Rose stared at the page for a few seconds before swallowing. Her eyes shot up to Scorpius' whose gray eyes were reading the page unside down. She quickly changed the page and read through that, but her brain didn't register the information. It was too busy trying to make sense of the previous page. She didn't understand why someone would erase this page. The books in the library couldn't have it's pages ripped out, so the person really didn't want someone else to read about this artifact. What was so important about this certain paragraph?
"You've been staring at that page for five minutes now, Weasley. What's so interesting?" Scorpius' silk smooth voice pulled her from her thoughts, causing her to look at him in confusion for a moment. Realization dawned on her and she glared at him.
"Is it now a crime to stare at a page?" She asked, but turning the page and trying to ignore him. He really could be an idiot at times. He had the conceited Malfoy pride that her parents would talk about.
"No, but it certainly does make me wonder what fascinated you so much." Malfoy responded, still sitting on the table and trying to see past the shield of red curls. She could feel the heat on her head and back, and she swallowed. What was Malfoy's game right now? This was the longest that he willingly stayed in her presence.
"Are you trying to care?" Rose asked, turning the page and looking up at him. She frowned as a mixture of emotions fluttered over his face. Fluttered didn't seem the right word though. Scorpius had the same...masculine features of all the Malfoys. Fluttering seemed too feminine if you were to apply it to him.
"Your so hard to understand, Weasel." Scorpius said, standing and walking away. 'I'll never understand you either', Rose thought grimly, watching him leave. It would seem that just when she thought she had him figured out, he would do something expected. Other people weren't that complicated. She could almost guess what others would do before they even did it. They were predictable, almost manipulative if she wanted to use that information to her advantage.
Rose pulled out some parchment from her bag, and a new quill she had bought in a recent visit to Diagon Alley that summer. She didn't need to be carrying around ink bottles now, and she had had issues with that before, with the glass breaking and creating ink stains on her bag. The quill was linked to a bottle of ink that she kept locked up in her room. She would always make sure that it's at least half way full so she wouldn't run out during class.
She scratched down the page about Archimedes Amulet then re-erased it, just in case someone came to see if anyone had discovered it's existence. Her actions were better left a mystery to more than just her fellow students. There were few that were allowed in the Restricted Section at all, and even fewer that would be looking for dark objects, then one or two that would actually look in that book. She was that positive one in a millennium. Scorpius might be the two that was added, if he got his hands on it.
Rose put the parchment in her bag then hugged the same bag to her chest. She browsed some of the other books, just in case she Scorpius hadn't left when he left her. She didn't want to have to run into the git again. Once a day was one time too many for her. She only had one more year to put up with him then she was home free...unless he wanted to pursue a life in archeology. She wanted to uncover the past's secrets, the Atlantians were an advanced species that they had heard of.
What other civilizations could have been far more advanced than they are right now? It made her heart race! There was so much to learn from them.
Carefully, like the coward she was, she peered around the corner to the gate and hoped he wasn't in between the bookcases that she would have to pass by. Stealing herself, she started forward. She felt like a robot until she opened the gate to the restricted section, let herself out, then shut it behind her. It was only then that she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.
"ROSE!" Rose jumped sky high when Albus came to a skidding halt in front of her. "Jumpy much?" He asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow but not waiting for much of a response before continuing. "I have been looking for you everywhere, Rosie." She hated the nickname, and he knew that. "You got a howler." Rose grimaced. She knew what is what for too. This wouldn't be a pleasant experience, and a howler never was.
"How do you know it's a howler?" Rose asked, and the red envelope that nearly jumped out of Albus' pocket to get to her. "Mum..." She moaned in a whisper, holding it to closed as she ran out of the library. It might have earned her a shout from the librarian but it was worth it. She raced, with Albus trailing behind, outside and to a empty space of land before the howler wiggled itself out of her grip and began it's recorded message.
"ROSETTA MARIE WEASLEY!" It was diffidently from her mom, if it hadn't been apparently from the way the note was charmed to jump to her once she was close enough to it. "YOU ARE IN SOOO MUCH TROUBLE LITTLE MISSY! HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD JUST...JUST GO AND DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND NOT EVEN WAIT AROUND FOR THE CONSEQUENCES" 'Well, let's see. I had a train to catch...'"YOU WILL BE MISSING OUT WHEN I TELL EVERYONE YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO COME BACK HOME THIS CHRISTMAS!" Rose groaned, hating to have to stay at Hogwarts. Nothing happened, library was closed for rentals and the chairs there definitely weren't comfortable for time periods longer than two hours.
