Hiya guys! I've had some really great reviews from some of you since the last chapter, and I really appreciate it! I always reply to those which ask questions or point out any mistakes (please continue to do that, by the way, I really appreciate your help), but sometimes I can't if it's from a guest account.
I received one of these Guest reviews pointing out quite a stupid mistake on my part, and I'd like to thank that person for drawing my attention to it, but I'm going to struggle to correct it now as those chapters were posted too long ago to allow me to edit them. :/. I hope this person knows who they are, as I have no name for them other than 'Guest' XD. And thank you all for your compliments!
Anyway, on with chapter 26! Enjoy!
Amid the chaos of Platform 9 ¾ Rose managed to lose Molly, with whom she had spent the entire journey. People surrounded her, as she was jostled around by owl cages and trunks, bags and cauldrons. She was used to this by now, though- it was standard when disembarking the Hogwarts Express without the Headmistress to oversee proceedings.
The reason Hermione was absent during the chaos was due to a plan the Weasley's had an arranged: During the term-time the children attempted to maintain a strictly teacher/pupil relationship with their mother, and then when they returned for the holidays, she would be their Mum again. This meant that at the moment Hermione would be with her husband and in-laws, waiting for Rose and Hugo to find them. The plan was difficult to maintain, due to the natural connection and closeness Hermione had with her children, but Rose and Hugo both preferred it this way: there were no embarrassing scenes of having Hermione running after them whenever they forgot anything, nor did they feel as though she treated them any differently to the other students. It wasn't ideal, admittedly, because other Professors would be inclined to talk about Rose and Hugo to the Headmistress more so than about other pupils, and this meant Hermione heard a lot about her children's friendship groups and grades than other parents would. But, it was better than any alternative, so with that in mind, Rose pushed her way through the crowds, anxious to see her Mum as her Mum, not as her teacher.
"Rose!" A hand grabbed her shoulder. It was Scorpius, blushing slightly yet face set with determination. "Send me and owl, if you have time," He was almost shouting over the hubbub. "Just address it to me at Malfoy Manor and it should arrive."
Rose nodded, trying to hide a smile. "Ok!"She yelled back. "I'll see you after the holidays, Scorpius! Hope you have a good Christmas."
He rolled his slate-grey eyes and replied sarcastically: "Oh, it should be wonderful. Two weeks of only my mother and father for company. Some letters would break the monotony." He grinned. "See you, Rosie." He bent down slightly and kissed her on the cheek.
Rose's eyes widened. Had he just..?
Scorpius had acted unintentionally. He went paler than usual (which was saying something because he was arguably the fairest-skinned person at Hogwarts) in a combination of fear and shock as he braced himself for a hex, or a slap at the very least. When none came, his colour returned beyond his original skin-tone and went bright pink in embarrassment. (He vaguely resembled a fairy-tale toadstool, because of his contrasting pale face with red cheeks, Rose thought, in a distant part of her mind). Before she had a chance to say anything, he turned, fled and was absorbed by the crowds still jostling to find their families.
Rose had no time to think about what had just happened, because a heavy cage containing a rather large owl hit her on the side of her face, as the owner span with force, and knocked Rose to the floor, where she hit her head on the concrete and fell unconscious.
"What was she thinking?" Exclaimed a voice, almost in disgust.
Rose prised her eyes open to see blurry figures surrounding her. Unable to differentiate who was who, Rose listened to their voices instead. It was her mother's patient tone which spoke next.
"I doubt she knocked herself out purposely, Hugo."
"Yeah, I know, but couldn't she have, like, ducked or something? Or done some spell? I thought she was smart!"
"I am smart, you cheeky git!" Rose mumbled, grinning slightly.
Her room came into focus, as she realised she was tucked up in bed, with her arms pinned to her sides under the duvet, in their family home in the countryside of East Sussex. It had been chosen because it reminded their father of the house he grew up in, and where their grandparents still lived: The Burrow. The Weasley family would still gather there every Christmas, as many of them as they could fit in. Yes, it was far too small for so many people, but the kids loved sharing with so many cousins, because it was like a giant sleepover.
The house Rose now lived in was near to a Muggle farm, and every morning during the holidays, she would look out of the window to see how the farmer was doing with his livestock and crops. The house itself was rustic and simple, because there was something endearing about the red and white checked table cloth, the pale ceilings lined with dark beams and the floors tiled with large stone slates. Rose and Hugo, however had been permitted to decorate their room however they chose. So stepping into Rose's room was like leaving a homely Muggle cottage and stepping into a studious witch's dream room, which of course, it was.
The carpet was a deep, plush red, to match the walls painted red and gold with Gryffindor colours. Rose's House crest dominated one of the walls, whilst a notice board on which she wrote her 'To do' list every day, had commandeered the other. Her desk was in the far end of the room, full of papers and doodles and worksheets and ideas- Rose was always starting a new project during the summer, as she loved to create. Evidence of this hobby was all over her room; in the screwed up sheets of paper which littered her floor; in the toy plane she had made from household objects and a little magic; in the mobile she had made for above her bed at her first Christmas after starting Hogwarts, which was again made in Gryffindor colours. It was during that holiday she had redecorated her room, and it had barely changed since. Her bookshelf had evolved, though, and was now spilling over with books of all sorts. There had always been non-fiction books there, to feed her hunger for knowledge, but some of the younger books she had used to read had been passed to Lily, or taken to a charity shop, and in their place were several teenage romance novels, and young adult fiction. There were also some harder novels there: classics such as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and David Copperfield, which she had found hard to get into, but enjoyed them once she had adapted to the language.
"Rosie!" Hermione exclaimed, suffocating her daughter in a crushing hug. "What happened?"
"Hey, honey, give the girl some space!" Ron entered the room, surveying the scene before speaking in an almost cold voice: "Good to see you, Rose. How's school?"
"It's alright..." Rose replied, still a little dazed. "What time is it?"
"9 o clock-ish." Hugo responded. "And I didn't mean you were stupid, Rose, I just wasn't in the best of moods." He gave his sister an embarrassed smile.
"But, Rose! What happened?" Hermione's questioning recommenced, despite Ron's objections.
She thought about it. The busy station. The kiss. The moment of confusion, when the cage had slammed into her face and sent her spinning to the floor, which had seemed to come to meet her as she fell. She decided to leave out the part including Scorpius, for now, at least.
"I was heading to find you all, when someone's owl's cage hit me and knocked me over. I was disorientated from the blow, so I didn't put my arms out to stop my fall, and I think I must have hit my head on the floor."
There were a few concerned noises from her family, even Ron was sympathetic. "We just found you lying there! Some people near you were shouting for us, because they recognised you, and thank goodness they did, otherwise you could have been trampled on."
There was a pause, during which Hugo and Ron exchanged glances, as though there was an elephant in the room Rose didn't know about. Hermione gave Rose a really warm, supportive grin, and the young red-head suddenly realised she had a nervous feeling in her stomach... Had they seen her with Scorpius?
"And, Rose?" Her father began again. "You know that Malfoy boy we warned you against?" Oh, Merlin. Thought Rose. Here it comes.
"Scorpius?" Rose asked innocently. "Yes, what about him?"
Ron looked at Hugo again, but Hermione shot the back of their heads dirty looks. "Well, he was there when you were knocked out. And he was looking quite concerned..."
He trailed off.
Hugo decided to fill in the missing details: "Yeah, it was a bit weird, to be honest. He was like, holding your hand and stuff."
"Hugo!" snapped Ron.
He was holding my hand? Rose thought, in shock, but knew she had to keep calm. "I bet he wasn't. I'd been talking to him just before- we had arranged to send each other owls over the holidays, because it's quite boring for him, as an only child with just his parents- so it's no surprise he was there. Did he say anything to you?"
Ron was taken aback by his daughter's lack of concern for being friends with a Malfoy, and even Hugo looked quite pissed off. Hermione however, was smirking slightly.
"But... But Rose!" exclaimed Hugo. "He was calling us on the train to school! You hexed him! Why are you friends with him? Or is he your boyfriend?"
"Hugo!" Yelled Ron. "If you can't be sensible then get out!" Ron look to Rose for clarification that Scorpius was not her boyfriend. She was happy to give it, as her father was already red in the face.
"Don't worry, Scorpius isn't my boyfriend. But I take it you know about the Inter-House Challenge, Dad? Mum organised it, after all."
"Yeah, I know that it's taking place, but what's that got to do with anything?"
"Well, Scorpius was put in my group. Him, Lucy, a boy called Thomas from Hufflepuff and myself. So naturally we've had to learn to get along."
"That... that boy... that son of a-"
"Ron." Hermione said, warningly.
"That son of a Malfoy has been put in your group?" Ron spat.
"Yes."
He turned to his wife. "Why did you allow it?" He exclaimed angrily. "You know how I feel about that family! What's the use of you being the bloody Headmistress if you don't stop things like this happening?"
"I didn't take the job to monitor our children, Ronald. I took it to ensure that the education of the young wizards and witches of Britain is going to be of the highest quality possible. After all, education is one weapon that no-one can take away from you."
Ron continued to look disgusted. "Don't start spouting riddles like that! The point remains that you have allowed Rose to become close to Scorpius Malfoy, son of our worst childhood enemy! Don't tell me that you don't remember the names he used to call you!"
"Of course I remember them, and that's precisely why I'm happy that Rose is friends with Draco's son. It means that he won't be insulting our family if he is friends with us! It means we have one less case of prejudice to worry about."
Ron continued to look appalled.
Rose still had a headache from her accident, and wished that they would stop arguing.
Hugo wore and expression of confusion, that was hard to decipher, probably because he was unsure of what he was feeling.
Hermione seemed unaffected by her husband's objections, and suggested they go and get Rose one dinner, as she hadn't eaten since her lunch on the train. Hugo was sent to warm up what they had saved for her, whilst Ron stomped off in a childish sulk.
Once it was just the two of them alone, Rose began to speak: "You did it on purpose, didn't you, Mum? The groups for the Challenge. You wanted me to be friends with Scorpius."
Hermione just smiled. "There's no room for this old fashioned racism amongst us, Rosie. There are so many people who need help in the world, and it's our job, as more fortunate citizens of the planet to help them, and how can we do that if we're separated? After all, we are only as strong as we are united, weak as we are divided."
"That's a beautiful quote..." Rose told her mother. "I feel as though I've heard it before, though."
Hermione laughed gently. "I should hope you have, with the amount you read!" There was a pause. "Albus Dumbledore was a great man," She told her daughter. "And although I know I can't compare to him as a Hogwarts Head Teacher, I hope I can re-enforce his messages to the students there at the moment, who weren't lucky enough to get to meet the wizard personally."
Rose, although a very conscientious and understanding young which, felt herself look at her mother in confusion, as to why she would be so passionate about a teacher she had had 20 years ago. Hermione saw this expression on her daughter's face and laughed. "It's ok, it's rare for anyone who didn't know him to understand, you mostly just think I'm crazy."
"MUM?" Hugo shouted up the stairs. "I THINK I NEED SOME HELP. IS IT SUPPOSED TO BUBBLE OVER THE SIDES OF THE DISH?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'd better go and salvage your dinner, Rose. Just remember, I'm going to support your decisions, whatever they may be, ok?"
"Alright. Thanks, Mum." Hermione kissed Rose's forehead.
"MUM? THE KITCHEN'S FILLING WITH SMOKE!"
"Coming, Hugo!" Hermione called, as she sprinted out of the room and down the stairs.
Once on her own, Rose decided to stretch a bit and see how she felt. The blow to her head had made her dizzy, but she thought she would be able to sit up comfortably, so she spread her palms and used them to push herself into a sitting position. As she did so, she felt her hand brush past a piece of parchment. In confusion, Rose felt around under the duvet for it, and clasped it in her hand once it was located. She pulled her hand out from under the duvet and looked at it.
It was a small piece of messy parchment, clearly would be no larger than 6 inches when it was opened, but how had she got hold of it? Suddenly, something Hugo had said about Scorpius went though her mind: "Yeah, it was a bit weird, to be honest. He was like, holding your hand and stuff!"
No way. Was it possible that he had given her a note whilst she was unconscious; clenched her hand around it, and that none of her family had noticed it yet? I suppose there's only one way to find out... She thought, as she began to unfold the paper with trembling hands.
Yes, I know, bit of a cliffy, but please don't hurt me ;)
I just wanted to say that I am now on school holidays, but I have a shed load of homework, and I'm going on holiday with my family in a couple of days, and I'll struggle to update before then. I get back next Saturday, so I'll try and update on the Sunday, nut I'm afraid I can't make any promises .
And if you could all be patient, and continue to review, that would be amazing! 3
Remember to follow/favourite this fic, if you haven't already, or you won't receive and update for the next chapter!
Keep reading,
Lucy x