▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

chapter thirty eight | friends vs. friends

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

KAYA WAS TORN - and you could suppose Jaeden was, too.

Because Alfie and Jeremy were only second years - and considering the fact that the Defence position was cursed and so Umbridge wouldn't last longer than a year, they should be okay with only learning the theory at their age - they had the rest of their Hogwarts years to have better teachers to catch up with, so risking them getting into trouble and having them come along to (mainly) fifth year and above Defence lessons doesn't seem necessary.

But then, there was the return of Voldemort mixing it all up. Because nobody knows what this dark wizard will do next, and not to mention, that was half the reason Harry started up Dumbledore's Army to begin with, wasn't it? So perhaps it would do the boys good to learn some self defence - obviously Kaya prays they won't ever have to be put in a situation to use it, but if worse came to worse, maybe knowing a few extra spells might save them in the long run.

But if they were ever found out, he'd get into awful trouble and it would all be her fault...

And so, the lingering question burned itself into her brain: Does she bring her brother to the DA?

Kaya couldn't dwell on this too much, though, because Harry began speaking again.

"Right," he said. "Shall we get practising, then? I was thinking, the first thing we could do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it useful-"

"Oh, please," Zacharias interrupted, rolling his eyes.

Kaya and Maisie exchanged irritated glances. Here we go.

"I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him," said Harry. "It saved my life in June,"

Zacharias opened his mouth stupidly, the rest of the room sitting in silence (apart from the snicker from Maddie Jordan at Zacharias' face).

"But, if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry added. Nobody moved.

"Okay," Harry continued. Kaya could visibly see how anxious he was feeling about all this. She couldn't blame him - she was a nervous wreck back in the Prefect's carriage, and that had way less numbers than this meeting. "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practise,"

Everyone got to their feet, dividing up. Maisie grabbed Kaya's palm.

"Sorry, Fred," the red-headed girl joked. "Kaya's my girlfriend this session,"

Fred mimicked a stressed look, before sighing and glancing towards the brunette.

"Probably for the best - don't want you showing me up, now, do we?"

"Of course not," Kaya winked, before George beckoned Fred over impatiently and Jaeden and Milo stood at the back of the room, proud that they'd managed to find a large space for the group to practise near each other. Kaya and Maisie rushed over to them, still hand in hand.

"Right - on the count of three," Harry said, now partnered up with Neville. "One, two, three-"

The room filled with shouts of Expelliarmus, before the flying of wands followed. Maisie was the first to practise, and successfully whipped Kaya's wand from her hand, sending it clattering on the floor.

"Where's the surprise, there?" Kaya said with a grin to the girl, who was doing a tiny victory dance.

A loud laugh that belonged to Jaeden sounded, and the two girls turned their heads to see him watching the twins with an amused expression, as they pointed their wands towards Zacharias' back and caused his wand to fly away from his hand every time he opened his mouth to attempt the spell.

Kaya snorted, as Harry caught George's eye.

"Sorry, Harry," he said, hastily. "Couldn't resist,"

"Well, that's one way of practising it," Maisie called over to the two, and they turned around, grinning at the two.

The girls continued practising their jinxes, this time focusing on not letting their wand loose rather than being able to disarm the other. After a short while, they both managed to succeed in doing so, wearing bright grins as they turned to see how everyone else was doing.

"I've always been absolute ass at this spell," they overheard Jaeden tell Milo rather aggressively.

Kaya jumped at the sound of a whistle being blown, and the bubble of talk died down quickly, everyone realising Harry was trying to talk to them.

"That wasn't bad," he said. "But, there's definitely room for improvement,"

Milo nodded in agreement, sending a teasing glance towards Jaeden.

"Let's try again,"

Maisie and Kaya began disarming for the fun of it, every now and then secretly doing it to one of the boys just to confuse them. Jaeden wasn't too pleased about this, which made Kaya just want to send his wand out of his palm even more often. She can't help it.

Ten past nine eventually crept up on the group, and Harry was forced to dismiss the DA so that nobody would face the wrath of Filch and his cat for being out of their Common Rooms after hours. The next meeting had been scheduled for Wednesday - Harry originally suggesting later, but after Dean Thomas' enthusiasm about it being sooner, and the many people murmuring in agreement, their wishes had been granted.

