Rose Granger-Weasley was angry, furious in fact; it rolled off of her in waves as she stormed through the corridors- her auburn curls tied messily behind her, wand protruding amongst it. She did not care for her appearance, at that moment, all she cared about was the fact that Scorpius Malfoy was spreading rumours again, and it was barely their first week of fifth year. She was determined to show him, once and for all, to leave her the fuck alone.
It was in the court yard that she saw him, flanked by various new friends, who decided to cease their bullying once Scorpius grew taller than them all in the summer. He was leaning against the pillar, sporting a stupid, careless smile.
"Oi!" Rose yelled, her piercing, loud voice made heads turn instantly, and she watched with satisfaction as Scorpius's smile fell. His friends merely laughed and nudged him, eager to see the supposedly domestic drama that was going to unfold.
"Malfoy" Rose said in disgust, barely a foot away from the group, "what the fuck are you playing at? Telling people we kissed- have you lost your mind?!" she demanded, the boys that flanked him jeered, and turned to anticipate his reaction. Scorpius, however, appeared intensely uncomfortable, and rubbed the back of his neck distractedly.
"Err, you've got it wrong Rosie-"he mumbled
"Don't fucking call me that" she hissed, that nickname was reserved for family and close friends- something he was not, "Why don't you tell everyone the truth, huh Malfoy? That on Tuesday you were crying because you had an argument with Albus, and I took pity on you, and gave you a hug. Now, I know you've never experienced an act of romantic intimacy in your life, but surely you know that hugging and kissing are very different things. I would have hoped, too, that after five years of being unfortunate enough to know you, you would have realised that I would never, ever kiss such a spineless, perverted loser like you"
The entire court yard was silent, Scorpius stared at Rose like a kicked puppy, but she didn't care, this had gone on for too long, and she wasn't about to have another year with his creepy adoration following her everywhere she went. Satisfied that the situation had been dealt with, Rose turned on her heel and began walking purposefully in the opposite direction. She did not get far, however, before she felt a hand desperately grab her arm, from the corner of eye she saw that it was, of course, Malfoy. She closed her eyes, took a steadying breath, and in one swift motion, swung her arm and punched him square in the face. Despite the height difference between them, Rose's strength caused him to stumble backwards, clutching his face in agony.
"Stay away from me" she seethed, and began walking once more, ignoring the crowd of shocked stares.
By lunch time, the incident between Scorpius and Rose had spread across the entire school, and Rose had been met with a mixture of admiration and fear, which she liked.
"I'm all for peace and whatever, but that boy had it coming to him" Aquila Kamari, Rose's best friend, confirmed from across the table, "although, I do think that there were more discreet ways to go about it. How long before McGonagall finds out?". Being a Ravenclaw, Aquila possessed far more logical thinking than Rose, as well as less brashness, something Rose's mother was keen to point out every time she stayed during the holidays.
"I know" Rose sighed, "I was just so angry. I mean, it's been five years, I'm still not interested, move the fuck on, right?"
Before they pair could continue their conversation, a sharp voice caught their attention.
"Weasley!" someone called, approximately seven heads turned from various areas of the hall, but Rose knew instantly that it was meant for her, as she saw the seventh year Slytherin girl striding towards her, who also happened to be Emilia Malfoy, Scorpius's sister.
"Here we fucking go" Rose muttered under her breath. She had never spoken to Emilia before- but had of course seen her on many occasions in the corridors, usually with Scorpius, she was nearly as tall as he, and had the same sharp, chiselled features and icy blue eyes.
"Have you seen what you've done to my brother?" The Slytherin demanded, she was well spoken, and her accent was a clear indication of her social class.
"No, I have not, nor do I care too" Rose responded, rising from her place at the table, so she could defend herself if necessary. From the corner of her eye she saw her cousins Dominique and Louis, but she gave them a look that meant "I can handle this", which they accepted, but still looked on high alert, ready to jump to her defence.
"It was rather cowardly of you to hit him, knowing he is too much of a gentleman to strike back" Emilia accused coldly. There was something about her that made Rose quite frightened; perhaps the fact that the girl had been practically silent for the past seven years, but was now tall and defensive, ready to strike.
"Your brother, a gentleman?" Rose snorted, "he's been harassing me for five years, he's lucky all I did was punch him, and now he's sent his sister to do his dirty work?"
"I have been sent by no one" the Slytherin seethed, "However, although my brother is opposed to harming you, I am not"
In an instant, Emilia shot a spell from her wand that inflicted a painful blow to Rose's chest, students now stood around them in a circle, cheering on yet another fight. Both girls realised that there would not be enough time to cast spells at on another, instead, Rose launched forward, causing them both to land on the floor, only she had the advantage, as it was her on top of Emilia. She unthinkingly slapped the blonde hard across the cheek, causing a shade of crimson to spill over her ivory cheeks. Emilia clenched her teeth and buried her hand in Rose's hair, pulling hard. Rose screeched in pain and brought her knee down on Emilia's ribs, who responded by digging her bony fingers into Rose's sides. The incident continued in the same manner, with nail scratching, hair pulling and knee jabbing. Both girls were blind with rage, and refused to give up. That was until Rose suddenly felt herself being lifted many feet up in the air by a large hand, she gasped and continued to kick and wriggle in the hopes to be set free, but to no avail.
