"It's forbidden love" Ingrid whispered in hushed tones, staring imploringly at me, as if willing me to understand.
"What?" I asked, what was this girl on about? "Start from the beginning again, please."
She sighed, "Okay, so it actually began about two weeks ago when we had to do that god awful Muggle Studies essay…"
"What Muggle Studies essay?" I cut in.
"The one about why muggles need electricity."
"Oh that wasn't that bad."
"Rose." She gave me a warning look.
"Okay, sorry, go on." I made myself comfortable on her bed; I had a feeling this was going to take a while.
"So, I was sitting in the library and I was at my wits end. The books I needed for it had already been borrowed by someone else, these fourth year girls were gossiping noisily about Katie something or other, I'd written all I knew about bloody electricity and I still had a foot and a half to go, and it was due in an hour."
"Why didn't you ask me for help?" I asked.
"You were at a prefect meeting, and you always help me. Anyway, so there I was about to rip my own hair out, and then I see the book I need. The book that I had spent 45 minutes scouring the library for and there it was sitting innocently on his table. And so I stomp up to him, ready to wrangle it from his dying grasp and he's just like 'what? Oh yeah I'm using it, but we can share. Here you have it first.' He was just so nice, Rose! He helped me with my essay, and he was so patient with me and so…"
"Who?"
She bowled on, lost in her own retelling, "Since then I've been seeing him everywhere. In class, at lunch, in the hallways, he's always there with a smile on his face. And then today, we somehow turned out to be the last two people in class- you know how I like to dawdle- I dropped my quill as I was packing up, and then he was there picking it up for me, and he was suddenly so close, and before I knew it, his lips were on mine, and…" She let a long sigh.
"Ingrid, you've turned into a sap!" I exclaimed, shocked and amused.
She shot me a decidedly un-amused look, "How was I supposed to resist him? He's too damn nice, and plus his hair was growing back..."
"Okay, you've seriously lost me now. Who on earth are you talking about?"
Ingrid finally ended her tirade and she looked up at me with despairing eyes. Her lips quivered as she whispered, "Skjhlhjkllump."
"Huh?" I replied, we may be best friends, but I couldn't even decipher that mumbo jumbo.
"Snodlkjflump"
"Gesundheit?" Yep, still nothing.
"SNOODGELUMP" She all but shrieked, "Jack freaking Snoodgelump!"
"Jack Snoodgelump?" I asked incredulously,
She nodded slowly.
"Wow." I said slowly, trying to gather my thoughts. "That's so… unexpected."
"I know, he just kind of crept up on me"
"I agree with the hair though, glad he's growing it out."
"Yeah."
We both considered this for a moment, before getting back on track. "But why are you banging on about forbidden love?"
"Because of his last name." She didn't add a duh on the end, but she didn't need to.
"So?" Yep, same Rose Weasley who got an O on her Charms essay here.
"It's SNOODGELUMP, what if we end up getting married or something?! Then I'd be Ingrid Snoodgelump forever!" She looked at me with frenzied eyes.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I put my hands up in front of me, "How did we suddenly get to talk about marriage? He just bloody kissed you, he hasn't proposed!"
Ingrid rolled her eyes, "I know, but sometimes the mind does wander."
"To marriage?" I cried.
"With a last name like Snoodgelump it does." Ingrid snapped.
"Well if it bothers you that much, you know that you can just keep your last name." I told her, "It is the 21st Century and all."
Her eyes widened and it was as if Christmas had come early. Comical really. "Rose Weasley, you are a genius!"
"And you, Ingrid Glenadell, are ridiculous."
It was 11.15pm.
I was dressed in all black.
I felt ridiculous.
I even nicked Ingrid's black beanie. If anything was going to give me away, it was my hair.
I walked casually past the two boys frantically finishing off last minute homework, before slipping out of the Common Room. Merlin, I was sweating already.
