The Golden Snitch; Canopus, Aurora Academy.
T'is a Figure of Speech — "a snitch in time saves seven"
White Day — written for RainyDayReading — extra prompts used: (object) roses, (word) secret admirer
Through the Universe — Absolute Zero — (color) white
Hogwarts (Challenges and Assignments).
Assignment 5 — Gardening: The Farm — task 4 — weather — write about someone's day/job being affected (for good or bad) by the weather
Writing Club — Disney Challenge — The Little Mermaid — themes — an accident at sea — write about a disaster caused by the weather
Writing Club — Showtime — Razzle Dazzle — (phrase) hocus pocus
Breakfast was horrid. Cho Chang sat alone and nibbled half-heartedly at her buttered toast. It was the first game of the year for Ravenclaw, and Cho's stomach was in knots. They were playing Gryffindor today. Her mother disapproved of her only daughter playing Quidditch, but her Muggle father loved the concept of people flying on broomsticks and playing a game that involved several balls meant to injure.
Cho knew that Harry Potter was the best Seeker in a long, long time, but she thought maybe — just maybe — Ravenclaw could win.
It was highly unlikely, given the skill of Potter — but a girl could hope, couldn't she?
"RAVENCLAW SCORES! A TIE, WITH NEITHER SEEKER SPOTTING THE SNITCH YET!"
Cho winced as Lee Jordan commentated — aka yelled. Honestly, the boy had two volumes: loud and louder. She peered around the pitch. It was dark early in the winter, and the weather was terrible. It was pouring and the sheets of rain made seeing very difficult. She could barely see the spectators below; Merlin, she could barely hear them over the downpour!
And then, of course, it had to start thundering. Bolts of lightning flashed in the background and Cho squinted through the rain, holding a wet hand above her eyes. All she could see was grey. Grey clouds, grey sky. Grey, grey, grey.
She could see spots of color below in sections: Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and...her heart pitter-pattered as she saw him. Cedric Diggory. He was cheering for — she couldn't actually tell. But she was determined to make him root for her.
Cho began to circle the pitch slowly, squinting against the rain and looking for that telltale golden shimmer that was the snitch. Potter was at the same level as her across the pitch, and she narrowed her eyes. She would catch that snitch!
And then her eyes widened and flashed triumphantly. There was that sneaky snitch! It hovered near the ground in between her and Potter. She tilted her Comet Two Sixty down and hurtled toward it. Unfortunately, Potter had also seen it, and the two Seekers streaked after the tiny gold ball. Their bodies were flat against their broom handles, and Cho's hair had come undone from her ponytail and was streaming out behind her from the speed.
And then there was a flash of lightning that showed something Gryffindor red racing to meet her, and a sickening thud as the Seekers collided, mere inches away from the snitch, and fell to the ground.
Cho woke some time later, finding herself in a small infirmary cot cordoned off from the rest of the room. Everything around her was white — the floor, the walls, the bedsheets. It hurt her eyes to look at.
She suddenly realized that she had a huge headache. She couldn't move her left arm, and she glared down at the clunky white cast covering her arm from fingertips to elbow. It was in a sling that wrapped over her opposite shoulder and was very uncomfortable.
Beside her to the right was a small bedside table that had several cards and a bouquet of roses placed on it. Cho didn't particularly care for roses, as she said they were common and unoriginal, but the thought was what mattered. There was even a package of Sugar Quills — her favorite sweet.
She picked up a card. It was from Padma Patil, a generic get-well-soon card, and while she appreciated the sentiment, she didn't really know Padma that well and was disappointed because it wasn't anything special.
She flicked through the pile. Michael Corner, asking her on a Hogsmeade date when she got better. Bleh. Hannah Abbott, just wishing her well. Harry Potter, apologizing. Gryffindor nobility! Couldn't even crash without one of them taking responsibility…
One more.
Cho, I hope you get better soon. Gryffindor won the match by 10 points because Weasley scored a goal while everyone was watching you and Harry race. (You caught the snitch, though. Right before passing out.) "A snitch in time saves seven" and all that rot. Hocus pocus. Ravenclaw should have won — and probably would have if not for the ginger.
But perhaps that is my bias speaking — my bias towards you.
I think you are a kind person who I would love to get to know better. If you can figure out who I am, find me.
Your Secret Admirer
Cho wholeheartedly approved of the person's Wizarding usage of the Muggle phrase. She re-read the card twice more before noticing a small detail: below the signature of her "secret admirer," there was a hand-drawn picture of a black and yellow bumblebee and a small fragment of an iridescent, brittle material that she instantly recognized as a piece of a C.D.
word count: 809