Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition – Round 6: Wigtown Wanderers vs. Holyhead Harpies
KEEPER: Write about a light character committing the sin of GLUTTONY.
Thank you to my fellow Wanderer Lynn for her detailed beta-ing. Also, to Rose - UNDEFEATED ;)
There's Firewhisky In The Jar
Katie Bell instinctively wrinkled her nose as she felt the hot rays of the sun on her face, waking her rather harshly from her slumber. A low groan escaped her throat as she began to feel twin hard, pulsing sensations at her temples. Her tongue felt sticky, and she had an odd taste in her mouth. She had no idea where these unpleasant feelings had come from, but she knew one thing: all she wanted was to fall asleep again. It was as if she couldn't even move a toe from exhaustion.
She kept her eyes closed and summoned all of the strength she had left to turn her head away from the light. A random thought about how odd her pillow was feeling under her cheek shuffled through her mind, but only briefly, as her brain was already shutting down again.
And so she had nearly fallen asleep when she realised that her pillow was in fact moving.
Shock coursed through her as she hurried to raise her head and open her eyes, wincing at how violently bright the light in her bedroom was.
Only, this wasn't her bedroom, something she realised upon further inspection. Katie slowly turned her head, and her eyes widened, a squeaking noise coming from the depths of her chest instead of the scream she wanted to produce.
She was looking into the face of Marcus Flint, who looked intimidating even when he had just woken up. Not for a single second did he show surprise about her presence, no, to the contrary, he grinned at her suggestively. Marcus winked at Katie and asked with a slightly raspy voice: "How did you sleep, Bell?"
Katie's mouth opened and closed, not a single sound passing through her lips. She couldn't believe this was real.
But all evidence spoke against a wicked dream caused by possible head trauma. Here she was, lying in one bed with Marcus Flint, her former Quidditch archenemy and now fellow chaser. She guessed her current expression matched the one she had worn when she had transferred to the Wigtown Wanderers and had learned that Marcus was in fact playing on the team. Their work situation had gotten better with time, not something she could say about the here and now, really. From her perspective, the situation was only getting worse, especially when she realised that Marcus was naked, except for a pair of black boxers, and that she, too, was only in her underwear. He simply looked a little bit too amused about this, something that made her even more uncomfortable.
"I am actually surprised that you're already awake after that exhausting night. You were pretty wild, Bell, but I liked that."
What her state of undress and his statement implied, Katie didn't wanted to think about. With a sigh of disbelief, she rolled off him and closed her eyes, repeatedly shaking her head.
"I... I don't remember anything..." She whispered, hating how much her voice was actually shaking. This situation was just a tiny bit too much for her, and she was glad and a little bit surprised when he said nothing. It was quite unlike him to stop digging his finger into the wound, but she didn't question his behaviour as it allowed her to take a few deep breaths and try to recollect her memory of the previous evening.
Slowly, piece by piece, she started to remember...
OoO
The clubhouse of the Wigtown Wanderers seemed to buzz from all the energy of the celebrating people, their delight about the victory literally making the walls shake. The Wanderers, all the officials and a handful of famous fans were celebrating the team's win of the British and Irish Quidditch League Cup. They had been the underdogs going into that final match, but they had surprised everyone by blowing their opponents away in a fantastic display of skill.
As Katie let her gaze wander around the room that was decorated in their team colour, blood red. She was unable to stop smiling. Even though she was standing in a corner, away from the centre of attention and exhausted from the game, the mood of all the other people was infectious enough to keep her from leaving early. It was as if all of them were floating on a cloud of joy, high above the worries of the real world.
"Hey Bell, come out of that corner and have a drink with me. We need to celebrate."
Marcus had appeared next to her out of nowhere, grinning down at her while offering one of the glasses of firewhisky he was holding. Katie shook her head and returned his smile while responding: "Nah, I don't drink."
"Aww, come on, Bell. Only one. To mark the occasion," Marcus insisted, leaning against the wall next to her and bumping his shoulder against hers enough to force her to take a step to the side.
Had someone told Katie one year ago that she would get along with Flint, the man who had knocked her off her broom countless times while they had still been in school, she would have suggested a visit at St. Mungo's to that person. Never would she have thought that it was possible to overcome the problems that the house rivalry had caused between them in the past. Of course, they had not suddenly become best friends, but they were able to have a decent conversation without insulting each other. Katie had actually discovered that he was quite a friendly person – if he wanted to be.
The biggest surprise to her friends probably was that they worked together most effectively on the pitch. Partly because they wanted to beat the other by scoring more goals, but mostly because they were both fighters, and if combined, they were unbeatable. Even though they had many differences, what united them was their ambition when it came to Quidditch and, as Katie had found out, their humour. But still she never dared to forget who he once had been and how he had behaved towards her and her friends. Sometimes that behaviour surfaced again, when he had a very bad day, for example, and he ended up insulting her. However, he had also matured. In their school days, he would have rather killed himself than actually apologise for behaving badly, today, he did it, though in his own grumpy Flint-way.
"Bell, stop dreaming around."
Marcus annoyed exclamation ripped her from her thoughts, and she stared up at him, her brown eyes wide in surprise.
"Are you sure you don't want to drink anything? I mixed the firewhisky with berry juice, you know?"
Katie had never really been into drinking. If she was honest with herself, she had never been drunk in her young life, as the only alcoholic beverage she had ever consumed was butterbeer. Her father had told her some rather disgusting stories about his twenties, a lot of which was spent at pubs. And upon hearing them, she had decided that alcohol wasn't something she wanted to try. He had his reasons to tell her about it, and she knew she probably should follow his advice and never try alcohol.
On the other hand...
