|Rose|
"Loyal and protective. Fiery temper. A vast, complicated mind. Brave, but not quite independent yet. There is no ambition in you, only a thirst to stay hidden. Slytherin is not right for you. Family means everything, and you would do anything to for those you love. Selfish, but in the end you do what is right. There is only one house for you –HUFFLEPUFF."
The sorting hat's voice swam in her head that night as she lay in bed. The other girls in her dorm had given up on trying to get her to talk after she had ignored them for the tenth time and let her stumble her way to her new four-poster bed in the corner, drawing the curtains.
She'd hardly noticed dinner, or the walk to the common room, or even getting into bed. It was all a blur. Somebody could have danced naked in front of her and she would not have even blinked. The only thing she could focus on was that she was not in the same house as her sister.
She was numb throughout the feast. She hardly ate, though her stomach was severely protesting that choice. She did not pay attention when people were talking to or around her. She did not notice when the Headmaster started his speech, and she did not notice when a professor interrupted him. Only when a girl with vivid red hair tapped on her shoulder to let her know dinner was over did she clue back in.
Rose stood up awkwardly and climbed over the bench, instantly getting swallowed up by the crowds of people making their way out of the Great Hall. She craned her neck trying to get a glimpse of Grace so that they could discuss this travesty, but her sister's hair was nowhere to be seen. Slumping over in defeat, she followed the red-haired girl and her friends to her new home.
Her excitement at being in a new school had taken a very high dive off a cliff and tumbled into a nervous terror. How was she going to survive without her sister? Her best friend?
Rose had been looking forward to coming here all summer –it was the only thought that kept her sane when she was in that place; that and her sister was safe. She had wanted to put everything behind her and move forward: forget the past and live for the future. But she had not been expecting this at all. She almost wished to be back at her old school, just so that she had her sister with her again.
This was the first time they'd been separated since –well ever. Except when you were in that place.
She shivered at that thought. Rose always tried to block those memories and pretend like that had never happened. Those were definitely the worst months of her life.
She changed into her pj's and climbed into bed in a daze. Through the thin material of the curtains, she could hear the whispers and laughter of her new roommates as they caught up with one another and talked about their summers. Harry's name was mentioned quite a few times, and Dumbledore's, along with You-Know-Who's. From what she could gather, the Ministry of Magic over here was acting like that guy wasn't back, and discredited both Harry and Professor Dumbledore. That would have, normally, intrigued her, but she could not muster the energy to care about much at the moment.
She cast a silencing charm on her bed, and everything was finally quiet. That was both a relief and a nightmare. Now, all she had were her thoughts.
Rose curled up in a ball, hugging herself and stared a hole into her curtains. Homesickness rooted itself in her belly. Everything had changed within a twelve-hour period, and she wanted it all to go back. Back to her mum's cooking and smile and smart-talk. Back to her dad's hugs and stupid jokes and comfort. Back to sharing a room with her sister and late night talks with junk food and movie watching and she just wanted back.
Sighing, she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her head in the pillows. She could feel the hot sting of tears, and unlike at dinner when they were swiftly held back, she let them stain her new pillowcase.
It was going to be a long night.
Lost.
Lost was how she felt getting up in the morning to strangers. Getting dressed in her new robes (the tie had magicked itself yellow and black. She glared at it). Passing portraits on her walk down to breakfast who greeted her merrily as though this wasn't the end of the world (though that could have also been because she actually was lost).
She sat down at the Hufflepuff table, putting some toast on a plate and started picking at it. Though her stomach was growling, she felt nauseous and the thought of actually eating made it worse. This could have something to do with it being the first day of classes, or the fact that Rose was just never hungry in the morning.
Giving up on her toast, she picked up a yogurt and started to eat that instead. It was still pretty early and the Great Hall was not very populated. Grace was not yet seated at the Slytherin table, but that was to be expected; she tried to sleep in as late as possible. At this rate though, she wouldn't see Grace at all this morning.
"Hi, Roslyn right?" the red-haired girl from the night before asked timidly, taking a seat across from her. She looked nervous to be talking to her, either because Rose had ignored her the night before or because she was scowling fiercely at her yogurt.
Rose rearranged her face into a small smile and nodded. "I prefer Rose, actually."
"I'm Susan," she said, piling eggs and bacon onto her plate.
Rose nodded again, and then they were thrown into an awkward silence. By the time she finished her yogurt, the Great Hall was almost full and they still hadn't said much to one another other than a few comments on the weather and why anyone would choose chocolate yogurt over chocolate pudding. (She wasn't quite sure how that came about considering there was a severe lack of both food items, but she tried to roll with it.)
Still no Grace though.
Her other roommates showed up, looking just as tired as Rose felt and sat down beside Susan, though one had taken a spot beside Rose. Susan looked relieved to not have to awkwardly make small talk with Rose and immediately started a conversation with her friends. The girl beside her smiled in welcome and dug into her food.
"I'm Madeleine by the way," the girl said through some toast, pushing a strand of brown hair behind her ear. Rose looked at her in slight disgust, but laughed a little and introduced herself.
"Well it's nice to meet you Rose. We hope you enjoy it here in Hufflepuff –and between me and you," her voice dropped to a whisper, "as cheesy as it sounds, Hufflepuff is like a huge family, we're not going to bite you or anything. I get that you're quiet and shy because I was exactly like that when I was younger, and I'm not trying to pressure you into changing the way you are considering we just met and all because that would be weird and kind of creepy and –anyway, basically my point is, you have nothing to be afraid of here. Just try to relax a little ok? We're too young to get stress lines." Madeleine leaned back and saluted her with her piece of toast before unceremoniously taking another huge bite.
Rose slouched in her seat. Normally if anyone tried to tell her to relax like that she'd have already jumped down their throats, but with Madeleine it was different. The girl seemed as though she was just honestly trying to be nice. And helpful. Though, she spoke as though she knew how Rose was feeling, which, was a bit weird, maybe. They did just meet after all.
But she was right wasn't she? Rose didn't have her sister anymore. Or at least, she didn't have her as much. Which meant she'd be alone a lot.
Unless...
Unless she made some friends.
Which, she really, really sucked at.
And after last night's first impressions with her roommates, would they even want to be her friend? Fuck.
She cleared her throat awkwardly and looked to her roommates. They immediately quieted.
"I... I just wanted to say sorry for the way I was acting last night. I'm just a little upset and I did appreciate you guys trying to include me in your conversations at dinner. I swear I was not intentionally trying to be rude. So ya. Sorry," she finished lamely and fiddled with the spoon in her hand.
