Maybe it was impromptu, maybe we'd both been expecting it for some time now.

I knocked on the door as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The thunder had stopped, but the rain hadn't ceased since earlier. I had left so suddenly I'd forgotten to put on a coat, or shoes, so I stood outside his home in only my jeans and a casual jumper, soaked through to the skin. Shivering. Nervous. Determined.

The door opened.

He had been laughing, probably at something she'd said. When he saw me, he blinked.

He was surprised.

I didn't speak. After everything I'd thought about saying, nothing came to mind. Nothing seemed appropriate for this moment. What do you say to someone after all this time? What must they think when you turn up at their door in the pouring rain with nothing to say?

"Who is it?" Came the light, undisturbed voice of a woman from further within the house. Probably from the kitchen.

He didn't take his eyes off me. He opened his mouth to answer, to say something, but nothing came out. He simply stared inquisitively, with that comfortable curiousness that I had grown to love.

"Scorpius?" She called.

"It's… no one," He replied, the words coming out only the second time he tried to speak. He didn't even turn his head, didn't look away from me.

"I'll be upstairs," She called back, probably finishing a conversation they'd already been having. I just about heard a door shut over the sound of the pouring rain.

"I…," he stepped over the threshold, pulling the door close but not completely shut, "What are you doing here, Rose?"

He sounded… surprised. Nothing but surprised - not annoyed, angry, sad, happy, nervous, not anything else.

He was still under the alcove, still out of the rain, his bare feet the only part of his body getting wet.

"I… I heard that you… you got married," I eventually forced out.

The edges of his lips creased, but he remained staring at me. He seemed to be making his mind up about something. After what felt like a long time, he closed the door behind him completely.

"You left." He stated quietly. I had hurt him when I left, I knew I had, but hearing him say those words cut me deeply. "I… You didn't say goodbye, you just left. I… didn't hear from you."

He wasn't accusing me. He wasn't annoyed, even a little bit.

I wish he had been.

But I knew he was hurt, hurting still.

"I'm sorry for just… turning up like this," I weakly gestured to the sky, where the stars were shining and the rain was pouring. "You're probably busy, I just… I didn't know what else to do."

"Is something wrong?" He asked. The first hint of curiosity showed on his face, but only fleetingly.

"No… it…" I wrapped my arms around my waist to stop from shivering, the cold beginning to get to me now. "I just wanted to see you."

To remember you. To make you remember me.

"Rose…" He began wearily.

"It's just been a long time since I last saw you," I spoke softly. He continued to watch me, standing a good two metres away. He didn't ask why I'd come.

I looked at him, taking in his features, the ways he'd changed, the ways he hadn't.

A thought came to mind.

"I… Do you remember when we were younger, and you used to walk me to work, even though it meant you had to get out of bed at five o'clock? And you'd sit around the café all morning until my lunch break and we'd go… anywhere… we'd just take off and drive wherever, sometimes for the whole day?"

I smiled sadly at the memory.

He made to open his mouth, but I knew he didn't know what to say. I'd surprised him, after all.

"You used to say, 'Let's get out of here, make a name for ourselves somewhere, somehow', trying to convince me to… run away with you… and I'd complain that we had nowhere to go. But you'd say… 'It didn't matter-"

"-As long as we were together.'"He swallowed, glancing down at the floor. "I remember."

"It's been a long time," I repeated. He locked eyes with me.

I desperately wanted him to see that I still loved him, but saying the words would hurt him. After all the time I'd been gone combined with my sudden appearance, it wasn't fair on him Not after he'd let go.

"You shouldn't have come," He finally whispered sadly. "It… I'm married now, I can't…"

"I just wanted to see you…" He was quiet, just as unwilling to move as I was. The breeze caused the rain to pick up and my hair to whip around my face.

"My wife-"

"You always wanted to get married," I seemed to be telling the both of us.

"But not to just anyone," He reminded me.

"I didn't want to..." I thought aloud.

"I… didn't think I'd ever want to get married after you left."

"She must be special…" I could hear the regret in my voice.

"She is," He told me gently.

I gave him a weak smile, trying to convey that I was glad he was happy.

"I had to see you, I had to… I know I disappeared and because of that I… I missed my chance, but I just wanted to see you. I wanted to know you were doing fine - that you were happy."

He looked sad now, almost as if he was longing to touch me. "Rose, I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry…" I hoped he understood the sincerity of my words. "I'll be fine. I just… I'll find someone. If there's someone for everyone, there's someone for me." I spoke gently, quietly. "I'll find someone like you."

I took a step back, towards the gate.

"Wait-"

He took a step forwards.

"I should go," I breathed, glancing at the moving curtain in the upstairs window. "It's not good for us to be together, not now. You said it yourself - 'Sometimes it hurts in love'."

"That was the last time I saw you…" He remembered.

"Yeah… and I guess you were right."

I took another step back and opened the gate.

"Wait!" He repeated, raising his voice finally. I glanced at him, surprised when he took another few steps forward, wrapping his arms around me and kissed me gently, one last time.

It was bittersweet - I had longed for it for so long, yet we both knew it was the end of everything we'd ever had together.

I rested my forehead on his. "I'll find someone like you. I hope you… have a wonderful life, Scorpius. I really do wish the best for you." I took a step backwards, out of his arms one last time. "Don't forget me?"

"Never."