Thank you so much to SunriseImagination for Betaing this story for me. Definitely, go check out her story.
And thank you to all of you that have taken the time to Favourite/Follow and review this story. You guys are what pushes me to write. Thank you! xoxo
Now on to the chapter!
Chapter 8
November 27th-28th
Wednesday-Thursday
~oOo~
"Read through pages 234 and 241 for homework tonight and remember to have your essays written before the next class. I mean it class, there is no reason why you can't have this done by Monday, I will not take excuses, no matter how valid you think they are." He shot Malfoy and Al a look, but the two merely blinked their innocent eyes causing the teacher to shake his head, "There's the bell, have a good rest of your week everyone," Professor Neville dismissed them with a wave of his hand and a smile.
"Bugger Herbology," Al said through chattering teeth, pulling his thickest cloak more tightly around himself, as they trudged slowly through the knee-high snow back towards the looming castle. "You know what? I want to know who in Merlin's name thought it was a good idea to build the greenhouses so far away from the bloody castle. It's freezing out here and yet we're supposed to trudge through a bloody avalanche of snow each time we need to go look at plants for an hour. I mean I like Professor Longbottom and all but seriously."
While Malfoy snorted and said something amusing in return Rose didn't even have the energy to argue with her cousin about the values of the subject, all she could focus on was taking one more step forward and not falling on her face.
Just one more step. And another. And another. And one more.
The almost manageable tiredness and absence of hunger of a few days ago had combined together into a bone-deep weakness that controlled every aspect of Rose's life. Her muscles ached, her limbs felt heavy and lead-like and her ability to keep her eyes more than half open was quickly fading; not the mention the pain that would erupt from her chest every now and then, especially if she snapped at Malfoy.
In simpler words, she was crashing; and she knew it.
So she had done the one thing she could think of; she went to the library.
Rose was nothing if not a researcher; if she didn't understand something she looked for a book. If something wasn't adding up, a book. And if she just wanted something to do, she read. She was her mother's daughter in that aspect.
So the minute Rose was able she had gone to the archives. But even with all the in-depth books about the art of Bonding one's soul to another Rose had found only six of them that were wholly about The Soul Bonding and only two were written by Healers who had actually worked with the patients affected by the course. And even those books didn't give much insight into Rose's problem, only stating what she already knew; that she needed to give into the Bond. To do as it wanted.
But none of them said what would happen if Rose didn't. So she was at a loss.
She comprehended she had to do something. The books had been her last hope. Everyone was telling her the same thing, to do what she needed to do for both herself and Malfoy's welfare, but she so desperately didn't want that to be her only option. Her life was supposed to be her own, she was supposed to have control of what SHE wanted to do, what she thought was right. She was supposed to control what she did and thought.
To have that control ripped so violently away was leaving Rose at a loss. She had always been in control. Had always wanted to know what was going to happen, where how and when. If something could be researched or logiced out and planned, Rose would have it figured out to the fullest.
And this? This Bond? It had taken away a large aspect of who Rose wanted to be as a person. Suddenly she wasn't just Rose Weasley, already famous daughter of two war heroes, no, now she would be remembered for the rest of her life as half of this centuries Soul Bonded couple. She would go down in the books like all the rest of the Soul Bonded had. And she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted to be remembered as.
She was freaking out on the inside, stressing about what to do.
The library had been her last hope, and now it too had let her down.
Soon she would have to do what the books and Healer told her to do and talk to Malfoy. Rose knew that they needed to try and put their differences aside for both their sakes. She knew that and it caused all her mental processes to panic.
For so many years they had hated each other. Rose Weasley was not supposed to befriend Scorpius Malfoy. That was just how it was. Her mind didn't seem to want to comprehend a universe where they were anything other than rivals. It just didn't seem to fit.
Rose had everything she needed. She took comfort in Al when things went wrong. She leaned on Grandparents when she was stressed. She talked to Lily when she needed a fellow girls opinion. There was no place for Malfoy in her life, other then what he was already. Things were constantly changing with her family and friends and while they were the most precious things in her life, Malfoy was one of the most predictable. She never had to think around him, never had to try and figure out where they stood. She just knew.
But now? Now Rose knew that she had no chance of keeping that constant. That soon she would need to become closer to Malfoy than she had ever been with anyone else. The Bond didn't want them just to be friends, it wanted them to be lovers.
And that scared the crap out of her.
Rose had never shied away from anything in her life, but the thought of trading what was so comfortable and easy to her and Malfoy for something that would be so remarkably new and different and just so strange after all they had been through turned Rose's stomach.
