A/N: Hello once more, Chapter Eight, I'm actually really starting to enjoy writing this, and I know what I'm going to be doing :)
M warning on this one for violence.
I think my favourite bit is the ending... Question, debating whether or not to do another Scorpius chapter, I really like writing his character, what do you think? Do you prefer him or Rose?
Also, yes, Jake is my own character, this is where you find out more about him, he's really creepy. He kinda creeps me out, not gonna lie.
As always, read and review... Thank you for everyone who has already, so much love, you have me doing more review dances in class!
Love xx
Rose Weasley
"Jake leave me alone."
"What Rose, you scared of me?"
He steps closer and grabs hold of my wrist.
"Let go." I say through gritted teeth, trying to pull my wrist free.
"Why? What you gonna do about it?" He asks.
I look round frantically. He laughs.
"There's no one down here."
I don't reply, I know he's right; he's cornered me alone in one of the corridors under the dungeons.
My mind flashes back to the weekend.
He'd hit me.
Just out of the blue. There was no one around; he just turned round and slapped me. Like I'd done something awful to him.
"Leave me alone bitch." He snapped.
"What? What the hell? What did I do to you?" I hissed back at him, feeling the tears forming in my eyes. He hit me bloody hard.
He looked at me disdainfully. "You'll see." He said. And stormed away from me.
"I just want to talk." He says.
"Then get your hands off me, you git." I spit at him.
He lets go but pushes me into a disused classroom and follows me inside. He shuts the door and whispers a spell against it. He turns to face me, and his eyes rake my body.
"Sit." He commands.
"What Jake? You couldn't have asked me to talk in a normal fashion? Like a normal person?" I ask. "Where there are people?" I add as an afterthought.
His eyes darken and he steps towards me.
"What do you want Jake?"
He looks at me, his eyes greedy.
"You." He says taking another step forward.
"You're kidding?" I laugh.
"Don't laugh. You slut." He grabs me once more. His eyes darken.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Get off me now." I whimper.
He surveys me darkly and pushes his face closer to mine. I turn my face away in disgust.
"I told you what I want. Now let me have it."
"Why the fuck would I, you creep?" I shriek at him and try to push him off me. He pulls me closer to him and grabs my other wrist so we're face to face – with him gripping both my wrists.
"Jake, let go your hurting me." I cry. His hands are digging in to my wrists now.
"Why won't you just let me have you?" He growls.
"I would never touch you." I hiss at him. He looks at me in shock, as if somewhere in his twisted little mind he didn't contemplate me saying no.
"You whore." He snarls and turns away. I use this opportunity to rush to the door and pull out my wand.
"Alohomora." I whisper. Nothing happens. The bastard must have put a locking spell on the door. He faces me again as I stand against the door trying in desperation to open it. His black eyes bore into mine.
"One day Rose Weasley, one day." He threatens and paces towards me, hits me to the floor out of his way, and points his wand at the door. It unlocks with a tiny click, just before he leaves he turns to me, his eyes blazing with anger.
"If I hear you tell a soul about this, I'll kill you." He says menacingly looking down to where I've fallen. He glares at me one last time and walks out.
I sit on the floor shaking. Willing myself not to cry. I will not let that bastard make me cry. Not again. But inevitably, a tear rolls down, my stinging cheek. Which induces a flood of the damned things. I massage my wrists where his hands dug in. I sit for what seems like hours. I look at my watch. Ten minutes to dinner. Everyone will be in the common room. I don't want to walk through and explain my state. I shiver, remembering his last words. It'll be fine though, I'm very good at hiding things. I pull my pocket mirror out and enlarge it. My face is all puffy and splotchy, a complete contrast from my normally porcelain skin tone. I wave my wand and the splotchyness goes away, and the paleness returns. I whip out some calming cream and rub it on my cheek and my wrists. It makes my face look vaguely normal, but my wrists already have bruises forming. I'll just have to wear long sleeves for a while.
