Closed Cheer you up

[Jessica Cade]

The Quidditch match had been difficult to watch for Jess and not just because she had been rooting for Ravenclaw. She was sad for her cousin, she knew Jackson had worked hard during the season to win the cup but hopefully he would have another chance. Who she really felt for was October, she would be graduating shortly and it had been her last chance to win the cup. Not only had October's team lost but she had taken three bludger hits and was taken out of the game and she wasn't the last Ravenclaw seeker to be taken out. Once the game was over and Slytherin declared the winner Jess made her way away from the pitch and from the celebrations of the Slytherin's and toward the hospital wing. No doubt it would be a busy evening for the hospital wing staff with a number of players being taken out of the game for injuries and a few more who had been on the brink, but Jess was only looking for one person. She spotted October in one of the hospital beds and made her way over to her. Jess was a pale imitation of her former bubbly self but she had decided she would at least try and make October feel better after what would have been a massive disappointment for the seeker. "Hey you," Jess said softly as she approached her bed. "How you feeling?" She asked what was nothing short of a stupid question.

 

[October Alcott]

October felt bruised, inside and out. Her ribs, her shoulder, her pride, her dignity. Her final match, right when it had mattered most, she had failed to do the one single thing she needed to for her team. Taking up Quidditch had been supposed to be... a defiance, almost. Something she could take on fresh, to challenge herself to stop being afraid of not being perfect. Now, though... October had failed to catch the snitch when it was really important, and as she watched teammate after teammate brought into the hospital wing, October knew this was all her fault. If she had caught the snitch sooner, nobody would have gotten hurt. She hadn't practiced enough, hadn't worked hard enough, and now everyone who had been relying on her was suffering. October didn't know how she could ever show her face again. She had turned her head away from the rest of the hospital wing, not wanting to make eye contact with any of the people she had gotten hurt. She couldn't do that yet. October almost didn't even register she was being spoken to at first, ice flooding her nerves as she realised it was Jessica talking to her. She had enjoyed spending time with the Gryffindor at the dance so much, and she didn't know how she could face her now. She didn't know why Jessica would come to visit her at all. She didn't want to be rude though, summoning the nerve to raise her head slightly, staring at her hands clasped nervously in her lap instead of the pillow beneath her head. October opened her mouth to answer Jessica but couldn't find the words, closing it and instead shrugging with the one shoulder that didn't ache to move. How could she explain everything she was feeling when her failure was no doubt obvious to anyone with eyes?

 

[Jessica Cade]

Jess hadn't been too sure what she had expected from October but she wasn't too surprised to find a girl who was in no mood to talk. The game had been tough to watch, Jess knew what it felt like to be hit by a bludger but she didn't know what it was like to have the game on your shoulders, a feeling seekers tended to have. Jess was sure October blamed herself for Ravenclaw going onto lose, she was not only the team seeker but also one of the co-captain. "It was a tough game," She said softly, unsure if October would even listen to her words. "The Slytherin beater was hitting everyone she aimed at, it wasn't just you, there wasn't any more you could do," Jess had hoped to cheer October up but hadn't anticipated just how down she would be feeling. At this point she'd settle for getting the girl talking.

 

[October Alcott]

October's eyes stayed locked on her hands as she listened to Jessica, struggling to absorb the words through her haze of sadness. October knew there were ways of looking at this that made it not her fault, but no matter how she tried, it all rang false. October had failed the team, she hadn't prepared enough, hadn't tried hard enough, and all the impulses from her childhood that she just wasn't ever working hard enough rushed through her brain, eradicating the self-confidence she had tried to build in the last few years. It had all been for nothing. She wasn't trying hard enough, and there was evidence now. October shrugged quietly, still not quite able to look at Jessica, hands wringing slightly in her lap. "I... should have tried harder." She croaked, willing back the unbidden tears that had sprung to her eyes as she finally spoke.

 

[Jessica Cade]

In a moment of instinct Jess reached out to take hold of October's hand to try and reassure her. "You were incredible, don't beat yourself up," Jess hating seeing October blame herself, she was an amazing and an even better person. "Bludgers hurt," She said simply. Jess found herself with a new found empathy for anyone who tried to cheer her up over recent years, it was tough and she was at a loss of what to say. "I'm sorry October, but you gave everything, it wasn't your fault,"