Rose Weasley and The Unfortunate Son of a Lunatic

A Norwegian Ransom

  Rose was extremely tired the during the first weeks of March. It seemed that the Gryffindor's victory party had started a nightly tradition of lack of sleep. Homework was worse than ever. The teachers were trying to get the students ready for the exams coming up in the next few months. Everyone in the school was complaining about the early load of work and calling the Professor's nutters, but Rose thought that they were quite right.

She was really excited to get an early start on it all and was sure that she would do well. Especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts which she had become excellent at. In fact, she was excelling in every class. They weren't hard if you paid attention and listened, but everyone seemed to rather flick blubber pods at the head of the person in front of them and complain about not understanding, or the work being impossible. There wasn't a question asked where Rose's hand wasn't in the air, even the hypothetical ones, which made her turn red when the teacher would call her out for lack of common sense.

Max would rant about that teacher's lack of couth and poor manners after those classes, and he also called them a series of different things that would win him lines if overheard. He never slandered Dalbert, who never told Rose off anyway. Professor Dalbert thought that her enthusiasm for school and confidence in class was something to be admired and even said that she was more excited about the subject than he was.

Max always seemed more protective over his friends than over himself. Elinor – a member of the Salazar's – had tied Max's shoelaces together when he stopped in a corridor to find something in the table of contents. It had caused him to trip and shatter his kneecap. All he had done, though, was make a rude hand gesture at her before Rose slapped it away and supported him to the hospital wing. But when Angelo Stewart had dared aim a bludger at Albus during their match against Hufflepuff at the end of March, Max had lit Stewart's broom tail on fire which got Max detention.


Whenever one of those brutes bothered Rose, there, Max would go berserk. She assumed that it was because she was a girl, or because he was always with her and felt that he was supposed to play big brother. But when a Salazar, or anyone else for that matter, spoke to her about being a know-it-all, headstrong or intolerant, Max would swing around at them like they had just cursed in a Church. He would reach into his robe pocket for his wand. Rose would have taken it from him before then anyway, knowing that he would overreact like that. "Ignore them." She would say, holding her head up high as if she didn't care, though their comments nearly always hurt. Max couldn't understand why she would act that way and not stand up for herself. In the few times that she was physically bothered, whether by a hex or a spell – like when Urban set her bag on fire, ruining one of her school books – Max wouldn't bother with the wand that Rose had yanked from his pocket to keep him from using it, but would sock them in the face right then and there. He had taken that particular incident personally, the burnt book being their Astronomy one.


Max, in first year, had gotten more detentions than James had in two. Whether for violence, disruption in class, or unpermitted wand work. People couldn't understand why Rose – the teacher's pet – could be friends with Max – the class clown and troublemaker. Scorpius and Al would sit down for meal times and tell thrilling tales about things they recently did in the common room, sneaking out at night, or discovering secret passageways. They never seemed to be caught, though. Over time, Rose's secret suspicion that Al had still been placed in the wrong house, was dwindling away. He was smart, and cunning, resourceful, and ambitious, headstrong and sneaky. And it wasn't Scorpius who was influencing this behavior on him, because if anything, Al was the example. Rose thought about what the sorting hat had said in their argument the first day of term, 'He is a leader who has followed all his life.' And Rose now agreed.


March seemed to fly by, carrying with it, the beginning of April and the Easter Holidays. The Weasleys and the Potters had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the two weeks. Having just seen their family and over hearing from Neville, that if the kids were staying over the Holiday, the Potters would take Hugo and the rest of their family to the beach so that Ron and Hermione could spend a Holiday alone again. Besides receiving chocolate eggs and candies, the castle being half empty, and the classes coming to a halt, everything else was quite normal. They spent days swimming in the lake, relaxing in the gardens, evenings with Hagrid and Neville and Astronomy lessons from Max. Before they knew it, the castle was filling again, and students were littering the hallways. Worst of all, Poppy Parkinson and Fraunk were back to command their army, so the four friends had to keep their head up and eyes open when walking through the corridors again.


The second to last Quidditch match of the season was among them, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. Rose hardly remembered this game; everything seemed to happen so quickly. Over the weeks, everything that was said or done seemed to speed by in a blur, including this match. Ravenclaw was a difficult opponent. Skilled in passing and very quick, James was having difficulty keeping up. Thank Merlin's beard Rocky had caught the snitch at Gryffindor eighty to Ravenclaw one-hundred. This meant that if Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff in the next match, they would win the Quidditch cup. If Hufflepuff won, then Slytherin would win. Rose imagined that it was probably a pretty lousy situation for Hufflepuff. If you lose, you lose. If you win, Slytherin wins, a house that Hufflepuff didn't get on with well.

