all the whispers of the possible become clear

Chapter 5: 5th Year - Part A

Scorpius pulled the compartment door open and counted the number of Weasley cousins in the compartment. "Where's Albus?" He blurted out when he noticed that his best friend was missing.

"What, not even a hello first?" Lily scoffed as she put a hand over her heart. "I'm wounded."

It was perhaps at this point that Scorpius realised how comfortable he'd grown around the Weasley-Potter clan. It seemed that all the etiquette which had been drilled into him by his parents had managed to vanish. "I apologise for my lack of manners." He said elegantly, eliciting a snort from Rose, who had barely given him a glance before returning to her book. "How are you, Lily?"

"I'm very well, thank you for asking." Lily replied in a snooty attitude, before laughing.

"Albus went for a Gryffindor Quidditch team meeting." Hugo informed Scorpius without tearing his gaze away from his Muggle Studies textbook.

Scorpius thought it was a little funny how similar Rose and Hugo looked when they were both engrossed in reading. "A Quidditch team meeting on the Hogwarts Express?"

"James has gone crazy this year." Lily shook her head. "I really don't see how they can start strategizing for gameplays when they need to find a new Chaser first."

"Well, I hope he doesn't forget to release Albus for the Prefects meeting later." Scorpius fingered the shiny new badge on his uniform.

"It still amazes me how Professor McGonagall thought it would be wise to appoint you as a prefect." Rose said.

"She must be an excellent judge of character." Scorpius shrugged and noticed the same badge on Rose's uniform. "Though perhaps she had a momentary lapse when she picked you to be one."

"It's hard to believe you could possibly be a role model to the first years." Rose retorted.

"We'll see how cocky you are one month later when you're hopelessly trying to juggle your prefect duties along with trying to maintain your grades in all your subjects." Scorpius shot back, feeling a little satisfied when he saw Rose scowl.

"What do you think, Lily?" Rose asked her cousin.

Lily's eyes widened as she glanced back and forth between the two fifth years. "I think..." They both leaned in unconsciously. "...that you're both mad if you think I'm going to answer that question."

--

This year, other than requiring a Chaser, James was also looking to train up reserve players for all the spots. He didn't want to have a repeat of what happened last year with Al and the Bludger. Furthermore, three of them would be graduating at the end of the year, which would leave the next captain attempting to rebuild a new team with little time to spare unless they started recruiting early.

So when he posted the notice for Quidditch try-outs for all team positions in the common room, he had expected a big turnout. He hadn't expected to see his baby sister among them.

"Did you know Lily was thinking of trying out for the team this year?" James pulled Albus aside to ask.

"Uh, I don't think she mentioned it." Albus tried to recall. "But I remember her practicing with Mum during the holidays while you were helping Uncle George at the shop." He looked at James' pinched expression and frowned. "Don't you want her to try out? She's good!"

"Are you afraid of picking her because she's your sister?" Peake suddenly asked, having heard the brothers' conversation. "Because we all know how much you want to win the Cup this year, and we'll happily sit on anyone who says you play favourites."