Glory |A. Potter|

Fourteen

Albus heaved a sigh—the third in the last fifteen minutes—as Scorpius almost tripped yet again on a root on their way to the Quidditch Pitch. It certainly wasn't an activity they engaged in often—walking all the way from the castle to the Quidditch Pitch was bothersome and tiring when they could spend their time in the common room engaging in other activities a lot less active—and it surely wasn't a route most people took when today was a perfectly nice day they were allowed to go to Hogsmeade. Either way, here they were, and it hadn't been his choice to come all this way to reach the Pitch of a sport he found no appeal in.

They were supposed to go to the Hogsmeade trip as well. Albus and Scorpius had gotten ready, had taken any money they could need for the day, and had gotten to breakfast. It was as they were having their breakfast in the Great Hall that Ramona walked in—looking like the otherwordly being Albus was certain she was because there simply could be no other explanation to her beauty—headed towards them and informed them her best friend and dormmate, Jane Gibbs, wasn't in the dormitory and hadn't been in it ever since Ramona—or any of her dormmates for that matter—had woken up. Under normal circumstances, Albus wouldn't have bothered.

This certainly isn't normal, Albus thought to himself as Scorpius almost slipped due to the morning moisture of the grass and he had to force himself to not roll his eyes at the sight.

Scorpius had been the one to suggest Jane joined them in this trip. Albus wondered whether he was starting to regret it, but considering the bond the two shared, he doubted it. Albus still had some trouble seeing the reason Scorpius liked Jane so much—today was only an example of how peculiar the girl was, who even went to the Quidditch Pitch that early in the morning—after all the times he had voiced his concerns and disapproval on the matter and he had received nothing but doubt, denial and in the end, annoyance, he had stopped mentioning it. He was even attempting to get on with her. Truly, Albus was amazed by the things he would do to keep Scorpius satisfied.

He could see the Quidditch Pitch a few ways away and at the sight, Scorpius walked even quicker than before and Albus had half a mind to warn him his new speed would only help him fall faster but in the end, he kept his mouth shut as they got in the Pitch and instantly, he looked around for any sign of her. She wasn't flying, he noticed, or sitting at the stands, but a quick look around the Pitch had him locating her at once.

Jane was balancing on one leg on her broomstick, two feet above the ground. Her arms were by her sides, unmoving, one leg firmly placed on the broomstick and the other hovering in midair. Albus had never seen her do that before. Her eyes were still closed as he got a bit closer, following Scorpius's advance, and he couldn't help but think to himself that for all her need to be on top of everything in Hogwarts and be included in every activity, she was truly an extremely talented Chaser and the Slytherin team was lucky to have her. He didn't have much a say in the sport but from what he had gathered from all the games he had been forced to watch as a kid while his mother had been playing, Jane could become a Quidditch player, if she wanted to. That was the extent of her skill and sometimes Albus forgot about her athletic nature when he had her in some of his classes and she was the best in all she did.

He forced himself to not think about her when her eyes opened, dark, circular pools that reminded him of the coffee he didn't have the time to drink before he left the Great Hall because Scorpius needed him to leave as soon as possible, peering over at him momentarily before she turned to Scorpius who had come to stop a few ways away from her. Albus stopped as well, a few ways back.

"Ramona told us you'd be here," Scorpius told her, having to crane his neck to look her in the eye while she balanced on her broomstick on air. "I didn't think you'd be practicing Quidditch a while before we were to go to Hogsmeade."