Chapter Text
Kelley O’Hara doesn’t even think twice before she does it - she just points her broom downwards and shoots towards the ground in a blind rage. She’s got no idea who this new Slytherin captain thinks she is, calling a time-out at a time like this when it’s a clear cut opportunity for a penalty, but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t touch her feet to the earth and stomp over to the referee to argue in favor of her Seeker. Unlike some people currently on the pitch, Kelley takes her captaincy very seriously, and she’s not about to let this kind of behavior fly.
“It wasn’t even a foul - ” Kelley hears as she clutches her broom in her right hand, carelessly dragging it along behind her.
“She nearly broke Mal’s neck!” Kelley fumes loudly, glaring at the Slytherin Beater who, for one reason or another, has been appointed the new captain of the team. It’s a bad choice, Kelley thinks; surely she won’t survive long in her post when acting like this. “Are you seriously arguing the penalty?”
The Slytherin captain rolls her eyes - one part of her that Kelley is actually able to see fairly well under all the protective padding.
“Allie didn’t commit a foul, and she certainly didn't intend to injure,” she says, far too calmly for the circumstances, and Kelley can feel the fury building inside of her.
“You don’t have to commit an explicit foul for there to be a penalty,” Kelley says, and in the back of her mind, she’s wondering why the hell the referee doesn’t seem to have control of the fourteen players on the pitch - specifically, the one directly in front of her right now. “You’d know that if you knew anything about playing this game!”
“I know how to play,” the Slytherin says very matter of factly. “At least I know to call a time-out when it looks like my Seeker might have been injured - which yours wasn’t, by the way.”
“Oh, I oughta - ”
“Ladies,” the referee interrupts, drawing her wand and holding it between Kelley and the Slytherin captain. Kelley hadn’t been aware of how close they’d gotten to each other, but now they’re nearly toe-to-toe, and she blinks before realizing that her opponent is taking a large step back. “I’m awarding a penalty to Gryffindor, provided that Miss O’Hara gets back on her broomstick and in the air. Miss Sonnett, have a word with your fellow Beater. I’d like for the first game of the year to end without injury.”
Kelley knows that the referee’s sharp glare is meant to be reproachful, but she’s too heated to pay it much attention. She swings her legs over her broom, and her kick off is too hard and sloppy, but she can’t be bothered to linger over that, not when she’s got more important matters to tend to.
“Are you alright?” Kelley shouts at Mal, one eye on her and the other on O’Reilly, who has the Quaffle tucked under her arm as she flies to the center circle of the pitch. Mal sends her a thumbs up before launching herself upwards to circle the pitch some more, eye out for the Snitch. Heather shoots their penalty straight through the center hoop, tying up the score to make it 30-30, but Kelley isn’t about to start relaxing until they’re up by a large enough margin - and probably not even then.
Perhaps Kelley takes the game too seriously. She takes most things seriously, and Quidditch is no exception to that. She shouts at her teammates as Slytherin continues to score - the fact that they’re so good is infuriating, really - and then, when they start to really fall behind, she sees red. Slytherin don’t play cleanly (it’s not as if Kelley does either, she’s really rather fortunate that she hasn’t been called for cobbing yet) and their Keeper is unfortunately somewhat competent at her job, but that’s nothing compared to their captain who seems to have Kelley’s number. Too many of her shots on goal are blocked and she’s growing frustrated as Bludgers whiz past and force her off track almost more often than they don’t, and by the time Mal catches the Snitch, Kelley is almost relieved that it happens sooner rather than later. She doesn’t want to have to imagine what the final scoreline would have been if the Slytherin Chasers had been allowed to continue scoring.
“Come on!” Heather calls, racing towards Kelley as the majority of the people in the stands below erupt into cheers. She nearly rams into her, and Kelley ignores her pointedly, speeding towards the ground again. “Come on, we did well! We can’t help that Slytherin actually looks decent for the first time ever!”
That’s exactly why Kelley is in a bad mood: because Slytherin had looked good. She’s been on the house team since her second year, back when she’d been small enough to weave in and out of opposing players and steal the Quaffle without anyone seeing her pass by, and now that she’s been captain since her fifth year, she’s one of the best players at Hogwarts - if not the best, if she may say so. There’s something about the game that Kelley just gets, and no other Chaser scores as often than she does - today aside, but she’s going to blame that on the Slytherin Beater who was seemingly singularly hell-bent on stopping Kelley from getting anywhere near the goal posts for the last portion of the game. The only Chaser who even comes close to her is Lloyd, who’d been behind nearly half of the points that Slytherin had managed to put on the scoreboard.
