It was only twenty minutes into the train ride to Hogwarts, but Rose Weasley's patience was already being tested by the one and only, Scorpius Malfoy. Who else? After five years of being a constant annoyance, flirt and nemesis, why would he stop now?
"Alright, Weasley?" The blond's arm blocked the redhead from passing through into the next carriage. Scorpius had always been taller than Rose, so he constantly looked down on her, both metaphorically and literally. Right now he had the smug, gloating glint in his pale, blue-grey eyes that Rose was more than familiar with.
"Record time, Malfoy." Rose responded dryly, not bothering to try to push her way through him. Although he was skinny, he could overpower her physically whenever he felt like it, something Rose hated to admit. "I was wondering when you'd pop up to worsen my life that little bit more."
Scorpius grinned.
"Now, now, Weasley, don't get temperamental. How was your summer?"
Rose raised an eyebrow. This was a new technique. Malfoy didn't usually set a fake, positive trail into a cascade of insults, usually just diving straight into what he'd call the 'fun part'. But there was no mistaking that shimmer in his eyes; Rose could never trust that shimmer.
"Say what you want to say, Malfoy, and then I'd recommend you scarper. We both know what would happen if James spotted your little blond head annoying me yet again – any excuse to beat the lights out of you, to be honest."
Scorpius narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, well, you look like a rat who was recently mangled by a werewolf." Scorpius scanned the girl scornfully, spotting the Muggle outfit that was neatly folded in Rose's hands. "Oh, you changed into your Hogwarts robes? I could have helped you with that."
Typical Malfoy. Stinging insults one second, and flirty seduction the next.
"Shouldn't you be buttering up some girl somewhere?" Rose said, ignoring Scorpius' dialogue completely.
"I happen to be doing that right now." Scorpius said casually, tossing his head to remove pale strands of hair from his eyes.
It was no secret that Scorpius had a 'Sex God' status among many, many students at Hogwarts, and there was no doubt that he could get pretty much any girl he wanted, whether they were among his huge fan club or not (apart from Rose, who seemed to be the only girl who possessed enough brain cells to see right through him). The only person who surpassed Scorpius' huge romantic presence was James, who was highly boosted from the instant celebrity he'd gained from his parents. Rose and her cousins all soared in popularity before they'd even stepped through the doors of the Great Hall, simply because of the epic reputations of their families. Although Albus could have easily exploited his attention like James, he preferred not to; he was more of an introvert, becoming close with only a select group of people, and although he was friendly with pretty much everyone, he didn't flaunt himself like James did.
"Oh, really?" Rose replied sarcastically. "You don't seem to be doing a very good job. Can I get through now? I'm starting to get bored of just standing here talking to you." She made sure her voice was dripping with the usual contempt, but Scorpius managed to turn even that into a sexual joke.
"We can do more than that if you like, Weasel." He winked at the bushy-haired teenager and then, without another word, glided past her and left the carriage in the opposite direction.
Rose sighed and rolled her eyes, making her way through the Hogwarts Express towards her brother and cousins. Standard Malfoy.
The first Quidditch match of the year took place on a freezing, windy day, where gusts of the icy wind ripped through the flags and goalposts, knocking hats off heads (poor Professor Longbottom had run for his hat four times already) and whipping hair onto faces with sharp slaps. Rose and Lily had both wrapped up warm, holding sticks with Gryffindor lions on the ends – the wind took no mercy with the feeble merchandise and ripped Lily's stick from her hand, making it dance further and further away.
Rose whipped out her willow, phoenix-feather wand and sprung into action before the fourth-year even reached for her own.
"Accio lion stick!" The stick zoomed into her grasp, and she handed it back to her cousin, smiling subtlety. Apparently, she'd inherited her quick reflexes and magical skill from her mother, which was entirely believable; her father was still as clumsy as ever.
A cheer rose from the stands as the players started to zoom out onto the pitch. Rose joined the mass of red-and-gold Gyrffindors screaming out as their team fought against the wind to lock into positions. Rose could make out the scruffy head of Albus, the team captain and Seeker, and James, playing for his last year at Hogwarts, placing himself in the front-and-center region of the team as the top Chaser. And there, flitting in front of the Slytherin goalpoasts like a particularly irritating fly, was Scorpius Malfoy, his emerald robes fluttering in the wind.
Rose smiled subtly. Slytherin would surely be beaten; this was Albus' first year as the captain of the team, but he snatched the Snitch away from his opponents 80% of the time with unnerving skill and precision. Albus was shy, but he was always quietly determined, channelling his energy into one goal at any given time. James, although he'd turned down being nominated by the Professors for Quidditch Captaincy due to conflicting time periods (the captain before Albus was one year older than James, and already held captaincy when James joined the team in his fourth year, and there was really no point for James to be captain for just one year after the predecessor graduated Hogwarts, so he specifically told the Gryffindor head of house not to consider him, paving the way for his brother to get the position), was a respected and authoritative member of the Quidditch team, and was Albus' rock and helper when it came to developing Quidditch strategies and formulating a team. Since James and Albus had joined the team three years ago, Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup every year; and this had solidified with occasional strings of unbeaten games as Albus found his own and seemed to have an eye for the Snitch, something he had inherited from his father to make him even more like Harry Potter. James had spookily fitted in with his namesake, filling the spot of the star Chaser, the Quaffle bouncing between him and his fellow Chasers as if it had wings.
