Potions
Dear Mum and Dad,
The first few weeks back have been great! With October rolling around, the weather's getting a little colder. How is it back in London? Is Ollie doing okay?
Sorry for not being able to reply to your letter sooner, and I'm pretty sure everyone else already wrote back to you before I had the chance. I'm just so busy with work and Head duty-by the way, did Jane or anyone else mention that Scorpius Malfoy ended up being Head Boy? If I had known beforehand I would've given my badge to someone else. That boy...he is something, I'm telling you-and don't worry Dad, when I say 'something', I mean something in the negative. He's just everywhere, and I can't seem to avoid him. No matter what corner I turn, he's always in the background somewhere, and I have to admit that it kind of creeps me out. He's like an annoying little fly, constantly buzzing in my ear or something. Whenever he has something to say, it's always in this sarcastic, I'm-a-god-and-you're-rubbish kind of tone, and it just gets on my nerves! I could write roll after roll about how much he irritates me, but I know there are more important things to talk about than a pompous Malfoy.
So I'm pretty sure you've heard this from him already, but Randy has made Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and I'm almost certain Dad is proud. I know he's been yearning for at least one Quidditch player in the family (actually we have three; Jane and I just aren't the type), and to have a son on the team must give him some sort of bragging right at work, especially since he was on the team himself. A lot of the other Gryffindors have been complaining about how the majority of the team is comprised of our family though, and they find it unfair. The lot of them are calling the team 'The Weasley/Potter Quidditch Team' instead of Gryffindor. It was a little irritating in the beginning, but it became more of a compliment with the passing days. Albus says that he thinks young Roxanne has got what it takes to be the next Seeker after him. I caught a glimpse of her during her first flying lesson; she was a natural.
Anyways, I don't want to be keeping anyone, and Randy's bothering me about his Charms homework, so I have to go. I promise to write a longer letter next time! Hope you're doing both well and that the holidays will come soon!
Love,
Rose
Hermione rolled up the letter, a small smile etched on her wise features. Ron, on the other hand, looked as if he had gotten a hit to the face with a Bludger. The couple was sitting in their living room. They had just received a letter from Rose, who did not get the chance to reply to the letter they sent to her a week ago.
"Malfoy?" He spluttered, snatching the parchment from his wife's hands and unraveling it to reread what his eldest daughter wrote. "Scorpius Malfoy is Head Boy? Bloody he-Hogwarts has definitely gone downhill after we left."
"Ron, you technically didn't even graduate. You and Harry didn't bother to return for a seventh year." Hermione pointed out. Ron peered up from the letter to make a face at her.
"Not the point. Y'see, Rosie's supposed to be better-"
"You know she is, Ron. She's been at the top of every class since first year."
"Yes, but look what's happened now. Malfoy thinks his son can suddenly take a jump to first place by pulling a few strings and-"
"How do you know Draco pulled strings for Scorpius? From what I heard, he's pretty smart himself, in fact he's competing with Rose in a few of their classes." Hermione interjected once again. Ron sighed and bent over to pick up Ollie, who was purring by his feet. Ollivander, or Ollie for short, was one of Crookshanks' kittens. Mr. Ollivander had a few stray cats who always lurked around the back of his store, and Crookshanks was hanging around with one of them one day. Rose and Hugo, who were thirteen and eleven at the time, spotted him and his new feline friend, and decided to take the both of them home. They named their new cat Tuffles, after the way her tail tufted at the end, and the rest was history. Ollie was named after Mr. Ollivander of course, and he had orange fur, like his father, but he did not have the bandy legs or the squashed face. He merely looked like a regular orange tabby, but he still had the attributes of a Kneazle, despite the fact that he was only one eighth.
"Well how else could Scorpius possibly get the title of Head Boy? It's just a typical Malfoy thing to do, Hermione-when you can't get what you want, beg Daddy to do the dirty work for you." Ron muttered as he scratched in between Ollie's ears. Ollie looked up at Ron questionably for a second, and then pounced out of his lap, straight into Hermione's. Ron looked shocked, and if you squinted, maybe even a little hurt.
"See, Ollie agrees with me. Scorpius earned the right to be appointed Head Boy. I don't think he's as bad as you assume. You've seen him over the years. He doesn't look like he takes on after his father as much as he used to."
"What exactly are you implying here?" Ron asked suspiciously, leaning forward from his spot the couch to take a better look at his wife's face, just in case she was hiding anything. Hermione shook her head dismissively and leaned back against her armchair. Ollie yawned, his tail curling around him.
