The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

When I woke up, it was after a brief word from Spunky: “Thanks to you I am home again, and as for tonight? I’ll see you then!”

After I woke up, I didn’t want to move. Scorpius was so warm, and how we lay was so comfortable, I just wanted to go back to sleep. And seeing as it was just early on a Sunday morning, I could do just that. After all, Scorpius and I didn’t have any plans that had to do with someone else, so sleeping in was perfectly justified.

And so we did just that.

After the embarrassing Spunky incident, nothing super interesting happened. That night, all he was doing was thanking me again in my dream, and there was no furtherance of my quest to save my friend, which kind of annoyed me, because I was really starting to wonder who it could be. There were the obvious ones, like Scorpius and my family, but then there were Andy and Joe and Theresa and Demitri and even Carl. I didn’t really have much time to think about it, though, because I had returned to working my Quidditch team hard, so we could crush Ravenclaw in the first Gryffindor match of the season.

After one such practice, Albus nearly collapsed returning up the stairs, and Lily and I had to support him between us to the Gryffindor common room.

“What kind of world is it…” Lily panted, as Al was nearly limp between the two of us, “…when the women have to carry the men because the men tire easier?”

“Shaddup,” Al moaned, lifting the next foot.

“Messed up,” I replied, ignoring Al. “Now we’ve got to lift him over the trick stair, as he won’t be much help.”

Al grumbled something under his breath, but I didn’t pay any attention to what it was. It was probably something insulting to me or my intelligence or my training style. It wasn’t really anything new, to tell the truth. He’s a cousin - it’s in our natures to give each other a hard time.

“Heave!” I told Lily, and with an effort, we got our kin past the trap stair safely.

Once I’d made sure Al was safely through the portrait hole, my stomach let out a rumble, and I decided to make a detour to the kitchens. It would put me farther from the Head’s dormitory, but I’d be fine…much better than Al, at any rate. So I made my way to the kitchens, where the house elves (who were all making two sickles a week, thanks to my mum - and only two sickles because that’s all they would take) were more than happy to give some food away. Namely sweet food, like Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties. I also managed to get a bit of treacle tart for both Scorpius and I, and a corned beef sandwich (which was my least favorite, but I was hungry and with the head of S.P.E.W. as my mother, I couldn’t complain to the poor elves).

Being past nine at night - practice had run over and only ended when Professor Malin had been kind enough to come out and warn us - I was wary as I walked through the halls, watching out for both teachers and students who were breaking the rules. On the fourth floor, I ran into Peeves, who cackled at my sweaty, worn out appearance and mud and snow splattered robes - now mostly mud and freezing cold water, really - all the way up to the sixth floor. I finally threatened him with the Bloody Baron - an underhanded blow - but it worked nonetheless and the last floor was uneventful.

As I entered the dorm, I though absently that anyone who had heard of the Room of Requirement and knew where it was supposed to be could enter the dorm. It was a disconcerting thought, really, that anyone, anyone at all, could get into my living quarters.
Glancing around, I noticed Scorpius’ absence, and wondered vaguely where he had gone. I didn’t have to wonder long, because as I reached the sofa and sat my food on the table, the door swung open.

“Oh, hello, Rose,” he said, grinning. “I was waiting for you in the entrance hall, but I was caught by Professor Malin, who said she’d sent you all in about a half an hour ago. She let me off because she knew why I was there. Where’ve you been?”

“Had to help Lily,” I replied, after swallowing my bite of corned beef sandwich, “Al was beat - out of shape, had to be. Almost collapsed on the stairs, so I had to help Lily get him back to Gryffindor Tower.”

“Oh, I see,” Scorpius sat down beside me, throwing his cloak over the arm of the couch as he did so. At least he was prepared for the cold of the entrance hall, if we had really entered while he was there. It had begun to snow again. “Already trying to beat them into shape, then? And only your fourth practice?”

“Of course,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “They’ve got to get with it if we’re beating Ravenclaw. Olivia’s probably got them trained as precisely as…as…as a group of assassins, or something!”

I feigned exasperation, throwing my hands up in the air exaggeratedly. Scorpius rolled his eyes, and I passed him the bit of treacle tart I’d acquired for him. The house elves would undoubtedly take the plates back to the kitchens when they cleaned the common room, after both Scorpius and I had gone to sleep.