XX
For almost two weeks, I got up early; I was beginning to think I had mild insomnia. My nightmares were worse, but luckily I'd had no more run-ins with Jake Abrams. But pretty much every morning, I'd go down to the kitchens, and Scorpius would almost always be there. It was some weird ritual we'd gotten ourselves into. A really quite weird ritual. This time last year, if you'd asked me if I willing wanted to spend time with Scorpius Malfoy, I would probably have hexed you into oblivion. But he's not all that bad. Although, I think Dad may just shoot me for talking to a Malfoy. But we've remained distant, not hating each other, but distant in front of other people. I'm not sure if anyone has noticed a change.
Thirteen days after my first kitchen run in with Scorpius, I wake up late. So late, that everyone has left already. It must be the first morning in weeks that I've slept in. Luckily it's a Saturday. But somewhat unluckily I have Quidditch practice. Not that I don't love Quidditch but my dear cousin James is our captain and he is a total slave driver. I feel like a house elf after most practices… before they started getting paid, of course. I roll out of bed and groan as I look out the window. Rain. Torrential rain. Typical of late October at Hogwarts, there is no hope in thinking James will have cancelled practice. We've been out there in gale force winds many times. I pull on my Quidditch robes and trundle down to breakfast. As I enter the Great Hall I hear my name being shouted.
"Rose! You're late." James storms up to me. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Sleeping James." I sigh at him. "Merlin, give a girl a break."
He glares at me. I walk past him and go to sit down with my friends. I pull bacon and pancakes onto my plate and cover them in syrup.
"You didn't wake up early this morning then?" Asks Dom.
I shake my head.
"No nightmares?" Asks Ria.
I shake my head again.
"You think they've stopped?" Asks Molly
"Can we talk about something else?" I ask. They nod.
"Hey sweetie" says Josie coming to sit with me.
She sticks her finger into my maple syrup and licks it off. I look over at Al whose watching us. He's got his whipped face on. I think I need to discuss this with Scorpius; otherwise, Al may loose his precious reputation and we couldn't have that now could we?
"Looking forward to practicing in the rain?" She asks.
I look up at the sky, which is a disgusting shade of dark grey.
"Oh yes. My favourite thing in the world." I say sarcastically.
"Right, team, finish up, we've got practice." James then shouts.
"Ah, the slave driver awaits my dear, shall we go to our deaths?" Josie asks me.
I laugh and start scrambling down the rest of my pancakes.
"Want me to wait?" Josie asks.
"No, don't worry, I'll be down in a few." I say.
Lorcan plops down in front of me next to Dom who practically goes the same colour as her Gryffindor scarf.
"Malfoy alert." He says to me stuffing food into his mouth. I laugh and turn round. I see Malfoy striding towards us. He smiles cheekily at me and sits down next to me.
"Morning all." He says. He fills his plate with food, the stuff we'd normally share down in the kitchen. He picks up his fork and starts eating.
"You doing anything today?" Lorcan asks him.
"Nope, probably going to go and see if I can get leave for next weekend." He answers.
"How come?" Lorcan asks.
"Family stuff." He says.
They carry on with their conversation. I zone out while I finish my pancakes. When I look up. Jake is staring at me from across the hall.
"Um, I've gotta go to practice." I say, my eyes fixed on his as I push my unfinished plate away.
All three of them look down at my plate. I never leave anything on my plate. I hurriedly stand up.
"See you later guys." I say. I look over at Jake again, he's still staring at me, I can see the black in his eyes.
I walk down the Gryffindor table and out of the Great Hall. I reach the Entrance Hall and hear footsteps behind me. I whirl round and bang into someone. A familiar cinnamon scent washes over me. I look up, a shock of blond hair, thank Merlin.
"You alright?" Scorpius asks.
"Yeah, just if I'm any later for practice I think James might hang me." I say smiling.
"You left food." He states.
"I know. Just full." I reassure him. He looks genuinely concerned.
