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Push & Pull

Chapter 17

Water & Air

It was warm out, and after their OWLs, Rose could think of nothing but the fresh air. She rushed ahead of her two best friends on the path to the school grounds, throwing her head back and letting the sun warm her face.

"My mom says that the Zabini family is really respectable," Alice said factually.

"You would think of his family first," Roxanne laughed, "I think he probably has a big…"

"Ew," Rose laughed, leading the way to the bank of the Great Lake. When they arrived, they all found a nice patch of grass and lay down, enjoying the sun. It was crowded out, students trying to escape the confines of the castle after their long and stressful exams.

"Anyways," Roxanne continued, "We were just talking. I guess we'll see if we hang out at all over the summer. He promised to write."

Alice sat bolt upright as if she had just remembered something. But when Rose looked over to her, the expression on Alice's face was horrified.

"You're lost Roxanne," she said. Rose's head began to ache. She turned to Roxanne to ask what Alice's problem was, but Roxanne was no longer next to her. In fact, the students who had all been laughing and enjoying the day had disappeared.

"What's happening?" Rose asked, raising a hand to her head.

"Be careful," Alice warned, raising her wand to point it at Rose, "They'll find you again."

There was a bright green flash, then darkness.

Rose awoke gasping for air. It took her a moment to register she was not in immediate danger, and when she did, she felt as if she had the worst hangover of her life. Her head was pounding, and she was a little nauseous. I didn't drink that much, did I? She asked herself. But when her eyes finally focused in the dimly lit room, she quickly recalled what had happened.

"Shit," Rose murmured to herself, now feeling the ropes that held her to a chair.

"Yeah," a familiar voice echoed in the small room from behind her, "You're telling me."

"Roxanne!" she gasped, trying to turn her head. Rose couldn't see much, but noted the corner of another chair against hers. They must have been back to back.

"Don't you dare sound happy to see me Rose, we're bloody fucked right now," Roxanne sighed. Rose blinked, her head clearing just a little, and tried to take in her surroundings once more. She felt like she was having some sort of cartoon-style nightmare. The room was so dim that she couldn't see the color of the walls, but the worn border clued that wherever she was, it was not well taken care of. There was a puddle in the corner, a steady drip of water every few seconds the only sound that could be heard. Rose saw no windows or doors, but there had to be some way in and out of the room.

She wasn't sure how long they had been in there, it could have been minutes or days for all she knew.

"Roxanne," Rose whispered, her voice shaking.

"I don't know anything," she responded blankly, "I've been awake for awhile and nobody has came or left. Just us and that damn fucking dripping." Rose looked once more to the puddle. There was piping on the ceiling, and the water seemed to be coming from one of the larger pipes. Rose's mind worked quickly, trying hard to find a way out of this situation, but after several minutes of perceived dead ends, her head started pounding again.

"Fuck," she spat, leaning her head back and trying not to cry.

"Yeah, that's about right," Roxanne said, no emotion in her voice.

Rose moved to massage her temples, but was caught by her restraints. She let out a small sigh, jerking roughly against them in a feeble hope they would snap.

The silence in the room was boring into Rose. At last she said, "My head is killing me."

"Yeah," Roxanne breathed deeply, seemingly deep in thought, "Side effect of the stun I think." Rose nodded in response, but realizing Roxanne couldn't see her, made a secondary noise of agreement.

Rose had no idea how long they sat like that, making small talk, neither giving any more knowledge than the other already had. Having no sense of time was disorienting to her, and Rose's stomach turned awfully. At one point she thought she would be sick.

Rose wasn't sure why her eyes caught it, but before it was even there she noticed a line forming in the wall in front of her. She whispered a warning to Roxanne as the dark line traveled down the wall and across, outlining a door, which swung forward from the wall and let in a robed figure. It was frighteningly familiar.

Rose would never say that she hated a subject of study, but History of Magic was, by default that subject. Mostly because potions was right after, so the hour stretched on as she waited to see her cauldron again. This day in particular would be dreadful, and she saw her apprehension reflected in Albus's eyes across the room. She risked a glance next to him to Scorpius. Whenever he and Rose met eyes, there was a fire in them, waiting to retort whatever insult she threw at him. Today, however, there was nothing. A blank, guarded expression for completely different reasons than her own. For the first time in her life, Rose felt pity for Scorpius Malfoy.

