The Flower and the Snake

((LOL perfect timing for one I think))

Rose woke up slowly that morning, her body heavy with fatigue. Staying out late last night along with staying up even later to complete her homework had not made for a very restful sleep for the Head girl. What with feeding Andavil along with her normal morning routine, and moving so sluggishly, Rose found herself late for breakfast, and subsequently late for her first class.

“ugh Albus is going to laugh himself stupid if I’m late for Potions…again.” She said, nearly sprinting through the halls to get to her class. She literally skidded into the classroom, the Professor stopping mid sentence to stare at her disheveled state.

“I see you decided to join us Ms. Weasly.”

Professor Blackwell looked stern enough to rival McGonagall, especially since Rose was usually late to her class rather often but rather than saying anything more she dismissively waved her hand at her table, where Albus sat snickering.

“Late again?” He whispered, barely containing his laughter. “You look like you went through a whirlwind.”

“Shut up.” She said back, playfully punching his shoulder. “I overslept this morning.”

Before he could respond the professor cleared her throat, her dark eyes surveying her class with authority, reminding them to stay silent.

“Now, as I was saying, now that we have finished up with the sleeping draught we will start a new potion that is highly advanced and highly dangerous. As an advanced potions class I expect you all to be able to not only complete this potion satisfactorily, but to know well enough about it to leave it alone. Who can tell me what is the Draught of Living Death?”

Scorpious was sitting at a table by himself this class. When the professor named the brew they woudl be concocting though, h's head snapped in her direction, off the doodle he had been mindlessly working on.

She was kidding, right? Hogwarts students of any level weren't aloud to practice the dark arts, that he had thought included dark potions. "Uh- Professor, are you sure the Headmistress want's us brewing that?" he dared to ask.

Professor Blackwell turned her gaze to Scorpius, her penetrating eyes lightening a moment on her prize student.

“Ah yes, you would be the one to question this particular potion would you not Mr. Malfoy. As I’m sure you all know, after the last Wizarding War this potion was deemed as a dark one, as it was used for many evil purposes. However, it is my opinion and that of the Headmistress of this school that you must not only learn the theory of how it is made, but also the practicality of such a potion. For it is this potion that saved many a wizard and witch during the European witch hunts of the 1600’s, and one that you will be tested on in your N.E.W.T.S."

Looking at her class she could see their worried expressions, see the fear instilled in them by their families of anything to do with the dark side. What she noticed most of all was the greedy look on some of the Slytherin’s faces, almost as if they were salivating over a kill.

“What needs to be remembered is that in potion making, there is no evil potion. Even the most deadly of poisons is not evil. It is the wizard or witch that uses it for evil purposes that makes it so.”

“Ms. Weasly. I see you have an answer to my question?” she said calmly.

Rose spoke clearly and with force, showing she agreed with the Professor without having to say so aloud.

“The Draught of Living Death is a potion that when brewed correctly will place the drinker in such a deep sleep that they appear dead. It is highly difficult to brew, and if done incorrectly can put the drinker to sleep forever, or turn it into a deadly poison that kills the moment it touches your lips.”

Scorpious frowned. Knowing Rose's lack of skill she woudl likely botch it up- even with Albus helping.... He didn't exactly have the utmost faith in the Potter boy when it came to chemistry. "Should we pair in groups of three then Professor?" he asked. "Since the potion is rather difficult and face paced it'll be safer if you have more hands working together." he pointed out.

"You think you could get two partners?" one slytherin boy sneered behind him- though Malfoy ignored the remark.

“Well Mr. Malfoy you definitely seem concerned about the abilities of this class. I assure you that I am fully confident in all the abilities of my students, and neither am I foolish enough to allow my students to drink this potion. However, as this is a N.E.W.T. level potion, not only will this potion be made, you will also be making this potion alone. Yes alone.” She added, as the class collectively groaned.

Rose however, was turning an unattractive shade of green. Professor Blackwell wasn’t leaving when she said the potion was difficult. Rose had been studying that particular potion ever since her mom had let it slip last summer that she’d been tested on it when she had finally taken her N.E.W.T. exams. One slip up and the drinker would die.

“This particular potion takes only an hour to brew, even though it is difficult to get right. As you will be brewing it alone today we shall only be studying the ingredients and the proper way to brew them. Please take out your textbooks and begin reading the chapter on asphodel and wormwood.”

