken all of Scotland up, or just the northern bits?

God, this boy was going to land both our arses in a string of detentions.