Lockers Full of Thorns

Chapter Five: Blood on the Pitch

The sun was sweltering, the day was dragging on, and Ginny Weasley was about to play her first lacrosse game of the season.

Coach McGonagall, a militaristic matriarch supposedly hired from the old Scottish Women's National Team, barked orders at her team of six, strutting between them in her basketball shorts. "Abbott, tie your hair back! Greengrass, gentle with the stick! Weasley, tie your shoe!"

Ginny bent down to do just that, her hand sliding down the sleek lacrosse pole. Women's lacrosse, behind football, was the second best funded sport at Goswarth, and as such their team was very good. Luke MalFois, the school's biggest donor, supposedly funded it because it was his wife's favorite game, but everyone knew it was because Draco's girlfriend, Pansy, was on the team.

Except now she'd broken up with him and quit the team, forcing them to play with their alternate: Luna Lovegood. Never mind two left feet, Luna had three left feet and a right one, plus a severed foot she'd bought in an alley. For this reason, they'd stuck her in the right midfield, a universally reviled position.

Anyway, with Pansy gone, it was clear to Ginny that she had to win this season, even though she was only in her sophomore year - if the funding dried up next season, then they'd be crushed by the richer schools like Strang Preparatory. Her dream school, UNC-Raleigh, didn't accept losers.

She dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups. These days, it was all about the grind. She had to keep herself moving, sweating, not thinking about Harry.

Though there had always been something between the two, Ginny had only been dating Harry for two weeks. So far, it wasn't everything she'd imagined. Sure, he was ruggedly handsome, and sure, he could sing like a buff, toned angel, but when they kissed it was like his mind was somewhere else. Where, she couldn't imagine. He was so interesting and mysterious, it kind of made sense that he'd have bigger matters than a small-town farm girl. But that didn't make the hurt any less.

To be fair, Ginny had been distracted as of late too. She was ready for this game, readier than she'd ever been. Ever since Beau Battens' School for Girls had trounced them at Divisions last year, she'd been unable to get those powder-blue jerseys out of her memory. The smell of cleat-smashed grass and Gillette Venus deodorant still brought her back to that fateful day. Beau Battens' had denied them a ticket to State, and she'd be damned if that would happen again.

Although this was technically the first game of the Divisions, it mattered the most. She was fairly sure Goswarth's team would flatten the other Divisions schools, even with Pansy gone. But whoever lost this game had effectively lost the whole group to the other school.

"You okay, Ginny?" said Padma Patil, dropping into a plank next to her. "You look strung out."

"Afraid I am," said Ginny. "I hate balancing this and Partial Tongue."

"Don't worry, just get angry. It fuels your performance. I believe in you," offered Padma, before bouncing back to her feet and rejoining the other girls - Hannah, Daphne, Luna, and Lavender Brown. Lavender was Ron's girlfriend, and Ginny had mixed feelings about her. The girl was way too into writing werewolf fanfiction for her taste. But she had a killer lacrosse technique, so she was a team mainstay, and Ginny respected her for that.

"Alright gang, here they come!" Hannah yelped, pointing across the field. Seven girls in powder-blue jerseys, plus their absurdly tall coach, were strutting onto the field.

Ginny sized up the team: a pair of burly twins she remembered as being incredibly fast on their feet last year, their waif-like but surprisingly flexible keeper, whose name was Arielle or something like that, a thin girl carrying extra equipment whom she assumed to be the alternate, and Laura vanZandt, their surprisingly useful right midfielder. Laura had almost taken out Ginny's tooth last year, but didn't get penalized. Lacrosse games at Goswarth tended to get nasty, because the divisions referee, Arbiter Hooch, was well known for hitting the bottle.