I
Red
Friday 19th April 2022
I smash the root with my knife. It goes flying off the table and into the back of Davis, serves him right the vile Slytherin. I hate Slytherins. All of them. Even him. Especially him. And her.
"Detention Davis," Zabini's voice is eerily calm and I turn to look at what Davis had done wrong. His potion is dripping off the table, an apparently result of my root knocked him over. Oops. She snorts and I glare at her. "Well Miss Nott, I am no longer sure if your potion is so good after all," Zabini slithers behind me. "I mean in contrast to whatever they are supposed to be anything would look impressive." The bastard is indicating at my cauldron, well mine and Roxanne's and Al's. "Weasley, I suggest you stop with whatever atrocity you are attempting to make before you kill us all." He peers over my shoulder; I clench my jaw to refrain from getting myself a detention with a rude remark.
Perhaps I should explain myself; I am not normally this agitated but thanks to Zabini's ridiculous notion of making Vivian Nott sit at our table, my mood has dropped considerably. You see, I have a strong dislike for Nott and having her sit in such close proximity is rather irritating because it means that I have a constant reminder that Scorpius Malfoy is involved with another girl. Because I am pretty sure they are involved with each other… Why else is he the only person she actually speaks to?
Scorpius Malfoy… After developing a crush on him in Third Year, I have often tried to find ways of talking to him or at least getting him to notice me. Evidently, I have been unsuccessful as he still seems blissfully unaware of my existence while I watch him from afar... Well, maybe just the other side of the classroom but that doesn't sound quite so romantic. Of course, I – being a Weasley – am forbidden to be in love with a Malfoy but unfortunately love is not an emotion that is easy to control and I was in love with him before I realise what was going on.
Following Zabini's instructions, I clean up my miserable attempt at a potion and pack my books in my bag. Roxanne is glaring at a group of Slytherins on the other side of the classroom where Malfoy is sitting. Yeah my best friend hates Malfoy, which is probably one of the reasons I have never told her how crazy I am about him. To be honest, her hatred of him is a bit weird, she is normally the most tolerant in our family but when it comes to Malfoy she is completely unreasonable, he is really not that bad – call me biased but it is true, he has never actually done anything to offended her, not that I am aware of anyway.
Sighing internally, I follow Nott out of the classroom. Merlin, she is annoying with all her perfection and the way she glides down the corridor and everyone just moves out of her way (even the sixth and seventh years) it drives me mad as I jostle my way through the crowd. At last the Fat Lady appears before me and I grumble the password, she tells me off for being grumpy before letting me in. The common room is filling with students as they escape from lessons, right now I could do with being alone because my head is killing me. I begin heading towards the dorms and my extremely comfortable four-poster bed only to find my way blocked by the all too familiar figure of James Sirius Potter.
"Hey Rose," he smiles awkwardly. "You okay?"
To say me and James did not get on would be a lie, we did. In fact, after Roxanne, Al and Lucy, he was my favourite cousin and other than his infuriating habit of calling me 'Rosie' we get on like a house on fire… Seriously, we once set alight to Aunt Ginny's kitchen. (I think I have been partially deaf ever since – boy can that woman yell!) Anyway, normally, I would be delighted to see James but right now, not so much. You see, other than my passion for Scorpius Malfoy, I have another, equally strong passion: Quidditch.
In my Second Year, I made reserve Keeper on the Gryffindor team. Due to an accident in Care of Magical Creatures, the Keeper was confined to the Hospital Wing three days before the match against Hufflepuff and as a result, I had to play. The captain at the time was a Seventh Year called Stephan Grey and he made me train at every possible opportunity in those three days… If I ever questioned my love of the sport it was then, but somehow I made it through and we won the game by a reasonable margin of one hundred and ninety points. Ever since, I have been determined to win every game I play. Call me overly competitive if you will but every girl must have a major flaw and Quidditch is mine.
So why am I annoyed at James? Well, because he decided to kick me off the team.
"Get lost James," I grunt in the most attractive way possible.
"Come on Rose," he whines and I can tell he is just itching to call me 'Rosie'. "You know how much Quidditch means to me and this is my last year – hell, this is my last game. I really need to win this Rose and after we almost lost against Ravenclaw because of you…" he gives me his sappy look that normally makes girls fall to his feet. "Please Rose, I hate it when you're mad at me."
