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iwouldlovetobreackitoyou · 25 days

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Chapter Sixteen: "Get. Lost."

It was as if the weather couldn’t get any worse. Every day seemed to drawl on longer and longer as the first Quidditch match seemed to loom over every house at Hogwarts. We found out on Tuesday that we were to verse Gryffindor in the first Quidditch match of the year due to a certain Slytherin Seeker needing more time to rest his injured arm.

Thursday evening came with a horrendous thunderstorm, but that didn’t stop the Hufflepuff team from Quidditch Practice. I could barely see through the rain while it pelted down on me as I flew through the sky on my Nimbus 2000. I was soaked to the core and freezing as I successfully caught the Quaffle heading straight for my head, even after I almost slipped off my broom in the process.

“Watch it!” I yelled over the rain as I threw the Quaffle just outside of Malcolm Preece’s reach, making him dive to catch it. I flew over to Cedric Diggory and hovered there for a moment as we watched Malcolm and Heidi Macavoy throw and catch the Quaffle.

“I see we have company.” Cedric said as he folded his arms and gestured towards the stands. My eyebrows scrunched together as my head swivelled over to where he was looking to. I first caught sight of an umbrella, and below that umbrella was none other than Fred Weasley. He sat there quietly as he watched me and Cedric hovering together.

My cheeks heated up despite the freezing weather just knowing Fred was hear alone to watch us practice. It’s not unheard of that he would come and watch me practice, but he would usually be accompanied with either his brothers or even Lee Jordan for that matter.

“What? Are you shy now?” Cedric teased beside me which earned him an elbow to his ribs that he laughed off.

“All right!” Cedric called over the downpour and everyone turned their attention to our Captain. “We’re gonna practice how far we can throw and catch the Quaffle.”

“How far?” Heidi asked as she flew up to us.

“Aim for the Goal Posts.” Cedric said as Heidi passed him the Quaffle. We all flew to the Goal posts in the pitch and allowed Malcolm to be the first team member to practice his throwing and catching skills. The more we stayed out here, the colder it got. At least when we were watching Malcolm and Heidi throw the Quaffle between each other the rain started to let up a little.

It was soon Cedric and I’s turn to throw the Quaffle and I volunteered to be the first one at the goal Posts. The rain started to become heavier as I waited for Cedric to throw the Quaffle. I could barely see through my goggles that were meant to help me see through the rain.

I allowed my hearing and sharp eyes to seek out the Quaffle heading straight towards me, successfully catching each time before Cedric called for us again instructing us that each of us will throw the Quaffle and chase after it and catch it. I watched as Malcolm, Heidi and Cedric all took turns before it was my turn to fly and catch the Quaffle.

“You ready, Azurielle?” Heidi asked as she bounced the Quaffle in her hand.

“Born ready.” I said with determination, and with that, Heidi threw the Quaffle and I was racing after it. The Quaffle was getting too far away, getting closer and closer to the edge of the pitch where Fred was sitting. I could hear the rain splatter against the Quaffle as I continued to fly after it. I was nearing the stands now and I still haven’t caught the Quaffle, but I knew I would catch it by the time I reached Fred, it would just be a very close call.

The air was whipping dangerously cold against my cheeks, but I didn’t care as my ears picked up where the Quaffle was. Before I knew it my eyes were now tracking the Quaffle as I pushed my broom beneath my feet and drifted above the stands. As my broom swung around I raised my hands high above my head and caught the Quaffle.

“Yeah, Azure!” I heard behind me. I whipped my head around and saw Fred’s over exaggerated cheering. This brought a wide a toothy smile from me as I looked at Fred through my goggles. I giggled at him as I was basically standing upright, along with my broom. Fred gave me a wink and I couldn’t tell if my cheeks were burning from the wind and rain or from his wink.

“Fancy meeting you here!” Fred said over the rain. I swayed on my broom and looked back over at him in surprise, then I couldn’t control the wide smile that spread across my face.

