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We're in for a long one this week, so grab a snack and/or a drink and settle in.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: The Match

"You are unbelievable, Malfoy."

The words had been ringing in his ear for a week, giving him convulsions when he slept and blocking out everything Professor Henrich sad - not that that was always a bad thing. They rang in his ears as he hurried down to the Dungeons after Quidditch practice the next Friday alone, because Albus had drawn the short straw of tidying up with Jayden Hall. He shivered to himself again, trying to get that beautiful voice saying such terrible things out of his head. Every time he heard it, he heard it in a new way. Her disbelief, her emphasis on 'unbelievable', and then the fact that after all these years, she still only ever called him 'Malfoy'.

Oh, Merlin. He really might be done for this time.

Scorpius was barely conscious when he got back to the dorms next Friday, after three hours of potions followed almost immediately by Quidditch practice that came after an intense week of training. But Alfie advised him that he'd seen Rose in the library, and so it was a quick shower and then off out again. He was so tired his legs could barely carry him all the way up to the library entrance on the third floor, but he did eventually make it after a lot of spacing out and hard breathing. He felt like one of the 'Zomboids' Joshua had been telling him about from the films he watched back in muggle London. Silently, he searched the peaceful rows of despairing students until he heard Rose's voice. He crept around the bookcases until he could finally see her, and about seven other friends all around her. Scorpius sighed, disheartened, and decided to instead sit down at the other end of the next bench along; he could still hear them slightly, and he could see Rose if he strained his eyes just right, but he didn't want to seem like a complete stalker. He forced himself into his Transfiguration book, practising the wrist movements over and over again, and reading and re-reading the passages in his book until all the words looked suspiciously similar. Even if you'd held a wand to his throat, he couldn't for the life of him tell you the minutia of transfiguring a wing into an arm.

Albus had been furious with Scorpius by the time he made it up to lunch last Thursday, barely talking to him for hours and only finally blowing up in that characteristic Albus way that evening, opening up a sea of painfully bad jibes from his friends. And if by chance the universe had been trying to make things worse, then it had succeeded. He would probably never be able to forget how the feeling of pure horror that coursed through him when he turned around, and saw Rose standing in the Greenhouse, the bright sunlight shining down on her, and pure disgust in her eyes. It was like a scene from his nightmare, a look in her eyes that he'd promised himself since he was eleven that he would never, ever cause if he could help it. Without another word, she stormed past him, leaving Scorpius, alone, spending way too much time in the Herbology house that he'd ever wanted. It took him ages to convince his friends that Mia jumped him, and he wasn't sure he'd ever get that chance with Rose. Or that she'd even care. There was a very high chance that Scorpius just couldn't bring himself to acknowledge that she was only so disgusted because she and Mia really didn't like each other.

Scorpius He glanced over at Rose and her friends surreptitiously. He recognised a few girls as her dorm mates; Paige Finnegan and Jasmine Thomas - girls who were the daughters of Rose's father and uncle's dorm mates during their time in Hogwarts. The Potter-Weasley-Longbottom-Finnegan-Thomas group was legendary amongst students for perhaps becoming the most famous dorm in history. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were famous for obvious reasons, and Professor Longbottom was well known in Hogwarts for being one of the teachers who wouldn't go out of his way to be a dick sometimes. Seamus Finnegan had gone on to be Ireland's most prestigious and one of Europe's most renowned pyrotechnicians, and Dean Thomas was head of Muggle Relations in the ministry until just a few years ago, when he joined the Wizengamott full time. Paige had an underlying hint of her father's famous Irish accent, but Scorpius barely knew her, whereas Jasmine was Scorpius' semi-friend from History of Magic. After fours years of constant mutual interest in the subject, they now sat together in that class - although there was only four of them, so not leagues of choice. And after four years together, Scorpius had been so shocked he almost choked on his own tongue when she cracked her first off-colour joke. He had not taken her for that type, but it did make Professor Binn's ridiculous tangents much more enjoyable. He caught her smiling widely as she sat with her friends now and Rose scratched her head at the strange joke she must've just told.

He scratched his chin with the end of his feather. He'd probably be interested in her if he weren't so madly in love with her friend.

