CHAPTER 2

THE FIRST QUIDDITCH GAME

"Chapman passes the Quaffle to Potter, Potter to Weasley- and SHE SCORES!" The stadium broke into roaring as hundreds and hundreds of students rose to their feet to clap, cheer and scream for Gryffindor. The commentator, the Gryffindor Neil Creevey, was also having a breakdown, his voice shaking with emotion. "Another amazing goal by Rose Weasley, ladies and gentlemen!"

Scorpius stood up excitedly, joining the overall screaming.

"YES!" He roared eagerly. "Yes! Go, Rose, go!"

Albus rolled his eyes. He was one of the few who hadn't stood up and he looked sulky. It was a humid day and a menacing curtain of fog hovered over their heads – he couldn't believe he had actually left his room to go watch a stupid Quidditch game. "You do realize she doesn't want you to cheer for her."

Scorpius slumped back to his place, grinning foolishly and widely. Albus wasn't so sure he had heard him. "Merlin, she's such a brilliant Chaser."

"Close your mouth, you're drooling."

Scorpius barely registered what Albus was saying. He wiped off his lips with the sleeve of his green polo without looking at him and shook the little Gryffindor flag he had brought with him. Albus groaned. "Of all stupid things, why would you bring that?" He held a hand against his forehead to keep him from being recognized. "It's like you actually want us to be jinxed."

Scorpius shrugged. His eyes were still fixed on the field. "If Slytherin was playing, I would be cheering for us. But we're not. So I had to choose between Rose's team, and Hufflepuffs."

"Still, Gryffindor, of all choices-"

But his voice was again muffled by the sound of hundreds of students clapping for Gryffindor. James had scored. Scorpius hesitated about cheering this time. Albus felt a sting right through his heart.

He had been trying his hardest not to feel disappointed by his family's success. He had really, really tried hard. But up on the field were Roxanne, James, Hugo, Rose and Lily, all of them Gryffindors and all of them excelling at Quidditch – and not only at Quidditch, they were all among the best students – while he was down there in the stands, the only Potter who couldn't even manage to fly, a skill learned in their first year, the only Potter in Slytherin and the only, he was sure, who was about to fail all eleven OWLs.

What a joke.

Then Lily brushed by them at full speed and snapped him out of his depression.

"Wow!" Yelled Scorpius. "When did your sister learn to fly like that?"

And in fact, Lily was the fastest on field. Rose was really good, but she had learned it by teaching herself, reading books about Quidditch and playing with her cousins. Lily, on the other hand, had practiced a lot with their mother, a former Quidditch professional player, and their father, the legendary Gryffindor Quidditch seeker. Even though she only got her first broom when she was five, James had started teaching her how to fly shortly after he himself got his first broom, sneaking out of the house with her when their parents weren't looking and practicing in the garden. Lily had practically learned how to fly before she could walk. At 13 years old, she was already as good as flying as James.

She twirled down and back up effortlessly in her broom in a gracious movement as she ducked a Bludger, making the crowd roar. "Wow. That was impressive."

"I know, right?" Even Albus couldn't hide his admiration.

"Rose doesn't seem too happy about it."

Albus chuckled. "Rose doesn't seem too happy with anyone who is better than her in something."

"Lily has the Quaffle- she passes it to Chapman, who- is hit by a Bludger! Chapman is down! That must've hurt!"

Polly Chapman was spiralling down through the field. The crowd gasped – she was in for a nasty, if not fatal, fall. Albus stood up to watch closely.

"And Potter clearly forgets his duty as Seeker and helps his teammate!" James was diving in as well at full speed. He pulled Chapman by the waist against his body and deflected the floor at the last second by pulling his broom up with the free hand. One second later he was flying upwards. Chapman's broom, on the other hand, slammed against the floor in continuous jumps, like a rock tossed against the surface of a river, until it stopped and lay numbly on the floor in a catastrophic state. Getting a stable grip on his broom, James descended and landed smoothly on the floor. "There comes Madam Pomfrey- they take Chapman off the pitch and Potter comes back up!"

