Chapter 39 – Love Made Me Do It

Oh my God, I'm such a sucker
I fall in love with every fucker

Breaking all my rules
But love made do it

And I'd do it again

There was an unnerving tranquillity occurring within Gryffindor House. For almost the entire week, Sam and Janey had kept out of each other's hair and off of each other's nerves, despite the fact that they had been forced into each other's company more often than they normally would have been. James had been keeping not just them, but the entire team on their toes with gruelling late-night training sessions every day.

Even though the team had remained identical to their previous lineup, and had now been playing together for almost a full year, it would be their debut of the new season, and naturally, they all wanted a win.

Instead of draining them all, the constant practice actually seemed to be massively motivating the team, leaving them all exhilarated. It had been a good week, and they felt more ready than ever as James gathered the team together following their final training session of the week on Friday evening.

As Janey touched down onto the grass, she didn't feel even remotely irritated by Sam's close proximity to her. He had been far less irritating and tolerable since she had started hanging out with Henry.

What Janey shared with Henry, she wouldn't even consider dating. They hung out, mostly in the library, but often without any prior arrangement. It was more so that, if they both happened to be there at the same time, then they would sit and study together. Janey would rather die than admit to the fact that she had been frequenting the library for that very reason.

But other than that one training session they'd shared, which she had very much enjoyed, they hadn't ever expressly planned to meet up with each other. They didn't flirt—not really—they just talked. They were just getting to know each other without any pressure.

It was very new for Janey. She still didn't yet know how she felt with regards to Henry—whether she was romantically interested in him or not—but in a way, that made it so much easier to enjoy his company. With him too, she couldn't be sure whether there was any attraction from his end, or whether he merely enjoyed her companionship. But whatever it was, it was nice.

Janey realised she had put too much expectation on her non-relationship with Roman, and this time, she didn't want to do any such thing. If she didn't expect anything from Henry then she couldn't be hurt if he let her down. And so far, that strategy had been working in her favour. In fact, she thought she might just swing by the library after she'd showered and freshened up…

"Good job, guys," James praised the team, beaming at each of them in turn. "Big day tomorrow—I want you all to get a good night's sleep so we're well-rested for the big match." He stopped to smirk at Sam. "That includes you, lover boy."

Sam rolled his eyes. He had been making a point of seeing Isabella after their training sessions, often returning to the Gryffindor Tower dangerously close to curfew. But Janey didn't even care. She had only wanted to taunt him to piss him off, and it had far less appeal now that she'd been spending so much time in Henry's company.

"You too, Janey."

The blonde girl blinked in surprise. "Me?" she echoed, wondering if she had absentmindedly missed something James had said to her.

"Yep," James said. "No late-night rendezvous. Not tonight."

She flushed with colour. "I was only going to go to the library…"

She ignored the very pointed side-eye she received from both Rose and Gwen. James wasn't buying it either.

"And I'm sure whichever hunky young gentleman you've been seeing can wait until after the match tomorrow."

"There's no guy," Janey said quickly, heart thumping in the tell-tale way it always did when she lied.

James cocked a suggestive eyebrow. "No?" he asked sarcastically. "You've just decided the library is the hottest place to be in the castle after hours?"

Janey felt her face redden, but she was confident she could pass it off as a sweaty flush from the training session. She'd rather that than admit to being caught blushing over a guy she wasn't even sure yet if she fancied.

"I've been studying," Janey insisted. She should have known better than to try and hoodwink James, and maybe she'd even admit to the truth if it weren't for the rest of the team, but she really didn't want the attention. Rose and Gwen had already been so invested in her developments with Roman, as single as they both were—this time, she wanted to go under the radar.

"Sure—studying anatomy," James taunted with an accompanying wink.

Janey just glared at him.

"Jokes aside—no dalliances tonight." He looked at them all in turn with raised eyebrows. "Save it for the victory party tomorrow."

"Well, I assume you'll be leading by example," Janey said, feeling somewhat bitter. It wasn't like she wanted to see Henry, but she didn't like that she didn't even have the option.

"Of course," James said. "Ebony knows better than to distract me the night before a big game! I am incredibly disciplined when it comes to Quidditch."

Janey didn't doubt it.

"Alright, anyway, let's get our shower on."

