Someday—

She was just standing there, dumbfounded, when it happened. It happened seemingly out of the blue. Out of the darkest depths of the secrets that constantly surround the castle, it seemed to sprout out of nowhere and the consequent reactions of the school spread like poison through veins. It was impossible, yet it was happening. And no one had expected it.

He asked her to Hogsmeade with him on a Thursday afternoon and she had jubilantly replied with a "YES!" swinging her arms around his neck and jumping up and down giggling ridiculously. Her red hair glamorously shined in the late afternoon sun and she looked like an angel. She was the girl that every girl wanted to be. The Hogwarts Golden Girl. Of course he would fall for her. Despite all that had happened last year, he went for her.

He braved her insane relatives and they enjoyed the first date so much that they continued to go on dates, thus making them the most unexpected Hogwarts couple ever. Who would have thought that the Slytherin Bad Boy and the Gryffindor Golden Girl would get together?

He was ice. Cold-hearted and unremorseful. He stole, cheated and lied. His platinum blonde hair was chin length and his rebellious streak seemed no longer a streak but, in fact, a lifestyle. He talked back to professors, often stuck his feet up on the desk and even though he was undoubtedly bright, his lack of respect earned him many a detention.

She was fire. Passionate and pigheaded yet impressionable. Her family watched in awe as the young girl went from enjoying her time spent with her relatives and playing quidditch developed into a love for hanging out with her boyfriend, smoking and breaking the rules. Her future, once so bright, seemed to dim and the more often she was around him, her Golden Girl reputation was tarnished—slowly becoming a cheap, rusted version of herself.

He told her he loved her. He took her innocence and then left her hanging. He used and abused, like he had been brought up to do. And she was left with nothing but a life that was slowly spiraling out of control.

And that was when Rose Weasley lost it. It was then, in that moment when she heard her younger cousin's piercing wails that she knew that she had to confront him after all this time. This was no longer about her; this wasn't about what happened between them anymore, she had moved on, she had Lorcan. Now it involved Lily and he should not have acted the way that he did, even though she was not the slightest bit surprised. And thus she went looking for him.

"You rat bastard!"

He was sitting in a little-known alcove on the fourth floor, smoking. His long legs were spread out in front of him and his gaze had been drifting out the window until she had rudely interrupted. Beside him were his two little sidekicks, as if they had put a Permanent Sticking Charm on his side in first year and remained there ever since.

"Pleasure seeing you here, Weasley." He drawled. "Whatever can I do for you?"

She eyed him disdainfully, her eyes roaming over his pale figure, critically eyeing the cigarette in his hands. She yanked it out of his clutch.

"Those will kill you, you know." She stated matter-of-factly before eyeing his goonies again. "Do you two mind? I'd like to talk to your master alone."

The two gaped at her; mouths opened dumbly, eyes widened.

"Hello? You two alive in there? Get!" She snapped.

The blonde in front of her eyed her, as if trying to figure out exactly what her secretive motives for being alone in a space with him, something that she had avoided constantly, especially since last year.

"Leave us. Weasley and I have some unfinished business."

The two cling-ons clumsily got up from their perch near his feet and, with many dubious glances back, sauntered away from their good friend.

"Well, you've got me alone now, love. Want to have your wicked way with me?" He raised a solitary blond eyebrow, smirking at her.

"Merlin, Malfoy! You took my little cousin's virginity!" Her face reddened and the glare in her eyes told him that this was not going to be the type conversation that he enjoyed having, though he should have suspected that from her attitude. Merlin, couldn't they just go back to ignoring each other and sharing secret glares like usual?

"Yes. We were dating for three months. That's the perfect time, don't you think?" He pulled another cigarette out from the stash he kept in the pocket of his dark robes and with a quick incendio, lit the fag, inhaling deeply before it was yanked out of his grasp yet again.

"Seriously fucking stop with the smoking, Malfoy. I don't want your death on my conscious."

The blue-grey eyes pierced her, but she rambled on, seemingly unaffected by his glaring.

"She's devastated, you git! You took her virginity and you haven't talked to her! Now go, get your arse up to Lily's room and apologize. Grovel. Beg. I don't know. Tell you that you love her. We all know you do!" It was with the last sentence that her voice finally wavered, giving way to the emotion that she had tried so intensely to suppress. And it was with that last sentence that she had finally gained the attention man in front of her.

He had gone back to glancing out the window, having grown bored of the speech already and planning on waiting out the lengthy spiel by looking out at the beautiful scenery outside. With the wavering in her voice, he finally got to see the real her, after so long it was a relief. Perhaps she could bring out the real him. He remembered the seemingly perfect time of last year like it was yesterday.

Giggling. Hands clasped together. Never wanting to let go. The giggling faded and he held her close, wishing that he never had to let her go. Her beautiful auburn hair was down today and he touched the layers that framed her face. Never had he felt so…so happy. He looked at the sweet girl in front of him adoringly.

