Hey everybody! Second chapter of the day, I hope you all like it. I liked writing this chapter. Anyways, not much to say, but as always, reviews are welcome and thanks to those who have been reviewing!
Disclaimer: Still not mine...darn.
Chapter 9: Water Wars
The next three days passed quite calmly for the Weasley-Potters. No pranks, no teasing, no nothing. Not even an argument between Rose and Scorpius (who were now refusing to speak to each other). Instead, they all worked as hard as they could, for they all knew that detention on Wednesday evening would last long into the night, as they were working for Filch, and no one (least of all Rose, Dominique, Molly, Albus, and James) wanted to get behind on their schoolwork. Making it up would, quite literally, be hell. So, most unusually, Hogwarts was quiet until Wednesday evening, the beginning of the five-month-long detention for the Potter-Weasley clan, Scorpius and his pals, and Elizabeth Thomas and Samantha MacMillian. Needless to say, the whole school was pretty interested in how it was gonna play out.
"People really need something new to talk about," Lily said in disgust after overhearing Caroline Brown and Hannah Parkinson taking bets on whether or not Rose and Scorpius would kiss that night.
"They do," Rose growled. Lily and Molly had already had to keep her from hexing five different people in the hallways that day.
"Relax, Rose," Dominique whispered. She had come up to the Gryffindor Common Room to do her homework with Molly, Lily, and Rose. "They're just trying to provoke you."
"It's working," Rose shot back, and Dominique smiled gently.
"You know the truth. Don't let them bother you," she said softly. Rose inhaled and exhaled deeply, then went back to her homework, a slight smile on her face. The girls worked in silence until seven thirty, and then they rose, seeing as their detentions were at eight, and made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, where the rest of their cousins (regardless of House) were waiting.
"I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up," Albus remarked as the four of them entered via the portrait hole.
"Of course we were!" Molly replied, looking scandalized. "We'd've been in even worse trouble if we didn't show up for this!"
"Amen, sister," Dominique replied, lounging on the couch.
"And Merlin knows we don't need any more Howlers," James sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I had a migraine for the whole day after that." The cousins all murmured their assent.
"Shall we go, then?" Roxanne asked after a few moments of silence. "It's seven forty-five."
"Might as well," Lily sighed, and so they left the cozy Common Room and made their way to the darkening entrance hall. Scorpius and his friends were already there, and so was Argus Filch.
"Well, come on, then," he hissed at them as Elizabeth and Samantha made their way down the stairs. "Partner up."
Slowly, everyone moved to stand with their partners. Dominique with James, Louis with Lucy, Molly with Fred, Roxanne with Albus, Hugo with Lily, Dan Thomas with Elizabeth, Roger Corner with Michael Davies, Gregory with Samantha, and Rose with Scorpius.
"Now, Dominique and James will be cleaning the bedpans in the hospital wing. No magic, no complaints," he added nastily as Dominique wrinkled her nose and James opened his mouth. "Louis and Lucy will be cleaning out my filing cabinets. Molly and Fred will be helping Professor Switch. Roxanne and Albus will be assisting Professor Slughorn with his potion brewing. Hugo and Lily will be polishing the trophies in the trophy room. Daniel and Elizabeth will be helping clean the Arithmancy steps; there was an accident today. Roger and Michael Corner are helping Madame Hooch clean out the old broomshed. Gregory and Samantha are helping Professor Longbottom with the new plants he's got, and Rose and Scorpius are cleaning the frog brains off the walls of the third year Potions classroom. Go on, get busy," the caretaker snapped, and everyone parted, most seething about what they had to do.
"I can't believe him," Rose muttered under her breath, furious. "Those poor frogs, he knows how I hate using animals in Potions and now I've got to do this."
"Will you just shut it, Weaselbee? I don't like this any more than you do," Scorpius snapped back through gritted teeth. Rose shot him a dirty look but fell silent. Upon arriving at the dungeons, both winced at the mess that lay before them. It was quite extensive and Rose was sure they were going to be here long into the night. Good thing all of her homework was done.
"Well, let's get to it," Scorpius sighed, gesturing to the mops and buckets that stood waiting for them by the door. Rose swallowed hard but grabbed a bucket and headed to the opposite wall, where there was the least amount of frog brains.
"Wait a second. Why do I have to do the one with the most?" Scorpius demanded. Rose rolled her eyes.
"Why do you have to be such a wimp and complain?" she shot back.
"Why did you have to get us in trouble?" he countered. Rose whipped around to face him.
"Why did you have to be such a git and insult me that day?"
"Why can you not take constructive criticism?"
"That wasn't criticism and you know it, Scorpius!" Rose screeched. "You were being mean to me, you little bastard!"
"Yeah, and you're never mean to me," he scoffed.
"Not as mean as you are!"
"SHUT IT!" came the combined voices of Roxanne and Albus from next door. A second later, Roxanne appeared in the doorway.
"Will the two of you stop arguing over who is the meanest and actually get your job done? It's been five minutes and you're driving Albus, Slughorn and I mad! Do your job and get out of the other's presence!" And she stormed out.
