Chapter Three: A Truth to Tell

Rose never told a soul what her aunt had told her over Christmas break. She even tried not to think about it but dwell on it, she did. It simply couldn’t be helped. Before, whenever Rose had thought about her Aunt Ginny, it was with the air of a girl looking up to her heroine, a woman she respected, admired, and wanted so badly to measure up with. Now, strangely enough, she looked up to the woman even more. Knowing what her aunt had been through, and knowing that choosing to marry The Man Who Conquered the Dark Lord hadn’t been the easy decision she’d always thought it was made her aunt all the more admirable in her opinion.

Whenever she thought about her aunt’s short-lived romance with Draco Malfoy, Rose’s thoughts inevitably wandered to the son: Scorpius Malfoy, the smart and clever Slytherin with the silver eyes and white blonde hair who had caught her eye ages ago, though Rose had never told anyone this. Rose imagined that Scorpius looked much like his father once had and tried to imagine her aunt ever loving such a man. The idea that her aunt still did care about and even love him made it all the more mind-boggling to consider. Rose wondered if, maybe, it were possible that a Weasley and a Malfoy could be anything more than enemies. Her aunt and Draco may not have ended happily married, but it didn’t mean that they hadn’t succeeded even for a little while. Of course, her aunt’s family never knew what was going on between the young couple, never knew they were even seeing each other, much less sharing rent on a flat for nearly a year.

Rose blinked, trying to shake the memory of her aunt’s revelation from her thoughts. She was in the unused Divination classroom at the top of the North Tower, surrounded by a group of her best girl friends, including her cousin Lily, playing a game that was more than a little risky for someone to be keeping secrets. It was like the Muggle Truth-or-Dare and they had been playing for weeks, ever since spring semester had started up. Every Thursday night, the six girls met in the old Divination classroom, unused since the school re-opened at the end of the Second War. It had been a silly game at first, meant to pass the time before curfew, an early start to the weekend’s freedom to help the girls make it to Friday and the end of classes. It had been Molly, one of Rose’s roommates, to suggest incorporating a watered-down version of Veritaserum, to make the game more interesting she’d said. Personally, Rose was beginning to think it was a little too interesting for her tastes. She’d never admit it though, well, unless they asked her specifically, that is.

“Calyssa,” Molly began, her eyes flashing with barely concealed excitement, “what’s the most advanced thing you’ve ever done with a boy?”

The brunette Hufflepuff flushed under the eager faces of her classmates, her cheeks turning beet red. “Erm, well…” Molly and the others giggled madly; Rose bit her lip and felt sorry for the poor girl.

“Come on now, Calyssa, we all know you Hufflepuffs only act prudish with the boys,” Molly teased, her eyes lighting up, waiting for juicy gossip to feast on.

“Ooh, I bet it was really bad!” another girl laughed, grinning from ear to ear.

Calyssa fidgeted under their gaze, wringing her hands together. “I, well, I’ve snuck into the Gryffindor common room once or twice.”

There was a series of gasps and Rose’s younger cousin by two years, Lily, leaned forward in breathless shock. “You didn’t!”

Calyssa nodded, her lips twitching upwards.

“How on earth did you get the password?” Lily asked.

“Never mind that!” Meagan squealed, waving her friend’s question off and turning eager eyes back on Calyssa. “Who was it?”

“Derrick Wood,” Calyssa whispered, her entire face now crimson.

The girls erupted into giggles and Calyssa sighed in relief, glancing around herself and smiling slightly. Lily crossed her arms over her chest irritably, the only one besides Rose who wasn’t laughing. “I still want to know how you got the password,” she grumbled, though her eyes were twinkling; it was well-known that Lily took after her eldest brother James, a notorious prankster who had graduated years ago and was now working part-time at their uncle’s joke shop.

“From Derrick obviously,” Molly rolled her eyes, still giggling at Calyssa’s admission. Lily flushed, recognizing her lapse in thought and dissolved into giggles with the other girls while Rose rolled her eyes. Honestly, it was no wonder she was the only Weasley to end up in Ravenclaw.

“Alright, Calyssa, your turn,” Meagan prodded.

“Erm, Lily!” The Hufflepuff’s eyes fell on the still giggling Gryffindor, but Lily Potter immediately sobered, sitting up straight and staring the girl straight in the eye. Calyssa shrank back for an instant, flushing once more. Lily was the worst girl to ask the truth from; she was a master at twisting and manipulating words to tell the truth but never give a thing away if she didn’t want to. It was an impressive talent, one she had undoubtedly learned from having James Potter for an older brother.

“Erm…” Calyssa began, wondering if she had chosen wrong, but it was too late to back out now.

“Go on, Calyssa; make it a good one!” Emily urged.

Rose watched the silent stare between the two girls, her lips twitching at the sight of her unfazed cousin, staring down the other girl with a faint smirk. Grinning broadly as she remembered a certain incident at a family gathering, Rose leaned in towards Calyssa, her eyes on Lily as she muttered just loud enough for her cousin to hear. “Ask her who the first boy she ever kissed was.”

Lily glared daggers at her cousin and Rose bit her lip, trying not to laugh as she sat back on the overstuffed pillow she had been sitting on. “Rose,” Lily growled from between her teeth.

“Ask her, Calyssa!” Meagan squealed.

Calyssa glanced back at Rose, flashing her a grin before facing Lily and asking her, “Go on Lily, who was the first boy you ever kissed?”

Lily bit on her lip, arms folded defiantly across her chest. “My brother,” she finally bit out.

The girls all sucked in a simultaneous breath, one covering her mouth with her hand and laughing merrily. “Ooh, James? Ah, it’s not so bad, he’s so cute! I’d kiss him even if he was my brother!”

Rose smirked, quite enjoying this game now that she had an actual hand to play. “Ask her which brother,” she instructed, grinning at her cousin.

There was a collective gasp and Molly craned her neck so quickly it nearly snapped. “Who was it, Lily?”

“No, no, Calyssa has to ask,” Rose cut in, now grinning from ear to ear.

“Ask her, Calyssa! Ask her!” Emily shrieked.

“No, no,” the Hufflepuff cackled, covering her mouth with her hand. “I think we can figure the rest out,” she chuckled. “So is Albus a good kisser, Lily?”

Lily was not amused. “Very funny, but it wasn’t my fault. Why Grandmum Weasley puts up mistletoe at Christmas dinners where everyone’s related, I’ll never know, and it was disgusting as well.”

Rose laughed. “She probably didn’t even think of all the grandkids; she just meant it so she could catch our parents under it.”

“Oh yes,” Lily sarcastically cut in, rolling her eyes in disdain, “I’m sure that’s exactly what she wanted, my dad and yours engaging in a very merry Christmas with each other.”

“Lily!” Rose gasped; horrified at the mental image even while her sharp-tongued cousin smirked at her. “Eww!”

“Sweet dreams,” Lily sang. “Ooh, and before I forget, it’s my turn, and I pick Rose.”

Rose gasped in horror. “You wouldn’t!”

“What can I say, dear cousin, payback’s a witch.”

The rest of the room dissolved into laughter, but Lily waited until she had everyone’s full attention before asking the single question that Rose would dread more than any other, though there was no way Lily could have even known what it was she was asking.

“Rose, what’s the biggest secret you’ve ever promised to keep?”

Author notes: Thanks for reading and please drop a review! Thanks again to Miss Opal for an awesome beta!