Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Hello friends! Welcome back to another chapter. Thank you to MLMarint, Guest (Thank you so much! That is very high praise indeed!), Guest, reppad98 (Thank you very much for all your pointers there! I plan to go back and have a thorough re-edit when I get time in Christmas break so that's really helpful, thank you!), catwomannnn1 and Guest for your reviews! Seriously, I'm 6 days away from the end of the penultimate term in my final year of university, so it really is all your wonderful reviews that keep me writing at this point. Thank you all!
It's a big one (plot-wise, it's actually rather short this week...) so I hope you
enjoy!
Chapter 21: Quidditch
The morning of the match dawned with a cold, crisp chill in the air. Scorpius opened his eyes abruptly, retinas still tattooed with the image of the dark room with his weeping father and dying mother, and took a deep breath. It filled his lungs with icy air.
He shook himself awake, sitting upright. The nightmare would fade, as always, into the back of his mind. And he'd forget for a few nights. But that lingering feeling of discomfort hung over him as he washed, dressed, and read in the common room until he and the others made their way over to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Oft, you can almost feel the anxiety," Joshua commented with a shiver. Today was the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match, and even between the five of them, the tension was palpable. Joshua supported Ravenclaw - of course he did, he'd do anything Amelie asked. Scorpius and (hesitantly) Albus were supporting Gryffindor. And Max and Alfie sat uncomfortably in between as a buffer between the two opposing sides.
"I seriously don't know who I'll be supporting," Max commented as they sat down at their table. "I mean, sure, Al's family and Scorpius' girlfriend are in Gryffindor."
"Not my girlfriend but okay."
"But then, there's Lydia and people in Ravenclaw."
"I know. I think no matter where I go I'll get my eyeballs ripped out." Albus lamented sadly. "But Lydia gave me her blessings so it's only her friends I'll have to worry about."
"Ah, Amelie would never do that. She wants me by her side too much." Joshua declared, hiding his goofy grin behind a spoonful of soggy cereal.
Max did nothing but gave him a significant look when he wasn't watching. "Alfie, where are you heading?"
Alfie looked around the group. "I'll go to Ravenclaw with Joshua. You go to Gryffindor."
Max nodded, looking relieved. Best friends though they may be, if Joshua said one more thing about Amelie in the next five minutes, Max might really swing for him.
"Aight. The game should be starting soon, anyway." Max commented, nodding over to the Gryffindor table.
Scorpius turned in unison with Albus to see almost all of his relatives get up on cue.
"You've got to have some weird relation to the founders of Quidditch or something."
Albus shrugged. "It's just what we do all summer. Guess we're boring like that or something."
"Hardly," Scorpius snorted, as they watched the team of seven be led out of the hall by Jasmine Taylor-Thomas, their captain. Now that was a promotion no-one saw coming: they all thought it'd be James. If not James, then at least Rose. But Jasmine was a good Captain according to Rose. If she weren't and it made it all the easier to beat them come the Spring, Scorpius wouldn't mind too much, though.
Her hair clashed awfully with their bright scarlet robes, but Scorpius couldn't care less. He always thought she looked beautiful, no matter what.
"Oh, there's the Ravenclaw team too," Max commented as their team, lead by some really buff-looking guy, filled out just after Gryffindor.
"Recon they'll get into a fight on the way down?"
"That hasn't happened since our third year, Joshua."
Joshua shrugged. "Still a good story, though."
Joshua, who had happened to see the fight in person, had never quite let them forget about what he witnessed that year. It had been spectacular, apparently. George Meadowfield and Alex Maethal - the Gryffindor and Slytherin captains, respectively - had got into a physical fight that had escalated quite spectacularly from a verbal one. Both were seventh years, and both had to spend every Friday in detention after that, as well as be kicked off the Quidditch teams. Then, both teams had been disqualified and Hufflepuff had soared to an easy victory by Christmas that year. But more to the point, Alex Maethal apparently had such a good right hook that George Meadowfield's face and her hand had been bruised for a week!
Twenty more minutes, and it was time for them to all flood down to the Quidditch pitch like a torrent of raindrops falling from the highest gutters of the castle.
Scorpius had to admit, as he walked down amongst the loud wave of students crashing past him and his friends, it was nice not to be the one playing for once. He didn't feel like he was about to throw up a niffler from the anxiety, and it was a lovely feeling.
"I don't know if I'm glad I'm not playing or nervous for everyone else."
"Both?" Scorpius snorted as Albus fiddled restlessly with the tasselled ends of his scarf.
"Best of both worlds, eh?" Albus snorted and came to a slow as they reached the edge of the pitch.
"All right, we'll see you later." Alfie said, on behalf of him, and the snogging Amelie-Joshua amalgamation. "5 sickles on Gryffindor to win?"
"With what money?" Max snorted, low enough for only Scorpius to hear.
"Shouldn't you be over here with that kind of wager?"
Alfie shrugged. "I've got friends in Ravenclaw."
Scorpius nodded without a second thought. Of course he did, he was Alfie. He knew everyone.
Separating with a wave to the three, Max, Albus and Scorpius clambered up the rickety wooden stairs to the Gryffindor stands, and weaselled their way to a position near enough to the front.
