Following the Halloween Hogsmeade visit, word flew around Hogwarts that Scorpius Malfoy and Allie Boot were officially going out. Rose rolled her eyes at the interest in the new couple and grumbled to Maren about the curious looks fellow Ravenclaws (and quite a few students from other houses) sent towards them.
"I don't know why they all care so much," Rose muttered over breakfast one grey November morning as she skewered a sausage with her fork. "They don't even do anything interesting, just sit and hold hands and whisper to each other."
"It's cute," Lucy sighed, turning to look at Allie, who was, sure enough, talking quietly to Scorpius and blushing bright red.
"It's silly," Rose mumbled. She took a bite of her sausage and moodily surveyed the Great Hall. It was full of the usual babble, with students exchanging gossip and hurriedly trying to finish late homework assignments.
The post came and Aslan brought a package for Rose and Lucy from Grandma Molly; it was full of fudge and cookies and a new pack of exploding snap cards. Rose grinned and threw the package to Lucy, who tucked it neatly in her bag before getting to her feet as it was nearly time for their lesson.
"We can have an exploding snap tournament tonight," Rose suggested as they walked through the Entrance Hall. "And we should ask Al and Nathan to come to our common room and join."
"Oh, lovely," Lucy nodded, smoothing her skirt and tightening her ponytail. "Scorpius would like it if there were more boys."
Rose didn't say anything. She hadn't realized Scorpius was automatically invited now.
The rest of the morning passed without event. Rose spent lunch looking over an ancient runes book she had checked out from the library, looking up alternative translations to hieroglyphics the class had already learned in an effort to piece together an advanced translation she had coaxed Professor Scribner into giving her. When she looked up and noticed students beginning to meander towards the hall for afternoon classes, Rose put her book back in her bag and got up from the Ravenclaw table, waiting for Allie out of habit.
"Oh, go on without me," Allie called over the table. Her arm was looped through Scorpius's and her face was twisted in a sickening smile as she glanced at him.
Rose opened her mouth and then closed it before shaking her head and walking alone towards the entrance hall.
"Hey," a voice said behind her. She turned to find Nathan Nott a few paces behind her, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. He smiled at her and jerked his head towards the Ravenclaw table. "I got ditched too."
"They bloody live in the same tower," Rose grumbled as Nathan fell into step beside her and they walked down the corridor. "I don't know why they have to walk to class together."
"They like spending time together," Nathan shrugged. "I don't mind that they're together so much, honestly. Scorpius is a bit of a nightmare to talk to now. He never shuts up about the fact he has a girlfriend."
Rose snorted. "A bit shocked someone actually agreed to go out with him?"
"No," Nathan shrugged. "Just shocked a girl he actually fancied agreed to go out with him."
"Right," Rose replied dully. Not wanting to get into a conversation about the feelings behind Allie and Scorpius's new relationship—if it could even be called that—she quickly added, "So are you and Al going to come up to Ravenclaw Tower soon so we can have an exploding snap tournament?"
"Yeah, Al told Lucy we'd come on Friday," Nathan answered. "Since we won't have to worry about homework that day."
"That's smart," Rose said with a nod. "You know," she continued, tilting her head to the side, "you ought to come up more. The only time we see you is in class or the library."
"Well it's a long walk," Nathan chuckled. "All the way from the dungeons to Ravenclaw Tower?"
"It's not that far!" Rose exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "And look how long your legs are, if I can walk there then so can you."
"But I don't see you walking from Ravenclaw Tower to the dungeons to see me and Al," Nathan pointed out with a grin.
"Maybe I don't want to hang out with you two gits," Rose muttered. She slowed down as they approached the ancient runes classroom.
Nathan simply laughed and opened the door, ushering her in and following behind her.
"How long d'ya think it'll be before Scorp and Allie get detention for snogging in the corridor?" he asked with a mischievous smirk as he sank into his seat.
"Eurgh—" Rose wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I don't want to even imagine that."
Professor Scribner walked through the door and Rose hurriedly dove her hand into her bag, extracting her library book and going to the front of the classroom to ask about the definition she had been checking at lunch. As she was walking back to her seat, Scorpius and Allie strolled through the door.
"Oh, Rosie," Allie said, releasing Scorpius's hand and walking beside Rose. "I wanted to ask you, would you mind if I traded seats with Nathan? I'd like to sit next to Scorpius—though if you don't want—"
"That's fine," Rose said quickly, thinking privately she would probably prefer sitting beside Nathan. At least then she wouldn't have to witness Allie and Scorpius making googly-eyes at each other.
"Thank you!" Allie whispered. She took Rose's hand and squeezed it and then skipped towards Nathan, who had apparently just been informed of the new seating arrangement as well.
"Looks like we're going to become quite good friends this year, Rose," Nathan said quietly to her when she slid into her seat.
Rose gave him a small smile and glanced over her shoulder at Scorpius and Allie, who were comparing homework answers in hushed voices. "Yeah," she said, turning back to Nathan. "It should be fun, don't you think?"
Nathan nodded and took out his homework. "I think it will be. Now, would you mind explaining number four on the homework to me? How in Merlin's name does that translate to a backwards broomstick? Why is there even a hieroglyphic for that?"
Rose laughed and took out her notes. "You're just as bad as Allie," she sighed. "But here, runes are actually quite simple—"
November slipped by and, as schoolwide interest in Scorpius and Allie waned, so did Rose's irritation with them. In fact, she found she rather liked the turn of events. For one thing, Nathan proved himself to be an excellent ancient runes partner. While not quite as enthusiastic about the class as Rose, he was by no means hopeless and actually managed to correct her once or twice. More than that, he was always good for a joke or quidditch debate in the event that class got boring.
