Familiar Faces in Strange Places {Brandon}

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The Quidditch World Cup final. Gwen had never been so excited for anything in as long as she could remember. She couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive so that she could see the match already, and best of all, her favorite player was on the England team. Things simply couldn't get any better than this. For Gwen, Quidditch was quite possible the most amazing thing ever, and she couldn't wait for this. It wasn't often you had a chance to witness a world final.

Gwen had arrived at the camping ground on the Wednesday afternoon, and she'd been completely blown away by how many tents were already set up by then, but now, Friday lunch time, the crowd number of tents must have at least tripled. Actually, it was almost impossible to get near to the tents right at the front, because even now people were still trying to cram their tents into the tiniest little spaces they could. Thank goodness for magical tents, or there'd be people sleeping upright. As for Gwen, her tent was quite a way back from there, but there were still a lot of tents appearing in little gaps around hers.

Being lunch time, Gwen headed out to find one of the stalls that sold food, though she had no idea how they had enough to feed quite so many people for a week, and after waiting in the queue for about ten minutes, she finally had her food in hand. Now was the perfect time to look around and get a insight into the people around her. There were so many people, but Gwen didn't recognize a single one. She might be the talkative type who liked to talk to strangers and stuff, but even she had to admit it was a little daunting not to know anyone at all.

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Friday, the day before the final, the day before what would most likely become the best day of Brandon's life for quite some time, if not forever. He woke up late that morning, his father didn't bother to wake him and was off to who knows where. Bran had his theories though, his father was friends with a few other Purebloods not located far from their tent, so after getting ready he decided lunch sounded good and would go look for him later. After all, his father was capable of looking out for himself.

It was so crowded once the fresh air and the view hit him, he began to understand why his mother didn't want to come, but he wouldn't miss this for the world. It wasn't often you could see a world final play off right before your eyes. After a while of deciding which way to go he was off on his journey to find a food stall, wondering how it was possible for them to feed such a large amount of people for a whole week. He wasn't there from day one, only arriving on Thursday, so the amount of tents he had to walk past before he finally spotted a queue for food was astonishing. However, the queue was even worse. Or at least that was how it felt at that point in time.

After a rumble from his stomach and a sigh he stuck his hands in his pockets, accepting the impossible mission to find another food stall with less people before he dies of hunger. It was no surprise when after 20 minutes of walking around he started to slow down, kicking small rocks, mind wondering to the game that hasn't even happened yet. Quidditch. This was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. This wasn't just a game to him, it was his dream and he wanted nothing more but to be one of the players for England one day. Suddenly all thoughts of food vanished.

That was until his thought process got interrupted and the smile on his face faded when a small kid ran into him, almost messing food that could feed a family of three all over him. He could have sworn his heart skipped a beat from the fright, but he quickly got over it once the child mumbled a quick "sorry" and continued running. He was a bit frustrated, but understood the kid's excitement and as he looked back, eyes following the child, his gaze fell onto a familiar face.

"Gwen...?" he said, close enough for her to hear but he still stepped closer, closing the distance with a surprised smile on his lips for spotting someone he actually knew. What was the chances of that happening?

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The queues for foot seemed to go on forever, no matter which stall you turned up at, and the time of day didn't really seem to calm the queue either. She was pretty sure that tomorrow was going to be absolute chaos in the morning, with everyone no doubt trying to stock up on a good breakfast and enough to get them through lunch, and the possibility of a late afternoon snack, depending on how long the match lasted for. It was one reason they'd brought food with them to take into the match. They were battling the queues now, but they wouldn't be wasting any time in the morning.

"Gwen...?"

Her head snapped around as soon as she heard her name, expecting that the person was probably talking to someone else by the same name, but instead she was greeted with a familiar face. Her jaw dropped in shock for a moment but that quickly turned into a huge smile. "Brandon! Oh my goodness- hi!" She was filled with excitement at the sight of a familiar face. She couldn't say that she knew him particularly well, but at a time like this, it was the fact that she did know him that mattered. "How have you been? I'm so glad to see a familiar face around here." He voice sounded a little higher than usual, even to her own ears, and it was hard for her to hold in the excitement she was feeling - an excitement that hadn't faded for days now. 

