~4th Year~

“The match is again incredibly even! Both teams are holding their own and seem like it’s coming down to the snitch in the probability of 89.7%! Neither of the seekers seems to have a clue where it might be…” I hear McNully drown on in the commentator box when the game reaches a calmer tide. I make eye contact with Orion in hopes of getting some ideas of how to try and build our next offence against Gryffindor. Their defence and keeper are both playing their A-game today. Orion just smirks and then quickly dodges a bludger. What the hell are our beaters doing?
“Eliza!” calls Skye and nods toward the left. I swoop down to the free space and Skye passes me the quaffle. Orion is distracting the Gryffindor team with his broom surfing again…
“...and there’s Amari creating distraction! His signature move never gets old, look at him go! But look what happens? Parkin and Griffin have broken through Gryffindor defences and I’d say they have a 76% of a chance to score for Ravenclaw. And YES! Parkin scores with a perfect pass from Griffin! Despite being new to the team she has proven herself to be an excellent addition to the team this year! The grace, the beauty in the gameplay as well as in looks too!” McNully babbles enthusiastically.
“Keep it serious, McNully, we are here to watch the game, not the players' looks,” McGonagall intervenes.
“Terribly sorry, professor…” McNully states taken aback
Wow, I gaze to the commentator’s box and see McNully blushing a bit, before continuing his rant about the game. I feel heat crawl its way up to my cheeks, I didn’t know McNully was interested in me that way. We have known each other for a while now but he has always kept his distance. Sometimes using his incredible ability to rant about Quidditch to prevent talking about personal things.
“Griffin!”
“Eliza!” one of our beaters shouted as the bludgers decided to target me at the same time. I dive and soar in hopes of getting rid of them. And when I flypast Hodgins, one of our beaters, I see something golden flicker past me. And before I can shout to our seeker about it a red flash follows the golden blur and I know that Charlie Weasly is going to catch the snitch…
“... AND GRYFFINDORS SEEKER, WEASLEY CATCHES THE SNITCH AND TAKE THE VICTORY IN THIS THRILLER OF A MATCH AGAINST RAVENCLAW!”
I land among our team and we do a group hug. “It was a good game, everyone,” says Orion, “we had the lead but the victory didn’t land on our side. In the end, we got to play and as always that is the best reward. Winning and losing are just trivial constructs…”
“Look at him go again,” Skye whispers to me, I roll my eyes.
“Are you going to do something about it? Or are you just going to whisper your remarks to me and wish that things change?” I ask. She sighs and rolls her eyes back at me before interrupting Orion’s speech that at this point has very little to do with actual Quidditch.
“Okay everyone, let’s talk about the match on a more concrete level. We did the right things with very few mistakes, but that Weasley is just a phenomenal seeker…” Skye plunges into a more concrete analysis of the game. I gaze toward the Gryffindor team where Charlie is being lifted in the air. He waves at me laughing as I give him a thumbs up. He really is their hero.
I turn and look in the way of the commentator’s box and see McNully being levitated down in his wheelchair. His tie flutters in the wind. He smiles, looking down to the ground as the sun rays sparkle in his hair. He lifts his gaze and his blue eyes meet mine and my heart skips a beat. He averts his gaze and so do I. I glance back quickly. Might he actually like me? We have been hanging out quite a bit since I started trying for the team this year. He is an absolutely exhilarating guy and a great strategist, not to mention his vast knowledge of Quidditch. And he has been patient enough to explain me strategies and even teach wizard chess even if I’m a horribly easy opponent. But he just seems to try and keep his distance when I try to open a discussion about personal matters. So maybe he just likes me as a friend.
I sigh. Skye is now arguing with Orion about what actually matters in playing Quidditch. I’ve seen this fold-out plenty of times in our practices, so I go back to my thoughts. I look again at McNully who is now chatting enthusiastically with Andre about the match. Murphy McNully. He is very handsome. His shoulders are broad and his arms strong, probably from all his wheelchair rolling. This crush I have on him is starting to affect my behaviour and probably has already. Maybe I should just ask about that comment he made during the match. That would be a discreet way to approach the matter. The post-game adrenaline is still giving me a small kick in my veins and I decide it’s now or never.
“Hey, guys. I gotta go, see you in the dressing rooms!” I shout to my team as I start sprinting towards the edge of the pitch. McNully and Andre are rolling toward the exit.
“McNully! Wait can… can I talk to you?” I ask
He turns toward me, and so does Andre.
“Sure what is it?” he asked, smiling.
“I, uhm…” I try to make meaningful eye gestures to Andre to leave us alone, but he doesn’t get the hint. Style wizard or not, I expected a bit more tack from a sixth-year student. Finally, he gets it.
“Oh… I, uh, gotta go, so, see you at the dorms McNully!” he starts walking away a bit too fast. McNully eyes me suspiciously. I’ve got to admit, that wasn’t as subtle as I hoped.
“About the thing, you said during the match…” I start. He blushes but interrupts me.
“Yes, the probability of the first goal going to Gryffindor. I calculated that pretty simply by taking into account the ages of the players and…”
“No, not that thing but…”
“Ah yes, the analysis of Weasley’s previous snitch catches…” at this point I know he is trying to distract me on purpose.
“No! The thing about my grace and beauty and whatever that was!” I raise my voice annoyedly. For the first time, Murphy is speechless. He looks embarrassed. His face is now red, the smile faded, and he swallows heavily.
