"Malfoy."
Scorpius glanced at her, his hands stilling on his tie, his button down hanging open, sleeves rolled up, tie hanging lossely around his neck.
"Yes?" His voice was calm, cool, collected, despite the awkward state they were forced in.
Rose sat on the floor of the small shack, the wind rustling like mad about the exterior, the fire crackling in the background. It was sleeting outside, but the charmed fire kept it warm in the small space. Rose held her legs against her chest, not looking at Scorpius, shadows from the fire casting gracefully across her face.
"You're sleeping on the floor."
Scorpius smirked, beginning again on the task of undressing for bed. What made him think they would be on better terms now? Well, had they ever really been on bad terms? No matter.
"Yes, ma'am."
Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley had never really been enemies.
But they had certainly never been friends.
They kept a comfortable distance, interacting only when absolutely necessary. Rose had left the hatered and animosity between the Potter/Weasleys and the Malfoys up to her cousins and brothers. She wasn't into that sort of thing. Scorpius could fight all he wanted with them. They could fight all they wanted with him. Rose didn't care. So long as she was never brought into the mix.
Rose had grown up being told to stay away from 'that Malfoy boy.'
Scorpius had grown up being told to 'make her life hell.'
But it was hard to stay away from him when you were both sorted into Ravenclaw.
And it was hard to make her life hell when he had to put up with all the crap from her family.
So the two never talked. There was tension, oh, yes. And when they did need to talk, a fight usually followed. Because he would try to get her to make them stop, and she would try to get him to leave her out of it.
They were too stubborn for their own good.
Rose leaned against the door frame, Kyle's - her boyfriend - even breathing and steady hand on her waist keeping her together as she - and the rest of the room - braced for the inevitable news.
"Death Eaters."
Nothing new. But it was weird hearing it spoken aloud. The Death Eaters had made a comeback. And they were coming hard.
"Ron and I talked it over and we think it best to split everyone up," Harry said, rubbing his eyes, sighing. Some gasped. Some embraced If Harry Potter was falling short in this time, they were in a boat load of trouble.
Scorpius straightened up slightly, glancing around the room. Split people up? How so? Because Scorpius was sure to die then. He didn't want to be a Death Eater. His father was dead, for Merlin's sake! Scorpius' sixth year at school, someone had murdered Draco. Apparantly he was holding the Death Eaters back. Keeping them from rising again. So they got rid of him.
And Scorpius went to Rose. By no means had she enjoyed the following conversations with her father and uncle, trying to convince them that, no matter how much she detested him, he was in fact, an alright bloke. And they should trust him. Ron said no. Harry said yes.
So, Scorpius was looped in with the Order, stealthily moving between them and the Death Eaters (for appearances), doing his best to act as sort of liasion. Though he was, by no means, anything near a Death Eater.
Well, excluding the Dark Mark on his arm.
And because of that wretched mark, no one trusted him. Except Harry. And Ron (barely, though).
And Rose.
But Kyle, Kyle did not.
Three years her senior, he was very protective of her in these dark times, always, always, always, touching her. Holding her hand. Brushingher cheek. A hand on her hip. Around her waist. A soft kiss. Anything.
Rose hated it. Hated him. For Merlin's sake, she was twenty three! She didn't need him always around, constantly looking out for her! She could hold her own, if it came to it. But he always fought for her. Always! The only reason she stayed with him was because Ron liked him. A lot. Rose and Kyle had only been seeing each other for about sixth months, but love came easily when the end of the world was dawning.
"I'm staying with Rose."
Rose flushed bright red, her nostrils flaring slightly. Last thing she wanted was to be stuck with Kyle for the rest of eternity. Ron nodded approvingly, Harry frowned.
"You know, as well as I do, that we would have people left out. It wouldn't be fair to them. Bad things could happen."
The room tensed. Scorpius pinkened slightly. Bad things could happen. Meaning: he would die, if left in someone elses care.
Kyle's grip around her waist tightened. "I wont let her be stuck with him! I wont risk it!"
Kyle, Harry, and Ron must've discussed this before. "She's the only one. You know this, Kyle." Ron was keeping silent. He was with Kyle on this one, but Harry had the final say.
"Why can't you stay with him? Or Ron?" Kyle was desperate. Rose felt sorry for him. He loved her, and she didn't love him back.
"We have families we need to take care of," Harry said, "I'm sorry. No."
"I have her to take care of, though!" Rose looked at the floor. Merlin, he was always so dramatic.
"I can take care of myself," Rose said, glancing up. "Alone." Hey, she didn't want to be stuck with the bloke either. She knew him in school. And they didn't get along, left up to their own devices, too well, or too often.
Scorpius full on flushed. Why hadn't he just become a Death Eater in the beginning? They were winning, anyways. He clearly wasn't wanted here.
"No. Rose, you and Malfoy are together. Kyle, you're with your little sister. Longbottoms..." And Harry began rumbling off the remainder of the names, assigning everyone with one other person, handing out a small amount of money and a slip of parchment with the location of their new home on it.
The plan was to stay in as small a group as possible (pairs), hide out for the longest time possible, coming out only to purchase small increments of food, to meet up occasionaly to discuss further plans (rather, to see who was still living), and to try to stay alive for as long as possible.
The Death Eaters were too popular. People remember what happened the first time, then the second (Harry winning, yet never seeing the true problem - his niceness. Allowing many Death Eaters to live free), and now this. People were scared, and the Boy Who Lived couldn't help them any longer.
"You have half an hour," Ron announced, his voice cracking slightly. He was with Hermione, Harry with Ginny, James with Lily, Albus with Hugo. Rose got stuck with Malofy because she was the only one that could trust him. That knew him. Make the most of what you have. Pack as light as possible. Hermione has a list of spells for every pair. Lay low for a few days before you travel out for food. Your places all have enough to last at least two weeks." Ron sighed, turning to bid goodbye to his family.
Rose extricated herself from Kyle's grip and, without another word, made her way towards her family. She wasn't going to cry. Didn't see the need. She had faith in the greater good.
"I wonder how long they had been preparing this shack for us," Scorpius mused, readjusting his pillow on the floor, trying to get comfortable. It may have been below zero outside, but the warming charm was working wonders.
Rose shrugged, staring up at the ceiling from her place on the bed, silent. Scorpius wanted to talk. But Rose didn't want to fight. So hs ekept quiet.
He continued. "I mean, they obviously knew ahead of time we were going to be together. The least they could've done was given us two beds." He chuckled slightly. Chuckled.
"Malfoy, I'm assuming you really have no idea the severity of this situation. Death Eaters are taking over. I know you have loads of galleons stashed in your pack somewhere, and you still think you can buy whatever the bloody hell you want, but, reality check: there is nothing left."
She said it so bluntly, so tonelessly, that he had no choice but to believe her. "I didn't mean it like that, Weasley. I just meant they should've salvaged another bed for us."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Each shack recieved one bed. There weren't enough to give everyone two, without alerting them that we were about to go into hiding," she explained.
"But, we're the only pair not releated in some way, so they could've-"
"Shut up, will ya? I feel like hell. I had to break it off with Kyle, not that I didn't want to, but I'm not heartless, and I had to pretend in front of everyone thatI hadn't went behind my father's back and told my Uncle that I'd pair with you. Stop talking before I kill you. I gave up everything for you. My family, Malfoy. Family. For you."
Perhaps thinking Rose Weasley the better alternative was a bad idea. She had a way with words, and Scorpius, too passive for his own good (only at face value), was not going to argue with her. Not tonight, anyways.
He wasn't ready to die just yet.