Author note: This chapter is essentially now back to the present day where the initial introduction in chapter one left off. I've been waiting to tell this part of the story for…however many months now. This chapter was written first as part of this story. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing this chapter, I am super excited to get this out!
Second author note: I'm sorry to anyone who was confused by the story timeline. I really love a non-linear progression. As it would seem, so does Christopher Nolan.
Disclaimer: JKR owns this world. But I'm still in love with it.
When Rose approached the corridor that housed Al and Scorpius' office, she came to a standstill at the familiar crossroads lit with phosphorescent lamps, the green glow less eerie than before. The dank air tasted foul as she breathed through her mouth, out of breath and out of her mind. She was ripped with an overwhelming sense of self awareness. The thought occurred to her that if Scorpius was there that evening, with possession of the map; he would have been able to see her approaching.
Both mortified and slightly relieved, Rose knew she couldn't just run away, she couldn't back out now. She had stopped counting the amount of times she had tried to convince herself that this was what she wanted. But she always kept coming back to the same conclusion; she wouldn't know until she tried. It was scientific to test a hypothesis. When she considered it that way, it was easier to accept her decision, breaking school rules aside.
When she finally neared the door, still cast under a red glow, it burst open before she could reach for the handle. A girl walked out into the corridor.
Elizabeth Thomas.
Gorgeous, leggy, blonde, tanned; Elizabeth Thomas. In the golden light now diffusing into the corridor her lips were unmistakably stained red and swollen, her cheeks flushed to match her bright eyes. Rose felt her stomach drop at the site of her. Her formally acquainted diffidence flooding back, numbing her bones.
"Oh hey, Rose!" Elizabeth supplied innocently, though her eyes darted to the open doorway. She began tying her mussed hair into a ponytail out of her face. "Fancy seeing you down here!" As a Gryffindor, it wasn't common to find one of them down there so far away from their own dormitory except for class. Although, as Head Girl, Rose certainly had more reason to be down there so late. Those other reasons took on a toxic quality as she eyed the girl with bitter contempt.
He was never going to wait for you.
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Elizabeth asked cheekily.
Rose eyes narrowed, "not if you're gone by the time I open my eyes." When she closed them, she could feel the searing pain of salty tears welling up. She heard the girl's dainty footsteps echo away down the corridor hurriedly. Good.
She tried, with everything she had to bite back the tears. She took a shuddering, calming breath, about to turn around in the corridor and pretend she had never ventured down there at all. No one could find her lurking down in the corridor but then-
"Weasley?" His voice sounded surprised, and only a foot away. His proximity made her hair stand on end. She didn't want to open her eyes, afraid to see what state he might be in.
Another breath and she opened them. He too had pink blossoming on the normally pale apples of his cheeks. His hair was ruffled more so than usual.
She felt sick and betrayed as he glanced at her with an irreproachable look. He squinted suddenly, leaning closer before making a sharp movement back into the room to fetch something. When he materialised again, Rose remained rooted to the spot he'd found her. He pushed his glasses up his nose, focusing on her face.
"What're you doing here?"
The feeling of betrayal was irrational; she knew that. He'd said he was going to wear her down not wait around. That didn't stop her speaking with her nose in the air, "I came to see you." Her voice came out much more of a whimper than she intended. She wanted to run again, and keep running. Running away; as always. This time she thought she had every right to.
"You made up your mind about this then?" he asked gravely, blinking solemnly behind his spectacles. His eyes briefly flickered down the corridor, over her shoulder in the direction Thomas has scuttled off. She bit down on her tongue to reinforce the pain somewhere else on her body away from her chest.
She tried to look him in the eye, as seriously as she could. Any remnants of dignity the only thing she was still clutching onto. "About a lot of things actually. Or I thought I did."
How absurd had she been to consider such a backwards notion that Scorpius Malfoy might save himself after his little speech. How embarrassed she felt in her shortened skirt, the chill of the dungeon bringing her back to the harsh reality.
She knows she is blushing. This time it's entirely embarrassment and her own presumption. His gaze scrambles over her face and general appearance; something she was certainly more accustomed to of late. She still withered a little under his audacious confidence.
"Have you been out with Rhodes?" he asked.
"No, why?" she asked puzzled, suddenly forgetting the hour getting ready and pep talk before leaving the dormitory to feel humiliated.
"You're all dressed up. For school uniform, anyway."
She didn't answer. She felt incapable of answering as her eyes lingered on his ruffled hair that she knew Elizabeth had just been running her fingers through. It made her feel nauseous.
