Rose' POV
You'll be alright ~Safe and Sound, Taylor Swift (song).
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
Don't you dare look out your window darling
I didn't even have time to scream, I was coughing too hard from the ashes.
"Where—?" I whispered, confused, as I crawled out of the ancient brick fireplace, and tried to dust off as much ash as I could off my body. It seemed that I had a mishap with Floo Powder, but hopefully I wasn't too far away from Diagon Alley.
I took tentative steps towards the only door in the small room while nervously patting my pocket, finding comfort when I felt my wand.
It looked like the room was only used for storage, because all I could see were old cardboard boxes and a random chair that looked old and fragile. A large white tarp covered some of the boxes and a thick layer of dust covered the others.
I cautiously approached the doorknob, and found some Gryffindor courage inside of me to open the door.
Almost immediately I slammed into something hard.
Luckily, strong arms wrapped around my body to steady me, and I vaguely recognized the deep voice that spoke.
"Whoa, where did you come from?"
Oh my Merlin.
No, it couldn't be.
I slowly raised my eyes to meet stormy gray ones that looked confused. Confusion turned into surprise and then into anger.
"Weasley? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Scorpius Malfoy questioned harshly as he shoved me away.
Normally I would have replied with something equally snappy, but at the moment I was scared, lost, and wondering where my family was. I couldn't help but feel relieved when I saw a familiar face (even if it was Malfoy's face).
"I—um—" I stuttered nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. "I accidentally floo-ed over here..."
I could have sworn I saw his eyes soften a bit, but then a much harsher voice boomed behind Malfoy.
"Malfoy, are you slacking again?" roared the fuming middle-aged man.
I could see Malfoy cringe as he turned around quickly and stood in front of me—blocking me from the man's view.
"No sir," Malfoy replied obediently. I was very confused at this point, and was looking for potential weapons I could use in the case of an emergency, as the man did sound very intimidating.
"Malfoy do you think I'm blind? Who's hiding behind you?" the man asked gruffly. I could just imagine his neck straining—a vein throbbing in his forehead as his anger increased. My guesses were correct when Scorpius stepped away from me.
If this were a cartoon, the angry man would be growing in size while I diminished into a tiny, ant-sized human being.
"Customers are not allowed back here," the man said brusquely as his eyebrows narrowed together. He had broad shoulders and thick, jet-black hair. His beady eyes were deep set, and gleamed menacingly.
"Um, okay...I'll just be going then..." I said hastily, as I practically ran out of the kitchen. When I got through the door the sight of a dark tavern, and the smell of smoke greeted me. I started coughing again.
The tavern was like the ugly side of the Leaky Cauldron. There was still the same dark ambience but the mood was different. Whereas the Leaky Cauldron and all the people in it held a warm and comfortable atmosphere, this tavern was cold and slightly eerie. Light jazz music played in the background but it did little to ease my nerves.
I sucked in a breath and instantly stepped backwards—my back coming into contact with something hard. Malfoy wrapped his long fingers around my arms and began to guide me towards the tables and chairs.
"Just look straight ahead. Don't make eye contact with anyone," Malfoy whispered quietly as we snaked through tables and finally came to one in the dark corner. He might have been trying to soothe me, but his tight grip told me otherwise.
I wanted to ask him so many questions about where I was, and who the man in the kitchen was, but based on Malfoy's tone I knew that I wouldn't get any answers.
Malfoy quickly pulled out my chair for me, and briskly walked away before I had even sat down.
For a moment I just stared at his back in complete shock, but I noticed that several sinister-looking strangers were staring at me creepily. A woman with a glass eye sat across from me. When she caught my gaze, her lips pulled into a toothless smile.
Her gaze unnerved me and I quickly sat down, trying not to make eye contact with the other customers. Instead I gazed out the window.
And that's when I realized where I was.
My heart thumped erratically as I observed the spidery font of the crooked sign that said Knockturn Alley.
My instincts told me to bolt, but a more logical part of me told me that I'd have to wait for Malfoy. I'd have to rely on him...for now.
Luckily the tavern was relatively empty, because after 5 minutes or so Malfoy reappeared at my table setting down a dark mug of butterbeer in front of me.
"Thanks," I whispered appreciatively as I sipped the yummy drink. It calmed me down, and for a moment I could pretend that I was in the Leaky Cauldron, or the Three Broomsticks.
