[gravesend] we are the champions

JR was so excited. Maybe the most excited he had been in his whole life.

He felt like he could jump up and down or hop on a broom and speed around their yard for all the excitement that was buzzing through him. Instead, he was smiling with a smug expression on his face as he watched lots of people mill about this house, drinks in hand, glittering in fancy cocktail dresses. He hadn't seen them yet, but he knew they would be coming. This was a post victory party for the Griffins and JR couldn't wait to meet more of the current team.

People were flooing and apparating in, there was a host of paid house elves dressed in little ties who were carrying around silver platters with food, fabric swaths hanging from banisters and doorways in Griffins red and black, and the promise of Griffins royalty attending hung in the air. JR was dressed in his favorite black jacket with a Griffins logo on the front left side, dark jeans, and white high top sneakers that he had meticulously made sure there were no scuffs on. He was also excited that his parents had let him invite some friends from school, he wanted seen Tomie and Benny and the other first years for a couple of weeks and he knew they had to be just as excited as him.

But he was going to play it cool, he told himself. He had met famous quidditch players before. Heck, his dad was one. The famous Wyatt Hawkins, star chaser for the Griffins, years ago. Not to mention his sister. But he still hadn't met Roxy Rathbone, one of his favorite players. He stood on his tiptoes as he craned his neck trying to spot his friends amongst the adults.

@Tomie Vos @Benny Rivera (any other ickles who want to attend a Griffins victory party)

Benny knew JR was better off than they were, it was obvious by his clothes and his text books and even the way he carried himself, but he had always been so generous that it made it easier for Benny not to feel awkward about it. He'd even brought them all to the final match to sit in a private suite. Benny had never even been to a professional match before, the closest he'd gotten was sitting in front of the wireless and listening to the game broadcast on the radio. Still, despite all of this, Benny felt severely under dressed when he'd floo'd to the Hawkin's home with Tomie and his mom for the Griffins victory party. He saw all the others in their fancy sports jackets and shiny shoes and couldn't help but anxiously tug on the worn out Griffin's jersey he'd borrowed from a cousin that was a size too big.

Of course all of those thoughts were washed away as a tidal wave of celebrities and professional players passed by on their way to the bar. He was star struck, eyes wide open, mouth gaping, and it took his mother saying his name four times before he realized he had zoned out. He slickly avoided her smothering huggies and kissies goodbye (so embarrassing!) and gave her a quick wave before tugging on Tomie's hand to go and find JR. "Thanks ma!" He called behind them as they moved out of the hearth area and into a bigger room full of even more people.

He'd never been to JR's home before but he figured it would be big but he wasn't expecting this. He watched as house elves as tall as he was passed by in their little ties holding delicately balanced trays of sparkling liquid he was pretty sure wasn't for them with awe. Bumping into Tomie's shoulder he whispered. "Bet they don't have boggarts here." He joked, trying not to sound as envious as he was, and started searching the room for their friend.

Tomie had to beg her parents to let her go to this, and in the end they’d only said yes because Benny’s mum had stepped in for her. What would she do without Lucy?

“Yeah,” Tomie breathed, feeling a mix of nerves and excitement as the young pair made their way into the busy room. She recognised faces in the crowd and it made her feel brash, like she needed to go and speak to them, but also kind of nauseous. After a moment, she spotted JR and gave Benny’s hand a quick squeeze before letting go, skipping ahead of him to greet their Slytherin friend. “Hey you,” she said, flashing him a bright grin. She moved up to him, bumping his shoulder with hers.

“You look cool,” she said, eyeing his sneakers - new from the looks of things, not at all scuffed or stained like the ones she had at home. Tomie herself was dressed in simple denim shorts and a black t-shirt, with matching black sneakers. She’d thought about dressing up more, but what did dressing up even look like? She had a couple of dresses her mum made her wear when they visited relatives, but she was absolutely not wearing one of those to something where a friend from school would see her.

