The cabin in the train was hot. It was the start of summer. And the sun had been shining brightly all day. Dry had kick her boots off and was lying with her eyes closed cross the seat on the left side of the train. Neville was sitting by the window with Dru's head placed on his leg. He was stroking Dru's arm with his fingers. Neville had only been her boyfriend for a few days. He probably would not have been her boyfriend at all, if it hadn't been for the interference of Dru's best friend Rose. Rose had done all she could to solve the fight Dru and Neville found themselves in over the last year. Dru was very grateful to her friend for that. Dru looked at the seats across from her.
Rose was sleeping with her jacket over her head. Rose hated riding on the train and always tried to sleep through most of it. For once Dru and Neville let her get as much sleep as possible. This way they could be somewhat alone together.
Dry sat up straight and leaned against Neville. "I can't believe I'm not gonna see you for two months." Dru said. "Can't you ask your Gran if you can come with us to the world cup?"
Neville put an arm around Dru. "I wish! I'm gonna be the only not going at all." he said. His grandmother had already told him she thought it was a waste of her money and Neville knew better than to wish that his grandmother changing her mind.
Dru looked at Neville. "I wish I could stay with you for a week or two over the summer." she said. She was now going to stay with Rose for the next fortnight. Not that she wasn't to stay with Rose. She had been dying to visit Rose's home for years, but she was going to miss Neville.
"Maybe you can try to stretch your stay and sneak off to my house. " Neville suggested. He too thought two months was a long time.
"I wish, but my father made the plans with Mr. Crouch himself." She put her head on his shoulder and her arm around his waist. Dru then smiled, "Besides, I am sogrounded when I get home." Dru knew that her brother Draco would tell their parents about Dru kissing Neville in front of the whole school at the end of term. She knew all too well that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were not gonna be amused with their daughter's choice to date a Longbottom.
"Really? What did you do that was so wrong?" Neville asked.
Dru looked at him and said; "This!" she kissed him.
Neville pulled Dru closer to him as he kissed her back. Dru put her arms around Neville's neck. Neville pulled her onto his lap and put his arms around her. She was now with her back against the window. "I can't believe I have wait two months before I get to do this again," Neville moaned.
Dru caressed his cheek with the tips of her fingers. She had been in love with Neville for over two years. So now that he was finally hers, she wanted to be as close to him as she could. She let her fingers touch his lips and then kissed him again. It was different this time, the kiss was filled with longing for more.
Neville grew more confident with Dru by every second he was alone with her. He gently let his hand slide down from her hip down over her butt to her leg. Dru gave a slight giggle. She wasn't used to this confident Neville, but she was sure liking it.
There was soft growl from the opposite side of the cabin. Dru and Neville looked at Rose and both laughed. They waited for a second to see if she was awake, but there wasn't any more sound coming from Rose.
With Rose still sleeping, Neville kissed Dru again and took her by her hips, lifted her off his lap and into the seat next to him. Dru looked a bit confused at what Neville was doing, but he seem to know exactly what he was doing. Neville leaned in on Dru and slowly pushed her on her back. He kept on kissing her as he leaned over her. Neville slowly let his hands slide under the back of her shirt. Dru couldn't help giggling again.
"Seriously guys!" Rose said as she suddenly sat up straight.
"We didn't do anything!" Neville said panicked as he got off Dru as if he was bitten by a fire ant. His face had turned beet red in an instant and he didn't know where to look.
Dru was still lying on her back and just smiled at Rose. She didn't get embarrassed as easily as Neville. She put her feet up on Neville's lap and looked at Rose. She was curious to see her reaction on this.
"Just so you know..." Rose pointed at herself. "Kid fathered by someone under 20 years of age. You guys are almost 14. Please use your brains."
"I like it when Neville uses his other parts." Dru smirked.
"Oh man," Neville groaned and pulled his coat over his head. "Leave me out of this!"
"Uhm... the thing that you two were doing? It definitely needs two people, can't leave you out of it." Rose deadpanned.
"Well if you really want it I could always asked Blaise..." Dru said, with a sly grin on her face.
"Unbelievable," Neville said and sighed. "Would you two stop, please? 'Tease Neville' has worked. Congratulations!"
Dru pulled the coat off Neville's head and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Never,"
Rose watched as Dru climbed into Neville's lap again and sighed as she pulled her coat back over her head. "Behave!" she warned. "Or I'll go and sleep on top of the train or something."
"Well that works for me." Neville deadpanned.
Rose was shocked as she peeked at him from underneath her jacket. "Was that... Neville! You cracked a joke! Quick Dru, kiss him! He deserves it!"
"He always deserves a kiss." Dru said and put her head on Neville's shoulder. "Speaking of kisses, what ever happened between you and Draco after thatkiss. You never told me that?"
Rose chuckled from underneath her jacket. "He's been leaving me alone! Bliss!"
"That doesn't sound like my brother."
"No, but I suppose because I kissed him in front of everyone else, they think we're together, so all he has to do is make up stories about me and be worshiped by his minions."
"I never heard any stories when I was hanging out with his friends."
Rose shrugged and hugged her knees to her chest. "Oh well, who cares?"
"Did he ever gave you your present, by the way?"
Sighing, Rose pulled her coat off her head and looked at Dru. "The only present I got this year was from you, and it was a great present," she replied and looked outside. They were halfway across Kent now, only one more hour to go on the train. "I think it's adorable that your brother thinks he's in love or in fascination with me, but... it is really annoying and I try not to pay attention to it."
"Shame, I wonder what he did with it?"
"He's probably saving it for your birthday," Rose chuckled.
"Doubt it! He said it wasn't my taste when I wanted to see it."
Rose decided to drop the subject and wondered who was going to get them from Kings Cross station. Usually she had to make her own way back through Muggle traffic or hail a taxi (but taxi drivers didn't like cats much) when she returned, but she was almost certain that her grandfather would be at the platform now, because there was a Malfoy staying over for two weeks, very important for the minister!
"You are going to take me to see the Muggle world, aren't you?"
"Are you scared?" Rose said as she licked her lips. "So many shops, food stuff... old buildings, paintings that don't move!"
"Why won't the paintings move?"
"Because they're not magical. They're painted with ordinary paint by Muggles such as Vincent Van Gogh or Rembrandt or... Monet, DaVinci... you'll love it."
"I am excited. I just hope my dad hasn't told your grandfather that I can't go see the muggle world!"
"Even if he did, grandfather is usually away for work. It's just me and the house elf normally." Rose gave a shrug. "You're going to love coffee."
"Coffee? That sounds disgusting!"
"Oh! But it is! But you know, the good part of coffee? It keeps you awake!"
"Shame youcan't drink it all the time."