"Oh, Scorp," she had said. "Merlin, please! My abs are hurting!"

He made a silly face in her direction and she started giggling uncontrollably again. She made him lose control. She made the façade that he had built up crumble with just a glance. Just a look from her made him want to be a better person. And Merlin if he wouldn't be the best he could be for her.

"Rosie" he whispered quietly. And in that moment they shared a look, and they knew what was coming next. The weeks they had spent together were merely a prequel to the main event. The event that would make him hers forever in way so inexplicable that he felt ashamed to admit it. In a world that begged him to be masculine and strong, he felt that her presence broke him down. She pealed him away, layer by layer and this act would be the epitome of them.

It was both of their first times. It was awkward and uncomfortable and over way too fast. But it was perfect. It was fumbling and awkward giggles. It was Rose. And he wanted it to last forever. But when he woke, she was gone.

Back in the present, Rose was still yelling at him.

"You just left her there, after you had sex with her! " He noticed the spit that flew out of her mouth with her passion and laughed scornfully.

"Doesn't that remind you of anything?"

Immediately the tension in the air was palpable. It hung thickly between the two, and suddenly neither felt like they could breathe.

"This doesn't have anything to do with that!" She shouted, outraged. "It's a completely different situation! And just because history is fucking repeating itself, doesn't give you the right to bring that up again!"

"History repeating itself?" He shouted back. " You fucking left Rose. I gave you fucking everything, would have given you anything and you threw it back in my fucking face!"

Her face turned ashen, and tears formed in her shocked navy blue eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Scorpius. But even if you didn't believe that you owed me an apology, you definitely owe Lily one. She's broken and it's your fault. Just because you hurt, just because you don't feel loved, just because you can't hold a functional relationship for any significant amount of time at all, doesn't mean that you need to make others like you."

He glared after her retreating form, cursing each step as she took it, wanting her back next to him and as far away from him as possible all at the same time. But as she walked away, she remembered the events of last year, back when she thought she was his. Back when she thought she could be his saving grace. Back when she was the happiest she'd ever been.

She was incredibly happy. He made her laugh, giggle, even. She had rarely ever giggled in her life before him. But now that they were together, she couldn't seem to stop. They were secret about their togetherness. It was all stolen moments, borrowed minutes, fortunate meetings, and lucky glances. She should have realised her foolishness at the time. To believe in something that was so obviously only borrowed time.

But when they were together, she was so…so happy. She forgot the stereotypes, she forgot her family, she forgot the pressure of the world. And she giggled. And nothing had ever felt so right as when they'd made love. It had been disconcerting and strange. But it was lovely. It was fumbling and bumbling but it was perfect.

She had only left to get something to eat for the two of them from the kitchens. She was always hungry in the morning, a big breakfast person. But when she came back, he was with another girl. Lydia Marvella. She had barely been gone for a half an hour and he was already warming his bed with another girl.

Devastated, she left the site immediately. Had he even washed her blood off of his sheets before inviting someone else in? She felt numb, humiliated, and vowed never to tell anyone what had happened. It was her humiliation alone.

When he started pursuing Lily, Rose had tried to warn her. But Lily was so convinced that she was different, just like Rose had been. Rose had been so tempted to tell Lily the truth, the whole truth. But she couldn't even manage to swallow her own damn pride to save her younger cousin, whom she had often thought of as a sister.

That's why she had gone to look for him. To make him apologise. The rat bastard. He deserved a punishment so severe that he wouldn't be able to walk straight for weeks.

"Wait!"

She heard his footsteps behind her and scurried quicker, trying to get away from his poisonous presence.

"No." He grasped her arm, forcefully, but not so much to hurt her but as to prevent her from moving further way from him. He had no intention of leaving bruises on her arms.

"What, Scorpius?" She sighed quietly, "What more could we possibly have to say to each other? I left your bed for a half an hour to get food and when I came back you were slagging around with Lydia Marvella! And now you do the same thing to Lily! I am so done with you! I can't way for June when I never have to see your despicable face ever again!"

He stopped suddenly, looking at her, this time his pale face showed the shocked expression, as opposed to the ridiculous smirk that normally found itself etched upon his pale features.

"What?"

It was a whisper in the silence.

"You heard me. Merlin, how could I have ever fancied myself in love with you?"

Her voice was desperate; her eyes held on to the tears that her body so wished to fall. But she wouldn't. She couldn't show weakness in front of him. The rat bastard.

"You didn't leave me?"

"What?"

"That morning, I thought you had left me. I woke and you weren't there. You were just gone."

His face showed his vulnerability. The young boy at heart, still afraid of rejection as ever. The rejection that he had faced as a child, from the entire community. The rejection that he had eventually accepted. If Rose Weasley couldn't love him, couldn't accept him, no one good. She was as good and pure as they came. Until he came along and tarnished her. He certainly seemed to have a knack for tarnishing girls.