Because no matter how you put it there was history between them, granted it wasn't pleasant but the foundation of who they were together had already been set. As it had been for the past six years. To go and break that all up and start over? She just didn't understand how they could do that without leaving pieces of what they used to be behind to mix in with the new and cause cracks.
But something had to be done and soon; because it was getting worse, so much worse.
Any energy that should have been put towards school work and her responsibilities were now being used to stop her family and friends from finding out she was cracking.
Rose shook her head slightly, realizing that she had been walking with her eyes closed. Forcing open her heavy lids she saw that Malfoy and Al were still by her side, not seeming to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Feeling her eyes start to close again she blinked hard a few times to try and stop them.
The cold bit her skin but Rose was too concerned with keeping her eyes open that didn't even realize she couldn't feel it, everything was numb, from her head to her frozen toes. It was only when her vision swam and she swayed slightly, did she realize that something wasn't right. At least less right then it had been.
A pain started, just at the base of her spine, the same pain that had been occurring over the past few days; Rose tried to ignore it, forced herself to keep walking and think about something else and all the while strengthing the mental bond between herself and Malfoy just in case he got an inkling that something was amiss; but even with this she didn't miss the falter in his sentence and the quick glance he sent in her direction.
One more step, just one more step then you can sit down in the warm classroom, just one more step. Rose thought sluggishly to herself. But her mind was too fuzzy and it was suddenly a whole lot harder to focus. She couldn't hold back a sharp gasp as her heartbeat swiftly sped up and an abrupt pain shot through her spine, licking at all her nerves and come to pulse hardest in her chest.
Rose stopped dead in her tracks.
Her eyes widened in horror when she realized what was happening. No! No no no no. Rose cried in her head placing a hand over her ribs where the pain throbbed the worse. I can't. Not now, not here. Please. She pleaded with her body, don't do this to me, not now.
"Weasley?"
"Rose what's wrong?"
Please please, please!
But Fate didn't seem to be to impressed by Rose lately for her pleading fell on deaf ears.
Her breath hitched painfully as something that felt like white-hot fire spread from the place where her heart beat erratically and serging through her veins until every inch of her body screamed. Fear coursed through her as her vision faded. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see, everything was turning black, she couldn't focus on anything other than the immediate pain and her difficulty to breathe the cold air around her.
"Rose what's going on? Are you alright? Should I get Madam Pomfrey?"
Why was her face wet? Was she crying? When had she started to cry?
She was vaguely aware of people around her, far too many people because even in her muddled panicked state she knew that she had only been walking with Albus and Malfoy, not forty other kids.
"Weasley! Weasley, talk to me! What's going on?"
Suddenly she felt two cold smooth hands cup her face. The shock, pain and relief that surged through her system at being touched by Malfoy after so long of little to no contact seemed to be the last straw for her nervous system and before Rose could do more than let out a muffled scream she was falling.
The last thing Rose heard before strong arms enveloped her, stopping her from crashing to the snowy ground was Malfoy yelling at someone, maybe Al, to meet him at the infirmary.
Then a warm breath at her ear whispering, "Hold on Rose," before the feeling of travelling via the medical port key took the last of her strength and she fell into darkness.
She didn't even realize for the first time in six years Malfoy had used her given name.
~oOo~
Al's POV
His chest heaved as he bolted down the corridor, his feet pounding the stone, cloak and book bag flailing around behind him.
He ran with all he had, the fear urging him on, egging him on, telling him to go fast, be quicker. But along with the fear was guilt. Guilt for not doing something. For not saying something. Guilt rearing it's ugly head to sneer and hiss that this was all his fault, that he could have done something. That he should have done something.
And the worst part was that it was right.
He had seen it. Of course, he had. Everyone had. He had seen Rose slowly stop eating. How she started looking like she never got any sleep anymore. At first, he had just thought it was the stress of it all. It wasn't every day you found out something like that, it was life-changing and Al had thought that Rose had deserved a few days of just being left alone without being questioned.
Rose was a different person when stressed or upset. She liked order and for things to go as they should. Uncertainty made her anxious. So Al had thought, as had all the others, even her parents, that it would be best, knowing Rose, to wait until she had accepted what had happened before asking questions or trying to talk about it.
Becuase Rose was like a cornered cat when she was scared and was likely to spring at you should you ask questions she had yet to figure out herself.
