A.N.

The new update as promised, and on the Sunday to boot! See? I always keep my promises. Always.

Main A.N. at the end.

Warning for some language.

Chapter Eight

...

20th October

The Great Hall

07:oo hours

...

The day of the first match of the season, Gryffindor verses Slytherin, was damp and drizzly, but the winds that had been whipping through the grounds and along the draughty corridors had blown out. Rose was glad of the lack of wind which always made the bludgers unpredictable, but the rain was the kind that soaked you to the skin in a matter of seconds. Still, her team had been flying in much worse.

It seemed that the competition had added an additional layer of tension to the students that morning. Rose was most worried for her new additions to the team, having never seen how well they performed under public scrutiny. Surprisingly, Lucy was the calmest of the all and was happily working her way through a large pile of scrambled eggs. Scorpius was as unruffled as ever, and Lily merely looked ready to take on Stuart Flint, the Slytherin keeper. Erin too, looked reasonably uninterested by the jeering Slytherins as they passed the Gryffindor table, and was scribbling something on a piece of parchment she had pulled from her pocket.

Mack was, well, Mack. He had chosen to sit next to Rose this morning, and kept leaning over into her space no matter how much she kept sliding up towards Scorpius. Mack's flailing arms aside, Rose was keeping a firm eye on Keegan, sat opposite next to Al.

His over-long dark curly hair was springing in every direction from the number of times he had run his hands through it, and he kept shoving his glasses up his nose, something he only did when nervous. In fact, with the glasses pushing, and the grabbing whole handfuls of his hair, and the greenish tinge to his otherwise tan cheeks, he looked like he might simply pass out if Rose handed him a broomstick. He continued to stare at the plate of food that Lily had placed in front of him, as though waiting for Nearly-Headless Nick's nearly-neck less head to appear from the centre of the golden platter.

It was more with a sense of saving Keegan from himself, than any real wish for the team to warm up, that Rose eventually stood up and ordered her players down to the pitch. She lagged slightly behind, wanting to speak to Hugo as he left the Great Hall after breakfast.

'What are the odds?' She asked without preamble and he, all business, pulled out a folded piece of parchment, scanning down the neat lists of names.

'You're the favourite, obviously.' He answered. 'And while I cannot reveal any personal information, other than what you've already bribed out of me - thanks for the sneakerscope by the way, I caught the miscreant who was breaking into my office - it looks like most people are thinking that the Slytherin chasers will put up a good fight, but Malfoy will get the snitch.'

'When are you going to start calling him Scorpius? He does practically live at our house during the holidays.' Rose and Hugo paused in the Entrance Hall, continuing their conversation before parting to go their separate ways; Hugo to head to his office for some last minute business before the start of the match, and Rose to the Gryffindor changing rooms to prep her team.

'He is S. Malfoy when I am working', he said simply, folding away the parchment and slipping it out of sight into his robes before a nearby Ravenclaw prefect could get too interested. 'Just as you are R. Weasley Jr. I am impartial in all things.'

'You sound middle aged', she retorted, though softening her words with a laugh. 'And why am I R. Weasley Jr.? I am nobody's junior!'

'It's a tie over from last year when Roxy was still here. I haven't had chance to update my records yet.' He smiled. 'Going to break the habit of a lifetime and put money on the match?'

'No fear', she smiled. 'I am far too sensible to pay you your forty per cent commission.'

'Ah', he smiled fondly at his sister. 'You actually read my small print. Good luck today.'

'Thanks.'

...

Outside the Changing Rooms

10:45 hours

...

'Rose, oi! Rosie, wait a second.'

Rose was about to enter the Gryffindor changing room to join the rest of her team when the door flew open and Mack pushed his way out, resolutely closing the door behind him.

Rose briefly asked Morgana for patience, then turned towards him.

'You have exactly one and a half minutes before I need to be in there, prepping my team which includes you, so what do you want?'

'Are you coming to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?'

That was one of the things, Rose decided, that she had always liked about Mack. Well, that and that really clever thing he could do with his tongue. There was no beating around the bush, no uncertainty, no awkwardness, not like there was with her and Scorpius. It was frankly a shame that he was such an unpalatable person in real life because on paper he was almost perfect.

'No.' She answered, with an equal lack of loquacious side-stepping. 'Now get inside, I need to brief you.'

She made to move past him but he blocked her way, and Rose very much debated knocking him out with her beater's bat, but decided that, good though the rest of the team were, they would probably lose should they play without a keeper.

'Why not?' He demanded, 'We've always gotten together before the first match of the season, ever since fourth year.'

