Early Morning Practices

On her third day of work, Ginny Weasley stumbles into the Holyhead Harpies changing room with her eyes only half-open, as usual.

"Morning, Ginny," calls Katie Bell from her locker.

Ginny responds with a groan.

"Tired this morning?"

Ginny sets down her bag and begins to dig inside it for the key to her locker. "Tired every morning," she mumbles, and then lets out a curse as the key slips between her gloved fingers.

"These early practices are brutal," Katie says with a sympathetic smile as she pulls out her robes and slams her locker shut. "Nothing like our Gryffindor practices back at school. They don't call it professional Quidditch for nothing!"

Ginny closes her eyes. "If you don't stop talking with exclamation points, I'm going to hex you."

Katie laughs and pats her friend's arm. "You'll get used to it after the first few months. Here." She hands Ginny a mug of something hot.

Ginny stares at it blankly. "What is this?"

"Hot chocolate mixed with Pepper-Up Potion." Katie holds up her own mug. "I swear by the stuff. It got me through my first three months here at the Harpies."

Ginny raises the cup to her lips and drinks deeply. "Thanks, Katie," she says, and even after only one sip, she's beginning to look more awake.

Katie winks. "No problem. Now suit up! Practice starts at 4:45 A.M. sharp. Only have fifteen minutes to get changed."

Ginny moans at the sound of the time. "Why would anyone schedule such an early practice?"

Katie shoulders her broom and begins to walk toward the door. "It's hard work," she admits, "but we're the best in the league, so it's worth it. Plus all the commiserating brings us closer as a team." She has her hand on the door, but she pauses and looks back at Ginny with an encouraging smile. "You'll see, Ginny. Your work friends will be some of the best friends you've ever had."

On her twenty-third day of work, Ginny comes into the changing room looking wide awake and flushed.

"Morning, Ginny," Katie calls from her locker, just like every morning. "Someone's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed."

"I've been up since three," Ginny says, shoving her key into her locker with a precision she's never had before.

"Really? That's out of character." Katie says it with a smirk as she hands over Ginny's hot chocolate.

Ginny waves it aside. "Don't need it today."

"No?" Katie raises her eyebrows. "What's got you so awake?"

Ginny pulls out her Harpies robes and turns to grin at her friend. "I've made a new friend," she says.

"Oh? A romantic friend?" Katie throws her a wink.

"Nothing like that." Ginny is still grinning. "I'll introduce you to him right now, if you want."

Katie is still smirking, but it fades a little at those words. "What do you mean? He came here with you?"

"You could say that." Ginny reaches into her bag and pulls out a small bottle filled with a purple liquid. "One teaspoon before I go to bed," she says, passing the bottle over to Katie, "and I can get by on two hours of sleep."

Katie examines the bottle with a small frown on her face. "Gin, is this Draught of the Living Death?"

"Combined with a euphoria elixir, yes." Ginny takes the bottle back and stows it in the outside pocket of her bag. "Brewed it myself. It's been a lifesaver."

Katie swallows. "Stuff like this is forbidden from the Quidditch League, Ginny."

"No it's not." But Ginny won't meet Katie's eye. "I checked all the rules. Nothing says you can't use Draught of the Living Death combined with a euphoria—"

"No, I know nothing's named specifically. But there's a rule that says you can't use potions that give you an edge." Katie twists her hands together.

"That's just talking about liquid luck." Ginny waves her hand. "Besides, we drink Pepper-Up Potion every morning."

"Pepper-Up Potion isn't the same and you know it."

"Oh?" Ginny arches an eyebrow challengingly. "What makes it different?"

"Pepper-Up Potion isn't highly addictive, for one. All it does is wake you up. Like coffee. But that stuff you're drinking, that's got long-lasting effects that are going to seriously hurt you." Katie sighs. "Look, Ginny, I know how hard it is to be on this team. The practices are exhausting. But you can't come in here with drugs just to give yourself an unfair advantage. You could be fined, or fired, or banned from the Quidditch League forever."