Rose pretty much ignored the rest of the howler, leaning against the brick walls of the castle with her arms crossed sulking. It ripped itself apart as the tirade ended, and Rose couldn't have been more grateful. Knowing her mother, she almost expected it to repeat the entire thing again at a high volume in case Rose had missed anything. Who would have thought defending your honor could be so...terrible. James had started it anyway, and she really hoped that he got a nasty howler too while he was away on a job interview in Moscow. Summer break hadn't been the best...
Staring at the ashes, Rose looked up at Albus. "You just had to bring it to me, didn't you?" She said accusingly. Albus put his hands up defensively and took a step back
"Hey, I've seen those things explode and it was either me finding you or figuring out what your mom charmed it to do if you ignored it Rosie." Again the nick name! Rose narrowed her eyes more at it before sighing. She would have done the same thing, so should she really blame him? No but she really wanted to.
"You seem to be in a bad mood, Rose, what's happened?" Albus asked, letting his hands fall at the sound of her sigh. Albus was like a brother to her, almost a twin since they had shared cribs as infants during naps. He was closer to her than her own brother.
"I ran into Malfoy in the library just a few minutes before you came up with that howler." Rose said, half way explaining her mood. There was also the little...secret that she had overheard. The prophesy. She still had to mull that over before she even thought of mentioning it to anyone, even Albus. She didn't want to bring something up she didn't understand.
Albus' body visibly tensed, and she should have gotten a better grade in Divination because she predicted exactly what he would be saying next.
"Did he insult you, again, Rose?" Rose sighed and didn't answer. What to say that wouldn't get him in detention. He was too protective of her, it was almost like she was a prized pet of his or something. He took the big brother thing to a rather absurd level.
"He said he didn't understand me, does that count as an insult?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow at him nearly willing him to come up with something bad about that. He had said that, she remembered that part clearly.
Rose could tell that Albus was trying, and while he had a few ideas he would open his mouth to say it then reconsider. It might have been common sense, or it may have been the harsh look on his face that made him certain that she would have some sort of reply to it. Finally, he just stopped and slumped against a tree.
Rose smiled at Albus and dropped the subject of Scorpius...no Malfoy. Malfoy is what she called him even in her mind, or she may just slip when she was talking to him. It was in her blood to hate him, and she thought that it sounded silly in her own mind. He couldn't help his parentage, but he could help his arrogant attitude that her wand hand itched to hex out of him.
"Rose, hows being Head Girl?" Albus asked, obviously trying to switch the subject. She didn't blame him. Who wanted to talk about Malfoy anyway...not her...
Rose smiled a bit, looking over at Albus. "It's the best. I have my own dorm and it's a lot more private. I have to share the common room with Malfoy, yeah, but I'm glad that I can bring some friends in if I want. Of course, it means 'he' can too but they can be pretty easy to avoid them if we want." She said 'he' with as much contentment as she could. She can't believe she hadn't spoken to Albus about this in the week they had been there.
Things had just ambushed her. Her schoolwork, her studies, and her Head Girl duties all descended upon her that she barely had time to talk to anyone. This was her first breather, Saturday was a gift from heaven.
"Sounds great, can I see it?" Albus said, and she could tell from the longing in his voice that he had wanted to be Head Boy. Well, it was more than that actually. He had told her at the beginning of last summer that he hoped he would be Head Boy. They thought so much alike already, it would have been a much easier year. If Albus had been Head
Boy, and Rose was still Head Girl...well the year would have been fun.
"Of course, Al. Come on." Rose replied happily, starting the walk to her new room. Why they had the Head's common room so high in the castle were bloody Head's already had so much to do, they must want the Head's the be fit or something. Climbing up and down stairs was sure to bring her down at least one size that year. AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO LOSE ANY WEIGHT! Now, it was up to her to make sure she ate enough to make sure her body weight stayed the same through the year. Just what she needed... something else she had to do. Pleasure.
Rose arrived at the Head's Common Room portrait, a picture of all the founder's in front of Hogwarts. Those were the very people that founded Hogwarts...Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff. "Jytsu." Rose whispered to the four that accompanied the rather large portrait and watched Albus gawk as the portrait swung upon slowly.
The Head's common room was the same size as Ravenclaw's common room, so really that much space hadn't surprised her when she walked in. What had surprised her was the emptiness of it. Grabbing Albus' wrist, she dragged him inside and shut the portrait door. "Welcome to the Head's common room." Rose announced proudly.
"Thought I smelt something distasteful." Scorpius' sneered from the lounging on the sofa in front of the fireplace. Rose rolled her eyes and turned her back to Malfoy, looking at Albus to see how he was taking everything. He seemed to have missed Scorpius' comment, it was either that or he simply didn't care.
