-Almost twenty-five years after the end of the Second Wizarding War, Kingsley Shacklebolt's resignation as Ministry for Magic triggers a series of dangerous attacks that will entangle the lives of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy in the most unexpected ways.-
Although the story that follows features many characters, some places and a few spells of my own invention, I do not own Harry Potter or JK Rowling's wizarding world (if only).
I truly hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it, and that you feel encouraged to leave a few reviews.
CHAPTER FOUR
ENTWINED
Once she made sure all the first years had gathered their schedules, Rose didn't have any trouble locating Albus. Even though he had sat in the exact same stop every day for the past six years, a few heads were still turned in his direction, curious looks asserting his face. The price of being a Potter, she supposed.
She fell into the seat next to his, an empty golden plate and matching goblet immediately appearing in front her. As she scanned the table, full of she suddenly regretted the two chocolate frogs she had eaten while getting dressed that morning.
She finally settled for a large piece of toast with pumpkin jelly, just as Brianna Finningan, a pretty girl with dark eyes who was one of Rose's roommates at Hogwarts, strode down the other side of the table and took the seat in front of hers.
"Morning", she said, raising her voice to be heard above the loud chatter that filled the Great Hall.
Rose smiled back at her, "Hi, you slept late".
During the past seven years, Brianna had spent her mornings acting as an alarm clock for her three roommates, including Rose. Even on weekends, she was usually up before breakfast was even served on the Great Hall, and she had grown accustomed to store various pies on her nightstand so she wouldn't starve while waiting for her friends to get ready in the mornings.
"I was up late unpacking last night". She shrugged, reaching for a mug of coffee.
Next to her, Al finally looked up from his conversation with Owen Thomas and Matt Anderson, nudging her ribcage to get her attention with an open smile, "So, finally beginning our seventh year. It came faster than we had expected, didn't it?".
"It certainly did", Eliza Wood answered, beaming as she took the sit next to Brianna and joined the conversation, "And after taken a look at my schedule I'm already regretting making it this far." she set said schedule on the table as if it had personally offended her, "Seriously, look at this thing".
Owen took a look and whistled in a low tone, "You're in over your head Wood. Drop some classes".
"Can't". Eliza shook her head and collected her schedule, shoving it inside her bag with force.
"Of course not. Oh Unespeakable One".
"That's Mrs Unespeakable to you".
"Sure", Owen agreed merrily, "In all honesty, I don't know whether to be excited or afraid of this year".
"Well, I, for one, am excited". Al told her with a note of pride in his voice.
From his other side, Lily snorted. Her long red hair dancing around her face as she leaned forward and made a face at his brother. "We already know you are Quidditch Captain, Al. I think everyone knows by now, the way you keep talking about it".
Owen coughed softly. And his cough sounded suspiciously like a snickered laugh.
Albus sent his sister a nasty glance, "Hilarious".
"He has a better shot at signing with a professional team if he's captain", Hugo chimed in, his face appearing further down the table, looking at Lily as if personally offended.
Rose suspected this had more to do with his plans of becoming the Gryffindor captain himself next year than with defending Al.
Lily returned an impressive glare of her own, "I realize that, Hugo", she said in an overly patient voice, "You know the person who won Gryffindor the Cup last year by catching the snitch was me, right?".
"We did not win because of you!", Hugo sputtered indignantly.
Rose didn't wait for the rest. She turned her back on them and motioned for her friends to do the same. "Just ignore them".
Eliza shook his head, "They are in charge of escorting the first years to their classes today, right? I pity the poor little ones already". To Rose, she added, "How are things with prefects this year, by the way? Found anything juicy?".
"Oh right", Mallory's smile faltered as she scanned Rose's robes, a look of disbelief clouding her features. "You didn't get Head Girl?".
Owen and Matt, who had been in the middle of discussing some Quidditch game they had both attended during the summer, gazed up at her with pity written all over their faces. It was the same expression her parents had worn when she received her Hogwarts letter, she realized, and Rose had to remind herself that she had not wanted the position in the first place.
"I didn't". She confirmed, clearing her throat and attempting a smile.
"Rose about the Head Girl thing...". Said Owen, and Rose was surprised when he sent her a guilty look. As if it was somehow his fault that it was his twin sister who had landed the position.
She raised her hands, "No, please. It's fine, really. Al got Quidditch Captain though".
