Home
It was hours later when Rose finally made it back to her dorm room. After a good hour on the bench inwardly freaking out about her encounter with Malfoy, she had walked around campus trying to figure out what would posses him to come all this way to ask her something he had to have known the answer to.
Did he really think she would come and work for him?
Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley, on principle, did not get along. They actually harbored a very strong dislike for each other. They always had.
Except for that one night.
Rose thought about the night of Gryffindor’s Quidditch Cup win in her sixth year…
Everyone was excited after the match, James Potter in particular. He was captain that year and was determined to take the cup back from Slytherin who had won it the year before. After an exhaustingly close match, James, the team’s Seeker, had caught the Snitch, giving Gryffindor a 180-30 win. Rose remembered that match like it was yesterday. It was by far her best showing as Keeper ever.
The common room was packed with people, not just from Gryffindor. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had come to celebrate the downfall of Slytherin. James and Fred, who were both very well acquainted with the house elves in the kitchen, had brought tons of food, and more importantly, firewhiskey to the party.
In the spirit of celebration, everyone, including Rose, had consumed quite a bit of the firewhiskey, which didn’t seem to get any less abundant as the night went on.
Thus, a more than very tipsy Rose, found a sulking Scorpius in the corner. (She never figured out why he was there. She didn’t remember any other Slytherins there at the time. But she was too happily drunk to really think about it too much.) She didn’t remember who started it, or even if they actually spoke to each other. But she did remember the steamy kiss they shared by the fireplace. This led to them on the nearby couch full out snogging for Merlin knows how long. It was an intoxicated Albus who found them and punched Malfoy in the face. The next morning she was repulsed and embarrassed (and hung over) and went back to comfortably hating Scorpius Malfoy.
When Rose finally did get back to her room, she was surprised to find it dark. Liz was usually back in the room by this time. When she turned on the lights, she was startled by a figure sitting on her bed. She was just about to draw her wand again when the figure spoke.
“Where have you been?” Kenny’s voice sounded sadder than Rose had ever heard it. She silently thanked God she didn’t take out her wand. This was going to be an awkward enough conversation.
“I lost track of time,” it was the truth. “Were you sitting in the dark?”
“So…” Kenny ignored her question and looked at Rose expectantly.
Rose’s first instinct was to stall.
“So what?”
“Seriously, Rose, we were basically jumped by some random stranger who you seemed to know, and you were both ready to fight each other with sticks. What the hell went on today?”
“Honestly, I’m still not really sure,”
“Cut it out. Who was that guy?”
“That’s really not the…”
“Rose,” Kenny looked at her warningly. She figured she was going to have to tell him eventually, better get it all out now.
“Ok, ok. His name was Scorpius Malfoy. We went to school together.”
“And what was he doing here?”
“He wanted me to come and work with him,”
“Doing what?”
“Alright, um, Kenny, I think we need to talk about something else before we get to this,”
“What are you talking about! I deserve to know what went on and why you told me to leave!”
“I know you do. But will you just listen to me for a second?” Kenny nodded his head reluctantly.
Rose looked down at her feet. This was it. “Imawitch,” she mumbled quickly.
“What?” Kenny didn’t understand what she said.
“I am a witch,” she said more slowly.
“You wouldn’t be if you just told me what you needed to talk about,” he still looked confused.
“No,” she sighed in frustration, she didn’t expect him to be so stupid, “I’m a witch, I can do magic, I can make potions, I didn’t go to regular school before I came here, I went to a school of ‘witchcraft and wizardry’, this,” she pulled her wand out of her bag, “is my wand.”
He was looking at her like she was crazy. “Are you trying to pretend you’re crazy to avoid this conversation?”
Rose pointed her wand at her desk, “Accio,” a book came zooming across the room and she caught it in her other hand.
Kenny’s eyes were wide looking at her. “H-h-how did you do that?”
“Magic,” she said simply with a smile.
Kenny was speechless. He seemed to be trying to figure what he just saw out.
“Are you ok?” Rose asked tentatively, sitting down next to him on the bed.
He jumped up quickly. “You obviously have gone to great lengths to not discuss what went on this afternoon or why you don’t want me to meet your family or anything really,”
“I didn’t want you to meet my family because they’re wizards too. But you know now…”
“Rose, I’m going…I’m…” he simply turned and started to walk out the door.
