Her Tulip Heart | R.J. Lupin

Chapter 23

'— and Chang catches the Snitch—signalling Ravenclaw has won, 370-20!' Lee Jordan's amplified voice yelled from the commentary box over the loud screams of supporters.

As soon as she heard Madam Hooch's whistle blow, Alethea forced her Nimbus 2001 to halt in its place above the centre of the pitch. Quaffle still in hand, she descended to the green ground of the pitch, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as her feet touched solid ground again. Don't get her wrong, she loved flying a lot, but sometimes it's good to know that you won't fall from so high up.

Before she could really process Ravenclaw's win, a sea of blue and bronze swarmed her in her place in the middle of the field. Looking around as she was being pat on the back and praised, she saw the entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team caging her in. It seemed that fellow Ravenclaws were flooding their way down onto the pitch too, as more people joined their huddle.

'Way to go Grindle!' Cheered Jeremy Stretton one of her fellow Chasers, patting her shoulder before walking over to his friends.

'Guess all that training paid off!' Grant Page their Keeper whistled as he approached Alethea. 'But my complaining was completely valid!' He added on cheekily as he went past her and further into the crowd.

'You guys flattened Hufflepuff!' Someone voiced from directly beside her. Turning in surprise, she beamed when she realised it was Adelyn who had spoken, with Estella coming to stand at Alethea's other side.

'Didn't doubt you for a minute!—okay maybe a second or two at the start...but-'

'ELLA!' Adelyn scolded loudly, causing students surrounding them to turn and look at them. Alethea looked down at her boots out of embarrassment.

'Right yeah...ha..great job Thea!' Estella chuckled out. Alethea shook her head amused at her friend's not very believable response.

Putting her arms around her friends' shoulders, Alethea steered them in the direction of the back pathway to the changing rooms, to get away from all of the people.

'Thanks for all of the support guys,' She started as the three walked slowly. 'I don't think I would've played so well if you hadn't encouraged me this morning.' Alethea told them honestly, she was thankful they'd convinced her to play at breakfast. Estella playfully waved her hand bashfully and acted as if it was nothing.

Adelyn reached past behind Alethea's back and slapped Estella upside the head roughly. Resulting in a very prominent "smack" sound and a yelp from Estella. Alethea chuckled at the two, but swiftly ducked when Estella went to hit her head and instead accidentally slapped Adelyn on the cheek.

'Ella!' Adelyn gasped in shock, whilst Alethea had to cover her mouth with her hand, to force herself not to laugh. Not wanting to be in the middle of their fight, Alethea slowly walked ahead of them, so she could walk backwards and watch them.

Wearing a look of disbelief, Estella looked between Alethea and Adelyn. 'I was trying to hit Thea, I swear!' She put her hands up in defence.

'Yeah well you missed.' Adelyn deadpanned.

'I didn't mean to! If anything it's Thea's fault for moving so you'd get hit!' Estella defended herself, pointing a finger at Alethea who was watching and listening to them from up ahead. Her face contorted into one of surprise when Estella started walking toward her.

'Woah what?—don't bring me into this!' Alethea laughed nervously, walking backwards even faster now, nearly tripping on her broom as both Estella and Adelyn advanced on her. The two girls shared a look and with a nod of Adelyn's head, they started sprinting at Alethea.

Obviously not expecting them to start running at her, she took a second to process what was happening, before she too, was running. She ran quickly, hoping to get away from her friends, which proved difficult as they were gaining on her. After releasing a groan, she urged her legs to go push harder. Looking in front of her, Alethea could see the change rooms not too far ahead. So, she took the risk and glanced over her shoulder to see where her friends were. Both Estella and Adelyn were now metres behind her.