—CHAPTER NINE—
Without brooms and a bird's eye advantage, Rose, Scorpius and Albus Apparated nearby to Hogwarts' gates and snuck along the tree line to Hagrid's cabin.
The school grounds were empty. No one saw them sneak into the opening of the forest. For a fleeting moment, they all turned to look back at the castle, as if hoping to spot someone they knew—a family member, a friend. But the castle was eerily dark, no lights in any of the windows. It stood like a grieving monolith, a giant headstone looming over the ash-buried village.
The air was still thick with smoke. In the light of their wands, the forest loomed like a surreal phantasmagoria. They were swallowed up in the heavy stench of burnt timber. They performed Bubble-Head Charms and continued to walk. Eventually, as they moved off the path, they found trees that had not been scorched by the dragon inferno. They remained standing, sometimes only in patches, but persistent.
Without landmarks, it made it more difficult to find the Centaur glade. They had a terrible thought—what if the Refuge Tree had also been destroyed in the fires—and despite the fact they were all thinking it, none of them dared say it.
Yet their fears were abated as, after almost an hour of walking, they saw a dim golden light spooling across the ashen forest floor.
They sighed in relief and quickened their pace. Light like strands of gold honey poured across the glade. They removed the charms that were helping them breathe. Even here, the tinge of smoke seemed to fade from the air.
Romnuk was already there, standing between the thick roots of the tree. His broomstick had been discarded. His hammer was being held in his good hand. The other was a bandaged stump, still wet with blood. Even if the gilded light, he looked fragile and pale.
"You have had time to heal," he rasped, his dark eyes scatting resentfully over the places where their former wounds had been. He clutched his stump closer to his chest, an oddly protective gesture.
They stood there for a moment before Albus clucked his tongue. He took several steps toward him.
"I'll heal you."
"How can I trust you?"
Albus almost threw his hands up in exasperation. He regarded Romnuk with something close to disgust. "We could have killed you already, mate. And we haven't."
Aided by the effects of the Refuge Tree's golden light, Romnuk slowly trudged forward and unbound his severed arm. Albus touched his wand to the goblin's skin and began to chant a healing incantation. The quiescence of the glade blanketed them gently, muting their hostility and chariness.
For a moment, Romnuk's guard faltered and they saw his awe at the magic.
Rose took a step forward, stepping over one of the thickest tree roots. "Take us to the Goblin Kingdom and we will help you kill your brother," she said.
"You need our help," Scorpius added. "The Kobold Könige is dead."
Romnuk blinked at them both, then looked at Albus' calm face as he chanted his incantation. Its effect was hypnotic.
"You wish to join the cause?"
"We want to be there when it happens," Rose was firm now. It was clearly not a negotiation. "And we want a peace treaty to be signed when you are made king."
These last words seemed intoxicating to Romnuk, in spite of himself. The very notion of being king made his head tweak back towards them.
"We will be there to bind that treaty with magic," Scorpius added. "We just need you to trust that we want to work together."
Following the battle, the remaining Slytherin students were expatriated to the Gryffindor Tower. The same was done for the Hufflepuff students, who were given permission to sleep in the Ravenclaw Tower. With the school dungeons and basement rapidly flooding, it was the soundest option. The school was utterly dark, no lights in the hallways, as if the building itself was in mourning.
They had survived an exhausting day. The older students had volunteered to assist in identifying the dead from Hogsmeade. Many had found the charred bodies of friends or their friends' family members among those slain. Toby Fleischer had located Alice Lim's parents collapsed beneath the Three Broomsticks, and after identifying their bodies she had disappeared back into the castle and had not been seen until after dark.
They went back to their common rooms hungry. House elves had supplied meagre vegetable soup, all that could be managed with supplies so low. But most of the students didn't eat. They left the surviving villagers in the Great Hall, huddled under blankets with bowls of soup in their hands, wailing or mourning or creating new stock from the salt of their tears. It was too miserable to stay in that cavernous space where lamentation bounced off the walls.
Almost everyone had scattered to welcome the thick fog of sleep. Alice had not. She was sitting in front of the fireplace, its low embers flickering red in its bed of ash, little warmth coming from the grate. She sat there silently, her face having hardened from tears.
As he arrived at the common room, Angus Finnigan took a seat beside her. He nudged his wand to the fireplace so the embers flickered to life.
"I didn't see this coming," Alice admitted.
"No," he agreed.
"I just can't believe they're dead. I keep thinking it's not their bodies and I should go back to check."
Angus stared at the fire for a while and closed his eyes slowly. "I get it. I keep thinking my dad's just gone away somewhere and any second I'll get a letter from him. Or I'll come home and he'll be in the kitchen with my mam."
They sat there for a while longer, quiet and numb. Angus didn't try to say anything else comforting because he knew there were no other words that would work. It was odd to see a Slytherin and Gryffindor sitting huddled together in solidarity and sorrow, but somehow a restitution.
Isabella climbed through the portrait hole to find them both there. Here eyes then glanced up at the shattered and empty Sword of Gryffindor case, ominous in the dim lighting. She felt equally as hollow and jagged.
"Did you two want me to get you anything? Some soup maybe?" she asked, quite forlorn, trying to remember what people did during great tragedy. Her mother usually sent an expensive bouquet of flowers or a hearty meal that their house elves had prepared whenever an acquaintance was bereaved. She had never had any experience around death before.
