Chapter 8
I woke up to gentle kisses being placed down my back. My eyes opened slightly and I could see it was still dark outside, telling me that it wasn't quite yet morning. I closed my eyes again slowly drifting back to sleep, feeling the kisses trail up my back and to my neck. I felt a smile come across my face and I sighed happily, feeling so at peace.
"I know you're awake," James whispered into my ear pausing in his ministrations.
"I'm enjoying your kisses," I sighed, smiling as I rolled over to look at him. He was hovering above me, supporting himself on his arms. I made to move the cover over myself, but he frowned slightly pulling it away and before I could protest he kissed softly on the lips.
"You are so beautiful," He said sincerely, shutting me up. He continued to kiss my bare shoulders and chest, making me moan slightly. I heard him chuckle and, not wanting him to have all the fun, I flipped us over and began doing the same to him. He laughed freely, pulling me into his side; our bodies tangled together.
"You're amazing," He whispered making me blush slightly.
"That was the best night of my life," I said quietly running my fingers over his stomach, reminiscing about what had just happened between us.
"It was perfect," James said kissing me on the forehead.
"I best go back to my room before people start waking up," I said reluctantly. James groaned and tried to pull me back to the bed. I smiled and allowed him to pull me in for another kiss.
"Can I see you today?" He asked watching me get dressed.
"That would be nice," I replied pulling my hair back and trying to ignore the sirens going off in my head. "I'll be in the library at lunch," He smiled and nodded. I wanted to say more but I didn't want to ruin the moment we just had so I smiled back and leant down to kiss him again.
"Thank you for my gift," I said softly, picking it up from the side and placing it around my neck. "I love it," I said sincerely. James climbed out of bed and walked over to the door with me.
"It looks amazing on you," He smiled. He wrapped me up once again and kissed me passionately on the lips. "It's going to be hard not doing that every time I see you today," He said pulling away.
"Don't think about that just now," I said frowning slightly, "Can't we pretend for just a moment that it could be that way?"
"I wish we could," He said kissing me on the lips again, "But we can't think that way Hannah,"
"Then what was the point," I replied sighing, hoping the tears would subside until I left the room. "We have just made this a thousand times more complicated than it already was."
"The point was that I love you," James all but shouted, "And I wanted to show you that," I stood there in shock for a moment at what he had said. He looked at me nervously, neither of us daring to speak.
"I love you too," I said softly after a moment. James smile was the biggest I've seen it in a long time, he leant down to kiss me again. "Now it's a million times more complicated," I said sighing.
"We will work something out, I promise," He said wrapping me in a hug. "I'll see you in a few hours."
I left the room reluctantly, not wanting the night to end. I crept upstairs and into bed quietly hoping that nobody heard me come in. I didn't want to dwell too much on what would happen next. I knew it was stupid to sleep with James, he wasn't my first but it felt so much different to anything I'd ever done before, I didn't want to regret that it ever happened but I knew deep down it wasn't going to end well. For the moment, I decided to enjoy what had happened and for the first time in a long time, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
"You came to bed really late last night," Rose questioned as we were getting ready the next morning. She had been surprisingly pleasant to all morning; I was hoping Scorpius had called her out about her attitude. I didn't want to lie to her again, not now we were on speaking terms.
"I lost track of time," I said smiling at her through the mirror as I did my makeup. I wasn't exactly lying, more withholding the truth.
"I thought you came to bed with me last night, why did you go back downstairs?" She continued, I knew she was trying to catch me out and I didn't want to give her reason not to talk to me again.
"I like to see in the last moments of my birthday," I started, "I was reading and lost track of time," She nodded and I hoped she brought it.
"Can we be friends again please?" I said after a moment, "I miss you," She looked at me and sighed.
"We can work on it," She said after a moment.
