Don't own.
Time passed quickly. October brought with it relentless rain and Quidditch practise. The trials had been a success, Rose, Lily, Roxanne and Fred returning fairly after out-flying all other contenders, and Scorpius, who had been persuaded (or rather pressured) by the other six members of the team to try out, had joined the team, reducing a disgruntled Hugo to Reserve Keeper. They had all been secretly hoping that they would find someone to replace Hugo, who had unfortunately been the best they could find after Louis had left Hogwarts. James was determined to claim the Quidditch cup once again, and pushed the team. They did end up winning the first match of the season. November passed in a blur, and December arrived.
Christmas approached quickly; before they knew it snow had begun to fall, a Hogsmeade trip was scheduled for a few days before the end of term, and Rose and Scorpius (as prefects) were roped into helping with the decorations.
The Hogsmeade trip was quick and uneventful; they bought their presents, had a Butterbeer and headed back to the castle. It was too cold to do much else, and the snow was getting deeper.
The day before the end of term, the common room was full of students chatting to each other about what they were going to do for the holidays, and giving each other presents to open when Christmas Day arrived, probably because they would not see the receiver, and did not have an owl.
Rose and the other three had once again claimed to comfortable sofa next to the fire. It seemed that everybody had accepted that it was 'theirs', and nobody else sat there.
They chatted easily, Rose and Albus telling the other two that they could come to the Burrow if they wanted, or even spend the whole holiday at the Potters'.
"Mum and Dad are on a cruise," Scorpius murmured, brandishing a letter. "So it's either stay here or go to yours."
"They just up and left and told you in a letter?" said Alice incredulously.
Scorpius merely shrugged. "I'm used to that sort of thing."
They had grown used to it too, by then. It seemed that Astoria was the only person in the family who cared for Scorpius, and still it did not count for much.
The four of them stayed up later than anyone else, and it was Albus who departed first, bidding them all goodnight with a smile.
"See you in the morning," Rose murmured not too long after, getting to her feet and climbing up the girls' staircase tiredly.
A loud crash echoed through the sleeping Gryffindor tower, and almost all of its occupants woke with a start.
In the sixth year girls' dormitory, the twins had reached the door first. They peered curiously down the staircase, which was no longer a staircase, but a smooth stone slide.
Aisha sighed in relief and returned to the dormitory. Samantha and Amy soon followed her, but Rose and Alice stayed behind. They had seen a figure at the bottom of what had been the staircase, a figure they both recognised.
"Scorp?" Alice called cautiously.
"Yeah!" came the answer. "Come down!"
They obeyed, clambering to their feet quickly once they had reached the bottom.
"What is it?" Rose asked, terrified at the look on the sliver she could see of hr friend's face.
"It's Al," Scorpius told them, his voice suddenly hoarse. "He's gone."
"Gone?" Alice repeated incredulously at once. What do you mean, gone?"
"Kidnapped," Scorpius explained. "I should've heard something!" he looked furious with himself "but by the time I woke up he was gone!"
Both the girls touched one of his arms gently and spoke with one voice. "It's not your fault; don't blame yourself."
"Fred's gone with the cloak to search the grounds," he said, after a few moments. "I offered to do it, but …"
Rose could not see why he had been denied that chance. He could change into an arctic fox, and blend in with the swirling snow easily.
"And James went for help," Scorpius finished. With that, he collapsed onto the couch that he, Alice, Albus and Rose had so often sat on together, talking about nothing and everything, and put his head in his hands.
Rose walked towards the stone slide, and put a foot on it. It changed back into the staircase at her touch, and she climbed it, to find a deathly pale Lily standing at the top.
"You heard?" Rose asked. Lily nodded frantically, pushed past Rose and ran down the staircase.
Rose then focused on the task at hand, informing the family. Roxanne had already gone down, looking for Lily. Rose saw Molly trying to shepherd first years back to their dormitory.
"Rose!" Katherine exclaimed at once, struggling towards her, an indignant-looking Smoky bundled in her arms. "What happened?"
"Al's been kidnapped," Rose answered, surprised at how calm her voice sounded. Molly stopped what she was doing at once. Katherine looked frightened.
