Chapter 12: The Quidditch Match

You don't fangirl over your own characters, do you?

Me: …..

Scorpius' POV

Curse her.

She was causing him nothing but problems, turmoil and hurt. Of course, he shouldn't give a flying fuck about what she had to say to him. And yet he hung on her every word as if it was his scripture.

He bundled up the little package in his mind that was Rose Weasley and tried to tuck it away for the time being. It was Friday, the first Quidditch Match of the year, and it was Gryffindor against Hufflepuff. It wouldn't be an issue, he thought cooly, because Hufflepuff's Beaters were the weakest part of their team. He curled his lip thinking of the Seeker, however. Perhaps that would be a problem…if he wasn't fast enough.

But Scorpius was always fast enough, you could probably call him the fastest seeker since Harry Potter himself. His father would be a close contender, except for his annoying distractibility. Albus had been prattling on to Scorpius all day long, detailing where he wanted the players and the offensive strategies he wanted everyone to use. He was the Captain, of course, his strong leadership qualities emerging from him as naturally as breathing. Scorpius merely nodded at his friend, knowing that when it came down to it, he would always do what he wanted. What he saw fit. It was just the way the Malfoys were.

"You've been so quiet today," Albus remarked, frowning as he laced up his second boot. "I would have thought you were looking forward to this match. It's an easy win for us."

Scorpius shrugged. "I guess I prefer more of a challenge." That much was true. Definitely true for his taste in women.

Albus scoffed. "Somethings up with you. You are so irritable and moody all the time lately."

Clearly, Albus wasn't going to leave him alone until he gave the Potter boy a satisfactory answer. "It's not my fault when your cousin doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut." he snapped.

Albus leaned back for a moment. They were dressing in the locker room, which was actually just a makeshift tent that was set up for most quidditch games. Wooden benches liked the insides of the tents, next to portable showers that drained into the nearby clearing. "I knew this was about Rose." he said calmly.

Scorpius scowled at his best friend of five years. Albus knew nothing. Well, nothing about what had been happening between he and Rose, at least. Time and time again, he had tried to be charming around the Weasley girl, only for her to spit in his face and deny his sincerity. It was nearly driving him mad, especially with his mother on his case these days.

"We can either talk about it now, or you can go on resenting her until the day you die." Albus chirped. He was always in an annoyingly good mood.

Scorpius thought for a moment, turning away from Al and pretending to position his shoulder pads. "I don't resent her, that's the problem." he finally said. "I completely understand her reasons for hating me. I only wish it were different, that we had somehow started it differently."

Al tilted his head, listening intently. Of course, they had nearing two hours before the game, but Scorpius couldn't help but feel the need to escape Al's stare and begin practice. It wouldn't be long before the rest of the team came bursting into the tent.

After a few moments, Albus sighed, patting his hands on his knees. "How do you know she doesn't wish the same thing?"

Scorpius snorted.

"She's my cousin, Scorp. She's more like a sister to me than Lily. Do you think I don't know her?"

Scorpius moved to get up from the bench, but Al sauntered over and sat next to him, pulling a thick arm around his friend, grasping his shoulder with one gruff hand. "I think I know what this is about." he continued.

Scorpius sat perfectly still.

"We're all getting older. We've all noticed it, heck, some of the guys said things to me, even." Albus winced uncomfortably. "I know Rose is pretty, she's a catch! I mean, the whole family is. Runs in the genes."

A bead of sweat formed on Scorpius' temple, which he didn't dare attract attention to by wiping it away.

"Anyway, Scorp. My point is, you have known her forever. You probably liked her when you first met her, but you didn't know how to show it. It's only natural now, to want to do other, more serious things –"

Scorpius leapt up from his seat, violently shrugging Albus' arm off of him. Wordlessly, he stormed out of the tent.