But now Slytherin looks good, and their captain seems to be a brainless idiot who can’t keep her players in check, and Kelley knows for a fact that she’s young, probably too young to be captain. She’s not a seventh year, Kelley knows that for sure, not having seen her in any of her NEWT level classes. It leaves her fuming because she’s never heard of having a Beater as a captain, and someone who defends players who make reckless hits isn’t exactly captain material, in Kelley’s not so modest opinion.
Something isn’t adding up. Not when the final scoreline is 210-120, and not when Kelley remembers very accurately that the last time she played against this Slytherin team, she alone had outscored all of their Chasers.
As soon as her toes brush the grass, the Slytherin captain is zooming over to her, hovering only a couple of feet in the air so that they’re nearly face-to-face.
“Good game,” she offers, extending a hand for Kelley to shake. Kelley only looks at it as rudely as she can, and the hand lingers there for a moment before the girl shrugs and reaches to release the clasps on her playing gloves. “You know, Mal is actually a close friend of mine. I wasn’t trying to say that what Allie did was right - only that it wasn’t a penalty, strictly speaking.”
“Your team is irresponsible,” Kelley nearly spits at her, climbing off her broom so her boots are sinking into the ground. “And so are you. I don’t care who your friends are. Quidditch isn’t about friendships.”
The girl - Sonnett, Kelley supposes she’s called - just tucks her gloves under her left armpit. She’s got blonde hair and her Beater’s bat is tucked into the back of her waistband, and Kelley despises everything about her. From her casual stance to the way she’d successfully managed to keep Kelley from scoring at least five more goals (she’d been keeping track of exactly who was aiming those Bludgers at her, she absolutely had been), Kelley is quickly finding a plethora of reasons to lay into her.
“Okay,” Sonnett says, an eyebrow quirked. “Sure. Well. I just wanted to say ‘good game,’ from one captain to another.”
“You’re hardly a captain,” Kelley scoffs, crossing her arms against her chest. She’s aware of her teammates around her, shaking hands with the opposition before making their way back to the changing rooms, and she knows she should be going along with them. All of the other students in Gryffindor tower more than likely want to celebrate their win, and normally Kelley would be right there alongside them, but for some reason she’s just not in the mood. “Being a captain isn’t an easy job, but you just haven’t figured that out yet. What are you, a fourth year?”
She knows that Sonnett isn’t a fourth year - she’s taller than Kelley is, maybe just barely, but she’s young enough and that’s all that matters.
“Erm, I’m a sixth year,” Sonnett says, looking caught somewhere between confusion and amusement. “Haven’t you been captain since you were a fifth year?”
“Some of us can actually handle responsibility,” Kelley says, and she knows she’s being harsh, but she doesn’t care. Her blood is boiling and something about how cool and collected Sonnett is being is completely infuriating.
“Okay,” Sonnett says, finally dismounting from her broom and throwing it over her shoulder. “Well. I’m clearly not getting that handshake, then. You played well. I’ll see you around.”
She turns to go, and Kelley absolutely refuses to let that be how it ends - with her looking like the petulant one between the two of them.
“How did you even get to be captain?” Kelley calls after her, taking long strides to keep up with her. “I can think of at least three people on your team who are more qualified.”
“I don’t have to explain the decision process to you,” Sonnett says, casting a look behind her as she continues to walk. “Besides, you should know, McGonagall has final say. Apparently she thought I was qualified enough.”
Kelley is a bit thrown by that.
“Are you suggesting that I’m questioning our headmistress’ appointment?”
“No,” Sonnett says. “But hey - your words, not mine.”
Kelley feels herself quaking with anger.
“How dare you - "
“I’m tired,” Sonnett interrupts, turning back to Kelley, hoisting her broom higher up until it’s resting more securely in the crook of her neck and shoulder. “I just lost my first game as captain, and I have to go in there and provide my team with a bit of a boost in morale. I don’t have to justify my position to you. Go be happy about your win, okay?”
Then she’s walking away again, swift and purposeful, and Kelley shouts out after her, “you’re not even that fair of a Beater!”
Sonnett turns around, and Kelley feels a surge of satisfaction at being able to capture her attention so easily.
