"Rose!" she heard Al call her name during breakfast the next morning and turned expecting to see their usual happy faces emerging from a dark corridor, but today they didn't look happy, on the contrary, they look highly distressed.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Al grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the breakfast table.
"Where's Max?" he asked looking around worriedly.
"He's still in his bed."
"But you've seen him?" asked Scorpius seriously.
"Yes, I sent him to bed because he still looked ill, why? What's this about?" she asked worriedly as well.
Al and Scor collapsed onto the Ravenclaw bench behind them and sighed half relieved.
"Guys?" Rose snapped, now angry that they had wound her up and dropped her again.
"Look," Al breathed, standing back up and grabbing her arms seriously. "when making the potion yesterday, Roxanne had forgotten to add a splinter of Rockshood."
"Would that make such a big difference?" she asked.
"Rose! It made all the difference in the world!" Al exclaimed grabbing his hair furiously. "I woke up in the middle of the night because something didn't feel right. I looked back into the antidote book and realized what we had forgotten! So I woke Scor and we-" he looked around to see if anyone was listening. "We snuck out to do some research in the library. Rosie, without the Rockshood, the bubbli pod's venom wouldn't be diluted! It would have still been poisonous! And letting the potion simmer would cause the poison only to grow stronger! We tried to buzz you through the mirror, but you didn't pick up. So we ran to the portrait of the fat lady, but she wouldn't let us in without the password!"
"Still be poison?" she blinked shaking her head. "What are you saying?"
"We're saying," Scor pushed forward and leaned in to whisper. "That Max should be dead." Rose backed up quickly. "He should have been dead within the hour, Rosie."
She ran from the hall as quickly as she could and within ten minutes, was running up the boy's staircase and into Max's room.
"Max!" she called shaking him. He woke startled and looked around hurriedly.
"There you are telling me to get a lot of rest because I look awful and you're the one waking me up," he said laying back down.
"Are you feeling alright?" she whispered.
"Not much different than I was twenty minutes ago," he yawned rolling over.
"Are you sure? You don't feel anything happening? Maybe something burning inside of you?"
Max turned over slowly with raised eyebrows. "Did you poison me?" he asked.
She sighed happily. "No," she smiled. "no I didn't. Calvert?" she spoke to the yellow-haired boy who had been leaning against his bed looking at them over his comic book.
"Are you staying up here for long?" she asked.
"Until I finish this probably," he said flipping through a rather thick portion of the comic.
"Okay, um, could you do me a favor and watch Max?"
"Why?" Asked Calvert suspiciously. "He's not doing anything interesting."
"Just, when he goes back to sleep, check now and then to make sure he's still breathing."
Max sat up abruptly. "Still breathing!" he exclaimed. "Why wouldn't I still be breathing?"
"You're fine, Max," she assured him not being too sure herself. "Just watch him okay?" she added to Calvert before getting up to head out.
"I can't sleep when I know someone is watching me!" Maddox called after her. "And thanks for the pleasant dreams you've just given me!"
She made it back to the Gryffindor table to hear the rush of wings that announced the morning post. Rose nodded to Al and Scorpius who had been waiting nervously, and they both collapsed against each other in relief.
"But that doesn't make any sense," said Al. "I'm pleased that he's not dead, and all, but no human could have survived bubbli pods, thirteen of them!"
"Maybe you had added the Rockshood," Rose suggested.
Al slid a small glass bottle that contained small fragments of white wood splinters across the table toward her. "The Rockshood was still in my robe pocket."
"For now, let's just be grateful that he's still alive," Scorpius reasoned.
Hundreds of owls came swooping down dropping packages, letters, and newspapers among the students. Fraunk received a package of sweets and candies and get well cards, most likely from his grandma. Since the event of yesterday with the singamigig, Fraunk hadn't been able to speak calmly, the effects were wearing off, now if he wanted to talk, he would have to sing the words he wanted to say which most people found hysterical. They kept coming up behind Fraunk and making him angry so when he would turn to shout at them, his words would harmonize and become music; not in the slightest bit, off-putting. Fred and James did this more than anyone else, though.
Two emerald green envelopes fell in front of both Scorpius and Al and looking around the Slytherin table; identical envelopes fell in front of the others who had tried out for the Quidditch team.
"The results," said Scorpius looking at his letter. Al was finally distracted by the Quidditch results that he paused from his argument with Scorpius about the bubbli pods.
