Who: Adian's BFF and crush, who just happen to hate each other,
What: are forced to spend the day together.
Where: At the Snitch!Radio Station
When: Earlier today!
Charlotte was absolutely in love with her job. Barely two weeks in, and she was so sure she was destined to do just this, she almost wrote Octavius an owl thanking him for firing her.
Almost. She was going to be at least two games a week. Talking to the players. Sharing
her knowledge. How fantastic was this job? Yet another thing she owed to Jake Bexley.
Working up to the start of the season, Lottie found her time being filled up with promotions before they started to send her out to the pitches.
Easy. Today her day was filled with showing some contestant winner around the station, the manager seemed certain that the bloke would enjoy her company much more than some of the other old guys running the place. Well,
obviously. Then later, they would be interviewing a player together. What a lucky guy. How lucky was she to be getting paid to do this.
She checked her hair in the mirror one last time, she skipped down the stairs to the to find her guest. Charlotte was told much, the secretary at the front had let him back to the break room. A Louis. It wasn’t until she walked into the room, and he turned around that Lottie even thought it could be that
Louis.
“
You!” she gasped stopping dead in her tracks. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here.”
His face fell, lip curling in disgust. What was
she doing here? Louis thought back to the many conversations Adian had about Lottie that he chose to ignore, and perhaps his friend
had mentioned that she was now working for the new quidditch show. Adian had made mention of this girl every day for the past eleven years, so there was a
lot of information to sort through and ignore. What was his luck that he had won this amazing contest, but had to endure the torture of Lottie Sweeting's presence?
He tugged at the visitor’s pass clipped to the front of his shirt and showed it to her. “I am the winner of the contest, yes.”
It had been his
sister who told him about the wireless commercial she had heard. How
funny would it be if he won and had to interview Lynch? Or Spinnet? Two quidditch players that Louis did not particularly want to be within a few feet of. Louis entered the contest regardless, because he had never been on the wireless and it would be a good story to tell if he won, and here he was!
Staring down Lottie, he knew it was all too good to be true.
“Adian told me you got a new job,” Louis said, straightening up and making it obvious that he was only making idle, polite conversation as he looked about the waiting room. The walls were decorated with autographed posters, and Louis felt his attention begin to drift away from Lottie. “Congratulations.”
Lottie’s twitched slightly when he said that he was the winner of the contest. Today was supposed to be
easy. Now she had to show this pompous git around. Louis was going to get to meet--- just great. What a day ruiner Bonaccord was.
Though, maybe, just maybe she could have fun with this yet. She leaned in to inspect his visitors badge, before rocking back on her heels.
“Thank you, Louis,” she said sweetly, drawing out his name, pronouncing it as any Londoner would. “I’m quite pleased with it. Congratulations on winning the contest. How lucky for you, you get to spend the day with me!”
Stepping in front of his gaze, Lottie grinned tilting her head to the side. “I can’t wait to share with you, what I get to do
everyday.” She clapped her hands together, stepping around him to the door. “Well, come along, the longer it takes to get around the station, the less time we get to spend with the player.” Which really didn’t matter, she could talk for ages on the most mundane things.
“
Loo-ee,” he corrected immediately, automatically. He had to correct people daily on how to pronounce his name, often followed by having to explain, and
then defend. Was his lisp-y french accent not enough to prove his point?
Lottie could never get it right in the few times they had managed to be within five feet of each other for more than a minute.
What Adian saw in her other than her perfect figure and ridiculously red hair, he would never know.
But, touring the studios did sound like something he wished to do, even if he had to deal with Lottie. He had become an expert at tuning out all talk of her, so perhaps that could translate into actually ignoring her.
“Lead the way, Sweeting,” he said, sweeping his hand toward the door. The faster they got this tour over with, the faster they would get to the mystery player they were to interview. He and Adian had stayed up
all night making up their list of questions ranging from favorite broomstick to how many pieces of toast they had for breakfast.
It was important to know.
Lottie just waved off his correction as she lead him down the hall. Loo-iss Loo-ee, it didn’t really matter. She started spouting off facts as the made their way up the stairs. There was a lot of history to the building they had set up in. And Lottie was obsessed with all the memorabilia they had scattered on every surface. It was easy for her to talk about, and very difficult to
not do a good job at showing him around.
“I saw Lynch here earlier,” Lottie commented as they paused in front of a Falcons poster. Gauging Louis’ reaction she continued on, “I was told from a rather reputable source he’s
engaged. Maybe he’ll be who we get to interview, I’d love to get to the bottom of
that.” It wasn’t exactly true, she knew exactly who they were talking to, but what fun would it be if she didn’t make Bonaccord think he was getting someone else.
If there was one person that could create a fiery rage inside of Louis other than Lottie Sweeting, it was Michal Conway Lynch. Bloody fuck. Louis’ eye gave a slight twitch at the thought of the Falcon and averted his eyes to another poster. He and Adian had been very lucky that Lynch had not pressed charges against his rather ill-thought out plan to punch him in the face at an official quidditch all-star event. It could have cost them their jobs and or their lives. Luck had been on his side, but he had no desire to get within five feet of Lynch again.
...wait, she’d seen him
here?
Louis couldn’t help his face from paling. Was
Lynch the player they were going to be interviewing? His luck was already wavering with the appearance of Lottie, it could just turn and croak and reveal Lynch behind the green room doors. He did not
regret defending his sister’s honor, but he did care about his ego (he did not think he could handle public humiliation over the airwaves). Louis straightened up and cleared his throat, continuing to seem disinterested in the Falcons poster.
“Poor girl,” was all he said, looking expectantly at Lottie, hoping to change topics.
