The Truth Inside Your Lies (PG-13) 1/3

[a_smrw_gift]

Title: The Truth Inside Your Lies 1/3
Author: xxx-angelin-xxx
Prompt: 007. She batted them pretty little eyes at you, and you fell for it like an egg from a tall chicken!- Charade
Summary: He loved her. Clean and simple as that; Scorpius Malfoy loved Rose Weasley. And she loved him back- just not enough. Because she loved someone else more. And for him, she would do anything.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mature languange, suggestive situations
Word Count: 16,091 (overall)
A/N: This is a story about love and its meaning, this is a story about trust and betrayal; but at the very end, this is a story about growing up.
I really want to thank my editors; Serendi and Chiara for the wonderful work they did here and for their support on my writing. I really enjoyed working on this- and, I hope, that you will enjoy reading it as much:D



Their embrace was tight. Her lips pressed hungrily against his. Her hands, fisted in his hair, while his, ran up and down her back. Their kiss, passionate. It pained him to watch them, yet he found himself unable to tear his eyes away. His legs were stuck on the ground, his throat had gone dry and his eyes were glued at the pair- all against his will.

He couldn’t tell how much time he’d been watching when they finally pulled apart. It was she who pushed the man away, as surprise spread all over her features. But it wasn’t panic: her face didn’t scream “Merlin, what have I done?”. The expression was much closer to the one people have when realization hits them.

But Scorpius Malfoy had no intention to find out what kind of realization his girlfriend had made after kissing another man. So he left.

He ordered his legs to move and he hurried towards the exit, ignoring the clamor of voices that tried to stop him. He even ignored James’s (or was it Albus’s?) ironic comments as he hastily opened the door.

“Leaving so soon, Malfoy? Your girlfriend won’t be pleased when she finds out you left her party without her…”

He had to bite his lip to avoid replying. There was nothing he wanted more at the moment than shutting Potter’s mouth up with an explanation of why his beloved cousin wouldn’t even notice her boyfriend leaving. Instead of saying anything, though, he stalked out and disappeared into the rain.
It was a cold night, but he didn’t notice at first. He kept walking and walking and walking, the image of what he had just seen crowding out all other thoughts. It was all he had in his mind, her kissing someone else without guilt, without restraint, without remorse.

Sometime later, he found enough sense to understand how cold the night was. Glancing at his damp clothes, he sighed and Disapparated outside his apartment with a loud crack.

As he was searching his pockets for his keys, the door opened abruptly. Scorpius heard a relieved sigh and raised his eyes to look at the woman in his house.

“Rose,” he acknowledged her presence, avoiding her eyes. Though he was surprised to find her there, the tumultuous feelings her presence evoked were expected. She was still wearing the same clothes she had at the party; her hair messy, her lips swollen… The pain in his chest was almost unbearable at the very sight of her.

She stepped back, letting him enter the house, and closed the door behind him. “Are you alright?”

“Not really.”

She seemed confused at first, but then she took out her wand and casted a warming spell at him.

“Better?”

“No, I wouldn’t say that,” he replied, pulling his shirt off and dumping it at the couch as he searched for something dry to put on.

“What’s wrong, Scorp? Why did you leave the party?” she asked him softly. His only reply was a fiery look. “Talk to me!” she begged. “Albus said you left in a hurry, and at first I was mad but I came here and you were nowhere to be seen… And now you appear like this! Scorp, is everything okay?”

He laughed cruelly at her worried voice, thinking that she was quite the actress. “I’m fine. Perfect. Splendid. Thank you for taking some of your precious time to think of me, but you've no need to be concerned. You can return to whatever it was you were doing before…” he finished caustically.

“Scorpius!” she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips as she always did when she was angry.

“Sorry,” he said in a calmer, though no less biting, voice. “It just didn’t occur to me that you would miss me. You seemed to be having quite the time…”

His eyes pierced hers, and she gasped. Turning to avoid his gaze, she collapsed on the couch, biting her lip in sorrow. “I’m sorry,” she finally said.

“No worries.”

“Please, stop this,” she muttered. When he sighed and sat down next to her, she took a deep breath. “We need to talk.”