He recognised Lydia Griffiths, too, of course, and Louis Weasley, the man so handsome he'd already been asked to the ball by at least thirty people. Hell, even Scorpius would snog him if he asked. There were a couple of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw boys he didn't recognise gathered around the table, too. Rose was actually smiling and laughing with them, a sight so rare and wonderful he thought he might be dreaming. Especially with the renewed cold-shoulder she'd been giving him lately. He only ever saw her happy when she was paired with her friends in Herbology (which didn't happen often), or when he saw her outside of class and he wasn't making a complete fool of himself.

It made his heart sink slightly to think that there were other men who made Rose smile like he never did. He often wondered if he was being completely selfish, desperately trying to get her to like him when there was probably a hoard of other boys who she already liked a hundred times more than him. But he at least wanted to try with her; he knew that if he gave up now, without really having done anything, he'd never forgive himself. Besides, he barely remembered life without Rose Granger-Weasley. He didn't think that even was life anymore.

The words on the page appeared in double now, so he shut his Transfiguration book with a heavy thud and picked up his History of Magic book.

Ancient muggles were no better than modern muggles when it comes to accepting magical citings. A famous Roman General wrote in his biography that he saw a unicorn in the forests of Gaul (modern day Germany), which has been unanimously debunked by muggle scholars. However, unicorns often gather in German forests - with some believing that-

But what about Rose.

She wouldn't even tell Albus why she hated him so much. That'd been the first hiccough in the plan: Albus couldn't get her to talk about him at all. Nothing more than a brief dismissal of his existence. What if it was to do with the Slytherins? What if she subscribed to all those rumours about him and his family? He hoped it wasn't just that she didn't care, and that by some miracle, she didn't already have a date.

But maybe Albus had been wrong, he hadn't known his cousin as well as he'd thought, and there was another man all along. Some perverse part of him wouldn't have even minded, as long as she was happy. Even if she was a bit mean in their earlier years, she wasn't a nasty person. He knew that she was the best person he'd ever met. She was kind to those around her, always (perhaps overzealously from the stories he'd heard) helped out the house elves. She was popular, pretty and smart...

But the feeling of jealousy still spread out through his body slowly from his suddenly clammy chest, and he felt ill to the pit of his stomach. Merlin, hormones were the worst.

The words of his book just weren't going into his brain again - he'd ended up reading about the 12th-century Wizard's Revolt without even realising it. He sighed, and shut the heavy book with a loud thunk, frowning.

When his father had said 'enjoy the year', This can't have been what he meant. This wasn't enjoyable; this was distracting, confusing and borderline destructive. Being a teenager was horrible. Being one of the most unpopular teenagers in the school and not knowing how to fix it was even worse.

He opened his potions book and the letter he'd received from his father a few mornings ago slid out.

Scorpius,

I hope you're enjoying yourself. Don't worry about me, work is keeping me nicely occupied - we've got several interesting bills coming through, a couple are big ones Minister Granger-Weasley worked on personally, so they should be entertaining to read. I'll tell you about them over Christmas.

Don't get too wound up in this Ball. Remember that if it's not giving you happiness, it's probably either not meant to be, or only going to end up hurting you. I don't mean to sound like a sappy teenager, but without your mother around, I'm afraid I'm the only parental source of advice you have. Even if it's not great, you should take it. I am your father after all - if nothing else.

And on the flip side of that, please do remember my words about pure-blood customs. I know they're archaic and strange, but they were the traditions people of my generation were raised with. Until this way of thinking is eradicated, I'm afraid you just have to grit your teeth and deal with it.

Good luck for the game on Saturday, Scorpius. I know you'll do wonderfully. I await your blow-by-blow account.

Love,

Your Father

His dad was right. He pushed the letter aside - he'd write a reply after the game. Well, providing he didn't end up in the infirmary. That had happened at least twice during training, according to his not-so-wonderful recollection.

Scorpius turned his attention instead to his potions book. His father had given it to him; Slughorn had never bothered to change the set textbooks since he became potions-master again in the 90s, so he inherited his parent's old ones. Both were full of his parent's scribblings in the margins; what else to add here and there, whether to crush the ingredients or chop them, how many times you really should stir the mixture. His mother had excelled at potions, and his father had been friendly with the famously short-lived Headmaster, Severus Snape.