Wendy wasn’t really sure if she should take JR’s offer to attend the Griffins party he had invited her to. She really wasn’t that into Quidditch anyway and had no idea who was in the Griffins or if she would even recognize any of their faces if she was asked. To make matters worse, there was probably farm work to be done and she felt bad neglecting that too, especially since some of her older siblings had left home and there were simply more chores to go around. But eventually, she worked around to asking her parents and they readily agreed, as long as she was careful, naturally her mother accompanied her to drop her off. Her mother had made her wear a dress and everything, it used to be Molly’s and probably Maisey and Marjorie’s at some point but she had taken very good care of it. Wendy missed her friends, so that was enough motivation to go, but she brought a book along just in case. 

Kissing her mom and waving goodbye, she walked in slowly, her blue eyes widening in awe as she look at all the people towering above her as she navigated her way to a familiar face. The entire experience was overwhelming from the beginning, she had never seen so many people or fancy things in her life, and was that guy over there the author of the Princess Monologues series? He really did look like him. Wendy shook her head a little, trying to not get too distracted lest she never find the people she came looking for. 

Were those house elves? She found herself distracted once again as she saw the little creatures walking around with plates of little food. But Wendy didn’t really know who the little food things were for, they did look good though. She paused to look around the room, finally spotting some familiar faces and all but skipping in the direction of her friends. “Hi guys!” she smiled, holding on tightly to her novel in one hand as she waved, “Thanks for inviting me, JR,” she added.

It felt weird to feel out of sorts in his own home and he kept looking around for this friends, hoping they'd show up. An errant thought flitter through his mind that they might not show up to hang out, but he knew he had mentioned all the big quidditch star names enough times that he was sure they'd come. They liked quidditch almost as much as he did, plus there was free food and stuff. Who wouldn't want to come.

A smile lit up his face as he saw Tomie and Benny peeking around some of the fancy dressed adults and he rocked back on his heels as he said, "Hey to you, too." Glancing down at his new shoes, he lifted his shoulder and went the nonchalant route. "Oh these? Thanks." Then he saw a familiar head of blonde hair and smiled at Wendy, noticing the book in her hair and almost wanting to roll his eyes. Who brought a book to a party? A quidditch party at that. "Hey Wendy," he said in greeting and then nodded his head towards the front room that was their living room but had been converted to a main party space. "Wanna see something cool?" he said as he turned a bit, looking over his shoulder as he made sure they were following.

He weaved in between adults with glittering glasses of bubbly liquid that he was tempted to try as long as his mum wasn't around and led them to It. The Quidditch Cup on a little dais, bathed in golden light, complete with an attendant wearing white gloves who watched guests carefully like the cup's very own bodyguard. JR had watched them bring it in earlier as he sat on the stairs, wondering what it would be like for his name to be etched on its surface one day, a feat even his great quidditch star of a dad hadn't even accomplished. He glanced at his friends with a little smiled, "What do you think?"

“Yeah, I like them,” Tomie said with a casual smile, but she was distracted when a particular blonde apeared. “Hey Wendy,” Tomie greeted the Ravenclaw, half-smiling at the book in her hands. “In case the conversation runs dry?” she teased, gesturing at it. It reminded her that her parents had gotten copies of the next Mikky Blue comic that weren’t to be on the shelves for another few days. Maybe she’d try steal one for Wendy.

Tomie nodded and followed JR into another room, where there was...

“Holy shit,” Tomie said, then quickly corrected, “Uh, Merlin’s... pants. Is that really…? Wow.” Her eyes were very round as she took a step towards the cup, eliciting a look from the guy standing beside it. If he wasn’t there, she would have reached out and touched it. She gave him a little side-eye wondering what the consequences would be if she just did it anyway. Surely it would be worth it, even if she got in trouble…?

JR spoke just then and Tomie’s errant devious thoughts went away. It was likely that if she did something stupid, he would get in trouble. “It’s wicked,” she answered immediately. Tomie hadn’t been sure what to expect with this whole thing; JR had been dropping names for weeks but she wasn’t sure what the vibe of this whole thing would be like. She’d never been to any sort of party or adult event like this before. Her parents had almost turned this down too, and then her life really would have been over. She made a mental note to profusely thank auntie Lucy for stepping in on her behalf.

Benny greeted Wendy with a big wave, probably bigger than was needed because they were standing in a small group, and finished it with a smile just before JR lead them away. He followed closly, trying not to gawk too much at the faces he recognized and pay attention to where he was walking. His mouth was hanging half open by the time they stopped and he bumped into Tomie's back because he hadn't been paying attention. His head had been tilted up as they had passed by one of his all time favorite players and he'd gone off to lalaland.

