"Do you think she will be ready when the time comes?"
I couldn't see who was speaking, his back towards me. He looked and sounded like the same person who Xavier spoke when I touched the ring.
"There's no doubt in my mind" I heard a familiar laugh, a women going up behind him and touching his shoulder. Her figure was small and her hair was long and black. I knew that person anywhere. She turned around and looked right at me, a small smirk appearing on her face and her eyes turning sinister. It was my mom. "Wake up"
"Wake up, wake up" I heard Marlene say, shaking my arm.
"What?" I shot up, our foreheads hitting. "Shit"
"Fuck" Marlene groaned, rubbing her forehead, pain on her face. "You have a quidditch game today"
"Don't care" I muttered, falling back into my bed and closing my eyes, wanting to sleep to dream again.
"I do" I heard her scoff, throwing a pillow at me. "Get out of bed willingly or unwillingly"
"How would I get out of bed unwil-" I suddenly felt myself flip off the bed and onto the floor. "Marlene!" I exclaimed, standing up and throwing all my pillows at her, she fell back on her bed, laughing like a mad man. "I hate you"
"That's a mean way of saying you love me" She chuckled, putting my pillows back on my bed.
I stretched my arms and legs, looking out the window, where I could see the field from a distance. I sighed and walked to the bathroom, doing all my things.
"You think Potter is going to act weird today?" Marlene asked, once I walked back into the room. I only sighed, shrugging at her question.
Since our kiss, James had been acting weird. He wouldn't talk to me like how we used to, he stopped showing up at the Black Lake in the mornings and he would avoid me in the halls.
I had asked Remus about it, seeing as we had gotten a bit closer after I had explained to him how I did what I did. I couldn't give him a clear explanation, only telling him that I was cursed and gifted. Remus only gave me a shrug, confused as well as to why his best mate was acting that way, he told me he didn't even know it happened.
The kiss made me feel so high that I had lost sight of how to view things realistically. I thought James liked me and that us kissing was a clear sign for him to ask me out, but he never did. Instead, he'd keep our conversations short. I couldn't even remember the last time he actually looked at me.
"He's a twat" Marlene scoffed, shaking her head. "No wonder Lily never gave that tosser a chance"
"It's okay" I muttered, putting my quidditch uniform on. "I have a better chance with you than James at this point"
"You're not my type"
"Who is?"
"Dorcas"
"What?" I exclaimed, stopping what I was doing and looking at her with wide eyes.
"What?"
"Interesting" I said, sitting on her bed. "How long?"
"Third year" She sighed, laying back and whining. "I'm in love with my straight best friend"
I laid next to her and sighed, putting my head on her shoulder. "And i'm in love with a man"
"We'll be okay though" She sighed, her head leaning on mine. "We have each other" I smiled and closed my eyes, my stomach grumbling loudly. "I'm your quidditch mom - breakfast now"
I got up and we put our shoes on, making our way to the Great Hall that was filled with students talking and smiling. The atmosphere was gleeful being the first quidditch game of the year.
We sat down and grabbed our food, Dorcas coming over and sitting next to Marlene.
"Are you excited?" She brightly smiled at us, squealing a bit. "Amos supposedly had a fight with Lily last night - he's going to be rubbish today!"
"Or be mad enough to play rough" Marlene said, looking at me with a worried smile. "But, you'll be fineee"
"Really encouraging" I sarcastically said, eating a spoonful of oatmeal, noticing Dorcas had Gryffindor colors on today. "A Ravenclaw supporting Gryffindor, so scandalous"
"Don't even get me started" She replied, rolling her eyes. "Michael already gave an earful about the 'gross and washed out colors' I was wearing"
"That's why you always use teeth when you go down on him" I chuckled, turning my pumpkin juice into water.
"I might actually" Dorcas mumbled, putting her hand on her chin. "Speaking of the audacity of men"
"Scarlett" I was startled by the sound of my name, turning around to see James and Peter awkwardly standing in their uniforms.
"What?" I asked, furrowing my brows.
I had woken up in a sour mood. I wanted to sleep, I needed to sleep. I had to know more about the strange dream I had earlier. I was scared, I had never dreamt anything that realistic.
"Uhh, Wood wants us all to have a chat before the game" He gulped, avoiding my eyes.
"Is that all?" He only nodded, finally looking into my eyes, but I decided to be petty and look away. "Okay" I said, turning back around and continuing to eat. I looked at Marlene and Dorcas, who had their eyes glued behind me. I turned around to see that they were still there. "You're still here?"