"I don't like trains," Rose muttered. "Sleep helps the time to go faster."
"That's what I hate about trains. They're going too fast."
"Go snog your boyfriend, you have another hour!" Rose grinned as she poked Neville in the leg with her foot before pulling her jacket back over her head. "Just keep it down so I won't have to try and think of what you could possibly be doing!"
Dru crawled deeper in Neville's arms. She knew she was getting into so much trouble, but there was one thing she feared the most. On the 16th, she had to visit her real mother. Her mother had a way of always getting into her mind. She didn't want her mother to know about Neville. Her mother would be furious and Dru was absolutely terrified of her mother.
"Hey! Two weeks of fun first, stop thinking about the not so fun thing!" Rose complained as she had picked up on Dru's sudden mood swing and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. "Besides, if you want, I can help you with that," she grinned as her father had given her this one book that had helped a lot with getting her seer part under control (okay, fine, it wasn't really under control this year but there were different circumstances, meddling with time is something completely different!) and she remembered that there was a part in that book that taught about invisible walls and projecting other images than your own thoughts.
Rose was pretty sure that the book was connected to Dark Magic, but it seemed harmless enough to actually be successful and nobody else needed to know. "Trust me, this year, you're going to impress her."
Dru shot an angry look at Rose. She didn't want to mention her mother in front of Neville. It was still a sensitive subject.
"I mean, crazy cat ladies are always... well... difficult to deal with, you've got those cats that she loves that hate you and start scratching you and things like that, and they usually have fleas!" Rose waved her hand around. "And then there's the cabbage breath!"
Dru nodded as if she knew exactly what Rose what talking about. Neville looked confused at the two girls and then shrugged his shoulder. He was used to not understanding half of what they said.
"I think I just described our own house elf..." Rose furrowed her brow and shrugged.
"Can't be worse than the one we have now! No humor, no funny stuff. I miss Dobby."
"I'm glad Harry stayed clear of mine."
"Stupid idiot, that Harry."
"Oi, do not talk about Harry like that, he's a good person!" Neville spoke up. "We all make mistakes, don't we? His are just..."
"Bigger and badder," Rose nodded.
"Ten times more arrogant," Dru added. "Did you forget he got you in detention, when he was trying to stick up my brother?"
"I prefer Neville. He kicks butt and can kick serious butt if only he believes in himself!"
"You two are mad," Neville replied with a sigh.
"Neville, we don't need a hero like Harry, because we have a better one." Dru said and kissed him on the lips.
"Really, who?" Neville asked
"We have Blaise Zambini," Dru teased.
"Yes, you two are mad."
"As a hatter," Rose said and reached for her pumpkin juice that had been on the table ever since the confection cart had come by. She took a sip of her juice, realizing that it had turned warm due to the heat on the train and muttered a spell to make the juice ice cold again. After taking another sip, she sighed happily. "Oh this is the good life."
Suddenly the cabin door opened and Draco stepped inside. Neville tried to get Dru off his lap, but she wouldn't move. "What is it, Draco?" Dru asked.
"We're going to arrive in ten minutes. Are you coming? You know father always wants us to stay together on the platform?"
"I'm staying with Rose for the next two weeks." Dru said.
"You're killing my pumpkin juice buzz, Draco!" Rose said as she looked at him.
Draco looked at Rose. He wanted to say something, but he kept his tongue. Instead he turned his attentions back to Dru. "Just you staying at Rose, or is there someone else coming too?"
"Just her," Rose said with a smile and glared at him. "What? Are you worried that Neville has fleas?" She chuckled. "He's not a crazy old cat lady!
"We're Malfoys. We don't go out with squibs."
Dru got up and took her wand out. "Neville's not a squib!""
"Well fine then, he's..." Draco thought for a moment as he looked at his sister with an evil smirk on his face. "A coward, he has two girlsprotecting him."
"Well, better than a loser who can't even get better grades than a Muggle born."
"Wait until father hears about this!" Draco sneered and stomped off. "You will be grounded for the rest of the summer!"
Dru stepped out into the corridor and yelled after him."Yeah, wait until father hears you've been going after a Muggle born yourself. Let's see who's grounded then!"
"Oh you know very well that sheis different!" Draco called back.
"Maybe, but she's still muggle born, at least I picked a pure blood!" Dru yelled.
Rose looked at Neville and sighed. She muttered a spell to duplicate her pumpkin juice and handed the copy to Neville. "Cheers," she smiled at him. "This is going to last for the remainder of the 10 minutes before we get to Kings Cross."
"Oh just shut up." Dru sneered at Rose and sat down in the far right seat. She crossed her arms and decided to stare a hole in the floor. She knew Draco was right. She was going to be in so much more trouble than him. And getting grounded might be the easiest part.
"Well at least I can give Neville a kiss on the platform now. Father's gonna know soon anyway." Dru muttered.
"Oh, that would be awesome," Rose chuckled. "Oh come on, live a little! I live for trouble!"
Dru smiled and looked at Rose and then at Neville. "The look on your Gran's face if I kissed you."
"Oh god, she...she... she would send me to St. Mungo's for a thorough checkup to see if I'm really me! Maybe you better not kiss me in front of her"
Dru gave Neville an evil smile. "Are you sure, because you're not get to see me for at least two whole months."
Neville threw his coat over Rose's head, making her spill her pumpkin juice and clasped both of his hands around Dru's head as he kissed her. Rose was making disapproving sounds, but Neville didn't care.
Dru was laughing. "Cheer up, Rose, live a little."
"Shut up and kiss me, Dru." Neville said with a whine. "We're about to roll into Kings Cross, these are the final few minutes that we can kiss each other!"
"Look who's desperate." Rose remarked.
Dru put her arms around Neville. She always loved it when he finally got some nerve around Rose. She and Rose both liked Neville the most then.
Neville kissed Dru again, until the train shuddered to a halt. "I'll see you in two months," Neville said slowly as Rose had jumped up to gather her stuff and quickly made her way to the exit.
"I see you in two months, babe," Dru said. She gently lifted his wand out of his back pocket and put it in her boot next to hers.
The platform was madness. It was buzzing with over eager parents who were waiting on their children to return and running around as if they were afraid of getting lost (on a platform?) and Rose just stood there in the middle of the platform, with her stuff, waiting for Dru and Neville to exit the cart so that they could move out together.
She had already seen Neville's nan and had politely waved, but somehow she felt extremely guilty about that. Why was she feeling guilty now? Neville knew now. Why would she care what his nan would think about her? All she knew was that Rose was Neville's friend.
Sighing, she fiddled some chocolate out of her pocket and started to eat it, whatever Dru and Neville were doing on the train, it would probably be just snogging each other's faces off again.