They had all thought that they should just give it a little while. Let Rose figure out her feelings a bit before starting in with questions. Hermoine had been in a state when at the castle. Wanting to help but knowing that it would only make things worse. She had had to abandon every mothering instinct, to step back and let Rose do her thing and just make sure that her daughter knew she was there when she was ready to talk.
But a few days passed, then a week and she still seemed to be in a hole. Al had tried to do what he could for her without asking right out if she needed help. He had owled her parents telling them that she was struggling and in return, they had tried to talk to Rose during their weekly Floo call.
But they knew that if pressured Rose would snap.
Sometimes dealing with Rose was like unarming a ticking bomb. One wrong move and it all went up in smoke.
Rounding the last corner and sliding slightly on the smooth stone ground Albus burst through the Hospital wing doors with enough force to break the large glass doors.
What he saw upon entering the room made him feel weak.
~oOo~
Rose's POV
She was in a dark room, or maybe it wasn't a room at all, maybe it was just abyss.
Everything was pitch black, her eyes were useless. She couldn't feel her hands, feet, her body.
She was floating. Unable to do anything more than think.
Why was she there? Why couldn't she remember? Why was everything so black?
She knew nothing of who she was or what she was doing. She couldn't even remember her name, or what a name was.
Everything was just...dark.
And all she knew for sure was that she was not alone.
~oOo~
Scorpius's POV
"There has to be something you can do! You can't just leave her like this!"
"Scorpius I know you're upset but-"
"Upset? Upset! Look at her, of course, I'm bloody upset! She's in trouble and all you're saying to do it wait! You need to help her, not sit around drinking tea and chatting about the good old times while she lies here in pain!"
"There isn't anything I can do at the moment but once she wakes up-"
"NO! You need to help her now! She's having seizures! She's in pain! You can't just not do anything for her!"
"Scorpius there's nothing I can do-"
"Then why the bloody hell are you here! Why aren't we going to St. Mungos?! Why isn't anyone doing anything?!"
"Mr Malfoy you need to calm down. You're not helping anything by getting this worked up." The Headmistress moved forward, towards the irate teen who was breathing heavy from yelling at the Healer.
"And none of you are helping Rose!" Scorpius yelled, flashing a dark look at the teacher. Minerva forced herself not to take a step back at the glare he sent her; in that moment Scorpius Malfoy looked every inch the man his father had been so many years ago. And that look, the almost haunted desperation and anger in those stormy grey eyes scared the Headmistress more than the young Malfoy's threats ever could. Scorpius shook his head before turning his attention back to Healer Lynde, who stood calmly enough at the foot of the bed. When he spoke again he was no longer yelling but the ire of his voice was more than enough to demand a room. "You're our Healer. You're supposed to know what to do if anything goes wrong. Well, something is bloody wrong and you're supposed to be helping! Instead, you're just standing there watching this happen!"
"Mr Malfoy," The Healer said sharply, her calm tone fading into authoritative, "I warned Miss Weasley that there would be consequences if she did not obey the Bond's needs. She had brought this on herself." She raised a hand when Scorpius's eyes flashed fiercely and he opened his mouth to speak, "That being said I am your Healer and trust me when I say that if there was anything I could do I would do it but, at the moment all we can do is wait. The Bond is dealing with Rose's disobedience. This is a not a tickling charm that has been set upon you two, it is a curse. A dark curse that is not to be messed with. I have told you both this many times. I can only do so much, I can not force you or Rose to listen to reason. She did not obey the demands and now she is paying for that. I can't do anything right now as it's not my place. The Bond is in control and to go try and mess with it would only make matters worse."
Scorpius turned his back on the Healer, his breaths coming in more laboured intakes, as though he was fighting back the urge to break down. His eyes fell on the body on the bed in front of him and he let out a small croaked sob.
"It won't kill her Scorpius, that's not what this curse does. We just need to let this play out. Waiting is all we can do for the moment."
This didn't comfort Scorpius at all because the fact still stood that she was in pain.
Feeling so very useless and not knowing what else to do he stepped forward "Fine," He said gruffly his words catching in his throat, "But I'm not leaving her side," He looked over at both Healers, his glare sharp, "And I want someone to check her vitals every half hour until she wakes up," Madam Pomfrey look offended at this and open her mouth to say as much but was cut off by Healer Lynde.
"Agreed. We will do everything in our power to make sure she's comfortable and safe."
Scorpius glared for a moment longer before turning away and letting out a long sigh, "Alright. Now we wait." Gingery, he moved forward and slowly sat in the chair next to the bed focusing his eyes on the person in front of him.