"Okay, I understand why you and George like Maddie Jordan so much, now," Kaya said to her boyfriend with a giggle, after overhearing the fifth year's threat to Zacharias Smith ("If you start bitching again next time, I'll spin your jaw."). "I love her,"

"I knew you would," Fred replied, completely unsurprised. "Harry did alright, didn't he? Considering it was his first time holding a meeting like that,"

"Yeah, he did, bless him," Kaya nodded, smiling warmly. "I just hope he doesn't get any more shit from Umbridge. Poor boy's been through enough,"

"Agreed," Fred nodded, wrapping his arm around the girl's waist and giving it a tiny squeeze. "You want me to walk you back to your common room?"

"As much as I would love that, I'm not going back there," Kaya said, wrapping her own arm around the boy.

"Why?" Fred frowned.

"I'm on duty," the girl sulked.

"Ah, yeah," the ginger nodded. "Head Girl - your alter ego,"

"I wouldn't call it an alter ego, I'd call it a curse," Kaya said. "It's so boring - it was fine being Prefect with Ced, but this new guy's so dull. Like you literally can't make conversation with him, it's all one word answers,"

Fred didn't fail to notice the girl's bright eyes dim slightly at the mention of her dead friend.

"Awh," he said. "Wish I could come with you. It'd be a laugh,"

"Yeah, that makes two of us," Kaya replied, as the two came to a halt, ready to part ways. "If only you'd been made Prefect..." she teased.

Fred playfully rolled his eyes, before leaning down and cupping her cheek to give her a peck on the lips.

"See you tomorrow, handsome," the girl gazed up at him with a warm smile, as though taking in every little detail of his bright features. Like the faint freckles that would become more prominent in the summer months, or the sparkle in his warm, brown eyes.

How she still made him nervous, he had no idea.

"See you," he replied, mirroring her grin.

And they separated - only for a split second, though, because Fred tugged her on the arm and whisked her back over to him, so he could say,

"Wait, one more,"

And he kissed her again, which she gladly took with a smile.

"Goodnight, Weasley," she beamed.

"Sweet dreams, Bennett,"

And they both (finally) divided between the two corridors, Kaya reluctantly heading off to do her Head Girl responsibilities, and Fred strolling back to his common room with a grin plastered on his face, as if it would stick there forever.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

The DA meetings continued over the next two weeks, and Kaya was absolutely loving the fact that they were resisting Umbridge under her very nose - yet she had no idea of it. That amusement was probably the only thing getting her through her Defence Against the Dark Arts classes - which meant a lot, really, because the amount of times the woman had practically brushed Cedric's death off as an accident made Kaya want to scream - the only thing holding her back was her Head Girl badge clinging to her jumper and the idea of how embarrassing it would be to lose it. Yes, she didn't really want the position, but she'd be mortified if she had it taken off her, now.

Although, thanks to Umbridge's continued ignorance, Kaya wasn't too sure how long she would last until she eventually cracked.

Meanwhile, Hermione had come up with the clever idea of fake Galleons which had the day and time of the next DA meeting, and so members were getting used to carrying them around in their pockets and checking them regularly so that they wouldn't miss out - it was more or so for emergency purposes, in case a meeting had to be changed at short notice. Kaya couldn't quite grasp how a girl two years younger than her had the brains of someone probably years older than her. She was absolutely brilliant.

But, the DA meetings were put on hold as the first Quidditch match of the season approached - Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Jaeden regularly disappeared off to practice on certain days, and then the twins on others. All three boys were extremely competitive - and Milo was beginning to feel concerned about whoever would end up losing.

"What if he doesn't win?" The blonde boy worried to his two friends, after Jaeden had finished a large rant about Quidditch, before heading off to another Slytherin practice.

"Well..." Maisie struggled for an answer. "It'll be good for him..."

"I'm not thinking about him," Milo said. "I'm thinking about us,"

"Yeah," Kaya nodded, dreadfully. "Think what kind of week we'll have,"

"Oh no," Milo face palmed, scrunching up his face and realising how much torture the group would face if Jaeden lost.

"And then if he wins, the twins'll be just as bad," Maisie pointed out. "We're screwed, either way,"

"You're right," Kaya said regrettably. "We're gonna have a week of hell, no matter who from,"

"I just hope the twins are better losers than Jaeden, because if he loses, it'll be the end of the world," Milo said with a sigh.

The trio groaned, all three of them filling with dread. It was going to be a hell of a week.

On another note, it was Ron Weasley's and Maddie Jordan's first Quidditch game, and so the group were often forced to listen to their older brothers discussing Gryffindor's chances, now that they were on the team. Apparently, Ron had performed some kind of legendary save during one of their practices, and Fred had even said that Ron might yet make him and George proud - so proud that they were considering actually admitting they were related to him, which they had apparently tried (and failed) to deny the past four years.