"Brilliant", Niall Finnigan suddenly exclaimed, appearing behind them and ignoring her sister scoff as he clapped All in the back, "Congratulations mate".
Albus's ears turned pink, "Thanks. You still have to show up to tryouts, though".
"Tryouts for what?", Mallory Walker, the last of Rose's roommates, stepped next to the younger boy, black hair pulled up with the help of a quill.
"Quidditch", Al replied, eyeing the stack of book on the girl's arms with concern as they swaggered dangerously close to his head. "What's all this?".
"Oh, I found a couple of really good art books in the library".
"A couple" , Owen muttered.
Mallory ignored him, turning once again towards Albus with a speculative look, "They are saying the aurors are searching the houses of everyone who was at the Ministry Conference during the attack last week. Is it true?".
Rose heard a gasp, and it took her a second to realize it was her.
Eliza looked like she had swallowed a bug, herself, "Who said that?".
Mallory's face fell, her full mouth turning into a grimace, "Oh, I'm sorry. You were there when the attack happened, weren't you? I didn't realize, I just heard about it yesterday. I shouldn't have asked".
"It's quite alright, really". Rose usually forgot how different Mallory's life was, being the only muggleborn in their dorm.
It was quite strange to think the other girl had spent her last week of holidays in blissful ignorance while Rose had spent hers worrying every waking hour.
Their portion of the table became awkwardly quiet, and Rose realized all her friends were sending her curious looks, clearly wanting to hear about the attack too.
She looked away, mouth firmly shut.
And as if drawn by a magnet, her eyes found Scorpius Malfoy almost immediately, seating on the Slytherin table and listening to his housemates talk with a bored expression on his face. He only seemed to brighten slightly when Ivan Nott, who had been Rose's partner in potions last year, took the seat next to him. He even smiled at something the other boy said.
The smile changed his whole face, Rose thought, and suddenly it was hard to reconcile the boy she was seeing now with the one she had faced at the Ministry that day, with his tensed face and panicked eyes.
Rose had replayed that image thousands of times in her mind. Seemed unable to help herself, really. And every single one of those times, she couldn't shake the feeling that Scorpius Malfoy had recognized the curse when nobody else had.
XXX
Later that day, Rose found Hugo standing in the corridor with Alec Finnigan, both of them staring at the girl's bathrooms' door as if it would bite them if they got any closer.
Rose, who had been walking towards the Gryffindor Tower to leave her bag in her dorm before going to dinner, quickly changed directions and strode towards them.
"What are you doing?", she started to ask, already preparing a lecture in her head.
To her surprise, her brother looked positively relieved, and he motioned frantically for her to come closer. When she did, still suspicious, she heard a strangled sound that came from inside the bathroom and her thoughts took a complete different path.
"Rosie!", exclaimed Hugo in a whisper, "Thank Merlin you are here".
"Is someone crying?", Rose asked, and as if to assure her she had perfect hearing, a clear sob break through the door, "Who is in there?".
"Lily", Alec Finnigan replied, also keeping his voice down.
"Lily is crying?", Rose, on the other hand, all but shouted, and Hugo cringed at the tone of her voice before hushing her.
"No", he said.
"June Goldstein is", added Daren with an approving nod, as if that explained everything.
Fortunately, Hugo decided to keep talking, "They both had a huge row this morning, and then June fought with her boyfriend too, and she locked herself in here. When she didn't come out after the first twenty minutes, Lily went in". He shrugged, as though this were the most natural circumstances on earth, "They have been in there for hours".
"Hours?", Rose repeated, an unpleasant feeling appearing in her stomach, "And you just stood there waiting for me to appear and do something?".
Hugo looked at her affronted, "Of course not. We send Luce in a while ago".
"Our cousin Lucy?".
Rose adored her cousin, but everyone knew the girl was absolutely useless at solving fights. A pissed off Lily would eat Luce alive and still have room for June Goldstein, whoever she was.
"And you two just waited here?", she snapped at her brother and his friend.
Hugo looked at her the way their mum looked at her dad when he was being particularly obtuse. With a little bit of affection, and much more exasperation.
"It's the girls bathroom Rosie", he said in a tone that highly suggested she was an idiot.
Rose huffed loudly, and made a point of bumping him as she entered the bathroom.
She found Luce first, sitting on the floor against the door of one of the lavatories. To Rose's immense relief, she looked perfectly fine. And by the looks of it she was even consoling the girl seated next to her, as she wept quietly, head buried between her arms.