Charlotte took a moment of satisfaction in watching Louis pale, pleased that she had hit her mark. “Poor girl,” she repeated rocking on her heels. She didn’t like Bonaccord, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a point. Lottie had her money on Lynch losing it before All-Star break.
She started to whistle a quirky, annoying tune that she been humming when ever she wasn’t talking. The song had been stuck in her head all day and she only knew
three words, and if she was going to suffer this torment, then so was he. Poking her head around the corner, she checked for any sign of their player. Then the green room, still empty. Well Lottie supposed, such a superstar could take all the time he wanted.
“Alright, in here Louis.” She said ushering him into the green room. “This is where the magic happens, so to speak.” Perching up on the desk, Lottie looked at her watch with holding a groan. She took as long as she possibly could and apparently they still had twenty minutes to kill. She should probably ask him if he had any questions, proper thing to do really.
“So. Tell me more about Adian.”
His eyebrows rose. This was not the topic he thought they would be discussing today. Adian could probably telepathically feel that he was within two feet of Lottie Sweeting’s presence and was having a proper conniption about it. Louis eyed her carefully, and then shrugged. He quite suddenly had the opportunity to move his best friend’s chase of the woman in front of him much closer to the finish line, but did he really wish to have him reach this prize? Adian must see
something in her that Louis did not; he was learning from the people around him that perhaps he should not judge so harshly.
Except he knew for a fact that Lottie was the most irritating person on the planet. But, Adian fancied the life out of her, and here she was inquiring about his friend. Perhaps there was more to Lottie than Louis had previously thought. Not much, but maybe something.
“He’s the best bloke there is. Would do anything for anyone he cares about.” Louis gave Lottie a pointed stare and held it for longer than he should have. Adian deserved the best, and while Louis did not think that Lottie was the best, his friend deserved to have a good word put in for him. “He’s going to be a top journalist soon and I reckon he’s not going to have much time for people who don’t give him the light of day.”
Louis sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest to let her know that the quaffle was on her pitch.
Charlotte looked away feeling uncomfortable under Louis’ stare. She knew exactly what he was saying. Adian was so obvious about it. At first, she thought it was cute, fun even to see just how a smile could make him trip over his words. And then she got to know him, and he was sweet and smart and actually funny. A real genuinely nice guy. But then there was New Year’s Eve, and Jake, a enigma that she was determined to figure out.
Tapping her fingers on the desk she looked back to Louis. She had no idea why Adian even liked her. She didn’t even know enough about him to know that he liked--knew enough about quidditch to write for
The Prophet. “As he shouldn’t, such people don’t deserve as much,” her heels clicked on the floor as she hopped of the desk. “but I’m pretty sure Adian would make time for anyone who wanted his attention. He’s good like that.” She didn’t even know why she was saying such things but there was this feeling that was settling in her chest. One that she wasn’t quite sure she was pleased with how familiar it was getting. Guilt, she was pretty sure it was guilt.
“It was a very impressive article he wrote. Have to admit, I was a bit jealous.” She moved around the desk fishing out the roll of parchment she was given earlier in the day. She was suddenly done with the topic she had just brought up and knew a quick way to end it. “Agent sent over a list of off-limit topics. You should probably read them before he gets here.”
Off-limit topics? Louis took the parchment almost greedily, excited to get his real first clue about the mystery player. Nothing seemed too strange, and it didn’t help at all with figuring out who they were going to be interviewing. He was about to ask if
his and Adian’s list needed to get checked when the door to the green room opened.
Louis felt like he was going to pass out. It
couldn’t be. He was shaking hands before he knew it.
“Finn McLaggen,” the former Puddlemere United captain, Irish World Cup team captain, numerous time
MVP said to
him. To Louis! He said his name and shook
his hand. McLaggen had been a key player missing off of his and Adian’s photo search during their world cup shenanigans, and now he was standing in the same room with him, breathing the same air.
“Louis,” he managed, looking at Lottie for a moment before straightening up. Bloody hell, she had him all worked up that it was gonna be Lynch. “Bonaccord---but me mum’s Irish.”
McLaggen cracked a grin, “That’s what I like to hear.”
Finn McLaggen liked to hear something he said! Wait until Adian heard about this!
Charlotte grinned at Louis when he his attention was briefly on her. Shrugging her her shoulder, she tried her best to look nonchalant about the whole ordeal. It could have easily been Lynch, but there was no way she was going to have her first interview with him, when she had the chance to talk to a superstar like Puddlemere’s former captain.
’But me mum’s Irish’ Lottie mouthed the words at Louis behind McLaggen’s back with her brows raised. She almost snorted at the Irish phrasing coming out in such a French accent. She kept it together though as seconds later he was turning to her and she covered her mocking look with a bright smile. She, unlike Louis, had all day to prepare to meet Finn McLaggen and she still couldn’t help the blush that crept up her cheeks as she held out her hand to him. “Charlotte Sweeting.” She did her best to keep her eyes from drifting from his face to his arms, this could be her last interview just as easily as it was her first.
“I can’t express what a privilege it is that I get to have you as my first interviewee. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. And Louis here,” Charlotte said, pronouncing his name correctly for the first time that day. Glancing over to him, she thought again about what she was about to do. She really didn’t have to,
at all. “It’s his lucky day, because I’m going to let him take the lead, if you don’t mind. I figure I’ll get another chance eventually,” she smiled sweetly at Finn.
She didn’t know why she was suddenly being so generous to a boy who constantly grated her nerves, but she didn’t spend all day trying to do whatever she could to annoy him. He deserved it for sticking it out until the end. And she did suppose that she really shouldn’t be actively trying to make Adian’s best friend hate her. She clapped her hands together and grinned, turning to Louis hoping that she hadn’t put him into some sort of shock, “I mean, only if you up for it, but I sure you and Adian put together enough questions to fill a book.”