As they all followed James' lead, traipsing back towards the changing rooms, Janey's mind wandered to Henry. Would he be in the library that evening, she wondered. It was a Friday after all, so perhaps not. But then again, what if he had gone there expecting, hoping maybe, that Janey might show? Would he be disappointed if they didn't cross paths? It would be the first day in the entire week that they hadn't seen and conversed with each other.

"Janey," Rose asked, suddenly bringing the girl back to reality. "Are you… were you planning on meeting someone?"

Janey hated the glimmering hint of optimism in Rose's tone—like it was something beautiful and romantic. Gwen was leaning in now too.

"No," Janey lied, perhaps a little too quickly. "I genuinely wanted to study."

Her two roommates shared a loaded look that Janey ignored.

"On a Friday evening?" Rose probed.

"Yep."

"Study for what?" Gwen demanded.

Janey faltered. "You know… just… in general." She was painfully aware of the four boys ambling alongside them, Sam included.

"Is it Roman?" Rose suddenly burst out.

"What?"

"Is it Roman you've been seeing? Are you giving it another try?"

"No, it's not Roman!" Janey said in disgust. "It's—"

"Henry," Sam finished on her behalf.

All three girls looked at him sharply, Janey's mouth hanging down in shock. Sam looked away from her, mortified.

"Henry?" Gwen asked sharply. "Henry who?"

"Henry Fontayne," Sam mumbled.

Janey was so startled that she thought she might come to a stop, but somehow she kept her body moving.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" James wondered out loud.

Janey wanted to scream. What the hell was going on?

"Wait," Rose said, the cogs in her head almost audibly whirring. "Henry Fontayne as in…?"

"Isabella's twin?" Gwen finished for her, turning to look at a still-red Sam.

"Oh!" James exclaimed. "The Prefect guy?"

"The Ravenclaw Chaser?" Albus piped up eagerly.

Janey's desire to scream only intensified. At least Sam had the decency to look guilty.

"How did you know I've been hanging out with Henry?" she demanded, suspicious that she might have overlooked him spying on her in the library. After the Roman debacle, she wouldn't put it past him.

Sam was still desperately avoiding making eye contact with her. "Isabella talks," he mumbled after a while.

Of course. Janey gulped, not relaxing in the slightest. Well, of course Isabella would have told Sam—it was like she had temporarily forgotten the two were in a stupid relationship or whatever. But then Janey realised something. If Isabella had told Sam then that must mean that Henry had told her.

Janey's heart fluttered. What exactly had Henry shared with his sister? Clearly their overlapping hours in the library had been significant enough for him to mention to her. Had he… spoken of Janey? Fondly? Had he expressed joy at having been spending so much time in Janey's company? Did he fancy her? God, Isabella must hate that…

It was almost enough to make Janey smile. But she was still too embarrassed that all the attention was on her. James was now looking between Janey and Sam with an idiotic smirk.

"God, you guys clearly have a type."

Janey and Sam involuntarily locked eyes with each other, both of them instantly frowning at the horrifying ramifications of them potentially dating twins.

"I'm not dating Henry," Janey said firmly. "Not even remotely. I've seen him in the library sometimes and we've talked and studied—but that's it. I'm not even interested in him!"

But Rose now looked thrilled. "Oh, Janey, that's so wonderful!"

"It's nothing," Janey insisted, wishing Rose would let it go and irritated with Sam for having exposed her.

She dared to steal another glance at him. He was looking very pointedly ahead as they continued to approach the block of changing rooms, his expression unreadable. He didn't seem all that surprised by the revelation of Janey and Henry spending time together—but then again, he wouldn't. Not if Isabella had already told him. But why didn't he seem more irritated?

Sam had been furious when Janey had been seeing Roman—he had made that blindingly clear. And she refused to believe that he would be okay with the idea of Janey potentially engaging in a romance with his own girlfriend's twin brother. Something was off…

"If you all got married then you and Sam would be, like, in-laws," James went on gleefully.

"I'm not even dating the guy, James—do not marry me off!"

Sam didn't say anything, but he looked rather horrified. At the thought of marrying Isabella?—Janey couldn't help but wonder. Or, more likely, the thought of the four of them all being entangled in each other's lives on a more permanent basis?

