Let the Games Begin (Open to Arwen, Ari, Derek, Sera, Sinead, Humphrey, Danny)

While Matthew didn't play Quidditch, he really loved watching the sport. The Chudley Cannons were his favorite local team, and he kept up with them somewhat obsessively during their season. He'd also never missed a match at Hogwarts! And with Slytherin playing Ravenclaw today, he wasn't about to start now! And even though it was early, Matthew was already speeding out of the common room toward the pitch. Not only would he be able to get a good seat, but leaving early was essential if he wanted to avoid Ari, who would probably be walking down to the pitch at regular time like a normal person. Pulling his silver and green beanie on to cover his ears - because the weather was just starting to turn cold enough to wear it - Matthew took off for the game. It took him almost no time to get from the dungeons to the front doors - which was a perk of being a Slytherin - and he grinned when the cold early-november air hit his face.

Matthew had gone all out for this game, entirely covered in green and silver almost from head to toe. Though he was wearing a pair of normal denim jeans, he'd managed to find his old pair of green converse, pulled on one of his many Slytherin hoodies, and had even smeared green paint below his eyes for extra effect. It felt a little strange to be walking to the game by himself - he usually walked with Ari. But he wouldn't be by himself for long. Since he was generally avoiding Ari like the plague, Matthew had asked Arwen if she wanted to sit with him at the game. Which sort of made Arwen seem like a last resort, but in Matthew's mind she really wasn't. He liked Arwen a lot, and she was the simplest person to hang out with right now because she didn't talk too much, and he knew she wouldn't pry too badly about why he wasn't with Ari. And anyway, he always liked being around her.

And she'd agreed to meet him there, though Matthew felt pretty sure that even if she didn't want to she'd never say no. In no time at all, he was walking up the bleachers of the quidditch pitch, sure that he'd be among the first people there. And he was, but he wasn't the only one. His eyes spotted bushy blonde hair almost too easily, and Matthew beamed, bounding over to where Arwen was sitting in the Ravenclaw section, where his green would either stand out or get washed away in the sea of blue. "Arwen!" he exclaimed as he neared her, taking the last few steps two at a time. "You're early!" he said, slightly winded from the cold air and the climb, as he plopped down beside her. "Ravenclaw's going down, by the way. Not a chance," he said, although it really wasn't true. Ravenclaw was great this year - by far Slytherin's strongest rival. Most of the Gryffindor team's star players had graduated, and Hufflepuff was useless as always.

Firewhiskey.... She didn't mean to try the stuff... There it was sitting there, all by itself, just like Ari. She said to the bottle, "Well that's one thing we have in common." And she took her first gulp. The taste was electrifyingly addicting. She couldn't describe it. It was somewhere between sticking a torch down her throat, and her favorite flavor of cotton candy. But the pain reminded her of her once best friend who had abandoned her like everyone else. So just like the bottle was sitting there all by itself, Ari was all by herself. So she felt like she had to become friends with it. But if she did that was she just repeating her first friendship? Pawning herself onto it, and then driving it away? She stared at the thing. It talked less than he did. It even breathed less than he did. But it's obsession with fire was just about the same.

She took the last gulp. She had drank an entire bottle without even realizing it. One sip had turned into five, which had turned into twenty. Or was it two-hundred? Her drunk mind had lost count at a number she couldn't remember. She looked at it, "Why do you h-have to be gone?" She looked around for another bottle. And then, out of know where, one appeared. She said, "Ma-magical whiskey!" She took it, and immediately drank half the bottle in one giant gulp. She then looked around her. Nobody was here. She then remembered the Quidditch game. She was supposed to go. She grabbed the bottle, and walked down the hallway. She didn't even know where she was, and yet somehow she managed to find her way outside. Then she remembered that she forgot all her winter attire. She looked at the bottle and said, "You will keep m-me warm won't you MY GOOD FRIEND." She decided to start shouting.

And then she saw him in the distance. He hadn't even waited for her. He hadn't even come over to see if she was ok. In fact, he hadn't even talked to her since the dance. She yelled, "RUDE." She then realized she was answering questions from her head out loud and shrugged it off. Ari loved this feeling of being free. So much, she decided to sing. She yelled at the top of her lungs, in her not so nice singing voice, so loud she was positive he could hear her. She sang, "LET IT GO, LET IT SNOW, THE SNOW CAN'T BOTHER ME ANYWAY, LET IT SNOW, LET IT GO, THE SNOW GLOWS WHITE ON THE MOUNTAIN TOMORROW." She threw the bottle a hundred yards away from her. She stopped singing and yelled, "WATCH IT FLY MATTHEW!" Oops. She said his name. Maybe she could cover it with more singing. She continued, "DO YOU WANNA BUILD A SNOW CASTLE? Why Did Elsa not wanna build a snowman?" The questions ran through her mind just as fast as the song left her lips. This was going to be an interesting game.

