"Good! Now tilt your broomstick upwards a little." I instructed Zoe, "Okay, we'll just start with getting comfortable on the broom." This was easier said than done, as I myself was not a really feeling all that great as I hovered in the air.
"Okay, I can do this." breathed Zoe, "This isn't too bad."
"So we'll just do some slow laps around the Greenhouses then?" Ingrid asked. We'd chosen the Greenhouses since we'd decided unanimously that we didn't really want anyone witnessing our pitiful attempts at flying.
I nodded, gripping tightly onto my broomstick. I said I'd known some stuff about Quidditch, but that was mostly just in theory. Sure I'd played scratch matches games in the backyard at home, but I'd stopped as soon as they had enough people to play without me. Thank Merlin for big families! Now I was wishing I had flown more often. To think Zoe was relying on us to teach her how to play! I was such a fraud.
"Slowly does it." I said, more for my own benefit than Zoe's, as I leant forward on my broomstick. As we gained more confidence we started flying a bit faster. Granted, we were still only about two metres off the ground, but I thought we were doing pretty well. Slow and steady wins the race, I say! Bit by bit, we began our gradual ascent upwards. As we made our way slowly past Greenhouse 6 my stomach turned as I realised that there was a class inside. What? We had specifically checked! "Ingrid!" I yelled angrily "What happened?"
"I don't know!" She yelled back as she zoomed past me in an attempt to get out of sight. "Weren't you in charge of number 6?"
"No!" I sped up to catch up to her, "That was you!"
"Well, that's just great!" She snapped as she swerved sharply in an effort to avoid a tree and toppled off her broomstick. I turned quickly to prevent myself from making the same mistake just in time to see James look up from potting his Sneezewort to see Zoe sitting frozen atop her broomstick. I could almost see her brain kick into action as the words 'shit, shit, shit', or more likely 'crap, crap, crap' raced through her mind. She whipped her head around and her broom shot forward.
That was not good.
"Zoe!" I called, "Zoe, ZOE!"
"STOP! Pull up your broomstick! PULL UP!" Ingrid hollered.
We hastily got back on our brooms and raced after her, for a beginner she was really speedy. "Where is she?" I called at Ingrid frantically.
"No idea!" She bellowed back, her hair whipping her in the face.
All of sudden something whizzed past my head, almost decapitating me. "Argh" I cried, as I ducked and my broom spun in circles.
"Zoe?" Ingrid asked no one incredulously.
I righted my broom just in time to see Zoe hurtle across the lake. I looked at Ingrid, and Ingrid looked at me. The word 'SHIT' simultaneously materialising in our minds.
"I CAN'T STOP!" Zoe's panicked voice snapped us back into action.
"It's okay, Zo!" I yelled, "We're coming, we've got you!" This was probably not very comforting as it was hollered in the same frenzied tone she had screamed for help in.
"PULL UP ON THE HANDLE, ZOE!" A new male voice sounded from below. I looked down to see James standing on the edge of the lake with his Dragon-hide gloves still on. Maybe it was his clearer directions, maybe it was easier to distinguish his male voice from our higher pitched ones, or maybe it was just because it was James' voice, but somehow Zoe magically came to a halt. Unfortunately, it was a very abrupt halt and as her body jolted to a stop, her wand slipped out from her robes. We all watched with horrified eyes as it began its rapid descent to the depths of the lake. Instinctively I nudged my broom into action and shot after the falling stick. As I single-mindedly zipped after the wand, all rhyme and reason left my brain. It wasn't until my fingers closed around the wand and I screeched to a stop, that I remembered just exactly why I didn't play Quidditch. As the shock set in and my stomach began to churn, I felt my limbs turn to jelly and I slipped off my broomstick and into the lake. The sharp needles of the icy water quickly brought the feeling back into my body as it stung my bare skin. I gasped for air as I half swum; half flailed my way back to shore.
