What Have I Done? (Chapter 28)

~*Rose's Point of View*~

Dearest Annabeth,

It has been brought to my attention multiple times that you are in a bit of a predicament and could use some help. Yes, I do know that you've already been looking and asking around for help from none other than Rose Weasley but I do believe that I could be a little bit more convenient. Plus, to help my case, this wouldn't be the first time that I've done something for you. If you are able to recall it was I who you deliberately wrote three times about 'getting Ethan Davies off your back'. Seeing as I did just that without any complications or setbacks, I don't think there's a reason for you to not agree to me assisting you. Although if you don't want me to help you, I can see why that is? You do know how to find me though since it seems I always become visible when you need something. Also, I wish you the best of luck with whatever problem you do have. However, I do have an ominous feeling about all this, which is the only reason I am offering to help. Do not take this for granted. It's no secret that both you and I are not very well-liked and we barely even know each other but I need things and you need things so why not help one another. We could be associates. Or I could be perfectly fine and you could be overwhelmed and stressed with your problems. Don't feel pressured though, because I couldn't care less what happens to you.

Just think about it,
Landon A. Davis

My eyes ran back and forth across the fancy script of Landon's handwriting, scanning it for the fourth time today. When I had stumbled across Stephanie reading Annabeth's mail I immediately went to scold her for it. After all, she's a very easy person to persuade. On the other hand, I am much harder to convince than most people except for when it comes to friends and family. That's the reason, I think, that Stephanie was able to pester me into reading someone else's personal mail. I'm glad I read it though. Otherwise, I probably would have never found out about this whole ordeal. And despite the fact that Annabeth and I haven't been on speaking terms for a while, which has been unbelievably awkward, I still worry about her sometimes. More than ever now that I know she's getting letters from Landon saying that he'll help her with whatever problem she has because I haven't been around.

I have a bad feeling about this. 'Bad' doesn't even begin to describe it, that's an understatement for sure. Whenever Landon is involved in something there's a ninety-nine percent chance that the outcome of the situation will be horrifyingly terrible. It's actually quite an obvious result seeing as he never really speaks to anyone or is seen. What would you expect when a ghost, not that he is one, suddenly becomes visible way longer than what is welcome. I'd be expecting some horrible things to happen, wouldn't you?

Still, why couldn't Annabeth just come to me herself instead of going to someone like Landon?

We aren't on the best of terms but I wouldn't be that immature as to not help to her if she was in trouble. In a way we're still friends the only difference now is that I don't feed into her demands as much anymore and I try to avoid and ignore her more than ever now. Sure, I do have my own infinite amount of problems right now, but I can always put my own on hiatus for now. Scorpius isn't that important anyway. We already fucked everything up and there's pretty much nothing else to do. It's probably best that we go back to the way things were before, even after all the crap we've been through trying to make things work out between us.

There are a lot of things that we people take for granted. From small things to big things, from friends to family, we've all taken something for granted before. Sure, we may pretend that we don't or didn't really care in the end, but we all do. It's part of the human nature, you know. Nonetheless, to get to the point: I've taken Violet for granted, or more so her silence. If you remember, the last time she's spoken to or about me was when she caught Landon and me in the library 'kissing'. To clear things up about that... he was being more of a prat than expressing any type of feelings towards me. Could you really expect anything less from him?

Be that as it may, to reward my not noticing that Violet had probably tried pretty hard to keep her mouth shut and not talk to or about me... She proceeded to do just that while I was around. And to top it all off, she went a bit further than I would have liked. Not only did she release very, very private information about both Scorpius and I to a bunch of random people, but she insists that it wasn't her idea. That group of people in which one of my many, many, many cousins could have been listening, or one of their many, many, many friends could have been listening to go back and tell them... She admitted that that part was her own addition to the idea. There's just no escaping the very extended family I have. I'm glad that I'll probably never have to draw a family tree for any important purpose, though.

"Merlin, Scorpius! I can't believe I didn't notice it before. You dumped me for that bitch of a blood traitor, didn't you? You've probably been sneaking around with her. Imagine what your father would think. Is she really worth all the disappointment? Is she worth the embarrassment and shame that she'll bring to your family name?"

