Chapter Twelve: The Fury of Tears

The next morning found Scorpius scouring the castle for Rose. Lily had made it clear that withholding on their snogging sessions was not beneath her, leaving Scorpius with little choice in the matter. Swallowing his pride, which was almost nonexistent after the amount of groveling apologies he’d made in the last week alone, Scorpius went off in search of Rose, intending to apologize to her for what happened in Diagon Alley. Lily had been pestering him for days about it, even in the middle of a snogging session, until he felt that he had no choice. It was only her cutthroat insistence that he apologize to Rose that had him even considering such a thing, but he wasn’t about to risk upsetting the fiery witch he considered himself to be dating.

The minute his first class was out, Scorpius started off in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower, wanting to catch Rose on her own before she could disappear to her next class as she had when he’d tried approaching her in the Great Hall at breakfast. He rounded the corner and caught sight of the girl he was looking for standing at the top of one of the spiral staircases, shouting at the girl in front of her who was trying not to cry. Scorpius felt his chest constrict in anger as he realized it was Lily on the verge of tears, struggling to interrupt her cousin and apologize even as Rose lashed out at her.

“Rose, I didn’t know! How was I supposed to when you didn’t tell me?”

“Don’t be an idiot, Lily! Your being a little thick in the head is hardly an excuse for how you’ve been acting around him, clinging to him every minute! Especially now, with the two of you always sneaking off together!”

“How is that any of your business?” Lily demanded harshly, “You never even told him that you felt anything!”

“I certainly did, not that that’s any concern of yours!” Rose snapped, “What were you thinking, hanging around with him all holiday?”

“That’s hardly our fault, Rose! You never came!”

“And I’m sure the two of you just loved that!”

Cursing under his breath, Scorpius started up the staircase, determined to separate the two girls, wanting to shield Lily from her cousin who was raging before her.

“Nothing happened between us!” Lily swore. “I didn’t even kiss him until after we got back to school!”

“Oh, but he kissed you, didn’t he? That day in the Alley!”

“Enough, Rose!” Scorpius cut in, moving protectively in front of Lily, his silver eyes narrowed as he glared at the Ravenclaw girl. “You’d do best to keep your voice down!” he hissed.

“What’s wrong, Scorp? Afraid of causing another scene?” Rose spat.

“I’d rather avoid another, yes,” he bit out.

Rose laughed suddenly, the sound harsh and cruel. “Oh, that’s just rich coming from Scorpius Malfoy! You certainly weren’t afraid of that outside of Fortescue’s! What you did then was despicable!” she sneered.

Scorpius clenched his jaw, quick to seize Lily’s hand before she could dart out from behind him to his defense, keeping her separated from her cousin instead. Glancing around at the curious students passing them by, Scorpius fixed Rose with a narrowed glare, speaking quietly under his breath. “Why can’t you just let this drop, Rose?”

“I don’t see why I should.”

“You’re being unreasonable. I’m sorry for hurting you but…”

“Hurting me?” Rose exclaimed, laughing bitterly. “You have no idea how I felt that day!” she snapped, eyes flashing. Scorpius clenched his jaw, at a loss for words when Lily cut in to defend him.

“He’s apologized; why can’t you accept that?”

Rose rounded on her younger cousin, furious. “He made a fool of us both and here you are defending him because a few snogging sessions changed your mind!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“He kissed you and you just let him!” Rose screamed, somewhat unhinged. “Didn’t you think about my feelings at all?”

“I said I didn’t know!”

“Bollocks!”

“That kiss didn’t mean anything!” Lily cried, “Rose, I swear, nothing had happened before that!”

“It’s certainly happening now, though, isn’t it? I can’t believe you, Lily! You did all of this, always flirting with him! This is entirely your fault!” she screamed even as Scorpius forced himself between them once more, grabbing Lily’s wrist and starting to haul her away before the fight could escalate. Struggling to free herself from him, Lily slapped at his shoulder in anger, only serving to anger him further.

“Let it go, Lily!” he demanded but she paid him no attention, still shouting.

“Of course it’s my fault, Rose! It’s both of our faults! Me and Scorpius!” Lily cried as Scorpius tried to pull her away. His arms were now around both of her shoulders so that she was forced to twist around in his arms, her voice rising in pitch. “Did you think snogging was a one-way street? I thought you were supposed to be intelligent!”

Rose screamed in frustration and rounded on the younger girl, her face red and furious. “How dare you! How dare you throw that in my face after everything you’ve done to take him away from me!”

“I haven’t done a thing! Neither have you, Rose! You want to blame someone, blame yourself!” Lily shouted.

“Don’t you pin this on me, Lily! You never even liked him! You’ve let all of this spin out of control and all because you have mummy issues!”

Lily’s temper suddenly snapped, furiously untangling herself from Scorpius who was trying his damndest to keep a level head. He reached for Lily but she pushed him away, “Back off, Scorpius!” she shouted, rounding on Rose. “My mother has nothing to do with this!”

