Reality Bites Harry Potter

Patience is a virtue

I didn't think it was possible for things to get any worse between me and Fred. I'd royally messed up in January, tried to fix things and only made it worse in February. I was determined not to screw anything up in March. Things were finally starting to feel almost normal, we were back to joking and even maybe flirting a bit. Then I heard the worst news possible. Our March match was against Gryffindor. I'd been practicing super hard and was fairly sure my skills were up to par, especially seeing as the Gryffindor Seeker was also a first year. I had no doubt we could win and that was the problem. Quidditch was everything to Fred. I couldn't humiliate him by destroying him on the field. But I also couldn't purposely throw the game, not only was it unfair my team would probably kill me. I also knew that he would hate me if I purposely lost just to make him happy. So it was decided: I had to do my best and face the consequences later if he got upset. The day of the match arrived and I went down to breakfast with my hair already in a ponytail. "You ready to lose today, Harper?" Fred teases and I smirk at him. "I think you're a bit confused. I'm not about to lose to you" I say and flip my hair as I walk away. "Looks like you two have fixed your issues" Draco says and I roll my eyes. "It's not exactly fixed, more put on hold because quidditch always come first" I say and he rolls his eyes. "Jocks, I swear" he mumbles. I smile at him. "You know you love me" I tease and he nods. This was another new thing  I was still adjusting to. It seemed Draco knew a thing or two about unrequited crushes and the inability to ever say the right things. It made for a pretty quick and lasting friendship. I eat quick and then go to find my girls, needing a bit of a pep talk before I went to the field. "You should have seen him once you left. He thought he'd actually upset you" Susan mumbles and I laugh. "I told him you were fine, that you had been blowing us all off lately to hang with Malfoy but he didn't believe me" Hannah says, shrugging. "I'll talk to him after the match. I have to focus now" I say and they all nod. They hug me, reassuring me I'm gonna do great before sending me onto the pitch. I meet up with my team and Herbert runs us through our game plan. I had some faith in our chasers but I knew that honestly the game came down to me. We'd all been super stressed and I knew exam prep had gotten to them. As a first year, my exam prep was difficult but not nearly as time consuming. We get on our brooms and immediately Applebee has the Quaffle. I smile, watching her zoom across the field and almost make it before a bludger bumps her arm and she drops it. The game goes on much like this for what seems like forever, neither team really having a good chance to score. Fred keeps making faces at me from across the field and I can't help but laugh every time I see him. I'm laughing when I suddenly see a flash of gold. I follow it with my eyes for a few seconds before diving for it, right before Harry spots it. It becomes a game of who's broom goes the fastest, who's skills are really the finest. I catch it seconds before Harry makes a grab for it. I hear lots of cheering as I land and the game is announced over. Hufflepuff wins and I'm filled with pride. "Guess you were right" Fred teases me and I giggle. "Never doubt me, Fred. I always tell the truth" I tease before running off to catch up with my team to celebrate. We have a party in the commons and nobody comments on how many people I've snuck in from other houses, simply because I refuse to leave my friends out. It's all fun but soon enough the party ends and everyone heads to bed to prepare for another day full of studying and practice tests. I, however, have something much more serious going on in my brain. I still really liked Fred and now that I knew he liked me too I really wanted to tell him the truth. I decide to write him a letter, knowing I would never have the courage to say it myself. I start on it but ultimately I decide to spend a couple of weeks perfecting it. Between classes and keeping up with everyone I lose track of the date but when I finally have the letter perfected I walk into the dining hall on a mission. I see him already sitting there and I set the letter in front of him, smiling shyly. "I've been trying to find the right way to say things since January and honestly I think a letter works better because we both know my bad tendency of freezing up" I say softly. He opens the letter and reads it before forcing a smile. "This is amazing. If it wasn't April's Fool's Day I'd almost believe this was real" he says. My eyes get big and I groan. "Is it really?! God, I'm such an idiot!" I yell, running away. I hear footsteps behind me and I turn around to see George following me. "Punk, I adore you. I already see you as a little sister so I say this with the utmost respect. Stop trying so hard. My brother is an idiot and he needs some time so please just trust me and stop trying to make some stupid plan or elaborate way to tell him and just wait until this summer. You and Pyper can come stay with us and it'll be a lot easier to talk things out when he doesn't feel cornered by stupid kids that make fun of us all the time" he says. I nod, frowning. "I figured you two would be fairly popular" I mumble and he scoffs. "We put up a good act" he mumbles and I nod. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make things worse" I mumble and he smiles softly. "You're ok. I know you didn't mean it" he says. I hug him before rushing off to my dorms. I was going to make those boys popular if it's the last thing I do.