Disclaimer: I suppose that I should mention that I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, house names, settings, et cetera, which is probably a good thing since I wouldn't know what to do with them if I did. But I do own my imagination and the products of it, and I make use of those freely in this story.
A/N: This will eventually be a three-part story. I've written the outline of the whole thing, so I know what's going to happen, but I still need to look over a few sections and make sure they're how I want them to be.
And yes, the story contains primarily original characters. The idea originally came to me as a dream, and that's how the dream was, so that's how the story is. I'm positive that there are no Mary Sues; if you think otherwise, please review, but have some good reasons to back up your accusations.
Foul Play
Part 1: The Game
"All right, team, listen up," said Scott as he paced up and down in front of the bench in the locker room where the Gryffindor Quidditch team sat awaiting his instruction. "We've got a hard game ahead of us, as you all know. Ravenclaw is a tough team, and they'll play even better than normal since this match pretty much determines the outcomes of both the Quidditch and House Cups."
Alice sat listening on the bench. Next to her sat Ann, her best friend and the team's keeper. She nervously twirled a strand of hair around her finger, listening to Scott. On Alice's other side sat Melissa, Rachel, and Kristalyn, the three Chasers.
"Now," said Scott, continuing, "if we've ever needed a quick capture of the snitch, it's this game. We don't want to give Ravenclaw enough time to score more goals than we can make up for by catching the snitch. Not that I think you aren't an excellent Keeper," he said to Ann, "but they beat Slytherin that way, and I don't want to see us make the same mistake.
"Also, as you may or may not know, Felicity couldn't be here because of an accident that occurred in her Transfiguration class." Alice saw Rachel wince beside her, and knew why. Rachel was in Felicity's class, and had described the unfortunate incident to her in great detail. Apparently their class had been practicing turning beetles into buttons, and one of the Slytherins in the class had thought it would be funny to try the same on Felicity. She was still in the Hospital Wing.
"So let me introduce to you our reserve Beater, Justin." At this, the boy sitting at the end of the bench stood up. He appeared to be in his fourth year, had a dark complexion, and was heavily built. Alice was always a bit surprised that he had not made beater instead of Felicity, but then, she reflected, Felicity's small size added to her agility, and to her ability to closely pursue bludgers. And Felicity was also a nicer person to be around, Alice thought, but that wasn't an objective observation.
"The only thing I've got left to say," Scott continued, "is for us to go out there and give 'em the best game Hogwarts has seen since Harry Potter himself played here!" There was a spate of cheering at this speech, and all of the members of the team grabbed their brooms and fell into line behind their captain. Alice picked up her Nimbus in one gauntleted hand and followed the team out onto the field.
The team emerged to loud cheering and bright sunshine. They took their places loosely around the center circle, just as the Ravenclaw team came out, resplendent in robes of royal blue.
"Captains, shake hands!" announced Madam Hooch, and Scott stepped forward. Once the formalities were over with, Madam Hooch gave the command for the teams to mount their brooms. As they hovered in the air above the circle, Madam Hooch let out a shrill blast on her whistle, kicked open the crate of balls, and soared into the air. The game had begun.
Alice caught a glimpse of the snitch before it darted away. She flew in lazy circles around the field in search of it, but to no avail. As she watched, the Gryffindor Chasers attempted to score multiple times using numerous different formations, but all were foiled by Ravenclaw. She turned away from the game to once again scan the field for the snitch, and gasped as she saw a bludger headed directly towards her. She ducked it, and saw Justin swoop up and bat it in the direction of the Ravenclaw Chasers, who currently had possession of the quaffle. Justin turned around, and reached suddenly to scratch his back. Then he flew over to Alice.
"What is it?" Alice asked. Then she noticed his one hand was closed around something. Slowly he opened is fist, and Alice saw a glimmer of gold—a flutter of wings—
"The snitch!" she exclaimed, half amazed, half confounded. "But it's a foul if anyone other than the Seeker touches it! Let it go!"
"Let it go?" Justin said incredulously. "Don't you get it? If you take this from me, we win the game and both Cups!"
"But that's cheating!" Alice protested.
"No one would know except you and me. I won't tell."
"Well…" Alice said, hesitating. This went against everything she had been taught. But to be the seeker to win both cups for Gryffindor…
"I'll do it," she said.
"Good. I thought you'd understand," said Justin, and he handed over the snitch. Immediately he veered away to chase down another bludger.
With the snitch concealed within her hand, Alice feigned a look of intense concentration and transitioned smoothly into a steep dive. The wind rushed in her face as she sped downward and downward, faster and faster, until she was but a foot from the ground. Then, with the hand that held the snitch, she made a fake snatch, and pulled out of the dive barely in time to avoid collision with the ground. She pulled back up, raised her hand up into the air cautiously, and cried out, "I've got the snitch!"
At once, the Gryffindor team surrounded her. They descended as a screaming, hugging mass, with Alice at the center.
The Headmaster came down onto the field to award the Quidditch Cup to Gryffindor. The gleaming golden trophy was handed to Scott, as team Captain, and he in turn passed it on to Alice, saying, "You've earned it!" enthusiastically. However, as Alice caught a look back at Professor Potter, she wasn't so sure.