Whelp its been a long time so i thought i would stop waiting for reviews (sigh...) and just update the story.
It was a few mornings later when Scorpius and Lola were met with a very peculiar breakfast at the Slytherin table. They ate and talked about their Potions class coming up soon when they were met with the strange sight of an astounded Al Potter. He came silently, which was very odd for him, to their part of the table, sat down and stared without stirring at an insignificant point behind them with his tiny mouth open wide in shock and his green eyes full of confusion. Lola and Scorpius knew he was awaiting their questioning.
"Well," Scorpius began, begrudgingly, "what happened, then?"
Al's perplexed green eyes fell on Scorpius.
"…you will never believe it," he said, finally closing his mouth and licking his lips, eyes still full of doubt.
"Most likely," Lola mentioned, "but go ahead anyway,"
Al opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He tried again, looking sheepish.
"James came to my class today," he began.
Scorpius rolled his light grey eyes at the name but Lola listened intently, intrigued.
"And?" she questioned.
"…I didn't even know he knew where my classes were… well, he waited till my class was over and then, in front of everyone….he apologized." Al finished, looking more baffled than before as he recalled his tale.
"…for what?" Scorpius questioned, white eyebrow raised in disbelief.
"For everything! For blackmailing me, for calling me names, for all of these things! I didn't know what to make of it myself but…my goodness, the whole bloody world has been turned upside down!" Al said as he began to butter his croissant. Lola could not believe it. Had James done this just because she had told him to? What was he thinking?
"He blackmailed you, the git. What was he holding on you?"Scorpius asked as he finished his breakfast and wiped some strawberry jam off his face.
Al faltered, but Lola chimed in, "Something about being the one who accidentally destroyed Lily's, his little sister's dolls, right Al? Wow, that James sure is a strange one."
"He said one thing I thought was even stranger than his apology," Al began.
"What was that?" Scorpius asked.
"He said, as I walked away all confused and all, 'oi, don't forget to come watch the game this afternoon, bring all your little friends.' Just like that, oi and all! I never thought my brother would ever invite me to one of his quidditch games. Maybe Victoire or Fred but never James." Al said as he ate quickly to catch up with Lola and Scorpius who had already finished.
"Your cousins are on the Gryffindor team too, then?" Scorpius asked.
"Yeah, mate, you willing to go watch our Slytherin housemates get their arses handed to them this afternoon? It is the first game of the year."Al said as he wiped himself clean. They all got up and headed for their classes.
"What makes you think we are going to lose, Potter?" a voice behind them mocked. They turned to see Jove Goldstorm, Aachen Bloom, and Leslie LaRuse standing behind them in their Slytherin quidditch gear, ready to go. Aachen had been the one to ask the question.
Al smiled embarrassed but humble, "Well, I hate to break it to you, mates, but my cousin Victoire has been kicking your arses for seven years now. I just like to place my bet on those with the better odds, no offense."
For the first time Lola had ever seen, Aachen smiled, "well, you dear cousin doesn't have good ol' Teddy Lupin to watch her back for her anymore," Aachen said as he strode closer to Al, "you should have faith in your housemates, mate." For the first time Lola noticed he had an Irish accent.
Al's face was free and smooth of emotion, "I will wish you luck, then, but I still think my cousin is going to own your arse, mate."
"If you are going to the game I will be watching for you, you better be cheering us on , Potter," Aachen said as he passed Al, pressing very close to him in the process.
Al watched them go before saying, "I'll pray for you!"
Scorpius shrugged it off and headed for class. He waved Lola to come hurry up. Lola leaned in close to Al's ear, "was it just me or was Aachen Bloom just flirting with you?"
Al laughed, "It was just you, sinner."
"We are going to that game," Lola said as she hurried up to catch up with Scorpius, "we were invited after all."
Al smiled wickedly and waved them goodbye as he headed to his own class. Lola finally caught up to Scorpius, who looked bothered.
"What's wrong, Scorpie?" Lola teased.
"…people treat us so strangely," Scorpius mumbled.
"Come again?" Lola asked as she smiled.
