Open Just Gonna Sit Here and Wallow

[Elara Chatelain]

Post Gryff/Huff S2 Game

Elara hadn’t really been that hurt by the bludgers. Her knee was sore, but not enough that it was impacting her ability to walk. But either way, Elara took the opportunity to go to the Hospital Wing, hoping one of the staff would be sympathetic enough to let her stay the night so she wouldn’t have to go back to her house right now. Losing the game wasn’t that big of a deal in the long run, and she knew that deep down. But lately, with her life changing significantly in the next few months, there had been this internal pressure to achieve as much as she could, to leave a legacy of some kind. And while Heta was great, Elara was an athlete. And this felt more important. She was happy for her Hufflepuff friends, but it just sucked right now and she just wanted a good cry. So, Elara found an empty bed with the partition up, sat on it, and did just that.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis had been restless and kind of miserable after the game. He had really hoped they would win the cup, it had seemed like a no-brainer once they had taken out the Hufflepuff seeker. Their alternate barely had any experience. So how could she have won over Elara? The answer was probably that it had been just luck, and Louis hated that. They had trained their butts off only to be beaten by a little girl who got a little bit lucky? Louis hadn't played very well in that game himself, which didn't help his mood. He loved and appreciated being part of the team, but it was difficult being a chaser sometimes in these school games. They usually barely got any shots in and were quickly balanced out by the other team. Louis had taken to wandering around the school, hoping it would help him settle his thoughts. He didn't want to sit in the miserable common room right now, it would just make his mood worse. He had heard some kids talking about how Elara was in the hospital wing, so when he walked past it he decided it would be polite to check in on her. He headed in and didn't immediately spot her. Had his information been wrong? "Elara?" He asked, looking around with a frown. Only then did he hear the sniffling noises from behind a partition. Crap. "I... can go," he said quickly, already backing off towards the door. Louis couldn't deal with crying girls, he was pretty sure.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara had been crying for a little bit, trying not too cry too hard, but once she started, it felt good just to let any negative emotions come out. She curled up on the bed and laid her head on the pillow as she quietly sobbed before hearing someone calling for her. Swallowing down her self-pity, she sat up from the bed and wiped her face with her shirt. "Yeah?" she asked, coming out from the behind partition as she heard them continue talking and saw Louis. "Oh, Louis. Hi," she quickly responded, trying to throw a chipper look on her face. Elara wasn't a fan of being vulnerable with many people. It was even hard with Zay. She liked to always be a person other people could come to, not be the person falling apart. And in reality, she wasn't really falling apart... as much as just being emotional over a stupid game. "Umm, I just, well, I just wanted to get checked out after the game and then I didn't see any of the nurses yet so I'm just, you know, hanging out," she said with a laugh, ignoring the fact that her face was most definitely puffy and red from the tears. "Are you okay?"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis kind of wished he hadn’t decided to go find Elara. He seemed to have walked into a private moment. She did a pretty good job of putting herself together before coming out from the partition. He smiled, hoping he did an okay job at pretending he hadn’t heard her crying. “Yeah, probably a smart call.” He said when Elara explained she wanted to get checked out after the game. “Are you alright?” He couldn’t resist asking. He supposed it was a normal question to ask after a game like this, even if he hadn’t heard her crying. Though he guessed the crying kind of answered his question already.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara leaned against an empty bed, trying to appear chipper. Louis didn't answer her question, and the Gryffindor drew in a breath, holding it as she looked at her friend. It seemed silly to admit any of this to anybody. "No," she admitted, letting out the breath as her eyes started to tear up again. "I just... I just wanted us to win. So bad. And then I wasn't good enough to beat a third year?" she spat out, feeling terrible after it left her mouth. "I mean, Penelope is a sweet girl, and I'm happy for everyone but it just... it sucks!" she finished, sighing as she pushed herself up to sit on the bed, staring at Louis. "You probably think I'm really horrible for even thinking that. We just don't get a chance at redemption, and I let everyone down." Elara was very aware that quidditch was a team sport, but in the end, there was such a large amount of pressure on the seeker, and it had apparently gotten to her. She wiped away some tears with her sleeve, crossing her arms as she tried to read whether Louis suddenly thought she was being way too emotional about a game.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis kind of regretted his question when he saw Elara's face fall and her eyes well up with tears. Would Isaiah beat him up for making his girlfriend cry? Louis hoped not. He listened to Elara, moving a bit closer to the bed she was sitting on. He frowned. "I wanted us to win too." He admitted. "And I didn't play great either, I know how you're feeling- except you're probably feeling it on a way bigger scale." He sometimes felt envious of seekers for all the attention they got, but this was definitely the downside of it. "The girl wasn't like, good, though. She just got lucky." He said. "I don't care if she's sweet, you were the more talented seeker." He said. "And I'm actually not happy for everyone, and you don't have to be either." He said, giving her a slight smile. "I promise it's okay to not be nice for a second, especially if it's not to their face." He added. "But for what it's worth, I don't think you let us down. I think the snitch just showed up right in front of that girl's face and there was nothing we could do about it." He added, reaching over to pat Elara lightly on the arm.