Question: Don't you just hate when you catch little bits of other people's conversations when it's about you? Okay, I'm willing enough to say that maybe she's not exactly talking about me because Scorpius is kind of a whore and there's probably a bunch of 'blood traitors' he's been stringing along but it's obvious. It just has to be about me because I'm pretty sure that I'm the only girl he's been 'sneaking around' with. Although, it's not really 'sneaking around' when he's known to be single, is it? Why exactly was Violet currently droning every listening person's ears off with her stupid accusations and bullshit then?

Don't ask me, I was asking you. It just so happened that I was taking a stroll in the sun when I heard all this. It doesn't make it any better that she has an audience either. From the look on Scorpius' face, he doesn't seem too bothered about it, seeing as those accusations are what he was known for around Hogwarts. Well, that and the fact that he was Draco Malfoy's son but that's a whole different story and blah, blah, blah. This is my story, not his.

"Was it worth it?" she asked, throwing a little tantrum and stomping her foot. As you can see, she is very mature. Anyway, it's not like he dumped her and started going out with me. So, what's the problem here again? I think the jealousy is getting to her.

She's merely pinpointing all her embarrassment and sorrow on me because she has no one else to blame but herself. I didn't tell Scorpius to break up with her, nor did I tell him that he couldn't be in a relationship with her. We never listen to each other anyway so that wouldn't have made much of a difference. Anyway, like I said way before: He said she was boring. At some point he needed someone new to 'mess around' with and he took a fascination in me. We're not doing much but messing up our lives though, so that doesn't really matter. I don't see why she would want that. It's somewhat of an unrequited love if you ask me. No, I am not in denial either. Sometimes I love him and sometimes I don't. I'm a teenage girl and that's just something everyone should expect at this point.

"She's nothing compared to me, Scorpius. I'm so much better. I have pure blood. Your father would accept me. I have black hair. Black! I'm not a redheaded twit who doesn't give a fuck about you. I actually care. If you know what's good for you, you'd drop the Weasley and come back to me. You always come back even if-"

At least she got one thing right. I do have red hair.

At that point I covered my ears and hummed obnoxiously loud but just low enough for the noise to be drown out by Violet's pity party whining. This is not the time for me to be drawing attention to myself. Nowadays it feels like everyone's talking about me, whether it is in a demeaning or approving way. Most of the time, I don't really mind. I can look past it and ignore any rude comments that are thrown my way, but sometimes it gets a little overbearing. When I think about how it was when I first came to Hogwarts things were fine. I didn't even mind Scorpius or Violet, nor was I doing dumb things like drinking and sleeping around with rivals. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time but don't we all.

After a while I got tired of humming songs so I went back to listening. It's not eavesdropping either because it's about me, you know. Well, at least that's what I believe. Does that count? It might but who the hell cares at this point. I was just lying in the grass and she has a perpetually loud and annoying voice. It isn't my fault if I hear anything. It was bound to go floating around the school with no 'wingardium leviosa' anyway. Either way, I hear what she's saying and if she says something about me again that's rude then I'm going to give her a piece of my intelligent mind since she so obviously needs it. I don't mean to brag but I have more than enough brains for everyone to have a share. I'm just not very smart when it comes to relationships and teenage things. I'm more of a book-smart girl.

"-ing to keep it a secret but you two aren't doing a very good job at it. Someone would have to be blind to not be able to see that you two are obviously dating or something. They'd probably even notice then."

At this point, I'm pretty sure that no one would hold it against me if I just went over there to confront her. And it's not like I would care if they did. Standing up, I dusted my robes off before deciding that, yes, I was going to go over there and finally give her a piece of my mind. No longer was I going to sit here and listen to her rant about me because Scorpius decided to drop her from his list of currently dating. If she wanted to continue degrading my reputation around the school with untrue stories about me and other people, then it'd make sense for her to say it in my acknowledged presence. Then, maybe I could slap her in front of everyone and she'd learn to shut that big mouth of hers whenever she feels the sudden need to talk nonsense about me.

