Albus grinned as the team raised him up on their shoulders and he held the fluttering snitch up high above his head. The resounding cheer was almost deafening, but Albus loved it. Several people started chanting his name at the back, and a couple of the girls at the front were all but swooning as the team made their way past with Albus still hoisted high. He could see Joanna, James, Hugo and Rose talking excitedly amongst themselves by the locker room entrance. He caught Joanna's eye and blew her a kiss, which she caught and tucked into her breast pocket with a wink.
Finally, they made it through the crowd and Gratski and Simmons lowered Albus carefully to the ground. "Good game," Simmons grunted, giving Albus a hefty slap on the back. Al grinned and tried to act as if he hadn't just had the wind knocked out of him, waving the team off before turning to turning to the others.
"You were brilliant," said Joanna, moving forward and kissing him on the cheek. One of the fluffy green and silver pompoms attached by springs to the Slytherin headband on Joanna's head nearly poked him in the eye, and he laughed as he reached up to flick it out of the way.
"Thanks," he said. "And Slytherin colours suit you, might I add?"
Joanna slapped him playfully on the arm and stepped back. "They were handing out Hufflepuff ones, too. Yellow just isn't my colour. But I'll be wearing red and gold when you play Gryffindor."
Albus laughed and turned to his brother, who had a black and yellow stripe painted across each cheek. "And you can get that muck off your face," he said, attempting to reach forward to wipe the paint from James' skin. James smirked and pushed Al's hand away.
"The day I cheer for Slytherin is the day dad learns how not to burn the potatoes." He grinned, then added "But well done."
Albus smiled. James was nice when he wasn't being an insufferable arsehole.
"We're all going down to the lake to have a party," Joanna said, "You know, in celebration of your victory and all that. You have to come. Declan Finnegan has rum." There was a wicked glint in her eye and Albus found it both amusing and incredibly alluring.
"Who's going?" he asked, looking around at the crowd who were still gathered, but now watching from a short distance away.
Joanna shrugged. "Everyone, really. Pretty much the whole of my year and above. You should bring the team."
Albus nodded. "Yeah." He looked around again, and frowned. "Where's Scorpius?"
"He…" Joanna started, paused, then licked her lips and started again. "He didn't come."
Albus' heart sank instantly. He'd really wanted Scorpius to be here, today. And Scorp said he'd come. Said he'd wanted to, even.
"I'm sure he was just too busy," Joanna added quickly. "I don't think he would have missed it on purpose if he could help it."
Albus nodded, though he was still disappointed. He looked up just as Lily came bouncing over, wearing silver and green pompoms identical to the ones on Joanna's head, and waving a miniature Slytherin flag. "Well done," she said, brightly. "That was a great game."
Albus gave her a smile and reached out to ping one of her fuzzy pompoms. She giggled. "Thanks, Lil."
"We're going to make our way down to the lake, now," Joanna said. "Are you coming, or are you going to go change, first?"
Albus looked towards the changing rooms. He was covered in sweat and his Quidditch jumper was starting to itch where it clung to his back. "I'm gonna go take a shower and change. But you guys go down to the lake and I'll meet you in about half an hour, ok?"
They all nodded and started making their way back across the pitch. Joanna gave him a quick kiss on the nose before running off to join them. Albus watched them for a while, then headed into the changing room for a shower.
He washed and dressed quickly, stuffing his Quidditch uniform into his bag and picking up his broom, before heading down to the dungeons. The Slytherin common room was empty. He figured they were all down by the lake, already. He had a quick look around, then made his way up to his dormitory. "Scorp?" he called as he pushed open the door. Straight away he could see the curtains around Scorpius' bed were drawn. Perhaps he was sleeping? He walked over to his own bed and placed his things on top of it - making a mental note to pack it away properly later - before making his way quietly over to the bed next door. "Scorp?" he said again, more quietly this time, taking hold of a curtain and pulling it slightly to one side.
Scorpius was sitting right up against the headboard, knees drawn up to his chest, with his nose deep in a book. He looked up as the curtain was pulled back and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "I didn't hear you come in," he said, quietly, then paused. "How was the match?"
Albus shrugged. "We won." He chewed the inside of his lip for a minute, then went on. "There's a party down by the lake, if you want to come? Everyone's going to be there."
Scorpius shook his head. "I can't. I have too much studying to do. We have our first exam in just over a month, Al."
Albus sighed; he'd known Scorpius was going to say that, even before he'd asked. But even so, he didn't want to give up at that. "There's rum, apparently. And lots of Gryffindors wearing Slytherin colours," he said with a grin. "It'll be fun."
"I can't, I'm sorry."
Albus looked down at the bedclothes, feeling somewhat deflated again. He'd hoped Scorp would at least come down for a little while, especially since he'd spent the whole match studying. He took a deep breath, feeling the disappointment at Scorpius' absence raise its head again. He bit his lip, and frowned slightly. "You said you'd come to the game," he said, almost in a whisper, then looked up again, shrugging. "Why didn't you?"
He could see the pained look on Scorpius' face, and part of him wanted to tell him that it didn't matter, just to make the look go away. But he needed to know.
"I've been too busy, Al. I'm sorry. It's just… these exams are so important and I can't afford to waste any time."
Albus felt his cheeks burn and he narrowed his eyes. "So watching me play is wasting time, is it?"
He'd said it before he'd thought of the possible ramifications, and almost regretted it. He wasn't really angry - just hurt. He caught the look of shock in Scorpius' eyes and was torn between apologising and letting Scorpius stew in his discomfort for a while.
"That's not what I meant," Scorpius replied, sounding defensive. He clutched tighter at the edges of his book and lifted it closer to his chest. Albus could always recognise Scorp's defensive gestures, and this was certainly one of them.
"Then what did you mean?" Al asked, earnestly. He honestly couldn't understand how an eighty minute game would do anything to damage Scorpius' grades. He refused to believe that was the reason.
Scorpius frowned and looked down at his book. The tension in the room was mounting; Albus could feel it and he didn't like it. "I meant that I have no time to do anything but study. You know how busy I've been." There was a silence for a while, and Scorpius sighed. "It's not that I don't want to. I just…" he trailed off and suddenly looked so hurt that all of Al's anger seemed to drain instantly from his body.
He looked at Scorp for a while, taking in the drooping shoulders and bowed head. He sighed and pushed himself to his feet; he wasn't happy, but he doubted arguing with Scorp was going to improve his mood. He didn't want to argue with him, anyway.
"Look… uh…" he started, the tension starting to get to him, now."I better get going. I'll see you later."
He turned and started making his way to the door, then stopped. Turning back round, he gave a small shrug and tried to look as casual as possible, despite the empty feeling in his chest. "You know, I'd really love for you to make my last game in a few weeks. Though, if you can't… don't worry about it." He hoped he didn't sound too passive aggressive, though he knew Scorp would probably think he was being so, anyway.
He turned and left before Scorpius could reply, heading hastily out through the Common Room entrance and along the dungeon corridor. There was a party waiting for him, and regardless of whether Scorpius was there or not, he was going to enjoy himself.