"We broke up. A few days ago."
Scorpius face remained blank, he didn't seem to react at all. "Why are you here then, Red?"
She drew her gaze from his, "it's a waste of time, I shouldn't have come." She began to turn, her eyes growing hot again. And damn. There was no chance he would see her cry over him. "I'm not shutting you down so you don't have to worry about that."
Scorpius immediately grabbed her elbow, she flinched away instinctively. It was like an electric pulse; shocking but quick starting. She wanted him to touch her but she also didn't.
"Why are you here then? And why are you all dressed up?" he asks, his expression still unreadable. He remained that way, even after she locked eyes with him – filled with anguish and sadness that was enveloping her.
His face scrunched in doubt, "I don't want to be rude…" he trailed off, smoothing his hair down, moving to lean on the door frame in an attempt to appear more casual. If anything, this broke his casual façade. It was far too forced. His shoes flashed in the torchlight in his movement, rousing that old irk; engaging her Head Girl instincts. Forcing composure.
"You'd be right, ok? Happy. Now I'm mortified, so I'm just going to leave and go to bed like I should have done rather than coming down here and making a fool of myself." The sentence had started so confidently, but was rushed and harsh by the end.
"No, wait. I don't get it-"
"What's there to get? If you can understand why I came down here then surely you can understand why it's impertinent that I have to leave." It was her turn to rove her eyes explicitly over his mussed appearance. "Now."
"Oh crickey, Red," Scorpius ran both hands through his hair, one hand pointing down the corridor, the other into the makeshift office, "that's nothing!"
"It didn't look like nothing," she bit out before she could stop herself.
"That's not what I meant, it's" he scrunched up his face, struggling to find the right word, "casual, Yes! That's what I mean. A mutually casual thing." He finished lamely, with no shred of eloquence.
"I assumed you saw me coming on the map and wanted to get rid of her," said Rose coldly, unable to stop herself.
"That's not fair, Red. I had no bloody idea you would come down here again!"
"You would have seen me on the map," she repeated stubbornly.
Scorpius shook his head, "I don't have the map right now. Albus is out on reconnaissance with it," he said in a rush. "Red I need you to be explicit here."
Mention of Albus distracted her momentarily, "so you guys made up?"
Scorpius opened his hands and raised his head to the ceiling, "I now know what you know apparently, although that wasn't the most awkward part of the conversation. Red, why exactly did you come down here?" his eyebrows knotted above his glasses.
"You're making me say it? For Circe's sake Malfoy," she dropped his firstname by habit but instantly regretted it. It sounded so cold as if thrown as an insult.
"So I'm Malfoy again am I?" his eyes flashed, suddenly defensive, "what was that? I thought I was making some head way. We were treating each other like friends rather than strangers. I thought I was proving something to you."
"Eugh, you are fucking insufferable. Another girl just walked out of here!" she all but shouted.
"Perhaps I am. I'm pretty sure it isn't a crime."
"It's breaking school rules," she ground out, her teeth grinding together, rage and annoyance blinding all thoughts of insecurities. He really knew how to push her buttons.
"I thought you were leaving," he said sardonically. His eyes raked over her as always, lingering on the shortened hem of her skirt. Yet her anger seemed to melt him. His eyes softened, regret filling them almost immediately.
He sighed, scratching the back of his neck, "would you like a drink?"
Rose huffed, "yes actually. That would be wonderful considering what great effort I did to get down here." She stalked past him into the room and took a seat at the desk.
Scorpius poured two glasses as he'd done the week before, passing her one that she snatched angrily out of his grasp. They drank in silence for a moment.
"Fuck." She breathed.
"Pardon?"
"When did I become this wreck of a woman?" Her fists found her own hair, "you…" she pointed her index finger accusingly at Scorpius. "You…or more accurately, the idea of you has been planted in here." She moved her finger to prod her temple. If she hadn't been too tightly wound she might not have been gushing to Malfoy about her new found attraction to him. Although, it did feel good to say it out loud.
Looking at him, it became apparent he was using most of the muscles in his face to avoid smirking.
"Go ahead. Laugh. Why I'm still say here I don't know. Though the whiskey isn't terrible I suppose," she added sullenly.
It finally slid onto his face. The dashing smirk accompanied by an arched eyebrow, "I still don't get it. You're wearing more makeup than usual, your hair is all fancy, and unless my well-trained eye is deceiving me I'd say your skirt is shorter. But…" he shrugged, "wishful thinking."