With that she sat down, her black cloak billowing around her. Rose opened her book with a look of pure dread and began reading closely, scribbling notes on her parchment almost non-stop. When the hour was up the Professor stood and said briskly,

“Books away. Before you leave remember, next class we shall be brewing the Draught of Living Death. I expect all of you to have a passable potion by the end of that hour. The potions will be tested, rest assured in a safe manner.”

Rose put her book in her bag, the look on her face of a man condemned.

“It’ll be okay Rose. I’ll help you prepare.” Albus said, trying to cheer her up.

Scorpious stood up- grabing his things with a frown. He was fairly sure rose was going to need someone better in the class to help her than Albus- having heard his promise- though he himself would maybe have a hard time with this potion.

He would just have to have her brew it a few times before class so she coudl remember how it was done.

That decided to himself, he sighed, making his way to the exit of the class like everyone else.

[Hm.... who/when should Scorpious fight?]

“Thank you Albus.” Rose murmured, making her way out of the class. She had no clue how she was going to pass this time, especially if she had to do it alone. This was going to be the undoing of her Potions grade she just knew it.

Looking up for moment she saw Scorpius’s blonde hair as he made his way through the crowd. ‘I should ask him for help with this one.” She thought to herself, remembering his offer from that time in the dungeon the first day they had ever spoken. He had made things so easy to understand then. If he tutored her there would be no way she could fail!

Her expression brightened with that thought as she tried to force her way through the crowd to talk to him. She didn’t get far before she heard a gasp of pain and people quickly shunting her to the side to get out of her way. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the dark hair and eyes of Celina, a smirk on her lips before she disappeared into the crowd.

Rose looked over to the now wide space in the middle of the room where Scorpius stood, a Hufflepuff boy standing opposite him with a look of dislike etched on his features.

“I’m going to take you down Malfoy.” He said slowly, looking as if he was trying to pump himself up. “You can do whatever you want with the Slytherins, but you cant take her.”

The crowd knew exactly who he was talking about at that moment and Rose groaned inwardly. She never knew just how much the boys of Hogwarts had been dogging her. She’d never paid them much attention. Now it was becoming rather obvious.

“I told him not to do this…” Albus growled out next to her, his fists clenched

Scorpious frowned at the HUfflepuff boy and sighed, setting his things down. "If you want to fight me as a Prefect I must insist it's done properly." he said pulling his wand out. "A duel. At least this way you have somewhat of a chance of not looking like a fool."

A few Slytherins frowned, standing behind Scorpious. Approve or disapprove, to attack one of them was to attack all of them.

"Wess, you better off not messing with him." A Hufflepuff girl tried to talk the boy out of the fight.

Wess didn’t take his eyes of Scorpius as he pulled out his wand.

“I’m not gonna let him corrupt anyone else. He can’t just walk all over people and if thinks he’s gonna get to Rose too he’s wrong.”

Some of the crowd actually nodded in assent, getting behind the Hufflepuff as a sign of their support. Even Albus seemed like he agreed a bit before he looked at the fire that was starting to burn next to him. Rose looked absolutely infuriated. In fact, her red hair made the image of her livid eyes and set jaw even scarier, and since she was extremely good at hexes, he was a bit concerned for both Scorpius and Wess. She didn’t seem like she was differentiating from the two of them in her rage.

“Rose don’t.” Albus said warningly, grabbing her shoulder.

((Be back in like 40 min. Sry))

Scorpious sneered. "What a disgusting thing to say, talking about someone as if they were an item." He held his wand up. "Foul mouthed toad..." he glared.

After Wess held his wand up he turned, then took his five paces. He woudl even give the boy the benefit of first hex...

Wess turned at five and sent out a Bat Bogey Hex.

Rose however, was doing her best to get free from Albus who was trying to stop her from interfering in the fight. She wanted to rip them both limb from limb. Wess for daring to attack Scorpius on such a ridiculous claim, and Scorpius himself for daring to duel over something so stupid when he was just starting to go back to classes.

Scorpious frowned deflecting the hex to the right, hitting the dark haired slytherin who was watching. Poor french fry...

"[i] Gravis ordeum hostes." Scorpious rattled off. a bright blue flash later and Wess found himself pressing into the ground and disoriented. It was like the air itself was heavy enough to hold him down.

Scorpious was still glaring, not bothering to lower his wand. "Hn.... What a joke." he scoffed, finaly lowering his arm, though most of the other students still stood in shock at how well he had conducted himself. He haddnt cause any physical harm and yet he had incapacitated the Hufflepuff boy.