Now, don't get me wrong but I'm going to have to slap someone right about now. Usually, I don't resolve my problems with violence, but I think I have a good enough reason to do it this time. Unless I feel as though I can handle this particular situation with words, and I will try. I'll politely ask her to stop talking about me and that's it. To reassure you, I most likely won't but if it comes down to that. I'll definitely do it. I have no problem with smacking her. Therefore, step one to my confrontation is getting through the sea of students that have accumulated around Violet and Scorpius, since they obviously have nothing else to do but listen to gossip.

As I get close to the scene, people start to turn around and look my way, their faces showing pure looks of excitement. The more eager of the students actually move out of the way as if challenging me to even dare go and have a chat with Violet now. Little do they know... I'm not one to ever back down from a challenge. So I let them feed my confidence. When I finally get to the middle of everyone, I shove Scorpius to the side. He's not important right now, even if the main subject right now is me and him. Once I'm standing face-to-face with Miss Can-Never-Shut-My-Mouth, I stop and give her the chance to say something like an excuse for why she's talking behind my back. Everything's silent now and I don't even think to see if any of my nosy siblings are around before I open my mouth.

"Did you have something you wanted to say to me," I ask, my arms crossing over my chest as my eyebrows rise in question.

Violet although taken by surprise, rolls her eyes and stares at me with a look that clearly says something like: 'You dare come up to me like you're someone important in front of my thousands of minions?' And although I know that's not really the point that she's trying to get across, I honestly don't care. I'll think whatever I want and assume whatever I want when she's talking crap about me behind my back. Honestly, when I came to Hogwarts years ago I didn't think that there would be this much petty drama going on. It kind of makes me wonder what the heck my other siblings go through, more so Lily than anyone else. She could never really stay away from the drama. If anything, she provokes it.

"As a matter of fact," she began with an almost innocent look on her face."I was just about to get to the good part where I told everyone how you slept wi-"

"You wouldn't dare." I said cutting her off.

There was a brief pause in which we just stared at each other and conversed with our eyes because no one needed to know anything. Truthfully, I was pleading and trying to intimidate her enough to get her not to say a thing. Between us, we both knew what the end of that sentence was going to consist of and I didn't like the idea at all. That was the last thing that I wanted all these people to know about. Just about anything else would be better than everyone finding out about the things that have been happening in the last few weeks. The more they knew the more drama that would suddenly appear. Drama would be a great way to end the year, would it not? Then, I would have something to look forward to next year.

"The part where I told everyone how you slept with Scorpius," she quickly finished with a devious smirk on her face, backing away from me like any smart person would at the moment.

Gasps echoed all around at her little announcement and that was probably the fastest my fingers ever closed around my wand. However, when I point my wand in her face, I find that I never really had the intention of cursing or hexing her. The first idea that came to me was to poke her in the eye. Poke the bitch! Poke the EVIL QUEEN! To think that she had the actual courage to say that out loud, right? I'm almost tempted to applaud her for her ability to use just about anything against you, no matter the price or consequences. This is why I hold such a grudge against Slytherins. It's because of the stereotypical people like her.

There are whispers that I can clearly hear and so can everyone around me. There's always the whispers. The little conversations and comments people can never stop themselves from announcing to other people who just don't care. It's almost like it's someone's impulse to talk quietly whenever they hear shocking news. It makes you wonder. Are people programmed to just gossip about every small thing that happens in the world? You would think so. I try to ignore the words that people are saying because that only boosts my anger that much more. Almost to the point where I want to use an unforgivable curse. But then again, neither Violet nor Scorpius are that important to me.

Violet pouted and gave me what I assumed was a sympathetic look. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you didn't want anyone to find out about your relationship. Are you going to hex me, Rosie?"

Boy, I have to admit that she has an eye for seeing the future because that's exactly what I was going to do. Well, until a strong hand grabbed my arm and pulled my wand out of my hand before anything could come out of my mouth. And I believe that it was a true miracle that Scorpius stopped me because I'm sure I would have cursed her. But just because I didn't have my wand didn't mean that I couldn't cause her physical harm. This wouldn't be the first time I slapped the magic out of someone. However, when I lunge at her, it's all in vain. People just won't let me hit her. I swear. The way she flinches and steps back again is more than satisfying though. I'm going to get her back, if it's the last thing I do.