They'd been close when his father was young, Scorpius' mother had told him. He'd seen his father terrified, helpless and desperate for some kind of help. Well, that was what his father said. He never talked about it any more than that. He couldn't. It wasn't anything his mother would ever talk about, either, so Scorpius was left to wonder at the gaps and ignore the nasty rumours. Even if he knew very little about what other people thought on the recent past, the Severus Snape that Scorpius had imagined from his parent's accounts was different than the one he was sure Albus knew from his parent's past. So he never brought it up with his friend; it wasn't his place to do anything like that and he didn't want to try and start a fight.

It was times like this when he wished his mother was still around. He would've killed to just write a letter to her now and receive some comforting words back. Even a few short words and some of her sweets would've made him unbelievably happy. His father was like Scorpius in appearance and talents only; he was so withdrawn from the world now that he was barely a shell of who he probably used to be. But his mother, she was everything to Scorpius; gentle and sweet and the kind of warmth he'd never feel again. He felt like he'd lost part of him when his mother died.

He was jolted from that warm, desperate part deep inside himself when he heard a group of people trudge past him, and caught Rose passing by flanked by two of the boys he didn't know, the others trailing after her.

"Scorpius!" Louis Weasley smiled happily down at the dazed boy.

Scorpius snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at the tall, strawberry-blonde boy. A handsome face, a startlingly symmetrical smile, friendly bright blue eyes that creased attractively when he smiled and a body that he somehow maintained without much exercise... Scorpius took a brief moment to question exactly how straight he really was. "Oh, hi Louis!" He slapped on a grin, pushing his thoughts to the side. It was probably just because he was so tired.

Louis looked as though he was going to say something, but thought better of it. Oh for the love of Arthur - he'd probably heard about the shouting incident. Or maybe the Mia Clarke thing... he hoped for the former. He bet all the cousins had heard about that one, and a shiver ran down his spine uncomfortably. "Good luck for the game, Scorpius. I know I shouldn't be wishing you luck, but it can't harm." He grinned. He looked over to the retreating group as one of the boys Scorpius don't know called him over, "Sorry, gotta run - wish Albus luck too, yeah?"

Scorpius nodded and waved as he left. Louis was a kind soul; one of the first of Albus' cousins to treat him kindly, even when they still said that he was Voldemort's Son.

Scorpius looked back to the page he was on - page 347 - and sighed. He was too tired for this. Stretching out his aching limbs, he packed everything away and went straight back to his dorm.

There, he found Theia sleeping soundly, curled up squarely in the centre of his bed.

"We thought we'd give you a nice treat." Max said softly, from the bed to the right of Scorpius' - Albus was soundly asleep across the room from Scorpius' bed.

It was one of those moments when he remembered why he was friends with them all. Aside from repeated exposure, of course. Scorpius laughed dryly. "You're such a caring arsehole."

Max shrugged and put a hand on his chest in mock-nobility. "I do try."

Scorpius laughed to himself and changed into his pyjamas, preferring to shower in the mornings, and clambered into bed, hugging a reluctant Theia like a teddy bear who wriggled free and lay over his legs instead.

Scorpius yawned widely as he adjusted his position until he was finally comfortable. It was easy to drift off to sleep that night, but the awful dream of the worst day of his life haunted him all night.

That next autumnal weekend brought the first Quidditch match of the year. Scorpius was dead tired from their intense training, studying, classes, and everything else the professors had mandated they have in their life. But Joshua had blasted a horn in his ear this morning, so at least he was very much awake - even if he was sure he'd just had a heart attack. Naoki Goldsmith, their ball-busting team captain, had, as ever, carolled the entire team at breakfast, dragging them over the details and a weather appraisal one last time. The Hufflepuff team was decent, Scorpius knew that, but he was sure that they'd win with all the training Naoki had forced them to put in.

Breakfast, after Naoki had finally left them in peace, was a quiet affair for Scorpius and Albus. The late October weather was cold, often rainy, and the tops of the mountains were dusted with icing-sugar-like snow. Scorpius looked up at the ceiling, chewing his toast slowly. It was raining ever so finely, the sky a murky grey and the clouds growing thicker by the moment, moving alarmingly fast across the sky. He sighed heavily, leaning his head on his hand. He hadn't seen outside yet, but he just hoped it wasn't too misty by the time play began.