He picked up his belongings and tucked his wand back into his pocket. "Next time you want to pick a fight, Ferrel, I suggest you pick it with someone you stand a chance against."

Rose was calmer now that the fight was over. However, she was certainly not happy about it. Albus had finally let her go and with the steps of a woman about to cause some serious damage she walked into the circle of spectators. She looked down at Wess with contempt, hardly believing that the boy who thought to defend her “honor” had lost so horribly.

And while she recognized the Scorpius had been defending himself, and Wess was the one to start the fight, she still didn’t like his part in it either. He knew he was much stronger than this poor boy, and as a Prefect he should have never dueled in the first place. Yet again he was fighting because of her, and she didn’t like it.

When she looked at him her expression was one of anger, but her eyes, her eyes told him she understood, that she wasn’t as pissed at him as she wanted everyone to believe. She touched his arm lightly, and quickly, so fast that no one else would have really been able to see it. She turned then to look at Wess, who was slowly starting to stand.

“Next time you try and defend a girls “honor” I suggest making sure said honor was even being infringed upon, and that you can even win the fight. I suggest you don’t take advice from snots who don’t fight their own battles anymore.”

Wess’s eyes widened, looking around him quickly to see if the French pureblood had heard Rose’s words. She didn’t miss a beat in her admonishment as she turned to Scorpius again.

“And I suggest that you don’t immediately declare a duel with someone. As a prefect you know the rules against dueling.”

Without staying there another moment, she turned on her heel, her anger still seething. She had a score to settle with a certain Slytherin.

Scorpious looked at Wess then the french girl as well before rolling his eye, walking off- leaving behind him a group of stunned students. He hadn't even tried. He could easily have sent him to the hospital wing for the rest of the term. And his dueling skills weren't exactly something he flaunted normally.
It left only more for the students to gossip over.

the blond headed after Rose, hoping to catch up with her. It was duel, or be punched in the face again. And dueling was, according to school code, the proper way to resolve a student to student immediate issue.

Rose didn’t get far before she stopped in a deserted corridor. Without missing a step she turned and cocked her fist back, punching the wall hard. Cradling her now throbbing hand she fell to her knees in front of the wall, her eyes burning with unshed tears. This was getting ridiculous. She couldn’t just have one day of freaking peace could she? There was always someone or something that got in the way. Stupid people fighting when they had no reason to.

And Celina. That girl was going to get it for this. Rose knew she must have egged Wess on, told him something that sent the kid over the edge. The guy knew he would probably get flattened by Scorpius, and yet he tried to fight him anyway. There was just no winning. Rose was going to have to take care of this.

As her hand throbbed in pain, a single tear ran down her cheek, her frustration finally spilling over.

"Hey...." Scorpious knelt beside her, holding a white handkerchief out to her, ivory serpents trimming the edges. "I'm sorry." he said. It was the second time he had apologized to her.

He swept one arm around her back, cradling her slightly where she knelt. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked, having seen her hit the wall. In fact he was fairly sure she might have broken a finger with that punch.

“I’m fine” She murmured, upset that he had found her like this. Lately her emotions had been all out of wack. Ever since he had first come into her life actually.

“I just…don’t want you to fight for me anymore. I don’t want that…that bitch…to get everyone in this damn school with half a brain to think dueling you is a great freaking idea.”

She took his handkerchief then and wiped her eyes angrily with her good hand, still trying to ignore the one that was continually throbbing.

“The worst part is I don’t even know where we stand. What am I supposed to say when people ask me what’s going on? I don’t even know. “

She said it quietly refusing to look at Scorpius as she spoke, afraid of what he might say.

“I like you damn it. It makes me so angry when people try to hurt you. Hell, I blasted your best friend into the wall when he hit you. I’ve never been like that before…You must think I’m psycho or something. Even now I want to find Celina and hurt her. Make her feel the pain she keeps causing. Its why I hit the damn wall. I don’t want to be that person…”

Scorpious smiled, gently taking her hurt hand in his, kissing it. "I would say we stand fairly close, wouldn't you?" he frowned a bit. "We're going to Hogsmeade right? And I had planned on asking you to the yule ball there..." he pulled out his hand, lightly tapping her hand, setting the bone back in place. He couldn't mend it but at least it was righted. "Sorry bout that..."