But then Malfoy sank down into the seat across for me, and I knew that I couldn't just pretend everything was all right.
It was almost uncomfortable and definitely awkward the way he stared at me, but I didn't say anything and instead waited for him to speak.
"I think we can leave soon. My break starts in ten minutes," Malfoy announced, as I carefully set my mug down. The way he looked at me made me fidget, but I tried not to let it bother me too much.
"Alright," I nodded, while fingering the scars and scratches engraved in the wooden table.
"So you work here?" I said. Just as the words left my mouth I felt the urge to bang my head against the table. Of course he worked here. I mean, with his crisp white button down, and black apron, it was quite obvious.
Malfoy, however, didn't say anything about my obvious question. He merely nodded, as he pushed up the sleeves of his white shirt.
"I started working here in the beginning of the summer...Welcome to the Tarnished and Tattered Tavern."
I smirked. Well...the name was certainly fitting...
"Why?" I asked—not able to stifle my curiosity. It was obvious that the Malfoy's were rich. There really wasn't any reason for Scorpius Malfoy to work. Unless of course his parents cut off his money supply, but that was highly unlikely.
"My dad...He thought this would be good for me. Learning to work, and earn my own money for a little bit..." Malfoy explained carefully as if he was censoring every word he said to me. He probably was, but I couldn't blame him. I mean, we'd barely ever talked like this before. Usually we exchanged a few threats, and taunts, and maybe even some jinxes, but that was it.
"Oh," I said, hastily taking another sip of my butterbeer so I could avoid any more awkward pauses in our conversation. At this point, I was just thankful that we were talking civilly.
"So...how's Albus?" Malfoy asked suddenly—trying to start another conversation. I smiled inwardly; it was the only thing that really connected me to Scorpius Malfoy.
"He's good. Hugo and I were supposed to meet up with his family so we could all shop for Teddy and Victoire's wedding..." I explained.
"Oh yeah, Albus told me about that...Teddy actually invited me to the wedding as well..." Malfoy said quietly.
I looked up surprised; I had forgotten that Malfoy and Teddy were related.
"Scorpius!" interrupted another man from the bar area. This man seemed even larger than the last one that had screamed at us from inside the kitchen.
Malfoy motioned for me to follow him, and although I desperately didn't want to go closer to the larger, even scarier man, I followed him obediently, almost like a dog. What had the world come to when I, Rose Weasley, started following Malfoy around like some lost puppy?
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that this man had a round beer gut and a 5 o'clock shadow to match. His graying hair was thick, and his warm eyes were intrigued as they scrutinized me. However, his size was menacing, and it made me shrink back and step even closer towards Malfoy.
If I wasn't mistaken I could have sworn that this man was amused by my actions.
"All right Scorpius, you can take your break now. And next time I don't want to see you lazyin' around near a customer—no matter how pretty she is," said the man sternly. However the genuine smile, and wink he sent my way made it obvious that he was not mad at Scorpius.
I blushed embarrassed, and stepped firmly away from Malfoy while directing my gaze to my ash-covered shoes.
Malfoy's incredulous tone made me look up surprised again.
"You're ridiculous, you know that?" Malfoy scowled as he shook his head away from the amused man.
"I am not," the man insisted and a grin stretched across a face, instantly brightening it up. Malfoy shook his head once more, but glanced at me while gesturing to the rugged man.
"Weasley, this is Abraham, the bartender. Abraham this is Rose Weasley." Scorpius introduced uninterestedly.
"Nice to meet you, Abraham," I greeted politely as I stepped forward and grasped Abraham's rather large and calloused hands. No matter how scary-looking he was, I knew better than to be rude and judge a book by its cover.
Abraham smiled warmly, "Likewise, but you can call me Abe." He released my hand, and ran a hand over his rough cheek, giving me an almost concerned look.
"Now what's a lady like you doing in Knockturn Alley?"
"I-uh, I had a mishap with the Floo Network..." I answered, suddenly liking Abe a lot more.
"Which is why, we're leaving. Can you cover for me so I could take Weasley back?" Scorpius added. His voice had a sudden annoyed tone that I immediately disliked.
"Don't be too long, Joshua doesn't like to wait." Abe said, as he reached for a rag and a wine glass that he started to clean.
Malfoy nodded curtly, and clamped a hand onto my wrist—dragging me outside of the tavern. Before I could yell at Malfoy, I quickly looked behind me and saw Abe looking at us with a very amused expression.
