Entry for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Season 5, Round 13 - Wigtown Wanderers vs Chudley Cannons

Position: Keeper

Prompt: King: Write about a character who needs defending.

The chess piece MUST be used somewhere in your story, as either an object or word.

Word Count: 2,650 words

Betas: DinoDina

Entry for the Musical Category Competition

Chicago: All That Jazz - Write about a night out in the town.

A Wild Night

Saturday nights always filled the side streets of Diagon Alley with wizards and witches looking for a fun time with their friends in one of the many pubs and clubs, but tonight it was hard to move at all, the cobblestones crowded by a celebrating mass of people. Only a few hours ago, the final of the British and Irish Quidditch League had ended with a spectacular win for the Wigtown Wanderers, and naturally the fans wanted to celebrate the victory and maybe sneak another look at their idols. Excitement seemed to pulse in the air and it was one big party, where all the worries of the world were wiped from everyone's minds for a few hours. Laughter and chants of the team's hymn mingled with the various kinds of music coming from the different pubs.

All of them were packed, making it almost impossible to find a seat, let alone a table, but nobody really seemed to care.

Of course word had travelled fast that the Wigtown Wanderers were having their own private party at 'The Wild Broom' with sponsors and their families and there were quite some creative attempts to get past the bumpers the pub had organised quickly.

Inside the pub, nobody really noticed these things; the players were too busy partying themselves, drinking and dancing or just sitting together talking. All their hard work had paid off and they were eager to celebrate it, shaking off the stress and the pressure of the last weeks at the same time. For tonight, they were the kings and queens of Quidditch.

At the bar, the three chasers, who'd by no doubt put up the best performance of the night, were taking a shot together to acknowledge their impeccable teamwork, though Silas Briar couldn't help but roll his eyes when Katie Bell and Marcus Flint started arguing the second the liquor was down their throats. "You almost got us penalised, Flint! Seriously, why can't you just control yourself and not produce body contacts that are too close to the line?"

"Bell, Quidditch is a contact sport!" Marcus growled in a lame attempt to justify the behaviour she was referencing, fully well aware that it was bound to get him in trouble some day – but he was unwilling to admit that she was right. Katie simply shook her head, shot him a short glare and dropped the subject, taking a sip of her drink. They'd had this argument too often for her to think that she could actually change the mind of this stubborn troll.

"But y'know, it's cute how you worry about me."

A smirk lifted the corners of his mouth as Marcus edged a tiny bit closer to Katie, cocking his head in an attempt to catch her eye again. His words had the desired effect – Katie's head shot up and her glass almost spilled over from the force with which she put it down on the bar. "I don't worry about your sorry arse being kicked off the pitch, Flint, I worry about the team. We're all in trouble if your behaviour is seen as a grave foul!"

"It's okay, Bell, you can admit it," he teased and bumped his shoulder into hers. "It must be hard to act like you don't like me."

"I don't act like I don't like you! I find you annoying, Flint!"

Her brown eyes were full of fire and that only seemed to encourage him, knowing that she would react to whatever he would come up with. Silas rolled his eyes and grabbed his drink, taking the intensified tension between them as his cue to leave – when would these two finally act on the sexual tension that was obviously between them, growing with every argument they got into? The whole team, even the most clueless ones, had noticed by now and were annoyed because these two simply couldn't admit that they liked each other.

"You always say that. Sounds like you've practiced that in front of the mirror."

"Why can't you just stop talking for a few minutes?" Katie grumbled at him, taking a sip of her drink and turning her head away from him, frustration rushing through her veins. Her movement was just in time to make it possible for her to see how the door to the pub opened; for the brief seconds it took for two bulky silhouettes to slip inside, she could hear the excited screams of fans rising as sudden as a tsunami wave and even a few cameras flashed, making her vision a little blurry. She'd never been comfortable about all the attention she got as a professional Quidditch player, making it almost impossible to go somewhere without being recognised and photographed. Marcus, on the other hand, definitely liked to be in the spotlight and she didn't have to turn around to know that he'd been waving. Luckily, the door was closed again almost immediately, restoring the privacy in the pub, and Katie turned back to face him.

