Chapter Four
September 2nd
The Gryffindor Seventh Year Girl's Dormitory.
05oo hours
.
Rose's alarm bleeped once then stopped as Rose hit it hard, effectively silencing the noise before it could wake the other girls in her dormitory.
The floor was cold beneath her bare feet as she hastily pulled on her running clothes and laced up her shoes. It was still dark as she crossed the common room and clambered out of the portrait hole.
'Why did you wake me?' The Fat Lady grumbled, but Rose was already gone, beginning the descent of seven floors to the Entrance Hall, scraping her hair back into a ponytail.
Once, her five am starts had been painful to the point of excruciating, and it had been all she could do not to crawl back under her blankets and berate herself for being so bloody stupid the night before. But after three years they were almost enjoyable. Only almost though.
The sun had risen by the time Rose, panting hard, had circled the Black Lake, a distance of some ten kilometres. She saw the giant hulking form of Hagrid in the distance as she ran along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and skidded to a halt in the mud outside his hut to say hello.
Squashed in a rib-cracking hug, Rose managed to draw enough oxygen into her lungs to ask how he was doing.
'Well I'm not as young as I used ter be,' He smiled down at her. 'How about a nice cuppa tea?'
'Thanks Hagrid,' Rose gasped, managing to detach herself from his powerful arms. 'But I need to stretch before I can stop or I'll seize up. Another time though definitely. I'll drag Al and Scorpius down.'
Hagrid's beard twitched as he looked down at her, jogging up and down on the spot. 'I'll look forward to it,' He said. 'Ah I remember when it were your mum an' dad who used to come fer tea. Seems such a long time ago.'
He seemed sad as he spoke, despite his rueful grin, and Rose suddenly noticed, between the beetles and general chaos of Hagrid's beard, there were streaks of grey. He suddenly looked old to her, something the great man had never done before.
'Are you okay Hagrid?' Rose asked before she could stop herself. Worrying that she had offended him, she shut her mouth, but she needed have worried as Hagrid beamed at her.
'Ah well, can't complain. Besides, I got myself a bit of a helped now, what with me grounds-keeping jobs and teaching an' all. There 'e is now.'
Hagrid pointed a finger as thick as the branch of a tree and Rose turned her head, still jogging on the spot, to see a figure emerging from the forest. Tall, but with a surprisingly slight figure considering the giant sack that he hauled over his back, the figure waved to Hagrid and walked forwards.
'Ay Rosie, this is Findley, he's helpin' out this year.'
Rose stuck out her hand, slowing her bouncing feet and shook his hand. Findley was obviously surprised by the power of her grip, but greeted her politely.
He was a good-looking man in his early thirties, Rose imagined, with darkly tanned skin and hair cut very short. Rose also imagined that most of the female population, or probably a number of the male population too, would very quickly be in love with the new groundskeeper.
'Out for a run at this time? I didn't think students ever saw the world this early in the morning.' Findley grinned at her, and it made him look younger. One of his teeth was chipped.
'Most of them don't,' Rose admitted with a wry smile. 'But I run ten kilometres every morning before class, whether I need it or not.'
Findley looked impressed and Rose tried hard not to be pleased at his interest.
'That's certainly very admirable.' He answered.
'The rest of my team don't necessarily agree when I force them out of bed at five am to join me.' Rose grinned. 'I thought I'd give them the very first day back to sleep in though. Don't want to end up in the Hospital Wing on the very first day of classes.'
'Quidditch?' Findley gaged and Rose nodded.
'Gryffindor captain. Thanks for the offer of tea Hagrid but I better run. I'll see you in Care of Magical Creatures though. Nice to meet you', She added, waving at Findley as she turned and began to run back up to the school. When she reached to cut through by the greenhouses she turned back. The chimney of Hagrid's hut was smoking, and he had clearly gone inside, but Findley was still watching her. She waved, and he waved back, then she lengthened her strides and headed inside.
...
The Great Hall
08oo hours
'You can forget it if you want me to go running with you at five am, competition be dammed', Scorpius said moodily as he piled ketchup onto his sausages.
'Did someone get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?' Rose teased, sliding into a seat beside him, nudging Al's bag out of the way.
There was a laugh from the other side of table as Keegan sat down. 'You could say that. His bed's next to the wall so it takes a real thickie to-'
'Look, timetables!' Albus handed them around as they were joined by Sean Finnigan and Dinah Lee.
Rose took hers, argument swept away, and unfolded it.
'Great', she smile. 'I've got Care of Magical Creatures this afternoon.'
'Herbology with the Hufflepuffs this morning', Scorpius added, 'Then I've got a free before lunch.'
'Here, swap.' Rose handed him the piece of paper.
Scorpius's timetable was similar enough to Rose's, with the exception that instead of Care of Magical Creatures he was taking Transfiguration, and he was taken an additional N.E.W.T as well - Arithmancy.
'So when are you holding tryouts Rose?' Keegan asked around a mouthful of toast.
