A/N: Sorry this took some time to update! Things have been ccrrrazzzy as usual. Thank you for your support and your reviews! I appreciate it! And while you're waiting for the next update, go check out my original fic, Anarchy In The UK, at fictionpress! My pen name is cmonsweetcatastrophe. It's awfully lonely and could use some more reviews! Thanks a bunches guys!
September 6
Library
Today proved to be an example of Murphy's Law, God bless that Murphy. For those of you that don't know Murphy's Law, it's "What can go wrong, will go wrong."
A bit of a pessimist, isn't he?
My morning began pleasantly. Thankfully, since today we were void of any classes, we got to sleep in. Alicia and I woke up around ten, and then got ready. You know, this is completely off topic but I really hate wearing those skirts for uniform. They're wool and go down to my knees! And it's not even a nice kind of wool either. It's the itchy kind.
I feel like my grandmother or something. She's eighty-five and insists on wearing skirts.She's never worn a pair of pants in her life. She also has a tendency to talk to her plants. Merlin, the only cool part about the uniform is the tie.
Anyway, no sooner had we opened the door, the wailing sounds of Dashboard Confessional and his ballads of self-anguish and broken hearts attacked us. Many muggles don't know that many of those "emo" bands are actually wizards!
I mean, how else would they get ANYONE to listen to a two hour song about how a strand of hair in a gutter reminds them of their past girlfriend? Despite this, I have to admit I still love them and listen to them on occasion. That is, when I want to have a good cry.
And guessing from the volume of the music, Katie was drowning herself in her own saline. I looked at Alicia and she shrugged. When we finally reached Katie's dorm; the music was so loud that I couldn't even hear myself think. Alicia opened the door and we stepped in. Katie didn't even look up from stuffing her face with chocolates. Alicia wandered over to the wireless stereo, which apparently was on the WWN and turned the volume down.
(The WWN is the Wizard's Wireless Network.)
All of her roommates had gone down to breakfast, leaving Katie alone and in the comfort of all of her emo-ness. She was still dressed in her PJ's and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Her face was streaked with dry and wet tears. I felt bad for her. It just made me think, if a guy can have such a negative affect on a girl why do we bother with them at all?
"Aww Kates, are you still upset about Lee?" Alicia sympathetically wondered, waltzing over and plopping down by her side.
I followed pursuit and sat on Katie's other side.
She nodded, shoveling a caramel cream and coconut explosion bon-bon into her mouth.
I frowned.
"First things first. Eating your weight in chocolate is not going to get Lee back. It'll just give you pimples," I gently advised, with a pat on the shoulder.
I gingerly took the box of chocolates out of her hands. Then I got up, opened the window and tossed it over my shoulder without a second glance. Katie gaped and I returned to my seat.
Alicia nodded, as though she were dealing with a small child and didn't want to upset him/her.
"Look, Kates, it's only been a day. And you haven't even talked to Lee, yet. Come down to breakfast with us and then maybe we'll find something to do, besides cry over some silly boy. Honestly, I totally think that Lee is a great guy. He's one of my closest guy friends. But if he's making you this miserable, then maybe you're better off without him."
Katie looked completely horrified at the thought of a single day without her beloved.
"Yeah, she's got a point. I mean, no guy is worth beating yourself up. But you haven't even talked things out with him. I'm sure he's ready to listen and work things out. He loves you too much to let you go that easily," I firmly stated.
Katie looked back and forth, then slung her arms over us. She looked like she was going to burst out in tears again.
"You guys are the best!" she cooed.
Alicia and I both threw her a big smile, knowing our mission had been a success. Katie finally turned off the music, got showered and changed, then headed down to the Great Hall with us. I was kind of afraid that once she set eyes on Lee, she'd burst into tears again. But fortunately, he was no where to be found. George was the only male out of the three present. He was eating a bowl of cereal and reading The Daily Prophet.
"Oy, George! Where's Lee?" Alicia demanded.
We all sat down and started serving ourselves, with the exception of Katie. She was too busy staring down at the table with this absolutely heartbreaking look of regret. I sighed and patted her shoulder, then got her a bagel with cream cheese and a tall glass of orange juice.
Bagels with cream cheese are her favorite breakfast food, besides oatmeal. Don't ask me why oatmeal is up there, but she just loves the stuff. Anyway, when I set the food down in front of Katie, she threw me a weak smile and started picking at the bagel. It looked like she really was going to cry for the 100th time that morning.
George put down his paper and blinked, as though he'd never seen any of us before.
"Hello? Earth to George?" I teased.
George snapped out of his trance.
"Oh, right. Yes. Lee. Katie, I have a message for you from Lee. He was down here earlier, waiting for you. He told me, to tell you, to meet him in the library once you've finished breakfast."
Katie's eyes brightened a bit and she immediately stood up.
"Is he still there?" she wondered.
George shrugged.
"Yeah, I suppose so."
Before we could stop her, Katie rushed away and out of the Great Hall as fast as a jackrabbit on speed.
"Do you know by any chance, where Fred is?" I questioned to George.
