Thank you for the reviews! I go a bit crazy with the Gobstones Club thing in this one. If you couldn't care less about it then I understand, leave a review. New chapter will be up in a few days!

Chapter 13

So it's a Friday night and I'm sitting in the Gryffindor common room, about to leave for a Gobstones Club meeting, wondering how on earth I get myself in these situations. In the next second I realise it's over a guy. Great.

I also realise as I half listen to Melody sing-song about what she saw in some crystal balls today, that I don't actually have to participate. It's not like Andrew McLaggen would care enough about being ditched by me, Rose 'Red' (because fire is red, get it? Hah -James Potter, circa 2018) Weasley, to go digging as to whether or not I'm a legitimate member. But I know I'm too neurotic to just sit back and hope; I'll be thinking about it constantly.

"James!" I hear Lily's voice yell across the common room.

The handful of Gryffindors currently lounging on the couches don't look up; loud Potter-Weasleys are nothing new. I, however, watch Lily as she marches from the portrait hole, her face as red as her hair, towards James who is sitting (unusually quietly) by the fireplace.

James only looks up at her when she's standing right before him and glaring at him, hands on hips.

"What did you say to Lance Thomas?"

James sits up straighter, a faint smirk playing on his face.

"Why, what did he say?"

"He broke up with me. What did you say?"

"Did he say I said something?"

"I know you said something," Lily huffs. "He was acting all weird, and then he broke up with me. Said it was him, not me. But that's bullshit, I know it was you."

James pretends to think for a second. "I may have said something about not messing around with you… And if he does, then something about hexing his manhood to look like the Giant Squid and telling all the girls at Hogwarts that Lance Thomas is quite a catch. But that's all, I swear."

"You what?" Lily gapes at him. "You're the worst brother ever!"

"I'm just looking out for you," James says, leaning back in the couch again. "I didn't think the bloke would actually break up with you. Just goes to show he's a spineless tosser. You should be thanking me for saving you from such a loser."

"I hate you!"

Then she storms off.

"Love you, too!" James calls out after her.

Melody and I exchange raised eyebrows over this scene. Before either of us can say anything, half of the Slytherin crew waltz into the Gryffindor common room as if they own it, and I practically sputter at the sight of them. 'Them' being Albus and Scorpius.

"What are you doing here?" I say in my most authoritative prefect voice.

James turns to the direction of my glare as well.

"Just thought we'd come say hi," Albus says.

"This is the Gryffindor common room," I point out.

"Oh?" Albus says, taking a seat in the couch opposite James. Scorpius, who's so far been quiet, looks stonily at me (i.e. just looks at me with his normal face) and takes a seat, too.

I ignore his daft comment. "How'd you get the password?"

"James told me."

"James!"

James shrugs. Then he says to Albus, "No Slytherins allowed in here before the game. It's bad luck."

Albus scoffs. "Don't be a superstitious knob, there's no such thing. Anyway, I just wanted to ask a favour…"

"No," James says immediately.

"Aw, come on, you don't even know what I'm going to ask."

"Yes I do. And no."

"That's no fair! It's not even yours anyway, you stole it from Dad's stuff."

"Finder's keepers."

I'm going to take a wild guess and say Albus is trying to borrow James' Invisibility Cloak. He should have just done a Dom and swiped it from his room - he'd have more of a chance.

"What do you do with it, anyway? It's not like you're using it tonight. Come on, James, don't be a prick…"

"What're you going to do with it?" James asks.

Albus glances at Scorpius. "Er… We were going to… go to the kitchens."

"You do that every night anyway."

"Yes. But I'm scared, James. Scared that I might get caught."

James snorts. "Whatever. Tell me the real reason and I'll think about it."

"Fine," Albus says. Then he leans forward, and I can't make out what he says.

He leans back again and James looks thoughtful for a moment, before saying, "Alright. But you're dead if you get it confiscated."

Albus crosses his heart solemnly. "I swear I won't."

I look at my watch and realise it's time for my Gobstones Club meeting. I sigh and stand up.

"Well, off I go," I say to Melody.

"Have fun."

"Yeah. Fun…"

I make my way to the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" Albus asks.

"Gobstones Club," I say over my shoulder.

"You're in the Gobstones Club?"

"I am now."