Ginny bites down on her lip. "Okay," she says, tightening her grip around her Quidditch robes. "I won't take it anymore. Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome." Katie pushes the mug of hot chocolate into Ginny's free hand. "Just stick to Pepper-Up Potion from now on."

"I will."

On her forty-fifth day of work, Ginny shows up looking paler than usual.

"You all right?" Katie asks from her locker.

"Fine." Ginny comes over to take her hot chocolate. Her hands are trembling. "Just didn't sleep well last night."

"That's a shame."

"Yeah." Ginny shrugs as she rummages around for her key. "Oh, well."

Katie says nothing and tries to ignore the bottle of purple liquid poking out of the outside pocket of Ginny's bag.

On her fifty-sixth day of work, Ginny shows up with dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Ginny," Katie says, folding her arms and leaning against her locker. "We need to have a talk."

"About what?" Ginny can't even focus her eyes.

"I know you've been using that potion."

"Have not," Ginny says. She's gazing in Katie's direction, but she isn't actually looking at her.

"You have, too. Look at you. You're trying to get by on two hours of sleep per night, and it's killing you. This is why these potions are banned, Ginny! Are you even going to be able to see the Snitch today?"

"I can see fine." (Ginny's gaze has drifted off into the corner of the locker room.)

"Can you?" Katie gripps her friend by the shoulders. "This has to stop, Ginny. Now. Or I'll tell the Captain and get you fired."

"Fired?" Ginny repeats, shoving Katie off. "Some friend you are."

"Yes, I'm your friend, but I'm also your bloody coworker, and I care about your freedom of choice but I also care about how well our team does." Katie puts her hands on her hips. "I can't stop you from destroying your health, but I won't let you ruin our winning streak."

Ginny sets her jaw. "Fine. Take it." She reaches into her bag and hands over the bottle. "See you on the field, Bell."

Katie rolls her eyes and throws the bottle as hard as she can toward a bin in the corner of the room. It lands with a satisfying smash as the glass breaks and the potion oozes out. "If you can even find your way out there, Weasley."

On her fifth-seventh day of work, Ginny does not show up.

"Has anyone heard from Weasley?" asks the Harpies Captain at 4:45 A.M.

Everyone shakes their heads.

"She's ill," Katie says quietly, and the Captain lets her leave it at that and calls in the Reserve Seeker.

On her seventy-fifth day of work, Ginny still has not shown her face.

"Has anyone heard from Ginny lately?" asks Katie when she comes into the changing room, hot chocolate in hand.

"I haven't personally," says the Keeper. "But the friend of a friend told me she's in St. Mungo's."

"I heard that, too," calls a Beater from the other side of the changing room.

Katie's heart freezes. "Why? What's happened?"

"Official reason is exhaustion," says the Keeper. "But my friend says it's rehab."

"Oh." Katie looks down at her drink. "She didn't let me know."

On her ninety-ninth day, Ginny comes back to work.

"Ginny?" Katie asks when the redhead walks into the changing room. "You're here!"

Ginny looks up at her with tired eyes, and for a moment Katie isn't sure whether she's going to smile or scream or say nothing at all. But then: "I'm here," Ginny says, pulling her key out from her bag and opening her locker. "I got the potion out of my system, and I'm back to being exhausted for morning practices."

Katie bites her lip. "I'm glad you're back," she says quietly. "I missed you."

Ginny is quiet for a moment. "I brought you something," she says finally.

"Oh?" Katie can't help it; she narrows her eyes. "It's not another 'friend,' is it?"

The smirk on Ginny's face is not unfriendly. "No," she says, reaching into her bag. "No, it's just something for my friend."

She hands Katie a thermos filled to the brim with hot chocolate and Pepper-Up Potion, and Katie spills nearly all of it when she wraps her friend in a hug.

Quidditch League Round 2: Friendships

Holyhead Harpies, Seeker

Prompt: Work-based friends

Word Count: 1,492

[2015 New Years Resolution Challenge: Post-Hogwarts characters at their jobs]