“Fancy indeed!” I said to him before turning back to the pitch, Quaffle in hand. I pushed my broom back down and headed back to the team to continue practicing.

It was a lot warmer in the Hufflepuff Changing rooms, especially after swapping my soaked Quidditch robes for a much warmer jumper and dry socks. As I was pulling my trench coat over my shoulders Fred appeared in the doorway to the changerooms, shaking the water droplets off his umbrella.

“Hey, Fred.” I greeted as he walked over.

“Hello, Azure.” Fred said as he leaned against the locker next to me. We stayed silent for a while as I put my Quidditch robes into my locker.

“Why isn’t George with you?” I asked through a smile. “Afraid to get wet?” I teased and Fred chuckled softly.

“Jee I hope not if the weather’s like this on Saturday.” Fred said and we made our way to the changeroom entrance.

“Merlin, it will definitely be a spectacle,” I added as we stood in the doorway and watched the rain absolutely bucket down. ”You still got that umbrella?” I asked as I wrapped my trench coat around me. Wordlessly Fred opened the umbrella and held it above us. We gave each other one last look before entering the downpour.

The walk back up to the castle felt like it took an eternity. All I could focus on was our elbows brushing against each other and our close proximity under the umbrella. With each contact our arms made my heart fluttered

As Fred and I made it to the castle, Fred walked me all the way to the Hufflepuff common room. I had long discarded my trench coat by this point, which Fred insisted that he carried until we got to the common room. But as we reached the barrels, I felt almost disappointed that I couldn’t spend anymore time with him tonight.

“Well, this is me.” I said as I looked to the barrels and took a deep breath as Fred held out my coat. When I reached out to grab my coat that was folded over Fred’s hand, our hands brushed together. My heart skipped a beat when Fred didn’t pull his hand away, but instead held my gaze.

Fred’s chocolate brown eyes bored into my hazel green one’s as we stood planted in place. The warm lantern light danced in his eyes and I swear I saw a hint of pink that dusted his cheeks. My breath hitched as all I could think about was that Fred wasn’t pulling away or making a well-timed joke to ease the tension.

Fred cleared his throat before dropping my coat into his hand. I felt my cheeks burn as I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

“I’ll see you later then.” I farewelled before holding out my wand to the barrel that was two from the bottom, in the middle of the second row. But before I could tap out the password Fred quickly grabbed my left hand. I turned around with slightly raised eyebrows and noticed Fred’s face resembled that of a tomato.

“D-do you-um…” Fred said shakily, as if nervous to tell me what was on his mind. This came as a shock to me as Fred has never once been nervous or shied away from me. “Would you like to grab a Butterbeer the next time we go to Hogsmeade?”

“What d’you mean? We always grab a Butterbeer when we go to Hogsmeade.” I said to him in confusion. Fred’s shoulders slackened ever so slightly.

“I mean-like,” Fred said but seemed to grab hold of his courage. “I mean just the two of us.”

“Oh,” I said as realisation washed over me, then a toothy smile spread across my face. “I’d love to.” I said to him earnestly.

“Brilliant.” Fred said with an equally wide smile. He stood up a little taller, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I told him as I tapped out the password and watched as the lid to the barrel slid open, revealing the cozy inside to the common room. After I stepped through the barrel, I turned back and watched as it closed up, savouring the last moments I saw of Fred before the barrels completely sealed up.

Friday went by faster than expected and soon I was found myself in company with Tara, Charlotte, and Abby on our way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. As we entered the classroom with a few Slytherin’s, all noise was extinguished as our eyes landed on Professor Snape standing at the front of the classroom. Confusion and surprise would be an understatement for what we all were collectively feeling.

We all sat down silently compared to our more enthusiastic racing to our seats to begin the lesson. We were learning about Ghouls but my mind kept trailing back to Remus. I knew the full moon was coming this Sunday, and even I was feeling the effects of it.

