On Wednesday, Rose arrived early to work. She hurriedly gathered her research notes and stuffed her bag full of parchment and spare quills. She only had fifteen minutes before her reserved portkey was set to whisk her away to the gates of Oagadou.
With four minutes to spare, Rose skidded to a stop in front of Gwen Robard's desk. The petite blonde witch didn't even look up from giving herself a manicure as she prompted, "International Travel Visa?"
'Oh shit,' Rose thought. She knew that there was something that she'd forgotten to grab in her office. Damn the ministry's anti-apparation wards. She had no time to spare to run back for it. "I've travelled by international portkey before," Rose pleaded, "Can't you just check your records? My Visa number should be listed there."
"Rules are rules. No Visa, no travel." Gwen said. She blew on her nails to dry the fresh layer of bubblegum pick polish.
Rose let out a scream of frustration which carried out into the Ministry atrium. A certain shaggy haired man heard the cry and came to investigate.
"Rose, what's the matter?" Harry Potter asked.
Although Rose prided herself on being an independent woman, she wasn't above utilizing her famous family to get herself out of tight jams from time to time. "Uncle Harry, I need to get out of the country for work but I stupidly left my travel visa in my office".
Harry Potter winked at his niece and leaned forwards to address Gwen who still hadn't looked up from filing her finger nails. "Perhaps you can bend the rules, just this once?"
Gwen sighed, "Look mister, there rules are in place for a …" she looked up and halted when she recognized the savior of the wizarding world. Harry hated the fame he was granted, but sometimes it was very advantageous. "Oh, Mr. Potter. I'm so sorry. Of course, anything for you!" Gwen was now falling all over herself to apologize. Seconds later a silver tea cup that would serve as a portkey was thrust into Rose's hand. Gwen busied herself by pushing her ample chest out towards Harry and batting her clumpy, spider-like eyelashes.
Harry either didn't notice Gwen's attentions or chose to ignore them. He turned towards Rose, "Have a safe trip Rosie. Oh, and give Lily a floo call soon. She wants to discuss planning a hen's night for Roxanne." He gave her a quick hug and left the transportation office. Gwen deflated at his exit.
Rose, still peeved from her earlier treatment, leaned in and said, "You know Gwen, maybe you should spend less time chasing after married men. I've heard some salacious things about you and your boss that could be detrimental to your career if say the Minister of Magic were to find out. Maybe I should give Mum a call when I get home."
Time expired on the portkey and Rose felt a pressure tugging from behind her navel. She was magicked away to Uganda, but not before see saw a panicked look flit across Gwen's face. 'Serves the little tart right,' Rose thought with a smirk.
"Greetings Miss Weasley," said Professor Faso. "Welcome to Oagodou."
"Thank you for allowing me to come. I am very interested in meeting with your animagi students. How is Mr. Adero?" Rose asked.
Professor Faso shook her head sadly, "He's as well as can be expected. You'll understand when you see him. I've set up a spare classroom for your interviews. The students have all signed the required confidentiality agreements."
"I appreciate your help. Will you be sitting in on the conversations?" Rose questioned.
Professor Faso nodded, "Yes, if you don't object. I'm curious about your research and I might find some practical applications based on the student's responses to incorporate into future lesson plans."
Rose laughed, "You sound so much like my former Headmistress. Maybe it's a universal Transfiguration professor thing."
"Ah, Minerva. How is she? I haven't seen her since the last symposium," Professor Faso smiled.
"She's looking forward to retiring. She joked that she needed to make her escape before the next generation of Weasley- Potter children infiltrated the school," Rose informed.
The two witches arrived at the spare classroom quickly. Rose set up a work table and the interviews commenced. Rose was impressed by the students that presented themselves to her. They were capable of transforming at will into cheetahs, elephants, impalas, and water buffalo.
She asked each of the students, "What were you thinking in the moments immediately preceding your successful transformation?" Each responded that they had completely cleared their minds and allowed their magic to simply flow through them.
