Quidditch by Moonlight ((Elijah))

Ruby smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through her hair. Flying was the only time she could truly forget all her worries, and enjoy being herself.

She heard Elijah's reply and opened her eyes suddenly. 'You are such a show-off, you know that?' She said it in a teasing tone, not really meaning it but still feeling slightly jealous of the fact that his father cared so much about him that he gave him so many amazing brooms.

Her eyes a few shades greener, Ruby smirked and let out a small laugh. 'You act so annoyed about Victor being your father, yet you don't mind all the fantastic brooms that come with it.' Smiling at Elijah's strange (in her opinion) behaviour, she closed her eyes again.

She heard the last bit he said and shook her head disbelievingly. 'I'm sorry, I'm not sure I heard right. Do you use your brooms to make fires?' She looked up at him, her face as shocked as she was feeling. How could he bring himself to burn such lovely brooms? Having had only three brooms in her lifetime, Ruby could not bring herself to imagine why anyone would want to do such a thing.

As they got faster, Ruby's hair got into her eyes. She huffed and attempted to blow it away from her face, failing miserably. Seeing that her blowing was getting nowhere, Ruby stopped and the next second her hair was a straight bob. Satisfied, she smiled and went back to watching as the world rushed by.

Ruby nodded thoughtfully. She hadn't realised he felt that strongly about his parents. Since he had told her so much about him, Ruby reckoned it would be only fair for her to tell him something back.

'I would never have imagined the great Victor Krum to be like that. That's so sad. But your mother sounds worse. Which is even sadder, in my opinion.'

She was quiet for a second before carrying on. 'My mother died when I was 9. She was the most important person in my life. My dad married Serena three months later.' She scowled at the mention of her step-mother and looked away. 'It was a ....... difficult period.' Ruby didn't offer any detail about exactly how difficult it was. She didn't like discussing her problems, and it was hard enough telling Elijah about her family. 'Unsurprisingly, Serena hated me. She was forever trying to get rid of me, and my dad didn't do anything to stop her or protect me. That's why I ended up here.'

Ruby blinked quickly in an attempt to blink away the tears welling up in her blue eyes. 'I don't hate him. It was my mum he loved. I was just one of the consequences that came with falling in love with her.' She closed her eyes for a second before opening them again and saying in a low voice that was laced with disgust 'And now Serena's pregnant.' Ruby stopped and then said bitterly 'Another girl, how lucky for them.'

As Elijah speeded up, she held onto him tighter as her hair blew into her face once again, stopping her from seeing anything. She didn't bother morphing it away this time, deciding instead to put it up in a ponytail. She scrunched up her face as she returned it to its original length, and let go of Elijah, carefully balancing as she tied up her hair with one of the hairbands she had on her wrist.

Ruby finished putting it up just as a strong gust of wind almost pushed her off the broom. She wobbled dangerously as she hastily hugged Elijah's waist again.

Ruby shook her head. 'He doesn't....... it's not......... forget I said anything, okay? It's complicated.' She sighed and buried her head in his shoulder. 'She doesn't even call me Ruby.' She said, although her voice was muffled and the wind made it hard to hear.

Ruby knew her father, and knew there was no point trying. After all, she wouldn't be in England if it was what only Serena wanted. Although she liked to boss her around, Serena couldn't make such a big decision without her father's approval. But he had moved here after her, which had to count for something.

Ruby sighed and looked up, sensing a change in direction. She narrowed her eyes when she saw where they were heading and said warningly 'Where are we going? My dad might not care about me but if you kidnap me he won't be happy. And I will personally make sure you end up in St. Mungos after I finish with you.'

Ruby snorted and muttered under her breath. 'Yeah, right.' She shook her head disbelievingly when she saw him lower the broom and hop off. Was he serious? They must be like miles away from school right now. Not that she actually cared, but.....

She took Elijah's hand all the same and stepped off, standing and looking around. The place seemed unfamiliar to her, but then again, when had she ever hung out at a hill? Parties were more her scene.

Ruby watched curiously as Elijah waved his wand and a picnic basket appeared, followed by some floating candles. She stared at the scene in front of her, unable to take in what was happening. He couldn't seriously expe-

'M'lady, Your dinner, supper, and possibly even early morning breakfast awaits.'

Ruby blanched at his words and stared numbly at the picnic basket. What could she do now? How was she going to get out of this? Her eyes turned grey as she began to desperately think up excuses.

'Elijah? What happened to playing quidditch? This seems more like a date to me.' She raised an eyebrow questioningly and put her hand on her hip. 'And plus I don't eat between meals. It's not healthy.' She said, feeling like a hypocrite for talking about health.

Ruby froze for a second before shaking her head and letting out a loud, relieved laugh. She grinned and looked at Elijah. 'Good one.'

She caught the broom he threw at her and mounted it, hoping it wasn't too fast. Just think, she thought to herself. This broom was bought by Victor Krum. And you're riding it! She shook her head again and kicked off.

Almost immediately, she rose into the air and dodged to the side as a bludger came flying in her direction. She smiled at Elijah and said 'Let the game begin!'