A Forbidden Love (REMASTERED 2022)

CHAPTER 4: Remastered

Rose

     I woke up the next morning feeling exhausted. I yawned and stretched my arms above my head, peering tiredly around the dormitory. I laid back and considered the events of last night.
      Albus, Scorpius, Cheyanne, courtyard, Scorpius, houses, sneaking out, and Scorpius. I groaned and shut my eyes, feeling guilty about how I had snuck out. I knew my mother would be disappointed in me if she found out. But I couldn't help but smile to myself at the thought of the moment I'd shared with Scorpius before I had gone to sleep.
      I knew I shouldn't be thinking about him this way, with all of the history between our families, it would create an ugly clash. And I really shouldn't have kissed him, even if it was just a peck on the cheek. Even being friends with him was pushing my limits. My father would absolutely flip his lid at my association with a Malfoy.
      But I'd gone to sleep thinking about him and now I was waking up thinking about him. Those silver grey eyes clouded every logical thought in my brain. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. But the good thing was, Scorpius and I had decided to be friends. And for now, I was content with that. No matter what the rest of my family thought.
     I got out of bed and showered before grabbing my things and heading down to the common room. Albus was already waiting for me so we walked straight down to breakfast.
     "Any plans for today?" he asked with a cheeky grin that was incredibly annoying so early in the morning.
      "Well considering that it's only the second day of term and I've already snuck out, I'm all adventured out," I grumbled, not even close to happy with the amount of sleep I had gotten.
     "Ah, cheer up," Albus nudged me, "Knowing Fred and James, they've already got something up their sleeves for the day!"
     I cracked a smile as we arrived at the Great Hall. On the way to the table, I eyed the Slytherin table in search of Scorpius. I figured this would more then likely become a daily routine. To my disappointment, Scorpius was no where in sight. I took my seat next to James and Fred as Albus sat on the other side of the table with Teddy.
      "Hulloooooo Rose!" Fred drawled, slurring his o's like a drunk.
     I raised an eyebrow at James. "Did you let him near the fire whiskey again?" I asked, shaking my head.
     James frowned and pretended to think hard about his answer, "Not that I can recall." Fred opened his mouth and closed it before folding his arms across his chest and blowing a raspberry at me.
      Teddy smiled at me, "So Rosie, what'd you do yesterday?" He asked with a grin. Afraid that he knew something about our after curfew excursion, I shook my head vigorously.
      "Nothing! What do you know? Who told you?!" I said frantically. Teddy's eyebrows jumped an inch on his face as James and Fred stopped mid bite of their food, pausing to stare at me. Albus's eyes widened to the size of saucers. I went a deep shade of red and sunk back into my seat.
      Teddy let loose a laugh, "Gosh Rosie! With that response, people'll think you're up to something," he chuckled. Fred and James joined in as Al and I laughed nervously.
     "Yeah, of course," I said with a tight grin. Teddy bid us goodbye before leaving to meet Victoire at the library and Albus began to pile his plate with food.
     "Hey Rose!" James called, gesturing for me to sit by him. I got up and crouched on the ground by his seat. The rest of the bench was taken up so it was the only way for me to hear what he was saying without having the whole Hall listening.
     "What's up?" I asked, looking up at him.
     "Well, me for one thing," he said with that cheeky grin all of the Potter's shared. I replied by hitting his arm to which he let out a satisfying OW!
      "Besides that," James grimaced, rubbing his arm, "I have to show you something. My dad sent it," he said, placing his bag on his lap. James glanced at Fred next to him who was pretending not to eavesdrop has he speared a sausage on his plate over and over again. "Oh don't act like you're not listening. Get over here!" he told Fred, rolling his eyes. He gave us his wide smile and winked before leaning in close so that only James and I could hear him.
      "Ah! Here it is," James announced triumphantly as he pulled a blank piece of parchment from of his bag. It was folded in trifold but other than that, there was nothing special about it. Fred frowned at it.
      "That's the "big thing" you had to show us," Fred asked, disappointment evident on his face.
