The new Quidditch season came without warning, barrelling into Hogwarts still blustery and dishevelled by the icy sting in the wind; too angry and cold to be a spring breeze.
Scorpius carried his old Firebolt propped on his shoulder, attracting the attention of a gaggle of pinched-faced first year girls who giggled together and tried to snap pictures with their smart computer phone things.
'Aww,' whined one shaking the device so hard Scorpius reckoned, had the little men inside concussing. 'It's not uploading! Why isn't it uploading?'
This is Hogwarts, ignorant little Muggle spawn, Scorpius thought. There are such things as wards!
'Look at those confused babies!' Prakash Patil-Sharma, their solid-as-a-mountain Keeper guffawed, walking backwards to keep the wind from messing his thick, dark hair. 'Though isn't it about time someone in this school figured out a way through the WiFi ward? Hey Chang! You're a Muggleborn Asian! Why haven't you enabled WiFi at Hogwarts?'
'Man, that's just racist!' drawled Damian Chang, but his eyes were sparkling as he repeatedly bobbed the Quaffle between his knees. 'And I ain't Muggleborn remember?'
Chang had suffered a lot when he was a first year at Hogwarts for he was American, not shy to state his opinion and had grown up in a ghetto lost to his birth parents until the Hogwarts letter helped reunite them. His mother, Cho had been Ravenclaw's Seeker during her time and though he was the most acrobatic Chaser to date, Chang always claimed he was nowhere near as good as her.
'Besides, I suck at computers! Haven't been around them since I was too busy hustling for a life back there!'
'You know I'm just pissing around with you mate?' Sharma grabbed Chang in a headlock forcing him to drop the Quaffle which rolled away, past Scorpius, down the hill towards the Quidditch pitch.
'Malfoy!' Chang called out to him and Scorpius ran after the smear of dark crimson against the even darker grass, until it bumped onto someone's shoe and came to a stop.
Scorpius stared at the shoes; familiar with long undone laces trailing through the mud, grass stains and scuff marks spattered across the canvas.
He gathered the Quaffle to his left hand and followed the muddy hem of the red robes up to the red cheeks, sugared with two dozen freckles and the redder, giant fuzzy mushroom of hair that had become a common place trademark at Hogwarts lately.
Weasely.
One of many. The school had succumbed to the extended Potter-Weasely clan like the dragon pox plague that killed Great Granddad Abraxas.
But to him, to Scorpius, this little bundle of red was the Weasely.
Rose Weasely; the oldest child of the great Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement and her bumbling buffoon of a husband.
Rose Weasely; who picked up Quidditch as a hobby in Fourth Year and made the greatest joy of Scorpius' life a misery.
Rose Weasely; who –
'What are you gawping at Malfoy? Have I got Flobberworm on my face?'
Scorpius took three steps back, away from the line of fire in those cornflower blue eyes that were pretty to look at but deadly to gain the attention of.
'Sod off Weasely!'
Weasely snorted and tossed her tangled mane back off her shoulders, cracking her neck as she took a step towards him.
Scorpius shrank back and regretted it instantly. She was as tall as his chest even when she had her chin pointed up threateningly at him. She was a pint-sized cub so why was he acting like a scared rat?
She squinted menacingly at him and then took in his clothes and raised an eyebrow. 'Why are you in your Quidditch robes? Didn't you read the notice Hooch put up? It's Gryffindor's practice day today!'
'Is not!' Scorpius couldn't help himself.
'Is too!'
'Is not!'
'Rose? What's going on? Why aren't you in position?'
A swoosh and a low thump announced the arrival of a broomstick and Weasely's partner Jack Wood splashed over, tossing mud everywhere and looking very windblown. She came to a stop just half a step behind Weasely and mirrored the same pose, arms crossed, eyebrow raised to shoot Scorpius an identical withering scowl.
