To Introduce the Others/Scorpius' Desk Mate

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Weasley (noun): the antithesis of Malfoy

There was no doubt that Rose Weasley was the most popular girl in the 4th year, if not the whole school. The daughter of two prominent war heroes, Rose was well liked and well known by many. The Weasley family was also very rich and well respected- every member seemed to have a high position in the ministry or a prestigious job. Just like the Malfoys, the name Weasley appeared frequently in the class, 'History of Magic'… but they were talked about in a way that the Malfoys never were. It seemed that throughout history, Weasleys and Malfoys would always be polar opposites.

Rose was smart, probably in the top 10 of 150 fourth years. She was pretty in a relaxed way— her red hair was always tied back in a bright and cheerful ponytail and, though it was a little crazy and curly, it always looked gorgeous. Being a Weasley, Rose had lots of cute freckles and was a walloping 5'11". She was a role model to everyone younger than her, and even to those her age. Every style Rose Weasley tried was emulated by other girls. Every band she listened to became explosively popular. She was friendly with everyone and confident and chatty. Everybody loved her, and she loved everybody.

Well, excepting Scorpius Malfoy. He had spoken to Rose once (that morning) in his lifetime. Sadly, it was more than he had talked to just about everybody since coming to Hogwarts. He hadn't made any friends since day one and had rarely spoken after receiving those first awkward, freaked out glances from the rest of his year.

Schedule for S. Malfoy on Mondays:

British Literature

Algebra 1+2

Biology

Lunch

4th year Dance

Ancient and Medieval Muggle History

Spanish 1

Scorpius quietly made his way to British Literature, picking a desk in the far back corner. He quickly shuffled towards it, peeking through his hair nervously. Nobody paid him any mind.

As he sat down, silently hunched over, he glanced over at the loud and excited groups of students around the room. To his right was a group of girls laughing over some video on a MagiPhone 6+, the hottest new magic technology that was essentially a magic-imbued muggle cell phone that needed no service or data to work. There were a few gryffindors and slytherins debating about quidditch right behind him as well.

"Listen here, Yaxley. Gryffindor is bollocks in quidditch and have been since Harry Potter left. Slytherin will be taking the cup, so you might as well give up", Pauline Carrow, a girl who was usually quite kind (well, she had never looked at Scorpius weirdly), sneered.

"Yeah right. I think we all know that the season will end with you snakes where you belong- the dirt!" Quinn Yaxley retorted. He was a loud and flirty gryffindor who seemed to be the only one who could stand up to or annoy Rose Weasley. To others, it was a funny relationship which consisted of loud arguments, fierce competitiveness, and just a tiny bit of sexual tension.

"Uh, mate… Do snakes even live in the dirt?", asked Frank Longbottom, Quinn's best friend and fellow gryffindor chaser.

"Er… yeah… uh…" Quinn stuttered and then Carrow and Longbottom laughed good-naturedly and they all slapped each other on the backs. They had the camaraderie that comes with being athletes… It evoked the smallest twinge of envy in Scorpius. He had only ridden a broom in first year flight class, and he had felt so pressured that he had done everything timidly and stayed firmly in the middle of the class in ability. He wondered if he would be a good flyer, but pushed the thought out of his mind for he knew he would never play.

It seemed like everyone was there and chatting happily, excepting Scorpius, until something attention grabbing ran into the room.

"Rose!" everyone smiled and rushed to greet her. She had walked in with Dan Danners, and they had probably discussing a book, which Rose enjoyed doing with Dan. As people crowded around her to greet her and Dan while expressing happy shock that she had chosen WestWing, only Scorpius remained seated in his secluded back corner. He wouldn't be welcome, and he couldn't handle that many people anyway. Besides, it wasn't like he knew Rose.

"Hey Weasel!"

"Yaxley", Rose glared at him.

"Aw, she's mad!", he cooed. Rose elbowed him in the stomach and he doubled over.

"Just wait until the first match of the season and we'll see who's mad then", Rose huffed. She was a ravenclaw chaser who always fighting for the quaffle with Quinn.