"That's all I want," I said smiling. After last night with James, I decided that in order for us to get anywhere I needed to be the best friend I could be, that meant not putting myself first and this was a start. "Let's get some breakfast,"
We walked down to the hall in an awkward but pleasant conversation, talking about homework and Quidditch, joining Albus and Scorpius for breakfast. Both of them just stared at us.
"What?" Rose asked pouring us some tea.
"You two are friends now?" Al asked warily.
"Yes, of course we are," Rose snapped.
"Thank Merlin for that," Scorp sighed.
"Will you ever tell me what you fell out about?" Al asked curiously.
"Nope, now drop it," Rose said sternly, giving Al a look that I knew would shut him up.
"Where's Kate?" I asked Al, trying to change the conversation. It was rare nowadays not to see them together all the time.
"We broke up," Al shrugged, grabbing a sausage. Rose rolled her eyes and pulled Scorpius into a different conversation.
"When? Why?" I questioned. I couldn't help but be slightly relieved that she wasn't going to be there every time Al and I spent time together.
"She was getting on my nerves, and she was always really jealous about you, it was doing my head in." He said blushing slightly and not meeting my eye.
"Why would she be jealous of me?" I asked chuckling slightly. Rose and Scorpius glanced at the two of us and Al was just looking at me intently. "Am I missing something?" I said to the three of them.
"No," Al sighed, "Did you have a good birthday?" He asked, obviously trying to change the subject.
"It was probably the best one yet," I smiled, thinking about James and the night before.
"Was that a present?" Al asked pointing to my necklace. Rose spun round to see what he was talking about and I hastily put it back inside my robes.
"Yes, it was,"
"From who?" Rose questioned, glaring at me. I smiled and tried to calm my beating heart that I was certain all three of them could hear.
"A friend from home," I lied, eating my breakfast and not looking at any of them, "It came late last night because it was through muggle post," I suddenly realised this wasn't going to be easy at all. "Anyway I best be going, I'm having lunch in the library so I'll see you later," I grabbed my bags and walked to lesson.
"Hannah wait up," Al called after me, "We have potions idiot, you might need you potions partner for that," He smiled bumping my shoulder. We walked quietly for a moment.
"Was your necklace from a boyfriend you aren't telling us about? Jake maybe," He said sheepishly.
"Don't be daft," I said tapping his arm slightly, "I don't have a boyfriend and Jake and I haven't spoken in ages. It's just from a friend." I lied again. But seeing the smile that appeared on Al's face made me realise that however twisted the logic was, lying to him was the right thing to do.
"Good," He smiled, "I'm glad you don't have a boyfriend," I frowned, "I don't mean it like that, I just mean...well...Merlin...do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" He asked rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly reminding me somewhat of his brother.
"Don't we always go together?" I asked confused at why he was asking me so formally.
"Yes we do but-"
"Then of course I will stupid," I smiled as we reached the dungeons and sat in our usual spot.
"Okay then, everyone turn to page 256; we are going to be looking at Antidotes today." Professor Slughorn called from his desk.
I had a free period after double potions and so bid Al farewell before setting up at the back of the library to give me and James some privacy. I started on my potions homework as I waited for him to arrive.
My head was still spinning after the night before. Everything had felt so right, so simple and I was surprised that even when reality had sunk in, I hadn't regretted anything. I loved James and he loved me. It sounded so simple, so easier and even though I knew it was far from any of those things, I felt a strange peace within myself; I had come to terms with my own feelings. I finally understood what all this mess was for. I was calmer than I had been in weeks and I felt like I could breathe again. Don't get me wrong, I was nervous about seeing the older Potter, but it was a giddy nerve. The kind of nerves that made you get butterflies in your stomach, the kind that made your heart beat a little fast and your cheeks go red. The bell for lunch went and there was no sign of him. I pulled a sandwich out of my bag and waited, watching the minutes drag on and with still no sign.
