Chapter 6: Slytherin's Captain
Scorpius Malfoy.
Rose Weasley thought his name again. Whenever she had heard this name before the audition, it was met with indifference, oftentimes a spark of competitiveness, but never what she was feeling now. Confusion. Queasiness. An uncomfortable mixture of the two.
Before the audition, Scorpius was the second in the duo with her cousin, Al. Now, he was the guy who she had auditioned with a day ago, the guy with the piercing blue eyes and snowy hair, the slight smirk and the confident singing voice. He was the guy she couldn't get out of her head, and she had no idea why.
Whenever she thought back to the actual audition, all she could remember was singing to him, both of their voices fitting perfectly, aligning together in a beautiful chorus. The details of what she had been thinking in that moment were all a bit delicate, much too delicate for someone who didn't like making herself vulnerable.
After the audition and awkward congratulations, she had rushed back to Study Club and helped Jordan with the lesson. By the time she and Jordan had packed up to go back to their respectable dorms, Jordan had commented on the fact that she was still flushed. Rose had made up some pathetic excuse about the excitement of Arithmancy.
That same night at dinner, while she joined Jordan at the Ravenclaw table, she couldn't help but search for him in the busy bustle of the Great Hall. She did this subtly of course and saw him laughing and joking with Al and his friends. Right when she remembered that Slytherin Quidditch try-outs had been earlier that day, their new teammates burst into the Great Hall with shaved heads, charmed green skin, and makeshift fairy wings. The lights on the wings flickered with each step of the large, burly boys walking down the center aisle of the tables.
It was a Slytherin tradition that apparently began several years after the War. Slytherin House had been in need of something to boost morale after being shunned from the school, and apparently, it could only be done by hazing new Quidditch team members. It usually happened during breakfast the next day and continued throughout the school day, but doing it during dinner time was new, and the lot of the school all looked around in surprise.
The whole purpose of the event was to ridicule the school's other Quidditch teams. They usually recited insult poems at each table and performed small skits in ridiculous costumes during their Great Hall display. Rose thought the whole thing was annoying and pathetic. This year, however, she couldn't take her eyes away. The three boys jogged to the front of the hall and announced their names, Lorien Crosscuttle, Tyson Hendricks, and Ciaran O'Nettles. The professors said nothing but joined in with the laughing students. They were all accustomed to this tradition as well.
She had stolen a glance at Scorpius, whose arms were crossed in smugness and whose mouth was curved into that ever-constant smirk of his. He was captain of his team and must've taken great pride in the fact that he was responsible for this year's hazing. Next to him, Al was grinning from ear to ear with delight.
And then the taunting had begun. First was all the nonsense about how Slytherin was the best team, which wasn't actually nonsense since it was sadly the truth. Since Al had been Seeker, James and the Gryffindors hadn't won the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup, and if they didn't, the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff teams surely didn't have a chance.
First was the Hufflepuff table.
..
Hufflepuff, Black and gold
Our chasers leave you in the cold
Your brooms can barely hold your weight
Your teammates can't fit through the gate
Eat your cake and buttered bread
We'll score and snatch the snitch instead!
Goal's wide open, Keeper's asleep
That's how we keep our winning streak!
To Hufflepuff, the badger team
Get ready to lose to silver and green!
..
"How do you think they do it?" the new recruit named Lorien asked the crowd.
"Do what?" Al shouted out.
"Get up into the air on their broomsticks!" Hendricks bellowed, rubbing his muscled tummy. "They'd eat the house elves if they could."
"Slow and unsteady! Both the brooms and the players," added O'Nettles, pretending to stumble around and wobble in his tutu. "It's like shooting sparks at little fairies."
At this point, the three of them began running around in a circle flapping their awful fake wings then collapsed on the floor.
Everyone except the Hufflepuff table erupted in laughter. The Hufflepuffs digested the words then began to boo loudly. Rose saw the captain of the team, Harley Tethers, snatch a cupcake out of one of his chaser's hand and frown. It was true. The Hufflepuff team was the slowest, probably in the worst shape, and they rarely ever scored during the matches.