"When did all the first years grow so tall?!" Albus lamented as he peered around a particularly tall but still baby-faced student.
"About that..."
"We've got some news for you there, Al." Scorpius and Max chorused in perfect harmony.
Albus only responded with his signifier dark look and rolled eyes.
"Oh, Max? Scorpius, Albus?" Scorpius turned at the sound of his voice, to see Lola just behind him, standing next to Paige Finnegan.
"Oh, Lola! Morning." Max greeted, deceptively brightly. Since when had that friendship happened? "How're you two doing?"
"Not so bad thanks. Yourselves?"
Max, Albus and Scorpius all gave that non-committal shrug that meant that whilst none of them was actually dying, they'd most certainly been better before.
"Where's Isabelle?" Albus asked, looking for the third of the trio.
Paige pointed to a few rows in front of them. "She's down there, with Harry Shaw?"
"Harry Shaw?!" Max asked, apparently astounded.
"Yeah," Lola sighed, "we know."
"Good Morning ladies and gentlemen!" The voice of Lorcan - or perhaps Lysander - Scamander rang out over the crisp morning air with a resounding metallic tinge, cutting off whatever dumb thing Max was inevitably about to say.
"Ooh, here we go!"
"Maybe I'll bet on Ravenclaw..." Albus sighed as he looked down at the teams: almost all his cousins for Gryffindor, but a strong, strapping man for Ravenclaw's keeper, a petite little girl for their seeker, two strong looking beaters and very adequate looking chasers.
"Whoever that goalie is he's buff. Not in a gay way, though."
Scorpius rolled his eyes as Albus huffed a heavy sigh. "Anyone would think you're insecure, you arsehole."
"Oi!"
"Anyway, Fred told me Hugo told him that he's actually their leader. Harvey Payne. And he's a chaser. That guy two down from him - yeah, him there," Albus said, gesticulating down at the tiny looking players on the pitch, "yeah he's the goalie."
"Him? But he's like... normal build and stuff."
"And?"
"I'm just saying," Max put his hands up defensively, "I thought keepers were supposed to be big or whatever."
"How've we been friends for two years and you still don't know anything about Quidditch?"
"Because I have my priorities correct."
Mercifully, whatever his list of priorities were was drowned out by the piercing sound of the whistle being blown and the crowd cheering on the first few seconds of the match.
"Wooo! Go Gryffindor!" Albus said, and immediately clocked the looks that Scorpius and Max we're giving him. "Yes, I know. I am trash."
"And that's Lily Potter with the ball, flying so well down the pitch - I've been meaning to ask her to the—-"
The microphone gave a screech, and Scorpius could just make out Professor Henrich wrenching it from Lysander's hands - it must've been if Albus was right about his obsession with Lily. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, Lavender Patil now in possession, and she passes to Sarah Michaels, who's passing it to— oh! That's a bludger right to the kidney. She'll feel that one for a week!"
Sarah Michaels, a youngish looking chaser for Ravenclaw was thrust forwards on her broom with the strength of the blow. Scorpius lurched forwards, but Max and Albus our out their arms to stop him from actually falling, thankfully.
"Careful there."
"You're not saving anyone today, Mr Hero." Albus said, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Looks like she's recovered. But now James Potter has the quaffle, and he's flying down the pitch with it. Past Ryan Greene and - oh! - not passing to Lily Potter! But now he's rounding near the end of the pitch and he's throwing the quaffle ambitiously to Rose Weasley. She catches... and she scores! Theo Russell dives out of the way, and that's 10 points to Gryffindor!
The stand they were standing in erupted into cheers. Scorpius, Max and Albus, too, cheered like no tomorrow, beaming from ear to ear and Rose raced past them.
Scorpius looked around the pitch. Both seekers were hovering in the air; Ruby Taylor floating near the Ravenclaw goal posts and Phoebe Allsop doing slow laps of the pitch. Clearly, neither had seen the tricksy little snitch yet.
"Any sign of the snitch yet?" Max asked.
"What do you think I have — magical eyes?"
"Well, kinda?" He admitted with a slight bite under his voice and went back to staring at decidedly not the Quidditch pitch.
He was staring at Isabelle.
Well now/ it all made sense!
Scorpius excitedly looked over to Albus, who'd already caught on by himself. They shared a meaningful glance and Scorpius restrained a grin.
After all, it would serve Max, the most philandering of all the Slytherin, right for the way he'd treated all the other girls in the past, to be attracted to a girl he couldn't have.
"This. Is. Amazing."
Their attention was drawn back to the pitch when a cheer went up all around them and Lorcan Scamander announced, "that's ten points to Ravenclaw! The two teams are neck and neck now!"
But it didn't stay that way for long. Ravenclaw somehow managed to score again not twice or three times - but scored four more goals!
"We May have all been betting on the wrong team..." Max sighed, as they watched yet another/ quaffle fly past Jasmine and through Gryffindor's hoops.
"Oh— I don't know, actually..." Scorpius muttered. Phoebe has stopped doing her typical circling. She was flying hastily over to the Gryffindor hoops, and only now was Ruby Taylor noticing - but she was at the other end of the pitch!
