Disclaimer: If you can't figure this out by now. . .
A.N. Okay guys, here's the next chapter. I bet you're all just dying to know whether Charlotte will come back with a ring on her finger or not. Well, this isn't the chapter to find out, as I plan on having her out on tour for this chapter and the next, hopefully. Also, this will probably be the last chapter I put out until after I finish reading "Deathly Hallows". So go ahead and enjoy, and let me know what you think! Thanks!
Who Says Love and Quidditch Can't Mix?
Chapter Ten
"Alright, you chaps," Ace called to bring the attention to him.
"And ladies," Marc added with a wink in Charlotte's direction.
Charlotte managed a smile. In her opinion, it was still far too early to be listening to Ace carry on like he was about to. Hermione had roused her at the crack of dawn, like Charlotte had instructed her to. Charlotte had to be at the field by no later than five thirty so that they could leave for the first stop of their tour: Romania.
The journey had been rather uneventful. The whole team, as well as Derek, had opted to fly to each of their destinations rather than Apparate in order to enjoy the scenery more. Field after field flashed past below them, making the land around them seem rather more like a patchwork quilt of the earth.
They had finally arrived in Bucharest in the afternoon, local time. Charlotte felt a little disoriented because of the two hour time difference between Romania and England, and wholeheartedly wished that she was still in bed, like she would have been normally, had she been in England still.
"We'll be staying in this hotel for the next three nights. After we get settled in our rooms and have a bite to eat, we'll be Apparating to Romania's home field to watch them practice. Tomorrow we'll do the same, only we'll have the day to explore a bit before attending practice in the evening for ourselves. The day after tomorrow is our match against Romania. We stay our last night after the match, then we leave early the next day for Bulgaria. Everyone clear on the schedule?" Ace motored off.
Everyone nodded or murmured their understanding. Ace grinned before motioning them all to follow him inside the hotel. Ace went to the desk to check them all in and get everyone's key cards to their rooms. Then they all walked across the lobby and got in the elevator.
"Seriously cool digs, Ace," Pietro said as the doors slid shut.
Ace smirked. "Only the best for my team."
They took the elevator to the fifteenth floor and got off, talking excitedly and joking around with one another. So far, Charlotte had remained relatively quiet. She chose to sit back and observe rather than speak her mind, which was far from peaceful.
She was hoping with all her heart that Ace wouldn't be stupid and make her share a room with Derek. She kept her fingers crossed as he began to pass around the key cards.
"All right. Chase and Marc, room 7865, here's the key. Er, Pietro and Callum, room 7866. Turner, you're bunking with me, here's the key, room 7867. Charlotte, you get a room of your own, no sharing, room 7868. Derek, next door to her, room 7869. Everybody happy?"
But Ace was surprised to find when he looked up from his sheet listing everyone's room partners that they all had left him to explore their rooms. He gave a shrug and walked through the door of the room he was sharing with Turner.
Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against the door of her room. She didn't have to share with Derek! She smiled to herself as she pulled her shrunken duffel bag from her purse and waved her wand to restore it to normal. Maybe this tour wouldn't be such a bad thing, after all.
She pulled her shirts out of the duffel bag and placed them in one of the drawers of the armoire next to the door of the bathroom. She had to agree with Pietro, this was quite a nice hotel. Giggling like a little girl, she flung herself onto the bed, feeling its airy softness encompass her.
"Quite nice, isn't it?"
She bolted upright again. Derek was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, watching her with an amused smile.
"I wish you would quit doing that," she muttered, climbing off the bed and bending over her duffel bag, allowing her hair to swing forward to hide her face, which was glowing crimson.
"Doing what?" he asked cheekily, inviting himself into her room and plopping down on the bed as she continued to put her clothes away in the drawers of the armoire.
"Sneaking up on me," she said, straightening up and shooing him off her bed.
He shrugged as he stood up. "I knocked. You must not have heard me."
"Uh huh," she said in a disbelieving tone. "Was there a reason why you're here?"
