Chapter 11: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

The next few weeks after the Hogsmeade were great for both Scorpius and Rose. They continued to study together, but the only thing that changed was they were a little more chatty. Talking to each other now became more natural. A few times, Madame Pince had to shush them for being to loud, and they both giggled at this. They started to talk about more complicated subjects than just Quidditch and studying. One night, Scorpius got into talking about Astoria. He didn't realize that he basically described everything about her to Rose. He had bottled it in for so long, he just had to let it all go.

"Yea, I suppose my mum started my love for reading. She loves to read. When she reads something, she always recommends it to me. It's kind of our thing." Rose said with a smile. Scorpius just smiled at this. Not just any smile, an Astoria smile. He loved that she loved reading, and that pearly white smile.

"Wait! Do that again!" Rose said.

"Do what?" Scorpius asked.

"Smile. Your smile is very nice. You don't smile much. You should, you have a perfect smile." Rose said, but blushing, she didn't mean to say that last part out loud.

"Oh. Thank you. I suppose I just don't smile that much because there's not much to smile about." Scorpius responded. He made a mental note to smile more, because it made Rose smile.

"Oh. Well, we're going to change that. You need to smile more. Tell me some of your happiest memories." Rose said.

"Well, um, okay I guess. I don't have that many, but I suppose I could tell you them." Scorpius responded.

"Go on. Tell me everything." Rose pleaded.

"Okay, let's think. Oh I've got one. When we used to go out for things, we always would dress nice. I don't know why, my dad made us for some reason. But that's not the point, when we were home, my mum used to wear these giant sweaters. I mean giant, they were an XXXL. I didn't understand why, she was a pretty small lady, but whenever I would ask she would respond with, They're comfortable! And she would pare them with a pair of jeans. I don't why this sticks out to me, but it used to make me and my dad laugh." Scorpius said with a smile on his face, thinking of this memory made him happy for a second, like maybe Astoria was still there.

"Your mum sounded like a good lady." Rose said, curious to know more.

"She was. She would make me and my dad laugh all the time. My dad isn't a very expressive person, but when she was around him, it was like he was a whole different person. I can remember sometimes, when she walked in a room, the whole mood changed. She was a pretty happy person. She liked to look on the bright side of things. She had a smile that lit up a room. When I was little, whenever I was scared about something, she would just smile at me, and I'd feel better. I'd give anything for her to smile at me again. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her." Scorpius said with a tear rolling down his cheek, he didn't mean to say that much, it just kind of spilled out. Then suddenly, a warm hand grabbed his and squeezed it.

"Hey, Scorp. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you upset." Rose said as she looked in his water filled eyes, while squeezing his hand.

"Oh no! Don't be sorry. I should have said these things a long time ago. If anything, this made me feel better about the situation. You know, she would have liked you." Scorpius said looking up, gazing into Rose's ocean-blue eyes.

"Really?" Rose asked.

"Yea. She liked everyone she met, but she would have liked you especially. Her personality was a lot like yours." Scorpius said as he squeezed her hand back. WaIt, WhAt! He just squeezed her hand. She squeezed his. They were holding hands. This was added to the One of the best moments of Scorpius's life list.

"She sounds like a very nice person. Sorry, I didn't mean to get our conversation this deep, we should go back to studying, shouldn't we?" Rose asked, as she moved her hand. She didn't realize he was squeezing Scorpius's hand. She held Scorpius Malfoy's hand. Wow. It felt good.

"Yea, that's probably a good idea." Scorpius said, as he flashed one last smile towards Rose.

With that, Scorpius and Rose studied for about another half hour, then they both decided to call it a night. That study session was the best they ever had. All was good.

***

     About a week later from this point, was definitely not good. It was the day before the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match. Scorpius was thankful that Jessica was all better. He didn't know if he could play against Rose and Albus's family. Him and Rose continued to have their study sessions, but they avoided the topic of Quidditch completely. They usually asked each other how their practice went, but they didn't the week leading up to the match. They both wanted to be proud of each other, but they had to play for their teams. James and Rachel took this match very seriously. Any distractions or mess ups could cost them a lot. The morning of the match was a cloudy, windy, chilly, November day. Not exactly the best conditions for Quidditch.