She let out a groan, her head falling into her hands.
"And if it's not for Rhodes, then you're actually saying you were coming down here, dressed like that, for my benefit?" His voice sounded full of incredulity. She couldn't bare to look at him then, her face radish red. She merely nodded into her hands, her eyes firmly closed.
"It now makes sense why you looked even more pissed off than you did last weekend when you stumbled upon me here."
"I didn't," she said, her voice muffled into her hands.
"Red, you looked ready to murder me. I'm not sure what expression you thought you had on but I had to be sure," she glanced up to see him tapping his glasses. She leant over the table to grab the bottle, pouring them both another glass. Filling his first she paused, the bottle resting on the rim of hers.
"Is this stuff expensive?"
"Nothing Albus and I can't afford," he countered taking the glass and raising it to her as she returned to half filling her own. She began swirling it idly, drinking when the silence became too unbearable.
Scorpius coughing into the suffocating silence, sitting up straighter in his chair against the back wall. He gazed at her suspiciously over the rim of his glass.
"This behaviour is highly out of character."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked quickly, the whiskey thinning her filter to near non-existent.
Scorpius got out his wand and flicked it, the door closed with a snap.
He faltered, "Uh, Liz enjoys gossip. It's in case she comes back. I'd rather you not have to suffer at mine or Al's hand any further whether directly or by association."
Rose only nodded.
"You coming down here like this," he signalled to her face and skirt, "is seriously though, the most un-Rose Weasley thing I've ever witnessed."
She swallowed, "actually this whole thing with Elliot – from start to finish – is equally out of character."
Scorpius tilted his head away, a bitter expression flirting across his face.
"I mean it though, Red. Where has this all come from all of a sudden?"
She gave an exasperated sigh, pulling herself to full height in her chair, "I broke up with him because I never really liked him."
"Right…" said Scorpius a little sceptically, leaning back casually to lift one leg over the other.
"It's true."
"Handsome, academic, Head Boy; you guys were a power couple for the ages," stated Scorpius.
"On paper, perhaps."
His eyes met hers briefly before he went back to watching his wrist tap his wand against his knee. "So you're not pulling my leg?" Rose felt in that moment that he was struggling to look at her. Had this revelation of his own made him shy?
"That would be completely out of character as well. Also, what would I have to gain from doing that?"
"Precisely. It's in my nature as a prank enthusiast to expect the worst." Although his tone was light, Rose didn't miss the implications his words held.
Rose toyed with the idea of not telling him in the way she had phrased it to herself. How she had tried to tell herself it wasn't the right time, or that it might drastically affect her schooling.
Summoning every ounce of courage she possessed, she looked him straight in the eye, purposefully leaning back in her chair to mimic his action.
"You don't exactly extend your potential. Out of choice," Scorpius' eyes grew slightly, "you're happy with how your life is, right?"
"Not sure where you're going with this, Red. You certainly wound me with that one. I guess you've got a point though." He raised a suggestive eyebrow, a small smile playing at his mouth. The usual twinkle in his eye returning.
"I'm getting there alright?" Rose said indignantly. "What I'm trying to say is, I really do admire your casual approach to life. Or at least I've started to. I can't personally commit to that sort of nonchalant lifestyle on a permanent basis but I have come to the realisation that while I might love academics and logic, I could really do with some more fun in my life."
While Rose had been talking, the small smile had grown on Scorpius' face so he was beaming at her across the table. "Was that a really convoluted, classic Ravenclaw, overwhelmingly Rose Weasley was of you suggesting that you and I hook up?" Rose flushed darker, heat blossoming in her cheeks. "Pinch me, Red. Please!" He whelped as he pinched himself. "So, I'm not dreaming?"
Rose tried to convey through an expression of hope and worry with enough sincerity it causes Scorpius to check himself.
"There you have it. My heart laid bare, Scorpius. If it means your ego is so inflated you can't fit through the door; I'll send help." Rose downed the glass in front of her as panic set in. He was joking around, again. Could he not take anything seriously for a moment?
At her comment about his ego however, Scorpius himself had turned stony faced. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair, grabbing light fistfuls at the base of his neck.
"Red, you're really giving me mixed signals. First you say you came down here for me, then it sounds like you're assuming I'm laughing it off."
"Aren't you?" she challenged, pouring yet another glass of the expensive firewhiskey.
