Opia {j. potter}

Mudita

𝑀𝓊𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒶 (𝓃)
𝒯𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈, 𝓋𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒿𝑜𝓎

The game was long and brutal. The two teams stayed neck-and-neck for the majority of it. It was so fast-paced that even Charlie Rungway, the designated announcer for the match, could barely keep up with the movement of the balls. The quaffle seemed to move almost as fast as the snitch. A blur of red and blue streaks sped across the pitch. Back and forth back and forth, but by the end of the match it was Ravenclaw who came out on top.

It all came down to one play Elizabeth had taught her team the week before, stolen from one of the first documented quidditch games and modified to fit their team perfectly. She called out a code word that had the entire Gryffindor team confused as the Ravenclaw team members all began to move in a clearly practiced way. Momentarily stunned, Ravenclaw was able to make the point they needed to get ahead, just in time for the end of the game and their rightful win.

Cheers of joy erupted from not only the Ravenclaw team, who were glad to finally be able to reap the benefits of their hard work, but also from every other Ravenclaw in the stands. Their cheers were so loud and filled with joy that couldn't have come just from being proud of their house. No, these cheers were filled with happiness and pride for their friends. For the people that they study with, eat with, bond with. The fact that they were in the same house was just a bonus to them now. 

The sound of the Ravenclaw cheers clearly made the team even happier but were unfortunate stabs in the chest for all the members of the Gryffindor team. Every cheer was filled with a sense of pride that James had never heard from his own stands before and he wondered why. The entire team could sense this and it did nothing to help their morale. 

Without shaking his fellow captain's hand once more, as it often tradition, James just guided his team off the pitch and into the locker rooms. 

James was unable to look at Elizabeth at that moment because he was worried that if he looked at her once more he wouldn't be able to stop. The sole glance in her direction that he did allow himself had him feeling like the loss was okay. The sense of mudita and pleasure he got in seeing her joy momentarily had him thinking that he would rather see her team win than his.

James shook this thought away. 

Quidditch was his life and this loss, to Ravenclaw none the less, a team he was sure they could beat, was a big ego hit that he did not want him, or his team, to deal with. 

"Bet you're glad your little girlfriend won, aren't you?" mocked Alexis as soon as they all entered the locker room. The rest of his team turned to glare at him after this comment, all fully aware of his crush on the opposing team's captain. 

"Listen here Alexis," James began defensively, no one ever talked to Alexis like this before but he had to remind himself that HE was the captain. There was no room for his teammates to question his leadership or his playing abilities. "I don't let my personal life interfere with the way I play on the pitch. I step on there," he glanced around the room, "and I play my hardest, just as all of you do. Today sucked. We should've won that, we could've won that, but the game was close and we lost. Shit happens. Don't question my capabilities as a player and as your captain just because we lost to Ravenclaw, understand." 

James looked Alexis right in the eyes, his gaze rough and unwavering, refusing to show weakness and attempting to assert dominance. Alexis gave up the staring contest first with a humph and a turn to open her locker. 

Pleased with the reaction he gathered from his team after that, James began to do the same. Stripping off his uniform and changing into something more comfortable. One-by-one each member left the locker room until it was just James, Sirius, and Marlene.