This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

[Rosemary Carter]

It was the beginning of February, ten months away from December, and much too early for Romy to be looking at birthday presents for Dane. It was a bad idea… the whole thing was a bad idea from start to end. Especially since the only reason she was even at Wimbourne was to watch her boyfriend, who was painfully not Dane, play against the Wasps.

But Romy couldn’t even remember the match now that she stood in front of a glass case in the gift shop behind the private suites of the stadium. Her eyes shined as she took in the signed jersey and she knew was willing to spend a pretty penny for this. A voice in her head pulled her back to reality and she sighed, looking down at the History of Wimbourne Stadium hardcover in her hands. It wasn’t a big deal and she could casually drop it off on his desk on a Wednesday night.

She was decidedly in a bad mood when some of the players walked by as she stood in a corridor waiting for her boyfriend, but she kept the smile on her lips not wanting to give him a reason to think something was wrong. However, the smile faded when Romy locked eyes with a dark haired witch. After a second of panic rising in her chest, Romy cast her glance at the floor.

Olivia Moretti

[Olivia Moretti]

Adrenaline was surging through Olivia's veins as the game raged on. Her fingers were numb from the cold, but she managed to keep her grip on the Quaffle, weaving her way through the opposing chasers as she bolted toward the rings on the far side of the pitch. Liv passed to her teammates as a Bludger came soaring her way, diving last second and narrowly escaping being hit before she was coming back up. Ballycastle was fighting hard, but her team was fighting even harder for this win. They were up by a good amount of points, victory within their reach. They just needed to catch the snitch and win this. The Quaffle was back in her hands and Liv leaned forward on her broom for a burst of speed before drifting to the left and making her shot. The whistle blew shortly after, signaling the end of the game and Liv hovered in the air, her chest heaving as a wide grin spread across her lips.

She was still riding the high of the ride and their win after she dismounted her broom and made her way through the stadium. There was a bright smile on her face as her team arranged to celebrate with drinks at Club Brielle. First, though, they needed to eat something to replenish their energy. Liv followed behind as her team walked through the halls, her mind running through the game again. She liked to analyze and see where she could have done better, making a plan to focus on for their next practice. Her gaze was fixed ahead of her as she walked when a flash of blonde caught her eye. Liv looked and locked eyes with Romy Carter, whose gaze immediately lowered when she saw her.

The last time Romy and Liv had run into each other it had not been a pretty sight. A lot of things were said, hurt was exchanged, and Olivia had spent many nights afterwards thinking on what was said. She had to admit that Rosemary had some solid points, even if she didn't like it, and maybe Liv felt like she could have done better. Her good mood was not spoiled by seeing her again and Liv slowly approached the witch; she'd get food after. Her eyes flickered down to the book she held in her arms, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Interesting book," she said softly, gesturing to it. "Is it for your boyfriend?"

Rosemary Carter

[Rosemary Carter]

The last time Romy had interacted with Olivia Moretti, the two of them had gone off on each other. To be fair, Romy had tried to walk away because she didn’t want a confrontation, but Olivia seemed to think that was a problem, too.

Romy and Olivia had never been friends even though they had a lot of things in common; they were both wealthy purebloods, they loved Quidditch, they were both popular in school, and they shared an ex boyfriend. Okay, so maybe there was an issue somewhere in there but to Romy it wasn’t a real issue. She’d always been friendly with everyone, no matter who they were or who they dated.

When Olivia’s world turned upside down, Clark Carter was pushing his agenda to strip ‘creatures’ of their rights. It made Romy’s stomach turn upside down and every time she saw Olivia’s dark eyes in the corridors she felt guilty. It didn’t matter that Romy fought against everything Clark stood for, some people still judged her for simply being his daughter. So, yeah, she tried to stay out of Olivia’s way but she was never rude or mean to her.

“No, for my coworker,” Romy heard herself reply to Olivia, unsure of where she even got the courage to engage in another conversation with her. “He’s a big Wimbourne fan.”

There was an awkward silence as the rest of Olivia’s team walked past them and Romy softly bit on her lower lip. She searched her brain for something, anything she could grasp on to and then she said, “Great match. I thought they had you guys for a bit there.” She was skeptical that the great Olivia Moretti would agree with a comment like this.

Olivia Moretti

[Olivia Moretti]

The blonde haired witch said it was for her coworker and Olivia nodded slowly in response. She knew that Romy was working at the Ministry with the Wizengamot, but she didn't know what that really entailed. She said he's a Wimbourne fan and a small smile touched her lips. "Well, I'm sure he'll like it," she said after a beat. The rest of her team started to walk by and she was tempted to ask one of them to sign it for her, as a gesture of goodwill, but she didn't want to impose them. She'd offer to sign it herself, but... well, she was only a rookie and Liv didn't know how the wizard would feel about a werewolf signing it. She decided it was a bad idea by the time they all had walked past, her gaze following them for a moment before it moved back to Romy's face.