Angus tilted his head back and sighed heavily.
"Only sleep will help," he said.
"Then sleep it is," Isabella said briskly.
Angus and Isabella threw Alice's arms over their shoulders and hauled her upright. She was as light as a leaf. Angus let them go once they reached the girls' dormitory stairs.
"It's unimaginable now but it will get better," he reassured them before walking back to his own dormitory.
They crept along the hallway. Even with several rooms occupied by Slytherin girls, half the bedrooms were empty. So few people had stayed behind to guard Hogwarts. Isabella gently sat Alice down on one of the empty beds, deciding they shouldn't disturb any of the rooms that were already occupied. Alice crawled under the sheets. Stupidly, Isabella wished the dungeons weren't flooded so she could get her metal bed warmer but this was absurd—if the dungeons hadn't been flooded, that would have meant the KoboldKönige has never gotten into the school in the first place.
It was too dark to make out Alice's face, but her voice was quiet.
"Where do you think Rose, Scorpius and Albus went?" she asked.
Isabella paused for a moment, wondering if Scorpius or Rose had ever mentioned a plan to her. She pulled back the quilts and snuck into the bed beside Alice, her cold feet brushing along the other girl's bare legs. She wrapped an arm around her protectively.
"I think," Isabella said, feigning confidence, "that they're going after Romnuk. In fact, I know Rose will. Rose is hell-bent on killing him."
"Good," Alice whispered softly. "I want him dead."
"You will spare me?" Romnuk repeated, dubious. The words hardly escaped the harshness of his throat. The very fact he was saying them out loud was humiliating.
As if to make a point, both Scorpius and Rose lowered their wands.
They could see him thinking frantically, trying to work out how this was a trap.
"I loathe you," Rose said, her voice even. "But I don't want to see any more people die. If you strike a deal with us, we will guarantee our protection by helping you become king."
"How?"
"We will give you the Sword of Gryffindor," Albus replied, performing the final charm on Romnuk's hand. He did not know how to regrow bone, but he had healed the stump so it would no longer bleed. It was enough to keep Romnuk alive and he seemed aware that this was a part of their peace offering.
"But first, we need to know what happened to your sister," Scorpius said. "Is she dead?"
"No," Romnuk grunted. "She is still the greatest metal smith alive. She mines fine minerals and then crafts weapons for our army with the other slaves."
"So she's a slave?" Rose confirmed.
"You will need to kill her after you kill your brother," Scorpius said.
Romnuk grew uneasy again.
"I don't care if she's your greatest metal smith," Scorpius said impatiently. "She is a symbol of further uprisings—we never want this to happen again."
Whether he liked what they were saying or not, he knew they were right. He had no other options. They had killed the Kobold Könige and they still had the Sword. If he refused, he did not imagine he would get out of this glade alive. His chances of escape were slim, and even if it were possible to get past them, he had no place left to turn.
It was all or nothing.
"I want the Sword now."
"You will get the sword only when we get our treaty."
"Then how will I kill my brother—"
"With your mallet. With poison. However you want to kill him. We will even help you," Rose said. "But you only get the Sword when we get the treaty."
They could see him slotting together the pieces of his plan. He would take them to the Goblin Kingdom. Romnuk would find a way to dispose of his brother. Then, as King, he would grant these three young humans immunity and sign their treaty. With his sister then dead and no threat that the wizards would ever attack in retribution—they were too weak at this point for that to be an immediate concern—he would not need Morgana as a metal-smith. He truly would have won.
"You have my word," he finally decided, nodding at them.
But the three young humans were not looking at him. Their eyes darted above his head, searching the trees bordering the clearing. They immediately pointed their wands and Romnuk turned, clutching his mallet clumsily in his left hand.
A barrage of arrows arced suddenly through the trees and with only a moment's notice, Albus flung up a protective charm. The arrows clattered off it and fell to the forest floor. He didn't remove the charm, although it flickered precariously.
A herd of male centaurs emerged, their bows still in hand. They were furious, pawing the ground and snorting in derision.
"How dare you!" their leader roared, tossing his head. "You come here, to our ancestral cemetery, where our chieftess rests, and you bring this—" he snorted, rearing up on his hind legs again, "—this monster."
Romnuk snarled, raising his mallet. Logically, he knew he stood no chance against the centaurs. If the three young wand bearers left him, he would not survive their retribution. Still, he felt no fear.
"How can you harm us in the light of the Refuge Tree?" Rose said quickly.
"The tree belongs to ourherd," another centaur scowled. "She will cast her protection on us, always. You are our enemies."
"No!" Albus insisted. "We don't want to bring you any harm—"
The centaurs roared in response once more, galloping forward and stomping at the soil.
"You have brought us calamity! We will slaughter you and let your blood feed our forest—you, who burned her to the ground! We heard you—you will work with this goblin. Traitorous beasts!"
They were beginning to back away now. Scorpius also raised his wand, adding a second Shield Charm around them. The light of the tree pulsed in the air. Albus grabbed hold of Romnuk and dragged him back with him. They were still too close to the school's boundaries to Apparate. They needed to run.
"But don't you see?" Rose pleaded, stalling for time. "This is a part of your prophecy—"
"There is no prophecy!" their leader roared. "Such arrogant humans! The stars do forecast the future. For centuries we have know that the descendants of former enemies will unite against a new adversary—you have taken it into your own hands!"
