Author's Note: Written for…

The Next Gen Competition. Prompt: Scorpius plays a prank.

Taking a Stand

Everyone knew Scorpius Malfoy was an easy target. It was made public all the way back in his first year, when the second-years convinced him he couldn't be a real Ravenclaw until he completed a series of tasks to appease the spirit of Rowena, which supposedly resided within the statue in their common room. His hair was blue for weeks after that.

There were other things over the years. Belongings would go missing, his bed curtains turned fluffy and pink, he was showered with black slime outside the Great Hall. Through all of it, Scorpius remained calm. He wasn't one to hold a grudge – he never really got mad.

But then he started dating Rose Weasley and things got so, so much worse.

The Potter-Weasley clan was notoriously close, and those who dated the females in the family tended to wind up being publically humiliated pretty quickly after entering said relationship. Scorpius should've known it was going to end badly.

"They're just having fun," Rose soothed him, helping to scrub away the green dye that stained his hands. "I've tried talking to them about it, but they're persistent this time."

Scorpius groaned. "I'm done for."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic. You're handling it better than the others did. That's probably why the boys are trying so hard with you."

"Trying so hard to run me off, you mean. No big deal, just my girlfriend's cousins trying to make my life a living hell so we'll break up."

"You forgot about my brother." He groaned again. "Look, it's January. If you can just make it 'til the summer, we'll be free of them."

"For a few months, then we'll be back for seventh year."

"But James won't be, and he's the troublemaker in the family."

Scorpius mulled it over. He supposed he could remain calm and put up with the attacks for a few months more. At least, that was what he told Rose…

:-:

There was a Hogsmeade trip the following weekend, but Scorpius insisted Rose spend the day with Molly since he had a Muggle Studies essay due and probably wouldn't make it out of his dorm. In reality, he just needed an excuse so no one would miss him when he floo'd to Diagon Alley.

He made sure to be careful and sneaky while heading through the alley. If his parents caught him there during the school year, he'd hate to think of how many detentions he'd be subject to.

Scorpius had only been to the Diagon Alley branch of Weasley Wizard Wheezes once during the last summer. Rose insisted on dragging him into the Hogsmeade branch during every trip so she could say hello to her dad and uncle. The knowledge that Ron and George worked at the Hogsmeade store during trips gave him the confidence to go into the original shop without being interrogated or hexed.

The shop was surprisingly crowded considering he was the only school-aged wizard around. He navigated the aisles of joke items, trying to find the perfect item to get Rose's family off his back. He came out of the store with an armful of items he wasn't completely sure how to use.

:-:

He spent the entire next day carefully reading instructions and labels and putting his hastily-thought out, five-phase plan into action.

By his calculations, there were four main perpetrators to the pranking that had plagued him for so many months.

The first, naturally, was James.

James was in his final year, Quidditch Captain, ladies' man … little hellion.

Albus was on the Quidditch team too, but was more studious, like Scorpius. They were actually good friends before he and Rose got together, and then suddenly Al had better things to do than attend their study group.

Hugo was a fourth year, and desperate to do whatever it took to keep his sister single for as long as possible. Scorpius didn't blame him for running to his cousins for help in this matter, he just wished he wasn't the target of it all.

Finally, there was Freddy and-or Roxanne. Scorpius couldn't figure out who was responsible for helping the others. Roxy was more of a prankster, but she was also close to Rose, whereas James and Freddy were best friends. But Rose was fairly certain Roxy wasn't involved it anything, so he only went after the boy.

He enlisted the help of Louis, who was often overlooked and left out of his cousins' pranks and was eager to get revenge of his own. His help was invaluable, particularly since there were places Scorpius could go as a Ravenclaw. Then they divided the list and went to work.

:-:

There was a match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff the next day. The Quidditch announcer had quite a bit of fun teasing James when his robes turned green and silver after stepping onto the pitch.

Albus had to retake a Transfiguration test after it was discovered that nearly every quill he owned was hexed to write the wrong answer.

Hugo's not-so-secret pile of sweets was replaced with joke candy that had him squeaking, and his extensive collection of chocolate frog cards mysteriously went blank.

And lastly, Freddy's glasses fogged up every time he tried to read something.

All in all, it was a satisfying week for Scorpius and Louis. The Ravenclaw even bragged about his pranks to his housemates at night, ensuring he wouldn't be target of anymore pranks for a while.