Hope Starts Broken Hearts

“So, Mira,” Maggie squeaked as she hurried beside me; her short legs taking double the amount of steps I needed to take. “Why are we looking for Malfoy again?”

As the two of us proceeded through the Hogwarts castle, heads shifting all directions as we scanned the faces of the familiar and unfamiliar students, I stopped my searching for a second to look at the quirky red-head beside me.

“Again?” I questioned, staring at her strangely. “Maggie, I don’t remember telling you why before.”

“That’s because you didn’t!” She crossed her arms and halted to an abrupt stop. “So explain!”

I sighed at her stubbornness, my once hasty pace excessively slowing down. “I just need to talk to him.”

“About?” she raised a curious eyebrow up.

“Something,” I replied flatly. “Duh.”

Her blank, yet aggravated look reminded me that my being ‘blunt’ irritated her. She tapped her foot impatiently while I eventually stopped my walking.

“Are you ever going to tell me?”

“Of course, Maggie,” I replied honestly. “After dinner tonight. Promise. Just help me find Draco for now.”

“I found him,” a voice sounded from the side of us, and as both our heads averted that direction, a rather bored looking Aspen was walking up to us.

“Where is he?” I immediately asked.

“Quidditch Pitch,” he replied as he stepped up to us. “He’s practicing with the rest of the Slytherin team.”

Maggie sent him a confused stare. “What were you doing at the Quidditch Pitch? Last time I checked, you weren’t exactly a huge fan of the sport.”

Which was exactly right. While Maggie and I watched every game of Quidditch we could, bewildered by the excitement of it and all, Aspen sat back and waited for it to be over. More specifically, he waited for the game to end when he wasn’t asleep through it.

“Clyde and Heidi are over there,” he explained.

I felt my entire body tense up at the mention of their names.

Remembering the current situation, I suddenly found the need to go over to the Quidditch Pitch just to see if Clyde was okay, rather than talk to Draco, seeing as how they’re in the same area as Heidi. I could practically picture Heidi sneaking glances at Draco as he played, and Clyde's heart breaking the more he noticed. I forced the picture out of my head.

She wasn't the only one sneaking glances up at the Slytherin seeker while he was playing.

“Apparently the Ravenclaw team is practicing after. What position did Heidi play again?” Aspen continued. “Chaser, was it?”

“No,” corrected Maggie, standing stiffly as if certain she were correct. “She’s a Beater.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure she’s the Seeker,” Aspen added, changing his mind. “Right?”

“Beater!” Maggie argued.

“She’s the Keeper,” I shook my head, muttering “idiots,” just under my breath, which apparent was a smart move since they didn’t catch the insult. “Anyways, I’m off to the Quidditch Pitch, then,” I told them just as I started walking off.

“Wait!” Maggie cried. “If the Slytherin team is out there, that means Montague is there which means Storm is probably there, too!”

“Very good, Maggie,” Aspen clapped his hands twice, as if encouraging her brilliant remark, forcing a triumphant grin on the small girl’s face. Aspen then looked at me and smiled. “I’ll catch you guys later, then. I just came from the pitch.”

We nodded before bidding our goodbyes to Aspen as he walked the opposite direction we did. I carried on a conversation on our way outside, turning to the happy third year trailing beside my figure. “You really do need to leave the poor boy alone, you know.”

“Who, Aspen?” she wondered curiously.

“No, Storm.”

“That’d be silly, Mira! He’s my future husband, remember?” She was smiling so wide that her pearly white teeth shone. “Darling needs to get used to having me around.” She then nodded her head quite a few times.

“Does he know you’re his future wife?” I smirked arrogantly.

Maggie’s face fell almost sadly as she shook her head. “No,” she muttered softly, and then instantly brightened up both her face and her tone. “But we will get married, just you watch!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. “I guess time will tell.”

In all honestly, I didn’t think that was ever going to happen. Storm Everard is a sixth year Slytherin, best friend of Graham Montague, another Slytherin Chaser. Storm was also the oldest brother of Effie and Emmy, making him another of Clyde's cousins. He was a rather arrogant one, most definitely attractive, standing taller than most boys in his year. It’s not like Maggie was a hopeless romantic or anything, but I see Storm merely playing with her, rather than liking her more than a friend. Maggie always went for the guys that had a large crowd of female admirers, which I found terribly disappointing because she has to compete with quite a lot of other girls. At least she managed to lay off Cedric Diggory when he started taking interest in Cho Chang.

After a few pointless conversations, the two of us had finally reached the Quidditch Pitch. I wasn’t surprised at all when Maggie instantly spotted Storm across the field, causing her to ecstatically scream his name and run over to him. He looked like a mix between frightened and gleeful when he noticed her, cracking an awkward grin. He then looked passed her and noticed me from the across the field, then waved a single hand in the air in greeting. I smiled and did the same, then walked along the border of the large oval the Slytherin team flew around in.

I looked around in the stands where very few people gathered to watch, and couldn’t help but notice the Ravenclaw team at the far end, waiting patiently for their turn to practice. I immediately spotted Heidi in the small crowd of blue robes, and then Clyde standing next to her. They didn’t notice our entrance, (which was unbelievable with Maggie screaming Storm’s name from the other side of the pitch) and I was actually quite thankful. It felt awkward facing those two now that I knew what was going on.

It took me a couple minutes to reach the closer end of the oval. Even with my hasty walking, the entire playing area was considerably huge, about 500 feet long and over 150 feet wide. I sat myself down in the lush, and rather healthy green grass, leaning against the large wall enclosing the entire pitch.