Rose and Scorpius shared an awkward glance before each turned away and began to work. And work. And work. By the time Rose finally finished with her wall, she was sick to her stomach and Scorpius was only half done. Rose hesitated. They still had to get the ceiling done, and the desks, too. But she knew that if the two of them worked together, they'd do much better than when they didn't. So she went over to join him, scrubbing at the grayish material on the wall.
"What? Didn't think I could handle it?" he inquired, smirking at her as she rubbed at a particularly stubborn piece of brain.
"No, you git, I'm-ugh!-trying to get us out of here sooner," Rose grunted. In her anger, she slammed her washrag into the bucket so hard that a bunch of sudsy water flew all over him. Both of their eyes widened in shock. For a second, neither of them moved. Then Scorpius splashed her back.
"Wait-why did you do that?" Rose sputtered.
"Because you did it to me!" Scorpius retorted.
"You git, that was an accident! Real mature now, aren't we? Two wrongs don't make a right, Scorpion!"
"Now who's the mature one?"
"I'm fairly certain it's still me!" Rose shot back, splashing him again. Scorpius spat out a mouthful of water and splashed her as well. Rose retaliated, and pretty soon both had their wands out, shooting water at each other.
"Auga-ARGH!" Scorpius yelled as Rose dumped the entire bucket of washing water on him. As a result, she got hit in the face with his Water Charm. She pulled out her own wand and shot it right back at him.
"You suck, Weaselbee!" Scorpius shouted right after Rose hit him in the face for the third time.
"No I don't-I'm just better than you," she taunted, dodging his curse.
"Better at what? How about nothing!" Scorpius retorted, forgetting his wand entirely.
"Excuse me? Do I need to remind you that I was the first person to successfully change the color of my eyebrows in Transfiguration?"
"Do I need to remind you that I was the one who figured out how to change them back?"
"Do I need to remind you that I figured out half of that spell? Without me, your eyebrows would still be neon green," Rose snapped.
"Yeah, well, yours would be blue," Scorpius replied.
"Well, without you we wouldn't be here!"
"If you'd never gone out for the Quidditch team we wouldn't be here!"
"If you weren't so terrible to me we wouldn't be here!" Rose yelled, and at that exact moment, Professors Firie, Switch, and Longbottom burst into the dungeon.
"What the devil is going on here?" Professor Longbottom demanded, looking at the water lying in puddles all over the floor, the frog brains dripping from the ceiling, and Rose and Scorpius soaking wet. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Never mind. I don't want to know," he muttered.
"Well, I do. What happened, Miss Weasley?" Professor Firie asked.
"Well, we were cleaning the walls and I went to help him out and I accidentally tipped over my water bucket. Scorpius thought I was trying to hit him on purpose and splashed me. And, erm, it sort of escalated from there," Rose admitted sheepishly.
"Behavior of this sort could very well result in losses of your Prefect badges and removal from the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Miss Weasley. I trust you were well aware of this?" Professor Firie inquired, her nostrils flaring. Rose's jaw dropped and her eyes filled with tears.
"Hey!" Scorpius objected, stepping in front of her. "Don't get angry at her. I'm just as much to blame here. I splashed her back, I initiated this. I provoked her into starting this prank war. If anything, I should be the one punished."
Without exception, everyone in the room was completely shell-shocked. Scorpius Malfoy, standing up for Rose Weasley? Even among the staff members, it was unheard of. For a moment, no one seemed to know what to do. Then Professor Longbottom spoke.
"I hardly think that will be necessary, Professor Firie," he said sternly. "However, I do believe they will both need to be taken to the Headmaster...once they've finished cleaning up this room, of course."
Professor Firie, disgraced, left the dungeons quickly, her robes sweeping behind her and Professor Switch on her heels. The moment she was gone, Rose ran to her Uncle Neville and hugged him.
"Oh, Neville, I was so scared! I've worked so hard to become Prefect and now I almost had it taken all away! What was I thinking?" she sobbed into her uncle's arms.
"Calm down now, Rose. You know old Firie's just jealous of the brilliant witch you are. That's why I said I'd send you to Flitwick, you know he'll be fair. You won't lose your badge, Rose, but if you keep at this...no one can stop you from arguing, but you do need to keep the fights small," he finished, looking at Scorpius over the top of Rose's head. He nodded quickly.
"I'm sorry, Professor Longbottom," Scorpius said. "We'll just finish cleaning up." Neville nodded and left the dungeon, promising to wait for them at the top of the stairs. Rather than waste time, Rose pulled out her wand and began to siphon the frog brains off the ceiling, while Scorpius finished the wall they'd been working on. Together, they managed to get the room clean in about five minutes.
"Wait, Scorpius," Rose called, just as he made to leave the dungeon.
"Yes?" he asked, not turning around. Rose didn't answer right away, and finally he got so annoyed that he turned around to see what she was doing. She was standing about ten feet away, twisting her hands together nervously.
