Rose Weasley glanced out of the window of her dormitory with a look of disdain on her face.

The tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team were today and there were only a few spots open. Sure, she had good chances considering James Potter was the Captain, but that only meant he was going to expect more from her. And the weather was terrible. How was she supposed to fly in this?

Rain beat against the window and the wind howled through the glass. She rested her head against the cool surface and gathered her courage. She could do this. Her father was the Keeper for Gryffindor and her mother...well, she was a big supporter at least.

Rose nitpicked at her plain practice robes that she had borrowed from her cousin, Dominique. They were a little big for her in certain areas, like her chest and backside, but they would suffice for their intended purpose. She steeled herself to prepare for the weather outside and grabbed her Nimbus Two Thousand from the foot of her bed.

It wasn't the newest broom by any means, but her father promised her that she would get her very own Wind Soar if she made the team. It was the newest broom to date, with sleek polished oak stained to a dark red and white birch branches trimmed to perfection. It even came with iron foot holds that morphed to your feet.

She had to get on the team.

She wanted to be a Chaser, but there was only two spots open in that department. James was the Keeper and Roxanne Weasley and Lorcan Scamander were the beaters, and Amy Aldervich was the Seeker. She was so amazing, gliding through the air like it was a dance. Everyone wished she would try out for the Holyhead Harpies when they had tryouts next spring because she actually had a shot of making it on the team.

It would have thrilled the whole school to have a Hogwarts student on the Holyhead Harpies. The last time that happened was when Rose's aunt, Ginny Potter, had been Chaser for them.

Rose's spirits brightened as she walked toward the Quidditch field with broom in hand. Even the rain that started to soak through her robes and slick down her unruly red hair could dampen her spirits.

"Hello, Weasley."

Suddenly her high spirits started to disappear. "What do you want, Malfoy?" He smirked and pointed toward her robes.

"Going for the typical, hand-me-down Weasley look I see," he said with a smirk. Rose felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment and anger.

"Just because you are Albus' friend doesn't mean that you are mine," she said threateningly and stomped off toward the field. She heard his laughter as she stumbled on a particular patch of mud and grasped the broom tighter in her hand. She turned around to give him one last glare, glancing at his green Quidditch robes in jealousy. He had been on the Slytherin team since his first year and had quickly become an amazing Beater.

Her gaze lasted a little longer than she had planned as she glanced at the way his muscles stood pronounced under his gear in the rain. He pushed back his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes and gave her a smirk. "Have a good time, Weasley."

She frowned at him. "Don't try to be civil with me."

He only laughed at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Have it your way." And with that he turned back toward the castle and disappeared through the large oak doors.

The field was crowded with crimson robes and blurs in the stands as potential players whizzed by in the air. James spotted Rose as she entered the field and clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm glad you made it! For a second there I didn't think you were going to show," he said with a boy-ish grin. Rose grinned back and shoved playfully at his shoulder.

"It's my fifth year, James. If I was going to try out, now was going to be the best time," she said. He showed her where everyone was meeting and announced how the try out was going to go. After introducing the rest of the team they started with the firsts years in the air.

The rain had slowed to a light drizzle and the air had become chilly, but still manageable.

Rose observed as each year took their turn trying to take the quaffle from the team without success. She criticized each play with an analyzed gaze and smiled as she realized the errors each person performed. One person was focusing purely on the quaffle instead of the players and nearly got himself knocked off of his broom!

Finally James called for the fifth years and she stepped forward along with three others, Ollie Pevington, Nellie Longbottom, and Gernain Gaollinger. She wasn't very close with any of them, but they each were very familiar with each other. Ollie glanced at both of them before shooting into the air and Rose followed. Nellie watched for a minute before trying to kick off from the ground, but she mounted it incorrectly and flew sideways with a squeal.

Rose watched intently as the quaffle was switched from person to person and positioned herself in a ready stance in the air. She saw her opponent coming up fast and charged next to them, flying side by side, before nudging them roughly and making them release the ball. She dived after it with renewed vigor as the wind rushed through her wet hair. It flew into her awaiting arms with a thud and she cradled it to her side protectively. She could hear clapping in her ears as a bludger flew past her, mere inches from her head, and smiled to herself.