As I watched all of the seven players on the Slytherin team, I recognized each one of them fairly easy by knowing who played what position. The easiest to recognize was the familiar pale skin and white blonde hair that I came looking for, even as he flew several meters in the air at an incomprehensible speed.

It wasn’t until after a few minutes of watching him play did he finally catch me staring. Draco’s eyes never left mine for what seemed like hours, but was actually only a little over two seconds in reality. A large voice broke both of our gazes, causing our attention to switch over to Marcus Flint.

He was captain of the team at that time, who’s voice carried over the whole stadium while floating at the center. “Alright, that’s enough for today, boys,” he announced. Perfect timing, Belle. “The Pitch is all yours, Ravenclaw,” he finished up, and I watched as the team itself stood up and made their way down from the stands.

Clyde and Heidi grabbed my attention a moment after. They exchanged a few more words, both smiling extremely wide, before Heidi ran off to meet with the rest of the team. Clyde remained in his spot, most likely to stay and watch. Everything looked completely fine—that is, until Heidi finally noticed I was there. Her ocean blue eyes stared sullenly at me. It felt completely bizarre, truthfully, because I considered Heidi a good friend.

The thing that was weird was the look she gave me—which made it feel the absolute opposite.

"Could use all the practice they get," I suddenly heard, and Draco was flying toward me. His eyes watched the Ravenclaws take flight, however, and looked oddly entertained while doing so. "They're lucky there's no season this year. Maybe by next year, even the lousy Gryffindors will consider them a challenge, and that's saying a lot."

The Prince of Slytherin then made a graceful landing a few feet in front of me. My eyes never left his figure, which now parted from the broomstick under him. He carried it along with a single arm as he walked over to me with a confident gait.

I tried no to look too captivated by his presence, but it was no secret why girls admired him. Deep down, I think it's in our female genes to be attracted to bad boys.

"You always have something mean to say about everything, don't you," I said as he stood beside me, leaning against the wall.

He looked down at my perched figure. "Like how you're quite pathetic sitting in the middle of the Pitch alone?"

"I'm your very best friend, and you have nothing nice to say at all?"

"You looked magnificent sitting quite pathetically in the middle of the Pitch alone."

"Ha ha," I faked a laugh.

Jokes on you, Malfoy. I sat alone to bait you in and you took it like a hungry fish.

The boy sniggered in amusement, but didn't reply. He was instead watching the Ravenclaws in flight, circling the air on broomsticks and passing the Quaffle at one another. Just a second ago the cocky blonde was insulting the team on their skills, and now he looked almost mesmerized. Behind the hateful stares and comments, it was obvious that he loved the game itself, no matter who was playing.

I was unintentionally staring at him again, but thank Merlin I looked away fast enough when he grabbed my attention again and broke the silence by asking, “D'you play?”

I've frequently played with Clyde and his cousins, and Heidi of course when she visited in the summer, but I don't think that quite counted. We were all straight rubbish at the game in all honestly. Flying is easy, but throw in some bats, bludgers, a quaffle and a snitch in there it becomes quite difficult just getting where you need to go.

“No, I don’t,” I simply replied. “I’d rather be cheering you guys on then falling off my broomstick.”

When I looked up at Draco now, his straight face inverted. “Shame,” he then muttered, sliding his back down so that he was now perched on the ground with me.

“Why,” I started, facing him, “do you prefer girls that play Quidditch?”

“Why,” he repeated, locking his icy gaze onto mine, and his mouth curled even wider, “are you interested?”

“No.” Smooth, Mirabelle. Reply any fasted and you might as well tell him you love him.

I heard a snicker emit from his mouth before he asked, “Why d’you sound a little defensive?”

“I don’t,” I stated bluntly, turning to him again after my face returned to its normal color. “Anyway, Malfoy, can I talk to you about something?”

“Didn’t really give me a choice there, did you?”

I shot him a sharp glare, which seemed to be a nicer way of telling him to shut up, in my opinion. Draco’s face immediately turned it’s natural, cold expression, and he muttered, “Fine. Talk.”

“It’s about Heidi,” I said, staring at him in pure melancholy.

He obviously didn’t sense the solemn vibe that I did, with the complacent frown on his face. “I thought we already established that I didn’t remember her.”

I stared up at the center of the Quidditch Pitch where the Ravenclaw team just started splitting up. My eyes eventually found Heidi, who flew over to her position as Keeper at the goal posts. I brought my hand up to point a single finger at her.

“Face ring a bell?” I asked him.

He examined her for a bit, and then slowly nodded. “Actually, yes,” he murmured, sounding a bit surprised. “I do remember dating her. Was all for shits and giggles at first, quite honestly."

"Until?" I looked up at him.

"'till she got too bloody attached."

I rolled my eyes and played with the grass under my hands. Girlfriends and their men are supposed to be attached, right? "So Heidi and Pansy, huh? How many other hearts have you broken?"

This time, he snickered. "You'd be surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, looking up again. Draco was already looking at me at when I did. His gray eyes were mesmerizing, but his smile was dangerous.

Ever so quietly, he muttered, "just pray that you aren't the next."

Right when he did, I looked up at the pitch, and Heidi’s wandering eyes met mine. They immediately widened at the scene she was currently staring at and a sneer enveloped her pretty face. Sitting beside and talking to the boy she loved—right in front of her, may I add—is unmistakably the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, Mirabelle Crowe.

I stood up quickly. "Walk me to the Great Hall?"

Draco raised a curious brow up, but pulled himself up off the ground otherwise.