Lauren Davies and the Glydan Pipe

Fan Behavior

Students crammed into the quidditch stands the next morning, pushing them to capacity. The old, rickety structures were barely stable, and Lauren's stomach turned as she felt the wooden planks sway beneath her. The sky was a pale gray and a fresh coat of snow laid untouched on the ground. Thankfully, the biting wind from the previous day had ceased and it felt much warmer outside.

"When is it starting?" Claire asked impatiently beside her. Lauren looked down to see the short girl shivering to her left, small arms wrapped around her body. Despite both Ravenclaw and Slytherin playing in the match, Claire and Erin opted to watch the game from the Gryffindor stands.

"Soon," Lauren said simply, grabbing the binoculars hanging around her neck and pointing them towards the tunnel entrance. She spotted both teams arranging themselves into formation with the captains at the front, indicating that they were moments away from taking their positions on the field.

"Why do they make everything so dramatic?" Erin said as she rolled her eyes and poked her head out from the other side of Claire. "I hope this ends quickly. I have homework to finish."

"Why didn't you do it yesterday?" Claire asked disappointedly.

Erin shrugged."I was busy."

Claire sighed and turned her attention back to the pitch. Lauren was a bit surprised when Tess told her the two girls would be joining them. From what she understood, neither of them particularly liked quidditch. She had been wondering why they wanted to spend their Sunday morning watching it, until she remembered the Slytherin team had two people on it that Erin and Claire did like. Lauren watched as they flew onto the pitch along with the rest of the players.

A gust of wind blew her hair back as the Slytherin team made a fast, wide circle around the stands, coming so close that Lauren could practically smell their ambition. She spotted Draco easily, his bleach blonde hair was like a torch glowing in the darkness. Colin was trickier to spot, but Lauren eventually found him nestled next to the other beater. She knew from experience that Colin's bludgers were incredibly well aimed. In fact, he was probably the best player on the Slytherin team.

"I dare you to cheer for him," Lauren said to Claire once the Slytherin team started their second lap. "But you have to wait until he gets close enough to hear."

"He'll never hear me anyway," she shouted over the applause in the stands.

Lauren shrugged. "Then what do you have to lose?"

Claire bit her lip and stood still for a moment, contemplating her choices. She was running out of time. Lauren saw the green throng getting closer and closer with every second. Claire was silent, and Lauren thought she'd chickened out, but just as the team flew directly overhead, she heard Claire screech.

"Go, Colin, go!" The noise echoed and even a few Gryffindors turned to see who had cheered so loudly. Claire's face became red as people recognized her voice as the source, but broke out into a grin once Colin turned around to wave at her, a large smile plastered on his face.

"Did you see that?" she said, shaking Erin's arm excitedly. "He waved to me!"

"I'm proud of you, buddy!" Lauren clapped her on the back.

"I did see," Erin replied and laughed. Claire's excitement was contagious, and Lauren watched in exhilaration as the teams gathered into a circle in the center of the field.

She was suddenly distracted by something flying into her hair and whipped her head around to see Tess, who had made herself comfortable next to Campbell and the Weasleys. Lauren reached up to her head and dislodged a stray piece of popcorn from her tangled hair.