to scale the blue sky [rose]

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Fact: Lysander Scamander had not been made Hogwarts champion. Fact: Neither had Lorcan Scamander. Conclusion: Lysander should have been happy. Fact: Lysander was not happy. It wasn't that he wasn't proud of Anna - she was a Weasley, so of course she was going to do an amazing job as the school representative - it was that, once again, everyone seemed to think that only Gryffindors could do anything worthwhile, using the fact that Anna had been picked out of the Goblet as proof. Lysander had been moving through his life with little vigor, floating really, as he tried to process everything he was feeling. As someone who normally did a fairly good job of ignoring his emotions in favor of logic, Lysander was not succeeding. But just because he was having an emotional crisis (albeit a quiet one, compared to some of the breakdowns he had seen) didn't mean that he wasn't going to go to his classes. Lysander had barely absorbed anything that Professor Hartridge had said about the potion they were making. The man's voice was extremely bright, so it hurt Lysander's ears to listen to it even on his best days, but when he wasn't having a good day, it was unbearable. He was going to have to rely on his Potions textbook, and Rose Weasley, who was sitting across from him at the table, to be able to make today's potion.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

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Potions was fairly simple for Rose; she had her mother's natural knack for the talent of mixing and brewing potions. It wasn't her favorite class, but she enjoyed it. Today's lesson looked to be interesting, Rose thought, as the professor began to pair them up one by one. Silently, Rose half hoped she would get paired with Scorpius, but the more logical side of her was glad when she was paired with Lysander instead.

Rose sat across from the Scamander boy as the two of them began the lesson. Rose, in true Granger-Weasley fashion, took the reigns as she looked at the instructions. She split the ingredients up into two parts and then looked up at Lysander. "You want to work on mixing these two while I do the others?" She smiled at him as she slid the two ingredients slowly across the desk to him. Rose was glad she was paired with someone she knew to be capable enough to follow directions and do the potion correctly, otherwise she wouldn't have offered him to do anything at all.

@lysander

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The best thing about having Rose as a partner was that she always told Lysander what to do. He wasn’t normally a fan of bossiness, but in a situation where he didn’t know what he was doing, having a little direction – or a lot, like in Rose’s case – was good for Sander. It kept him from feeling stupid when the results of his potion weren’t what they ought to be. Rose handed him the ingredients that he was supposed to be in charge of, and Lysander glanced at the instructions neatly printed in his textbook. He needed to juice the newt’s eyes, which was just a little bit graphic, and then powder the thestral’s hoof. He set off to do the newt’s eyes first, firmly pressing the blade of his dagger on them so that they oozed their fluids into the bowl that he had put them in. “Have I ever told you what color your voice is, Rose?” Sander asked, determined to make conversation despite the fact that Rose probably just wanted to get their potion done with. He had been making a habit lately of telling people what color their voices were, if only because he wanted them to know what paint they added to the canvas of his world.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

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Rose wore a look of contentment as she began mixing the infusion of wormwood with the goblin hairs, producing a very dark purple substance that lightened in color as Rose began to stir it. Rose didn't mind speaking during projects like this. If she was spoken to, she would kindly engage in conversation. Otherwise, Rose was never starting the conversation. She could gladly stay silent as she worked. That's why she liked Lysander; he seemed quiet enough to work with, but he also engaged in the nicest conversations. Rose continued to stir her ingredients together when Lysander asked her a question. She didn't take her eyes off of the cauldron as she kindly replied, "No, I do not believe you have,".

