The Flower and the Snake

"I don't mind, but I think I'll be fine with the apple." he said pulling it out of his pocket.

He looked tired- having not slept well the night before. Not to mention someone had jinxed his scarf so that he had to wresstle it off his neck before it coudl strangel him that morning- plus the whole 'skulls are yummy' bit.

Oh yes, today was a lovely day.

"So, bet you regret being Slytherin now, eh?" one boy teased lightly.

Scorpious scowled at his apple, as though it were it's fault for his luck. "I don't see how it matters.... only a few more months and it won't have mattered what house I was placed in anyway, now will it?"

“True true.” Lily said, taking a bite of her scrambled eggs with relish.

“I don’t think it quite matters what your housemates do.” Jasper said, his small third year self somehow fitting in with the myriad of 6th and 7th years that were currently talking.

“Your house is chosen based on your specific talents. For instance, Hugo is in Gryffindor because he is a stubborn blockhead.”

With that comment Hugo soundly smacked his brother on the side of his head which resulted in a tussling match between them.

“Guys knock it off.” Rose said smartly, taking a bite out her toast. The boys both glared at their older sister but they stopped their fighting.

Scorpious finished off his apple, listening to the Griffindors chat aaway, bicker and banter. It was alot less formal than at his usual table.

He didn't put his two sence in on any topic that came up durring the meal, instead took the chance to get to know the Weasleys and Potters personalities, having never really spoken with them before.

Rose ate her breakfast mostly silent, only chiming in occasionally when they said something truly outrageous. She couldn’t believe just how comfortable it was with all of them, even with Scorpius sitting with them. Lily and Albus still argued over Lily’s boyfriend while Hugo and Jasper made jibes at each other. It was like Scorpius belonged there without ever having to try.

Of course conversation eventually led to the upcoming holidays and the Yule Ball.

“I suppose Micheal is taking you to the Yule Ball then?” Albus said, growling.

“Ugh let it go Albus! So Hugo you gonna try and work things out with Clara? I mean you guys were pretty steady for a while.” Lily tried to move the topic away from herself.

“I don’t know.” Hugo moaned. “She thinks that its never going to go anywhere. I don’t know what she wants from me!”

Lily laughed, as did Rose. They both knew what was wrong with Hugo. He was one of those guys that thought just hanging out with a girl was enough. That she never needed to be shown someone cared for her.

“You’re hopeless dude.” Jasper said

“Shut it Jasper. Like you’ll ever get a girlfriend.”

“You know Hugo. We do have the resident Casanova here. Why not ask Malfoy for advice. Maybe you’ll actually listen to him.” Albus said, purposefully bringing Scorpius into the conversation for the first time.

Scorpious blinked. Casanova huh? He wasn't quite sure how to take that.

"Eh, well... If she thinks it isn't going to go anywhere try showing her something extra?" he suggested a bit awkwardly. "Even if it's just flowers or pulling her chair out. Doesn't take much on your part really..."

“See Hugo. Its like what Rose and I keep saying. You gotta show her she’s special.” Lily said, laughing at his stricken face.

“Well we should get going.” Rose said, standing up. She could tell Scorpius was starting to feel akward and she had a feeling it would only get worse from here on out.

“What’re you guys up to today?” Lily asked, curiosity oozing from every pore.

“Just studying.” Rose said, giving Lily the look of ’Shut up or I just may kill you.’

Albus of course was far too perceptive for his own good. He could see Rose’s potion scale sticking out of her bag and deduced what was happening rather quickly.

“I see then. Not gonna need me for help for that potion then. I’ll be off then to study elsewhere. Good luck.” He didn’t waste another moment at the table, getting up and leaving the Great Hall in a rush.

“Don’t mind him.” Lily said, watching her brother leave. “Have fun guys. Im off to go meet up with Micheal anyway. Hugo I suggest you go find Clara.”

Rose sighed and walked off, pulling Scorpius along, leaving the sounds of Hugo’s protests behind her.

