Time after that passed rather peacefully, with Quidditch games won by Gryffindor, placing them first in the Quidditch cup and their last game planned in mid-may, classes, studies and fun.
Cormac Mclaggen was still at school, but he had detention every week until the end of the year and he had to write an essay about the importance of respecting women, then Professor McGonagall had him read his essay out loud during dinner one evening and forced him to apologise publicly to all the girls, even the ones he hadn't harassed. It was hard on him but amusing for everyone else.
Draco was still playing pretend, Hermione was spending a little more time with his friends and him, making sure, when she did, to complain about how Rose was slowly taking her place and annoying her, to make sure the plan was working. Pansy had even found Hermione while she was on her own and advised her not to let show in front of her friends how annoyed she was by Rose, and Hermione smiled, thanked Pansy and promised to try and listen to her good advice. Hermione had smiled pridefully when she told her friends about the scene, because it showed just how well she was at acting and how well Draco's plan was working.
They were now in the last dueling club lesson before Easter break and they were being paired off to fight one on one in front of others. Both Dumbledore brothers were supervising this session and they felt very lucky because of it.
Rose was paired with Draco, something that hadn't happened yet.
"This will be good." Ron whispered with a smirk, knowing that Rose was one of the best.
She hadn't lost a duel yet, and once, she had practiced with Aberforth and they had tied, though, like he explained, he could have gotten the upper end by using more dangerous spells, but she had just smiled and declared that she, too, knew of a few spells that were above what they did here.
"You think she'll win?" Hermione asked, a bit too loud.
"Of course I do! Why, scared for your boyfriend?" Ron asked.
Of course by now, Ron had been told of the ruse, that Draco was truly on their side and playing spy, it didn't mean he had to pretend he liked him. In fact, it made everything more real if he kept on pretending that he didn't like the guy. Though Ron admitted to Harry once, in secrecy, that he admired Draco for the bravery he showed by defying everything he had been taught in the past, along with his housemates.
"You want to bet, Weasley?" Draco asked.
"I do. How about, if Rose wins, we change your house password to 'I love Harry Potter' for the entire duration of Easter break." Ron suggested with a smirk worthy of his brothers.
"Fine, if I win, you have to take Moaning Myrtle out on a date, for an entire day, all around the castle, were everyone can see, and not during Easter Break but when everyone is in school." Draco replied.
"What? Oh fine. Make sure you win Rose, please." Ron asked, making everyone chuckle.
"Don't worry, I don't lose." Rose smiled confidently.
"We'll see about that." Draco smirked.
"This is fun." Aberfroth commented happily, making his brother, who was present as well that day, chuckle.
"You could do this more often you know, more officially. Next year we could give you an official class. Maybe it's time for you to make a come back in the world, you could be more than a bartender, I told you that before." Albus suggested.
"I'll think about it." His brother nodded sincerely.
Rose and Draco started their duel, in front of everyone and of course Rose quickly showed that she was good at this and even though Draco was skilled, Rose was quicker and stronger. She seemed to know more spells and soon, Draco was tied up by pink ropes, his wand in her hand, and she was declared the winner.
"I can't believe we have to have THAT password! Draco! It's all your fault!" Pansy complained, making everyone chuckle before she stormed off.
"This is going to be amusing." Albus whispered to his brother, imagining death-eater's children having to declare their love to Harry Potter before they could be allowed to enter their common room.
He could guess that some of them would stubbornly wait in front of the door for someone else to say the password.
.
When Easter Break arrived, Harry and his friends realized that they wouldn't have much free time to have fun, because they had a lot of homework to do and they had to prepare for the OWL exams, which were coming closer and closer with every passing day. None of the elder students planned on going home for Easter, though Harry, Rose, Hermione and the Weasley planned on spending lots of time in Sirius' apartment. They also planned on visiting Hagrid.
Fred and George had started, a few months ago, selling some of their product and they advertised and demonstrated them in the common room. The students especially liked the Skiving Snackboxes, which allowed them to pretend they were sick in class and to then eat the cure and be fine. They had just made a demonstration of the Headless Hats, which made the wearer's head invisible. Once they were done with their demonstration and taking orders, they sat back down.
