For the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Prompt was Women's History: Influential Queer Women Task One; Write about someone having to prove themselves in a work environment.
Angelina Johnson, newest chaser for the Appleby Arrows.
She marvelled at the words that lay in front of her, stunned that everything was falling into place during a time where she thought nothing could go her way. It had been a rough couple months; filled with heartbreak and grief and a hopelessness that she was certain would never pass. After the war she was certain that any chance she had of living a normal life was over. That she wasn't allowed happiness anymore.
But now here she was, living out the dream that she had had since she was a child. Quidditch was her passion, her will for living and the fact that it was now her profession made her heart flutter with excitement.
She stared out the window of her London flat, watching the rain pour down as she thought about her future. She was feeling a mixture of emotions; worried if she was still good enough to play professionally and scared about whether she was about to let anyone down. Most of all though she was happy, happy and hopeful in a way she hadn't been in years.
This was the start of her new life, a life where she took control of her dreams instead of waiting for someone else to decide her fate for her.
This was her time and nothing was going to get in her way, she was sure of it.
Angelina's first thought when she walked into the Arrows' locker room was that it was messy. Messy though was a major understatement, chaotic and terrifying was probably a better description.
The smell of sweat filled the cramped chambers and random socks and other undergarments were left lying on the floor around her. It was disgusting. As she continued walking down the thin corridors glancing at her soon-to-be teammates she came to another horrifying realisation. She was the only girl. In the whole room. Possibly on the whole team. She was the only girl playing for the Appleby Arrows on a professional scale.
What the fuck?
And all that realisation did was make her nerves more pronounced and her fears more relevant. Because what if she did screw up? She was here representing a whole gender and that left a lot of room for screw ups, something she just couldn't afford this early in her career.
The idea of starting on a whole new team was difficult enough to deal with but paired with the stench and the overwhelming chatter and the fact that on the whole team she was the only one with ovaries, it became almost unbearable.
Angelina took a deep breath and reminded herself what she had come here to do. She had worked so hard over the past couple years and she wasn't about to let some smelly bastards take away what she knew she deserved. This was her time. She needed to remember that.
So instead of freaking out and retreating back to her comfort zone where she knew she was safe from harm and judgement, she stood up. She stood up, smiled and introduced herself. She was Angelina Johnson and nothing was going to stop her from achieving what she wanted.
Her first training session was difficult, filled with plays she had never even seen before and drills that she couldn't even imagine. Her coach was strict but fair and expected the very best of her, of the whole team actually. This came in handy when it came to games but when it came to training sessions, it was absolute hell.
She had gotten to know a few players on the team, mainly her fellow chasers Bryce Crimsen and Eddie Reyes. They seemed nice enough but mainly just so they could work efficiently as a team. She was still getting used to being in a new team as they were nothing like her old. While she could read her old teammates like a book she had read a thousand times over, she struggled to even understand when her teammates were actually passing to her. It was embarrassing. Especially when the other teammates, the ones who weren't as nice, were watching.
They sniggered when she made a mistake and gave her odd glances when she fell behind. And as much as she would like to pretend that it didn't affect her at all and that she was immune to other people's judgement, it wasn't true. Angelina cared, cared more than she liked to admit. She still had this urge to be liked, this need for other people's approval. It was childish. And Angelina was an adult.
So instead of pretending she didn't care and acting like it didn't affect her she just stopped listening. When they sniggered, she ignored them and when they stared at her she just looked right through them. She just kept training and training until she was certain she didn't need to train anymore.
Because the only way to prove to them just how wrong they were was by showing them and Angelina had every intention on doing that.
It was her first game, first professional game of Quidditch and it was on a national scale. If that wasn't scary, Angelina didn't know what was.
Her heart was pounding, racing at what felt like a million miles a minute. She had trained hard, practiced the same plays over and over again until she was certain she could do them in her sleep with ease. She had done drills and team-building exercises, all to make her better.
It was hard, she wasn't going to lie. Especially since her teammates were yet to warm up to the 'intruder', especially since that intruder had breasts and dark skin. But it was worth it, she was ready and she was about to play her best.
She stood on the sidelines of the pitch, taking in the atmosphere that surrounded her. It was unlike anything she had experienced before and she loved it, she loved the way it made her feel. How it overwhelmed her but excited her all at the same time.
