Chapter One: Already Over
It all came down to right now.
All Rose could hear were screams. She didn't know if any were her own, but she couldn't stop to find out. She was running. She was running so fast, she didn't even know it was possible. She knew that it all rested on her. She had to reach him. She had to kill him. She had gotten herself into this when she agreed to help Uncle Harry and the Order.
Now she had to finish it.
"Rose!" She didn't understand how she could hear his voice in all the chaos. But Rose knew why she could. She could hear anything that had to do with Scorpius Malfoy. It didn't even matter that they were fighting on different sides. She could tell whenever he was near. Her heart would just instinctively pound and her palms would sweat and there would be a very distinctive throb in her neck at the thought of him.
She wanted to stop running. In fact, she wanted to turn and run straight into his strong, caring arms.
But she kept running.
She was fighting for Uncle Harry and the Order. She had to win. She had to save her brother, her family, friends, and the millions of other people that would suffer if they lost.
"Rose!" She heard it again, louder this time. Strained. For a second, she was scared he might reach her. Stop her. Hold her. She wished she could run faster, but a part of her hoped he would stop her. Then it wouldn't be her fault she was stopped. It would be his. He would have stopped her and no one could say that she didn't care, because she had tried but failed.
But she wouldn't do that to her family and the millions of other people depending on her.
She quickly ducked in between fighters, her mind intent on reaching her destination. She would not lose. He would not stop her. Scorpius Malfoy was not on her side. He was a Malfoy, a Slytherin, and a Death Eater, just like his father.
And okay, she might have been a Slytherin also, but she was not like him. She would never be.
A new voice called her name. She saw James, he was fighting off Bellatrix Lestrange. For an old lady, she still had plenty of fight left in her. Her horrible cackle rang out as she watched James deflect her spell. Why couldn't that woman stay dead?
James was getting farther away as she ran, but she was able to make out his words through it all, "Keep going!"
She did. She knew what she had to do.
The grounds of Hogwarts were still slick with the rain from this afternoon. It was hard to not slip, but she was determined to make it. Uncle Harry had told her his plan was to hold Hogwarts and the Ministry. She remembered the day he told her not to worry about the Ministry. He assured her that her only job was to keep him in the loop about Hogwarts. He was confident they'd be okay. After all, McGonagall was the Headmistress and Neville Longbottom was an Order Member, as well as a teacher. They had plenty of people on the inside with her.
Yeah, well, Rose thought bitterly, seeing the wreckage all around her, that worked out well.
Maybe it was because she was such a bad spy. She didn't know how that could have been true, seeing as she was a Slytherin, after all. Maybe the Sorting Hat made a mistake. It would make sense, seeing as everyone in her family had always been in Gryffindor. She was the black sheep in Slytherin.
She remembered in fourth year, when she had asked the Sorting Hat why he put her where he did. She remembered what he told her. She had been a challenge to place. She remembered how the hat had spat the line at her, full of disdain. Like she could control that! She didn't apologize, instead she snapped at him, and the hat chuckled, telling her that she had answered her own question. And then he told her more things.
Her memories were abruptly cut off when she stopped short and began falling to the ground. Someone had tackled her. But not just anyone, someone that made her heart pound and her knees shake. Someone that she was supposed to keep an eye on but failed miserably.
"Rose," He said her name in her ear. She squirmed underneath him, trying to get free. It was hard to breath under him, trapped between him and the earth. The grass was wet, she wasn't sure if it was dew or blood. She was hoping for dew.
"Get off," She coughed, still fighting beneath him. She wanted to believe he was trying to save her, tell her to leave, it wasn't safe here. But she knew he wasn't. He was loyal to his family and the other Death Eaters. He had a Mark. He had an agenda and stopping her was part of it. He was delaying her. Stopping her from reaching the charred ashes of his Lord.
"You know I have to stop you," He said, his warm breath tickling her skin.
"I can't let you do that," She uttered, kicking beneath him. She had an idea of how she could fool him, but she knew it would only hurt her heart if she did.
His body was so firm, so strong on top of her petite one. She wished she payed more attention when James, Albus, and Hugo would play football over the summer. They'd tackle each other all the time. But somehow they always got free. How did they do it?
"You're going to lose," Scorpius said, his voice slicing her heart. He was on the other side. She'd known it all along. But actually seeing him helping them, trying to stop her... it was to much. She briefly wondered if he'd killed anyone she loved. Anyone in the Order. Anyone that was on the good side. The side of love and tolerance. The side of basic human rights.
She remembered the first time she saw his Mark. It was the spring, around the time when everyone was trading their heavy cloaks for lighter ones and short sleeve shirts for their long ones. He never did. But one night... they'd let their attraction for each other get too far. And there it was. It was bizarre and scary and heartbreaking. A dark, physical reminder of the awful cause he'd sworn his life too.
