UNBREAK | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 5)

[ 18 ]

"Good."

As they gathered their supplies preparing to fly, Ron had not moved an inch from the place he had stood. He was the only one in the team who had his equipment ready after all. He anxiously looked around the stands, his nerves relaxing when he saw Hermione and Aine waving at him from the seats. The two girls cheered for him and he snickered when Aine nearly fell from her seat to cheer for him by jumping and flailing her arms brightly. It helped him ease up a little and gain a bit of confidence. 

"Jeez... Ai..." he mutters with a grin, shaking his head. He blushed a little when he caught Hermione's eyes on him, her lips pursed before offering him a smile that made his heart skip. He never saw her smile like that to him before.

From behind, someone bumped his shoulders and stood next to him. His build was taller than him and his chin was high and mighty, unlike Ron's who was already slouching. He could already see some of his peers comparing the two side by side from the spectator stands and his self-assurance was plummeting.

"No hard feelings, Weasley, alright?" the boy next to him said. It was Cormac McLaggen, a fellow Gryffindor boy who was a year older than him.

"Hard feelings?" Ron asks, bemused by his senior's words.

Cormac's gaze settled on the two girls in a distance, he went on to explain to the younger boy. "Yeah, I'll be going out for Keepers. Well, It's nothing personal." 

Ron gapes at him, his features scrunching up when he realizes that Cormac was after the same position he was after. He was trying out for the Keeper's role too since that was the only post he was confident about. Being a Seeker was way out of his league and he was afraid of Bludgers after seeing what they can do when he saw Fred and George play as Beaters. He was alright with being a Chaser too but after hearing how Harry had told him that he had great potential for a Keeper role, he became motivated to strive and improve for it.

"Really? Such a big guy like you?" Ron questions, he couldn't believe his ears and eyes. Cormac was visibly taller and more muscular than he was and there was no doubt he had the strength to fight against those nasty bludgers. "You've got more of a Beater's build, don't you think? Keepers need to be quick— Agile!" 

Cormac sniggered at the compliment, he proved Ron wrong when he caught a fly in front of the ginger boy. "I'll have my chances," he replied, crushing the bug with his gloves and then rubbing the remains away. He snuck a look at the two girls in the stands to see if they had seen how cool he was catching a flying insect with his bare hands. Despite looking very proud, Aine and Hermione weren't paying attention to him. One was busy marvelling at the different shapes of clouds while the other only had eyes for Ron. 

Both Aine nor Hermione did not converse with Cormac before. Nevertheless, in their eyes, he was merely seen as a cocky, arrogant dude.

"Say, um, you think you could introduce me to your friends, Granger or maybe Estoileon? They seem pretty cute," Cormac commented with a wink to the girls when their eyes briefly met. Aine immediately cringed and Hermione clears her throat, looking away. "Wouldn't mind, eh, getting on a first-name basis, you know what I mean?"

Ron frowns at him, he felt irritated all of the sudden. "No. No, I don't," he replied, giving him a look. He straightens his back and looks up at Cormac as if daring him to try. "Aine is taken, so don't even think about it."

Cormac clicks his tongue, still staring at Aine who was now wearing a deadpanned look. She harboured no hard feelings for the boy but perhaps it was the way he was looking at her with such lewd eyes and how coy he was acting.

"He has a real punchable face," Aine told Hermione after tearing her eyes from Cormac. Her friend rubs her arms to rid of the goosebumps she had and gave a nervous laugh.