Mischief Not-Quite-Managed (Currently being revised and edited to the extreme)

Chapter Eleven ~ Rose

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Chapter Eleven ~ Rose

As soon as Stella's wand began to point, Rose stepped in it's line of fire, so that anything Stella did would hit her instead of her father and Sirius.  Rose's insides clenched as Stella looked at her with a mix of anger and hurt.  "Rose...?"

Rose set her face and gave Stella a determined look.  "They're innocent, Stella."

Stella's face clouded over with rage, "Innocent?  That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!  You always were clinging to the hope that they would be, but this?  What if they're the ones that took Kat, huh?  We don't know where she is and you're taking the time to convince me that these - these people are innocent?" she bellowed, an animalistic look on her face that made Rose see her - for the first time ever - as a werewolf.

Shock momentarily kept Rose from replying, giving Sirius time enough to ask hollowly, "'Took Kat'?"

Rose glanced at him along with everyone else, and his gaunt, once-handsome face showed none of the mischief or happiness that Rose usually saw when she visited.  He truly looked like a man that had been to hell and back. 

"What happened to my daughter?" he asked, his voice thick with fatherly worry.  The imploring look he sent Stella and Rose made Rose feel like she wanted to cry, and she looked at Stella, pleading her to believe in them.

The look on Stella's face was unreadable as she slowly breathed out before looking at Rose, her blue eyes determined once more.  "What's the plan, Rose?"

Rose gave her friend a weak smile of thanks before turning to the concerned men.  "We can't find Kat - she sleeps like the dead, but she was up before us this morning, on top of that, if she had woken up before us she would've gone for food, but she wasn't in the Great Hall OR the kitchens."

"She wasn't in the castle at all, according to the map," continued Stella.

"And..." Rose said, looking at the two men gravely.  "Neither was Pettigrew."

Both men's eyes widened with shock and fury.  Sirius's breathing grew loud and ragged as he clenched his fists, tremors traveling through his body.  "He took my daughter..." he growled.

Rose's father looked at her, seeming to hope that she wasn't telling the truth, that maybe there had been some sort of misunderstanding.  She didn't waver, though, and he soon looked down sadly, and Rose felt sorry for him.  She knew how much friendship meant to her father, and she was sure that some part of him had still hoped that Pettigrew could change, as a part of her had always trusted in them.  She didn't know how hard it would've been had she found them only to discover that that part of her had truly been foolish in believing that - she couldn't even begin to imagine what it would've been like if she'd found them and they WERE guilty....

Sighing, she looked at Sirius and ordered, "Calm down.  We'll find her and him - Stella and I will do all we can to, we swear.  Now..." she said, becoming serious.  "I told you because you deserved to know.  But if I hear that you've gone into the castle, or done anything reckless, I will have your heads.  Trust in Stella and I - understand?"

Sirius looked ready to argue, but Rose relaxed as her father put a hand on his shoulder.  "It won't do her any good if we get caught, mate."

Nostrils flaring as he clenched his jaw stubbornly, Sirius just turned away from them while Rose's father turned to them with a weak, but reassuring smile.  "I'll keep an eye on him, but you'd do good to bring her back safely soon, alright?"

Rose nodded firmly, before giving her dad a quick hug.  "I'll see you later."

"See you, kiddo."

To Rose's surprise, Stella didn't question her about Pettigrew at all, instead she just focused on trying to come up with places they could possibly have gone.  She must have really been worried.  Rose understood, though - she was worried out of her mind, herself.

They kept the map, and were keeping a very close eye on it, just in case either Pettigrew or Kat popped up on it suddenly, and then they could also see where they came from.

Suddenly Stella cried out in frustration, throwing the map across the room and causing Rose to look at her in shock as she collapsed on her bed.  "This is pathetic!  All we can do for our best friend is sit around with an old map, waiting for her to show up?  She's been captured!  It must've been for a reason and we can't do anything about it!"

"Stella..." said Rose softly.  "I understand, I - "

"No, you don't understand, Rose," said Stella, her voice thick... was she crying?  "You guys do so much for me, and I can't do anything in return - not even when you really need it...."

No, she wasn't crying - it was just all of the emotion making her voice sound that way.  Rose couldn't help but feel relieved - Stella wasn't a crier, none of them were, and it just made her uncomfortable to think of trying to comfort someone that was crying....  Besides, she hated to see her friends hurting.

"Stella, listen to me," commanded Rose, and Stella looked up at her.  "Stop wallowing in self-pity because I won't have any of it."

The brunette blinked at her in shock, but Rose kept going, "Looking at the map is all we can do, and it's doing us more good than just sitting here.  Kat would be thankful for just this, though she'd never say so directly, and just to let you know - we don't care if you ever 'do anything in return' for what we've helped you with because that's just what true friends do, alright?"

As Stella nodded dumbly, Rose nodded once in a more decisive way.  "Good.  Now go to bed, you're obviously exhausted - you never complain like that when you're in your right mind - I'll watch the map awhile longer."

Seeing that Stella looked about to protest, Rose gave her a 'look', silencing her.  "You know it's true, Stella - suck it up, cupcake.  It's not like this is an overly huge blow to your pride."

Grumbling complaints under her breath that only further proved Rose's point, Stella crawled into bed, with Alastor hopping up and purring as he curled up next to her head on her pillow, settling in.  Rose turned off the light, instead lighting up the tip of her wand, "Lumos."

Looking over the map, Rose slowly grew disheartened.  Eventually her eyelids began to droop, feeling heavier by the second.  Calcifer mewled, pawing at her arm and blinking at her tiredly, as though saying 'Go to bed'.  She smiled at him and stroked his head, looking over to Kat's bed, where Faery sat loyally by her pillow, though not in Kat's spot.  The sight saddened Rose and she called Faery over, but she didn't budge, staring at the door as though Kat would burst through at any second, laughing and joking.

Sighing, Rose reluctantly tapped the map, whispering "Mischief Managed."

After setting it down and extinguishing the tip of her wand, Rose finally pulled the covers up over her and settled down for sleep.  "Night, Calcifer... Faery..." she murmured, feeling Calcifer purr as he cuddled up to her.  "And Kat... wherever you are, I hope you're safe... and I hope you stay safe until we find you."

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Cats are just ADORABLE, aren't they?  :P

Well, next up is Miss Katarina Black's point of view!  Le gasp!  I know, I know, it's the moment you've all been waiting for (not really...) - getting to see what happened, what the effects of the bite were, perhaps even WHERE she is....

Oh, and, as you know, last chapter there was a question at the end, asking who your favorite OC of mine was.  I said I'd post the results in this chapter, but I've changed my mind - I'm going to ask you the same thing for a couple more chapters, and I'll probably post the results in chapter 15 or something.  Alright?

Thanks!

~ Marauder_Girlz