THORNS & VENOM | h.p.a.u

OBLIVIATE

Albus stood up, full attention. "You did what?"

For the first time in a long time, Scorpius saw the angry side of Albus.

"You kissed my little cousin?" he snarled. "I trusted you to look out for her. I only suggested Rose because I thought you'd look after her."

"I want to." Scorpius frowned. "But there's nothing I can do. She doesn't....want to be with me. She likes Lysander."

Albus paused at the sincerity in Scorpius' eyes, then sighed heavily. "Why?"

"I told her I wouldn't tell her what happened in fifth year, when I dropped her." Scorpius swallowed.

"And what exactly was that?" Albus said cautiously.

"That's what I want to tell you. You and Thea. She should be back soon."

Albus was full on Potter mode, the easy going Weasley side of him gone as he grabbed Scorpius' arm. "Did you hurt Ronnie?"

He thought about it for a moment before choking on his own words. "Yes, yes I did."

~

They all curled up near the Astronomy tower, each claiming a pillar for their own.

"So what is it?" Albus crossed his arms.

Thea swung her legs over the edge, grabbing the pillar for support. "I have a feeling this is really bad."

He pushed off his pillar opposite of Albus and paced around before returning to his spot.

"In the summer before fifth year, Rose and I were friends with benefits." he said quietly.

Albus sucked in a breath, but didn't say anything more, obviously waiting for him to continue.

"It started the second week I was at the Weasley's. We kept it a secret because we weren't sure of where we were going with it. We didn't want to risk judgement from both of our parents. You know my father never got along with her parents back in their Hogwarts years."

"What happened to you two?" Albus asked, the softness of his tone barely hiding the underlying layer of anger.

"We- we got into a fight. It was right after your birthday party. The Scamander twins came over. She- I thought she liked Lorcan, so I lashed out at her. I was jealous. Still am. Just seeing her with other boys drives me insane. She met with me outside the party tent. She wanted to end things between us. For good. Told me I was too possessive, controlling. I panicked."

He clenched his fist, tilting his head back in hope the tears would retreat.

"What did you do?" his best friend snarled. "What did you do?!"

"Oh Merlin." Thea breathed out. "You obliviated her didn't you?"

He barely caught the whimper before it escaped. "I tried to- to wipe her memory of the argument over Lorcan, her being mad at me. But instead I wiped everything that happened in the summer between us. So she thinks that I just stopped talking to her. And after what I'd done, I couldn't bare to speak to her. My bloody karma bit me in the ass when I realized it wasn't even Lorcan she was friendly with- it was Lysander. And with our history as lovers gone, I couldn't do anything to stop it."

Things were quiet. Then Albus threw a punch. It caught his jaw, the bone definitely fractured if not broken. "That's for my Ronnie." he said, a lethal look in his eyes.

Thea pressed a hand to Albus' chest, holding him back. "Behave."

She turned to me, no judgement in her eyes. Just...disappointment. "Did you tell her?"

Scorpius shook his head. "How could I? What would I say? I'm sorry I obliviated you?"

The Slytherin quidditch player glared at him. "Yeah, for starters. And explain the situation."

Albus shoved Thea's hand off of him. "Are you serious? Are you actually helping him get with Rose?"

Thea snapped at him. "I"m trying to help him make amends with himself. Look at him, Al. He's broken over this. He's your best friend."

He looked at Scorpius in distaste. "Yeah? Well she's my family."

Albus walked off without so much as a goodbye.

Scorpius slammed his head back against the pillar. "I'm an idiot."

"Yes, you are." Thea said firmly, casting an episkey to heal his jaw. "You need to apologize, not only to Rose, but to Albus."

The morning sun climbed higher into the sun as they stood in silence.

"Okay." he agreed shakily. "I'll tell Rose."

Thea smiled. "Good. Now... how was that kiss?"

His head jerked down to look at her incredulously. "You heard?"

"Albus told me as we were climbing the stairs. Was it worth it?"

He took the first step down the stairs. "Yeah. It definitely was. The way she looked at me, like I was the only one. Merlin, I didn't even know how to breathe. It was as if things went back to normal. But then she thought of Lysander and she pushed me away. The only condition for her to be with me is for me to tell the truth. But if I do, there's no guarantee she'll stay with me."

~

The dorm was empty. He'd knocked on Rose's room, but she didn't respond. Which meant either she was still ignoring him, or that she'd already moved out.

When he tried to enter her room, a force shoved him backwards. She had put a password on her room. As expected.

He sat down on the black leather couch. What was he going to do? Telling her would ruin them. Or whatever was left of them.

But it seems he didn't have a choice. Rose flew into the dorm, her eyes sheened with the glimmer of tears. He barely had time to soak in her beauty before she exploded at him.

"DID YOU OBLIVIATE ME?"