A/N: Hello lovie people! Hope your February has started out well. If not, well here's a new chapter to make it better. Let's see, I'm going to be snowed into the house for a few days. Got off quarantine just in time for a snow storm. Yay!
Actually, it won't be too bad. We have no place to go, and my husband has today and tomorrow off. The best I've got is wandering over to my neighbor's house so we can partake in some day drinking. So, I'll put another warning, since some people seemed to have missed it. This story has major Ron Weasley bashing. If you don't like Ron Weasley being bashed or made out to be a piece of shit, then really truly this story isn't for you. You won't like it. He's not going to get better. He's gaslighting, dismissive, overly inflated ego, just everything that I don't like. The relationship is based off a relationship I've witness, because yes, bad decisions can be made and you can end up with someone who isn't the best fit for you and your children. Shit happens that's that.
Oh, was Hermione single from when she broke up with Draco until she got back together with Ron? No way. She would have dated around.
More of my ramblings at the end.
Chapter 5: Quidditch Tryouts
It was the last Saturday of September and that meant only one thing. Quidditch tryouts were upon them. The entirety of weekend was blocked out for each house team to have their tryouts to make up their teams for the year. Slytherin was up first for Saturday morning, while Hufflepuff was in the afternoon and the following day Ravenclaw and ending with Gryffindor.
As soon as it was early enough to head up to breakfast, Mila had darted from her room leaving her roommates asleep on their fourposters, not even bothering to wait for her friends to wake up. None of them would be trying out, but they'd all told her that they would be attending the tryouts to watch their sixth year quidditch captain and team keeper, Arild Rowle, fly around with his broom thighs.
The older boy was fit by all measures of the word. Honestly, Mila wouldn't have been shocked if you looked it up in the dictionary and found his picture as a description. Long dirty blonde hair and the five o'clock shadow that he always seemed to have, not to mention the man was massive. From the time he was a fourth year when Mila had first come to Hogwarts, he'd been the biggest student, towering over everyone, and over the last few years he'd only gotten taller and filled out more. Even though it was Saturday morning and usually most student slept in, Mila was anticipating a pretty big turnout just to watch the tryouts.
The previous year had been Rowle's first year as the captain and he had made massive upsets when almost all the players on the team had been replaced by a younger roster. The Slytherin quidditch team had become a laughing stock over the years after the war. Under Rowle's leadership, however, they'd managed to come in second place for the quidditch cup, being only thirty points shy of beating out Hufflepuff, who won it all.
Mila taking the spot as the seeker had caused a bit of an uproar, being only a second year after taking the position from then sixth year, Clayton Warrington. Even now standing out on the pitch waiting for the tryouts to begin, Mila couldn't stop her eyes from wander over to were the two now seventh years, Warrington and a pudgy boy she didn't know, stood eyeing her. Warrington and his idiot friend were going for seeker and a chaser position.
"Think you can make sure no Bludgers hit me?" Mila whispered to Milo when she noticed that Warrington had walked over to talk to the massive sixth year boy who was going for the beater position against Milo.
"Well, yeah, I suppose I can do that. Why? Think Warrington is going to pay that troll to go after you?" Milo said looking over his shoulder and seeing the same interaction that Mila had just noticed.
"I think it would be stupid to assume that's not what they're talking about." Mila whispered to her brother, then with a louder voice she continued, "it's a shame Warrington couldn't have just stayed in the dungeon and avoided the humiliation for his final year. It must be embarrassing being bested by a girl almost five years younger than him and a half-blood at that."
It was clear that Warrington had heard her because his head snapped in her direction and if looks could kill, Mila would have dropped on the spot. Before he could retaliate though, Rowle stood in front of the crowd and brought his hand to his mouth to let out a piercing whistle. "LISTEN UP!" He bellowed to bring everyone's attention from their conversations straight to him.
Once it had calmed down and all eyes were going forward, Rowle continued, "Now, I know last year there were some complaints on the roster changes. That being said, I hope it was motivation for everyone to try harder this year in tryouts, and hopefully have put in the work to get better this past summer. Don't just expect being an upper classman or that your family name will land you a spot on the team any longer, you have to earn your right to be on the pitch.
