The Sharing Sort

March 3, 1945

Rosemary was grateful she had come up with an excuse for missing her rounds when she saw Dippet coming her way during dinner.

"Good evening, Miss Horton." He stood before her and gave her an expectant look.

"Evening, Headmaster. I apologize for missing my rounds –"

Faye looked at her suspiciously from across the table as she delivered her carefully rehearsed excuse – that she had been studying in the library since that morning and had fallen asleep, only to realize she had missed her rounds. Although she knew she had been convincing enough, she envied Tom's natural ease in lying, a feat she had observed countless times to essentially every member of the Hogwarts staff since the establishment of his anti-muggle-born group.

"– and it won't happen again, Sir, I assure you. I've already spoken to Mary Ann to apologize and inform her that I'll be taking on one of her rounds next week to repay her."

Dippet looked stern, but pleased. "I appreciate your proactive behavior, though I trust that you know better than to make a habit of this."

"Of course, Sir," she nodded and smiled at him pleasantly.

"So what was the real reason you decided to skip rounds?" Faye asked her through narrowed eyes. "Because when you left my dormitory this morning, you had every intention of going."

"It slipped my mind, that's all." Rosemary shrugged nonchalantly.

"It 'slipped your mind'? Rose, things like rounds don't just 'slip your mind' – that's why you're Head Girl." Faye gave her and incredulous look and then sighed. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Rosemary laughed and stood from the table. "There's nothing to tell. Anyway, I'm due at Slughorn's office. See you later!" She strode briskly toward the dungeons in hopes that she would make it out of the Great Hall before the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team came in for dinner after practice. There was far too much on her mind to deal with a run-in with Warren at the moment.

She stepped into the Potions classroom and was hit with the sickly sweet smell of ECB. Slughorn had set out a dozen mini-cauldrons throughout the room, each half-full with the liquid – a testament to the sheer amount that had been confiscated. After only a second or two of inhaling the aroma, she began to feel remarkably calm and lightheaded: symptoms that the drug was already going to work on her. She had never experienced such a thing during her brewing of it, likely because she had only ever made very small batches at a time.

"You'll want a Bubble-Head Charm, dear," Slughorn told her from where he stood with Tom at the front of the room.

She nodded and casted one on herself, though the easing effects of the drug continued to linger. Perhaps that wasn't the worst thing in the world, though, considering what she was about to get herself into. She could use all the 'ease' she could get.

"Essentially we'll be performing a variety of techniques such as distillation, extraction, product suspension, and so on, though I'm almost certain that this procedure will prove to be far more challenging than those that we've completed in class," Slughorn began when she joined them at the front of the Potions classroom. "It is clear that this is a very intricate, sophisticated potion."

Wrong as it might be, Rosemary couldn't help but feel a glimmer of pride at the professor's words. And, strangely enough given the circumstances, the prospect of putting several of the techniques she had learned throughout her Potions education at Hogwarts to work was undeniably exciting to her.

"As you can see, I've set out samples of the potion throughout the room so that we can work through the various techniques concurrently. Miss Horton, I recall that you have a particular aptitude for extractions – perhaps you could start there? Tom, why don't you begin with product suspensions?"

They dove into the work straight away. Though Rosemary was keenly aware of the fact that she was working against herself, she was enjoying it immensely. She was working beside her favorite professor, not even as a student, but a near-colleague; Slughorn kept calling her over every so often to gauge her opinion of each test's results.

Rosemary found it easy to let herself get lost in the work. Unlike brewing in Myrtle's irritating presence in the girls' lavatory, Slughorn's classroom offered little non-potion related distractions. For the first time in what felt like months, she felt a true release – a moment of solace that her worries about getting caught or Warren or even Tom could not disturb.