Quidditch. Sure, it was an interesting sport, and Arwen had often watched her siblings play a game of Quidditch in their gardens, but the 'sitting on top of bleachers, having players that might fly into the audience' part was not one she particularly enjoyed thinking about. Besides, the bleachers were tall and high up. But Matthew had asked her, and even if Matthew had been a person she didn't care for at all, she couldn't have said no. And since he was someone Arwen thought of as a friend, she definitely couldn't say no. So she had woken up pretty early that Saturday and trudged down to the pitch. She looked at the bleachers with a ghost of a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold air, and then started climbing. She was sure Matthew would like to have a good spot, so when she got to the top (being the very first person there), she found a nice seat and sat down, putting some stuff down beside her to save Matthew a seat. Hopefully he'd notice her. Not that she was particularly unnoticable with her bushy hair.

A few minutes went by and a couple of people filled in around, but it was still pretty early. Looking at her watch, she realized she had a good half hour to go before most people would even bother showing up. Luckily, Matthew seemed to not fit that category. He showed up only five minutes later. And he looked like the worst fan imaginable. He was completely green. A few of her fellow Ravenclaw's gave him the stink eye and Arwen had to look down to hide her grin. When she felt it calm, she looked back up again and removed the stuff she'd laid out. "If Sly-slytherin goes as far as you have today, I-I'm sure they will," Arwen said softly, gesturing to his costume. "Though Ravenclaw ha-has a pretty strong t-team," she added. And that was all she had time for until something Arwen had never imagined happened.

Ariadne. On the ground. Shouting and singing and stumbling from side to side. Arwen instantly stood up, worried. Was she ... drunk?! What if a professor saw her?! She'd be in so much trouble! Arwen's eyes flickered to Matthew when Ariadne shouted his name. Arwen had no idea what song she was trying to sing, but it sounded like rubbish, whether that was just Ariadne or if it was the song itself could be debated upon. But something had to be done. However, what could Arwen possibly do? She stood frozen for a moment. Should she go down to her? Arwen figured she really ought to, because wouldn't Arwen had wanted Ari to do that for her? But... Arwen had never seen anyone drunk in her life. So how could she possibly know how to deal with it?! Arwen looked at Matthew again. "Wh-what's going on? What should w-we do?!" She felt a bit panic stricken, but she had yet to freak completely out.

Matthew ignored the evil looks he was getting from the scattered Ravenclaws as he joined Arwen. They didn't bother him, and it was much better than the alternative, which was bringing Arwen over to the Slytherin side of the stadium. She was timid as it was, let alone being pulled that far out of her comfort zone. No, it was definitely better for Matthew to join her. Matthew raised an eyebrow as Arwen tried to hide her grin, though she didn't entirely succeed. "Excuse me, is that an insult?!" Matthew asked despite the softness of her voice, pretending to be offended before cracking a grin of his own and laughing. "You're just jealous that you don't look nearly as awesome as I do," he added. And by awesome, he really meant ridiculous. "But nah, you're right. You guys stand a chance. I'm just glad Gryffindor's out of the running, they murdered us last season." As they talked, Matthew couldn't help but notice how much more complete her sentences sounded than they used to. Her stutter was still there, but Arwen definitely seemed to be getting some more confidence. Or something.

At least if nothing else, Matthew was pretty sure this would be a fun game. That is, until it became really clear that it wasn't. What the hell was that noise? It sounded a bit like a dying elephant, or a howler that his mum sent once when she was mad at him for not making grades... and then, Arwen stood up with a concerned look on her face and Matthew heard his name ring out across the stadium, and he finally realized what was going on. "What the - " Once he knew what he was looking for, it took only seconds for him to find Ari's red hair in the small crowd below. His first, natural reaction was a sinking feeling in his stomach, because he'd done so well avoiding her up until this point and he didn't really want to have to face her. But as he watched her throw a bottle across the field, and that feeling that he'd almost grown accustomed to - that mix of confusion and embarasment and whatever else - was replaced by an overpowering sense of disbelief, and for a moment, he just stared down at her. Because she was acting far more obnoxious than he'd ever seen her and she had a bottle and holy shit, she was getting the words to let it go wrong. Not that he knew the words. No. Definitely not. But she was definitely drunk. Really drunk.

It wasn't until Arwen finally spoke up that Matthew looked away. What should they do? Arwen didn't realize how hard a question that was for him to answer, and for a moment, he was torn. Because the very last thing that Matthew wanted to do was go down there to where Ari was. He'd probably rather stick a needle in his eye than have to face her. But as she started singing again, more obnoxiously than ever, Matthew sighed and looked around to see more than just he and Arwen staring at Ari. "Holy shit, alright," he said reluctantly, more to himself than Arwen. "Come on," he said, grabbing Arwen's arm and pulling her along behind him - though, a little more gently than he would most people, because Arwen always seemed particularly fragile. Bounding down the stairs as quickly as he could with Arwen in tow, they finally reached the redhead, and Matthew came to a halt a few feet away from her, hesitating. Because being this close to her made him feel uncomfortable and hurt his pride.

But she was drunk. She wouldn't even remember, probably. And he couldn't just leave her there to make a fool out of herself. So, sharing a slightly concerned look with Arwen, Matthew approached her. "Ari, come on," he said, looking back at Arwen again to make sure she hadn't darted off at the first chance and left him by himself. "You're sitting with us. Just - you have to be quieter, okay, you're gonna get in trouble." She was swaying, which wasn't helping matters, and Matthew reached for her arm instinctively to steady her. Then, deciding the easiest thing was to not wait for her to answer and just force her along, he slid an arm behind her back and looked back at Arwen. "Just act natural, let's just try to get her to the bleachers," he said, not trying to keep Ari from hearing him.

