Chapter 9
A/N: Howdy Dooberinos :) Do you wanna read a book not as long as this one? How about not as BAD as this one? Because there's this really good fanfic called The Untold Story of Harry Potter: Marauders Era that is amazing, you should go check it out. As in now. Yes, now. Or after you review this book, either or will suffice :)
~J
Brielle hadn't slept for more than three hours a night for the past three days. Each time she went to sleep, she'd have a new nightmare. After Monday's terror with Jesse and TJ, she'd had one every night, all about different things. Tuesday held a nightmare about the school going down in flames because of her Incendio spell, and Wednesday was another appearance by Jesse, though this time he was going at Brielle rather than TJ. Last night, she dreamt that TJ, Evan, and Cameron had joined Professor Howe and Jesse and Mickey, all of them going against Brielle. She couldn't do anything about it again because they'd casted a spell that made her hang upside down by her feet, and she couldn't get down. Needless to say, she hadn't gotten much sleep last night.
And today, of all days, Drakonas was playing Ara in the first match of the year. How perfect.
At least they weren't playing Voras.
In warm ups, Brielle hadn't been able to focus. She was doing laps on her broom behind Shaun and almost ran into him twice. She kept fumbling her bat, and her goggles wouldn't stay on quite right. When she tightened them, they made painful marks on her face. If she loosened them, they'd fall off. She just couldn't win while she was this tired. Plus, she'd had a full day of school beforehand, which didn't help; she yawned in Transfiguration, and Professor Howe made her stand up at her desk for the rest of class.
"Yo, Brielle, watch it," Shaun flew next to her after she almost ran into one of the goals and grabbed her broom, pulling her in the right direction, "What's up with you today?"
"I got about three hours of sleep last night," she told him and, as if on queue, she let out a yawn, "And the night before, and the night before."
"Well, you'd better get your head in it," Marcos flew next to them, "Or Coach'll make you do more ladders."
"Isn't there a spell to make me less drowsy?" she questioned.
"There's a potion," Marcos said sadly, "but not with us." She rolled her eyes and mumbled a thank you anyways, flying off and almost hitting one of the other players. Shaun chased after her.
"Whoa, kid," he said and grabbed her arm, steadying her, "Maybe you should pass on this game, you know, sit out for the first one to see how we do it."
"I've been practicing with you guys, I know how we do it. I'm fine," she said and put her hair into a quick ponytail, "Really, I'll be fine."
"Brielle, you're falling off your broom," he argued.
"I won't, I promise," she told him with a wave of the hand, "Let me warm up some more and I'll be good."
Shaun eyed her reluctantly, but let go of her arm. Brielle took one or two laps on her Glover 200 and felt a little more awake, but the heat of the sun beating down on her made her want to take a nap. She shook the idea out of her mind and did some stretching of her arms with the bat, readying herself for the match. Coach Dekél watched her warily as Brielle landed on the ground, but didn't say anything.
The coaches of each team sat on their benches - Professor Dekél for Drakonas and Professor Howe for Ara - and watched warm ups conclude. The referee, Professor Padral, strolled onto the field as the remaining players landed. Brielle looked across the field at her opponents, none of which were really...athletic looking. She looked up at the stands, which were lined wall-to-wall with students and staff of the school, along with some house elves who were strolling on the edges of the stands. A house elf was jumping up and down on the railing - waving a Drakonas banner in the air - and almost fell off.
Marcos and Gemma called everyone into a huddle, and the captains stood with their brooms to their right. The rest of the Drakonas players followed their lead as they made a ring, so Brielle did the same.
"Now," Marcos started, "I know we all had a rough practice the other day, but since then, we've really picked up the pace. We all know we're going to win, but let's score as many points as possible early. That way, we'll have more leverage for the Quidditch Cup."
"Austin, Mickey," Gemma picked up, "We're going with the two-one-four passing pattern we were trying out yesterday. It's more difficult, which is why I want to take this game as a practice to get used to it. If we can perfect it for later, we'll be golden against Voras and Raposo." The chasers nodded confidently, giving each other a fist bump.
