My Precious ((AJ))

[Seth Wright]

“Where is it, where is it, where is it?” Seth muttered to himself repeatedly as he searched under his bed in a frantic manner. His hand finally groped something thin and hard, and with a triumphant whoop he extracted it... only to find himself looking at his long-lost baseball bat. “Don’t want that!” Seth shook his head with a deep frown, tossing it over his head and narrowly missing his neighbouring dorm mate. Evidently Seth had already forgotten that only a few months ago, he had been searching for that very same bat for a noisy and irritated twenty-one hours.
“Whoa, watch where you’re throwing that thing, Seth!” The boy sitting on his bed exclaimed in alarm, the heavy piece of wood barely scathing his earlobe.
“Sorry, sorry!” Seth called, his head already down to the floor again; his cheek chaffed against the carpet, his wand extended now with Lumos activated. “It’s got to be here.” He mumbled to himself in frustration, using the tip of his glowing wand to cast away balls of dust. “These house elves don’t do a very good job.” He added in complaint.
“What are you looking for?” His dorm mate, Neil, sighed, having seen Seth go through the same disorganised, ‘I’ve lost something and I desperately want it’ process on many occasions. Neil put his book down on his bed, Seth having broken his concentration for the hundredth time in the last six years, and knelt down beside his determined friend. “Why don’t you just ask Chace? He always finds your things for you, and it always turns out they’re right in front of your eyes.” He pointed out bluntly.
“No no no!” Seth chanted, popping his head out from under the bed to glare at his friend for a split second, before diving down again to wriggle his wand around some more. “If Chace finds out I’ve lost it, he’ll murder me! I’ll be dead meat! He’ll roast me like a marshmallow and skin me alive!” He shouted perplexedly, the only reason for no arm movements was because of his awkward position. “How could I lose it?” Seth groaned to himself again, jabbing his bright wand at what appeared to be the other leg holding up the bed. “I can’t believe I’ve lost it.”

“That bad, huh?” Neil asked with raised eyebrows. Even this was somewhat extreme for Seth Wright. So he blurted a lot, babbled a lot, and he waved his arms in the air in a dangerous way so often that he should really walk around with a neon sign saying ‘Steer clear of brandishing arms; they hurt when flung into your face without abandonment’, but Seth was not usually this upset, and Neil could see it etched very wearily on his face when he finally extracted his head from under the bed.
“Yes. It is. It is that bad.” Seth said glumly, literally hanging his head and diminishing Lumos as he stood up and sat on his bed. “I’ve lost my precious. My precious!” In a state of bewildered frenzy, Seth’s hand shot to grab his classmate by the hem of his shirt, shaking it in a distressed manner. “What am I going to do?” He uttered when he finally let go, folding his arms agitatedly and bouncing on the edge of his bed. A worried expression knotted his eyebrows together. “I’ve lost my precious. Chace is going to kill me.”
“Your… precious?” Neil spluttered in disbelief with incredulous rather than questioning eyes.
“Yes, my precious.” Seth snapped impatiently, before falling back against his bed covers and letting his angry expression slip into one of regret and sadness. “Sorry. But I really have to find my broomstick, otherwise I’ll never live it up to Chace.”
Seth looked truly forlorn as he lay there, staring blankly up at the ceiling with the air of a helpless child. Understanding suddenly hit Neil; Seth’s broomstick. Seth treasured the thing, for one reason or another that he never did understand. Though, this was the first time Neil had heard Seth call it ‘his precious’. Neil was a little curious to why that was the case, and why him losing it meant anything to Chace, who, he supposed, would only be a little annoyed because his best friend had gone and lost something important – something quite major, actually. Seth was on the Hufflepuff Quidditch reserve team, and therefore a broomstick was vital to fly! How could he and Chace practice together? Neil shook his head. “You’re an idiot.” It didn’t help that Neil knew Seth didn’t have the money to buy a new one. Where had he found the dosh to buy his current one in the first place?

