Chapter 13 - A Bundle of Messes

My breathing hitched in my throat and my fists balled anxiously.

"What do you say Rosie?" he whispered into my ear, his hot breath on the crook of my neck.

"Matthias," I gasped. "I'm not going with you! Just leave me be, alright?"

There was a moment where he paused, like he was actually comtemplating my statement. But, of course, he wasn't. "Wrong answer."

He walked me to the common room like a small child, his arms engulfing me so I couldn't walk away. Matthias was big with large, upper body muscles - there was no way I was getting away from him, unless some sort of miracle happened.

But people like me didn't deserve miracles.

With a shove, he pushed my into the silver and green Slytherin common room, the door shutting behind us silently. I stared around the room, watching as other students looked back with miffed expressions. Georgiana and Veronique were among these people.

Georgiana was wearing the black dress she had bought with me yesterday, along with dark eye make-up and fabulous shoes. Veronique was showing off her purple, one-strapped gown, standing by the side of Merrick Roland.

"Hey Rosalie," she called. "Have you changed your mind?" Her eyes darted between me and Matthias, but didn't seem to find anything wrong with the picture in front of her.

"No," I hissed, but then I felt Matthias' fingers squeeze my forearms with such force, I was sure it was going to leave a bruise. "I mean, yeah. I'm going now. With Matthias."

The words burned on my tongue. I never thought I'd have to say "with" and "Matthias" in the same sentence ever again but I was stupid to think so. But what horrified me was the fact that all of the people in the common room, staring at me, didn't see anything wrong with the fact that Matthias was physically forcing me to go with him. It had to be as obvious to them as it was to me, right? Didn't they see what was happening? Couldn't they see the pain I was in?

"Get your dress, Rosalie," Matthias growled into my ear again.

I shivered and pulled away from him, disgust etched onto my face. "I hate you."

"Of course you do, Rosalie," he said, grinning as he leaned against the wall. "Now go make yourself pretty."

I practically flew up the stairs to my dorm, throwing the door open and then locking it securely behind me, hoping that it would make me feel safer.

Nothing could've made me feel safe, though.

Slumping against the door, I suddenly realized I was shaking. I was being so wimpy; why couldn't I just push him away or defy him? Why did I do everything he told me to? What could he possibly do to me that is so horrible?

"Everything," I whispered, wiping my hands over my face anxiously.

Quietly, I stood and walked over to my closet. Many of my school uniforms were hanging in there, along with some dress robes and the purple dress I wore to Slughorn's first social this year. I hadn't worn it since that night.

Under all of the carefully-placed enchantments hung my only acceptable dress: the Mariona. It looked so beautiful, just hanging there, untouched. I peeled off my clothes, dropping them onto the floor carelessly. The cold, uncomfortable draft in the room brought goosebumps to my arms and legs as I reached for the elegant red dress, lifting it from it's place on the hanger and quickly stepping into it, pulling it up past my hips and over my breasts. I zipped it up carefully and then looked at myself in the mirror.

The gown itself was gorgeous, the prettiest dress I had ever laid eyes on. It still fit perfectly, as it had been fitted for me previously, for the dinner party I had went to in Spain. With it's crimson red color and the silver design on the front, it was astounding. I tried to bring justice to the dress by fixing my hair flawlessly and applying matching red lipstick with dashing eye make-up, but I would never be able to do so. The dress was simply that flabbergasting. I could pull it off, but just barely.

The only jewelry I wore was a silver necklace around my neck. The charm, shaped like a heart, rested directly at the hollow of my throat.

I put on the only pair of heels I had with me - black ones - and took a deep breath. And then another one, for good measure. I had gotten so lost in getting ready, I had forgotten why I was. The entire evening was going to be terrible.

I inhaled another gulp of air greedily, letting it out nervously, and then opened the dorm door. Quickly, I shut it again, eyes wide. A revolting lurch twisted in my stomach as I thought about Matthias, waiting for me downstairs.

A chill cooled me to the bone and I Summoned a shawl from my closet. It was a deep green color, but I used the Colour Change Charm to switch it's shade to a matching red. I wrapped it around my arms and then opened my door once more, this time stepping out into the hall and descending the stairs, biting the inside of my cheek irritably.

"Finally," Matthias drawled. "I was afraid you had gotten lost or something."

I didn't say anything in return. The common room was almost empty now, except for a few stragglers who weren't paying any attention at all to our exchange. It was eerily quiet in the large room, except for the crackling fire, raging in the hearth.

"So," he whispered, his hands lingering on my bare shoulders. "You ready, Rosie?"

Losing my voice, all I could choke out was, "Yeah."

The silence broke as two figures bounded down the stairs in their dress robes, hair ruffled and eyes wide. "Scorpius, this is exactly the thing Rose hates in a guy: tardiness! If we're not there in two minutes flat, she's going to go without you!"

"I know, Al!" the other boy growled.

"Merlin, and Sadie! What's she going to think? Oh, fu- Rosalie?"

They finally seemed to notice Matthias and I. Matthias' eyes narrowed dangerously as Albus slowly approached. "What do you want, filth?"

Albus, still a stubborn-headed git, opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him. Had he forgotten that Matthias broke his nose just a while ago?

"What do you want?" I snapped.

His eyebrows shot up at my harsh tone. I tried to tell him to scat by looking pointedly at the door, but he didn't catch on. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

Scorpius watched with suddenly grave, icy grey eyes.

An arm snaked around my waist. "What does it look like? She's going to the party with me, Potter," Matthias started. "Are you stupid?"

"So, the rumors are true?" Albus questioned.

"Obviously," I said, sounding braver than I felt. The last thing I wanted was for Albus to get hurt for me. Again. And I thought the evening couldn't get any worse. "Just back off, Albus, okay?"

He and Scorpius were miffed. Albus just stared at me with those innocent, emerald green eyes, thoroughly confused. "What are you doing?"

"Gods, Albus! Just leave me alone!" My voice was rising. Now, all three of the boys were watching me, wondering what I was going to do next. The only difference between them was that Matthias was wearing a small grin. He probably knew what I was doing by now.

"Why are you acting like this?" he asked, voice getting darker. "Rosalie-"

"Albus, you don't know anything! You need to leave now, freak."

"You know what? Fine. Be a bitch. I can't believe I cared about what happened to you," Albus said, face contorting angrily. The sudden change of emotion startled me, but only for a second.

"Finally," I said, rolling my eyes, trying seem nonchalant.

"You're unbelievable," he said, storming out of the common room with Scorpius hot on his tail.

My chest was heaving. My heart was beating rapidly. My nails were clawing into my palms. Why couldn't he understand how dangerous Matthias could be? Was I the only one who saw it?

And the feeling of utter hurt lingered in the pit of my stomach. For the first time ever, I cared about someone.

I cared about Albus Potter. And I cared about whether or not he was safe.

"Aw, you care about them, don't you Rosalie?" he said with a childish tone laced in his voice. "Don't want your friends to get hurt by the big, bad Matthias? And here I was, thinking you had no heart."

"I do have a heart!" I screamed, and then I screwed my eyes shut. "And I'm not a bitch."

"Please," he scoffed, staring at me with those blue eyes. "We both know you're the queen bitch. Everybody knows it. Everybody's terrified of you, Rosalie. Let's face it: you have a heart of ice. You're not capable of caring."

I felt like he was circling me like a vulture circles it's prey. "No I don't. I do not."

"You're just like me," he whispered into my ear.

"I am nothing like you."

But then I realized that I was exactly like Matthias Avery. I was a mean, intimidating bully who threatened her so-called friends and hated everybody. I deserved to be despised by someone like Albus Potter.

Maybe this was for the best.

I got this weird feeling in my throat, like a burning knot. I reached up to my eyes, and my fingers touched drops of tears, rimming my eyelids. Quickly, I wiped them away. "Let's just go. I don't want to be alone with you any longer."

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

James watched his brother, Albus, prowl into the decorated room, a look of disgust on his face. "I can't believe I cared."

"Cared about what?" James inquired.

"Not what," Rose said, walking next to Scorpius. "Who."

"What do you mean?"

"It's Rosalie, man," Scorpius answered. "We've just had enough of her."

James laughed. "Haven't we all? What she'd do this time?"

"She practically spit in my face," Albus growled. "I mean, I was just checking to see if she was alright. Doesn't she remember that time I got a broken nose for her? It's like nothing matters to her! She doesn't care!"

The older Potter boy leaned in, closer to Albus. "What'd she do?" he repeated.

"She totally dissed me! She was in the Slytherin common room with that git of a bloke Matthias and-"

"She was with Matthias?" James asked, astonished.

"That's what I said," Albus retorted.

"Is she alright?"

"I wouldn't know," Albus responded, eyes blazing. "Before I could ask, she basically kicked me out of her fucking way. Guess I'm not good enough to be in her special fucking presence."

James had never heard Albus curse so much in his life. Rosalie was obviously grating on his nerves as much as she was on James' nerves. So, really, only one question remained standing: why?

"Why?" Sadie Wood asked James, voicing his thought. "You two are suddenly BFFs?"

"It doesn't matter," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "But I thought Rosalie liked you, Albus." He tried not to appear like he cared too much, but it was hard. Something didn't seem right about the situation.

"Me too. I guess there's just no such thing as being on her good side."

"Speak of the devil," Rose muttered.

Matthias and Rosalie walked in to the room together, stirring up a riot in the crowd of students. He held her possessively around the waist, whispering something in her ear. On the outside, they did seem like a perfectly great couple; the hot, popular hunk and the wealthy, beautiful Quidditch captain. They seemed to fit together perfectly.

Except James knew better.

The way Matthias' hands were planted on Rosalie, or the way her eyes screamed out to the people surrounding her... something was off. It wasn't right.

"I'll be right back," James breathed, standing.

"You're fucking me, right?" Rose called. "You're going over to her, aren't you?"

But James was already gone.

"Great," Albus said sarcastically, throwing his hands into the air. "It's funny, how one girl can cause so much drama for us. They were rivals, we were friends, suddenly they're BFFs and she's basically bearing her fangs at me!"

"Why. Do. You. Care?" Sadie trilled, staring after James. "Rosalie Flint is a cold-hearted bitch. She doesn't care about you, obviously!"

"Because she's so much more complicated than that. Can't you see it?"

So many people around me were having fun. They were laughing, dancing, and having the times of their lives.

And I was stuck with an abusive, controlling freak, glued to his side like his fucking pet.

A grimace was permanently etched onto my face. Despite my unhappiness, nobody had seemed to notice.

"Rosalie!"

No! No, not him. Please, Merlin, not him!

Matthias' eyes started blazing as we both turned to face James Potter, standing behind us, a stupid grin on his face.

"Hey guys! So, Rosalie, you decided to come to the party after all! That's great," he said happily, appearing to be oblivious to the situation. But the way his brown eyes watched me, the way they twinkled; I knew that James Potter had noticed my unhappiness. My distress.

Why him?

"Yeah," I muttered, looking away from him.

Matthias' arm gripped around me tighter, to the point where I felt actual pain. "Fuck off, Potter," he growled. "We've had enough trouble with your brother."

"Albus? Why, what happened?" he asked innocently, like he wasn't aware.

"It doesn't matter. The fucking twit won't be bothering us for the rest of the night," Matthias returned, a grin forming on his lips.

Potter's grin flopped. "Don't talk about my brother like that."

"Make me," Matthias retorted.

I watched the scene in front of me with horror. There were so many outcomes, so many endings to the situation in front of me. I couldn't let the bad ones happen. "Potter," I snarled. "Just leave us alone. Gods, you are just like your brother."

"What are you doing with this chump?"

"I'm right here!" Matthias snipped.

Potter ignored him. He stared at me, eyes flashing. "Rosalie, stop it."

"Stop what?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

What was he getting at? Could he see through the act? Could James Potter II, my rival for six years and object of my hatred forever, have seen through my walls? No, impossible. I wasn't going to let him see through them. I had to try harder. He couldn't get hurt for me. As much as I hated to admit it, he was a good guy and didn't deserve it. Neither did his brother, Albus.

But I did.

"I don't know what you're getting at, freak, but you better leave us alone, okay? Just bugger off," I wretched, turning my nose up at him like a snob.

He nodded. "For now. But we have all night, Rosalie." And he walked away, leaving me with a raging Matthias.

I was starting to feel it. I was starting to feel the weight of everything on my shoulders. It forced me to realize how... wrong I was. How wrong I am. It was so confusing and so hard to understand. I didn't get all of it. But it was there.

"What a joke," Matthias said darkly. "Him and his brother. They think that they're all that. They think they can be heroes, like their dad."

Not giving him a response to his statement, I simply said, "I want a drink."

He dragged me over to the punch table, forcing a cup into my hand. Professor Slughorn found his way over to us, his huge belly protruding over his suspenders greatly.

"Miss Flint," he panted, like it had been a terrible effort just to walk through the crowd of loud students. "Mr. Avery. What a pleasure. I'm so glad you two could make it."

Nodding politely, I let Matthias answer him. "This is a wonderful party, Professor Slughorn. You always put it together so well."

"Thank you, my boy!" he roared gleefully. "Yes, sometimes a good party is all we need."

They continued to converse while I played with my fingers. Soon, he was bustling over to another group of his potions students, leaving me with Matthias once more.

"Having fun yet?" Matthias drawled, looking down at me.

I shook my head, glaring spitefully at him. "Of course I'm not. I don't like being coerced into attending a party with a guy who's abusive."

"Done with your little rant yet?" he bantered. "Good. Now, let's dance like a proper couple." His hand enveloped mine as he tugged me towards the cluster of teenagers dancing to a classic by The Weird Sisters.

"We'll never be a proper couple," I hissed.

Minutes later, someone interrupted my awkward dancing by tapping my shoulder. Hesitantly, I turned around to see Molly Weasley, a face I hadn't expected to see. Her curly, red and short hair framed her delicate face and she wore a pretty orange dress.

"Yes?" I asked quickly.

"Professor McGonagall has asked to see you in her office."

My mouth gaped for a second as I processed the statement. "What? Why?"

Molly shrugged. "I don't know." She was wringing her hands nervously.

I started to leave the dance floor with Matthias hunched behind me., when she called out, "Alone! She doesn't want anyone to assist you."

Glancing at the irate but convincingly collected Matthias behind me, I muttered, "Thank you," to Molly and said to him, "I'll be back soon."

He gripped my shoulders tightly and I winced. "If you don't return," he threatened hastily, "There will be consequences."

I hurried out of Slughorn's office in the dungeons, my red dress trailing behind me. I swiftly scooped up the skirt, careful not to let it get ruined by the rough flooring of the halls. My eyes looked around to see if there was anyone in the halls, too, but I didn't see anyone, so I started for McGonagall's office.

Only to be slammed into the wall as soon as I turned the corner. It wasn't painful, but it was still a desperate assault.

I almost shouted in alarm, but a hand covered my mouth. Suddenly, I realized who it was.

It was James Potter. Staring at me meaningfully with large, brown eyes.

"What. The. Fuck."

He didn't smile or laugh smugly like he always did. Instead, he gripped my shoulders in the exact spot Matthias had, only moments ago. Except, he was more gentle. It was more of a caring caress instead of a threatening, abusive grasp.

"What do you want, Potter?" I asked, trying to sound angry but sincerely confused. "Why did you feel the need to attack me in the halls?"

"I'm not attacking you," he stated, defending himself. "And I'm not asking you this, Rosalie. Right now, I'm going to tell you to do something, and you're going to do it. I don't care if I have to carry you to McGonagall's office."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked incredulously, shocked that he was coming to me for something. Me, Rosalie Flint, of all people!

"You're need to tell McGonagall about Avery."

Oh.

Oh.

"Are you insane?" I said, trying to grasp his motive.

"I could ask you the same question. Do you like being tortured Rosalie? Let's not pretend that Matthias didn't try to rape you, a couple months back. Because he did try, Rosalie. He could seriously hurt you. Don't you get it? One day, he's going to try again but this time, nobody's going to be casually walking by and save you."

His face was too close to mine. It was inches away from mine, so close I could smell the punch he had just sipped and the brand of shampoo he showered with. My chest was heaving as I stared into his eyes, not daring to break the eye contact. I tried to dig... I tried to dig deep into him and I tried to understand.

"Why do you care?" I whispered.

"Because it's not right," he told me truthfully.

"Nobody cares about me," I continued.

"Albus does," he answered.

"What about you?" I wondered, still watching him.

His jaw clenched and his Adam's Apple bobbed as he searched for an answer, not necessarily uncomfortable with the spotlight being on him, just searching for the right words. "In some weird twisted way, yeah. I guess so."

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," I breathed.

He looked taken aback. Then, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, are you going to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Tell McGonagall."

I bit the inside of my cheek - it was starting to leave a mark, because I had been biting it so frequently. I took a deep breath, heaving, as I finally tore my eyes from his and glared past his face to the wall across the hall. "No," I said decidedly. "I can't do that. He'll hurt me if I do."

He rolled his eyes. "Rosalie, if he's expelled, how can he hurt you?"

"Because he can," I hissed in frustration. "You don't know how much influence he has over my family and my life. He could destroy everything I've worked at for all of my life."

"Then let him."

I stared at him once again, totally and utterly surprised. "What?"

"Take a look around, Rosalie," he said. "You haven't been exactly living the perfect life. Start over."

Nobody will ever know how tempting that sounded. How strange it felt to see, in the distance, a shining glimmer of hope.

"James, I don't know," I exhaled.

"I know you want it," he said. "To start over."

"How could you possibly know that?" I asked him.

"Because," he said, finally backing away from me. A smile spread over his face. A real, sincere smile. "That's the first time you've ever addressed me by my first name."

A/N: What do you think? Yeah, I know it's a little weird and it's probably really confusing. I don't know about you, though, but I had a great time writing it. It was challenging, but I really hope you like it. Review and tell me if you think it's really out-of-character for James and/or Rosalie. Thanks!