Title: All's Fair in Love and Quidditch
Gift For: Rotae
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley bond and fall in love while at Hogwarts thanks to their mutual devotion to the game of Quidditch. Family politics and the pressures of playing professionally, however, eventually threaten to tear their relationship apart.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language, Angst
Word Count: 3,924
Lyrics/Quotes Used: "The caterpillar does all the hard work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity." - George Calin
A/N: Written for the livejournal 2010 SMRW_FICAFEST exchange. Rotae asked for Rose and Scorpius in Ravenclaw as best friends who fall in love. I had a really hard time coming up with a believable plot about BFFs that turn into something more because in most of my rl experiences it's usually just ½ of the friendship that is in love and the other half is all WTF? So I was forced to steal my plot from the movie Love and Basketball. I also stole probably half-a-dozen lines from the film, too. I also stole borrowed names of many supporting characters from some of my favorite fanfics. A great big hug and lots of kisses goes out to queenb23more who agreed to beta this for me. Also a big thanks to birdseyeview for not crushing/cursing me for turning this in so late.
Part 2: The Chase is On
It was a fantastic day for a match. The sky was overcast and a slight chill was in the air. As Scorpius warmed up for the match, he surveyed his Slytherin opponents. They were good. Their Chasers were fast flyers and accurate throwers. Their Beaters were aggressive and their Seeker had good eyes and quick hands. On the whole, the two teams matched up relatively evenly. Evenly except for the fact that Ravenclaw had Scorpius and Rose. Scorpius was a good step ahead of the Slytherin Keeper. He was stronger, had a longer arm span, quicker reflexes, and an uncanny ability to determine before a Quaffle ever left a Chaser's hands which hoop it was headed towards.
If Scorpius was a step in front of his opponent, then Rose was an entire league in front of hers. She flew so fast and had such accurate aim that once she got the Quaffle in hand, it was like getting an automatic goal. For the last two years, her opponents were forced to develop new strategies just to slow her down. Gryffindor had set its Beaters to only aim Bludgers at her, Hufflepuff had guarded her two-on-one throughout the game, and Slytherin had its Keeper rush her whenever she approached the hoops. Their tactics had been inventive and had lowered her scoring percentage, but nothing could completely stop her.
Rose's ability, moreover, had raised the game play of her entire team. Ravenclaw was on its way to winning a fourth straight Quidditch Cup and an unprecedented third straight undefeated season. There were scouts from professional Quidditch teams in the stands every game. Rose had received offers from almost every team in the League, but refused to announce a decision about where she was going until after the season ended at Hogwarts. She said she didn't want the distraction to take away focus from her house team.
Scorpius wondered if she was keeping the scouts in the stands so that they could get a good look at him, too. Although Rose had denied any such motivation, Scorpius planned on making the most of the opportunity to convince one of them to give him a chance to play professionally. Today would be the last game where he could showcase his abilities on the pitch.
The moment the Snitch was released, the game had gotten physical. Apparently, Slytherin's new tactic to limit Rose's scoring was to sandwich her between two opposing Chasers, who not only could block any attempted passes to her but would roughhouse her so that she'd find it difficult to even stay seated on her broom without using both hands.
As a strategy, it turned out to be fairly effective. Although Rose still scored whenever she touched the Quaffle, she was only getting about a third of her normal shots. Ravenclaw had gone ahead early in the game, but they would lose if Slytherin's Seeker caught the snitch before their Seeker.
An hour into the game, Scorpius' frustration started to take over. Although he'd done a good job guarding the hoops, when the Slythern Chasers weren't sandwiching Rose, they were taunting him. He had a well deserved reputation for losing his cool during close games. He'd get upset or mad and let his anger take over, costing him the focus he needed to play his best. Most of the time his outbursts didn't hurt the team, he'd still block enough shots to secure Ravenclaw the win. Today, however, Ravenclaw couldn't afford to let any unnecessary goals through the hoops.
"Malfoy's so good at protecting the hoops because he's got lots of practice trying to keep his Ravenclaw dorm mates from taking him in the arse!" Ethan Flint taunted.
"Naw, he's good because of all the time he spends with his legs wrapped about his mate's broomsticks!" Rory Zabini replied.
"It's no wonder Weasley has to date Gryffindorks with all the poofs in Ravenclaw," Charlotte Goyle contributed.
"Shut it," Scorpius growled, trying desperately to ignore their words and focus on game.
"Your comebacks are as weak as your dick, Malfoy," Rory shouted back.
"Let's see if you are still talking about weakness after I cram your broom up your—" Before Scorpius could finish the sentence, Ethan and Charlotte were right in front of him. He lunged left to block Ethan's shot, but the Quaffle brushed by the tips of his fingers before sailing through a hoop.
