Hellllooo beautiful, patient lovely readers!
SORRY FOR THE WAIT!
Exams are well and truly over (though with the way they went i'll be doing them again next year -_-)
but for now... I'm going to enjoy my summer, and hopefully update this more often! No promises after today though because I'm due to go away and as I've discovered, there's a difference between having WiFi in theory and actually being able to get a decent connection.
Special thank you's as always to my new followers/fave'ers:
WaterWarrior60 and GinnyWeasley5
And even more special thank you's to my amazingreviewers :
mayarpai~ Thank you! Hope you love this one just as much!
mayarpai.2~ I am equally as outraged! Thank you for taking the time to review separately though. (Look I replied separately!) Honestly, you gave me the biggest grin. Your favourite EVER?! That's amazing, I'm honoured and also a little bit in disbelief. I'll try my best so that it stays that way! Also wow, the last bit was such a compliment, (I have no ideas for one but) if I ever got around to writing a book, I'd let you know!
mint. life~ FYI-Yourreview literally mademyday! I hope you like this chap just as much! Again with the book writing? You guys are going to make me combust with happiness or something, I promise to let you know if I ever write one as unlikely as it is. Hope you're still with me, sorry for the wait!
Plucie~ Aww, glad someone is feeling sorry for Scor. Thanks for the luck, (I messed up anyway) but really appreciated it!
Blue Eyelashes~Thank you! Hope you enjoy this one toooo!
Tilly~ *restrainsfingersfromtypingsassyswearyresponse* Okay I'll be a little serious, thanks for reading so far, and I hope that the swearing isn't putting you off majorly. I don't want you to think I've ignored your review just because I don't agree, so as a warning this chapter probably has a fair few swears in it but right not I'm just trying to skim for gross grammar but I'm too tired to alter dialogue. I feel like it's more important to get an update out right now! But I'm not ignoring you, I'll explain myself at the end of the chap. How do you feel about the story in general (swears aside)?
WaterWarrior60~ I'm continuing it! (unless I tell you guys otherwise- which I don't plan to do). Glad you like it so far! I actually never planned for Rose to be like that at the beginning, she just kinda evolved that way. But I kinda like that you've never imagined her like that. New is good right?
unknown. com~ Hello new anon guest person! glad you like it, here's more (finally)!
Thanks to you all, for still waiting and putting up with me.I'd like your opinions at the bottom, so don't all rush off to review straight way ;)
So yeah, again sooooorry for the wait, hope this chap makes up for it, let me all know what you think!
Cookie xx
Chapter 33- Bruises, Pudding and a Morning Match
"Gooooodmorning sunshine!" Liv sang as she threw back Roxanne's curtains.
"Liiivvv, noo" she moaned, rolling away from the light.
But it was useless because the other witch had used her wand to fling Rox's curtains back on the other side too. She'd then vanished Rox's quilts, and Roxanne was left curling in on herself, colder than she wanted to be and much too awake for her liking. She sat up and glared at her friend who just smiled back as Roxanne pushed past her and stalked into the bathroom. ~
"Remind me again why we're up this early?" Scorpius asked as he sat down across from Roxanne, next to Ly. She gave a smile at his comment, she'd been wondering that herself.
"Because our game is in a week! A week from today, we need to step it up" Ly said, the tone in his voice making it clear it should have been obvious to them all.
"Yeah but, couldn't we have had a midday practice or something?" Roxanne asked sadly.
It was a Saturday for Merlin's sake!
She'd been up most of the night working on an essay for DADA to get Al to check over today, her awakening from Liv hadn't helped.
"No, if we had one at midday, people would come out to watch. I don't want any bloody lions studying our plays"
Roxanne rolled her eyes, Ly had been getting paranoid recently. Gryffindor had booked the pitch before Christmas, something they never usually did that far in advanced. Ly took it as a sign they were 'up to something'.
Roxanne just thought they'd decided to be organised for once. Then again, this was James' and Elliott's last year at school. Usually scouts didn't come to watch until the finals but they'd been known to come to visit games as early as now. The two boys wanted to go into Quidditch, maybe they were stepping their game up, and maybe they did have something no one knew about yet.
Roxanne decided Ly wasn't in the best mood so she bit her tongue and didn't argue that if they really wanted to watch them play, they would check the pitch timetable and get up early to do it.
Once the team had finished their quick breakfast, they spilled out onto the pitch. It was late enough to be light, but still early enough to be freezing. Roxanne, Liv and Callie went to the changing rooms to put on some extra layers. ~
The girls emerged to find Ly hovering several feet in the air. The rest of the team were already up higher doing warm up laps. They stifled their laughter at their captain's annoyed expression and kicked off without being told, joining the team.
Half an hour later, Ly decided they were warmed up enough. Which was ridiculous because though she was beginning to feel herself sweat, Roxanne's fingertips were numb from the cold.
"WE'VE GOT A GAME IN A WEEK!" He began, flying up and down the line of his team who were all hovering as he'd directed them to.
Roxanne was near one end of the line, between Liv and Scor who was on the end.
"Wouldn't have guessed it" Scor muttered under his breath.
"Not like we were out here four times last week or anything" he continued. Ly gave him a quick glare from the other end of the line. He must have seen his lips move because there was no way he could have heard.
Or maybe he'd just seen Roxanne's little chuckle.
"SLYTHERIN ARE PLAYING HUFFLEPUFF NEXT MONTH... IF THEY WIN…THEY'LL BE PLAYING GRYFFINDOR AFTER THAT… WE'RE PLAYING THEM NOW… IF WE WIN THIS GAME… WE'LL PLAY WHOEVER WINS THAT GAME IN THE FINAL"
Rox's brows wrinkled as she tried to imagine the games that would be played. Ly was speaking really fast so nothing he'd just shouted made any sense right away, she had to think about it for a moment.
Ly seemed to be assuming Slytherin would beat Hufflepuff next month. But he wasn't saying it outright. They all knew it was likely though, their team was the weakest this year.