“That was nothing, just my excitedness throwing in some extra spice in the commentary. There is a 93.6% possibility that I said that about any player on the pitch,” he said flinching every time he said a word.
“Oh,” I said disappointedly
“I…,” he said as if wanting to say more but couldn’t find the right words, “I’ve got to go and write up my statistics on the match.” I watched him roll toward the castle with vigour, my heart collapsing in my chest.
I drag my sorry ass to the dressing rooms, Skye is the only one there, brushing her hair and looking pretty riled up. She probably tried to fight Orion again, but Orion being his calm self, she only managed to anger herself.
“Can’t believe that guy. ‘Winnings not the key to happiness.’ My ass! Merlin, men are just…” she finishes her sentence in muttered words as I sit on the bench next to hers.
“Yes, they are. Whatever it was you were going to say,” I answer. She eyes me surprisedly.
“You aren’t usually this rash. Shouldn’t you be telling me to try and consider how Orion thinks? Did something happen?” she asks
“Remember when I told you I might like Murphy?” I offer and she nods, “Well he said something in the commentary, about me being beautiful… So I asked him about it and he just pretty much denied considering me pretty.”
“Oh yeah, he said you were beautiful. I don’t remember him saying that kind of thing about anyone and he has been doing the commentary for four years now. That was weird,” she offered looking a bit thoughtful. “But maybe he just wasn’t serious then. I mean if he told you he didn’t mean it then he didn’t, there's plenty of fish in the sea. Maybe you could date Orion, getting a girlfriend might bring him down from his fantasy worlds. That would benefit the team.”
I roll my eyes. Skye is just so straight forward in her thinking.
“You know I don’t like him that way,” I say
“And you know I was joking!” she packs her things and shuts her locker, “But seriously, if Murphy doesn’t like you, just try someone else. See ya later!” and she marches out of the dressing room.
If only it was that easy… if only
McNully kept on avoiding me for the following days. I sometimes catch him glancing at me from the corner of his eye, but I guess he is just keeping an eye on me. I can’t even talk about Quidditch with him. Or play chess. I miss him, I miss being his friend.
When I kept on sighing so loudly and often that Madam Pince threw me and Rowan out of the library for study sessions, Rowan decided we needed to talk. I let myself collapse on my bed in our dorm. Luckily there’s no one else there at the time. Rowan sits at the edge of my bed petting my hair.
“Ok, who is it and what did they do?” Rowan asks
“I don’t know what you’re talking abou…” I try, but Rowan is not having my crap.
I glance up at her. “You know last week, after the match…”
“Charlie Weasley told you he likes you!”Her eyes are shining and her smile is wide as she gazes off into the distance. “Oh man, he is a snack. I would ride on his broomstick…” she drones on.
“Rowan, please. Bill is out of sight and you lay your eyes on the next Weasley possible?”
“Well I just happen to like redheads,” she retorts
“And it’s not him anyway,” I say.
“Oh good. Then it must be that dream captain of yours! Isn’t he a total dreamboat.” So much about preferring redheads. She looks like she is seeing stars and well Orion's name is a constellation...
“No, and he is not dreamy he is a dreamer and in a really bad way,” I say and quietly consider whacking her face with my pillow. “Are you here to help me or not?” I ask
That seemed to knock her from her dreams, probably containing the most handsome quidditch players and her in the prefects’ bathroom.
“Sorry Eliza. I promise to listen.”
“So. In the match when we scored our last goal, McNully said something about my beauty and…”
“Wait he is that commentator, right? Ravenclaw guy?”
“Yes Rowan, and so, I just asked him about it and he just brushed it off as his usual babbling…”
“Wait! Wait!” Rowan interrupts, “you have a crush on HIM?” she looks so incredulous that it hurts a little.
‘Uhm. Yeah.” I blush deeply. Rowan looks thoughtful now.
“He is in a wheelchair, isn’t he?” she asks
“Yes, but does it matter?” I quip. Her eyebrows lift high, but she keeps her poker. “If it doesn’t bother you, then I guess it doesn’t to me,’’ her sincerity doesn’t really reach her eyes but whatever. “Tell me more Eliza, let’s see if we can figure it out,”
I explain to her all about Murphy McNully. How we met, how he was my strategic coach before the tryouts, how we were friends and were getting closer until he just started to keep his distance. And about the past week and how he had been clearly avoiding my company.
“Ok, so you basically asked him if he likes you?” Rowan rewinds, “but does he know that you like him?” That… was a fairly good point.
“I guess not, but what does it matter when he clearly doesn’t like me!” I’m sounding desperate even to my own ears.
“Yeah,” says Rowan, “sure looks like it.”
“I just wish I could at least hang around with him again. He is so clever and witty,” I sigh. Rowan hugs me.
‘Oh Eliza. Maybe I am starting to understand why you like him. At least you can have meaningful conversations with him, unlike with your ex.”
“Ro, we aren’t talking about Barnaby again and besides that was over a year ago and we only dated for two months.”
“Oh, I could talk about his manly figure for days.”
She gets all starry-eyed again. Oh, gee, she really puts looks at the top of her priority list when guys are considered. I roll my eyes.
“Go for him, Ro. He is nice and friendly and you like him.” And I see how he looks at you, I think as I nudge her.
“He is your ex, Eliza.”
“... and I’ve told you a million times I don’t care. Just go for it!” I start a pillow fight and we end up laughing and chatting about boys more carefree the rest of the night.