It was the quietest it had ever been in a Defence Against the Dark Arts class. I was distracted and utterly bored to say the least as Snape’s monotone voice echoed throughout the classroom. I knew I wouldn’t be able to see Remus until he was feeling better. Despite the last time I had seen Remus was only Wednesday, it felt like a lifetime without having an interesting lesson from any subject as Quidditch was all about which we could think.

It was like a breath of fresh air when Defence Against the Dark Arts concluded and we could all escape to our last classes for the day. I met back up with Fred and George for our Library session which flew by in an instant. Dinner and my night-time Astronomy lesson with the Ravenclaws became a blur of stars and moon charts, and before I knew it, I was already back in bed.

My mind was buzzing with anticipation for Quidditch tomorrow. It felt like forever since Quidditch season could finally kick off. All I needed to do now was wait until the morning.

I was back in the Hufflepuff changing room tightening my shin guards. We were all hyped up by Cedric’s pre-game speech and soon we heard the stomping of feet and cheering as the rest of Hogwarts started to enter the Quidditch stands. We all grabbed our brooms and headed for the Quidditch pitch. Before we left the changing room I slid my goggles over my eyes before the seven of us walked over to the centre of the pitch.

Cedric and Oliver Wood shook hands and it appeared that Oliver was grinding his teeth subconsciously.

“Mount your brooms!” Madam Hooch howled over the wind and on cue, we all jumped upon our brooms, all becoming more antsy by the second. We all watched closely as Madam Hooch brought a whistle to her lips and paused dramatically before she gave it a mighty blow. It’s ear-splitting noise echoed around the pitch and we were sky-rocketing upwards.

I rose up quickly and took hold of the Quaffle. Despite my broom being dragged by the wind I raced over to Gryffindor’s goal. My ears picked up a Bludger heading my way on my right, and at the last second I barrel-rolled to the left and passed the Quaffle to Heidi who was flanking me.

I was already soaked to the bone by this point. You couldn’t even hear Lee Jordan’s commentary over the wind and rain, all you could hear were your teammates next to you and Bludger’s whizzing past.

This Quidditch game had been going on for hours at this point and the scores were twenty to thirty, with Gryffindor in the lead if I was keeping count properly. It was hard to focus on points when I was so busy trying not to get thrown off my broom by a Bludger.

It was growing darker and darker by the second and the storm above seemed to go from horrendous to torrential. The amount of times I had almost been thrown off my broom by another player was ridiculous. The rain was becoming so unbearably thick that I almost succumbed to a Bludger straight to the face.

A flash of lightning lit up the pitch and shortly after we heard Madam Hooch’s whistle scream. I looked around in confusion to Charlotte and Malcolm before we all landed back onto the pitch.

“What’s happening?” I asked loudly as Cedric came running under a large umbrella at the edge of the pitch.

“Wood called for a time-out.” Cedric said and all of us looked slightly relieved to be out of the rain, but annoyed that we couldn’t continue playing.

“Is he scared of the lighnin’?” Tara asked as she pulled her goggles onto the top of her head. All Cedric could do was shrug and we all caught our breaths due to the intensity of the game and with the adrenaline pumping through our veins.

We all watched as the Gryffindor’s shuffled around before Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded, and like lightning, we were streaking across the sky in canary yellow.

As Cedric continued ascending through the open air, Malcolm, Heidi, and I all fell into formation to perform Parkin’s Pincer. Heidi and Malcolm body slammed Angelina Johnson between them, who had the Quaffle in a death grip. As I swerved my broom back around, I made a beeline for the three as I tried to psyche out Angelina to drop the Quaffle.

I was thirty seconds away before I would crash into Angelina. But only then did I see fear strike her face before she threw the Quaffle upwards and she dived towards the ground. I rose up and caught the Quaffle and heading straight to the Goal posts.

As we neared closer to the goals I caught sight of Oliver performing a Double Eight Loop to defend the Goal Posts. I watched as he went and noticed he flew slower in front of the left Goal Post. I raised my arm up high above my head and threw the Quaffle to the Goal ring. It went through and now I knew that the scores were finally even.

