The week dragged like no other. Every day seemed to take twice its usual allotment, and nights became an agony of sleeplessness and restless dreams. Productivity was out of the question. Rose spent most of her class-time watching the clock tick, counting the seconds and wondering just how she was going to stand there on Friday and greet Scorpius as though nothing had ever happened between them.
It seemed to take forever. And yet, despite the torturous wait, it was with genuine surprise that she opened her eyes and found herself at Friday morning. Where exactly had all that time gone? For a few minutes she allowed herself the indulgence of lying there, snug and warm beneath the covers, eyes closed as she imagined she had nothing more interesting than a Transfiguration test to look forward to. Then she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pushed herself up to greet the morning.
The Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students would be arriving at 6 o'clock. Rose couldn't concentrate, her heartbeat growing progressively more erratic as the day drew on, and her stomach churning sickeningly so that the idea of actually eating was thrown out the window well before breakfast, regardless of Dom's pestering or Lorcan's quiet concern. By the time of her Transfiguration test, she was such a twitching bundle of nerves she could hardly hold her wand steady, and would have struggled to turn a needle into a matchstick let alone her cat into the fully-fledged bald eagle it was supposed to be.
Astonishingly, in a rare and uncharacteristic act of mercy, Professor Millew allowed her to take the test as theory rather than demonstration.
"Just this once, Miss Weasley," the Head of Gryffindor informed her sternly. "Due to the extenuating circumstances, you understand?"
Rose was too busy being grateful to wonder at this surprising demonstration of leniency. Nor did she mind Dom's grumbling about unfairness and teachers' pets afterwards. All she cared about was getting through the day, and then the weekend, without making some kind of irredeemable fool of herself.
It was just as well that in Potions, her final lesson of the day, Professor Cauldrish assigned them to work in pairs, because by that point she was completely unable to uphold even the façade of studying.
"You need to relax," Albus told her as he patiently worked for both of them, simultaneously stirring their potion, adjusting the cauldron fire and measuring ingredients, while Rose sat staring mutely at the magical clock that hung in the far-right corner of the dungeon classroom.
"I'm fine," she replied curtly.
Her cousin made a sound of derision in his throat. "You're about to have a heart attack."
"I said I'm fine."
"Alright, you can chop these then," said Albus, thrusting a tray of horned slugs in her direction. Rose picked up her knife and gazed at it numbly, but before she had a chance to use it Albus snatched the slugs away again. "Actually, scratch that," he said. "I can't be bothered with the drama when you accidentally cut your own finger off."
"Very funny," she retorted. But her hand was shaking, and maybe it wasn't such a good idea for her to be handling sharp objects right then.
"Try not to stress too much," he told her, pushing his hair back with his sleeve, green eyes darting back and forth as he concentrated on several things at once. "Just ignore him, and it'll be over before you know it."
There was something strangely wrong about getting love advice from Albus. Rose stared down at her nails and replied as nonchalantly as possible, "I have to show him around."
"Pfft," Albus scoffed. "Show him around? He knows more about this castle than you do."
Her head jerked up and she glared at him. "I resent that."
Her cousin quirked an eyebrow to show he didn't really care. "Scorpius and I owned the Maurauder's Map for five years," he pointed out.
"Yeah – well – that's not even legal."
"Doesn't change the fact he knows every nook and cranny of this castle, including some parts I'd bet a galleon you've never even heard of."
She had a sudden image of Scorpius tucked into one of the hidden corners of Hogwarts, wrapped around a faceless girl with long blonde hair. Rose pursed her lips shut and stared at the wall, feeling nauseous.
The silence stretched. When it became uncomfortable, Albus coughed restlessly. "Listen, Rose – "
"I have to show the rest of the Durmstrang students around," she interrupted, desperate to avoid a conversation about her feelings. "And he'll be there. He'll be right here." The idea was terrifying and she had a moment of pure vertigo as she considered it.
Albus frowned down at their cauldron, into which he had just deposited their freshly chopped slugs. "He'll stay away from you if he knows what's good for him," he replied.
