"Lily Luna Potter! What the hell do you think you are doing?" I shriek, immediately trying to shield my eyes from the horror before me. Lily immediately jumps away from him, wildly searching for her robes. After a few frantic seconds, Lily turns back to me, clad only in a shirt.
I saw red brighter than my hair when I realized it wasn't her shirt.
"Oh, hey, er, Rosie. Er, how are you?" Lily's voice was different. Huskier, lower. Probably because of her recent activit- I shudder in disgust and anger.
And she didn't even have the decency to blush.
"I asked you a question," I spit out. I can't even say her name without the image being branded into my brain. She fidgeted a bit, clearly stalling for time. I practically snarl, and she hurriedly opens her mouth to explain.
"Right, that's a good question. What were we doing?" She replies, clearly unsure of how to proceed. I simply wait. I'm currently devoid of any kind emotion towards my dear cousin. I simply tap my foot, waiting for a response. She opens and closes her mouth like a fish, trying to spin a valid excuse. She finally settles on one.
"Well, Rosie," she begins beginning to look around for her robe. She looks around the room, her eyes settling on the clock above the fireplace, "When a man and woman love each other very much-" I cut her off with a glare.
"Shut up, Lily. If you want to survive this meeting, just shut up." She shrinks away, and finally gathers her clothes.
"Well, it's getting awfully late. I'll be on my way then," she replies. I just shake my head. Suddenly, my anger takes a backseat to my exhaustion, and I sink onto the couch.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor to being out of bounds after curfew, Potter." I call after her. She simply nods, scurrying away.
What was I going to do? My little cousin, Lily Potter, was shagging the one person who has single-handedly made most of my Hogwarts years hell. My eyes snap open-Malfoy. I turn around to find the blond lounging on the couch, staring at the fire. I rise and pull out my wand.
The anger's back again, rushing over me in waves. I feel an unwelcome tightness in the back of my throat, and I'm struggling to unclench my fist.
"You," I snarl, pointing my wand right at Malfoy, who looks up and barely acknowledges me, "don't you dare go near her again. She, unlike you, is actually a human being, Malfoy. You won't play around with her- I won't let you." He simply raises an eyebrow.
"I'll have you know Weasley, that your little cousin came to me for a good time. I'm pretty sure that doesn't qualify as me taking advantage of her. Sorry to disappoint you." He rose from his chair, grey eyes burning.
"Furhermore, I find it rather pathetic that you think I agreed to shag her as some form of revenge on you. Do you think I did it for your attention? Do you think I need you to find another fucking excuse to be mad at me? Grow the fuck up, Weasley. I shagged her because she asked and because I wanted to. Not because I wanted revenge on you. You're not even worth it."
And with that, he storms from the Common Room, leaving me to stand alone before the burning embers of the fire.
Rose: 2
Malfoy: 3
Against all odds, I find myself at lunch that day. I sit by Irina, silently picking at my food.
Irina puts up with this for half of the lunch period, until she finally drags me to the library.
Despite the circumstances, I feel more content when I'm surrounded by so many books. I immediately pluck one off of the shelf and settle into a chair to read. She immediately plucked it out of my hand, her large brown eyes full of impatience and irritation.
"Okay, I've had it with your whinging, you understand me? Tell me what's wrong, or so help me, Weasley…" She trailed off intentionally, leaving my imagination to continue that thought. I shrug dully.
"Something bad happened last night." I said simply, returning to my book.
I secretly hated myself for not being able to tell her. But I knew why I couldn't bring myself to. Despite what Lily had done, she was still family, and I didn't want to betray her like that.
I didn't want to betray her like she betrayed me.
And speak of the devil…
Lily flounced into the library with Al not far behind. She looked impeccable as usual, with her straight red hair loose and her brown eyes shining, and her robes somehow fitted flatteringly to her body.
A body that was tangled with another last night.
The poisonous anger's back, and I'm clenching my fists again. She doesn't seem to take not of my feelings at all- nothing new there, really- and bounces towards me.
"Hey Rosie! How was your date with Oliver?" She asked, smiling widely.
If I didn't know better, she looked like an innocent angel.
Appearances can apparently be extremely deceiving.
