The Chances Of That
Ice, Teddies and Tartan
Fred's alarm clock rung violently, squealing to get some kind of reaction, on his bedside table. Yawning to himself Fred stretched his arm out of the drapes and grabbed the vibrating clock, he flicked the alarm off and groaned.
James was insane for making them get up this early. Even if they had to 'strike while the iron was hot' or 'make up for last year' or whatever other ridiculous ideas had somehow manifested themselves into James' brain. Fred groaned again and rolled out of bed landing with a thump on the red carpet. Remembering that he actually had to stand on his legs to get up instead of just rolling on the floor, he pushed himself up and scanned the room. With bleary eyes, he squinted into the blinding morning sunlight that was streaming in through the tower windows. He sighed exasperatedly when he saw that James and Marcus were still enjoying their precious sleep. Shaking his head he walked into the small bathroom – tripping over robes that had already started littering the floor – and turned the tap on.
He leant over the sink as he ran through the plan for today and came to the conclusion that James should definitely look to see if there were any vacancies in St Mungo's. They could help him with his insanity. Then again Fred might go to get checked out as well for even agreeing and encouraging James; surely he'd only do that if he was crazy!
Fred splashed water onto his face from the full sink and turned the tap off. After he'd efficiently woken himself up with the freezing water he stretched out and looked in the mirror in front of him. A lanky boy peered back at Fred. The boy's bright ginger hair was plastered to his forehead, water droplets dripping off his hair to leave tracks down slightly tanned, yet freckled face. His blue eyes twinkled with an air of mischief that could never quite leave them – no matter how innocent he tried to look. His hand reached up to tousle his hair and his lips split into a toothy grin as he smiled to himself. Fred mussed up his hair again in his effort to look more handsome as his friends did. He always felt as if he never quite measured up to the other two's standards in that aspect, not when their little fan club trailed after the trio giggling when Marcus or James so much as glanced at them. Marcus' perfect and neat look was as big of a hit with the ladies as James' carelessly handsome one. Fred sighed, he wasn't particularly jealous of the other two but on occasion it might be nice to get a little bit of attention from the opposite sex. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it of his negative thoughts, and exited the bathroom.
He scooped up his uniform from the floor and hastily climbed into it. He glanced at his shrill clock. If Marcus and James didn't wake up soon they may as well kiss their plan goodbye, and he didn't get up at that ridiculous hour for nothing! He reached for his wand and summoned both their quilts (looking into their cousin's textbooks in the summer was always useful for Fred and James, and Louis' help didn't go amiss either). Marcus and James simultaneously scrunched up into a ball, groaning as the cold air hit them. Fred smirked at them, but the smirk soon dropped off his face as the two duvets collided into him, smothering him with their feathery goodness. He dumped the duvets on the floor and turned to glare at his sniggering mates.
"H'way get off your lazy arses," Fred said as he turned to the lone floor length mirror in the room and started to correct his haphazard uniform so he looked vaguely respectable.
"H'way?" Marcus asked groggily as he clambered out of his bed.
"Picked it up in Newcastle," Fred shrugged. After spending a few weeks in Newcastle it was proving difficult to stop any 'ganin's or 'hinny pet's slipping out. Marcus rolled his eyes at Fred and headed to the bathroom for what Fred knew from experience was going to be long while.
Meanwhile James was still curled up in bed with his eyes closed, resolutely refusing to get up so early in the morning - even if it was his idea. It was still against all his morals and he was sure it was some infringement of his human rights. Fred was well used to his cousin's morning phobia, so had a few ideas of how to get him up. Fred walked up to James' bed and cleared his throat.
"James darling, I've got a special surprise for you," Fred said in the best high-pitched and seductive voice he could muster. James bolted up immediately and began looking for the source of the alluring voice. His eyes landed on Fred, standing at the head of his bed shaking in silent hysterics as he looked at his cousin's expectant face.
"One day I will kill you," James said in a deadly serious voice as he narrowed his eyes at Fred. Fred simply smiled at James before darting out of James reach just in case.
