Wisdom and Victory {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 8

I hope you have a better day than Harry does :)

Victoria didn't know how to feel about re-joining the quidditch team, especially without anyone she could really confide in. She regarded all her thoughts as she showered after one particularly wet and brutal practice.

The first thing on her mind, as with any good athlete, was assessing how she and her teammates had played that day. She fit in well with the chasers, although not so well that one of them should be replaced. The trio were a well-oiled machine, and as her mother always said, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." So that was that.

Her beating, always her strongest position, was impeccable, able to match the twins in ability, but not synchronisation. They worked perfectly.

What baffled Victoria, was the complete ineptitude of the new Gryffindor keeper, Ron Weasley. He was far too easily distracted, and when Victoria had taken a turn in front of the hoops, she found her performance to be far superior. And to top it all off, Angelina had confided that she wished she'd tried for the position in the first place. Ignoring the captain's lack of confidence in her team, Victoria couldn't help but agree.

Secondly, as she scraped at a particularly persistent splattering of mud, she thought about Cedric. It had reminded her of him as she'd flown today with her team, but not in the same way it had before. Over the summer when she'd tried to practice, be it seeker, beater, or chaser, it had only ended in sniffs and tears as she thought about how Cedric would've been there with her. But when she'd been in the air today, feeling the rain on her face, hearing the cry of the whistle, the thud of the balls, all she could think about was how happy a life he'd lived. How brilliantly talented he'd been, both as a seeker and a captain. How much he'd enjoyed and excelled at the sport and how Victoria had channelled his spirit while she played. And that relieved some of the tightness in her chest.

Finally, she allowed her mind to wander to the club she'd been informed of. Harry Potter, teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Aside from maybe Lupin had been, Victoria couldn't think of anyone better suited to the job, and she'd hastily agreed to join. Anything to get on the wrong side of Umbridge.

*****

Victoria had never run from a quidditch match so fast. She'd been tactically placed in the stands, diligently memorising the play of the game to recite to Angelina later so she could analyse it. Weakness and strengths of both teams. Ron had played poorly, which was most likely down to his being distracted by the chants in the stands, but Harry had been merciful and caught the snitch quickly.

Only for he and one of the twins to launch themselves at Malfoy after what looked like a simple quarrel on the pitch. As soon as Victoria had seen this part of the match play out, she'd run from the stands, straight down to the changing rooms where the rest of the team could be found, still in their quidditch things, and sat in silence.

"Where are...?" began Victoria, clutching at the stitch in her side as she tore her scarf and gloves off, overheating.

"McGonagall's office," said Angelina glumly, not looking up from the patch of floor she stared at.

"Well, that's fine," said Victoria, trying to cheer them up. "My mother loves quidditch. I can always try to-"

"Umbridge followed them," said the other twin, bitterness lacing his voice. Victoria stopped herself from gaping. That wouldn't end well for any of the involved parties involved. For starters, her mother and Umbridge, unsupervised. Then add one of the school's biggest pranksters and finally a dash of Boy-Who-Lived. She was surprised the castle was still standing.

"Well," said Angelina, half-heartedly. "Well done on a good win. We can't mope about here all day, can we?"

Victoria waited for them to all be ready, recounting the common plays of the other team, any weaknesses she'd spotted while Angelina was busy, and she tried to avoid the topic of Ron and his abysmal keeping skills. She was beginning to think it was more a mental battle and less inability.

When they arrived back to the common room, the usual party didn't blast through the circular walls. The team received a few congratulations, but for the most part the common room remained empty, with only the odd anxious face waiting for news. They slumped by the fire, and Alicia quietly informed Victoria that it was George who had got in the fight.

Later than perhaps anyone would like, Harry and George returned to the common room, looking sullen and defeated. Harry released the snitch, which apparently he was still holding, before the pair walked over to Angelina. "Lifetime ban," he mumbled, but everyone heard. "All three of us."

"Three of you?" repeated Katie Bell, wide-eyed from where she sat with her friend Leanne. Hermione and Ginny Weasley had also joined them, along with Lee Jordan.

"Fred too," said George with a sorry look at his brother.

"Banned?" repeated Angelina, apparently unable to process the news properly. "All of you?" they nodded again.

"It was Umbridge," mumbled Harry, looking ashamed. Victoria briefly wondered what would happen if someone slit her throat while she was sleeping.

"But Fred didn't even do anything!" said Alicia.

"It's got nothing to do with who did what," said Victoria, drawing the attention to herself. "Umbridge has found the very best way to hurt Harry and neutralise him as a threat. Quidditch. Wouldn't be surprised if she came up with that stupid song too."

"It's not Harry's fault!" said Ginny Weasley hotly.

"I didn't say it was!" said Victoria. "That's why she's done it though." She shrugged at Harry, trying to display her apologies.

"Welcome to the team, anyway," said Angelina, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to bed...maybe it's all a bad dream..." Alicia, Katie, and Leanne followed her up, and soon enough Fred, George, and Lee Jordan headed up to their dorm. Victoria threw a sorry look their way, not ever trying to displace them, but she knew it wasn't her they were mad at.

Victoria rose to find a good book to distract her, but she was stopped by Harry. "How did you know that?" he asked with narrow eyes. "About Umbridge?"

Victoria shrugged. "My mother's common sense," she said. "From how quickly she dismissed the twins, I'd say you're close with the whole Weasley family? And the Ministry know?"

"Their dad took me to my hearing..." he said, trailing off.

Victoria nodded. That would make sense. From what she could gather, Umbridge was quite high up in the Ministry. "Don't let this put you down too much," she advised, ignoring Harry's look of protest. "That's what she wants. The best thing you can do is throw yourself into something else that makes you happy. That's the biggest middle finger you can give her." Harry swallowed and nodded, turning round as Ron finally showed up from the match. Victoria took this as her escape, to some world of potions recipes or Transfiguration Today.