THORNS & VENOM | h.p.a.u

JINX

THE DEFENSE AGAINST DARK ARTS position is rumored to have a jinx on it, created by Lord Voldemort himself when Dumbledore rejected him for the position!" Althea Nott grinned, setting down her Hogwarts: A New History book. 

While Thea was invested in her new book, Scorpius was scanning the list that Rose had made for him regarding all things Maryse. The note was charmed so that only he could see her hand writing. The messily scrawled cursive words made his eyes tingle, but it was Rose's hand writing which meant that despite the pain her hand writing caused when he was deciphering it, it was worth it. His eyes narrowed on a particular piece at the end that had been soaked in ink with the attempt to scratch it out.

"Bad...what?" he murmured low, tossing his head back against the loveseat and held the parchment up to the light. "Feeling? A bad feeling?"

"How utterly fascinating," Maryse drawled from his left when she sat on a curved sofa chair, addressing Thea's comment.

Ugh. He was sick of having her around; a leech on his very being. It seemed with Rose's presence, Maryse Zabini had taken it up herself to be there at every common room gathering, every Quidditch practice, every anything that he had. 

Scorpius gave her a wary glance disguised under a soft smile. "Now Maryse, I'm sure this isn't as interesting as your latest conquests but do have some taste in your leisure choices like Thea. Honestly, Hufflepuff boys? Really?"

The blush wasn't hard to see as it tinted her brown cheeks. "What? How do you know about that!"

She got up abruptly, looking completely miffed before walking away to her dorm room.

Thea burst out laughing. "Oh Scorp- her face! That was absolutely brilliant!"

Albus raised a brow from the seat across him. "How did you know, though?"

Scorpius hooked a thumb over his shoulder where an unfamiliar boy without his robes on, just a Hufflepuff tie paired with the school uniform, was awkwardly trying to make his exit with his stuff "I passed by him this morning. Reeks of Maryse's perfume."

Albus wrinkled his nose. "The floral one? Salazar, she practically douses herself in that."

The Slytherin prefect, Lana Avery, climbed upon one of the higher windowsills. "Gather round, gather round."

From across the room, Scorpius noticed Rose tip her her head up from her book to look at Lana, who unravelled a scroll from her robes. 

"With dementors on the loose, students are encouraged to learn defensive spells. Prefects are charged with teaching their houses in place of the Defense Against Dark Arts professor position."

"Told ya," Thea hissed, elbowing Scorpius' side as she plopped down next to him.

He shushed her gently, waiting for Lana to finish.

"Lessons will be this week, students be instructed just before curfew." Lana took a deep breath and pulled her wand out of her robes. "I guess that means I'm supposed to begin."

The Slytherins in the common room looked less than enthusiastic to participate. Scorpius even saw a few slowly inch back into the stairwell the lead to the dorms.

He felt a twinge of annoyance at their reluctance to learn from Lana. A few though did stay as Lana began the spell.

"Expecto Patronum."  the fifth year whispered softly. 

A non corporeal wisp flew out from the tip of her wand. That was the best most of the housemates could do. 

Albus produced the patronus of a stag, similar to his grandfather's. Curious, he glanced over to look at Rose. She had her wand out, the enchantment leaving her pretty pink lips, but there was no patronus leaving her wand. Disappointment flooded through him, guilt tugging at his very heartstrings. My fault, he thought.

A few stares were tossed her way, a couple of misplaced whispers, and it was enough to send Rose storming off into their room. He went to follow after her, but someone's rabbit patronus hopped in a circle around his shoulders before resting on his head. 

"C'mon, Scorpius. Where's your patronus?" he heard someone call out.

He swallowed, putting on a faint smile as he addressed his house members. "I think I'll retire for now."

The moment those words left his lips, a few Slytherins had already tucked their wands away, ready to follow in example. From the window sill, he saw Lana flinch as one of their housemates coughed out a statement about how stupid this was.

He didn't like showcasing his patronus. It was very personal to him, something that was his and his alone. But seeing Lana up there, so shy and so afraid of Slytherins despite being one herself, reminded him of Albus when he first was sorted as a Slytherin. So instead, he plucked his wand up from the table and shot his patronus into the high ceiling.

His was fully corporeal, a dragon who's wings flapped with broad strokes as it climbed higher and higher.

"Wow, that's his patronus?"

He left his patronus to fade as he entered his room with Rose.

She was pacing erratically, her hands knotted in her beautiful curls. "-can't believe it, how could it not work? Why isn't it working?"

Rose was so absorbed in her thoughts, in waving her wand violently as if she could whip out her patronus if she shook hard enough. A sob caught in her throat. "Not even a non corporeal one? Really? Is there some sort of jinx on me?!"

His chest tightened. "Rose, I-"

"Stay back!" she snarled, gripping her wand tighter as she rotated and headed towards her room. The door slammed with a definitive shut. 

That was all he would get from her tonight. He leaned against the door of her room, slamming his head back twice before slouching down. Salazar, what had he done?

He'd broken Rose Granger-Weasley, and he wasn't sure how he was going to put her back together without a plethora of spells at his disposal.

And for a moment, sitting there for a dreadful hour, he could've sworn he heard her whispering the enchantment again.

Expecto patronum...

Expecto patronum...

Expecto...

patronum.

He had looked down at the sliver between the floor and her door in hopes it would fill with the pale light of her patronus. With each passing hour, he realized she wasn't able to produce it. And that broke him as well.