For another thing, Scorpius rarely accompanied his friends to the library anymore. He and Allie preferred to do their studying together. While the thought of Allie and Scorpius cooped up in some cozy spot staring into each other's eyes over potions essays made Rose want to vomit, the fact she could now sit in the library without anybody casting dirty looks in her direction or pointedly ignoring her was a welcome change.
One particular evening Rose sat in the library with Lucy, Albus, Nathan, and Maren, hastily scratching away at her charms essay and casting covert looks towards the large ancient runes book poking out of her bag.
"Rose?" Albus asked, looking up from his own essay and frowning. "What was the hypothesis of Favreau's study of 1611 again?"
"When transfiguring an invertebrate being into a nonliving object, the wand movement must always end with a rightward jab," Rose rattled off, not lifting her head up. She crossed out a sentence and rewrote it as Albus nodded and bent over his parchment once again.
"How does that have anything to do with the principles of vertebrate transfiguration?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening as she hastily opened her textbook and began rifling through pages.
"Lyncroft said to include notes about different studies done on wand movement," Nathan answered. "For transfiguring an invertebrate to a nonliving object, Favreau found it's not a rightward jab, but a flick, and that started all the other studies we've been reading about that describe how different wand movements affect invertebrate, vertebrate, and nonliving subjects differently."
Lucy nodded and bit her lip. "So when transfiguring a vertebrate being—"
"It depends what you want to transfigure it into," Rose explained, writing her last sentence with a sense of finality and pushing her essay away before turning to Lucy. She leaned over Maren and pointed to a passage in Lucy's transfiguration book. "Right now we're only transfiguring it into a nonliving object, because that's just simple transfiguration that requires a wave and counterclockwise circle. I think vertebrate to invertebrate is what we study next year, and then vertebrate to vertebrate isn't until N.E.W.T. level."
"Where did the counterclockwise circle come from?" Albus asked suddenly, his head snapping up. "I don't remember reading about having to do a counterclockwise circle."
"It's in the section on the Haywood experiments of 1805," Rose said, sitting back in her seat. "The circular motion of the wand is essentially what makes the subject's spine disappear; I think it has something to do with the magical properties of a circle and the Phoenix Law we talked about last week."
"Ergh," Lucy grumbled, slumping in her seat and glaring at her essay. "I hate transfiguration."
"It's not too bad," Nathan responded, smiling at Lucy across the table.
Lucy crossed her arms and huffed. "I just don't see why everything has to be so complicated! None of the other subjects are like this, with all the studies and laws and rules—"
"Er—Luce—yes they are," Albus said, picking up his parchment to read over what he had written. He raised an eyebrow at Lucy. "Do you not remember the three foot essay we had to write for Lecher last week about the properties and laws of water-based potions?"
"That was different," Lucy muttered, biting her lip and pulling at her ponytail.
"No, you're just good at potions so you didn't think it was difficult," Nathan grinned.
"I—well—no—"
"Come on, Lucy," Maren chuckled, tossing a wadded up ball of parchment across the table. "You're being worse than Rose right now."
"Hey!" Rose and Lucy cried in unison, glaring at their friend.
Maren only laughed and said in a high pitched voice, "No, no, I'm doing terribly in school! I have all O's but I'm second in potions!"
Lucy's frown broke into a small smile and the boys all laughed at Maren's imitation.
Rose scowled at her friend. "I do not say that," she said moodily, leaning over to take out her ancient runes book. She made a show of plopping it on the table and rifling through the pages, not looking up at her friends.
Maren snickered beside her and Rose rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over her shoulder and leaning forward to read the faded pages.
"Oh, come on, Rose," Maren chided, poking her in the ribs. "It's a joke."
"Well I did not find it very funny," Rose said loftily, turning the page energetically and giving a delicate sniff.
"You'd find it funny if I said it about someone else."
"No one else here has all O's so you really couldn't have done."
"Oh, sod off, Weasley." Maren took her wand and smacked Rose on the head with it.
"Ow!" Rose cried, jerking a hand to her head. She turned to glare at Maren, but when she caught her friend's eye she couldn't help a smile from creeping through. "You're ridiculous," she muttered, putting her hand down and shaking her head.
"You're no better," Maren answered cheerfully, stowing her wand back in her bag. "Now, since you're all high and mighty and have all O's, help me with this herbology homework, will you? I don't know the first thing about Twist Constricting Vines."
The end of November also brought an increase in quidditch practices, as Ravenclaw's first match against Hufflepuff was approaching quickly. Rose was in her element, spending much of her time out on the quidditch pitch practicing with the team or running drills with Dom.
Being on the team was not everything Rose had dreamed it would be. As it turned out, she couldn't save every goal; she let in several every practice. And she wasn't flying circles around the other players. Some nights Dom put them through hours of drills that made Rose feel as though she were going to keel over from exhaustion and plummet to her death. But she loved every minute of it. And every time she mastered a new maneuver, or managed to shave time off her full-pitch flying time, something in Rose's chest soared and she felt as though she were on top of the world.
The first match of the year was Slytherin vs Gryffindor and Rose gratefully took a day off of practicing to go watch her cousins play. In an effort to support both Al and her Gryffindor cousins, she wore a red jumper and a green slytherin scarf, which attracted several stares at breakfast.