'Seven o'clock on Saturday morning.' She replied. 'Then Ravenclaw get the pitch from twelve. We agreed last night.'
Dinah giggled. 'You are so lucky, Davies is gorgeous!'
'Hey!' But Dinah ignored Sean, leaning forward conspiratorially.
'That he is', Rose agreed with a smile, 'But alas, we have very strict rules about dating other quidditch players.'
'Who said anything about dating?' Dinah asked, and Rose snorted with laughter.
...
The Common Room
11oo hours
...
By the time Rose and Scorpius had left the greenhouses, sweaty and covered in dragon manure, and headed up to the castle to use their free period to start their essay, Scorpius's mood had worsened. It probably hadn't been helped by the fact that Isabelle and her friend Belinda had been working at the bench next to them. Scorpius had spent so much time not looking at his ex-girlfriend that he had accidentally walked into the Venomous Tentacular and Professor Sprout had needed her wand and a very large pair of secateurs to get him free. His mood had not been improved when Sprout had assigned a three foot essay as a recap from sixth year.
Now, sat side by side in the comfortable squashy armchairs by the first, Rose couldn't help sneaking glances at her friend as he scribbled, nose nearly touching the parchment. She wondered how hard his breakup was treating him, but was too scared to ask.
His hair was really too long to be a proper quidditch player, it would obscure his vision as he searched for the snitch, she thought critically. She supposed it was just as well that he adamantly refused to consider playing quidditch after Hogwarts, instead slaving his arse off to get the N.E.W.T grades to work at St Mungo's. He had the perfect slight build for a seeker though, wiry muscles but without the bulk the other positions required.
It was odd how Scorpius build suited his position, when Rose felt awkward and unsure when she was on the ground. She was tall, had been taller than most of the boys for a number of years until they finally caught her up but she lacked the broad shoulders most beaters had. Nor did she carry the bulk of muscle that would have added power to her swing. Her muscles might be taut and strong, but her lack of weight counted against her, especially when playing in high winds. Still, she had spent years optimizing herself, training her muscles to become the best she could. Girls often complimented her on the powerful ropey muscles in her thighs but that was because she spent so much time riding her broom with only her legs so she could use both hands to power through her swing.
But she was not what you could call feminine, not like Dinah who was short and curvy, or Jenny who looked as though a gust of wind might blow her away. Watching Scorpius from the corner of her eye, she wondered what his type was. If Isabelle was anything to go by Rose was the opposite end of the spectrum.
She said goodbye to Scorpius at the foot of the stairs a few hours later, and together with Albus, they crossed the Entrance Hall and headed out into the sunshine of the grounds for Care of Magical Creatures.
The lesson was interesting, despite their lack of numbers. Last year there had been ten students taking Hagrid's class, but it seemed as though the pressure of N.E.W.T.s was catching up with everyone as there were only six students assembled in the small paddock at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Rose, Albus and Keegan waved to Hagrid, and joined their classmates, Macnair from Slytherin, Lizzie Longbottom from Hufflepuff and Joshua Lemming from Ravenclaw.
Lizzie snuck over to the Gryffindors when Hagrid had disappeared into the forest to collect the creature they were to study that day.
'Hey guys', she smiled at them. The afternoon sunlight glinted against the shiny Head Girl badge pinned to the front of her robes, the twin of the one on Albus's own chest.
'Hey Lizzie', Rose grinned back. 'Congratulations on getting Head Girl by the way. Uncle Neville told us last week.'
'Thanks Rose, I was really surprised.'
'I bet Toby's sick as a parrot.' Al laughed.
'Well he always was annoyed that I decided not to follow in his footsteps of generally causing mayhem.' Lizzie joked. 'But he's got a job finally, so hopefully he'll start to grow up a bit.'
'I wouldn't bet on it', Al teased. 'Your brother and mine were possibly the most immature students to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts!'
They had a very enjoyable lesson, even though they did get rather a shock when Hagrid reappeared from the forest and released a very large, and very terrifying spider into the paddock. Even Rose, who thought her father was a complete fool every time he saw a spider, hastily backed away.
'Acromantula!' Hagrid announced, with the tone of someone saying: 'puppies!' or 'free Honeydukes chocolate!'
Still, once they got over the fact that the spider could eat them in about two bites, they found the lesson interesting, and Rose had made extensive notes about the magical respiratory system that allows the insect to grow to such sizes. Best of all, Hagrid assigned no homework which left Rose with an entirely free evening even as Albus moaned about the extensive rune translation he had to do that night.
'Serves you right', Rose said unfeelingly as they began to climb the stairs to Gryffindor Tower to dump their books before dinner. 'After all, you were the one who gave up quidditch to be Head Boy.'
Albus obviously wasn't in the mood for her teasing though. 'Drop it Rosie, you know I need top marks to make it into auror training and I just don't have time for quidditch with the duelling club and everything else.'