"Alright," Marcos said and looked straight at Brielle. "We need strong Beaters today. I want Shaun keeping an eye on bludgers going for Mickey and Gemma," Gemma looked at him with a little bit of skepticism, but Shaun nodded, "and Brielle, I need you covering me and Austin." Austin's jaw dropped, but Brielle swallowed and nodded. She had to protect the seeker? "You might not see me all the time, so keep an extra eye on Austin. Can you do that?"
Brielle nodded again, "Of course." Austin looked like he was just sentenced to death.
"Let's go, captains," Professor Padral shouted, but Marcos didn't budge.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm fine, I'm ready to go," she assured him, "I swear to it." Austin looked worried and anxious.
"Mister Dayton, Miss Wilkins, let's go, we haven't got all day," Professor Padral told them again, and they nodded and turned, Gemma with a smile and Marcos with a nervous expression.
"Alright, boys and girls, you all know the rules," Padral stated as Marcos and Gemma shook hands with the two captains from Ara, "I want a fair, clean game now." All four captains nodded, and Brielle mounted her broom. The professor was holding the quaffle and released the snitch, then the bludgers.
Shaun looked over at Brielle, who'd finally gotten her goggles to fit right. He gave her a quick nod, and she returned it. As the coach blew the whistle and threw the quaffle up, the players shot into the air and began playing faster than she'd imagined. Luckily, they'd practiced the start a few times at team practice (and Brielle on her own after some practices), and she had the hang of it. She shot across the field, looking for either bludger. She spotted the first one, but Shaun hit it towards one of the Ara and defended Mickey. The Ara player's broom was hit and she vaulted out of control.
Brielle searched for Austin, determined to keep him bludger-free, and spotted him with the quaffle, racing towards the goals. She followed him down the field so she could keep an eye on him, but kept enough distance so she wouldn't be in his way. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, a golden ball zipped by, followed by Marcos, then followed by a bludger. The bludger was moving fast, and Brielle chased after it quickly, but not enough so. She reached it too late; the ball had already hit Marcos' broom and sent him spiralling off the trail of the snitch.
"And Drakonas takes the lead," an announcer, who Brielle recognized the voice of but couldn't put a name to shouted into the microphone. "That's ten points for Drakonas! Nice shot by sixth year Gemma Wilkins!" The purple and green clad fans went crazy, and Brielle got distracted, watching the spectators cheer.
"Brielle!" Shaun shouted from across the field, and she snapped out of her trance and searched for a bludger. She found one quickly and raced after it, rounding it and hitting it hard with the bat. It sailed across the field and hit one of the Ara players. Brielle smiled, and quickly searched for another bludger.
"And firstie Brielle Hawkins knocks Corrine McGee off her broom! Corrine is on the ground, folks!"
Gemma, who was currently holding the quaffle, slowed down and looked at Brielle, and she smiled back at her. That was for you, Gem, she thought as she chased down another bludger. Gemma sailed up to the goal rings of Ara easily and slammed the ball through one.
"And another ten points for Drakonas! The two ladies of the team are on fire!" the announcer, whose voice Brielle finally recognized as Grey's, shouted cheerfully.
Gemma was soaring back across the field cheerfully and gave Brielle a high-five as she passed. "You're killin' it, kid!" she shouted proudly as she flew by. Shaun, who was across the field, sat on his broom with an uncomfortable look and watched for more bludgers as Ara took control of the quaffle. Shaun shot one of the bludgers away from Mickey as he intercepted a pass, and the bludger barely missed the Ara chaser that'd just thrown the quaffle.
Mickey soared down the field and passed to Austin, who passed to Gemma about halfway to the goal. She caught it easily, and Brielle watched a bludger fly towards Austin. She raced over and smacked it away quickly, down towards one of the Ara beaters who wasn't paying attention. She almost flew into Austin, but as long as he wasn't hit, she didn't care.
The bludger she'd just smacked suddenly changed course as two players flew by after the snitch - the seekers. Surprisingly enough, Marcos was in back, almost side by side with the Ara seeker, but not quite. The bludger was going at him fast, so Brielle started to fly down towards him when another bludger flew past Brielle's head. She watched it soar out of the corner of her eye, and saw it was going straight for Gemma. Shaun was clear across the other side of the field.