She remembered nearly fainting and backing away from his touch. And then he ran out. And she collapsed to the ground and cried.
Now, as she squirmed like a fish out of water underneath him, she imagined the Mark. It was seared on the inside of his right wrist. His right hand was wrapped around her waist. She felt sick imagining it pushed up against her stomach. She didn't want something that hideous anywhere near her. But it didn't matter, the Mark was blazing up in the sky. A Death Eater sent it up as soon as they attacked the school.
How was she going to get away? As the moon rose higher, time was ticking away. The moon would reach it's full height soon. If she calculated right, she only had fifteen minutes until they could begin the ritual and then the most awful, evil man to walk the earth would be back. Uncle Harry was counting on her. So was the rest of the world! She needed to get free.
Her wand, thankfully, didn't fly out of her hand when he jumped her. She had quickly readjusted herself so that it wouldn't snap when she hit the ground and was resting safely against her side. Silent spells, she thought quickly, going over all the ones she knew in her head.
She didn't want to use Petrificus Totalus because then he'd be defenseless. Stupefy, either. Expelliarmus wouldn't do much good in this situation. Confundus might work. It would make him a target, but it was better than freezing him. She shut her eyes and concentrated. It was hard, taking a couple tries since her heart wasn't completely in it. But once it worked she felt his body pressure ease up on her a little.
"Why are we on the ground?"
She took the one second advantage she had and shoved him in the ribs as hard as she could before scrambling up and running. She didn't look back to see if he was following her. She hoped he wasn't.
Merlin, she pleaded, please don't let anything happen to him while he's Confunded.
And then there it was. She had reached the doors. With a jolt she realized that she had never truly expected to make it this far. But she had. She saw that there were two Death Eaters standing guard, protecting their master and whoever was inside with his ashes to perform the ritual. They were both tall and had their hoods pulled up. It was hard to make out their features, but Rose could tell they wouldn't hesitate to Avada Kedavra her as soon as they saw her.
This would have been much easier if she had Uncle Harry's invisibility cloak. He had given it to her, so technically it was hers. She knew he expected it back at some point, probably so he could pass it down to one of his kids. But for the time being, it was in her possession. Except it was now upstairs, in her room, hiding under her bed.
It would have also been nice if she could just Apparate in. Ducking behind a tree, she exhaled and leaned her body against the trunk. A plan. She needed a plan. What was it Uncle Harry had told her to do? If you can find the mirror, you'll be fine. What mirror? After all this time, she still hadn't figured it out. Well, she didn't have any bloody mirror. She had to come up with a new plan of her own.
Peeking her head out, she held out her wand and whispered two quick Stupefies and watched both men drop effortlessly. She sprinted off and found herself in the Great Hall. And then she saw the scene in front of her.
All the tables were gone. There was shattered glass on the floor. In the center of the room was an urn, with what Rose decided to be Lord Voldemort's ashes. Standing around it in a circle were six Death Eaters, in their long black robes, hoods over their heads. They were standing in parade rest, with their hands clasped in front of them and their heads bowed.
Then she heard the chanting.
"Cinis pellis, morte in vitam, cinis pellis, morte in vitam," Their voices were soft but steady. They pronounced the Latin beautifully but also scarily. Rose had no idea what they were saying, but she knew that the ritual hadn't begun yet. She knew the moon was still too low, as she could see from the clear ceiling of the Great Hall. Over and over, they recited the same two lines.
Once again, Rose needed another plan. She had gotten this far. There were six Death Eaters and one urn of ashes. One her. Where was Uncle Harry when you needed him? Wasn't he the Boy Wonder? Rather, the Boy Who Lived. Why was he making her do this? What good did doing this do for her? Nothing, that's what. It would probably only get her killed.
But, the other voice in her head chimed in, you're doing this for the good of everyone else. Not you.
Yeah. Which made no sense. Slytherins don't do crap like that. Slytherins are self absorbed, self calculating, self something brats! She really was the strangest Slytherin ever. First off, she was a Half Blood. There was nothing stranger than that, other than a Muggle born, although they did exist. Maybe she was half Slytherin and half Gryffindor, because only a Gryffindor would willingly charge into a room full of crazy Slytherins trying to resurrect their even more psycho master.
Plan, plan, plan! For a second she wished she could be like James, or some other Gryffindor. He would have charged in here and started basting the first spell that came to his mind. But not her. She was a Slytherin.
The best thing she could come up with was find five other people to join her side. Then each one of them could aim for one person. But she did not have five people at her disposal. All she had was herself and her resourcefulness. Sure, she had plenty of that.
