Chapter 34: The Unexpected Seeker

(Okay, quick author's note before we get into the reading. This is totally unrelated to this chapter, but I needed to tell you guys anyway. So, a few chapters back, I wrote about Albus's birthday. I just learned yesterday that his birthday is actually in March, but, for the storyline, we're just going to keep it in June. Thanks for understanding!)

A month went by since the double date. It was now October, and autumn was in full swing. The weather cooled off, and the breeze picked up. For our main characters, things were going great. Rose and Scorpius were still madly in love. When they weren't at Quidditch practice, studying, or Prefect stuff, they spent every moment together. Somehow, they still managed to keep their relationship on the down low from Rose's family. Eventually, they both knew, that one of these days, they were going have to tell them directly. But, for now, they still enjoyed to keep it to themselves and their close friends. Some, but not all, of the cousins knew, but Rose didn't make it obvious.

But, something new also happened. Over the last month, Caroline and Albus had been spending more time together. Every time Albus and Scorpius met up back in the common room at night, Albus's face was always red. Scorpius already knew what happened before having to ask him. Scorpius was happy for his best friend. He was glad that Albus got to experience the good feeling of love.

Scorpius wasn't the only one that was happy for Al. Lily was over the moon for her best friend and brother. Her and Caroline always gossiped about Al. She really couldn't be happier for her brother. Lily was happy that Albus was happy. Albus rarely showed the happy expression, but lately, he shined it right through. He was in a totally different, better mood.

Other than new couples and love, October also brought in the first Quidditch matches of the year. This was a big deal to many students, including Scorpius and Rose. The first Quidditch match of the year was coming up this weekend, it was Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw. Scorpius was excited and nervous at the same time. He was excited to play and score in the game, but also nervous that he would mess up. Rose kept giving words of encouragement, but he was still nervous. But, something happened that made him even more nervous.

Today was Friday, and tomorrow was the match against Ravenclaw. Tonight, the Slytherin team was getting in some last minute practice.

The team was playing very well. Everyone was doing really good at their position for a while. While everyone was practicing the plays that Jessica came up with, Cara was looking for the Snitch. She was just flying, keeping her eyes peeled, when something knocked her broom. She fell from about 30 feet up in the air. It wasn't to high, but still enough to get injured. She screamed when she fell, and the rest of the team heard. Immediately, the teamed zoomed over to her to see what had happened. They noticed that she was on the ground, all scratched up and bruised.

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL HAPPENED!" Jessica said as she got off her broom and ran over to Cara. Cara moaned something in response, but no one could make it out.

The Beaters stood there and looked at each other. Jessica noticed.

"WHAT DID YOU TWO DO!" Jessica demanded.

"Um, well, you see, erm... We may have gotten a little carried away, and a Buldger may have hit her." One of Beaters said, looking at the ground.

"Oh Merlins pants guys! What the hell! I understand that it was an accident, but if something like this happens again, your off the team! What are we supposed to do now? We have a match tomorrow, and we have no Seeker!" Jessica said, very stressed.

Everyone stood there for a second, and then they brought Cara up to the hospital wing.

"Will she be able to play tomorrow?" Jessica asked hopefully to Madame Pomfrey.

"No. Absolutely not. You guys should let her rest, she's going to need it." Madame Pomfrey responded, trying to shoo the 6 Quidditch players standing around Cara's bed away.

Everyone walked out of the wing, to let Cara rest, and then, Jessica spoke up.

"What are we supposed to do about tomorrow? We don't have a Seeker. We'LK have to forfeit the match!" Jessica said her team, sighing.

Scorpius was devastated. He finally had a chance to play Chaser, he really didn't want to let it go. He knew that there would be other matches later in the year, but that wasn't the same. His life was going so great right now, being a Chaser would make it even better. He didn't want his chance to get washed the drain. Then, an idea popped into his head.

"If we got a Seeker tonight, we wouldn't have to forfeit." Scorpius spoke, and ruined the silence.

"Yea, but where are we going to find a Seeker? The match is fist thing in the morning. Are we just supposed to train a Seeker in one night?" Allison added in.

"She has a point. We can't just get a Seeker in one night." Connor said along with Allison's comment.

"Hold on. Tell us more." Jessica said against Connor and Allison's statements. Jessica would hear anything anybody had to say, to try and get her team to play tomorrow.