“Are you done?” Sonnett asks, almost dully, almost exasperated. “Really, O’Hara? Are you done berating me for losing and sticking up for my players?”
Kelley’s jaw clenches tight, and before she can think of anything snarky to say in response, Sonnett is slipping into the Slytherin changing room. It’s infuriating - Kelley can’t remember the last time she didn’t have the last word. She knows she should take a moment to gather herself, to try and calm down before heading into her own post-match meeting, but instead of doing so she stalks into the Gryffindor changing room with smoke surely pouring out of her ears.
Thankfully, Ashlyn has taken the opportunity to speak to everyone. Kelley catches the tail end of her talk, and when she sighs and throws herself onto the bench between Heather and Julie, she feels everyone’s eyes lock onto her. The room goes silent for a long moment, and she knows she needs to say something.
“Good game,” she offers grumpily, the words acrid as she forces them off her tongue. “See you all in the common room.”
It’s the most she can give them right now, when she’s so worked up and cursing the existence of the Slytherin quidditch team. She’ll give them a proper speech the next time they all meet for practice, but until then, she’s got plans to plot out how exactly to take down one very specific sixth year.
Kelley will be damned if anyone talks to her like that and gets away with it.
*
One constant in Kelley’s life is how angry Alex Morgan gets when she doesn’t catch the Snitch. Or when she loses in general, because there was that one time back in fourth year, when Slytherin was down 160 points to Hufflepuff and she decided to put everyone out of their misery and catch the Snitch anyway.
Kelley still likes to remind her of that from time to time, when she senses that Alex is getting a little too cocky about her abilities. She might be tied for the best Seeker at school, but her ego is rather overinflated, to put it nicely. Often times, Kelley knows it’s up to her to keep her closest friend humble.
So when Alex spends the entire time they’re in the courtyard complaining about how Mal catching the Snitch was a total fluke, Kelley just lets it go in one ear and out the other.
“I mean, she caught it a grand total of three times last year!” Alex exclaims. “The odds aren’t exactly in her favor, if you know what I mean.”
“No, Alex, I don’t,” Kelley deadpans, underlining some of the text in her Herbology textbook. “What ever do you mean by that?”
She doesn’t look up, knowing that she’ll just be met with a scowl.
“Whatever,” Alex mutters, sinking further down against the stone column she’s propped herself up against. “You got lucky, I hope you know.”
“Maybe you’re just not very good,” Kelley suggests. She knows she’s being antagonistic, but that’s just how she is, and she knows Alex can handle it.
“Maybe I’m going to practice this new spell on you,” Alex threatens emptily. “Turn you into a teapot.”
“Please,” Kelley says, rolling her eyes. “You could barely cast the Imperius in Defense last year. I’m not scared of you.”
“That one was hard!” Alex whines. “I can’t help that I don’t have a dark bone in my body! We’re not all as ruthless as you, you know.”
“You, not ruthless?” Kelley asks incredulously. “Are you joking? Alex, not five minutes ago you told me that if you would sooner knock Christen off her broom then let her catch the Snitch before you.”
“Well,” Alex says with a haughty sniff. “I wouldn’t actually. You know that.”
Kelley just goes back to her Herbology text; she’s supposed to be brushing up on her knowledge of snargaluffs before class tomorrow, and she wants to be prepared.
“I just don’t want to lose next time we play,” Alex says, chewing on the end of her quill. She’s been pretending to do the Transfiguration homework that’s due on Tuesday, an assignment that Kelley has been finished with for days now and refuses to let Alex copy. “We’ve been playing really well in practice, you know. Ravenclaw can’t outscore us, so Christen is really their only threat, and I’m tired of her besting me.”
“Well, maybe you lot need better Beaters,” Kelley says, underlining another section of text. “To keep her away from the Snitch.”
“Emily is fine,” Alex says dismissively. “It’s Allie we have to worry about - I mean, you saw what she did yesterday. She’s not world class, obviously, but when players graduate, you do the best you can to fill the empty positions.”
“Yes, let’s ignore the part where you most definitely vouched for her,” Kelley says, and she’s so focused on reading about the uses of snargaluff pods that it takes her a moment to really process what Alex has said. “Wait - who’s Emily?”
When Alex is silent, Kelley lifts her eyes to find herself being watched curiously.
“Emily?” Alex says obviously. “Emily Sonnett, my new captain? Have you not been listening to anything I’ve been saying over the last month?”
“No,” Kelley says unashamedly. “I haven’t. What have you been saying?”
“Well, I’ve mentioned her once or twice,” Alex says, “seeing as how she’s my captain and all.”
Kelley turns a page before speaking again.
“Isn’t she a sixth year?”
“Really, Kelley?” Alex asks, irritation creeping into her tone. “Do you know anyone who isn’t a Gryffindor or a seventh year?”
“As if you’re one to talk,” Kelley returns, to which Alex just shrugs. “Isn’t she, though? How is she captain when more than half the team is in seventh year?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Alex says. “You should know that. She’s good at it, regardless - don’t tell her I said that, though.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t want anyone knowing that you’re capable of giving compliments,” Kelley says with a grin. “What’s she like, though?”
“Why do you care?” Alex asks.
It’s a fair question, one that Kelley answers hastily before Alex’s brain can start whirring with any kind of ideas.
“Just trying to figure out how to start plotting her demise,” Kelley says, with an air of nonchalance that she carries quite well, in her opinion. Alex seems less convinced, but Kelley doesn’t care about that as long as she answers the question. “Seriously, Alex. What’s she like?”
“Do you really not know her?” Alex asks. “I mean, she spends half her time up in your tower, if I’m not mistaken. She’s friends with Horan.”
Kelley screws up her face, trying to remember someone in Slytherin robes anywhere in the vicinity of the Gryffindor common room.
“Nope,” she says, popping the ‘p’ in the word. “I really, really, don’t know her.”
Alex doodles on the corner of her parchment before speaking. It’s interesting to see her give thought to something, as the two of them are liable to speak their minds around each other without much regard for what comes out of their mouths, and it holds Kelley’s attention quite closely.
“You really want to know about her?”
“I just want to sabotage you all a little,” Kelley says, and she ducks to avoid the quill that Alex throws at her. “Fine! You don’t have to tell me where she keeps her tactics notebook, I’m not asking for that. I just want to know how she is. See if I can find out why she’s such an annoying brat.”
“She’s not an annoying brat,” Alex says, but she looks entertained by Kelley’s conviction. “I mean, she pulls a lot of pranks with Rose. You know Lavelle, don’t you?”
“Alex,” Kelley says impatiently, “just assume that I don’t know anyone. We both know I’m a little too busy to remember everyone’s name here.”
Alex just shakes her head before continuing as Kelley twirls the quill between her fingers. It’s a nice one, large and turquoise and fluffy, and if it wasn’t entirely too gaudy for her, she’d steal it for herself.
“The two of them are a nightmare,” Alex says. “You’d know if I told you some of the shenanigans they’ve pulled. The other week, I’m pretty sure they were behind making every tap in the girls’ toilet on the fourth floor pour out mulled wine instead of water.”
“I heard about that,” Kelley says vaguely. “I think. Some of the first years were very excited about it.”
“She turned the top of the Astronomy tower into a bouncy trampoline,” Alex says, trying to jolt something in Kelley’s memory. “I’m pretty sure she’s friends with the Giant Squid. Convinced some of her friends in Hufflepuff to get the elves to only send up kippers for breakfast one morning - might have taken a professor or two to go down there and convince them to send up some eggs, at the very least.”
“Friends in Hufflepuff?” Kelley laughs, throwing the quill up in the air and catching it neatly. “Alex, surely you’re winding me up here. Who has friends in Hufflepuff?”
“Oh, don’t act like you’re not friends with Tobin, same as me,” Alex snaps, watching Kelley repeat the motion. “You’re ridiculous. Just because we’re such elitist bastards most of the time, doesn’t mean that everyone else is.”
That sobers Kelley up a bit, and she considers her next question before asking it.
“Doesn’t she get into trouble for all of this? How can she be captain and yet such a menace?”
“Because she doesn’t get caught very often,” Alex says darkly. “Some of us are capable of being discreet when we want to be, you know.”
“I hope you’re not talking about yourself,” Kelley says pointedly.
Alex snatches her quill back and sets her work aside, giving Kelley a dirty look.
“Anyway, that’s Sonnett in a nutshell,” Alex says. “Satisfied?”
“For now,” Kelley says, the cogs in her brain turning, trying to figure out how to exploit this knowledge to the team’s advantage.
“I don’t want to do this,” Alex says, staring at her abandoned half-finished homework. “Play a round of Exploding Snap with me.”
“No,” Kelley refuses. “I actually like to be prepared for my classes, you know.”
“You’re boring,” Alex says, and Kelley ignores her for several minutes as she finishes the section in her textbook.
“So,” Kelley says, snapping her book shut. “Really, I don’t understand. Why is she captain? Especially if she’s such a prankster?”
“I don’t know,” Alex sighs, twisting her body until her legs are dangling off the ledge of the wall they’ve been laid up on for the last couple of hours. “Why don’t you ask McGonagall?”
“Right,” Kelley says, grimacing at the thought. “Right, let me go do just that. I”m sure she’d love this line of questioning on a Sunday afternoon.”
“Well, maybe that should tell you a little something about the line of questioning you’re directing at me on a Sunday afternoon,” Alex tells her.
“I’m hungry - do you want to go get dinner?” Kelley asks, changing the subject
“No,” Alex says, slipping her things back into her bag.
“Well, that’s rude,” Kelley says with a huff, gathering up her own things before hopping off the wall, landing somewhat unevenly. Alex hops down as well, her finish much more graceful. “Whatever, honestly. You’re just pissed that you lost yesterday.”
“So what if I am?” Alex says, tossing her shiny hair over her shoulder as they make their way out of the courtyard and back towards the inside of the castle. “I’m allowed to be a sore loser every once in a while. Besides, don’t you have other friends to eat with?”
“Of course I do,” Kelley says. “The real question is - do you?”
Alex casts her a withering glare.
“I have Allie,” she says. “You know that.”
Kelley groans.
“I’ll have to go see who’s available and hungry,” Kelley says, and her bag is heavy on her right shoulder, but she knows that at least two of her teammates are undoubtedly still sequestered in their tower, and she figures a quick trip up and down won’t kill her. “See you in class tomorrow?”
“Only if you share your Herbology notes with me,” Alex tells her. “Otherwise I’ll be drowning myself in the lake.”
“If you’re nice to me at breakfast, maybe I’ll let you look over them,” Kelley says. “See you in the morning?”
“I’ll consider it,” Alex says. “I know how much you all eat over there on your side of the hall. It’s like watching a bunch of animals who have been starved for weeks.”
They part upon reaching the Great Hall, with Alex heading down to the dungeons while Kelley heads up the staircase. She knows her way up to Gryffindor tower like the back of her hand at this point, and somewhere in between mindlessly jumping over the trick step and turning onto the corridor containing the portrait of the Fat Lady, she finds herself wondering what she’s going to do about this new Slytherin captain. The only useful information Kelley had gotten out of Alex was that Sonnett apparently likes pulling pranks, but that might be something she can work with.
The portrait hole opens before Kelley can step in close enough to give the password, and for a moment she’s pleased that she can head right in without delay, but then she sees who’s coming out and she frowns.
“Lindsey,” she says, trying to be polite to her teammate. Her eyes are glued to her companion though, and she thinks that maybe Alex was right after all - maybe Horan and Sonnett really are friends. She’s not sure how she missed this, and for a moment she thinks that Sonnett looks startlingly different when not wearing her Quidditch gear, but irritation prickles along the back of her neck and she lets that override everything else. “I didn’t know that we were letting strangers into our common room these days.”
“Hi, Kelley,” Lindsey greets her. “I’m just off to dinner - want to come?”
“No thanks,” Kelley says, and she knows she could be nicer about it, but Sonnett is already rolling her eyes and pulling at Lindsey’s shirt sleeve.
“Come on, let’s go,” she says, adjusting her bag strap. “I want to get there before all the mashed potatoes are gone.”
“Are you sure, Kelley?” Lindsey asks, and she’s always so lovely when off the pitch, which makes it hard for Kelley to wrap her head around the two of them being friends. “I think Heather and the others are already down there. I’ll wait for you to drop your stuff off, if you want.”
Kelley can feel her stomach growling, but the last thing she wants is to make her way back down to the ground floor with in the company of Sonnett.
“No really, I already ate,” Kelley says, praying that her growls don’t get louder. “Besides - you don’t want to keep this one from her potatoes. Growing girls need their food.”
“I’m not growing anymore,” Sonnett says stupidly. “I’m taller than you, anyway.”
“Barely,” Kelley says coolly, and the portrait is long closed and she’s a bit peeved about it. She’s especially peeved that now she’ll look like a fool if she shows her face at dinner, but she supposes she can dig into the stash of sweets and chocolate she keeps in her trunk for emergencies.
“Okay,” Lindsey says, looking between the two of them uncertainly. “Well, I’ll see you later then.”
“Alright,” Kelley says, waving exaggeratedly as she sidesteps them to position herself in front of the Fat Lady. “Just remember, don’t share our password with strangers.”
“I don’t - “ Lindsey starts, but then Sonnett is interrupting her.
“I’m not a stranger,” she says, head cocking to the side. “Maybe to you, but - “
“Bye,” Kelley says, and she knows her voice is lethal and a contrast to the saccharine smile she sends them, but she’s hungry and pissed that she can’t seem to enjoy anything without running into Sonnett now. “If you could go - I’d like to get into my common room in private.”
Sonnett looks at her for a long moment during which Lindsey looks conflicted, fidgeting with her collar and still watching them.
“Fine,” Sonnett with a shrug. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you pretend that I’m entirely incapable of entering Gryffindor without your permission.”
She walks away after that and Kelley glares after her, distracted from her objective and instead trying to decide what the chances are that Lindsey has indeed given out the password. Or maybe Mal has done it - Sonnett did mention that they were friends. It’s infuriating that she seems to be creeping around the peripheral of Kelley’s existence, considering that she’s a talentless hack with an inability to manage her team, and Kelley really doesn’t need to waste her time worrying about her.
Except Kelley is lying to herself, she knows she is, because Sonnett isn’t a talentless hack. And maybe she can’t manage Allie, but the rest of the team had played well - something that Kelley admits to herself quite begrudgingly as she peels back the wrapper of a chocolate bar and curls up in her favorite chair near the fireplace. She spends the quiet time while everyone else is at dinner thinking about what exactly she’s going to do about this, about Sonnett and how nothing about her seems to be adding up so far. At least if Kelley can’t make sense of it, she reasons while re-reading over her Transfiguration homework for spelling errors, she can begin to derail it.
After all, it’s what any Gryffindor would do for their house and their team.
*
There are whispers when she gets dressed in the morning. Kelley is straightening her tie and affixing her Prefect pin to her jumper when she notices Ashlyn and Heather lingering by the latter’s four-poster, and she strains her ears to try and listen to what they’re saying. She can’t catch much, which is surprisingly considering how shit Heather is at keeping her voice down most of the time, but Ashlyn is soft enough that she can’t make out anything significant.
“What are you talking about?” Kelley asks, double-checking to make sure that she has everything she needs in her bag. Quills, check. Parchment, check. Books, dragon-hide gloves for Herbology, lip balm in case the wind is acting up today - check, check, check.
“Nothing,” Heather says cheerfully, almost too cheerfully, grabbing her own school bag before slipping an arm through Kelley’s. “Come on, let’s go to breakfast.”
“Alright,” Kelley agrees easily, distracted by her still grumbling stomach. “Ash - you coming?”
“No, I’m going to pick Ali up outside of her common room,” Ashlyn says. “See you in class, though.”
“See?” Kelley says to Heather, holding her free arm out demonstratively and nearly hitting the stone walls of their winding staircase as they head down. “Normal people don’t invade other houses’ common rooms! It’s just common courtesy!”
“I don’t see why you’re so bothered by it,” Heather says, scratching her nose. “I mean, she’s friends with Mallory and Lindsey. What’s wrong with that?”
“You don’t see me hanging out in Slytherin’s common room just because of Alex, do you?” Kelley says, and she knows she’s being provocative, but she doesn’t care. “You don’t see Alex up here. We find neutral locations in which to spend time together!”
“So? She’s just a sixth year,” Heather reminds her, and the wording of it makes Kelley feel slightly better. “And more importantly, you’ve got less than a year here until you’re out. Don’t let it bother you. You’ve got NEWTs to worry about.”
“It’s like you don’t know me at all,” Kelley says loudly, yanking her arm out of Heather’s grasp to make her way across the common room and out the portrait hole. “Don’t let it bother me? Do you even know who you’re talking to?”
She can hear Heather muttering to herself under her breath behind her, but she catches up before the reach the first staircase and they spend the journey to the Great Hall debating whether or not the rumors of a pop quiz in Potions later in the week have any merit. But then the whispers start back up, and when Kelley slides into a seat at the Gryffindor table, she frowns deeply. She doesn’t like being out of the loop, and as soon as she’s done buttering herself three pieces of toast, she reaches across the table to knock Crystal’s shoulder, prompting her to abandon her conversation with Julie.
“What’s everyone talking about?” Kelley demands. “No one will tell me.”
“You’ve asked literally two people,” Heather tries to say, but Kelley just holds up a hand to signal her to shut up.
“What is it?” she pushes. “Are we getting a Halloween Ball? Another Triwizard Tournament?”
“Fat chance after the last one,” Crystal says. “No, nothing exciting, really. Nothing that you’d care about.”
“I care about everything,” Kelley declares before taking a bite of her breakfast. Then, through a full mouth - “I’m a Prefect, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, and her Quidditch captain,” Heather says. “We know, Kelley. We all know.”
Kelley elbows her before swallowing.
“Tell me,” she orders, pointing her toast between Crystal and Julie, neither of whom look particularly concerned. “Or else you’ll be staying after practice to fly laps for an extra half hour.”
“Oh, are we back to threatening the children?”
It’s Alex, standing behind Kelley and pulling lightly on her ponytail. Kelley twists until her head is out of Alex’s grasp, and glares at her.
“You’re just jealous that you can’t do the same,” she says daringly.
“Hi, Alex,” Julie says, waving.
“Hi,” Alex acknowledges before tilting her nose towards the ceiling. This morning it’s a bright, beautiful blue with a couple of clouds puffing their way across, but Kelley knows that Alex isn’t looking up there for the view. “Your snargaluff notes.”
“Did you really not do the reading?” Kelley asks, reaching for her bag.
“No,” Alex says, shooting her a scathing look. “Did you expect me to?”
“Probably spent all night painting her nails,” Kelley says out of the corner of her mouth, earning a few nervous laughs from her sixth year teammates.
A sharp tug on her ponytail forces Kelley to flip through her things a little faster.
“Ow, okay, fine!” she says, handing Alex her Herbology book. “Just make sure to bring it to class this afternoon! You don’t even say please.”
“Be nicer, and maybe I will,” Alex suggests before whirling away in a cloud of musky-sweet perfume. Kelley just fixes her hair, running her hands over it to make sure it isn’t too horribly messed up before tightening the ponytail.
“So, ladies,” Kelley says brightly. “Laps, or gossip?”
She chews her toast as she watches them exchange a look.
“Someone Transfigured all the snargaluff pods into potatoes,” Crystal says after a moment. “Professor Longbottom is in a tizzy about it. I thought it was just plain funny, but you just said something about snargaluff notes - “
“So now we’re thinking about what a coincidence that is,” Julie finishes.
Kelley feels her appetite disappear. It’s just an instinct, but she’s not one to let a gut feeling pass her by without investigation. A quick glance at the Slytherin table shows her all she needs to know, and she makes a split-second decision to get up and follow her newest nemesis out of the hall.
“Thanks,” she tells Crystal and Julie before getting up. “I appreciate it.”
“Wait a minute!” Heather says, looking up from that morning’s edition of The Daily Prophet and her scrambled eggs. “We’re headed to Charms together!”
“I’ll meet you there,” Kelley says, and she’s seeing red again, her heartbeat pounding against her eardrums. “I’ve got something to take care of.”
She walks quickly, driven by her emotions and her outrage at the implications here, and right as Emily Sonnett places a foot onto the bottommost step of the Grand Staircase, Kelley catches her roughly by the shoulder.
“What the hell did you do?” Kelley says harshly, perhaps louder than intended, but it has the desired effect: Sonnett turns around to face her, prompting her small, pale companion to do the same.
“Excuse me?” Sonnett asks, and Kelley withdraws her hand as if she’s been burned. “What are you talking about?”
“I heard what you did,” Kelley hisses at her, feeling to make sure her wand is in her robes, exactly where she needs it to be. “Snargaluff pods into potatoes? I know it was you.”
She’s met with an impressively blank face as Sonnett touches the messy rat’s nest of a bun she’s got on the top of her head. “I have no idea what you’re referring to,” she says blandly. “Sixth years don’t even touch snargaluffs until after Christmas.”
Kelley’s racking her brain, searching for evidence and then -
“Alex,” Kelley says, grasping for the common thread here. “She must have been talking about it last night, you must have overheard - “
Sonnett looks at her strangely.
“Rose,” she says, smacking the arm of the girl next to her. “Rose, was Alex talking about snargaluffs last night?”
“I have no idea,” Rose says with a shrug. “I was studying Arithmancy with you until bedtime.”
“Right,” Sonnett says, nodding. “Don’t know a thing about snargaluffs. Nor their pods.”
Kelley scowls at the pair of them.
“We’ve got to get to Defense,” Sonnett says, looking at her wrist, as if looking at a watch that isn’t actually there. “Best of luck with your snargaluffs, though. That all sounds rather tricky.”
They’re climbing up the stairs before Kelley can form another word, so she stands there, gaping after them and vibrating with anger. Just as she’s about to consider going back for her toast, Sonnett turns around to point at her.
“O’Hara, right?” she says, as if checking, and Kelley puffs out her chest in defiance.
“I’m a Prefect, I’ll have you know - "
“Right, right,” Sonnett says dismissively. “Well done on that, by the way. Really. But if you happen to get a chance to get a look at those snargaluffs later, try popping those potatoes - you might be surprised at what you find. After all, growing girls need their food. Don’t they?”
“Absolutely,” Rose agrees, and then the two of them are waltzing up the rest of the stairs and Kelley’s wand is in her hand and she doesn’t know how it got there, but she’s decided. Her mind is set, and there’s nothing to be done about it. She waits until she’s seated in Charms with Heather next to her, sitting behind Alex and Allie who do a good enough job of shielding them from view that she doesn’t feel too bad as she leans over to do some whispering of her own.
“I’m going to kill Sonnett.”
A crease appears between Heather’s eyebrows.
“Sonnett? The Slytherin Quidditch captain?”
“Yes,” Kelley says, doing her best not to move her lips at all. “Keep up, O’Reilly..”
“You know we beat them, right?” Heather says, and really, it’s so unfortunate that she’s so loud all the time.
“I’m pretty sure she’s the one who messed with the snargaluffs,” Kelley says as quietly as she can. “She does this all the time, you know. Pulling pranks and getting away with it.”
“She’s friends with Mal and Lindsey,” Heathers starts, but then the clearing of a throat and a pointed look from their professor makes them feel guilty enough to pretend to pay attention for a few minutes. When Heather picks up again, she’s noticeably quieter, which isn’t necessarily saying much. “She can’t be that bad if she’s friends with them, you know. You might want to consult with them before killing her.”
“I know all I need to know,” Kelley says stubbornly. “She’s getting back at me for beating her.”
“You’re not the one who caught the Snitch, Kelley,” Heather says, her voice rising, and Kelley has to pinch her forearm to get her to be quiet again. “Okay, okay. Are you sure it was her? Because you know, I’ve sat in on classes with her in them before and - “
“I don’t need to hear more stories about you sucking up to the professors and sitting in on their lessons,” Kelley mutters, perhaps a little aggressively. “You want to be a professor, I get it. Everyone gets it.”
Heather crosses her arms over her chest and goes silent for a long moment before leaning in towards Kelley.
“Aside from the fact that you can’t actually go around murdering fellow students - ”
“Watch me,” Kelley challenges.
“ - she’s not that bad. Just leave it, it’s a waste of your time. We’ve got Quidditch and NEWTs to focus on,” Heather finishes. “Really, Kelley. I’m serious.”
“You’re not in charge of me,” Kelley says, picking up her quill and sitting up in her chair. “I’m going to catch her in the act - just you wait and see.”
Alex spins around to cast the two of them scathing glares.
“Some of us actually need to pay attention here,” she tells them in hushed tones.
“Sorry, Alex,” Heather says with a wide smile. “I’ll get Kelley to shut up.”
“What the - ” Kelley tries to protest, but Alex isn’t having it.
“I know it was both of you, I have ears,” Alex says snidely. “You can wait until we break off into pairs to practice - let me finish taking these notes in peace.”
“She just pretends to be a good student,” Kelley whispers into Heather’s ear as Alex whips around to face the front. “We all know that as soon as we graduate, she’s off to model for Witch Weekly. She doesn’t need a single NEWT.”
“I know,” Heather agrees conspiratorially. “I’m serious though, Kelley. Stay away from Sonnett.”
Kelley doesn’t answer, instead opting to focus on dipping her quill in her inkwell. She’s got a Quidditch Cup to win, a House Championship to secure, and a post-graduation job to get recruited to - but none of that is going to happen if she doesn’t get Emily Sonnett and her annoyingly untidy hair out of her way.