Hit-Wizards: A Scorpius/Rose oneshot
Title: Hit-Wizards
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Rose/Scorpius
Genre: romance, ?adventure
Rating: PG
Summary: The sixth-years start playing a new game called Hit-Wizards, in which they have to 'kill' their targets until one person is left. Rose Weasley is determined to win, but Scorpius Malfoy is proving to be a most infuriating competitor.
A/N: I don't know why I've been obsessed with Rose/Scorpius lately, but it's resulted in this. based on the game 'Assassins' that was played in my college. I sincerely doubt anyone will read it anyway.
Whose idea had it been to play this stupid game in the first place, Rose Weasley thought crossly as she ran up the stairs two at a time, occasionally glancing back.
Of course it had been a Slytherin. Ravenclaws were generally less interested in playing silly games, and Hufflepuffs were typically too good-natured to come up with a game that involved lying, stalking and murdering.
Well, not actual murder, but that was beside the point.
It all began when Rubina Chang, a Slytherin sixth-year girl told her friends about her cousin studying at Beauxbatons, who had raved about a game that the students over there had gone crazy over. It was dubbed “Hit-Witches”, and the objective was for each student to ‘assassinate’ their assigned target - another student - and then continue killing off targets until one victor remained.
Frankly, Rose was surprised that a prim and proper school like Beauxbatons would have sanctioned a game like this. She doubted her Aunt Fleur would have thought it proper at all, nor let Victoire or Dominique play such a game if they’d gone to Beauxbatons.
News of the unfamiliar game had spread from Slytherin to the other houses, and within a week, most of the sixth-years were eager to have a go at playing it - having just finished their O.W.Ls and having more free time than in the previous year. Rubina Chang brought it up to the Inter-House Games, Utilities and New Activities (I.G.U.A.N.A.) committee and organized the game, as well as tweaking some of the rules to make it more fun.
--
“What’s going on?” Rose asked as she stepped through the portrait hole, having just returned from Prefect patrol.
Albus bounded over and pointed excitedly at a notice on the board. “Look, the Hit-Wizards game is going to start next week!”
Rose stared at him. “We’re in sixth year, Al. Where are you going to find time to play that game between all your NEWT classes and studying?”
Albus shrugged. “Well, since I’m not taking more than the average number of NEWT classes, I figured I’d have more free time on my hands to play. Plus it sounds pretty fun, and everyone’s going to be playing.”
“I hope you have fun with that.” Rose shook her head exasperatedly and went to her dorm. But even in the sanctity of the room that she shared with four other sixth-year Gryffindor girls, she couldn’t escape the excited chatter about Hit-Wizards.
“So our dorms and bathrooms are safe zones.” Alice Longbottom was discussing. “But I bet they’ll start changing the rules once people just take to hiding without actually killing their targets.”
“Can they just change the rules halfway?” Hannah Jones frowned. “That doesn’t seem fair. Like this one.” She pointed to one of the rules on the parchment on the bed they were both perched on. “It says we can only be killed if there aren’t any witnesses. What if they change that too?”
Rose groaned as the discussion continued, fully determined to ignore the silliness of the people in her year and to focus all her efforts on her classes and her Prefect duties.
--
“What do you mean it was an opt-out thing?” Rose demanded two days later, shaking her personalized roll of parchment at her cousin.
“Look, I told you it was, you just weren’t listening!” Albus retorted. “What’s the big deal, anyway? So you just ignore the game and wait for some lucky person to come along and kill you. Not that it’d be hard.”
Rose glared at him. “Albus Severus Potter! Are you saying that I’m so incompetent that it would be easy for anyone to kill me?”
“What-no, that’s not what I meant.” He tried to explain, but got cut off by his now furious cousin.
“Well, you’re wrong.” She whacked his shoulder with the parchment for emphasis. “I am not going to be eliminated-” She took a quick glance at the rules, “-just by not killing at least one person by the end of two days.”
Albus tried not to grin at how he’d managed to get her to change her mind. “Does that mean I can count on you for protection, Rosie?”
“It shouldn’t be hard, seeing as how we go everywhere together anyway.” Rose replied dryly.
“Except for those NEWT classes which I don’t take.” He reminded her. “You’d better enlist someone from each of those classes to stick with you at all times.”
“Right.” He could see the cogs whirring under all that auburn hair. “I’ll go form a strategy and discuss it later.”
--
It was almost pathetically easy to ‘kill’ her target, Sorin Clearwater, a Ravenclaw boy who was in most of her NEWT classes. All she’d had to do was spill the contents of her book-bag just when he’d finished talking to the professor after class about extra credit, look a little helpless, and he’d immediately proceeded to help her.
And the moment the professor left the classroom, she’d attacked the unsuspecting boy. It really was his fault for relying on his fellow Ravenclaw mates who’d been waiting outside the classroom discussing their latest essay, rather than being inside the classroom to be witnesses.
His face had fallen almost comically, but he accepted it with better grace than Rose thought she’d have if their positions had been reversed. “I’m never helping you again, Rose Weasley.” He joked.
“I promise to tell everyone that you died heroically.” She smiled back. “Can I have your target-parchment?”
“Right.” He dug around in his bag before producing the parchment with his target written on it. “Good luck trying to kill her - she’s always got a girlfriend with her.”
“I have my ways.” Rose replied mysteriously, accepting the parchment and tucking it into her bag.
--
“Merlin, you scared me!” Anna Finnegan jerked in shock as Scorpius tapped her with the fake wand they’d all been given.
Scorpius smirked. “You’ve been killed, Finnegan.”
“I thought Andrea was waiting for me.” She frowned. “Though I guess you deserve points for waiting outside the girls’ bathroom.”
Scorpius chose not to tell her that he’d sent her friend off under the pretext of a professor wanting to talk to her, before staking out at the bathroom door. “Your target-parchment, if you don’t mind.”
“All right, hold your thestrals.” Anna grumbled as she found the parchment. “I bet you can’t kill him, though.”
“What makes you so sure?” He raised a brow.
“Aren’t Slytherins supposed to be sneaky and cunning?” She pointed at the name.
“Yes, but I more than most.” Scorpius said nonchalantly before strolling off.
--
By now, everyone who hadn’t managed to kill at least one other student was eliminated, leaving about three to four students per house left in the game. The school was awash with rumours of the successful and failed attempts. Some were surprisingly accurate - such as Emma Bones waiting for two hours at the Quidditch pitch to get the Ravenclaw Chaser Thomas Davies, only to fail because his fellow Beater had accompanied him - and some were downright false - such as Benedict Fawcett luring an unsuspecting Amy MacDonald to the Forbidden Forest with a fake love letter and killing her there.
