Redecorating
The first few days back were always Rose's favourite time of the school year. After a long summer, she enjoyed coming back to the familiar smells of fresh parchment and ink and crisp pages from a good informative textbook. She had very little time to lounge around, as it was her seventh year, which also meant that N.E.W.T.s were coming up (ten months from now), and she needed to work as hard as ever. It was midday now, on the very first Wednesday of the year, and she had spare period. She had an hour before lunchtime, and Albus was still in Transfiguration, so she remainder of the morning to herself. It was a lovely autumn day, and it was not too chilly, so she decided to sit under the old beech tree to start on that Arithmancy assignment that was assigned to her this morning.
She was in the Gryffindor common room, having just finished her only class of the morning, Arithmancy. She decided to climb up the stairs to her dormitory to leave a few of her books behind, only taking what she needed. As she made her way back down the stairs, she turned her head slightly to face the window that overlooked the Quidditch pitch. A class of first years were taking their first flying lesson today. Rose squinted a little and spotted two red heads among the crowd of broom-wielding first years. One of them was already halfway in the air, while the other one was trying to get the broom into her hand.
"Dominique and Roxanne." She smiled to herself as she continued to make her way down the stairs. She waved to a couple of fellow Gryffindors who were studying by the fireplace and exited through the portrait hole. She made her way through the ever-changing staircases and the stony hallways, out onto the warm sun-kissed courtyards of Hogwarts. She closed her eyes, basking under the warm sunlight, letting the heat rise into her cheeks and underneath her eyelids. She smiled, comforted, and when she was satisfied she opened her eyes to continue her walk. It was only early September, so the trees were still lush and green, but the air was not as inviting as it used to be.
A few minutes later Rose was settled underneath the same beech tree her parents and her uncle once sat under many years ago, and her uncle's father in the years before that, with her book bag by her side and a thick Arithmancy textbook cradled in her lap. She enjoyed the subject-in fact it was probably one of her favourites. She was a factual person, and the idea of memorizing and organizing numbers was appealing to her. She reached into her bag for her preferred scarlet plumed quill, ready to start her assignment. Nothing could possibly ruin this perfect day.
--
She has my spare?
Scorpius absently scuffed the floor with his shoe, his hands shoved in his pockets. He watched her leave the school, walking out onto the grounds and sitting under that tree she always sat under with Potter and her other billion Weasley cousins and siblings. He swore that with every year that passed, at least five to ten more Weasleys popped into existence. It was nauseating to think of, really.
"Mister Malfoy?" A stern voice crept up from behind, which caught him off guard. Scorpius jumped and spun around, eyes wide. He relaxed only slightly when he realized it was the Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, who called on him.
"Y-yes, Professor?" He asked, straightening up. He rubbed the back of his head, making his already unruly hair stick up. McGonagall scrunched her nose, he had no idea why, and eyed him head to toe.
"Are you...busy at the moment?" She asked skeptically. Scorpius shook his head quickly, raising his hands to further prove himself.
"No, no! D'you need help with anything?" He asked politely. McGonagall peered over his shoulder. In the far distance she could see Rose Weasley sitting under the old beech tree.
"Both Head Boy and Girl by my side would be better than just the Head Boy." The older woman prompted, tapping her foot. Scorpius sighed, his shoulders sagging by the slightest.
"Erm, alright, I'll get her, but what exactly do you need help on, Professor?" He asked jadedly. McGonagall waved him off with one bony hand without even looking at him.
"It will be revealed to you when both of you return here to me. Now hurry along, your spare won't last forever!"
Scorpius nodded so hard he thought his head was going to snap off and began to jog towards the beech tree. He had a queasy feeling in his stomach, knowing that interrupting Rose's private study session was never a smart thing to do, but if it was under McGonagall's instruction, then what other choice did he have?
As soon as he got to at least a few feet away from her, he slowed down to a walk. His heart was beating rapidly, but he was not sure if it was from the jog. He was Quidditch Captain-he kept in shape. A short jog would not tire him out.