If so, that would mean Slytherin would play Gryffindor in the game after that. If the Ravenclaw's could win this match, they'd be playing the winner of the Slytherin/Gryffindor game. Which would be the final. If they lost the match, they'd be knocked out and there'd most probably be a Slytherin/Gryffindor final.
In other words, they had to win this game, it was more important than their last had been. And with the more points the better.
They all nodded back at Ly, who had just stopped his in-air pacing.
The team formed a loose semi-circle around him, so he no longer needed to shout.
"I know I've been a bit mad since we got back" he admitted. "But, I just really want us to win the cup this year. It's our year, guys I can feel it"
"Put it this way, if we manage it on Saturday, you get a few more months of me being crazy"
"If we don't, we get knocked out, and you get the rest of the year of me being mad"
They laughed, they all knew the distinction between crazy captain Ly, and mad Ly. If Lysander had to watch another Slytherin/Gryffindor final, things would break. Possibly them.
"So, what do you say? Are we gonna win this or not?!"
"Yeah!" they shouted back.
Ly looked at them disappointedly. He flew further from them and held his hand to his ear.
"What are we going to do?!"
"WIN IT!" they shouted, louder.
He smiled and nodded, pulling out his wand he pointed it at the beater's bats on the ground. He summoned them both to him and threw one to Lorcan. Liv ducked as it nearly hit her.
"Good dodge there, Wood!" she just glared back.
"Okay, he's how it's going to be. Chasers, I want you working on some formations. Scor, Callie work with Olly on the ones he knows, teach him a couple new ones. Once you're done, come tell me, I wanna see them."
The chasers nodded.
"Liv, with them. Don't make it easy"
"Never, Cap" she smiled, following the chasers who had just left for the end of the pitch.
Roxanne looked to Ly. "Usually, the Gryffindor Beaters target chasers first, keeper, seeker. But I think, after that game at the Burrow, they might decide to switch it up. Which means, you need to work more on not getting hit. And we've always got to work on target practice"
"So, I get to fly around dodging a bludger this session?"
"Dodging two actually…"
"Ly!"
He sighed, looking genuinely sorry, "I know it sucks Rox, I know. But I don't want you to get hit, last game you were out and I didn't know if you were coming back- I didn't know what to do. If you're gone, Lily will get the snitch, she's not as good as you but if you're not here, we're utterly fucked. We won't be able to maintain a one fifty point lead the entire time. And I can't rely on-"
Rox sighed, "You can't rely on Fred and James not hitting at me. Yeah I get it, it's fine."
She smiled, "At least let the snitch go and make it a bit challenging."
He grinned back. "I did hope you'd ask."
He twirled his beaters bat in the air.
"I'll go get the snitch and let the bludgers go then shall I? Want me to take your wand down there?" Rox offered.
Wands were pretty resilient things, it probably wouldn't get broken during a Quidditch match, but if you dropped it from high up enough, it was a difficult thing to find again.
"Thanks" he passed it to her and she flew towards the pitch.
She landed gracefully, swinging her leg over her broom stick and letting it lie on the grass as she went to place Ly's wand in the ball trunk.
"Pass me the quaffle will you?" Scor requested from behind her.
She hefted the heavy lid off to reveal the practice bludgers, snitch and quaffles.
She placed the snitch on the palm of her hand first, she stood as she watched its wings unfurl and then let it flit away.
The voice groaned impatiently and just came to stand behind her, he reached over her to take out the quaffle. Her hand encircled it before his could.
She then passed it to him. Though now he was standing right next to her anyway.
"The point of that was, what exactly?" he chuckled.
"The point was, you shouldn't be so impatient. I was about to pass it to you"
"After you pretended the snitch was a little butterfly you had just released?"
"Just because you chasers don't have equipment that deserves respect, doesn't mean-"
"RELEASE THEM ALREADY!" Ly shouted at her from above.
Scorpius laughed. "Don't worry, you can pay for insulting my baby later. That little fake gold ball doesn't deserve nearly as much respect as this little one" he cradled the quaffle to him in and rocked it like a child.
"You take your useless, motionless baby and throw it around, go ahead. I'll play with some actual balls"
She smirked, unclicking the bludgers from the trunk. They both shot up into the air, together.
"That's just because chasers already have actual balls, you seekers and beaters just like to play with them." he smirked.
"Oh, we'll see who's got actual balls. You have fun with your shapes," she said childishly, referring to their formations, "I'm going to go and practice how to win the game for you all"
"And I'll practice how to win the game when you are unable to catch a little golden butterfly" he retorted, just as childlike.
Rox just smirked back, the two bludgers were coming back down towards them. She mounted her broom.
"I'd watch it if I were you" she warned, trying not to look up at the impending bludgers.
He scoffed, mounting his own broom.
"Oh yeah?" he challenged with a smirk back.
"Yeah" she grinned, and nodded upwards drawing his attention to the very near balls, kicking up off of the ground in time to watch Scor kick off clumsily into the air to narrowly avoid being hit. Cursing her as he did so. ~
"Roxanne, what happened to you?" Logan asked, gently holding her exposed arm in his hands.
He ran his fingertips over the ugly bruise, it was a yellowy-purple shade, after two full days of healing, it barely even hurt to touch now.
Roxanne laughed a little, "Quidditch practice" she muttered back to him, continuing to write notes with the hand that wasn't resting on the table between them.
"You get this hurt during practice?" he sounded surprised, his voice rose a little so she gave him a look to keep it down. Slughorn looked up but Roxanne smiled sheepishly, so he turned back to whatever it was he was doing.
"Don't worry about it" she whispered, "Nothing intentional, but I was avoiding bludgers, not really a risk-free way to practice that"
"Oh, yeah I guess." He chuckled quietly, "I kinda forget other players have to do that"
He paused, then looked confused, "But, why haven't you healed them?" he got his wand out and pressed it gently to her skin, "Want me to?" he looked a little concerned for her. She wanted to laugh, the bruise on her arm was nothing compared to the one on her side and thigh. Even the one on her shoulder looked worse than this. These bruises weren't even the worst injuries she'd ever had. Did he think she couldn't take a little bruise like that?