Despite the fact that Scorpius has a very strong hold on me, I still try to grab anything on her so I can tear her apart like she's trying to do my life. I just want to slap her because after all these years of me putting up with her bullshit for no reason at all, I should finally get to repay her. Never have I ruined anything she's had going for her or something like that. Sure, I occasionally make it known that I don't like and cannot stand her, but that's nothing compared to what she does. If I had no heart and didn't care one bit about the people around me, I would have been brought her ego down. Fortunately enough for her, I'd rather not bring other people into our personal affairs to get back at her. And I'm sure that she's not only doing this to express her hate for me but to get back at Scorpius as well.

"I'll fucking slap you, I swear I will!" I threaten her.

"It's not worth it, Rose," Scorpius tells me, dragging me away from the scene even though I obviously want to stay here and continue this little thing Violet and I have going on. "It's really not. They were going to find out at one point."

People move out of the way when we pass and say nothing, almost as if they're disappointed. The silence is weird. Kids in Hogwarts are never this quiet when something this big happens. It calms me down though. I ignore the distasteful looks we get, I ignore the smiles, and I ignore the knowing smirks and everything else around me and focus on not running back. They do say that ignorance is bliss and I need to forget at the moment.

"I can't say it's very shocking. It's about time!" I hear someone say... and I ignore that too.

Like Scorpius said... They were going to find out. Half of them already knew. It was only a matter of time. We can't keep a secret forever. That doesn't mean that someone isn't going to suffer though. Someone told Violet and that someone was not going to just get let off the hook. I have a right to know who told and I'm going to find out no matter what. So, maybe that's why I'm constantly in some sort of conflict. Truth be told, I sort of do go looking for trouble time and time again. Well, either that or trouble is attracted to me because of some mysterious reason that I don't know about.

Someone's going to be screwed when I find out they told.

-Here's a list of people who could have told Violet about us:

1.) Landon Davis

2.) Noah Nott

I don't think it's a coincidence that the list is so potentially small at the moment. Landon is first because he actually knows something and Noah is second because he might. At times like these, you have no choice but to pick out every single suspect you could have. There's no cutting people out because of this reason or that reason unless you asked them personally, there's evidence, or you already found the culprit.

When we finally, finally, found Landon he seemed to be striking a deal with some kid who I didn't recognize. The kid had asked something that I couldn't quite catch but seeing as he was asking Landon to do something for him it couldn't have been a very good thing. He also looked as if he just wanted to get it over with. Landon, on the other hand, had just shrugged and shook hands with his 'companion' with that smug look on his face like he was the greatest person on Earth. I do have to admit that it does suit him. However, I do not think that he really has anything to be smug about. At the same time I believe that he's just trying to emit an intimidating aura or something like that. It doesn't really work though. He looks about as scary as Hugo and frankly, Hugo couldn't frighten a fly. Also, the freckles don't help much, nor does his height. I'm almost taller than him. Alas, do not be fooled. Just because he doesn't look scary doesn't mean he isn't. His intelligence is also quite intimidating.

Now that I think about, he kind of looks like some possessed kid. Maybe he is creepy in a dark way. No! He's only creepy because he knows way more than he should and I now know that for a fact. People are only scared of him because they know he won't ever hesitate to reveal any secrets, whether they include him or not. You see, that's how he earns his 'spot in the world'. His daring and sly ways are enough to carry him through life. He's a manipulative little bastard and I don't get why or how he got into Ravenclaw. Slytherin seems more up his route. It's not surprising though. Nowadays, no one has one sole personality.

As soon as he's done with whatever he was doing and his friend went away, Scorpius and I decided to start our interrogation. After all, two heads are better than one. Well, more like...two angry people make more of a difference than one? Yeah, I like that one better. It's more true to the heart.

"Why did you tell her?" I asked before he could notice we were there. This was not a matter that could be ignored.

