Scorpius Point of View
I don't know what made me want to become friends with Rose Weasley. Maybe it was the way she stuck up for Slytherin on the first day we met on the Hogwarts Express. Or perhaps it was the way she managed to hold her head high, even while being openly shunned by her family members at the school. But I think the main reason was that she needed someone. All my life, I had relied on people- my father, my mother. But now, someone else needed me. Finally, I had a purpose.
And I reveled in it.
When Rose wasn't with me, she was with Will. When I wasn't with her, I was typically alone, as pathetic as that may sound. The boys in my dorm were generally stupid or mean- spirited. I could only take so much of David Goyle or Joseph Nott before going insane. David was by far the dumbest person I had ever met, and Joe just enjoyed being rude for absolutely no reason. But I didn't mind being alone. On the contrary, I actually liked it. When I was sitting at a secluded table in the library, no one was pointing and whispering "Look, it's Draco Malfoy's kid." I was just Scorpius in those moments. Of course, I was just Scorpius with Rose, as well.
Rose and I were sitting out by the lake one day after classes, practicing for transfiguration. We were plucking blades of grass and turning them into needles, then back to grass. It was much more difficult turning the back, so we were working on that the most. Will had been sitting with us, but she got bored and went to find someone to play Exploding Snap with. Will was great, but she had the attention span of the needles we were working with.
Both of us had nearly mastered the spell when an angry figure stomped over, casting a shadow over us. "Rose!" Albus Potter yelled.
We both looked up. I actually had to cover my mouth to stifle a laugh, as Potter was covered in what looked like ink and feathers. "Al?" Rose asked innocently after a minute.
Potter let out an enraged shout. "Don't give me that innocent crap, Rose! You know what you did!"
"And what is it that she did?" I asked with insolence.
"Your little friend made Peeves tail me!" Potter spat out.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Maybe I did. I don't know."
Albus lunged, as if to hit her, but I was faster. "Stupefy!" I yelled, causing Potter to go flying several feet backwards.
He jumped up and whipped his wand from the inside of his robes. "Oh, you'll pay for that," he said menacingly, pointing it at me.
Potter opened his mouth. "Petrificus Totalus!" But the voice was not his, and the black haired Gryffindor stiffened and fell to the ground. I turned and saw Rose, still pointing her wand at Potter.
"Why did you do that?" I asked in shock.
Rose was shaking. "He knows way more jinxes than you do. It comes with the territory in our family. It just wouldn't have been a fair fight, and he knows it."
"And… do you, you know… know all those jinxes, too?" Rose was always so sweet and calm, I couldn't imagine her hexing anyone.
Rose nodded. "We've been learning this stuff since we were eight years old. For self-defense, you know. There are still plenty of people out there who want mine and Al's parents dead. Why else do you think Defense Against the Dark Arts is my best subject?"
I remained silent for a moment. It was true that Rose seemed to know more about defense than the other students, but I always just assumed that she read ahead in the textbook. "People are still after your parents?" I finally asked.
Rose nodded. "Yeah. About two years ago, someone hexed James when he was walking around Diagon Alley, because the attacker was trying to get to my Uncle Harry."
"But Harry Potter killed Voldemort," I stated, utterly confused.
"Yes," Rose replied patiently. "But he didn't get rid of every single Death Eater out there, did he? There were a lot of very secretive ones, you know. The Aurors have been trying to track them all down ever since the War ended. I would have thought your dad would have told you that."
"My father doesn't like to talk about the Death Eaters. Or the War. Or work. Or anything, really," I admitted. My father was hardly ever home. When he was, he didn't really talk to me very much.
"Ms. Weasley! Mr. Malfoy!" came a shocked voice from behind us. I saw Rose close her eyes briefly as she realized that we were standing there having a casual conversation fright in front of the petrified Potter. We turned slowly to see Professor Longbottom there with vines tumbling out of a large pot that he held. The vines twitched as Longbottom adjusted his grip on the pot.
"Professor Longbottom," I said grudgingly. Why did he always have to catch me? In fact, just the day before, he called me out for talking and took points from Slytherin, even though the majority of the class had also been talking.
"Mr. Malfoy! Did you petrify Mr. Potter?" he asked angrily. I glanced over at Rose and, knowing how much trouble she would most likely get into for hexing her cousin, got ready to take the fall.
"Yes, sir. I…"
"I did it," Rose interjected from beside me.
Longbottom cast his gaze over the two of us. "Rose, what…? Why would you want to hex your own cousin?"
Rose shrugged. "Al's been acting like a real prick lately, and I guess I just got fed up with it."
"How did you learn to do…" Longbottom trailed off, a look of realization dawning on his round face. "Ah, right. Sometimes, I forget who your mother is. She hit me with a body- bind curse in our first year."
I saw an opportunity to distract Longbottom, and jumped at it. He was infamous for getting off topic with his stories about Hogwarts. "Why did she do that?"
"Oh, she, Harry, and Ron were sneaking out, and I decided to take it upon myself to try and stop them, to prevent Gryffindor losing points." Longbottom shook his head. "Regardless, Miss Weasley, I will be writing to your parents and you will serve two detentions with me, beginning tomorrow night." Longbottom took another look at Potter. "And what is he covered in?"
"Ink and feathers, I believe," Rose answered. "He had a run- in with Peeves." Longbottom nodded and revived Potter, who stood slowly, flexing and stretching his stiff limbs. He shot his cousin an extremely dirty look.
The next morning at breakfast, it was Rose who got a Howler, this time in her mother's voice, shouting about respect and family loyalty. I noticed that while the Gryffindors were giving Rose dirty looks, the Slytherins seemed to have newfound respect for her. Many of them had been wary of the red head, since her parents did not get along well with many of their own familyies. Hexing the Potter boy seemed to put her in even the older students' good graces.
A/N: Jules again. Sorry it's taken so long to update this! I've been getting ready for exams, and this chapter was just hard for me to write. I had mild writer's block, which is why this chapter is so short. But school's out now, so I'll have much more time to write!
So, favorite characters? What did you think of what Peeves did to Al? Or Rose's body- bind spell? And how do you like the way I'm portraying Rose and Scorpius?