But, according to Jaeden, his team had been passing quite a few snide comments at the boy - which, considering he already lacked confidence in the first place - was getting to him. Jaeden attempted to put a stop to it, but his team wouldn't drop their tactics of getting inside the other players heads, and so he had to deal with it. Perhaps one of the downsides of being a Slytherin - there were quite a few pricks to deal with, in that house.

The morning of the match finally came. Fred had given Kaya one of his (in her opinion, lush-smelling) Gryffindor jumpers - which looked like a baggy dress, on her - to show her support - much to the disgust of Jaeden, who's green and silver robes stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the table of red and gold. He didn't spend as much time as usual at the Gryffindor table today, for obvious reasons.

However, he might've been the only Slytherin in his house who wasn't wearing what seemed to be a new addition to their uniform - silver badges, in the shape of what looked like a crown.

"They've got 'Weasley is our King' written on them," Jaeden muttered, glancing sideways to make sure Ron hadn't heard. Kaya and her friends eyed him with confused expressions, as though waiting for a further explanation. "I'm not too sure what it's all about, I didn't get involved, but there was a couple times where I heard them rehearsing a chant and trying to get the rest of the house to learn it, too,"

Kaya glanced towards Slytherin table, catching sight of a few members of their team waving to Ron and laughing uproariously. She scowled. Poor Ron - she'd have felt awful if the opposing team had treated her like this in her first ever Quidditch game.

"Mind you," Jaeden added, a smirk creeping up on his face. "They weren't so pleased when they tried to get Silverstone and her pals involved,"

"Why?" Maisie asked, her and Kaya's eyes both flicking towards the white-haired girl sitting at Slytherin table and eating her cereal.

She had a green jumper on with the Slytherin scarf around her neck, but that was probably as far as it went, in supporting her house. Perhaps she wasn't a fan of Quidditch - by the looks of it, she and her friends were treating the match as if it were any other normal day.

"Well, Malfoy tried to get her to join in - dunno why, everyone knows she doesn't like Quidditch - but when he explained it to her, she pulled a face, told them to get a life and wandered out of the common room," Jaeden explained, with an amused expression. "You should've seen their faces, it was quality. I don't think many of them are too fond of her, although they're probably used to her telling them whatever she thinks, anyway. She used to have proper heated arguments with that Parkinson in the common room, we all thought it was going to get physical, at one point. It didn't, though,"

Milo let out a chuckle at the thought of the Slytherin team's faces at their rejection.

"Good luck, Ron!" Kaya called down to the Weasley boy, who was looking as though he was about to be sick. He forced a smile and a nod in reply, and so the girl thought it best not to speak to him about it, too much.

She always found talking made her worse, when she was nervous. Perhaps he was the same.

"We're off to the changing rooms," Fred announced after a while, before telling Kaya (again) she looked cute in his jumper.

"I reckon you pull it off better than me, you know," he said with a wink, causing Jaeden and Milo to scoff, like they usually did.

"Get a room," Milo told them. Kaya flipped him off.

"Good luck, you," she told her boyfriend, giving him a quick 'lucky' kiss.

"Yeah, good luck, boys," Maisie added, standing up also and stretching her legs in preparation for the walk down to the Quidditch pitch. George had nodded with a grin, in response.

"And tell Ron we're backing him, poor boy looks nervous as shit," Kaya added.

"'Course we will," Fred nodded, before giving her hand a squeeze and backing away slightly, having heard Angelina's frustrated calls trying to rally her team together. "See you, gorgeous,"

"Bye," she grinned, turning back to Jaeden.

"I see how it is," he said, crossing his arms and faking a bitter tone. "Get a boyfriend and boom, you switch sides. Disgraceful,"

"Nah," Kaya shook her head. "I never supported Slytherin, anyway. Milo's in Gryffindor, and I like him better than you, so you know where my loyalties lie,"

Jaeden pulled a face at her which she mimicked in response, before the brunette boy stood up.

"I should prolly get going as well. They already hate me for not wearing the king badges, I'll get kicked off the team if I'm late,"

"Fair enough," said Maisie, before she and Kaya said in sync, "Good luck!"

"I hope you lose!" Milo told him, to which Jaeden had scoffed and called back to him,

"We'll see who the losers are, in the end!"

The trio watched him leave - and laughed when he flinched and swore at the sight of a Ravenclaw girl wearing a lion's head that gave a very realistic roar.

"Right then," said Milo, after downing his drink. "We best be off, too?"

"Yeah," Kaya agreed, before the blonde boy stood up and they all followed the crowds of people exiting the Great Hall - all buzzing with excitement about the upcoming game.