He couldn’t hold back the sarcasm as he muttered, “You think?”

Shaking her head and trying to sort her thoughts out, she said, “I’m truly sorry that I kissed him. At first, I didn’t know why I was doing that. He was the one who started it, and I was shocked at first but I responded. I wanted to kiss him…”

“Who’s he?” he interrupted. “Just for the sake of information.”

She gave him a sharp look, but answered nevertheless. “His name is George - we were at the Healer Academy together. He graduated today as well.”

His expression was still bitter, but he shrugged. “Keep talking.”

Rose shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I was saying that I wanted to kiss him…”

“Yeah, I heard that.”

“I wanted to,” she repeated, completely ignorant of the stab of pain he felt each time she said it, “but I didn’t know why. I don’t like George. And it wasn’t such a good kiss either.”

“Tell me what I want to hear,” he interrupted once again.

“Scorpius!” she exclaimed once again, but not as angry as before. This time, she was desperate. “I’m only telling you the truth. Which is that I wanted to be kissed, but I didn’t want him to kiss me. And…” she hesitated. “And I didn’t want you to kiss me either.”

His expression changed from angry to confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t you ever get the feeling...” she tried to explain. “That we’re moving too fast?”

Giving her a furious stare, he got up and run a hand through his hair. “What are you talking about?”
“Look, Scorp, I know that this is too much for you to handle but…”

“Too much for me to handle?” he exclaimed. “First, you kiss some random guy that you claim you don’t know that well. Then, you tell me you don’t want me. And now you let me know that you have doubts on our relationship? Are you…” He let out a frustrated sigh and fell on the chair in front of her.
Rose got up as well and, taking another deep breath, she kneeled in front of him and took his face in her hands making him look at her. When he did, she smiled sadly at him. “Scorp… I love you. You mean the world to me, and just the thought of hurting you makes me nauseous.” He forced himself to smile back at her, understanding the sincerity of her words. “But that’s exactly why I’m doing this now. Because I can’t control myself, and if we keep on like this… I’ll hurt you worse in the future. I can’t fool you anymore, I can’t fool myself.”

“Okay.” Rubbing his jaw uncertainly, he repeated: “Okay. Tell me what the matter is.”

Smiling hesitantly again, she took his hand in hers. “We’ve been dating for four years now, and things are getting very serious between us.”

He tried to say something, to reassure her that he wouldn’t pressure her into anything, but she used her free hand to hush him, placing her fingertips on his lips and making him shiver.

“You were the first boy I’ve ever dated. You made me happy- you still do. But sometimes, I catch myself wishing for more. For experiences. And not just with other men… I want to see the world, Scorpius. I want to see life - to live it for what it is. I don’t want to be only happy. I want to feel everything. I want passion, I want misery. I want to feel alone. I want what I can get. I… in a way, what I need is to be free- to feel like a teenager. Now that I have the time,” she stopped to breathe and he carefully brushed some hair from her face, finally realizing what all these were about. “I don’t want to wake up one morning when it's already too late and realise that I didn’t live in the way I always dreamed I would. Do you…”

“I understand. I’ve never felt this,” he admitted. “But I understand. I get you." Scorpius sighed. "I always wanted my life to be planned. I never had the dreams you had. I’m not adventurous, but you…” He shook his head, uncertain of how to say what he wanted. “In a way, I always knew you wanted more. But I hoped… Merlin, I don’t know what I hoped for exactly.”

Her lips trembled, and Scorpius could tell that she was trying to hold back tears. “Would you come with me?” she asked him. “Would you come with me if I asked you to?”

Closing his eyes, he shook his head. ‘You don’t want me with you, Rose. And even if you did… I wouldn’t come."

She nodded, as stray tears escaped, rolling down her cheeks. She could understand him. He had his goals and she had hers. They loved each other but they wouldn’t drop everything for love; this was real life. Abandoning everything for the other would make them miserable and eventually, it would break them apart.

