Hello! It's been a crazy week/month for me, but it's the weekend (YES) and now I have some time. So I'm updating this and attempting to keep my temper with my family. Er, post the poll, that is. Please check and see if I managed to get it up and vote if it's up! I hope you enjoy this chapter, you'll see some more Rose/Scorpius romance here. :)

Disclaimer: NOT in any way J.K. Rowling, nor do I own the rights to this.

Chapter 7: And the Winner Is...

"Mate, we've got to think of something big this time. Like, huge. Phenomenally, marvelously huge!" Dan exclaimed excitedly.

"I know, but first we need to finish this Transfiguration essay," Scorpius muttered in reply, his thoughts on the paragraph he was reading in Intermediate Transfiguration.

"Aw, come on! That's due-"

"In two days, and I still have to write one more paragraph and the conclusion," Scorpius replied, still not listening. "And after that I will prank Weaselbee. I've already got everything planned out in any case."

"Wait, seriously?" Michael Davies asked, looking up from his own essay. Roger Corner leaned in to hear more as well. Scorpius sighed and shook his head, not saying a word.

"What's up with him?" Corner grumbled as the boys sat back in their seats.

"I don't know," Dan replied, sounding slightly peeved. "But he's been pissing me off all week, and I still can't get the reason out of him-"

"I hope you all realize I'm sitting right here and can hear every word you're saying," Scorpius interjected, not looking up from his parchment. The boys turned back to him.

"Oh, we do," Dan assured him, then turned away from him.

"Wonder if it's got anything to do with her prank?" Davies mused.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Michael," Corner lectured. "He could be having issues with something else we don't know about. Sad thing is, he hasn't confided in us yet. Too bad he doesn't realize we'd help him through it." All three boys glanced at Scorpius, who had just finished writing one of the paragraphs for his essay.

"If you must know," he said without looking up, "I'm having girl troubles."

"Poor bloke," Davies said fervently, and none of them spoke again until Madame Pince shooed them all out of the library at 11:00.

"So who's the girl?" Roger Corner asked, smirking. Scorpius shook his head.

"Aw, come on, mate," Michael Davies complained. "We tell you about our girl problems, it's only fair we get some dirt on you." Scorpius shook his head again.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he finally muttered.

"Dominique Weasley," Gregory Goldstein guessed. "I've seen you staring at her."

"What? No! She's...no! I mean, every guy stares at her, she's gorgeous, but...no. Not her," Scorpius assured his friends.

"Yet she's gorgeous?" Corner asked, raising an eyebrow. Scorpius flushed.

"Not as pretty as...someone else," he answered, catching himself before he said her name.

"Come on, Scorp, who is it? I'm your best mate, at least tell me," Dan whined. Scorpius, though amused at his friends' begging, nevertheless stood his ground and refused to tell them, despite their continued pleading all the way to Ravenclaw Tower.

"I'm big as an elephant yet lighter than a feather. What am I?" the knocker inquired as Scorpius and his friends approached it.

"The wind," Michael Davies replied, and the five boys climbed into the Common Room to finish their homework: A feat that kept them up till nearly midnight and reminded them all why they were glad they only had two years left at Hogwarts.

The next morning, Scorpius was the first one up, rechecking his Potions essay. The Transfiguration essay wasn't due until tomorrow, but his Potions essay was due today and it needed looking over. Indeed, Scorpius found nearly three fatal mistakes-he had misspelled 'aconite' so that it looked like 'at night' and put the wrong measures in twice. He corrected the errors and sat back, satisfied that he might be able to achieve an 'O'. Then Rose Weasley wouldn't be top in everything.

Merlin, that Weaselbee girl annoyed him. He didn't even know what it was, but everything about her made him feel...strange recently. The way she sat, her hands folded in her lap, or the way her eyes sparkled when she got excited about something, or the way she tucked her hair behind her ear, and even the way she always took her tea with lemon in the morning. A tingly, bubbly feeling took over him when he saw her at one of these activities, and he'd be forced to look away. He'd put it all down to annoyance, but seeing her looking so darn beautiful on Saturday had made him think differently. Could it be...but no. No, of course not. He was in the middle of a prank war with her, after all. And the big operation was set to go off at noon tomorrow. It was going to be an exciting Monday.

"Hey, Scorp."

Startled, Scorpius looked up from his essay (which he hadn't been making much progress on) to see Gregory Goldstein standing in front of him.

"Oh, hey Greg," he replied, taking in his friends' ruffled look.

"You not finish either?" Goldstein inquired, sitting down at the same table as Scorpius.

"Nah, I got it done two nights ago. I just needed to recheck it. Found a few mistakes, as well."

"Excellent," Goldstein answered, checking his watch. "Can I have a look at it? I only need the conclusion done, go on."

But Scorpius shook his head.

"Sorry, mate, but you had two weeks to do that one. Not this time," he finished decisively, rolling up said essay and putting it in his bag. Goldstein stared at him.

"Wait-come on, Scorp!" he protested. "It's just the conclusion!"

