"You have problems." Damn whatever Headmaster that decided Head Boy and Girl should do all patrolling together.
"I have problems? I'm sorry, maybe I heard you wrong." Stupid, stupid Stoat Boy. Whose he to say I have problems?
Gavin shook his head, messing with his crown as I call it. See, Stoat Boy has this bright yellow knit cap that is practically part of his scalp. It has smiley faces on it and makes him look like a 5 year old bafoon.
"So… Explain to me what I did to you."
"Excusez- moi?" I questioned, arching my eyebrows.
"Why do you hate me so much?"
I shrugged. "Mostly it has to do with the fact that you exist. Then I see your face and even stronger feeling of loathing creeps in."
He scowled at me. Attractive.
"You want a list? Okay, most recent to least. Number 1," I ticked it off on my fingers, "You are poisoning my sister with your saliva. Number 2, you're head boy. Number 3, you're Quidditch captain, a position that was supposed to be mine. Number 4, Kingsley was never quite the same after you 'accidentally' stepped on his tail last year. Number 5-"
"Is this going to take a while?" He asked, rolling his eyes.
"You asked."
Gavin frowned. "I didn't think you were seriously going to answer me."
Merlin, if only I didn't have to patrol with him. I could be back in my room right now plotting. Maybe I could freak him out enough to give up the position of Head Boy…
Or I could be practicing Quidditch right now. If I was utterly amazing, maybe Professor Longbottom would demote Gavin and make me captain. Even better, maybe he would get so mad that he'd quit the team entirely! Although… I must admit he is not the most horrible Keeper in existence. But there must be a better Gryffindor!
"You're particularly frightening when you have that look on your face." Stoatie was staring at me.
"What look?" I wrinkled my nose and crossed my eyes.
"The one where you look like you're a little kid in a candy store that wants to kill everyone."
Arse hole!
"You'll be the first victim." I muttered to myself.
He smirked. "Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."
"Yeah well… You know what?" I retorted, my arms crossed in front of my chest. I like to think of this as my bad-ass Auror pose.
Gavin looked at me lazily. "What?"
"Your mum!"
I made him speechless. He shook his head. "How you manage to function, I don't understand…"
"Shut it. I know you're just utterly dazzled by my wit and beauty."
He grabbed a chunk of my hair. "If I liked the color yellow this much, I'd be a Hufflepuff." Gavin dropped it.
Insulting! Who would call my hair yellow? I prefer to think of it as honey colored. Bees like hovering around me.
"I'm not talking to you!" I announced.
Gavin didn't reply.
It was the first match of the season. Gryffindor versus the 'Puffs. No challenge. No one even remembered the last time they'd won the Cup, except the 'Puffs themselves.
I smacked my bat against the palm of my hand, waiting for the game to come to a start.
"You've got that look." Freddie called.
What's up with this? "What look?"
Freddie flew back a little. "The one where you look like you're a little kid in a candy store that wants to kill everyone. And it's directed towards Our Lord Captain."
"Seriously? You're the second person to say that."
My cousin looked at me as if questioning if I was joking or not. "Everyone calls it that. You get that look at least once a day. Even more when Our Lord is around. We'd call it love, but since you try and decapitate him every time we're on the pitch that throws a wrench in it."
"WEASLEYS!" Our Lord Captain Stoat Merisque screamed. "Get your head in the game."
Oh hey! We'd started. On cue, a Bludger went flying towards the two of us. Fred gave it a good whack, and it knocked a 'Puff off his broom. He managed to grab onto it.
"Must be desperate. Letting first years on the team." I said to myself.
Freddie crossed his eyes. In our language that meant I was being stupid. "Lu, don't talk wubbish. That's Albus."
Cousin Albus? Failure to the House of Weasley-Potter? Blimey. He was a third year at least.
"What does Aunt Ginny feed him?" I gasped. Little Al turned to glare at us. Smiling, I waved at him. "Did you see that?"
Freddie raised his eyebrows. "The little bugger gave you the happy finger!"
"WEASLEYS! DON'T MAKE ME KICK YOU OFF THE TEAM!" O.L.C.S.M. bellowed. Merlin. His face was about as red as the tell tale Weasley hair.
We turned around. "Merisque!" said my cousin. "Stop screaming. It's bad for your blood pressure."
"Yes!" I chimed in. "Wouldn't want you to drop dead on the pitch."
To get him to be quiet, we flew around the pitch and almost knocked a couple more 'Puffs off their brooms. The score was 100-0.
"Nice weather." Freddie commented.
I nodded. "Ooo! That cloud looks like a Pygmy Puff." Something small whizzed by my ear. The Snitch was hovering over Freddie's head.
Our Seeker had spotted it, and was zooming toward us for the catch. Her 'Puff counterpart was as far away as possible, and was looking wildly about in the sky.
"DON'T MOVE WEASLEYS!" O.L.C.S.M. hollered.
"He really is annoying."
I crossed my eyes in response. Fantastic! A Bludger was coming our way. I focused on it, and swung out my bat. Owsies! Never hit one that hard before. The Bludger went charging down the pitch, aimed at one O.L.C.S.M. He seemed to be too distracted watching the Snitch.
There was a loud crunching noise. I flinched, and watched as Gavin Merisque's body went falling.