HP 2nd Gen: Scorpius Malfoy/Tabby Finnigan

[Purple]

There's probably a reason that students aren't supposed to roam the castle at night. It probably has something to do with maintaining order and keeping them from doing things they shouldn't. It's probably something that teachers care a lot about. So, invariably, Tabby Finnigan doesn't give a shit.

The Gryffindor moved through the halls, her unlit wand dangling at her side, with an air of carelessness that bordered on sheer stupidity. She wasn't worried about anyone hearing her, despite the fact that she was wearing combat boots, shit-kickers as Da called 'em. She'd cast the silencio charm on the shoes a long time ago. They didn't make a sound, even when she wanted them too, which was at times unfortunate, but at others quite fortunate. Like now. She didn't need to make a sound, and without silent boots she would never be patient enough to accomplish such a task. As for anyone seeing her, well she certainly didn't have an invisibility cloak just lying around, but then very few did. Unless they knew how to do a good disillusionment charm, of course.

Tabby made her way down the shifting staircases, going lower and lower until she reached the dungeons. The dungeons weren't a pleasant place to be on the sunniest of days, probably because none of that sunlight ever reached them, but Tabby didn't mind. She'd stopped being afraid of the dark when she turned seven. Why one would willingly go there was behind most people's comprehension, unless you were a Slytherin of course, but the Gryffindor girl wasn't there for the bloody snakes. She was there for the snacks. Odd place for the kitchen really, the basement, but it was about the only place where it was out of the way, and of course it had to be under the Great Hall so the house elves could send the food up through the tables. They weren't great sticklers for the rules, house elves, and had been known to give a hungry student a midnight snack upon request. The girl had almost made it to the kitchens--she was so close she could actually smell the chicken from dinner--when she ran full-on into someone she hadn't seen in the dark. So much for excellent night vision.

"Oi! Who's there?!" she exclaimed as she suddenly found herself on her bum with a very sore forehead. "Bloody hell," she muttered, rubbing her head.

[Kage]

Okay so he'd skipped dinner, so what? It wasn't rare, he did it about three times a week, in fact, so one wouldn't be surprised to see Scorpius Malfoy wandering around the dungeons to the path that lead to the kitchen.

If there was ever a reason for the boy to seem legitimately nice it was to creatures of the wizarding world, and probably just to them. Scorpius had always found a fascination for all different sorts of species and creatures alike, and house elves was one that he was used to seeing. His father and mum had two house elves back at their home, and even when they were sometimes rash with the things, Scorpius was always had somewhat of a better temper towards them. Of course he kept this from his father and tried to avoid the elves as best as he could when his father was near, but Scorpius found a way around it mostly every time.

The Slytherin was sure by now that a few of the house elves that made the feasts for the houses and teachers in the great hall knew him by now, seeing as how he'd been down there quite a few times in the passed month. He only pondered on what the rest of the school had eaten for dinner earlier that evening when the smell of chicken wafted passed his nose, the boy inhaling with an almost starving aura around himself. Much like the female he was about to clash into, Scorpius had also cast a disillusionment charm on himself to blend in with where he walked. He, however, didn't need any spells to make him quiet while he stepped, as he had a very light, naturally smooth rhythm in his steps, and although he wasn't perfectly silent, he was still close.

He was only but a few steps away from the kitchen doors when he felt a hard pressure against his stomach and right side, forcing him to step back with a hiss of air through his teeth.

"Bloody hell's right. I ought to be saying the same to you!" the boy muttered, brushing off his sleeve and pulling the charm off of himself with a flick of his wand.

[Purple]

Tabby removed her charm with a slight flick of her wand, pulling herself to her feet to look at the boy she'd bumped into. Scorpius Malfoy. Of course. If she had to pick someone to run into in a dark hallway in the middle of the night when she was both hungry and inches away from satiating that hunger, well let's just say he wouldn't be it. She didn't have a personal problem with the boy, but they'd butted heads one too many times to be called friends, and well, she wasn't exactly in the mood.

"Sorry," she said, but there was no remorse in her tone, "Can't exactly watch where I'm going when you're invisible."