He thought about going for the second best that he could, but Lily Potter sadly lacked many of her cousin's endearing qualities and he didn't know why he did it, but he did. And despite the shitty thing he had done, something that he hadn't thought twice about in the moment and was only now starting to feel remorse for, he wished more than ever before that he could go back to that perfect night with Rose. He wished that she could know how he felt, what was going through is head. But it was too late now.

"So you brought Lydia into your bed? And you did the same thing to Lily, who did nothing to you! Merlin, I can't believe I fancied myself in love with you!"

Her heart was breaking all over again. She thought she had patched up the wounds long ago, but now they were reopened and bleeding just as profusely as they once did.

"I'm sorry."

It was quiet, a whisper.

But she ignored it, and yanking her arm from his hold, she hurried again down the corridor and disappeared from his sight.

He apologized to Lily. He groveled. He begged. He did not tell her that he loved her, but she already knew that he didn't. He became a shadow of his former self. He did his course work; he turned it in on time. He didn't steal. He didn't lie. He didn't cheat. His feet remained firmly on the ground as opposed to propped up on the desk in front of him.

His smirk was gone.

He was widely ignored by the school. The Weasley/Potter clan threw him disdainful looks. And he knew he had screwed up.

She caught sight of him occasionally, as he was forcing his way through the crowds, yet trying to remain unseen. She sometimes tortured herself with the what ifs and the could have beens. But often it was too painful and she resigned herself to avoiding him just like he was clearly avoiding her.

She had taken an ill-used route to Charms, trying to avoid him when suddenly there he stood, right in front of her. And it was as if she couldn't bring herself to let him slink by her again.

"Scorp."

He lifted his gaze from the ground in shock, staring at the auburn haired beauty in front of him.

"Rose." He faltered, wondering if he could say more and they stood there in the corridor, staring at each other, at a loss for words.

"You apologized to her."

"You asked me to."

Her anger returned, slowly and then all at once.

"Oh is that the only reason why?" She spat.

"No, of course not. She deserved it. She seems better now, happier."

"She is, no thanks to you."

He cleared his throat uncomfortable. "Yeah."

She eyed him strangely.

"That's all you have to say for yourself? Yeah? You made love to my little cousin, practically my sister, not even a year after you had taken my virginity and showed me how much you cared by bringing another girl to bed with you right after you had finished losing your virginity to me! You are the worst thing that happened to us! You rat bastard!"

"I know," he said miserably, trying to suppress the smile at the insult. It really was her favourite insult for him and he loved her more because of it. He loved her. Fuck, he loved her. "Merlin I know. I'm so sorry."

She nodded and side stepped him, ready to rush off to class for fear of being late.

"Rose?"

"Yes?"

"I love you." It just slipped out of his mouth, unbidden, an instinct from merely just talking to her and being in her presence.

"Seriously? Right now?" The anger was back.

"No, not right now. Go to charms, we'll talk later." He rolled his eyes and made a move to continue walking.

"I was asking if that's how you were really going to tell me. After all that happened, after all we've gone through. After last year. After you had so many perfect chances. You're going to tell me now, in the deserted Charms corridor, as I'm late for class, just weeks after you slept with Lily? Do you really want to try to start again now? After everything?"

He swallowed his pride and stood up straight, walking until he was straight in front of her, looking her dead on.

"No, Rose. I don't want to start anything now. I just want you to know that I love you. I know I don't deserve you, but I'm going to work on that. I've always said that you bring out the best in me, and even if you're not mine, you still do. I know you're not seeing Lorcan anymore. But we're both not ready to start again. We're still not even halfway over the last time. But you know what I do think?"

Her dumbfounded face moved a fraction of an inch, nearly shaking her head no, waiting with baited breath, with a suppressed hopefulness that he will continue.

"I think that we're soul mates, Rose. Lily and I were fire and ice, Lorcan and you were merely a passing attraction. But you and Rose, are inevitable and I firmly day that someday we'll be ready."

He kissed her lips softly and the tears she had been holding back finally fell. It was short, just one meaningful kiss and he pulled back.

"Someday." She whispered as he leant his forehead against hers, bringing his hand to her face to wipe away the tears.

"Someday, Rose, we'll be worthy of each other again. But we'll just have to wait, even though neither of us have a patient bone in our bodies."

She giggled against him and clasped her hand against is, on her face.

Giggling. Clasped hands. The promise of someday lay between them in that peaceful moment that they both wished would last for eternity. Like everything in this world, their path was far from perfect. It was dusty, dirty, and filled with potholes. But the promise of Someday gave them both hope. Someday would be theirs soon but for now, their path led different ways.

But soul mates always find each other eventually. Someday.

A/N: Remember, be kind, I'm just now getting back into the swing of things. I'm not quite sure where this one-shot came from, but it feels wonderful to finally be writing it again. A playlist will be up on my blog soon, if any of you care. Anyway, as always, please let me know what you think!

~wwccd