Sparks Fly || A George Weasley Story

Year 4: Ain't Ever Gonna Keep Me Down

I jumped out of bed just as the sun peered its sleepy head over the plush green horizon. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and I felt as though I'd been up for hours. Today was the day that Hufflepuff was going to play against Slytherin, and I couldn't have been more ready.

Unfortunately, with my little accident, I wasn't able to play in our first game, so I was itching to get back on the field for this one. The practice that Cedric had put us through the other day had certainly not given me enough of the rush that came with game day, but at least I'd been on a broom even if it was for one a measly hour or two. I snuck down to my trunk and quickly grabbed my uniform and hurried to the bathroom to get dressed.

I pulled my Hufflepuff jumper on over my head, followed by my school issued trousers and boots before I even began attempting to tackle my unruly hair. Wetting my curls with some water, I did my best to plait them so they wouldn't blow into my face while I was playing. When I was done, I winked at myself in the mirror before I finished getting ready by brushing my teeth and other hygienic things that you would do in the morning.

Afterwards, I slipped out of the bathroom, through the dorm where the rest of my roommates, besides Tamara who was pinning one of her yellow scarves in place while she stared into a floating compact mirror, were sleeping. The door shut almost silently behind me and I walked down the hallway, hearing a few people up and chattering within the rooms that I passed by. This was a big day for all Hufflepuffs because it's always a wild game with Slytherin plays against us.

Slytherin was a team that did not pull any punches, quite literally, and relied on brute strength over speed or agility. That was fine with me, because our team was smaller and did tend to focus on the realms of which the Slytherins lacked.

In fact, at practice just the other day, Cedric had us run a drill where we flew back and forth across the pitch and he threw different stuff at us so that we would learn how to better dodge bludgers or other players. The only downside to this was the bruises that turned up soon after you didn't quite make it out of the way in time. I was thankful for the jumper because it hid all of the purple and yellow splotches that littered my arms as well as my ribs.

I had more confidence in my team than ever before. Sure, it would have been a bit better if I could play alongside my brother, but there were just some things that you had to deal with and playing without Oleander was one of them. He'd been cut from the team and there was no going back now. Maybe he'll do good enough for Cedric to put him on the team officially next year.

Wesley and Cedric were pouring over a notebook in the common room when I arrived, and they smiled up at me when I entered the room. Well, when they noticed I'd entered the room which meant I was only a couple steps away from them.

"Hey there, Juniper," Wesley smiled, "You ready for this game today?"

"When am I not ready for a game?" I laughed.

"Fair point," Wesley nodded.

"I just hope we do better than we did last time, or I'm going to be the laughing stock of the school," Cedric said, running a nervous hand through his hair, "Plus, I've invited some girls to come watch us today. I don't know what I'd do if they started laughing at me."

"Oooo who have you invited?" I asked, bouncing from foot to foot.

He'd been pestering me about George and I for months now, and I thought that it was my turn to take the piss about him and all the girls he could be regularly found with. I was just hoping that he wouldn't say that he'd invited Cho. She was only thirteen and I was about to be fifteen, so I should be the bigger person and ignore all the times that she's directly insulted me or given me a backhanded compliment, but I just couldn't. She hated my guts, and I'd given up on being nice to her.