Dru walked over to Rose and waved at Neville as he went to his gran. Dru had a big smile on her face.
Rose looked at her and said, "You're going to give him that kiss aren't you?"
Dru just smiled. She reached in her boot and got Neville's wand out. "I'd better return this." she walked over to Neville with a bounce in her step.
"Did you get everything off the train, dear?" his gran asked. "Where's your wand?"
Neville reached for his wand in his back pocket and realized it wasn't there anymore. "Erm..."
"Here, babe." Dru said and handed Neville's wand. She smiled and gave him a look that if he didn't kiss her right there and then, she was never gonna kiss him again.
"Thanks, Dru..." Neville said, blushing before giving her a peck on the cheek.
"How have you been, mrs. Longbottom?" Dru asked politely.
"Fine dear, thank you," she answered. "Thank you for returning Neville's wand to him, he can be so forgetful at times!"
"Well, this is my fault. I sort of distracted him on the train." Dru said as she smiled at Neville. She projected the notion that Rose should call Dru back in Rose's head.
"Dru!" Rose called for her friend. "Stop teasing Neville and come and kick my butt, I think I've squashed your chocolate frog!" she said with a big grin on her face. "Hi Mrs. Longbottom! You look well!"
"I'd better go. It was nice to see you again." Dru said as she shook Ms Longbottom's hand. She then turned to Neville, place her hand on his stomach and said. "See you after summer?" she stood on the tip of her toes and gave him a kiss on his lips, before walking back to Rose. "You better be watching this, Rose. I wanna pick the imagine out of your head." she said to her friend, trying not to look behind her at Neville.
"Sorry, I'm looking at the magnificent melted chocolate frog that I'm holding in my hand right now." Rose smiled widely.
Dru looked at Rose's hand, feeling disgusted. "It's a good thing I don't like chocolate." Her face then turned white as a sheet. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Come on, let's go. I haven't seen grandfather yet, nor Winky so... we'll find our own way to my home." She threw the frog into the bin next to them and wiped her hand clean as she pulled her trunk with her towards the exit. "Oh, and your father saw your public display of affection and he didn't look too pleased."
"Why do you think I'm going to be sick?" Dru whined again and pulled her trunk along as she followed Rose.
"Hey, you wanted to kiss him on the platform, not me."
"I know, i just didn't realize... Never mind, what's done is done. Let's worry about that in two weeks."
"Exactly! No real parental supervision for two weeks! You're going to love it!" Rose cheered and ran off the platform to the other side, waiting for Dru to come through as well.
Dru followed her friend, but couldn't help checking behind her to see her father.
Because of all the stuff they were carrying, Rose decided that they'd have to take a taxi home. She was slightly disappointed that her grandfather wasn't awaiting their arrival on the train station, especially after speaking to Lucius Malfoy about this. So much for making a good impression on the man.
They were finally at the house an hour later. "We're here!"
"We? We?" Winky's voice sounded as she bounced off the stairs. "Mistress Rose! Who's we? Master Barty hasn't said anything about you bringing a guest!"
"Oh you know how forgetful grandfather is," Rose sighed. "This is Dru, she's my friend from Hogwarts."
"Hello Dru, friend from Hogwarts!" Winky greeted the girl. "Do not go upstairs just yet, there is food in the kitchen, I need to clean up, yes?"
"Yes," Rose sighed and after releasing Moggy, her cat, she lead the way to the kitchen.
Dru was having a look around the kitchen. The Crouch home was full, with all kinds of stuff. It was a world of difference from the bare, cold house she was growing up in. "I really like this place, Rose." Dru sat down at the kitchen table and picked up a book that was lying on the table.
"Full of stuff. Stuff is just stuff," Rose shrugged and grabbed a few plates out of the cupboard for the cake that was standing in the middle of the table. "Cake."
"Thanks." Dru said as she took a bite. "Well, it's a lot cozier than our home."
Rose dug into the cake as well after reaching into the fridge to get a bottle of soda out. Fortunately, Winky was a good cook. She had to be, because grandfather loved his food if he'd return from work. But there was food in the house at all times. Normally, she'd take the cake up to her father's room and eat the entire cake with him. It had become something just for them over the years, whenever she had been away for a long time, and whenever she'd return, they'd eat a whole cake together. Why did the Malfoys had to agree with Dru staying over? It wasn't as if she didn't like Dru, but still...
"So, Winky will bring your stuff to my room, you can have my bed." Rose smiled. "I'll sleep in our spare room."
"Okay." Dru said. She was looking down at the book that was in front of her. "Waterplants of the Highland Lakes?" Dru asked. "I thought you didn't care for Herbology?"
"It's not mine," Rose said. "It's probably grandfather's, I haven't seen that book before."
Dru stared at the book. Her mind was going over the conversation she had with Neville in the train. She wish there was way she could get over to his house. She looked at Rose and shook the idea out of her head. She couldn't do that to Rose. Rose had so been looking forward to her staying there. They had been talking about this for nearly three years.
"Hey, you know, we could meet up with Neville in the next two weeks when we go into town, I am sure you and him will like that." Rose smiled as she got up and got two glasses from another cupboard to pour the soda into. "We could paint the town red, as the Muggles say!"
"Yeah, we could but how are you gonna get hold of him?"
"Owls, of course. Duh." Rose rolled her eyes at her friend.
"Sorry, Rose. I'm not being much fun, am I?" Dru asked. "Don't deny it. You've been crappy all day."
"You're just tired," Rose smiled widely. "There's a sofa in the sitting room, you can nap there if you like, I'll just go and help Winky to get the upstairs area cleaned up."
Dru got up and walked in the direction of the sitting room. "I'm sorry, Rose" she said as she walked out of the room.
"Don't be, you silly goose!" She laughed as she bounded up the stairs as if she was a cannonball shot from a cannon. "Nap some, you'll feel better!"
"Rose, who is that?" a voice came out of her father's room.
"Shh!" Rose hurried inside the room and pulled the invisibility cloak off her father before giving him a hug. "Good to see you again!"
"I missed you, child. Did you have a good year?"
"Not really, but it's all fine now," Rose nodded. "Father... my friend is going to stay with us for two weeks and I really would like it if grandfather or myself didn't have to spell her if she finds out that you're here."
"I understand, I shall be my usual quiet self."
"Really?"
"Of course, she is your friend, you never have friends over." Rose hated the way how her father's voice sounded. It sounded even, dull. "It is important to have friends, you do make friends at school, don't you?"
"I don't want to... I told you about Ha..."
"Yes you did!" He sneered, which made Rose jump almost ten feet in the air.
"Father, calm down, please," she hissed. "Anyway, a lot of things have happened in the past year and I'm willing to share, but it will have to wait until Dru has gone home, alright?"
