𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄, 𝐆EORGE WEASLEY

{6} Quidditch Game

Odette all but cried begging to be put down, yet George refused. He had already walked half of Hogwarts and the stares they were getting ranked from hostile to various smirks. Odette's hands ached as she tried to keep them anywhere but on his eyes, her back aching with the effort. George sped up, and now she feared for her life.
"George!" She shrieked, calling even more attention to them than there already was.
"What?"
"Come on, put me down!" He did not. He only sped up more, causing her to sway on his shoulders, nearly falling. That's when he grabbed her thighs and held on to them, making her heart drop all the way to her feet.
They arrived at the Great Hall just in time so the Professors wouldn't see her perched atop his shoulders, and sat on their usual spot.

"Whose crazy idea was it to have Odette sat on your shoulders?" Asked Angelina, picking a sausage up with her fork. Odette noticed Fred staring at her as she moved the food to her mouth and sat next to him with a silent smirk.
None of the two answered, until George started playfully complaining about a back ache. She hit his back out of spite, and then beamed despite his complains as she saw Harry walk in, flunked by Hermione and Ron.
"It's like mom blessed you with the gift of survival." She said as she examined his now burn-free arm.
He laughed and said, "She fixed me up just before flying class, in which I had another small accident," Odette's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't hurt, but now I'm in the quidditch team."

She spat her water out. "What?" She said in the tone that her friendgroup referred to as the "Molly Weasley usual".
"Yeah, Seeker too." Again, Odette was about to shout another Molly usual, but then pride took over and she embraced her brother warmly. "Although, is it true that it's a possibly deadly with a chance of disappearing game?"
"Who said-" And as Fred and George silently inched away from her, she needn't ask further. She gave the othet two a withering look, cursing at them. "And what, exactly, did they say?"
"Oh nothing just that people vanish occasionally and that no one's died in years." Fred said.

"You told my eleven year old brother that there's a chance he can vanish and/or die while playing a game on a broom?!" She was fully facing them
now.
"Well when you put it like that-" Began George.
"It doesn't seem all that funny." Finished Fred.
"Nevermind them, I don't care if I vanish or die. I just don't wanna make a fool of myself." Said Harry, who was biting his bottom lip.
"That, monkey, you won't." Odette smiled.
"And how do you know?"

All she did was grab his hand and lead him to the Gryffindor trophe shelf, atop which sat the Quidditch plaque with James Potter's name on it. Harry stared at it, fascinated.
"Did mom play Quidditch too?"
"Afraid not." Replied Odette. "However, I know dad is rolling in his grave right now, and mom's reaching over to stop him, a little smile playing on her face."
"You know so much about them, and I so little."
"When you're the firstborn of James and Lily Potter, you're bound to hear a thing or two." But it was much more than two. James and Lily had impacted many people's lives and Dette loved hearing every second of it. Especially when everyone who told her those stories knew what really had transpired on Halloween of 1981.

The next morning she woke, clothes already prepared for the first Quidditch match of the year. Gryffindor was to play against Hufflepuff, which meant she was going to be going head to head with Cedric. She quickly got ready and headed down to the Common Room, where Oliver Wood already seemed to be fuming.
"One minute longer and I would've replaced you." He said, pointing a finger in her direction.
"Point a finger toward me again and you'll need a metal one to grip your broom." She said, reaching for her own Nimbus 2000. Oliver quickly lowered his finger, beginning a stride.
"And to think I'm the captain and should be listened to."
"You've made us wake up at five in the morning, we have every right to be grumpy." Said Angelina, falling in line next to Odette.

"She's always grumpy." Oliver shot a look.
"I'm about to get a whole lot grumpier if you don't shut your mouth." Odette smiled venom. She knew Oliver was only acting like this because he was stressed over the game, but to be fair she enjoyed riling him up.
"Must you always be so mean?" Harry caught up to her.
"Yes." Was all she answered. He did not know how hard it had been for people to not see her as a victim, but as a survivor. She had faced Voldemort and survived. She was Odette Potter for Godric's sake.
Harry understood, and asked nothing else as they went to their training corner in the yard. Oliver had reserved the place for the team.

"We'll play in teams of three, and someone will play referee." Said Oliver, "Then they'll swap with someone else."
"I'll be referee." Odette said, "Harry needs the training. Let him play first."
Everyone split in two teams, and Odette sat on the grass.
"Don't play by favoritism." Oliver warned before she hit the whistle and announced the start of the game. Just out of spite, Odette decided she would; at least when commentating.

"With a painful and embarrassing start from Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson scores!" She cheered, flipping the score board. Oliver sneered at her. "Come on, Wood. You know you're good. Stop stressing."
He only rolled his eyes. Odette smirked and watched as they all restarted playing. Fred hit a bludger out of Alicia's way, and she nearly scored on Harry, who was not the best keeper, but he'd do. There was no snitch, since they did not have enough players to include one, so Odette rolled the golden thing in her hand, watching it as it flew around her and found its way back to her fingers.
"Amazing save from Harry!" She only said that because he was not on Oliver's team. Angelina, George and Harry had teamed against Fred, Oliver and Alicia. Fred winked at her, letting her know that he enjoyed how riled up Oliver had gotten.
After a while, Angelina's team won, and Odette cheered as she met her best friend halfway through the field.
"Your turn, asshole." Said Oliver, who was one of the best keepers that Gryffindor had ever housed. Odette was determined to make his life hell.
"Game on, dickhead." She smirked, perching herself on her broom. "Harry, watch over the scores. Fred, George, you're with me."

She'd only done it because Alicia and Angelina were both chasers, which would have given her an obvious advantage. Fred played keeper since he was faster on his broom and George was fairly stronger and somehow managed to always keep Odette from getting hurt. Angelina smirked in front of her, and caught the quaffle once it was thrown, dashing out of Odette's way. The girl only huffed out a laugh before following after her, shouting an apology before knocking Angelina backwards on her broom. She scored, getting past Oliver's defenses using a trick she called right and dodge.
Again, she scored, tiring herself out to near maximum before Oliver announced the game over, patting her in the back. "Go rest, you did amazing. We need you to do just as well in the actual game."
"Hufflepuff has got nothing on me, Wood."
"Believe me, I know." He was panting out of sheer exhaustion and packed up their equipment, giving them two free hours until the game.
Harry ran to Odette. "You were incredible." He said, keeping up with her strut.
"I try."
"It looked effortless."
"You compliment me too much, Potter. Go sleep." Harry just laughed as he ran back into the castle.

Two hours later, Odette found her way in the Quidditch pitch, face to face with Cedric as she tried quite awfully hard to score the winning goal, which by sheer dumb luck she did. She won the first Quidditch game of the year, and slowly let herself fall with her broom, letting all of her friends embrace her one by one as they cheered their victory.
Once back in the common room, the team assembled around the main table to cheer, all still in their uniforms. Odette could not help but notice the way the light shone in George's eyes, and how his heavy breathing made his already muscled chest look a thousand times better. No, something was definitely wrong with her.
"I see you staring." Lee nudged her arm, raising his eyebrows twice.
"Just checking to see if anyone needs water, that's all." She took a sip out of her own goblet.
"Sure. You can tell me lies only when I believe them, Odette." And her friend stalked off, leaving her to wonder what that meant, because she was not at all interested in George. She looked at him one more time and their eyes met in some sort of understanding she had yet to achieve with anyone else.