they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 2 - 12

"Go, Astrid! Go, Astrid!" Daphne wiggled around the slightly embarrassed girl as they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch.

Astrid had taken her own advice and was now always changing in her dorm room. Considering they lived in the dungeons it wasn't even a far walk there and she could now always change straight into her pyjamas straight after a shower. Those awfully comfy pyjamas her mum had gotten her. The silky material was soft to touch and she believed the beige colour looked perfect on her, kind of bringing out the lighter and more goldish tints in her brown hair.

"I won't even play, Daph," Astrid sighed as she shifted her grip on her broom. She still was the only person on the team who didn't have a Nimbus 2001. It was embarrassing.

"It's their loss then," she shrugged but then turned serious, "though they better not lose."

"They," Astrid laughed, "You even say it like I've got no chance."

Daphne's face immediately turned into a pout.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," Astrid smiled reassuring her friend. There was nothing to get offended about anyway. She wasn't playing. That was simply a fact.

They soon separated their ways and Daphne went to the stands while Astrid made her way to the boy's locker room where their pregame meeting was to be held.

She didn't knock before entering, figuring that if anyone wasn't ready by then it wasn't her problem. Besides, if they could treat her like they did, she wouldn't show them any better manners. Luckily everyone was already dressed and waiting on her.

"Finally," Flint scoffed seeing the girl enter. He clapped his hands as the team assembled around their captain. "Now listen up, twats."

The captain proceeded to give an insult filled yet somehow weirdly inspirational speech. Astrid despised the guy but she had to admit that he knew exactly how to get everybody in the correct game spirit. Even she felt like elbowing a few faces if that was what it took to win.

Soon the team stepped out of the locker room and onto the pitch as the many, many students that were huddled up in the stands cheered for both teams. Astrid had never felt as elated as she did just then. She couldn't wait for the day she would walk out there to actually play, she couldn't wait for her first goal, for the first cheers directed right at her. She'd do whatever it takes to get there.

As she and Mike made their way to the reserves seats, she watched the stands of people all tightly wrapped in their coats, scarves, hats, and gloves and she let out an involuntary shiver. She had not exactly thought through her choice of clothing and regretted not wearing one or even a few more jumpers under her quidditch robes. It was a rather cold January day and the foggy breath that left her mouth every few seconds was just one of the indicators of it. 

Despite the chill creeping over her skin, she still watched everything with awe. She was one of those rare people who would rather be freezing than be too hot. Firstly, it was usually incredibly beautiful when it was cold (if it was a snowy day). Take that day for example. The sky was clear and blue but coloured in the more greyish tint that it usually showed in the wintertime. There wasn't a single cloud around and the snow all around them was sparkling in the cold whitely-goldish rays of the sun. She loved watching the foggy breath leave her mouth as in moments like that she felt like one whole with the world around her. 

Nothing made her more present and happy than feeling the icy air fill her lungs filling her insides with a sort of frosty ecstasy. 

Secondly, the soft warmth that sweeps over your body when you return inside, having wrapped yourself in the warmest of blankets and holding a steaming cup of tea in both your hands, was even better.