Rose lay motionless on the pristine white linin of a Hospital wing bed. Her heavy cloak and winter clothes had been removed when they arrived and she lay in only a pair of black dress code jeans and her white button down. She looked so small, lying there, pale with dark half circles under her closed eyes. Her breath came in short puffs and the sound of her laboured breathing did nothing to calm Malfoy's nerves.
It was funny, the way you got used to something when it was constantly around. A few weeks ago the feeling of Rose's mind in the back corner of his own was a foreign feeling. Now? He felt so lost without its constant presence. It was the reason he was so panicked. He couldn't feel her anymore. The only thing that was left of her in his mind was the faintest beat beat beat of her heart. He had no window into her mind, but the pulsing was there, reassuring him that she was alive and breathing.
Gently, slowly, he reached out and took the small pale hand laying closest to him. That pulse, beating away faintly but steadily in his mind was one thing he clung to as tightly as he did her hand. Holding onto her in the only way he could; because he couldn't lose her.
It wasn't the Bond that tied his heart to hers.
He leaned forward, and resting his elbows on his knees, he brought the hand to his mouth, dipping his head and placing the softest of kisses across her knuckles and uttered three words "I'm so sorry" so low no one but he could hear it, before closing his eyes and letting the tears slowly fall.
~oOo~
Healer Lynde's POV
Despite her words, Freya wasn't sure whether or not this would be the fatal mistake that killed Rose Weasley. She couldn't do anything for the girl because no Soul Bonded couple, at least in recording, had ever disobeyed the Bond. No one that she knew of had ever had such a hard time adjusting to this. She couldn't do anything. She was powerless.
She knew from the start that this was going to be hard for the two Gryffindors. Usually, a new Soul Bonded couple barely knew each other until they were thrown together by the curse. And even if things got off to a rough start it would always get better because they were Soulmates. No matter whether you believed in such a thing or not, if you were a Bonded couple you were meant to be, you fit like to pieces of a puzzle even if it meant adjusting to what sides were supposed to match.
She had no idea of how to help them. She knew only what she had read and researched and what her mother's journal said. Her mother's soul bonded couple had been a bit awkward around each other at first but they had warmed up to one another after just getting to know the other.
The curse meant that you could never be with someone else, you were bounded to the other until death does you part. And after a while, most couples were fine with this, because they learned that the other person was their other half, literally and that they didn't want to live without each other.
But these two. She didn't know quite what to make of them.
One was warm the other cold. Scorpius tried, Rose pushed him away. She was red, he was blue. Opposites that didn't know that they could be beautiful together. Like she had said to Scorpius, she could only do so much; there was only so much talking and telling she could give. It was up to them what they did with what she said.
She only hoped, for both their sakes, that they figured out how to move out of the past and into the future. Before it got them both killed.
~oOo~
Al's POV
The sky outside was dark. Barely even the moon shone through the dense clouds. Everything was just so unknown and it made Albus feel useless. All he could do was sit there. He wanted to be up, to be helping in some way but how could he help when even the Healers were unable to do anything.
He wasn't the only one sitting in that Hospital wing that night, nor was he the only one feeling useless. He glanced down at the girl currently curled up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder as she slept.
Lily.
Even though Albus hadn't told anyone about what had happened, there had been students around and word spread like wildfire around this school, especially when it involved one of the Weasley/Potter clan or Malfoy. So when his family and Rose's friends started popping up he wasn't surprised.
Madam Pomfrey had thrown quite the fuss when she saw them all there. She had demanded that they all go back to their classes as there was nothing they could do for Rose there. But no one was leaving this time and in the end, Madam Pomfrey had to let them stay, even if it was just to stop the arguing.
Albus sighed as he brushed the hair from his sister's face, tucking it behind her ear as well as moving the arm she was laying against slightly in an effort to regain the feeling he had lost hours ago. Lily had been the first to fall asleep. She had wanted to stay up, but he had convinced her to try and get some sleep promising he would wake her the minute he heard anything. Begrudgingly Lily had done what he asked and within minutes her breathing had evened out and her face softened as she drifted into a deep sleep.
Elizabeth had been the next, but only after she had been forced to drink a calming and dreamless sleep potion. When Rose had gone into a fit of spasms again, the first seizure the entire group had seen, her muscles twitching and convulsing madly for a few seconds before calming down again, Lizzy had lost it. She had burst into tears and started hyperventilating so badly to the point where Madam Pomfrey thought it best she slept through the next few hours. She now lay peacefully in one of the Hospital beds, just over from Rose's.