"Oof," he grunted as he walked straight into her and then bounced backward a step. "Sorry!" He said in a hushed whisper as his eyes moved away from his hero and down to what JR had been leading them to. "Woooooah..." he said, eyes wide and mouth hanging open again as he realized what they were looking at. He looked at JR quickly and then back at the cup and then back at JR and then back on the cup again.

"Is that... what I think it is...?"

JR grinned as he rocked back on his heels and took in his friends' reactions to the Cup. He had seen it a few times before and had take a photo with it when they had been at a quidditch conference his dad had been asked to speak at. But he wasn't going to lie about the fact that it was way cool to have it in his living room. "Yep, it's the Cup," he said, answering Benny's awed question.

It wasn't like he was going to admit it but he had laid out on the floor earlier, staring up at the cup with all of the lights glinting off its surface, just imagining his own name on there one day, a feat even his dad hadn't achieved despite his great career. He took a step closer and set his hand on the table as he glanced over at them. "Do you guys want to take a photo with it?"

“Hey Tomie,” Wendy turned to her friend, giving her a small wave before shaking her head, her cheeks growing a little hot in embarrassment at what Tomie had said, hoping that her friends didn’t find her impolite. It had been her custom for such a long time now that it seemed weirder to leave the house without a book than with one. “No, not at all,” she said hurriedly, “But you never know,” she added with a smile on her face. “Hey Benny” she added with a smile on her face, it was nice to have all of her favorite people gathered in one room. “Anyone else we know here?” she wondered.

Wendy nodded in agreement at JR’s suggestion, not really sure what sort of cooler thing the boy had to show them other than the party but followed him regardless. It must have been nice to live in such a big house, she figured, and though the inn was spacy in its own way, it definitely wasn’t the sort of place you invited famous people.

Her eyes widened when they finally reached the cup, shiny and propped up in all its splendor, it reminded her of something out of a fairy tale. “Amazing—” she said, feeling a little starstruck all of a sudden. Wendy didn’t make it a habit to watch or play Quidditch for that matter but had had enough Quidditch fans in her family to know what that was and the number of people that would pay good money to see one in person so close. She wondered if they had more stored somewhere else or if it was just there temporarily.

“I do!” Wendy replied enthusiastically when JR asked if they wanted to take pictures with the cup, “Let’s take a photo together after we do individual ones, of course, did anyone bring a camera?” she wondered.

"Yesssss~!!" Benny exclaimed, clapping his hands together at the opportunity and bouncing more than he normally did. He was so excited to be here, all the fears of sticking out at this expensive party washing away. He was here with his best friends, and they were literally standing in front of the Quidditch cup and it was insane to think about. Benny smiled wildly as Wendy brought up the idea of taking pictures together and separately. And then that smile turned to a bit of a frown.

He didn't bring a camera, but he wished he would have. "I don't have one..." he said slowly but hoping that JR would since he'd brought up the idea of taking pictures. He wondered if they would be moving pictures or regular ones but either way he knew he'd keep it forever. He patted down his black hair a little, looking at it in the reflection of the shining trophy cup, and waited. Normally he wouldn't care so much about looking nice for a picture, his mother had a slew of embarrassing family photos on the mantle to prove it, but this was different. This was the Quidditch Cup!

Wendy's and Benny's immediate and enthusiastic agreement had JR smiling and as much as he was trying to play it cool like his team won the Quidditch Cup every day and it was perfectly normal to be surrounded by his favorite players in his own house, he was having a hard time at playing it nonchalant. He was pretty sure he just saw Harlan Bellamy walk by and he craned his neck around to take a second look, but by the point, he was lost in the crowd of people. Probably shaking hands and taking photos with everyone given that he was pretty much the face of the team and a wicked quidditch player to boot. If Wyatt Sr hadn't already been training him as a Chaser since before he could walk, he might've gone out for Beater like the Griffins captain.

"Oh, there's someone around here taking photos," he mentioned with a glance around. "Be right back," JR added before he wove through the crowd a bit and was back minutes later with a nice older woman wearing glasses and dark burgundy lips. She was cooing at all of them and JR was almost regretting asking her but this was the Cup and he wanted a picture with his friends. "Let's take a group photo," he said as he stood on one side of the cup and put his arm on the table, motioning over his friends.

