Choices

Valerie had been mad at the start of the quidditch game but now she was fuming.

It had all started this morning when she had entered the changing room with the rest of the Slytherin team to find a lamb running around frantically, trashing everything in sight. Their uniforms had been torn to pieces as well as having mud prints from where the lamb had stepped on it thanks to it having rained yesterday. Not to mention the quidditch equipment was all over the place and mixed up between the different players. For the lamb being such a small animal he had made quite a mess and didn’t give up easily when two of the chasers went after it. It was only after Valerie cast a spell to make the lamb freeze that they were able to grab him.

She wished a second later that she hadn’t allowed them to catch it since around the lamb’s neck was tied a ribbon with a note that said “A Little Lamb for the Little Lamb—W.” Even without the signature Valerie would clearly have known where the animal had come from. The blasted asshole was always doing things like this! All of last year George had tortured her with prank after prank: slipping foods that made her sick, stealing her homework, putting something in her bag that sang very loudly during one of her exams, or even putting a spell on her that turned her skin into a sort of mood detector so that she walked around school red for a whole day because none of the professors knew how to reverse it. George certainly was making up for have left Valerie alone for the first two years at Hogwarts and he had quickly become her least favorite person in the world.

And the jokes didn’t seem to be letting up since coming back this year. Only last week George had put something in her pumpkin juice that had made her turn things in front of her into feathers every time she sneezed. The worst part was that she must have been allergic to whatever feather it was and so the more she sneezed the more feathers appeared that made her sneeze even more. Even after having received detention for it George didn’t seem to mind and had grinned deviously at her after he had been called into Professor Snape’s office for a stern lecture.

Valerie had been very patient with George but the fact that he had let loose a lamb to wreak havoc and then left the note was just plain evil of him. He had no idea how hard it had been to convince Marcus to be let on the Slytherin Quidditch team since he believed women were weak on the field especially since Valerie wanted the Beater position which was notorious for always going to boys. She had had to prove herself on the field for weeks and put so much more into practice than all the others to show him that she was not just a feeble female but had skills and not only a pretty powerful arm but balance that would serve her and team well in games.

And now this!

Marcus had glanced at her with the disgusted look of a guy that thought girls foolish. Everyone knew about George’s stupid nickname for her and the fact that he paid special attention to her when it came to mischief. Valerie knew what people of her House whispered behind her back about her maybe being involved with George which was ridiculous! She would rather strangle him than even do so little as hug him.

So things had not begun quite in the way she had envisioned the day going but once on the field she ignored George, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had hit a nerve. Valerie let him fly obnoxiously around her, obviously showing off and turned her attention to the game. Soon his twin had flown towards him and had yelled at him to get his head in the game. With a last speedy pass by Valerie that had made her hold on to her broom so she wouldn’t fall off he had left her in peace.

However, he typically was making trouble. She saw that George was deliberately targeting Draco with his aims of the bludger and she snapped. Valerie flew to the left, dodging one of the Gryffindor chasers and then pulled her broom up so that she could get a good aim on the oncoming bludger.

“Oh no you don’t George Weasley!” Valerie yelled as she took both hands off her broom so that she could put as much force as possible in her hit. With years of practice she was able to keep her balance and swung her arms, connecting with the bludger and sending it straight at George. With the speed behind the hit he shouldn’t have been able to avoid it yet somehow he managed to flip around so that he was hanging upside down on his broom.

“Bloody hell woman! Are you trying to kill me?” he asked cocking his eyebrow up. He should have looked silly hanging there but somehow he didn’t. His hair was windblown, brown eyes full of fire and amusement, and his arms perfectly outlined by the uniform that Valerie saw the muscles flex from holding himself in place. She found herself again unable to speak in his company.

Pushing past the lump in her throat she growled, “If I could be so lucky!”

George threw his head back and laughed out loud while Valerie studied the field around her, hoping for another bludger to come by so she could try to hit him again.

“Did you like my present little lamb?” George asked as he righted himself and flew towards Valerie. She stiffened as he guided his broom expertly to come to hover so close to her that their legs brushed against one another.

“George, stop flirting and pay attention to the game!” cried his brother zooming past them to cover Potter who was being targeted by the other Slytherin beater.

Valerie kicked her leg out to try and push George away but all she got for her troubles was the tantalizing brush of his powerful legs, “Listen to your brother and run along.”

“I’d rather stay here with you.”

Valerie snorted at him, “I’d rather vault off my broom than be near you.”

“You want to vault off your broom just to have an excuse for me to catch you and have you in my arms,” he replied confidently. “I see the way you look at me.”

“With repulsion and loathing? Yeah, I don’t try very hard to mask it,” Valerie said sarcastically pushing her blond hair out of her eyes. “Just leave me alone Weasley.”

To prove the point she was trying to make she flew away from him to try and cover her brother from Fred’s attack. Valerie had just launched a bludger at one of the Gryffindor players when she heard the familiar sound of a bludger from behind her. Only her reflexes saved her as she flattened her body on her broom. The bludger had been so close that she felt it brush her hair as it whiz past her. Pissed, she slowly turned her head to lock on the culprit responsible for her near decapitation.

