A/N: This was written for the 2009 smrw_ficafest on LJ for lunalovepotter. Thanks to my beta nowgold from LJ.
Rose Weasley was late for class, and it was all due to her annoying cousin, Albus Severus. In all honesty, Albus was usually not at all annoying, but at that moment, Rose was irritated and it only seemed right to direct all of her anger towards him. She let out an angry hiss as she recalled how he had made her stay up late to help him with Potions homework. For all his cleverness, Albus could not gain a stranglehold on the art of brewing up a perfectly measured concoction and it seemed like he never even bothered to improve upon it. Impetuous– Rose muttered under her breath as she shook her head. She rushed down the stairs and entered the dungeons. In all her years at Hogwarts, she had never been late for any class – a record she took great pride in, and she strongly believed that being on time for class was a sign of sincerity. After all, she was a student and it was her priority to be completely sincere towards her education. She checked her watch as she sped desperately towards her Potions classroom. She gasped upon discovering that it had been seven minutes since the class had started; Professor Hoppsburn was strictly punctual so he must have already got on with his class, and Rose was sure he would not let her get away easily.
As she neared the classroom, she caught the familiar sound of her Potions teacher’s voice, but that wasn’t the reason she let out an irritated huff. She had just spotted a bedraggled Scorpius Malfoy rushing towards the dungeons in equal haste. Rose felt rather disappointed in herself for acting in the same manner as a student like Scorpius – who was dispassionate and lackadaisical to the core. More importantly, she had never quite forgiven him for scoring higher than her in Defence Against the Dark Arts last term and she had had a certain ill-feeling towards him ever since. They both got to the door at the same time and Rose felt her ears turning crimson as all eyes turned towards the two of them standing at the door, both extremely out of breath.
“Well, it seems we have a few late arrivals today,” said Professor Hopssburn casually. “Mr Malfoy, this is of course not your first time, but I must say I’m quite astonished to see you late, Miss Weasley.”
Rose felt as her face turn even redder; she was extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed while Scorpius continued to look very much at ease with the situation. Professor Hoppsburn shook his head.
“Ten points each off Slytherin and Ravenclaw and detention with me on Saturday afternoon,” he said sternly to the both of them before looking away. “Now please take your seats.”
Rose quietly made her way towards one of the empty seats on either side of Albus while Scorpius took the other. She never quite understood how both Al and Scorpius became such good friends but she never had any complaints regarding the matter. Rose hadn’t got to know to Scorpius that well but Al always had good things to say about him even though it appeared to Rose that Scorpius Malfoy was very reckless and immature. She brushed all other thoughts away and turned to Al, who looked rather nervously back at her. She was sure her expression had turned to an angry grimace the moment she noticed Al turn paler. Scorpius snorted lightly and patted Al at the back.
“Your cousin is horrifying alright, Al,” he muttered, grinning. “Look at that expression of hers – classic.”
“Al, please tell your friend I intend to pay attention to nothing but the lesson,” Rose whispered rather loudly, hoping Scorpius would hear it too. They were preparing the Draught of Peace about which Rose and Albus had studied in details the previous evening.
“He’s your friend too,” Al piped up hesitantly, but neither paid him any attention.
“Tell me, Rose, why do you always talk like that?” Scorpius asked, rather bemused as he began to crush his moonstone. “You always talk practical - it’s like I’m talking to a book. You need to let go.”
“I don’t think I’m in the right state of mind to have another debate with you today,” Rose said impatiently, as she finely crushed her moonstone to powder. Al had only managed to squash several chunks out of his moonstone instead of a fine powder.
“Do you call this a debate? I would say it’s just lighthearted banter, Rose,” Scorpius said with a chuckle. “Al, what do you say? And your powder needs to be finer, mate.”
Al just rolled his eyes and inserted lumps of moonstone in his cauldron. “I do think you talk in a rather bookish manner, Rose.” Al began cautiously. “And you’re always a bit too practical. It’s not a bad thing at all, but you should just loosen up a bit at times.”
Rose scowled at Al in anger and decided to avoid talking to both of them for the rest of the class. Her day had started bad because of Al and it seemed like he was set on troubling her throughout the rest of it. She couldn’t believe that she had got herself in detention for him and in return Al was passing comments about her, along with Scorpius. Her dislike for the blonde Slytherin was growing with each conversation ever since he started to point out flaws in her. At the end of the class Rose stomped out of the classroom hastily without even looking at either Al or Scorpius, who exchanged bemused glances.