Illya and Rose still didn't talk, but because he had saved her life, and because he felt guilty for nearly breaking her ankle, they would weakly smile and wave in passing. Rose thought that she might have preferred their relationship when he didn't know who she was.


Rose, Scorpius, and Al were messing with a pile of shiny trinkets in front of Fred during breakfast. The post arrived, and the students held out their hands to catch whatever was about to be dropped for them. Max had gone to the bathroom, and his post owl dropped his newspaper in front of Rose, knowing that the addressee regularly sat by her. After all the owls had retreated, whether for the owlery or back to their owners, one white owl holding a yellow envelope circled the ceiling looking for its owner.

"It's Vlad's," said Fred, peering through a ridiculous looking chunky telescope at the letter in the bird's feet.

Rose stood up and beckoned it toward her. The owl swooped down, knocking the pitcher of orange juice onto Scorpius and Calvert's laps. She reached for the letter, and the bird backed up apprehensively, looking at her as a stranger.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I know Vladimir." Slowly, the owl lifted its foot to allow her to take the letter, but didn't leave and continued to look at her quizzically.

Casually, she tore it open; opening each other's mail was normal between the four of them. She backed up when unfolding the parchment to see the writing from an arms distance away. The letter was in Norwegian. At first, she thought it was a letter from his dad who communicated in this language. But then she recognized the handwriting, not as his own. Who else did Max know who spoke in this tongue? But she supposed it was none of her business.

"That word means 'if,'" said Al pointing at a random word on the paper. "That's all I can read."

"Anything good?" Max asked taking the seat across from her and grabbing a muffin. The owl took one look at him and – seemingly contented – took off from the upper window, ruffling Al's hair with its vast wing.

"You got a letter," she responded, handing it to him.

"From dad?" he asked scanning it.

"No. It's not his handwriting."

Max stopped chewing and froze all except for his eyes which were widening as they traveled down the paper. Color suddenly drained from his face turning it white and washed.

"Max?" she asked worriedly, glancing at Al and Scor who both shrugged confusedly.

She watched his eyes jump back to the top of the page several times as he remained frozen, half a muffin still in his mouth. Screw 'none of her business'.

"Max, let me see!" She stood up to take the letter as though she could all the sudden could read Norwegian.

Max stood up from the table suddenly and threw his arm out in front of himself to keep her from grabbing it. He opened his mouth at Rose, Al, and Scor as his eyes became very bright. He gasped, then burst from the hall.

A moment passed while the three of them stared dumbstruck after Max.

"Well," said Scorpius. "he's struck my interest." He threw his legs over the bench and tore after him. Al grinned and ran as well, Rose soon following, hoping that whatever the problem was, would be resolved before class; they had Charms first.

The three of them followed Max's echoing footsteps down the corridors, and Al and Scor glumly stopped as Max burst through the Gryffindor portrait hole. Rose caught it before it closed and slammed it behind her.

"What's your hurry?" Rose heard the fat lady ask as she shut the opening behind her and ran through the deserted common room and up the, now familiar, boy's staircase.

She found him hurriedly reaching under his bed for something.

"Max?" she found herself whispering.

"Shhhh!" he hushed back. When he emerged from under his mattress, he was holding a second piece of very old paper. He was glancing back and forth between the old parchment, and the new, with a look of terror on his face.

"She found me..." he gasped in a tone hardly audible.

"Who?"

"Get out," he mumbled.

"What?"

"Get out, right now."

"No, you're obviously- hey!"

He had stood up and struggled to push her from the room as she fought against him.

"Max!" she exclaimed. "What are you-! This is ridiculous!"

"Just, please, for a moment."

"No!"

"Wait! Just wait, here!" and he slammed the door in her face.

Perplexed and angry, she waited with her red ear to the door. A series of bangs were coming from inside the room, muffled shouts, then silence. Whether Max was throwing stuff around, setting off fireworks, or singing metal while playing a ten string electric in a hard band, she didn't know; though she found that last one to be unlikely. She jumped backward in fright as he swung the door open abruptly. His hair was messed up, and his eyes were a gold color, which she knew as the color of fear, and his chest was heaving. She opened her mouth to say; she didn't know yet. She could ask what made him so scared, or what the banging was, what was written on the letter or who wrote it, or perhaps tell him that they were late for Charms. She didn't get to ask any because he grabbed her by the arm – as if she wasn't going to follow anyway – and walked swiftly to the portrait hole murmuring, "Later."

"Oh come on!" she heard someone say from the other side of the fat lady as they neared the exit. "Just a hint?"

They scrambled through to find Scorpius and Al on the other side, apparently having just been begging the fat lady for the password.

"We're late for class," said Al as if Rose didn't already know.