He pretended to look offended. "I'm to tell you on behalf of Ace that we're running a tad behind, so we'll have to eat after we watch the Romanians practice. And I'm supposed to tell you that you're to get your 'pretty little arse' down to the lobby as soon as possible so that you may go."
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Pretty little arse, I'll give him pretty little arse. Aren't you coming?"
She paused at the door to look at him, the amused look still on his face. "What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Lead the way."
"Are you excited?" he asked during the elevator ride down to the lobby.
"To watch them? Yes. To play them? I'm bloody terrified," she confessed, stepping out of the elevator as soon as the doors slid open.
"About time you got down here," Ace exclaimed, rather annoyed. "Let's go, chaps!"
Charlotte shook her head as she joined in the queue, following Chase and Marc out the doors into the weak afternoon sun.
They found a deserted alley and filed into it, looking around to make sure the coast was clear before Disapparating to the Romanian home field, which was located out in the wild countryside, quite far from the capital.
Charlotte could see that the Romanians had already taken to the air by the time they arrived. The guys were all chattering quite excitedly, occasionally craning their necks to get a better view of the players as they walked to the stands.
Ace motioned for them to sit down while he had a chat with the Romanian captain, Rumirov. They shook hands and exchanged a short, though stilted, conversation. Rumirov waved at them all before he took to the air again. Ace climbed up the steps to join the rest of his team.
"He says they'll give us quite a show," Ace said as he sat down. "Just remember that we're playing them the day after tomorrow, so remember what you're up against."
Rumirov kept his team up to his promise. Just watching them practice was spectacular; Charlotte couldn't imagine playing them in two days' time. If this was how they practiced, she was quite a bit terrified to find out what playing them would be like.
"Impressive, eh?" Derek muttered in her ear, watching her eyes widen at some of the moves the Romanians were pulling off.
Charlotte nodded, not wanting to tear her eyes away from the action.
The Romanians kept at it until the sun had dropped so low that they could hardly see anymore. Ace and the others joined them on the field once they had landed to discuss what they had seen. Out of nowhere, it seemed, they now had plans to join the Romanians for dinner back in Bucharest, once they had changed out of their gear.
Derek walked along side her as they left the field to Apparate back to Bucharest. For some reason, he was scowling.
"What's wrong?" she asked him after a few minutes of walking in a huffy silence.
"Nothing," he said shortly, not looking at her.
"Derek, you're a terrible liar. What's wrong?" she asked again.
He gave a disgusted sigh. "You haven't noticed?"
"Noticed what?"
He rolled her eyes. "You're so dense sometimes."
That stung. "What did I do?" she asked indignantly.
"Open your eyes, Charlie. The damn Romanian Keeper's been checking you out!"
She couldn't believe her ears. Derek was all up in arms about something silly like that? Oh, brother.
"Derek, why are you letting it bother you? If I haven't noticed it, then why should I let it bother me?"
"I don't like it," he huffed, still not looking at her.
Charlotte sighed. If he was going to act like this for the rest of the night, then it was going to prove to be a very long night.
They Apparated back to Bucharest to some restaurant that catered specially to the Wizarding crowd. They walked inside and found themselves at the center of attention. It wasn't often that foreign wizards came to Romania, and even less often that they stayed for an extended period time.
The place was very lavishly decorated in a sort of gypsy theme. The waitresses and waiters alike were all dressed in gypsy fashion and gave off an aura of great mystery. Charlotte was very impressed and knew she would enjoy their time here immensely.
Rumirov was already there with the rest of the team, and he hailed them all jovially. For a few minutes there was nothing but loud talk and laughter as everyone greeted each other.
Charlotte sat down with Derek on one side of her and the Romanian Keeper, Catalin, on her other side. He smiled at her when he caught her eye, and once they had sat down, he reached for her hand and kissed it.
"It is a pleasure to meet you at last, Charlotte Wood," he said with a heavy accent.
She blushed and muttered something along the same lines before turning to her menu. She didn't have to look at Derek to know he was scowling something terrible.