The hallways were deserted, thank God, but it did little to shake off the nerves. It was amazing how a corridor, usually bustling with activity, could suddenly become so spookily deserted at night time. I forced myself not to think about what could be lurking around the corner- some kind of man eating creature from 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', prefects, or even a professor! Oh lord. If I got caught maybe I could just say that I read the patrolling schedule wrong and that I was just on prefect duty. Yup. Dressed in all black, and a woolly beanie. Uh huh.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Alex's hand waving at me from inside an alcove.
"Good, you made it." were his first words to me.
"Yup, here I am! What's the plan?"
"Scorpius is currently in the kitchens, when he comes out we're going to scare the crap out of him." He grinned at me boyishly, "We're going to use a tactic I like to call that double scare. So you'll jump out at him first from behind, and just as his nerves are standing on end, I'll scare him from the front and get him as well!"
"Sweet." I replied, a grin beginning to form on my face as I envisioned a scared Scorpius. "How long has he been in there for?" I asked.
"I sent you the note as soon as he left, so he should be coming out any minute now." Alex replied, checking his watch, before pulling out something from his pocket.
"What's that?" I asked.
He grinned, "Face paint."
"Seriously?"
"It multiplies the scare factor by about eight, I kid you not." He replied, squirting some onto his hand before passing it to me.
I slathered the paint liberally on my face, and was just starting to feel like a bad ass, when an ominous gust of wind swept past us. I felt Alex stiffen next to me. The optimistic atmosphere dissipated in a matter of seconds and the air was suddenly stifling. Beads of sweat began forming on my forehead and I was trying desperately not to breathe too loudly when a bright light suddenly blinded us. Before I could react, Alex let out a squeal which sounded so much like Melissa Green that I had to check she wasn't next to me and turned just in time to see Alex karate chop Professor McGonagall in the neck.
The light clattered to the ground and I could faintly see her reeling back, clutching at her neck as she coughed and spluttered.
"Oh my God, what have you done?" I asked, horrified.
Alex met my appalled gaze with his own frantic one, "Run, run!" He whispered furiously.
"What? She saw us!" I was still trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened.
"Face paint, beanies. We're safe." He replied as he nudged me urgently in the back.
Everything was happening too quickly. "But we can't just leave her there! She might be seriously injured!"
"She's a witch, she'll be fine!" Alex grabbed my arm, and I had no choice but to run after him as he broke out into a flat out sprint.
Fear and panic gave me strength as I followed Alex through a multitude of turns and staircases. Finally we arrived at the entrance of the library. Somewhere familiar! I could almost weep with relief.
"I can't believe that just happened." I puffed, putting my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.
"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't know who it was and I just panicked!" He gasped, leaning back against the wall.
"I hope McGonagall's okay."
"She'll be fine; she fought in the war, she's probably had way worse."
I was finding it hard to get over my disbelief, "I can't believe you hit her in the neck!" I don't know if it was the pent up adrenalin, the tiredness, or the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, but I suddenly found it absolutely hilarious. "You just karate chopped our esteemed Transfiguration professor and headmistress in the neck!"
Alex began to laugh along with me, "What can I say? I fear no man or woman!"
"And how does your hand feel?" I asked him.
"Strong as ever!" He karate chopped the air for effect.
"And you lived to tell the tale!" I exclaimed like the commentator at the Quidditch World Cup.
"Hopefully..." Alex replied, killing the mood.
"Yeah, we should get back," I agreed, looking over my shoulder nervously. "She's probably on a warpath."
"Do you know your way back to your Common Room?" Alex asked, pushing himself off the wall.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." I nodded.
"Are you sure? Scorpius would kill me if you got lost, or got a detention or something because of me."
I grinned slightly at the thought, "Nah, it's not far from here, and if anyone comes near me I'll just karate chop them in the neck."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." He replied, returning the grin. "Alright, I'll see you later then!"
As I turned the corner, I made myself walk a couple of steps, but then the darkness and echoing footsteps got to me and I sprinted my way back to the Common Room.
Godric Gryffindor would be so proud.
"So we've just got to do the comparison with Metamorphmagi, and find some examples of people who've done Human Transfiguration, and we're done!" Scorpius exclaimed, leaning back in his chair.