Max grabbed Scorpius' arm – him being the closest – and drug them both down the corridor with a sense of reason Rose couldn't detect. Al trotted behind them, trying to ask Rose what was going on, but she merely shrugged, bewilderedly. Max spun them all into an empty classroom that Rose passed every day but had never entered. The few tables were dusty, and classroom chairs were stacked across the walls. Dull gray light shone through the dirty windows illuminating the dusty floor, and many statues or columns stood randomly throughout the room.

Max let go of them and threw both letters on what looked like a teacher's table and turned toward them, his eyes now a striking gold with red speckles.

"She found me," he said finally.

"Who did?" Rose asked.

"Belladonna Drury..."

A moment passed.

"You mean the chick who – you know – kidnapped your brother?" Scorpius questioned.

"Why would she be looking for you?" Rose asked desperately, the fact that they had already missed the first ten minutes of Charms momentarily forgotten. "She's not going to try'n kidnap you too, is she?"

Max shook his head, not the kind that says 'no' but one that has no idea at all.

"What's the second letter for?" Al asked.

"I was comparing the handwriting," he said. "to see if it was really from her."

"What does the note say?" Rose asked jumping at the second one.

The second letter wasn't a letter at all, but a page torn from what looked to be an ancient notebook. On the page were notes written in English, things like, 'No signs,' 'Won't give,' 'Treatment unsuccessful,' and 'finally.' But she recognized this handwriting as the same swirly one on the new letter. Max sat in the chair behind the teacher's table and put his head in his hands. Then slowly pushed the newer letter across the table toward them.

Rose crossed her arms. "We can't read that, remember?"

With what looked like a lot of effort, he picked it up again and opened his mouth to read, but stopped a moment to look up at them. "I'm only sharing this with you because, well because you're my best friends and you can help me with this. It's, it is kind of a really big deal." He jerked the paper straight again and read,


"Vladimir,
We haven't spoken in four years, but I would be wrong in thinking that you've forgotten about me. I won't waste space or time with hellos. I simply have a business transaction to discuss with you. You have something I want very badly, and I, for you. I will take from you, what I want, and I, in exchange, will set your brother free. Sound fair? I want you to meet me at your house, you know which one I mean, don't bring anything, or anyone. If anybody besides yourself arrives, I will know, and I will kill them; you know I will. Consider this ransom. I expect you between now and before the end of term. If you do not arrive between that time, I will kill your brother, and again, you know I will. See you soon."


He dropped the letter with shaking hands and looked desperately at them. What could she say? Rose didn't have to find out because Al spoke up first.

"Call the Ministry!" he exclaimed. "The Auror office! They'll barge in, stun Belladonna and take your brother!"

"But how do you know she doesn't have Will in a safe house or prison?" Scorpius suggested.

"They'll use veritaserum!" said Rose. "That'll make her tell the truth, and she'll be forced to give the location of him!"

"She's immune to veritaserum," said Max wearily, holding his hair.

"They'll find another way!" said Al. "They'll torture her if they have to! The Ministry is the safest bet!"

All three of them turned around shocked to be hearing Max laugh. But it wasn't a pleasant, light laugh; it was a cold, disbelieving one.

"You guys have no idea," he said.

"You're looking at us as if we should," said Scorpius. "All we know is what you just read us, and what you expressed in the library."

"Belladonna won't be quickly caught," said Max angrily. "She has avoided capture for four years! She's right about knowing if anyone else arrives besides myself. And she's right in saying that she'll kill them before they can realize where they are probably. She's a monster, a murderer, a merciless, careless, nasty, bloodthirsty piece of scum!"

"Call the Ministry!" Al exclaimed.

"I can't!"

"The Ministry is so careless with harm that they'll probably kill Will in the wand fire against Belladonna!" said Scorpius.

"Thank you!"

Rose listened to the arguing, not joining in herself. She was thinking hard and coming to a very unpleasant probability.

"Are you nuts? You're the one who just said that she'd probably have him hidden!" said Al.

"That's just a theory!"

"Yeah! What if she kills Will if she detects anyone else on the property?"

"What else would you suggest then? If you're not going to call the professionals, then what in the world do you think four eleven-year old's with one year of magic education can do, hmm?"

"It won't be four eleven-year old's!"

"Who else then?"

"Nobody! It would only be one!"

"...You're not thinking about actually paying the ransom?" Rose asked finally, slowly and quietly. But this statement stopped the arguing and caused everyone to turn toward her, then toward Max.

"Of course not!" Scorpius snorted. "He's not that stupid!"

Max didn't say anything. Scorpius' sneer slowly disappeared, which was good, it didn't suit him.

"You're not. Right?" he asked.

"What else can I do?"