At lunch, she entered the Great Hall all by herself and sat down in one corner of the Ravenclaw table, hoping neither Al nor Scorpius would show up. She had been snappy and irate all day and had mostly kept to herself throughout. That day, Scorpius tried to get Rose to talk to him many times – during classes, between classes, at the library, at dinner but Rose was determined not to talk to him and she managed to avoid talking to either of them till she safely reached the Ravenclaw tower at night.
While lying on her bed, she had given this situation a great deal of thought and decided that she didn’t need anyone’s friendship or company, especially if all they did was find faults in her. After all, she hadn’t come to Hogwarts to socialize; she was there to receive the finest education so that she could fulfill her ambitions. She couldn’t falter just because of someone’s views. Perhaps her way of looking at things was practical and rational, unlike more than half the students in the school, so a lot of people did not connect with her. However, she knew the key to achieving her goals was strong will and strict discipline, not a friendly and chipper attitude. She only had Al and Scorpius as close friends– even though she was never at peace with Scorpius; he was a friend of Al so he was in some ways her friend too. But even they failed to understand her and thought her way of looking at things was wrong. Rose fell asleep feeling very confused and lonely.
The next day was a Saturday, and Rose was supposed to serve detention that afternoon along with Scorpius. When she recalled that after waking up in the morning, her mood turned sour, and things got worse when she realised that she was mad at Al and Scorpius for speaking to her rudely the day before. She hadn’t ever imagined having to serve detention since the day she had stepped inside Hogwarts but now she would really have to experience it. It would mark a permanent blot on her spotless record, and when she thought of it that way, her stomach lurched.
“Worried about detention, Weasley?’ Scorpius asked approaching the Ravenclaw table at breakfast.
Seeing the smirk on his face infuriated Rose even more. She was disappointed to see that he was standing alone; she was hoping Al would be with him. She scowled in fury and turned to face Scorpius.
“Not at all, Malfoy,” Rose answered back, finally breaking her silence. “I’m sure I’ll get through it fine because you’ll be there to help. After all, you are very experienced.”
“Sure, I’ll be glad to help,” Scorpius said, with a cheeky grin. “Be prepared for the lesson of your life, okay?”
Rose pursed her lips angrily as he walked away, looking a bit too smug for her liking. She didn’t care about what he had just told her because it seemed rubbish. She wanted to talk to Al; she needed to talk to him. He was her best friend and she couldn’t go more than a day without talking to him. But he hadn’t even bothered to find her or speak to her since yesterday. Was he avoiding her? While that didn’t make any sense, the thought made her uncomfortable because no matter how much she claimed that she didn’t need anyone, the truth was that she relied on Al a great deal. Whenever she went through a rough patch, she had always had him beside her, but this time he was nowhere to be found. If he wanted to keep away from her then he would have it his way; Rose wasn’t going to beg him to talk to her. He had hurt her by not supporting her in Potions class and she wasn’t going to talk to him unless he apologized for his behaviour. She crossed her arms angrily as she finished her breakfast and left the Great Hall all by herself.
She didn’t want to be surrounded by a lot of people so she spent her time sitting by the lake. She had borrowed a book from the library recently so she decided to finish reading it while she was there. She sat there for a long time, not wanting to move an inch; she skipped lunch, mostly so that she could avoid going inside amidst the crowd. She was hoping Al would show up looking for her but that didn’t happen. Instead, the silky smooth voice of Scorpius called her from one side some time after lunch. She was disappointed that it wasn’t Al but she quickly hid any hint of discomfort in her face and looked up at him nonchalantly. His face held a concerned expression, unlike the smug look she had seen at breakfast.
“What is it?” she asked sharply, annoyance still evident in her tone.
“We need to go,” he said, searching her face. “Professor Hoppsburn says he wants us in the dungeons within a few minutes. Uhh- are you okay?”
“Oh, I don’t want to be late,” she said hurriedly as she stood up. She was slightly taken aback by his manner of talking which was very different from the constant taunts she was used to hearing.
“You weren’t there during lunch,” he said staring at her intently. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah, I just got hooked to this book,” she replied reluctantly, pointing at the book in her hand. “And I wasn’t hungry anyway. Don’t bother; let’s go now.”