“Yes! Yes, I am an idiot!” Seth raised his arms in the air and babbled on. “I am a complete and total IDIOT!” His hands fell onto his eyes, then moved to rub his temples. “Ugh… it’s so big… I mean, how could it go missing like that? Am I really that irresponsible? Wait, don’t answer that question, Neil. Just don’t.” Seth groaned. “Why me? Why me?” He continued to lament in woeful tones. “Maybe someone stole it… oh my god, what if someone STOLE it?!” Seth suddenly jerked up from his lying position, eyes wide. He proceeded to roll off a long list of expletives that Neil could only hitch an eyebrow at and try hard not to laugh at.
“No one would steal your broomstick, Seth.” Neil attempted to say solemnly, looking Seth in the eye. He really did look like a puppy right now; a homeless, helpless puppy. “Look,” He proceeded to sigh and roll his eyes. “I can get it back for you. It’s easy. It’s probably in this room right now, and you just can’t find it…”

***

Some time later…

“Can’t believe it was under Chace’s bed.” Seth was muttering quietly under his breath, walking briskly across the Grounds. “I am so stupid, I am so blind!” Chucking a stone across the grass with his scuffed and old trainers, Seth hurried towards the Quidditch pitch with his trust, recovered broom in hand. “He could have told me he had hidden it with his own one.” Seth continued to grumble in a mock-irritated way. He could never be mad at Chace. He had gotten really annoyed with his best friend a few times, but they had always blown over real quick. Seth didn’t normally hold grudges, but when he did develop one… it was probably for eternity… like with his father. Seth couldn’t think of Payton as his ‘dad’. He just couldn’t. He was his father, the person who had given him half his genes and DNA and created him, given him life; but that was it. He meant nothing more to Seth than the man who had abandoned his family, his pregnant, single-mother wife, to be with their next-door neighbour. He was the man who didn’t even visit his abandoned family once in almost a decade, and not willingly once, by his own ‘good nature’.

Seth approached the Quidditch pitch eagerly, his mumblings still coherent, but changing from reproachful chatter to little snippets of excitement. He had been anticipating some flying practice for a while; he had only recently joined the reserve team because of Chace, and although it was awfully nerve wrecking, Seth was determined too to succeed. He knew that if he put his mind to something, he could easily do well. The fact he wanted to make Chace proud of him spurred him on too. He didn’t want Chace to regret putting his faith in him. That was something Seth was extremely afraid of – letting his best friend down. Chace had never let him down, so Seth had to return the favour. Therefore, he was desperate whilst Chace worked in the Library with Lara to get some practice in. He felt less confident without his best friend, but Seth was a big boy now; he didn’t need Chace to come with him everywhere. At least he had the broomstick Chace had bought for him a few Christmases back gripped tightly in his hand. Seth treasured the gift.

Thinking about Chace, Seth’s thoughts then turned to Willow as he entered the pitch, not really looking where he was going. His mind was on his girlfriend’s last words the other day, something Seth couldn’t quite recollect. However, when he bumped into someone’s back, Seth stumbled backwards, almost falling over. Flailing his arms, he caught onto the person’s shoulder and steadied himself. “Whooooa!” Finally upright, Seth hopped away and leaned on his broom, recognising the other boy at once. “Dude, so sorry.” He quickly apologised, giving AJ Murphy an awkward smile. The Gryffindor was someone Seth didn’t know would bully him for his weirdness or not. “Quidditch practice too, huh?” Seth beamed despite his doubts, jumping on the spot due to the cold that pierced his woollen sweater. “Gryffindors, you guys are always so passionate about your Quidditch. Can’t believe you guys won the match the other day. You have a good Seeker.” Seth gave a lopsided grin. “Um… It’s cold, isn’t it?”

