Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. Enjoy the chapter Review, FLAME and COMPLAIN. It's the only way I'll make this story better.
The library had to be Scorpius' favorite place in Hogwarts. It was silent and full of books, much like his room at home. It was Friday evening before dinner and he had his nose deeply engrossed inside a new edition of Hogwarts a History. Hogwarts. His father hadn't told him nearly enough about the school. For one, it hadn't been till he had arrived that he realised that he was infamous. His father's and grandfathers reputation preceded him and he hated it. Whispers in the corridor, the looks people gave him. Most people seemed to give him a wide berth. It didn't help that he wasn't the most talkative, but he'd never really had anyone to talk to until he came to Hogwarts. Thankfully at least, he had made two friends. One of them was a Potter of all people. With all the warnings his father had given him it was very surprising that a Potter would even want to be friends with him. His other friend, Jason, had also been very accepting and warm, despite his last name. He enjoyed their company immensely, he'd never smiled and laughed so much in his life, but then again, he'd also never had friends. It may have only been 5 days, but he certainly loved Hogwarts already.
Scorpius looked around the library it was almost empty aside from one other person. A bushy red haired girl who had her head also buried in a book. Rose Weasley. If there was anyone who he disliked in Hogwarts it would be her. She was loud, outspoken, arrogant and annoyingly smart. In every class they shared she was always the first to raise her hand, always the first to demonstrate her academic prowess. Everyone knew she knew the answer including the Professors, yet she had to do it anyway. He'd mentioned her in his first letter to his mother and father briefly and is father had written back to say she was just like her mother and he shouldn't pay attention to it. Scorpius didn't understand why she couldn't just get on with the lessons quietly and let her homework do the talking, after all that s what he did. But the worst part was that she was the only person blocking him from being constantly top in class. Aside from when Jason made it his business to throw her off track. Jason had a natural talent for messing with people Scorpius had noticed.
"What are you looking at?" called out a voice indignant. Scorpius snapped out of his stupor to realise that Rose was talking to him. Her blue eyes with a piercing gaze on his gray ones.
"Nothing." he sneered. By now just her voice was enough to annoy him.
"Well, clearly that's a bloody lie, you've been looking at me for the last two minutes. I'm trying to study here and it s annoying."
"What eloquent language. Would have expected more diversity from someone as outspoken as you." he replied back. At this her face contorted and she let out a snarl. Scorpius was very sure that he really disliked this girl now. [A/N: sue me, but lets be honest, you all figured out what's going to happen to these two ages ago].
"Talking like a thesaurus doesn't one smart. They just sound pretentious." She snarled.
"Well thankfully, we have grades to display the fact that I'm smarter than you." he replied with a smirk.
"In which deluded world do you live that you think you are smarter than me?" she shouted back. Rose was now seething with rage.
"The one where you struggled to even levitate a mere quill in front of the whole class. Maybe you should have been in Slytherin."
"No, I'll leave that to death eater spawn like you and your father." she replied.
"Don't! You! EVER! Call! Me! That! AGAIN!" he shouted, his pale face now red and shaking. At this Scorpius could see Rose visibly flinched even from across the room. "My father is a kind man! And if I ever hear you say that again, I'll hex you!"
"This is the library! If you two want carry out a shouting match do it elsewhere. Now get out!" shouted a third older voice. The two of them looked over to see the source of the voice. It was the librarian, Madame Ponce. The two of them just looked at her, saying nothing. "OUT!" she cried again. Scorpius picked up his books and left the library, slamming the door in Rose's face.
-x-y-z-a-b-c-
Scorpius and Al were sitting at the Slytherin dining table for dinner. They had come down with Jason, but he was sitting on the ravenclaw table animatedly talking with the first years there.
"What's up, Scor?" Al asked him.
"Nothing." he curtly.
"You haven't touched your food." Al replied. "Seriously, what happened."
Scorpius thought about whether he should let Al know what happened. He knew that Rose and Al were good friends. But he then again, maybe that would be the perfect way to get back at Rose.
"Your cousin."
"Which cousin?" Al laughed. "I have eight here at the moment."
"Rose."
"She beat you in a test?" Al said with a smirk on his face.
"She called me death eater spawn." the smile on Al's face dropped immediately.
"What?" he asked, his voice harder.
"She called my dad and I death eater spawn." Scorpius replied, his voice was dripping with malice. It made Al recoil.
"Sorry, I'll talk to her."
"Don't apologise for her." Scorpius replied harshly causing Al to flinch. Scorpius winced at this. Al had been nothing but friendly. He felt bad for taking out and Scorpius felt bad for taking out his anger on Al. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." he sighed. "It's just, my dad has always been very loving. He's nothing like my Granfather." Scorpius knew that his Dad and his Grandfather didn't see eye to eye at all. There had been many arguments between the two of them that he could remember since he even had any memories at all. His mum refused to speak to his Grandfather outright due to a difference in fundamental opinion over blood status.
