#Skye Murphy

[ameliathefatcat]

Hogwarts Mystery gang saying happy birthday to me

[carewyncromwell]

Day 1 (Quidditch) for @hphm-ship-week

x~x~x~x

"Can you give me one reason why You'd ever let me down? I won't believe it baby, but I'll try -- The truth's gonna come around...

The sky is the limit now! We can hit it on the nail, And when we do, I'll think about you..."

~"Skies the Limit" by Fleetwood Mac

x~x~x~x

In the Quidditch world, a person who can play more than one position well is a valuable thing. Oftentimes that player would be really good in their primary position while still being capable in that secondary position. Ethan Parkin, for instance, was best as a Beater, but he once took over as his team's Keeper after the first one was knocked out with a Bludger half-way through the game. In fact, all Parkins grew up learning about all four positions, even if they ultimately chose one over all the others.

A true triple- or quadruple-act in Quidditch, though -- someone who could play three or even all four positions well -- was incredibly rare. But hey, there's a reason people call Orion Amari a Quidditch prodigy.

Although on the Slytherin team, Orion played as Chaser (and from fourth year on, served as Captain), he was so adaptable and talented at Quidditch that he managed to master the other three positions as well by the time he was thirteen. This helped him with training new players as well as his more seasoned teammates. His extensive knowledge of flying and the different positions also resulted in him creating several brand-new Quidditch techniques while he was still at school -- Tossing the Torch, where a Beater threw their bat to a teammate to protect themselves from a Bludger; the Wronkski Fake-Out, a variation of the Wronkski Feint where a Seeker leads the enemy Seeker on a wild goose chase thinking they saw the Snitch to distract them and wear down their stamina; and of course his signature move, Inspired Broom-Surfing. A lot of these techniques took center stage when Orion engaged in Quidditch friendlies.

Unlike his teammate and friend Skye Parkin, Orion wasn't particular about who he played with in friendly matches, and thanks to his talent in all four positions, he also wasn't particular about which position he played. One of his favorite people to play with, however, was a person who'd once been on the Slytherin team and Orion dearly hoped would someday return to it -- Hogwarts's infamous "Cursebreaker," Carewyn Cromwell.

When Orion first met Carewyn, he'd assessed that she'd had the body type suited to a Seeker, but she quickly turned out to be a Chaser through and through. She flew in only one official match -- the first in Orion's fourth year, against Hufflepuff -- but she left a lasting impact on the team and on Orion in particular, and even with her departure after a falling out with Skye, Orion left the door open for Carewyn to rejoin his Quidditch "family" whenever she wished. Fortunately, although Carewyn was preoccupied with dealing with the Cursed Vaults and finding her lost brother, she would still try hard to make some time to play in friendlies alongside her Quidditch friends, Gryffindor Seeker Charlie Weasley and Ravenclaw Keeper and Reserve Seeker Andre Egwu. And, as you can expect, this also allowed her to fly again alongside and even sometimes against her team's Captain.

x~x~x~x

The first time Orion and Carewyn flew in a friendly match together, they were on opposing teams.

Carewyn had come with her new friend and fellow fourth year Charlie, so they joined the same friendly team. And as luck would have it, Orion ended up on the other team as their Star Chaser.

Orion's team ended up taking the lead early. Carewyn had been so startled and happy to see Orion that he took advantage of her lack of focus and -- with a broad, delighted smile -- stole the Quaffle out from under her and her fellow Chasers to score twenty points against the Keeper in the span of just five minutes. Carewyn pretty quickly got her head into the game and immediately set about taking Orion head-on. Soon they were chasing each other all around the field. Carewyn would try and fail to disturb Orion's balance, only to predict his move and block his goal before it could fly past her Keeper. Orion would try and fail to block Carewyn, only to silently sneak up beside her and swipe the Quaffle out from under her arm.

The game ended 200-100, thanks to Charlie catching the Snitch.

"Your focus has improved," Orion told Carewyn after the fact.

Carewyn gave an irritable huff. "Hardly! You outscored me by fifty points."

"Success can be proportional, Carewyn Cromwell," said Orion calmly. "It's unsurprising that a formidable Chaser would be less of a threat when playing alongside less experienced teammates."

He smiled.

"You did very well today."

Carewyn, still clearly not happy with herself, nonetheless felt the corner of her lips turning up slightly.

"...Mm, not nearly as good as you. But thank you."

x~x~x~x

The next time Carewyn and Orion collided at a Quidditch friendly that year, they were on the same team. This time, though, all the positions but one had been filled by the time Orion strolled in, so he ended up playing as Beater.