As he got closer to the beech tree, he noticed that she was sitting down with her back against the trunk, fully immersed in what looked like a Arithmancy textbook. She was scribbling down line after line of complicated looking equations. Her eyebrows were knitted together in deep concentration, and she was frowning slightly. Scorpius smirked and crossed his arms, watching her in silence for a brief moment. He liked it when she was doing her homework. For one, he liked the way she looked when she was doing it, and secondly, it was a blissful moment for him to see her in such a state. It was one of those moments where she was not either nagging him or arguing with him. It was peaceful with the silence, but in a way he kind of liked the bickering.
"All right, Weasley?" He piped up, breaking her train of thought. He heard her exhale loudly, and she looked up from her textbook. The sun was shining through parts of her hair, making it look more scarlet than bronze, and her dark blue eyes seemed to be sparkling. The mood would have improved a lot if she was not scowling though.
"What do you want, Malfoy? I already have to endure Head responsibilities with you; why can't you wait 'till then to bother me?" She asked exasperatingly, motioning towards her homework. He chuckled and took a few steps closer, squatting in front of her. He noticed that she did not have a lot of freckles like the rest of her family did, only a very faint trail on the bridge of her nose. She edged back a little, creeping up against the beech trunk. Scorpius smirked, victorious once again, but at what, he had no idea.
"We are doing Head responsibilities as we speak, Weasley." He said, jerking his head towards the school grounds. Rose peeked over his shoulder to see what he was motioning towards. "McGonagall's called us. Wants help for something."
"For what?" She asked, still looking at McGonagall, who was staring impatiently at them from a distance. She flushed and immediately turned her attention back to Scorpius.
"Dunno. Said she'd explain once I fetch you." He said as he got up, grabbing her textbook along the way. She raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised at his courtesy, and proceeded to roll up her parchment. He smirked at her reaction and waited for her to finish packing her things. Once she was finished, he handed her textbook back.
"Thanks." She said quietly, and stowed it away in her bag. They made it back to McGonagall in silence, who did not seem pleased.
"Took you look enough. What were you two doing up there, admiring the view? Come now, we have work to do!" She exclaimed, and motioned for the two Heads to proceed down the hallway. Exchanging looks of confusion, Scorpius and Rose turned towards their Headmistress.
"Um, Professor, what exactly are you going to have us do?" Rose asked, worry etched all over her pretty features. McGonagall spun around and faced the two Heads of the Hogwarts student body, noticing a sharp contrast. Rose's shirt was tucked in, tie in place, skirt at the right length, and her sweater vest clean and pressed. Scorpius' pants were riding a little too low, and his shirt looked a tad wrinkled. On top of that it was also untucked, the top two buttons were undone, and his tie was loose and crooked. Rose's hair, probably sustained with magical hair products (a combination of Weasley and Granger hair must be a nightmare to manage, McGonagall assumed), was neat and orderly and flowed past her shoulders elegantly, while Scorpius' platinum blond mess went up and out in every possible direction.
"Erm," Mumbled McGonagall, who finally snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, yes. Since you two are this year's Head Boy and Girl you are responsible for setting up the prefect common room. As you know, the prefect common room is upstairs in the far east tower. It is Hogwarts tradition for the Head Boy and Girl to prepare the prefect common room. Since you two are on spare for the next…oh I'd say forty-five minutes or so-oh well I guess you can cut into your lunch period as well-you can use this time to do so. At the end of your spare, I will come by to check in on your progress. Do I make myself clear?"
Rose and Scorpius nodded in unison, indicating that they understood what they had to do. Inside Scorpius felt like rolling over and vomiting out of every orifice in his body, but at the same time he could not help but feel like an onslaught of fireworks was exploding at the pit of his stomach. The least thing he wanted to do right now was to spend time with the Weasley girl, but another part of him did not seem to agree.