Brielle had to chase the one going for Marcos; he was her duty to protect, so she went for him. That didn't mean she wouldn't yell for Shaun, though.
"Shaun!" she screamed as she hit the bludger away from Marcos, who'd taken the lead over the Ara seeker. He snapped to attention as Brielle pointed to the other bludger, and Shaun looked like he cursed to himself. He flew faster than she'd ever seen him go, but he was too far away; the bludger was too close to Gemma.
"Gem!" Shaun shouted, but she didn't stop and turn around. Brielle imagined she didn't think anything of it, since fans on the sidelines were yelling her name as she flew by as well.
"Gemmavaille!" he yelled, and, right before she shot for the goal, she turned her head to see who was calling her. Gemma gasped as the bludger approached her, but she couldn't get out of the way fast enough. The heavy ball smacked her in the chest, and she toppled over her broom, falling from the sky. The quaffle flew out of her hands, and Austin swooped down and grabbed it, as she had told them to do at practice if one of them dropped it. He scored easily, but no one was paying attention to that, not even Grey.
"Gemma!" Grey yelled, and the crowd gasped all together.
Gemma hit the ground hard on her back with her leg twisted uncomfortably under her. Brielle couldn't see her well - as her goggles were fogging up - but was able to see that she never stood. Shaun soared by Brielle and shot to the ground, followed by Professor Padral and Madame Greene.
"Gemma," he said and hopped off his broom, sprinting to her side. Brielle followed him down to the ground and landed in the middle of the field, as many of the other players did.
"Please back up, Shaun," Madame Greene asked, and he complied reluctantly, "You too, Scott." The professor/referee did as he was told, as well. Suddenly, Marcos soared back into the ring, holding the snitch high over his head. He was beaming and pumping his fist, but his smile quickly faded when he skidded to a stop next to Brielle.
"And… Um… Well, Drakonas win, if you can call it that," Grey mumbled into the microphone, but no one was paying attention. They were all murmuring and whispering to each other.
"What the hell happened?" Marcos growled, getting off his broom.
"She got hit with a bludger," Austin told him and grabbed his arm to keep him from storming over there, "Madame Greene asked everyone to back up, I wouldn't go over there."
He nodded with a scowl and stayed back. "Why wasn't Shaun covering her?"
No one really answered until someone spoke up behind them. "Way to go, Brielle," Jesse's crude voice sounded. He walked up and shoved her back a bit, "Why didn't you get the bludger? Hmm, Beater?"
"You know what, Jesse?" Marcos jumped in before she could say anything, "That's enough. I'm finished watching you pick on her. She's your teammate, and you need to put your freaking second year crap aside and act like it." He was nose to nose with Jesse now, who was the same height as Marcos, but probably half the muscular size, "Do you understand me? Now, either make a conscious effort to change, or you're done." He stormed off the field, going towards Gemma.
Brielle didn't look at Jesse; she just followed Marcos to Gemma's side.
"Mister Farlowe, will you help me, please," Madame Green asked as she propped Gemma up on her knee. Shaun held her head up as Madame Greene coaxed some sort of potion down her throat. Gemma didn't respond at first, but then began to cough.
"The...hell?" Gemma asked between coughs. Brielle let out a laugh and Madame Greene smiled as she helped Gemma to her feet (or...foot). Shaun took one side and Marcos took the other, lifting Gemma off the ground in a two-man bridal style.
"And she's up!" Grey announced, and the Drakonas fans went crazy. Everyone was cheering and hollering, clapping and waving banners in the air. "Ladies and gentlemen, Drakonas has won the game with a score of one hundred and ninety points to zero!" The crowd went nuts again as Gemma was carried off the field by the two guys. She smiled and waved once, but Brielle saw her pointedly asking Shaun questions. She'd thought she read Gemma's lips asking where were you, which could've very well been the case, but Shaun just kept shaking his head.
