the wall of ice

Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.

H. Jackson

Dominique/Scorpius/Rose

She walks down the hall, eyes scanning the empty hall, as if he (they) would jump out of the shadows. Some part of her knows they are never coming back, but she doesn't want to admit it.

Wiping her cheeks so that no one will see the tears (she's Rose Weasley and she's strong), she ducks her head. She's Ravenclaw and she's all reason, so of course she doesn't care.

(of course she does)

One of her many cousins (she can't see through the tears) approaches her. "Rose, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," She sniffles, still not showing anyone her weaknesses. "Why wouldn't I be?"

The cousin, whom she now recognizes as Louis, cocks an eyebrow. "Merlin, Rose, I wonder. Are you going to mope around and pretend you're emotionless all of the time, or are you going to rejoin all of
us normal people in mourning?"

"Mourning doesn't help anything," she replies crossly, reasonably. "We have to move on with life, he would've wanted us to, so would she-"

"Stop asking like you know- knew- them so well!" Louis spits, arms crossed. "Stop acting like you don't care! We all know you do!" Tears are starting to leak out of his crystal blue eyes, and she doesn't even have the heart to tease him about it.

"Do I?" she replies simply. Then, flipping her dark red curls over her shoulder, she walks away.

Though she tries not to remember, she does.

(flashback)

They're laying outside under the warm sun. Flopping over on his side to face her, Scorpius asks, "How do you think your parents would react if we dated?"

"My parents?" Rose guffaws. "They'd have a fit, you know it. Have you met my dad?"

"Yes, I have," Scorpius replies simply, looking as if he's trying not to laugh. "Remember? He nearly threw a flower pot at my head because apparently I'm corrupting your innocence. As if! I'd say it's the opposite."

Not being able to resist, she joins in his laughter. "Anyway, why did you want to know? You already know what his reaction would be."

"Do I?" Scorpius mumbles. "Actually, I was kind of sort of considering...um...askichuout."

"What?" she replies, obviously amused.

"I was kind of, sort of considering asking you out," Scorpius repeats, a lot more clearly.

Rose grins, a slow smile that quickly breaks across his face. "Were you? And what if you knew that I would say yes?"

"Would you?" he repeats, his voice infinitely quieter, something very uncharacteristic of the Slytherin.

She just smiles. "What would you do if I said yes?"

"This," he whispers, and then he's right there, his lips right in front of hers, and then there's all these sparks and she can't help but think it can't be real.

"Well then," she says, her breath coming in uneven intervals, "I'll definitely say yes."

And from that moment on (well, for a while) it's Rose and Scorpius, the perfect couple that everyone thinks will last forever.

But, as she should've learned by then, nothing lasts forever.

(end flashback)

Before she lets her tears finally flow freely down her face, she glances around to see if her nosy cousin has finally left. No way is she letting him see her cry. Really, there's no reason behind her tears, none that she can prove as valid anyway.

The only reason she can think of for these pointless tears is emotional attatchment, and Ravenclaw Rose just doesn't do emotional attatchment. She can do just fine by herself, on her own. No way does she need Scorpius Malfoy.

But she does, you see, and it's far too late to be realising this.

They were perfect together, once upon a time. She loved him, and they would go to Hogsmeade together. They would hang out by themselves and with other people. They would laugh all of the time. It was a wonderful relationship, filled with laughter, fun, and some tears, but not sad ones. Well, she thought that they were perfect together. But obviously they weren't.

(flashback)

It's one of the warm days when she realises that she has a date with Scorpius. Quickly, she throws on a dress robe, one of her favourites, and dashes downstairs.

"Hello, Scorpius!" She says cheerily, grinning at her boyfriend.

"Rose," He greets her, wrapping an arm around her. "Ready to go?"

"Of course," She says cheerily, walking with him out the door. They walk, hand-in-hand, chattering about things of unimportance, until they run into Dominique Weasley, who doesn't look quite as happy about the new relationship.

Crossing her arms, she says bitterly, "Well, look at the adorable new couple."

Scorpius, who obviously doesn't get her true bitter attitude, actually laughs. "Hey, Dom."