"Merlin! Are you okay?" Ingrid asked worriedly (for once), as she pulled me up onto the grass. I lay there for a moment catching my breath before casting a quick drying charm on myself.
"I know that was impressive, but I'm still Rose, no need to call me Merlin." I somehow found the energy to rasp.
Ingrid rolled her eyes, "Yup, she's definitely okay."
"That was unbelievable, Rose." James stared at me, stunned.
"Huh?" I asked as I began to feel my arms again.
"That dive! You just...the wand..."He trailed off, before shaking his head and turning back to face Zoe who was still hovering nervously in the air. "Okay Zoe, don't worry, you're fine. Just gently point your broom downwards." He said, surprisingly calmly. "Good, good, now lean forward a little."
She wobbled for a second before putting on a determined expression and began flying slowly. "You're doing great," James encouraged, "Just keep doing what you're doing."
As Zoe gradually made her way back to safety we all sighed a breath of relief and James rushed to catch her as her legs gave way. I guess she was suffering from the same loss of feeling in her limbs as I did. How nice to have a kindred spirit!
"Merlin, Zoe." James was saying to her as we walked over, "You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Thank Merlin you're okay, Zo!" I exclaimed as I gave her a hug.
"You really had us worried for a moment there" Ingrid as she wrapped her arms around us, "Group hug!"
"Oh, here's your wand, by the way." I extracted myself from Ingrid's iron like grip and handed it to her. I guess years of having a Schadenfreude based sense of humour had taken its toll, rendering her incapable of giving good hugs.
"Thanks so much, Rose! That was an amazing catch!" Zoe said, also detaching herself from Ingrid's grasp.
"Pfft, yeah, and falling into the lake was a great landing." I rolled my eyes.
"No Rose," James cut in, "That was brilliant."
Uh... okay, people complimenting on my flying skills? This was getting a bit too weird for my liking. "Anyway, we better put the brooms back in the shed."
"Wait, where's your broom, Rose?" James asked.
"Er, on the bottom of the lake?" I replied wincing, preparing myself for the onslaught.
"What? You just left it in the lake?" He seemed genuinely outraged. "That's a broom you're talking about, a broom!"
"It's just a school broom, James." Ingrid stepped in, "Everybody knows they're crap."
"But, it's still a broom! That's so wasteful!" James seemed unable to wrap his mind around the situation.
"Oh, put a sock in it, Potter." Ingrid replied, as we left him standing there, muttering about lack of respect and blatant disregard for broom care.
"Hey Rose" I looked up from my DADA essay to see Robert Hillman standing above me.
"Robert, hi!" I replied, finishing my sentence and putting down my quill.
"I was just wondering if you could help me with the spell we were doing in Charms today? "He asked, "Was it a jab to the right and then flick upwards, or jab to the left and flick upwards?" He asked.
"Um, I'm pretty sure it was jab to the left and flick upwards." I replied.
"Awesome, thanks Rose!" He grinned, as he practiced the motions with his wand. "You're such a Ravenclaw, I'm telling you."
Here's the thing about Robert Hillman. He's a great guy, but for some bizarre reason he insists on indoctrinating me as an honorary Ravenclaw. At the beginning it was kind of flattering, but now it was more just annoying. I rolled my eyes, "I'm not a Ravenclaw, Robert."
"Unfortunately, not." he sighed, "But you should be!"
I laughed weakly, not knowing how else to respond.
"Anyway," He continued, "any plans for Hogsmeade this weekend?"
"I'll probably just spend it with friends." I shrugged. To be honest, in the midst of all the drama of this past week, I'd almost forgotten about the Hogsmeade trip.
"Oh cool, I was just wondering if you..." But before he could finish his sentence, his eyes widened and he ducked to avoid a Fanged Frisbee approaching him at a surprisingly rapid speed.