Something sharp and painful stabbed at Rose's stomach at, and she turned to face her cousin fully. "Al, you wouldn't – you won't – "
He hesitated just a little longer than she was comfortable with, and didn't meet her gaze as he spoke. "No," he said at last. "After all, I'm Quidditch captain, aren't I? Got to set an example."
"Exactly," she said, staring hard at him in an attempt to get a read on his emotions, without much success. "Besides, McGonagall will be mad as hell if you ruin her whole intercultural awareness thing."
"Mm."
"And you know what your parents would say – "
"Grind these up, would you?" Albus cut her off, thrusting a handful of beetle eyes in her face. "Then you can stir for a while. My arm's about to drop off."
His evasiveness did nothing to calm her nerves, and by the time the bell finally rang to signal the end of class, she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her breathing calm and controlled. Leaving Albus to pack up, she made her way as quickly as possible back to her own dormitory to get ready. Once there she showered, did her hair, agonised over what to wear, redid her hair again, cleaned her room, and was half-way through re-cataloguing her entire book collection when Lorcan arrived.
"You look nice," he said as soon as he saw her, tactfully ignoring the piles of books scattered around her feet.
"Thanks." She glanced down at herself, in ceremonial robes and with her hair in a side braid and a little bit of make-up and okay, maybe she had put a bit more effort into her appearance than normal, but it wasn't because of him. She was representing Hogwarts, for Merlin's sake! She didn't need any other reason than that.
"I like your hair," Lorcan noted, tugging on a loose curl and distracting her from her rather chaotic and jumbled thoughts. "You could hide Wrackspurts in there."
"Gee thanks," she said with a roll of her eyes.
Smiling, he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, then drew back to survey her. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be," she shrugged.
"Excellent. Shall we?"" He dropped his bag on the living room couch and offered her his arm.
She stared pointedly at his school robes. "You're not going to get changed?"
"Well, I do have my sunshine yellow robes," he mused, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "They're good for welcoming visitors. Perhaps I could – "
"On second thought, stay in your uniform," said Rose, seizing his hand. "Come on then, let's go."
He squeezed her fingers between his own, and she smiled back at him. It was something of an anchor to her as they made their way to the Entrance Hall, where an agitated Professor McGonagall greeted them as though they were running hours behind schedule.
"I thought you'd never get here," she snapped, leading them forward to where she wanted them to stand. "Scamander, your hair." She gave Lorcan's shoulder-length blonde locks a furious glare. "Isn't there anything to be done about it?"
Lorcan smiled meekly. "Would you like to give me a haircut, Professor?"
The Headmistress peered at him, as though trying to determine the level of sarcasm in his question. When he made no further comment, she pursed her lips and muttered what sounded like 'Ravenclaws' under her breath, before taking Lorcan's hat out of his hands and stuffing it onto his head.
"Just cover it up," she snapped, wandering off to bark at some unsuspecting fifth years.
Rose hid her smile behind her hand. She watched as the rest of the students started to arrive, filtering in from different directions according to their House allegiance. There wasn't much for her or Lorcan to do, since McGonagall and the Heads of Houses seemed to have everything under control, so she occupied herself by looking official and occasionally pointing a confused first year in the right direction. At five to six, she spotted Albus emerging from the dungeons, a decidedly sullen-looking Flora lurking at his side. Professor Cauldrish swooped on him before she had a chance to say anything, steering him to his place of honour with the rest of the Hogwarts Quidditch team.
Eventually everything was in order, the entire school gathered in nervous, fidgety excitement.
"Finnigan, your tie," snapped McGonagall, patrolling the lines of students with the air of a dissatisfied bird of prey. "Miss Hopkins, pull your skirt down. This isn't a rock concert!" Daisy scowled and readjusted her uniform.
With a minute to go before the arrival of the visiting students, McGonagall led them out to the front of the castle. Rose and Lorcan went first, the mass of students assembling in rows behind them. The Hogwarts Quidditch team with Albus at its head lined up slightly to one side, next to Professor McGonagall and the other Heads.
It was a beautiful evening. The sky was a deep indigo, and the first stars were beginning to appear high above them. In the distance, the canopy of the Forbidden Forest swayed slightly in the light breeze. Rose eyed it with distrust. The memory of her encounter in the forest the previous year stabbed at her, and with it came another wave of vertigo. She could still hear Scorpius' whispered words to her as she lay staring up at the trees.
