eccentric ➳ luna lovegood

04

QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS had begun. Jade was not interested in joining the team so late into her Hogwarts schooling, but she tagged along with Luna to watch the Gryffindor tryouts.

Harry had taken over as the team's captain, as most of the team had graduated last year, and he had Ginny by his side for most of it.

The two of them sat near the top, behind Lavender Brown, who was desperately trying to catch Ron's eye.

"Harry has a huge crush on Ginny." Luna whispered as the two walked out on the field with the Beater prospects.

"How do you know?" She whispered back.

Luna giggled, turning her eyes toward Jade.

"He makes it way too obvious."

In front of them sat an excited Lavender Brown, and not too far from her sat a disgruntled Hermione Granger. Jade watched Hermione, who didn't even jump like the rest of them when Ginny yelled at the new prospects. Instead, she kept herself fixated on the book in her lap, which seemed to be a Charms book based on the tidbits she could see.

Out on the field, there were dashes of blue and yellow among the red.

"Are those kids from our house?" Jade asked, leaning back in toward Luna.

"I do believe so. There are a few Hufflepuffs too."

Harry finally noticed and bellowed, the blue and yellow running away, along with a few shorter students.

"First years?"

"Must have been."

They continued to watch their peers flying around, some of the younger students running into each other when they lost control of their brooms or toppling right off of them. A few red and gold clad people hit the grassy pitch below them, but no one had sustained serious injuries.

When it came to the final round, the fight for the Keeper position, Jade leaned forward on her knees. It had gotten significantly colder, so she was partially doing it to conserve body heat, but she had also gotten more invested in the events unfolding in front of them.

Hermione was paying more attention now, though she still appeared as disgruntled as before, perhaps due to the screaming fan girl sitting close to them.

Lavender's high-pitched voice squeaked out a cheer every few seconds, and they grew louder when Ron blocked a shot. Luna smiled at her, and Jade sat silent. Lavender wasn't too bad, but she could see why Hermione was annoyed with her hollering.

Ron blocked the last shot, beating out Cormac for the Keeper position. Lavender stood and cheered even louder, directing all of the attention in the stands to her. Hermione clapped, a smile on her face now. The new Gryffindor Quidditch team walked off the field, heading in to change.

"I'm happy for Ron. He did his best and got the position." Luna said as they climbed down from the stands, making their way inside from the bitter cold that had settled over them.

"Me too. I'm sure it's great for Harry to play on a team with two of his best friends. He has Katie back, too. She'll be a great help for the new members."

They walked in silence afterward, not holding hands due to the chill that would shock them. Once inside the castle, on their way to the Great Hall, Luna took her hand out of her pocket and reached for Jade's.

It was significantly warmer in the Great Hall, especially with all of the students packed into it. It was a late dinner for them, but a few friends were still there. The Gryffindor Quidditch Team was slowly trickling in, and the boys had occupied a space at the Ravenclaw table.

The girls sat next to them, putting heaps of potatoes and ham on to their plates. Michael waved, his mouth full of food, and Terry smiled, a quick reaction as he paid close attention to Anthony's story. Anthony paused, seeing the other two glancing at the girls, and plastered a smile on his face.

"Hey Jade, hey Luna. How are you?"

Jade hoped she didn't seem awkward. She had been talking to Mandy more than the boys, but they didn't seem annoyed with her. Anthony's smile and speech seemed normal, even especially happy.

"I'm doing good, Anthony." Luna answered, then took a bite of the ham on her plate.

"I'm alright. How are you?" Jade replied, watching him rest his arms on the table.

"I'm getting into the professional Quidditch talk with Terry again. We're excited for the reveal of the new members before the season."

"He's getting very excited about it, very animated." Terry said, laughing afterward.

"Well, of course! I can't wait to see what poor sap is going to be the newest victim of the Holyhead Harpies."

Jade smiled, happy to see that her friends were mostly back to normal after the big fight with Mandy. As far as she knew, Anthony and Mandy hadn't talked much since the fight, but they were still a couple. Anthony didn't hate Mandy, like she claimed, and Mandy certainly didn't hate Anthony.

She wanted the normalcy back. She wanted her friend group to be tight-knit again, but when Mandy walked into the Great Hall, she only waved to Luna and Jade and then sat with Su, her face a bright red.