The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

A wizard was standing there, with a group of about seven people behind him. Sweeping a bowler had off of his heat, the man (whose face was pockmarked like he’d had a bad case of acne when he was younger) gave a short bow and said, “The other students,” before turning and leaving again. The seven students shuffled in, and it became apparent that they were all younger students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. I assumed they were all Quidditch players, and the best from their schools, at that.

“Ah! Welcome to Hogwarts,” Professor Collins stood, along with Madame Maxime and Uncle Viktor. “We were just wondering where you were. I must remember to thank Stan for walking all the way up to the castle with you. Mr. Shunpike is a very kind gentlemen, as you have just seen.”

“So they came on the Knight Bus,” Scorpius said, “I thought that it was Stan, but he didn’t stay long enough for me to get a good look at him to know for sure.”

“Would you please come up and stand with your Headmaster or Headmistress and allow them to introduce you…and your position?”

It was more of a command than it was a question, but he didn’t say it unkindly. The students shuffled up through the tables, four of them going to where Uncle Viktor now stood, at the left end of the top table, while the remaining three went to Madame Maxime at the far right end.

“Headmaster Krum, if you would begin?”

“Yes,” Uncle Viktor placed a hand on the shoulder of the first student in line. “Fourth year, Alexander Dumas, keeper.” He moved on to a nervous-looking girl, who smiled at him. It was their seeker, I knew. “Fifth year, Maria Krum, seeker.” He moved to the next student after his daughter in the same manner. “Third year, Marianne Sarjinsky, chaser. And, also a third year, Martin Koehn, chaser.”

Everyone clapped politely for the younger students.

“My other three players, please come up when I call you. Sixth year Jonathon Pealson, beater. Seventh year Theresa Mullins, chaser. Seventh year Johan Shockley, beater.”

I stared at Joe as he got up, and he just grinned at us, shrugging, as he and Theresa followed the sixth year boy through the tables to Uncle Viktor’s side.

“This is your Durmstrang Quidditch Exhibition team,” Professor Collins announced. “Please give them a round of applause!” And he waited for the applause to end before saying, “Now, for Beauxbatons.”

“First,” Madame Maxime said in her loud, carrying voice, “second year Suzanne Martine, chaser. Moving on are fifth years Caroline Montgomery and Justin Thomas, beaters.” She went quickly through the three younger students standing by her. “Please come up, sixth years Sharon Class and Matthias Jones, chasers. Also, seventh years Andrea and Demitri DuPré, keeper and seeker.”

“And you never told me?” I feigned anger as the two stood. “I should have guessed. You lot are just like Joe!”

Andy just grinned, put a finger to her lips, and gracefully swept up the aisle. There were cheers as the Beauxbatons team lined up in front of their Headmistress. Professor Collins didn’t even need to ask for them to give a round of applause, but waited it out patiently.

“Now, for the first team from Hogwarts,” Professor Collins was standing in front of the top table. “When I call you, you will line up to my left, which is your right. First off, as seeker, will be fourth year Louis Weasley, of Ravenclaw.”

“I didn’t expect that,” I admitted in an undertone to Scorpius.

“Neither did I, actually,” Scorpius replied.

“Next, as keeper, is fifth year Matt Jacobson, of Hufflepuff. The three chasers will be third year Molly Weasley, of Ravenclaw--”

“I guess she really did get picked,” I muttered to Scorpius, who nodded.

“--sixth year Jacob Buford, of Hufflepuff, and seventh year Albus Potter, of Gryffindor. The beaters are fourth year Mark Heston, of Hufflepuff, and Fred Weasley of Gryffindor.”

Cheers erupted as the seven students filed up to the front.

“Our second team,” Professor Collins forged onward as soon as the cheers died down some, “will line up between Headmaster Krum and I, will be as follows: chasers are sixth year Olivia Wood, of Ravenclaw, fifth year Lily Potter, of Gryffindor, and third year Martha Smethley, of Hufflepuff. Seeker is fifth year Zachary Zabini, of Slytherin. Beaters for Hogwarts’ second team are fifth year Hugo Weasley of Gryffindor and seventh year Scorpius Malfoy, of Slytherin.”

“I told you!” I said in a loud stage whisper to Scorpius as he stood up - kind of slowly.

“And our second Hogwarts keeper is none other than seventh year Rose Weasley, of Gryffindor.”

I stood, walking a bit behind Scorpius as he turned his head to say, “And I told you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I grinned, shoving him playfully in the back as we reached the front, meeting my brother on the way. I slapped him on the back with a, “Congrats, Hugh!”

“Same to you,” he grinned a wide grin back at me.

As we took our places in line, I smiled at Lucy and Roxanne, my youngest cousins. They were still second years, so their older relatives were still crowding up the Quidditch teams and they couldn’t catch a break. They were pretty good, but not as good as some of the older ones. It was then that Professor Collins started to speak again, and we diverted our attention to him.

“The teams will converse for a few moments now, to decide their team captains. We will wait until all four are done.”

My team formed a circle instantly, and we all looked at one another. It was quiet until Olivia finally said, “I vote we have a co-captainship.” she said, then continued, “And I vote Rose and Scorpius as the captains.”

“I…I’ll agree with that,” Martha said, seeming kind of shy at first.

“It would be beneficial to the entire team to have both of them as our captains,” Zabini said slowly, “but I still think you should help with the strategy, Olivia.”

“That’s a good idea,” I said, trying to ignore the fact that they wanted me to be one of the captains. “You’re excellent with strategies.”