[AJ Murphy G6]

“Man, that game before holiday was sick, man. I thought we were going to lose to those Hufflepuffs, but then that Scott kid came through for us. Good thing too, I was starting to think we’d lose.” AJ cringed as AJ’s friend Jason spoke. They were walking around the corridors to their last class of the day, as if they had all week to get to their destination. He couldn’t believe how horribly they had done all those weeks ago. Sure, the game had been over for a matter of weeks now, but it was still hard to grasp. AJ never failed at anything, except maybe school. He was an amazing hockey player, so why couldn’t he be a good Quidditch player too? He had been unable to stop every single goal that came his way, and if it wasn’t for Ryder’s early catch of the Snitch, Gryffindor would have lost, all thanks to him. AJ grimaced. “Yeah, that Ryder kid’s got talent.” AJ said simply, trying to hide his anger. But Jason was pretty clueless, so AJ didn’t have to worry about Jason noticing he was upset about messing up. But at least he had one thing to be happy about. There had been a big hockey game outside in the courtyard just days before. Most of the older Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs had played in the game. AJ was the captain and goalie for his team, and naturally, they won. Ever since then, everyone (meaning all the girls) had completely forgotten about AJ’s pathetic performance before break.

He walked by a large group of girls and winked at them. They giggled. “We love you, AJ!” Shouted one. AJ smirked to himself. Jason smiled as well. Jason and AJ walked away, hearing the giggles echo in the distance and fade away as they walked on. He walked into his Muggle Studies class (he had chosen this elective simply for the easy grade) with a heavy sigh. He wasn’t in the mood to do work, for his mind kept wandering to the grounds outside. Professor Hardy had called on him many times, and he lazily mumbled the correct answer in response. He loved this class simply because he didn’t have to do anything to achieve high marks. Like many classes, AJ shared his Muggle Studies class with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs in his year. He kept glancing out the window, unable to keep his attention on the lesson going on up front.

Suddenly, he felt someone throw a paper ball on the back of his head. He turned around to see who had thrown it. He rolled his eyes as Chelsea Jenson smiled at him from behind him. She was sitting in the next row, one seat behind beaming at AJ with a bright smile. “Read the note!” She whispered. Her big blue eyes twinkled with mischief and she twirled her bleach blonde hair around her fingers flirtatiously, chewing on a particularly large piece of bubble gum. He unwrapped the note and read Chelsea’s neat script. So, this Rachel girl seems nice. When are you planning on dumping her? Because I was thinking maybe we’d grab a drink at the Three Broomsticks sometime this weekend. AJ rolled his eyes as he wrote back. His chicken scratch-like scrawl looked a bit out of place next to Chelsea’s neat cursive. I’m not planning on dumping her. You had your chance to date me, and you blew it.

He was trying to pass the note back to Chelsea when it was intercepted mid-pass. Hardy used her wand to steal the paper ball out of midair. AJ sighed, remembering the many intercepted passes during that Quidditch match. She took the note and read it aloud. Chelsea shrugged and laughed along with the class as if she’d had nothing to do with the note. Just as Hardy was about to deduct points from Gryffindor, the bell sounded for the end of the day. “Saved by the bell.” AJ muttered under his breath. He took off the moment he’d heard the shrill bell and headed straight for the Grounds. He looked up, wishing he’d brought his broom. “Accio Broom.” AJ said clearly. Soon enough, AJ’s broom flew out at him through an open window. He smiled and walked over to the Quidditch Pitch. He stood facing the goalposts for awhile, and before long, he had bumped right into someone. He swerved around with his broom held tightly in his hand. He relaxed a bit as he noticed Seth Wright, a Hufflepuff in his year. “Yeah, we Gryffindors do love our Quidditch.” AJ said with a proud smirk. He had a lot of Gryffindor pride, and he liked to show it in almost everything he did. He looked down at the Hufflepuff. He hadn’t played in the last game, and apart from seeing him in lessons occasionally, he really didn’t know the boy.

