DISCLAIMER: I do not own any original HP characters-they belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling. I just own the plot of this story and any characters you wouldn't read about in the magic of the seven Harry Potter books. (:
Thanks to WiccanWeasley101 and aleera for the reviews, and thank you to everyone who added this story to their story alerts. It means a lot! 3
"Pansy, darling!"
"Oh, Vivian, dear, how are you?"
Puke. Amanda seriously doubted whether her mother really considered Pansy Zabini as a 'darling'. At least, it hadn't sounded like it about three hours ago when she'd been calling her names, the politest of which being 'slut' and 'a shameful addition to the Zabini family'.
"…and this is my daughter, Amanda," Mrs. Higgs said, pulling Amanda forward by her shoulder. Mrs. Flint peered down at the seven-year-old girl with an adoring smile.
"Oh, she's just lovely," she said, as if Amanda were a piece of jewelry that Mrs. Zabini was considering purchasing.
Amanda forced a smile, but Mrs. Zabini was already moving down the line, arm-in-arm with a tall, thin, slick-looking man, who strode alongside his wife toward the end of the entrance hall where Mr. Higgs stood. Mr. Zabini shook hands with Amanda's father and spoke a word of friendly greeting in his deep, smooth voice, a smile (which was more of a smirk) plastered on his face. Mr. Higgs grinned in return, clapping his old classmate on the shoulder. Behind her, Amanda heard her mother clear her throat very quietly, as if this gesture was inappropriate for her fancy get-together.
Several more guests arrived, bringing with them the same general greetings with Vivian and Terence Higgs. Some couples had brought along their children. Mr. and Mrs. Pucey brought along their ten-year-old son, Mathias; the Stebbins' daughter, Diana, waved at Amanda so girlishly that Amanda had to try with some difficulty to not immediately decide upon disliking her.
But the family that Amanda was waiting did not turn up until after all the other guests had. Astoria Malfoy stepped in the front door first, her long stiletto heel clomping loudly on the stone floor of the entryway, announcing her arrival before her actual presence did. As Mrs. Higgs rushed forward to hug and peck cheeks with her, the second Malfoy moved into the hall.
"Ah, hello, Terence," he said, grinning a tiny, smirk-like grin as Mr. Higgs shook his hand welcomingly.
"Draco," Mr. Higgs replied to the fellow ex-Slytherin. "Nice to see you again."
And finally, in trudged the last, youngest Malfoy. Amanda grinned as she immediately recognized Scorpius, and hoped her cheeks weren't too pink.
Scorpius Malfoy's blonde hair wasn't messy like it was in Diagon Alley; it was slicked back, shiny and neat. He was wearing a nice shirt with black dress pants, and he did not look too happy about it.
As Amanda's and Scorpius's parents moved into the sitting room, still chatting and laughing about grown-up things, Amanda stayed where she was, eyeing the blonde in front of her. Scorpius turned to face her, and smiled slightly. "Hi," he said.
"Hi," Amanda replied shyly.
"I know you," Scorpius said, stepping towards her. "You're that girl from the ice cream shop."
Amanda nodded.
"Amanda, is it?" he asked. She nodded again.
"You're Scorpius," she said, pleased at the fact that he had remembered her name.
"Yeah," he said. "So… what is there to do around here?" he asked, looking around the spotless hallway.
Amanda sighed. "Not much. I suppose we could go outside…"
Scorpius grinned. "Ever play Quidditch?"
"Yeah! I love Quidditch! Wanna play?"
Scorpius agreed immediately, and followed Amanda to the backyard.
It was not nighttime yet, but a darkish sort of fog hung over the lawn, making it seem later than it was. Amanda led the way to the little shed behind the house where they kept the Quidditch equipment. Grabbing the rusty handle, she pulled the wooden door open.
"Woah," Scorpius said. His gleaming eyes had immediately fallen upon the biggest broomstick in the shed. He stepped forward and reached out to grab the shiny, brown handle of Amanda's father's broomstick.
"You have a Cirrus?" he asked, running a hand down the broomstick, marveling.
"Er—yeah, it's my dad's," Amanda said, looking at the blonde warily. The broom was one of her father's most prized possessions; Mr. Higgs had used it for the last match he ever played several years ago. It had helped his team, the English National Quidditch Team, win the Quidditch World Cup before he retired.
