At night, Lily lay in bed asleep after a dose of sleeping potion. Rose watched her friend's emotionless features and sighed. She hated knowing that she could endanger her, especially with who her father was. Looking further across, Cherry had drawn the curtains over her bed, but her shadow against the weak moonlight showed she was also awake.
"Cherry?" she whispered softly.
"Mmm?"
"Where are you going these holidays?"
There was a moment of silence, then a sigh.
"I don't know, to be completely honest. My aunt has a small apartment somewhere near Hogsmeade. It's a small town, but there are a lot of shops that pay quite well for a Hogwarts student to work for them. I've already got a few jobs continuing from our Hogsmeade trips every Saturday anyway."
There was another silence while the girls thought over their lives.
"Where's Lily going?" asked Rose.
"Back… home."
"Won't she be scared?"
"No, not scared. She goes home every year anyway."
"How about her parents?"
"They're fine. They love her like their own anyway."
"And her sister?"
"… Well, she's getting married and moved out last holidays, remember?"
"Oh yeah. How did Lily and her parents take that?"
"Her parents were upset that she decided to move out so quickly, but she was always so distant with them. They're over it now, and despite how she acts, I think she really does love them."
"And Lily?"
"Well, she's agreed to let her sister be a bridesmaid. She says it's to keep up appearance, but I'm pretty sure she just wants this last opportunity to be sisters again."
"Why can't they be sisters? Besides, wasn't she the one who rejected Lily?"
"Only because she was trying to keep up her social disposition. Even in school. I've heard what Lily's said about her, and that's my conclusion. She'd do anything to get to the top. I don't know why, because things like these happen usually to people who have much insecurity, but she loves Lily. In her own way, she adores Lily, but if her fiancé doesn't want a witch in the family, she'll make sure that, at least in front of him, she doesn't want one either."
"That sucks. I'd hate to be ruled by other people's judgements of myself. What happened to being who you wanted to be and not someone the crowd wants to see you be?"
Cherry laughed.
"I knew I've been singing too many Nikki Webster songs. You're even quoting from them!"
The two girls giggled for a while, then sighed.
"I don't want to go home," mumbled Rose.
"Then don't," replied Cherry softly.
"Where else could I go? You don't know my father. He'd hunt me down for sure!"
"What about Black, I mean, Sirius's family? They just disowned him and he's still alive."
"They're the Blacks. They don't care about him. They just disowned him, like their disowned Andromeada but it's not like that with my family. My family has been pure Slytherin for years. I'm the first Gryffindor, the first letdown. My family's even stricter. We are only to marry Purebloods, but also only Slytherin purebloods. Not even Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Even the Blacks will allow that on occasion, but not my family. Cherry, they want me to marry Lucius Malfoy!"
Cherry gaped at her in horror, throwing aside the curtains that surrounded her bed to stare at her best friend.
"You can't be serious!"
"I'm not joking, am I?"
"But he's… he's so… he'd hurt you!" she stammered, for what seemed like the first time in her life.
"No, he'd 'break me' as my father calls it. He'd break me into one of those meek little loyal housewives who can't do a thing even though she knows that her husband is out raping Merlin knows how many women every night!" she corrected moodily.
"What about those two Blacks? Narcissa and Bellatrix?"
"Bellatrix is just scary. I've met her and she's crazy, I swear. I don't know what Snape sees in her."
"…Snape likes Bellatrix?"
"Yeah, that's so weird isn't it? Anyway, Narcissa's reluctant, really. For a Slytherin, she isn't too bad, actually. However, she's very docile. If her father wanted her to bed Lucius Malfoy and purposely become pregnant by it, well… She'd do it. However, she's not exactly Malfoy's first choice. Neither is Parkinson, but my family… Despite my being in Gryffindor, we're a very powerful pureblood family…"
"I still don't get it. Why don't you just leave? Black left and stayed with the Potters. You could probably do the same, considering you're his friend. Or any of the Marauders, for that matter. Despite my disliking for them, they are Gryffindors and wouldn't hesitate to help a damsel in distress."
