What if, by some chance, they were to fall for each other? Sarah and Emily were right, he wasn't bad looking. They probably wouldn't get together straight away, with their stubborn tendencies, but they inevitably would. However, their families would undoubtedly disapprove. His father didn't have the best reputation; what if he beat Malfoy? She supposed that she would be able to take him in at her house, but her father certainly wouldn't like it. She would have to keep it a secret. If her father did find out, it wouldn't be pretty. What would happen if—
"You need to get him back for everything he's done to you." Sarah stated. Rose snapped out of her daydream and whipped her head around so quickly that her neck cramped. She nearly tripped over a loose stone in the corridor.
"What do you mean?" asked Rose, grimacing and rubbing her neck as she mentally berated herself for thinking such things.
"Exactly what I said! You need to take your revenge; you've been too passive toward him."
Rose frowned. "Sarah, you know very well that I'm not good at stuff like that. It's sort of a Slytherin quality."
She let out an exasperated sigh and pouted. "Just because Salazar Slytherin liked taking revenge doesn't mean it's exclusive to his house."
"Even so, I don't do that kind of stuff."
"I know you don't. That's why I'm going to help you."
She gaped at Sarah, too shocked to speak. She tried fruitlessly for a good reason why not. "Y-you're not getting involved in this," she managed to stutter out.
"Then why did you tell me?" Sarah whined. "Honestly, Rose, you should have known I would do something."
"I just wanted to tell somebody besides Lily. Her feedback isn't the most reliable, you know," Rose replied stubbornly.
"Admit it, you just like to gossip, like all of us."
"Do not."
"Do too. And anyways, we're getting off topic here. I am definitely going to help you." Sarah gave her a stern look.
Rose pouted. "Fine," she conceded, emphasizing the F. "What are we going to do, then? Do you have experience in getting on Malfoy's nerves?" she asked sarcastically.
"Not particularly, but what you'll do is seduce him back," she said nonchalantly.
Immediately, Rose's jaw dropped, her eyebrows knitting as her eyes widened. Sarah caught sight of her expression and giggled.
"You look funny."
"Are you insane?"
"Well, I do think it's possible," she joked. "I'm serious. You have to fight fire with fire."
"There is no way in hell that I'm doing that." Rose crossed her arms in front of her as she walked.
Sarah huffed. "Fine. Just let him walk all over you, then."
"I'm not letting him walk all over me!"
"Whatever you say," Sarah rolled her eyes as the two girls rounded the last corner in the dungeons, entering the Potions classroom.
They chose one of the tables lining the far wall, two rows from the back. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, until the lesson started.
"This year, we will be jumping straight into assignments. We will start with the Invigoration Draught, working with the person next to you. Please turn to page three hundred and sixty-three in Magical Drafts and Potions," Professor Oak announced from the front of the classroom. When he was finished talking, he turned around, waving his wand at the board.
Classwork
Collect and prepare all ingredients.
Homework
Pick two steps from the instructions, and make an educated guess as to the outcome of the potion if incorrectly followed.
Next to Rose, Sarah pouted at the board. "What a lazy lesson! All he did was give us a potion and write our instructions on the board."
Rose laughed softly. "Give him a break. None of us are very happy about returning to our classes, and at least we don't have to sit through a lecture first-thing."
"That's true." Sarah shrugged, flipping through her textbook to the page their professor had indicated. "Do you want to get the ingredients? I'll start thinking about the homework, and I'll help you later."
As Sarah was better at (and even enjoyed) the theoretical side of Potions, and it being one of Rose's worst subjects, she practically jumped at the opportunity. "Okay!" She replied perkily, standing to go to the storage closet in the corner of the room.
As she was scanning the top shelf for crystallized Antimony, a shadow fell over her shoulder. She ignored it, continuing her search. "Antimony… Antimony…"
A pale hand reached above her into the area she had been looking at, and plucked a bottle from the shelf. "Looking for this?"
She spun around, only to find herself face-to-face with none other than Scorpius Malfoy with that stupid smirk on his face.
Rose gaped at him as he tossed the tiny bottle into the air, catching it swiftly with the other hand. "Don't do that! What if you hadn't caught it, and it broke, and... That stuff's expensive!" She argued futilely.
He smirked. "But I did catch it, so no problem there."
"But what if you hadn't?"
"But I did, and that's all that matters right now, correct?" Scorpius handed the bottle to Rose, who was still gaping, her eyes indignant. "Close your mouth, you look like a fish." He gently tapped the underside of her chin.
She promptly swatted his hand, narrowing her eyes. "What is up with you lately?" she hissed, and marched back to her cauldron, fiery hair trailing her. Scorpius quickly grabbed the ingredients he was looking for, striding back to his and Alex's table with a devious smirk on his face.
"Better, but still needs improvement. You need to wait for situations, not create them."
"Not my fault that you're a bad teacher. Besides, I can't recognize opportunities."
"Well... Oh! Finish your homework early tonight, okay? Meet me in the commons at 10." Alex finished his last command in a whisper.
"Why? Are we sneaking out?" Scorpius asked. "How will that help me?"
"You'll see. Now shush, where's the rat whiskers?"
Rose, walking past to pick up ingredients, (forgotten after the little "situation") overheard the last part of the conversation. She was tempted to say something, but thought of Mary's comment the last spring, about her butting in. She promised herself that she would not interfere with this one. Why would she care if he got detention, anyways?
That night, Rose sat in her dorm, thinking. She even wished that the professors had given more homework, to distract her, but she had finished it hours before with Sarah. It was almost curfew, and she couldn't get her mind off what Alex and Scorpius were planning. They weren't the type to prank a teacher's office, and she seriously doubted that they had something huge to hide, like a baby dragon. The only thing she could think of was... yes, that had to be it. There was no other possible reason. "I've got to follow them," she said out loud.
"What are you talking about? Are you planning to stalk me, Weasley?"
Rose looked up to see Mary leaning against the bathroom door frame, filing her nails. Her face flushed with rage. "None of your business, Nelson. Nobody would ever want to even look at that face of yours, much less stalk it."
Mary sniffed and turned away, probably thinking this comeback was too weak to deserve a response. Rose thought so, herself. She strode out the door down to the commons, and towards the boys' dorm. She would need Al's cloak for this.
A/N Now to dig up that outline I mentioned...