"I'm still going to talk to her. She has no right to say such things." Al said, annoyed. Scorpius felt grateful for that. It was nice to have people who didn't just see him as a Malfoy.
"Thanks." he said gruffly. Al stood up. "Wait, now?" Scorpius said. He was surprised, he hadn't expected Al to be so admamant about going up against his own family.
"Now." Al replied.
Scorpius watched as Al walked over to the Gryffindor table to where Rose and her cousins were sat. He saw Al say something, followed by James Potter. Al turned to Rose, his face shaped into a scowl to say something. Rose turned back and seemed to reply angrily. Al said something again this time his face looked even more angrily and then James intervened with another thing. Al stormed away and back to the Slytherin table.
"She gives you any more trouble at all tell me and I'll make her life hell." Al said simply.
"Thanks. But you don't have to go up against your entire family for me." Scorpius said, feeling guilty.
"They are already going against me just because I'm in Slytherin and friends with you." Albus said pointedly.
"Really? Their meant to be family." Scorpius said frowning.
"Tell me about it." Al sighed. "Anyway, I told Rose that I'm not speaking to her until she apologises to you."
"What?" But she's your best friend!" Scorpius exclaimed, he felt an equal amount of surprise and guilt. After all he had provoked Rose somewhat.
"You're my friend too. Anyway, I know Rose, the silent treatment really gets to her, she'd rather fight all day than be ignored." Al replied happily. Scorpius felt a real sense of gratitude well up at this.
"Thanks. You really don't have to do all of this over me you know."
"She's being an ass. Of course I have to." Al replied.
"Al, Scor, you guys done with dinner?" The two boys looked up to see Jason stading behind them. Both of them nodded. "Let's get out of here. Need to talk to you two."
Al and Scorpius stood up and then the three of them walked out of the dining room.
"So what do you want to talk to us about" asked Al as they began to walk towards the dungeons.
"Not here." Jason replied. "We'll go talk in the common room. Don't want to chance being overheard by someone else in that is in another house." and so the three of them continued to walk in silence. Eventually they reached a walk in the dungeons that had an odd formation of bricks. Al touched it.
"Parslemouth." Al said the password and then the bricks began sliding around to form an archway into the common room.
The common room was pretty empty, a few of the fifth years were sat on chairs around the green fireplace in the centre of the room discussing the increased workload they had due to it being O.W.L year for them.
"Over there." Jason motioned to where there were three chairs in the corner of the room. They walked over and sat down feeling relaxed.
"So I'm guessing you two are wondering why I've been spending time talking to the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff lot, right?" Jason asked. The other two nodded.
"Well it's for two reasons really. First of all, I've been trying to sort out your... um... reputation." he continued, nodding at Scorpius. "Thought it would be good if people weren't reffering to you as em... well you know what." Jason finishes, bashfully.
"As for the second reason. That involves the three of us. Remember when I said I wanted to start a bookies for quidditch?"
"Yeh." Al replied. Scorpius nodded. He had been very interested in the idea as it seemed like a decent way to have a steady amount of income, which in turn meant that he would have to put less pressure on his parents to buy things for him. His parents didn't talk much about money when they were in front of him, but he knew it was an issue.
"Basically, I've managed to find out when all the qudditch tryouts are. All except for Gryffindor, going to need your help for that one Al. Anyway, what we have to do is spy on every try out and take down stats for each player. That means how many times they pass the quaffle, how many times they succeed, the amount of times they score, how fast they are, things like that. You guys up for that."
"Sure." Scorpius replied.
"Sounds like fun." Al said at the same time.
"Anyway Al, I'm going to need your help with Gryffindor, they seem to dislike me cause, well I'm a Slytherin and well... friends with Scor."
"I'm not sure I can help, I got into an argument with Rose at dinner, James too." Al admits sheepishly. Jason cocks his head as he always does when he's thinking of an idea.
"What was the argument over?" Jason asked.
"Scor." Al replies. "She called him death eater spawn. So I told her that I refuse to speak to her until she apologises to Scor." Jason sighed.
"Don't take this the wrong way Al, but your cousin is an arrogant bitch." Jason said. Al just laughed at this followed by Scorpius and Jason. "Anyway, you should probably just try guilting her into saying sorry." Jason says it like it's the easiest thing in the world causing the other two to look at him with a fair amount of disbelief. "What? It works." Jason said with a shrug.
In the 5 days that Scorpius had been in Hogwarts he had already picked up the fact that Jason was a master manipulator. He had a smooth tongue that seemed to be able to charm many people into viewing him well and doing what he wanted. It was quite scary. Even the teachers all liked him. He would ask questions in class to show interest without overdoing it like a certain Weasley. He would speak to those from other houses. Scorpius had once doubted the reason as to why Jason was in Slytherin but now he was certain, he didn't belong anywhere else. He was in possesion of heaps of cunning and it was showing. Even better, he seemed to geniunely care about Scorpius' reputation and how he was treated.