Her two greatest friends! Well, one was great and the other one wasn't. But which one wasn't? Ari couldn't remember. She was having trouble remembering why she was mad at one of them. It couldn't have been Arwen. Arwen was sweet and innocent. SO IT HAD TO BE MATTHEW. He was the reason she was drinking in the first place. And it all came rushing back to her. They had came to her aid, and Ari looked at Matthew's face which now looked stupid and not beautiful like it had been at the dance. She said, "You did this." She looked at Arwen's hair, which now seemed more like a toy. She petted it and said, "Oooo kitty!" She waited for it to start purring. She replied, "The cat is broken." She looked at Arwen with a dead serious face and said, "You should get your cat fixed." She looked at Matthew, "You left me. Li-like Everyone else." So many emotions where mixing together, she didn't know how to feel.

Arwen's hair seemed more like a toy, and her anger at Matthew just slipped off her tonge. She was still cold. Her thoughts jumbled together like a jigsaw puzzle and she didn't know what pieces went were, or even if she had all the right ones. Everything was just a mess. She then looked up. There was a bird in the sky, but her drunk mind mistook it for a unicorn. She said, "Big black unicorn! Maybe it can fix your cat Arwen!" She looked at Arwen with her dead serious face. Then she looked at Matthew and said, "Ma-maybe you would like to f-fly away on it and l-leave me he-here." She looked at him with a confused hurt expression. She wouldn't remember any of this tomorrow, but she hoped that it punched Matthew in the face, just liked him walking away had punched her in the face. She was hoping her words changed the way he thought about her. She wasn't a disgusting creature. She was Ariadne O'Rieley. And Ariadne O'Rieley was incredibly drunk.

They were climbing the bleachers! Ari asked, "Are we going to climb the mountain?! E-elsa lives on a mountain." And she started singing again, "LET IT SNOW, LET IT GO!" But then they said she had to be quiet. She sat down. She put her hand on Arwen's cat, begging it to purr. She started petting it. She said, "You really should get your cat checked out Arweeeen." She laughed as she dragged out her name. It sounded funny. She pat her hair again and said, "Good kitty." She turned to Matthew and put her hand on his face. She said, "Bad kitty." Being drunk she decided didn't change how much Matthew had hurt her feelings. Being drunk didn't change the fact that she still liked him even though he had done the worst thing possible. She had thought that getting drunk would help her forget. But it made her remember more.

Arwen was relieved to hear Matthew's laughter, that he hadn't taken the hidden grin as an insult in reality. Because anyone could really think it was. Arwen was amazed that he did dare sit among the Ravenclaws, though, because even though Ravenclaws were pretty decent, sports made everyone go crazy. So Arwen secretly hoped Ravenclaw would win, just to make sure there wasn't an asshole around who'd start bullying. Not that Matthew probably couldn't take it, just ... it would completely ruin the mood of the game. And Arwen liked sports, because she was then wrapped up in something that had nothing to do with her. "Yeah, Gryffindor beat everyone l-last year," she agreed. They had been a mean team. Not as in, played rude, but just intensely good. Now they were still good, but Arwen had a feeling Ravenclaw could beat them without too much trouble.

When Matthew grabbed her arm and pulled her with him, Arwen really just wanted to pull herself out of his grip, but then she remembered that she did want to help Ariadne, so she quickly followed despite her own comfort zone. The redhead didn't seem to want to stop singing, and Arwen couldn't understand why. The song made no sense at all. And even if Arwen didn't know the song, she knew for a fact that what Ari sung was not the right words. It didn't make sense at all. When they reached her, Arwen felt even less comfortable, because who knew what a drunk Ari would do? She also looked pretty torn. And then she blamed Matthew for something. To say that Arwen was at a loss of what to do or what was even happening would be the understatement of the week. And then Ari turned to Arwen. Matthew had let her go, and she'd kept still. What more could she do?

Ari walked over to Arwen, and she wondered what the Slytherin would do. When she reached out a hand and started petting her hair, Arwen flinched, but relaxed soon enough. Apparently, her cat was broken and Arwen ought to fix it. Arwen didn't know whether to be insulted or not. "R-right," she just said, her eyebrows furrowed. Ari seemed to drunk to be able to understand anything at the time, and some people who walked by seemed to be laughing, but Arwen couldn't for the life of her see what was so funny. Especially when Ari seemed to be fighting back tears as she scolded Matthew for having left her. Like everyone else. Had Arwen left her? Arwen hadn't noticed. But Arwen wasn't a very good friend, she knew this. She was someone people could talk to, maybe, but she wasn't a good friend. Though now it seemed like Matthew was an even worse one. Arwen felt herself grow suspicious of Matthew. What could Ariadne really have done to deserve a cruel treatment that almost brought her to tears? But her thoughts quickly shifted. After all, she had no idea what this was about. Maybe Ariadne had just gotten drunk and nothing she said even made sense anymore.