"Alright, I am heading back to my office now. Get to work immediately-oh, and Mister Malfoy, your father never looked like that when he was in school, as your grandfather. Have you at least considered the advantages of a Hair Straightening Charm? Those Muggle combs actually do work wonders too." McGonagall suggested, her lips thinning into a disappointed frown. She stood still for another minute, staring at Scorpius' disheveled appearance, and then trotted off to her office. Scorpius looked down at himself, rolling his eyes, ignoring Rose's giggling.
"Oh shut up, won't you? She said we have work to do." He muttered, patting the back of his head. His hair smoothed out for a few seconds, then jutted straight out again like silvery javelins. Rose doubled over in laughter.
"Looks like we've got another Potter fan." She said with a wink.
--
The prefect common room was larger than the Gryffindor common room, but it did not look like much at first, since all of the furniture and decorations were always taken down at the end of every year. The Head Boy and Girl of every school year always had the responsibility of decorating the common room to their preferences, and for the two years that Rose was prefect, it was always different. In her fifth year it had an underwater theme, and the walls and the ceiling were made to look as if they were under the Atlantic Ocean. In her sixth, the room was made to look like a night sky, covered in different constellations.
Right now, however, the prefect common room was nothing but a large, spacious room with tall windows overlooking the grounds and a dead fireplace on the wall to the left. Rose could hear Scorpius' footsteps beside her, examining the room as closely as she was. He was made prefect in both his fifth and sixth year as well; probably because of his father. She could not draw up to any other conclusion.
But then again, he was right under her when it came to academics. He was a prat, but a bright prat at that, she had to admit, with an ego the size of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang mashed together…
"What do you suppose we can do to this place?" Rose asked, though she was not expecting much of an answer. Scorpius was running an index finger over one of the walls, thoroughly disgusted with the fact that the house elves did not keep up with the place after the previous year had ended. Rose rolled her eyes and strode over to the centre of the room, looking around her.
"It's only a little dust, Scorpius. Unless you're allergic to it then I don't see what the harm is, besides the fact that it's unattractive of course." She said, eyeing the fireplace. She reckoned that the old creaky mantle could use a bit of re-polishing.
"I don't want any of your pansy ideas dampening my spirits, Weasley. Think about the other prefects when they come in here to use this room. Try to be considerate." He said, completely ignoring her previous statement. She whirled around to see that he was facing her, smirking with his arms crossed and his back against the dusty stone wall. The sun from the windows was pouring in, shining on the both of them. She noticed how his hair looked almost white under the light.
"Excuse me?" She started, taking a step closer. Scorpius' sneer only widened. "Pansy ideas, did you say? Where in the world did you draw that conclusion from? I didn't even suggest anything yet!"
He laughed, a low rumble in his chest, and it pushed every one of her buttons.
"I don't need to hear you talk, Weasley. I already know what you want to do with this rubbish room just by looking at you." His slate grey eyes stared straight into her blue ones, and she could not help but feel vulnerable under them. That was the thing about those dratty Malfoys; they surely knew how to stare someone down.
"Oh really? I'd like to hear a few of my ideas then." She recomposed herself and stood up straight, placing her hands on her hips. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making the sides stick up. She giggled, and when he noticed her doing do, he immediately flattened his hair back down, though it still remained in its 'casual disarray'.
"You're a bookworm, Weasley. You love reading. You love school. You like to learn, for Merlin's sake. You probably can't think of anywhere else to be right now but here in this bloody castle." He said, raising his hands as he spoke. Rose felt her ears and her cheeks burn. The infamous Weasley Blush began to take its hold on her.
Wow, he sure knows how to read you.
"Erm, and your point is?" She asked defiantly, putting her weight on one leg so her hip swung out a little. Scorpius chortled and turned his head towards one of the windows.
"You probably want to turn this place into some sort of-I dunno- library, or something. Something nobody wants to have!" He exclaimed without looking at her. Rose raised an eyebrow. After thinking about it, turning the place into a library did not sound like a bad idea after all.