“Of course she does! You just can’t accept that your life isn’t the perfect fairytale everyone thought it was! You’ve done nothing but trail after Scorpius since the day you found out about his father!”

“Shut up, Rose,” Scorpius warned, his silver eyes flashing dangerously.

“How does it feel, Lily? Being so unable to trust your own parents that all you can do is to try and ruin everyone else!”

“SHUT UP!” Lily shrieked, angry tears welling up in her eyes. “You think I have issues? You’re so afraid of what your parents think that you can’t even muster up the slightest bit of courage! You blame me for kissing him, but at least I’m not pining after him like you are! What? Are you too afraid to tell your family and risk growing a spine?” Lily retorted, her anger finally getting the best of her.

Furious, Rose suddenly drew her hand back and slapped the younger girl across the face, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from her.

Scorpius lunged forward to steady Lily as she stumbled back, his arms tightening protectively around her. She was still clutching at her stinging cheek, her eyes wide in shock as tears began spilling down her cheeks, Rose covering her mouth in horror. Enraged, Scorpius only glared up at Rose, his blood pounding in his ears. Releasing Lily, he suddenly stalked forward, seizing Rose by her shoulders and shoving her back. “You little bitch!” he snarled, his silver eyes flashing in cold rage.

“I didn’t mean to!” she cried in a small voice.

Scorpius growled under his breath and shoved her up against the wall, his entire body shaking in fury as his fingers left bruises on her wrists.

“Scorpius, stop it, you’re hurting me!”

“You’re lucky I’m not wringing your filthy neck!” he hissed.

“Let go of me!” Rose cried, pushing back against him and sobbing. “I hate you!”

Scorpius glared at the cowering girl and in that moment, he honestly didn’t know if he would have released her or not. He was never given the chance to find out before there was a strangled shout from behind him.

“Get your hands off my sister, Malfoy!”

Scorpius turned around just as a blur of red ran towards him, a fist shooting forward and slugging him.

*

Two equally furious parents came barreling through the main doors of Hogwarts, anger rolling off their shoulders as they stalked into the school and up the Entrance Hall steps towards the Hospital Wing. The redheaded witch fixed the man at her side with a cool glare, determinedly not speaking to him, though he held no such reservations.

“Where’s your husband, Ginevra? Does he leave the school fights up to you to handle or does he just not want to be involved in another of your daughter’s public indiscretions?” he sneered.

“You’re one to talk, Draco, seeing as your son was the one to resort to Muggle dueling!” she snapped angrily, lifting the folds of her deep blue robes to mount the staircase that led to the Hospital Wing.

Draco Malfoy’s grey eyes danced with amusement as he matched her progress step for step up the marble stairs. “Careful, Ginevra, wouldn’t want to lose your temper and slip. I’d hate to have to carry you to the Hospital Wing to get yourself patched up before we even get the chance to properly punish our children.”

Her lips twitched in spite of herself, casting him a sidelong glance. “That would be a shame considering your fondness for disciplining your son in such,” she pursed her lips, “interesting ways.”

Draco smirked to himself. “I take it you received my flowers.”

Her cheeks flushed slightly but Ginny held her head high as she continued to mount the stairs. “The tulips were lovely, thank you.”

“You're welcome,” he answered smoothly, quickly changing the subject back to the matter at hand with a lazy drawl. “Any ideas how a catty argument involving your daughter ended up sending my son to the hospital wing, Ginny?”

Ginny sent him a withering glare and snapped back a rude retort that made his eyebrows rise, smirking slightly as both of them reaching the Hospital Wing at the same time. Draco held the door open for her with a sarcastic expression and she swept inside, glaring back at him.

“Well, if isn’t Draco Malfoy,” a voice spat as they entered the wing, Hermione Weasley standing over her son Hugo’s bedside and glaring at Draco, her arms crossed over her chest. “At the bottom of awful situations as usual.”

“I don’t see how your son is innocent in this situation either, Granger…Weasley,” he corrected himself, casting a glance at the fifth year boy who was sporting a broken nose but looked considerably proud of himself nonetheless. Seeing the nurse, Ginny left Draco’s side and went to speak with her and found out that Lily and Rose were still in the back office working things out, leaving Draco to deal with the bushy-haired witch and her son. Draco followed the younger boy’s line of sight and caught sight of his own son, sitting up in one of the hospital beds across from him. Scorpius’ lip was split and the black eye he had was rapidly swelling; overall, he looked like he had swallowed something sour.

“Shame you didn’t teach your son to stay out of fistfights, Malfoy,” Hermione called. Draco spun around to glare at her, his eyes falling on her son instead. Hugo actually looked much better for the fight, a fact that left Draco disconcerted considering how much younger he was than Scorpius. He could almost see the motherly pride in Hermione’s eyes as she observed him with a cool smirk. Vindictive witch.