Tom could certainly think of better uses of his time, but he supposed that this project was essential to maintain his rapport with Slughorn. Besides, it was quite entertaining to watch Rosemary while being perfectly aware how uncomfortable she must be. She was doing well to hide it, of course, but he knew better; surely she was on pins and needles wondering when any of them would find something that drew Slughorn to the source of the potion.

In fact, she was doing such a good job hiding her panic that Tom found himself captivated watching her work, a luxury he could rarely afford during their paired potions in class because of the concentration they often required. It was fascinating to see her deliberate, precise movements – a well-orchestrated production of stirs, additions, and occasional testing. At this rate, he didn't find it unlikely that she might very well create her own downfall.

"You're going to get yourself caught," Tom couldn't resist telling her under his breath with a smirk as he worked near her at an adjacent table.

She gave him a sour look and made a point to step on his foot on her way to show Slughorn the results of her latest extraction.

He was delighting in putting her on edge because she had no reason to be. Though Tom was fairly certain that Slughorn knew at least a bit of Legilimency based on previous encounters, he also knew that the professor had no reason to suspect Rosemary. Even if they elucidated all the ingredients, there would be no evidence to connect her to the potion. Unless, of course, the Ministry happened to find whoever it was that was providing Rosemary with her supplies. In addition, she had maintained a pristine reputation in the face of all of the school's faculty members – well, until that afternoon when she skipped rounds, he supposed.

Tom was suddenly hit with the same realization that had struck him the night she had Obliviated Warren:

They really weren't all that different.

After all, she was using her position as a Prefect (and more recently, Head Girl) to engage in frivolity and illicit brewing – for fun. She abused her power, much like he did. Though Tom's reasons for doing so were, in his mind at least, far more worthwhile.

Tom thought back to the announcement of the Head Boy and Girl positions the year prior and how elated he had been to hear that Rosemary had been chosen. He had been so sure that, together, they would control the entirety of the Hogwarts student body. Though he had basically accomplished this on his own through the formation of the Knights, it was admittedly disappointing that she hadn't had much of a role in it.

But perhaps that would change. She appeared to be increasingly drawn to him, despite his worries that his hold over her would be only temporary…maybe she would join his cause after all.

This brought other questions to the surface, though. What exactly did he want with her? The sex was certainly enjoyable, but it was obviously more than that. He wanted her to join him and his cause very badly. She wasn't versed in dueling, but she could be valuable in countless other capacities; he would keep her secrets and she would keep his – much like they were doing already. He wanted someone he could trust – even more than Dolohov, his most loyal Knight. He wanted what only Rosemary could provide him: an equal.

Or at least as close to one as he could ever hope to find.

But even if he got what he wanted and she joined him, what would happen when they graduated? What about when she inevitably folded to her parents' wishes and married that insufferable twat? And what if she changed her mind – what if she regained the self-respect he had seen in her initially and chose to abandon her parents' restricted aspirations for her?

Why did the prospect of this even matter to him anyway? Because it certainly did, that was without question – but did that mean he actually cared for her? Did that mean, Merlin forbid, he wanted to be with her?

No, of course not. He had come to the conclusion months ago that he would always be better off alone. It would be foolish to open himself to something as unnecessary as love. Love wouldn't accomplish his increasingly ambitious goals, it would merely get in the way.

There he was, obsessing about the unknowns again. And an obsession it certainly was – he couldn't seem to go more than a few hours before one of these questions popped into his head yet again. He kept telling himself none of it mattered, that he was still adjusting to their relatively new balance of pleasure and power, but he couldn't completely drown out the tiny part of him that knew it did matter. It was a phenomenon he simply couldn't explain.

In fact, the only thing that made sense at all any longer was the feeling of her skin against his.

"Bollucks," Slughorn suddenly announced, yanking Tom's mind away from the chasm of dirty thoughts involving Rosemary that had momentarily tempted him. "I completely lost track of time and I was supposed to be upstairs five minutes ago for a staff meeting. I know we're nearing curfew, but would you mind staying around and monitoring the tests until I get back?"

