The Romance of the snake and the rose

A letter from the Minister of Magic

It was the end of transfiguration, Rose's last class before the afternoon, one day after her potions class with Scorpius. Elderly professor McGonagoll, who could usually count on Rose to produce decent magic in her class, was getting increasingly annoyed with her favorite pupil, as all she'd done throughout the entire class was stare out of the window. In Rose's defense, she was actually trying to listen while she daydreamed, but it just wasn't very effective. She was thinking about her date with Scorpius Malfoy at 5:30.

  What was she going to wear? She could just go in her school uniform, but that was boring and she liked dressing up for Scorpius. After much contemplation, she'd decided on a steel-blue mini-dress with small white flowers on it. It had a low v-neck and a short skirt; very flirtatious.

The next question was hair - how was she going to style it, if not at all? She'd done twin buns last time, so that was a no-go. Ponytails, braids, pigtails and a messy bun were all still up for grabs. She should probably go with something simple. She decided on French braids. She could do them quickly but neatly, and they were really cute. They also tamed her wild ginger hair.

After that she had to think about jewelry. Earrings, necklaces, chokers, bracelets and anklets. She didn't want to overdo it. It would probably be best to just do earrings and necklace. She also had to make sure they went with her outfit. She had steel-blue butterfly shaped earrings, those would match her dress. Should she still add a necklace? Maybe not. She should keep it simple. That was decided then.

Shoes. What shoes should she wear? Boots? Pumps? She had some nice converse. She should wear them, they would be casual yet pretty. They would work well with her outfit.

Makeup then. That was the final question. She knew she should probably go for a minimal amount. Maybe just some eyeliner or mascara? She could put on lip-gloss and foundation. No, that would be too much, she thought to herself. Just some mascara then. That would do the trick.

Suddenly, the bell rang, bringing her crashing back down to reality, and Rose gathered her things at top speed she could and dashed off to the Gryffindor common room as fast as she could. Classes finished at three-thirty, leaving her two whole hours to get ready. She dropped all her books on her four-poster bed and took out her steel-blue dress, butterfly earrings, hairbrush, conditioner and shampoo. Scorpius had said that the amortentia smelled like her shampoo, so she decided to use lots.

After she had everything she needed, she almost sprinted into the showers. Calm down! she thought to herself as she pulled the curtain closed and began to take off her school robes.

She turned on the water and took a generous amount of shampoo and began to massage it into her ginger hair. It smelled like roses and jasmine, a present from her mother one Christmas long ago that she'd replaced each year. After she'd washed all of it out, she took out the conditioner. After she'd put it on her hair, she began to comb through it with her fingers, getting rid of the millions of knots one at a time. By the time the conditioner was also all washed out the shower was extremely steamy, and Rose turned on the water and began to get dressed. She brushed her hair, which was sleek thanks to her large amount of conditioner and dried it with a quick spell her mother had taught her. Then she began to braid it, redoing the plait whenever she thought it didn't look neat enough. An hour and a half later, her hair was done, she was dressed and showered, she was wearing her earrings and she had done her make-up and put on her converse. She ate some Galiwerth Gale's breath freshening drops and then settled down just outside of the Gryffindor common room with her book.

"Rose?" came Scorpius' voice, startling her out of her book and back into reality.

"Scorpius!" she exclaimed excitedly, looking up to see him in black jeans and a t-shirt. She put down her book and stood up, checking her watch. "I didn't realize it was five thirty already," she told him, flustered. She picked up her book. "I'll just put this back and get your hoodie," she said, and dashed back up to the girl's dormitory. She returned in under a minute, finding Scorpius waiting patiently. She handed him his rolling stones jumper.