Madeleine shrugged. "No worries. We understood and didn't take it personally. Trust me though, honestly, Hufflepuff is a great house, although the name is a little off," she grinned. Rose smiled back and took a sip of her tea, feeling a bit better.
"Oh, here come the schedules. Please tell me we have Binns again in the morning, I would love to catch up on my sleep," Hannah said from beside Susan as Professor Sprout handed out their timetables.
Classes! She's bound to have some classes with her sister! Rose eagerly took the paper from her head of house and studied it. Double Charms, Double Potions, History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures was what she had as her first day. She wondered what Grace's schedule was like and looked around, again, for her twin but, again, she was nowhere to be seen. Grace never remembered to set an alarm, and more likely than not slept in until mid-morning at the earliest. Rose hoped that one of her sister's new roommates would be kind enough to wake her up in time, since she herself would no longer be able to do so. She sighed at that thought.
Professor Sprout hovered after handing Rose her timetable and looked over the group, eyes landing on Madeleine. "Ms. Whitely, if you could be ever so kind as to show Ms. Taylor to her classes for the remainder of the week, it would be greatly appreciated. I will write you a note to give to your professors if you should find yourself late to any of your own classes." She quickly jotted down something on a piece of paper, handed it to Madeleine and bid them a good day.
"You don't have to do that, Madeleine, really," Rose muttered, looking down at her plate full of toast. She hated feeling like she was a burden to others, and she really didn't want Madeleine to feel like she had to do anything for her just because she was new.
Madeleine gave her a look like she was crazy. "Please, it's no big deal. I wish I had a guide when I was in first year, the amount of times I've gotten lost in this place! It's huge, and has a mind of its own; I swear some days there's a corridor going right and the next day it's switched and goes left. This school actually makes no sense."
"Honestly," Susan agreed, looking up from her timetable.
"This is so unfair!" cried Hannah with a pout and a head bang on the table. "All I want is a decent sleep and they give me potions first thing on Monday morning and history of magic last period? I'm going to fall asleep with my head in a cauldron and Snape is going to let me drown."
"Maybe it'll force you to actually pay attention in potions and you'll be able to scrape an acceptable in the OWL's," Susan said helpfully, stroking Hannah's hair soothingly.
"That'll never happen. I hope I do drown. Then at least I'll be at peace."
Rose watched the old friends interact and sipped thoughtfully at her tea. Could she ever be a part of their friendship like that? Where she wouldn't have to overthink everything she wanted to say just in case it sounded stupid or didn't make any sense because they were so used to her and liked her contributions? Where she could laugh freely and eat freely and not have to worry that they'll think her voice is too high-pitched or that she didn't have any manners?
She'd had a couple of friends at their old school, but no one she was as close with as Grace. She'd only ever been completely herself; one hundred percent comfortable around her family. With anyone else, it all felt forced and awkward.
"We should get going soon, Rose, especially if we want decent seats; Flitwick doesn't like the kids who sit at the back and makes the kids who sit in the front answer his questions," Madeleine stuffed the rest of her toast in her mouth, waved goodbye to Hannah and Susan and a couple of other Hufflepuff boys and started making her way towards the doors where she paused and spun around quickly. "Let me know how the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is, Hans, I have her tomorrow and I want to be prepared."
And with one last forlorn glance at the Slytherin table, Rose set off after Madeleine, preparing for a long day ahead.
The classroom was cold and unwelcoming, like any other room in the dungeons. There was a draft coming from somewhere, Rose shivered from her spot against the wall and basked in shadows; which wasn't all that difficult, as the room seemed to be just one long shadow.
Maddie –as she had admitted she liked better because her mother always called her Madeleine when she was in trouble –had chatted the entire way from Charms to Potions and made Rose feel the most comfortable she'd felt since stepping foot in Hogwarts. However her next class was on the completely other side of the castle and quickly left Rose with a warning about Professor Snape and a good luck.
Stepping into the gloom that was the air of the Potions classroom, she found she was one of the only people there. Rose didn't quite know how to proceed, so she moved down the wall and stayed hidden. She'd been okay in her last class with Maddie there, but it seemed as if she'd be alone in this one.
There were a cluster of tables and she had no idea which to choose. Was there a seating plan? Did some people have a table that, like, belonged to them? Like in those no-maj movies. What if she sat down in someone's spot and they got mad at her?
Students came pouring in within minutes with no hesitation where they sat. As though they've been doing this for years. Which, of course, they had been. Some boys with yellow ties walked in and sat at a table on the far left. There was one spot left beside the boy who she dimly recognized from breakfast. 'If no one's sitting there in another minute, I'll go over,' Rose said to herself. While she counted to sixty in her head, Harry, Hermione and Ron walked through the door, heading to the table at the back very near to her hiding spot.
They seemed a little down. Harry was frowning and Hermione and Ron bickered about something. Rose immediately stopped counting and felt her stress level decrease. She could sit with them! She actually knew them.
Kind of.
They wouldn't send her away, would they? She didn't know them that well. Not like everyone else at this school did. Merlin, why did they have to move in the middle of their schooling? How would she ever make new friends when everyone already had good friends that they didn't need to replace and there was no space for her or her weird issues?
Well, of course, she knew why they had left Canada.
Whatever. She cleared her head and resigned herself to ask if she could sit with them. If they said no, she would go over with the boys from her house. And if they said no she'd find the nearest bathroom and try to drown herself.
She hardly even made it out of her gloomy corner before she heard it.
She would recognize that voice anywhere, especially that tone.
"You fucking idiot! I can't believe anyone has let you live this long!" her high voice got louder with every word and shook with anger. Everyone in the classroom turned to the doorway, not wanting to miss out on the drama. "I really don't need you, you know, I could have asked Blaise. But thank you so much for showing me the way," she said in a mock polite way, stalking into the room with loud, slapping footsteps.
Within seconds their eyes met and everything felt okay again.
Nobody else in the room had even realized she was there, hiding in the dark, but she immediately knew Rose was there. Grace had never once overlooked Rose.
"Why are you lurking in the shadows like some psycho killer?" was the first thing Grace said.
Rose launched herself at her sister, careening her backward and just missing the guy she had been yelling at, who sauntered into the room as if he owned it, only to side-step just in time. Then just as quickly, Rose pulled away and started slapping Grace's arms.