Opening his eyes, he saw the tear tracks staining her face and wiped them away with the back of his hand. “You’re a dreamer, Rosie. I’m a realist. We’re different people, and maybe - maybe that's why I love you so much. But…”

“We have wrong timing,” she finished the sentence for him. “If we had met later in life, when we had both achieved our goals… if you had already been an Auror and I had been more mature... if we had been ready for this…”

“Then we would fight against our families, like we did before. Only that this time, we’d have no doubts. We’d know we’d be right and they wrong because we’d be certain of who we are; of what we want. And then… after it would be done… then, we’d be happy.”

“Scorp…” she tried to say something.

“I know. I think I knew before. It was quite an adventure defying our parents for once, eh? But you weren't happy when it was all said and done, were you?”

In response, more tears fell down her cheek. Pulling their entwined hands closer to her mouth, she kissed his, whispering against his skin. “Will you hate me if I tell you that it’s not you, it’s me?”

He laughed genuinely at her attempt to joke. Placing his thumb under her jaw, he brought her face closer to his, making her look at him. “I could never hate you.”

-:- SEVEN YEARS LATER -:-

The woman sat by the window, impatiently biting her lip. The room was dark but she didn’t seem to mind. She was waiting.

Suddenly, she heard the telltale crack of Apparation, making her turn around, expectantly looking at the tall, broad-shouldered man who had just appeared. “Please tell me it will be okay.”

He shook his head, before realizing that she probably couldn’t see him in the darkness. “Baby…” he said, unsure of how he should continue.

She ran to him and fell into his arms. “I told you,” she murmured. “I told you something would go wrong.”

“It’s okay,” he tried to reassure her. “We have a plan, remember? Our contact in the Department will clear my name, okay?”

“It’s too risky,” she whispered. Kissing his neck, she pulled back and looked at him. ‘We should leave now, before…”

“No,” he interrupted her. “We can do it. All you have to do is get Malfoy out of the way. Before you know it, I’ll be free. We’ll take the money and leave the country before they even find out what’s really happened.”

The woman nodded, but was still unsure. “You must leave, now,” he told her. “They can’t find you in here.”

“Baby,” he insisted when she didn’t move. Her hands were still fisted in his shirt, and she stared at him without moving. Then a crack was heard from somewhere nearby, and both turned panicked glances to the door.

“Now!” he repeated. The woman nodded, finally reacting to his calls. He was about to push her away, when she pulled him closer, giving him a passionate kiss.

“I love you,” she whispered against his lips, before pulling back and Disapparating.

‘Expulso’
’Lumos’

Before he could seek protection the door exploded with such force that he was pushed into the wall. The room was suddenly lighted. Two young Aurors walked towards the man on the floor, and hauled him up to his feet.

“Jonas Smith,” one of them- a tall blonde with pale skin and gentle features- said. “You are under arrest.”

“What for, Auror…?” he asked looking for the man’s name.

“We’re not waiters, Smith,” the other Auror- a short man with titled eyes that made him look devious- answered. “We don’t wear name tags.”

The man who had called his name sighed impatiently. “It’s Malfoy. You have the right to remember the name of the man that busted you, Smith.”

“I don’t understand, Mr. Malfoy,” Smith said with innocence. “There must be a mistake.”

“I don’t think so,” Scorpius stated. “Mike,” he turned to his partner, “take him in.”

Mike smirked and cast an ‘Incarcerous’ at Smith, before taking him away. As the rest of the team investigated the apartment, Scorpius took a look around him, letting his gaze stop at the excellent view from window. He wandered towards it, stopping abruptly as he sniffed something.

“Malfoy!”

He turned to see Auror Ronald Weasley coming towards him with a grin- a facial expression that he very rarely took at work. “Well done, boy,” he said when he reached him, patting his shoulder.

That was all the older, red-haired man would say, given Scorpius’ history with his daughter. In a way, he always blamed him for his little girl’s decision to leave England. To Scorpius, though, this was more than enough. He hadn’t become an Auror to receive praise. He simply wanted to do good; to prove the wizarding world that being a Malfoy didn’t always mean making the wrong decisions.

“What is it?” Ron asked, noticing his concerned expression.

“Someone else has been here recently,” he said. “Can you smell it? A woman’s perfume?”