"Of course not! It's just a lot to process. "You do realise I've fancied you for years? Albus might even use the word 'pinned' when describing how I was over you during fourth year."
Right about the time Albus started going hot and cold on me, she thought. She cast her gaze downwards towards the floor.
"Hearing you say that you'd be keen for us to hang out more has kind of blown my mind. You've gotta understand though," he began rubbing his glasses on his jumper, following the concentric circles with his eyes, "that I never imagined I'd be able to convince you to stoop down to my level."
Rose's head shot up suddenly, Scorpius' eyes now back to following hers. Hers narrowed.
"Are you saying that I think I'm too good for you?" She asked in a deathly hushed tone. Did he not know how much courage it had taken to get her down here?
"You are too good for me." He supplied, not missing a beat.
Her chest tightened. Every genuine and nice comment he made, washing over her, restricting her nagging insecurities. It was then she realised that perhaps Scorpius genuinely might believe that. Aside from his bravado and confidence...perhaps he too had his own insecurities.
"That's not for you to decide, Scorpius."
His mouth tugged into a satisfied little smile. A downright, unfair, boyishly charming one in Rose's opinion.
"Well then," he stuck out his tongue, biting down on its edge hungrily, "when do we start?"
The excited wings fluttering in her belly began again, their tempo tenfold more than she had previously experienced. Her last logical thought not eroded by winning smiles or witty lines stopped her from leaning over the desk towards him.
"Erm..." she bit her lip, unsure she wanted to accuse him of anything and ruin the moment, "It might sound prudish, perhaps, I don't know, but I can only do exclusive Scorpius, so if that's a problem..." her voice trailed off and she found herself furtively glancing over her shoulder as she heard distant footfalls down the corridor.
Scorpius raised an eyebrow, squeezing his way round the desk, "Red, if we are going to do this we're doing this properly. Yes I'll have to have a short, probably not entirely pleasant conversation with Liz." He struggled behind the particularly pointed corner to lean on the desk next to her, "more importantly," his breath tickled the side of her neck as he brought his face level with hers, "you think I would ask you to share, Weasley?" His face was dangerously close as she turned around to meet his face purposefully, unable to stop herself. All thoughts of Elizabeth Thomas instantly extinguished.
"Incorrigible is truly the only word to describe you," she breathed out, rolling her eyes a fraction. The footsteps behind the door sounded louder with each passing second. It was however, quite clear that neither one of them had any desire to move from their shared space.
He locked eyes and his pupils were completely blown, Rose felt the heat pool in her core at the sight of this, his attraction so obviously replicating her own she wondered why she had ever questioned it. When he spoke, it made her head fuzzy and vision blurred as she could do nothing but focus on his lips edging agonisingly slowly towards her own.
"It would be rather hypocritical of me, considering I want you all to myself," his voice sounded husky spoken so softly. Suddenly, the door handle rattled which was followed by loud rapping on the door.
Scorpius sighed, closing his eyes disappointedly. Their rather intimate moment broken.
A frantic voice sounded muffled from out in the corridor, "Scorp it's me, let me in!"
Scorpius shook his head, gazing at the freckles along her nose, "how about Hogsmede next weekend?"
"What? You and me?"
"A real date." He confirmed with a lopsided grin.
"Scorp!" Albus' voice came louder through the door. "I don't care who you've got in there, it's urgent!" Scorpius ignored him, leaning down towards Rose's face again so his liquor laced breath tickled her face. She breathed in deeply enjoying the smell immensely.
"Scorp mate, hurry up!"
"What if I'm naked?!" Scorpius called over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off hers but leaning back against the desk. Her eyes grew wide at his words.
"All the better," came Albus' dry reply, "now come on mate, open the door!"
He stood up, reaching for the handle, looking over the tops of his glasses, "you and me, Three Broomsticks, maybe Shrieking Shack?"
"No Puddifoots?" she asked in mock outrage, her heart compelling her to return his joking nature. After all they'd just agreed to go out on a proper date. If she could sing, she might have done.
"What do you take me for?" he asked as equally dramatic, his eyes dancing.
"So, a date."
"SCORP, this is FUCKING URGENT!"
"You should let him in," said Rose.
"Maybe I'll throw in a kiss for good measure."
"I wouldn't consider it a date without one," she returned, her smile stretched impossibly wide across her pink tinged face.
Seemingly satisfied, Scorpius halted Albus' banging by flicking his wand casually at the door, while turning to lean both arms back on the desk, appearing effortlessly casual.
