The Break-In

The door was a regular door, really. A bit used, yes; but nothing Rose would have expected from Professor McGonagall.

Perhaps she had been expecting it to be more, say, majestic; perhaps she had been expecting no door at all. Anyhow, it shocked Rose that the former Headmistress was, indeed, definitely human.

"Move," Al muttered to her, as Victoire and Teddy took off the various charms that guarded the place. They'd set off alarms as well, but none of them knew it just yet. "Don't just stand there gaping."

It angered her, hearing him order her about in contempt. Rose was nothing if not territorial: how dare Al treat her like a measly follower! Her nostrils flaring, her nose held high, she said, "Fine. As if you're any better yourself, Mini-Snape."

"Don't call me Mini-Snape!"

"Shut up," Scorpius snapped to the both of them. He sounded impatient and, perhaps, a bit worried. "You'll summon Longbottom. We have to get in quickly. Teddy, can you seal it back to its initial state?"

"Well, it doesn't look as if I have a choice," the half-werewolf said grimly, shaking his head. He had a hunch this was going to go horribly wrong. "Run in, now. Vic and I will figure something out. Go."

McGonagall's quarters smelled musty, as if it hadn't been opened in weeks; naturally, Rose thought, shaking her head at her own blatant stupidity. The entrance led to a narrow cobblestoned corridor; there were three other doors at its end.

"Which one do we go in?" Alcmene inquired. "Or should we wait for Teddy and Victoire to finish their curse-breaking?"

Rose had never been one for waiting. Shaking her head, she said, "Alcmene, I'll go into the first door with Scorpius. You and Al wait outside, okay?"

The Slytherin didn't look convinced. "There might be traps inside, Rose. We should really wait for them. What's the harm in that?"

She sighed. "We could get caught quicker if we just stay here!" Squaring her shoulders, Rose tossed her hair and said, "Well, I'm going in!"

"We'll be okay," Scorpius reassured his cousin, putting a hand on Alcmene's arm. "I'll go after her, to make sure she shan't be killed."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm not that fragile."

"Nah, you aren't," the blond boy agreed with a well-placed smirk as he followed her inside, "but you are very reckless, bordering on stupidity."

Restraining herself from slapping him, Rose huffily let him inside.

The bedroom they stumbled upon was, most clearly, where McGonagall had slept before she had been taken. A thick layer of dust had settled on the four-poster bed in the corner of the room; the wardrobe door had been left half-open. A few dozens of photographs of the staff were hung on the room's every wall; Rose stepped closer to one of them, which was of this year.

McGonagall stood in the centre, looking regal in her rich emerald robes. She was surrounded by the four Heads of House of then: Neville for Gryffindor, Slughorn for Slytherin, Despard for Hufflepuff, and Prince for Ravenclaw. A dark-skinned woman with beads in her hair smiled tightly over Slughorn's shoulder; Madam Hooch, the flight instructor, had her whistle in her mouth. Filch held his cats against his chest tightly; Eclipse seemed as standoffish as ever, stifling a yawn every now and then.

The people in the photograph looked so, well, happy; it was hard to believe that a while later, one of them would be dead and another missing. It was hard to believe that Filch would actually go bad enough to get arrested and shipped off to Azkaban. This photograph was the calm before the storm, Rose realised.

A tug of her sleeve interrupted Rose's musings, making her whip round. "What?" she asked, annoyed, while Scorpius merely jutted his chin in the direction of one wall in particular, which was splattered with blood.

There was a grey skull there, floating almost protectively over the slightly dusty brown blood. It looked horribly familiar, though it was missing something Rose couldn't presently place. Over it were the words: Dominus Hades Irrevocabiliter Dominatur.

Lord Hades Irrevocably Rules.

The words rang in her mind, making Rose frown in confusion. It was in some language – Latin, most likely – and she could read it clear as day! How could that be? Rose didn't know Latin; shaking her head slowly, she made a mental note to ask her mum about it when she saw her during the holidays.

"Bloody hell," Rose muttered, looking at the skull. "It looks like a-"

"Dark Mark," Scorpius finished quietly. He approached the grey skull, pointing at its mouth. "It's just missing the snake, over there. Eerie thing, isn't it?"

"Everyone's worst wear, that was how Granddad Weasley described it," Rose agreed, nodding. "And you know this is a Dark Mark why - ? From your – your family?"

"Where else?" Scorpius shrugged. "Your granddad's probably right, though my granddad would have said something like 'Ah, the Dark Lord's symbol. Made those lowlifes run, it did.'"

Rose wasn't too sure she wanted to know Scorpius' grandfather. Tapping his shoulder and clearing her throat, she said, "Hey, let's investigate now. Wands drawn, okay?"

"Yeah." Scorpius gripped his wand tightly, his grey eyes scanning the room. "Stay close to me, though, Rose. If I die, you die."

"Very funny," she grumbled, though she did as he had said.

Scorpius poked the half-open door of the wardrobe cautiously. "I want to see if there's anything inside. Remember, the Stunner or the Body-Bind Curse."

Rose nodded, positively quivering with anticipation as she regarded the wardrobe with her grey blue eyes.

The blond boy shrugged and opened the door brusquely.

Immediately, a shadow jumped out. And Rose's mouth curled into a shocked scream as she recognized it.

"Rose." The tall red-haired man's brown eyes posed on his eight-year-old niece, who was currently examining a love potion in the making. "Rosie, your dad's going to be here soon. He won't be happy if he finds out that I've been entertaining you in the lab."

"I don't care," Rose pouted at him, giving him puppy eyes. "Please, Uncle George! I'll be your slave! I'll do anything! Please, I wanna learn how to make this love potion so I can – well – give it to Al or Hugo or someone!"