"Malfoy, slow—" I stopped talking when I turned back around only to see a several intimidating people that were staring at me almost...hungrily. I stepped closer to Malfoy, so that our shoulders were touching.
Malfoy seemed to notice our suddenly close proximity as well because he raised his eyebrows at me. I could see the traces of a smirk appear on his face. I ignored him, and followed him as he dragged me through the windy cobblestone streets.
"Keep your wand ready, Weasley—No! Not like that," Malfoy scolded when I took my 13-inch wand out of my back pocket, "If you do that, they take it like a challenge. Just keep it in an easy to reach place."
I nodded and slipped it inside my coat pocket.
I tried to keep my eyes ahead of me, but I honestly couldn't help but look around at all the shops. Most were boarded up, but others looked nearly as menacing as the people, if not more. They were filled with all sorts of dark objects, and illegal items that tempted me to take a closer look at them.
The worst part of Knockturn Alley was not the shops, but the people that loitered outside of them. They all followed me with their beady eyes, somehow hollow and hungry at the same time. Several people looked homeless and had collapsed on the sidewalk, nursing strange wounds.
"Weasley," Malfoy suddenly whispered—effectively interrupting my scared and shaken thoughts, "calm down; no one's going to hurt you if you're with me."
I glanced at him, and was surprised to see that he looked relaxed. He, unlike me, was looking straight ahead, and had a look of vague disinterest on his face.
It amazed me that he was able to hide his feelings under his mask of indifference.
Either that, or he actually was the heartless person that I always thought he was.
"We're almost at Diagon Alley..." Malfoy said suddenly, as he led me around a sharp corner that led up to some stone steps.
I exhaled slowly, as we ascended the rocky steps, and suddenly I could hear the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. My heartbeat calmed, and I instantly felt more comfortable as Malfoy led me towards Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
I felt myself grinning when I saw the familiar shop, and spotted a group of unmistakable redheads.
Ripping my wrist out of Malfoy's grasp—and completely ignoring his calls—I sprinted in between various witches and wizards, before I spotted my dear cousins.
"Al!" I yelled happily as I pounced on him—crushing him in a hug, that he returned.
"Rosie! Where-? How?" Albus said confused as he stepped back to look at me in a mixture of surprise, shock, and confusion. "We all thought that you would end up somewhere lost and unable to find us. I'm so glad that your here!"
I smiled widely, before turning to James, Lily and Hugo who were equally surprised and curious.
That's when a deeply annoyed Malfoy found me.
"Rose!" Malfoy glared heatedly at me before he saw Albus. Al glanced between me and Malfoy for a moment between he took Malfoy aside by the arm. Albus was talking to Malfoy, but Malfoy kept on shaking his head and running a tired hand through his hair.
"So you were with him?" James suddenly asked—distracting me from their conversation.
"Yeah...I um, bumped into him when I got lost, and he helped me get back here..." I explained, slightly unsure as to how much information I could confess about Malfoy's job.
"The important thing is that, we all won't get killed for losing you, Rose," Albus quipped, coming up beside me with his usual easy-going smile. "And thanks mate, for getting her here safely."
I turned to Malfoy, who was staring at me with a strange expression that I couldn't quite decipher.
"Yeah...uh...thanks Malfoy," I finally managed to choke out, as I honestly didn't like thanking the git. I awkwardly held out a hand.
Malfoy seemed to be amused by my response. His gray eyes twinkled, and his mouth quirked up in a rare smile—or at least, rare to me. The others seemed unperturbed by it. He gave my outstretched hand a quick but firm shake.
"It was no problem. I'll see you guys later," Scorpius replied.
The rest of the Potter-Weasleys said good-bye to him, and I begrudgingly gave him a polite wave.
He smirked at me and gave me a salute before stuffing his hands into his pockets and turning away, back into that creepy place.
I almost felt bad for him, but quickly dismissed the thought and followed my cousins into the shop.
A/N: Gah! This is crazy, but it's finally here! My newest story, and I'm so glad it's out. I obviously couldn't done it without the help of my wonderful beta Meghla, Official Scroll Keeper, and x Shut Up And Smile! Thanks ladies :) Anyways, so I hope you liked this story, and add it to your story alerts! Review! Thank you!
Review Challenge: What is your favorite item of clothing and why? (Ex. A lucky pair of jeans, or a special shirt that you got...etc.)
Pickles
Update in a week! (hopefully...)