Rose retrieved it and warned him to stay focused before she shot off toward the other side of the pitch.
Immediately, the Slytherin Beaters started in on him. "I wouldn't put up with a bird ordering me around. I wouldn't care if she were Captain or not," David Rosier said.
"If she was as fit as Weasley, I might let her order me around in bed," Murdo Qrquhart smirked.
Rosier laughed. "Not me. I especially want to be in charge in bed. I bet Weasley would love to be ordered onto her knees to suck on my balls."
Scorpius clenched his teeth to keep from losing it. He watched the other end of the pitch where Rose was getting slammed around between shots.
"I bet she likes it doggie style," Qrquhart replied. "I hear her uncle is part werewolf."
Scorpius couldn't stand it any longer. He spun his broom around and flew directly into Qrquahrt's side, causing him to gasp in pain and plummet twenty feet before regaining control of his broom.
The official called a foul on Ravenclaw and allowed Slytherin a penalty shot. Scorpius was so angry and frustrated that he couldn't block the hoop. Slytherin scored and moved ahead in the points.
Rose called a time-out and the Ravenclaw team landed under the hoops. As soon as they were on the ground, she looked over at the bench of reserve players. "Fawcett, you are in for Malfoy."
"What?" Scorpius exclaimed.
"I can't have you playing Keeper until you calm down."
"I am calm!" Scorpius shouted. "Leave me in the game and I'll show how calm I am right after I hex Qrquhart's bollocks off."
Rose glared at him. "No. If we are going to win this game, I need someone guarding the hoops who I can trust to keep it together. You obviously can't." She looked around at the rest of the team who were silently staring at the two of them. "Everyone else mount up."
Scorpius stomped angrily along the sidelines as Rose and the rest of the team took to the air. Rose eventually broke the Slytherin press and brought Ravenclaw back into the lead, but Scorpius was still upset that he wasn't playing. This was especially true when he caught sight of some of the scouts in the stands shaking their heads and taking notes with Quick-Quotes Quills.
Even when Ravenclaw won the game and the team was celebrating on the ground, Scorpius still fumed. Rose had grounded him, removed him from the pitch, and replaced him with a player who didn't have half of his ability or experience all because he'd been defending her! For someone who was supposedly his best friend, Rose Weasley had a definite self-centered streak.
As Scorpius made his way over to yell at her, he was stopped by the sight of Cameron Longbottom coming down from the stands to pull Rose into a celebratory snog. His eyes narrowed, Scorpius now wanted to hex the both of them – Rose for ruining his chances at landing a spot in the League and Longbottom for ruining his chance with Rose. Not that he ever really had a chance with Rose. She dated brave and bold Gryffindors, not nerdy, Quidditch-obsessed Ravenclaws.
Scorpius glared at the pair until Longbottom released Rose from his grip and turned to head back to the school. He noticed Rose catch sight of him as she leaned down to pick up her gear.
"Don't start with me, Scorpius. I'm not happy with you."
"Oh, that's classic. You bench me and ruin my future chances to play Quidditch professionally, and you're not happy with me. In case you couldn't tell, Rose, I'm not very happy with you either."
"For what? Doing what I needed to do so that we could win the game and win the Quidditch Cup?"
"We could have won the game if I'd stayed in the air."
When Rose didn't immediately respond, he stated angrily, "We could have!"
"Maybe," she answered a bit wearily. "But, Scorpius, you know that you're too much of a liability when you lose your temper. Frankly, we couldn't afford that penalty shot. I couldn't risk having it happen again."
"They were talking about you!"
"So what? It's part of the game. You know that players who don't let the taunts and the trash talk roll off them aren't worth shite in the League. No scout is ever going to seriously recruit you until they have some evidence that you can control your temper."
"Look who's talking," Scorpius said, pointing at his chin. "Who gave me this scar just because she couldn't stand the thought of losing?"
"For Merlin's sake, I was eleven years old! I've grown up. I am sick of you bringing that up every time you get mad at me," Rose flushed. She turned and faced him. "Let's end this for once and all. Take a shot at me."
"What?"
"Hit me. Swing at me. I won't even duck. You've had it coming for seven years, hit me in the face and then I never want to hear about your stupid scar again."
Scorpius eyes opened wide. "I can't just hit you! That would be unsporting and wrong and probably illegal."
"I won't turn you in," Rose told him, thrusting her chin forward. "Hit me or shut-the-fuck-up forever about your scar."
"Bloody hell, I'm not going to hit you."
"Great. No more complaints about your scar. Besides you should thank me for it. It makes you distinctive and a bit sexy."
"Sexy?"
Rose laughed. "A bit."
Scorpius shifted his feet slightly. "So you are going to Leaving Ball with Longbottom?"