"You don't get is, Cherry! My family… they'd kill them! Kill them all! You and Lily as well, especially Lily. If Father knew I was hanging out with a muggle born…"
"Why hasn't anyone told yet?"
"Malfoy's shut them all up. He wants me, Lily. He wants me to be his bride. He doesn't want to have me disowned or murdered. He wants me for himself. I don't know why, but that's his wish."
Both girls felt a chill run up their spines at her words.
"And Sirius?" asked Cherry quietly.
Rose looked away from her friend's piercing gaze.
"He's better off without me," she mumbled, quickly wiping away her sudden tears.
"No, he's not, Rose. He's too stupid to realise it yet, but he needs you, Rose. He loves you and it'd break his heart to see you married off to Lucius."
"At least he'd be alive," she replied stubbornly.
"Would he? There are some things more painful than death, Rose. If you live but a half life, you may as well not live at all," said Cherry gravely.
"He'd get over it."
"No he wouldn't."
"Cherry, you don't understand…"
"Yes I do. I was once around purebloods too, wasn't I? In fact, one of the most gifted pureblood families because of our… unique power."
"He'd kill us all…"
"We don't care. We're Gryffindors, and we live for our friends…"
"You can't live for your friends if you're dead…"
"Then we'll die trying!"
Rose shut up.
"I'm sorry, Cherry. It's just too hard…" she said softly
"You're a Gryffindor, Rose, you can fight it," argued Cherry gently.
"Goodnight, Cherry."
Cherry sighed and closed her eyes, falling back onto her bed.
"Night, Rose."
The next morning, it seemed as if everything was back to normal. The Marauders were back to their pranking and the Florettes were back to telling off the Marauders for their pranks, although no one noticed that they were using their first names, now.
"James, I don't believe you charmed all the first years' robes into… into…"
Lily faltered for a moment. What had he changed them into?
"Multicoloured feathers held together by egg yolk," supplied Sirius with a grin.
"That wasn't very nice of you," reprimanded Rose.
"What? It's their fault! They were getting too cocky! We just didn't want them bullying the first years next year," insisted James with an innocent smile.
"Why? So you can have the honour of doing so?" retorted Lily.
"Let them be, Lily. You know you can't change them," said Remus with a small smile.
"Don't you dare act as if you didn't play a part in this, Remus Lupin! I know for a fact that you're the better Charms student out of you three!" fumed Lily.
"Aww, don't be like that, Lilikins, we just wanted to have some fun," said James, pouting and moving as if to lean on her.
Lily stiffened, something like fear showing in her eyes as she moved away from him.
"Don't touch me," she snapped icily, striding towards the Gryffindor table to sit next to Cherry.
"Lunch?" offered Cherry, holding up a salad sandwich.
"Thanks," said Lily, taking the plate from her.
Cherry went back to her work.
"Okay, so what's up?" asked Lily.
"What's up with what?" asked Cherry, confused.
"You and Rose."
Cherry looked away, "Nothing."
"Very funny. I'm not stupid, you know. You've been looking at her with… I don't know. Disappointment?"
Cherry sighed, knowing Lily would get it out of her sooner or later, so she told her what had happened last night. The result was Lily demanding Cherry to let her go so she could crush every bone in Lucius Malfoy's body into fine dust.
"Lily," hissed Rose, "Sit down!"
A few more minutes of struggling as both girls held her down, Lily stopped making a fuss in the hall and sat limply in her seat.
"Rose, why can't you leave? You could stay with me, or even with Cherry. She and her aunt live in a well-protected apartment. Few are able to break through a barrier made of Faerie magic. You'd be safe there," insisted Lily.
"Father will find a way," she replied sullenly.
