Rose's POV:

Rose woke up early. Her whole body trembled with excitement and nerves. It was her first match today; everybody would be watching her, whether it was to see her fail or to see her win the game. Both reasons made her tense. She was scared; she was so scared and she did not understand why. Scorpius told her that she was amazing and that she was his inspiration. Whatever that meant, but to her that was just one more person pressuring her to be the best and one more person he could not let down.

In addition to playing for a team, having people depend on her she was nervous about playing front of a lot of people. She did not know if she was going to be able to focus on her game like when she was alone. What if she could not play with all the noise and distractions? She needed to think of a way to get used to all the people, all the noise, and all the colors. She needed it to become normal, like the way it felt when she played in the pitch black.

Another thing that she needed to remember was that the snitch she would be playing with would be different than the one she trained with. She would be able to see it and it would move slower. This would change her timing.

Thinking over her problems of time and all the distractions she came up with a solution. She would have to check with the referee before she could go forward with her strange warm up. Her plan consisted of flying slow loops while the stands filled up to help her adjust to the new atmosphere so that by the time the game started everything would be normalized. After she felt completely normal in the new setting she would get off her broom and play catch with a normal snitch so she could see how fast she would have to react. She could do this while walking circles around the edge of the pitch to make sure she could catch it with all the distractions.

Feeling satisfied she got up out of her bed. She quickly pulled on some jeans, a sport bra and a Gryffindor t-shirt. She found her sneakers, which were under her bed and ran out of the dormitory. She rushed passed the great hall, outside and toward the practice pitch where the slightly decrepit but perfectly alert Madame Hooch had her office. The office abutted the high stonewalls of the practice pitch. Rose banged on the wooden door anxiously until the flustered ref opened the door.

"Rose Weasley? What is so important that you must bang on my door so impatiently?" Madame Hooch questioned angrily.

"It's about my warm up before the game. It's unconventional and I was wondering if you would okay it so in case it brings up problems before the game. I don't want to cause any type of disruption before the game!" Rose said in a concerned voice, "I mean it's my first game I just-''

"Ms. Weasley, calm down. Just tell me the plan and I'll tell you yes or no," Madame Hooch replied patiently.

Rose explained her warm-up in great detail to the surprisingly understanding referee. She was so happy when Madame Hooch okayed her plan. She was shocked that when the answer was yes she sighed with relief, Rose had not realized how much tension she was holding in. In her jubilance she hugged the older lady and ran back to the castle with some weight lifted off her shoulders.

When Rose walked back into the Great Hall she was happy to see that the amount of people had not increased from the number of ten since she had rushed through to reach Madame Hooch. She was grateful because she wanted to eat alone so she could focus on her game plan and not hurling up whatever food she got into her system before the match.

Rose drank a lot of water. She knew that she needed to be hydrated now in order to maintain her performance level through the entire match. She also ate some toast with peanut butter and raspberry jam. It was simple, but healthy. After about her five-minute breakfast only a few more students had come down to break fast so she rushed back upstairs before anyone confronted her about todays match.

She was glad to follow the familiar routine of putting her quidditch gear on, stretching and checking her broom. Rose knew that it was uncommon for players to keep their brooms right next to their bed but that's where she felt it would be most safe.

Rose ran her hands over her broom with her eyes closed to see if she had missed any imperfections that could only be felt. Sometimes when she just went over her broom with her eyes open she would fly and know something was wrong. Everything was perfect today, she was glad of that. While she did not usually believe in signs only logic she felt that in this case it was okay to do so.

Rose pulled on her sleek seeker outfit. It was different that the traditional team outfit. The traditional ones had a cape and slightly baggy shirt and pants or shorts. Rose since she twisted and jumped while she flied did not want to get tangled up in a cape or to have her body flashed to the entire population of due to baggy clothing. Rose also did not like the bright colored red that would not let her blend into the sky. Instead Rose wore a skintight grey body suit made of a stretchy synthetic material that moved with her body. In order to show that she belonged to the Gryffindor team there were parts of the grey that made her body look more defined with a deep red shading on top of the grey. The back simply said "Weasley" in all capitals.

Instead of sneakers Rose wore boots that she had had custom made. They were made of stiff black leather and reached her mid-calf. She had had them made when she realized that she was going to keep rolling her ankles when she jumped off of her broom at high heights in just sneakers. The boots had laces that wrapped around the back and front all the way up and thick buckles that looped all the way over that. The boots would never come off while she was flying or landing and they also had extra cushioning charmed and built in so she could land with even higher impact than she used too.

