Chapter 7

It was almost game time and the Ravenclaw team was in the locker room listening to Cho's speech.

"Alright, I know it's the season opener, but I believe that we can do this. We have everything that we need. When we practiced I couldn't even point anything out that we could work on. So we have five minutes till game time, now let's go out there and show them who's going to win the Quidditch Cup!" The team whooped in harmony.

"I think we should do a cheer," said Mya. Everyone gave her a funny look. "You know, go team, go!"

"Yes, we know what a cheer is," said one of the players.

"Good, well here's one." Mya cleared her throat. "Don't mess, don't mess, don't mess with the best cause the best don't mess. Don't fool, don't fool, don't fool with the cool cause the cool don't fool. Don't fight, don't fight, don't fight for the right cause the right don't fight. We're gonna B-E-A-T beat'em, we're gonna B-U-S-T bust'em. Beat'em, bust'em, that's our custom, come on team lets readjust'em, WHOO!" Mya finished with a dramatic ending. The team was silent, the kind of silent where the cricket chirps in the background.

"I like it," broke Cho, "its upbeat."

Mya smiled, "glad SOME-one liked it."

With a little encouragement from Cho the team recited the cheer Mya came up with, and they were ready to go.

"Welcome students and teachers," boomed Lee Jordon, "to our first Quidditch match of the year! First up, please put your hands together for…SLYTHERIN!"

There was yelling and cheering only from the Slytherin house, the others just clapped politely, if that.

"Next up, put your hands together for the better team,"

"Jordon!" hissed McGonagall.

"RAVENCLAW!" finished Lee. There was a roar from the Ravenclaw house along with Gryffindor, Hufflepuff was just clapping. There was stillness from Slytherin. Madame Hooch walked out into the pitch, and gave her lecture a about a fair game.

Cho and Draco were ready to go after the snitch. Draco was glaring at Cho, she wasn't intimidated. They all waited anxiously. Then Madame Hooch's whistle was blown and the snitch was gone. After a moment, Draco and Cho raced up into the air searching frantically for the golden ball. The bludgers were going off in all directions, along with the Quaffle which was soon hit towards Mya.

"WHOA! Did you see that save everyone?" Mya had spun around and caught it. The game went on,

"Cho is getting there, WAIT, Draco's coming up from behind…" A holler came from the crowd.

"Ravenclaw scores another goal! That has made the game 40 to Ravenclaw!" "Oh no, it seems Draco will have the snitch. OH, that snitch just took a sharp

turn leaving Draco behind." Cho was on a very focused path. She was hot on the snitch's trail.

"She leaps for it! What was she thinking? Cho has just jumped off her

broom to catch the snitch." There was a scream, Madame Hooch was holding out her wand, and Cho stopped in mid-air. Taking a deep breath of relive Cho held up her hand,

"CHO HAS THE SNITCH! RAVENCLAW IS THE WINNER!" yelled the announcer.

"That gives a final score of 190-30!" There was screaming and cheering from

the Ravenclaws, even the Gryffindors let out a hoot. The Hufflepuffs were happy only to see Slytherin crushed, (well so was Gryffindor). The Slytherins were furious.

Madame Hooch slowly let Cho down. Mya and the other players sped up to meet Cho on the ground.

"Cho that was amazing," said Mya pushing through the swarm of

people, by now the houses had gotten on the pitch.

"Thank you Mya, you made some outstanding saves too," replied Cho

being drowned by people coming between her and Mya. The crowd lifted Cho up and started heading back towards Hogwarts. Mya stayed behind, she'd celebrate later. Winning games always got her pumped and at the end all she wanted to do was fly around. She watched the multicolored mob slowly disappearing off the field; she just stood there impatiently with her arms crossed. When she turned around to go play she met the grey eyes of Draco.

"Draco!" Mya jumped. She figured he would have been gone by now,

everybody else was, or so she thought. Up in the stands Neville remained, he had seen Draco go up behind Mya and decided to stay up there, he just watched.

"What are you still doing here?" asked Mya not pleased, he had changed since their little adventure.

"I needed to talk to you," started Draco.

"About what?" Mya cut in.

"Don't need to be so defensive, I just wanted to tell you that," he paused, "that you made some good plays today."

"Oh really?" questioned Mya raising an eyebrow. "You're the last

person I'd expect to hear a compliment from."