"No he won't! He doesn't even know where it's located! It would take ages to find you, and by that time, you'd be back in Hogwarts!" said Lily, quietly but furiously.
"You don't know my family. They have spies everywhere. He will find a way."
"Rose, we're your friends. Friends help each other. Don't you trust us?"
"I do, Cherry, but…"
"But what? We're not afraid of death, Rose. We want to help you!" cried Lily.
"Look, you don't have to come with us, but promise us one thing," said Cherry.
"What is it?"
"That at the slightest moment you feel insecure about things, you will come to us for help, or even to the Marauders, okay?"
They could see Rose struggling with herself, hesitating.
"I guess," she said reluctantly.
"Good," said Lily.
The next couple of days went by quickly and before they knew it, their last Hogsmeade trip had approached them. However, Rose and Lily opted to stay at Hogwarts. Cherry had no choice. She was working at what they called, 'That funny pink tea shop thing' today and wasn't about to cancel unless she had an extremely good reason.
The others had argued that she didn't have to work; her entire family estate and money was accessible to her now that she was 16 and she needn't work for anything, but she did it anyway.
"Just because I've suddenly inherited all the gold from my parents doesn't mean I'm going to slack off," she informed them.
"Why not? You're just like your aunt. She's so bloody rich and yet she insists on continuing her work and living in that tiny thing you call a home," said Rose, scrunching up her nose.
"It's better that way. We don't want the Dark lord to find us again. Besides, home is where the heart is."
They all laughed and Rose shook her head at Cherry's stubborn determination.
As they waved goodbye to their friend, they both let out identical sighs of frustration.
"These holidays aren't going to be easy, are they?" commented Lily.
"I don't think so, no," agreed Rose as they walked back up to the tower.
"Malfoy! What are you doing here?" spat Lily in disgust when he cornered them.
"Why, I'm checking up on my future Fiancée, mudblood," he replied coolly.
The malicious smile he wore did nothing to improve their situation and Rose felt her blood run cold.
"Don't you dare say that, Malfoy," said Rose, her voice strained, "Nothing's been finalised."
"Oh? Haven't they?" he asked with a raised eyebrow before sweeping away, Crabbe and Goyle following close behind.
Lily glared at his retreating back and Rose let out a small shudder.
"He is such an asshole!" fumed Lily, still glaring.
"What did he mean?" asked Rose in a small voice.
"Huh?"
"When I said nothing was finalised. He said 'Haven't they?' What's that supposed to mean?"
"Malfoy's probably just bluffing as usual. Come on, let's go," said Lily, although there was a slight uneasiness in her voice.
"You're probably right," agreed Rose, trying to sound sure of herself.
In front of the portrait, Lily hesitated, then stopped, turning around to face her friend.
"You will remember to keep your promise, right?"
"Of course," replied Rose looking slightly startled.
"Right, yes, of course you will, what am I thinking?" muttered Lily to herself as she entered the common room, Rose following closely behind her.
Inside, Rose tugged at her friend's robe to get her attention.
"Huh? What?" asked Lily, confused.
"Do you think… Do you think we should tell Cherry what happened? You know, just in case?" asked Rose timidly.
Lily thought this through and gave another hesitated answer.
"No… No, we shouldn't. It's probably just nothing and we'll just be worrying her for no reason," she replied as confidently as she could.
Even to her own ears, that sounded pathetic. Since when had Cherry been so easily worried in her life?
The next day, everything seemed to have been forgotten, but there was still uneasiness in the air. The tension felt between the three was caused only by untold secrets and Cherry was usually rather insightful, so it came as no surprised that she confronted her friends with it that day.
"That's it. What aren't you telling me?" she demanded to know.
"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Lily, raising an eyebrow.
"Wo bu shi yi ge ben de xiao haizi. (I'm not a stupid little child.) Wo zhi dao you wenti. (I know there's a problem.) Shi shenme? (What is it?)"