She shook her head.
"I've kind of got a bet going, I manage to let them all heal magic-free and I win"
He shook his head at her a little, "What do you win?"
"It's a matter of pride." She whispered indignantly, "Pride and chocolate frogs" she admitted.
He laughed, "Who'd you bet? Liv?" He guessed, referring to her friends the way she did. She found that cute.
"Nah. She knows I don't usually heal my bruises anyway. It was Scor"
"Oh, Malfoy…" he repeated with a frown. Well, he didn't refer to all of her friends the way she did then...
"Mmhmm" she replied, watching his face from the corner of her eyes as she continued to make notes. Logan didn't make another comment so neither did she, but she had to admit she didn't like the face he'd made. ~
Ly became the crazy captain he'd told them he would be. They were out every night that week, going over drills, formations, plays, feints and everything in between.
The team hated Ly for it, sure they all loved Quidditch but they also liked not training after dinner every night, and not having Ly hovering around at dinner trying to tell them what, and what not to eat.
Except Roxanne. Roxanne loved it.
Everyone else thought she was just as crazy as Ly for loving it but she really enjoyed their sessions that week. Mostly because with every one of them she could feel herself improving, literally feel because she didn't get hit as often. But she also noticed her flying was better, Ly making her concentrate on avoiding bludgers more had made her more agile, her tricks were better, her feints more precise, she could almost just skim the ground with her knees after pulling out of a dive now.
Maybe it was because she was a seeker, Uncle Harry had once told her he used to enjoy tough sessions way more than everybody else because you only have yourself to be impatient with. If a chaser gets irritable or tired, the other chasers and the keeper feel it. If one beater slacks, the other beater has to compensate. But for Roxanne, even though yes, she was part of a team, and yes she loved her teammates, there was something so rewarding about having only yourself to play off of during practice.
She was pushing herself against herself, so she could feel every bit better she got, if she didn't, that was down to her. And that was how she liked it.
It was Friday night, and the night before the game, Roxanne had just eaten dinner, and Ly had tried and as he always did with her, failed to get her to not eat carbs. Not on macaroni night, of all nights.
So, he grumbled away and told her he'd see her in an hour. An hour later and here she was, standing on the pitch, training uniform on with the rest of their team, waiting for their captain.
Five minutes late was like a little mistake. Maybe he was held up by something.
Ten minutes late and they worried. Ly was never late to practice.
After fifteen minutes they all flew up to the stands to sit down. None of them wanted to take the practice, so by twenty minutes, they were bored and started racing each other across the pitch.
At half an hour since their alleged practice was due to have begun, they watched the sunset and decided to call it a night.
"Guys, look" Callie said, holding up a note to the team piling into the changing room behind her.
"My Badass Eagles" she read aloud. It was addressed to them all, they gathered around Callie as she unfolded the page.
She quickly scanned the note, "Ass" she muttered.
"Read it out, Cal" Scor said from the doorway which he was leaning casually in.
"Guys, Gracious Captain that I am, I've decided to let you all off this last practice. I think it will work better for you to all be rested up for the game tomorrow. Try to go to sleep for nine, no more food, that includes you Weasley, and if you've got any injuries from the week… Heal them for Merlin's sake! It won't help to be injured going into the match tomorrow.
I'll see you all at breakfast tomorrow at half seven.
Rest up,
Love Ly"
"Prat" Liv muttered, leaving for the adjoining girls' section. She'd been asking him all week for an evening off on Friday for them to rest. He'd dismissed her every time.
"He could have just told us that himself" Lorcan rolled his eyes, turning to put his broom away.
"Do we really have to be in bed at nine?" Oliver asked them innocently, he still struggled with understanding Lysander, mainly the borderline between serious and joking.
"No, Olly." Scor told him, ruffling his hair.
Even though on this one, Ly probably meant it. That didn't mean the team would oblige.
"You need sleep but no more than you usually get. The adrenaline will keep you going. Ly's full of shit"
"So the pudding I had won't make me slower either?"
"The pudding, what?"
"At dinner, I only had a bite of it, and Lysander came over to say I shouldn't eat anymore, that something that heavy would make me slower in the morning"
"Oh, you poor thing." Callie frowned.
"Don't worry about it, Ol. Ly gets really controlling but it's not going to affect you. In fact, it's a shame you missed out. It was good pudding right?" As a Weasley, Roxanne was personally offended he had only gotten a bite.
He nodded.
"Well then, let's go get you some."
"Dinner's over by now though, isn't it?"
Roxanne just smiled knowingly, "Dinner's never over when you're with a Weasley. Get changed"
She and Callie left a confused, but slightly excited looking Oliver for the girls' section.
"Liv, we're off to get desert from the kitchens, you coming?" Callie asked.
"Nah, I've got a million things to do for Monday and I know I won't get a chance tomorrow and I'll probably not be up for much on Sunday. I've been so tired after practices I haven't had a chance to do anything this week!"
"Alright, but don't do too much this evening. You sound stressed, get some sleep" Rox said, with a small frown.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to go crazy. Unless I see Ly-"
Roxanne smiled, "If you see that twit, you give him our best"
"Oh I will, don't you worry" she said, swinging her bag over her shoulders and striding out of the room.
"Hey!" Scor shouted as she went past, without warning.
"Oh, shut it, I'm not looking!" she responded, Rox stuck her head out in time to see Liv shoot her wand at the curtains that could be used to block off the boys' side and still leave the girls room to walk to the door. There was a loud sound of the unused rungs scraping along the metal pole the boys sometimes swung on.
The boys never used it for it's true purpose though, being so lazy and they usually relied on the girls' giving them warning before they came out or the girls just taking a lot longer to change than them.
Roxanne laughed. "You boys done out there?! Is it safe?"
"Hilarious Roxy" Lorcan called back.
"You know, you could use these curtains all the time" Rox told them, stepping out of the girls' section. She had only taken off her Quidditch jersey and training shoes and pulled on her converses and a jumper in their place.
Callie, also dressed, joined her on the other side of the curtain. She smiled cheekily.