'And for those years', she answered with forced patience, 'that was fine because you were not a member of my quidditch team.'

'You're seriously not going out with me over some dumb rule?' Mack seemed incredulous. 'If I was your precious Malfoy you'd throw that rule out of the window, wouldn't you?'

'Scorpius has nothing to do with this', Rose replied, and oddly enough, completely truthfully. 'You and I are a poor fit, and I am too busy this year to even contemplate a relationship. Especially one as dysfunctional as ours have been over the years.'

'That's bull', he retorted, 'You just think that if you're with me then Malfoy will be frightened off and-'

'You're talking more crap than a dung beetle', Rose fired back, her temper finally boiling over. 'I do not have to justify my decision to you. I have said no, and that is the end of it. Now get inside the bloody changing room before I hex you!'

Mack stormed past her, banging the changing room door closed behind him in a display of pettiness most toddlers would have been proud of.

Rose took one long breathe and lent against the wall. The changing rooms were built under the hundreds of rows of seats, beneath the four taller towers in the individual house colours, and above her head she could hear the stamping of hundreds of feet. Such was the popularity of quidditch that, despite the drizzly rain, she knew well that the entire school would be in those stands, cheering and booing in turn.

The thought five minutes ago would have made her blood thrum with uncontrollable excitement, but now she was actually slightly shaken by her encounter with Mack. She had always known that he wasn't actively the most mature of the seventh years, but to see him jealous was another thing entirely. Maybe their previous relationships hadn't been as superficial as she had presumed.

A cough broke her out of her revelry and she looked up from her hands, absently twirling her beater's bat, to see Findley, wearing an enormous overcoat, a pair of binoculars strung around his neck.

The water glittering on his skin only made him look more handsome, and his smile was bright, his blue eyes warm despite the weather, and when he grinned at her, she saw that chipped tooth which stopped him from looking too perfect. Perfection aside, it gave him a cheerful, mischievous look that only made him more good looking; and judging by the whispers and giggles emanating from a group of third year girls, huddled under an umbrella, Rose was not the only one to think this.

'Nicely handled.'

'What?' Rose said distractedly, gazing at him. Was she imagining it, or was there something slightly familiar about him? Maybe she had bumped into him at a match when she was a child. She pushed the feeling away. After all, she had seen Findley almost every day since arriving back at Hogwarts, and he obviously hadn't known her.

'With the cretin.'

'Cretin? Oh, you mean McClaggen. Oh he's just an idiot, but we've dated on and off for years so he probably thought this year would be the same.'

Findley was still watching her, so she added: 'It's fine, he's a prat, but he's reasonably harmless.'

He didn't look hugely convinced, but, when she rolled her eyes, he let out a laugh. 'Good luck today Rose.'

'Thanks.' There was pause while Findley continued to scrutinise her, and when the moment felt awkward, she added: 'I should probably go, I need to brief my team before the match starts.'

'Of course.' She was about to step past him when he caught her arm. 'As a member of staff, we're not meant to have favourites. But if I did, it would be you.'

Rose barely had time to notice that, up this close, Findley's tan was slightly uneven, and that his nose had definitely been broken on at least three different occasions judging by the number of dints in it, and that his hands were so large that the one holding her could wrap entirely around her arm and touch the other side with room to spare.

She wondered if he noticed her the same way she noticed him.

...

The Quidditch Pitch

13:oo hours

...

The match had dragged on for two hours when Scorpius finally caught his first glimpse of the snitch. The ruddy thing had been invisible through the steadily increasing rain, and when, with the leap of heart that always accompanied the sighting, he had glimpsed a speck of gold it had turned out to be Flint's wristwatch, or else the galleons that had fallen out of McClaggen's pockets when he had executed the Starfish and Stick to save a particularly feeble attack from Mercury Bullstrode. It was as though the snitch had simply vanished, and while Scorpius had complete faith in most of the Gryffindor team, which one notable exception, he also knew that a great deal of the pressure of winning lay on his own, soggy shoulders.

The crowd cheered as McClaggen pulled off another spectacular save and Scorpius scowled through the rain, desperately scanning the pitch through the rain. And then- there! - and he was diving, Trevor Warrington hot on his tail.

Scorpius was a good seeker, even excellent, but he had reacted too quickly, and the Slytherin seeker had noticed. Really, he should have waited, should have edged his way over, then dived at the last moment. The surprise of the attack would have thrown off Warrington, and Scorpius would have snatched the snitch, snatched a victory, and snatched the smug look off McClaggen's face. But he was at the wrong angle, and Warrington was there, reaching out, the snitch almost between his fingertips-

WHAM!

