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Push & Pull

Chapter 15

Snow

Christmas was Rose's favourite holiday. She always saved her knuts, stowed her allowance away and sought out the perfect presents. She prided herself on being able to give her family and friends the most perfect presents every year.

This year was no different, but it was also very unique. After the time she'd lost, she spent some frantic weeks picking out the perfect gifts for her family. A beautiful bronze watch for her brother as a gift for getting the management position of the Weasley shop in Hogsmeade. A quick-notes quill for Lily, who had been studying so hard at her new job. A clock for her mother that matched Nana Molly's: so that she could keep track of all her children at all times: something that would be very important to her after the year they'd had. Scorpius's present had been the first one she had found that year. Her father's had been the last. Of course her father's present mattered the most, because he was forced to accept a truth that he had never wanted to face: Rose was bringing a boy home for the holidays.

"I'm not sure he'll like me," Scorpius lamented for the hundredth time. He pulled at his tie, nervous as she had ever seen him. She noted with a grin that he hadn't sweat this bad even when her life was at stake.

"He's already met you, and he loves you," she reassured him, because she wasn't a monster. Rose knew that Scorpius needed to feel good before he walked in the house, and while she was throwing him to the wolves, the least she could do was give him a sword.

"Yeah, but as an auror. Not as your boyfriend," Scorpius muttered. Rose grinned. She felt something wet on her face and brought a hand up to her nose, her features shifting with a crease of confusion between her eyebrows.

"Snow," Scorpius noted with a sad smile. The last time they had seen snow had been an awful day. Rose fought the tears that threatened to spill across her face. She felt as if someone was reaching in her chest and squeezing her heart. "Come here," he pulled her tight, planting a long kiss in her hair. With a deep breath, warmth began to spread through Rose again. She felt just as safe in Scorpius's arms as she had the first time that he had embraced her. He held her until she regained her composure. When she could breathe properly, she pulled from him and kissed him tenderly. His lips were chilly, and she grinned against the kiss, finally breaking their contact.

"Don't be worried. It's Hugo you really have to watch out for," she told him, because while she wasn't a monster, she liked to keep him on his toes. At that, Scorpius blubbered something about feeling ill, and she flung the front door of the burrow open as she had a thousand times before.

"I'm here!" Rose yelled in as if everyone hadn't been waiting for her. Squeals of joy sounded through the house as the residents and guests rushed forward to greet her. With a flick of her wand, Rose's presents flew through the door high above the family's heads where they couldn't reach them.

"Don't you dare, James!" Rose shouted as he leaped up at a broom-shaped parcel. Of course she had gotten him the new experimental Cumulus 2.5 broom from her peer at Flight Industries. It wasn't even being advertised yet. She grinned with glee.

Rose's shining moment, however, was when she looked across the room and saw her father. But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Scorpius as if he had brought him the world as a present. The roaring of the family died to chatter as Rose's father made his way to Scorpius and pulled him into a tight hug. The relief spilling from Scorpius was palpable, and Rose had to look away from the blinding interaction.

"I'll never say it enough," Rose could barely make out her father's words, "Thank you for saving my family."

…

Back in the present, Rose couldn't even conceptualize such a future. She was, however, basking in the first good night of sleep she had since being locked away like a princess. Scorpius left the cot to go do "Patrols". She rolled back over and passed out, noting briefly that she hadn't realized he'd been leaving the tent to do his job the past few days. She'd been too stuck in her head to notice. When the tent started to warm up again, she slipped from the covers on the makeshift bed, stretching her sore muscles.

"Why is getting laid so much work," she grumbled to herself, leaning forward and listening to her back pop. Rose found Scorpius's dresser and shifted around through his clothes, pulling out one of his sweaters and throwing it on. It didn't smell like him, so she was already starting the day badly. She left the room to see everyone but Scorpius sitting around the heater, drinking tea and eating breakfast.

Rose froze as all eyes fell on her, and with a growing horror, she realized that she was doing the walk of shame in front of her closest friends. She slowly raised an arm to scratch the back of her head awkwardly, and the silence droned on, nobody daring to address the situation. Roxanne looked down at her tea, barely covering a laugh.

"Ahh…" Rose started, looking to the door and hoping Scorpius would come in and save

the day. She wasn't that lucky. Instead she muttered, "Do silencing charms work well?"

"Oh my god," Albus stood from next to Sam, covering his ears in disgust, "I can't do this." he rushed past her into his room, whispering to himself, "Ew. Ew. Ew."

