Chapter 4- The Poppy Fronsac Effect
With the news that Vlad would get to meet Poppy Fronsac on the weekend Vlad snapped out of his funk. He was back to his jovial, energetic, and slightly insulting ways. On Thursday evening when Rose refused to let him copy her Care of Magical Creatures assignment he actually got enough backbone to feed Rose's Quidditch magazine to a thestral. Things couldn't have been going better until the morning of the scrimmage. Vlad woke up plagued with insecurity.
"Do I look dashing," Vlad questioned Rose for the 5th time.
"You look fine," Rose said. She gave Vlad a once over. He had clearly tried to do something with his hair because it stuck up in places.
"But would you shag me?" Vlad continued. Rose nearly choked on the muffin she was eating. Vlad thumped her on the back.
"You all right there? Hasn't anyone ever told you to chew your food before you swallow it?" Vlad asked.
"Merlin's wand! Vlad, you can't just ask a bird if she'd shag you," Rose tried to reason with him.
Vlad being his incorrigible self went right back to asking, "Well would you?"
"NO!" Rose gasped.
Will took a seat next to Rose at the breakfast table and asked, "Did Vlad just ask if you'd bang him? He asked me the same thing up in the dorm. I told I'd throw him on the bed and shag his senseless."
"See Rose that's what a mate is suppose to say," Vlad informed Rose.
"You are all blooming mental," Rose lamented.
Vlad went back to staring at himself in the back of a spoon. He pushed his hair around a bit and it limply fell back in place.
"Rose do something to it wont you," Vlad asked.
"Listen, I'm your wingman not your fairy godmother. Go find Flow if you want someone to touch you up. I'm rubbish as beauty charms," Rose said in between bites of her muffin.
"Your brilliant," Vlad exclaimed and quickly excused himself to track down Flow.
"Does he know that his robes are on backwards?" Will asked.
"I didn't have the heart to tell him," Rose said.
Conditions couldn't be better when Rose walked onto the pitch with Vlad, Will, and Quincy in toe. Summer was making it last hurrah. The air felt balmy and everyone was dressed in his or her lightweight Quidditch robes. A throng of people already filled the pitch. Player sported the colors of every house team, a few, like Poppy Fronsac, wore robes denoting professional teams. One bloke was adorned in proper muggle athletic wear.
As they marched up to the crowd Rose caught the lad in muggle attire say, "These muggle shorts are great. You never have to worry about someone looking up your robe!"
Rose spotted Lacroix and made her way through the mass to him.
Clapping him on the back she exclaimed, "What a turnout. You Gryffindor sure know how to throw a party!"
Rose placed her arm around her cousin Albus who stood a foot off.
"Hey there," Albus greeted her. A few girls glared at Rose reproachfully. Albus was never shy of female attention.
"Who's in charge here?" Rose asked.
"Well some of the team put it together," Albus said, referring to Gryffindor, before adding, "Scorpius is around here somewhere. You know he's rubbish at playing, but he's agreed to split up the teams and referee the match. I figure between the earful he gets from you and I he probably knows more rules than anyone."
Scorpius appeared and Albus shouted, "Speak of the devil! I bet everyone is here now. Lets see if I can't get people organized."
With that Albus began calling for everyone to quite. In the few minutes that it took to sufficiently silence the crowd Rose caught Scorpius' attention.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favor," She politely asked Scorpius, "My friend Vlad has been trying to work up the nerve to talk to Poppy Fronsac all week. I was wondering if you could place them on the same team."
Rose knew that Scorpius wasn't the type of person to gossip so she was rather straightforward about her motives.
"I'd be more than happy to oblige a women with matchmaking schemes," Scorpius said, hoping to receive one of Rose's good-natured smiles.
Sure enough, a grin broke across her face as she exclaimed, "Thank you. You're kindness wont go unappreciated."
By then the crowd was silenced. Albus gave a long-winded speech about sportsmanship and improving house-to-house relationships. He then turning the floor over to Scorpius, who began calling out rosters for scrimmage teams. When the crowd was divided into two teams Vlad couldn't believe his luck when he ended up on Fronsac's team.
"It's like I drank Felix Fleicis or something," He told Will, who had also been placed on his team.
"Well don't let it go to waste," Will said, who had seen Rose a few minutes earlier talking in hushed tones to Scorpius.
Rose, who had been placed on the apposing team, broke away from her team and walked up to Will and Vlad's team.
"Looks like Scorpius decided that it's not fair to have too many talented beater on one team," Rose said making an effort to catch Poppy Fronsac's attention, "Fronsac you're lucky to have Vlad on your team. He's a god on a broom."
