Rose Weasley and the Wizard's Sacrifice

Chapter 4 | The Untraceable Foone

Apparently having your mind violated again and again was exhausting.

She tried to stop him, but it was impossible. He never said anything about what memories or thoughts or feelings he'd found, he just kept pulling on that connection, and she kept trying to stop him, with little success.

After a while, he let her try on him. But most of the things she found didn't make sense. His mind was standoffish, reluctant to let an unknown stranger slip past his inner defenses. She could get in - with difficulty - but what she found didn't make sense. Glossy clips of memory, rushing feelings, snippets of words here and there, but nothing of substance.

His memories were the hardest to make sense of. If it wasn't already confusing enough wading knee-deep through somebody else's mind, he looked at the world in a different way from her. His were stark, angry bursts, of color and light and sound. He pictured the world in all angles and edges, and it was enough to unbalance her.

Once she pulled herself out, she was disoriented, exhausted, and had a headache. Not to mention hungry.

Having to crack somebody's head open really worked up an appetite.

After three hours of unsuccessfully blocking one another, they resolved to continue this Monday. Scorpius sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Damn, I'm starving."

"Me too." Rose said, just as her stomach growled.

Scorpius grinned - the first real smile he'd offered - and reached into his bag, withdrawing a chocolate bar. Rose's mouth watered at the sight. He unwrapped it, split it in half, and offered her a side.

She hesitated, not wanting to take anything from him. "You don't have too."

He rolled his eyes. "Jeez, it's a chocolate bar, not a life commitment."

She scowled even as she accepted the piece. "If you insist."

"Ah," he said, as he watched her practically inhale her chocolate. He ate his more slowly, breaking off one piece at a time. "So that's what it takes."

"What what takes?" Rose wondered.

"A chocolate bribe is all it takes for you to stop yelling at me," he replied, watching her with some amusement.

She couldn't help but laugh.

Scorpius smiled at the sound. "So she can smile. Good. I was worried for a second there that you had a condition that prevented it."

"Don't push your luck." She stood up, slinging her book bag over her shoulder and grabbing the volume Scorpius had marked. "I'll read this over and get back to you."

"I'll be here." he said, watching her as she crammed it in her bag and walked out without so much as a goodbye.

∝∝∝∝

After a long day wondering whether or not Scorpius was digging around in her mind at all, Rose left to go study with Noah. Honestly, that was the only thing normal left in her life anymore.

They'd graduated from the Reverse-Alphabetizing Theorem and were now working on the complex Color-Changing Spell in Professor Zabini's vacated classroom, which they used now instead of the library.

Rose focused on the pile of feathers in front of her. She could make only the color red at will, and Noah could only accomplish green.

They talked while they worked. Noah kept asking questions about how it was like being Zabini's assistant (she'd taken Scorpius's advice and used that as an excuse) so she steered the conversation away.