I hear Albus say something (it sounds like, "what the fuck?") but continue walking. And then I almost get killed by someone crashing through the portrait hole directly into me.

"Ow!" I exclaim.

"Oomph, fuck, hi there."

It's Darius Flint.

"You know the password, too?" I ask, exasperated.

"Ileus bagius?"

I roll my eyes. "I know what the password is."

"Then why'd you ask?" he says, then saunters towards Albus and the others.

Ugh.

"More Slytherins!" James says. "Alright, you lot get out before my team see me talking to you."

"What about the thing?" Albus says.

"Get it later."

"But I need it tonight-"

"Get it later," James says, standing up.

"You're a dick," Albus tells him.

James scowls at him. Albus scowls back. Scorpius stands up and starts leading the way out of the room. He gives me one of his squinty (supposedly sexy) looks as he heads towards the portrait hole.

I start my exit again, too.

"I didn't know you were in the Gobstones Club," he says to me as we leave the common room.

"It's a favourite pastime of mine."

Scorpius looks doubtful. "You mean, apart from burning things to the ground?"

I scowl at him. "Yes. Apart from that."

We're standing outside the portrait of the Fat Lady now. Scorpius is looking down at me, his hands in his pockets. His hair is a little rumpled, I notice. And it looks really soft - I get a sudden urge to run my hands through its platinum silkiness, but restrain myself.

"What're you looking at?"

"Huh? Nothing."

We move out of the way as the Fat Lady swings open again and Albus comes out clutching the Invisibility Cloak and bearing a huge grin. Darius Flint is not far behind.

"Got it," Albus says.

Scorpius nods at him.

I'm not quite sure why I waited with Scorpius, but now I end up walking to my meeting with Albus, Scorpius, and Darius, who're going back to the Slytherin common room evidently to exact whatever mischief they have planned that requires being invisible.

"What're you going to do?" I ask.

"Nothing," Albus says quickly.

I narrow my eyes at him but don't pry. I suppose if it's a prank I'll find out later with the rest of the school.

"What's his problem?" I ask instead. It's not like James to be this moody.

"Dunno," Albus says, but I can tell he's hiding something.

"Is it to do with the- Wiggan- thing?"

Albus glances over his shoulder. Scorpius and Darius are walking a few steps behind us, out of earshot. He leans a bit closer anyway and says quietly, "There's a scout coming tomorrow."

"Scou-?"

"Shh!" he hisses. "Not so loud. Yeah, a Scout. For the League."

"The British League? Do they normally come to Hogwarts games?"

"No, but Mum called in a favour. He's going to come check out James play - if he likes what he sees he might be able to make an exception to the N.E.W.T.s rule."

Of course. And who said being a child of Harry and Ginny Potter didn't give you special privileges?

"Oh, come off it, Rose," Albus says, seeing my judgemental look. "At the rate he's going he's never going to pass this year. This is his only shot. That's why he's so moody."

"So are you going to let him win?" I ask.

"Hell no," he says indignantly. "I'm a nice brother, but not that nice. Besides, he flies best when there's more of a challenge."

When we get down to the third floor I say goodbye to the Slytherin crew.

"Have fun," Scorpius says.

That's the second time so far. People are either being sarcastic, or Gobstones is really, really fun. I'm telling myself it's the latter.

I get to the Charms classroom at the end of the hall and let myself in.

The room is dark around the edges, the only light coming from a single lamp hovering in the air in the middle of the room. In the pool of orange light beneath are a series of concentric white circles chalked onto the wooden floor. About ten or so people are standing around the edges of the circle, most of their faces hidden in the shadows.

The murmuring in the room stops abruptly as I walk in.

"Hi…" I say, looking around trying to spot Molly.

"You're late," Molly says, stepping forward under the light of the lamp.

"Only five minutes."

Molly purses her lips. Then she turns to the others. "Everyone, this is Rose Weasley. She has expressed an interest in joining the Club."

Everyone - mostly first through to fourth years, by the looks of it - all turn to me. I realise that I'm the oldest one here. I feel like Wendy from that muggle story, Peter Pan, and these are my lost children. I smile and give everyone a friendly wave. They all stare balefully back me. God, Molly was right; Gobstones is serious.

"Let the tryout begin," Molly says.

"Wait- what? Tryout? You said I just have to come to one meeting."

"One meeting - to try out."

