The Walnut Tree

Chapter 5: [Author ID1: at Tue Oct 16 17:36:00 2007 ]All Hallows Eve

After this realization, I started to wonder who Rose really was; it was almost as if she was hiding behind that bright, happy smile she wore permanently across her face. There was something more to this girl and something inside me wanted to find out what it was. I wasn't sure why, but it wasn't curiosity anymore. It was more of a want now, almost a desire to unravel the mystery that was Rose. And so, with this in mind, I figured that I should probably stay as far away from her as I could and wait for her to come to me. She was bound to...right?

It was the day of Halloween--my least favourite holiday--and I had just entered my Defence against the Dark Arts class when a paper airplane flew by me. I caught it in mid air, and as I crumpled it up, I felt the whole classes' eyes focused on me. This made me slightly uncomfortable, and I made my way to my seat. I could hear the whispers of the other students, but I tried to pay no attention to them. The rest of the class went on with no other occurrences, and I was given another essay for homework that night, due the following day. When I arrived at the Great Hall, I filled my plate with food, ready to listen to what the other students were going to do that night for Halloween. I was sitting beside Simon Hamm, who was bragging to his friends rather loudly about how he had nicked a few bottles of mead from the kitchens that morning.

"Brilliant work, Simon! A perfect start to our Halloween night," his friend, Peter Hayes, replied a little quieter to him.

"What are we going to do with it?" Roger Banks asked the two.

Instead of answering, Simon whacked him on the back of his head and stood to leave, Peter following behind. Roger looked after them, rubbed his head in pain and hurried off to catch up. I shook my head, laughing slightly. They always assumed that they were so much better than everyone else was. If anything, they were much worse than everyone else was, but no one agreed with me on this. I knew I should have been worried that they were going to be drinking that night, but I had so much else on my mind I didn't think much of it.

Later that day I was in my dormitory when I found a letter on the edge of my bed. I realised immediately that I had forgotten all about my dad's letter. I knew I should open it, but I really didn't want to. After much debate, I realised I really had no choice, and I ripped open the envelope and read the contents.

Scorpius,

Your mother and I have been talking, and we were thinking of going on a nice vacation to America. When I spoke to the head Auror about this, he immediately suggested that I work out there. Apparently there are a few things we need to smooth over. Since you are at Hogwarts, we wouldn't want to pull you away from your schoolwork. Your mother had the brilliant idea of you staying with one of our friends over the various vacations, since we're not entirely sure how long we'll be away. It could be a few months, or even a year. We'll send word to a few people to see who'd be happy to have you stay, and then we'll let you know when Christmas comes closer. That's all for now. Be sure to keep up with your schoolwork, son.

Sincerely,

Dad

I grimaced, not at all happy about this arrangement. Of course I didn't have any say for what I wanted to do. Of course they wouldn't let me go with them. I had to "keep up with my schoolwork." I rolled my eyes and slammed my fist down on the bed, leaving a slight indent in the covers. I threw the letter in my trunk and wondered what miserable family they'd send me to this time. My parents were constantly off somewhere doing something. I'd always end up with a distant relative who smelled slightly of old socks and mouldy soup. I cringed, remembering my stay with grandma's old friend Polly rather well, unfortunately.

See, my parents were away on some kind of vacation work thing in Spain, so I was left with Polly. She was an old, fickle, smelly woman with literally no teeth and no communication skills what so ever. She bonded with only one species, and that was her fifty cats. She'd groom them constantly, which only caused the entire house to look as if it were made by fur. I swear, every nook and cranny was COVERED with those stupid cats' fur. Not only were they shedding cats, they were at least twenty pounds each, with squished in faces and angry eyes. I don't think I saw them even move once. So anyway, there really wasn't room for me to begin with, but she insisted that I'd stay. I ended up down in the cellar with only one small candle and at least ten cats all over me. She didn't really have any food, so she fed me cat food and milk the entire summer. Not one of my happier days, I'll admit.