Rose swivelled in her chair to see Albus, arm raised as if ready to continue drumming on the door, now hung mid-air where the door had previously been. His eyes flickered between the two of them before a frown knotted his brow.
"Rose?" he dropped his arm quickly, holding it behind his back. "What're you doing here?" His movement wasn't quick enough to hide what he had clearer intended. A blood stain splashed up his sleeve.
Rose took a sharp lungful of air. "Albus, is that blood?"
Scorpius, who was now busying himself behind the desk looked up, curious.
"What're you doing down here, Rose?" Albus repeated ignoring her question. His eyes rove rapidly across her chest, hovering over the spot where her Head Girl badge usually sat. They quivered there for a moment before bulging out a little to take in her full appearance.
"Oh...right." Was all Albus could manage.
Rose looked to Scorpius for help, but the other boy was preoccupied watching his friend closely.
"Mate, what was so urgent?"
"Are you guys like a thing now?"
Rose bit her lip, gratefully Scorpius cut in, "we've arranged a date, nothing untoward."
His voice steady, in contrast with his now deeply wrinkled brow. He jammed his glasses up his nose.
Rose was too distracted to actually feel the flush at Scorpius words when spoken in front of Albus, instead she still watched her cousin, the other fist by his side was clenched and shaking.
"Has something happened?" she asked standing up from her chair and taking a purposeful step towards him. Albus stumbled back on the hem of his robe. He began shaking his head, eyes now wild and terrified.
Scorpius seemed to realise the extent of the problem, somehow two stepping over the desk full of papers to stand side by side with Albus, a hand squeezing his shoulder hard.
"Al, what happened?" He said, his voice commanding, matching his deathly serious expression.
Rose could only look on as Albus looked into the eyes of his friend and all the fight in him vanished. The pleading look he threw to Scorpius was explicit. Rose quashed the hint of jealous in her gut, being snubbed slightly during the exchange, her concern for Albus drowning it.
His hands were covered in blood as he brought them forward to show Scorpius. Rose rounded on him, the sight of it enough to make her feel queasy.
"This isn't your blood…" she heard herself say as if muffled through water. Albus cast her a wary glance before they softened. He shook his head.
"Then whose is it?"
Albus mouth thinned. "I don't want to be expelled."
"You won't be Al," said Scorpius with more confidence than Rose thought sensible; given the circumstances.
Al creased up his face in anguish, a silent tear crawling down his cheek.
"We're here," said Scorpius, squeezing Albus' shoulder again reassuringly. Albus shot Rose one final unsure glance before breaking down completely, his arms around Scorpius neck holding on for dear life. He began sobbing. Scorpius embraced Albus without hesitation.
If it hadn't been for the blood now running through the white cotton of Albus' shirt to Scorpius' she would have left the two boys to it, yet it was apparent that something was dreadfully wrong. Knowingly having drifted apart from Albus in their teenage years, Rose felt the need to express something in the moment to show her support as Scorpius physically propped him up beneath ragged sobs.
Her eyes flitted around the room before fixing on her half full tumbler of amber liquid. Picking it up she held it out to Albus' shoulder, nudging it gently.
"Albus, you're going to have to tell us what happened." Both the boys turned their heads to watch her then, Scorpius with a questioning eyebrow and Albus bewildered taking in Rose handing him a glass of contraband substance. At their silence, she stamped her foot causing a shooting pain up her leg.
"For fuck sake. If you don't tell me, I can't help, can I?" she asked, feeling her teeth grinding together in her mouth.
Something had changed - she might be Head Girl - but Rose Weasley had found her loyalty. Blood and blond, it would seem.
"Maybe you should have found out about Scorp liking you earlier," Albus said in an undertone, wiping his eyes as he took the glass with his unoccupied hand. "We could have done with your brains a few times."
"That's not why I'm offering help." She threw a furtive glance Scorpius' way, "Just spit it out. What's happened?" She blurted impatiently, hoisting herself up onto the desk where Scorpius had been leant before.
"Merlin," Albus ran a hand through his hair. His appearance rapidly unravelling.
"This is Patrick Chambers' blood."
"What did he do?"
Albus suddenly looked uncomfortable, "I ... I erm...I wasn't on reconnaissance."
"Al, what were you doing?" asked Scorpius, holding the other boy at arm's length.
"Scamander-"
"Lorcan?"
"Lysander?"
Rose and Scorpius ask in unison.