My hands were going numb and I was seriously regretting not wearing my Quidditch gloves. There was a lot more whizzing back and forth from both teams before I watched Harry sky-rocket after Cedric who disappeared behind the heavy clouds above. I was shocked for all but a moment as a Bludger snagged the end of my broom and I was then spinning out if control.

Us Chaser’s soon fell into a dance of passing the Quaffle around. Gryffindor scored twice more and Hufflepuff scored once again. It started to become colder and darker with each goal made. It was soon close to impossible to see. Even with my heightened senses and impeccable vision, the rain was too thick and the wind was too disorienting.

As I was making my way back across the Quidditch pitch, I was caught dead in my tracks as I saw a broom fall from the sky, closely followed by someone in scarlet robes. I didn’t know who it was but all I saw was Cedric reappear from the clouds holding his arm in the air. All I could look at was the falling Seeker-Harry.

He was falling too quickly and I was too far away to even attempt at catching him.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dumbledore stand up amongst the staff and raise his hands to the sky. His mouth move but the wind cancelled out any noise as Harry’s plummeting slowed at an alarming rate.

I watched as Harry slowly lied on the muddy ground. His scarlet robes were turned black as he lied there, then I watched as Madam Hooch and Madam Pomfrey raced across the Quidditch Pitch to where Harry was.

All of us raced down to the ground as Harry was put onto a stretcher and was rushed off back to the castle.

“Do you reckon he’ll be okay?” I asked aloud and Charlotte looked over her shoulder at me.

“He didn’t really hit the ground so…” Charlotte trailed off as she rubbed the back of her neck. She then rested her Beater Bat on her shoulder as our team, except for Tara and Charlotte retreated back to the change rooms.

“We’re going to the Hospital Wing.” George said with Fred in toe.

“Is Harry already there?” Charlotte asked him and we all headed for pitch exit.

“He would be at the rate they’re going.” George answered and we all made our way back up to the castle.

The Hospital Wing was lit up by lanterns and echoed the howling wind outside. Alicia Spinnet was shaking from the cold and all of us looked as if we just jumped headfirst into a swimming pool. We were all huddled together and around the bed Harry was on as we waited for Harry to wake up.

“lucky the ground was soft.” Fred said before I elbowed him hard in the ribs. “Ow!”

“Rude!” I said to him in disbelief. As my eyes landed on Fred, I only just noticed how white he looked under the mud and his hair stuck to his forehead due to the rain.

“I thought he was dead for sure.” Tara said grimly and I shuddered at the thought of a dead body hitting the bottom of the Quidditch pitch.

“But he didn’t even break his glasses.” George said in disbelief. Then we all stilled as Harry stirred on the bed. The movement was so subtle that if you weren’t watching him, you would’ve missed it.

“That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Charlotte voiced what we were all thinking and Harry’s eyes snapped open. He looked around wearily as he took in our faces.

“Harry!” Fred said as Harry blinked groggily. “How’re you feeling?” Fred asked. We watched as Harry stared at him for a moment, as if recalling what happened to him above the clouds.

“What happened?” Harry asked as he sat up quickly. We all gasped as he picked up his glasses and put them on.

“You fell off,” Fred said. “Must’ve been-fifty feet?” Fred said unsure of himself.

“We thought you died.” Alicia said as she shook in place. Hermoine then held back as sob as I rubbed her back next to me. She had cried the whole way back up to the castle thinking Harry was died on that pitch. Her eyes were bloodshot and her tear tracks were hidden from the water that dripped down her face from the rain.

“But the match, what happened? Are we getting a replay?” Harry asked and the whole room fell silent. Harry looked at us in concern before disbelief fell over his features. “We didn’t-lose?”

“Diggory got the Snitch.” George revealed. “Just after you fell. He didn’t realise what happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a re-match. But they won fair and square…even Wood admits it.” George explained. Even I felt guilty for Hufflepuff winning. It didn’t seem fair.

“Where’s Wood?” Harry questioned as he leaned forward on the bed.

