I had to post this one as soon as I wrote it. I'm so excited and I just couldn't wait!
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything you recognize.
By the time Atria and Amanda got to the Room of Requirement, they were the last ones there. Lily crossed her arms and tapped one of her feet, looking very much like Rose.
"Where have you two been?" She snapped. Atria and Amanda shared a private look.
Rose gave them a suspicious glance.
"Just having some fun," Atria responded vaguely. "Why did you summon us here?"
Lily huffed. "Hogsmeade has been canceled and we need to get dresses. I've been writing with mum and she said she would take us into Diagon Alley with some Aurors. Now, I've asked if Amanda could stay with us. And Rose too. Basically a big sleepover at our house-"
"Seriously?" Amanda grinned.
"Of course. So Amanda, you need to write to your parents and tell them you won't be coming home until after the ball." Lily said strictly.
"Isn't it Christmas Eve?"
"Yes, tell them to expect you home late. We're starting break on the twentieth, next week, so you'll be staying at our house for four days. We're going shopping on the twenty first. Hopefully, we'll be able to get dresses on such short notice."
"Why do we need to be here for this?" Hugo asked dully, motioning to Albus and Scorpius.
"Because…" Lily squinted her eyes and she thought about it. Her eyes snapped open. "Albus you need to invite Scorpius to stay with us as well."
"But my parents go to the ball too." Scorpius said slowly.
"Yes, but it's no fun if you don't join the sleepover. It has to be everyone." Lily whined. "Mum said it's alright if he comes."
"Yes, but what about my dad?" Rose mumbled.
"Already taken care of." Lily said vaguely which made Atria very suspicious. Lily was bossy like Rose, but sneaky like James. It was quite frightening.
Although Atria noticed that Rose had been quiet for the past few weeks. And she hardly looked at Scorpius. Atria hoped they weren't fighting again, especially before Christmas break.
"I'm surprised they're still having the ball." Scorpius leaned back into the couch.
Lily frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, with the recent attacks and everything…"
Lily jumped up, "That's why the ball must go on! We have to show those lunatics that they can't scare us. Besides, there's going to be lots of extra security."
Atria and Albus looked at each other and grinned at Lily's antics.
"Is that all?" Rose asked. "Because I have three essays do before break starts."
"You have six days to do them," Hugo waved off her concerns.
Rose shot her brother a look. "Yes, that only leaves two days for each essay. Oh, I'll never be able to reread, review, and rewrite in two days." Amanda patted her back comfortingly.
"We should go." Amanda agreed.
Lily scowled, "Fine, we'll talk more later."
Everyone dispersed quite quickly. Scorpius waited for Atria and Amanda to go back to the common room, but they sent him along. "You go. We'll see you at dinner," said Atria and the girls walked off before he could reply.
"So Amanda, where are you meeting Jack to go to the ball?" Atria asked. She couldn't come right out and ask what was wrong with Rose. She had to lead into it with some small talk.
"I don't know. We haven't really talked about it. I suppose we'll just meet at the ministry." She shrugged.
"What color dress do you think you'll where?" Rose asked.
Amanda laughed, "I don't know. I'll see when we go shopping. And you, Attie? Blue or purple?" Atria made a face.
"Am I really so predictable?"
"With colors? Yes." Amanda nodded. It was true. Atria favoured blue and purple, especially for her hair, but maybe it was time for a change up.
"I was thinking red."
Rose raised her eyebrows. "Really. That's bold."
Atria shrugged. "I'll make it work. And I don't have to worry about it clashing with my hair." She tugged on a curl of Rose's red hair. "What color are you going to wear?"
"I was thinking white."
Amanda grinned. "You'll be the belle of the ball."
Atria cleared her throat. "And who will you be taking as a date, Rose?"
Rose blushed. "No one."
"I was thinking you could go with Scorpius." Atria said casually. "Just as friends."
Rose's eyes widened. "No!" She looked around nervously and Atria frowned. Maybe there were fighting after all. "I mean, it would be weird. And my dad would freak out." Rose shook her head.
"So you're not fighting with Scorpius?" Atria asked.
"Of course not." Rose scoffed, but there was still a weird look on her face.
"I thought your dad was fine with Scor now?" Amanda questioned.
Rose swallowed. "As a friend. But not as a date." She insisted and looked at the floor.
Amanda turned to Atria, "And you? Are you going with Al 'as friends'." She didn't actually use air quotes but the way she said it made Atria think they were implied. And she wasn't sure how to take that. Was Amanda simply teasing, because of what she had asked Rose, or did her friend know something.
"Of course not," Atria snorted and rolled her eyes for good measure.
Amanda caught Atria's eye and gave her a knowing look. Atria looked away quickly and changed the subject.
