The Blessed One

Chapter Eighteen ~ Quidditch and the Unicorn

James has been ignoring me lately, and I don't know why. He's never been like this before. I've been trying to think what I've done wrong, but I can't think of anything. I haven't pranked him since the first morning here, and he was fine with me then! I even asked Sirius, but all I got was no eye contact, and a subject change. As Sirius is off with James, who doesn't seem to want to be anywhere near me anymore (he made Remus swap places with him in lessons), I've been hanging around with Lily and Meda a lot more now. Although, Lily hasn't been too helpful on the matter, as all she does is insult James, and, even though he's been a bit of a tosser, he's still my best friend. The twins though, have been pulling extra pranks with me. I think it's their idea of trying to take my mind off things. And it's working. Our favourite victim is a second year, name Gilderoy Lockheart. He comes from a rich pureblood family, who tend to obsess over their appearance a lot. It was hilarious when we changed his shampoo to green hair dye. Good times.
I have my first Quidditch Practice today, and I'm really excited for it! Like, 20 cups of coffee excited. I've been driving Lily round the bend all morning, so that's why as soon as she could, she dumped me with the twins, and promptly ran off. I'm going to be playing chaser today (my favourite position), so I'm going to need lots of energy, and lots of water. As I was reaching for the coffee, I was stopped by a familiar hand, "Woah! You don't need any more caffeine, Heartweather!" Came the laughing voice of Sirius.
"Black, kindly get your paw, off my arm." I growled.
"Grr... Someone's bipolar!" He held his hands up innocently, a ridiculous grin plastered on his face.
"No one gets between me and my coffee."
"Sorry, Ro, but it's my duty to keep the school safe, and if that means coming between you and your coffee, well, I'll just have to bear the consequences." He said seriously, holding his hand against the right side of his chest.
"Wrong side, love." I whispered in his ear, and grabbed the coffee when he was distracted, and started heading towards the Quidditch pitch.

As I was walking down the path that lead from the castle to the pitch, Fabian and Gideon had caught up with me.
"Nervous?" They asked in unison.
"Nope." They looked at me questionably, with a gaze that said 'yeah, and I'm Dumbledore '

"I'm terrified." My breathing hitched.

"You'll be amazing, if what James said is true, you might be half as good as us!" They joked, attempting to lighten my mood.
"James said that?" I whispered, my chest fluttering with hope.
Their expressions softened a little, "at the beginning of the year..." Fabian trailed off. I nodded. I looked back down again, studying the cobblestones we were walking along. The twins know about my little 'issue' with James, and have been great friends to me, even if they are two years older than me.
"But Sirius and Remus wished you luck!" Added Gideon, attempting to cheer me up. I nodded absentmindedly, as I thought, yet again what I had done wrong to annoy James so much. I hadn't told my parents about it, as I didn't want them to be worrying any more about me than they already are. As I am an only child, they are quite over protective of me, as are James parents of me. I have been writing to them both, and they seem to think everything is good with me, great even, so James obviously has either told them nothing in his letters, or as usual, can't be bothered to write them. I'm thinking the latter is more probable. In snapped out of my thoughts by the twins each snapping their fingers in my face, in attempt to gain my attention.
"Earth to Rose!" They shout.
"Mm hmm." I mumble, nodding my head.
"You okay?" Asks Fabian kindly.
"I'm good, Fabby." I whisper, giving them each a sideways hug, whilst he scowls at the nickname I gave him.
I breathe in deeply, taking in the view of the enormous size of the pitch.
"is it just me, or is the pitch growing bigger?" I whisper.
"Just you." They reply, each grasping one of my hands and dragging me along with them to the broom shed, where our Broom sticks are kept.
We quickly reaching for our own, we hurried back off to the pitch, where the rest of the team was arriving.
"Welcome, team!" Called the captain, Elijah Wood, as the final few team mates cam scurrying up to the assembled group, at the edge of the Quidditch pitch. "As you have probably heard, we have a new chaser, Rose Heartweather!" He gave me an encouraging smile as he gestured with the tip of his broomstick to me, whilst Fabian and Gideon each swung a protective arm over my shoulders. "She was chosen by Madame Hooch herself, and according to her, she's pretty damn fast." The team chuckled at Wood's words. Wood was a large, burly, fifth year, who has played as Gryffindor Keeper since his second year. Apparently, according to the twins, he hasn't let a Quaffle in ever.
"Today, we'll just be practicing our positions in groups, except you, Ab's, you just let the snitch out and practice catching it by yourself." He instructed. 'Ab's' or Abby as she was more commonly known as, was a tall, dark haired girl, who played the seeker position in the team. She was in her fifth year, and best friends with Wood, from what I'd gathered. I'd seen her in the common room, where she had given me a friendly smile and a wave from across the room. She seems nice, I thought.
"Chasers, you follow me, get the Quaffle and and work on scoring whilst I work on keeping. Twins -who evers who,- let out one of the Bludgers, and please don't wait to see how long it takes people to notice when it's coming towards them again!" Wood instructed exasperatedly to the twins, "just don't let it hit anyone."
"Yes, sir!" They saluted, earning a chuckle from me.
"Okay, Team!" Called Wood.
"Roar, roar, Gryffindor!" Chanted the team, whilst I was left standing silent like an idiot, as I wasn't told by a certain pair of gingers about their being a Gryffindor slogan. I turned to give them my death glare, which James always says can cause someone to spontaneously combust if they look me in the eye. They looked around, whistling 'obliviously' avoiding eye contact.
"Nutters..." I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes.
"Let's go!" Wood called, as he mounted his Broom, and flew up to the scoring hoops.