"Beaters, your tryouts will go along with the chaser and seeker tryouts. I want to see how well you can do aiming for them and also protecting them. Chasers, we use the Thimblerig Shuffle and Hawkshead Attacking Formation, I want to see how well all of you are able to do these tactics already, if you can't, that's alright. You can learn tactics, but I want to see what you're capable of. Seekers, I'll be releasing a snitch. I want to see how you search for it and ultimately catch it.
"If I call to dive and you are in the air, you will dive. If I call for you to roll, you'll roll. If I call for you to do anything, you will do it. You are supposed to prove to me that you are the best, if you don't believe you're the best, then you're in the wrong place.
"Before we break off into your positions, and I waste my time even watching the lot of you, everyone up in the air. I want to see your flying skills. Broom Drifting first, now go." Rowle called shooting up into the sky with twenty or so other brooms flying up after him.
Mila and Milo stayed close together during this part of the tryouts, knowing that if Warrington got an opening that he would take a cheap shot at her. Luckily, however, even though they were just flying and showing their flying skills, Mila couldn't help the smirk when she used a quick Sloth Grip Roll to avoid Warrington and his goon of a friend trying to bump into her and knocking her off her broom.
"Nice flying, Granger." Rowle said as he swung past her "Warrington, Craggy, watching your flying, yeah? You're wizards, not human Bludgers. Act like it or get off my pitch!" He finished yelling before flying off away from them. Mila snuffled a laugh at the verbal lashing that was being directed at Warrington and when she rolled back upright on her room, she turned to look over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers at the pair with what she hoped was a look of innocence on her face.
Mila skirted back over where Milo was hovering in the air waiting out more instruction from Rowle when they spotted in the stands Remy and the heir watching the tryouts.
"What do you think they're doing here?" Mila whispered to her brother as Rowle announced that the Chaser hopefuls needed to stay airborne so he could run them through a few drills before bringing the Beaters in.
"Watching, just like every other bloody person in the school. I get the other house captains being here, but bloody hell this is insanity." Milo whispered in her ear as they made their way towards the ground, huddling together.
"You don't think they'd do something to fuck up us getting on the team, do you?" Mila asked clutching her Nimbus closer to her chest, now wondering if she should be worried it was tampered with or not. "I mean, I've had my broom in my dorm, so there's no way they could have gotten to it, but Remy is a bit too creative."
"Who knows, mum said that Malfoy was going to write Scorpius and told him that we're his. Maybe he already has and he just wants to see what we're like while you can't fling a hex his way." Mila turned so she could shoot her twin a glare and all Milo did in response was shrug. "You do, don't try to deny it. Shit, I'm up. Wish me luck."
Yelling out a 'good luck' Mila watched as Milo took off into the air along with the remaining Beater hopefuls, including Ethan Nott, leaving her alone on the ground with Warrington and a fifth-year girl, whose name she didn't know. Mila was by far the smallest of the three, but she'd watched the girl flying and felt confident that she wasn't really trying to make the team, just wanted an excuse to stand closer to Rowle. Her flying skills weren't terrible, but they were much more casual than one would use to play Quidditch, making Warrington her only real competition.
Mila's focus was split between watching her brother use a Bludger Backbeat, using a backhanded swing, sending the ball behind him, to take out a Chaser who had the Quaffle with perfect precision, and seeing what the hell Warrington was up to. Rowle kept swapping out Chasers and pairing them in different groups, but also doing the same with the Beaters.
Mila was shocked when she saw Milo getting partnered up with Nott, she'd never seen Nott ride on a broomstick, much less play Quidditch before. Hell, she couldn't even remember if he'd even bothered coming to any of the games the year before, but now here he was working perfectly in sync with Milo. The two of them were impressive, knocking Bludgers out of the air and having them change direction with ease.
Nott was a perfect match with Milo, and it was easy to see why Rowle had put them together. At one point Milo hit a Bludger right at Nott, who was laying in wait and was able to knock the Quaffle right out from the Chaser's grasp.
Mila had gotten so engrossed in watching her brother, that she didn't notice when Warrington had moved over to where she was standing until he bumped into her. With that move, he'd knocked her seeker gloves out of her pocket and to the ground right into a bit of mud.
"Watch it, you big oaf." She hissed at him, before bending over to pick up her gloves. That was a mistake, however, and she realized too late when he knocked her over face first into the turf.