He was looking up into the ceiling that contained the solar system. It showed where each planet and each star was at that current time. His mouth was wide open and she was half tempted to see if she could stick something inside there and see if he's notice. A Bertie Bott's every flavor beans would have worked nicely.
"Albus..." Rose whispered, poking Albus' side to try and gain his attention. "You haven't even seen the room I sleep in yet, it's very nice as well." Albus seemed to be right behind her as she led her way up the stairs and safely away from Malfoy's prying ears. "Poppyseed." Rose whispered the password and heard her door unlock. Opening it, she let Albus' eyes travel over it's contents.
She had a gold canopy bed with blue sheets against the back wall. There was a nice window sill for her to sit down and watch the sunset or sunrise in. She had a large vanity, though she mostly used it for extra bookends. The top was already half crowded with books from her classes that year. She might only need three classes to pass her final year, but she wasn't taking any chances on losing education.
"If this is the girl's room, wonder what Malfoy's looks like." Albus said, his voice still disdainful when he said Scorpius' last name.
"I wouldn't know, and don't plan on finding out. " Rose replied, crossing her arms and smirking at him. "Though, if you ask really nicely maybe he'll show you." Fat chance of that happening, but it had to be added. Albus' eyes lit up for a moment before he narrowed his eyes at her.
"Malfoy would rather toss me out of here entirely than show me his room. Don't think he swings that way, Rose." Albus said, sliding his hands into his pocket and chuckling. "Not that I exactly swing that way either."
Rose rolled her eyes and shoved him out of her room, shutting the door and hearing the almost familiar 'click' of the door locking behind her. She felt much safer with that lock in place on her door, in all truth. Perhaps she was just paranoid though, but once at home she swore something come inside her room while she was sleeping.
Sitting on the side farthest from Scorpius' Rose lounged in a chair and motioned for Albus to do the same. "Hows your dorm this year?" She asked, her tone soft so she wouldn't be overhead by the snake that was on the other side of the room.
"It's bigger than normal, actually. The beds are much more comfortable as well. Not nearly as nice as yours is, but it's pretty cool. I'm still rooming with Lorcan, Lysander, Raymond, and Frank again though." Rose laughed softly, what he said made her think that he had expected something different. She had been roomed with the same people until this current year, and if she hadn't gotten chosen as Head Girl she would be hidden inside her bed reading while the other girls gossiped around her.
"I'm sure this year will be great, Al." Rose said, reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder. She gripped it tight and let go, still smiling.
"Yeah yeah, for you. Your head girl..." Albus muttered, quickly poking her in the side with his finger and grinning at her. She squeaked, jumped an inch in her seat, and covered both of her sides with a glare sent Albus' way.
"What in Merlin's name was that for!" Rose demanded, her voice not quite as stern as she wanted because she was still grinning from Albus' little surprise attack.
"Shut it," came a voice from the couch across the room. Rose looked over at him and even though he would she and it was rather childish, she stuck her tongue out at him. Scorpius had ruined the fun moment...they deserved some sort of retribution.
Albus laughed at her and shook his head. "Your supposed to be seventeen, or have you forgotten?" He asked, smirking at her like an all knowing owl that is mocking you. She narrowed her eyes just the tiniest bit and raised her chin in defiance.
"I have not forgotten, Mr. Potter. I have simply...let myself go. I don't do that often enough. I mean, I'll be studying till my brain disintegrates
for the NEWTS. Before all that starts I would like to have some fun, don't you think?" Rose crossed her arms and let him deal with that.
"Yeah, I suppose you can have some fun now, but you can also have some fun in between your little all night study sessions." Albus retorted, bringing that up again.
"I only study all night on weekends, thank you very much. I'm a night owl, I remember more at night. It's only fair that I work to my advantage, don't you think? As for the in between, I can't have any distractions when I take my NEWTS. I have so many to do, and guess what? I Need O's in them all! Do you know how hard that is?" Rose asked, leaning back in her chest as if that was the end of the argument.
"You don't have to..." Albus started but never got to finish.
"Oh yes I do. My mom came back to Hogwarts and did that and I will as well. I have big plans, and I need to make sure that I can do pretty much anything if my archeology career doesn't fall through." Rose interrupted him by saying.
A small explosion was heard in the castle, and she wasn't sure if it sounded small because they were so high in the castle, or if it was just small near their floor. Lots of shouts and footsteps made her think that it may just be more serious that even her first thought had been. just small near their floor. Lots of shouts and footsteps made her think that it may just be more serious that even her first thought had been.