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Chapter Four

When she went to sleep that night, Rose had prayed to anything out there that she wouldn't wake up the next morning. She was gravely thwarted when her eyes opened and she was faced with the curtains around her bed. It was sickening that she'd fooled herself into believing that someone would answer her prayer.

Hours went by before she could haul herself out of bed, and even then she only got up because Albus was threatening to hop on his broom and soar through her window. She wasn't at all hungry and didn't see the need to shower and dress. She was in no humor to talk to anyone or to elucidate why she looked so sad. And there were certain people that she was bound to see, and she was dreading it.

Rose needed to pretend that nothing was the matter. It would be hard, she knew it, but she had to. She was dating an awfully well-liked boy, one she'd fancied for a while. It would be suspicious, especially to Al, if she appeared troubled. She could only pray that Malfoy hadn't told anyone that he had found her sitting on the ground, face all wet. Merlin, thinking about him just worsened her mood. He was so arrogant and convinced that everyone wanted to be his best friend. And the pain she'd seen in his eyes but had tried so hard to disregard… it all just made her feel shitty.

Deep down she knew that she shouldn't have let him leave. She should have followed him, or let him walk her back to the castle. Who knows, it might have been nice. It could have been comforting to not be alone. By the time she had reached her dorm, Rose was wholly terrified. Every noise had made her jump; each movement had nearly bought her to tears of fear. It could have been Marc, waiting for her. Waiting to attack.

Slowly, walking from dresser to the bathroom and back, Rose got ready. After getting out of the shower, she pulled on a band t-shirt and a pair jeans. She would rather rip out her eyes than show too much skin. If her legs were visible, or her shoulders, she wouldn't be able to handle it; she would have died from being so uncomfortable.

As soon as she was in the Common room, she could see Albus leaning in the doorway out to the corridor. Her eyes went to the floor as she walked over to him; she knew that they were going to talk about things she didn't want to talk about.

"Morning, Al."

As soon as she was close enough, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway and around a corner. Once they were out of hearing range, he looked down at her. "Rosie, what's this I hear about you and Marc?"

Ah, bluntness. That was the Weasley in him. "It's nothing."

"Rose…" he paused, trying to think of the words, "I don't think I would've cared so much if he hadn't gone around bragging about it to everyone. And if it hadn't been in the bloody woods, for Merlin's sake."

"Don't be mad at me, Al." she'd already lost one friend. She couldn't bear to lose another.

"I'm not mad, Rosie, I'm just…" he didn't remember much from the previous night, but he did remember the fight between Scorpius and Marc. He remembered the pain in his best friend's eyes, and snippets of the conversation they'd had about Rose. Even if he was her cousin, it was his obligation as Scorpius' best friend to be on his side in everything. At least, that's how he felt. "He and Scorpius got in a fight."

"What? Is he alright?" she asked, her eyes growing wide.

"I'm sure he will be fine. Scorpius got him pretty good in the face once, and then he threw a mug at his balls."

Rose's stomach dropped. She had realized when she was still waiting for Al to answer her question that she hadn't been wondering about Marc at all. "Well, um, what were they fighting about?"

Albus looked at her for a moment, and then down the hallway.

Oh.

"Come get lunch." He said, pinching her arm. "You're too skinny, boys like girls with curves."

She made a face at him, "I'm not hungry."

"Come on Rose, pulling you everywhere is going to get old really soon."

Sighing, she started to walk towards the Great Hall with him. Albus, always a talker, went on about what happened the previous night, about how drunk he'd gotten. Rose wasn't really listening, but she nodded, smiled, and laughed when she was supposed to. She felt she was doing a good job of pretending.

Once in the Great Hall, she made for her table, but Albus stopped her. "Where are you going?"

"To eat."

He gave her a funny look. "Why at the Ravenclaw table?

"That is my house."

"You haven't sat at your own table all year."

"Yeah, well I figured I should sit there today."

"Rosie, sit with me. Please? I promised Lorcan and Alex I'd bring you."

Rose sighed. She was a push over. A big, fat pushover. No wonder Marc had gotten to her so easily. Albus sat down once they were at the Slytherin table, and there was space on both sides of him. One was by Marc. The other was by Malfoy. She about ran out of the room when she realized her predicament. Bile rose in her throat, and she had to swallow it back down. Immediately she began shaking, not knowing what to do. She become conscious that she was calling unwanted attention to herself, and reluctantly sat down next to Marc. That was less suspicious; she should want to sit beside her boyfriend.

She glanced at Scorpius once she was seated and saw him glaring intently at his plate. It was bare and unused. "Hey baby." Rose saw Scorpius put his head in his hands, his fingers covering his ears, when Marc spoke.

"Hi." She said quietly, trying to calm herself. He hands were shaking so violently that she wouldn't be able to pick up a fork. It would be best to keep them in her lap.