Warrington let out a shout of pain and a mouthful of profanity as he reared back, clutching his fingers.

'-And an excellent bludger attack from the Gryffindor Captain, and the snitch has again disappeared, but what a spectacular dive from both seekers-'

Alfie Jordan's words echoed over the heaving of the rain in snatches, half abstracted from the roars and boos of the crowds.

'-And Potter, the hot one-'

'Jordan!'

'-Sorry Professor Marchling. Anyway, Lily Potter takes advantage of the Slytherin's distraction and puts the quaffle away through the centre hoop. Gryffindor lead 130 to 50. Mind you, if Malfoy makes another gaff like that again, Slytherin may still be in with a chance-'

Th rest of the commentry was lost in the jeers and booes of the crowd and Scorpius felt blood surfuse his cheeks. He rose quickly to twenty feet above the rest of the players and began to circle again. Below him, Lucy sent a beautifully aimed bludger at Pucey, who dropped the quaffle, which was snatched by Keegan. Scorpius watched as Keegan passed to Erin, who passed to Lily, who faked a shot but really reverse passed back to Keegan who scored while Flint was still trying to work out where the quaffle was. The Gryffindor cheers errupted again as Rose flew up beside him, eyes still scanning the game feverishly.

'Are you okay?' She asked without preample, and with no hint of sympathy in her voice.

'I'm fine. I calculated wrong, that's all. It won't happen again.'

Rose tore her eyes away from the game below and smiled at him.

'It wasn't your fault. Warrington was simply in a better position. I have total faith in you.' And Rose reached out, squeezing his fingers for the briefest of moments, and then she was gone, leaving Scorpius gazing after her, a slight tingle still running up and down his fingers.

'-It looks like the Gryffindor seeker has been hit with a bludger up there, oh look, Slytherin beater Bibbington-Smythe has sent a power blow towards him which Malfoy easily dodges. Weasley and Weasley tear after it and- was that the Dopplebeater Defence?'

A howl of fury rose from the Slytherin fans as both Rose and Lucy powered through the swing and together sent the bludger careering through the air towards Tabitha Higgs who didn't swerve in time. She dropped the quaffle and bent double, only just managing to stay on her broom with the help of Mercury Bullstrode who sped over to help her friend. Erin snatched the quaffle from the air and sped forwards, zigzagging from side to side, before suddenly rising as though to attack the centre hoop. Flint rose with her and she dropped the quaffle into the waiting outstretched arms of Lily who scored again.

'-and the Gryffindor chasers are really going old-school with some of these moves! Oxley executes a perfect Woollongong Shimmy followed by Porskoff Ploy and Potter scores again. Gryffindor lead 150 to 50!'

Scorpius rose a few more feet and began to circle again, desperately squinting through the rain. When he neared the Gryffindor goalposts, McClaggen rose to meet him, his face contorted.

'What the fuck Malfoy? You and Rose, tell me what's going on now!'

'What?' Scorpius almost fell off his broom, he was so surprised by McClaggen's attack. 'Mack, you're talking bollocks, get back to the goalposts, they're totally open-'

'You think you're so smug, don't you? Weasling your way in – well she won't g out with me over these bloody rules, and she certainly won't go out with you-'

'-And it looks like the Gryffindor team are experiencing some friction as Keeper McClaggen leaves the goalposts completely ungarded in order to yell at the seeker... Maybe this is a clever ruse?'

'This is not the time for this conversation', Scorpius spluttered, 'Rose is my best friend and this match means everything to her. If we mess it up she'll never speak to either of us again!'

'I don't know what you've said to her, but I know it's your fault! You made her fancy you over me-'

'Rose fancies me?' Scorpius spluttered a little more, 'I- What?'

'-the Gryffindor chasers are doing an excellent job of stopping Slytherin gain posession, but can they keep this up when their keeper is twenty feet above the goalposts? Ow, excellent bludger work from Weasley, the scary one, and Arthur Pucey drops the quaffle again. Good job too or he probably would have scored.'

'McClaggen, Rose says get the hell back to the goalposts!'

Lucy swerved to hover next to the two older boys, but they barely noticed her.