"Alright lass, I shall be patient."
She hugged her father again. "Thank you. You know I love you, right?"
"And I love you too. But tell me, your friend's name is Dru?"
Rose narrowed her eyes on him. "Yes. And I do know who she is. And no, you're not going to see her. And no, you're not going to talk about him because that is wrong," she said, tightening her grip on her wand, she had taken it out without even realizing it. "Do you understand, father?"
"Rose, where's your owl? I wrote a letter to Neville asking to meet us in Diagon Alley this weekend. Do you still have the Longbottom's address?" Dru asked from the bottom of the stairs.
She quickly pulled the invisibility cloak over her father's head again while Winky intentionally dropped something. She and Winky had become really good at misdirection. "Oh! Ehm... yeah! Owl is in the shed in the back garden, Neville's address should be there too."
By the sound of Dru's heels, she was walking towards the barn. Her father pulled off the cloak and looked at his daughter. "Neville Longbottom?" He was clearly not as pleased with that one as he was with Dru.
"Yes, father, the children of the people who tortured his parents are friends with their son," Rose rolled his eyes at him. "Oh and he knows who Dru and I are, so don't get your hopes up. As I said before, a lot has happened the last year."
"When are you going to use the memory spell on them?
"Professor Lupin said..."
"Lupin? A professor?" Barty sneered. "You listened to him?"
"Maybe I should call grandfather... I think..." Rose said slowly as she backed out of her father's room. "Winky! Take care of young master Barty, please. I... need to get Dru out of this house."
Dru was still in the shed. She was too busy petting the owl, then attaching the letter to his leg.
"Dru!" Rose ran out of the house and nearly tripped over her own feet. "Something has... something has happened in my family and... grandfather appeared in the fire to tell me that he's sorry but you have to go... and I know you don't want to go home, but how about you go to Neville's place?"
"Are you kidding me? My father would kill me! Dru said.
"He doesn't have to know, does he?" Rose tried not to look at the window of her father's room after seeing some movement. How was it possible that he seemed to be breaking free of the curse that her grandfather had put him under? Not that she would mind, she was absolutely certain that her father wouldn't hurt her, or Dru for that matter as her father was infatuated with the idea of loyalty to a very bad man and Dru was the daughter of someone who had the same infatuation with that very bad man, but she was afraid that her father would get hurt, or that he would hurt other people again all in the name of that very bad man.
Her mind was racing and she was visibly upset, and had forgotten to shield her panic from Dru.
Dru put her hands on her hips. "Rose, tell me the truth. Your grandfather doesn't want me gone, does he? What aren't you telling me?" she tried to touch Rose's skin so that she could look beyond the walls in her head, make a better connection.
"Forgive me," Rose said with a little voice as she raised her wand to her friend. "Stupefy!" She saw how Dru got knocked back against the wooden chest in the shed and was rendered unconscious. This was going to be one hell of a mess!
Rose paced around the house until her grandfather arrived at the house. Of course, she had used magic in the muggle world, unsupervised and of course her grandfather would know about it. "Winky did it!" She blurted before telling her grandfather everything and that she had hoped that he and Mrs. Malfoy would say no to Dru staying over because of her father and what not. She was ranting insanely, trying to make sense of it herself, but she handled out of fear, and it was hisfault that she had to stupefy her friend.
"Rose dear," Grandfather spoke calmly and managed to smile a little. "I shall wipe her memory until the last few hours of getting off the train, and I shall return her to the Malfoys and will tell her that she became unwell. Do not worry. I shall also re-curse your father, everything will return the way that it was."
"But..."
"You've been listening to all the nonsense that Dumbledore and Lupin have been telling you, haven't you?"
"But they..."
"They don't know everything, dear child. Now go to your room, I will fix this mess."
"Yes grandfather..." she sighed and slowly walked up the stairs to her room.
Dru woke up with a splitting headache. She opened her eyes and looked around, finding herself in her own bedroom. Wasn't she supposed to be at Rose's? She got out of bed and put on a fresh set of clothes, clothes she didn't remember packing in her trunk for school. No one was in the house when she walked down the stairs and in the living room, but as the back door was open she decided to go to the garden where she saw Draco fly his broom together with some other figures.
She looked around and saw Narcissa sitting on a chair reading a book. "Mother, what am I doing here?" Dru asked as she walked towards the woman she had called 'mother' for years now.
As soon as Narcissa saw Dru, a big smile appeared on her face. "Are you feeling better?" Narcissa said as she hugged Dru.
"My head hurts, but I'm supposed to be at Rose. Why am I here?"
"You fell ill, so they brought you home."
Dru looked at her brother. "I can't remember anything. Last thing I remembered was being on the train getting ki..." Dru bit her lip and looked down.
"Yes, Draco told me about your little bet with him." Narcissa said disapprovingly.
Dru looked at Narcissa in surprise. "Did he now?" she asked.
"Dru, I understand that you want to have a bit of fun. Especially with the Longbottom boy. But did you really have to kiss him? You have to remember who you are!"
She was stunned, was she hearing this right? Did her mother understand exactlywhy she would want to have fun with Neville?
Narcissa smiled at her daughter. "Alright, I have to admit. Making him fall in love with you so you can later break his heart when you tell him who you are, is a brilliant way to torture the boy. I am proud to see so much of Bella in you. I can see it more every day." Narcissa caressed Dru's long black hair and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
Dru felt like she was gonna throw up. She didn't want to look more like Bellatrix! "I'm going back inside." Dru turned and walked back into the house.
She passed a picture on the wall of Bellatrix. She looked at it and she couldn't help to see the likeness. Her long, black hair and her eyes. She had the same eyes as her Mother. Dru ran into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Why did Rose have to sent her home? Why didn't Rose let her stay? She was supposed to be her friend! Rose could have taken care of her in her home! Dru picked up a picture frame that was on her bedside table. It was a picture of Rose and Dru from their first year. Dru smashed the frame against the wall. She hated Rose right now, great friend she was!
Dru went to her desk and got a piece of paper. She wanted to write to Neville to ask him to get her out there. Halfway through her letter she realised that Neville could never get her out of there. She crumpled the paper and tossed it into the fire.
She buried her face into her hands. Why would Rose do this to her?
She was sitting in a corner of her father's room, staring at him, studying him. In return, her father was studying her. Grandfather had renewed the curse on him, so he was like his usual self for a while again, and she didn't want to say anything that would excite him even further.
"Father made a bad call in allowing your friend to be here," her father said in his dull voice. The Scottish lilt was still there, but there was no emotion behind it all, which was a good sign.
"Yes, I didn't even... I just entertained her with the idea of being here for the summer..."
