Glory |A. Potter|

Twenty-Six

The rain showed no mercy as it rained upon the heads of the students that had gathered in the stands of the Quidditch Pitch that Saturday morning, the older students holding their wands at hand to create invisible umbrellas that protected them from the rain, while those younger had taken to sheltering themselves with their jackets or with their hoods. The rain was heavy, creating fog and it was difficult seeing from one side of the stands to the other but still, the players zooming around the Quidditch Pitch were visible, the voice of the commentator carrying on even though it was faint.

Albus was holding his wand steady in his hand so no droplets of water would be splashed on him, his umbrella big enough to cover himself and Ramona sitting beside him. The two of them were mainly silent as they watched the game, both of them rooting for Slytherin instead of Hufflepuff, wanting their house to win. They cheered from time to time, when their team scored a goal, but they never left their seats. Scorpius sitting on his other side, though, was a completely different story.

He hadn't sat down for the duration of the game. He and some other of their classmates were instead standing, cheering at every little action their team made and groaning in frustration when they lost a goal. He was soaked from head to toe, his water-protective charm hardly effective when he kept moving around. He somehow had the ability to recognise Jane on her broomstick as she zoomed around and every time he judged she had the Quaffle, his cheering if possible grew louder. Albus had lost count of the times he had heard him call her name in an attempt to cheer her up.

On Ramona's other side, Louis was in a similar situation as he cheered for Slytherin as well, although he wasn't soaked. There was a painfully wide smile on his lips, though, somehow managing to appear even more attractive. Albus silently accepted the fact that his family wasn't the most good-looking one in the Weasley family before he looked away.

He couldn't focus on the game for long enough. The rain kept being harsh and even though he had Ramona's presence beside him to ground him to reality with her occasional cheering and clapping, he couldn't help but be hyper-aware of Annabeth and Charlotte's presence just behind him. He couldn't ignore them, not when he had caught sight of Annabeth talking to Scorpius one too many times. She always talked about the game, mentioned her father in passing, unaware it seemed Scorpius wasn't interested in Quidditch, just in Jane. Even though he was aware Scorpius wasn't really talking to her, he couldn't help but glance at her from time to time.

Annabeth remained oblivious, or at least that's what she acted she was. It wasn't until halfway through the game that Philip sitting beside her started talking to her and caught her attention. Even though Albus wasn't overly fond of him, at this moment, he was extremely relieved and so, he had the chance to enjoy the game in peace.

With his attention properly on the game, he allowed himself to observe the players as they played. His eyes were drawn on Jane's form as she moved, the long, dark mane of hair following after her as she flew giving away her identity. He couldn't help but pay attention to the way she moved in the air, as if she had been doing it since she was born and not for the first time, he was reminded of how good she was at flying. She ducked and twirled and moved in a way Albus knew he wouldn't have managed to achieve even in his dreams. Whatever anyone said about Jane, they could never claim she was a bad flier. It would have been a too blatant lie to ever attempt it.

Slytherin won and as he noticed her flying to the Pitch, soaking wet but evidently ecstatic, he reminded himself she adored flying before he looked away with a tiny smile he couldn't contain as he turned to Scorpius, who as always, as the greatest fan of Jane, had kept score of how many goals she had scored and how many goals Roxanne and Antonio had scored. Albus wasn't surprised to hear she had been the one to score the most goals in the team.