And then, soon enough, they were in the stands watching the game. Jaeden was looking slightly nervous but putting on a confident front as they all mounted their brooms. Fred and George were smirking to each other - assumedly due to the choice of the new Slytherin Beaters. They didn't look too bright, in all fairness.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle, signalling the release of the balls and the fourteen players shot upwards. Ron zoomed over to the goalhoops, Harry soared, dodging a Bludger, the twins separated onto the far sides of the pitch, Fred glancing slightly to find Kaya in the crowd, to which she waved, causing him to smile for a second before he turned back towards the players, his head now focused on the game.

Both seekers set off on wide laps of the pitch, and Lee began his infamous commentary.

"And it's Johnson - Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years, but she still won't go out with me-"

Kaya let out a loud laugh, joined by Milo and Maisie. They'd always been a fan of Lee's commentary, from day one.

"-Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest," Lee said in response to his scolding from McGonagall. "And she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's - ouch - been hit from behind with a Bludger from Crabbe,"

Kaya cringed. Ouch was an understatement.

Although their wasn't much action happening from his side of the pitch, the brunette Hufflepuff could not take her eyes off Fred Weasley. She was practically mesmerised with everything about him, from his adorable concentrated frown to the way his face relaxed with an excited grin when Gryffindor gained possession of the Quaffle. Just everything about him made her melt.

"...Montague catches the Quaffle, heading back up the pitch and - nice Bludger there from George Weasley-!"

Maisie, Kaya and Milo all let out roaring cheers for George.

"-That's a Bludger to the head from Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by - Maddie Jordan! Come on Mads, you better not mess this up or I'll put my tarantula in your bed, again-"

"JORDAN!" McGonagall yelled, again, as several students, including Kaya, let out a chorus of laughs again.

"Maddie Jordan of Gryffindor, she reverse-passes to Alicia Spinnet - and Spinnet's away!"

Kaya's eyes landed on Jaeden, who was desperately trying to retrieve the Quaffle from the opposing team - although, considering his long-term crush had it clutched under her arm, it might have affected his performance, just a bit.

The trio's attention switched from their friends soaring across the pitch towards the Slytherin stand - they were singing something. But Lee's commentary and the cheers around them drowned out whatever the exact words were.

"Alicia dodges Ezra, avoids a Bludger - close call, Alicia - and the crowd are loving this! Just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"

And as Lee paused to listen, the words of whatever it was the Slytherins were roaring loud and clear, filling Kaya's ears whether she wanted to hear them, or not:

"Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing,
Weasley is our King!"

Weasley was born in a bin,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King!"

Kaya's heart dropped to her stomach, and gazed over to the three Weasley players, begging that they couldn't hear what was being sang. But neither of them seemed to acknowledge it - whether it was because they indeed couldn't hear it or because they wanted to focus on the game, she wasn't sure.

"Well... I get why Silverstone had told them all to get a life," said Kaya, with a hint of awkwardness in her voice, in an attempt to break the shocked silence between the three of them. "That's a lot of work, making a song and trying to get half the house to learn it - how long did that take, a month or so?"

"Yeah," Milo nodded, his horrified expression slowly easing. "They do need to get a life - using all their free time to try and get in his head? Ron's already several levels above them, just for that,"

"And Alicia passes back to Maddie!" Lee shouted. "Come on, now, Mads - looks like she's just got the Keeper to beat - SHE SHOOTS - SHE - aaahhh. Better get my eight legged friend ready, Maddie..."

The Slytherin Keeper saved the goal, throwing the Quaffle back to Jaeden, who sped off with it, zig-zagging in between Angelina and Maddie. The singing from the Slytherin stands were growing louder and louder. Harry even abandoned his search for the Snitch for a split second, swerving his broom around to face Ron, who was looking dreadfully unconfident.

"-and Jaeden Ezra passes to Pucey, Pucey with the Quaffle, heading for the goal - he's out of Bludger range, with just the Keeper ahead-"

"Come on, Ron!" Kaya bellowed.

"-so it's the first test for Gryffindor Keeper Weasley, brother of Beaters Fred and George, and a promising new talent on the team - come on, Ron!"

But Ron dived wildly with wide arms, the Quaffle soaring between them - straight between Ron's central hoop.

"Slytherin score," Lee's voice called over the scream of delight from the Slytherin stand. "So that's ten-nil to Slytherin - bad luck, Ron,"

The Slytherins - if possible - sang even louder.

"-And Gryffindor back in possession, and it's Maddie Jordan tanking up the pitch - I swear, Mads, I will put my tarantula on your pillow, if you mess this up-!" Lee cried, although the noisy singing from the Slytherins was beginning to make it difficult for him to be heard over them.