Next was the Ravenclaw table. Rose felt them, including Jordan, tense as if it would make the words hurt less.
..
Ravenclaw, bronze and blue
You know what we'll do to you
You get top marks in all of school
But on the pitch, untalented fools
We win and do our victory loops
By the time you find the hoops
Your brains are too heavy for the broom
That you hang your head in loser gloom
Ravenclaw Eagles, do your best
But these Snakes will eat the eggs in your nest.
..
"Ravenclaws, they never learn," started Hendricks, tutting a finger at the table. "They'll let anyone on the team who can juggle both a broom and their abnormally large heads."
At this, Lorien blundered around, pretending to hold up his heads and crashed into both his teammates, who shoved him off.
"They should just stick to keeping Slytherin stats," O'Nettles spat. "Something they're good at."
Rose snickered a little at the Ravenclaw table's indignation, finding the bit about the eggs and nest in the poem quite clever, but she knew that Gryffindor was next. It was no secret that Gryffindor was Slytherin's arch nemesis when it came to Quidditch. Her stomach clenched together and she wondered what Scorpius had come up with for the boys to say about her house. She stole yet another glance over at him, and this time, his seemed to search for someone. He angled his head, this time toward the Ravenclaw table and met her eyes. Rose noticed her heart quickening. He grinned at her and flexed his eyebrows playfully. She tore away from his stare as the boys begin to chant.
..
Our team has saved the best for last
If best meant Slytherins beating their ass
The red and gold, Gryffindor's pride
Have learned to take their losing in stride
They boast on how they're going to win
But tremble before us Slytherins
On the pitch, they wave to fans
But in the end, the snitch is in our hands
Red and Gold, we're not through
We'll tell you what we think of you
..
A bunch of girls are your chasers
Pretty and fit, but not good racers!
Neanderthals are your beaters
But you accuse us and say we're cheaters!
Your seeker is blind and your keeper dim
And you cry about how you never win!
Captain Potter may be sugar and cream
But the fastest Potter is on our team!
Gryffindor Lions, the bold and brave
Winning over you is all we crave!
..
Now it was Jordan's turn to watch Rose become indignant. James was no doubt glaring at Al and mouthing obscenities toward him. Rose loved playing Quidditch, and she loved her team. She couldn't wait to get out on the pitch to prove Scorpius—er, the Slytherins wrong.
But they weren't finished. Rather than continue the mocking of the Gryffindor team in general, they chose to focus on the team's captain.
"Gryffindors, at least they pose a challenge," said Lorien. "One flip of James Potter's hair, and we're in a trance." The three of them illustrated the prideful hairflip James was no stranger to and several people snickered, including a professor or two.
"Yeah, his good looks distract from his losing streak!" shouted Hendricks. All eyes shifted to James, who was trying his hardest to remain calm, and that wasn't easy for someone with Weasley blood. "His own father cheered for Slytherin last time!"
"Wait, wait, wait," O'Nettles stopped them, wearing a cruel smirk. "Remember when he cried?"
The Great Hall roared with laughter yet again as the new Slytherin recruits faked sobs and wiped at nonexistent tears. James face palmed and shouted that they 'come off it'. Al was falling over Scorpius now, unable to control his laughter.
"Sobbed, he did," O'Nettles continued. "Sobbed like a baby when Albus, our prized seeker, beat him for the 1st time!"
"WILDCAT! WILDCAT!" the Slytherins began to cheer, louder and louder until it rang in every corner of the Great Hall. 'Wildcat Potter' was Al's Quidditch nickname since his first year as Seeker, and Al stood up and proudly urged them even louder. He earned this name by his stealth and quickness on a broom and the fiery, hungry look in his green eyes and wild black hair after catching the snitch. He was a hunter and the snitch was his prey, Scorpius had described this to her whole family when he had visited for a Weasley family picnic one summer. Rose had always thought that the Slytherins liked to exaggerate the fact that Al simply looked semi-mad whenever he caught the snitch and won the game.