He shifted to face her, frowning a bit. "Don't let Celina bother you so much. She seems to think that just because my Grandfather likes her and her family I should too."

Rose grimaced when the bone was reset, feeling it slide back into place. She had forgotten just how hard she could punch something. His words were very calming for her though, her anger trickling away.

“The Yule ball?” She said, intrigued. Laughing, she said, “You may have to ask me that again tomorrow in Hogsmeade. Right now I can’t think too straight. Gotta make sure I want to be seen on the arm of a Malfoy right?”

She laughed again as she looked up at him, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.

“I’ll try and let go of the Celina thing, if you try not to fight with every single douche bag that starts something. We both know you can trample them. “

Scorpious kept his reassuring smile on, though her words had stung quite a bit more than she could have possibly meant.

She had to see if she wanted to be seen on the arm of a Malfoy.....

He nodded. "Yeah, I promise." he assured her, his stone gray eye looking her fave over. "but you do know I went easy on him."

“Of course I do. You’re amazing at things like that.” She said softly leaning her head into his chest. Everything about him was amazing to her. She couldn’t believe that he actually seemed interested in her. That he seemed to want to be with her of all people. His family would hate her. Hell, her family would hate him.

“Why me?” She wondered aloud, gasping when she realized she had actually spoken her thoughts. So that he wouldn’t be confused or offended she tried to explain.

“I mean…your family is going to hate me. We both know that, yet you said you would invite me home with you for the holidays. You must know that my family wont exactly give you a warm welcome, you saw that with my brothers. Half the school wants to fight you now, the Slytherins don’t respect you anymore, I seem to be losing my mind slowly, and you could get any girl in this bloody school. I am the nerd, the bookworm, the good girl who follows all the rules. You’re…amazing…and I’m just not. I’ve been thinking about it all this time and I just can’t figure it out…”

She trailed off, looking away from him again. She was afraid of what she would find in those gray eyes of his.

“I don’t want you to think I care what anyone thinks cause I don’t. I’m just afraid…afraid that this isn’t real. That I’ll wake up and none of this will have happened. I don’t want that.”

"I think it's because of your light." Scorpious said, making small swirls on her upper arm. "I'm used to my own little world. Classes, pride, ignorance, and all that sort..." he trailed off. "I think I'm so attracted to you because I see what you have and I want it."

He paused. "You have friends who would stick up for you- no matter what. You have family who cares what you think, you always seem so happy. I'm used to being 'that malfoy boy', or the prat. Even in my own home I'm considered a disappointment because I have different views.... It's almost like being near you, I feel like I can just... be."

He was having a hard time putting it into words. Simply, he could be himself.

Rose turned to look at him, using her good hand to raise his chin slightly so she could see into his eye, see the emotion hidden beneath. She smiled softly when she saw the hurt there, the pain he tried to hide from the world. She could see it now. How lonely it must have been growing up in his family, never being accepted. Then going through school where everyone distrusted you for something that wasn’t your fault.

In a split second she wasn’t insecure anymore. She wasn’t worried he was pretending or would get over her tomorrow. In that moment she could see more than he had even been able to articulate. It warmed her heart, and solidified what had been growing inside her since that first day.

“I like you for who you are Scorpius. Always remember that.” She said, before kissing him softly. “I’d love to go to the Yule Ball with you Scorpius Malfoy. No girl could be prouder to have you on her arm.”

Rose succeeded in something no one else had ever done before.

She managed to bring a blush to his cheeks.

Scorpious grinned sheepishly for a moment. "I half expected you to laugh at that explanation you know.... I guess I'm not as good with words as I woudl like, hm?" he pushed her fiery red hair out of her face and smiled. "No more fights, I promise.... But, just leave the French Fry to me." he said. "I'll make sure she leaves you alone."

Rose nodded, and then stood up again pulling Scorpius up with her. Grabbing her bag, while still protecting her injured hand, she pulled it back onto her shoulder.

“I’ll leave her to you then unless she confronts me directly or hurts my friends. Then, shes mine.” Her face darkened for a moment while she imagined what she would do to the French upstart before she smiled again, her features relaxing.

“You should get to class though or you’ll be late. I’m going to pop in to the hospital wing and get this fixed. I’m not confident enough in my medical charms to try and heal my own bones just yet.”

She pecked him on the cheek before she turned and started walking off, her red hair swaying with her measured gait.