While this assertion would have cause Rose to puzzle, she didn't have time to think about it. Instead she called, "Now!" and raised her wand as the two boys' lowered an awful sucking sound, the soil around the base of the tree turned to a sticky mulch, startling the Centaurs backwards. They tried to charge forward but started to sink deeper into the soil, as if caught in quicksand.
They turned to run but Rose felt something seize her legs and fell backwards with a sharp knock to her head. He head spun for a moment and she wasn't sure what had happened until something thick and rough slithered over her torso and pushed her into the soil.
The Refuge Tree had come to life. Its thick roots were writhing across the forest floor like tentacles. Romnuk had harmed the Centaurs and the tree was protecting its herd.
Before she had a chance to even cry out, Romnuk stood above her and raised his mallet in his left hand. She closed her eyes tightly, picturing the way he had brought it down mercilessly on Meredith's skinny legs. But she didn't feel her bones crack. Instead, she felt the weight of the roots slithering away. Romnuk hacked at them again until she was free then dragged her upright.
Rose spared a look over her shoulder. The roots of the tree had wound around the Centaurs and were pulling them out of the thick quicksand pit. Soon, they would also be free. They needed to move.
"Rose!" Albus yelled. "Let's go!"
They turned and began to run.
As soon as they left the glade they were plunged into darkness again. Their wand lights dizzyingly pointed towards the thick carpet of leaves and fallen branches, trying to watch their steps as they ran towards the edge of the forest. The mountains acted as their compass, drawing them further from the school. They could hear the centaurs charging after them, their hooves slamming the ground as they sprinted.
"Wait!" Scorpius yelled, but a beat too slow. A loud pop split the air and Albus shrieked in agony. They skidded to a stop, wands pointing down to shine a spotlight on blood and torn jeans and brightly spotted mushrooms in the dirt, some the size of their palms.
"This whole path is filled with Bursting Mushrooms," Scorpius said, pointing his wand onwards. "We need to find another way. Al, how's your leg?"
The centaurs were still stampeding closer. Tears streaked down Albus' faces but he nodded quickly. "I can walk on it," he said, breathing hard. "I don't think I trod on one directly."
But they wouldn't be able to out run the centaurs now. Not with Albus' leg bleeding.
"I have an idea," Rose said. "Get behind these trees."
They extinguished their wands. Their eyes adjusted to the dark slowly, so that the shadowy outline of the trees took shape. They held their breath as the centaurs came upon them, snorting hard and padded throughout the trees searchingly. They were only feet away. And then, when Rose was sure they stood on the same path they had just taken cover from, she aimed her wand at the ground and silently cast a Blasting Curse.
Like a row of landmines, the mushrooms began to pop and explode. Pained whinnies wracked the air and the centaurs stamped away, yelling out to the herd that was following them to go a different way. When the air became still again, the herd's voices echoing now from the distance, Rose wrapped an arm around Albus and they continued towards the mountains as quickly as they could, Scorpius and Romnuk behind them. Albus' breath was strained, whistling from behind clenched teeth.
"We're almost there," she persisted. But it felt as if they had been limping along for an eternity. Albus came to a halt.
"The Mushrooms are poisonous," Scorpius said, leaning down to check purulent wounds on her cousin's leg.
"I don't think I can Apparate," Albus added through gritted teeth.
They could see the tree-line thinning. They were outside of the school's boundaries.
"I'll side-alone Apparate with you," Rose said, feeling the panic beginning to flutter. "Scorpius— you can take Romnuk."
"Rose—" he said, his voice high. "I've never been able to Apparate—"
"You can do this," she insisted, labouring under Albus' weight.
"No, Rose! I can't."
She froze for a moment, her brain turning sluggishly as she supported Albus' weight. It all seemed impossible now—impossibly far, impossibly dangerous. She turned to Romnuk resentfully.
"How do we get to the Goblin Kingdom? Where is it?"
"Trolltunga," he panted.
"What?"
"Norway," he said, his brow creasing as he squinted in the beam of her wand. "In Norway."
Rose would never be able to Apparate them to Norway. It wasn't just the distance either—it was not possible to Apparate over another country's borders, she was certain. Not without a Ministry permit. Even if she had tried, she might very well end up in the sea between their two coastlines.
She tried to picture a map of Scottland in her mind. The peak of the mainland pointed up towards Norway over a huge body of blue as the North Sea and Norwegian Sea met somewhere in the middle. She tried to hold the vision in her mind but the shape seemed murky. All that mattered was that she visualised the place with complete focus.
"Grab hold of me," she said, her throat feeling tight. "All of you."
She was still supporting Albus, his weight becoming heavier by the minute. Scorpius wrapped an arm around her waist and Romnuk offered her his stump of a hand—she resisted the urged to shrink away from him, instead gripping it tightly. Before she even turned, she could feel their weight anchoring her behind. She focused as hard as she could on the tip of Scotland and allowed herself to be swallowed into the disturbing lurch of time and space.
As soon as they hit the ground, she knew something hadn't gone right. There was a cry of pain behind her. There was no light other than the dim twinkle of the stars. She grappled to check that her mother's handbag was strapped across her torso and that she still gripped her wand. After ascertaining these two most important facts, she stumbled to her feet.