"Where have you been? I've been worried sick! I didn't see you last night, I didn't see you this morning, for all I knew you could have died in your sleep! Did you even get up in time? Did you set your alarm? Did you make it to your first class? You better have –"
Grace pulled her back into a hug, pinning her arms down and whispered, "I missed you too."
The closing of the door echoed around the room and snapped everyone to attention. "Touching," sneered a voice, walking out of the shadows much like she had done a minute earlier. The man had black hair that hung in his face limply. His hooked nose seemed to protrude from his face like a beak, and Rose could not stop staring at it. "Stop wasting our time and sit down. Now."
The boy Grace walked in with snickered as the twins passed him, blond hair glinting in the candlelight as they headed towards the only people they knew; Harry Ron and Hermione. Rose threw Grace a look. Grace shook her head, as if to say later.
They sat down at the table and started pulling out their cauldrons, Rose beaming at the trio because she was just so happy that she had found her sister, though she did not miss the look the three of them gave Grace. But before she could ask, Professor Snape started the lesson.
Now, Rose most definitely understood what everyone was talking about. Professor Snape talked slowly but surely, in a way that made you hang onto his every word. His tone was always cold, though he spoke softly, so softly that everyone had to be quiet in order to hear exactly what he was saying. As if his tone wasn't enough, his eyes were so dark that it seemed you could get stuck in them. There was an air around him though. He was sure of himself, but if you looked close enough, and if you knew what you were looking for you would see it; and Rose was very good at looking for it. Professor Snape was dark and painful and almost filled to the brim with misery.
Within the five minutes he spoke, Rose knew she would try her very best to avoid ever having to interact with him. He, like Professor Flitwick before him, spoke of the OWL's and how he only took the very best. Looking around, Rose saw a couple of students from every house. They all seemed positively tautwith nerves and fright, especially Neville. Grace and she however, slouched comfortably in their chairs. They didn't need to be nervous; they both excelled in Potions.
In fact, they did extremely well in pretty much all of their classes. At their old school, they were the top two students. It was only natural; they came from a very long line of powerful witches and wizards. Not that they let it get to their head, like some people she could mention.
He wasn't even paying attention. He was writing notes to his sidekicks and laughing at his own jokes. And Professor Snape wasn't even doing anything about it; he ignored it, continuing with his spiel and glaring at Harry. Maddie had explained the blatant favouritism the Potions Master showed to his house, so even though Rose was fully expecting it, it was still startling to see a person with such authority being so very unfair.
"The potion you will be mixing today is one that does often come up in the Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace. This potion is used to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. How-ever," Professor Snape snapped the word into two and paused, flicking his eyes to Neville who gulped in his chair and gave an almost imperceptible shiver, "be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients the drinker shall fall into a deep and sometimes even irreversible sleep; too stingy and the potion will have the opposite effect and the drinker will become enraged. Pay close attention to what you are doing." On Rose's left, Grace rolled her eyes and tapped her hand against her leg; one of her tell-tale signs of agitation. "You have an hour and a half... begin."
The classroom became a flurry of motion and muttering and odd sounds and spells. Everyone was in a hurry; Hermione had pushed passed many people to get her ingredients first; a Ravenclaw boy slipped and went sprawling on the floor, a cascade of materials following behind him; the Irish boy from the train set his robes aflame almost as soon as he started working (which, according to the responses of exasperated "Seamus!" 's, seemed to happen a lot.)
Rose went the long way around the classroom to the store cupboard, avoiding Professor Snape's dull anger directed towards the fallen Ravenclaw boy for "wasting precious ingredients and air" and the snickers of the Slytherins around him. Though, on the way back, with her arms filled with a variety of weird substances, she wished she had just accio'd the stuff when she found herself almost crashing into a sneering blond.
"Hoping to land another blow on me now, are you?" she spat, dancing away from the elbow that was too close for comfort. She had drowned her face in foundation that morning to not only cover up the bruise on her cheekbone but the huge bags under her eyes as well. His eyes were drawn to her clear cheek, then flicked up to meet hers. A pressing feeling started in her chest, kind of like she was having trouble breathing, and she did not like it one bit. Malfoy opened his mouth to say something, no doubt rude, but Rose brushed past him hastily.
"Finally," Grace exclaimed, dragging her feet off the table when Rose dumped the ingredients some seconds later. Rose gave her a look.
Mostly every other student had started already and all had the same look of concentration mixed with panic at both the time that was slipping away and the complicated instructions written in slanted cursive on the board. The twins however, were the complete epitome of the Draught of Peace.
They were very much familiar with this particular concoction, having watched their mother brew it too many times to count. Their mother was as much of an intellect as their dad was sociable. She was the brain of the family; having discovered and conquered any spell, potion and equation possible from school and even more so after graduating. For a witch of her potential, brewing the Draught of Peace was a trivial task.
It wasn't until late spring that the calming potion made a permanent spot on Kara's weekly brew list. But after the fourth night in a row of her sleep being disturbed by one or both twins waking up in a panicked cold-sweat, screaming their voices hoarse, she knew she had to do something. Before that, she had only made or purchased the Draught of Peace when Rose got into one of her really bad moods; where she was so infuriated and so deranged that nothing or no-one made sense and nothing or no-one could stop her.
So, while everyone else ironically panicked over the Draught of Peace, Rose and Grace added, stirred, heated or cooled comfortably and surely. They hardly even needed to look up at the board for instructions, and soon found themselves either caught up with the early-goers or passing them entirely. It took only half of their focus, which was good for them because they had a lot of catching up to do; after all, they had spent an entire evening apart.
"– and Filch was chasing the tablecloth around, screaming that he'd definitely expel it once he caught his breath. Thank fuck Daphne thought fast enough to charm it into a "ghost" or else I would have made a record of getting detention on the first day."
"Actually, Ron and Harry were almost expelled before they had even stepped foot in the castle in our second year for flying a car in broad daylight to Hogwarts and then crashing it into the Whomping Willow," said Hermione distractedly, crushing her porcupine quills in a vicious fashion and frowning at her notes.
"Right," Grace continued stirring her potion and looked weirdly at the trio, all in varying states of panic and disarray. "Anyway, we high-tailed it out of there and finally decided to head back, but then Tracey and Tulisa were hungry so we stole some cookies from the kitchen. They are heavenly, by the way. But, when we got back, get this, Pansy was chilling outside the entryway! I guess she followed us out, but then lost us and forgot the password. Which is so dumb because she's a prefect, but whatever. Basically, it was a really good first night. I think I'll like this place." Grace sighed happily, turning down the flame under her cauldron.