"CALL THE MINISTRY!" said Al throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. "Obviously," he said slowly, "she wrote that she wants something from you and for you not to bring anything. So, that means she wants some natural resource! Whether it's your oxygen, heart, life source, blood, organs, some kind of metamorphmagus crap! And did you notice that she said she'd 'let Will go free'? Not, 'give him to you'? That insinuates that she doesn't expect you to leave! If you go, you'll be committing suicide!"

Rose stared at him for a moment, surprised and impressed by his attention to detail.

"You're over-thinking it," said Scorpius.

"Scor, I am Not having this conversation with you again. I think that this is the right time to over think. We can't take any steps before fully understanding everything."

"You can't read her mind," said Scorpius. "you don't know for sure if that's what she meant."

"We know nothing for sure right now!"

"We are aware that Belladonna wants something that Max has, will release his brother if he goes to her and gives it up."

"If this chick is so bad, then how do we know if she'll just lie or not? She says that she'll give Will over, but wouldn't it be easier to say that and keep him anyway?"

"Why would she need him? Why did she need him in the first place?"


Rose and Max weren't listening. They were having their own conversation using only their eyes. He was going to try, she could tell. He was going to do exactly what Belladonna had proposed. It was stupid, but he was scared; scared people are more prone to do stupid things. But he was also brave, bravery mixed with fear was a dangerous thing. Rose walked over and hugged Max tightly and found herself crying on his shirt though she wasn't sad as if she was crying his absent tears.

"Sure," Al shrugged in disbelief. "like a girl to think she can solve an issue like this by hugging."

Rose reached out and pulled her cousin in by his tie. Albus rolled his eyes and grabbed Scorpius by the arm to join.

They sat on the desk through their second class, discussing their options which – they were discomforted to find – were very few.

"The Ministry," said Al.

"Write your dad." Said Scorpius.

"Don't go." Said Rose.

"She'll kill them. She'll kill him. She wants me," Max would say.

"So what are we going to do?" Rose asked.

Max was softly banging his head against the desk.

"I told you, that only causes brain damage," said Rose pushing him upright.

"I told you again and again what we have to do., he said.

"No.," said Al. "You told us what you were going to do, but considering that it is a stupid plan, we debunked it."

"I told you," said Max. "I go, and you guys let me."

"Augh!" said Scorpius falling back against the wall. "Will you drop that? You already know we'd never let you."

"Why?"

"Why?" snorted Scor. "Let me think... You want to go to a lunatic woman's house, alone, unprotected, to give her something that you most likely need to survive, and to, most likely, never return, in one piece anyway. Your right, I see no reason that you shouldn't go. This is a great idea. You go on ahead; I'll be buying your casket."

"I could do without the sarcasm," said Max.

"Sarcastic? Me? Never!"

The classroom door burst open, and Fred nearly fell through, out of breath and gasping. The door swung open again, and James ran through, closing it behind him.

"You guys better," Fred gasped with his hands on his knees. "been looking all over. You- need to-"

"Run!" said James clutching a stitch in his chest. "Filtch!"

The four of them didn't need to hear anything else. The four children sprinted toward the door, but Fred caught them, spun them around, and pointed to a door concealed behind a large mirror. They tore in that direction, Max shoving the papers into his pocket. Scorpius tripped over a large pile of blankets and what looked to be a sleeping bag behind the mirror as the others flung open the door. They had missed two classes, one of them being Transfiguration, for the Gryffindors at least. For the first time, Rose wasn't thinking at all about school. She should have remembered and known they'd get in trouble.

The door led them through a tunnel to emerge into a corridor that they had never seen before. They stopped to catch their breath and heard the familiar, very unpleasant, blundering footsteps of Filtch, about to turn down their corridor.

"Quickly, quickly!" said Al steering them all into a random door to their left. This door, however, was not random. It led them into what appeared to be Professor Donima's – not office – but her bedroom.

Unfortunately for them, the Professor was present at the time, and they seemed to have barged in on a very inconvenient moment. That moment being when she was changing from her teacher's robes to something, well, something more comfortable.

"OH DEAR GOD!" Max exclaimed covering his eyes the same time as Al and Scorpius, Scorpius attempting to head out with his eyes closed, unaware that the door had closed behind him and hitting it, falling to the floor.

"Detention!!" Donima screeched, wrapping herself in a long robe. "Detention for all of you!"

"Is this not punishment enough?" Al asked muffled through his hands.



They ended up having to scrub the bathrooms later in the week. Professor Dalbert escorted them there.

"So, you walked in on Professor Donima changing?" he had asked them. "And that wasn't punishment enough?"

This had made Max laugh for the first time since the letter. He had agreed not to rush, to think about other options. That was the best they could do for the time being.