Victorious
As she pulled on the tight, black leggings, all she could think was, This is the day. As she slipped an equally tight black shirt on, We're going to beat Slytherin. Black boots, light in weight to allow maximum agility, laced up to mid-calf. She tied each lace carefully, Wait until we are up fifty points, then catch that Snitch and win. She swung a red and gold cloak over her shoulders and clasped it at the chest. Leather gloves and protective gear completed the outfit. She tied her amber hair up into a ponytail, I'm ready. Let's do this.
She glanced at James, and he grinned at her. "Ready Rose?"
"Of course," she smiled and took her broom into her right hand.
The Gryffindor team launched onto their brooms and soared out into open air, visible to the whole school. The Slytherin team did the same, and all of the players settled into their positions. Madam Pince released the Snitch, and the game began.
Hailey and James made incredible Chasers, as did the 7th Year girl who played Chaser as well. The Beaters kept the Bludgers away from the Chasers. And thankfully, thought Rose, away from me.
Rose waited and tried to avoid the Bludgers as her team mates scored goal after goal. She could have easily caught the Snitch and won the game for Gryffindor already, but the plan was to wait. As Slytherin and Gryffindor were quite literally mortal enemies, the Gryffindor team wanted to beat them as badly as they could. So Rose was told to hold out on catching the Snitch until Gryffindor was up at least 50 points.
In her waiting, however, Slytherin managed to score two goals. The score was now 40/20 Gryffindor, as the announcer had just yelled triumphantly. Rose gripped her broom tightly with anticipation as she watched her cousin throw a Quaffle to Emily Illson, the third Gryffindor Chaser. She was right next to the Slytherin goal, and effectively shot the Quaffle through the ring before the Slytherin Keeper had time to react.
"It's 50/20 Gryffindor!" declared the announcer, Timmy Grongel, his voice booming through the stadium.
Rose hung in the air, waiting for the twenty more points that Gryffindor was bound to score. As she waited, she saw a figure hanging in the air less than ten feet in front of her. She recognized him immediately, and if she thought her voice would have been heard, she would have shouted some insulting remark at him. After all, he was the reason she wanted to win this game. She couldn't bear the thought of losing to Scorpius Malfoy.
The two glared at each other for a moment. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw a golden flash of light fly past her. She knew Scorpius had seen it too. He accelerated, but not as fast as Rose did. She turned in the air and flew toward the Snitch at full speed. Rose didn't hear the announcer say that Gryffindor had scored another goal.
To her dismay, the winged ball moved down near the pitch. Rose didn't dare back off – she knew that Scorpius was only inches behind her. She dived, not knowing and not caring what she would do after catching the Snitch only feet away from the hard ground, and still flying at full speed.
She approached it rapidly, and even as she did so she felt Scorpius' robes beating against her foot. He was gaining on her. But he was too late. Rose reached one hand out and kept the other firmly on the wood of the broom. She felt her hand enclose miraculously around the Snitch, and at that same moment pulled up on her broom to keep from hitting the ground.
Scorpius had not done so, and as she pulled back up, he ran into her and sent them both off of their brooms. Luckily, he had slowed enough to not cause any serious damage, but Rose would not have admitted this optimism. She lay underneath him, panting and furious, and at the same time elated with her victory. He stared at her, stunned, until finally someone came and removed him from his place on top of her. She felt herself be lifted from the underarms and hoisted into the air.
"We won!" James screamed. "Rose, you won the game for us!"
Rose smiled, not caring how goofy she looked. Her hand was still closed around that hard golden Snitch, and she was being carried around by her team mates (or carried to the Hospital Wing, she wasn't sure). She heard Timmy announce the final scores: Slytherin 20, Gryffindor 210.
Scorpius dragged himself out of bed, wishing with all of his might that he could just curl up and die instead of facing the day. Because this day, he was sure, was to be worse than any other in history.
He had lost. He had lost the game for his team, for himself, and worst of all, he had lost against Weasley.
Rose Weasley. Somehow she always managed to prick him with her thorns. Why was she always so good at everything?
