A/N: Hello all! I wanted to have this out earlier but, as it's the longest chapter in the series thus far, it took me a while to write. Thanks to all of you reading this, I hope you're enjoying the story! A huge thanks goes out to those of you who have reviewed! I love reading your opinions on the chapters and any and all advice is more than welcome. If you have an idea that you think will make the story better and more enjoyable to read, please, let me know! Thanks also goes out to those of you who have put this story on your alert list, and/or your favorites list! You all are keeping me motivated.
Now, I did a little something different with this chapter. The beginning is done from Scorpius' point of view. It picks up right after his conversation with Rose from the last chapter. I wasn't sure if I was doing a good job at writing from Scorpius' point of view so I didn't make his part too long but if it turns out well, I'll do it again in the future. Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Broke college student = I do not own!
Scorpius
"The only thing that matters is winning." I muttered through clenched teeth. My hand was wrapped firmly around the handle of my new broom. I could feel the wood giving way under the pressure I was putting on it. Out of the corner of my eye I glanced down at my hand to see that my knuckles had turned white. Quickly, I loosened my grip on the handle of the broom and turned my gaze back on to Weasley's face. I frowned at her as I took in the shocked expression she was wearing. For a moment I expected her to lash out at me, to scream, to yell, to start calling me names. However, when she didn't, I merely turned on my heel and began to march back up to the castle. My mind was reeling. Somehow, she had managed to get under my skin. Somehow she had managed to get me to divulge far more information than I had meant to.
A growl escaped my lips as I entered the castle. Frustrated with myself, I ran a hand through my blond hair. As I took my hand out of my hair a few strands fell into my eyes. I would need a haircut soon. This was all very new to me. I wasn't used to being the one who got worked up. Sure, Weasley knew how to press my buttons better than anyone else at Hogwarts, but for the last six years she had always been the first one to loose her temper. This time however, she had done marvelously, keeping her calm exterior until the very end. As I stomped through the dungeons I could sense the curious looks the people I was passing were shooting at me. However, no one dared to utter a single word. By now the entire Slytherin house knew not to bother me when I was in a bad mood. Even the first years had caught on over the past week.
I muttered the password and the entrance to the common room opened up. There were a few people milling about but the only person present that I would even consider talking to at the moment was Emmanuel Zabini. Making my way over to the couch where Emmanuel was sitting I nodded at him in acknowledgment. Emmanuel returned the nod and then closed the book he had been reading. "What's up?" He asked, arching a brow at me.
"Nothing." I replied. My tone was bitter and rough. I was being far too rude to someone I considered to be a friend. Apparently the part of my brain that controlled my speech had yet to figure out that I was no longer speaking to Rose Weasley.
"Must be a hell of a nothing." Emmanuel countered, a good-natured smile on his face. Emmanuel and I had been good friends ever since we had been small children. However, I wasn't about to divulge to him that I had allowed Weasley to work me up. That was information I would never divulge.
"Nothing, just a rough Quidditch practice." I mumbled.
"Ah, I see." Emmanuel replied, nodding his head. "How's that going anyway? Molly and I are taking bets on the game actually, so you and Rose better pull that team of yours together."
I arched a brow and looked at Emmanuel. Emmanuel had always been quiet and reserved but I had always figured he held the same bitterness towards the Weasley's that I did. Apparently I was wrong.
"We're trying, though you better be careful with your money Emmanuel, I might kill Weasley before the match even starts." I replied, my words coming out as more of a hiss than as eloquent English.
Emmanuel laughed and shook his head, "It can't be that bad mate."
I arched a brow at him and glowered for a few moments. "I'll see you later," was my only response before I turned around and headed up to my dormitory. Speaking to Emmanuel had only caused me to replay the conversation I had just had with the Weasley girl. Where did she get off talking to me about the importance of winning and loosing? I stormed into my room and dropped my things on the floor before sitting down on the edge of my bed. I ran my hands over the top of my thighs nervously. Weasley simply didn't understand. I knew she liked winning; she was every bit as competitive as I was. However, she didn't need to win like I did. Her family was full of heroes. Hell, there were dozens of books written about the glory of her family, and dozens on her parents alone. I on the other hand, well, I came from a family that had been disgraced by the last war. I needed to win at everything I did so I could prove to the wizarding world that the name of Malfoy was not worthless. No one was going to stand in my way, not even Rose Weasley.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I jumped upon hearing the knock on my door. "One second." I called out. I rose from my spot on the edge of the bed and walked over to the mirror in the corner of my room. I ran a hand through my hair and observed the expression on my face, making it as neutral as possible. With that, I opened the door only to see a tall, thin brunette giving me a blinding smile.
