Butterflies and Hurricanes

by KaryInTheSky

Year six begins for Rose Weasley. Everything is so ordinary, except maybe for...those anonymous, disturbing and imprudently attractive notes she's been receiving. Is she crazy for feeling that drawn towards the mystifying sender?

11. Shadow on the Wall

Shadow on the Wall

Rose's eyes stared outside the window, once again. She bit her lips, her forehead suddenly stamped against the glass. She breathed, slowly, the coldness trespassing to her skin. She sighed, making little blurs of fog against the frozen glass. She waited, for what seemed like hours until her heart stopped, the moment she saw a bird flying in the distance.

But she found disappointment when she realized that the thing that flew over her house wasn't an owl, just a regular unidentified bird. She blinked, somehow painfully. It had been four days, and she had not received anything from Scorpius, not even a little note. She bit her lips, even harder. She didn't expect to hear from him the first two days, but by now she had to admit it would have been nice to know something about him.

She breathed deeply, shutting her eyes tightly, wondering if this was what the holidays were going to be for her: an eternal waiting. She hated the fact. Holidays were supposed to be about relaxing, forgetting a little about school, and letting the days pass by gracefully. The anxiety she was beginning to feel was becoming ridiculous. She glanced at her bed, contemplating the unfolded pieces of paper that were lying on top of it. She reread all the notes she had received up to that date from her anonymous writer, trying to find Scorpius in at least one of them. But the more she read the less she thought that it was him the one who sent them. He couldn't be so bipolar, how could he sound so frightening at times, and so sweet at others? Whoever was sending them was trying to mess with her head, and she hated to think that Scorpius had reasons to do that with her.

Somebody knocked on the door. She startled and rushed herself to gather the pieces of parchment, ready to hide them. If it was her mum or her brother, she wasn't interested in explaining anything related to the writer.

"Rose, honey, Albus is here," she heard her mother say from the hallway. The characteristic steps of Hermione walked past Rose's room. She relaxed and waited for the door to open.

"Decent?" Albus asked.

"Decent enough," she teased, sitting on her bed. Albus walked inside, closing the door behind him. His eyes didn't wonder around the room, instead they went straight for the pieces of parchment that where on the bed. His green eyes became stern, and she immediately looked at the floor instead.

"What are you doing with those?" he asked, showing that he had no intentions of appearing patient. Rose shrugged, refusing to give him an actual answer.

"Rose," he said roughly. "You're not falling for this anonymous guy, are you? Because that would be stupid. That would be ridiculous, and stupid!"

"No! Cut it out with that already! Of course not!" she retorted. That's not why I keep them. Al, I have to find...I really need to know who this writer is. It's been months...and—"

He shook his head. "I guess you're not considering that it might be Scorpius..."

"I've never really considered him. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would write these things. And...Al, wouldn't he have said so by now?"

"Maybe he's embarrassed..." he suggested. She raised her eyebrow strictly.

"Well, what can I say Rose? I don't know how to interpret the twisted mind of your stalker."

"It's not a stalker..." she murmured, glancing at the note that was on her hand, the one that read I think you fell from the sky. She froze at that instant, and raised her eyes, to look at her cousin. "Al...what if...the guy who writes this...really is stalking me. How am I supposed to do something about it if I can't figure out who he is?"

Albus frowned, but before he could answer she heard how something crashed against her bedroom window. Her head turned, her heart already fighting to escape her chest. She withdrew her smile and ran towards the window.

The owl that was waiting for her was white, with very light grey feathers, and brownish small eyes. She smiled. She opened the window carefully and took the parchment that was hanging from its paw, and felt instantly disappointed. The parchment was too small, it couldn't possibly be a letter. It was a note. She unfolded it and bit her lips as she read it.

"What is it?" Albus asked.

"Nothing...just—" she sighed, acknowledging that there was no point in hiding it. She swallowed softly, breathed in. "I know that you'll find love, I will posses your heart" she read, through a soft whisper.

"That's it!" Albus said loudly, his face turning stern within a few seconds. "...This guy...whoever he is, he has to stop!" he reproached.

Rose's heart began to beat desperately. A sudden fear invaded her chest. She swallowed hard.

"You know...the writer's recycling the handwritings," she pointed out. "He's repeating them in some notes."

Albus shrugged. "He's running out of hands to help him."

Rose blinked and looked at her cousin. The last statement had echoed in her head. "Do you think he's doing this...with somebody else?"

"Rose, I don't know, I only said that because—"

"What if you're right? What if this is somebody trying to mess with me? Trying to play a really awful joke or something? What if he's just trying to get me to do something? I mean...all this effort? Wouldn't it be...with a very specific purpose?"

Albus stared intently. He walked up to her, and stood still in front of the bed, where she was sitting at. "What kind of purpose?"

"I don't know..." she murmured. "But...Al...you should have seen the way Draco Malfoy was staring at me when he picked Scorpius at the train station. It wasn't normal."

"Rose...not that I don't like that you're finally gaining some sense with this stalker of yours...but you're starting to accuse your boyfriend and that's—"

"Scorpius isn't my boyfriend," she stated dryly, somewhat painfully. Albus frowned.

"He's not?"

"I don't know," she sighed, staring at the window once again, resenting that he hadn't written to her, and that even her anonymous writer had remembered that she existed.

She rolled her eyes. That had been a really stupid thing to think, especially now that she was beginning to suspect of Scorpius. If it really was him then what was he playing at? What was he trying to do with her? With her head? The notes weren't at all romantic, even when some were sweet they all had a dark sense of possession that she didn't like, no matter how attracted she felt towards the lines.

She suddenly felt that she needed to confront him, ask him about the notes, and observe the look on his face. But, what would happen if he said yes? What if he really was the writer? In that case, he would have spent the last eight months, or more, tormenting her, messing with her mind, pretending to be an intrinsic guy when all he was really doing was...seducing her into a rather abnormal relationship.

And what for? The writer was patient, strategic, he was sending her signs that would have to turn into something bigger someday. And what would that be? She would probably never know unless she looked for the answer herself.

"Al..."she said, her own voice breaking. "If the Malfoys had...a reason, let's say a great reason to...hate us. Don't you think they would try to get back at us? I mean, as a family?"

Albus frowned, harshly, but soon his face relaxed, and with a sigh he nodded. "I guess they would. I don't know the entire story, but our families were pretty much rivals during the war.

"Your dad put Lucius Malfoy in prison," she murmured. "And hunted Draco Malfoy down for years."

"Mine, not yours. Wouldn't they be writing to Lily instead of you?...if that's what you're trying to say here..."

Rose's heart skipped a beat. She breathed in, with slight pain involved in the process. She remembered Scorpius and Lily talking and laughing together, her skin shivered at the memory.

"Who says he isn't trying to win her too?" she whispered vaguely. She frowned, she was beginning to hate herself for putting Scorpius in that scenario, and she wished, with all the strength her heart allowed her, to be ridiculously wrong. She wished to be making the worst accusation of her life.

"Listen, you're starting to scare me. Rose, that's mental, that's sick, that's..." He stopped talking, staring at the parchments that lied on the bed for a long, wide, muted second. "I can't believe I'm saying this but...that's actually a possibility."

She closed her eyes briefly, and sighed involuntarily, the sound left her throat like a painful gasp, and Albus' eyes fixated on her immediately. He cleared his throat, somewhat uncomfortable, and walked up to her, to sit on the bed, close to her.

"Lily's been writing to some bloke...she won't say who he is, though," Albus murmured. Rose looked up at her cousin silently, words sinking in her throat.

"Don't..."he breathed in. She didn't want to look at him directly. "Don't worry, this is probably all a misunderstanding," he suddenly assured. Rose rolled her eyes, and she could feel how mortified her face must have looked, in spite of her efforts on being strong about it. "Besides, Rose. You've said that Scorpius doesn't get along with his own family."

"Well...that's what he says to me..." she whispered.

"Oh..." Albus murmured, she could tell he was controlling the surprise on his tone. "Alright...let's say it's him," he began. She blinked. "Hypothetically...if it is him, then what does he want? What does his family want to get back at us for?"

"Maybe it's something we did, something our parents did. Al, I don't know, they barely talk to us about the war, and when they do...they don't tell the entire story. I'm sure of that."

"Well, then, we'll find out for ourselves. I'll help you," he then said, placing his warm hand above hers. Rose smiled weakly, feeling grateful for his attempt to be supportive instead of protective. "Wait. You said something about the handwriting. What about Scorpius'? You've been helping him with Muggle Studies, haven't you seen his handwriting?" he asked. Rose stopped to think, trying to recall the moments she helped him with his essays, but not once did she remember his handwriting. As a matter of fact, she couldn't recall seeing him write anything down, except during class.

And not once had she kept anything written by him.

"I can't remember..." she whispered."I think he's been very careful about that. I never even saw his final book essay."

"Well...you're going to have to open your eyes more now..."

Rose shook her head quickly, she was beginning to feel short of breath. "Al...I really, really, really want to be wrong about this," she softly said.

He chuckled spontaneously, fixing is glasses briefly. "See...this is why I didn't want you to fall for the bloke."

Rose was about to throw a retort, tell him that she wasn't falling for him. She wasn't going to admit anything if the guy didn't even write her two miserable lines to tell her that he was alive, but a knock interrupted what was about to be a very eloquent response.

"Rose...you...have a visitor," her mother said. Rose frowned in amazement. She quickly looked at her cousin, and shook her head. Her heart began to beat desperately, reminding her of how alive she was. She instinctively gathered the pieces of parchment and placed them in a small box that was on the nightstand, stood up and walked towards the door.

When she opened her door she found her mother standing beside it, a soft, but very estranged expression written on her face.

"Who is it?"

"It's...well, it's Scorpius Malfoy," she said, taking a deep breath afterwards. Rose stopped breathing. She looked at the floor, away from her mother's eyes, but she knew that her corporal expression was too obvious.

"Thanks...I'll just—" she gestured with her hands and turned to walk down the stairs. As she did so she felt her mum's eyes upon her, but she also felt her cousin walking closely behind. Now that he suspected of Scorpius too, he was probably going to become some sort of shadow around him.

She reached the end of the stairs rather quickly, and breathed in when she saw him standing in the middle of the living room, his hands stuck tightly inside his pockets. He raised his eyes when he heard her coming down, and twisted his lips to form a smile.

"Hi..." she said softly, walking up to him. Scorpius' smile changed with her approach, turning into a soft, but very pleased grin.

"Hey," he murmured, grey eyes fixed on her, while his hand travelled to slowly caress the skin on one side of her face. Rose smiled pleasantly, the last fifteen minutes with

Albus, and the last four days might as well have not happened at all.

She blinked, remembering about Albus. When she turned around she saw him standing by the stairway, looking in their direction.

"How's it going Potter?" Scorpius inquired, and Albus nodded politely.

"Can't complain," he said plainly, shrugging with the answer. Rose exhaled, entering a very uncomfortable zone. She wasn't planning on waiting for her mother and her brother to make an appearance, and in the worst scenario: her dad to return. But even when the last possibility was very unlikely to happen, since her dad entered a new mission three days ago, she wasn't going to wait for him to arrive and turn that afternoon in the most uncomfortable of her life.

"Come on, let's go outside," she said to Scorpius, looking at Albus' plain face for a few seconds. She raised her eyebrow towards her cousin, warning him to stay where he was. She reached for her coat and scarf fast and then instinctively took Scorpius' hand, feeling a rush to the head when he tightened the grip in return, and walked out of her house.

They paced slowly down the small and quiet street that led through her neighbourhood, hearing each other's careful steps on the pavement. The night was cold, and she tugged her naked hand inside the pocket of her coat. She didn't move her other hand, though, it was too comfortable, wrapped under Scorpius' grip.

"There's a park around the corner," she whispered as she looked up at him, contemplating his soft, discreet smile.

"Your mother is really nice," he pointed out randomly. "Very polite."

She chuckled, biting her bottom lip. "She is..."

"She offered me...water, coffee, tea, butterbeer, biscuits, pumpkin juice, everything that was on your fridge, I think..." he said, smirking out of nowhere. Rose laughed out loud, as they entered the small and lonely park. "She might have said Firewhiskey as well, I'm not sure..."

"You caught her off guard," she explained sweetly, pulling him towards a bench.

"I did?" he asked, acting innocent about it.

"Yes! What was the expression on her face when she saw you?" Rose asked.

This time it was Scorpius the one who laughed, looking pleased. "It was...interesting to look at..." he teased.

"Tell me!"

He grinned. "Well, she gasped when she opened the door, and then just...stared at me for a while..."

"Oh god..." Rose said, shutting her eyes tightly. He chuckled.

"I introduced myself, but I don't think it was necessary."

"You are very evil, you know that? You just showed up, and you didn't even let me prepare her."

He chuckled, shaking his head. Rose sat down on the cold bench, Scorpius followed."Your other boyfriends never visited you before?" he asked sharply. Rose raised her eyebrow, but her heart stopped unexplainably at the sound of the word boyfriend.

"Yes, but they all let me know when they were coming..."

"All?" he asked, frowning slightly. Rose smiled evilly.

"Yes..." she teased. His face became lightly stern, something she enjoyed thoroughly. "And have you always shown up unannounced at your girlfriends' houses before?"

He laughed quietly, roughly even. He shook his head, caressing her jaw line softly.

"And the fact that I am who I am doesn't have anything to do with your mother's reaction?" he asked, changing the subject.

Rose's smile faded. "It does..." she admitted."But I don't think you have to worry about my mum. My dad, though..."

"I figured he would be at work, or at the Ministry, I don't know..."

"Oh...that's smart..." she murmured. He was in fact right. Ron wasn't at any of the shops, he was dedicated to the capture of the fugitives, and he had barely stepped inside their house during the past four days. She thought of a way to change the subject, she didn't want to talk about her dad of the mission or anything related to that matter.

"You know...you caught me off guard too..." she said softly, running her fingers over his hand, which rested above his knee.

"I needed too see you," he declared. He leaned down slowly, and her heart swelled, hurting her chest. His lips, winter cold, caressed her cheek, making her skin shiver. A soft gasp left her throat. She suppressed the need of telling him that there were other ways of knowing about her sake, but she was too thrilled with his presence. Maybe he wasn't the writing type, which worked perfectly in her favour at that moment, since that small detail threw him far away from the writer's profile.

She smiled shamelessly, and that small gesture led him on, and urged him to move his mouth close, until it was only an inch away from hers.

"Stop teasing..." she dared him. He chuckled, and her demand turned his face into the one of an amazed man. But he did follow her orders, and kissed her deeply.

The feeling of their cold lips, brushing against each other, consumed her quickly. She embraced him tightly, one hand set behind his neck, while the other one played with his hair, something that urged him to take her waist with both hands, so tightly that it sent a powerful shiver up her spine. He leaned forward, to hold her with even more firmness, and she felt how her skin bend to his will, the only thing she could control at that moment was the intensity of her lips and the strength she was using to wrap her arms around his neck.

His hands finally changed their position. He freed her waist, loosening the grip that pushed her body against his, and ran his fingers up her back, softly through her arms, and finally settled on each side of her face. She sighed nervously, and opened her eyes when his lips separated from hers. She contemplated how his eyes continued to be tightly closed.

"Rose..." he said, taking a deep breath, that showed how hard he was struggling with the task of breaking their embrace."I also needed to talk to you."

Rose stopped cold, frowning harshly. Scorpius breathed in, and pressed his forehead against hers.

"That's not good..." she suddenly said. Scorpius took her chin with his hand, softly, and raised her eyes. She stared into his glance for a moment.

"Why?" he inquired.

"Because it sounds like something I'm going to hate..." she said plainly. He exhaled, but pressed his lips against her cheek. He cleared his throat.

"It's probably not what you think..." he said softly, kissing the corner of her lips. He breathed in, very deeply and kissed her again shortly. "But I'd rather kiss you instead," he quietly said. Rose bit her lip, shaking her head.

"You were saying..." she cut him. He nodded solemnly, while lowering his glance. Something he rarely did. He moved one hand away from her face and held her free hand with it. Their fingers interlaced perfectly.

"Rose, I...I've done things that I'm not proud of," he said, still not looking at her directly. Rose's stomach twirled unpleasantly, as if a storm was forming quickly inside of her. "Some things were silly, stupid, others...not good at all," he finished. Rose frowned. Scorpius rubbed slowly the skin of her lips with his thumb. He suddenly chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I'm not saying this to scare you off," he said. "But I...have to...be honest with you."

"I'm listening," she whispered, and the string of voice broke inevitably. Her first thought had been childish, of him breaking up with her. Her second thought had been obvious, of him admitting that he was the writer. But now, she was only afraid that he wasn't referring to any of those things, now it seemed like he was talking about something graver.

Scorpius finale stared at her, intently, and his index finger travelled down the tip of her nose, and over her lips, drawing the lines that defined them. Rose breathed in, sensing his cologne, adoring it, something that calmed the nerves that were eating her up.

"Look...I—" he begun, but her eyes drove elsewhere. She spotted a small silver dot in the distance, falling from the sky. The dot travelled fast and soon it reached the street where she lived in. From their distance she could see that the dot transformed into a shinny, silver figure, a very prominent stag.

She gasped dryly. The stag galloped across the street, straight into her house, through a window. "My uncle Harry..." she weakly said. "That's his Patronus," she explained. "My dad!" she suddenly exclaimed as she stood up. Scorpius did the same.

"Come on, let's go," he told her. Rose walked ahead of him, the short path back to her house became so endless that she rushed herself by running up to the door. She burst inside her living room, and found her mum, Hugo and Albus all staring blankly at the centre of the room, where the silver stag was dissolving, first turning into a cloud, then disappearing in the thin air.

Hermione was panting, but within seconds she breathed deeply, shut her eyes briefly and sat down on the sofa.

"What happened?" Rose asked, standing still next to the door. Hugo turned to her.

"Dad's hurt," he said.

"What?"

"Uncle Ron got hurt in the mission," Albus intervened. "The Patronus said that he was injured in a duel."

"But—"

"But he's alright," Hermione cleared out, rubbing her palm against her forehead. She sighed strongly. "I don't know where they are but Harry said they'll be home soon."