Marc put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her hard on the cheek. She looked down at her hands, afraid to look at him, afraid to look at Scorpius for fear of what she'd see.

"Be wary, lest your eyes betray your secret." Albus had whispered to his best friend. Rose hadn't heard him.

"My eyes betray nothing." Scorpius murmured, still looking down. He poked at the table with his fork. If he looked at Al, then he'd see past him to Rose. And if he saw Rose, he'd see her with Flint. He wanted to kill him; wanted to see his crushed skull beneath his feet. Jealousy made him violent, terrifyingly so. "And I have no secret."

Scorpius gave in and looked over to Rose. She and Flint were right on top of each other. He might have been able to deal with it, but just as he was about to turn away, Flint grabbed her face and kissed her. He got out of his seat, throwing the fork down on his plate noisily. "Fuck this." He hissed, telling Albus he'd see him later and storming off. A few of the other boys got up to go with him but he didn't slow down for them.

Rose jumped at the noise and turned to watch him go. Marc scowled and grabbed her arm a little too roughly. "Let go, Marc." She whispered, "You're hurting me."

He put his face near her ear, so it looked like he was whispering sweet things to her. "If you ever look at him like that again, you'll regret it."

"Look at him like what?"

Marc tightened his grip on her arm. "Don't play stupid. You aren't to look at him at all."

"Well eventually it might happen by accident."

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes."

He let go of her arm. "Good."

As he started eating again, she looked down at marks on her arm. It would bruise for sure. What would she tell Albus if he noticed? It was hard to think of an excuse for hand bruises. You didn't get five purple ovals from bumping into something.

Was this what it was like to be some rich guy's wife? You had to keep a smile on even if you were miserable and do what he told you to. He could ruin you if you didn't. She felt like there was no way out, the only comfort she had was that he might break it off. If he didn't… well she'd just have to. If she could find someone else, strong and loving, she'd be safe. That's all she wanted; to feel safe again.

"Al?"

"Hmm?" She saw that he had a mouth full of food and smiled a little.

"I'm going to go to the library for a while."

"Oke. Woff you."

"Love you too."

Then she turned to Marc. "Why are you going there?" he asked.

"I was going to study the properties of wolfsbane and wormwood for an exam on Monday."

"Alright," he leaned over and kissed her. It almost made her sick. "See you in a bit."

"Right." She murmured, quickly getting up and walking out of the room before he changed his mind. Rose couldn't relax until she was in the library. The whole way there, she'd been worrying that Marc would pop out of a room and drag her in with him. She nearly cried with relief when she was surrounded by the books.

She considered just sitting in a corner somewhere so that no one could find her, but decided to get a few books on wolfsbane and wormwood. That way, if someone found her, she'd have an excuse as to why she was there.

After finding the books, Rose headed to the back, where her favorite table was. Not a lot of people knew about it; it was well hidden. As she turned the corner, her stomach flipped. "Damn it." She swore, backing up, hoping he hadn't seen her. She forgot that they used to study together back there sometimes with Al.

"Weasley, you never used to be so afraid of me."

She stopped, and felt herself shaking again. So much for relaxing. "I am not afraid of you, Malfoy. I just don't want to be around you. That's all."

"Ah, yes. Like that makes it any better."

There it was again, that look in his eyes. It was getting harder and harder to ignore.

"Come Weasley, sit."

"I am not a dog."

"Why are you so difficult? You act like I did something to you."

You did, she wanted to say. You saw me cry.

Slowly she walked over to the table and sat across from him. "Marc… he forbids me from even looking at you."

"Then why are you? You do everything else that he tells you."

"That isn't fair, Malfoy."

"And why not?"

"Well it isn't like you're all that hard on the eyes. If he told me I couldn't look at Tolly Bulstrode, that'd be easy."

"You know what I mean."

"Well I can't tell you."

He leaned over the table so that his face was close to hers. "Why not?"

She stuck out her hand and pushed him away from her. "Trust me," she said, her eyes watering, "I just can't."

"It's not like I'm going to tell him…" he paused, and stared at her arm.

"What?" she asked, quickly pulling her arm close to her.

"What the hell is that?"

He reached out and put his palm up to her. It seemed like forever, but eventually she put her arm on the table. His fingers ran over the bruises gently. Scorpius was so tender to her that it almost made her cry. "I'll kill him."

She looked up at his face and saw he meant it. "Don't. It'll just make him madder if you try."

Scorpius swallowed hard, trying not to yell. He lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. For a moment, one sweet moment, Rose let him. She didn't yell at him or push him away, she just let him. He started to get out of his seat. "I'm going to find him."

"No, no please don't!"

"Rose! You can't just let him do whatever he wants to you-"

"He-he didn't do anything. It was an accident."

"An accident?"

"Yes."