The Quidditch this year promised to be fierce. Most other years, he and Albus hadn't even watched the Quidditch - but they both enjoyed playing it quite a lot. And then in their fifth year, the old seeker, Michael Brown, had broken his collarbone in a nasty accident, and so they'd had to replace him midway through the year. Scorpius had been shy to try out but did it with a heavy load of pushing from his newly-befriended roommates, and he'd managed, somehow, to get in. He didn't have anyone at home to play with him - his father only flew with him when he was a lot younger, and his mother had never flown that he was aware of. So he'd been used to flying alone, and he loved the feeling of being free, up in the air, with nothing to worry about, nothing to fear. He used to throw up a snitch, leave it for a while, and then come back later to chase it across the sky. It only made sense that he was a good Seeker. Albus had joined this year, with the very game they were about to play being his first.

It showed on his face.

"Planning on eating those eggs?"

Albus gave him a blank look. "I kind of feel sick."

"That's brilliant. Wasn't my question, though." Scorpius pushed the plate closer to Albus, who'd brushed it away with his arms only moments earlier. "You going to eat those eggs?"

"I'm going to force them up your arse at this rate."

"Oh really?" Scorpius smiled brightly. "I'm sure I'd love that. Eat!" He demanded, pushing cutlery into his friend's hands.

Albus rolled his eyes. "Alright alright, fine!" He chewed on the food angrily. "This wasn't actually such a bad idea…" he mumbled around a mouth half full.

"I've told you a hundred times, Al, we're going to be fine!"

Albus grunted in agreement. Then he chocked a little bit.

"Catch the eye of someone you like, little brother?" James smirked, coming to sit in front of his younger brother. He nodded to Scorpius. "Morning. I just came to say good luck."

Albus nodded and swallowed hard. "Thanks, James." They shared an uneasy smile. He was about to say something when Lily bounded over, brightly as ever. "Albus!" She grinned at her older brother. "Good luck, Al! Did you get the letter from mum and dad yet?" She was always smiling brightly and seemed to have boundless energy. If James was cool, collected and effortless in his manner, and Albus quiet, intelligent and calm, then Lily had no such words in her entire vocabulary. As bright as her ginger hair, she was always happy, always surrounded by friends. She'd been almost as popular as James and Rose when she'd made it to Hogwarts.

Albus nodded, clutching some parchment tightly in his left hand. "Got it this morning." That's when his mood had slipped even more. Albus had skimmed the lines of his father's writing quickly and then more slowly through his mother's words. It seemed she'd been giving him advice, and by her quite remarkable abilities, probably good advice. But then the dreaded words came: 'make us proud'. They weren't words Albus liked; in fact, they were words he'd been trying to fulfil his whole life and had become miserable when he thought he'd failed. He came from a family of Quidditch players, too. Unlike Scorpius, he'd had people to practice with all his life, so he had a hell of a long reputation to live up to and expectations to fulfil. Scorpius wasn't even sure his dad would've known he was on the team if he hadn't had to buy a broom.

Lily scrunched up her face at Albus' full mouth. "You look like Uncle Ron when Aunt Hermione's not around."

Albus shrugged. "I am half Weasley, too. Just because you two both look more like one than I do."

James snorted. "Genius. Truly, there is a reason why you're the clever one."

"Ah, sibling friendship." Scorpius reminisced out loud. "I just wish I could've seen the fights when you were younger."

"Yeah, I bet it'd be entertaining to watch your friend getting beaten up all the time." Lily sniggered.

"Hey! Hey, I was not-"

"-Even I beat you once, Al." Came Rose's voice; smooth yet tired, with a hint of playfulness lying underneath. She stood between Lily and James, a hand on the ginger girl's shoulder. Albus went to make a spluttering reply as Scorpius laughed at him before he choked on his food and gave up. "Oh and James, Penny's looking for you again. You know it's mean to keep stringing her along."

"Okay! Okay. I'll… talk to her." James rolled his eyes, standing reluctantly. "Good luck, Al. Make mum proud, eh?" He reached over the table and scuffled his hair, oblivious to Albus' sour expression.

"See you, James." Albus waved, and picked up his knife and fork again, finishing his breakfast.

