Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (QLFC) Season 9
Title: Apple Pie
Team: Wimbourne Wasps
Position: Chaser 2
Reserve: no
Extension: yes
Prompt & Optional Prompts: Write about a potion gone wrong
(word) invisible
(relationship) rivals
(colour) green
Word count: 2938
Warnings: mentions of pregnancy, one sexually suggestive situation
Rose Weasley shivered, prompting tingles to run up from her lower back to the base of her neck. It was a cold autumn evening, and Quidditch practice wasn't going to cease because of a little bit of wind. Her green scarf floated in the wind behind her, matching the green in her eyes.
"Hey Weasley! Did you throw up on your scarf" Scorpius Malfoy snickered, fake-gagging.
Rose rolled her eyes. On Tuesdays, Gryffindor shared the Quidditch pitch with Slytherin for practices. Somehow the schedule got double booked and neither team was willing to back down, so both captains reluctantly decided that an extra night of practice was worth it regardless of how much space there was available or who it had to be shared with.
"Oh, I didn't know that green made you throw up, Malfoy. Maybe you should find a new house then." Rose said, nonchalantly.
Scorpius's neck reddened.
"Ignore him, Rosie," Albus said, reassuringly. "I love that scarf on you."
"Well, don't let Grandmama Weasley hear otherwise," Rose said, laughing. "She's the one who made this for me."
"I think Scorpius is just jealous you look better in green than he does," Albus chuckled.
"You bet," Rose said, winking.
Autumn passed by quickly and the winds blew colder, as expected in November. Seventh year, however, was somehow still full of surprises. Rose found herself enjoying Potions and Herbology immensely. Herbology was something she struggled with for years, but with a little bit of tutoring from her uncle Neville, she realized she really liked it. It definitely had something to do with how she was never done learning about it. There was always something new.
Scorpius had been her rival since day one, when he had shown up all shy and unassuming. Rose had gotten it into her head that Scorpius was an untouchable force: someone not to mess around with, and someone to stay ahead of at all times.
For the first few years they knew each other, they rarely talked. The interactions were limited in some of the overlapping courses that they had together. However, around year three, things started to get complicated: Rose grew a temper, and Scorpius loved to irritate her.
Since then, it's been quips and witty remarks, sarcastic banter, and teasing. They were both stubborn, unwilling to bend or retreat first. But in the past two years, things started to change. It was one of those things that developed without either of them realizing.
"Malfoy, get off my ass," Rose said, brushing by the other students in the halls. She was late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which she had after lunch.
"What are you talking about? You don't own the halls Weasley," Scorpius said from behind her. "I'm just trying to get to Potions."
"If you weren't on my ass then I wouldn't be able to smell you. Did you stuff an apple pie up your ass?" said Rose, scrunching her nose.
"Very funny, Weasley," Scorpius said, the corner of his lip curling upwards.
In DADA, Rose learned about Chameleon Ghouls. Almost all of the things that Rose learned about in DADA was interesting, but she hated doing assignments for it, especially papers. This time, she had to write about the known ways to handle the ghouls and how to defend against them.
Their professor was a tall and scrawny lady by the name of Professor Leya Fritz. She was extremely passionate about DADA, especially the history behind the dark arts and the rise of Voldemort. Professor Fritz was a fair marker, but loved going on tangents, leaving her students unsure of what was testable. Rose did her best to participate in class, for her classmates were far too hesitant to speak up.
Rose yawned as she packed up her books after class, making her way to the library. She was going to try to finish her entire paper in one sitting so that she could focus on her Potions project. In Potions, they were learning about Veritaserum, which was extremely fascinating. She often wondered what she would hear herself saying and revealing if she ever had to take any.
Rose took out her quill and ink, writing neatly on the piece of parchment in front of her. What felt like a couple minutes, and a few feet of parchment later, she glanced up at the time. It had been two hours, and she was happy with what she had. The ink seemed to glisten in response to her smile, and she rolled the parchment up before heading to the common room.
A couple days later, she got called to Professor Fritz's office under urgent matters. Rose cracked her knuckles anxiously as she waited outside. Her mind raced as she thought of what it could be.
"Rose, would you mind looking at this for me?" Professor Fritz said, offering her a piece of parchment once she was seated.
Rose's eyebrows raised in confusion. "Professor, this is blank."
"Yes it is indeed," Professor Fritz nodded. "This is what you handed me yesterday."
"I'm sorry?" Rose's lips parted. "I handed my assignment in."
"Yes, I was quite confused when I opened it too. Did you mix it up with another piece of parchment perhaps?" Professor Fritz offered.
Rose searched her bag, to no avail.
"Professor, I promise this isn't a prank. I really did hand in my assignment to you." Rose said anxiously. "Is there anything we can do?"
"I can ask you to do the assignment again," Professor Fritz pondered. "But if you really did complete the assignment and something peculiar is going on I suppose there is no reason for me to ask you to do it again. You shall make up for it some other time on another topic."