"He just left for the Owlery a few minutes after you two arrived."
"Oh, all right."
I finished eating my breakfast, chatting with George and Alicia about the upcoming practice. I wasn't in any rush to see Fred, to tell you the truth. I was kind of distracted by the upcoming practice session, at which I would be displaying my captain skills for the first time. After breakfast, George and Alicia went off for some "alone-time."
I decided to head off to the library and look over my Quidditch tactic plans for the year and maybe start some of my weekend homework. I was happy to see that Katie and Lee were sitting quietly at a table, whispering about something. Both of them were smiling. A few hours later, we all headed back up to the Great Hall for lunch.
Pretty soon, it was 2 PM and time for the practice session.
And then, good old Murphy decided to creep up.
It was a good day for practicing, except a few…"spectators" decided to come out. It was the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Being the person that I am, I was capable to ignore them even though I would love nothing more than to punch Pansy Parkinson in the nose.
I was just worried that the rest of the team wouldn't be able to do the same. Like the twins and Ron. I know that Malfoy always likes to have a go at them and see how far he can push their buttons. The three of them have a very quick temper and I was worried that the practice session would quickly turn into something ugly.
Everyone got changed and then I came out from the Captain's office and assigned people some quick jobs. Alicia and Fred went out to get the ball crate. I hinted to the team about the "spectators" and advised them to turn the other cheek. As soon as we entered the field, they all started leering. Malfoy didn't waste any time taunting Ron.
It's a good thing that Harry and Ron are best friends, because I figured that Harry could keep Ron's temper under control. I started to explain what the agenda was for the day, when that UGLY PUG Parkinson interrupted me.
"Hey Johnson, what's that hairstyle anyway? Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"
Oh, the things I would do to that girl if I weren't the Captain. Honestly, if I weren't so devoted to my team I would have marched over there and started beating the pulp out of her. I mean, she's the one to talk! Her face looks like a wrinkly pug dog. And her voice reminds me of a cat being thrown off a five-story building.
But I didn't let any of my emotions show. I did the best thing I could do. I ignored her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fred start mumbling fierce curse words. Thankfully, George quickly calmed him down. We started out passing and Ron dropped it. All the Slytherins laughed and I felt bad for Ron. Once again, I pretended I hadn't heard anything.
We started the drill again and Malfoy started taunting Harry. By then, I was getting more than aggravated. Ron missed the Quaffle again and the Slytherins doubled up with laughter. Fortunately, Ron caught it on the third try.
I let out a silent sigh of relief until he decided to pass it to Katie.
He passed it so hard that it hit her in the face.
And just my luck, her nose started bleeding.
George and Fred flew over and gave her something, I don't know what but I didn't care, as long as it stopped the bleeding. I decided to move on from the drills and told the twins to get their bats and Harry to release the Snitch. When everyone had his or her equipment, I blew the whistle.
But no sooner had I done this, I had to stop. Ron wasn't guarding all of his posts, Katie's nose was bleeding even more thickly and the Slytherins were watching all of this with amusement as though it were some kind of Saturday night Comedy Club.
Then the Slytherins started chanting, "Gryffindors are losers" and I really thought I was going to scream with frustration. We started practicing once more but then I had to stop less than five minutes later, because of Katie's nose.
Her face had gone a ghostly white and her robes were covered with blood. There was obviously no point in her continuing to play. Fred and George went down to escort her to the hospital wing and I decided that it was useless to continue practice. Half the team was gone, so it would be senseless to try to practice without them. I ordered the rest of the team, Harry, Ron and Alicia, to go back and change.
I took a ridiculously long shower, in hopes of maybe drowning myself in the water. After I was done and had changed back into my clothes, Alicia was the only team member left, waiting for me. It was about late afternoon now, nearing four.
I wasn't sure if I really wanted any company at that moment, but Alicia usually knew how to cheer me up.
"This practice was a disaster," I mumbled, looking down at my feet.
Alicia sighed, studying my expression.
"You can't give up, you know that, right? It was only the first practice. Next time, we'll just practice when those Slytherin idiots aren't around. It'll get better."
I shook my head, unsure. A part of me was all for the optimism. I mean, it was only Ron's first practice and with all those Slytherins around, I'm sure it didn't do quite well for his nerves. He probably was just nervous and would get better as each practice went on.
I knew I couldn't decrease my faith in Ron, because it was clear that he would need more support and confidence than anyone else, being a first time team member and all. But another part of me was royally pissed off and disappointed in myself.
I couldn't help but think that maybe if I'd done something differently, then maybe I could have prevented the practice from turning out to be such a catastrophe. I mean, I bet if Wood was still captain, none of this would be happening. But I'm not Oliver and I can only do things my way and to the best of my ability. At the thought of Oliver, I mentally made a note to myself to send him a letter and get some advice.
"I hope so, Licia. I mean, if we keep having anymore practices like this, our chance of winning the House Cup will go down the drain," I glumly predicted.
She sighed in defeat, knowing that all the assurance in the world wasn't going to change my mood. We walked back to the castle silent. We both decided to visit Katie in the hospital wing. The boys had gone off somewhere else.