Quinn smirked at her. "Aw Rosie-Posie, I know you'll be mad when we win, but you'll just have to get over it."

Their banter, which was being observed by a whole ring of anticipating classmates, was interrupted by the arrival of the last member of the class.

He was tall, nearly as tall as Rose, and was wearing a snapback and a loose ravenclaw tie. His oxford was rolled up to his elbows and slightly undone at the top, revealing a bit of a black undershirt. It was also semi untucked. He wore air jordans and a rope bracelet. He could have been a model, except for the fact that he was only 15 and looked kind of intimidating. It was silent as TJ Lee strolled through the parting crowd and seated himself down… next to Scorpius. Scorpius jumped a little in surprise— He had never sat next to somebody in class save partner work and he was alarmed that TJ would sit next to him.

The talk resumed quickly and the quiet was immersed with the sound of Rose and Quinn's fiery discussion about whatever.

Scorpius snuck a glance over at TJ through his hair. He was pretty sure that he didn't want to be friends and probably wanted to be left alone. …Which was okay with him, since he didn't necessarily feel any different. Scorpius sat stiffly, turned a little in the opposite direction, while TJ sat relaxed beside him like a delinquent.

Soon enough, the bell rang.

In through the door walked a serious, yet classy looking woman in a pencil skirt and blouse. Scorpius thought he heard a sharp intake of breath from beside him.

"Hi, everybody. My name is SooJin Lee, though you should call me 'Professor', or 'Professor Lee.' I'll be teaching british literature this year— the syllabus will be coming around after I take attendance." She waved her wand and her name appeared on the blackboard.

She cleared her throat authoritatively.

"Aarons, Erin."

"Here!"

"Carrow, Pauline."

"Here!"

The list went on.

"Ee, Taejin."

TJ raised a sulky hand from his slouched position. Although he appeared relaxed, Scorpius noticed that he seemed to brace himself for what he expected to come.

"Taejin. Stand up and come here." He slowly got up and sauntered to the front of the large classroom.

"What is this?" she asked quietly.

"What?", he replied, nervously belligerent. The class waited, holding their breaths.

"Ee TaeJin, what is this? Fix your tie and tuck in your shirt! How dare you come to class like this— especially to my class!" She grabbed his ear and twisted it.

"Ahh- Ah!" Taejin squirmed. The class was awkwardly still- should they laugh? What was happening to TJ the scary delinquent?

"I can't believe my own brother is going around like some… this trashy looking hobo!.You're not some cool and unique rebel, TJ! You're a student. Umma didn't raise you like this," she said sternly, her voice never rising above normal talking range. It was even scarier to see her cold and composed rather than furious.

She let go of him, and he flinched away from her. Then, reluctantly, he tucked in his shirt and tightened his tie. She whipped the snapback of his head to reveal surprisingly neat hair. After a nod of confirmation, he sulked back to his seat and plopped down next to Scorpius, pissed off and humiliated.

Scorpius turned his head in his direction, though he couldn't see very well through his hair.

"Hey, bastard. Don't you dare look," threatened TJ. Scorpius quickly angled his body away from him.

After the dramatic start, roll call continued, though the class was a little bit more anxious and intimidated.

"Malfoy, Scorpius." Scorpius raised his hand. Professor Lee frowned. She had expected him to say something, like everyone else. She was also alarmed by the state of his hair.

"How can I expect you to read the blackboard if your hair is like that?" she asked.

Scorpius panicked. He was usually ignored, and teacher's never cared about his hair or his ability to see the board. The whole class turned to him, curious. They hadn't seen his face in 3 years. He couldn't handle all of the stares. He didn't want to say anything. He was frozen for what felt like a century, not breathing.

"I… can see it," he whispered. Everyone's interest piqued— Scorpius hadn't spoken at Hogwarts since what seemed like day one. Louder, he encouraged himself.

"I c-can see it", he managed.

Professor Lee gave him a look and pursed her lips, but continued on with the list. She magically conjured syllabuses for everybody. She went through them.

And then bell rang and the class was over and Scorpius hurried out of the room, tailing behind the crowd.