"Then we'd never have any embarrassing situations, would we?" Callie called out to them. She'd once walked out on Lorcan naked, during his second year. He'd been so embarrassed he didn't look at her for a month, he hadn't spoken to her for two weeks after that.
Now though, he just told her to fuck off playfully, and drew the curtain as the boys stepped out. ~
"So, where are we going?" Oliver asked as the group headed back to the common room.
"We're going to get you some pudding, but first, I've got to make sure we don't get caught on the way. If we got caught this evening, they might ban us from the game."
"And Ly would kill us" Oliver said a little nervously.
"Ly would destroy us" Scorpius corrected.
Roxanne nodded in agreement, killing wouldn't be enough for Ly if most of his team were banned from the game.
They'd reached the common room.
"You guys wait here" she told them quietly~
Two minutes later, Roxanne remerged.
"Good to go?" Scorpius asked her.
She nodded certainly.
Roxanne led the way to the kitchens, Lorcan, Callie and Scor of course knew the route, but Roxanne seemed to not be following it. She was taking all kinds of new passageways they had never known about before. And it made the castle seem empty.
Scorpius knew it was all down to the Map of course, but still, the confidence she led them with made it seem as though she herself had designed Hogwarts' floor plan. Oliver looked thoroughly confused, Scor grinned at the thirteen year old's expression.
By the time they reached the kitchen entrance the boy looked like he was just about to burst with astonishment. Scorpius ruffled his hair, "It gets better, just a sec"
Lorcan finished off what formed the 'password' to the kitchens and opened the door up for the rest of them to follow.
Callie stepped in after Lorcan and Roxanne turned to Scor and Oliver.
She locked eyes with Scorpius and smiled then turning her attention to the younger boy in front of him, "Olly, I hope you're ready for the best pudding you've ever tasted"~
"You were right" Oliver told Roxanne, sitting back and placing his spoon in his now empty bowl. "That was even better than the pudding upstairs"
"Oh, it's the same stuff. Just the added rebellion makes it taste better" Roxanne laughed.
"Hardly rebellion when the House Elves are practically shoving it down your throat, Rox" Lorcan pointed out.
"What time is curfew on a Friday, Mr Prefect?" she asked.
"You should know that for yourself by now shouldn't you?"
She gave him a look, "Humour me"
"That'd be 8 for you two and 9 for us" he smiled, enjoying her face when he emphasised she was part of the younger group of them.
She ignored his smug face, "And is it or is it not past that time?"
"It is yes, but-"
"It's past nine?" Callie asked, interrupting.
"Yeah, just gone." Lorcan answered, checking his watch again.
"Damn, I was meant to be back by nine!"
"Wait, who are you rushing back to?" Scorpius asked.
"Honestly, Malfoy that's none of your business." She told him, before adding, "It won't affect the team I promise." In anticipation of a follow up argument from him.
"Rox, you want this?" she asked, gesturing to the slice of chocolate cheesecake left on her plate, she'd just planned on eating her second one.
"You have to ask, Cal?" she smiled back.
"Nah, though, do you want to give me a clear route back?"
Roxanne nodded and unfolded the Map on her lap.
"Patrols in the East, Filch is on the seventh floor. Umm, yeah, you should be good to go back the normal way"
Callie nodded and headed for the door.
"No wait, patrols will circle back round about now." Lorcan said quickly, "Take the second staircase not the first and then a left not a right. Then-"
"Are you done?" She interrupted.
"I was clearly still speaking, Cal" he said, a little confused.
"No" she tutted with a chuckle, "I mean, eating. You finished?"
"Oh, yeah"
"Okay then, take me back will you? All of that's too confusing."
"Oh yeah, sure. Oliver you coming?" he asked, seeing as Roxanne was still eating, and as Scorpius would probably stay with Roxy.
"Yeah, I'll come. I'm actually tired now." he yawned cutely.
Roxanne supressed the need to 'aww' at the small boy, she turned to her dessert instead.
"Lorcan, take a bowl back for Liv"
"What?"
"Pudding. It's chocolate, she's stressed out. Bring her some."
"Oh yeah, good idea. Thanks Rox" he decanted some of the pudding into a bowl for Liv.
"Well, no one else is going to remind you how to treat her well" she shrugged.
He smiled, and followed the other two to the doorway.
"Lorc" Scorpius called, flinging a spoon towards his head before he'd even fully turned. His eyes widened but the hit never came, his saviour had been Callie, catching the spoon in her hand before it had hit him. "I knew we were ready for tomorrow, Jones" Scorpius winked at her.
"You betcha'"she winked back; shuffling a confused looking Lorcan out of the door.
"Please eat" Roxanne requested, nodding to both the chocolate cheesecake and chocolatey pudding-y thing in the centre of the table. As always, the Elves had made sure they wouldn't go hungry any time soon.
Scor laughed, "Why?"
"Then I won't feel like such a pig eating thirds" she laughed back. Taking another not-actually-that-guilty bite.
He laughed, "Now I'm definitely not having any more"
"Pleasssseeee" she stuck out her bottom lip.
He rolled his eyes, his mouth twitching in a small smile.
"Pouting doesn't work when my mum does it, it's not going to work from you either"
"You're mum pouts at you, to eat?" she sniggered.
"I'm a growing boy, I should eat more" he half imitated.
"But you eat plenty" Rox was confused. Sure, he didn't have a Weasley appetite, but it almost matched the Scamanders' and that was pretty close.
"Yeah, except, now she's not sure whether I do or not. I think with the new baby coming, she's paying way more attention to everything and getting paranoid about it all."
"Aw, you should tell her not to worry. She did a good enough job with you, you git"
"Awww, thanks. That was almost a compliment"
"Well, if your mother had been here, I would have made it one"
He laughed at that, "She wants you to come over at Easter, by the way. Did I mention?"
"For dinner? Lunch? What? Why?" Roxanne looked confused, and Scor stopped himself from chuckling at her expression.
"For the weekend I think. I'm not sure. She mentioned the guest room."
"Your mother wants me to stay over at your house during the holidays?"
"You, Liv, and the boys, yeah."