It was kind of amazing how much paranoia could be achieved just by playing a little game like Hit-Wizards, Albus mused. It gave him newfound respect for all the wizards and witches who had been living under the fear of Voldemort when his parents had been his age - a time where death was a very real possibility.
--
“Well, well, look who we have here.” Rose looked up from her books to see Scorpius Malfoy standing at her study table. “Isn’t it rather dangerous for you to be all alone in the Library?”
His silky tone sent an involuntary shiver down her spine. Not that she was scared, since, “I’m not alone.” She pointed to the row of books where Albus was standing. Also, she was fully aware that he had yet to kill his current target Wilson Avery.
To his credit, Scorpius Malfoy didn’t look the least bit fazed. “Pity.” He leaned in even closer, and Rose found herself practically paralyzed, still as a statue in her seat. “Maybe next time, then.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and left, leaving Rose a little ruffled and uncertain.
--
“Come on, Anna, I need your protection!” Rose wheedled in the Gryffindor common room.
“I’m not going to spend three hours in the Library with you while you study for extra credit just so that you won’t get killed!” Anna Finnegan folded her arms stubbornly. “Why don’t you ask Al to go with you?”
“He is.” Rose gritted her teeth while Albus nodded glumly. “But the rules have changed, and we need at least two witnesses around to be safe.”
“You know, we could just study here in the common room and be safe.” Albus offered, gesturing at the room that had at least seven other students in it.
“But it’s not a conducive environment for studying.” Rose retorted, sounding almost exactly like her mother.
“Look, the game’s ending next week, right? It won’t kill you not to visit the Library for a few days.” Albus said reasonably. “You don’t want Cindy Goyle to kill you just because you were too impatient to study, all alone and vulnerable in the empty Library.”
“Fine.” Rose conceded grumpily, dumping her writing materials on a nearby table.
“How do you know Goyle’s your hit-witch?” Anna asked curiously.
“Rose figured out the-”
“It was obvious because she normally never even looks at me, but spent the whole of Potions class staring at me and lurking around as if waiting for me to be alone.” Rose interrupted her cousin before he could finish his sentence.
Anna accepted this explanation and left them to study. “Why didn’t you tell her you figured out the algorithm?” Albus asked quietly.
“Because it’s not something we should be telling other people, Al!” Rose hissed. “If people know that we know who’s going to kill whom, they’ll start telling others, and then it’ll be impossible to win. Anna’s a great friend, but you know she sucks at keeping secrets.”
“What if I end up having to kill you?” Albus pointed his quill at her.
Rose pondered this for a moment. “Then we’ll make it so that we’re the last two hit-wizards left standing. It’ll be our victory no matter what.”
Albus nodded, a little surprised at the conviction in her tone. Perhaps if Rose Weasley had been around during the Second Wizarding War, Voldemort would have been defeated a lot earlier.
--
Prefect patrol was one of those things that would have struck fear in the hearts of anyone playing the game, unless your fellow prefect wasn’t a sixth-year and thus couldn’t possibly be out to kill you. Rose reasoned, however, that your fellow prefect could very well be an accomplice to your hit-wizard, in which case you could only hope that there would be a professor around to be a witness.
But to her surprise, instead of doing her rounds with one of the fifth-years like she’d expected, her patrol partner turned out to be Scorpius Malfoy, who was very much still in the game, and gave some excuse about swapping times with a Ravenclaw fifth-year. Rose couldn’t help but wonder if this was all part of Cindy Goyle’s plan to kill her with Scorpius’ help.
Despite her worries, Rose was a model prefect, and refused to allow the silly game to affect her duties. So she greeted Scorpius civilly and proceeded to make the rounds as usual.
“If you’re concerned about Goyle, don’t be.”
His sudden remark caught her by surprise. “Huh?”
He shrugged. “She’s not going to try to kill you tonight, so you can stop tiptoeing around and just concentrate on the patrol.”
“And why should I trust you?” She demanded.
Scorpius smiled and leaned in, surprising her with his proximity. “Because I’m hoping you won’t lose.”
--
“Come on, Rose. If I don’t have a fellow hit-wizard or witch with me then I can’t safely go to Hogsmeade. And I really need to stop by Honeydukes to replenish my stash of chocolate!”
Rose huffed in annoyance, mentally cursing the new rule that had been implemented. Otherwise Albus would have been able to go with his friends, most of whom weren’t in the game any longer. “Fine, but we need to stick together at all times, got it?” She warned him.
“I promise.” Albus declared solemnly with a hand over his heart.
To their relief, the two remaining hit-wizards from Ravenclaw were going to Hogsmeade as well, and they grouped together for safety.
They made a stop at the Three Broomsticks for a drink after Albus got his sweets from Honeydukes. Just when they had gotten their Butterbeers, Albus nearly choked on his drink when a group of Slytherins walked through the door.
“Rose.” He muttered quietly, directing her attention to the group, which included Albus’ target, Jason Nott. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a way of isolating him, since his group included the other Slytherin hit-wizard left - Scorpius Malfoy.
“Stop staring at him.” Rose ordered, and Albus tore his gaze from the Slytherin boy to his cousin. “Does he know you’re after him?”
“I don’t know.” Albus frowned at her. “Do I look like a Legilimens to you? I haven’t made any failed attempts on his life yet, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Okay, here’s what we’ll do.” Rose started tapping her fingers on the table, something she did when she was formulating a plan. “Wait until they look like they’re almost done, then go to the bathroom and use the Cloak, then trail their group until there’s an opportunity to get him without any other hit-wizards observing.”
“I didn’t bring it with me.” Albus sighed, thinking of his father’s Invisibility Cloak safely stuffed in a trunk under his bed.
“That’s okay, I did.” Rose grinned, pulling it out of her satchel and passing it to him under the table.
“You’re a genius.”
--
That brought us back to Rose running up the stairs two at a time. The rules had just changed, and the only way to be safe was to be accompanied by at least seven people, or else to have a broom with you. Being a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team meant that she, unlike most students, had a broom at Hogwarts, which she was currently racing to get.
Her broom prompted a few snickers as she carried it into Potions class, which she tried to ignore manfully. She couldn’t help it that the Potions NEWT class was pretty small and that she wasn’t able to have seven people accompanying her at all times.