It was common knowledge at Hogwarts that Wood and Weasely were brilliant beaters who had perfected the art of teamwork. Where Weasely was stout and short but a very fast flier, Wood was slower, but tall and willowy like her father, the England Captain.
She didn't look it but had the brute strength of a mountain troll.
Wood and Weasely's mastery of Bludgers was so precise that they were almost always aimed at the heart, earning them the nickname 'Heartbeaters' coined by the sports writer at the Daily Prophet in an article the year before, where he compared them to George and the late Fred Weasley and Gryffindor's glory days.
Though he would never admit it, Scorpius had a grudging respect for the duo and enjoyed watching them flying when they played against Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.
'Malfoy here is all dressed up to practice his Seekering!' Weasely waggled an erratic finger under his nose.
Wood coughed. 'Fat lot of good it'll do for you if you can't find the Snitch when it's in your knickers the whole time!'
The two of them squealed and snorted like a pair of delighted piglets and Scorpius thought of how scandalised his mother would be to see such an unladylike display.
'It wasn't in my knickers!' He yelled over the laughter. But he didn't even know why he tried. It's not like they would believe him if he told them that the mighty James Potter had slipped it there when he pretend-collided with Scorpius in front of the Headmistress's box.
Scorpius has seen him winking at her and what's more, McGonagall had winked back! The Headmistress had winked back!
Scorpius would have had his revenge if not for the fact that James Potter was his best friend's big brother. Though sometimes he wondered if Al was adopted. He was so quiet and calm and peaceful you'd doubt he had the same hot, troublemaker blood that everyone else in the Potter-Weasely clan clearly suffered from.
By this time the rest of the Slytherin team had made their way down to the pitch.
'What's up?' asked Chang, taking the Quaffle off Scorpius' hands.
'What's up, Captain!' grinned Weasely saluting him smartly.
'Rose! You guys are having practice now? But I already booked the pitch two weeks back.'
Weasely smiled sweetly and Scorpius gagged earning him a discreet kick on his ankle. 'I don't know really. James told us we're starting today. We got here about half an hour before, during the drizzle.'
'I'll talk to James about it,' Chang swung himself onto his broomstick and kicked off, hovering in a semicircle to shout, 'You lot wait here and try to keep Malfoy from having a go at poor Rose!'
Scorpius flushed indignantly. 'I'm not having a go at anyone! She was the one who's winding me up!'
'Leave it Scor!' Sharma ruffled the back of Scorpius' head, dropped his Keeper hat in his hands and wandered off to chat with the girls in the stands.
'That's right, leave it Scor!' Weasely replied and stood on tiptoe to try and ruffle his hair but came up short and ended up messing his fringe, pulling it down from its carefully spiked tuft.
Scorpius jerked his head away and hissed at her as she grinned back, throwing her broomstick ahead and mounting it with a running jump.
'Wotcher Scor!' Wood flashed a V sign at him and followed her partner up, the two beaters making zigzag patterns in the heavy air above him.
The clouds were mansions fat with waiting rain. From where he stood Scorpius could see the mountains behind the Forbidden Forest getting blotted out as if someone had performed a vanishing spell on them.
He saw Chang whiz over to circle the third goalpost as Gryffindor's captain James Potter descended slowly to level. The boys bumped brooms in greeting.
Scorpius didn't like James Potter in the least.
He was conceited, self-centred and rode the wave of his father's popularity as easily as Peeves rode the railings on the stairways, landing smack on some unsuspecting student's face and scaring the life out of them.
Where the other members of the Potter-Weasely clan had the decency to appear uncomfortable at the mention of it, Potter was infuriatingly similar to Weasely in how they embraced their notoriety, they revelled in being the children of heroes, swatting away compliments offhandedly as if being of the blood they are automatically entitled them to the best of everything.
'Alright! Gather round you lot!'
Potter's voice thundered across the Quidditch pitch amplified by the Sonorous charm making blur upon blur of Gryffindor fliers shoot back to gather before him with the speed that Hagrid attracted any gigantic dangerous creature.