Carewyn honestly wasn't sure how Orion would do in the position. He was such a pacifistic personality, it was kind of hard to imagine him acting aggressively. But to her immense surprise, Orion showed an astounding amount of both strength and control while wielding the Beater bat. Rather than smack the balls at other players indiscriminately to knock them off their brooms, he took a very measured approach. He'd lie in wait like a wild cat and then lash out, hitting a Bludger into another player at just the right angle to hit their arm and make them drop the Quaffle. Other times he'd redirect a Bludger mid-flight and send it careening into the opposing Keeper, forcing them to dodge and in the process let the Quaffle in. The most notable moment of that friendly match came, though, when Carewyn was just about to score and Orion -- appearing seemingly out of nowhere -- flew up in front of her to whack a Bludger right back at the rival Beater who'd initially smacked it toward her. The Bludger hit the opposing Beater squarely in the chest and winded him so badly that he nearly fell off his broom as Carewyn scored.

"Score!" cried McNully from somewhere in the stands. "Ten points!"

Carewyn flew up alongside Orion, exhaling in relief.

"Are you all right?" Orion asked.

His face was calm, but his black eyes grazed her frame quickly.

Carewyn nodded. "Mm-hmm. Thanks to you."

Orion's features softened.

"Anemones sting as part of their nature," he said. "But that doesn't mean they aren't happy to know that their nature can protect the clownfish they call their friend."

Carewyn grinned amusedly. "I think that bloke's going to do a bit more than just sting, after how hard you hit him with that Bludger."

"I shall deliver a proper apology and some Wiggenweld Potion after our victory," Orion said coolly.

x~x~x~x

The seventh time Orion and Carewyn collided during a friendly -- which was also the first time in Carewyn's fifth and Orion's sixth years -- the two ended up on opposing sides again: this time with Carewyn playing support to her boyfriend Andre Egwu as Chaser and Orion opposing them both as Keeper.

Carewyn had always been a perfectionist. It's something she and Andre had in common, and when the two had been dating, this feeling was only magnified in them, as they wanted to do perfectly both for their own sake and so as to look good in front of their partner. This made it so that when Orion effectively blocked every single goal Carewyn threw at him in those first thirty minutes of the friendly match, both she and Andre were absolutely beside themselves.

"I thought," Andre huffed in exasperation after blocking his tenth goal in the span of ten minutes, "that Amari was supposed to be a Chaser!"

"Orion is many things," Carewyn said tiredly.

"Well, right now, what he is is getting on my nerves," Andre fumed.

Orion seemed to have sensed he'd gotten under his opponents' skin. He was standing in mid-air on his broom in front of the hoops, balancing on one foot and crossing his arms as he smiled wryly.

"Don't lose your center of balance, Carewyn Cromwell!" he called over, his voice almost frustratingly casual. "A Snidget can't fly as well without it."

"'Center of balance,' honestly..." Andre muttered sourly, "let me knock you off your broom and we'll see how well you can balance -- "

Carewyn, however, didn't respond -- she was too irritated to speak coherently. Instead she flew right back out onto the pitch, prepared to go up against Orion again. The Slytherin Captain watched her with a calm, nonchalant expression, not moving even as she again swept through all three of the other Chasers. She ducked and weaved, before finally getting up onto her broom herself and surfing on the back of it.

The use of his signature move made Orion beam. It threw off the other Chasers, and Carewyn moved with direct focus, right toward Orion. She feinted left and then shot right --

And Orion caught the Quaffle in one hand.

With a smile, he tossed the Quaffle off to the left, right toward his closest Chaser. Carewyn, expecting this, swerved out in front, using her feet to swing her broom around and smack the Quaffle right back at him.

It soared through the right-most hoop.

"Score!" McNully's voice rang out in the distance.

Somewhere behind them, Andre was cheering.

"YEAH! GO, CURSEBREAKER! SHOW HIM WHO'S BOSS!"

Carewyn, however, could only breathe heavily. Orion looked at the hoop and then over at Carewyn, his smile broadening.

"Well done," he said.

But Carewyn was unable to accept the praise. She glanced back over her shoulder at Andre and then at the scoreboard.

"The match isn't over yet," she said tersely.

And she flew away, leaving Orion with less of a smile than before.

Despite her best efforts, Carewyn didn't manage to score any more goals against Orion that day. The match ended with a score of 190-10, with Carewyn leaving early, unable to face Andre or her friendly teammates with how terrible she felt her performance had been.

The next day Carewyn found a short note hidden inside her schoolbag, written in very messy, loopy handwriting.

I know yesterday was unhappy for you, but please know that you made your team proud. I only wish that the team you made proud had been mine -- perhaps then my pride in you would've been easier to see. You are a brilliant player, Carewyn Cromwell. Do not be discouraged. Orion

x~x~x~x

The last time Carewyn and Orion collided at Hogwarts's Quidditch friendlies that year was right after Carewyn's OWLs. Just about all of the Slytherin team had been there that week. They'd been knocked out of the running very early on due to Orion being knocked off his broom by one of Erika Rath's Bludgers and needing time to recover. Now that they'd finished some soul-searching and team-bonding, the Slytherin team wanted to practice in preparation for the next season. As part of a training exercise for the whole team, Orion assigned his teammates (and himself) to play different positions in the next few friendly matches. The previous day Skye had done admirably playing as a Beater for her friendly team, and this day Orion ended up as Seeker, alongside Carewyn as Chaser and opposing Gryffindor's Star Seeker, Charlie.