However, thoughts of how she might possibly manage to eliminate Ernest Belby as soon as possible made her less focused on the potion she was brewing, resulting in it becoming a sludgy grey rather than silvery. It was even more annoying because Scorpius Malfoy was sitting across the aisle and had managed to brew a perfect potion, even without a broom on his person.
Just when she was about to admit to her failure in class - which was as pleasant as facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt - a flask with the rightly brewed potion floated over to her table. She blinked and looked at Scorpius, who gave her a look as if to ask if she’d reject his potion and take time after class to redo the entire thing.
Rose was at a loss as to what to do. It was weird of Scorpius, who wasn’t even really a friend, to help her out in this manner, especially since she was pretty sure that he wasn’t trying to get closer to her as her hit-wizard.
Then the Professor was asking for them to hand in their results, and she made the split-second decision to accept Scorpius’ potion, quickly labelling the flask and Vanishing the mess in her cauldron. She grabbed her broom and bag and headed out of the dungeon, trailing after him.
“What’s the meaning of this, Malfoy?”
“Scorpius.” He corrected her, to her confusion.
“Scorpius.” She echoed, eliciting a smile from him that made her feel uneasy. “Why did you help me?” She hissed, not wanting the students around them to hear.
“Can’t I help my fellow NEWT student?” He shrugged.
Rose leaned back a little, wondering what he was up to. “Are you trying to stop me from killing you?”
Then Scorpius turned to her and raised a brow. “You haven’t killed Belby yet. I think I’m safe for now.”
Rose grimaced, realising that Scorpius had probably figured out most of the killing order like she had. “Well, when I’ve hunted Belby down, I’m coming after you.”
“Trust me when I say I’m looking forward to you… chasing after me.” Scorpius smirked as his eyes flicked to the broom in her hand.
Rose wasn’t sure if he was making a pun on her Quidditch position, but the romantic alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
--
Not for the first time was Rose thankful for her uncle allowing the kids to have his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders’ Map. It made sneaking up on unsuspecting hit-wizards and running away from near-murder that much easier.
At least, that was what she assumed, until she saw Albus returning to the common room looking uncharacteristically glum. “Did you succeed?” She got straight to the point.
“Yes and no.” He dropped onto one of the sofas dejectedly.
“Ooh, what happened?” Lily joined him on the sofa, always interested in the stories of their kills. Not that they entrusted his little sister with anything more than the most basic of information.
“Well, I managed to kill Goldstein pretty easily.” Albus began, earning a nod of approval from Rose and a bit of applause from Lily. “Then on my way back I nearly bumped into Malfoy walking down the same corridor alone.”
“Pity he wasn’t your next target.” Rose commented, before her eyes widened. “Oh no. He got you?”
Albus nodded grimly. “If Mrs Norris II hadn’t chosen that moment to run in front of me and trip me up, I’d have kept the Cloak on me and still be alive.”
“He didn’t see the Cloak, did he?” Lily whispered. She didn’t want their father confiscating it before she got to inherit it from her brother.
“No, I guess he just thought I was really quiet.” Albus reassured her. “But he managed to get me before I could run away. Damn git runs really fast.”
Rose patted him on the shoulder sympathetically while running through her mental list of hit-wizards. “There are only four of us left in the game.” She realised aloud.
“What?” He blinked.
“Goldstein’s target was Macmillan, right?” Rose asked, and Albus nodded. “And we know Macmillan’s after me since he botched that attempt to kill me after Quidditch practice-”
“Oh yeah, that was funny.” Lily laughed, remembering how the Hufflepuff boy had tried to corner Rose outside the girls locker room, only to be spotted by Lily, who had appropriately dragged her brother to be Rose’s witness.
“And I’ve still got to kill Belby.” Rose ticked off her fingers. “That’s all.”
“I think you and Malfoy will be the final two.” Albus decided. “That’ll be interesting for sure.”
--
Because of the unrest that the game had caused, I.G.U.A.N.A (under pressure from the teaching staff) had to declare that the game would end by midnight, and that anyone left alive would be considered a winner. As there was currently one hit-wizard left per House, it seemed pretty fair.
Rose wasn’t sure if there would be a final winner, since the rules had been changed again so that you only needed two other people around to be safe from killing. She guessed that Belby and Macmillan would be resorting to the safety clause to last until the end of the game. She wasn’t sure what Scorpius would do, since he’d proved to be rather unpredictable throughout the course of the game.
Thinking of Scorpius made her blush slightly. She wasn’t sure what it was about his recent behaviour that made her feel differently towards him. She was sure that he hadn’t been hitting on her - despite Lily’s speculations after she’d told her younger cousin about the encounters - but that he’d been trying to stir up the fear in her regarding the game.
Perhaps it was just that she’d never really talked to him before, nor bothered to observe him. Hit-Wizards had caused her to become more observant of everyone, not least of all him. While many of the sixth-year students had become antsy and paranoid, he’d remained cool and collected while still racking up the kills, which she couldn’t help but admire.
And of course, it didn’t help that he was terribly easy on the eyes. Rose refused to use the word ‘handsome’ to describe him, because that would just confuse how she felt about him and lead her to start thinking about his blond hair or fit physique.
As if the universe had heard her thoughts, he appeared in the corridor that was crowded with students going to their classes. “Malfoy.” She called out, but he didn’t seem to hear her. “Scorpius.”
This time he turned around, and she wondered if he’d done it just to make her call his first name, but that thought was just bizarre in and of itself. “Rose.” He inclined his head, and she nearly tripped at the sound of her first name on his lips.
“I meant to thank you for your potion the other day.” She said stiffly.
“No need for thanks.” He waved a hand. “After all, you can’t help being bad at Potions.”
“What the-” Rose gasped in outrage. “I am not bad at Potions! I was just having an off day!”
Scorpius nodded condescendingly. “Sure you were. Whatever makes you feel better about it.”
It really frustrated Rose that Scorpius Malfoy was better at Potions than she was, the subject being the single blight on an otherwise beautiful line of Outstandings on her O.W.Ls certificate. “How dare you!”
“I’m only speaking the truth.” He shrugged, and it was his nonchalance while being utterly mean that eroded her patience.
“Well, I manage to beat you at everything else!”
“Ah, so you accept that you’re bad at Potions.” He smirked. “And in case you don’t realise, I get just as good grades in half the subjects, and I do it without swotting away in the Library like a bookworm with no social life to speak of.”
Rose was seeing red by this point and yanked out her wand and pointed it at him, only for him to pull out his own immediately.
