The Music Still Plays On

Chapter 7: Loud and Fast and Clear

After a couple months at Hogwarts, I was soon settling into the familiar rhythm I had once known. I had talked to Scorpius a couple days ago about wanting to meet up with him to explain some things, so I was now waiting for him to arrive at our usual meeting place. Finally, I spotted him walking down the hall and we entered the unused classroom together.

"I can't take long today, Rosie. I have a lot of homework that I want to finish up. Alone." Even though he sounded like he couldn't wait for our little meeting to be over, I was hopeful that I could persuade him otherwise.

"I'll make it quick then. I just wanted to tell you that I'm really sorry about what I said last year. I didn't mean for it to damage our friendship." I quickly looked to his face for a reaction after I said this, but he continued to look at me stoically.

"I know. I didn't think that you meant it that way. I just...needed to do some thinking, that's all."

"So...do you want to keep meeting like we did last year?" I asked, hoping he would say yes.

"Yeah...sure. I'd like that," he said, not sounding sure at all. I was confused.

"I mean, if you don't want to do it, that's fine with me, too," I corrected. "It's up to you."

"No, I want to, it's just...complicated, that's all. I want to still hang out with you, but it's hard to when everyone else is pulling me in the other direction."

"Believe me, I know. How about we just keep on hanging out like normal, and if we think it's too complicated, we'll stop," I decided.

"That seems fine to me. So," Scorpius said, trying to change the subject, "What are you doing for the Christmas holidays this year?" It was now November, so people had started making plans for what they were going to do for Christmas. I never did anything that extravagant, but it was nice to know that Scorpius was wondering what I would be up to.

"Oh...nothing, really. I'll just stay at Hogwarts, like I do every year. My grandmother always knits all of us these little sweaters...simple, really." Scorpius now looked embarrassed.

"You're probably going to be jealous of what I'm doing then. My family owns a private ski chalet up North, and we always go there for Christmas. The Carrows and the Bletchleys always go with us. It's great fun- the slopes are beautiful. We bewitch the skis so that we don't fall while we're on them- it's so much better that way. And there's always lots of peppermint hot chocolate to drink, and..." The place sounded wonderful. For once, I resented the fact that I was spending Christmas at Hogwarts. Why didn't my family have a ski chalet with peppermint hot chocolate?

"That sounds great. I wish I could come," I said.

"No, you don't. My father would kill me if he found out that I was inviting a Weasley to the Malfoy ski chalet." My face fell. I didn't expect Scorpius to actually invite me, of course- that would be unreasonable. I just wish that everything didn't have to always be connected back to our feuding families.

"So...I'll see you next week, at the usual time?" I asked.

"Actually, you'll see me before then. The Quidditch match is next week, remember?" I clapped my hand to my forehead.

"Oh, you're right! I can't believe I forgot! Well, I'll see you then."

"Yeah. Um, I'm probably not supposed to say this, but...good luck out there, Rosie." I smiled.

"You too. May the best team win."

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As I entered the girls dormitory after my meeting with Scorpius, I immediately heard a soft, muffled sound. After scanning the room for a quick second, I saw Nellie, sobbing into her pillow as she lay in bed. I normally wouldn't intrude, but Nellie was my good friend, and I had been wondering what was up ever since I saw her on the train. I slowly walked towards her.

"Nellie? What's wrong?"

"GO AWAY!" she shouted. Then she looked up at me. "Oh, it's you, Rosie. I thought it was Isabella again. I suppose you're wondering why I'm so upset." For just having been inconsolable a couple minutes ago, Nellie was acting incredibly rational.

"Yeah...unless you don't feel like talking to me about it."

"No, I guess I should. Rosie, you remember when I told you that I got into a fight with my parents over the summer?" I nodded.

"Well, my Mum still hasn't gotten over the fact that I'm a witch. She thought that I was just in a phase or something. I don't know why, but..." She paused, blowing her nose into her handkerchief. "She hasn't accepted me for who I am. Anyway, over the summer, she...she wrote a letter to Hogwarts, asking that I be pulled out and placed into a normal school!" Tears streamed down Nellie's face as she continued her story. "I ran away for about a week after that. I stayed at my old friend's house. I cut off and dyed my hair to try to disguise myself- like I thought that would ever work! The police found me anyway, and sent me back home, where Mum and Dad were livid. They weren't just mad that I ran away, though- McGonagall had sent a letter back saying that I was to stay at Hogwarts. That was the only good part of what happened," she explained. I didn't know what to say to all of that.

"Wow," I said. "That must have been..."

"Wait- you haven't heard the rest," she continued. "So, a couple weeks ago, I sent Mum a letter, apologizing, asking if I could come back home for Christmas so we could patch things up...and she said no! She told me..." Nellie's handkerchief was nearly soaked through with her tears by now. "She told me that I wasn't welcome at our house anymore, that I should go live with some of my freak friends!" Nellie was clearly upset by this news. I had never encountered a situation like this before, as most of my other friends had been born into the wizarding world, but I was determined to help Nellie's situation.

"Have you talked to McGonagall about all this?" I asked.