Vlad beamed at the two girls.
"You play on Hufflepuff team right?" Fronsac asked.
"Yes. Rose and I are beaters," Vlad put in, enthusiastically adding, "I saw you flying on the pitch the other day. Where did you learn to do a Sloth Grip Role?"
"My father believes Quidditch is a religion," Fronsac said, "If my mother would let him, he'd probably have named me Quaffle."
"Really?" Vlad questioned in interest, "Did he play on a house team when he was at Hogwarts?"
It seemed obvious that Vlad no longer needed her help, so Rose turned to rejoin her team. Rose surveyed the pitch. The teams were beginning to take positions and Albus was loudly hollering, "Five minutes until game time."
Due to the vast number of attendees the game would be played with five chasers on each team. Rose would be playing beater alongside Quincy, Lacroix, and a half dozen other peoples, including the bloke in muggle cloths. Rose mounted her broom and kicked off the ground. The resistance of the air as she cut threw it felt wonderfully cool. Rose let out a whoop. She reached her arms above her head, stretched, and rolled her head in a circle to work out the kinks. After a few warm up laps around the stands Rose hurried into position.
Scorpius his voice magically enhanced pronounced, "Players take your positions. Game on!"
He threw the Quaffle in the air and dove out of the way as ten chasers descended on the ball. Rose tore after the first blunder she saw and sent it shooting towards the other teams keeper. Rose figured with the congestion of chasers on the field Bludgers would be most effective if they were used to shut down the keeper's efficiency.
Vlad, however, had gone for a much riskier shot and with aimed practice he sent a Bludger crashing towards one of Rose's teammates. Rose swerved to avoid a chaser as she raced to intercept Vlad's Bludger. She could hear her blood pumping in her ears. The shear force of the wind against her body made it impossible to take anything but short gasps of air.
Then the adrenalin kicked in and the stinging in her lungs tasted like pure bliss. She managed to knock the Blugger out of its current trajectory, but her aim was poor. The other beater on Vlad's team made quick work of sending it at Rose's seeker and this time Rose was not fast enough. The seeker had to turn sharply to avoid a collision.
Scorpius flew high above the action, calling fouls as he saw necessary. It was a pretty clean game as far as Quidditch went. Which left him time to scout the sky for Rose. Truth be told, Scorpius was looking forward to playing referee ever since he found out Rose would be in attendance. He had observed Rose from the stand a plethora of times but had never gotten the chance to see her play up-close.
Now everything was in sharp relief. Rose was a beater, and while most of the players flew ducking low in their brooms to diminish wind resistance, Rose sat tall so she could get a more powerful windup on her swing. Hands nearly always occupied with her bat Rose rarely reached down to take control of her broom. Instead she soared through the air steered only by the shifting of her weight. Scorpius, who hands gripped his own broom, knew it must take a lot of strength to keep the broom in control. Jolting her hips forward she sent her broom into an impressive dive, which she straightened out, seconds later, her abdominal muscles visibly clenching under her robes at the effort. There was an unmistakable dominance and knowledge of the broom beneath her.
It was sinful, what watching Rose fly did to Scorpius's body. To think of the control and power that when into each little movement made him knuckles go white as he grasped the handle of his broom. What she might be able to do with her mouth, fingers, and tongue seemed the natural line of inquiry.
Scorpius snapped his attention back to the game at hand. While he rather enjoyed watching Rose fly he did not need such thoughts on the open Quidditch pitch. That would be rther problematic. He could always review the details later in the privacy of his dormitory.
Fronsac scored on the keeper earning praise from a chaser to her right. They were an hour and a half into the game and with the abundance of chaser, points were being raked up I quick secession. Rose team was up 290 points to 220. Vlad was being overly protective of Fronsac and Rose was using it to her advantage as she pummel the other exposed player on his team. A fowl was called as one chaser accidentally elbowed another chaser in the face. The damage was not severe so play resumed quickly.
Rose and Lacroix both sent Bludgers at the opposing keeper as their chaser neared to score and sure enough She made the goal. Two blurs streaked flashed across the pitch and the game was over. Albus rolled onto the ground the snitch clutched in his hand. His entire team, including Vlad and Fronsac, erupted in excitement.
Lacroix bumped Rose gently on her side. With a toothy grin he said, "It's nice to not have to worry about you trying to push me off my broom for once."
"It's great to not have you obstructing my view of the Bludger," Rose agreed.
"We should do this again," Lacroix decided.
"Just give me a shout and I'll round up the lads," Rose replied, "I don't care that we lost. It's the perfect day for Quidditch."