"You're not doing much studying." Hermione noticed.
"Why would we? We don't need to pass the NEWTs to have a future Hermione, we know what we'll do already. We're just here to finish our products and test out what students like the most. Oh, and so Fred can spend time with his beloved girlfriend." George replied.
"What's that you're working on?" Rose asked Fred, seeing him draw what looked like a poster.
"We're looking for the best way to advertise this product. U-no-poo. It constipates the one who eats it. We want to play with HIS name, make people laugh with it." Fred replied.
"Good idea. I like the way you did it." She smiled and placed her head on his shoulder, feeling a bit tired but not wanting to go to bed since it was still early in the afternoon.
She also didn't want to go to the Nurse's office. She was sure that it was nothing, that it would pass soon, even though she had told herself that since the morning.
"Are you feeling alright?" Fred asked her, concerned.
He had noticed her looking very tired and pale since he saw her at breakfast but she always waved it off.
"Just tired. I think I'll go and bring this book back to the Library before I get too tired to do it. I'll be back right after." She smiled, waving it off.
"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked her.
"No, I'm fine. Keep on working on your Poster, it's important. Love you." She smiled, kissing him before she stood up and walked toward the portrait hole.
"Hey Rose, I heard you tell Fred you're going to the Library, wait up. I'll come with you, I have a book to give back about Rare aquatic magical plants in South America. I'm done with it now." Neville told Rose who smiled and waited for her friend.
"Are you alright?" he asked her on the way, noticing how pale she looked.
"Everyone keeps asking me. I'm fine, just a bit tired all of a sudden. I probably did too much in the past few weeks and it's catching up to me just now." She smiled.
They arrived in the Library and both returned the books they had before they walked out. Rose had a weird feeling, like she was being watched, but she waved it off. Maybe one of her brother's fan, it happened. Sometimes they followed her, trying to hear information about her brother.
"Do you mind if we stop by the girl's bathroom?" She asked Neville.
"Not at all. You go the the ones on the second floor, right?" Neville asked her.
"Yes, this way Myrtle doesn't feel too lonely." She smiled.
At this moment, a tall Slytherin student ran past them, pushing them to the side as he did.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Neville yelled after him but he was already out of sight.
"Some of these guys seriously lack in the manner department. It's like the bigger they grow, the less of it they have." Rose shook her head.
"I'd like to lock some of them with my grandmother for a few hours, she'd straighten them right up." Neville joked, making Rose chuckle.
Once they arrived in front of the bathrooms, Neville waited outside while Rose walked in, promising to wait for her. He could have gone back to the common room on his own but he was worried for her. She was never this pale.
He waited for a little while, maybe 15 or 20 minutes, before Malfoy walked by. He didn't know if he should worry. Did it usually take girls this long to go to the bathrooms? Maybe he needed to join her or find someone to check on her...
"Longbottom. Waiting for something?" he greeted the boy, looking around.
Neville was so close to Rose and her friends now, that he had been trusted with the plan concerning Draco's true motives behind his relationship with Hermione.
"Rose's inside. She looked a bit pale, I don't want to leave her alone." Neville explained.
"What's wrong with her?" Draco asked right before Moaning Myrtle screamed and flew out of the room screaming for all the hear:
"Attack in the bathroom! Murder in the bathroom! Come and help!"
"Warn Potter and Black!" Draco ordered the ghost as he and Neville took their wands out, ready to bust the door open.
"I'll warn Black." Peeves offered as he flew by them, looking very serious for once.
Already the nearby portraits were leaving their paintings to spread the news everywhere else.
.
Rose did what she had to do rather quickly and she got, once again, the feeling that she was being watched, which didn't make sense because if Myrtle had been here, she would have come and greeted her like she always did. She loved to have company and to talk with Rose.
"Finally I catch you alone, and weakened thanks to the poison I managed to place in your drink this morning. These House Elves are so stupid, it's so easy to trick them... We can get anything past these idiots!" A deep voice spoke.
It was the Slytherin who had ran past them earlier. Now that she could see his face, she recognized him as a 7th year though she didn't remember his name. She was about to speak when he took his wand out and rendered her mute with one easy spell. He immediately after punched her and threw her wand away, not taking the chance of her knowing any unspeakable spells.