"Well, I'm just saying, if we got a Seeker tonight, then we would be able to play tomorrow. We could probably get somebody. I'm sure there multiple in this school that know how to play Seeker." Scorpius said and shrugged.

"Yea. Yea. I like where your going. But, would be able to find someone at this late of notice?" Jessica said back.

Another thought popped into Scorpius's head. It was a good one. He thought he knew a person that could fill the spot.

"I think I know someone who would take it. Hold on, I'll be back, hopefully with our Seeker." Scorpius said, as he ran off. Jessica put all of her faith in him.

Scorpius sprinted across the castle to the Slytherin Common Room. He muttered the password, and was let in. He ran over to Albus who was sitting a table, doing his homework.

"Blimey, Scorp. Could you have gave me any notice before you just come and sprint up to me." Al said, a bit startled. He looked up and saw that Scorpius was out of breath, still in his Quidditch uniform. What was Scorpius doing back from practice already?

"I need to ask you a HUGE favor. Now, before you freak out when I say it, it would only be for today and tomorrow. That's it." Scorpius said with a hopeful tone. He knew Albus would freak out when he asked him to be Seeker tomorrow for the match. Albus obviously didn't play Quidditch, but he wasn't bad at it. Scorpius thought he was pretty good, and that he should have tried out, but Al didn't want to. Albus was better at Seeker than any other position, Scorpius knew that he would play fine.

"Go ahead, I'm listening." Albus said, curiously. What was Scorpius about to ask him?

"Well, Cara, our Seeker severely hurt herself. She can't play for the match tomorrow against Ravenclaw. We would have to forfeit the match. But..." Scorpius began to say, but he was interrupted.

"NO! Absolutely not! You know I don't play Quidditch!" Albus harshly said back.

"Look, we would have to forfeit the match if we didn't have a Seeker! Please Al! Your not bad at Quidditch! You'll play fine! It's just for tomorrow! Please!" Scorpius begged.

"No. No. No. That's crazy. I can't do that! I just can't!" Albus responded stressed, and ran a hand through his messy black hair.

"Come on! I've seen you play Seeker before! Your not bad at it Albus! We really need you!" Scorpius continued to beg. Albus just kept running his hands through his hair, contemplating it. After a moment of not saying anything, Albus muttered something.

"fine." Albus said in a quit, flat, voice, so that hopefully Scorpius wouldn't hear.

"Wait, REALLY!" Scorpius definitely heard it.

"Yea, I suppose." Albus said, sighing.

"Okay then, let's go! We only have one night to train you! Oh, Jessica is going to be thrilled!" Scorpius said, instantly in a better mood.

"Wait, right now?!?" Albus asked, concerned.

"Yes, right now! Come on!" Scorpius said, already half way out the tapestry. Albus groaned as he got up, and followed him all the way down to the Quidditch pitch. 

"I've got our Seeker!" Scorpius yelled across the field, to the crowd of people standing around waiting for him.

"Really! Wow Scorpius! I didn't think you could do it!" Jessica yelled back, and met him halfway, followed by the rest of the team.

"Well, everyone, this is Albus, and I guess he's our Seeker for tomorrow's match." Scorpius said, as the team was standing around him.

"I am so glad you agreed to do this! We were desperate for a Seeker. I really can't thank you enough!" Jessica said as she shook Al's hand.

After that, Albus changed into the spare uniform that Jessica got for him, and took one of the school's brooms and started practicing with the team. Scorpius was right, Al wasn't bad at Quidditch at all. He grasped all of Jessica's plays pretty quickly. He really did play fine. Scorpius knew that the team wouldn't be disappointed tomorrow.

A few hours later, when practice was over, Al sat down on his bed and wrote a letter to his parents.

Mum & Dad,

I know it's late, but I have something urgent to tell you. The Slytherin Seeker got hurt, so I was asked to fill in for her for tomorrow's match against Ravenclaw. Scorpius convinced me too, and I agreed. I had practice tonight for it, but I guess I'm still nervous. Hopefully I will play good tomorrow. Anyways, just thought I'd tell you guys.

-Albus

Albus wrote this and sent it away with Scorpius's owl. He was really playing Seeker tomorrow. Wow. Just the thought of it made him more nervous.

*** It was now the next morning. Albus woke up with a pit in his stomach. He was very nervous for today. Wait, very was probably an understatement. Reality now checked in to what he agreed to. He didn't even want to get out of bed. Scorpius had to pry him out.

