Authors Note:
Ok, so here's some information you probably need to know:
Rose- 6th Year Gryffindor
James: 7th Year Gryffindor
Freddie: 7th Year Gryffindor
Roxanne: 7th Year Gryffindor
Lorna Creevey: 7th Year Ravenclaw
Albus: 6th Year Slytherin
Scorpius: 6th Year Slytherin
Liam Chang: 6th Year Slytherin
Jade Parkinson: 7th Year Slytherin
Alexandra Smith: 6th Year Slytherin
Chelsea Zabini: 6th Year Slytherin
I know it isn't strictly true to the books, but it's how I imagined it. Enjoy!
Rose's Pov:
I washed the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath. My head seemed to clear a little and I managed to glance up at my reflection in the mirror. Oh god, I looked terrible. My eye-liner had smudged and a trail of mascara trickled down my cheek. If that wasn't bad enough, my eyes now looked puffy and bloodshot.
I screwed my eyelids shut to stop myself from bursting into tears again. My hands were holding so tightly onto the sides of the sink that my knuckles were turning white. I was a wreck, and I knew it.
A high pitched giggle made me turn around, although I wish I hadn't. Staring back at me was Moaning Myrtle, my least favourite ghost at Hogwarts. And I really don't like ghosts. She floated over to me with a big grin on her face.
"Ooh, little icky Rose I crying. Who got your knickers in twist this time, Weasley?" She giggled again and this time swooped right though me. I felt my insides turn cold and my head went giddy for a second.
"Go away Myrtle. Isn't there a first year for you to annoy somewhere?" I shot at her and tried to get out of the girls bathroom.
"This is my bathroom, I'll have you know!" She screeched, leaving my eardrums ringing which was a pretty amazing achievement for a ghost. She soared out of the bathroom with such force that the doors slammed closed, leaving me alone once more. I muttered under my breath and picked up my school bag. I risked a last glance at the mirror and immediately wished I hadn't. Pulling my red curls over my face and keeping my head low, I headed to dinner.
Going to dinner was a stupid idea. After leaving the bathroom, I soon realised that I was late. The lack of students milling around in the corridors was enough to send the alarm bells ringing, and when I finally found a clock in one of the paintings on the first floor, I almost screamed at how late it was. I finally made it to the great hall and pushed the door just a little. When I say just a little, I mean that it was meant to be a little. What it turned out to be was a thunderous rumble as the door swung stiffly. I winced and slid my way into the hall. Everyone was staring at me like I was a freak or something. People whispered and giggled. I pretended not to notice, but I did. It was silly really, me getting upset or bothered by little things like other people's opinions. I shouldn't let it get to me. But it did, every time.
I slid into a seat next to James on the Gryffindor table. My cousin was a year older than me and looked like he should be modelling some underwear or something. He was tall and muscular with scruffy dark hair. He was also the heart-throb of almost every girl at Hogwarts- something I think he rather enjoyed. He gave me a smile that would have made any other girl faint. Obviously I don't think of him in that way- he is my cousin... But I appreciated the gesture.
"So where have you been?" He asked me, but as he did so he squinted, analysing my face. "Why are you eyes so puffy?"
"It's nothing, James. It doesn't matter." I looked around, and sure enough, heads were turned in my direction. And the few people who weren't looking at me were whispering about me to their friends.
"You've been crying again, haven't you Rose?" He made it sound like a question, but to me it seemed like more of an accusation. Luckily before I had a chance to make some feeble excuse, Freddie (another cousin) cut in with some crap about Quidditch. James gave me a weak but supportive smile and turned to Freddie who went on and on about this month's game against Slytherin. Freddie is the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and James and he are Beaters. All Freddie ever talks about is Quidditch or girls, and I'm not really interested in either of them. But James really gets me. He understands my issues and problems, which is why I liked him so much. But more than that, he listens.
Although I hadn't noticed her, sitting opposite me was Roxanne, Freddie's twin. Whereas Freddie was white and looked just like his father, Roxanne had warm caramel skin and reminded me of her mother. They looked nothing alike and their personalities couldn't have been more different. Freddie was funny and sociable but Roxanne was moody, bad with people (especially boys) and found it hard to have a proper conversation without insulting someone. As her cousin, I kind of had to like her, but I wasn't particularly fond of her. So to say I was surprised when I looked up to see her smiling at me is an understatement. I gave her a nervous smile back, not really sure how to respond.
"Hi Rose, how are you?" She asked me, as if we spoke all the time, which we most certainly didn't.
"I'm ok, thanks. You doing alright?" I was trying to be polite, but I really just wanted to know what she wanted from me. Was it the answers to some test? When people spoke to me, that was almost always the reason why, but Roxanne was older than me so asking for my help seemed odd, surely she would ask someone in her year first.
