A/N: Oh man, it's really the home stretch now. Only a few chapters left. Thanks to everyone who's been hanging in there and diligently reading all the new updates. Seriously, you're the best! Huge thanks to all you reviewers - it makes me so happy to know people are reading and to hear your thoughts and ideas! I've finished all the major editing from hereon out so don't mind me as I shed a tear for this thing I just wrote. Craziness.


Chapter 32. The Ravenclaw Quidditch Team


The week flew by. Scorpius was insulted no less than six times, and ignored all attempts by players to anger him or draw a detention out of him. Their team practices on Monday and Tuesday were hard, but Thursday was all about gameplay and going through plays. They took to the air for half an hour at the end as a free for all scrimmage.

Friday hit. He awoke to a note on his face.

Final performance for the Choir Club tonight in the Great Hall at 7 pm.

He grimaced and threw the note to the floor as he swung his legs out of bed.

He honestly didn't want to go to see Westlock sing.

They had their biggest game of the year tomorrow with a practice tonight, and there was somehow a choir performance. It didn't add up.

Nott woke up shortly after and had a note as well.

"You going?" Scorpius asked him.

"Aubrey says I have to. Stay away from her today or she'll guilt you into it too."

"I would support West since he really wants us there … But it's a terrible night for the performance. Quidditch is all that matters right now."

Nott rolled his eyes. "Yes and no. I'll bring him your regrets." Nott left quickly, as he had been every morning. Left without more small talk, left without smiling. Was he being weird? Or had he always been like this? Were they fighting or was there a reason he was more distant than usual? Scorpius couldn't even recall.

Why did the note make him seem like the most horrible friend ever? West knew how the year had been for him, knew how it always was … this game tomorrow was against Hufflepuff.

He went through the whole day as if in a daze, torn by the guilt he was feeling. West knew that Quidditch was the more important event … yet his stomach was knotted over it.

Westlock sat away from him in every class, didn't speak to him, didn't look at him. Nott didn't sit near either of them, preferring to go to the front corner.

He had no sympathy from anyone, namely Rose. "Maybe you need to change your priorities," was all she said when he was making puppy dog eyes at Westlock in Defence.

"Captain said I don't have a good enough excuse."

"That's your problem. Not his problem."

The guilt was building and building and he almost was sick at suppertime.

Gold was staring at him hard, not looking away. Westlock was sitting at the Slytherin table with his choir friends. Nott had the note next to him like an utter wanker, haphazardly flittering it about his fingers.

Scorpius struggled to swallow his mashed potatoes. It was the biggest game of his life tomorrow. He couldn't miss the last practice. He needed to be focused. No distractions. Gold's eyes narrowed as if she could read his mind.

"Stop looking at me!" he exclaimed to Gold.

"No."

"Nott!"

"Out of my control. Don't involve me." The rolled the note up and tucked it behind his ear, pulling his hair back.

"Didn't you miss his birthday because of Quidditch?" Gold said.

Scorpius threw his fork at the table. "I'm leaving."

He stalked out of the Great Hall and went outside. There was so much sun for April. It was nice to feel the heat on his face at this time. But screw that. He kicked the door after he closed it behind him.

"What's up with you?" Junior asked. Scorpius jumped.

"Merlin. Where did you come from?"

Junior gave a laugh. "Better question is where did you come from? I've been sitting here for an hour. You just got here."

"Did you already eat?" He didn't recall seeing him in the Great Hall.

"No."

"Why are you out here?"

"Avoiding my brother."

"You're not going to his choir thing tonight?"

Junior shrugged. As much as Westlock and Junior were brothers, they didn't look that all that much alike. Both had different noses, different cheek structures. However, the eyes were similar - those kind and playful eyes. Junior's didn't look so playful right now.

"No. I mean … you're his best friend and not going … so why should I go? We have practice tonight and a semi-final game tomorrow. The team is more important than anything."

Scorpius sat down hard next to Junior and groaned for longer than necessary. He was sure he sounded like a whale.

Yes he was dramatic and didn't care about it. This was even worse than missing practice. If only all the bones left his body and he could flop to the floor and be an amoeba for a few hours. Just because he was a Quidditch maniac didn't mean it was okay for others to be, especially those younger than him.