"Well, you're just lucky that we were having a bad day," said Draco

realizing he had complimented her.

"Yeah I'm sure we would have won either way," said Mya inching

closer towards him.

"Oh yeah?" asked Draco darkly.

"Yeah, anytime, anywhere," said Mya straightening her posture.

"I'd like to see you prove it," Draco motioned towards the pitch. Mya

cocked her head to the side, biting her lip, arms crossed once more.

"Hmm, me kicking your ass for the second time in one day,

hardly sounds fair." Standing there facing Draco for a moment, (awkward), Mya threw her arms up, "Oh and I almost forgot, I have to go celebrate our VICTORY!" Mya turned around to leave when Draco caught her attention.

"Well how about later then?" mocked Draco. Mya paused and turned

her torso to face him,

"I'll think about it, 'cause it really all depends on how desperate you

are to lose," she turned back around.

"Eight o'clock?" offered Draco.

"Yeah, okay," said Mya as she continued walking, "see you then." She

waved behind her.

"Indeed," proclaimed Draco still standing in the same spot watching

Mya walk away.

Did I just set up a date with Mya? She's so great. thought Draco. He winced at the thought, only out of habit. He was also very excited, for no one knew who he admired. He knew he couldn't be seen with her. His reputation wouldn't allow it, but he was getting to the point where he just didn't care that race had opened up a new door. Not yet though, he was still going to wait a little longer, he had a Malfoy reputation to protect. He left the pitch.

Neville was following Mya. Not in a stalker way, just a friendly way.

When he had seen Mya leave he left too. He also wanted to compliment her for doing such a good job she did today. He knew he had got pretty scared for her when the Quaffle came right at her, he couldn't imagine actually doing it. When he finally caught up to her she was coming out of the locker room, she turned to see him walking toward her.

"Neville!" she shouted as she ran to him. She reached him and threw

around his neck and gave him a hug.

"You did an excellent job out there today," said Neville holing her

tightly.

"Oh, thank you, it was pretty tense," said Mya dropping her arms,

Neville doing the same.

"I bet, to be honest, I got scared watching you," said Neville smiling

brightly.

"Yeah it does get kinda scary, but what are you gonna do," Mya's

Maine accent filled Neville's ears, he loved it.

"I am SO hungry, want to go eat?" asked Mya.

"Yeah," said Neville putting his hands in his pocket. Mya started

walking, Neville right beside her. There conversation was pretty gradual. When they reached the doors of the Great Hall, Mya walked in on a very excited Jessie,

"Mya you were AWESOME!"

"Thanks," responded Mya, "I try." She turned to face Neville, "I'll see

you later okay?" Mya walked to her table talking to Jessie. Neville was going to say okay but he didn't think quick enough, she was already gone,

Odd he thought and he headed to his table.

"So what did Draco want?" asked Jessie eagerly.

"Well actually he complimented me," started Mya.

"What!"

"I know right, but he challenged me to one on one. I told him that I

had to celebrate our victory, but I guess we're on tonight, if he shows."

"What time?" exclaimed Jessie.

"Eight," said Mya plainly, she was excited too, but was going to hide it.

"You can't do that, you'll get caught," said Jessie.

"I have to prove to him I'm right."

"You'll get into serious trouble," said Jessie. Mya just shrugged her

shoulder. Jessie was famous for her speeches, they weren't all bad, some really did save Mya's ass. While Jessie continued her speech Mya thought about Neville. She kind of blew him off, she felt bad she had. She stood up,

"Where are you going?" asked Jessie.

"Um, I'm going to hang out with Neville I blew him off earlier," said

Mya as she felt a hint of guilt. Jessie just let out a sigh, as she put her hand up to rub her forehead. Mya left the Ravenclaw table and looked over at the Gryffindors, she saw Neville looking up at her. She gave him a 'come on' grin as she continued her way out hoping Neville understood. When she got out the door she waited, after a few minutes Neville came through.

"I was hoping you'd get my hint," said Mya facing him.

"Well, I have spent enough time around you so I know these things,"

said Neville, nervously rubbing his hands together.

"Well I didn't drag you out her for nothing, lets go do something," said

Mya holding out her arm like a common gentleman would do. Neville laughed,

"Let me," and he took her arm and wrapped it around his, "That's

better." He showed a huge smile.