Shaking those awful memories from my mind, I pulled my broken camera from my trunk and the book I had gotten from the library earlier that day, attempting to fix my camera. I spent quite a few hours working on it, using every spell I could think of to fix it, but to no avail. The sun had long since disappeared, and I could hear loud, happy voices opposite the door. I knew everyone would be wild tonight and I didn't want to be apart of it. So, grabbing a few things to keep me busy (a few essays I had due the next day) and a candle, I moved through the partying students and made my way to the walnut tree. It was quiet now; only crickets and a few birds could be heard. I took a breath of fresh air, and instead of working, I watch the moon glisten against the still water, wishing I could take a picture.

All of a sudden, the day I saw Rose dance popped into my mind. I could see her perfectly now. I could see her smile shining against the rain, and her eyes...her mysterious brown eyes showed differently. They were sad, almost scared or frightened behind that smile. Could she be afraid to be herself? Was she afraid of what people might think of her? I knew at that point I needed to find this out. I don't know why, but part of me needed to know.

As I concluded this, I heard a muffled scream and then laughter coming from the edge of the forest. I looked towards the forest to see a small fire and none other than Simon Hamm and his followers crowded around someone. It was clear that they had a few drinks and they were speaking loudly towards their victim. I edged quietly towards them until I was behind a nearby tree. I tried to see who they were bothering, but I couldn't get a good look.

"Well, little miss perfect. What brings you out here on a night like this? You could get hurt out here, you know," Simon said to the person, smiling mischievously. He looked around at his fellow students, nodding, and they moved in on the person.

The girl screamed, this time louder, and with my wand in hand, ran out to stop them. "Let her go," I demanded, pointing my wand directly at Simon's face.

"We're just having a spot of fun, Malfoy. Surely you'd do the same with such a pretty girl," Simon answered, his eyes flickering towards the still hidden girl. His friends moved out of the way to reveal Rose, who looked helpless and angry.

"Let her go," I demanded again, my eyes fixed on him.

"Or what? You'll throw your Muggle-loving magic at us? Like we're scared of you," he replied with a sneer.

"If I have to, yes. Now let Rose go," I said to him, still not averting my gaze, or the aim of my wand.

"You know her well, don't you?" Simon grabbed her by the arm, much to her dismay, and she tried to wrench free from his grasp.

"Let me go you drunken toad!" she yelped.

"Come on Lone Wolf. Come and get what's yours. Get a taste of the Gryffindor," he went on, a satisfied grin on his face. "What, are you too good for her, just like you are everyone else?"

Anger was boiling inside me now; I had had enough. With a swish of my wand, Simon flew backwards against a tree. His friends saw what I had done and ran off, Simon hurrying after. I stood there, shaking violently, until I fell to the ground and all was dark.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital wing. I had no idea why, but I found out soon enough when the healer came into the room.

"Good to see you're awake, Scorpius," she greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Why am I here?" I asked her.

"You were too stressed out. The blood rushed to your head and you passed out. You'll be fine, but you'll need to rest," she answered. "It's a good thing that Rose found you in that deserted hall. You could have gone into shock."

I was growing tired as we spoke, and my eyes threatened to flutter closed. I forced them to stay open, trying to keep my mind off it.

"How long will I have to stay here?" I asked her.

"Oh, just a few days. Until you can get your strength back," she replied. "Careful now. The potion is going to kick in and you'll fall fast to sleep. Oh, hello, Rose dear."

I looked to see Rose in the doorway of the wing. "Hello Madame Tulip. May I see him now?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. Be quick, now. He'll be asleep soon." Madame Tulip shuffled off to care for another student, leaving me alone with Rose.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me.

'Sleepy," I replied. "What really happened, Rose?"

She smiled slightly, but didn't respond to my question. "That's expected. Well, I just wanted to bring you some Chocolate Frogs. I thought they'd be good for you. I'd better go, I hope you feel better." Rose moved towards the door and was almost gone before I called her name.

"Rose, wait. Whatever happened...well...thank you," I said.

She nodded slightly and left. Before I could think any about this, I felt a rush of drowsiness come over me, and my eyes slowly fell closed.

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