"Hello Claudia." I greeted with a nod of my head. Claudia and I had been friends for about a year. Our friendship afforded me many benefits.
"I heard you were in a bad mood and I thought that I could cheer you up." She said, slinking into my room. I forced a smile as I looked at her and let the door shut.
Rose
Despite the fact that I had gone to bed at a late hour the previous night, much to my dismay I had started to drift in and out of my pleasant sleep before my alarm had even gone off. Unsure of the time I rolled onto my stomach, burying my face deep within my pillow in the hopes that it would help me fall asleep. As I began to fall back asleep I felt something tickling my foot. Instinctively, I kicked my foot upwards and felt it make contact with a solid object. My intention was to simply ignore whatever I had hit. It was probably just something one of my dorm mates had left out the previous night.
"Ouch! Rosie!" A familiar voice whined. Oops, guess it wasn't an inanimate object. With a groan I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes to see Lily rubbing her abdomen. Despite my best effort to keep a straight face, I let out a small laugh. After all, she had it coming. However, upon seeing the glare Lily was shooting me, I bit my lip, preventing any further giggles from escaping my lips.
"Sorry Lils!" I exclaimed, sitting up in bed before I swung my legs over the side and stood up. Stretching my arms, I looked over at my cousin only to spot the quill she had used to wake me. "What on earth did you do that for anyway?" I questioned, a slightly irked expression on my face.
"Just wanted to make sure you wouldn't sleep through your class today." She replied, giving me a warm smile. "I know you went to bed late last night." She nodded her head, widening her jade green eyes. For a moment, I believed her. The corners of my lips twitched upwards into a smile until my eyes landed on the clock sitting on my nightstand. From the look of things it was only eight thirty in the morning. Instantly, the corners of my lips turned downwards. The only class I had today was History of Magic and that was at half past noon.
"Lils!" I exclaimed, turning my head, narrowing my eyes. Lily gave me a guilty smile before waggling her fingers at me, "See you later Rosie! Love you!" She called before making a dash for the door. I watched her leave the room, powerless to stop her. With a shake of my head I blew my bangs out of my face. Lily was very good at acting as the picture of innocence and she had convinced a number of people that out of all the Weasley-Potter cousins still in school, she was the best behaved. Excluding Molly of course, but that girl was a saint. The truth however was that Lily was every bit as mischievous as James and Fred were. She was merely better at getting away with it.
I sighed, placing my hands on my hips as I looked around the dormitory. There was only one other girl left in the dormitory and she was sound asleep all the way on the other side of the room. For a moment I considered trying to go back to sleep. However, I knew very well that now that I was up there was no way I was going to be able to fall back into a restful sleep. Getting back into bed would lead me to toss and turn for hours. Instead, I decided that I would use this extra time to get ready for the day and review the Quidditch strategy for tomorrow's game.
In about an hour, I was showered, dressed and ready for the long day ahead. I gathered my books for History of Magic and dumped them into my bag before grabbing the Quidditch notes sitting atop my desk. Over the past week I had started to take notes throughout the practices so that I could review them later and see what the real problems were with the team. Unlike with the regular Gryffindor team, with this new, combined team, I couldn't always rationally evaluate things during practices. After all, it was hard to think straight when there was a new fight to break up every ten minutes. With my notes in hand, I left the dormitory and made my way down the stairs into the common room. There were a few people milling about in the common room, mostly finishing up some homework they had failed to get to the night before. Dropping my bag onto the floor, I fell onto the couch and stretched out my legs, bringing the Quidditch notes up to my face so that I could read them. My eyes scanned over the words on the page and as I read I crossed out the things that had already been addressed and underlined the matters that had to be taken care of this evening. As I rifled through the papers to find the sheet on which Malfoy and I had drawn up our game plan I heard a commotion just outside the common room. Frowning, I lowered my notes so that only my eyes were visible above the pieces of paper.
The portrait swung open and in walked Frank, his hair disheveled, his tie loose and a heap of banner paper, ribbons, and quills in his arms. Behind the papers in my hand my lips twitched into a smile. As Frank moved out of the doorway I could see that the fifth and sixth year prefects were behind him. All four of them had their arms equally as full. With a look of concentration on his face, Frank motioned to the other prefects where exactly each of them should place their stuff. As his eyes scanned the room, they landed on me and his brown eyes opened wide.
"Rosie!" Frank exclaimed.
