Chapter 18
While finding Lorcan was easy, finding his brother proved to be difficult. It was a Monday night, but not too late for students to already be in bed. Rose and Lily checked everywhere.
"Maybe he's already in bed," Lily suggested after they checked the Great Hall for the second time. They had checked most of the dungeons, much to Lily's displeasure. She had hated them ever since she had gotten lost on the way to her first potions lesson and ended up being stuck in the dark and dreary dungeons for hours. Looking there for Lysander proved how much she wanted to find him. Because they couldn't go into the Slytherin common room, they had had to wait until a Slytherin came out. Once one did, they asked if Lysander was there, but he wasn't. They had gone to the kitchens, most classrooms, and the astronomy tower, but Lysander was nowhere to be found.
"He's a teenage boy, Lily," Rose said. "It's only a little after 9:30. I'm sure he's out there somewhere."
"I just feel that we have wasted all this time looking for Lysander and it hasn't led to anything," Lily pouted. "We need to do something. I only have one day more!"
"We are doing something. Would you rather we sat around all evening waiting for Luna to answer our letter?" Rose asked. "Come on. Let's check his common room again."
Lily made a noise, but followed Rose down to the dungeons. "I really don't like this," she reminded Rose as the Slytherin common room grew closer. "It's bad enough I was here once tonight. Now I'm done here again. Lysander had better be there."
"I'm sure he will be," Rose said as they reached the common room door. "Now we just have to wait for someone to come out."
As it turned out, the two girls didn't have to wait that long. No sooner as they had stopped at the door when a girl came out alone. Rose recognized her as a second year who had gotten lost her first day of school this year.
"Hi. I'm Rose Weasley. Could you please check if Lysander Scamander is there?"
The girl looked at her with utter disdain. "No. Just cause you're a Weasley doesn't mean I have to do what you say."
"Listen girl," Lily started, but Rose wasn't in the mood for an argument.
Rose cut Lily off by saying, "As Head Girl, I need you to see if Lysander Scamander is in your common room. If he is, you need to bring him to me. That's an order."
The girl grumbled, but went back into her common room. Lily looked at Rose and sat down on the ground. "You should play the Head Girl card more often. It gets people to do things."
"Lily," Rose commented, sitting on the ground next to her, "I'm not going to abuse my powers for evil. This is the first time I've ever done something like that."
"Yeah right," Lily replied, but stayed silent after that.
The girls waited for a couple minutes in silence. Then Lily started up the conversation. "So," she said with a long drawl, "you and Scorpius?"
Rose glared at her cousin, but then saw the little smile on Lily's face, showing that she was kidding. "Yes, Lily, me and Scorpius. What about us?"
"Oh nothing," Lily said singsong-y. "A little birdy just told me that you are no longer a virgin."
Rose couldn't help it. She blushed. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Did you use protection?" Lily asked.
"Of course we did," Rose spewed, but her heart skipped a beat. She was lying. She didn't know if they used protection or not. While she was confident that Scorpius knew the charm, she could remember if he had said it or not. But now, she couldn't help it. What's done was done. Not wanting Lily to ask any more questions about her sex life, she changed the subject. "Everyone just thinks is so important and scandalous because we are a Weasley and a Malfoy."
"And because Scorpius is on a murder charge and is missing right now," Lily replied, changing the conversation.
"That too," Rose agreed. "Sometimes I wonder what it's like to just be normal, you know. To not have to worry about hiding relationships or problems from the press. Like when we were little kids. Life was so much simpler back them."
"I know what you mean," Lily replied. "I wonder if people like me for me, or if they just like me for being Harry Potter's only daughter."
They were quiet for a second. Rose wished this moment could last forever. Not necessarily the circumstances, but just this day with Lily. She missed hanging out with her younger cousin. At times, Rose felt like the only person she could relate to was Lily. She was the only one who understood being the daughter of a member of the Saviors of the Wizarding World. Conversations like these were few, but Rose always treasured them.
"You needed me?" a voice rang out in the corridor.
Rose looked up from where she was sitting and saw Lysander standing there. She quickly got up and dusted off her skirt while Lily did the same.
"Yes," Rose replied. "I need to talk to you."