Scorpius moaned a whine from the back of his throat as he made his way into the shared bathroom, not altogether thrilled to step into the cold water on such a chilly morning. He was always the last boy out of bed, and he was always punished by having a cold shower after everyone had used the hot water. Everyone other than Goyle, of course, who, Scorpius was sure, never showered.
The freezing water hit his skin and turned his skin into goose flesh. In a world of magic, he complained, they haven't yet found a way to keep water warm for showers?
He figured, though, that it wasn't impossibility keeping his superiors from warming his water. He knew that they were simply punishing those who, like Scorpius, needed a little extra beauty sleep.
Not that extra sleep does much good on a day like this, he thought bitterly. His shower was as quick as he could make it, and soon he was toweling off and applying drying charms so that he could make it to breakfast on time.
When he arrived at the Slytherin table, he was greeted as he'd expected to be. No one spoke to him, but regarded him in a somewhat pitiful stare. Pitiful, and slightly angry as well.
Scorpius hadn't expected Antoinette to speak to him that morning, either. He ate his eggs and toast quietly and moved from the table as swiftly as possible. He was shocked, however, to hear the girl's small voice call out to him.
"Scorpius!" she squealed.
"Erm," he said as he turned around. "Yes?"
"I saw you out there on Saturday! I thought you were brilliant! Too bad about the end of the match, though."
"Yeah," Scorpius nodded. "Thanks."
"If it weren't for that ghastly Weasley girl," Antoinette sighed, glaring daggers at the Gryffindor table.
Scorpius didn't say anything. In fact, when he heard Antoinette say that about Rose, he was inclined to walk away on the spot. This all, of course, confused him very much; For if he allowed himself to think such things, why should someone else not be allowed to voice them? But nevertheless, a twinge of anger shot through his stomach, temporarily muting him.
Antoinette, however, continued to chatter along. "I heard that she's your sister," she said in a scandalous tone. "How terrible, being related to a Gryffindor."
"We're not really," he said. "Related, I mean. Our parents only just got married."
"Oh," Antoinette nodded. "Well, how interesting."
"Is it really?" Scorpius asked dryly. He was not in the mood to talk about his twisted family life just then.
A few more minutes of pained conversation and Scorpius finally slipped away, walking briskly to his first class: History of Magic. Professor Binns, although he had been at the school for over a century (that was Scorpius' guess anyways), was still teaching the class. Obviously, ghosts had no need to retire.
Scorpius dropped into a desk, the first in the class, and put his head in his hands. Terrible. How could a day be this bad already? He felt his breakfast churning in his stomach and thought he might be sick.
Just then, another student came in the door.
"Malfoy," the boy said. "Slytherins don't have this class yet. It's Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs first block."
Scorpius looked up to see Albus Potter standing near the doorway. The dark-haired boy looked only slightly confused, and Scorpius could find no trace of malice in his features.
Oh great, he thought. The Gryffindorks are feeling sorry for me now.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Just then, Rose Weasley rounded the corner. Her hands were on her hips and she glared at him, saying, "You should check your schedule more often, Malfoy." She spat his name, and if he weren't in such a lethargic state, he would have had trouble hiding the anger rising in his chest at the sight of her.
"Shove off, Weasley," he growled. "And you'd better move out of my way before I have to touch you again to get through the door."
She grinned. "Touch me, you mean like you did the other day when you fell right on top of me? When you laid there like a fish out of water until someone had to drag you away? Don't even try to pretend that you don't like touching me, Malfoy."
"Why would I like touching you? You're the one who has a massive crush on me," he shot back. At least seeing Rose was getting him back into his normal mood (which, around her, was always sour and mocking).
"Ha!" she barked in laughter. "Why would I like a boy who can't even catch a little Snitch?"
Scorpius saw red. In a moment, he had lunged at her and was pulling on her hair. Their faces were inches apart and he saw a mixture of fear and anger in her brown eyes. He'd pushed her up against the frame of the doorway, but now that he had her pinned, he wasn't sure what he should do. He wasn't one to hit girls. Not that she didn't deserve it, especially after all of the times that she'd hit him.
But before he did anything, his brain began functioning again and he pushed himself off of her. His body tingled from being pressed so close to hers.
I must have caught some infectious disease from being exposed to such a dirty Gryffindor, he thought bitterly as he walked away to his actual first class.