"Hello," She says, still staring at the two of them like she's got some sort of chip on her shoulder.

"Come on, Scorpius," Rose says, shouldering Dominique out and shoving her to the side. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks, there's no time to waste."

Dominique just glares at the two of them as Rose skips off, her hand shoved securely in Scorpius' hand, and she thinks that nothing will ever come between them.

Yeah, she used to be so innocent...

(end flashback)

The tears keep falling, and she wills herself to stop. But she's already in far too deep, and it's up to her- and only her- to get out.

(flashback)

The first time she thinks that maybe something is up is when Molly comes to her, looking upset and conflicted and the opposite of her usual self. Eyes shining, she voices a quick hello.

"Something wrong, Molly?" Rose inquires, quite worried about her cousin.

"No," Molly averts her eyes as if she's lying. "I mean, yes. I mean, no, ugh!"

"Well, obviously something is wrong," Rose says softly. "Care to tell a caring cousin, Molls?"

"No, I mean, yes," Molly replies, incredibly flustered. "I mean, I want to tell you, but it's about you and I'm specifically not supposed to tell you, sorry..."

"Just tell me," Rose demands, her voice soft and quiet but deadly.

"Fine," Molly stares down at the ground. "Fine. I think scorscheatnou..."

"What?" Rose says, very much unable to understand her fast talking cousin.

Molly sighs very deeply before repeating, "I think that Scorpius is cheating on you."

In the back of her throat, Rose's breath catches. Herheart pounds even faster and she feels as if she's going to vomit. Firmly, but in a still worried tone, she states, "No, Scorpius wouldn't do that."

"Rose," Molly says in a pleading tone. "I'm only telling you because it's what best for you..."

"No, you're lying." In fear, Rose's voice rises quite a few octaves. "Scorpius and I are perfect together. He's a good guy, he wouldn't cheat on me. He can't! He wouldn't. Would he?" Her eyes are filled with fear, and she knows that it's as if she's convincing herself, not Molly.

Molly just shakes her head, staring at her cousin. "Have you seen the way he looks at Dominique?"

Dominique. The name hits hard. Her boyfriend is cheating on her with her own blonde, beautiful,Veela cousin. Memories flash through her brain and she feels as if she's going to die. How could he choose Dominique? They were- still are, always will be- perfect together. Why do boys always choose the pretty girls?

Reason tells her that it's true. She sees the images clearly- adoring looks shot at Dominique behind her back, smiles and winks that she barely notices, waves that so obviously weren't meant for her- yeah, he's definitely cheating.

Her feelings tell her that Scorpius can't be cheating on her, they're perfect together and he's not that type of guy. Her feelings keep up with that image of him where she holds an image of him that is much higher than what he deserves.

Her heart sees what's invisible to the eye, though- that things with her and Scorpius aren't the same as before.

But reason wins out, as it always does with the Ravenclaw, and she begins to panic.

She bites her lip. "What should I do? I mean, it's Scorpius, and I don't want to end it. And I can't really fight Dominique… she's my own cousin. Oh man."

Molly slides an arm around her cousin, staring sympathetically at her. "I know what you mean. And while I can't really empathize because I don't know how you feel, well, I'm sorry."

Once again, she puts up her wall of ice, even though it's her cousin and she should be able to let her in.

Too bad she can't for some reason.

(end flashback)

She mentally punches herself. At that moment, she should have gone and punched Scorpius for his insolence in cheating on her with her own cousin. But instead, being the even-tempered, always reasonable Ravenclaw, she just went back to her dormitory and sat, considering things. She didn't know that the relationship would lead to her greatest downfall…

Sighing, she leans back, wiping the rest of her tears away. She doesn't even know why she cares so much; they were the ones that hurt her. They deserve her wall of indifference.

But it's not like they would care anyway. It's not like they would even see her.

Well, more like it's not like she would ever see them.

They couldn't care, not anymore.

She still remembers the day she found out, the worst day of her life…

(flashback)

Like most stories, it all starts with a normal day. Rose sits in the common room, studying for a Transfiguration test, not really paying attention to the world outside. Suddenly, the scream of someone outside rings in her ears. She sits up, the scream repeating itself inside of her head. Quickly, she jumps to her feet and dashes outside.

