章節 9: Burnt porridge
Rose felt a bit more optimistic when she woke up the next day. Her goal for the day was to find the secret exit she was more and more certain had to exist. If this had been a hideout, would they really have made it so that there was only one way in or out? That seemed illogical. You would need a way to run, if whomever you were hiding from found you. But it was probably well-hidden both physically and magically.
Lestrange was back to his usual creepy ways. He hadn't mentioned yesterday's events at all, so she had not said anything about it either. Her other requests for ingredients had been waiting for her when she came down to make breakfast.
After lunch, she was finally able to escape Lestrange's watching eyes when she went exploring again. After making doubly sure that he was not following her and having two closed doors between her and the others, she took out the wand. Mumbling revealing spells, she started searching in the most likely places for an exit. The result was disappointing. No secret exits or passageways in the first two rooms. She quickly hid the wand and showed herself to Lestrange two floors above, to make it look like she was still just exploring.
No secret passages in any of the storage rooms. Or in the laundry room. She wondered how long it would be before Lestrange made her work there as well. After dinner, she made sure to relax in Scorpius' lap, to show Lestrange that she was not actively doing exactly what she was doing. Scorpius held her tight but was still not fully present. He barely spoke, but he did respond if someone asked him a direct question. She supposed that was good, since it meant he had still not succumbed to the spell, but it was still sad and unnerving.
Later that evening, she went down to talk to Albus again. She made sure that Lestrange saw her go.
"How's the search going?" Albus asked, when Rose had made sure Lestrange hadn't bothered to try to overhear them.
"No secret exits in the basement or the lower floors." she replied dejectedly. "I am starting to worry that there is no passage, that it is just wishful thinking."
"It may be so. If that is the case, maybe we should just hope that I can disable the barrier with another person's wand? Are you sure that it is a barrier there?"
"I haven't tried leaving, if that is what you mean. And judging by the reaction my disobedience got yesterday, I'm not going to try it. But I think there is a barrier. They discussed it when they thought I was unconscious, and I'm not supposed to know that it is only on the door and maybe windows. Not that I have found any windows…"
"So, maybe the exit is in one of the more central rooms? That would make sense. If you need to escape in a hurry, you may not have time to run down into the basement. Have you tried the kitchen?"
"I have considered that, but I can't take the wand out in the kitchen. They will definitely see that. I rarely have 5 minutes alone in the kitchen anymore." Rose said. "But there may be a lot of smoke when I make porridge tonight," she added with a small grin.
Albus gave her a small grimace that was probably meant as a smile. Then he got more serious. He tried to raise himself up, but it was hard when he was so weak. With chained legs, he had to use his hands to get up in a seated position. It was painful to watch. She was worried about how long Scorpius would last, but Albus wasn't doing very well either.
"Rose" he said, in a serious tone. "If the time comes and you have a chance to escape, take it. Don't hold back for my sake. If you can get away and get help, do it. Don't risk exposure to get me or Scorpius out."
"I won't leave you here!" Rose exclaimed. Albus and Scorpius had not abandoned her, she was not about to leave him here to face the consequences of her running away.
"If you can escape and quickly return with reinforcements, that is more helpful than trying to get us out yourself. We would slow you down Rose. Get out, get to the Ministry and come back with them."
"And if my escape is discovered? They will hurt you again. Maybe kill you! No, I can't do that."
"You may have to. What if you can't get this cell door open, or you can't get the chain off? Please, Rose, promise me. Don't stay here if you can't get us out as well. This is more important than just the two of us. Please."
Rose looked down on the floor. She didn't want to think about that possibility. But he was right. She knew he was right. She nodded, trying not to cry. Albus nodded as well, looking relieved. He tried a smile again.
"You should get back," he said. "Before Lestrange decides to limit your visiting privileges if the food is late."
Whilst preparing the evening meal, Rose "accidentally" burned the porridge. Lots of black smoke enveloped the kitchen. The ventilation was horrible, as could be expected. But she paid attention to where the smoke was escaping to. There were some openings in the ceiling of course. But she also saw a draught coming from one of the corners. She tried to discreetly inspect the place, but just then Goyle came down from the upper living room. She coughed, to make it seem like she had been taken aback by the smoke.
"Sorry" she said. "It seems there won't be porridge tonight. Unless you want to wait for me to make another pot?"
Goyle coughed as well. "No, it's fine," he said. "Just get that pot away from the heat, so we can get rid of that smoke." Rose did as he asked. Goyle took out his wand and Vanished the smoke. Just then, Scorpius stood on the top of the stairs.
"Rose!" he shouted. "I saw the smoke. Are you alright? What happened?"
Rose looked up at him and smiled. "I'm fine." she said as she walked over to him. "I just burnt the porridge. No harm done."
"Burnt the porridge? You need to be more careful. I don't want anything to happen to you," Scorpius said as he held her tight.
"Don't worry about me," Rose said with a smile. It seemed his protectiveness of her was still present, even more than usual. "I will be fine. It is just porridge"
Scorpius did not let her go but helped her up the stairs and he kept telling her that she needed to be more careful. She bore it with as much dignity as she could, trying to ignore the smirks from the Death Eaters. Her goal for this day had been achieved. There probably was a secret passage in the kitchen. And she had a wand. That meant that tomorrow would probably be a better day than today.
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