Always There For You (Harry Potter OC X OC)

31. Weakness-

Leaves scattered under the trees. Green changed into redish brown. Air was as thin and piercing as a blade. Drinking hot cocoa would be nice in the afternoon, wearing thick sweater and scarf, and reading a good book by a thick window sill in a dormroom.

At the pitch, there wasn't any time to relax like so. Joel rode a broomstick. He relished all on his might, trying to avoid the bludgers. Teammates surrounded him, throwing back the bludgers. While he had a bat, hitting the bludgers away, yet it kept coming back by the wish of his own teammates' throwback. Until, he was hit on the shoulder, after 30 minutes of surviving. He slipped off from his broom, but quickly got back on.

Cup blew the whistle to stop. The bludgers were caught and everyone's attention was on him. 'Need more improvement, but not bad. You're quick, Lisbon. But I need your endurance. Terry can do about 45. Gobb can do an hour. The rest of us can do three. You need more to get in on it, yeah?'

'Alright,' Joel said.

Cup smirked. 'Now that the warm up's over, let's practice play.'

Joel was on a team of four with Terry, playing against the other team, excluding seeker role. Joel got beater with Terry. They had to finish 50 points goal on quaffle goals. Honestly, he was doing well until he noticed all the spectators at the bleachers. His eyes widened, really, unsuspecting to see her here, without his own invitation. Lizzy was there with her friends.

Crash! Joel flew straight at Gobb.

'Ow! Joel!' Gobb shouted.

Cup noticed that too. 'Lisbon! Focus!'

'Sorry!'

'Don't apologise! Get in the game!' Cup yelled.

Joel bit his tongue from saying a second apology. He swerved away to get into position. A bludger went straight at him. He hit it away to a random opponent. One opponent was chasing his teammate who carried a quaffle. Joel had to defend left, while Terry defended right.

He saw Lizzy again in such a view. The Hufflepuff second year sat there on a bleacher with her friends, having steamed peanuts and hot cocoa, watching him like a Sunday picnic.

A bludger flew right past his head, almost grazing his skin. And it hit a chaser teammate in the shoulder and the quaffle fell. The opponent team stole the quaffle.

'Joel! It was on your side!' Terry yelled.

Joel was guilty, seeing his teammates glare incessantly that he wasn't focusing on something that was preventable. He made mistakes again and again, everytime Lizzy was seeable, his hands were clammy and his breath shortened; frustrated, on the entire game. It ended in a bad score of 50 : 8.

'Well done! We'll practice again next week!' Cup said. He flew over to Joel and spoke to him directly. 'Tomorrow afternoon. Guerilla training. No excuses,' he spoke coldly.

Joel was not looking forward to what he had to endure tomorrow.

Cup flew away. 'Joel! Terry! Clean up!'

Joel's body ached. His butt burned for sitting on the broom too long, even though the brooms had cushion charm. He then flew down to land by a bench. He gathered all of the broomsticks, while Terry was there, locking the bludgers and quaffle in a lugage case.

'What's got into you, you've been doing great. But today you keep sabotaging yourself,' Terry said.

'Sorry... Distracted,' Joel said.

'By what?'

Joel couldn't answer that. He got his wand out and casted a spell on all of the broomsticks to hover above and follow him to the shack.

Terry had put the quaffle in it and went over with the locked case to the shack as well. 'Whatever you're distracted with, you have to sort it out... Don't keep playing this bad, Cup will kick you out. He will. I don't want that, cause it's embarassing for me too.'

'I know, I know, Terry.'

By dinner time, Joel went over to talk to Lizzy. And of course Toby was sitting right next to her. 'Can you do me a favour?'

'Okay?'

'Come to my practice, will you? Like always.'

'Huh? Well, of course I'd like to support you, if you need me there, then I will.'

She was his distraction, but he wanted her there. The thing was, Joel wanted her there to numb himself from the nervousness of seeing her there; to feel nothing until he could ignore her presence entirely during all games. So that was what he did. That was his training that he needed, to see himself fail and get yelled at by Cup, while Lizzy watched it happening.

The days she was there to support him, the better it was for him to get used to ignoring her. Quite a masochistic approach, but staying in quidditch was more important.

'...You were brilliant when that bludger almost hit you from behind!' Terry said when he carried the case luggage back in the shack. 'So you've sort your distraction?'

'Yeah!' Joel said.

'Hmmm... You know, your mate Lizzy... She's always hanging around our practice, yeah... She's a good mate, but why does it feel awkward to me? She's always shouting praises at you and you're just there smiling and waving.'

Joel frowned. 'Yeah, well it's good that she's there to cheer on the Ravenclaws, even if she's a Hufflepuff,' Joel said, putting the broomsticks neatly.

'Is she... I don't know, Is she your distraction? She is, isn't she?'

Joel glanced at Terry in surprise.

Terry nodded. 'I thought so. So, you do like her. So all this time you said--'

Joel was utterly displeased. 'I don't know what you're talking about, Terry.' He finished up quickly and got out from the shack and locked it with a spell.

'She's dating Toby Turner, right?'

'Yeah.'

Terry followed him out of the pitch to the castle. 'That's rough, mate.'

'Terry,' Joel spoke in a groan.

'I don't really care, but as long as it helps you concentrate on the game, do what you have to do.'

'Yeah, that's what I'm doing for the game.' Really...