章節 25: Reality check
The bathrooms were disgusting. Rose had hardly ever been inside a men's bathroom before, and she wished she didn't have to do it now. Seriously. Did they intentionally pee all over the floor? Was their aim that bad? She felt sick.
Luckily, the job was done fairly quickly. After dinner, she went with Thomas back to their room, and talked for a while before excusing herself, saying she wanted to go explore a bit. "I have a lot of energy. And I need to do something else after cleaning those bathrooms."
Thomas nodded. "You want me to come with you?"
"No, I would prefer to be alone, if you don't mind. I'm not used to having so many people around me all the time. Maybe we can talk some more later."
Thomas nodded again. He didn't seem to find it weird, or offensive. She really had lucked out getting him as a roommate. Some of the others would eagerly want to go exploring with her or think her weird for wanting to go somewhere alone here. Thomas seemed to understand her desire for alone time though. Maybe he felt something of the same.
Rose had discreetly taken out the Invisibility cloak while she talked, and as soon as she had rounded the corner, she put it on. It was a strange feeling. The cloak was over her head, but she didn't feel invisible at all. But the others she passed clearly didn't see her. She had to be careful not to bump into anyone as she walked to the second top floor where her mother was waiting. Maybe this was a chance for her to sneak up on her mother for a change.
"There you are." her mother whispered as she approached. Of course, there was no chance of sneaking up on her. Her mother was practically omniscient.
"How did you know I was here? I thought I was quiet." Rose asked in a quiet whisper.
"You forget that I have been under that Cloak many times myself. And I saw Harry disappear under it many times. I know what to look for. But yes, you were very quiet. I doubt anyone else would have heard you."
They sat down in an empty stall. Hermione relaxed, now that they were concealed. Rose removed the Cloak and sat down next to her.
"Have you learned anything useful today?"
"Only that men's bathrooms are disgusting." Rose said with a shudder. "And I hope that I never have to clean one ever again." Her mother smiled.
"But other than that? No, not much. I'm still getting used to all this, and you seemed to have dropped a Dungbomb here. It will probably be some time before things get back to normal."
"That was my intention. People taken by surprise often make mistakes that they would normally be smart enough to avoid."
Rose nodded. That made sense. But it did make it harder for her to discover anything.
They sat and simply held on to each other for some time.
"I need to ask you something," Hermione said. "Do you want news about Scorpius?"
"Yes, of course." Rose said at once. "Why would I not want it?"
"It could be a distraction, making you slip out of your role. But I can tell it to you here when we are alone, then we can decide later how we do it when I leave. If you are still here, then."
Rose nodded. "I know it could be distracting, but I need to know. Do you have any news about him?"
"Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is, Albus visited him, and it went well. At first, he knew who he was, but not the name. But they talked for a long time about Hogwarts and their shenanigans there. Towards the end, he remembered his name, the first name he has remembered without someone else saying it first."
"That is great!" Rose said with a smile. "But what is the bad news?" She saw her mother hesitate. It must be bad. Her smile faded a bit. "Please, tell me."
"Yes. Well. Yesterday, Draco went to visit Scorpius as well. Scorpius instantly knew he was his father. But then he started shouting. Shouting that they wanted to kill him, that he had to kill him. That they made him kill him. Then he tried to jump onto Draco. It was unclear if he tried to harm him or simply push him away to protect him. Maybe it was a bit of both. They were able to restrain him, but now he's unresponsive again. The Healers are at a loss on what to do. The best they would say was that he may calm down in a few days. For now, he has to be physically restrained to prevent him from attacking everyone around him. He seems to be equally wanting to protect his father and trying to kill him."
Rose started shaking. This was worse than she would have imagined. Her mother held her tightly while she cried in her lap. She didn't know how long they sat there. She understood why her mother had been reluctant to share this with her. And she was glad that they had privacy and time.
"Rose…" Her mother seemed to hesitate. Was it even more bad news? What more could there be? This was probably the worst thing that could have happened. They had been so careful too. Why had they let Draco in before finding out what Scorpius thought about him?
"Have you considered the fact that Scorpius may never be better? That his mind may be permanently damaged?" her mother said eventually.
Rose tried to stop crying, but she failed. "I have. I don't want to think about it, but I know deep down that it may be that way. That I may never get to see him, except maybe from afar where he can't see me. But I don't want to lose hope just yet. I can't give up on him, Mum, I can't."
"I know you can't. And I don't want you to. I just need to know that you have a clear idea of what the stakes are."
Rose nodded. Her mother let her cry into her lap for quite some time. Eventually, she asked: "Are you sure you want to continue doing this? Are you sure you can handle it? No one will blame you if you just go home now."
"I want to stay." Rose said. "My reasons for coming remain the same. You may have stopped the security issues, but you can't be sure. I want to do this. It would be no better being at home, since I can't be with Scorpius."
"Draco may need you." That was a very good point. Draco was probably feeling terrible right now, seeing his only son in that state. He didn't have all that many people to rely on. But Rose knew her answer. Her reasons hadn't changed.
"I know, but he also wants to be sure this can never happen again. He is just as worried as I am about that, though he tries to hide it. He didn't want me to go, but he understands why I feel like I have to."
They sat there together for a long time, watching the sun set over the North Sea. Only when Rose was sure her face bore no signs of crying did she get up and back down to the others. Time to be Kevin again.
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