Ron took a deep breath, but then laughed. “It’s not surprising, Malfoy. Men like Smith hang around a lot of women.”

“Yes,” he agreed absent-mindedly. “But she’s just left.”

“Normal again. He didn’t know we were coming for him. Thankfully we caught him after she left… I don’t need any saucy events in my investigations,” Ron concluded sternly. “Go home, boy. Get some sleep. You deserve it. Stop troubling yourself. You did well.”

Scorpius nodded with the knowledge that he was overreacting. So what if a woman had been there? That didn’t make her Smith’s partner in crime. Yawning, he Apparated to his apartment; it had been a while since he'd had a proper night’s sleep. Catching Jonas Smith was one of the longest and toughest operations of his career, one for which he had pulled a countless number of all-nighters, and drunk coffee for days on end as he stayed up in stake-outs or in his office studying papers that could lead him to the discovery of STHSTH’s real name.

And he had succeeded.

The following morning he had been called into Harry Potter’s office. It didn’t come to him as a surprise. He had just captured the man behind the notorious Day Dream Potions brand, STHSTH. Under this alias, Jonas Smith had unsettled the entire Ministry of Magic, because he hadn't simply been selling the potions; he had been selling them to Muggles.

He had endangered the entire wizarding community; Smith was a threat to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Beyond that, though, was the issue that the Muggles who bought his potions were under the perception that they were buying some newfangled drug. Their bodies, however, weren’t used to the magical ingredients of the potions. As a result, one hundred Muggles had been found dead after taking them and only within that single year.

Scorpius walked down the hall that led to Potter’s office, hoping that justice would be served, when he felt a hand closing over his and pull him in a nearby wall niche. Automatically, his free hand went for his wand, but stopped midway as he caught sight of the person in front of him.

“Rose?” he breathed out her name, unable to believe in his own eyes. But she was there- she was real. Rose Weasley was standing in front of him, grasping his hand into hers, and looking at him as if her life depended on it. She still looked like the girl he remembered, but she was now paler and thinner. Her curly, red hair was now longer, falling loosely around her face and reaching her trim waist. Her eyes, though, were the same livid blue - never failing to challenge him.

“Hey…” she whispered, uncertainty blooming over her features.

Scorpius wanted to step forward and lock her into a tight embrace. He wanted to kiss her hair and tell her that everything was alright, that he was still her friend, that he was still there for her… but he had frozen on the spot. Once again, reminiscent of a time seven years in the past, he was unable to move, and it frustrated him; he hadn’t felt that way in a long time. Instead, he could only manage a choked "Hi."

His response seemed to discourage her because she took her eyes away from his. “I - I came back to England for a few days,” she hurried to explain herself. “And I thought we could hang out. Since we said… I thought we could still…” Frustrated, she bit her lip, unable to find the right words. “It’s okay, if you don’t want to… I understand.”

He heard her mumble, waiting for her to go silent. “Rosie…” he whispered, making her look at him again. When she did, and her blue eyes pierced his grey ones, he knew he couldn’t deny her a single thing. “I’m still your friend.”

She smiled hesitantly. “That’s what you said.” And then she added: “Back then, I mean.”

He smiled back. “I meant it.” She nodded, and he continued. “Now, let’s get out of here and go get some coffee. Or we can go to my office and talk…” he suggested but she was already shaking her head.
“Not here.”

He raised an eyebrow at her fierce denial but didn’t say a word. “Fine. My place - one hour.”

She nodded, before letting go of him and stepping further into the wall, almost disappearing into the shadows. He turned to leave and, once he was out the niche, he paced down the corridor to his Head of the Department office.

He stood there, receiving congratulations and exchanging pleasantries with the Minister of Magic and his superiors while his mind wandered. Had his encounter with Rose been real, or had he imagined it? It had been so stilted and awkward. There were so many things that needed to be said between them, and he hadn't had the courage to tell her anything. He hadn’t even been nice to her, hadn't even bothered asking about the past seven years and telling her about his life. They had both acted like they were still close, still seeing each other daily, like they had been in a fight that had just been resolved. Scorpius didn’t know if he should've been happy about it or not.

