Chapter Four.

 

“Are you ready for the first match of the season?” I looked up from my breakfast of toast and pumpkin juice to see James Potter grinning happily opposite me. He always gets so damn loopy before a match, always the confident one. I wish that’s how I took it. All I get is nerves.

I shook my head. “Damn it I’m nervous!” I exclaimed, banging my knife down on the table and looking at Potter.

“Don’t worry El, you’ll do fine!” Potter assured me, still grinning like the loon I knew him to be.

“Bloody easy for you to say, you know you’ll do fine,” I pushed my breakfast away from me, I never had an appetite the morning of a match, “What with your big head and all,” I added as a second thought.

Students and teachers alike were already murmuring excitedly about the match, friends taking bets against each other and Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors exaggerating their house colours. I could see the Hufflepuff team, surrounded by adoring Puff fans, already in their yellow and black uniforms. I sighed and got up from the table and made my way down to the Quidditch pitch to get ready. Potter followed me, babbling on about how confident he was in all his players, I wasn’t really listening. I’d heard the talk a hundred times before and it wasn’t anything new to me.

I stopped outside the girls changing room and turned to Potter, who was still chattering on.

“You know you can’t follow me in,” I said, looking him in the eyes with one brow raised.

Potter gave me a clueless look, obviously having drifted off into his own Quidditch-filled dream world.

“It’s the girls changing room,” I sighed, giving him a shove to the other side of the changing rooms, the boy’s side.

“Oh,” Potter mumbled, flushing scarlet, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I would never, I mean,” He stuttered before pausing and taking a deep breath, “Don’t flatter yourself Ellie, why would I want to look at you like that?” He had an accomplished smirk on his face, as if he thought his petty insults still riled me up, which they usually did but I wasn’t in the mood.

“Oh shove off Potter,” I said, giving him another push before I entered the girls changing room where I found Lily Potter already getting ready.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked, probably noticing how contorted my face was.

“Your brother,” I muttered as I pulled my Quidditch robes out of my bag.

“Ah,” Lily said, sitting down on the bench and giving me a knowing look, “You know he never shuts up about you at home.”

I looked at her curiously, “Why does he talk about me?”

 Lily laughed, “Libbie you are so oblivious.”

“Geez, you’re as bad as Violet,” I said, shaking my head, not believing a thirteen year old was telling me this. “Always this nonsense.”

Lily ignored me but she still had a smirk, not unlike her brother’s, plastered on her face.

“So are you worried about your first Quidditch match?” I asked her as I tied my hair up out of my eyes.

She shook her head and grinned, “I play all the time with James and Al so I’m pretty positive.”

Were all the Potters this damn confident? “Good for you, I feel like throwing up before each match,” I admitted.

“But you’re really good, Libbie.” Lily said as we finished getting changed.

“Come on, we need to meet in the boys changing rooms, your brother likes his pep talks.” I said.

I knocked loudly three times on the door of the boys changing room. “I’m coming in,” I yelled, not really waiting for anything to answer but walking in anyway. I always walked in on the guys, none of them ever minded.

“Hey Libbie, Lily,” I heard Fred say but it sounded almost distant. My stare was locked firmly on Potter, who happened to have his shirt off again, damn these teenage hormones. I shook my head violently and turned my gaze to Fred, who was conversing with Lily.

 I avoided Potter’s eyes for the rest of his pep talk, which didn’t help my nerves. My face still felt rather hot and itchy, I bit the inside of my cheek to take my mind off Potter’s body.

I could hear the excitement buzzing around the stands outside as students and teachers took their seats. I could hear Lorcan Scamander, the Ravenclaw commentator, announcing the Hufflepuffs names, I imagined them flying out onto the pitch, waving and grinning, looking quite like large bees with their yellow and black attire. 

And then I heard Potter’s name being called, then Lily’s, then Jamie, Mason, Cooper, Fred and finally me.

I felt as if I was about to upchuck when I heard my name being called up, the butterflies in my stomach tugged strongly but I ignored them and sat upon my broomstick and followed the others onto the pitch where a roar of fans immediately hit my ears. I grinned sheepishly as I did a lap around the pitch before hovering just before the ground while Potter (older, annoying Potter, not little, nice one) shook the Hufflepuff captain’s hand. Then there was a loud bang and we were off. I flew into the sky and watched as Potter threw the Quaffle to Mason, who threw it to Lily. In the first five minutes we scored twice, to my delight, and the score sat at 20-0 to us. I turned to look around, trying to take in the whole pitch for any glint of gold I might see. I looked over at the Hufflepuff seeker, a seventh year called Ash Peeks whose blonde hair clashed severely with his uniform. He was at a loss just as much as I was. I cringed as Hufflepuff score before we scored another two times. Potter was right to choose Mason and Lily as his chasers, and Jamie was a good keeper too after blocking two almost goals, though he wasn’t as good as my brother, but then again I could be biased.

I flew around the pitch a few times, narrowly dodging a bludger, before I saw something for the first time that match. I small glint of gold hovering over the Hufflepuff beater’s left ear, a fair bit below me. So I did what I was born to do, I dived for it. I was so close, almost there before anyone else seemed to notice me. The Hufflepuff beater looked fairly clueless to find I was speeding towards him but everyone else seemed to have realised what had happened. I could see the golden snitch right in front of me. I steadily reached my hand out for it, knowing without a doubt the Hufflepuff seeker wouldn’t be too far behind me. Then something hit me hard. Well not me in particular, my broomstick but the damage was done. The bludger flew away and I swerved harshly to the right and took a few moments to regain balance but the snitch had already made its absence. I cursed under my breath and shot a look I hoped said ‘sorry’ to the rest of the team, and Potter in particular.