Scorpious looked over his shoudler as he was pulln away. "I take it Albus is going to be the harest to get along with out of the lot?" he asked as they entered the hallways.

He didn't want for an answer. "No one would be in the Souther corridor this time of day, and there's an old potions lab there. Or did you have somewhere else you wanted to go?"

“That’s fine.” She said heading towards the southern corridor. Her mind was whirling with guilt. She had forgotten to tell Albus she was going to get help from Scorpius. He probably thought she was replacing him or something.

“I thought Hugo would be the most difficult…” She muttered, still lost in her own thoughts.

"..." Scorpious blinked and stoped walking. "Hey." he said. "In class, I was serious. Such a difficult potion woudl be easier with three people... Did you want to go get him?"

Rose turned and looked at him. Her mind thinking fast. Did she want to go get him? Some part of her screamed yes, he was her best friend, she didn’t want him mad at her. But another part of her knew he would just say no, and if he didn’t say no he’d be absolutely miserable to work with.

Besides, he didn’t have to run off like that. She could have easily asked him right then and solved the problem before it had to start. And he obviously didn’t like Scorpius, putting him on the spot like that. By the time she was done working through it in her mind she was pretty mad at Albus herself.

“No. Professor Blackwell said we’re going to have to do it alone anyway, and if he wants to act like that then he can do it on his own time.”

Scorpious didn't seem so sure, confused by her worried expression turning to an angry one. "Alright, just a suggestion." he said putting his hands up, as if to ward off somethign that might bite.

He closed the distance between the two of them, taking her scales and such so she didn't have to carry it. "Just wouldnt want you to be distracted is all."

Rose sighed, letting him take the heavy scales and caludron for her. She didn’t say another word until they reached the old potions lab and she started setting up her supplies. When she had everything set up she turned back to him and smiled. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and said calmly,

“I’m fine. Really I am. I’ll deal with him later. Lets just get this done okay?”

http://www.hiddentrails.com/outdoor/tour.aspx?id=outdoor_hike_ireland_Donegal_Way_sg&tourtype=Hiking I WANNA GOOOOOOO >.<


Scorpious blushed where she kissed his cheek and smield a bit, finishing the unpacking of supplies. "If we finish this well, I want to take you someplace special." he said. "Think of it as a reward- since I've never shown anyone."

((Omg that looks amazing! I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland. ))


Rose nodded, “You and your surprises.” Laughing she pulled out her book and got to work. They worked on the potion for what seemed like hours, having to throw out a few concoctions that were so utterly wrong there was no saving them. By the time she and Scorpius had pulled off a passable Draught of Living Death, her hair looked like a poof ball, and she had random bits of soot on her face from various explosions.

“I…I think we did it.” She said, surprised when the potion was finally the black smooth substance that it was supposed to be. She pulled out a feather from her potions kit and dropped it in the potion, to see it burn and crumble, exactly what was supposed to happen.

“We did it!” She yelled, pumping a fist in the air.

Scorpious smiled, glad to have finally finished it. Now he could do it without a problem he was sure. "We'll make it together again tomorrow then you'll do it once on your own. Alright?"

Rose nodded, though the grin on her face was ridiculously big. Their potions class was on Tuesday, so it gave her all day on Monday to practice once class was let out. Without thinking about it she jumped him, hugging him so tightly around the middle that he couldn’t breathe.

“Thank you so much! Now I know I can pass.”

"yes, yes, you can pass." he laughed. "You're going to snap a rib." he laughed, wrapping one arm around her waist, his other hand holding her head where she was, kissing her. It was a nice smooth kiss too, deep but not quite hungry before he pulled back. "Now..." behind her back e waved his wand cleaning up their mess. "Ready to go?"

Rose straitened herself up with her wand, calming her crazy hair and cleaning off the soot.

“Yup I’m ready to go.” She said once she had herself cleaned up and presentable to the world. She used her curiosity of what he was going to show her now to keep her mind from diving into thoughts that were best left unexplored. She was painfully aware of the fact they were alone, in a deserted classroom, in a deserted corridor, and as such they needed to vacate said area fast. Otherwise, well, she didn't want to think about the things they could get away with down there or she knew her face would give her away with that tell tale blush.