"I just thought that, uhm, since because well, Wood said and I-" James stammered out, making absolutely no sense at all.
"Wood wants us there now" Peter interrupted, covering James mouth. "Excuse him, he's got foot in mouth syndrome"
"He might have foot in ass syndrome soon" I said, turning to the girls and rolling my eyes. "I'll see you guys after the game"
"Good luck, Scar" They both said, waving bye to me as I walked with the two boys out the Great Hall.
They were walking in front of me as I lingered behind. I didn't want to be near him. I was pissed, he had no right. How dare he kiss me and then act the way he is? He didn't even have the decency to tell me why.
They were mumbling to each other about who knows what, like little girls. Maybe I slept badly and should've prepared for this day, but I didn't care. Xavier had always told me it was okay to be mad, it was human nature.
"Can you two stop walking like you've got sticks ups your asses?" I scoffed, pushing in between, walking at a faster pace.
"Hey" James said, grabbing my forearm, turning me around and stopping us. His eyes were locked on mine, I gave in. "Peter, tell Wood we'll be right there, I forgot my broom" He said, not looking away, his broom in hand.
"You got it" Peter chuckled, the sound of his footsteps fading away.
"Can you let go?" I sternly said. His grip wasn't rough, If I wanted to, I could've easily pulled back. I didn't, I stayed in his grasp and I knew he knew this.
"You know you could just pull away" He chuckled, his eyes crinkling, his finger brushing my arm. "I'm sorry"
"Why?"
"For kissing you and ignoring you" He gulped, clearing his throat. "I thought we were pretending it didn't happen"
"You-" I blinked my eyes, looking at his chest. "Want to pretend it didn't happen?"
"I-" He paused, closing his eyes and breathing through his nose. "I know i'm not good enough for you"
I didn't say a word, only pulling my arm out of his grasp. That was a stupid excuse.
"Really? That's what we're going with?" I scoffed, crossing my arms.
"You have to understand that the only real experience I have is chasing after a girl who never liked me back" He explained, running a hand through his hair. I stayed quiet again, sighing and looking at his pleading eyes. "Can we please talk after the game?"
"Okay" I mumbled, his expression softening. "Let's go"
We walked over to the team in silence, both of our heads down.
"Finally" Wood scoffed, pushing James and I towards the rest of the team.
My mind was elsewhere as Wood gave a small speech and techniques on how we were going to play.
I liked quidditch, I loved it at one point. I was just depressed. My whole life was revolved around quidditch, my mom was once the Ravenclaw quidditch captain, showing me everything I knew. Xavier also had a lot to do with my love for quidditch. I used to see Xavier most days during the summer, playing quidditch out in the fields. He would always be up for it, no matter the time and date. I learned because of that. I knew that was our common ground.
"Now, I want everyone to prepare for the game of a lifetime" Samuel smiled, looking over at Melanie, who was obviously ignoring him and looking elsewhere. "Fifteen minutes until then - everyone prepare"
Everyone went into their own conversations, I was anxious. Quite frankly. I didn't want to talk to anyone.
"You okay, Wilde?" Fabian asked, walking over to me.
"Yeah" I casually said, shrugging my shoulders. "I only need five minutes - hold this" I smiled, handing him my broom and quickly walking off to the bathroom.
I needed water on my face and maybe an adderall. I quickly walked into a stall, dropping to the floor and vomiting down the loo.
"Gross" I muttered, flushing the toilet and leaning back against the wall, letting out a sigh. I ran a hand through my hair, wanting to rip it out, but hesitating.
Instead, I stood up and walked out. I washed my hands and splashed my face with water. I had two hands on each side of the sink, looking at the mirror, thinking I saw my mom. My eyes widened immediately, my body turning to see no one. I looked at the mirror and back where I thought I saw her.
What the fuck?
Was I suddenly losing my mind? Was it my turn to have the mental illness gene?
My train of thought was cut off when I heard girls laughter entering the bathroom.
Lily and Alice. Fucking great. In the midst of a psychotic breakdown, I had managed to find myself two other patients to bring with me to the psych ward.
They gave me a strange look and went about their business, redoing their makeup and retouching their hair. Laughter still coming out of their mouth when they looked at me.
I walked out, heading back to the quidditch team. I had a mixture of emotions and there was only one acceptable place to sort them out.
"Thank you" I said, coming up from behind Fabian and grabbing by broom.
"Everything good?" He asked, concerned written on his face.