"Well, he is my boyfriend. I think it is a fairly typical arrangement for a girl to attend dances and other social events with the guy she is dating."
"Yeah," Scorpius admitted.
"Who are you going with? Nimbus?"
He frowned. "Who?"
Rose nodded toward his broom stick and smirked.
"Very funny, Weasley."
She laughed out loud. "I always know I've gotten under skin when you call me Weasley."
L*O*V*E*&*Q*U*I*D*D*I*T*C*H
Scorpius walked into the Leaving Ball feeling ridiculously out of place. It wasn't his clothing. His dress robes were stylish and immaculately constructed. They emphasized his height, his broad shoulders, and his strong jaw line, making him look better than he ever had before. It wasn't his date. He'd somehow managed to convince Arlene Hopkins, the best looking sixth year in Hufflepuff, to accompany him to the ball. It was simply that he didn't feel comfortable at dances. He was fine on the pitch or in the library or in the classroom, but surrounded by happy couples, swaying to music, made him nervous and self-conscious.
"Do you want to dance?" Arlene asked him, batting her eyelashes becomingly.
No, Scorpius thought, but immediately felt bad. Undoubtedly if his parents were around, they'd remind him that he was obligated to make sure his date had a good time. "Sure."
Once they were out on the dance floor, Arlene moved into his arms and rested her head against his shoulder, leaving Scorpius conflicted. While it felt great having this beautiful, sweet-smelling girl snuggled against him, at the same time he knew that she wasn't the girl he really wanted to be holding. Still, since that girl had a boyfriend and didn't see beyond Scorpius' ability on the Quidditch pitch, he was hardly betraying anyone by pressing Arlene tightly to him.
After several songs, Arlene excused herself to freshen up and Scorpius scanned the room. He saw Rose standing against a wall with several of her cousins. She caught his eye and motioned him over to join them.
"Wow, Malfoy, who knew you cleaned up so well?" Lily Potter teased.
"Forget that," Al interrupted. "Tell us how strong a Confundus Charm you had to use on Hopkins to get her to agree to go out with you?"
"Piss off, Al," Rose said, before turning toward Scorpius. "I didn't know you liked Arlene."
"She's alright," he blushed.
"Alright?" Al exclaimed. "She's one of the hottest girls in school and her rack is amazing."
Lily hit him in the arm. "Nice mouth, Head boy."
"Where… um… is Longbottom?" Scorpius asked.
Rose shrugged and looked around. "He's supposed to be getting me a drink."
"I hear you are going to be getting something else from him later this evening," Al smirked and then made an offensive thrusting motion with his hips.
Shoving Al hard in the chest until he stumbled backwards, Rose muttered something about hating Gryffindors.
A slow song started and Scorpius looked around for Arlene. She hadn't yet reentered the Great Hall. He glanced down when something brushed up against his arm.
"Want to dance?" Rose asked.
"Yes," he replied, trying hard not to appear too eager or too anxious.
When Rose stepped into his arms, it felt totally different than it had holding Arlene. It wasn't just that Rose was taller, more angular, and didn't cuddle close to him. He felt drawn to her as if by an invisible tie. There was a tingle from where his hand rested on the small of her back, a breathlessness that came from having her hand in his. He wanted to pull her securely to him and never let her go. He had to say something to distract himself before he lost his mind.
"You look great tonight."
"Thanks," she smiled. "Mum and Aunt Ginny took Lily and me shopping last Hogsmeade weekend. I wanted something that made me look like an adult."
Since her dress robes were slit up high on her leg and revealed cleavage, Scorpius thought she'd succeeded, maybe too well for his comfort. "So, what Al said…."
"Al is an idiot," she told him, stiffening slightly in his arms. "Cameron asked him if we could use his room after the dance. Al has jumped to conclusions."
"I would have, too."
"Yeah," Rose whispered, dropping her head so he couldn't see in her eyes.
Before he could ask her anything else, Cameron was standing next to them. "Thanks for keeping my date entertained, Malfoy."
Scorpius released Rose and took a step back. "Sure. No problem."
He watched as Longbottom took Rose by the elbow and began to walk her toward the exit.
Rose looked over her shoulder and gave him a faint smile. "Good night, Scorpius."
"Good night."
L*O*V*E*&*Q*U*I*D*D*I*T*C*H
"You're back early."
Scorpius looked toward the fireplace and saw Rose sitting on a couch, still wearing her dress robes. "You're one to talk," he replied, crossing the room to sit next to her. "I thought Longbottom had a big evening planned for you."
Rose rolled her eyes. "He did. However, I wasn't interested. So I asked him to bring me back to the tower."
"I imagine that went over well," Scorpius said, secretly pleased at Rose's words.
Rose smiled ruefully. "He was actually very sweet about it. Told me he didn't want to pressure me and he could wait as long as necessary for me to feel comfortable."