"Good luck, Granger." Warrington said standing over her as Mila rolled so she could look up at him. Stepping on her hand, Mila let out a sharp cry as his crushed into her right hand.
"Fuck you, Warrington, I hope someone cursed your damn broomstick so it'll get lodged so far up your arse you can't sit." Mila scowled at him while she cradled her hand against her body with tears streaming down her eyes from the pain. Of course, before she could do anything else, Rowle appeared in front of the three seekers to let them know he was releasing the snitch.
"Track it, don't just hope to come across it. Use your skills, show me your tactics. Granger, I know you could almost do a Wronski Feint last year, now is the time to show off and see if you've still got it or if you spent your summer being lazy and not training."
Mila shot a glare at Warrington, knowing that with her hand probably broken that she wouldn't be able to do any fancy flying, much less a Wronski Feint. Gripping her broom with her left hand and still cradling the right to her chest, Mila shot up into the air in search of the snitch.
Below her, the Chasers had taken to the turf with the Beaters. Mila was circling the pitch looking in different areas searching for any glitter of gold when Rowle called out "SPIRAL DIVE!"
Gripping her broom Mila pointed the handle towards the ground and took off at high speeds. She shot like a rocket towards the ground, the whisps of her hair flying backwards until she was close enough to the ground that she had to pull up. Even with her now worthless hand, Mila couldn't help but smirk at Warrington, who had pulled up well before Mila had.
Directing her broom, Mila took back off into the air to continue her search of the snitch. She did keep an eye out for Warrington, not trusting that he wouldn't possibly try and knock her off her broom while they were a hundred or so feet up in the air.
"BEATERS!" Rowle called and Mila couldn't help but let out a sigh knowing what was coming. The Bludgers were released and one was already heading straight for her. Pulling her broom up, Mila was able to easily twirl and let the ball go barreling past her.
"Nice one, Mila!" Nott shouted as he raced past her, going after the ball that had just missed her.
"What the fuck happened to your hand?" Mila heard Milo call from behind her.
"I'll tell you later, I've got a snitch to find!" Mila yelled back over the wind whipping around them. She could see Milo's eyes narrow at her, before he was off chasing after a Bludger, probably to send it after Warrington.
That's how it went for the next hour or so. Bludgers would be sent in her direction and Mila would either miss them or Milo or Nott would intercept before they could hit her. Rowle continued to call out when he'd want them to dive or accelerate, not letting them just stay focused on the task of finding the golden ball.
One well placed hit from Milo sent a Bludger straight into Warrington's arm and an audible CRACK echoed through the stands. Stoned faced, Milo watched Warrington grab his arm and letting out a yell of pain.
While he was distracted cursing up a storm, Mila noticed against the dark green of the turf below them the gold speck that she knew was the snitch. Pointing her broom straight at it, Mila took off with a whoosh speeding right past a still swearing Warrington.
"FUCKING MUDBLOOD'S BASTARDS" she could hear Warrington call behind her, but Mila wasn't going to look back and see if he was following her or not. She'd spotted the snitch and she could end this tryout right now.
The tell sound of a Bludger heading her way sent Mila into a spiral spin to hopefully avoid it making contact with her. Her attempts were unsuccessful though, just skimming her right shoulder, Mila screamed out as she felt the bones shatter, but her spiral kept her on track for the snitch.
Using her thighs to hold onto her broom, Mila let go of the handle with her left and hand and reached out. The cool feel of the metal met her fingertips and Mila's hand clamped down around the small fluttering ball. Unfortunately for her, she was going too fast to be able to pull up and stop before a harsh crash-landing right into the ground happened, causing her to summersault a few times away from her broom.
Chest heaving, Mila couldn't help the grin that spread across her face holding the snitch up while she laughed. Fucking Warrington had landed not too far from her and was in the process of screaming at Rowle, arguing that if Milo hadn't been playing as the beater and only trying to protect his sister and not everyone, he never would have missed the snitch.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, are you okay?" Looking up, Mila could see two sets of Quidditch boots running across the field towards her.
"Never better." She replied as two sets of hands came to her shoulders to help her sit up, but instead caused her to cry out in pain. "Bludger nicked my shoulder, pretty sure the bones are shattered." She said looking up at her brother who was holding up his hands and running them through his hair. On her other side, Mila finally looked over and was surprised to see Nott on her other side.
