Wednesday morning came bright and early, though Rose hadn't bothered to try and lull herself back to sleep. Having made it back to her bed in the wee hours of the morning and thoroughly perplexed by what she'd seen, she opted to rummage through any books she had in her trunk for any scrap of information she could find. Of course, she found nothing about beautiful, tall women with pointed ears or mysterious objects that would possibly need to be hidden in the castle. She needed to visit the library.
The sun was beginning to shine through the windows of the girls' tower but it was still a bit early for them to begin waking. Rose put away Hogwarts: A History and yawned widely, still in her pajamas, only slightly tired. She groaned and rested her face on her fist, remembering today started off with Potions. She was relatively proficient in Potions, so that was not the reason for her dismay, however. Cornelia wasn't in this class and Albus would always pair up with one of the twins, usually whichever one decided to show up.
No, what was bothersome was the fact that ever since school started, being one of the only people who hadn't chosen their own partner, Rose had been paired up with Scorpius by Professor Saison. Presumably, he didn't have any close mates in the class either. The experience could not be said to be a terrible one, but it was rather lonely, as there was an unspoken agreement that they would only speak when the subject was the potion or assignment at hand. Rose had often found herself peering curiously at Albus and the twins, a modicum of jealously rising up at how much they laughed and cut up.
However, she also had Herbology with Professor Longbottom, a man who was like a favorite uncle to her and her cousins. Normally, she didn't care much for the plants or the dirt, but the fact that she got to see 'Uncle Neville' made the class more bearable, and the professor was extremely passionate and would always include somewhat interesting tidbits about Herbology that wasn't in their texts.
Rose shifted Leolin out of her lap, who'd grown larger and fluffier and was starting to become more of a handful, evidenced from last night. It had happened on occasion that she'd been stopped by a peeved classmate claiming he was terrorizing owls in the Owlery or up to some other type of mischief. She didn't want to be cruel but she would either have to find a way to keep him out of trouble or, hopefully, he would calm down with some age.
Rose put on a jumper and jeans with her favorite trainers and pulled on her robes. She braided her thick hair into a manageable braid over her shoulder and pulled her bag on. On her way out the door she tapped the pocket of her robes to make sure her wand was there, only to find the familiar shape was gone. A shock of panic made her chest seize. She'd left it the night before when she dropped her things!
In a rare instance her brain froze. Her thoughts went nowhere except to the most horrible imaginings: telling her parents she needed a new one, explaining to her professors she'd lost it, how she lost it…basically explaining how she was a complete and utter failure. Albus and Cornelia would tell her not to panic but everything was black and white for Rose. Either she succeeded or failed completely. There was no gray area. She exhaled deeply, kick starting her fluttering heart. Indeed, now was not the time to panic, but instead the time to ask her friends to construct a clever fib for her while she told them the truth. Getting her feet under her again, she ran to the Great Hall.
Rose sat in the usual spot at Gryffindor table, munching on an apple, portraying the epitome of calm collectedness. When Cornelia shuffled into the hall, dragging her feet as usual, she sat down in a great frumpy pile and spread herself over the table.
"Tired?" asked Rose, bemused. She heard nothing but muffled murmurs. "Well you'd better wake up because I have something important to tell you."
Cornelia lifted her head with limited enthusiasm, straining to focus on Rose's face. "I'm ready." She grumbled.
Before Rose could start, Albus was swiftly sitting beside Cornelia, reaching for a pear. Rose stared him down to sit still and listen, though he was not exactly sure what he was about to hear, unknowingly walking into a 'Rose Debriefing.' Like a wise cousin of the Weasleys he sat still and ate quietly, ready to hear the news.
Rose was silent for a beat, not sure where to begin.
"Well…Leolin got out of the Common Room last night so I went looking for him-" she began, only to be cut off.
"Really, Rose, this is the big news?" he gargled, with a cheek full of pear, juice beginning to dribble out.
"Don't you think if you shut your mouth and opened your ears I could get it all out?" Rose curtly replied, not holding back any venom at being interrupted. Cornelia raised her eyebrows and smirked. They were always entertaining to watch. Albus nodded an apology and Rose continued.
"Anyway, I borrowed James' cloak. But while I was looking for Leo, I ended up near Flitwick's office and saw something…perplexing to say the least." She paused, trying to form her thoughts. Albus and Cornelia waited silently, their curiosity thoroughly peaked.
"McGonagall and Flitwick were there…and there was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen…" she trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.
"Was she hotter than Professor Saison?" Albus asked half-heartedly, chewing vigorously still, plotting his next bite into the fruit.
Rose narrowed her eyes. "Infinitely." She said.
"Her skin was perfect, she was taller than McGonagall, she almost glowed…and she had pointed ears!" As Rose continued she got even more excited, eventually having to stifle her voice.
"Anyway that isn't even the most important part! She gave something to McGonagall to keep safe, here, at Hogwarts. I don't know what it is but apparently it's important, because the woman said there would be a guard left behind to keep an eye on things-"
Rose's and the entire halls' conversation was reduced to murmuring for a beat as a radiant, tall man with blonde hair and pointed ears entered the Great Hall from a side entrance, the loud, heavy door causing a commotion. He came to stand to the left of the long table at the front. His silver eyes found McGonagall's and they nodded to each other in greeting and understanding.
McGonagall promptly stood and addressed the students.
"As most of you have noticed, we have a visitor to the school. This is Alrin Nasrohir, and he's going to be acting as an ambassador. I would ask that all of our students would not let this effect their academic performances, as Nasrohir will be mostly observing. Lets all give him a warm welcome."
There was a low rumble of approval and a tentative applause from the hall before the chime for classes tolled and students began filing out.
Rose looked at her friends, a large satisfied smile on her face, the other two merely looking at each other perplexed. While they were coping with the realization that her fantastical story might be true, Rose left the hall, making her way to class. She'd been too smug with herself to remember to mention she'd left her wand behind.
On the way to the dungeons, she could overhear the buzz of voices, all conversation around the mysterious ambassador. Most girls were merely choking about how attractive he was, while the male population questioned his motives and nursed their bruised egos as their girlfriends fawned over the majestic man.
As Rose rounded the corner to the Potions classroom, she almost stopped walking completely at the sight of McGonagall standing just outside the door to the chamber. She made dooming eye contact with the Headmaster, but dared not turn away, lest she incriminate herself. Eventually, she was standing in the Headmaster's shadow. Minerva's face gave no hint of either anger or kindness, as she merely extended her gracefully aged fingers, wrapped around Rose's wand.
"Seeing as you are an exemplary student and I'm not exactly sure why your wand was in the seventh floor corridor, I'll return it to you…this time." She said, neutral expression intact.
Rose reached out and grasped the wand, but didn't pull it away at first. McGonagall winked and let go, turning to leave before anyone could make heads or tails of the exchange and claim favoritism, although it was most certainly there. Rose turned and entered the chamber, just as everyone else was settling in; she was the last person to arrive. Professor Saison eyed her suspiciously, but without contempt, as she settled into her chair beside Scorpius.
As usual, he ignored her. Rose looked toward the back where Albus and a twin were snickering already. The professor started to speak.
"Now you've all been practicing a Cure for Boils, with varying results…" she smirked and looked around the class, her eyes landing on everyone in turn. "Today you'll be brewing without any help from me. Consider it a pop quiz!"
She clasped her long white hands together and beamed at the class, seeming to be authentically excited to see how they all faired. She glided to her desk and turned over an hourglass.
"Begin!"
Rose and Scorpius began working in tandem, without speaking, as if their actions had been choreographed. They'd been brewing this potion correctly since their second try and it was old hat to both of them now. At the thirty minute mark they were getting ready to move the cauldron off the heat to add the porcupine quills. Scorpius lifted the cauldron away. Rose looked up to see what Albus was doing only to see his head in his hands and Lorcan, or maybe Lysander, laughing. It seemed they already ruined it. Rose groped for where she knew the quills to be, only to feel cold fingers beneath hers.
She withdrew as if she's been burned, tearing her eyes away from her cousin, only to then lock eyes with Scorpius. His stare was not hateful or otherwise, he merely was taking the opportunity to look at her pointedly, since he usually avoided eye contact. Rose's face reddened and she tried to stutter out an apology. Scorpius let a small smile play on his lips for a fraction of a moment and then went back to brewing as if nothing had happened. It both relieved and infuriated her. She was glad he didn't tell her to pay attention like an adult to a child but she secretly wished he would say something. Anything.
She actually had never heard him speak. Ever. She liked to imagine he sounded something like Franklyn, but suddenly she realized the only sound she'd ever heard him make was when he was snogging Persephone. She mentally recoiled and her face began to blush all over again. She didn't know it but Scorpius was watching her out of the corner of his eye. When he saw her expression change again, his own plain expression changed; his brows knitted together, wondering what she could possibly be thinking about. They finished brewing the potion in silence until Professor Saison's voice rang out again.
"Time's up!"
She slowly visited every station, inspecting the potions. With her she had a rather sad toad, covered in boils. She tested only the most promising potions on the poor amphibian. Of the twenty-or-so groups only about five of the tested potions had worked. After each successful test, the professor would magically conjure more boils. She arrived at Scorpius and Rose's table. Leaning over the cauldron, she inspected the color and smell.
"Very good, as usual." She said, raising a finely arched eyebrow. She smiled at Scorpius, almost adoringly. Rose inwardly cringed.
Saison took a small sample of the potion, pouring it carefully on the toad. One by one his boils began to pop and sizzle away.
"I'm sure Ichabod is very grateful." She cooed at them, stroking her healthy companion. Somehow, the fact that her animal companion was a large toad did make her any less attractive to the male population.
"Very good everyone. Well, most of you." She corrected. "Your homework is written on the board and is due by next class. Dismissed."
Rose looked at Scorpius as everyone began collecting his or her things, but she seemed to have become invisible again.