“Assassins,” Scorpius stated, after a brief moment of containing a snort. “Why don’t you just say she’s probably trained them like pros?”

“That works,” I shrugged. “Didn’t occur to me when I was saying it.”

“I noticed.”

I stuck my tongue out at his slightly teasing remark, and we sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. My collection of cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties ended up being shared between us, as well as a steady, easy conversation about homework and scores and prefect meetings.

Before I realized it, the day of the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match had arrived. I sat, not at the prefects’ table, but at the Gryffindor table with my team. Lily also vacated the prefects’ table for the sake of the team.

“Hey, Rose,” Al said promptly. “You, Lily, and Hugh know Olivia’s style better than the rest of us, since you were on her Exhibition team. You’ve gotta help us.”

Fred nodded in agreement with Al, and Natalie Trebond and Peter Harris, the only two non Potter/Weasleys on the Gryffindor team, agreed with them.

“Let’s take some toast,” Lily said, standing, “and head down to the changing rooms. We can talk, plan, whatever, in there. Away from prying eyes and ears.”

Here, Lily looked at the Ravenclaws, where their Quidditch team were whispering feverishly, and glances kept shooting our way. Lily was being a bit paranoid if she thought they could hear us from the far end of their table, but I did like the idea of discussing tactics in the changing rooms. After all, we had relatives in both houses and our family has been known to be won over by a nice bag of Honeydukes chocolate…so Roxanne, who was sitting by us, was a suspect of the next bribery attempt.

“And today’s match is Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw! A battle of the Potters and Weasleys, mostly, with seven others thrown in!” came Leanne Jordan’s voice, excitedly, over the crowd. “And I bet Rose has been keeping her team in top shape, looking for a Gryffindor victory after her Exhibition team’s close loss to Durmstrang!”

I ignored the slight pang at the reminder, and focused on Aunt Angelina, who had just walked amidst the two teams with the chest of Quidditch balls.

“Team Captains,” she addressed Olivia and I, the only ones still on the ground as the others hovered on our respective sides of the field, “shake hands.”

“Good luck, Olivia,” I said, smiling in a friendly way, but gripping her hand hard enough to let her know that I wouldn’t hold back.

“May the better team win,” Olivia agreed, squeezing my hand tightly before letting go. We both mounted our brooms as Angelina prepared to open the crate. I hovered slightly below my team, not eager to get in the way of the chasers charging for the Quaffle, and then, the game began. Without a second’s hesitation, I spun around and shot towards my goalposts, ready to defend them as though my life was over if I failed.

The first thing I noticed was that my team nearly pulled of the Hawkshead Attacking Formation, but were scattered by a bludger, Lily in possession - it had been Al, before he discreetly passed it to her behind his back as the bludger came in. Lily passed to Peter, who corkscrewed through the air as a bludger flew overhead, hit by Bill Pearson, of Ravenclaw.

They passed back and forth, keeping it away from Ravenclaw’s chasers, and scored within three minutes of the start of the game. Olivia was then shooting down the field, making a beeline for me, although I knew it must be a fake-out, because she wasn’t so reckless. I was proved right when she spun around in the air promptly, passing to Molly, who had come up on the right, dodging Fred’s bludger as she did so. John Marcum, the other chaser, acquired the Quaffle after Molly had passed back to Olivia and Olivia passed it to him.

When they really reached me, it was Molly with possession, but she pulled a fake and passed to John, whose shot was blocked by me.

“And the score is still 10 to nothing, Gryffindor, after an attempt at a fake by Ravenclaw chaser Molly Weasley! Nice try, Ravenclaw!”

“Leanne, we are not biased,” said Professor Platt from behind her, gently, with a slight grin on her face.

“Sorry, Professor. Anyway, Weasley has passed to Potter, who passes to Potter, who passes to Harris, who reverses back to Potter, who streaks off up the field--”

Lily was the Potter with the Quaffle at the moment.

“Lily, duck!” Hugh shouted, racing toward the bludger that was aimed for her head. Lily rolled, flying upside down as the bludger whizzed harmlessly by, followed by Hugo, who smacked it toward Lucille Beasley, the other Ravenclaw beater.

I was surprised I’d heard Hugo’s shout, being so far away, but he had to be loud to make sure Lily knew it was there.

When Lily had scored and the Quaffle was making its way back toward me, I bent lower over my broom and focused on the opposition. I didn’t want to lose our early lead yet.