Chapter 2: Snitching the Snitch
"You absolutely have to go!" Said Lysander in a pleading voice, while shoving the small advertising poster in the blond's face.
"Shh," Scorpius replied with a frown, looking around to make sure no one was listening. The Hogwart's library was nearly full. Lysander and Scorpius were seated at a wooden table together, he was trying to write his charms' essay, but she was babbling incessantly instead of working.
"Come on!"
Scorpius sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, pointing to his friend the fact that he was the one concerned and not her, so it shouldn't matter to her if he went or not. Also, since they were in October, they had midterm exams to prepare for. He had only studied all his subjects twice, after all.
The only reply she gave the boy was a big smile. He frowned more deeply.
"If you keep on frowning like this, you'll have wrinkles when you are twenty…" She teased.
He rolled his eyes, but kept on writing his essay, decided not to give her anymore attention, hoping she would stop harassing him this way. It seemed to work for a few seconds, because she resumed reading her potion book, but then, she opened her mouth again.
"It would be a great occasion to wear that new outfit you just bought, you know."
"I said no!" He replied a little too loudly. Several heads rose from the books they were reading and gave them displeased glances for perturbing their studies.
Not wanting to attract attention more than they already had, Scorpius took his parchments, his books and his quill, threw them in his bag and exited the library while Lysander did the same, following him. She didn't seem to notice he was trying to get away from her and even if she did, she wouldn't mind and would continue to follow him anyway.
Scorpius was heading to the Ravenclaw's tower, wishing for the girl to keep quiet, since he didn't want her to continue harassing him, but the minute they were alone in the hallway, she started to talk again.
"You can't go alone, it's in a muggle town, you wouldn't know how to interact properly." She said.
Looking around, making sure they were alone, so no one could hear what she had said, he glared at her and continued his way to their common room without uttering a word.
"Also, I really want to see this, you know, it's kind of hot…" She added, not caring about his silence.
"Then, I wish you a nice evening, because, I'm not going." He replied, facing her with a fake smile, while continuing to walk at a brisk pace.
"But, why? It's a masked ball, no one will recognize you and if you're not convinced, we can put a very light disillusionment charm on you to make sure no one notices you."
The blond shook his head; not quite believing to what extent Lysander had planned this. He wished ill to the wizard who had placed that advertising poster at The Three Broomsticks. Scorpius, Lysander and their friends had gone there a week ago and that's what started it all. Predictably enough, Lysander had seen the advertising poster pinned to the wall at the entrance of the inn and had grabbed it. Then, the minute they had been alone, she had shown it to Scorpius, excited beyond reason.
The poster was advertising a masked ball which was to take place on Halloween night, in the nearest muggle village, in a pub. There were two main problems with it. First, it was, looking at the poster, a muggle party and Scorpius was not at ease with this. Having been raised in a pure-blooded family, he didn't know much about muggles. Thinking of which, he wondered how the poster had found its way to The Three Broomsticks. Second, and more importantly, the party was taking place in a gay bar.
Scorpius had told Lysander he was gay during their fifth year, after having debated with himself for over a year. At first, she was a little disappointed, because, at the time, she had sort of a crush on him, but she quickly got over it. She was the only one he had told so far and was far from ready to come out publicly. It had been a big deal for Scorpius to tell someone about his sexual orientation, because then it made it all the more real. To cross this invisible line, made it official in his mind and even though it felt right, it was scary.
He had told her because, at the time, she was the friend he trusted the most not to judge him and to keep his secret. He knew she was not the king to tell on him. Afterwards, since she was the only one with whom he could openly talk about his feelings without being overly careful not to give something, they became really close and, if such things as best friends exist, you can say that they were, indeed, best friends.
The truth is, he didn't want to tell anyone else, because he was too damn afraid of other people's reaction. He wanted to control the information, he really didn't want his parents to know and he knew that the more people knew about him, the more chances there were his family would learn about it and he feared what consequences that might have. His parents, or more accurately his father, let's not even talk about his grandfather, were very traditional, always talking about the Malfoy legacy and so on.