"Oh," Rose said, highly relieved. "Thank God." She walked up to the sofa, where her mum was sitting at. She looked at her brother, standing close to the fireplace, his expression was the one of a very scared kid, but he was doing his best to demonstrate calmness. She felt bad for him, Hugo had never experienced having to worry about his father's sake before. He was very little when Ron retired from the Auror department. She turned around and glanced at Albus. His expression was solemn. He was used to that kind of emotion, for he still had to confront it with Harry all the time.

"What else did the Patronus say?" Rose asked. There was a long silence in the living room, one that Rose began to despise. "Well?" she insisted.

"Dad caught the guy..." Hugo said, with a small, but proud cheer in his voice. Hermione looked up at her son, but said nothing. "The Patronus said he's dead."

"Hugo!" Hermione reproached sternly.

"Well...he is," Hugo shrugged.

"And who was it?" Rose asked.

At the very same time Albus and Hermione looked at Rose. She frowned, and then she saw that they had turned their heads, and were glancing at Scorpius, who had been standing prudently by the door, trying to seem unnoticed.

"Rodolphus Lestrange," Hermione said solemnly, her eyes still on Scorpius. Rose looked at him quickly, his eyes first showed astonishment, but then looked down at the floor.

Rose walked up to him. "Scorpius, I—I'm..."

"I um, I better go. I shouldn't be here right now, it's—Mrs. Weasley," he said, looking away from Rose and at the sofa Hermione was sitting in. "I'm really sorry about your husband, but I'm sure he'll heal soon."

"Thank you Scorpius," Hermione answered, smiling weakly.

"Good night," he said as he walked outside in two quick steps. Rose walked behind him, and waited for him to turn around. When he did so, he didn't look at her directly.

"Scorpius. I—I don't know what to say, I mean, he was—"

"It's fine," he said dryly. "It doesn't matter." Scorpius glanced at the house on his right, instead of her eyes.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter. Of course it does, he was your uncle."

"I never met the guy in my life, Rose. It doesn't matter," he insisted, somewhat rudely this time. "And he was my late aunt's husband, not my uncle. So, it simply doesn't matter," he repeated. But the more he repeated it, the more upset he seemed to Rose.

"Fine...if you say so," she whispered, shrugging slightly.

Scorpius breathed in and exhaled strongly. He placed the back of his hand on her cheek softly. "Are you alright?" he asked her. Rose nodded. "Your father will be fine, your uncle wouldn't have said so otherwise, right?" he said. Rose smiled.

"Right..."

He smiled softly as well, and kissed her lips briefly. "I'll see you after the holidays," he pointed out.

"Do you really have to go now?" she asked him. He smiled and placed his hands on both sides of her face. He looked at her for a while, before saying anything else.

"I have to. You and your family need the privacy."

She sighed. "But, you needed to tell me something," she remembered. He shook his head.

"It can wait."

"But..."

"It wasn't important, Rose," he said, biting his lips for a moment. Rose stared at his deep, grey eyes. She wanted to believe him.

She exhaled, rather upset. "Whatever..."

"If you need anything, let me know, okay?"

"Thanks, but we'll be fine. I'll see you at school."

"I—" he begun, but cut himself halfway. He smiled poorly. "I can't wait."

Rose shook her head, shutting her eyes for a brief moment. Without thinking much she gripped his coat tightly, a mixture of emotions had settled in her stomach; the fear the accident of her dad produced her, the uncertainty Scorpius' attitude provoked her, and finally the thrill it was the simple fact of having him in front of her, inches away from her lips.

"Sometimes I wish you were more eloquent," she told him. Scorpius chuckled, and shook his head. He leaned down and demanded a kiss so deep, that it made her feel foolish for her last request. She was good with the talking, but he was great at the kissing.

Once again he held her so tightly she could barely move, her fingers were still griping his coat. She would have never stopped, if it hadn't been for the new worries that were invading her mind.

"How are you going to get back home?" she asked the moment she was able to breathe again.

"I'll apparate," he explained simply.

"You can't apparate. You are not seventeen yet, and we haven't even taken the final test, that's not until the end of the school year."

He grinned, widely. "I have my ways." He kissed her shortly again, and then walked back, his face resentful for letting her go. She rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. "I'll see you at Hogwarts," he sentenced.

"Wait, Scorpius. I just realized. How did you know where I lived?" Rose asked. Scorpius smiled again, softly.

"I have—"

"You have your ways..." she interrupted."I get it."

She walked inside her house again, and as she took her coat and scarf off she could feel her smile wearing off her face. Not much had changed since her absence. Her mother was still sitting on the sofa and Albus and Hugo wondered around the room.

"Mum..." Rose said as she walked up to her. "Are you alright? Do you need anything? I can make tea if you want."

"No, I'm fine, sweetheart, thank you," she said, before she took her hands to her face. "Harry should have told me where they were," she reproached.

Rose sat by her mother. "Why would he sent a Patronus if they were on their way?" she asked.

"Harry knows me. He wasn't going to show up here with Ron injured without telling me about it first. And he was probably making sure he told us himself, in case the news leaked from the Ministry, and we received the information wrong, or worst than it actually was. But he should have told me where they were!" she insisted, shutting her eyes in sudden despair.

"I'll go make that tea," Albus said quietly. Rose nodded.

"Mum," Rose murmured, caressing her mother's curls carefully. "Dad's going to be fine."

"I know," she smiled. "It's not that. It's...I forgot what this was like, that's all. Having to wait for him," she sighed. "This uncertainty...I never missed this at all."

Rose sat quietly, until she heard a loud noise coming from the front door. She turned around with her hopes high, and felt relieved when she saw her uncle Harry entering the living room, helping an injured Ron enter the room as well.

Hermione jumped off the sofa, and practically ran towards the two men.

"'m fine, 'm fine..." murmured Ron weakly, Rose noticed that he could barely pronounce the words. At that moment, Albus walked out of the kitchen fast and helped Harry as he placed Ron on the sofa.

"He received a curse in his right leg and his shoulder," Harry pointed out. Efrain healed him momentarily, but I came straight here because I know you can do better than any healer at St. Mungu's. He was stunned afterwards, so...he probably won't make much sense during the next hours."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What happened?" she asked horrified, while she examined Ron's right leg first.

We tracked Rodolphus down. We followed him to what seemed to be a hiding place. We and separated, and Ron found him first, they duelled and...well, Rodolphus didn't make it, but he did injure Ron."

"Dad killed him?" Rose asked. "Rodolphus?"

Harry turned and looked at her. "I wasn't there, but I'm sure he had no other choice."

There was a long, paused silence in the room. The only person who moved at all was Hermione, as she took care of Ron's injures.

"I'll...go see if that tea's ready..." Rose murmured weakly as she exited the living room.

That night went by slowly. Before Harry left he and Albus helped to move Ron towards his room, where Hermione spent the night taking care of him. The wounds weren't deep, but the spells that had caused them made them hard to close. Hugo kept his mother company, but didn't resist past midnight, and Rose assisted as much as she could but at two in the morning Hermione sent her to her room. Rose obeyed, but her eyes didn´t close until the sun went up.

She had brief dreams during her time of sleep, about Scorpius visiting her, and Ron surprising them, something that unleashed a reaction of screams from his father that always made her wake up.

The next day Ron received visits from almost every member of the family. To Rose's surprise he didn't tell the story of his accomplishment over and over like she thought he would. He remained quiet about it, and when George asked to know the details he told him that he would talk about it later. Rose hated the fact, that at her age of sixteen, her parents still avoided to treat subjects like that in front of her. She wasn't a little girl anymore, for Merlin's sake.

She didn´t consider asking her dad about the Lestranges, to know more details of their relation with the Malfoys because she knew he would end up wanting to know the reason of her interest.

By midday her uncles Harry and Ginny visited her house with her three cousins. But Harry went straight to Ron's room, where the four grownups locked themselves.

"What's with them and all the secrecy?" Lily asked, filled with annoyance. The five cousins waited in the living room. Albus and Rose sat on the sofa, close to each other, while James searched for something to read among Ron's Quidditch magazines.

Hugo sat on the floor lazily, building small figures with pieces of parchment, and Lily walked around the room, looking for something to do. She soon found in Rose's hair a source of entertainment. She sat on the arm of the sofa and concentrated on braiding Rose's curls carefully. Rose glanced at Albus quickly, and the boy took the hint rather fast.

"Hey Lils," he said. "Are you going to tell me now who's the bloke you've been writing to?"

Lily stopped cold for a moment, but retook the activity fast. "No one," she said, raising her eyebrow sternly.

"You're seeing someone?" Rose asked then, pretending to sound innocent about the subject.

"No," she quickly answered. "It's just a friend," she said, glancing suspiciously at James, who was on the other side of the room.

"Better be..." James said, turning over the pages of the magazine he had selected.

"You know...I'll have a boyfriend someday, James. And there's nothing you'll do to stop me, then," she dared, her eyebrows frowned deeply.

James grinned, without glancing at his sister. "We'll see about that."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm done," she smiled at Rose's new look. Lily loved to see Rose's hair fixed properly, instead of having her long curls running freely down her shoulders.