'I know' Rose sighed. 'I was only teasing. It's just a shame because you're an incredible player and I could really do with you on the team.'
'I'm sorry too. I do miss it', Albus admitted as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and said the password. 'How about I come and help you out at tryouts. Take some of the pressure off you and Scorpius.'
'Thanks Al, you're a brick.' Rose smiled at her cousin. 'Even if you did ditch quidditch for responsibility. When you got the badge I thought Aunty Ginny would die of shock!'
...
The Hogwarts Quidditch Stadium
19oo hours
...
After completing a detailed plan for trials that weekend and generally annoying Albus and Scorpius while they were trying to work, Rose decided she was bored and headed out of the common room, broom in hand.
Rose had flown all summer at the undersized pitch at the back of the Lodge, and even spent one memorably day flying laps at the Holy Head Harpies training ground. She'd played in the junior league in Russia, and even competed against some of the best underage players in the world in Norway. But there was nothing like playing quidditch on the Hogwarts Pitch.
It was the place where she had always felt most at home, the place where her hard, taut body was something to praise, not look upon strangely. She remembered reading, in Victor Krum's autobiography, that he too felt strangely unbalanced on the ground. Perhaps it was just something that quidditch players felt, but Rose had never felt that comfortable in her body on the floor. Perhaps it was the contrast to her cousin Lily, who somehow managed to bring her femininity to the pitch, as well as the dating scene, but Rose sometimes wished she was as comfortable wearing dress robes as her young cousin was.
By the end of the session her arms were burning from whacking the bludgers back and forth and it was growing dark. Despite being the only player out on the pitch she had released both bludgers, and it had taken all her concentration to avoid both of them, especially as she was the only player they could target. Still, by the time she had landed and wrestled them back into their crate she felt invigorated and happy, despite the sore muscles.
It was while she was heading back up to Gryffindor Tower, thinking longingly of soaking her sore muscles in a hot bath, that she literally bumped into a short figure who cannoned off her and narrowly avoided taking down a suit of armour with her.
Rose dashed forwards and helped Isabelle to her feet, apologising profusely, but Isabelle waved away her apologies and replied that she was entirely to blame. This would have continued some time, but both seemed to realise that it would take all night to assign blame to a blameless occurrence.
'How are you Rose?' Isabelle shifted the books she was carrying, a little uneasily it seemed to Rose.
'Oh, ticking along you know. Just getting ready for tryouts.' Rose lifted her broomstick as if proof was required, but then hastily stopped, feeling uncomfortable. After all, if Isabelle did blame her for taking up too much of Scorpius's time with quidditch this didn't seem the most tactful of introductions.
'That's good. Though Marco keeps saying that you've got no chance against us. Not that he means to be rude', she hastily added. 'He's just very competitive. Any I wish you all the best with the tournament.'
'Thank you.' Rose didn't know why she was surprised at Isabelle's servility. Everyone agreed that she was the nicest person in their year. 'That's very kind of you.'
'It's nothing.' Isabelle made as if to turn away, but stopped herself. 'Does-' She paused again. 'Has Scorpius said anything? About me I mean.' She amended.
Rose shook her head. 'Sorry no, but I know he is quite upset about what happened between you two.'
Isabelle bit her lip. 'I never meant to hurt him, he does know that doesn't he?'
'I know.' Rose wondered when relationships had become so complicated. 'And I think when he cheers up a bit, he'll get that too.'
'We were just going in different directions, you know. He and I, well, we wanted different things. But I'd like to still be friends you all. We Hufflepuffs enjoy hanging out with you madcap Gryffindors!' Isabelle smiled for the first time, and it lit up her pretty face.
'Of course Isabelle', Rose smiled back. 'Give Scorpius a bit of time and then I'm sure he will want to carry on hanging out. It's still a bit raw at the moment though.'
'Of course, I completely understand.' Isabelle shifted her pile of books again. 'Well I'd better go, don't want to be late for curfew and all that. And Rose', she called out over her shoulder. 'Look after him for me please.'
'I always do.' She replied and Isabelle headed down the staircase, jumping the trick step third from the bottom, to head towards the Hufflepuff common room. Slowly, Rose began to climb the stairs again.
The common room was still pretty full when she entered, and she saw Scorpius, head bowed, still working on his Herbology essay. Without a word she sank into the chair next to him and tugged the parchment out from between his fingers. Picking up her quill she began to circle the mistakes and write the corrections in her cramped handwriting in the margins. Scorpius smiled at her gratefully, then closed his tired eyes, letting his head fall back against the chair.
Hello there my darlings, how are you enjoying my little story?
A big thanks to Gandlaf537 and Needle in a Haystack, my first reviewers! May they be the first of many! Check out their stories, they're very good.
So how are we liking the set up so far? I'm loving all the background characters in this so most of their year will be appearing at one point or another. If it ever gets too complicated, drop me a review and I'll post my list of characters with their houses etc.
Love and hugs (and hopefully reviews!)
A.A.A.