Rose didn't know what to say. While she had been lying in bed, wiping her tears on her already soaked pillow and overall wallowing in the unfairness and the unknown of life, Grace had been laughing and frolicking and causing trouble.
'Had she not thought of me at all? Did she wonder for one second what I was up to last night? How I felt after being put in a different house? How this was going to affect us at all?' Rose felt a heavy tiredness at her thoughts, the sleepless night catching up to her. 'Of course', she thought bitterly, stirring her potion a bit too angrily that some of it sloshed out onto the table, narrowly avoiding her notes, 'Grace is probably equally as sleepless, though for completely different reasons.'
"Woah there Rose, are you forgetting something? You have to add the powdered unicorn horn before you start stirring so much. Just a pinch... ya, that should be good."
Rose took a deep, hopefully calming, breath. "Thanks," she said through a strained smile.
"You ok?" Grace asked, looking away from her potion that was slowly turning purple to give Rose a concerned look.
Oh, now she wanted to be concerned.
"Fine," Rose forced the stupid weird emotions out and counted to ten, watching her potion go from red, to purple to a soft blue.
"Right... Well what did you do last night?"
Rose paused mid stir. "Oh, you know, nothing as exciting as what you got up to," she forced herself to laugh with Grace. "I was just so tired that I went to bed."
Grace frowned, and opened her mouth to say something, but Rose hurried on.
"But I did talk to my roommates for a bit, they seem pretty cool." Rose looked at the calming turquoise of her potion as she spoke, the air shimmering around them in a soft haze.
"Good," Grace relaxed with a smile. "It's a good thing we both have nice roommates."
Why had she lied? She could have told Grace the truth. They tell each other everything. She could have made Grace feel guilty; like look at all the emotions I have, why did you not think of me at all when all I could think about was how different everything was going to be between us?
Of course, it wasn't Grace's fault. She's just living her life. If she wants to go out and do fun things she should. She definitely should. Merlin knows she deserves it.
So why did Rose feel so weird about it?
She sighed and breathed in the soothing scent of the potion, watching the sparkle and dazzle of the unicorn horn as it dissolved. So transfixed was she on the hypnotizing twinkle of blue, purple, blue, purple, it took her a while to realize there was an ominous presence at their table, and that the rest of the room had gone silent. Rose tuned back just as Professor Snape vanished the contents in the cauldron belonging to a severely pissed off Harry.
She was beyond shocked. Can a teacher even do that? That had never happened at their old school. Rose turned to her sister, who sat with a look that was half parts disgusted half parts stunned.
"Those of you who have managed to read the instructions," Professor Snape looked around the rest of their table and actually had the audacity to nod at the twins, "fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing."
As he went to on to describe their homework, Rose filled her flagon, corked it and slammed it down onto the table. She was angry on Harry's account. What kind of teacher does that to a student? Though she hadn't been paying that much attention, she knew that Harry's potion was much better than whatever Ron had made, yet there he was, filling up his own flask and slopping it all over the table.
However, there was also a part of her that was secretly proud that Professor Snape had given her and her sister credit on their own potion. It made her feel guilty though, as it was probably only at Harry's expense that he had recognized them, like; look at these new kids, they're better than you, Potter.
For a second, she debated not handing it in, in an act of defiance.
But why would she do that? All she'd be doing is hurting herself. And her mark.
She was just very angry. Which didn't even make sense because this had nothing to do with her.
Ugh.
Rose got up a second after everyone else and deposited her bottle neatly on his desk. The bell rang for lunch just as she got back to her table, oddly warm in such a cold environment. She wanted to say something to Harry, but he bolted out of there as soon as the first note resonated. Hermione and Ron sighed in unison, packed up their stuff and went after him.
"Thank Merlin it's lunch already, I'm so hungry," Grace snapped her book shut, putting it into her newly cleaned cauldron and gracefully shrinking it so it fit into her bag. Rose started at the shutting of the book, flicking her eyes away from Harry's retreating back and focusing on copying down the homework –twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, due on Thursday.
Just as she finished dotting the end of her sentence, there was a glint of light in her peripheral, a stark contrast compared to the dark dreariness of the potions classroom. Her eyes followed it, when she suddenly remembered something.
"–cookies will be there, I'm feeling something sweet as a pick me up."
Rose hurriedly shoved everything into her bag, wincing in the back of her mind at how the ink might smear, and turned pointedly to Grace.
"You never told me why you walked in with –"
"Malfoy!" Snape's voice barked, stopping the blond from slithering out the door. "Going somewhere?"
Malfoy's back stiffened, the only sign that he was bothered, for when he turned around his face was a blank mask of politeness. "Just lunch, sir. Potion-making makes me hungry," he said coolly.
"Fuck," breathed Grace. "I was hoping he'd make it out before the snake descended."
"You, know you're a snake now too," Rose whispered back, eyeing Malfoy and Snape.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Snape's black eyes darted to the twins and back to the boy, who looked much more flustered now.
"Of course not sir, I just... was... making sure the hallways were cleared."
"Ya, but I'm like a cute snake, they're like... those poisonous ones that people want to kill."
"Snakes are venomous, not poisonous you dumbass."
"You weren't, perhaps, trying to slack on your duties of showing Miss Taylor around –which would include the Great Hall?"
"Sir," Grace protested, "I'm really quite alright. I don't need a guide to show me around this place, I'll be able to find everything on my own."
"Of course, Miss Taylor, which would be why you showed up late to your Transfiguration class, after walking into three wrong classrooms. If you don't wish to miss out on lunch, which, if I'm not mistaken," Professor Snape paused and looked to Grace with a smirk, "will include cookies, I would advise you to not argue."
"How did he possibly hear that," muttered Grace as she towed Rose behind her towards a disgruntled Malfoy, idly doing up the buttons to his jacket. "And how could he use my love of cookies against me? That's just so rude."
"You got stuck with Malfoy as your guide? How much bad luck do you have?"
"For starters, she has you as a sister so she's pretty worse off." Malfoy ushered them out of the potions room, slamming the door closed behind him.
Grace smiled. "He's a pleasant one, isn't he?"
The dungeons were like a maze. A long, cold, dreary maze. And with Malfoy leading the way, she didn't know if they were going to make it out alive.
"You've been attending this school for five years, your dormitory is down here, you trek this journey every day, and now you decide to get lost?" Rose scowled fiercely, shivering in her wet robes and looking around at the stone walls that looked the same as the ones they had passed two minutes ago. In fact, she was pretty sure that tapestry was the same too.