As the end of lunch came, I realised that he wasn't turning up. I reluctantly put all of my things away, trying to ignore the dreadful feeling that slowly subsided my happiness. I tried to convince myself that James could've just been caught up somewhere and was running late but even as I fed myself the excuse, I knew I was clutching at straws. I tried not to focus on the fact that I had made it easy for James to have a part of me, the thought that I was just another conquest made me feel sick. I hoped desperately that it wasn't the case as I moved to the next lesson, trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was seeping through my judgement.
Transfiguration and Charms passed quickly and easily that afternoon. I tried to forget about James standing me up and really hoped he had a reasonable explanation for why. The four of us walked to dinner; as always Rose and Al commanded the conversation. I was happy that the attention was from me for a while and tried to ignore Scorpius' concerned glances. Dinner was fine, Rose and Scorpius left me and Al to walk to Gryffindor Tower as they went to do rounds. Al was rambling on about some healing internship he was thinking about applying for. I listened half-heartedly to what he was saying, adding to the conversation when needed, but my thoughts were distracted by the other Potter. I hadn't been able to shake the feeling of dread after James didn't show at lunch-time, the feeling growing when I hadn't spotted him at dinner either. I was trying not to think the worst but something was telling me to expect the terrible.
As we turned the corner to take the familiar tapestry cut through I could hear giggling and talking coming from ahead. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears, part of me knowing exactly what we were about to walk in on and the other part telling me to run the other way. Al walked ahead and pulled the tapestry apart and just like before James and Cressida were in front of us wrapped up in each other. It was hard to tell where she started and he finished. I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces; it took me every fibre of my being to not break down on the spot.
"Bro, that's fucking disgusting," Al grimaced, bringing me back to the situation. His face was crumpled in disgust but a smirk was also present underneath it. James and Cressida broke apart turning to face us. James looked straight at his brother matching the smirk; he just shrugged and tried to pull her back in.
"Get off me James, I need to go I've got rounds. I'll catch up with you later." She kissed him again on the lips and walked past Al.
"I really don't get it mate," Al said holding his hands up.
"She's hot and I suppose she has nice qualities," James laughed. I wanted to throw up at what he was saying. He wasn't even trying to hide it; he was showing off for his brother. Al laughed and moved past him up the stairs, James' eyes fell on me the second Al moved out of the way and a look of horror came across his face. His eyes widened and met my now tearful ones. He hadn't seen me. I closed my eyes briefly for a second trying desperately to compose myself before I followed Al.
"Hannah," James started, pulling my hand into his, desperation ablaze in his eyes. I snatched it away and tried desperately to hold in a sob that I knew was coming.
"Come on Hannah, I need to get on with some work," Al called at the top of the stairs.
"Get rid of him," James whispered despairingly. I shook my head violently, not trusting myself to talk and moved up the stairs. "Please hear me out," James pleaded quietly, tears in his own eyes. I couldn't breathe. I looked down on him; hopelessness and heartbreak all over his face. This was it, we both knew it. He had my heart completely and he broke it. The only solution he could come up with, to avoid hurting Al was to hurt me. I realised as I looked at the pain in his eyes that that was the decision he had come to the day before. He had allowed himself one more moment of weakness, knowing full well I would comply and succumb to his advances, knowing that it would make the hurt even worse. I turned my back on him and followed Al upstairs, my heart completely broken.
I faked an illness the next day to avoid everyone and everything. Rose insisted I go to the hospital wing but I was adamant that I just needed some sleep. I cried myself to sleep the night before, watching the same moment over and over again every time I closed my eyes. I snuck to the kitchens at lights out to get something to eat, hoping to avoid everyone but knowing that probably wasn't going to be the case.
The elves had given me a bowl of soup and bread before I heard the door open behind me. I didn't dare turn around knowing exactly who had followed me here.
"Can we talk?" James said sitting down opposite me. I didn't answer; I barely looked up at him noticing that he didn't look in a good shape either. "Hannah please, I'm going out of my mind." He said trying to hold my hand across the table. I sighed and placed my spoon down. I stared at him for a moment, trusting that my mask was in place not wanting him to see any of the pain I was feeling.