'You're nothing but a good-for-nothing Deatheater! Like Rose would ever actually like you-'

'Don't you dare call me that you fucking ponce!' Mack had finally hit a nerve, and before he knew it Scorpius was shouting. 'Rose is my best friend, not yours, and she dumped your ass because she knew you were never worth her time!-'

It was with a kind of frozen terror that Rose turned her head and saw McClaggen still had not followed her orders. Higgs evaded Lily, sent Erin spinning of course with the Transylvanian tackle, and ducked Keegan who had to swerve to avoid a bludger. Rose took both hands off her broom and hit the bludge on the reverse swing as hard as she could, sending it spinning towards Higgs. It hit the tail of her broomstick but she somehow held on, dropping the quaffle to Bullstrode who was waiting a few feet below.

Rose's scream for McClaggen to 'get back to the goalposts and stop acting like a bloody fool!' was lost in the sheeting rain, and she saw with confusion that Mack seemed to have wrenched Lucy's bat out of her hand.

It seemed to happen so slowly, like a flickering film that kept jumping, as Rose watched her keeper bringing the bat down on Scorpius's face, as she watched his broom lurch, as she watched her best friend begin to fall.

She caught him ten feet above the ground.

'My broom', he muttered weakly around a mouthful of blood and broken teeth and despite everything, Rose cracked a smile.

'Good to know you still have your priorities in order', she quipped and made to signal to Coach Hendrix for time out, but suddenly Warrington was diving, and it was with a different kind of horror that Rose watched him scoop up the tiny, fluttering ball, raising it above his head in triumph.

Scorpius was sick over the edge of the broom.

...

The Gryffindor Lockers

14:oo hours

...

It took the best part of twenty minutes for the buzzing to fade out of Rose's ears. She sat on the bench, across from her silent team, and waited. And when, finally, Scorpius walked in, teeth regrown, and head bandaged, blood still covering his face and robes, nobody spoke and nobody moved. He took his seat and Rose closed her eyes, not wanting to have to say what she knew she must.

'What happened?'

Everyone looked towards Scorpius, but it was McClaggen who spoke.

'Malfoy and I had a disagreement.'

'About what?'

'Does it matter?'

The door to the locker room swung open and Coach Hendrix, closely followed by Rhoda Mantis walked in. Rose felt the bottom fall out of her stomach at the sight of the scout. Her one chance, her only chance, and it been blown by her own failure to see that McClaggen would never work as part of a team.

She stood, and caught Coach Hendrix's eye. 'Let me deal with this', her look plainly said, and he answered with a nod.

'McClaggen, I care about the safety of my players more than victory, more than the entire tournament. I do not care about provacation, excuses and reasoning. You acted in a matter unfitting for the position of respect you have on this team. You should be a role model to younger players, but instead you allowed your own petty opinions to rule you which led to violence against one of our own. I told you at the beginning of the year that this team is a family. I will not tolerate the way you have behaved today. You put at risk our chances of winning, but importantly, the safety of one of your fellow players.'

Deep breath Rose, she told herself. Don't shout, hold your temper in check. Don't let them know how angry you really are.

'At the beginning of the year I also told you I will not run this team as a dictatorship. Therefore now the team will vote on whether they are willing to overlook this, or whether you are to be removed from the team. Those wanting the explusion of Mack McClaggen from the Gryffindor quidditch team, raise your hand.'

The three chaser's hands all shot into the air, closely followed by Lucy's.

'Those willing to overlook this, raise your hand.'

Surprisingly, it was Scorpius who raised his hand. But he was the only one.

Rose sighed, but the outcome was not unexpected.

'Mack McClaggen, leave. I will send someone to retrieve your team robes tomorrow morning.'

Rose wasn't sure why McClaggen looked so shocked as the team stood and formed ranks around Rose, effectively forcing him towards the door. Was he really so arrogant as to think they would forgive him this?

When he was gone, Rose clapped her hands once, and the team sat back down.

'Now that he is gone, I want to congratulate you all. I know we lost, but it's not over yet. But most importantly, we proved today that all our dedication, our talent, our hardwork has formed a team that is a force to be reckoned with.'

She looked around at them all, and tried not to cry. 'I couldn't be more proud of you. Now hit the showers. You guys stink. Malfoy, hospital wing – I want you checked out by Matron Longbottom. Lucas, go with him.'

As her team diverged, Rose strode over to the two adults, still stood in the corner of the changing rooms.

'Well done Weasley.' Coach Hendrix looked approving. 'I wasn't sure if you needed some extra authority, but I see now I was entirely mistaken.'

Rose nodded. 'Thanks Coach, though it's my fault really. I knew McClaggen had an arrogant streak, but I thought he cared as much about the team as I did. It seems I was mistaken.'