"Y-yeah" I stammered, his gaze making me nervous. I couldn't help it, Fabian was handsome, maybe even beyond that.
He had a certain confidence to him, that made you think every word was a flirty comment. The other day he asked me to pass him a chicken breast - I thought that man wanted MY breast.
I loved it, sometimes. He was extroverted, always having multiple people around him, which is why when you did speak with him alone, it made it more special.
"You'll be fine" He softly assured, grabbing my shoulder. "If anything, stay behind me"
"Ok" I smiled, looking into his eyed. I felt confort, like I was actually going to be fine. "Thank you"
He only smiled, wrapping an arm around me, bringing me close. Wood came up to us, a hand on each one of our shoulders.
"Don't fuck this up" He said, eyes flickering between us. "Both of you are great, but please - these are my last games before I graduate"
"Right, so be rubbish" Fabian chuckled. "Relax"
"I know" Wood muttered, standing in front of the doors. "Ready?"
"Ready" Everyone chorused.
Fabian let go of me and went next to Wood. I looked at my shoes, closing my eyes and letting out a breath.
I heard the doors open, I looked up amd walked forward with the team. The cheers of the students on the benches were filling the air.
It wasn't sunny, the clouds were filling the sky. I think it was going to rain. I bumped into James while still looking up, determining the forecast.
"Careful, Angel" James chuckled, only turning his head back to glance at me.
"Sorry, I just fell from the sky" I sarcastically smiled, making him laugh a bit, turning forward.
I let out a quiet sigh, closing my eyes, thanking god, he can't see how red my face is right now because of the nickname.
Everyone went up into positions after Diggory and Wood shook hands. My grip was tight on the broom as I examined the team, putting my goggles over my eyes.
Amos was their seeker and captain. I had played against him once during the Christmas break and him and Xavier had won. I looked away when his eyes met mine, looking at the ground way below me. It was awkward between us, he didn't even show up to my grandpa's funeral or ask me about updates on Xavier.
The whistle blew, bringing me out of my trance, quickly searching for the snitch. I flew around and nothing. I looked for Amos, who was flying around aimlessly.
I sighed and looked down, remembering tryouts.
Nothing.
Thunder went off, rain pouring hard, my vision getting blurred. I heard my name getting screamed, I recognized that voice.
I flew near the crowd, seeing Marlene and Dorcas with umbrellas.
"What?" I screamed, my eyes not leaving the field.
"Look at me!" Dorcas yelled.
"Bitch, I AM NOT taking my eyes off th-"
"LOOK AT ME" Dorcas said more angrily, my head quickly snapping to look at her with squinted eyes. "Impervius" She said, wand in hand, pointing at my body.
My vision was clearer and my body felt dry. I smiled brightly at her, she knew I was grateful by the look on her face.
"I LOVE DORCAS MEADOWS" I screamed, flying off when I felt the snitch pass by my ear.
The snitch was in my eyesight, all I had to do was grab it. A simple task. I leaned forward, applying pressure, grabbing the snitch when suddenly my broom went upwards, sideways and down.
I didn't know what was happening, all I knew was that I was going to be sick. My grip was loosening as my broom moved uncontrollably.
Finally, I let go, falling on the hard ground. I felt an excruciating pain on my right shoulder, letting out a loud scream.
"Fuck" I groaned, laying on my back with my eyes tightly closed as I held my shoulder. I felt my eyes getting watery. "Fucking fuck" I repeated, holding the snitch with my other hand. I didn't want to open my eyes, feeling like the pain would be worse if I could see.
"It's okay, Scarlett" I heard an anxious voice whisper. It was James. I opened my eyes and looked at him, tears falling out. "Madam Pomfrey is coming"
"I caught the snitch" I painfully smiled at him, putting my hand in his and giving him the golden snitch.
"Fucking hell, Wilde are you alright?" Wood said, running over to us, along with the rest of the team. I didn't even notice the whole game had stopped and everyone was coming down to the field.
"She caught the snitch" James said, smiling at me in disbelief and then looking up at Samuel.
"W-wha, SHE CAUGHT THE SNITCH" He screamed, when James showed him the little golden ball.
Everyone started the cheer and I groaned, gripping my shoulder. James had suddenly forgotten about me and started to cheer, I couldn't blame him.
Madam Pomfrey soon came, every Gryffindor going crazy about the win and cheering for me as Madam Pomfrey yelled at everyone to back up.
I thought James would've been behind me throughout the chaos, but when I looked back, I saw Lily's lips touch his.
My broken shoulder didn't seem that painful anymore.