"I'm ok, I guess. I was wondering..." Oh, here we go... What does she want from me? "Could I possibly borrow your owl? I need to send a letter to someone and I don't have one."
"Who is the letter to?" And just like that, the kind, glowing smile was gone, replaced with a cold scowl.
"It's none of your business! Keep your freckled nose out of my private life!" She almost spat at me and stormed out of the Great Hall, leaving me sitting alone speechless. Talk about anger management issues.
Freddie leaned over and gave me an understanding look. "Don't worry about her. Dad reckons she's found another boy and you know how she gets about them."
I nodded and stood up myself. James looked up at me.
"Where are you going?" He asked, looking genuinely concerned.
"Probably just to the lake. I've got a test to study for anyway. "
"Want me to come with you?"
"Haven't you got a girl to meet? You almost always have." That made him laugh. I cracked a smile.
"Not this time." He grinned. I knew he was lying; he'd probably made arrangements with five girls. But he was willing to cancel it, for me. It made me feel special. Not in a way a boy makes the girl he loves feel special. Neither James nor I felt that way about each other. He made me feel special as if he was my best friend. Which I guess, in a way, he was. He had friends- loads of them. He was one of the most popular guys in school. But I didn't have a best friend. Not really. So I guess James was the closest thing to that.
"So do you want me to come with you?" I nodded and grinned. James got up and together we walked, in silence, out of the Great Hall, out of the Castle and down to the lake. We settled under a tree that overlooked the mass of water. I looked up at the trunk and noticed some initials engraved in the wood. I looked closer and laughed.
"James, why did you feel the need to scratch your name into a tree? And who is L.E?" I asked.
"What?"James sounded confused.
"It says here J.P+L.E. And it's been surrounded by a heart. So, who is this L.E?" I giggled, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Ow!" He pretended to faint with pain. "Seriously though, that wasn't me. I don't know who wrote that on the tree, but it wasn't me."
"Oh please! It's your initials, James Potter!"
"It's also the initials of my Granddad." James muttered. My eyes widened in shock and realisation.
"Oh, sorry. I completely forgot... So L.E would be...?"
"My Gran, yeah. Lily Evans." Suddenly James didn't seem anywhere near as cheerful. Even his sweet smile had been wiped off his face, which rarely happened.
"Look, James, I'm really sorry. I didn't think. Let's talk about something else, ok?"
"Yeah, ok." He looked up at the rapidly darkening sky. "So, why were you upset earlier?"
"Who said I was upset?" I didn't look at him, hoping he would take that as the end of the topic. I should have known better.
"Rose, you're my cousin. No, you're my friend. I know when you're upset."
I sighed. What was the point in lying? James would only keep asking. "Alright, so I was upset."
"I knew it! What's wrong, Rose?"
"I-I don't know. It doesn't matter, James. I shouldn't have got upset anyway, it was stupid and babyish."
"No, Rose, it wasn't. I've noticed you smile less. You're almost always alone, or being picked on. It's not like you, Rose. You used to be so happy. What happened?"
"They happened." Rose could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she kept talking. "Albus and his friends. They just don't give me a break. I can't- I-" And then the flood came. I just cried, and cried. I couldn't stop. James wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. I needed someone to confide in. I'd held it in for too long. As my sobs got quieter and shorter, James took his arm away and turned so that we were face to face.
"You ok now?" I nodded and sniffed. "Rose, I've never seen you like this. Albus is doing this?"
"Not really, it's more his friends. He just stands and watches.
"Well as far as I'm concerned, that's just as bad. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" James asked. I answered honestly.
"I didn't think you'd want to be bothered by it. You're my cousin, not my brother. Besides, you've always been too busy with various girls so I never tried telling you." It was harsh, yes. But it was the truth.
"I guess I deserved that." I nodded, smiling a little. "See, that's better I chuckled a little. I looked up at the sky. It was getting really dark, and soon The Fat Lady wouldn't let us into the Common Room.
"Thanks for coming with me. It was good to tell someone. You should go and apologise to whoever you ditched to be here." I got up and he did the same.
"Nah, Lorna will forgive me."
"Lorna? As in Lorna Creevey?" I forgot to hide my shock.
"Yep." He didn't say anything else so she didn't comment. Lorna was gorgeous, with her dark eyes and auburn hair but she had a reputation of sleeping around. Then again, so did James... Thinking about it, they were a perfect couple.
"Are you going back to the Common Room?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's getting late. It must be after hours. I'll walk you back."
"Thanks." I smiled gratefully; glad that I wouldn't be walking back alone in the dark.