"Well," Rose inhaled heavily. "I don't want to hang around unnecessarily…"

"Rosie!"

She gave Lily a warning look, flicking her ruby hair over her shoulder. "I'm off. Good luck, Al. I'll be rooting for you." She turned to leave. "And you, Malfoy."

Scorpius choked on his pumpkin juice, as Lily laughed at him.

"Man, you suck Scorpius. Can you function there, like, at all?"

Scorpius smiled. "I do try, Lily."

Scorpius surveyed the hall as Lily bounced away, waving to at least twenty or thirty people as she went. The room had filled almost to its capacity now, people from every house either still waking up or placing bets on the Quidditch match, or bouncing from the walls in lent up excitement. He even saw a couple of accidental sparks fly here and there. When you had no earth-shattering drama going on in the world outside Hogwarts, dates and Quidditch really were the only two things people cared about.

Alfie, Max and Joshua trudged down not long before Daniel Wood proudly strode in, and paced the space between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin table like he owned it. As he walked down to where his friends were gathered, a mix of Gryffindor red and Hufflepuff yellow, he waved his arms in the air to raise the Hufflepuff's cheer, and all the hall turned to watch. Favourite to win though they may not be, Daniel Wood certainly thought he ought to win on the merit of his existence alone. Scorpius rolled his eyes, and Daniel stopped suddenly, turning to face a secretly terrified Scorpius.

"What's wrong, Malfoy? Scared for your little friend there, are you?" He cooed, and the silence that followed echoed with a certain reverence.

Scorpius took a deep breath, half to cool himself, half to steady his nerves. Hundreds of eyes stared unblinkingly at him. He knew that everyone was listening. He also knew that he had a certain perception about himself that he really wanted to change.

"Not really, Daniel. Albus is great and I'm sure he'll do well."

"Oh yeah? Well maybe it's yourself you need to worry about. Our little Isla is faster than you could ever imagine." He pulled Isla Kay, the tiny third-year Hufflepuff seeker, up from her breakfast, and her eyes went wide.

The silence was punctuated every so often by a soft noise from Isla as Daniel gripped a hold of her collar tighter.

Scorpius leapt to his feet in response, leaning over the table with arms outstretched towards Isla, as the silence rolled on. "Daniel, look, I'm sure she's amazing and we'll see that today — why don't you put her down now?"

He let her go and she almost fell face first into the table before her friends saved her.

"Half your team shouldn't be allowed to play, anyway - filthy spawn of death eaters and criminals." He growled, walking off.

Albus pulled at the edges of Scorpius robe, but he ignored it, suddenly overcome with anger and passion. He thought of his father and mother. Their happy faces when they were all at home together, and how they transformed when they were on platform 9 3/4 for the first time. It had been horrifying.

"Don't judge us for things we never had control over! Judge us for who we are, instead. We aren't just Slytherins, some of us are in Gryffindor, in Ravenclaw — in your own house! We aren't our fathers and our mothers. It's fine not to like us, but don't just presume we're terrible for something that happened over twenty years ago, and that we can't change even if we'd give our lives to do it!"

His words rang out over the Great Hall, and Scorpius suddenly became aware that his hands felt like they were made of lead. Heavy, trembling lead. He fell back into his seat and looked to each of his friends. None of them said anything, but Albus smiled and Alfie gave him a thumbs up. Max and he caught eyes and nodded. They both understood what being the son of a criminal was like in a way that Albus, Joshua and Alfie could never.

Lookng thunderous, Daniel Wood sat at the end of the Hufflepuff table. Scorpius didn't dare chance another look over the rest of the students but, for the first time in his life, he caught Rose Granger-Weasley staring directly at him. So penetrating was her stare, it was like all the air had been pushed from his lungs at once. He couldn't breathe for a moment.

Naoki tapped him and Albus on the shoulder, and the pair turned to see the whole team gathered with him. They were beaming at him, and for the first time, Scorpius felt like he might've actually done something good. Even if it had been kind of an accident because he was antry, it gave him a warm chill right to the bones that made him want to shiver. Chatter slowly built up in the hall again as Naoki said, "It's time, Scorpius, Albus."

Albus' happy face immediately changed; the blood drained and his smile slipped like the hard rain hitting the castle's windows and slowly sliding down.

