Author's note: Thanks to all those who took the time to review my last chapter. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And please don't forget to review, even if it's a simple 'not bad'
The two antagonists threw furtive glances from behind the tree to inspect whether any one was approaching. After a while Rose, debilitated from the load she was carrying around her belly, started prattling about being tired.
"Will you please stop whining," said an irate Scorpius.
"For your information I'm not used to carrying such heavy loads in my tummy," she retorted angrily, rubbing her back, which was starting to ache.
"First thing on my list when I get back home. Never get pregnant," she said as she sat on the floor.
"If you're having trouble with clothes, how will you manage the real thing?" asked Scorpius, sniggering.
"Watch it Malfoy! I am close to taking that twig over there and breaking your head like I had promised you earlier!" she spat fiercely.
"Look, someone's coming!" shrieked Rose, as both of them jumped up instantly from where they were sitting.
"Now remember what I told you Weasley. Try not to raise any suspicion and do as best as you can to evoke as much sympathy as you possibly could,"
Rose mumbled a 'fine' and before she set out to put on her act, she tore off certain parts of her robes, so as to present a pitiful image.
"Good idea," remarked Scorpius and looked at the man that was approaching.
The man was aged, with gray hair sticking out from behind his ears. He was wearing the typical 17th century garbs. He walked with a certain air of intellect and Scorpius wondered whether he would be good enough to fool.
Rose took one giant gulp and set out to meet the man. She could feel her heart thundering, praying she didn't mess it up. The man looked quite scholarly and if she had to affix a profession for him, it would be that of a scientist. Just when she decided it would be suicidal to try and fool a man who reeked of such intellect, the man noticed her and looked at her robes cagily.
Rose put on her act and tried to seem deplorable while the man looked at her suspiciously.
"Sir. Could you please help me?" she asked, trying to sound as hollow and weak as she could.
"Dear lady. Are you all right? How could I be of service to you?" replied the man once he realized that she was pregnant.
"Sir. I have traveled a far distance. All my belongings were stolen, as I lay asleep beneath that tree. I have no means to provide for myself. My garbs are torn and I fear for my unborn child's safety. Would you be so kind as to fetch me some old clothes. I would be ever so grateful to you," Scorpius heard her say.
The man didn't reply immediately but inspected Rose from head to toe. After a while he replied.
"Do not distress yourself young lady. I will fetch you clothes if you grant me enough time to make a quick trip to my abode,"
"Thank you for your kindness, Sir. And I do not mind waiting for you to make a trip to your home, as I have nowhere else to go. You shall find me waiting here when you return," she said, groaning in pain by rubbing her back.
"Dear lady. Do sit down, for you do not want to bring upon harm unto yourself. I shall be back in an instance," he said and walked off straight ahead.
Rose turned to Scorpius and gave him a thumbs up. Scorpius emerged from behind the tree and approached Rose.
"That guy gave me the creeps, to be honest," said Scorpius once the man disappeared at the corner.
"I thought he looked quite sophisticated and decent," replied Rose.
"Yes, but perhaps a little too sophisticated. A man that thinks too much isn't going to help us in a situation like this. Hope he doesn't add two and two together and return with the mobs,"
"Would you please stop scaring me? In case you haven't noticed I'm the one who'll be dragged off and turned in," annoyed at Malfoy's lack of emboldening skills.
"What about those group of men who are searching the town for the 'gentleman with the unusual pompadour'?" he retorted
"Well you should have thought of that before you used that damn thing on your hair," she replied looking out into the street to see whether the man returned.
"Oh yes you're right. I forgot to read the discretionary message on the bottle that read 'Not to be used in the 17th century'."
Before Rose could rebuke, they saw the man return. Scorpius went back to hiding behind the tree and saw the man approach with what was a large bundle in his hands.
Rose fidgeted nervously to see whether he was accompanied by anyone else and saw to her relief that he was alone.
"Here you go, dear lady. I have brought along with me some things that may be of assistance to you," he said as he opened his large encasing and took out its contents.
"Some clothes that I could gather. These are my daughter's. Some food, for I can see you are mal nourished and some money to help you with any other needs you may have," he said kindly while he showed her all of the things that he carried along with him.
Rose, who was over whelmed by the kindness of the man, couldn't find anything to say in return and took a moment before answering.
"Sir. This is terribly kind of you. I merely ask you for clothes and you lavishly spoil me with these added gifts. I am sorry Sir, but I cannot accept anything other than the clothes. I should feel obliged," she replied warmly.
"Galloping pixies! Are you out of your mind Weasley?" whispered Scorpius from behind the tree, wondering whether her sanity had evaporated into the air.
"My dear Lady. Please do not demur at my request. You should not feel obliged. It is I who should feel obliged to help you in such distress. Besides, the town is quite parlous for anyone whose semblance would strike as being suspicious. These are very dark times, my child. You should therefore consider not evoking any such suspicion. Please do accept this, for I will not lie in peace if you shalt not," he contravened.
"Sir. I wouldn't want to be the one to deprive you of your peace. As much displeasure as it causes me, I shall accept the money and the food,"
"Is there any thing else I could help you with?" asked the man as he placed the bundle on the floor.
"No Sir. This will do. I cannot think to burden you with anything else," she replied as she started growing a little suspicious herself.
"I shall leave you now. I run an apothecary in town. You can find me there, incase you need any further assistance. Goodbye." he finished and left after bowing to Rose.
Rose nodded warily and once the man left, heard Scorpius emerge from behind the tree He looked excited and started rummaging through the package avariciously.