Just stay still Rose. Stay still and I'll get help. It's going to be okay. It's all going to be okay…
A sob rose up within her throat and she swallowed with an effort, her surroundings blurring momentarily as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her.
"Rose," Lorcan's voice was low and quiet, so that only she could hear it. He curled his warm fingers around her icy ones. "You need to breathe."
She sucked in a lungful of air, and the darkness receded a little. She could do this – she could –
"Look, here they come!" someone cried out.
For a moment, Rose stared stupidly across the grounds, before she realised that most of the crowd were looking upwards. And sure enough, she could see a dark cloud growing in the sky, larger and larger until it took up half of the otherwise clear evening sky. The colour inside it was a swirling, smoky grey; as Rose watched it began to change, the colours solidifying into shapes and figures, shadowy forms that were surely people emerging out of the gloom…
"It's a portal," she whispered, to nobody in particular.
A velvety, midnight-blue carpet unfurled itself from the base of the cloud, falling to the ground and coming to rest with a heavy thud on the grass, supported by nothing more than air. The cloud's surface lightened, and the shapes of the people inside grew clearer and larger until they were stepping out onto the carpet steps, which took their weight with no apparent difficulty. One by one, the visitors began to descend towards the waiting crowd, their blue uniforms blending with the evening sky behind them.
"Beauxbatons," murmured Lorcan.
There were five boys and five girls, just as the team sheets had indicated, as well as a number of haughty looking teachers. Rose watched as they stepped onto the grass and made their way to where Professor McGonagall stood waiting for them. The Hogwarts' Headmistress bowed low, then embraced each of the Beauxbatons' teachers in turn, kissing their cheeks with a sort of forced endurance. That done, they moved along to greet the Heads of Houses, and the Hogwarts' Quidditch team. Rose watched their movements with something of a dull curiosity, not even noticing how familiar one of the students was until he stood right in front of her.
"Rose," he said, leaning forward and kissing each of her cheeks. "Do you remember me?"
She blinked, taking in the dark hair and tanned skin of the boy in front of her. Something stirred in her memory.
"Er…"
"It's Jean," he offered with a smile before she could put a name to the face. "I danced with you at your cousin's wedding."
Swiftly, she rearranged her features into something less dumbfounded. "Yes, of course. I – er… never expected to see you here."
It wasn't the politest thing she could have come up with. Jean, however, didn't seem to mind, merely laughing and moving on to shake Lorcan's hand, before turning to call back to her with a smile, "We'll talk later, Rose."
There was no time to dwell on the strangeness of it. A second portal was already forming in the sky, another thick, blood-red carpet tumbling heavily to the ground. Rose gulped down the nerves churning in her stomach. It felt as though there was something sharp and painful lodged in her throat.
One by one, the Durmstrang students emerged, transforming from vague, hulking shadows into solid forms as they watched. Their thick fur coats made them appear much larger than their Hogwarts or Beauxbatons counterparts, and rather intimidating given the angle they were approaching from. Rose scanned each face intently as they stepped off the carpet. All boys, their features shadowed slightly by the fading light. All unfamiliar.
For a brief, heart-stopping moment, he wasn't there.
And then she saw him. The last to descend, he stood at the very end of the row, blonde hair covered by a cap that came down over his ears and a thick red scarf concealing the lower half of his face. He looked like a complete stranger. But there was no mistaking those eyes, pools of quicksilver that fixed on her from across the clearing, holding her in place as completely as if she had been turned to stone.
He was right there. Right there. Her fingers twitched and she leant forward stupidly, as though to break ranks and run towards him.
Vaguely, she felt Lorcan's hand curl around her own. "Are you alright?" he whispered. "Rose?"
Scorpius' eyes darted to their entwined fingers, and Rose had a sudden urge to rip her hand free. She focused on remembering all the unanswered letters, the hours spent crying herself to sleep, the pain of the last six months, squeezing Lorcan's fingers tight enough to cut off his circulation. Scorpius blinked and looked away.