Thank God they had reached the changing rooms.

Janey disappeared to the shower, purposefully ignoring the excitedly raised eyebrows of Gwen and Rose. God, they really needed to invest in some romance of their own. It was no better as they traipsed back to the Gryffindor Tower, though this time not accompanied by the boys, who Janey assumed had already gone ahead. Janey liked to take a long shower, and her roommates were clearly bored of waiting, but they were once again keen as they strolled through the stone corridors.

"I didn't think Ravenclaws were your type," Gwen was teasing.

"Henry's a Quidditch player," Janey said defensively, feeling oddly protective. "And anyway—there's nothing even going on there. I already told you. We just… we talk. And study together. That's all."

But now Rose was excitedly joining in. "Oh, but that's so cute!" she insisted.

"I don't even… I don't even know if I fancy him," Janey confessed.

"Why not?" Gwen demanded. "He's totally cute!"

Janey eyed her suspiciously.

"Hey, he's a little short for me," Gwen said defensively. "But, you know… for you…" She looked down at the smaller girl very pointedly.

Janey just rolled her eyes. Henry wasn't short—he was about the same height as Rose and, obviously, Isabella—but Gwen, tall and athletic, would certainly tower over him. Janey quite liked the fact that she was so short herself. It meant she had way more options than her leggier counterparts when it came to dating—if, you know, height was of any concern to them. Which it definitely was to her. But she had never encountered that problem before.

Height aside—which wasn't a problem anyway—Henry was cute. He was very unthreatening, and he had such kind eyes and a young, boyish face. Janey supposed she had started to go for guys who both were, and looked, older than her. Deneb, and then Roman—they both looked older than they were, more masculine, she supposed, than the sweet, bookish Henry.

But Janey knew the real reason she felt so withdrawn in admitting her attraction to Henry—even to herself. It was because of his unnerving resemblance to Isabella. A face that had started to instinctively stir feelings of irritability and anger within Janey. Every time she looked into his eyes, deep, stormy blues, she saw only Isabella, whom she really couldn't stand. It was incredibly conflicting.

"You and Sam could go on double dates," Rose teased.

"I would rather hex myself than go on a date with Sam," Janey said in disgust. "And Isabella," she added quickly.

"You know, if you and Henry do go official, this now means that every single one of the Prefects in our year has dated one of the others," Gwen piped up, amused.

Janey considered it.

"Tom and Annabel—the Hufflepuffs—are dating. Sam's dating Isabella. You could date Henry. And then, obviously, you've got Ebony and—" But Gwen did not finish her thought, immediately falling silent and looking immensely guilty.

Scorpius, Janey finished for her silently. The Slytherins. Who hadn't been together for a year now. And whose names—or at least one of them—they absolutely were not supposed to mention in their present company. Rose's eyes had glassed over with a hollow sort of sadness.

Janey almost wanted to share the gossip about Scorpius' inadvertent kiss with Annabel with Gwen, further expanding the incestuous web the Prefects seemed to have entangled themselves in. But she bit her tongue.

"I don't think there's a future for me and Henry," Janey said instead, desperate to steer the conversation away from talks of Rose's ex.

Gwen looked devastated by her blunder, and Janey understood. Even though it had been a year since they'd separated, they were all so fiercely protective of Rose, and it was clear how much the emotional damage the breakup had caused persisted.

"I don't think he's into me like that."

"Why not?" Gwen asked, grateful for Janey's intervention. "He wouldn't be spending so much time studying with you if he weren't interested—believe me."

"Are you suggesting that being in my company is nothing short of delightful?" Janey asked sarcastically.

"Oh, not at all," Gwen went on, perking back up. "I just meant—oh."

They had all three of them come to an abrupt halt as they'd rounded the final corner and found themselves facing the Fat Lady—the portrait that marked the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. It was not the sight of the painting that had drawn the attention of the three girls though. It was the sight of the two embracing teenagers who were standing in front of it, oblivious to anybody else having even entered the corridor.

It wasn't like they were snogging or anything, but the way Sam was so endearingly clutching the sides of Isabella's head as he pressed his mouth against her, and the soppy little smiles they were both sharing as he did so, suddenly made a wave of nausea crash through Janey's body.