"Like I said, she's getting paranoid about everything. I think she's worried I missed out by never having sleepovers." he rolled his eyes and Roxanne giggled.
"What's funny?"
"Well, now I'm imagining you having a really girly sleepover"
"Hilarious" he rolled his eyes.
"We can have makeovers, watch movies, gossip, eat snacks at midnight…"
"If you bring make up to my house and even attempt to put it near my face…"
"You'll what? Tell mummy?" she laughed.
"I was going to say, I'd buy some permanent stuff and put it on you"
Her mouth formed a little 'o'.
"You wouldn't…" she narrowed her eyes.
"Try me" he smirked.
She shrugged, she wouldn't put it past him. It was bad enough having someone who knew how to apply make-up force it on, but Scorpius? He'd ruin her face. Though, maybe not, if the way he drew was anything to go by.
That reminded her…
"Hey, when are you going to draw us?"
"Draw you?"
"Yeah, remember we found out you're an amazing artist, you said you weren't, we ignored you, then made you promise to actually draw us instead of just looking at memories"
"That's not exactly how I remember it being discussed"
"I'm paraphrasing. But that's not the point."
"Fine. I don't know. Whenever, it's not something I do a lot. I don't know, it feels odd to have people watch me draw" he sounded a little unsure, for once.
"What about me?" she prodded.
"You're still a person, Rox"
"Yeah, but I'm only one person. Not 'people', soo…" she smiled, satisfied.
He tutted a little, "You realise how insufferable you are?"
She nodded, still smiling.
"Well, I guess. I could probably draw with you watching. But I wouldn't be able to draw you with you watching"
She laughed. "Why not?"
"Because, you would not sit still. And you'd want to see the progress all the time and that's disruptive"
"Are you suggesting I'm impatient?"
"I'm saying you can be"
She shrugged, she couldn't really disagree, it was a fair statement.
"Well, draw something else for me then" she said, fishing a pen out of her pocket. It was one of her biros.
He turned it over in his hand.
"I've never actually drawn with one of these before." He studied the tip closely.
"It's weird" he touched his finger to it and she almost giggled at the look on his stupidly attractive face.
"It's so much more useful than a quill, and practical. Though, one's burst in my pocket before and that was annoying"
"How do they burst?" he asked, tapping the plastic casing. It didn't seem very burst-able.
"No clue, just draw"
"I need parchment, genius"
She laid out her map and flipped it over, blank side up.
"Make it pretty for me" she smiled and he rolled his eyes but held the pen carefully and started to lightly sketch with it.
Roxanne watched him long after her dessert had gone. She giggled every time he dotted the biro on the table up to his right, where an ink pot would usually sit. He shot her a look at every giggle, but tried not to smile himself. He was still getting used to this Muggle pen.
Slowly, she began to make out his drawing, but from upside down it was hard to tell.
She placed their dishes in the sink, but the House Elves shooed her when she tried to wash up so she just made her way to Scor's side of the bench, sliding in next to him.
He shot her a glare and she just scooted closer to annoy him. He pushed her away and she scooted back, they did that a few times until he gave up with a sigh and went back to his art.
It was mostly silent but she didn't feel the need to speak. ~
Scorpius tuned her out, or rather tuned her in. He listened to her breathing and drew to its steady rhythm. The House Elves had gone to bed at some point.
He was halfway through what he planned to draw when she spoke.
She whispered, "How long have you been drawing for?"
"Ages. Longer than I can remember."
"Was it because of that woman, in the portrait? The one who sketched at you?" she asked softly.
He smiled, of course she would remember that.
"No, it was my mum actually. She's a designer, I used to sit on the floor of her studio and just stare at all her sketches. I once asked her why she didn't draw anything other than clothes, if she even could. Obviously, it was because it wasn't her job but then she drew a picture of me. I was so fascinated; I just started drawing anything and everything I could since then"
"Did she teach you?"
"When she could... When she had time she'd give me tips, here and there…but mostly I taught myself. I haven't shown my mum anything I've drawn in years."
"She doesn't know?" Rox guessed.
"No one really did till you all stumbled on it"
"Well, it was kind of there to be stumbled on"
"I kind of forgot it was a secret"
"It shouldn't be. You're so good at it Scor"
She touched her fingertips to the drawing he'd started.
"No don't" he said suddenly, putting his hand on hers to hold it still.
She laughed, and used her other hand to pry his fingers away. "It's not like normal ink"
She ran her hand over the drawing. "See?. It doesn't smudge the same way"
"Oh"
"Wow" he tapped his fingers to the ink he'd just left on the page. A tiny bit smudged.
"You have to give it a few seconds" she told him with a chuckle.
"Oh, right. Totally knew that" he smiled, a little embarrassed.
He ducked his head and continued to draw, Roxanne continued to watch in silence.
She yawned uncontrollably, then rested her head her arm on the table, the way she'd usually end up sleeping in class.
"What time is it?" he asked automatically.
"No idea"
Neither of them had watches.
"Think we should go back?" he asked.
She sat up, nodding. "Well, we do have a game to play in the morning. But then, you'll have to promise to finish this for me"
"How do you know it's not done already?"
"Scor you've drawn half of a tree. I'm no artist, but I know it's not done"
"It's not just any tree"
"I know, it's the tree by the lake. The one we all sit under."
He smiled at her identification of the half-drawn tree and handed the biro back to her. She pocketed it as he flipped the map over it and began searching for prefects.
"You promise to finish it?" she asked, leaning over the map next to him.
"Promise"
"Good, then let's go" she folded up the map and ignored his protests, he hadn't finished looking.
"Oh, hush. There's no one along our route. And we can always check on the way. Come on"
She grabbed his hand automatically and pulled him after her.~
"Morrrrnnnniinnngggg Sunshine!" Roxanne called out, making sure she'd gotten up a few minutes before Liv's alarm so she could have the satisfaction of getting her friend back to kick off the day.
"Fuck you, Roxy" Olivia replied, rolling over and shoving her head under her pillow.