Brielle and the rest of Drakonas waved and cheered as they jogged off the field after Gemma, Shaun, and Marcos. They met in the locker chamber before splitting up and changing. Gemma was being held by Marcos alone, and she was yelling at Shaun. Her ankle and knee were swollen and a bit bruised, and she looked like she was in complete pain.
"What were you thinking?" she was yelling, "Why would you yell at me to watch out? Why weren't you covering?"
"I'm sorry," Shaun yelled back, "I didn't think you'd get hit!"
"Those Ara Beaters don't have strategy. They go after the most active player on the field at a given time, Shaun," she said matter-of-factly, "I had the quaffle! Of course they were going to aim for me!"
"Well, I didn't know!"
"I'd bet it was that flimsy Corrine McGee, too - "
"Leave Corrine out of this, we'll talk about that later - "
They went back and forth for a while until Coach entered the room. Gemma and Shaun stopped arguing and looked to the angry middle-aged woman.
She looked around the room for a few minutes bitterly with a hand over her tightly tied blonde hair. "Guys," she breathed and looked upset, as she should've been, "What was that? Shaun, I've watched you cover Gemma since you were second years. This is the first time you've ever let her get hit." Shaun was stone-faced as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. His jaw locked tight. "We should've won that game by at least two hundred points."
"We were only ten off," Jesse chimed in.
"At least two hundred, Jesse." Coach Dekél said pointedly, and he kept his mouth shut. She looked at the team with her hands on her hips. "I don't care that we play each team twice, don't tell me we'll get the points back in the second game. This one was the first of our season and sets our mark for the other two teams. Now, we look weak." She began to talk fast and loudly, almost yelling, "The only people who did their parts in this game were our two captains and surprisingly enough the first year, who you should all be able to outdo easily." Brielle didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. "Brielle was the worst in practice all week and you honestly couldn't keep up?"
Alright, insult it is.
"In their defenses, Coach," Gemma spoke up, "the chasers were making their two-one-fours fine." She glared up at Shaun.
"Not fine enough," Coach argued, "Why were we running two-one-fours? This is a freebee game, the one we were supposed to take and use to our advantage for the Cup. Playing Ara is when we take any extra points we can, not to practice difficult plays." She looked at the team and locked eyes with Brielle. "Nice job, firstie. You did good, kid." Coach Dekél glared at the rest of the team, then turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. The team just kind of looked at each other.
"That…" Marcos said, "Well...That…"
"That was awful," Gemma said, "We should've crushed those theater geeks and instead acted like a bunch of - "
"Give it a rest, Gem," Mickey said as Marcos set her on a chair. Everyone looked at the ground, shuffling their feet, or sat down and held their heads in their hands.
"If...I can say something," Brielle spoke up and entered the conversation, "I know I'm new, and a first year. And a bit of a disaster. I absolutely know I didn't have a perfect game, Marcos' broom was hit on my watch. But from the flaws, we can pull some good. Sure, Shaun didn't cover Gemma. But she wasn't killed, right?"
"She could've been killed," Jesse mumbled, and Brielle sent a glare his way.
"Yeah? And what'd you contribute, Jesse, floating on your broom doing nothing?" Shaun questioned, but Brielle glared at him, too, and both of them stopped talking.
"What I'm saying," she continued, "is that we have to pick it up, but don't dwell on what Coach Dekél said. Try and find something good that you did. I kept bludgers away from Austin, something neither of us thought I could do." He let out a short breath and a small smile as she continued, "Marcos caught the snitch. Gemma scored three goals, and Austin scored one. Think of something good you did this game, and take that to the field next time and try to beat it."
Everyone just kind of looked at her, speechless. Austin spoke up first, as no one else was going to. "I don't think I've ever heard you talk so much, firstie." She shrugged. "Nor have I heard anyone say anything so deep."
She took a breath to respond, but Gemma interrupted first, locking eyes with Brielle. "She's an old soul," Gemma told him and gave Brielle a wink.
Gemma was taken to the infirmary right after the team broke for the showers. Brielle showered quickly, as she wanted to meet Gemma there, and changed immediately. She dried her hair off with a towel until it wasn't dripping anymore and ran out the door, rushing through the locker chamber. Jesse and Mickey were waiting for her, though.
