That night, Ben, Jeff, and Charlie sat around the Gryffindor common room. Jeff and Charlie were getting a head start on their Potion's assignment while Ben ran his mouth about how great his schedule was.
"I don't have to take Potions, History, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, or Charms. It's excellent!"
"What exactly are you taking?" Jeff asked, not looking up from his homework.
"Yeah, that list of classes you're not taking pretty much includes every class at this school." Charlie asked.
"Not true! I'm taking Divination, Astrology, and Muggle Studies." Ben told him.
"Divination?" Jeff asked. "Ben, that class is a joke."
"Ah yes, but it is an easy joke." Ben imitated Professor Trelawney's wistful voice.
"And Muggle Studies? You're dad is a Muggle!" Charlie said.
"Your point?"
"Don't you already know everything there is to know about Muggles?"
"Once again...E-A-S-Y. Easy."
"Thanks for the spelling lesson." Charlie muttered dryly.
"What kind of job do you expect to get taking those kind of classes?" Jeff asked him.
"Since when do Quidditch players need any sort of schooling whatsoever?" Ben asked.
"You know it's not easy getting to play Professional Quidditch." Jeff told him.
"Tell that to Charlie. He's been receiving owls all summer from big time Quidditch teams just begging for him to come play for them."
"That is not even remotely true." Charlie told him.
"Oh really?" Ben raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Yes. They sent me information, that's all."
"But you know they all want you." Ben told him.
"Charlie, do you think this sounds right?" Jeff handed Charlie his parchment, sensing that Charlie didn't want to talk about all the Quidditch teams.
"Why are you asking me? It's a miracle I even made it to the class, remember?" Charlie said sarcastically, but was thankful to change the subject. "Looks good to me, but don't take my word for it."
"Okay, I'll ask Elle tomorrow." Jeff said and began to gather his homework.
"Speaking of, those two are a couple of babes. Nice going." Ben grinned. Charlie and Jeff both ignored him. "So, are you two going to ask them out or what?"
"No."
"Why not? You asked them to eat lunch with us."
"Ooh...we asked them to eat lunch with us. We must be in love." Jeff said sarcastically.
"Well, aren't you?"
"Can't we just enjoy their company without having romantic intentions?" Jeff asked.
"You can pretend to." Ben said.
"We barely even know them." Charlie told him.
"That's a pretty sorry excuse." Ben said.
"Look...they're our partners for a group project. We happen to have had a few nice conversations with them and would like to get to know them better. That's all." Jeff said.
"Uh huh." Ben didn't look convinced at all.
"And why don't you think Jeff and I can be friends with a couple of girls without being interested in them?" Charlie asked.
"Because it just doesn't work that way!"
"Why not? They're friends with that Edgar Brooks and neither one of them is dating him." Jeff said.
"Yeah, but I think Edgar likes Elle." Charlie told Jeff.
"Oh." He said. "But she's not interested in him, is she?"
"She doesn't seem to be."
"What about Hazel?" Ben asked.
"What about her?" Charlie asked.
"Is she interested in Brooks?" Charlie froze. He hadn't thought about that.
"I don't think so." He hoped not.
"See? Girls and guys can be friends just fine." Jeff told Ben.
"Whatever." Ben said. "I bet they're in their dorm talking about you right now."
"I would not bet on that." Charlie replied.
"Why would they?" Jeff asked.
"Because they think you're dreamy." Ben batted his eyelashes.
"Why must you be such a prat?" Charlie asked.
"Fine. They're probably in their dorm talking about what dweebs the two of you are." Ben said.
"Why do we care what they think of us?" Jeff asked.
"Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be getting so worked up about it." Ben said with a smug smile. Charlie and Jeff looked at him.
"I'm going to bed." Jeff said stiffly.
"Me too." Charlie said. The two departed for their dormitory, leaving Ben in a fit of laughter in the common room.
During the days that followed, Charlie and Jeff continued to spend time with Hazel and Elle. On Friday morning, the quartet celebrated the end of their first week back at school.
"So, what do Ravenclaws do to celebrate?" Charlie wondered.
"Hazel usually brings out her Muggle music thing-" Elle began
"Record player."
"Yeah, that." Elle said and looked at Hazel before they both started laughing. The first thing Charlie and Jeff had learned about the two girls was that they were constantly completing each other's thoughts and usually ended up laughing at unspoken things only the two of them understood. "Anyway, she has some kind of new music to listen to every week."
"Then there was one time someone brought a Pinata which I think they got at Hogsmeade." Hazel said.
"That was a lot of fun." Elle smiled.
"Yeah, and then we had that candy fight."
"And you used Edgar as a shield."
"Good times." Hazel laughed.
"Wow, that's weird." Jeff said.
"Yeah, I always imagined your parties would be, I don't know, a lot of people sitting around reading." Charlie grinned.
"Stereotypes." Hazel said with a wave of her hand.
"That would be funny. We just won a Quidditch match. Okay everyone, break out the history text books!" Elle laughed.
"And if we're feeling really adventurous, we may even look through the Standard Book of Spells." Hazel paused for dramatic effect. "Grade 7!"
"Woah!" Elle, Jeff, and Charlie all cried jokingly before everyone burst out laughing.
"That actually sounds like the kind of party Percy would enjoy." Charlie said thoughtfully once the laughter had subsided.
"Some party." Jeff commented.