The Durmstrang Headmaster stepped forward, robes sweeping the grass as he bowed low to Professor McGonagall and the rest of the Hogwarts staff. His students followed his lead, shaking hands in a steady, monotonous rhythm behind him.
One by one, Rose shook hands with the Durmstrang students, the leaden weight in her stomach growing until it felt as though she were being dragged downwards with the force of it. She dropped her gaze before Scorpius approached, fixing her eyes on a blade of grass and thrusting her hand blindly into the air in front of her, unable to stomach the idea of being so close to him.
A moment later she felt the warmth of his palm against her own, grip strong and sure as she remembered. Somehow the familiarity of it only made everything worse. There was a heartbeat's silence before he spoke.
"Rose." His voice was soft, and filled with unspoken things. It reminded her of warm embraces in the Room of Requirement, the heaviness of his arm around her waist, the rumble in his chest when he spoke. "It's nice to see you."
She closed her eyes and nodded, determined not to cry, not to ever cry in front of him again. For the briefest moment his hand tightened around hers, the pad of his thumb brushing featherlight over her knuckle. Then he was gone, her hand hanging limp and empty in the night air until Lorcan took it back within his own.
The procession of Durmstrang students moved to greet the Hogwarts' Quidditch team. Albus' features were twisted into hard dislike, and his long delay in shaking Scorpius' hand spoke louder than anything he could put in words. Neither of them looked at one another, Scorpius moving swiftly on to Hugo. Rose saw her brother's lips move, though she was too far away to make out the words. Scorpius shook his head in response, and Hugo's lips twitched. For one absurd moment Rose thought he was about to smile. He rocked backwards, bouncing on his heels a little like he was about to launch himself, then leant forward and punched Scorpius in the face.
There was a sickening crack, followed by bedlam. Everyone was yelling, pointing, the teachers scrambling over each other in their haste to intervene. The Durmstrang students roared in outrage and rushed over to Scorpius, who had his hands covering his face and blood gushing down the front of his robes. The other members of the Hogwarts' Quidditch team hurried to form a protective barrier between them and Hugo, since several of the larger Durmstrang boys were shaking their fists and shouting threateningly in their native language.
"What in Merlin's name," barked McGonagall, sounding more livid than Rose could ever remember hearing her. The Headmistress pushed her way through the throng, waving her wand a few times to forcibly separate people, before rounding on Hugo like a hissing vulture. "Straight to my office Weasley. Disgraceful behaviour – our guests – never in my life – get out of my sight boy!"
Hugo didn't argue, just turned and stalked back into the castle without a second glance, cutting a clear path through the students as they hurried to get out of his way.
One of the Durmstrang teachers had taken out their wand to repair Scorpius' nose. The blood stains down the front of his robes were scourgified, though they had less luck with the dark bruise flowering across his cheekbone – Scorpius waved them away angrily before they could fix it. His eyes flickered in her direction, before he shook off his teachers and strode away in the opposite direction. Rose felt something gnaw inside her stomach as she watched him go, but wasn't sure whether it was pity, anger, or both.
Her eyes cut to Albus, and she saw that he looked as tortured as she felt. Dimly, she recalled their conversation over Potions earlier in the year.
"I want to punch him, not play him."
And it had been her own brother, her own flesh and blood… bile rose inside her and she tore her hand from Lorcan's grasp, clapping it over her mouth instead.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She shook her head, closing her eyes against the swirl of the night sky above her.
He put an arm around her shoulders and began to steer her gently towards the castle steps. Nobody tried to stop them. The teachers were preoccupied in frantic talks with the Durmstrang officials, several of whom were pointing angrily at their disappearing portal as though to indicate their willingness to march straight back where they came from, while their students skulked in a protective huddle, as though afraid someone else might try to attack them. The Beauxbatons' delegation huddled to one side, looking scared and confused. The rest of Hogwarts were slowly beginning to filter back inside, although several groups of students lingered on the steps, necks craning as they attempted to watch the drama unfold.
"Oh my god!" Dom's high-pitched squeal preceded her body by a split second, before she cannoned into Rose, wrapping her arms around her neck and pressing their cheeks together. "Did you see – Hugo – I don't even – holy shit!"
Her lack of coherence was mirrored by most of the students around them. Rose could hear her brother's name echoed everywhere, like some kind of bizarre, whispered mantra.
