Sore Loser

Poor Judgment

  The moment you wake up, you can hear the birds chirping and the sun shines through the dorm room window. According to most storybooks and fairytales, any day that could be described as such upon waking up is stereotypically good. Maybe that's a sign as to how your date will go today with Mr. Roger Davies.

You rise from your bed, for once awake before any of the other Ravenclaw girls are. Quickly putting together your Hogwarts ensemble of clothes, you start down the stairs to the common room, surprisingly empty. The Ravenclaw common room usually has someone present in the wee hours of the morning. Some of the students study until they fall asleep there, and others get up early to do their homework.

You step out into the corridor, taking in the smell of books and gunpowder. Yes, that's right gunpowder. Between Seamus Finnigan and the twins, plus some accidental explosions from spells gone wrong, there's always the subtle scent of gunpowder in the air. It's about twenty minutes before breakfast, but you know that you'll be able to find something down there in the Great Hall anyway.

Sleepy students stumble by you, some from every house. You can tell that most of the Slytherins up at this time are too tired to snarl at you. The Hufflepuffs that are awake are in groups while the Gryffindors are running, stumbling on their own sleeping feet. Sometimes, those Gryffindors seem like they've forgotten something.

You don't know why, but it always seems awkward to walk by someone in a hallway when no one else is in it. However, halfway down to the Hall, a familiar face tags along with you, one of your favorite Gryffindors.

"Hey, (Y/N/N)." He says, yawning. You're glad that he's about the same height as you, unlike many of the tall Gryffindors.

"Aye, Jordan." You say softly, calling him by his last name.

"I have a question." Lee asks, shoving his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Okay, go ahead."

"Want to hang out? Today, preferably?" What is he talking about? You two have never hung out before, besides when you're with the twins, of course.

"Umm... Sorry, I already have previously made commitments." You give a nervous chuckle, and to your surprise, he laughs.

"Well, it was worth a try." Lee grins, not seemingly the least bit nervous.

"What are you talking about?" You ask, confused. You've been feeling this emotion a lot lately. You keep walking with him, and he avoids your question, or maybe he didn't even register in his mind. You stop and he stops only a couple steps later, realizing.

"What do you mean, what am I talking about?" So he was paying attention.

"Like, you aren't nervous at all." You explain your question.

"Is it not okay to ask you, as a friend, to hang out?" He says mockingly, the situation starting to get awkward.

"Don't you think it's a bit weird that I have a date today and you ask to hang out, today out of all days?" You reply with another question, and he sighs.

"Okay, warmer, (Y/N). Come on, let's be honest, I'm so much cooler than big-headed Davies. I should know, I've commented on his quidditch skills. I get much more applause from the stands than he does, and I'm not even playing." Lee smiles.

"They told you, didn't they?" You roll your eyes, crossing your arms as you finally continue walking in disbelief.

"Who is 'They'?" You guess that he is deciding to play dumb, obviously just making fun.

"Those red-headed, pranking, beater, Gryffindor pair of twins. The ones you always hang out with." You grin.

"Nope, don't know you are talking about. You must be confusing me with someone else." You finally both make it to the Great Hall, but instead of sitting down at your "native" table, you go to Lee's table. You two discuss more on the whole Roger-Davies-thing.

"So seriously, Fred and George put you up to this, right? And how did you know I would be up this early?" You ask, still not exactly sure what was going on.

"Nope. They just wouldn't stop ranting about you going out with Roger and-"

"I am not going out with him! It's just hanging out, that's all." You cut him of.

"That's not what they made it sound like. Anyway, they think you belong with someone less... Arrogant." You scoff.

"So that leaves out all of Gryffindor and Slytherin, and a few Ravenclaws... So I have very limited options here."

"Hey!" Lee interjects, "Not all Gryffindors are like that!" He defends his house, poking you in the shoulder.

"I can name at least..." You start to count on your fingers to exaggerate. "four Weasley boys right now, you, Oliver Wood used to go here..." You keep naming Gryffindors whom you know to have been at least a bit confident. As long as you're arguing your case, you're winning. And you love winning. "You never answered my second question though. How did you know I would be awake?"

"Oh, I hadn't the faintest clue, I just thought waking up early would give me a better chance of finding you before you went to the Ravenclaw table. I was right, as per usual." He nods. A few people are walking into the Hall right now.

"Here, do all of us a favor and sit with us today." Lee requests, hoping you will comply.

"I don't know. Roger might think I'm avoiding him."

"Then he might finally get a clue. Why did you say yes, anyways? I thought you disliked him."

"I did. We had a bet that if he did something surprisingly sweet, I'd go on a date with him."

"That's ridiculous." He pretends not to care, but curiosity gets the best of him. "What did he do?"

"I'll tell you later." You eye the door, keen to see if someone you know walks through the door, i.e The Weasley Twins, Roger, Cho, or Marietta.

"So, will you sit with us, then?" Lee asks again, eyeing you questioningly.

"All right, might as well. Ravenclaws are overrated anyway." You smile and look at your table. "I'm going to go bring my plate over." You stand up and make your way quickly to the Ravenclaw section, where there are more people than any other house. The plates have surfaced, along with much of the food. You pile your plate with your average breakfast, bacon, eggs, a waffle with your favorite syrup, and a small piece of a doughnut. You hold the heavy plate with your left hand and your goblet with your write, careful that your sleeves from your robes don't intermix with the edible stuff.

