A brilliant white mass flew in front of Scorpius, temporarily blocking the demon's view.
Valkyrie's heels knocked the Nikusui back on its' heels.
Hurry, Master, it thought to Scorpius, I cannot hold it off for long.
I don't know what the demon's weakness is!!! Scorpius thought back frustratingly towards the Unicorn, which was busy in the battle.
You know, I know you do. What, exactly, would Lady Rose hate?
"Why, are you asking me this at such a time?" Scorpius whispered furiously.
What does Rose hate? She hates...she hates.....
"Tomatoes?" Scorpius summoned a tomato and threw it at the Nikusui, which landed squarely on one of its' eyes.
"Eurgh, I guess not..."
It couldn't be what Rose disliked...it had to be something....she abhorred....
"Brussel sprouts?"
"No, that can't be!"
Hurry up! The unicorn thought agitatedly, impaling the demon's other eye with its' golden horn.
He couldn't quite remember, something Rose hated, Nana Molly, their grandma would always put it on the mashed potatoes at Christmas time....
Green onions? No, that wasn't it....
Chives...no!
I'm sorry, Scorpius, but I can't fight it any more...you will have to rescue Lady Weasley by yourself....
With an agonizing cry, the arm of the Nikusui stabbed out, into Valkyrie, and Valkyrie disappeared into golden dust, sprinkling the floor around them.
It was only then that he remembered, what it was.
It was Christmas time, and Rose, Scorpius, and Albus, were sticking around the table, their noses turned up, every time Nana Molly returned to the table, with a new dish, like turkey wings, or a pot of fresh stew, they would try and steal a bite.
Nana Molly would reprimand them, saying, Now, now, children, you must wait for the others.
And finally, she brought out a dazzling heap of mashed potatoes, the aroma so mouthwatering that Scorpius had to plug his nose to not dive in right then and now to eat them.
He and Albus shared glances, knowing they both shared the same thoughts.
They turned to look at Rose, who's nose was scrunched up in disgust.
"What?" they looked at her disbelievingly.
"It's not the potatoes," she said, wrinkling her nose, "it's the cloves."
Of course! Cloves!
Scorpius summoned a clove with his wand, the cluster of the herbs landing neatly in his hand.
The Nikusui's face twisted. "What is that horrible smell?"
Scorpius pointed his wand at the clove, and the ends, stems, started extending. They kept on extending, and growing longer, until they surrounded the demon's feet.
Then, the clove wrapped itself around the Nikusui's feet, twining together, and moving on up to the body.
The screams the demon was making were unbearable, and as to not damage his ears, he flicked his wand at his ears. Instantly, he was sound proof.
As the herb wrapped itself in a cage around this gross demon, Scorpius opened the door that had suddenly appeared on the other side.
Then he closed the door, locked it, and flicked his wand once again at his ears, able to hear the distant screaming on the other side.
In the middle of the room, lay a small custard pastry, saying Eat me. He reached for it, took a small bite, found it was delicious, and the room started to swirl around him.
It spun, faster and faster, until Scorpius could make no more sense of it, and he was plopped softly in another room.
Of course, he thought astoundingly. An edible port key. What a genius!
It was a bedroom this time. It was plain, but airy, and very, very large. On top of the bed, lay Rose. Her eyes were closed, and she was wearing a simple nightgown.
Scorpius approached very carefully, because he didn't want the same thing to happen again. He got closer, and still she did not stir.
Then he was by her bedside. Her reached down and put a hand to her forehead. It was cold.
For some reason, Scorpius was sure this was Rose. He could just feel it, even though he didn't know how. He could sense her presence.
She wasn't dead, was she?
He felt her pulse, and there was a steady, undulating beat of her heart.
Scorpius could hear something at the back of his mind, throbbing with force.
Something, that someone had once said to him.
It all starts with a kiss.
Scorpius leaned forward, and kissed Rose on the lips.
They were cold, but soft, and before he could register anything else, Scorpius was once again thrown into a whirlpool, then sucked out of it, and thrown roughly onto his bed in the dorms. He glanced at the clock. It was 1:18 in the morning.
He peeked outside his door. Rose was asleep in the armchair, her head lolling to one side on her palm.
She was sitting, facing their Heads' entrance that opened to their rooms.
It was only later, that Scorpius realized, she was probably waiting for him.
He turned to the diary, looking at it as words once again appeared on the page.
So how did you find your journey? Mal asked.
Let's just say, Scorpius wrote tiredly, no more entering her dreams anymore.
How about a memory? The diary wrote back, and without warning, threw one of Rose's memories at him.
He recognized it right away.
It was one of the Christmases they had decided to stay at Hogwarts.
Many of the students there had transfigured their hats into the traditional Kris Kringle ones.
Some of them even bought them from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which looked the same, but if you were unlucky, shot a mistletoe right above your head, so you would be trapped until someone came and snogged you free.
That was what exactly happened when Rose was a prefect in fifth year.
A kid named Anna Drevin, in second year, was wearing one of those hats. Rose recognized it as the ones her Uncle George designed, immediately.
"Anna", she had called.
The mischievous second year turned around at her, beaming.
"You know the hats from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are banned," Rose told her.
"Yes?" Anna replied, still having the guts to look innocent.
"Hand it over."
Her beam turned to a full on Cheshire cat grin, and she said, "With pleasure."
Rose didn't know what these hats did, so as she reached out, the hat grew a mouth hole, and spat out a mistletoe on top of her head.
"Hey, I'm a prefect!" Rose had shouted furiously, crossing her arms.
"All the more to trick you with," Anna had grinned, and then skipped off.
"Come back!" Rose yelled, annoyed. But of course, she didn't.
So she waited and waited and waited for someone to come around.
Henry McLaggen did, and he almost did kiss her, before she threatened him with the Bat Bogey hex Aunt Ginny had taught her the past summer.
Then Scorpius came around the corner.
Rose had wanted to run over and hug the guts out of him.
"Scorpius!" she shouted in relief.
"Come over here and snog me!"
Then she had realized the silliness in her words, and blushed, while he smiled at her slyly.
"That's not what it sounds like." Rose pointed at the mistletoe above her.
"Anna Drevin mistletoed me because I wanted to take away her hat from Uncle George's shop and-" she stumbled around with your words.
"You really do talk to much, Rose," Scorpius said, much closer than he had been before, and he leaned in, their lips touching.
Slowly, the mistletoe began to recede, its' invisible binding withdrawing from Rose's body.
"Wow," she breathed.
Rose touched her lips numbly, and without turning around, said, "You know what they say."
"No, actually I don't." Scorpius leered teasingly.
"It all starts with a kiss."