"I think Phoebe Allsop has found the snitch! She's racing over to Gryffindor's hoops and oh— there she is! She has the snitch!"
Scorpius could just about see a tiny golden fleck in Phoebe's hand. And the stand around them drowned out whatever else Lorcan had to say for a long time. The two teams spiralled down to the ground, and Gryffindor almost bowled over their young seeker. When she next emerged, she was as bright red as a tomato.
"We won! We won!" Albus cheered. Scorpius watched him, and couldn't help but smile; it was moments like this why you just /knew/ that deep down, Albus loved his family more than anything.
"Yeah," Scorpius commented, as he watched the team - and more specifically Rose, who had a wide smile plastered on her face, "yeah. They did."
"I 'eard there's a massive party over in the Room of Requirement. Why aren't you there?" Alys floated down to 'sit' next to Scorpius.
He shrugged. "Not my party, is it? The Gryffindors are celebrating and it's not really my place to get involved."
Alys shifted slightly out of the corner of his eye.
"What?" He asked, abandoning the potion to look at her.
"I don't understand you 'umans these days. Back in my day, if you found someone you liked you'd start courting then marry by the time you were sixteen. My year 'ad a lot of marriage ceremonies at graduation."
Scorpius frowned. "Right... thanks."
"I'm just saying that if you like that ginger girl 'oo comes in 'ere with you all the time, you should tell-'er."
He sighed. "Yep. You're right. I probably should. But the thing is," he said, going back to stirring his cauldron, "I don't know if she feels the same way."
Alys sighed. "You men are totally 'elpless on your own. Really, I often wonder how I was born at all." She flew off with a tut, fading through the walls and presumably going to find her friend the grey lady, who was also always up for a chat about how useless men were. Now in the Grey Lady's case, Scorpius could see why. But for Alys, he had a feeling it was just years of watching clueless teenagers that made her lose faith in men - and women, too.
As the ball approached, Scorpius was starting to feel that way too.
One week left until the ball. One week left for Rose to suddenly fall as madly in love with him as he was with her. Or? They'd both end up going alone. And how horrible would that be? Scorpius knew he was massively uncool, but Merlin that was too much even for him! Everyone had got a date - even Evan from the other Slytherin room who no one liked!
Scorpius flopped down in his seat and listened to the wind howl and rain smash against the tower.
It had turned into pretty appalling weather this evening. They'd first had a sign when they saw Hinkypunks swimming frantically down to the floor of the Great Lake. That always meant that bad weather was coming. Then, Max, Alfie and Albus had disappeared off to the party, and Joshua was off somewhere, probably with Amelie. He could've gone to the party. He knew that. He knew that even as he sat there, cold and alone in the tower. But it just didn't feel right. There were just seven days left before the Ball, and he still hasn't been able to convince Rose to go with him. And he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to. So going to that party and feeling his miserable would've been disastrous. He decided that it was better for him to just sulk our his sadness, disappointment, and any other number of negative emotions right here, instead.
He wondered if this was what life would be like for him. Dramatic, he knew, but the thought crossed his mind nonetheless. What if Rose never came to like him that much? And he was stuck in this horrible limbo forever? Everyone around him had someone, and her there was Scorpius, still all alone. All alone, and no sign of that ever improving sometime soon.
He looked back to the love potion. It was done already, he'd been right. It shone a glimmering magenta and have the space around it a glow as though the very ground were blushing. He peered over the rim and gave it another stir for good measure.
The delightful smell of freshly cut grass and roses and fresh bread. He knew exactly why he smelt all these things. Roses for her name, the grass for when they'd first really spoken, in Quidditch practice in first year, and the bread because he'd had a bag full of that on the Hogwarts Express going into their third year when he'd seen her and his infatuation had fallen hopelessly into love.
Well, Hopelessly was the right word alright.
The door of the tower burst open, and a figure, clothed in shadow, hurried through the door. Scorpius didn't even have time to register who it was before they were snogging his face off.
Wait—-
Scorpius had never done this before. But there was a very soggy girl with her lips stuck to his, one hand on his jaw and the other in his hair.
He put a hand around her back and felt a handful of curly hair. Curly red hair. It had to be. And only one person had hair like that...
"Rose?" He whispered as they parted.
"Of course. Who else?"
He's never seen her this close up before. She had a hundred freckles over her nose but none of them were the same shape. And there was a tiny blue speck just below her left iris.
"W-What're you doing here?"
"I'd rather be with you than at the party."
He was stunned into silence.
"And... I was thinking. Want to go to the Ball with me?"
He wasn't sure if he actually heard a thunderclap outside or if it were just his heart beating fifty times the normal rate.
If he had been stunned to silence before, now he'd been physically shocked. Every nerve ending, every fibre of his being was like a firework. He didn't know what to say. 'Yes' felt too simple. So he answered in the only way he saw fit.
He kissed her.
I said there was something big coming! I told you! I'm so happy~~ I hope you liked it, too!
Please review if you've got time (seriously, they're getting me through this stupid-cold winter!), and follow for more. Thanks!