"Come again?" asked Rose, puzzled.
"Basically, I'm not stupid. What's up?"
"Nothing's…" began Rose, but she was cut off when she caught sight of her father's black owl.
"Oh no," she whispered.
The other two glanced at each other. Caligo was Rose's father's personal owl, and they knew automatically something was up. Lucifer Tenebrae almost never kept in touch with his daughter.
Slowly opening the Tenebrae seal, Rose glanced fearfully at her friends, who smiled back at her reassuringly. At least, as reassuringly as their fear would let them.
Dear Rosette Isabella Camellia Eveleth Tenebrae,
My daughter, we have spoken to Dumbledore whom has kindly allowed us to take you out of school a week in advance for your upcoming eligibility as Lucius Malfoy's fiancée. He too shall be escorted out of school early in order for you two to get to know each other better for your upcoming engagement. Together, you two shall combine our pureblood families and present to the world our unity,
Your FatherUnderneath, Rose spotted her mother's desperate message, obviously scrawled quickly to her before her father could notice.
Rose! Darling, please, do be careful. The Malfoy's are known for their brutality. If possible, keep as distant from him. Be war
It was obvious her mother hadn't been able to finish her message. Fear clutched at Rose's heart. If his father knew what her mother had written, she would be gone by the end of the day.
"Rose!" cried Lily and Cherry in unison as their friend turned deathly pale and fainted…
Into the arms of a very surprised Sirius Black.
"Quick! The hospital wing!" cried out Lily hysterically.
Sirius shifted his position so that she lay across his arms and ran out of the hall, towards the hospital wing, Lily close by. James and Remus glanced at Cherry, confused as to why she didn't run after them as well.
"Aren't you going to go tend to your friends?" demanded James.
"Yes, but not now. There is nothing I can do for them. Sirius is taking Rose to the hospital wing where she will have her treatment. Lily will be there by her side. I'm looking for the cause," replied Cherry calmly, too calmly.
Remus noticed this and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"She'll be fine," he said comfortingly.
Cherry had to hide a blush as she smiled gratefully back at him, if a little shakily, picking up the letter.
"What's that?" asked James, looking over her shoulder.
"It's a letter from Rose's father."
As they read the letter, Cherry also fell pale. James clenched his fists angrily and was about to storm over towards the Slytherin table, if Remus hadn't held him back.
"Easy there, Prongs, don't go making any trouble," warned Remus, "This will be better if Lucius isn't touched."
"Why?" snapped Cherry, "I think he's got the right idea."
Remus had to grab her arm as well.
"James, you know what his father could do. What about Lily?" he hissed.
James stopped struggling and helped Remus hold onto Cherry.
"Let me go!" she said through clenched teeth.
"No," they replied flatly, almost struggling to hold on.
For a girl her size, she was stronger than she let on to be.
"Why?" she demanded, spinning around to face them.
"Because in the long run, it's you and your friends who will be injured, not him," replied James.
Rose's words flashed into her mind. Lucius was the only reason Rose was still able to talk to them. She slipped out of both James and Remus's grips.
"Come on. We'd better go to the hospital wing," said Cherry flatly, walking away, attempting to stop dragging her sport shoes encased feet along the smooth hall floor, throwing her jacket around her waist and pulling her ponytail tight.
Remus watched her go with a heavy heart. No matter what she was going through, she would still act calm when her friends needed support. He fell back a few meters from her to talk James out of thrashing Malfoy into the next century.
When Rose woke up, she found herself surrounded by friends.
"Hey there, Blossom. Had a good sleep?" teased Lily softly.
"Why… Shouldn't you be in class?" asked Rose, sitting up, "And why are you three here?"
"We all got special permission to skip classes and keep you company," replied Cherry, glancing at the Marauders.
She glanced at Sirius, who was standing by the window, fists clenched.
"What happened?" she asked.
Lily looked over to see what she meant.