"Hey Frank." I replied smiling as I removed the papers from my face so that my voice could carry across the room. My eyes wandered over to the heaps of ribbon and paper now scattered throughout the common room. I narrowed my eyes and I could swear I saw cans of paint. Arching a brow, I turned my attention back onto Frank who had, by now, rid his arms of all the things he had been carrying. "Frank, what is all this?" I questioned.
"Team bonding material!" He exclaimed, not skipping a beat. Frank beamed, his smile reaching from ear to ear. "You see, at first I wasn't sure where I would find all of this stuff but then I did as you told be and asked the Crowley girl. Shockingly, she was helpful. We both rounded up our prefects and got this stuff just about an hour ago. Right now, she's in the dungeons with the Slytherin prefects with her half of the stuff, you know…"
Frank had started rambling. Something he did whenever he was either nervous or proud of himself. "Good job Frank." I said, interrupting him. I smiled broadly to show him that I was one hundred percent sincere in my statement. Frank ceased his rambling and smiled at me, "Thanks Rose." He replied. Frank grinned at me for a few moments before a look of realization washed over his face. He frowned at me.
"What is it?" I asked, tilting my head to the right.
"Get out Rose." Frank said simply. There was no anger in his voice, nor any spite. Rather, his tone of voice was very matter of fact.
"Excuse me?" I asked, frowning, genuinely confused. I was fairly certain that I hadn't said or done anything wrong. Plus, I still had an hour to go until the start of class and I intended to spend it splayed out on the couch.
"You heard me Miss Weasley!" Frank exclaimed, smiling. "You may be my fellow prefect and all but you're also one of the captains of the strange Quidditch team I shall be rooting for tomorrow. This whole team building thing is for you and the team so I can't have any of you see what we're doing until it's done!" Frank walked towards me, grabbing my arm, pulling me off of the couch.
"Oh come on Frank, I won't look." I promised, widening my eyes at him. "I have an hour till History of Magic, don't make me leave." I stuck out my bottom lip, trying to guilt him into letting me stay.
Wrinkling his nose, Frank pointed his index finger at me. "Don't try that with me Rose. Who do you think you're kidding? Of course you'll look. Now, out with you!" Frank leaned down, grabbed my bag off of the floor and thrust it into my arms. My jaw dropped open and I looked at him in disbelief. I was being kicked out of the common room.
"Fine, fine, fine. I'll leave, I know when I'm not wanted." I muttered, swinging my bag over my shoulder. I keep trying to make Frank feel guilty until the very last moment. "Good girl." Frank replied, patting the top of my head as he pushed me towards the exit. The portrait swung open and Frank pushed me out into the hallway. I turned around just in time to get one last look of Frank wearing a very smug expression. Then, the fat lady slammed shut in my face.
"Move along dearie." The portrait of the fat lady sang, waving me off. Shaking my head, I turned on my heel and walked away. With a little under an hour to go until History of Magic however, I wasn't sure of where to go. Breakfast was over by now and I didn't want to settle in, in the library only to have to go to class in fifty minutes. Sighing, I decided that I would just head over to the classroom early and read until the class began. It only took me a few minutes to make it to the classroom on the fifth floor. Leaning my back against the stone wall, I slid down onto the floor and stretched my legs out, crossing my ankles. Bringing my bag onto my lap, I rifled through the papers until I found the Quidditch notes. Placing them on my lap, I began to read. Thanks to one Lily Potter however, I was not able to keep my eyes open for long. Slowly, my eyelids lowered and I leaned the back of my head onto the wall behind me, allowing myself to drift into a light sleep.
I ceased being aware of how much time was passing and the next thing I knew was that someone had taken to kicking my legs. Quickly, my eyes opened and I looked up to see none other than the infamous Scorpius Malfoy. "You're blocking the doorway Weasley." He stated simply, giving my leg another light kick.
"Malfoy, I'm awake, stop that." I snapped, gathering my things and standing up. "You could have just stepped over my legs." I muttered, patting my hair down to make sure it hadn't gotten too out of place.
Malfoy had his back to me and was currently in the process of walking into the History of Magic classroom. However, he had still managed to hear my comment. "And that would have required me to exert effort on your behalf." He answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Incorrigible." I muttered under my breath, following him into the classroom. I could hear the other students shuffling in after me as I made my way towards the front of the classroom. Most people found History of Magic to be a mind-numbing subject but I found it to be captivating; a clear indication that I was Hermione Granger's daughter. I took my seat in the first row on the right side of the classroom and glanced across the room to see Malfoy in his usual seat – all the way in the back, on the left side of the classroom. I never ceased to be amazed at how Malfoy could act so nonchalant about his class work and still manage to stay neck in neck with me as we vied for top of our class. From time to time Malfoy would say something remarkably insightful in class just to remind everyone of how smart he was. However, for the most part, he simply sat in the back making snide remarks under his breath. Pursing my lips, I turned my attention back to the front of the classroom where Professor Binns was currently standing.