But their attention to their mail was interrupted by one red letter that fell between Fred and James. Rose recognized this as a howler, a letter that, parents mainly, could scream into, tie up, and send their own bellowing voice to the student.
The howler was addressed to both Fred and James and had George's, Fred's dad's, handwriting on the front. James opened it quickly because if he didn't, it would explode and the voice would echo to a hundred times its usual volume.
An eruption of noise came from the envelope making everyone in the hall turn. One boy spilled his oatmeal down his front when he jumped. First, Angelina, Fred's mother's, voice sounded.
"FRED WEASLEY! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? HOW DARE YOU TEST THE TABLET ON ANOTHER STUDENT! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM!"
Then Ginny's voice took over.
"JAMES, I THOUGHT YOU KNEW BETTER! I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED! WE GOT A LETTER FROM PROFESSOR DONIMA SAYING THAT YOU POISONED A SLYTHERIN BOY!"
"TELL HIM THAT IF HE DOESN'T-"
Someone interrupted Ginny's voice.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP MOM! I HAVE THIS UNDER CONTROL!"
James' ears had gone red, but Fred had his head on his hands and looked bored. Most people in the hall had their hands over their ears.
Howlers were completely normal around the school, but since Fred and James were the first to receive one of the year, the first years had their ears covered and were staring horrified.
"YOUR FATHER WAS HORRIFIED WHEN WE GOT THE LETTER!"
Ginny continued.
"ACTUALLY, I WAS REALLY QUITE-" Harry's voice was heard in the background, but was cut off.
"HARRY! DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"
"OH, ARE WE ALLOWED TO TALK NOW?" George's voice was heard.
Fred sat up and suddenly looked interested.
"YOU GOT IT TO WORK! I AM SO PROUD! SEND ME A COUPLE WON'T YOU! I'LL TEST THEM OUT AND START DUPLICATING! THEY'LL BE A BIG HIT AT OUR JOKE SHOP! I NEED YOU TO START WORKING OUT AN ANTIDOTE ALRIGHT? I'M GONNA START ON- HEY- OW!"
"GEORGE! DON'T YOU ENCOURAGE HIM! THIS WAS A VERY BAD THING THEY'VE DONE!"
"ACTUALLY. . . " Harry chimed in again. "JAMES WASN'T TECHNICALLY INVOLVED."
"HE HELPED MAKE IT!" Ginny bellowed.
"WELL, DARLING, YOU HAVE TO ADMIT IT'S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE."
There was a short silence, then Harry said,
"B- BUT OF COURSE IT WAS BAD, VERY BAD? BAD JAMES!"
"ARGH!"
"ANGELINA, I THINK WE'RE DONE WITH THIS NOW. HOW DO YOU TURN IT OFF?"
"OH, YOU HAVE TO CLOSE THIS LITTLE TAB HE-"
The letter cut off suddenly; then it exploded into a bunch of smoldering pieces.
The hall turned back around muttering.
"Well. . . " said James red-faced and obviously embarrassed. "That was- hey, where are you going?" Fred had just gotten up from the table.
"I'm sending a couple of singamigigs to dad," he answered not stopping. "Come on James I'll need your help with the antidote- Not for you Fraunk!" he shouted at Fraunk who had been watching with a scowl. "God knows you deserved what you got. Roxanne?" Roxy got up from the table to follow Fred, but not before saying to the other cousins still at the table, "They'd be lost without me."
"Al!" said Scorpius suddenly. "Our Quidditch tryouts!"
They had completely forgotten about the emerald green envelope which was now under their napkins and goblet.
"Why are you just now finding out?" asked Rose.
"The Slytherin captain said he needed a day to evaluate the results of practice," said Scorpius tearing the letter open. "It was down to twelve of us when we headed back up to the castle."
Al lazily pulled a piece of parchment from the envelope. But Scorpius had already torn his paper out and was examining it.
"Read it," said Rose trying to peak over.
Scorpius read.
"Chasers- Wolin Warbeck
Olive Farmore
Quinn Stanley
Beaters- Micheal Kennedy
Angelo Stewart
Keeper- Paul Keith
Seeker- Albus Potter"
There was an unpleasant silence.
"Oh Scor, " said Rose finally. "I- I'm sorry."
"It's fine, " said Scorpius far too quickly, shoving the slip of parchment into its envelope. "It's okay, honest." But Rose had a suspicion that Scorpius wasn't being honest.