They didn’t speak on their way but Scorpius stole a few glimpses every now and then. Rose felt slightly sick, perhaps because she hadn’t eaten anything since the morning but she tried hard not to show it. Within a few minutes they reached the dark of the dungeons and saw their Professor waiting for them outside the Potions classroom. He motioned them inside the classroom, which looked very different at that moment. The cauldrons had been removed and the chairs had been pushed to one side. She stared at the floor which was spotted everywhere with potion spilling; some places were even burnt. There were five or six buckets lined on one corner along with soap and brushes.
“There is water in the buckets and you have soap and brushes there as well,” Professor Hoppsburn said, pointing towards the corner of the classroom. “As you can see, these floors have become extremely dirty and so I require you to clean them without magic. Please hand over your wands to me.”
Scorpius groaned loudly but reached inside his pocket to take his wand out. Rose followed him and gave her wand over to Professor Hoppsburn, who was looking Scorpius suspiciously.
“If you could hand over the other wand you have brought along, please,” he said, smiling at Scorpius, who just rolled his eyes and handed another wand over muttering incoherently. “Thank you, Mr Malfoy.”
Professor Hoppsburn left the classroom looking extremely pleased, leaving an infuriated Rose who glared malevolently at Scorpius. She couldn’t believe he had actually brought two wands along with him. How could anyone not take detention seriously?
“What’s wrong? Do you want to strangle me?” Scorpius asked as he carelessly poured a whole bucket of water on the floor.
“That’s not how you do – ” Rose began in protest but she was cut off midway through.
“This is how we do it if we want to get this place cleaned up by today,” he said forcefully, as he sprayed a whole packet of soap into a bucket. He then poured the entire contents of the bucket on another part of the floor.
“Who’s going to clean the potion spills? They have to be brushed!” Rose said, hoping to point out the flaw in his plan.
“You can do that,” Scorpius answered, not even bothering to look at her.
“What?” Rose exclaimed angrily but Scorpius wasn’t even paying attention; he had something else on his mind.
“We have extra buckets of water; these won’t be required” he muttered thoughtfully as he picked up a bucket, and suddenly, his face brightened up and a smile appeared on his mouth. “Didn’t I tell you I would teach you something today?”
He reached inside the bucket and flicked some water on her face, and before Rose could say anything he drenched her with the whole bucket. The water was ice cold and it made her shiver; it was already rather freezing inside the dungeons. She was shocked and she glared angrily at Scorpius who had burst into laughter seeing her condition. Her whole body was trembling; partly due to the cold and partly because she was furious. In her rage, she was struggling to find the words and it seemed as though he was enjoying her reaction very much.
“I guess you’re very mad,” Scorpius said, chuckling as he brushed a spot on the floor. “But I had a lot of fun, Weasley. Let’s make it a fair game – you can have a go at me if you like. Come on, let’s make the scores level. But I know you won’t even come out to play – you’re not brave enough to take things on.”
Although she had been freezing seconds ago, Rose was boiling with anger as his words reached her ears. He wanted a fair game so she would give it to him – on her own terms. It seemed childish to her to play with soap and water, so she was willing to wait for the right moment. She tried to divert her attention towards her work; she grabbed a brush and a bottle of liquid soap to begin scrubbing the floor, but his words kept repeating in her head. She may not be a Gryffindor but she was a Weasley, and no one has the right to call any Weasley a coward. She would show him how she can take things on. Scorpius was eyeing her curiously as though he was waiting for her to act. Cautiously, she reached for the bottle of liquid soap in her hand, pointing it towards him before squirting all of it on his face. His face was covered in blue but she could see his mouth was wide open. The horror on his face was evident, and it made Rose feel rather glorious and happy.
She shook her head in disbelief; how could she feel happy about that? It was a silly and unreasonable act; she had acted impulsively and she had enjoyed doing it. She should have felt ashamed instead.
“I can’t believe I did that - ugh,” she muttered in a shocked tone.
“You can’t believe you had fun doing it,” he said, looking smug as he removed another spot from the floor. “I think the scrubbing is done – this place is clean enough. And Like Al said - you should loosen up a bit at times. You’ll be surprised how good it makes you feel.”
“I did not have fun!” Rose said, turning slightly pink. “I acted stupidly – I should be ashamed.
“But you’re not; I bet you’re feeling happy.”
“I’m not feeling happy!”