Rose followed up by asking, "How did you know what animal you intended to change into then?" All but one of the students had no answer to that.
The final student, a tall, painful shy girl named Nyakisi said, "I didn't intend to become a water buffalo. I believe the buffalo chose me. It is me and I am it." Nyakisi looked down.
"Very good, Nyakisi," Professor Faso complimented her student. "You may go now."
Rose sat back in a daze. She was thoroughly confused by the girl's answer. Transfiguration was a deliberate magic. The caster needed to have specific intent to ensure the outcome they wanted. How could self-transfiguration be so different?
"Miss Weasley," Professor Faso snapped Rose out of her thoughts, "if you'd follow me we can go see Mr. Adero." Rose silently walked beside the other witch still lost in her musing. "Miss Weasley, Rose, I beseech you to not react too strongly to Mr. Adero. It may be very shocking." The pair had arrived in the hospital wing and were standing just in front of a thick black curtain.
Rose agreed easily, but when Professor Faso pulled back the curtain she had to resist the urge to be sick. A scrawny looking boy was lying on the enlarged cot. He was hooked into a muggle style IV that was pumping blood replenishing potion into his small frame at an alarming rate. Rose observed that the sheets beneath him were soaked through in the thick, crimson fluid. His limbs were almost completely covered in dull gray feathers that looked like stone. Where the feathers were missing, Rose could see blood oozing out from muscle. There was no skin.
"Mr. Adero," Professor Faso calmly addressed, "I have brought Miss Weasley to talk with you. She is from the British Ministry and is studying animagi transformation. If you can please answer her questions, we'd appreciate it. Then you can go back to sleep."
Rose steeled her resolve and began to question the child. As with the other interviews, she concluded with the same questions. This time, however, she was met with very different responses.
"I was thinking about how great it would be to be a barracuda. They are ferocious and lightning fast. I thought it was the perfect form for me," the boy slurred. Luckily the conversation would conclude soon. Rose observed he was exhausted.
"So you intended to become a barracuda? But where did the feathers come from? Had you considered some sort of bird as well?" Rose asked.
"No, I didn't want to be a bird. My father is an animagus too. He transforms into an ostrich. I wanted to be my own man, so I did not want to become any sort of bird," he said with a yawn and a grimace.
Rose scribbled on her parchment 'Family link? Heredity? Genetics? Ask Scorp!' "Thank you Mr. Adero. Your responses will be very helpful. I hope you recover soon."
Rose and Professor Faso walked back towards the Oagodou gate where Rose would be able to activate the portkey to once more return her to England. "Please keep me informed about Mr. Adero's progress. I'll let you know if I uncover any information that can prevent an incident like this from occurring again."
"Thank you Rose," Professor Faso bid her goodbye and Rose was transported back to the British Ministry. She rushed to her office and spent the evening pouring all her thoughts from the day onto paper. She returned home to her flat at 3am.
A few days later, Rose was having dinner with Scorpius at a new Italian bistro in Diagon Alley. She was filling him in on her trip to Uganda.
"I told my mum about the poor student when I talked to her yesterday. Oh Scorp, it was horrifying. He has bleeding out as fast as they could replenish it. The feathers were grotesque. I need to figure out what caused it. He mentioned something to me that I need to discuss with you. Can you come back to my flat for a while after dinner? I can't ask you here."
"Of course, Rose," Scorpius said, "I'll help you in any way I can." He reached across the table and clasped her hand. Rose found that she was very distracted by the way he ran his thumb over the back of her hand.
She sighed, "Why did you insist on coming to this place? Don't get me wrong, Italian food is lovely, but we always go to The Leaky."
"It's because we always go to The Leaky. I wanted to do something a little bit different with you tonight Rose. Plus, isn't Italian your favorite? Or has that changed since I've been in Boston," Scorpius inquired.
