Potions classes were now climbing to be her favourite part of the sixth year time table, even when partnered with Mimi who always somehow manged to set off an explosion during practical lessons and an accident prone Augusta sitting behind her, she always managed to pass notes to Scorpius who was sat at the work station beside her next to Al. Since their date about two weeks ago, the pair had gotten closer. Of course a new relationship scared her, it was something new which could end at any moment and knowing it excited her all the same, for it meant that the pair .
She glanced over to where Scorpius was sitting with a smile on her face, he offered her one of his usual grins and she resisted the urge to eye roll. owever he gestured to the folded piece of parchment next to his text book. Turning back to her own cauldron she noticed Mimi avidly reading the instructions before carefully placing in alihotsy leaves.
"Mimi, I'm just going to get some more…um alihotsy" She stated before heading away from the table. Mimi barely had enough time to offer a weak 'uh huh' before gently stirring the potion.
Heading towards the stock cupboard she offered professor Slughorn a small smile, an action which he gladly reciprocated and then walked back out with a small handful of alihotsy, bearing in mind that her station had more than enough.
She took the longer route round; sauntering past Augusta and Ezekiel Smith station, the latter scolding each other for adding the wrong ingredient and then walking back past Scorpius' station. He quickly glanced up without Al noticing for her cousin was too engrossed in making the draught if peace to pay attention bystanders and Rose was able to quickly take the folded parchment and head back to her seat whilst giving Scorpius a small smile.
Once back at her station she placed the alihosty down before unfolding the parchment and written in Scorpius' neat scrawl was the message:
On patrol, meet in the astronomy tower tonight at ten.
Rose smiled before folding back the note, however when Mimi glanced up to look back at her with confusion she quickly placed the note into the text book on the desk.
"It smells pretty good" Rose offered with a weak smile. Mimi slowly nodded with a raised brow, for everyone knew that the alihotsy draught smelt absolutely horrible.
"Hmm, let's just hope it actually works" Mimi responded before stirring the cauldrons contents once more. Once Rose was certain that Mimi was preoccupied she glanced back over to Scorpius, it only took him a few moments for him to feel her gaze on him and she smiled with a nod. He seemed to understand what she meant in regards to the note and he smirked before turning back to his own cauldron.
The room was plunged into a silence after that, the only sounds the hissing of cauldrons, students whispering instructions and the flames burning against the metal. However a loud high pitched squeal broke the silence and turning to her right Rose noticed blue fumes rising from their cauldron and Mimi clutching her stomach in hysterical laughter.
Noticing the signs of the alihotsy potion Rose quickly used her robes to cover her nose and mouth before Professor Slughorn came walking over with a wide grin at the sight of the situation. He loudly clapped his hands together which caused the rest of the students to jump slightly before grinning at both of them in turn.
"Well is seems that Rose and Minnie have successfully created the alihotsy potion, a potion known for causing hysteria" He gladly announced, though he was blissfully unaware of the error on his part for he had gotten Mimi's name completely wrong.
Mimi opened her mouth to protest at the use of the wrong name however all that came out was a loud squeal. Slughorn frowned slightly before waving his wand, the fumes instantly disappeared and the class were free to breathe, however Mimi's loud squeals of laughter were still heard.
"Rose, maybe you should accompany Minnie to the hospital wing" he suggested before glancing back to the girl who was still in uncontrollable laughter. Rose nodded before taking Mimi by the arm and leading her out of the class room.
He wasn't always one to study, especially when it concerned defence against the dark arts. Though with teachers starting to pile on more and more theory Al was starting to find himself in the library more often. It seemed that the rest of his classmates has the same mind-set for most of them had bombarded the library and started on taking notes from various textbooks.
Potions happened to be one of more difficult classes however with Scorpius as his partner his grades had started to improve. He had been studying harder than ever during his sixth year and combined with the added duty of being prefect things were starting to take their toll.
He was currently sat in the library, his head starting to pound from the intense studying and his wrist aching from the note taking. Al was seriously starting to reconsider his career options, perhaps being an auror was too ambitious for one did need the required grades after all.
