The feeling of wind in his hair and nothing but a broom preventing him from falling, probably to his death, was like no other feeling Ludo had ever experienced before. Even with his Quidditch days behind him, and what magnificent days those were, his love of flying and dodging and weaving through the air never faded; Ludo didn't think it possibly could.
He no longer had his beater's bat; that old thing was hung above his fireplace, and Ludo doubted it would be able to manage another good swing without falling apart. It would be thick with dust since he had no house elves, but cleaning and polishing the wood once again would draw up old memories and resentment for having to retire so early.
Ludo frowned; the Rookwood business had been terrible for him, and there were several people who hadn't trusted him since. He had, honestly, not suspected Rookwood to be a Death Eater, and anyone who knew Ludo knew that, once he had a little alcohol in him, he would talk about anything and everything.
Had it been only that, perhaps the Wasps would have taken him back. Suddenly, there were two things: an injury during a practice that would easily have been healed (and had been healed since) made him a liability and the Wasps weren't going to sign him for another season.
He didn't like it, but he could understand: no Quidditch team wanted to be associated with the Death Eaters, and he had become that association to something no one liked to think about. However good he was, it didn't matter anymore. While he had been cleared of all charges, no one knew for certain — their doubts still lingered at the back of their minds, so he had no choice but to be forced to leave one way or another. If he hadn't gotten injured, it would have been something else. He had been a fool to think he would be able to simply return with no consequence, even after cutting all ties with Rookwood and his group of friends.
The Ministry had, however, allowed him to return to Quidditch in a way. This time as an organiser instead of a player, but that just made him better than all the other options: he knew what it was like to be a player, so he could plan the matches and trainings accordingly. Ludo thought he did a wonderful job; he hadn't heard a single complaint from any of the Quidditch players, even from his old friends who were a lot freer in discussing what they didn't like with him.
Ludo spotted the billowing black robes of Crouch and sighed, knowing that there was a deep scowl on the other man's face already. It would take a lot of time to appease the man who was set on making his job difficult, being one of the few who still doubted his allegiance to the Ministry after a year and a half.
Tilting the broom forward, he headed to the ground not far from the irate man while mentally preparing a list of excuses.
Written for
Quidditch Pitch: Suddenly, there were two
The Hunger Games Challenge: #21