True to her two-minute attention span, Tabby caught another wiff of the chicken and turned her attention to the kitchen once more. She had eaten dinner, but it was more like a roll and a few bites of chicken than a meal really. She had been too busy talking to her friends, who were being funnier than usual, she would admit, to think much about eating. Tabby always lamented her inability to talk and eat at the same time, though of course she would gladly do so. She just seemed to forget all about food when people were there, which meant she rarely got a decent meal out of dinner unless she went into hermit mode. Which meant she ended up here more nights than she could count. A few of the house elves had started to recognize her, remember her name, though she could only ever remember one of there's. Emmy was the little elf's name who always went to get her a snack when she came looking for one. He was a cute little creature, one of the newer house elves at Hogwarts. She had always liked the creatures, though they never had any in her house growing up. Mum was always a firm believer that a wand was the only help she needed. Suddenly remembering herself, Tabby turned back to the boy, but thoughts of a cold chicken sandwich still danced just behind her eyes.

"So I take it you're looking for a snack? Or do Malfoy's not eat midnight snacks?" she asked, not meanly. Teasing was just part of her nature. It was only mean-spirited when she was given a reason to be.

[Kage]

"That's none of your business Finnigan, but if you must know, I didn't have dinner with the rest of the houses." Scorpius muttered, pocketing his wand while he did so. "So I suppose a 'snack' is needed, don't you think?" He raised an eyebrow at the Gryffindor before turning on his heel and stepping towards the door to the kitchen, pulling it open just wide enough to let himself through.

His eyes, despite always being narrow and judging, lightened up the slightest bit as he looked around, spying house elves walking around and putting things away, or setting things back into place. The Slytherin's eyes sifted through the house elves until he found a familiar face, making his way over to said elf.

"Herris." Scorpius said lightly, the house elf turning his head to look up at the boy, giving a faint but knowing smile. "Mr. Malfoy, how good to see you again sir."
"As well as you, Herris, how've you been?" Scorpius chatted quietly with the house elf, following behind him as he moved around, collecting a plate and little bits of food here and there. If there was one thing that Scorpius liked about Herris it was that he'd grown to know him over his time at Hogwarts, and the house elf had done the same, already noting to himself that the Slytherin wasn't a heavy eater.

The Finnigan girl went somewhat forgotten in the Malfoy's mind, as he didn't even give her a second glance once stepping inside the kitchen doors.

[Purple]

"That's not good for you, you know," she chided. Nevermind that she hardly ate any dinner herself, and she was in the Great Hall with "the rest of the houses." "You're a growing boy or something."

Tabby yanked the door open after he was through, giving herself plenty of room to enter the kitchens, even though she could have gotten through the same opening he'd left. She watched the Malfoy boy seek out a house elf and begin chatting with him like the two were old friends, but her hunger won out over her curiosity before long and Tabby turned her attentions to finding a snack. She smiled as the little house elf Emmy waved the dish towel he'd been using to wipe down a counter and made his way towards her.

"Back again Miss Finnigan?" he said, beaming up at her. She nodded and returned his smile.

"How've you been Emmy?" she asked, "Got any chicken left?"

"Oh I've been just fine, Miss," the elf replied, "And of course. We house elves run on leftovers."

"That's lucky for me," she said, Malfoy quite forgotten. Unlike Scorpius, Tabby was in no way a light eater. She would probably need a midnight snack even if she did finish her dinner, just a product of never going to bed when she was supposed to. The Gryffindor followed her friend through the kitchens, dodging busy elves on all sides, to the counter where several female elves were moving the leftover food into different containers for storage, cutting the chicken into slices. Emmy tapped one of them on the shoulder and whispered something in her large ear. The elf nodded and put several slices of chicken onto a plate, poured gravy over the top, and places several rolls on the side. Emmy thanked her and handed the plate to Tabby, who thanked her as well. The elf looked at the girl in surprise for a moment, but then simply nodded and went back to her work.