"No...I just got the letter today!" Nellie wailed.

"Well, maybe she'll have a solution. In the meantime, there's nothing wrong with staying at Hogwarts for Christmas- you did that last year, right?" I was trying my hardest to reassure Nellie, but there was little I could do.

"I know, but...I just wanted Mum and I to make up for Christmas!" I hugged Nellie, her tears streaming onto my robes.

"Nellie, it's ok," I said, even though I knew it wasn't. "You'll get through this."

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A couple of days later, it was time for my first Quidditch match. Earlier in the year, both Al and I had made the team, as chasers. Both of us were ecstatic when we made the team, but now I had butterflies in my stomach as I lined up with the team in the locker room. Our captain and seeker, Guy Thruston, was now giving us a speech before the match.

"Now, I see that we have a few new faces here," he said, gesturing towards Al and I, "so I want to give you two a rundown of who we're facing today." He now turned towards a huge blackboard that was covered with diagrams that made no sense to Al and I, but the rest of the team seemed to understand.

"Rosie, Al, Jerri," Guy said, referring to us and the other chaser, a short, thin fourth year girl, "you three have the toughest job today, because you have to try to get the quaffle past Lenore Wagtail, the toughest player that Slytherin has. She's the captain and the first female player they've had on the team in centuries. She got quite a few penalties last year for unsportsmanlike conduct- she even set someone's broom on fire once! Anyway..." Suddenly, we heard a loud, booming voice coming from Slytherin's locker room.

"MEN! I want you to beat those Gryffindor slobs to a bloody pulp today! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" That must have been Lenore.

"See what I mean?" Guy commented. "So, the chasers have the toughest job today, except for me, of course, 'cause I'm the seeker. Now, the next thing I'm going to say is specifically for me, Al, and James. We're all aware that Roxie Vulchanov is one of the finer specimens of womanhood to walk through the halls of Hogwarts. But please, can you keep your focus on the game and not her bloody commentary!" he exclaimed, staring directly at James.

"Just because I fell off my broom one time last year doesn't mean that it had anything to do with her!" James protested.

"Whatever, just don't let it happen again! Carmella, most of the Slytherin chasers are rather daft, so you shouldn't really face that much of a challenge today. James and Sofia, you've looked pretty good in practice, so I don't see much trouble there. Let's beat those Slytherins today!" We then headed out onto the pitch, where the Quidditch referee, Oliver Wood, was waiting. Once a great player for Puddlemere United, a severe back injury sidelined him for several years. Now, he can still play, but definitely not as well as he used to. He often starts telling one of his old Quidditch stories, like the one where he was captain when Gryffindor won the Hogwarts tournament. Uncle Harry was on that team.

"Let's have a clean match," he said, staring directly at Lenore. "I don't want to call nearly as many penalties as I had to last year. All right, captains, shake hands." Lenore discreetly spit into her hand before giving Guy a bone-crushing handshake. Then, we all mounted our brooms as the balls were released into the air. The match had begun.

The play was loud, fast, and clear. Unlike James, Al, and Guy, I wasn't distracted by Roxie's commentating, but I had to admit that it was interesting.

"James Potter, with those beautiful green eyes of his, just whacks that bludger out of the path of Jerri Youdle- very good job, there," she said sultrily as James turned a bright side of red. "Oh, wait! Another bludger just hit James- he must have not seen that one coming, poor thing..." I wasn't focused on the commentary, but on how to get the quaffle past Lenore. Every time I had a chance, she would swiftly block it. I didn't know how she did it. Al was clearly trying his hardest too, but it seemed like we weren't going to score any points at all. Finally, Jerri caught us a break by scoring when Lenore wasn't looking, causing Lenore to lash out in a violent tirade of choice language. Luckily, Slytherin wasn't doing very well either- Guy was right in saying that their chasers seemed to have no idea what they were doing. Our keeper, Carmella Clogg, seemed to have no trouble guarding the rings.

Al and I seemed to be working well in the air together- I often knew intuitively when the quaffle was passed to me, even though I could barely see Al through the mess of other players in the air. Because of our good teamwork, we were able to score twice more, making the score 30-0 in favor of Gryffindor. Unfortunately, though, Carmella seemed to be tiring, as Slytherin scored twice after that. I knew that Guy was a far better seeker than Jimmie Elphick, the seeker for Slytherin, who had just made the team this year, so I was confident that our team would win.

Suddenly, I was struck by a wayward bludger, losing my grip on the quaffle in the process. While I didn't initially know who had lobbed it in the first place, Lenore's nearby shouting confirmed my suspicion.

"Great job out there, Malfoy! Knock her down!" As Scorpius sped past me, I thought I glimpsed a faint look of apology on his face, but it was hard to tell because we were moving so fast on our brooms. Just as I was beginning to right myself, a huge burst of cheering from the Gryffindor section informed me that Guy had caught the snitch and the game was over. As I flew down to join the rest of my teammates in celebration, I happened to catch a look at Scorpius, who mouthed "good job" to me before joining Lenore, who was yelling at him. I was glad that, in spite of hitting me with the bludger, he still cared about how I felt.