After a few minutes, their waitress returned to take their orders, and the talk immediately shifted to Quidditch. Though Charlotte enjoyed playing the sport for a living, she found talking about it rather dull and boring. She chanced a look at Derek, who was looking around the restaurant, taking in the surroundings.
"Are you mad at me?" she asked him quietly.
He looked around at her, slightly surprised. "No, why?"
She leaned in closer. "Are you mad because Catalin is sitting next to me?"
He leaned away, his posture stiffening. "Why should it matter?"
She straightened up, feeling slightly hurt at his cold demeanor. She had no idea why he was acting like this, but she knew one thing: she wouldn't put up with it for very long.
"So tell me about England, Charlotte," Catalin said to her, clearly wanting to know more about her.
She turned away from Derek and faced Catalin, focusing on him until their food arrived. He was a nice sort of fellow, very polite and gentleman-like, not to mention he was very good looking. But she wasn't interested. He would be nice to have as a friend, but she could tell by the way that he looked at her and the way that he spoke that he was more interested in something other than friendship.
Her food was set down in front of her and she breathed in deeply. The smell was unbelievable. She had ordered a sort of beef dish with tomatoes and a sauce. She took a bite and was pleased she had decided to get it.
"Have you ever had any Romanian dish before?" Catalin asked as he watched her savor the taste.
She shook her head. "It's delicious!"
He shook his head and chuckled. "Then you should try this." He pointed to his plate with his fork. "If you like what you're eating, you'll love this."
She took a bite of his food and sighed. "Why can't we have food like this back home?"
He laughed. "Galuste cu brinza. Cheese dumplings," he added when she looked confused.
Derek sat in stony silence, listening to Catalin brag about his Romanian food. Derek wanted nothing more than to throttle the man right now. He was exercising a lot of self control to keep his hands folded in his lap when he wasn't eating. He would be very glad when this dinner was over. No man should look at Charlotte the way Catalin was looking at her, no matter if she was an international Quidditch star or not.
'Ah, but it's all right for you to look at her that way,' a voice awoke in his brain.
'But I'm just having some fun. Besides, I don't want just a one night stand with her like that moron does,' he reasoned logically.
'Oh please, you are a Malfoy,' the voice reminded him.
'Why am I listening to a voice inside my head?' he wondered, and shook his head to quiet the pesky voice.
"Derek, did you want to try mine?" Charlotte was asking him.
"What? Oh, no, I'm fine. Thanks," he said distantly, wishing he was back at the hotel.
'With Charlotte, in your room, doing-' the voice said slyly.
Derek gave an irritable twitch and refused to finish that thought, however badly he wanted to. This would never do. He cleared his throat and stood up. The table went quiet as everyone looked at him.
"I'm sorry everyone, but I'm not feeling too well. I think I'll just go back to the hotel and have a bit of a rest. Thanks for the pleasant evening," he said, giving a wave before walking out of the restaurant.
Charlotte watched him go, feeling slightly disappointed and sorry. She had no idea why she was pitying him, after all, he had thoroughly annoyed her earlier with his actions. She sighed and turned back to her meal. She would just check on him later when she got back to the hotel and maybe straighten a few things out with him. He was acting ridiculous.
At long last, after a delicious meal (and several drinks on the behalf of the men), Ace declared it was time to get back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep before venturing out and exploring tomorrow before what he declared would be a 'lengthy practice.'
Catalin looked slightly disappointed that Charlotte was leaving, though on her part, she was not sorry at all. She was in the frame of mind to give someone a good talking to, and nothing was going to stop her.
"Would you not like to go dancing with me, for a little while, maybe?" he asked her as she stood up and made to follow the rest of the guys out of the restaurant.
She shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, but I think I'll pass. I'm sort of tired, and I don't want to make Ace mad or have the other guys worry about me being out late."
He nodded. "But of course. A Quidditch star needs her rest."
She caught up with the rest of the guys outside as they made their way back to the hotel. Marc looked around at her.
"Where'd you disappear to, Charlie Wood?" he asked teasingly.
"Oh, that bloke Catalin wanted me to come dancing with him," she said with a sigh.
"Yeah, I noticed he couldn't seem to keep his eyes in his head through the whole meal," Marc joked.