"Welcome class," he began slowly. I sighed and pulled out a piece of parchment, ready to take the days notes. The truth was that despite my love of history, Professor Binns was very hard to listen to. It took a great deal of patience and effort to get involved in his lecture, though once you did, it was worth it. Again however, it took effort, and I didn't know how much energy I could afford to expend today.
"Before I begin my lecture, I would like to announce a project we will all be doing in preparation for the N.E.W.T exam you will all be taking at the end of the year." Here, Professor Binns paused as if he needed to let the words sink in. I lowered my gaze, mentally urging him to move on. The whole class consisted of seventh years all of whom, I was fairly certain, had all gotten over the shock of having to do a project for a class.
"It will be a research project that will consist of an essay as well as an oral presentation." Binns paused again to riffle through a number of papers. I sighed. "It will be an independent project and I do not want you consulting with anyone else in the class. I will consider that cheating." A sigh of relief left me as I heard the words 'independent project'. As much as I was a social person I thoroughly disliked working with other people on school assignments. One thing that I had noticed from the few times I had been forced to work in a group was that there were always one or two people who did all the work while the rest of the group members sat on their laurels.
"I have already assigned each of you a topic. Each assignment is from a topic we have already discussed in class, either at the end of last year or in the past week so you do not have to worry about any material after nineteen-hundred." With that, Professor Binns began to hand out small sheets of paper that indicated our assigned topics. As my paper landed on the desk in front of me I quickly grabbed it and opened it. I was relieved upon seeing that the topic he had given me was quite interesting. After all, political intrigue was far more exciting to read about than goblin wars. With that, I set the sheet of paper aside and settled into my chair for the lecture.
Three hours, and one lecture later, I found myself making my way over to the Quidditch pitch for what would be the last practice before the big match. I took in a sharp breath and bit my bottom lip. Nerves were beginning to fill my body and my thoughts began to wander. What if we lost the match tomorrow? Honestly, I didn't think our fragile Gryffindor – Slytherin alliance could handle it. We needed a win tomorrow to give us any shot at succeeding at whatever challenges Molly and Emmanuel had planned for the future. If Malfoy and I couldn't get five students to cooperate with each other there was no way we would be able to get two whole houses to get along. I continued to bite my lip until I heard yelling coming from ahead. With a shake of my head I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced up only to see that Frederick, Charles, Amelia, Albus and Lily were all already up in the air, practicing and yelling directions to each other. The sight caused me to stop in my tracks and I searched the pitch for any indication that Malfoy had arrived early and set them to work. However, despite having scanned the entire Quidditch pitch I did not spot Malfoy anywhere in the vicinity.
"Well, I'll be damned." I muttered under my breath before I jogged the rest of the way to the pitch. After having set my bag down I stood by the edge of the pitch and began to watch the team practice. All of a sudden, Frederick threw his hands up in the air and began to argue with Charles Flint. Before I could get involved however, Albus and Robert had flown over to smooth over the disagreement. Within a matter of minutes, the argument had been worked out and the practice continued. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Malfoy approaching but I made no move to acknowledge his presence. The sight before me was far more captivating.
"Why the bloody hell did you start practice without me?" Malfoy demanded, dumping his bag at my feet.
"I didn't." I replied simply, unfazed by the tone he had used. "They did." I added, my voice filled with awe.
"You mean to tell me they got here early and started practice without us having to push them?" Malfoy questioned. The bitterness was gone from his voice but there was a distinct tone if disbelief.
"Yup." I replied simply, nodding my head. For the next couple of minutes Malfoy and I continued to watch the team practice. Every time a scuffle would erupt we merely stood by and watched as it was worked out internally. With a smile on my face, I grabbed my broom and turned to Malfoy.
"Seems like we managed to do it." I said.
"What, put together a 'damn good team'?" He questioned, repeating the phrase I had used the previous day during our argument.
With a roll of my eyes I began to walk onto the pitch. "No, I meant we managed to go a whole week without murdering each other." I called over my shoulder.
"Don't count on that Weasley, I still have until tomorrow afternoon to plot and execute your demise." He never skips a beat.