“Miss Weasley!” Professor Longbottom called out in shock. “Fighting in the corridors? I am surprised at such behaviour, and from two Prefects!”
“But Professor, he was provoking me and-” Rose tried to argue.
“Whatever the reason, I expect better behaviour from you, and not to find you waving your wands about when outside of a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson!”
“Another subject in which I’m better than you, by the way.” Scorpius said offhandedly.
“That was uncalled for, Mr Malfoy.” Neville looked at the tall boy severely. “Both of you will have to serve detention tonight.”
“Detention?” Rose repeated in horror. She’d been determined to continue her clean streak from the previous year, and now Malfoy had gone and messed it all up.
“You will report at Greenhouse 1 at 10pm tonight.” Neville finished. “Now go off to your classes.”
Rose scowled at Scorpius before running off to class.
--
“That insufferable jerk got me detention!” Rose raged at Albus in the common room while he tried to calm her down.
Lily looked confused. “Who?”
“Scorpius Malfoy.” She ground out angrily. “Neville gave us detention at the greenhouse tonight.”
Albus offered her a Chocolate Frog, whose head she bit off viciously. “Well, you should try not to kill him while you’re both there.” Then his eyes widened. “So that’s his plan!”
“What plan?” She asked before swallowing the rest of the chocolate.
“I heard from Anna that Macmillan got killed by Malfoy this afternoon.” He told her. “And from the sound of it he must have planned for you two to get detention so that he could kill you without any witnesses!”
Rose gaped at his deduction. “But surely he knows that Neville will be there to supervise us, and the rules have always stated that you can’t be killed if a professor is around.”
“You can’t guarantee that he’ll be there throughout your detention to watch over you guys.” Albus shook his head and Lily followed suit. “And I doubt you’ll be allowed to bring anyone along for protection at that time of night.”
Rose slumped in disbelief. “Then I’m as good as dead.”
“Wait a minute.” Lily piped up. “What if you kill Belby before 10pm? Then you’ll be Malfoy’s hit-witch, won’t you?”
Rose turned slowly to look at her younger cousin. “Lily… that’s genius!”
“I know.” The red-headed fourth-year grinned, tapping her head. “Not just a hat-rack after all!”
--
Ernest Belby had just left the Great Hall after dinner with two friends and was walking up the stairs when he realised his friends had stopped replying to his conversation. “Guys?” He turned around only to see his friends body-bound and being dragged off by very familiar people. “Potter, what are you-”
Then he felt someone holding him in place by the robe, and turned to see Rose Weasley standing there. “You’re dead.” She tapped him with her wand.
“You dragged them away by force!” Belby gaped in shock. “You can’t just do that!”
“It’s not forbidden in the rules.” Rose shrugged apologetically. “And I’m really sorry about having to do it this way.”
Belby grumbled for a bit but decided to accept his defeat graciously. “So it’s just you and Malfoy left, huh?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Who would you rather be the winner?”
Belby thought for a moment. “Well, if you beat him, then I can say that I was killed by the winner of the game.” Rose had to smile at that. “But wouldn’t they change the rules if there are only two people left?”
“Good point. I’ll go check with Rubina Chang.” Rose smiled and left to find her cousins.
--
But Rose wasn’t able to find the Slytherin girl that night, and decided that she would just hope that Neville would stay throughout the detention and prevent Scorpius from killing her until the rules were sorted out.
After all, how were two people supposed to decide who killed whom first? Would it depend on whose wand touched the other player first? Would it only count if the victim was caught unawares? Would they have an epic duel to decide the winner? If she had to be absolutely honest with herself, she didn’t think she’d be able to beat Scorpius in an actual duel.
Rose managed to spot Neville as he was heading down and practically glued herself to his side while walking to the greenhouse. She noticed Scorpius trailing behind them and was ridiculously thankful for the Herbology professor’s presence. He set them to extracting Snargaluff Pods, which was really just a repeat of one of their earlier lessons.
“Why so tense?” Scorpius asked as he wrestled with a couple of thorny vines.
Rose attempted to tie the vines together before replying. “If anyone should be tense, it’s you, Malfoy.”
“Scorpius.” He reminded her pleasantly, as if he hadn’t provoked her earlier that day and landed them both in trouble. “And why should I be tense?”
Rose plunged her hand in to extract the pod successfully. “Because I killed Belby a few hours ago, and my next target happens to be you.”
They both glanced at where Neville had been working, only to see that the professor had gone off somewhere. Then the two of them turned back to stare at each other, Scorpius smiling dangerously while Rose tilted her chin stubbornly. “There’s no one here to protect you now.” He took out his wand, and she did likewise.
Then he lunged for her and her instincts overtook her common sense as she dodged and began running around the greenhouse in order to evade him, even though that was making it impossible for her to kill him by touching him with her wand. She found herself enjoying it despite the stakes, laughing a little as she saw him jump over a few potted mandrakes in order to get to her.
Just as she abruptly stopped and turned on her heel to catch him off-guard, several tentacle-like branches from one of the Snargaluffs shot out and twisted around her wand arm, holding her in place. She winced as the thorns cut into her skin. Recognising defeat, she exhaled slowly and relaxed, waiting for him to make the kill.
To her surprise, he stowed his wand away and took up a pair of pruning shears. “Don’t move,” he ordered, and she obeyed him automatically, watching in bewilderment as he held on to her arm with one hand and methodically cut through the vines with the other. In that moment, Rose didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so... nice as the moonlight filtering through the glass to shine on the tall blond boy working hard at freeing her arm with delicacy and concentration.
After tying up a few more vines that had shot up and cutting through the rest, he took out his wand and muttered “Episkey”, healing up the many little cuts inflicted on her arm. “Are you alright?” He asked, ghosting fingers over her sensitised skin.
“I…yes.” She found it a little hard to concentrate when he was touching her like that. “Thank you.” She said quietly. “You can kill me now - since you would have won anyway.”
Scorpius quirked a small smile. “That’s odd.”
“What?” Rose didn’t think that he’d think she was petty enough to take advantage of the situation to kill him when he’d gallantly stopped to help her.
“I enjoyed the chase, but now that I’ve caught you…” He leaned in closer and she blinked uncertainly. “…I’m not quite sure how to proceed.”
Rose gulped nervously, because his proximity was messing with her mind. There was no other reason why she should be wishing that he’d close the gap between them. “I guess you should…um, go for the kill.”
“And claim the prize?” Scorpius asked, and she wasn’t sure if he was still referring to the game, now that his lips were mere inches from hers.
