Seeker of my Heart

20. Gregory Button

I sagged against my broom, my muscles felt like they were attached to wet sand and fifty ton weights. Practice was getting harder and harder as we drew closer to our final match. Vyanya was like a ruthless dictator and the carefree, happy girl I loved more than life itself turned into a mean and demanding coach on the pitch.

I wanted to laugh at her assertion that we stood a chance of winning the Quidditch cup for a second year in a row. We had the best Chaser in Jeongguk, that much was true, but he couldn't make up for the disaster that was Gregory and Andrina. In order to land enough points to even be considered for the cup we would have to play for nearly four hours against Ravenclaw. And allow them to score nothing.

That was how it stood even before Slytherin went up against Hufflepuff. Both of them were mere points away from each other. And with the way that each team was out on the pitch nearly every day after school, it didn't seem plausible that we would win.

But Anya ... Anya didn't want to hear that. She lectured and gave pep talks and even threated to sell our first born children to the magical circus after she cursed them into freaks.

I groaned as my feet seemed slower than everyone else's to leave the pitch. My arms ached and throbbed from the strength I'd exhibited in trying to keep up with Jimin today. He was too fast, too strong and still much too angry with me to go easy.

Half the team was already undressed and headed to the showers by the time I stored my broom in my locker. It was quiet now. Vyanya refused to come in, she was out on the pitch testing her skill against Caleb's. Even roping her greatest enemy and boyfriend into her intense practice schedule.

Jimin and Jeongguk still wouldn't speak to me, whereas Gregory and Andrina didn't seem to have eyes for anyone but each other. That was perfectly fine with me. Well the second part, I dearly missed Jimin's easy banter and Jeongguk's shy laughter. I sighed as I pulled my uniform over my head and stuffed the sweat covered scarlet and gold robe back into my locker.

I would use magic to clean it later, I was too tired to even think of the correct spell at the moment. I rubbed my fingers into my eyes and leaned against the locker, fighting a wave of sickness that made me want to vomit again.

I sighed as it passed. The longer I held onto this feeling of guilt, the worse the feeling got. I knew I needed to find Aislinn and apologize to her, even if doing so would kill me. Because not doing it was going to kill me even faster. I just didn't know how, I didn't think I could be as honest with her as a true apology would require.

I knew she knew of my predicament from the way she watched me just before I cast that stupid spell, but I didn't know how much she knew. I was humiliated enough already that bringing her into the joke would only cause me more pain.

Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts away and grabbed a clean towel from the bottom of my locker before I ambled toward the showers. I managed to waste just enough time that everyone was gone by the time I stepped beneath the steaming hot stream of water. I held my face under it until I felt like I was going to drown before allowing my hair to soak through.

I never took long in the shower, I was never one to luxuriate in the process of it. Not only did I lack a prominent female influence to teach me how to pamper myself, but it just felt like a waste of time.

Today, however, I decided to break my own rule. I pointed my wand at the shower head and changed the rhythm of the falling water so it felt like it was massaging my sore muscles. I sighed in contentment and continued to move until the water had assaulted every inch of my skin. I didn't think the extra measures I took would help me relax or sleep any more than I have over the last week but it was fun to think it would.