    When Scorpius woke up, he had a pit in his stomach. He really hoped he wouldn't have to play today. He just couldn't. But what if team needed him? He would have to play. He was also thankful that his dad had to work today, so he couldn't go. Scorpius got up, threw on his Quidditch jumper, and headed down to breakfast with Al. Albus was nervous too. Like usual, he had to commentate. He had to cheer for his family, but he also wanted to cheer for his friend. And, not to mention, his entire family was coming. Like everybody, every Weasley would be there. And, his dad was going to come up too.

    The two boys made their way to the Great Hall. It was weird, it was divided in half. Rachel and James looked like this was the most stressful moment in their entire lives. This just made Scorpius more nervous. Then, Rachel waved him over to were the other Slytherin Quidditch Players were sitting.

    "Scorpius!" Rachel said waving him over.

    "Hey guys." Scorpius said while trying not to sound like he was nervous.

    "Today is a big day. We NEED to beat Gryffindor. It's not an option! I have played Quidditch for 6 years, and we haven't beat them once. I can feel it, we are going to beat them this year! They're going down!" Rachel said with determination on her face. Scorpius knew this wasn't going to be her only speech today. He was just nervous what she was going to say minutes before the match. Rachel could get very vicious when it came to Quidditch, and since this was her last year, she wasn't going to lighten up. Scorpius sat with the team all of breakfast. Al had to leave half way during breakfast to go up to the commentators booth and do sound testing.

    After breakfast, Scorpius walked out with the team, and headed toward the Slytherin Quidditch changing rooms. As he walked out, he saw Rose sitting with her team, and discreetly gave her a small wave. She saw this, and did the same back. Then, the team continued to make their way down. When they got there, they all changed into their uniforms, and waited for Rachel's pregame speech. When they all walked out, Rachel had the most mischievous look on her face.

    "Okay. Beaters, we talked about your very important job this match." Rachel said with a sly look on her face. Then, the Beaters pulled out their wands from the inside of their robes. Had Scorpius missed something? He went to every practice, and the Beaters always did the same thing that they always do, why did they need their wands? Apparently, he was the only one on the team who was confused with this, so he decided to let it go.

    "Okay, great! We have this match in the bag now. I can't believe that we're going to beat Gryffindor this year! Just everyone, follow my plays, and Beaters, you know what to do. We're going to win this year! I just know it!" Rachel said when she completed her speech with the same mischievous grin on her face.

    "Oh, and Scorpius, just like usual, you won't play today. Hopefully Jessica survives." Rachel said as she laughed.

    "Hey! It's not my fault! That Buldger came out of nowhere! At least we have Scorpius if something does happen!" Jessica said as she laughed at Rachel's comment.

    "Okay. Lets bring the win for Slytherin!" Rachel said, as everyone chanted in agreement. As soon as that happened, everyone grabbed their brooms and headed for the pitch.

    When they stepped out, the whole crowd had a different vibe than the Hufflepuff match. It was so intense. At the same time, the Gryffindor Team came out from their changing rooms.

    "Gooooood Mooorrrnninggg Quuddiittcch Faaannnss!" Albus said with enthusiasm over the loudspeaker.

    "I'm Albus Potter, your local Hogwarts Quidditch Commentator! We have a heck of a match today! Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! I don't even know who to root for, if I don't cheer for Gryffindor, I might be cut from family dinners for the rest of the century!" Albus said, and the whole crowd laughed.

    "Enough about me, we should introduce these players, shouldn't we! On Gryffindor, we have Lily Potter, Rose Weasley, and Roxanne Weasley as Chasers. We have Molly Weasley and Louis Weasley as Beaters. We also got Hugo Weasley playing Keeper. And last but least, we have Captain James Potter playing the Seeker position. Yes, if y'all were wondering my siblings are both on this team, I turned out to be the un-athletic middle child!" The crowd let out an applause, and let out another laugh as Professor McGonagall scolded Albus for the last comment.

    "And for Slytherin, we've got Mario Flint and Maddox Goyle as Beaters, Caleb Miller as Keeper, Chad Anderson playing Seeker, And Jessica Smith, Krissa Grant, and Captain Rachel Parkinson playing as Chasers. Oh, and we can't forget the good luck charm from the last match, Scorpius Malfoy as an Extra." Albus said to the crowd, they let out another applause.

"Now its time for Captians to shake hands. Let's get this game stttttaaaaarrrtttteeeeddddd!" Albus announced.

With that, Madame Hooch came out, and said for the captains to shake hands. James and Rachel approached each other with nasty looks on their faces.