"Wow," Scorpius said again. "Can I have a go?"
Amanda hesitated. If her father found out she let a seven-year-old fly on his broomstick, she knew he wouldn't be happy. But she couldn't imagine saying 'no' to Scorpius Malfoy.
"Uh, sure. Just… be caref—"
"Cool! Thanks!" Scorpius grabbed the broomstick and pulled it out of the shed, grinning broadly. Amanda rushed out after him.
Scorpius mounted the Cirrus and kicked off the ground, rising immediately into the air. He hovered for a moment, then leaned forward and sped off.
Amanda couldn't help but giggle and watch him admiringly.
Several minutes passed, and Amanda sat down on the grass, gazing up in the sky at the blur of blonde hair whizzing around above her. But soon, the show was over, and Scorpius leaned forward, coming downwards to land neatly on the ground in front of Amanda. Amanda beamed and clapped her hands for him as he whipped his hair out of his face and held the broom above the ground so as not to get any dirt on it.
"You're a brilliant flier," Amanda complimented him.
"Thanks," Scorpius said.
"D'you fly often?"
"No," he said, sitting on the ground next to Amanda. "My mum thinks it's too dangerous." He frowned.
"Really? My dad says your dad was on the Quidditch team with him when they were in school," she said.
"Yeah, my dad used to take me out and teach me to fly while my mum was out. But when my mum caught us once, she got really mad. I haven't played ever since then."
Amanda nodded. Her mother didn't really approve of Quidditch either—'It's not ladylike!' But Amanda still flew around on her own broom sometimes, under her father's approving supervision.
"But there'll be no stopping her when I go to Hogwarts!" Scorpius said, grinning confidently. "I'll be a shoo-in to make it on the Quidditch team there."
Amanda was just about to voice her agreement, but was interrupted by voices coming from the direction of the house. She jumped up, practically grabbing her father's broomstick from Scorpius's hands, and ran back to the shed. After quickly setting the broom back in place, she shut the door behind her and ran back to a surprised Scorpius's side.
But there had been no need to hide the broom—the voices she'd heard belonged to neither her father nor her mother, but Diana Stebbins and Mathias Pucey, who had apparently been shooed outside by their parents as well. Diana spotted Amanda and Scorpius and pointed, starting off towards them. Mathias followed in what seemed to be a reluctant manner.
"Hello," Diana Stebbins said politely, smiling and cocking her head to the side, probably thinking she was just adorable. Mathias just stood there, hands in his pocket, staring at the ground.
"Hi," Scorpius greeted her in return.
"I'm Diana, Diana Stebbins! And you are?" She was wearing an even more girlish dress than Amanda-hers was purple with pink lace and a magenta floral pattern. Diana's blonde hair was straight, so long that it reached her mid-back.
"Scorpius," he answered.
"Scorpius Malfoy?" she said, smiling even wider.
"Yep."
Diana took a step closer to him. "Oh, I've heard a lot about you," she said sweetly. "My mum and dad knew your father well at Hogwarts."
Scorpius gave her a strange look, as if he highly doubted this. But Diana didn't seem to notice—she just stepped even closer to him, all but pushing an increasingly disgruntled Amanda out of the way.
"So, I saw you flying earlier! You looked great," she said, and Scorpius grinned.
"Thanks," he replied.
"So tell me a little about yourself, Scorpius."
She took Scorpius's arm and led him away, chatting loudly about this and that. Amanda was left there, dumbstruck, next to a still silent Mathias Pucey.
They stood there, listening to Diana's distant voice ringing out from wherever she had led Scorpius to. Their silence was broken a few minutes later as Mathias finally looked up at Amanda and said, "Stebbins is crazy. Don't let her get to you."
"What?" Amanda said, looking back at the older boy.
"She's been flirting with me all night, until she saw Malfoy. Once she gets bored of him, she'll find someone else to smother."
Amanda nodded, feeling a bit better. But her jealousy burned as brightly as ever; she couldn't really see how any girl could get bored of Scorpius Malfoy.
Author's note: Yay! Chapter update! Sorry it's been so long-I've been unbelievably busy, what with school starting back up again and whatnot. I got a random inspiration to write more today, though, so voila! :D
This chapter didn't turn out exactly as I was expecting it, but I'm not unhappy. Let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks so much for reading! (:
