Enclosed

Chapter Eleven: Patterns

Rose pulled herself out of the memory. She'd held Malfoy as he grieved for what felt like hours. Thirty minutes before the ceremony she escorted him to the Slytherin common room and dropped him off without a word.

The next half hour consisted of her in a panic, as she attempted to get ready and rewrite her speech. By the time Rose lined up with the rest of her classmates for the march, she was an utter wreck without a speech. She knew she was going to have to wing it and her stomach had turned with anticipation.

When she got up to speak, she stuttered during the opening thank yous. It wasn't until she spotted the blonde Ferret in the crowd that she was able to get her act together. The speech wasn't as good as the one she'd written down, but it was more honest. Heartfelt. Rose even saw a few tears being shed in the crowd.

It was the only moment, Rose truly felt proud of herself.

"It was a big deal to me-" Malfoy repeated, "-and I never even said thank you."

Rose waved him off, hoping he didn't notice the blush rising on her neck. "It really wasn't. I had my motives for helping you out."

Malfoy raised an intrigued brow, "Which were?"

"I spent 7 years besting you. I couldn't let you miss that graduation ceremony. Where else would I have the chance to rub my success in your face?"

Malfoy shook his head, ducking his face to hide his amusement. "Your speech was brilliant that day. Even after I ruined it you still somehow managed to pull it off."

"I didn't think you remembered that."

Malfoy chuckled, "I remembered. I felt like a complete arse at the ceremony. Even worse the next day when the hangover set in."

"How is that different than any other day?" Malfoy tossed a crumpled-up piece of parchment at her. Rose dodge it with a laugh, "I'm only kidding."

"I'm trying to be serious here, Weasley."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," Rose giggled and smiled sheepishly. "The truth is there is nothing for you to apologize for. We both made it to the ceremony and I managed to do my speech without making a complete fool of myself. No harm done."

"I can see you're going to make it difficult to thank you."

"When have I ever made things easy for you?"

"Touche."

Rose sipped on the meek remainder of her drink. Enjoying the moment of comfortable silence. In the last 12 hours, she'd been put through an emotional ringer. It was nice to be able to take a few moments to drink hot chocolate and pretend there was nothing to worry about.

She eyed Malfoy over her mug, as he began sifting through the pile of junk on the coffee table. Rose could never claim to be a clean person. She left chaotic messes in her wake. While she didn't spend much time in the sitting room, she was there enough to leave her mark.

The coffee table held the remaining mail from Al she still needed to sift through. There were wrappers from bars she ate for lunch. Books from the shelf that needed to be put away. Random trinkets that somehow found their home on the table. Old newspapers that could probably be thrown away. At this point, it was more of Rose's junkyard than a coffee table.

She should apologize for the mess, but she'd learn to not apologize for something that wouldn't change. Rose was a messy person. There was no changing it. She was who she was.

Malfoy sifted through the junk until he stopped. His head cocked in curiosity. He picked up a small envelope, no bigger than his palm. It fluttered against his touch before it sprouted tiny white wings.