Scorpius wanted to get used to his new situation before doing anything. Being theoretically gay was alright with him for the moment and already something he needed to apprehend. Lysander, on the other hand, was almost too at ease with it and was always trying to push him in all sorts of… new experiences.
"I'm just… not ready. " Whispered Scorpius, not wanting someone to eavesdrop on them.
"Ready? Ready for what exactly? Ready to go to a muggle party, masked, where no one will recognize you or even know who you are, accompanied by me? Or are you not ready to face your desires." Smirked Lysander in such a sadistic manner, that she could easily compete with any Slytherin.
Scorpius sighed heavily once again. He knew the girl wanted to be a mediwizard, but Merlin would she have made a good lawyer. She always had the right words and could persuade a dragon to take swimming lessons.
"Even if we wanted to go, it would be impossible to leave the school without being noticed, also we're underage." Said Scorpius, his tone less certain.
"So you're thinking about going, then." Cheered Lysander knowing at that point she had won over the blond to her plan.
She told the blond not to worry one bit about the way they were going to leave the school property without someone noticing, because she knew a way, she was indeed Luna Lovegood's daughter and her mother in all her special…ness had told her many interesting things about her school years.
Lily laughed mischievously has she passed just above her big brother, having glimpsed the flicker of the Snitch before him. Albus cursed and went after his red-headed sister as fast as his broom permitted him, he could hear the cheering of the crowd who never got tired of watching the brother and sister competing against one another, since they had been each appointed seeker for their team.
Albus's eyes were fixated on the red and gold outfit of his sister, her very long hair was tied in a ponytail and whirling in the wind. He couldn't see the Snitch, because he was right behind her, but he knew it was just in front of her.
The gryffindor girl hesitated one instant when the Snitch made a fast descent, but her brother had anticipated it and he dived for it at full speed, knowing this was his chance to catch it before her. She cursed loudly, diving after him, following him as they both went for it, their arms reaching for the golden ball.
"Mom would not be happy to hear you curse this way." Albus mocked while reaching to grab the Snitch who was just in front of him.
At the same time, his sister passed right in front of him and he suddenly realized, with horror, she wasn't on her broom. She was falling. His heart skipped a beat. He could hear the crowd yelling with fear as he raced as fast as he could to try to grab her. He managed to do it just before she hit the ground, holding her by the back of her robes. The spectators sighed with relief and then, applauded and exclaimed with joy.
"Are you okay?" He asked her, out of breath, his heart still throbbing at a mad pace.
Knowing all eyes were on her, she then smiled and opened her hand slowly, showing the crowd what was in it: the Snitch. Immediately, a loud cheer was heard from the Gryffindor's side of the stadium and from the hufflepuff's side who was always cheering for the gryffindors when their team wasn't playing.
Slytherin was booing the Gryffindor's seeker, considering this cheating. Which was surprising, since it was the kind of strategy they would normally go for, but they didn't like it used against them.
Lily summoned her broom and Albus was now glad to let go of her, frowning and cursing. She was soon encircled by her team mates who cheered for her while patting her back forcefully.
"And it's me who was sorted in Slytherin!" Complained Albus while shaking his head, not quite believing what happened and cursing himself for falling for his mischievous little sister's trick.
When he and his team landed and retreated to their locker room, they all exchanged amazed commentaries about what their mate's sister had done. Most found it to be cheating and others couldn't help, but be kind of impressed. Jamie Nott, the Captain of the team, didn't find it amusing at all and scowled Albus for having caught her.
"She's my little sister! I wouldn't have let her fall to her death and anyway, she had the Snitch in her hand, so they would have won anyway!" Albus replied searching approval among his team mates, but they were all too afraid of their ill-tempered Captain to openly support him.
"She only did that, because she knew you would catch her. Maybe I should move you to another position, you two are obviously too close to compete."
Albus rolled his eyes, each time they lost to Gryffindor, his Captain had given him that exact same speech. He now knew that these were threats the older girl would never put into actions, since he was obviously the best seeker in Slytherin and also, because he was the only one who could defeat the red headed she-devil that was his little sister. She was a really good player, maybe even more than he was. She was in the first year when she got appointed Seeker, this was in itself an exploit, only their father had been able to achieve it before her. She was almost the identical copy of their mother and since Ginny Weasley had played for the Harpies for several years before she retired and became a Quidditch reporter, Lily had had a very good teacher and her resemblance to her mother baffled everyone who played against her, except Albus, of course.
