March To The Sea - George Weasley ✔️

- 1 1 3 - OFF THE TEAM

WHEN ALL GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS WERE DISBANDED BY EDUCATIONAL DECREE NUMBER TWENTY FOUR, LORELEI FELT AT A LOST. Once she was in the Great Hall, Angelina was already on her arse about Quidditch. Lorelei had to get Umbridge's permission to play again. Lorelei's mouth dropped without an answer as she stared at Angelina, who looked broken even thinking about not having Quidditch anymore.

"I-I... I'll try to handle it," Lorelei only said with a gulp. Angelina nodded, but Lorelei could see she was not satisfied with that answer.

That afternoon, after her Defense 'lesson,' she stayed behind. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face the pink puff who was watching her with narrowed eyes and a half-smirk. Umbridge knew exactly what Lorelei was about to ask, and it made the old toad feel so powerful seeing the half-breed squirm under her gaze.

"P-Professor?" Lorelei said a bit hesitantly. "I... er--my teammates and I would like to know if you will allow Gryffindor to continue playing Quidditch..." Lorelei had heard that Slytherins had been given immediate consent, but Lorelei knew she was not so lucky.

Umbridge smirked devilishly. "I don't believe I can, you see, what was it? Allow Gryffindor to continue playing Quidditch?"

Lorelei felt her eyes darken as her fist clenched. Taking another deep breath as her skin began to itch terribly. The potion was wearing off quicker as her skin became too used to it. "May I ask why not, Professor?"

"Your temper has become far worse in the last few weeks, Miss Black. You are a hazard, a danger to those around you. I can't have you losing your temper on the field, now can I? Have you injure a student?" Umbridge stated in a patronizing way making Lorelei gape at the woman.

Lorelei hissed out. "I would never harm one of my classmates without reason, Professor. Anger toward a simple game of Quidditch would be no reason to--"

"I don't care. With you on that team, Gryffindor will not play," Umbridge said with finality to her tone and a shrug of her shoulders.

Lorelei stood their wide-eyed at the woman for a moment. Like a gaping fish, her mouth opened and closed as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out.

"Good day--" Umbridge started, but Lorelei finally regained her words.

Lorelei said quickly, "So if I was not on the team, you would let them play?"

"I would consider it," Umbridge said with an evil grin as if she was getting exactly what she wanted.

"O-Okay," Lorelei replied with a hesitant nod. "I'm off. Angelina was next in line for Captaincy."

"Send Miss Johnson to me tomorrow, and I'll speak to her on the matter," Umbridge said with a little giggle at the end. "You see, Miss Black, you'll never be looked at differently. You'll always be a half-breed beast with the worst family lineage. You won't get very far in the wizarding world. I would get used to it if I were you," she finished with another giggle.

"Thank you, Professor," Lorelei gulped down the threat she would have rather said and stormed out of the classroom. She made it outside before yelling out angrily and punching the nearest tree.

She loved Quidditch, Lorelei did. She could remember Charlie forcing her on his broom for the first time when she had been out of the water no longer than a month. They flew all over the Burrow's land, and Lorelei could remember the genuine smile on her face at the newfound freedom. Then, she remembered her first flying lesson. She had no idea what the game truly was. Roger Davies almost had a heart attack, she recalled with a smile through tears she had begun to let fall. The silly Ravenclaw looked at her with shock and begged her to be lying; how could someone not know what Quidditch was!?

Then, Charlie made it his legacy to have the twins and Lorelei make it on the team once he was gone. He trained Lorelei and the twins, and when he was off to Romania, Fred and George kept practicing with Lorelei. Lorelei and Angelina were better than any of the older students trying out. Lorelei remembered Patricia Nester who taught them all sorts of moves. She remembered all the exhilarating feelings she felt during games, hearing Lee call out her name as one of the best Chasers Gryffindor had in a while. Oliver called her and Angelina his secret weapons.

She finally was able to lead the team, something she felt she deserved after all the things she learned from Oliver. Lorelei shook her head and rid of the negative thoughts. She was doing this so Fred, George, Angelina, Katie, Ron, and Harry could keep playing. Alicia could take her spot, she would personally ask her. Looking down, she saw blood on her knuckles and sighed.

"Tried to walk and overthink at the same time?" Adrian Pucey's voice rang out in the empty courtyard. When he caught her wiping her face furiously, he frowned. "What's wrong?"

Lorelei looked at the only Slytherin she seemed able to speak to without wanting to rip his head off. She shook her head. "Umbridge won't let Gryffindors play until I'm off the team, so I'm on my way to find Angelina. She'll be Captain now."

Adrian frowned further. "What a load of bull. Why is she keen on taking you off?"

"Half-breed, or have you forgotten?" she teased, leaning against the tree her knuckles had just been thrown against. "Thinks my oh-so bad temper will harm students in a match." Her skin itched at the thought. "I could never--"

"You don't have to convince me, Lorelei," he said waving her off. "We'll miss dinner if we don't get a move on, you know."

"My appetite is sort of shot," she said truthfully.

Adrian gave her a look. "You barely eat anything anymore."

"Stalking me?"

"Observing, is that so wrong?"

Lorelei hummed in response before kicking herself off the tree. Adrian noticed her bleeding knuckles again and sighed before taking out his wand. Lorelei froze for a second, eyes flashing back to Crouch's wand pointed at her. She flinched making Adrian call out her name.

"Hey," he said softly, "I'm only fixing up those knuckles of yours."

"I-It's fine. I'll wrap them up later," she assured watching cautiously as he lowered his wand. "You're right, we should go to dinner."

"Brilliant," he said, finally a smile gracing his features. "You know, I wasn't sure we'd beat Gryffindor, but you being gone makes it seem almost not fair anymore."

"Oh well," she mumbled with a shrug. The two walked to the Great Hall together, talking a bit about classes though nothing more personal. When she made it to the Great Hall, she saw her friends watching her curiously.