"Well if you hadn't decided to piss off Peeves, he wouldn't have blocked the exit and I wouldn't be wasting my breath talking to you," Malfoy huffed, stalking forward even though they already knew nothing was there.
"How was I supposed to know what that idiot would do? I only asked if he could do something productive instead of trying to drown us, I didn't know that would cause him to go fucking crazy!"
Malfoy stopped suddenly and spun around to pin Rose with an irritated glare. "He's a sodding poltergeist, what did you think was going to happen?"
"Fuck if I know, we didn't have a poltergeist at our old school because we got an education at a normal fucking place."
"Right, well you Americans are obviously so much better than we are. If you liked it there, then why'd you leave? They kick you out?"
"American? American? How fucking dare you! I sound nothing like an American, and I can't believe you would insult me to that degree. Americans are pig-headed and egotistical and I do not appreciate being classified as such. Bitch." Rose turned her head away, nose upturned and fire flashing in her eyes. Though, half of it were the actual torches on the wall reflected in her eyes. But still.
When she turned back, she saw Malfoy was grinning. It looked out of place on his face, as she'd only ever seen a frown or grimace or a sneer or a smirk or –well literally anything except a smile. It threw her off for a moment. Her eyes followed his hand as it moved his hair out of his face, only for it to flop right back over his eyes, and she had to shake herself out of whatever was happening.
"What are you smiling at? We're stuck down here because of you, now is not the time to get smiley," said Rose sourly.
His smile became a grimace as he looked around again. "Again, this is not my fault. This is your bloody fault and you know it."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Whatever. That can't be the only exit Malfoy. It would be a fire hazard."
"It's the only exit I've ever used," Malfoy shrugged and went back to examining the corridors. They were in the middle of an intersection of sorts; there were three other corridors they could go down; one straight ahead, one to the left and one to the right. Or, they could turn back around.
"What, no night roaming's? You never woke up in the middle of the night and thought 'Hey, maybe I should go scouting the dungeons in case I ever get stuck down here for some reason and my normal exit is blocked.' Obviously, because you never did that, this is all, completely, your fault." She hugged herself and shivered, leaning against the wall. The dungeons were damp enough by themselves, they didn't need a poltergeist with a bucket full of water balloons to help any.
She'd get a cold at this rate. Ugh. She hated being sick. They still got sick, though the immune systems of witches and wizards were far better than those of no-maj's. It was very infrequent, but it happened. And when it did, it sucked. Or sniffled, actually.
There was a sudden clacking noise that took her by surprise. Rose jumped to attention, only to realize they were her teeth. Fuck, that's embarrassing.
Looking up from the stone floor, she jumped again, but this time because of how close Malfoy was. When did he get there? She hadn't heard him.
Silently, he shrugged off his jacket –which was only slightly damp because he had used her as a shield from the water balloons –and offered it to Rose. She took it, hesitantly. It felt warm and silky, obviously made in the highest quality, and had a crest on it that she didn't recognize.
"... Thanks," she finally said as she slipped it on, already feeling better. It was much too long on her, the sleeves going over her hands and the ends passing her knees. Her fingers played around with the soft material of the cuff.
Malfoy raked his fingers through his damp hair again which looked browner somehow and nodded, not meeting her eyes. "Wouldn't want you to die of hypothermia. Someone would definitely blame me and I don't want to get caught up in that."
"Ya, Grace would definitely kick your –wait a second, where's Grace?"
They both looked around. There was no mane of hair to be seen.
In fact, thinking back, Rose hadn't heard Grace at all since Peeves had pelted them with water balloons. And then she got so preoccupied with being mad at Malfoy for being an idiot that she didn't even realize Grace wasn't there.
Holy shit.
She'd lost her sister.
How does someone lose their sister?
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. We lost her. Holy Merlin how could we have lost her? This is all your fault you insufferable jerk!"
Malfoy didn't even seem bothered. In fact, he seemed rather amused at the turn of events. "I was wondering why it had become so quiet. Thank Merlin she's gone, her incessant talking is going to be the death of me."
"That would be a far better way to die than what I have planned for you," said Rose darkly, glaring so fiercely she felt as though she could have turned Malfoy to stone.
He seemed to have had the same thought. "Right, well, don't get your panties in a twist, we'll find her. We just have to retrace our footsteps," he said, taking a casual step back to put more space between just in case Rose decided to lunge.
Which she was seriously debating.
Wow, he was actually kind of close. Why was that again? Oh right, the jacket. Rose sighed and took a deep breath, pawing at the sleeve. There was no point in hurting Malfoy; she had no idea how to get up to the Great Hall and he was her best bet. Besides, she'd get into serious trouble.
Again.
"We'll head back to where we last saw her and start there. And please, do try to keep up, I know you have short legs but think about what were to happen if she were in trouble, heh?" Malfoy walked briskly ahead of Rose, so she couldn't see the smirk on his face, but she could definitely hear it. Merlin did she want to smack it off.
Rose strode a foot behind him with her heart in her stomach. She knew that Malfoy was only trying to get a rise out of her, but what if Grace really were in trouble and Rose wasn't there?
Merlin, she was a bad sister. There she was, fighting with Malfoy of all people while Grace was, well, wherever she was. She definitely should have noticed she was missing earlier. Guilt and worry followed behind her as she speed-walked to catch up with Malfoys long legs, stumbling clumsily when his jacket got caught between her knees.
In between the rhythmic slapping of their footsteps against the stone floors, she thought she heard a noise. Rose yanked on the back of Malfoys robes –hard. (Harder than necessary but really, what was a girl to do?)
"Ow? The bloody hell are you doing Taylor?"
"Shh! Do you hear that?"
"Hear what? There's nothing to bloody hear because there is no one else down here as they were all lucky and didn't get stuck with a raving lunatic–OW! Did you just bite me?"
If Rose wasn't so worried about where Grace was, she would have laughed at the face Malfoy was making.
"You just bit my shoulder. Why did you just bite my shoulder? Oh I know, it's because you're fucking insane!"
"Oh, stop your whining. Do you hear something too?"
He glowered at her, but preceded to shut up and look around, all the while rubbing his bitten shoulder.
It was faint, but it was definitely there. Talking. Well, screaming really. A bit on the hysterical side.