"Love you too, hun" Roxanne replied. Lifting the pillow and placing a kiss atop her best friend's head before going to get showered; actually allowing Liv more time to wake up than she'd been given last week. At least she hadn't vanished her covers.
Roxanne and Liv were out of their dorm within the next twenty minutes. Liv was vastly quicker, though that was mainly down to the fact she hadn't needed to do anything to her hair or face. Wind tended to make eyes water, which tended to ruin make up. So it was pointless. Or so Roxanne was told. She wouldn't know.
Rox had used one of Mel's straightening spells so she could put her hair in a tight, high pony tail which would keep it off of her face. Liv's keeper helmet would do that job for her, so she'd left her hair down her back.
Only Oliver and Scor were in the Great Hall when Liv and Roxanne came. Well, them and the Weasley part of the Gryffindor team. Of course the moment she walked in her brother called out to her.
"MUM SAID SHE'LL STILL BE PROUD WHEN YOU LOSE, ROX!"
"Are you sure she was talking about me, Freddie? I know you still struggle with reading some words!" she shouted back jokingly.
He grinned and beckoned her over.
"Harsh" he told her as she sat by him for a one armed hug.
"Gotta start the day as I mean to go on" she grinned, taking some toast from his plate.
"You playing harsh today then, Rox?" Lily asked her with a smile.
Rox held her forefinger and thumb an inch apart.
"Teensy bit. For the Captain" she smiled.
"You'd better play harsher for me then, Lils" Fred told her.
She nodded dutifully and mock-glared at Roxanne.
"Well then, if I'm going to get that kind of reception… I'd better be off"
"Yeah, you should get going, we've got some Gryffindor-only stuff to discuss. No birdbrains allowed I'm afraid" Albus told her with a smile.
"Oh, okay. I'll go, I know it does take you a while to discuss things" she winked.
He shook his head a little and continued to eat.
"Good luck then guys" she told them as she parted with a cheeky smile, "You'll need it".~
"Er- herm." Oliver cleared his throat at the entrance to the girls section of the changing rooms. The girls were all covered.
"Come through!" Liv shouted.
Oliver stepped in nervously, turning to Roxanne.
"What's up Ol?"
"Um, your boyfriend's here to see you-" he trailed off, clearly with more to say.
"And…?"
"And Ly told him to leave but he won't."
"Ugh. For Merlin's sake. Cal, can you calm Ly down if I get him back in?"
"Sure."
Roxanne followed Oliver to the mouth of the changing rooms. She could see Scorpius and Lorcan's backs blocking the doorway.
"Must you be so childish?" she complained, squeezing past them.
"Ly"
"Go back inside Rox" he told her.
"What's your problem?" she asked, not looking to Logan yet.
Ly whirled around to face her, "My problem is that he's here trying to distract my seeker fifteen minutes before the game! And now, my problem is that he won't fuck off"
"Ly, calm down." She put a hand on his shoulder which he shrugged off, and she replaced more firmly.
"Ly" she warned.
He huffed.
"I promise you he won't distract me. Look, give me one minute. I'll be back in a sec, okay?"
"I want him gone, Rox"
"He will be, just one minute, okay?"
Ly nodded with his lips pursed.
He turned and walked back in past Scor who was lingering in the doorway watching. Roxanne gave him a small brow raise, and he too reluctantly turned and went back inside.
"And to think I just wanted to wish you luck" Logan said softly, standing in front of her, by the doorway.
"Yeah, sorry. Ly's a little on edge…"
"I noticed"
She laughed a little.
He continued. "Though, I hope you won't completely forget about me"
"On the pitch?"
He nodded.
"Sorry, if you're not a potential threat or a team member, I probably will" she smirked a little, "But it's a step closer to the final, and you might get a chance to knock me off my broom again"
"That'd catch your attention wouldn't it?"
"A little, yeah"
"Roxxx" Callie, warned from the doorway, popping her head back in before a reply.
"Sounds like Cap's calling" she muttered.
"Well, good luck then"
"Thanks" she said, leaning up to kiss him quickly.
He dropped another quick kiss to her cheek before walking off to the stands. ~
"Finally decided to detach your lips then did you?"
"Oh, Ly stop being such an arse. We weren't locking lips. He wanted to wish me luck"
"Could have done that yesterday. Not ten minutes before the game"
"Yeah, well if you'd just let him in, or told me he was there instead of arguing, he would have been gone sooner"
"Yeah, and if he'd have left when I told him to then –"
"Ly, stop" Lorcan interrupted sensibly. It would do them no good to argue before a match. Their team had never done so before now.
Ly exhaled. "Fine. Whatever, just next time tell your snakey little boyfriend to stay away pre-match okay?"
"Don't talk about him like that. And stop trying to tell me what to do!"
"I'm your captain. It's my job to tell you what to do"
"Yeah, my captain, not my mother! You can't tell me what to do about my boyfriend"
"If it affects your game I can!"
"Why would it affect my game?"
"Because you'll be up there, thinking about him, making eyes at him, and next thing you know. Lily's got the snitch!"
"What the actual fuck Ly. I'm not some giddy little girl who's about to go out there and blow kisses to my boyfriend in the stands. When have I ever let myself be distracted from Quidditch?"
"Well, you've never had a boyfriend before now!"
"So what?! Why do you think I'm going to suddenly not play well? Why has this never been an issue when Scor's girlfriends have come waltzing in here to snog him before a game? Your brother is dating another team member, but wait, neither of them will be distracted? Is it because he challenged you? Because he didn't listen when you told him to leave, Ly? What is your problem?"
"Right now, Roxanne, you're my problem"
"me? I'm not the one making a big fuss over nothing Ly. You are"
"I am trying to be a good captain. And that means making sure my team are 100% focused"
"How about you let me tell you whether or not a thirty second conversation with my boyfriend is going to distract me, okay?"
"How abo-"
"How about you both calm the down?" Olly interjected.
Both Ly and Rox looked at him with mixtures of shock and a little awe.
Scorpius looked proud, and actually ruffled the boy's head.
"Olly's right, both of you need to chill" Callie told them with more confidence.
