The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

Scorpius had woken as I read through what we knew about dream imps again, trying to glean information from it that would be useful. I kind of suspected I might just get to see Spunky again very soon, and I had no idea why I had the feeling. It was just there, and I was acting on it.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Scorpius asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes in a slightly agitated manner. “I could have helped.”

“At least one of us needs to be fully rested,” I teased, putting the book down, “and besides, there’s nothing so far that will help us, so I think it’s pretty much winging it and relying on prior knowledge to get through this whole thing.”

He sighed heavily, but nodded as he stretched his bunched up shoulder muscles.

“Up,” I said then, cheerfully, as I finished extricating myself from still slightly drowsy boy. I placed a quick kiss on his cheek as I stood. “We might as well get ready now and head down to breakfast. Maybe we should go to the kitchens, though, because you know my whole family will be all over us with well-wishing and - not that well-wishing is a bad thing, now - but it gets tiring after the first twelve cousins and friends.”

Scorpius snorted but slowly stood up, stretching some more. I took my blanket and pillow in my arms and grinned, making my way back up the stairs again. When I reached my room (which, might I add, was still chilled from the strange occurrence in the midst of the night), I deposited said blanket and pillow haphazardly on my bed and went to rummage for some clothes to wear after my shower. Before I left my room, I cast a quick glance in the direction of the window. It was just as I had left it after mending it late last night. I then rushed back down the stairs so as to claim the bathroom before Scorpius had the opportunity to.

When I was done with the shower, I slid into a pair of jeans and my new Weasley sweater; the white one with the red rose on it. My gloves, scarf, and all the other things needed to keep warm were by the fire in the common room so as to be toasty and warm the next time I needed them…which was the task today.

A shudder of anticipation rippled through my spine, making my heart race and flooding my thoughts with all of our failed attempts to find something in all of our studies that would help us in the task. And then I remembered everything that had to do with Spunky. Sure, he was a dream imp that was cryptic at best, but he did speak in rhymes and I wasn’t even about to toss the notion that he was involved. It was kind of like a premonition, but not of the bad kind that had me freaking out. No, it was just a nagging suspicion that I would see Spunky for the first time in weeks in the second task. The enigmatic little creature that had plagued my dreams and nearly guided me into misfortune several times…and I actually missed him.

I laughed to myself gently as I dried my hair with a quick charm, pulling it back into a rather messy ponytail, before I exited the room.

“Bathroom’s yours,” I said, rolling my eyes when I saw Scorpius immersed in a book, feverishly scanning the pages. “You’re probably not going to find much else, you know.”

“Never hurts to try,” he shrugged, placing the aged book back on the table and standing with his clothes under his arm. He grinned as he brushed by me and, before he closed the bathroom door, he said in a high voice meant to imitate a girl, “Don’t you run of and leave me while I’m in the shower, hun!”

I stared, dumbfounded, at the closed door to the bathroom.

“What the hell did they put in your supper last night?!” I called after him before the shower started running. I distinctly heard a laugh, and rolled my eyes again.

Of course, I reminded myself, Scorpius was known for random outbursts when they were least expected. I briefly reminisced on the time, back in second year before I really talked to him that much, when he stood up in the middle of Transfiguration one day, waited for the teacher to ask him if he had something to add, and he blinked, looked around the room, and announced, “I smell cobbler.”

I shook my head, bringing myself out of the past in order to continue the so far fruitless search for anything that would help. Rhyme schemes? Like that would be in a spell book. It made me wish that I had brought some of the old books Mum had from her days in Muggle schools, that told of different poetry styles and ways to rhyme. Although I didn’t think that the alliteration would be much use for this sort of thing…

Cue the face-in-the-palm. Here I am thinking about alliteration when I should be trying to find some sort of spell or charm that in some way might relate to rhyming and poetry and help out. The most useful spell they had found in all the time they’d had to look was the one that let them basically put subtitles on! That would give them more time to process whatever it was that had been said, but is that really of much use?

“I don’t know,” I groaned, verbally answering my unspoken query. I shook my head again to clear my thoughts and once more set to the books. For the first time, these old tomes that had gone through years of vigorous last-minute rifling-through to finish essays and whatnot would fail me.

Scorpius was done soon, and I dropped the third book I’d perused like I’d been burned.

“Nothing?” he asked, seeing the look on my face.

“Less than,” I retorted, standing up and stretching. “Breakfast in the kitchens, my good sir?”

“In a minute,” Scorpius said, plopping on the couch and picking up a book.

“Fifteen minutes, and that’s it,” I warned, gesturing at all the books laid out in front of us as I took my seat beside him again and retrieving the one I had just dropped.

Those fifteen minutes passed fruitlessly, as well as another ten, before I stood up and proclaimed that I had had enough of looking yet not finding. Scorpius agreed at this point, and we headed down to a breakfast in the kitchens. The house elves, like always, were extremely eager to please, and brought us enough for about six people until Scorpius managed to convince them that we needed to eat lightly because of the task today. They took away some of the food, and left us with enough for ourselves and another person. I couldn’t help but muse over how sweet they were, really. I understood Mum’s organization, S.P.E.W., now. Even if it had a horrible acronym.

It seemed only seconds later that Scorpius and I were standing side by side, shoulder to shoulder with the other champions, as the rest of the school and the visitors filed down to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to watch the task. Andy had already confided to Scorpius, as she was standing on his side, that they had found little to aid them. I found out from Joe on the trek down that he and his partner had discovered nothing, either.

“I guess we’re all pretty much shit out of luck,” Carl snorted disdainfully, a tone I’d never heard from him. Maybe that’s why Andy was wary of him.

“Not necessarily,” I said optimistically. “We’re in the upper echelons of our schools. We’ve got knowledge that the younger students don’t have. It could be that something we never expected to be useful will come in handy, you know?”

“I doubt it,” he spat, looking at the judges as the headmaster stood to deliver a quick speech.

In his words, the three teams were directed to different entrances, and at the sound of a shrill whistle we all were to enter.

All hell broke loose the minute I put one foot into the area to which Scorpius and I had been directed.