From the way practice went that day, an outside observer would of thought that we had all been playing together for months. Of course, every once in a while a small argument would break out, but the team would manage to work it out between themselves without intervention from either Malfoy or myself. It was quite amazing actually. For three hours we worked like a well-oiled machine. At seven p.m., as the sun began to set, the entirety of the team touched down onto the pitch. Like the previous day, Malfoy and I stood in front of the rest of the team. I opened my mouth to speak but quickly shut it, remembering the aneurysm my previous pep speech had given Malfoy.
"Weasley…" Malfoy hissed out of the corner of his mouth.
I arched a brow and turned my head to look at him, wondering what on earth he wanted out of me. Once he had my attention, Malfoy nodded over to the team. Confused, I pointed to myself and with a roll of his eyes he nodded. It seemed as if Malfoy wanted me to give a pep talk.
"Er…right…" I muttered before turning my head to look at the rest of the team. "Good job today guys," I began, still feeling a bit uncomfortable. For some reason I thought Malfoy was going to explode on me any moment now. "We started off really rocky and honestly, I didn't think we would be able to get to this point. But, we did it!" A smile broke out over my face. "Now, don't worry, just because we can work well together on a pitch does not mean that the rest of the school will think that all of a sudden we're all friends." Looking up in front of me I could have sworn that Charles and Amelia were trying to suppress small smiles. "Tomorrow, when we get out onto the pitch, I can assure you that the other team is going to expect us be a huge mess. We have got a far superior team and if we can just do what we did at practice today, there's no way we can loose." I finished, my smile reaching from ear to ear. I was excited to be honest. Every single person on our team was extremely talented, putting us in a great position to win the match.
I glanced over at Malfoy to see whether or not he was he going to pounce on me for my motivational speech. Instead of glaring at me, Malfoy looked genuinely amused. A lop-sided smirk was present on his face and I wasn't sure what this look was supposed to mean.
"But uh, make sure you stay on your toes." I quickly added, causing Malfoy to let out a short laugh before he shook his head and walked over to the sidelines to gather his things. I frowned at his back before shaking my head and grabbing my things as well. Upon looking up I saw Albus, Lily and Frederick all waiting for me so that we could walk back to the common room together. With a grin I jogged up to them and then the four of us proceeded to slowly walk up to the castle.
"Cute speech Rosie." Albus teased, ruffling my hair. I wrinkled my nose and stuck my tongue out at him. Albus was always quick to tease me about my pep speeches. James had allowed me to make a few last year and Albus had started making fun of me back then. However, he had, on occasion, let on that he actually enjoyed them. Lily and Frederick laughed at the two of us as we entered the castle.
"So Rosie, am I forgiven for this morning?" Lily asked, turning her head to grin at me. As I looked at her, she widened her eyes and batted her lashes, giving me the most innocent look she could muster up. Seeing the look Lily was giving me, Frederick looked over at me, "What did she do, murder your owl?" He asked.
I laughed and shook my head, "No, this one woke me up three hours before my alarm was set to go off. She used a quill to tickle my foot." Frederick and Albus laughed as we reached the seventh floor landing. As Frederick gave the fat lady the password she grinned at us and winked before swinging open. In the back of my mind I wondered why she had done that. However, before I could voice my confusion my eyes landed on the inside of the common room. My eyes widened and I didn't utter a word of protest as Albus shoved me through the portrait hole. Frank had done a hell of a job. There was a huge banner strung up in the common room that read 'Slythindors'. Half the word was painted emerald and the other half was painted crimson. Someone had enchanted the banner so that every couple of minutes, the colors would alternate. The banner also included four enchanted drawings, a snake, a lion, a badger and an eagle. The snake and the lion were busy chasing the badger and the eagle. I laughed as the lion pounced on the eagle.
My eyes dropped away from the banner so I could take in the rest of the common room. The entire common room was decorated in both the Slytherin and the Gryffindor banner colors. It seemed as if the entire house was currently milling about the common room.
"Rosie!"
I spun around to see Frank heading my way. "So?" He questioned, arching a brow at me.
"Fantastic." I breathed, hugging him. "Brilliantly done."
Frank pulled away, his smile reaching from ear to ear. "Thank you, thank you very much." He said, taking a bow. I laughed at him, taking out the hair tie out of my hair. My ponytail came loose and my hair fell around my shoulders. Frank had even provided food and drinks.
"How did you pull this off?" I questioned. My eyes were still glued on the sight in front of me so I had to turn my chin to the right to be able to talk to Frank over my shoulder.
"Well, let me tell you all about it…" Frank began throwing an arm over my shoulder as he led me towards the table with all the food. As we walked forward a snitch flew by my ear followed by an enchanted quaffle.
"Hell of a job Frank. Hell of a job." I whispered.