"I-I just wanted to say thanks," she mumbled. "For standing up for me when Professor Firie-"
"It was no problem," Scorpius responded in a gentle tone. "I don't like her much, either."
"She's just so mean!" Rose exhaled. "Why's she gotta be so mean?"
"She's bitter," Scorpius replied savagely. "Doesn't have any famous students to brag of. Everyone knows we're the top students in the school, and all of the Potter-Weasleys are in Gryffindor, except Dominique, Louis, and...what's her name?"
"Victoire," Rose supplied, and Scorpius nodded.
"Victoire. They were all Ravenclaws. She just wants one of her students to do as well as we do."
"That would make sense, especially the way people treat Slytherins since the war. I really think all this prejudice is wrong," Rose responded as they made their way out of the dungeons.
"I know," Scorpius replied through gritted teeth. "It's so overrated."
Rose realized her mistake too late.
"Scorpius-I didn't mean it like that! I don't think any less of you or your family, I promise! And not just because Mum and Dad told me to, because I've seen reports of what your father does and he's obviously changed a lot since the war!"
Scorpius stopped dead and stared at Rose, surprised.
"Do you really believe that?" he queried. She nodded. "Well, you'd be the first," he muttered as they approached Professor Longbottom.
"Well, come on, then. It's nearly eleven and both of you have lessons tomorrow," the professor said as he led them away from the dungeons. Rose and Scorpius both followed him quietly, hoping that Professor Flitwick would, indeed, be fair.
"Sugar Quills," Professor Longbottom said when they reached the bottom of the staircase. The entryway to the Headmaster's office was revealed, and Neville sent Rose and Scorpius up there by themselves. He stood for a moment after they disappeared, and then headed back to his office.
"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Weasley. To what do I owe the pleasure?" the tiny little Headmaster squeaked from behind his desk.
"Well, er, you see," Rose began, but found herself unable to admit to what she and Scorpius had done. So he took over.
"Weasel-Rose and I had a water fight," he explained bluntly. "And Professor Longbottom brought us to see you."
"I see," Flitwick replied slowly. "And this was during your detention?" Both nodded. "Well, I believe the school disciplinary code dictates that I warn you of removal from the Quidditch team, should you do anything of the sort again," he informed them, looking quite serious. Rose gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth.
"Oh, Professor Flitwick, we're so sorry, please don't-"
"This is only a warning, Miss Weasley," the Headmaster squeaked kindly, holding up his hand. "And, because you are both star students and you have had enough trouble these past few weeks, I will refrain from writing to your parents." Rose exhaled, her knees going weak. Thank Merlin. She really didn't her parents informed of this, too.
"Thank you, sir," Scorpius gasped, feeling just as relieved as she was. The professor smiled kindly at his star students.
"You may go. Go straight to your dorms, I will attend to the mess in the dungeons. You need your sleep," Professor Flitwick instructed over their objections. "Go." And they did.
"I thought we'd had it," Scorpius admitted in a low voice as the two of them walked down the corridor.
"So did I," Rose replied, exhaling. "Thank Merlin he went easy on us."
"I know. Not even an extra detention or anything! I was pretty surprised," Scorpius remarked.
"Same. And he didn't even write to our parents! I really don't need anything else on my plate right now," Rose sighed. Scorpius looked at her.
"What do you have to stress over? You get everything done on time and you're extremely well-liked by everyone in the school!"
"It's hard to get all my homework done what with Quidditch twice a week and now this," Rose exclaimed. "I'm doing my best, but some days it's just overwhelming."
"I know," Scorpius answered. "Some days I'm lucky to be done with my homework by ten."
"How do you do that?" Rose demanded. "There are days I'm lucky to be done by two!"
"I procrastinate a lot," Scorpius admitted with a laugh. "If I don't have time to do it, then I'll do it tomorrow, and so on."
Rose chuckled. "That's not a very good habit to get into, you know."
"Well, some days I don't have a choice. Nor do you. I suppose that's just part of being a fifth year, but it sucks," Scorpius sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Rose was momentarily caught off guard by how good he looked...wait. Did she seriously just think that? Scorpius Malfoy did not look good...did he? Well, there wasn't really any point in denying that he was cute, but for Merlin's sake, he was her sworn enemy! She shouldn't be having these thoughts!
"Rose?"
"Wh-what? Sorry, I zoned out," she said hastily.
"I said, good luck in the game on Saturday," Scorpius repeated, looking into her eyes.
"Thanks," Rose smiled. "You too."
"Oh, and Weaselbee," he called as she turned away. "Try not to get hurt. Your family's quite notorious for it, and I don't fancy having to do detention by myself on Wednesday."
"Wow, thanks, Scorpion. I didn't know you cared," Rose replied sarcastically.
"Just a little," he answered quietly before walking away, leaving a shell-shocked Rose alone in the corridor.
A little bit of romance (if you can call it that) there. Again, reviews are appreciated, especially cause it's my birthday! Hope you liked it!
Lovelovelove -D-