"No, you're right. I love Italian food," Rose twirled some spaghetti around her fork. "But it seems like this is the type of place you'd go on a date."
"I wanted to go with you, Rose," Scorpius emphasized. "I acquired a taste for this stuff in the North End of Boston. I thought you only liked spaghetti and meatballs because of that silly muggle movie with the dogs, but it really is delicious," he grinned wolfishly.
Rose snorted, "Lady and the Tramp is very romantic, I'll have you know! Their first kiss was accidental and completely adorable."
"Is that so?" Scorpius asked.
"Yes, it is," Rose replied indignantly. "She wasn't expecting it and was shy and embarrassed, but she enjoyed it."
"Huh," Scorpius considered, "maybe I should test that out."
Rose arched an eyebrow, "What are you talking …" she was cut off as Scorpius pressed his lips to hers.
He pulled away quickly with a satisfied smirk, "I think those dogs were onto something".
Rose felt flabbergasted and she ducked her head down as she flushed with embarrassment. She reached a finger up to touch her still tingling lips.
"Very interesting," Scorpius said with a wink. They finished their meals and he called the waiter over to pay the check. The pair stood and Scorpius wrapped a strong arm around Rose's shoulders. He escorted her back to her flat.
"What was that about back there, Scorp?" Rose asked. She was still in a daze and was trying to wrap her head around that fact the fact that she had just kissed Scorpius. Or been kissed by Scorpius, but that was just semantics.
"Just testing out a theory, love. I am a scientist after all," Scorpius said.
"Speaking of science, I need to ask you a couple questions about my work. Would you opposed to signing a non-disclosure agreement first?" Rose tried to focus.
Scorpius quickly signed the forms and Rose showed him her notes on the Oagudou interviews. "Do you think it's possible that a person's animagus form is dictated by their family history? Have you come across anything in your genetic research that would suggest that it could be coded into their DNA and passed on from father to son?"
"I'm sorry, Rose, but I haven't heard of anything like that. Besides, a person's specific magical affinities are determined by the mother," Scorpius stated.
"What do you mean?" Rose was perplexed. "How can that be? Wizards marry muggle women all the time and their children are usually magical."
"Of course magical ability can be passed on from either parent. That's coded into the sex chromosomes. But what I'm saying is that magical researchers have determined that it is the mitochondria, or the powerhouse of the cells, that generate specific magical affinities and traits. Mitochondrial DNA comes solely from the mother. If the student's mother had been an animagi, then maybe your theory would be more credible. But I just don't think that's your answer. I'm sorry, love," Scorpius said gently.
Rose deflated, "Thank anyway, Scorpius." She couldn't hide her disappointment.
"You're going to figure this out, love. I believe in you." He pulled her in for a hug and tucked her head underneath his chin. Rose melted into his embrace and breathed him in. She felt his nose nuzzling itself in her hair and sighed. This was her happy place; safe wrapped in his arms.
"It's late, Scorp. Want to crash here tonight?" she asked.
"Thanks, love," Scorpius said. "But can we disconnect your floo this time? I don't want your father to pop in again and murder me."
Rose laughed and did as he asked. She quickly changed into a vest top and cotton shorts and brushed her hair and teeth. By the time she returned to the living room, Scorpius had transfigured his trousers into a pair of loose fitting pajama bottoms and removed his shirt. Rose noticed that him chest and abdomen were well toned and he sported a trail of dark golden hair that extended from his navel and disappeared beneath the waistband of his pants. The hair looked extremely soft and Rose had a fleeting thought of running hair fingers through it. He was setting up a temporary bed of the couch. Rose shook her head, "You can sleep in my bed with me, Scorp. No sense cramming yourself on the couch when I've got a comfy bed that's plenty big enough."
"The couch is fine," Scorpius said.
"Scorp, either you sleep in my bed with me, or I take the couch," Rose insisted. "What type of host would I be if I let you twist your neck around by trying to fit there?"
