Open Bets, Butterbeer, and brooding.

[Willow Cullen]

She had lost. it wasn't any consolation that she had put up a good fight, that the Ravenclaw beater had had it out for the seekers, or that she was injured. She had lost. She had not stuck around with the team. after seeing the nurse she had gone to the tower and dug out the butterbeers she had bought for losing the bet. but she hadn't expected to lose like this. she had expected syrus to have caught the snitch and them to be celebratory butterbeer. but she had been the one who had failed. and she had lost. by the time she had returned to the common room the first members of the team were arriving back. she gave them to them and then left, taking about four for herself, she had misjudged when she had bought them. she opened a bottle and drank as she slowly wandered down, trying to use back corridors instead of the main staircases, she wanted to find someplace she could be alone. her thoughts went to the cliffs but she didn't want to walk that far. instead she stopped on the sixth-floor corridor and found a little alcove with a window seat. she had brought her guitar with her but didn't feel like playing. instead, she finished the first bottle and opened the second.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob didn't know where they'd gone wrong. They'd practiced really hard, and he knew the team was ready. The Gryffindor didn't want to play the blame game nor had he wanted to stick around and listen to any play by play of the game, so he'd escaped the locker room as quickly as he'd been able to and headed for the castle, hands in his pockets and lost in thought. Jacob knew he would need to eventually check on Syrus, but he'd never had the feeling Syrus liked him much and he was already feeling guilty enough about not having been able to protect him without whatever blame Syrus might put on his shoulders. Losing was tough, but losing as the captain was tougher. He questioned every decision he and Marcos had made, and he even questioned whether he was right for this job. Jacob wondered if perhaps he was too young. Perhaps all the people behind the whispers he'd heard had it right. Only his trust in Lizzie kept him from falling too deeply down that negative path. Jacob didn't know how long he'd been wandering, but his steps eventually brought him towards Gryffindor Tower, and that's when he spotted Willow. She looked as sad as he felt. Still, Jacob felt compelled to say something to her. It hadn't been her fault. "Hey" Jacob said, the word sounding completely glum.

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow held her guitar close to her. There was something about the smooth, cool wood that was comforting. It reminded her of home. of sitting on her dad's boat watching him fish. even that memory could only bring a small slight smile to her lips for a fleeting moment. instead of playing she rested her head in the grove of its body. her eyes closing as she felt a tear escape and run down her cheek.
she was brought back to reality by the sound of footsteps along the corridor. It was not the corridor that really led to anywhere useful, at least not on days where there were no classes. she looked up and wiped the tear away as she saw someone approach her. "Hey Jacob." she said. his voice sounded as empty as she felt. It had been her fault they had lost, if she had flown a little faster she would have caught the snitch. she had been close a couple of times. maybe if she been paying more attention she could have dodged the bludgers and not have lost focus due to the pain. "Sorry i messed up" she said. it wasn't much to say. but there wasn't really much else she could say. without reminding them both with what they had lost.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

The match had been a long one, and the result hadn't been good for their team. Fleur was a little sad Gryffindor had lost, but she wasn't as crushed as some of her teammates seemed to be. Perhaps it was because she hadn't actually played herself, or perhaps because she couldn't help feeling proud of Lars for how well he had done as a keeper for the other team, or perhaps it was simply her nature, Fleur had never been very competitive. Whatever it was, Gryffindor's loss wasn't saddening Fleur as much as it seemed to do for some of the others on the team, and she was wondering if she could do something to cheer them up. She was wandering the corridors, hoping to either run into someone on the Gryffindor team or her brother, though she had thought that perhaps the Ravenclaw team was having a party. Fleur noticed Jacob wandering nearby, and as he stopped, she noticed he had stopped near Willow. Both of them looked upset, and as Fleur approached she could hear Willow apologize for messing up. "You didn't." She said, giving them both a quick smile in greeting as she approached. "Sorry to intrude, but Willow, you didn't mess up. Being a seeker is partly luck, and the other seeker just got lucky." She shrugged. She almost mentioned that the Ravenclaw seeker had also not been hit by bludgers as much, but realized in time that Jacob was standing here and might take that as an insult. She turned her attention to the boy, who seemed to be taking it hard as well. "You did a good job, Jacob. We had all practiced a lot, and you could tell by how you guys played. Everyone worked together really well." She said encouragingly, though even as she said it, she knew her words weren't going to be enough to cheer them up.