"Now we're distracted and it's not because Logan came. It's because you, flipped out for no reason" she directed at Ly and Roxanne felt a little smug, "and you" she turned on Roxanne, "should have known better" Roxanne's face fell.
None of this was her fault!
"C'mon, Rox, we all know Ly is an arsey captain at the best of times. Before a game? And considering Logan's a Slytherin beater? You should have just dropped it" Roxanne wanted to argue, especially now that Ly had started her off. But Callie was right. They had both overreacted.
Ly had grumpily stalked off to his locker to put his wand away and pick up his bat.
"Okay, we've wasted enough time." Lorcan began.
"Ly, do you have a speech to make?" Scor asked with a little grin. They'd never gone a match without one of the legendary, terribly inspiring starts Mel had taught him to make.
Just as Ly opened his mouth to respond, the whistle calling the teams out blew. The team turned to their captain, looking slightly panicked. He needed to speak.
"Oh, look. No time now" he picked up his broom, and began to walk into the centre of the pitch.
"Shit" Lorcan said, quickly grabbing his bat and starting off behind his twin.
"Looks like it's game time" Callie said, unhappily. The rest of the team trundled out. ~
"OH, AND THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE A TERRIBLE GAME FOR THE RAVENCLAWS! FOURTY MINUTES IN AND THE TEAM HAVE NOT MANAGED A SINGLE KNOCK OUT, OR POINT. LUCKY WOOD SEEMS TO BE ON THE BALL TODAY, SHE'S MANAGED TO FEND OFF MOST GRYFFINDOR ASSAULTS, KEEPING THEIR POINTS DOWN TO ONLY FIFTY. STILL, IT'S A DANGEROUS LEAD. IF THE YOUNGEST POTTER SPOTTED THE SNITCH NOW, SHE COULD GO FOR IT AND THE GRYFFINDORS WOULD ADVANCE STRAIGHT TO THE FINAL WITH A TWO HUNDRED POINT VICTORY!"
The blue section of the crowd moaned in despair while the Gryffindors cheered louder than usual. James was lapping up the attention. He had already taken a smug little loop on his broom in celebration after the team's third unchallenged shot past Liv.
"OOH AND SCAMANDER JUST MISSED POTTER BY A FRACTION! THAT'S SLOPPY WORK FROM A USUALLY SPOT-ON BEATER AND CAPTAIN. IN FACT, I DON'T THINK SCAMANDER HAS GIVEN HIS TEAM ANY DIRECTION THE ENTIRE GAME. THE WAY THIS IS GOING… WE WON'T BE SEEING THE EAGLES FLYING AGAIN THIS SEASON!"
The faithful Ravenclaws booed at the commentator but his words couldn't be closer to the truth. Ly was playing poorly. Lorcan was having a hard time trying to compensate, and without their beaters clearing a path for them, Scor, Callie and Olly were finding it impossible to get through the entire Gryffindor team. Every hit Ly took was overly hard. Roxanne could tell he was hitting the bludger more forcefully than usual, that was putting it off course and he was losing his precision. All because he had kicked off annoyed. The entire team was suffering. And from where Roxanne was watching, they'd lose the game if that didn't change quickly.
She felt helpless, there was nothing she could do other than fly up to him and apologise or calm him. But she was already under close attack. Her brother and cousin were aiming every bludger they could at her, considering they weren't getting much resistance back from the twins. Roxanne was having to scan the pitch for the snitch, watch out for bludgers, keep an eye on Lily, and watch her team fall to pieces. The worst part was knowing she didn't have the twins looking out for her or directing counter attacks.
She saw it happen before she heard it. All of a sudden, Lily's head whipped around, then the crowd kicked off cheering, the screams becoming louder as Lily got closer. The commentator shouting incoherencies down the microphone. Rox didn't have time. She couldn't get in front of Lily and catch the snitch herself. Besides, if she did that might not be enough. They needed a points lead first. Even by a few. But being behind by fifty and ending the game now, even with the 150 from catching the snitch, gave them next to no chance of continuing. The team would be a disgrace. Ly would never forgive her. Or himself. He'd be distraught.
And while Roxanne had been angry at him for being angry at her, she'd let that go now, now all she could think of was that they needed to get to the finals.
And that meant Lily could not catch that snitch.
Roxanne could feel the bludger bearing down on her. She teased it, the way she had been practising with the twins all week. Instead of moving out of its path, she kept on hers and it followed. The distance between them growing smaller.
She was practically in the same plane as the line of her broomstick now, her chest touching the wood. She felt the power from it, the connection between her magic and the materials used to make the broom hummed into action. She sped up, still she wasn't close enough to get to the snitch before Lily.
Lily glanced back and the cousins locked eyes for just a fraction of a second, Roxanne saw a little twinkle in her cousin's eyes that made her the slightest bit regretful for what she was about to do. Her cousin thought she had the snitch. She thought she'd win the game for her team. Lily thought wrong, if Rox had anything to do with it, Lily was leaning forward on her broom now, just letting go of her handle with one hand.
Roxanne was speeding up, closing the gap between them.
Three metres.
Two metres.
One.
The bludger was still on her tail, Roxanne had just enough room between Lily in front and the bludger behind to pull upwards sharply. She rode the angle out, taking a large backwards loop until she was level again.
She could see the result of her pull up now. Lily had been unsuspectingly hit from behind by the bludger, she wasn't on the ground- which Rox was glad of- but she was several feet below now, hovering next to Albus, who had come over to see if she was okay. And, thankfully, the snitch had disappeared.
The Gryffindor crowd who had been cheering in Lily's chase were now silent, aside from the sighs. The Ravenclaws had gone up in roars of celebration, now cheering for Roxanne, who had just single-handedly kept them in the game.
Scor and Callie flew past her, Scorpius clutching the quaffle was taking a chance while the Lions were slightly distracted.
He shouted something backwards which she just assumed was congratulations, his actual words lost to the wind.