He shut his charms text book with a sigh and ran a hand through his unruly black hair. He was sure that he looked a state right now; messy hair, dark circles and pale skin from lack of sunlight. He glanced up from his text book and had to quickly shake his head for he was starting to hallucinate!
In his tired state, he was seeing two Meara's. Both were watching him with curious expressions, her head was slightly tilted and her eyes wide. His eyes momentarily raked over her form, even dressed in her school uniform her clothes still to the curves of her body and Al was forced to look away before he could start staring at her chest.
She was walking over towards him and he barely bit back a groan at the way she swayed her hips with each step. He quickly glanced back down to his text book, opening it quickly and pretending to read.
He silently hoped that she would pass him, assume he was busy and carry on down the aisle. However the sound of someone lightly clearing thier throat and tapping his shoulder quickly ushered that hope away.
part of him wanted to avoid her, pretend that he couldn't hear or see her presence however that other part of him that was hooked on her turned around to meet ocean blue eyes. The close proximity caused the breath to hitch in his throat.
He was so focused on her eyes, her tanned skin and dark hair that cascaded down her shoulders in delicate waves that he didn't even register that she was speaking.
"Sorry...um what was that?" He asked dumbly.
She shook her head with a small smile before gesturing to the book.
"Charms...are you revising charms?" She asked.
He double blinked before quickly nodding.
"Yeah...um charms," He muttered quickly. "Just catching up on some reading"
She nodded in understanding before pulling up a chair and sitting next to him. He stiffened slightly at the proximity, she leaned over slightly so that she could grab hold of the text book though the action caused her chest to rub against his own.
"It's upside down"
He practically jumped back in his seat at her voice breaking the thick silence and he turned to see her flicking through the text book with a small smirk.
"Can't do much studying with an upside down book…" She commented.
She was smirking like a mad woman whereas he was straying to calm his erratic heartbeat, it was almost as if she knew the effect that she had on him and was manipulating it to her own advantage. He glanced back at her and she swung her dark brown hair over her shoulders as she was bent over the charms book.
She seemed to notice him staring and delivered him a smile; only this one was different to her usual soft smiles, this was flirtatious and causing feelings to stir in the pit of his stomach.
"You're struggling with charms," It was meant to be a question but by the way she was staring it him made it sound more like a statement.
He shrugged, though charms wasn't his best subject he wasn't exactly going to outright say he was struggling at it.
"Fine. Guess I can tutor you," She placed her finger on her chin as if in thought "Since you need my expertise"
He shook his head in disbelief wondering when and how did she get so cocky in her own abilities. She simply placed a block of fudge into her mouth, offering him a piece in the process.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked. He assumed that she must have wanted something in return however it wasn't unusual for Meara to offer something out of the kindness of his own heart.
She shrugged before standing, pocketing her fudge packet into her school bag and turning to leave.
"Well you suck at charms and I don't" She stated as if it were obvious. Well he wouldn't use that word to describe his charms skills, after all they had gotten him this far.
He opened his mouth to protest however she was already leaving and he started on packing up his school supplies. At least she didn't mention her date….
"And Al,"
He turned to see her half way down the aisle, a stack of books in her arms and a strangely dangerous look in her usually bright eyes. It was almost intimidating.
"Next time you and my sister plan on ruining my date, don't" And with that she delivered a soft smile, all remnants of the dark look gone as she was reduced back to her usual self.
He momentarily shivered for she was one girl that he would never again underestimate. Yet he was intrigued.
Did that make him a masochist?
It had been hard to sneak out of her room that night, her roommates now knew that she was sneaking out to meet someone yet they just didn't know who. Of course Kaylee being the gossip she was wanted to know all of the details.
'Is he hot?' 'ooh what house is he in?' 'what about a good snog?'
Suzanne watched with a grin however Jodie was being quiet due to their last fight and had simply shut herself behind her bed curtains.
The last of the prefects were completing their rounds; she had almost ran into Ezekiel Smith, a Hufflepuff with a strong distaste of practically everybody and Rose had to hide in a broom cupboard to avoid him.