"Rosie," Fred groaned when he saw her. "I promised to wear a Ravenclaw scarf for your first match and you show up on the day of my match wearing the opposing team's colors?"
"I'm sorry!" Rose cried. "But I have to try and support Al too, and you know it wouldn't be fair if I wore only Gryffindor colors—"
"I'm teasing, I'm teasing," Fred said, squeezing her shoulder. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Give me a break, I'm nervous."
"You're going to play brilliantly," Rose said. "You've got the best aim out of all the beaters in the school."
"I don't know about that," Fred grimaced, glancing towards the Slytherin table. "Xavier Smith's got a new Nimbus and from what I hear, his father had him take private lessons with the Puddlemere United beaters over the summer."
"Xavier Smith can barely fly and carry his bat at the same time," Rose scoffed. "You're going to outplay him without even trying."
"I hope so," Fred sighed, giving Rose a forced smile and ruffling her hair before suddenly waving her away. "Now stop distracting me. I have to get into my zone."
Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head but didn't comment as she walked back towards the Ravenclaw table where Maren and Lucy were waiting for her.
"So who are we rooting for?" Maren asked as the girls walked out to the quidditch pitch. She had opted to stay neutral and wear her Ravenclaw scarf, which she now tugged at.
"I don't know," Rose sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around her torso to shield herself from the harsh November wind. "I can't root against Al; I want him to do well. But then, even though I love him and Nathan, I do not want Slytherin to win. But if they don't win, Al won't be happy and he's worked so hard. But I want James, Roxy and Fred to do well also! And James gets so upset when Gryffindor loses. I just—I'm not sure."
"I think we may have to remain neutral on this one," Lucy said sagely, pushing hair out of her face. "And face the fact that at least one of our cousins will be upset after the match."
"Ugh," Rose whined, making a face. "Why couldn't we all just be in the same house? This would be so much easier!"
"And that house would have an unstoppable quidditch team," Maren added. "Though I'm not sure I would have made it then, so it's probably for the best you're all split up."
"Oh, hush," Rose swatted Maren in the shoulder. "You would've made it. You're a bloody brilliant chaser. But—I hate having to root against someone! Especially one of my cousins! I can't do it, I want them all to win."
"Maybe they'll tie," Lucy suggested.
Rose snorted. "You know neither team will let that happen," she said.
They made their way to the stands and found seats beside Nathan, who sat in between the Gryffindor and Slytherin fans.
"You made it!" Nathan waved as the girls sat down.
"Did you really think we would miss this?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow. "Half our family's playing."
"We weren't sure you two would be able to pick a team to root for," Nathan said, adjusting his green jumper. "Although," he glanced at Rose and took in her clashing ensemble, "it looks like you didn't really pick a team."
"No, I didn't," she responded, sitting up straight and adjusting her Slytherin scarf so that the scarlet jumper underneath was plainly visible. "I can't pick between my cousins. I'm not rooting for either team, I just want my family to play well."
"I wouldn't expect anything different from you," Nathan commented. "Of course," he gestured to his own emerald jumper and scarf, "I'm clearly biased for this match, but I appreciate your sportsmanship."
"Oh, it has nothing to do with sportsmanship," Rose laughed. "If Al wasn't playing I would have my face painted red and may have asked Aunt Luna to send her old Gryffindor lion hat."
"Well thank Merlin he's playing then," Maren broke in with a snort. "Red face paint would look horrible with your hair and I really don't think I'd sit with you if you showed up wearing a lion hat."
"Me either," Lucy added, crinkling her nose.
"You two just have no house spirit," Rose shook her head.
"I have plenty of house spirit for my house," Maren said.
Rose opened her mouth to reply when a voice behind her chirped "Hello you lot! Mind if we sit with you?"
She turned and saw Dominique dropping into a nearby seat without waiting for an answer to her question. She was followed by Molly, Louis, Hugo and Lily. Dom and Molly were dressed neutrally in their Ravenclaw scarves. Louis and Hugo both wore Hufflepuff colors, though Rose noticed her brother was also sporting an emerald hat and jumper. Lily, on the other hand, was decked out in head to toe scarlet, right down to the large red bow clipped in her hair.
"Well we all know who Lily's cheering for," Lucy laughed, scooting over to make room for the cousins.
"You didn't think I would cheer for Slytherin did you?" Lily asked indignantly, putting her hands on her hips and scowling. "Just because Albus is on the team doesn't mean I have to like them."
"Of course not," Molly said, the corner of her mouth twitching up as she turned towards her younger cousin. "Weren't you just telling James this morning how he should have the beaters aim the bludgers towards Al's left side if he goes for the snitch, because he has trouble moving quickly to the right?"
"I did," Lily grinned proudly, sticking her chin out and tossing her hair. "Ever since Al fell this summer, his broom always drifts towards the left and he's still not very good at moving to the right if he's caught by surprise."
"You're quite devious for an eleven-year-old," Nathan said with a raised eyebrow. "And isn't that cheating to tell James that when he's playing against Al today?"
"There's nothing in the rules that says it's cheating," Lily shrugged, sitting up straighter and looking very pleased with herself. "And James said if Gryffindor wins he'll let me stay in the common room late tonight and have butterbeer with him."
"Well at least James knows how to utilize all his resources," Dom chuckled.
"Oh, and don't forget," Molly added suddenly, looking around at the cousins, "Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Uncle George and Aunt Angelina are all here to watch the match and want us to go say hello afterwards."
