Rose Weasley sat on a wooden bench at the edge of the Great Hall, her back to the wall. The building above her seemed to open up to the heavens, with the stars as bright as glistening diamonds against the velvet sky. Beautiful music slowly played, and couples swept gracefully across the polished floors. Girls sighed at the romance of the night, and guys flashed their pearly whites down at their partners, planning their attempts to cash in said romance when the night would come to an end. Rose tried not to let her eyes wander to him, lest she find the same expression on his face.
No one was making plans to seduce Rose, not as far as she could tell, anyway. The bench on the sidelines seemed to have been made especially for her, as she had been its main occupant throughout the beautiful evening. She found some solace in the realisation that people seemed to be enjoying the muggle music that she herself had chosen, as part of the Valentine Dance committee. She shut her eyes as Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" swept across the room, unwilling to watch as her peers succumbed to the romance of one of her favourite songs. Her mind strayed to her room in the Slytherin dorms, a place to which her thoughts had often drifted that particular night.
On her bed was her broomstick, an outdated isweep her dad had bought for her when she was ten. Every twig was clipped and polished, maybe even overly so. She had checked and checked again, in preparation. It was also in as best shape as she could manage, with her book-learned DIY reparations. Clipped to the front, just under where her hands would grip, was a compass.
"Rose?"
Her eyes flew open. 'Unforgettable' was winding to a close. She looked up from her seat. Her cousin, Albus had his hand extended out to her, a smile on his handsome face. She looked around the room for his girlfriend, Jessica. She was dancing with Al's friend, Mason Nott.
Jessica looked beautiful in a pale yellow floor-length dress with short sleeves and a square neckline. The colour accentuated her sun-browned skin, and her dark brown hair was out and fell in waves down to the middle of her somewhat open back. Mason spun her around and she looked over her shoulder at Rose and smiled graciously. Rose returned it, and took her cousin's hand so that he could lead her onto the floor just as "Son of a Preacher Man" slid on, by Dusty Springfield.
"Tell Jessica thanks. It was getting awkward there for a while." She smiled up at him, grateful.
Al looked over at his girlfriend, then back at Rose, his left eyebrow slightly raised. "It wasn't her idea, if that's what you're thinking. I can dance with whoever I want."
Rose smirked. "With her permission, no? You're so whipped."
To any other normal sixteen year old boy, this would be considered an insult. But his grin only got bigger, and somewhat more goofier. "So what if I am?"
"So what if you are." She shrugged, her grin matching his. She was happy for him.
He spun her away, then back into him. She rested her cheek on his tux, with one hand on his shoulder, and the other pressing against his chest, close to her cheek. He held the small of her back, and they swayed for a small while in silence.
Couples weaved and glided across the Great hall, under thousands of glittering candles which had been charmed to float above their heads in mid-air. Nearby, she could see Hagrid as he cut a path through the students with Professor Mcgonagall, who was still Headmistress of Hogwarts. Every now and then, one of Rose's other family members would float by, God knows she had many.
She caught the eye of the Potions Master, Professor Zambini, and they exchanged smiles. Potions was her best subject, and he was her favourite teacher and mentor, much to the disgust of her dad. Rose didn't understand why Professor Zambini could easily overcome his old prejudice for muggleborns, but her dad couldn't overcome his prejudice for Slytherins.
She breathed in Al's comforting scent, closing her eyes in an attempt to memorise it. She wanted to remember him, and this moment with him.
Rose was reluctant to break away from Al, and stuck with him for the next two songs. She felt so confused, and tried to summon the strength to speak to him. He had been her closest friend ever since she could remember. They had become closer after the backlash from their families when they were both sorted into Slytheryn. Her Dad hadn't spoken to her for weeks, believing her skills on a broom to have been wasted if they weren't utilised for Griffindor. And while his own father had completely understanding, his mother hadn't taken the news well. Neither had James, his brother.
Slowly, she broke away from him and looked up into his concerned eyes. She probably had been acting a little strange, but she needed to tell him something.
"Is something wrong, Rose?"
She looked away, and he followed her gaze to where his girlfriend was now dancing with Scorpius Malfoy. He had his hand under Jessiica's hair, on the bare skin at the small of her back. Rose looked back at Al, and watched as his lips thinned. Scorpius had a reputation with girls, and she could tell Al was uneasy with his girlfriend dancing with him. But Rose wasn't quite ready to let him go just yet.
"She knows how to handle herself around him, Al." He looked down, then back up at her.
"I'm not sure... they've been together before."
Rose raised her eyebrows, but she wasn't really surprised. There probably weren't many girls currently in the hallway that Scorpius hadn't been with. She moved her hands to his shoulders, and gripped them tightly. "But now she's with you. And you need to learn to trust her, Al. I doubt she'll like it if you stormed over there and cut in, especially mid song. It's just a dance."