"Oh…"

"Bugger?"

"Yes. Possibly stronger." Albus muttered.

Alfie chuckled good-naturedly. "Relax! You'll be fine."

Albus gave him a deathly glare as he pushed himself up from the table slowly, like his limbs had turned to lead. He looked woozy and ill.

They traipsed down to the Quidditch pitch, where the Slytherin team waited. The conditions were terrible; the cloud was thick and almost black, the mist was low over the grass, and the fierce wind drove the hard rain crashing against their faces.

"This is crazy!" Scorpius heard Jayden Hall shout from some way in front of him. "Naoki, we can't play in this!"

"We don't have a choice." Naoki's voice sounded much further away than he was over the howling winds.

"But we might get blown off our brooms!" Katie Bulstrode added, "and if we fall, we might die!"

"Don't be so dramatic!" Oliver Wright said in a teasing voice, but Katie did not look amused. Oliver may've been right, Scorpius thought, but he didn't fancy getting blown off his broom in this weather.

"Team, into the changing room." Naoki declared, ushering them all like a heard of nervous sheep. They could all feel the pressure this morning. This make up of the team was relatively new and very much aware of it. Naoki's first match as captain, Albus was a new chaser; Scorpius wasn't a particularly seasoned seeker, and Jayden Hall was a young new-recruit who also happened to be a muggle-born. The wind howled outside as they changed into their quidditch robes.

"Now." Naoki began, hands on his hips, and flustered cheeks. "Now." His face was growing more red by the moment, chest artificially puffed. "Oh fuck it." He abandoned the bravado, taking his hands from his hips. "Look, we're Slytherins, okay? We're here to win - it's what we do. And we're going to get out there, use all our cunning and ambition and beat those Hufflepuffs if we have to break all our bones to do it, okay?" The team cheered, some of that sheer panic dissipating as they remembered who they truly were. "And that means no being stupidly nice, Scorpius Malfoy, and remembering who you truly are inside: competitive arseholes, despite your little speech."

"Nice one, by the way." Katie Bulstrode grinned at Scorpius, and Olier Wright and Amy Smith nodded along.

Jayden Hill looked amongst the group, confused, and eventually just gave up with a shrug. "I've got no idea, but really I hope Daniel stops being such a twat now."

They laughed at his resolution.

Naoki looked over his team, hands back on his hips and chest puffed with true pride this time. "We're competitive; we're in this to win it. And we're going to win it. And when we win this game, we're going to beat the next team, and we're keeping that trophy in Slughorn's office for him to admire with his gout. So who are we?"

"Slytherin!"

"WHO ARE WE?"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Come on!" Naoki cried, a broad smile on his face. His broom in one hand, he beckoned the others out of the changing room and out onto the pitch where the Hufflepuffs were waiting looking particularly windswept. Scorpius didn't feel so nervous anymore, in fact, he felt excited when he heard the roar of the crowd around them. He looked over to Albus, grinning.

Captain Ashe stood between the two teams. "Bad weather, but games have been held in worse. Captains, shake hands."

Naoki stepped forward to meet Daniel Wood, and the air seemed to stiffen the moment their hands touched. The crowd baited its breath. Two firm shakes and a nasty look from Naoki when Daniel spat on the floor, and Captain Ashe stepped between them. Scorpius measured up the rest of the team; there was Isla Kay, the fourth year who was infatuated with Rose's brother, and Leo Black, the tall roommate of Louis. With the exception of Daniel Wood, these people were usually just Hufflepuffs - their friends. Even Albus' cousin, Roxanne Weasley was a chaser on the team. But just for this morning, they were all the enemy.

The captains stepped back, and Captain Ashe put the whistle to his lips.

"Three…

"Two…

"One…

A sharp blow on the whistle and they were off. Scorpius flew up into the air, making a beeline for the heights of the pitch. The wind and rain battered his face, pinning his fair further back and flatter to his head than it usually was. He saw the players on the pitch below him spread out, the markings on the grass even further down looking like the clumsy lines of a children's drawing. He swooped down a bit lower and began to circle, keeping a close eye on the game. So far, not much had happened.

