Finally Falling
"Scorpius! Get your sorry arse in here!"
Albus Potter screamed cheerfully for the fifteenth time today. I look up from my book, sighing irritatedly.
"Dear lord Al, I almost finished half of this book while he was in the bathroom. Tell him to come out or I'm going to dye his hair purple." I say, leaning back on Al's bed. I was at the Potter Manor for the last few days of my last summer break ever. Yep. I, Rose Weasley, was in my Seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The best magical school in the entire freaking Earth.
"Shut up, Weaselette. You and your git of a cousin here are just jealous that my hair is beautiful while you two have a dead bird's nest and a mop on top of your heads." I had to admit, Scorpius had VERY nice hair. It was a platinum color that fell into his grey eyes. It was soft, silky, and generally perfect, unlike my and Al's (AN: is that how you say it? I can't be sure) hair.
"Wow Malfoy. You defend your hair better than you defend your reputation or your girlfriends," I say, pushing my book back into my bag and standing up. We were supposed to leave exactly 3 minutes ago, and Aunt Ginny was screaming at us to come downstairs. Wow. It was my last year. I do grow up fast.
"OH MY GOD! You bloody wanker! You took all that time in the bathroom and now you have to go? Are you joking? You bloody twit, I am going to whip your scrawny, pale arse so hard-" I shout, only to be cut off by my mother.
"Rose! We do not call other people twits and wankers!" My mum Hermione yelled. I turn my frustration to her.
"Sorry Mum. We all know who I got it from. And it actually wasn't from dad, was it?" I smile slyly. She blushes and turns to yell at Hugo. Scorpius smiles amusedly.
"Oh Rose. So gentle and ladylike," he smirks, thinking he had won. Oh, that bloody prick. I smile sweetly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Scorpius. I thought you wanted to be the girl for today. After all, you did spend 45 minutes in the bathroom working on your hair. I don't think I could top that." Al and I laugh as Scorpius manages a small smile and a wink.
" Your hair would take a lot longer just to stop the frizz. You should probably straighten it more often. I could cut your hair for you..." He says, going into the hair care mode. I stare at him incredulously.
"Do you have any idea how gay you sound?" I don't actually think he's gay. I'm just running out of things to say. He realizes this, and just smirks at me. I hate that smirk.
As we reach the platform, I stare wistfully at the Barrier to Platform 9 and 3/4. This would be the last time I crossed this barrier as a student.
A figure slams into me as soon as I reach the other side. It shrieks at an inhuman pitch into my ear.
"ROSE! OH MY GOD, IT'S BEEN FOREVER! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! You look so pretty!" Alice Longbottom, my best friend of 7 years, crashed into me. She was a tiny, bubbly blond with blue eyes and a round face. She was super sweet and nice. Guys loved her and lots of people worshipped her. She hugged me really tightly again.
"Alice-you're-hurting-me," I gasp. For a tiny girl, she had a lot of strength. She giggled and let go.
"Sorry. Anyway, I can't believe you got Head Girl! And Scorpius got Head Boy! You guys are sooo lucky! But is your boyfriend okay with this?" Alice's voice lowered dramatically on the last sentence. I stop smiling and feel my jaw tighten.
My boyfriend, Newton Thomas, had gone ballistic when I told him I had been appointed Head Girl. We had a sort of friendly competition going that made us determined to beat each other in school. He hadn't gotten Head Boy and I had become Head Girl. It was practically the ultimate victory. He had muttered something about his breath (something about favoritism), kissed me on the cheek and forced some painful grimace on his face, congratulated me, and left. A week later, I had gotten an owl apologizing for his idiotic behavior and a promise to meet at the station. As usual, I had readily forgiven him. This had become sort of a routine for us… I didn't want to be the one to break it.
"He'll get used to it eventually; in the meanwhile, we need to keep him away from Scorpius so they don't kill each other." It was a well-known fact that Scorpius and Newton hated each other. It was kind of sudden. One day, Scorpius and Newton were friends. The next, they hated the sound of the other's name.
Alice laughed and ran off to greet her new boyfriend of the week. She promised to save me a seat in her compartment.