 

[Kace Corelli]

Kace was disappointed that the first game he attended Gryffindor had lost, badly. It was like the seeker on the other team and one of their beaters worked in sync. The seeker would go searching for the snitch and the beater would be doing all they can to knock Gryffindor's seeker out. It was amazing and a pain in the arse to watch at the same time. Kace was giving it some second thoughts about joining the team next year. If that's how they played, he really was considering trying out or not. In the meantime, Kace slipped behind Willow when she left the common room. She looked all kinds of sad, and Kace wanted to be the one to cheer her up. That was the plan, but then the others arrived out of nowhere. Kace ducked behind a knight statute and crouches low so they wouldn't notice him. Maybe he wasn't the ideal person to be cheering Willow up, he might say something stupid and worsen her mood. He was second-guessing the plan. As he maneuvered behind the statute to get back in the common room, Kace ended up tripping over his untied laces. He went falling out from behind the statue and instantly turn into a head roll on the ground. Kace stops with his legs and arms sprawled out right in front of the others. He smiles broadly with an apologetic look crossing his eyes. "Oops, my bad," Kace spoke genuinely with a laugh. Maybe it wasn't the right time to laugh, but he had just fallen on his arse in front of the Gryffindor's house team. What a way to make an entrance. "Yo! That was some game, huh? That intensity level was way high! Willow, is it? You gotta show me how to fly, man, and your bat is dope!" Kace turns to Jake. Okay, maybe he will try out, especially if they were on the team. He couldn't believe he was actually talking to them.

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow had not accepted any assurances to come from behind her. not that she was expecting any assurances. Jacob was in front of her and he looked just as ready to blame himself or someone else as she felt. she hadn't thought anyone else would be around on such an out of the way corridor but turning around she was not too surprised to see fleur she could have hugged her. she suddenly felt like she needed a hug, a big one from her cousin or aunt. "not only did I not get the snitch I also was paying so little attention to the rest of the game that I didn't even see the bludgers coming towards me. it is a good thing the beater had a bad aim" she said. she was sure there was more hit towards her that didn't make it close enough to hit her. she was about to agree with fleur as she tried to reassure Jacob that they had plaid well even though she wasn't sure quite how well they played. she had hardly seen some of the players doing anything. did you guys want a butterbeer to drown in. I have a couple of spare here" she said picking one of the clsoed ones up before taking a swig of her own. she had needed something to drown in and even though the alcohol content was probably no stronger than some rum fudge just the butterscotch taste made her feel better. Lust then there was a clatter from further down the corridor. he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and then fallen over something. he didn't let that stop him. She wasn't sure if he realised it but his energy was just not fitting in with the mood everyone else was in. she wasn't sure how to respond when he asked her to teach him to fly. she really didn't think she had done a good job. she definitely didn't have the energy both physical or emotional to do so today. but she didn't want to let him down. it wasn't often people looked up to her or wanted to be like her. she smiled a weak slightly sad smile. "thanks" she said. "Maybe someday, but not today" she said. "you just need to practice so long as you know the basics" she said. her tone flattened and hse wasn't displaying much emotion.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob waved a hand in dismissal, about to remind Willow she'd come in as a replacement and wasn't to blame at all when he was interrupted by another player from their team. The teenager listened, the words he'd been about to say escaping the other girl's lips, making him feel even more inferior as a captain. He dropped his gaze, a pang of sadness engulfing him. Who had he been kidding?

The teenager was thinking of leaving when a boy did a roll in front of them. Jacob looked up, a little startled, though a small grin crossed his face as the compliment was offered his way. He knew he was a good Beater. He wanted to be a good captain too. He just didn't know how to be. Jacob shook his head at the offer of butterbeer and then decided to finally find his voice again. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Wills. We'll get them next time" he stated, wishing he could have added some enthusiasm to his words. Pretending to be hopeful just now was impossible though.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur had hoped her words would have an encouraging effect, but she wasn't sure if she had achieved that. A new boy came up to them and spoke admiringly to both Willow and Jacob. Fleur smiled, glad that the kid had approached. Perhaps this was what they needed more than her words. She was usually pretty good at cheering up her siblings, but she could understand how anything she said would sound hollow to people who had actually played in the match. Fleur didn't take a butterbeer, but thanked Willow for the offer anyway. "Neither of you should be hard on yourself." Fleur said after Jacob told Willow not to. "We gave them a fight, and next time we'll be victorious." She kept her voice light, though she did believe her own words. Gryffindor had played very well, and Fleur was starting to think a lot of the game just came down to luck. But it didn't seem possible to convince either the captain or the seeker of that at the moment .