James shot up to the sky at such speed that all that Albus saw was a red and golden blur. When he stopped in mid-air, he glared at the Hufflepuff seeker. He was clearly really angry.

"Your brother seems pretty upset."

"He says that in Quidditch, Bludgers shouldn't strike a player's head but everything below the necks. Except, of course, er- you know. James thinks that Beaters who aim for the heads are playing dirty."

"Maybe it was an accident."

"I don't think so." The Hufflepuff Beater was grinning broadly back at James, as if he was really pleased with himself.

Creevey's voice was heard again. "In the meantime, the Hufflepuffs have taken advantage of the Gryffindor's distraction- Smith has the Quaffle- and he scored! 50-10 to the Gryffindors!"

The Gryffindors cried in outrage but the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins cheered over their sound.

"What is she up to?" Scorpius asked curiously.

At first, Albus didn't know what he meant. Rose was just sitting on her broom, waiting for the Quaffle to be put back in game. She brushed loose strands of hair that hadn't been caught up by the ponytail and tucked them behind her ears.

"What do you mean?

"Lily."

But before Albus could respond, the commentator was already into it. "But what's this?" He asked suddenly. "Lily Potter- a chaser – seemed to have spotted the snitch!"

Lily was shouting something as she shot upwards. "This has never happened before!" Cried Creevey excitedly, like it was the most unbelievable thing in the world. "A chaser is trying to catch the snitch!" He repeated in a really shaky, excited voice, in case someone hadn't heard him the first time.

Not two seconds had passed and James was already closely following Lily and slowly getting to her. He shouted something at her. In the meantime, the Hufflepuff girl had started following them as well, but she was still a little behind.

"If the Gryffindor Chaser catches the snitch then I guess the points revert to Hufflepuff!" Creevey was shouting.

So if Lily caught the snitch, Hufflepuff would win. Albus felt, once more, a light feeling of something that resembled happiness, immediately followed by a striking feeling of shame.

"I mean- or do the points belong to the team, even if the seeker doesn't-? Who knows? SOMEONE HAND ME A QUIDDITCH BOOK!"

Lily put an end to his agony. She pointed at something right over her and then drove off back to the field, to join the other Chasers.

Creevey's voice was steadying, even though he was still panting from emotion. "With the Gryffindors temporarily short of one Chaser, the Hufflepuffs try to score again-! But no luck this time! Rose Weasley intercepts the Quaffle and is already diving for the other side!"

Albus stopped paying attention. All eyes were fixed on the two Seekers that were now side by side and shooting at full speed, rising further and further in the air. Albus twitched his hands and bit his lip.

He wasn't sure who he really wanted to catch the snitch – James or the Hufflepuff.

"In the meantime, Bones has almost reached Potter- they keeping going up- and up- James Potter stretches his hand- Patricia Bones imitates him- they're side by side now- going up- they- I really can't see what's happening to them- they're hidden by the fog-"

They both disappeared into the deep curtain of fog over the stadium. The Quidditch game continued below them but the audience had fallen into silence, everyone staring over their heads. There was a sound when a Quaffle entered one of the rings.

"60-10," said the commentator quickly and with lack of emotion.

"Go, Rose!" Scorpius was oblivious to the overall tension, shaking his tiny Gryffindor flag again. His shout was strangely magnified in the stadium against the deadly silence. He froze for a second. "Did you see that?" He asked with excitement. "She just looked at me!"

"But- what's that?" Creevey was saying again. "Something's approaching- is it Bones or- no! It's Potter! But does he have the-" James emerged from the fog in a quick descent and then he stopped in the middle of the field. He was panting as he stretched his arm and Albus's eyes clung on to his closed hand. When he opened it, a tiny golden ball spread its wings.

The Gryffindors could barely hold it together. "HE HAS IT- HE HAS IT! POTTER HAS THE SNITCH!" Hundreds and hundreds of students stood up, shouting and laughing, hugged each other and shook their flags and scarves, they clapped and yelled and danced. The stadium buzzed in red and gold. No one but Albus noticed Patricia Bones, finally reappearing in a slow, defeated descent, her head low with disappointment.

"POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!"

"GRYFFINDOR WINS! 210-10! What a spectacular match! What an impressive conclusion thanks to the teamwork of the Potter siblings!" Lily joined James's side, smiling shyly. He told her something with excitement and hugged her tightly, both of them laughing as the Gryffindors roared their names.

"LILY! JAMES!" The stadium burst with joy.

Albus felt a strange urge to cry. He was frozen, watching his brother and sister be cheered by their House. His lower lip twitched and a staggering pain crossed him as realized he couldn't take more of it.

"Let's go," he said sharply to Scorpius as he stood up.

"What?" Scorpius said, looking puzzled and completely unaware of Albus's feelings. "Is it over already?" Scorpius nudged him and smiled broadly. "Did you just see how she scored right now? Merlin, she's so-!"

"Brilliant," snapped Albus. "I get it."

They made their way through the crowd of excited or disappointed fans. "Excuse me-" Creevey, not carrying a camera, pushed Albus aside carelessly. There was the popping sound of a flash and he cried out excitedly to a nearby friend, "The Potter siblings! This is going to look great in tomorrow's newspaper!" Albus fastened his pace, his shoulder burning from where the Creevey had hit him. He lowered his head and walked as fast as he could out of the arena, while Scorpius struggled to keep up his pace in silence.

It didn't take long to reach the castle. Once they got to the dormitory, Scorpius looked around. They were alone.

"Hey, Albus-"

"What?" He didn't mean to sound so aggressive, but Scorpius blinked in surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." Scorpius smiled and Albus thanked Merlin once again for the good friend he had. "I know a way of getting into McGonagall's office." Albus forgot immediately about his problems. "In fact, it occurred to me yesterday, but I didn't want Rose to think…" he stopped.

"What is it?"

He sighed. "Well, you can only get inside the office if you know the password. Someone can wait outside until McGonagall goes in," Scorpius sighed like he was about to say something he wasn't supposed to, "and wear your brother's invisibility cloak."

Albus nodded at once. "Makes sense!" He said at once. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it first, but he wore it so few times that he sometimes forgot the cloak existed. "But I don't get it. What's the problem with Rose?"

"I don't think she'll be too excited to know that I know about it," Scorpius said uncomfortably.

Albus shrugged. "Well, if my father knows, then I don't care if my cousin does."

It was settled, then. They decided to wait for the morning to tell Rose, and they did it as soon as they found her alone outside, hoping not to attract too much attention. People could think it was weird that Rose was hanging out with the cousin she despised openly and a Slytherin boy – worst of all, a Malfoy.

"Al." She approached them when they waved at her without even glancing at Scorpius. "What do you want?"

"I know how we're going to get in McGonagall's office."

"So?"

"James's invisibility cloak."

Rose looked at Scorpius in horror. "You told him?"

"We used it a few times last year," Albus said with a shrug. Rose seemed like she was about to explode at the mention of the adventure again.

"How did it take you so long to think of this?" She snapped.

Albus let out an indignant snort. "Well, you didn't really present any other alternatives, did you?"

"Don't you think I thought of that right away? I just didn't think he was allowed into our family secrets now."

Scorpius looked at Albus in a meaningful way that echoed I told you so. Albus sighed with irritation. He just wasn't in the mood for his cousin's ranting. "Are you win or out?" He spat back. "We can just go without you, you know."

Her eyes gleamed dangerously. He could see her trying her best to supress everything she really wanted to yell at him. Instead, she waited a moment and said in a purely controlled voice, "Fine, then. The plan is to wait outside the office until we hear the password, isn't that right?" The boys nodded. "We should do it in shifts, then. I'll take the first," she said at once. "I can go get the cloak after lunch."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "What? How can you-?"

"Unlike you, Albus, I don't have to steal the cloak from James. He gives it to me if I just ask." With a triumphant sneer, Rose turned her back on them.

The boys stared at her as she walked away. She looked powerful, her flaming red hair beaming in the sunlight and her pace really confident, waving at everyone who shouted her congratulations for the victory the previous day.

"Wow."

"Don't say it, Scorpius."