Arwen had never heard of a big black unicorn, so when she looked up to see a crow fly overhead, she wasn't exactly surprised. Arwen gave Ariadne an encouraging, but shy, smile. "Maybe it can," she said softly, just wanting Ariadne to remain calm, but didn't talk more about the subject when she turned to Matthew again. For whatever reason, Arwen just went with the whole thing and soon found herself up by the bleachers again, occasionally shushing Ariadne when she became too loud. And then feeling embarrassed about it. And being called 'good kitty' was not something she particularly liked, especially when it included her hair being patted. She leaned forward a bit and looked at Matthew. Matthew's eyebrows, to be specific. Looking into people's eyes was still not something she was comfortable with. "What's going on?" she asked quietly, trying to convey the message only to Matthew.

Holy fuck. Matthew didn’t even use the word fuck, but right now he was pretty sure there was no other way to accurately describe the situation. Still trying to hold Ari upright as he led her toward the bleachers, he was pretty sure this couldn’t get any worse. That was, until she looked up at him and told him that it was his fault. And not very quietly, either, which meant Arwen had heard, and instantly Matthew felt his neck redden. Because the last thing he wanted to think about right now was the dance, and he’d really hoped that Ari wouldn’t know to bring it up. Refusing to look at her, and also for the time being refusing to look at Arwen, he replied, ”That’s why you’re drunk?” He bit back a wave of guilt that threatened to wash over him, because seriously, how was this his fault? Yes, he’d run away from her, and avoided her, but had he forced her to intoxicate herself to the point of insanity? No. But he couldn’t think about it long, because Ari tripped on her way up the stairs, and Matthew struggled to keep her upright. ”Look, we’ll talk about it later, okay?” he told her, even though he had absolutely no intention of spending a moment longer with her than he had to. ”For now, can you just try and focus on not falling over?”

When Ari decided to turn her attention to Arwen, Matthew honestly had no idea how to respond. Because he definitely didn’t want to be with Ari right now – but she’d seriously just started petting Arwen’s head and pointed out that her cat wasn’t working right, and Matthew really couldn’t help but bite back a laugh. He glanced over at Arwen to share his amusement, but Arwen didn’t really seem all that amused. More confused, really, so Matthew swallowed his laughter and reached out to push Ari’s hand away from Arwen’s head. ”Cut it out, she’s not a cat,” Matthew said, dragging her forward so that she couldn’t continue to pet Arwen like she was an animal. But when they finally got Ari into the bleachers, she went straight back to it, and Matthew gave Arwen an apologetic look. ”I mean, if it keeps her quiet…” He trailed off, because he really didn’t want to say just pretend to be a cat so she shuts up. Because that was probably offensive.

And then, she was talking about him flying away on a unicorn and leaving her. Seriously, she was making absolutely no sense, yet she somehow was able to return to that fact more than once? Sighing, Matthew dropped his head into his hands and didn’t answer her question. ”That’s not a unicorn,” he said instead, because he felt too weird not saying anything at all. ”Holy shit, can you cut that out?” Matthew said, pushing her hand away from his face. ”Just sit still and don’t touch anybody.” He had a feeling that was asking too much.

When Arwen leaned forward and asked him what was going on, Matthew hesitated, his face starting to turn red again. He hadn’t told anybody about what had happened, and he hadn’t planned to. But it was inevitable that Arwen would find out now, one way or another, and he figured she was probably the least likely to repeat it. And anyway, it seemed wrong to keep her out of the loop now that she’d been dragged into this ridiculously awkward situation. So, leaning forward as well and talking in a low voice that Ari wouldn’t pick up on in her drunken state, he answered her. ”I haven’t talked to her since the ball,” Matthew said, but really didn’t know how to continue. But he had to, because that didn’t explain anything. ”I mean, I’ve been avoiding her since the ball, because – well…” He couldn’t really say it out loud. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands again. ”Because something almost happened,” he said, emphasizing the word something. Arwen was smart. She’d figure it out. ”and I might have changed my mind before it actually happened, and I might have run away…” That made him sound like an awful person, but he supposed it would no matter how he said it. ”Apparently, she’s taken it pretty hard,” he finished, looking back at Ari, who was singing again, and making up words as she went. ”I didn’t know what else to do,” he admitted, looking over at Arwen.

Humphrey was in a great mood when he woke up on the morning of the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Quidditch match. After a lot of Gryffindor's best players left, they were probably the two toughest teams this year. He was excited to cheer on his fellow Ravenclaws and enjoy what would most likely be a very competitive match. Though he was by no means a Quidditch expert, it was fun to watch the games and let the excitement of the crowd carry you for an hour or two. Getting dressed, he bundled up in a warm jacket before slipping on his gloves, and last but not least, his favorite hat. It was something his mom had knitted for him and given him for Christmas his first year at Hogwarts. The hat was dark blue with a silver band in the middle, and though it was simple it was a little bit of home he had with him here. When he made his way outside and into the chill of the November air he found himself whistling as he made his way down to the pitch. "Nothing like a Quidditch match to cheer a fellow up." he mumbled to himself, before continuing on his way.