My jaw dropped, a Fanged Frisbee, and in the library? The audacity! My eyes narrowed and my skirt magically straightened and grew two inches longer as I got into Prefect mode. Who dared pollute the peace of the library with their prohibited objects?
"Terribly sorry, Robert, but if you'll excuse me, I must catch the culprit." I packed up my stuff quickly, and then stalked off to discover which dastardly delinquent had disrupted the sanctity that is the library.
Annoyingly, I couldn't find anyone who seemed remotely guilty! Well, aside from a shifty group of third year boys, I mean, a group of rowdy third year boys in the library? Please. Infuriatingly, they seemed to be just as confused about the Fanged Frisbee as I was, and after ten minutes of intense interrogation, I left the library feeling frustrated and dissatisfied. The pent up adrenaline had left me itching to tell someone off.
Upstanding Prefect? Thy name is Rose Weasley.
The Scorpius Malfoy I saw sitting in the library later that evening was a far cry from the cool, calm and collected Scorpius Malfoy I had gotten used to seeing the last past few days. His hair was dishevelled, his shirt was wrinkled, his sleeves were rolled up, and his tie hung loose. As he sat there with his arms crossed, long legs peeking out from under the table, and eyes burning holes in the table, his whole aura projected KEEP AWAY. The annoying thing was that instead of looking like a sulky teenager, he looked like a brooding antihero straight from the pages of a Fiffi Lafolle novel. I could almost see the book now: 'Rebel with a cause, a cause that had just been destroyed'. For this reason, I suddenly felt hesitant in approaching him. Scorpius Malfoy looked intimidating (and dare I say it, gorgeous).
I shuffled closer, tucking my hair nervously behind my ear, "Hey."
He looked up, "Oh, Rose! Hi."
The fact that he'd called me Rose resonated with me and it made him slightly more approachable, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighed heavily, "I've just had a shit day."
"Oh, okay, um." I dithered about whether I should ask him about it, "Do you want a hug?" A hug, Rose? You weren't sure if you should ask him why his day was bad, so you ask him if he wants a hug instead? It's a wonder I have any friends at all.
Scorpius looked as if he was going to refuse, but then shrugged, "Yeah, alright."
All I could think of as I went to hug him was how awkward it was going to be, but surprisingly it wasn't. It felt nice. And as a semi-professional cuddler, that was saying something. Granted, he was slightly stiff at the beginning, but he loosened up as I tugged him close and he felt the power of a Rose cuddle, a Ruddle? That sounded disturbing.
We stood there for a few moments, before letting go. "Er, thanks" He said, ruffling his hair.
As I realised that the hug hadn't completely done the trick, I added "No problem! That will be 15 knuts though."
"What?" He asked, caught off guard.
"15 knuts. I hate to raise the price, but with the economy these days, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do!"
His lip quirked, ah there he was! A sliver of the Scorpius I knew. "You're mad, Weasley." Sigh, I guess I couldn't have expected anything else.
"I wouldn't pay any more than 10 knuts for that hug." My eyebrows shot up. To think I had been intimidated by him just a few minutes ago, Scorpius Malfoy was just about as mad as I was.
"Hey!" I cried indignantly, "You just received a limited edition Rose Weasley cuddle! Now pay up you stinge."
"12." He insisted.
"13 and that's my final price." I replied unfazed.
Scorpius sighed, "You drive a hard bargain, Weasley."
"Did I not see a smile? Did I not make you forget about your crappy day?" I replied. Just like that, his grin slid off his face and his face darkened slightly, I kicked myself for bringing it up again. Heh, I was saying? "Sorry." I winced, "Do you want to talk about it?"
He sighed again, "It was just one of those days, you know? One of those days where Merlin's like, oh that Scorpius Malfoy, he's been having an alright time recently; I think it's high time he gets his share of crap."
I nodded in understanding; I felt the wrath of Merlin daily.