"Thank you Emmy," she called over her shoulder as the little elf scurried back to his work, and she wove her way though the busy kitchen to a tiny table out of the way where a few elves were taking a break. They gave her strange looks when she sat down but went on with there conversation. It was just as well. If Tabby had anyone to talk to then her food would never get eaten. The girl tore apart the rolls and settled the meat and gravy between the pieces, forming three little sandwiches, which she gladly tore into immediately. She looked up as she chewed, watching the elves move about with the rapidness of bees in a hive, Malfoy towering over all of them as she must have moments ago.

[Kage]

Scorpius picked at the chicken on his plate lightly, eating little bit by little bit, leaning against the wall on the far side of the kitchen, keeping out of the house elves' way as best as he could. The boy occasionally had to lift a leg or shift out of the way of the busy little creatures, but he wasn't too much of a hindrance to them.

A few minutes passed, the Slytherin biting at one of the two rolls on his plate, and swallowing it as he finished. Malfoy picked up the other roll and in spying a small stack of dirty plates floating passed him, quickly placed his own plate on top, watching them head over to the sick where they plunked into the soapy water.

After a quick goodbye to Herris, Scorpius took his wand out of his pocket and headed for the door, swallowing the last bit of his second roll. "See you in Potions, Finnigan." The Slytherin muttered blandly, flicking his wand at himself, the disillusionment charm hiding his appearance as he slipped out of the kitchen and shut the door.

[Purple]

Tabby watched Malfoy disappear, raising a hand in farewell, but made no attempt to follow him. She had better things to do than bother Scorpius Malfoy. For the moment, anyway. She finished slurping down her chicken sandwiches and called a goodbye to Emmy before resetting her disillusionment charm and leaving the kitchens. It was getting late, but by Miss Finnigan's standards the night was still young, and even if she had had the sense to return to bed, sleep would have undoubtedly evaded her for a good couple hours more anyway. The Gryffindor left the dungeons and made her way up the moving staircases once again, setting out for another round of wandering the sleeping castle.

~Timeskip~

Tabby peered into the bubbling cauldron curiously, wondering what would happen now that she'd added an extra few ingredients. The poor Gryffindor boy who'd gotten stuck with her was watching the pot worriedly. He wasn't very adventurous for a Gryffindor. He just didn't understand that Potions was infinitely more fun when you improvised a bit, though of course she'd tried to explain it to him. Poor boy. Hopefully this one at least wouldn't burn her skin when she inevitably stuck her hand in the cauldron to find out what it did. There really was no downside to her method of Potions. Sure she didn't learn very much, but she wouldn't have anyway, and sure her grades weren't the best, but she could make a proper potion when she absolutely had to to keep from failing, and going to the hospital wing got her out of class. Quite an overall winning situation she would say. Some would disagree of course, but there were always some sticklers for the rules to deal with.

"Oi! Hit the deck!" she yelled as the potion began to bubble more rapidly, seemingly of its own accord. She and the boy scrambled out of their seats and ducked beneath their table to avoid what she knew was coming. After a moment of nothing happening, however, Tabby couldn't resist coming out to sneak a peak at the cauldron. It was at that moment that the potion erupted, spewing straight up out of the cauldron until it hit the ceiling and came splashing back down on Tabby and her classmates. Amid piercing screams from the females nearby who'd gotten wet was laughter, coming from the Gryffindor girl on the floor. The only dry person within a five-foot radius of the cauldron seemed to be her partner, who had wisely stayed under the table when the potion burst. She was lucky. This one didn't burn. In fact the only affect it seemed to have was that anything it touched--hair, skin, robes, table, floor--turned a vibrant magenta color. As a result Tabby had pink speckles in her usually black hair and all over her robes. She imagined there must be some on her face, as there were plenty on her hands, but she couldn't see that of course.

[Kage]

There was a low snarl from across the room, the Slytherin lowering the book (which was now very much magenta) he'd held above his head and slamming it against the table. His normally bleach blonde hair was sprayed bright magenta at his bangs, his face speckled with the bright color as well. The only spots on his robes that got hit by the potion volcano, thankfully, had just been his shoulders, the color splattered on like paint.

"Finnigan, you unsightly dits!!" Scorpius snarled at the girl, touching his fingers to his bangs and pulling his hand away to see the pink color spreading along his fingertips. His eyes were murderous as he glared back at the Gryffindor.