     James only grinned and pulled out his wand. "Watch this: I solemnly swear that-," James was about to tap the parchment when our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Wulfric, swooped down and snatched up his wand.
     "Hey-!" James exclaimed but as he looked up, he trailed off. Prof. Wulfric was like Severus Snape's, (Albus's middle namesake) younger copy. He was just as greasy and mean as Snape had been to my parents and Uncle Harry at Hogwarts except Snape had had a very sad life and had reason for being unfriendly. Wulfric, on the other hand, simply had a knack for making students miserable.
     "And what exactly, Mr. Potter, would that be?" Prof. Wulfric sneered at James, "Some kind of practical joke player? I will hold onto this so that no harm is done to its potential victims." With that he snatched up the parchment, placed James's wand back on the table, and walked away. James huffed and stuffed his wand back into his sack.
     "That greasy git! That thing was so cool! A gift from my dad too!" He grumbled. Fred and I glanced at each other, totally confused.
      "Pardon my dimwitted assumption, but that appeared to be a black piece of parchment to me, Jamesy," Fred said sympathetically, patting his cousin's arm.
      James scowled at him, "It wasn't just a piece of parchment! It was a map, a magic map."
     "A magic map? What was it supposed to do?" I asked curiously.
     James sighed, "It's called the Marauder's Map. My grandfather and his friends...you know? Grandpa James and Uncle Remus, and then Pettigrew and Sirius too, had created it while they were at Hogwarts and then my dad got a hold of it. Uncle Fred and Uncle George gifted it to him in his third year at Hogwarts. Apparently, they nicked it from Filch's office. No telling how long it had been there before then. It's brilliant cause it shows you where every one at Hogwarts is...," James said.
     "Every minute," Fred continued, catching on.
    "Of every day," I finished with a grin.
     "WAIT! If my dad and uncle had given it to your dad, isn't it rightfully mine?" Fred said cheekily, waggling his eyebrows. James thumped him on the back of his head.
     "No dimwit, my grandfather created the map to begin with," James scolded. Fred rubbed his head and pouted, mumbling about how mean James was.
      James grinned in satisfaction, "Right then. To get the map to reveal itsself, you have to press your wand to the middle of it and say 'I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!' and it will open. Then, to close it, you must say 'Mischief managed!..."
      "Or I bet anyone can read it," Fred finished.
      James nodded in confirmation, "My dad and Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione used to use it a lot when they were at Hogwarts. Really came in handy in third year especially, when they found out Pettigrew was a no good spy for Voldemort the whole time. It's one of the reasons they succeeded so many times.
     "Woah," I said, letting out a deep exhale. This map sounded like it was really important and very useful. It also had a lot of history trailing all the way down from James's grandfather's Hogwarts days. That was three generations of Potters it was about to pass through and now, two generations of Weasleys. I knew we had to get it back. It was practically a family heirloom.
     "Let's go get it...tonight," I whispered. My cousins stared at me in shock.
    "Is that Rosie in there? Can't be," Fred teased, gently knocking his knuckles against my forehead. I rolled my eyes with a smile and pushed his hand away playfully.
     "Whatever. It sounds like it's meaningful to both of our families so I'll help you find it. Besides, I agree with sneaking around when it's for a good cause,"I smirked.
      James clasped his hands together and smiled, "Excellent! Let's meet in the common room. Ten after curfew, agreed?" He asked, looking at the two of us. We both nodded and went back to our seats to finish eating.
      Albus leaned over and whispered in my ear, "What was that all about?" I glanced at James who shook  his head slightly. I sighed heavily.
      "You'll have to ask James,"I told him regrettably.
      He frowned, "Aright." I looked away guilty. I hated keeping secrets from anyone, especially Albus, but it wasn't my secret to tell. It made me feel awful that I'd just given him hell for not telling me about Scorpius just last night and then here I was, keeping more secrets. I prayed that James would let Albus in on the history of the map soon enough. The end bell rang and Al and I walked to our first class together.

