Hello there, thank you for checking out my story! I was hoping there'd be a little more interest in this story, but if you're reading this Thank You.
I have the first six chapters of this story already written, so if you want me to carry on with this please drop me a review, I need a little encouragement now and then.
Love and hugs
A.A.A.
Chapter Two...
(Eighteen months later)
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August 31st (The summer before Seventh Year)
Somewhere on the outskirts of Falmouth
12oo hours
.
"Come on you stupid piece of junk," Rose growled as she ground the gear stick into reverse and began to back into the driveway of her three story home.
The engine whined in protest and Rose realised she hadn't released the brake. She did so and the rusty mini lurched backwards, narrowly missing the low brick wall that ran along the outskirts of the garden. Panicking, she slammed on the break and the car juddered to a halt. The engine, in protest most likely, squeaked and stopped.
"And you've stalled." Scorpius deadpanned from the passenger seat.
"Yes, thank you Sherlock," Rose said tetchily, turning the key and firing the ignition. She squinted into her mirror and managed on this second attempt to wrangle the mini into its designated place on the drive, then put on the handbrake with a sigh of relief.
"How did you manage to pass your test again?" Scorpius asked, displaying his knack for not picking up subtle hints.
"I'm fine at everything else," Rose sighed. "And let's face it, my dad only passed his test because he confunded the examiner and I'm a much better driver than he is."
"You confunded your examiner?"
Rose shifted uncomfortably. "Well, confunded is a strong word. I may have put a sensory charm on the bumper."
Scorpius grinned and poked her in the side, "You cheated."
"I did not! I just helped myself a little."
He poked her again and she squirmed away laughing. "Hey! Don't, that really tickles!"
"Oh yeah?" He undid his seatbelt and launched himself on top of his friend, tickling her as her screams echoed around the small interior as she tried to protect herself.
And then, all at once, Rose came to her senses.
He was so close to her, hands clasped around her wrists and his face simply inches from her own and for some crazy reason Rose suddenly felt as though it would be the most natural thing in the world to reach forward and kiss him.
She pulled away, trying not to blush.
They had always been friends, she and Scorpius, ever since they were kids. They were even on the same quidditch team for goodness sake. A strictly platonic quidditch team. So the thought of kissing her best friend was somehow intriguing and weird all at the same time.
Apparently not sensing her sudden confusion, Scorpius slid out of the car and headed towards the house. Coming to her senses, Rose slid out after him.
"Oi, dung-brains! Aren't you going to help me with the shopping bags?"
"Nope!"
"Idiot." She muttered, but there was a smile on her face as she levitated the bags out of her car and followed him into the house.
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August 31st
The Lodge
19oo hours
.
"How are we getting to King's Cross tomorrow?" Hugo asked between mouthfuls of stew. He slurped slightly and a brown stain appeared on his checked shirt.
Hermione Granger-Weasley cast her son a half amused-half disgusted look and flicked her wand at his top.
Now stainless, Hugo continued. "It's just if we're driving I want to go in Mum's car because I fear for my life in Dad's and Rose's doesn't have enough legroom for a centipede."
"Hey!" Rose cried, as her father spluttered through a mouthful of potato. "I'll have you know that the extension charm I put on that car works perfectly-"
"Rose, just because I managed to get permission from the Ministry for you to cast that charm, I don't want you telling everyone," Her mother remonstrated, "You know extension charms are carefully monitored and-"
"So how are we getting to King's Cross tomorrow?" Hugo cut across his mother's lecture.
"Portkey." Ron said, picking up his water glass. "I've arranged that Hermione will send the luggage separately and we'll be taking an old boot to the designated arrivals hall."
"Separately?" Rose frowned, "But mum, I need to keep my broom with me - It's the latest model and if it get's broken or stolen everything will be ruined!"
Scorpius elbowed Rose in the side as she drew breath to continue.
"Rosie," Hermione said with forced patience. "Nothing will happen to your quidditch things, I promise you."
Rose sagged back down in her seat and stared at the gravy on her plate. Underneath the table her feet were tapping with restless energy. In truth, she was longing to be back on the pitch, shouting drills and practising plays. While the Lodge had a undersized pitch out in the field that they owned, it wasn't the same as being on the pitch at Hogwarts; the crowds in the stands, the hoops glinting in the sunlight or rain depending on the time of year. It was where Rose felt she was truly home.
As Hermione levitated the plates into the sink and Hugo brought through the apple pie, Scorpius turned to his friend and asked under his breath: "When are you holding tryouts?"
Rose's mouth twisted up as she considered. "I've been planning nearly all summer how the team's going to look this year. I mean we need over half a new team and I'm pretty worried about how people are going to integrate with us now that the others have left."
"So what do we need." Scorpius counted them off on his fingers. "Two chasers. I don't think that will be too bad. I mean Lily works well with absolutely everyone."
"A new beater for me." Rose frowned. "It'll be strange playing with anyone but Roxy. I mean, we've been a team since I joined way back in second year. Oh and you'll carry on playing seeker obviously."
"And a keeper," Scorpius finished. "And if you even consider McClaggen I'm quitting the team, you know I can't stand him."
"Oh he's not that bad, a bit full of himself-"
"A bit?"
"-And sure he can be a bit immature, which is why I broke up with him incidentally, but even you have to admit, he's a damn fine keeper. And now that Evelyn Wood's left, you can guarantee he'll be trying out."
"Well, if he does make it onto the team least you guys won't be getting back together." Scorpius grinned.
"True. Rule Number Seven and all that."