Scorpius caught Chang beckoning him up with a lopsided grin that gave him a very nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
'Oh no!' He groaned out loud as realisation tapped him cheerfully on his shoulder. 'Oh no, no, no!'
'So I got great news! Captain Chang here has proposed that in order to counter this practice conflict we play a small friendly match!' Potter paused for effect, looking around with that manic glint in his eyes they say he inherited from his mother. 'And I said yes!'
Scorpius groaned again, but was alone in his sentiments for the rest of the teams were thrilled that the prospect of being allowed to tear each other's throats apart didn't have to wait until the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match at the end of the season.
Scorpius' emerald robes billowed in the sudden gust created by the arrival of his stocky little nemesis. 'Well come on then Malfoy!' She goaded, leaning down on her broom handle, a gloved hand propped carelessly under her freckled chin. Her great big hair floated around her head as if she was being stalked by that plush lion hat made famous by the mad naturalist witch Lovegood who wore it for every one of the Holyhead Harpies games when Ginny Weasely still played.
'Hmm?'
'Well don't just stand there like a proper little princess! Jamie's let the Snitch out so you'd better start looking for it before one of my rogue Bludgers sends you crying to Mummy!'
Scorpius swore under his breath and mounted his Firebolt, gripping it firmly as the chilly wind assaulted him. He ascended up to Weasely's level as she watched him with shiny eyes and then catapulted past him, her hair whipping across his face leaving it stinging and him breathing in trails of midnight roses and tea leaves.
'Little troll!' Scorpius growled after her and aimed his broomstick upwards to a good vantage point from which he could see the passionate match going on below him and spot anything that glinted gold in the twilight.
Compared to what his father had told him, Scorpius supposed that inter house relations were the best they had ever been in Hogwarts.
Apparently, there used to be a time when the rivalry went way above and beyond. Dad had supposed, with a twinge of what Scorpius suspected was regret, that had there been less house based segregation he wouldn't have made all those 'mistakes' back then.
Scorpius had not wanted to ask what those mistakes had been.
He knew why in primary school the other children had called him 'Death Eater Spawn.'
He had tried to hate his father for it, but he just couldn't. Not when Dad was making every effort to atone, was a wonderful husband to Mother, a great and a very involved father who took his son out of the school for wizards his Grandmother had enrolled him in and sent him instead to a Muggle primary school so he would learn 'to mingle with others regardless of their blood or abilities.'
It made seemed like Dad wasn't the only one who thought like that.
Slytherin then and Slytherin now were in stark contrast of each other.
It began to rain.
A gleam of gold flashed in the corner of Scorpius' eye snapping him back to attention just a split second behind Potter who was already after it, weaving in and out underneath the stands.
Scorpius flew right alongside, his robes getting slowly heavier as the rain embraced him and Potter must have felt his presence for he looked back with a grin.
'Come on then Malfoy!' He hooted and the two of them pulled into a steep climb the Snitch sandwiched between them. They rose higher and higher, past the first bank of feeble clouds, then raindrops fat and icy like pinpricks twining through his hair down his forehead.
Scorpius twisted his Firebolt handle closing the inch wide gap between him and Potter, trapping the Snitch against their chests.
Potter scrunched his nose when it bumped lightly against Scorpius' nose and grinned evilly. 'Are you coming on to me Malfoy?'
Scorpius gritted his teeth and closed his eyes to a squint to stop rainwater from blurring his vision.
Not yet!
Not yet!
The Snitch fought back hard until finally Scorpius couldn't feel it beating its tiny wings against him.
Now!
He twisted away from Potter and the Snitch, caught by surprise fell away just like those normal softballs they used at St. Peter's Primary in Pemberton.
By the time he heard Potter curse at realising what was happening, Scorpius' hand was already closing around the Snitch.
He heard Weasely's voice letting loose a raucous war cry and heard the whooshing in the wind he recognised.