"Scor! Stop spacing out!" Al says with a light shove.
"Oh, sorry." Scorpius apologized. "What did you guys say?"
"Well I was just about to tell Al exactly how to make her feel guilty." Jason replies, a diagonal smirk gracing his face and a glint in his eye.
"So Al, what you are going to have to do is indirectly make her feel guilty. I think a good place to start would be mentioning that here in Slytherin, nobody has called you a... is it blood traitor?" Jason asked for the term uncertainly.
"Yes. That's what my grandfather says." Scorpius replied, his voice cold. His Grandfather had no quams about saying
"Well yeah, say that. Also another thing to say is that people haven't judged you just because of who your parents are. Finally maybe slip in that you feel bad for the kids who do get labelled simply because they were born." Jason finishes. It's clear he feels thoroughly pleased with his devious idea.
"Jason, that is so..." Al starts
"Devious." Scorpius finishes. The two of them looking at him in wonder. Jason beamed at the 'praise'.
"Anyway, when you and Rose are speaking again, I'll need you to introduce me to her and her friends, Al. Now lets get to bed, you two have quidditch tryouts tomorrow." Jason finished.
"Wait, you're not going to try?" Al asked, surprised.
"I'm not nearly good enough." Jason admits. "Anyway, I'll be too busy watching you guys and taking notes."
"You're going to take notes on our practice too?" Al asked.
"Yeah, and then once I've got the stats on all of them I'll send them to my dad and he'll do all the harder maths." [A/N: The author of this story... me... has a decent understanding of actuary science lol]
"Maths?" Al asked.
"Numerology to wizards." Scorpius supplied.
"It's really hard. My dad's been teaching me for a year now here and there but I still can't do it alone." Jason admitted.
"Why would you willingly practice numerology? You're mad!" Al replied.
"Makes money." Jason said with a shrug. "Anyway, sorry to be like a mother, but bed! You two have to get into the team!"
"Okay okay." Al replied with a small laugh.
-x-y-z-a-b-c-
Al, Scorpius and Jason were walking to the quidditch pitch. Al and Scorpius had their brooms with them. They arrived at the pitch to find roughly 20 other Slytherins talking amongst themselves.
"Hey look! First years who think they can make the team!" someone shouted. There was a general laugh that went up as everyone turned to look at Al and Scorpius.
"Wait, it's Potter and Malfoy." it was Theodore Notts II that spoke up with a thoughtful look on his face, captain of the quidditch team. Scorpius knew him as Notts' father was friends with his own. "Let's see how they stack up, their parents were in quidditch teams young." Theodore was a brunette boy in his 6th year, lanky in build and fairly tall. He drew a deep breath puffing up his chest before turning to speak to everyone.
"Right, is everyone ready?" his voice booming. There were nods and verbal confirmations abound. "First of all I have to let you know what the situation is. We are looking for a new chaser and a new beater." At this there were murmurs, they hadn't expected so few positions to be available. "Anyone who is after another position is going to have to go up against a member of the current team to get it." Scorpius looked at Al, who looked visibly bothered by this announcement. Scorpius felt a little nervous too. He felt sure that the majority of the people here would be after the chaser position.
"First of all I want everyone to get on their brooms and fly over to the north rings!" Notts shouted. Scorpius and Al jumped on their brooms and flew over easily enough. Most people did. However there were a few who were a bit shaky. Notts, who was at the goal rings with two others who were all watching passively, noticed those who were struggling to stay stable immediately.
"You, you and you. Clear off! We have no business with people who can't fly." Notts said angrily. The three boys went back down to the ground, angrily and walked off.
"Right, I'm going to divide you all up first." Notts spoke again. "Chasers will go off with Zabini." He said motioning to Arturo who was comfortably sitting on his broom watching passively. "Beaters go off with Davidson." he motioned to Anna Davidson, a girl with long blonde hair and hard eyes. "Seekers can stay and watch for now. We'll be pitting you against Crouchfield soon enough. If you can catch the snitch before him, you'll replace him. But I doubt anyone will." Andrew Crouchfield was dark skinned male who was in his fifth year at hogwarts, he had a confident demeanour at this statement suggesting that it didn't seem likely at all that someone would take his spot. Scorpius looked over at Albus. Where before he had looked a bit nervous, the nerves seemed to have been replaced with fire in his eyes.
"Chasers, follow me!" Called out Zabini. Zabini flew off to the other side of the pitch. Scorpius followed after him. He looked around at the competition, eight others had followed.
"We are going to start off with some simple passing drills. If you drop the quaffle, that is it. Trial over, go back to the dungeons. I'll be upping the intensity till there are four of you left. For now fly laps around the pitch in a V formation passing the quaffle back and forth."