"Sorry, Greg," Scorpius answered, shaking his head. "I've got to get dressed and head to breakfast. Just sum up everything you said in the essay and slap a good conclusion sentence on the end. You'll be fine." He clapped his friend on the back. "See you at breakfast!" And off he went up the stairs, Goldstein still staring after him, dumbstruck.

"What the hell happened to him?" Goldstein muttered to himself before pulling out all his books, quill, and parchment.

Later that day, just after lunch, Scorpius turned away from the rest of his friends to go to Arithmancy. He was the only one of his friends who chose to take that particular subject, so he had to go to class alone. He was about a corridor away when he heard it.

"No! No! Please, give it back-it was my mother's! Please!" cried a young girl's voice. Scorpius froze. She was clearly desperate. It was only when he heard the second voice he started to move.

"Jump for it! Come on, Mudblood, jump for it! Or pay the price," a boy leered evilly. Scorpius shuddered at the meaning behind the boy's words. He knew that boy-Jack Zabini, known rapist throughout Hogwarts. He'd forced his way into so many girls' beds that none would take him willingly anymore. And he was picking on (by the sound of it) a first year.

Sure enough, when Scorpius rounded the corner, he saw a small girl with light brown hair leaping in the air, her hands grasping for something gold in Zabini's hand. Zabini, meanwhile, was leaning casually up against the wall, holding it just above the girl's reach. The poor thing was in tears, her books scattered all around the floor.

"Oi! Zabini!" Scorpius called, striding forward, trying to walk with power. The boy turned.

"Malfoy," he sneered. "Piss off. Nothing to see here."

"I beg to differ," Scorpius returned coldly. "I think there is a very serious situation here that needs to be addressed. Please return the item to it's rightful owner." He glared at the third year boy to let him know he meant business.

"Let me think about that...no," Zabini answered, smirking.

"Ten points from Slytherin. If I have to ask you again, it will be twenty, and after that fifty and a detention. Now let's try again: Give her the bracelet," Scorpius snarled, and Zabini faltered.

"Fine. Take it, and be glad Superman was here to save you," he hissed at the girl, who cowered against the wall. He threw the gold chain at her before stalking off. Scorpius glared at him until he was out of sight, then looked back at the first year, who was sitting on the floor, crying, holding the bracelet to her chest.

"H-He broke it," she sobbed, looking up at him with heartbroken gray eyes. "Can you fix it?"

Without a second thought, Scorpius knelt next to her and took the chain from her very gently. "Reparo," he muttered, and the chain resealed perfectly.

"There you are!" he announced to the little girl. "All better now. Are you alright? What's your name?"

"T-thank you," she whispered shakily, taking the bracelet as though it were a priceless treasure. "I'm Heather," she added, looking up at him with her big gray eyes.

"Heather. That's pretty. My name is Scorpius. What House are you in?" he inquired as he helped her to her feet.

"H-Hufflepuff. Is that a bad House? Other people say it isn't, but everyone in green tells me I'm stupid for being in it," she confessed tearfully to him. On instinct, Scorpius put his arm around the little girl.

"No, Hufflepuff isn't stupid at all. People just don't realize the amazing qualities it has," Scorpius answered softly, offering Heather his handkerchief. "Everyone in Hufflepuff is amazingly loyal. You stand up for your friends and you never back down. You're really hard workers, which means you don't just sit around and do nothing, you work for everything, which is a good trait to have in life. You're fair and nice to everyone, and people like it when others are nice to them. Hufflepuff is a great House to be in, and I'm sure you're suited to it," he smiled down at Heather, who had stopped crying and was now watching him again, her gray eyes wide with wonder.

"That makes it sound much better," she beamed. "Thank you, Scorpius." Scorpius felt a little flutter in his chest, and suddenly felt protective of Heather. She was such a charmer, with her big gray eyes and her sweet, innocent personality.

"Come on, Heather. Let's pick up your books and get you to class. Where are you headed?" Scorpius asked, bending to retrieve the contents of her bag.

"I'm supposed to be in Transfiguration, but I can't find it," she admitted, fear starting to creep back into her expression.

"That's alright," Scorpius reassured her. "Professor Switch won't mind, everybody gets lost here in their first week. Got everything? Bracelet still on?" Heather nodded. "Then let's go!"

And off they went. When they arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, Scorpius hastily explained the situation to an irritated Professor Switch, who calmed down instantly and gave Scorpius a pass to Arithmancy so he wouldn't get in trouble for being late. Scorpius was grateful, but it didn't matter to him. What mattered was the happy look on Heather's face, and the cheery wave goodbye she'd given him.

People didn't know it, but before he came to Hogwarts, Scorpius had had a younger brother. The two brothers were very close, but they younger boy have developed a severe form of cancer. The Wizarding doctors only detected it when it was too late. Scorpius had never really healed from the loss, and had always been particularly protective of the first (and second) years at Hogwarts. Others made fun of him for it, for he'd never told anyone about his brother. But, Scorpius reflected as he took his seat in Arithmancy, sometimes, such as in Heather's case, it didn't matter what people said or thought about you, as long as you made someone happy.

The rest of the day passed mostly without incident, excluding the daily shouting match with Rose in Transfiguration (which he had won, mostly because the bell rang before she could get a reply out of her mouth) and the food fight in the Great Hall between two Slytherins. Scorpius had merely shaken his head in disgust. How on earth had his father ever been in that House?

