Leave Out All The Rest

Complexity of Emotions

Chapter Eighteen:  Complexity of Emotions

POV: Scorpius

Beside me, looking far more at peace than she has ever looked since knowing her, was Belinda. She lied with her head on my lap, dark eyes glowing the slightest bit of gold from the rare sunlight breaking past the grey clouds of the cold day.

When our lesson of Care of Magical Creatures had finished, I was packing up all of my things when I noticed her lingering behind. There was a shred of aggravation (that was typical for whenever Belinda Rookwood was around) in my chest, but there was more compassion. She had been keeping to herself since the Bogart incident -  the incident that made me look at her differently. As such, I encouraged Al and Lucas to go on without me (not that Al even cared, seeing as Evanna Nott had promised him a tutoring session in the library that he was too scared to not show up for) and I asked Belinda to take a walk with me.

This is how we ended up laying on the grass beneath my favorite willow tree like we were friends. 

And maybe now we were.

"You're cheery," she said to me with an eye roll but an amused laugh. 

"Well, it is Friday."

"Oh, so you and Potter have a date, then?"

I blinked at her, rolling my eyes as she laughed. She was not as funny as she thought she was. 

"Potter ditched me, actually. He's got a date with a Ravenclaw." I was not surprised by her shocked expression; I had looked the same two weeks back when Lucas had told me. 

"Let me guess," she said after the surprise wore off. "Nott."

"How'd you know?"

Belinda scoffed. "Please. She spent all of Care of Magical Creatures giggling at whatever he said, and we all know he's not funny. She also looks at him. She smiles when he does, worries when the professor asks him to feed the skrewts. It's all rather sickening."

"You got all that from these past couple of lessons?" I asked her.

"The problem is," she continued, "while Potter's reacting to the Ravenclaw nicely, his eyes always linger on that stupid bint called Nia Harper." She reached down to the grass, pulling out a blade. "I notice people," she added, looking up at me as I was sure I looked confused. "And you'd have to be blind not to know that Potter's bewitched with Harper."

I laughed. "When the hell did you become an expert in romance?"

Her cheeks flushed pink. "Shove off."

"It's just a question, no need to get your wand in a knot."

Belinda waited for her blush to settled before she let out a sigh. "If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell a single soul?

"Have a let you down so far?"

A frown creased between her brows. She was remembering the incident. She hated being vulnerable, I knew, but to me it was her being human. It showed me a side of her that's hidden beneath all her quips and attitude. It's what made me pull her into a hug, letting her cry into my shoulder...

Bullocks.

I was being to Belinda Rookwood what Emily was to me. I was making myself a person to trust, a person that would hear her out, and comfort her. 

Or maybe I was just trying to replace Emily.

"I'm betrothed," Belinda said, distracting me from the pang of guilt and grief that shocked my heart.