This task proved to be easy enough. They were flying around in a V formation passing the quaffle back and forth. Scorpius found it pretty relaxing, he didn't have to think, he felt at home on his broom. After seven laps nobody had dropped the quaffle so Zabini stopped them.
"So you're all competent at flying and passing with no pressure. Now is when the real fun begins." Zabini said rubbing his hands together in excitement. He took out his wand and swiped it at 4 of them. Their robes all turned green. He then swiped it at the other Scorpius and the other 3 turning their robes silver.
"Greens, you all know what the finger four formation is I hope." Scorpius unconciously nodded even though he was silver. It was a flying formation that was used in both quidditch chaser flying tactics and muggle flying dogfights (he'd learned about the second one by reading about those mad machines that muggles used to travel in the air). The formation was simple enough, two on offense, two on defence [A/N: Sue me, I'm a guy and I know a lot about war, formations and stuff. For example bet you guys didn't know that the V formation reduces drag by up to 75% for those who aren't leader, but its a terrible formation for offense]. Zabini tossed the quaffle at one of the other boys in silver.
"You 4 four fly to the centre of the pitch." Zabini directed to the silver group. "You simply have to score. Greens, get the quaffle off them. I'll give you one minute to coordinate yourselves."
Scorpius and the other three took off to the centre. When they got there the boy with the quaffle spoke up.
"Names, we need names if we are at least going to be able to pass it to each other." He said simply. "I'm Alex Flint. 4th year." Flint was rather tall and muscular for his age with blue eyes, large teeth and short black hair.
"Cygnus Rosier." Cygnus was a fifth year with messy brown hair, brown eyes and a very average build.
"Greg Burke." Burke was sixth year who was pretty famous around the school. He was known because he was by far the best defence against the dark arts student. Those in Slytherin said it was because he spent a lot of time at Borgin and Burkes.
"Scorpius Malfoy."
"Quite the family reunion we have here." Burke said with a little laugh.
"What?" Rosier asked perplexed.
"We're all related to the Blacks." Burkes replied.
"Don't tell me you still buy into that blood nonsense Burkes." Flint replied looking a little peeved. Scorpius frowned too.
"No, not at all. If we purebloods interbred anymore we'd probably wipe ourselves out. Anyway, stick close and just keep the quaffle moving." Burkes replied.
"OI, you four, get moving!" Shouted Zabini.
"V formation, protect me!" Flint called out. Scorpius, Burkes and Cygnus formed a V with Flint behind them. They flew straight at the other four were flying back at them. One of them cut straight under and back up headed for Flint.
"Burkes!" Flint shouted, tossing the quaffle at him. Burkes caught it just as the guy who had been on the offensive against Flint slammed into him. Burkes was now pinned in the middle between two other chasers.
"Malfoy!" he shouted. He threw the quaffle downwards and Scorpius dived to reach it. He caught it a few metres from the ground and continued to fly low. He was now being chased by two of the opposing chasers from behind and one that was dead ahead. Scorpius pulled on his knowledge of quidditch and began to perform the Woollongong Shimmy, shifting from side to side in a zigzag manner. He managed to just dodge the final chaser, and with a trademark Malfoy smirk gracing his features he tossed the quaffle straight through the middle hoop.
"Sloppy play from both sides! You'll have to do better than that!" Zabini shouts. Scorpius frowned, he thought they had done decent but obviously not. "AGAIN!" Zabini cried out.
The silver group had the quaffle four more times. Every time both teams seemed to subconsciously be able to work together better, they stopped calling out names and just passed the quaffle about. On the final play, Scorpius had deliberately let the opponent chasers try a Parkin's Pincer on him. Last second he dived down to let the three of them colide. It was a dirty tactic, causing the three of them to drop to the floor, but it worked and he even saw a ghost of a smile cross Zabini's face.
"Switch." Zabini called. They were now on defence.
"Okay, they'll probably give the quaffle to Bullstrode." Flint started. Amanda Bullstrode was a fairly bigboned brunette girl in green who had been the most difficult to pass. She was somewhat skilled at flying and even better at taking the quaffle. "When she gets it, Rosier and I will pincer her, Burke will take the quaffle off her and pass it to Malfoy as he is the most agile."
Things did not go according to plan however. The moment Flint got close to Bullstrode, another chaser shoulder-barged him causing him to fall off his broom. Rosier came in next but Bullstrode simply dodged to the side. Burkes swore and took off after her, Scorpius following Burke. Burke slammed straight into Bullstrode the quaffle went flying up in the air and Scorpius gunned for it, however it wasn't to be as another chaser stole it and tossed it straight through the left ring.
For the next two plays, things were close but the other side still managed to score.