*****

      Professor McGonagall wasn't kidding when she said she had no mercy with homework. 10 spells to get down by Friday. And on top of that, Professor Wulfric was having us write an essay with only two days notice. After dinner, I sat up in the common room with Al, trying to figure out the 9th spell while he was still struggling with the 4th.
      James and Fred were heading up to the their dormitory when James patted my shoulder. A silent reminder about our after curfew adventure scheduled for tonight. I finished mastering the 10th spell and shut my book in triumph. There were only two other people in the common room excluding me and Albus.
     "Done!" I cheered.
      Al huffed in annoyance, just starting the 5th spell. "I'll never finish at this rate!" he exclaimed, running a hand through his hair, not doing it any favors.
     "Ah well, good luck and goodnight!" I sing-songed, giving him a one armed hug from behind and running to my dorm. I placed my books on my bed and threw on street clothes.
      I wasn't going to tell my cousins of course, but I was secretly wondering if Scorpius would be out after curfew as well. I hadn't seen him since our talk last night and I wasn't too happy about it. I wanted to talk to him, get to know him more. A bit difficult to do with an insane amount of cousins attending the same school, all with a grudge against his family. As well as the fact that we were in two separate houses and hadn't had any double classes yet.
      I waited by the upstairs landing, looking through the bars down into the common room. I sat patiently waiting for everyone to go to bed. When Al finally gave up on the homework, he went up to the boys' dormitories.
     I hopped down the steps, looking around to make sure the coast was clear. I waited for Fred and James for a few minutes in an arm chair by the fireplace. After a while, I saw them walk down the steps, both dressed in street clothes. They looked around the common room before leaning against a wall by the portrait hole, presumably waiting for me.
     "Hey!" I called over to them, causing the two to jump up in alarm. I giggled and walked over to them.
     "You almost gave me a heart attack, Rosie!" Fred scolded me playfully, ruffling my hair.
     James snorted and rolled his eyes, "Yeah well I'm Batman and Batman isn't afraid of anything," he proclaimed like a child. Fred and I shared a look in spite of him.
     "Okay well if you're batman, then I'm batgirl and Fred is...," I bit my lip trying to think of something even remotely witty, "Batman #2."
     Fred rolled his eyes, "Very clever, Rose. As if Robin doesn't exist." Uncle Harry had introduced us to muggle comic books and cartoons when we were children and Fred had fallen in love with them. He could read every comic he could get his hands on and would never be satisfied. His favorites being Batman and Spider-man.
      I put my hand on my hip and cocked my head at him, "At least I'm not a comic nerd. My head is filled with actual knowledge."
      Fred's jaw dropped and then he scowled, fully prepared to fire back a retort when James huffed.
      "Children, children! We have a map to find or did you both forget why we're here to begin with?" he scolded us, obviously annoyed. Fred and I shared a look of disbelief. He was the one who had started with the Batman jokes in the first place! I looked back at him to argue but he was already halfway through the portrait hole.
      Fred and I huffed in defeat and climbed out after him. We snuck through the winding corridors quietly, having to stop once in a while, because James thought that the shadows from the windows were Mrs. Norris creeping around. He was wrong, of course.
      Finally, we arrived in front of the DADA classroom. James picked the lock with a simple spell I had taught him this summer and we were in, creeping up the small spiral staircase to Wulfric's office. As James picked the second lock to the door, I heard something shuffling behind me.
      I whirled around, only to be met by a pair of shining silver orbs.

*****
A/N:
Another remastered chapter complete! I'll keep them coming. There's not much else I can use my phone for on this boat without internet so if you're re-reading this book, you have excellent timing. Enjoy!
-Facey

Old A/N:
You guys can't seem to get enough of this book so here's another chapter! I hope you like it! Thanks for reading! ~Sky<3<3<3