Coffee & Commentary

Beautiful and Bludgeoned

April - 1987

"PENNY'S HERE! IT'S TIME!!" screeched Face Paint Kid as he tore though the common room to join me on the sofa in front of the fireplace. 

I pulled the cashmere blanket around me a little tighter and gripped my coffee mug. "Dude... is it like this every game?" I asked groggily as he streaked his face with yellow and black paint.

"C'mon! You are 'Katriona Cassiopeia: Rising Star' you know exactly how it is on game day!"  the name was spreading like wildfire thanks to Murphy. It had been just over a year since I had joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as a chaser. After I had led the team to victory using his maneuver, he seemed hellbent on making sure everyone knew exactly who I am. 

"Truth is, I don't know what the games are like for spectators. I have only watched a few practices outside of my own participation in the games. I'm looking forward to it... or... I would be if it weren't so early. Is everyone already at the pre-game party?" I wasn't sure what to expect and had so many questions for him. 

He laughed at me. "Of course not. Penny and I always prepare the pre-game party. She decorates and I paint any willing faces. May I paint you up? Are you supporting Hufflepuff or Gryffindor today?" his eyes lit up at the prospect of painting another willing face.

"League Infraction #934!" Murphy shouted from across the room as Face paint kid held a paint smeared finger to my cheek. He wheeled over to the couch I shared with Face Paint Kid. "Players on an active quidditch roster may not represent favor to another team at an official house match. This is including, but not limited to, face paint, borrowed house attire, or signage of any size. Sorry, KC, you have to at least look as impartial as I do. However, self-referential symbols are permitted. As 'Katriona Casseopeia: Rising Star', I suppose you could get away with a celestial design. Since many stars are yellow, I think you can probably straddle the rules with a yellow star or two. Assuming, of course, that yellow is the color you had intended to wear? There are certainly red stars as well..." he explained, knowing it was my intention to support Hufflepuff as Penny had always supported Ravenclaw. I blushed as I realized how well he had gotten to know me over the past year. We had been spending a lot of time together lately. It had started with me learning the nuances of quidditch rules, but the conversation would always turn to each other. I wondered if there was a single quidditch rule or detail about me that he did not know.

"You heard him Face Paint Kid, paint each cheek in the shape of the Cassiopeia constellation." I smiled at Murphy with gratitude for helping me discretely show my support as Face Paint Kid decorated my temples in gold glitter paint. Unable to move my head as my face was held in place, I watched Murphy leave the common room to set up the commentary box for the match. I was just as excited to watch him announce the game as I was to watch the game. I didn't know if I could really be a spectator and watch for fun. I was too concerned with learning Gryffindor strategy in preparation for my next game. They were going to be a tough team to beat.

Penny had finished decorating the pre-game celebration and was ready to find a good seat in the stands long before the game. There was no such thing as a bad seat in the stands, but nothing compared to watching the game from the pitch itself. She plopped down on a bench directly across the pitch from the commentary box. Few other fans were in the stands at this point. I watched as Professors Sprout and McGonagall entered the commentary box and sat directly behind Murphy. They were laughing and talking as though they were not the heads of competing houses, but dear friends. It was nice to imagine that at the end of the day; rivalries weren't what the game was about. Perhaps I had been spending too much time with Skye Parkin.

Penny didn't seem to mind. She and Skye had become inseparable over the last few months. Skye was explaining to Penny that Hufflepuff had serious holes in their defense in the game we played last month. Penny was certain the loyalty and hard work of her house team was enough to overpower Gryffindor in today's match. The two girls were talking faster than I could listen. My eyes and thoughts drifted across the pitch and I could a glimpse of Murphy reviewing his notes. The midday sun lit up his magically styled hair and created a warm glow that spread heat from my cheeks to my stomach.