Roxanne was full-out laughing now, spilling a bit of her tea. It was infectious, and Sam started giggling, pulling his eyes from Rose. Even Alice covered her mouth to try and stop her laugh. Rose couldn't help but crack a smile.

"We didn't hear anything, though we could definitely connect the dots," Alice interrupted.

"At least someone's enjoying their time locked away," Sam rolled his eyes, moving over as Rose took a seat next to him.

"Barely," Roxanne rolled her eyes, "I can never tell if she wants to kill him or fuck him!" She raised an eyebrow.

Rose crossed her arms and pouted, "I can control my temper, thank you."

"Yeah, right," Alice giggled, "Do you remember in fifth year when you used Aunt Ginny's Bat-bogey hex on him?"

"He couldn't blow his nose for a week," Roxanne couldn't stop giggling.

"All because he got one point more than you on the DADA practical," Alice shook her head.

"That was one time!" Rose threw her hands up in exasperation.

"That was every time!" Roxanne retorted, "You couldn't stand him ever doing better than you."

"Which wasn't often," Rose mumbled.

The laughter died down and settled into a blanket of expectant silence. It wasn't quite awkward, but Rose felt an urge in her chest to speak that tried to bubble over. She searched for something to say, but every word that came to the tip of her tongue died out in a futile simmer. Rose found herself looking at Roxanne, and her best friend's eyes told her everything she needed to know. Rose smiled, and Roxanne's lips turned up in kind.

"I'm sick of being stuck inside," Alice complained, standing up and stretching her arms, "Anyone wanna go for a walk?"

"I think I'll stay here," Sam said, and Rose noticed him glancing to Albus's door. She tilted her head in curiosity, but he ignored her, "It's pretty chilly out."

"Okay," Rose dragged out the word, leaving him room to change his mind, "I'd love to leave this prison though," she stood as well, making her way to her room, "Just give me a sec to throw some real clothes on."

Roxanne followed Rose into her room and took a seat on Rose's cot. Her dresser was bare of the fashionable clothes she liked to wear, but she settled on some big warm garments: it was apparently cold, not that she would know.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry for keeping secrets from you," Roxanne said as Rose shed her shirt. For a brief moment, Rose felt like she was at Hogwarts again, dealing with the latest drama between her cousins. The nostalgia washed over her like warm water, and she found herself giddy. When her shirt was on, she turned to Roxanne.

"I missed you," she flopped onto the cot and pulled her friend in for a hug. They held each other until Rose felt as if the frayed edges of their friendship were mended. When she went to pull away, Roxanne pulled her back, and Rose found herself smiling.

"I was so scared," Roxanne said quietly. The smile slipped from Rose's face, feeling her cousin shaking against her. Rose pulled back and this time Roxanne let her, looking at her with misty eyes.

"Rose, they told me you could die if I told you anything," Roxanne said more strongly this time. Rose wanted to say that was absurd, but for once in her life she noticed the value of not speaking her mind the second the words floated through. Instead, she sat in silence, contemplating her next words.

"Thank you," she said at last. Fighting against the questions that built in her chest, Rose took Roxanne's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "I know it wasn't an easy choice, but I appreciate that you made it."

Roxanne was clearly still bothered by the predicament, but the corner of her mouth turned up in a smile nonetheless. "Come on," Roxanne cleared her throat, standing and letting Rose's hand fall off of hers, "You're family. If anyone is gonna recklessly put your life at risk it's gonna involve your best cousin and gallons of booze."

The two girls slipped out of the tent to meet Alice. The blinding light that met Rose reminded her how long it had been since she'd stepped outside. She hadn't known where they were, but seeing the woods in the daytime made their tent look much less menacing than she'd imagined it. On the contrary, if someone were to come across it on an adventurous hike, they'd think a group of friends were simply camping. Why anyone would in this weather though, Rose couldn't fathom. They were right, it was very cold out. Rose thanked the higher powers that their tent had an enchanted heater. Rose could see her breath, and shook as it took hold of her legs. Normally, she would fight the pain of the chill. But right then, it reminded her that she was alive.

Alice must have noticed the lost gaze on Rose's face, because she grabbed her hand, dragging her along the trees. The three walked in silence, and Rose was comfortable in a way that she hadn't been since leaving. If she focused, she could imagine that she and her two best friends were walking to the pitch after class, not talking because their brains hurt too much from studying all day. She was brought out of her fantasy, surprisingly, by the shape of the trees. They were a foreign species, not native to england. She snorted; only Rose would get tripped up on such a small detail.