"Indeed, I never like being a man," Mya said with a chuckled. They

strolled out side where it was rather bitter; it had cooled down since this morning.

"Oo," moaned Mya getting a chill. "It's cold out here; I should go get a

sweatshirt or something." Mya wrapped her free arm around herself. Neville pulled his arm back only for a moment.

"Here," Neville handed Mya his overcoat.

"Are you sure, I don't you to be cold," testified Mya.

"Positive," said Neville still holding the jacket out for her. Mya took it

slowly, but as soon as she got it she quickly placed it over herself. Then she put her arm back in Neville's. They walked over to the fountain and took a seat. Mya sat herself cross-legged facing the school. The colors flourished the grounds,

"Fall really is a beautiful time," said Mya as she looked around at the

oranges, reds, and yellows.

"Yes, indeed you are," said Neville not thinking.

"Huh?" asked Mya. Neville realized what he had said.

"Yes, yes it is a beautiful time," saved Neville. He was trying to hide

his red face.

"Neville?" Mya asked he shot a panicky look.

"Ye-yes," stuttered Neville.

"Why are you so nervous?"

"No reason," Mya gave Neville an unexplainable look.

"Oh, well anyway, what I was going to ask was, if you had ever

jumped in leaves?"

"What?" asked Neville confused.

"You know, rake a pile of leaves and jump in," Mya was making hand

signals as she talked.

"No,"

"Wow, well I guess we'll have to change that," said Mya standing up.

She held out her hands to Neville, giving him a childish grin. Neville took them and she took him to a small field on the grounds. There were leaves spread all around,

"This will be easier than at home," said Mya taking out her wand. She

muttered a spell that put all the leaves in a pile. It was a very large pile and Mya grew excited.

"What now?" asked Neville.

"This," Mya ran and jumped into it, back first. She was just laughing at

the fact she was jumping into leaves, "come on Neville, try it." Mya was sitting in it waiting for him. He waited for a moment, he was rather doubtful. "It's really not that bad, just wing it," Mya encouraged. He was still uncertain. "Here we'll do it together," Mya was coming to him. She got right beside him, "Okay, I'm going to count to three and we're gonna go, no time to stop and think." She took his hand, he felt reassured, in a weird way. "One…Two…" Mya looked over at him, "THREE!" they ran and jumped into the leaves burst out laughter. They did this for quite a long time. When they were finally finished it was nearly 3.

"Oh my, I don't believe I remember when I felt so happy before. I

mean it took a little while for the greatness to kick in, but once it came, wow," said Neville. They were lying in the leaves now, not jumping but just relaxing looking at the clouds. Neville, however, had propped himself up on his elbow to ramble on.

"See, it is fun," said Mya only looking at him, not moving otherwise.

Her arms were behind her head and her legs were crossed as her body was just stretched. She had taken Neville's coat off, by now. They had not only jumped in the leaves but they threw mounds at eachother with levitation spells and wrestled.

"Yes it was fun," Neville laid himself back down. He glimpsed at Mya

who was staring at the blue and white speckled sky.

"What are you doing?" asked Neville.

"Looking at the clouds, they all look like something, you just need to

imagine it," said Mya concentrating. "Like that one over there," she pointed to a large cloud, "what does it look like to you?" Neville stared at it; to him it looked like a plain cloud,

"Um, a cloud," said Neville as he gave Mya a hopeful look.

"You need to look harder," she said, still concentrating on it. Neville

stared at it again, repeating look harder in his mind.

"Oh I see it, it looks like a mermaid," said Neville joyfully.

"See, it's not that hard," said Mya lifting herself up. Neville sat up also.

She peeked at Neville who was puzzled; she picked up a mound of

leaves and gently threw it at him hitting him in the face. Then she stood up and started running again. Neville shook the leaves out of his hair and chased after Mya with his own mound. She played along with him as she swerved and curved. He finally caught up to her wrapping a strong arm around her waist. She looked up with a childlike smirk. He just smiled and dropped the leaves on her head.

They were walking back to Hogwarts, picking out bits and pieces of foliage out of their hair.

"Where have you two been?" both Mya and Neville looked up in shock

to see Harry, Hermione, Ron and Jessie. Hermione was the one who spoke.

"Well," Mya said as she pulled another leaf out of her hair holding it

up, "on the grounds."

"Better yet, what have you two been doing?" asked Hermione. Mya

just laughed uncontrollably.