“Yes.” She breathed, and that was all the permission he needed to press his lips to hers in a soft kiss.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Rose/Scorpius
Genre: romance, ?adventure
Rating: PG
Summary: The sixth-years start playing a new game called Hit-Wizards, in which they have to 'kill' their targets until one person is left. Rose Weasley is determined to win, but Scorpius Malfoy is proving to be a most infuriating competitor.
A/N: I don't know why I've been obsessed with Rose/Scorpius lately, but it's resulted in this. based on the game 'Assassins' that was played in my college. I sincerely doubt anyone will read it anyway.
Whose idea had it been to play this stupid game in the first place, Rose Weasley thought crossly as she ran up the stairs two at a time, occasionally glancing back.
Of course it had been a Slytherin. Ravenclaws were generally less interested in playing silly games, and Hufflepuffs were typically too good-natured to come up with a game that involved lying, stalking and murdering.
Well, not actual murder, but that was beside the point.
It all began when Rubina Chang, a Slytherin sixth-year girl told her friends about her cousin studying at Beauxbatons, who had raved about a game that the students over there had gone crazy over. It was dubbed “Hit-Witches”, and the objective was for each student to ‘assassinate’ their assigned target - another student - and then continue killing off targets until one victor remained.
Frankly, Rose was surprised that a prim and proper school like Beauxbatons would have sanctioned a game like this. She doubted her Aunt Fleur would have thought it proper at all, nor let Victoire or Dominique play such a game if they’d gone to Beauxbatons.
News of the unfamiliar game had spread from Slytherin to the other houses, and within a week, most of the sixth-years were eager to have a go at playing it - having just finished their O.W.Ls and having more free time than in the previous year. Rubina Chang brought it up to the Inter-House Games, Utilities and New Activities (I.G.U.A.N.A.) committee and organized the game, as well as tweaking some of the rules to make it more fun.
--
“What’s going on?” Rose asked as she stepped through the portrait hole, having just returned from Prefect patrol.
Albus bounded over and pointed excitedly at a notice on the board. “Look, the Hit-Wizards game is going to start next week!”
Rose stared at him. “We’re in sixth year, Al. Where are you going to find time to play that game between all your NEWT classes and studying?”
Albus shrugged. “Well, since I’m not taking more than the average number of NEWT classes, I figured I’d have more free time on my hands to play. Plus it sounds pretty fun, and everyone’s going to be playing.”
“I hope you have fun with that.” Rose shook her head exasperatedly and went to her dorm. But even in the sanctity of the room that she shared with four other sixth-year Gryffindor girls, she couldn’t escape the excited chatter about Hit-Wizards.
“So our dorms and bathrooms are safe zones.” Alice Longbottom was discussing. “But I bet they’ll start changing the rules once people just take to hiding without actually killing their targets.”
“Can they just change the rules halfway?” Hannah Jones frowned. “That doesn’t seem fair. Like this one.” She pointed to one of the rules on the parchment on the bed they were both perched on. “It says we can only be killed if there aren’t any witnesses. What if they change that too?”
Rose groaned as the discussion continued, fully determined to ignore the silliness of the people in her year and to focus all her efforts on her classes and her Prefect duties.
--
“What do you mean it was an opt-out thing?” Rose demanded two days later, shaking her personalized roll of parchment at her cousin.
“Look, I told you it was, you just weren’t listening!” Albus retorted. “What’s the big deal, anyway? So you just ignore the game and wait for some lucky person to come along and kill you. Not that it’d be hard.”
Rose glared at him. “Albus Severus Potter! Are you saying that I’m so incompetent that it would be easy for anyone to kill me?”
“What-no, that’s not what I meant.” He tried to explain, but got cut off by his now furious cousin.
“Well, you’re wrong.” She whacked his shoulder with the parchment for emphasis. “I am not going to be eliminated-” She took a quick glance at the rules, “-just by not killing at least one person by the end of two days.”
Albus tried not to grin at how he’d managed to get her to change her mind. “Does that mean I can count on you for protection, Rosie?”
“It shouldn’t be hard, seeing as how we go everywhere together anyway.” Rose replied dryly.
“Except for those NEWT classes which I don’t take.” He reminded her. “You’d better enlist someone from each of those classes to stick with you at all times.”
“Right.” He could see the cogs whirring under all that auburn hair. “I’ll go form a strategy and discuss it later.”
--
It was almost pathetically easy to ‘kill’ her target, Sorin Clearwater, a Ravenclaw boy who was in most of her NEWT classes. All she’d had to do was spill the contents of her book-bag just when he’d finished talking to the professor after class about extra credit, look a little helpless, and he’d immediately proceeded to help her.
And the moment the professor left the classroom, she’d attacked the unsuspecting boy. It really was his fault for relying on his fellow Ravenclaw mates who’d been waiting outside the classroom discussing their latest essay, rather than being inside the classroom to be witnesses.
His face had fallen almost comically, but he accepted it with better grace than Rose thought she’d have if their positions had been reversed. “I’m never helping you again, Rose Weasley.” He joked.
“I promise to tell everyone that you died heroically.” She smiled back. “Can I have your target-parchment?”
“Right.” He dug around in his bag before producing the parchment with his target written on it. “Good luck trying to kill her - she’s always got a girlfriend with her.”
“I have my ways.” Rose replied mysteriously, accepting the parchment and tucking it into her bag.
--
“Merlin, you scared me!” Anna Finnegan jerked in shock as Scorpius tapped her with the fake wand they’d all been given.
Scorpius smirked. “You’ve been killed, Finnegan.”
“I thought Andrea was waiting for me.” She frowned. “Though I guess you deserve points for waiting outside the girls’ bathroom.”
Scorpius chose not to tell her that he’d sent her friend off under the pretext of a professor wanting to talk to her, before staking out at the bathroom door. “Your target-parchment, if you don’t mind.”
“All right, hold your thestrals.” Anna grumbled as she found the parchment. “I bet you can’t kill him, though.”
“What makes you so sure?” He raised a brow.
“Aren’t Slytherins supposed to be sneaky and cunning?” She pointed at the name.
“Yes, but I more than most.” Scorpius said nonchalantly before strolling off.
--
By now, everyone who hadn’t managed to kill at least one other student was eliminated, leaving about three to four students per house left in the game. The school was awash with rumours of the successful and failed attempts. Some were surprisingly accurate - such as Emma Bones waiting for two hours at the Quidditch pitch to get the Ravenclaw Chaser Thomas Davies, only to fail because his fellow Beater had accompanied him - and some were downright false - such as Benedict Fawcett luring an unsuspecting Amy MacDonald to the Forbidden Forest with a fake love letter and killing her there.