I let out a huge sigh and carefully sat on the edge of Katie's bed. Alicia stood on my side, a few ways down from where I was sitting. Her face had been cleaned up and was void of any blood. She was holding a thick piece of gauze under her nose.
"Ugh, Kates, I'm so sorry about what happened."
She cracked me a smile and waved her hand.
"Forget about it. It wasn't your fault," she breezily replied.
"How long do you have to stay in here?" Alicia curiously wondered.
"Just for the rest of the day. I'll probably be able to leave during dinner."
I don't see how she could be so bloody cheerful after everything that had happened, but that's Katie for you. We all talked a bit more, then Lee waltzed in and Alicia and I decided to give them some alone time. Dinner proved to be a bit strained, due to the fact I was still a little miffed about our practice session.
It just kept replaying over and over in my head, like a bad movie. Katie flounced into the Great Hall just as the six of us were about to get up and leave. Lee and I offered to stay with her while she ate, but she said she'd already eaten in the hospital wing.
Then we all split up. Lee convinced Katie to sneak into the kitchens, so he could get her a piece of cake to celebrate her "miraculous recovery." George and Alicia decided to tag along, because George claimed that he was still hungry. Katie and Alicia tried to persuade me to come as also, but I wasn't in the mood. Fred was going to go as well, seeing as how he loves a bit of mischief before bed time, but when he saw the foul mood I was in, he decided to come along with me.
We walked silently back to the common room, where I'd decided to grab my books and then head off to the library to study. I was a little afraid that I would snap at him, but he patiently waited for me to speak first. He held my hand and gave it a little squeeze.
We were up in my room, when I decided to spill my feelings to him. I was having trouble finding my DADA book.
"You know, I think today has been officially gone down in the hall of utter shame," I mumbled, while on my stomach and looking for the book under my bed.
Fred was leaning against my dresser, in front of my bed, holding my quills.
"Angel, you're making a big deal out of nothing. Katie's fine and Ron…well cut him some slack. It was his first day. And those bloody Slytherins weren't encouraging anyone either."
I stood up again, surveying the room then locking eyes with him.
"I know, I know! It's just that I feel like I've let down everyone," I confessed, taking a seat on the foot of my bed.
"Why do you think that?" Fred demanded, joining me.
I let my chin rest in my hand, looking out the window.
"Because, I wanted to get the team off to a good start. My first day as captain and one of my best mates lands in the hospital wing. I shouldn't let all of this drag me down but I still can't ignore it. Granted, I'm not as upset as I was this afternoon but I'm not as confident as I was before," I slowly explained.
He put his arm around my shoulder, soothingly massaging it.
"Look, I think you need to sleep on it. You'll feel better in the morning."
I let out a frustrated groan.
"Everyone's telling me it'll be all right, but what if it gets worse!" I moaned.
Fred let out a chuckle and shook his head.
"Angel, stop worrying. You really do take things too seriously, sometimes."
But this WAS serious! Couldn't he see? If we couldn't function well as a team, there was no chance we would be winning any of our games.
"Oh, what do YOU know about being serious? You couldn't be serious if you tried!"
This of course, wasn't entirely true but I was just so annoyed with everyone and everything, I wasn't thinking before I acted.
He flinched, stung by the comment but like it slide.
"Listen, I know that nothing is worth getting this flustered about, even Quidditich."
He tried to kiss me but I turned away. I didn't mean to be so grumpy, but I knew that even a make-out session with an utter red headed Sex God would cure my case of the blues. He looked at me quizzically but I shrugged him off. I realized that even my boyfriend wouldn't be able to get me out of my sour mood. I needed some time alone; to think things over and clear my head. Everyone trying to offer his or her condolences would just annoy me even more.
"Look, Fred. I think I'm going to go to the library alone, all right?" I crisply hinted.
He got up and handed me my quills. I could tell he was pissed off but there was nothing I could do to further explain my reasoning. I needed time alone. No one really understood how I felt because as conceited as it sounds, they weren't Captain.
They didn't have the entire season riding on their shoulders. They didn't have all of these people relying on them. They didn't have to live up to the legend of their former Captain and feel the crushing blow of defeat, every time they were pushed farther away from their goals.
"All right. Fine. I'm going to go find Lee and the gang," he icily replied.
I sighed, feeling like a total jerk.
"I'll see you later."
He didn't smile or give me a goodbye kiss. He shrugged, as though he couldn't care less if he ever saw me again.
"Yeah, whatever."
And with that, he strolled out of my dorm room and out of sight.
It's not even October and already Fred and I are fighting. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture? I was supposed to be finishing my essay for Snape but I've been writing in my stupid diary the entire time. I feel a bit better after jotting all of this down but I also feel totally idiotic, looking back at all of it. I've written a letter to Oliver and I guess I'll send it tomorrow.
Ugh. Tomorrow. With my luck, by next week, I won't have a boyfriend anymore.
DAMN YOU MURPHY!
A/N: The description of the practice correctly follows the one depicted in the American, Hardcover version of OOTP.