He and Rosemary both agreed to stay and Slughorn hurriedly took off. Tom half-expected the professor to toss a knowing glance in his direction at the prospect of leaving the two of them alone, but he was relieved when this didn't happen.

They continued to work in silence, trading off between observing their own set of potions and Slughorn's. Without a professor present to impress, Tom was quickly growing bored of the work. While he certainly didn't mind potions, it was impossible for him to summon the same enthusiasm that Rosemary displayed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this boredom allowed his thoughts to drift once more to more sensual themes. So much so that the sexual tension in the room was nearly palpable, particularly in their silence.

Tom walked across the classroom and into the small room that housed Slughorn's ingredients stores, glancing around for the merpeople scales that would allow him to test for a variety of water-derived components in ECB. He spotted them on the bottom shelf of the closet and suddenly a grand idea sparked in his mind. Tom spoke to her through the partially-cracked door: "Horton, have you seen the dried merpeople scales? I can't seem to locate them."

"They're not out here," she answered a few seconds later. Then she joined him, her scent immediately filling the small space. "Did you even look? They're right here," Rosemary gave him an annoyed look before bending over to retrieve the jar from the bottom shelf.

Tom watched the hem of her skirt slide up the back of her thighs, past her stockings, revealing a tiny glimpse at her knickers. He quickly ran through the arithmetic of how long they likely had before Slughorn would return in his head and, satisfied with the result, reached out to her, slipping his hand under her skirt and running his fingers across her bum.

She froze. "What are you doing?"

"You did say we would resume later," he told her, as his hand traveled over her hip and the top of her thighs.

She suddenly stood and gave him an incredulous look over her shoulder. "Really, you think right now is the appropriate time? Slughorn could come back any moment."

He knew it was wrong– very wrong– especially when they both had perfectly fine dormitories that they could fuck in just a couple of hours later. But he didn't want to wait…he wanted her that very second. And, if he was being completely honest with himself, the prospect of fucking her outside of the privacy of their dormitories was undoubtedly stimulating for some odd reason.

Maybe Cramer would even walk in on them again…

Tom drew his wand just long enough to lift the Bubble-Head charms on each of them. Then he took a step toward her, effectively closing the space between them, and relished the warmth that her natural body heat provided. The telling bulge in his trousers pressed against her lower back, just at the top of her bum, and he felt her tense slightly. He had been hard the moment she walked into the storage room, hardly a surprising feat as his thoughts had kept him about halfway there for at least the past hour or so.

"Come on, Horton, we'll be finished before Dippet even concludes his opening remarks." He knew she couldn't argue with him on that – the aged Headmaster was a notoriously slow speaker.

Rosemary seemed to give this some thought and relaxed a bit and he took this as permission to reach around her body and dip his finger between her thighs and begin stroking her most sensitive area in controlled, deliberate circles. She let out a small moan and Tom his other hand reached up to stroke her neck before trailing it down her chest and under the collar of her blouse, worming his fingers underneath the fabric of her brassiere to play with her nipples.

"You're an animal," she breathed.

Tom smirked and muttered into her ear, "Is that a complaint? Last I checked you quite fancied everything I do to you." He moved her knickers aside to begin stroking her opening and he felt her shiver in pleasure. "Isn't that right?"

She closed her eyes and tilted her head back against his shoulder. "I suppose so."

"You suppose so?" He clicked his tongue once. "That won't do." With that, he pressed his finger inside of her and she moaned in response.

"Tell me," he commanded her. "Tell me you adore the way I fuck you." A surge of lust ran through him as he felt her clench around his finger.

"I do."

"No," he scolded her gently. "Say it."

"I love the way you fuck me," she whimpered. Then, as if his touch had forced her to lose complete control, added, "I yearn for it."

And as her words filled his ears, he certainly yearned for her, too. He wanted to take her– consume her– in the most savage way possible.