It was kind of amazing how much paranoia could be achieved just by playing a little game like Hit-Wizards, Albus mused. It gave him newfound respect for all the wizards and witches who had been living under the fear of Voldemort when his parents had been his age - a time where death was a very real possibility.
--
“Well, well, look who we have here.” Rose looked up from her books to see Scorpius Malfoy standing at her study table. “Isn’t it rather dangerous for you to be all alone in the Library?”
His silky tone sent an involuntary shiver down her spine. Not that she was scared, since, “I’m not alone.” She pointed to the row of books where Albus was standing. Also, she was fully aware that he had yet to kill his current target Wilson Avery.
To his credit, Scorpius Malfoy didn’t look the least bit fazed. “Pity.” He leaned in even closer, and Rose found herself practically paralyzed, still as a statue in her seat. “Maybe next time, then.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and left, leaving Rose a little ruffled and uncertain.
--
“Come on, Anna, I need your protection!” Rose wheedled in the Gryffindor common room.
“I’m not going to spend three hours in the Library with you while you study for extra credit just so that you won’t get killed!” Anna Finnegan folded her arms stubbornly. “Why don’t you ask Al to go with you?”
“He is.” Rose gritted her teeth while Albus nodded glumly. “But the rules have changed, and we need at least two witnesses around to be safe.”
“You know, we could just study here in the common room and be safe.” Albus offered, gesturing at the room that had at least seven other students in it.
“But it’s not a conducive environment for studying.” Rose retorted, sounding almost exactly like her mother.
“Look, the game’s ending next week, right? It won’t kill you not to visit the Library for a few days.” Albus said reasonably. “You don’t want Cindy Goyle to kill you just because you were too impatient to study, all alone and vulnerable in the empty Library.”
“Fine.” Rose conceded grumpily, dumping her writing materials on a nearby table.
“How do you know Goyle’s your hit-witch?” Anna asked curiously.
“Rose figured out the-”
“It was obvious because she normally never even looks at me, but spent the whole of Potions class staring at me and lurking around as if waiting for me to be alone.” Rose interrupted her cousin before he could finish his sentence.
Anna accepted this explanation and left them to study. “Why didn’t you tell her you figured out the algorithm?” Albus asked quietly.
“Because it’s not something we should be telling other people, Al!” Rose hissed. “If people know that we know who’s going to kill whom, they’ll start telling others, and then it’ll be impossible to win. Anna’s a great friend, but you know she sucks at keeping secrets.”
“What if I end up having to kill you?” Albus pointed his quill at her.
Rose pondered this for a moment. “Then we’ll make it so that we’re the last two hit-wizards left standing. It’ll be our victory no matter what.”
Albus nodded, a little surprised at the conviction in her tone. Perhaps if Rose Weasley had been around during the Second Wizarding War, Voldemort would have been defeated a lot earlier.
--
Prefect patrol was one of those things that would have struck fear in the hearts of anyone playing the game, unless your fellow prefect wasn’t a sixth-year and thus couldn’t possibly be out to kill you. Rose reasoned, however, that your fellow prefect could very well be an accomplice to your hit-wizard, in which case you could only hope that there would be a professor around to be a witness.
But to her surprise, instead of doing her rounds with one of the fifth-years like she’d expected, her patrol partner turned out to be Scorpius Malfoy, who was very much still in the game, and gave some excuse about swapping times with a Ravenclaw fifth-year. Rose couldn’t help but wonder if this was all part of Cindy Goyle’s plan to kill her with Scorpius’ help.
Despite her worries, Rose was a model prefect, and refused to allow the silly game to affect her duties. So she greeted Scorpius civilly and proceeded to make the rounds as usual.
“If you’re concerned about Goyle, don’t be.”
His sudden remark caught her by surprise. “Huh?”
He shrugged. “She’s not going to try to kill you tonight, so you can stop tiptoeing around and just concentrate on the patrol.”
“And why should I trust you?” She demanded.
Scorpius smiled and leaned in, surprising her with his proximity. “Because I’m hoping you won’t lose.”
--
“Come on, Rose. If I don’t have a fellow hit-wizard or witch with me then I can’t safely go to Hogsmeade. And I really need to stop by Honeydukes to replenish my stash of chocolate!”
Rose huffed in annoyance, mentally cursing the new rule that had been implemented. Otherwise Albus would have been able to go with his friends, most of whom weren’t in the game any longer. “Fine, but we need to stick together at all times, got it?” She warned him.
“I promise.” Albus declared solemnly with a hand over his heart.
To their relief, the two remaining hit-wizards from Ravenclaw were going to Hogsmeade as well, and they grouped together for safety.
They made a stop at the Three Broomsticks for a drink after Albus got his sweets from Honeydukes. Just when they had gotten their Butterbeers, Albus nearly choked on his drink when a group of Slytherins walked through the door.
“Rose.” He muttered quietly, directing her attention to the group, which included Albus’ target, Jason Nott. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a way of isolating him, since his group included the other Slytherin hit-wizard left - Scorpius Malfoy.
“Stop staring at him.” Rose ordered, and Albus tore his gaze from the Slytherin boy to his cousin. “Does he know you’re after him?”
“I don’t know.” Albus frowned at her. “Do I look like a Legilimens to you? I haven’t made any failed attempts on his life yet, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Okay, here’s what we’ll do.” Rose started tapping her fingers on the table, something she did when she was formulating a plan. “Wait until they look like they’re almost done, then go to the bathroom and use the Cloak, then trail their group until there’s an opportunity to get him without any other hit-wizards observing.”
“I didn’t bring it with me.” Albus sighed, thinking of his father’s Invisibility Cloak safely stuffed in a trunk under his bed.
“That’s okay, I did.” Rose grinned, pulling it out of her satchel and passing it to him under the table.
“You’re a genius.”
--
That brought us back to Rose running up the stairs two at a time. The rules had just changed, and the only way to be safe was to be accompanied by at least seven people, or else to have a broom with you. Being a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team meant that she, unlike most students, had a broom at Hogwarts, which she was currently racing to get.
Her broom prompted a few snickers as she carried it into Potions class, which she tried to ignore manfully. She couldn’t help it that the Potions NEWT class was pretty small and that she wasn’t able to have seven people accompanying her at all times.