Before she could say anything to him though, Warrington was towering behind Nott looking down at her with murder in his face. "Fucking bastard child of a mudblood and a disgraced death eater." He said spitting on the ground. "Both of you, a disgrace on either side of your families. No wonder you haven't got any besides that mudblood mother for family."
"MR. WARRINGTON!" Mila heard McGonagall's voice booming over the pitch, stopping the seventh year in the middle of his rant.
"Come on." Nott whispered into Mila's ear, helping her stand and walk over to where everyone else had gathered to listen to Rowle speak. Mila couldn't help but hold her right elbow, keeping the entire arm close to her body, with her adrenaline wearing off, the pain in her arm was starting to overtake her.
"As eventful as these tryouts were, I have a good grasp on everyone's skills and how they will preform under the pressures of a game. Roster will be posted in the common by end of day Tuesday. Granger, get yourself to the infirmary, Granger, see to her getting there in one piece. Everyone else, shower up, enjoy your lunch. If you want, come later this afternoon to watch Hufflepuff's tryouts. They won the cup last year, should be a good show. Dismissed." He called as he pulled the leather from his hair letting it hang loose around his shoulders.
Mila couldn't help but laugh at the literal sounds of all the females on the pitch and in the stands swooning over Rowle. The bloody Viking menace had the nerve to smirk and fucking wink at them all before strolling towards the locker rooms.
"Come on, lets get you to Pomfrey. You can tell me what happened to your fucking hand on the way there." Milo said, carefully taking Mila's left elbow and directing her towards the castle.
Rolling her eyes, Mila turned and walked towards the exit with her brother. As they walked, Mila quietly told Milo what Warrington had done to her before the seeker tryouts, making him let out a little growl. "He mentioned Malfoy, suppose it would be too much to hope that no one would put the pieces together now that Scorpius is here, huh?" Milo mumbled as they walked.
"The heir, of course. Going to make our lives more difficult, because why wouldn't he." Mila muttered, causing Milo to hold up his hand and stopping her.
"You've got to stop with the bullshit, Mila. I overheard him talking with Remy in the common room. His mum died when he was really young and it's just been him and his dad ever since. He's not some spoiled rich kid who's had an easy fucking life like you've been making it sound. His father is a pardoned fucking death eater, his grandfather is an imprisoned death eater, you aren't the only person who's been giving him hell this year just because of who he's related to." Milo snipped at her before turning on his heels and storming away from her up towards the castle.
"What the fuck, Milo? You're on his side now?" Mila called after him trying to keep up with his long legs, but with her arm messed up she couldn't run.
Turning back to facing her, Milo threw his hands up in the air. "No, I'm not taking his fucking side! You're my fucking twin, not him. But I am telling you to back the fuck off him. He's a kid, Mila! He's had nothing to do with anything and you've been nothing short of horrid towards him. Do I want to get to know his father? No, not really. He fucked up our mother to the point she settled for that fucking weasel when he came crawling back to her making empty promises of giving her happiness and supporting her in whatever she wants to do. Am I going to blame his son for his actions though? No, I'm fucking not. If you don't stop with the shit you and Jack have been pulling on him and Remy, then the two of you are no better than that fuck Warrington."
"I'm not breaking his fucking hand, Milo!" Mila yelled at his retreating back.
Not bothering to turn around and face her, Milo called over his shoulder, "No, but you're breaking his heart and spirit. Can't fix those with a bit of Skele-Gro."
A/N: Well, well, well. We get a bit of an insight of how life at Hogwarts has been for Mila and Milo. So, I made Mila a seeker because she'd want to prove she's better than Draco. That's just part of her personality. Decided to make Milo a beater to show his protective side over his sister.
Alright, so Rowle is going to be Thorfinn Rowle's son. I didn't specify it, but he is. In my head, I picture Thorfinn as Chris Hemsworth, so I'm picturing the same for his son. Ethan Nott is Theo Nott's son (I don't remember if I said that before) and my Theo is always Henry Cavill, so you can do with that as you wish to picture Ethan. I don't think I've given a description of him yet, so make of him what you wish.
Milo put his sister in her place, clearly while she's lashing out, he's not approving of this course of action.
Next chapter is Hermione and Draco's second appointment in unlocking his memories, and a Hermione only POV. Expect an update no later than Wednesday. Might be sooner though.