Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 7.
Round : Round 1—Snake Humour
Team : Puddlemere United
Position : Chaser #3
Task : Write about a canonly stubborn character faced with insurmountable odds.
Prompts : 14. (Quote) "I I had a knut for everytime (_) said that." [Main]
9. (Word) Expectations. [Additional]
Word Count : 1105
Hermione looked at the red headed witch sitting across her at the table leaning back in her chair, which was precariously close to toppling over, with a frown. Ginny had been lagging behind with her homework for the past few days, finishing essays at the last possible moment and skating through classes distractedly, much like right then, zoning out and staring into nothingness.
"Ginny," she called out softly, not wanting to disturb the silence of the library.
The witch in question seemed to not have heard her, and continued to rock on the two hind legs of her chair.
"Ginny?" she tried again, a little louder.
Still no response.
"Ginny!"
Her voice was louder than normal, and it managed to startle Ginny into losing her balance and crashing into the floor loudly. She could barely help Ginny up and apologize before Madam Pince was glaring daggers and shooing them out.
She apologized again once they were safely out of the Library and making their way towards the Gryffindor common room. Ginny only nodded as she rubbed her head, grimacing.
Hermione gave her friend a sideways glance.
"What's up with you anyway?"
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked her, not really looking at her.
"You've been acting strange, lately. You lag behind in homework, and you you weren't listening to me when I was telling you the points you need to include in your potions essay."
"I was," Ginny protested as she begin to climb into the portrait hole.
Hermione climbed in after her and raised a single eyebrow at her, a look that told her very clearly to spill. The redhead dumped her school satchel into a stuffed chair and sank down into it, throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling.
"Ginny …" Hermione began again.
"It's Quidditch." Ginny cut her off, her shoulders sagging. She lifted her head and looked at the older girl who was sitting beside her now and sank back down.
"It's Quidditch," she said again. "I want to play for the Quidditch team as a chaser. I am a decent seeker, but I really want to chase, because that's where the game really is, you know? and I'm good at it! I've practiced by myself for hours back home and I want to be in the team as a chaser, except the Gryffindor Quidditch team never holds tryouts for the entire team, just to replace the members who leave after their NEWTs, and now it's because of that absolute cow banning the twins and Harry from playing …"
"But you're already on the team. Maybe you could talk to Angelina about it and sort this out?" Hermione suggested.
"I have! I had talked to her about wanting to play as soon as the year started. She assured me that they would hold tryouts and if I were good I'd get on the team, and I have now, but only because Harry has gotten himself banned from playing"
"What happened when you talked to Angelina?"
"We'll give you the position if you are really good. Honestly, if I had a knut for every time a captain say that to me … I've been asking Wood and now Angelina for three years now, but … and now it's not even as if I can ask her to make me a chaser instead because the chasers already on the team are really good and old shots, whereas there really isn't a good seeker in the entire house at this point, so even if I were to play as a chaser, we'd be seriously compromising the seeker position. It'd probably cost us the Quidditch Cup."
Ginny sat up and looked at Hermione with a frown.
"I want to play Quidditch professionally, you know, because I really cannot see myself doing anything else later in life. Mum really doesn't let me play Quidditch back home because she thinks it's more of a game for boys, and the boys don't let me play with them either because they think I'm made of glass or something. Honestly, I don't know what my family expects from me, or what they think I'm going to do with my life. Can't they see that I really like playing? I have a poster of Gwenog Jones in my bedroom back at home. I have practiced secretly at night when everyone was asleep, and they don't let me play!" she let out a long and suffering sigh.
"You know, I had always been very excited to come to Hogwarts because I had expected a fair chance at playing here. I would get a real chance to fly. I would be able to show people how good I am and what I can do. I used to be so sure that I'd get into the team, I used to imagine scenarios in which I had won them the game, but NO. I get on when there is an emergency and as a seeker. I cannot bother the team right now, but I don't know if I will actually get a fair chance ever because the chasers don't leave for a long time and when they are gone, the reserves call shots first." she leaned back and took a deep breath, which she let out slowly. She looked at her companion then, who was listening to her intently.
"You must think all of this to be pretty silly, huh?" she asked.
Hermione shook her head vehemently. "Of course not! I think it's awful that you are not getting a fair chance and that you cannot do anything about it. It is absolutely awful. You're talented. You should get to play. It's simple really, but sadly the world doesn't understand simple. They somehow cannot digest the idea of a rank based on merit. I know how you feel."
"Listen," she said after a pause. "Umbridge teaches Defence. That position is cursed anyway so she won't even be here the next year, and with her gone, her hopeless ban would be lifted too. And Angelina's leaving next year too, so there'd be an empty chaser position that would need filling. You could talk to the next Captain, either Katie or Harry and tell them to hold complete tryouts, okay? If not, go talk to Professor McGonagall, okay? She loves Quidditch."
She poked Ginny in the stomach and she squirmed, giggling. "Cheer up!" Ginny poked her back.
"Thanks for listening, Hermione, really, I appreciate it."
Hermione waved her off, "It's what friends do. Now," she said in a sterner voice "about that potions essay … I expect you to listen this time."
Ginny tickled her again.