Chapter 22 – Captain Wood?!

Ian Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Prefect and 5th year student, was nervous. He knew he was good-looking, with his long wide build, his roguish smile and his blond tousled hair. Still, asking out a girl that was known for her big mouth wasn't an easy thing. Yet there was no way back, he had a bet running with his best mate Alec Merrythought. Alec knew he had a small crush on the girl since she joined the Quidditch Team and bribed him into asking her with the bet. Ian wasn't sure yet if he should be happy or just angry with his friend. Maybe a mix of both, depending on her answer.

"Hey Rose, got a sec?" he let his voice carry across the Common Room when she entered and send a smile her way. Rose turned towards her raven haired friend and they whispered a few moments until she came over and sat down beside him. She wore her red curly hair open today and her brown eyes were fixed on him.

They were in the back of the room and the other students paid them no attention, thinking this was about the upcoming match against Ravenclaw.

Her cousin James watched them with his best friends Ralph and Jason but he knew they were only curious about the topic. Jason and James were also part of their team and to eager to miss anything that had to do with Quidditch. He bundled them off with a gesticulation, he didn't want any witnesses, should she turn him down.

"What's up, Cap?" she asked him. "Any concerns about the match you want to share?"

Struck by an sudden idea Ian decided to do things a bit differently.

"No. But would you consider going to Hogsmeade with me if I can catch the Snitch for you? Of course only if you are single."

He knew all about the best mate of her cousin Albus, hell the whole school knew how the boy tried to ask her out again and again. While she always blocked Scorpius attempts, Ian wasn't sure if there wasn't some deeper connection between them. Maybe it was their way of hiding their relationship, he wouldn't blame her. Most were still wary of anyone from the Slytherin House and relationships with 'one of them' were frowned on.

He hadn't had to worry, because while Rose looked at him, she decided that he might be her best way to show Scorpius that she didn't care for him. For her it was a softer way to let him know, than tell it to his face, like her mother told her to. For all her snappish comments, she didn't hate him, he was just to much for her taste most days. Also Ian Wood was a nice bloke, maybe a bit to focused on Quidditch sometimes, but Rose liked him just fine.

"Catch it and you've got a date." she stood up and saw his whole face lighten up. She couldn't help herself but smile back.

Flipping her hair she turned around and joined her friend Mara again. They vanished to the girls dormitories while Ian's gaze followed them.

Alec took her seat and saw the smile on his mate's face. He knew no questions needed to be asked to know her answer.

"Now you're happy I finally got you to ask her out, aren't you?" Alec smirked while he cosied up to the fireplace. It was a winter in Scotland after all, and he hated the cold more than anything else.

XxX

Professor Sprouse watched Saturn again. The new moon would be up on them tomorrow again, the second time since Saturn's light had flared. For more than a month she had spent every other night on top of the Astronomy Tower and watched the stars flicker.

Her Mastery was in Astronomy, but her old Dogon Master had made sure she was educated in the old ways of Divination too. She always told her about the harmony of things. Good and bad were reflected on the sky and couldn't exist without each other. Where there's light, shadows will form, just as day and night was a never ending circle.

Star charts could show even little differences if you wrote down the movements and intensity. Astrology was an art that took years to understand, but from time to time Professor Sprouse glimpsed parts of it. While she taught names and movements more than the meaning behind them, she knew there was more.

Over the last month she had watched the stars, wishing she could interpret the meaning behind this occurrence. Professor Trelawney wasn't a big help, something she found out within her first few days at Hogwarts. She still wondered how that ignorant woman was able to teach students. Maybe she had the third eye, but she didn't use it most of the time.

There were rumours about Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest, that used the stars for divination but she wasn't foolish enough to enter it, after Professor Hagrid had advised against going near the Centaurs. She had asked him some time ago to speak to them on her behalf, but had no answer yet. They must have seen it too, but that didn't involve sharing it with a human.

It made her sad to have no way to contact her old Master, but she knew the rules. Once the apprenticeship was finished, the tribe moved on and she was not to contact them again. She had to seek any other knowledge she wanted in the world she lived in. She longed for someone to teach her more, show her more and help her with the anxiety she was feeling.

So my focus is back on the rest of the characters. What I disliked to most about the "8th" book was that so many characters were left out, but while I write this I start to understand. It's hard to write about so many different persons. I would love to show more of Molly, Harry and all the others. But this story is about Hermione and the kids. If you are wondering what Ian Wood has to do with everything stay tuned.

Thank you again for all the nice comments and kudos to Eva who betas for us every week so most of my mistakes are gone when you get to see the new chapter.