AN - Hey, everybody! This is my submission for the first round of QLFC Season 10. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much to my amazing team the Chudley Cannons and Ashleigh for being a great beta.

Stab My Back

Chaser 2

Chudley Cannons

Round 1, Season 10

Prompts: Chaser 2: The number 13 – Write about someone getting betrayed.

[dialogue] "I would rather jump off a cliff than do that!"

[object] feather

[action] coughing

Rose watched him through narrowed eyes over her firewhiskey. She still couldn't believe he was on her team. She had played Quidditch since she was twelve years old and he had always been her opposition. First as a Gryffindor Vs Slytherin, then later as Montrose Magpie Vs Tutshill Tornado. As a Chaser Vs Beater, they weren't directly opposed but there'd definitely been smug satisfaction every time a tumbling deflection was made or smashing contact happened.

"I can't tell whether you're picturing him naked or visualising an axe in his back."

"Axe, definitely the axe," replied Rose, looking up at her friend and captain, Holly. "I can't believe he is a Magpie now."

"You have to treat him like a teammate now, Rose," chided Holly, softly. "Be friendly."

"I would rather jump off a cliff than do that!" snorted Rose.

"Not if you want that feather!"

Rose frowned. There was a long-standing Montrose Magpie tradition that when a new captain of the team was announced they would be presented with a feather. Holly, her closest friend on the team, was the last player to be given one. She had recently announced that this would be her last season playing. Although Rose was determined to get that feather, it would be bittersweet to lose her friend and mentor.

"I'm serious, Rose," said Holly. "If you want to be captain you need to show that you can get on with every team member, at least professionally, and that you can lead them.

"I'd definitely enjoy being his boss," said Rose, dropping her lips into a thin line and furrowing her eyebrows as Scorpius Malfoy, the object of her nightmares, caught her eye and supplied his own smirk. "Put him in his place."

"You know there is more to being a captain than being the boss."

"I know," sighed Rose. "I love this team so much, it'll just take me a while to get used to him being a part of the family."

One month in and Rose was still not used to him being part of the Montrose Magpies family. She couldn't force herself to trust him as she did her other teammates. He missed blocking a bludger that ended up knocking her off her broom on their match against the Cannons and she couldn't help but think he did it on purpose. It didn't help that a permanent lopsided smirk was etched on his face whenever he was looking at her - it felt like he was constantly laughing at her.

Everyone else seemed to get on with him, which irked her to no end. Even Holly said he surprised her when she finally got to speak to him one on one, after one of their training sessions. She'd even had the gall to suggest that maybe only Rose was keeping up her end of the school rivalry and that perhaps Malfoy had matured.

"Do you want some help?"

Rose whipped around to see the man of her thoughts standing in front of her hands in the pockets of his yellow training robes.

"What are you doing here? Everyone else has gone to the changing rooms." They took turns putting away the balls after each session. She hated it, she always itched to get a shower and get clean straight away.

"Just offering help," replied Scorpius, holding both of his palms up to her.

Rose narrowed her eyes. "What are you wanting out of it?"

"Nothing, I swear," laughed Scorpius. "Just being friendly."

"Why?"

"Because I'm on your team and I want to be friends - or at the very least, friendly acquaintances - it will make both of our lives much more pleasant."

"We've never been friends."

"We've never been on the same team," stated Scorpius. "Besides, I've never disliked you, Weasley, I just always wanted to beat you."

"If I let you help me, will you expect me to help you when it's your turn?"

"I'd never dream of it," laughed Scorpius again.

"When I'm captain I'm going to make you do it every time," grinned Rose. "So you might as well get the practice in now."

"You want to be captain?"

"Yeah," said Rose, wistfully. "When Holly steps down I want that feather. I know it won't be until next season but I'm already preparing for it now. My brain is just constant plays and tactics - I'm always scribbling them down on random bits of parchment. I used to have a fruit bowl on my coffee table in my living room, now it's a Quidditch bowl."

"You were a great captain at school."

"Oh, you mean when I beat you?" asked Rose cheekily, gently nudging him with her shoulder.

Scorpius groaned. "You'll never let me forget that, will you?"

"Hmm, maybe," shrugged Rose. "We are on the same side now, I suppose."