He looked at her, and she hoped he would change his mind. He didn't. "Malfoy, stop!"

Scorpius was walking out of their little corner, his wand held firmly in his hand. She had to jog to keep up with him. "Stop meddling in things you don't understand!"

He stopped walking and turned around, causing her to run into him. "Oomf."

"Maybe you should explain it to me then? Because you're right; I don't understand. All I know is that you've been in a state since last night, since you were alone with Marc. I know that you're crying, and you've got fucking bruises on your arm. What am I supposed to think, Rose? You were never like this before. I've never seen you cry, or even upset."

"It's that time of the month."

"Don't give me that bollucks."

Damn. That usually worked for Al and her dad. If they asked her what was wrong she could just play the period card. "Please," she begged. Rose could imagine how angry Marc would be with her if Scorpius confronted him. She didn't want to get hit.

Scorpius could see the desperation in her eyes and it made his heart break. "Fine." He said softly. "But can you tell me something?"

Rose was hesitant, but ended up telling him that she would.

"Why are you even going out with him if he doesn't make you happy?"

"I never said he doesn't make me happy."

"Does he?"

Rose looked at the floor, wondering why he cared so much. She didn't like talking about this all in the open, so she went back to the corner. She wasn't sure if he'd follow, but he did.

"You could do much better." He said when she didn't answer.

She laughed at that. "Ha, like who? No one's interested in me, Malfoy. I don't have a big arse or big boobs. I'm not really witty and clever; all of my jokes are duds. I'm nothing special. I couldn't do any better, Marc's already so far out of my league. The only other guys that would even consider me are too ugly, too porky, too stupid, too boring, or too mean."

Now that upset him. "That's not true. None of it. Not unless you consider me ugly, porky, stupid, boring and mean. Mean, maybe. But that's only when I'm pissed off."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Rose was trying to figure out what he could mean… and if what she thought he meant was the truth.

Scorpius sighed and rubbed his eyes. This was all too much for one weekend. When he woke up this morning, he'd planned on hiding out in the library until everyone had fallen asleep. He wasn't going to talk to anyone, and if he saw Rose or Marc, he would ignore them. His plans never worked out right. He motioned to touch her, but his hand fell back to his side. "Lorcan, and Alex. The rest of the guys. You know they've all liked you at some time."

"They were probably just joking."

"Whatever you say." He said, shrugging. Thankfully, he'd chickened out. If he admitted to her that he liked her, he would have hated himself for it later. "So, uh, did you need help studying? Wolfsbane and wormwood, right?" he asked, looking at the books on the table.

The sudden change of subjects startled her, "Oh, that's alright. I just need to review a bit…"

Even better; he wouldn't have to stay any longer. If he did, he risked telling her something he'd regret. It was so hard to hold his tongue around her. "Okay." He said, backing out into the main aisle. "See you."

"Malfoy?" she called, just as he turned the corner. He considered pretending he hadn't heard her.

"Yeah?"

"Are we on good terms now?"

"Sure."

"Okay, well… could you be sure not to talk to me in front of Marc? Like I told you before, he doesn't want me to be your friend at all."

He had been so close to getting out unscathed. Scorpius' blood boiled at the thought of Marc keeping Rose from him, and he snapped. Again. "Fine. Better yet, I won't talk to you at all. How does that sound?"

"You know I didn't mean it like that. I want to be your friend, I really do-"

"Oh do you? Rose you don't want anything. You only want what he tells you to want, you feel what he tells you to feel. You're his bloody marionette. He controls you, and you've only been dating him for a day. How is it going to be in a month or two? Even your thoughts won't be your own; he'll tell you what to think and say."

"Malfoy, that's ridiculous."

"Is it? Because it sounds about right to me."

How was it that she managed to make him so mad twice in a row? She'd never seen him mad before last night, and she already knew that she hated it. His eyes were full of hatred and hurt, his fists were balled up and he breathed deeply like he was trying not to scream.

She didn't say anything, just stared at her hands. Tear spilled from her eyes, and she wasn't sure why. Was it because he was yelling, or because she'd been the one to make him yell? She just wanted him to be happy, to smile at her and tell her jokes again. That was how it used to be. All of this anger and crying… it was too much emotion for their relationship. They'd never talked about anything more that small talk. It was weird and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

Rose picked up a book and chucked it at his head. "You overreact to everything."

"I do not."

"You do! You're like a little girl."

Scorpius was still in awe that she'd thrown something at him. He needed to get out of there before she decided she never wanted to talk to him again. "I'm surprised you haven't run off to Marc yet."

"Bugger off, you don't know anything."

"Go on, puppet. You won't be able to last much longer without someone pulling the strings."

She threw several more books at him with all her strength. When there were no more on the table, she went over to him and started punching him. "Go to hell."

"I'm already there, Rosie." He said as she gave up and stormed out of the library. "I'm already there."