The rest of the group were all still awake and stood silently, sat, or paced in the back of the long hall. James and Fred both leaned against the wall right next to Rose's corner bed, watching and waiting. Hugo sat at the foot of his sister's bed, eyes closed and head leaned back but Al knew he was far from sleep. Rose's three remaining conscious dorm mates sat between the two sleeping girls, leaning on one another and talking in hushed voices.
And then there was Hermione.
Both Scorpius's and Rose's parents had been flooed and told about the situation. Ron had been in a meeting and wasn't allowed to answer the floo call so the Healer had left instructions that he was to call back as soon as possible. Draco as well hadn't been able to come as he was in the middle of a nine-hour surgery but his assistant had said that he demanded to know if anything changed. A message was left at Malfoy Manor with a house elf in hopes that it would reach Astoria.
Hermione was the only one able to answer the call and the minute she heard her daughter was in trouble she had been frantic and demanding to know what had happened. Healer Lynde had calmly started to explain the events of the evening, telling Hermione what she expected was happening and why she couldn't help Rose at the moment. Al had left the room when Hermoine had started crying, not wanting to see any more tears that evening.
Healer Lynde had emerged a few minutes later with a hastily dressed and puffy-eyed Hermione and Albus was unsurprised at her small gasp and sob when she caught sight of her pale daughter. She had rushed to Rose's side and reached out to touch her daughter's hand only to stop when she remembered that it would bring more harm than good.
Upon realizing that she couldn't even hold her sick child's hand Hermione had collapsed into the chair behind her and just cried. Hugo was at her side in an instant and Hermione had clung to him like a lifeline. It had taken Hugo and James a while before she calmed down, and since then she just sat there, staring at Rose and thinking.
That was until Rose had a seizure. Hermione had been up in an instant when Rose had twitched, thinking she was waking up but when Malfoy had called for the Healer and moved forward, reaching out to gently move to pillows around so that Rose's head was properly supported Hermione had realized that this wasn't the case.
It had been a short one, Rose spasmed for a seconds before relaxing again, but Hermione had been hysterical.
The conversation that followed between Hermione and Healer Lynde was one Albus tuned out. Focusing on watching Rose and Scorpius over hearing the Healer explain why this was happening again. Scorpius hadn't said much since he had first agreed to wait. Instead, he sat there much like Hermione had and just watched Rose for any signs of her waking up, only looking away from the red-head when James would address him or the Healer would ask a question.
Movement from the bed in front of him lured Albus out of his thoughts. Rose's arm moved suddenly, twitching. Albus closed his eyes and turned his head to hide his face in Lily's curls as Rose started to seize again. It was a horrible sight and it was made even worse by the fact that there was nothing they could do to help it. Hermione stood from her seat, helpless as Rose shook and convulsed, her limbs locking in the most sickening way. Albus tried to drown out the sound of Scorpius's gut-wrenching shh's. He was crying, slow tears that hadn't stopped since Al got there and his efforts to make comforting sounds were hindered by the small sobs he couldn't always hold back.
Madam Pomfrey was called and she checked Rose's body. Her wand wavering back and forth as she made sure that the girl had not hurt herself. After promising that there was no damage and telling Hermoine and Scorpius that she would be back in half an hour on her rounds and she would check again then too the Healer left, returning to her office to get back to the work she had.
Al clenched his fists and hugged his sister closer to him. His best friend's small sounds of pain and misery were almost too much for him to take. Scorpius never cried. It's not that he had something about it, he had no complex that guys shouldn't cry it was just that he never really had a reason to. Al also was never one to just cry. He couldn't even really remember the last time he had cried because he was actually sad or just couldn't stop the tears. But, seeing him sitting there gently stroking the curls from Rose's pale drawn face, Al had never felt more like crying in his life.
~oOo~
There was someone else in the room. Rose didn't know how she knew this but know it she did. The pressing knowledge that she wasn't alone was starting to make her panic. Because no matter how she turned or how hard she tried to look, she saw nothing and heard nothing.
It was like being in a box, only this box was large and dark and had no walls, only empty space.
Rose let out a cry of frustration as she thrashed about in the nothingness of the hanging space around her, knowing that there should be more, that she needed to get out of this place, this void she had somehow fallen into.
She should not be here. But how did she escape?
"It's really quite simple. Pay for what you've done, and vow to never disobey me again and you'll go free. Refuse, and well," The voice paused and Rose could almost hear them smiling, "Let's say that's something you don't want to do"
Rose screamed.
