𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 {a Draco Malfoy story}

chapter eighteen

Rose

     Harry, Ron, and Hermione had invited me to go out with them. I didn't want to go at first, but Draco insisted I spend time with my other friends.It was going to be dreadful, having to lie and hide from them, especially since the Dark Lord was such a powerful Legilimens. If he took one look into my mind... it wouldn't turn out pretty.

     They wrote to me in a note to meet with them at Fred and George's joke shop. I was standing in my room in front of the mirror when I noticed Draco standing at my door, his left arm leaning against the wall. "Be safe, darling. Don't let them see your arm. Understand?"

     "God, Draco, you sound just like my grandmother."

     He tightened his jaw. "I'm saying this because I care about you, Rose. I want you to stay out of trouble, is that really so much to ask for?"

     "I'm sorry," I whispered with a sigh. "I know you just want me to be safe. It's just that I've heard those words more times than I can count. It's stuck in my brain. I know I have to stay safe."

     He embraced me in a hug. "You know that if it were up to me, you'd having nothing to do with any of this?"

     "I know. I know."

     He let me go and I walked downstairs, seeing Blaise and Theo already in another room. They looked much thinner than normal, their usual glow and happiness non-existent. I waved to them and headed outside the manor, only apparating once I was sure that no one could see me - I had learned from Draco how to safely apparate without splinching.

+++

     I fell right at the door of the joke shop and headed in, seeing Hermione and Ginny admiring some potions. "Hello, Hermione!"

     She looked up to see who had called her name and then hugged me. "Rose, it's been too long. How are you? You look sick! Are you all right?"

     "What?" I looked at Ginny who seemed to agree with Hermione. "Oh, it's nothing. I just had the flu a couple days ago and didn't have an appetite." I smiled at Ginny. "It feels like I haven't seen you in years. How is everything?"

     She shook my hand. "Everything's okay - I mean, as 'okay' as it gets these days. No one has attacked us yet."

     I looked around the shop and saw the smiling faces of so many children who haven't yet been through any trauma. I looked around for Harry and saw him with Ron, talking to Fred and George. 

     "Rosie, what's up?" The twins simultaneously said, causing a giggle to come out of my mouth.

     "Not much," I lied.

     "Hope you had a nice summer, Rose. We haven't heard from you ever since your birthday. Are you okay?"

     "Harry, I'm fine."

     We didn't spend much more time in there, just enough for Harry to buy a couple of bombs that exploded a black fog. We were walking on the street when I realized Draco with his mother entering a dark pathway. I stared at him wondering why he hadn't told me he had been going out, but he didn't notice me. Ron quickly saw what I was gazing at.

     "Is it just me or do Draco and Mummy look like two people who don't want to be followed?" Ron asked, peering into a dark shaded window. Draco looked to his sides making sure no one was around yet he didn't look up to see me. "Rose, do you know what's going on?"

     "No, no idea."

     "Come on, then, let's see what they're up to," Harry suggested. I crossed me arms, looking at him with one eyebrow raised.