"Mmm Okay." He frowns and pulls me to him hugging me tight. I relax into him. He bends his head down so his mouth is next to my ear.
"I missed you this morning." He says and pulls away. I smile.
"I missed you too." I say.
"See you later Rose." He says,
"Yeah, you too Scorp." I reply. He turns and heads back to the Great Hall. I walk out of the massive front doors and head down to the Quidditch pitch a smile stretching across my face.
XX
"Rose, Fred. Get the bludgers. Josie, the quaffle. Molly, go to the posts. Max, snitch." James shouts through the rain across the pitch.
Me and Fred are beaters. Josie, James and Will are chasers. Molly is keeper and Max is the seeker. Together, we are - there is no other word: incredible. Not even Al can beat us. But frankly that's because of the purely abysmal lack of talent of the Slytherin team. I go release the bludgers, they fly away into the rain and we start our wet practice.
"One." James shouts.
The chasers start their first formation. Fred and I pelt bludgers at them until Robbie gets the Quaffle past Molly.
"Five." James shouts. The next formation begins. Seeing is becoming nearly impossible. And I am soaked through already. Molly saves four shots, but the fifth goes in. I'm currently in awe of the girl, how she can even see to save one goal is beyond me. I thwack a bludger towards Josie, she rolls to avoid it, nearly dropping the Quaffle. She passes to Robbie who scores. Suddenly, Max pulls into a spectacular dive, hurtling towards the ground. Just before he hits the ground he pulls up, his hand clenched around the snitch. Not that that means practice is over.
I clench my broom with one hand, shivering slightly as the rain pelts harder into my shoulders. I don't think I could be any wetter. I look like I've had a shower in my Quidditch robes.
James continues to shout at us for what has to be at least two hours. By the time we hit the ground again, I think I may never be dry again. Ever. I get in the hot shower in the changing rooms still in my robes and start pulling each layer of clothing off, until I stand completely naked under the hot water. I wash the rain out of my hair and use the bottle of shower scrub I have down here. I watch as my hands begin to turn a normal colour again.
"Rose hurry up." Josie calls to me.
"Just coming Jose." I say, switching of the shower and shaking the water out of my hair. I pull a towel around my body and dry myself, using my wand to dry my hair then tying it up. When we're both dressed and warm. I cast a shelter spell in a funnel to the castle, and we walk through it, sheltered from the rain up to the front doors.
"You ever going to tell us where you go every morning?" She asks looking sideways at me when we reach the front doors.
"Nope, probably not." I reply pushing hard on the large front door. It doesn't open. Josie and I look at each other confused. The door is always open during daylight. The shelter charm doesn't work this close to school so the rain is falling hard on us.
"Alohomora." Josie says pointing her wand at the doors. Still nothing. Then we hear laughter.
"Creeveys." I say.
"Password." Booms a voice from the other side of the door.
"Joe, Alex, if you don't open this fucking door right now, I promise, I will curse your balls until they look like turnips." Josie shouts, over the sound of the rain. Always the charmer she is.
"We said password. Swearing won't help you get anywhere." One of them booms.
"This is not remotely funny. It's frigging raining out here you morons. We could get pneumonia and die." I shout.
"What's pneumonia?" They enquire. Shit I forgot they have no idea about muggle illness.
"Eugh, never mind. Just open the damn door." I shout.
"Only if you both promise to serve us for a week."
"Sure, whatever you say boys." Josie replies.
With a creak the door opens. On the other side stand Joe and Alex along with all their friends including Albus and Scorpius.
Josie and I immediately turn our wands on the two boys.
"Woahwoahwoah, you promised." Says Joe looking at my wand with apprehension.
"And you really think we were telling the truth?" Josie asks, stepping forward.
They look a little shocked with their own stupidness.
"Shall we?" I ask Josie.
"After you." She says smiling evilly at me.
I hit Joe with a Bat-Bogey Hex and Josie gets Alex with a Bedazzling one. Soon they both resemble boil-covered things with bogeys flapping all over them.