“Kenny, wait, I’m not making this up. I’m trying to talk to you about this,” she pleaded.
“When you want to talk like a rational adult, you know where to find me,” he turned back around and opened the door. While he was storming out he crashed into a skinny, brown haired boy he had never seen before. After a grunted ‘sorry’, he continued rushing angrily down the hall.
Rose quickly appeared at the door. “Kenny! Don’t go, I swear…” her eyes fell to the skinny boy who had been pushed aside by her disgruntled boyfriend, “Hugo?!”
She rushed over and enveloped her little brother in a tight hug. She swore he got bigger every time she saw him. He hugged her back so tight she thought he was going to break a rib. Damn he was strong.
“Hugo, you’re crushing me,” she said in a strained voice.
“Oh!” he let go quickly, “Sorry.”
She looked at his face for the first time. He looked terrible. He had dark bags underneath his eyes and his hair looked like he hadn’t combed it in days.
“What are you doing here?”
He just looked at his shoes. “Is there somewhere we can go so we’re not in the hall?”
“Oh yeah,” she was so excited to see her little brother she had forgotten they were in the hallway of her building, and just noticed that people were starting to come out of their rooms to see who was out there, “My room’s right here.”
She led him into the room and shut the door. He started pacing around the room while chewing on his thumbnail.
Rose was starting to get the feeling this wasn’t just a friendly visit.
“Hugo, what’s wrong?” He looked just like their mother pacing around that room like that.
He stopped and looked up at her. She was startled to see that he had tears in his eyes.
“It’s Mom,”
Rose’s stomach dropped. “What?! What about Mom?!”
“She was…she was…” he had trouble even getting the words out, “she was attacked.” He winced like saying the word hurt.
She had no idea what to say. A chill swept through her whole body as the worst-case scenario popped into her head.
“She’s not…” she couldn’t even bring herself to say it.
“She survived,” Hugo responded quietly, “sort of.”
“What do you mean ‘sort of’,”
“She’s at St. Mungo’s. When I left the Healers were still with her. They’re not sure what happened, so they don’t really know how to fix it.” He dropped down on the bed, overwhelmed with the information he had said out loud for the first time. He put his face in his hands, not wanting his sister to see him crying. He had told himself when he left the hospital that he would be strong for Rose. He felt a reassuring hand on his back.
“How did you get here?” she whispered.
“Uncle Harry arranged for an emergency trans-Atlantic portkey,” he wiped the tears away from his cheeks.
“Can we get back?”
“Yeah, there’s one going back at,” he looked at his watch, “midnight.”
Rose laid back on the bed, trying to take it all in. The image of her mother lying helpless in the hospital floated into her mind. But it couldn’t be her mother, her mother was one of the most powerful witches in the world. She couldn’t be hurt by anything; she fought in that war, she didn’t lose like this…
“What are you doing? We have to be at some field outside of Hartford in an hour.”
“An hour?!” Rose sat up, “You said midnight. It’s six o’clock.”
Hugo looked at his watch again. “It’s eleven o’clock.”
“Five hours, Hugo, five hours behind,” she replied in frustration. Why could no one remember that there was a time difference between Connecticut and England? Come on it really wasn’t that hard.
She grabbed her wand and gave it a flick. Her suitcase jumped on the bed and clothes started zooming from the other side of the room into it.
In twenty minutes, she had everything stuffed into her bag ready to leave. She scribbled a note to Liz and stuck it on her desk. Then she remembered the other person she needed to tell.
“Kenny,” she whispered, mostly to herself.
Hugo had heard her “Who’s Kenny?” he asked.
“He’s just…a friend,” she whipped out her cell phone and dialed Kenny’s number. He didn’t pick up. This concerned her. He always had his cell phone on him, and he always picked up when she called. He was avoiding her on purpose.
She left him a hurried, slightly incoherent voicemail and turned to her brother.
“So they really use those things, huh?” Hugo was looking at the phone in her hand.
“Yeah, it’s actually a pain. I don’t have to make sure I have service to use my Patronus,” she gave him a weak smile, “So you know where we’re going?”