When the meeting with the Minister ended, he asked Harry for the rest of the day off, and the senior Auror assented immediately.

“You do need to rest, boy,” he said, as he signed some papers.

Scorpius checked his watch and, realizing he had another good half an hour before his meeting with Rose, went to his office to gather some things. He found Mike there, scanning through some papers.

“And I thought I was the workaholic,” he joked.

Mike grinned at him. “Potter said you’re taking the day off. That means I have to clear everything up on my own.”

“Oh, I can help you if you want…”

His partner laughed. “No worries, mate. Go do whatever you had in mind; for Scorpius Malfoy to take the day off something important must have happened. You don’t look sick, so I guess there’s a woman involved?”

Scorpius’ face remained expressionless. “I just need to rest,” he lied, taking his coat and briefcase.

He Disapparated to the front of his apartment, and was surprised to find Rose sitting by his doorstep. She looked up towards him, and shrugged as a reply to his silent question. He checked his watch and, as he realised they were both there early, he shrugged as well and opened the door, motioning for her to follow him.

“I’m going to make you some tea, okay?” he asked, as he pulled off his coat and hung it by the door.

She looked at him and nodded, as she uncomfortably wandered around the living room. Taking a look at her, he realised that she was noting what he had changed in his apartment since she'd moved out. Truth be told, there were a lot of differences.

“Don’t you think the couch looks better over there?” he asked, just to say something.

“Yeah…” she agreed. “It makes the room much more hospitable.”

“Okay,” he said, disappointed at their failed attempts to make a conversation. Were they just strangers now? “Vanilla and caramel, still?”

She smiled widely at him. “Yes.” Shaking her head, she repeated. “Vanilla and caramel.”

He grinned back at her and, as he disappeared into the kitchen, said, “Please, try to make yourself comfortable.” Realizing how that must have sounded, he sighed. “You know what I mean.”

Rose laughed and pulled her coat off as well. Hanging it, her eyes stopped at the photos that decorated some of the bookcase shelves. Smiling, she took one particular photo at her hands and smoothed her thumb over the happy smiles that graced the faces of a younger Rose and Scorpius.

“I have this one too, you know,” she said softly.

“Really?” he asked, and she turned to see that he was standing at the kitchen entrance looking at her.

“Yes.” She returned the photograph to its spot and took her purse from where she had left it near her coat. Opening it, she found her wallet and took out a photo, similar to the one Scorpius had on his bookcase.

“Graduation day,” she said, pointing it out to him.

He nodded. “Graduation day.”

Her smile widened and she left everything back down as she headed for the couch. Scorpius followed her and sat next her, leaving the teacups on the table nearby. “Wait a bit; it’s too hot,” he told her, when she took he cup in her hands.

She smirked. “I like it hot.”

He raised his eyebrows as he watched her take a sip. “Bugger!” she muttered. “It is hot.”

Scorpius chuckled, shaking his head disapprovingly. “You’ll never learn.”

She pouted playfully. “Maybe.”

They had each taken a corner of the couch. Rose was curled up on her side, having turned her entire body in his direction. Scorpius was turned towards her as well, but his legs were at the floor as he still had his shoes on. And that’s when he noticed that she was still wearing hers too.

“Rose…” he warned her. When she widened her eyes to show him she was listening carefully, he continued: “Shoes. Off. My. Couch.”

She laughed, as she leaned down and pushed her shoes off, dumping them on the floor. “Of course,” she murmured.

He grinned back at her, and shifted into a more comfortable position. “You know, I was worried before.

When I saw you, I was dumbstruck. I thought, and I'm sure you thought that as well, that our conversation was uncomfortable. And now we’re acting like those seven years never existed. Like we’re still the closest of friends. Before I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad but now…”

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s good.”

“Yeah.”She smiled again. “We’re good.”

“But that doesn’t mean we should ignore everything,” he noted. “Tell me about your life. Tell me how you’ve been. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong.” She sighed at how well he could still read her. “It’s just… messy,” she concluded after looking for the right word for a while.

He nodded, motioning that way for her to continue.

“I’ve done some pretty bad things.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you kill anyone?”