After walking for a bit, Rose started to notice patches of snow in well-shaded areas.

"Where are we that there's snow in June?" She wondered aloud. Alice stopped suddenly, yanking Rose's arm with her.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, pulling her arm back quickly. She cradled it as she glared at Alice.

"Sorry," Alice muttered, staring at the patch of white, "I just didn't notice it."

"The wardens won't tell us where we are, 'for our own safety.'" Roxanne mocked in a funny voice. They started walking again, and Alice kept looking at the trees, mind seemingly far away.

"Hey, are you okay?" Rose asked. She had asked that question often in the past year, and each time she asked it, Rose had felt intrusive. And just as every time she had asked it, Alice turned back to her and grinned.

"Of course, why?" Alice asked. It was clear, throughout the loss of her mother, that Alice didn't like to talk about the things that bothered her. Back at Hogwarts, Alice was a rampent complainer of all students. If she had something good to say about you, there was something bad to even it out. In the past year, Alice had lost that, gaining a more distant, airy quality to her. Nobody had addressed the change, as it wasn't damaging anybody. But there was no denying that Alice was a different person.

Rose simply smiled back and shrugged, "You just seem a little out of it, that's all."

"Oh," Alice looked back to the trees, "I'm just wondering which countries experience winter in June."

"That's right," Rose's face lit up, "It depends on the hemispheres right?"

"I'm so bad at geography," Roxanne groaned.

"Me too," Alice and Rose echoed.

"Sam might know, we can ask him when we get back," Rose concluded with a nod.

"Hold on," Roxanne stopped suddenly, putting an arm in front of Rose. She stumbled and grabbed onto her friend's arm.

"What is it?" Alice asked, but was shushed by Roxanne. It was then that Rose noticed movement in the trees to their right. The three stood still as the movement ceased. Rose held her breath, waiting for what might happen next. She was suddenly reminded of Scorpius's warnings. They'll kill you the voice rang in her head. On instinct, Rose couldn't let her friends get hurt before she did. Making to push Roxanne's arm out of the way, Rose stepped forward to confront whatever they faced.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A voice came from behind them. Rose spun around to come face to face with the man she had just been thinking about.

"Oh, it's you," Rose sighed, letting her breath out.

"I told you not to leave the tent!" Scorpius was staring wide-eyed at the trio.

"Yeah for over two weeks," Rose scoffed, "You can't just keep me locked up in there forever, I'll go crazy."

"You'd rather risk your life?" He asked without the fury that his voice had once had. He was clearly tiring of her arguments quickly.

"Come on," Roxanne argued, "Just one quick walk to town. Maybe you could take her out to dinner?" she grinned mischievously.

Scorpius sighed and massaged his forehead, "Do you guys not understand what 'Your life is in danger' means?"

"We're a bunch of Gryffindors, what do you think?" Roxanne retorted with a sly grin.

Scorpius took a moment to consider Rose carefully. She wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but it was probably something along the lines of: fuck this stupid fucking shit wants to put her life at risk be my guest it's not as if i've risked my life the last month to save your ass ungrateful piece of- Rose grinned at the thought.

And as Rose smiled, Scorpius's tough demeanor started to break down. The tension in his shoulders eased, and he dropped his hand from his forehead. Rose noticed these small changes, and felt a strange flutter in her chest. She held her breath, surprised that anything could penetrate the numbness that had taken hold there. And for once, she didn't immediately stifle it down.

"Everyone is coming," Scorpius said at last. Alice and Roxanne gave a cheer, and Rose's smile beamed, "I'll have to spend a day or two making a solid plan. This is extremely dangerous, and you have to know that you'll be in more danger if we're spotted."

Rose searched his face for the apprehension and fear that had lined his features the last few weeks, but she found it was covered up by an emotion she couldn't quite place. She fiddled with her hands awkwardly as she thought of how to express that she would be safe.

"Thank you," she said at last, the simple words feeling like they were just the tip of an iceberg of words that she wanted to spill.

"Don't thank me yet," Scorpius warned, turning from her and walking back to the tent, "We've gotta make sure your defensive spellwork is up to par."

Author's Note: Thanks for being super patient, and sticking through with my story! Anytime there's a review or I get kudos, my heart fills, even if it's a bad review. This story will NOT be abandoned, but school and work have been piling up. I plan to have one more chapter up in the next week (which will be a bomb of emotions, if I do it right), then updates may become sporadic again. It took me a lot of thought as to how I wanted the next events to proceed, but I think I'm at least relatively happy with the results. Have some happy holidays, and I'll see you guys soon!