Thorns: Rose and Scorpius Ch. 6

Chapter 6 - Scorpius

Lorna would not leave me alone. I was sick of her. I had been since the Quidditch celebration. I cursed Firewhiskey for around the hundredth time.
"Scoooooorpy!"
Bloody hell. Really? God has no mercy. I ran through the corridors, jumping and spinning around third years who--as they always are since third year seems to be the cranky year for all wizards, as far as I've seen--whined and muttered perfectly and purposefully audible insults at me. I ignored them. This was a matter far too serious to take time to retort.
"Hey, Scorpius!" someone called.
"Shut up! Shut up!"
I slid around corners and almost tackled Rose on one.
"Merlin, Scorpiu--!"
"Shut up!" I covered her mouth with my hand and dragged her through the corridor, receiving suspicious looks on the way. I gasped and grinned. My refuge. I ran toward the broom cupboard with all of my energy. Rose licked my hand.
"Ulgh! Why'd you do that?"
"Scorpius, what the hell--"
"Stop it! Stop saying my name!" My hand covered her mouth again, taking her by even more of a surprise. Ha. She didn't think I'd try it again.
I dragged her into the cupboard, shutting the door quickly while trying to be quiet (that should be an oxymoron). Rose screamed and shouted foul names at me into my hand. I pressed my hand harder.
"Shhhh! Blimey, Rose!" She shouted into my hand more in reply. I put my right hand over the other, trying to muzzle her.
"Ooh Scoooor--Scorpy…? Baby?" Ugh. I hated that nickname. Who the hell thinks they can add a "y" to every noun in the dictionary? It's not cute at all.
We waited in silence, finally. Rose was just staring at me in disbelief while I kept my hands on her mouth, staring at the cupboard door. I could hear Lorna's ridiculous heels click lightly on the floor. She was much too close to the door for me to be even remotely comfortable (it was possible to be comfortable in a broom cupboard).
I saw the shadow of her feet under the door. She turned, heels clicking again. I grimaced at the shadow to show my hatred for those shoes. Click! Click! Click! They were pure evil. She must have put her hand on her hip because one shoe just started tapping impatiently. I almost burst out the door just to take the shoes from her. The bell rang, and she clicked off down the corridor. Miraculous and perfectly timed coincidence: Rose and I have the same hour for studying (the staff decided not to dispose of studying hours after O.W.L.S., thanks to Professor McGonagall), which happened to be this hour.
I sighed in relief, removing my hands from her mouth. I looked at her, surprised by her silence. She just glared at me, and the glare turned into a smug smirk.
"What?" I lifted my hands in excuse.
"This is a first. The famous-for-his-uncanny-amount-of-girlfriends Scorpius is afraid of a girl!" She giggled and flashed one of her proud grins.
"I am not!" She didn't say anything, just kept that annoying smile on her face.
"I am not, Rose! R--Rose, I'm not--Rose, come on! Quit smiling at me! I--okay, but didn't you hear her?!"
"Hear what, Scorpy?" She giggled when she said it. "Scorpy." She laughed.
"Don't call me that."
"What's the magic word, Scorpy?" She crossed her arms and grinned even more. I tried to keep my face from reddening. She always made me warm when she smiled.
"Don't you dare call me that," I replied. She laughed again.
"I'm going to keep calling you that if you don't say it."
"If I have to hear that name--"
"Scooooorpy."
"No."
"Scooooooorpy."
"Stop it."
"Scorpy! Scorpy! Scorpy, Scorpy, Scorpy!" She hopped and danced in a small circle as she sang it.
"Rose."
"Scooorpy?" She leaned forward, her hands on her hips and a cute little grin on her face. Her face was now just decimeters from mine. Thank God we were in a dark broom cupboard, my face reddened profusely (at least, for my skin tone).
I sighed. "Please. Stop."
She giggled. "There you go. Okay, I'll stop." Her smile brightened, and she straightened her posture, but she didn't move away from me. "Scorpi--"
"Oi! I thought you weren't going to--"
She pushed on me lightly, laughing. "You interrupted me, you git. I was going to say 'Scorpius.'" She smiled, showing her pearly teeth. I had never used that word to describe anyone before. I laughed with her, mainly just at her. Her almost auburn hair, pulled up into a messy bun, was coming out and hanging in curly, wild strands around her ears and face. The curls moved with her, bouncing in a way that was so congruent to her laughter.
Her laugh faded, turning into small bursts of quiet chuckles and giggles. She looked down, smiling, too, her hair falling into her face this time. She looked up at me, still smiling. I pushed the strand out of her face impulsively. She stared at me for a second, a little in awe, then looked down and giggled again. I tried to see her face, leaning forward so I had to put my hand on the wall behind her. She must've not noticed, because her eyes widened a bit when she looked back at me. Her face turned red, along with her ears. I broke into a smile. She was the only girl who's ears I thought were adorable. She grinned and giggled a little differently than usual, higher and…giddy.
I chuckled at her, and she knew it, but she didn't give me a snide comment or shove me. It gave me nothing to react to. We just stared at each other for more than a few moments. I was resisting the terribly difficult-to-resist urge to kiss her.
"Er…" was about the only thing that I could say.
She straightened herself up again, using the wall as a sort of stilt to keep her up. She stood on the balls of her feet and leaned her head in hesitantly. I brought my face closer, watching her movements. She stopped short and looked at me, so I continued to lean in until our lips met. She tilted her head, pushing on my head slightly. I leaned into her, and she gave in, moving against the wall. She wrapped her arms around me, one in my hair and the other clutched the back of my neck, holding the collar of my shirt. My right hand held her waist, the other still pressed against the wall. She pulled me closer to her, and I opened my mouth on instinct. She didn't protest, and moved her mouth more. I couldn't help myself. I moaned a little when she tugged my hair.
She pulled away, breaking the kiss first. I leaned forward, my mind still wanting to keep the kiss in motion. My forehead pressed against hers, and she looked up at me and smiled. I smiled, too, but I don't think mine was as beautiful as hers, since my mouth was still a little numb.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," I said. I kept my voice close to a whisper, like talking louder would ruin the moment.
She giggled and looked at the floor again, then visibly hesitated and looked back up at me, a smile almost appearing on her face. "Is that why you acted so obnoxiously when Sean asked me to the ball?"
I grinned, a little embarrassed. "I wouldn't say 'obnoxiously,' but…" I shrugged and smiled again. She giggled uncontrollably, then genuinely laughed.
"What?"
"I am never going to let you forget about this." She leaned forward and kissed me again, the smile still on her lips.