"Those bitches fucking left me here. I'm probably rat bait in this cold, smelly... dungeon thingy. And there's a window right fucking there, but I'm too fucking short to reach it. Damn my genetics! I'm all hair! What am I supposed to do with hair? It's wet! And gross! I'm going to have to put in a hair mask when I get out... if I get out!"
Yep. That was definitely Grace. But where was she? It was all stone wall. Unless...
There was a tapestry that they had passed a couple of times. Rose had just assumed that there was nothing behind it. But what if she were wrong?
Rose marched right up to it, while Malfoy looked at her as though she were insane, which, she guessed, she had done nothing of late to prove him wrong.
It was a nice tapestry. Obviously old with all the dust hidden in the wrinkles of the fabric. And because it was hanging in the dungeons of Hogwarts. It displayed the powerful wizard Merlin gazing up at a brilliant array of stars in deep wonder. His hair was as white as a unicorn's mane, especially compared to the darkness of the night. The stars were arranged in a way that she knew if she were any good at divination, she'd be able to read them. Of course, Grace was the one who excelled in that field.
There were four orbs surrounding Merlin, each different colours and sporting a unique symbol. The one near his head was a shimmering violet with an eye in it that seemed to pierce her soul; to his right, the orb glowed bright yellow and shone like the sun that was carved into it; near his feet was a dull green with beautiful vivacious flowers sprouting out of it like spring blooming; and the final orb seemed to be coming out of his wand in a fiery blue explosion, sparks etched into it like fireworks.
Rose was transfixed. There was just something about the tapestry that both terrified and intrigued her. The orbs seemed impossibly familiar, though she was sure she had never seen them in her life. Her eyes bore into Merlin's. She could have sworn they were trying to tell her something, something important. But how ridiculous was that? It was an old tapestry, long forgotten in the halls of the dungeons, and unlike portraits, could not move. So then why did it look like Merlin was winking at her?
"–my first day of classes and I literally got stuck in a dungeon. This is beyond ridiculous. All I wanted were some cookies. Was that too much to ask for? And Malfoy is so fucking useless. All he had to do was lead us to the Great Hall, but no. He can't even do that right. You know, I should just kill him. Do the whole world a favour and kill him. I can think of ways to do it right now since I'm literally NEVER GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE."
"I'd like to see you try you big-headed twat!" snarled Malfoy, pushing Rose out of the way and ripping the tapestry to the side.
The sudden dim light from the torches visibly surprised Grace, who was leaning against the wall of what looked like a very narrow passageway. The sight of her sister made Rose forget the tapestry entirely, and rushed towards her like she hadn't seen her in years.
Grace had very different plans, however.
"Wha– Grace no!" Rose exclaimed as she was pushed, once again, to the side.
Grace lunged around Rose and reached for Malfoy's throat.
Malfoy was definitely not expecting anything physical. He had his wand drawn and his eyes widened in horror as Grace's hand came closer to his throat. Or it could have been because of the crazy look in her eyes as she whispered "I'm going to fucking kill you."
Well shit. Why did Grace always have to go for the theatrics? Rose cast a quick protective wall between the two. Grace hit her hand on it a mere foot away from Malfoy, who had his eyes shut tight and a look of resigned fright etched on his face. Rose snorted. What a frickin coward.
Grace looked betrayed as she turned to Rose, cradling her hand, and pouted. "Why'd you do that? We could have been rid of him forever."
Rose sighed as Malfoy peeked one eye open. "We've talked about this before. You can't just "choke" someone you just met. You need to have their permission. And you need to stop being so dramatic."
Grace smirked, cocking her head to the side as if considering Malfoy. "Meh, I bet he wouldn't mind it if I did choke him. I know I wouldn't mind being choked."
Malfoy looked questioningly between the two as Rose made a disgusted face.
"What is your bloody problem, you crazy woman?"
The smirk on her face dropped as soon as he opened his mouth. "You two left me in there to die! That's my problem!"
"That's not true! We've been looking for you this entire time."
"Really? Because you passed me by six times without noticing I was gone."
"I –well... we had to run from Peeves? And anyway, how did you even get in there? And why didn't you just come back out?"
"Do you really think I'm that dumb? If I could have gotten out of here, I would have, but as soon as the tapestry covers the entrance, it's like a barrier. You're trapped. And no amount of pushing or shoving or whatever will make it budge."
Well that didn't bode well for them, considering they were all behind the tapestry now. Malfoy pushed against the curtain, punched it, kicked it, tried to blast a hole in it with his wand, but to no avail. The only light came from Grace's lit wand and the small window just out of reach, which showed a very nice view of a patch of dirt. Rose cast her own lumos maxima and a ball of light emerged from her wand and hung from the ceiling like a chandelier. It didn't show much, only that this tunnel like thing went on much farther and then tapered off into darkness, and Malfoys scared face. That made her feel at least a bit better.
"See what I mean? There's no way to get out the way we came in. And I didn't really feel like going down there to my doom all by myself, so..." Grace leaned against the wall, arms crossed casually.
"Ya, I get it." Rose said, looking around for some kind of way out that they perhaps had overlooked.
"Why are you wet?" Grace asked suddenly, touching Rose's damp hair.
"Why are you dry?" Rose countered, twirling one frizzy curl on her sister's head.
"I know why she's wet." The smirk was evident in his tone that it didn't even matter he was in the shadows. They all knew it was there. Is that all he ever did? Smirk?
Grace stifled a laugh as Rose punched Malfoy's arm. "Shut up Malfoy."
"Oww, stop with the abuse already. What is with you North Americans and physical violence?" he rubbed his arm, scowling at the pair.
"You're just a special case," Rose smiled wickedly at him. He just rolled his eyes. "Ok, no but actually, why are you dry? You were with us when Peeves attacked, weren't you?"
Grace blew a piece of hair from her face. "Kind of. That's actually when you guys lost me. I think. I think Peeves was trying to throw something at us, but then Malfoy rammed into me and I went flying through the tapestry."
"That's because he was cowering behind me from the water balloon attack. Such a chivalrous guy we have with us," Rose said dryly.
"That jacket you're wearing is very expensive! Water is damaging to the silk, there was no way I was going to ruin it because you're a bloody idiot and can't keep her mouth shut."
"Wait time out, what jacket?" Grace squinted through the dim lighting, finally taking in what her sister was sporting. "Why are you wearing his jacket?" she asked, incredulous.
Rose fiddled awkwardly with the sleeve again. She had forgotten she was wearing his jacket. Was it that big of a deal? Looking back towards Malfoy again, with his arrogant, tilted chin and his crossed arms, she decided that yes, it was a big deal. Why had she agreed to wear something of his? He's such an ass.