"Guys, we can do this. Rosier, Burke and I will take care of the rest. Malfoy get that bloody quaffle!" Flint said. The bigger three flew straight at those who were guarding Bullstrodge and collided with them, Bullstrode shot straight through them. Malfoy went for her, as they got close he decided he'd try and pull off anther quidditch tactice he'd read, he pulled up his right arm and aimed a punch straight at her face. There was a seconds hesitation in Bullstrode's eyes as she saw what was coming and Scorpius stopped his fist and smashed his left arm straight into the quaffle. It flew out of Bullstrode's grip and Flint caught it.
"Stop!" Called out Zabini, a smile actually gracing his normally stoic features. Scorpius smirked. "Much better. From both sides." "You, you, you and you." Zabini said, pointing at Rosier and two of the chasers on the other team. Scorpius heart sped up, thinking he was about to be sent back to the dungeons. "Trial over, back to the dungeons." Scorpius let out a sigh of relief. "You four, follow me." They flew over to where Albus and Notts had been watching the practice.
"You lot wait here." Zabini said gruffly and then he dismounted and walked off talking hushly with Notts.
"How you doing?" Al whispered to Scorpius.
"Okay, Burke and Bullstrode are good. Fierce competition." Scorpius admitted.
"Don't worry, Notts was watching you and said you were really good for a first year." Al reassured him gripping his shoulder. Scorpius didn't feel very reassured however.
"Where's Jason?" Scorpius asked. Al pointed to one of the stands where he could see Jason watching the beaters and writing notes down on a piece of parchment.
"Looks like a coach, doesn't he?" Al said with a little laugh. Scorpius nodded, feeling too nervous to laugh.
"Hey look, the beaters are done." called out Bullstrode. The group of chasers and Al looked over to see the majority of them walking away from the pitch disheartened. Some were kicking at the ground, others swearing. Three however were walking towards the rest of the group with nervous smiles. Further away, Scorpius could make out three other figures flying towards the pitch.
"Who are they?" Al asked, point up at them.
"That's the rest of the team." Flint answered, a tremor in his voice. The group waited nerves showing as the six slytherins from the team of last year had a private discussion. Scorpius knew what was coming next, they all did. It was obvious. They were about to play a match against the current team, who had been playing together at least a year.
"Crunch time people. We are going to play a game. Six versus seven. I'll play keeper for you hopefuls." Notts said brightly. "Oh and Bullstrode, for now you'll be playing against the rest of you hopefuls." At this Scorpius felt his heart sink a little and his face fell. He looked around to see he wasn't the only one disheartened, Burke had a horrid scowl on his face. However he knew the odds were stacked against him anyway, there were very few first year chasers in the history of all the house teams.
The two teams hopped on their brooms, one side looking highly confident, the other looking back with a high amount of nerves. Scorpius noticed that Al was shaking slightly.
"Ready?" Called out Notts. Everyone nodded their heads. "Go." And with that a box in the centre of the field sprung open and three 4 balls wizzed out. Bullstrode immediately took the quaffle and passed it to another chaser on the team, who passed it to another. They kept the quaffle moving at such a fast pace it was very hard to keep track of it. Burke luckily managed to intercpet a pass just before Zabini would have been free to make a throw at one of the rings. He zoomed forward and passed the ball to Flint however at the same moment Flint got hit on the side by a bludger causing him to begin to fall to the floor, Malfoy swooped in and took the quaffle, he saw Zabini coming for him next and so feinted a pass to make Zabini move for the intercept however he just kept flying forward before tossing it to Burke who tossed the quaffle to the other chaser in the team that was waiting by the goal rings. The quaffle went from the third chaser, Stevens, into the hoop. The official Slytherin team stopped at a loss as to how they were down from the beginning. Notts signalled for a time out.
"Malfoy, Bullstrode. Switch teams." he called out. At this, Scorpius allowed a true Malfoy smirk to grace his face. When the game restarted, Scorpius found that the official Slytherin team were a lot more fluid. The quaffle rarely stayed in anyones grip for too long. It kept moving about fluidly. Scorpius easily set into the pace of play of the team, distributing the quaffle around intelligently to other chasers who were in spaces. The only problem was Notts. He was a good keeper and very few quaffles were getting past him.
Half an hour into the game the game, Crouchfield, who had been pretty stoic during the whole game suddenly took off flying at full pelt. Scorpius heard Al curse and watched as he shot off after Crouchfield. Whilst he was distracted, the other side used this chance to score ten points. Scorpius sighed and flew after Zabini who now had the quaffle to support him. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Al had now drawn level with Crouchfield and the two of them were chasing after the snitch.
"Crouchfield!" shouted a loud high pitched male voice. Crouchfield looked up for a split second to see the source. At that exact moment Al leaned forward and grasped the snitch in his fingers. Scorpius looked around to try and figure out the source of the loud shout, though he had his suspicions that it had been none other than Jason. Crouchfield looked a lot less than amused as he flew straight towards Notts. The two of them appeared to be talking when Crouchfield seemed to get angry.
"WHAT?" Crouchfield shouted. "He got lucky, that s all! Someone distracted me, you heard!"