"I hope Rosie," Hermione had sat down while the two friends had been engrossed in their quidditch talk. "That you're not going to let Quidditch get in the way of your studies this year. After all, you have N.E.W.T.s in eight months and your scores will affect your career prospects for the rest of your life."
Rose tried very hard not to take her mother's words too personally. After all, this was the deal that they had struck at the end of her fifth year and she knew (stupid, logical part of her brain) that her mother wasn't deliberately preventing her daughter from going for her dreams out of any ill wishes on her part. It was simply that her mum wanted to have options after she left Hogwarts. Get five top grade N.E.W.T.s was all she asked for and Rose knew really, that she could get those Outstandings with both hands tied behind her back. But still, it annoyed her that her mother didn't seem to understand how much quidditch meant to Rose. Her father was pleased as punch when Rose said she wanted to play international quidditch for a living. Her mother? Not so much...
"Of course not Mum." She answered, forcing a smile and accepting the dish of apple pie Hermione has proffered. "Keep a balance and all that."
"Good girl." Her mum smiled at her daughter fondly, then passed a dish to Scorpius.
"Anyway, McClaggen and I are history so it won't affect me if he makes the team."
"You've said that every time you break up with the guy," Scorpius grinned round a mouthful of apple and pastry. "And you always get back together."
"Not this year. What with N.E.W.T.s and this new training programme I've been working on I figure no-one on the team will have time for dating. In fact," She grinned wickedly, "You might as well break up with Isabelle right now to save you the bother of doing it later."
"Ha ha, very funny. I'll have you know that me and Isabelle like our space and we both respect each other's hobbies and ambitions and that we have a routine-"
"Routine?" Rose spluttered. "How old are you? Sixty?"
"Isabelle is sweet-"
"Isabelle is the kindest, most lovely person in the world but at the age of seventeen you shouldn't already have settled into a routine!"
"Oh really?" Scorpius gestured with his spoon. "You're going to lecture me on routine? What about you and McClaggen?"
"What do you mean?" Rose honestly felt rather bemused. "I dump him whenever we get boring."
"You always get together at the beginning of the year when you want a distraction from your family and last a couple of months max before quidditch takes over and you dump him. You've done it three times already and I guarantee you'll do it again this year. And remember Jacob Stebbins? You dumped him last year because you said that you needed to focus on the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. Face it Rose. You're a quidditch-aholic."
"I am not. Take that back!"
"Rose, if you're going to have a private argument with Scorpius can you please not do it at the kitchen table where we all have to pretend we can't hear."
"Yes Daddy."
"So go and clear up the dinner things and we will move to the living room."
"I'll help Mr Weasley." Scorpius stood and began levitating glasses towards the sink.
Once her parents and brother had vacated the kitchen, Rose turned to Scorpius who was packing up leftovers. "Okay fine." She said grudgingly. "I love quidditch more than boys. Happy now?"
"Ecstatic."
Rose chucked Scorpius a glass and he caught it with one hand, sliding it away into the cupboard above his head.
"So relationships aside, have you any thoughts about the team?"
Rose paused, running through her internal playbook. "Well, obviously it's really difficult as I've only seen a few people play and they're all from first and second year when I've been helping Coach with flying lessons. But I've got my eye on a few people. That Erin from Lily's year looks like she has the right build for a chaser so I've made Lily promise to get her to tryout so we can see what she's like."
"There, we're done." Scorpius closed the cupboard door and the two left the kitchen, still discussing their possible new teammates.
"Are you packed for tomorrow?" Rose asked as they made their way up the staircase to the third floor where Hugo and Rose's rooms were located, as was the guest room that Scorpius was frequenting.
"Nope. Well," he amended, "My textbooks and cauldron are, and all the junk I bought in Diagon Alley last week. And your mum's put all my robes and stuff on my bed so I can dump all that in as well but apart from that all my other stuff and Dog's cage are littered around the house somewhere."
"Well you've done more than me," Rose opened the door to her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed beneath the far window. "All my quidditch stuff is ready to go but apart from that, nada."
"You need to clean out Tilly's cage more often." Scorpius drew back from the cage on Rose's desk and pulled a face. "No wonder she's always out hunting with Dog if that's what her cage smells like."
"Shut up Scorp."
He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her and again, Rose felt that strange, unexplainable feeling in her stomach as she stared at his skinny body.
He noticed her staring and smirked. "Like what you see Rosie Pose?"
"No, I was thinking you better put some weight on before the first game, or one hit from a bludger's going to take you out."
"I know, I was kidding Rose. To you I shall always be the scrawny boy you pushed into the lake on our very first night at Hogwarts."
Rose smiled at the memory.
"To be fair," She reasoned, "You did pull me in as well."
"I've never been so cold in my life." Scorpius smiled and then let himself flop back onto the bed, staring up at the stars painted across the midnight blue there.
Rose wondered if she ought to say something, but in the end she closed her mouth and let the silence build between them, trusting that it, like so much else, would never change.
A.N.
Hello my wonderful darlings
Additional Fun:
Look up Tilly Toke, the witch Rose's owl is named after. In 1993 a portrait of her was hung in Hogwarts so I reckon Rose probably stumbled across her at one time or another. She was awarded the Order of Merlin (first class) for saving a family of Muggles from a common welsh green dragon. I figure she'd be just the kind of person Rose would find fascinating!
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What do you think? This fic has a backbone plot which is already mapped out inside my head (Spoilers! It's going to be GREAT!) so drop me a review to tell me what you think. I'm always interested to hear what people have to say and I will always answer!
Love and hugs my darlings and watch out for the update
A.A.A.