The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

We found our way, Martha and I, to a spot on the stands. I kept my face hidden from everyone, even the huddled from in the cage. A glimpse of bright blonde flashed as he shifted, and again I was struck with the knowledge that this was Scorpius; my friend - wait, no, my boyfriend.

It was an agonizing five minute long wait - what, five minutes can’t be agonizing?! Newsflash; yes, it can! - before an old, finely dressed man stepped to the podium at the front of the stands with two young female attendants.

Disgusting old pervert…

Focus,Rose! I told myself, peeking out from under my parasol. Scorpius had shifted, and a shaft of light fell on his face. I couldn’t hold in my giggle at the bored what-the-hell expression on his face, but I ducked back behind the parasol before anyone around me looked at me.

“We are gathered here today,” the old man started, and I couldn’t help but think that the opening of his speech sounded like a wedding ceremony. He continued, “to exact a punishment on a thief, and assassin, a murderer in our midst. There he sits, behind the bars of this cage, and he has had the audacity to ask what his crime is! He feigns innocence, and does not reveal his accomplice! What do we think of this man?”

There were jeers, and the frown upon my boyfriend’s features deepened. I smiled just slightly, remaining silent, and spotted the Boyd look-alike stepping up to stand beside the seats. I wondered what he was up to, and I nudged Martha and asked her, in a whisper so soft she could barely hear, to keep an eye on him. She nodded silently in agreement, and I diverted my attention once again to the man who seemed in charge of this execution-like scenario. The jeers had faded and the old man began to speak once more.

“We are in agreement, then, that this man must be punished? Not only did he and the accomplice he will not name enter our home uninvited, but they killed our flower, our beauty. They stole from us our hope! An angel has disappeared, without a trace, and only he knows where she is, where he has placed her body! ‘A rose by any other name’ may smell as sweet, but would it look the same?! Would we perceive it in the same way were it called something else?! No! Not once we had known it as a rose! And now our own precious beauty, our own Rose, has been taken from us! By him!”

He was exciting the crowd.

“Rose, do you understand what he says? Listen to the words; they will help you best!”
I had been listening, I mentally responded to Spunky’s voice in my head, and I chose this as my moment to rise. The sudden action caused the crowd to quiet down, and the old man slowly turned to address me.

“You, who would dare stand during this meeting. What do you have to say?”

“How do you know that he is at fault?” I made a conscious effort to change the tone of my voice and take on a haughty, aristocratic air. “How do you know that this man is not an innocent, merely in the wrong place at the right time? And if you are so sure he killed her, where is the body as proof? It is not justice, sir, if you do not have adequate proof to place the blame on the accused. So tell me, sir, is this a meeting for justice, or a meeting just to try to move the blame onto another to quiet the unrest?”

“Wow, Rosie! Even without my help you’re doing so well! Whether or not it will work, a few moment’s time will tell!”

Very helpful, I thought dryly. Not.

“You speak forcefully, girl!” I was a bit concerned that he seemed angry now. “Who are you to speak that way to me, the Lord Protector of this realm, and in front of so many? At a trial for an accused murderer, no less?!”

I dropped the parasol, put my hands on my hips, and proclaimed boldly, “I’m the accomplice, you wrinkly old jackass!”

He didn’t even flinch at the name, but they all stared at me, and I blinked.

“What did I do?” I finally asked. “Why are you freaks staring at me like that?!”

Okay. Maybe I wasn’t being very resourceful in the face of possible danger, but hey! What else could I do? I often resorted to insulting people when I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do - but it wasn’t very often that I wasn’t sure about what to do, so it was kind of rare that I used the resort-to-insults tactics.

“You - you’re alive!” the old man said after my more recent outburst.

“Uh…yeah?”

“But we thought that he and his accomplice had killed you!” the younger of the two attendants cried. “Miss Rose, are you all right?! He didn’t hurt you did he?”

“Didn’t I just say that I was his accomplice?” I deadpanned. “Why would he have hurt me?”

“Rose! Get down!”

At the shout, I glanced to the side to see a sword flying right for my head. With a yelp, I bent over backwards. It reminded me of the Matrix thing, from that old muggle movie that I’d watched with Mom one time. The sword flew over the stands, but there were screams as someone wearing full metal armor charged up the bleacher-like seats right at me.

“Shit!” the word flew out before I could do anything to stop it, and I scrambled away, farther up the stands. They weren’t very tall, only about six rows, so when I reached the top and my pursuer - which anyone would have guessed was the look-alike - was still hot on my tail, I whipped out my wand and jumped, letting myself fall gently and then running around the stands , dodging people running away. The cage in sight, Scorpius at the bars, I shouted, “Scorp! Back up!” and as he did so, I added, “Confringo!”

The cage blasted apart, and Scorpius stepped out, wand in hand, and pointed it in my direction.

“Stupefy!” he bellowed, and I dodged and glanced behind me to see the look alike fall to the ground, stunned.

“Well,” I glanced at the old man, who was nearby, ducked behind the pillar with his attendants and shaking, “I guess you know you your real culprit is now.”
Scorpius snorted, picking his way through the rubble of his former cage and coming to stand by me.

“That was an interesting task,” I mused, rolling my shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“There’s one more task,” the old man said, standing up. His expression changed and he morphed into what I instantly recognized as another strange dream creature as he wheezed, “You have to get through me!”

As we looked on, Scorpius and I, the scene morphed back to the Forbidden Forest, and I was back in my own clothes, as the creature continued to grow and tower above us.

“Ah, look!” came the voice of whoever was announcing for the Triwizard Tournament - I forgot who it was at the moment, staring at the thing in front of us. “Rose and Scorpius, the Hogwarts team, seem to be the first to reach the final task of their challenge! And it’s a doozy, it looks like!”