The North Sea frothed in the darkness, crashing distantly against the cliffs. The air was frigid and cold, whipping her hair around her face and eyes. Hoping that their location was remote enough that no muggles would spot them, she raised her wand high.
"Lumos Maxima," she said, flinging the light around them so it transformed into several hovering orbs. They all adjusted to the brightness.
The skin of Albus leg had purpled and bubbled, swelling rapidly. His face was ashen. Rose was opening the handbag to retrieve an antidote when Romnuk grunted behind her.
"You better deal with him first."
Rose turned and felt as if she had Apparated again, although she certainly hadn't moved. Her stomach had lurched in the most unpleasant way, as if it had tumbled out of her and hit the ground below. Scorpius was on his side, gasping in agony. His ash blond hair and pale skin gleamed slick scarlet. For a moment, she thought perhaps Romnuk had hacked into his face but the hammer was several feet away hidden in long grass.
"He's been splinched," Albus said through gritted teeth.
She stood there, her ears ringing.
The side of Scorpius' face was missing. His ear was gone. She could see the teeth and bone sitting behind his exposed mandible. Blood drenched the collar of his shirt, soaking it red.
"Give me the bag, Rose."
She handed Albus the beaded bag. He stuck his wand into the opening of the purse and Summoned a small bottle of Deflating Draught, which he quickly sculled. He threw the bottle aside and dragged himself over to Scorpius' body, tilting his bloody face toward him. Scorpius screamed out in pain. The sound was engulfed by the wind.
"Can-can you fix it?" Rose gasped, blinking back tears.
Albus ran his wand over Scorpius' jaw. The deep, spiralling wounds around his ear and skull began to close. Rose could see his exposed muscles twitching as new skin began to extend. It was as if someone had scooped his flesh away cleanly like ice-cream. His face had turned ghostly white in the spectral light and he seemed close to fainting.
"I don't think he's lost any bones. Get me essence of dittany."
Rose retrieved the second phial with a Summoning Charm. She uncorked it and handed it to Albus.
"What else can I do?" she asked desperately.
Albus didn't look up at her but gestured with his head towards his leg. "Can you syphon the poison out?"
The wind roared, buffeting them in great flurries. Rose dropped to her knees beside Albus. The swelling of his leg had gone down considerably since he had consumed the potion, yet the purple boils still bloomed along his skin. Rose poked her wand against each boil until it burst. Then, she syphoned the thick pus from the boils. It must have been incredibly painful, but Albus continued to work through a grimace.
Even after everything had gone wrong when she tried to drown Romnuk, she had still felt invincible. Her belief in the prophecy made her think that she would get to the Goblin Kingdom no matter what happened. But confronted with yet another sobering grievance, she remembered the centaur's cruel words—that the prophecy was not about them at all. That they were not somehow chosen to do this—that they were vulnerable.
"Romnuk," Albus barked, not looking up from his friend's face. "Go ahead and see if there's anywhere we can get shelter."
Romnuk was subdued. Rose didn't want to deal with him while a crisis unfolded. The fact he had saved her life back in the centaur's glade made her head swim. She still loathed him.
"I cannot see in the dark," Romnuk grunted. It was another embarrassing reminder that he had no idea how to use the wand in his belt.
Despite trembling from the shock, Rose conjured a glass jar and conjured her blue flames. She handed it over to Romnuk and pointed him out towards the direction of the sea. He blinked at them uneasily, his dark beetle eyes giving nothing away. Then he turned and began to trudge towards the sound of the sea. He had to leave the hammer behind, unable to carry both his weapon and the jar with his single hand.
Scorpius' milky skin had turned a sickly grey. She fished for the bag again, using her wand to Summon a bottle of Blood-Replenishing Potion. They were going through almost their entire potion inventory but Rose didn't care. She shuffled around and raised Scorpius' head so it rested on her thighs. With trembling fingers, she unstoppered the phial and tilted Scorpius' head back, tipping the potion down his throat.
"Damn it," Albus muttered as Scorpius choked down the potion.
"What?"
He gave Rose a sharp side-long glance. "It's just—when he opened his mouth I've realised he's lost a lot of his tongue, too."
"His tongue?"
"It's alright," Albus said quickly. "His skull is in tact. No bone missing."
"This is my fault."
"Shut up," he retorted. "That isn't going to help us."
She clutched Scorpius' hand tightly between her hands, his skin clammy and cold. His eyes fluttered open slowly, his lashes batting like moths wings. The right side of his face was a raw butcher's mess but his eyes were still clear and grey.
"Hey," she gasped, tears spilling over from her eyes again. She clutched his hand more tightly. "You're okay. You'll be fine. I'm so sorry. Albus is fixing you up now."
But she didn't believe it until Albus said it himself. "He'll be alright. He just lost a lot of blood. He'll need to rest. We need to get somewhere sheltered."
The wind continued to whistle and whip fiercely against their hair and clothes, snapping the fabric like flags of valediction. Rose tried to shelter Scorpius with her body, crouching over him. Whatever warmth was left leeched away.
They saw Romnuk returning, the bobbing blue flames casting a little corona of light around his grizzly complexion. He nodded back where he had come from.
"There is an empty building up ahead," he said.
Rose never thought she would be relieved to see Romnuk the Rough in all her life.
"Help me lift Scorpius," she said. To her surprise, he complied.