As she watched her team now, how they consumed the whisky and got merrier and merrier with every gulp, she questioned the negative stamp she had pressed onto the substance. It was more than obvious that it impossibly improved their mood; they were joking around loudly. Everybody appeared carefree and more open as they danced and chattered. Of course, she had seen this before, but to this day, the desire to join them had never been that prominent. It seemed so tempting to leave the borders of her own insecurities behind.
What could possibly happen? She had proved so often that she had a lot of self-control, so she was sure she would be able to tell when she had had enough. The prospect of a carefree evening outweighed the stories of her father, so they were shoved into the back of her mind.
"Okay... but only one," Katie sighed eventually and took one of the glasses that Marcus was holding. Upon taking the first sip, she was more than surprised to learn that the drink tasted a lot better than she had thought. Within minutes, a warm feeling started to spread in her stomach, and she felt a little bit more light-headed. The more sips she took, the more relaxed she felt, and the smile of hers grew wider and wider. Marcus smirked as she started to move to the music a little bit and emptied her glass. Katie relished in the feeling of euphoria the alcohol produced in her, and she didn't think anything could be wrong with getting another glass. She knew she swayed a little bit as she pushed herself away from the wall and walked towards the bar, but she didn't mind. In fact, she giggled a little bit as she accidentally bumped into her team captain, Jordan, who then accompanied her to the bar in his duty to have a drink with everyone from his winning team. Before Katie knew it, half of the team had joined them, and the barkeeper passed around some little glasses filled with an odd substance. Even though she had no idea what it was, she reckoned it couldn't hurt to try it. It burned in her throat like fire, but it enhanced her feeling of unconventionality. When she drank the second shot, the burning sensation had lessened, and by the third, she didn't even mind it. Katie was laughing loudly over her own dizziness as she was being pulled onto the dancefloor, and her giggling didn't stop even once when she started to dance in a way she would never have danced in, in a sober condition. She didn't even register how she consumed one drink after the other, stilling her thirst caused by the excessive dancing and her desire to fully escape her own complexes. She couldn't deny that she liked the feeling of losing control over herself, and she wanted more of it. Katie wanted to shake that other her off, to experience who else she could be.
And so she downed one drink after the other, sinking deeper and deeper into the new experience.
OoO
By the time Marcus spotted her in the mass of dancers again, she was staggering more than moving to the music. She laughed at his perplexed and slightly horrified expression while spilling her current drink on the floor; it was just something she wasn't used from him. She had never seen him worried before, and as her reaction proved, she found it hilarious. Katie tried to tell him that worry didn't quite suit him, but she couldn't quite voice her thoughts. So instead of babbling incoherently, she downed the rest of her drink and motioned for him to join her. He didn't look too keen to take the invitation, but she couldn't care less. It was way too warm in the room for her tastes and dancing had heated her up so much that she decided to take her shirt off. In her fogged mind, it just seemed like the right thing to do, and she couldn't understand why Marcus lunged forward and tried to hold her back by grabbing her wrists.
"I want another drink, it's too warm," she managed to blurt out while grinning widely, struggling against his grip though she did not have enough control about herself to be able to shake him off.
"I feel like you've had enough, Katie."
Again she tried to pull her shirt up, not caring that she was revealing her bare midriff to anyone who was watching, but again, Marcus was fast enough.
"I know when I've had enough, and I say I want another one! That stuff is good!" Katie slurred back, convinced that she was right. She didn't really care that she was leaning against him by now as her legs were wobbly.
"Bell, no! I think what you need is some fresh air!"
And before she could do anything, he had lifted her off the ground and thrown her over his shoulder. As he carried her outside, he ignored her loud protests and her fists that were weakly hitting his back.
"Marcus, let me down!"
"As the lady wishes," he replied sarcastically and planted her down on her feet on the grass right outside of the club house. Immediately, she stumbled against him again and giggled girlishly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Pressing her body against his, she gave him a flirtatious look.
"Since when are you so nice? It scares me as much as it turns me on!"
Marcus glared down at her with one eyebrow raised, ready to give her one of his typical "Fuck off" answers. However, as he saw the soft smile on her face and felt how her hand gently caressed his cheek, the words got stuck in his throat. Katie was literally snuggling against him, now standing on the tips of her toes to be able to be level with his face.
"Marcus Flint, you softened."
"I did not," Marcus replied stiffly, all the while failing miserably at keeping a dark expression on his face. Her affections overwhelmed him a little bit, though he couldn't say it was unpleasant. "You are drunk, Katie. I should get you home."
Katie slung her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his chest, mumbling back: " 'm not drunk. But we could go home, have some fun."
"You are full like a thousand men. And you wouldn't say something like this if you were sober. I may be an asshole sometimes, but I am not going to take advantage of you!"
The young woman pouted up at him, but before she could reply, her eyes widened, and she stumbled away from him. Marcus realised just in time what was happening and grabbed her long brown hair, holding it away while Katie threw up on the grass.
"So, who is not drunk at all here, huh?!"
"Sh-hut up, Flint," Katie retched hoarsely as the worst was over, tears flowing from her eyes. Nonetheless, she let herself be picked up by Flint, who disapparated with her in his arms.
OoO
Katie wished the floor would open up so she could simply disappear. She had behaved horribly last night, embarrassed herself in front of her friends and colleagues. And she would have sold her grandma, so sure was she that Flint would never stop pointing out the details to everyone. He would rub it into her face at every given opportunity and enjoy every minute of it.
"Your clothes were dirty, but they should be dry by now," Flint interrupted her thoughts while getting out of the bed and stretching his way too muscular body. "And I swear, I kept my hands to myself. It was you who slept on me."
Katie knew that her face had to be the colour of a very ripe tomato as she pulled the blankets up a little bit more to hide herself. While Flint chuckled lowly at her display of embarrassment, she swore to herself that she would never ever drink a drop of alcohol again.