It's apparent to you that the Weasley twins already are at the table with Lee. You don't know why, probably because of your crush, but you suddenly want to turn back around. Is it because Fred, George, and Lee obviously don't approve of your date today? That will make for awkward conversation.

"Aye, (Y/N)! Sit down!" You hear Roger call out from behind you.

"I can't! Lee already asked me to sit with him." You turn and see that Roger's face is a bit red, and a hint of jealousy is in his eyes.

"But he's a Gryffindor!"

"That's racist!" You joke, smiling to let him know it's okay. He sighs and nods, letting you go over to them. Once you finally sit down with Lee and the twins, you recognize that the only person who seems to have noticed is Lee.

"Umm. No 'good morning' to your favorite Ravenclaw?" You scoff, looking at Fred and George. They look up, thoroughly surprised to see you here.

"'Morning." They mumble, although they weren't totally in sync. You glance toward Lee and he shrugs.

"They were up all night planning out a new prank." He says. But how could he possibly know that? Lee obviously got to sleep early enough to wake up early and not be tired. You let it slide, knowing from past experience that that was probably exactly what the twins were doing. However, even with the reasoning to their unusually dull greeting, it's eery to see them without a peppy grin on either of their faces.

"What was the prank?" You ask, jabbing the eggs on your plate with your fork, splitting the food into two pieces. They don't register your question and you roll your eyes exasperatedly. Lee notices you getting frustrated right away and clears his throat. George looks up and then nudges Fred.

"What?" The twins say tiredly. You scooch over a bit so rather than being directly in front of George, you are across from the space in between them.

"What was the prank?" You say it condescendingly, as if you are talking to five year olds. They yawn and look at you questionably.

"What prank?" Fred asks you and jumps a bit, his hand immediately going under the table. "Oww... The hell was that for, Lee?" He groans. "Oh right, that prank." He glares at Lee and you smile.

"It hasn't been fully decided, and it's really complicated. You wouldn't get it." George comments, and now he gets kicked in the shin, but by you this time.

"Try me, I made it into Ravenclaw for a reason." You say and they yawn again. You can't take how boring they are right now. You need the real Weasleys to cheer you up right now. You take a couple moments in silence to look at your goblet. It's filled with water, your preferred drink.

"Wake up, you two." Lee chuckles, obviously not used to the twins acting like this either. Finally, you grab your wand from your pocket and mutter, "Wingardium leviosa" under your breath. The goblet soars about their heads and dumps water all over them. Both of them jump with a start, and George almost falls out of his seat.

"Bloody hell, (Y/N)?" Fred yells as George shakes his hair out like he had when he was soaked the other day. You cover your eyes as small water droplets fly into your face.

"Miss (L/N), I doubt that that is appropriate for breakfast, even if those two do deserve it. You should know better. Five points from Ravenclaw." Of course Professor Mcgonagall walks by the moment you do it. "And, correct me if I'm wrong, you should be sitting at the Ravenclaw table." She points out. Well, how are you supposed to answer to that? Oh yeah, my best friend has turned on me to my enemy. Also, Professor, I have a date with someone from Ravenclaw later who I'm not really fond of, so I don't want any awkward moments there. Plus, I am completely in love with Fred, so I thought I'd sit with him today, even though he probably won't ever like me back in a million years. As if that would work. Well, maybe it would, but you'd also be sent to counseling or something, if they even have that at Hogwarts.

Thank goodness the three you are with are versed in the arts of excuses and lying. "(Y/N) has a charms test coming up soon." Fred starts off.

"She needs help with one of the spells, but her friends aren't sure about it either." George continues.

Lee finishes it off, "Yeah, and we were helping her with it, since we are a year ahead." Mcgonagall nods, obviously not believing this right away, although it was worth a try. Fred, George, and Lee, should know better, considering who they are speaking to.

"And what spell are you referring to?" She asks sceptically. You jump to answer this question, considering this is one of the spells you coincidentally have been having trouble with.

"The Gripping Charm. I'm not really sure of the properties of the affected objects." Mcgonagall nods again, finally understanding. Quickly, she gives you a few tips to remember. Sure, Mcgonagall is strict, but definitely helpful in tough situations. She heads back to the staff table and the four of you share a collective sigh of relief before bursting out into small nervous laughs.

"That was a close one. Thanks for having my back, guys." You say graciously.

"Anytime." Lee chirps.

"What would you do without us?" George asks.

"Yeah, seriously, I think you would die if we weren't here to help you." Fred says.

"You are giving yourself way to much credit here." You roll your eyes, leaning against the table. Your little group finishes their food, and you leave to go over to Roger, who you think at least deserves a little time with you before this afternoon. At first, he questions you about what you were doing with them, not even bothering to hide his envy.

"Trust me. They're just my friends." You sigh. As if. You could say that all day, and you probably wouldn't believe it yourself, at least, about one of them.

"Right." He says, doubt decorating his tone. Yup, he doesn't believe you either. However, you don't know why he's being so annoyed about it. It's not like you two are dating. It's just one date.

You decide not to argue back, because it will only get worse. It's amazing how sometimes your judgement on when to get annoying comes at the weirdest times.

"Alright, so I'll see you at lunch." You say, after the two of you have a conversation about Quidditch. The bell has rung and so you are fully content to go back to your dorm and just read the day away. Well, you would love much more to hang out with Lee and the twins, but Roger is already suspicious enough.

You subtly wave goodbye to your Gryffindor friends, because you know that Roger is probably watching.