However, thoughts of how she might possibly manage to eliminate Ernest Belby as soon as possible made her less focused on the potion she was brewing, resulting in it becoming a sludgy grey rather than silvery. It was even more annoying because Scorpius Malfoy was sitting across the aisle and had managed to brew a perfect potion, even without a broom on his person.
Just when she was about to admit to her failure in class - which was as pleasant as facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt - a flask with the rightly brewed potion floated over to her table. She blinked and looked at Scorpius, who gave her a look as if to ask if she’d reject his potion and take time after class to redo the entire thing.
Rose was at a loss as to what to do. It was weird of Scorpius, who wasn’t even really a friend, to help her out in this manner, especially since she was pretty sure that he wasn’t trying to get closer to her as her hit-wizard.
Then the Professor was asking for them to hand in their results, and she made the split-second decision to accept Scorpius’ potion, quickly labelling the flask and Vanishing the mess in her cauldron. She grabbed her broom and bag and headed out of the dungeon, trailing after him.
“What’s the meaning of this, Malfoy?”
“Scorpius.” He corrected her, to her confusion.
“Scorpius.” She echoed, eliciting a smile from him that made her feel uneasy. “Why did you help me?” She hissed, not wanting the students around them to hear.
“Can’t I help my fellow NEWT student?” He shrugged.
Rose leaned back a little, wondering what he was up to. “Are you trying to stop me from killing you?”
Then Scorpius turned to her and raised a brow. “You haven’t killed Belby yet. I think I’m safe for now.”
Rose grimaced, realising that Scorpius had probably figured out most of the killing order like she had. “Well, when I’ve hunted Belby down, I’m coming after you.”
“Trust me when I say I’m looking forward to you… chasing after me.” Scorpius smirked as his eyes flicked to the broom in her hand.
Rose wasn’t sure if he was making a pun on her Quidditch position, but the romantic alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
--
Not for the first time was Rose thankful for her uncle allowing the kids to have his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders’ Map. It made sneaking up on unsuspecting hit-wizards and running away from near-murder that much easier.
At least, that was what she assumed, until she saw Albus returning to the common room looking uncharacteristically glum. “Did you succeed?” She got straight to the point.
“Yes and no.” He dropped onto one of the sofas dejectedly.
“Ooh, what happened?” Lily joined him on the sofa, always interested in the stories of their kills. Not that they entrusted his little sister with anything more than the most basic of information.
“Well, I managed to kill Goldstein pretty easily.” Albus began, earning a nod of approval from Rose and a bit of applause from Lily. “Then on my way back I nearly bumped into Malfoy walking down the same corridor alone.”
“Pity he wasn’t your next target.” Rose commented, before her eyes widened. “Oh no. He got you?”
Albus nodded grimly. “If Mrs Norris II hadn’t chosen that moment to run in front of me and trip me up, I’d have kept the Cloak on me and still be alive.”
“He didn’t see the Cloak, did he?” Lily whispered. She didn’t want their father confiscating it before she got to inherit it from her brother.
“No, I guess he just thought I was really quiet.” Albus reassured her. “But he managed to get me before I could run away. Damn git runs really fast.”
Rose patted him on the shoulder sympathetically while running through her mental list of hit-wizards. “There are only four of us left in the game.” She realised aloud.
“What?” He blinked.
“Goldstein’s target was Macmillan, right?” Rose asked, and Albus nodded. “And we know Macmillan’s after me since he botched that attempt to kill me after Quidditch practice-”
“Oh yeah, that was funny.” Lily laughed, remembering how the Hufflepuff boy had tried to corner Rose outside the girls locker room, only to be spotted by Lily, who had appropriately dragged her brother to be Rose’s witness.
“And I’ve still got to kill Belby.” Rose ticked off her fingers. “That’s all.”
“I think you and Malfoy will be the final two.” Albus decided. “That’ll be interesting for sure.”
--
Because of the unrest that the game had caused, I.G.U.A.N.A (under pressure from the teaching staff) had to declare that the game would end by midnight, and that anyone left alive would be considered a winner. As there was currently one hit-wizard left per House, it seemed pretty fair.
Rose wasn’t sure if there would be a final winner, since the rules had been changed again so that you only needed two other people around to be safe from killing. She guessed that Belby and Macmillan would be resorting to the safety clause to last until the end of the game. She wasn’t sure what Scorpius would do, since he’d proved to be rather unpredictable throughout the course of the game.
Thinking of Scorpius made her blush slightly. She wasn’t sure what it was about his recent behaviour that made her feel differently towards him. She was sure that he hadn’t been hitting on her - despite Lily’s speculations after she’d told her younger cousin about the encounters - but that he’d been trying to stir up the fear in her regarding the game.
Perhaps it was just that she’d never really talked to him before, nor bothered to observe him. Hit-Wizards had caused her to become more observant of everyone, not least of all him. While many of the sixth-year students had become antsy and paranoid, he’d remained cool and collected while still racking up the kills, which she couldn’t help but admire.
And of course, it didn’t help that he was terribly easy on the eyes. Rose refused to use the word ‘handsome’ to describe him, because that would just confuse how she felt about him and lead her to start thinking about his blond hair or fit physique.
As if the universe had heard her thoughts, he appeared in the corridor that was crowded with students going to their classes. “Malfoy.” She called out, but he didn’t seem to hear her. “Scorpius.”
This time he turned around, and she wondered if he’d done it just to make her call his first name, but that thought was just bizarre in and of itself. “Rose.” He inclined his head, and she nearly tripped at the sound of her first name on his lips.
“I meant to thank you for your potion the other day.” She said stiffly.
“No need for thanks.” He waved a hand. “After all, you can’t help being bad at Potions.”
“What the-” Rose gasped in outrage. “I am not bad at Potions! I was just having an off day!”
Scorpius nodded condescendingly. “Sure you were. Whatever makes you feel better about it.”
It really frustrated Rose that Scorpius Malfoy was better at Potions than she was, the subject being the single blight on an otherwise beautiful line of Outstandings on her O.W.Ls certificate. “How dare you!”
“I’m only speaking the truth.” He shrugged, and it was his nonchalance while being utterly mean that eroded her patience.
“Well, I manage to beat you at everything else!”
“Ah, so you accept that you’re bad at Potions.” He smirked. “And in case you don’t realise, I get just as good grades in half the subjects, and I do it without swotting away in the Library like a bookworm with no social life to speak of.”
Rose was seeing red by this point and yanked out her wand and pointed it at him, only for him to pull out his own immediately.
“Miss Weasley!” Professor Longbottom called out in shock. “Fighting in the corridors? I am surprised at such behaviour, and from two Prefects!”