There was only one way forwards: he had to backtrack hard. "I mean … it's not. I think family is just as important as the team, or more so. And West is my brother as well, in a way …"

Of course Westlock was his brother. That wasn't a surprise – he'd known that for ages. Yet he was neglecting some aspects of his Hogwarts family outside the Quidditch realm … And maybe should try to set a better example for the young ones on the team.

Junior looked up at him with a hint of a smile, a few of his dreads falling in his face. "Wait, so you're going?"

"Aiiieeeeghghhhghghg. Yes. Let's go find Nadir."

Nadir had already left the Great Hall by the time they went back in. The manhunt ended as quickly as it started when they heard from a birdie (Jazz) that he was headed back up to the dorms.

They had never sprinted up six flights of stairs so fast. Scorpius was out of breath by the time they reached him on the seventh flight.

"We need … we need to talk … to you," Scorpius gasped. Junior was holding his heart like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Are you both fully trained Quidditch players or not?" Nadir said, mildly amused.

Scorpius fanned his face and let himself catch his breath.

"My best friend is performing in a concert tonight. I have to go to support him and won't make it to practice."

Junior chimed in. "He's my brother. I'm going as well. This is really important to him, for us to be there."

Nadir nodded and didn't say anything.

Scorpius didn't think he got it. "I've been neglecting my friends for Quidditch. And that's who I am and they know that and mostly still like me regardless. But Quidditch isn't the only important thing in life even though I say it all the time. We won't make it to practice. This concert is the priority tonight. Even though we have our biggest game of the year tomorrow, I am … mentally anguished over the fact that I might miss West tonight and it's affecting me more than I've cared to admit."

Was that slight amusement that crossed his face? He was almost as hard to read as Rose sometimes.

Scorpius looked to Junior and shrugged. Junior's face fell.

"Well," Nadir said. Both of the boys' heads snapped to his. "I can't have two of my players experiencing mental anguish, as you so say. Go support your family tonight. We'll move our strategy session to tomorrow morning."

Junior leaped forward and wrapped his arms around Nadir.

Scorpius gave a weak smile. "Oh ... okay. It was that easy, hey?"

"You spoke the right words. Now, both of you better be in bed early tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay …" Scorpius' stomach gurgled and he finally felt like he could eat without throwing up. He turned to Junior. "Well, should we go eat some supper before it closes and is converted to a concert hall hey?"

"I'm so hungry."

In the end, the whole Quidditch team was at the performance. Bitz joined them at the table for supper and hung around. Rose and Astrid walked in with Sprocket before the show, and then Jazz seemed to pull in Nadir by his ear and sat behind them.

The concert was … different than Scorpius thought. It was still rather weird for him to watch people singing for fun. But it was important to Westlock and he had no more excuses. The smile and thumbs up that Westlock gave was way more important than any practice.


Scorpius woke up Saturday and he was ready. It was game time and Hufflepuff was going down for the first time in nine years.

The team met in the morning for a late breakfast and then went outside talking strategy and plays until it was time to head to the pitch.

They flew around the pitch and did a calm warmup as the stands slowly filled with people. The air was full of contained energy. There was a weird pressure in the atmosphere.

When they first heard Tiff's voice, they knew it was time to go to the locker rooms for one last pre-game meeting before being called out.

It was game time. They heard the Hufflepuff players being called out one by one.

This was the game of the year for them. This was it.

Scorpius started clapping on his knees. Everyone started clapping as well following suite. He could see the grin slowly start to creep up on Jazz's face, the concentration on Rose's, the seriousness of Nadir's, the excitement of Bitz and Junior's, and the trust in Gebhart's. This was it. It was time.

"RAVEN!" he bellowed.

"CLAW!" everyone shouted.

"RAVEN!"

"CLAW!" The whole team stood up and they all went to the middle now, arms tight around each other.

"RAVEN!"

"CLAW!"

"HAWWWOOOOOOO!" Scorpius howled, head coming back. They all started stamping their feet and clapping their hands in a quick rhythm. And then one last time:

"RAVEN!"

"CLAW!"