That neatly wrapped package in his mind that contained all things to do with Rose Weasley…it was beginning to unravel. He grabbed his broomstick that was leaning against the maroon and gold Gryffindor tent, and with a single flex of his leg he was off. He reached into his jersey pocket and pulled forth the practice Snitch, running his thumb over the delicate wings before he spiralled it into the air. And then the chase began, and he practised until he could hardly breathe.

Rose's POV

Rose wrapped a cream-colored, cashmere scarf around her neck, using her fingers to pull the long strands of her curly red hair out of her collar. She wore a light blue sweater with a white colored shirt poking out, along with her tweed shirt and black stockings. She clipped the magical baret, a gift from Alice, into her hair.

Alice. She had forgotten to tell her friend about the so-called date that Henry asked her to. In reality, it would just be them sitting together at a Quidditch game. "It's nothing," Rose told herself, although it didn't stop her stomach from reeling backwards.

Yes, Henry was very attractive. But she didn't know him at all. Most of the school would probably be fainting at the opportunity to sit next to one of the handsomest, smartest boys in their year. But Rose was starting to realise that there was much more to attraction than floppy brown hair, glittering blue eyes and a cute Ravenclaw sweater.

"I agreed, and I'm a woman of my word." She told herself, flattening her skirt with her slightly trembling hands.

"Are you…talking to yourself in here?" Alice stepped into her room, wearing her plum colored coat and casual jeans. Her matching earrings to Rose's baret sparkled in the light from the window.

Rose sucked in her breath, smiling in relief to see her friend. "Do you reckon Louis and Fred will be throwing a party if Gryffindor wins tonight?" she asked, wanting to distract Alice.

Alice grabbed Rose's hand, pulling her out the door. "You can bet on it!"

They walked down the corridor, talking in hushed voices about the possibilities of tonight's match. It was common among the Potters and Weasleys to throw a bit of a party after any Quidditch match, but especially after Gryffindor either lost or won.

Apparently, either outcome was a reason to drink.

Just as the two girls were about to leave the Prefect's common area, henry Thimblewillow himself stepped out of his room and directly into their path. He smiled down at Rose, failing to acknowledge Alice. His outer robes were freshly pressed, clean, and devoid of any debris or lint whatsoever. Rose stared for a moment, wondering how that was possible.

"Henry," She greeted him, only to find herself wrapped up in a most surprising, slightly unwelcome hug. Rose stilled her body, reaching to pat Henry in a friendly manner on the back. He was pretty tall, or at least, much taller than her, and for someone who had very little male contact in her life besides ballroom dances and held hands, she was quite uncomfortable.

Alice's eyes grew to the size of saucers. Rose pulled away, and smiled nervously at her friend. "Henry uh…asked me if I wanted to sit next to him during the match today. Obviously you too, Alice."

Alice beamed, and Rose could tell she wasn't going to hear the end of this whenever the match was over. "You know what," she said, smirking slightly. "You guys go on without me. I can sit with Lily! I wouldn't want to interrupt your alone time." She wiggled her eyebrows, much to Rose's dismay.

"Alice, but –" She started, but before she knew it, her best friend was dscampering off, leaving her in the presence of what was an absolute stranger. She knew she should probably be excited, or grateful to Alice, but she couldn't help but feel scared that this was the very first Quidditch match she would attend without Alice by her side.

Henry laughed, light and easily. "Well, would you look at that. Seems like we have the whole seat I saved to ourselves." He opened the door for her, motioning that he wanted her to leave the common room first. They walked down to the Quidditch pitch, their elbows bumping into each other as they made the trek through slightly muddy grass. She could tell Henry might have grabbed her by the elbow and guided her if she hadn't steeled herself to purposefully keep her distance, and even once when she nearly slipped, she looked at him quickly and said, "I can manage."

When they neared the stands, he asked Rose, "Anything I can get you? A pasty or perhaps some popcorn?" he motioned to the small tent, where a handful of first years handed out refreshments. Rose's eyes scanned for Alice and Lily in the crowd.