"I-" Al gaped. "I made it."
"Good for you Al," said Scorpius more enthusiastically than his usual self with a smile that didn't reach his steel blue and gray eyes. "I'm just glad one of us made it. I'll be cheering."
A large Slytherin boy passed the Gryffindor table at that moment and hit Al in the back of the head as he walked. Another boy hit Al just behind the first.
Rose stood looking furious, "Hey!" she called, rather lamely now that the word had escaped her mouth. But a hand reached up and pulled her down by her robes. Rose looked to see Dominique stand up and aim her wand at the first boy and quickly blasted him off his feet and a rabbit's tail sprouted through his trousers.
"Weasley!" called Professor Donima standing up.
Dominique ran out of the great hall laughing, and Rose caught a snip of what Donima was muttering as she sped past them,
"I swear- one more incident- I can't even- Weasley's."
Al was rubbing the back of his head.
"They're sore about you making the team instead of them," said Rose. "I saw that second one fly, dreadful."
The entire day was rather tense. Scorpius wasn't acting himself. He was smiling and talking like usual, but something wasn't right; it looked unnatural for him.
The three of them spent the morning walking around the grounds and took refuge under an old tree. Scorpius was at the lake in the distance to practice his stone skipping he said.
"It doesn't make sense, Rosie," said Al shaking his head. "Max shouldn't still be alive. He should have turned blue and collapsed, dead. But instead, be turned tan again and settled with throwing up and being weak? Weak? He should be in a grave right now, not sleeping."
"Albus, please stop," she whispered. The picture of Max turning blue and dying was awful.
"Unless he's a robot..." Al shrugged. "Has he ever shown any sign of cyborg activity, maybe shown a wire?"
"I'll look it up," she said. "I don't understand it either. I'll try to figure this out, but for now, I'm taking Scorpius view on it of just being grateful. What's wrong with Scor though?" she asked.
Al looked at her in disbelief. "Gosh, Rosie, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. He's disappointed that he didn't make the team."
"Disappointed yeah, I knew that," she said. "But he's not acting it. It's not like things don't get to him, he was really torn up when he got that letter regarding his parents. But why is he pretending for us?"
"Rosie," Al sighed as if she was a poor child that he was trying to explain something very simple too; she didn't like that. "He's sour toward me because I made it and he didn't, it wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that I really didn't care if I got it or not. Well, I didn't until I got into the air where it just felt right. You didn't see him; he really wanted to make it, like a lot. He tried so hard, a lot harder than me, but I beat him. This is not like his parents – who made up by the way, so we heard – he feels bad for being angry at me because he knows that I didn't do anything wrong. And he wants to be a good friend; I don't think he had many real ones back home."
"Well why don't you talk to him about it?" she asked.
"I don't think that'll be a very good idea," said Al.
"Well if you don't then I will," Rose took to her feet and started toward Scor who was skipping stones incredibly well and very hard. Al reached out and grabbed her by the hem of her robes.
"Al, I hate it when you do that!" she said pulling her uniform from his fist.
"Well tough, you do it to everyone else," he said. "And I said it's not a good idea. I think it's apparent that I know Scor a bit better than you do. The best thing to do when he's upset is just to wait for it all to blow over."
Rose sat back down with her arms crossed. "I hate waiting."
"Why you're not a Hufflepuff," said Al who had been stringing dandelions together for the past five minutes; it was now over a yard long.
"What are you going to do with that?" she asked.
"Probably leave it here for a first-year girl to find, " he said lazily.
"Hey look," Rose was pointing toward the lake where Scor was. Poppy was striding toward him with a confident, angry stride. Rose watched Poppy hit Scorpius on the shoulder roughly; they began to talk.
"Who's that?" asked Al squinting.
"That's Poppy Parkinson," Rose replied standing to get a better look. "You know, the ray of sunshine from the train."
Her and Scorpius' conversation started to become less casual and louder. Their arms were flying around as their voices became harsh, though the words were indistinguishable. Rose and Al had gotten to their feet and started to make their way forward. They weren't the only ones, half the students on the grounds were now gathering around. Rose and Al were almost on top of them when there was a bright flash of red light from Poppy's wand, and Scorpius was flung backward onto the grass.