"You shouldn't get distracted in the first place. And anyway, you spotted the snitch first and he still got it. I'm sorry but in the interests of the team I'm going to have to drop you." Notts said.
"This. Is. BULLSHIT." Crouchfield shouted. "How are you going to replace a fifth year seeker with a first year just because he got lucky and his last name is fucking Potter!"
"That hasn't got anything to do with it. He flew better than you. Get over it." Notts replied, looking bored. Crouchfield turned around and stormed off at this.
"Right, I'm sure you all enjoyed that spectacle." Notts began. It was followed by snickers from everyone else who had gathered around. "But I have to let you all know that you played shoddily. Of course this was the first practice of the year, try-outs at that, but it was shoddy play anyway."
"Malfoy, Bullstrode, Parker and Potter remain here. The rest of you go back to the dungeons. Trial over." Notts then said. Scorpius felt his heart leap into his throat now beating at what felt like 500 beats a second even though he knew it was more likely to be 3 beats a second. Notts, Zabini and Davidson were deep in a whispered conversation as the rest of them waited.
"So who shouted Crouchfield's name?" Al whispered to Scorpius. Scorpius shrugged. He had his suspicions but he wanted to confirm them first.
"You should be happy either way, you're now the youngest seeker in Hogwarts." Scorpius whispered back. Al face beamed at this, a bright smile gracing his features.
"I am, I just wish my birthday had been later than Dad's. I wanted to beat his record." Al replied, sounding a bit down.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard to beat his others. Your dad had awful luck on and off the quidditch pitch meaning he lost a lot more than he should have." Scorpius replied. Al seemed to cheer up at this fact.
"Oh, where is Jason?" Al asked suddenly whilst looking around the stands.
"He disappeared." Scorpius replied. Though he had a suspiscion that he was merely hiding after distracting Crouchfield. At this point, the three Slytherin team members came back.
"Malfoy, Parker, and Potter. Welcome to the team." Notts said with a smile. "Sorry Bullstrode, but we didn't feel that you would fit in the team as well as Malfoy despite your skill level, but try again next year." Scorpius nearly couldn't believe it. He, a first year, had made the team as a chaser. First year chasers were so rare and he'd still managed to become one. He couldn't wait to write to his dad to see what he would have to say about it. Surely that would be something to be proud of. Of course he had a long way to go. If they really were as sloppy as Notts claimed, it wouldn't be all that great to be known as the worst chaser in Hogwarts. He made a mental note to order more books on quidditch and schedule more early morning practices.
"Scor, you there?" Al asked, waving his hands in front of Scorpius' eyes. "You zone out all the time." Al continued with a sigh.
"Sorry."
"Come on, lets get out of here." Scorpius nodded and the two of them began to walk back to the dungeons with their brooms slung over their shoulders. The two of them had barely walked out of the quidditch pitch when they heard a hissing sound.
"Psssssst." The two of them looked around. "Over here." Came a whispered voice. The two boys looked over to see Jason standing by a tree.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing over there?" Al asked as the two of them walked over.
"Hiding from them." Scorpius replied pointing at the rest of the team who had walked ahead. He was certain now, it was Jason who had shouted.
"Why?" Al asked.
"Felt like it." Jason replied smoothly. Al gave him a funny look but said nothing. Scorpius however wasn't so easily taken in. When the three got back to the dungeons Scorpius pulled Jason aside as he was curious.
"Why didn't you tell him?" Scorpius asked.
"Tell him what?" Jason said, winking at the same time.
"I know it was you." Scorpius replied.
"Look, if I told him, he'd feel like he didn't deserve a spot on the team." Jason said with a lot more seriousness coming into his voice. Scorpius nodded, it made sense. "Anyway, go shower and change. I'm hungry." Scorpius nodded and headed off to the shower.
-x-y-z-a-b-c-
"Scorp! How long does it take to get ready?" Jason complained exasperated.
"You take as long as my cousins Victorie and Dominique." Al snickered. Scorpius frowned a little and continued combing his hair. His father had always stressed the importance of making sure that he looked presentable wherever he went, saying that people treated you better if you dressed well. So naturally he had taken this to heart. Though he wasn't spoiled, far from it even, his father had always taken care to make sure he had well kept clothes and that he made himself look presentable before meals. It was a little tedious, but it made his father happy.
"Scorp. You're doing it again! Stop spacing out and lets go. Your hair is fine and I'm very hungry." Jason said. Scorpius looked in the mirror, sighed, slid his comb into a pocket in his robes and turned.
"Lets go." Scorpius said simply.
"Finally. Lets go stuff our faces with grub." Jason said enthusiastically.
"Grub?" Al questioned.
"Colloquialism for food." Scorpius chimed in.
"Stop talking like Rose." Al grumbled as the three walked out.
The three of the walked to dinner at a somewhat accelerated pace led by Jason. They entered and plenty of eyes turned towards them.
