She hated him. She really did. And it was a well-known fact that Rose Weasley did not hate just anyone.
Her nostrils flared and her cheeks burned bright red as she stared him down in the most intimidating way she could muster.
"Think you're scary, Weasley?" Scorpius Malfoy sneered. "But you're just a wilting little Rose…"
"God, you're the most insufferable creature I've ever had the misfortune to come in contact with!" she cried. "Insult me, fine, I couldn't care less, but insult my friends and you'll have hell to pay. Come on, Meredith." She took her friend's arm and stalked down the hallway.
For three years she had hated Malfoy, but the first two were mainly due to the fact that he was a Malfoy, and she'd been taught to hate him her whole life. The hatred had only bloomed on a personal level last year, after he'd blown up her cauldron in Potions and laughed when she'd sprouted several beets out of her forehead. Since that incident he'd taken to tormenting her, and they often could be seen in the halls shouting insults back and forth. She had hoped that when they returned for fourth year, he would have grown up enough and forgotten about torturing her, but it was apparent that this was not the case.
As she had been walking down the hallway alone, she'd spotted him leaning against the wall casually, along with two of his ever-present Slytherin cronies, while one of her best mates, Meredith MacNeeson, looked frazzled trying to mop up a huge puddle of spilled ink with her wand. Rose had heard him say something to Mere about following in the footsteps of her mother (who had been a housekeeper in the homes of many prominent wizarding families, including the current Minister of Magic, and unfortunately, at one low point in her career, the Malfoys themselves) and used his own wand to spread the mess out even more.
"You could help, you know!" Mere had exclaimed in frustration. Rose knew how her friend handled aggravation—it usually ended in tears. And she would not let Meredith cry in front of Malfoy. So of course, she had hurried over, there had been the usual exchange of insults, and now Rose was in an awful mood.
"Meredith, love, don't listen to a word that prick told you," she shook her head as they walked down the hall arm in arm. "He's scum. He doesn't deserve to even be looked upon by you."
"Thanks, Rosie," Mere replied, smiling glumly. "I could have handled him myself, though, you know."
"Of course," Rose humored. "I fight for my friends; that's all."
"Oh dear, we're late for lunch, aren't we?" Meredith exclaimed. "Damn, and we've got Care of Magical Creatures with Slytherin afterward! We'll have to face Malfoy again, but with his rotten friends this time…"
"Stop fretting, Mere, it doesn't suit you," Rose said breezily. "It'll all be fine."
At lunch, the pair slid into their usual places at the Gryffindor table, by Rose's cousin Albus and their friends Luke, Caroline, and Thomas. The group was laughing heartily at something or another that one of them had said.
"What's so funny?" Mere asked.
"Over the summer—" Albus tried to explain between snorts of laughter. "Luke—that Luke, right there—got himself a girlfriend!"
"What's so funny about that?" Rose questioned diplomatically. "Apart from the fact that, well, it's Luke?"
"Her name—" Caroline snickered.
"Her name was Heidi Arseweip," Luke finished grimly.
"That's pronounced 'arse-wipe,'" Thomas added.
"We heard."
"She was German, okay!?" Luke cried. "And she was hot!"
"Did she have a nice arse?"
"Did she allow you to wipe it?"
"You are all so mean," Rose declared, but her voice and shoulders shook from trying not to laugh.
After lunch, Rose, Meredith, and Thomas strolled down to Hagrid's hut where Care of Magical Creatures was held. It was a remarkably fine day; one of those days in the mid-autumn when the trees are all full of orange and yellow but have not begun to shed their leaves. The perfectly cerulean sky was spread with puffy cumulus clouds that reflected in the lake, which rippled slightly in the cool breeze. It wasn't yet cold enough for their winter robes, yet there was a distinct crispness of the air that hinted at the approaching winter.
Rose had forgotten all of her annoyance toward Malfoy, and was back to her normal cheerful self, until he called to them from behind.
"Weasley! MacNeeson! Hold on, will you?"
"You're ruining a lovely day, Malfoy!" she returned.
"Your gingerness rather ruins the landscape," he replied as he caught up with them and tugged her hair.
"Go away, you twat," Thomas said in exasperation.
"Look, I'm here to apologize!" Malfoy burst out.
"What?" The three Gryffindors stopped in their tracks.