She wondered if he had pushed her in the crridor to check if she wasn't using her own hair spray.
"I just wanted to kill you to please the Dark Lord, but I guess I'll have my fun first. Then He'll give me the mark and welcome me into his fold like a hero. It won't be stupid Little Malfoy who sits by his side but me!" The boy declared, scaring Rose who felt worst and worst.
With each word, he kicked her somewhere, her arms, her legs, her chest... Just pain... Pain, over and over again... She was pretty sure both of her arms were broken, maybe even her legs...
She was panicking, unable to speak, to scream for help, even though she tried to the point her throat hurt. And to think that Neville was right on the other side of the door... How long would it be before he got worried and came in to check on her? She took the time to notice that the door was now locked and there was nowhere for her to run, he was blocking her way.
"Crucio." The boy spoke, bringing Rose more pain than she had ever felt.
He cast it twice more before he used a cutting curse on her arms. Rose tried to scream, not only to call for help but because of the pain too, but no sound came out of her mouth, and somehow, she thought it made the pain worst, not being able to cry out.
"Not so proud now, are you? Stupid mud-blood loving half blood. Traitor to your blood! Your adoptive mother was right, you're a waste, completely worthless. Nobody needs you." He laughed.
More curses, more blows, more cuts... More blood flowing out of her... More pain... And the desire to stop holding on was becoming stronger with each blow of pain she received.
He was laughing, obviously having a great time, and Rose was loosing hope of being rescued on time when her friendly ghost appeared, coming from one of the pipes. One look was all it took for Myrtle to understand and take actions.
"What's... ATTACK IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! COME AND HELP!" She screamed while flying quickly out in the corridor, knowing she wouldn't be able to help herself.
Quickly, Rose saw Neville and Draco. They had broken the door her attacker had locked and both tried to stupefy him, which sent him flying on the other side of the room, knocking him out.
"Rose!" Neville whispered, horrified to see her in so much pain, with so much blood all around her.
She was now almost as pale as porcelain. He immediately put his hands on some of her wounds, trying to stop the bleeding and he saw Draco do the same.
Knocking her attacker out had somehow lifted the mute spell and she could speak again, though her throat hurt so much, she wasn't sure she'd be able to make any sound at all.
"Thank you. Safe." Rose whispered in a faint voice.
She had tried to hang on, and now that she knew there was no more danger, she let herself go. She was exhausted. Still, he did say that he had poisoned her and she needed to tell them because it could be something that would kill her if they didn't do anything. Gathering all the strength she could find inside her, she opened her mouth:
"Poisoned, breakfast." She felt like she had screamed the words but she had really barely whispered them.
Thankfully, they had heard it.
By now, Myrtle and Peeves had assembled quite a crowed with their screaming for help. Draco and Neville didn't know how to help Rose other than putting pressure on her wounds and they were about to levitate her to the infirmary when Sirius Black arrived, followed by Dumbledore, Harry Potter and what looked like half of Gryffindor house.
"Rose!" Several people screamed.
A few voices where heard louder than the others, like Fred's and Harry's.
Myrtle was back, too.
"Let's take her to the infirmary, then we'll discuss what's happened. You two, come with us." Dumbledore decided, lifting Rose up.
"What about him? He's the one who attacked her." Neville asked.
"Someone get Professor Snape. He'll handle him until I have time to get to him." Dumbledore called.
"No need, I'm here. I heard Peeves calling for Black when I patrolled the corridor. I'll transport him to my office and hold him until you can interrogate him. I'll have Veritaserum ready for you, headmaster." Snape replied gravely, paler than usual.
As Snape watched Rose like this, on the ground, he couldn't help but fear for her life. Lily's daughter, who looked so much like her, was in grave danger, with her life on the line. It brought back memories of losing Lily and he hated it. He should have done a better job of protecting the girl. He had vowed to protect Lily's children, and now Rose was in this state... He felt like he had failed...
I know it's a bit dark, but not everything can be all happy all the time.
Review please
Lorelei Candice Black