[Purple]

"That's a good look for you Malfoy," Tabby replied, snickering as she stood up. Her tone was calm, but she didn't miss the fact that Malfoy's was less than friendly. The Gryffindor slipped her hand inside the pocket of her robes, grasping her wand in case the blond (well, sort of) boy tried anything. "You should really consider keeping it," she continued, "That is, if you even have a choice. Not sure if this stuff will come out." A few girls gasped in horror, devastated at the thought of remaining speckled with magenta. Or maybe those were the boys; it was hard to tell the difference when you didn't really care. Besides, Tabby's sole focus was on Malfoy at the moment.

She was only kidding about it not coming out of course. Very few things were permanent in the Wizarding world, and she was sure that the nurse could whip up a potion or say a quick charm and have them all de-pinked in to time. Either that or it would just wear off in a few days. Or weeks. Tabby was kind of hoping for the latter in all honestly. She would enjoy nothing more than watching normally oh-so-mighty Malfoy walk around Hogwarts with pink hair for a week or two. Even a day would give her the greatest satisfaction. Hell, just the walk to the hospital wing was going to be wonderful fun.

"Oh you don't look too happy, Malfoy," she said now, "What's the matter? Not secure enough in your manhood to wear pink?" She was just messing with him, perhaps milking it a bit even, but it was just too easy and too much fun, something the Finnigan girl had never been able to resist.

[Kage]

Malfoy had his wand out and pointing straight at the girl within the second, his eyes narrowing sharply. "Watch your mouth, Finnigan." He hissed lowly, stepping forward. Scorpius was about to call out a spell, but flicked his arm to the side, hiding his wand in his sleeve as the teacher stepped back into the classroom, asking what had happened.

Ten minutes passed before Scorpius found himself trudging towards the hospital wing with five other people, Finnigan, of course, one of those five. Malfoy was silent in the walk, his arms folded across his chest as his long legs kept him at an even, steady, and quiet pace.

[Purple]

"Watch your wand, Malfoy," Tabby replied coolly, her own wand never leaving her pocket, "It'll get you into trouble." She smiled when the teacher returned, explaining that something had gone wrong with her potion, and that was why she and several of her classmates were magenta. He asked her partner why he hadn't stopped Miss Finnigan from botching their potion, to which the boy looked frightened and at a loss for words. Tabby jumped in and rescued him, saying he'd been just about to try and correct it when it exploded, giving him just enough time to duck under the table and stay dry. The potions master knew it was complete bullshit, of course, as it always was with Tabby, but he clearly didn't feel like pursuing it. He simply gave her an exasperated look and sent all those tinged with pink off to the hospital wing.

Tabby walked down the corridor in an excellent mood, grinning despite the fact that everyone else kept glaring at her. She only rolled her eyes at their negativity. Prats.

"You lot really need to lighten up. It's only pink," she said, receiving only stony silence in response. After a minute or so passed she slowed her walking a little bit to fall into step with Malfoy, who had been behind her from the start. "You know Malfoy, you really shouldn't start fights you can't win," she said pleasantly, not hearing the irony in her own words.

[Kage]

The boy paid no particular attention to the girl as she spoke to the others, his arms at his sides now as he walked behind the group. His eyes glanced up at the girl, still glaring at her, and looked over at the pink along her robes and in her hair. There was the tiniest split second where Malfoy's mind thought that the color looked decent on the Finnigan, but then stopped short in his step and put a hand to his face with a hard exhale of air, starting to walk again. What the bloody hell had he just thought!? Ridiculousness, that's what! It made him sick to even think about what he'd thought about, if that made sense, she was a Finnigan for Christ sake!

When the Gryffindor slowed her step and came up beside him, he felt a particular nagging in his side, like he wanted to punch the living daylights out of her for even coming near him. It was when she spoke her sentence towards him, however, that that feeling became violent in his stomach and he turned sharply, pinning the girl against the stony wall with his left arm across her collarbone. He sneered down at the girl with sharp eyes, the other students turning at Scorpius's sudden action, a few of the girls gasping, while one Slytherin boy smirked approvingly. "You know Finnigan, you really shouldn't try to act so high and mighty like you do." Malfoy hissed through his teeth, glaring down at her with ease, taller than the girl by far. "Just like your father, always making things explode right in his face, am I right?" Scorpius snarled, remembering the many stories his own father had told him about Hogwarts and the kids while he was still enrolled.