"I'm not implying anything. All I'm saying is that Scorpius is probably a better person than you think he is." She replied simply. Ollie meowed as if to agree with her, and Ron threw his hands up in defeat.
"Great, that's two against one. Why doesn't anybody take my side? Where are Harry and Ginny when I need them…" He grumbled, trailing off into a string of incoherent speech. Hermione laughed and let the letter drop from her hands. Ollie pounced on it, playing with the parchment first, but then stood still once it touched the floor, as if he was reading it. Hermione rose from her seat and started to make her way upstairs.
"Where do you think you're going?" Ron called after her.
"I'm going to reply to Rose's letter, of course. Can't you see that Icarus is waiting?"
The great tawny owl sitting by the fireplace was hooting contently, happy to see his master's parents. Ron tossed him an owl treat.
"Make sure to give Rosie my greetings." He said softly, and then added in a much lower voice, "And add that I'll personally wring that Malfoy boy's neck if he does anything to her."
--
Scorpius stabbed at his eggs with quick, sharp movements. Porter, Princeton, Vincent, and Holden stared at him in stunned silence. He had been in a foul mood for the past week, and he had not bothered to tell any of them why.
"Erm, so what class do we have first today?" Porter asked loudly in an attempt to divert everyone's attention away from the moody Malfoy. Princeton hastily reached into his bag for his schedule.
"Uh, you, Zabini, Malfoy, and I have Potions first period." He replied in his throaty voice. Vincent, the younger Goyle by one year, listened intently as he shoved his toast into his mouth with sausage-like fingers. Scorpius grunted and pushed his plate away, losing his appetite. He did not even bother to acknowledge the fact that Tatia Schultz had been eyeing him hopefully for the past twenty minutes from the other side of the table, though he was well aware that she was doing so.
Blasted Weasley.
His slate grey eyes shifted over to the Gryffindor table on the other side of the hall. She was sitting with Potter and a few of their dorky Gryffindor friends. Her siblings and relatives sat close by and they took up literally a quarter of the table. Her back was turned to him but he still recognized her. He knew exactly how her unique bronze coloured hair waved out from the back, curling slightly at the end at her shoulder blades, and the way-
"Malfoy?"
Scorpius inhaled loudly and clamped his eyes shut in an effort to control himself. He mentally counted to ten before reopening his eyes.
"What?" He spat, glaring at Porter, who looked as if he was punched in the back of the head.
"U-um, class is gonna start soon-"
"Let's go." Scorpius left his seat, hoisting his bag over his shoulder at the same time. He took a quick peek over at the Gryffindor table one last time, only to find out that she already left for class. For some reason, he felt disappointed, though he knew he was going to see her in a few minutes.
"Notice how he only goes early to the classes Rose is in?" He heard Porter whisper to Holden. This time he really was punched in the back of the head.
--
"So you finally got the chance to write to your parents the other night?" Lorcan asked Rose as they made their way to their first class, Potions. The sun strayed further away from their small group as they made their way downstairs into the dungeons. Rose nodded slowly as they descended the stone steps.
"Yep-Icarus seemed happy to have finally gotten the chance to get some air. Probably missed my dad too." She replied lightly. They turned a sharp corner, and the lighting dramatically darkened. It took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust.
"Oh, I was in the prefects' common room the other night. Brilliant job, you did. Good thing to teach Malfoy some respect." Albus grinned while giving her the thumbs up.
"Wha-? What happened?" Lisa Longbottom asked.
"You prefects and Heads have a common room to yourself? If I knew, I would've been a better student…" Thomas Finnigan muttered. Rose laughed, recalling the day when she and Scorpius Malfoy were instructed to redecorate the prefects' common room for the year. She retold the story for Lisa and Thomas, with Lorcan and Albus laughing along since they heard the story already. Rose never got over the fact how childish Scorpius was acting that day. How could he possibly think that he could get away with decorating the entire common room with Slytherin-themed furniture?
As soon as Rose and her accompanying two prefects finished retelling the story, they arrived at their designated classroom, which was a dingy old dungeon at the very end of a dank hallway. They opened the large heavy wooden door and were welcomed by an unpleasant damp smell, like the outdoors after a rainstorm. The classroom was windowless, and the tables were cramped together. Some of the storage cabinets were missing doors. Professor Slughorn was standing by the blackboard, looking as jolly as ever.