"Stay still Rosie, I don't want to hurt you" it was Hagrid, his voice sounded panicked and strained, and Rose knew instantly that the half giant would not have lifted her so unceremoniously had it not been under the orders of-
"Professor McGonagall" Rose whispered breathlessly. The Headmistress was a few feet away from her, and her infuriated glare pierced through the rage that Rose had felt. McGonagall was one of the only people Rose genuinely feared, because the woman knew her so well.
"Hagrid, you may put Miss Weasley down now" she ordered.
Once firmly on the ground, Rose wish she could have stayed a few feet in the air, to offer a degree of protection against McGonagall's wrath. She had never seen her this angry, not even when James stood on the roof of the astronomy tower as a dare.
"Miss Granger-Weasley, follow me to my office. Hagrid, kindly take Miss Malfoy to Madam Pomphrey" McGonagall's voice was quivering in anger, and Rose felt shivers travel down her spine. She glanced at Emilia to examine the damage she had inflicted; her usually perfectly neat fair hair was in disarray, a bruise was already beginning to form on her cheek, and her lower lip had swelled considerably. Rose swallowed the guilt that was beginning to form- the pompous bitch had it coming to her- she reminded herself, before hurrying to follow McGonagall, leaving the deafening silence of the Great Hall behind her.
Rose said nothing the entire journey to the office, not even when her nose began to bleed, she felt a searing pain in her left leg, and had to limp pathetically to keep up.
McGonagall didn't look at her, not even when they entered the moving platform, which only worsened Rose's anxiety. She was going to be in so much trouble, and she positively hated being on bad terms with McGonagall, the close relationship the witch had with Rose's parents meant that she had always been in her life during birthdays and Christmases, even on a few family days out.
It wasn't until they arrived at the office that McGonagall turned, and was startled to see the blood covering Rose's neck and shirt.
"Merlin's beard child, what do you look like?" she sighed tiredly, indeed, Rose looked a state; her hair had escaped from the hairband and stretched in all directions, some areas had frizzed as a result of being pulled, she had scratch marks along the side of her face and jaw, some parts of which were bleeding, and of course, the stream of blood coming from her nose made her look like a wild animal.
With a swipe of her wand, McGonagall vanished the blood, and stepped into her office, indicating Rose to follow.
"Sit down" the headmistress demanded crisply, and she obliged, sitting on her hands so she wouldn't fidget.
Rose didn't dare look as McGonagall bustled about behind her, opening and closing draws, she heard the clinking of glass and began to wonder what on earth was in store for her.
"An antibacterial potion, do not consider this as part of your punishment, but it will sting quite a bit" the older witch warned, she held Rose's head in place- causing her to hiss in pain, as it was where Emilia had roughly assaulted her scalp- and tipped the jar so that a few drops of yellow liquid fell into a particularly nasty gash at the top of her head.
Rose yelped in pain, and bit hard on her tongue to stop the stream of curse words that she so desperately wished to scream.
After a few moments, McGonagall left her place by Rose's side and sat on the other side of her desk.
"I have never" the Headmistress began, "seen such utter brutishness committed by one of my most highly regarded students. I was at the Ministry this morning, and received information from a portrait that Scorpius Malfoy had been assaulted by none other than yourseld, and I thought, surely they are mistaken, for the Rose I know would never be so careless to sink to physical violence, she is a dignified and qualified young lady, and yet, just as I return to the castle myself, with the intention of discussing such a hideous accusation with you, I catch you fighting with another Malfoy" McGonagall pursed her lips, and Rose sunk lower in her chair. "I have surpassed anger towards you, Rosalie, I am merely bitterly disappointed"
Rose's heart clenched painfully, and she felt desperate to put things right, to set the story straight.
"But Professor, he'd been spreading rumours- he'd told everyone I'd kissed him!" she exclaimed, McGonagall raised a brow,
"and did you?"
"No!" Rose gasped, "he's been doing sh-shinanigans like this since first year Professor, remember when I asked you if I could place a restraining order on him in third year- I meant it! Just because he's quiet and shy, people think he's harmless, they think I'm evil for not just giving in and going out with him, but that's not how it works!"
"That it quite enough, Rose" McGonagall interjected, "I understand your frustration at Mr Malfoy, and I will be having words about the consequences of lying, however, you seem to have taken that lesson into your own hands" she said pointedly, "what I do want to know, however, is how you got into a brawl with Emilia Malfoy- I have had absolutely no trouble from that girl in seven years, she keeps to herself, and yet you seem to have brought out a great deal of rage from her"
"She was the one who started it!" Rose expressed, not caring that she sounded like a child, "she said that although Scorpius was afraid of hurting me- she wasn't. What was I meant to do Professor? Just let her attack me?"
For many moments, McGonagall remained silent, and Rose was beginning to fear that she thought that she was lying.
"Very well, I suppose now we can discuss your punishment"
"Do we have to?" Rose asked meekly, only to receive a death stare in return.
"I will not have this bad blood between you and Miss Malfoy continue, therefore, you will both have a month's detention, from seven till nine each evening, and you are also required to write a letter of apology to both Scorpius and Emilia"
"What?!" Rose rebuked, "that's not fair-"
"Do you want me to make it five months detention?" McGonagall barked,
"No Professor" Rose murmured, defeated. She was going to have to ask Aquila to help her with the letters, as there was no way should could write a sincere apology herself.
"Very well, I look forward to seeing you at seven o'clock sharp, Miss Weasley".
