A/N: Sorry it's been so long guys. I've had a really busy summer, so I didn't have as much time to work on this (although no excuse will make up for the wait...again, sorry :(). Anyhow, next chapter! Woohoo! The timeline is gonna start skipping around just a bit, so I can speed it up to when they're older and can do more stuff :)).
So... Enjoy!
"Oh my god guys, guess what I just picked up?"
Riley came squealing over to their library table, a flyer in her hand, cheeks squished high up on her face with the width of her smile. Maya's eyes narrowed slightly. When Riley got this excited, it was either something fantastically amazing, or something that would undoubtedly end in their public humiliation.
More often than not, it was the public humiliation.
From across the table, Lucas's lips curled up in a grin that matched his girlfriend's. Maya was positive he knew as well as she did that the source of Riley's glee was likely to be their demise. However, Lucas was one of those people who always made an effort to act happy when his friends were happy.
Maya frowned. Since when did she notice the habits of Lucas "The Cowboy" Friar?
It was the start of second year now, and life at Hogwarts had already settled into the same hectic monotony that Maya remembered spending her first year in. Classes were tougher, for sure, but luckily Maya was friends with Farkle the Child Genius, who agreed to tutor (aka teach) her. The two of them set up regular study sessions in the library, which, after the first couple of weeks, Riley and Lucas began to tag along on.
That was nice sometimes, since Riley and Lucas were both good students and took excellent notes.
But it was also awkward. Because part of the reason that Maya and Farkle started hanging out alone to begin with was so that they could avoid feeling like third and fourth wheels to the all-permeating Rucas relationship.
Now, it wasn't that Farkle and Maya had any problems with Riley and Lucas dating.
It was just that they had problems being around their friends now that they were dating.
Rucas was so...picture perfect, all the time, that it got, well, annoying.
Lucas always held her hand, and opened doors, and pulled out chairs, and was so damn chivalrous Maya wanted to throw up. Riley's face lit up whenever he entered the room, and the puppy dog/anime eyes she constantly directed towards him made Maya want to gouge her own eyes out and hope she was never, ever caught dead looking at any boy like that.
Sure, Maya appreciated her fairy tale happy endings as much as the next girl. But there was just something about the Rucas ship that, to her, seemed...shallow. As if they didn't really like each other so much as the idea that the other represented. Lucas was Riley's knight in shining armor. Riley was Lucas' damsel in distress. They were supposed to be together, and so... they were.
Deep down, Maya just had this nagging feeling that it wasn't right. Maybe it was because they had only known each other for three months before they got together. Maybe it was because they were both a little too young for romantic relationships, in Maya's opinion. Maybe it was because they had a Hogwarts fan following larger than that of Star Wars, and she swore to the heavens that there was at least one first year writing fanfiction about them.
Maybe it was just Maya finding it weird that her best friend and one of her other friends/not-really-friends-because-she-had-literally-told-him-she-didn't-want-to-be-friends were dating.
She knew she was most likely overthinking it. After all, it wasn't like they had declared their intentions to marry each other or whatnot (although Riley had already started planning the nuptials...). If they broke up, it would take them, what, a month to get over it? Maybe two for Riley?
People didn't start to get serious about their relationships until they were, like fifteen. And if Lucas and Riley were still together by then, then the couple was bound to be rock solid. Maya's anxiety probably just lay in the fact that she didn't think they knew each other well enough yet. Or in the notion that she knew Riley really liked Lucas, and so was excessively concerned over the health of their affair in fear of Riley's heart being broken.
Yeah. That was it.
"Whatcha got there, Riles?" Maya nodded to the flyer in Riley's hand, taking the plunge and initiating the unavoidable "Riley is excited" rant that occurred whenever Riley was, well, excited. The brunette squealed yet again, and then flattened out the flyer she had been holding on the table in front of the group.
"Guys... we are trying out for Quidditch!"
Maya stared at the flyer. Lucas nodded, as if this was something he already knew all about. Farkle ran out of the library screaming.
The flyer read as follows:
HOGWARTS HOUSE QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS
Every day after classes next week. The order of tryout dates by house is as follows:
Ravenclaw
Hufflepuff
Gryffindor
Slytherin
All students seeking to play competitive Quidditch this school year should attend tryouts on their house's assigned date.
Hope to see you there, and best of luck!
The Quidditch Captains
Quidditch? Them?
