Chapter Twenty-five: The Race

"How much can we really believe what this guy says?" Albus asked Erin after they had filled him in on everything Alexander had told them. "He seemed to know what he was talking about," Erin murmured, but Albus shook his head. "It's all hearsay," he declared. "He's got nothing to prove that Ender got mixed up with Dark Arts or that he killed Dippet's wife! In fact, I don't even think he had a wife."

"What about that part about him getting expelled then?"

"We can verify that," Nick said, and then shivered in the cold. Luckily, the Hogwarts grounds were not yet covered in snow, although Erin knew it was bound to be soon, with Christmas approaching. This was their last flying lesson until the springtime, but Erin couldn't help but wonder who in their right mind thought anyone would enjoy flying in the middle of December.

"Quiet, please!" Madame Hooch called as she emerged from the changing rooms. "I've set up an exciting course for us today." Several of the Slytherins made very loud and very obvious retching sounds. "I know its cold out but it's your last class. Everyone step over to the right side of the broom."

"I would be careful if I were you," a voice whispered behind Erin. She jumped, and the three o them turned to face Mulciber and his cronies. "You wouldn't want to accidentally fall off your broom now, would you?" He asked, smirking. Erin narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"Ms. Lyths, that's enough!" Madame Hooch called, and Mulciber smirked. "Now if you've all paid attention, I've set up a small obstacle course for you each to complete two at a time. It'll be fun." But no one seemed to think that would be fun and let out disgruntled groans. "No? Alright, how about this, every person who finishes before their opponent does wins five points for their house." Now everyone looked excited. Scarlet did some quick math. "If we each win, we could get fifty house points!" she exclaimed, her face shining. "So Evan, don't screw this up for us," she hissed, and Evan's face turned beet red.

"We'll race them according to strength," Scarlet continued. Erin rolled her eyes. "Who died and left you in charge?"

"I'll go first, because I'm clearly the fastest," Scarlet said, ignoring Erin. Then her eyes fell on Charlie. "Don't you go sabotaging us!" Scarlet warned angrily, and Charlie just shrugged noncommittally. "You're part of Gryffindor now. It's about time you accept that," she said with a toss of her dark hair. If Scarlet hadn't been acting so haughty, Erin would have agreed with her.

"Let's get started!" Madame Hooch called. "Mr. Malfoy, you're going first? And who's first from Gryffindor?"

"Ooh, he's their best flyer," Scarlet muttered, "I'll take this one…."

But Erin heard herself saying loudly, "Me, I'll do it."

"Excellent, Ms. Lyths," said Madame Hooch, motioning for her to join Scorpious where he stood. "I said I'd do it," Scarlet hissed as Erin marched past her, broomstick over her shoulder. "Good luck, Erin," Albus said nervously, and Nick muttered, "We'll be keeping an eye on them so don't worry," he said, nodding at the Slytherins, who were making faces at Erin.

"There are four hoops, all different heights," Madame Hooch said, pointing at them on the Quidditch field. There were considerably shorter than the real Quidditch hoops, which towered in the air. "On my whistle, you will fly through each of the hoops, but be careful not to crash into the hoops or into one another. When you emerge from the fourth hoop, you will find two balls suspended in the air. Grab one and fly back though the hoops so you can pass the ball to your teammate.

"Everyone will line up here in pairs of two. The second person to go will bring the ball back through the fourth hoop and leave it there, and race back to tag the next person in line, who will go get the ball once more; and so on and so forth. I will be keeping score the whole time.

"Understood? Ms. Lyths and Mr. Malfoy, are you ready?"

Erin nodded, her stomach hurting from nerves. Why had she offered to go first?

"Crush her, Malfoy!" a Slytherin called.

"I know you can do it," Evan whispered timidly.

"Five points," Scarlet reminded her.

"On my whistle then," Madame Hooch said. "Three, two-"

In that instant, Erin met Scorpious' eyes. She could have sworn he mouthed "good luck" before kicking off the ground as the whistle blew.

"Erin, GO!" someone shouted, and she sped off after him. Everything was a blur. She had never flown so fast before. The screams and cheers of her classmates faded away into the piercing sound of the wind.

Scorpious was only a few feet before her. He flew easily through the first hoop that was pretty close to the ground, and Erin followed. Why did he keep turning around to look at her? She caught him watching and he grinned. She was taken aback. This wasn't like the Scorpious who had spent months ignoring her…. Did he really want to win so badly he was playing with her mind? This, if anything, prompted her to go faster.

The second hoop was higher than the first. Erin leaned back so her broom could accelerate upwards, watching Scorpious already emerge from the other side. It wasn't fair. He was just so goddamn fast. He was still ahead of her even when they passed the third and fourth hoop, and grabbed one of the floating balls just as she flew to it, scowling. "Better keep up!" he called with another grin and sped off once again through the fourth hoop. Erin grabbed at the ball and shoved it under her arm. Was that a dare?

"Come on," she urged her broom angrily. Scorpious' seemed to glide at his every move. Why couldn't she fill the gap between them? And then suddenly, she felt the wind pick up speed behind her and found herself neck to neck with Scorpious. "Erin?" he said in surprise, although she could barely hear him over the gust of wind. She wanted to tell him that she could beat him; she wanted to tell him he wasn't as good as he thought; she wanted to tell him that he would lose.

But instead, what came out was- "You're a traitor!" she found herself yelling. Scorpious' eyes widened, and suddenly he looked downcast. "A stupid traitor! You just- you just left me and didn't say a word. How could-"

Wham! The handle of her broomstick hit the edge of the hoop hard, sending a reverberating shock into her hands. Her broom spun off and she felt a hard lump rise in her throat. That had been the last hoop. She had been so close to winning. She heard the Slytherins laughing gleefully and the Gryffindors groan.

Face flushed, she redirected her broom through the hoop and toward's the next Gryffindor in line. She saw with surprise that Scorpious had not yet touched down. She still had a chance! She sped so that they were alongside each other, heads bent toward victory, and as they neared the ground Erin saw Scorpious, out of the corner of her eye, draw back slightly. What was he doing? She didn't have the time to wonder. She landed on the ground amidst the cheers of the Gryffindors and tossed the ball to Scarlet, who was next. "Five points to Gryffindor!" Madame Hooch announced as Scorpious landed on the ground and handed the ball to the next Slytherin, who looked furious.

"Neat flying," Albus congratulated her as he craned his neck to watch Scarlet who, was indeed, a very good flyer. "I almost thought you lost it there when you hit the hoop."

"Yeah," Erin muttered, "so did I."

She watched as Scorpoius, before turning to be berated by his friends, gave her a weak smile. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Scorpious had let her win.