Yearning | Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter Forty-Six: Snakes and Eagles

Anne rushed outside into the beautiful spring day towards the quidditch pitch after class, anxious to meet up with Imelda after receiving her letter. She had said it was important, and with the quidditch finals less than a week away, Anne knew that any type of help or advice her captain had to give her was worth skipping her free period for.

She reached the Slytherin locker area and stopped suddenly when she heard voices from inside.

"Oi, come on. You're not still upset about the last match are you?"

"Oh just admit it. You gave up your spot to Ravenclaw on purpose, Garreth!"

"What are you talking about?" Garreth Weasley asked, his voice becoming frustrated.

"Don't play with me, I saw your sly little nod. Giving Keene a head start like that."

"Mel, that is not what happened. She caught that on her own. Besides, I thought you would be happy. Now you don't get to play against me."

Imelda sighed. "It's not that. Now, because we're going against Clopton and his fuck-all homophobic imps, I have to worry about my own team plus Aurelia. And with the rumors about the quidditch scouts being there and my family being there and everyone else it's just—"

Anne heard a sound like fabric rustling. It sounded like Garreth had gotten closer to Imelda as Anne strained to hear him. "Come now, love. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself." They paused for a minute. "Why don't you just sit Pucey out?"

"I can't," Imelda groaned. "His family are purebloods, and high profile. If I sit him out—"

"If you sit him out, it would send a message that not every pureblood is a saint. This is for Annes' safety, and Aurelias'." Garreth sighed. "And yours."

Anne suddenly felt like she was intruding on a moment. She had no idea that Imelda and Garreth had gotten so close, but the way they were speaking to each other made her realize they had been together for a while, and they probably did not want a lot of people to know. No wonder she was nervous during the last game, Anne thought before walking away back towards the empty quidditch field.

She waited for a few minutes, then when she saw Garreth leave, Anne stood up and walked back to the locker tent. She walked inside and saw Imelda sitting on one of the benches waiting for her.

"There you are," Imelda said when she saw Anne. "I wondered what was keeping you."

Anne shrugged. "It's a nice day, so I thought I would take a few extra minutes."

Imelda hummed in agreement. "The weather has been nice," she agreed as Anne sat down next to her. She looked over at Anne, now turning serious. "The game is this weekend. And I don't need to tell you how important this match is. I've heard rumors that there's going to be some professional quidditch team scouts there, so everyone has to be at their best on Saturday."

Nodding, Anne responded. "You know me, I'll do everything I can."

"Good. That leads me to my next point." Imelda stopped and studied Anne for a few seconds before she took a deep breath. "I need your word that you're not going to give up the snitch for Aurelia Keene again."

Anne felt her stomach drop at the mention, and being stared at by Imelda's dark eyes certainly didn't help how nervous she now was. "I didn't know you knew about that," she said finally.

"Everett Clopton and I both saw you hand it off to her at the exhibition match."

"Why did neither of you say anything?"