"As the Head Girl?" He asked doubtfully.
"No," Rose said with a slight blush. "No that was just to get that girl to go get you. I just need to ask you some things about your mum and Lorcan."
"Why don't you just talk to Lorcan?" Lysander asked with a slight sigh. "You two are much close to each than we are."
"We've already talked to him," Lily said. "But he wasn't very helpful. He didn't want to help us."
"I wonder why," Lysander said under his breath, but the girls still heard it. Rose blushed again, getting what he was hinting at. "Do we have to do this here?"
"No," Rose said. "We can go to another classroom but you have to answer."
"Fine," Lysander scowled. "It's not like I was doing anything important right now." He stormed off to the right with Lily and Rose following him.
They stopped at an empty room near the potions classroom. Lysander walked through the door, then turned around. Glaring, he asked Rose and Lily, "Well?"
"What we ask you and what you tell us can't leave this room," Rose started out.
"Whatever," Lysander said as he sat on the edge of a desk. "What do you want to know?"
"How close would you say you are to Lorcan?" Rose started off easily. By studying his reaction, she should be able to find a line a questioning that will give her what she wanted. And by asking about Lorcan, she could see if her hunch was right about him being jealous. "I know you were close when you were younger, but how close would you say you are now?"
"Bloody hell," Lysander muttered as he ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know. I guess not as close as we used to be. But it's not like we are strangers. We still help each other out with things and stuff. He's helping me out right now. Why do you want to know about him?"
Lysander didn't seem opposed to talking about Lorcan, but that didn't mean the jealousy wasn't there. And maybe Lysander wasn't aware of the tension. "We're just worried about him, that's all," Rose said, glancing at Lily. "He just doesn't seem like himself right now." Rose needed to put out a feller to see if Lysander knew anything about Lorcan and his sudden interest in the Malfoys and the Potters. If they were as close as he claimed, maybe Lorcan shared something with his twin. Tentatively, Rose said, "Ever since the whole thing with Scorpius."
"Really?" Lysander mused, but mostly to himself as he stared off into the empty classroom. Rose could see that she wasn't going to get anything out of him about Lorcan. It didn't look like he knew anything about it himself.
"How close are you with your mother?"
He shook his head as if trying to get a bad memory out of his head. "It's," he paused to shake his head again. "It's fine. She's just pissed at me for not going into the career path she wants me to do."
"Which is?" Rose asked. Details could never hurt and may actually be helpful later.
"She wants me to become a Healer, but I want to go into the Ministry and become an Auror."
"That's a good job," Rose replied, looking at Lily. Lily looked bored, but at least she wasn't butting in like she had previous times. "Have you gotten any strange letters from home this past year?"
"No," Lysander said. There was a glint of something in his eye, but Rose dismissed it as a trick of light. "Why? Have either of you?" He asked, looking at both girls.
"Of course not," Lily replied in a straight face that she could have only learned from her father.
"Well," Lysander said after a brief second, "is there anything else you want to ask me? Or else I'll be going." He started making his way towards the door.
"Yes," Rose said, trying to think of how to phrase the question. She didn't want to come off as a bitch, but she had to ask. Hopefully her history would make him not think twice about it. "Did you, ah, talk to Scorpius about his parents or anything?"
Lysander rolled his eyes. "Yes we've talked about his parents before. I've been to his house so of course I have. You are going to have to be a bit more specific. Though you probably know more about him than I do," he said pointedly.
Rose blushed for what seemed the millionth time during this night. She hated how people could get under her skin. "Did he ever talk to you about, well, his parents dying?"
"No," Lysander said. He seemed to be thinking, though, Rose thought. Perhaps Lysander did know something. "Although," he started, but them was quiet.
"Although what?" Rose prompted, looking hopeful. This could be the lead they were looking for.
"Nothing," Lysander said. "It's just that now that you mention it, I do remember having a conversation with Lorcan about Scorpius's parents. About their actions during the war and their sentences and whatnot."
Rose and Lily shared a knowing look. Bingo, Rose thought. "Oh," she said, trying not to look like Christmas had come.
"But it's probably nothing," Lysander quickly said.
"I get it," Rose said, knowing that she didn't need anything else from Lysander. "Thanks a bunch for answering all these questions, Lysander."
"No problem, Rose," he replied with a winning grin. "I glad I could help." With that, he walked out the door of the empty classroom.
[-**-]
"It's Lorcan" Lily said as soon as they made it to the safety of Rose's empty dorm room. Her roommates had all been downstairs and looked like they would be there for a while. The cousins all but ran upstairs, threw the door shut and put up a silence charm. They didn't want anyone listening in on the conversation.
"You think it's Lorcan as well, right Rose?" Lily asked her older cousin.
"I don't know what to think," Rose said as she sat down on her bed, rubbing the sides of her head. She must be coming down with a headache or something.
"Lysander basically sold his brother out," Lily kept saying sitting next to Rose of the bed. "He said it in plain English that Lorcan talked about the Malfoy's and the war. He wants them dead because he's jealous and hates them for what they did."
"It just doesn't seem right to me, though," Rose said. "His reasons just don't fit together. Why doesn't he like your parents?"
"How the hell should I know?" Lily asked. "You're the bloody detective."
"Something just feels of about this whole thing," Rose commented, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. "Hold on," she said as she rushed to the bathroom to throw up.
She just made it to the toilet before puking up her guts. Lily followed her, regarding her cousin with concern. "That's gross," Lily said once Rose had finished.
"You're telling me," Rose said dryly and she slumped to the floor. Her head was on the cold toilet seat with her arms on either side of it. The coolness of the seat made her feel better. Not much, but a little bit.
"Are you okay?" Lily asked as Rose started to get up. "Do you think you're going to puke again?"
"I don't think so," Rose said, finally making her way to a sitting pose. "I don't know what came over me. All of a sudden I had to throw up."
"Do you think it's the flu?" Lily asked.
"No," Rose replied. "I'm feeling much better now. It was probably just something I ate."
"Right," Lily agreed, but Rose could tell she was skeptical. Brushing it off was the easiest thing she could do. The last thing that could happen was Lily looking into her sickness. It would pass. "Let's go back into the room."
"Hey, isn't that our owl?" Lily asked looking out the window.
Rose glanced out. "It is. That's probably Luna's response. We should read it."
Once the owl landed in the room, Rose wasted no time in getting the letter off its leg. "Good boy," she said, stroking the owl's wings. "You better go up to the Owlery to rest. We might need you later." As the owl flew away, Rose and Lily crowded onto Rose's bed to open the letter.
Dear Rose and Lily,
I can't tell you how pleased I was to get your letter. I was beginning to worry that a Narcle infestation had happened at Hogwarts. You letter put my mind to a rest. I am well, as Rolf. The garden is doing just fantastic, though I'm not sure what you meant by your mother's garden, Lily. Ginny is many things, but a gardener she is not. I do not recall tell her to start one, but maybe I did.
You mother has been to visit quite often in the past couple months, though. I'm not exactly sure why you are asking me about our conversations, but I will do my best to answer them. We mostly talk about you children. She seems fascinated about what Lorcan and Lysander or doing after Hogwarts. I'm not sure if you know this, but Lysander and I had a bit of a fight before he left after Christmas. Ginny was most supportive in my rambles. He wants to go into the Ministry after Hogwarts but I know he wants to be a Healer. He's just too scared to try. Ginny mentioned that just this past weekend that she thought Scorpius Malfoy wanted to go into the Ministry as well. She was also worried that Scorpius's bad behavior had started to go into Lysander. I'm not exactly sure why, though.
And don't think you're left out, Rose. We talk about you and Lorcan plenty. He really likes you Rose. I'm not sure what happened over the weekend, but I'm sure he'll forgive you. He hasn't a mean bone in his body, Ginny says. But I disagree with her. While I do believe Lorcan will forgive you, he does have a temper. Once he gets mad, there is no saying what he'll do. But he usually is a pleasant boy to be around. I hope everything works out between you two, Rose. I know he loved corresponding with you over the holidays, even though Lysander made fun of him.
The next time you two get home, we will have to have a chat about your lives and Hogwarts.
Wishing blessings upon you,
Luna Scamander