"Quidditch training was rubbish. It was windy and raining, Carlill couldn't pass for shit, and Chasers kept stooging, and argh! Why am I even telling you this? You're in Gryffindor." Despite his obvious discomfort, I couldn't help but notice that this was probably the first time I'd seen Malfoy not having it all together (apart from the whole Melissa Green, Ralph McLaggen debacle). Although I hadn't really noticed him in previous years, I think I'd always had this subconscious impression of Scorpius Malfoy as one of those people who just cruised through life.
"Anyway," he continued, "I was walking back to the Common Room when I heard this sobbing, so I went to check what it was, and there was Nellie Jayne crying her eyes out, and I couldn't just leave after seeing her there, so I spent the next hour and a half trying to comfort her."
"Was she okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, got dumped by her boyfriend." Scorpius replied.
"Ah."
He groaned, "And now I have a bloody date on Saturday and you're... "
"Wait, sorry what?" I interrupted, "You have a date on Saturday?"
"Yeah, with Nellie." he replied.
"Didn't you just say she got dumped by her boyfriend?" I asked, trying to process the information.
"Yup." and then seeing the look on my face, he explained, "So she was crying into my shirt, and then out of the blue she just asks me if I want to go to Hogsmeade with her. And she'd been banging on about how awful guys were, and so I kind of felt the need to stick up for us boys, and so... I sort of said yes."
Nellie Jayne. I tried to recall what she was like. Slytherin, I think, with blonde hair and a willowy figure. Damn, I think she was pretty. Not that it really mattered of course. "Do you like her, then?" I asked without thinking.
"Well, I don't not like her. She's in our year, you know. I guess I haven't really thought about it." That wasn't exactly comforting. And I mean this for Scorpius' sake. She's obviously on the rebound here; don't want him getting hurt or anything.
"Sorry, didn't mean to put a damper on things. You must be excited for your date." He said, looking at me.
"What?" I replied, utterly perplexed by the change of focus onto me. What was this boy talking about now?
"Your date." he repeated, "You are going on a date with Robert Hillman, aren't you?"
"No." I answered incredulously, "Since when was I going on a date with Robert?"
Scorpius seemed to have realised he'd made a mistake, "Wait, so you don't have a date for Hogsmeade?"
Gee, way to make a girl feel great about herself, Malfoy. "No, I don't."
His face contorted into a weird combination of frustration and relief. That was all I could make out anyway. "Oh Merlin." was I missing something here?
"Is something wrong?" I asked, puzzled.
"I'm just an idiot." He replied, shaking his head. Then he shot me a quick, unexpected smile. "Anyway, let's get on with this Transfiguration assignment, hey?"
"Scorpius Malfoy has a date with Nellie Jayne." I told Ingrid as I entered the dormitory.
"Really?" Ingrid looked up from her magazine, "They'd make beautiful blonde haired children."
That wasn't really the reaction I wanted, though I'm not sure what reaction I'd wanted in the first place. "Is hair all you think of?" I asked her.
"Hair is very important!" She said indignantly, "Jack Snoodgelump was hot until he got that awful haircut."
I looked at her, raising an eyebrow, "His name's Jack Snoodgelump, he was never hot."
"This is true." She nodded sadly, "Poor boy."
I sighed as I crawled onto my bed. Scorpius and Nellie. I didn't know what to make of it. I probably should've just shrugged it off like Ingrid had, but something about it didn't sit right with me. The most annoying thing was that I didn't know why. Who was this Nellie Jayne anyway? What was she like? Maybe my discomfort was stemming from my concern for Scorpius? I'd like to think we were mates. And mates looked out for each other, didn't they? Perhaps I was just wondering if she was good enough for him. He was a good guy, that Scorpius Malfoy, he should be with someone who was also good.
Yeah, that was probably it.
:O Scorpius has a date? Say whaaat? Haha, next chapter is Hogsmeade, so get excited!
Also, what do you think of Zoe and James? And Ingrid?
Thanks for reading! :)
