No.

What?

What?

The uncontrollable anger that had risen in Scorpius trickled away. He couldn't find his breath; the room spun. And there was Rose Weasley, frozen like a statue. And there was Sam Jerkins, inches away from her, that detestable smirk still fluttering over his lips...

Sam Jerkins? No. This boy, this black-haired boy who didn't give a fuck — not Sam Jerkins.

Rose staggered back from him as if he'd punched her. "You — " her voice was a croak. "You — you're — you're — "

"Hugo Weasley," said Scorpius, the words jumping from his mouth; and it was as if he, too, had struck her a blow.

Deafening silence greeted the words. His ears rang. Her face was horrified and so hurt and it killed him. And the bastard wouldn't stop smirking.

"The very same," Hugo Weasley assented after a long moment, in a chuckling sort of way. No more words appeared ready to jump out — Scorpius could only stare.

So this was the douchebag who was filling Rose Weasley with that sadness, that wrung-out sadness which glistened, sharp, aching, swallowing her hazel eyes... Scorpius hated Hugo Weasley. And he hated himself as well, because he'd broken Rose's heart too and he suddenly understood that with a terrible new clarity.

"What the fuck?" Rose managed weakly, but it sounded powerful coming from her. There was emphasis behind the phrase, a push that carried the meaning over perfectly and left no room for doubt. She didn't waste her words. She didn't throw the strong ones around like dead leaves. She said what she meant and meant what she said, and rarely could anyone stand up to the power of it.

"Well." Hugo drew back from Rose, sweeping his gaze between her and Scorpius. "I suppose I owe you a few explanations, don't I?"

"You owe me the entire explanation," Rose countered, suddenly cold.

"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves! Why don't you sit down?" Hugo leant against the wall companionably, hands in his pockets again. His masked bodyguards shifted into imposing positions on either side of the doorway.

No one sat. There was a dragging moment of silence.

"So." Hugo shoved hair from his eyes, grasping a few black strands and rolling them between his fingers. "What d'you think of my new look?"

"You were decent as a redhead." Rose, icily. "Care to tell me why you had to change that?"

"Well, obviously Sam couldn't look the same as Hugo — if he did, he wouldn't be Sam, he'd be Hugo Weasley, and he'd be arrested."

"With good reason, too," Scorpius muttered.

"Hey! Sam did nothing wrong." There was a teasing note to Hugo's voice that irritated Scorpius. "Sam is innocent!"

"Hugo isn't," Rose pointed out sharply, a tendril of anger creeping into her voice.

Hugo's smirk faltered ever so slightly. "True — Hugo is very guilty. Hugo had too much to drink, got involved in a brawl and killed a bloke with his bare hands, got landed with a shit ton of years in jail, and then broke yet more laws by allying himself with an underground ringleader and skipping prison. So, innocent little Sam Jerkins was necessary." There was something painful about the way Hugo readjusted his stance as he stated his facts, the kind of strained air you get when you're trying so hard not to sound like you care.

The kid really needed to brush up on his criminal skills.

But that didn't seem to matter, for what Scorpius was observing was a deadly contest of will between two estranged siblings. Anger and confusion and detachment — can't let you go, can't hold you close kind of thing — and though he knew it was completely ridiculous to do so, he felt like a third wheel.

"But you should be proud of my acting skills," Hugo resumed sarcastically, the strain gone from his attitude again. "Or at least, I know Mum and Dad would be."

Rose narrowed her eyes, hunching her shoulders as if expecting him to strike her. "Sure, of course they'll be bursting with pride at your accomplishments. Because, you know, alleged criminal mastermind and all that — totally the future they dreamed of you having! You've met all their expectations, they'll be so proud!"

He frowned, tone going soft. "Maybe it's not all about making them proud, Rose. They invest all their pride in you. They don't dream about my future. It's no good living in their shadow."

Rose's lips parted in the faintest suggestion of disconcertment and were instantly plucked back into a glare. "Stop avoiding the point, Hugo," she hissed. "Tell us what the fuck is going on!"

Scorpius silently agreed with her, and yet he still felt out of it — like he was an intruder. Why was he even here? Come to think of it...

"Hey," Scorpius cut in bluntly. "Why the hell am I here?"

Their heads swivelled towards him in one synchronized motion, identical expressions on their faces, as if they'd forgotten his presence. Scorpius leaned back against the wall, crossed one foot over the other, and waited.