The sun was just starting to fall and the breeze that came with it made her shiver. It wasn't long till the referee was supposed to blow his whistle and the game was supposed to begin.
A particularly aggressive bump on the shoulder knocked her out of her thoughts. She turned, her face scrunched up in confusion as she rubbed the point of impact. It didn't take long for her to find the culprit, or in this case culprits. Martin Thorne, a rather obnoxious Keeper with a habit of talking down to people he believed were beneath him, aka her. Him and his cronies, Lucas Reddington and William Olderville, where particularly nasty when grouped together and unfortunately for Angelina she seemed to be the brunt of their 'jokes'.
Today though she just wasn't in the mood, or more accurately she just wasn't willing to let them, insecure assholes with a cruel streak, ruin her moment. So she spoke her mind.
"Oi Thorne! What was that for?"
He glanced towards her, his eyes clouded with a mixture of judgement and amusement. Olderville and Reddington moved in front of Thorne, ready to protect him from any incoming harm. What they thought she was going to do was beyond her, especially since he was at least ten centimetres taller and twenty kilos heavier.
Martin just dismissed away his cronies with a wave of his hand, a massive patronising grin planted onto his face that only made Angelina angrier.
"Huh Johnson. You got a problem?"
She huffed, "Hell yeah I got a problem, you. What makes you think that you can treat me like that? What makes you think that it's okay for you to be an asshole? We aren't teenagers anymore Thorne and if you have a problem with me than you should just say it, instead of acting like a petty 13 year old with an attitude issue."
Angelina had seen her fair share of Martin Thorne's. With people like Marcus Flint and Draco Malfoy in this world, who both had crazy amounts of money and privilege handed down to them, there was sure to be some incidents especially when she was concerned. She was never one to back down, especially not when she knew she was in the right. Cause if this past year had taught her anything, it was that you have to stand up for what you believe in if you want to make a change. And that was exactly what she planned on doing.
Martin shook his head angrily before storming towards her.
"You wanna know why I treat you like shit Johnson? It's cause you are shit. I've seen you play, you don't deserve to play on this team and the only reason you are here is because of coach's stupid idea that having a 'diverse team member' will make us play better. Which is hasn't by the way, so maybe you should just do us all a favour and quit."
Angelina shrugged, a smirk making its way onto her face. She was never one to turn down a challenge and this seemed awfully a lot like a challenge.
"Alright then Thorne, I guess we'll find out after today's game whether I'm truly as crap as you seem to think I am."
And with that the whistle blew and all the player mounted their brooms and soared into the sky. The game had begun. And Angelina was set to go.
It didn't take long for Angelina to score her first goal, or her second. She was playing her hardest, determined to prove Martin wrong. She had worked hard to get to where she was and she wasn't ready to let some privileged ignorant individual ruin it all. So she kept passing and intercepting and scoring and just pushing herself that little bit harder. To prove to him and herself that she was good enough. To show everyone who had ever doubted her that she was deserving.
The game ended quickly, the team's seeker Lachlan Inglis was fast and agile and absolutely magnificent at catching the snitch, which was good considering that was his only role.
They had won, 246-50. The Appleby Arrows had smashed the Montrose Magpies and Angelina was a part of that. Her heart swelled with pride and she couldn't stop herself from grinning from ear to ear.
She landed on the ground, her feet soaking up the damp grass that lay beneath it as she stared into the sky. She felt as if she was floating, nothing seemed real and everything was in a haze. It was hard to believe everything that had happened in the past hour or so, especially since she was a part of it all.
It didn't take long till Thorne landed and as much as Angelina wanted to gloat she knew she didn't need to. She had made her point and she knew Thorne, and anyone else on the team, wouldn't dare question her abilities again. She had proved herself.
Soon she was swarmed with hugs and celebratory cheers from her loved ones. Mainly her parents, who had always been her biggest supporters. Her friends were here too, even those who were still struggling with the events of the past year or so. It had been a rough couple months for them all and just cause he was gone didn't mean their problems were.
But they kept powering through and moving on and pushing until they felt like they couldn't push anymore. Just like Angelina was doing because the only way things were going to change was if they kept changing themselves.
And Angelina was ready.