Rose ignored them both, moving over to the third years' dormitory door. She hammered on it.
"Lucy!" she called. "Lucy, are you in there?"
Her cousin opened the door, her dressing gown half on, still putting on her glasses.
Lucy yawned, pushing her glasses farther up her nose and pulling the other arm of her dressing gown on.
"What's up?" she asked sleepily.
"Al's been kidnapped," Rose repeated. The effect it had on Lucy went unnoticed, as Rose was already half-way down the staircase again.
Most of the family and some friends were assembled in the common room. Rose's eyes were drawn first to her two friends. Scorpius, still looking a mixture of furious with himself and anxious, was being calmed down by Alice. Nearby, the Scamander twins were talking in low voices. How Lorcan had gotten is was beyond her. Lucy emerged at the bottom of the staircase just as the portrait hole opened and closed again.
Fred pulled the invisibility cloak off and started pacing at once, cursing under his breath. It was safe to say that there had been no trace of either Albus or his kidnapper.
Rose sat beside her two friends, and they waited.
Eventually, James reappeared, with professors McHale, Longbottom and Lupin. It was Teddy who addressed them.
"Most of your parents are on their way, and a team of Aurors has already been sent out to track down Al and Malfoy"
"So it is him?" Lorcan interrupted. "Who's taken Al?"
"We think so," Teddy answered. "What are you doing in here?"
The Ravenclaw shrugged. "Ly let me in. I want to be here for my friends."
He offered a small smile and looked round at the all. Surprisingly, Lucy blushed, and Rose, despite herself, smiled.
The subject of how Lorcan had gotten into Gryffindor tower was dropped.
"I'm sure Al will be all right," Teddy said to them. "But until he's caught, be careful."
Without another word, he and the other two professors left the common room, but not before Alice had hugged her father.
They waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Most of them were asleep, and the relit fire was dying, when the portrait hole opened, and Ginny, Hermione, Angelina, Victoire, Dominique and Louis clambered in.
The sleeping awoke, as if an alarm clock had sounded through the darkness, and the newcomers were welcomed.
Rose approached her mother, who hugged her gently.
"If it's ok," she murmured, as her mother released her. "I'd like to stay here for the holidays - Alice and Scorpius want to stay too … but - if it's possible - I'd like to go to the Burrow for Christmas day, like normal."
She looked enquiringly up at Hermione, who nodded almost immediately.
"If that's what you want, I'm sure we can arrange it."
This time Rose hugged her, and tightly.
"Thanks Mum," Rose said, and then she turned away to return to Alice and Scorpius.
"It's settled," she muttered to them.
They nodded in one movement, even the ghosts of smiles appearing on their anxious faces.
"Thought I'd find you here."
Rose, too used to all of her friends sneaking up on her, did not start, but merely moved over a little on the stone so that Scorpius could sit next to her. He did so.
Whenever it became too much for Rose, she slipped out onto the grounds and sat on the large war memorial stone. Sometimes, she would even trace her fingers over the names on its face, stopping at Fred's.
Term had ended almost a week ago, and now Rose, Scorpius and Alice had the whole Gryffindor tower to themselves. They found themselves going to the Ravenclaw tower often, since they were all clever enough to get in, and the Ravenclaws who were staying did not mind their presence.
Rose had almost nothing to distract her from the fact that her cousin was missing. The deep snow meant it was impossible to play Quidditch (and how could she, anyway?), she had finished her homework, and with only her two best friends and sometimes Ravenclaws for company, there was little to do other than worry.
"Aren't you cold?" Scorpius asked.
"No," Rose lied, thought she knew she was shivering.
"Always the stubborn one," he murmured, taking off his coat and handing it to her.
"Thanks," she murmured in a low voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw him smile.
There was a silence, during which they watched the snowflakes that had resumed falling drift gently towards the ground, and then -
"Do you think he's all right?"
Rose frowned the slightest bit. It was unlike Scorpius to be seeking solace. He was usually the one giving it. She also knew who her friend was talking about without having to ask.
