Giddy Brew

Chapter 8: Such Romantic Eyes

By: Jondy Macmillan

A/N: "There are two ways to become famous instantly in this country; you either marry a Kennedy or kill one." And with that note, on with the show!

Serendipity circled the hoops, winding her way in and out of the large golden one. All the chasers were zipping around the opposite side of the field. Seemed Whitney, Bobby, and Cherridy were too good for Frank's team. Unfortunately Rowan Yetings was putting up a tougher fight than even Whitney had anticipated. No matter how many shiny objects she waved in front of Apollo, every time the quaffle ended up in Ravenclaw's hands, Rowan blocked.

She spotted Prue bat a bludger towards Dana Wingate's head. How those two kept up their friendship, Serendipity would never know. Ducking, Dana winked at Prue and mouthed something that looked like a nasty taunt. When the bludger hit Prue's beater stick again, she didn't miss. Dana's broom crumpled beneath her. The Quidditch announcer, a rather annoying Hufflepuff girl known as Elizabeth Golden, shrieked something unintelligible over the megaphone. Shaking her head, Serendipity watched in dismay as Gryffindor brought in its backup chaser. Jackal Mackerel, they called him. He was Aero Jackson's big brother, a burly seventh year with a half formed goatee and a pinkish scar near his right eyebrow. His real name, of course, was Mackerel Jackson. Once Aero had explained in his heavy Irish accent how his father had two passions; fish and the space program. Personally Serendipity thought muggles were weird. Why go to space when earth was right under their feet?

Shaking her head, she swung around the golden hoop again, in time to see Apollo, Polaris, and Jackal Mac flying toward her in the Hawkshed formation. Prue was batted another bludger, this time toward Rowan. It collided with one shot by Matilda. The referee, Madame Boggs blew her silver whistle hard, "Deliberate bludger toward the keeper when the ball was in play on the opposite side of the field. Gelliston, Robins, don't let me see that kind of behavior again. Ball goes back to Gryffindor."

Whitney, who'd been cradling the quaffle, handed it over to Polaris, glaring all the time. He chuckled, mouthing, "Bad Ravenclaw, no treat."

They set the play back up with an indecipherable bark from Whitney, and Serendipity turned her attention back to the quaffle. It flew from Polaris's hands to Whitney's, who threw him a self-satisfied smirk. Unfortunately, this gave Mac time to intercept. He was speedy. All she could make out was a red blur, half-quaffle, half-man. The blur was coming in fast. She never did get to see if she caught it or not.

"Wake up! Come on Sere, you've been comatose for three days," Prue's voice wasn't the most pleasant voice to wake up to. Blurrily, she could make out Prue and Cerulean standing side by side, arms around each other's waists. Well hadn't they gotten touchy-feely all of a sudden?

Groggy, Serendipity muttered, "What happened?"

"Frank gotcha with a bludger, the arse. Hit you square in the chest. We had to bring in our backup keeper."

Horrified, Serendipity said, "No Prue. Don't tell me you brought in-"

"Yup. Odysseus Rue."

"How could Whitney do this? Everyone knows the boy is absolutely batty! He can't tell the difference between a quaffle and a quidgit, even though the latter's an imaginary animal!"

"Calm down Serendipity. We won," Prue grinned.

"And the quidgit is probably smarter- we what?" Shock overtook Serendipity's mind. There was no way they could have won with Odysseus guarding the hoops. No way.

"Not honestly of course. Noah bludgered Odysseus three times while the ball was in play over near his hoops. Unjustified blah blah blah. Gryffindor had to forfeit. Therefore, we won."

"That means there won't be a rematch," she breathed in deeply, "Thank goodness. That was easy-peasy."

"Says you. Frank and Noah ganged up and elbowed me hard in the ribs this match to throw off my swing. They'll probably try an even dirtier Gryffindor trick next one. And Dana's royally pissed at me. She woke up and left five minutes ago. You missed quite the screaming match. I think I hurt her feelings. Keepers are lucky, all the glory, none of the pain. Well, except this time," Prue looked a little abashed. It was a rare expression for her.