Rose smiled at Scorpius across the room. He had just turned up with a crate of firewhiskey at Holly's birthday party. He took out one of the bottles and waved it at her.

"Thank you," said Rose, taking it off of him and squeezing off the cap. "You are a good man going out on the drinks run."

"Well, you looked thirsty," said Scorpius, rolling his eyes. "I'm still scared of being on your bad side again."

Rose grinned as she looked up at him, noticing how long his eyelashes were. She also noticed how close she was standing to him; him leaning with his back against the counter, her leaning with her side against it, the front of her thigh resting against his side. This was not the first time she had seemed to gravitate towards him recently.

Oh no, she thought, just as she took a swig of the fiery amber liquid. Oh no. The alcohol burned down her throat as her body gasped without her permission. She spluttered, trying to take in a breath unsuccessfully. Realising she had feelings for Malfoy was actually going to be the death of her.

"Shit, breathe Rose, breathe," muttered Scorpius, taking the bottle out of her hands.

She tried to respond but all she could do was carry on coughing and hacking her guts up.

"You're okay, you're okay," muttered Scorpius, as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.

She barked out another cough, this time with control, and finally felt as though she was getting air in her lungs again as she managed a deep breath. She rubbed her watery eyes and coughed a few more times before letting herself rest her head against his chest, feeling a little lightheaded after nearly choking herself. A few moments passed before she realised what had caused her coughing fit in the first place, and she sprung backwards.

"Thanks," said Rose, feeling her ears burn. "You know, for making sure I can breathe like a normal person."

"Are you okay?"

"Me, yeah, me I'm fine," said Rose, her voice a little higher than she liked. She cleared her throat. "I'm going to go, though. I've had enough excitement for one day now."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yep, never better," squeaked Rose.

"So let me get this straight, you realised he had pretty eyelashes and then you coughed all over him?"

"Not quite," grumbled Rose. "I realised I had feelings for him, and then I coughed all over him."

"Smooth," commented Holly, holding back laughter. "I can understand why I rarely see you with a boyfriend."

"Stop it, it was mortifying," cringed Rose. "And he was so nice about it, which made it worse."

"A couple of months ago you hated him."

"I know," sighed Rose. "But maybe I didn't ever hate him. Realistically, I never really knew him."

"Please be careful, Rose. Dating team members isn't easy."

"Do you want to get dinner?" asked Rose, nervously shifting from foot to foot.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "As in a date?"

"As in a date or just dinner," said Rose, shrugging her shoulder. "Your choice."

"Date, always date."

She could feel his smile against her lips. Of all his smiles, this one was her favourite. There were many to choose from; laughing at her doing something stupid smile, the satisfied grin when he hit a bludger just right, the lopsided smirk when he made a joke, the friendly smile when children wanted autographs after matches. This one though was just for her.

"Do you want to come in?"

Scorpius pecked a short kiss against her mouth, then rested his forehead against hers. "Sure."

She felt the giddy butterflies in her stomach as she unlocked the front door to her flat. She invited him and the nerves started to rise.

"Make yourself at home," said Rose, awkwardly waving her hand towards her open-plan kitchen and living room, and then folding her arms. "I'll just be a minute, going to nip to the bathroom."

Rose looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and tried to smooth down her deep red hair to no avail. With a sigh, she thought it would have to do. She checked she had nothing in her teeth, and spritzed herself with her perfume.

Rose had been on a couple of dates with Scorpius in the past couple of weeks. They'd snuck away to restaurants and bars in Muggle London, having decided to not make their dalliance public knowledge. She did have concerns about them being teammates, and hopefully captain and team member in the future, but she couldn't help how she felt about him. He excited her, pushed her, mystified her and somehow soothed her all at the same time.

Although, she wasn't feeling soothed at the moment. Tonight was the first time they'd not just kissed each other goodbye. She hung her denim jacket on the coat hook on the door and slipped off her heels. With one last unruffle of her dress, she came back into the main part of her flat, back to Scorpius. She was surprised to see him still near the main door, coat and shoes still on.

"Are you okay?"

"I should go, Rose," frowned Scorpius.

"What? Why?"

"Maybe we need to slow this down." Scorpius scratched the back of his head, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

"Slow down or stop?" asked Rose, confused. She could feel prickly hotness at the back of her eyes, tears she was determined to not let fall.