"I've been so stupid." Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, and Dom, who was babbling at a rate of knots, didn't appear to hear her.
"I mean, one second they're all just standing there, shaking hands, and next second BAM! I think he actually broke his nose, there was so much blood. I didn't even realise Hugo knew how to punch anyone, I mean I know he's a Beater but that was hardcore! Did he say anything to you, Rose?"
She was being steered to the Gryffindor table. At some point, they had lost Lorcan. Rose glanced around, but couldn't see him anywhere; the thought that he wasn't by her side made her feel strangely at sea.
"And did you see Albus' face?" Dom continued to ramble, too caught up in the drama to notice Rose's shellshocked silence. She plonked them both onto the bench and began to fiddle nervously with her cutlery. "He looked like he'd been the one hit, you know? I don't think he expected your brother to do that. Your brother! I wonder what's going to happen to him. McGonagall was spitting chips. I don't think I've ever seen her look so angry. She's probably going to kick him off the team now. Godric, what's your mother going to say?"
Rose closed her eyes, but it was impossible to drown out her cousin's voice.
"And he worked so hard to get on the team, to just throw it all away for – he must have been so angry – I mean, after what Malfoy did, we all were – and it's nice that he stuck up for you like that, even if it does mean losing his place on the team. Don't you think Rose? Rose?"
There was a long silence, as Dom seemed to finally realise that she had been talking to herself for several minutes. "Are you alright?" she asked at last, in a much softer voice.
Rose nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
"What did Malfoy say to you?" Dom asked, in an entirely different tone of voice. "When you shook hands?"
There was a commotion at the front of the Entrance Hall. It appeared the Durmstrang students had been cajoled into staying, for they were now being guided toward the Slytherin table by a strained-looking Professor Slughorn. The Beauxbatons students were being distributed amongst the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.
"He said," her voice was as croaky as though she had not used it for months. Swallowing, Rose tried again. "He said, it's nice to see you."
There was a flat, awkward silence. "Oh," said Dom at last. "How did he say it? I mean, did he sound – "
Rose sighed, loud enough to cut her cousin off. "I really don't want to talk about it," she murmured, her eyes fixed on Professor McGonagall as the Headmistress made her way to the podium. The hubub died away until there was a ringing silence throughout the Great Hall.
"First of all, I want to extend the warmest of welcomes to our visitors," she said in a voice that carried to all corners of the room without the need for magical enhancement. "I must begin by apologising for the behaviour of a certain individual at this school." Her features darkened furiously and Rose felt herself cringe at her expression. "Here at Hogwarts we pride ourselves on welcoming all those in the magical community within our walls, and it saddens me greatly that this has been lost on one of our own students. I hope it will not sully your experiences here. Rest assured that individual will be dealt with most severely, and that the remaining staff and students of Hogwarts welcome you as our most honoured guests for this weekend. There will be no repeats of that performance."
She let her words sink in, the silence in the hall so deafening you could hear a pin drop. Rose glanced around, but her brother was nowhere to be seen. Lily sat huddled with her other friends, eyes red-rimmed as though she had been crying. Albus was currently scowling over at the Slytherin table. There was no sign of Scorpius among the Durmstrang students.
"It is with great pleasure that we welcome our visitors to the first Tri-Wizard Quidditch Tournament," Professor McGonagall announced, her voice changing as she clearly attempted to move on. "You will find the schedule for this weekend's matches posted in your respective common rooms. A leader's board has been erected in the Entrance Hall, and will update automatically after each game. At the conclusion of the weekend's matches, there will be a medal ceremony where the winners are presented with this year's prize. May the best team win."
The applause that broke out seemed somewhat more subdued than normal, no doubt due to the unexpected events of earlier. Most students were still craning their heads around trying to figure out what had happened. She noticed several pointing in her direction, and had to forcibly relax her grip on the knife she was holding.
"Do you reckon he's going to get suspended?" Dom continued in a hushed voice, as McGonagall stepped down from the podium and the conversations around the hall started up again. "I mean, in front of everyone like that… surely they've got to tell your parents? Your dad will probably be pleased though."