"Excellent," Hugo grinned. "Uncle George and I made a bet about who would win, so he can pay me straight away."
"What makes you so sure you're going to win?" Rose asked, turning around to frown at her brother. "And who did you bet on?"
"Albus," Hugo said proudly. "He's been training with Aunt Ginny at Uncle Bill's house since last Easter without anyone else knowing."
"How did you—?"
Their attention was diverted as James and the Slytherin captain, Chelsea Bones, shook hands on the pitch and then mounted their brooms as Mr. Wood blew his whistle to indicate the beginning of the match.
"Welcome to the first match of the year," the magnified voice of River Jordan, a sixth year Gryffindor, greeted them. "It's Slytherin versus Gryffindor and it ought to be a good one. James Potter and Chelsea Bones have both put together strong line ups this year, and we have a family rivalry again as James Potter's younger brother Albus is returning as the Slytherin seeker. Last year Gryffindor just edged out Slytherin and we'll see if James is able to do the same this year, or if his younger brother will be victorious."
Rose laughed and looked at James and Albus's figures in the air. They both loved quidditch, she knew, and James had lorded it over Al all summer that Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin the year before, much to Al's irritation.
"And the quaffle is up!" River called as Mr. Wood threw in the red ball. "Shannon Warrington of Gryffindor takes possession immediately and is flying down the pitch. Warrington passes to Potter. Potter passes to Weasley—Roxanne Weasley, that is—Weasley passes back to Warrington—Warrington is at the goal—she shoots to the left—and she scores! Slytherin keeper Mathias Bletchley just misses. Bletchley throws the quaffle to Bones and Bones takes off down the pitch. She dodges a bludger—dodges James Potter—ooh that looked like it'll leave a bruise! Bones is hit by a bludger sent by Fred Weasley and manages to stay on her broom but loses the quaffle which is picked up by James Potter. "
"They all really want to win," Lucy whispered to Rose, watching the match with wide eyes. "Did you see how hard Fred hit that bludger towards Chelsea? Aren't they friends?"
"That's quidditch," Rose whispered back, not taking her eyes off the pitch.
"What if someone gets hurt?" Lucy asked, turning around to look at Dom and Molly.
"Then they'll be taken to the hospital wing and patched up in no time," Molly said firmly, tugging at Lucy's ponytail. "Don't worry about it, Luce. You've seen quidditch matches before and they've all turned out alright, haven't they?"
"I suppose," Lucy murmured, chewing on her lip. "This one just seems particularly—"
"Brutal?" Nathan supplied, smiling over Rose at Lucy. "Don't worry," he said, tightening his scarf. "They all know what they're on about. And Wood is good about calling fouls and stopping any dirty strategy."
"Okay," Lucy nodded slowly. "I just hope—"
A collective gasp from the crowd drowned out Lucy's comment and River Jordan screamed from the commentator's stand "And Xavier Smith nearly unseats Roxanne Weasley with a ferocious hit! She's still on her broom and somehow still has the quaffle, that's some impressive skill there! And now it looks like her brother, Fred Weasley, is out for blood and flying across the pitch. And—oh no! Smith sends another bludger headed towards Roxanne Weasley—"
Rose sucked in a breath and leaned forward in her seat, watching Fred jerk his broom around and take off towards his sister, the bat in his hand poised to swing at any moment.
"And Fred Weasley manages to intercept the bludger," River called. "Roxanne Weasley is headed down the pitch again—she passes to Warrington—Warrington to Potter—Potter back to Warrington—oh! Aaron Bibbley manages to take the quaffle from Warrington! Bibbley flies down the pitch—passes to Bones—Bones back to Bibbley—Bibbley is at the goal! He shoots—ah! And Gryffindor keeper Alec Davies manages to save it!"
Lily let out a loud whoop of excitement and Rose turned to laugh at her cousin. When she did so she caught sight of Allie and Scorpius entering the stands, hand in hand. Beside her, Nathan turned around and waved his friend over.
"You found us!" he called, beaming as Scorpius and Allie sat in front of Rose and Lucy.
"You weren't very hard to find," Scorpius responded, adjusting the Slytherin scarf he wore around his neck and eyeing the group warily. "Between the Weasleys and the fact that half of you are wearing Ravenclaw clothing, it was pretty obvious."
"They didn't want to choose sides," Nathan explained, gesturing towards Rose and her cousins.
Scorpius raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze towards Rose, who felt her face heat up and determinedly turned back to the match. Her scarlet jumper felt very uncomfortable now and she had the urge to tear off her Slytherin scarf.
"How's Al playing?" Scorpius asked Nathan quietly, turning in his seat to watch the game.
"Not bad," Nathan replied, leaning forward in his seat. "I'm just glad he got out on the pitch. I thought he was going to have a fit this morning, he was so nervous."
Scorpius nodded and fiddled with the ends of his scarf. "He should be fine. He always thinks he's going to play like dung and he always ends up doing well."
Rose twisted a piece of hair around her finger and shifted slightly towards the boys. She kept her eyes on the pitch but barely watched the match. She was so used to being around Scorpius because of Nathan and Allie she forgot that the blond boy was really friends with Albus. She felt a stroke of shame pass over her as well; she hadn't even thought to check up on Al that morning, having assumed he would be as excited and irritating as James.
"I think Al sees the snitch!" Hugo's voice cried out.
Rose's head snapped up and she quickly scanned the pitch for Albus, kicking herself for letting her attention drift for more than a few seconds. She found Al, speeding across the pitch in a flash of emerald. Behind him, the Gryffindor seeker was trying to catch up.