"First James and now Aachen, they would have never talked to us before…there must be something in the water today," Scorpius commented as they sank deeper into the castle grounds towards their Potions class.
"Maybe it is the spirit of quidditch, mate?" Lola offered.
"…possibly, that or everyone is getting ready to milk us for all we are worth," Scorpius muttered as he took his seat.
"What do you mean, Scorpius?"
"I mean," He said, turning to her with his light grey eyes serious, "they have started to try to use us for our celebrity. I mean, Potters are Potters."
"And Malfoys are Malfoys and Harlows are Harlows, Scorpius, we were invited too, you know. I'm not the child of a celebrity." Lola commented as she shifted through her books.
"But you are pretty and everyone seems to gawk at you whether you are with us or not," Scorpius mumbled almost inaudibly.
"Really," Lola said, smiling, "I've never noticed,"
"I have," Scorpius began; his grey eyes watched her for a reaction, "especially that foul, loathsome little git, James Potter."
Lola turned to him, "not you too, Scorpius. Surely Al's paranoia isn't contagious. Besides, James isn't that bad, he did take me to the infirmary that one time."
"You like him, don't you?" Scorpius questioned her, head on.
"Scorpius, no," Lola said simply as she turned to her work.
Scorpius waited for Lola to continue talking but when she didn't he turned to his work too, "I don't believe you," he said as their professor walked in.
Professor Harlem Banks was not like most Potions masters Hogwarts had ever had before. She was a tall woman with a seemingly slim silhouette under her thick robes and coverings. She wore a full hijab with matching Jameh and shalvar. In other words she wore a traditional Indian head covering that framed her coffee colored face. With this usually colorful head covering she wore a long dress, a Jameh, that flowed down to about her middle calves. From there, her tight, legging like pants, called shalvar, covered the rest of her calves down to her ankle from view. Simple matching sandals went along with the whole garb that caught the attention of anyone passing her by in the hallways of Hogwarts. Her clothes were always colorful, bejeweled and decorated superbly. She wore no earring or jewels herself, but the protruding grip of a large sword-like machete bounced on her left hip, while her oak wand stood out on her right, both held there by a leather strap. No one ever wanted to anger her.
"Today we will be making a brew of interesting naissance," Professor Banks said as she flicked her wand out of her leather strap, "open your Magical Draughts and Potions book to page four hundred and fifty six, please."
The class obeyed. While most in the class found the subject interesting, others were just too afraid to disturb Professor Banks. Lola wanted to tell Scorpius he was wrong but she thought if she gave it too much thought he would think she was hiding something, which technically, she was. She wanted to tell him James Potter only kept her secret and that he was not her own personal secret, but she much rather not risk angering Professor Banks.
As they headed out to the Slytherin tower on the frosty afternoon, Lola, Al and Scorpius could feel the ground shaking with chants and stomps from the already filling stadium.
"Looks like everyone is coming to see the game," Al mentioned as his green eyes scanned the other towers, "even the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw towers are filling up."
Scorpius and Lola nodded. It seemed the whole school was coming.
"Did you think we were going to miss the event of the term?" a familiar voice called behind them. They turned around to see May scrounging up the hillside with Rose close behind her. Rose had been the one to speak. While Lola and Scorpius looked confused at her talking to them at all, Al simply smiled.
"Don't you two have class?" Al asked as the May and Rose caught up to them.
"Well, of course we do," May said, she was dressed in full on Hufflepuff regalia, "but seeing as how we plan to be part of the Hufflepuff team next year we thought we'd come scope out our biggest competition."
"Oh are we really that good this year?" Al asked.
"Not Slytherin, Albus, Gryffindor," Rose said, matter-of-factly, "They haven't lost a cup in over eight years! You should know that seeing as how half the team is part of our family."
"So we are family again?" Al asked, smiling sheepishly. Rose rolled her eyes but held a sliver of a smile on her cherry lips as she and May passed them to head to the Hufflepuff tower. Al watched them go with a happy look on his calm face.
"Yep," Scorpius mumbled, "definitely something in the water."
The Slytherin tower was full to the brim of all year students. Lola, Al and Scorpius ducked under their housemates swinging arms and flowing green and silver scarves.
"We need to get some of those!" Lola suggested as they settled in the front lines of the quaking crowd.
"What, some Slytherin regalia or giant arms?" Scorpius mused as his light grey eyes widened at the sight of the field. It was immense! The oval field was massive and green with a small circle of approximately two feet in diameter in its center. At each end there were three hooped goal posts of different heights, surrounded by a scoring area. On the other side the Gryffindor Tower was just as packed and lively.
"Bugger, the whole school is here!" Scorpius blurted out.
"I told you this was a brilliant idea!" Al said smirking as the two teams erupted from out of nowhere and flew about their towers and the field. Aachen Bloom smirked at them before heading towards the field.
Lola leaned close to Al, "he smiled at you," she mused with a mocking, sing-song voice.
"He smiled at the Slytherin Tower," Al mocked back but Lola noticed his blushing.
"Tell me you wouldn't like to snog him?" Lola said as she looked about to make sure no one was listening.
Al remained quiet with a death glare aimed her way and an embarrassed smile on his lips.
"What are you two whispering about?" Scorpius questioned, his innocent and curious face turned to them.
"Look at this field!" Al said attempting to distract Scorpius.
The game began suddenly and the crowd followed it closely. First a tall, slender and vicious girl with flowing strawberry blonde hair in the Gryffindor team, who by Al's exclamations Lola took to be Victoire, scored against the Slytherin team within minutes.
"You can't cheer for both teams!" Scorpius exclaimed.
Al giggled, "Watch me, woo hoo, go Victoire!"
"She is beautiful," Lola commented, watching the girl zoom around the Gryffindor tower, causing it to erupt in frenzy.
"I would say it's the Weasley blood in us," Al commented, "but my dear cousin is 1/8 veela."
Lola remembered now, Victoire was the oldest child of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. She smiled at Al and continued playing. It seemed the whole of Gryffindor was set on winning against their rivals Slytherin. All except a flustered James Potter who hung about the outsides of the field. At first Lola figured he was the seeker for the Gryffindor team but he was in no pursuit of any snitch.
"What's wrong with James?" Lola asked, all three turned their attention to him. When he noticed their stare he smiled brilliantly and smacked a bludger right into Leslie LaRuse.
Al tried to keep his amusement and giddiness under cover among the Slytherins around him but he shrugged at Lola and turned back to the game, "he looks all right to me," Al mentioned, his green eyes darting everywhere trying to follow the game.
"Gee, he really likes quidditch," Lola mentioned as she turned to Scorpius. Scorpius only glared at her with raised eyebrows.
Lola sighed, "What is it?"
Scorpius motioned towards James.
Lola laughed, "Oh shut up, a girl can't even mention a lad without being in love with him, is that it?"
"Boy, British slang does not sound right in an American accent," Al joked as he wrapped an arm around Scorpius and drew his attention to the game. Just then, luckily, Jove Goldstorm scored for Slytherin. The crowd went wild!
"Goldstorm: bring the thunder, bring the rain! Slytherin: we bring the thunder, we bring the rain!" the Slytherin crowd cheered.
It was all so exciting! Lola could hardly follow the madness that exploded from the field. Seeing as how it mattered very little to her who won or not she settled her dark grey gaze on James Potter. Every once in a while he would look up to the Slytherin tower and catch her gaze. He would always smile at her. She did not want to admit it but maybe Al and Scorpius were right. Maybe James Potter had a crush on her. Just then James knocked a bludger in the direction of a Slytherin player who happened to be right in their direction. The Slytherin player dodged it and the bludger barely missed Lola and the rest of the Slytherins behind her. She looked out to see James and his teammates laughing hardily at the frightened Slytherin tower. Lola reconsidered; he probably only enjoyed the attention she gave him. If he had her he had Al and Scorpius and Lola was not about to be so easily used. The rest of the game she gave him no attention.
Except in the last moments. The Slytherin seeker, Aachen Bloom, was gaining speed on the snitch which he had finally spotted. The score was too close to call and Slytherin needed the catch. James had a bludger aimed directly at Aachen and the whole stadium waited for the inevitable hit. Lola spared James a glance and he happened to be looking right at her…waiting for something. Lola watched him completely confused at his actions. James face turned into a strange and wicked look and he hit the bludger with all his might. It flew inches too far to the left of Aachen but the miss was not distraction enough. Aachen caught the snitch!