Scorpius, on the other hand, was in a great mood. He was less nervous than he was yesterday. He was excited to get out onto the pitch and score. He knew that they were going to win today. He could just feel it. He wasn't going to let anyone burst his bubble of excitement, not even Albus. Scorpius woke up, sprang out of bed, and tried to get Al to do the same. After about seven minutes of trying, Al got up out of bed.

"Come on! We've got a game to win today!" Scorpius said as he changed into his Quidditch jumper for breakfast.

"Oh God! You guys are going to win it, not me! I'll probably mess up. I suck." Albus said very nervously.

"For the last time Al, your going to do fine! You don't suck!" Scorpius said.

Albus didn't respond to him. Scorpius was eager to get down to breakfast, so Albus threw on the Quidditch jumper that Jessica had let him barrow last night, and headed out of the Slytherin Common Room, and upstairs towards the Great Hall.

When Albus and Scorpius walked in, pairs of eyes rested on them. They received glares from the Ravenclaw table, but good lucks, and you'll do greats from the people in their house. All this attention made Albus even more nervous. He just looked down at his breakfast and tried to calm himself down. One thing about Albus, when he was nervous, he was REALLY nervous. That was one of his weaknesses.

Scorpius and Albus were sitting with the rest of the team, all talking about the game today.

Suddenly, Albus felt someone come up behind him, and that person wrapped her arms around him. When this happened, Albus felt instantly warmer and lest nervous. He had to turn around to see who it was, even though he already knew.

"Hey." Caroline said as Albus turned around.

"Hey." Albus responded, not being nervous for a second.

"I came to wish you good luck. I know you'll do great, regardless of what you think." Caroline said, taking Albus's face, and kissing his cheek. The spot where Caroline put her lips felt like it was on fire. Albus felt so relaxed when Caroline was around.

"Well, I'll see you in a little bit. I should probably go up to the booth to set up." Caroline said as she smiled and walked away, meeting up with Lily. Albus asked Caroline if she could fill in for him for his commentator's position, and she agreed to it. Al was great full for this.

Albus and Scorpius finished the rest of their breakfast, and walked down to the pitch with the rest of the team, the nerves really starting to take over Albus.

"Okay, everyone, go change, and then we will meet up back here to discuss things." Jessica said. With that, the girls went to their changing room, and the boys went to theirs.

Albus changed into his borrowed Quidditch uniform, while Scorpius changed into his.

Scorpius would never get tired of himself in that uniform. He had come so far in the last two years in the confidence department.

Albus looked at himself in a Quidditch uniform. He never thought he'd that. It really just didn't feel right. But, for today, it had to. So, Al tried to get all of his nerves out, and met up with Scorpius, and they walked out of the changing room to meet up with the rest of the team.

"Well team. We have a game to win today. I know we've got it. I can sense it. If we just stick to the plays, than I know we're going to win today. I believe that all of us will do good. Especially you Albus, you'll do great. For not ever playing, your actually pretty good." Jessica said to the team. Everyone agreed with her at the last part, and lightened Albus a little bit.

"Okay, we have a game to win. Until the match starts, just do a few laps around before we have to be introduced." Jessica added, and everyone mounted their brooms to get a few laps in for practice before the match, except for Scorpius. Something caught Scorpius's eye. He knew what it was, and went over to her.

Rose decided that she would go down to the field before the match started to wish Scorpius luck. Rose noticed her boyfriend in his green Quidditch uniform coming towards him, and she just smiled at the sight of him. He came up so close to her, and grabbed her hands.

"Why are you down here?" Scorpius asked playfully, as he stared into Rose's ocean blue eyes.

"Because, I wanted to wish you luck." Rose said back, giving him a quick, but loving, peck on the lips. That never got old. When they snogged, it was like a hot liquid was running through their veins. After they broke apart, they both stood there for a sec, staring into each other's eyes.

"Thanks." Was all Scorpius could spit out. He was starring at a goddess. Rose was just so beautiful to him. No matter what she was wearing or doing, she was always so beautiful. That curly red hair, those ocean blue eyes, the freckles that scattered her cheeks. Scorpius would never get tired of staring at her features.

"Well, I'll be rooting for you. I'm sure you'll hear me. And, try to calm Al down. He looks like he's about to explode." Rose said with a giggle, while laying a hand on Scorpius's face, running her thumb over his cheekbone.