The howl of the wind whistled beneath the door of Duncansby Head lighthouse. They were boiling one of the cans of soup bought earlier that day from the supermarket. The creamy smell of vegetables was almost worth salivating over. The three teenagers and one goblin huddled around the magical fire, which flickered in the otherwise cool and draughty building.
As the lighthouse was fully automated, theotiosemechanics sat like relics. Occasionally they clinked in the currents of cool air, setting them all on edge.
"We should take turns sleeping," Rose said after they had finished their soup. The other three looked dreadful. Both Scorpius and Romnuk were healing from their injuries. Albus' leg was almost back to normal but was still looking discoloured and enflamed.
Rose was finding it impossible to look at Scorpius. Every time he tried to catch her eye she quickly busied herself with the fire or the food. His parlour was still bleached from the blood-loss and he had a thick rag, drenched in dittany essence, carefully bandaged around the right side of his face. If she looked at him, he would see the horror in her expression and she couldn't bare him to read that look.
"Sleep," she insisted. She Summoned sleeping bags from her mother's purse. The wind continued to beat the lighthouse, rattling the windows with vehemence and the fire was not enough to keep them warm.
Scorpius was watching her but she didn't return the gaze, despite feeling its weight. She could tell he desperately wanted to say something but he couldn't speak with so much of his tongue splinched. After a while, he turned away from her and slid into his sleeping bag.
Rose removed herself from the group and sat at the door with her wand in her hand. She nodded off more than once, jerking awake drowsily each time.
The others remained asleep. Romnuk was furthest away. Curled up on his side, his mallet beside him. He had wrapped an arm around it, the way a child may wrap an arm around a toy. He was utterly vulnerable. Rose could slit his throat now without any resistance. It would be so easy.
She nodded off again, her chin drooping to her chest and this time she slept. There was no telling for how long or how deeply. The wind still howled and she heard it in her dreams but at times it sounded like a scream—almost like Meredith's scream as a hammer crunched down on bones. It howled the way she had howled in the Prefect's Bathroom, washing blood off her back.
Sensing someone close to her, she jerked awake and raised her wand. Albus crouched next to her, his face tense and shoulders bunched. She could see the sleep in his eyes from the light of the blue fire in the jar beside her.
She sighed in relief and cast a look over his shoulder. Romnuk still slept.
"No one is chasing us, Rose," Albus said quietly. "There's no reason to keep watch."
She didn't say anything at first. Instead, she twirled her wand between her hands.
Albus nodded slowly, then clucked his tongue once. Softly.
"You're worried to sleep beside Romnuk."
"I don't trust him," she whispered fiercely.
Albus nodded generously, as if to say of course. He leaned against the doorframe opposite her so they faced one another. He rubbed his eyes and stretched out his leg gingerly. Rose cringed as he prodded some of the deflated boils.
He had been an absolute hero amid it all. Not once did he lose his cool while healing Scorpius' wounds, not even when she had to extol the poison from his leg.
"C'mon, it's not that bad. Imagine if he had splinched his whole head," Albus jested.
For the first time since they got into the lighthouse Rose was able to look at Scorpius. He had lost his ear, tongue and jaw because of her. She hadn't been able to carry their weight.
"It's not your fault," Albus said firmly. "Don't blame yourself."
"I shouldn't have tried Apparating with three other people."
"You didn't have a choice."
Rose could feel tears glistening in her eyes. What she would have given to be back in that supermarket, dancing beside the can foods with him.
"I don't want to try regrowing his tongue just yet," Albus said. "I did an alright job patching his face but he'll need a few days to recover."
"Do you think it can be done? Regrow his tongue, I mean?"
Albus was silent for a moment. He stared over at Scorpius. Rose hadn't had a proper look at her boyfriend's face before Albus had bandaged it. She didn't know what was under there.
"Tongue and mouth injuries bleed a lot because of how much blood supply that area gets," Albus said slowly, winding around the question. "Generally, head injuries are quite dangerous for that reason. He had already lost too much blood so the best option was to just seal the wound on his tongue so I could fix his face."
"But you can regrow it?"
Albus turned back to her. His face was pale.
"I've never tried to regrow a tongue, Rose."
She didn't respond. It was not the answer she wanted. His tone was so sharp she was worried he would snap at her. However, after reading the look on her face, he sighed heavily and relented.
"I've only practiced re-growing skin and muscles. I can definitely regrow his ear," he became thoughtful now. She could tell he was visualising exactly how to perform the magic. "It's just cartridge and he didn't lose much of it. His tongue is more complicated. I'd have to sever it again to be able to reproduce the nerves and I don't want to risk him losing more blood. And I also don't know if I can do it."
Several selfish thoughts rushed through Rose's head. The first was that she needed Scorpius to have a tongue, for how could they ever kiss properly without it? It was such an absurd thing to think that she flushed at the thought. Then, even worst than this initial intrusion was he's the one with the plan.
Scorpius had briefly explained how the Stone would be used. Yet, due to his usual haughtiness, he had insisted that he didn't need to go into details. When the time came, he would instruct them further. Now, without any capacity to share the details of his plan, he was leaving a great deal of their fate up to Rose and Albus.
Then, of course, she felt guilty again. He had almost died. He was disfigured and weakened. It was her fault.
But she wouldn't allow herself to dwell on that guilt. She placed the blame on Romnuk instead. It was his fault that the village and forest had been razed, that the centaurs had attacked, and it was his added weight that had caused their splinching disaster. Romnuk was responsible for the growing number of people she cared about who had been maimed, injured or killed.
