Chapter 16

Classes resumed for Rose the next day. It had been hard enough getting through the questioning the day before. Rose couldn't even think about school that day. She could have dealt with her classmate's stares and covert glances, but there was no way she would have been able to concentrate on her schoolwork. After she fled up to her old Gryffindor room, Rose slammed the door close and threw herself down on the bed. Everything that had happened was just too much for her and her brain couldn't take it. Rose stayed up there for hours, though she knew that people would start to look for her.

And if she was going to get in trouble, so what. After lying to the Aurors, no one in their right mind would keep her as Head Girl. All those years of waiting to be old enough to be Head Girl just went out the window. And for what? Some boy she had only become friends with this year. She probably just ruined her chances of during an important job after graduation. All for Scorpius.

By now, everyone had heard that she and Scorpius had slept together. It wasn't something she could keep quiet, even if she wanted to. She knew how Hogwarts gossip moved. As soon as something happened, everyone knew before the end of the day. It didn't matter what the subject matter, but the juicer it was, the faster the information spread. She and Scorpius, given their families, have always been top of the gossip scale. Especially after what happened last fall. She couldn't go down and face them all. If her family wanted to see her, them could come and find her.

Rose couldn't handle her family right now. She had no idea what they would think after hearing what she did. To think, yesterday she was worried if they would be on her side after she rejected Lorcan. Now she wondered if any of them would even talk to her. Rose knew her dad wouldn't. Just the way he had looked at her during that interview made her stomach clench. After she told Harry and her father that she had slept with Scorpius, she couldn't even try to make eye contact with them. It was just too embarrassing.

There was a light knock on the door. "Rose?" a tentative voice asked. "May I come in?" The last thing Rose wanted to do was talk to Lily. Lily, though she had her charms, couldn't really help her in this matter. In fact, not one could. After all, who had had their maybe boyfriend accused of murdering his family while they were keeping their night-old relationship a secret? No one. But Lily was the first one to seek her out, so Rose couldn't refuse her.

"Sure. You can come in," Rose said, sitting up from where she had flopped down on her bed.

Lily quietly opened the door, stepped in, and then closed it quickly. "I know you are going through a lot, but I need your help." She glanced at the door as if it was going to open up and swallow her whole.

"Lily, I don't have time for this," Rose replied, crossing her room to push Lily out.

"No Rose!" Lily shouted. Her eyes were wild with a mix of fear and worry. "I need your help."

Normally, Rose would be all up for helping her cousin, but not tonight. "Lily, in case you didn't get the memo, my boyfriend is being accused of murdering his family. I really can't help you with your petty little problem right now, so please just get out."

"But," Lily started as Rose held up her hand.

"Out! Now!"

Lily pushed an opened envelope into Rose's hand. "Read this please! He told me not to tell my dad or family, but I don't know what to do. I figure you might understand why. He is going to kill her!"

Rose's eyes widened at this declaration. "What?" What Lily was saying wasn't making any sense. He is going to kill her? He who? And who is he going to kill? Rose opened the envelope. Out toppled a single piece of parchment.

Miss Potter,

Congratulations on your parents' upcoming divorce. I'm sure your father is just beside himself in wonder of what he has done wrong. Sadly, he will never know the true reason. Your mother, Ginny Potter nee Weasley, has been my puppet for quite some time now. Before, she was just instructed to do some, let's say, harmless damage to your family. Now, however, much more is required from her. I'm afraid you won't be seeing your mother for a while. At least, you won't if you don't follow this very simple and harmless task. And if you ever want to see her again, you better follow these instructions.

You will give a confession to your father, telling him that you were the one that killed the Malfoys. The reason: you were jealous that I was dating your cousin. You meant to kill me also, but I got away. And now you are confessing because your guilty soul can't take it anymore. Yes, you will go to Azkaban for a while, but you are a minor and won't be in there forever. And your mother will be spared. You must do this all in two days times or else bad things will start to happen.

Tell no one, especially your family, of this. I will know. If you do, much worse things will happen. Remember, I am watching.

Give Rose my love.

S. H. M.

Rose felt like fainting again. It was strange. In her whole life, she never had the urge to faint. Suddenly, she wanted to faint twice in one week. And all for the same reason. Scorpius Malfoy had shocked her.

"Oh Merlin," Rose finally whispered, sitting down on her bed. This note proved that Scorpius was hiding something. Something big. It was basically a confession written out. And in Scorpius's handwriting too. There was no doubt in Rose's mind that Scorpius didn't write this. The only question now was what to do. This letter changed everything she thought she knew.

"So Scorpius did kill his family," Rose finally said after calming down. "And this letter proves it."

"What do we do?" Lily begged, leaning down to sit on Rose's bed. "I know I shouldn't have told you, but I figured that he wouldn't get mad at me telling you."

"He won't hurt me," Rose said faintly. "He would never do anything to hurt me. At least that's what he said. Who knows what he actually feels for me." The last part was mostly to herself. So many things were whirling through her head right now. All she wanted to do was curl into a ball and stay that way forever. Or at least until there was a good reason for her to move. Another part of her wanted to storm up to Harry's office and show him the note. A third just wanted to hid the note away forever and damn the consequences. But those situations wouldn't do much good.