Even though the ghostly Professor Binn's droning voice could make any lecture dull, this discussion hit home for many of the young witches and wizards in the room.

"The first recorded battle of the second wizarding war was in our own Department of Mysteries," he began, writing a year on the board, "It was fought between several young Hogwarts students self-proclaimed 'Dumbledore's Army', the Order of the Phoenix, and the Death Eaters," more scratches on the board. Albus and Rose typically took notes religiously, but they had heard these stories a thousand times, "During this battle, Minister Fudge himself viewed the end of a duel between Albus Dumbledore, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and Harry Potter. This battle signaled the public belief of his return to power. There was one casualty to the Order of the Phoenix, presumed mass murderer Sirius Black. All Death Eaters involved were arrested, most notably Lucius Malfoy, whose house later became the base of operations for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

There were more than a few glances and whispers towards Malfoy, who sat stone-faced. Rose averted her eyes, and focused instead on an image in her textbook. Standing dark against the pale text, a hooded black figure with a slit for an eerie mask stared back at her. The sixteen-year-old Rose Weasley tried to imagine fighting a frightening figure like that.

And now one was staring right at her. She could hardly breathe. A second figure moved in behind the first, and the door closed behind them, merging back in with the wall. The second figure moved behind her, presumably staring at Roxanne the same way the person in front of her did.

They were silent for several moments. Rose tensed, trying to remember where her wand was.

"Are you Death Eaters?" Rose asked quietly. Silence dragged behind her question. The glittering eyes of the figure looking between Rose's determined face.

"We are Death Keepers," the figure replied. It's voice sounded feminine. Rose had no way of reaching her wand, and her heart sank. Instead, she looked more closely at the 'Death Keeper'. If she was going to die, she wanted to know her killer. She tried to memorize all of their features.

"Stupid name," Roxanne spat, "Not very original." There was a movement behind her and Rose flinched as Roxanne cried out in pain.

"The Augury will come, powerful beyond measure," a deeper voice behind her sounded as if they were reciting lines, "The keepers will raise her from despair and illuminate her abilities…"

"We are the Keepers," the figure in front of her interrupted. Rose's head pounded. That sounds familiar…

"Spit it out then," Roxanne's words were angry. An icy feeling crept up Rose's spine, "What do you want with us?" More movement from behind her, and Rose fought against her restraints, trying to turn so she could block Roxanne. There was no cry this time.

Rose had never felt more helpless.

"Knowledge," the figure in front of Rose said slowly, "You have something we want."

"What is it," Rose asked through gritted teeth. Rose's Death Keeper looked across the room to the other one. There was a long moment where they seemed to communicate without speaking. At last, she nodded and looked back to Rose.

"A potion," she said, "We did not find one on you when we searched you. Your renowned talents though, suggest that... with some persuasion," the Keeper nodded towards their companion.

"Crucio," Rose heard from behind her.

"No!" she shouted hoarsely, but was shocked by Roxanne's screams of pain. The moment stretched on forever. Rose felt Roxanne's head slam back into her own, felt the awful contortion of her neck against Rose as Roxanne tried to squirm away from the pain.

"No, please stop!" Rose cried out, tears spilling across her cheeks. The squirming halted suddenly, and the once silent room was filled with Rose's sobs and Roxanne's whimpers.

The Death Keeper leaned in very close to Rose, "... that with some persuasion, you could brew it for us."

Rose's instinct was to hold her ground. She wanted to shout back her refusal, to spit in their face.

Never in her life did Rose wish harm upon someone like she did in that moment.

But with the horror of Roxanne's pain freshly cutting into her, Rose could only glare her hatred through her tears at her imprisoner.

"My Mopsus potion, right?" her voice was so quiet, and at hearing the defeat from herself, Rose's eyes welled up with tears again, "What do you need it for?"

"No business of yours," she said quickly, "how long will it take?"

"I'm not sure," she responded, and they nodded at their companion once more.

"No, wait!" Rose shouted, "I just need materials!" they held up a hand to stop the torture spell.

"They made me... burn all of my notes," she said between sobs, "I just need time to come up with the protocol again."

"We're not known for our patience," they said.

"Please," Rose cried, and her head hung forwards, "Please, I just need time." Rose gasped softly, willing herself to lift her head and look at her captor once more, but it was as if her body were no longer her own. "I can do it," she repeated quietly, but her words were drowned by a loud crash and a bright light.

