Chapter Four;
First year. Part 3
"Okay, so, when the Quaffle, that's the big red ball that the Chaser's are throwing around, when that goes through the hoop, the team who did it scores ten points." Sirius whispered into Rosie's ear as they watched the team practice for the upcoming match. They'd been doing this a lot lately, to Rosie utter annoyance. She enjoyed watching the game but didn't understand the rules at all. Upon hearing that Rosie didn't know the simplest thing about Qudditch, he'd dragged her off to the pitch while Gryffindor was practising and had spent his precious Saturday afternoons trying to teach her about the game. It seemed as if she couldn't get it though. She found it easy enough to decipher the Keeper from the rest of the team, but the others kept escaping her. The bashers? Beaters? Smashers? Whatever they were called had the bats and it seemed as if her endless stream of questions was getting on Sirius's last nerve and that he'd soon like to bash her with the bat. Although, he kept patiently explaining the game and their rules to her, his tone had gone from slow and patient, to slightly aggravated.
After Sirius had gave an annoyed groan, having tried to explain the Seeker and it's role to Rosie and failed, he had leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. Rosie had mirrored his position, her fingers absently tapping out a beat on her lap. One thing kept pricking at the back of her mind, and she couldn't help but vocalise it. "Why do you keep trying to explain this stupid game to me if you're acting so upset!?" She asked angrily, running her hands through her currently black hair. That was another reason her temper had been so short of late. For some unexplainable reason, when she'd woken that morning her hair had been a dark black and she didn't know how it had turned that colour nor how to turn it back. She desperately missed her usual dark auburn and had been taking out her anger on Sirius, she had to admit. That realisation made her feel exceptionally worse, seeing as Sirius could be spending his Saturday with his best mate but had instead decided to spend it with her. When Rosie had said that he didn't need to waste his Saturday's on her, he'd bumped his shoulder into hers and remarked. "How else would I be able to spend time with you, Hunter? You're always around the girls now, we hardly see each other." It was true. Rosie had been spending a fair bit of her time establishing connections with the rest of the girls in her dorm and she did realise that she'd been pushing Sirius away slightly.
Sirius grinned and handed her a chocolate frog that he'd pulled from his trouser pocket as the wind ruffled his already messy hair. "I'm trying to explain it to you because you, Rosie Posie, have potential. I am going to make you into a bloody brilliant Qudditch player by our second year." Warmth spread through her and Rosie bit into the chocolate frog to hide her slight blush. Sirius seemed adamant on the point and henceforth they spent multiple days camped out in the Qudditch stands, just watching the practices progress. It was there time. During the week, they hardly spent time with each other that wasn't either school work or wake up calls.
Rolling her eyes, Rosie pushed Sirius slightly and tugged her jacket more tightly around her. It was the middle of October and the temperature had considerably dropped. They didn't really know, or care, why the Gryffindor team was practising on Halloween, all they knew was that as soon as the practice was over, they'd be heading down to the Halloween feast.
All the older Gryffindors spoke fondly of the Halloween feast and their amazing decorations and spectacular entertainment. The sweets were said to be mouthwatering and left you wanting more and more, while the celebrations were ornate and unforgettable. Some of the older students swore that the Halloween celebrations was the most memorable event at Hogwarts for them.
So, after a few more hours in which Sirius had given up on teaching Rosie the rules of Quddiitch, he'd eventually given up instead and spent the rest of the afternoon tickling her mercilessly. As well as making Rosie want to strangle him, she also wanted to clobber him with one of the Beaters, she'd finally figured out they were called Beaters 'bat'. It was rather annoying that Rosie was ticklish almost anywhere and Sirius just loved taking advantage of that. Sure, she was fairly resourceful and was able to flip him off her within seconds if he pinned her in a normal situation, but it seemed as if her brain turned to mush when she was being tickled. Rosie was slightly thankful that her brother's hadn't figured out that small fact about hers of it would've made her life on the farm exceptionally harder than usual. And Sirius, being the resourceful man that he was, took advantage of her ticklishness. So, as Rosie was screaming and laughing rather loudly, drawing the attention from the Gryffindor team on the pitch, she finally managed to gasp out. "PLEASE SIRIUS! STOP!" He only shook his head, and pulled on a pondering look at he said aloud. "What would you give me if I stop?" Rosie was writhing around, trying to kick and slap away his tickling fingers while laughing hysterically, but seemed to be able to do neither, as Sirius adjusted his position and was able to pin her hands and feet while still tickling her.
"ANYTHING! JUST STOP!" Rosie screamed, trying to throw him off her. Sirius grinned and tickled her for a few more minutes, which made Rosie vow in her head that once he let her go, that she'd probably throw his off the edge of the stands. Then, after a moment, she decided that that would be too quick and easy, she decided to hex him at least twice a day for the rest of their school year. Finally Sirius stepped away from her and smirked down at Rosie, his arms crossed over his chest. "Fine, Hunter. You owe me one favour that I can cash in whenever. Clear?" Rosie nodded and he leaned down a hand to help her, which she grabbed and pulled him back down to the floor, starting a new wrestling match between the both of them.