"Can I call you two Fame and Infame?" Jason quipped to his two friends.
"Huh?" Scorpius spluttered.
"What?" Al asked at the same time confused.
"Well, ever since you came two here have always managed to draw attention." Jason explained.
"You think I want to be noticed?" Scorpius asked, his voice cold.
"Sure, we just got to turn your reputation around. Everyone s eyes are already on you, so you just have to shine."
"Shine?" Scorpius scoffed as the three of them sat down on the dinner table. "How? My family's name is in tatters. You hear what they say about me."
"They know only what our parents have told them. I see how you look every time someone says your surname. You just have to keep doing well and they'll change the way they see you soon enough. With some help from us two of course."
"Wait how are we going to help?" Al asked confused.
"Your surname turns head doesn't it?" Jason asked. Al flushed a brilliant red and nodded. How could he not turn heads, when he and his father looked exactly the same. Al's brother had taken after his mother in looks, but Al looked like his father, the resemblance was uncanny to Scorpius who had seen pictures of Harry when he was younger.
"Anyway Scor, keep up the grades, the quidditch, hang with us and they'll all come to love you." Jason said happily whilst stabbing a piece of beef with his fork.
"Exactly what are you planning?" Al asked Jason shakily. Scorpius grinned at Al. The question had popped up in his mind too, exactly what did Jason.
"Me? I just want to enjoy my time here and make friends."
"Bullshit." Scorpius said plainly. "The hat didn't even hesitate to put you in slytherin. You aren't a hufflepuff."
"I learned in primary school that life is easier when everyone loves you." Jason replied.
"Wait, so do you even like all these people you're making friends with?" Al asked.
"Hell no, apart from you two and Alice, most are pretty boring." Jason replied happily.
"You're evil you know." Scorpius replied grinning. "Now I see why you got put in Slytherin without a moments thought."
"Hey, I'm perfectly nice!" Jason retorted. Al and Scorpius laughed at this. "Okay, maybe not that nice." Jason said again also laughing.
At this point they were joined by Dexter and Alice.
"So I heard you two got into the quidditch team. That's amazing." Dexter gushed. "First year seeker like your dad, Al. Can't wait to watch!" Al said nothing and blushed.
"You boys and quidditch, don't you have anything better to talk about?" Alice chimed in. "All everyone's talking about is how you Al is like his dad and Malfoy's the youngest chaser in forty years and whether he's big enough."
"Quidditch is serious business Alice." Jason replied. "Anyway, tell us, what's the gossip. Don't leave anything out."
"Gossip, not much really apart from you two. Oh and Amanda Davies and Connor O'Donnel are now going out together."
"Who?" Al asked. "Wait, why is that even gossip? Just the idea of kissing and stuff is all a bit horrible if you ask me."
"Who asked you?" Alice replied coolly.
"Oh, Al. You've never even kissed a girl have you?" Jason asked good-naturedly.
"Of course not, why would I want to stick my lips on some girl." Al replied heatedly, his face flushing.
"Scor, what about you?" Alice asked her brown eyes boring into his. Scorpius felt himself flush and shook his head shyly. He hadn't even had friends, so how could he have kissed a girl.
"And of course, Jason is going to tell us he has." Dexter piped in.
"Why, you jealous?" Jason replied coolly. "And yes I have, it was in summer. Renee Clarke. Pretty girl with long hair and green eyes. We even snogged. It's a lot of fun."
"Ew." Al replied pretending to be sick into his plate. The rest of the table laughed.
"My mother always says 'don't knock it till you've tried it'." Scorpius replied.
"Yeah, to get you to eat vegetables as a kid maybe." Al replied with a snicker. Scorpius frowned, she had indeed said it to do just that. "Wait, she did?" Al asked, his face growing into a brighter grin. Scorpius nodded flushing so red, that he looked much like the tomato on his plate. Those around descended into hysterics.
"Don't worry, as far as snogging goes, it's a great deal nicer than eating veg." Jason said.
"How can sticking your tongue in a girls mouth feel nice?" Al asked, still a little disgusted.
"Try it and find out for yourself. Find a nice pretty girl and kiss her." Jason replied.
"Easier said than done." Dexter piped in. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
"Well let me give you a demonstration." Jason said. He turned to Alice, looking into her eyes, ran his hand down her cheek caressing it. Alice flushed an amazing shade of red, and she began to tremble as he moved in closer. And then just as he got really close he pulled away with a giggle. "Just like that, boys." Alice shook her head in disbelief.
"My dad warned me about boys like you, he said I should kick them in the nuts or hex them." Alice finally said after composing herself.
"It was just a demonstration. No need to attack me." Jason said with his hands up as if to surrender.
"I'll let you off this one time, but do it again and you'll regret it." Alice replied scathingly, her voice dropping in volume and sounding colder than Scorpius had ever heard it. He felt a shiver run through him as it reminded him of his mother's voice when she was very angry.
