The Slytherin Queen

by the gray rose7

A dark cloud appeared over the magical world. The Dark lord was back, no matter the denial of the ministry. And Rosalind knew it. She knew that a war was coming, and she knew that her housemates were likely to fight. So would she. But for no noble reason. Rosalind wanted revenge, and revenge she would have. By any means necessary.

36. Chapter 36

A/N: First of all, I'd like to say that I'm terribly sorry about the delay. But here's the next chapter, and I can promise that chapters will now be posted weekly. Reviews would be much appreciated.

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Chapter 36: Look at me

Serpen nudged my hand with his head lightly, trying to gain my attention.

Yet the touch was a fleeting thought in my mind, for it was much too disorganized to allow for input of any kind.

Why?

I had the Kersey name. I had more galleons than I could count in my vaults, I had influence the kind Albus Dumbledore could not even dream of so why?

I felt my heartbeat pick up, the pace increasing twofold, hammering against my chest, the movement strong, forceful, painful. My lungs constricted, my breathing turning into little more than choking efforts to sustain my life, drowning me on dry land. I looked down to my hand on Serpen's head, only then seeing the reason behind his attempt to gain my attention.

My hands were shaking, my palms turning moist with sweat and I raised them to my head, to the scalp of my head, weaving them together with strands of my hair and pulling firmly.

I would die soon, there was no doubt about that. I didn't want to die. Not with so much left in disarray, not with so many things still seeking my attention, not with my problems pilling up daily, swallowing me whole.

And yet I would. But did it have to be so, did it honestly, truly have to be so that I watched everyone I ever loved suffer? Did it have to be so that I watched everything I valued get turned to rubble?
Why?

Insistent hissing from my lap brought my attention to my familiar, who had raised his head lightly, his emerald eyes reflecting worry the kind of which one rarely finds even amongst my human kin.

That's right.

How foolish of me, to succumb to panic of all things. How irresponsible of me indeed. I worried my familiar with this manner of behaviour, something I had no right to do.

I forced my left hand to release its tight hold on my scalp and gently lowered it to Serpen's raised head. There were still slight tremors governing my body, but I could rid myself of them easily enough. All I needed to do was will them away.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I focused on taking deep breaths, clearing my head and once more assuming control of my own body.

Panic was perhaps appropriate for those of lesser birth, but not for me. Not for a Kersey.

"Quiet love" I murmured to the snake, stroking his scales lightly, trying to ease his worry "you'll wake them."

Panic would get me nowhere. After all, what did it matter that I did not have much time? I had enough. And in spite of what I may have led Daphne to believe, there was still a fair chance of me finding a solution to this problem. One that would take effect only after I was no longer here to help it along.

But, there was still quite a significant chance that I could not help her, that all my plans would come to nothing.

I ushered Serpen out of my lap at that thought, standing up slowly.

Yes, it was best to have her believe that there was nothing I could do, no point in raising her hopes. She would be safer this way.

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to put it back in some semblance of order.

"It's alright." I spoke, smiling at my familiar, who had not taken his eyes from my form once. "I'm alright. Come, I'd like a glass of water."

I walked down the steps leading to my dormitories, but passed them by, the thought of four other girls, sleeping or otherwise, occupying the same room as I now somehow appalling to my mind. I'd much prefer being alone.

I passed the seventh year dorms and made a couple of more steps down, to the common room. It was certainly past three in the morning, there was no one there at this hour.

Or rather, there shouldn't have been.

The sound of Serpen's belly being dragged down the stairs, the soft clicking of my heels against the marble floor and the flickering of candles on the walls was now joined by a sound of a hushed male voice, having me falter in my steps, stopping just before I could enter the wide room.

I knew this voice.

"Come on mate, get up." I heard him say, and my brows furrowed in contemplation. What in the name of Merlin was wrong now?

"Come on, please. It's late, let's go to sleep, yes? Please." His voice sounded odd, tired somehow. Whom was he talking to?

A moment of silence followed his request, and I heard him speak again.

"Alphonse, it's past four in the morning, you can't stay here any longer, come on , get up." Alphonse? What was Alphonse doing- my thought broke up abruptly at that, my tired brain only then catching up to what was happening in that room. Firewhisky, Daphne, Alphonse. Curses.

But in the time I spent contemplating this turnout of events, Alphonse must have remained seated, for Blaise spoke up again.

"Listen to me mate, I know that it hurts alright? It hurts a lot, so much so that you'd rather not feel anything. I know, believe me I do, but this isn't the answer. Some things, you just can't change."

I knew that he was talking to Alphonse, there really was no doubt about that. But my heart clenched in my chest regardless, sensing that he was talking from personal experience. That he knew well what he was talking about.

I was startled out of my thoughts by a loud noise, the sound of wood falling heavily against the floor ringing in my ears, accompanied by the high pitched sound of crystal breaking into a million of little shards.

My heart skipped a beat, and before I could think this through, my feet moved on their own, descending the last couple of steps and walking out of the shadows that hid me from view so well moments before.

Serpen followed my descent, only to be greeted with the same sight as I was. Alphonse was seated on the same couch I had seen him earlier that evening, now in a position that resembled lying more than it did sitting, one of his hands covering his face with his fingers spread so that he could peer through them, the other hanging lifelessly over the arm of the couch, cradling an empty crystal glass. His legs were spread, and from what I could gather, he used his right foot to knock the small table before him down, so that it was lying on its side a couple of paces away from him now, with crystal shards surrounding it like dew on an early spring morning.

And there, on his left, standing hunched towards Alphonse stood Blaise, who gave a sigh as I watched, closing his eyes momentarily. What was he doing here?

He opened his eyes once more and I could see that they were only half open, as if some invisible lead like weight pulled his eyelids down. He reached his left hand up to his head once more, running it through his hair quickly. He did that a lot, I found myself remarking without making a single conscious thought to do so.

"You can't keep knocking shit down when you're angry mate. " spoke he again, and I found myself hesitant to approach. Would it be wiser to leave or to stay? How would I be of most help?

"It's simply not how-" spoke he and then cut himself off, his head turning ever so slowly, his eyes moving to meet mine. "Rose."

My name was tinged with a note of surprise as it left his lips, and it seemed to be the first thing Blaise had said that had managed to get through to Alphonse. In spite of being in his immediate line of sight, Alphonse simply stared through me up until that moment. Blaise was the first to notice me, in spite of the fact that his head was turned away from me, and his eyes kept my feet glued in place.

This effect of his was rather unpleasant, and now even more poignant as my mind could do little to defend itself in its present, tired state.

"Zali." I heard Alphonse mutter, giving me a perfect excuse to break this awful staring spree of mine, and focus on him, who was at the moment doing his best to stand up.

"Rozali" muttered he again, my name slurred as he spoke it, his mind clearly under the influence of a rather copious amount of alcohol. He placed his hands on the arm of the couch , pushing himself up from it, rising once, falling, rising a second time and finally managing to stand on his very own feet.

His efforts attracted Blaise's attention, and he focused on him, glancing my way every couple of seconds. I made a step forward, before remembering to instruct my familiar to stay in his place. The boy in question was not standing hunched over the couch, still holding on to it, but could begin tottering around in any moment, and having Serpen milling at his feet could prove disastrous.

"One, too" muttered the boy, and I turned just in time to see him push himself off of the couch, losing his balance and almost falling backwards, were it not for Blaise's hand that shot out and grasped Alphonse's forearm, holding him in place.

"Lego!" commanded Alphonse, shaking his hand in the same manner a dog shakes his mane to free it from water droplets gathered within it.

Blaise furrowed his eyebrows at that, seemingly not quite sure what to do in this particular situation, but Alphonse would not be dissuaded so easily. "LEGO!" yelled he, not looking up at Blaise, but having his eyes focused on his arm, still shaking it.

Blaise let go of his arm at that, and Alphonse's head snapped to me again, muttering "Rozali."

He turned, swaying as he did so, almost losing his balance, but made a step towards me none the less. I met Blaise's eyes in that moment for a brief instant, thinking "Don't let him fall!".

I had not used Legilimency, nor had I uttered a single word, but I watched in surprise as Blaise nodded, understanding the message without there being a message as per say.

Alphonse tottered towards me, leaning left once, then stopping, regaining his balance and then continuing on his way, only to lean right after another couple of steps, flailing his arms to regain his balance and then once more repeating the entire process.

I made a couple of steps forward to meet him, having a rather good idea as to what he could want from me, observing as Blaise followed Alphonse like a shadow, trying to stop him from falling.

Alphonse was close now, ten steps away, and I expected him to stop soon, but he seemed to have other ideas. Six steps away from me, and he was coming closer still, prompting me to look to Blaise, who was glancing from my form to the form of the boy walking in front of him.

Four steps, and a discomfort settled in my stomach, understanding now that he was not going to stop. Blaise's face darkened in response as well, and I saw him reach a hand to stop the boy in his steps.

I shook my head no lightly, sure that Alphonse would not understand the message, but Blaise caught it, giving me a worried look. No need to worry, I knew well what I was doing.

As I had predicted, Alphonse did not stop, instead he grasped a hold of my arms, just below my shoulders, towering over me and leaning in, his breath reeking of alcohol as he spoke.
"Ow iz she?" slurred he, and one could easily mistake his breath for a bottle of Firewhisky, with the amount of said alcohol that he must have ingested.

I glanced at Blaise once more, now at a loss as to what to do. Would it be better to claim that Daphne is alright, or would it perhaps be better to speak honestly and say that she was by no means alright, and that she never could be?

I knew what the question would be, but the answer escaped me.

Yet Alphonse did not seem to have the patience to wait for my response, his grip on my arms tightening ever more with each passing second.

"OW IZ SHE?" yelled he, but not from anger. It was as if he thought that I didn't hear him the first time he spoke. His fingers dug into the fabric of my shirt and through it into my skin, his hold tightening to the point of pain.

"Alphonse.." I murmured, needing him to take his hands off of me. "she's fine."

But drunk as he was, his instincts were not dull and he yelled once more in my face: "Don lie to me Rozali!"

He turned away at that, still holding me tightly, as if he was afraid to let go. As if I were a lifeline. "Daphne…." Murmured he sadly, observing the staircase.

Now normally, I would send the boy flying across the room, breaking his neck in the process simply for daring to lay one finger on my person, let alone hold me this tightly, to the point of pain and bruising.

But, Blaise was not the only one speaking from experience.

"It will be better in the morning" I spoke, and he snapped his head to observe me once more.

"No it won" he muttered, shaking his head, "no it won, no it won."

His hold tightened with every word, and I couldn't help but flinch in pain, making a rather costly mistake.

Blaise had not taken his eyes from us for a moment, and the action could not possibly escape him. Before I had time to think, before I had time to react even, he caught Alphonse by the collar of his coat roughly, pulling him back violently and having him release his hold on my arms, sending him flying backwards with an expression of pure rage on his features.

But he was not the only one angry. What in the name of Merlin did he do that for?

I ran after Alphonse who landed on his bottom, and then fell on his back, where he now lay still. If that idiot hurt him by Merlin I was going to retaliate.

I came to a stop in front of him and fell to my knees next to him, looking him over in worry. He lay still, with his limbs sprawled as he had landed, but none seemed to be in an unnatural position. I noticed cuts across his hands, or better yet, scrapes, and I immediately connected them with his instinctive attempts to break his fall. Other than that, there was no physical sign of injury.

But then again, his wounds were never of a physical kind.

I finished my observation with his eyes, for I knew that that was where I would find the most serious wound. And I was, for the millionth time that day, sorry to be correct. In his eyes shone wells of tears, pooling and then streaming down his cheeks in two relentless torrents.

"Daphne…" muttered he, jutting his lower lip out like a child as he cried in silence.

"Come Alphonse, rise" I whispered, folding my right hand beneath his head, lifting it gently so that it did not lie on the cold stone floor. My heart broke at the picture I was presented with, a boy of sixteen reduced to naught but a child of six.

As my sorrow grew, my anger flared and I snapped my head to the right, observing the dark skinned boy.

"What in the name of Merlin's baggiest pants is you problem Zabini?" I hissed, needing to vent my anger, my frustration on someone, something, and knowing that I was venting it on the wrong person.

"My problem?" hissed he right back, his anger matching mine. "Whatever could you mean Rose?"

"Don't act stupid Zabini, you're not that intelligent to begin with!" I snapped, more than aware of Alphonse's head in my hands. He did not even blink at the exchange, possibly not having the capacity to hear it at all. "Why did you have to throw him half across the bloody room?"

"I'm sorry Rose," snarled Zabini, making a couple of steps closer to me, and then stopping once more. "what would you have had me do? Stand by idly as I watched him hurt you? Close my eyes to the expression of pain in yours? Perhaps offer to help? Well, which is it? "

"If I had needed help, I would have asked for it!" I snapped once more. "Now, if you can't be helpful, I suggest you leave! I already have enough to worry about!"

"Helpful Rose, helpful?" demanded he, but approached me none the less crouching down on the other side of Alphonse "All I ever do is help you Rosalind, and all you ever do is look away."

Our eyes met as he said this, and beneath his very obvious anger, I could sense truth. And pain. Yes, I concluded, he knew well what he was talking about when he was advising Alphonse. Because of me. This conclusion had me look away, doing exactly that for which I had been called out.

"You see? Just like that." Continued he, linking one arm with Alphonse's and placing the other on his back. "There's always something, isn't there Rose? Something more important, something more pressing, something that requires your attention more than I do? Something that you can bare to look at."

Silence ensued between us, and I still could not gather the courage I would need to look him in the eye.

"Alright, you want my help? Let's get him to bed." Spoke Blaise, and I sensed a note of resignation to his tone. As if he was fighting a battle he could not win, but still couldn't give up his struggle.

I felt an odd sort of tightening in my chest at this thought, as if something pushed against my chest and squeezed my heart.

I linked my hand with Alphonse's, meaning to help place him on his own feet, however unstable they may be, when I heard Blaise mutter something that explained the tightening in my chest.

"You never are going to look at me, are you Rose?"

I don't think that I was supposed to hear him, with the way he lowered his voice to speak, but hear him I did. And I felt sorrow wash over me like ice cold water in response to the pain I was causing in the boy opposite me.

The first boy I ever fancied, and certainly not the first or the last one I would ever hurt. But certainly the most important one.

I heard his instructions with half an ear, and was only faintly aware that I was not doing much in terms of lifting Alphonse, Blaise supporting most of his weight, possibly all of it, a single thought governing my mind.

I am looking.

Alphonse made no sound as we lifted him up, but as soon as he stood on his feet again, he turned towards me, snapping his head to the left.

"Rozali." Muttered he, his breath positively reeking of alcohol.

I glanced at Blaise quickly, assuring myself that he would not act impulsively again, before turning to Alphonse with a small smile.

"Let's get you to bed Alphonse, sleep will do you some good." I tried, but my words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"Rozali." Repeated Alphonse, seemingly having another idea in his mind. "break it."

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to banish the hope in his eyes from my mind. He was asking for the same thing as his lover had, the most natural thing in the world. To be happy.

And I could not promise it to him.

"I'm sorry Alphonse." I spoke, and then opened my eyes, forcing myself to look, to see the pain in his eyes. To remember what I was fighting for. "I cannot help you."

He stared at me for a while, before slacking in our hands, giving up his struggle. Knowing that he had no chance of winning.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, to both of the boys present in the room.

These words seemed to trigger something in Alphonse's mind, and I heard him mutter once more "Daphne."

"Alphonse let's" started Blaise, but got interrupted as Alphonse suddenly stood up straight on his feet.

"Daphne" spoke he, and the way he pronounced her name worried me. He was about to do something reckless, something desperate.

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, to warn him, he opened his, hollering "DAPHNE!"

No. He'll wake her up.

"Alphonse stop-" I started, but he did not hear me. He could not.

"DAPHNE!" hollered he once more, and I shot Blaise a panicked look. If he woke her now, if she saw him like this, her heart would break. "GETCHER THINGS! WE'LL RUN AWAY!"

He made to lunge forward, and would have pulled me with him had Blaise not been quicker, his reflexes obviously honed by years of playing Quidditch, making him dug his feet into the ground, holding all three of us in our place.

But Alphonse did not like being held down.

"LEGO!" he snapped, almost snarling at Blaise, before turning to the female dormitories once more "DAPHNE! DAPHNE! WE RUN!"

He simply couldn't be allowed to wake her up.

"Petrificus Totalus!" I hissed, performing wandless magic in spite of my every instinct. My wand was in my pocket, and I couldn't reach it without letting go of the boy, who was now frozen in his place, motionless, still.

Only his eyes could move still, and they focused on me, a look of betrayal settling within them.

I released my hold on his arm, my charm strong enough to subdue him without any physical help from me. I was more than aware that this was strong magic, the kind one would not normally expect from a sixth year. At the very least no to this degree.

But relief was provided for me in the knowledge that Alphonse was not likely to remember it in the morning.

Blaise would. And he would not question it, for he knew he would be presented with no explanation on my part.

"Listen to me Alphonse." I whispered, focusing my attention on the frozen boy once more and seeing that Blaise had pulled out his wand, him too having released Alphonse.

"Reparo!" I heard him mutter.

"You'd put Daphne in a lot of danger if you ran. And you know that you couldn't run forever. They'd find you, and not even I could help you then. Please, don't yell. It will only hurt more. Please." I spoke and watched tears once more well in his eyes.

Blaise had returned in the meantime, speaking up beside the boy.
"You're not a stupid man. You know you can't run from this, not without putting her in danger. And she comes first doesn't she? Be a man, protect her in the only way you can. Stay away."

I closed my eyes, taking out my wand, and pointing it at Alphonse, saying "Finite incantatem!"

I opened my eyes to see that he did not move an inch, even if my charm had no more effect on him.

"Let's go mate" tried Blaise once more, moving towards him, and Alphonse surprised us, by nodding his head.

"Yes, yes I ave to go." As he said that, he turned around, and instead of walking towards his dormitories, he started moving towards the exit from the common room.

"No." I whispered, running after him with Blaise overtaking me in a second, reaching the boy first and grasping his arm.

"Alphonse please." I muttered, taking his hand "Let's just go to sleep."

He looked back at me, and mumbled "Okay, sorry Rozali. Sorry."

It took us another twenty minutes to lead Alphonse to the sixth year dormitories, all the while doing our best to keep quiet so as not to wake his roommates. Blaise took off his shoes, even his shirt, for which occasion I turned around, and Alphonse was now safely placed beneath the covers of his bed.

I reached forward, a sense of déjà vu in my mind as I pulled the covers around him, watching him snuggle in them, tears streaming down his face in his sleep.

"Daphne." He muttered, pronouncing the only name that was on his mind in sanity or otherwise.

"Will he be alright?" I asked, not looking at Blaise who stood beside me.

"Let him sleep for now." Spoke he, turning towards me "I'll come check up on him in the morning, help him wash up and make him eat something before he takes the hangover potion. Don't worry, I'll make it so that no one needs to know."

I looked up at that, meeting his eyes and responded "Thank you Zabini."

He just stared at me for a while, before responding "I told you, you just need to ask."

As he spoke, a smell of Firewhisky washed over me, making me realize that I had been mistaken in thinking that Alphonse was the only to have drunk that night.

I felt an angry smirk appear on my lips in response to this sudden epiphany. Instead of having him stop drinking, this idiot actually drank with Alphonse.

"Say Zabini" I spoke, turning my head away from him "is drinking with him your manner of consoling him? And to what extent? Until he passed out?"

"It was only two glasses Rose." Responded Blaise, and I felt a hint of anger in his voice, prompting me to look back to him. "Why does that anger you?"

"Oh no reason really." I snapped, my tone hushed so as not to wake the sleeping boys around us. "It was perfectly noble of you to drink yourself stupid with him!"

"Two glasses Rose" snapped he right back, getting closer to me in his anger. "And they were for a noble purpose. The first, in order to join him tonight, and keep an eye on him, making sure that he did not smash his head against the side of the table. The second, to take the bottle from him, since he was cradling it, and throw the rest of the liquid into the hearth. Had I not done that, he would have drank the entire bottle, is that noble enough for you?"

I glared up at him with all my might, angry that he was noble, and in the same time, angry at him for being angry.

He returned my glare with doubled intensity, but after another moment, his eyes softened, and he looked away.

"I'm tired Rose. Tonight, let's just not fight."

I looked away from him at that, feeling as tired as he sounded, and knowing that I was acting irrationally, out of fear and remorse rather than any real anger.

We stood there in silence for a while more, and I spoke up, not out of any need for information, rather, simply to say something as we observed the boy before us, whose breathing had turned rhythmic and deep.

"I didn't know you were this close to Alphonse." I whispered, and for the longest moment, he did not respond.

I had begun to think that he wouldn't at all, before he spoke, drawing my attention to him.
"I'm not."
"Then why?" I asked, furrowing my brows in contemplation. This really wasn't the kind of favour a snake showed to another snake unless they were close beforehand.

Blaise turned towards me at that, and I felt the truth behind his words like needles across my skin.

"Let's just say I know more than I would like about impossible love."

His words felt like knives piercing my heart, and as he turned around, standing with his back turned towards me, hiding his expression from me, emotions of all things, overwhelmed me.

I am looking, I've been looking for a while.

And I was scared, and lonely, and so many other things that prompted a desire so impossible, so foreign to my heart, that I could scarcely name it.

I wanted him to hug me for some reason, I wanted him to hug me and never let go.

No one else got to touch me, especially no one male, but him…

My eyes, the treacherous things, focused on his hand and I swallowed loudly, so loudly that he ought to have heard it.

Please, help me.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I watched my hand reach forward, closing the small distance between us, reaching for his hand, curious to feel his skin on mine. That is not to say that I did not hesitate, Merlin, I retracted and stopped my hand at least a dozen times in my mind, but the real thing shivered only slightly as it moved, portraying the turmoil within. Just as I was about to reach him, as my skin would brush against his, he startled me by speaking up, having my hand fall back to its place next to my leg.

"Sweet dreams… Rose." He whispered, and with one final sigh, moved, leaving the room.

I closed my eyes, my fingers rolling into fists as I did so.

A sad smile spread across my face, and I turned to Alphonse to make sure that he was alright one final time.

His mouth was open, drooling across the pillow, but his eyes were tightly shut, as if warding off some bad dreams.

"What bad luck" I whispered, "what bad luck for the Slytherin house. None of us are allowed to love, atoning for sins we did not do."

---

I had been told once, by a very wise man, that there is a time for everything. A time to love, a time to hate. A time to live, a time to die. And a time to mourn.

Surely you'd agree that I had so much to mourn that morning. Futures lost, lives destroyed, love forsaken. Or perhaps, if you are not of the dramatic inclination, I could say that I had endless chances, opportunities, possibilities to mourn for.

But that was no time to mourn, rather, I had no time to mourn. In my mind, this was a time to act. And act I did.

It was clear to me, as it was clear to more than a few members of my house, that my power was growing daily. Our society faced great unrest, and as with any great unrest, the lesser of our kin fled to those of higher position, of greater influence and better power to shield them.

At present, I was not powerful enough to end this ridiculous marriage agreement, but I knew well that I would rise much, much higher. Before I fell.

And how very low I'd fall.

But that did not mean, as some would imagine, that I would lose. No, for to fall at the right time, at the right place, with your pieces placed just right, could mean to win.

Yet before this inevitable fall, I would make arrangements of various kinds to ensure that things unfolded neatly once I no longer had power to hold their strings.

As any good head, I would leave legacies for those that came after me.

It was with this motivation that I spent the first half of the following day, a sunny Saturday the kind of which Hogwarts grounds had not seen in months, on the astronomy tower, more than a dozen letters around me, Serpen the only living creature allowed in my presence.

It was time once again to move my pieces, this time, placing a blindfold on their heads.

I had taken many a factor into consideration that day, and had decided to dedicate the entire day to my role of an heiress. Many a matter awaited resolution, from mundane things such as signing bills, to those od more serious kind, such as deciding which ministry officials could be persuaded to aid us, to those darker maters, such as ordering a small, highly illegal package from Borgin & Burke's.

I had decided to abandon my residence around tea time, even having lunch at the tower, and now descending through the castle in search of my owl. He had many tasks to attend to, with more to follow.

The weather was gradually becoming warmer, providing great joy to my familiar, who simply basked in the possibility of slithering through the green grass of the grounds, positively gloating by my side.

We made slow progress through the empty halls, biding our time, and were stopped by a single call of my name.

"Rosalind!" I heard someone call, just as we descended on the sixth floor of the castle, and my mind snapped to attention, wide awake despite not having slept at all for more than a day.

I turned around slowly, the fabric of my skirt flowing around my feet as I moved, and assessed the boy who uttered the call briefly.

His hair was a bit ruffled, his eyes a little sunken, with slight dark lines beneath them, and his face bore a slight green tint, but other than that, and considering the sheer amount of alcohol he had ingested the night before, Alphonse looked extremely well.

Although I did not have much experience in the field myself, I knew that hangover people rarely had the strength to return to any semblance of control the day after without help and that fact alone had me conclude that Blaise kept his word.

Somehow, there was not a doubt in my mind he would.

Alphonse seemed to pale even more as I met his gaze, for reasons unknown to me as of yet, but opened his mouth to speak none the less, his hand fidgeting by his side.

A quick glance to the right, than another quick glance to the left, and I was sure that this was indeed no place to talk. Walls here, with the proximity to the Gryffindor common room, quite literally had ears.

"Not here" I interrupted, glancing to him once again, noticing that he paled even more as Serpen rose, hissing in recognition and acknowledgment, before turning on my heel and resuming my walk, a different destination in mind.

"Come along." I spoke, not bothering to turn around to see him follow.

He would always follow.

I walked until the very end of the hallway, taking a right turn that led to a small passage, through it and to the left, into another wide hallway.

I counted three doors before reaching the fourth to my right, opening it without bothering to knock, and entering.

This was an abandoned Runes classroom, not frequented that often by students of Hogwarts castle, and should have, by all accounts, been empty.

I was not a very lucky woman, and as it happened, the room was not empty in that moment, of all the possible times.

The first three seats, those in the first row, were occupied by three figures clad in capes of blue and bronze.

I could understand that they needed peace and quiet to study, as even the library could prove by far too noisy sometimes, but they were out of luck this day, just as I was. I was in need of this room, and I would gain possession of its free halls, this way or the other.

"I am in need of this room." I spoke, keeping my voice rather moderate in volume, making a mistake as it seemed.

Not only did they not move, an inference that could surely have been gathered from my tone of voice alone, but they had the audacity to talk back to me.

"Well tough, we were here first." Snapped a brown haired girl, sitting cross legged on her chair, the desk before her littered with parchment and books. She had a book in her lap, another in her hand, and was busy scribbling notes on a piece of parchment, reading from both in turn, not even bothering to turn her head to address me.

Now, now, that simply wouldn't do.

"I don't think you understood me well enough." I spoke, lowering my voice significantly and adding a menacing note to my words, noticing from the corner of my eye that Alphonse stood a little bit behind me, to the right, fidgeting slightly in his place. "I am in need of this room, and you will leave it. "

The lot of them turned around at that, frightened by the change in tone, their eyes growing large in their heads as they took notice of just who it was they dared make wait. I had not had dealings with this particular group of students before, but I was sure that they had heard of me.

And I frightened them half to death. Therefore, the last few words were not truly needed, spoken for the pure pleasure of seeing the terror on their faces. "Walking or otherwise."

It was quite amusing to watch as they sprung to their feet, one boy even knocking his desk down in his haste. They scampered about, making a wild grab for their belongings, doing their damn best to stuff as many books, parchments and quills as they could in their bags, flinging said bags over their shoulders and gathering what remained scattered around of their belongings in their arms, almost running to the doors. All the while, they kept their heads down, not daring to look up in fear of meeting my eyes.

I waited for a moment or two as I heard the doors close, and I turned around, meeting Alphonse's eyes briefly, observing as he flinched lightly in response, and pulling out my wand.

Serpen felt curious about his reaction as we both watched the little colour present there drain from Alphonse's cheeks. For some reason, he assumed that I would curse him.

But as it happened, I had no such intention, and walked past him without even acknowledging his presence. What was he so scared of?

I aimed my wand at the wood of the doors, choosing to voice the incantations, thinking it best.

"Cave inimicium! Muffilato! Repello discipulus!" I considered the wood of the doors for a moment or two more, with my head tilted to the side, trying to decide whether this level of protection would do.

No, I concluded, muttering "Aversa pars scelus!", deciding that a dark arts spell was not taking it too far. Too much was at stake here; if not Daphne's life, than her heart surely.

A brief glance over the doors more, and I turned on my heel, walking back to my familiar, who had not taken his eyes from the boy facing us once.

Alphonse was half-turned towards me, observing me with wary eyes, his gaze fleeting on my person, rather obviously drawn to my wand.

Whatever his motivation was, his scared eyes prompted me to hide my wand, pushing it up in my sleeve.

"It is my experience that one can never be too careful this close to the kennel." I commented, glancing at the boy from the corner of my eye, hopping to ease his mind somewhat.

But it was as if he had not heard me, and as I stepped past him he lowered his eyes to the ground.

How much did he know about what happened last night? Was he afraid that I'd hurt him, or that I'd say that he wasn't worthy of Daphne, or-

My pondering over the cause of his fear was interrupted by said boy speaking up three steps behind me.

"Rosalind I-" he seemed to stop himself for some reason, not knowing how to finish his sentence, or perhaps being unable to do so.

But I too had something I needed to ask, something pressing, something vital.

"How are you Alphonse?" I asked as I reached my familiar, reaching a hand to him, stroking his head lightly, finding observing him preferable to observing the suffering etched into every line of Alphonse's face.

But I needed to turn around, I needed to see, this time most of all, I needed to know what I was fighting for.

And so I did, I turned around slowly, my eyes focusing on the boy before me, on his fidgeting hand that he closed into a fist and then opened again, wiped against his trousers and raised slightly, before letting it fall to his side again.

Rather than look at me, his hands were focused on the ground beneath my feet, on my shoes as it seemed, raising every now and again to my arms, but no higher, than falling again. His jaw was clenched tight, I could see the muscles strain, and it reminded me of how I watched tears roll down that same skin mere hours earlier.

"Alphonse…" I called and he flinched once more, before his eyes shot up to meet mine "how are you feeling?"

He stared at me for a while, perhaps building up his resolve, before swallowing back a lump in his throat and answering me.

"Well, considering." He replied, and I gave him a moment more, believing that he had more to say.

He spoke up after a minute or so, proving me correct in my assumption.

"Blaise woke me up around noon today, when everyone else was gone from the dorms." He spoke, and made a hero's effort to maintain eye contact with me, in spite of his so obvious fear. "Brought me something to eat, gave me a hangover potion and made me shower. He truly helped me a lot."

I nodded once, thanking the man in my mind and knowing full well that such words could not be uttered out loud. The price would be too great.

"Rosalind" spoke up Alphonse once more, bringing me out of my thoughts and once more earning my undivided attention. "Blaise didn't leave the dorms when I was in the shower."

Serpen gave a hiss at the name, showing affection for his favourite wizard even when he was not physically present.

"He waited for me and sat me down. I-I" he faltered in his words at that, took a deep breath once more before continuing "I don't remember much about last night, but from what I can make out from his story I've done something terrible. And I'm sorry."

His head was bowed lightly in shame, and my heart crumbled to pieces at the sight of pain in his eyes. The pain I knew to be mirrored in the eyes of my young cousin.

That idiot. What business did he have recounting anything to this boy, least of all solving what he perceived as my problems? If I had thought it necessary, I would have confronted Alphonse myself.

"Bl-Zabini" I said, quickly stopping myself from making a costly mistake, "has a peculiar tendency to overreact to trivial matters. "

My tone was gentle, soothing, trying to avoid hurting the boy any more. I stretched out my hands in front of me, demonstrating the truth behind my next words.

"You did not harm me. Were it to have been so, there would surely have been bruises on my hands, and as you can see, I have none."

While they may have been true at first glance, my words were naught but a clever deception. Of course, there were no visible bruises, but it did not mean that there were none present. I was a witch, and a brilliant one at that.

And as bruises appeared around nine that morning, following the soreness that appeared an hour after the incident, I cast a very good illusion spell, the kind even Arielle could not see through.

But Alphonse's mind was more tired than mine had been, and he did not question my words.

"Thank you" he said after a minute, and I found myself curious as to what he meant. "for last night, and for this morning."

I was just about to say that I had not done a thing this morning, but he interrupted my attempt, continuing his train of thought.

"I know it was you. Blaise and I were never as close as to do this much for me, not when I acted the way I did last night. I know you asked him to, because I know he'd do whatever you asked. It's what I'd do for…. Her."

He stopped before the last word, choosing not to pronounce her name. Or perhaps being unable to do so.

I hadn't asked him, that was true, but he had done it for me, because he knew how much I cared. That as well, could not be denied.

"That's what I wanted to say, thank you. And I'm sorry, about everything." He finished, apologising for his marriage, for his behaviour. For his feelings, the one thing he shouldn't be forced to apologise for.

"I am very glad that you are feeling well, at least in the physical sense." I responded, watching his eyes drop from mine, back to the floor.

"But I may yet be able to do something to soothe the other kind of pain you feel."

For the second time in less than a day, I gave rise to hope that I may not justify. But there was a chance that I should succeed in doing so.

"You-you can?" he asked, his voice hesitant, unable to believe my words. Knowing that even I had limitations.

"Not at present." I spoke, watching him latch on to the unspoken but. "However, there may be a way. I can make certain arrangements, certain persuasions, which may work out in our favour."

"But it will take time." I continued, not wishing to give him false hope. " And might not resolve well at all. Your task is only to delay the unfortunate ordeal for as long as possible. You are not to enquire more into this matter, and should you be asked of the proceedings, you are to feign ignorance in any way you see fit. Leave the rest to me."

"Rosalind I… I…" he said, such hope, such gratitude in his eyes. "I have no words to thank you enough."

"Do not." I responded, shocking him slightly "I have yet to do anything worthy of thanks. Once you are free from this ordeal, we shall talk."

With that, I said the second lie of the conversation. The arrangements I would make did not require my presence.

"Now rest well." I spoke, dismissing the boy subtly, knowing that he needed rest more than I did. Besides, there was by far too much work to be done.

"Thank you, once more." He said, and for the first time in what seemed like eternity, I saw a genuine smile spread over his face. "Even if no thanks is necessary."

He turned around at that, walking forward towards the doors.

I let out a breath at that, my mind somewhat at ease. One step at a time Rosalind, I thought, one step at a time.

But naturally, the stars, as my dearest Divination professor would say, were not in my favour. All that was left was a grim to bloody spring from the walls.

I watched as Alphonse turned, uttering the words that had me change my behaviour instantly.

"You and Blaise have shown me a great favour Rosalind, the kind that is not easy to repay. And I-" he stopped at that, turning around to see me, "I owe it to myself, if not anyone else, to try. While it is true that I do not remember much from last night, there is a certain part of the conversation that I do recall, the part just before I-, before I had one glass too many."

He stopped at that, observing me, trying to find the best way to utter whatever it was he deemed important enough to be considered a part of a favour returned.

"Blaise and I talked for a while, and he.. he knew what I was going through Rosalind. Now, I do not mean to blame you for anything, nor to suggest that it is your fault, I merely wish that you reconsidered. That you give him a chance to say-"

"What I choose to do, or do not choose to do, in any matter, including your housemate, is none of your concern." I replied, my tone turning ice cold.

He overstepped the boundary there, and I was not inclined to tolerate this kind of behaviour. Not after everything that had come to pass in less than a day.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to sound insolent." He replied, his eyes now cast to the floor.

"I am aware." I responded, my tone remaining the same. "That will be all for today."

He nodded once, before turning on his heel and leaving the room, my gaze following his every step.

Yes, there was more work to be done, much more work indeed.