"-Lorcan, has been after me for ages, lifting that weight telling the both of you meant I was a bit more comfortable indulging myself..." Albus trailed off, his eyes turning downcast. "Chambers found us, mind you we weren't being discrete. He was just prowling around. And..."
"What?" Rose said, urging Albus to continue.
"When he found us he went off on one completely, about how Harry Potter's son was a filthy queer."
"Shit, Albus you know that's an awful thing to say and it's not true-"
"Well it set me off, didn't it?" Albus bit out stubbornly, avoiding both of their gazes.
"Lorcan scarpered and I shot a curse at him and he hit his head on the stone wall and just crumpled. Like a puppet."
Rose bit her lip, "Was he bleeding profusely?"
"We need to get to him," said Scorpius, grabbing his cloak off the hook on the back of the door.
"Have you guys got any Essence of Dittany?" she asked.
Albus looked at her blankly and Scorpius shook his head in earnest.
"Why did I even ask? I have some in my dorm. Which floor and I'll meet you there?"
"I hid him behind the tapestry on the 5th floor – by the meadow filled with unicorns -"
Rose nodded and ran out the door without another word as the boy's watched her leave, both looking stunned.
This was not how she planned her evening to go. Maybe she had gone mad. She was willingly helping them cover up another secret. Unfortunately, all reasoning had gone out the window when she combined a night drinking with Scorpius and a new found need to gain back Albus' trust. Head Girl badge be damned. Her parents had got away with a thousand times worse and were punished with merely a slap on the wrist. She could reason herself out of this one, with a previously perfect record it would be easy. When did you start plotting like a Slytherin? She thought to herself. You could do with a little more fun in your life. Whether this was considered 'fun' she would have to wait til morning.
Rose flew through the dungeon, taking the stairs to the Entrance Hall two at a time, her footsteps echoing loudly until the much brighter light of the ground floor at the top of the dungeon stairs caused her to come to an abrupt halt in the archway.
She leant against it to catch her breath, digging in her pocket for her tie. Taking in the evidently empty entrance, she began walking purposefully across the flagstone floor and up the giant staircase. Her hands worked quickly to knot the tie around her neck in case she was spotted or bumped into a teacher. It wasn't quite late enough for even the Head Girl to get into trouble for being out past curfew but she wished to retain the perception of professionalism, especially faced with helping cover up another of Albus' misdeeds. Although, in her head as she ducked behind a second floor tapestry up a rickety wooden staircase, Rose knew she could argue in Albus' favour this time - in defence of his sexuality - what Chambers had said was never an acceptable response.
Aware that haste could quite well be necessary she broke out into a run again after stilling for a moment at the side of the exit to make sure the coast was clear. She skidded in front of the Head Dorm entrance wheezing the password. As the portrait swung forward she scrambled inside, making every effort not to trip over the hem of her robes in her haste. The fire burned low in the grate suggesting Elliot had gone to bed some time ago. This meant he wouldn't be around to ask incriminating questions. That was a small victory in itself.
The small cabinet below the sink in their shared bathroom housed a variety of simple potions and ingredients. Silently summoning a small black glass bottle labelled 'Origanum Dictamnus' she pocketed it and strode back out of the dormitory.
As the portrait swung closed, Rose became heavily aware of just how silent the castle was now. The torches were incredibly dim, sending shadows creeping along the walls with each breath of wind and flicker of torch light. Her breathing was laboured, so she tried taking deeper breaths as she followed the corridor round to the staircase, the stone wall a constant; grazing flush against her back.
It was like her awareness was heightened. Each step that echoed too obviously, each breath that came out between castle creaks sending her mind into overdrive. Her heart too was racing at breakneck speed, thundering the blood in her ears for the second time that night. Only this time it was adrenaline rather than crippling anxiety.
When she came to the turning on the fifth floor, a few feet beyond the tapestry Albus had mentioned she heard a shuffling. She extinguished the nearest lamp, in a futile attempt to melt into the wall and not be seen. But the shuffling got louder and louder, Rose's eyes fluttered around the corridor, trying to spot the cause of the approaching noise until it felt merely a few feet away and it stopped.
"Don't look so panicked, Red," came the voice of Scorpius Malfoy, and Rose nearly fainted. She clutched her chest as both boys appeared from under the invisibility cloak.
"I thought-James said-" she spluttered in shock of their sudden appearance, her head was beginning to spin.
