Chapter Five

Rose absolutely crashed upon returning to her room, managing to sleep until about eleven-thirty, when her cousin Lily Luna barged in with some nonsense about some man-whore being caught in the broom closet with some dumb bint. She didn't pay much attention—never did, as she really could not care less about who was sleeping with whom. A fleeting thought that maybe she should start listening to Lily a) because she was her cousin, after all, and b) because she might get news about Ella darted through Rose's mind. Which reminded her that she should go find Scorpius and make him come with her to interview Ella…

"Hello? I said, I have it on good authority that Scorpius Malfoy was taking advantage of a Ravenclaw in a broom closet this morning, and almost got caught! By Filch of all people!"

Rose was quiet for a minute. That does not upset me. That does not surprise me. And yet… and yet… She sighed. "You said almost got caught?"

"Yeah."

"So how do you know it was him?" She told herself that she wanted to know for Scorpius's own good. He probably couldn't get in trouble over a rumor, but it was possible McGonagall or someone would try to do it anyway. Minerva McGonagall was a good Headmistress, and a fair woman, but she could not be said to be fond of any of the Slytherins, really. She was as kind to them as she was to anyone else, and it wasn't as though she blamed them for things they didn't do, but if she did find that a Slytherin had done something, perhaps she came down on them a bit harder than she had to. Certainly there was no chance of leniency from her. And Rose still remembered the way she had looked at Scorpius when they had first told her and Slughorn about Ella. It hadn't been condescending, exactly, but there had been just enough distaste in her gaze for Rose to register. Enough for Rose to feel uncomfortable and sorry for Scorpius.

"Several people saw him walk out with the girl." Said Lily, eyebrows raised. "You're telling me that's circumstantial evidence?"

Rose sighed, trying to breathe past the slight, uncomfortable tightness in her chest. "Well—what's so miraculous about that? Scorpius sai—he's with a different girl every week," she said. She felt that she ought not to disclose what Scorpius had told her in confidence, even though she trusted Lily.

"Well, to be honest, you seem to be spending more time with him than usual lately, so I thought it might interest you."

Shit. "Um, no, not really. I—I…" She sighed. Why couldn't she just tell Lily? Her cousin was a terrible gossip, but she knew not to tell people about something like this. Rose wasn't sure how the student body would react, but she knew what her teachers would say—"Stay out of this. You children are too young." But if the school wasn't going to do anything about something like this—and she had given them a chance, it had been a few days since McGonagall's speech, and all she and Scorpius had done was a minor, unsuccessful stakeout—then she was. She couldn't let Ella's bully go free. Hell, that wasn't even bullying. That was a hate crime.

"You what?" Lily had that look on her face, the slight smug smile and the interested light in her light brown eyes that said, Oh yes, this is gonna be good.

Rose sighed. Well, she was not going to let Lily think she was—shudder—dating Scorpius Malfoy in secret or something stupid like that. She had already made it clear to Scorpius that that was definitely not going to be their excuse for spending as much time together as they would need to. But did she really want to explain the whole debacle to Lily? She was going to find some way to involve Scorpius being sexy and Rose just being jealous and/or crazy because she didn't want him.

But she probably shouldn't keep something like this from her cousin. She—

"Rose? Rose, what's up?" The eager gossip-monger's expression was gone from Lily's face, replaced by a look of concern.

Rose rubbed her temples tiredly. She should tell Lily. "Er, well, the Scorpius thing—it's kind of hard to explain. You see, we were the ones who—found Ella Rhees. And then McGonagall gave her speech, and it was clear that the school wasn't going to bring the Ministry into it, and they really should—and we both knew that—and so… ." She blushed slightly. It sounded—well, it sounded kind of silly when she put it that way. Like two kids playing detective or something. And they were, in a way. She just hoped it would prove more fruitful than a child's game.

Lily stood there, staring at her cousin. Rose looked up at her expectantly and slightly petulantly. What? Is there a problem with my wanting to help someone? Finally Lily shook her head and said, "Sometimes I think you're too smart for Gryffindor. And then you go and do things like this." The two girls examined each other for a moment. Then Lily suddenly dashed over and threw her arms around Rose. "Please be careful. That's all. Just be careful."

Slightly startled, but touched, Rose hugged Lily back. "I will. Don't worry."

Lily stood up, taking a breath. "And the other reason I came by is that Scorpius wanted to see you."

Rose blinked. "Oh? I thought he was busy with some bimbo." She kept all but a slight undertone of bitterness out of her voice. Surprised and annoyed at herself, she bit the inside of her cheek. Why the hell did she care?

Lily laughed. "You do realize the inherent contradiction in that? There's no such thing as a Ravenclaw bimbo. Anyway, no, he's waiting for you at the Lake."

Rose laughed too. "All right. Are you going back there?"

"Yeah. I'll tell him you'll be along soon."

Rose smiled. "Thanks."

Lily smiled back and turned to leave, then turned back. "Oh, and you are lucky to be spending a lot of time with him, whatever the circumstances."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Lily, if you continue with these lewd comments regarding your approximation of—"

"Sorry. Just felt it obligatory." Lily flashed another grin and left. Rose sighed, smiling as well. She really did love her family.

Rose quickly dressed, tapping her wand to her hair to tame the exuberant curls. She frowned at herself in the mirror, seeing that the charm barely did anything. She sighed and shook her head, and started for the Lake.

She was barely paying any attention as she walked, and almost bumped into Demetri.

"Oh, Rose! How did you find Mr. Malfoy the other night?" he said, familiar shit-eating grin in place.

It took every modicum of Rose's self-control to keep from rolling her eyes. She composed her expression into her "polite" face and said, "Oh, he was fine. Did you hear about Ms. Rhees?" She knew she shouldn't have brought it up, especially in such a casual manner, but the newfound "detective" in her forced it from her lips.

Demetri looked first scared, then taken aback. "Didn't everyone?" he snapped. "Why do you ask?"

Rose raised an eyebrow. Inside, the gears of her mind were turning. That was a… weird reaction. He seemed almost offended that I mentioned it. "Well, it was terrible. Just wondering what you thought." She leaned forward conspiratorially, giving Demetri a pretty good view of her chest, mostly covered thought it was—she wouldn't normally demean herself, but she knew that she and Scorpius needed a lead, and she was willing to resort to underhanded tactics to get it (besides the fact that it was kind of pathetic to see the way Demetri still drooled over her)—"Who you think did it," she added quietly, for clarification.

"Oh." He blinked stupidly, then shook himself and continued, "Oh. I mean, of course it was the Slytherins. Everyone knows that. I mean, c'mon, the girl was Muggleborn, and being an innocent little Hufflepuff, she would fall for whatever lure they used."

Several things about that sentence just rubbed Rose the wrong way, especially the part about "of course it was the Slytherins." She couldn't help snapping, "You know, what makes you think it was the Slytherins, anyway? They're not all bad."

Demetri snorted derisively. "Oh, a snake fancier, are you? Get a little too close to Malfoy last night? I hear he's got quite the reputation."

"Of course you would jump to that conclusion. I can't believe that you dare to say you still care about me when you can't even remember that my cousin is a Slytherin." Rose growled back.

"Oh please. Everyone knows Albus doesn't count."

"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Rose snapped. "He absolutely is a Slytherin, and there is nothing wrong with that!"

Demetri looked at her incredulously. "I can't believe you. Your own parents were in the front lines in the war against the Dark Lord, and here you are, defending Slytherin!"

"Yes! Yes, I am! Voldemort was a sick child who grew into a sick man, and that had nothing to do with his House! And anyway, Slytherins make the least amount of trouble these days, which you'd know if you cared to pay any fucking attention to your duties!"

Demetri growled. "That's it!" He shoved her roughly, and she fell backward a few steps, shocked. "You are a loudmouthed little slut, Rose Weasley, and you can go—"

"Leave her alone, Ivers. Now."

Rose recognized that voice, all right. She just couldn't believe what it was saying.

Demetri looked up, snarling, "This isn't your business, Malfoy. Move right along."

Scorpius stared coolly back into Demetri's furious face. He leaned casually against a pillar, not fifteen feet away from them. His stare was disinterested, but Rose could see a slight tenseness in his muscles, like a coiled spring. "If you're shoving a girl around, it's anyone's business, Ivers. Perhaps you wouldn't be so eager if you had to pick on someone your own size."

"You hate her too!"

This got both Rose and Scorpius to flinch. Rose started, "That's a separate—"

"I don't hate her." Now Scorpius was moving in front of her. "Now leave, or you'll wish you had."

Demetri just stood there, shaking with rage. Finally he said coldly, "I can't risk my position as Head Boy to… deal with you two. But you'll regret this, Malfoy. And you'll get yours someday, Rose." He stormed away.

The two left standing there were silent for a moment, not facing each other. Then Rose said, "You didn't have to do that."