Molly pulls her cousin into a hug."Oh, thank Merlin, Rose, you're all right."

"What do you mean?" Rose asks, worried now. "Of course I'm all right… what's going on, Molly?"

"Honestly, Rose, are you oblivious?" Molly asks her cousin. It's then that Rose notices the tearstains soaking her cousin's face. Sighing, Molly motions to the Slytherin common room, which Rose notices now that flames leap from. Immediately, she gasps. Molly nods mournfully. "We don't know who's gotten out and who's stuck inside. Oh, see there, it's Albus!"

Albus, one of the Slytherins, looks even worse than Molly. He's sobbing like there's no tomorrow. Once they get to him, he blurts out, "It… it was an accident… magical flames…they can't be put out with magic. You need lots of water. We… we bought it from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. But then we… used the expanding charm on it… and it started to burn down the dorm. Dominique and Scorpius were in the Slytherin common room, snogging-"

"Hold up," Rose commands. "They were snogging."

"Oh yeah," Albus says, another tear rolling down his cheek. "You were dating Scorpius…well, he was snogging Dominique. And...and I don't know if he and Dominique got out or not. We're waiting for some experts with these sort of things to come."

Her heart breaks into many pieces, and suddenly she falls onto the ground, wishing and hoping that they would get out safely. Reason tells her that though she's incredibly angry with them at the moment, Dominique is still family and Scorpius is still one of the people that she is closest to.

She still doesn't cry though, because she knows that it won't help.

It's then that some Ministry officials Apparate. Pulling their wands from their clothes, they all yell 'Aguamenti!' in unison, causing water to gush out the edges of their wands. The fire finally goes out, causing everyone to cheer, and they all jump into the charred remains of the Slytherin common room.

Rose stands, hand in hand with Albus and Molly. She squeezes their hands tightly, eyes closed and mind hoping that they're all right. Please, please, please…

One Ministry official approaches the three of them then. "You're relatives of Dominique Weasley, yes? And friends of Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Yes," Rose speaks nervously for the three of them, since her cousins seem to have lost the ability to talk.

"I'm so sorry," The official apologises. "But… they didn't survive. They didn't make it."

Everything goes black then. She falls to the ground, her mind swimming and her heart breaking into so many small pieces. Absently, she registers Albus and Molly's sobs. She tries to keep up her appearance as the Ice Queen, but everything's falling apart, shattering her ice into so many small shards.

He had been cheating on me, she thinks. But it doesn't really matter now… he's dead.

Her head spins as she registers that he's never coming back. That she'll never see his beautiful smirk again. That he'll never laugh with her again. That she'll never see crazy Dominique again, either. It's all too much.

(end flashback)

Her ice wall has since cracked, fallen to the ground, and melted away into a big puddle of sap that she's not proud of. Now he's dead, so it doesn't matter that he cheated on her.

Dead.

Oh, how she hates that word.

Tears keep falling down her face, splashing into a big puddle at her feet. She hopes that no one will discover her there- even if she knows she's not the icy Ravenclaw anymore, it's better if other people believe that, or so she thinks.

But she's already fallen apart, so what does it matter?

It's then that someone sits down beside her. "See, I knew you cared about them."

"Don't rub it in," Rose sniffs, turning to her cousin Louis once again.

He reaches over to rub her back. "It's not a bad thing, Rose. It's normal to feel for someone and to care when they die. Don't you want to come back and cry with us all? No one will think worse of you," he promises.

Slowly, she considers it. Maybe it's best to just give up these pretenses for once. Besides, her heart is telling her to, and sometimes the heart can see what's invisible to the eye. "Fine."

And then the two stand up, ready to go back and mourn together, ready to start a new life.

A/N: Well, that was depressing. Poor Rose.

No, the ending does not imply Rose/Louis, just that they were both hurt by the death and they were both ready to start anew.

It's a bit confusing, I'll admit- and the fire was caused by a thing from WWW, an inextinguishable fire that is only put out by lots and lots of water. My invention.

Hope you enjoyed. Please review!

HP is not mine, by the way.