"I just don't get why you kicked me off?"
"Come on Rose, we almost lost against Ravenclaw in our last match and that was because you were shouting at all the players, giving them orders that contradicted mine. You know you are my top Keeper but I need someone who isn't going to cost me the game."
"But James, Hugo and Max were being stupid, what was I supposed to do? Let them smash Bludgers into our own players?" I sigh in exasperation. My brother Hugo and Max Jordan (another Fifth Year Gryffindor and one of Al's best mates) are our Beaters and normally they are very good but in our last game they just lost it and Lily Potter (James and Al's little sister) almost got a Bludger to the head. Being the competitive girl that I am, I shouted at them. "I've been looking forward to this game for months James!"
"I know Rose and I'm really sorry… Look, I'll think about it over Easter, I'm not making any promises though. Maybe we can play some games round yours and if you can manage not to shout at anyone, I might let you back on." I give a girlish squeal and throw my arms around his neck. "I said I would think about it," he chuckles and I give him a big kiss on the cheek before shoving him gently out of the way and running up the stairs to the Fifth Year dorm.
Just as I crash down onto my four-poster bed, the dorm door opens again and three girls enter. Lara Coote practically jumps onto the bed beside me, her long legs dangling off the end. She sits up and shakes her dark brown hair from her face; her skin is a shade darker than Roxanne's and remains irritatingly flawless. Her best friend, Nina Jones, could not be more different. Where Lara has dark skin, Nina's is almost white; where Lara has short, frizzy, brown hair, Nina has smooth black hair that falls to her shoulders; where Lara is tall, Nina is tiny; where Lara is loud and full on, Nina is reserved and quiet but still just as passionate; where Lara speaks before she thinks, Nina thinks before she speaks. Yet somehow they ended up best friends, despite a rocky start in First Year where Lara told Nina her glasses looked funny.
The third girl is called Madison Robinson, she is a muggle born with a love of boys and the entertainment they provide. Her best friend is a muggle girl she has known since birth but in school, she is pretty close to Lara and Nina. Madison has curly brown hair that falls to half way down her back and almost as many freckles as me; she is a few inches shorter than Lara, making Roxanne the tallest in our dorm… In fact, I think Roxanne might be the tallest girl in Hogwarts.
"Have you packed yet?" Nina asks, going to sit on her pristine bed, her trunk already packed and waiting for the House Elves to take it down to the carriages tomorrow morning. I shake my head and she rolls her eyes.
"Hey Mad, could you get some more of those muggle sweets your brought back after Christmas, the lemony ones?"
"Lara, last time I brought sweets back, you ate the entire packet by yourself!" Madison laughs.
"I promise I won't eat them all by myself this time… please?" she begs, giving Madison her puppy dog eyes that have got her out of more detentions than anyone cares to remember.
"Fine," Madison sighs in defeat and I laugh, chucking a pillow at Lara's head just as Roxanne walks in. I can tell just by looking at her that something is wrong, there is a small frown etched on her forehead that she only gets when she is having an internal struggle with herself.
"You okay Roxie?" I ask as she sits down on the edge of her bed.
"I'm fine," she replies hesitantly and I know I will get nothing more out of her – she is stubborn like that. Roxanne is almost as reserved as Nina sometimes and although she is my best friend, she will not always tell me what is bothering her until she has figured it out on her own. In some ways, Roxanne is as different from me as Nina is to Lara, with her calmness and reasonableness… she is without a doubt the most down to earth person I know. That is, until Scorpius Malfoy comes into the picture.
I cannot remember exactly when she decided to hate him; it has always just been a part of her. Ever since our first train journey to Hogwarts when I had found her wrestling with him in the corridor of the train (she never told me the reason they had started wrestling) they have always gone out of their way to annoy the other… Or at least, that was the case until about half way through Fourth Year when Scorpius just stopped. I figured Roxanne would get over whatever grudge she held against him just as he seemed to have done but for some reason, it just got worse. A few weeks ago, she completely lost it and he ended up in the Hospital Wing with a broken nose. No one knows what set her off; she doesn't like to talk about anything remotely to do with Scorpius so asking her is just pointless.