"Lily has turned into a bit of a tyrant, hasn't she?"
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Tony was an new Ministry Employee. Did he even have a right to approach the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? He muttered some words of encouragement to himself.
Then he rapped on the heavy door three times.
"Enter." A gruff voice was muffled by the door, which swung open a moment later.
Tony took a deep breath, clutched his folder and then walked in.
"Sir, I believe I have crucial information regarding a lead on the radical-"
"They're Death Eater," the old wizard said, "let's not get into those long unnecessary names."
Tony swallowed. "Yes well, I was looking into it and I realized something-"
"Under what authority have you been investing these attacks? That's a job for the Auror Department."
"Yes well, the Auror Department does fall under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Tony broke off when his boss threw him a look. "Anyways, I thought we should look into some of the older families."
"We have looked into the Pureblood families who were involved with this business in the past. Nothing came up…"
"We looked at political affiliations and any underground activity." Tony made large hand motions, getting very excited. "But we didn't look at money."
The Head of the Department folded his hands and rested his chin on them. "You mean Gringotts?"
Tony nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, and at first I thought it was nothing. I was just checking in with some old friends, when I heard one of the goblins mention going into the lower vaults. Now, only the oldest families' money is kept in the lower vaults. Of course, there are a number of Purebloods among them, and most of them would still take money out."
"But…"
"I asked my friend to look into some of the records. It was very tricky business getting the goblins to give us access, but with some persuasion…"
"But goblins don't keep track of names."
"No, but they do keep track of when a vault is opened. Get this, the Lestrange vault has been opened every few money for the last decade!"
The older man's eyes widened. "But the Lestrange line…"
"Died with Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Or so we thought. Several goblins recall a middle aged woman coming in and then a young girl joining her. The woman matches the description of one of the spearheads of this new group of Death Eaters…" The Head of the Department was on his feet now.
"You think this woman is a Lestrange?"
"Imagine, if Bellatrix had a child before going to Azkaban! It would put her around the right age and no one would know the girl as Lestrange's daughter because she didn't raise the child." Tony nodded enthusiastically.
"And the young girl…?"
Tony hesitated. "Well, the description given was of a girl with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes… but if she was the granddaughter, then she could simply look like her father."
"But the woman has been in Azkaban? We haven't know who she is… until now."
"Get this, the girl has been seen within the last few year."
The older man's eyes widened. "She's been on the loose?"
"Yes, according to the description… when she was coming with her mother, she was around age seventeen or so. That would put her around age twenty now. And she's been coming to Gringotts even after the Death Eaters were arrested four years ago."
"That could help explain how they escaped." The man nodded thoughtfully. Then he looked furious. "Why was the Ministry not informed that the Lestrange vault had been opened? Especially after the escape and the recent attacks?" He thundered.
Tony coughed, "Yes well, the goblins were extremely reluctant to give us the information when we asked for it… they were hardly going to give us information without us asking for it."
"OUTRAGEOUS!"
Tony jumped. "Yes, of course."
"I want every Auror in my office! Get Potter and Weasley." He barked and then stopped. He pointed a withered hand at Tony. "But do not speak of this to anyone else. The less people who know about this the better. We might be able to get the girl… have Aurors watching Gringotts!"
Tony nodded. The man waited.
"Well, go!"
Tony ran out of the office, folder clutched in his arms, and he set off the find Harry Potter to tell him about this girl who was most likely the granddaughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and the daughter of the most notorious Death Eater in the last decade.
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Rose wouldn't say it outloud, but she knew everyone was thinking it.
She was nervous for the ball. In two days, they would all be going to the Potter's house and then on Christmas Eve there was a massive party with all the most important people in the Wizarding World.
First, there was the constant threat of death that loomed over their every move.
Second, one of her future bosses might be at this party and she was horribly awkward in social situations with strangers. In past years, it had always seemed like she had years to think about the future and the preparations she would have to make. Rose had never tried to please any of the Ministry officials when he parents introduced her. But this year, there seemed to be more pressure to be socially accepted and appear as a responsible young witch.
Third… Scorpius Malfoy. He was going to be staying in the same house as her. Sure they had lived under a roof together for the past six and a half year, technically. But there had always been passwords and spells to keep them separated.
Now, there was nothing separating her from her best friend. The one boy, outside of her family, whom she could totally rely on. For some reason that terrified her.
Perhaps it was what he had said a few weeks ago.
Wait for the person you can't live without.
And the face that came to her mind was Scorpius's. His gunmetal eyes that could appear harsh to an outsider, but she knew where the picture of kindness and loyalty. If there was one person she could trust it was him. They had had their bumps, but he always stuck by her even if it meant giving up his pride.