Madam Carey, the Quidditch Professor and referee, rose up into the centre of the pitch on her broom to blow the whistle. The screaming and jeers from the crowd died down as a shrill, high-pitched shriek cut through the air. Slytherin had won the toss; before Rose and Lily had even blinked, the Quaffle had been chucked from one green-and-silver figure to the next, whizzing across the pitch on their brooms. Rose could only just make out the players; she'd left her binoculars in her dormitory, and so had to squint to see what was happening.
The Slytherins got dangerously close to the Gryffindor goalposts, before tucking the Quaffle through the centre goalposts, feinting to steer Louis Weasley to the left before zipping through the empty space. It was Louis' first game ever as the new Gryffindor Keeper, and as a third-year, he was the youngest in the team. But one of the Chasers patted him on the back and he settled back into position as the Slytherin Chasers soared in a full circle among the stands once in celebration. The scoreboard ticked the correct scores into place; Rose could vividly imagine the smug, gleeful smirk that Scorpius probably held right now.
The match was fast and furious – the Quaffle was launched through every hoop so many times that the commentator was finding it hard to keep up the scores without hesitating to look at the scoreboard. And still, Albus was fluttering among the game, searching avidly for the Snitch, the elusive, shimmering Snitch. Slytherin still had the upper hand by fifty points, but Albus was still as calm and cool as ever; he maintained a constant speed as he continued his search for that one glint, that one tiny reflection of the sunlight that would catch his eye.
And there it was – the Golden Snitch! Rose and Lily gasped as the little figure of Albus suddenly switched from a peaceful hover to a bolting beeline, zooming in a direct line straight towards a tiny glimmer of gold buzzing in the air. Albus fixed his gaze on the Snitch – it flitted away in the opposite direction, before hesitating at the top of Slytherin's left goalpost. Albus willed his broom to go faster, pushing it on to the very limit.
"And Albus Potter has caught sight of the Snitch!" The commentator's voice boomed throughout the stadium; the crowd's gaze abandoned the progress of the Quaffle and instead fixed on the little figure in red and gold, battling against the wind to grasp the Snitch that was still hovering above the goalpost. Albus saw nothing else but the Snitch – he was closing in – the Gryffindors were roaring in encouragement, the Slytherins booed to try and divert his attention, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs goggled at the scene – the Snitch was a few feet away – Albus extended his arm, squinting slightly...
Thud.
Silence hung in the air as the audience processed what had just happened; and then they all exploded at the same time. The Slytherins punched the air in glee, while the rest of the student body and the teachers gasped, before screaming in anguish.
Albus Potter had been knocked clean off his broom, and was hurtling several hundred feet through the air, about to hit the ground at any moment, a bundle of red and gold material, desperately clutching at the air for something solid.
"Albus! He's gonna fall!" Lily shrieked, watching her brother tumble.
Rose Weasley had drawn a complete blank as to which incantation to use to save him; her body was paralysed by the shock, the wand in her hand rendered useless as she stood without saying a word, as if her mind had been wiped clean with an eraser.
Professor McGonagall, who was nearing retirement, had initiated a spell which flung a silver dust across the grass, presumably giving it a property that would prevent Albus coming to any harm when he hit the floor; but it wasn't necessary. A collective sigh of relief escaped the crowd as James Potter zoomed into his brother's vertical path to catch him seconds before he hit the floor – James had locked his arm across Albus' chest, underneath his armpits, holding him in that precarious position as he zoomed along the ground, before coming to a stop beside Madam Carey, setting his brother down. A cheer ripped through the stadium for James as he examined his brother, who was nodding shakily as James asked him questions, looking slightly dazed.
Madam Carey blew her whistle, drawing all the players in for a timeout as Albus shook his head to reboot his body and mindset into its normal state. The whole audience, including the Slytherins, had their gazes fixed onto the scruffy-haired boy as he stood up, his brother patting his back.
The crowd then started to settle back to normal, a low mumble rising from the mass of people. As the teachers sat down from their standing positions and Madam Carey began to wave the players back to their normal positions in the air after inspecting Albus, James' furious voice rang out for all to hear.
"Locomotor Mortis! Confringo! Entomorphis! Flagrante! Impedimenta! Flipendo! Levicorpus! Melofors!..." More and more jinxes and curses were lividly shouted as sparks and beams of light escaped James' wand, all of them aimed at Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.