I yawned, slumping further into my compartment seat. I'm not even sure what it is, but I've always found comfort in the oddest of places. Harrison always complained that his seat was too 'mushy' or it wasn't soft enough, though he had always been the pickier twin of the two of us.
"Hadley!" Harrison groaned, poking me in the side, causing me to twitch, "Roger wanted to have a meeting with the team on the train! Let's go!"
"Git!" I muttered, wriggling away from him, "I'll meet you there in a moment, alright?"
"You better, Hads," he responded before slamming the compartment door shut.
"That seemed like unnecessary force," I grumbled. My exhaustion had finally set in from all the training this past summer, both mental and physical. The physical training was due to a goal my brother and I set for us. We were to train every day all summer for quidditch this coming year for our final year at Hogwarts. I then took it upon myself to do extensive studying for NEWTs. My inner-Ravenclaw took control for long hours.
My muscles ached as I forced myself up from my seat, stifling yet another yawn. I opened the compartment door, secretly hoping that no one would steal it from me in my absence. The air was freezing, making my muscles tighten up as I took a step out into the corridor of the train.
"Get back in the compartment!" a voice yelled, shoving me back into my compartment before slamming the door shut as well.
"What is with all the slamming today?" I whined, before getting a good look at my intruder. The familiarity was nauseating. "Wood? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"
"Coperton," he muttered gruffly, "I was—"
"Leaving?" I suggested. Wood was not my idea of a lovely person to hold company with. He was stubborn, obsessed with quidditch, obsessed with winning, and had the audacity to criticize my faulty areas after my matches…and practices. He was a git, to put it nicely, and his presence was anything but pleasant.
However, before he could leave as per my suggestion, the compartment got uncomfortably cold. The windows frosted over, and Wood and I's breath became visible. I shivered, noticing Wood clutching his arms tightly around him, likely in attempts to warm himself. That was when all of my good feelings began to disappear. A shadowy figure billowed outside of the compartment; tears welling up in my eyes froze on my face as I bit back the sob that wanted to escape.
I'll be the first to admit that the most embarrassing thing about me is the fact that I cry easily. I cry when I'm mad, or sad, or scared. I cry so freaking easily that it sickens even me. I did have my pride though, and even if I felt completely hopeless, I refuse to cry in front of Wood.
The figure left, and warmth returned to the area. I turned to Wood, wiping the water from my eyes to see that he was pale. And I mean really pale, along with trembling. I reached into my bag, pulling out a small white chocolate and mint candy and shoved it in his mouth. "It'll help."
The next order of business was to open the compartment door as Oliver chewed on the candy in his mouth. He better appreciate it—it's my absolute favorite candy. Rather pricey too, which was the unfortunate thing seeing as I wasn't exactly the wealthiest of witches. Sure, I could afford plenty of things, I just didn't want to blow all of my galleons on candy.
The whispering reached our compartment, and I knew Oliver would be sent over the edge when in the mix of 'dementors' and 'Sirius Black' came 'Harry Potter fainted'.
"Are you doing alright?" I asked, hoping he wasn't allergic to the candy, since Harrison was.
"My bloody seeker!" Oliver exclaimed, shoving me out of his way as he rushed out of the compartment and to wherever the hell Oliver Wood needed to be.
"I hope it kills you," I yelled after him, "Merlin, why do insist on being nice to people?"
Before much long, the compartment was intruded by a group of six, all yelling questions at me, including and not confined to "Are you okay?" and "Why were you yelling at Wood?"
I rolled my eyes. The rest of the team's worrying about me reminded me exactly why I chose to live with my father as opposed to my mother. "I'm fine, guys. Wood is being a git as usual. I'm fine."
"We decided to bring the meeting to you," Roger informed with a grin, "Harrison was hesitant about your attendance."
"Oh, it's because my compartment is prettier than yours," I retorted, crossing my arms and biting back a laugh.
"I agree," Cho piped up with a giggle, "The boys' smelled funny."
"That's because they haven't showered since the last match," I whispered and Cho laughed in a response.
"Hey now!" Harrison snapped, "I showered just this morning!"
"It was just a joke, HC," Cho insisted quietly, her laughter stopping. Cho was definitely the most shy on the team…and the new member, for she was hadn't gotten the entire family vibe from everyone. Probably because she was always hanging all over Diggory.
HC was my brother's nickname, since we couldn't really call him Harry without much confusion. There were nicknames for everyone on the team though, especially when we had an excellent practice, or an excellent match.
Harrison shook his head before Roger piped up, "Now down to business."
"Joy," Travis, one of the beaters, muttered sarcastically before slumping into the seat. The rest of the team followed in suit and I found myself sitting on the laps of Roger and Travis, since there wasn't enough room for me to sit.
Besides, it'd be awkward if I were to sit on just one of their laps.
"So I'm pretty sure that the only team with any real substitutions will be Hufflepuff. Their captain is Diggory, which means it is of the utmost importance that no one leaks any of our strategies to the other teams, right Cho?" Roger asked with bitterness in his voice. He had never been too keen about Cho and Diggory's sort-of relationship. I had never really indulged to know if they were dating.
"Stop singling her out," Vincent, the other beater, snapped, earning a glare from Roger, "It could be any of us. Not just her."
"Either way," Roger continued, "I refuse to allow our team to be compromised. We're family, so we look out for one another, right? Which means we all need to trust each other and have an equal amount of dedication, right?"
We all nodded in agreement. Just because Ravenclaws are best known for their smarts doesn't mean we don't have a love of the athletics either. In fact, the whole quidditch haze hit me hard, clouding my decisions for the future; thus making my final year at Hogwarts a potential hell and a half.
"So did any of you do any sort of training this summer?" Travis inquired suddenly and Harrison grinned.
"You guys remember the 'Welcome To Hell' training we did last year when Roger was a git about becoming captain?" Everyone nodded begrudgingly, except for Cho who had missed that oh-so-lovely patch in our lives. "Every day," Harrison said, "Hads and I."
"You got Hadley to train?" Mason sputtered, as everyone else fell silent. I scowled at the keeper.
"It was my idea, Hodges."
"Blimey," Mason exhaled.
"Who are you and what have you done to my best friend?" Roger asked laughing.
"Har har," I mocked, "Bet none of you losers trained this summer besides us."
The silence in the compartment made me grin triumphantly. I truly had missed these guys.