I've split chapter 13 into two chapters, because it was just too long… So Chapter 14 is going to be the last one for 4th Year.

Disclaimer: As much as I would love for this to be all mine, anything related to HP belongs to the fabulous JKR.

The Red and The Blond

Chapter 13: Gryffindor versus Slytherin

Rose glared over at the Slytherin table where she could see a laughing Max with his little pet, Scorpius. Albus must have noticed her glaring for he gave her a little nudge. She blinked rapidly and tried to draw her attention away from the people she hated most in the world right now.

"So… you can help with revision for Charms?" Esmeralda asked when she realized she had Rose's attention back on her.

"Well, actually all the subjects really." Albus piped in, flashing an innocent smile. Rose let out a tired little sigh; she had barely thought about revision even though the end of 4th Year exams were a mere three and a half weeks away.

"Fine, but I am pretty dreadful at Potions." She knew who was better at Potions than her, but she really didn't want to mention his name. "And Esme can help you with Defense class."

Albus pulled a face at this comment.

"I'm amazing at Defense class, so I won't need help from her."

"I'm sitting right here, you prat." Rose rolled her eyes. She was not in the mood for Esmeralda and Albus' sniping today.

Their arguments had become more frequent as the final Quidditch match was fast approaching. Yes, it was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and Rose was dreading it. On the Gryffindor team there was herself, Esmeralda and Scorpius (someone she wasn't even on speaking terms with), and on the opposite team was Albus and Maximus. She did not want to be in the same school as him right now, let alone be in close proximity with him for a couple of hours. What made matters worst was the fact that he was a beater, and she was a chaser meaning she would probably getting hit more than usual by the bludgers.

She set down her knife and fork and stood up. Thinking about tomorrow's match was giving her tight knots in her stomach. There were no practices tonight, so that the team could rest up for the match, which Rose was beginning to feel very grateful for.

"We haven't even had dessert yet!" Albus groaned, as Rose began collecting her things and Esmeralda was now also standing.

"You can stay and eat till your heart's content, Albus." Rose said a little snappier than usual. She had spent far too much time with Albus the past few months due to the fact that Scorpius was no longer their friend.

"The match will be fine, don't worry about it." Esmeralda said, guessing that Rose was a little worked up over that. Rose gave a small smile to say that she appreciated what Esme said.

"Hey, do you know what will take your mind off the match? Revision!" Esmeralda said in mock excitement. Rose couldn't help but let out a small laugh and they walked off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.

Scorpius followed closely behind Maximus and the two other guys named, Frank and Dale, till they reached a corner of the courtyard, which was their little hangout spot after dinner. Frank and Dale were dimwits in Scorpius' honest opinion, but he still found something oddly fascinating about Maximus.

Oh, he knew he was a bad guy and he had gotten in some trouble since becoming… friends with him, but he somehow felt more admired and like he actually could relate to Maximus. He felt less like a child, he noted as Maximus took out his small bottle of Firewhiskey, which had been charmed to look like Pumpkin Juice so they could avoid getting into trouble. He handed the bottle over to Scorpius.

"Better not drink too much though, Malfoy… It's a big day tomorrow." He smirked at him and Scorpius took a small sip before returning the bottle over to Maximus. There was a lot of drinking involved in their hangouts, which Scorpius was still getting used to. He never did this sort of thing when he was around Albus or Rose… He winced at the memory of how things used to be with them; he still missed them and sometimes wished he could just go back to things were, but it was too late for that now. Anyway, this way he wasn't lying to anyone and he was finally able to embrace his true Slytherin side.

"Uhm…. Yeah, I guess it is." Scorpius said finally. He was a little bit worried about the match tomorrow, especially seeing as he had been walking around acting like a Slytherin for the past few months. Also because he wasn't even talking to two members of the team, although he had in a way talked to her. He secretly got her a Birthday present last month.

He had used one of the School owls to send the present anonymously. It was a tiny cuddly toy of a unicorn that would let out a few sparks from its' horn and neigh if you stroked it. Yes, it was completely stupid, but he had no other ideas for a present and he had really wanted to get her something. Anyway she seemed to like it regardless of the fact she had no idea who had sent it.

"Yes, I have been wanting to talk to you about the match tomorrow, Seeker." Maximus said softly with his toothy smile that he usually reserved for times when he wanted to cause trouble.

"Sure, what is it?" Scorpius asked casually, but he knew this wasn't going to be good. Maximus slid a cigarette (muggle invention that he was addicted to) from one of the pockets of his robe and motioned for Frank and Dale to keep watch to make sure no Professors, Prefects or the Head Boy and Girl were snooping around. He lit the tip of the cigarette with his wand and blew a puff of smoke in Scorpius' direction.

"You have been spending a lot of time with us recently and I've began to consider you a Slytherin, therefore part of our… family. Do you agree?" Scorpius was completely flattered to be considered a part of the Slytherin family, and he nodded his head eagerly in reply.