"I'll try, but I don't know if I can do anything more. I already tried!" Scorpius said back with a chuckle. Rose wished Scorpius good luck one more time, and walked off up to the stands.

***

About a half hour later, everyone was sited in the stands ready for the game to start. The Slytherin players were called back to the ground to get ready to be introduced to the crowd.

While everyone was landing, Albus glanced around. Wow. There was a lot of people. They would all be watching him. They would be starring at him when he would try to catch the Snitch. This didn't help with the nerves at all. Then, Al looked up at the parents section. He spotted Scorpius's dad right away, because of the hair color, but someone else's hair color caught his eye. It was red hair. The red hair belonged to his mum. Al thought he was going to throw up. Sitting next to his mum was his dad and brother. His parents never responded to his letter last night. This was why. Great! This just put his nerves over the edge.

Scorpius noticed that Albus looked like he was about to pass out, and he had to see why. Scorpius glanced up at the parents section. He spotted his dad first. But, that wasn't the part that made Scorpius double think. Albus's mum, dad, and brother were up there too. Scorpius knew that this would make Al supper nervous. He was already compared to his dad and brother enough already as it was, but the Seeker position! Scorpius would probably be flipping out if he was in Albus's shoes.

The boys thinking was interrupted by voices coming from the commentators booth.

"Good morning students, parents, and staff! I know I'm not your usual Quidditch commentator, but I'm filling in today. My name is Caroline-" Caroline said this over the loud speaker, until the mike was stollen from her.

"And I'm Lily Potter, her co-commentator. I say it's a great day for some Quidditch! We've got Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw today! Let's introduce these teams, shall we?" Lily announced to the crowed.

With that, Caroline announced the Ravenclaw team, while Lily announced the Slytherin team.

"And on Slytherin, we have; Thomas Nott and John Taylor as Beaters, Connor Lewis playing Keeper, Captain Jessica Smith, Allison Wilson, and Scorpius Malfoy playing Chasers. And last, but certainly not least, oh wait, um, well, you see due to recent injuries, the Slytherin Seeker won't be playing today. But, filling in for her, I still can't believe you convinced him to do this, Scorpius, my brother, Albus Potter will be playing Seeker today." Lily announced. There were mixed reactions from the crowd. There were applauses, and some people were shocked.

"I say we get this game started! On to you Madame Hooch." Caroline said, taking back the microphone.

Madame Hooch directed for the Captains to shake hands. Jessica shook hands with the Ravenclaw captain, and Madame Hooch did her usual lecture about the rules and such.

A few moments later, Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and the game was started. Everyone mounted their brooms, and took off.

"And here we go! Our game has started! What have we got? Okay, we have Allison Wilson of Slytherin in possession of the Quaffle. Oh, then she passes to Jessica Smith. Jessica carries it 30 yards. Look here, she passes it to Scorpius Malfoy, oh wow! He does a barrel roll! And he shoots, and he scores! Slytherin has started the game of by taking a lead! 1-0." Lily announced. There were many cheers and applauses from the crowd. One you could hear in particular was Rose screaming at the top of her lungs, "Go Scorpius!"

This is what Scorpius lived for. It was these kinds of moments that he loved so much. He had a whole crowd of people cheering for him, as he scored. He loved to zoom on his broom, and throw the Quaffle, making sure the Keeper would miss. He just felt so free. But, the one thing that made this moment extra special was Rose screaming his name. It was like music to his ears, the thing that kept him going so strong.

Draco and Rose both clapped and cheered for Scorpius. Rose just loved seeing Scorpius so happy and free like this. She knew her cheers and words of encouragement would just keep fueling that feeling for him. To add, Draco felt similarly. He just watched his son, up there on his broom, zoom by with a huge smile on his face. Draco would never get tired of seeing that smile.

***

For another hour, the game pretty much went like this. But, occasionally, Ravenclaw would score here or there. But, Slytherin was still in the lead. Scorpius had scored about 20 more times, and every time, you could hear Rose. While this was all occurring, Albus was keeping his eyes peeled for the tiny, gold, winged, Snitch. Albus was happy that Scorpius kept scoring so much, but, in order for them to win, Albus needed to find that Snitch. Every once in a while, he would glance over to where his parents and brother were sitting. Oh God, what did they think? Did they think that he sucked at this, and he should have found it by now? Albus just felt all weird. His brother is a professional Seeker, and his father was the youngest Seeker in over a century. Also, his sister was a Seeker, and his mum had played Seeker at one time too. He probably looked pathetic compared to them.

But, Albus thoughts were interrupted by a tiny, buzzing sound. Albus immediately was snapped out of his train of thought, and something caught his eye. Something gold. It was the Snitch. Albus immediately zooming after it.

"Oh, what's this! It looks like the Snitch has been spotted! Albus Potter of Slytherin is zooming after it!" Caroline said to the crowd. Everyone took their attention off of the game, and starred at Albus. By this point, the Ravenclaw Seeker came zooming after him.

Albus had a determined look on his face. He was going as fast as he could, reaching out for the Snitch. It was hard to do with the Ravenclaw Seeker on his trail, but he kept going after it.

About five minutes went by. The Ravenclaw Seeker nor Albus had caught the Snitch yet. Everyone in the crowd watched with anticipation. Especially Harry, Ginny, and James. Ginny kept yelling at Al to do different things, until one moment, everyone went silent to see what had happened.

Albus reached out, and finally, the Snitch was in his grasp. He did it. He made sure that the Snitch was there to stay, and he waved his arm in the air, showing everybody he had caught it.

"Wow folks! Albus Potter has done it! He's caught the Snitch! The game's over! Slytherin for the win! Final score 200-37! Nice job Al!" Lily yelled over the microphone.

Albus just stayed in the spot he was in for a second. He did it. He really did it! He caught the Snitch! He won the game! He never thought he had it in him. The crowed roared for him. Wow. Just wow!

After a few minutes of just listening to the crowd, Albus flew down to the ground where all of his teammates already were. When he landed, he was indulged in hugs, hand shakes, and pats on the back.

"AL YOU DID IT! WE WON!" Scorpius said as Al came down onto the ground.

Jessica and the rest of the team were also proud of Albus. They were so thankful that he agreed to help them out. While the rest of the team was congratulating Albus, Scorpius went to look for someone. Though, he didn't have to look very much.

"You did so good!" The red-headed girl said as she came running towards Scorpius and flung her arms around him.

"Thanks, but if it wasn't for Al..." Scorpius trailed off as Rose continued to hug him.

While Scorpius and Rose still had their arms casted around each other, Draco came down from the stands to congratulate his son.

"Can I interrupt you two so I can congratulate him." Draco said as he approached the intertwined teenagers.

"Oh." Scorpius said as he looked up to see who it was. Rose pulled away from him, and gave him a quick peck and wink, before walking off to congratulate her cousin.

"Hey, you did pretty good today." Draco said as he patted Scorpius's back.

"Thanks." Scorpius replied.

Little did anyone know, but, Ginny had seen the scene that just happened between Rose, Scorpius, and Draco. Her niece just snogged the son of Draco Malfoy. And Draco was okay with it. This brought many questions to wash over Ginny's mind, but for now, she'd save it for later. She then saw Rose, Caroline, and Lily come up to them.

"Nice job Al. And you said you sucked at Quidditch! We have been telling you all these years that you don't!" Rose said as she came to congratulate Albus.

"Yea, but it's a good thing this wasn't the Gryffindor match, or you would get smoked." Lily said as she hugged her brother congratulations. Everyone laughed at this.

"You did a great job today, I knew you could do it!" Caroline said as she looked Albus in the eye, and wrapped her arms around him. Harry and Ginny already knew that Albus and Caroline were a thing, due to Albus's long letters home about her.

It truly was a great day. Both Albus and Scorpius had great days on the Quidditch field. Both of their girlfriends and parents were happy for them. The day really couldn't get any better!

Author's Notes:YOU GUYS! WE ARE AT #1 FOR SCOROSE! Oh my lord! That's insane! We beat stories that have 50k+ reads. My little story with almost 2,000 reads are ahead of them! Wow. Just wow. I really can't thank you guys enough for that. When I saw that yesterday, I almost flipped out. I just needed to say that. Anyways, wow, this was a really long chapter. But, I still thought that it was cute and enjoyable I hope you guys thought the same thing too. I love how much ya'll are enjoying the story as much as I am, and I truly enjoy writing it. Anyways, I really can't thank you guys enough for everything, and as always, stay safe and healthy my fellow Potterheads.

-christinahpfan12