When Tom was satisfied with her wetness, he spun her toward the wall and sandwiched her against it with his body. He hungrily pulled her knickers down to her knees and lifted her skirt while kissing the side of her neck so passionately that his teeth frequently skimmed across her flesh.

Rosemary gasped as he pressed all the way into her without warning, unable to take it any longer, but he would not apologize for his fervor. It was only a few seconds of pain that would surely be followed by many more of pleasure. Besides, they were supposed to be in a rush, weren't they?

The small room quickly grew sweltering from the body heat generated between the two of them and soon he had lost track of how long they had been going at it. As much as he was enjoying it, his better judgment told him that it was time to begin wrapping things up.

He thrusted faster and harder, her moans urging him on. Finally she came and he felt every movement of her tight walls around him.

"Oh fuck," he groaned into her ear, his fingers digging into her thighs as he gave into the release as well. He kissed her briefly as he finished, but soon pulled away to catch his breath.

Without another word, they fixed their disheveled hair and clothes and reapplied their Bubble-Head Charms before returning to work in the classroom. Just in time, apparently – not even five minutes later, they heard the doorknob turning.

After about ten minutes of listening to Slughorn rant about the staff meeting, he asked to see their notes from that evening's work. He and Rosemary handed their findings to the professor and he slipped on his glasses, gazing at the parchment sheets pensively for a few moments. "It's a start. Definitely a start. Excellent, excellent work you two. I'll send the list of what we've come up with so far to the Ministry tomorrow morning so they can begin inquiring at shops about sales of these ingredients."

Tom watched Rosemary's face become just slightly paler.

Slughorn beamed at them both, oblivious to her reaction. "Why don't we plan to resume next weekend and we can tailor our investigation to the feedback the Ministry will hopefully give us by then?"

"That sounds splendid, Sir," Tom said cheerily, knowing full well that it would only serve to antagonize Rosemary further.

She was silent as they walked side by side back to their respective dormitories and Tom knew she was drowning in her worries over getting caught. And he still thought she was being foolish about it; a list of potion ingredients meant nothing, especially not in the hands of incompetent Ministry employees.

So of course he would continue giving her a hard time over it: "I do hope you'll write to inform me about what Azkaban is like."

She glared at him. "You're such a prick."

Tom ignored her and smirked. "I truly hope that I have the opportunity to see your parents' faces when they find out."

"Are you going to help me or not?" Her glare persisted. "How did you get out of Hogwarts when you bought the potion ingredients to repay me?"

"And why are you so eager to get out of the castle? Trying to run before they arrest you? You know they'll catch you, Horton…"

"No, you git. I have to warn Jas-…I mean my supplier."

Tom smirked to himself and put his hands in his pockets. "Now that's very interesting…the girl who insulted me less than a minute ago wants a favor."

"Isn't it worth the one I'll owe you?"

That certainly piqued his interest. He stopped in the corridor outside the Trophy Room and turned to face her. "And just what are you willing to offer me?"

He watched her swallow and say somewhat nervously, "Whatever you want. Just get me out of Hogwarts."

She really was serious. But even so, he wasn't sure he wanted to help her. It wasn't as though he thought she would abuse the Vanishing Cabinet if she knew about it; rather, the thought of her arriving in Borgin and Burkes and traveling through Knockturn Alley after dark made him feel rather sick to his stomach. He was surprised at himself for worrying about her, especially after his self-proclaimed loathing of her only weeks prior. Things had changed so quickly.

"I'll help you," he said finally. "But I'm coming with you."

She shook her head. "No…I don't think so."

"I have the leverage in this situation, Miss Horton, not you," he reminded her.

Rosemary stared at him for a long time, before finally releasing a defeated sigh. "Fine."