I'm on my feet in an instant, my book forgotten. My hair seems to crackle with my anger.
"Oh, my date was fine for your information. I'll have to say though, I was a bit nauseous when I returned to my Common Room. You wouldn't know why, would you?" I spit out, glaring at her.
She cringes under the intensity of my glare, but keeps up her facade of being clueless. She was good, I had to give her that.
"What?" She manages. And that sets me off.
"How could you, Lily?" I ask, looking her in the eye, "how could you do that to your own cousin? You know how I felt about him. You know how he's made my life here hell for the past 7 years." Her mouth falls open, but I can't bring myself to stop. Years worth of insecurities and hurts have been reintroduced to my thoughts.
"But that doesn't seem to matter, does it?" I laugh, a frighteningly bitter sound that has everyone, even me, flinching.
"No, all that matters to Lily Potter is Lily Potter. I guess you're just not accustomed to getting anything you wanted. It didn't matter that you just betrayed me, my trust, my didn't matter that you went behind my back and did something that I never believed you would have done." She opens her mouth, probably to protest, but I can't stem the words flowing from my mouth.
" I guess I really was the easiest cousin to wrap around your middle finger, wasn't I? The easiest one to fool into doing whatever you wanted merely because we had blood ties?" I see Al trying to cut me off, but I can't let myself give him a chance either. Lily's eyes are wide and shiny, but I can't bring myself to care, so I merely sit back and let the words flow.
"And you know the worst part, Lily? The worst part is that I know you. I know how manipulative and selfish you are. I know how you can be, but I still defend you from others, do whatever you ask me to do. I still love you and regard you as I regard Hugo or Al. Because while you obviously have no loyalty or love towards me, I harbor an abundance of that towards you. And I guess that's my problem, isn't it? I can't let go." I raise my eyes back to Lily, my blue ones meeting her brown.
"Well, until now. Now, I'm done with you, Lily. Now, you're free to do whatever you please with whoever you please. Because I'm done giving what I don't receive." And with that, I turn to leave the library.
And no matter how much I want to, I don't look back.
Irina corners me later that day, right before I can escape to my room before dinner.
"Alright, as enjoyable as that show in the library was not, what the hell was going on? You know Lily was in tears after you left?" I take another breath to stop myself from going on another tirade.
"Alright, well, you know the date with Oliver?" She nods, looking a bit excited.
"Yes, but don't change the subject." I shake my head reassuringly.
"No, I'm starting from the beginning. Well, the date went really well, and he kissed me on the cheek before we parted ways." She smiled widely.
"That's great! Then what?" She asked, clearly waiting for me to continue.
"Yes, well then I went back to my Common Room, and I find Malfoy on the floor." Irina looks confused, and then comprehension dawns on her face.
"Naked?" I nod.
"Not alone?" I nod.
"Lily?" I nod again. No wonder she was in Ravenclaw.
"Wow, three-in-one. Yes. Then I yelled at both of them, took points from Lily, and got chewed out by Malfoy for trying to control her." I turn to her, half-expecting her to side with him.
Instead, she looks outraged.
"Wow, for a Gryffindor, that was suspiciously disloyal of her," Irina comments, pushing her hair back.
"I'm really sorry that happened, Rose," She murmurs, "but this doesn't add up. Can you tell me if Lily was different in anyway?" I nod, not really understanding.
"Her voice was a bit off. Huskier, if you know what I mean. But considering what- what she was doing, I figured that's understandable." She nods, but still looks thoughtful.
"Well, I have to go, but if you need me-" she rummaged in her book bag, and brought out two identical notebooks. They both had a teal blue cover with lovely silver designs running all over them. She held one out to me, looking a bit hesitant.
"I was going to give it you for christmas, but- I figure now's a good time, Right?" She chuckled a bit weakly, and I take it from her.
"So, er, what does it do?" I ask, wondering where she was getting. She shifts again.
"You just write your message in one of the pages of your notebook, and then the message will show up in my book, and vice versa. That way, we can communicate even when we need each other, and we can't use owls or leave." I turn to her, surprised that she put so much thought into something for me.
