The Slytherin Thorn

Chapter 53 - 12 Gimauld Place

"MALFOY!" Ron bellowed, spit flying from his mouth. Rose flinched and, if anything, moved closer to Draco. He shifted slightly infront of her. "Get away from her Malfoy." Ron growled, his wand pointed directly at Draco's chest.

Rose's stared up at her father terrified, she'd never seen him like this, his eyes blazing, his voice cold and merciless. The only thing that came relitavly close to it was when he used to wake her up in the night screaming. She'd got used to it after a while but she wouldn't get used to this.

"Move Malfoy!" Ron snarled, his teeth bared. Draco shifted slightly but didn't move. Ron flicked his wand, scarlet sparks shooting out of it, the blonde man flinched. "Move or I'll Hex you."

"I don't think that will be nessacry." Draco said curtly, his eyes flicking from Ron to Astoria and back again but not once landing on the wand. "We can talk this out nicely."

"There is nothing nice about you Malfoy."

"Was." Draco corrected but before Ron could say anything else Astoria stepped forward, wringing her gloves in her hands.

"Mr Weasley. I'm sure you didn't mean that." Astoria said stepping infront of the wand. She was shaking slightly and her face had paled considerably. "Because that is my husband you a threatening and let me reassure you that I could do things to your wife that you'd never dream of doing to my husband." She stated her voice cold and hard and then she lightened up. "But I don't even dream that it will come to that. We came her in hopes that we could establish peace. Not nessacarily become best buddies but civil."

"Rose?" She heard someone hiss, it was Draco. She moved her eyes from the wand, they landed on his hand, it was concieled behind his back and indicating for her to move. Rose didn't though. She couldn't, she was far to terrified of her father, of what he could do, of what might happen if anyone moved an inch.

Her mind quivering bewteen moving and not she glanced up at her father. He was also quivering but in rage not indesicivness. He was so angry he couldn't even speak, couldn't even take in what Astoria had just said, the words floaitng around his brain trying to prenitrate his mind. He tightened his grip on the wand highering it, pointing it harder at his target. He didn't notice as Hermione placed a hand on his arm, a warning, a comfort, to calm him down, to make him think rationly.

"Rose?" This time it wasn't Draco. Rose glanced up at her mother. Her hand still grasping Ron's arm she was beckoning to Rose. Slowly, apprenhsivly, terrified, she moved. Pushing herself up and edging closeer to Hermione, Half because she wanted to get out of the aim of the wand, half because she was terrfied of the consciquences.

Rose reached her mother and Hermione gripped her arm tightly, her fingers digging into her skin, dragging her behind her, away from the fight. Rose backed away banging into the table as she took in the scene before her, Astoria's determined face, Draco's defeated one, Ron's haunted one, Hermione's blank one. She felt the grip on her arm loosen and the hand fall away as Rose nursed a brusied hip.

"Please lower the wand." Astoria said. It wasn't a plead. It was a command. "We can talk this out nicely. Put our differences aside."

Ron pointed the wand closer to Astoria. Rose turned away, shutting her eyes. She couldn't do this. She was to broken to watch. Slowly she slipped from the room, creeping up the hallway and upstairs to her bedroom.

Rose entered, shutting the door behind her. She collapsed onto her bed, her feet coming up to rest on the frame sticking out beneath the matress, her knees bent, her head bowed. Cautiously she dragged up the jumper on her left arm. Rose stared at the raw red words there. They ached a throbbing pain pulsing through her skin. A different ache to the one in her chest, the one that came crashing down in thoughts, words and pain. Slowly a tear trickled down her cheek and dropped onto the cut. The pain evaporated for a mere second, the water soothing it and then it returned, the tear trickling sideways and dripping onto the carpet. Rose lifted a finger of her other hand and gently ran it along the words rubbing the residue of the tear in. It merely stung more.