Author's Note: Okay so I know what you're all thinking. Who the hell does this girl think she is, leaving us hanging for months, then coming up here with a chapter and expecting us to read it? Well, I'm sorry, ok! College was a pain in the ass, but it's over now, so I have a lot more time to write. Don't give up on me yet! I plan on uploading a chapter every Monday, starting next week, for all of you who enjoy this story. I hope that satisfies everyone as well. Comment and rate please! And thank you to everyone who's stuck with the story so far! Much appreciated! Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter... I just like to imagine I do by writing fanfics that would never happen ;)
"So how was everyone's day today?"
No one answered.
"Er... did you guys do anything special?"
The dinner table was silent. Hermione's attempt to get her children to talk were not working in the slightest. She couldn't remember ever having a more tense dinner.
Scorpius was sitting there, a smug look on his face. It was like looking at a young Draco Malfoy all over again; it was amazing how much he resembled his father. Her daughter looked annoyed, eyes down, occasionally mumbling to herself. Hugo looked indifferent, if not a hint of amusement on his face. When Hermione gave him a questioning look he just shrugged and continued eating. What in the world had happened?
Suddenly Rose put her fork down on the table, and looked at her mother right in the eye with such a serious face it made Hermione think something terrible had happened.
"Mum, why is the animal at the table?"
Hermione sat there dumbstruck. What was she talking about?
"Honey, I don't understand what-"
"Why is the animal at the table?" Rose repeated now looking at Scorpius emotionless. "He doesn't understand manners, can't behave like a normal human being, and overall he kind of looks like a ferret. So he's an animal and animals eat on the floor right? Oh and it wouldn't hurt to get him a leash as well".
Everyone was silent once again.
And then Hugo burst out laughing.
Rose and Scorpius began arguing at the same time, yelling terrible names at one another. All the tension had just burst loose at it's own accord and now Hermione was witnessing the horrors for herself. It was a mad house.
Hermione would not put up with this.
"Hugo stop laughing! Rose, Scorpius, be quiet," she shouted over them. Everyone stopped.
"Rose I don't know what happened today, but if you want to act like a child then I'll treat you like one. Apologize to Scorpius."
"Oh c'mon Mum!"
"Do it!"
"But -"
"Now."
Hermione watched as her daughter looked across the table at the boy with such hatred she thought her child might just get up and hit him. She could see that Scorpius looked like he was trying to keep a serious face but the smugness in his eyes was still there. There was nothing she could do about it though. He had done nothing wrong from what she could tell, but the old look he gave brought back memories.
"Sorry," she mumbled, then excused herself, and made her way to her room. However, she paused right by Scorpius's ear and whispered something Hermione couldn't make out. Hugo, who was sitting next to Scorpius (not by his own free will), who could hear everything, burst into laughter once more. Scorpius paled as Rose walked off.
She sighed. Her daughter resemebled her personality. Smart, orderly, polite; but when it came to people Rose didn't like, she was entirely her father's child.
The two boys excused themselves, Scorpius to Hugo's room and Hugo to the basketball hoop. Hermione took out her wand, whispering Wingarduim Leviosa, and watched as the dishes hovered in the air and made their way to the sink. She would definitely have to talk to her daughter later.
Suddenly the fire place burst green and her husband was standing there with a goofy grin on his face.
"I'm home! Sorry I'm late." he shouted, then looked around to find that no one was there to greet him, but his wife.
"Where is everyone?"
"Hugo's outside. Rose is in her room. Seems like they had a rough day."
"Is that so?" Ron asked, sitting down at the kitchen table, automatically looking up to Hermione for his dinner.
"Yes. I know it's only been a day but it doesn't seem like there adjusting."
"Don't worry they'll get there," Ron said, mouth full of food that Hermione had placed in front of him.
"We can only hope."
Rose stayed in her room for the rest of the night, writing in her diary angrily. Yes, she agreed that having a diary when she was 16 years old was a bit childish but it was better to release her anger with a pen rather then with her fist. The thought made her think of a story her mother told, where her mother had punched Scorpius's dad in the face while they were at school. Wouldn't it be great if she could do the same, next generation style. Then it could be a tradition, passed down from mother to daughter.
She laughed at the idea, but it made her feel a little better.
The sun set, and a few hours later she felt herself getting tired. Without a second thought she climbed into bed and fell asleep, free of her anger that had been bothering her all day. However, her unconscious still seemed to be upset because she had strange dreams, featuring herself and Scorpius in a boxing ring. Every time she tried to get a good jab at his face he ducked and dodged like the slippery snake he was. She woke up frustrated and annoyed, and when she turned over, she saw it was three in the morning.
Rose groaned, pushing the sheets off her. Even though she loved to sleep, it was always a pain to get back into it when she woke up. She slipped on a robe that was hanging over the chair by her desk, put on her fuzzy slippers, and made her way outside. It was cool out in the hallway, and she did her best not to hit the creaking parts of the floor as to not wake up her family. There was no sound coming from Hugo's room when she passed it, leaving her to think it was a good sign.
She slipped into the bathroom and got a cup of water, satisfying her dry throat. She finished it, without a second thought, and made her way back into the hallway when she heard something.
The sound of footsteps, soft yet undeniably there.
Rose's heart stopped. It was coming from downstairs. There was someone walking around.
A million and one scenarios rushed into her head, each more wilder then the last, but kept her heart at a constant racing pace. She didn't know what to do.
Should she call the police? Should she wake someone up? Should she call out?
What if it was someone she knew? What if it was someone she didn't?
She tried to think of the rational idea that maybe it was a family member out for a late night snack. But then why were all the lights off?