"Alright everyone let's get on that pitch and show them what we've got! Leave everything there, we will not come back to this locker room in defeat!" Nadir raised his fist in the air and they all cheered.

They all filed out, answering their name and flying out on the pitch.

Most stands were absolutely packed full of students. The Hufflepuff stands were so full people were sitting on each other. The amount of people present in the Ravenclaw stands was nothing short of a miracle – there were only a few empty seats that he could see. Scorpius was sure that there was a larger than normal crowd since this was one of the only times people could look at Rose – the werewolf – in public. She didn't aimlessly wander the halls or often go to the Great Hall. What an odd benefit for the team: actual support from their House (or perceived support, Scorpius didn't care to differ).

They all lined up. It was hard not to be envious of all the new jerseys Hufflepuff was wearing. It looked sharp.

"Hey werewolf. Gonna bite me?" taunted Shufen.

"Hey Mia, going to fall off your broom unexpectedly?" Rose gave one of her evil grins, left side of mouth raising higher than her mischevious smile. Not an evil grin most people normally saw.

Shufen seemed so surprised she didn't say anything back.

Potter threw the Quaffle in the air and Nadir won it, beating Sarrasin with his longer arms. He passed quickly to Scorpius who dove straight down with the Quaffle to clear out from everyone – dodged to the right with a shout from Astrid and passed back to Nadir who was now next to him. Bitz flew ahead and picked up the Bludger, knocking it towards Riley who had been hot on their trail and they had a clear sky to the net. Nadir to Astrid, Astrid to Nadir, Nadir to Scorpius and he shot.

GOAL.

And they had the first goal! He could see Brawns looking stunned and Sarrasin yelled at him to get his head in the game.

Hufflepuff came back strong: the Chasers were flying in a new formation, super sharp on their passes and Beaters had some well-placed Bludger hits. Scorpius was a few seconds from stealing the Quaffle from Quintozene when he had to drop away because of a Bludger heading straight for him.

They made it to the end and took a shot. Jazz blocked it and the Ravenclaw stands went wild.

Scorpius was grinning. It was a good start to the game. Very good.

He could see Rose and Shufen up above, flying around as if circling each other. He was very curious as to what they were saying, but could only speculate as the Quaffle dropped unexpectedly into his hands and they were on the offensive again.

The game progressed. Ravenclaw scored a goal again before Hufflepuff scored two back to back. Sarrasin managed to get a Bludger in Nadir's face and he had an insanely bloody nose and a timeout had to be called. Bitz hit a Bludger and it hit the end of Sarrasin's broom, crippling it and causing damage. Another timeout was called and she had to change her broom to a backup.

Hufflepuff scored, Ravenclaw blocked, Ravenclaw scored, Hufflepuff blocked. It was back and forth, all players laying it on the pitch. Ravenclaw had the slight edge and they were creeping up in points. Scorpius stole the Quaffle from Riley and he could hear Riley swear at both him and at Quintozene who didn't warn him of Scorpius. Junior shot a Bludger right at Brawns when Astrid was taking a shot and Brawns starting yelling at Sarrasin and Earwig.

100-60. They were up.

Then the desperation started.

Frank would start name calling when Scorpius or Nadir had the Quaffle. Riley pinched the skin on Scorpius's stomach and twisted when they were wrestling for the Quaffle and he was hidden from the ref's view.

"What the hell?" Scorpius exclaimed and pushed him away, flying upwards with the Quaffle and passing it to Astrid. Pinching was a low tactic to use, but it wasn't the first time it had happened to him.

It was getting dirty. Subtly dirty. Refs couldn't call what wasn't visible. He saw Shufen dive suddenly and then Rose dive, but in the opposite direction. Scorpius swore under his breath, but it was Shufen that cut upwards halfway down to follow Rose instead of completing the dive.

What a sneaky tactic. Shufen diving was very reminiscent of their first game against Hufflepuff. Seemed like Rose found a new way to counter.

After she skimmed the grass with Shufen following her, she rose as rapidly back in the air to get to her previous vantage point.

Five minutes later Shufen dived again. He wondered if Shufen was starting to be a little desperate or gain control back of a situation she was not controlling. Rose, again, dove in the opposite direction, flying like a falcon straight at the ground.

