"E? E, are you still in there?" Beatrice's voice sounded from behind the bathroom door, but all Erin could hear were the thousand of thoughts screaming in her head. You should have expected this after last year. That's what you get when you let yourself fall in love with someone who doesn't love you back. You should've stopped it when you still had the chance.
That her quidditch move failed was the least of her worries. She felt such pain in her heart because he had broken her trust. The one guy that she had grown to like so much, the guy she had hung out with so much, the guy whom she trusted ... He had hurt her. She felt naive, betrayed and angry. And sad, sad too. Sad because in the back of her mind, she thought that she meant something to him too. But a stupid quidditch match meant more to him.
"Erin, seriously, I'm coming in!" Beatrice shouted and opened the door.
"Jezus Erin, are you trying to drown yourself?"
Erin sat on the ground, her arms wrapped around her knees, head down. Soaring hot water was still pouring down on her, filling the entire bathroom with steam. Beatrice turned off the water and tried to figure out what was wrong, but she had no clue. She took a large towel and wrapped it around her friend.
"Hey Erin, it's me, Beatrice." Erin looked up, tired and empty, which made Beatrice worry.
"Just give me a minute, I'll be out soon", Erin said, her voice hoarse from an upcoming cold.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Beatrice asked. Erin nodded, so Beatrice hesitantly left the bathroom. Erin pulled herself up, her muscles aching, and dried herself off. She wrapped her hair in the towel and quickly pulled on some pyjamas. She returned to her dormitory where a worried Beatrice was waiting. Erin could hear the cheers and laughs from downstairs' party.
"Pyjamas? Aren't you going to celebrate with us? We won", Beatrice asked.
"I'm not much in a mood to party", Erin sighed, drying her hair.
"Hey, please tell me what's wrong. I'm a little worried." Erin rubbed her face ignoring the headache that was settling in. She didn't really want to talk about it, but Beatrice was not going to leave without a proper answer.
"Wood saw me practice the Hawkshead Spiral Dive a couple weeks ago. He promised me he wouldn't tell his team about it", Erin said, trying her best to keep the tears in check. She was not going to cry over stupid Oliver Wood.
"But he did. Angelina knew exactly what to expect." Erin was getting worked up again. She tried to slow her breathing, but she just felt so betrayed.
"Hey, but we won. That was a dick move from Wood, but it didn't even pay off. We won." Erin shook her head. She didn't get it.
"I don't care about the move, B. I care that he broke a promise. I thought I was at least a friend." A lone tear rolled down Erin's cheek and she quickly wiped it away. She was not going to cry.
She thought she was at least his friend after how he helped her become captain, how she told him about her father, how they snuck out to spy on Slytherin together, how they always talked when they had the chance. But no, their friendship meant so little to him that a simple quidditch match was all it took to sacrifice it. She remembered what he had said when they were watching Slytherin practice. Let's promise that whatever happens during the game, whoever wins, we'll still be friends after? I guess that was a promise that Erin was going to break.
Beatrice pulled her into a hug, knowing that this was more about Erin's crush on Oliver than anything else. Unanswered love was something so very painful and she hated to see Erin go through it. Oliver had no idea what a beautiful girl he was pushing away.
"Hey, come on, dry your tears", Beatrice said, knowing that Erin just needed a distraction at the moment.
"Are you a girl that cries over a stupid boy? I don't think so." Erin wanted to protest, but Beatrice didn't let her.
"No, I don't think so! You're a strong, independent woman and if Oliver Wood decides to be an actual dickhead, then he can shove his quidditch up his arse!" Erin couldn't help but laugh at Beatrice's excessive use of profanities.
"You're nuts", she smiled.
"And you are an incredible team captain who has an entire, proud quidditch team waiting for her downstairs. Put on something nice and come sip some Firewhiskey with me."
"You got Firewhiskey? How?" Beatrice wiggled her eyebrows, indicating that Erin didn't even want to know.
"I'd rather go to bed, B, I'm t-"
"Erin Evans, get your gorgeous butt up and go get yourself some eye candy downstairs. NOW!" Beatrice extended her hand and looked at Erin so intensely she just had to give in after a while.
Erin pulled on a pair of jeans and a thin, white jumper. She dried and brushed her hair and even put on a little bit of makeup to hide the dark circles.
As she came down from her dorm, the Hufflepuffs cheered for her, still celebrating their win. Although Erin was not in the most cheerful mood, she knew this was what she needed. A little confidence boost and enough small talk so she didn't have to think about other things. Beatrice knew exactly how to help her best friend. She was so grateful to have her.
"Aha, our star captain finally makes an entrance. Didn't know you were the "Fashionably late" type", Michael joked as he handed her a drink. The quidditch team had gathered around the fire and although the win felt a little dubious because of Harry's attack, Madame Hooch was right. Dementors or not, Cedric would've caught the snitch first anyway, meaning that they had won fairly.
"Guys," Erin said, raising her drink. The common room got quiet. "I want to propose a toast to our incredible team. With such weather conditions and such a good competitor, I just want you to know that I'm proud of you! And now let's get that Quidditch Cup!" Everyone clapped loudly and the party atmosphere amplified.
"Well well, great speech", Anthony said as he sat down besides her.
"Great team", Erin smiled. They really had played well today. There were points to improve, points that she would note that in her quidditch notebook tomorrow, but they didn't matter today. Today they were great.
"I knew you'd do well as captain. We might actually have a shot at the cup this year, or at least second place", Anthony said.
"I hope so. As long as Slytherin doesn't get it, I'm pleased."
"Well, Gryffindor probably won't now. I suppose Wood has entered a state of depression now." Just hearing his name made her tense up. Not now, Erin thought as she repeated Beatrice's words in her head. There was no room for Oliver Wood tonight.
"Come on Anthony, let's dance." She grabbed Anthony's hand and pulled him up to where the rest of the house was jumping around. Beatrice handed Erin her flask and Erin took a gulp. The liquid burned in Erin's throat and she didn't even like alcohol, but she just wanted to numb the pain for a little while.
"That's disgusting", she coughed before taking another gulp. She wasn't planning on getting drunk, just a little buzzed.
"Well, you seem in a party mood", Anthony chuckled as he twirled her around.
"We deserve it, don't we? It's been years since we won from Gryffindor!" Erin had never won against their team in the past three years, but this time they had pulled it off and she had been captain.
"Does that mean you're slowing down on practices for a while?" Anthony smirked. They had practiced five times in the week before the match, which was a little excessive. She would slow down to about three a week, but they didn't have to know yet.
"Are you kidding me? We have to prepare for our match against Ravenclaw. But enough quidditch, I want to dance!"
"Never thought I'd hear you say that."
Even though Erin hadn't expected this at all, she did have fun that night. She barely thought of Oliver and when she did, Anthony did a great job at distracting her again. She knew that she had to get rid of her feelings for Oliver as soon as possible as he could just be the key to it. She liked him, but there were no butterflies yet, no nerves and no urge to be around him all the time. But feelings could grow, right?