"Yes," Rose said quickly. "Popcorn would be great. I'm just going to go and warm my hands up while you do that," she said, and dashed off to find her friends.

Eventually, amidst the excited students, she saw the golden hair and fiery red of her two friends. They were giggling and sipping on hot apple cider, nestled together on the maroon and gold stands that had a patchwork of painted tiles along the sides. The Gryffindor Bleachers.

"Guys!" Rose called, fapping her arms dramatically.

"Well, well!" Lily exclaimed. "If it isn't Mrs. Thimblewillow herself. Why didn't you tell us, Rosie?"

Rose ducked down, looking behind her to see if Henry was still at the refreshments stand. "Guys, I totally didn't mean to get sucked into a date with Henry. He asked me one night as I was coming back from the library, and I was delirious and tired, and he's practically a stranger to me so I don't even know –"

"Relax!" Lily cooed at her. "Do you know how many girls would die to be in your shoes right now?" She said, mimicking the exact thoughts Rose herself had earlier.

Alice frowned, obviously unaware until now with just how uncomfortable the situation made Rose. "You mean…did you agree to go on a date with him or not, Rose?" She asked.

"Well…I thought he was being friendly at first. I thought it was just hanging out. And then he said it was a date–"

"He's walking this way!" Lily exclaimed, ducking to the side of Alice.

Alice looked at Rose questioningly. "You don't have to go on a date with him. He will understand it was just a misunderstanding."

"No, I said I would, it would be wrong to cancel this soon." Rose said, biting her lip as the handsome brown-haired Ravenclaw drew closer with a heaping bag of buttered popcorn. "Maybe it will be fun?" she said sceptically.

"Call me if you need me," Alice said, tapping her earrings knowingly.

Rose nodded once, tapped her matching baret in response, then jumped down from the step of the bleachers to meet Henry.

"All Beaters in position. Hufflepuff Team. Georgie Smillet. Gwen Huckesfield. Keepers…"

The announcer's bleating voice droned as Scorpius gripped the hilt of his broom handle. He had been in position for nearly twenty minutes. Why couldn't these Hufflepuff twits get it together and do the same?

The last of the players sauntered in, bright yellow jersey's gleaming in the afternoon sun. Scorpius tugged at his maroon sleeve, knowing he reeked from practising beforehand, but not really caring. Smell didn't exactly matter when you were flying through the air at 130 miles per hour.

"...and finally, Gryffindor Seeker, Scorpius Malfoy."

If people cheered for him, he wasn't exactly aware. Whenever the match was about to start, the sound of your own blood pumping in your ears was too loud to hear much of anything. His eyes dove to Albus, who flicked his forehead down at him and gave a cheeky smile. "Break a leg, Malfoy." he mouthed.

"Break a leg, Potter."

The case full of Quidditch paraphernalia burst open with a magical pop, and out came the balls with which they were about to play. Madame Gardain, the flight instructor, showed the crowd the locked away snitch. She brandished the buckles with her hands, and the crowd cheered.

She broke away the golden ball, and it hovered before the two Seeker's heads before finally dancing off into the damp afternoon air. Scorpius' eyes never left it once, training himself to the adaptive movements of the little golden ball.

This is a stupid game, Scorpius thought.

The whistle of the slight instructor blew, and they were in the air. The first few moments of the game began with Scorpius making his rounds near the announcer's pit, where the magical speakers blasted out excited words – AndtheregoesScorpius, they said excitedly, –it's been quite some time since Gryffindor has won a game without him catching the Snitch –

Cool broom handle. Harsh wind. Little tiny heads of people watching him on the bleachers below, their many different hair colours gleaming in the sun, their robes and scarves blowing in the autumn wind. The thoughts blew in one ear and out the other, and they, too, were wrapped up in tiny boxes and tucked away until he could enjoy them at a later time. Right now there was only room in his mind for the snitch.