Rose whipped out her wand and aimed it furiously at Poppy. She shot a jelly legs jinx that Poppy blocked spectacularly. In turn, she shot more red light at Rose who dodged it. And a miniature version of a duel broke out between them. Al hadn't brought his wand, and Scor was still laying in the grass fighting furiously against something. This girl was very good. Rose kept her poker face, but wouldn't admit that she was worried. She was running out of hexes that she knew she could perform correctly. She knew many more, but she had also thought she knew the shrinking spell, she didn't want another Cromwell incident with Poppy. Rose was hit in the knees and felt them slam together painfully. She toppled backward as her legs were slowly being glued together. Al ran over and moved Rose's robes to see the damage. Poppy raised her wand at both again smiling.
Rose wasn't even able to shout at Al to move before a blinding yellow light erupted from the crowd and Poppy was lifted off her feet and swatted desperately at thin air. Her hair was flowing about, and her clothes were floating around her eerily. She was holding her breath and opening and closing her mouth like a fish. Everybody turned to see Max, striding forward from a great distance with his wand pointed at her. Poppy was looking at him wide-eyed in horror but unable to speak.
"You're dry swimming, well, drowning," said Max who flicked his wand causing her to start rotating slowly. "I don't know how long you can hold your breath," he said. "I don't know why I'm talking to you anyway; you can't hear a word I'm saying, can you? Probably sounds all muffled."
"Max?" said Al worriedly watching her gag.
Maddox flicked his wand again, and she fell to the ground completely dry, coughing.
"You're going to use the counter-jinx on them, right?" he said with his wand pointed at her.
She bared her teeth in a mix of fury and fear. Max raised his eyebrows, and she reached for her wand that she had dropped and pointed it at Scor muttering something. Scorpius gasped and sat up. She pointed it at Rose who felt her legs separate and she could move again.
"Now I want to go away knowing," Max started, his wand still pointing at her, "that if you bother one of us, three more will be out for your blood." Poppy scowled and scrambled to her feet, storming away.
There was a long silence as the crowd gaped at him. Max folded his wavy indigo hair behind his ears, tucked his wand back into his robes, and strode through the crowd without a word.
Rose, Al, and Scorpius got up and hurried after him.
Rose didn't know whether to be grateful or scared. That bit of magic he did, looked dark and she wasn't comfortable with that. She chose to be amazed, something that both the emotions had in common.
"See you're feeling better," said Al. "Good. . . Do you feel alright? Don't feel hot? Perhaps like something's burning in you?"
Max stopped and looked from Al to Rose and back. "Should I be worried or are you guys just trying to scare me out of my wits?"
"What the heck was that?" asked Scorpius catching up.
"Dry Drowning," he responded while walking by a Slytherin first year girl running with a three-foot-long dandelion chain. "It will cause a drowning sensation without actual water."
"Can people die with that curse?" Rose asked worriedly.
Max shrugged. "Dunno never held them there long enough."
"Max, that was dark magic, wasn't it? You could have really hurt her," said Rose.
"Oh calm down," said Max. "She's fine; I know what I'm doing."
"But that was dark magic, Max. Wasn't it?"
"Probably." he said, "It's a curse passed down from my dear mum's side."
"I've never read about it." she said.
"Well you wouldn't have, would you?" he said. "Our family invented it. Ambitious my mum, she loved to invent, to create, to test her creations. There's a load of stuff I know that I probably shouldn't at my age."
"I think it was brilliant, " said Scorpius. "She deserved it."
"You don't like her that much?" said Al.
"She said things, " he replied. "Things that would have earned her a broken nose in Gryffindor tower."
Scorpius didn't seem as sour toward Al; the events of the afternoon took his mind away from Quidditch it seemed. Max and Al were just as normal, but Rose was still very disapproving of the curse. She told him that if a teacher had seen him, he'd have been expelled. Scor assured Max that he wouldn't be in trouble. Apparently, Poppy's parents were too busy for her most of the time anyway, and they wouldn't take any action toward the event. And that they probably wouldn't believe her because she's a no good liar and that if it did ever come back to him, he would just deny it. To that Max told them that he tried to avoid lying when he could, he wasn't very good at it.
Rose had Quidditch practice the next morning. It was a lot harder to get up so early in the morning than she had thought. She didn't wake to the alarm that Professor Kemp installed in her watch. And it was only by James having to come to her dormitory with his eyes shut and prod her awake, that she got up.
"Oh, he's cute," Danielle said before the door shut.