"You are off the team," I said after a pause. His face fell instantly and I knew I had hit a nerve. It wasn't a decision I had come to lightly. We had a game coming up in two weeks and he was already causing me a distraction. I couldn't even look at him let alone play with him. For the good of the team, it was me or him and I was captain so the decision lay with me.
"What do you mean?" He asked composing himself again.
"You are off the team," I repeated standing up. "You are not welcome at practises; I've already found a replacement." I moved toward the door.
"Can we just talk please?" He pleaded following me.
"I wanted to talk, I was waiting for you and you didn't show. Instead, you broke my heart." I said, venom laced through my words. "Don't follow me and stop watching me on that stupid map otherwise I will hand it in. Leave me alone James, we are done here" I said opening the door and leaving him standing there.
I woke up the next morning feeling awful. We had a practise first thing and I had asked the second Keeper, a 5th year called Sam Walkins, to join us. I had not told the team yet that James was no longer playing knowing that there would be some serious complaints and being well aware that Rose would be on our backs again. Practise was before breakfast so I knew none of the team would be aware of what had happened yet. I asked Sam to help me bring some food to the field as avoid questions in the common room when people realised James wasn't coming.
The team piled into the changing room loudly, grabbing some orange juice and a muffin as they started to get changed. A few of them asked Sam what he was doing there, fortunately, I hadn't told Sam in detail why he was there, not wanting the news to spread before I had a chance to tell everyone. Once everyone was changed I took to the floor writing the Hufflepuff team sheet on the board feeling everyone watching me, waiting.
"Shall we start?" I asked sheepishly, trying to avoid everyone's confused looks.
"Hannah, James isn't here yet," Lily smiled.
"He must've overslept," Fred chuckled, "Shall I go and get him Capt?" I didn't answer; I just sighed and shook my head.
"Hannah, what's going on?" Danny asked.
"James is off the team," I said. There was a pause for a second before uproar ensued.
"He made you captain and then you kick him out," Fred yelled.
"He was the best Captain since Oliver Wood, what are you thinking?" Roxy called out.
"Guys, I'm sure Hannah has her reasons," Lily frowned, Darcy and Danny nodding in agreement.
"He no longer had the team's best interests at heart," I replied calmly. "I felt, and he agreed, that his head duties were taking precedent and I'm sorry but in my team that's not good enough. It was a mutual agreement and I won't hear any more about it." Everyone was quiet, "Now, we have Sam from the reserves playing with us who would inevitably replace James once he left anyway so there are no issues." I waited for them to all agree and continued with the team information.
The rest of the practise was a nightmare. It was absolutely hammering it down, so nobody could see a thing. Everyone was playing shockingly and no one was concentrating. I felt bad for Sam for coming into the team in such disarray but he seemed to get on with it best he could. I had to call off the rest of the session due to Danny accidentally hitting Lily in the face causing her to have a really bad nose bleed. Everyone was relieved to be going into the warm and I closed myself in my office hoping no one would approach the topic of James again.
I heard them all leaving one by one, knowing that Danny was waiting for me outside. I bit the bullet and opened the door seeing him sitting there alone, waiting for me.
"What did he do?" Danny asked as soon as he saw me, concern written all over his face. I sat down next to him and sighed.
"He broke my heart," I said, barely holding it together before bursting into tears. Danny wrapped me in his arms as I explained everything that had happened. He listens quietly, taking it all in, letting me cry into his jumper.
"Do you think it was a good idea to kick him from the team though?" He asked hesitantly once I'd finished. I sighed deeply and wiped my tears away.
"Probably not but it's done now," I sighed. "I just couldn't even imagine having him around right now, I can't even look at him,"
"It does get easier you know," Danny said with a sad smile.
"I bloody hope so because I feel completely broken," I said half chuckling half crying. Danny exhaled loudly and considered me for a moment.