"Rose," someone sings. "Is there anybody in there?" Nina asks, leaning over to my bed to prod me in the stomach and drag me from my thoughts. "We're going down to dinner, you coming?"
"Sure," I nod and jump up. I have been starving myself all day for the End of Term Feast.
Saturday 20th April
I slide the compartment door open to find it mercifully empty. Lara pushes passed me and throws her bag down, Nina follows suit and one of them pulls out a pack of Exploding Snaps. Madison slumps in the seat next to Nina and watches the game. Sitting beside to Lara, I frown at the empty seat on my left.
"Where's Roxie?" Madison asks, voicing my thoughts.
"Dunno," I mutter. Roxanne has been acting a little strange lately, I can tell something is bothering her but she just won't let me in on what it is so there is nothing I can do to help her. It's almost like the time in Third Year when she had the moral dilemma about whether or not to tell the Headmaster who had jinxed the Slytherin Quidditch Captain – she knew the culprit should be punished but he was just a tiny First Year who the Slytherin Captain found amusement in bullying, so apparently he had just lost it and jinxed the obnoxious git right in front of Roxanne. She had been having an internal struggle with herself for weeks after that incident. In the end, the First Year confessed himself, relieving Roxanne of her burden.
Roxanne was always the person you went to if you had a problem, she almost always seemed to have a solution or was at the very least able to give you advice. She also had a way of cheering you up of you were mad at someone or something or the ability to calming you down if you were stressed or angry. She was almost like our surrogate mother in school. It was just lately, she seemed to be fixated on a problem that she could not find a solution for and I just wish she would tell me but I know her well enough to know she won't.
"I'll go and look for her," I shrug, sliding open the compartment door. In truth, I am too restless to sit still; most people look forward to the holidays but I always find that a part of me wishes they would not come around so soon because it means I must be parted from Scorpius Malfoy once again. Wondering up the corridor I glance through the glass doors, not really paying attention until I hear a familiar voice coming from a nearby compartment.
"Al, she's in Slytherin! How many times can I go over this?"
"James, get off me!"
"James?" I ask, my curiosity aroused as I stick my head into the almost empty compartment. My dearest cousin James has his little brother Al pushed up against the wall. "What are you doing?" I exclaim in surprise. James and Al were closer than any brothers I knew so to see them in such a conflicting way was just bizarre.
"Just having a word with little Aly here," he grins, letting go of his brother. Al storms out of the compartment looking furious – I'm not sure if it is because of their conversation or the fact that James just called him 'Aly'. "You alright Rosie?"
"Just looking for Roxie, you haven't seen her anywhere have you?" I ask hopefully.
"No, why has she gone missing?" he frowns.
"No… I'm looking for someone whose exact location on this planet I am already aware of," I reply sarcastically.
"Huh?" Bless James, he is not always the brightest star in the sky.
"Never mind," I laugh, turning to go. I catch a glimpse of platinum blonde hair. My heart skips a beat as I step out of the compartment but there is no one there. James follows me out and we make our way down the corridor until he leaves so sit with our cousin Louis and his girlfriend Isabella Boot along with some other Seventh Years. I continue down the train, superficially searching for Roxanne but all the while looking for another glimpse of platinum blonde hair.
As our family is so large, I come across a number of cousins in my search including Lucy who is sitting with her boyfriend Charlie Goldstein and being all couple-y. I query if either of them have seen Roxanne but they both shake their heads. Hugo has a similar reply when I pounce on him coming out of the lavatory (I swear, if he hadn't just emptied his bladder, he would have wet himself). At last, I catch a glimpse of platinum blonde hair.
I hear a familiar girl's voice but am too preoccupied with the thought of Scorpius Malfoy to place a face to it.
Looking into the compartment where the voice is coming from in the hope of seeing Scorpius Malfoy, I am greeted by the sight of both object of my search. My charming cousin, Roxanne, and the love of my life, Scorpius Malfoy, in the middle of what appears to be a confrontation – seriously, does he have a death wish or something, you do not go near a Weasley who is mad at you unless you really want to die.
