Unexpected Things
KeysCanHurt: Haha, maybe he was ;) Maybe he will, maybe he won't :P HAHA. Indeed. Since when WAS Jacqui observant? YES! Hagrid's like... the internet. Wait... what disturbing image? I can't remember =))
MalfoyMaiden: DUN DUN DUN DUN... Uhuh... 'sfine :) At least you're physically okay now. I think :P :))
crazy-wee-cat: Lol, poor Hagrid, forever the source of secret info.
yellow 14: He doesn't seem to be able to keep it up very well... or at least... not yet... Haha, poor, manipulated Hagrid
Lonely Traveler: LOL, yeah xD Thanks :)
Ravid Reader: Sorry I haven't been able to update earlier. But the chapter's here now, ain't it? ;) And thanks for reading my fic :D
School, as usual, got in the way. Plus I had to come up with 30 works for the Folio of our club (Creative Writer's Guild) so I had to put more focus into that first. And then there're a bunch of Christmas gifts I still have to do. And then there're my random "Am I a worthy writer? Do I suck?" moments xD
And I can't help wondering... Do y'all still find this worth reading? Considering how often I've been updating lately (I might be able to update more in the next week or two since it's Christmas Break, but after... dunno... since it'll be the last quarter for our senior year. It'll definitely be very busy.) and where the plot has been going?
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lion Against Badger
The mirror reflected someone with hair that had dulled somewhat, the fiery glow it once possessed seemed more like dying embers now. The eyes too had lost their brightness. And under those eyes, there lay dark shadows. That must be what he could see. It was miraculous that he still held feelings for her, despite the things she had done to hurt him.
A frown slowly formed on the reflection's face.
Why was she feeling so sorry for herself?
Another redhead appeared within the mirror's frame. There was sympathy in the brown eyes. "You alright, Rosie?"
Rose shrugged.
"Rose, what's your problem anyway?" Rose turned around to face the speaker, James. "You've been moody and half dead lately."
"You sure you're up to a game?" Lily asked. "So soon… after…"
"I'm fine." Rose forced the answer out. "I can handle this."
"Rosie, if ya got issues going on with that boy you've been spending time with, I can get Fred and Parvati to send extra Bludgers his way." James threatened.
"No!" Rose answered sharply, appalled by the suggestion.
"Rose! If you're going to say he doesn't deserve it, I'm going to lose patience with you!" Lily suddenly snapped, surprising Rose. "He's not perfect, you know!" Rose merely stared, taken aback by Lily's shocking change in tone and personality. "Everyone has flaws, you should just forget what happened, get over it! Your moodiness is bothering him. Deep down… maybe he's still angry about it… and he's trying to forget it, but the way you act, the way you look at… you-know-who… it disturbs him!"
Words fled from her mouth before she could use them, and she gaped, wide-eyed.
Lily breathed in the cool air. It would still be a while before warmer weather came. She tried to calm herself. Her earlier outburst surprised even herself. Part of her wanted to apologize to Rose for getting angry, but a more stubborn part didn't want to and was tired of Rose's recent negative attitude.
The drama going on wasn't fascinating anymore. It was… Lily couldn't describe it. The tension and sorrow hopping between Raph and Rose almost made her want to just slap one or the other and send Rose running after Scorpius if she wanted him so much. If she pursued Scorpius, no doubt she'd only rot in a pit of depression because Scorpius was with Jacqui. If she stayed with Raph, which she was… she still seemed to be rotting, only she was rotting with Raph.
They used to be such a good couple! If only Rose's feelings for Scorpius didn't come back. If only that… that kiss didn't happen. Or that incident on the train.
Breathe in, breathe out. Inhale, exhale.
Calm… calm.
Lily tried once again to calm down. She needed to focus to be able to win this match. She miserably lost in the last match because she wasn't careful enough. To win, all her focus and concentration would be needed.
Laughter, much nearer than the cheers of the crowd reached her ears. Lily looked around for the source, and it wasn't long before she spotted two figures racing towards her and the Gryffindor team. She recognized the Slytherin twins Theo and Tom, one of them carrying a package.