"Great match. I thought they had you guys for a bit there."

"Yeah," she agreed with another nod of her head. "But we weren't going down without a fight. It was a fun game - I certainly enjoyed it." Olivia didn't like the easy games, she liked a challenge to keep her on her toes and Ballycastle had certainly provided one. She stood there awkwardly, chewing on the corner of her lip as her chest tightened and her throat constricted, her pride already wounded for what she was about to do. "Listen," she started, clearing her throat in an attempt to get the words out easier, her gaze lowering to her feet as they shuffled. "I'm sorry about the other day. I said some things I shouldn't have and I wasn't exactly fair to you." Liv swallowed hard past the lump that had formed in her throat; apologizing to Emilia was a helluva lot easier.

[Rosemary Carter]

Olivia made the right call in not asking her teammates for an autograph. It would have made an already awkward situation more awkward. As nice as it would have been for Dane, she didn't want to feel like she owed Olivia anything. Romy had hoped to avoid Olivia for... well, for the rest of her life if possible. It was clear that the two of them were never going to see eye to eye, all they did was play the blame game. It was very out of character for Romy to let her negative emotions get the best of her, but it just sort of happened in the moment.

They stood in silence and Romy could see Olivia trying to think of something to say. She wished she didn't, honestly. It looked painful. Then Olivia really surprised her by apologizing first. She was right, it wasn't fair. Romy had avoided her for so long because she didn't want a big blow up. 

"Thank you for saying that," her soft voice broke another long silence. What had she done exactly? Romy had to rack her brain to come up with a logical answer. At Hogwarts, Romy Carter was sweet, popular, fun, helpful. And exceptionally friendly to every single student, except one. But Olivia wasn't exactly the friendliest of people either, her snobby attitude really bothered Romy. So when Olivia gave her an opening and a chance to apologize, Romy should have taken it but instead she stared back at her. "You're right, it wasn't fair at all."

Olivia Moretti

[Olivia Moretti]

For so long Liv had held onto the pain of her transformation and the resulting loneliness and isolation. She pulled away from everyone, even Emilia. After her identity had been revealed in front of the whole school, she started to open up more. There were some who hated her for who she was and hated her even more for who she became, but there were some who felt for her and reached out with their support. Things had started to look up after that and Olivia slowly started to accept her circumstances. It did still hurt that some people never seemed to accept her, her family most of all, but Rosemary she believed to be one of them.

Her gaze remained fixed on her feet as the heavy silence washed over her. She was starting to feel real stupid for saying anything to begin with, but the other witch finally broke the silence and spoke up. Liv glanced up at her and bobbed her head slowly, her heart twisting when she reiterated that it wasn’t fair. Liv could have been angry that she didn’t apologize as well, but she didn’t want her to spoil her good mood. “I know,” she said with a small frown, her gaze flicking up to where her teammates were gathered. “I’m sorry. I can - I can leave you to it. I need to get something to eat anyway.” Her dark gaze rested on Romy as a small smile touched her lips. “I’m sorry again. It was good to see you.” Olivia moved to walk past her, headed to her teammates. She said her piece that was all she could do.

[Rosemary Carter]

Honestly, this was typical Olivia behavior, Romy thought. While it was a little out of character for her to apologize, everything else was the same. She attacked and then retreated like she had been done wrong, even when Romy tried her hardest not to let it get to the point of a screaming match. Something about the way Olivia glanced at her teammates in the distance and the way she slowly walked past Romy, made the blonde’s stomach lurch. Was she really going to continue acting like Romy was the reason her life had spiraled?

Romy looked down at the bright yellow paper bag in her hands. She stared at the Wimbourne mascot on the logo winking back at her, as she weighed her options. She could, and should, let Olivia walk away. It was only a matter of time before she found something else to blame Romy for. Or…

“Olivia, wait,” Romy said before she even realized she was speaking out loud. “I was waiting for…”

Her eyes scanned the corridor, but none of the Ballycastle players were in sight. Maybe he was too busy or maybe he forgot she was even here.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said looking back at Liv. “I think… I don’t want to continue feeling like we have this big issue between us. It’s best if we sit down and talk about it. We can get something to eat?”

[Olivia Moretti]

"Olivia, wait."