There was a new sense of comfort, of intimacy, between them than when Janey had inadvertently witnessed their first kiss in the diner—one that suggested they had engaged in plenty more since then.

Her own mouth felt incredibly dry.

"I, err, I need to go," Janey said in a rush, unable to think of anything other than how desperately she needed to escape the situation. Without waiting to hear how either Gwen or Rose responded, she had turned on her heel and fled back around the corner she had only moments ago turned.

Janey wasn't sure what her game plan was as she high-tailed it through the empty corridors, especially wary of how close it was to curfew, but all she knew was that she needed to get as far away from there as possible. It had felt like the walls themselves were closing in on her.

She was vaguely aware of either Gwen, or Rose, or both of them, having called out to her in surprise, but she tuned it out as she fled.

Janey's heart was hammering in her chest, a mile a minute, and as she sped through the castle, she wasn't entirely sure what it even was she was fleeing from. She was painfully aware that this was now the second time in Rose's company that she had made an abrupt, unexplained exit after witnessing the couple kiss, and really hoped the redhead would not read into it too much.

But unlike the first time, the sight of Isabella and Sam locking lips did not fill Janey with that burning anger she had become so accustomed to when she observed the pair. That time, Janey felt only a very hollow, profound sort of desperation. A bitter longing that was incredibly overwhelming and incredibly confusing.

She supposed it was envy.

Was it not enough that Sam got to be in a relationship with the girl, but now he was flaunting it right in front of Janey? After he had been the reason for the brutal downfall of her and Roman's little fling?

And now, conflicted as she felt about Henry, she still felt like something had been taken away from her.

Henry.

Janey wondered whether he would still be in the library—if he even had been in the first place—or whether he would have returned to his own common room for the evening. He didn't seem the type to flout curfew.

But it was now him that Janey was thinking of as she continued to pace the corridors, desperately trying to push away the thoughts of Sam and Isabella kissing in front of the portrait that persisted in her mind, and the accompanying feelings it stirred within the pit of her stomach.

Janey burst into the library, making an immediate beeline for their usual spot, but the entire room was completely devoid of human presence. Feeling desperate, she then headed for the Ravenclaw Tower. Maybe he had been there, she thought desperately, and maybe he had just left and she could catch him before he turned in for the night.

Janey's heart continued to race as she now sprinted through the school, completely unsure about what she would do if she actually succeeded and found herself in his company. But spurred on by another wave of nausea as she replayed the scene she had just stumbled upon, she continued on her way.

Skidding to a halt as she rounded the final corner, Janey could not believe her sheer luck. It was as though God himself had granted her a favour. "Henry?" she called out in complete disbelief, beyond shocked that she might have actually been able to track the boy down in her desperate pursuit.

She immediately slowed her pace, not wanting to look like she had just, in fact, run almost the entire length of the castle in order to find him. She couldn't even yet be sure, from that distance, whether or not it actually was him. It could be just any random dark-haired Ravenclaw.

"Janey?" he asked with deep surprise.

Oh, but it was.

Henry looked just as startled as Janey felt, as though he too had succeeded in conjuring her through sheer will alone. "I waited for you in the library," he explained as Janey drew closer. "As close to curfew as I could. Not that I expected you to come," he said hurriedly, blushing as he did so. "I just didn't know—I wasn't sure if—"

But Janey cut off his endearing ramblings, shocking both him, and herself, by clutching the front of his robes and pulling him towards her so she could press her mouth to his in the perfect imitation of Sam to Isabella just moments before.

Janey couldn't be entirely sure what had spurred her to kiss Henry Fontayne—a boy she had not openly expressed attraction to via mutual flirtation, gone on a single date with, or spent more than a week casually studying with in the library. She didn't even know if an unexpected kiss from her was the kind of thing he would be reciprocative to.

But she had already done it, catching them both by complete unawares. And maybe she should have immediately released him once she realised what she'd done, but she felt the gentle pressure his lips exerted after the momentary surprise following the initial collision, and it made her heart melt. She felt his lips might just be the softest ones she'd ever touched with her own.

The wave of horror engulfed Janey as she loosened her grip on Henry's robes, as it fully sunk in what she had just done. He looked incredibly startled, but not at all disgusted. But as Janey noted the innocent twinkle of surprise in his eyes, she felt the blood rush to her face in total mortification.