"That's not fair, can-"

"Life is not fair," Molly intones.

I shut up when I realise who I'm talking to. There's no arguing with Molly Weasley - she already thinks she's the sole voice of reason in the Potter-Weasley clan.

"Alright, what do I have to do?"

"You've never played Gobstones?" asks Molly.

"Of course I have," I say quickly.

I've played it once with Albus when we were ten, with a set he got for Christmas. I got bored and went to read a book instead.

"Alright. You'll be playing against Ramona."

A short, spindly-looking girl with dark hair almost halfway down her back steps out of the shadows into the ring of light as if she's stepping up to a boxing match. She looks up at me.

"Hi," I say.

"Are you ready to be defeated?" Ramona says in a surprisingly deep, mature voice.

"Excuse me?"

"Ramona is our star player," says Molly. "If you can take at least three of her Gobstones before she takes all of yours, then you're in."

Ramona inclines her head towards me, seriously, and then backs away to the edge of the circle we're standing in.

"Bring it on, Ramona," I say jokingly.

Ramona does not seem amused.

Everyone steps further back, and I take a spot on the opposite end from Ramona. We're playing International level, apparently; this circle is at least ten times as big as the one I played with Albus.

A first year boy hurries forward and sets up seven Gobstones before me in a pattern that I don't understand, but seems pretty deliberate. I start to get nervous before it hits me why I'm here, and then I almost crack up laughing. I bite my lip to keep myself from doing so. These kids probably think I'm crazy as it is, anyway.

Ramona bends down as if inspecting her Gobstones; I do the same.

"Begin!" Molly shouts.

"Err- you go first," I tell Ramona.

"The visitor always goes first," Molly says.

"Fine."

I pick a Gobstone at random (a purple one, because it looks pretty) and roll it towards one of Ramona's at the opposite end of the circle. It misses.

I flinch back from the stream of putrid green liquid it squirts at me; it hits the side of my face, all cold and slimy. I've decided I hate Gobstones.

Ramona squints at her Gobstones for a second before delicately rolling one of hers across. Of course it knocks it out. There's a smattering of applause from around the circle.

I huff. Alright, you're doing down, Ramona.

I select a Gobstone and practically hurl it across the circle. It smashes one of hers out, careening into the wall with a thud. There's a pause, and then clapping. I can't help the stupidly wide grin that spreads across my face.

Ramona gives me a dark look and then crouches down closer to her Gobstones. Everyone in the room seems to wait with bated breath.

"Nerds!"

Everyone whips around to the sound of a boy's yell, but there's no one at the door; instead something flies into the room and lands in the middle of the circle. Then chaos ensues.

The Gobstones Club shriek and start heading for the door as brown fumes start billowing out of the dungbomb, it's cloying scent filling the room. Students run out; some stay behind, coughing and sputtering picking up the Gobstones. Molly is one of them, and she's yelling orders at the others to go on and save themselves.

I run out into the corridor, glancing left and then right, then spot him; the person who threw it is racing away, his robes billowing out behind him. I point my wand at his back. Levicorpus.

He's pulled into the air by his ankles and hovers there, upside down, as I make my way towards him.

"Put me down!" the boy yells.

He's a scrawny, sandy-haired kid who looks to be in third year or so. A Slytherin crest is emblazoned on his robes. Typical.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"What's it to you?" he says, tilting his head back to glare down at me.

"Because you just disturbed my Gobstones Club meeting. And because I'm not going to let you down until you tell me your name."

His face is going red from all the blood rushing to it. "Travis."

"Alright, Travis. Detention."

"You can't do that, you're in the Gobstones Club. That's favouritism."

I ignore him. "I'm going to let you down now and you're going to go apologise to Molly Weasley, she's the President of the Club."

"No way, she's a loser."

"The detention was for being a bully. I might hex your bum onto your face if you keep being a brat."

He gapes at me. "You can't talk to me like that! You're a prefect!"

"I'm a prefect, not a saint. Now you're going to apologise."

Travis glares at me for bit longer, then says, "Okay."

I slowly let him down. He straightens up his robes and I lead him to the Charms classroom where Molly has managed to gather all her precious Gobstones and also stop the dungbomb from emitting more fumes. It still smells like shit in here though. Literally.

"Molly, Travis has something he wants to say to you."

Travis comes up in front of me. I prod his back with my wand when he doesn't say anything.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what, Travis?" I say.