"And that's Slytherin's Jayden Hall in possession of the Quaffle now, and he's passing it to Albus Potter now, and back to Jayden Hall. They're flying past Leo Black and towards Hufflepuff's goal and- Oh! Daniel Wood blocks it. Well, that's what you get when you're the son of Oliver Wood." Lysander Lovegood's voice floated up to Scorpius as he flew around the pitch, just above audience level now. He was better than his mother had allegedly been, although he and his twin took turns and in Scorpius' opinion, Lorcan was slightly better. Mostly because he preferred it when Lorcan artistically described him flying through the air. Then again, he had once described him as 'darkly flying through the air like the true son of the dark lord', which was less than complimentary. Or true.

The wind raged wildly, and Scorpius had to fight to fly in a straight line. It was unseasonably bad weather. He wasn't sure if it was the altitude, the fact that it was October or just Highland weather. He shivered, his nose numb as he looked down at everyone. His breath came out in a mist before his face, and he shivered again. Rain dripped in fat splashes on his head.

Scorpius continued to look around for the snitch as he flew, now past the Ravenclaw stand, now past the Gryffindor stand. No sign of the snitch, not yet. He kept an eye on Isla Kay, but she just seemed to be hovering above Hufflepuff's goal posts, searching with a distinct air of nervous desperation. And then she decided that tactic wasn't working for her, and set off.

As Scorpius flew back down to a more reasonable level, the wind picked up even more. He watched as Albus and Oliver were thrown around on their brooms, heard their yelps float up to him. He felt himself be pushed, as though by an invisible hand swatted him through the air. He saw Naoki struggling with the wind and swooped down close to him.

"What do we do?" He yelled at their captain, fighting against the wind desperately.

"Just look for the snitch!" Naoki screamed back, fighting to keep his position in the air before the wind quietened down a little bit, and they could finally stop fighting the weather so much. "End it before the wind bloody kills us- ahh!" Scorpius held Naoki upright as the wind whooshed them sharply to the left.

"Cheers." He breathed before flying back to his posts.

"Well everyone, the wind is now the biggest adversary, ladies and gentlemen! That was Scorpius Malfoy there saving the Slytherin keeper Naoki Greensmith. And they say Slytherins have no hearts." Lysander shouted. "Look at the players go! That's Slytherin in possession and oh-! Oh no, Albus Potter's been clubbed with a bludger an-" His speaker cut out as the wind battered the teacher's box. Scorpius watched Headmaster McGonagall and Professor Flitwick hurry around the box, casting charms around the teachers and the commentary device. Merlin knows how that thing even works. Scorpius flew in the mid-range of the pitch, desperately searching for the snitch. He just wanted to be out of this hellish weather and back in the warmth - whether they stuck to Naoki's plan didn't matter anymore.

"We're back!" Lysander beamed, getting back to his commentary. "The quaffle's back in Hufflepuff possession now, and quite far down the pitch. That's Roxanne Weasley, to Amelia Harris, then Archie Smith and- That's ten points to Hufflepuff!"

Scorpius clicked his tongue, flying even further down the pitch. The wind picked up significantly, clattering the players around on their brooms like children's playtoys.

"Amy Smith has the Quaffle now and — oh she's almost off her broom! - woah!"

Amy wobbled near the Ravenclaw stands, dropping the quaffle in the process but Albus swooped under her to catch it.

Scorpius skimmed over to the Hufflepuff goal posts, desperately searching the air with his eyes streaming in the wind.

"Call one of your dark magic pals to whip this up, did you?" Daniel taunted.

"Knock it off, Daniel! We don't have time for this." Scorpius yelled back, trying with all his might not to fly straight over there and throttle him.

Daniel made to fly over to him, but the wind picked up against and sent Daniel flying at top speed into him, and into the teacher's podium right behind that.

"No!" Scorpius yelled, and turned ninety degrees so he was perpendicular to the Hufflepuff goalie, ramming into him to knock him off course and the weight of the two of them together slowed them to a merciful halt. Scorpius lifted his head, heart beating in his mouth, and he saw that they had mercifully stopped inches from the teacher's podium. He sighed and pushed off from Daniel Wood, who didn't dare meet his eyes as Scorpius sped off.

"Yes, that's right folks. That was Scorpius Malfoy just saving both the teachers and Daniel Wood." The commentary paused as a heavy silence accompanied the screeching wind. Scorpius tried to ignore it.