He dipped, and his stomach leaned into the feeling of falling for a moment. The utter and complete weightlessness tugged at him from deep within. There were times when riding a broom felt like a carnival ride. The only other time he had felt that pull was perhaps when he fell on top of a certain someone while ballroom dancing–

He couldn't open that package just yet. He pushed it away, but it was hard. His brow tensed. He was speeding along, almost touching the foggy wisps of the beginnings of clouds. A reflective light laughed at him from the corner of the pitch. The Snitch.

He took one hand of the handle of his broom, cautiously at first, his platinum tendrils of light, feathery hair whipping past his forehead. I just have to dip a little lower, he thought, his speed gaining tremendously as he veered towards the glittering ball. The wind was sharp and icy against his cheeks, but he could hardly feel the cold on his outstretched hand as the tips of his fingers could nearly taste that metal, glittering metal ball.

Faster. Faster. You have to be faster, even though you're already the fastest. Perhaps the announcer was saying something, but he definitely couldn't hear it now. If his father were standing there, on the pitch, he would yell.

Faster.

His other hand left his broom. He didn't need to steer. His feet angled against the grain of the wooden broom, pushing him into a thinner and thinner line as he willed himself forward into the stinging, biting air. The world around him was a grey mist – until suddenly, it wasn't.

He eventually broke through the fog. Down below, he saw the vibrant stands, and for a moment he allowed himself to snap his eyes to the ones littered with maroon and gold. He lowered, his speed so hefty now that if he ran into anyone or anything, it could be lethal. The back end of his brown dipped, only slowing him a little, which was his plan. The Snitch had stayed strangely still, just as he had seen it before, barely peeking out of the fog.

He was so close, he could nearly feel it wrap around his pale hand. The snitch bowed, suddenly plummeting down towards the stands. This was terrible; thought Scorpius. He was going far too fast to get near the crowd. But that clever ball was luring him where it knew he couldn't go. Where it couldn't be caught.

Screw it. He slowed himself by again dipping backwards and cutting the stream of air. He heard the crowd gasp as he came closer to them, but he paid them no mind.

He tried to pay them no mind. But –

Rose was sitting there with Henry. He could recognize her red hair from countries away. He didn't have to recognize her, his heart did this thing when she was anywhere around him. Put it wasn't time yet, he tried to think, but his head was far from the snitch now. An agonising second dripped by. Henry had his arm around the girl. His girl.

To say he missed the mark was an understatement. The calculation had been all wrong, and not to mention, he had ripped open that pretty, neatly wrapped package far before it was time. He knew it would end disastrously, and that was precisely why he made the package rule to begin with. He spiraled towards the ground, having no time at all to stop himself. In all his years of experienced broom riding, he cursed himself, he was really going to crash like this?

Time stopped and sped all at once, but the only things he had control over were the feeling of dirt in his mouth and the stinging, tearing pain on his back and arms as he slid across the pitch.

Rose's POV

Scorpius dropped to the ground. Without a moment of hesitation, Rose bolted from her seat and grasped her wand that had been gripped in her hand the whole match. "He's going to die!" Someone screeched behind her.

No, no, no he wasn't. Rose left her seat, moving down the aisle with tremense urgency. She heard over her shoulder, "Rose!" Henry was trying to call her back.

Her shoulder still stung slightly from where he had leaned into her. Ravenclaw made a goal, and Henry had made his move. He had dipped down to her height, staring at her as he looked at her lips. No way this is happening right now, Rose thought to herself.

Before Henry could actually kiss her, she had stuffed the whole entire bag of popcorn in his face.

And now Scorpius was about to die right in front of them. "Stupid, bloody Malfoy!" She exclaimed, although angry tears threatened to wet her eyes. She wasn't really mad at him. Perhaps she should have been, though, for pulling a stunt that stupid and almost killing himself.

She rushed forward, not caring about the people she had to shove past to get to the pitch. She was running the healing spells she knew threw her head, Brackium Ammendo, Episkey, Anapeno—-

"He's up! He's up!"

