OMG, am I awesome or what? Come on, guys. I feel like two updates in a row deserve a little love. And thank you to the two people that left me reviews (mostwiththetoast: thank you so much for reviewing - how many chapters in a row? IDK but it's awesome. And then to ktbelle: awesome name and you're brilliant too!)
Anyway, if you want to hype me up for next chapter since Clara will be getting some Severus Snape bonding time, then leave me a review please or follow/favorite.
Chapter Fourteen: Loop Holes and Other Slippery Surfaces
"We should have oiled his broom with a uentis potion," Clara said grimly, staring out across the muddy, wind-whipped field that was currently serving as the quidditch arena.
"How the hell were we supposed to know that it was going to get this bad?" Keela snapped just as a chaser on the Hufflepuff team went whipping past, splattering all those close enough with wayward rain.
The heaven's had opened up just as Archie had predicted - just as the teams stepped foot from the safety of their individual tents. Most had had trouble even getting their feet from the mud to lift off. And that had only been the beginning.
Cedric had been right about the low visibility that these clouds would cause. In fact, most of the audience could make out little more than individual blurs of red and gold. Little did they know that that went for the players themselves as well. More than once, Archie had almost flown straight into one of his teammates. And just moments before, a bludger had slammed into the tip of his broomstick so hard that it had sent him slamming into the side of one of the stands. More than the twins who were wreaking havoc from just above the could cover, the rain pelted each player enough that if they wanted to, the beaters could have taken the morning off and sat on the sidelines.
As it was, the teams were barely able to communicate anything other than single words at close range over the howl of the winds and the claps of thunder. Even Lee had been pulled off announcement box by Professor McGonagall due to the fact that his voice barely reached the people around him.
"Liquet," Clara snapped, picking up a discarded drink bottle and tapping her wand along it. Professor Dumbledore had allowed her to keep her own wand for the time being and while it still prickled her insides to use it, the spells that she cast were at a normal student's power level. Clara would hate to see the change when a regular wand that she was compatible with came her way.
Drawing the bottle to her eyes, she was able to focus on the individual players. Nodding, she handed it over to Molly who had been gnawing worriedly at her nails, her eyes narrowed to slits against the rain, her bow a dripping mess atop her curls. She had seen her brother lose control and almost fall from his broom by that errant bludger. And she was fairly sure that that wouldn't be the first time in a game like this one.
"How do you know a spell like that?" Keela asked, eying the bottle suspiciously as Molly swiveled around with it pressed to her nose.
Clara shrugged, thinking about the pile of spellbooks that her father had forced at her every summer. He had said that it would help her with her classes in Beauxbaton but more than that she thought it had something to do with wanting her to be prepared as possible. Prepared for when things went wrong. Prepared for when you didn't have any friends to lean upon. "I like to learn things that are useful."
"OH! There he is!" Molly suddenly shrieked, leaning almost completely over the edge of the bleacher's edge that they were on. Since they had arrived so early, the girls had been able to snag a couple of Hufflepuff seats in the very front row, right up against the ledge.
"HOW'S HE DOING THERE, MOLLY?" A Hufflepuff boy yelled to her from a few rows behind.
"I have some heat amulets-" a girl just to our right called, waving the red jewels around. She had strung them onto leather strings to keep them at her neck.
"Why hasn't Cedric called for time?" another Hufflepuff asked, sounding worried and angry all at once.
A burly boy just beside Clara shook his head, spraying her with water. Not that she wasn't already soaked straight through. Although her robes had been weatherproofed it would have taken a week of spells for them to not become a complete disaster from this amount of rain. Especially considering the fact that George's scarf had become a giant rag to soak up all the rain possible before dripping it down her shirt. "We're up by points right now. Gryffindor wasn't expecting the rain to be this bad so we were able to get a couple of quick points on Woods. Suppose he doesn't want to let go of it when the snitch is still out there with Potter."
Shivering beneath the torrent of wind and rain, Clara couldn't help but feel that a time out was something that all of them needed. A time out from the game and a time out from the rain.
The clack of something wooden hitting against each other caught Clara's attention, her eyes narrowing through the storm to see the soaked forms of two beaters in red, knocking their bats together. George and Fred, Clara realized watching as one of the twins shook his head. A yellow and black scarf whipped in the wind defiantly from one of their necks, his hair a dripping mess as he tried to shake himself out.
Even through the low visibility, Clara knew that they were the only reason that Hufflepuff hadn't scored more goals. More than once they had caught the shoulder of one of their team's chasers, sending them off course long enough for the other to go and draw the attention the Gryffindor keeper, pointing Woods in the direction of the oncoming threat.