"You're such an attention whore, Flint. You would do anything for a place on the front page."

Her words didn't hit him at all; if any, they encouraged him – something everyone around them was used to, and they assumed that she was doing it on purpose. Smirking, Marcus leaned down to whisper into her ear: "I know you kept the Quidditch Today issue with my nude shoot photos."

She looked almost caught, battling to keep her expression under control, but before she could open her mouth to give a snide reply denying she'd ever seen the photos – she had – and that she hadn't an own copy of said issue – she had – let alone kept it – she had – someone behind them growled: "So here you are, Flint, you bastard."

Katie and Marcus both straightened their backs and turned their heads at the same time, directing their attention to the two men that suddenly stood next to them. A wave of hostility seemed to hit them together with the dark, grim stares of the two tall, muscular men, and Katie raised her eyebrow when she recognised them as the Keeper and Chaser of the team they'd defeated only a few hours ago. Their anger hadn't been hidden when the game had ended with the phenomenal catch of the Wanderers' seeker, but nobody had expected them to seriously act on it. Showing up here made the two Chasers realise that this was serious and at least Katie thought that they had to be cautious in this situation.

Marcus, though, didn't seem to share her opinion of the situation; it probably was the alcohol and the euphoria of the victory that made him smirk at the two men cockily. "Well, well, gentlemen, have you finally decided to congratulate us?"

She couldn't keep herself from rolling her eyes about Marcus, asking herself if he seriously couldn't smell the reek of alcohol coming from the two men and feel the aggression that was radiating from them. But then he'd never had much finesse in dealing with people, especially not with opponents where you had to watch your every word. Or maybe he was just feeling overly confident tonight, reassured by the victory and thinking that he was undefeatable.

"You think you're a great dude, huh? You cheating arsehole, you think you can get away with fouling our Seeker just because the referee didn't see it?"

Marcus started laughing almost immediately, loudly and almost hysterically, as if he couldn't believe how ridiculous their words were. "Oh, come on, seriously, guys?"

"You almost knocked him off his broom, you fucking troll!"

The slightly taller of the two inched closer; he was even taller than Marcus, allowing him to glare down at him, and he looked like he wasn't afraid of a physical confrontation. His buddy was right behind him, backing him up, and Katie rolled her eyes, grumbling "Men" under her breath – she could feel the testosterone and wondered why they always had to enforce the clichés.

"You think you can't be touched, huh, Flint? We'll teach you a lesson. You're a mediocre player."

"Guys, seriously, stop this. You're all drunk, we should just all mind our business and forget today. It was a messy game…" Katie started diplomatically, stepping between the tall men in an attempt to calm the situation down, but she didn't even get to finish her sentence.

"Shut up, Bell. Do you need a girl to defend yourself, Flint?"

"Keep your beautiful mouth shut if you're not on your knees and let the men talk."

"Leave her out of this," Marcus growled, pushing Katie behind his back with surprising gentleness, but of course that didn't help her annoyance at all. She'd kind of expected them to ignore her, though there'd been a glimmer of hope inside of her that they would listen to her.

"How sweet. I thought you were enough of a coward to hide behind your little friend here. After all, you're not even able to admit how little you care about fair play," the Keeper taunted and Katie could see how Marcus tensed, the words of the men hitting their intended target effectively. She didn't know why, but they bothered her too, even though they weren't directed at her. Sure, their sexist dismissal of her was making her furious, but the way they were making fun of Marcus moved something inside her too, a little as if they were accusing her along with Marcus.

In this moment, she tried to tell herself that it was because they were claiming that someone of her teammates was dishonest, not because it was Marcus they were being hostile towards.

"I'm not afraid of facing you two. But do you have the balls to take this outside, just us three?" Marcus answered challengingly and Katie threw him a glance of disbelief that he didn't even notice.

