the weight of living ⁂ scorpius malfoy

twenty four ⁂ comforting

May 21, 2022

"Time out!" James called from behind Scarlett. The ref blew his whistle, and the two teams huddled down on the green field.

"Call off the game, James." Lucas pleaded.

"Shut up, Lucas." James glared at Lucas, then looked back to the rest of the team. "We can't give up."

Scarlett sighed, not knowing which side she was on. She glanced to Scorpius who was looking over to the Hufflepuff team with a scowl.

"Well, what do you want us to do? We're exhausted." Will said, shrugging as Marge, Will, and Lucas nodded in agreement.

"Its not like you're playing football, for god's sake. We're flying on damn brooms!" James said through his gritted teeth. He sighed, collecting his calmness and running a hand through his dark brown hair. "Okay guys, this is mine and Marge's last game! I'd like to make it count, but if you guys give up, I guess..." James trailed off when is eyes glanced into the sky, his pupils darting. He immediately mounted his broom and took off, calling off the time out.

"What are you doing?!" Scarlett exclaimed, her eyes wide in surprise. James didn't answer, but instead zoomed into the sky as the other players followed to resume the game.

"Wow, what a beneficial time out." Scorpius muttered, earning a light laugh from Scarlett. She mounted her broom, but kept her gaze on James who was zooming through the clouds, his eyes focused on one thing.

"Oh my god, he spotted the snitch!" Scarlett said to Scorpius. He smirked, then flew by to Lucas, muttering something. Lucas nodded, and Scorpius rushed back to offense.

James rushed in the sky, the Hufflepuff seeker jabbing elbows into him. Her constant arm stopped ramming into him. James tore his eyes off just a moment to see the yellow seeker getting hit by a bludger. He looked back in front of his to see the snitch in front of his face. Before it could zip away, James grabbed the glimmering ball. He sighed in relief as he clutched the surrendering snitch. He glanced over to Scarlett, who was watching him. James smiled, raising the snitch into the air.

Scarlett gasped, laughing in relief. Hufflepuff groaned, but it was drowned out by endless cheering in the stands. They won the house cup.

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May 21, 2022 - the after-game party

The Slytherin Quidditch team joyously rushed down the length of the corridor into the decorated common room. The whole house was packed into it, passing out drinks and food while chatting excitedly. Suddenly, the doors opened, and the room became silent. The Slytherin Quidditch team walked in, awed by the decorations and amount of people. Scarlett stood beside James, who raised the large silver trophy in his hands to be replied with cheers and yells.

Scarlett smiled, and suddenly it seemed she was famous. Kids she had only received side ways glances from and kids she's never talked to were coming up to her, congratulating her or patting her, or even telling her how well she played. She hadn't received this much attention in the past four years combined.

Her thoughts cut off as hands wrapped around her. Scarlett's face buried into the guy's chest. She looked up to see James, and hugged back with a smile. "Thank God for you."

James's face turned a light shade of pink as he smiled back and let go of the embrace. Scarlett glanced over to her right, where she made harsh eye contact with Scorpius, who was staring at the two of them. His eyebrows furrowed before he quickly looked away and continued his conversation with some girls fawning over him. Scarlett looked back to James to see him walk away from the crowd hand in hand with Alicia, their somber faces quickly out of sight.

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May 21, 2022 - later that evening

Even though the party had ended, Scarlett still celebrated with Gus. The two were in his room, eating candy and playing stupid games.

Scarlett cheered as her ball landed in the cup on the top of his bookshelf; Gus groaned in temporary defeat. The two were playing an intense game of 'Horse', just they had to improvise on the whole basketball hoop part.

Muggle music played in the background, but somehow Scarlett heard a shuffling noise through all of the instruments. "Did you hear that?"

Gus stopped mid-throw to shake his head. "No, it was probably nothing."

"I'm going to check it out." Scarlett replied, crossing to the door.

"Okay, suit yourself." Gus's voice faded as Scarlett peeked out the door, to see a figure rushing down the hallway.

"I'll be right back." Scarlett said to Gus, and before he could respond she was already out the door.

Scarlett dashed after the person, their green and black robes picking up wind behind them. She followed them down the corridor, only to lose them after a sharp corner near the staircase to the bottom level. Scarlett almost gave up, until she heard heavy breathing to her right, where a tall spiraling staircase stood. She knew she shouldn't pry, but why would a Slytherin be running out of the Ravenclaw dormitory? The same reason she ran out of the Gryffindor dorms.

Scarlett slowly walked down the stairs to see the person she had been chasing lying at the bottom of the staircase.

"James?" Scarlett said in complete and utter shock.

He slowly turned his head to see Scarlett, then buried his face in his hands. "You were the one chasing me? God, I thought it was Alicia."

"Then why did you run away so fast?" Scarlett asked, standing over him awkwardly. "Did you guys fight?"

"Yeah." James sighed as he sat up and took a seat on the last step of the staircase. "She broke up with me."

Scarlett gasped silently, and sat down next to him, his leg barely brushing hers. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." He said quietly, staring down at the floor. "I just.. I think I love her, and the fact she almost cheated on me makes me so damn angry."

Scarlett nodded, "I understand, and I won't tell anyone if you cry."

"I'm not going to cry over a girl." James chuckled lightly, but when he say the expression on Scarlett's face, he sighed and realized what was happening. "Thank you for sitting here with me."

"Of course." Scarlett replied before James hesitantly rested his head on her shoulder while she  hoped she was at least a little comforting.

[i know i don't usually ask questions, but do you guys like james?]