WHO: Roger Davies and Alicia Spinnet WHAT: Running into each other after a Gryffindor v Ravenclaw match WHEN: Spring 2013 (5th year) WHERE: Hogwarts WARNINGS: None!
It wasn’t as bad as losing to Slytherin. But he was friends with most of the Gryffindor team, and in some ways their decency made him feel worse. He stayed with his team though. He walked back to the common room with them after the game.
He didn’t want to think about walking into the Great Hall for dinner.
Still, he was a sixteen year old boy, and the siren song of hunger outweighed even the feelings of shame. Leaving the relative refuge of the blue and bronze (though the atmosphere was as depressing as shit), he shuffled towards the main bulk of the castle.
Alicia hadn’t been a starting Chaser on the Gryffindor team for very long and every one of their victories came with a rush of jubilant adrenaline that made it impossible to wipe the smile off her face. Even as she walk through the corridors toward the main hall, she felt as though her feet never quite touched the ground — she was still fifty feet high over the pitch, watching her teammates score the winning goals.
It wasn’t until she saw Roger, looking very much her opposite with his hunched shoulders and heavy steps, that she remembered the losing team. In a few large paces, she’d caught up with him and slung an arm around his shoulder. “Hey, Roger!” she said with a broad grin. “Great match today — you looked brilliant out there!”
“Thanks, Alicia. You too.” Roger smiled wanly back, stooping slightly so that she could drape her arm around him without having to stand on her toes. At sixteen he was already six feet tall, and the last Healer he’d seen had informed him that he had yet more growing to do. Her praise didn’t abate the hollow feeling in his stomach, but he did appreciate that she at least wasn’t allowing him to walk into the Great Hall alone.
“First time I’ve got to see Harry on his Firebolt,” he added. “I thought I’d got the measure of how fast it was, reading about it, but wow. It’s definitely not the same as witnessing it.”
“My jaw pretty much dropped the first time I saw him fly that thing. I didn’t know brooms could go that fast,” she said. She let her arm slide off his shoulders and hooked it through his instead as she fell into step beside him. “I’m dying to try one.”
“I’ve got to get myself one of those,” he agreed. “Maybe if I auction off the house. Or one of my sisters.” He flashed her a chin.
“As for me, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a miracle,” she said with a laugh. She nudged her elbow into his side. “Maybe when we go pro we’ll get to fly one. By then they’ll probably have an even better one we can test out.”
“We're going to be stars.” He waved his free hand towards the ceiling. “Everyone will be dying to kit us out. I bet that Twilfit and Tatting's will want to design our uniforms themselves, when they see our perfect faces.”
“Thanks,” he added softly after a beat. “For not letting me do this on my own, you know?”
“You’re never on your own, you know.” Alicia ducked a glance up at him and stepped in close enough to bump her shoulder into his arm. “And you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. You played a great match today.”
“You’re no slouch yourself, Spinnet.” Results were what the supporters would remember, but for Quidditch players themselves, capable of recognising talent in their opposition and aware of just how challenging exactly the game was, it was a bit less cut and dry.
Still, a win would have been nice. Especially for their last game of the reason.
“So, this means that I’m a honorary Gryffindor for the rest of the year,” he added. “At least Quidditch wise. I’ll be cheering you lot on. I’ll even have a pair of red undies that I’ll throw onto the pitch if you win.”
Slanting a grin at him, she laughed. “I’ve always wanted someone to throw their undies at me from the stands,” she said. “That’s how we’ll know we’ve achieved celebrity status.”
“I believe that you achieve celebrity status when you have your own stalker, and Creevey’s already taken,” he quipped with a wink. “Still, you may be able to steal him away from Harry. I have faith in you…”
“I think I’ll let Harry keep him.” She laughed as they approached the Great Hall’s entrance and hesitated just outside the door. She glanced at Roger and gave him an encouraging smile before tugging him through the doorway by his arm. “Let’s eat!”