Chapter 16: Running Out of Time
GUYS. This one is short, but it ends on the biggest cliffhanger of a lifetime. I had to end it here to torture you guys! 333
Rose's POV
It was Monday, and Scorpius still hadn't shown.
She didn't know what to tell Al when he asked about where Scorpius was.
"It's just strange because he's never missed a practice before," Al was saying, clutching his leather bag close to him as they walked to Potions class. Alice walked along side them as well, looking between the cousins curiously.
Should she tell her two closest friends the strange scenario that had transpired, or should she wait until she knew what kind of threat the Malfoy family was? Were they even a threat? It sounded odd to question that. Obviously they were a threat; with a magical ring capable of rendering even the strongest wizard completely useless.
Or perhaps the ring had worked on only her, because she was weak, young, and impressionable?
"Look, I'd be lying to you guys if I said I haven't noticed Scorpius behaving…strange lately." She admitted, looking at her feet. "He…may have said some things to me a few nights ago that I haven't been able to make sense of."
Alice leaned in, hanging on Rose's every word.
Al laughed, failing to understand that something wasn't right. "Don't tell me he finally asked you out?" he asked.
Rose scowled. "Far from that. Not that I would ever want that!" She sighed and internally ridiculed her defensive attitude. "Something is going on with his family. I caught Gertrude forcibly kissing him in the Prefects bathroom the other night. When I asked Scorpius about it, he said that she was just trying to seduce him…so she could get his inheritance."
Al stopped Rose from walking further, pulling her and Alice aside as the other students walked past them. "What?!" he said, his tone low and incredulous. "Did he really say that? And Gertrude really tried to kiss him?" he asked, looking intensely at Rose for an answer.
"Yes…? I mean, she did kiss him. Very passionately." And it totally hadn't bothered her.
Al pressed his palm to his forehead in frustration. "No wonder you're confused, Rose. Scorpius is a complete idiot from keeping this kind of thing from his friends."
Rose crossed her arms to her chest. "We are not friends."
Al continued to look at her incredulously. "You mean you really don't know?"
"Know what?" Alice asked impatiently.
Albus hesitated, looking around his shoulder to make sure no one could hear their conversation. "Draco Malfoy is on his deathbed, due to a curse that was cast upon him during the wizarding war. He has been in the process of dying for about a year now. Astoria is pressuring Scorpius, from what he tells me…because…when Draco dies…"
It clicked. Rose shook her head, laughing slightly at the ridiculousness of it all. "Malfoy gets the manor."
Al nodded seriously. "Scorpius becomes the sole heir of the Malfoy Manor."
It was hard not to notice Scorpius' absence, especially since today was the day the students from Shanghai were arriving. Oddly enough, none of their professors mentioned a thing, and neither did Professor Tulis when they had a meeting after classes.
"As you all know, the Shanghai students should be here promptly around 6pm tonight. I expect to see you all seated together in the Great Hall at the special table we have arranged for you." Professor Tulis was dressed in an unusual pop of colour; a deep purple robe and a velvety hat perched atop her head. Surely, if anything else, that had to mean this was a momentous occasion. Her voice strained slightly, as if she had been barking orders for the past few hours. "You will be early, and if you are late your House will be –"
The room shuddered as Scorpius opened the loud double doors to the classroom and strode in, his hair windswept, his long, dark overcoat slick with rain. "I apologise for my tardiness, Professor." he said confidently, placing himself in his normal seat next to Rose. She shivered when he sat next to her, the cold air from outside having been carried in on him.
Tulis smiled tightly. The classroom was a flutter with curiosity at why Scorpius had been absent for so long. "Hush, Prefects. Thank you for joining us, Scorpius." she paused, shooting daggers at any students who dared to think of questioning her. "As I was saying. Your House will be deducted points if you choose to show up late to dinner tonight…"
The Professor prattled on, and Scorpius leaned into Rose. His wet jacket touched her clean sweater, and she winced away. "Hope I've not missed anything too eventful?" He asked, his breath smelling minty and cold.
Rose looked at him from under her lashes. "Al has been worried sick about you, and I didn't know what to tell him. I better have a class apology coming from you."
Scorpius chucked, deeply from within his throat. The sound made Rose whirl inside. She quickly glanced at his hand – and was surprised to see that he didn't wear the ring. Her heart began to pick up it's pace. Perhaps the ring was in danger now that she knew about it, and he was going to steal her away to a corner somewhere and off her before she could tell anyone about it –
"Rose! Did you hear me, Miss Weasley?" Professor Tulis said sharply. Rose straightened, ripping her eyes from Scorpius' long, elegant fingers. She thought she saw him smirk when he noticed she was staring at him.
"Professor, I–"
"Miss Weasley. I understand you and Miss Longbottom have prepared attire for the students? It would be best to let the students from Shanghai know that the tea party tomorrow will be a formal occasion so they can plan appropriately."
She nodded, cheeks heating when she noticed everyone turned to gawk at her. They were all glancing at what little space there was between her and Scorpius. Instinctively, she scooted away from him, just as the meeting drew to a close.
He followed her, grabbing the tote bag she had carelessly left behind in her quick attempt to remove herself from him.
He kept following her all the way to their dormitories, where he cornered her just as she was about to enter her room. He grabbed the handle of the door, pulling it forward so she couldn't escape into her quarters.
"It's an apology that you want? For leaving you without an explanation, or have I wronged you in some other way?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips.
Rose steeled herself, fully aware she was caught between his one arm that was holding her door closed, and the other arm which ran past her head and fisted to the wall behind her. "How's your dad doing?" she asked, venom in her throat.
He teetered back slightly, eyes grazing her with familiarity. It made hr shiver.
