freya mckinnon may share the same face as her aunt marlene, but she was more than just the niece of a war heroine, though no one seemed to see that. no one but george weasley, her rival on the quidditch pitch who quickly became so much more.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN: POKING AT BRUISES
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RAGE WAS A HOLLOW but agonising sensation. In the moment, it felt good to release it, to feel the break of bone beneath one’s hand, the beginnings of bruises forming on fragile skin, the moment where the scale tipped and control was nothing but a mere afterthought. But the seconds after, the call for realisation, the moment one’s head breached the water and air replaced anger, every bit of justification was lost in the wind. If rage was a hollow but agonising feeling, remorse was twice as strong.
“Banned,” Angelina Johnson echoed into the Gryffindor Common Room. After the events of the Quidditch game, Freya and Solana had followed their friends up to the Gryffindor tower, not wanting to part from Fred just yet. They waited for what felt like forever as Harry and George faced penance and punishment, pondering what decision would be made for the boys. Whatever ideas they had, though, they never considered something like this. “Banned. No seeker and no beaters… what on earth are we going to do?”
“It’s just so unfair,” Alicia huffed from beside her. The whole team was angry, yet incredibly defeated. They knew there was nothing they could do against Umbridge. Their win might as well have been a loss. “I mean, what about Crabbe and the bludger he hit after the whistle had been blown? Has she banned him?”
The question was ludicrous, laughable had the mood not been so morose. There was no way in Merlin’s name that Umbridge had punished the Slytherins. She wanted to hit Harry where it hurt, taking the Weasley twins down along with him. The Slytherins were nowhere on her radar of concern.
“No,” Ginny confirmed with a miserable sigh. “He just got lines. I heard Montague laughing about it at dinner.”
“And yet she banned Fred when he didn’t do anything wrong?” Solana grumbled, her hand gripping the boy in question’s. It was his turn to hold her down. If she had her way, she would march to Umbridge’s office and burn the whole place to smithereens. “I swear, if Montague tries to laugh around me, I’ll shove his stupid Slytherin tie down his throat.”
“It’s not my fault I didn’t,” Fred huffed, a flicker of a smile forming at Solana’s threat but it faded just as quick as it came.“I would’ve pounded the little scumbag to a pulp if you four hadn’t been holding me back.”
Freya wanted to argue that it was good he didn’t, but knew he wouldn’t see reason. He was punished either way, right? Why not make the most of it?
Resigned, Angelina slowly got to her feet, antsy to leave the room. “I’m going to bed,” she declared to the group of mourners. “Maybe this will all turn out to have been a bad dream… Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and find we haven’t played yet…”