"Don't be stupid, Marcus," she whispered, but he didn't seem to hear her, all his concentration on the two men who kept poking him, provoking him. He indeed looked ready to go outside with them and her mind started spinning at the thought. Marcus maybe was a tall and strong man and she guessed that he knew how to win a fist fight, but this situation would be two against one. Additionally, they were both taller than him and she was convinced that he wouldn't be able to stand a chance against them. He couldn't win this fight, and maybe he knew that too, but it didn't hold him back. Showing weakness was something he'd probably been punished for as a child, and that had stayed with him.

Katie knew that she had to do something, prevent something worse than a hurt ego from happening, no matter how much she hated that he couldn't take care of staying out of situations like this himself. She hated herself for being offended on his behalf as well – as if he'd ever done something to deserve that! He kept teasing her whenever he wanted, especially after moments that made him almost look like a decent person, and it was fucking annoying.

But then, he was her teammate. He was her partner on the pitch, the one who'd helped her prepare many a goals.

And as they kept calling him a liar, she couldn't ignore them. They hit her too, hurting, stinging.

Katie didn't have a problem with her temper.

Normally.

But tonight, she couldn't keep herself in check anymore; for a moment, everything seemed to slow down and she became overly aware of what was happening inside her. The men kept taunting Marcus, fueling his anger and his hands clenched into tight fists, ready to strike, but that was nothing in comparison to the hot, thick rage boiling inside Katie. She'd never experienced such extreme feelings, not even during the worst insults the Slytherins had hauled at her at school. And with them being new to her, she was unable to control their intensity.

She was surprised with herself when everything spilled over and her body seemed to move on autopilot; before she – or anybody else for that matter – could react, her arm had already shot upwards, her fist making contact with the guy's chin. Next to her, she could actually hear Marcus gasp but her mind didn't really register in the daze of fury.

"Fuck the hell off and get better at Quidditch, you pathetic arseholes! Flint maybe isn't the fairest of them all but he didn't cheat!" she spat at the men, who looked sufficiently intimidated despite her being almost two heads smaller than them. Maybe it was because they hadn't expected her to be so courageous – or dumb, as Marcus would call it, ever sceptic of the Gryffindor bravery – but the fact that her yelling at them had drawn the attention of almost everyone in the pub seemed more likely to be the root of their distress. And so it was safe to assume that the reason why they suddenly ducked their heads and hurried out of the pub was that the two Beaters had risen from their chairs, ready to back Katie and Marcus up.

For a moment, it was almost completely quiet in the pub, the sound of the door banging shut resounding loudly, but then the conversations and the music returned as fast as they'd died down earlier and Katie released a breath, shaking her head in disbelief before downing the rest of the drink that she'd been nursing. Marcus stayed frozen on his spot for a few more seconds, obviously needing longer to process what had just happened, then he blinked and slowly, a smirk started to light up his rough features. "Wow, Bell, you got no idea how hot that was. You punching that guy… and I mean, you respecting me enough to think I wouldn't actually cheat. I'm strangely flattered. And turned on."

"Shut your mouth, Flint. You owe me a drink for keeping you from doing something stupid. Two of them against one. They would have killed you in an instant," Katie grumbled, signaling the barkeeper that she wished another drink, while hoping that Marcus would drop the topic.

"But the drinks are free for us tonight, Bell. And you just defended me. You like me, you can admit it now, I mean, this was obvious."

"You don't even realise how dumb you were behaving!" Katie exclaimed, frustration swinging in her voice as she glared up at him. "You're such an idiot!"

A smirk made Marcus' dark eyes sparkle as he leaned towards her, winking before whispering into her ear huskily: "You want me to be your idiot."

"You're way too convinced of yourself, Flint. I prefer the magazine version of you, it's always so wonderfully quiet," she answered confidently, looking up at him, and he grinned playfully.

"I can be quiet if you want, Bell. You want me to tell you during which activity?"

His words almost made Katie drop her drink and she hated her body for reacting in a way that she couldn't control. "Never thought you were much of a giver."

"Oh, I can give you all you want," Marcus murmured, his warm breath tickling her skin while he grabbed his drink. "I think I'll go to the backroom now, I need a break from all the hustle. Follow me if you're curious enough."

Katie could barely keep her jaw from dropping as he walked away with quite some swagger in his step and she forced herself to stay in her spot a moment longer, even though her decision had already been made.