"The two seekers are both racing towards the end of the pitch," River screeched, her voice cracking in excitement. "Albus Potter leads while Kennedy Cutler is hot on his heels! Potter swerves to the left and—oh Merlin that was close! Potter swerves to the right and barely avoids a bludger hit by Weasley—"
"No," Lily groaned beside Rose, putting her face in her hands.
A deafening roar engulfed the stands as the Slytherins all rose to their feet and cheered.
"Albus Potter caught the snitch!" River declared as, sure enough, Al lifted his right hand high in the air, clenching the little golden ball in his fist. "Albus Potter has caught the snitch; Slytherin wins!"
Nathan and Scorpius jumped to their feet and cheered with the Slytherins. After a moment of hesitation, Rose stood too and screamed and clapped as the players all landed gently on the ground.
"Go Albus!" she cried, a smile spreading across her face as she watched her cousin step on the ground and grin victoriously at the cheering crowd.
When the celebration had subsided, Rose and Lucy waved goodbye to their friends and trooped down to the pitch with their cousins to congratulate Al, comfort their Gryffindor cousins, and say hello to their aunts and uncles.
"That was brilliant, Al!" Rose cried when she reached the pitch, running towards Albus and flinging her arms around him.
"Thanks, Rosie," he answered, returning the hug and then releasing her, grinning madly. "That bludger Fred sent towards me was right terrifying, though."
"You have Lily to thank for that," Rose shook her head, gesturing towards Lily who was talking animatedly with her parents. "She told James that your left side was weak."
"Of course she did," Albus rolled his eyes. "But we still won."
"All because of you."
"Don't say that, do you know how much pressure that puts on me?"
Rose laughed and shook her head. "It's still true, though."
"Yeah, well," Al shrugged, ruffling his hair, "I'd rather not think about it like that."
"Think about what?" the unmistakable voice of Uncle Harry rang out. Rose turned and squealed as she ran to hug her uncle.
"Al's being thick and not taking credit for winning the match," she said as embraced Uncle Harry.
"There's nothing wrong with being humble," Uncle Harry laughed, reaching over Rose to ruffle Al's hair. "Well done today though, Al. It looks like Mum's really helped you."
"Yeah," Albus flushed and then craned his neck to look over his dad's shoulder. "Where'd she go? I wanted to ask her about what she thought of my speed."
"She's with James right now," Uncle Harry said, giving Al a pointed look. "They'll be back in a moment but your brother was—a bit upset."
Albus nodded and shuffled uncomfortably.
"So, Rosie," Uncle Harry said after a moment, giving her an appraising look as he took in her ensemble. "I see you couldn't decide who to support."
"Er—no, I decided to support both teams."
"That's my girl," Uncle Harry chuckled, putting an arm around Rose.
Rose opened her mouth to reply when a loud hiss of "James, stop being such a tosser and go tell him!" cut through the air, followed with the sound of someone getting smacked in the arm.
"And that would be your mum," Uncle Harry said to Al with a resigned smile.
Rose turned to see Aunt Ginny leading James back towards the family, one hand clenched around his upper arm and her face set in a determined glare. She broke into a smile when she saw Al and tugged James forward a bit faster. "Hello, darling," she said, wrapping her free arm around her younger son and kissing him on the head. "You played wonderfully today, I'm so proud."
"Eurgh, Mum, get off there are people here!" Al whispered, squirming out of his mother's hold and turning bright red.
Aunt Ginny rolled her eyes and tugged Al back to her, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I'll kiss my son when I see him," she said pointedly. "I don't get to see you for most of the year so for Godric's sake, I think it's perfectly within my right—"
"Mum, you're hurting my arm," James complained, scowling at his mother and trying to twist free.
"Oh, sorry, dear," Aunt Ginny said, releasing him and pushing him towards Al. "But, I do believe you had something to tell your brother?"
"Right," James muttered, his scowl deepening as he glared at his brother. "Good match," he ground out.
"You too," Albus nodded.
"We'll win the cup this year."
"Not if you're going to play like that all year."
"We played bloody brilliantly, Albus Severus, and if you hadn't gone and caught the snitch—"
"Boys!" Uncle Harry bellowed, causing both his sons to snap their jaws closed and look at him warily.
"I thought you did great, James," Lily chirped. Rose started and looked at her cousin, not having noticed her reappearance.
James's face softened and he reached out to give his sister an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "Thanks, Lil," he said. "We'll get'em next time."
"I don't know about that—"
"Albus," Uncle Harry said warningly.
"Oh, here come George and Angelina!" Aunt Ginny cried loudly, taking Albus and James by the arms and shepherding them down the pitch.
"Hello," Aunt Angelina called. She wore a faded Gryffindor scarf and had her long hair tied back in a braid. Behind her, Roxanne and Fred walked a bit dejectedly, though they both seemed to be taking the defeat better than James.
"Nice catch there, Al," Uncle George said with a wink. "Although if you'd saved it for the next match and let Gryffindor win today, you would've saved me five galleons."
Rose snorted as she remembered Hugo's bet with their uncle.
"Thanks," Albus mumbled, looking nervously between his cousins. "Er—yeah, I bet Gryffindor's going to destroy Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, though."
"Hey!" Rose cried, frowning at her cousin.
"Or—no, not destroy Ravenclaw—er—" Albus stammered, his face turning red again. "You'll all play brilliantly and—er—"
"We're all family here and just want everyone to play their best," Uncle Harry cut in. "And you all played brilliantly today. Especially you, Roxy," he nodded towards his niece, "holding onto the quaffle even after getting hit with a bludger? That was impressive."