Her vision was blurring again, despite her best efforts. "Dom – " she choked out in a strangled voice. Her cousin stopped talking abruptly, and put a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder.
"What are you going to do?"
She shook her head in wordless despair, trembling with the effort of controlling her emotions.
The food materialised on their plates, a little quicker than usual. Perhaps the teachers hoped it would help to break the tension that hovered over the Great Hall. It was still very uncomfortable, particularly among the Durmstrang students.
"Do you want to talk to him?"
Rose's eyes drifted around the room, finding Lorcan where he sat at the Ravenclaw table. His normally serene gaze was troubled, and when their eyes met the shadows only seemed to deepen on his face. She attempted to smile, and he did the same.
"Do you think he'll try to find you?"
With a supreme effort, Rose resisted the urge to snap at her best friend. It wasn't Dom's fault her life was so screwed up, and that she had no answers to any of the questions her cousin kept asking. If she'd listened to her in the first place then none of this would have ever happened…
"He barely took his eyes off you, you know."
And there it was, the stabbing pain that had been plaguing her ever since she first learnt Scorpius would be coming back to Hogwarts. Part of her was so desperate to see him again that it was difficult just staying put in her seat; but the other half… she looked at Lorcan again, and wondered if her heart was actually shredding in her chest.
"You should eat something," Dom pressed.
The very thought made her stomach buck rebelliously. Rose knew she would be getting no food that night. She hung around just long enough to avoid suspicion, excusing herself from the table just as Daisy Hopkins began to sidle nearer. Dom didn't try to stop her.
Straight to my office Weasley, McGonagall had said. It was no surprise, then, to find Hugo slouched beside the gargoyles that guarded the entrance to the Headmistress' office. His arms were folded across his chest and he looked sullen and unrepentent. When he glanced up and saw her, his features only tightened.
"What are you doing here?" he asked bullishly, eyes sliding away from her to glare mutinously at the wall.
"I could ask you the same thing."
"Don't know the password, do I."
"That's not what I mean." She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "What were you thinking, Hugo?"
He shrugged. "I was thinking that Malfoy's smug face needed to be rearranged."
"And since when do you make a habit of going around throwing punches?"
His eyes shifted angrily to her own. "I don't make a habit of it. So long as you don't make a habit of hooking up with two-faced Slytherin cowards."
It was impossible to disguise her wince at the harshness of his words. "Is this because of dad?" she asked, forcing the question out before she lost her nerve.
"Dad was right," retorted Hugo. "He said Malfoy was a no good prat."
"Hugo, I don't need you to fight my battles for me – "
"All year!" he burst out, his voice so loud it startled one of the gargoyles awake. The creature huffed noisily, but Hugo didn't pay it the slightest attention, pushing himself to his feet and glaring furiously at Rose. "All year, I've had to watch you mope around like someone killed half your family. Do you think I don't know you spend every night crying yourself to sleep? You think I like seeing you like that? You think any of us do?"
"And what on earth have you done to help?" she found herself shouting back, unable to resist the urge to let out some of her pent up emotions. "You think punching Malfoy solves anything? Do you think I like seeing you here, about to get kicked off the Quidditch team and suspended and Merlin knows what else?"
"It sure as hell beats shaking his hand!"
"Seriously Hugo, are you twelve? What kind of a response is that?"
"It's the sort of response that comes with a bit of pride," Hugo shouted, his cheeks flushed red in anger and matching the colour of his hair. "Something you don't have a lot of, or you'd never have shacked up with a Malfoy to begin with!"
She recoiled, shock and hurt coursing through her like the afterburn of a slap to the face. Hugo's jaw tightened, and he turned away again. His words hung in the air, poisonous and heavy, until Rose couldn't stand it any longer.
"Scorpius may have left in - in unpleasant circumstances, Hugo, but that does not give you the right to go around throwing haymakers like a drunk Muggle," she said quietly, managing to keep the tremor in her voice to a minimum. "If I ever need your help dealing with my personal relationships I'll ask for it. Otherwise I'd prefer if you'd stay out of my business, regardless of how embarrassing and shameful you find it."
She turned and walked away before he could reply, allowing the first tears to fall the moment she was safely around the corner.