"Well," started Mya but another laugh came in, "um, we've been-"

"Jumping in leaves," Neville filled in. Mya just snickered some more.

"It's nearly 5," said Jessie.

"Oh, really?" asked Mya face red from amusement.

"Yes,"

"Well, in that case, let's go eat," and Mya strode off to the Great Hall.

The other five just watched her as she went.

"You heard the girl, let's go get some grub," said Ron.

After dinner Mya went up to her dorm, she had to go get ready for her one on one. She slipped on some faded blue jeans, a Trans-am sweatshirt, and her converses. She grabbed her broomstick, pulled her hair back and left. Grateful that Jessie was occupied elsewhere so she wouldn't get part 2 of the 'staying out too late will get you in trouble' speech.

Down at the pitch Mya waited,

Should be about eight, she thought, no show.

"Mya, you're actually here," said Draco from the darkness as if he

wasn't expecting her.

"Yeah, 8 o'clock," said Mya irritably.

"Didn't think you actually had the guts to show," said Draco

sarcastically.

"I could say the same thing about you," said Mya in all seriousness.

Draco let out an evil laugh. Only have to protect my rep. a little longer, he thought.

"Well let's do it," said Draco holding a little chest. "One snitch, that's

it," he kept glancing between Mya and the chest with his stone eyes.

"Fine," said Mya as she saddled her broom. Draco got on his, and

opened the chest pulling out the snitch.

"Here it goes," said Draco as he tossed the snitch up giving it a boost

to its high speed. After a moment, Mya shot up like a rocket, Draco along the side of her. Mya had seen enough Qudditch to know what to do. She kicked Draco with her leg as she gained more speed.

"We're playing dirty I see, two can play that game," said Draco

ramming into Mya. This is where Mya's keeper skills played in. She did one of her upside down spins and continued pursuing the snitch. Draco was surprised. He knew Mya was determined to beat him, so he eased up just a little bit. Mya didn't take any notice of him slowing down. The snitch was about 5 feet in front of her now, so she went just as fast as she could. She wrapped her feet tightly around the top of the broomstick; she then shoved herself off the base and when the weight hit the tip she was doing a face dive towards the snitch. Mya reached out and grabbed the little sucker out of the air.

Her feet lost their grip, and she was hurtling towards the ground (not like she wasn't before but still). The only thing she did was close her eyes, scream, and hope for the best. Before Mya hit, she felt a strong grip on her leg. When she opened her eyes Mya saw she was three feet from the ground. She looked to see Draco held her in his iron grip.

"Draco, I-" stumbled Mya. Draco held down his other hand for Mya to

take with hers, she did. She pulled herself up onto Draco's broom, with help from him of course.

"So Mya have anything you want to say to me?" asked Draco hiding

his petrified expression.

"Thanks," said Mya unwillingly.

"For what?" Draco continued.

"Saving me,"

"Oh yes, well now you just owe me,"

"Yuck," said Mya distastefully.

"Oh come on now, show some respect for the one who saved your

ass," said Draco just flying around enjoying Mya's company.

"Oh fine," Mya said exactly what came to her mind, "Oh yes, forgive me my

hero, I bid thee thanks I'm forever in your debt."

Draco laughed, "Well now that you put it that way."

"Shut up and bring me down," said Mya gently slapping his shoulder.

"Sure," said Draco as he sped toward the ground. Mya instinctively

wrapped her arms around him.

"Draco what the HELL are you doing!" screamed Mya. Draco quickly

pulled them upright. Mya hoped off, for they were now hovering above the ground.

"First you save me, then you turn around and try to kill me with a

heart-attack or something," said Mya adjusting her shirt.

Draco chuckled, "it was just for fun."

"Yeah," Mya paused, "you know, but I'm leaving now, and oh, ha,

I just beat you again." sneered Mya. She was getting closer to Draco, she loved being alone with him.

"Actually I just slowed down," said Draco earnestly. Mya shot him a

dirty look. Instinctively Draco wrapped his arms around her back, looking down into her eyes.

"What?" you could hear the angered tone in her voice. She had leaned back in Draco's arms.

"You heard me," said Draco smirking, getting his face closer to hers.

"Well under those circumstances I will see you same place, same time,

and there WILL be no slowing down." Mya ripped out of his arms and left angered. Draco giggled at himself,

Perfect, he thought, just how I planned.