"You look like a marble statue. You always do. You become the pinnacle of human beauty in anger, joy, and... grief."
Tarra Williams never thought that asking a little boy to play would change her life...
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Tarra's father had a nickname amongst his old football team. They called him the Stoner, not because he smoked a lot of weed but because his nerves never got to him.
Tarra thought of her short, balding father as she stepped onto the green grass of the quidditch pitch. The fans cheered and jeered. Some probably wouldn't mind if she was seriously maimed right now.
Tarra inhaled.
It smelt of rain.
Butterflies flew in her stomach.
She smiled.
Flinch snarled at the Ravenclaw's captain. They shook hands. Ravenclaw's captain winced in pain.
As the players began to mount their brooms, a story of Tarra's father came to her mind-
"It was the last game of the season-" his eyes glazed over and he smiled- "and everything was on the line. It was one of the games that sports fans dream of. A rivalry game between two ancient clubs and a prize worth everything-" His smile grew- "a promotion to the Premier League."
"The game started out bloody. Too much was on the line to play nice."
"Though your father still managed," added Tarra's mother. "He is much too sweet."
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the players took flight. The smooth, polished wood of the borrowed Nimbus 2001 anchored Tarra. It reminded her that with all the freedom that came with flying, she had a purpose in this game.
Slytherin scored a minute after the whistle.
Then a beater bludgeoned a Ravenclaw chaser with his bat. Anger nipped at Tarra. She bit the inside of her cheek as Hooch called for a penalty.
"By half time the only goal scored was a penalty by the other team."
"But it was a bad call," huffed her mother.
"It did not matter. It had happened and it was bound to happen again-" her father shuddered- "It was like a mob in the locker room. The assistant manager tried to calm us down-"
"The manager got a red card and got thrown out of the game," mused her mother.
"Yeah. It did not work. "
Silence rippled through the stands as Hogwarts held its breath.
The Ravenclaw chaser smirked. She was big and muscular and she'd been flying on her broom before Tarra was born. Still, a slight smile found its way to Tarra's lips.
The chaser wound her arm back. Muscles bulged under her skin. The ball ripped through the air. It soared towards the goal.
Tarra missed. The ball flew through the left hoop.
She cursed.
She still felt the impact of hard leather on her fingers. If she stretched her arm out inches more if she moved a half a second faster...
The ball returned to Slytherin's hands as the cheers still roared through the stadium.
"So did you win?" asked a young Tarra.
Her father smiled and he got the look on his face. The look that told her she was going to give her a lesson and not an answer.
"The game ended with 14 players on the field. I was one of them. I kept my game clean and worked my hardest and that is what matters. You give the things you love your all and you never give up. When that game finished, I would practice my hardest and play the best that I could no matter what league I was in. No matter what the result of the game would be."
"But, yeah. We won."
Ravenclaw's frustration grew. They had been sacked, bludgeoned, and sandwiched. Of the 20 shots they took, none had gone in. Seven missed their target and thirteen had been blocked by Tarra.
In the stands, Slytherin's students threaten to tip the bleachers. They sang on the top of their lungs and jumped up and down. Waves of green crashed through the crowd.
Defeat seemed imminent for the bronze and blue Ravenclaws with the score being 10 to 170. As the blue chaser zipped into a weak triangle, Cho Chang blocked Draco from the snitch. He jerked to a stop.
The Slytherin Beaters hit the bludger at Chang. It struck her chin.
Draco gleamed and resumed his chase.
Three chasers dawned on Tarra. The wind whipped their blue robes. Ferocity mutilated their faces.
She smiled.
Her broom jerked beneath her and she shot through the air. Her hands clasped around the quaffle as cheers broke through the stands.
Draco caught the snitch. He held it above his head. The little wings flapped from beneath his clenched hand, desperate to escape.
Tarra landed. Her feet kicked against the grass as she raced towards Malfoy. The rest of the team filed in around her. They embraced each other.
"Brilliant!" Marveled Flinch.
His crooked teeth were in full view as he smiled.
"Absolutely brilliant!"
He broke from the hug and ruffled Tarra's blonde hair.
"I think we'll keep you around, first year."
Tarra beamed.
Juno and Helen waited outside the locker room. They wrapped their arms around Tarra's and gushed the entire way to the castle.
"I think I might start to like Quidditch now," said Helen.
"Do you think you'll want to go pro?" asked Juno as she bounced on her toes. "My father has connections to the WImbourne Wasps and the Falmouth Falcons. He can help you get on their teams. Maybe you'll even go pro before you leave Hogwarts. I heard there's a player from Drumstrags that does that."
Tarra laughed and said, "The only future I'm thinking about right now is where the nearest bathroom is. I was so nervous during the game that I chugged two bottles of water and Flinch doesn't exactly allow potty breaks."
The three girls laughed and pushed their way into the bathroom.
Tarra left the stall first.
She washed her hands and stared at her reflection. As she looked at her bright smile and happy green eyes, warmth wrapped her heart and settled in her stomach. Everything about this moment seemed so bright. It was one of those moments that you live for. A moment where you feel at home and happy.
Then Déjà vu slapped the breath from her lungs.
Her pupils dilated and a chill ran down her spine.
She saw yellow eyes and heard the strange language that haunted her dreams. Then came a reverberating noise that shook her skull and she fell into a deep slumber.
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In my head Tarra's petrification was going to be so epic and dramatic then when it came to writing it I just went meh. So sorry about that. If I go back and edit this story, this will probably be one of the first chapters I fix.