“Then it’s agreed?” Lily asked promptly. “Rose and Scorpius are our captains, and Olivia can be an assistant captain? More like a strategist, but even so.”

“Agreed.” Hugh nodded, grinning at me. He could tell I didn’t really like the singling-out.

“Uh…” Scorpius said very intelligently, seeming unsure.

“Agreed.” Zachary Zabini and Olivia said. Martha nodded vigorously.

“Um…Olivia, you could be a co-captain instead of me. Wouldn’t that be more useful to the entire team, overall? You’re a great strategist, really.”

“Don’t be silly, Rose,” Olivia laughed, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You and Scorpius work well together, and you’re top in the class - thus, the smartest two at Hogwarts right now. Don’t fret. It’s not like I’d be mad at you for anything, y’know. After all, I am the one that volunteered you.”

I looked down at my toes. She’d hit the nail on the head when she’d said that I thought she’d be a bit peeved. After all, her dad is a famous keeper, and it’s only natural that she have some Quidditch in her blood.

“We’ve decided,” jerked me out of my little world. Zabini had turned to tell Professor Collins this.

“As have we,” announced Demitri, from across the room - well, almost. The rest of the Beauxbatons students nodded their agreement.

“We have reached our decision as well,” said the fourth year Durmstrang boy, Alexander.

“Yeah, us too,” said Fred easily.

“Very well, then. Let’s hear the decisions.” Professor Collins gestured for whoever to start.

“The Durmstrang captain is Theresa Mullins,” the fourth year boy said in his carrying, announcer-like voice.

“Our Beauxbatons captain is Justin Thomas,” Andy announced, indicating the fifth year beater.

“Our captain is Al. Albus Potter.” Jacob, Hufflepuff’s Quidditch captain, said with a grin. Al sent a nervous ‘I can’t believe that’ smile my way, and I grinned at him.

“We’ve chosen a co-captain system,” Lily said after realizing no one else was starting. She said it loudly and firmly, leaving no room for a disagreement.

“And we’ve picked Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley,” Olivia finished, beaming. I groaned and they laughed.

“There you have it!” Professor Collins said at large to the room, who cheered again. He waited for it to die down before continuing, “Interesting choices - I’m sure you’re all anticipating the first match! It’s this Saturday, actually. Hogwarts versus Hogwarts!”

More cheering. Was there ever any doubt?

“Before then, however, there is another important event soon. This Friday night, the Goblet of Fire will choose our champions!”

This caused a larger outbreak of cheering. I suddenly found that I really wanted to participate in the Triwizard Tournament - almost more than I’d wanted to be picked for the Quidditch Exhibition. I then realized it would be kind of selfish to want that, having been picked for the Exhibition, and also being Head Girl.

“Thank you, Quidditch teams,” Professor Collins grinned at all of us. “You may go sit back down. New visitors, if you’ll just follow your elders, they’ll lead you to the table in the center of the room. If you haven’t yet eaten, I’m sure any of our numerous Weasleys or our two Potters could lead you to the kitchens, so just tell someone nearby and they’ll get you an escort.

“I’m sure the Hogwarts students will be very pleased to hear my next announcement,” the Headmaster’s eyes were twinkling as Uncle Viktor and Madame Maxime sat back down. “Your classes have been cancelled for the rest of the day, because I’m sure none of you will be able to focus on the coursework offered, anyway.”

This was greeted with tumultuous applause, and I could barely hear myself thinking. I’m not ashamed to say, even as Head Girl, that I clapped and cheered right along with everyone else. Scorpius, beside me at our table once more, was doing the exact same thing.

All the laughter had died down, and I waited until it became apparent that Professor Collins was done speaking - he’d gone and sat back down. I stood up, then.

“Hogwarts team two!” I called, in an echoing voice. “Practice! Fifteen minutes!”

Scorpius stood up and let me drag him out of the Great Hall behind the other students who had begun to leave. There was a bit of laughter as I did so, and Scorpius chuckled as he caught up to me better.

“I can see you going pro in Quidditch,” he chuckled, both of us starting up the stairs three at a time.

“Really?”

It was with genuine curiosity that I asked him, because I still wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do upon leaving Hogwarts. I’d considered being an Auror, like Scorpius planned to be, or a Healer, like Al. I’d also considered working with Uncle Charlie, code-breaking with Uncle Bill for Gringotts, teaching at Hogwarts, or working in the ministry. None of those had appealed to me, really…but what Scorpius had said had peaked my interest.

“Yeah, really.” Scorpius grinned. “You’re a great keeper, and you can only get better. You’re strong, you know, because you hardly ever get injured. I still remember that time in fifth year when you got hit in the head with a bludger from that seventh year Hufflepuff - do you still remember? You held onto your broom, used a charm to alleviate the headache, and finished the game! Granted, you passed out immediately afterwards and Fred and Hugo had to catch you, and you were out of it for two days, but you still finished the game.

“You’ve also got dedication,” he continued, still grinning. “You’ve got determination. And you’ve got the talent. You know and I know that a bludger to the head from a pro is probably a lot different than one from a seventh year, but it’s still an amazing thing to be able to hold on after something like that. And besides, he was two years older! That’s two more years of Quidditch practices and two more years to develop all the muscles.”

“Hmm…” I nodded, deep in thought.

We’d paused on the stairs for this part of the conversation, and it was Scorpius who jerked me out of my thought when he said, “So, are we getting ready for a practice or not, Captain?”

I beamed.

“We are, Captain,” I replied, laughing as we continued up the stairs.

I think, with Scorpius’ help, I may have just discovered my future career.