"Anybody up for Quidditch?" she then asked, but none of them answered. Lily twisted her mouth, stood up and walked to the spot by the fireplace, where Hugo was sitting at. She joined him in the origami making.

"Did you find out anything new last night?" Albus asked Rose quietly. She shook her head.

"No...but Scorpius came here to tell me something," she said. "But didn't get a chance."

"What do you think it was?"

"I don't know. But...I have a really bad feeling."

"I think you're starting to take this Scorpius supposition too seriously."

"I don't think so Al, you saw the way he reacted when he heard about Rodolphus Lestrange."

"I did..." Albus agreed, silencing for a moment. "You know, I was thinking...maybe you should begin by finding out more about what happened between our families."

"How am I supposed to do that? Our parents rate everything they tell us."

"No...not through our parents. You're forgetting we have a cousin with plenty of access to information," he said brightly.

"Teddy? At the Prophet? Do you really think so?"

"Of course! Think of all the archives that newspaper must handle, and Teddy has access to all that. And he told me this year he had to work during the Holidays."

"That's brilliant Al!" she said with a smile." Teddy Lupin had been one of the top investigative journalists of the Daily Prophet for years, and that alone gave him enough power to help her find the kind of information she was looking for. Maybe, he could help her be more specific, maybe he knew more about their family's rivalry. "Do you suppose he's at the Prophet today?"

"I don't know, but can't you wait until tomorrow?"

"Of course not," she retorted.

"Teddy, I kind of need a favour," Rose said, when she was standing in front of Ted Lupin. Her cousin was sitting on the corner of his own desk, wearing a pair of black jeans, a blue, long sleeve shirt rolled up to his elbows, a blue tone in his hair and the same radiant smile he wore whenever she came over to visit him. His eyes, though, were a light tone of brown. Unlike his hair, which changed according to his will, he never used his metamorphic abilities to change his eye colour.

She took a fast glance at his desk, which was covered in newspapers, parchments, a couple of books and about five quills. Teddy was, by far, her favourite role model, and she would never stop saying that he was the handsomest journalist in England.

"You see...when you told me you were coming over, I though you wanted me to take you out for ice-cream or something."

"Shut up! I'm not eight!" she slapped his shoulder. He smiled again.

"Rose," he said, running his fingers across his messed hair. "I can't unless it's really quick. I have to make a deadline tonight."

She twisted her mouth, and her eyes fell down. He shook his head and stood up, to walk behind his desk.

"Come on Teddy," Rose said softly, walking right behind him.

He stopped, and turned around, smiling widely. "Don't do that! Don't use that voice!" he threatened. "And wear that face off..."

"What voice?" she asked, rather innocently.

"The five year old voice! The one that makes you get what you want from me!"

Rose smiled. "You'll help me, won't you?"

"I shouldn't..." he warned. "You sound like you want a lot."

"Teddy..." she said, reusing her soft, small voice. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"You're terrible. You know how much I love you and you use it against me. Fine, what do you need me for?"

Rose grinned gratefully. "It's a little thing. All I need is to do some research."

"I figured. Who do you need to look up?" he asked, straightforward. Rose blushed, beginning to feel guilty about what she was about to do. She waited for a moment to answer, feeling tempted to drop the entire plan. She breathed in.

"The Malfoy family. I need as much information as possible."

"What?" Teddy inquired, quite stunned. "The Malfoys?"

"I know. It's crazy," she chuckled nervously.

"Only a bit. But investigating is my thing! Alright!" he said, enthusiastically, rubbing his palms together. "What do you need to know about the Malfoys?"

Rose looked up at him, sighing. "Teddy...I'm pretty much lost...I don't know what I'm looking for." He frowned, his expression confused by her vague response. She looked at the floor for a moment. "Do you know who Scorpius is?" she then murmured, she hated how obvious she was being.

"Yes, I know him," Teddy said, crossing his arms.

"Then..." she hesitated.

"So, what's the deal? Are you dating this guy?" he asked, walking forward a foot. Rose frowned.

"Oh, stop that!" she scolded. Teddy laughed gently.

"Well, how long have you been dating him? Does Uncle Ron know? Does Uncle Harry know?"

"Do not interview me. I'm not a story." He laughed again, shaking his head.

"But...it's very recent and...nobody except Albus knows." He nodded repeatedly. She continued "Well, now I think mum knows. But, still, I kind of need you to..."

"Shut my trap"

Rose laughed spontaneously. "Yes!"

Teddy smiled and gave her a quick nod that told her to follow him out of his office and down the aisle. Due to the time of year and late hour of the evening, the place was rather empty. The Reporters and editors that were on guard worked distractedly, receiving the owls that flew inside with notes on their peaks.

"So,Teddy, how much do you know of the Malfoys?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "The real question is, what do you need to look your boyfriend up for?" he asked. Rose looked away, and he led her to the end of the room and opened a door, allowing her to walk in first.

"Mike!" Teddy saluted, grinning widely. A mid-age man sat in a chair, yawning at a magazine. "Need to take a look at the archives."

The man looked over his glasses and glanced at Rose from head to toes. "Who's the friend, Ted?"

"Family...she's just dropping to say hi."

The man raised his eyebrow, but shrugged uninterested. He stood up and flicked his wand against the big door that was behind him. The gate opened and he gestured to Teddy so he could cross it. "As long as she's not from another paper...you know how the boss can get..."

"I know...I know..." Teddy answered. Rose walked in first. Teddy followed. The room was wide, slightly dark. The ceiling was very tall and great shelves were piled, one on top of the other. She couldn't see were the rows ended.

"Here we are," Teddy said. "Where do you want to begin?" Rose frowned. "Go ahead, pick a date."

"Oh...I guess, I don't know. The year the war ended, I supposed." Teddy twisted his mouth.

"I was afraid that you might say that," he said, shaking his head. "I'll give it a go." He drew his wand out of his pocket and walked down the aisle. He stood in front of a shelf, and tapped the furniture three times. "Nineteen ninety seven," he said clearly. A strong light fell upon the archive, and within seconds it opened, and from inside appeared a box, Teddy took it out and placed it on a table nearby. He sighed. "Don't get your hopes up, it's not a very big box."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"There's supposed to be an entire year here," he explained, opening the box. "Listen, The Daily Prophet has a scratch on its record. During the war they took the Ministry's side, and it was a very censured side. To top it all they weren't very...nice to Harry, or Hogwarts' head master—"

"Albus Dumbledore..."

"Yes, or the Order of The Phoenix, for that matter. So when the war ended, the Prophet of course changed the editor in chief, to clean the paper's reputation, but I guess the owner wasn't content with that, and they destroyed any evidence that made the Prophet a possible supporter...to Lord Voldemort."

"So..."

"They destroyed most of the articles of those last five years, yes."

"Oh," she said disappointed. They leaned over the box, and searched between the indicators of each month. Most of them were empty. She sighed.

"Listen," Teddy said softly. "Why are you're looking into this bloke? Maybe there's another way I can help you."

"You won't judge?" she whispered. He chuckled.

"Have I ever?" he grinned. Rose smiled back.

"Teddy...I think he's hiding something from me. Actually I think he's hiding a lot of things, and I'm afraid it might be something...dangerous."

"What? You think he's in some nasty business?" Rose nodded.

"Then why are you with him?"

Rose opened her mouth, trying to spell out something quickly. She wasn't going to tell him about the notes, that would have been too much information. She couldn't think of something to say fast, so she blushed fervently instead.

"Women," Teddy said, smirking while he shook his head.

"No! It's not like that! Teddy it's complicated. But all I want to do is make sure that..." she breathed in. "...his family is not using me, or maybe even him, to get somewhere else."

Teddy's eyes widened, he then nodded, solemnly. "Alright, then. I get it." He walked a few steps away and pulled two chairs that were in a corner. He offered one to Rose and sat himself. "Listen, I don't know much about that family, only that Draco and Lucius Malfoy were great rivals of Harry, and even of Uncle Ron and aunt Hermione. I know that when the war ended Harry put Lucius Malfoy back in prison."

"Back?"

"Yes, he had been in Azkaban for a year, but Voldemort helped him to get out. Anyway, Lucius Malfoy was in prison for seven years thanks to Harry and Ron, but he was still a man of power, he managed to appeal and got out. But Harry's greatest frustration was never to be able to put Draco in Azkaban."

"Right, that I knew."

"From what I know Draco has been in a low profile ever since, but Lucius,I've heard he's one dark bloke."

"Really? How do you know that?"

"Hey, I work in a newspaper. I've heard he's a coward, though. And that's the reason he never stroke back at Harry, he doesn't, followers, or guts..."

"What about Rodolphus Lestrange? What do you know about him?"

"The death eater? Well, he was married to a great aunt of mine," he answered. Rose blinked, she had forgotten that small fact.

"Oh yes, of course."

"Bellatrix was supposed to be one of the maddest, most dangerous witches of the dark side. She was my grand's sister, and Narcissa's—well, Scorpius' grandmother's sister as well. So, yes, your boyfriend and I are sort of relatives, I guess." Rose smiled. "I've met him, you know."

"Really? When?"