"I'm sorry," said Scorpius, not meeting her eyes.

"I don't understand," said Rose, bewildered. She placed her hand on his arm but pulled it back as though scorched when he flinched at her touch. "Have I done something?"

"No," said Scorpius, firmly. He cast his grey gaze on her at last and reached out his hand as though going to touch her hair but he dropped it. "You've not done anything. Being here, it's made me realise that Quidditch should come first. Us being together will ruin that."

"Rose, I'm so sorry."

Rose put her bag down in the female locker room, confused at her friend's strained face. Holly had been very sympathetic when she had regaled the tale of what happened a few weeks ago. It had been a bit awkward at practices at first, but she was a professional and she loved her job. She wasn't going to let a failed romance that had barely started ruin that.

Why her friend looked so sorry for her now, she didn't know.

"What's going on?"

"I swear I didn't know," pleaded Holly. "I thought they'd ask for my input but apparently he was in a meeting with them all afternoon yesterday."

"Who?"

"The owners."

"Who was in a meeting with the owners?"

"It was Scorpius," replied Holly, with a sigh. "They've given him the feather."

Rose paled. "The feather? They've made him captain? He didn't even mention wanting it. He- he listened to me go on about how much I wanted it and then he what? Slyly got a meeting with them? How?"

"I don't know, I only found out afterwards," explained Holly, gently patting her friend's shoulder "All I know is he wowed them with a whole catalogue of plays-"

"They were mine," gasped Rose, sinking down onto the bench and putting her head in her hands. "He must have copied them when he came to my home. I feel sick."

"Can I talk to Rose, please?"

Rose snapped her head up to see Scorpius standing in the door frame. She swallowed, readying herself to retort, but Holly did it for her. "No."

"Rose? Please?"

Rose closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to keep the tears at bay, wanting to be a pillar of strength and calm. "It's okay, Holly. I'll hear him out."

Holly wordlessly gave her a firm squeeze, and left the estranged pair alone in the room, with a not-so-subtle glare on her face for Scorpius as she stepped away.

Rose got to her feet and folded her arms. "Say what you want to say then."

"I did what I needed to."

A strangulated half sob, half laugh escaped her. "You did what you needed to? You stole my plays and you know it! That feather should have been given to me!"

"Those plays were useless if you never showed anyone, did you just expect to be given the captaincy?"

"No," bristled Rose, shaking her head. "But I had earnt that position. I was going to show them."

"Were you waiting to be asked? You were that pig-headed about it, you didn't even think you had competition. Typical Gryffindor."

"Typical Slytherin being a sly, ambitious snake that you had to trick someone and steal from them to get what you wanted," snarled Rose.

"I didn't trick you."

"You made me believe you were a nice guy, tricked me into having feelings for you so you could steal from me," proclaimed Rose, her stomach curling. "I liked you, I kissed you, I almost slept with you! You did it so you could access my home and steal from me."

"It wasn't planned."

"I don't believe you."

"If I was that much of a bad guy I'd have still stayed the night."

"Should I be thankful you didn't deceive me in a more heinous way?" asked Rose, with a bitter laugh. "These past few weeks between questioning what happened and thinking it's my fault, I had flashes of thinking you were too selfless of a person. That you sacrificed what we could have had instead of risking hurting the team. The truth was that you'd got what you wanted already and you wanted out of there."

"I didn't plan on taking them, Rose, I swear," urged Scorpius, trying to grab her hand but she pulled it from his grasp. He slumped his shoulders. "I really liked you. That's the truth. I wanted you. When we got to your apartment though, I saw something else I wanted."

"Something you wanted more."

"I have worked for that spot just as much as you did," explained Scorpius. "I was passed over on my old team purely because the teammate was the owner's son."

"And I was passed over because someone stole from me!"

"There'll be other spots."

"You should have told me you wanted the feather."

"And have it come between us?"

"Do you not think this has come between us?" cried Rose.

"It doesn't have to, I meant what I said; it wasn't planned. I liked you, really liked you, I still like you."

"It doesn't matter if you like me, Malfoy, you betrayed me," spat Rose. "You can like me all you want, but I will never like you again."

"Don't say that."

Rose stormed past him, itching to be away from him. Before slamming the door behind her she gave him one last cursory glance over her shoulder. "I can never like anyone who will betray me for their own gain."