Charlie had always been a brilliant Seeker. He'd scored the position back in his second year just as Orion had earned his own position as Slytherin Chaser in his, and thanks to Charlie, Gryffindor had won every match in the last four years excluding their finals against Ravenclaw, where Erika Rath would take Charlie out with her well-aimed Bludgers. Carewyn suspected that this may have been why Orion wanted to go head-to-head against Charlie -- if he and the Slytherin team had any hope of beating Gryffindor and winning the Quidditch Cup, he had to get a good look at Charlie and the way he played. And Orion did do a lot of observation -- not just of the Snitch, but of Charlie. He made very good use of the Wronkski Fake-Out throughout the friendly match, taking note of Charlie's agility and focus. To his credit, Charlie kept up with Orion very well, and ended up sussing out his ruse a few times when he looked around and saw nothing for Orion to be focused on. The Gryffindor even ended up ducking a Bludger Orion had smacked away from him and at Charlie thanks to his Beater "Tossing the Torch" to him with a grin akin to a Cheshire Cat's.

As Charlie and Orion played their silent game of game-worthy wits, though, Carewyn ended up noticing something they didn't. A flare of gold beside the left goal hoop.

Not wanting to alert Charlie, she instead snatched up the Quaffle, flying back toward the goal hoops. Racking her brain for an idea, she settled upon the weird one.

"If you want me, you can find me Left of center, off of the strip!"

Just about everyone was bewildered by Carewyn singing out of nowhere. Both Charlie and Orion looked at her, the first bewildered and the second merely startled.

Carewyn tried not to blink as she flew right past Orion, her eyes flitting back over his shoulder. She was desperate not to look directly at the Snitch herself, for fear of tipping off Charlie.

"In the outskirts and in the fringes -- In the corner -- out of the grip!"

Orion miraculously seemed to catch on. Unfortunately when he glanced over his shoulder, Charlie seemed to regain his focus, and within seconds, he'd spotted the Snitch too. Both of them took off like a shot from opposite sides of the pitch, right for the tiny golden ball fluttering on the far end.

Both Orion and Charlie's teammates tried to run interference. Charlie's Beaters hit Bludgers at Orion, which he dodged; Orion's Chasers, including Carewyn, tried to block Charlie, but he was just too fast. Ultimately the two ended up shoulder to shoulder as they pursued the Snitch -- they dived, ducked, and spiraled, both trying to shake the other off and catch the Snitch first.

Orion pretty soon got up onto the back of his broom and surfed through the air, up and over Charlie to try to overtake him. It seemed to work at first -- but just as Orion was about to snatch the Snitch out of the air, Charlie did something perfectly mad. Keeping the bottom of his broom under his legs so as to avoid a foul, the second-eldest Weasley grabbed onto one of the nearby banners in one hand and swung around the pillar, right in front of Orion. Orion had to quickly course-correct to avoid colliding with Charlie and falling off his broom -- and in that moment he needed to withdraw, Charlie managed to snatch the Golden Snitch himself.

Just about everyone watching swarmed around Charlie afterward to praise him for the amazing catch. Orion was gracious enough to shake Charlie's hand too, though he did exhale heavily through his smile once Charlie rushed over to talk to Andre.

"You were brilliant, Orion," Carewyn murmured. "You deserved to win that time."

Orion gave a shrug.

"Charlie Weasley is a formidable opponent," he said quietly. "He always has been."

Carewyn nodded grimly. Orion glanced at her with a small smile.

"But still, this loss has some benefits."

Carewyn looked at him curiously. "Did you figure out something useful about Charlie's flying?"

Orion's black eyes twinkled wryly. "Indeed. Our opponent has taken a leaf out of my book, in finding creative ways to subvert us. But he can still be distracted from his goal -- your singing was more than enough proof of that. We just need to consider how best to take advantage of this fact."

Carewyn smiled. "If there's anyone creative enough to figure out a way to do it, it's you, Orion."

Orion's lips spread into a smile too. Bringing his broom up and over his head so that he could rest it along his shoulders, he began to stroll off the pitch, Carewyn on his other side.

"If you don't mind, Carewyn Cromwell," he said leisurely, "how does the rest of that song go?"

Carewyn's smile spread into a fuller grin and obliged.

"When they ask me, 'What are you looking at?' I always answer, 'Nothing much -- not much -- ' I think they know that I'm looking at them; I think they think I must be out of touch,

But I'm only in the outskirts and in the fringes, On the edge and off the avenue, And if you want me, you can find me Left of center, wondering about you...