The Slytherin tower was full of mad joy as it rocked with screams and cheers. But Lola could only watch James. His teammates patted him on the back goodheartedly although they were clearly disappointed but his brown eyes were on Lola and she could only stare back.
Al wrapped her in an unexpected hug and broke their contact, "We won! That was bloody blinding, can you believe it!??"
"Huh?" Lola could only say.
"Lola, bleeding hell, we blatant won!" Al yelled as he smiled and joined other Slytherins in cheers.
"No more games for him," Lola whispered to Scorpius who was nervously smiling and avoiding the mad scrambling about him. As they headed down towards the field May and Rose joined them. Rose walked along side them with a shocked and open mouthed face, that humorously resembled Al earlier, while May came down smiling.
"That was brilliant!" May cheered as Al wrapped an arm around her.
"Wasn't it? These fools can't tell a great match when they see one. I'm glad someone down here understands!" Al mused.
"I never thought Aachen would get away with such a bold move," May said.
"Ah, miss May, you and I both seem to be the only ones to get it," Al said as he reached the field. Many Slytherins were congratulating their fellow housemates. Few Gryffindors were there to give their housemates moral support. Aachen was all smiles as he was still trying to catch his breath.
Al playfully punched him in the gut, "That was brilliant, mate! Really, the tops!"
Aachen straightened up, "I had to do something to get you to cheer for us."
"Oi!" James voice called. Aachen turned to see the Gryffindor team coming up to them, "…well done." James said.
Aachen and the rest of his team looked stunned, "…thanks," he managed to say, shaking hands with James.
"Looks like we are going to have to train harder," Victoire said, her strawberry blonde hair flowing in the wind.
"Your score was rather brilliant, Victoire, I'm Jove, by the way," Jove said as he blushed. Leslie LaRuse elbowed him.
Victoire only smiled and turned to James, "You had something to say, Jamie?"
"Right," James said, "we already planned a bit of a party for the start of the season, you all are invited…if you want."
"Really?' Jove asked.
Aachen threw him a warning glare, "That's very polite and all but-"
"We'd love to," Leslie LaRuse said as she flashed James a smile, "As captain, I say it is a grand idea."
Now Aachen and Jove both looked confused.
"Brilliant," James said smiling, he turned to Al, Scorpius, Lola, May and Rose, "you are all invited as well. It will be quite a bash."
With that both teams left for their changing rooms.
"What in the hell was that?" Aachen questioned.
"Like I have to explain myself to you two brainless idiots," Leslie said as she huffed away from Aachen and Jove.
"Your girlfriend is mad," Aachen said towards Jove.
"Uh, she's not my girlfriend," Jove said as he watched Victoire go.
"Well that explains everything," Aachen said as he turned to Al, "so; you are going to cheer for the winners from now on, right?"
"Depends on if you keep winning, mate, see you at the party," Al said as he turned and made his way towards Hogwarts. Lola, Scorpius, May and Rose went with him.
"You know," Lola began, "you are quite charming when you wish to be, Al Potter."
"Ah, it's all part of the illusion," Al said wiggling his hands about his face.
"I've never been to a party before," Scorpius said.
"Me either," May chimed in, "what should I wear?"
"That's the least of our worries," Rose said, "Gryffindors and Slytherins in one room will be ghastly. This cannot end well."
"Our worries?" Al said, smiling obnoxiously at her.
"Well I was invited too, you know," Rose said, crossing her arms dramatically.
Al laughed, "I figured you wouldn't want anything to do with us, dearest cousin,"
"Oh, Albus, don't be so superficial. You may be a Slytherin but you are still my cousin," she said with a wry smile on her face, "now let's plan how we are all going to survive this night."
They all smiled and walked together toward the castle. Lola knew that this day had brought great changes to their time in Hogwarts and she was truly grateful for the quidditch game. But she knew James had missed on purpose, and she was determined to find out why.
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