Malfoy looked down at his feet. "I… I was thinking about what I said earlier, MacNeeson, and I concluded that I should say I'm sorry. Your mum was a good housekeeper for us for a long time, and it's a fine job, really."
Meredith stared at him. "Who are you, and what have you done with Scorpius Malfoy?"
"Can you just forgive me already? Isn't that how these things are supposed to go?"
"This is ridiculous, obviously he's pulling another one on you," Thomas scowled. "Honestly, you're so low, Malfoy."
A corner of Rose's mouth tightened and her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what Malfoy wanted. He was slightly slouched, as opposed to his usual haughty posture, and he was rubbing his hair almost… sheepishly? She swore his normally creamy skin even looked tinged with pink. She watched as he tugged his green scarf, and moved her gaze upward to his eyes, which met hers almost immediately. She had expected them to appear hard and cold, but they did not. Not at all.
"Look, I was just trying to be nice," he said finally, looking away. "If you don't want to believe me, fine. But I'm not trying to 'pull' anything. It would be a waste of my time, like this has proven to be." He strode over to his friends, regaining his usual cocky strut.
"That was bizarre," Meredith noted as they reached the hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"Truly," Rose agreed.
"Welcome back, erryone!" Hagrid beamed at his small group of students. Most opted not to take the class fourth year, but Rose and Thomas wanted to support Hagrid, and Meredith actually enjoyed working with magical creatures. Plus, it was an easy way to make a good grade.
"First class o' the year! We've got heaps of excellent suprises in store for yeh! Don't we now, Doodles?" Hagrid patted his enormous and rather drooly St. Bernard puppy on the head.
Rose sighed. 'Heaps of excellent surprises' from Hagrid could be interpreted in several different ways. Most of last year's 'surprises' had ended in stings, scratches, and once in a Hufflepuff boy being turned into a wildebeest.
She glanced over at Malfoy, who was standing several feet away in a group of snickering Slytherin blokes, and wondered why he was taking this class. He seemed to be paying attention somewhat, only turning to his friends if they said something to him directly, but still, he didn't seem like the type to enjoy handling the various mad creatures Hagrid seemed to fancy.
"Today, we'll be learnin' about will-o-the-wisps, now erryone take out yer parchment and quills," Hagrid was saying.
Everyone rifled through their bags and chattered as a flock of gulls flew overhead. Apart from their distant calls and the rustling of the trees in the wind, all was silent, almost eerily so.
The silence was broken as an enormous roar like that of a tiger or lion erupted from inside the forest, followed immediately by loud crashing. Birds shrieked and flew out of the treetops, and branches and falling trees echoed. Rose swore she could even see some smoke billowing to the sky.
"ERRYONE RUN! GET TO THE CASTLE!" Hagrid bellowed. "NOW!"
Thomas grabbed Meredith, who grabbed Rose's arm, and they ran for their lives up the hill to Hogwarts castle, not even taking the time to gather their things. About fifty feet away, Rose got her foot caught in a hidden snake hole and fell sprawled on the grass. When she tried to get up, she realized that she couldn't. She could hear people around her screaming.
"This is inconvenient, but I think I twisted my ankle," she called to her friends. "Don't try and help me, just GO!"
However, some arms picked her up from behind and she heard Malfoy, of all people, yelling to Thomas. "Donovan, help me, will you?" Thomas and Mere were already coming back for her, and together they all managed to stumble up the hill and back into the castle without anyone dying.
"What in bloody hell was that?" Meredith gasped as they slumped against the door, the last four of the class to reach the safety of the building.
"Probably one of Malfoy's brothers," Thomas said drily.
"Hilarious, truly," Scorpius narrowed his eyes. He got up and started down the hall to join his cronies.
"Wait… Malfoy, um…" Rose called after him. "Thanks for, uh, helping. I guess."
"I would say 'my pleasure,' but it wasn't." He turned around but kept walking backwards. "Don't trip on the stairs to the Hospital Wing, Weasley."
Meredith looked at her two friends next to her. "Really, though, what's in the forest that could make such a noise?"
"And freak out Hagrid so terribly?" Rose added.
"I don't think we want to know," Thomas answered grimly.
A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fic, go easy! Also, I haven't gotten the formatting down just yet, so I'll be working on that.
Recommended listening: You Really Got a Hold on Me, I like the Beatles version, but the original by the Miracles is amazing and the She&Him version is really good as well.