Detention was nothing more than a glorified smack on the wrist. As my punishment, Snape had me reorganized the older potions books that had been left a mess by the older students, an opportunity that let me sift through some of the more advanced potions, and then ensure that all of the potions ingredients in the classroom cupboards were properly labeled. As someone who'd literally grown up around potions, it was a breeze and I finished in plenty of time, allowing me to participate in the last minute practice Flint had thrown together.
The Saturday of the game came very quickly. I woke up early, as per usual, but this time I waited in the common room for the rest of the Quidditch team to emerge so we would all walk to the Great Hall and sit together. A united front, if you like.
As I sat between my brother and one of the Chasers, Adrian Pucey, I felt more excited than anything else. Harry, as much as I liked him as a friend, just wasn't a match for me in the sky yet. This game would probably end up being the easiest of the year for me, seeing as the other seekers- Diggory and Chang- were both older and more experienced at seeking for their house and working with their team. The Slytherin team, however, had a winning streak to keep up. With that incentive, no one argued if Flint trained us into the ground. We were a well oiled machine.
I can't describe how important I felt sliding on those green robes. I was the first girl to be on the team in over twenty years and the youngest seeker chosen for Slytherin in over fifty years. I was special.
"Alright," Flint called around the locker room, getting silence almost immediately as we huddled up. "You all know how this works. We go out there and we win. We've got a great team with some of the best players I've seen in my six years of being here. I expect the best because that's what I know you'll give me and give your house.
"Now let's get out there and do this!" With a sort of battle roar that quickly spread throughout the Slytherin team, I found myself snatching up my broom and jogging up behind Sebastian, blinking in the bright sunlight before my eyes adjusted.
The stadium was absolutely packed. Everyone was sitting in the stands, segregated into red, green, blue, and yellow, and roaring at the top of their lungs for their preferred team or player. I knew that my Gryffindor friends would save all of their cheering for Harry, but I was happy to see who I thought was Daphne and Blaise holding up a huge poster with my name embellished in green on a giant silver snitch.
We met the Gryffindor team in the middle and I grinned at the opposing side. There was Oliver Wood, the Weasley twins, Harry, Damien, and two female Chasers whose faces I couldn't connect to the names Johnson or Bell to just yet.
"Now," Madame Hooch, who would be referring, began. "I want a good clean game out of all of you... Mount your brooms please." Everyone, Hooch included, got onto their brooms with varying levels of grace. Then, with a sharp blow on her silver whistle, the quaffle was released and the game begun.
I flew straight up, leaning close to my broom as I gained altitude, vaguely aware of the rest of the team splitting off into formation.
"And the game's begun! The quaffle is immediately taken by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor- what an excellent chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too-"
"JORDAN!" I didn't know the commentator, but I'd recognize McGonagall's shriek from anywhere.
"Sorry, Professor... And she's really belting up along there; a neat pass to Katie Bell. The quaffle's back to Johnson and- no, the Slytherins have taken the quaffle."
Real impartial commentator they've got...
"Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the quaffle and off he goes, flying like an eagle up there. He's going to sc- No, stopped by an excellent- No! The quaffle is snatched from Katie Bell back into Slytherin hands. Adrian Pucey goes in for the shot and- no!- Slytherin makes the first score, bringing the score to Slytherin 10, Gryffindor 0."
The game processed in a similar fashion as I kept a close eye on Harry while looking for the snitch. Flint decided that I shouldn't try to catch it until we had a comfortable lead- seventy or eighty points at least- but I couldn't let Harry catch it in the meantime.
"Pucey, blocked by a bludger headed his way, drops the quaffle. Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell rocketing off towards the Slytherin goals. Flint dives to snatch but oh, he's missed! Bell goes for the shot and-! Slytherin Keeper Sebastian Wyncrest blocks the shot. Slytherin chaser Graham Montague in possession, passes off to Flint- Pass is intercepted by Gryffindor's Damien Wyncrest! Damien- I have to call him by his first name, Professor! There're three Wyncrests in this game!- takes his shot and- GRYFFINDOR SCORES! Game is tied, 10 all!"