Rose spoke around the lump in her throat, and the tears of defeat and forlorn hope in her eyes went unshed. She stared defiantly at Rhoda Mantis, who looked thoughtfully back at her.

'I shall be watching you most carefully, Miss Weasley', was all she said however, and the two strode from the room, the door swinging closed behind them.

Rose stayed where she was for a few minutes, making sure that they were gone, then headed back out onto the now deserted pitch.

The rain had driven the spectators hastily back up to the well lit castle with its warm common rooms, so she was alone as she slumped on the grass, still covered in Scorpius's blood and mud, finally letting her angry tears escape. As a general rule she never let herself cry, but these tears were as much out of self-uncertainty as furious anger, self-pity only increasing her feeling of guilt.

Through the rain, she suddenly felt the presence of someone nearby and her heart lept, thinking that maybe Scorpius had defied her orders and followed her here. She could almost feel the warmth of his arms as he pulled her close, the silkiness of his hair brushing her cheek, but when she looked up it was Findley, and not the boy she had been hoping to see.

Rose hastily scrubbed her palms across her eyes, but he sat down next to her in the mud, despite her less than put-together appearance. They sat for a moment in the rain, and Rose calmed her breathing.

'You know, Rose', he said precently, stretching out his long legs as though sat on the most comfortable of sofas, and not in the six inches of mud and grass that coated the quidditch pitch. 'Losing's part of life.'

'Please spare me your platitudes-' She interrupted. 'This is all my fault, and Scorpius could have been really badly injured. It's just-' She shoved back her matted hair, '-This competition adds so much pressure. I never second guessed myself before this year and now we've only had one match and I'm already worried we're falling apart.'

'Don't be melodramatic', but his tone was light, 'you may not like my platitudes, but I'm not wrong. A Captain must lead their team, but team has to play their part too.'

'I knew he had a jealous streak though.' Rose finally looked up at him, and there was something about his clear gaze that overrode the last of her tears.

'You know what they were fighting about?'

'I think I can guess. And the really stupid thing is that Mack was completely wrong, and Scorpius doesn't like me at all.'

If Findley thought anything about this, he kept it to himself, and Rose managed to finally pull herself together. They sat for another minute or so and Rose watched Scorpius's blood, still staining the front of her robes, begin to fade in the rain.

'You played remarkably well today Rose.'

'You think?'

'I know', he replied. 'I've seen professional players struggle to pull off some of the moves you managed today.'

'Still didn't make a difference though, did it?' Rose answered gloomily. 'We still lost.'

Findley rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then got to his feet, putting out a hand to help Rose up. 'I think we have sat on this muddy field long enough. A nip of something is in order, for medicinal reasons of course.' He tipped her a wink.

They left the stadium and walked back to the castle in silence, but in the Entrance Hall, as they were about to part, he caught her arm.

'The fact that you care so much about your team will not be missed with the scouts. Trust me.'

And oddly enough, Rose did trust him.

A.N.

Another Sunday, another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, drop me a review, tell me what you think.

Thank you to Gandalf537, Guest and Sunnydaze for your wonderful reviews. This chapter is dedicated to you!

Some Quidditch Terminology:

The Starfish and Stick...

Keeper defence; the Keeper holds the broom horizontally with one hand and one foot curled around the handle, while keeping all limbs outstretched. The starfish without stick should never be attempted.

The Bludger Backbeat...

A move by which the Beater strikes the Bludger with a backhanded club swing, sending it behind him or her, rather than in front. Difficult to bring off with precision, but excellent for confusing opponents.

The Dopplebeater Defence...

Both Beaters hit a bludger at the same time for extra power, resulting in a Bludger attack of greater severity.

Porskoff Ploy...

The Chaser carrying the quaffle flies upwards, leading opposing chasers to believe he or she is trying to escape them to score, but then throws the Quaffle downwards to a fellow chaser waiting to catch it. Named after Russian Chaser Petrova Porskoff.

Transylvanian Tackle...

First seen at the World Cup of 1473, this is a fake punch aimed at the nose. As long as contact is not made, the move is not illegal, though it is difficult to pull off when both parties are on speeding brooms.

Woollongong Shimmy...

Perfected by the Australian Woollongong Warriers, this is a high-speed zig-zagging movement intended to throw off opposing chasers.

All quidditch terms taken from Quidditch Through the Ages, a book that Rose Weasley has read 153 times to date.

What will be happening in Chapter IX? You can look out for:

Flying textbooks. (and in some cases – furniture)

The stealing of glasses

A kiss (or maybe two)

And on that cliffhanger,

love and hugs

A.A.A.