I stifled a yawn, I was really tired, but I felt like such a bad ass for not getting caught that I was mostly okay. "Awesome! Do you think we should include Thaddeus Thurkell, or should we just leave him…" I never had a chance to finish my sentence, however, as Robert Hillman turned the corner into the Transfiguration section and I ducked under the table without thinking.
"Rose? What the hell are you doing?" Scorpius chuckled looking under the table.
"Shhh!" I whispered vehemently, clutching his legs in warning.
He was decidedly confused, but I guess he heard the urgency in my voice.
Good man.
Now I was stuck under this cramped table holding onto his legs. How is it that I always manage to get myself into these situations? No matter, I just had to wait until I could no longer hear Robert Hillman's obnoxious laughter and then everything would be fine.
After a minute or so, I released his legs and began pushing my chair out of the way when Scorpius suddenly wrapped his legs around me. What.
"Professor McGonagall, hi!" His voice sounded slightly strained even from under the table, "Yes, just working on it now."
I froze. Oh dear God, I did not need this right now.
"Who is your partner for this assignment, Mr Malfoy?" She inquired. Was it just me or was her voice slightly raspier than usual? Oh Merlin...What if she was wearing a neck brace or something? The image was deeply distressing and wildly amusing at the same time.
I am a horrible person.
"Rose, Rose Weasley. She's just gone to get a couple of books."
"I see, and how are you finding this assignment?"? Why on earth was she so chatty today? Why?! It's as if she knew it was me last night. It's as if she knew that I was underneath the table encircled by Scorpius' legs, with his crotch at eye level. Oh Lord. You can't just stare at some guys crotch, Rose, talk about invasion of privacy! Not that he'd ever know...but still! Morals, Rose! Where are your morals? Stare at his thigh, yup, good. Excellent. If I just tilted my head slightly to the right I could almost rest my head upon his leg, that'd be a nice head rest. MERLIN ROSE, pull yourself together! He's a person, not a pillow!
His shirt was untucked. Tut tut, I should tell him to tuck it in. No, I shouldn't, because then he'd know that I had been looking. But looking at his shirt wasn't a crime, how was I supposed to not notice? What am I supposed to be looking at anyway? McGonagall's sensible shoes, yup, that's good, very safe.
Not good, imagine if she found me under here. What would she think? What would anybody think if they saw me? Oh Merlin, oh Merlin.
Thankfully Scorpius then released me from the confinement of his legs, freeing me from my torturous thoughts, "Coast is clear." He muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Phew," I sighed as I finally emerged from beneath the depths of the table, hair slightly more tousled and cheeks slightly more flushed than usual.
"Sorry 'bout that, I got ambushed." He said apologetically.
"No harm done." I replied, nonchalantly brushing the hair away from my face. Oh if only he knew.
"Well?" Scorpius looked at me expectantly.
"Well what?" I asked.
"Why in Merlin's name did you suddenly disappear under the table?"
"Oh it's nothing," I said, suddenly feeling foolish.
He gave me a look.
I sighed, "Fine, I was hiding from Robert Hillman."
He laughed, "Why?"
"He insists on making me a Ravenclaw! I've told him so many times to stop, but he won't let it alone!" I cried out a bit too frantically.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"Okay, so I'm a bit of a nerd, I know that." I said, Scorpius grinned. "And so every time I answer a question in class, or he asks me something, he makes some quip about how I am such a Ravenclaw, or how the Sorting Hat's really losing its touch, and argh!" I took a breath, "At the beginning it was mildly flattering, then it got a little annoying, and now I..."
"Have been reduced to crawling under tables?" Scorpius suggested helpfully with an amused grin.
"It's infuriating! The joke's clearly over! OVER!" I slumped back my chair.
"Can't you just tell him to piss off?" Scorpius asked.
I almost laughed, as if it was that simple. "Oh believe me, I have tried. It just doesn't get through his thick head."
Scorpius nodded in understanding, "Can't say I've ever been too fond of him myself."
"Rose!" A voice sounded from my left. Not any voice, a pompously cheerful voice. Turns out the coast was not clear. "How's my favourite little Ravenclaw?"