She jerked her head up to the sky to look. He was up. He had somehow, miraculously, clambered back up on his broom and was slowly ascending again. Rose squinted, trying to see his eyes. A deathly stare was fixed on something, something in the clouds. Was he insane? He was actually still trying to catch the damn snitch? After all that?

"Malfoy!" she screamed, but not in adoration like quite a few of the other girls around her. "Get your ass back down here!"

Of course, he definately didn't hear her. The fog was roaming further and further into the pitch, laying a blanket of darkness over the whole field. The score wasn't terrible; Albus had scored quite a few points for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff was known to work very well as a defensive team. With luck, maybe a couple of more rounds, they could win this thing. And Scorpius would have to sit down and rest after that fall.

But he had disappeared into the clouds. Rose scowled and watched, even though nothing could be seen moving within them or out of them. Even still, she wouldn't miss the moment he emerged.

And eventually, he did. The crowd sighed. He hadn't caught anything.

"I think I can speak for everyone when I say, we expected Gryffindor to put up more of a fight!"

Laughter echoed all around, but it didn't matter. All that mattered now was Malfoy was safe, standing on solid ground.

Wait, standing on solid ground?

He had his broom to his side and was looking directly at the crowd, his strong shoulders held in impossible posture, his pants slicked to his thighs with moisture. The crowd was silent, no doubt extremely confused as to what wss happening. It was then that Albus, too, sauntered down from the sky, taking place right next to Scorpius and patting him on the back.

Scorpius lifted his right hand to the sky, and perhaps Rose imagined it, but she thought she saw the emerald of the signet ring glint in the light reflecting from the headlamps. His long, delicate fingers unfurled to reveal the Snitch.

The crowd erupted with celebration, and everyone except for the Hufflepuff benches of students were elated to see the golden ball dancing around Albus and Scorpius' heads. Rose paid them no mind, running from the bleachers and onto the pitch. Other students did the same, of course, but Rose pushed through them as quickly as possible. Tht idiot had nearly killed himself over a stupid game!

"Rose, we did it!" Albus was shouting when he saw her, jumping up and down delightedly. Rose pushed past her cousin and stood directly in front of the Malfoy boy, glowering up at him with her hands across her chest.

"So glad you came to congratulate me on my big win, Weasley," he said, his voice laced with something intangible. It was definitely not happy, however.

"I don't give a flying fuck about congratulating you," she said, stepping towards him. "You nearly killed yourself to catch that stupid ball."

Scorpius' eyebrows flicked upwards in pleasant surprise. "I was hoping you would notice," he said, then smiling, "I caught it just for you."

She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. The words were said playfully, but seriously at the same time. She frowned at him, directing her want towards the torn places in his jersey. "You will sit still for this." she commanded.

"I will do no such thing," he retorted, aggressively trying to stomp away with his broom in hand. "I need a hot shower, the last thing I need is you poking at me."

As embarrassing as it was, and as many eyes were on her, Rose knew she had to do this. She gripped Scorpius by his collar and practically dragged him to the nearest bench. He looked up at her, more than astonished. His eyes were…wet, it seemed, but not from crying. What was that emotion? Annoyance? Relief?

Amazement?

She performed the sanitization spell, then several small healing spells, some of which required her to pull back the tears in his jersey to reveal his skin. That same feeling gripped her insides when she touched him, the hot feeling that made her private areas increasingly hot and weighty. She licked her lips, hoping the feeling would leave once her hands left his skin, but then Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief and angled his body so that his knee was in between her two standing thighs.

She held herself still, hardly believing her atrocious body and the way it was reacting. For a moment, she looked down at him, and he appeared so small. Not physically small, because hell, he was huge compared to her. But his eyes glistened with something akin to adoration at her. Perhaps he was adoring the way you are so obviously attracted to him right now, Rose thought. He has you right where he wants you. The perfect position for manipulation.