Landon seemed to be startled enough that I was sure we were going to get somewhere fast. Or it could have been because he hates loud noises and I had asked my question considerably loud, even for me. That explanation would also explain why he covered his ears and gave me this look that so clearly said 'Geez, bitch. Can you get any louder!' after he flinched. He then took a second to calm himself. Due to my tendency to be optimistic about things, not a lot but sometimes, I think I'm going to roll with the first option. Besides, if Landon wanted me to shut up or be quiet he would just tell me. He's never had a problem doing it before. Then again, it is possible that he was just waiting for the right time. He has this thing where he waits for the least comfortable moment to say something cruel.

"I tell a lot of people things so you'll have to be a bit more specific than that," he said dryly before focusing his attention on a tapestry behind him.

It's like he doesn't even think we're worth his unoccupied time. I don't know how the hell anyone puts up with him. Let alone, James. James can barely even stand Albus half the time. The only person who doesn't annoy him is Hugo, which I do not understand at all.

"Why'd you tell Violet?"

"Not quite but almost."

"About us." Scorpius and I answered simultaneously. I really hate it when we do that. It's like we're best friends or something and we're absolutely not.

That seemed to grab Landon's attention very well. He turned around so fast that I'm pretty sure that if he wasn't some sort of demon spawn his neck would have snapped. Heck, it probably did but he came back so fast from the burning pits of Hell that neither Scorpius, nor I, noticed. There's this strange look on his face that lingers between amazement and pure annoyance, or maybe hatred and I swear I saw Scorpius fidget the slightest. It's kind of like he's wishing that he would have told Violet himself. You know, like he's wishing that he would have thought about telling first and now regrets his decision. Then again, you never know with Landon. He can be one way this day and totally different the next.

Merlin, I do love to exaggerate.

Landon sighed exhausted and slapped a hand to his face."I've told Violet many things but never have I mentioned you two to her. I haven't talked to her in about five months. Therefore you're interrogating the wrong person, not that I would have told you anything anyway. Being loud makes me want to attack you, not help you."

"Then who did if it wasn't you?" I questioned while watching him suspiciously. He was not going to disappear from my sight until I got all the answers to all of my questions.

His shoulders rose slowly in the form of a shrug but I could tell that this was effecting him more than he would like to admit. Something about not having told everyone about me and Scorpius' 'relationship' before someone else did bother him inside. It's almost pathetic of him. Or maybe it was the fact that he had no idea who had told that bothered him to abnormal extents. Someone had finally beaten him at his own little game. Now the only thing left to do was to find the culprit and teach them a lesson.

"I'll help you," he said.

I don't know if I can trust him though. He's been known to betray a significant, alarming amount of people. Who am I to say that he won't do the same to me? We're not exactly on the best of terms either. I'm not sure I really want anyone's 'help' at the moment. This is my problem and I think it's best that I handle things myself this time. On the other hand, I do have to say that he could probably be a good asset. That is, if the situation was that serious, which it isn't. Also, Landon never just helps anybody for no reason at all. He always has another side to why he does something. I think I've known him for long enough to know that doesn't really care about us and needs something.

The smile that spreads across his face only goes to show that I was right. "For a price," he adds on like the little schemer he is.

We still haven't found the culprit yet and I absolutely refuse to ask anyone for help, especially not after today's fiasco. It would seem that the simple solution to this would be to ask Violet who told her about me and Scorpius, but no one will let me near her. It's not like I actually hurt her. I was going to, but isn't it more important that I didn't? That's what everyone should be focusing on. Why can't people see the more optimistic side of things? She was saved from both a hex and a slap. Two miracles in one day are more than enough, if you ask me. Oh, I guess they don't want to take the chance of no more miracles being available for the devil, in which they think I'll try attacking her again. I won't though. I've gotten over the whole telling everyone thing. The past is the past and I've always been one to think constantly about the future, at times.