Henry looked like he might say something, and perhaps it would have been something positive, and sweet, and charming, but Janey couldn't bear to find out.

"I have to go," she managed to squeak out, just as panicked as when she had muttered the same words to her friends no more than five minutes ago.

If Henry said anything in response, or called out to her as she fled once more, Janey didn't hear it. She was gone, as quickly as she had come, probably confusing the poor boy in a way even more bewildering than the muddle of thoughts and emotions she was experiencing herself.

Janey's thumping heartbeat did not subside from the moment she had impulsively decided to kiss the unsuspecting Ravenclaw boy, all the way back to the now-abandoned corridor outside the Gryffindor Common Room. It did not lessen even one fraction as she battled her way through the room of familiar faces, ignoring the confused, probing questions from her roommates about her abrupt disappearance and even more abrupt reappearance. Nor when she lay her head down on her pillow, absentmindedly touching the lips she had just pressed to a boy who she hadn't even decided whether or not she actually wanted to pursue anything romantic with, picturing not his face, exactly, but rather that of Sam's.

Janey was a nervous wreck as she straddled her broom, preparing to push off and take to the air. The weather conditions were perfect. The team was on top-form. There was absolutely no reason why they shouldn't take home an easy win.

But Janey had other things on her mind.

She had barely slept, tossing and turning, unable to soothe her troubled mind all throughout the night. James would kill her if he knew, but he seemed to be in high spirits. He always was where Quidditch was concerned.

But God, Janey was feeling the pressure. It didn't matter how well the rest of the team played—not if she didn't catch the Snitch. Everybody else could fly perfectly, could execute all the manoeuvres with the grace they had practised so hard to perfect, but it would all come down to nothing if she lagged behind the Hufflepuff Seeker.

As the whistle was blown, and Janey kicked down onto the hard ground in order to propel herself into the air, she relaxed ever so slightly. She felt weightless when she was airborne, and she hoped she would have a few moments to collect herself whilst she began circling the pitch.

The Hufflepuff Seeker was the year below Janey—a new recruit—but he was bulkier than she was, and she hoped that therefore meant he would be slower. She could certainly use that to her advantage.

Janey gazed out over the pitch, regarding each of her teammates in turn. Nobody gelled better than James, Albus, and Gwen as Chasers, and they seemed perfectly confident in their own abilities. They had been like a well-oiled machine for a year now. Sam and Mason too, as Beaters, knew exactly how to hold their own. Janey watched Sam swing his Beater's bat around in his hand like he was warming it up, his fingers working it with a sturdy confidence.

She involuntarily swallowed.

Rose was, as usual, the most nervous of them all. Despite also having been part of the team for the best part of a year as their Keeper, she was never truly at peace when she was in the air, always fretting, always panicking. Janey supposed the hundreds of surveyors did nothing to ease her anxieties about how she would perform.

Janey unintentionally let her eyes drift from one set of gold hoops to the other, and her body went immediately cold. Even at that distance, Roman looked as attractive as he had done the day he'd told Janey she was too much drama to get involved with. She wondered if his new girlfriend was on the team too.

His gaze seemed to absentmindedly roll over her, but Janey looked away before she could even be sure if he had been looking at her or not. She hoped the Snitch avoided that end of the pitch.

The first ten minutes were exhilarating. James' strict regime had proven to do wonders for the way the Gryffindor team coordinated with each other in the air. In truth, Janey felt like a spare part. It wasn't like she could do much other than observe her teammates with awed pride—not until the Golden Snitch appeared.

They were already up by fifty points.

Janey began to relax ever so slightly. If Hufflepuff kept failing to score—to even gain possession of the Quaffle for more than a few seconds at a time—then perhaps whether or not Janey caught the Snitch would be null and void anyway. She could forfeit a catch so long as they were one-hundred-and-fifty points up. But she knew she wouldn't be satisfied with that. Janey very much wanted to contribute to their win.

The crowds were going wild every time they scored, and even though it wasn't strictly for Janey's effort, she still felt elated by the sound of applause. She obviously didn't want to be a sportstar—she very much craved a different kind of spotlight—but God, if felt good to be so praised and adored.

Janey wondered absentmindedly if Henry was down there cheering—one of the blue scarf-clad dots in the Ravenclaw stands. Her heart did a nervous somersault.

