the weight of living ⁂ scorpius malfoy

twenty three ⁂ the quidditch cup

May 14, 2022

Still entangled in one another's arms, the two shared a frantic glance before they rushed out of the room, smoothing their hair and flattening their ruffled clothes. Scarlett pulled up her sleeve to glance at her watch to see it was about time for their prefect duties.

She quickly told him the time and he nodded as they made their way to their assigned corridor. Scorpius was a few strides ahead of her, so when he turned the corner he was the first to see James pacing.

"James." Scorpius sneered, as Scarlett caught up and stopped at his side. The dark haired boy looked up and gave a sigh of relief. "What the actual bloody hell, man?!"

James let out a slight chuckle. "Well, it worked didn't it? Have you made up?"

More like made out, Scarlett thought.

"Yes we did," Scorpius answered, looking down to Scarlett. "Right, Scarlett?"

Scarlett gave her best smile and nod, although she wasn't sure if what they did counts as sorting out their problems. Also, Scorpius just cheated on his girlfriend, and Scarlett felt extremely bad already.

"Good!" James smiled as he started to walk away. But he stopped for a moment, just to turn around and say "Next week is the match for the House Cup against Hufflepuff, so you two better be on top of your game tomorrow at practice!"

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

May 21, 2022

It was the last game of the season — arguably the biggest — and Scarlett was ready for her quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Because it was the fight for the House Cup, kids from all the houses would come, packing the stands.

Scarlett put on her gear in the locker room, ignoring the regular quarrel that occurred between Lucas and Aimee Coote, a beater. She was a large girl, one Scarlett was slightly afraid of. She was very tough, the biggest reason James had enlisted her for the team. The one bad part about her: Lucas and her did not work well. They were both exceptional beaters, but their communication on the field was rare (besides their squabbles).

"Every day I question why I ignore their yearly fight at tryouts." James said behind Scarlett, although she knew he was talking to her.

"Maybe you should lock them in a room together." She joked, earning a chuckle from James.

"Maybe I should." He chuckled just before Scorpius barged in and told Lucas to back off. Lucas obliged, and Scarlett raised an eyebrow at James, who shook his head, laughing to himself. "Plus, if we win, we're going to have a party afterwards in the common room. And I mean a party, not like the little celebrations we have after each win."

The team suddenly heard the burst of the crowd, and they all recognized it as a sign of the match starting. Scarlett grabbed her broom and stood behind James at the door of the locker room, waiting for it to open. She mounted her broom, her feet still grounded on the floor. Scarlett looked to her right, where Scorpius was standing next to her, awaiting the start of the match. He turns his head to see Scarlett, who gives him a small smile.

The door opened, and Scarlett and her team were off. They soared into the sky, taking laps around the field as the announcer introduced the team while the Slytherin house went wild in the stands. The rowdy team got into their positions as the Hufflepuff team did the same.

The ref stood below them, quickly scanning the teams before blowing the whistle and throwing the quaffle. Immediately, Scorpius dived and reached for the quaffle, only to be beaten by one of Hufflepuff's chasers, Jeremy Arrowe.

Scorpius quickly turned around, chasing Jeremy to recover what he had just lost. Scarlett stayed in-between Jeremy and his other chasers, alert and ready to take an interception. As soon as Jeremy chucked the pass, Scarlett flew up and caught it, yelling to Will and Scorpius to get ahead for her pass. As she zoomed through the flying colors of yellow and green, Scarlett quickly hurled the quaffle to Will, who was wide open for a sliver of a second. He swiftly caught it and aimed for the opposing left hoop, only for it to be caught by the Hufflepuff keeper. The back and forth rallying between the two teams went on for what seemed forever, neither team scoring. Interception and missed goal after interception and missed goal. Both teams were becoming desperate—

"Time out!" The Hufflepuff captain shouted from across the field. The ref blew his whistle and all of the players scurried off the field in ill humor. Scarlett wiped some sweat off her forehead as James started his pep talk. "Come on guys! We already beat them easily last year, whats so different?"

"Their beaters are targeting me! Not the the chasers!" Lucas complained, and Scarlett rolled her eyes, for at least 5 bludgers came bulleting their way towards her.

"No," James voice hardened. Scarlett assumed his attitude was because he hadn't spotted the snitch yet. She could only tell because him and the Hufflepuff seeker had been flying around aimlessly for the whole match, glancing around frantically. "No excuses. We need to pass! I want at least 3 passes before any of you score!"

Before Scorpius could protest, the timeout was over and soon enough the team was back on the field. Immediately, Scarlett found herself with the quaffle. She threw it to Scorpius, who easily caught it a zoomed down the field. She followed, praying Scorpius wouldn't try to score. They needed an open opportunity, and passing it around will create just that. To her relief, Scorpius quickly passes it to Will, who then dumps it back to Scarlett.

Scarlett caught a glimpse of her fellow chasers, none of them open for the pass. She zoomed down the field, only to be brushed by Jeremy Arrowe, who was elbowing her for the precious ball in her hands.

"Come on, you gave the quaffle to Rose!" He teased causing Scarlett's face to turn a bright red as she swerved around, trying to get him off her back, but he was a seemingly matchless defender.

Scarlett— as if it were instinct (seeing none of her other moves worked) — dove down, Jeremy undoubtedly following her. She prepared herself mentally, for she was doing the wronski feint, the move she had been working on for weeks. It was primarily used by seekers, but she thought maybe it might work for a chaser. Suddenly, Scarlett pulled up, sending Jeremy flying forward. She was in front of the lower right goal, and having Scorpius distract the keeper, she aimed it towards the goal, despite James's instructions.

The quaffle flew through, and it seemed like a dream when half of the student body stood up and cheered in overwhelming excitement. Scarlett smiled, rushing back into defense.

The crowd quieted down only to a handful of shouts, and Scarlett snapped out of her trance and back to the game. Scorpius was flying by the side of the Hufflepuff chaser, looking for an interception. He glanced over to Scarlett.

"Scarlett, watch out!" Scorpius yelled just in time before Scarlett turned and dodged a bludger which zoomed only a few inches from her face. A huge clamor of applause made Scarlett turn her head to see two yellow chasers high fiving, and the score keeper giving Hufflepuff ten points. Scarlett cursed under her breath, and she figured all of her teammates were doing just the same.

Then it happened again, the endless rally between Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Tied once again, exhaustion and annoyance was plaguing the players. The crowd seemed bored, but excited all at once. Scarlett raced by the scoreboard over and over, and suddenly, they weren't tied anymore. Hufflepuff scored, then scored again. Before she knew it, it was 50-10, and Slytherin had lost hope.