"I think you're ready," He said quietly. I looked at him confused for a moment. "For my heartbreak," He said with an unreadable expression on his face. I felt my eyes widen slightly. "It might give you some clarity, it might help or it might make you want to go and punch Hugo like Darcy did," He laughed slightly and sighed.
"Am I heartbroken enough now?" I joked bumping shoulders with him.
"Just about," He winked, "So you obviously didn't know that Hugo and I were an item towards the end of last year,"
"I don't think anyone knew," I remarked. Danny smile and nodded slightly.
"Neither of us had told anyone that we were gay, so you can imagine there would be some resistance to letting the whole school know," He smiled slightly and persevered. "I was tutoring him in a few subjects last year. Professor Longbottom had paired us together as he knew I wanted to go into teaching and would like the opportunity,"
"Professor Longbottom the matchmaker," I added. Danny laughed softly, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.
"Exactly, Hugo always said we would have him officiate our wedding if we ever got married," Danny was quiet for a moment, a sad look coming across his features. He sighed and continued, "We meet once a week and then it was twice a week and it kind of snowballed. We would meet in the Room of Requirement on the 7th floor as Hugo didn't want people to know he was being tutored. It was our space to just be us you know,"
"We fell in love pretty quickly and spent most of the summer together. He was my first proper relationship, my first boyfriend. I came out to my family and introduced him to them. Luckily my mum and stepdad are both Muggles, my dad was a wizard but left when Darcy was born, so neither of them knew the Weasley family. I made Darcy swear she wouldn't tell anyone when we got back to school. I knew when I brought him round he was unsure about Darcy knowing and tried to reassure him that it would be okay, I thought he believed me until…" he went quiet for a moment. I put my hand around his to comfort him and gave it a squeeze shooting him a supportive smile, which he thankfully returned.
"We had plans to come back to school and make our relationship public knowledge but for Hugo, it was too soon," He sighed and shook his head. "I caught him the first day back in the Room of Requirement, in our space, with a busty blonde girl from the year above and let's say they left nothing to the imagination. He told me that he didn't love me and he wasn't gay and that I had tricked him into everything. He screamed at me, destroying the room and my heart in the process."
"Oh Danny," I said pathetically, feeling myself well up.
"It was awful, as you can imagine but I can now tell you without bursting into tears so I'm getting there," He added with a soft smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I'm sorry that happened to you," I said softly grabbing his hand.
"I'm sorry it happened to you," He said smiling back at me.
"Have you spoken to him since?" I asked not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
"Yes I have," Danny said a genuine smile breaking across his face, "We've talked about it, about everything. I'm still not fully ready to forgive and he knows that but we are getting back on track. Despite everything, despite the heartbreak, I still love him." I sighed and shook my head, mainly to myself rather than Danny. He gave me a knowing look. "When you are ready you should hear him out," He said after a moment. "But only when you are ready,"
"What if I'm never ready?" I asked sadly, dropping my eyes.
"If you love him then you will be," He said wisely.
"Merlin it would be a lot easier if you could fancy me," I joked.
"Tell me about it, we would have beautiful babies with fantastic Beating skills," He laughed. "Come on, let's get some food."
The next two weeks flew by. The news that James Potter had been cut from the Gryffindor Quidditch team had spread like wildfire, as I knew it would. For a whole week I was approached by countless angry Gryffindor's shouting at me, telling me how bad I was at Quidditch, informing me that I was an awful person and that I shouldn't be captain as I was an incompetent leader. I could barely spend five minutes in the common room without being sneered at. Although I was confident in my decision, it didn't help my poor heart to have to hear his name mentioned to me every second of the day. The team, thankfully, decided to support my decision and would try to shut up anyone who would try and argue with me about it. James Potter had been keeping a really low profile; I had barely seen him apart from in Runes, where we actively avoided even looking at each other. From what I had heard he was supporting my decision and would ignore anyone who tried to engage him in a conversation about the issue.