George flashed her a white smirk as he coolly flipped his bat in his hands like he didn’t have a care in the world. Fury boiled in Valerie’s veins. Not only was he constantly making her life a living hell and picking on her brother but now he was trying to kill her!

“Georgie you better haul ass and get the hell out of here,” warned Fred when he caught the look in her eyes.

“Did I get your attention now?” George asked, ignoring his brother and following Valerie’s path towards him.

“Do not add fuel to the burning fire,” Fred shook his head at his brother.

“Come get me sweetheart,” George teased as he ducked the bat Valerie threw at his huge egotistic head.

“Ouch, that was the last nail to your coffin brother,” Fred said but was looking quite happy despite his words.

“Here I am sweetheart,” Valerie spit out the last part like it was dirt in her mouth right before she hurled herself off of her broomstick plowing into George’s shocked face. Valerie had been so consumed by her anger that she had forgotten that they were hundreds of feet in the air. Valerie couldn’t bite back the scream that tore from her throat but George recovered fast and it was only his quick thinking that saved them from plummeting to the earth. He let go of his bat and grabbed Valerie’s waist with one hand and his broom handle with the other. Valerie found her arms behind George’s neck holding on for dear life as the crowd roared.

“Well that wasn’t very lamb-like of you,” George chuckled while Valerie tried not to look down at the distance it would take for her to fall and become a pancake.

“This is no time for your jokes Weasley,” Valerie replied through clenched teeth seeing from the corner of her eyes all the players stopping the game as they realized something was wrong.

“I think you are slipping—“

“What?!” Valerie squealed in fright and wrapped her legs around him to keep from falling.

“You need to move up a little so I can get a better grip on you,” George instructed.

“Okay.” Valerie plastered her body even closer to his and moved smoothly up his long lean length, trying to ignore the way her body was tingling from his closeness and the perfect way their bodies fit. Then she felt George’s hand on her behind and gasped in outrage. “What do you think you are doing?!”

“Relax, it’s only to help you.” At this point she was too frightened of falling to her death to care much so ignored the awkwardness of having his large hand on her butt. With his hand positioned on her ass he lifted her a few more delicious inches up his body before wrapping his arm around her middle and holding her side.

“Don’t you dare drop me,” Valerie whispered burying her face against the side of his neck.

“Never,” George promised, for once his voice conveying seriousness. His hold tightened on her and Valerie felt safe and protect like she never had before. “But I have to point out that I did say you wanted an excuse for me to hold you.”

Valerie’s head snapped up and she tried to glare at him as he smiled but couldn’t help the corner of her lip from turning up.

“Valerie!” broke in Draco’s worried voice just as she felt his arm stealing around her waist. “I’ve got you.”

It was harder than she cared to admit to let go of George but after a minute longer than was appropriate she did and let her brother pull her onto his broom with the help of George, who kept a hold of her hand so she didn’t fall. Only when she was safely tucked in Draco’s arms did George let go of her and get back on his own broom.

Draco didn’t fly away towards the Slytherin side of the field instead turning to George, “Touch my sister again and you will regret it.”

“Draco,” Valerie tugged at his uniform to get his attention. “You saw what happened it was all me. George only saved me.”

Valerie looked up to find George starting at her with passion and it felt like lightening past between them in that moment. Too late, she realized that she had actually called him by his first name and looked back at her brother so George didn’t see the blush that spread across her cheeks.

Draco didn’t seem to have heard what Valerie had said or even noticed the electricity in the air, “You’ve been warned Weaslebie.”

A burst of speed had the two of them on the ground surrounded by the Slytherin team. A chaser handed Valerie her broom as she stepped away from her brother.

“That was brilliant,” he complimented. “Too bad he didn’t go down.”

“Yeah it would have been one less blood traitor in the world,” added Draco.

“Those twins are a menace, someone had to teach them a lesson,” another Slytherin put in.

“That was quite a stunt,” Marcus observed.

“Didn’t work though, he still ended up on his broom.” Valerie busied herself with imaginary fluff on her uniform so that they couldn’t see her eyes. How could they be standing there saying these things when she owed George her life for helping her when all she had done was act like a complete lunatic?

“Better stay off of him for the rest of the game since he might want to get back at you,” cautioned Marcus with a new glitter in his eyes. He was almost looking at her with interested as he patted her shoulder and then let his wandering hand caress her neck. She shivered in wariness and nodded, taking a step away from him. She straddled her broom and saw George studying her from across the shoulder of his Captain on the other end of the field. He didn’t look happy and was staring daggers into Marcus’s back. Valerie kicked off hard from the ground and didn’t try to read too much into the look and the way her heart was fluttering in her chest at the thought that he might be jealous.

The game quickly resumed, Slytherin getting a foul thanks to her actions. When they were twenty minutes back into the game and everyone was focused on winning Valerie dared to fly near George.

Under her breath she said, “I’m sorry for what I did and thank you for saving me.”

Valerie made sure she was a few feet away from George before looking over her shoulder. His devil-may-care grin was back in place and he mouthed, “Until next time.”

Valerie’s heart raced at the thought.