The Quidditch player stopped in her tracks and turned around, one manicured brow raised quizzically. Liv was sure that Romy didn't want anything more to do with her, so she didn't understand when she stopped her from leaving. The witch's blue gaze swept over the corridor, likely looking for Max who Liv assumed she was waiting for, but then it landed back on Olivia. The next words to come out of her mouth surprised her, but her expression relaxed and a small smile started to pull on her lips. If she really didn't share her father's feelings, if she truly wanted to talk things through, then Liv was happy to put it all behind them. "Sure," she said after a beat. "I don't think anyone will miss me anyway."

Expecting Romy to follow her, Olivia started to walk toward the exit. "The stadium food is alright, but there's this nice luncheon just down the street from here," Liv explained. She often ate there before practice since the place was closed by the time they would finish. She walked in silence, the nerves stirring up in her gut. Was this really worth it, she wondered. Part of her said it wasn't. It's not like the two could be magically friends, but another part of her said it was. Liv had never been quite so lonely as she was after graduating. Her relationship with Emilia was fractured, and she was doing her best to fix that, but the two of them were so busy and Em had a family to worry about. And her team... well, it was safe to say she wasn't finding a new best friend among them. Her Captain was kind enough and most were friendly, but no one really made an effort to get to know her.

Finding a table tucked away in the corner by the window, Liv slid into her seat. "They have some amazing curry if that's your taste, but I prefer the grilled chicken and avocado flatbread." A waitress came by shortly after they had sat down and took their orders. Liv got the flatbread with chips and a water. Once the waitress left, Olivia leveled her dark gaze onto Romy. "I shouldn't have assumed that you shared your father's beliefs," she started, shifting her weight in her seat. "It was a time where I felt like everyone was against me."

[Rosemary Carter]

The walk to the cafe was kind of torturous. Normally, Romy would fill the silence with friendly chatter but she didn’t know exactly where she stood with Olivia. She realized she had never known if they were on shaky ground at any given time. There was no use in trying to figure out who to blame, it didn’t matter at the end of the day.

She stayed silent, letting Olivia give out her recommendations, and she finally spoke to order a side caesar salad - still unsure if she was going to meet up with Max later.

She’d been to this small cafe plenty of times. Wimbourne was like her second home growing up. Her older brother would take her and her sisters to the games every week and then when she was a little older, her father tried to continue the tradition in his memory. The Wimbourne Wasps were a big part of the Carter family.

Part of Romy knew the easiest, best way to smooth things over was to accept the apology and issue one of her own. However, she’d been learning lately that she didn’t have to please everyone around her just to keep the peace.

Olivia, in Romy’s mind, always felt like the world was against her. And while some people shared the same sentiment as Romy’s dad, other people had been there for her. At least that’s what Romy observed. It must be exhausting.

“That was hurtful,” she drew breath and answered truthfully. “I’ve gone out of my way to distance myself from everything he stands for. And to hear you imply that we’re the same was like a slap in the face. He’s the monster, Olivia, you were calling me a monster too.”

[Olivia Moretti]

Olivia had been learning to come to terms with the idea that she wasn't always right. That, in fact, she had been in the wrong for most of her life. It was a tough pill to swallow and it wasn't necessarily going down easy, but she was trying her best here. Romy reiterated how hurtful it was and Liv looked down at her hands folded in her lap, letting the shame wash over her. Her insides twisted uncomfortably as the feeling overtook her. "I know," she said quietly, raising her eyes to meet Romy's gaze. "I'm sorry for that." She didn't try to offer any more excuses for her behavior. The waitress came back with their orders and Liv glanced over at her with a small smile. She picked up her glass of water and brought it to her lips, downing a third of it in one go. Olivia hadn't realized how parched she had been, but she had just played a match only an hour ago. "I'm not - " she started, but paused as she tried to collect her thoughts. "I'm trying, Rose."

[Rosemary Carter]

Romy gave her a small nod, but the apology never left her lips. It was very unlike her but she was standing her ground this one time. She didn’t want to lie and tell Olivia that she was sorry when she was clearly not. When Olivia had that screaming match with Romy, something clicked in the blonde’s mind. She didn’t always have to step aside to make everyone else comfortable. She should thank Olivia for that.

“I know, I don’t think you’re not.” But there were so many instances where Olivia had lashed out, not just at Romy, and it was hard to override them with this newfound humility. “I’m glad to see you’re making some changes. I really am.”

Romy poked her salad with her fork, only playing with her food as she processed sitting here with Olivia. From the outside, the two looked like old friends sitting down for lunch after some shopping, with Romy’s bags sitting at her feet below the small table. It was best for Olivia’s image to stay calm in situations like this so Romy wasn’t sure if it was mostly a play on her part. If they started arguing again, it’d be a really bad look. So Romy played nice, too. As nice as she could be here.