He looked back across as Scorpius twirled Jessica under his arm, but Rose turned him so that he couldn't see the other couple. "There are some things I should tell you."
'Like what?" his brow deepened in confusion, and he ran a hand through his black, messy hair. She reached up and adjusted his tie with one hand, and then rested it back on his chest. Her other hand still gripped his shoulder. She didn't speak, staring absentmindedly at his tie, as she held her bottom lip between her teeth. "Rosie, are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked impatiently.
His concern was growing. But she smiled, wiping one of his buttons with the pad of her thumb. "You know you're the only one I let call me 'Rosie?'" She didn't look away from his chest, focussing intently on the single button. "Harriet tried yesterday and I didn't even respond." Harriet Davis wasn't as close with her as Al, but they were still pretty good friends.
A ghost of a smirk crept onto his face as she looked up. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
It wasn't. The sight of his face nearly made her cry. She needed to tell him so much, but this didn't seem like the appropriate time. She was overwhelmed with the knowledge that it was highly likely she would never see him again. "I know... I never tell you this," she sniffed, trying to hold herself together, "but you're my best friend, Al." she whispered, and he frowned.
Al was seriously worried. "Rosie, tell me what's up. Let me know." his hand grazed her cheek. "I promise I can handle it."
Rose drowned in guilt under his concerned gaze. How could she dream of leaving him behind? She rarely ever told him how much he meant to her, she just wasn't sentimental like that. But now, she cast her mind around, searching for something to say, something to leave him with that would let him know how important he was to her.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Professor Longbottom who glided by with his daughter, a very red-faced Alice. Rose could tell she had been pushed into dancing with her father, probably by her mother. "Rose! Al! How's it going?" he asked, in an excited greeting. Everyone knew Professor Longbottom really enjoyed dancing, and the cousins smiled back warmly before he twirled his daughter away.
Rose pushed her hands under her cousin's arms and around his back in a hug. "You know something Al?" she whispered into his shoulder, and he stopped moving. "I can't believe I'm telling you this, but on my first night in this castle, I was terrified you would be put in a different house than me. After you got into Slytherin, I begged the sorting hat to let me go there too. It wanted to put me in Gryffindor."
He wrapped his arms around her back and squeezed her tightly. There were no longer dancing. "Rosie, I'm so sorry, your family, your dad –" but she broke him off.
"Honestly, it was worth being the first Wesley to become a Slythryn, just to know what my family are truly like." She pushed away from him slightly to look up into his pale blue eyes while they will still hugging. "I have no regrets. So much for unconditional love, hey?" she squeezed him tight, and then pushed him away, only now holding him in the formal style of dancing. "And I really need to tell you that I–"
She was interrupted by Jessica, who smiled at Rose before asking, "Can I cut in?"
Rose realised the current song had ended, and she had hogged Jessica's boyfriend for at least six songs. She abruptly let go of Al, and grinned at Jessica. "Sure! Sorry, I didn't realise how long it had been!"
Al frowned. "Jess, can–"
But Rose knew what he was going to say, and she realised she had wasted her chance on time-consuming sentimentality. "No! It's fine. I need to go to sleep, anyway. Huge day tomorrow." She backed away from the couple and glanced across the room at Scorpius, catching his eye. But she quickly looked away. He was dancing with the girl he had come with; Bryony Goyle. Rose returned her gaze to Al and Jessica. "I'll see you both around."
It was a lie, but the couple were already too absorbed in each other to realise she had spoken. Al half-heartedly waved at her, and she felt her eyes prick with tears. She needed to leave the hall quickly.
Rose sat, hunched in the corner of the antechamber where the first years were kept before being herded into the great hall and divided amongst the houses. She hadn't made it far before she had shattered, but luckily no one had seen. The door was warded, and the room silenced, but she could still hear the goings on beyond it, in case a teacher approached on the hunt for amorous couples, and saw fit to undo her wards. Which would actually take a while; it was one of her own designs.
Her tears had long spilled and dried, and she was recollecting herself, going over the plan in her head repeatedly until she calmed herself down.
The only way it wouldn't work would be if there was some unknown spell on the castle preventing escapees. But from all the stories her uncle George had secretly told her about her parents and their adventures beyond the school boundaries, she was gambling on no interruptions.
Her plan was simple, as she had always believed that it was the simplest plans that worked the best. For the first part, she had packed everything she needed into a small yellow purse, which currently lay beside her isweep on her bed. Rose had scoured the Library for the spell she knew could expand its inside aria. All her books had gone in, especially the old and battered copy of Hogwarts: a History she had inherited from her mother. It wouldn't be much use once she left, but it had sentimental value, and had helped her plan the perfect escape.
The next part of her plan had involved visiting the kitchen and stocking up on food, some of which she was going to keep in a magically cooled section of her yellow purse. With this part, she had been helped by Dobby, who was still a free elf and so was not obliged to tell anyone about her suspicious requests. She had become close to him over these past six years, closer than anyone since that time in first year, when she had stayed up all night in the common room to avoid certain roommates. She knew he would keep all her secrets out of devoted loyalty, possibly to the grave.
