Moments

I don't own anything in the Harry Potter Universe, it all belongs to JKR.

Chapter 25:

I stared at the letter in my hand. This was complete bullshit. I read it so many times I probably had it memorized by now. We're glad for your interest...not interesting in controversial players...other things to focus on...quite busy with other things...it wouldn't be fair to female players...sorry, and hope you find what you're looking for with another team. It was all a load of tosh.

I heard footsteps approaching so I quickly balled up the letter.

"Hey" I said when Ali came into view.

She had her hands on her hips, weight slightly on her left foot, and a frown on her face. Typical pissed off girl pose. What did I do now?

Before I could even get a word in Ali asked, "What exactly did you do after the match with Hufflepuff?"

I blinked confused. What did I do? "I talked to a scout from Puddlemere. Then I went to the locker room. I caught Lorelai trying to drown herself in the shower. I told her not to beat herself up, took her to the infirmary, and then I came here. What's the deal? Are you okay?"

Instead of answering Ali threw a magazine on my lap. Witch Weekly? I don't read this crap. I picked the magazine up, confused, it was open on a page and I saw the problem. There was a picture of Lorelai crying on my lap in the shower. The caption wondered if I was cheating already after only being married for three months.

"She was upset."

"Yeah, she really looks it" Ali snapped.

I tossed the magazine away from me.

"Are you being serious right now?" I asked standing up.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" she folded her arms over her chest making her look more intimidating. "Did you cheat with her?"

I couldn't believe we were having this conversation.

"She's twelve" I pointed out.

"So?"

I gawked at her unbelieving. After all the crap that went down in the past week, this is what I have to put up with? I don't think so.

I started to walk past her but she grabbed my arm.

"You're just going to walk away?"

"Yes. I'm walking away. When you get over yourself and your insecurities, then you can come find me."

I stalked out of the common room ignoring all the staring people. The fucking rumor mill, is shitting all over my life in more ways than one.

I thought about writing a letter to my parents, but how immature was that? I don't like the way things are going so I run back to my parents? That doesn't make me seem like an adult. No I have to solve my problems all on my own.

I wrote a hasty letter to Wood, scrapped that, and then wrote another one that was a lot less angry. As I sent that one off, I started writing my next letter. Calling out the media, is like asking to go to war. They don't take no for an answer, and privacy apparently isn't granted to certain people. I'm the one who wanted to be famous. Dad was right, the media does like to twist things to fit them best.

"I knew I'd find you here" a feminine voice said.

I knew without looking who it was. "You're the last person I want to see, Lanie" I replied. Merlin's balls I can imagine how pissed off Ali would be if a picture of me and Lanie ended up in the paper.

"Sorry about the tabloids. I don't believe you cheated on Alison."

"I didn't"

"I know. You're not that kind of guy."

"Are you here to send a letter or just to bother me?" I asked.

"Just to bother you" she replied.

I almost froze at her bluntness.

"I know you're not happy with me and I understand that. But if you ever need someone to talk to" Lanie shrugged.

"I'll keep that in mind" I replied and I left her behind in the owlery.

"You sure about this?" Fred asked.

"I haven't been properly pissed since Halloween" I pointed out. "So you can either give me your stash, or I'll just accio it."

"Fine, I've only got three bottles."

"Let's go get more."

"Yeah, after that article in the Prophet Minnie has cracked down on sneaking out of school" Fred said.

"That never stopped you before" I said.

Fred just pointed to his badge. Oh right head boy. He picked a shitty time to want to start following the rules.

"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up soon. We'll just have to restock then" I replied. I twisted the cap off a bottle of firewhiskey and took a long gulp.

"Or we could just use magic" Fred said and he used the refill charm to refill up my bottle.

"I love magic" I muttered.

"I know" Fred patted me on the head.

I don't know how long we sat in an abandoned classroom getting completely wasted, but it felt like forever. It was good to just let go and not care about anything for a while.
"Camden Zanibi!" I suddenly shouted.

Fred frowned. "What about him?"

"Did you know he dated Lily? No Roxy? No, who was it he dated…" it took me a second. "Rose. He dated Rose. Did you know that?"

"No."

"Apparently he broke her heart and that's why she walks around as a stick in the mud harpy."

"She's not that bad" Fred said.

"You don't know her like I know her. She's my cousin and I say she's a stick in the mud harpy."

"O-kay."

"We need to prank him."

"I'll put him at the top of the list."

"Right now."

"You're three sheets to the wind, buddy. You should probably wait until you're sober to want to prank someone."

I stood up wobbly. "I'm fine." I reached out and held onto the wall so I wouldn't fall over. "I'm perfect. It's been a while since we pranked someone. We should prank Zanibi. Oh and the Hufflepuffs too. Especially O'Connell."

"I think you mean Conner."

"Yeah, him. He tried to ask Lily out. She's only fourteen and he's like twenty."

"He's fifteen."

"Can you believe he caught the snitch? He had a broken arm for crying out loud. Poor Lorelai I kind of felt bad for her, losing her first match and all. So I tried to do the captainly thing and comfort her. She's a crying twelve year old girl; What else was I supposed to do? Now Ali thinks I'm having an affair. Puddlemere doesn't want me on their team. It seems like my hands are full being a married teenager and all. It's not like I'll have time for Quidditch with a wife and infant. It's not like married fathers have jobs for a living or anything. Isn't that just the stupidest shit you've ever heard of?"

"Yep" Fred said obligingly.

"You're the best friend a guy can ask for, you know that?" I asked.

"I know. That's why I'm not letting you leave this room in your current state."

"I can't leave? Is the door locked?"

"Yep."

"Okay, I guess I'll just take a nap now."

I found a hard stretch of floor and laid down. I fell asleep almost instantly.