"How'd you get up the girl's staircase?" Rose asked sleepily putting her hair in a ponytail, unaware that she was using a rubber band instead of a hair tie. "The staircase is supposed to be protected against boys; the stairs are meant to turn to a slide or something."
"Yeah they did," he said. "I had to fly up." he held up his broom. "I'm not doing that every other day you know? You're gonna have to start getting up yourself; you're a big girl now."
Quidditch practice was as wonderful as she had hoped. Rocky's introduction was short and sweet, and he wasted no time in having them take to the air. The individual flying was spectacular; it was working as a team that they had to practice. Training ended hours later with everyone very sore but feeling rather good about themselves. Practice ran late, so the whole team missed breakfast. Al, Scor, and Max had come to watch the end after breakfast, and it was when James complained loudly about his empty stomach that they three boys remembered. They pulled from their bags, two containers overflowing with food they had brought down for Rose and James from breakfast. The smell no doubt wafted to the other team members undressing from their Quidditch robes and it wasn't thirty seconds before the whole team, including Rocky, had swarmed over like seagulls and attacked the food. Rocky's discomfort with two Slytherin boys watching them practice was thrown over his shoulder with the arrival of breakfast.
"Sorry team," said Rocky, eating an apple. "Practice won't last that long every time."
But it did, every another day was the same. Practice would last an hour and a half longer than it was supposed to, Al. Scor and Max brought them breakfast every morning. Through the weeks, the portion they would bring grew steadily larger until one morning, they showed up with an entire ham.
"What's this!" exclaimed Isaac Fisher when they pulled it from their bags.
"We were told off for taking so much food," Al said pouring pumpkin juice into nine goblets. "so we went to the kitchens, and they gave us this."
Breakfast became more of a picnic in the stands, becoming more and more classy over the days.
Rose enjoyed these meals more than when she got to eat in the great hall. Scorpius, Al, and Max became very well liked among the team and were called Gryffindors breakfast heroes. They had even started a game that the boys of the team took quite a liking to. The game was cleverly titled, 'How long can you hold your hand in the fire without being a baby?' Enoc always won, though. He had seven other brothers and competitions meant to test your manliness were tasks that he was no stranger to.
But for life inside the castle, it was becoming more and more taxing. They had classes every other day which was becoming steadily more involved, and they were given such an incredible load of homework that the rest of the day was spent in the library studying until they had to split for their common rooms where they'd study more. Rose was excellent at school but lacked accomplishment in Astronomy, in which she wasn't too upset. She didn't plan on becoming a seer or anything. Max agreed to do her Astronomy homework if she would help him with Transfiguration. Albus pretty much did everyone's potions homework, everyone except Rose who could manage. Max could too but he wasn't about to lose the opportunity for someone else to do his homework. It was just Scorpius that needed help.
She hardly had time to look up Max's unbelievable recovery from the Moonacher antidote. She and Al would spend hours in the library with piles of books, researching. They would switch back and forth between school books and books on healing, healers, remarkable recovery, potion ingredients, Rockshood, bubbli pods, but they never found the answer. Rose had told Max about what had happened and asked why he wasn't dead which he didn't take very lightly to. He assured her that he didn't know why he didn't die and to not complain. He suggested that perhaps metamorphmagus's have naturally quick healing powers which she had already looked up and found not to be the case, though, she wasn't closed to the idea of healing powers because even his black eye from Molly had faded into nonexistence within forty-eight hours. They had gotten into a fight after Rose had cut him with the tip of her quill accidentally on purpose, and was shocked to find that the scratch was nonexistent the next morning which bothered Al a lot more than herself.
She and Al were taking all the work harder than anyone else. They both had Quidditch practice early in the morning; Al had it the days Gryffindor didn't, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw took practice in the evenings.
Scorpius was no longer very disappointed that he didn't make the team. Max reckoned that he didn't envy Al's exhaustion, Rose agreed.
October approached and the first match of the season was in two weeks. Both teams found it odd to start the season so early; Quidditch didn't usually start until November. Stress was running high among both the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams who were playing against each other first as usual at Hogwarts.
Gryffindor trained harder and longer than Slytherin did, but Slytherin had a system about their training that enabled them to get the practice they needed to finish on time and always make it for breakfast. Al refused to tell Rose the system no matter how hard she begged.
"I would be betraying my team," he said in a whisper. "I care more about my loyalty than that."
"God you should have been a Hufflepuff," said Rose before being called out in Transfiguration.