"Say 'Griffins' on three!" the photographer said before the flash blinded him and he took a step back. "You guys want individual photos too? I think someone around here is printing them so you'll be able to take them home tonight if you want," he added magnanimously.

Oh, there's someone around here taking photos.

Because of course there was. Tomie exchanged a subtle glance with Benny once JR had gone, feeling a little weirded out by the whole thing. She wondered how much money all of these people had. How much did one make, as a professional quidditch player, anyway? She knew about the fame and stuff, and she was into that. And she knew about the athleticism and all that – that was a big appeal, too.

The idea of being able to amass a bunch of wealth, though? She thought about her family, and how the hot water had stopped working in the entire building yesterday. They’d had to get the adults to do heating charms on baths until a couple of maintenance wizards had come to fix the pipes, or whatever. If her family never had to pay a bill again, that would be cool.

JR returned in no time, and Tomie had to stop feeling awkward about the money stuff because it was all very impressive, and JR was clearly excited to show them everything. Besides, she was sure she’d spotted one of her favourite quidditch players just pass by in the crowd… She stood on her tip-toes trying to double check, but they’d disappeared in a moment. Maybe she could do some hunting later.

Tomie moved in front of the camera, gravitating towards the middle of the group without really thinking about it. “Griffins!” she said brightly, smiling, but then poking her tongue out at the last second instead. She laughed at nothing, stepping away a moment after the photo was taken. “I’m good,” she said, moving to the side to stand beside JR. “We should get a photo together later, though,” she told him with an easy smile.

Benny caught the look from Tomie but he was so over the moon about the glistening world cup in front of them he nearly missed it. His jaw still dragging on the floor he must have looked as impressed as he felt. Benny had never seen so much wealth, so much extravagance, all in one room before. It was a far, far cry from the apartments they lived in. It was like a whole other world really, and he was a mix of in awe and envy as they stepped up to take the photo.

Regardless of the little wealth, he'd come from and the amount that was glowing around them Benny gave a big smile and made a face when the camera clicked a few times. He shouted Griffins with them, loud as he could! It was a wizarding party, so he assumed the photos would be magical, and he remembered his Lola's advice on how to take a great magical photo (lots of poses) as the flash nearly blinded him. A smile, a funny look, a laugh, waggling his fingers behind Tomie's head, and they were done. He hoped it would look cool but honestly, as long as the cup was in the shot he knew he was going to put the photo up on his wall back home (and at the dorms come September!).

Benny saw Tomie move to the side with JR and he moved to stand with Wendy. "Gonna' frame mine!" He told Wendy, a smile bright on his face.

JR felt his group of friends squeeze together, stretching his arms out to hug his friends lightly, his hand casually on Tomie's shoulder and his bright smile came naturally. Later when he printed out the photo and propped it up on his bedside table, he'd see a group of smiling young faces, excited with the win.

Tomie's bright smile had him nodding and agreeing easily with a "yeah sure". Why was his heart beating so fast? Maybe he was just excited because he thought he had seen Bellamy over there and wondered if he'd get the chance to introduce him to his friends.

"Want to meet Bellamy? I've met him a few times," he told them, shrugging as if it was no big deal that he was practically on a first name basis with the best captain in the league. "C'mon, I think he went this way," JR said with a nod toward the large dining room that had food set out buffet style.

Tomie’s smile dropped. “No,” she said, her tone dismissive and disbelieving at once. She immediately looked past JR to the crowd behind him, as if searching for the player he’d mentioned. “Oh, no, really?” she said, bouncing a bit, no longer feeling very laid back. Was it really a good idea to meet your idols? Tomie really had to pull her shit together if she wanted to do it in a way that didn’t leave her mortified later. She looked at Benny, who didn’t look panicked at all, and had to smile.

“Okay, lets do it,” she said quickly, skipping to fall into step with JR as he led them away from the cup. She felt a flash of Gryffindory determination, and bounced a bit as she walked, trying to shake out the nerves. She glanced at her Slytherin friend, in his cool shoes and his cool walk one more time before looking ahead. “Lets do it,” she said again, sounding more excited this time.

/end