Rose forced a small smile. "Thank you, Professor."
They bid goodnight, and Rose fidgeted anxiously. This has never happened before. She felt like she was going crazy trying to figure out how she had a fully marked up sheet of parchment a mere minutes prior to handing it in, and now it was all gone.
"Why so down, Weasley?" Scorpius Malfoy's voice carried from behind her. Distractedly, she had roamed towards the dungeons. "You're really out of place."
"Oh shove off, Malfoy," Rose said, her temper rising. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."
"Oh gee, Rosie! Tell me all about it! Just between us girls," Scorpius said mockingly. "We can even braid each other's hair after."
Rosie was Albus's nickname for Rose. Scorpius knew that.
Rose's eyes darted around on the floor, her fists clenching. The back of her neck was heating up. She was fairly sure her neck was almost the colour of her hair. She met his eyes, which had a cool and alluring look she's seen many times before.
"What? Now you shut up?" Rose snapped, her voice rising from before.
"Oh, I don't know about shutting up," Scorpius whistled, seemingly unbothered by her reaction. "If only I could figure out what's got you all riled up like this, I'd do it more often."
Rose started to walk again, hoping to calm herself down. Scorpius continued to taunt her from behind.
"Leave me alone, Malfoy," Rose said, collecting herself. "I have a mystery I need to solve."
"What mystery is that? Will you let me know when you've figured out the mystery of why you don't have any friends?"
Rose ignored him.
"Oh right, you have family." Scorpius said, sarcastically. "Should I tell them about Arithmancy?"
Arithmancy was the one class that Scorpius had over Rose in terms of grades. They were matched in nearly every way for the classes that they both took.
"Just stop it will you!" Rose said, turning around to push him away.
Rose felt her arms fold in towards her chest, and long strong arms wrap around her waist. All she could see in front of her was a green tie. Her body was confused. She looked up and Scorpius's lips found hers in a heated frenzy. Rose's lips had a mind of her own, and so did her hands, which found their way around to his back.
The next thing she knew, she was against the wall, Scorpius still all over her. It was surreal, because she couldn't think or process what was happening. All she could think about was where his lips were on her, and how good it felt.
A small groan escaped the both of them as they made their way into the nearest classroom. The doors closed behind them with a bang.
The next morning, Rose woke up in her bed, with a slight headache. She hadn't changed out of her clothes from the day before.
The sun shone brightly onto her bed and into her eyes. It was Saturday.
The events of last night came back to her. A blank piece of parchment. The patterns of the hallway floor. A green tie. The bang of the doors closing. Scorpius Malfoy.
What did she do?
Rose gasped, quickly realizing the situation. She was slightly sweaty now, and nearly red from head to toe. How could she do that? In a classroom no less? With Malfoy? Her head went immediately to her bedside table, where she had a protective potion. It was made for situations like this after all, among other things like clearing her skin and saving her from awful cramps every month. It only had to be taken once a month, and she had already taken it last month. It won't be another two weeks or so before she needs it again. Examining the potion more carefully, she realized that it had already expired.
Cursing loudly, she sprung up from her bed with a cry. She muttered to herself, counting the days, to make sure they were correct. This was a huge mistake, and it might be an even bigger one if she doesn't figure things out.
How could she be this irresponsible? She always had her new potion ready at least a couple months before the old one expired, even if she wasn't with someone: to prevent any weird overlap, or issues with forbidden interactions like this.
Grasping the potion in her hand, she headed down to the hospital wing.
About halfway there, she realized that it would only be a couple days before she would know for sure that nothing happened. Sure, the days leading to it were a bit messy, but in a couple days, she would know. She can be patient, act like nothing happened. Resting a hand in her pocket, her fingers found soft silky material. It was a green tie. Immediately, she shoved it back into her pocket before anyone would see. The touch of the fabric seemed to burn her fingers.
It would prove to be harder than she thought. Everywhere she walked, she wondered if people knew what she did, and who she did it with. She ended up tracing her route on the day that she handed her assignment in, perhaps maybe finding it in the grass or a corner somewhere, and the paper that she handed in was really a blank one after all. There wasn't another explanation really.
"Hey Rose!" Lorcan Scamander waved. "I have something for you?"
"Oh, hi Lorcan," Rose smiled, exhaling deeply. "What is it?"
Lorcan Scamander was sorted into Slytherin, to the surprise of his mother and father. Among his roommates were Scorpius Malfoy, who he seemed to really like. Lorcan was probably the closest thing that Scorpius had to a brother. They were great friends. Lorcan was so excited when he was sorted that his parents really couldn't say anything about it. When he was younger, he hung out with Rose and her family quite often, but with age, their friend circles changed. He rarely came around anymore.
