Gwen stood and watched as the squid sort of begged for another piece, but since she didn’t have another, she just tickled its tentacle and watched it draw back into the depths of the lake. She was so immersed in what she was doing that she didn’t know anyone was around her until Ted spoke up. She gave a slight start and flushed rose colored for being so jumpy. She smiled and turned around to face him. “Well, I could make the squid fat, or I could eat it all myself and then I would get fat and you’d lose your best chaser!” She giggled and walked toward him. “So, we’ll have more regular practices soon, yeah?” Even she, who lived and breathed quidditch didn’t care for the irregular and strenuous practices lately. They were too exhausting.
Ted’s mouth lifted in a genuine grin for the first time in a while at Gwen’s start and the blush that covered her cheeks. A soft chuckle left him as he tucked his arms across his chest, “Then by all means, keep feeding the squid. I’m fairly close to losing half of the team as it is- I don’t need to lose anyone who’s staying willingly.” The grin faded to a small smile as guilt ran through him again. He had been pushing them too hard. Even Gwen looked tired and Gwen never tired of Quidditch. He lifted a hand, running it through the blonde hair and nodded, “Yes. Tomorrow is the last day I have in detention. I’ll talk to James about giving us back our normal time on the pitch-” and thank him a thousand times over for switching us ”-and… I’m going to cool it on the dictatorship,” he ended with an apologetic look. He looked away, shame at how he had been acting tinging his cheeks pink, the green eyes now settled on the lake.
Gwen didn’t know the exact details of why everything with Ted and practice was so messed up; she wasn’t the sort to pry or ask, but she knew she was grateful that everything was soon going to return to normal. Even for someone who spent every [or almost every] spare second doing something quidditch related, the strenuous, practices were leaving her sick and exhausted. And Ted’s attitude wasn’t helping much. “You wouldn’t lose me. I live and breath quidditch, Ted. Even when the going gets tough!” She gave a slight fist pump and couldn’t help but giggle a little as she did so. She looked over her friend and captain and saw that he, too, looked worn and exhausted. Maybe she ought to pry for once, find out exactly what was up … but no, she couldn’t.
“Evil dictator or not, I still think you’re the best captain of the four house teams,” she said, giving her honest opinion. Sure, all the house teams were good, but Gwen had her opinions just like everyone else in the world.
