I became more and more protective of Rose, if I wasn't before. I jumped in front of her to anyone who might have posed a threat. Most people shot me weird looks, probably thinking that I was insane. It didn't take long for Snape to notice how strange we were both acting. He held us back after class one day.
"Can you please explain why you two have been acting so peculiar for the last week? Not to mention that it's been a month since you've been unable to make eye contact with me, Rose," he said, raising an eyebrow. My heart plummeted to my stomach.
"Uncle Sev, I would tell you, but you'd either laugh or explode and cut his head off," Rose said, taking a deep breath and looking at the floor.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, can you please explain this to me? You seem to be the one in more panic, so I believe I'll get the information out of you easier. Whether you agree or not," he said, holding a small vial with clear liquid. It had a slightly larger density than water, and I recognized it as Veritaserum. Shit.
"You want the truth, so I'll give it to you," I said. Rose looked up at me with big eyes. "She's pregnant with my child. I love her, and I love it. And we're not killing it. That's final. You know the truth now, and I will not have this torn away from me."Snape choked on air, collapsing in his chair.
"She's…pregnant? At sixteen?" he squeaked out. Rose nodded.
"I am pregnant. It's been around a month and a week now. It has a heart, which is beating, and a tiny little soul. We're not getting rid of it, Uncle Sev. I'm sorry if I disappointed you, but I'm not killing it," she said, lifting her shirt slightly, to reveal a small bump in her flat stomach.
And at that point, Snape started crying. He wasn't bawling, but silent tears were running down his cheeks.
"Rose…you have disappointed me in so many ways, and yet this…it doesn't upset me as much as it should. I should be yelling, but…it's…" Snape couldn't finish. Rose smiled.
"We're naming it Scorpius if it's a boy or Estella if it's a girl. I think it's a boy, but who knows?" she grinned, letting her shirt cover her stomach again and wrapping her arms around me.
"I'm far too young to become a great-uncle, Rose. And I feel very old. But you knock yourself out with the baby names and the little booties, because it's going to have to stay with its grandparents, either gender. I refuse to let you drop out of school for a baby. You will finish your education. That is that. And so will you, Malfoy, don't give me that look," he finished. I nodded once, wrapping my arms tightly around Rose.
Snape suddenly turned to the fire, which now blazed green. He made a frantic hand motion to the storage room, and I ran inside, taking Rose with me. I shut the door, sitting on the floor with my ear pressed against the door.
"Severus," I heard a sickingly familiar voice greeting Snape.
"Yes, Lucius? Can I help you?" Snape asked.
"There is a meeting in an hour. Today, at headquarters. Bring my son. Or else. Severus, you better bring the boy."
"Very well, Lucius, I'll bring Draco," Snape said, before I heard Father stepping into the floo. The store room door opened and I almost fell forward, but Rose held onto me.
"I suspect you heard that," he said, in a strange, hushed voice. I nodded, casting my eyes to the floor. Rose held onto me tightly.
"It's ok. You have to go, please don't cry. I'll be ok. We'll be ok," she promised. And only then did I notice that tears were sliding down my face now. I felt…evil. And I didn't like this.
Rose coaxed me into going, for my own safety. And she was right. As soon as I was seated next to Father, he gave a you-did-the-right-thing look to Snape. Voldemort started blabbing about destroying Potter and such. I fell into a deep daydream until he ordered for someone to be brought in. My head snapped up and I nearly died right there when I saw Rose being led in by another Death Eater.
"Why am I here?" she asked softly, keeping her head down.
"Ah, Rose, you are here because you are a half-blood who needs some straightening out. You claim that you have seen your 'Heaven', or whatever you may call it. And your Lord. That's what bothers me most," Voldemort said, in his hissing voice.
"Well, I did see Heaven itself, and I did see Him. I saw Jesus Christ Himself. And He told me to come back down to Earth. For Love. For helping others to fulfill their destiny. There is no other Lord. No matter what you call yourself," she spoke, harshness in her voice. She meant business. "You'll end up in the fiery pits of Hell, Satan himself running away from you and letting the last bits of your soul melt in the rivers of burning fire."
"ENOUGH! Stupid girl! Lucius, you know what to do."
"I will stand tall for what is right," she said, her voice hushed and dangerous, her eyes gleaming in the dim light.
Father pointed his wand at her. "Crucio!" he yelled. This time she was screaming in agony and pain. She fell to the floor, shrieking.
"LUCIUS MALFOY, IF YOU WANT TO LIVE UNTIL TOMORROW, YOU DROP THAT WAND RIGHT NOW! YOU NEVER HAVE THE RIGHT TO HURT A PREGNANT GIRL IN ANY WAY!" Narcissa, who was now standing, bellowed at Father. He was so surprised that he literally dropped his wand. It landed on the floor with a soft clinking noise. I rushed over to Rose, who was trembling and crying on the floor. I scooped her up in my arms and went back to the table.
Only two things I could be sure of. One: Narcissa had stood up for my pregnant girlfriend and knew that she was pregnant. Two: It was the first time Narcissa ever stood up against my father.
And it was for Rose.