"Oh Rosie! There you are! I have been looking for you!" A pair of strong hands encircles my waist. I turn around and smile. Newton pulled me close and kissed me quickly on my lips. He wasn't a bad looking guy. He had fair skin, blond hair, and hazel eyes. His body was toned from Quidditch and his mind was sharp. However, all of my friends thought he was conceited, arrogant, and a general pansy. Hmmm…
His eyes rove up and down and come to rest on my Head Girl badge. Or my chest. It could easily be both, knowing Newton. He smiles tightly. Yep. It was the badge.
"Congratulations again, Rosie. I'm so proud of you. Good thing I helped you along the path by keeping you focused on your studies. If it was another teenage guy, he would have tried to lead you astray. We're a good team, don't you agree?" He smiles and puts his arm around me. "And I have good news for you too. I have been elected to be a teacher's assistant! It's this new program that allows students to work under teachers and learn how to run a classroom. I will be working under Professor Flitwick! Isn't that amazing? It's very exclusive… almost as exclusive as Head Girl and Boy!" I sigh inwardly. This was going to take a very long time.
"That meeting was so useless!" I exclaimed to Scorpius. He nods sleepily. He had dozed off during the meeting. And not subtly either. Immediately, I see a shadow coming my way.
"Oh hello, Scorpius. Rose." My cousin Lily Potter steps out of the shadows.
Lily Potter, ice cold Potter princess, First class bitch. She hated my very existence and did everything she could to hurt me. Charming girl, this one is. Seriously. She could twist you around her little finger so easily it's frightening. With her lustrous red hair that fell perfectly to her waist, piercing almond-shaped brown eyes, full, pouty lips, and a body that would have made supermodels jealous, Lily had the entire male (and some of the female) population in love with her. The other half was frightened into devotion. Because Lily had connections. She used her family name freely in order to get what she wanted. Hell, she used whatever she could. Lily knew what people wanted. She knew what she wanted from people. And she knew exactly how to get it. She wasn't always like this though. Before third year, she was the little girl that everyone loved and looked after. Her sudden transition had shocked everyone. It was hard on everyone, especially James. He still thought of her as his darling little sister. Unlike everyone else, he never really gave up on Lily. But I had. And I resigned myself to her unconditional, irreversible, totally unwarranted hatred of me.
"Um, hello Lily." Scorpius replied, getting nervous. Lily was always very interested in him (to piss me off, I suppose) and had made many moves on him. However, he rejected them all. He never liked her and found her slightly terrifying. Of course, everyone these days did. It was exactly what the bitch wanted. And, of course, the bitch always got what she wanted. Except for Scorpius. And that made her desperate for him.
"It's so nice to see you again. I missed you. Why don't we catch up?" She asked, lowering her voice to a sultry purr. He visibly gulped and politely shook his head.
"He'll pass," I snap. I grab his hand and pull him away. I was sick of Lily always going for what she couldn't have. She had already ruined my family; she wasn't going to get Scorpius too.
As I flop onto the bench in the compartment, I notice Al's new girlfriend sitting on his lap.
"Um, Al? Can you guys go somewhere that won't be so public? I don't really want a nightmare tonight." I was in a bad mood, and he knew it. He sent out his girlfriend with a crooked smile, an apology, and a promise to "finish it tonight". Eeewww.
"Lily again?" Al asks. He knows only Lily could put me in a bad mood on a day like this. I nod shortly and he sighs. He had given up on Lily too, but never really stopped hoping that she was just going through her 'bitch phase', as he liked to put it. It wasn't easy for him to know that her phase was permanent.
As Scorpius, Al, Alice, and I slowly devoured our goodies from the trolley, I saw a first year running towards our compartment. He slides open the door, panting.
"Is everything okay?" I ask the first year. He looks terrified and awed at the sight of Al, Scorpius, and me.
"There's a girl— 5th yearShe's hurt- badly— 6th years beat her, I think— Barely breathing— Help." He faints. I turn to my friends, the shock and horror on their faces mirroring mine. Immediately, everyone rises.
I enervate the kid and send Alice for a teacher. He takes us down to the last compartment. There, I see a bruised, bloodied, and unconscious girl. I turn her over gingerly to check her pulse. It's there, but it's faint. Too faint. However, the girl herself looks familiar. I gasp as I make the connection.
"LILY?!"
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