“Still in the showers,” Fred said glumly. “We think he’s trying to drown himself.” I rolled my eyes at this and looked at Fred with a quirked eyebrow and gave him a face that said ‘really?’

We watched as Harry buried his face in his knees before Fred gripped his shoulder and, quite literally, tried to shake some sense into him.

“C’mon, Harry, you’ve never missed the Snitch before.” Fred said in an attempt to cheer Harry up.

“There had to be one time you didn’t get it.” George commented.

“It’s not over yet,” Fred started. “We lost by a hundred points , right? So, if Hufflepuff lose to Ravenclaw-“ I elbowed Fred once again but he ignored me. “And we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin..”

“Hufflepuff’ll have to lose by at least two hundred points,” George continued.

“But if they beat Ravenclaw…” Harry started sadly.

“No way, Ravenclaw are too good-“ George said.

“We only play to have fun, not to win.” Charlotte said defensively and George grimaced at her as she folded her arms over her chest.

“But if Slytherin lose to against Hufflepuff…” George continued.

“It all depends on the points-a margin of a hundred either way-“ Fred said before he cut himself off when he noticed he was basically talking to a brick wall. Harry was staring down at the blanket that covered him and not reacting to anything that was being said.

Ten minutes later, Madam Pomfrey told us all to leave Harry to have some quiet time.

“We’ll come and see you later.” Fred said to Harry. “Don’t beat yourself up, Harry,” Fred said more seriously this time. “You’re still the best Seeker we’ve ever had.” With that, we all left Harry in the Hospital Wing.

The Hufflepuff common room was alive with energy. We were all celebrating our victory and our qualification to the next round of Quidditch.

There was music blasting, Butterbeer and Fire Whiskey was, quite literally, floating around the room. Cedric was being held up by the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, me included. I didn’t even realise how thunderous the common room had become as I didn’t even notice that the twins had appeared.

After letting Cedric down and back on his two feet, I went over to where the drinks were pilling up. As I was picking what my next drink was, I felt two fingers tap my shoulders. I smiled and turned around to be met with Fred and George looming over me.

“About time you boys showed up.” I said to them over the music.

“And we brought drinks and prank items!” George said enthusiastically as he held up a bag full of Gods know what. A wicked smile danced on my lips as I looked between the two twins. They reflected my smile as we retreated to a corner of the common room with a bottle of Fire Whiskey.

Fred, George, and I schemed up some new pranks as the night progressed. The music either started to sound good, or it was just the Fire Whiskey finally effecting my system. I found myself on the dance floor witch Abby and Heidi as the Weird Sisters was blasting throughout the common room.

The three of us were all singing and dancing to the beat of the music when I was knocked about from behind.

“Hey!” I turned around and was alarmed to see Charles Beecher, a Slytherin I had Herbology with. “Watch where you’re going.” Charles said before shoving me backwards. I could smell liquor on his breath, but that was no excuse.

“You’re the one that bumped into me!” I said as I pointed a clawed finger at him. Charles then turned to face me fully and took a step closer. He was a fair few inches taller than me, which would normally be intimidating, but with the Fire Whiskey and mead coursing through my veins gave me an all new kind of bravery.

“What was that?” Charles asked rhetorically. I puffed out my chest and took a step closer to him.

“You. Bumped. Into. Me.” I gritted out and Charles’ little gang of Slytherin’s flanked behind him. I recognised Thomas Jordan, August Welsh and Henry Paddington all holding onto their respective drinks and looking slightly confused as they backed Charles, most likely tipsy and deaf due to the party.

“And why would I want to even be near a filthy halfling?” Charles asked in a derogatory way. I felt my hackles raising and my canines sharpening at his slur but felt someone standing behind me.

“Says you, ye string bean, gangly, wheat-haired, tight arse.” Tara said through her slurred speech. But despite her lengthy insult, I saw from the corner of my eye that Fred was wading through the crowd towards us.

“Yeah, imagine being a pure blood and also a mudwallow.” I bit back and I saw Charles become alarmed. He thought I didn’t know his little secret about being fascinated by the muggle world, and even loving the simplicity of their lives.

