Chương 4: Unnoticed
About half an hour later, she went back up to the living room. She had managed to stop crying, determined to not show weakness in front of these people.
They were all sitting in relaxed postures, talking in groups. It was noticeably different from the other times she had seen them. Granted, she had spent most of the last time up in Scorpius' room and only been down with the others at the highlights, but they seemed a lot more relaxed.
Scorpius sat casually with the others, talking like they were old friends. She thought it was still an act, and he did seem a bit tense, but it was strange seeing him look so comfortable amongst these people. He shouldn't belong here.
"I have the list you asked for," Rose said, mainly to alert them that she was there. Some of them looked almost surprised to see her. Had they thought she would stay down in the kitchen? Or that she had been placed in a cell like Albus? It was a little annoying to be forgotten, but she should be glad. She was less likely to be hurt if she wasn't visible. It was a painful thought, but it was true.
"Get it here," Lestrange said nonchalantly. "I'll take care of it." Rose went over and gave him the list but was unsure of what to do next. She didn't want to just stand next to him, as if waiting for permission for something. But she didn't feel comfortable sitting down next to him either. Instead, she went and sat down next to Scorpius. He took her hand, but otherwise barely acknowledged her presence. She snuggled up next to him anyway. She tried to listen to the different conversations, hoping to gain some clues about their plans. She was disappointed. Most of them spoke low enough that she had no chance of hearing them. Crabbe sat and talked to Scorpius, but mostly about things they already knew.
Lestrange studied her list for some time, but then took one of the others with him to go out shopping.
He returned a few hours later. Rose was curious how they had managed to get the food, but she figured it probably wasn't that difficult to disguise yourself enough to go unnoticed when no one was looking for you.
She looked at the bags he had brought back. It seemed that they had got everything she had asked for. She wasn't surprised. She hadn't asked about anything unusual. She hadn't dared. She wanted to scream in frustration. And she wanted to cry. She did neither.
"Would you like lunch right away?" she asked instead, in a forced casual tone. "It has been a while since breakfast, hasn't it?" The Death Eaters murmured that lunch sounded good.
She had hoped that Scorpius would offer to help her as she walked down to the kitchen, but he didn't say anything. In fact, he ignored her completely. She glanced over at him, studying him more closely. His eyes seemed slightly unfocused. What was happening to him? He hadn't said a word since they left their room that morning. Crabbe had talked and he had mostly nodded, making it look like a conversation. What were they doing to him?
She made pancakes for lunch. When she was finished, Lestrange came down and took a random pancake from the stack and went into the corridor where Albus was. Well, at least he got some food this way. Once Lestrange was satisfied she carried the pancakes up to the others. They all ate it up ravenously, including Scorpius. They all praised the food, and Rose couldn't help smiling. It was genuine praise, even though it came from people she despised. She shouldn't feel happy at their compliments.
She made dinner too. And an evening meal. In between, she sat with Scorpius, and tried to find out what was happening to him. At first, she thought it was the Imperius Curse. But would she even have noticed it, if he had been hit with that? It was supposed to be hard to tell. Scorpius just sat there. It actually reminded her of how James had looked after he had been stuck on that statue in the graveyard a year ago. But Scorpius hadn't been through something like that! Had he? Maybe it was a form of Confunding. She wondered what they made him think. Would he even try to escape with her now? And what could she do about it?
At last, after the dishes were done, by her alone, she and Scorpius went up to bed. Once inside the room, she let go of his hand to get ready for bed. He just stood still at the place where she had let go of his hand.
"Aren't you coming to bed? You can't just stand there all night."
"Yes. Yes, of course. I just need to… to…"
"Take your robes off. And wash."
"Yes." He took off his robes right where he stood. Usually, Rose liked seeing his naked body in front of her, but not tonight.
"The washstand is over there in the corner. You need to clean yourself before going to bed."
"Yes." It seemed Scorpius gradually got better, as he started moving and managed to wash on his own. She didn't have to remind him of every little detail, but he didn't speak. If she asked him something, he only answered with a few words. Finally, she tried the one thing she hoped might penetrate through his mind fog.
"Scorpius, I need you to look at me. Look at me and listen carefully to what I am saying." He looked up at her, curious. Well, curiosity was better than the blurriness that had been there before.
"Scorpius, they have taken Albus. Albus is here, down in the basement. They have beaten him up and he does not look well."
At first Scorpius just looked at her. She didn't dare to break the silence. Then he said: "That is not possible. Albus is home. Why would they go after him? They would know that he would never join them now. They say they just want to gather those who are still loyal. They think I am still loyal. That is good. That makes us safe."
"They captured him. To punish him for betraying them. We need to find a way to rescue him."
Scorpius seemed to struggle with this thought. "Crabbe did say something about a traitor. That's Albus? But why would they punish him? He only did what he had to do."
"They don't see it like that. They see him as a traitor to their cause. Please, Scorpius, snap out of this daze. I need you and your brain." Scorpius just looked at her, his eyes blurring over again. She slapped him on the cheek, to see if another shock would bring him back. That was a terrible mistake.
"Hey, what did you do that for!" he shouted, angry. "Don't you dare do that again! I won't listen to any more of your lies tonight!" And with that he went to the bed and lay with his back turned towards her. When she lay down and tried to snuggle next to him, he slapped her away.
This was bad. She had to find a way out of here. Before Scorpius' mind was permanently damaged.
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