Nonetheless, Albus continued to listen to his Captain who had yet to finish emptying her bag of reprimands for him. The other members of the team were not uttering a word, knowing better than to make their dark-haired captain even madder than she usually was. Finally, they all showered, changed and they headed for their common room, except for Albus who only dropped by briefly to drop his stuff in his dormitory and then proceeded to exit the Slytherin's living space.
He rapidly climbed the steps to the Gryffindor's tower. He was stopped a couple of times by students who teased him with what had happened during the match and he responded in a falsely menacing way that he was on his way to the Gryffindor's tower precisely to deal with this question. The students were not worried one bit and laughed, since they knew how much the Potter's brother and sister were close, even though they were in two different and often opposed houses. Albus was popular and well-loved by students in every house, he was known to be witty and clever, but kind-spirited. He didn't mind about being popular and, in fact, he only had a few close friends and they were the only one he truly opened his heart to.
The nearer he got to the Gryffindor's common room, the more he could hear laughter, shouts and rejoiced acclamations. They were obviously celebrating their ill-earned victory of the first championship of the year. As he arrived in the hallway where the painting leading to the Gryffindor's common room was, he saw many students in the hallway, leaving or entering the common room. Most of them were Gryffindors, but some of them were Hufflepuffs. There were also a few Ravenclaws, but unsurprisingly, he was the only Slytherin present.
Knowing he would be teased by every Gryffindor or Hufflepuff he would encounter, he hastened to get to the common room of the red and gold house. Not quickly enough it appeared, because his twin cousins Rose and Hugo Weasley grabbed him by the elbow and forced him to join their conversation. They were both in Gryffindor, as Albus's older brother, James, had been, but he had graduated last year.
"Nice catch cousin, but may I remind you that the goal of the game is not to catch the other seeker, but the Snitch." Said Hugo laughing as he teasingly punched the Slytherin's arm.
"You're really funny Hugo…" He responded dryly, rolling his eyes.
"Aw, don't take it this way, he's teasing you." Rose said with a mocking smile. "If you're searching for your sister, she's inside." She added while pointing to the painting of the fat lady.
"No, I've had enough of her for the day, thank you very much." Albus responded ironically, searching around him, apparently for someone.
Suddenly, he apologized to his cousins and crossed the crowd, his eyes set on someone. One of the twins said something Albus didn't hear and they exchanged a knowing smile Albus didn't see. He was already off to the other side of the hallway, walking toward a small group of students talking together.
"Hello, you." Albus murmured in Mathias's ear while hugging him from behind which made the Gryffindor jump a little, since he hadn't seen the other man approach.
Mathias turned his head and tossed a smile at his boyfriend while continuing to talk with Michelle Zabini and some other Ravenclaw's students Albus didn't know or care to know about. Albus didn't like being almost ignored by his boyfriend and he tightened his grip on Mathias while murmuring some more in his hear. The students talking to Mathias didn't hear the words Albus whispered in the boy's ear, but they could clearly see his cheeks turning bright red and the very diabolic smile the Slytherin was wearing once he stopped talking.
"As it happens, we were talking about you Albus." Michelle Zabini said, trying to dissipate the awkwardness of the situation.
"If you want to mock me for the game, well, now that I've already heard every possible mockery since I landed from my broom and that was two hours ago, so…" Albus began to say in a tired tone.
"In fact, we were not mocking you, we were telling each other how very touching and cute it was the way you raced for your sister when you saw her fell and grabbed her! It was very… very... "
"Un-slytherin." Mathias finished in an all too serious manner.