Roxanne looked up, Olly was flying above her, Callie was to Scor's left. Roxanne recognised the 'shape', as she'd call it in teasing. Scor was close to the goalposts now. The opposition, Elliott and a non-brood member, David, were closing in. Elliott was flying side by side with Callie waiting for the chance to steal the catch. David was trailing behind Scor. Albus sped up away from Lily but was too late to notice Olly above. Scor feigned a pass to his left, the keeper moving to block Callie's possible shot. He then threw the ball upwards to Oliver, who caught it and scored through the unchecked hoop.
The Ravenclaw crowd went wild, the first goal for them of the match was met by equal enthusiasm from the commentator, which only served to make them cheer louder.
Roxanne flew over to Ly in the slight lull as the quaffle was recovered and reset.
She knocked brooms with her Captain and playfully elbowed him.
"We're not out of this yet, Cap"
"All thanks to you. Meanwhile I've been playing shit, and bringing the team down" he sounded angry at himself.
"Yeah. Well I've had some pretty stellar coaching." She nudged him again, "Come on, Cap. Don't let my idiot brother and cousins go on thinking they're the best beater bros in the school"
"Well, when you put it like that. I suppose I owe it to everyone to bring them down a few pegs"
"Too right you do" she told him with a grin, and he nodded and shook his shoulders out.
"Rox, get back up there. Stay safe, I want at least a thirty point lead before you catch the snitch. If Lily gets near it again, keep being spectacular. Maybe a few more loops next time"
She laughed, "Sure thing cap" before flying away.
She took a detour past Olivia.
"CAP'S BACK, LIV!"
She cheered back.~
OH AND WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HIT BY SCAMANDER. THAT'S THE SECOND TIME CHASER POTTER HAS BEEN KNOCKED OFF COURSE. OH, AND HE'S HAD TO DROP THE QUAFFLE TO RECOVER. OOOH, NICE! THE QUAFFLE'S BEEN PICKED UP BY JONES, TO MALFOY, TO CHARLES, BACK TO MALFOY WHO TAKES THE SHOT. OOOH AND PAST WEASLEY IT GOES! THAT'S NINETY-SEVENTY TO THE EAGLES. I'VE GOTTA SAY LADIES AND GENTS, I AM EATING MY WORDS RIGHT NOW, THE EAGLES HAVE MADE A SPECTACULAR RECOVERY, AFTER THAT GREAT BLUDGER COAXING AND FIRST SHOT BY WEASLEY AND NEWBIE-CHARLES THEY REALLY HAVE TURNED IT AROUND! IF THEY WIN THIS GAME WITH ENOUGH OF A LEAD, THEY COULD VERY WELL BE IN THE FINALS. BUT, FOLKS THAT ALL DEPENDS ON SEEKER, ROXANNE WEASLEY AND WHETHER OR NOT SHE CAN CATCH THE SNITCH BEFORE HER COUSIN POTTER WITH ENOUGH OF A POINTS LEAD. TOO LATE AND THEY LOSE, TOO EARLY AND THEY DON'T ADVANCE TO THE FINALS…
"NO PRESSURE, THEN!" Scorpius shouted with a laugh as he flew past Roxanne in another practised formation.
Roxanne laughed, but didn't let his handsome windswept face distract her. She had too many other things to focus on. Not that she would find his face distracting if she didn't have those things to focus on. That would be odd, and ridiculous.
She shook her head. The game.
She needed to be in the game. Lily was hovering at the midpoint of the pitch. Roxanne was flying slowly, on the opposite side of the pitch, also currently at the midpoint.
Being so far from Lily was a risky move, if Lily saw the snitch she'd have a whole width to catch up- the crowd noises surged behind her.
That'd be the Ravenclaws.
Scor flew back past her with a smug grin.
So, one hundred to seventy now.
That meant they had just hit Ly's minimum points lead. Provided the Eagles kept the gap equal, if not extending it in their favour, Roxanne had to go for the snitch the next time she saw it. ~
"Roxanne Weasley, I could kiss you right now" Ly told her before enveloping her in his strong arms.
Roxanne laughed into his ear, "Please don't"
He ignored her and planted a massive kiss on her forehead anyway. She mimed wiping it off in disgust but couldn't wipe the grin off of her face.
The game had been incredible.
Freddie had sent a bludger at Callie, which had shattered a bone in her right forearm on impact. The loss of Callie meant they fell behind a few points and Roxanne had to lead Lily away from the snitch that had been hovering just behind her. Lorcan and Ly had their revenge though, knocking out Albus, who was significantly more experienced than their third chaser David, whom Elliott was left with. Ly, back on form, also managed to injure Hugo enough that he was slower, and a few shots he usually would have blocked, slipped through.
Olly had held his own with Scor, while Elliott was forced to pick up the slack left by David.
Scor and Olly upped the lead to sixty before the snitch was seen for the third time that game. Rox had led the final chase from the get-go, narrowly missing a few bludgers aimed at her by James and/or Fred. She managed to get to the snitch, just a few seconds after Scorpius had gotten another shot through. The game ended 370-150 to the Eagles.
Needless to say, Lysander was ecstatic.
A/N:
Sooo what did you think?
Even a little bit worth the wait?
I hope so... but let me know!
Anyway, down to business, i need your opinions!
Basically I'm a pretty fucking sweary person. And I figure the gang are also pretty damn sweary, but to me, they're not overly sweary. If that makes sense? I feel like it's part of their characters, they're teens: they make sexual jokes; they swear unnecessarily sometimes. I don't intentionally thinkoh this sentence needs a profanity, it's just how I write them.
In case you're wondering why I'm bothering to explain this, it's because I got a review to say 'stop swearing' (That was literally it), and so it made me wonder whether or not anyone else thought there was too much bad language going on?
I'm not going to stop swearing completely, I think my fic is in the right category for it and that I have every right to swear as I see fit… BUT… if anyone else thinks it's a bit much, let me know and I'll try to cut it down.
If you don't, also let me know! (Reassurance is always helpful)
Anyway that's all I have to ask of you guys. Stay tuned… update coming v. soon!
Love you all,
And PLEASEEEE send me a little review (and comment on the swear situation!). I feel it's been too long!
Cookie xxx