By the time he made it to the Ravenclaw section of the stands it was rather busy, because although he wasn't late he'd by no means woken himself up early to get here. One thing he was thankful for was that he was still smaller than most of the older Ravenclaws, so he was able to weave through the crowd as he made his way upward easier than they could. He really hadn't made a plan of who he wanted to sit with so was just making his way up higher for the better view. Humphrey was about to sit down when he spotted Ari, the girl he'd met on the edge of The Forbidden Forest a while back. More than a little surprised to see her in the Ravenclaw section, he saw that she was with another Slytherin and a Ravenclaw from the year above his. What was her name...Arwen, maybe? Even more odd than her being in the Ravenclaw section, was the way she was behaving. Although it was hard to tell from over here, it looked to him like Ari was behaving a little oddly. Curious, he decided to make his way over and ask if he could sit with them. It was true they'd only really hung out that one time, but Humphrey figured it would be better than sitting alone.

With a little work, he found his way through the crowd and waved to Ari, hoping she'd recognize him. If she looked at him like she didn't know who he was, Humphrey knew it would be a little awkward and embarrassing. "Hey Ari, is it okay if I sit with you guys for the game?" he asked, smiling cheerfully. Waiting for a response from her, he wondered if maybe she hadn't heard him over the noise of the crowd. Then he took a closer look at the redhead, and he slowly started to realize that she didn't seem much like the girl he'd met in the forest. A little worried, he looked over to the Ravenclaw girl. "Umm, what's up with Ari?" he asked quietly, not wanting to bring attention to the group at the moment. Hopefully he was just imagining something out of nothing, but he was starting to get the feeling there was a reason Ari wasn't behaving like her normal self.

She looked at him and said, "No, that's not why I'm drunk, y-your drunk." She giggled in his face, and then remembered to be mad at him. Being drunk was so hard. You couldn't keep your thoughts in order. And it was getting rather confusing. Was she mad at Matthew? Was she mad at herself? Was she mad at the world for putting her in this position? Nope. She was pretty positive it was just Matthew she was pissed at. And then she flashed back to the dance. The way she spun around in circles when he twirled her around. The way she actually had the tiny ounce of fun that she had that she hadn't had before. The warmness his hand made her feel, the butterflies when he stared at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention. Her drunk self came to a realization that her sober self knew deep down but wouldn't dare blurt out especially to the man himself.

She didn't want to say it out loud. She forced herself not too. She decided to distract her mind from what it wanted to say, by looking at the clouds. She smiled at them. They were so peaceful. She didn't know why her life could be like a cloud. Why it couldn't just float on peacefully. Occationally there would have to be a few storms here and there, but there hopefully wouldn't be as many as there were on the ground. She looked at Arwen and said, "I want to be a cloud." She knew she made zero sense when she talked out loud, but in her mind, it made the world of sense. But then she kept having flashbacks of that one peaceful night. That one night to where she did feel like a cloud. That one night to where Matthew was a complete gentleman and everything made sense. That one night when she knew for sure. She turned towards Matthew again. In her drunken state, his face turned perfect like how it was at the dance.

She hadn't even been paying attention to the game, in fact, it was like they weren't even at the game. Arwen suddenly disappeared from her thoughts, and the crowd was gone. It was just her in Matthew. Her and Matthew in a world that made her feel complete. Of course, this could've been the alcohol that was spinning her emotions completely out of control, plus with some real feelings mixed in. But she was 100% positive he was her best friend. She looked at him and said, "Y-you're my b-best friend." She was cut out of her perfect world with just her and Matthew when a boy showed up. It was her friend she went exploring in the forbidden forest with. He asked to sit down, but her mind went back to Matthew. It was in that moment she realized that she wasn't mad. Of course, he had done something that she thought he would never do. He had abandoned her just like everyone else she cared about did, and that hurt her the most, but in that moment, he was saving her. And that meant more to her than anything else in the world. She looked at him and said, "BEST friend." Because it was 100% true.

Sinead was probably more than excited for this match, because she wasn’t very fond of the Slytherin’s and she had her hopes high for Ravenclaw. She pulled a plaid jacket over her head and pulled the hoodie up, her long hair fighting its way out of the flannel. Pulling it forward, Sinead let the strands fall into a tangled knot that she wasn’t going to bother figuring out. Unlike Sera, Sinead wasn’t exactly concerned with looking decent. NOT WHEN IT WAS A DAY AS IMPORTANT AS A SLYTHERIN - RAVENCLAW MATCH. Not that it mattered, because although Sinead was very enthusiastic on the inside she tried to keep her competitiveness hidden from the Slytherins crowd. She knew Matthew, Dakota and Ariadne wouldn’t be too keen on having her around if she started to shout or say things that would most potentially make her a target to be hexed by any of them. Sinead wasn’t looking forward to getting hexed at all, even though she was much smarter than them - even if they were all a year older - and she could easily beat them in a duel. Maybe not a physical duel, because she was pretty sure that the three of them together, or even individually, could easily crush her. Matthew was probably the biggest, so she was mostly scared of losing her wand around him. Thankfully, that would never happen. Only an idiot could lose their wand, or someone who didn’t care for theirs as well as Sinead did.

She gave herself one last look in the mirror before heading down to the common room. For a second, she looked back at the Boys’ Dormitories and thought about yelling for Humphrey to come down and go to the game with her, but she wasn’t in the mood for Humphrey. She was in the mood for Sera. Walking out, she closed the door very slowly, for no reason at all other than the fact that she was trying not to wake up anyone who might still be sleeping, because Ravenclaw had some very lazy people. She practically skipped down the stairs, the run down the many stairs seemed quicker than ever. Since Sinead wasn’t sure Sera was going, she tried sending her messages via brain waves to get her to go. As she walked out to the Quidditch Pitch, Sinead let the chill air fill her lungs. It would probably get her sick later on, but November was one of her favorite months of the year and she planned to enjoy it fully. Even if Ravenclaw lost, it would still be a pretty good rest of the month because Declan’s birthday was coming up and she could actually meet up with him at Hogsmeade to celebrate. He wasn’t going to turn twenty-five all the time, so Sinead wanted to spend time with her cousin in hopes he could teach her more skateboard tricks.

The Pitch was crowded beyond belief. Every single seat was taken. Or at least Sinead thought every single spot was taken. There could be a few of them left, so Sinead climbed up the steps as she looked around. Almost immediately, and much to her own surprise, she spotted the dark blonde locks she was so used to by now. Humphrey was taking a seat - or asking if it was okay to take a seat. Without thinking, Sinead grinned as she ran up to catch him. “Hey, Humphrey!” She said, swinging her arm around his shoulders, even though he was quite a few centimeters taller than she was. She did it in a joking manner, mostly because she knew that Dakota wouldn’t be around to tell her she was flirting with Humphrey and trying to take him away from her - because Sinead most definitely didn’t like Humphrey like that. That was just ridiculous. She grinned up at him like a child, her hooding falling off a little as she tip toed in order to be leveled to his height. Looking at the rest of the people - the people Humphrey was talking to - she noticed Ariadne and Matthew, along with Arwen, whom Sinead actually liked only because she was quiet. Arwen didn’t exactly know Sinead, of course. Sinead’s eyes fell a little towards the ground as she realized how creepy that thought was, but she quickly looked up and smiled - mostly at Arwen.

“Mind if I sit with you guys, as well?” She asked, her voice being directed strictly towards the older Ravenclaw. “Humphrey and I are kind of like a package deal. Get one, get the other.” She said with playful smile, taking a seat and pulling the boy with her, because it also seemed like Ariadne was too in love with whatever it was she was looking at to notice either of them. Wait. Sinead actually had to look at Ariadne to figure WHO she was looking at. The redhead was looking at Matthew. Ew. Her nose scrunching up, Sinead turned back to look at Arwen before smiling again. “Hi Arwen. I’m Sinead. We’re in the same House.” she said, just for politeness and tradition than anything else. “But I’m sure you already knew that, since you’re a Ravenclaw.” She added, because everyone knew that a Ravenclaw brain was better than any other brain. Most definitely better than Matthew’s or Ariadne’s. She turned to Humphrey, leaning closer to him, “Why are they sitting on our Ravenclaw side?” her voice was low, barely a whisper, and for a second she wondered if he heard her, but it didn’t matter much. The Slytherins were probably just being their usual annoying selfs. Nothing to care about.

Arwen was beyond relieved when the match started, because the cheering drowned most of Ari's shouts and what was supposed to be singing. So that was a good thing, but she still felt like a sitting duck. After all, if they were caught, there was no telling what might happen. She did listen to Ariadne as she spoke, and she watched her cautiously when she seemed to be thinking really hard. Because that was not what normal thinking looked like. She was looking at the sky for a long time, and Arwen followed her lead. It was a cloudy day, not at all warm, which was one of the many more reasons as to why Arwen didn't think she'd enjoy being a quidditch player. She looked back at Ari as the girl told her she wanted to be a cloud. To anyone else, that might not make sense, and Arwen was almost embarrassed that it did make sense to her; Ari had an excuse, she was drunk. But this was the way Arwen would usually feel, every day. How great wouldn't it be, to just be a cloud.

She listened to Matthew explain why she was so upset and drunk, and Arwen started to understand. She wasn't quite sure if she understood him, but whatever it was, it was about Ari having her feelings for Matthew hurt. Whether he'd been about to kiss her, or if it was much more serious than that. And in that case, Arwen couldn't help with anything insightful, and he'd have to figure it out on his own. However, Arwen did think Matthew was being stupid. It was obvious that Ari had feelings for the Slytherin boy, because whatever they'd been about to do, Ari had been hurt since it hadn't happened. But she gave Matthew half a smile. "You hurt her feelings, Matthew," it was weird how, whenever Arwen whispered, she'd sound like the most confident person in the world, "You need to make it up to her. Why did you run away? Don't you like her like that? Because she obviously does." She looked at him, hoping he'd just pay attention when someone new showed up.

Arwen had seen him around the common room, but she wasn't quite sure what his name was. She always thought the name reminded her a bit about Matthew, but it started with an H, she was sure. Howard? Harvey? Harry? Hubert? She was sure it was neither, but she felt like the last one was closest. He tried to say hi to Ari, but the girl was so lost, and Arwen didn't really find that surprising. She tried to smile at the younger boy, but failed a bit. "Sit, sit," she just said, patting some vacant seats next to her. She looked at Ari and back at the boy. "She's ... er... she's going through something s-serious. M-might wanna let her figure it out," Arwen just said with a shrug when a new girl showed up. Another Ravenclaw.