"I was really cold ok? What was I supposed to do? I'd rather he freeze than me."
"Well if that's how you feel, then I will very well have that back, thank you." He held out his hands for the jacket, a weird look on his face. Grace watched Rose take it off and thrust it towards him in astonishment.
"Um.. why didn't you just cast a drying charm?"
"..."
"Rose, you're really quite an idiot," she quickly did the spell. Rose told herself the only reason her cheeks were blushing was because of the sudden heat.
"Right, well now can we focus on getting out of here? I would really rather not be stuck down here with either of you for any longer. Or," he shuddered at the thought, "be found with you."
"The feeling's mutual."
They all looked towards the dark end of the passageway. "Well, I mean, we could try to find out how far this thing goes and where it ends."
Malfoy coughed a little, probably trying to cover a whimper. "Um, no way. We don't know what's down there! There could be another three-headed dog just waiting for someone stupid enough to get themselves stuck in here."
"As if there would be a –wait another? You mean there's already a three-headed dog here? What kind of school have we come to?" Grace asked shrilly.
"Well," Malfoy shuffled his feet, "there were rumors in first year."
Rose rolled her eyes and kept eyeing the part of the hallway where the light stopped reaching and it turned dark. In her imagination, she could think of a whole bunch of awful monsters that could be waiting for them, hidden in the shadows, lurking and ready, just waiting for them to step out and –
She shook her head. She was getting way ahead of herself.
"Well they let you go here, Malfoy, so I suppose anything really is possible," Rose smirked. Malfoy responded with a rude hand gesture.
"Ok, well if we don't want to go down there, then what if we climb out of the window? I was too small by myself, but with the three of us, we could probably make it," Grace pointed.
They really were stupid. Here it was, staring them straight in the face the entire time they were in there and they never even thought to try and use it before. It could have saved Rose precious moments of not being in Mafoy's presence.
"Malfoy, get down on all fours underneath the window."
He gaped at Rose. "Hell no! It's dirty and wet and these are brand new robes, I'm not going to get them ruined just because some half-blood bitch tells me to," he sniffed.
Well then. Rose shook with barely contained anger. He was one of those kinds of people, was he? All blood status and masculine superiority. Well, ok then. He messed with the wrong fucking witch.
Rose repressed her dark, inner thoughts of what she could do to him in five seconds that would make sure no one would ever find him again, and instead regarded him coolly.
Grace put her hand on her shoulder. An anchor.
She sighed quietly, eyes never leaving the cold grey ones. "Fine. If you don't do as I say, then I will chain you down here to rot until the rats find you."
"As if you could," scoffed Malfoy, though his eyes did flicker to the wand she was fiddling with in her hand.
Rose smirked and rose one eyebrow. "Try me."
He didn't budge. He still stood there with his cocky sneer and arrogant attitude. Well, she'd just have to take him down a notch.
The red light of her stunning spell missed his ear by an inch. On purpose of course.
The change in his face was instantaneous. The horror that spread through his eyes gave Rose a tiny thrill, though she beat it down in a heartbeat.
"Wha –but –you can't do that!"
Rose laughed a little. "Can't I? There's no one here to see, and –if you get out of here –and tell anyone, who are they to believe? An obnoxiously arrogant bully? Or two new, innocent students? You decide."
Malfoy looked about ready to shit himself. Serves him right, the racist, misogynistic asshole. Grace squeezed her shoulder, a silent message telling her that that was enough. Probably too far actually, but whatever.
Rose sighed and pulled back. "So, are you going to help, or are you going to get in the way?"
There was an audible gulp, and then he begrudgingly did as she said, all the while glaring at her fiercely.
"Now there's a good boy," she belittled even more. Grace huffed a tiny laugh, but Rose could tell she was at least a little bit displeased with her actions. It worked though, didn't it?
"Shut it, you insane lunatic," Malfoy grumbled from the floor.
"And you say I'm dramatic," Grace whispered in her ear. Rose merely shrugged.
"So I'll climb on top of Malfoy, and then Grace, you'll climb over me and that should be good to reach the window. You'll have to hoist us up though."
"I have no upper body strength, how is this going to work?"
"Well I don't know, but it's going to have to because I am hungry and tired and I just want to get out of here and away from this asshole."
Said asshole did another rude hand gesture.
"Fine," Grace grumbled.
Malfoy tensed up as Rose gently got up on his back. From her new height, she was almost at the window. If her family weren't so frickin short, they wouldn't need another body to be able to reach. "Ready?" she asked Grace, cupping her hands into a makeshift hold.
"I guess."
"Ok, three, two, one." Grace put her shoe in Rose's hands and she thrust up, pushing her sister upward with as much power as she could manage. Malfoy groaned under them in obvious discomfort.
"You're fine," Rose panted to him under the strain. "We're not that heavy."
"Says you," he managed through clenched teeth.
"I got it!" yelled Grace as she shimmied onto the ledge of the window and pulled herself up.
"Thank fuck," Rose muttered, clenching and unclenching her hands, the imprint of the soles of her sisters boots visible.
Malfoy rolled to the side, throwing Rose off his back. "Ok, get off of me now."
Rose glared from her new position on the floor, and jumped when the bang of the window echoed around the hallway.
They both looked up to find the window half smashed and off its hinges, glass covering the ledge. "Oops?" said Grace.
"Push it all out onto the ground before we try to get up, ok?"
When it was all clean, Malfoy stood under the window, staring up with a calculating look. "It would be easier for you to reach it if you climb onto my shoulders," he said to the wall.
Rose was hesitant, but she had to agree. It was the only way she'd be tall enough.
"Fine."
Slowly, she walked over to him, eyeing him the entire way. He held out his hands behind him, in the position of a piggy back. She sighed. Merlin did she not want to do this.
"We don't have all day guys, the cookies could be gone by the time we get there!" Grace called down to them. Rose glowered at her sister, but took a running leap onto Malfoys back.
She thought he would falter under her new weight but he was solid and steady. "Now lean your hands against the wall to support you, and slowly climb up to my shoulders," he whispered. She tried to do as he said, but the closeness of their bodies was getting to her. She had never been this close to a boy before. If she stilled, with her arms around his neck and her front pressed to his back, she bet she would be able to feel his heart beat. It was unnerving.