“I see your son has inherited his father’s bad temper,” he said coolly.

“And yours has his father’s weak right hook,” Hermione smirked.

Draco bit back the desire to hex the woman and instead turned to his son, demanding to know what happened. Scorpius glanced away, muttering that Rose had struck Lily and then fell silent.

Draco waited for his son to continue, but he didn’t and he felt his anger simmer to a fine boil, entirely fed up with his son. “Oh, and did she give you that shiner as well or are you going to finish the story?” he demanded.

Without meeting his father’s eyes, Scorpius muttered, “I shoved her.”

Draco’s eyes narrowed and he grabbed his son, tugging him towards the back office where the two girls’ muffled voices could be heard through the door. “You idiot boy,” he hissed, dragging his son forward and banging on the office door, “I did not raise you to ever raise your hand to a woman! You’re going to apologize to the girl. You should be good at it now after all the practice you’ve had of late.” Draco released his son, intending to knock on the door a second time when there was a sudden bang, like a wand going off.

Draco ripped the door open and swore under his breath upon finding Lily on the floor, hand to her face and crying. Rose was standing over her with her wand raised, having just hexed her. “You’re just like your mum,” Rose snarled, voice thick with tears. “Don’t know what you want, so you just ruin everything for everyone else.” The room went completely quiet and Rose froze, looking up to see her unexpected audience, Lily still lying on the ground, dissolving into tears.

Scorpius growled in fury and lunged forward but his father hauled him back, shouting at him. “Stop it, Scorpius, stop it already!” he roared, yanking his son back to keep him from attacking Hermione’s daughter. Draco shot a cold glare at Hermione, who was staring at her daughter in utter shock, a hand clamped over her mouth. “Maybe you ought to be more worried about your own children before ridiculing mine!” Draco sneered at her.

Rose stood still as a stone, silent tears streaking down her cheeks.

Draco quickly moved to help Lily up but she flinched back from him, determinedly pushing herself up instead. She glared up at Rose, tears in her eyes but she held her chin up, her lower lip trembling. “I’m nothing like any of you. Least of all, you, Rose.”

“At least I can sleep at night.” Rose bit back.

“Shut up!” Scorpius roared at her, fighting to get past his father only to be pushed back again.

Rose turned on him, fuming. “Go ahead! Defend her; you’re just as awful! Did either of you know these two are snogging every spare minute in the empty corridors?” she shouted to the two parents.

Draco stared at his son in shock and Ginny’s eyes flew wide, staring back and forth between Scorpius and her daughter.

Scorpius clenched his jaw, his silver eyes narrowed as turned his back on Lily’s mother, glaring at his father instead. “What, we’re not allowed to make our own decisions, or are you just afraid we’re repeating yours?” he demanded coldly.

Ginny sucked in a breath, her head whipping towards Rose who paled considerably, glancing fearfully at her aunt. Ginny opened and closed her mouth for a few moments, hardly able to speak, her throat suddenly bone dry. She turned to her daughter. “Lily?” she choked, her face stricken.

Lily stared at her mother with tear-filled eyes, her throat closing up and her breathing shallow. Ginny shook her head from side to side, taking a step back in horror, tears silently sliding down her cheeks. “Please, no,” she whispered.

Lily averted her eyes, her lower lip trembling when she inhaled sharply, on the verge of tears once more. She brought a trembling hand up to stifle a choked sob and suddenly bolted from the room, fleeing the hospital wing. “Lily, listen to me, please!” Ginny cried, trying to snatch her daughter’s sleeve as she ran past.

Lily ripped away from her, shouting past her thick tears and losing her composure. “Just leave me alone!” she shouted, her voice breaking. She ran out of the room, her mother rushing after her. Ginny shouted her daughter’s name as she raced out into the corridor, skidding to an abrupt halt and glancing in both directions at a loss, her tears blurring her vision.

Scorpius finally pushed past his father with a low growl and ran after Lily, running past her mother who was staring after them, shaking and sobbing incoherently as she began to sink to the ground crying.

Draco ran up behind her, his arms curling around her and supporting her before she could collapse entirely, whispering fiercely in her ear as he tried to hold her up. “Ginny? Ginny? Pull yourself together!” he ordered, his hands clenching around her.

Ginny shook her head back and forth, staring down the hallway and sobbing brokenly in his arms, the only physical support she had anchoring her. “No, no… Oh my God! No!”

Rose blinked several times from where she still stood, a buzzing in her ears as her aunt fell to pieces in front of her eyes, guilt gnawing at her insides so that she couldn’t look away.

“Rose, what on earth happened?” Hermione demanded in a worried voice, shaking her daughter’s shoulders though Rose still could not look away.

“I promised not to tell…” she barely whispered, watching with horror as her aunt crumpled in Malfoy’s arms, still sobbing in the corridor.

Author notes: I know, please don't be haters... Everyone still gets their happy ending, even if it doesn't look that way now. ;) Please leave me a review!