"Jimmy says a lot of things," said Albus flatly, glancing around, the cloak now draped over his arm and the map in the other. His frown only deepened when he turned the map to one side, "for some reason, Willoughsworth looks like she's on a midnight stroll," Albus' voice came out hollow but there was no question about the trepidation in his lilt.
"We better be quick then," said Scorpius, casting a glance down at Rose still stuck to the wall, his mouth in a thin line but his eyes twinkling as he looked at her. His empty hand ran through his hair, his other held his wand as if ready for battle, the only nerves that showed on Scorpius were the whites of his knuckles.
The three of them crossed the corridor to the tapestry and Scorpius pulled it away from the entrance allowing the dull orange glow to fall on a lifeless body. Chambers' body.
A smearing of blood next to his head marked where it had slipped from one step to the one below. Rose's stomach gave a lurch as she took in the vision of the lifeless boy, the picture of innocence; as if he were merely sleeping.
None of them spoke. Stood around in contemplative silence as if the world had slowed for a moment and there was no pressing urgency to the situation.
Rose came to the quickest, kneeling down next to his body, "there is blood on the tapestry, I'd remove that while I see if this works." Taking out the bottle of dittany she felt someone kneel beside her in the darkened stairwell, his scent musky, and boozy as if having toyed with firewhiskey. She knew immediately it was Scorpius and she stiffened suddenly nervous under his watchful gaze.
"Are you ok, Red?" She bit down on her tongue from not letting out a helpless whimper. She just nodded, once. He helped her lift up Chambers lank body to turn him over.
She was trying so very hard not to think about her badge. The one she initially hadn't thought she'd deserved or earned. The one she had slowly felt like was meant for her. And with this swift, impulsive decision she could be throwing it all away. She felt conflicted upon seeing the victim of Albus actions compared to her previously impulsive thoughts on the matter. If they were found could she really explain this away? The warm feeling of Scorpius' shoulder against her own was just about enough to keep her grounded.
The tapestry fell forward, casting them all into complete darkness. Albus proceeded to light his wand and hold it high over the scene before them.
Rose's confidence was nullified by her shaking hands, the bottle almost slipping as she took out its cork.
"Here," Scorpius took it from her, in any other circumstance she may have protested, she was more than capable.
With surprising gentleness, Scorpius applied the dittany to the wound at the base of Chambers skull, the skin steaming and drawing together, leaving a patch that looked red raw. Her eyes fluttered up to meet his, the spectacles on the end of his nose were fogged up, her mind reeled back to her brief daydream a few days ago. She could have laughed, hysterical.
"I don't know if we need to wipe his memory." The words were out of Rose's mouth before she even knew it herself.
She felt the boy's look at her wordlessly again.
"How much did he see? Is there any chance he'd believe it if he woke up in his own bed with a headache tomorrow?" she asked.
Scorpius pulled his hand through his hair again, "Red, I don't think-"
"-it's Chambers Scorp, how do you think he'd handle it?" Albus eyed bored into the side of his friend's head but Scorpius was looking at Rose. She felt his heavy gaze and shifted uncomfortably under it.
When Scorpius didn't respond or address Rose, Albus sighed, exhausted.
"Could you do it, Rose?"
"I could do it-"
"Would you do it?" Albus corrected hurriedly.
Her eyes flitted to Scorpius again, unable to keep her eyes from finding his; each time her heart jolted and she felt bile in her mouth.
"I would...but I've never done it before." The words that next formed on her tongue weren't uttered by her at all.
"But it's very much illegal." Scorpius was still looking at her, somehow both cool and concerned with a minute frown on his brow.
Rose swallowed the lump forming and her eyes felt hot and wet.
"I can do it, I think," she said, looking at Albus who wore a pleased look.
He glanced back down at the map, "it'll have to be quick, how do you even control how much memory is lost? We don't want to send him back to birth or something!" Said Albus, her heart skittered at his utterance she'd been so concerned about to begin with.
"It's all to do with the rotation of the wrist." It was Rose's turn to look at Scorpius stunned. In the heat of the moment she had forgotten his underachievement masking a racing mind.
"Ok, Willoughsworth is en route, you better do it quick," said Albus clearly becoming impatient with their sidelong looks and heavy silences that seemed to hold the world within them. Chasms stretching the length of their destined relationship...an unknown pleasure neither could indulge in just yet.