Riley couldn't be serious. Lucas, maybe. Maya? Hell no. Riley? The funeral choir might as well start singing now.
Maya and Lucas looked at each other.
You tell her.
No, you're her best friend. You do it.
You're her boyfriend. Isn't it your responsibility to keep her safe?
I'm the nice guy in this group! You're supposed to be the mean, honest one. You'll do a better job of shutting her down than I will.
No, like you just said, I'm the mean one. You're the nice one. You can shut her down nicely.
I shut her down nicely every time!
That's because I'm fantastic at these little mind games and win every time. You might as well start figuring out how you're gonna break it to her now...
...
I hate you.
Love you too, Sundance :).
"Um...guys?" Riley was looking back and forth between them, clearly confused. Maya tore her gaze away from Lucas and smiled sweetly at her.
"Sorry, pumpkin. Heehaw and I were just coming to an...agreement."
"I wouldn't call it that," Lucas muttered, but didn't argue the point. Riley continued to wait for somebody to explain the situation to her. Lucas took a deep breath.
"Um... Riley... so, uh, Maya and I both love Quidditch very much. We think your idea is...um...great, but, well..."
Maya sent Lucas a glare.
Hurry up. At this rate we'll be here for another hour.
I'm trying! Would you like to take over?!
Yeah, no. Just keep doing what you're doing but get to the point faster.
This is ridiculous. I don't know why I let you walk all over me...
I don't think anyone does. Now keep talking before she gets suspicious again.
"Riley, are you sure that having, um, all of us try out for Quidditch is the best idea?"
Riley blinked. Maya held her breath. But, much to Maya's relief, her best friend nodded sagely. Maya and Lucas exchanged surprised looks.
"You're right," Riley glanced toward the library doors across the room. "We shouldn't make Farkle do something he doesn't want to. I mean, he ran out of here screaming the minute I said the word 'Quidditch'. Besides, we need at least one hardcore fan, right?"
Well, that went well. Lucas was still looking at Maya, with an expression that clearly read "your turn now, buster". Maya narrowed her eyes at him, but then focused on Riley.
To be encouraging, or pragmatic? To support her best friend into a hopeless endeavor, or to crush her dreams but save her from inevitable disappointment and embarrassment? Maya wished someone out there would write a book titled "Friendship 101" so she could reference it when unfamiliar and impossible decisions like this one were placed before her.
"Riley... we're not just talking about Farkle..."
"Are you scared, Maya? 'Cause I promise you, Quidditch is a lot of fun! Sure the balls go kinda fast, but once you start practicing it's really not that bad-"
"Riley, have you ever played Quidditch before?"
"Well...no...But my parents have told me lots of stories from when they were at Hogwarts! Both my dad and my mom were Quidditch players, and good ones too, and now that I'm finally old enough to try out, I can follow in their footsteps as the next Majestic Matthews!"
Maya stared at her. "Majestic Matthews? Was that really what they called your dad?"
Riley gave a sheepish look. "Well, a lot of his friends did, but mostly to make fun of him because he was always so concerned about his posture on his broomstick. Said that straightening your back was how the 'ancient ones' rode their brooms, or something. He read about it in one of the history textbooks."
"And he believed it?" Maya didn't think it was possible to always ride a broom with a straight back. She usually hunched her shoulders slightly for better grip.
"Oh, yeah. My dad's kinda a history freak. He says that history is the best teacher for the present, believes anything that's written in a history text, and has told me repeatedly that if I do not straighten my back on my broom then I will be cursed and die."
"Wow."
Suddenly, Maya felt a nudge to her foot. She looked down and saw that Lucas had kicked her.
What?
Now who's taking a long time? Stop getting off topic and tell her she shouldn't play already.
I'm wearing her down first! It's a strategy.
Right. And I want to go prancing off into the sunset on a milk cow.
I knew you were a cowboy at heart.
Maya...
Fine, fine. But stop distracting me.
"-and my dad said that I can have his Nimbus 2000 broomstick from when he was in school once I make the team, although I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic or not because he doesn't let anyone touch that thing, not even my mom-"
"Riley."
"Yes, peaches?"
"Are you sure Quidditch is something you want to do?"
"Well, yeah! What do you mean?"
"It's just that, uh, it takes up a lot of time, and requires a lot of commitment. I know you're already really busy with all of your classes, all of us are, and-"
"You guys don't think I can handle it?" Riley's face crumbled. Maya thought frantically of ways to save the situation, was there anything nice she could say?-
Before Maya could utter another word, Lucas intervened.