"You're just jealous that they one upped you," teased Cerulean. Serendipity stared at the boy in shock. Not only was he questioning Prue's prowess as a beater without getting hit, but also she was actually smiling nervously at him. Well, that was new. She'd heard about Prue's little show in the Great Hall, but hadn't believed the story. After all, Reese O'Malley had told her. Now she found that it seemed to be true, but wasn't that impossible? In Serendipity's mind it had almost been a sure thing that her friend was madly in love with Casey. How else would the boy have gotten Prue to dance with him, in a skirt no les?. The girl had more pride than Satan, and there was no way she would have been seen dancing with a mock muggle girl unless Casey had managed to worm his way into her heart.

However, the evidence that her theory was untrue stood proudly in front of her. If they start calling each other pet names, Serendipity thought, I'm going to be sick. Luckily, the couple hadn't progressed that far, and hopefully never would. One thought stuck out in her mind, which was that this could not continue.

Thoughtfully, she asked, "Hey Cerulean, how's Casey?"

Looking a bit miffed, Prue responded as Serendipity thought she would, "Why do you care?"

"Actually, I saw him in the hallway before, flirting with Deianeira Britton, that Hufflepuff girl who's always playing the flute," Cerulean said casually.

Gauging Prue's reaction carefully, Serendipity wondered, "Oh, the tall brunette? With the really long, curly hair?"

"Yeah. I've seen Casey checking out her butt a few times. It's a nice one. I suspect he's asking her to Hogsmeade next month. No guarantees though."

Watching Prue fidget, Serendipity decided there might be hope for the charming couple she'd voted for still. Ha, the girl was so easy to manipulate. Or so she thought. Slyly, Prue changed the subject, "Sere. I think someone's here to see you!"

Annoyed that her ploy hadn't worked, Serendipity asked crossly, "Who?"

In the doorframe stood tall, lanky, vampiric Polaris Morgan. He shifted shyly, but still managed to cast Cerulean the evil eye, which Serendipity supposed was band competition. Then he smiled at Serendipity. Frankly, she couldn't have been more shocked. Attempting to smooth her wild red locks into something resembling an aristocratic bun, she mumbled a greeting.

"Hello," Polaris said coolly, "I just wanted to make sure the little Ravenclaw keeper was okay."

His voice was pure ice. Yet the smile on his face was uncharacteristically warm. Serendipity wondered if Polaris always sounded like that or if he really didn't like her. Maybe he had just snuck up to the hospital ward in the hopes that she was asleep and he could finish off Cerulean and Prue, two major annoyances in his band and Quidditch life. Then again, perhaps she'd been listening to Elanore's late night conspiracy theories about the goblin rebellion too much.

"Nonsense. We wanted to off Cerulean," another voice broke in. This one belonged to none other than Serendipity's first and only heartthrob, the enigmatic, drop dead gorgeous Orpheus Vaughn. He was standing in her room. Looking at her messy hair and striped PJ's, with morning breath. Oh no.

"Vaughn," Cerulean stated in a voice that dripped poison.

Orpheus cordially nodded his head, obviously not given to this stupid competitive stuff, excepting the previous comment of course. He was such a dreamboat. Prue was shaking her head, but Serendipity figured if her own dream man, Noah, came marching through that door to check on her injured ribs she'd be reacting quite similar.

"So how are you, Watson? Still up to par?"

"I-uh- that is to say…I'm good," she choked out. Orpheus Vaughn was speaking to her! This was better than meeting one of those cute muggle actors that Prue's tapes had turned her onto last summer. Way better. Serendipity also figured those actors couldn't possibly smell better than Orpheus. The boy smelled like summer, like cool water and dry breezes. Also like Isago Tasty's White Water number 2, a popular wizard cologne. Isago Tasty was the wizarding equivalent to Versace, or so Prue had mentioned once.

"That's good," he replied in a patronizing tone, "Can't have Ravenclaw's only decent keeper falling off the face of the earth before our rematch."