He saw the black rolling form of the Bludger before it caught him square in the face.
#
'Ooh! He's awake! Lil Scorpy Worpy is s'kay!'
Scorpius stared, blinking at the whitewashed big tiles of the ceiling above him.
He sniffed.
He was in the in the hospital wing, Scorpius could tell by the warm smell of chamomile and lemongrass from a Calming Draught and if he strained he could hear it bubbling merrily somewhere.
He glanced about looking for Madam Abbott but she was nowhere to be seen.
'You're okay Scorpy! Madam Abbott fished you!'
His head was still pounding.
He slowly turned it around to the bed next to his whose curtains were drawn back battered Weasely lying on it, her head propped up with two pillows.
She giggled and mumbled something unintelligible, lapsing into a series of hysterical giggles again.
'What are you doing here Weasely?'
'You shpeak funneh!' Weasely declared and squealed in delight. 'Your poor nosh!'
Scorpius raised his fingers up to his face and realised his nose was in some sort of cast. His fingers came away smelling of chamomile.
'You did this?'
'I did!' laughed Weasely. 'I am welcome! You're sorry!'
Scorpius turned carefully onto his side so he could look at her closely. 'Are you drugged? Did Madam Abbott give you something?'
'You are shoo clever!' gasped Weasely and clapped her hands together, looking at him with tears in her eyes. 'Yes! Madam Pooch! Pooch! Something tasty! Chocolate! Rosie got chocolate and Scorpy got tea!'
She began to cry.
'Poor Scorpy!' She sobbed. 'Poor Scorpy is so nice and helps people who get bullied. Scorpy gave his parchment to Maria Kamal when she lost hers and Rosie broke his pretty nose!'
'It's alright,' Scorpius said quietly looking away. 'I'm okay!'
It only seemed to make her worse as Weasely began wailing like a banshee.
'Stop it! Stop it! I'm alright I said!'
'Poor Scorpy!' Wailed Weasely and Scorpius quickly pushed himself up to a sitting position, casting wild looks at the door to the hospital wing.
He reached over and grabbed Weasely's flailing hand and held it tight.
'It's alright, I'm fine.' He made a face, testing out the name in his mouth. 'Rose! I'm okay. It's alright!'
She calmed down then, her eyes fluttering and mumbled sleepily, 'Poor pretty nose.'
Scorpius was still holding her hand when Madam Abbott marched into the room to check on them.
'Why is her face tear-stained?' She snapped at Scorpius after bending down to examine Weasely. 'What did you do?'
'You drugged her!' Scorpius defended himself. 'You gave her something and it drove her barmy!'
Madam Abbott shrugged. 'She needs to heal fast. She broke her leg in four places.'
'What happened to her?'
Madam Abbott pointed her wand at him and Scorpius recoiled as it sprouted a pair of light pixies that fluttered over to him and started to remove his cast.
'She did that to you and then fell off her broom… laughing!' Madam Abbott shook her head as Scorpius glared at the sleeping Weasely who snorted and smacked her lips, her thick red hair almost strangling the pillows beneath. 'What a child! Reminds me of Harry, Ron and Hermione!' Madam Abbott snickered and didn't even bother to straighten her face when Scorpius transferred his scowl to her.
'You can go now if you want to, but I'd suggest you take another nap until the spells have worn off.' She folded her arms and cast him a suspicious eyebrow. 'But you might want to let go of that hand!'
Scorpius looked down at his fingers, pale and unnaturally long entwined in the ruddy light brown of Weasely's. He threw her hand as if it had burned him.
'I…' He mumbled, his cheeks red and hot. 'I'll stay a little longer then.'
Madam Abbott grunted and swept away.
Scorpius stretched out his legs so they reached over the end of the bed and lay down with his head on his hands.
How did she know about Kamal and the parchment? It had happened back in Third Year. Even Scorpius had forgotten about it until now. He cast sidelong glances at the girl who snored beside him.
The girl who broke noses.
… … …