VIOLET (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

6.

On Tuesday morning, Marlowe headed back to work following a day off. It seemed like the full moon had only just passed and already he could feel it approaching again — not so much by the calendar, which he didn't pay a lot of attention to until he had to or it would bog him down, but by the way his body had started to feel just the tiniest bit achey.

He passed by Benson's office on his way in and said a passing good morning, but just as he'd gone beyond the door, Benson called, "Marlowe. Come back here a second."

Marlowe backtracked a few steps and stood in the doorway.

"Come in. Sit down for a second. I just want to chat."

Marlowe's heart had started beating a little too fast, but he tried to ignore it. He sat in one of the extra chairs opposite Benson, who folded his arms on the desk and peered at Marlowe for a while.

Marlowe didn't know if he was supposed to say something, and if he was, he didn't know what to say, so he just sat there feeling uncomfortable.

"What I like about you," Benson said finally, "is that you think. That's why I put you in on Sunday."

Marlowe nodded, but still wasn't quite sure what to say.

"That was a tough game to enter, not because it was going to be hard to come back. We knew we were going to lose. I needed someone who wasn't going to bring emotion into it. I thought about who we had, and I just knew, of anyone, you were the least likely to let what had happened throw you, but you weren't going to ignore it either, and that was important, because almost everyone else in the air had already been playing when it happened, and it was going to affect their performance.

"Lots of beaters," Benson went on, "they think all they need is to be strong. They just fly around trying to hit the bludger as hard as they can, no strategy. Otherwise they use the bludger like it's revenge for when the other team scores. You don't do that. You're always watching the match. I see that. You're always watching and you find an opportunity and you decide what to do with it, and then you make it happen. You aren't a chaotic player. You think."

"Thank you," said Marlowe awkwardly. He wasn't used to receiving more praise than a clap on the back and a passing nice job. "I guess that's why I was a Ravenclaw."

Marlowe wanted to kick himself as soon as he'd said it. What a stupid thing to say.

Benson just smiled. "You did well on Sunday," he said. "McSorley thinks very highly of you. I spoke to him and we've decided to give you a bit of an opportunity, per his suggestion. We'd like you to fill in while Walters is recovering. That may just mean in practice, it may mean you play in the next match. We don't know exactly when the healers will clear Eddie to return. But regardless, until he's back, we'd like to see what you and McSorley can do together."

Marlowe's heart rate had picked up again. "Okay," he said with a nod. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

Then Benson reached across the desk to shake Marlowe's hand and he knew he was dismissed.

"Looking forward to seeing what you can do," Benson said and he smiled, which made Marlowe crack a smile too.

"Thanks," he said again, and then he slipped out, feeling nervous but excited.

—-

Practice that day was harder than usual. There was a lot less downtime when you were training as a starter. Marlowe really enjoyed himself though. Constantly having something to do made it easier to ignore the aches and pains. Plus, getting to play alongside McSorley, rather than one of the other reserves, was interesting. He used different strategy, different technique, and Marlowe learned a lot even in that one day, just from watching him.