Scorpius stood, his eyes appearing different now. "Can I leave now, please?" he asked, his voice harsh. Where was the person that was just looking up at her, grateful for being healed, staring at her as if…well, as if she was nice to look at? Now all that was left was an abrasive dirty man, streaked with blood and sweat. Angry. Angry at her for some unknown reason.

She nodded, but he hadn't looked to see. He strode off, towards the tent where the team changed and showered. She wasted no more time. She would have to explain herself eventually, whether it be to Barry, Henry, Alice, Lily, or all of them. One did not simply smash a bag of nicely buttered popcorn into Henry Thimblewillow's beautiful face. Not only was that a complete waste of popcorn, but it was just entirely unheard of.

She turned, looking for anyone remaining on the pitch, and found herself face to face with none other than Henry himself.

His face was turned into an unpleasant scowl. He said nothing, his hand cutching the empy bag of popcorn, his hair ruffled and slightly buttery still from the mess Rose had caused.

"I'm so sorry," Rose blurted, although she meant the apology most sincerely. "I panicked."

"You should be ashamed of yourself." Henry spit out.

Rose felt her heart stop for a moment as she stared unmovingly at the Ravenclaw boy. It was one of those times where it would be impossible for her to move, even if someone was coming at her with an axe. "You and him, you've been shagging the whole time, haven't you?" He said, throwing the bag on the ground with a dissatisfying noise. "I bet you're just one of the many, as well. The one of the many that wants and freely has Scorpius Malfoy."

Rose opened her mouth to protest, but it was useless. Henry was already ranting again. "I should have known the moment I saw you two together at the first Prefects meeting, he was looking at you in no way a man should ever respectfully look at a woman."

A bubble of anger rose in her throat. "Henry, Please!" she shouted, and Henry stopped speaking for a moment. "There is nothing happening between Scorpius and I. We have hated each other since we were children. I only helped him because he is very dear to my cousin Albus."

Liar, you're a filthy liar. And you should be ashamed of yourself. You totally looked at his lips. You want something more. You want to taste him.

"And for the record, he has never looked at me in such a way. He hates me." she choked out, and Henry actually looked at her for a moment with something akin to pity.

"Then why did you do this to me?" he asked, motioning to his buttery hair.

"Because, Henry," she began, imploring him as she looked at him desperately. "I hardly know you. You can't just try to kiss a girl without knowing her at all! We have only talked a handful of times, and beyond that, I've never kissed anyone before. Why would I do it here, in public, at a Quidditch game, with a guy I barely know!"

Henry frowned, but said nothing. Rose could tell his anger was dissipating, slowly, and yet his hurt remained. "you 've never kissed anyone?" He asked, incredulous.

Rose scowled.

"No offense, of course." Henry said, his eyes lingering on her for a moment. "It's just that, all the guys say you're the prettiest girl in our year. And definitely the smartest. I just find it hard to believe that no guy has ever tried to kiss you. I guess that's why I wanted to try and date you, although we don't know each other very well." He took a step towards her, then backed again. "But hey, I know when enough is enough. I don't do it for you. That's okay." he shrugged, running his hand through his pretty brown hair.

Rose felt pretty guilty, looking at what some would call the most handsome guy in her year, looking like a lost puppy after her. Guilt, however, was never a reason to show someone affection. "I didn't mean to lead you on." She stated. "I had no idea sitting with you at a Quidditch match would lead to this."

Henry shrugged again, seemingly calm as he picked up the popcorn bag he had thrown on the ground earlier. "As weird as this is, we're…still friends, right?" he asked.

Rose smiled, although he had just accused her of shagging her worst enemy, she couldn't hold it against him for very long. He was generally a very jovial guy.

"Friends. I promise. And you know what. If you know any other girls in Gryffindor you think are pretty, you should speak now or forever hold your peace. My match making abilities know no bounds."

Henry smiled, the hurt in his eyes not fading completely, but certainly dissipating quite a bit. They were some of the last ones to leave the pitch, walking side by side back to the castle, which was heavily laden with fog in the cool Autumn air.