A squeal brought me back to reality. I looked questioningly at James, but he just shook his head and put a finger over his lips. I nodded to show I understood him and followed his gaze. First I saw a head of short, scruffy golden hair. Then the perfect face. Then the gorgeous body. Scorpius Malfoy. Without a top on. My eyes widened and I was partially aware of James whispering something to me, but I just couldn't take my eyes off Malfoy. Now I got a better look, he was wet. As in, soaked. He'd been swimming in the lake, I realised. But that squeal hadn't belonged to him, it was way too high pitched. James grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest. At first I struggled against him, but then I realised he was trying to hide us both behind the tree. I heard another squeal, this time closer and several people attempted to quieten them down. I couldn't resist a peak around the tree trunk.
Three girls were running around in skimpy bikinis whilst two other boys walked in the direction of Malfoy. Jade Parkinson, Chelsea Zabini and Alexandra Smith finally decided to stop fooling around and came to sit down with the boys- on the other side of our tree. Malfoy came over to join them, followed by two other topless guys who I realised were Albus Potter and Liam Chang. Liam leant against the tree, looking as obnoxious as I knew he was, whilst Malfoy and Albus lay on the grass. Chelsea, a stunning girl with tanned skin and glossy black hair, went straight to Malfoy, dropped her body onto him and started making out with him. Jade Parkinson gave the bodies of Malfoy and Zabini (which were now moulded together) a cold, jealous look and went over to Liam. Liam was good looking I guess, but he was so full of himself, I was hardly able to stand being in the same room as him. Jade had cropped black hair and a pig nose. Alexandra Smith shook out her dripping golden hair and gave a flirty grin to Albus, who returned it. Smith slithered over to my cousin and slowly leant over him. Albus moaned in pleasure and pulled her down onto him. I looked over at James, but he was looking in disgust at his brother as Albus tried to undo Smith's bikini.
"Albus? What the hell?" Apparently James couldn't keep quiet any longer. Albus's roaming hands dropped from Smith's body and glanced up at James. A lightening flash of recognition soared across his face and he sat up, sending Smith toppling over. She managed to make it look as though she had done it purposely and ended up in a very suggestive pose.
"James? What are you doing here?" I peered around the side of the tree again. "Rose? Why the hell are you two here?"
Parkinson and Chang were no longer glued together, but instead watching James. Chang looking like he might punch James, Parkinson looking like she wished she could get in his pants. Zabini looked up over Malfoy's head and grinned gloatingly at me. She knew I'd had a crush on Malfoy for a long time, like since third year. I didn't look at her. Malfoy finally pushed Zabini off of him and turned to face James.
"Potter." He nodded, a slight smirk on his face. I noticed James' fists tighten. Then Malfoy turned to me. "Weasley, didn't you know it's rude to spy on people? Haven't you got a book to read or something like that?"
"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" James growled as I blushed like mad. I might have a crush on him, but it didn't stop Malfoy from being a bit of a dick sometimes.
"What do you care James? She's just your cous-" Albus began.
"Just my cousin. Yeah, I know that. But apparently you forgot that she is your cousin too. Can you imagine what mum and dad would say if I told them how you had been treating Rose?"
"It's just a bit of fun, Potter." Parkinson said, fluttering her false eyelashes.
"Shut up, Parkinson." James shot at her without actually looking at her. "Albus, just because you're a Slytherin doesn't mean you are allowed to treat anyone like that, especially family! And since when did you decide it was right to take advantage of girls?" Now that I looked closely at the three girls, it was quite obvious they were drunk. Actually drunk might not be a very good description. Pissed would be a better one. And the three guys looked perfectly sober. What the hell had been going on here?
"I didn't take advantage of them!" Albus yelled.
"Oh yeah, I can see that. Since when was it your thing to get girls drunk and nearly have sex with them?"
"Maybe I was just following the example of my brother!" Albus yelled. James was lost for words. It was true, James had probably slept with half the girls in my year, but they were all willing. James wouldn't ever force a girl to sleep with him. He was better than that. Albus continued yelling. "Don't pretend you're all innocent! And stop acting a hero for Rose! Just because she is too weak to stand up for herself doesn't mean you have to do it for her!" Ouch, that really hurt. Albus and I had used to be close. Like, best friends. What had happened? What had changed? I watched as Albus stormed off towards the castle. Scorpius laughed and followed, calling for my cousin to wait for him. Chang walked after them leaving the three girls behind with me and James.
"Bitch!" Zabini spat at me before running off after her boyfriend. Smith followed and with a quick wink at James, Parkinson joined them.
What the hell had I just witnessed?
First Chapter complete! Wooo! Hoped you liked it. Please review! It would mean a lot!