A week after that little fiasco with Slytherin, it was finally time to play against them. What Florence didn't tell anyone was that as the game grew closer, her confidence as captain started to falter. When she woke up on the day of the game, she felt as though she had to hurl out last night's dinner in nervousness.
She woke up extra early, nonetheless, running around and making sure that all her players were set, like a jittery mother hen. Nicolai and Xander had to hunt her down at some point, bringing her sandwiches from the Great Hall, since she had forgotten entirely that breakfast was a thing.
"Come on, Flo, it's just a sandwich," Xander said wearily as he sat on one of the locker room benches, Florence double checking on everyone's gear as a way to pour out her angst. "If you're anything like Nic, you'll be able to gobble it down in less than ten seconds."
"Hey," Nicolai scoffed, elbowing the blonde boy, "I'm right here, you know."
"Yeah? So?" he said pointedly, before averting his attention back to his jittery best friend, "Florence Magdalene Price. You have to eat. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"If I eat that, will you two leave me in peace and shut up?"
"No promises." he flashed her a cheeky grin, before handing it to her. She sat down beside him, unwrapping it from the paper napkin before taking a bite. Nicolai couldn't help but stare at Florence's hair, noticing that it was touching the seat as she sat, "It's gotten real long."q
She chuckled, "I know. I'll probably get a haircut next summer before my Auror training starts. Julien says long hair would get in the way."
"What if she got a buzzcut, or shaved off all of her hair?" Xander said, "Would you still be her friend, Nic?"
"Ofcourse I would." She said almost immediately, "I dont care what her hair looks like..." Nicolai paused, leaning closer to Florence to whisper, "But seriously, though, it would be better if you didn't."
"I'm obviously not going to. Craft that into a prank to scare you, potentially, yes... But I love my hair too much."
"I'm going to try to remember this evil ploy of yours so you won't catch me off guard when you do it."
"Mm, we all know you'll only remember it up until the next exciting thing happens. You're welcome to try, though."
Florence stuffed the last bit of the sandwich into her mouth, before dusting the crumbs off of her lap and getting up, "Do you think it'll be really windy today? Ivy easily gets bothered with it blowing into her face too hard... Maybe I should go and borrow a couple pairs of those goggles from Madame Hooch's equipment storage..."
"Weather looks fine," said Nicolai, "Seriously, Flo, there's nothing you have to worry about...apart from Slytherin inflicting serious injuries on one of your teammates..."
"Not helping." Florence gave her a look.
"Just putting it out there."
"What Nic is trying to say is you'll do fine. You practiced, trained your team, and all you have to do left is wait for these next few hours to sail by, then kick ass at your game."
She flopped her arms back down to her sides, letting out a loud huff, "You're right. I'm just stressing myself out."
"Right. Okay. Let's head back to the castle then, yeah? We have...about four hours of de-stressing to do and lunch to eat."
The two beckoned her out the door, chatting animatedly about anything at all as they made their way indoors, in order to distract her thoughts from her worries.
Unfortunately, four hours sailed by so fast that she found herself caught up in her web of anxiety in a blink of an eye. As Nicolai and Xander indulged themselves in the lunch food, she ate quickly, before slipping back out into the field again
She had been extra early at the changing room, her heart pounding audibly against her chest as she sat in her complete gear. The realization that it was going to be her first game as team captain, instantly made her doubt the preparations she had done with her team. Maybe she gave them too much free time? Maybe she dismissed practices really early? Maybe she didn't push them enough?"
"Are you good to go, Captain?" asked a familiar voice from behind her, snapping her out of her self doubting thoughts. She smiled as she swiveled around to find Fred, who was casually leaning against the door frame.
Florence made her way over to him, Fred immediately wrapping his arms around her small frame, her head snuggling against his chest, as though anxiety could not get to her when his arms were circled protectively around her.
"I feel like I'm going to wee myself of nervousness out there." she mumbled, Fred chuckling as he stroked her hair, gently running his fingers through it, "You'll be fine, love, I swear. And if any of those bastard Slytherins try anything against you they'll have me to face."
Florence lifted her head up, laughing, "Oh shut it, you tosser. What? You're going to beat them to a pulp and get yourself into detention again?" she snorted, "I'd rather that you wouldn't."
He rolled his eyes at her, "I'm trying to play the part of a protective boyfriend here, the least you could do is go with it, you know." he feigned an offended look.