I resisted the urge to grimace. Sebastian wouldn't be happy about that later. Glancing his way, I could see that he wasn't very happy about it now. Damien was all but taking a victory lap around the goalposts, only rubbing salt in the wound.
And people wondered why Slytherins and Gryffindors rarely get along.
A flash of gold. I dived but not towards the snitch.
"Corrine Wyncrest, Slytherin seeker, take a sharp dive. Has she seen the snitch?"
No, but Jordan didn't need to know that. All that he needed to know was that Harry's attention was firmly locked on me now, ensuring that he wouldn't catch sight of the snitch. I pulled out of the dive after just a few moments and flew back up towards Harry in a banking spiral.
"Not letting you get it just by staring at me the whole game, Harry," I grinned. Harry looked a bit pale though. I caught sight of a fast approaching bludger and I cried out, surprised, and rolled out of the bludger's flight path. Harry didn't get away so neatly but one of the Weasleys smacked it out of the way just before it hit him.
"Alright there, Harry?" he shouted before glaring at me. "Watch out for the snake!"
And then he was gone, leaving Harry looking at me almost apologetically.
"Don't worry about it. It'll be worth it when Slytherin takes home the Quidditch Cup for the eighth year in a row," I grinned. Harry opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a massive bout of cheering from the green quarter of the stands.
"Flint scores, bringing the score to Slytherin 60, Gryffindor 20 thanks to a sleazy- Alright!- a underhanded-"
"Jordan!"
"A perfectly almost legal move carried out by Slytherin team captain Flint!" Jordan finished bitterly. I grinned at Harry and gave a mock salute before heading back towards the other side of the field to search for the snitch.
Slytherin scored. Slytherin again. Gryffindor. Slytherin.
The better Slytherin played, the more biased Jordan's commentating grew. I was tempted to convince Sebastian to try and peg Jordan with the quaffle the next time it was in his grasp but, just as I started drifting towards the Slytherin posts, I spotted the flash of light near the sand at the base of the Gryffindor goals. I glanced to Harry. He wasn't even looking, absorbed by the fast paced game. I flew towards the Gryffindor side slowly, not wanting to seem like I had a particular direction about it. My saving grace actually came when a stray bludger flew too close, giving me a reason to dive out of the way, gaining momentum faster and faster and hurtling towards the ground, eyes locking on that glint of gold.
"The Slytherin seeker dives again! Another feint? No! Is that the snitch?!"
Yes, it is, Jordan. Yes. It. Is.
Harry was initially closer to the snitch than I was, but he couldn't hit a fast enough speed quickly enough to intercept as the snitch was ten, seven, four feet away from me. I held out my hand and it veered sharply to the right. My fingers brushed against it but I couldn't close my hand around it.
I pulled back sharply, dragging my foot in the sand to anchor me as I spun. Flinging myself so that I faced the right direction, I watched as the snitch flittered just a little higher than I was. I reached out to grab it but I could see Harry behind it.
Something was wrong with Harry's broom. His hands were gripping his broom so tightly that his knuckles were white and I could see his broom jerking, trying to rise even as he tried to steady it.
I snatched the golden snitch out of the air.
"Wyncrest has caught the Golden Snitch. Slytherin earns 150 points, ending the game at Slytherin 260, Gryffindor 30." There was no excitement in Jordan's voice but the Slytherin side more than made up for it in cheers. I didn't pay them much attention even as my teammates started flying towards me. I flew to Harry's side but he was frowning, puzzled.
"Are you alright? Your broom looked like it was trying to throw you," I commented, concerned. Harry shook his head.
"I don't know... That's never happened before."
"Harry, leave Cor alone." I was shocked to turn and see Damien staring at me, his grey eyes possessing none of the warmth I was used to see in them. "She knew your broom was acting up and still caught the snitch. She's Slytherin through and through."