Rose was feeling exquisite. The little tenseness she had started the day with was replaced by a healthy dose of endorphins. She looked over at her cousin, Albus, he was evidently enjoying his win. Red in the face, he was retelling his plight in obtaining the snitch to a group of chasers. To his left Vlad and Fronsac were chatting in a way that made Rose suspect she would be seeing a lot more of Fronsac in the future.
She wrangle the bludgers back into the equipment trunk, knowing that alone it would take Scorpius all evening.
"Thank you," Scorpius said as Rose pushed the final Bludger into place.
"Are you still interested in study for the herbology test at six?" Rose asked.
"Yes," Scorpius affirmed as they joined the procession to the locker rooms.
On Rose way to the library, later that evening, She ran across Vlad in the entrance hall. Vlad picker her up and spun her around.
"Hey little lady," Vlad beamed.
"I take it things must have gone well with Fronsac."
"Excellently," Vlad affirmed, placing her on the ground, "After the game we walked around the grounds for nearly an hour."
"Congratulations," Rose celebrated.
"She's prettier up close," Vlad honestly continued, "She smart and straightforward. She hasn't any sense of humor, but I sort of like that. It made our conversation very profound. Rose I talked about current events!"
"Really?" Rose said in astonishment. She was under the impression that Vlad had never picked up a newspaper.
"It is a good thing I had the sense to charm mustaches onto all those committeewomen on the front page of yesterday's Prophet. We talked about the first women's committee on magical contraception for nearly half an hour."
Rose looked at him her mouth agape, she had no clue what that was. After all, Rose always skipped to the Quidditch section whenever she opened the paper.
"I must have sounded halfway intelligent too, cause we're studying together tomorrow evening."
"Nice," Rose smirked.
"I mean it's not a date yet, but it's a start," Vlad told her anxious for her approval.
"And you say you're rubbish with the birds. You didn't even need a wingman. A few late night studying sessions and you'll have her begging for a date," Rose encouraged, hoping that the downplaying of her involvement would give him courage.
"Don't be nutters Rose, I'll always need you as my wingman," Vlad assured her throwing and arm around her shoulder, "Rose, she makes me cross-eyed and weak in the knees."
"That sounds lovely," and to Rose it really did.
Noting the corridor they entered Vlad asked, "You're going to the library aren't you?"
"Yes," Rose assented, half lost in her train of thought.
"I'll see you later then," Vlad said removing his arm, "I'm not spending any more time in there than I blooming have to."
As Vlad lumbered away, Rose looked back at her mate. The agreeable way he talked about Fronsac remind her of something he had said to her in 5th year, after he had his first proper snog with Anna Wood.
Keen to recount the event to someone who wouldn't doggedly buffer him with insensitive commentary, Vlad had ended up in the women's locker room with Rose. At that point Anna Wood was the first girl he had fancied. Rose, curious at Vlad intentions, had asked how he felt about Anna Wood.
Vlad had told Rose that being around Anna made him forget his name. It was like the whole world turned with Anna at the center. Anna made his hands sweat and his body hum silently. Just to hold her gave him the overwhelming sense that he never wanted to leave. When they parted ways Vlad felt like a little part of him was empty. Sort of like when he forget to eat breakfast before Quidditch practice, but not amount of food could fill it. Vlad had described the whole experiences as both tantalizing and comforting.
Ever since Vlad had told Rose this it had been something she had wanted to experience first hand. As time passed it had been pushed a little further back in her mind. Now, seeing Vlad act the way he had, brought this interest to the forefront of her mind.
Rose arrived at the library a few minutes early, took her customary seat, and pulled out her Herbology notes. She tried to focus on the words she had written but her thoughts kept drifting back to Vlad's declaration.
Scorpius joined her at the table she looked over at him. He seemed a little worse for wear this evening. She though she saw a slight discoloration under his eye, but her mind was elsewhere.
Rose was curious. Had Scorpius ever felt the way Vlad had described? She had never followed gossip very thoroughly, perhaps, because between, her parents notoriety and her apparently incomprehensible friendships with too many lads, she never liked what people had to say about her. Still, as far as she knew Scorpius had ever shown a wink of interest in anyone.
She wondered if he understood her plight. Was he also waiting to find some who could set his nerve endings on fire or had he already found her?
Rose opted not to vocalize her quarry. As Rose glanced over at the man next to her she couldn't help feeling that whomever this girl turned out to be she was lucky. Scorpius was kind, smart, and a complete gentleman. She hoped that whenever Scorpius fell for a girl he would not disappear from her life completely.