Breakfast was a heated debate throughout the hall. The rivalry had reached away from the teams and affected the entire school. Gryffindors and Slytherins were shouting at each other. Almost every Hufflepuff was wearing red to support Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw was half and half.

As the shouting continued and the professors gave up trying to keep the students in line, the two teams were huddled at their respective tables barely touching their food. The only newbie on Gryffindor's team was Hugo, and although he was probably the best chaser in the school, he had a problem with nerves. Rose was comforting him, and James was giving cliché pep talks. When Hugo finally took a bite of his breakfast , Rose glanced over at the Slytherins. Scorpius looked paler than usual, but otherwise seemed unaffected. He met her eyes and she shot him a dirty look before turning back to her team.

Scorpius was freaking out, but nervousness would never show on a Malfoy's face. His entire plan relied on him beating Rose on the pitch. All he had to do was catch the snitch, even if Slytherin lost, as long as he got the snitch he would win.

"Alright there Scorp?" Nott asked.

"Fine, just trying to concentrate with all this craziness going on."

"Yea they're real spirited. Keep track of all the Ravenclaws wearing green, they'll be invited to the our party after the match."

Scorpius nodded, but said nothing. A Slytherin party was not his idea of fun. It was basically a drunken orgy. He'd rather listen to music or read, than have public sex with someone that means nothing to him.

Scorpius looked over to the Gryffindors to see Rose looking excited and determined. She was laughing with her cousin Lily. Why was not showing any nerves? She had more experience than him, but he was physically bigger and stronger. Not to mention he'd been flying since he was two. Then again Rose had probably practiced with her aunt and uncle and cousins her whole life. He honestly didn't know who would win.

She was eating a big breakfast, and not wanting to give her an advantage, he piled his plate high and started eating as well.

Walking to the team room was one of Rose's favorite things. All of Gryffindor follows the team, and for once she is more than just a brainiac. James went over plays as the team dressed and finally gave his real pep talk.

"Alright team. Today is our day. More than half of the school is out there wearing red and gold because they know we're the better team…"

"or because everyone hates Slytherin…" Lily added.

"Shut it sis. Slytherin may be bigger than us, but we're better. Our team is more experienced, faster, smarter, better. Just stay focused. Rose, Malfoy may have a better broom, but you know this game better, make sure he doesn't get anywhere near the snitch! Lily, Hugo, and Jennifer keep the quaffle moving, we know how Slytherin plays and I don't want any of you to be targets. Malcolm and Fred, hit any green shirt you see. They won't give us any mercy, so you two need to be brutal. Just play like our last practice and we'll win in no time!"

And then the game was on. Scorpius and Rose circled the pitch, keeping their distance from one another. Rose knew that the faster she could grab the snitch the better for everyone. She was flying past the Gryffindor goal post when the whole crowd screamed. Rose's head whipped around in time to see Hugo falling. Fred was close enough that he caught him before he hit the ground, but as James called time out and the professors rushed on to the field, it was clear he would not be playing the rest of the game. Rose glanced at the scoreboard for the first time all game, 50 to 50.

"What happened!?" she frantically asked once the other chasers made it to the huddle.

Lily answered "He had just scored and Nott hit a bludger right at him".

"I tried to block it but I was too far away," Fred said apologetically.

James returned to the huddle from talking with the professors. "Okay he' going to be fine, but he's out for this game. Fred, Malcolm, I need you two guarding Lily and Jenn for the rest of the game. I can handle myself and Rose has been left alone so far. Keep their players away from our chasers. We can still win this. Rose we need you to catch the snitch as soon as possible. Alright let's go."

As the game restarted Slytherin scored twice in no time. Rose decided to stay closer to Malfoy to make sure he didn't see anything before her.

Scorpius was circling the pitch just below Rose, frustrated with his team. That hit on Hugo was far from fair. With Nott as the captain he had to figure they wouldn't be playing fairly. He was watching the game a bit more than he should, but at least he knew that Lily was furiously trying to hurt any Slytherin player that came near her. When the quaffle came close to Scorpius he got out of the path of her rage very fast.

Rose was nervous. Lily and Jenn normally would hold their own against Slytherin, but it seemed Lily was so angry that she was barely playing. The score was 120 to 60, and if she didn't get her act together soon it wouldn't matter if Rose caught the snitch.

It was at that moment she saw gold. A small twinkle near the grass, ad she took off. Scorpius saw it just a moment later and was after her. With a faster broom he knew he could catch her, but she had more practice at actually catching the tiny ball. They broke into a dive at the same time, and as they approached the snitch Scorpius knew he couldn't get to it before her. Instead he turned his broom and collided into her. They both sprawled onto the ground, and the snitch zoomed out of sight once more.

Green supporters applauded while those in red screamed in outrage. Rose got up quickly, refusing to acknowledge the throbbing in her wrist and knee, found her broom and hopped back on it. Angry tears welled up in her eyes, but no whistle had blown so the game was still going. Scorpius seemed completely uninjured and was just a step behind her.

Scorpius didn't even look in Rose's direction as he got back up. He knew what he did was cheap, but it wasn't technically against the rules. His shoulder took the blow the hardest and he knew he would have to go to the infirmary at some point after the game. As he rode higher following Rose he glanced over at the scoreboard. And then over at Gryffindor's goalpost. Their keeper, James, was slouched on his broom holding his side. So that's how Slytherin had managed to score so much, it was now 200 to 70. If he could just catch the snitch then Gryffindor would be out of the running entirely for the quidditch cup.

Rose had seen the bad shape James was in, and even though Lily was playing smart again, the were getting destroyed. She started doing figure eights above the pitch, ignoring the game and just focusing on finding the snitch. She finally saw it once more, near Slytherin's goal post. Scorpius was halfway between her and the snitch, but looking in the wrong direction.

She bent as low as she could to her broom and shot like a rocket towards the snitch. Scorpius saw her, then the snitch, and mirrored her motion. They were neck and neck about 50 meters away from the snitch. Rose slammed into Malfoy's side, and to her surprise it knocked him off balance enough for her to gain the lead.

As Rose slammed into Scorpius' injured shoulder he let out a shriek of pain and fell behind a bit. He tried to regain the lost ground but it was too late. With more grace than any human should be allowed Rose had leapt off her broom, grabbed the snitch, and wrapped her left arm around the goal post to stop from falling. Cheers erupted from all around him, and he saw Rose look up beaming.

Rose's smile fell away quickly when she saw the score, and realized it was the Slytherin fans who were cheering. 230 to 220. She had caught the snitch just a moment too late. Scorpius was smothered in a group hug as Malcolm came over to give Rose a lift off the post.

"If you hadn't grabbed the snitch when you did we would've been in way worse shape. Oh and awesome catch!" Malcolm said as he took her to where her broom had landed.

"Yea I know, I just hate that we lost to those cheaters!"

"Don't worry about it. We're all gonna take James up to the hospital wing and check on your brother. You should probably get looked at too after that fall."

Her wrist was killing her, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.