Al and Harry step in and pull Josie and I back, while Scorpius performs counter curses. I glower at him. He looks up after he's returned both the twins to normal. He looks apologetic.
'I tried to stop them' he mouths at me. I shrug.
"Apologize." Josie says as she rings out her hair.
They smirk at us.
"Why Patil? What makes you think you deserve an apology?"
"The fact that we are both now soaking wet and cold. Because of you." She screams. She must be really, really, pissed off. She never screams. Never, she just uses a terser tone. Don't get me wrong she has a crazy temper. She just never screams.
Alex and Joe seem to recognize this and mumble apologies to us.
"Let's go Rose." Josie says to me. I wave a drying charm over us. And as my hair starts to frizz again we walk towards the marble staircase.
Just before we reach the stairs a voice rings out.
"What is that on your head Weasley?"
I spin round. Jenny Nott flanked by two of her little whores. Definitely not what I need. The minions smirk.
"Oh, its your hair, I thought you were wearing some hat made of animal fur." She continues.
"Go back to your hole Nott." I say. She looks confused, Merlin, is she genuinely that thick?
"I don't own a hole." She says. It would seem she is just that thick.
"Just go." I say. "I'm not wasting any of my valuable insults on your insubstantial mind."
I hear laughter behind me, I look round and see Scorpius, Al and the Creevey's laughing at Jenny's perplexed face. I smile cheekily at them and then stalk up the staircase after Josie.
XX
When Josie and I are both finally dry we head down to the common room to find everyone sitting there together by the fire. Al had started a game of chess against Max, and was losing spectacularly. I sit down in an armchair next to Ria who was staring once more at James as he rambles on at no one. Fred rolls his eyes at me from the other side of the fire, on a similar red armchair.
"He hasn't stopped talking for about an hour. I swear." He says quietly to me. I look amusedly at my cousin and my best friend.
"James, one day, your going to realise how annoying your own voice is, and then maybe you'll stop talking." I say. "You started talking to yourself yet?"
"Ha Ha Ha." He says sarcastically.
I smile back at him amusedly.
"Rosie, you gonna go to Hogsmeade next weekend?" Asks Fred abruptly changing the subject, before James can continue, he looks like he may just eat me for interrupting.
"Yeah why?"I reply.
"Party, I need someone to get some alcohol." He says.
"And you think I'm the person to ask?" I say looking at him as if he's crazy.
"Well, what with all your early rises, I thought you might have developed a rebellious streak." He says looking apprehensive, unsure whether he'd crossed a line mentioning my early mornings.
"How did you know?"
"Josie."
I'll be having words with that girl. Honestly. Doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut.
"Unfortunately I haven't, sorry to disappoint." I say.
"Why are you disappointing?" Scorpius comes and stands next to me.
"Budge up." He squeezes onto the comfy armchair I'm sitting on so I'm practically on his lap.
"That I'm not some rebel." I say. "Why isn't Lorcan doing it? Or Paul? In fact if you told him Katie was coming, he'd do anything you ask." It's a well known fact that Katie Thomas is the prettiest girl in the school and that Paul Finnegan has been chasing after her since first year.
"Good idea Rosie." Fred smiles at Malfoy and me and gets up. "Oi, Paul," he says across the common room.
"You sure everything's okay?" Scorpius asks.
"Yeah, everything's fine. I promise. You don't have to pity me you know." I say jokily.
"I don't, I do actually like spending time with you." He says.
"Woah, WHAT?" Great, James stopped talking for one second. That second.
"You like spending time with each other? What happened? Did someone die, is one of you taking polyjuice potion?" James exclaims as the whole room stops to look at us.
"James shut up, it's not a big deal." I mutter at him.
"But you've hated each other since… since forever." He stutters.
"Yeah, but it's like Al always said, we're actually really similar, if we only got to know each other. So we did." Says Scorpius.
Al smirks across at us.
