Okay. So this took for-fucking-ever. And I'm really, really sorry, but there is a good reason. was being a bitch and not working for me for a while, then I had to do some shit for school, then I wondered whether this chapter is pointless. I'm not sure when the next update is going to be; I might want to work on my original stuff for a while. So I'll try to update at least once a month, but the way things are looking now I probably won't be able to get in much more than that. That said, enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

Two days later, Scorpius was still thinking about what Peeves had said. He thought about who might be stupid enough or hateful enough to do these things. To actually physically hurt another student. Peeves was right that Slytherins had their own best interests at heart, but seriously injuring other students—well, if he was being pessimistic, that wasn't the kind of risk a Slytherin might take.

But then, grief did strange things to you. He remembered that when his grandfather Lucius had died, his father wouldn't come out of his study for a week. His mother had had to stand outside the door, begging him to at least take some food. It was a bad time, Scorpius remembered. The family had lost a lot of money and a lot of pride…

Suddenly there was a loud knocking at his door, startling him into sitting up. "Who's there?"

"Who do you think?" came the barest hiss of a voice. However, the tension in the voice, and that peculiar timbre comprising annoyance and desire typical of it when it spoke to him, revealed its owner.

Scorpius laughed, getting off of the bed and walking over to open the door to the patch of thin air that disguised Rose Weasley.

"So what's up?" he asked, leaning on the doorframe.

She shoved his chest. "Let me in, you wanker! This took effort!"

He chuckled and moved aside, closing the door after her as she slid off the Cloak. As he was about to ask her why she had visited (though he was by no means displeased—she looked very good in that green V-neck), she turned and pushed him against the wall, pressing her lips to his. Surprised but elated, he slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her back fervently. Her hands moved up his chest to grip his jaw, and he moaned as her tongue slipped in his mouth. He pulled her closer and kissed her harder, fingers toying with the hem of her shirt. His hands had just started to slide nonchalantly up her back when—

She pulled away, breathing hard. "I have something to tell you," she said, "and you're not going to like it."

He smiled. "I see. So all that was to sweeten me up."

"Yes." She looked troubled. "Look, er… I was walking around last night and I saw something."

He frowned, gently tilting her chin up. "What did you see?"

"Well, I…" she sighed. "I have no idea how to tell you this."

"Tell me what happened."

She looked down again. "You'll hate me."

"Is it that bad?"

She sighed. "Well, look—er—nothing's conclusive, but… So someone drew a Dark Mark on the wall of the seventh floor corridor across from the Room of Requirement—"

"Fuck's sake. Really? Was there—was there an injured person accompanying it?"

Rose shook her head vigorously as she continued, "I was looking at it, but out of the corner of my eye I saw someone pass rather hurriedly across the hall, and I went after them—"

"Merlin! Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have gotten into?" He gripped the sides of her face, turning her head slightly, checking her for injuries. "I can't believe you—are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Stop that! What are you, my mother? Anyway, so, I couldn't see the person very well, but she was wearing a Slytherin tie and she had long, dark hair—"

Scorpius's stomach dropped as he realized where this was going. The thought flashed through his head that she might be lying—after all, Rose wasn't exactly fond of Bella Zabini—but as soon as it came up, he dismissed it. She would never try to incriminate someone just because she didn't like him or her. She had even refused to investigate Ivers until there was conclusive proof for that reason. He just wanted so badly for it not to be true.

She continued talking. "And then when I saw her in the light, well, it was pretty clear it was Bella. I mean, like I said, it probably wasn't her, and maybe she was just going to see Evan or something, and maybe I didn't see her right, but—"

Scorpius sighed deeply. "She's not that stupid. She's not. She probably was going to see Evan, if it was her at all."

"Yeah. Yeah." But she wasn't looking at him, and he could tell she didn't believe what she was saying.

He caught her uneasy eye. "But you think we should look into it."

"I can't help what I saw, Scorpius!" She sighed. "Believe me, for your sake I wish I hadn't. You know, and it's probably nothing. But—I mean, it's a bit coincidental. Not that many people dare to sneak around at night. And I mean—I was there earlier, and I didn't see it—"

"Please just—can I have a minute?"

She nodded, pressing her lips together in a pale, worried line. He took her hands in his and gripped them hard. After a few moments of silence, she said, "Look, we don't have to do anything you don't want to do. We don't have to ask her anything until there's proof."

Scorpius shook his head. "I'll ask her. I'll ask Finnigan, unless you think you should."

Rose shrugged. "Evan'll tell you anything you want to know. He's a Gryffindor."

"True. But then," he managed a weak smile, "so are you."

She stuck her tongue out at him and opened her mouth to say something, but they heard a faint call through the door: "Scorpius? You in there?"

Rose quickly picked up the Cloak and draped it haphazardly over herself, dashing into the corner as Scorpius opened the door to Adam Nott, one of his roommates. Nott had a thin, sharp, mean little face and very kempt, slightly stringy black hair.

"Merlin, Scorpius, I had to knock like eight times. What the hell were you doing?" Adam asked, strolling in. "I forgot the password again."

Scorpius let out a tense little laugh and said, "You should write it down or something. Al made it 'Slytherin pwns,' I think."

Adam laughed a bit derisively. "Yeah, that's an Al thing to do. Anyway, I was just going off to Hogsmeade. Aren't you?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know. Might take advantage of the quiet to study or something."

Adam snorted. "You? Study? Have you gone nuts or are you trying to impress someone?"

"Who would I impress? You?" His eye unintentionally strayed to the corner where Rose was hiding.

"A girl. They go in for that sort of thing."

"Not the sort of girl you date," Scorpius said primly.

Adam cackled. "Oh, Scorp, I love it when you're bad-tempered." He sighed and said, "Speaking of, did you hear that McGonagall's considering revoking Hogsmeade privileges till someone fesses up to the Dark Mark?"

Scorpius blinked, surprised. "Really? No, I didn't." He paused and added, "Do you know who's seen it?"

Adam shrugged. "Lots of people. I was walking past this morning on my way to the Library and there was a huge crowd. I asked what was going on and they said shit like 'Voldemort's returning,' 'It's the end of the world,' et cetera."

Scorpius whistled. "Damn. And McGonagall is only considering revoking Hogsmeade privileges?"

"Yeah. So I'm going to go now, stock up on Honeydukes. Have fun being a loser."

"Bugger off, Adam." And he did.

Rose stood up, removing the Cloak. "Took her long enough," was the first thing she said.

"Huh?"

"The Hogsmeade thing. People need to see this is serious."

Scorpius chuckled. "You're getting all prefect on me."

"You're one too. Just not a very good one," was her amused reply.

He grinned and pulled her close. "Well, that's why you're around." He sighed. "I'll go talk to Bella now, if I can find her. I want to get this over with."

She nodded. "I'll see if I can find Evan, if you're talking to Bella now. Save time."

"Mm." He inhaled her scent for a minute, closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of holding someone whom he loved and who loved him back. She was evidently content to stand so with him, just frozen in their perfect little bubble of intimacy. She tightened her grip around his neck, he his around her waist. I'm really happy, he realized. In spite of all this shit that's going on around us, in spite of the fact that this can't go anywhere, I am at peace with her. He bent his head a little and kissed her softly before both extricated themselves from the embrace, sharing one last longing glance before he walked over and opened the door with a half-resigned, half-regretful, "Shall we?"

#

Bella was not in her room or in the Slytherin common room, and he doubted that she would be in the Library, so Scorpius set out for Hogsmeade at an agitated pace. The euphoria induced by that small moment of peace while holding Rose had dissipated, replaced by a gnawing anxiety. For despite the fact that he scorned her and her affections, Scorpius did genuinely care for Bella. In fact, he did not want to date her because he knew he would break her heart (aside from the whole Rose thing). If she had done this, he had no idea what he was going to say to her, what he was going to do—what he could do, anyway.

He decided to make straight for the Three Broomsticks, which Bella preferred over the Hog's Head, and if she wasn't there, perhaps he could ask others whether they had seen her. But luck was with him—she was sitting right near the front, laughing and flipping her hair as she talked to assorted friends of hers, most of whom he didn't recognize due to his unwillingness to give most of them the time of day.

She had evidently noticed him, as she grinned widely at him and waved him over. He took a tense breath and obliged, sitting next to her and the assorted friends.

"Scorpius! So glad you could join us!" said Bella enthusiastically, clutching at his arm. Her joy pained him. She had this certain effect on him whereby as soon as she wanted to be near him, he had to get away. But he forced the impulse down and managed a strained smile.

"Yeah. Great to see you all." As if he'd just come back from a five-month absence or something. But of course these people didn't notice. He was Scorpius Malfoy, the Slytherin prince. Dear Merlin, but he hated that title.

He listened to them talk about nothing for a good ten minutes before saying, "Hey, do you guys mind if I borrow Bella for a bit? I'd like to talk to her about something."

They all giggled as he pulled her carefully but firmly into the alcove that led to the bathrooms and the kitchen. Her eyes were bright with anticipation, and he wished he wasn't able to read her so well.

He cleared his throat. "Um… I… I have something to ask you." Bad choice of words. He sighed. "Er, where were you last night?"

Her face darkened. "I was with Evan. Why?"

"Look, um, what do you know about that drawing of the Dark Mark on the seventh floor corridor?"

She frowned. "Dark Mark? Oh god." Her frown deepened as she thought some more, and she said, "What do you mean, what do I know about it? What would I know about it?"

"Well, uh, I have it on good authority that you were visiting Evan and I thought you might have—seen something."

She looked at him disbelievingly. "Well, if that's all it is, then why do you look so nervous?"

He leaned back against the wall, but it looked more like he was bracing himself than like a relaxed gesture, which was what he was going for.

"Scorpius? Did you—do you think that I had something to do with it?" she said carefully.

He shook his head vigorously. "No. No. I—"

"Scorpius, I can tell when you're lying." Her face was white and she looked so, so tired and so, so sad. "I mean… I'm just not sure why you'd…" her voice caught.

He swallowed. "Bella, I'm sorry, I… I had to check. I know you wouldn't, really. But…"

She shrugged, and it felt like a slap. "Whatever. I just can't believe you'd think that of me."

He gripped her shoulders. "Bella, I didn't. I wouldn't. But I had to check. The Dark Mark wasn't there, and then you were, and then it was! I mean, wouldn't you be worried?"

She didn't shrug him off, but her next words stung him worse than that action would have. "No! Because I'd know you wouldn't do that!"

"Bella, I'm sorry, okay? I really am. But I just had to be sure."

She looked up at him for the first time in several minutes. "You should have been sure already," she said quietly.

"I know, Bella, I'm sorry. Please, I just—" he sighed. "I don't know. This whole thing is making me crazy."

Bella sighed. "I know. So why won't you just take some time off? Come back with the girls and me. We'll go to Honeydukes, Zonko's, whatever." She put her hand lightly on his arm. "Let me take care of you, hmm?"

Her lips were by his ear, and a break sounded enticing after the stresses of the past few days. But he didn't want to lead her on. He sighed. That was always the problem with her. He felt that he couldn't spend time with her anymore without her thinking that it was a sign that he returned her feelings. His bond with her had become as dead, dry October leaves—shriveled and breakable. He did not want to hurt her, but it seemed as though he could only do wrong in her presence these days, which caused him to avoid her.

"Thanks, Bella. But I really… I can't," he said carefully.

She frowned. "Why not? Are you doing more investigating? You'll work better if you take a break."

"Well, uh, I'm meant to meet Rose and tell her—"

Bella's eyes narrowed. "Rose? Rose Weasley? Since when is she Rose to you?"

Her tone was strident and unpleasant, particularly because she was touching on the complicated subject of his relationship with the other girl. "Since I started helping her with this thing. Calm down."

Bella sighed. "You know, I don't even get why you're doing this."

"What? The investigation? A number of reasons." He coughed uncomfortably.

"Yes, but what are they? And don't cough like that. You always cough like that when you don't want to talk to me."

Fuck. She's so perceptive sometimes. I remember when I used to like that about her. "Well—I just wanted Slytherin to come out the hero. And I thought it was ridiculous that the school wasn't doing anything, you know? Anyway, I should really—"

"Wait." She clutched his sleeve as he was trying to get past her. "I might know something."

#

Rose took another sip of the coffee they'd pilfered from the kitchens as she processed the information Scorpius had just related. "So. The plot thickens."

He snorted. "For the seventh time."

She smiled, but there was a certain wanness to it that he didn't fail to catch. There was exhaustion in the slightly weak curve of her mouth, in her eyes, dimmed and half-shut. He thought he must look that way, too. They needed a break, clearly.

He sighed. "Well, at least this time we have a concrete lead."

"Mm." Another sip. "I don't know, though. Didn't you say Owen Haines was a nobody?"

"Well, he's a transfer. From Wales. But the other, more important thing he is—well, he's Jeannine la Coeur's boyfriend."

"Ah." She grinned. "So we do have something."

"Yes." He sighed. "Well, so how will we go about this? If we question him, he's not going to say anything, and he might tell the others, assuming he actually is involved in this thing."

"Well, how sure did Bella say she was that she saw him when she was leaving Evan's?"

"Pretty sure. He's hard to miss. He's really tall and thin, and he's got a lot of acne. Very greasy black hair."

Rose nodded, sighed. "Well, I don't know. I mean, the most we can really do is keep an eye on him. But what seems funny to me is that they would do something like this, because after beating up two Muggleborns, it—well, I want to say it pales in comparison, though I know that sounds horrible." She thought for a moment and then continued haltingly, "I mean—it's inconsistent. Yeah. I mean, they start off with something as serious as physical attacks, which you can actually go to jail for, and then they do something like this, which seems sort of—juvenile, in comparison."

Scorpius shrugged. "Yeah, it's weird. But maybe it's some kind of sick reminder? We've not done anything for a while, but we're still here?"

"Maybe." Rose drained her coffee and thinned her lips. "It's just—we're restricted here. We still have to go to classes, still have to observe curfew occasionally. It's not like we're Aurors or—" her eyes grew wide.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "I sense an idea coming on. Care to enlighten me?"

Rose continued as if she hadn't heard him. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before. My family has amazing connections in the Ministry. Surely we could find someone to help us with this without alerting the school's attention."

Scorpius frowned. "I'm not so sure about that. I mean, we're doing okay on our own, aren't we? And also the school might get shirty with us."

"Yeah, but come on, Scorpius. They've injured three people, two of them almost fatally. We really should have tried to bring the Ministry in earlier. And if the school gets shirty with us, well, we're in the right." She was standing up now, pacing in her excitement. She began to mutter the names of relatives and friends, trying to think of who would be most helpful.

"Rose, I… that's not going to work for me." Scorpius was looking down at his hands. She wasn't thinking of the possible consequences it could have for him if they brought the Ministry into it and the school got angry with them.

But she hadn't heard him. She kept walking around the room, continuing with her monologue. "Maybe Kingsley would recommend someone? But no…"

Scorpius stood, taking her by the shoulders. "Rose. Listen. It would be a good idea to bring the Ministry into this, but I don't think it will work. And while it might not be a problem for you, the school getting mad at me would be a very big problem. Believe me, it may not look that way, but if they could find any reason at all to kick me out of this school, they would. And I know how that sounds, but I—" he broke off, looking at her helplessly. "Look, if it needs to be done, I mean…"

Rose was frowning, taking his hands in hers and saying, "Hey, hey, what was all that about kicking you out? They wouldn't. You're a star student, for all your troublemaking." She smiled affectionately for the last sentence, but it didn't obscure the worry in her eyes.

"Yes, but I'm also a Slytherin, and haven't we learned that that's what's important multiple times over?"

Her grip tightened. "Scorpius. They daren't kick you out on those grounds."

This irked Scorpius. Yes, she was trying to reassure him, but she was also protecting her own view of Hogwarts as a safe and happy haven. Hell, it hadn't been in their parents' years and it clearly wasn't now. Rose was definitely aware of the full terror and infamy of the crimes these neo-Death Eaters were committing against their fellow students, but fundamentally, she still saw Hogwarts as a second home, as the only place where she was really, truly safe.

While it was a second home for Scorpius too, he had to fight for his place here. His flippancy, as well as his and Albus's frequent practical jokes, might have led people to think that he didn't take school seriously, but that wasn't true at all. He worked quite hard to do well in classes even if he couldn't toe the line outside of them, and he was always careful to check Albus if his friend came up with a totally heinous prank. He was notorious amongst the student body, but he was not notorious amongst the teachers because he was very conscientious about not getting caught.

He sighed. He didn't really want to burst her bubble, but he had been trying to get the point across for some time. "No, they daren't, Rose—which is why I have to be so bloody good at school. If they could find an excuse, any excuse, to get rid of me, then they would."

She was frowning again, and she wasn't looking him in the face. "McGonagall wouldn't—"

"McGonagall is older than she used to be, and scared. Especially in view of these recent attacks."

She was biting the inside of her cheek and her eyes were bright with worry and unease. "Scorpius, that's not fair. She's in her right mind, and she's always been a fair woman."

"Yeah, but wouldn't you say it's a bit harder to be fair after you've lived through a war such as the Second Wizarding War? And rightly so."

Rose squirmed. "She wouldn't—"

"She couldn't help it, Rose," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. But I'd be risking a lot—am risking a lot. I just would like you to understand that."

"Okay. I—I don't know. I'll—I'll see if I can think of something. How to do this. Maybe I'll try to ask someone—" she sighed. He could tell she was still upset, and waited for her to put her thoughts to words. "Do you really think they're trying to kick you out?"

Scorpius sighed, looking at her drawn, tired face. Was he going to lie to her to put her at ease?

She was looking at him now, and apparently saw the doubt in his eyes, for she said, "Tell me the truth, please."

"Yes." He touched her shoulder reflexively, quickly added, "But really, don't worry about it. They won't. I'm very careful."

She nodded slowly, but didn't say anything more.

He still felt uncomfortable, as she was clearly so disturbed by the notion that Hogwarts was not as pure a place as she thought it was. He felt he should say something, anything, to cease her worry. "Rose, I—" he gave up. "When should we meet again?"

"Monday, after classes?"

"Sure." He turned to leave, wishing he hadn't said anything. But as he left, he felt her take his hand. He looked at her questioningly, and she smiled slightly, shyly, pulling him in for a kiss. This time it wasn't quite as rushed, and Scorpius found himself relaxing into the slow feel of her lips on his. And how long had it been since he'd felt like this—namely, very, very happy in the company of someone else?

She walked him back to the Slytherin dorms, and they held hands and didn't give a shit about anything for a while.