[Seth Wright]

Seth eyed AJ with his head tilted to the side so the sun didn’t bounce into them and render him partially blind. This was why he was so wary of AJ Murphy; his cockiness. The Gryffindor had always been so… arrogant. Seth shook his head to himself. He didn’t like arrogant people, because those people were usually the ones who liked to bully him endlessly; right back from primary school, to now in Hogwarts. Thankfully, the good thing about Gryffindors was they had a ‘normal’ amount of pride (that didn’t mean they couldn’t be snide to him, which Seth was sure AJ would be to him, he was too cool for someone like Seth), whereas the Slytherins just had too much in excess. Seth had been the victim of too many of their mind games, and he almost shivered from thinking about them. If it weren’t for Chace… “Okay, let’s not go there, Seth.” He chided mentally with a frown. All this ‘what if’ with Chace… Seth didn’t want to think about it. Seth didn’t want to imagine what his life would be like now if he hadn’t met Chace; how his life would’ve turned out. Instead, Seth looked up at AJ and squinted in the bright sunlight. “But, you know, the Huffles have their pride too. Perhaps not as openly as you Gryffs, but you know, we pack a punch, we do.” He had Huffle pride. A lot of it, actually. Seth didn’t stop nodding, before almost falling over his broom from leaning on it too much.

“Whoops.” Seth steadied himself and flushed a bit. Not looking at AJ, he switched hands holding his broomstick in an edgy manner. “Hahaha.” Laughing nervously, He looked around to occupy himself, to look as though he was doing something other than making an utter fool of himself. It was true that out of Chace and even Willow’s presence Seth turned into his old self again, which he was scared of doing. He had gained a lot of confidence since Chace walked into his life, but in the face of dominant people like AJ Murphy, Seth shrunk physically and mentally, even though he and AJ stood at exactly the same height; only difference was, same as with Chace, AJ was much more muscular and well-built than Seth, which always made him feel like he had a disadvantage. Who could blame him, since he had been beaten black and blue back in his muggle primary school days by bigger and stronger bullies. Seth had always been thin and gangly, and his growth spurt hadn’t happened until about a year since his and Chace’s first meeting. Chace had always been taller than him, but suddenly, Seth had shot up. At first he had hopes of being more muscular than Chace too, but that was simply not to be. At least, Seth supposed, he was taller than his best friend. That made him feel a little bit better. Though, the difference in height wasn’t a lot.

“Um… d’ya wanna practice?” Seth suddenly blurted out to AJ, shifting continuously from one foot to the other, an open sign of his tickling nerves. He was getting cold too from the lack of movement; it felt like his blood was freezing in his veins. “I’m a Keeper and on the reserve team too!” He beamed at the similarities between them, but wondered whether AJ would just shoot his happy sentence down. He always did appear do ‘geeky’ and annoying. “You could use the practice,” Seth continued chattily, not really looking at AJ’s facial expressions but across the pitch at the towering hoop stands. “Because I was watching the match the other day, and even though Gryffindor won, Harmony and Ivy were way good for us. Did you see those goals they powered past you? Sorry man, but I don’t think I’m the only one who needs a bit of work.” He glanced across at AJ, noticing the look in his eyes, and in alarm waved his arms and shook his head repeatedly. “Um, not that I mean that in a bad way, you know? I just mean that there’s always room for improvement. Yeah. Improvement, you know? There’s no such thing as perfection, even the best need to practice.” Shaking his head still, Seth breathed a long, deep sigh.

“I’m sorry.” He finally said a bit glumly, “I’m always like this. I say the wrong things and I offend people, and then they like to beat the hell out of me. I would probably be dead without Chace, I swear. Or at least, permanently in St Mungo’s on a ventilator to help me keep breathing. Okay, morbid imagery, let’s skip that. Anyway, what I mean is, ignore everything I just said apart from my first question. Do you want to practice? Either way, I’m not going anywhere. I have some skills to perfect.” Seth said with his head raised higher, his visage determined. His confidence returning somewhat, he couldn’t let this practice opportunity pass him by; after all, it had taken him several wasted hours to find his broom in the first place. Seth knew he had to take time by the head and face fears like AJ, whom he technically conquered years ago with Chace’s help, like a real man.