Charlotte rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, please. I knew perfectly well what he was after. And he's not getting it," she added sternly when Marc opened his mouth to say something that was undoubtedly dirty.
She bid them all good night as they stepped into their separate rooms and shut the doors. She turned to face Derek's door, glaring at it. This was all going to end right now.
She knocked softly. "Derek?"
He heard her knock and rolled over on his bed to look at the door.
"Derek?" she called again.
He sighed and rolled himself up and off the bed. "What?"
"Are you all right?"
He cracked open the door to peer at her. "I'm fine. What do you want? Where's old Catty boy at?"
Okay, that was far enough. "Can I come in? I want to talk to you," she said rather coldly, drawing herself up to her full height.
He shrugged and walked back to his bed, leaving her to follow if she chose to. He wasn't disappointed though; she walked right in and shut the door with a snap behind her.
"You can sit down if you want to," he said when she didn't make a move to sit in the chair near the bed.
"I'll stand," she said dismissively.
She paced for a few minutes. He grew bored watching her, wanting her to get to the point.
"Well?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
"I want to know what your problem is," she said finally, turning to look him straight in the eye.
"I don't have a problem," he said defensively.
"Yes, Derek, you do. You had a fit this afternoon when we were watching the Romanians practice because Catalin was looking at me. You gave me the cold shoulder all through dinner because he sat on the other side of me, and you left dinner early after he offered me a taste of what he was eating! You have a problem, whether you want to admit to it or not, and I want to know what's bugging you!"
He leaned back against his pillows and looked at her. Now was not the time to be feeling so strongly toward her, not when she was incredibly angry at him. But there was something about her when she was upset. . .
"Fine, I was jealous. Happy?" he asked coolly, watching her face turn red with suppressed anger.
"No, I am not happy! Why do you have to act like that? He was just trying to be friendly!" she cried, pacing back and forth, her hands shaking.
Derek sat up. "Friendly? You call his behavior friendly? Wow, sweetheart, have you got a lot to learn."
"Don't call me stupid!"
Derek stood up. "If you think that was friendly, I'd like to see what kind of behavior you think is coming on to you! If those weren't bedroom eyes that he was giving you, then I'd like to see what you think is! Charlotte, wake up and smell the coffee! He wanted to drag you off to the sack and have his way with you!"
She stopped pacing and glared at him. "You only think that because you think every guy automatically wants that from me."
He gave a growl of frustration as he walked toward her. "I hope to Merlin that you wake up sometime soon, because if you don't, you're gonna get caught one day in a situation when you aren't gonna have a damn clue how to get out of it."
"I'm not a stupid little girl, Derek," Charlotte declared, backing up against the wall.
"Oh yeah?" he said, smirking.
"Yeah," she huffed defiantly.
With a sudden lunge, he slammed his hands on either side of her head, pinning her against the wall.
"What now, little Charlie?" he said softly, looking right into her eyes, which suddenly held fear.
"Derek, knock it off. This isn't funny," she said, most of her defiance leaving her voice.
"Exactly. It's not funny. What do you think I was just trying to tell you?" he breathed, watching the fear fill her eyes.
"Derek, stop," she said, some of her fear evident in her voice now. She pushed against his chest. "Let me go."
He stuck his mouth next to her ear. "I'm just trying to protect you," he whispered.
She gave an involuntary shudder as she felt his breath tickle her neck. He drew back slowly, his nose just barely touching her skin. She closed her eyes and took a breath.
'Now is not the time for this, not now, no, not gonna happen,' she thought frantically.
Derek ran his finger tips lightly across her cheek, watching for her reaction. She took a sharp breath and opened her eyes to find his boring into hers.
"I. . .it's late. . .time for bed," she stammered, unwilling to tear her eyes away from his blue ones.
"Charlotte," he whispered.
She tore her gaze away from him and all but ran to the door. She let herself out quickly and threw herself through her own door before slamming it and locking it. She gave a cry of frustration and threw herself face down on the bed, trying to calm her breathing down.
What had just happened?