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"Brandon! Oh my goodness- hi!"

This was a rather pleasant surprise, he was sure he would never find someone familiar around there and has long given up the search. However, the final was a big thing, and he had theories there might be a few from his school there, but he accepted that he would probably never see them in the massive crowd. He was wrong though, and he was glad it was someone he knew.

”Hey!” he greeted back, surprise still in his expression with excitement added to it. Brandon didn’t know Gwen well, they rarely talked aside from Quidditch, but it was Quidditch they had in common as far as he knew, which made this all the more exciting to him- being stuck in a tent with a father that never cared much for Quidditch, even in Hogwarts, made it hard for him to really enjoy the wait. This was a change in events he needed.

"How have you been? I'm so glad to see a familiar face around here."

”You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” he replied, instinctively leaning closer to give her a hug. He didn’t think it would be strange, it was how he greeted most of his female friends, then again he didn’t really know what Gwen thought of him, and he hardly knew her. The hug was a bit hesitant as he realized that, but he figured he already built it up and he might as well. ”And I’m good- great, actually!” he said once he pulled away, trying to be as casual as possible by putting up a dimpled smile ”Can’t wait for tomorrow. How have you been? Enjoying the fresh air here?”

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”You have no idea how glad I am to see you,”

While his hug was a little unexpected seeing as they didn't exactly know each other well, she was still more than happy to return it. She tended to be the sort of person who gave hugs willingly, and she appreciate the importance of making contact with a person in order to form some sort of relationship and trust. She'd never really had much opportunity to get to know Brandon though they had talked about Quidditch on a number of occasions, seeing as they both played for their house teams.

”And I’m good- great, actually! Can’t wait for tomorrow. How have you been? Enjoying the fresh air here?”

Gwen returned his smile as he moved back from the hug, and she bobbed excitedly. "I just want it to be morning already. It's going to be amazing! They have the Keeper from the Harpies team and she's absolutely incredible." Gwen was just as excited about seeing that one played as she was about watching the game as a whole. Kjersi Movoric was her all-time favorite player, without a doubt.

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Somehow the hug made it feel like the awkward moment that usually comes with 'hello' was over, though in this case he wasn't sure if he made it worse or better. Gwen was Keeper for Ravenclaw, and although they were the same year they never really talked outside of Quidditch, and even then it wasn't much. Even though he was surprised to see her, he wasn't surprised that she was there, he knew her well enough to know she's as Quidditch crazy as he is. However, he didn't think they would run into each other.

"I just want it to be morning already. It's going to be amazing! They have the Keeper from the Harpies team and she's absolutely incredible."

He grinned "Couldn't agree more, I doubt the other team's even going to score with her as Keeper." he loved the Harpies, but a favorite of his was one of the chaser that so happens to be playing "I have to admit though, my eye's going to be on the chasers."

He gazed off into the direction of the arena, finding himself with the urge to get up in the air. "Bit jealous though," he looked back at her with a playful grin "I wouldn't mind being one of the chaser in that game tomorrow." and he had a feeling she wouldn't mind being the Keeper. Perhaps one day.

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"Couldn't agree more, I doubt the other team's even going to score with her as Keeper. I have to admit though, my eye's going to be on the chasers."

Gwen laughed, "Somehow, I'm not surprised to hear that." For anyone who played on a team, whether that be at the school, or just messing with friends in the air, there was always a strong desire to put all your attention of your main/favorite position player. Beaters knew the beaters, seekers knew the seekers, and you always felt more connected with your own.

"Bit jealous though, I wouldn't mind being one of the chaser in that game tomorrow."

"I would love a chance to be up in that air. Imagine the atmosphere in a crowd the size that this one will be?" If Hogwarts had a great atmosphere at games it was nothing compared to how this was going to be. It was going to be absolutely huge and just...overwhelming. "One day, maybe?" She grinned at Brandon, the image of her being the one on a broom on a world cup pitch stuck in her head.