The small voice of her cousin creped through her thoughts. "Rose?" Rose looked at her younger cousin. All thoughts of doing nothing evaporated from her mind. She had never seen Lily so miserable, not ever when she found out her parents were getting a divorce. Usually, her cousin was bubbly and full of spirit. Looking at her now was like Lily could never be happy again.

"Rose," Lily asked again, her pale features devoid of any color. "What are we going to do?"

"I can tell you this. You are not going to go through this only. I will not let you go to Azkaban, no matter what happens."

"But how…"

"I don't know yet, but we have to make a list of things we know that are true," Rose stated, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "That's our first step."

"Can we tell anyone?" Lily asked.

"No," Rose said. "At least not right now. We first have to look at all the facts. Remember, anyone could be in on this. Tell no one."

Both girls sat on the edge of Rose's bed silently. Rose summoned two pieces of parchment and two quills from her school bag on the floor. Giving one to Lily, she said, "Write down anything you know about this case. Then compose a list of things your mum and you have discussed in the past year. We have no idea how long this has been going on. All we know is that Scorpius, or however this person is, was the one behind your parents getting a divorce."

"You think it might not be Scorpius?" Lily asked, looking up at Rose like she was five and in need of a hug.

Rose hugged her cousin. "I don't know. I really don't know."

[-**-]

"Is this long enough?" Lily asked Rose a few hours later. "Or should I keep going?"

"We need everything you can remember. Even the meaningless details can make or break this investigation," Rose responded. "But let's take a break."

"Thank Merlin. I thought my hand was going to cramp up," Lily exclaimed, throwing her quill down to lie on the bed.

"Oh hush up," Rose scolded. "You've taken plenty of breaks as it is."

The girls sat, or in Lily's case, laid, for a few minutes in silence. Rose's mind was still turning as she tried to think of everything her and Scorpius had talked about her family over the last year. She was sure she was forgetting things, but at least making this list made her feel like she was doing something productive. She looked over some parts of what she had written so far.

hated my family for years

hated them less since he started dating me

compares himself to Lysander because of their families

commented on how brilliant Nana's food is, even though he has never had some

hates my father

laughs when I tell him about funny family things, especially when they involve my father

doesn't like to talk about Uncle Harry

Aunt Ginny's old Quidditch team isn't his favorite

doesn't like to talk about his family

his family was the reason we broke up

Nothing really struck her as a reason why he want to kill his family and destroy Uncle Harry. Never the less, every detail counted. Skimming her notes, she didn't see anything that put Aunt Ginny and Scorpius's warpath. All they really talked about was her immediate family or his. Rose wasn't even sure if they had ever talked about Ginny. That's what made it all the stranger. "Lily," Rose asked, "can I see your list?"

"It's not don't," Lily warned but handed it over anyways. "I'm not sure how some of this stuff is relevant, but go ahead and look."

Lily's list looked similar to hers, but instead of talking about Scorpius, Lily talked about her mum.

gave me extra muffins on the first day of the new term

had stopped writing letters for a while in November

written more letters this term that in past

has visited Luna's house a least once a week

has been missing Quidditch doesn't like talking about Dad or the divorce

when she mentions Dad, he's always with another person

is thinking about started a garden this spring per Luna's suggestion

doesn't share stories about work

addresses her letters differently

This list was puzzling. Nothing seemed to connect to anything Scorpius. The only thing that Scorpius and Aunt Ginny had in common was Luna's house. Scorpius's best friend, Lysander, was Luna's son. And Ginny spent a lot of her time at Luna's. "Lily?" Rose asked. "How often would your mother talk about visiting Luna before this year?"

"Not a lot," Lily replied, sitting up from Rose's bed. I thought I was kind of weird how much Mum talked about Luna. That's why I put it on the list. Why?"

"Because Luna gives Scorpius and your mum and connecting factor. So now my question is what does Luna have to do with all of this?"

"How do we know she had anything to do with this?" Lily asked.

Pointing to Lily's list, Rose said, "Because while your mum is spending time at Luna's house, Scorpius," now pointing at her list, "is comparing himself to Lysander and his family." The girls were quiet for a while, but deep in thought about how they could be connected.

Rose had to admit, things were not looking good for her family at this moment. Her favorite aunt and uncle were getting a divorce that neither of them wanted, Lily was going to be framed for the Malfoy's death, and she was under scrutiny for lying under oath. And Aunt Ginny might be missing very soon if Lily doesn't do what the killer wants. And nothing she did could change that. But she had to keep trying. She just needed a different perspective on things.

"Lily, could your mum have known who was blackmailing her?"

Lily thought for a second. "It's possible. But even if she did, it's not like she told any of us. I would have remembered."

"Do you know why she stopped writing in November?" Rose asked picking up Lily's list again. "Did she give you a reason?"

"No. She never did. At least not a real reason. She just said she got really busy. But I think that's when she talked to my dad about the divorce. Maybe things were just too busy to write to me," Lily concluded.

"But that doesn't make sense," Rose exclaimed. "Aunt Ginny still wrote you a letter a week even when she was sick in bed or had a crazy deadline. No, this is different. It's like she wanted you to realize something was wrong. I'm sure she knows who was blackmailing her. Now we just have to find out who."

"How do we do that?" Lily asked.

"We talk to Luna. Your mum obviously wants us to or else she wouldn't have mentioned her so many times. Luna has something to do with this, I just know it. How she's connected I don't know, but she is. We need to talk to her."