"Potter."Rachel sneered.  

"Parkinson." James sneered back.

"You two know the rules. I want a nice, smooth, clean game. FROM BOTH OF YOU." Madame Hooch said, but gestured the last comment toward James. He liked to get rough in the air.

"Shake. And on my whistle you go." Madame Hooch continued, while reluctantly, James and Rachel shook hands.

"Okay, 3..2..1, wheeeeeetttt!" Madame Hooch said as she blew her whistle. With that, everyone sped of the ground, except for Scorpius. The crowed roared at this. This game would be very entertaining.

"And their off! Parkinson carries the Quaffle, Oh! Nice steal from Rose Weasley! She passes it to Roxanne Weasley, oh look at this! Roxanne passes it to Lily Potter! What's this! From the 70 yard line! She throttles back, she throws, and she makes it! Gryffindor scores! Nice one Lily, 30 yards away! That's my sister! Score is 1-0." Albus reported with enthusiasm. Their were loud cheers from the parent section, many red-heads, a few black haired, and few blonds, two burnetts,  and even a blue-haired, people cheered for Lily very loudly. Lily looked over, she smiled at her family.

When the loud cheers came for Lily, Scorpius looked up at the parent section, and could see Rose and Albus's entire family was there. Even Teddy, Victorie, Domonique, and Fred came.

"Okay, what's this! Smith speeds down the field, she throws, oh she misses! Great block by Hugo Weasley. Nice job Hugh." Albus said to the crowd. Hugo had a smile on his face. Their was another loud cheer from the parent section.

The game went on like this for about another 15 minutes like this. Slytherin tried to score, but Hugo kept blocking. And, Lily, Rose, and Roxanne kept scoring against Slytherin. Rachel looked furious. She then waved for Madame Hooch to call a time out. Then, Madame Hooch waved for Albus to announce it.

"And we have a time out called by Slytherin. Score is 17-0." Albus said over the loudspeaker.

Rachel came to the ground looking furious.

"WHY ARE WE PLAYING LIKE THIS! WE CAN'T LET THEM WIN! I didn't want to do this early in the game, but Beaters, it's time." Rachel said with a funny smile on her face. Scorpius thought she was going to explode. The Beaters responded to Rachel by giving her a mischievous smile.

"Are you guys ready." Madame Hooch said.

"Yes." Rachel said.

"Wheeeettt!" Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and the game continued. Everyone went back up in the air. But, then, Scorpius noticed something. The Beaters very discreetly took out their wands and muttered something. They then took their bats, and batted Buldgers towards the Gryffindor Chasers. But, there was something different about these Buldgers. They were moving so fast and hard. That wasn't a normal Buldger. Scorpius noticed that the Beaters had enchanted the Buldgers to move faster and harder. Then, suddenly, a Buldger came straight for Rose. She didn't know it though, she was facing the other direction. WHAM! The Buldger hit Rose so fast and hard. She was off her broom. She had fallen off her broom. And without thinking, Scorpius did something.

"Oh no! What's this! A Buldger has come out of nowhere! Oh Gosh! It has hit Gryffindor Chaser Rose Weasley right off her broom! Ouch! Oh, she's falling!" Albus reported in a concerned tone.

"Wait! What's this! Scorpius Malfoy has come off the ground. Oh look folks, he's speeding towards her! Wham! Into the tree! Ouch! Oh look. What's this! Malfoy has an unconscious Weasley in his arms!" Albus said to the crowd.

Scorpius couldn't just stand at the sidelines and watch her fall into a tree. He had to save her. So, without thinking, he hopped on his Nimbus 2020, and sped toward Rose. When he found the red-head, she was unconscious and bleeding. He couldn't see her like this. He froze for a second, but lifted her into his embrace. He had to get her help.

"MALFOY WHAT ARE YOU DOING! SHE'S ON THE OTHER TEAM!" Rachel screamed at Scorpius, but he ignored this.

But, when everyone was paying attention to Rose, Albus noticed something.

"Look everyone! James Potter has the Snitch! Gryffindor wins! 170-0!" Albus reported trying to change the mood. The emotions were very mixed at this time. Scorpius wasn't focused on the game. He was hyperventilating. He had an unconscious Rose in his arms. Madame Pomfrey and the rest of the Gryffindor Team came running toward him, James still had the Snitch in his hand.