Albus reached across the doorframe and took her arm tightly in his. He knew that she was spiralling and his expression simple read: don't.
"I'll keep an eye on Romnuk," he said, settling in now with his wand. "Get a few hours of sleep."
Rose leaned forward to hug Albus tightly. He still smelt strongly of smoke, a deep woody scent that seared her nose. At least it concealed the smarting smell of earthy dittany and metallic blood.
She crawled over to where Scorpius was curled up beneath his blanket and tucked herself against him, wrapping an arm gently around him as to be sure that she didn't wake him. She felt the pulse of his heart through his body and drifted off content that he was alive.
Still, she kept dreaming that Romnuk was standing over her with his hammer raised, ready to strike.
Morning turned the clouds a warm pink as seagulls swooped and dipped in the cool current of eddies. Rose stood on the edge of the steep cliff. The North Sea stretched towards the horizon, steel grey chop churning below. They would somehow need to cross that body of water to get to Norway.
In all their preparations before leaving Hogwarts, Rose had never once thought about where the Goblin Kingdom was or how they were supposed to get there.
She trudged back to the lighthouse, the wind tugging on her red hair.
Romnuk was tending to a can of muggle beans over their magical fire. Albus was kneeling over Scorpius. He had lifted the bandage over Scorpius' face but was crouched in such a way that blocked Rose's view of the injuries. She moved around to see but Albus had already lowered the bandage again.
"How're you feeling?" Rose asked tenderly.
Scorpius made a muted, moaning sound.
"I've regrown his ear," Albus said, doing his best to sound chipper. "He needs rest and food. Ideally, some red meat after all that blood loss."
"I can set traps," Romnuk suggested, turning from the beans. He smiled coldly.
Rose stared into his beady eyes. The lines around his brows were creased and scissored with faint blue tattoos, like the grid on a map. He was toying with her, waiting for her permission but knowing that she really had no choice but to agree. They needed him more than they wanted to admit. He was their way to the Goblin Kingdom.
Rose nodded once, curtly. Romnuk stood and took to the crates and old fishing lines that were piled up in the corner of the lighthouse and began to sift through the debris.
Things were grim. Scorpius did not look good at all. The bandage covering the right side of his face smelt strongly of dittany. His palour was still ashen and she was afraid of what his face looked like under dressings. They may be stuck here longer than they anticipated. Rose took out her wand and set about casting Muggle-repelling enchantments on the lighthouse, kicking herself that she hadn't already done this. Scorpius would have remembered to, if he had been in any fit state.
After a breakfast of canned beans, mushed to make it easier for Scorpius to chew, they began to take stock. Albus carefully removed the potion kit from Hermione's beaded bag and began to check what was still left—they had used a number of the phials the night before, which did not bode well for the rest of the journey. Romnuk sat by the fire with a spool of clear fishing line. He held one end of the line fast between his teeth, carefully twisting strands of it together with his remaining hand to make the cordage stronger. There was a bitter taste in Rose's mouth that she couldn't seem to dislodge.
"The Goblin Kingdom is in Norway," she said.
Romnuk only grunted, not looking up from his work.
"Will it be possible to take the train?"
He did not reply, continue with the fishing line. Rose and Albus shared a look. It was important that Rose maintained her authority but pushing Romnuk felt like the wrong move. She waited for him to finish, tying the end of the line up and then picking it out of his teeth.
"No," he finally said. "The train goes under the sea through a tunnel. Once we get to Bergen, we can follow the tracks from where the tunnel emerges."
"How do we get to Bergen?"
Romnuk shrugged nonchalantly with his head. He returned to the fishing line, clearly pleased by how unhelpful he was being.
Rose sat there thinking for a moment. She leaned forward and snatched up Scorpius' nearby jacket. It was still covered in blood. She took out her wand and vanished the unwelcome reminder of the previous night. Then she carefully checked the pockets until she found the little black book.
Surely her former Slytherin council could offer some insight into what she should do next. She discretely pocketed it and her wand.
"I'm going to head into the nearest town," she said. "There must be a library or tourist place or something where I can ask for ways to get to Norway. Will you three be alright on your own?"
She hated leaving Albus alone with Romnuk when Scorpius was so weak. But then, it was Albus who had reclaimed the Sword of Gryffindor. And it was Albus who had healed both Romnuk and Scorpius. He was more capable than she gave him credit for.
He seemed to be reading the worry on her face. He flicked his wand and Summoned Scorpius' brassy gold mirror.
"Take the mirror," Albus suggested. "In case you need me."
Rose set off for the nearest town, even though she had no idea where the nearest town was. She snuck out of the lighthouse and began to walk away from the cliff side. As she did, she noticed a group of muggles standing by a sign with a historic commentary of the lighthouse's significance. She was flooded by relief that she had placed all sorts of charms on their hiding spot—the muggles wouldn't be able to get past that sign without being hit by a sense of confusion and the sudden urge to return home.
She thought about trying to skirt away when an idea struck her. She approached them, waving awkwardly as she did before quickly crossing her arms across her body to retain any warmth left in her.
They were a family of four. A middle aged couple—a pudgy woman with a thick woolly scarf and a tall lanky spectacled man. They reminded her of her paternal grandparents with a bit of a twinge. Their children were young teenagers, booth bleary eyes and clearly not pleased to be awake so early.