"He's fine, thanks. I guess I should have known Al would tell you some stuff, but he only knows the very basics." He let go of a breath, and Rose held hers. "I am sorry. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. And it was rather dramatic of me to take away your magical abilities the other night. Well, I guess it was a dickish thing to do."
"You think?!" she snapped, her face hot once again.
"I wanted to show you what the ring could do, and more importantly, test a theory I had."
"You're speaking in riddles again. Speak plainly, or Merlin help me, I will shove my wand so far up your ass–"
"You know, I've always liked that side of you." he said, staring into her eyes, towering over her. "When you're violent. Or physical towards me in any way."
Rose's foot moved to kick him, but he caught her leg with the hand that used to be holding the wall. She kept forgetting he was an athlete, his reflexes were much, much faster than hers.
He held her leg, his hand slipping up and roving to her thigh, which he held pressed to the side of his hip. They were properly entwined now, even more so when they shared their kiss. Her chest heaved against his.
"I will speak plainly for you, and then, once I've told you everything, you can decide if you want to run away from me. But the fact that you aren't asking me to take my hands off you right now has me intrigued, Weasley."
She yanked her thigh out of his hand, which he let fall to his side easily. Again, she was made aware of how easily it would always be to escape him, and yet, they kept ending up in these situations of close proximity. She fell silent, waiting for him to continue.
"As Al had probably so generously already told you, I will become Lord of the Malfoy Manor once my father dies. This could happen any day, as the damage from the curse he has been receiving for the past two decades is quite necrotic." his voice was flat, as though he had spoken these words many, many times before, and they no longer affected him. "But there is a stipulation to me assuming reign over the manor. A stipulation rooted in a prophecy so old, no one really quite remembers who gave it."
Rose listened, the story intriguing her in ways she didn't think would ever happen while Malfoy was speaking to her.
"I was first made aware of this prophecy as a young boy, and ever since then it has been drilled in me that it was my duty to assume control over my house and my family line after my father's death."
Rose felt words come out of her at an incredible speed. "What was the prophecy?" She asked, and Scorpius stared into her deeply.
He shifted, then finally spoke, his words running out after what seemed like ages. He didn't stumble once, the beautiful poem spilling from him as if he had long since memorised every word.
"The consequence of Merlin's transgression
Will affect all in his procession.
Let it be known that no Malfoy rule over kin and home
Lest he first be wed by blood and bone.
There comes a Fiery Fey and Boy of Blond
Their union joined into an inseparable bond.
An oath he will make, his Manor at stake,
Should he fail to find his fated mate."
Rose's head was spinning. Scorpius leaned down and caught a lock of her copper hair in between his long, pale fingers. He twisted the curl gently, inspecting every angle of it in the candle light. "As a boy, I would often wonder what Fiery Fey meant. Now, I think I know."
Yes, my child. A whisper in the wind spoke words straight into Rose's ears. She pressed against the stone cold wall, feeling a disembodied voice edge closer and closer to her. Scorpius spun his head around, but no one was behind them. The voice, neither male nor female, old nor young, lilted as it spoke again.
This is the consequence of Merlin's transgression! It said, blissfully, cynically. Peals of hideous, unearthly laughter echoed around the two Prefect's shoulders, reverberating within them.
"Get inside." Scorpius said in a low voice. "Inside your room. Now. This thing is dangerous."
Without hesitation, Scorpius flung open her bedroom door and they both rushed inside, shutting the whispering voice out in the hallway. "What is it?" Rose asked as soon as they were safely behind her bedroom door. Scorpius ran to the window and shut it loudly. Rsoe hadn't remembered even opening it.
"I have no idea. It's been lurking around the Manor since I could remember. It's always whispered creepy things like that, about the prophecy." He gasped for breath, and for the first time Rose realised he must have been actually terrified.
"What does all that mean? About Merlin?" she asked, not feeling scared to walk up to him and pleadingly touch his chest with her question. She would do anything to get more answers. Finally, something was happening, all these strange occurrences, and his tall tales were adding up. It was starting to make sense, and she wouldn't have him shrink away from her now. "And what does the ring have to do with this?" she added.
He was still gasping for a hurried breath, but when her hands touched him, he calmed slightly. "The–the oath mentioned in the prophecy. That was real, I took that oath. I promised the Manor to not marry until I found the fated mate it spoke of. If I hadn't taken that oath, and my father died, then the manor could have fallen into anyone's hands. Anyone would have been able to claim it. Even Voldemort's previous followers."
Rose stilled herself. She hadn't heard that name since she was a young girl, explained to her in hushed voices around her kitchen table. Scorpius said it proudly, fearlessly.
"They would have been able to claim anything belonging to the manor, including the ring. The ring that can take away any witch or wizard's magical abilities."
Oh, damn it! She had been so foolish all along. He and his mother weren't plotting some horrible revenge against Hogwarts, they were trying to protect it! They were trying, however futilely, to prevent the ring from falling into the wrong hands!
"Please Rose, I just–" Scorpius dragged a shaking hand into his hair, tearing his eyes away from her. "Now that it knows you know about the prophecy, I'm afraid it will try and do something to you. Please just let me protect you tonight–"
"How are you sure the prophecy has anything to do with me?" she demanded, feeling rage raise inside her, despite how little she still knew. It was awfully bold, for a family as old as the Malfoys, to suddenly assume she was the fated mate of their son.
"I am sure, I know now more than ever!" he said, frustration entering his tone. "No one else has heard that voice before. Not even my mother. And it called you it's child." he spat out the words if they were disgusting to him.
"I don't even know what that means!" she said, anger so potent rising in her that the small items on her armoir began to shake and fall over.
Scorpius stared at them, intensity in his eyes ablaze. He looked terrified.
"The Weasleys are long descendants of an ancient fey line!" he shouted. "You are one of them. You are a fey."