He swore he could hear Shufen cursing at her as she broke away and followed her path.

Play continued. Nadir got a foul for using his elbows too violently against Frank. Riley got a foul for grabbing at Astrid's broom when he was dodging a Bludger.

He heard a peal of laughter from far away, which was the exact opposite of what he expected to be happening in this game. He followed Quintozene, trying to intercept the Quaffle. If he wasn't mistaken … the laugh sounded like Rose.

Her laugh echoed through his ears again. He didn't know her laughs that well yet - was this a desperation laugh? An incredulous laugh? A disbelieving laugh? A joyful laugh? It was hard to tell without seeing her face, especially as he was otherwise occupied. They were still up. That in itself was a miracle and now they had to work hard to maintain. The game would only get harder – and then he had to throw himself to the right and barrel roll as a Bludger flew straight where his head had been.

But her laughing (was it a scared laugh?) was more of a distraction than he could admit to himself when he couldn't afford to look.

The play switched and he caught a glimpse of her heading back into the sky from the ground, Shufen following. They must have dived again. When was it going to be more than a tactic and the actual Snitch? Gah! Couldn't focus on that.

He thought being friends with her would mean he could get her out of his head, but it seemed the opposite was occurring. He had so many more questions and things to discover – like dissecting the meaning of these rare laughs.

He zipped forward to catch the pass from Nadir – who received it from Jazz after a very nice save – and starting looking around him for Astrid and the other team. Riley was incoming and he had about 8 seconds before he had to make a serious move. He couldn't see any Bludgers but he was sure they were close. At the last second, in Hufflepuff's end near the hoops, he dropped the Quaffle straight down to Astrid's waiting hands and she had an open shot.

130-70.

This was a little unreal. This was historic, for now. It could all change in a second if Hufflepuff caught the Snitch or if Ravenclaw stopped playing well.

Then he saw Rose dive again, another death defying dive that scared the bajeebers out of Scorpius. This time Shufen followed much slower and further behind, a look of annoyance on her face.

After she pulled up only centimeters from the ground he could hear more shouting from Shufen as she pulled up next to Rose.

Merlin, he was almost halfway across the pitch and he could hear the "crazy werewolf bint" spiel.

And of course he could hear Rose's laughter again – that rich peal of noise that was what? – a defence mechanism?

That seemed the most likely considering she was being verbally assaulted. What the hell Potter? Su? Henderson?

Oh, shit. Now Su was actually getting involved because that was Westlock who threw his bat at Shufen who was tagging Rose way too close for comfort. She flew upwards so only got a bat to the leg instead of the stomach. For some sort of retaliation, Shufen went for the easy target. Shufen flew her broom straight at Rose and they both went into the ground with a small crash.

Scorpius zoomed straight there; Nadir and Astrid could manage alone for a hot second.

He could hear Tiff from the podium: "And that's two penalties – more incoming I'm sure! No throwing bats or hitting people with brooms! Potter and Su are on the rampage cleaning up the wrestling match. What are we here to watch? Quidditch or a children's brawl. Commeeoonnn."

Scorpius ducked down to avoid another bat flying through the air and pulled Shufen's fingers out of Rose's hair since Su didn't seem to be able to do it. The brooms were discarded to the side and everyone was on the ground. He pulled Rose away from the brawl.

"You okay?"

"This is bloody brilliant. She's so pissed off." Evil smile. This time a more real evil smile since her white teeth were bloody from a split lip. She had some hair sticking out of her braids from Shufen's grab but otherwise seemed fine.

Shufen's face was red and she was swearing incessantly. Westlock was occupied with Earwig, keeping him away from the Seekers.

There was a bit of damage control and Potter called a timeout. Sarrasin looked livid as she landed and pulled Shufen away. Nadir also wasn't very impressed but his nose was swollen to about two sizes too large. He didn't seem up to talking. Rose had to go get her spare broom on account of it looking as though someone pulled out half the tail. Earwig had a bloody nose.

Once Rose picked up a spare broom, Nadir called them all together on the ground, out of ears of the Hufflepuff team.

