For the Love of Potions | A Garreth Weasley Fanfic

Chapter 9 - Practise match - Gryffindor vs. Slytherin - Part. 2

We gathered in a huddled circle on the pitch, heads together and our arms over each other's shoulders. Nellie gave us a fiery pep talk before we all grabbed a hold of our brooms and headed to our starting positions. Some students had decided to come along to watch the practice match, amounting to about three of the twelve spectator towers being crowded. I locked eyes with Nellie, nodded, and gave her an encouraging smile.

Madam Kogawa's voice boomed, "Brooms up!". My blood pumped hard with adrenaline, my stomach felt like it would drop out of my body, I took flight. My only focus for the whole game was the Quaffle. I built up a sweat, darting through the air, passing and or receiving the Quaffle and most importantly trying to get the ball through either of the three Slytherin Hoops. The game was neck to neck, with only 15 minutes to go we were leading over Slytherin with 20 points. Then the impossible happened. Imelda entered the zone, suddenly she was untouchable, and managed to score three goals within a 10-minute period. Disappointment washed over me, as the game was declared for Slytherin while I reluctantly made me way off my broom. I could hear the Slytherin team cheering and when I begrudgingly looked over, I saw them carry Imelda off the pitch on their shoulders.

Nellie was standing by herself, broom in hand, staring with an unfocused but introspective gaze in the direction of the hoops. I decided to leave her be, and walked over to where Natty, Leander and Lucan were standing talking.

I had been so focused throughout the match, that I was surprised when Leander said that Violet apparently had gone out of her way to try and knock Garreth off his broom. During the game itself, I remembered thinking that Leander and Garreth must be doing a great job, as I didn't really notice either of the Bludgers at all. Evidently, this was because Violet had been aiming for Garreth the entire match, rather than any of the other of us. Strategically, her play did not make much sense, unless her aim was to hurt him so that he would not be able to play for the rest of the season. Before I could check in with him to make sure that he way okay, I realized that he had already left the pitch.

I looked over at Nellie, she looked pretty upset with herself. I knew how much she wanted to win this match and I figured that she was in the need of a friend. I convinced her to come along and fly with me, to clear her head. On the very first day that we met in our common room, after jumping down from the mantelpiece of the fireplace in which she had climbed on, she told me that she found it helpful to change her point of view every now and then to keep things in perspective.

We flew up to one of the hilltops north of the castle and sat down on the grass, in the shade of a large tree. We sat there in silence for a bit, and I could tell that the change of scenery seemed to slowly be cheering her up.

After sitting there for a while in comfortable silence, we started talking about the game. Nellie went through the game pointing out mistakes that were made and started to make a mental list of what we needed to focus on for future games and practice. She really was an excellent captain. I really admired her ability to bounce back in the face of adversity, always looking at how she can do better next time. As we kept discussing the game, we eventually landed on the topic of Violet's insane strategy.

"What is her problem? Why did she try to hurt Garreth?", I asked through gritted teeth. Nellie looked at me with raised eyebrows, like I should know the answer. She seemed to be waiting for me to realize what was, clearly, quite obvious to her. I grasped at straws for a while, to no avail. "What?", I asked, my patience starting to grow thin, as a smirk started to complement Nellie's raised eyebrows. "Y/n, I am pretty sure Violet fancies Garreth as well". It was like somebody had hit me between the eyes with Stupefy, it all made sense now. Violet didn't necessarily dislike me, but she certainly disliked that I was always spending time with Garreth.

My expression must have said it all because Nellie took one look at my face and then started laughing. "I can't believe that you didn't see it", her laughter growing heartier, she continued, "Actually, you know what? I take that back. If you had told me a year ago, no, a week ago, that two girls would fall head over heels for Weasley I would have never believed it!". I pulled up a handful of grass, throwing it in her general direction, but it didn't go very far, and hit the ground in front of her.

"What about you, Nellie, do you fancy anyone?", I asked, desperately trying to change the topic. I expected her to keep laughing, but instead the question seemed to catch her off guard. She tensed up and suddenly seemed a little bit flustered. I look at her in amazement, she was always so calm and collected. Even after losing the game, she'd been much more composed than she was now. She twisted some grass in her fingers, her face grimacing. Her eyes scanned the ground in front of her, as if she were looking for something, anything, amongst the grass. She looked back up at me, her eyes meeting mine, and I could see something there, an answer bubbling to the surface. Although what this might be was hidden, behind the hand which she was holding up in front of her face.

"Preparing for this match", under her breath she mumbled "not much good that did us...". A wry smile formed on my face, at least she was joking about the loss now. "Madam Kogawa had recommended a book to me on Quidditch tactics, and as I was about to take it down from the shelf, Imelda bumped into me, also reaching for the same book". Wait a second, gears slowly turning and clicking into place in my brain, did Nellie...?

"We decided to play a round of Wizard's Chess, the winner would get the book. She won", another mumble, even quieter this time "no surprise there". Nellie now had both hands raised in front of her face, a makeshift shield to protect her from what she was about to say. "Anyways... as I was about to leave, she handed me the book. She did say that 'she didn't need the book to beat us', but I still thought it was a nice gesture". I smiled, I had never seen this side of Nellie, all soft and tender. "Imelda, eh?" I said with a smile, Nellie's cheek dusted with pink and she nodded her head.