She had just passed the kitchens, her usual late night stop when she bumped straight into her elder cousin James.
James shared many similarities in appearance to his younger brother Al; dark hair, squared jaw and a dusting of freckles across his nose. However unlike his younger brother James had developed a knack for causing trouble from a young age and his partner in crime tended to be their other cousin Fred.
"So what brings you down here?" He asked with a grin. Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she just had too many men in her life who were way too cocky for their own good.
Rose shrugged, feigning innocence in the hopes that James wouldn't get suspicious.
"Just taking a stroll," She answered before quickly walking ahead, she silently hoped that James would get bored and head in the opposite direction. She carried on down the deserted hallway, taking a few quick turns here and there to throw James off her trail.
Turning back it seemed that her plan had worked, for James was nowhere in sight and she was alone save for the figures that resided in the paintings. With a small sigh she turned back ahead, if she carried on down this corridor and then took another two lefts she would arrive in the astronomy tower.
"If you take another two lefts you'll be right in the astronomy tower…" James stated as he seemingly appeared from thin air and fell into step beside her. She spared a glance down at the map, noticing the pairs of feet representing the patrolling prefects and her eyes widened once she saw the pair of feet with the name Scorpius Malfoy scrawled above heading closer and closer towards the astronomy tower.
Rose inwardly groaned, she quickly placed her hand over the map and pointed to where the Ezekiel Smith feet were heading, the slightly large footprints were heading towards them.
"We can't let Smith catch us out?" She asked with slight irritation for she really just wanted to get to her date. He quickly nodded before glancing down at the map and quickly heading in the opposite direction whilst dragging her behind him.
Glancing back towards the map it showed the Ezekiel Smith feet walk straight over the spot where they had just been. Yet again she had had another close call, and yet again it had almost been Ezekiel to catch her out.
"Just wondering why…you aren't exactly the star gazing type" He stated as if trying to fit the pieces together. Rose inwardly groaned once more, for if James decided to put his mind to something he never let it go. At times such a trait came in useful especially whenever she needed help opening tightly closed jars, however whenever it involved someone's business it was rather irritating.
"Well maybe I want to take up a hobby" She snapped before running a hand through her hair, her eyes darted to the map which James wasn't paying attention to at the moment. More prefects had starting heading towards their respective common rooms due to the late hour and only a few of the ones she recognised at sixth years remained. A small smile formed across her lips as she saw a pair of feet heading towards them, and if she was able to distract James she just be able to lose him.
She carried on walking in the same direction silently hoping that her plan would work and that James would follow in an attempt to get answers, and turning back she almost thanked the stars for James was jogging up towards her and had now fallen into step beside her.
"Then let me go with…" James suggested.
She pretended to think the offer over, when in reality she was just buying time.
"Maybe…" She started before bumping straight into another person. She quickly righted herself and spared a quick glance at James who appeared to be mortified at the prospect of being caught, he had quickly placed the map up the sleeve of his muggle jumper and now sported an odd lump in his arm- she actually felt a little sorry for him however he was distracting her from her date!
Mimi was staring at both of them in confusion, though she was a prefect she was known to be more lenient towards her friends and right now said conflict was written clearly on her face.
"What are you guys doing here, after curfew?" She asked with a slight frown.
James shrugged, clearly shaken out of his state of shock and ready to do what he did best: talk his way out of awkward situations.
"The same thing as you" He stated which only confused the prefect.
"B-but you two aren't prefects!" She exclaimed with her index finger pointing at each of them in turn.
James shrugged before taking a step towards Mimi, which caused the brunette to quickly take a step back in confusion.
"look Mimi….you don't report us and I don't report you about the elephant incident" He offered with a grin.
Mimi's eyes widened before she frowned once more almost as in thought and then offered James her hand.
"Deal. But you go back to your dorms before someone else catches you-"
"Done" James stated, though Mimi frowned at being interrupted.
"And neither of you mentions this to anyone" She added before giving a firm nod.
James nodded before draping an arm over Mimi's shoulders though the brunette stared in confusion at where his arm was placed.