On Sunday evening I found myself at the library with my three of my friends. With them alternating rounds it was often difficult to get any time together in the evenings so we always made a habit of spending time together in the library when there was a rare occurrence. Rose had thankfully not even tried to approach the topic of James with me again; hopefully sensing that whatever she believed was happening was undoubtedly over. As Slytherin captain, Scorpius was selfishly happy with the decision and although he was trying to make light of the situation, he couldn't help but hit a nerve any time it was brought up. Al, on the other hand, did not understand why I had dropped James from the team and obviously didn't buy the conflict in duties excuse I had told him.
"It just doesn't make sense though," He said quietly under his breath for the millionth time that week.
"Al, leave it," Rose warned him glancing at me slightly.
"Come on, even you have to agree with me on this one," Al said closing his book. I tried to carry on reading my work but I could feel my annoyance at the younger Potter rising steadily.
"Al, Hannah obviously doesn't want to talk about it so let's leave it." Scorp said. I shot him a grateful look.
"But it doesn't make sense. You and James were all pally not long ago and now you are kicking him off the team, it doesn't make sense. I know his a pain in the arse but what the hell did he do to piss you off that much," Al asked exasperatedly. I looked up and all three of them were looking at me. I sighed and closed the textbook I was reading from.
"Look," I started, "I have already told you, he wasn't fully committed to the team. We had a chat about it and it was a mutual decision. Can you just trust that I am making the right decision here?" They were all quiet for a moment.
"You're lying," Al stated harshly, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I know you Hannah and I know there is something you aren't telling me."
"Al, leave it alone," Rose warned again.
"Please, just trust me on this on Al," I said gently hoping he would drop it. I hated lying to them, I hated that Scorpius knew I was defiantly lying to them and Rose had some idea, but Al was different. He brought all the lies and all the stories I had fed him because why would he have any reason to believe otherwise. I was so scared that this one might have been one lie too many.
"I know how you feel about Quidditch. James is the best Keeper since Oliver Wood, why in Merlin's name would you sack him off. It doesn't make sense and you are covering something up." He said confidently, looking to the other two for support. I shook my head and packed up my things.
"If you want answers you need to speak to you brother. I won't talk to you about it anymore." I snapped, grabbing my things and storming out of the library.
I woke up the morning of the next Quidditch match more nervous than I had ever been since starting Hogwarts. The practises leading up to the match had been a nightmare. Everyone was playing awfully and no one was playing as a team, I tried not to think that it was my fault but I knew it was. I already knew that unless Lily made a fantastic early catch today, we were going to lose and everyone would hate me. Al had thankfully dropped the James situation, I think Rose had something to do with it, but there was a clear shift in our relationship. Due to Quidditch practise I wasn't able to go to Hogsmeade with him the following weekend and he didn't take it well even though I had cancelled on him before. It resulted in him not speaking to me at all for three days, without really understanding what I had done wrong.
I decided to forgo breakfast that morning and make my way down to the pitch alone, enjoying a moment's peace before the madness ensued. I entered the changing rooms and noticed the office door ajar; I already knew who it was before I walked over. James Potter was sitting behind the desk his head in his hands, looking as though his world had ended. I almost wanted to feel sorry for him, but as his eyes caught mine the heartbreaking feeling returned and it took all of me not to run away crying.
"Can I help you?" I said loudly, more confidently then I felt.
"No, I was just leaving," He sighed standing up from the chair and walking past me into the tent.
"This is the first match at Hogwarts, since joining the team, I won't be playing in," He said sadly, stopping at the door.
"I don't know what you want me to say. Do you think it was in the team's best interest for us to keep playing together?" I asked scathingly. He considered me for a moment before sighing and sitting on one of the benches.
"Hannah, I understand completely why you cut me from the team and quite frankly I deserved it a long time ago. I am not angry or annoyed with you in the slightest." He said sadly.
