Chapter Eight
Rose's POV
I probably should have woken up with a cramp in my neck, but someone had been nice enough to put pillow under us, probably Hermione. There were also extra blankets on top of us. I got up quietly, so I wouldn't disturb Ginny. I showered and dressed, letting Ginny sleep in. It was Saturday, so why not? Hermione was gone, so I decided to track down the boys and see what they were up to. I wrote Ginny a short note, explaining, before I set off.
I knocked on the boy's dormitory door, which Harry opened. I smiled brightly at him. "So what did you want to talk about? Ginny's still in bed, but it's Saturday, so" I was pulled into the dorm and pushed roughly onto one of the beds. "Um, okay, didn't deserve I that. Where are the other boys? I suddenly have a longing for witnesses." I said, masking my seriousness with a lighter tone of voice.
"Don't mean to unnerve you, but we overheard your conversation with Mal- Draco." Harry said, almost saying Malfoy, but stopping himself. Wait. Overheard my… NO! They couldn't, they just couldn't! No one knew but Draco and Severus and I… NO! I noticed I wasn't saying anything so I merely whispered "I'm sorry. I… I guess I should've expected this. Goodbye." My voice broke throughout, and I stuttered several times, trying to prevent the tears from spilling over my eyes.
The memories were back. The ones I'd repressed, they were flooding into my mind. My Dad slapping me so hard that I flew back and hit my head on the table. My mother throwing things at me. And my refusal… when I told them that I wouldn't kill innocent people. And then the pain… I wiped a tear from my cheek and bolted for the door, not bothering to shut it behind me.
I would've run to the ends of the world if I could've outrun the memories. I couldn't. Draco would be in the Slytherin common room, which would've meant an explanation, so Severus was my only option. I ran to the potions room, where he sat at his desk grading papers. He looked up when I walked in, and when he saw my face he was reasonably alarmed. He walked over to me and brushed the tears off my cheeks before comforting me. I told him about the memories, but not about the other Gryffindor's involvement. I didn't want them to get in trouble, though I knew they probably deserved it.
When I stopped crying, I snuck into my dorm and curled up on my bed. I shut my bed curtains and locked them with a charm so that only I could open them. Slowly, I pulled out my locket from my dress. It showed me a picture of myself and Draco, the first Christmas when I'd lived at my Great-Aunts. We were both smiling. I was wearing a shirt and pants, which my Mother and Father had never allowed. It had always been dresses and gowns. Draco was wearing what he usually did, plus the smile. We had both been so happy. For me, it was like my first ever Christmas, because all the others had been so rotten they didn't count.
I brushed the tears from my cheeks as my eyes once more became blurry. This shouldn't happen. I never cried, I was almost always happy, and when I did cry it was physical pain, or for someone else. I heard someone calling from outside and recognized Harry's voice. Geez, did anyone else ever talk in their group?
"Rose? Please, come out. We're sorry. We weren't spying, really!"
"No! I'm staying here. Go away." I growled.
"Please? At least let me in, Rose, and Hermione. We want to help!" said Ginny. I sighed. Other than Draco, she was my only friend. I couldn't Push her away. I opened the curtains and glared at them.
"What do you want?" I asked. Wasn't my pain and suffering enough for them? They actually looked sorry and guilty.
Ginny and Hermione climbed in with me, and Ginny closed the curtains whilst Hermione put a silencing charm on them. We were closed in here, and no one could hear us. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know they would do it like that. And what you went through…" Hermione shook her head. Ginny nodded, and she had little tears running down her eyes again. I wondered if that was why she'd been crying.
I shook my head. "It's fine. It's not like they meant to hurt me, right?" but Hermione scowled. "It doesn't make their methods right! I swear I could just…" she drifted off in anger. I pulled Ginny over to me and wrapped my arm around Hermione. "It's all right. I'd just… made myself forget. Now I've got to remember again." I said. Boy was I remembering. Hermione nodded and Ginny wrapped her arms around my waist. We stayed like that until we fell asleep. I was worried this would become a habit.
George's POV
We were ready when Rose came to the door. Harry set her on the bed, a little too roughly for my taste, and she teased us about witnesses. Now was so not a time for jokes. Wait. Did I just think that? I must be going mad! Well, while I was being mad, Harry had told her what we knew, and from the looks of it, she couldn't process it. She just stared at him. Then, one little tear spilled over, and she apologized – APOLOGIZED – before running out of the room. We didn't follow.
Eventually we heard her make her way to her dorm. When we went to apologize, we took Hermione and Ginny, because honestly there was no way we were going to get through this without some girls. Her bed curtains were shut, and when we tried to pull them open they wouldn't budge. "Charm. She's smart." Muttered Hermione to herself. Harry tried to coax her out, but she was as unmoving as her bed curtains.
Finally Ginny said "Please? At least let me in, Rose, and Hermione. We want to help!" and I heard a sigh. She opened the curtains and wearily asked "What do you want?" I had no answer. Ginny and Hermione climbed in, and Ginny shut the curtains. We couldn't even listen in, because there was a silence charm in place.
We waited out there for a while. Harry and Ron eventually went back to their rooms, and Fred followed an hour later, but I stayed there until I fell asleep on the floor next to their bed. I was whipped.