"She takes after her mother," Uncle George said proudly, grinning at his daughter. "Angie and I were just talking and we might try to come up for every quidditch match, since we'll have a family member in nearly every one. And I forgot how much I enjoy Hogwarts quidditch. It's got none of the politics of the professional leagues now and I do love seeing Oliver so in his element."
"Maybe we'll do the same," Uncle Harry nodded, looking to Aunt Ginny and smiling. "And if Louis or Hugo play we'll have someone on every team in the school."
"Oh now that would be fun!" Aunt Angelina exclaimed. "A Weasley or Potter on every team!"
Rose groaned along with her cousins. "Then I could never root for anyone to win," Rose murmured. "It's so hard going to a match and trying to cheer for both teams!"
"It would make the games at the Burrow a lot more fun if they all played consistently during the school year," Aunt Ginny mused. "I'm sure Ron would love it too—"
"We could have an in-family tournament!"
"Big clinics for the whole family—"
"Woah, woah, woah," James broke in, abandoning his pouting to look between the four adults. "We're not turning summer family quidditch into clinics."
"Of course we won't, dear," Aunt Ginny said, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder.
"Good," James huffed.
"Well, I suppose we'd best be getting on," Uncle Harry said, checking his watch. "We're meeting Teddy and Andromeda for dinner soon."
There was a round of "Nice to see you" and "great match" and "see you lot soon," and then the four adults headed off back towards Hogsmeade together.
Rose shook her head at her family's antics and started walking back to the castle. Fred was a few steps ahead of her and Rose realized she hadn't been able to talk to him since before the match. She sped up and caught him by the elbow.
"Wha—oh, heya Rosie," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and slowing down so she didn't have to trot to keep up with him.
"You played brilliantly today," Rose said earnestly.
"Thanks," Fred grunted. "Though it doesn't matter too much, since Al got the snitch."
"But you couldn't do anything about that," Rose argued, craning her neck to catch Fred's eye. "And the rest of the match you did great and you saved Roxy from getting hit by that bludger and everyone thought that was amazing—"
"Yeah remind me next time we play Slytherin to just knock Smith off his broom in the first ten seconds," Fred growled. "That git."
"You did better than him," Rose said. "You were the best beater on the pitch today."
Fred didn't say anything for a moment, just looked down at her quizzically. After a moment his face softened and he tugged at the ends of her hair and smiled. "Thanks, Rosie. I'm going to come to you after every Gryffindor loss, alright?"
"You'll only have one more this year," Rose declared.
"Really?" Fred raised his eyebrow. "And who will we lose to?"
Rose laughed and grinned. "To Ravenclaw, obviously."
The rest of the term flew by and Rose breathed a happy sigh when she walked through the front door of the Burrow for Christmas holidays. The last week had been a long one, between quidditch practice and the unreasonable amount of work all the professors had decided to assign. Rose had never been happier to be away from school.
"Oh, you're here!" Grandma Molly cried as she waddled into the front hall, her apron spattered with flour. She hurried over to Rose and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Hi Grandma," Rose choked out.
"Hello, dear," Grandma Molly said, leaning back and putting a hand to Rose's cheek. "Oh, it seems like I haven't seen you in so long. You look so much older!"
Rose flushed and smiled, looking down and thinking privately she looked just as freckly and messy as always. Though it was a bit reassuring that someone thought she looked older, even if that someone was her grandmother who didn't really count.
"Oh, and here's Albus!" Grandma Molly cried as Albus and James walked in, followed by Hugo and Lily. "Come here my darling, oh I missed you so much!" She seized Albus and pulled him into a ferocious hug, which looked to Rose like it must have been a bit painful for both parties seeing as Albus was now a few inches taller than their grandmother and his chin was pressed against her forehead.
"Lo Grandma," Albus muttered, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. "Er—do you need help in the kitchen?"
"I always do," Grandma Molly smiled at him. "I've already set aside a pan for you, you're going to be in charge of the potatoes."
"Excellent," Albus flashed a smile and dug in his jeans pocket before extracting a crumpled piece of paper. "And would you like me to make the gravy too? I found a rather interesting recipe in Witch Weekly last week and wasn't sure if you'd seen it—"
James snorted loudly and Albus stopped talking immediately, his ears going bright red as he turned in horror to look at his brother.
"Witch Weekly, Al?" James sniggered.
"Shut it," Al mumbled, staring at the floor. "I got bored in charms."
"I'm sure," James rolled his eyes.
"Jamesy, I haven't said hello to you yet," Grandma Molly said loudly, leaning forward and dragging James by his sleeve until he was close enough for her to hug. Her head barely reached his chin. "You're getting so tall," she murmured.
"I'm nearly as tall as Dad now," James told her, straightening up.
"Oh dear," Grandma Molly sighed, looking up and frowning. "I'm going to have to resize your jumper this year then."
"Don't worry about it, Grandma," James reassured her. "I'm sure it'll fit."
The parents entered then, eliciting a big shout from Grandma Molly and ensuring all the kids fled the front hall.
Albus's new gravy recipe was a hit. Christmas holidays at the Burrow proceeded as they did every year. Rose spent her days lounging around, reading, and munching on Grandma Molly's biscuits.