"Well, about eight or nine years ago. Narcissa went to our house once, it was during the summer because I wasn't at Hogwarts and she and my grand made up, after years of not talking to each other."

"Really?"

"Yes. So, after that she began to visit more often, and more than once she brought Scorpius with her. She was a very sad or complicated woman, I don't know. She seemed to like spending that time with my grand though, and she was alright with me."

"And Scorpius? What was he like?"

"He was a quiet kid. Most of the time he just walked around our house, sometimes he just stayed in our yard. For all I knew he was just as complex as his grandmother."

Rose looked down for a minute. "Does Narcissa still visit your grand?"

"My grand told me later that one day the visits stopped cold for a while. It took her months to visit again. She goes now and then, and they write to each other, but my grand told me that Lucius was being difficult on her."

Rose exhaled strongly, with every story she heard she was creating a very rough image of Lucius Malfoy, and she wasn't liking it at all. "Teddy," she begun. "Do you think it's crazy of me to think that Lucius might have been helping Rodolphus Lestrange this past months?" she asked weakly.

"No," Teddy said. "I think you would be very clever to say that," he answered. Rose sighed, her breath echoing in the quiet room. "We have left that family in the shadows for years. My boss never wants to have anything to do with the Malfoys so I can't tell that I know anything knew." Rose looked into his eyes, strongly disappointed. "Rose, I might not be very helpful, but if what you need is to look Lucius up, then I know the person who can help you," he declared, smirking all of a sudden.

"I don't think so. She's a tomb. She won't spill a word."

His smirk grew wider. "Hey, I'm sure we can break her down."

"No," Victoire said sternly. "I would be breaking about ten rules just by letting you walk inside the department, let alone let you go through the secret files!" she said. Her arms were crossed, and her slim figure blocked the main entrance to the department of Mysteries. Her eyes, a very light shade of blue glimmered. Long lashes decorated her eyes, and her hair, long and silky fell gracefully below her shoulders. It was a strange but radiant bronze colour, like none other in the family. Victoire Weasley, Rose's oldest female cousin and Teddy's girlfriend, had developed a career in the Department of Mysteries, most of the cases that became too complicated in terms of spells ended up in that department.

One of Victoire's specialties was to break out jinxes and hexes that regular Aurors couldn't break and find the contra spells. But the main thing was that she handled restricted information almost no one had access to. Not one word ever fell out of her mouth, and the only person ever to have access to the information she handled was Harry, and that was only because his status in the Auror department required it.

Teddy, as a journalist of the Prophet, at first begged to have access to details he couldn't find out for himself. But that never worked, his role as her boyfriend wasn't of much help.

"Vic, look at her. She's desperate!" Teddy told her, using a very soft tone of voice. Rose glanced at him, recognizing that he was behaving as manipulative as she had been a few hours ago. "Come on, she needs her cousin."

"What—hey—that's not fair—"

"Vic," he said, walking up to her. "I get it when you don't do it for me, but for her?" Teddy said sweetly, pointing at Rose. The girl did a great job at suppressing a laugh.

Victoire sighed, and pressed her lips together. "I don't think I can help you at all. " She paused momentarily. "But exactly what it is that you need, Rose?"

"I—" she began, she hated to have to tell the story over and over. With every time she told it she felt even worse. "I need to find some information on the Malfoys, Lucius and Draco, specifically."

Victoire opened her blue eyes widely. She frowned. "Why do you need to look them up for?" she asked.

"I—um—I'm kind of seeing Scorpius, that's why. And I think he might be getting into trouble. I think his family might be using him…or me."

"You're dating Scorpius Malfoy?" She asked, impressed. "Does Uncle Harry know this?"

"No! And you can't tell him!"

Victoire nodded. "Rose, this is completely mad. You can't use the Ministry's resources to look up your boyfriend! Do you know what you are asking for here? Do you even have proof of what you are talking about? If you are this afraid you should tell your parents or uncle Harry?"

"And what good is that going to do?" Teddy interrupted. "Without proof they'll just make her stop seeing him. They can't do anything else."

"Well, then that's exactly what she should do! Just stop seeing the guy," she retorted at Teddy. Rose pressed her lips, uncomfortable with the heat of conversation. Inmediatley, though, Teddy burst into a rather sarcastic laugh.

"Right! Because that coming from you is a very sincere advise. Back at Hogwarts you got into more trouble than anybody in your year. Would you have just—stopped seeing the bloke? That's what you would have done, Victoire Weasley?" he inquired. Victoire stared intently into his eyes for a few, quiet seconds.

"Still, I don't think—"

"And even if she did." Teddy carried on. "What good would that do? If she's in danger she would still be in danger even if she stays away from him. You know that. Nobody can banish him from Hogwarts." Come on, she just wants to know who she's dealing with here, if she finds something strange then maybe it will be time for uncles Ron and Harry to take over. But with all the things that are on their minds right how do you expect them to worry about a possibility?" he stayed. Teddy was making one good point, even Rose was buying the argument.

"Teddy,"Victoire whispered, sighing. She stared at Rose for a moment. "I don't think I can help you that much," she said. "I'm not sure that you should be judging a book by it's cover."

"But I didn't," Rose answered. "That's exactly what got me here. I didn't want to judge him, but things got strange, I—"

"Alright," Victoire said, pressing her palm against her forehead. "Just come with me. I can get you in," she said, gesturing with her head. Rose smiled widely and walked inside. Teddy intended to do the same, but Victoire stopped him by pressing her palm against his chest.

"Oh no, you're staying out here," she said with a soft, almost seductive voice, grinning all of a sudden.

Teddy sighed and nodded. "It was too good to be true," he said with a shrug, he leaned down and kissed her lips gently. "I'll see you tonight at home."

Victoire smiled and nodded, before turning and entering the dark hallway she was about to lead Rose through.

They walked cautiously for a few minutes. Rose had never imagined that department to be so big on the inside. They crossed several doors and Victoire lead the way through different passages. Along the way they passed a few Aurors, but they didn't interrogate Victoire. Her presence was enough to let her through. Finally, they reached a black door that didn't have a knob. Victoire took her wand out and tapped the door twice gently.

"Victoire Weasley," she said out loud. "And an authorized companion," she added.

Victoire looked at Rose and the girl immediately knew that she too had to tap the door with her wand. After she did so they entered the room. The entire structure was black. In the same day Rose had invaded two very secret areas of the Daily Prophet and The Department of Mysteries, all to satisfy her curiosity.

"The room's empty," Rose pointed out.

"You just name the person and I'll look him up for you," Victoire said.

Rose swallowed hard. "Right," Victoire contemplated the hesitation on Rose's face.

"Lucius Malfoy," Rose murmured.

Victoire nodded. "That's going to be one long file," she said. She moved her wand in circles and murmured words Rose couldn't understand. She finally pronounced the name Lucius Malfoy and from the roof fell to the floor a big pile of parchments. "There it is." Rose leaned down to lift the first parchment. "Be careful with what you see. Remember, it's Lucius' file, not Scorpius'."

"I know," Rose murmured.

Rose looked at the parchments intently, seriously considering aborting the mission.

"Rose, can I give you a little piece of advice? Something I don't really follow myself."

Rose nodded.

"If you insist on looking for something, you're probably going to find it."

"That's what I want."

"Are you sure? Because you can find some really terrible things here. Are you sure that that's what you want?

"I just want to prove myself that I'm wrong."

"But you might be right. You might find awful things about his family. What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know," she whispered, deep in a sudden trance. "I'll figure something out."

"Sometimes, it's best not to know," Victoire said. Rose lifted her eyes and saw into her cousin's blue gems.

"Thanks Victoire, but as you just said, you never follow that advice yourself. I don't think I will either," she said, rather determined.

"That's what I thought," she smiled. "But you know that no matter what you find here, that doesn't mean that Scorpius has anything to do with it. You can't blame him for the family he has."

"I know! I know that! And I never would! But, the way he behaves sometimes, the things he says." Rose took her hands to her face. She wasn't going to say anything about the letters. She was determined to keep that to herself. But she was sure that if Victoire knew then she would understand why Rose suspected of Scorpius. "Victoire, I'm scared. I feel like I'm messing with someone I shouldn't mess with."

"If you feel that way then stop messing with him!" Victoire exclaimed.

"I can't! Victoire, that's the thing. And I need to know more about him, because I don't know my limits with him, and I don't know his limits with me! I need something to prove me that I shouldn't be scared of him."

"Rose, what did you mean by that?"

"That—that I don't know what he's capable of doing. I'm not sure now. I think he's a good person, no, not good, great. But then, these little things happen, I can't explain them but one thing led to the other and now I'm not sure he is the person I think he is."

"No, no! I mean…you don't know your limits with him? What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, that. I don't think I trust myself with him, that's what. The things I think when I stand by him, the things I feel, I don't think I should be trusted when I'm around him."

Victoire opened her mouth widely. "Rose, exactly how far have you gone with him already?"

"What?"

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, no, no—kisses, just kisses, nothing more than that."

"Just kisses?" she asked, raising her eyebrow, smirking gently.

"Alright. Maddening kisses, breathtaking. The first one was—Victoire I even forgot to breathe! I don't know what came to me! And every time he kisses me all these things run in my head, I can't even move properly!" Rose said, rather loudly. She found herself panting as she finished talking. Victoire laughed quietly, taking one hand to her mouth.