"This- Irina, this is perfect. Wow. Thank you," I say, my throat tight with gratitude. I hesitate, then I pull her in for a hug. She stiffened in surprise for a moment. I've never really been a touchy-feely person with my family, let alone her. THen she relaxes and hugs me back and leaves.
I guess it was a good idea to have friends outside of my family.
I only have two close friends outside my family.
Well, it's probably one now.
Alice has officially chosen her side in the Weasley war.
She cornered me this morning, right after breakfast. Her usually friendly face was marred by a scowl.
"Alright, what the hell is wrong?" She asked, glaring at me. I only stare back at her uncomprehendingly. What did I do this time? Alice must have understood what I meant, so she sighed and elaborated.
"You practically attack Lily yesterday, and then you disappear without even explaining yourself. You really hurt her, you know." I scoff openly.
"What about my feelings, Alice? What about how she hurt me? Did she even tell you what happened? Did she even tell you that she slept with Scorpius Malfoy?" Alice's eyes widened for a second, and then they narrowed.
"That's why you're mad? Because she slept with Scorpius?" She asks, not even bothering to hide her irritation. I'm a bit taken aback. Why was she so calm?
"Yes. That's exactly why I am mad." I reply, glaring at the girl that was once a very loyal and understanding friend. I wonder what happened to her over the course of a day or two.
"THat's none of your business." Her words shock me, and I gape at her until i can fully process them.
"What?" I manage, not really understanding how my cousin sleeping with my enemy wasn't my business.
"So, what? She likes him. This doesn't involve you. You need to stay out of her love life. If she wants Scorpius, then she has every right to go after him. Tell me, are you jealous because he accepted her advances and would have rejected yours?" I nearly let out a scream of outrage.
"Okay, Longbottom, let's get one thing straight. I will never, and I mean never, fancy Malfoy. I'm mad at Lily because she went behind my back and did it. She knew how much I hated him. She knew how horrible he is to me. And it is my business, because she is my family. If you want to be technical about whos' business this is, it isn't by any accounts yours. So get your head out of your arse and think for yourself for the first time in your life." And with that, I storm away.
And I don't even want to look back.
"Rose." Al's voice rings out behind me. I sigh. I figured he would come to talk to me as well.
"Yes, Albus?" I ask, not even bothering to slow down. Unfortunately, he doesn't have to hurry to catch up with me. It's a perk of being 4 inches taller and much more muscular than me.
"I need to talk to you about what happened in the library yesterday," he says trying to pull me into a corridor. i sigh and go with him.
"Then talk," I respond, waiting for him to begin. Suddenly, he looks a bit nervous.
"Well, Alice told me what happened. And I have to admit, I'm really disappointed on how you treated her. It was really rude and she was pretty angry. I think you should apologize, honestly," I open my mouth, but he hurries on,
"But that's not my point. I'm here to talk about Lily. What you did yesterday was really horrible. Lily didn't even come down for breakfast today because she was so hurt by your words. While I don't agree with her behavior, I think you overreacted. Lily's still family, right? Where's your family loyalty?" I glare at him.
"Where's my family loyalty? Where's my family loyalty? how dare you insinuate that I'm not loyal to my family? I've been nothing but loyal to Lily my entire life. Where's her loyalty, Al? Where's her loyalty to me? She knew how I felt about him. She knew how much I hated him, but she decided to shag him anyway! Do you think she didn't know it would hurt me? Do you think she cared? Why does everyone assume that Lily's the victim here? This isn't the first time, Al. She's slept with people I like, People I've liked, and now people I've hated. Where's my sympathy, Al? Where's the loyalty towards me in any of you?" Al looks stunned and angry. What he says next is shattering."So you're doing this for attention? Is this a test of whether me and Alice would side with you or Lily? Well done, Rose. You should have gone into Slytherin. And now I can see why you definitely don't belong in Hufflepuff." I gasp, tears coming to my eyes. Al has never said something so cruel to anyone in his whole life, let alone me. My voice is choked and unsteady.
"you don't understand Al. Not that you've tried. I'm done with you three. I've tried to make you understand, and you just threw it back in my face. I'm sorry for wasting so much of your time."
And I turn and leave my cousin in the shadows.
Life has officially screwed me over.
Thanks Malfoy.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Poor Rose, she only has one loyal friend left.
Review!