And finally, she would just zoom out of here on her isweep, never to see anyone here again.
She had a fairly good idea where she would go. Her broom would make it to America, if she stopped plenty of times to rejuvenate it. She could use her brains, or her Quidditch skills to get into a wizzarding school there. Rose had done enough research to know where the wizzardigng communities were, and how to access them. And if they refused her, she would just get a job and go to a muggle school.
She had it all planned perfectly. Now all she needed was the courage to leave.
She had grown used to the comforts provided at Hogwarts, and the place had become a second home to her. She was attached to the castle, and to certain people within it.
At that thought, she heard his voice ring out in the Entrance Hall. "You guys go on; I just need to grab something I left outside."
"Yeah right, Scorp." sniggered of his mates, not convinced at Scorpius' lie. "See ya tomorrow."
She heard the footsteps and the voices fade before the door-handle of the antechamber was rattled. "Rose?" her name was a whisper.
A soft knock sounded. "Rose?" she closed her eyes tightly. And pushed her palms into the sides of her head. Go away, she willed.
He whispered some incantations, muttered some more charms, and then growled in frustration. "Rose, I know it's you. What's wrong? Will you let me in?" his tone was sharp, annoyed.
The tears had again begun to flow silently from her tightly scrunched eyes at the sound of his voice. She slowly walked to the door and pressed a hand and an ear to the cool wood. His face was close; she could hear him breathing heavily on the other side. There was a small scratching noise close to her ear coming from the other side. As though he was trying to claw his way through the wood.
The thought released a sob she had been holding back, which echoed loudly in the small chamber. She wiped the tears streaming from her eyes and tried to breathe him in from the other side. All she could smell was mahogany. She broke down when she thought of how he usually smelt; of sandalwood and freshly cut grass and something else, something only his, that couldn't be described. She wanted to smell him one last time, but she couldn't. Her sobs raked her body, and she didn't fight them, letting them jerk her shoulders and choke her windpipe.
"Rose..." his deep, timber voice sounded close to her ear "Rose... let me in, babe." Her legs bucked beneath her, and she slid to the ground against the door, crying soundly into the empty room, unbeknownst to the boy on the other side of the door, who could not hear her.
She knew she couldn't see him again. She would break down, knowing it would probably be the last time she would see him. He would find out her plan, and talk her out of it. And he would want to know why. Why. She could imagine him asking it, confusion colouring his eyes.
"Why aren't you talking to me, Rose?" she hadn't heard him slide down to the ground next to her through her sobs, and his voice, again, was close, frustrated. There was silence on the other side of the barrier for what seemed like eons, before he spoke again.
"Fine. But I will find you tomorrow, and you're going to talk to me. This has to stop." His voice was deeper, gruff: upset and angry. She heard something brush against the wooden door as he moved to stand up.
She was hysterical, she was allowed to be; no one was privy to her pain. She cried it out, and then cleaned herself. An hour had passed since his footsteps had faded, and she felt it was quiet enough to slip out and make her way to her dorm, under the use of a strong disillusionment spell, in case he was waiting on the way up or in their common room. She took off her shoes, and her stockings were silent on the floors of Hogwarts.
She visited the kitchens first, to say goodbye to Dobby, and stock up a little more. She carried everything in bags to her room, whispering the password to the wall which opened to let her pass. Scorpius wasn't in the common room, probably allowing her to sleep off whatever had been bothering her so that she was ready to talk in the morning. She felt relieved.
She placed everything into her yellow purse, along with vials of various potions she had brewed for the journey which would keep her alert and awake. Looking around at the other girls in her dorm, at Bryony Goyle, Adriana Starr and Layla Ziegler. She wouldn't miss any of them.
She mounted her broom and stood in the large open window, her toes over the edge. The Slytherin common room may be in the dungeon, but all the rooms for fourth years and above had windows. She closed her eyes and felt the cool wind wash over her, and her skin puckered with goosebumps. She smiled, knowing that if need be, she had a giant cloak and a warming potion to regulate her temperature. She was just nervous, scared.
She fixed her flying goggles around her head, pulled out a map, and leaped off the windowsill and flew to the forbidden forest. While she was over the forest, she looked back over her shoulder at Hogwarts, which was glittering beautifully in the moonlight, just as majestic and wonderful as it had been on that first night she had seen it rise from the ground in all its prominence as she sailed on towards it, her hand quivering inside Al's.
Back in her dorm, Bryony Goyle had moved to the main window to watch her roommate's form shrink while she flew away into the distance. When she couldn't see Rose anymore, her lips curled in a smile. Finally, she thought to herself, her smile quickly blossoming into a rare grin.
A/N: Hope you like it! No beta yet, I'm only new and slowly figuring these things out and such.