I think that somehow, somewhere inside of us, We must be similar, if not the same, So I continue to be wanting you, Left of center, against the grain...

And if you want me, you can find me Left of center, off of the strip -- In the outskirts and in the fringes -- In the corner, out of the grip..."

Years later, in the midst of the Second Wizarding War, Orion would hear the full song playing on a Muggle radio, and it sparked the first smile his face had known in months.

[nexttopbadbitch]

generational sex appeal pt. 8

[grrlmusic]

Martha Skye Murphy - Um

[livingunderlies]

Part three of the incorrect quotes post😊😆😆

Mc: I don’t think the therapist is supposed to say ‘wow’ that many times during their first session with a client, but here we are.

Mc: I got an idea! Bill: Does it involve breaking the law? Mc: By now don’t you think that’s a given? Bill: I was just trying to be optimistic. Mc: Don’t bother.

*The Squad is on a hike* Penny : It’s beautiful out here. Andre: And quiet. Badeea: Too quiet. Mc: Did we lose someone? *cut to Barnaby with a bear in a headlock*

Mc : *bites lip* Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are? Cop: That isn’t gonna work, hands behind your back.

Tonks: Chiara? I mixed redbull with coffee and now I can see sounds, should I worry? Chiara: Tonks, I swear to god—

Andre: I love making parties more interesting by telling strangers “I want you to know that I personally have no problem with you being here.”

Victor: Is Mc always like this when they lose? Penny: Oh, yes. You should've been there for the Great Jenga Tantrum of 2015. Mc : You bumped that table and you know it!

Talbott , looking over Badeea shoulder: You can draw? Badeea, stopping what they were doing: You can speak?

Jae : ‘Technically legal’, the two best words in the the English language, right before ‘cowboy spectacular.'

Andre: Where’s Mc? Talbott : Around. Andre: Around? Andre: You don’t have any idea, do you? Mc , dropping down from above: Did you know there’s a space above the ceiling?

Talbott : I just wanted to say that over the years, I have come to regard you as… people I met.

Mc: What have you done with Chiara? Jae: Nothing. Why, do you think I should?

Mc : My future partner must be brave, strong, intelligent, successful and organized. Barnaby: *steps on a caterpillar and proceeds to drop to their knees and sob while apologizing profusely* Mc : That one. I want that one.

*out grocery shopping* Barnaby: *takes a free sample twice* Barnaby: Robbery and Fraud. I am a Rebel.

Orion: Oh god, they texted you ‘hi.’’ punctuation only means one thing, Mc . They're mad at you. Mc: No, it's Murphy. They're just being gramatically correct! *meanwhile* Murphy: And then I used a period so they'd know that I'm mad at them. Skye: A period doesn't say 'I'm mad', it says 'you're dead to me'. Murphy: I stand by my choice.

Orion: Whose turn is it to give the pep-talk? Murphy: *sighing* Mc. Mc : Fuck shit up out there, but don’t die. Skye: *wiping away a tear* So inspirational.

Murphy: We call that a traumatic experience. Murphy, turning to Mc : Not a "bruh moment". Murphy, turning to Orion: Not "sadge". Murphy, turning to Skye: And DEFINITELY not an "oof LMAO".

The Squad: *walking at the mall* Mc : Hey, have any of you guys seen Talbott ? They’ve been gone for a while.. Penny: Eh, nope. Jae : No, I haven’t... Badeea: Probably ran off to McDonald’s or something. Talbott : Hey. Mc: Ooh, there you are- Chiara: What the fu- Penny: I- where were you?! Talbott : Walking right behind you guys.

Tulip: Hello friends! The Squad: Tulip: You might be wondering why I’m taped to the ceiling.

Mc : ARE YOU- Skye: Fucking. Mc : KIDDING ME?! YOU- Skye: Fucking. Mc : IDIOT! Orion: …What was that? Skye: Murphy banned Mc from swearing, so I’m helping them out.

*Corey is fighting a monster* Mc : Just stay calm! You already have everything you need to beat it! Corey: The power to believe in myself!? Mc : No, a knife! Stab it!

Talbott: The only thing keeping me from running away and hiding from society for the rest of my life is spite. I could disappear forever, but there are some bitches whose downfalls I have yet to witness, and I wanna be around when that happens.

Mc : Erika, my old friend! Erika: I think you tried to kill me at some point.

Mc : That was obviously just my way of getting to know you.

Talbott : Love is weakness and an evolutionary mistake. Badeea: You are literally making a Valentine’s day card for Penny. Talbott , pointing their hot glue gun towards Badeea: You’re on thin fucking ice.

Diego : That shirt looks great, Jae . Jae : Thanks. Diego : But I bet it would look even better on Chiara's floor. Chiara: Are you hitting on Jae ... for me?

Jae : I have very high standards, you know. Chiara: I can make spaghetti... Jae : Oh no! You're meeting all my standards!

Mc: When I see initials carved into a tree with a heart I think it’s so romantic. Two lovers on a date... one of them carrying a knife for some reason.

Mc: Sorry I can’t be emotionally vulnerable with you it’d ruin the mystery.

Mc: I never understood why people cared so much about their dumb friends until I got a dumb friend myself. Mc: *Picks up Barnaby* Mc : I’ve only befriended Barnaby for a day and a half, but if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in this room and then my self.

Tulip: I honestly feel like some of our conversations here are almost word-for-word accurate to the generator. Andre: Yup. Mc : Maybe the generator is watching us. Tulip: Wouldn't that imply this conversation will be added? Tulip: ... Tulip: Wait��

[nightingale2004]

HPHM fancast pt.6

Orion Amari

Faceclaim: Avan Jogia

£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£~£

Murphy McNully

Faceclaim: Owen Joyner

×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷×÷

Skye Parkin

Faceclaim: Alisha Newton

□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□♧□

Erika Rath

Faceclaim: Kelli Berglund

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Bi/Bi M/F Romances, Part II

For Part I, click here. You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi Check Your Work by Skye Kilaen A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur

[iamlisteningto]

Martha Skye Murphy’s Um

[weirdcursedvaultkid]

Hi Mella! I hope you had a great weekend! I just saw one of your recent ask answers and thought that Erika ships, canon or MC are so underrated! One of my other moots ships Erika with her MC and I love them sm!

oh yeah erikas a great character shes def underrated!

[ameliathefatcat]

Random Hogwarts Mystery Headcanons because I have a lot of Ideas

Badeea Ali has really bad environmental allergies. She has to take allergy potions before Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology

Skye Parkin has a nut allergy and didn’t realize for way to long she just thought nuts were spicy

Ben Copper and Jae Kim are lactose intolerant

Badeea has undiagnosed autism, she’s an 80’s kid and the child of immigrants.

Badeea was the first in her family to be born outside of Egypt, her father immigranted when her half brothers were small and her mother immigranted as a young woman

Tulip is the heaviest sleeper ever. Charlie Mosley and Badeea have to flip over her mattress to wake her up when she over sleeps

She sleeps through that as well

Barnaby is epileptic due to a TBI he got as a child

He mostly has absence seizures, once or twice a year he might have a tonic-clonic seizure

He keeps this a secret, since he’s embarrassed of having brain damage

Chiara is the only one that knows he’s epileptic and she helps him when he has a seizure

Reggie Tonks (Nyphmadora’s younger brother) actually became friends with Ismelda Murk due to both of them being a bit satanic

Reggie loves to test out his new spells and Ismelda likes to cause pain so she helps him get victims test subjects

Reggie is also friends with Badeea since both like to invite new spells

Tonks doesn’t get it. She loves her little brother but doesn’t understand why people in her year are friends with him

Tonks is very protective of her little brother

Diego Caplan teases Amelia and Ben for being Ashkenazi

Diego is Sephardic btw

When Amelia and Diego are on patrol together they joke around and argue about Jewish stuff

The other Prefects, Barnaby, Liz, Badeea, Andre, Penny and Charlie are confused about this and when Amelia said ‘a good amount of our culture is arguing’

Tonks is not trust with sharp objects

Ben and Badeea both became Uncle/Aunt while at Hogwarts

Andre does drag

Talbott finds this hot and annoying since Andre is a horrible singer

Ben’s family really loves Amelia. She was invited to his second sister Rina’s wedding

Orion is a stoner

He also doesn’t shower that much

He has horrible BO

Skye has a pair of lucky socks are that are super smelly

Rath sweats a lot and uses so much deodorant to deal with BO

When Badeea sees the name ‘Khalid Ali’ in the news paper she hopes it a different Khalid Ali and not her half brother. It’s often her half brother

Andre was once reading an international wizarding newspaper and the headline was ‘British-Egyptian wizard in Cairo. Badeea knew instantly it was her half brother

More about Badeea’s half brothers when they were at Hogwarts they anglicized their names Samir went by Sam and Khalid went by Kenny. Khalid is called Kenny by most of his friends but didn’t legally change his name because it was too much work

Badeea does technically have an anglicized nickname, B. She’s mostly called this by the other Ravenclaws.

Amelia and Badeea bond over the fact both of them don’t speak English at home.

Khalid was friends with both Duncan and Jacob but he no interest in the cursed vaults

Barnaby, Liz, Diego, Penny, Andre, Badeea, Charlie and Amelia took a Prefect photo and re take it at their reunions

Murphy and Rath are constantly on and off dating

[jacobscursebreakerlilsis]

These 4 are iconic🐍✨

[grrlmusic]

Martha Skye Murphy - Need (ft. Roy Montgomery)

[lifeofkaze]

A Search for Balance

CHAPTER 43: IRISH GOLD

Find the masterlist with all chapters of this story here, the previous chapter here, and the next one here.

A/N: Katriona Cassiopeia belongs to my favourite @kc-and-co

The day of the final didn’t seem to pass. The sun had come out early in the morning, basking the city of tents in its warm, golden glow, and Lizzie and the others used the good weather to explore the campsite. They met old friends and made new ones, but even so, the hands on their watches moved as if they had been dipped in syrup.

As the evening drew close, the general tension grew, and the air was buzzing with anticipation by the time the sun had gone down.

Having stayed up late after her conversation with Orion, it was only when the low sound of the gong heralding the match’s beginning sounded across the campsite that Lizzie felt something like proper excitement overcoming her. They joined the throng of people streaming towards the Trillenium Stadium, the winding path flanked by red and green lights and thick with Irish and Bulgarian memorabilia.

After taking one last turn, the stadium came into view. It loomed high above the masses, casting a soft, golden light against the darkened sky. Singing, shouting, and the stomping of feet could already be heard from the inside, and Lizzie felt the butterflies swarming in her stomach as they showed their tickets and found their seats about three-quarters to the top. 

Whatever deal Katriona and Skye had struck with their tickets, they had done well. Their places were almost in the middle of the stadium’s curve, with a perfect view of both sets of goalposts rising from the velvety green lawn. Lizzie breathed in the cool night air, her eyes sweeping over the surrounding ranks, brimming with energy. 

Abrupt movement in the ranks below drew her attention. She scanned the crowd for the source of it and immediately drew her brows together in a frown. Skye must have also seen it because she nudged Lizzie in the side and nodded at the commotion.

“What’s she doing here?”

Below them, Rita Skeeter was moving through the ranks like a magenta-coloured shark in a sea of Irish green. With a flash of anxiousness, Lizzie waited for Matthew’s face to appear behind her, but luckily, he was nowhere to be seen; the friendship between him and the reporter seemed to have ended for good.

“Bad weeds grow tall,” Skye muttered, giving Rita a contemptuous look. “Do you think she’s snooping after you again?”

Lizzie shook her head. “I doubt it. I’m hardly the biggest headline around here.”

Skye made a sound somewhere between a scoff and a snort. “Hopefully. Can’t have her ruining the final.” 

Lizzie was about to agree but was cut off when the magically enhanced voice of Ludo Bagman - the head of the Ministry’s Department of Magical Games and Sports - rose above the noise. 

“Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!”

A roar of approval went through the stadium as the gigantic magical scoring board changed from the tournament’s sponsors to show the names of the two competing teams. Bagman waited for the racket to die down before he continued.

“And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian Team Mascots!”

The hollering intensified as a group of otherworldly beautiful women glided onto the lawn below. As the Veela began to dance, Murphy and Orion both suddenly became very interested in their program leaflets, but Skye wasn’t as quick-thinking; Katriona and Lizzie had just enough time to reach for her shoulders and push her back into her seat as she made to shoulder her way to the front railing of their section.

The enchantment the Veela had placed on the crowd broke when the Irish Team Mascots made their appearance. The Leprechauns flew into the stadium in a flash of green and gold, forming a shamrock that soared above the cheering ranks and rained gleaming coins of gold on them.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch team!”

They clapped politely as seven players in red robes shot onto the pitch. They were promptly followed by the Irish, who received a considerably warmer welcome. The national anthems of both countries were being played, and while Lizzie didn’t sing along, she smiled to herself at the enthusiasm with which Murphy belted out the hymn of his country.

A tense silence settled over the stadium as the teams assembled at the centre circle. The silver whistle of the umpire flashed as he brought it to his lips. Its sound rang clear and sharp, and the Quaffle was thrown into the air. The final had begun.

Lizzie had been to many a Quidditch match in her time, but even so, the showdown between Ireland and Bulgaria wasn’t like anything she’d seen before. Bulgaria did their best to stem the fast-paced attacks of the Irish Chasers, but their skill was remarkable. Golden omnioculars gleamed from all across the stadium, but Lizzie soon found that she preferred seeing the match play out in real-time; watching how each player worked with their teammates like the cogs of two finely-tuned machines was a true joy.

“They’re so fast!” Katriona said to Lizzie as Ireland scored another goal. “I can barely see who’s who.”

“Because they’re all flying freaking Firebolts,” Skye snorted, motioning at the Irish Beater zooming past them. 

“I’d sell my soul to fly one of those.”

“Get in line. Applied for one when looking for a replacement for my Comet, but you’d sooner have Snitches flying out your arse than getting your hands on one.” Skye cast a dark look at the Irish team. “And now we know why, too.”

The match soon grew increasingly heated. A gasp went through the ranks as the two Seekers suddenly plunged into a steep dive, their shapes reduced to two blurs of red and green racing towards the ground. At the very last moment, Victor Krum pulled his broom upwards, but Aiden Lynch - the Irish Seeker - wasn’t as lucky and made full contact with the ground. 

After Lynch had returned to the air, the game threatened to slip into anarchy, the Bludgers flying too fast for even Murphy and Katriona to keep up. When the referee paused the match to decide on a penalty for the Irish, Katriona leaned over to Lizzie.

“Swap seats with me,” she said, rising to her feet. “Orion’s driving me crazy with all his Chaser nonsense. Come on, you two have all the technical talk I don’t want to be having, and I can watch the real stars of the show in peace.”

It was only with reluctance that Lizzie made to stand up as well when, suddenly, the Irish attacking formation scattered right in front of them. Lynch had shot through them from above, with Krum hard on his tails. Their robes billowed behind them as Krum drew level with Lynch, both of them approaching the ground at a rapid speed.

A roar that made the Trillenium Stadium shudder rose as Lynch collided with the ground a second time, and Victor Krum rose into the air. Blood was seeping from his broken nose and his expression was grim, but in his outstretched fist, he held the Golden Snitch. 

There was a low rumble as murmurs of understanding passed through the stadium. Lizzie and thousands of others held their breath as the writing on the scoreboard changed. In flashing green and golden letters, it read:

Bulgaria - 160, Ireland - 170

It took a moment for the information to sink in, but then a wave of cheers brandished through the stands that made Lizzie’s ears ring. 

“We won!” Murphy screamed with a cracking voice, hugging his wife, Orion, and the person sitting next to him. Tears were streaming down his face as he raised both his fists into the air. “Krum caught the Snitch, but we won!”

“What were the odds, McNully?” Skye shouted above the noise, but Murphy vigorously shook his head.

“Who cares about the bloody odds? We won!”

***

When Lizzie and the others arrived at the victory party of the Irish team, it had long since spilt from its initial area. It was like plunging into a whirlwind of green, white and orange; champagne, Irish beer and whiskey were flowing in gurgling streams from bottomless barrels into the glasses held beneath them, and the ecstatic sound of enchanted fiddles filled the air. At random intervals, Leprechauns would soar over the head of the celebrants, and several rainbows bathed everything in their colourful glow. They sprung from the centre of the scene, where the World Cup trophy throned on a pedestal surrounded by cauldrons of Leprechaun gold. 

Lizzie watched the silver trophy gleam in the light, imagining how it would feel to hoist it towards stands filled with people shouting her name. She was so caught up in her daydreams that she didn’t pay attention to where she was going; as she turned to say something to Skye, all her friends had suddenly disappeared.

She wandered around on her own for a bit, wondering whether or not to congratulate those members of the Irish team she knew personally. Eventually, she decided against it; enough people wanted a piece of them tonight.

Suddenly feeling lonely, Lizzie searched the crowd for any sign of her friends. She spotted Katriona’s flaming red hair through a gap in the people, but just as she was about to set off towards her, someone else came pushing in her direction. Rita Skeeter’s bright coat stood out starkly against the mass of Irish green, her eyes behind her jewelled spectacles gleaming hungrily as they darted from face to face. 

Lizzie didn’t think twice as she turned to walk away in the opposite direction. She had turned too quickly, though, and found herself stumbling backwards as she collided with the person who had walked past right behind her back. 

“I’m so sorry! I really didn’t see you at all.”

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it,” the other woman said wryly. Her voice sounded familiar, but it took Lizzie another moment to recognise Morgaine Yarwood’s features beneath her mask of green-and-gold face paint. She was dressed all in green, and a crown of shamrocks sat upon her red hair.

“Morgaine,” Lizzie said in astonishment. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same,” Morgaine replied, but not unkindly. “I, for one, am celebrating the best team in the world!”

She had raised her voice at the last bit, getting cheers of approval from the people surrounding them. With a jolt, Lizzie realised how stupid her question had been. Morgaine was Irish, after all. 

“Congratulations,” she dutifully said and meant it. “We all rooted for you.”

“We?” Morgaine tilted her head. “Who’s we?”

“Skye and her family,” Lizzie answered hurriedly; maybe her reply had come too quickly because Morgaine shook her head. 

“You can say if you’re here with Orion. It’s cool.”

“It’s not. And I’m not. At least, not in the way you think.”

“Is that so?” 

“Yes,” Lizzie said stubbornly. “Don’t worry, no breach of League statutes here.” 

Her words had come out more bitter than Lizzie had meant to. Morgaine must have heard it, too, because she dropped her eyes.

“Even if there was, I wouldn’t tell. Really!” she added when Lizzie made a doubtful noise. “I was a right idiot towards you last season. I don’t think I ever properly apologised for it.”

Lizzie had to think about Morgaine’s part in Matthew’s scheming. The thought of her lost necklace still hurt, but her anger was towards Matthew, not Morgaine. She had fallen for his charm, like so many others, but when Lizzie told her so, Morgaine shook her head.