"Our what?" Shrieked Prue.

"Our rematch, Gelliston. Or haven't you heard?" Polaris asked coolly, "Even though some of our moves were…unjustified, Apollo managed to coax old Boggs into giving us a rematch due to the loss of your resources, Serendipity, that is."

"Why, that's no fair! Even without Serendipity, we won," Prue exclaimed.

"By forfeit," interjected Orpheus, examining his perfect nails.

Angrily, Prue went on, "That conniving little bastard. Hasbring! Gah, I'm going to rip him apart with my bare hands."

Cerulean placed a calming hand on her shoulder, and Serendipity watched the slow transformation of her face as he whispered something soothing into her ear. Maybe there wasn't as much hope for Casey as she'd previously thought. Turning her attention back to Polaris, and more importantly, Orpheus, Serendipity sighed.

Concern written across his face, Orpheus inquired, "Are you sure you're feeling alright, Watson?"

"Oh yes, peachy," Serendipity responded, stars in her eyes. She hoped desperately that she didn't look too much like a rabid groupie, more specifically like Antoinetta. Truthfully, Serendipity wouldn't have minded looking a little more like Antoinetta with her perfect black curls, or Seprie, with her silky, smooth blonde locks. At times she thought anything would be better than her peppery red frizz. Of course, she was also seriously considering a muggle breast reduction, but Prue wouldn't let her do it. She kept saying that Serendipity should feel lucky she had a chest, unlike the former.

Times like those, Serendipity felt like Prue didn't really understand what it was like being her. No power on this earth would ever make Serendipity want to be Prue, not with the way the girl got into trouble, but it was true that she occasionally got jealous of the blonde. Maybe it was the way Prue had the worst way of falling into luck, even when say, her hair was burning off. Bobby and Casey's jealousy had caused that entire ordeal, something Serendipity wished avidly for. She wanted a guy to want her like they seemed to want Prue. Or Elanore, for that matter, who was springing back from her breakup with Rufus surprisingly well.

Orpheus frowned, "You look a little peaked."

"I'm okay," Serendipity replied meekly.

"I'm glad," Polaris informed her, taking one of her hands. Surprised, Serendipity snatched it back. The tall boy immediately looked abashed. Blushing, he quickly apologized, "I'm sorry."

"Uh, no problem," muttered Serendipity.

Laughing, Orpheus pronounced, "Oh no, Polaris. Looks like she ain't biting!"

Ignoring the way Prue was glaring at him, as well as the way Cerulean was holding Prue back, Orpheus leaned in close to Serendipity, so close that she could feel his warm breath against her cheek, "He came all the way up here just to see you, you know?"

Stuttering, Polaris managed, "N-no I didn't! Well, I-I did, but not l-like he m-means."

Inside, Serendipity was blushing profusely. Not only was she embarrassed that a boy she felt nothing for was stammering like an idiot, presumably over her, unless he was queer or hiding a crush on Prue really well, but she was incredibly turned on by the slight caress of Orpheus's exhale. Serendipity wasn't even considering the impact Polaris's maybe-crush on her had on her previous thoughts. In her mind, there was still no boy in his right mind that'd go for her. Emphasis on boy, meaning boy like Orpheus.

"Ooh, Sere, he was totally digging you!" Prue called from the end of the hall, frolicking about like the grade school girl that she was. Sort of.

"Who?" Serendipity asked absently, scratching at the itchy bandage around the tender place where her neck and shoulder joined. Seemed the school nurse did a right good job of patching her up, so right good that the medicine she used had given Serendipity an awful red rash.

"Polaris, silly."

"Wrong Dark Symphony guy," responded Serendipity, rather despondently.

"So? He's a guy. And he likes you. Is this getting through your thick skull?" Demanded Prue in a teasing tone of voice.

"My skull's thick?" cried Serendipity indignantly.

Laughing, Prue shot back, "Well the bludger didn't crack it."

"Low blow, girl, low blow. Wouldn't have come near it if our slacker beater hadn't been off in la la love land," came back Serendipity easily.