"Riley... it's not that we don't think you could handle it, it's just that... well... you're kinda... clumsy."
Wow. Lucas laying it out there as it was. Maya gave the boy a curious look. That was unexpected.
However, Riley, instead of being the blubbering mess that Maya was expecting, actually now looked... less upset. And did she just let out a...relieved sigh?
"So that's what it is. I was waiting for at least one of the two of you to finish talking circles around yourselves and tell me what the actual problem was."
Oh. Maya and Lucas clearly gave her ignorance too much credit.
Then again, they weren't exactly subtle...
Maya blinked slowly, unsure what to say. Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. When the silence stretched on for a tad too long, Riley rolled her eyes.
"Guys, I know I'm clumsy. When I went to go pick up the Quidditch flyer, the guy handing them out even asked me if I was sure about trying out, because he didn't want me to hurt myself."
Maya took a mental note to hunt down "the guy" later and threaten him with her fists if he ever talked like that to Riley again.
Even though that was incredibly hypocritical considering the fact that Maya and Lucas had done exactly what "the guy" was guilty of, except more roundabout and a lot more awkward.
"So... you're not mad that we don't think you should try out because you're clumsy?" Maya felt like she was poking a charging bear that had inexplicably decided to stop charging.
"Well, of course I'm upset. You're my best friend and you're my boyfriend. I was expecting more support from the pair of you." That was emphasized with a glare.
"But I know you're just concerned about my safety. I get it. It's like how I discourage Maya from reaching for objects on high shelves."
"Okay, I'm not that short—"
"However, I'm still going to try out for Quidditch. I just have this feeling that... I don't know... I was born to do this. You ever get that?"
Maya smirked. "Ahhh, yes. I think Lucas can attest to feeling that way about his, ah, southern bull riding, hmm?"
Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Of course. Just like I know that Maya meets her destiny every time she doesn't have to duck through the Gryffindor Common Room entrance, right?"
"Or how whenever Lucas sees a sheep—"
"Guys, stop already!"
Maya forced herself to wipe the competitive sneer off of her face and aimed a smile at Riley. "Sorry, Riles. You were saying?"
"I was saying that I'm going to try out for Quidditch whether you guys want me to or not. I hope at least one of you will join me, this is more at Lucas than at Maya, but either way I'm following in my father's footsteps and winning the Quidditch Championship for Hufflepuff once and for all!"
Hopefully Riley wasn't holding onto that dream too tightly. The last time Hufflepuff won a Quidditch Championship was... well... Maya actually couldn't think of any occasions where they'd won. To be fair, she didn't know all that much about Quidditch, having only had her basic broom class from first year and the occasional story from Riley and Farkle to inform her.
But either way, Hufflepuff definitely hadn't won in recent history.
That's because in recent history, the only house that has been winning Quidditch is Gryffindor.
My house.
For just a second, Maya entertained the idea of attending Quidditch tryouts. Somehow making the team. Celebrating yet another Gryffindor victory, only this time as one of the key players.
What would it feel like to be in the spotlight, even for just that second? To be a champion?
Yeah, no.
Maya had never played sports; never even thought about sports, really. And besides— if all the players were the Lucas Friar type, as in tall, well-built, and fast, she wouldn't stand a chance against any of them, even with a team to support her.
It was a paper airplane dream. Fun to fly, but never really going anywhere.
"-ffindor tryouts will be the day after Hufflepuff tryouts, so we can practice together if you want. You took broom lessons over the summer, didn't you?"
Maya realized that Lucas and Riley had continued the conversation without her. They were holding hands across the table (uh, yuck) and smiling at each other in the dopey way that TV drama couples always did.
Double yuck.
"Yeah," Riley started playing with his fingers. Maya started to look around for the nearest trashcan to vomit into. "My dad took my little brother and I to this fancy shmancy Quidditch field off of Manhattan, and showed us a couple of tricks. I could teach you!"
Lucas gave his girlfriend's hand a squeeze, before letting go and sitting back in his chair. Maya let out a breath of relief. "Alright, great! So, wanna start tomorrow?"
Riley beamed. "Sounds good!" She pushed her chair out and grabbed the flyer from its spot on the table, and Maya noticed that a relatively thick stack of essay papers lay underneath. Riley gathered up the papers, rolled them into a neat scroll, and then turned to her friends. "Okay, so I came over here en route to turn in a Charms assignment, so I gotta go now. See you guys later!" With that, she bounced off, dark hair flying behind her shoulders.