"Where's the third breakfast hero?" asked Watson Trout after practice, taking a seat in the stands to eat.
"He's getting ready for practice," said Scor.
"Practice for what?"
"For Quidditch," said Scor in surprise. "He's on the Slytherin team."
Rocky spit his bacon onto the ground. "He's what?"
"He's. On. The. Slytherin. Quidditch. Team," said Max very slowly.
"I didn't know that," said Enoc Hubert. Rocky sighed.
"First I lose my brother to that team, now one of my breakfast boys. . . is he any good?" Rocky asked looking up nervously.
Scorpius nodded, "Unfortunately for you, yes. He is a Potter after all."
"He's a Potter? Like, Harry Potter," Rocky gasped.
James, Rose, Scor, and Max looked around at them, "You're all very behind aren't you," said Max.
Rocky slapped a hand to his forehead. "I've had a Harry Potter's son serving me breakfast all these weeks?"
"He's Albus," said Scor slightly upset. "He's Albus Potter, and I'll expect you to treat him like an individual, he's not just Harry Potter's son."
"But why are they practicing today?" Rocky asked. "They have practice tomorrow."
"They're practicing every day now," said Scorpius.
"Every day?" this seemed too much for Rocky. "Now we're gonna have to start practicing every day too!"
"Oh no, we're not!" Trout exclaimed. "We're already training harder and longer than they are! You're gonna kill us Pax!"
"We are not losing to the Slytherins!" he called suddenly angry. "This isn't just house competition; this is sibling rivalry."
"Your sibling rivalry!" said Fisher. "We won't have any time let alone energy for school if you train us like this!"
But Paxton Rockward wouldn't have it. He did start training them every day, four hours a day. They're skill and teamwork was flawless, but Rocky wouldn't cease. One week before the match, Rose was horrified to find the whole team outside her window at twelve at night in the pouring rain. They were all on their broomsticks, and Rose had to grab her Quidditch robes, take her Nimbus 2001 that her parents had sent her when finding out that she made the team, and in her pajamas, she flew out of the window.
"He wanted us to be prepared for every type of weather," said James from the other side of the door while she was getting dressed in the changing rooms. "The team is trying to hatch a plan of murder for him."
Rose emerged fully dressed, wet and freezing. James handed her the broom, and they both took to the sky to join the others in the pouring rain.
"He what?" asked Al during Lunch the day before the match.
"Yeah," said Rose. "And it wasn't until we got back to the castle that we found out that he didn't have permission to practice after hours. He's planning on doing it again tonight. "
"But you can't!" protested Scorpius. "Look at yourself! You don't even look like you've woken up properly."
It was true. The poor girl had bags under her eyes and winced when she had to move because her muscles were so sore. Spotting the Gryffindor team was easy. They were the ones walking with their arms by their side like zombies, would scream whenever someone bumped them in the hallway, would jump behind a tapestry when they heard someone say Rocky or even just the word rock, and Hubert was the one with his head in his porridge at the moment.
"I'm sorry Max, but I can't help you with your Transfiguration homework tonight." said Rose.
"Of course not!" he said. "I wouldn't let you now anyway. I'll still do your Astronomy, though."
It was only because of her friends that she was even passing classes right now. The only subjects she was able to do on her own at the moment was Charms and D. A. D. A. Max, and even Scorpius picked up their own Potions homework so Al would have time to help Rose with History of Magic. Every night, Rose would try as hard as she could to do her school but would fall asleep in the armchair by the fire to find her finished homework on her lap with Max's handwriting.
Practice that night was unbearable. The high winds were why Rocky wanted them practicing. The quaffle kept being blown out of the chaser's grip or blown away from the goal hoops. The only good thing about the wind was that the snitch was easy to find. It was blown around and hit Rocky in the forehead then fell down his turtleneck. The team watched amused as Rocky had to dance it out.
Rose woke early the next morning. Today was the day! The very first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! However, Rose was not excited or nervous. She was just eager for it to be over, for them to have at least one week of relaxation. Breakfast that morning was among all the other school's excited chattering and all wearing the colors of the house they were going to support. Many with flags and banners face paints and rosettes. The rest of the team were already at the table in their Quidditch uniforms, all looking like they felt the same way Rose did about the match. Max sat down beside her, his hair was red and gold, his whole face was covered in paint, and he was carrying a Gryffindor flag and had a side bag full of snacks. Rose couldn't help but smile, the first one she had done in weeks, she realized. Rocky was the only one who looked scared.