Rose stretched her muscles and was glad to feel that they were not sore or tired. Jack had gone easy on them last night so that they would not be hurting for todays match. She cracked her back, her neck, her shoulders and her ankles. That simple release of tension in her joints made her feel slightly better.

Before she left her room she pulled on her new gloves. They were like her old ones except the palms were changed. Instead of having dragon hide there, there was nothing. Having her palm there allowed her to grip her broom handle better and to grab the snitch, flesh to metal. She would not have to fumble around to grasp it. She wore the closed gloves in practice to challenge herself.

Gloves secure, broom in hand, uniform on, she was ready to go physically but not mentally. She forced herself to walk out of her room and down the stairs. When she reached the common room she was surprised to hear her friend squeal!

"Rose!" Jasmine said uncharacteristically loudly, "I usually don't find quidditch that interesting but I can't wait to see you fly! Albus and I are going to sit together and cheer for you!"

Rose smiled tensely at her friend's jubilance but Rose knew that she only meant the best.

"Thanks Jasmine," Rose said politely, "I'm going to walk down now so I'll see you after the game?"

"For sure, good luck!"

"Thanks," Rose called back already walking away in a daze.

When Rose walked outside the common room and down the stairs toward the great hall she was glad to see that Scorpius was pacing up and down the hall as if he was waiting for her. He did not notice her so Rose smiled to herself and waited until his back was turned. She ran softly until she was right behind him and jumped on his back.

He grunted with surprise and she giggled at his expense. She was careful not to let her broom hit him as he carried her towards the hall. Since she had leapt at him haphazardly it was not a surprise that when Albus rounded the corner coming out of the great hall that Scorpius ran into him and almost lost his balance with Rose still on his back.

"Scorpius," Rose giggled, "Put me down before you drop me."

He grinned back at her, her heart melted as putting her down softly.

"Thanks," Rose said biting her lip.

Rose and Scorpius turned to look at Albus as he groaned.

"What?" they both said in unison.

Rose laughed again and looked at Scorpius.

"You guys are just so… You don't even realize… It's just sad… Never mind you know what I meant," Albus said exasperatedly.

"Yes, we totally get it. I completely understood everything you were trying to say to us with those complex sentences!" Rose said sarcastically.

"Yeah mate, compound sentences! Eloquent vocabulary!" Scorpius chimed in.

"Aw, bugger off. You know I kind of liked you two better when you hated each other because I only had to deal with your individual intelligence's not them combined!"

"Albus, what an awful thing to wish on your friends!" Rose said sweetly.

"Hey Albus we're going to go now. I don't want Rose to be late for warm up. I'll meet you there. Where are you going to sit?"

"With Jasmine in the Gryffindor stands. You up for it?"

Rose watched as his face wrinkled at the thought of spending an entire quidditch match with a bunch of loud Gryffindor's.

"Yeah, I'll be there. It is Rose's first match after all."

Rose smiled up at him gratefully. They linked hands and walked away. Rose's palm tingled from the contact with Scorpius's. They walked past the open and bustling doors of the great hall together. Rose could feel the tension in her body start to rise again and she unknowingly must have tightened her grip on Scorpius's hand. Scorpius rubbed his thumb gently and soothingly up and down their clasped palms. Even though she was wearing gloves and could not feel his skin it was still comforting. She leaned into his body as they slowed and reached the quidditch pitch.

"Rose, listen to me before you go. I know that you think that you need to play this game for everybody. You think that you need to prove yourself to the other. You think that you need to show that you can do something that they all expect you not to be able to do. You don't need to. Play this game for yourself. That's all who matters. When you play for yourself and then others that is when something truly becomes great."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that. Promise me something?"

"Sure."

"Now that we're friends, you get the last hug before every game and the first one after every game?"

"Of course!"

Rose wrapped her arms around her new friends body. She let herself mold to his form. She inhaled his smell and let it envelope her. She smiled into his chest as she felt his chin rest on her head. Rose reluctantly retracted her arms.

"Thanks," she smiled and turned away quickly not wanting to loose her nerve. She looked over her shoulder once quickly and was surprised to see that Scorpius was still in the same spot, stationary with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

Hey everybody, I really want to apologize for posting so randomly with this story. Honestly I would not be surprised in everybody has stopped reading this. I am extremely grateful if you have stuck with this story while I figure it out. I think the chapters might come a little quicker now because I have an actual plot and stuff lined up so that should help, before I was just making it up as I go. If I actually finnish this story it will have about twenty more chapters. Thanks for reading!