This was exhilarating. Why hadn't she tried out her first year, she wondered to herself. James was in front of her now guarding the rings. His face was set in an intense expression, but his eyes twinkled mischeviously. He tensed, ready for Rose to throw the quaffle at the rings and grabbed the top of his broom with white knuckles.

Rose knew this was her chance. If she could get the quaffle through one of the rings, she would become a Chaser on the team. She had to! Determination coursed through her as the rings neared. She knew what would be the easiest target, the left lower ring, but she felt that was where James would expect her to go.

She faked a throw at the left ring, and just like she thought James rushed toward it ready to deflect. But Rose decided to throw the ball at the farthest right ring and watched as shock and then pride registered on James face. There was a loud swish as the quaffle rushed through the hole.

Cheers exploded from below and Rose couldn't contain her sigh of relief. It was a tricky toss from where she had flown, but she had managed somehow. People patted her on the back as she landed softly on the ground.

"Way to go, Weasley!"

"You were great up there!"

"You were so fast!"

Rose was nearly exploding with happiness the next day when it became official.

She was now a Chaser for the Gryffindor team.

The Great Hall was crowded as the day of Gryffindor's first quidditch game came upon them. The stands had already been colored and the field freshly sodded, waiting to be of use later in the day.

Rose was nervous. Her toast and eggs didn't seem like the best option as she glanced at her plate, but she ate small bites anyway. She would need all her strength to play Slytherin and not get hit by one of Malfoy's bloody bludgers.

Fred sat down beside her and started piling his plate with ham and eggs. "Is that all you're eating, Rose?" he asked as he stacked another sausage onto his plate. She pushed her eggs around with her toast. "Nervous?"

"A little," she admitted to her cousin.

His arm wrapped around her protectively. "Don't you worry, Rosie. Lorcan and Roxy have your back," he said with a gentle squeeze. She smiled appreciatively at him and decided to eat a bit more toast.

Rose headed to the locker room after breakfast. She wanted to get a good warm-up fly in before everyone else started to show up. The corridors were cleared and the chilly weather outside did nothing to calm the beat of her heart as she moved through the castle toward the Quidditch field. She started to think of the worst things that could possibly happen; a bludger to the head, making an idiot out of herself in front of the whole school, throwing the quaffle through the Slytherin's rings.

She stopped and leaned against the stone wall. She had to stop these thoughts before she went out there or she was definitely going to fail. Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" came Scorpius' voice from the end of the hall.

Rose winced at her luck. "I'm fine," she said harshly.

"Not nervous, are you?"

Rose opened her eyes and glared. He knew the answer, so why did he ask?

Scorpius seemed to get the hint and smirked. "I'm actually excited to watch you play. I'm wondering how well you can move away from my bludgers, but we'll see. I doubt you'll last more than ten minutes," he smirked.

"Oh, piss off, Malfoy!" Rose shouted. She hated when he teased her like this, especially when Albus wasn't around to ebb off the anger.

"Oh you Weasleys," he said with a dramatic sigh. "You get angered so easily. Its quite amusing."

Her cheeks burned as auburn as her hair. "I'll show you angry," she mumbled under her breath, but still loud enough for Scorpius to hear it.

He looked at her for a minute with a small smile, then leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her cheek. "Don't fall off," he said into her ear. Shivers crawled down her spine as he moved away and walked down the hall like nothing had happened.

She didn't move, her hand coming up to brush at the tingling skin where his lips had just been. She stared after him before walking away with his tender kiss fresh in her mind and her nerves completely forgotten.

The stands were packed with colors of red, gold, silver, and green. Banners flapped in the wind, whistles echoed around the stadium, and students waved their house colors enthusiastically. A group of Gryffindors were even passing out cannon poppers that released a lion's roar when someone pulled the string.

Madame Hooch lined the players up and everyone mounted their brooms.

The whistle blew and then they were off!

Slytherin's took the quaffle first and raced toward the rings to score.

Rose was in shock. It had all happened so quickly. The quaffle was there and then it wasn't. She heard someone shout her name and she looked up just in time to see the bludger aimed straight for her face. Twisting her Wind Soar upside down and back up, she dodged gracefully and sent a nasty finger to the boy flying next to her with a bat in his hands.

"Ten minutes!" he shouted to her through the wind.

