Rose returned ot her room, her new book was clutched tightly against her chest and her cheeks were still tinted with red. The bitter taste of wine was still in her mouth. She contemplated where to store her new book, despite the room being filled with books they was no real order to any of it. Unlike her mother organisation was not her strong suit and she was perfectly content being able to randomly find books in the chaos. After a moment of considered it occurred to her that both the diary and her new book were of a similar size. She wondered if perhaps that was a way to read the diary without people prying on her? The dust cover on her new book could easily be removed. It did not take her long to cover the fancy writing of the diary with the new dust cover, the newer book becoming buried from sight. Walking around with a new gift from Draco was not unusual, nobody would question her. When she had finished she admired her work, pleased at her ability to disguise her secret book before finding where she had left off.
-x-
I went for a walk in the dungeons after lunch, and I ran into Severus. Thankful I had the potions book in my bag so could return it. He was sitting in an alcove reading some over book, I wonder if he had even noticed this one missing. He did not initially seem to react to my presence but looked up at me when I started talking. I don't recall exactly what I said, I babbled on about the book and the fight as he just stared at me. When he took the book from me he immediately put it into his back and turned his attention back to the book he was reading. I told him my name and he looked up again. I seemed to be irking him, but he did not really respond. If I hadn't seen it I'd have never believed this shy boy could have the same ferocity as I had seen him fight with. Out of not knowing what to say I asked him about the noted, this seemed to have an effect on him. I think it was perhaps prying, but I mentioned the book had been open when I retrieved it. I do not think it was that bad, was it? He did not tell me to leave, and did not say anything harsh, so I do not think I did to much damage. Before long another girl appeared, some red haired Gryffindor. Lucy? I think. I do not recall her. Severus seemed to respond positively to her, and she was nice enough. She seemed surprised that Severus was talking to someone, she asked if I wanted to join them for a walk around the castle. I contemplated it but the sour look on his face told me that I should take my leave. The girl hugged me as I left, it felt very strange how polite and warm she was. How had I not seen her round more often? I left them to their walk, hopefully they did not get caught. The staff are more strict if you are found outside of the castle itself and I have no idea about their knowledge of the castle.
I should go to bed now, it is getting late and I don't want to disturb people even later.
-x-
The sound of shouting became cleared and Rose looked up from her book, marking the page with a nearby scrap of paper. She could hear her mother shouting and sighed. Already? Her parents had started to argue a lot in the past the months and Rose felt guilt at having caused it, her mother had only started to interact with Draco due to her being friends with Scorpius and it was this interaction that seemed to rile up her father. She knew they was nowhere she could go where the shouting could not be heard and instead pulled the covers around her, preparing to wait out the shouting.
"….Can't go telling me who I can and cannot talk to!"
"I'm your husband, you do what I tell you too. And I say Don't talk to that pest. Don't you remember anything of his vileness?" If she had not heard this argument before the bitterness and resentment in her father voice would have surprised her. She had never asked what any of it meant, why her father had such distaste for the kind man who always brought gifts for her and her brother. It did not make any sense.
"If it was up to you all I would do is sit at home, lean and produce kid after kid. That isn't me, you knew that when you married me" Her mother growled back, Rose could imagine the anger playing across her face and burning her brown eyes.
"I didn't expect you to be such an insufferable…."
"Don't you dare call me that" Rose heard the creaking of her book and opened her eyes to see Hugo staring up at her. His brown eyes were watery already as the shouting got louder. He closed the door behind him before crawling onto her bed to be encircled in her arms.
"It's okay, dad is just stressed" Rose muttered, attempting to comfort her brother. Occasionally he would snuffle and she wrapped the blanket around him, hoping to muffle some of the noise. She listened to the arguing intensify, followed by a whoosh of magic then the sound of breaking glass. There was silence for a while before she heard her father swearing.