“Listen, I think there’s something you should know.” Romy put her fork down and met her gaze. She took a deep breath while she tried to think of how to word this. Olivia’s accusations about Clark trying to kick her off the team rang in her head again. She wasn’t sure if telling Olivia was even a good idea, it was all very on the down low for now and Romy didn’t want Olivia to do something rash with the information. “My dad, he’s been trying to buy the Wasps for years now and, well, I think he’s close to making a deal.”

It was rare for a well known organization to sell to a businessman, especially one in politics like Clark Carter. But he always got what he wanted and one way or another he was going to be the owner of the team.

This wasn’t exactly an apology on Romy’s part but perhaps an olive branch?

[Olivia Moretti]

Olivia didn't expect an apology from Rose. What did Romy say that wasn't fair? Liv had never been the most inviting, friendly witch. She lashed out at others, sometimes for such minor slights, and was quick to hex or jinx if someone said something to her. Before she had been attacked, she was the perfect pureblood princess that Mommy and Daddy could be proud of. Olivia Moretti was not know for her niceness, but her ruthlessness. Everything about Olivia Moretti would change the night she became a werewolf, but it would take time for these changes to take effect. Maybe part of it was that she was growing up. She wasn't perfect, she was still just a teenager, but she was maturing.

Liv had been cutting into her flatbread to take a bite when Romy said something that caught her attention. She lowered her knife and fork, raising her gaze to look at the blonde. Her stomach started to drop when she took in a deep breath and it fell to the floor when she said what she said next. The silverware clattered to the plate as Liv's hands fell to her lap, feeling like the wind was just knocked out of her. Clark Carter... was going to buy the Wasps? Her heart sank, but she maintained her composure. Olivia cleared her throat and picked her silverware back up. "How close are we talking?" Her voice was leveled as she spoke, effortlessly resuming her task of cutting her food. She took her bite and glanced back up at Romy.

[Rosemary Carter]

The thing about Olivia that grated on Romy the most when they were students, besides being kind of a little snob, was that she used her blood status to excuse her bad behavior. Romy came from the same background, her father was probably worse than Olivia’s father could ever be, and she still found a way to act like a decent human being. She didn’t use the “perfect little pure blood princess for my parents” defense. It was a shame that it took Olivia being attacked and experiencing prejudice for the first time to change. What would have happened if she was never attacked? Was she always going to walk around like she was better than everyone else?

The girl in front of Romy now was a little defeated but she still had that same look in her eyes.

“I’m not sure,” Romy replied, giving her complete honesty. Clark only gave enough information to let people know he was on the mov, but he never showed his cards. Romy had only heard it in passing from one of her sisters. “It could be any day, but I doubt your team would make such a big move mid-season. I expect it to be announced closer to the summer or during preseason.”

That would give Olivia enough time to… Romy’s mind trailed off, almost regretting having said anything. Olivia was impulsive and unpredictable. And as much as Romy would love her to be thorn at Clark’s side for the sake of just making him suffer… whatever reckless thing Olivia choice to do this time, it could potentially affect her sisters. Romy didn’t care for her inheritance much but that didn’t mean the other Carter girls didn’t.

[Olivia Moretti]

For a long time Olivia wondered what her life would have looked like if she hadn't been attacked. Would she still be static and stagnant, forever the perfect pureblooded princess that she was? There were many weeks, many months, were she wished she was still that person. Becoming a werewolf was the most life-changing event she could possibly imagine. There was no point in wondering about what ifs or could have beens because nothing would change what happened to her. Olivia had many regrets in her life, but the person she was becoming was not one of them. It's not her fault if people choose to still see her as she was.

Her head bobbed slowly as she nodded her understanding. The idea of Clark Carter having full control over her team, over her, was one that caused trepidation to start to stir within her. He had no love for her kind and had already petitioned to get her kicked off the team. What would happen when he did finally succeed? Would he make life a living hell for her until she quit? Or would he find some excuse to get her kicked off the team, and professional Quidditch, forever? The thoughts churned in her mind while on the outside she appeared poised. The only giveaway of her feelings was the tightness in her shoulders and her hands and the quivering of her lip. Olivia continued to eat as she processed what this would mean for her and started to think about what she could do to stop it.

"Thank you for telling me," she said after a moment, resting her hands on the table. Perhaps once Olivia was brash and impulsive, but she couldn't afford to act without thinking it through first. Her reputation was already tainted by her creature status. There were more people than Clark Carter that were outraged she got a spot on a popular team, or a spot at all if she was honest. She had time to figure out what to do, but for now she was going to continue recharging after a tiring match.