"I'm sorry." Jason replied looking a bit meeker. However Scorpius couldn't help but note the slight smirk on Jason's face as he looked away from Alice.
Scorpius uncomfortably took a look around the room. His eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table where they found the eyes of James Potter. The moment the two locked eyes, James' eyes narrowed into a glare. Scorpius glared back.
"What's up?" Al asked, tapping Scorpius on the shoulder at the same time. Al followed Scorpius' gaze over to the other table. "Ignore him." Al hissed. "He's just being a git." Scorpius turned around to look at Al, in disbelief.
"He's your brother." Scorpius said.
"So, he's being a git to me and now he's staring you down. Ignore him." Al replied heatedly. "Anyway I'm done eating, you ready to go?" Scorpius nodded pushing his plate away.
"Coming Jason?" Al asked.
"Nah, I want to go talk to the Ravenclaws briefly. Need to make sure when their try-outs for quidditch are." Jason replied. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up to you."
The two boys stood up and walked out of Great Hall and began to make their way back to the dungeons. They didn't get far however.
"Malfoy!" A voice called out, ringing through the hallway. Scorpius and Al exchanged looks before turning around. Behind them stood James Potter his wand pointed at them.
"What do you want, James?" Al asked with a sigh.
"Al have you gone mad. Why are you even walking around with... Malfoy?" James asked, spitting out the word Malfoy with severe distaste as if he had just eating a vomit flavoured bean.
"Because I want to." Al replied coolly. He then turned to Scorpius. "Come on, let s go."
"Petrificus Totalus!" cried out James, the hex striking Scorpius. He tried to move, willing himself, but he had no control over his body at all. "Run along Al, your friend and I are going to have a little... chat." From the corner of his eye he could see Al reach into his robes to pull out his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" James cried out again, Al's wand flying over to him. "You would raise your wand against your own brother, in defence of... this... death eater spawn?"
Scorpius mentally struggled harder. He felt anger surge through him as he was forced to look at James Potter who was calling him things he was not. He had never felt such anger in his life.
"I would. He's been a far better friend to me since I met him than you have." Al replied scathingly.
"So, you ditch Gryffindor for scum like him. And now you choose him over your own family. You're a traitor. You even chose him over Rose."
"He never did anything wrong. Rose did! You all call him..." Al paused, not even wanting to say what Scorpius knew was whispered behind his back. He felt a wave of gratitude coarse through him. "You call him that but you don't even know him. You don't even know his father. He's never done anything to you!"
"I've been told what his father was like! And in case it's slipped your notice, he's in Slytherin too like his father! Stay away from him!" James shouted, waving about his hands for emphasis.
"I'm a Slytherin too. You think I'm evil now?" Al replied.
"No, but you have betrayed your own family. Now run along before I hex you, traitor." James said coldly, his eyes narrowing. "I'll give you can collect your wand tomorrow."
Al shook his head and dived for his wand. James threw a stinging hex at him.
"Oww!" Al cried out, rubbing his hand.
"I told you to go!" James said. "Now go!" Al ran off, Scorpius noticed tear tracks staining his face. He felt even more angry and wished more than anything that he could grab his wand.
"As for you. STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER." James shouted. He then fired three stinging hexes at Scorpius. Scorpius felt the stings all over but he could do nothing. He had to just stand there and watch. "Oh and, let me do this for good measure. Diffindo!" Scorpius watched as his robes were neatly severed into two and fell down on the ground leaving him in his boxers. James walked off laughing at his handy work.
It was another ten minutes before Scorpius saw anyone. It had given him time to stew in his rage as he was left there, paralysed on the spot, cold. He heard voices coming his way to find Al walking over quickly with Notts.
"Finite Incantatum." Notts said pointing his wand at Scorpius. "Who did this?" he demanded.
"No one." Scorpius replied before Al could even say anything. He tried to convey to Al with his eyes not to say anything. Al must have got the message because he simply nodded.
"I don't believe you for a second, but I won't force it out of you. Be more careful." and with that Notts walked off.
Scorpius took out his wand and pointed it at his robes.
"Reparo." The robes nitted themselves back together and he put them back on. Al walked over to him with wide eyes.
"Why did you do that?" Al asked Scorpius. "Why didn't you tell him?"
"It's not his problem, it's yours and mine."
"Huh?"
"It's not his place to deal with your brother. We have to."
"Just what are you planning?" Al asked sounding a little worried. Scorpius looked at Al, a large smirk gracing his face and his eyes turning hard like steel.
"Revenge."
So I kind of like how this chapter turned out. Things are going to get moving a lot faster now by the way. When I say that I mean I'm going to start speeding through the months and the years. I need to get them to a really suitable age. I shan't time skip too much though. Read and Review! I have plenty of people with this story on story alert and nobody reviewing. Reviews are my motivation and inspiration! So REVIEW AND FLAME