A/N: Written for the Setting Boot Camp for setting: the Quidditch Pitch and prompt: 032 – nail lacquer.


The Quidditch Pitch
Drabble 2: Waiting for Practice to End on a Date

Lavender wasn't a particular fan of Quidditch, but hen one's boyfriend was a member of the team, there was no avoiding the pitch. During the Inter-House competitions, she could at least cheer loudly for both Ron and the Gryffindor team as a whole, but during practices where all they did were repetitive drills her presence meant little at all.

Parvati refused to come with her, so the only company she had were her magazines and her make-up kit – and the magically warming scarf from her parents on the extra-chilly nights. During those dull hours she would paint her nails a multitude of colours, looking every now and then at the figure of Ron before the goals. His figure was burly and strong, but even she couldn't watch him indefinitely while all he did was trade Quaffles with his little sister.

No, she wasn't jealous of Ginny Weasley, who was spending more time with Ron than Lavender herself with the approach of the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match. She wasn't jealous of Hermione Granger either, who dared to call herself Ron's friend while skirting the most recent practices purely for her presence. Not that she would have tolerated the girl's insensitivity if it came to light; the gripes against Bunny and their Divination Professors (and the subject as a whole, really) still stung.

Sadly, the stands she sat in were the perfect place to muse about such things. Painting her nails took little time at all, and even a drying charm would not make them ready to paint again in minutes. The atmosphere was so very different between the biweekly practices and the seasoned matches, and she wished there was a crowd around her so their cries and cheers could reach the pitch without irritation.

If she was a Quidditch fan, things would probably have been very different.