"I- I think he may have had a point earlier." Came Lysander's only further comment. Scorpius tried to ignore the beat his heart skipped, and the warmth that spread through him despite the rain now utterly soaking him. As he adjusted his grip on the broom, it felt like he has puddles in the tips of each of his gloves' fingers.

"And that's Albus Potter with the quaffle and oh- is he going to- oh rights right! He scores! Ten points to Slytherin!"

The crowd picked up to a frenzied roar again and Scorpius flew close enough to his friend to shout a hurried congratulations.

It felt like hours in the next half hour that passed. The wind picked up to dangerous new heights, and Scorpius was really starting to become worried for them all. Amy Smith had already been grounded with a dislocated elbow, he just wanted anyone to catch the snitch at this point and they could finally all get down from the air.

Scorpius was flying past Isla Kay near the middle of the pitch when the wind picked up so ferociously it knocked all the air out of his lungs, suffocating him more than it had done before. His heart leapt into his mouth and the back of his throat was slippery with a metallic taste, looking to his teammates and watching them fight just as he was to stay on their brooms, never mind in the air.

He heard Isla give a strangled scream from nearby and he dove as fast as he could to catch her as she swung almost completely off her broom and was flung deathly fast into the ground. He caught her just as she was falling in slow motion before his eyes, almost as shocked that he got there as she was. She looked up at him with wide eyes, and he could feel her heart beat even with his numb hands as his own pulse thrummed in his ears. He could vaguely hear cheers or maybe jeers in the background.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm okay." Scorpius nodded, helping her settle back on her broom.

"Are you sure? We can do a few laps together to make sure you're alright if you want?"

She could barely meet his eyes but nodded, and he let go of her, taking two fast laps around the pitch before they parted ways again.

Finally, his heartbeat had receded from his ears and he could hear again, and for the first time in his life, he heard people cheering his name.

"I don't believe it, ladies and gentlemen! Slytherin's seeker just saved Hufflepuff's Isla Kay from becoming a puddle of witch on the grass! With that and saving Hufflepuff's Captain, I think we have this match's hero." Lysander shouted from the stand, and Scorpius, smiling to himself, thought that maybe he did prefer Lysander after all.

He looked over at the scoreboard and saw that Slytherin had scored two goals now.

"The quaffle's in Albus Potter's possession now, and passing back to Jayden Hall, and back between the two and they're heading towards the goal- Oh! Oh, Merlin's Beard it's windy."

Scorpius felt himself be knocked by the wind again and — there. The Snitch! He drowned out anything but the fluttering, golden ball, hovering just below Hufflepuff's goal. He looked out for Isla - across the pitch, near the Slytherin stand. He flew, steadily at first, the gathering speed as he neared the snitch. He dove deep into the wind, battling against it and gritting his teeth as he flew. The feeling was just like being suffocated, and he gasped and spluttered against the wind. It was a deep dive, and as the snitch fluttered closer to the ground, it was going to be difficult to snatch the snitch and not get a face full of dirt. He could hear Lysander shouting and the crowd growing in an intensified cheer. He tugged hard on his broom, never letting the sight of the snitch go.

He pulled and pulled on his broom, groaning as he strained against the wind, and reached forwards until-

He felt the freezing cold metal ball in his fingers. The wings fluttered softly against his almost numb fingertips. He smiled, laughing in joyful splutters of disbelief.

"We have a winner! Slytherin wins 180-40 with a fantastic catch by Scorpius Malfoy!" Scorpius dismounted near the middle of the pitch, grinning with delight as Albus, Jayden, and his other teammates surrounded him "I think we can all say that Scorpius Malfoy has gone from zero to hero on this very memorable day. Congratulations to all team members!"

Albus gave him a wide grin and a firm hug as he landed.

"Did that bludger hit you too hard?" Scorpius grinned as his friend shook his head.

"I'm fine."

"Well, Scorpius," Naoki began, looking down at Scorpius now with fond, dark eyes. "I suppose I really was right to get you on the team." He clapped Scorpius on the back, who beamed with pride. "Congrats, kid."

Yeaaah that was a long one! But I really do hope that you liked it!

What do you guys think Rose will have to say about this match? And do you prefer longer or shorter chapters? Let me know!

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