"Oh, wow," she said, shaking her head. "Rose, you know what I think? I think you fell for this guy, mentally, emotionally and physically. You fell for him so fast you have absolutely no idea of how to handle it."

"Well, that's one wise way to put it," Rose said, breathing deeply.

"The problem is that you're being too rational and passionate at the same time. That's why you're so lost. You don't know if you should be snogging his soul out of his body or if instead you should be digging up his criminal profile to find if something's wrong with the poor guy," she chuckled. Rose looked at her cousin and gave into the sound of her laughs. She chuckled herself.

"God, that's exactly how I feel," she said, relieved to hear that someone understood her.

"Let me tell you something, you can read through the most terrible things but not one of them is going to make those feelings go away. You might as well live up to the fact that you're in love with him."

Rose's face went pale, but she didn't deny it.

"Merlin, Uncle Ron is going to die when he finds out," Victoire pointed out.

"Don't say this to anybody. I'm afraid dad will flip out."

"You can be sure of that. I wonder what uncle Harry would say," she murmured in fascination.

"He's not just any guy dad might be jealous of. And before I get more involved I need to make sure that I'm not getting into some bizarre game."

"Rose, what else is going on? Why are you so scared of him? It's not his fault that he—"

"—Victoire, he's hiding things from me, and I think they're related to our families. I mean, I really have my reasons to think all this. I know it sounds crazy but—"

"Actually no, not all. That's your awfully rational side talking. The Malfoys must have about a thousand reasons to want to get back at us. Our family made their criminal lives a lot harder. And uncles Harry and Ron practically dedicated a decade to chase them down. Reasons they have, of that I'm sure. But I insist that Scorpius might be just a victim."

"I know, and until a few weeks ago I was the first to defend him. But I have a really bad feeling. And I want to be wrong, Victoire I really want to...be with him."

Victoire smiled, and sighed afterwards. "You are in a big mess, you know that?"

"I know."

"I still don't think you're going to find anything helpful here. I just hope that if you're not wrong, you have the strength to stay away from him."

Rose shut her eyes briefly, and Victoire must have understood that that was the least of the possibilities. She leaned forward and opened the file. They read silently for a few minutes, the file listed one by one the crimes he had been accused of. It was very specific in terms of dates, wizards or Muggles involved, and any other detail.

"He spent one year in Azkaban," Rose murmured. Victoire nodded. "Teddy told me that."

"That was after getting into a battle with, well, our parents, in the rooms of this department," she quietly explained. Rose looked around the room, and went straight to the paper again.

"I think dad mentioned it once," Rose tried to remember. "They never tell us much, you know. Dad only tells stories, like adventures. But they never really get serious about it."

"Can you blame them, Rose?" Victoire whispered. "They spent their entire childhood fighting deatheaters and dangerous wizards. Why would they want you near all that? Our parents tried to do the same with us, but Teddy's bond with uncle Harry always got him extra information and then our professions kept us very close to that side of our history," she explained. "And we're older," she added. Rose chuckled, rolling her eyes a little. She inspected the file once more.

"Then, after the war, Uncle Harry sent them to prison," Victoire added. "But the Malfoys have a lot of influences, even when they lost so much power. After seven years Lucius appealed and won."

"Teddy told me, how do you both know so much about Lucius, particularly?"

Victoire looked at her solemnly for a moment. "I had to open this file a few months ago."

"Why?" Rose asked, her voice breaking.

"The Auror department needed the information," she said, and flipped the pages until she found the last one.

"Suspected of the breakout of Azkaban that released ex deatheaters: Rodolphus Lestrange, Waden Macnair and Alfred Jugson, and brothers Ashley and Aston Banvard.

Rose fell silent, not even blinking.

"He was called in here, for interrogation about a month ago, and his mansion was searched. They thought he might be hiding the fugitives."

"What?"

"They didn't find anything, and Lucius threatened with shutting down the Auror department for violating his property. But, he's not as powerful as he used to be so nobody took him seriously."

"I had no idea all that was going on."

"Yes, it's been wild around here since the breakout."

Rose stood still, muted in front of the parchments that held that true. Scorpius must have heard about that search, surely he was aware of everything that was going on, and only weeks ago he had made a joke about Rodolphus coming for dinner during the holidays.

Rose breathed deeply. That was just a joke, she told herself.

"But they didn't find anything," Rose said, her hopes high.

Victoire shrugged. "That doesn't mean no one was hiding there." Rose sighed deeply. She was aware of that. Malfoy Manor was supposed to be an ancient mansion, surely full of secret passages.

"Listen Rose, I really hate to be the one placing all these things in your head. They might as well be false accusations. And in case they were true, Scorpius doesn't have to be involv—"

"Then why are you helping me?"

They looked at each other for a very long second.

"Because, you said you had reasons, and I would prefer you walking into this with both eyes open. So…I'm shutting up now," she said.

Rose smiled. "What about Draco Malfoy?"

Victoire nodded, and as she moved her wand in circles carefully she murmured the same incomprehensible words, then she pronounced Draco's full name. The file wasn't as long as Lucius'. Rose studied it intently, and shivered when she reached the estimated date he received the death mark. She recalled the night at the Slytherin party, how Jasmine had joked about Scorpius having one. Rose had almost believed it, but what really shocked her was the way she had joked about that possibility, not knowing how serious that actually was.

She continued reading, and reached the accusations he received for being involved in the attack Hogwarts received a year before the Great War. Draco figured as the leader of the deatheaters inside the castle, that night Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had been murdered.

"He...he was responsible for that?" Rose murmured, astonished. Victoire shrugged.

"That's what the paper says."

"And he was never sentenced for it."

"No, his father pulled strings to make sure he never stepped in jail. I'm not a good source of information, but from what I've heard Draco Malfoy was always under the will of his father. But after the war he has been living decently. Not much has been heard of him since then. Lucius, on the other hand, has always been trying to regain his status in the Ministry of Magic. But, Uncle Harry and Kingsley have made that awfully hard. You know, Rose, your parents could really give you more information on that."

"Like they'll tell me," she said.

Victoire smiled. "They might, if you wait for the right moment to ask them. Aunt Hermione is good for talking to, you know that. She's still my number one adviser." Rose laughed softly.

"I might give it a shot," she sighed, before giving one last look at the information on the parchments. She remembered Scorpius' intent of confessing something to her, and wondered if that had anything to do with the case of the fugitives. Was his family involved? Was he involved? Was he going to confess something about the notes? What was she supposed to do if all that was true? If her relationship with him was nothing but a setup? What if the Malfoys wanted something else from her? What if Scorpius was backing down, and wanted to confess her everything?

What if she was imagining things? Was it all an awful coincidence? The anonymous writer, the fugitives, the accusations on the Malfoys...it could all be one big mistake, and she could lose Scorpius for involving him that much. If he ever found out that she was researching his family, he wouldn't forgive her.

"I think I should go now," she solemnly said. "I'm not getting anywhere with this."

"Hey, it's a first step," Victoire said, cheering her up. "Come on, I'll walk you outside," she said, piling the parchments together. "And maybe on the way out you can tell me more about Scorpius. He sounds like, one breathtaking man," she teased, as she moved her wand quickly, making the parchments disappear.

Rose smiled. "He's something, yes," she blushed.

"Aren't you going to give me the details?"

"I might, if you tell me when you are finally marrying Teddy. For heaven's sakes, it's been years!"

Victoire stopped cold, then gave her a very stern glance. "Very funny."

"I'm not joking," she said evilly. "You decided to take it slow when you moved back from France. That was three years ago. Slow enough, don't you think?"

"I'll get married when he proposes," Victoire told Rose, softly.

"Come on, like it isn't obvious that he wants to marry you. I'm pretty sure that he thinks it's you the one who doesn't want to."

Victoire glanced at Rose. "Maybe I'm just…waiting now," she blinked.

Rose grinned, shaking her head.

Her trip to the Daily Prophet and the Department of Mysteries left Rose with more questions than answers. But she focused on putting her questions to one side, at least until after Christmas. She didn't want to give her parents and herself a great headache during that day. She shared Christmas Eve with her family like she always did. Everybody met at The Burrow, where they exchanged presents, ate exaggerated amounts of food and enjoyed lazily, and often loudly, each other's company. Rose did her best to block her mind completely, but none of it really worked, especially because Ron was the center of attention during the entire day. His wounds had not healed completely and because of their magnitude it would take them days to close for good.

The poor evolution of his wounds made Rose remember that at the bottom of her trunk was a small jar of slug ointment, elaborated by Scorpius, and very effective to heal scars. She offered it to her mum, and without telling her where she found it, promised that it would work.

But Ron's wounds were nothing more than a reminder to Rose. According to him he had never been in real danger, but his appearance and the fact that someone had died in the middle of a duel, spoke differently. To Rose all of that was a reminder of how dangerous the entire situation was...for whoever dared to meddle.

Christmas day passed as well, and Rose began to grow impatient. Victoire had suggested her to ask Hermione about the Malfoys, assuring that her mum would not deny her any kind of information.