"We need to get her up to the hospital wing right away!" Madame Pomfrey said. With that, Madame Pomfrey took Rose and levitated her to the hospital wing. Soon after this, Ron, Hermione, followed by the rest of the family came speeding down the field.

"Where is she!" Ron demanded.

"Madame Pomfrey just levitated her to the hospital wing." James responded. With that, Ron almost sprinted towards the castle, with Hermione trying to keep up. The rest of the family followed them, including the team. Scorpius just stood there in shock. Was Rose okay? He couldn't follow her family. Ron would have a heart attack if Scorpius did this. He just stood there. Albus soon ran down out of breath from the commentator's booth.

"Where are they?" Albus asked.

"They went up to the hospital wing." Scorpius responded.

"Thanks." Albus said turning away.

"Wait! Just one more thing, let me know when your family leaves so I can see her." Scorpius said with plead in his voice.

"Sure thing mate." Albus responded with a weak smile. Albus knew that Rose was very important to Scorpius. He just saved her, and he never shut up about her. He knew it would be a tough situation if Scorpius went up there now. He then ran up toward the castle.

With Albus gone, Scorpius continued to just stand there, until he was interrupted by a fuming Rachel.

"WHAT IN THE BLODDY HELL WAS THAT MALFOY! WE COULD HAVE WON! BUT NO! YOU HAD TO GO AND SPOIL IT!" Rachel screamed at Scorpius.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS DID THAT! THAT WAS AWFUL! AND NO, WE WOULDN'T HAVE WON! WE MAYBE WOULD OF HAD A SLIGHT CHANCE IF YOU GUYS DIDN'T CHEAT!" Scorpius screamed back.

"FINE! IF YOUR GOING TO HAVE THAT ATTITUDE ABOUT IT, YOUR OFF THE TEAM!" Rachel fumed right back at Scorpius.

"WELL FINE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ON A TEAM THAT CHEATS AND TAKES PLEASURE IN HURTING PEOPLE! GOOD LUCK NEXT TIME YOU GUYS HAVE A PLAYER HURT! WE'LL SEE WHERE THAT GETS YOU! YOU GITS!" Scorpius yelled back, throwing his robes toward Rachel, then storming off.

Scorpius ran all the way back to his dormitory with tears rolling down his cheeks in anger. He didn't want to play Quidditch if that meant trying to severely hurt the other players on purpose. He was also very worried about Rose. Was she okay? He needed to see her. But he couldn't! He then dived onto his bed, and took out the novel that Rose had lent him. He took it and hugged it. He would read this until he could go see Rose.

Meanwhile, in the hospital wing, Rose laid in a bed unconscious. Her whole family was surrounding her while Madame Pomfrey was doing some enchantments on her. Ron was the closest to her, with pure sadness on his face. He couldn't see his daughter like this. He knew she wasn't dead, but would she wake up? Ron saw her fall about 75 feet, straight into a tree.

"You know, if it wasn't for Mr. Malfoy, she would be way worse. She'll be okay, but she'll need to stay here for a week. I don't know when she'll wake up, but she definitely will." Madame Pomfrey said. Everyone listened to these words. When Ron listened to the first part, he had to do a double take.

"You said Mr. Malfoy?" Ron asked Madame Pomfrey.

"Yes. Scorpius Malfoy. He's really a polite boy, if he hadn't have caught her just in time, she would be in a lot worse condition than she is now." Madame Pomfrey responded. Ron had to digest this for a minute.

"Now, I suggest you guys give her some time to rest, she's going to need it." Madame Pomfrey continued. Then, Harry suggested that they all go to The Three Broomsticks while they waited for Rose to wake up. Everyone agreed. Albus ran out of the room, and when everyone asked him where he was going, he responded that he had forgot something in his dorm, and he would meet them back there. In reality, he was going to tell Scorpius that he could see Rose now.

Albus went back to his dorm, and informed Scorpius on all the information that he had so far. With that, Albus headed towards the Entrance Hall, while Scorpius made his way to the hospital wing.

Author's Note

Hey guys! Sorry for not posting yesterday. Like I said before, I had a very important Zoom meeting yesterday that I couldn't miss, so I didn't have much time to write. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was pretty long, but still fun to write. Still many more to come. Anyway, thanks for reading, and stay safe and healthy friends. (Oh, I can't believe I didn't say this before, but if your reading this in the future, I wrote this during the Corona Virus outbreak, so that's why I always conclude with that)! 😀

-christinahpfan12