That was all she needed to get back in the game. Her broom charged forward at lightning speed as she caught the quaffle mid-toss between two Slytherin's. She passed it off to Katie Carroway and followed closely behind for back up. The two Slytherins that Rose had stolen the ball from were cornering Katie, each on either side. Rose could see Katie's panic and she rushed forward.

"Katie!" she yelled. She reached out her hand and grabbed the thrown quaffle just in time as the the two Slytherins smashed into Katie's sides. She collapsed and fell to the sand below with a grunt. Rose looked from Katie to the Slytherins currently looking at her with malice and arrogance.

Anger fueled her as she zoomed toward the goal three hundred meters away. Roxanne rushed to her side as another bludger whizzed toward her and beat it with her bat. "Malfoy's really got it out for you!" Roxanne shouted.

Rose couldn't agree more, but she had bigger things to worry about as Lance Zabini growled at her from his Keepers post. He was a big, surly seventh year who was fairly dumb, but could figure anything out when it came to sports. She was going to have to be very tricky with this shot.

Another bludger zipped past her shoulder and Rose tried not to get angry, even though he was doing it just to spite her.

"Don't fall off."

Rose rushed toward the top goal and closed in on Zabini. He started to panic when it looked like Rose wasn't going to stop and seized up.

Aha! The quaffle went through the lower right ring and Rose turned around ready to be on the defense.

"TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!" the announcer shouted to the crowd.

The game continued on for hours and Rose was starting to get tired. They were a hundred up over Slytherin and Malfoy wasn't happy at all. She could see his frown all the way from the other side of the field and couldn't help but feel proud. Katie was back up in the air and tossed the quaffle off to a second year, Daniel Crevey.

Rose was just about to chase after him when the growling sound of a bludger flew by, but this time it clipped the side of her leg. Pain flared in her thigh and she lost control of the broom. The air rushed up past her face and her robes billowed out as the ground came closer. She landed in the sand with a smack, but other than a hurt thigh and a sore ankle from her landing she was alright.

Her hand rubbed at the bruising skin and stood to shake it off, but the pain made her limp back down to the ground. She could her the stands asking questions and "ooh"ing and "ahh"ing each time she tried to stand. Her broom was fine, just a few scuffs that she could polish and buff, and her bones were fine. She could live with the pain.

She made to stand again and mount her broom, but Madame Hooch blew the whistle signaling the end of the game.

"Gryffindor wins!"

Rose lifted her fist in the air triumphantly as Amy landed with the snitch in her hand raised above her head.

Roxanne and Lorcan helped her to her feet and guided her over to the locker room, but she paused as the Slytherins started to go to the locker rooms as well.

"You!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Scorpius. "You could have killed me!"

The rest of the Slytherin team laughed and moved aside as Scorpius walked toward her. "I told you not to fall off," he told her sarcastically. Her cheeks flushed at the memory.

"Well, thats a bit bloody difficult when I have a git like you sicking a bludger on me!"

He kept walking closer to her as she wagged her finger at him. "I'm going to tell Albus about this," she threatened.

Scorpius shrugged. "Go ahead."

"I will!"

"Good."

"Good!"

They were face to face, neither one of them smiling, and Rose couldn't help but notice how beautiful his grey eyes were. His eyes moved down to her full lips just for a second and her cheeks flushed for a different reason.

She then realized how close they were. She could feel his body-heat through his sweat-soaked gear underneath his green robes and almost outline the way his muscles bulged against the fabric. His lips looked so soft. And his hair. She wanted to run her fingers through his golden hair.

Her throat became tight and she tried to gulp down the lump in her throat as Scorpius' head started to lower toward hers. Her eyes started to close as she angled up to meet him.

"Great game, you two!" Albus said as he rounded the corner. The two jumped apart instantly and stared at Albus.

"Ahem...thank, Albus. Um...I'm going to go...change." Rose fled toward the Gryffindor locker room without a backward glance.

Scorpius stared at the ground near Albus' feet as silence filled the air.

"So have you finally asked her yet?" Albus asked. Scorpius rolled his eyes with a groan. "Noooo," he groaned and palmed his forehead.

"Why not? You've been in love with her since third year!"

Scorpius sighed again.

"And trying to beat her with a bludger wasn't the best thing you could have done-"

"Thank you, Albus!"