She stood on her toes, giving him a small peck on the lips, "And that is why I love you."
"I love you too." said Fred, kissing her once more.
"Okay, okay, the changing room is definitely a no PDA zone, things could get heated if you two are left alone longer." groaned a voice. The two broke apart hastily to find Roger and the rest of the team—and also George, a feigned grimace on the ex captain's face. "You done snogging our captain, Weasley?" he asked, making Jeremy laugh in amusement.
"Sod off, Davies." scowled Florence.
"Yeah, mate." said George with a snort, "Are you, perhaps, jealous of their smooch? Would you want to reenact with me?" he joked, puckering his lips suggestively as Roger shoved him away, his cheeks flaring as Cho giggled.
"Oh you two would make a great couple!" gushed Florence, only deepening Roger's severely emphasized scowl. "I'm straight, you ninny,". Jeremy looked slightly uncomfortable at his declaration, a strained look on his face.
"Come on enough squabbling... Capt, we have a game to play!" Jeremy said eventually, a grin now replacing his once glum expression
Florence rolled her eyes at her teammates, "Fine, fine, Fred's leaving—" she stood on her toes to kiss her boyfriend once more, the rest groaning in annoyance. "Out, out I say!" yelled Roger as soon as they broke apart, leading Fred and George out of the changing rooms, an amused look on Florence's face.
"Okay!" Florence clapped, as soon as their visitors were out of earshot. "Get changed. We obviously can't play a game without gear! Some have tried but I tell you it'll feel better to be properly dressed when we bring Slytherin down to the ground."
The team left the locker room early to get a bit of fresh air and to stretch, when Montague happened past Florence, and she wondered whether or not it was exhausting to look as unnecessarily smug as he did all the time.
"I heard Madame Pomfrey's been stocking up on skelegrow. Convenient, don't you think?" he teased, before sauntering away.
Florence managed to catch hold of Montague before he was able to walk any further, yanking him back with the hem of his emerald green robe.
"You see my Keeper?" she gestured to Ivy, who stood a distance away, helping Owen fasten his gear as they chatted animatedly. Montague frowned, "Yeah, she's new. Why? Here to gloat about how that puny little girl is better than she looks?"
"I don't have to gloat on her behalf." she retorted, "Ivy can show you what she's capable of when we beat you today."
Graham laughed, "Yeah, a little bit too confident, Price."
"Well I'm just going to warn you beforehand," a dead serious look dawned on Florence's face, fist clenched tighter around the fabric of his robes. "My Keeper is twelve years old, she is very young. And if you even think about pulling that dirty little trick that Flint did with Cho, on her, or on any of my teammates, don't be surprised if I come after your ass."
She released him. "And good luck. May the best team win."
With one last stare down, Florence sashayed back to where her team was waiting for her, putting on a smile as she neared them.
Cho looked at her oddly, "What was your chat with Graham Montague all about?"
"Florence you had better not done anything stupid," Roger said worriedly, "Remember what happened to the Gryffindor team."
"It's fine. I didn't do anything bad." she reassured him, "We just...talked. And nothing bad will happen to him as long as he doesn't ignore my warnings."
Slowly, people started filling the stands, green and blue prominent on opposite sides. With Madame Hooch's whistle, they marched over to the middle of the pitch, Florence eyeing Montague fiercely as they were instructed to shake each other's hand. Another whistle rang out into the open pitch, which signaled the commencing of the game.
Lee's commentary started blasting out the moment they took to the skies, but Florence was too set on catching the Quaffle to focus much on it. She swerved her firebolt around, catching the Quaffle
and speeding away once it was securely wrapped around an arm.
She dodged a speeding bludger sent by Goyle, seeing Pucey and Warrington tail her sharply. Fortunately, Anthony was able to knock one of them off course as he sent a bludger to hit the back of Pucey's broom rougly, making him jerk sideways. Clutching the ball in one hand, she threw it as hard as she could, the Quaffle sailing into one of the hoops with ease.
Cheers erupted from Ravenclaw's side of the bleachers, their first point to be followed by four more consecutive wins, until Jeremy's grip slipped, the Quaffle falling into the hands of Montague, who managed to get it through Ivy guarding the posts.
"First score by Slytherin." Jordan chimed in a bored tone as the Slytherin side of the stands cheered, "Honestly, who cares, though? Ravenclaw is leading with 50 points! GO RAVENCLAW!"