Scorpious grabbed their belongings. "We'll drop these in my room on the way out." he said.

Besides, he had to pick something up before they could go. True it was still the afternoon but comming back it wouldn't be.

Rose nodded, holding the door open for him as he walked out. She had always wondered where the Slytherin dorms were. She figured they were somewhere underground but no one knew exactly where. That was simply the way of the houses. They kept the entrances to their common rooms secret from the other houses, and if you did invite an outsider to your common room, it was assumed that whoever they were would not tell others where exactly they had been.

So even now the houses were still as separate as they had ever been.

Scorpious lead the way down towards the dungeons, leading her down a hallway to a bare section of wall- as were most walls down there, and took her hand, simply walking right through.

They came out on the other side similar to how one reaches platform 9 3/4 from Kings cross. The ceiling of the common room was low and green shaded lamps filled the area as well as lavishing Armchairs.

"And welcome to Slytherin house." he said simply.

A few people looked up, did double takes and went back to what they were doing. No one in the room as of current was part of Scorpious' old group.

"Have a seat, I'll be right back."

Rose took a seat like she belonged there. The truth was she wasn’t uncomfortable in the least. These Slytherins were not part of that rowdy gang that caused all the problems. In fact a couple of them she had talked with and spent a pleasant time conversing. These were the Slytherins who didn’t believe in blood purity and all that nonsense. They were still crafty, and cunning of course, that was the mark of their house. Their ambition was unrivaled. However, they did not believe that those without pureblood status were beneath. Some knew that simply because they realized that just because someone was a half blood didn’t mean they wouldn’t get better grades or ultimately a better job than them.

As she sat and waited, a fellow seventh year named Marisa walked up to her, holding a long parchment.

“Ms. Weasly, I hate to disturb you but I was wondering if you could answer a question for me. You see I am having a bit of trouble in Transfiguration and since it happens to be one of your best subjects I was hoping you wouldn’t mind explaining something to me in greater detail.”

Rose couldn’t help but laugh lightly. The girl was so damn formal! She just would never understand why every damn person in Slytherin house was always so polite. People in her house would have said something more along the lines of “Oi! Come help me with this problem you brainiac.“ The Slytherins looked almost scandalized before she explained.

“You don’t have to be so formal with me. Call me Rose please. I don’t mind helping you out.”

Thus when Scorpius came back down from his dormitory he found her explaining to a group of avid 7th years the intricacies of human transfiguration with the rest of the house listening as well, though they tried to pretend they weren’t.

Scorpious just leaned against the wall listening with a smile on his face. It apparently caught someones eye as genuine, because he looked over, wiggled his eyebrows, then looked back to Rose, leaving Scorpious slightly confused by doing so.

Strange housemates...

"So what happened with Scorpious when you transfigured him?"

"Ah." Scorpious spoke up. "That was where I botched up." he said. "had nothing to do with Rose. I hadn't done the reassembly correctly. That's why when Edgar hit me, well-- there you have it."

Rose looked over to Scorpius in surprise, wondering how long he had been standing there. She blushed lightly and cleared her throat, turning back to the group that she was talking to.

“That’s the number one rule of human transfiguration. Never attempt it when you are not at your very best or there can be very bad consequences. Even if the transfiguration itself doesn’t make it worse, any injury you might have could become much worse. Case and point is standing over there.”

Some of the housemates actually looked away nervously, having a hard time believing he would take that one easily. Another of the students actually outright laughed at what she said.

“Nice one Weasly. Looks like you got your hands full with this one Malfoy.”

"You reap what you sew." Scorpious shrugged simply. "Ready Rose? Or are you still tutoring?"

[XD i had an idea.... someone in the gryffindor house as a joke should be roughing housing with Hugo and for some reason decide to pull the string on his eye patch and pull it off XD really embarrassed him or something, cuz he IS vain XD though he wont admit it lol]