Lily was in front of them, leaning on a sink, and although she seemed to be paying attention to the girl on the floor, she kept knotting and unknotting her long red hair, like she did every time she was unable to focus. There was an ugly looking spot on her cheek, not quite a bruise yet, but clearly beginning to become one.
"What is happening here?", Rosie finally demanded, directing the question mostly at her cousin's, seeing that June Goldstein barely raised her head at the sound of her voice. To Lily she added, "And what the hell happened to your face?".
"June punched me," answered Lily, and before Rose could say anything she raised a hand to silence her, "Don't. I totally deserved it".
"Lily snogged June's boyfriend", said Lucy, and the girl next to her let out a whimper.
"You did what?".
Lily cringed, "I didn't know he had a girlfriend. I mean, he kissed me, so I just assumed he was single".
Rose was aware she was gaping like a fish. But she felt out of words, which was not a common occurrence.
Luce took over, "So this morning Lily found out about June, and she told her everything. And June punched her".
"It was worth it, though", her other cousin continued, and Rosie was surprised to see the happy glow dancing in her hazel eyes, "Because then she punched and knelt the asshole where it hurts".
"It was beautiful", agreed Luce.
June Goldstein let out another muffled sound, but this time she finally raised her head. And Rose was surprised to see her shoulders were shaking with laughter, and not because she was crying.
"Oh Merlin", she said, blowing her nose. Despite the redness of her eyes and slightly swollen face, Rose noted she was a very pretty girl.
Luce grinned, "She talks".
"I had never hit anyone before", said June, and her eyes narrowed on Rose's prefect badge, "Am I getting a detention?".
"Of course not", Lily decided, nodding her head as if to agree with herself, "Rosie wouldn't do that".
June Goldstein still looked worried, but Rose shrugged in defeat.
"Wonderful", said Lily, her eyes brightened in excitement, "We should go to the kitchens and get some chocolate before dinner".
"Really? , Rose mumbled in exasperation.
"What?", and she composed an innocent expression that immediately reminded Rose of James, "It's not for me. June here just got her heart broken. She needs sweetness right now".
Luce nodded her head in agreement, and even June Goldstein looked up at Rose with a hopeful expression on her round face.
Rosie sighed in defeat, "Fine".
Lily clapped in delight, offering Luce a had to help her stand up. Rose crouched to help June pick up her books, that were splattered all over the floor.
As she grabbed the girl's Runes Dictionary (that looked as well-used as Rose's did), the paper under it got her attention. It was that morning's Prophet, folded so the front page headline was perfectly visible.
LAST HOSPITALIZED VICTIM OF THE ATTACK, MINISTRY FOR MAGIC CANDIDATE ZELLER, DISCHARGED FROM ST. MUNGO'S.
Rose handed June Goldstein her books, but her eyes kept scanning the newspaper. There was a picture of Zeller right bellow. She looked calm, and even happy, as she waved at the reporters. But her caramel-colored skin was unusually pale and there was a badly concealed bruise on her left temple.
"You can have it" June said, bringing Rose back to reality "The Prophet, I mean. I'm subscribed, so I always read it during breakfast anyway".
Rose thought about her own issue of the paper, forgotten at the Gryffindor table that morning when a sixth year prefect had requested her to change his patrol schedule due to a reunion of the Duelling Club.
"Thanks".
Luce marched to the door, "Bye, Rosie".
"Take Hugo and Alec with you", she requested right before the door closed after the three girls.
Her eyes fell to the paper in her hands once more.
LAST HOSPITALIZED VICTIM OF THE ATTACK, MINISTRY FOR MAGIC CANDIDATE ZELLER, DISCHARGED FROM ST. MUNGO'S.
"We were under the impression it was meant to kill" she remembered Auror Bones saying. But according to The Prophet every victim from the Ministry attack had been cleared from the hospital within a week and a Rose Zeller, the most badly hurt, had only suffered through a lot few broken bones and minor head trauma
There was nothing about the curse anywhere. She had even used Al's invisibility cloak to snuck into the Forbidden Section and check several books, only to came out empty handed.
Rose folded the paper and stuck it inside her bag, leaving the bathroom, but as she came to the stairs, she wavered.
And then, she sharply turned around, marching down the stairs.
Towards the dungeons.
XXX
Scorpius Malfoy gripped his quill so hard his knuckles turned white.