"Well, it isn't like there is a big rush. You'll undoubtedly see him this summer and have loads of time for things to progress."
"That's unlikely. We broke up."
Scorpius was stunned. "What? Why?"
"I just got thinking that if I didn't want to be with Cameron tonight after we spent a romantic evening dancing and holding each other, I probably was never going to want to be with him. And if I was never going to want to be with him, it seemed awful silly to keep dating him."
"Oh," Scorpius murmured, thrilled by news that Rose was no longer dating anyone.
"How about you and Arlene? What did you do after the dance?"
"We took a walk by the lake."
"Really? Did you get lucky?"
"Rose!" Scorpius blushed.
She just arched an eyebrow and nudged him with her shoulder.
"We just kissed and stuff," he finally admitted. "She seemed to enjoy it, but it just didn't feel right to me so I took her back to her common room." He glanced at Rose out of the corner of his eye to see how she took his news.
She caught his look and shook her head. "We are pathetic."
"I prefer to think that we are just selective."
"You keep telling yourself that if you makes you feel better, Malfoy," Rose teased.
They sat in companionable silence for several minutes. However, when Rose sat up and stretched in preparation for heading upstairs, Scorpius finally spoke. "Before you go, would you… would you look at something for me?"
"Is it something gross like a dislocated toe or a bloody abscess on your arse?"
"No! Who would ask you to look at something like that?"
"Al or Fred or Hugo. Pick your Weasley, really."
Trying to shake that image from his mind, Scorpius pulled a letter from his the inside pocket of his dress robes. It was from the Heidelberg Harriers, a professional Quidditch team in Germany.
Rose's eyes grew wide. "Have you read it?"
He shook his head.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"It might be bad news."
"You're such a ponce," Rose declared before snatching the letter away from and ripping it open. As her eyes scanned the parchment, Scorpius could not calm the racing of his heart or the clenching of his gut. Yet when Rose's eyes looked up to meet his, everything froze.
When she smiled brightly, the world began moving again. "They want you for their reserve Keeper," she told him.
"Yes!" he exclaimed, punching the air and then pulling Rose into an embrace.
"I'm so happy for you," she told him, her voice filled with excitement.
He felt her kiss his cheek just as he turned his head to look at her and suddenly, her lips were pressed to his. He felt her tense, so he quickly dropped his arms and scooted back from her. "I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean," he stammered, falling silent when she didn't respond.
He watched as her eyes opened wide and she tentatively reached out to touch his face. It took all his willpower not to kiss her palm as it traced the line of his jaw.
"We've been friends for a long time, Scorpius."
He nodded. "Best friends."
"It would be a shame to mess that up."
"What makes you think we would mess it up?" he asked.
"Well it's us. Neither of us have a great record with relationships."
"Especially you." Scorpius had not been in enough relationships to have a record.
She rolled her eyes. "And we are both going to be at opposite in ends of Europe."
"Why? Who are you going to be playing for?"
"The Montrose Magpies. But don't tell anyone, I promised Aunt Ginny an exclusive."
Scorpius nodded and looked at her solemnly. "You know, I've heard there is this great new invention called the Portkey that allows for long distance travel."
She narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating his sarcasm. "We'll both be having tons of new experiences and be in situations we've never had to deal with before. Who knows how we'll react. We could end up really hurting each other."
"Or we could end up helping each other with the transition. I don't think that starting a romantic relationship with you will screw up our friendship. You've always been the person I turn to when I needed someone to lean on or someone to help me look at things from a different perspective. You are right that there is a risk that this might ruin how we feel about each other. But, frankly, being with you would be worth that risk."
Rose bit her lip. "I'm not convinced."
Scorpius felt his heart drop.
"But... give me a real kiss, like you mean it, and I could be persuaded."
Almost before she had finished, he had grasped her face between his hands and claimed her mouth with his own. She tasted sweet and smelled like lavender. She was responsive to his caresses and met each nibble, each thrust of his tongue with her own passionate reaction. All of the sparks and fire he had felt dancing with Rose were magnified a hundred times now that they were pressed together.
When her hands found their way inside of his robes, Scorpius groaned into her mouth. He wanted to consume her, to take her into himself so that they could never be separated. He lay back on the couch and pulled her on top of him. His hands ran over her arse, found the slit in her dress and caressed her bare thigh.
Just when he was about to lose his mind, Rose sat up abruptly breaking off contact. "We can't," she murmured. "Anyone could walk in."
Scorpius struggled to catch his breath. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
Rose stood and smoothed her robes.
Scorpius closed his eyes and took several deep breaths trying hard to get back in control of his emotions. When he looked up, Rose's hand was reaching out to him.
"Come on," she said softly. "Al's room is open for the rest of the night."
TBC