At the moment, we were standing in the hallway, empty at last, trying to host another semi-normal conversation that wouldn't be interrupted by anything. We still had a lot to talk about and such little time to do it. The quicker this conversation went by, the better. So far we weren't really getting anywhere. He was leaning against the wall and acting all nervous like this was our first time being alone. I, on the other hand, stared him down and tried to persuade him to talk because I hadn't been the one to drag me here. In fact, I had been on the way to find Annabeth so we could talk. There was no way that I was just going to forget all about that letter that Stephanie and I had read. And though it was none of my business who she got letters from or wrote letters to, something worried me about what she was doing with her life. She was never good at being productive or chasing after her goals. She's always set herself up for failure.

Just as both of us were about to start speaking, we were once again interrupted. I think this is starting to happen on purpose now, not that I really care. I'm not actually looking forward to the awkwardness of our upcoming conversation anyway.

"Hey, Scorpius!"

Bloody hell, I know that voice and I really don't think this scene is going to end up pretty. In fact, I think it'd be best for Scorpius and I to make a run for it, but I can't explain that to him. There's no time to go explaining things that he should already get when an angry James is headed in our direction. Key word being 'our'! The last time something like this happened, James ended up punching my boyfriend in the face and giving him a talk about how to treat me right. Truthfully, it was a nice thing to do, but the whole bleeding violence part took away from that. I mean you can't just abuse someone and expect everything to be beautiful and normal, even if you gave some tear jerking speech. Violence usually cancels that out.

If you thought I was scared when James was chasing me around last time, that was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. The only difference was that I was frightened for Scorpius' life this time. No way was James going to go easy on him. And this meant that he obviously found out about what Violet had said. Nothing ever stays a damn secret in this school and at times like this, it's not very useful if the secret is one that could cause problems like the one I have a feeling is about to happen.

You'd think that Scorpius would have caught on to the overall tension that had begun to creep up on us, but I guess he's a bit slow at processing things like these. Therefore, I don't blame him for not taking off as soon as he heard the voice of James. It was no secret that they were not even close to being so much on the same page, so I still wonder why he didn't decide to run. I even thought a few times about doing a little abracadabra to make him disappear. I was thinking about doing anything to get him out of James' line of fire. Anything to save him from being practically… I don't even know by my cousin. Then there was the fact that I had many more cousins than just the one coming at us right now.

"Scorpius… Let's run before he gets over here," I warned, trying to pull him in the opposite direction for his own safety.

"Too late," James teased, suddenly next to both of us and wearing his award-winning 'Who-am-I-going-to-kill-next?' smile. "Hold this, Rosie."

Before I can answer that, no I will not hold anything of his, his tie is being pressed into my hands and I hold it anyway. I even allow him to slightly push me to the side as he rolls up his sleeves and steps that much closer to Scorpius. Now that I think about it that should have been my second clue that James wasn't around just to yell and play Big Brother. The first clue was that creepy, threatening smile that he had on his face. It wouldn't be the first time that I've seen that smile either. Scorpius just stands there like the idiot he is and still doesn't leave like he should because he and James are nowhere near close to being one another's friend. Pure hatred isn't something that just goes unnoticed after years and years and James has hated Scorpius since the first time they saw one another. This is another reason why Scorpius should have made himself disappear by now.

"So, I heard some things about you and little Rosie, Scorpius."

Scorpius? He called him Scorpius! That's sort of... eerie.

That much was obvious, but I really didn't like the sound of that. Beside me, Scorpius visibly stiffened and finally, thanks to the heavens above, decided to take a step back. I wanted to grab him and run like the wind when James moved closer every time he took a step back, but I couldn't make myself move. The only thing I could do was watch every little thing that took place in front of me. James' tie was starting to feel sort of heavy in my hands, if that's even possible, and I pray that Scorpius won't say anything because I won't be able to help him. Not now at least. Not while I seem to be frozen and unresponsive to any of the words that are said between the two of them, except mentally.

Scorpius sort of shrugs as he continues to walk backwards. "There are a lot of rumors out there about the both of us. That doesn't exactly mean they're true."

"Are you avoiding the question, Scorpius?" James questioned, shaking his head as if he disapproved of his behavior. "That's one. Don't give me any more reasons."