As she watched, George dove to the side, speeding towards one of his own teammates and taking a bludger to the side just before it hit one of the chasers right in the face. He visibly winced, catching the ball as it rebounded and sending it straight for the other team's beater.
"Oh, they've scored a point," Molly suddenly said, her hands tightening on the bottle.
"Our team?" Clara asked, tearing her eyes away from George as he zoomed back to where his brother hovered just above the treeline.
Molly grimaced, shaking her head. "Afraid not. Gryffindor."
"I don't have a good feeling about that," Keela muttered, elbowing in beside the burly wizard just beside Clara to get some coverage from the rain.
And she was certainly right. Within the next hour, Gryffindor had scored four more points and the twins had knocked Archie from his broom not once but twice. They had surprisingly good aim for being partially blinded.
"TIME OUT!" Madam Hooch roared over the rain, blowing into her whistle as all of the players faltered midflight before sinking gratefully to the ground.
"Finally," the burly boy muttered as Molly tossed aside the bottle and darted for the player's tents.
"Give Archie some amulets," the girl from earlier whispered as they passed, shoving a few into Clara's hands as she passed.
A few wayward umbrellas and cloaks whipped past them as they made their way through the stands, huddles of students shivering until blankets or in a collective heap.
"They're up by fifty points, Cedric!" a tall witch with the name Macavoy stitched onto her back. Her hair had come out of its tight ponytail, dripping onto her already soaked robes.
"Thank you, Macavoy," Cedric snapped, rubbing a hand through his hair with an irritated smile. "I hadn't noticed through all this sodden rain."
"They're going to win," she continued on, her hands clenching. "AGAIN!"
Cedric's eyes closed for a moment. "Please stop. All the enthusiasm is really throwing me off my game."
Clara slipped a bit through the giant puddle that had begun to form on the wooden floor of the tent. Professor Sprout burst through the tent flaps just as the three girls caught sight of Archie, shivering in the corner nearest the unlit firepit.
"Exhauriat," she called merrily, waving her wand at the floor as all of the water seeped through the floorboards to leave dry wood in its place. "You lot are doing splendid out there - just wonderful. Can't even begin to imagine why Professor Dumbledore would have allowed you to play in the first place. Extraordinary really."
Even when she was criticizing she sounded like she was happy.
"Archie," Molly breathed, running over to the soaked mess of her brother. "Archie, are you alright?"
Archibald Vansteen was thoroughly shocked. He was shocked that he had survived crashing to the muddy field not once but twice. And he was shocked that he was about to get on his broomstick to go out and do it once more. Dazed, Archie blinked up at his sister through muddy lashes.
"Do you need to be cleaned off?" Keela asked, actually sounding nervous for the first time since Clara had met the red-haired witch.
"I know a spell-" Clara chimed in, already riffling around in her sordid robes to try and get her wand.
Archie hand shot out, stopping them. "No. Please no. If I get dry and warm then it'll be even worse when I have to go out there again."
"Oh Archie," Molly whispered, sitting down beside her brother to try and warm him.
Cedric limped over, clearing exhausted from having to navigate through the winds on his broomstick. "Those bludgers are nasty today."
"Those twins are nasty today," Archie corrected grimly. "It's like the weather just increases their wicked, little attitudes."
"And their accuracy," Cedric agreed quietly.
Across the tent, the other Hufflepuff players gave individual huffs of agreement, even Professor Sprout.
"We can dry your brooms and make the footholds more secure," Clara said matter-of-factly. Her eyes moved over their goggles. "I also know a quick spell to allow you to see better in the rain."
Cedric blinked before glancing over at Professor Sprout. "Is that allowed?"
"Spells cast on the opposing team are prohibited but…" Her smile grew a little bit. "No there aren't any specific rules against using enchantments or charms to allow you to fly better or see clearer. Normally, students of your age simply don't have the knowledge to use magic to help so significantly."
"I could kiss you right now, Clara," Cedric said with a glimmer of insanity lighting his eyes. Behind him, the other girls on the team rolled their eyes. They had grown used to his general flattery. In fact, after a year on the quidditch team with him, they had all decided rather quickly that while he was cute, his dense nature would make him a horrible boyfriend.
"Careful, sweetie," Keela warned, giving him a pat on the head. "Or all of your admirers will claw their way through the tent and eat Clara alive."
"I wouldn't particularly like that," the witch in reference said distractedly, gathering all of the team's goggles up and beginning the process of enchanting them. "And I don't know if the kiss would even be worth a portion of the harassment I would receive."
Looking more than slightly offended at the insinuation, Cedric gave a long speech about his daily teeth cleaning and lip treatment process. It turned out that minty breath was 50% of the battle when it came to kissing.