"Do any of you feel like your arms are gonna fall off?" he asked in a whisper to the others.
They all slowly looked at him scowling; any quick movements were painful.
"Yes," said James thickly.
The Slytherin team walked from the great hall, none of them catcalling or jeering. Al had sat separately from Rose for the first time all semester and grinned broadly and waved at the Gryffindor team as he left the hall. The Gryffindor team grinned and nodded back; they tried not to use their arms if they could help it. Rose peered overheads to see Scorpius. He was wearing his usual Slytherin robes, but he chalked his hair half green half silver for the occasion and was smiling excitedly. He joined the Gryffindor team when Al left and was rather easy to spot, being the only bit of green on that side of the hall. The other Gryffindors didn't give a second look; they had become used to Al and Scor sitting by them.
Rocky called the team from the hall a little while later, and they all groaned as they stood up from the bench. Half of the Slytherin table jeered at them and shook their fists as they passed. Rose was furious with Rockward because of the pain that he had inflicted on her. The team felt the same. Most of the hall cheered for them as they left.
"Oh shut up," mumbled Rose. James laughed, then held his ribs painfully.
The day was cloudy and windy. There was a slight chill in the air now. The ground was still a bit soft from the rain a couple of night ago but otherwise okay. The stands were overflowing with cheering crowds all supporting their favorite team. Rose couldn't see into the stands properly from this distance, but because she couldn't see any green in the Gryffindor side or any red on the Slytherin side, she assumed that Max and Scor had split up.
The Slytherin team walked onto the pitch first under cheering. Al was beaming excitedly gripping his broom. Gryffindor walked on next, more cheering. The captains were asked to shake hands by Madam Hooch who was refereeing. Keith and Rockward walked up and grabbed hands.
"Mount your Brooms!" called Hooch. The Gryffindor team bit their tongues to keep from screaming as they were forced to straddle their brooms. The Slytherin team looked at them slightly worriedly. Rose and Al made eye contact, and Al took a deep breath and smiled nervously.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and the teams took to the sky. She then released the bludgers, snitch, then one, two, three, threw the quaffle into the air, and the game was begun.
Everyone took off so fast that it almost unseated her.
"And they're off! First game of the season! Should be exciting!" Fred's voice erupted from the commentator's box.
"What speed they have! Both teams have gotten their practice! What do you reckon Fred?" Rose looked into the box to see Roxanne there too with a second mic.
Rose intercepted the quaffle from Warbeck and passed it to Trout.
"Well, Roxy," Fred was saying. "It'll be a tough call. The Gryffindor team has been training nonstop for weeks, but the Slytherins have a secret system."
"Whatever it is Fred-" said, Roxanne. "It's paying off! On both sides. Gryffindors advantage, their experience, Slytherins advantage, Gryffindors apparent exhaustion!"
The Gryffindor team was moving seamlessly passing again and again, back and forth all the way across the pitch until Rose was right on top of the goal hoop, readying to make the first shot. Her arm muscles screamed in protest as she released the ball. The speed of the quaffle was lacking and easily blocked by Keith. Stanley from the Slytherin team swooped down to retrieve it and made an incredible shot past James.
"And Stanley makes the first goal of the season!" cried Fred. "Congratulations, Stanley!"
James was looking furious, not at Stanley, but at Rocky.
Everyone else on the team seemed to have the same idea as James. They all, including Rose, thought it was Rockward's fault for their poor playing this match.
"And we have Trout with the quaffle," Roxy said. "Trout passes it to- Oh! Intercepted by Farmore, who passes it- intercepted by Weasley! This is incredible! Oh! Dropped the quaffle while dodging a bludger hit by Kennedy!"
"You watch out, Kennedy!" Fred yelled into the mic. "That's my little cousin!"
"Quaffle retrieved by Trout! He shoots, he scores!"
Rose was hardly able to watch what was going on in the rest of the game; chaser had her constantly on her toes. Bludgers were flying thick though the air though there were only two in number. However, the matter of them attacking you was frightening, especially when you were so focused on another task. The amount of trust that the team had to have in the beaters was incredible.
Rose looked up and saw, near the Slytherin goal hoops, the snitch. She spun on her broom to see Rocky completely oblivious the snitch, he was zooming around at the other side of the pitch. Rose called to him, but was too far for him to hear and had to catch the quaffle and throw it to Fisher. Rose whistled to Stewart, the beater, and called,
"Let him have it!" Stewart nodded and hit a bludger at Rocky.