"Good." He said and took another puff on his cigarette then continued. "And as you know this is my final year. I have been somewhat disappointed with Slytherin's performance in Quidditch over the recent years – the last time we won was three years ago – and I desire the trophy this year."

Scorpius wasn't a hundred percent sure where he was going with this, but he had a pretty good idea.

"Do you think you could do me the greatest favour and not catch the snitch tomorrow?" He asked. His question was a plea, but with a certain amount of pride in it that it didn't sound like begging.

Scorpius was stunned. What he could possibly say to that? He couldn't ultimately do that, because he was a part of a team… This was a game at the end of the day and he couldn't just cheat…. But wasn't his loyalty with Slytherin now, hadn't his loyalty always been with Slytherin? His family's loyalty was with Slytherin anyway. If he chose to do this then he had to be one hundred percent sure it was the right thing to do.

"I think I'll need to think about it." This was all that he said. Max's hopeful smile faded straight away and he just gave a curt nod.

"Of course!" He said with fake delight. "Just think about it, yes? Nobody will know you let us win, they will just think you couldn't see the snitch."

"Yes, I know that… I just need time to think about it."

"Fine." He said with a forced smile. He handed over the bottle of firewhiskey again and this time he took a big swig in an effort to forget about everything.

Esmeralda flicked through The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 4, but she wasn't really taking anything in. Her hand was propping her head up, so she didn't end up falling asleep. She gave a huge, dramatic yawn and stretched her tanned arms over her head.

"What time is it?"

Rose gave a little sigh of frustration at Esmeralda asking the same question for the second time in five minutes.

"It's quarter to ten." She heard Esme groan loudly, but ignored her and continued with the practice of the Banishing Charm. She was practicing on a feather and was happy to admit that she was doing a very good job. She decided to practice one more time and then move onto Potions, which she was going to find a little difficult.

"Depulso." She said, while the feather her wand was aimed at was sent flying across to the other side of the room. She gave a proud smile and then reached for her Potions textbook. "You ready to move onto -"

There was a loud bang as the portrait moved to reveal the hole in the wall. Scorpius staggered into the common room and was bringing in the faint smell of smoke and whiskey. Esme raised her eyebrows at him, while Rose couldn't help but feel concerned for the friend she once had.

He straightened himself up, while humming a little. Rose shook her head in disbelief. He's only fifteen and he's completely drunk.

He finally noticed the two of them sitting in the comfy chairs by the fireplace and nodded at them in acknowledgement. Then he instantly fell over.

Rose put her textbook down with a defeated sigh, and went to help him up. She pulled him up by one of his arms and once he was standing straight again, he looked at Rose… like was really staring at her. She turned away from his stare before she got sucked into it, and said the first thing that came to her mind,

"Stop it." He blinked rapidly and coughed as a way to stop the awkwardness that had been created between them.

"See you tomorrow, Rosie. Yeah, tomorrow for our BIG match." He startled Rose with his sudden shout of the word, 'big'. He realized he must have scared her for he said, 'Shhhh…' and placed a finger to his lips, then to her lips. Rose would have laughed if she was still friends with him, but they weren't friends anymore so she turned around and walked back to the sofa. She was acutely aware of the fact that he was still staring after her, but she didn't look back in his direction. Eventually he walked away.

"Well, that was… interesting." Esme muttered after he walked up the stairs to the male bedrooms.

"I have no idea what that was about." Rose mused, while tucking her hair behind her ears.

"He was drunk. That's what that was about." Esme stated with a small laugh. "Obviously he doesn't ignore you when he's drunk."

"He wasn't really ignoring me before. I was ignoring him." Rose said in the best dignified voice she could manage.

"Well, he talks to you when he's drunk then." Esme huffed. Suddenly she sat up straight and looked intensely at Rose with a small smile playing on her lips.

"What?" Rose asked, checking to make sure there was nothing on her.

"He's totally the one who got you the unicorn!" She said in an excited whisper. Rose immediately shook her head, but that was what she had been thinking… hoping ever since she had had received the mysterious birthday present.

"He so did! And that's so friggin' adorable!" She said clapping her hands together. Rose was a bit taken aback by Esme's hidden romantic side coming out and decided it was from a lack of sleep.

"Right… Okaayyy" Rose started with a little sarcastic smile and nod. "Let's go to sleep now. We better rest for the big match tomorrow."

A/N: I didn't expect to upload this chapter so soon, but I found it pretty fun to write. And now the sort of climatic point for the whole first of the story happens in the next chapter, so look out for that! Didn't read through this again so please excuse any mistakes, big or small.

GUYS, please review! It would totally motivate me and I just really want to know what you think of the story! Anyway, we're really close to 50 alerts so that will be a little bit of a celebration!

Thanks for sticking with this for so long J

TheCheeryCherry xx