[AJ Murphy G6]

AJ could tell this Seth kid was intimidated by AJ’s presence. AJ wasn’t as vain or cold as a Slytherin, but he did get some kind of pleasure out of knowing Seth was intimidated by him. He wasn’t really much of a bully, either. He just got into trouble a lot and thought very highly of himself and his house. He didn’t appreciate a man that bullied or purposely tried to intimidate someone weaker than themselves. It was downright cowardly, and being a Gryffindor, AJ didn’t like cowards. He also didn’t appreciate people who just sat there and took the bullying. If they couldn’t fend for themselves, then there was something seriously wrong with their character. Of course, women were a completely different story. They couldn’t be expected to fend for themselves out there in the real world, although many of them did. Growing up where he did, AJ had come to see many strong women and girls who could knock a guy over with one icy glare. But sometimes, they just needed a man’s help. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that AJ could not stand people who bullied those lesser than them, and he didn’t have much appreciation for those who just stood there and took it. He was glad to see that even though Seth was obviously intimidated, he tried to retaliate. “Well I guess every house has something to be proud about. Slytherin tends to be a house full of freakishly prideful people. Before Hogwarts, I didn’t think there was a soul alive who was more arrogant than I was, but then I met a Slytherin.” AJ admitted with a smirk.

AJ chuckled as he watched Seth. He looked a bit like a bobble head doll, with all the nodding he did. Finally, he tipped over and dropped his broom. He laughed nervously, making it clear that he was extremely embarrassed. This kid was amusing to watch. He was confident, but then again he was weary and nervous. He was also pretty talkative as well. AJ wondered when Seth’s extremely long comment on AJ’s flying would end. It seemed like one big run-on sentence. Whenever he thought Seth was done talking, he fired yet another comment at AJ. He raised his eyebrow slightly. He ran his fingers through his shaggy light brown hair, not really listening. But he caught the gist of Seth was saying. Of course he needed practice, that’s why he was there in the first place. But he didn’t appreciate someone like Seth telling him he lacked any kind of skill. He already knew he had played terribly during the last game. He didn’t need reminding from this Hufflepuff. He was about to say something to defend himself when Seth started apologizing for his comments. He babbled on and on with some sob story about how he always used to get beat up by big bullies like AJ because he always managed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time in front of the wrong people. He supposed it was true, by the looks of him. He was exactly the same height as AJ, but nowhere near as muscular. He looked like a toothpick that could be broken in half quite easily. But AJ wasn’t going to be the one to do it of course, for he wasn’t a bully.

“It’s fine, I guess. I came out here to practice anyway, so why not have a partner. But next time, I would watch what you say before you started flinging comments at people. If it were someone else you’d said that to, you’d probably have a black eye right now. You’re lucky I don’t take those kinds of things personally.” He said with a teasing look in his mischievous light brown eyes. He looked up at the sky, which was a pale gray with many clouds blocking the much wanted sun. He remembered looking up at it while in the Great Hall this morning. The cold wind blew against AJ’s face, but AJ barely felt it. He wasn’t really affected by temperature. He maintained a comfortable body heat throughout any kind of weather. “You can go first. I’ll play chaser and try to score on you.”