"And now his head explodes." I whisper to Scorp who laughs.
James looks away shaking his head.
"Soon I'm gonna be asking you two to be getting a room." He says. Ria laughs a ridiculous amount for something that is not even remotely funny. I glare at her, she looks suitably sorry.
"Come with me." He whispers in my ear. I whip my head round so fast I think I may have gotten whiplash. Malfoy gets up and I fall back on to the chair, he walks away out of the portrait hole; I get up and follow a few minutes after, so as not to arouse suspicion. Didn't want anyone to think there was something between us would I?
I step out into the corridor.
"Took your time." I jump a mile.
"Gee Scorp, you scared me."
I hear him chuckle and feel him come and stand behind me. His arms slink around me and I shiver slightly at his touch.
"Come on, let's go." He says turning me round and holding out his hand.
"Where?" I ask, taking his hand.
"You'll see." He replies mysteriously.
We head down the corridor, although its dark and I have Jake Abrams stalking me, I feel safe with Scorpius, as in a, nothing can touch me, kind of safe. It's weird.
He pulls me through a door that I've never seen before.
"Scorp, where are we going?" I ask again.
"Patience is a virtue Rosie." He says chuckling again.
"Yeah, but this is creepy." I reply jokily. My mind flashes back to Jakes hand gripping my wrist in that dark classroom. I stumble.
"Can't even walk. What will I do with you?" He asks and swings me up into his arms. Strangely reminiscent of when I hit my head in Herbology.
"This time I can actually walk." I say.
"Nope." He replies, and doesn't put me down.
We pass through another door, and a blast of cold air hits me.
"Malfoy, let me walk." I say impatiently.
He sighs but places me down and keeps hold of my hand. I look round. We're in some massive room with a glass roof, I can see the dark clouds whistling through the sky, I look round at the room, there's a massive fire with plush armchairs round it. Along the walls are rows and rows of books, although I can see the cold night above us, the room is warm and cozy.
"Wow!" I gasp "Where are we?"
"A new Room of Requirement." He replies.
I look up and see stars through some low cloud.
"Really?"
"Yeah, Dad told me how to make it work, since he spent so long in the old one up on seventh, when he was at school." He looks down ashamedly at the reference to the dark past that, by name he shares with his father.
"That's so impressive must have taken you ages." I say trying to brush over it.
He smiles, "Yeah, since the start of term. Sit."
I slide down the wall and we sit, like we do in the mornings next to the stove. I lean my head on his shoulder.
"All these sofas and you choose the floor?" He enquires.
"Why not? I mean the floor needs some attention." He smiles.
"Your crazy."
"And intend to be so, forever." I add.
We sit for a while in silence.
"No nightmare last night then?"
"Nope." I reply, smiling.
"I presumed that's why you weren't in the kitchens. I'm glad you slept."
I'd told him about the nightmares, something that only the girls knew about.
It was weird that I'd shared some of my closest secrets with him, but then again, so had he.
I knew such random things, like his favourite food is peanut butter and ham sandwiches, his favourite sport is football, not Quidditch, he hates people who crack they're knuckles, he actually wanted to be friends with me in first year, but then when I beat him in a Transfiguration test, he decided it would be more fun to be enemies. Also, his father is actually quite decent now and enjoys whiskey in the evenings, but he hates his grandfather, whose still slightly bent on the whole pure-blood mania thing.
"Who is it this week then?" I ask him.
"Who?"
"The girl?"
He pauses for a minute looking around, then looks down at me.
"No one in particular." He says.
"Just playing the field?" I ask.
"Never!" He looks scandalized.
I laugh.
"Sure, sure. Scorpius Malfoy not a player? What is the world coming to?" I ask mockingly. He shoves me and I roll away from him.
I laugh at his face.
"It's not like your slate is that clean." He says.
I look shocked.
"I am a nun. I will be living in a convent. Men are too much trouble." I say, pretending to be scandalised.
