"you will stay young and I will grow old, forever."
↠ In which Marigold Knight has to face her 7th year at Hogwarts while trying to cope with the death of her best friend, keep up with her classes, manage joining a resistance a...
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The windows in the common room rattled with the force of the rain and the scream of wind against the castle walls overpowered the sound of commotion in the dorm room: Ajah was pulling a brush through her hip-length black hair, Rose was still snoozing lightly under her comforter and Marigold was leaned against the side of her bed grumpily tightening the laces on her quidditch boots.
There couldn't be any worse weather to play Quidditch than in a thunderstorm.
She felt Elin's warm hand on her shoulder, "Everything is going to be fine, Goldie."
"We're gonna drown out there ..." She mumbled irritatedly.
Elin giggled, "I'm sure you'll survive."
Clad in more than three extra layers, Marigold walked in step beside Elin towards the Hall - her broomstick swaying beside her.
If she hadn't been so nervous, Marigold might've paid more notice of the hanging decorations. Red and pink paper hearts floated between the swell of students in the corridors, suits of armour were humming ballads and every professor they passed had a red rose pinned to their robes (even Snape, despite looking extremely ill-tempered about it).
The Great Hall was buzzing with chatter, noticeable clumps of yellow and blue had formed amongst the tables with students in their Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw attire. On the way in, Marigold received her fair share of pats on the shoulder and friendly "go Hufflepuff!"'s, deepening the ever-growing pit in her stomach. She was suddenly regretting accepting captainship.
The clock against the wall chimed loudly, ten o clock. Marigold watched it with dread, lifting her eyes to the faux sky above her head. Thunder cracked and the rain showed no signs of stopping.
At the table, conversation continued around her. She could spot team members at the Hufflepuff table and was strangely comforted by how stressed they looked.
"You should eat something, Goldie." Angelina cooed, "Just a piece of toast or some porridge."
Blinking to rid her head of the looming thoughts of unease, Marigold nodded. "Sure, yeah."
She flicked the red rose petals covering her plate off onto the tablecloth before replacing them with a piece of toast.
"What's everyone's plans for after the match?" Angelina asked the table.
"Well," Diego swung his arm over Winslow's shoulder, "Win and I have a double date."
Marigold looked up from her toast in surprise, happy for a distraction. "Really, with who?"
"After Care of Magical creatures on Wednesday, I asked Kelly Choi to be my valentine. She said yes, obviously--"
"Who wouldn't." Angelina mumbled sarcastically.
"--And," Diego ignored Angelina's jab, "She said she had a friend for Win if he was interested."
"Wait," Bernie lifted her hand, "Is Kelly the Ravenclaw girl or the Slytherin one?"