Arwen had heard her name several times before and she reminded her of Humphrey's name when she shouted it out. Her name was Sin-something. Sinclair? Was that even a first name? Nah. She smiled at Arwen, though, so Arwen instantly smiled back, feeling it was easier when the tone around them wasn't so serious. "Not at all," Arwen said quietly, gesturing to the nearby seat. Arwen smiled again when the girl introduced herself. Sinead. Arwen had known the name, it was just an unusual one, and it had slipped her mind. Well, maybe not unusual. Irish. And Arwen had always been bad at Irish names. Arwen was about to respond about Matthew and Ari there, but just then, Ravenclaw scored and the entire tribune started screaming. Arwen grinned herself, feeling the teamspirit. She then turned to Sinead again. "Matthew and I wanted to see the game t-together, so we dec-decided to join the Ravenclaws instead of the Sl-Slytherins, as they can be a bit meaner about it," Arwen simply said, "And then Ari j-joined us."

Birds chirped in the vividly blue sky as laughter filled the air. Serafina sat in the courtyards beside Matthew, a piece of parchment in his hand with three tiny flames burning bright yet not consuming the parchment. She was happy, they were happy as they talked and giggled, no one else around. Slowly, he worked with her, teaching her how to write fiery squiggles in the air and light small controlled fires. Fires that would consume nothing unless you gave them the power to eat. That was the kind of fires that made her comfortable and not afraid. However, soon the air shifted and as it did so did the sky. It shifted until the sky was a sade of dark gray, the sun hidden behind layers of clouds, leaves swirling as if a twister were present. Sera scooted closer to Matthew as fear began to course through her body however, when she turned, he was glaring at her, his hands flames. Sera screamed as Matthew yelled at her. "It was your fault!" Tears streamed down the girls face as she shook her head no and tried to run away. "It's your fault!" The voice twisted into her fathers and soon, the whole scene changed. It shifted to that night that her mother was consumed by the fire's need to eat. "It's your fault!" The voice yelled louder in her head as she ran and ran, trying to get away until finally, she too, was consumed by the fire.

Sera flew to a seated position, her cheeks hot and wet with tears, her sheets tangled around her. She felt sticky and she noticed the room was fairly hot and she was covered in sweat. The dream had been the worst one yet and it included her new friend Matthew, much to her dismay. Looking around, she saw she was the only one in her dorm and she was quite thankful. She adjusted the thermostat to a cooler temperature and got in the shower, trying to wash away all the fears that still swarmed in her head from the nightmare. Sera didn't know what she'd do today because classes were canceled and the Gryffindor team didn't have a game today. Maybe she'd hang out with Matthew. In all truth and honesty, Matthew was a pretty cool guy. Sure, he wasn't Sinead but Sera hadn't talked to Sinead since the night jealousy overcame her and she kissed her. In fact, she was avoiding Sinead, afraid that she'd ruined their friendship but more so afraid of what Sinead or even Danny would say.

The girl hadn't bothered to put makeup on that morning, in fact, she hadn't even bothered to do anything with her hair other than throw it up into a messy bun. No one, including Sinead had ever seen Serafina without make up on, in fact, Serafina had rarely seen herself without makeup on, which was odd, yes but possible. The girl looked nothing like herself, but fear and exhaustion did that to someone. She knew that usually, she was the perfect picture of a princess or a model but today, she was the opposite. She was the perfect picture of a peasant and for some reason, she liked that. Serafina liked not being perfect all the time because perfection was overrated. However, she felt like it was expected of her, which was why she did it.

Before long, the girl found herself out on the grounds with no destination in mind. That was until she heard the erupt of applause and cheers from the Quidditch Pitch. Ravenclaw and Slytherin had a game today and she completely forgot! She had internally promised herself to go support Sinead's House, though that was before the kiss happened. Sighing, she trudged to the Quidditch Pitch and entered, just as another cheer erupted from the Slytherin side. Who was she supposed to support now? She was friends with Sinead AND Matthew. Scanning the stands, she spotted Matthew, Ariadne and Arewn, both of whom she'd met when there was some murder in Diagon Alley back in Sera's first year, Sinead and some guy with blonde hair. Knowing she wouldn't have to directly make contact with Sinead and that the wouldn't be alone, she ran up the bleachers to where the group was sitting. "Hi Matthew and Sinead and Arwen and Ari and you," she nodded to the other boy, "mind if I take a seat?" The question was directed mainly towards Matthew and Sinead, but either of them could answer. She took a seat anyways, just like the day she'd met Matthew. It felt a bit weird to be a Gryffindor at a Slytherin and Ravenclaw game, but she sort of didn't care.