"What are Gryffindor parties like?" Hazel asked.
"Mostly we sit around and eat a lot." Jeff said honestly.
"Really? There are no heroic speeches? No swords or knighting ceremonies?" Elle asked with a smile.
"Nope, just a lot of food." Jeff said.
"Yeah, my brother Bill told me where the secret entrance to the kitchen is, so whenever we have a party, Ben, Jeff, and I usually sneak down there and gather up loads of cakes and cookies and pumpkin juice and then we're welcomed back as heroes of the common room." Charlie grinned.
"Are there really house elves here?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah, they're hilarious." Charlie said.
"All you have to do is blink at them and they'll give you about ten different pastries." Jeff said.
"Are they happy?" Elle asked.
"They seem to be." Jeff said.
"I think I can honestly say I've never encountered an unhappy house elf." Charlie told her.
"That's good." Elle and Hazel said as one.
"Cool! Stereo!" Jeff quipped, making everyone laugh again.
"Hiya Captain!" An eager voice joined the conversation.
"Hey Oliver." Charlie grinned. Oliver looked as though he believed there was no greater honor than having the legendary Charlie Weasley say his name.
"Are tryouts still tonight?" He asked.
"Yep. 7:30 on the field."
"Great! See you then Charlie!" Oliver turned and ran off to join some third-year friends, all of whom looked very impressed that Oliver was on a first-name basis with Charlie.
"That kid is going to be heartbroken if he doesn't make the team." Elle said.
"I know." Charlie said. "But if there's someone better, I really don't have a choice."
"Maybe no one else will try out." Hazel said.
"You don't hang out with many Gryffindors, do you?" Jeff asked. Hazel blinked. "Every guy wants to be on the team because we haven't lost a match since Charlie joined the teaim and as Gryffindors, we love glory. Every girl wants to be on the team because that means they get to talk to Charlie and Ben on a regular basis. I wouldn't be surprised if we had at least twenty kids try out for one position tonight."
"But the position you need to fill is Keeper, right?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah." Charlie said.
"That's a really hard position. Someone can't just go out and become a Keeper. You've got to have a lot of skill and the courage it takes to get out there and have Quaffles thrown at your face. I don't think that wanting glory or to hang out with you guys is going to compensate for skill if they don't have any. I mean, to play any position you really have to want to play Quidditch, not just the perks that come with being a Quidditch player." Hazel said.
"That's very true." Charlie said, thoroughly impressed by her Quidditch thoughts. "I knew from the very get-go that I wanted to be a Seeker, but if there had been one position I wouldn't have wanted, it would have been Keeper. I still would have taken it, but I would not like having Quaffles flying at me every second. Bludgers are bad enough."
"I hate Bludgers. They scare me to death." Hazel said honestly. "I don't think I'd make a very good Beater or Keeper. I'd probably make a worse Keeper than Beater though, because at least I can hit things."
"When my brothers and I play Quidditch at home, Fred and George play Beaters and we make Ron Keep for us." Charlie grinned as he took a sip of water. "Fred and George I think will make excellent Beaters."
"They have a good build for it." Hazel noticed. "One of our Beaters the year I joined the team was as thin as a toothpick, which wasn't a bad thing, but I think that his bat weighed more than he did."
"Yeah, it helps if the Beaters have some muscles." Charlie said.
"Then again, it also helps if Seekers are dainty and lightweight and look at you!" Ben joked as he joined the group.
"Sod off." Charlie said, though he couldn't help but grin. He knew Ben was just poking fun at him.
"So, what are we talking about? I just heard that Beaters are supposed to have muscles."
"We're talking about Quidditch." Elle said.
"Thanks, Ellie. I got that much." Ben said.
"Ellie?" Elle asked. Ben grinned and winked.
"So how old is Ron?" Hazel asked Charlie.
"He's nine."
"He must be pretty brave to play Keeper for you."
"Well, he's the only one who can, really. Bill has absolutely no hand-eye coordination, so having him Keep would be equivalent to throwing a Quaffle at a really skinny tree, Ginny is too young to play with us, and I think she wants to be a Chaser anyway, and the idea of Percy even touching a broomstick is funny enough. To think about him playing Quidditch is flat-out hysterical." Charlie said.
"But, if you only have a Seeker and two Beaters practicing, why do you need a Keeper?" Elle asked.
"Since I'm Captain, I need to know how to play every position in case we have an emergency or if someone can't make it or gets sick." Charlie explained.
"That's really responsible." Hazel smiled. Charlie swore (or prehaps really hoped) he saw a shimmer of admiration shining in her eyes.
"Thanks, but I just really want to win." He replied with a playful grin as the bell rang.
"Time for class." Ben moaned.
"You have Muggle Studies." Jeff told him.
"It's still class, isn't?" Ben asked. Charlie and Hazel exchanged grins before following their friends out of the Great Hall.
Author's Note: Hey! Well...is it horrible? I don't really know how to write good romance... Of course, this story isn't very romantic yet. The characters are still in the very early stages of love, but I have a lot of ideas. I hope everyone's enjoyed it, but if not, I totally understand. I'm a romantic, but I'm not good at writing it! Also...I did not come up with the title "Hard to Concentrate" all by myself. It's the title of one of the songs on "Stadium Arcadium" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's a great song and I just wanted everyoneto know that I do not own the title to this story.
Love, Peace, Good thoughts for all -
Midnight Paradise