Albus narrowed his eyes, not liking where this was going one bit. He found it very depressing that his house had such a bad image and irritating that his boyfriend was willing to perpetuate those stereotypes, he should have known better. He would have believed that after all those years and after the war, people would have understood that the animosity between houses was a bad thing, be obviously they didn't. He knew that any of his fellow Slytherins would have done the same as him during the match even if they complained about it, well almost any…
He remembered very well the day he was sorted in Slytherin, James, his big brother, was in his third year at the time and he was in Gryffindor. Albus remembered the moment, just before entering the train that was going to bring him to Hogwart for his first year, when he had told his parents he was afraid to be sorted into Slytherin, since his whole family, even his uncles and aunts and older cousins were or had been sorted into Gryffindor. He was also oblivious at what their opinion of Slytherins was in general, he had heard all their stories and their jests about the "damn snakes". James was always complaining about the Slytherin Quidditch players which he found sneaky and treacherous and so were his cousins.
At that point, his father and his mother had said that they didn't mind which house he was sorted in. His father had told him how Severus Snape was himself in Slytherin and Albus knew, since he had the same middle name as him, all about him and to what extent his father respected him.
Nevertheless, the train ride had been almost tortured, he remembered being in the train with Rose and Hugo and some other guy who was sorted afterward in Hufflepuff. James was two years older and in another wagon with his friends. All the twins were talking about was the sorting ceremony and how much they wanted to be in Gryffindor together and Albus had said the same to fit in. Deep within himself, though, he knew he wasn't going to be sorted in his family house, because he was quite different from the rest of his family. He was less social than his family, had fewer friends, but he was very loyal to the ones he had. He was more intellectual and serious about his studies than them, he was really ambitious and wanted to be the best at what he did.
So, when it was his turn to be sorted, he was on the verge of fainting from anxiety. Before him, his two cousins had been sorted into Gryffindor and he could see them waving at him from the red and gold table, he could also see his older brother, smiling intently at him, ready to cheer when the sorting hat would exclaim, "Gryffindor!" Although, that would never happen. The hat, after only a few instant during which he couldn't even think, had exclaimed almost joyfully, "Slytherin!"
At this moment, the dining room had gone quiet for an instant and then, the Slytherins had applauded and welcomed him as warmly as Slytherin's can. Immediately, he had felt released in a funny kind of way. He had tried a look at the Gryffindor's table and had seen both his brother and his cousins smiling at him and giving him thumbs up. They hadn't seemed surprise, like they had known all along that this was going to happen. He had smiled in return and had turned back on his seat to talk with the other students who would soon become his new friends.
Of course, the subject of him being in Slytherin was abundantly used by his family and now by his Gryffindor boyfriend to tease him, but he knew they were not ill-intended and he teased them in return for being so Gryffindor sometimes. That is why he didn't like Mathias using it in a serious manner, because then, it wasn't teasing anymore, it was just uncomfortably mean. Moreover, it wasn't the first time the Gryffindor had done it, in fact, he did it every time he was mad with him or, Albus felt, when he wanted to feel superior by suggesting he was in a lesser house than him. Very proud, Albus hated that and it was not true.
Forcing a smile upon his lips, Albus addressed Michelle and the other students. "Would you excuse us for a minute?" He said, through slightly clenched teeth.
Without waiting for a response from them, he grabbed his reluctant boyfriend by the arm and dragged him away from the crowd, in a corner where they would be alone. Mathias shook his arm free and faced the black-haired young men; any trace of a smile had left his face.
"What is the matter with you?" Mathias asked in a tired and irritated voice.
"I should ask you the same, why are you so distant these days and why did you say that in front of them? I've already told you that I don't like you devaluing me and my house this way."
"You're so dramatic; don't be so ready to take offence. I didn't devalue you, on the contrary, we were praising you for the way you rescued Lily!" Mathias replied while deeply sighting.
Albus sighed, thinking for a minute before responding something stupid he may regret.
"Okay, maybe I am a little touchy right, maybe I'm tired or it's just that I'm disappointed my team lost the first tournament… I don't know, I'll head back to my common room, see you at supper I guess." He said in a calmer voice, shrugging.
Mathias gave him a light kiss and went off to join the still rejoicing crowd, leaving his boyfriend who went back to the dungeons, still feeling uneasy, but keeping his face neutral. The next day was Saturday and also, the 31st of October. Since Halloween was his favourite holiday, he thought that would play in favour of cheering him up. Also, he had very special plans for Mathias and himself and that would certainly settle things between them.
He crossed the passage leading to his common room with burgeoning smile thinking about the day that was to come.