Matthew's eyes flickered towards Arwen in surprise, because for the first time since he'd met her, she answered him without the slightest hint of a stutter. And without it, it was almost as though she was an entirely new person. Her words were steady as she responded to him, and Matthew felt them settle something in his stomach. Because, even if nothing else made sense, Arwen was right - Matthew had hurt Ari's feelings, and he had to fix it. Accepting that much was a step in the right direction. But accepting the next part wasn't nearly as easy, and the word was out of his mouth almost before she'd finished asking him. "NO." The word was adamant, final - but as soon as it escaped his lips, Matthew realized that it was also hollow. Meaningless. Nothing but a reflex. And he found himself looking back at Ari to be sure she wasn't paying attention before turning back to Arwen. "Or - or maybe," he admitted with a sigh, the realization of it hitting him like a glass of cold water to the face. "I thought I didn't want to," he told her, when Arwen asked why he'd run away. "Or maybe I just got scared, I don't know. Either way, I'll have to fix it tomorrow - there's no talking to her today."

And as if to prove his point, Ari herself butted back into the conversation. Matthew instantly stopped talking while she drunkenly announced that Matthew was apparently her best friend again. Matthew snorted in amusement at the randomness of it all and shared a look with Arwen before responding. "Sure, Ari," he replied, though he was sure her words didn't mean anything because she was also talking about wanting to be a cloud. And then, before the conversation could go on any further, a shit ton of other people turned up, asking to sit with them. First was some Ravenclaw bloke that apparently knew Ari, and asked her if she could join, and then asked what was wrong with her. Matthew raised an eyebrow at Arwen's way of describing it, and then added his own two cents in when she'd finished. "That means she's drunk," Matthew told the kid. "And we don't want her to get caught."

But before the other bloke, whose name Matthew didn't know, could sit down, Sinead O'Donnell had showed up and was inviting herself to join and dragging the kid, whose name was apparently Humphrey, down into a seat as well. Who invited her, anyway? Matthew ignored her, because they weren't exactly the best of friends, but turned to join the conversation when Arwen explained why he and Ari were there. "Yeah, we figured you Ravenclaw folk would be friendly and welcome us with open arms," he added, grinning. "Even though your team doesn't stand a chance - hey, it's starting!" Matthew cut himself off as the teams finally took to the field, turning back to face forward. "Bet you five knuts that Slytherin gets the first goal," he shouted in Arwen's ear above the cheers.

It didn't take long for Matthew to lose his bet, though. "Damn," he swore, but grinned down at Arwen good-naturedly. "Let's just say I owe you an ice cream or something," he shouted at her. As Slytherin regained the quaffle, and the stadium quieted for half a moment, Matthew heard another familiar voice and turned in his seat. "Sabrina, you made it!" he exclaimed to the pretty girl he'd met the other day, though it was clear that his use of the wrong name was a joke. "Yeah, of course," he said when she asked to sit down, already scooting over toward Arwen so that Sera had room to sit - but it was completely unnecessary, because she plopped down in the tight spot between him and whoever was next to him without even waiting for anyone to say it was fine. "Honestly, why do you even ask?" he asked her, sliding over more so that they could all fit at least somewhat comfortably. "Who are you rooting for, anyway?"

Ari could vividly hear what Matthew was saying to Arwen's cat. Even though it seemed like a dream, and her mind was completely not there all the way, she was starting to come to her senses, and words where starting to make since. Even though she was a tad loopy, she could still hear that Matthew might've wanted something to happen. And that excited her drunken mind a little too much. She turned around and said practically yelled, "I LIKE YOU TOO." Over the noise of the game. She wasn't really trying to admit her feelings out loud, it just kind of happened because she thought that Matthew had been talking to her, and then she realized that he wasn't, and kind of panicked. What if she just ruined everything? Would it be to late to throw her drunken self off the edge of the Quidditch pitch? That would be a whole lot better than sitting here with all her well, some what friends, and then Matthew. She covered herself in her hair in embarrassment. She could cover it up with a drunk comment, but her mind was too in tact at that moment to think of anything on the spot.

Now, Ari stayed silent. She was used to being silent, and it was a thing she was comfortable with. She had gone five whole months without talking, she could handle another hour or two without saying anything. She was starting to think this whole drinking thing wasn't fun at all anymore. She probably just destroyed her relationship, or what was left of it to save, and she was terrified. Everything had come down to this. They had been through so much, she didn't want to throw it all away. At that moment, she started to feel ill. She gulped down some vomit that was starting to come up. Drinking definitely wasn't as fun as her parents, or aunt or any other adult made it seem it would be. At this point, she started getting really thirsty, and really antsy, like she did when she was getting sick. She wiggled a little to show her discomfort and maybe somebody would be nice enough to take her back to the common room Somebody who wasn't Matthew.

But she realized that Matthew was the only other Slytherin there. She sunk down lower in her chair and just decided to watch the game. Which was a huge mistake because the players flying around where making her dizzy and even more sick feeling. At that moment, Ari was glad that Derek wasn't there. She couldn't handle any more humiliation. First admitting her feelings OUT LOUD to Matthew, and then being in the presence of her ex-boyfriend would make things ten times worse and more humiliating than they already where. Ari secretly wanted Matthew to get the hint that she wanted to go back to the common room and sleep, and hide from society, but nothing seemed to be working right. Ari leaned her head into her lap and groaned. Now she was getting a massive headache from the sun. She looked at Arwen and said, "I'm sorry about your cat Arwen." And looked back down to the ground. Being drunk officially sucked.