Scorpius shrugged slightly. "No. I'm sure you could've handled it fine. But I'm not sure you could've done it without hexing him. And you'd have a pretty good case—he provoked you. But it'd still be a smudge on your record that could be avoided. And under all that swagger, Ivers is yellow as piss."

Rose wrinkled her nose. "No need to be crude."

Scorpius chuckled. "It's the truth. Only reason he didn't run screaming when I stepped in was because I hadn't pulled a wand on him yet."

"So I'm not frightening because I'm a girl."

"Sure you're frightening when you want to be." On the slim crescent of his face that was visible to Rose, she saw a cheeky smirk. "But to him? Yes, that's exactly it. Even though you could probably hex his nose off before he even got a boil on you. I know from experience."

Rose grinned too.

They were still not facing each other, and it had gone silent. Finally Rose said tentatively, "Did—did you mean what you said before? About not hating me?"

"Of course I did. I haven't hated you for a long time. I just—" Scorpius stopped. "I know what I want to say. I don't think I'm going to say it right now, though."

Rose shifted, then started, "Scorpius—"

He turned to face her, smiling slightly. "It's not a big deal. I'm melodramatic by nature. Albus says never mind that I'm suspiciously good at Potions, I should go into the theater."

Rose was startled into laughing. "Does he really say that? It sounds like something he'd say."

Scorpius's eyes shone. "Yeah. Yeah, he says that." He sighed. "Anyway, I was looking for you. We've got business to conduct."

"Yes, the Ella Rhees thing. Do you know—"

Scorpius held up a pale, elegant finger. "Madam Pomfrey says we can talk to her for ten minutes provided we're sensitive to her condition and all that mushy Gryffindor stuff."

"Ten minutes! That's not enough time for all my questions—"

Scorpius just started walking, dragging her along by the elbow. "You'll learn to prioritize."

"Fuck you! Let me go!"

"You coming on your own, then? As opposed to staying here and not making use of what little time we've got?"

"Yes, of course!" Rose twisted out of his grasp, brushing invisible dust particles off her clothes. Then she remembered that she had a question for Scorpius himself. "Lily says you were almost caught with a girl this morning."

Scorpius kept his face neutral for a few moments as if deciding how to react. Then he said carefully, "She tell you who it was?"

Rose raised an eyebrow. "No. Is that significant?"

Scorpius coughed. "It's kind of a funny story… only I think you might hit me if I told you it…"

Rose snorted. "If it's that bad, I'll just repeat it to Lily."

Scorpius laughed. "I'll take that. It was Eva Laurence."

"Of Ravenclaw? The one who everyone thinks is a prude because she's pretty and won't date?"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "I take it you disagree with the ideology behind the statement."

Rose scoffed. "Maybe she actually wants to focus on her studies. So few people do around here."

Scorpius raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Well, what happened was, she came up to me after class—we're in Herbology together…"

They talked the whole way to the Hospital Wing. Rose enjoyed herself the whole way to the Hospital Wing. She refused to admit that the two facts had any connection.

#

When they got in there, it was worse than Rose had imagined. It wasn't as though there was any blood on the sheets, or bodily fluids of any other sort; they were a sterile, obsessively clean white, and there were no traces of any other color to suggest that they had at any other time been otherwise. She had no tubes up her nose or in her arms as there so often were in the Muggle dramas that she sometimes saw Lily watching on the Potter family's little-used television. There were no dark circles under Ella's hazel eyes, which Rose noted were only slightly clouded when the girl looked up to give them a weak smile.

No, it wasn't what was there that was disturbing. It was what wasn't there, or reminders of what had taken place. The bandages around Ella's wrists were thick and the lower layers were no doubt saturated with blood. There was an aura of pain that surrounded the girl, engulfing Rose and no doubt Scorpius as well as they moved closer to the bed. Her back was hunched with the effort of focusing on anything but the hurt, and Rose was aware that the clouds in Ella's eyes probably meant that she was being given something to help her forget. Her wavy brown hair was clean, but her skin was too pale, and she looked thin. Violet bruises had surfaced, highlighted in the harsh light of the Hospital Wing.

Rose sat down in a chair next to the bed. How the hell was she going to begin? She—

But Scorpius was already speaking, his voice smooth and quiet and comforting, saying, "…Miss Weasley and I are prefects, as I'm sure you know, and we want to help you, Miss Rhees. But in order for us to help you, you need to help us, okay? We're going to ask you a few questions about the night you were injured. Is that all right?"

And though Rose had seen fear in Ella's eyes, no doubt because of Scorpius's pureblood status, now she was nodding.

"No one here is going to hurt you, okay? Miss Weasley and I are going to find out who did this to you. And if you can't remember something or it's difficult for you to talk about it, just tell us, okay?"

More nodding. Then she spoke. "I'm sorry, can I just—?" Her voice was rasping, like it had to fight to get out of her throat.

"Of course." And there was such sincere sympathy in his voice that Rose's heart just melted. "Take as long as you need."

She looked at him, astonished. She knew how close he and Albus were, but she just couldn't imagine him being—well, comforting. His face looked completely open, eyes never leaving Ella's face as she struggled to keep composure and ready herself for the interview.

And then he was looking at Rose, eyebrow risen. "What?" he mouthed.

She shook her head, waving a hand dismissively.

"I'm ready."

Scorpius nodded, that sweet understanding look back in place. "You can stop if your throat starts to hurt."

Ella nodded, smiling gratefully. Scorpius turned to Rose and asked, "Did you have questions ready?"

"Yes, er—can you just tell me what exactly happened?"

Ella nodded, sighing deeply. She was quiet for a moment before beginning in a low voice that Rose had to bend closer to hear. "I was walking back to my dorm—I take a medicine every now and then, it's for my asthma, it makes it so I don't need an inhaler—anyway I was walking back to my dorm and they attacked me. They were wearing black and these funny masks that looked like they were made of silver paper. I think they were wearing hard-toed shoes. They beat me around a little bit, before, before…" Her eyes filled, her hands crossed over her chest and her hands gripped her forearms so tightly that her knuckles went white.

Scorpius walked over quickly and sat beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "It's all right, it's fine, you're safe now," he murmured, patting her soothingly. "Were you conscious, when they…?"

Ella shook her head. "They knocked me out first. I don't know with what." She sniffed hard, gripping at Scorpius's shirt.

"And you came to later in the hospital wing."

"Yes." She was shaking, and Rose almost had second thoughts. But she steeled herself, remembering that it was for Ella's sake that she was doing this, and pressed on.

Madam Pomfrey ended up giving them fifteen minutes, during which Ella tried bravely not to cry, Scorpius soothed her as best he could, and Rose mostly asked questions, all the while feeling extremely intrusive and ill at ease. She wrote down what Ella said in a pad Transfigured from a cup and a pen Transfigured from a piece of bandaging (Scorpius had raised an eyebrow and said, "What are you doing evenings a week before our next Transfiguration test?").

As to what they'd learned, the information was in equal parts horrific and confusing. It sounded like these kids were trying to emulate the Death Eaters in every way possible, but—why? Why relive the terror of the Wizarding Wars? And if they got caught, the consequences would be astronomical—as they should be. And over the stupidest beliefs… as if anyone really thought that purebloods were better wizards anymore.

"Been thinking," said Scorpius beside her as they walked down the hall.

Rose smiled grimly. "Haven't we both been to the best of our abilities for the better part of an hour?" They had decided without words to just walk, cooling off after the interview.

"Perhaps. I've come upon something I think might be of note, though." He ran a hand through his pale hair. "What's your experience been with human religion, Rose?"

Rose shrugged. "Not much. Granddad and Grandma are Christian, but they're not all that religious."

"And your father's parents?"

Rose frowned. "You know wizards don't have much in the way of religion. I'm surprised you know anything about it, what with your parents…"

"Okay. And if these—people—" he spat, "are pureblood, or trying to be pureblood, why did they nail Ella up the way they did? Isn't it kind of reminiscent of Christ on the cross?"

Rose felt a bit ill. This was already confusing, and now Scorpius had added another dimension to the whole mess. "I don't buy it. Not yet. Wouldn't they have just put her on an actual cross?" Her frown deepened. "And what would that signify? I mean, wouldn't it make her look like a martyr? Isn't that a good thing, in theory?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I guess. It could have no other significance than the fact that we're obviously dealing with sick, violent bastards who like causing as much pain as possible." He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Just guessing."

Rose sighed exasperatedly. "Well, we talked to our prime witness, and still we know barely more than we did yesterday." She rested her hand on the wall, staring out at the grounds from the wide window she stood in front of. She felt Scorpius come up behind her and tentatively place his hands on her shoulders. She didn't bother shaking him off.

They stood like that in silence for a while. Then Scorpius said, "We can get by on barely-mores. It's still early in the game. There's no need to be planning strategy for the last half just yet."

More standing around in quiet, and Rose wondered if maybe Scorpius touching her in little ways, just the brief brushes of skin against skin that showed he cared for Albus or (more rarely) for Bella Zabini, wasn't so bad after all.