"Who are you and what have you done to Jayla?" Fred asked laughing. "What happened to Slytherins being evil and menacing?"
"Just wait till you piss me off," Jayla threatened.
"Oooh, I wouldn't dare to, Fred," Lee warned him, while winking at Jayla.
Jayla really appreciated Lee. He had just accepted her as part of their group immediately. He was quieter than Fred and George, but Jayla felt like this brought a nice bit of balance into the group. All throughout lunch there was never a dull moment with those three and Jayla really enjoyed her time. It definitely felt like she had been part of their group for years.
Juana and a boy Jayla didn't know joined them after lunch for a butterbeer or two. Their conversations revolved around the typical student topics. Complains about professors or homework, what they were planning to do once the school year was over, the exams at the end of the year and, of course, Quidditch.
"I'm so glad we got that weekend off from practise. Wood has us all going crazy," Fred exclaimed, rolling his eyes.
Of course, the game against Slytherin was coming up that would decide the winner of this year's Quidditch Cup. You'd think with a mass murderer on the loose and their O.W.L.s coming up, Quidditch wouldn't be the top priority, but apparently Jayla was wrong there. Lee, Fred, George and the Hufflepuff boy – Jayla had found out his name was Jaxon – got into a discussion on which tactic would be best to beat the Slytherin team. As Jayla had no clue about Quidditch, she just listened to it with half an ear and watched the other people in the pub instead.
"Have you ever played Quidditch?" George had turned away slightly from the other boys and towards Jayla instead.
"I always wanted to, but by the time I was old enough to go to the try-outs, I had already made more enemies than friends, so there was no point in hoping they'd let me into the team. I used to always practice at home in our garden when I was younger though. Secretly though, as my mum thought it was a waste for time for a 'girl with my status'" Jayla shrugged.
"Oh." Apparently this wasn't the answer George had expected. "But that means you can come to the game and support us, right? Seeing as you have no connection to the Slytherin team," he asked, looking at her with huge puppy eyes.
"Sure, why not," Jayla replied. "I'm curious to see if you really are as good as you claim or if it's all just hot air." Jayla stuck out her tongue at George, who threw her an overly exaggerated offended look.
"Yep. I can see how you've made so many enemies over the years," he countered, but immediately put both arms around Jayla and drew her into a strong hug, chuckling.
"Wow. There I've thought you two were one of a kind all those years, but she's like a female version of you guys," Lee, who had heard the banter between Jayla and George, remarked and the whole table burst out laughing.
A little while later, they had paid for their drinks and were walking back to the castle. Jayla walked next to Juana, who was pulling the jacket, she had gotten from Jaxon earlier, closer because the evening had got chilly.
"If you want, we could go to the match together next weekend," Juana offered as soon as they had walked through the main entrance. "I don't think you want to stand on the Slytherin stand while cheering the other team on."
The girls chuckled.
"That would be great," Jayla replied. Juana didn't seem like she was only hanging out with Jayla because she felt sorry for her, which Jayla really appreciated and which made it a lot easier for her to open up to the kind Hufflepuff girl.
"Awesome. See you on Saturday, then!" Juana shouted the last sentence at everyone, quickly hugged Jayla and walked towards the Hufflepuff common room with Jaxon. Jayla couldn't help but notice the shy glances Juana threw at the boy.
"Mhm," was all Jayla was able to reply.
George loosened the hug, smiled at Jayla and then turned to Fred and Lee who were already halfway up the first set of stairs.
After the Hogsmeade trip, it was hard for her to get back into her usual routine. The time with the boys was so much fun that she had a hard time accepting that her normal life at Hogwarts wasn't that spectacular. O.W.L.s were approaching fast though, so she spent her time in the library, trying to distract herself with studying, but she still caught herself throwing the occasional glances out the window towards the Quidditch pitch, trying to spot Fred and George. Playing Quidditch seemed so much fun and she hated how she never got the chance to.
The girl had hoped she'd still get the chance to talk to the boys occasionally, but she also understood that they had their heads full with Quidditch practise. Everytime she saw them, they were walking back from the pitch, wet through the bone and covered in mud and the occasional bruises. Besides that, the tension between their houses was hanging over all their heads and Jayla definitely didn't want to add any fuel to that bomb.
Jayla was in such a good mood when her alarm rang on Saturday morning. She could have definitely used some extra sleep after a week full of studying, but she was too excited to finally see Fred and George again after the match. The atmosphere at breakfast was weird. Jayla was so glad she could sit with Juana as she felt like her housemates saw her even more as an enemy as usually. Maybe they were scared she'd catch some tactics discussions and would pass them on to the Gryffindor team. It didn't seem like her friendship with Fred and George had been a secret for long. Jayla had to endure several new insults from other Slytherins, but knowing she now had a few people that had her back and actually liked her – though she still couldn't quite figure out how that had happened – functioned like an extra piece of armour. And most of the Slytherin's energy seems to be targeted towards Harry Potter, the Gryffindor seeker, anyway, so Jayla was just able to ignore them.
