Rubies & Emeralds (Scorose Fanfic)

XIX: Friends... Without Benefits

WARNING: THIS HAS BEEN SHABBILY PROOFREAD. 

Scorpius found Charles sitting amidst three girls and one boy: One boy and girl on his right and two girls on his left. He looked up with an easy smile when he saw Scorpius approaching but his smile dropped when he noticed Scorpius' expression. He said, "Ladies, if you'll excuse me." 

"Charles---" 

"You're a lady too, Jer. In a way." He said to Jeremiah, another Slytherin, and then rose to follow Scorpius out of The Three Broomsticks. Once outside, Scorpius narrated the incidents, grappling more and more with words as he tried to sound as if he hadn't done anything wrong. Once he was done, Charles took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then smacked Scorpius' head. 

"Ow! What was that for!" Scorpius said, glaring at Charles and rubbing the back of his head. 

"That was for being an arse and not telling Weasley about Evie. You could have just told her about the letters." 

"And had Evie hexed into oblivion?"

"You know that there's the slight chance of that not happening since she's in Beauxbatons, don't you?" 

"That's not the point. The point is, if Rose ever comes to my house, she'll find out Evie lives next door and get jealous and kill her. I don't want blood on my hands." He added the last part in an undertone and earned himself another smack on the head from Charles. Scorpius glared and rubbed his head again. Then he said, "So what should I do now?" 

"I don't know!" 

"But you're a ladies' man!" 

"Yes but the difference is, when I'm with a girl, I'm not writing love letters to another girl."

"Instead you're doing one at the back of the library." 

"Shut up! That's not true either! It's just one of the rumours I'd like to be true." He said and Scorpius rolled his eyes at him. Then he said, despairing, "What am I going to do?" 

"You could start by telling the truth. It won't be easy, but you could."

"I could do a lot of things. That doesn't mean I want to."

"Well you don't really have a choice right now, do you?" Charles said, looking at Scorpius with a matter-of-fact look. Scorpius sighed and nodded. He knew that he had to talk to her. And explain himself.

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Scorpius found Rose sitting in the common room with a book. But he could tell that she wasn't actually paying attention to what she was reading because her eyes just stared at the page. Then she would turn the page and stare at the same spot on the new page. Scorpius said, "Rose?" She jumped, brought out of her thoughts, and looked at him before putting down the book and getting up to leave. He said, "Rose! Come on! Surely we can talk about this like adults!"

"What's there to talk about? You were exchanging love letters with someone and I found out. That's all there is to it, isn't there?"

"No! There is so much more to that! Please... just listen. Just five minutes. I swear." Scorpius said and Rose thought about it for a second. Then she sat down, saying, "Fine. But only five. I have things to do like paint a picture of you bleeding to death." Scorpius detected the hint of a smile on her face and relaxed considerably. Then he said, "Do you want to sit or---"

"I'm fine. Thanks." She said with a tone of finality. He nodded and, after having a mini internal debate about whether or not to sit, he decided to stand. Then he said, "Her name's Evie. She was my first girlfriend. Well first proper girlfriend. It was just a summer thing. We were neighbours and knew that it would only last for the summer. She---"