He grinned reassuringly at me before going ahead and scoring us another goal.

It was almost twenty minutes before I saw the snitch again, right next to Ash Peaks, and he would surely realise what I was doing. Without a second thought I suddenly dove straight towards the ground below me, Peaks panicked and copied me, not quite sure what was happening. I counted in my head when I would reach the ground. Five, four, three, two, I pulled out of my dive, one. Potter always said pull out on either three or two, I preferred two, and it made a more convincing wronski feint. The move was successful as Peaks realised a second too late what I had done and I was already speeding towards the snitch, hand at the ready. At that moment it was only the snitch and I, nothing else mattered, I was the only person in the world and the only thing I needed was that snitch. And then it was in my hand. I clenched around the small ball tightly, it’s wings fluttered with a last feeble attempt to break free before coming to rest in my hand. I grinned to myself. There was a split second of silence and then a roar from the crowds as they realised I’d caught the snitch. I landed on the ground and the rest of my team came running towards me, my hand still high in the air showing off the snitch. My team mates patted me on the back and hugged me tightly, I saw Violet and Theo and Tera and Paddy running towards me, wide smiles on their faces as Vi smothered me in one of her bear hugs. And then Harrison was there, running onto the pitch, smiling his dashing smile. And then he was kissing me, right smack on the mouth, blimey it was nice- wait? What? Harrison Fletcher was kissing me, Libbie Walker? I could hear cheers and cat calls. Oh Merlin, he was a good kisser, but all I could see in the corner of my eye was James Potter, and if looks could kill I was sure Harrison would be dead.

 
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“What the bloody fricken hell?” I heard a familiar voice behind me.

Violet and I had been chatting eagerly about my relationship with Harrison when Potter so rudely interrupted.

“What are you on about, Potter?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“You know fine rightly what I’m on about!” He shoved his hand aggressively through his already messy hair as he paced the common room back and forth. He looked fuming and flustered. Geez, what had his knickers in a twist?

“For your information I have no clue what you’re talking about,” I said, deliberately sticking my nose up at him.

Potter collapsed on the opposite armchair looked exasperated. “Fletcher, that’s what I’m on about.” He sneered, his eyes flaring with hate.

“Harrison and I are happily boyfriend and girlfriend now, but that doesn’t concern you.” I said, putting emphasise on the Harrison.

“It has everything to do with me,” Potter said, standing up. He was angrier than I’d ever seen him before and it almost, not quite but almost, scared me.

I stood up as well, seeing red in my vision. “And how does that work out!” I yelled in his face. He had no right to say that, just because I had finally got a boyfriend after sixteen years of a romantic failure of a life did not entitle Potter to go and ruin it.

“I-” Potter stopped, his hazel eyes burning with something I didn’t quite recognise. “Well,” He paused again, and for a split second I thought I saw hurt on his features. “He’s using you for Quidditch tries!” He yelled, turning around so he was facing away from me.

“Not this again!” I shrieked, “Can’t you just accept the fact that one guy might actually like me?” I shouted more, picking up a cushion and throwing it harshly, desperately at Potter. I picked up another and threw it again, and another, and another. “You. Are. Such. A. Prat. Potter!” I screamed, accompanying each word with another object that I hoped would injure Potter to the brain. I yelled at him till I was red in the face and for some reason, I didn’t know why, there were tears in my eyes, on the verge of spilling down my already red and blotchy cheeks. But I didn’t let them fall, I wanted to leave the room still having my dignity, well the dignity I hadn’t already lost in my shouting match. I stomped up to the girl’s dormitory and Violet made rude and obnoxious faces at Potter. This is one of the many reasons I love my best friend, she’s always there for me to pour out my troubles to my hearts content, not that I have many that aren’t to do with Potter, and I do the same for her. It’s what best friends do.

“I. Fucking. Hate. Him.” I said, teeth clenched, as I landed with a thud on my bed.

“Knock knock,” Vi said, sitting on her bed with a hopeful face.

I grinned despite my thundery mood. “Who’s there?” I sighed.

“Did you hear the one about the broken quill?” She asked.

“No,” I sighed, not quite sure where she was going with this, “I haven’t,”

“Oh, never mind. It’s pointless,” Violet managed to splutter out before cracking up.

“Violet Creevey, that was a feeble attempt at a joke,” I said, a wide smile playing at my face as I added a watery chuckle, but I started laughing my head off anyway, and it really helped. Vi and I laughed for ages, not really knowing what we were laughing at, we laughed until tears streamed down our faces and Vi stated loudly, for the whole Gryffindor tower to hear, that she was about to piss herself. No matter how unbelievably shitty my life gets it’s good to know I’ll always have people like Vi to brighten the picture, and God damn am I thankful for it.

 

I was planning to make this chapter longer but I thought that was a nice place to stop so :)

Like my joke? I’m so smooth ;) Yeah, I’m only joking. So what do you think of Harrison? And James? And Libbie and Violet? And everyone really. Leave a little review, yeah? :D