Open Feeling Like a Disappointment

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Flynn had quietly slipped away from the quidditch pitch the moment the match was over. He hadn't even bothered to get changed out of his quidditch robes or head back to the locker room with the rest of the team. Right then, he couldn't face anyone - let alone the teammates he had gone and let down. The moment he had seen the snitch in the Slytherin seeker's hand, the loud cheering from the stands ringing in his ears, his heart had dropped right into his stomach. Even now he could see the picture clearly in his head and it made tears sting the corners of his eyes. Everything sucked. His very first match and he had gone and blown it for everyone and lost them the chance of bringing home the quidditch cup. No doubt his teammates probably hated him even if they tried to pretend they didn't, not to mention the whole of Gryffindor who had seen him fail and probably decided he wasn't a good seeker and shouldn't have started that match. But right then, he just wanted to be alone, away from everyone else.

His wandering had taken him down to the lake and for a moment, Flynn just stood there quietly staring out at the inky blackness, the only sound the slight flapping of his robes in the breeze. With a heavy sigh, the boy quietly maneuvered himself to the floor, sitting with his back up against a tree close to the water's edge, bringing legs up to his chest as he hugged them there and resting his chin on his knees. Maybe he shouldn't bother trying out again the next year. He clearly wasn't good enough.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke was in pretty good spirits after the quidditch game. Slytherin had won handily, she'd managed to avoid getting into any drama this time with any of her more troublesome roommates, and the whole thing had ended with a rather gossip inducing kiss. She'd have to ask around more later about what that was all about, not having as much awareness of the upper year students as she would have liked, but for now, Brooke was happy to take a detour around the lake instead of going back to the castle. The low dungeon ceilings gave her a headache on a good day, and right now with Slytherin wound up after their win, the noise would be unbearable until much later.

For now, the breeze felt good, skittering across the dark lake water, and Brooke was almost so distracted staring out at it that she nearly didn't notice someone lurking under a nearby tree. At first, she thought it might Seraphina trying to live out here again like some sort of wild woman, but she was surprised to see it was a different Gryffindor this time. Someone who probably had a much better reason for not wanting to be anywhere near the castle right now.

"I think you played quite well, for what it's worth," Brooke offered as she approached where Flynn was on the ground, leaning casually against the tree and looking pointedly elsewhere, in case Flynn wanted the privacy. Truthfully, Brooke had been too busy watching their own seeker to see what Flynn was doing, but she had to admit a second year being a starting seeker on a team in the finals was nothing to sneeze at, even if she knew Flynn had a less than stellar reputation outside of quidditch, and it never hurt to be friends with up and comers.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He had really rather hoped that he wouldn't bump into anyone else out here. It was not hard to imagine that they were all heading back to the castle after the game. No doubt being anywhere near the dungeons right now would be absolutely unbearable. So, he supposed it was a good thing he lived up on the seventh floor where he had less of a chance to bump into any wayward Slytherin's who might want to laugh at him or thank him for giving them the cup.

So, when he did hear a voice, Flynn lifted his head off his knees, narrowing his eyes slightly at the girl who had appeared. She was a Slytherin, so, for a moment he did have to consider whether she was making fun of him or not. But, after a moment, his shoulders dropped again and he settled his chin back on his knees. "Yeah, well. Doesn't matter. We didn't win." He knew going up against Blake was going to be tough, but he had hoped there was still a chance he might surprise everyone and catch the snitch himself.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke tried not to wrinkle her nose at Flynn's continued dour mood. She was a bit of a sore loser herself at times, but she always tried to hide it. Still, she couldn't imagine Flynn had actually expected to beat a 6th year, long time seeker who was team captain in the finals, but then again, maybe he really had. "For what it's worth, Gryffindor's lost to Slytherin in the finals for years from what I've heard. So you're not alone in losing," She gave Flynn a smile, hopeful she took her comment as more comforting than antagonistic, even if it was hard to resist the urge to gloat. Really, it wasn't like she'd done anything to help the Slytherin team herself. "Playing in the finals as a second year at all is rather impressive. I'm sure your family's proud." Brooke doubted her own family would care if she'd played Quidditch, though she hadn't been quick to mention her own abysmal flying skills to them when she'd been home, but some people did put a lot of stock into that sort of thing.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

While he had known it was not very likely, some small part of him had thought that maybe he could do it. He had been doing alright in practice and he'd hoped it would be enough. But, apparently not. And the Slytherin girl's words were really not making him feel much better about things. In fact, knowing he had only helped add on to the losing streak made him feel ten times worse than he already did. And then she brought up parents and Flynn felt like something had just kicked him in the stomach. He tensed up, sharply pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and curling his hands into fists almost out of instinct when anyone brought up his parents. There was a small part that almost felt like he wanted to cry, but he held the waterworks back. Finally getting his composure back, Flynn unclenched again, voice coming out sounding rather flat, "I wouldn't know. They're dead."

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke's easy smile faltered at Flynn's comment, and she chewed on her lip. She had just made a huge misstep. More a mis-jump if anything. She knew Flynn had a reputation for being surly, but she'd never really paid attention to anything about why he might be that way. Oops. "Oh, sorry, Flynn, I had no idea," she said awkwardly, turning large, innocent eyes on him. "What happened to them, if you don't mind me asking? Maybe they'd still be proud of you in spirit?" It was a pretty weak attempt at probing for information if Brooke was being honest, but she figured she'd already stepped in it with Flynn, so she couldn't really make it worse, she might as well find out who his parents were if she could.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

He simply shrugged a small shoulder as she, like everyone else who heard the news, apologized. As if that was going to make him feel marginally better about anything. Though, most people usually tried to change the subject as quickly as they possibly could after hearing he was an orphan. It was a touchy subject and not one many people wanted to talk about it. So, he was somewhat surprised when she probed further, actually being bold enough to ask what had happened. "They... um," his voice faltered as he blinked back tears. Even though it had been five years ago, it was still a rather sore subject for him. "Fire," he eventually managed to get out, voice going incredibly small. That was probably all he was going to be able to say about what had happened the day they were taken from him.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke was clearly making Flynn uncomfortable, and how embarrassing was that, that Flynn was clearly almost crying. Brooke's heart went out to the poor guy. But the word 'fire' piqued her interest even more and she had to wonder how much more of Flynn's terrible sob story she could get out of him. She sat down cautiously, smoothing her skirt out under her before settling and keeping some space between her and Flynn before she leant a tiny bit closer. "Wow, that sounds awful," she said, eyes still large and filled with concern. "Was it a long time ago? Don't you have any other family?" Brooke wondered how many other people in the school knew about Flynn and his tragic family. With luck she was one of the first to get the full story.

 

[Flynn North-McGowan]

Flynn almost wished she would stop with all the questions already. He didn't like to talk about it. He didn't want to talk about it. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as Brooke carefully sat down next to him, only sending the girl a glance for a moment before his fixed his eyes back on the lake again. At least she was right about one thing, it was awful and not really something any kid should have to go through. But his life had never been kid to him and it was just one more thing to add to his horrible existence. "I was eight," though he still remembered it like it was yesterday, "But it was just me and my parents. There was no one else." No one else that had wanted him, anyhow.