Rose looked at Albus once more, almost imploring that he would take it back. She'd never so much as broken a school rule, let alone broken wizarding law. However, Scorpius' look was one of concern and it ruled something within her. Something that hadn't been there when she'd shaken before and fumbled with the dittany, wasn't there when she couldn't fight back. It was the determination she needed, it was so blinding all thoughts of misdeeds flew immediately from her mind. This wasn't proving anything to the boys, it was proving something to herself. Strength of character. She wouldn't back out now and she shouldn't have hesitated to help her cousin in the first place. She wanted to do it.
"Obliviate."
Once Willowsworth had passed them hidden behind the tapestry, humming a tuneful melody, they struggled with the body under the cloak. It was a ridiculous idea to try to fit four of them beneath it. Rose had protested it was pointless, so they had instead draped the cloak over Chambers' lifeless levitating body.
Albus seemed to realise the grievance he'd had caused his cousin that evening, falling into step with her as Scorpius controlled the invisible body to hover a few feet off the ground.
"Are you ok, Rosie?" Albus asked, concerned. Rose squeeked at being addressed after travelling up two floors in silence. She didn't say anything. The adrenaline had faded, leaving her clammy and exhausted.
She saw Scorpius head turn slightly, keeping an ear out for her answer.
"Sure." She said, having no words to explain just how she was feeling. Reckless, crazy, exhilarated.
"Red-" began Scorpius sounding concerned but Albus interrupted him.
"Red? Pet names already?"
It was Scorpius' turn to flush as Rose glanced in his direction. It crept up his neck slowly and in the faintest shade of pink. Even in the dim torchlight it was unmistakable, it stirred the fire in her belly. He chose to ignore Albus and address her directly again.
"You've just gone from nought to a thousand in the space of a single evening. Are you alright?"
Rose considered this for a moment, feeling like everything that had happened had been a dream. She blew out a long lungful of air, rubbing her eyes. "I think I just need to sleep."
Scorpius nodded, "we can take it from here. You should head to bed." She turned to Albus who nodded in agreement.
"It's been a weird night for all of us." Scorpius ran his free hand through his hair. "You wanna be careful though, Rose. If your thrill seeking is exponential, you'll be trying to take over the wizarding world by the end of the month."
She gave him a tired smile.
Albus grunted, pointing at the map with his wand, "Slughorn, this time." He looked between them irritably. "Can we please carry this on tomorrow?"
Scorpius gave her another look of concern.
"I'll be fine. I'm going to go up to bed and probably wake up thinking this was all a dream," she said, feeling as though she was already in a daze.
Scorpius rounded on Albus, "you should thank your cousin. She saved our necks there."
"I did thank her!" said Albus indignantly.
"Good."
"I probably bit off more than I can chew with regard to thrill seeking," Rose spoke in a daydreamy tone, her body catching up with her mind. Her exhaustion enough to draw her away from the boys for the night. "Good night, both of you." She raised a hand in farewell.
"Goodnight. And thanks again, Rose." Said Albus hurriedly, checking the map again.
Scorpius took a step towards her, grabbing her hand and tapping her palm with his wand so that a small violet flower grew there. He moved his head so he could catch her eye, his bespectacled gaze sobered doing quite a good job of sobering her up. "That's so you don't think it was a dream. Goodnight, Red."
With that, he turned around, joining a murderous looking Albus, the map clutched tightly in his hand, "you guys need to stop already. Right, let's go." They both walked off quietly down the corridor, shuffling so their feet made minimal sound on the flagging.
When Rose got into bed, she realised she hadn't thanked Scorpius for the flower. She had also laid down fully dressed and had no energy to put on her pyjamas which were across the room in her trunk. Instead, she took off everything except her pants and school shirt and tugged the covers up to her chin, extinguishing the lights in her room with her wand.
The nights events were playing like a slideshow in her mind. Each striking image clear as crystal. Elizabeth Thomas, Scorpius looking dishevelled, the firewhiskey, the proposal of a date, his close proximity. The images sped up: Albus with blood on his hands, her vision blurred racing down the corridors, Scorpius' fogged glasses and the hasty 'goodnights'. She put a hand to her chest, turning her head to look at the violet on her nightstand in the moonlight.
Her heart was still racing faster than she thought it ever had done before. Yet in the dark, she smiled.
Well... that's that then. A huge amount of drama. The next chapter won't be for a while due to life, work and social commitments. I think they'll be two more chapters from here as well. But I've said stuff like that before and lived to regret it.
Please read and review! I live for the feedback :) Much love also to every single one of you that reads this. I know reviewing can be a pain, but when I keep getting notifications of another story follower, that's rather lovely as well.
**Mischief managed.**