A few of her favorite Muggle horror movies came to memory, and she suddenly feared that she had found herself in one.
She pinched herself, trying not to yell when it hurt. This definitely wasn't a dream. It was a living nightmare.
Rose realized she had been standing in the same spot for over five minutes now listening to the shuffling of feet. Sometimes it would stop and she hoped that maybe it was her imagination, but then it would continue again. She knew she couldn't stay there forever. Whoever it was could come up at any second.
Suddenly there was a bang, as if whoever it was ran into something. There was a soft curse and Rose almost gasped. It was a man's voice but it wasn't her father or her brother...
She swallowed and began making her way towards the stairs despite her logical thinking that moving towards the sound would only get her killed.
She wanted to see who it is. She wanted to know what they wanted. She was beyond scared but she couldn't make sense of her thoughts. Living beings did irrational things when they were afraid...like deer watching headlights before they get hit by a truck.
Rose stood at the top of the stairs staring down into the darkness. This is stupid, she told herself. Go wake up mum and dad. They'll take care of it.
At first she made her way to her parents room, then turned around quietly running to her own room. If she started waking people up, whoever was in their house might hear and run out.; or worse, stay and fight. They weren't a match if they were just any old muggle burgler, but if they were a witch or wizard... things could get messy.
She grabbed her wand from her bed side table and and ran back to the stairs. She knew what she was about to do was beyond reasonable but she kept going. She was in Gryffindor for a reason after all. She took each step lightly, making sure not to make any noise. Before she knew it, she was at the bottom.
Her house design was very simple. Her stairs started by the front door, at the front of the home. The next room was the living room, and then the kitchen which had a big enough entry that the two rooms could see into one another. The bathroom was down a small hallway located in the living room as well as a small closet.
From where she stood by the front door, crouching by the bottom stair, she could hear movement. Her eyes began to adjust and she soon saw the figure walking back and forth, his silhouette showing from the moonlight that poured through the window.
She put up her wand, deciding what spell to use. She knew she wasn't allowed to use magic outside class except for special circumstances...she couldn't think of any better reason then to use it now.
Then she lost him in the darkness. Wait, where did he go?
"Lumos"
A lit wand was pointing in Rose's face as she crouched down by the stairs. She couldn't see for a moment, being blinded by the brightened light.
"What the bloody hell do you think your doing?" an angry voice whispered.
She recognized that voice...
"Malfoy?" she asked, squinting. "Is that you?"
"Who else would it be?"
"Can you get that stupid thing out of my face then!" She whispered harshly, pushing his arm away as she stood up, looking him straight in the eye. That's when she was struck by realization.
"Your using magic! Put it out! Hurry!"
"Will you calm down. Your parents are home right?"
"Yea, so what?"
"Well then the Ministry of Magic doesn't know who's using it. They just know someone's using magic and since your parents are home they'll think it's them", he said matter of factly.
Rose on the other hand did not calm down. "I know that you dolt! But my parents work at the Ministry, if you've forgotten, and despite what your family lets you do , my parents make us follow the rules, so put that out before we both get in trouble!"
Scorpius made a noise of impatience then whispered. "Fine. Nox."
The light went out.
The two of them stood in the dark awkwardly for a few moments before Rose decided to ask "What are you doing down here anyway?"
"I couldn't sleep. Your brother was snoring."
Rose knew for a fact that Hugo had never snored in his life, having shared a room with him when she was small. She also remembered that the room had been dead silent when she had walked past it. She was about to say both of these things when an idea crossed her mind and she couldn't help but hold back a laugh, glad that the darkness hid her smile.
Hugo was faking just to get the Slytherin boy out of his room. What a clever kid. She knew he had some of his mother's genes in him.
"So what? You were going to sleep down here?" she asked with a twinge of annoyance, not liking the idea of Scorpius roaming around their home while everyone was asleep.
"Well I was trying to make that blasted box work, but there's to many bloody buttons on this device."
At first Rose hadn't clue what he was talking about. A box? What device? She stood there giving him a look that he most likely couldn't see.
Then it dawned on her. He was talking about the television.
She started laughing, putting her hands to her mouth to quiet the sound.
"Your an idiot, you know that right?"
"Who the he-", Scorpius began to say a little to loudly, forcing Rose to slap her hand over his mouth.
"Will you shut up! Your going to wake up the whole house!"
She then grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him over to the couch, grabbing the remote that he had left on the arm of her father's chair.
"Look," she whispered holding it up so the moonlight from the window hit it. "This button says power right? Push it to turn it on."
She did just that, then lowered it so that the sound could be heard but not enough to reach her sleeping parents upstairs.
"The same button turns it off." She continued. "These change how loud it gets, but keep it low so you don't wake everyone up, and these change the channel. That's all you really need to know."
She gave him the remote which he looked at quizzically. "Now can you stop wandering the house in the middle of the night? You scared me half to death."
"I thought Gryffindor were supposed to be brave"
"Oh shut up."
He ignored her however, too engrossed at the newly discovered television.
"It's pretty late, there's probably nothing good on," she warned, but he had already seemed to settle on an old sitcom. He leaned forward in his chair, elbows on knees, head in hands, watching intently.
She shook her head. What an idiot.
"Not bad for a Muggle invention huh?" she whispered.
"Not bad," he answered, not taking the eyes off the television. "But it doesn't make it any less disgraceful that a wizard family has it in their house."
"Ugh who asked you pureblood," she said making the word sound like something pitiful and slimy. "I'm going to bed."
She turned around and walked back up the stairs, looking back at the engrossed Malfoy. If she could keep him like that all summer, maybe everything would turn out okay.