"Isn't she your sister, Damien?" Harry asked, taken aback. Damien scowled.
"I don't have a sister, not anymore... Let's get back to the others. I'm sure Flint'll love to hear how cold Cor's gotten when it comes to a game. He could have been in real danger, sis. Guess you really don't care." Turning his back on me, Damien flew off towards the Gryffindor team.
Harry looked at me and froze, startled. I guessed he'd never even seen me close to crying. Well, too late to keep that going.
"Well." My voice broke and I swallowed, turning my head away. "He's right. You should go."
"Cor, it wasn't your fault."
"Just go!" I turned on a dime, flying as fast as I could away from the stadium.
For a girl who'd just caught the snitch, I didn't feel like I'd won much at all.
"I'm going to kill him." I tried not to believe Sebastian when I finally entered the locker room. He took one look at my reddened eyes and, uncharacteristically losing his cool, punched a locker so hard I thought I heard a crack. "What did he say to you?"
"It's nothing." We both knew I was lying.
"What did he say, Cor?"
"... Potter's broom was being messed with... He was being sabotaged and I knew that, but I still went for the snitch... He said I cared more about the game than I did about Harry's life."
"That's not it," Sebastian said. I was worried he'd punch another locker. I looked at the ground. He's not right. It's not true.
"He said I wasn't his sister anymore." My voice was so quiet that I hardly heard it but, judging by the angry snarl that escaped Sebastian, he heard it just fine. He stormed into the main area, where the rest of the team was.
"Bass, what's wrong?" I heard Flint ask carefully. Sebastian said something quickly, under his breath, that I couldn't make out but I doubted it was very nice. I peered in through the doorway to find Sebastian and Flint surrounded by the other guys, all exchanging dangerous looks. Sebastian looked back at me.
"Don't worry, sis. We'll make Wood keep his dog on a tighter leash." I didn't like the sound of that or the way the others were grinning.
"Bass, you don't-"
"No, Cor," Sebastian interrupted sharply. He was at my side in an instant, his hands resting comfortingly on my shoulders. Flint stepped closer, his eyes serious.
"You're not just Bass's little sister now. This team is your family and no one here'll let anyone hurt you, especially not a Gryffindor and especially someone who should have had your back on principle. We don't abandon our own."
"Bass... Guys... " Even though I knew it couldn't be the right thing, I couldn't help but smile softly as I looked around the team. "They're not worth... He's not worth it."
"We all know that," Flint said, cracking his neck. "We just have to remind them of that little fact."
"Cor."
"Go away, Potter." I stared into my bubbling potion intently. Snape would descend upon Harry as soon as he was done insulting Neville's improperly crushed garlic cloves. I just had to wait it out.
"No. About what Damien said after the game-"
"It's not important."
"It was to you," Harry pointed out. I looked up from my potion long enough to glare at him. "... He got a letter before breakfast that didn't stop yelling at him until breakfast was almost over. It woke up everyone in the dorm."
"A howler," I murmured. Harry nodded.
"Neville called it that... Apparently it was from your mum. Something about getting letters from your six other brothers. I thought you only had Sebastian and Damien?"
"The Slytherin team," I realized, smiling before wiping the expression off of my face. "You might want to stay away from Damien for the next few weeks whenever possible... I told Sebastian what happened and he told the rest of the team."
"So now they're going to target Damien?" Harry was almost angry sounding but I ceased to care as a tall shadow fell across us.
"Potter, can you explain to me why you are bothering Miss Wyncrest's diligent watch while you abandon your own cauldron to the likes of Weasley?" Harry clenched his fist but I doubted that Snape could see it. "Well, boy?"
"Just congratulating her on the game last Saturday, sir," Harry ground out. He looked to me, his green eyes sincere. "She did some spectacular flying."
"Perhaps you can ask for an autograph or lessons later, Potter. Get back to your potion." Harry scurried off at the order, probably glad that there hadn't been any points taken off. Snape studied me carefully before going off to criticize Lavender Brown's work.