[Purple]

She would admit to being a bit surprised by suddenly being shoved up against a wall, by Scorpius Malfoy no less. The sudden movement took her breath away, but not so much that she couldn't maintain her composure. If there was one thing a childhood full of wrestling and inevitably being pinned by her older cousins had taught her, it was that you never showed fear, never even let you opponent know you were caught off guard. It wasn't about being tough. It was about appearing tough, because if they believed it, then it was true. Maybe that was why she came off as "high and mighty" to quote Malfoy. She didn't think she was better than others, she just didn't care what they thought, or if she did, she wasn't about to let them know that.

"I suppose I do have Da's knack for pyrotechnics," she replied with a smirk, "but there's a bit of a difference between him and me. See when I blow things up, I don't do it out of sheer ignorance. I don't do it on purpose exactly, but experiments can't always turn out like you plan." She smiled up at the blond boy, not intimidated by his height. Sure he was taller than her, but so were most of her cousins once they passed the age of ten. She still beat them seven out of nine times. That was because she'd learned the girl's standard secret weapon. She hated to do it to them, but when you were pinned so that you couldn't punch them in the face, well, it was damn useful.

Tabby stared up at him, distracted for a brief moment. Had he always had such pretty eyes? And pink really wasn't a bad color on him. He could work it better than most. It would be terribly easy to just lean in and--what the bloody HELL was she thinking?! The Gryffindor shook her head, pushing the disturbing thoughts away. It was Malfoy for Christ's sake. Dear God. Never again. Tabby shoved the thoughts away and shoved her knee into Malfoy's manhood, pushing him away from her as she did. When she had a little wiggle room she slid to the side and out of his grip, walking away.

"You don't want to mess with me, Malfoy," she said as she walked away. She kept her back to him, but in her pocket her hand was on her wand, ready to react if he attacked. He was no pansy, definitely not one to take a blow like that and not retaliate. She would have to be careful.

[Kage]

At the thrust between his legs, Malfoy backed off slightly, winded and in pain. The moment he recovered, however, he whipped his wand out from being in his sleeve and held it out in front of himself, the others backing out of the way, and who wouldn't? Once they'd seen the look on the Malfoy's face, even a Hippogriff would have run.

Scorpius have a harsh flick of his wand, casting the Jelly-Brain Jinx on the girl in front of him, fixing his posture in the process and keeping his stance in both attack and defense. The Finnigan girl was smarter than she appeared, he had to admit, and he would be a fool to turn his back on her in a fight.

[Purple]

Suddenly, the world was a lot foggier than usual, and everything seemed to be hilarious, at least in Tabby's mind. For one thing, what was she doing with a stick in her hand? Hehe. Weird thing to have. It kind of reminded her of a...oh naughty girl. Let's not go there. So weird stick thingy. Oh yeah. It was a wand. What did she need it for again? Casting spells or something? She didn't know any spells. Leastways, she couldn't remember any. There was something itching at the back of her mind, though. A funny word. Lots of words were funny it seemed. But this one was especially so. It sounded lit tarantula. Weird thing to name a spell after a spider. She didn't feel like it produced spiders. So why? Something about legs? Eh.

"Tarantallegra," she said aloud, surprised she could remember it at all. She started giggling immediately, giving the stick a lazy flick. She didn't watch what happened though. She didn't really expect anything to happen. She just kept looking at the stick, another word slowly floating into her mind. It sounded like infinite, but she didn't think it made things go on forever. She couldn't think for the life of her what it did, and she found it was much easier not to. Why bother, why not just say funny words and laugh at what happens? Well, why not say this funny word and see what it does? What would be the harm? "Finite," she muttered, giving the stick a haphazard wave. And just like that the world was a lot less foggy and a lot less funny, and Tabby was once again facing Malfoy.