"What about that Scamander, the other one, that's not Lorcan?" He asks.
I practically growl at him.
"In the past, long forgotten, never to ever be raised again? Understand?" I say menacingly.
Yes. I did have a thing with a one Lysander Scamander. And yes, we did, as you say, do the deed. However, he turned out to be a complete arsehole and whilst it was fun while it lasted, when you discover that your boyfriend is sleeping with two other girls at the same time, it sort of ruins things. It ruins things even more when all your male friends and relatives then proceed to punch his face and hex him for around about three weeks until he looks like a horned toad. So basically, that did not end well – for either party.
"Never ever." Scorpius repeats.
"Who then?" He asks.
"No one in particular." I reply, copying his earlier response. He laughs.
"Hmmm, lets find you someone then."
"Really, we don't need to." I say.
"One of the Creeveys? Finnegan? What about Will? You practically got with him at that party?"
"No. Ria would eat me alive and then kill herself for doing that, and I'd rather she didn't die."
"Hmmm, okay then… Harry? Tom? Oh I know… Abrams." He laughs.
But I stiffen instantly at his suggestion.
"Too creepy for you?"
"Yeah, something like that." I mumble.
My mind flashes to Jake holding my wrists, pushing his face to mine.
"Rose, you okay?" He asks, looking concernedly at me.
"Yeah, just definitely no to Abrams." I say regaining my composure and smiling.
I shiver slightly but shake myself out of it.
"You cold?" He asks taking my shiver as being due to temperature.
"A little."
"Come here then."
He pulls me up and over to the massive fireplace. We sit down again and he takes off his jumper, revealing a white fitted t-shirt underneath that no word of a lie, makes him look like a god. He hands the black jumper to me. I look at him in shock.
"Seriously?" I say as I pull the jumper over my head.
"Yeah, if you catch your death, I'm going to have a host of people after me, and then I'll end up like Scamander." He says, mock seriously.
I shove him for mentioning Lysander.
He grabs me as he falls backwards, pulling my small frame towards him. I land, laughing on top of him.
"Now, I can punish you in whatever way I want. You're stuck." I say triumphantly.
He looks at me and quirks his eyebrow. Then quick as a flash, He rolls me over, so he's supporting his weight above me.
"What were you saying Rosie dear?" He asks. I laugh and look down, suddenly realising how close our bodies are. I blush, probably going a horrific shade of Weasley red. He looks down at me, his silver eyes going dark grey with an emotion I don't recognize. Then it hits me, they've gone the colour they were on the train, when we were fighting. I still can't tell what it is. We lie there staring into each others eyes.
Suddenly he gets up muttering quietly to himself. I sit up and hug my knees, leaning against one of the sofas. After a while of pacing he sits down next to me, without saying anything.
"Alright?" I ask quietly.
"Always." He smiles again.
"We are… friends right?" I ask timidly.
"Why would you ask that?"
"'Cause we've hated each other for years, I was just making sure that this…" I point to him and me. "…Isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon."
"Well you see, recently, you've been dragging down my reputation with the ladies… I mean, since we spend quite a lot of time together, so I may just have to ditch you at some point." He ends with a smirk.
"Oh very funny." I retort, my voice laced with sarcasm.
"I know I'm full of wittiness." He replies mockingly.
"Debateable…" I smile… "Are you going to answer my question?"
"I could but then, I'd be being helpful." He mocks again. I dig my elbow into his ribs. He laughs and looks at me with seriousness in his eyes.
"Yes, we're friends. We'll be friends for as long as you want to be."
I smile.
"Good."
I lean my head on his chest and shut my eyes; his hand absentmindedly runs through my hair. I begin to drift off my mind wandering to days spent with Scorpius, just before I fall asleep, I hear him say quietly:
"You have no idea what you're doing to me, Rose, no idea." I feel a small pressure as he kisses the top of my head.
I feel myself smile slightly, and fall asleep, listening to the sound of his steady heartbeat through his shirt.