“But Professor, he was provoking me and-” Rose tried to argue.
“Whatever the reason, I expect better behaviour from you, and not to find you waving your wands about when outside of a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson!”
“Another subject in which I’m better than you, by the way.” Scorpius said offhandedly.
“That was uncalled for, Mr Malfoy.” Neville looked at the tall boy severely. “Both of you will have to serve detention tonight.”
“Detention?” Rose repeated in horror. She’d been determined to continue her clean streak from the previous year, and now Malfoy had gone and messed it all up.
“You will report at Greenhouse 1 at 10pm tonight.” Neville finished. “Now go off to your classes.”
Rose scowled at Scorpius before running off to class.
--
“That insufferable jerk got me detention!” Rose raged at Albus in the common room while he tried to calm her down.
Lily looked confused. “Who?”
“Scorpius Malfoy.” She ground out angrily. “Neville gave us detention at the greenhouse tonight.”
Albus offered her a Chocolate Frog, whose head she bit off viciously. “Well, you should try not to kill him while you’re both there.” Then his eyes widened. “So that’s his plan!”
“What plan?” She asked before swallowing the rest of the chocolate.
“I heard from Anna that Macmillan got killed by Malfoy this afternoon.” He told her. “And from the sound of it he must have planned for you two to get detention so that he could kill you without any witnesses!”
Rose gaped at his deduction. “But surely he knows that Neville will be there to supervise us, and the rules have always stated that you can’t be killed if a professor is around.”
“You can’t guarantee that he’ll be there throughout your detention to watch over you guys.” Albus shook his head and Lily followed suit. “And I doubt you’ll be allowed to bring anyone along for protection at that time of night.”
Rose slumped in disbelief. “Then I’m as good as dead.”
“Wait a minute.” Lily piped up. “What if you kill Belby before 10pm? Then you’ll be Malfoy’s hit-witch, won’t you?”
Rose turned slowly to look at her younger cousin. “Lily… that’s genius!”
“I know.” The red-headed fourth-year grinned, tapping her head. “Not just a hat-rack after all!”
--
Ernest Belby had just left the Great Hall after dinner with two friends and was walking up the stairs when he realised his friends had stopped replying to his conversation. “Guys?” He turned around only to see his friends body-bound and being dragged off by very familiar people. “Potter, what are you-”
Then he felt someone holding him in place by the robe, and turned to see Rose Weasley standing there. “You’re dead.” She tapped him with her wand.
“You dragged them away by force!” Belby gaped in shock. “You can’t just do that!”
“It’s not forbidden in the rules.” Rose shrugged apologetically. “And I’m really sorry about having to do it this way.”
Belby grumbled for a bit but decided to accept his defeat graciously. “So it’s just you and Malfoy left, huh?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Who would you rather be the winner?”
Belby thought for a moment. “Well, if you beat him, then I can say that I was killed by the winner of the game.” Rose had to smile at that. “But wouldn’t they change the rules if there are only two people left?”
“Good point. I’ll go check with Rubina Chang.” Rose smiled and left to find her cousins.
--
But Rose wasn’t able to find the Slytherin girl that night, and decided that she would just hope that Neville would stay throughout the detention and prevent Scorpius from killing her until the rules were sorted out.
After all, how were two people supposed to decide who killed whom first? Would it depend on whose wand touched the other player first? Would it only count if the victim was caught unawares? Would they have an epic duel to decide the winner? If she had to be absolutely honest with herself, she didn’t think she’d be able to beat Scorpius in an actual duel.
Rose managed to spot Neville as he was heading down and practically glued herself to his side while walking to the greenhouse. She noticed Scorpius trailing behind them and was ridiculously thankful for the Herbology professor’s presence. He set them to extracting Snargaluff Pods, which was really just a repeat of one of their earlier lessons.
“Why so tense?” Scorpius asked as he wrestled with a couple of thorny vines.
Rose attempted to tie the vines together before replying. “If anyone should be tense, it’s you, Malfoy.”
“Scorpius.” He reminded her pleasantly, as if he hadn’t provoked her earlier that day and landed them both in trouble. “And why should I be tense?”
Rose plunged her hand in to extract the pod successfully. “Because I killed Belby a few hours ago, and my next target happens to be you.”
They both glanced at where Neville had been working, only to see that the professor had gone off somewhere. Then the two of them turned back to stare at each other, Scorpius smiling dangerously while Rose tilted her chin stubbornly. “There’s no one here to protect you now.” He took out his wand, and she did likewise.
Then he lunged for her and her instincts overtook her common sense as she dodged and began running around the greenhouse in order to evade him, even though that was making it impossible for her to kill him by touching him with her wand. She found herself enjoying it despite the stakes, laughing a little as she saw him jump over a few potted mandrakes in order to get to her.
Just as she abruptly stopped and turned on her heel to catch him off-guard, several tentacle-like branches from one of the Snargaluffs shot out and twisted around her wand arm, holding her in place. She winced as the thorns cut into her skin. Recognising defeat, she exhaled slowly and relaxed, waiting for him to make the kill.
To her surprise, he stowed his wand away and took up a pair of pruning shears. “Don’t move,” he ordered, and she obeyed him automatically, watching in bewilderment as he held on to her arm with one hand and methodically cut through the vines with the other. In that moment, Rose didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so... nice as the moonlight filtering through the glass to shine on the tall blond boy working hard at freeing her arm with delicacy and concentration.
After tying up a few more vines that had shot up and cutting through the rest, he took out his wand and muttered “Episkey”, healing up the many little cuts inflicted on her arm. “Are you alright?” He asked, ghosting fingers over her sensitised skin.
“I…yes.” She found it a little hard to concentrate when he was touching her like that. “Thank you.” She said quietly. “You can kill me now - since you would have won anyway.”
Scorpius quirked a small smile. “That’s odd.”
“What?” Rose didn’t think that he’d think she was petty enough to take advantage of the situation to kill him when he’d gallantly stopped to help her.
“I enjoyed the chase, but now that I’ve caught you…” He leaned in closer and she blinked uncertainly. “…I’m not quite sure how to proceed.”
Rose gulped nervously, because his proximity was messing with her mind. There was no other reason why she should be wishing that he’d close the gap between them. “I guess you should…um, go for the kill.”
“And claim the prize?” Scorpius asked, and she wasn’t sure if he was still referring to the game, now that his lips were mere inches from hers.
“Yes.” She breathed, and that was all the permission he needed to press his lips to hers in a soft kiss.