"Well, it's not like this is our real common room. This is just a place we come to when we need somewhere to study, that's all. Don't you think a library would be good for that?" She shot back. His head turned slowly towards her, his trademark smirk visible. Oh, how she hated that smirk.
"Last time I checked, Hogwarts already has a library." He said casually. Rose sighed and moved towards the fireplace, resting her hand on the mantle. The wood lost its varnish and it was incredibly dusty. It probably was a great fireplace sometime ago, when it did not need magic to make it look nice every now and then.
"Alright, since you think that my apparent library idea is rubbish, then what do you suppose this room should look like then, if you think you're so keen on interior decoration?" She asked. Scorpius did not say anything. Instead he reached behind him, and brandished his wand. She knew it was not safe to keep your wand tucked into your back pocket, or the waistband of your pants, but she decided not to mention that in case he did not know. He aimed for the farthest wall, and a shot of green light emitted from the tip of his wand. Rose watched intently for the room to transform.
Forest green rugs fluttered lightly in mid-air before settling on the dusty floor. Squashy looking green armchairs rested atop the rugs. Soon, tables and lamps were added to complete the look. Smirking slightly, Scorpius aimed at the wall again. This time, a large green banner was streaming out from his wand like water, and it unfolded and flattened itself against the wall, smack in the centre. Once Rose figured out what the banner was, she shoved her hand under her sweater vest, searching for her wand.
"You know, it's not safe to put your wand under your shirt. It could accidentally go off." Scorpius warned, half-amused. Rose cursed under her breath and aimed for the large Slytherin banner. The snake was slithering around its green space, hissing every now and then.
"What do you think you're doing?" She cried out in frustration. The snake eyed her with liquid black eyes, hissing in contempt. "This isn't an extension to the Slytherin common room!" With a flash of light the green furniture disappeared. Scorpius frowned, disappointed that all of his hard work had gone to waste. Rose first muttered a Dusting Charm, ridding the room of the irritating . She then tapped fireplace with her wand and in an instant the mantle looked shiny and new, and there was a roaring fire crackling underneath. She aimed towards the ceiling, and drapes of gold, green, scarlet, and navy swooped over and under, covering the stone above. Rose tapped the wall closest to her, and row after row of bookshelves conjured out of thin air and organized themselves against the wall. She then proceeded to the other walls, adding bulletin and notice boards, picture frames, and more colourful velvet drapes. In the centre of the room she placed a plush earthy coloured rug and a group of matching leather armchairs and sofas, along with some tables and chairs scattered around for individual study. When she was certain she was finished, Rose took a step backward to admire her work. Scorpius merely rolled his eyes.
"So, what do you think? Does this shout 'house equality' or what? McGonagall will love it." She said victoriously with her hands on her hips. Scorpius moved to sit on one of the brown leather armchairs. She could tell that he was satisfied with how comfortable the chair was, but he did not want to admit to it. Smiling, she turned around to adjust one of the picture frames, which looked a little lopsided.
Just then, the wooden door swung open and McGonagall strode inside. She looked as stern as ever, but when she took notice of the redecorated room, her expression brightened up considerably.
"Well done, you two. I'm surprised you were able to work something out. I know you have a little bit of a history, but clearly events of the past do not always affect the course of the future." McGonagall said plainly, though the flat tone in her voice usually meant she was satisfied. Scorpius was grumbling incoherently, while Rose was beaming like she just entered Honeydukes for the first time.
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall!" She exclaimed cheerfully. Behind her, Scorpius rolled his eyes for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day and made a face. McGonagall noticed this and scowled at him, and he immediately straighened up.
"You two may proceed to the Great Hall for lunch now." She said, and abruptly left the prefect common room. Rose spun around to face Scorpius, who was sitting quietly.
"Did you really think you were going to pull off that whole Slytherin theme thing? C'mon Scorpius, I know you're smarter than that." She winked and tossed her hair over her shoulder before following McGonagall out of the common room, feeling like she just defeated Voldemort.
Rose: 1, Scorpius: 0.