Glory |A. Potter|

Twenty-Five

Albus was disgruntled. There was a scowl on his lips as he walked beside Scorpius through the snow to reach the Quidditch Pitch, too early in the morning for his comfort. The wind was harsh against his face even though he was dressed in warm clothes, but Scorpius on the other hand seemed to positively be shivering at the cold, even though he was wearing gloves, a coat, a scarf and a cup. It had snowed overnight in the Hogwarts grounds, but the figure floating in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch, balancing expertly on her broomstick, seemed completely unfazed by the cold.

"Is this normal?" Albus couldn't help but ask, his eyes narrowing on the form of the girl dressed in her Quidditch gear.

"Definitely not," Scorpius replied, barely managing to keep his teeth from chattering. "This is Jane."

"True," he agreed with a shrug, "nothing's normal about her."

Under normal circumstances, Scorpius would have defended his good friend but at the moment, he was cold, and a cold Scorpius was never happy or in any mood to defend his friends. Especially when the friend he was—kind of—offending was the cause of his misery.

"Jane!" he yelled as they got in the Pitch. "Jane, please-"

"And I was wondering which one of you was calling me," she cut him off with a smirk, her eyes still closed as her broomstick lowered to the ground. Albus had no idea how she was doing it and frankly, he didn't really want to know. She opened her eyes. "I figured it was you, Scorpius. I doubt Albus would beg."

"You thought correctly," Albus mused as she landed.

"I'll be right back."

"Please hurry back I'm freezing," Scorpius whined moments before he hid his face in his coat in an attempt to protect his cheeks and nose from the cold. Jane skipped off on her merry way.

The next couple of minutes were spent mainly in silence with an offhand comment here and there from Albus and a couple of stuttered or hurried replies from Scorpius who was almost bouncing in place in an attempt to stay warm. Albus had asked him the moment they had stepped out of the castle how he managed to cast a heating charm on himself and still be cold but Scorpius's answer was simple – a heating charm couldn't protect him from the wind. In Scorpius's defence, he had to admit the weather was chilly.

Jane returned a while later, appearing to be slightly unbothered at the fact Scorpius was pretty much freezing. Instead, she sent them both a smile before she headed to the exit of the Pitch.

"Let's get going then. I think this Hogsmeade trip is going to be better than the last."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "Why? Will the cold weather make us come closer?"

"If it means we'll be warm," Scorpius squeaked in the middle as Jane laughed and leaned over his body to look at Albus.

"Nice one. I'm going to entertain that thought for a while."

This time, both of his brows rose. "I'll consider that my honour."

"You'll consider that correctly," she smirked before she turned back to her front. "Ramona will be joining us today after a while."

"All of us?" Albus asked and Scorpius nodded as he turned to Jane.

"Albus is right. Are you certain she isn't going to meet up with just you?"

"You know the whole situation can change easily enough," she shrugged, "it doesn't matter. We can talk with Ramona about it or you can just leave before she arrives. It's up to you."

"Wouldn't you want time a-alone with her?" Scorpius asked, still shivering from the cold. "You-you said you haven't had the chance to catch up properly."