If I Fall for You [Harry Potter: Next Generation]

11. In Too Deep

A/N: sorry unicorns. Homework+no wifi+FREAKING BUSY LIFE=slow updates.
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Rose stared at the figure before her in complete disbelief. For days she had thought about this girl, considering her, talking about her, conjuring up suspicions. It occurred to Rose that this was the first time she had actually been less than twelve feet away from her.

It was not, she decided, a pleasant situation to be in.

"What d'you want?" Albus inquired roughly. Rose detected a tremor of fear in his voice.

"Oh, but that is not, ah... what is the word? That is not... related. That is it. Not related," Vanessa smiled, continuing to advance. "It does not matter to you what I want. The real question is: what do you want?"

"Me? I want to know what you're up to," Rose said suddenly, angrily. "What were you doing at Hogwarts a week before your school arrived?"

Surprise flickered momentarily in Vanessa's icy blue eyes, but was quickly replaced by a look of cold amusement. She stopped a mere half meter from Rose, who forced herself to stand her ground even with her heart pounding against her ribcage.

"Ah, silly, silly," Vanessa chided. "You should not ask such dangerous questions, Rose Weasley. The snake bites only if you bother him."

Rose took an involuntary step back, alarmed. "What?"

"Vanessa!"

A vaguely familiar girl came around the corner, eyeing them suspiciously. Her petite form contrasted shocking with Vanessa's; the girl's hair was wild and strikingly red, much redder than Rose's bushy shoulder-length copper hair. A spattering of freckles dusted her snub little nose and her full cheeks. She walked towards them, a slight frown creasing her high forehead, small red lips pursed.

"Ah, Charlotte," Vanessa greeted the new arrival, turning away from Rose. "Qu'est-ce que c'est?"

Charlotte frowned. "Qu'est-ce que tu fait? Madame Chapelle veut parlait avec tu."

"Oh. Bien." Vanessa looked over her shoulder at Rose. "Au revoir, Rose Weasley. Be careful with what you say."

And with one more suspicious glance at Rose, Charlotte turned and stalked off, Vanessa at her side.

For a moment Rose watched the pair recede. Then she turned around. "What was - "

She never finished the sentence. Albus was no longer standing behind her.

Great, just great.

Silence reigned in the corridor. Rose felt as though her breath was much to loud. She eyed the bare stretch of wall, wishing she could get in. What had Vanessa said when Albus declared that he wasn't associated with her? This is a lie, Albus Potter, and you know it.

Rose briefly considered going to Professor McGonagall and explaining the situation. But how was Rose to explain without exposing the fact that she, Cynthia, Lily, and Albus had been wandering the school well past curfew? The Invisibility Cloak could get confiscated, and Rose understood that it really belonged to Uncle Harry. She was sure he would be terribly displeased with his sons. It was, after all, the Invisibility Cloak, one of the legendary Deathly Hallows; not something to be treated lightly.

No, it was too late now to take this to the teachers. She would have to sort it out on her own. The thought wasn't a pleasant one. And yet if only Cynthia would come to grips with the fact the Rose existed, it would be that much easier.

Scorpius Malfoy, she thought half-heartedly. I need the room that Scorpius Malfoy is in.

Then again, if only the Room of Requirement would come to grips with the fact that Rose existed, this whole situation would be cleared up.

Or would it?

What if Scorpius really was not in the Room?

Rose returned to the Slytherin common room in a state of high distress. Cynthia Malfoy was reading by the fire; she payed no mind to Rose, and Rose's spirit sank, if possible, even lower. She went up to her dormitory, collapsed onto her bed, and slipped almost immediately into a troubled sleep.

News flash: a LINE BREAK has escaped prison and is now loose in the city. We strongly advise the population to remain indoors until the recapture of this dangerous criminal.

It was dark when Rose awoke. Farah Torneaux's whistling snores were the only sound in the dormitory. The faint green light of the lamps lining the stone walls shone through the gap between the curtains around Rose's bed; one of her dorm mates must have closed them for her when they came in from supper.

Wait. Supper?

Oh, Merlin. She'd slept through supper? At that moment her stomach rumbled in answer. Rose mentally facepalmed.

Rose sat up groggily, fumbling around for her watch on the nightstand. After much knocking random things off the table, she located resting it in plain sight on the table corner closest to her. Cursing inwardly, Rose held the watch in the pale green streak of light. 2:29am.

She must have been really tired.

Rose flopped back onto the pillows, wondering vaguely why her dorm mates hadn't bothered to wake her. Either Rose'd been too out of it, or they'd decided to pull a nasty prank and let her sleep. Rose suspected a bit of both.

The girls in her dorm were kind of weird.

Her mind wandered back to the enigmatic events of the previous morning. A crazy notion occurred to her: what if she'd imagined everything? What if it'd all been a dream, from the point when Scorpius vanished? What if she'd just woken up?

Nah. Too good to be true.

Suddenly Rose remembered what today was. Monday. She groaned inwardly. Back to classes in a few hours. Not that she didn't like classes, they were just... lonely without the Malfoys. At least Tuesday... oh. Tuesday was when the first task of the Triwizard Tournament was going to take place.

Uncle Harry's first task had been dragons, Rose recalled. She felt a pang. Scorpius was really into dragons. Of course, the task probably wouldn't be dragons again.

Still.

Still.

The butterflies inhabiting Rose's chest were awfully subdued these days. Rose kind of missed them. They pretty much only partied when Scorpius was around; their silence only served to emphasize his absence.

Rose lay wide awake in bed as the hours wore on and the sky slowly brightened, the sun creeping up to peep over the horizon. Sleep had abandoned Rose; she couldn't keep her eyes closed for more than ten seconds. A sort of restless energy had taken possession of her being. Lying on her side was the most comfortable way to sleep in Rose's opinion, and she kept alternating sides, unable to stay still. The seconds ticked by, agonizingly slow, the faint green glow illuminating the face of her watch.

But when at long last the sun showed up, sleep made an appearance too; which was just plain mean, because by then the dorm was stirring awake, and Rose was no longer in a position to accept sleep's offer. Reluctantly, she dragged herself out of bed and pulled her robes on, yawning widely.

Farah Tourneaux was chattering away with Violet Reller and fussing with makeup when Rose shoved back the bed curtains. Farah glanced over at the noise. Violet gave Rose an acknowledging nod.

"Oh, good morning, Rose, dear," Farah trilled. "I hope you had a good night's sleep? We tried to wake you, you know, but you were totally dead to the world!"

"Yeah, it's fine," Rose responded. "I was pretty tired."

"Yes, of course, dear," Farah agreed sympathetically, going back to her mascara. "I understand you must be very worried about Scorpius. You really ought to eat some breakfast, though. Run along, now!"

Rose complied, smirking slightly to herself. She always found it ridiculously comical that Farah Tourneaux, of all people, snored. That was strictly confidential information; something that you only discovered if you happened to be awake late at night. And Rose had done that enough times.
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A/N: doo doo doo doo doo doo, FILLER!! 🐢 Luv you guys. Comment and vote. Watch out for that line break.