"Well you have no reason at all to be angry with me," I spat, wishing I could be anywhere but in this situation.
"I would never be angry with you Hannah. I love you," He said quietly. My heart skipped a beat for a second and I knew the shock at how blatantly he had just said that was written all over my face.
"You don't get to say that anymore," I said quietly, trying to will the tears away. "You need to leave. I have a game to play and you are nothing more than an unwanted distraction," I turned away from him and tried to look busy sorting out the play board. I felt him come up behind me.
"I am so sorry," he whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the closeness, enjoy him but my heart was screaming at me to run away and never go near him again. I felt a tear fall down my face and I shook my head not trusting myself to speak. James got the message and left the tent without another word.
"Why was James in here?" Lily asked as she walked in the tent, "He looked angry, is everything okay?" She said. The rest of the team followed in behind her and started to get changed. I fixed my face before turning around and smiling at her.
"He wanted to wish us good luck," I lied. Lily looked at me curiously for a moment before shrugging and taking a seat.
"Missed you at breakfast," Fred said looking concerned.
"I wasn't hungry. Now, I just want to go over a few plays before we go out." I said trying to move the conversation on to the match.
Not a moment too soon we stepped out of the tent kitted up, brooms in hand. It felt awful being so unprepared leading my team out, I felt like I was going to be sick. I took a deep breath and plastered a look of determination on my face. I made it very clear to Lily to make sure she caught the snitch as early as possible and if that worked then we may be in with a chance.
We walked onto the pitch with the same deafening roar I had become so used to; a noise that would shake me to the core with fear, but would also fill me with determination and adrenaline. Today it just made me feel sick. Before too long we were up in the air and waiting for the whistle to start the match. My bat felt so unnatural in my hand and I could barely concentrate on flying. I looked at the team and all of them were mirroring my look of panic and worry. What had I done? I had let my feelings and personal issues get in the way of something I cared deeply about. I had been dam right selfish and placed Sam in a position he wasn't ready for, I had left the team out in the open without a chance in hell. I had fucked up badly and I was going to pay the price. I tried to hide my decision behind a picture I had painted myself, one that fooled me into believing James and I wouldn't play well together, a selfish decision and one that inevitably was going to lose me my team and my captaincy.
The whistle blew and the game started, I could barely move. My mind went blank and my hands wouldn't move the way I needed them too. Hufflepuff gained an early goal and I hadn't even hit a bludger yet.
"Marshall, look alive," Roxy called from above me scooping the Quaffle and racing down the pitch. I nodded and soared above the game looking for a rouge bludger I could send someone's way. Before long Sam had let in three awful goals and we were trailing 40 to 10 after 5 minutes. It was awful and I had only managed to hit a bludger correctly at one player. I glanced over at Sam who looked beaten and dejected. I soared over to him and nearly smacking into him.
"What is the problem?" I yelled over the noise of the game. "Sort yourself out. I chose you to play for a reason, get on with it and do your job." He nodded and looked up at me, his eyes widening in panic at the sight behind me. I whipped my head around to see both bludgers soaring straight at me. The pain was excruciating. Everything went black.
A/N: Thanks for reading once again and for your continued support it means so much!
I think this may be my favourite chapter, it's got everything right; blood, sweat and tears! I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I did writing and editing it. A few poignant moments in this chapter, kind of a turning point in the story, lots of drama from here on out. I hope your ready!
Thanks again for reading the next chapter of Turning Page. If you have any questions don't hesitate to drop me a review or message, really like hearing what people think.
Till we meet again in Chapter 9,
Jadeannkneeky.
Replies: Guest reviewer - Lots more whiplash to come I'm afraid (bloody teenagers and their drama, I swear I want to bang their bloody heads together) But it's going to get a lot more intense from here on in (if that's even possible!) Also your first review wasn't harsh at all, it was really interesting to see how other people are reacting to the characters. Thanks for reading and for your comments it really does mean a lot :)