Every evening Rose joined her mum and Hugo for their annual reading of A Christmas Carol. This year she and Hugo did most of the reading. On Christmas Eve, after they had finished the last stave, they went down to the living room to join the rest of the family for a night of eggnog and listening to the wireless, which Grandma Molly always insisted be turned to the Celestina Warbeck Christmas Spectacular.
Rose settled on the couch between James and Albus and accepted a glass of hot chocolate from her dad. Celestina Warbeck's voice warbled out of the radio and Rose leaned back, letting the familiar tune fade into the background. She looked around at her family, all twenty-six people crammed into her grandparent's house, sitting together and talking merrily or else simply leaning back and relaxing.
Teddy sat with Aunt Fleur and Lily in a corner, allowing the two girls to decide which shade of blush from Lily's makeup kit looked best with his skin tone. Dominique, Lucy, and Aunt Audrey were rifling through the latest issue of Divination Designs, cooing over fancy dresses and expensive jewelry. Fred and Roxanne were sitting on the floor playing their parents in chess. In the back of the room, Rose spotted her parents sitting with Uncle Harry, all three of them with glassy, faraway looks on their faces as they stared out at the rest of the family. Her mum leaned her head against her dad's shoulder and he put his arm around her, playing with the ends of her hair. Uncle Harry watched his two friends for a moment and smiled, before turning back to the room. He caught Rose's eye and winked.
"Isn't it nice having everyone here?" Rose whispered to Albus, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "When everyone's just happy and not worried about anything."
"Yeah, it's nice," Albus yawned in reply. "Although I wish we could listen to something else. Celestina Warbeck always puts me to sleep."
"I don't know how you could possibly sleep through that," Rose laughed. "She sounds like a dying merperson."
"I guess I'm used to hearing that after spending so much time with you," Albus grinned, ducking when Rose went to hit him.
"Oy! I don't sound like that!"
"Alright, alright, I take it back, I'm sorry!"
Rose huffed but satisfied herself with punching Albus lightly in the shoulder. "I'm going to get more hot chocolate," she said, jumping up.
"Will you get me some?" Albus called.
"Not a chance," Rose responded without turning around.
In the kitchen she found the pitcher of hot chocolate her dad had made, kept warm by a warming charm, and poured a bit in her mug before searching through the pantry for marshmallows. She stared up at the cupboard and saw, to her chagrin, the marshmallows were on the very top shelf.
"Oh bugger," Rose muttered to herself. She glanced around and found she was thankfully alone in the kitchen. With gritted teeth, Rose then grabbed onto the door and hiked a foot up to rest on the lowest shelf before stepping down and trying to lift herself up.
"Er—Rosie?"
Rose whipped around at the sound of Lily's voice and immediately lost her balance, crashing to the floor with a yelp and a string of profanity.
"Are you okay?" Lily cried, running forward and peering down at Rose. "What were you climbing in the cupboard for?"
"I was trying to reach the marshmallows," Rose moaned, sitting up gingerly and rubbing her arm. "They're up too high."
"What's going on in here?" Uncle Harry asked, appearing in the doorway with a look of concern on his face. "Did something—Rosie, why are you on the floor?"
"I fell," Rose mumbled, standing up quickly. "I—er—"
"She couldn't reach the marshmallows," Lily explained to her father.
Rose glared at her cousin and straightened up. "They're on the top shelf!" she exclaimed defensively.
Uncle Harry looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh. He managed to keep a straight face as he approached Rose and looked over her arm. "Does anything hurt?" he asked.
"No," Rose answered, her face heating up. "I'm fine."
"Okay, it doesn't look like anything's too beaten up," Uncle Harry said, stepping back to examine the cupboard. He took out his wand and waved it once. The marshmallows floated lazily down and landed on the counter in front of Rose. "Next time just ask one of us if you can't reach something, okay?"
"Okay," Rose muttered. She snatched the marshmallows and her mug of hot chocolate and hurried back to the living room, dropping into her seat beside Albus.
"Had some issues in the kitchen, Rosie?" James smirked as she sat down.
Rose rolled her eyes and plopped two fat marshmallows in her drink. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said haughtily as she took a sip.
"It sounds like someone's a bit vertically challenged," James said. "A bit short on luck tonight, didn't quite measure up—"
"Are you done?" Rose asked with a flick of her hair.
"Sure, shortstack," James said.
A moment passed as Rose processed what he'd said.
And then:
"What did you just call me?"
"D'you not like the new name, shortstack?" James asked, smiling innocently at her. "I thought it was rather clever myself."
"I—you—no!" Rose sputtered, sloshing hot chocolate onto the sofa as she scrambled to straighten up. "I'm not that short!"
"You're the shortest one in the family," James said matter of factly, still fixing her with that shit eating grin that made her want to hex him.
"I am not!" Rose cried, casting around for someone who was smaller than her. She wasn't the shortest one in the family; she couldn't be. She was Rose Minerva Weasley, damnit, she couldn't be the shortest. "There's—er—"
"Lily passed you this summer," James pointed out, jerking his thumb towards his sister, who was, in fact, now noticeably taller than Rose. "And even Grandma Molly's taller than you."
"That's not true!" Rose whined. Although, now that James mentioned it, her eyes were only level with Grandma Molly's mouth most of the time.
"So, shortstack," James continued, leaning back and smiling broadly. "It looks like you're the family midget."
"I'm not a midget!" Rose screamed. Her face was boiling and she knew it must be bright red. Her hair fell in her face as she glared at James. Beside her, Albus was shaking with silent laughter and Rose made a mental note to hex him in his sleep.