He had been trying to finish his Potions' essay for the last twenty minutes, but his friends, who had turned down the radio's volume when he had asked a couple of minutes ago, were now singing The Weird Sister's latest hit at the top of their lungs, which was almost worse.
Elora Avery had even begun to clap with the beat, her long blonde hair swaying along with her hips.
Bronson Vaisey, one of Scorpius' roommates, followed her movements with a hungry look on his eyes. His expression soon became a sour grimace, however, when Elora grabbed Ivan Nott from his seat and forced him to dance with her.
Scorpius couldn't help but snort, Vaisey was one of his least favorite roommates.
The door of the common room opened, and Selene Zabini, his fellow seventh year Slytherin prefect, stepped through it. Elora waved at her, clearly wanting Selene to join the dance, but the other girl ignored her, choosing instead to walk towards Scorpius.
She stopped right in front of him, one of her eyebrows raised. Her black hair was in a tight ponytail and out of her face, which accentuated her somewhat exotic features.
"Weasley is outside", she announced, and Scorpius felt his stomach knot uncomfortably. "She says she wants to talk to you".
The others turned to look at him, wearing matching looks of curiosity.
"Which Weasley?" Scorpius asked, even though he already knew. He had managed to avoid her the whole day, figuring she wouldn't approach him during their classes, when he was always accompanied by someone. And he had been right, Weasley kept her distance, but he had caught her giving him curious looks more than once. Looks like said very clearly she wasn't planning on just letting things go.
"Rose".
Scorpius forced his face into a bored expression. "Must be something about the prefect's patrols".
Selene was still staring at him with narrowed eyes, "Well, why didn't she ask me then?".
"How should I know?", he finished his essay with a flourish, getting up and gathering his things, "Maybe it's about Quidditch schedules".
His roommates, apparently satisfied by the explanation, shrugged and turned back to the radio. But Selene exchanged a glance with Elora that spoke volumes in a language only females seemed to understand, and Scorpius got the uneasy feeling they did not believe him.
He found Rose Weasley outside the common room, leaning against the wall. She looked absolutely out of place under the dim light of the dungeon's corridor, whether it was because of the gold and maroon on her school robes, or simply because of her freckled skin and messy red hair, Scorpius could not tell.
"Weasley".
She straightened herself up, wrinkling her nose. She looked more disgusted with herself than with him when she answered. "I want your help".
"The curse they used, back at the Ministry. I can't find anything about it anywhere, but you knew it", she raised hand to stop Scorpius from interrupting her, "Don't even try to deny it. You warned me before everything exploded".
He had warned her. And Scorpius had been cursing that moment ever since. Her whole family was involved in the investigation of the attack, and he, a Death Eater's son of all people, had been stupid enough to let her see he recognized one of the most ancient dark magic spells known.
"So, where did you read about it?". Rose Weasley was too curious for her own good, he thought.
Still, he was not going to let her win without a fight, "Who says I read about it anywhere?".
"Oh, so you just happened to overhear about a spell nobody else has heard of?", her mouth twisted in a sceptical expression and Scorpius wondered if she was always so expressive. Everything she was thinking was written all over her face.
He sighed, "In an old manuscript. It barely said anything but the way to cast it and the supposed effect".
Rose Weasley nodded, mulling over it for a few seconds before narrowing her eyes at him, "Did you explain the that to aurors?".
Scorpius stared at her in silence.
She sighed loudly, "I guess that's a no".
He kept his mouth shut, willing his face to stay blank, before finally speaking calmly, "Why are you here?".
"I just want to ask you some questions about the attack", she shrugged, keeping her voice down. "And then I won't Uncle Harry that you left things out during your interrogation".
Scorpius blinked.
"Are you threatening me?". He was unable to kept the disbelief from his voice.
"Blackmailing, actually".
She held her head high, and to his surprise Scorpius discovered he had to fight back a laugh. There was something remarkably amusing about Rose Weasley of all people, Gryffindor poster child and Hogwarts golden girl, acting almost cunningly.
"How Slytherin of you" he smirked, and she scoffed as if he had offended her.
He was not sure that had been his intention, or rather if he had meant it as a compliment.
"Fine. Ask".
His condescending tone clearly annoyed her, "I'll ask when I'm ready to ask".
Scorpius could feel the corners of his mouth twitching unintentionally upwards.
"Fine", Weasley snapped, glaring at him. "Why didn't the Scindo curse work at the Ministry?".
"I have no idea".
She didn't seem impressed with his answer, "Then take a guess".