Eventually, she murmured, very truthfully, "I don't know … but you know who his parents are, he has to have inherited some of that. And he" - here she was talking about Lucius Malfoy, but she did not want to utter his name, and saying 'your grandfather' might irritate Scorpius - "doesn't know Al's an animagus."
"Unless he saw the register," Scorpius muttered reasonably.
Rose shrugged. "What brought this on, anyway?"
"What?"
She raised an eyebrow. "The sudden turn of the tables. You're the one normally giving me comfort, not the other way round."
He shrugged, in almost exactly the same way as she had. "I can't be strong all the time. And since it's my physco grandfather who's after Al …" here, he shrugged once again.
Rose hit his arm.
"What was that for?" he exclaimed indignantly.
"Dunno," Rose answered, but she was feeling more cheerful than she had in days. She hopped off the stone, transformed at once into a red vixen and started trotting up towards the castle.
The arctic fox, who blended beautifully in with the snow, caught up with her quickly.
Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them. Alice was standing at a window of the Gryffindor tower, a smile playing on her lips, even though her eyes were red, watching the two foxes frolic in the snow. It had been a while, but hopefully this meant two things; two things that would change everything for the better.
It was very late - how late, Rose could not say, but the fire was completely extinguished.
And yet all three of them were still awake, barely, but still awake. None of them wanted to go to bed. Scorpius did not say anything, but the two girls knew that he loathed sleeping in an empty dormitory, and they, too - even though they had each other - felt extremely lonely. In the end, Alice shook herself out of her half-asleep state.
"Look, why don't we all just stay in the same dorm?"
Rose perked up and heard, and then four eyes turned on Scorpius.
"I'm not complaining," he murmured, looking back at the two girls.
"Settled," Rose yawned, and they finally shifted off the sofa and climbed the stairs to the sixth year boys' dormitory.
It was impossible to tell that somebody was staying there; all the beds looked cold and empty, though there were trunks at the end of two of them. Albus's things had been left in the off chance that he would return alive and unharmed.
Alice judged which bed she wanted and made a beeline for the bed nearest the door. The trunk at the bottom had the initials A.P inscribed on it.
Rose did not say a word, but she exchanged a look with Scorpius, who was smiling ever so slightly; almost a smirk.
Of course they both knew what was going on with Alice, the silences, the frustrated look, the tiredness, even if she did not herself. Rose was happy that her friend was no longer oblivious.
She climbed into the bed next to Albus's, and lay awake for a while before she fell asleep, though she knew that she would have stayed awake much later if it were not for the fact that the unfamiliar bed did not seem unfriendly at all.
What seemed like days later, she woke again. It seemed as if it were dawn, and it took a few seconds for her to realise where she was. She looked to her right. Alice was still asleep, her honey-blonde hair spread out on the pillow. She was mumbling, obviously dreaming of something. Rose glanced to her left, and her eyes met another pair, a very tired and familiar pair.
"Did you sleep at all?" she murmured, sliding out of the bed she had slept in and sitting on the end of the one to her left, where her friend also sat.
"An hour or two," was the answer. "I'm not used to this bed."
Rose frowned. "But your trunk's at the bottom."
"I know," Scorpius replied. "But it's Rory's bed. That's mine."
He indicated the bed that Rose had slept in.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"It's fine."
"I can't take it anymore!"
Rose and Scorpius looked round at their friend, but she was still asleep, and her voice had dropped once again to mumbles.
Don't shoot!
So Alice is coming to terms with the fact that she's in love with Al, while Rose remains as oblivious as ever that Scorp's loved her forever, and all the while, Albus is missing.
And the stone. I think that Hogwarts would be the best place for a war memorial stone, since that's where the battle happened. I bet Harry made them put Snape's name on. It'd be a nice place to just sit and think if you don't get depressed. I reckon you'd be able to see Dumbledore's grave from where you sat on it (if you wanted to sit on it, that is, like Rose).
Sorry for pretty much skipping October and November! I tried to write something by way of a chapter, but I couldn't.
By the way, I'm posting a one-shot that's related to this story, if you'd like to read it.