"Did Weasley just instruct their beater to aim a bludger at their own captain?" Roxy shouted standing up.
"Well it certainly looks like that!" said Fred. "Perhaps his training methods were too aggressive for them. Do you think they finally snapped, Roxy?"
"I hope not!" she said. "This early in the season? It'll make for trouble!"
Rocky dodged the bludger and spun 'round to face Stewart who pointed at Rose. She threw her arms out indicating 1 and 12 on a clock then screamed. "3 o'clock!"
Rocky nodded and sped toward 7. This was their code. Opposites. Because Al who had been watching, raced toward 3 in the opposite direction of the snitch. They had created this system after finding out that Al was on the Slytherin team and always rehearsed it before he arrived.
Rose was sucked back into the game with the arrival of the quaffle. And it was back on. The Slytherin team was sensational. Their flying was seamless, and they moved like they were in water, smoothly. Something whizzed past her ear, brushing her hair, it was the snitch. She had to dive to avoid being hit by Al who was in hot pursuit, Rocky right behind. She smiled. The commentary was still going on, but what Fred and Roxy were saying was lost in the commotion of the game. Rose had made three scores herself. It would have been more, but Gryffindor team seemed slower than during practice. Their throws were weaker, and beaters hit the ballwith less ofrce than they should. It was Gryffindor seventy to Slytherin ninety. Rose blocked Warbeck from scoring when an eruption of noise startled her so much that she dropped the quaffle. But nobody swept down to retrieve it, Roxanne and Fred were both yelling, "He caught it! He caught it!"
Rose turned to see which one had got the snitch and saw Al beaming with his fist clenched around something small and shiny. The Slytherins were screaming their approval.
"Slytherin wins! Aw, tough luck Gryffindor!"
"That's my cousin everyone! That's my other little cousin!" Fred called.
Everyone hit the ground, James, Stewart, and Hubert collapsed to the ground when they landed.
Rose couldn't even see Al through the entire Slytherin team grabbing him and hoisting him onto their shoulders cheering.
She stood there for a moment looking at Al, and she was happy. James walked next to her and attempted putting his arm on her shoulder but grabbed it in pain and decided otherwise.
"He did well," said James looking up at him.
"Well?" she exclaimed. "He was brilliant!"
"Yeah, I just wish he was brilliant for us."
They turned to head toward the changing rooms, thinking it be best to leave this moment to Al. They hadn't gotten two paces before a voice sounded behind them.
"Let me down! Okay, that's enough! I said drop me Farmore!" they turned to see Al push through the crowd and run at them. He positively jumped with glee.
"I did it!" he exclaimed. "I caught my first snitch!"
"And it won't be your last, I swear!" said Rose embracing him. James ruffled his hair and smiled.
Al was knocked out of her arms by a green and silver blur. Scorpius had tackled Al to the ground cheering, soon joined by Max who still looked like a walking canvas and was trailing popcorn behind him. The Slytherins stood back and watched confusedly as Al was devoured again, this time by the Gryffindor team.
Al had to go with the Slytherins who insisted on throwing a celebration. The rest of the Gryffindor team left for the changing rooms now rather quiet. They began to slip their boots off as Rocky entered the room.
"So we lost," he said obviously. The team scowled at him. He looked from one to the other. "And-" he continued. "and I'm not about to pretend that it wasn't my fault." the team snorted. "I trained you guys too hard. You had no energy or strength. I'm sorry. I won't do it again." they looked around at each other, knowing that his promise would fall flat. But they looked back at him slightly softer.
"Back to every other day?" asked James.
"I still want to throw in an evening practice," he said. The team nodded and flew back to the castle, being too sore to walk anyway.
Rose entered Gryffindor Tower to find people looking rather glum.
"Aw, better luck next time."
"You did your best."
"Next time, next time for sure."
"At least you didn't lose to Hufflepuff."
Were the kind of things other Gryffindors were saying to them as they trooped into the common room. Many people hit them on the back encouragingly which hurt very badly. James jumped away from someone trying to do this and shook their hand instead.
The Gryffindors seemed much more upset about the loss than the team did. The team slowly sat in comfy armchairs and sofas and sighed happily, closing their eyes.
Rose smiled thinking about Al and the Slytherin party raging many floors below them. She just hoped that he was having the time of his life.