I gave Scorpius a cross between an I told you and a Crap what the hell do I do look. I opened my mouth to correct him, but Scorpius beat me to it.
"Three things wrong with that sentence, Hillman." He said, his voice almost dangerously amicable. "She's not a Ravenclaw, she's not a child, and she's certainly not yours."
Robert turned his gaze to Scorpius and his face darkened slightly, "What's it to you Malfoy? She's not a Slytherin and she's definitely not yours either."
"No, she's a Gryffindor, and that's exactly how I like her." Scorpius replied, his voice beginning to lose its amicable tone.
Robert just stared at him for a moment, "Don't kid yourself, Malfoy. It's not going to happen, you're a Slytherin."
Um. What was going on here? How had the conversation suddenly turned so serious? More annoyingly, I had the distinct feeling that I was missing something crucial here...
"And you're a Ravenclaw, thanks for stating the obvious, Hillman. I may not be in your prestigious house, but I do know one from the other." Scorpius replied, his eyes daring Robert to continue.
"Do you know the recent history of the Wizarding World then, Malfoy?" He asked with excruciating condescension, emphasising the last word.
Scorpius' jaw clenched and something akin to anger flashed in his eyes, "I do actually," his voice deceptively light, "and that's why I know that we've progressed so far that attitudes have changed."
Robert snorted derisively, "Like I said, Malfoy. Don't kid yourself."
"Thanks for your concern, Hillman, but I'm doing just fine." Scorpius responded with forced politeness.
The tension was palpable. Perfect time for Rose to cut in, I'd say. "Look Robert, I honestly don't like it when you call me a Ravenclaw, and you know that."
Luckily, or unluckily he turned his gaze from Scorpius to me. He laughed at me. LAUGHED! What the hell? "I mean it, Robert." I bit out.
His response? Tousling my hair and saying "See you in class, Rose."
Where does he get off touching my hair? I wanted to slap his hand away, but he was already strolling self-importantly out of the library.
I turned back to Scorpius to see his hands in fists and eyes staring intensely at Robert's retreating back.
"You alright?" I asked.
"I want to punch him in the face so badly right now." was his tense reply.
"As tempting as that sounds right now, I don't really want to lose my prefect badge over him." I responded, trying to lighten the mood.
His stony exterior cracked slightly as the corners of his mouth quirked up a tiny bit.
"Thanks for sticking up for me." I said seriously.
Scorpius let out a frustrated groan, "Who the hell does he think he is anyway? Merlin, it's people like him that make me so..." He let out a large breath of air. "Anyway, where were we?"
I looked down at the sheets of paper in front of me, "Honestly, I have no idea."
He leaned back in his seat, stretching out his long legs so that they knocked against mine. "Should we call it a day then?"
I sighed, looking down at my half written notes, "Yeah, I guess."
"What have you got now?" Scorpius asked as he packed up his books.
"Nothing really," I shrugged, "I might just stay here and finish this off."
"Alright, well I'll see you around then." He said, hoisting his bag onto his shoulder.
"Scorpius," I cried out suddenly as he was about to round the corner. He turned, his grey eyes boring into me as he waited for me to speak, and it occurred to me that I had no idea why I'd called him back. "Robert, he's an idiot. No, he's an arsehole. You're so much more than..." what was I planning on saying? More than he is? More than your last name? More than I expected you to be? "You're brilliant. And he's an arsehole...and yeah..." I trailed off and my face burned crimson red.
Scorpius gave me a small smile. It was only small, but it was enough. "Thanks Rose."
And so the story continues! Let me know what you think about Ingrid and Jack Snoodgelump, about Alex, about Scorpius, about Rose, and about Scorpius and Rose! :D
I also just wanted to let you guys know that I'm going overseas soon so the next update might not be until early next year...sorry! :( I thought I'd give you all a heads up now in case I don't get a chance to upload another chapter before I go.
Also, check out a one shot that I wrote on a whim. It's called "On the Wrong Side of History".
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'd really appreciate a review if you feel so inclined :) There is no quicker way of brightening up my day :D (or motivating me ;)