"You all are doing brilliantly," he said gruffly. "Let's keep it up. When they're mad, they lose focus. When they lose focus, they make mistakes. When they make mistakes, they start turning on each other and it keeps falling apart."

"We've got it. Keep fighting all," Jazz said.

The whistle blew and they all took off again. Hufflepuff seemed to benefit from the small break, they scored three times in a row, catching up.

130-100.

The game continued. He heard Rose's laughter again – so loud and vibrant. It was almost annoying. What was so funny right now? This wasn't exactly a time for laughing. Shufen also seemed more volatile than before; Rose was playing dangerous games.

She dove again straight to the ground and this time Shufen didn't follow, staying up in the air and turning to the opposite direction. Rose reached the ground and then flew next to the grass for thirty metres before raising her hand in the air as if she caught the Snitch.

But that was impossible – nobody had beaten Hufflepuff in years and years.

First it was Bitz and Junior who screamed and flew at her, launching off their broom and knocking her to the ground. Her arm was still upraised in the air. Astrid was next on the dogpile.

His heartbeat picked up.

It was a ruse, wasn't it? Even the refs hadn't called the game yet.

"What's happening," Sarrasin muttered as she flew closer.

His heartbeat. His throat. His body. Everything was on the edge of a precipice. He was going to break down. What was actually happening?

Shufen was still up in the air, all the refs were looking around, but at least flying closer.

He could see Jazz at the other end frowning still and then her mouth spread wide and she took off towards the pile.

Then he saw it. That little flash of gold in her hand. He started crying. He couldn't even believe it. This was a joke – a ruse – not real – insane.

His feet touched the ground and he didn't even realise he had floated downwards. Tears fell down his face and he fell on his knees. Nadir flew to him and picked him up, hugging him tight.

"We did it. Excellent game mate." Nadir slung an arm around his shoulder and together they wandered over to the rest of the team. Rose was still on the ground and still had a bloody lip that made her smile look terrifying. Jazz was crying and hugging Astrid so tight it looked as though her red goggles had snapped in half on her nose. Bitz and Junior were jumping and cheering next to everyone.

They had won. Sweet Merlin, they had won.


After the pile up on Rose, both teams shook hands. He had never seen a sorrier looking team in that instance.

The unbeatable team, beatable. For all her ego and arrogancy, Sarrasin shook all their hands firmly and told them all good game.

It was the best ending he could have hoped for; it was hard to believe it wasn't even the finals. This game deserved to be the finals. This game was everything.

Scorpius's face hurt by supper he was smiling so much. It felt like a Quidditch Cup win with everyone who was slapping his back and telling him congrats. It was unreal this feeling of triumph after a long ass year of failure.

His mind would flash back to the game and he would have tears leak from his eyes. This was everything he ever wanted and all he asked for.

There was no denying that the school had never before seen a celebration like the one that happened that night.

Surprisingly, Gold came to the Room of Requirement for the party. Seeing her made him inspect everyone around him cloer and there seemed to be numerous other Hufflepuff's wandering about.

"Why are you here?" he grinned at her. Merlin, he couldn't stop grinning.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You know. Hufflepuff. Huge loss for the first time in nine years. Those types of things."

"One day you're going to learn that the House you're from doesn't matter at all. That a Quidditch game is just that – a game. Sure we lost. Doesn't mean you didn't deserve the win, doesn't mean myself and other Hufflepuff's don't want to celebrate your victory with you all. It was a good game! I thought both teams played very well."

That rather made sense. They cheers'd to that.

Cass came up to him and congratulated him. Sprocket made an appearance. All ages seemed to be around. This was insane and he couldn't believe it was real.

They won.

He got Potter to pinch him six times that night to be sure it wasn't all a dream.

He was probably the happiest man in Britain that night. Nothing could stop it. Rennings complained about getting kicked out of the Quidditch game and the discrimination she faced as she congratulated him. Didn't faze him.

Everything was still going strong at 1 am, but by 3 finally the most resilient were slowing down. Scorpius sat in the corner with a drink and watched the crowd. He felt a little separate from everyone now. Almost his whole team was gone, all his friends were gone. He didn't feel like dancing or drinking anymore. He wanted to sit and ponder and dream. Relive the game.