So she slowly made her way up, though it was awkward the entire time. His hands guided her, holding onto her arms as she went, then her legs and finally anchoring her feet. It was way too intimate to her, and especially with Malfoy, the person who not even five minutes ago had been so insulting. She didn't dare breathe until the only part of her that touched him were her shoes planted on his shoulders. Then, she took a deep, calming breath.
"Ok, so I fashioned a rope and tied it onto one of the trees. It should hold if you want to use it to climb up," Grace's voice brought her back and she focused on the rope that was suddenly dangling in front of her face.
"Where did you get the rope?" she asked as she took it in both her hands and gave a testing tug. It seemed to be ok.
"I made it, duh."
"Well why didn't we think of that before!" Rose exclaimed as she took one foot off of Malfoys shoulders and rested it on the wall. She was a little afraid actually, as she started "walking" up the wall. One slip of her hand and she would flatten Malfoy like a pancake. Actually, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.
"Because then I couldn't enjoy watching you get all cozy with Malfoy down there," whispered Grace with a shit-eating grin. If Rose wasn't so busy with her hands, she would have flipped her off.
It was very difficult work. Trying to keep straight with very little upper body strength and rope burn was tiring, but she didn't have that far to go. Thanks to Malfoys height, she was almost at the top within a minute, and all Grace had to do was try and pull her up. Finally, the two sisters made it and rolled outside in a heap.
They looked at each other, panting, for a second, and then burst into peals of laughter. The sun was bright in the sky overhead, especially compared to the darkness of the passageway, so Rose had to squint out into the day. They were somewhere near the main entrance, if she remembered the location of coming in last night. The two finally stopped laughing when Grace cringed a little in discomfort and touched her head.
"Just a bit of a headache from the sudden brightness," Grace answered the unasked question. "It's nothing really, I was probably just in the dark for too long."
Rose nodded, but was not a hundred percent convinced. Though her interrogation had to wait as there was a yell from below.
"Hello, are you two perhaps forgetting something? Yes I am still here, thank you very much, you can't get rid of me that easily."
"What a shame," Grace muttered as they crawled back to the broken window and peered down.
He was trying his best, she had to give him that. He was climbing up the rope with more grace than she at least but the strain was evident in his face. He was almost at the top, but he looked exhausted. Probably from keeping both of them up. She felt as though she should help him. It was the right thing to do, right?
Her hand appeared in his face and he blinked up at it with distrust. "Oh c'mon, I'm not going to hurt you, where would you get that idea?"
"Hmm, I wonder," he grunted, still staring at her hand.
"Ok, I guess I can give you that one. But I would never intentionally hurt you... only scare you. You'd have to actually be trying something for me to do some harm." She sighed. "Either take my hand or don't, I really don't care."
With a few more glances, he finally put his hand in hers, and a jolt went up her arm. Obviously from his added weight. Of course. Because what else could it be. Absolutely nothing is what.
She struggled to get him up onto the ledge, heaving and pulling, but with his effort and hers, they finally managed it. With the three of them finally out, they sat in the dirt and looked up at the sun, with its glorious rays that warmed them instantly and made them feel safe.
Rose put her head on Grace's, and let the calm engulf her. It was so peaceful; no yelling or arguing or teasing or even just talking. It was quiet and still. It was perfect.
And then Grace's stomach rumbled.
It was silent for one second after that, but then all three of them laughed in a way that made them feel connected. It was weird. Rose and Grace laughed this way all the time, but it felt as though they were showing Malfoy a piece of them by letting him laugh with them. Which was weird because laughing is laughing and everyone is allowed to laugh so why was it a big deal? Rose didn't know, but it made her abruptly stop. The other two stopped as well, but there was still a hint of a smile on their faces. It made Malfoy look so much nicer, Rose decided. He didn't look so arrogant, or conceited, or rude, or –he just looked better.
"We still have some time before our afternoon classes if you guys want to eat," Malfoy said, checking his watch and standing. He stretched, and with the sun behind him, it kind of looked like there was a halo around him. Rose really needed to eat, the hunger was making her delirious.
Grace hopped up and all but sprinted towards the doors. "Yes! I am so hungry I could eat... something really big and excessive that I can't think of right now."
Rose laughed as she watched her sister disappear behind the doors. She was such a weird goof. She hummed a tune under her breath and walked along merrily, until she realized that Malfoy was right behind her. Fuck, how could she have forgotten him?
This is so awkward. What was she supposed to say to him? Sorry for kinda almost hitting you with a spell but also not because you were being a complete asshole? Or maybe, thanks for helping because we probably couldn't have gotten out without you? Or even, hey, I don't really know where we stand at the moment because we are most definitely not friends but I feel as though now I should maybe be a little nicer to you though I doubt you will be nice to me? Ya, ok.
Rose sped up almost imperceptibly, trying to reach the doors just a little bit faster so she wouldn't have to say anything to him. Why does Grace always leave me in these awful situations?
Just as she was reaching for the handle, a hand softly touched her shoulder and she stopped short. It had to have been Malfoy, but why would he willingly touch her?
She turned slowly, cautiously, towards him. She didn't really know what to expect. But it definitely wasn't for him to brush his thumb over her cheek.
"I'm sorry," he told the ground, in a way that made her feel like those words didn't normally come out of his mouth. She was confused. Sorry for what? There was a lot to be sorry for, but what was it at this particular time? She ran her own hands over her face, trying to figure it out, when she felt a sharp pain.
Oh. Right. She had forgotten about that. But hadn't she covered it?
A look at her reflection in the window showed that the water balloons of Peeves' did more damage than she thought. Her hair was messy, having dried weirdly and her mascara ran down her face in a horror movie way. But the purple bruise on her cheek was what really popped. It was much bigger and more colourful than this morning, but it was proudly on display. She needed to get better setting spray apparently.
"I didn't mean to hit you with the door. It was an accident. And I know I should have said sorry after the fact, but ... I don't know. I don't normally say this kind of thing just.. I don't know. Just sorry, I guess." His voice was small and he still refused to look up at her, which was totally fine because she had no idea how to arrange her face at that moment.
Rose was very much surprised. She didn't think he had any emotion other than arrogance and cowardice. And then he looked her in the eye. His grey was light in the sun, almost blue, and he looked so vulnerable that Rose had to take a huge breath. It was gone as soon as it came though, that one flicker of emotion. Within the time it took her to exhale, Malfoy went back to his normal haughty expression, and took a step back.
They continued to stare at each other for a minute, and then he swiftly side-stepped her and walked inside, not once looking back.