~Crooked Hearts~
*by: Eowyn Black*
Chapter One
I unlocked the front door to my flat and stepped inside. I set my broomstick against the wall before collapsing onto the sofa. Practice had been twice as challenging as usual that day. My mind was on other things besides quidditch.
~*~
Now, before we move on down the road to my self-discovery, I'd like to just fill you in on the basics:
The year was 2001 and my friends and I had graduated from Hogwarts a few years before. Ron and Hermione had gotten jobs as Aurors with the Ministry within the first year after graduation. I was offered a job as an Auror also, but turned it down. I had other plans.
Me, I wanted to pursue a career as a jock. As I was one throughout my seven years at Hogwarts, I wanted to continue that and join a professional quidditch team. A year and a half after graduation, my dream became reality and I was chosen as seeker for the Montrose Magpies. Ron, of course, thought I should try out for the Cannons, but the Magpies seemed more appealing to me. Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of my friends backed me in my decision and always came to our games.
As you might already know, the Magpies hardly needed my help to win. We had won every game except for one the first year I was seeker, but that was only because we had lost so many players to injuries.
A year after graduation, I asked Hermione to marry me. We had gotten quite close at Hogwarts and she was the only one I could see myself with. Now, don't go feeling sorry for me after you see this next part. I fully understand why Hermione turned me down. In fact, I wasn't surprised when she told me that she loved Ron and that he had already beaten me to it. But, like a genuine friend, I was Best Man in their wedding and wished them the best of luck with their marriage. But I still felt something towards Hermione. It felt like I had lost a part of my body and would never get it back.
About a year after the wedding and halfway through the quidditch season, I moved north of London to a small wizarding community in the northern part of England. I had to get away to start my own life and try to get Hermione out of my head.
At the time this all took place, I had been living on my own for a good year and hadn't been in contact with anyone from my Hogwarts years. Little did I know my life was going to change drastically over the next few months.
~*~
As I mentioned before, my mind wasn't exactly on practice. However, the main thing on my mind did involve quidditch.
The Magpies had just learned the previous day that our league was going global. We would be participating in the first Global Quidditch League tournament. In fact, we would be playing in the first game in the tournament.
I couldn't make up my mind whether I actually wanted to travel the globe to participate in this tournament. Part of me wanted to stay put and put my dream on hold for a while. After all, I had only moved into the area the year before and hadn't really had a chance to meet anyone. The other part of me wanted me to go and fulfill my dream.
Once I collapsed onto the sofa, I noticed the Daily Prophet sitting on the kitchen table in the next room. Gathering all the strength left from practice that day, I managed to get up from my very comfortable position and sad down roughly at the kitchen table. As I took a glance at the front page of the paper, I saw a picture of seven starting quidditch players dressed in black and white robes. The Daily Prophet had gotten wind of the new league.
New Global Quidditch League Introduced
The British and Ireland Quidditch League introduced just today that they will be participating in the newly formed Global Quidditch League. The first match is to be held right in England at the home of the Magpies. The Magpies were proud to announce that they will be playing their first match against Australia's Woollongong Warriors who have been quite popular in Australia and New Zealand over the past century.
The article went on to explain the date and time of the first match and the games that would be following.
I had made a huge mistake of tossing the paper back onto the table without looking at any other front page stories as I walked away from something that could have changed my life right then and there. Now, I regret going back into the front room and turning on the telly to let my problems work themselves out.
What I didn't realize that day was that someone close to me made a terrible mistake that had cost them their life.
~*~