Neither of them seems to notice I'm here so I just stare at them. I don't think I have ever seen Roxanne look so mad before, her jaws are clenched tightly and there is a vein pulsing slightly by her temple; her eyes look like if they could shoot daggers (or killing curses) at Scorpius, they probably would. Scorpius on the other hand, looks smug. No joke. He has his trademark smirk lingering on his perfect lips as he stares at my cousin.
Looking smug in front of an angry Weasley is not a good idea.
I notice he has a hand on her arm, refraining her from hitting him I'm guessing. Roxanne really needs to learn to control her temper around him or she is going to end up in some serious trouble soon. I just don't understand why her hatred of him seems to be getting worse and worse, you would think she would get bored of hating him.
"Uh… Hello?" I stutter, thinking it best to try and defuse the situation before Roxanne loses her cool… again. They both turn to me in surprise and, simultaneously, a guilty look sweeps across their faces. How peculiar.
"Weasley," Scorpius nods at me. Oh Merlin. Scorpius Malfoy just nodded at me… and spoke… sort of. My heart beats overtime. "I was just leaving." He steps forward then turns away from me to look at Roxanne. I can't see his face but whatever expression he has, it only makes Roxanne madder. Run Malfoy. While you still can. Seriously. He nods at me again before disappearing down the corridor. Oh sweet Merlin.
Roxanne and I stand in silence for a minute or so, both lost in our own thoughts – mine are all thoughts of Scorpius Malfoy and his beautiful, silky hair that I just want to run my fingers through. "Come on," Roxanne mutters darkly as she finally heads out of the compartment. "Where are the others?" she asks, her voice sounding strangely distant and uninterested. Without a word, I lead her down the corridor – in the opposite direction to Scorpius, unfortunately – to the compartment where Lara and Nina are still playing Exploding Snaps. Madison scoots up to let the moody looking Roxanne sit down as I collapse next to Lara again. No one speaks for a while ass Lara and Nina finish off their game of Exploding Snaps.
"Can you believe we only have one more term left of staring at James' beautiful arse?" Lara pipes up as she gathers all the cards in. I roll my eyes, perfectly used to friends' obsessive crushes on my relatives. "What are we going to do for the next two years?"
"I don't know but life without Louis seems pointless," Nina sighs dreamily.
"You know he has a girlfriend right, Nina?" I snort for what seems the thousandth time.
"Yeah but that doesn't mean I can't look at him," she smiles again, staring out the window, no doubt fantasising about my cousin… Ew. That is a mental image I do not need, thank you very much. "I guess we'll have to do with staring at Ned's ass-"
"Ned?" Madison squeals in horror. "He's short!"
"Nothing wrong with being short," Nina huffs defensively. "And his ass is cute."
"Whatever, I prefer Luke's-" Madison's hand immediately goes to cover her mouth but it is too late, the damage has already been done… or said technically.
"Luke Cowls?" growls Lara, her eyes narrowing to slits as she stares at Madison. "You did not just say that!" Madison turns an interesting shade of red under the heat of Lara's glare. Amongst us girls (and most other girls I suspect) there is an unspoken rule that ex-boyfriends are off limits. Luke Cowls is another Gryffindor Fifth Year and he had been dating Lara for almost four months when their relationship ended rather abruptly upon Lara discovering him in a broom closet with a Fourth Year Slytherin. He had apologies profusely, blaming a Lust Potion, but Lara was having none of it and they haven't spoken since. It makes it a little awkward sometimes when we all want to hang out together – he's one of Al's best friends.
"Alright ladies?" comes a cocky voice from the door way. "Mind if we join you?" Max Jordan asks, send a wink in Roxanne's direction, she is too busy trying to burn holes in the floor to notice though. He comes in and sits across from her, shaking his dreadlocks out of his eyes as he does so. His parents are close friends of Roxanne's parents; as children, Roxanne, Al, Max and I were best friends. Then we came to Hogwarts and drifted apart slightly, finding new friends… of course, Max's extremely one sided crush on Roxanne didn't help much.