"He knows, doesn't he?" she asked softly.
"Yeah, he does," replied Lily, looking away.
"Rose, you know that you're always welcome, right? My parents wouldn't…" began James, but she cut him off.
"Thanks for the offer James, but… I have to pack," she said, avoiding everyone's eyes as she got out of bed.
"Rose."
Rose turned to face her friend's piercing gaze. Cherry was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, one leg behind the other, her face a mask of nothingness. For a moment, Rose could have sworn she saw a flash of pain and helplessness behind those eyes, but it was gone faster than it came.
"Just remember. You always have a choice, okay?"
There was a softness in her voice that was rarely heard. Rose kept her tears hidden.
"Don't forget, you always have you friends by your side," added Lily, getting up to join Cherry.
"And a place to stay if you need it," put in James.
"You can come to any of us if you need to talk," said Remus with a smile.
Everyone turned to Sirius. He was still looking out of the window. Rose felt time stop. Still Sirius didn't say anything. The tears welled up in her eyes and she struggled to smile.
"Thank you, all of you," she managed to whisper weakly, before walking out.
There was one person there who might have been able to change her mind. That person never spoke. Rose left the hospital wing with a heavy heart and, once she disappeared around the corner, she ran all the way to her dormitory, weeping silently.
Back in the hospital wing, nobody moved for a long time. Then James started to speak.
"Padfoot…"
"Not now," replied his friend in a tone that obviously meant he wanted to be left alone.
"Sirius…" tried Remus, but also got the same reply.
"Goddamn it, Sirius, stop acting like such an asshole!" snapped Lily, storming out of the room.
He turned slightly to face Cherry, waiting to see what she would do. Getting up, she walked right up to him, looking him in the eye. There was anger and disappointment in them as well as disgust. It hurt more than any words could when she turned her back on him, following Lily.
Sirius slumped to the ground, placing his head in his hands. He looked up at his friends, who were still there, despite the fact he had snapped at them for something that wasn't their fault.
"I stuffed up, didn't I?"
"Sirius, it's not too late," said Remus gently.
"How do you know?"
"It's Rose. She… loves you. She'd defy her father if only for you," replied James.
Sirius gave a harsh laugh.
"Would she, Prongs? Would she really? Then why hasn't she told me? Why didn't she tell me that she was engaged with Malfoy?" he demanded, spitting out the last word with obvious distaste.
"Did you ask?"
Sirius looked at Remus, who held his gaze steadily. Sirius was the first to look away.
"She should have told me," he mumbled.
"She couldn't. What with the way you're acting, I'm not surprised," responded James.
"What way? Damn it, James, what way? What was I supposed to do? Congratulate her?" he snapped back.
"Well you could have been there for her when she needed you most!" argued James.
"Why should I?"
"Because you love her!" yelled James.
Both boys were now panting angrily.
"I don't need to take this shit, I'm going," said Sirius, walking out on his two friends.
James collapsed onto the nearest bed. Remus watched his friend sympathetically.
"He'll get over it, you know. He'll realise his mistake sooner or later," offered Remus.
James sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Yeah. What I'm worried about is that it'll be too late by then."
I'm sorry if anyone thinks Sirius is acting really strange, but I can't have him go comfort her automatically or else it'll spoil my plot. Sorry! Apologies to all who are utterly pissed off at this fanfic writer for making Sirius so umm…strange…? I'm sorry for not updating, I've just had way too much homework... Also, seeing as I forgot (Sorry!) to answer the reviewers from Chapter 8, I'll do it now…
Amy: You know, I think I will have Cherry punch Layla… eventually… Give me a few chapters to fit it in.
U-know-who: If I did know who you were, I'd tell you " Anyway The whole 'Lily rape thing' will fit in (Hopefully) after more of her past has been revealed and it is, slowly, being revealed at what I hope is a steady pace.
Haydenrocks14: You'll find out throughout the fic…
Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed!