CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

DISAPPROVAL

"Caleb. There are not enough words to explain how- No, Lily, that sounds awful." I mutter to myself. I am practising my apology to Caleb in the bathroom mirror. Obviously it is not going too well. I sigh and try again, "I am so, so sorry Caleb. I was trying to hard to please my brothers and I should never have pushed you away. It was stupid of me and-"

"What are you doing?" Giggles Mel, from the doorway. I blush scarlet.

"Um - nothing?" She raises an eyebrow questioningly, "Ok I was practising my appology to Caleb."

"Why what did you do?"

"I made him leave the Hospital Wing. I was worried about Al and - Look, I don't really want to talk about it. Maybe later." I smile sadly. Mel nods, pulling on her pink leather jacket and a black scarf, "Where are you off to?"

"Me and Louis are sneaking out. He won't tell me where. I'll be back late, don't wait up." She winks. Then she leaves and I go back to my mirror-conversation.

"Caleb ... I really don't want to lose you. Please forgive me, I'll prove to you how much I care. I'll never hurt you again just-" I am cut off again. This time, not by a person, but by the ring on my hand turning from a pretty pink to a dazzling ice blue, almost glowing. It takes me a second to register what this means. Then I realise. Something is wrong with Rikki.

When Rikki first gave me this ring, only a few weeks ago, I doubted my side would ever glow. Rikki is hardly ever upset. So this ... this must be something bad. I immeadiately stand up, pulling on a thick grey cardi because the castle has been really cold today, and bolt downstairs.

There is no percievable colourchange, meaning Rikki isn't in the Common Room. I leave, following where the ring leads me, down empty halls and deserted stairwells. It's well before curfew but everyone would much rather be in their warm common rooms than the baltic hallways. So why is Rikki here?

I eventually find her, sitting on the cold ground beside the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Wearing only a t-shirt and jeans, she is shivering violently. She isn't crying, like I expected, but staring numbly at the stone wall. She looks confused.

"Rikki. Rikki, babe, what's wrong?" I ask, sliding down next to her.

"Wrong?" She asks, as if the word has no meaning.

"What's happened, Rikki? The ring was glowing and now you're ... like this. You're scaring me." I put my cardi over her shoulders and she blinks, as if breaking out of a trance.

"Your brother, that's what's wrong, Lil." She muttters, "The stupid thing is, I really thought he liked me. Like ... You have Caleb. Mel has Louis. And you two seem so ... in love. I want that. I thought I was getting that with him but ..." She trails off. The feelings of love and peace I had been feeling towards my brother since this afternoon went away in seconds.

"What did he do?" I ask, not sure if I want the answer.

"Um - yesterday ... we got really intense,you know? I said I wanted to wait and he told me that was fine, he did was so lovely Lil. But then tonight, he was saying all these things and then ... then he dumped me. He called me frigid! Me, frigid!" She sighs, "You just missed him." She tells me. If I just missed him then he can't have gotten too far.

"Rikki." I tell her, standing, "I'm going to go catch him. That doesn't sound like James. I need an explaination. He can be horrid sometimes but not like that." I smile sadly at her, ruffle her hair, then start running in the direction she's pointing.

I sigh when I get to the end of the hall. Left or Right? Left or right? I am just about to turn right, when I hear a shout from the left.

"Oh God! Oh Merlin, my eyes! They burn!" Shrieks an over-dramatic James. My curiousity peaks. I race to my right, turning the corner at amazing speed and see...

Well, what I see is very hard to understand. The first thing I take in is my brother, his eyes covered with both hands and banging his head against a wall. The image almost makes me laugh, but then I remember I'm supposed to be mad at him. Then I see the rest of the (disturbing) picture.

Standing behind a blonde-haired hunk, who is buttoning up his shirt whilst still managing to sheild the topless girl from view, is ...

"ROSIE!" I shriek, "Oh my ... wow. Ok. Wow. Did not see that coming. Um ... hi Malfoy." I mutter. Because -yes!-the boy who my cousin has most obviously been shagging is none other than her arch enemy Scorpius Malfoy. I can't see Rose's face but I can guess what colour she is. Malfoy -surprisingly- has the decency to look embarrased by the situation.

"Hey Potters." He says akwardly to me - and James who is still hitting his head off the wall.

Rose, now fully clothed yet slightly rumpled, turns around. She doesn't look at me, knowing I won't be mad, and instead looks at James.

"James. Look at me." She whispers. She looks so ... scared. He turns, glaring at her, "Don't be mad." She begs.

"Don't be mad!? Really, Rose? You stand have the audacity to stand there, look me in the eye, and ask me not to be mad after lying to us for ... however long! That's not even the worst part! Look - just look - at who you've been lying for. You have been shagging Malfoy, Rose. I alway knew you were desperate Rosie, but Merlin, was it that bad?" Spits James. Rose's bottom lip trembles as if she is about to cry. Maybe James isn't as good a person as I always thought. I make a move to slap my brother in the face but am beat to it by Malfoy who swiftly, without hesitation, punches my brother square in the face. My brother gets up in seconds but Malfoy has already turned his back. He isn't looking for a fight. He puts his arm around Rose's shoulders,a gesture that shocks me - and James by the look on his bloody face, and leads her back down the way I arrived. James looks at me and I look at him.

"You - you know I didn't mean that, don't you Lily?" He begs. I shake my head in disgust.

"Like how you didn't mean to break Rikki's heart? Who are you?" I mutter, letting him know how much he's changed. Then I walk away. I have changed to. No longer do I need anyone's approval or permission. It's time to find Caleb.

Hey. Long time, I know. I have been really busy and had bad writer's block and that is a bad BAD mix. But now it's Summer so hopefully I'll have more time to write! I know this chapter is too short for the content in it but the next one will (Hopefully) be longer. The point of this chapter was kind of that things were supposedly better and then all this drama comes so suddenly, all at once. Good, bad? Opinions?

xxxx My love and apologies.