Though she had fought him on it at first, Rose was glad that Tom was with her to escort her from through Knockturn Alley. When he initially insisted upon coming along, she thought it had been out of his own curiosity, but as they walked briskly through the dimly lit streets, she realized that he might have been genuinely concerned for her safety. The thought made her feel lightheaded and probably would have made her smile uncontrollably had it not been for her current level of stress.

When they reached Diagon Alley, she turned to Tom. "Would you mind waiting here?" The last thing she needed was for Tom to know even more details about her involvement with ECB...particularly the fact that she was working for Jasper Donohue.

He nodded coolly and stepped into the shadows of a nearby building, while Rosemary pulled the hood of her cloak over her head to avoid being spotted by anyone in Diagon Alley who might know her – which, given her father's renown was a potentially considerable number of people.

As she stepped into the main drag, however, she realized there was little need to worry. The streets were far emptier than she had expected, given the consideration that it was nine on a weeknight. In fact, it was even worse than when she had visited Jasper over the holiday, the night he had initially proposed her involvement in his venture. Briefly, it made her wonder – would Grindelwald ever actually be stopped?

Mr. Mulpepper's was closed for the evening, but she let herself in through the unlocked door when she saw Jasper behind the front counter.

His eyes flashed with alarm as he looked up at her. "Evening, Rose," he greeted her. She watched as he glanced nervously down the attached corridor to the offices that housed the various products that were not yet ready for sale. Perhaps another employee was still in the store and Jasper was nervous about being overheard. Still, there was no time to waste.

"I need to talk to you…" she stepped close to the counter and whispered. "It's about, you know, the potion…"

"Now is not a good time, Rose. You should go," Jasper said quietly.

"No – it's really important," she whispered again, more urgently this time. "Slughorn, he's investigating the potion…"

She followed Jasper's gaze as it drifted back toward the offices once more. She hadn't heard the nearest door open, but standing in the doorframe was a familiar face.

"Rose?"

She sighed. "Hello, Markus." Apparently she had come by just as Markus was picking up another batch of ECB.

"You're – you…what?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Markus shook his head in disbelief and Rosemary turned back to Jasper. She didn't whisper this time, now confident that he had just been trying to protect her from Markus discovering her involvement. "Look, Slughorn knows what's in ECB – he started his own investigation this evening."

He didn't even blink. "So?"

"What do you mean, 'so'? I was just there and he told me that he's reporting it to the Ministry tomorrow morning and is going to insist they conduct an investigation of apothecary sales right away…and there are only so many shops that sell the ingredients."

Jasper tossed her an annoyed glare. "Come on, do you think I'm a complete bloody idiot? Nothing that I've sent you has gone through our inventory system. It's untraceable."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Look, Rose, I know your heart is in the right place but why don't you let the professionals handle it," Jasper sneered.

Rosemary turned red, surprised at such a snappy response from someone who was generally so laid-back. She avoided Jasper's eyes and glanced instead at Markus, who continued to stand in silence and stare at her dumbly.

"Sorry," Jasper sighed after a few long, awkward seconds. "It's been a stressful week. Perhaps you should take a break from working on the potion for now, with Slughorn so keen on it. You've already made vast improvements anyway. Markus says there haven't been nearly as many kids in the Infirmary."

She nodded. A chance to get out of her arrangement with Jasper was the best she had wished for after an entire evening of worrying over whether or not she would get caught. Relief quickly spread over her, though it didn't completely displace the feeling of discomfort at Jasper's nonchalance on the matter.

"Now get out of here before you're spotted – both of you."

Rosemary nodded again and left in silence with Markus following close behind. Once outside, she made a beeline for a nearby awning and lit a cigarette.

Markus lit one of his own as well. "I still can't believe it. You –Rosemary Horton…ECB…It just doesn't make sense."

"Yes, well, we all have our secrets don't we?" Rosemary snapped, still a bit worked up after Jasper's blasé response. While she desperately wanted to believe that he had everything under control, she couldn't stop the sliver of doubt that kept entering her mind. If anyone found out what she did, she wouldn't just be expelled – she would be sent to Azkaban.

