one sickle ~ f.w.

chapter 33

Fred's POV

A study of defensive strategies in quidditch.
The book's been sitting on my bedside table ever since Y/N gave it to me.
For some reason, I can't bring myself to open it.
I think it's because, you know, I got her a goddamn promise ring and all she could think to get me was a book.
I mean, sure, it might help somewhat with my quidditch. I guess we know who to thank if we win our next match.
Maybe I went too over the top. What if I freaked her out and did too much?
No, I'm just being silly.
Trying to brush aside these thoughts, I pick the book up from the table. It's surprising how much dust can gather in just a week. I blow it off but quickly begin spluttering at the cloud of dust that rises.
The cover is a worn-out crimson colour with gold detailing around the edges. A picture of a bludger and two bats are displayed in the middle.
I might as well read it. It's better than having it just lay around. Besides, maybe I'll learn something.

Walking into the common room, I find it fairly empty so I don't find it hard to get a seat. I lean right back into the armchair, resting my feet up on the coffee table and take in the warmth radiating from the fireplace. Finally opening up the book, my eyes scan the first page. Just an introduction.
I turn the page. Into chapter 1. And another page.
With every hour that passes, another chapter has gone by. Before I know it, I'm closing the book, showing me the back cover isn't much different from the front.
I decide to grab a discarded quill from the table and underline or circle a few interesting things I want to remember. I'll go over them before my next match. Scribbling quickly, my annotations become illiterate scrawls. The deep black ink staining my hands and smudging at some points across the pages.

'You alright, Freddie?'

I look up and look at Y/N's bemused face.

'Yeah, yeah, just writing.' I reply, putting the quill down. Y/N sits down, mindlessly playing with a ring on her fingers. My ring. The promise ring.

'So the books helpful then?'

'Sorry?'

'The book. That's the one I gave you, no?' She asks, looking right at me.

'Oh right, right. No, yeah, it is quite helpful actually. Thank you.'
I'm not really sure why this is awkward or why my palms are so sweaty.

'Great! I'm glad.' She smiles widely. 'You're sure you're alright, yeah? Something seems off.'

'No, no, fine. Just nervous about the match coming up.'

'You'll do great, Freddie. You always do.'

***

The moon is so bright tonight that you can see the shape through the curtains. I've always liked the moon. My dad always used to say that you never know who else is looking at the moon at the same time as you.
It sounds poetical and kinda cool.

I get up from under the covers, stepping into the crisp air. I've been struggling to sleep. My mind's racing.
I curl up on the window sill and stare up at the moon. It's a full moon tonight. Makes me wonder who else is watching the moon right now.

Hearing the ticking of my small clock, I notice that it's well after midnight. I could try and sneak out for food but it's very likely I would get caught and I don't know if I have the energy. Quickly giving up on the idea, I climb under my warm duvet and try to drift off.

***

My eyes open slowly to the sounds of the birds outside. It's barely light, must be early. I peer over to see George snoring and my clock saying 4:34 am. God, can I not catch a break? I can't even get more than 3 hours of sleep.
I decide to not try to rest but instead just stay up. Maybe just lie here. Do nothing. I could go over the book again. Remember the tactics for today.

Time goes by quick when you're not looking. It's 7am so I step carefully over to George's bed.

'George, George!' I whisper loudly, shaking him awake.

'Hmm...what?' He says, sounding groggy. 'I was sleeping.'

'Yeah, well now you're not, come on. We have the match today.'

We get dressed into our quidditch uniform, sporting the crimson and gold of our house. As we finish up getting ready,  Lee's knocking on our door. 

'You alright?' I ask. 

'Yeah,' He sits on my bed and starts fiddling with all my stuff. 

'Oi, hands-off.' I laugh, attempting to pull the book out of his hands. He pulls it back and tries to read a couple of pages. 

'Whoa, annotations! Look at you, being all smart.' 

'Ugh, whatever.' I sigh, giving up and letting him snatch the book. 'We're gonna be late.'

The great hall is bustling like usual but we take a seat at the Gryffindor table. As we walk down the aisle between the oak tables, we hear snippets of nearby conversations talking about the match. People betting on who will win or talking about specific players on either team. I even heard someone mention me and George as, 'the ginger beaters.' 

We sit down and immediately grab some food before we're rushed down to the quidditch pitch. I still haven't seen Y/N yet though. Maybe I'll spot her in the crowd. 

We're forced to listen to Oliver attempt to 'calm our nerves' as this is a 'very big game' when really all he's doing is making himself more nervous. 

'Oliver, take a deep breath.' I say, putting my hand on his shoulder. I turn him around and push him out the tent curtains out onto the pitch, just as Madam Hooch blows her whistle. 

'You know the rules by now, don't make me remind you of them.' She says, signalling for us to lift off. 

We ascend into the air, all waiting for Hooch to release the snitch. 

'And...play.' She blows her whistle.

Everyone immediately starts flying around. Harry starts looking around for the snitch. I'm holding my bat and I'm flying next to George. Constantly, looking out for the bludger.
I mainly bat it away from Harry. I promised him I would try and keep the bludger away from him.
Angelina scores us a couple of goals making the crowd cheer.
I watch as Oliver keeps guard of our hoops. I swerve round in Harry's direction and hit the bludger as hard as I can, sending it flying over the opposite side of the field near some Slytherin players.
The match goes by quite quickly and we're not doing too well.
Slytherin is good. And with Snape refereeing, he's a little biased.
Too focused on hitting the bludger away from my team, I haven't really been looking at Slytherin's seeker. Snape blows the whistle, signalling the match is over and Slytherin won. None of us even saw them catch the snitch.
That was dismal.

God, we played terribly. I can't believe we lost that. 

George and I sulk back to the common room to find Y/N sitting on the sofa staring into the fire.  Completely zoned out. 
I wonder where she's been all morning.

'Uh...hey, Y/N?'

'Oh, hey.' She doesn't look at me. She's fixated on the flames as if she can see her future in them. I sit next to her and try to get her full attention.

'What's wrong?' 

She doesn't say anything for a bit and then blurts out, 'I know that you made a bet on asking me out.' 

a/n 

hey guys
ok im gonna sound like every other wattpad writer who takes a really long break saying this but sorry i have not updated for so long but hey heres another chapter out of the blue.
school started up again and just ugh so much but here you go, hope you like it :)

hope you're all doing well and staying safe 

if you are struggling or want to talk to someone, feel free to message my personal acc iamadin0saur 

have a nice day or night

jess :)