Looking up, Rose cried in relief. A blonde-haired boy wordlessly threw a spell at her captor. She dodged it and disappeared behind Rose. She struggled against her restraints again, and Alice slipped in behind Scorpius, rushing to Rose. Alice pointed her wand at the restraints.

"Please, please, please," she begged, feeling so trapped. Suddenly there was a loud crack behind her, and profuse swearing.

"They took her!" Scorpius shouted, turning towards a new figure at the fallen wall, "Albus they have Roxanne."

"Emancipare," Alice whispered, and as the ropes slithered out from Rose's arms, she flung herself forward and out of the chair.

"Wait, Rose, your legs!" Alice warned, rushing to untie those as well, but Rose could think of nothing but trying to get away from that horrible room. She barely noted when her legs were freed, but proceeded to crawl towards the blasted opening. Catching her leg on a piece of fallen wood, Rose fell over herself and sobbed, curling into a ball on the floor. She felt hands on her back, trying to rouse her back to sanity, but Rose could only sob, staring at the corner of the room where water was still dripping every few seconds.

…

Rose was carried from the building into a snowy forest. At some point they met Sam in the woods. Everything was a blur, and she didn't even know who was carrying her.

"-Can't go back…" she heard someone say. Rose started singing very softly to herself, trying to block out the scene around her. Down in the "valley, valley so low. Hang your" head over, hear the wind blow. Only half of Rose's words seemed to leave her mouth. When the voices around her grew more frantic, she started humming louder, the words of the old lullaby filling her head.

Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow. Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.

"I don't know," a voice above her shouted over her singing, "We can't just apparate, I have to contact someone. We can't stay in Australia."

"Ethan lives in Adelaide," Rose whispered.

"Hey," A voice said loudly from next to her, "Rose said Ethan lives here." Rose opened her eyes to look at Albus, whose lips were pressed together in a tight line.

"We have nowhere to go mate," another voice responded. At last, Albus nodded.

Side-along appariting seemed to have no effect on Rose. What did have an effect on her, was recognizing the five small trees planted in the front yard. The stone pathway leading to a house with all its lights off. "Roses love sunshine, violets love dew." Rose sang softly again, burying her face in the chest of who she now recognized as Scorpius. His arms tightened around her as they knocked.

Lights flicked on. Alarmed voices. Blankets. Hushed discussions. The flash of wandwork and protective spells being put in place. "Angels in heaven know I love you." Rose found herself wrapped tightly on a large couch. Sam sat in front of her, taking one of her hands. She tried to speak, but couldn't find anything other than song lyrics. He rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

"Know I love you, dear, know I love you," Rose sang at Sam. He looked sad, but she couldn't remember why. Rose shivered and closed her eyes, "Angels in heaven, know I love you."

A while later, Sam's hand was replaced by a larger one, and Scorpius made Rose look at him. Once she recognized his face, he crawled onto the couch onto her and flicked the lights off. "Will you be mine, dear, will you be mine?" Rose muttered softly.

"My father used to sing me this song," Scorpius pulled Rose tightly to him. She didn't know she had been shivering for so long until just then. Rose tried to commit his words to memory, since she couldn't respond just then. Answer my question, "Will you be mine?"

"He didn't have a good voice like you," Scorpius laughed quietly, listening to her hum another line. Rose paused briefly, breathing deep. "He was pretty awful actually. But I loved it."

Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow.

"He'd visit me and tuck me in and sing a verse. I always felt safe when he did. Loved." Scorpius's voice was far off now. Rose's humming ceased, and she moved a hand to gently place it over his.

Very quietly, and almost without a tune, Scorpius sang the last line back to her, "Hang your head over, hear the wind blow."

And Rose drifted off to a peaceful rest with the sound of Scorpius's snores.

Author's Note: Welcome back! Again, not rushing to get chapters out, and I've been feeling very uninspired under my loads of work. I recently picked up the Harry Potter audiobooks for my long commutes, and ideas have finally been flowing again! WHOO! Plot ideas though, not sex ideas, so I have no idea where the style will go. I have always been committed to the major plotline, which was written before any of the chapters, and will expose itself in the next few. Please let me know where you think things are going! Were you surprised by Rose shutting down through all this? Who the hell is Ethan? I love her but damn she does not know how to handle her shit. Tell me what you think! Miss and love y'all.