"What're they up to this time?" James wondered, a hint of envy in his voice.
"Make way!" Theo pushed his way through the Gryffindors, his black school robes standing out against their scarlet Quidditch robes.
"Come… back… with… that… crystallized pineapple!" Huffing, puffing and wheezing, a much larger figure came over. Professor Slughorn slowed to a stop, breathing raggedly, sweat making its way down the edges of his face. "Those crazy mischief-makers! I'll teach them not to mess with the Head of their House!" As he spoke, he straightened up, threateningly raising his wand.
But right after speaking, he bent down again, gasping for breath.
"Professor Slughorn…?" James's voice mimicked concern, though Lily suspected that inside, he was laughing hysterically. "Are you alright?"
The extremely overweight professer straightened up once more. "Whoo. I'm fine, fine, dear boy. Ah, the Potters! You two take after your father, don't you?" His eyes darted from Lily to James. "Inheritted his amazing Quidditch skill, eh? Marvelous! You two will grow up to be just as great as the Chosen One! I just know it!" Chuckling he patted their shoulders fondly.
Lily and James exchanged a glance. Didn't Slughorn say those same words yesterday?
The smile faded from his face. "Darn those twins! Huff! I'll have to get someone to buy me more of those crystallized pineapples. Anyway, I'm off! I want to get a good seat! This match should be interesting."
Lily and the rest of the Gryffindor watched Professor Slughorn go before they themselves set off for the center of the Quidditch pitch amidst the cheers and jeers of the audience.
Al would have been able to sit back and enjoy the match of his siblings and cousins. He would have been able to put aside the thoughts disturbing his mind, such as his frustration over the secrets their parents were keeping, such as his burning need to further discuss the Deathly Hallows with Lily and James and everything it had to do with what Dad, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were dealing with.
He would have been able to forget the dull, lifeless look that Rose had been having ever since returning to school, but the image of her making her way out of the Great Hall with her head low had not left his mind.
He would have been able to forget Scorpius's elusiveness if the empty seat between himself and Theo wasn't acting like a constant reminder.
In an effort to distract himself as the Quidditch teams met in the center of the field, Al looked at what Theo and Tom had with them. "Where'd you get that?"
The twins flashed identical smug grins. "Got it from Sluggy."
"You should've seen-"
"-the way he was running!"
"Waddling, more like!"
Putting on a serious face, Al shook his head disapprovingly. "You awful students! Have you no respect for the Head of our House?"
"We love him-"
"-and we're concered-"
"-about his health."
"We did him a favor, really!"
"Definitely! Exercise and a diet-"
"-were just what he needed for his obesity!"
Mildly amused, Al laughed.
"Frehaz Madley of Hufflepuff sends a Bludger flying towards James Potter, but he dodges it easily and continues heading for the goal. Raphael McCartney, Katy Timberwood and Heidi Fleet, the Hufflepuff Chasers surround James. Watch how McCartney arranges his fellow Chasers into a formation where he's in front of James, and the other two flank their target. Now the thing about James is that he's not that crazy about passing. My self-absorbed cousin prefers to make us much goals by himself as possible, to feed his male pride. But the thing about Raph—I can call him Raph too, right Rose? WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU, ROSE! Move your broom up and down if you agr-"
"Oh for Heaven's sake!"
Lily paused on her thorough scan of the field to glance up at where Dominique sat with Professor Longbottom and Professor Slughorn on either side of her. That was Professor Slughorn! Usually it was Professor Longbottom telling Dom off.
"Miss Weasley, give me that!"
"But-but--- NO! It's MINE!"
"No, it's school property!"
"Lily, watch out!"
A voice very close to her caught her attention and she saw Parvati Thomas flying towards her. Before she got to wonder why, Lily noticed the Bludger shooting straight towards her.
Taking action, Lily dived.
The Bludger just barely grazed her hair as it flew past her.