"Alright, love. You win," Scorpius agreed. The duo moved into her bedroom and laid down. Scorpius insisted on sleeping on the edge of the bed so that he didn't invade her space. Rose laughed but was too tired to protest.
When Rose awoke the next morning, she felt incredibly warm. Her senses slowly returned and she registered that she was not alone. The space that Scorpius had established the night before had vanished. The front of his body was firmly pressed against the back of hers from shoulder to toe. One of his arms was draped across her torso and at some point in the night his hand had crept under the hemline of her top and was now resting on her belly.
Rose felt a hard protrusion pressing into her bum and realized with a start what part of Scorpius's anatomy that must be. Rose knew that it was a very normal reaction amongst all men when they slept, but she was nonetheless pleased. Her reaction puzzled her, but she was in too good of a mood to question it.
Rose slowly spun around so that she could see Scorpius without waking him up. Her face was now mere inches from his. She could feel his sweet smelling breath fanning out across her skin. She observed her best friend. His long golden eyelashes touched his cheeks giving him a youthful, angelic appearance. Rose longed to run her hand along the coarse looking stubble that graced his strong jaw. Her best friend was a very handsome man. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him as he had done last night.
"Are you through checking me out, love?"
Rose blinked, "How long have you been awake, Scorpius?" she whispered.
"Just a few minutes," he popped his eyes open and molten silver met sky blue. Rose felt hypnotized. The stared at each other for a few minutes before the spell was broken. The alarm on Scorpius's wand sounded and he groaned, "UHH. I've got to get to work."
"Do you need to floo home?" Rose asked and disentangled herself. She immediately missed his warmth.
"No, I'll just walk to St. Mungo's. I can shower and change in the on call room there," Scorpius said. He transfigured his bottoms back into the trousers he had worn last night and donned his shirt once more. Rose felt strangely disappointed. "I'll see you later, love."
"Bye Scorp," Rose whispered as he left. She flopped back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. What the hell was happening? She pulled the pillow he had used into her arms; it smelled of sandalwood.
That evening Rose returned to her flat. Her work today had been completely useless because her mind was occupied elsewhere. She pulled off her work robes and put the kettle on. On her table waited the evening edition of The Daily Prophet. While she waited for the water to boil, Rose cracked open the paper and screamed. On the front page were two pictures. The first showed the kiss Scorpius had given her the night before over their Italian meal. The second was just of Scorpius as he stepped out of her flat this morning.
MALFOY HEIR SPOTTED WITH WEASLEY GIRL
By Rita Skeeter
Very reputable sources have reported that Scorpius Malfoy is now in a relationship with none other than Rose Weasley. They've been seen all over Wizarding London since his return a few months ago. It seems, like her mother, Miss Weasley has a taste for rich, powerful wizards.
"She's so clearly in love with him," gushed a source. "She was hanging on his every word last night".
The pair was spotted having a romantic dinner in Diagon Alley. Witnesses observed the pair sharing secretive glances, flirting, and kissing throughout the evening. The duo suddenly cut their dinner short and rushed to Miss Weasley's flat. This industrious reporter captured the moment that Mr. Malfoy left the flat this morning. One need only look at the elated smile on his face to know what happened last night.
But can the plain Rose Weasley hold Scorpius Malfoy's attention for more than a short time? We have our doubts.
When approached for comment, Miss Weasley's former paramour Daniel McLaggen said, "As if Rose could catch his attention! She's nothing compared to Marguerite Shafiq. Scorpius will kick her to the curb just like I did." Mr. McLaggen was seen with Miss Shafiq at a party celebrating her new modeling contract. See page 6 for more details.
Rose crumbled the paper into a ball and set it on fire. 'Oh shit,' she thought, 'time for some damage control'.
-AN It's been years since I've taken a genetics or human anatomy class. My memory is pretty rusty on the topic. Forgive me if I made an error in my statements about mitochondrial DNA. Thanks for reading folks!