Why hadn't she thought this through more? Given her newfound understanding of the gravity of the situation, she was relieved that Jasper told her to cease brewing for a while. She would go to Myrtle's bathroom and clean up her things first thing in the morning.

"I hope it's understood that you can't tell anyone about this."

Markus smirked and gave her a look that said 'obviously.'

Rose took a long drag and felt her expression soften. "I was sorry to hear about you and Becca. Are you doing alright?"

"Of course," he answered haughtily, though there was a twinge of defensiveness in his voice that made her think he wasn't being entirely honest with her. "We just want different things, that's all."

"Did you break it to your parents yet?" Rosemary asked. Though pureblood boys were put under far less pressure to marry than girls, it was still there nonetheless.

He shook his head.

Rosemary didn't broach the subject further. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it, which was understandable enough.

"You smell like sex," Markus blurted suddenly.

"Is it that noticeable?" she asked in a panic-stricken voice. Oh, Merlin…had Slughorn noticed?

No. Thank goodness for the Bubble-Head Charm…

"Sort of," he shrugged. "Wait a second – didn't you say you just come from Slughorn's? Oh Rose, please tell me you didn't –"

Rosemary slapped his arm. "Fucking hell, Markus - no! Tom was there!" Then she clapped her hand over her mouth, in disbelief of what she just admitted to him.

Markus stopped in his tracks and stared at her blankly for a few moments before suddenly doubling over in laughter.

Her face turned bright red. "It's not funny," she hissed. "And don't you dare tell anyone – not Faye, not Adam…no one."

"No wonder he's been in such a bloody good mood lately," Markus managed between his ongoing fit of laughter. "What's the plan, then – are you going to elope right after graduation, like before?"

"Tom and I don't have a future," she said hollowly. "My fate is with Warren, you know that."

Markus stopped laughing. "Hold on a second – so you are actually dating Cramer still?"

"Yes."

"Does Riddle know that?"

"Yes," she repeated.

Markus gazed at her in an expression that could only be described as pure horror. "Oh Merlin, Rose…That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. He is not a sharing sort of person."

She shrugged. "He doesn't seem to have that much of a problem with it."

He looked at her skeptically, and then shrugged. "Well, I can certainly understand him wanting to keep his options open…Bloody hell, you would not believe what some of these girls can do."

"I'm fairly certain I do not want to know. Glad to know you're taking the time to really get over Becca before fucking around with the rest of the Slytherin house. What has it been, twenty-four hours?" Rose glared at him.

Was Markus right? Was Tom only okay with their arrangement because he was still messing around with the Slytherin girls?

"Judge me all you want, love, but at least I know what I want," he winked at her and flicked his cigarette to the ground.

That certainly shut her up for a moment.

"Do you realize what kind of predicament you've put me in by telling me this?" Markus asked her suddenly. "Riddle's going to know that I know…sometimes I swear that he can read minds."

'That's because he can,' she thought, but held her tongue. There was no reason to make Markus as paranoid as she still happened to be on this particular matter.

"Some secrets are better left at that - as secrets." ― Candace Bushnell

Today marks the one-year anniversary of when I first began publishing TDLR (at least in my time zone)! Thank you so much to all of you that have read/followed/favorited/reviewed this fic. Knowing that you are reading and (hopefully) enjoying my story is so encouraging. Thanks again. (':

My apologies to my lovely reviewers for not replying to your comments yet - this week was essentially the busiest of the quarter and I just wanted to get this chapter posted ASAP. I'll be in touch soon! Anyway, thank you to EchoSerenade, Blerb, Lady Ravanna, RosiePosie15, marly4077, Lexi, gr8rockstarrox, CharlotteBlackwood, Oksanallex, and five guest users.

Next time we'll be revisiting what's been going on with the Knights! And Rosemary is going to have an eventful evening of her own as well...