"Gosh. Look at all this stuff. Food, money and clothes? I have to admit, you did a great job Weasley. And boy, are you good at speaking like a quaint dame. Although you had me worried for a moment there. I thought you were being your Gryffindor self and being all noble and stupid when you turned down the money first,"
Scorpius was half way through unpacking the things when he saw that the Rose was staring transfixed towards the direction where the man had walked off.
"You all right Weasley? Why the frown?" he enquired.
"It's strange don't you think? He didn't ask a single question about where I came from or where my husband is. He didn't even ask me how I managed to travel so far on my own?" she answered, sounding worried.
"Will you please stop worrying unnecessarily. May be he was just a really nice guy who felt it was important to help you first," he assuaged her.
"Yeah. Maybe you're right" she tried consoling herself and went through the things that the man had brought along.
"Okay now here's step two of our plan. First, you get into these clothes. Then you take this money and go to town and get me some clothes from a shop. Once I change my clothes and my hairstyle, those people won't recognize me anymore,"
"And what do you plan on doing next? Buy some land, start farming and settle down in the 17th century?" she asked.
"No. We find out one of our folks and try and settle in with them,"
"Our folks?" she asked curiously.
"Wizards. Come on Weasley, there has to be someone of our kind here."
Rose comprehended what Scorpius said and realized that there was a really high probability of there being witches and wizards in this place.
"The best option would be to wait and watch, who it is that they try and burn next. Odds are that they'll be a witch for real."
"And what if, we are the ones they're going to be burning next?"
"Weasley. Stop being so optimistic. We mustn't hold out a lot of hope," taunted Scorpius causing Rose to scowl.
"We have to try and fit in. Which is why I need you to go get me some clothes first. So could you please get a move on," requested Scorpius.
"Oh alright. But could I please take this load off me for a while. It's beginning to hurt," said Rose and started to take off the clothes.
Scorpius was getting frustrated because they were losing additional time and replied.
"You know, pregnant women don't usually rip their babies from their stomachs and put them on the ground when they're tired,"
Although Rose opened her mouth to argue, the next few words came out from a different group of people.
"Caught red handed!" screamed a man just as Rose dropped her stuffed in robes onto the ground.
Scorpius and Rose wheeled around, to be faced by a group of wild looking men including the three men that had come looking for Scorpius earlier.
"Do not move from your spots, you evil witches. For we carry weapons!" shouted a tall lean man carrying what seemed like a large fork.
"Sir. I am sure there is a misunderstanding!" replied Scorpius panicked, while Rose's eyes streamed with tears.
"There is no misunderstanding for we heard with our very own ears, thou describing thyself as a witch searching around for your folk!" screamed the man, whom Scorpius had asked for help.
Scorpius closed his eyes in disbelief as he realized that the men had heard everything they said. And since Rose had removed the clothes from inside her shirt she couldn't pretend to be pregnant anymore.
The men circled around them with their rakes causing Rose and Scorpius to huddle together. "Malfoy! Do something!" cried Rose while tears poured down her cheeks.
"Do what? We don't even have our wands!" whispered Scorpius back.
Rose screamed as two men took hold of her and as she heard a man scream "Burn these evil folks alive!" she fell unconscious.
When she opened her eyes, moments later, she was tied to a pole and facing dozens of outraged people, with a few of them holding torch flames in their hands.
"Weasley. You awake?" she heard a voice calling from beside her and she saw that Scorpius was tied to the pole next to her.
"What happened?" she asked, wondering whether she had missed something when she fell unconscious.
"Well they're going to burn us alive!" replied Scorpius, his voice barely heard over the chants emanating from the crowd.
"Really? I didn't notice. Thanks for telling though." she yelled back.
"They didn't grant us a trial because they heard us confessing about being wizards," he answered.
"Any ideas inside that thick head of yours?" screamed Rose from beside Scorpius.
"You know. You could do a little less with the insults, considering we are going to be killed any moment now," shouted Scorpius in return.
"Oh I'm sorry if I offended you, your Highness. But in case you forgot, this is all your fault!" yelled Rose as the screams from the crowd grew louder.
"Didn't we have a deal earlier of putting a stop to the blame game?" asked Scorpius as the men started lighting their torch flames.
"Sorry, all standard contracts become invalid when the parties are close to being burnt to death!"
"Burn the miscreants!" screamed the crowd as Rose and Scorpius stopped bickering and started pleading with the men.
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live!" cried the demagogue as he neared them with the torch flame.
Rose and Scorpius both started yelling and once the warmth of the heat reached their feet they braced themselves for their approaching death.
But the pain never came.
After a while, when Rose noticed that something wasn't right, she opened her eyes. Her eyes protruded with shock, as she stood astounded, watching the greenish flames that had enveloped around them, protecting them from the fiery flames. She also felt a tickling sensation reverberating throughout her body.
Scorpius, meanwhile, still had his eyes shut and was muttering to himself, being too terrified to notice anything.
"Malfoy! Look!" she shouted.
"Are you crazy Weasley? I don't enjoy watching my own death!" he screamed back, in a quivering voice.
"You idiot. You're not dying. Open your eyes, you wimp!" she yelled causing Scorpius to open his eyes warily.
"What the…" he started as he took in the sight of the towering green flames that had now encapsulated them wholly.
"A freezing charm!" shouted Rose animatedly.
."Which means…" Rose began, and Scorpius completed her sentence for her
"There's a wizard out there." finished Scorpius and with that both of them finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Author's note: Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it. Comments would be nice.