“Yup, same place I came in,” he outstretched his hand toward her, “Hold on tight.” She grabbed his hand and they turned on the spot. Rose was headed home and she was terrified of what she would find there.
Did he really think she would come and work for him?
Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley, on principle, did not get along. They actually harbored a very strong dislike for each other. They always had.
Except for that one night.
Rose thought about the night of Gryffindor’s Quidditch Cup win in her sixth year…
Everyone was excited after the match, James Potter in particular. He was captain that year and was determined to take the cup back from Slytherin who had won it the year before. After an exhaustingly close match, James, the team’s Seeker, had caught the Snitch, giving Gryffindor a 180-30 win. Rose remembered that match like it was yesterday. It was by far her best showing as Keeper ever.
The common room was packed with people, not just from Gryffindor. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had come to celebrate the downfall of Slytherin. James and Fred, who were both very well acquainted with the house elves in the kitchen, had brought tons of food, and more importantly, firewhiskey to the party.
In the spirit of celebration, everyone, including Rose, had consumed quite a bit of the firewhiskey, which didn’t seem to get any less abundant as the night went on.
Thus, a more than very tipsy Rose, found a sulking Scorpius in the corner. (She never figured out why he was there. She didn’t remember any other Slytherins there at the time. But she was too happily drunk to really think about it too much.) She didn’t remember who started it, or even if they actually spoke to each other. But she did remember the steamy kiss they shared by the fireplace. This led to them on the nearby couch full out snogging for Merlin knows how long. It was an intoxicated Albus who found them and punched Malfoy in the face. The next morning she was repulsed and embarrassed (and hung over) and went back to comfortably hating Scorpius Malfoy.
When Rose finally did get back to her room, she was surprised to find it dark. Liz was usually back in the room by this time. When she turned on the lights, she was startled by a figure sitting on her bed. She was just about to draw her wand again when the figure spoke.
“Where have you been?” Kenny’s voice sounded sadder than Rose had ever heard it. She silently thanked God she didn’t take out her wand. This was going to be an awkward enough conversation.
“I lost track of time,” it was the truth. “Were you sitting in the dark?”
“So…” Kenny ignored her question and looked at Rose expectantly.
Rose’s first instinct was to stall.
“So what?”
“Seriously, Rose, we were basically jumped by some random stranger who you seemed to know, and you were both ready to fight each other with sticks. What the hell went on today?”
“Honestly, I’m still not really sure,”
“Cut it out. Who was that guy?”
“That’s really not the…”
“Rose,” Kenny looked at her warningly. She figured she was going to have to tell him eventually, better get it all out now.
“Ok, ok. His name was Scorpius Malfoy. We went to school together.”
“And what was he doing here?”
“He wanted me to come and work with him,”
“Doing what?”
“Alright, um, Kenny, I think we need to talk about something else before we get to this,”
“What are you talking about! I deserve to know what went on and why you told me to leave!”
“I know you do. But will you just listen to me for a second?” Kenny nodded his head reluctantly.
Rose looked down at her feet. This was it. “Imawitch,” she mumbled quickly.
“What?” Kenny didn’t understand what she said.
“I am a witch,” she said more slowly.
“You wouldn’t be if you just told me what you needed to talk about,” he still looked confused.
“No,” she sighed in frustration, she didn’t expect him to be so stupid, “I’m a witch, I can do magic, I can make potions, I didn’t go to regular school before I came here, I went to a school of ‘witchcraft and wizardry’, this,” she pulled her wand out of her bag, “is my wand.”
He was looking at her like she was crazy. “Are you trying to pretend you’re crazy to avoid this conversation?”
Rose pointed her wand at her desk, “Accio,” a book came zooming across the room and she caught it in her other hand.
Kenny’s eyes were wide looking at her. “H-h-how did you do that?”
“Magic,” she said simply with a smile.
Kenny was speechless. He seemed to be trying to figure what he just saw out.
“Are you ok?” Rose asked tentatively, sitting down next to him on the bed.
He jumped up quickly. “You obviously have gone to great lengths to not discuss what went on this afternoon or why you don’t want me to meet your family or anything really,”
“I didn’t want you to meet my family because they’re wizards too. But you know now…”
“Rose, I’m going…I’m…” he simply turned and started to walk out the door.