"You know Meara," He started with a grin though she visibly grimaced at the use of her full name. "I knew that you were an alright kind of girl" He added as he proceeded to walk the pair of them down a hallway.
"Of course…" She added, her voice echoing down the empty halls. Rose shook her head with disbelief, she waited until the pair of them had turned a corner and were out of earshot before quickly turning towards the direction of the astronomy tower. She'd have to find a way to thank Mimi later, however right now she had a date to get to.
Rose never was a fan of astronomy lessons, most likely due to them being held at such a late hour however the muggle ancient Greek myths surrounding said constellations had always fascinated her from a young age and still to this day. The pair of them were currently sat by the towers balcony pointing out the constellations to one another, Scorpius had transfigured a blanket over the pair of them whilst Rose had formed some magical fire in a jar placed between them. Her head was rested against his shoulder, one of his arms draped around her was lazily drawing patterns into her arm.
"We're going to have to be more careful" Rose said with a sigh, she had barely managed to get rid of James and with the aid of his map there was nowhere for them to hide.
Scorpius hand suddenly stopped with its lazy patterns, though after a few seconds he nodded his head in agreement.
"If anything after today your family is only going to get worse" He added with a slight smirk. She scowled before punching him lightly in the chest and he instantly placed his free hand over the spot where she had struck him in a dramatic fashion. To her he was a sarcastic little git, yet he was still her sarcastic little git. A part of her missed their heated confrontational during their shared classes, yet the more sensible part of her recognized that she now had something better than the odd argument. Their arguments now where more flirtatious and playful and always ended in kisses.
"Woman how you wound me…" He deadpanned which only caused Rose to roll her eyes and wonder why all the men in her life just had to make it their mission to irritate her.
"You're such an idiot" She commented in disbelief however she snuggled closer in his hold.
"Says the one running away from a magical map" Scorpius countered with a grin. Rose only stuck out her tongue in response, after all she had no snarky comment and it did sound sort of stupid when he said it though she wasn't going to admit it.
"Hey look there's you," Rose pointed out with a smile. Scorpius frowned before Rose gently took his free hand to trace the jagged outline of the Scorpius constellation.
"Right next to Sagittarius…" She added almost as an afterthought.
He smiled slightly before taking her hand in his larger one
"It's fitting how that's your sign" He added, glancing from their entwined hands and back to the night sky. The stars which made up their respective star signs were placed together in the sky, just as they were at the moment. It was almost as if they were written in the stars to be together, though the thought sounded cheesy enough to make her snort in laughter.
"Hmm yeah, it's fitting" She added before shifting in her space beside him to plant a small kiss against his lips.
However once Scorpius had one taste he had instantly pulled her closer towards him, his hand had tangled in her auburn curls and nothing else mattered.
Maybe it was the starry sky, the cold winter air against his skin but he had this strange sense of happiness whenever he was near her. It was almost as if he were under the influence of the alihotsy draught, and the strange feelings the alihotsy effect.
A/N time!
It was fun of course to write for James, I tried to make him cocky yet not Scorpius cocky if that makes sense. I kind of imagined Scorpius to be more of a suave cocky type person, whereas James to be more of a joker type cocky person- so like the original James Bond (Scorpius) and Tony Stark (James)
Oh and of course poor Al getting all flustered with Mimi doing her stretching over thing next to him, he of course is a teenage boy and of course a teenage boy is gonna get all excited and stuff around a girl and her err stuff. Of course I'll leave the subject of whether Mimi did or didn't know what she was doing up to you guys but let's just say she isn't as sweet as you nay think.
The Scorpius and Rose moments are always fun and of course I had to include the stargazing due to his heritage and of course the star sign thingy was intended. Since his name is Scorpius I'm just going to assume that he was born under this sign since that would make sense after all.
I want to thank Londonswriting and TheImpossibleJJ for following and of course a big thankyou to the reviewers; Londonswriting, Calzoneeater, helpfulfred and labass.
Stay tuned for the next chapter where the school breaks for the holidays, Rose receives a surprise and Al is confused.
JustAnotherairy :)