"Not really... I mean you didn't exactly ask a real question. You stated something and just now asked a question, if you know what I mean. And I'm not trying to be 'smart' or anything. I'm merely answering as I see appropriate," answered Scorpius.

Frankly, I've always known that Scorpius was stupid, in a sense. On the other hand, I've never known that he was this stupid. If he wasn't going to run, I don't see why he would use such a cocky approach with James. It's obvious that he has the wrong idea and is using the wrong option or technique when the scenario does not change. In spite of what I would assume was Scorpius' attempt at being somewhat friendly, James just crowds him against the wall and glares menacingly at him. That's when my dear 'friend' decides to shut the hell up.

"Do you love her?"

Whoa! Whoawhoawhoa! We barely even like each other. What the hell is this about love? Is that what people are calling this these days? I want to scream at James to mind his own damn business and things like that, but I stay silent. When Scorpius looks my way, I nod to tell him to say yes because I know what he's trying to ask. We're not even on that page yet, but if it'll get James to go away I don't see why he shouldn't agree to that. It doesn't matter at this point. The only thing that's important is finding out who told then whatever happens after that. Who cares if I don't know what that is? No one, of course, because everyone's focused on Violet's perfect timing of telling people about us.

"Yeah, I believe so."

"Then, let's get a few things straight. You listening?"

No doubt he nods his head.

"Malfoys and Weasleys are known not to mix. No, don't fucking say anything! I didn't ask you a question, so shut up. I'm giving you a chance here and you better not mess it up. If you break her heart, I break your existence. If you make her cry, I drown you in the tears that you produce when you predict that I'll be coming. If you hurt her feelings, I'll make sure you won't have any feeling," James threatened without breaking eye contact no matter how much Scorpius tried to look away. "And she'll be all 'James! Stop threatening my boyfriend!' Then, I'll say 'I'm not. I'm promising and if he has any doubts he'll find out if he decides to test my words.' Sound right to you? Do you have any questions?"

"No."

Thankfully, he starts to loosen his grip on Scorpius' collar now. "Don't take this for granted and most definitely do not think that I'm doing this for anyone but Rose. I believe she can make the right decisions. She's old enough to go through life on her own. That, however, does not mean that I'm letting my guard down. One thing you need to know is there's never a time she won't have someone making sure that you're treating her right. We're a big family and every single one of us is willing to kick your arse if you fuck up. Is that clear?"

A swift hesitant nod again from Scorpius doesn't seem to mean anything to James because he grips him by the collar anything but gently. In all honesty, I'm probably a bit more frightened than anyone else right now when I shouldn't be. Of course, that only adds to my unresponsive state and leaves me to watch how they interact. Whether it be in a good or bad way it's not for me to decide or to interfere in, especially when I can't move. I can at least guess where their conversation, one-sided or not, is going, so I know what to expect.

"Good. I wouldn't want to have to repeat myself. Welcome to the family."

James curls his fingers into a fist and pulls his arm back.

I blink.

Next thing I know, Scorpius' nose is bleeding and James is laughing hysterically, the sound echoing down the hall as he takes his tie from my hand and starts to leave like nothing happened. Let's just say that I don't ever want to hear that laugh again. It was oddly creepy, but it did get me moving, finally unfrozen enough to help out Scorpius in any way I could. Aside from the blood leaking from his nose, he seems alright. If anything he looks more confused than anything else. One thing I don't get is how he didn't see this coming up at one point. There was only a matter of time before one of my cousins found out and decided to assault him. Fortunately enough for him, James seemed to be in a good mood and only punched him once.

After a tiresome day of trying to figure out who 'snitched', we came up with the short stick. From what we had gathered, no one had told Violet. Not Landon, not Noah, not anyone else we knew. However, I still have my suspicions that someone did and I believe that we just haven't found them yet. There's no way that Violet could have just figured that information out on her own. She'd never just go out on a limb and not even test its safety. No matter how reckless she could be with some things, I have to admit that she always had the facts to back up anything. Even her accusations had some sort of facts in the background. There was someone else in on this and I was going to find out who it was.