"All done!" Clara declared just as Molly and Keela gave small nods of agreement.
"I think it's time for a nap and some pumpkin pie," Keela yawned, twirling her wand as the Hufflepuff players took their brooms back.
"Fifteen minutes up!" Professor Sprout called from outside fo the tent, ushering all of the players back to the field with a nervous, motherly flutter. "Oh, dears do be careful. I know you want to win but we really don't need the points this years anyway. We can always make it up next year."
"Oh we're gonna win this," their keeper said grimly, looking halfway to murder as he stared at the Gryffindor tent only a pace or two away. As they watched, Woods and his players began to file out, looking soaked but determined.
Clara hovered by the canary yellow flaps of her own tent, watching the gust of wind take a few more umbrellas in its grip and blow them away. The rain hadn't died in the short time that she had been in the tent. In fact, she was amazed to see that it might have gotten a bit worse, the rain stinging her cheeks as it whipped around them. Her robes, which had dried a bit while she had been inside, soaked through once more within seconds.
"Kiss for luck?" George's eyes glittered down at her beneath the mess of reddish hair, mud splattered across his face and a smirk curling his lips. Cedric's scarf still hung around his neck, limp from the rain.
Clara's heart gave a small leap at the words, her lips curling in reply. "I'm afraid that with any more luck, you'll have Archie in the hospital."
"Kiss for general well being?" His smile had grown even more mischievous.
Clara felt a moment of uncertainty. Did he flirt with everyone like this? He had to. He had flirted with Delphine. She hadn't even seemed surprised when he did. So the answer would have to be yes, wouldn't it? Sudden anxiety crept along Clara's spine. She had too many things to think about besides a troublemaker.
No. She wouldn't get involved with George. It would be stupid of her. Besides, she didn't even really know if he thought of her like that. He ruffled her hair like she was a child, teased her like she was an old friend - it was all a bit too confusing.
"I'll make a deal with you. I'll kiss you if you beat Hufflepuff," she said boldly and his eyes narrowed for a moment, his head tipping to the side.
"We're up by fifty points," he murmured, his eyes swirling to a darker amber. Something low and gravely had crept into his voice.
Clara smiled. "I know."
The truth was that there was no way that Gryffindor could win unless they had enchanted their brooms like the girls had done for the Hufflepuff team. To top it off, Clara's suggestion concerning Harry's glasses had partially come true. They were getting in the way of his ability to see the snitch. Already, Cedric had caught sight of the snitch twice and almost caught it. Harry, on the other hand, had almost gotten hit by a bludger five times now.
But Clara couldn't help dipping her toe in the pool that George had created. Would it drive him as crazy as it drove her? Clara couldn't help herself as she stared up at the dripping beater, his eyes darkening hungrily. No one had ever looked at her like that.
"Deal," George said evenly, his hand clenching around his broomstick. "If you win?"
The dripping witch's eyes narrowed, considering.
"I want to know how you've been able to sneak to the kitchens all this time." His eyes widened for a second, actual shock making him hesitate. In the past months, she had been catching glimpses of two shocks of red hair bobbing down corridors and then disappearing. She had even seen them sneaking behind the portrait of the fruit bowl on the weekends. Clara herself had found the entrance through sheer luck and her houses closeness to the kitchens. But a Gryffindor had no business knowing about that entrance.
"I might have underestimated you, Clara Deschamp," George finally said, his voice low.
Clara grinned. "Don't worry. You're not the first."
His eyes swept over her quickly. "Damn. You would have made a good Gryffindor."
Clara merely smiled. She highly doubted that she would have fit into his house. In fact, she rather liked the little home that she had made in the house of the badger. She wasn't sure that she would trade it for anything else that Hogwarts had to offer.
"I'll see you when you lose," she said, nodding to where his team had already disappeared to.
Slowly, George turned away, his eyes never leaving her as he made his way back to the quidditch field until he was around the bend and gone.
"That wasn't very nice," Keela said, sidling up beside her, her brows raised.
Clara frowned, sudden guilt taking over. Worriedly, she bit at her lip. "You think so?"
"You looked so cool!" Molly half-whispered, half-squealed as she took the shorter witch by the shoulders and shook her with an enormous grin.
"Yeah," Keela agreed, throwing an arm around both of their shoulders as they made their way back to their seats. "The coolness makes up for the way that you totally just duped him."
Please review and follow/favorite.
There were some spells mentioned so I thought I would put a glossary below.
Uentis Potion: A potion that induses fair winds for the traveler in need of some broom stability.
Liquet: From Latin to English it means to clear. So it's basically a vision-enhancing spell. Brings things into focus.
Exhauriat: From Latin to English it means to drain.