[Seth Wright]

Seth visibly relaxed when AJ agreed to partner him for Quidditch practice. He had been expecting a violent confrontation from the Gryffindor after his tactless words. Seth always talked, but that didn’t mean he was good with his linguistics. In fact, they were usually what got him into trouble in the first place. Thankfully, Chace’s sometimes rather ominous silence could easily counteract Seth’s long trail of yap. Still, Chace was not always around, and Seth couldn’t know if he would say something stupid and get away with it without his best friend. He was grateful that AJ didn’t take his comments offensively, otherwise Seth knew he probably would be in the Hospital Wing for probably the hundredth time in his Hogwarts career. He was probably Madam Pomfrey’s most frequent patient back then; but Chace came along, and the attacks got less regular and less violent. “Sorry.” Seth’s ears glowed red from AJ’s words, embarrassed because he knew how right the other boy was. “I know that.” He muttered, gripping his broom tightly. Finally looking up at AJ rather than the ground, he gave the Gryffindor a terse smile. Somehow rendered quiet, Seth was about to turn away in shame, when he noticed the playful smile on AJ’s lips as he said he didn’t take things personally. It was a smile of acceptance, and Seth slowly let his own usual grin take over his down expression. Maybe this AJ wasn’t so bad after all.

Seth nodded when AJ offered to play Chaser first. With a determined look on his face he mounted his broom and kicked off from the ground, a little shaky, but Seth always was, especially in front of people and without a warm up. Usually his confidence built as he flew, so he would become more fluent and agile. Seth didn’t really look like a Quidditch player, with his height, and gangly, thin structure, but he was surprisingly nimble when he wasn’t being self-conscious, and had very good reflexes. If he weren’t so bad at spell casting, he would’ve made an excellent dueller. Maybe he still had it in him if he tried. Slowly Seth ascended towards the goal hoops, and upon reaching them, bopped in the rather chilly atmosphere despite the strong rays of sunlight. He was cold, but hopefully practice would warm him up; he felt a little numb and sticky right now in his movements. Conscious of AJ watching him, Seth tried not to let his nerves take over. He knew himself that when that happened his flying standards dropped significantly, and he did not want to embarrass himself again in front of the Gryffindor. Chace always pointed out Seth’s weak points and helped to rectify them, but in all honesty, the one thing Chace could not always help with was his self-consciousness of other people around him. It was true the fellow Hufflepuff made him more confident as a person, but in his own little world up there on his broomstick, it was a different matter. And right now, Chace wasn’t here to cheer him on, to will him to be good.

Seth continued to balance his body and his nerves as he watched AJ collect the Quaffle and soar upwards to join him. The Gryffindor was a much more confident flyer, but Seth had already analysed that because of his build, he was much more of an offensive player than he was a defence, and he wasn’t built for speed. Perhaps this was why AJ was a Keeper, but Seth thought he could probably utilise his talent better as a Beater. But everyone had their reasons for their positions, and some people could surprise you. Seth didn’t think AJ was a bad Keeper, but his skills did need some brushing up on. Seth himself could only really play Keeper for many reasons – the other positions he was simply awful at. His worst one was Beater; he had no muscle for hitting those Bludgers, and usually missed them completely. The Snitch was too small for Seth to see, and he wasn’t speedy enough to catch it. Chaser was probably his second best position, and Seth enjoyed the teamwork of it too, but he hated being attacked by other Chasers, and was never looking out for the Bludgers that often attacked that position. That left Keeper, and thankfully Seth was pretty good at that; he had the reflexes for the saving, and most of the game he didn’t have much else to do. Of course, there was a lot of pressure on the Keeper to keep those goals out, and yes, Seth was still learning to cope with it. “I’m ready.” Seth called as AJ neared him, a few metres away. There wasn’t much else to say; let the game begin

[AJ Murphy G6]