"But not this day. Come on, get up or we'll be late for your master plan to take effect," Fred leaned forward to prod James in the stomach.
"You're planning this too you know," James grumbled as he slid off his bed.
"True but I'm not as enthusiastic as you and didn't make all of us get up at half five," Fred countered. James stuck his tongue out at his cousin, being the definition of maturity as he undoubtedly was.
"Yeah, well at least I'm not...annoying," James countered, causing Fred to burst out laughing.
"At least I'm not mentally challenged like you, eh James," Fred grinned. James made a face at his cousin as he threw on his uniform. Marcus appeared from the bathroom a few minutes later, his uniform perfect and his hair meticulous. He smiled at the two as Fred lounged against his bed and James had his head, bent fighting off sleep, and picked up his pre-packed bag from the floor.
"Eurgh, are you actually going to take a bag with school work," James grimaced with disgust at the very thought of work. Marcus just shook his head at James in mock disapprovement.
"Ah, young grasshopper you have a lot to learn from the wise owl," Marcus said sagely. "And detention are better served for pranks than for homework," he added with a wink, which somewhat ruined the illusion of his wisdom and caused them all to burst out laughing.
"Shhh, you'll wake them," Fred gave a pointed look to Danny and Luke their other dorm mates. All Fred received were sceptical looks from James and Marcus. It would probably take at least an earthquake to wake those two up after sharing the dorm with the three boys all last year.
"Yes and I'm sure Godric Gryffindor will rise from the dead at the same time," James said sarcastically. "Skipping over Fred's stupid comment, are we ready for today men?" James asked, changing into his 'military mode' as Fred liked to call it.
"Yes, sir," Fred and Marcus replied in unison, standing to attention immediately.
"Good now remember the formations soldiers!" James commanded.
"Yes sir," Marcus and Fred saluted. James nodded seriously at them before marching out the room. Fred and Marcus glanced at each other and started laughing, after nearly a year of taking the piss with their salutes you would've thought James would've worked out it was a joke.
"Should we catch up with Sergeant Potter then?" Marcus asked, his eyes dancing with mirth.
"I concur with that commander Pense," Fred struggled to keep a straight face.
"Tally ho then my good man," Marcus marched out the room after James, his bag swinging wildly from his shoulder. Fred grinned to himself, although Marcus was the most resevered out of the three he had the best wit. Fred scanned the room looking for anything they'd forgotten, his eyes spotted James wand lying on his bed. Shaking his head Fred grabbed his forgetful cousin's wand and hurried down stairs.
After Fred had caught up with the other two and tossed James his wand they all headed into the Great Hall. Fred sat down facing his two partners in crime. The Hall was completely deserted – not surprisingly as it was the first day of school and nobody was stupid enough to get up at the crack of dawn. As the trio began shovelling food onto their plates, they discussed their master plan.
"So are you two actually going to try in lessons this year?" Marcus asked between mouthfuls of bacon. James and Fred raised their eyebrows cynically as they started attacking their food.
"How the hell you passed last years tests I'll never know," Marcus shook his head at his friends.
"We're just naturally gifted that way, unlike you we don't need to spend all our time in a stuffy library with that ugly hag they call a Liberian," James grinned at Marcus.
"Nah, your just 'special' James, in a way we can't hope to understand," Fred said patronisingly. "As for me, it's just because I'm so unimaginably brilliant that the tests just wrote themselves as they were overwhelmed by my general awesomeness." Fred leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest with a smug smirk, only to receive several bacon strips to the face. Fred simply plopped the bacon in his mouth, chewing lazily as he grinned at his two amused friends.
"I know the truth hurts, but you don't have to take it out on me so violently," Fred said, winking at them. James and Marcus rolled their eyes simultaneously, they were used to Fred's teasing banter.
"Anywho, skipping over Fred's huge ego, what've you been up to Marcus? We only saw you about thirty times over the holidays," James asked ignoring Fred's 'oi' of protest.
"Like you can talk about big egos James Potter," Marcus laughed. "Well I don't think I told you what happened with Trevor – my brother – over the holidays." Marcus said. Marcus regaled his brother's misdemeanours over the holidays that had them all laughing and occasionally choking on toast as they stuffed themselves to bursting point.
"And then she found Trevor in her cupboard!" They all laughed raucously as Marcus finished his tale.
"Ah, I really need to talk to your brother more," Fred wiped some tears away as he continued to chuckle. James was sniggering until he stopped abruptly, looking at his small watch.
"Shit, c'mon we've got to get into position or people will see us. Move it you two!" James said as he lurched up from the table.
"Says mister I-can't-get-up-without-a-lady-friend," Fred smiled slyly at James who suddenly started to look slightly hot and bothered.
"Do I even want to ask?" Marcus said as he and Fred stood up.
"NO! Definitely not, nothing happened when Fred tried to wake me up. Nothing at all. Why would you imply something like that Marcus?" James all but sprinted out of the hall, effectively cutting off his flustered ramblings.
"I'm getting a slight feeling that James might be a tad embarrassed, but then again he never makes his feelings ridiculously obvious or anything," Marcus said sarcastically. Fred sniggered as they strode out of the door to the classroom Rose, Al, Scorpius and Heather had been waiting in the night before. James was sitting on a desk with his wand out as Fred and Marcus entered. They watched as James moved his wand and muttered the words "occulto in glaciem".A light blue jet shot out the end of James' wand and hit the ground. Immediately ice started covering the floor, spreading around until the area in front of James was completely coated in ice.
"Wicked," Fred said, a wide grin on his face. Marcus however shifted uncomfortably, his lips turned down slightly. He wasn't really that eager to get into trouble on the first day of lessons.
Rose's eyes fluttered open as she stretched out her stiff arms. It took her a moment to get her bearings as she stared at the curtains around her bed. After a minute she realised that no, she wasn't abducted and taken away from her family, she was at Hogwarts after years of dreaming and waiting her time was finally here. Yet she wasn't too thrilled about it as she thought she would've been. It felt like something was missing, something that came with either a freckled face or a mane of bushy hair. Homesickness hit her like a bludger to the face – she had experience in the bludger department and it really wasn't pretty. A small tear slipped out from her eye as her throat clogged up. Luckily there was a small bit of home available a few metres away, a bit which happened to have bright green eyes and black messy hair. She wiped the tear from her cheek as she swung herself out of bed. She took a deep breath in and tied up her in an attempt to tame her infamous Granger hair before slipping out of the room as her dorm mates slept peacefully in the growing light.
She padded up the stone steps to the boy's first year dorms, passing James who marched by her - oblivious to her presence. She only pondered James' rare morning activity for a moment; the tight knot in her stomach was tightening rapidly. She pushed open the first door she came to.
"Al, where are you?" She whispered, her voice carrying over the rumbling snores of the other boys. Someone grunted at the far side of the room and rolled over. Rose tip toed over to the bed to find Al's porcupine like hair sticking out from underneath his duvet. Rose climbed into his bed like she had done when they were small and gently nudged him. His eyes drifted open and he only registered the sheer amount of redness before him.
"What's up Rose?" He yawned, as he tried his best to focus on her.
"I miss them," Rose's voice hitched as she looked down at her hands. Al sighed and pulled her into a hug.
"I know Rose, but it'll get better. You'll see once we get settled in and make new friends that you won't have time to be homesick Rosie," he rubbed her back as Rose smiled. She could've sworn that Al was a legilimens; he always knew how to cheer her up. A blonde figure on the bed next to Al stirred and blearily scanned the room before hi eyes rested on Al's bed to see Rose's fiery red hair sprawled across the pillow – mere hair bobbles couldn't contain it for long.
"You forgot about the amount of detentions we'll be getting to take up our time," Rose grinned at Al who rolled his eyes.
"I'm still holding onto the hope that you'll actually behave, or at least get better timing – seriously every adult seems to pick the exact wrong moment to walk into one of your pranks," Rose laughed at Al, knowing he was definitely speaking from experience.
"Good morning," Scorpius politely said to Rose and Al as he sat up in bed, still trying to get the sleep out of his eyes.
"Morning Scorpius," Rose grinned at him. He smiled back at her as he stretched his arms out in front of him.
"Is that a teddy?" Rose asked incredulously as he eyes zoned in on the fluffy brown bear Scorpius was clutching in his hands. Scorpius quickly stuffed the bear down his bed as the skin near his cheekbones turned pink.
"No," he said as his eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere except Rose and Al.
"I've got an animal too you know," Al said. Al reached underneath his pillow and drew out a small fluffy cat. "He's called Marty, my sister gave him to me a few weeks before we came to Hogwarts. She's got a bit of a fetish for cats." Al and Scorpius grinned at each other. Rose just rolled her eyes; slightly amused how the two of them were somehow bonding over cuddly toys.
"So what's he called?" Al asked Scorpius as Scorpius pulled out his teddy from the depths of the blanket.
"Brown Bear, I was such an inventive child," Rose and Al laughed at Scorpius amazing naming abilities before Al and Scorpius were engrossed into the world of stuffed animals.
"Right, I'm going to go get changed, I'll meet you two down in the common room in half an hour okay?" Rose asked as she moved towards the door. They both nodded before going back into their heated discussion of the best way to cuddle a teddy. Rose shook her head at their complete and utter unmanliness as she headed down the staircase.
The three of them met at the common room before walking out to the great hall.
"So what do you think any of the professors will be cruel enough to set us homework on the first day?" Scorpius asked, thankfully the teddy conversation had been dropped or Rose would've gone spare.
"I wouldn't put it past McGonagall," Rose sighed.
"True but at least Neville won't give us any," Al said.
"True the nev-myster isn't vindictive enough to give us such torturous homework," Rose grinned as Scorpius burst out laughing.
"Seriously? The nev-myster?" Scorpius asked.
"What can I say I make up the best nicknames the world has ever seen," Rose lifted her head up in the air and puffed out her chest. "I'm just the best like that," she added with a wink.
"And just as brilliantly modest as well," Al smirked as Rose slapped him playfully on the arm.
"Run along and go play with Marty," Al pulled his most piteous and hurt expression on as he stared at his cousin. Rose just laughed at him, the amount of times he'd tried to use that face on her … she's lost count after a hundred and twenty.
"Well I hate to break up the family banter, but does anyone know where the hell we are?" Scorpius asked as he peered down yet another corridor. "I swear we've passed this statue twice," he pointed at the statue of a one eyed witch.
"Let's just try going down a few stairs and see where it leads us," Rose said flippantly before she turned to skip off down a random hallway.
"Is she always this optimistic?" Scorpius turned his bewildered stare onto Al who merely chuckled, thinking about that very morning.
"Definitely not," he answered before following Rose, her hit or miss strategy was probably their best chance.
Rose, Scorpius and Al stumbled into the Great Hall twenty minuets later; all of them were slightly red in the face.
"That is the last time I am ever getting lost with you Rose, how the hell did we end up in the dungeons?" Scorpius panted as the three of them made their way to the Gryffindor table.
"I think it's more like how the hell we ended up getting chased by Filch up at least ten flights of stairs? Surely it's not physically possible for that man to even be alive never mind sprinting after us like a freaking mad man," Al sighed heavily as he sat down on the bench.
"Also why did he even start chasing us in the first place?" Scorpius tilted his head to the side as he looked at Rose's flushed face.
"Well it's not my fault I tripped over into the suit of armour, it moved in front of me for Merlin's sake, and it's not like I told Peeves to come and dump a load of dungbombs on us or Filch to come at the exact wrong moment," Rose explained, puffing a strand of hair out of her face.
"You really do have terrible luck," Scorpius chuckled quietly. "And here I was thinking you were exaggerating it until I got hit with it at full force."
"It's never been this bad before, maybe my bad luck just wanted to give me a moral boost before my first lessons," Rose smirked slightly as she reached over for some toast.
"I'm just really grateful you came in so early, imagine what would've happened if we'd gotten up any later," Al looked at the small watch on his wrist.
"Damn, pass down the cereal please," Scorpius called to a third-year Gryffindor. After making a face at Scorpius she chucked the cereal down to him so the contents scatter all over the tabletop.
"Sorry," She said, sneering at Scorpius as he hastily poured some of the muesli into a bowl.
"No problem," Scorpius muttered, pushing the spilt cereal into a small pile. Rose and Al stared at him; identical frowns contorted their foreheads.
"Em Scorpius, what was that?" Rose asked, causing Al to face palm at his cousin's lack of subtlety.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm sure it was just an accident," Scorpius shrugged. "Do you know what we'll be having for our first lesson?" Scorpius asked in a painfully obvious subject change.
"No idea, we need to get our timetables handed out first. And that definitely didn't look like nothing," Rose raised an eyebrow at Scorpius.
"It's nothing, a few people don't particularly like me that's all," Scorpius shrugged again.
"Have you ever spoken to that girl?" Rose's eyebrow was slowly creeping up her temple.
"Honestly, no I haven't," Scorpius stared down at the table.
"Yet she threw cereal at you," Rose said slowly.
"Well I kind of asked for the cereal. But it's nothing, really. I'm a Malfoy and she'd almost certainly have every right to through the whole table at my face after what my granddad or ancestors or whatever probably did to her family." Scorpius said with a sigh, hoping Rose would finish her questioning.
"But she doesn't even know you," Rose's frown deepened.
"That doesn't matter though does it? I'm a Malfoy and my family used to run along with Voldemort doing their dark magic and generally being horrible dicks to everyone. That's the way it's been for centuries, so why would people think I'm different? They think I'm just the next pure blood loving git whose going to start killing every muggle born. And you know what, I actually understand where they're coming from. If some physco tortured and murdered my family for something so stupid and petty as blood status I'd hate anyone with their name or their looks," Scorpius said, thinking that if he got it out of the way now Rose would probably drop it. He rested his head in his hand as he faced away from Al and Rose. He really shouldn't have ranted like that, now they were probably going to run away screaming as he'd just reminded them of his murderous family.
"Me and Rose don't hate you," Al said quietly, his green eyes catching Scorpius' grey ones. Scorpius smiled at them.
"True, but then again your parents probably haven't told you about their trip to Malfoy Manor," Scorpius sighed wearily. Al and Rose shared a look, their parents didn't hide the war from them, but it didn't mean they liked to talk about it. "You know, lessons haven't even started yet and we've already: got lost, been chased round the castle by a mad man and I've had a rant about my family," Scorpius shook his head faintly.
"Cheer up Scor we've still got the rest of the day to screw up," Rose said brightly, eliciting a small chuckle from Al and Scorpius.
"True. Hang on, Scor?" he asked. Rose just shrugged though a small blush crept up her cheeks. It'd just slipped out accidentally.
"What can I say, I make up the best nicknames," The three of them burst out laughing before turning back to their respective breakfasts. The bond between the three of them was already forming after a day.
After the nev-myster had the three young Gryffindors their timetables they set off for their first lesson of charms. However they found the doors to the Entrance Hall blocked by a sea of students. The three of them pushed their way through the huddle to find a huge ice rink. A few students were flailing around ice in a valiant attempt to get to class. A smirk broke spread across Rose's face as she looked back at the pile on that was blocking the exit and the mayhem on the ice as a fifth year collided with the beginning of the banister. Suddenly the mass of people surged forward as the rest of Hogwarts tried to get out of the hall so Rose, Al and Scorpius were sent skidding onto the ice. Rose shrieked as she slid across the entrance hall but a hand caught her arm effectively stabilizing her though the hand was shaking with the laughter she could hear behind her.
"I have to frighten you if you scream like that," Scorpius chuckled. Rose stuck her tongue out at him and tried to skate away. However much to Scorpius' amusement her feet slipped out from her causing her to scream again as she fell over, luckily Scorpius caught her again before she could make contact with the freezing floor.