For a moment, he was tempted to tell her where, exactly, she could shove all that attitude. But then he remembered who had the upper hand there and sighed.
"If whoever cast it was inexpert with dark magic...", he trailed off, but even as he said it he knew it wasn't the case.
The voice, cold and furious, had very clearly sounded too sure to belong to someone inexperienced.
Weasley was shaking her head vigorously, "No. That was not it".
Scorpius considered her. Most of his friends hadn't been in the Ministry when the attack happened and nobody they were close to had been injured, so when the novelty of it had drowned out, they had quickly gotten tired of talking about it. But Scorpius wasn't able to let it go.
Maybe because he felt guilty about knowing where to find out more about the curse, maybe because he had been there. Maybe because the aurors had treated his parents like they were the main suspects, even though they had been trying very carefully to do absolutely nothing wrong for as long as he could remember.
"Stop obsessing over it" had quickly becomeIvan's standard answer for every time Scorpius tried to bring up the topic. Selene, who had always been far more blunt, usually told him very clearly to, "stop being a pain in the ass and start sleeping, you look awful".
And here was Rose Weasley, with whom he had not interacted more than a couple of times in the sixth years he had known her, clearly as desperate for someone to talk to as he was.
"Something must have gone wrong", he said, and she listened attentively, "No one casts a curse meant to kill if the finality is not killing".
She nodded, "I don't think it's possible to control the spell just so it causes the minimum damage".
Weasley took something out of her school bag and handed it to him. It was that morning's Daily Prophet, which he had already read.
"You said that the Scindo was meant to kill, but this is the worse it did", she tapped the picture with her finger, and the people on it scoffed in protest.
The back of her hand was covered in freckles, Scorpius noted, so light you would had to be really close to notice them. For some reason, they made him wonder if every other patch of her skin had freckles, too.
Clearly his lack of sleep was affecting him more than he realized.
"So", Weasley continued, her hand disappearing from Scorpius' line of sight. "What happened?".
"I've been thinking it was just the dissemination of the spell", he had read just about every DADA book in the castle, and it was the only explanation that made sense, "The more people you use any spell against, the weaker it becomes".
Rose Weasley nodded in realization, "Of course. You'd have to be extremely powerful and extremely gifted to be able to use an advanced curse on even three people at once".
"Exactly".
She went quiet, and Scorpius could practically imagine her brain working at a fleeting speed behind her eyes, "So why risk it?"
"What?".
"Performing a curse intended to kill at one of the most secure places in England, where you know there's a high chance of being caught, when you are not going to actually kill anyone. Why risk yourself like that?", she talked so quick she was practically panting by the end of it.
It was a very good question, Scorpius mulled. Why do it, indeed? The only thing the woman had accomplished was hundreds of headlines in various papers.
And frightening the highest charges of the country.
He looked up at the girl in front of him, she was clearly lost in thought but immediately paid attention to him when he cleared his throat.
"To gain attention. To make people scared of what might come next", and as the words left his mouth, he knew them to be the truth.
Rose Weasley realized it too, he knew, and she went pale under her freckles.
Her next words sent a horrible chill down Scorpius' spine. "She wanted a show".
xxx
"Took you long enough. I was about to go looking for you".
Rose took a look at Albus, slouched on his seat of the Gryffindor table eating a giant piece of pumpkin pie, and seriously doubted his words.
"I had to talk to Malfoy". She said, as nonchalantly as she could.
Unfortunately, no Weasley had ever been known for his nonchalance (not even one), and Rose was no exception. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears, heavy with emotions she was sure included discomfort and worry and maybe even a bit of fear, too laced together to perceive each of them.
Even Eliza, seated in front of them, looked at her worriedly. "Is everything okay? You look a bit shaken"
Al frowned, scanning the Slytherin table, no doubt in search of Malfoy, "What did he want?".
For a moment, she considered telling him everything. She had never kept anything from Albus, they had been best friends since they were born and he had always been good at keeping her secrets.
"Nothing", she finally replied, and this time it sounded almost like her normal self. "We were just talking about patrols and the Prefect's meeting".
Al seemed to believe her without further thought, and it only made her feel guiltier about not telling him. But Eliza was still listening to them and she needed time to made up her mind about what to do with all the information she had gathered.
And, in a way, it felt like this secret didn't belong to her, but to her and Malfoy.
A knowledge none of them wanted, connecting them in an entwined, shadowy knot.
xxx