"Why the hell are we here?" Rose corrected.

Hugo let out an audible breath. "Guess I'll get to the point. You two are here because you're the sole heirs to the fortunes of two of the richest families this side of the planet. Malfoy and Weasley. You've got more cha-ching than you probably even realize." A pause. "So, you can make yourselves at home here until your parents decide to hand over some of it."

What? Scorpius stared at Hugo — and all he could think of in that moment was, how cliché.

"Cheesy, right," Hugo drawled, as if sensing Scorpius' thoughts. "Can't be helped, sorry. I'm under orders."

"You — " Rose broke off, bewilderment all over her features. "That is so unoriginal," she decided finally.

"That statement was so unhelpful, Rosie!" Hugo glanced down at his watch. "Whoops, gotta go. Lovely chatting with you. I'll be back as soon as possible! I have more bedtime stories to tell you, children." And he smirked his smirk at them, gave them a two-fingered salute and sauntered out of the cell with his King of the World gait — masked bodyguards in tow — and left in his wake a stunned silence.

"What an asshole," Scorpius remarked, shattering it.

Rose gave him a sharp, calculating look. "Did you hear what he said? We're here because we're from two of the richest families this side of the planet. But there's another one."

Scorpius watched her, wondered how she was taking this so calmly. The dress she'd been wearing for the party was very flattering on her. Although it wasn't the time to be noticing that.

"One of the Potter kids is probably here," she whispered.

"All of them, probably," Scorpius agreed.

Suddenly Rose stood bolt upright. "Death Eaters," she gasped, horror spreading its sly hands across her face. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Death Eaters."

A slow, terrible realization started in the pit of Scorpius' stomach and clawed its way up his throat, freezing everything as it went. Death Eaters... of course, of course, they were so dead now — The hard floor beneath him wasn't stable. Nothing was.

Death Eaters. He should've known.

They were right in the middle of the viper's nest.

"God," said Rose, sounding dazed. "Oh God."

"This is... less than pleasant," Scorpius agreed, trying to regulate his breathing.

"They've been trying to take my family down for years," Rose murmured. "So I'm dead. And you can't even talk your way out of this; your family cut ties with them before you were even born, and they'd murder your dad if they could. So you're dead too."

Scorpius stared, because that had to be the largest group of words she'd said to him since eighth grade.

"So," she said, staring right back at him. "D'you want to die?"

Wait, what?! Shit. Did he? He didn't, did he? Why was he even thinking about it? "Why would I want to do that?"

She nodded, satisfied. "Neither do I. Since neither of wants to die and none of our parents want to go bankrupt and let Voldemort and his Death Eaters win, we're going to have to heroically escape."

"Of course. Lead the way," Scorpius drawled sarcastically.

A reproachful look. "First we have to figure out where my cousins are."

Scorpius bit back a retort, let his hair fall over his eyes, tried to keep his breath even as he let it out.

"I have an idea," Rose announced after a moment. "But we have to wait until Hugo comes back... I..." She trailed off, suddenly despondent, as if saying her brother's name aloud had drained her spirit. A soft thud met Scorpius' ears, and he glanced sidelong at her. She'd slumped down against the wall, buried her face on her knees.

Such an obvious display of despair seemed so unlike Rose Weasley that Scorpius felt unsettled for a moment. And then he felt like shit, because he should be comforting her, but at the same time he shouldn't be — and — God, what a mess.

"I have an idea." Her voice was muffled by her skirt. "It'll work. This is just like a story. If we play it right, we get a happy ending."

"A happy ending," Scorpius repeated.

"Yes." Rose raised her head a caught his gaze, and her eyes were reproachful and sad and a little sympathetic, too, but not angry. Why wasn't she angry? Why wasn't she freezing him out? Why was she talking to him?

"Of course," she whispered, bowing her head again. "It takes a lot of chapters, but in the end, everything works out."

*'*'*'*

A/N: mah gawd. Please excuse this unfortunate attempt at a chapter. *is unable to control the cringing*

I hate this so much!!!! It's the worst ugh

Why is this chapter even a thing

I'm sorry!! And don't tell me not to be sorry because I'm a fucking Canadian and I can't help but feel like everything is my fault because I'm a fucking Canadian okay thank you goodbye

~A Canadian