Behind Max is Oliver Harris, he is another Gryffindor Fifth Year. He is a little on the short side, with dirty blonde hair and large brown eyes. He is the cleverest in his dorm, with Al coming second of course, despite being a muggle born – not that such prejudice actually exists anymore. Sitting next to Max, he smiles lazily before asking if we had seen Al. I replied, saying I had seen him earlier but he did not look like he was in the mood for joining us any time soon.
"What's up with you?" Max asks, nudging Roxanne with his foot. She shoots a glare at him before getting up and leaving the compartment without a word. Jeez Max, you would have thought that after being friends with her since you were born, you would have learned not to interrupt her when she is thinking. "What's her problem?" he turns on me with a frown etched on his forehead – bless him, he is kind of cute when he's been jilted by Roxanne (which happens quite a lot).
"Dunno, I found her arguing with Malfoy again," I explain, trying not to think too much about how Scorpius' hair fell in front of his beautiful grey eyes when he nodded at me.
"What is with that?" Max's frown deepens. "I know the guy's a twat and a Slytherin but he hasn't done anything that bad, has he?" By way of answering, I just shrug… I was unsuccessful in my endeavour not to think about how perfect Scorpius looked to think about my cousin's odd behaviour towards him.
The rest of the train journey passes by without mishap – although Roxanne doesn't return – and we get to Kings Cross a little quicker than usual. My parents are waiting for us on the Platform and smother Hugo and I with hugs and kisses the second we get off the train (yes, embarrassing or what?) before helping us with our trunks and heading towards the barrier.
The journey back to our house is a quiet one, for some reason my parents always insist on driving to and from Kings Cross rather than apparating or flooing. The city fades into field as we race by, heading Westward.
"How was school?" mum asks from the passenger seat.
"Alright," I shrug, still trying not to think about Scorpius Malfoy. If my dad knew what I was thinking he would probably crash the car, at the very least, I would be strung up the nearest tree. My mum on the other hand, is all for House unity… Although being in love with a Malfoy might be taking it a bit too far, even for her.
"We're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to go and see George and Angelina, Roxanne should be there," mum smiles. With the amount of time Roxanne and I spend together, Roxanne is like a second daughter to mum and I sometimes wonder if she misses Roxanne as much as she misses me when we are at school.
"Oh cool," I answer half-heartedly. With the way Roxanne has been acting lately, I am actually sort of looking forward to a bit of a break from her. Don't get me wrong, she is my best friend and I love her to pieces but it can be a little straining when you are cooped up with the same people for months on end in such a small dorm.
"Hey mum," Hugo butts in, clearly uninterested in going to Diagon Alley, "did you know Hagrid is trying to persuade the Headmaster to let him have a dragon! A real dragon! How cool would that be! I hope he gets a Hungarian Horntail like the one Uncle Harry had to fight, I really want to see one of them!"
"I hope the Headmaster refuses!" squeals mum in terror – not doubt for the safety of her children, I mean she cannot be afraid of dragons, she bloody well rode one when she was just a few years older than me… Oh that had been a fun History of Magic lesson, I had not replied to my parents letters for a whole month because I was so mad they had never told me that they had actually ridden a dragon. When I had told Hugo, he went ballistic and pestered them for ages for every single detail. "Dragons are dangerous creatures," she explains on seeing my raised eyebrow in the mirror.
"No mum," Hugo sighs, putting on his patronising voice. "They are just misunderstood."
"You sound like Hagrid," dad snorts. "If you want to see dragons, I'll take you to see Uncle Charlie in Romania when you're older," he winks at Hugo, causing mum to slap his arm and tell him to watch the road.
"You will do no such thing!" mum snorts indignantly. This wipes the manic grin from Hugo's eager face and dad to roll his eyes (thankfully mum doesn't catch that bit).
"But mum…" Hugo whines.
"Not buts," she states but I can tell she is trying to hide a smile – she already knows there will be no keeping Hugo away from dragons when he is older. As we pull up in front of our house in Godric's Hollow, I catch dad winking at Hugo who grins back – the boy really is obsessed with dragons.
Hello, if you like this story (or any of my stories) check out my blog for them, you can see pictures, ask questions or just browse. The link is on my profile page. Thanks for reading, GirlOnTheSidelines.