"Of course, that's what normal kids do, but my sweet child, you are not normal."
"Yes I am, I am normal. I just live with so many secrets!"
"Do not enthuse young master Barty, mistress," Winky scolded her and ushered her out of the room. "He needs his rest now, go entertain yourself."
Rose growled, grabbed her bag and headed into London. She was going to paint the town red all by herself, thank you very much. Dru was going to be mad at her for not allowing her to stay, but it had been her grandfather's idea. Not hers. Well, maybe, but what else could she have done? She panicked, it's not like she could see everything or doeverything!
She was thirteen years of age living in a home with barely any supervision, her grandfather was away all the time, especially now that he was busy organising the Quidditch World Cup, her father was a ticking time bomb who required constant supervision by the house elf, and since there was only one elf, where did it leave her? Oh, if she would take Professor Lupin up on his offer, his offer made as her godfather, not her teacher, then all hell would break loose at home that not even an imperious curse could stop.
She spent a couple of days in youth hostels in London, claiming to be older than she looked or whatever, foreign owners were easy, they were in it for the money and she had enough of that. When she got home, she realised that nobody had missed her. Apart from her father, maybe, but she wasn't going to talk to him!
Sure, she could send an owl to Lupin and tell him what was going on, but then what? It wasn't as if that would change anything. She just wished that things could go back the way it had been before she went to Hogwarts; alone and uncomplicated.
When she climbed into bed just to sulk, she realised that there was a letter on her pillow. She recognised the handwriting, and reluctantly opened it.
Dear Rose,
I hope you're well. I'm not. I don't know what happened the day we came back from school.
I know I was supposed to go home with you.
But I woke up three days later in my own bed. With no memory of those days.
Rose, what happened to me? I've been told I got sick, but there's something else. Because the last thing I remember was that you was sleeping on the train and that I was kissing Neville.
I know Draco has got something to do with it, but I don't know what!
what kind of spell did he use on me?
Please Rose, help me out!
love Dru
P.S. i'm not angry at you for me being home. I realised you would never have brought me home, if you had any other choice
p.p.s what the hell happen between me and Neville at the platform. My father is not speaking to me anymore and I don't know what I did.
Rose groaned and crumpled the paper up before tossing it through her room. She didn't want to deal with …- "Other people may not be as strong as you", Lupin had said. Maybe Dru needed to hear from her. But what was she going to say?
Draco opened the door to Dru's room. She was sitting on the floor surrounded by her school books. "What do you want, Draco?" her voice sounded cold.
Draco sat down next to her sister. "Would you like to come out and play some Quidditch?"
Dru shook her head. "I want to do my homework."
"You have hardly been out of your room for days! Come on," He took her book and tossed it aside.
"I want to be here. I don't want to go outside."
"Is this about Rose of that squib?"
"Really? Really, Draco? This is the way you want to try and get me to talk?" She got up and started pacing, just to be away from her idiot brother for a while. Didn't she tell him to leave her alone?
"Okay, pretend that I'm Rose for a second and tell her, me, everything that's going on inside your head."
She stopped dead in her tracks at her window and looked outside. "Why would I tell you? So you can use what I tell you to blackmail my best friend so she can help you to get Neville to leave me alone."
Draco smiled. "No, but that's a genius plan!"
"Draco, just leave me alone." Dru said.
He rose to his feet and walked over to his sister, before putting his hands on her shoulders for the 'serious' effect. "You should remember then I'm always your brother. And at the end of the day I'll always be there for you."
Dru looked in the distance. She was waiting for a letter from Rose. She had written her a few days ago, so she should get a letter back any day now.
Her brother sighed and fumbled a piece of parchment out of his pocket. "Here, this arrived yesterday or something."
Hey Dru,
You were home with me for almost a day, but sadly, the cake that we had been sharing was old and moldy and... yeah, it wasn't pretty. Grandfather didn't want to task our house elf with the care of two teenage girls and he brought you home.
Yes, he might have used a spell or two to heal you. What did he say? Oh yes, that boils didn't look pretty on a fair skinned girl! (Seriously, you should have seen us!) It might explain the memory lapse.
You stole Neville's wand in the train only to bring it back to him on the platform and you kissed him on the cheek. Since the Malfoy's don't like... anyway, I'm sure your brother made up this ridiculous story that actually makes a lot of sense to cover for you (don't lie to me, I've seen it!). You can use that ridiculous story to tell them that to continue this great prank, you'll have to spend some time with him... hint hint. (you're welcome)
Speaking of your brother, I don't think he's done anything to put you in harms way or make you forget things that you shouldn't have. I... dare I say this? I've seenhim care deeply and genuinely for you. (Or maybe he's just amused by the idea of you dating Neville, which is good, because... well then he's entertained, right?)
I've spent a couple of days in London with ehm... myself and painted the town red for the both of us. I got you a few nice gifts for when we return to school at the end of the summer!
Oh, and grandfather hired some witch doctors to cleanse our house from clutter and spiritual stuff so I won't be home for a while. (All in the name of good sportsman ship, he said. Stupid Quidditch!)
See you at the game, I guess?
Rose.
Dru read the letter twice. She was relieved to hear that there was a simple explanation for what happened. She shouldn't always think the worst of people.
She decided it was time for her to grow up and start trusting Rose a bit more. After all, Rose had always been there for her. No more second guessing, Dru said to herself.
Dru closed her eyes, thinking about giving Rose the biggest hug in history when she'd see her at the World Cup and imagined to put that into Rose's head. Dru smiled, it was a pointless little thing, because there would be no possible way for Rose's thing to work over such a long distance, but it was comforting to know that she'd at least tried.
She put the letter in her nightstand and walked to Draco's room. He was sitting behind his desk, reading some obscure book.
"I thought you wanted to play some Quidditch?" Dru said, dancing further into his room.
Draco turned around in shock. "What did Rose write?" he asked with a frown.
"That I should be a little bit nicer to you. You still want to play?"
Like a bolt of lightening, Draco put his book down and grabbed his broom. "Let's go!"
Dru had been in a bad mood all day. It was her birthday and she hated it. Sure she always got a lots of presents and a huge birthday cake, although she didn't really care about them, she knew she was loved, she didn't need it validated with so many, and mostly expensive, presents. But every year she had to go visit her real mother in prison as part of the most ridiculous agreement ever.
She had just come home from Azkaban and went up to her room. The visit to her mother went better than she thought. She had been able to clear her mind of the imagines of Neville as she was desperate about the fact that her mother would never found out that Dru knew the Longbottom kid. Let alone that he was now her boyfriend.
She stood in front of the window. Her (and Draco's) birthday party was in full swing in the garden. Her parents invited their friends and their children as if it was theirparty. Draco didn't seem to mind, as most of their parents' friends were the parents of Draco's friends.