Lastly, the new Slytherin recruits hazing had ended with a loud hammering of cheers and chants from the Slytherin table. "SLYTHERIN SLYTHERIN SLYTHERIN!" The rest of the school booed as loud as they could, including Jordan and Rose. This went on for several minutes until Headmistress Vector quieted everyone down and everyone returned to their meal.
Now, sitting in the library one whole day after, Rose was replaying all of this over and over in her head along with Scorpius's name. She should've been giving her undivided attention to her Ancient Runes homework on the work desk in front of her.
"Jordan, have you ever thought about," Rose bit her lip, contemplating the word, "dating? I mean, we're at that age. Truthfully, we're quite past it."
Jordan snickered incredulously. "Thought about it? What's there to think about?"
Rose pointedly sat down her quill. "We're two attractive, intelligent females who are at the top of our game."
"Exactly so who are we supposed to date? I know you play Quidditch, but let's face it, you're the most intelligent one who does so Quidditch guys are out. Then we're left with that," she pointed to a Hufflepuff couple who were sitting at a table with their tongues shoved down each other's throats, "or that," she then pointed to a group of very unattractive Ravenclaw boys who were sitting at another table trading chocolate frog cards.
"What about, I don't know. Scorpius Malfoy?"
"Scorpius Malfoy?" She said his name sourly. "You want to date Scorpius Malfoy?"
"I didn't say I wanted to date him." Rose's ears turned red. "I just asked. He's right behind me in rank so he's obviously not daft, but he's great at Chaser."
"Malfoy is more likely to date girls like Lily, who've got that whole gorgeous, untouchable thing going on. Not girls like you."
Now Rose scowled deeply at the girl who she called her best friend. "What do you mean, 'girls like me'?"
Jordan scoffed amusingly. "Your idea of make-up is applying two coats of chapstick, and I style my hair more than you do."
"I have unruly hair! I don't have time to style it. I can be just as gorgeous as Lily on any given day, but I have things to do. Surely there's a guy out there who accepts that."
"See, this is why we don't talk about boys. I'm completely unfocused right now."
Rose angrily began to gather her things, and Jordan looked at her in surprise. "Where are you going?"
How could she be so oblivious to that fact that she had hurt Rose's feelings? "I don't feel like studying right now, if that's ok with you," said Rose, who proceeded to storm out of the library.
The walk up to Gryffindor Tower hadn't made anything better. She passed Hugo and Lily, who waved to her slightly as they animatedly discussed something of importance to them. Lily's uniform still managed to flatter her figure, and her hair was pulled back into a stylish ponytail. She was also wearing a new pair of yellow and black heels.
She then passed a gang of Slytherin girls who were known as the Debutants. Abigail, Cecily, and Blaire were just as stylish and popular as Lily but never spoke to anyone other than each other. She was sure Scorpius had taken Cecily to Hogsmeade a couple of times in the past years but nothing seemed to ever become serious of them. Still, just knowing that she was the kind of girl he went for made her all the more insecure.
Luckily, she didn't see Scorpius himself. That chance had hastened her step and finally, she made it all the way to her dormitory. No one was there. They had probably gone out to get one last semi-warm day in before a chilly Fall set in.
She sat down on her bed and levitated a mirror in front of her face. She was pretty, there was no denying that with her father's blue eyes and the shape of her mother's face. Why did she need make-up? Then there was the matter of her hair, something else she had inherited from her mother. Rose reached up and took out her hair tie, letting the bundle of thick red curls fall. They went everywhere, overwhelming her head and face. She didn't have slick, straight hair like Jordan or Lily where she could easily control it.
Sighing, she put her hair back up into a bun and collapsed back first onto her mattress. How was she going to be a leading lady in anything? She would no doubt look appalling standing next to Scorpius Malfoy, whose pointy features had evened out once he had hit 5th year. It was hours before Scorpius left her mind and she could bring herself to study again.
Author's Note: For those who are actually reading this story, please don't give up on me! I will complete this, but I can't promise weekly updates or anything. Keep reading and please review!