AJ could see Seth start to relax after AJ flashed him his signature smirk. AJ had always said he was a lover, not a fighter. He didn’t like to push people around just because he knew he had the power to. He didn’t really like to follow rules very much, but that didn’t make him a bully. AJ wasn’t one to instigate fights between his classmates. Some people said it was because AJ was a coward, but he definitely was no coward. He was a Gryffindor after all. He didn’t get sorted into the house known for its brave and courageous graduates for nothing. AJ had always thought he was meant to be in Gryffindor. He was strong, he was courageous, and he loved to have fun. He could never see himself in any other house. He wasn’t ambitious or sneaky enough to be a Slytherin, and he definitely wasn’t wise or clever enough to be a Ravenclaw. Sure, there was some wit under all that haze of laziness, but AJ tended not to tap into it unless he really wanted or needed to. For the most part, AJ was proud to say he was a basically self-centered person. He frankly didn’t care about other people’s problems, and he didn’t intend on going out of his own way to be nice to some firstie he felt sorry for. AJ couldn’t be a Hufflepuff for that reason alone.

He sighed as his eyes wandered off to the courtyard, where people were walking around everywhere. It was still early in the evening, so there were still many people about. AJ looked away from the courtyard in the distance and looked back at Seth, who looked nervous standing in front of AJ. He tried not to laugh. There was really no reason to be nervous around AJ. The kid acted like AJ was going to turn around and curse him mercilessly if he did something wrong or something. AJ sighed. Seth reminded AJ a lot of his little brother Ty. The third year did have some potential, but he was simply too nervous and jittery, and followed people’s orders too much. AJ loved the fact that Ty listened to everything he said, but he would respect his little brother a lot more if he stood up to AJ for once in his life. He was a decent kid, but sadly, he got bullied often, making AJ have to save his butt often. He didn’t particularly like the fact that his brother was so dependent on AJ, but it was his duty as a brother to help him out. Not to mention he loved seeing the look on those kids’ faces whenever AJ told them they were messing around with his little brother.

AJ chuckled when Seth mumbled an apology. “It’s fine. Let’s just get to flying already. I’m getting bored just standing here.” He smirked as he watched Seth fly up into the gray sky nervously. As soon as he reached the goal posts, AJ flew up as well, carrying the Quaffle he’d found in a dumpster in Hogsmeade. He’d cleaned it off of course, but the large red ball still carried a faint stench of old fish. AJ aimed for the middle goal post, seeing as it was the highest of the three, and therefore the hardest to get to quickly. He gripped the Quaffle and just as the ball was about to leave AJ’s fingertips, he heard a rather annoying voice that made AJ cringe. He jumped, making the ball fly at top speed straight toward Seth’s stomach. He didn’t get to see whether it had caused Seth any damage or not, for he wrenched his head around to see who had caused the shivers down AJ’s spine…and not the good kind of shivers either. “Care if I join you guys?” The voice was female, and AJ didn’t even need to whirl his head around to know the voice of Chelsea Jenson…but he turned around anyway. “Do you enjoy stalking me, Jenson?” He said with a raised eyebrow. “Alright. I didn’t know we were back to using surnames, but it’s kinda sexy if you ask me. You’re hilarious, Murphy. But I’m thinking of joining the Gryffindor team. Let me practice with you guys!” AJ rolled his eyes. “I’ll let Seth decide.” AJ whirled around on his broom and faced Seth. “Seth! Do you mind if she tags along? Trust me; it’s perfectly fine if you don’t feel like teaching her the rules of the game right now.”

[Seth Wright]

Seth watched as AJ was about to shoot the Quaffle, when a familiar figure suddenly caught his gaze. A blur of red – evidently a Gryffindor – was joining AJ on a broomstick, long hair blowing in the wind. Seth squinted his eyes, trying to make the girl out. Who was she? His girlfriend or something? However, evidently AJ hadn’t noticed her arrival, and so Seth tried to warn him as she sneaked up behind the boy. “Hey, um, AJ--” He began to call out. However, before Seth could manage to finish his warning, AJ seemed to jump in surprise; the girl had spoken, alerting him to her presence. Seth would’ve chuckled a little at his reaction had AJ not let the Quaffle come flying his way in due to his astonishment, its strength too much, its direction not towards the goal posts, but at Seth himself. Seth had barely any time to react, but thanks to his fast reflexes, his hands were pushed before his stomach, and the Quaffle hit the spot exactly. However, that didn’t stop the power of the ball from pushing Seth’s body backwards. He gave a yelp of surprise, trying to stem the flow of strength from the Quaffle, and his legs tightened around his broom to try to keep himself stationary. Still, Seth’s back scraped against air as he was furthered a metre or so. AJ was strong, that he could easily tell, and his throws packed a punch! The end tip of his broom brushed against one of the posts before he managed to stop moving, causing Seth to give a low whistle in admiration. “Dude, that was pure power!” Seth was saying, steadying himself and flying forwards with the Quaffle in hand.

