DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to JKR, but you probably know that already, right?
The sound of raindrops hitting the window interrupted Rose's sleep. She couldn't remember the last time she woke up fully rested, like she did today. She smiled to herself and sat still on the hospital bed for a few moments, until the initial morning disorientation faded away and realisation hit. She checked her watch on the nightstand.
"By Merlin's filthy pants!" she shouted, a bit too loudly. The matron heard her and gave her a stern look as she came closer. Rose blushed.
"I'm sorry, I – I must have slept through breakfast and I'm going to be late to Herbology, I need to –"
Why didn't the matron wake her? She said she only needed to stay till morning! And Alice! She said they would go to breakfast together, why didn't she come to the hospital wing when Rose didn't show in the Great Hall?!
"You shouldn't worry, Miss Weasley, it's all taken care of. Miss Longbottom came by, wanted to escort you to breakfast, but I explained to her I felt no need to wake you, as you seem to be lacking sleep terribly. I asked her to talk to her father; Professor Longbottom understands you were injured and in need of a rest. You may go eat breakfast now and skip Herbology today."
Skip Herbology? Is this woman crazy? Rose almost lost her mind. No, she must get to Herbology. She felt bad about skipping a meal, she loves food, but … skipping a class? Not happening.
She ran past the matron, ignoring her shouts. She sprinted along the corridor, knowing that every single person walking there was looking at her like she was crazy. She arrived next to the Fat Lady's portrait in record time.
"Ashwinder," she blurted out before the Fat Lady could even ask her for the password. The portrait swung open, and Rose headed straight to the girl's dormitory, quickly fetching her quill, parchment, and dragon-hide gloves.
A moment later, Rose was already dashing down the staircase, not stopping for a second even when she heard the Fat Lady yelling after her, asking why the hurry. She used a spell to get rid of her morning breath and congratulated herself for using it while running without it going horribly wrong; her tongue was still in place after all.
As she was approaching the castle's gates, she ran into two Slytherins. She recognized the shorter one of the pair, Zabini, who was a seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team. She didn't know the taller boy's name, but she remembered seeing him in the Great Hall and the Hogwarts corridors occasionally, however it appeared he knew exactly who she was.
"Where are you goin', Weasley?" he sneered. She didn't bother answering and struggled to get past them, but they were blocking her way. "Someone really should teach you manners. When you're asked a question, you need to answer it," he spat out.
"You should stop talking and get out of my way, or I will –"
"Or you will what? Take points from us?" Zabini chuckled.
"I don't understand why they even let Mudbloods like you become prefects," the other Slytherin said. Rose felt a fire heating up in her chest and directed a death glare at the boys in front of her. She opened her mouth to say something, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Don't call her that, Huxley," Scorpius Malfoy said in a calm, yet deadly voice.
"Would you look at that, the Nerd's come to protect his girlfriend, Mrs Nerd!" Zabini said and laughed like he is the funniest person in the world.
"Oh, please, why would someone want Weasley here to be their girlfriend?" the boy named Huxley shut Zabini down. "I mean, what even is she? She's got red hair and freckles, but her skin's too dark to be white, and she's got thick curls like she's black. And beneath all that ugliness, dirty blood!"
He went too far. He went light years too far.
In a quick moment, many unplanned things happened.
"Calvorio!" yelled Scorpius, and simultaneously, Rose dropped everything from her hands and slapped Huxley across the face with all the strength she could muster. She felt a pleasant sensation in her palm and couldn't take eyes of her hand. That is why it took her long to notice Scorpius used the hair loss curse on Huxley, who was now completely bald. He looked stunned, as though he was unable to move, while Zabini had already sprinted down the corridor. Rose looked at Scorpius, who was staring at her with his jaw dropped to the ground.
There was a moment of deadly silence as the two of them were looking at each other in shock. They didn't even notice Huxley slowly walking away. After a minute or two, Rose started speaking. "Why did you do that? I had it under control!"
"What, are you saying he didn't deserve it?"
"No, of course not, I just … I didn't expect you to do it … I mean –"
"And I didn't expect you to slap him, and I'll bet you're not sorry about that," Scorpius said, and Rose closed her mouth, knowing she couldn't possibly disagree. She dropped her gaze to the ground and spotted the things she had previously dropped.
"Gallopin' Gorgons, I forgot about Herbology!" she shrieked and started picking the objects up. She looked at him with one of her eyebrows lifted and asked: "Shouldn't you be there too?"
"I was asked by Professor Longbottom to bring those Dittany pots from the hospital wing," he said and pointed on the floor behind them, where several pots were lying, broken. "I dropped them when I saw you with those two …" he said. Rose looked at him, with what he believed to be a mixture of worry and surprise on her face. "It's okay," he said, and used Reparo to fix the pots. She helped him put the plants back inside them, and he cleaned the leftover dirt with a swish of his wand. The two of them stepped outside the castle. Rain was still dripping from the grey clouds.
"Thanks," Rose said softly, realising she never thanked him for what he did.
"No problem. He deserved it," Scorpius responded. "And by the way, that slap was very badass of you." He smiled at her and looked away when he noticed her embarrassment.
By the time they stepped inside one of the Herbology Greenhouses, their robes were soaking wet.
Rose apologised to Professor Longbottom, who gave her a nod, and found her best friend. Alice's eyes were fixed on Scorpius handing Dittany pots to her father, as she asked Rose in a high-pitched voice, seemingly enjoying herself: "Did you just walk into class with Scorpius Malfoy? What happened here?"
"I'm actually still not sure," Rose replied in a voice so quiet, Alice could hardly hear her. "He just stood up for me against two Slytherins."
She promised Alice more details, but not now. She was already half an hour late to class, the least she can do is pay full attention.
Well, "full" is sort of debatable: she did spend much of the remaining lesson looking at the platinum blond boy, trying to figure him out. It was weird that he actually bothered to protect her, though he probably did it for Albus, but still. What was even weirder was the fact that he was nice to her the entire time they were tidying up the Dittany pots and walking through the rain. For once, she had found him not only tolerable, but surprisingly nice.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading this chapter! It means a lot to me. Also, yes, I imagine Hermione being black and therefore Rose being mixed-race.