A good-humored smile formed on her lips. “What would you do if I had?”

Her tone forced a chuckle out of him, and he looked up with feigned skepticism. “Well… as an Auror, I guess I’d have to arrest you,” he began. “But then, I’d stop thinking like that, and start thinking like your friend… In that case I guess we’d talk about it?” he suggested, unsure of what to say.

Rose was already laughing at his failed trials to think what he’d do, so he joined her with a sigh. “Oh, I don’t know, Rose! Kill someone and we’ll see, okay?”

She nodded, still smiling. “Okay.”

“Now tell me what you did,” he ordered.

“Being the adventurous girl I am…” Scorpius couldn’t help but snort at this.”Shut up!” She poked his shoulder, before starting over: “I was saying that since I was seeking out an adventure, I decided to work with Muggles. I thought that since I knew many things about them, considering my mum's Muggleborn, it'd be easy. And I wanted to try it, so I thought why not?”

“What work did you do?” he asked, mostly to show her he was listening.

“You know how I love history,” she reminded him, giving him a clue.

“Hm... An archaeologist, perhaps?”

She grinned at him, nodding enthusiastically.

He whistled at her. “Wow… Well done, dear.”

“Thanks!”

“So how was it?”

“It was really interesting! I’d never done anything like that. I travelled a lot and I saw all these wonderful places. And of course, it was pretty exhilarating to hold a piece of history at my hands.”

He smiled at her; he loved seeing her so happy. However, after saying those she stopped and took a deep breath. “But Scorp, after some time… I missed magic. I missed it a lot.”

“Do I want to know what you did about it?” he asked, half jokingly.

She shrugged but continued. “I used magic… at work. I kinda cheated. I mean, I think it’s cheating… There’s no Muggle law about it but I’m pretty certain there are many wizarding ones…”

He raised both his eyebrows at her statement. “Rose Weasley’s career in crime,” he deadpanned. “That would make quite a headline.” When she kept avoiding his gaze, he placed a hand under her chin.
“Hey…” he said. “It’s still me.”

“Really?”

He chuckled, but then realised she wasn’t joking. “Yes, dear.” Smiling, he continued: “I always thought you could make a fine Slytherin.”

She laughed, looking quite insulted. “Please, Scorp… Slytherins would eat me alive.”

“Yeah… you really are an excellent Hufflepuff.”

She seemed upset at his words. “Only you can say that. Everyone else is still wondering what was wrong with the Sorting Hat that day.”

“Come on, Rosie!” he tried to comfort her. “The Sorting Hat knows best. Plus, if people can’t see you for who you are… whose fault is that?”

“Mine,” she admitted. “My Ravenclaw boy has it all sorted out, doesn’t he?”

“I do.” He smiled. “So what do you do now?”

“Oh, you believe I gave up my career as an outlaw?”

He chuckled. “I know you, Rose.”

“Yes, you do. I quit my job and started working in a museum in France. Settling down in a way…”

He nodded again not knowing what to answer. “So what do you want to do?” he asked after a short pause.

“Today?”

“Yes…” he hesitated. “Rose?”

“Hmm?”

“How long are you going to stay?”

Another pause followed his question, during which Rose avoided his gaze. “I don’t really know. I mean, I have to see Mum, Dad and Hugo again tomorrow… And I guess I’ll go to a family dinner or something before leaving... But the sooner I go the better, I think.”

He nodded, trying to keep his face emotionless. He was about to say something like ‘okay- good for you’, when she added: “So what are we doing today?”

He gave her a questioning look to which she answered: “I thought we could spend the day together. Since I’m here and everything. But if you have plans I totally understand…”

She was once again looking away, probably afraid of his rejection. He smiled at that, happy that she was back even for a day. “Hogsmeade?”

Rose turned to face him again with a wide grin on her face. “And Diagon Alley.”

He nodded happily. “Get up, then… it’s probably going to rain.”

“Better!”

He jumped off the couch, took her coat and threw it back to her. As he was pulling his on, she asked: “Oh, Scorp?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we go to King’s Cross as well? I know there will be no train there but… I want to see the platform again.”

“Sure. Off we go, then!”

Part 2