So one afternoon she walked into the kitchen, taking advantage of the moment she found her alone. At first she felt lucky and sat on the counter, staring at her mother as she used magic to peal potatoes.

"Mum"

"Yes?" she asked distractedly.

"Is dad going back to the Auror Department after what happened to him?"

Hermione's brown eyes blinked. She turned around and looked at her daughter.

"Of course. Why?"

"I thought that since he had been injured, he wouldn't—"

"—he won't stop until he finds the last of the fugitives," Hermione warned her gravely.

"I was afraid of that," she said disappointed. You know...but with the death of Rodolphus Lestrange, won't it be easier to find the rest?"

"We don't know that Rose. There's a possibility that Rodolphus was just benefiting from the breakout, maybe he holds no connection with the rest."

"Oh, because I thought that your interest in finding them was that maybe you thought they were...plotting against The Ministry, or even our family."

Hermione looked at the floor for a moment. She took a cloth and wiped her hands with it, as she walked to the table Rose was sitting at. Behind her potatoes continued to get peeled magically.

"You seem to be well informed," she said, taking a seat next to her. Rose shrugged.

"Not so well, " she reproached. Hermione nodded.

"Yes, Rose, we are worried about the breakout of Azkaban, but mainly about how that may affect our family."

"And why?"

"Because we don't want any of this to get to you. And yes, our first worry was that death eaters began to reunite. That's why Ron and Harry were so focused on finding them."

"But the two that had escaped are back in Azkaban, and Rodolphus, well...he's gone. So, technically everything's alright," Rose stated.

Hermione stared at her intently. "Technically."

"Mum, what is it?"

"Well, we know that the three of them were old men, weak, tired even. And they are nothing since Voldemort's fall."

"Then?"

"Harry and Ron, and most of the Aurors are worried about the two that are still free. Ashley and Aston Banvard. They're young, agile, and fearless, even. They are the ones that might be after something else. We think they're planning a sabotage against the Ministry of Magic. That's what they tried to do at Gringotts, and they were almost successful. I think they were using Rodouphus, Walden Macnair and Alfred Jugson to obtain information. They might be more people involved, people outside of Azkaban..."

"But all that, what does it have to do with us."

"Rose, listen to me. Anyone, who attempts against the Ministry and is related to Voldemort, no matter how long ago that was, will probably attempt against Harry first, or Ron...or me. That's when you come in, and that's why we need to be careful with all of you from now on."

"But those are just...assumptions."

"I'd rather not take any risks, your dad feels the same way."

"Mum, do you think that the Malfoys are involved in any of this?"

"How—why are you asking all this?"

"I've done some research."

"Why?"

"Answer me mum, please..."

Hermione shut her eyes for a moment. "Yes...I think they might be involved. I think they've been hiding people in their mansion, and Rodolphus might have been one of them. But Rose, it's mere speculation." She sighed, heavily. "Now, this sudden interest. This is all about Scorpius, isn't it?"

Rose remained still, then nodded slowly. Hermione took her hand to her forehead, like giving the subject an awful amount of thought.

"Scorpius? Scorpius Malfoy? What does Rose have to do with him?" Ron's voice startled both Rose and Hermione. They glanced at the kitchen door. He was standing under the frame, his shoulder resting against it. His face, stern, and slightly red explained to Rose that he had been listening to at least the end of the conversation. But that was enough to unleash what was sure to come next. "And?" he demanded when none of them answered.

Hermione shook her head. "Ron, he studies with her," she patiently said.

"She has barely mentioned him in the past six years, why is he suddenly the main topic of her conversations?"

"Main topic? Ron, you're being silly. So what if they're friends?"

Ron stood still, leaning against the doorframe, breathing slowly. Rose could tell that he was controlling his own temper, and she was thankful for that. He turned his head, away from his wife and looked at Rose instead.

"Is that true? you're friends Now?"

"Well, yes, kind of. He has been needing help in some subjects, so, we're studying partners, I guess."

"You...study," he asked, raising his eyebrow sternly.

"Ron," Hermione murmured.

"That's all you do?" Ron asked again.

"Yes," Rose retorted, the lie came out easily.

"Ron," Hermione repeated calmly.

"So, you assume that, after six years, out of nowhere, the man wants to be your friend. Just like that."

"Yes," Rose answered plainly.

"Because he needs help in—what was the subject?"

"Muggle Studies," Rose answered, feeling rather annoyed by his tone, and the sarcasm in his words.

Ron snorted, followed by a very mocking laugh. "Hear that? Muggle studies! Muggle studies? Seriously?"

"RON!" Hermione intervened. "Cut it…out."

"But Hermione, are you listening to this? Merlin's Pants! I'm I the only one who sees it?"

"Sees what?" Rose asked.

"Alright, that's enough!" Hermione said loudly, standing up in a fast move. She walked up to Ron, and looked at him for a moment. He glanced back at her, sternly, red in the face.

"Ron, stop it," she demanded.

"No! This is rubbish, only days ago you agreed with me when I said that the Malfoys weren't to be trusted!"

"This is different!"

"He's a Malfoy, isn't he?"

"Ron, you can't be that thick! He's a boy!"

"Draco was his age when he tried to kill Dumbledore, and what about you? Did you forget what they tried to do to you?" he said loudly.

Hermione took a step back, her face had gone pale. She shook her head twice, like begging him to be quiet about what followed that last declaration. Ron swallowed hard. He, too, had gone pale, his mouth still open, as if for a moment it had been independent from the rest of his body. Rose didn't realize that she was panting until her parents turned around, and looked at her intently.

"I'm sorry," Ron murmured. Hermione turned and looked at Rose for three brief seconds, then took off and left the kitchen. As her loud steps invaded the stairs and the floor of the second store, Ron waited silently under the frame. Rose knew about Draco trying to kill Dumbledore but not thanks to her parents and she certainly did not know about her mother. Her dad breathed deeply, and after glancing at Rose for a moment, he too left the kitchen and walked up the stairs.

Rose was left alone in the room. A cloud of confusion fogging her head. She couldn't allow that! Her parents couldn't just avoid giving her an explanation! She couldn't just sit there like a little girl waiting for the day they decided to trust her.

Rose stood up in a fast move and left the room. She ran to the stairway, and went up, towards her parents' room. Once she was there she stood cautiously by the door. She didn't need any especial technique to listen through the door. Her parents were loud enough.

"I can't believe you said that in front of her! How dare you?"

"It was an accident! It just...it rages me to see that she might be getting involved with the one person she shouldn't!"

"Ron, they're friends! There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!"

"Friends? And you're expecting me to buy that? You're insulting me, Hermione."

"Yes! Friends! She said so herself! And stop being so hard on the boy. You don't even know him!"

"He might as well just be another airhead, pureblood freak."

"Well, I don't think he's any of that."

"What? You've met him?"

"He came to visit her."

"WHAT? He came to my house? And you didn't say anything?"

"Our house, Rose's house!"

"How did he know where we lived? We set protective spells on this house during the summer."

"I suppose she told him, the protection fades when one of us tells the person where we live."

Rose froze against the door. She had not revealed the address of her house to Scorpius.

"Hermione, this is—I'm not allowing this."

"You can't tell her who she can be friends with. She has to decide that for herself."

"But, does it have to be him? What if they start—I don't know, dating each other?"

"I don't know Ron, but she can't pay for what happened with us, that was too long ago."

"I think we should tell Rose."

"NO! We agreed that—"

"She should know the type of people she's getting involved with."

"No! It won't make a difference!"

"Hermione—"

Rose breathed in and without doing much thinking she opened the door to the room.

"Tell me what?" she said, solemnly. She was sick of that conversation. She wasn't going to allow her parents fight over what where supposed to be her decisions. All she wanted was the entire information. "What is it?"

Hermione shook her head. "Rose—"

"You know, it's very unfair that you do this because I will find out, you know I will."

"We are pretty sure that Lucius Malfoy is planning something," Ron interrupted. "We've been following him for the last months, but we don't know what it is yet."

"Mum told me that."

"We think they're using every source they have. The connections they have left at the Ministry might be helping them. They've been moving money, and confidential information out of Gringotts..."

"And, you think they're using Scorpius as well," Rose declared.

"Now I do," he said.

"But that's not what you were talking about downstairs," Rose said.

Hermione sat on the corner of the bed, absently. "No, that wasn't what he was talking about. But Rose, that doesn't build in any way Scorpious' character…"

"Well, whatever it is, it was enough for dad to hate them."

Ron lifted his glance. His expression was solemn, hard even, but not at all of anger. It looked more like the one of a very worried man.

"You're aware that The Malfoys and our family were never in the best terms, right?" she asked.

"But wasn't that rivalry with Uncle Harry?"

"And anyone who became friends with him," Ron intervened. "Draco was always cruel. He looked for people he considered weak, less than him, and made their life miserable, for the fun of it."

"But what does—"

"The thing is that as much as he hated Harry, it wasn't as strong as his hate towards...Muggle borns. And he had a special interest in—"

"—me," Hermione cut in. "The Malfoys are among the last family of purebloods, and according to them the school should have been cleansed from people like me."

"But, did he ever hurt you?"

"No," she whispered, slowly.

"Draco never had the guts. Malfoys are the kind of people who need things to get done for them."