“At least I’m a pure blood.” Charles said in a final tone, and before I could get my next insult in, Fred stepped between me and Charles, shouldering him backwards as he basically became nose-to nose with him.

“I wouldn’t be so proud to be a pureblood if your entire gene pool was filled with pretentious gits,” Fred jabbed and there was a deadliness in his tone as he stared down Charles. Fred significantly towered over Charles and I watched as his arrogant façade faltered for a moment. “So, I think it would be a good idea if you and your little goonies backed off.” Fred said lowly. Charles was about to have the final say before Fred cut him off.

“Now.” Fred said in a final tone. Charles looked around Fred at me with menacing eyes.

“It must be nice to your boyfriend to protect you around every corner.” Charles said.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said and I swear I saw Fred’s shoulders slacken. “At least I don’t need the entirety of Slytherin to make myself feel powerful.” I jabbed and Charles blanched at me.

“Get. Lost.” I growled before Charles and his three goons followed him out of the Hufflepuff common room.

The common room was so loud and so full of people that no one, except for the people involved, noticed our little spat. I was breathing heavily from the adrenaline pumping though me and saw that Fred was in the same boat as me. I took a deep breath to calm myself and watched as my claws turned back into fingernails.

“You didn’t have to stick up for me,” I said to Fred softly. “I can fight my own battels, y’know.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to.” Fred said as he lifted the bottle of Fire Whiskey he was holding up to his lips. After he took a swig, he offered me the bottle and I took it gladly. “Plus, he’s a humongous prat anyways.”

We retreated over to a settee in a corner of the common room and shared the rest of the Fire Whiskey bottle. The world tipped as the last of the bottle slid down my throat. My head then rested against Fred’s shoulder heavily as I watched the room buzz with energy. He then rested his head on top of mine. I didn’t know if it was the alcohol or not but I decided to intertwine our fingers.

Fred stiffened against me but eased back into relaxation as the party continued. I thought back to how Fred stood up for me. Usually, he lets me figure my own conflicts, standing back and watching as a smug smile would take over his face, but he decided to step in. It wasn’t unheard of. It was kinda hot.

My face flushed and I felt Fred shift beside me. As I looked over to him we came nose to nose. We froze for a second. Neither of us moving as we stared into each other’s eyes.

I watched as Fred’s cheeks dusted pink and his breathing quickened. I knew I appeared the same. Fred gave my hand a squeeze and that unknown emotion that I used to see flicker across his eyes was on full show for me in that moment.

Infatuation.

Fred then laid his arm on the back of the settee which made me fall into his side. A cheeky smile graced his lips and the world spun around me.

“Fred…” I trailed off, suddenly feeling quite warm and I couldn’t tell if it was because I was now tucked under Fred’s arm or because I was completely flustered.

“Azure.” Fred answered gingerly. Any thought that I had hold of disappeared. I never thought I’d love how my name rolled off his tongue, or how much I wanted his tongue to explore my-oh my Gods Azure, calm down.

“What’s happening right now?” I asked him. Fred’s head turned back to me from the full common room.

“Well George is getting absolutely schooled in arm wrestling with Tara.” Fred answered and I looked over just in time to see Tara slam George’s arm into the table and the crowd around them roared in applause and laughter. I giggled but kept myself on track.

“No,” I started. Fred then turned to me again and two lines formed between his eyebrows. “What’s going on with us?” Fred stared at me as he tried to summon the right words.

“Whatever you want this to be.” Fred said genuinely. This completely caught me off guard. What I wanted was what is happening between us to progress further than just friends.

Word count: 4974

Last edit: 03.04.2024

Chapter Seventeen - Coming Soon!

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#fanfic #fanfics #fanfiction #fred and george #fred weasley #sirius black #harry potter oc #harry potter fandom #harry potter fanfiction #hp fanfic #madam pomfrey #madam hooch #dumbleodore #cedric diggory

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