He looked up to see AJ’s attention not on him though; instead it was on the girl who was smirking beside him. Finally Seth recognised her; Chelsea was her name… a Gryffindor like AJ, and one whom Seth didn’t exactly have a good impression of. ”Maybe I should stop being so cynical.” Seth thought to himself as he rolled the Quaffle between his hands, his ears half picking up the pair’s conversation. ”Or maybe not.” He ended up smiling in amusement as AJ addressed Chelsea in a not-so-friendly manner. Maybe Seth’s intuition wasn’t half bad. Their banter was starting to get on his nerves though, and assumingly, AJ’s too, and Seth wasn’t a patient person. However, he had never been the assertive type – not with these kinds of people anyway – and so remained silent until he was involved again. His impatience getting the better of him, he began to play with the Quaffle, throwing it into the air, somersaulting, and catching it. He wasn’t the most skilled at these tricks; they were little things he had learnt off Chace. Seth had never been much of a manipulator of the broom, but he enjoyed the flying. He almost let the Quaffle fall and topple over his broom when AJ finally called to him again, causing him to yelp in surprise as his fingers hung onto the red ball and his feet gripped around his broom. Seth didn’t like to be injured.

Seth finally adjusted his balance and looked to AJ with an expression of surprise and confusion on his face. His eyes flickered to Chelsea when AJ mentioned her, and she smiled sweetly back at him. However, although she was a pretty girl, Seth got the impression she wasn’t as innocent as she looked; in fact, he was sure there was more under that visage than people thought. He didn’t know much about Chelsea, nor did he want to, and he had never spoken to her – she was the type to ignore him outright – and so he wasn’t particularly inclined to say yes to allowing her to participate. Seth could’ve sworn she said she wanted to join the Gryffindor team before, and wondered if she really was a Quidditch player. She didn’t look it. But there he was being judgemental again, and Seth always found it hard saying no. Chelsea’s expression wasn’t helping his slow decision either. After a long stretch of silence, Seth gave a nervous, but forcibly casual shrug. “I’m not bothered, it’s your call, right? She’s your friend, isn’t she?” His smile was weak. “I mean, you decide. I don’t mind either way. And I can’t teach, so, um, maybe you should, you know?” Seth fidgeted with the Quaffle tensely, hating the way Chelsea’s eyes bored into his skull. He purposefully avoided her gaze and flew up beside AJ, careful to remain as far away from her as possible.

“I’ve never been good at memorising the rules of the game.” He explained quietly to AJ, glancing furtively at Chelsea on the other side. She caught his gaze and held it, and nervously he spoke. “Hiya… Chelsea, isn’t it? Er, I’m Seth Wright.” He thought about extending a hand, but quickly cast the thought away. He had the Quaffle in his arms for an excuse, after all, but to be honest, he was just scared of her rejecting to shake it. He wondered absently if she knew his name already, but highly doubted it; or if she did, she would probably think he was a loser too. “So, which position do you play?” He pushed along with a lopsided smile, wishing that Chace was available to bail him out of this situation. He really didn’t like the vibe from this Chelsea, and although he was scared of AJ (and now even more scared of his power with a Quaffle! – he couldn’t believe he had saved it without falling off his broom), he felt accepted around the other boy. Chelsea just made his skin crawl.