"Then?" she asked, full of fear by now. Her dad was standing in one end of the room, while her mother sat quietly on the bed. Rose did the same, she took a seat next to her mother.

"That should be all you need to know," Hermione explained sadly, breathing in.

"Mum, you can't do this to me," Rose begged, looking at her father afterwards. He stared at Hermione for a moment.

"Rose," he began, there was a point during the war in which we were captured, Harry, your mum and me, that is. And we were taken to their mansion."

"Malfoy Manor," Rose whispered.

"Yes. It was the closest someone could take us to Voldemort," Ron added. Hermione glanced at him briefly.

"The thing is that over there, we almost got killed," she said, speaking quietly. "Rose, it wasn't just a childish rivalry. That's what you have to understand. In that house..." Ron looked at Hermione again, hesitant, and walked to reach her. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers down her hair. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment.

"Well? In that house what?" she asked, she could tell by the expression of her father that he wasn't going to do any more talking.

"Bellatrix Lestrange thought I had valuable information," Hermione intervened. "She used the cruciatus curse on me," she explained.

"What?" Rose whispered weakly.

"It wasn't just about information. Bellatrix enjoyed every second of it," her father added.

"Ron…" Hermione said, looking at him for a moment. "That's not necessary. It wasn't Lucius or Draco, but they simply stood there, for I don't know how long," Hermione said, her eyes absently staring at the wall in front of her. The back of Ron's hand was now pressed against her cheek. "And that's just as horrible."

"Mum…"

"I can't remember for how long it lasted—"

"An eternity," Ron added, his voice full of pain. She raised her head, and looked at him softly.

"I remember everything that happened before and after. I remember the room, their faces and the curse. I wouldn't have survived, of that I'm sure," she said.

"How did you escape?"

"Well, to me it will always be Ron the one who got me out of there," she said sweetly. Ron smiled shyly.

"But it really was thanks to a good friend of Harry, a house elf. He sacrificed himself for us. "

Rose nodded slowly, she felt herself smaller than ever. The room fell in silence. All she could do was recreate the event in her head.

"That Bellatrix Lestrange. What happened to her?" Rose asked fearful, her voice broke and she swallowed hard.

"She died in the war," Ron said quickly.

Rose turned her head. "How did she—Dad, did you…?"

"No. I would have loved to, though," he said. Rose's skin shivered.

"Ron, don't say that," Hermione whispered.

"Then how did she die?"

Hermione and Ron looked at each other.

"In the battle," Ron said. Hermione glanced at him again, he took a deep breath.

"Who killed her?" She insisted, sensing that something was missing.

"My mother."

Rose felt the blood leaving her head. She felt fainted, she sensed herself panting again. Her grandmother would never hurt a fly, no matter how hard her character was at times. She was a saint, and Rose had enough trouble digesting the fact that her father had killed a man only days ago, her grandmother...that was too much.

"It was a war Rose. Awful things happened," Hermione said.

"I know, I know!" Rose assured, but her breathing wasn't returning to its normal state.

"I understand perfectly."

Ron bordered the bed and stood in front of her. He placed his hand on her shoulder softly. "Do you see it now? Can you see why I don't trust them?" he asked. Rose looked at his healed arm, the wounds had been closing enormously fast since he started to use the slug ointment.

Rose nodded rapidly, by now she felt she couldn't breathe at all. Her throat had suddenly locked. She set him on one side, and stood up violently. "I understand...I do. I—" she assured again, breathed in, turned around and without finishing she walked out of the room fast.

She ran inside her room. Her mind had fogged. She breathed deeply, once...twice...

But it didn't help. She felt anxious, desperate. After that round of confessions, was she supposed to stay still and quiet? Was she supposed to feel satisfied? She had searched for that. She had desperately searched for information. She had found it.

Victoire had been right. She found what she had been looking for, what she was supposed to do with all that information remained a mystery.

She tried to breathe deeply again, closing her eyes, taking her hands towards her chest.

Her attack faded gradually and after a few minutes, she was able to sit down on her bed, in the darkness of her room.

"Rose..." the voice of her mother said. Rose felt as she walked inside carefully, her steps almost soundless. She turned on the lamp of the nightstand, and sat next to her.

They remained silent for the next minutes. Rose was concentrated on breathing, her absent eyes were focused on the wall.

Hermione's fingers interlaced with Rose's curls, and with much tenderness she softly moved the girl's head and placed it on her shoulder. She caressed her reddish hair, and Rose shut her eyes at the touch. She didn't have enough time to understand what happened next, but the cloud in her mind mixed with the emptiness of her chest. The emotion increased rapidly and made her shed tears on her mother's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry for what happened to you," she said, her voice breaking inevitably. "And I'm sorry I pressured you to remember it."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. This has nothing to do with you."

"Actually," she said, lifting her head up from her mother's shoulder. "It has everything to do with me."

Hermione looked down at the mattress. "I see. Rose, listen, I remember few things from that moment, but the thing I remember the most was Draco's face. He didn't stop looking at me the entire time. I'll never forget that."

"Mum, that's sadistic, that's"

"No. It wasn't like that. I had never seen a look like that on his face. He was...scared, frightened even."

"Scared of what?"

"I guess I'll never know. Rose, Draco Malfoy was never a good person. If he has changed over the past years I don't know. But back then he was a cruel person, coward, but cruel. But I'll always think that his failed attempt of killing Dumbledore marked him. I think he began to see things differently. And the night I was in his house I saw him lost, afraid, like he didn't know what to do next." Rose frowned. "But that's just me. Tell this to your father and he'll think I'm crazy," she smiled, placing Rose's curls behind her ears.

"Mum, I get dad. You nearly got killed that night," Rose whispered faintly. "And they were there. They let that happened, and that woman—it's"

"It wouldn't be so complicated if Scorpius wasn't his son, would it?" Hermione asked.

"No, it wouldn't."

She smiled softly and cleared the small tears from Rose's eyes before speaking again. "You know, I thought he would look more like his father."

"He doesn't?" Rose asked, utterly interested. Hermione shook her head.

"No, I mean, from the distance he looks awfully like Draco. Same hair, same contexture. Thin, tall, a little full of himself in the manner of speaking, or walking even," she teased. Rose chuckled softly and Hermione remained silent for a few seconds. "But when I saw him closely he seemed completely different. Aside from the colour of his eyes he must have taken it all from his mother's side. I don't know if I'm getting old but he's one handsome boy."

"Mum," Rose laughed softly.

"And he came to see you. You must be important to him. And he must be important to you, if you went through all this trouble to find information about his family.

"I don't think it matters anymore."

"Rose listen to me," she said, taking Rose's head in her hands. "None of this matters if you trust him."

"And what if I'm misjudging him? What if I'm wrong? Everybody's afraid of him. Everybody thinks he's dark and creepy. Maybe I'm the only one who can be attracted to someone like that because I don't see it."

Hermione sighed. "I wish I could tell you what to do."

"Mum, it wouldn't work—Dad would never allow it and I couldn't ever meet those people. Mum, I don't think I could ever set foot in that place, that house. It's just—it wouldn't work, ever. I couldn't be that close to people who hurt you that bad."

Hermione kissed her forehead, smiling softly, before standing up from the bed.

"Thanks sweetheart, but you don't have to worry about me. What happened, that was years ago. And I like to think that you are a good judge of character, better than what you give yourself credit for. I'll just tell you one thing: I didn't fight in that war to let those memories haunt me. I did it for a better future, and right now all I care about is yours. So, basically, it's your call."

Hermione stood up slowly and walked out of the room, and Rose heard as the door closed carefully. She laid on her bed and stared into the ceiling for minutes, then hours.

If it was her future what was on the table then she had to think about what she wanted, what she needed, what was good for her. Where all those things inside the same possibility?

She had to make a decision, and it had to be a smart one.

And it had to be fast.

A/N: I trust and hope you had a very happy New year!

This was the only moment I could upload this chapter. Hope you liked it. Sorry for the huge delay. This song...the lyrics describe exactly what is going inside of Rose's head at this moment.

Please...Review!

This comment goes to Jess: Yes, the title of this story comes from a song by Muse =D, my personal favourites!

Artist: Brandi Carlile

Lyrics:

Gone
It's hard for me to see when I'm wrong
It's hard for me to weep when I'm strong
But I could never sleep when you're gone
Oh but still
If you were gonna crucify me
I wouldn't want nobody to see
'Cause you could kick me hard when I'm down
Down, down, down

I don't want wanna be
Nobody's fool
I've played that part so many times before
How I long to be
A shadow on the wall
I will make no sound at all
And when the sun goes down
The shadow on the wall
It cannot be seen at all
At all

Over it
Hey it's not that you would mess with my head
I believe that you believe what you said
You think you know me best and you care

But that's not fair!
'Cause I don't really want to be safe
It must have been the way I was raised
Sleep with one eye open I say
Hey hey hey

I don't wanna be
Nobody's fool
I've played that part so many times before
How I long to be
A shadow on the wall
I will make no sound at all
And when the sun goes down
The shadow on the wall
It cannot be seen at all
At all

How I long to be
A shadow on the wall
I would make no sound at all
At all