“Kenny, wait, I’m not making this up. I’m trying to talk to you about this,” she pleaded.
“When you want to talk like a rational adult, you know where to find me,” he turned back around and opened the door. While he was storming out he crashed into a skinny, brown haired boy he had never seen before. After a grunted ‘sorry’, he continued rushing angrily down the hall.
Rose quickly appeared at the door. “Kenny! Don’t go, I swear…” her eyes fell to the skinny boy who had been pushed aside by her disgruntled boyfriend, “Hugo?!”
She rushed over and enveloped her little brother in a tight hug. She swore he got bigger every time she saw him. He hugged her back so tight she thought he was going to break a rib. Damn he was strong.
“Hugo, you’re crushing me,” she said in a strained voice.
“Oh!” he let go quickly, “Sorry.”
She looked at his face for the first time. He looked terrible. He had dark bags underneath his eyes and his hair looked like he hadn’t combed it in days.
“What are you doing here?”
He just looked at his shoes. “Is there somewhere we can go so we’re not in the hall?”
“Oh yeah,” she was so excited to see her little brother she had forgotten they were in the hallway of her building, and just noticed that people were starting to come out of their rooms to see who was out there, “My room’s right here.”
She led him into the room and shut the door. He started pacing around the room while chewing on his thumbnail.
Rose was starting to get the feeling this wasn’t just a friendly visit.
“Hugo, what’s wrong?” He looked just like their mother pacing around that room like that.
He stopped and looked up at her. She was startled to see that he had tears in his eyes.
“It’s Mom,”
Rose’s stomach dropped. “What?! What about Mom?!”
“She was…she was…” he had trouble even getting the words out, “she was attacked.” He winced like saying the word hurt.
She had no idea what to say. A chill swept through her whole body as the worst-case scenario popped into her head.
“She’s not…” she couldn’t even bring herself to say it.
“She survived,” Hugo responded quietly, “sort of.”
“What do you mean ‘sort of’,”
“She’s at St. Mungo’s. When I left the Healers were still with her. They’re not sure what happened, so they don’t really know how to fix it.” He dropped down on the bed, overwhelmed with the information he had said out loud for the first time. He put his face in his hands, not wanting his sister to see him crying. He had told himself when he left the hospital that he would be strong for Rose. He felt a reassuring hand on his back.
“How did you get here?” she whispered.
“Uncle Harry arranged for an emergency trans-Atlantic portkey,” he wiped the tears away from his cheeks.
“Can we get back?”
“Yeah, there’s one going back at,” he looked at his watch, “midnight.”
Rose laid back on the bed, trying to take it all in. The image of her mother lying helpless in the hospital floated into her mind. But it couldn’t be her mother, her mother was one of the most powerful witches in the world. She couldn’t be hurt by anything; she fought in that war, she didn’t lose like this…
“What are you doing? We have to be at some field outside of Hartford in an hour.”
“An hour?!” Rose sat up, “You said midnight. It’s six o’clock.”
Hugo looked at his watch again. “It’s eleven o’clock.”
“Five hours, Hugo, five hours behind,” she replied in frustration. Why could no one remember that there was a time difference between Connecticut and England? Come on it really wasn’t that hard.
She grabbed her wand and gave it a flick. Her suitcase jumped on the bed and clothes started zooming from the other side of the room into it.
In twenty minutes, she had everything stuffed into her bag ready to leave. She scribbled a note to Liz and stuck it on her desk. Then she remembered the other person she needed to tell.
“Kenny,” she whispered, mostly to herself.
Hugo had heard her “Who’s Kenny?” he asked.
“He’s just…a friend,” she whipped out her cell phone and dialed Kenny’s number. He didn’t pick up. This concerned her. He always had his cell phone on him, and he always picked up when she called. He was avoiding her on purpose.
She left him a hurried, slightly incoherent voicemail and turned to her brother.
“So they really use those things, huh?” Hugo was looking at the phone in her hand.
“Yeah, it’s actually a pain. I don’t have to make sure I have service to use my Patronus,” she gave him a weak smile, “So you know where we’re going?”
“Yup, same place I came in,” he outstretched his hand toward her, “Hold on tight.” She grabbed his hand and they turned on the spot. Rose was headed home and she was terrified of what she would find there.