Looking over her shoulder, Lily saw it moving farther away already, Parvati had sent it on its way.
"Heidi Fleet shoots, but Wood of Gryffindor catches the Quaffle! What's wrong with you, Fleet? You could see that Wood was right in front of you! Did you honestly think that the Quaffle would get past him? Shoot at the side he is farthest from!" Professor Slughorn was being the commentator now? Lily raised her eyebrow and glanced in their direction.
Lily gasped as she bumped into someone. "Sorry." She apologized, even if she knew it was an opponent.
"Oh, that's alright." She was a scrawny Hufflepuff, with short hair that flatly hung down, past her chin. "Are you the Gryffindor Seeker? Cool! I'm the Hufflepuff Seeker, I'm Erika Zeller. How are you? What's your name? Did you know that my dad is thirty five years older than my mom? OHMYGOD!! You're LILY POTTER! You're HARRY POTTER'S DAUGHTER!"
Lily opened her mouth every time the girl asked a question, but ended up saying nothing because the other Seeker spoke quickly, barely pausing to breathe, and not giving Lily any opportunity to answer. "Er… yeah." Was all she said when Erika Zeller paused to stare at her with eyes bulging, mouth agape.
"Potter, for God's sake PASS THE BALL ONCE IN A WHILE! Jordan, stay near him, so it's harder for the Hufflepuffs to surround him. Rose Weasley, stand further apart, or stay near the Hufflepuff goal and be ready to catch the ball the moment James decides to SHARE it. SEEKERS! The two of you, stop gossiping and start looking for the blasted Snitch!"
"Gee, what's bugging Slughorn? He seems cranky."
"Someone took something from him." Lily muttered.
"Huh?"
"Frehaz Madley of Hufflepuff sends a Bludger towards Rose Weasley of Gryffindor, who's in possession of the Quaffle. Rose, can't your broom move faster than that? Derek Rickett of Hufflepuff, use that bat, why don't you? Quit hovering over there and MOVE! Fred Weasley sends the Bludger away from Rose. Rose of Gryffindor passes to Luke Jordan. Jordan dropped the ball. What's the matter with you? Do you have holes for arms? LEARN HOW TO CATCH! McCartney of Hufflepuff has the Quaffle now. He passes to Timberwood, who passes to Fleet. Fleet tosses the ball over James Potter's head. McCartney catches it. What's the matter with you, Potter? Your namesake wouldn't let the ball get past him like that!"
Erika began laughing hysterically. Lily thought she saw a glimmer of gold in the general direction of where the Chasers kept scrabbling for the ball, and took advantage of Erika's distraction to head for the gold.
"Why d'ye keep lookin' at the audience?" There was venom in Raph's voice that made Lily freeze.
"Why does it matter?" Rose snapped back as she lunged for the Quaffle that Raph was holding.
"Because I know Malfoy ain't there."
"Weasley stole the Quaffle from McCartney. Odd… they look like they're arguing about something… THIS IS NO TIME FOR DRAMA!"
"How do you know that?"
"I saw 'im leavin' the crowd when everyone was exiting Great Hall for this match. He left with some other people."
"It doesn't matter whether or not he's there!" As Raph grabbed for the ball, Rose dodged to the side.
Raph managed to grab the ball with both hands, but Rose, refusing to let go, clung to the ball with both her hands as well. The pair struggled to tug the Quaffle away from each other. "Rose Weasley, look me in the eye an' say that again."
Lily watched as Rose's eyes narrowed, and her mouth opened, but no words came out of it.
"I knew it." Raph growled, ripping the Quaffle from Rose's grasp and flying off with it.
Raph tossed the ball towards the goals, but Wood caught it easily.
Lily glanced at Rose. She hadn't moved from the spot where she and Raph had been trying to get the Quaffle from each other.
Then she spotted a dark shape heading towards Rose. The Bludger was coming nearer, picking up speed.
"Rose, look! Bludger! Behind you!"
But Rose moved too late. Lily shut her eyes and heard a sickening cracking sound.