"Slacker? It's rather mean to call Matilda a slacker," Prue said thoughtfully, "Who's she in love with?"

Exasperated, Serendipity choked out, "You!"

"She's in love with me? Argh, we might have to have a talk about that. I don't exactly swing that way."

"No, I mean you, stupid!"

"I most certainly am not a slacker," mustered Prue with as much dignity as she could find, "I'm just special needs."

"No fair, taking shots at the handicapped."

"I am not!"

"Am too!"

"You are?"

"You. You are the most infuriating girl on the face of this planet!"

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, Prue replied, "I doubt that. Maybe Britain."

"Gah!" Serendipity threw up her arms and walked away, shouting over her shoulder, "I'm going to find Elanore. Maybe she can talk some sense into me."

In a confused voice, Prue wondered, "Why do you need sense?"

"To remind myself that it is never any use talking to you, Miss Cuckoo Bananas."

"Oh….Hey!"

Madly, Serendipity ran through the winding halls of Hogwarts. Prue may have had more upper body strength, but she was a bad runner. On the other hand, Serendipity, who practiced running from her angry witch-nanny when she was young and in between school breaks, was excellent at it.

It was later in the night, and Serendipity was observing the scenery around her with a mixture of twisted interest and disgust. Really, the entire thing was revolting. Contentedly sitting atop Cerulean's lap was Prue, attempting to read her potions assignment. Unfortunately, the girl seemed to be having some difficulty, as Cerulean was mock-reading over her shoulder, blowing in her ear, and nibbling lightly at her neck. Prue's indignant squeals were really getting to be too much, especially since both Elanore and Casey had taken notice. Instead of doing anything about it, both sat in sullen silence, glaring at the object of their dissatisfaction.

Mentally, Serendipity urged Casey forward. Come on, Hargrove, she thought, for once in your life be a man. Honestly, how did he expect to get Prue if he couldn't even stand up against his brother? The blonde girl was obviously smitten with him, in Serendipity's opinion, even though she was doing a peachy job of feigning interest in Cerulean. As for Elanore, well, the girl had to get over Rufus eventually. Even though she'd forgiven Prue, it was high time she stopped envying Prue's misguided relationship with Cerulean and took notice of Sylvester, who hovered protectively over her shoulder.

"Hey, Watson," whispered a silky voice in her ear. Serendipity jumped about a foot off the plush, holey chair she'd taken up residence in, nearly knocking Orpheus in the head.

"Uh, hi," she giggled, regaining her composure, "Um, what do you- I mean, hi."

Amused, Orpheus's slanted blue eyes twinkled as he moved into a more comfortable position on the armrest of her chair, "Jittery much? Honestly, you and Polaris make the cutest couple."

"C-couple?"

"Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. You see, my boy, Polaris, has developed a major crush on you," he flashed one of his trademark smirks that made Serendipity's heart pound.

"Oh," she responded less than enthusiastically. For a second, Serendipity had thought maybe, just maybe, that Orpheus might confess his undying love for her. Not tell her about Polaris's crush.

Wait a second. Polaris Morgan had a crush on her?

"Oh? You don't sound very happy about it," Orpheus drawled, sounding a little upset.

Quickly trying to rectify the situation, Serendipity said, "No! No, I'm grateful-er- I mean, it's great that, um, Polaris has a- a thing for me."

Even as she spoke, the words didn't sound real, but she stumbled on, "I-its just that I l-l-like someone else."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Casey get up and leave the common room.

"I get that. You like who you like," Orpheus shrugged, "I'll just tell Polaris he hasn't got a chance."

"No! Don't do that," she managed without stuttering, "I'll tell him."

"Sure," he cast her a strange look, "Out of curiosity, who do you like?"

Serendipity opened her mouth, and then looked over at Prue, who was still fending off Cerulean's advances, oblivious to Casey's feelings, and closed it. If there was no hope for the couple she'd been betting on since first year, how in the world could there be a chance for her and Orpheus?

Forcing a cheery smile, she answered, "Oh, no one you know."