She stopped in her tracks and pulled the wand from her blazer pocket when they stood in front of the door. Both boys put their hands up in surrender.
"I don't have time for whatever crap you're going to pull," she growled, "Now move." Jesse put his hands down and took a step closer to her cautiously.
"We just want to talk this time," he said slowly, "I promise." She lowered her wand, but kept it in her hand just in case.
Mickey stepped forward with a nasty look on his face, but his words were sweeter than Brielle expected, "We wanted to apologize. For everything." Brielle looked at them warily, then shook her head and lifted her wand back up.
"Don't even try - "
"We're serious, Brielle," Jesse added, "We really did want to apologize. What we did in the broom shed was wrong. The names and rumors...those are all us, too, and I'm sorry. We're sorry."
"It's no big deal," she lied. All she wanted to do was get out of there and see Gemma, "Really."
"Yes it is," they said in unison as she tried to push through them. This time, they let her, but followed her out of the locker chamber.
"We gave you nightmares for crying out loud," Jesse argued as they walked, "Are you seriously trying to get us to believe that we had no effect on you? That you don't care?" Brielle stopped and turned on her heel.
"Jesse, you - single handedly - are the reason I had that fit in the common room," she said calmly, "You're the reason I was injured because you pushed me off my broom, you're the person who's spread all of the rumors through school of how I'm a freak, and you're the one who always tries to beat me up when I didn't even do anything to you in the first place." She paused and looked angrily at him, but kept her tone even and carefree. "Of course you had an effect on me. And of course I care. But I don't need to be friends with you," she shrugged, "Quite frankly, I don't want to be friends with you. Either of you."
She turned again and strode off down the hall, headed towards the infirmary. She heard the pitter-patter of jogging feet, and she rolled her eyes. It'd better not be -
"I'm trying to prove to you that we can be friends," Jesse said as he followed her around the corner, "Ask me anything and I'll answer honestly, I swear."
"I'm not closing my eyes," Brielle growled.
"No more closing your eyes, and no more beating on you. Or flirting."
She paused. "Or tricking. Swear it."
"I swear it," he agreed, "What do you want to know?"
She pondered for a second. "Tell me about your first year. What happened with the Invisible Man? I know you see him, too."
He let out a breath and they began pacing, "Fine. About a week after I spit the fire at housing, I went down the hallway by Potions, you know, the one with all the paintings." Brielle nodded; she walked through the same hallway. "Well, the Man was chatting with one of the people in the portrait of the family all dressed identically, in those old-timey castle clothes. I talked to him for a bit, the Man, and he told me to research the Hat of Hohwald. I asked Lofaro what she thought, but she said it was nothing. I was still curious.
"I figured out everything about the Hat with a quick library search, but wanted to know more about it all, so I looked up Lorenzo Hohwald and the Invisible Man. I figured they had some sort of… connection. Turns out, I was right. The Invisible Man is the ghost of Lorenzo Hohwald." If he'd given Brielle a thousand guesses, she wouldn't have figured that one out.
"So, what else is there about the Hat and Hohwald?" Brielle questioned as she continued to walk, Jesse strolling next to her. "I know the story and I know about the power to control fire. But what about the Hat now? Where is it?"
"Hohwald told me he'd originally thought it was destroyed in the fire that killed him," Jesse explained, "For the longest time, he'd thought it was an accident, but now, he's not so sure. He thinks that Oralie stole the Hat and murdered him in his sleep. So, he came here, as he couldn't haunt the people who lived in his house because, well, the house was gone."
"Who's Oralie?" Jesse swallowed, but didn't directly answer the question.
"Is there anything else you want to know?"
They finally reached the doors to the hospital wing, and Brielle asked one final question, "If you know all this about the Hat...Have you any idea what our connections to it are?" He shook his head sadly and she nodded, "I figured as much."
"I'm not sure since Lofaro wouldn't tell me anything." He tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and shrugged, "She has a way with getting off topic, you know? All she told me was that eventually, there'd be a reason for me and another - . And then she switched topics." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'll see you later, tell Gem I said hi." He turned on his heel and strode away coolly as Brielle pushed through the doors of the hospital wing. She spotted Gemma, who was in one of the far beds. Shaun was there, too, but they seemed like they were having a quiet yet intense conversation.