George sighed wearily, running a hand through his flaming red hair. The girl was so bloody stubborn – oh, exactly like Ginny! And those big blue eyes – George silently cursed Ron for getting Hermione pregnant in the first place. What male could resist those puppy eyes, bloody hell?

"One more minute." He turned his back again, focusing on the firework he was currently conceiving. George hated making fireworks – Fred had been good with that type of thing, and with the riots with the upcoming May 2nd, anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War, Ron had more than his hands full at work. "Maybe I consider changing the fuel type?" he muttered to himself, turning over the future firework.

Rose, meanwhile, had gone back to the love potion, watching with fascinating as it stirred itself. A vial containing a reddish liquid caught her eye at that moment, perched on the top shelf. Dropping to her knees to pick up a stool, she reached for the vial.

"So bloody high," she said under her breath. "Merlin's arse!"

Smirking at what her mother would say if Hermione heard, her hand pushed the vial a bit closer, effectively prompting it to fall.

Rose tried to duck for cover, but it was too late. The vial of reddish liquid shattered on the white canvas that was Rose's forearm, cutting through the skin. The young girl closed her eyes, crying out in pain.

"Uncle George! Uncle George!"

George had already turned around. Swiftly, he vanished as much broken pieces of glass he could and examined Rose's forearm. It didn't look good; George bit his lip. Several large purple bruises were already forming on the pale skin of his niece, and he didn't need to be a Healer to realise that she needed medical attention right away.

"Don't worry, Rosie," he tried to soothe her, holding her against his chest. "Expecto patronum," George muttered, deciding to send a Patronus-message to his family members. It was the quickest way, after all. "C'mon, I'll bring you to St. Mungo's. Stay strong, my little lioness."

"It's 'tigress'," Rose corrected, sniffling, as he carried her through the hordes of staring customers in the store. Verity, who was at the cash register, rushed to George, but he held up a finger. "Later," he mouthed. She nodded, returning to the client in front of her.

George brought his niece outside into the bright Diagon Alley sunshine and Disapparated.

"Scorpius, it's okay," Victoire patted the boy's arm. Poor kid, she thought. "It was just a Boggart. Next time, remember: the incantation's Riddikulus. Think of something funny to associate with your worst fear, and you'll be more than okay."

She paused, rolling up Rose's sleeve to hold up the pinkish spots on her arm. "This is why you saw the vial as her Boggart," the girl explained. Scorpius quickly jerked his head away from the sight, as if he were afraid he would be caught staring. "It was centaur blood, you know. Centaurs are known to be mythical, vague, their sayings dreamy-like: that's why their blood is used in love potions." At Alcmene and Al's disgusted looks, Victoire chuckled. "Yes, not many know that. Or else I doubt that Uncle George's love potions would be as effective."

"Then why the marks?" Scorpius spoke up, still looking away pointedly.

If Teddy noticed that of his younger second cousin, he didn't comment on it. "Centaur blood is also cursed. If they are a known component in romance synthesisers, Scorpius, centaurs represent bestiality as well."

"So she's a beast – kind of?" Alcmene piped up timidly. "And why don't the people who drink love potions get infected like that, too?"

"No, she's not a beast." Teddy looked thoughtful. "The blood in the potions was diluted in other components, like the werewolf blood in, say, Wolfsbane Potion. But in Rose's case, it was centaur blood into her bloodstream, pure and simple, when the vial shattered on her arm. Centaur blood doesn't 'agree' with human blood, Alcmene; what happened to Rose was like an allergic reaction. Luckily, it was only a small quantity; a slightly larger one would have been fatal to her."

"But blood fuses together, infected or not," Victoire continued from where her boyfriend had left. "The centaur blood cells could emerge one day, mind, and make her sick. So far, though, Rose seems healthy enough. We hope she stays so."

Aye, Al agreed internally. He and Rose were often at odds, yes, but he loved her and she loved him, he was in no doubt; not that the boy would ever admit that in public, though. Admitting that at the age of eleven was equal to a death sentence in the boy's mind.

By that time, Rose had already begun stirring. Teddy looked down fondly at his younger cousin for a moment, and then said, "Mates, did you find anything worth reporting here? I sense that our time is running out."

Scorpius nodded, holding up a crumpled piece of paper. "Filch," he read Cassiopeia's swirly handwriting, "You know the blood traitor Slughorn, do you not? I want you to subtly show him the pleasures of the use of Protego Reverso. Do not disappoint me. C." Looking up, the blond boy said, "How could Cassiopeia leave this lying about? I had thought she would be more, ah, intelligent..."

"Everyone makes mistakes," Teddy responded gravely, "even those who are not human. That much is taught in Auror training."

"He means that everyone has weaknesses," Victoire playfully slapped her boyfriend. "Not everyone here understands Auror language, Teddy."

Teddy tensed suddenly, jerking his head towards the door. When Victoire turned back to him, he and Scorpius had already disappeared. "What in Merlin's baggy Y-fronts?" she muttered, grumbling against her prat boyfriend. Why hadn't he waited for her and the other kids?

"What in Merlin's baggy Y-fronts, indeed," said a familiar voice, and suddenly there was another light shining upon the guilty in McGonagall's bedroom. The Headmaster, Neville, looked at them, his brown eyes disapproving and deeply disappointed. Suddenly, Victoire felt ashamed that she had even accepted the proposition from the children. Rose was reckless, everyone knew that! And where was Teddy?

"What the hell are you all doing here?" Neville growled, pointing his wand at every one of them. When none of them answered, he turned to Victoire and snapped, "Miss Weasley, I confess myself surprised. As for the rest of you... Follow me to my office, the lot of you. You'll be lucky if you're not suspended."

Cliffie! I wonder what happened to Teddy and Scorpius?

Next post: Two next chapters, maybe next weekend :)

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