The room had gone oddly quiet and it was only when she looked up that Rose realized the rest of the family had been listening to her argument with James. Most of them looked amused; Uncle George was openly chuckling. Her mother smiled sympathetically.
"James, that's enough," Uncle Harry said, giving his son a sharp look. "Leave Rose alone."
James obeyed, giving Rose one last grin before sliding off the couch and sitting down with Hugo and Louis.
"And Rosie," Uncle Harry said, laughing over his glass of eggnog. "We all love you even if you are the family midget."
Everyone chuckled and Rose couldn't help the smile that crept on her face. She brushed her hair back and took a deep breath before leaning back on the sofa and taking the bag of marshmallows in her hands. She turned to Albus and held it out. "Here," she said. "Let's see how many times we can hit James without him catching us."
The next morning Rose was awoken by Lily poking her incessantly and yelling about presents.
"Leave me alone," Rose groaned, rolling over and attempting to hide under the covers.
"Rosie, wake up!" Lily demanded, taking the blanket and ripping it away, causing Rose to cry out in indignation. "It's Christmas and we're going to open presents right now! You can sleep later."
"I want to sleep now," Rose complained, even though she was already sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She caught sight of the pile of gifts waiting at the end of the bed and all thoughts of sleep flew from her mind as she got to her feet.
"Are you two ready?" Lucy asked from the other side of the room, where she was kneeling before her own pile.
"Ready," Rose and Lily answered in unison. And then the three girls tore through their gifts.
Rose cried with delight while opening her gifts. Among the many presents were a big book of ancient runes translations from Lucy, Maren and Allie, a bottle of perfume from Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill, and a pretty necklace from Teddy and Victoire. Her parents had given her a large book called A Tale of Two Cities, which Rose was pleased to notice was by the same man who wrote A Christmas Carol. She laid the book carefully next to her bed and vowed to start reading it that afternoon.
Christmas festivities lasted all throughout the day and by the time night came, everyone was more or less exhausted. While the rest of the family meandered up to bed, Rose settled in a big armchair in the living room and cracked open A Tale of Two Cities. She had gotten through the first few pages when she heard the stairs creaking and footsteps padding down the hall.
"Rose?" Albus asked when he appeared in the doorway a minute later, clutching a copy of The Daily Prophet.
"Hey, Al," she said, sticking her bookmark in the novel and moving over so he could sit beside her.
"Oof," Albus said as he squeezed in next to her. "It's getting harder for the two of us to fit in here."
"Maybe if you hadn't eaten so much pudding it'd be easier," Rose teased, poking him in the stomach.
"Hey, it was good!" Albus exclaimed.
"Good enough for three helpings?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It was good enough for four, but Mum made me start cleaning dishes," Albus muttered.
Rose chuckled and looked down at the book in her lap. She absently played with the cover, flipping it open and then closing it carefully.
"Did you get that today?" Albus asked, pointing at the book.
Rose nodded and shifted so he could see the cover.
"A Tale of Two Cities," Albus read off, cocking his head to the side to see the words better. "What's it about?"
"I don't really know yet," Rose answered thoughtfully. "I've only just started. But my mum said it's a muggle classic and it's one of the most read books in the world."
"Then I'm sure you'll love it," Albus nodded, nudging her in the shoulder.
"What are you doing down here?" Rose asked, turning to face him. "I thought you were going up to bed."
"I was," he said, his face darkening. "But then I got this." He lifted up the newspaper.
"What is it?" Rose asked.
"Nathan sent it to me," Albus said, unfolding the paper and pointing to an article halfway down the front page. In big block letters the headline read: Lucius Malfoy, ex-Death Eater and Voldemort Supporter, Dead at 63. Underneath was a picture of a sallow, sickly, deranged looking man with a pointed chin and familiar, blond hair, sneering at the camera.
"Is that—"
"It's Scorpius's grandfather."
"Oh."
They sat in silence for a moment. Rose shifted in the seat and cringed when the motion caused the paper to rustle. She bit her lip and looked sideways at Albus, who was staring at the picture with a crease in his forehead.
"Is—er—was Scorpius close with him? With his grandfather?"
"No," Albus said, looking up and meeting her gaze. "He said he hardly knows him."
"Oh, well that's—er—not too bad then." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth and wanted to kick herself when Albus swiftly glared at her.
"Not too bad?" he hissed.
"That's not what I meant!" Rose whispered, her eyes widening. "No—that—it's awful—I can't even think about if Grandma Molly or Grandpa Arthur died. It—I don't know what to say to this, Al. Why are you telling me about it?"
Albus looked at her for a moment and then sighed and slumped beside her. "I don't know," he said. "I thought you should know."
Rose swallowed and twisted a piece of hair around her finger. "Thanks," she murmured.
"You're welcome," Albus nodded.
They sat quietly again, both lost in thought. Rose chewed on her lip and studied the picture of Lucius Malfoy, thinking about how strange and awful life would be if that man were her grandfather.
"Al?"
"Yeah?"
"You know I don't hate Scorpius, right?"
"I know, Rosie."
"I think he's a git and a prat and he can be a real twat sometimes—"
"But—?"
"But I don't hate him."
"Well that's very good to know."
"And—" Rose hesitated for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek. She glanced back at the newspaper and shook her head. "Well, I reckon his life's been quite a bit different than ours."
She kept her eyes down on her knees, but could feel Albus shift his weight to look at her and could hear the rustling of the Daily Prophet being moved. "Yeah," Albus said finally. "I'm glad you're figuring that out."