the weight of living ⁂ scorpius malfoy

fifteen ⁂ tears

December 31, 2021 -
a few minutes later

Scarlett placed the letters from her relatives next to Daer's empty cage before she sat on her bed, staring at the letter addressed to her from Clary and Olivia. The soft pillows compressed as Scarlett leaned back onto her bed and traced her fingers along the smooth envelope. The letter confused her. It was from the both of them, but the past 3 months, they were apart. It seemed they had found other friends as well, not even bothering to include Scarlett. She didn't understand about how after four years their friendship diminished to nothing.

    Her fingers traced the fold of the envelope, but even with the short hesitation she finally ripped open the letter. Scarlett pulled out a peace of small perfect white muggle paper, but the words were written through quill and ink. Obviously Clary and Olivia.

Dear Scarlett,

Merry Christmas. As you can see this letter is written by the both of us, meaning we are together. Our parents figured out about our fight and brought us together. We made up and we are friends again. Now, we have to fix things with you. We are sorry for making you chose sides as well as not hanging out with you because of that. We also forgive you for calling us snobby and selfish. I hope when we return to school we can hang out.

We wish you were here,
Clary and Olivia

    Scarlett pursed her lips, and moved slowly through her room as she slipped on her bathing suit. Thoughts swirled through her mind like a hurricane, yet she was speechless because of what seemed to be a remorseless letter. Tears threatened her eyes as Scarlett read the letter again. The water in her eyes blurred her vision, but as soon as a persistent knock rang from her door, Scarlett snapped out of her trance. She wiped her eyes before opening the door to a smiley Scorpius. As soon as he saw her eyes, his smile immediately dropped.

    "Sorry, I came because I didn't want to the one that was two hours early." Scorpius chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

    Scarlett looked down to her feet, mumbling an apology. She rushed back to her bed and grabbed her things, putting away the letter.

    "What's that?" Scorpius asked.

    Scarlett closed the drawer. "A letter, from Clary and Olivia."

    "Is that why you're upset?"

    Scarlett shook her head, sniffing. "I'm not upset."

    Scorpius raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Yes you are. Let me read the letter."

    Scarlett glanced over to the drawer, and Scorpius took it as an invitation. He then proceeded to read the letter, his brain making connections. Scorpius remembered Scarlett not staying long at any of the meals, for she had no one to sit with. The only person who he remembers her talking to was a ravenclaw boy, Augustus Miller, a peer who he didn't even bother to know the name of until he was curious who was with Scarlett. But now, even he could see through the adamant letter.

    "Don't you think they're being quite harsh?" Scorpius asked, handing the letter back to Scarlett. He watched her crumble up the paper and throw it on the floor, next to a smaller crumbled up piece of parchment that he recognized to be his own small note. He ignored it, and focused his attention back to Scarlett.

    "But you don't even know my side. I said some things I regret." She sniffled.

    "So you hurt them more with your words? Despite them ignoring you and letting you cry?"

    "Well—" Scarlett started, but Scorpius cut her off knowing she was trying not to make Clary and Olivia seem like bad people.

    "Scarlett, stop. You can tell this was written with the least bit of sincerity, probably just trying to please their parents." Scorpius took a step closer to Scarlett.

    Scarlett's jaw dropped, as an unwanted tear fell down her cheek. She turned away from Scorpius and wiped it away.

    "Scarlett," Scorpius said, her name rolling off his tongue. He did something he wouldn't expect. Scorpius inched closer to Scarlett's back and wrapped his large arms around her small body. "After three months of not talking to you, they don't deserve to be friends with you."

    He could feel her stiff body relax, and to the surprise of both of them, Scarlett spun around in his arms and buried herself in his warm chest.

    "Thank you." She whispered, letting her tears fall down her face, a few soaking into his robes. She pulled away from Scorpius and brushed away the tears with her sleeve. Scorpius stared at her. He wondered how she kept her wall up around him while his was just tumbling down. He wondered how she could pull away so easily, while he wanted to keep his arms around her forever. He hated thinking like this, but Scorpius couldn't help but do so. She made him stop thinking about a certain red-headed girl. His feelings felt overwhelming. But again, he couldn't help them. So he did something Scarlett and himself thought they would never do even if they were the last people on the planet.

    Scorpius kissed her. Everything was screaming at the two of them not to do it, but when they both melted into the embrace, they both knew that things were going to become much different.