I'm loving this.

"Sorry for being a bully."

Molly gives him a curt nod. "That's okay."

She's reacting nicer than I ever thought she would.

Travis looks pained for a moment, before he says, "Can I go now?"

"Promise you'll never do this again," I say.

Travis shoots a glare up at me and I match it with one of my own. He looks down at his shoes, then says, "I promise."

"Good. And don't forget, you have detention."

"I know," he says glumly, then races out of the room.

Molly sighs when he's gone. "Thanks, Rose."

"My pleasure. I hate bullying little shits like him," I say, smiling at her.

Molly smiles tersely back. "He's been doing that for weeks now. Maybe it'll stop."

Watching her look so defeated, I feel a little sorry for Molly. "Next time just hex him good," I advise her.

Molly looks alarmed. "Oh, no, I couldn't do that. Hexing is forbidden."

I shrug. "Suit yourself."

We stand there awkwardly. "So…" I say. "Did I pass the tryout?"

Molly looks sadly at me. "No, I'm sorry, rules are rules. You didn't beat Ramona. But-" she adds quickly when I sigh, "-I'll tell whoever asks that you're a member of the Gobstones Club. I really appreciate what you did for the Club today, Rose."

I smile widely. "Thanks, Molly."

"We've got official Hogwarts Gobstones Club badges, too - would you like to wear one?"

"Err… No, it's okay."

xxxxxxxxxx

The next morning I find out what Albus, Scorpius, and Darius were up to with the Cloak. It's all over the walls of the Entrance Hall, and the Great Hall; a veil of Slytherin green and silver, undulating as if there's a ghostly wind blowing over the walls. They've turned all the tables in the Great Hall green too, and the enchanted ceiling is covered in the green veil that stretches all the way up the heights of the walls.

Hogwarts just looks like one massive House of Slytherin.

"Gryffindor have beat us every single year for the past four years - we wanted to boost morale," Albus says.

Albus must have tricked James good, to let him use the Cloak for this. James would never have allowed it otherwise. Perhaps Albus is more Slytherin than I give him credit for.

"What does Nott think?"

Cameron Nott is the Slytherin team captain. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what the word 'morale' means.

"He said it was sweet."

"Has James seen it yet?"

Albus smirks. "Yeah, you missed his hissy fit. I think he's gone up to his room to have a cry."

I let Albus get back to his breakfast (he's busy being clapped on the back by passing Slytherins, anyway) and head back to the 'Gryffindor' table.

"I cannot believe him," I hear Roxanne huff to Dominique.

"There, there," Dominique calms her. "It's just a little green. You'll still kick Slytherin arse."

"We better," Roxanne says angrily, shoveling cereal down her throat.

I'll never understand why people get so worked up over this sport.

Dominique catches my eye and raises her brows at me. We've gone back to our usual bicker-banter relationship since the revelation about the true nature of her relationship with Andrew McLaggen, but I still don't feel completely comfortable with talking to her about anything remotely personal. I'm glad she hasn't asked any further about Teddy.

After a quick breakfast I hurry back to Gryffindor tower; Saturday is one of the few times I have to catch up on things, and I actually want to go to the game today to see how James does in front of that scout. All the more reason to cram as much homework into the hour before the match.

As expected, the hour goes by before I can say 'two thousand word essay on counter-jinxes and their origins' and I find myself walking down to the Quidditch pitch with Melody. I can hear the cheers already starting from here.

As we get closer to the stands, a figure decked out in full Quidditch protective gear comes running towards us. It's Roxanne, and she looks worried out of her wits.

Before I can ask what's wrong, she demands, "Have you seen James?"

"No," I say, frowning. "Thought he'd be here already. Isn't the match about to start?"

"Well he's not," she snaps. "Shit, shit, this is not good…"

"Was he that upset over the Slytherin colours thing?" I ask.

Roxanne shakes her head. "I don't know, I don't know. But we need him. Shit."

"ROSE!"

We all whip around to see Lily sprinting towards us from the castle, her long red hair flying behind her. My heart leaps to my throat when I realise she's crying - bawling, actually - as she runs.

"Rose, oh- Rose-" she sobs as she reaches us. "James- James is dead."

I hate cliffhangers as much as the next reader, so new chapter will be up in a few days. Promise xx