As Brielle approached, the words became clearer. Gemma fumed, "You did that on purpose, I know it."
"Why would I let you get injured on purpose?" he questioned with honest astonishment, "That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard."
"Because I caught you snogging your girlfriend and I didn't react well to it," she said simply, and he ringed the back of his neck uncomfortably.
"She's not my girlfriend," he responded, "It's difficult to explain, Gem, but you have to believe that it didn't mean anything." Brielle stood at the end of the bed, but wasn't noticed.
"Why are you talking to me like I'm your girlfriend?" she asked, and his face got red, "Because I'm not. I would've been happy for you if you told me."
"We both know that's a lie," he huffed.
"Excuse me?" she tried to shoot up but looked like her back was in too much pain to do so. Brielle figured this was a good time to interrupt. She cleared her throat. "H...hey, guys."
Shaun and Gemma looked up at her angrily, but then Gemma's eyes softened. Shaun looked at the ground. "Am I...interrupting something?" Brielle asked, though she knew the answer. Gemma shook her head.
"You're good, kid." She smiled and sat across from Shaun, on the other side of the bed. they remained silent, and Shaun avoided eye contact.
"What'd Madame Greene say?" Brielle awkwardly asked, and Gemma shrugged.
"She's preparing the potion for my ankle now and I should be fine by dinner." There was another uncomfortable silence, and Brielle again wanted to fill it before Shaun's hand on the back of his neck left a rash.
"You were wicked out there, Gem," Brielle tried, breaking the silence. Gemma smiled triumphantly at that.
"Thanks," she responded, "You had some great hits, too. Like that one on Corrine McGee." She glanced at Shaun, who rolled his eyes. "Nailed his girlfriend right in the gut."
"She's not my girlfriend!" he exploded, "Why do you keep saying she is?"
"Enough!" Brielle yelled, and they stopped arguing and looked at her in surprise. Brielle talked quickly, not stopping to breathe, "Now, I've had it up to here," she raised her hand high above her head, "with you two arguing. On my first day here, I questioned whether you two were dating or not, and now I'm questioning who's going to kill who first."
They kind of looked at each other, Gemma with sadness and Shaun apologetically. "I'm sick of it, I know the team is sick of it, and if you keep arguing, you're going to drive the entire school mad. Shaun," he looked up at her like a child to an adult after he got in trouble, "You don't snog someone for no reason, you only kiss a girl when you want her to be your girlfriend." He looked back at the ground awkwardly.
"Gemma," Brielle continued, "he didn't let it hit you on purpose, you know that. If you'd hit him in the head with the quaffle, I'd say you did it on purpose because you have a reason to be angry, but he didn't get there fast enough and couldn't stop it." Gemma stared sadly at Brielle. Brielle knew she agreed and just didn't want to admit it.
"So," Shaun interrupted, "I should only kiss the girl who I want to be my girlfriend?"
"You're smart, Shaun," Gemma stated obviously, "Surely you can figure that out."
He nodded and looked at Brielle. "Turn around, kid."
"What? No, I'm not turning around, you might kill each other and - "
"Oh, screw it," he said as he leaned over Gemma quickly and they locked lips. Brielle threw her hands up and rolled her eyes.
"That's it! I'm done with this school, there's too much snogging!" she announced, and Shaun backed off and let out a small laugh. He rubbed his lip with his thumb and wringed his neck again uncomfortably. That seemed to be his trademarked uncomfortable look. Gemma's face would've been priceless if they hadn't just kissed. Gemma's jaw dropped and her eyes were wide as she looked straight forward.
"Um…" she said, and Shaun looked down nervously at her.
"Are you quite finished?" Brielle questioned, "Because snogging makes me uncomfortable."
They paused for a moment as Gemma and Shaun stared at each other. Gemma turned back to face the first year. "Then, kid," Gemma finally said as she hoisted herself up. Her face turned red as she grabbed Shaun's hand, "You might want to get out of here."