She didn't really want a party, because her only friends were Neville (a no-no in the Malfoy household) and Rose (who'd probably be welcome, but she was probably having a blast with her grandfather).
She wasn't going to get presents from them today. They already had given theirs last month. For the outside world Dru's birthday was the same day as Draco's. Even though Neville and Rose now knew she wasn't really Draco's twin, but his cousin, she had never told them that the 5th of June wasn't really her birthday.
Dru laid down on the bed. Sometimes she wished she had been sorted into Slytherin, then everything would have been easier. She wouldn't have realised that Neville Longbottom was a nice kid instead of the clumsy little boy that everyone else saw.
Getting to know Neville so well, made her hate her real mother. It had made her question everything she had been taught in life. She realized that she had a completely different mindset than the rest of the family. In her head, a part of her didn't feel like a Malfoy or a LeStrange, and she was wondering what she was still doing with them. Oh that's right, she didn't have another legal place to go.
She folded her hands behind her head and smiled. Who was she kidding? Neville was so brave and handsome and adorably naive that she would have falling in love with him no matter what house she'd have ended up in! He was still the boy that voluntarily joined Ron in a fight with Draco and his minions Crabbe and Goyle! Sure, no chance of winning, but he did it anyway and in that moment, Dru had found her true love.
Maybe that sounded a bit soppy, especially for a 14 year old, but there was nothing more heroic (or stupid, depending on how you looked at it) than to join a fight you couldn't ever win. And Neville was so brave!
Maybe she could use the flo network to go and visit Rose unexpectedly. Although... she wasn't sure if the minister would appreciate it.
"By Merlin! I'm stupid." Dru said out loud to herself. Why didn't she think of it before? She was going to give herself the best birthday present ever!
It was 11pm and Lucius and Narcissa were still in the garden. Dru sneaked into the living room and took a hand of flo powder. She looked around to see if she was really alone before stepping into the fireplace, taking a deep breath and said out loud; "The Longbottom residence."
Dru stepped out of the fireplace into what was clearly the home of an elderly lady. Dru smiled as she looked around. There were pictures of Neville everywhere. She resisted the urge to look at them. She needed to get into Neville's room, before she got caught.
She quietly made her way up the stairs and listened at every door, making sure that the snoring she heard was Neville, and not his grandmother before entering the room softly and smiled when she saw Neville fast asleep in his bed.
Dru had been thinking all evening about how or if she was going to wake Neville up. She had eventually settled on a kiss, but seeing him sleep so peacefully, she decided just to let him sleep. She crawled under the blanket next to him and after finding a comfortable position, she closed her eyes.
She could feel Neville moving behind her but just as she expected for him to put his other arm around her, the arm that she was lying on was pulled out from under her so fast, that she fell out of the bed.
"Dru, what are you doing here?" Neville said in panicked voice. He had the blanket pulled up to his chest. He clearly didn't expect to find a girl in his bed!
"Fine, if you're going to be like that, I'll go." Dru sneered, while she was rubbing her head. She had hit her head on the nightstand on her way down. This clearly wasn't her best day.
"No no... it's... I didn't expect you to... ehm... I... I can't believe they let you come... or... why are you here? It's late!"
Dru kept rubbing her head. "You know what? I don't know! I'd better go." she was on the brink of tears. This was not the reaction she had expected.
"I'm not saying that you should go... and I'm sure that gran doesn't mind you staying here... but you can't just come into someone's house in the middle of the night! It's mental! What if gran had spelled the house so that anyone who was trying to get in would get blown to bits? You could have died!"
Dru pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on it. She couldn't keep her tears back anymore.
"Oh come here, it's not that bad..." Neville sat down on his hands and knees and held out his hand for her.
Dru didn't respond. She felt so stupid. She just so wanted to see Neville so bad, she didn't think anything through.
Neville climbed out of bed and sat down on the floor with her. "It's quite nice down here," he said as he switched on his night light. "I take it that things aren't going so well?"
"I just wanted to have a nice day for once. I never get anything that I really want for my birthday," she sulked.
He put an arm around her and pulled her closer. "Then let us sleep tonight and then we'll do something fun in the morning, anything you want."
"Neville, I can't stay. I'll have to sneak back home tomorrow. I can only sneak out at night."
"Then tomorrow, I'll be prepared for you," he nodded. "We'll have a big cake and streamers and we'll stay up all night."
Dru looked up to him and smiled. "I missed you."
"Well, I missed you too, but if I'd show up on your doorstep, there'd be at least three peroxide monsters who'd want to blow me off their step, so..."
"I know! I'm just not having a great summer so far." Dru said as she dried her tears.
"Well, me neither to be honest. My only friends are unreachable! There's you, and then there's Rose, who seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth."
"I know. I only got one letter from her! Maybe she's still ill."
"Ill?" Neville asked confused. "She's sick?"
"We got sick from eating cake. I don't remember much."
"Ouch, that's the worst thing ever... getting sick from eating the most glorious thing in the world, cake!"
"Idiot," Dru smiled widely.
"I love that smile."
"By the way, did you tell your gran that I'm your girlfriend?"
"Yes, I did."
Dru smiled. "Was your gran mad? Father was furious at me for giving you that kiss on your cheek at the platform. Can you imagine if I had given you a kiss on your lips?
"Gran is a wise old woman, she's just happy that someone like you likes someone like me."
"Maybe next time I will kiss you on your lips then," She giggled. "Besides I'm the one who should be happy to have someone like you to like a girl like me." She wrapped her arms around Neville's waist. "And I'm not kidding. Having you liking me is the best thing that ever happened to me."
She liked being in his embrace for a while and cherished the silence before speaking up again. "Neville?"
"Yes?" He yawned.
"Can I stay here with you tonight?" It wasn't the question she wanted to ask but she dicited to not ask difficult questions when Neville was so tired. She'd ask him another time.
"Always," he nodded. "Can we get back into my bed now? It's cold on the floor."
"That depends. Are you going to kick me out of it again?"
Neville just smiled as he scooped her up and put her on the bed. He laid down next to her and put his arms around her. He closed his eyes as he really wanted to get some sleep.
"Neville?" Dru whispered.
Neville growled a little, but he wouldn't open his eyes.
"You still haven't given me my birthday kiss." She whispered in his ear.
This time Neville did open his eyes. He caressed Dru's hair out of her face. "Happy birthday." Neville gently kissed her. "Can I please sleep now?"
Dru nodded and laid her head down on his chest. She closed her eyes. For the first time in a long time she felt like she was home.
