Despite Halloween falling on a Monday, Headmistress McGonagall allowed the students to have a half-day of classes to celebrate the holiday. Although the air was slightly chilly that afternoon, the students loved this weather because it meant they could sport their house paraphernalia. An assortment of jumpers, scarfs, and hats gathered on the grassy knoll of the flying practice green, which was now dried and brown due to the cold weather.
The last activity that afternoon was a broomstick race for a selected few sixth and seventh years from each house. The students selected from Gryffindor was James Potter, Troy Charmer, Holly Piles, and Maddison Wood. From Slytherin, the riders selected were Gabriel Rosier, Aria Rowle, Mercy Burke, and Scorpious Malfoy. In the end, Scorpius had made it to the final two going up against James.
"What's going to happen if Jay loses?" asked Rose, watching with Al amongst the other Gryffindor students.
"He'll probably throw a fit," said Al, watching his brother interact with Troy and other members of the Quidditch team, which included his cousin Louis and sister Lily. "He hates to lose."
"I think he'll win," said Rose.
"We think Scorpius will win." Rose and Al jumped at the sound of two voices coming from behind them. It was the Scamander twins, Lorcan and Lysander, both Ravenclaw second years. The Scamander twins were fraternal, with Lorcan looking more like his mother Luna and Lysander favoring the Scamander side, almost resembling a young Newt Scamander.
"We believe Scorpius will fly faster due to the day," said Lysander.
"Sincepurebloods are energized on Halloween," said Lorcan, holding out a worn book with red leather binding.
"What in Merlin's beard supports that theory?" argued Rose.
"Ann Ackerant's Almanac," said Lorcan and Lysander.
"Look, it's starting!" said Al, pointing to the flying ground where James and Scorpius were hovering above the grassy knoll.
"Now," said Madam Hooch, to James and Scorpius. "You will fly to the trees outside the left of Quidditch field and complete a loop-the-loop without touching the trees. Then fly through the field and complete the Starfish and Stick. Finally, you must reach the other trees on the right side of the field. Once you're out from the trees, you must complete an Extreme Dive and Pull Up. This course should be completed in ten minutes top, so aim for that as the time completed."
"C'mon, Potter!" said Troy, cheering with his crew. "Smash the snake!"
"Mr. Charmer," said McGonagall with her shrill yet stern voice overpowering the cheers. "I will be selecting points for sportsmanship, so select your words wisely."
"You can do it, Scorpius!" cheered Juniper Parkinson amongst the Slytherins, holding up a cardboard sign with a black and white photo of Scorpius plastered on it,
"Oi," groaned Scorpius, shaking his head as he turned a visible shade of red.
"On your marks...get set...GO!" cried Madam Hooch. As she blow her whistle, cheers erupted from the crowd as James and Scorpius soared up into the autumnal sky.
Scorpius felt a gust of air hit his face as he reached the sky. As he flew his broom across the first set of trees, Scorpius kept his eyes on James, who was slightly ahead and had began to do the loop-the-loop. After playing many Quidditch matches against James, Scorpius knew James made his loops big so Scorpius figured a smaller loop would allow him to complete the first task quicker and get ahead of James.
"Jay's winning so far!" said Lily, pointing to Scorpius who had completed his loop-the-loop before James.
"No, now it's Malfoy!" said Finn Creevey, noticing that James was neck to neck with Scorpius again.
When both boys got to the Quidditch field, they managed to complete the next maneuver, the Starfish and Stick. The maneuver involved holding on to their brooms with one hand and one arm, a popular move for Keepers. While Scorpius managed to remount his broom, James wobbled a bit and lagged behind Scorpius, giving him a lead in the race.
"C'mon, Scorpius!" cried Al, as Rose bit her nails as she watched Scorpius.
Once Scorpius made it out of the second grouping of trees, he descended into the Extreme Dive. This was a move Scorpius done a thousand times and managed to touch the ground with ease. However, before he could fly back up to the sky, he noticed a figure in the field. Because Scorpius flew so fast on his broom, within seconds he noticed that he was getting closer to the figure. Although Scorpius could make out the figure's shape, he couldn't really notice any details other than some tattered black robes and white hair. Afraid to hit the figure, Scorpius turn his broom stick, but because he was close to the ground and flying so fast, Scorpius fell off his broom and tumbled into the field, landing face first on the hard ground.
Scorpius remained on the ground, slightly dazed from his tumble. Up ahead, Scorpius could hear cheers, meaning that James had won the race. When Scorpius looked up, he could see Rose and Al running towards him along with Madam Hooch.
"Mr. Malfoy!" said Madam Hooch, helped him up. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," said Scorpius, brushing off the grass and dirt from his trousers and gloves. Despite having some cuts and scrapes on his face and hands, Scorpius was able to get out of that fall with very vew bumps and bruises.
"What happened?" asked Al, as Rose brushed off the dirt on Scorpius's back.
"I saw someone in the field," said Scorpius. "Or, at least I think it was a person - I thought I was about to crash into them, so I tried to dodge them."