Three quarters of the room suddenly bursts into applause which drew Jayla back to the present immediately. The Gryffindor Quidditch team had just entered the Great Hall and it was immediately clear who the rest of the school was supporting. The booing from the Slytherin table was completely drowned out by the clapping of everyone else in the room. Jayla was beaming, totally taken up by the excitement as well. She almost felt as if she was the one playing herself. She joined Juana and the rest in their chanting and soon the walls were reflecting hundreds of "Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" shouts, multiplying them from all angles. Fred and George smiled and waved at her as they passed by, but she couldn't help but notice that even the two boys couldn't hide their nervousness and tension behind their usual smiles and jokes. Jayla watched them sit down at the end of the table with the rest of the team.
Juana suddenly nudged her with her elbow.
"Boys in Quidditch uniforms always look so good, don't they?" she said mischievously.
"Hmm?" Jayla was quite taken aback by that. "Oh...ehm...yes, I guess?" Jayla shrugged, trying to sound casual, but the redness of her cheeks definitely betrayed her.
An hour later, they were all heading down to the pitch. The weather was surprisingly nice , so the mood on the stands was great. Jayla couldn't wait to see her first Hogwarts Quidditch match in years. She had always liked Quidditch, but usually she just watched the games from the library window. The atmosphere at the actual pitch was something she could definitely get used to though. Everyone seemed to be filled with excitement to the brink of their hats, excitedly watching every move of the players. At first, Jayla just stood there rather quietly, but after the first few goals from each team, she couldn't help but join in the shouts and gasps from the others around her. The game was brutal. Both teams ditched fair play quite early, so the atmosphere in the stands changed a few minutes into the game. The shouts grew so loud Jayla even had trouble hearing Lee's commentary. As this was Jayla's first match, she had a hard time watching everything that happened on the pitch. There was Angelina zooming towards the goal posts, ducking a Bludger that came from who-knew-where, then Fred hitting the same Bludger towards a Slytherin. The game was so fast-paced at times it just looked like green and red dots zooming around.
Jayla tried to focus her attention on the Quaffle, when Juana suddenly hugged her and screamed into her ear. The whole stand erupted into shouts with her. Jayla looked towards the pitch confused, trying to figure out what had just happened. That's when she saw Harry Potter holding a little glittering ball in his hand. Jayla immediately joined the shouts and applause, jumping on the spot, still arm in arm with Juana. "Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" The shouts continued as the team landed one after each other. The spectators were already flooding the field before Madame Hooch had even handed Wood the Quidditch Cup. Jayla let herself be carried down to the pitch with the others, craning her neck to find Fred and George. She was so proud and all she wanted to do was hug and congratulate them. Her heart was still racing from the excitement of the game and the unlikely win the Gryffindor team had managed to pull off. She tried to make her way towards the team, that was now being lifted up by a group of Gryffindors and carried away on their shoulders, while everyone was still chanting. Everything was so chaotic and, as much as Jayla tried, there was no way she could make her way through that crowd to reach the two Beaters. She had lost Juana too, so all the girl could do was walk back to the castle with the crowd. She was still chanting with them, beaming from ear to ear as they walked up that hill.
It took Jayla a few sets of stairs withing the castle before she realised were they were heading. The Gryffindor Common Room. Of course. Looking around, she realised that all the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students had left the crowd when they had reached the castle, so Jayla was the only non-Gryffindor left. Her smile instantly vanished and she stopped, the rest of the crowd passing left and right of her. She could only watch while her two friends were carried out of sight on the shoulders of a few Gryffindor boys. How could she have thought she'd be able to just join in their celebration, being a Slytherin? Fred and George had never treated her differently, so Jayla had just forgotten that she was, in fact, not part of their everyday life here at Hogwarts. Tears of embarrassment and helplessness filled her eyes. None of them had even looked around to find her. She didn't doubt the boys' friendship was genuine, but, in this moment, Jayla had to accept that she would never be fully part of their close friend circle. How could she even if she couldn't even celebrate something that was so important for the boys with them?
With tears running down her cheeks, she went downstairs again and toher dormitory. Luckily, no one in the Slytherin Common Room was up for anythingafter their crushing defeat, so Jayla could just pass them in silence and liedown in her bed. She pulled the sheets over her head and just let the tearsfall freely.