The next morning Dru had no problems sneaking back into her house. The first thing she did, was write a letter to Rose. Neville had been right. It was almost as if Rose had fallen off the earth. After she had written her letter, she looked at the fireplace. Rose did tell her to live a little. Should she dare do it? Dru missed her friend, she might love Neville, but he was not Rose.
Dru decided that it was what Rose would have done so she was going to do it. She went to the living room and took a little bit a flo powder. "Crouch residence."
Dru stepped out of the fireplace and into the sitting room she supposedly had been in weeks ago. Dru looked around. It didn't seem familiar at all. She walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Rose, are you home?"
No answer came, so she decided to go and find Rose's bedroom. Halfway through the stairs she remembered what Neville had said last night about getting blown to pieces. Not wanting to risk herself getting blown up, she went down the stairs again and went back into the sitting room.
She wanted to leave a note for Rose and looked around for a quilt and some parchment. "Hello there," she nearly jumped ten feet in the air and her heart pounded when someone behind her spoke up. She turned around and tried not to show fear, but that was a little impossible, wasn't it? She flo-ed into someone else's house and got caught. There was a tall handsome man standing in front of her. She had an inkling that she had seen him before, but she couldn't remember where.
"I'm so sorry. I'm Dru, a friend of Rose. I was looking for her."
"Rose isn't here right now. Tell me, do you always sneak into people's houses?"
Dru grinned. "Just those of Rose and my boyfriend."
The man smiled back. "That is asking for trouble!"
"Yeah, but Rose always tells me to live for trouble. I'm sorry but... Rose lives here with her grandfather and you don't look old enough to-"
The man smiled and reached out his hand. "Allister Shepherd. Rose's uncle."
She hesitated but eventually shook the man's hand. She had never heard Rose mention an uncle, but decided to stay polite, it was shewho was basically trespassing. "Oh really, Rose told me so many stories about you. It's really nice to finally meet you."
"And you are?"
"Dru Malfoy. Me and Rose are classmates from Hogwarts."
The man tilted his head a little. "Malfoy? Are you the daughter of Lucius and Narcissa? I never knew Lucius had such beautiful offspring."
Dru blushed, whoever this 'uncle' was, he was a charmeur. "You should see my twin Brother. He is the handsome one. He gets all the girl's hearts racing."
"Really, now? Does that include my dau...my niece?" He slipped up. He looked around for a wand, but the only one around was Dru's. But seeing as she kept her in her boots, getting it would prove difficult.
But Dru didn't hear his mistake. "She likes him, but she would never tell though. They got this cute cat-and-mouse game going on for years. it's quite funny."
All of a sudden, a house elf, Winky, apparated into the sitting room and started to squeal. "You! Not supposed to be here! Get out! Get out!" she said as she pushed Dru towards the fireplace. "Don't let them find you here! Get out!"
"Fine, I'll go. Now get your hands off me and stop pushing me!" Dru spat at the house elf. She looked at the man again and took the letter out of her other boot. "Could you please give this to Rose and do asked her to write back? I haven't heard from her for too long." she gave the letter to the man and stepped into the fireplace. She then reached for a small pelt in her pocket and got out her flo powder. "It was nice to meet you, sir. I'll have to tell Rose she has a very handsome uncle."
The man couldn't help but to smile. "Nice to meet you too, Dru."
A few seconds later Dru step out of the fireplace in her own livingroom again. She dusted herself off when she heard; "Where have you been?"
Dru closed her eyes, she was busted! Her father, Lucius, was standing right behind her.
Ever since she had stupefied Dru all those weeks ago and had shifted the blame to Winky, she had felt happy, content and almost as if she was floating on a cloud. Whenever Winky told her to do something, she'd happily do it.
However, some things just felt wrong, such as lying to Dru when she wrote that letter. Winky and grandfather had been worried that Dru might suspect something if she didn't write back, considering Dru was a Malfoy and all.
She spent a lot of time with her father in his room, just looking at him, not really knowing why, and she could tell that from time to time, there were moments that he had broken free from the curse that grandfather had placed upon him. And today, he was giggling to himself after hearing someone arrive through the flo-network.
She wanted to stop him, she really did, but she wasn't allowed to leave the room, so she didn't. She wasn't allowed to make a sound, so she didn't, but when she heard Dru's voice, all she wanted to do was scream for her to get out. But she couldn't, because she wasn't allowed to make a sound, and it was fine.
When Winky brought the unconscious body of her father back into the room, Rose cuddled up to him and fell asleep.
"I'm going to ask you again, where have you been, young lady?" Lucius Malfoy said as he reached for Dru's wand in her boot.
Needless to say, the rest of the summer wasn't a pleasant one with her being grounded. She was allowed to spend time in the garden, but that was all she could do. 'live a little', she snorted at the thought and would plan on killing Rose later. She didn't dare sneak out again with her father around.
She was gutted when she was told she wasn't even allowed to go to the Quidditch World Cup with her family and see her friend Rose. She had been looking forward to it for months.
On the day of the World Cup Lucius, Narcissa and Draco left early around 5am to go to the World Cup. Dru got out of her bed and got dressed before going down stairs. She stopped in front of the fireplace for a while and contemplated her next move. If she couldn't go to the World Cup, she was at least going to go and have fun. 'live a little'Rose had said, and she was probably going to get into trouble for this... again.
Shortly after landing in the Longbottom home she quietly opened the door to Neville's bedroom. The object of her affection (or obsession, she wasn't quite sure) was sleeping peacefully on his back. Dru smiled, he looked so adorable, and crawled on the bed. While she was still on her hands and knees, she was able to kiss him tenderly on his lips.
Neville slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Hi."
"Hi babe."
Neville sat up straight and Dru crawled into his lap, putting her arms around his neck. "I thought you were grounded."
"I am! But they're not home for hours. So I wanted to spend the day with you."
Neville smiled and kissed Dru as his hands slipped under her shirt. She gasped in surprise as his hand felt cold to the touch on her warm skin. Her head started to race, she could see herself kissing Neville, but there was something different about this all.
It took Dru a few seconds to realise that she wasn't seeing this from her point of view but from his. She had never been able to get inside Neville's head. She knew that lingering inside his mind wasn't the best of ideas, but curiosity never killed anyone before, well, not to her knowledge at least.
Neville's hands started to undress her as he had pushed her down on the bed and sat down on top of her.
Dru started to panic, she didn't want to see this! She was unable to sever the connection and this was even more frustrating. Whenever she'd connect with Rose, she could be in and out in a second, but for some reason, Neville's consciousness kept sucking her right back in.
All of a sudden she found herself on the floor of Neville's bedroom. She had no idea how she got there. She quickly patted herself down with her hands and realised that she was still wearing her clothes.
She looked up to the bed and saw Neville sitting up straight, his eyes were closed and his hand was rubbing his forehead. Had she hurt him?