"Hey, Scorp, what time are we doing this?" Dan asked, sliding into the armchair next to Scorpius and waving a hand in front of his face. Scorpius gave a start.

"What? Oh, the prank. Um, I was thinking we could rig it early this morning and then set it to go off at noon. She's always there at noon, we're just getting out of Transfiguration about then."

"Nah, we should do it at midnight. It's much easier to set those things not to go off for 24 hours that way," Michael Davies argued, slipping into a seat by Dan. Scorpius shook his head.

"Prefects and Heads will still be out at that point. I don't want to get caught."

"Scorpius, we're rigging an explosion of fireworks and whipped cream to go off at noon tomorrow in the castle. I think people are going to know it's us," Roger Corner countered.

"Fine, then. If we get caught I'm blaming it all on you," Scorpius retorted.

"What?"

"No way!"

"Not cool, man!"

"It's your fault we're in this thing in the first place!"

"How so?" Scorpius inquired, turning to Gregory Goldstein, who had just walked over.

"Well, you insulted her. Next thing we know, she's pranked you, and then you roped us into helping you as well-"

"Do I need to remind you that you were more than willing to assist me after she pulled her first prank?" Scorpius asked through gritted teeth, using all of his willpower not to pull out his wand and hex Goldstein on the spot. The boys all shifted guiltily.

"Well, mate, that was then. Things've changed, the teachers are livid, especially after the food fight this afternoon," Roger Corner protested.

"Well, then if you want to chicken out, that's fine, I'll rig it all by myself. But I might remind you the best friend pledge-united we stand, together we fall. You guys've been through too much with me. If I go down, you're coming with me," Scorpius declared fiercely. His friends stared at him for only a split second before Dan spoke.

"I'm in."

"Thanks, mate," Scorpius muttered. Slowly, one by one, the rest of the boys agreed to go with him as well. "Right. Here's what we're gonna do. And yes, Michael, we're doing this at four thirty this morning." Michael grunted but did not argue as Scorpius began to explain his plan.

At approximately four thirty that morning, Scorpius, Dan, Michael, Roger, and Gregory could be found outside the Transfiguration classroom, whispering excitedly as they pulled out bricks in the wall and slid objects in before replacing the bricks.

"This is going to be so epic," Dan laughed as he rigged a whipped cream explosion.

"I know!" Goldstein agreed enthusiastically. "She isn't gonna know what hit her."

"I think she'll figure it out fairly quickly," Scorpius remarked dryly, and the five boys shared another chuckle.

"She'll probably pull out her wand and start jinxing you left, right, and center," Michael sniggered.

"Yeah, mate, make sure all vital organs are covered up, or they will be subject to Rose Weasley's wrath," Roger joked. "And honestly, that girl can be pretty darn scary when she wants to be."

"Tell me about it," Dan replied, shivering as he put the final touches on the contraption he'd conceived. "The way she walks down the halls can scare you to death-especially if she's as mad as she was today."

Scorpius grinned devilishly.

"That was one of my better arguments with her. She was trying to focus on something and I wasn't helping. She did the wrong thing and got points docked off Gryffindor. Then, of course, she started yelling at me, but I got in the last snide answer before I ducked out of sight. That's why she was so angry this afternoon," he revealed. The four other boys stared at him.

"I'll be sure to mention that at your wedding," Dan finally muttered. Scorpius sputtered indignantly.

"Excuse me? I do not plan on marrying the red-haired know-it-all!" he protested over Roger and Michael's sniggering. "All we ever do is argue! What makes you think I could possibly like her that way?"

"Everything," Dan answered quietly. "What does Rose always have in her tea at breakfast, Michael?"

"I-er-um," Michael stuttered. "How should I know?"

"Why don't you ask Scorpius what it is she takes in her tea?" Dan suggested innocently, carefully avoiding looking Scorpius in the eye. Michael repeated the question to Scorpius.

"Lemon," Scorpius answered tightly. "She always has lemon in her tea."

"And you know this because?" Roger Corner asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?"

"Not really."

"No, it is obvious," Scorpius said defiantly. "You lot just don't notice it. I bet you others do. Like her cousins, maybe."

"Yesterday I asked her what wood your wand was made out of," Goldstein said casually. Scorpius tried to keep himself from appearing too interested.

"And what did she say?"

"Cherry," Goldstein replied lightly. "The correct answer of course. She tried to pass it off as the result of sitting next to you all these years, but I think it's something different."

At his words, Scorpius stood abruptly.

"Right, then I think it's fully done," he declared. "Let's head back to bed and no, we are not discussing any more of the Weasleys!"

And with that, Scorpius turned on his heel and lead the way back to Ravenclaw Tower. He didn't say another word to his friends, simply got into bed and lay there, thinking of the many events the next day was sure to bring.

This prank is gonna be my best one yet, by the way. I made it up entirely by myself, so I hope you like it. Depending on reviews I'll post sometime next week! So please review! And vote in the poll, if it works! Thanks!

Lovelovelove -D-