"Oi! Malfoy!" yelled Troy Charmer, approaching him with his crew. "Looks like you need to go back to year one and learn how to fly properly!"
"Mr. Charmer, now's not the time for your insightful commentary," said Madam Hooch sternly, as Troy and his crew laughed at Troy's comment.
"Scorpius!" cried Juniper, running to him with open arms, with several other Slytherins behind her. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"Oh bloody hell," groaned Scorpius, as Juniper suffocated him in her arms. "You poor thing! Did that Potter boy hex you? If he did, I swear..."
"Jay didn't hex him," said Rose, annoyed by Juniper's emotional antics. "He would never cheat to win."
"Of course you would say that," said Juniper, getting in Rose's face. "Weasleys always defend their own."
"Honestly, Juniper, you're embarrassing yourself," huffed Rose, stepping forward to tower over Juniper.
"It's fine, Juniper," said Scorpius, awkwardly stepping in between the girls. "I just lost my focus, okay?" Juniper looked at Scorpius, then looked at Rose and sniffed her nose in the air as she walked off. As Juniper walked away, James approached Scorpius with a big grin on his face and a few Gryffindors tailing behind him, including Troy and the crew.
"What happened there, Malfoy?" asked James. "Saw a ghost?"
"Eh, maybe," said Scorpius.
"Ooh, Malfoy saw a ghost!" said Stanley, doing am impression of a ghost by waving his arms around and making loud sighing noises.
"We're at a school for magic, you prat," retorted Al. "Why wouldn't there be ghosts?"
"Jeez, mate, calm down," said James, taken back by Al's rude response.
"Yeah, Potter, laugh a little," said Troy, stepping in the middle of the students so that he was in between Al and James. "In fact, I haven't heard you say one thing to your brother about winning the match." At that comment, Al wanted to melt into the ground as students stared and whispered. Meanwhile, Jay looked at Al with an amused and slightly smug look on his face, not noticing his brother's anxiety.
"Congrats," mumbled Al, halfheartedly.
"Thanks," said James, also without conviction.
"And what about you, Rosie?" asked Troy, turning to Rose.
"Yes... well done, Jay," said Rose, wanting to hex Troy into oblivion.
"Hmm..." hummed Troy, rather loudly, before James could respond to Rose's comment. "I don't think you two really mean it. I think you two care more about your Slytherin friend here than your own house."
"Not at all!" said Rose, as their were murmurs amongst her housemates with a few exceptions.
"What is he doing?" asked Finn to Hugo.
"Taking the piss out of her," said Hugo. "And succeeding."
"Oh is it?" asked Troy. "Face it, you care more about Scorpius Malfoy than your own family."
"Bugger off, Troy" said Rose, her eyes staring at Troy like sharp daggers. Troy laughed at Rose, clearly undisturbed by her.
"What is all of this?" asked McGonagall, coming to clear up the crowd. "Mr. Malfoy, do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?"
"No. Headmistress," said Scorpius. "I'm fine."
"Good," said McGonagall. "Then everyone back to the castle for supper."
The crowd dispersed leaving James, Rose, Scorpius, and Al on the pitch in an awkward and tense silence. Rose could tell from James' face that he was hurt that the two of them had rushed out to see Scorpius rather than stay behind to congratulate him on his victory. In the past, Rose and Albus had always struggled with supporting their own house but also supporting Scorpius. In the past, James always appeared to be unbothered by this split. This was the first time Rose noticed this apprehension from James and it broke her heart to see him so hurt.
"Jay," said Rose. "I am happy for you, really, it's just..."
"You care about him more," retorted James, pointing his broomstick at Scorpius.
"No, Jay, please listen!" begged Rose.
"Look," said James. "I know you and Al don't like me because I'm a prat or something..."
"Don't be ridiculous, Jay!" cried Rose. "If that had been you, I would have darted out to that field!"
"Sure," said James, chortly.
"You're going to take that idiot's word over hers?" asked Al, raising his voice. "Troy is nothing but a bastard who wouldn't even save his own friends if they fell off their broomsticks. I can't keep track of all the times Rose saved your arse..."
"Oh shut up, Albus!" said James, throwing his broom to the ground. "Just because you're better than me doesn't mean you're right!
"Who said anything about me being better?" asked Albus, stunned to hear those words from Jay.
"Because you're the perfect son!" said James, his eyes dark with anger and bitterness. "You're smart and a Prefect and clearly Mum's favorite..."
"What?" cried Al, almost laughing at the absurdity of the statement. "You think Mum likes me more?"
"She always has!" said James, who ran his hands through his brown-ginger hair. "You know what? Nevermind, clearly you think I'm just some prat who doesn't deserve shite, so you can take your congratulations and shove it up your arse!"
"Oh, bugger off, you immature git!" yelled Al, as Jay threw his his broom at him.
"Jay!" cried Rose. "Please! Wait up!"
Scorpius just stood there in complete confusion and utter disbelief, as he reminded himself that there were perks to being an only child.