Dandelions

AN ITCH FOR QUIDDITCH

Monday afternoon brought crisp, cold air to the onlookers down at the quidditch stands. Wind whipped around the bleachers with a ferocity like it had a personal grudge against the sport itself, not leaving a single person down at the pitch with any warmth. The twins and Rory huddled together, shoulders bumping haphazardly as their eyes warily cast between every player decked in red and gold on the field.

Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, their house's final match of the quidditch season had finally approached. Anxiety filled every student packed into the Gryffindor house stands, tension rising as the scores continued to rack up.

"Yes!" Rory roared out as the twins screamed something similar, Lee's commentary rang out as the Gryffindor keeper deflected another goal. It was a losing battle on their end for sure, their house had been royally wiped out by every single team they'd gone up against the entire season--but the excitement was still the same gripping sensation Rory lived for.

His focus was a bit lost during this particular game, though, and he found himself staring quite often at the Gryffindor keeper. Rory'd learned the boy's name was Oliver Wood, and he'd only gotten on the team last year. It was quite impressive to have such an instrumental position in just his third year, and Rory could almost picture himself in Wood's place--pressure piling on him to keep the quaffles expertly out of the scoring hoops.

Though Rory imagined he wouldn't be near as good as Wood was--even when the boy couldn't help but let in several consecutive goals, it was easy to see he had talent and passion for the sport. With a couple well-timed deflects, Wood had managed to give Gryffindor house control of the quaffle while the beaters duked it out over the bludgers.

A giddy laugh bubbled up and out of Rory as he watched Gryffindor momentarily turn the tides--not near enough to actually pull off a win, but enough to get everyone's hopes up just a smidgen. For a very brief twenty minutes, Rory couldn't help but struggle to keep his gaze trained on the action, catching himself absentmindedly staring at Wood every now and then. But, not even Lee's commentary could keep Gryffindor morale up for long enough to really pack a punch.

Ravenclaw's seeker was suddenly zooming after something invisible, the golden snitch. He'd snatched it up before Lee could even announce it had been spotted on the field, and Charlie looked like he'd lost all will to live as he descended to end the game. Just like that, Gryffindor's quidditch season had come to a disappointing end.

Of course, Rory couldn't expect them to simply win because it was his first time watching the sport, but it would've been cool. Even with the loss heavy on their shoulders, the boys couldn't help but excitedly chat about the game as they walked back to Gryffindor Tower, though. Despite the fact Ravenclaw had clearly wiped the floor with Gryffindor, that wasn't any reason to not gush about their outstanding players.

"And the way- You know how they-" George gestured wildly with his hands and made crashing noises, doing his best to mimic a particularly brutal moment as the beaters knocked the bludger around. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Rory jumped to agree, grabbing onto George's arm in his excitement, "And then when their seeker just nipped down and grabbed the snitch, how did he even see that?"

"Magic eyes, must be," Fred groaned, throwing his hand over his forehead as he dramatically collapsed onto Lee's bed, "Pure, raw talent--the likes of which this generation has never seen before!"

"And we'll never see again," Lee lamented, shoving Fred over as he sighed, "Another great player lost to graduation! And we only got to see him play once..."

"How can their reserve seeker be so much better than their official one?" Rory scoffed, crossing his arms as he leaned a knee onto his bed, "Bad judgment from the captain, I'll say."