She could- that was stupid. So stupid it actually might work. She looked at the tables staked against the wall and then back at her targets. It was worth a shot.
"Accio table," She whispered. She controlled her wand and sent the table barreling towards the Death Eater circle of quiet, creepy chanting. Of course one of them eventually noticed, but by then it was too late to do much. The table collided with a sickening crack and Rose quickly sent another table before running forward and throwing spells at whoever was attempting to stand.
She needed the urn. She had to do whatever it took to get it.
She didn't know which one it was, but one of the Death Eaters was now standing up. She knew it was a he by the deepness of his voice when he attempted to Avada Kedavra her. She ducked, jumping to one side. She scrambled up as her attacker attempted again. She shot the spell back, but missed as he jumped too. She didn't want to go back and forth, each trying to kill the other. She didn't have the time. The moon was getting higher and the other Death Eaters were coming too.
After a few more attempts, she hit him with a Stupefy. Then she turned around and saw two other Death Eaters coming at her.
But she also saw something else. Someone had moved the urn. It was no longer in the middle of the Hall, surrounded by Death Eaters. Now some of the Death Eaters were lying like pick up sticks on the floor, while the others were advancing on her.
She counted. Two were coming at her. She had knocked out one. Two on the ground. There had been six when she came in. One had taken the urn. None of the other Death Eaters seemed to notice this. Was it a plan? Their emergency one, in case someone from the Order got in? Or was there a mole on their side?
If the urn was no longer here, she had no reason to be. Time to go, she decided. First she'd have to take out the two coming for her.
"Crucio!" The taller one shouted, lunging forward. She jumped back and the spell missed. Rose summoned Blueball Flames, a skill her mother passed onto her. A ball of blue flames shot out from her wand, momentarily off putting her attackers, as it should have. She shot the flames at them. The Death Eaters tried an Aguamenti. Rose smiled, the flames were composed from neither fuel or oxygen, making them waterproof. Looks like someone didn't pay much attention in Charms class.
Of course the flames didn't burn. It took the Death Eaters a few beautiful, crucial, seconds to realize this. But by then it was too late. Rose shouted the spell as loud as she could, "Avada Kedarva!" The green spark shot from her wand with such power that it knocked her back several feet. Green met the blue of the Death Eaters and soon neither were upright.
The other two were still on the ground. She could leave them. She was about to, until she heard a groan from across the room. Her first attacker. He must have been coming too. Rose turned slowly, and saw that she was right. He didn't look happy and instantly Rose knew that his first spell would be to kill her, not unlike the first time they dueled.
In a second she realized how much of a hypocrite she was. She'd already killed two Death Eaters, not counting the numerous ones from the battle outside (which she could hear in full force from inside) and here was another one she was currently locked in battle with. And she had been hoping that Scorpius hadn't killed anyone she knew or loved. Well, he could have loved or knew any of these people, and now they were lying dead at her feet.
The Death Eater growled. Literally growled. Her skin tingled. She remembered the last war. Her Uncle Bill had become a werewolf in it because the Death Eaters had this awful werewolf on their side who wanted to mutilate everyone. Something Greyback, she remembered. Did they have another blood thirsty creep? Merlin, she was the worst spy ever!
Why hadn't she been able to see through Scorpius Malfoy sooner? Why had she not found out about the ritual sooner? Or that damn mirror? Harry had told her that it would stop all of this. And what had she done? Nothing. Nothing at all.
And now the ashes were gone.
She had become so distracted by her thinking that she didn't notice the Death Eater changing up his game plan. It was only when he tackled her and was lying on top of her did she realize the deep shit she was in. She felt his wand pressing into her stomach and his strong hands squeezing her sides painfully.
She wouldn't whimper. Not in this position. It was to scary.
She squirmed, although it was different now. When Scorpius was on top of her, she never felt threatened. No matter what her mind told her, her heart always said he'd never hurt her. But this guy? Her alarm bells were full on ringing.
She didn't listen to the vile thing he said, instead she tried to angle her wand to his body that way she could get him off. But this guy was big and strong. Where Scorpius had been tall and lean, but also muscular, this guy was just big.
She didn't know how it happened, but she dislodged her leg and kicked him between his legs before Avada Kedarva came slipping out of her mouth. She didn't care if Scorpius loved or knew him. This guy was going to try to rape her.
She turned around, ready to run the hell out and never look back. But there was one small problem.
The exit was blocked.
Scorpius Malfoy was standing in front of her, most definitely not Confunded anymore.
Reaching as I fall
I know it's already over now
Nothing left to lose
Loving you again
Already Over, Red
A/N: Hi everyone! I've been working on this story for a veeery long time. Like... a year. So to be finally posting it is just crazy! I really hope you'll like it and such. So please leave me a reviewwwww. :) CHEERS