“It’s not fine at all. I took your necklace and let you and Skye tear each other apart over it. It was unfair to you and the team as well. Skye… let’s just say she made me see sense. And not only about the thing with your ex.” 

She sighed. “Had I known how things were with you and Orion, I would have… I’d have done a lot of things differently. I thought you wanted a sideshow with someone who deserved better and didn’t care about our team rules, either. I was wrong in both regards, I know that now. How you stood up for us during the final, that’s not something everyone would have done.”

Lizzie smiled wryly. “You lost the championship because of me.”

“No one wanted that last shot, but you took it anyway. Forget what that Skeeter witch is writing. Everyone knows you didn’t fail it on purpose.”

“Thank you, but what’s done is done.” Even though she felt like crying, Lizzie forced herself to smile. “Good luck to you next season. And… with Orion, too. You’re right. He deserves better. Just make sure Ethan doesn’t know. It’d be a shame if I didn’t get to play against you.” 

Morgaine looked baffled, and Lizzie turned to go without giving her a chance to respond. She cursed when she spotted Rita Skeeter again, pushing in their direction with a smirk. Having seen her, too, Morgaine leaned in to whisper into Lizzie’s ear.

“Go. I’ll take care of her.”

Pushing Lizzie to the side, she raised her thumb and index finger to her lips and whistled sharply. Several heads turned at the sound, the one of Rita Skeeter included.

“Hey, Rita!” Morgaine called out, her words more muddled than they had been just now. “Write about these Quaffles for a change!”

With that, she raised her shirt to under her chin, shouted “Ireland!” and darted away in the opposite direction of Lizzie, with Rita and her raised camera hot on her tails. 

Shaking from her daze, Lizzie slipped through the laughing people and toward the exit. She had just passed the security wizards when Skye caught up with her.

“Oi, Jameson! Where are you off to?”

“I’ve had enough drunk Irish for the night. I was going to see if I could find Charlie. I’d like to see him before we leave again.” 

Not giving Lizzie a chance to object, Skye motioned to someone in the crowd and then fell into step beside her. Lizzie suppressed a sigh; she had hoped for some time alone, but it looked like she was stuck with Skye now.

They walked for a little, and soon their surroundings became more quiet. There still was the odd group celebrating here and there, but for the most part, silence had descended upon the campsite. They chatted about the match and the party; learning about Lizzie’s encounter with Morgaine left Skye grinning broadly.

“Yarwood has some guts, but that’s something even for her.” She laughed to herself. “The things I’d given to see Skeeter’s face. What did she want from you, anyway?”

Lizzie shrugged. “She hounded me all year. Maybe it’s become a habit.”

“Yeah, but you were with McRae then. And Orion, at times,” Skye quipped, acutely unaware of Lizzie’s silence. “Where was he, anyway? I thought he was with you.”

“Why would he be?”

Skye shrugged. “It’s the World Cup final. Stranger things have happened.” 

“Are you serious?” Lizzie huffed, the anger that had been building since the day of their arrival bubbling to the surface. “I’m not daft, Skye, and neither is Orion. You bringing us here was a shitty move if I’ve ever seen one.” 

“Hold your Hippogriffs, Jameson. We just wanted to -”

“I don’t care what you wanted, why can’t you get that into your head?” Lizzie almost shouted, tears of frustration pricking at the back of her eyes. “You think you just toss him and me into this situation, and everything will turn out well? That’s not how it works!

“You bloody well know I love him, and yet you won’t stop dangling him in front of my nose. As if it was so easy! I’m on a different team now, I’m not part of all this anymore, and it doesn’t matter how much it hurts, we just can’t be together!”

She screwed her eyes shut, willing the tears of frustration and helplessness to go away.

“Having to leave him broke my heart, and I just want to get on with my life. I thought you, as my friend, would want to help me, but now I’m back to square one, and tomorrow I’m going to go back to my new home, and my new life, of which he isn’t part and never will be because even if there was a way for us, he believes that all of this shit is written in his bloody stars!”

Lizzie’s voice had risen with every word, and she now threw the bottle she’d been carrying to the ground from frustration. Skye didn’t look impressed by her rant. She shook her head at Lizzie.

“Mate, where’s your fire? Your spirit? If you want him so badly, fight for him!”

“Why fight when there’s no chance to win? Forcing me to try is just cruel.”

“Cruel?” Skye echoed. Her posture had changed, tension now bristling between the two witches. 

Lizzie welcomed the idea of a fight wholeheartedly, but she never learned what Skye had to say because both of them suddenly fell silent.

Somebody was screaming.

[helenadurazzo]

I am including previously dateable characters in this poll.

[dovahkiin-19]

Hogwarts mystery fans asking JC why our character can’t date the quidditch characters: