Shades of Grey
13. Lost
The following morning, Daphne wasn't in her four-poster. Rose rolled out of bed with a sigh, threw some clothes on without noticing what they were, and lumbered down to the common room. As she emerged, she immediately came face-to-face with Pansy Parkinson. Rose groaned.
"Not now, Parkinson."
"You. Broke. My. Jaw," she growled.
"Your face needed some alterations. You should be glad I'm not charging for my services."
Rose cleanly ducked the fist that flew her way. She caught Pansy by the throat and held her at arm's length. Pansy gasped and gripped Rose's wrist, trying to get free, to no avail. Anger flashed in Rose's eyes.
"Listen to me very carefully, Parkinson," she said in a low voice, "I can kill you where you stand. Keep pissing me off, and a broken jaw will be the least of your problems, got it?"
In response, Pansy spit in her face. Rose threw her down to the ground with a roar and pulled out her wand. There was a large audience around them now, but no one did a thing to stop it. Everyone loved a good fight, and this one had been a long time coming.
"What the devil is going on here?" came the familiar drawl of Professor Snape. Rose didn't move.
"Martell, my office," he ordered.
It wasn't until Snape dragged her away that Rose finally took her eyes off of Pansy. The second her back was turned, a painful shock ran through her body and everything went black.
She came to on the common room couch, the fire emitting warmth somewhere near her. She opened her eyes to see Daphne standing over her. She looked so concerned that a feeling of guilt swept over Rose. Maybe Draco was right. Daphne smiled when she saw that Rose was conscious.
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"The bitch stupefied you when you turned your back," Daphne explained.
"Coward," muttered Rose.
She sat up slowly, her head spinning for a second before she felt okay enough to stand. She dusted herself off and looked around at the people staring at her.
"Show's over," she snapped. Everyone reluctantly turned away. "Where's Parkinson?"
"In Snape's office. She's in serious trouble. She'll be in detention for a while, I can assure you."
"Good," she said, then her eyes widened. "Am I in trouble?"
"Probably, but he's a bit preoccupied, so I wager you have enough time to make up a story."
"Well, there's that."
Suddenly, Draco burst in through the common room entrance, looking as tired as ever, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. He crossed the room in a few long strides, and looked Rose up and down, assessing for damage. When he saw that there was no visible bruising, he took a step back and narrowed his eyes.
"I told you so," he gloated. "I bloody told you."
Rose rolled her eyes and shoved past him. Daphne followed. Draco stood where he was, a smirk on his face.
. . .
After breakfast, Rose was called to Snape's office. He looked frustrated after having dealt with Pansy. He motioned for her to take a seat across from his desk. She did as she was told, and waited for him to begin.
"Well? What's your story?" Snape asked finally.
"She swung a punch at me," Rose said.
He pretended to crane his neck in inspection. "I don't see any bruises."
"She missed," replied Rose rather smugly.
Snape nodded. "A week's detention. I'll see you tomorrow at dinner."
"Professor!" she protested. "That's not fair! What's Parkinson getting?"
"The same as you," he replied.
"She hexed me! I am the victim here, sir."
"Five days, then. Now go away; I have papers to grade."
Rose made a face and stood to leave. She turned back at the last moment. "I suppose you've heard the news."
Snape looked up at her tone. "What news?"
"Because I'm marrying Draco...I'm going to be one of you lot. A" –she winced—"Death Eater."
Rose left without waiting for a reaction. As she left the office in a rage, she considered going up to see Draco. She knew he would be in the Hidden Room, but was hesitant as to whether seeing him now was a wise idea or not. But even as she was still contemplating the thought in her mind, she found her feet were already on their way up the stairs. She stopped. What could he do? If anything, he'd make this worse. He didn't show it, but Rose suspected he was head-over-heels excited about this new development. For a start, she couldn't berate him for what he was anymore, because she will be one, too. But how could he be pleased about putting her life in danger this way? She snorted. What made her think he cared at all? Something was very wrong here. Where were these thoughts coming from? Not too long ago, thoughts of her and Draco wouldn't have even crossed her mind, and now she was hoping that he cared about her? Nothing had changed to warrant these feelings; unless that kiss they shared two days ago counted, which she was afraid it didn't. Somewhere deep down she really wished it did. She wished that it changed everything between them; it would make everything so much easier for her. She would know where she stood. But for now she was stuck in this large expanse of grey area about their relationship.
One thing was definitely for certain: a lot will change now. A Death Eater. That is what she will become. And why? Because she was marrying one of them. She tried to think back before the Christmas holidays. If someone had told her then that this would happen, she would have personally paid for a trip to St. Mungo's for them. And yet, she had to wonder, was this really so unlikely? Not really. She wouldn't have in a million years believed anyone that predicted this, but that didn't mean that it was as impossible as she believed. After all, there was a one in five chance (though, considering Crabbe and Goyle, it was more of a one in three) of ending up with Draco. As for Draco being a Death Eater, she would be lying if she didn't say it's the exact thing she predicted he would become. It's just the last part of the equation that threw her off. Rose Martell – Death Eater. Even in her mind it sounded stupid. It had the same ridiculous ring to it as "Hermione Granger – Pureblood" or "Luna Lovegood – Sane." It was something that went against nature. Clearly, the apocalypse was upon them.
Okay, she was exaggerating. Maybe this wasn't so far-fetched. After all, look at her family: Death Eaters, the lot of them. It was only a matter of time before she got dragged down with them. This is what they wanted more than anything, for Rose to be "useful." Roselyn, the extra kid that no one wanted in the first place. She knew they would inevitably find some way to make having her worth their while, and her being a Death Eater was it.
She sighed. Yeah, this was completely typical.
Rose turned on her heel and headed back to the dungeons, away from Draco and the Hidden Room.
"There you are!" shouted Daphne the moment Rose stepped foot through the door. "What happened?"
"He gave me detention," Rose murmured, heading toward the dormitory.
"That's rubbish; you didn't do anything!"
Rose shrugged. "I tried telling him that. But I'm still facing five days."
"Bullocks," Daphne muttered, shaking her head.
"Daph, I'm going to go take a bath, alright?" she said absently, and left.
. . .
The remainder of the day was impossibly boring. She took as long a time in her bath as she could manage. When she immerged from the water, her hands and feet looked like those of a mandrake. She played with the ridges on her skin for a while until they began to fade. Once she ran out of ways to waste time, she got dressed and went out to the common room. It was filled to the brim with Slytherins. She groaned in annoyance and was about to leave when Daphne called her over. She sat beside her best friend and endured hours of meaningless fun. The whole time, a part of her wished Draco would surface, but he never did. When dinner rolled around, and he still never showed up, Rose began growing impatient. He always managed to come out at least during meal times, but he had been up there all day since morning. That night after everyone had gone to sleep, she sat in the common room, waiting for him. She dozed off somewhere around midnight, and was woken by a violent shaking. Rose opened her eyes to see a familiar face...but not the one she was hoping to see.
"What are you doing here, Blaise?" she groaned, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
"I could be asking you the same thing," he replied, sitting next to her. "Though I suspect you were just waiting for me."
"Why in Merlin's name would I be doing that?"
"Well how should I know? You're the one doing it."
She groaned again. "Go away, Blaise."
In response, he put his arm around her. "So, I've been wondering something, Rose," he purred in her ear, letting out an unnecessarily large gust of breath when he said her name. "Have you been thinking about our kiss after that Christmas party as much as I have?"
She tried to push him away but was too tired to manage much, and he held on tighter. "What are you trying to do here, Blaise? Piss me off so I'll hex you unconscious?"
"I'm not hearing a denial," he chuckled, and lowered his lips steadily as he did so, not bothering to notice Rose's look of revulsion.
Rose was about to make a retort, when a very strong force pushed them apart to opposite ends of the sofa. She looked over her shoulder at Draco, standing with his wand pointed at the space where they had been sitting.
"Draco, mate!" Blaise said excitedly, not missing a beat. "Come to join the fun? I wouldn't mind sharing!"
"I would," he growled, and grabbed Rose by the wrist, leading her out of the common room, past a very confused Crabbe and Goyle. He didn't even wait for the door to close completely before demanding, "What was that?"
"What was what? And would you quit doing that?" She wrenched her wrist free of his grip.
"Are you fucking around with Blaise now?" he pressed further.
"What? No!"
"Well that's certainly what it bleeding looked like! Why else are sitting all over him in the middle of the night on the couch?"
"First of all," she said, jabbing his chest with her finger. "He was all over me. And second, I was waiting for you."
"You were?"
"And why do you care, anyway?"
"I care because you're going to be my wife, not his. You can't go around snogging any guy you bloody well like!"
"Yeah, but why do you care?" she repeated.
"Like I said," he replied with a smirk, "I don't like to share."
Rose raised her eyebrows, her mind racing through a million different thoughts, conclusions, and scenarios, while her stomach fell off a cliff. "I see," she said as calmly as she could.
"Good," he nodded, and turned to walk away.
"Where are you going?" she asked in a ridiculously panicked tone.
When he didn't answer, she followed him back to the common room, where Blaise was talking to Crabbe and Goyle, looking very smug indeed. Everyone looked up as Rose and Draco entered.
"Draco, there you are. I was just telling Vincent here how you were probably putting your woman in her place, eh?"
This earned him an extra-hard punch in the jaw. Rose's insides warmed with appreciation. "Try anything like that with my woman," he said the word with a disdainful and mocking edge, "again, and you'll have more than that bruise to worry about, got it?"
"Yeah, whatever you like," he said, rubbing the place where Draco had punched him. "I was just screwing around; no need to go mental."
Rose had half a mind to punch him as well, but restrained herself, and settled for glaring threateningly, figuring she would leave this battle to the guys.
. . .
"Mum? Dad?" Rose whispered, peering around the trunk of a thick tree. The humidity around her made it difficult to breath, and she felt sticky with sweat from the overwhelming heat. She could barely see past all of the trees and vines hanging in front of her, but she felt that she needed to go on. She called out for her parents again, and tripped over her wedding dress as she did. She gathered the white fabric in her fists, and pushed forward through the thick jungle.
"Rose," she heard from somewhere far away. Immediately changing her course, she ran towards the voice, scraping her bare feet as she did. Sweat matted her curls to her face and neck, but she ignored them, still running. "Rose," called the voice again. It sounded closer, but the trees obscured its speaker.
Finally, she stumbled, and fell into the arms of Draco, dressed in a red tuxedo. He lifted her to her feet and whispered, "Come or we'll be late."
"Late to what?" Rose inquired.
He smiled knowingly and led her further into the thicket. They held hands, Draco seeming to glide easily over the undergrowth while Rose stumbled alongside. She asked repeatedly where they were going, but he continued to walk. Then, suddenly, he turned to her, anger flashing in his eyes.
She started. "Sorry, just, where are we going?"
"Don't you know?" he replied calmly, though his face looked anything but calm. His eyes grew wide, and began glowing green, until soon, the green light consumed his entire body. It enveloped her, and sent a shooting pain up her arm, which extended to every other inch of her. Rose collapsed to the jungle floor, and awoke with a start, nearly toppling out of bed.
Author's Note: 10 House points to anyone who finds the reference!