She had been trying not to think of him too much—and the fleeting but passionate kiss they had shared—throughout the morning, so that her mind was focused only on the game. But it was proving impossible. His entrancing blue eyes kept forcing their way to the forefront of her mind. She had done little but think of him all night. Him, and for some bizarre reason, Sam.

Somehow they kept merging into one. It was incredibly annoying.

Janey felt deep anxiety when she considered her next interaction with the Ravenclaw boy. Now that they had both had time to ruminate on the kiss, what would happen next? Henry had seemed to somewhat reciprocate, but that might just have been polite curiosity. He might have realised, since then, that he actually hadn't enjoyed it all that much and didn't ever want to feel Janey's eager lips against his own again.

Perhaps she had read their entire week's worth of hanging out all wrong. Henry was hard to decipher. Janey hadn't sensed much obvious flirtation from him, just kind simplicity—but that seemed like the kind of person he was. Maybe he was like that with everybody and Janey wasn't anything special. Maybe he had really just been content with a study partner and wasn't looking for anybody to kiss, or date, or share any kind of romantic intimacy with.

Janey cursed herself. She had been so uncertain with Roman, desperate to kiss him and progress their romance further, but he had been withdrawn and hard to understand, so this time, Janey had taken things into her own hands.

But even then, it all felt too soon. Janey knew how to play the game, and she had skipped several steps ahead, spurred on by her jealousy that Sam and Isabella got to have a happy relationship together where they could kiss in corridors and declare to the school that they were together. Janey wanted that too. Desperately.

But maybe she had pushed Henry too far too soon. She should have made sure there was actually a mutual attraction there first—a foundation on which to base a romance. But she couldn't take it back now.

And the next time she saw him, he could very well politely let her down and explain, in that kind way that he did, that he wasn't looking to date her. The anticipation only allowed Janey's total mortification to grow. What an idiot she had been.

A disturbance near the Hufflepuff hoops drew Janey's attention once more. Gwen had taken a shot, but Roman had blocked it with ease. Janey's heart thumped again.

Still feeling useless as the minutes stretched on, Janey wondered if she should do something drastic. Often she employed these tactics to stir up a bit of drama for the spectators—and for herself. She would suddenly dive for a Snitch that wasn't there, or weave in and out of the other players to get in the way and cause some confusion. She mostly did this during Slytherin games though, because it was most fun to piss off Scorpius, Deneb, Jinx, and Albireo, whom she all openly disliked. Well, Albireo wasn't so bad—he was a cracking snog—but he had the misfortune of being Jinx Capella's long-term boyfriend. Ebony unfortunately became collateral damage in those situations too.

But it didn't seem right to taunt the Hufflepuffs when they weren't really much competition for them anyway. Janey didn't feel like showboating just then—she wanted to secure the win, and the best way to do that seemed to be allowing the others to keep jacking up their score until the Snitch made its appearance and her time to shine came.

They were forty-five minutes in and the score was now one-hundred-to-forty to the Gryffindors. Rose had made some good saves, but as the time stretched on, her confidence was starting to waver. Janey couldn't relax just yet. They would still be relying on her should the Snitch appear.

And then, as though this thought alone had willed it to be so, a glimmer of gold caught her eye. And, of course, it was right by the Hufflepuff hoops—the spot Janey had been avoiding all match. Sparing no thought to Roman though, and the close proximity to him she was about to find herself in, she sped towards the elusive golden ball. The Hufflepuff Seeker hadn't spotted it, so Janey took the immediate advantage, but as soon as he noticed her pursuit, he quickly began advancing on her.

The crowds were going wild, and as the wind whipped through her hair, Janey felt that familiar rush of adrenaline. She could do this.

She and the Hufflepuff Seeker were neck-and-neck, both of their gloved hands outstretched. Janey considered ramming him to the side, but she didn't want to play dirty—not like she would have done had it been Scorpius she was competing with—she just wanted to catch it.

They were matching each other's speed rather annoyingly, but the Hufflepuff's arms were just a little longer, his fingers stretching just a little farther than Janey's shorter arm.

Feeling bold, she had an idea.

Janey dipped her broom down ever so slightly so she was now about five feet below the Snitch. She repositioned herself, arms outstretched with daring elegance, and stood upright on the wooden handle as though she were navigating a surfboard through a wave. The tiny golden ball was now in her immediate eyeline, and balancing on the handle, no way to control the broomstick now that she had relinquished her grip on it, she stretched her hand out once more, sensing the shock emanating from the Hufflepuff boy as she attempted to execute such a daring manoeuvre.

She didn't see the Bludger coming.

Sam felt exhilarated as they took to the air. It had been such a good week. Things were going great with Isabella, they had been absolutely killing it at Quidditch practice, and, ever since he had suggested that Henry start hanging out with his co-Prefect, Janey had been far less grating.

In truth, he did feel a little guilty about it, but if Janey was content, and Henry was happy to go along with it, then where was the harm?

He just hoped he didn't take it too far—start flirting, kissing, maybe even fully dating her. That hadn't been the point. It was just supposed to have been a distraction.

But Sam wasn't thinking about Henry as he felt the reassuring sensation of the October air whipping through his Quidditch robes. He was thinking about how he was both going to help secure his team their first win of the season and make his girlfriend proud at the same time. The cheering crowds gave him a massive ego boost, and knowing that Isabella was one of them stirred him on ever further. Maybe, just maybe, he could understand why Janey so craved attention and applause.

As the game stretched out, Sam was impressed by how seriously she was taking it. Often Janey got bored waiting for the Snitch and engaged in some reckless, idiotic behaviour for a bit of attention, but she was laser-focused.

Sam wondered if it had anything to do with Roman Valentine occupying the same air space as them. He couldn't help but notice that she was very much avoiding that end of the pitch.

Every now and again Sam purposefully aimed a Bludger towards the Hufflepuff hoops on her behalf—but not in an obvious way. He felt like he owed it to her after she blamed his involvement as a contributing factor to their sort-of-breakup. But so far, he hadn't gotten a direct hit.

The team were succeeding with ease, and Sam felt a swell of pride for all his friends. James could be annoying, but Goddamnit did he know how to captain a Quidditch team.

It was at the forty-five minute mark when things suddenly dramatically heated up. Sam was always awed by how sharply Janey could not only identify the tiny Snitch but also respond to it—not that he would ever admit it to her. She was whizzing through the air long before Sam had even noticed the shimmering golden ball himself.

He came to a stand-still, hovering in the air, content just to watch her in pursuit. There was a fierce determination in her eyes, and he found himself mentally urging her on. Time had come to a stop, the shrieking of the excited crowds nothing but a background din as he watched her cutting through the air.

But the Hufflepuff Seeker's hand was stretching closer and closer.

And then Sam's stomach dropped to the ground as she decided to do something truly unhinged. With the graceful agility of a ballerina, Janey was somehow now balancing on the handle of her broom, stretching up on her tiptoes as she now took the advantage, her slender fingers just millimetres away from the fluttering wings of the golden ball. Sam could only watch, desperately holding his breath.

It seemed the entire pitch of fliers had fallen under the same spell. Nobody was doing anything other than watching, both shocked and awed at the incredibly close call of the two battling Seekers.

All apart from one.

It should have been Sam's responsibility to keep his eyes on both of the Bludgers in play, but he was entranced by Janey. He should have noticed the Hufflepuff Beater give in to that irresistible temptation to strike whilst everybody else was distracted.

But Sam felt rather than saw the Bludger as it whizzed straight past his ear at full-force. He could only watch in horror as the solid ball hurtled straight towards the two Seekers. He felt himself roar Janey's name with all his might, but he couldn't hear any words above the blood rushing to his ears. He thought maybe he saw her eyes flicker towards him with curiosity, but it was too late.

Her hand had clasped around something—whether it was the Snitch or just the air, no one could be sure—as the Bludger smashed straight into her forearm. Time truly seemed to have slowed, and whereas Sam wished he could have willed his body to shoot towards her, he did nothing but freeze, suspended in mid-air as he watched Janey fall from her broom, her tiny body plummeting towards the ground with rapid, horrifying speed.

Author's Note: Title and epigraph inspired by Cheryl's 'Love Made Me Do It'

This chapter is early as I won't be able to upload this coming Sunday—so see you in one-and-a-half weeks!