"Scorpius asked me to pass you this," he said, gesturing to the envelope in his hand. "Are you guys duelling or something?"
Rose's face reddened. What could he possibly have to say? "Yeah, something like that."
"See you around!" Lorcan said, grinning widely, "Let me know if you're kicking his ass, I want to be around for that."
Rose nodded. Opening the envelope hastily, she flipped the note to glance on both sides. It was blank.
This was ridiculous. Has she gone blind? Was it the paper? Did it have some kind of spell or incantation on it?
Oh!
Taking her wand out, she cried "Aparecium."
Wanted to make sure that Lorcan wouldn't read this. He's a clever lad, but if he saw it was blank he'd probably just think I'm pranking you somehow.
Meet me at the Astronomy tower tonight?
Rose crushed the note in her hand. Was she going to go? She really didn't want to see him again. Regardless, she needed to find Professor Fritz.
"You have some nerve, Malfoy," Rose said, shivering slightly. It was snowing. She was bundled up in her green scarf and boots, her red hair decorated with small snowflakes.
"Did you talk to Professor Fritz?" he said, turning to look at her. "I thought you'd figure it out sooner."
"How did you get the ink in my bag?" she asked.
"Well you were too busy yelling at me about apple pies to realize I had dropped it in your bag."
"But where did my ink go?"
"You left it in the Potions classroom and I saw it when I had class after you."
"How did you know it was mine?"
"Magic."
"Shut up," said Rose, holding back a laugh.
"You're an idiot, Weasley. Have you forgotten you label everything? R.W. this and R.W that. Are you sure that your underwear is yours Weasley? Have you checked?"
"You're the worst."
Rose stood a few feet away from Scorpius. He was like quicksand and she didn't want to get too close or else he would suck her in.
"So we might be in some trouble," she said truthfully. It was better she got it out now than later, in case she decided to flee the country. That doesn't seem so bad.
"Why's that?"
"I could have a demon inside me."
"Oh, you mean your conscience?" Scorpius quipped.
Rose shoved his chest, causing him to slip in the snow.
"You deserve that," she said, laughing as he picked himself up off the ground.
"What do you mean?" he asked, dusting his pants off.
"Your demon baby, Satan," she said, rolling her eyes at him.
His eyes widened in shock, and slight panic. "You're kidding. You said you were protected."
"Well, I didn't really think I would be doing that so how would I know to double check before I left my room, you arse."
"You're telling me that you're pregnant? Like there's a kid in there right now?" he asked curiously, poking Rose's side.
"Don't touch me," she said, swatting his hand away. "And no, it doesn't work like that."
He looked at her intently, as if waiting for an explanation.
"I'll see in a couple of days."
Rose was now a week late, and losing her mind. It had been over a week since she last met with Scorpius at the Astronomy tower. He was more absent than usual. She found herself enjoying apple pie for dessert for lunch and dinner.
On the eighth day, she felt sick. Scorpius followed her out of Arithmancy to the Room of Requirement.
"What's wrong with you?" Scorpius said, with genuine worry in his voice.
"I'm late," Rose stated sharply. "I'm never late. Where have you been all week?"
"Giving you space," he shrugged. "You were already stressed out about this so I didn't want to pile on. You've looked better, Weasley. Not too much better, but better."
"You don't say," she said, looking into a mirror that suddenly appeared on the wall. Her face was pale. Rubbing her cheeks to give them some colour, she looked at Scorpius through the mirror.
"What are we going to do?"
"Get you some food, go to the hospital wing, hope Madam Pomfrey doesn't kill me," he said. "Preferably in that order. I'm hungry."
A table appeared a few feet away from them. On it was some beef, mashed potatoes, salad, and apple pie.
"You're taking this surprisingly well," Rose said softly.
Scorpius chewed thoughtfully, before swallowing. "You know, I don't really know how to respond to that."
"It's okay, don't ruin the moment," Rose said, taking a slice of pie.
"Are we having a moment?"
"No."
They ate in silence for a bit, each in their own thoughts.
"You know, I was gonna rip you a new one that night on the Astronomy tower. I was losing my mind trying to figure out what happened to my assignment."
"And you didn't, because?"
"Because the possibility of having a baby Malfoy growing inside me was more terrifying than anything Professor Fritz could have thrown me for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Priorities, Malfoy, priorities."
Scorpius choked. Apparently, the thought of a baby Malfoy actually was alarming.
"I actually wanted to see if you would freak out a bit, but you wouldn't give that satisfaction to me."
"Of course not, I'm cool."
"Oh sure you are."
"Like you're one to talk. You blow up every time over the smallest things," Scorpius stated.
"Only because you're physically repulsive and completely unbearable," Rose retorted.
"You can't say you're not enjoying this," Scorpius said, with a gleam in his eye.
"I'm not, I want to strangle you."
"Relax, mama, the baby can hear you."
"I'll do it. I'll do it with my bare hands right now."