"Hello, hello! On time as usual." He greeted with a broad smile. Rose smiled back and proceeded to stand behind a table with Albus, Lisa, Lorcan, and Thomas. The rest of the class came in seconds later, including Scorpius Malfoy, Princeton Goyle, Porter Parkinson, and Holden Zabini. Rose noticed how exceptionally sore Scorpius has been looking the past week. During Head duty he hardly spoke to her, or even dared to look at her face, though every once in awhile when she was not looking she could feel him stealing a glance or two.
After waiting a minute or two for the latecomers, Slughorn waved his wand towards the door, closing and locking it.
"Good morning everyone!" Slughorn shouted, raising his hands.
"Good morning Professor Slughorn." The class replied sleepily. Slughorn raised a thick eyebrow.
"Hm, long night for the lot of you? Let's try that again shall we? Good morning everyone!"
"Good morning Professor Slughorn." The class mumbled again with just a hint of a little more enthusiasm. Slughorn shrugged his shoulders.
"Guess I can't get anymore out of you. Does everyone have their cauldrons and necessary equipment out? Alright, alright-Mister Goyle, stop playing with your knife, it is not a plaything-okay, I think we are ready to start." He turned his wide back towards the class for a moment and tapped the blackboard with his wand. A series of complicated looking diagrams and notes appeared on the board. The moment they appeared, Rose brandished her quill and parchment and began to copy them down. She was about a paragraph in when the rest of the class began to follow suit.
Veritaserum…
"Does anyone know what Veritaserum is?" Professor Slughorn asked. Rose's hand shot in the air exactly two seconds before Scorpius' did. She felt his glare on her shoulder blades and she could not help but smirk to herself. Slughorn's head turned towards Rose.
"Yes, Miss Weasley?"
"Veritaserum is the most powerful truth serum available. It's odourless and colourless, so it can be mistaken for water. It is said to be so powerful that just three drops can make the drinker tell his or her innermost secrets." She recited, her eyes looking upwards like they usually did whenever she was trying to remember something. Slughorn clapped his hands together in delight.
"It's like I'm asking the textbook itself. Five points for Gryffindor. What Miss Weasley just explained is correct. Veritaserum is a truth serum, and a very powerful one at that. It is also very difficult to make. Does anybody have an idea why?" Slughorn searched the students for any hopefuls. Rose's hand came up again. Scorpius was always just a split second too late.
"Miss Weasley?"
"Veritaserum requires a full moon-cycle to mature while it is being made, which simply means that it takes at least one month to make the potion." She explained. Scorpius' eyes were still on her back, and she frankly did not care if they stayed there for the remainder for the class. Slughorn's smile broadened.
"You're definitely your mother's daughter. Another five points for Gryffindor (Thomas hissed an audible "Yes!"). Veritaserum is in fact so difficult to make that it takes one month to create, and the instructions to make it are so abstract that it might be difficult for one just one person to do it. As you might have already figured out, your assignment is to create the Veritaserum, and I am going to assign you a partner. Over the month you will be creating this potion, while writing a report documenting your observations. Once I pair you up, you can start on your potion. The instructions are on page 362 in your textbooks. Do I make myself clear?"
The class groaned in unison, disappointed that they were unable to choose their own partners, but they nodded nonetheless. Rose suddenly felt sick. She did not have a good feeling about this.
"Albus Potter, you will be paired up with...hmm…let's try you with Mina Chang (Albus turned a furious shade of scarlet and proceeded to move to her table). Logan McLaggen will be paired with Theodore Flint. Rose Weasley-let's put you with somebody who's been keeping up with you-Scorpius Malfoy, gather your things and move beside her please. Lusha Patil, you can partner up with Carleigh Brown..."
Rose had the urge to grab her textbook and smack herself in the forehead with it until she gave herself a concussion. She knew this was going to happen. It happened in almost every class. Every teacher paired them together because they were the only ones that were going at the same pace with each other.
"First forced paired assignment of the year. Let's make it short and sweet, Weasley." Scorpius said flatly as he slammed his equipment on the creaky wooden table.
"I'll try, Malfoy. Don't slow things down for the both of us." She grumbled as she opened her textbook to the assigned page. She trailed down the text with her index finger until she found what she was looking for. Out of the corner of the eye she could see Scorpius leaving, probably to get one of the ingredients. Before he went out of earshot he looked over his shoulder to face her. He was wearing that crooked smile, that stupid smirk she loathed so much.
"Me slowing us down? We'll see about that, Weasley." He said in a sinister voice. Rose rolled her eyes and continued to skim through the textbook. She knew Malfoys were full of nothing but empty threats. She had absolutely nothing to worry about.
--
A/N: Did this chapter answer your question, earthtomars7? : )
I'll try to elaborate on friends in later chapters, if I remember.