"Would you like me to take a photo of the four of you?" Rose offered kindly.
"Oh, thank you," the woman gushed, moving forward to offer a small, rectangular digital camera. Rose stood back to click a photo of them with the lighthouse behind, the sky now a pale blue.
"Lovely spot for a sunrise, isn't it?" she said as she handed the camera over.
"We do love it here," the man replied, smiling warmly. "Mind, the kids aren't pleased to be up this early."
She could tell. They looked filthy.
She wondered how she could ask them where the nearest town was without seeming completely bonkers. It had been a long time since Rose had needed to switch on the charm.
"You wouldn't happen to be heading back into town, would you?" she asked.
"We were going to get some breakfast John o' Groats," the man said. Then, following a quick look from his wife that clearly said this young woman is all alone and shouldn't be left here.
"Are you alright, dear? Do you need a lift?"
Rose sat between the two teenagers on the short five-minute drive back to the tiny village of John o' Groats. It was one of the smallest and most depressing towns she had ever visited. It consisted of a whitewashed one-story motel called the Seaview that featured a picnic table in the parking lot, a single shop, a few multi-coloured houses on the water and a great deal of farmland.
They dropped her at the petrol station. She waved them off with relief and then trudged up to the hotel, hoping they could at least offer her some guidance. She paused for a moment at the front door, where a plastic Christmas wreath had been hung, and wondered for a moment exactly what the date was. She had forgotten they had already entered December. So used to Christmas being a time of family arguments over who would host festivities, it had slipped her mind that it was approaching.
She rang the bell at the front desk several times but no one came to greet her. Sliding her hand into her pocket to clutch her wand, she moved over to a revolving steel stand full of tourist pamphlets. One immediately stood out to her:
John O'Groats Ferries
She snatched up a couple of the brochures and took another that had a map she could fold out. There was clanking somewhere far off, possibly in a kitchen beyond the doily covered dining room, so Rose slid back outside into the brisk air and sat down at the picnic table in the parking lot to consult her pamphlets.
There was simply no way to get from John o' Groats to Norway. The ferry would only take them so far as Orkney. Even if they managed to sneak on a ferry with a goblin, she would still need to travel through Scotland's Northern Isles and then further still, through empty waters, before reaching Bergen. Should she work out a way to cross their borders without the necessary documentation, Apparition over any body of water seemed unwise, especially after Scorpius was so badly injured.
Feeling as if she had hit a wall, she slid out the Serpent Bearer's little black book. She thumbed the pages thoughtfully. Scorpius had spent so much time using it, hoarding it even. She hadn't consulted that pool of voices in a while.
She poised with her pen over a blank page, considering what she would write. Oddly, she felt self conscious that the many voices in that book would judge her lack of wile and creativity. Taking a breath, she wrote:
I am stuck at the top of Scotland and need to get to Norway. I don't have an international permit to Apparate. I don't have a broom. I need suggestions.
She sat there waiting for a moment as the ink was absorbed into the page. There was quite a long pause before anything appeared on the page.
Why are you trying to get to Norway?
Rose clicked her pen restlessly. Was it strange to receive a question in return for her question?
A second line in a very different set of handwriting appeared: Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?
She pursed her lips, thinking miserably of Scorpius' mangled face and the murderous goblin they had promised the Sword of Gryffindor to and the Centaurs that had chased them down and wondered how she could ever explain their situation to a sentient book of esteemed Slytherins.
I need suggestions, not an inquisition, she wrote.
She waited impatiently for a response, clicking her pen again. Half a minute passed without a response and she wondered if perhaps her consuls would refuse to respond. As the desperation began to give way to panic, looping script appeared across the page, unspooling like spider-web. At first, she could not decipher it for it so closely resembled runes. Yet the magic of the book triumphed and the ink began to move around the page to reassemble into sentences she could understand.
You are best to visit the Selkies of Orkney, gentle creatures who will offer safe passage through the Northern Isles. You will be able to speak with them only on the solstice. This is where they shed their skins and join man on land.
The cold was pricking Rose's face and turning her fingers to ice. She fumbled to write but everything she attempted was illiterate. With deep breaths, she steadied herself.
How do I find them?
She waited with bated breath as the words unscrambled once more into discernable text.
You will find them on the shores of Dingieshowe. They are the friends of Merlin and will proffer aid.
Albus gently pulled back the bandages wrapping the right side of Scorpius' face. Their potion supplies were scarce and he was conscious of the unquantifiable unknown that crouched ahead. If he used the rest of their healing balms now, what would happen if they desperately needed them on the journey to the Goblin Kingdom? This logic felt callous when he could see that Scorpius was still in pain and not healing as quickly as he would have hoped.
Albus decided to leave the potions. He would go over the wounds with another healing incantation instead. Best to play it safe.
Not for the first time since their arrival, Albus was quietly grateful that there weren't any mirrored surfaces in the lighthouse. Scorpius has always had delicate almost effeminate features. His sharp nose, cherub lips. Now his lip pulled into a twisted and scarred grimace to one side. His jaw was no longer gruesomely exposed, but should he open his mouth, most of his tongue was missing.
"You might want to try talking," Albus suggested.