"Neville?" Dru asked, unsure of herself.
"What did you do?" Neville groaned for an answer.
She quickly scrambled to her feet and sat down next to him. "I don't know. I don't even know what happened!"
Neville smiled weakly. "You shouldn't enter a teenage boy's mind when he's kissing his girlfriend. That's private."
"I'm sorry," She giggled, and a chuckle escaped from Neville's lips. "But I still don't get how I got on the ground." Dru said and rubbed her own head. She never had had any problems at all with connecting her mind to another, but there were at least ten Goblins inside of her head right now, pounding away with their little hammers and she wanted to kill them all.
"You panicked! You pushed yourself away from me and fell off the bed." Neville put an arm around her and smiled, the boy was too forgiving. "Why didn't you just get out of my head?"
"I wanted to, but I couldn't! I lost control. That never happened to me before." She sighed and put head on Neville's shoulder. "Sorry, this wasn't what I had in mind for today."
Neville smiled and gently pat her knee. "Let's get some breakfast."
When Dru returned home a few hours later, the house was still blissfully empty. She went to her bedroom and waited for everyone to come home. She couldn't wait to hear from Draco how it had been, it must have been an epic competition. She didn't really care about the Bulgarians, but she loved the Irish. She was now starting to regret that she got grounded and hadn't been allowed to go to the World Cup.
She was somewhat glad that she hadn't been allowed to go when Draco told her upon his return what had happened with a big smile on his face.
After the game, there had been Death Eaters all over the place and someone had summoned the Dark Mark. It didn't take Dru long to realise that her father, Lucius, had been one of the death eaters.
Dru looked at her brother in horror. He was really liking this, he had received a genuine kick out of all the mayhem. Dru hated Death Eaters. She could now only hope that Draco would never become one.
Rose blinked when her father apparated inside his room, and there wasn't a house elf in sight. "Hi!" She smiled widely. "You're not supposed to be without WInky! Or the cloak!"
"Finite," her father muttered, using Rose's wand that he had found downstairs. "Rose, we need to talk."
The fog in her head slowly lifted and images were flooding inside her head of the World Cup, the Death Eaters and what her father had done, almost as if she needed to catch up. But she had already seen this, why was it coming back to her now? She looked at her father as he knelt down in front of her. He didn't look like a maniac even though he was clearly free again from the curse. No, if she had to choose an emotion that would fit him now was that he was clear-headed and determined.
"How...-" it was still unclear though what had happened. Had grandfather put her under a curse and had her father cleared it? Father had always been a more superior wizard than grandfather, well at least that's how the stories went but why would her grandfather have done that in the first place? Or had her grandfather told her imperioused father to use the curse on her? "Oh... I think I'm going to be sick..." she muttered.
"Just breathe through it, Rose, it'll get better," her father said as he caressed her hair. "I am so sorry, so sorry."
Well that answered that question then. She slowly nodded for an answer.
"I am going to look for Lord Voldemort," he said with a smile on his face.
Okay so her father was still a demented old sod. She took a deep breath and nodded again. "You want my help, don't you father? And if I say no? What would you do?"
"I... I don't wish to hurt you, my sweet and beautiful child, but my allegiance lies with himand you are such a talented young witch... well you're a half-blood."
"Oh gee, thank you!" Rose shot a glare at her father and really wished she hadn't because her head had started to hurt again.
"He would not harm you if I would ask him not to, I am his most loyal servant."
"I can't believe we are having this conversation, father." Rose groaned as she slumped back into her chair. "And I can't believe you're asking me to help you find him. Next thing you want me to tell you is how you'd get Harry Potter to him."
"Did you see?" Her father replied with an eagerness in his voice. "Did you see me bringing Harry Potter to him? Oh that would be glorious, wouldn't it?"
"No, forget it!" The time for the war wasn't now, it wasn't in the near future, but in a couple of years, she wanted to give Harry at least a fighting chance if the right side of Magic had to win. "You can find himat his old house, but you're going to leave me out of it."
"You've seen it! You have!"
"Father..."
"Oh you know I wouldn't hurt you, Rose! You're a Mudblood but you're my daughter! And I am certain he sees it that way too, after all, I love him and he..."
"Dad please, you're making me feel sick."
"You are going to tell me exactlyhow I can get Harry Potter to him this year."
"No!"
"Imperio!"
And back on her floating cloud she was, unable to resist answering all of her father's questions after he had taken her somewhere grandfather or Winky wouldn't be. She told him everythingthat she could see, and hated herself for it. Why wasn't she able to resist this? But it felt so good to tell everything that she had seen, as if she was being a very good girl while all she wanted to do was cry.
She hoped that her father would wipe her memory too, because it would be cruel for her to walk around with everything she had done, everything she had done to help getting Harry Potter to Voldemort. It would be so cruel to know that she had blood on her hands, and knowing that there wasn't much that could be done about it because it hadto happen.
She realised that Harry had to suffer this year, that Hogwarts had to suffer this year, only to come out stronger, but -
Rose yawned as she got out of bed from the smell of breakfast. Glorious, old fashioned breakfast. She had always loved continental breakfasts, but Winky usually refused to make it for her, but this smelled good! She hopped into her slippers and made her way down the stairs to join her grandfather at the table. "Good morning!"
"Sweetheart, I have something to tell you, and you are not going to like it," Grandfather said with a sigh.
"Whatever it is, it can't be too bad."
"Your father... he finally managed to escape."
"Oh..." she said as she took a bite from her sausage. "Okay," she shrugged as she chewed on it. "I'm sure that you've done everything you could, grandfather. How was the World Cup?"
"A success," he smiled widely and handed Rose a green and white coloured scarf. "The game was very exciting, but you wouldn't have liked it, your friend Dru wasn't there."
"She wasn't? Oh, that's a bummer, oh well, better luck next time! When do I have to go back to Hogwarts?"
"In a couple of days."
"Okay," she smiled and used her fork to get some egg onto a piece of toast. "So... I'm going to Diagon Alley to get new books?"
"You're still a bit under the weather, my dear. I shall go myself to get you what you need."
"Right, because I've been... sick all summer?" Rose nodded as she wolfed down the remainder of her breakfast. "Where's Winky?"
"Unfortunately, she was the one who didn't keep an eye on your father as I had instructed her to," Grandfather sighed. "I had to give her clothes."
Rose stared at her grandfather, for some reason nothing of the conversation made any sense. "Where is she now?"
"Who knows? But not to worry, you're a big enough girl to take care of yourself when I'm not here, and you'll be going back to school soon." Grandfather said and rose from his seat. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I am late for work."
"Enjoy your day, grandfather!" She smiled widely and watched him disaparate.