“You are – it’s so clear on your face.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“I’m sorry I expected some fun from you, Weasley,” Scorpius said, clucking his tongue. “I’ve known you for the past six years and I still manage to forget that fun is forbidden in your book. You’re Miss Practical, aren’t you?”
“And I’m sorry I don’t agree with something that seems to be Peeves’s idea of having fun,” Rose said through gritted teeth as she mopped the floor dry with a rather dirty piece of cloth.
“Is that a bad thing?” he asked, sounding amazed. “He’s probably the one person at Hogwarts who has the most fun. I would take a leaf out of his book any day.”
“That’s because you enjoy seeing others hurt, Malfoy,” she spat angrily, not looking away from the floor.
“I don’t do that,” he said tactfully. “Sometimes it’s fun to pull a prank on someone. Trust me no one gets offended because at the end of the day, it gives everyone a chance to laugh.”
“Drenching someone with ice cold water mixed with soap is disgusting not fun,” she replied irately.
“Well, you seemed to have fun when you tried to squirt a bottle of liquid soap on me,” Scorpius asked with a frown on his face. “For once in your life you let your instincts rule you. And I know you can’t deny the fact that it made you feel good. I don’t know why you’re not like this more often. You call it being rational but I think it’s being cowardly.”
“You don’t call me a coward!” Rose snapped, offended. “You filthy Slytherin!”
“Well, you are not brave, are you?” Scorpius taunted, giving her a smirk. “That’s why you’re in Ravenclaw. Weren’t all your family members in Gryffindor? That just proves how different you are, Rose.”
“Stop it, just stop it, please!” she shrieked in a tiny voice, closing her eyes. She didn’t even realise when the tears had started to roll down her cheeks, but she made no attempt to wipe them away.
“I’m s-sorry …” Scorpius said in a low voice, much different from the harsh one she had been listening to. “Look, I was just … being an insensitive prat. It was a sensitive issue and I know whenever I bring it up, you feel awkward. But I had no idea this time you would … Please, Rose.”
“You and Al are the only ones I spend my time with,” Rose whispered in a shaky voice. “I don’t care about others but when you two say these things to me, it makes me feel horrible – I feel lonely.
She broke down once more, recalling Al’s words during Potions and how he had avoided speaking to her since then. She felt as though she was losing her best friend. The tears gushed down her check, and she saw Scorpius make an uncomfortable movement. He put his arms around her and held her tightly for a while without speaking at all. It was awkward but Rose felt warmer and it gave her the assurance that she wasn’t alone.
“I’m sorry, Rose,” he muttered in her ears, “I just wanted you to know that letting lose and acting on impulse is not a bad thing. Everything doesn’t have to be planned, and things don’t always have to be done right. It’s not always about success, is it? It’s about the lessons we learn on our way, and I wanted you to learn to see the world in a different light – slightly like how I look at it. I took it too far and I shouldn’t have talked to like that.”
Rose listened to him while letting out silent sobs; his words were soothing somehow. She was rather amazed to see the gentler side of him being revealed. She had never imagined him like this – he was always so haughty and smug, and she disliked him for being like that but at that moment, she couldn’t help liking his softer side.
“Thanks,” Rose murmured, barely audible; she was drained of all energy.
“Don’t thank me for making you cry,” he said wryly. “I’m not proud of it.”
“Thank you for … teaching me the lesson of my life,” she said, managing a feeble smile at the recollection.
He saw the humour in her words and smiled weakly. He stared at her intently, just like he had done near the lake. His expression became even gentler, and before she could figure anything out, his lips were on hers, causing a tingling sensation in her stomach. She let her instincts take over as she kissed him back meaningfully. It was soft yet fiery, making her forget all her problems and her frustrations. She was oblivious to it all. She just knew that Scorpius Malfoy was exploring every part of her mouth and she had no intentions of making him stop. Her hands were pulling his hair tightly as he grabbed her waist with his hands.
“I’m sorry, really sorry --- ” he muttered, pulling away abruptly. He looked at her as though expecting a burst of anger.
“You should apologise,” she whispered breathlessly, “for pulling away like that. I was having fun.”
She pulled him back closer before he could open his mouth to speak, and she did not let him utter a word for a long time after that. He was right; it felt surprisingly good to let loose.
Lesson of Your Life by ginny112
Story Notes:
This was written for the 2009 smrw_ficafest on LJ for lunalovepotter. Thanks to my beta nowgold from LJ.