Scorpius' grey eyes were flat. He was not usually verbose, no. If it had been Rose forced into silence she would have lost her mind. She had no control when it came to communicating, speaking without filter. Still, not being able to contribute to their plans was hurting him. He resented being voiceless.
"Just try."
Scorpius sighed and tried to speak. It was almost speech, a sort of muted and muffled version of speech where consonance and vowels were smothered against the roof of his mouth. He might've said I eat robes, aching so longor rye is hose making so gong.
"She'll be on her way back soon," Albus replied, knowing that the only thing Scorpius was concerned about in that moment was that Rose had been missing for almost the entire day. "If there was an emergency, she'd contact us with the mirror."
Albus wasn't worried - they had survived much, much worse than any danger a small muggle village could pose. Rose didn't have a watch on her. She probably had lost track of the time. Whatever the case, he hoped she would return with inspiration and a way to get to Norway.
Scorpius pointed at his tongue. The impatience in his gesture conveyed his message without words.
"I'm sorry, I can't regrow your tongue. I'd need to cut what's left of it off to regrow it properly and I've never done that before. Too much of a gamble, mate."
Scorpius turned away in frustration. Albus assumed that this reaction was due to his inability to restore the injuries, but Scorpius was more annoyed that he couldn't quip back, "all you lot ever do is gamble, couldn't you give it a go?"
Instead, Scorpius picked up the bandages and scoured them clean with his wand. There was no more potion to soak over his wounds so no need to reapply the dressings. He considered wrapping his head again, like an Egyptian mummy, merely to hide his face from Rose. He couldn't stand the look of guilt that oozed from her. He didn't care that his face was scarred - it didn't matter and those sorts of things could be fixed down the track by an experienced Healer. It wasn't as if he had cursed wounds. He was frustrated that he couldn't tell her to stop fretting, to get on with things. They needed to get to Norway as quickly as possible, while they still had the momentum.
The door opened and the two men turned in expectation, but it wasn't Rose. Romnuk stood framed by the wide doorway, holding a skinned hare by the ears.
"Traps worked a treat, as you say. We have dinner."
Behind him, they could see it was beginning to get dark. Clouds were brewing and with both nightfall and a storm approaching, Scorpius grew more agitated.
He nodded towards the door as Romnuk shut it behind him.
"I did not see her," Romnuk grunted. He limped over to them both. "Best to roast this."
It was lucky that Scorpius' non-verbal magic was so advanced. He started a fire easily and set the rabbit over it on a thin rod. The smell of the cooking meat filled the cold lighthouse with warmth. Above, the automated light whirled to life. It began to project its penetrating beam out across the steely wave. The rain had set in, coming down hard and cold.
The door banged open, the wind suddenly shrill as it whipped through the room. Rose wrenched the door shut behind her. She was using her wand as an umbrella and extinguished the charm with a flourish. Still, she was bedraggled and damp. Her face was pink and her nails blue.
"I think it might snow," she said. Strangely, she was holding a large suitcase in her hand as if she was about to head away on a holiday.
"What've you got there?" Albus frowned.
She held it up. "Stole it."
The hare was ready. They left Romnuk to carefully serve it. Rose was busy unzipping the suitcase. It was almost empty inside—Rose reassured them she had stolen it from the shed of a farm and it had mostly been filled with cobwebs. The only things in it seemed to have been collated by Rose that day; a collection of pamphlets and a map.
"Once I thought up the plan, the suitcase was hard to find."
"And what's the plan?"
Rose steadied herself. She shuffled closer to the fire and gratefully accepted some of the shredded meat from the hare. She avoided looking at them all.
"There's a ferry we can take to Kirwall. From there, it's not a long walk to Dingieshowe beach. We'll meet some selkies there who will give us passage across to Bergen."
Scorpius shook his head slowly. Albus was the only one who could verbalise their disbelief, so he did. "Selkies?"
"Yes. We're lucky. Or maybe it's not luck, maybe it's all in the stars or whatever," she flipped her wrist in a vertical direction to dismiss the thought. "But the selkies only shed their skins during the solstice. Twice a year. The winter solstice is only four days away."
They sat in silence. She and Romnuk continued to chew on their gamey meal. The two young men did not speak. They mulled the plan over. After a minute, Scorpius gestured to Romnuk.
"I know," Rose said, nodding. "He poses a problem. How to get him onto the ferry without the muggles seeing. That's why I got the suitcase."
Romnuk's stubby fingers, pinched around the hare meat, were held halfway to his mouth. He was not amused by this suggestion. "You plan to put me into that fabric container?"
"We'll put an Undetectable Extension Charm on it so you can fit inside more comfortably."
"That's really advanced magic, Rose."
"Well, lucky you're really advanced at Charms," she replied.
They all stared at her. Even Romnuk was unimpressed by his role in their great escape to Norway. Even to her own ears, now that she was voicing her day's work out loud, it sounded wild and impracticable but she didn't care. No one else offered a solution and they needed to strike quickly, while the iron was hot, while the Goblin King had no militia and no time to rebuild. If they wasted any time, they would miss the winter solstice and their chance to cross the sea.
"We leave day after tomorrow," she said decisively.
The automated beam of the lighthouse continued its carousel twirl, revolving out over the freezing black water like a ghost gliding through the night and the four of them began to plan.
A/N: All you need to know about me is that I have an obsession with greenhouses and lighthouses. Enjoy my darlings! Thank you for the reviews :)