"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN...!"

"-and it's Jaeden Ezra, again!" Lee bellowed. "Who passes to Pucey, Pucey's off past Spinnet, come on now, Angelina, you can take him - turns out you can't. But, nice Bludger from Fred Weasley, by the way,"

Kaya's cheers increased in volume at the mention of her boyfriend.

"-And Pucey drops the Quaffle, and Maddie - er - drops it, too. Are you not hearing me and my threats, Madison?!"

Kaya could make out Maddie's eye roll at her older brother's comments.

"-So, that's Montague with the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Montague takes the Quaffle and he's off to the pitch, come on now, Gryffindor, block him!"

Kaya didn't realise she had her hand already stuck to her forehead until she went to put the other one on top.

"Come on, Ron!" She repeated.

"-and Pucey's got the Quaffle - he's dodged Alicia again and he's headed straight for the goal, stop it, Ron!"

A terrible groan erupted from the Gryffindor stand, and Kaya's heart dropped from her stomach to her feet. Maisie was scowling at Pansy Parkinson who had her back to the pitch and was conducting the Slytherin supporters, who were still roaring their (pathetic) little chant.

Kaya still had hope for Gryffindor, even when Ron let in two more goals. She'd never been this stressed about a game that wasn't hers before - and she knows that if Slytherin win, she should be pleased for Jaeden. But what with their cruel supporters attacking poor Ron verbally during the game and putting him off, she desired nothing more in this moment than to see Gryffindor absolutely crush the snake house.

"-And Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor Captain, dodges Pucey, ducks Montague, nice swerve, Angie - and she throws to Maddie! Come on, Mads, you know how much you hate my tarantula! She's past Ezra, she's heading for the goal, come on now, Mads - GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"

An eruption of cheers sounded from the red and gold coloured stands. Kaya began to laugh at the lion hat from the Ravenclaw girl echoing amongst the crowd. Jaeden was wearing a deep frown of concentration.

"YES, MADS! Make the Jordans proud! It's forty-ten to Slytherin and Pucey has the Quaffle..."

Harry ducked a Bludger, as he (as well as Malfoy) continued to circle the pitch in search of the snitch.

"Pucey throws to Ezra, Ezra to Montague, Montague back to Pucey - Johnson intervenes, Johnson takes the Quaffle, Johnson to Spinnet - this looks good - I mean bad - Spinnet is hit by a bludger from Goyle in Slytherin, and it's Pucey in possession, again..."

And then a series of gasps sounded, because Harry Potter had dived, which meant one thing - he's spotted the snitch.

"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN,
HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN,
WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN,"

"That's it, I've fucking had enough," Maisie sneered, drawing her wand from her robes.

"Uh," Kaya and Milo exchanged concerned glances. "What you doing?" 

"Flipendo,"

Maisie's spell discreetly shot across the stadium, thankfully covered by the intense flying from the players and the distraction that was the battle between Malfoy and Harry for the Snitch. The Knock-Back Charm hit Pansy Parkinson on the back, jerkily sending her forward and falling into a group of Slytherins, causing a domino effect of toppling green robes around the Slytherin stand. Their chanting stopped, for a few moments.

"Jae won't like that..." said Kaya, thoroughly impressed by Maisie's spell but worried for her other best friend's reaction.

"Who cares?" Maisie responded. "He's won loads of games, this is Ron's first ever game and he's being publicly humiliated, which is why he's not performing as well as he usually would. It's all their mind games and their bullshit. They deserve a loss,"

Milo and Kaya looked at each other with slight astonishment. Maisie had never in her life cared this much about a Quidditch game.

Their attention turned to the two Seekers, now neck and neck.

"Come on, Harry!" Kaya yelled.

Feet from the ground, Harry lifted his right arm from his broom, stretching towards what she assumed was the Snitch (nobody could really see it, from here). Malfoy's arm was also extended, reaching as far as he could...

But Harry was quicker.

And it was all over - Gryffindor had won! The chanting Slytherins had faced the consequences of looking like idiots because they had created all those mind games, and still, they lost!

Kaya screamed her little heart out. A roar of excitement and cheers from the Gryffindor stand drowned out the bellows from Lee, and everything had turned out okay...

...for about five seconds.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

A/N: LMAO Maisie went off 😳✨

Also just a side note, Polarr deleted all my filters which means I've had to find new ones for the aesthetics in my stories :( I just thought I'd mention in case any of you thought it looked a bit different lol

But anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought.

<3