So when I call it a night, I throw myself into bed and half expect someone to start talking about the whole thing. I expect them to but they don't. I don't know whether I should be relieved or worried about the silence. The silence is almost overwhelming because I feel like I'm being judged. More so by Stephanie than by anyone else because of what she told me a while ago. When she told me she liked Scorpius, and now here I am being gossiped about because we slept together. I feel like I sort of betrayed her in a way, to say the least, and I want to apologize. I want to say that I'm sorry and I should have told her but I stay quiet as well. I stay quiet until the silence is so unbearable that I have to speak because I know she's listening.

"I'm sure you've heard about... everything," I say into the darkness.

Then, it's quiet again. No one moves, no one makes a single sound loud enough for me to hear and the seconds go ticking by. I just sit there and wait because there's nothing else I can do. All I can do is sit there and hope that Stephanie says something back. I don't want to lose her as a friend, but I can almost feel it happening. Losing one of my best friends over something as trivial as this was never in the plan. None of this stuff was ever in the plan. School was supposed to be simple, easy and there was never supposed to be this much drama. Maybe I should have paid more attention to our friendship than everything else. Maybe I should have stuck with my friends. Maybe I shouldn't have let people get to me so easily.

"Yeah, I did. What about it?" answers Stephanie.

"It's true, you know. Do you have anything to say about it?"

"I know."

What? She's that sure of my ability to screw up that she already 'knows' that what Violet said, or wherever she heard it from, was true? And I find it hard to believe that she doesn't have anything to say about what she's heard. She might be avoiding the question, but I need to know. I mean I wasn't very truthful with her, so that might make me a hypocrite in a way. Yet, I will say that I am willing to tell her whatever she wants to know if she just asks. If she doesn't ask, I won't tell because she obviously doesn't care. Don't ask, don't tell. It's a pretty simple rule. She also never really tells me anything, too. Ever since the beginning of all this, we haven't been communicating like true friends should. That's just the way things are.

"How do you know?"

It's out of pure curiosity. Part of me wants to know and part of me doesn't. That's a normal reaction. I think it's the fact that she could say anything that makes me weary. She could call me names, she could put me down, she could say that she knew because of something obvious. There's so many different options that she could take that could both ruin what we have and make things more than a little awkward. We've been friends from the start and I don't think I'm ready to give that up but I still have to know her reason.

"I told her. Night, Rose."

"Yeah," I mutter quietly.

It's never once occurred to me that maybe the culprit would end up being a close, close friend of mine. You could say that maybe I'm just too trusting and all that jazz, but I'm not. I rarely truly trust someone with anything. I guess that's why I just pushed her words to the back of my mind before rolling over in bed. Instead I focus more on the fact that I feel a little bit better after having her answer me more than one time. Sure, the answers are small, quick and to the point but that doesn't make them any less important. They still mean that she's willing to talk to me and it makes me feel better about everything. That is until her words fully sink in.

"WHAT!"

Author's Note: I am tempted to leave this as the last chapter. That is all. I lied. Also, I do not know where this story is going, I'm not solely focused on this anymore and I feel no motivation to continue this at all. Well, I do a little bit, but not enough to be shooting chapters out as fast as I did in the beginning. But if I do continue this, just know that the end is coming up very soon, even if I have no little outline thingy to follow because this was my first story. I just sort of wrote whatever I felt like and never thought about what would happen in the future. And I will continue to write the story like this if I do decide to finish it. I've been busy. Summer might fix the whole taking forever to write things though. Plus, I've been exploring my other fandoms and I don't know what fandom my next story will be in. One more thing, I've rekindled my overall hate for first-person stories, which kind of makes me a hypocrite, right? I don't even know anymore. First-person stories just sort of annoy me in a way now. Well, some of them.

I believe that's it. I'm not sure anyone cares anymore anyway. I know I most likely would not. Love you all, thanks for reading and reviewing and all that good stuff. ;3 I had way more stuff to add to the scenes but I was too lazy to add them. Maybe some other time. Until then, it'll be all rushed and everything.

Who wants to be my motivation? I really need it at this point.