"Don't," Rose grumbled without looking at Scorpius as she disentangled herself from Scorpius' arms. Scorpius grinned and pretended to zip up his mouth.
"Hey guys, a bit of help here if you don't mind!" Al called over to them as he attempted to walk over to them that just resulted in a cold backside. Scorpius was now clutching at his sides as he bent over in renewed laughter as Rose leaned on him laughing at her unfortunate cousin. Taking pity on Al, Scorpius shuffled over to him and gave him a hand to help him up. Al however had other ideas and soon Scorpius was on the ice next to Al. A play fight started up almost immediately afterwards as the pair of them rolled around on the icy ground. Rose rolled her eyes at them before scanning the entrance hall for her cousins and Marcus who were predictably behind this escapade. She saw them all giggling near the top of the stairs, just out of reach of the mayhem they'd created. The entrance hall was filling up with more people as the crowd surged out of the Great Hall leaving many hapless victims sprawled across the ice. Rose had to appreciate how they'd sent the entire school into chaos on the first day back; it was waking everyone up for the fresh school year at the most exuberant level. Rose felt two hands press down on her shoulders, she swivelled her head round – careful not to move her feet – to see who was there. Scorpius and Al had one hand each on her shoulders as they grinned down at her.
"Fell over again yet?" Al asked sweetly. Rose elbowed his side in reply.
"No I haven't. But I've thought of something much more entertaining to do then watch me fall over surprisingly," Rose said. Al and Scorpius raised their eyebrows doubtfully. "Our dear cousins are right over there and you're going to pass on this once in a lifetime opportunity to laugh at me falling on my arse," Rose said.
"Carry on," Scorpius said, grinning at her.
"Well I don't think it'd be such a tragedy if they were to slip down here to join the fun," Rose smiled in a faux innocent way as Al and Scorpius chuckled at her antics. "Just copy me," Rose shuffled along to the bottom of the staircase with the help of Scorpius and Al who were slightly better at the whole balancing malarkey than she was.
"OI JAMES!" Rose shouted up the stairs. Three cheeky faces appeared at the top and grinned down at her.
"Yes my darling cousin, what would you like on this beautiful morning?" James asked.
"Oh nothing in particular, just wanted to say trinus," Rose pointed her wand at James who promptly fell flat on his face and slid down the icy slide that was the stairs.
"trinus," Al and Scorpius said as they pointed their own wands at Fred and Marcus. The three of them skidded down the ramp and proceeded to bowl over almost all of the 'skaters'. Rose, Al and Scorpius were bent over in laughter, tears streaming down their faces.
"POTTERS! WEASLEYS!" McGonagall's screech filled the hall. The six mischief makers looked at each other as the impending doom slid nearer and nearer.
"Oh crap," Rose whispered as McGonagall's tartan wrath skidded up to them.
A/N: Sorry for the huge delay, my schedules pretty hectic at the moment with my school's production of Grease, taking on an extra courses and whatnot so I probably won't be updating on a regular timetable!
Also there's been a few changes in the story. first of - which if you haven't seen the updated chapter 3 you might get confused with later on - Heather is now in Hufflepuff. Reasons for which will become apparent later on if i keep with the story line, it's not just because i felt like confucing you I promise! Secondly I've decided to not to do so many character's story lines because it was way to confusing! so after this fic i'll get on to a Molly, Dominique etc. centred one as this is focused on Al, Rose, Scorpius, Marcus, Fred and James from now on! but looking on the bright side at least you've gotten a sneaky peak at the characters for my next fic! Also I'm terrible at writing the passage of time as i feel the need to describe everything, so please just bear with me while I try and get the hang of it! Lastly I know that I've probably put in too many pranks, i just couldn't get the ice rink idea out of my head! So there's going to be a bit of a lull in such huge scale mischief, only the odd enchanted quill on a smaller scale here or there for a bit.
Special thanks to Sheened for reviewing! And once again to Onginal Mazz for the support and reading through again!
Sorry for the extremely long author's note! Enjoy and remember to review - all opinions are welcome and will be worked on!
- that lass xxx