@lysander

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The newt's eye juice needed to ferment, Lysander noted, for two minutes. He glanced at his watch to check the time, and made a note of what time the juice would be done. He grabbed the thestral hoof and pulled it towards himself when Rose answered his question. Sander offered her a smile. "Sky blue." He answered her matter-of-factly. "It's nice when we're down in the dungeons, since we can't see the sky or anything." That was one of the downsides of having a class in the dungeons. Sander smashed his pestle down against the thestral's hoof, cracking it and making it slightly easier to smash into the powder. "But it's not annoyingly bright. Sometimes I have a hard time listening to Professor Hartridge because his voice hurts my ears." That probably wasn't the best thing to be admitting to his Potions partner at this point, but it was a way to continue the conversation, so Lysander went for it.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Deleted]

When Lysander said aloud which color Rose's voice was, she looked up at him. Sky blue must be a good thing, she thought. She smiled at him. It was nice to hear that your voice was like the sky to someone, who meant it quite seriously. She looked back down at her cauldron as she kept mixing, the contents now a light lavender color. The Ravenclaw let out a little laugh at Lysander's comment about Professor Hartridge's voice. "Well, I'm glad my voice isn't that bright," she said happily. "Thank you, Lysander. I'm glad you told me that." Rose stopped her mixing and then looked up at Lysander with a smile. "How's your stuff coming along? I think once we add your two together, we can add them to mine no problem." She grinned at her fellow raven.

@lysander

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Lysander smiled at Rose. She seemed to be buoyed by the news of the color of her voice, and that made him feel good. He wouldn’t have offered to tell her what color her voice was if he hadn’t had anything but good things to say about it, of course, but it was still nice to know that something so trivial could bring a smile to someone’s face. “Done with the powdering.” He confirmed. Sander glanced down at his watch. The newt’s eye juice had been fermenting for a little longer than it had said in the book, but that didn’t seem like that big of a deal to Sander. He poured the juice into a bigger bowl so that there would be space for the powdered thestral hoof. The Ravenclaw grabbed for the powder while he began stirring the newt’s eye juice, bringing the first thing his fingers closed around close to his face for inspection. This powder was a little lighter than what Sander had thought the thestral hoof had looked like, but potions ingredients were known to change color over time. Sander dumped the two together, peering at the bowl closely. “I don’t think anything is happening –”

And then the world went dark.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade

[Deleted]

Oddly enough, Rose was in a fairly good mood lately. Perhaps it was because of her blossoming relationship with Scorpius. Thinks were looking up. They were planning to tell their parents abut their relationship by Christmas and Rose had already told her own mother, who seemed to approve of Scorpius. So, Rose was happy. As happy as she could be for now, at least. So it was easy to smile more lately, even at the silliest of things.

Rose nodded in response to Lysander's confirming he was done with the powdering. She continued to mix the infusion of wormwood, sprinkling in the goblin hairs until the purple substance had turned a light lavender in color. She had just stopped mixing when an small explosion across from her made her jump out of her chair, making Rose spill her own mixture. Luckily, Rose's mixture had no effects as it spilled out on the floor so she looked up to Lysander to see what was wrong and saw his mixture had gotten on his eyes. Even with a properly brewed potion, that could be dangerous so Rose whipped out her wand and rushed to her classmate's side, muttering the "aguamenti" spell as she directed it to his eyes to wash away the potion. "Lysander! Lysander?! Professor! We need help!"

@lysander
tagging @liam if we want him to join/for reference c:

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Lysander was confused as to how he ought to feel. It was like his eyes were on fire, but they were submerged in ice at the same time. Something cool washed away both the fire and the ice, but Sander didn't dare try to blink, or do anything with his eyes, really. He knew he ought to be in pain, but it didn't hurt, and that was slightly worrying to Sander. Rose's voice came through his ears, calling his name, and Lysander summoned a weak smile. "I'm fine, Rose. I'm fine." He knew that wasn't true, because as soon as the cool had disappeared, the fire and ice came back to attack him. Sander was beginning to feel funny. Not just strange, but funny. He swallowed, but his mouth felt like cotton, and before he knew it, the darkness wasn't just in his eyes, but in his ears, too, and then his mouth and nose, until Sander was floating away in waves of warm, dark blackness.

Rozalina Antonina Nightshade
(end?)