There were a few dancers still, but most people seemed to be heading back to dorms. Rose came up to him and gestured for him to follow. He hadn't seen her that often in the past few hours but it had looked as if she enjoyed herself.

She led him down a dark corridor and behind a knight in armour. He lit his wand.

"I wanted to show you this," she said and held out the secret map with names everywhere. Scorpius couldn't quite see what she was referring to. There was the seventh floor, the Astronomy Tower – and the name Sarrasin.

"Oh. That's Sarrasin? What's she doing at the astronomy tour at this time of night?"

"I don't know. Just saw that and thought I should point that out."

Scorpius nodded. "Why are you showing me?"

"Should I not have?"

And then Scorpius knew. "No. You're right. Thanks."

He unlit his wand and went straight there. Rose went the opposite way.

She was sitting on the ledge looking out above the Quidditch grounds. There was a water bottle next to her.

He didn't say anything, but found a seat next to her.

They were both silent, looking out at the stars.

Her hair was in the messy post-game French braids and she was still in her Quidditch uniform: the yellow and black of Hufflepuff colours complimenting her. She had a strong jawline, sharp cheekbones. It was a tough sort of beauty.

"You played well today," she said. "You all did. It was a great game."

Scorpius smiled wryly, thinking back to the game. She was a bloody good Beater, it was hard to believe she was only seventeen. Scorpius had no doubt that she would be drafted to the League. "You all did too. Gave us quite a run all year as well."

She nodded. "It's hard being the Captain of an undefeated team. Harder still to accept the loss when it occurs."

"It's unfair that no previous Hufflepuff team has lost, they should have been more considerate."

She gave a faint smile. "Maybe so. Maybe so."

"I thought your team was very courteous afterward."

"It's important to be courteous while losing as well as winning. Seems I forgot the latter all year trying to maintain the status quo."

"I know. It's no easy thing managing an empire as a seventeen year old."

He could hear her smile in the silence. She took a swig of her drink.

"Well, as a seventeen year old I could have managed my team better. Winning isn't everything. Sportsmanship is as important, if not more so."

"Aie. Yes, it's important."

"Malfoy. I'm apologizing for my team –"

"You don't have to apologize for anything. It's Quidditch – it's the game."

"– Let me finish …" She stared at the pitch and Scorpius waited. "After our loss today, Shufen came up to me and told me that she used a freezing charm on Weasley during one of your games against Slytherin. She gave no reason for it. It's not as if you were close to us in points. Or it was a key game that you needed to lose. I don't know what to say beyond I'm sorry … I don't feel like I failed as a Captain for losing, I feel like I failed as a Captain for not encouraging better behaviour."

"Merlin, I was convinced it was Rennings."

"Nah. She said that it wasn't the fact that it was Rose or Ravenclaw. If Slytherin had been about to catch the snitch in front of her, she would have still done the freezing charm as well. Solely because it was right there in front of her. She has a malicious streak in her. But I don't want to try and make excuses for her. I've only ever encouraged her. It was unacceptable."

"… Is she sorry?"

"No. She's not. I've told Potter. We'll be playing with our backup Seeker for the third place game. Doesn't change what she did."

"I don't know her very well … but that's really shitty she would interfere with a game."

"She is what she is and what I've molded her to." Sarrasin gave a sigh and settled back on her hands, looking out. "You should go enjoy the rest of the night. Don't worry about me. I'll get over it. Just need to accept my new fate as the Captain that blew the most important game of the year and blew the nine year winning streak. The Captain that encouraged her players' to terrorize other players to gain the mental edge."

"It's a team game, blame doesn't rest on you."

"I know. You know what I mean."

"I know."

She sighed again. "Want some? It's water – I don't drink alcohol."

"Sure."

Water felt nice on his throat after the alcohol he drank earlier.

They sat together for an hour, minimally talking, and then Sarrasin left him.

He stared out at the night sky. What a beautiful and complex night. Beautiful and complex day. Thankfully there was nothing complex about the beautiful sunrise.

He watched the sunrise until it was completely above the trees before he went back to the dorm and slept.