Rose couldn't imagine life without him. Of course, that didn't necessarily have to be romantic, but she couldn't pretend that for the past couple of weeks she hadn't been thinking about it.
What scared her more than her daydreams, was the fact that in six months they would be parting ways. Would they still be friends if they didn't go to school together? What if he got a job far away from hers?
Okay, that was silly. It was a probability that they would both end up at the Ministry. They had talked about it for ages and both of them had done internships over the summer. For some reason, she had this sinking feeling that everything was about to change.
Rose looked at the fireplace, a dance of red and orange. The Head's common room was aglow with light from the fire.
She randomly thought about her hair. The stupid color that made it difficult to choose any dress. She felt the need to make a spectacular showing at the ball. Her go to color was green, because it went so well with her hair and eyes, but that was getting old.
A few days ago, when Atria asked what color Rose wanted to wear she had responded white. It seemed like a logical choice. White couldn't possibly clash with her hair. But was that too safe. Atria was going to wear red. A color of passion if there ever was one.
Maybe she could speak with Dom or Roxy. They always seemed to know best in the fashion department.
Rose was pulled from her thoughts when the portrait hole opened. She sat up from where she had been lying on the couch ad straightened her skirt.
As Scorpius walked in, he was in the middle of pulling his bag over his head.
"You know, I think we should change the password. Unity is a bit stupid and obvious." He said as he plopped down on the couch. Rose smiled and laughed shortly.
"Well, what do you think we should change it to?"
"Scorpius is amazing." He suggested and she threw a pillow at his head, which he easily intercepted.
"How about typewriter?" She offered.
"What?"
"It's an old muggle device used to type letters. Sort of like a computer." She explained and he raised his eyebrows. "It's not obvious." She said.
"Alright then. Typewriter it is."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"I can't believe you're coming to stay with us." Rose bit her lip.
"I've stayed at the Potter's before."
"But not with me." Rose felt the need to point out.
"I'm more surprised that you're father is allowing it."
Rose laughed. "Knowing Aunt Ginny, I wouldn't be surprised if dad doesn't know a thing about it. In fact, I would bet on it."
"Attie said you don't have a date."
Rose blinked at the sudden topic change and looked at Scorpius. He looked casual, like he was just asking a question that simply popped into his mind, with not personal interest in her answer.
"I don't." Rose agreed.
Scorpius pressed his lips together and nodded. Rose waited for him to say something else but he just looked lost in his own thoughts. It drove Rose mad. He was just going to leave it hanging there? Was he jealous or simply asking a random question based on something Atria had mentioned.
Rose would have to thank Atria, if there was ever a time it would be appropriate, for opening up this line of discussion. "Can I asked you something?" She said nervously and Scorpius looked at her questioningly.
"Of course."
Rose swallowed. "Why did you go out with Jenny?" She asked slowly, afraid of what his reaction might be. She didn't want him to think she was jealous.
Scorpius raised one eyebrow. "Umm…"
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," said Rose quickly.
"No, it's alright. I suppose I was caught up in being a teenager. She was a pretty girl who was interested in me and it was the first time that had happened," He was cut off by Rose's noise of disbelief.
Scorpius glanced at her and Rose sighed, "Scorpius, that was not the first time a girl had shown interest in you. I remember walking in the girls' lavatory on several occasion and hearing your name mentioned quite a bit. Jenny was the first girl you were interested in… not the first girl to notice you." She told him.
He blinked and then looked down. "I don't know what it was. It certainly wasn't her personality or stunning brains…"
"Her looks then…" Rose muttered, a bit disheartened.
Scorpius looked guilty. "Maybe, but I'm glad it's over."
"Why don't you have a girlfriend now?" She asked automatically and then cursed herself.
"Like I said… I'm waiting for the right girl." His eyes bore into hers. "And I'm waiting for her to notice me." Rose's spine went straight.
"So you've met her?" She couldn't help how her voice rose, but she tried to remain calm. Why did it make her so nervous that Scorpius thought he had met the girl he wanted to be with? Logically, she knew she had no claim over him. Merlin, she wasn't even clear on her own feelings for him.
"I don't know," Scorpius answered honestly.
Rose's chest got tight. Was she simply being possessive? Atria got possessive over her friends sometimes… even Albus, and she had no romantic interest in him.
"Will you tell me?" Rose asked. "When you meet this girl?"
Scorpius smirked at her.
"You'll be the first one to know."
Wow. I had so much fun writing this chapter my heart is literally racing. Probably because I went back and added in that bit in the Ministry. Anyways… what do you guys think? This was originally a fluff and filler chapter, but then I was like 'at this point in the game, there are no filler chapters. We are reaching the end and everything counts!' So dramatic, I feel like this is my best chapter yet. - Alex