A/N:
Hogwarts Auction
Day 2, Auction 3: (character) Rolanda Hooch
Fortnightly - Shark Week
White Tip Reef Shark: (Phrase) Small but mighty
WC - Elizabeth's Empire
(plot point) training for something
WC - Showtime
(dialogue) "We can only do the best we can."
Word count: 1,149
The Quaffle collided with Annika's stomach as she zoomed towards the hoop to block Rolanda's throw. Annika doubled over, her arms wrapping around the ball even as her face scrunched up in pain. Rolanda sat up straight on her broom, trying to appear impressed with her throw even as she worried that she'd thrown the Quaffle too hard. When she was facing Ravenclaw next week, it wouldn't matter, but that was the downside of practicing with Annika. She cared just a little too much if the other girl got hurt, and she knew that she sometimes held back because of it, even if Annika herself never noticed.
"Your secret weapon is definitely being small but mighty," Annika remarked as she threw the Quaffle back. She was still breathless from having the air knocked out of her, but there weren't any other lasting effects from her collision with the Quaffle.
Rolanda snatched the ball out of the air and shrugged. "Being good at Quidditch is just a lot of hard work. Why does everyone think that size makes a difference when it comes to playing? At least I get to see the shock on everyone's faces when I beat them I guess."
Annika laughed and shook her head as she positioned herself in the center of the hoops. "You do always surprise people." She spoke so quietly that Rolanda would never have been able to make out the words if the wind weren't blowing in her direction.
She turned and flew away from the hoops to reposition herself. It also had the advantage of hiding the light blush on her cheeks. If anyone asked, it was because of the chilly autumn air and nothing else.
When she turned to face Annika again, the keeper was leaning forward, ready to move at a moment's notice once Rolanda launched the ball towards the hoops. Rolanda flew forward and threw the ball. Annika shot to the left, reaching her arm out towards the Quaffle, but her fingers only grazed the surface of the ball a second before it flew through the hoop. She groaned as she went to retrieve it. Rolanda smirked and leaned back on her broom, releasing the tension she felt every time she made a play.
"Seriously," Annika said as she returned to Rolanda's height with the Quaffle in hand, "no one your size should be able to throw like that."
Rolanda rolled her eyes. Annika may have been five inches taller than her, but as Rolanda loved to point out, size didn't mean anything if you didn't know what you were doing. They both knew that, even if the students who'd teased Rolanda for years didn't. Annika was different because she didn't believe it. She only joked about it to get Rolanda riled up, but Rolanda wasn't giving in to that today.
"You shouldn't be surprised anymore," she said.
Annika shrugged. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's going to help us beat Ravenclaw."
"We always beat Ravenclaw," Rolanda scoffed. Their team hadn't been strong since Belby had graduated two years before. They hadn't won a single game the entire season the previous year.
Rolanda readied herself to go again, but Annika had yet to get into position in front of the hoops.
"Don't get cocky," she told Rolanda. "That's how we'll end up losing."
Rolanda rolled her eyes and felt proud when Annika couldn't hold back her laughter.
"You should have been in Gryffindor," she yelled at Rolanda. "It would have been a good fit for you."
Unable to help it, Rolanda laughed, gripping her broom tightly to keep herself from falling off. Annika was the only one who could make her laugh until her sides hurt.
"If I was in Gryffindor, we wouldn't get to play together." She hoped her continued laughter disguised how that made her feel. She'd originally joined the Quidditch team to get people to stop calling her "cute" just because she was small, but getting closer to Annika had quickly become the best part of being on the team.
"True," Annika said with a shake of her head. She finally got into position. "Okay. Let's get moving on. We have a lot of work to do before the game."
Rolanda fiddled with her broom that laid across her lap. She didn't have anything left to do in the changing room, and her teammates had long gone, but she was reluctant to go back to the Hufflepuff common room. The atmosphere would be sombre. Not only had they lost, but they'd lost to a team that hadn't won for over a year. Rolanda took a deep breath and stood, but she still hesitated to walk out of the changing room.
"You've been in here a while."
Rolanda jumped, a hand coming up to cover her heart. It was only Annika. She glared, her heart still racing.
"Sorry," Annika said, holding her hands up even as she laughed. "I didn't mean to startle you. I only wanted to check that you were okay."
Rolanda sighed. "I'm fine."
She sunk back onto the bench. Going back to the common room sounded even less appealing now that Annika was with her in the changing room. Annika sat beside her and leaned over to nudge her with her shoulder. Rolanda fought against a smile.
"It's not your fault," Annika said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "We can only do the best we can, and today wasn't our day. Everything felt off from the start."
Rolanda snorted. "Even if it wasn't our best day, we still should have been enough of a match for Ravenclaw."
Annika shrugged. "Apparently we weren't, but that's okay. We have another game soon. We'll win that one."
Rolanda raised an eyebrow. "You sound pretty confident. Did you not see how we did today? Sam kept throwing too far to the right even though we've been working on that for months."
Annika hit her lightly on the shoulder to make her shut up. "I did see. Believe it or not, I had a pretty good view from the goalposts," she said sarcastically, "but I mean it when I say we'll win next time. This loss is just going to make us work harder. What did I say about getting too cocky? This is what happens. We've been put in our place, so now we can win next time."
"Maybe," Rolanda said. "I'll have to work with Sam on—"
"Stop," Annika said with a laugh. "We can start training tomorrow. Tonight, we both need a break."
She stood and held out her hand for Rolanda to take. Rolanda did so, trying to ignore the tingling that travelled up her arm at the contact. There were still a million things she wanted to practice before their next game against Slytherin, but if taking a break for one night meant spending time with Annika, then it could wait.