An awkward silence prevailed after Riley's dramatic exit.
Maya finally gave in and looked at Lucas. "Well."
Lucas shrugged. "If we can't change her mind, we might as well help her out, right?"
Maya raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're good enough at Quidditch to keep her from killing herself?"
"Hey," He raised both eyebrows. "Says the girl who isn't even trying out."
"...yeah, well, we can't all be sports stars, Mr. Muggle-baseball champ."
The pause between his retort and her reply must have been just a bit too long, because Lucas' forehead wrinkled just slightly. Suspicion.
"...do you want to play Quidditch?"
Maya stiffened. "No! Of course not. Why in the world would I want to ride a household utensil five hundred feet into the air while giant metal balls fly at my face?" She didn't meet his gaze when he stared at her.
"Um, I don't know, because it's fun?"
"Your idea of fun must be very different from mine. End of conversation." Maya grabbed one of the textbooks on the table (Farkle had left all of his homework after his hasty retreat) and cracked it open. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a, uh..." She quickly glanced at the book. "...Potions paper to finish."
The blonde buried her head in the tome, effectively giving him the cold shoulder. Five seconds passed, in which there was no scrape of chair legs as he pushed away from the table, nor whoosh of air as he swung his bag over his shoulder and walked away. Maya frowned and looked up.
Lucas was grinning an infuriating grin at her.
"Spit it out, Hee Haw. What do you want?" Her voice came out sharp, with a hint too much hostility.
It only made his smile wider.
"I think..." Lucas spoke in a slow drawl, as if savoring this moment where his victory over Maya in their Battle of the Witty Repertoire was imminent and uncontested, "...that you really, really want to try out for Quidditch."
She let out a huff. "No, I do not. Was I not clear enough earlier?"
"Hmm, let's see..." Lucas ignored her, his train of thought on a quick and, to Maya, dangerous roll. "You went to all of the Gryffindor Quidditch games last year— I know because I was there with you, don't argue— and Farkle lent you his History of Quidditch volume about a month ago, which you have yet to return. Whenever Riley goes off on one of her spiels, you completely zone out... unless she starts talking about Quidditch. You were number one in Broom Flight Class— oh don't give me that look, Madame Hooch was practically in love with you— and I know you've been saving up to buy your own broomstick since Riley's spied in your room before... uh, forget you heard that last part..."
She stared at him. Damn, the cowboy was more observant than she gave him credit for. Did he pay special attention to her or something?
...that was a stupid and silly and very, very impossible idea.
She was going to forget she ever thought that.
Although she wasn't going to forget the fact that Riley had been going through her room, carefully enough to find her hidden Spare Change jar (on which she'd drawn the silhouette of a witch riding on a broomstick— which, now that she thought about it, had been very idiotic of her).
"So... do you or do you not want to ride a household utensil five hundred feet into the air and dodge flying metal balls?"
Considering all of the little pieces of evidence he'd just stated clearly suggesting that she did...
Maya's lips twisted into a wry grimace. "Well played, Sundance. Well played."
He gave her a tip of his imaginary cowboy hat.
She sighed. "Okay, so Quidditch sounds kinda interesting. But that doesn't mean I'm actually gonna do it-"
"Maya, there's nothing stopping you from trying out for the Gryffindor team. Madame Hooch probably remembers you from broom class, and I'm sure she'd put in a good word for you with whoever is currently team captain."
"Lucas. I am a tiny blonde girl with no athletic background whatsoever. Do you honestly think I'd survive a minute on the Quidditch field without being run over by some hunk, or whacked senseless by one of the balls?"
"Uh, actually, I think you'd be fine. Your size means you're a smaller and faster target. Sure, if you get hit, it'd be bad, but you'd be pretty darn hard to hit."
Maya blinked at him. "Was that a compliment?"
"Analysis. There's a difference."
"Sure."
"So?"
"So what?"
"Are you gonna go to tryouts?"
"No. I'm not suicidal."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No!"
"YES."
"NO."
"No."
"Ye— urggghhh! Maybe, okay?! Happy?"
Lucas gave her one of his trademark easy going smiles, all sunshine and bright eyes and flashing white teeth. He pushed out his chair and braced his arms on the table between them.
His gaze bore into hers as he gave her his single-word reply.
"Very."