The Slytherins booed, and for a slight minute Florence turned to find Lee bowing gracefully from the stands. This made her smile, before she snatched the Quaffle from Warrington's mid pass to Pucey, and sped towards the other side of the pitch. She threw the ball to Roger, who caught it just in time, giving him a split second to dodge the bludger that was barreling his way.
Bletchley was waiting for Roger to make his move as he closed in on the Bludger zone. He mimed a throw at the Keeper, before tossing it over to Jeremy who made the goal. The Ravenclaws went wild, now being fifty points ahead of Slytherin.
Cho's search for the snitch was still fruitless, and judging from the fact that Draco was only depending on her, he wasn't much use as well.
"You've lost your touch, Chang." Draco snickered as he flew closer around her. Cho frowned at the blonde boy, swerving her broom away to ignore him, "By now you would have already found that snitch."
She turned to him, "Yeah? Atleast I actually find the snitch like I'm supposed to, and not just try to steal it from someone at the last minute and fail like some pathetic, dysfunctional wannabe Seeker."
He scowled, "You'll say that now. But when I win I'm going to make you cry as hard as you did when your pathetic little Hufflepuff boyfriend got himself blasted."
It felt as though someone had stabbed her, and was continuously twisting the knife in to the wound. She suppressed her pain, knowing full well that it would only give him the reaction he was hoping for.
Suddenly, she spots a tiny glimmering object zipping in the air. She found it.
Cho sent a challenging look his way, "You're all words and no action, Malfoy. Why don't you come prove it?" she said, before taking off after the snitch.
Florence, meanwhile, was having the time of her life, constantly stealing the ball and making goals. The Slytherins managed to make a total of 4 goals, which was still not enough to beat Ravenclaw's 80 points. This pissed Montague off, and more so when it was announced that Cho had caught the Snitch, closing the scores into 330 to 40.
One minute Florence was up there, nothing but a blue and silver blur as she made a victory lap with her team. For someone who was nervous for her first game as captain, Fred and George thought that she did very well in suppressing her nervousness while they watched the whole game unravel from the stands. They had a solid lead against Slytherin, and it was a victory well achieved.
Nicolai screamed a scream that was probably enough to start a stampede in the wilderness of Africa, whereas Fred remained composed, clapping and cheering for his girlfriend's team as George did the same thing. Almost half of the Ravenclaw population made their way down the stands, Fred starting down the bleachers as Florence started descending from the sky.
Until she was harshly knocked out on the head by a bludger, making her body tumble a few good feet down, crashing against the muddy grass.
Fred had never ran as fast as he did in that moment, almost tripping on his feet in the process. George tried and kept up with his brother, also genuinely concerned about Florence's wellbeing.
He had arrived just in time, Florence's head was now resting on Alexander's lap—as he and Nicolai were a few of the people who went down the bleachers first. Her eyes were fluttering open and close as Fred got down to his knees, putting a hand on her cheek, "Florence? Can you hear me?"
"I...I think...I think...my head....hit by...bludger." she managed to mumble, "Yeah, you did get hit. It was that bastard Montague..." Fred muttered, a murderous look on his face.
"I...told him..n-not to p-pull any stunts." she said, being as angry as she could muster. "I-I'm going to kick...his a-ass."
This made him chuckle, "It's okay, love, you'll get to kick his ass soon. We just gave to get you to the Hospital wing, yeah? Stay awake for us?"
Florence could barely make out a clear version of his face, only a blur of ginger hair as she fought to keep her eyes open. But it was too much, the throbbing pain as she laid on the mud. The words that people uttered also started to blur out, and she couldn't hear anything coherently. Despite her greatest efforts, pitch black consumed her vision.
-
She woke up in a familiar white room, with two redheads looming down at her as if she was a corpse in a casket. Florence could hear their relieved sighs and words as soon as she managed to slowly flutter her eyes open. "Thank Merlin. She's awake, she's awake you guys!" Fred said, and soon both Nicolai, Alexander, Cho and Roger Davies were looming over her as well.
Florence slowly sat upright, and if she wasn't currently suffering from severe headache, Fred slowly helping her up.
"How are you feeling, Florence?" asked Alexander, a genuinely worried look on his face.
Florence frowned at the lot of people, causing a sudden confusion to spread among them, "I'm not trying to offend you, and I do hope you take it well..." Florence started, her eyes moving from person to person.
"But...who are you guys, exactly?"