coffee // open

[grace f. meadows]

Grace had a the worst habit of being surprised when people recognized her. It shouldn’t have been surprising that people knew who she was- the die-hard quidditch fans were already up on who was being drafted onto the teams for the upcoming season. They wanted their team to do the best, and she knew (being a former die-hard quidditch fan herself) that they would dig as far back into their Hogwarts standings as they could. If they looked into Grace’s history, they would have seen a wide-eyed redhead with big dreams and a killer beater’s arm. Even as a second year she was one of Hufflepuff’s top players… and she knew how that sounded. Hufflepuff. The house that didn’t seem to take anything but friendship and loyalty seriously. Well, the Hufflepuff quidditch team was loyal to the sport and they were killer. Maybe not right away, but by Grace’s fifth year they were actually winning matches, and it was an obvious choice for her to be selected to be captain of the team in her sixth year, and again in her seventh. They were good. Maybe not “beat Slytherin” good, but they were good. They played fair, and she and her fellow teammate, Coralie, had caught the attention of the Chudley Cannons. Simple as that. They were recognized because they were the first Hufflepuffs in ages to get drafted right out of Hogwarts.


But Grace didn’t think about being recognized when she left her flat. She didn’t think about it, because why would she? She was just fresh out of Hogwarts, and sure she looked a little more… well, fit now that she’d been working out more heavily, but she was still the same Grace, in her head. So she would go, hair blazing and no sunglasses or sun hat. It just didn’t occur to her to care. She was too busy to care. Too worried that Jacobs, the player she was sure to be replacing in the upcoming seasons, was going to come back after that muggle steroid shot treatment (bullocks, if you asked her) and remain on the starting roster. Grace felt that she deserved it- she and Coralie had been working their asses off all summer dealing with their captain’s bullshit, and it was only fair that they gave them a flying shot. Well, it was only fair that they gave Grace a flying shot, anyway… she was looking out for herself and Coralie was a big girl. Grace wasn’t about to let Jacobs swoop right in on her rickety Cleansweep and take back her position. Grace had earned it fair and square, and Jacobs was on her way out. She was almost the oldest player in professional quidditch.

But Grace was trying hard not to think about any of that today. She was trying hard not to think about any of that today. Thinking about anything at all, really. The night before she'd gone out with her best friend, her roommate, Elias, and they'd had a grand old time. The time that required a big cup of coffee from the coffee shop down the lane from her flat, in Diagon Alley. The noisiest bit of Wizarding town that they could have rented... Well, it didn't bother her until today, or any day that she'd decided to have a good time the night before. She stood in line, brushing her red hair out of her face as she attempted to gracefully shade her eyes from the bright sun shining in the window. Her shadow rocked on the ground as she, herself, balanced from the toes to the heels of her feet.

Grace really needed this.

Tagged; @open
Words; 500+