Chapter Eight

Underdogs


As I knew from the moment I got here, this wasn't going to be an easy game.

Right off the bat the other team took off with the ball, the guy who was dribbling dropping his shoulder, knocking the breath out of Rowland. Sirius went after him, messing the guy's stride up and taking the ball from him, passing it up to Maria, who passed to James. I sprinted forward to help, looking for an opening or where I'd be needed most, leaving Josh to watch the middle of the field.

"Sozo!" James yelled, and I turned just as the ball was flying through the air. I trapped it with my chest and was about to pass it when I heard Sirius' voice in my head say,

Eridani! Look out!

I turned just in time to see a guy that probably outweighed my by a hundred or more pounds come barreling towards me, slide-tackling. And in a second I was down and he was up with the ball, heading towards Lily. My ankle was alive with pain, and I wasn't sure if I could put any pressure on it or not. I rolled over on my hands and knees, ignoring the pain and the game going on around me as I shakily tried to get to my feet. I took one step, then went down. Anger swelled up inside me; that should have been a foul! A red card! The douche-bag played me, not the ball!

"Hey Ref!" I yelled. "Cut the shit and blow the damned whistle!" Now all the eyes from the sidelines were on me, but I could care less.

You okay?" came Sirius' thought. I got him back for you; he's gonna have one nasty headache. And Lily stopped the ball, too.

Just peachy. Keep up the good work; I've gotta take care of my ankle.

The Ref finally blew the whistle, but I think it was more because of my potty-mouth than the fact that I was hurt. He jogged over to me and glared down, reaching in his pocket for what I knew would be a yellow card.

"No. Keep the stupid card for yourself. What kind of a ref are you? That play was so obviously a foul!"

"Watch your mouth, young lady, or you're gone."

"Watch the game with open eyes, bald dude, or you'll be gone," I fired back. Then I yelled over to our benches, "Sub!" Ian ran out on the field as Sirius and Rowland each grabbed one of my arms and helped me to the benches. Sirius patted my leg, then he and Rowland ran back on the field so the game could continue.

"Are you okay, Sozo?" Stuart asked.

"That was wrong and dirty!" Addis snarled.

"Would you like me to fix it, dear?" Sluggy asked, wobbling forward as he reached inside his coat for his wand.

"No!" we all yelled, each thinking the last thing we needed was for our cover to be blown.

"No thank you," I said in a kinder, quieter tone. "I just want to lay down and gather my bearings to see if I can still play this game. The rest of you, pay attention for ours and the other team wearing out. Professor…just keep looking official, okay?"

"Yes ma'am," they all said, so I crawled back behind the bench, knowing they'd leave me alone. Looking around to make sure no eyes or ears were on me, I touched my tender ankle and sang in a voice lower than a whisper,

"Flower, gleam and glow…Let your power shine…Make the clock reverse…Bring back what once was mine…

"Heal what has been hurt…Change the Fates' design…Save what has been lost…Bring back what once was mine…What once was mine…"

Immediately my ankle was engulfed in a warm, golden glow that spread from my hand to the ankle itself, an in seconds I could move it and it felt as good as new.

Grinning, I bounced to my feet and said, "Alright! Time for payback." Gesturing to the others (all who wore matching shocked expressions), we went and waited on the line for the ball to go out of bounds.

"What's the score?" I asked while we waited.

"Still 0-0, but it's rough for us," Mikael replied in a ticked voice. One of the guys on the other team stumbled over Edmund, sending the ball out.

"Subs!" we yelled, and I ran to trade spots with Sirius, grabbing the ball to throw it in as my team situated themselves. I launched the ball up the field to Mikael, who took off running.

Sprinting, I dodged a couple of boys who tried to get in my way and tried to catch up to help. I made it just as James was about to shoot and followed the ball, getting in the goalie's face, causing the ball to roll into the goal right by my foot.

The whistle blew, and there was cheering from our bench and our team on the field, and that was it aside from the astonished muttering.

I ran over to James and Mikael and jumped on them, gripping their shoulders.

"Great teamwork, guys!" I kissed them each on the cheek then shoved them forward. "That's what we need to teach these bastards a lesson or two."

James winked at me while Mikael said, "You can count on us, coach."

From then on, if possible, the game got more rough, but we somehow managed to pull it together and score one more before it was all we could do to keep them from crushing us. At halftime the break was needed for everyone, and Lily was about ready to lay down and pass out, making Addis' turn in the goal a must.

"I must say, when I signed up for this little side job I never knew it would be this fun! It's like Quidditch, only muggle-ized!" Sluggy was saying as we all sat on the bench or ground, guzzling water and Gatorade.

"Yeah, well, muggles are tough too," Lily said, her face almost as red as her hair.

"I didn't doubt that, my dear," Sluggy said, grinning. "You kids are doing great; even a man like me can see that."

"Thanks," we all muttered.

"Look, guys. We've only gotta last for forty-five more minutes then we're home-free," I said when a couple decided to lay flat out on their backs. "So I need you to sit up and look fresh, even if you don't feel it. We don't want to give them any more proof that they're wearing us down."

"Hate to break it to you Sozo, but we they have worn us down," Edmund said, pouring water over his head.

"Yeah, maybe, but I told you guys what you were getting yourselves into when you signed up. Now all we have left to do is remember what we've been doing in practice…it's just that, only with enemies going against us. Don't let them push you around without giving anything back! That's not who we are, and we won't stand for it, will we?"

"No," the muttered, some not willing to meet my eyes.

"That's what I thought. Now let's get back out there and make this their worst half yet." I left them to get a couple more drinks while I went over to Lily.

"You okay Lils?" I asked softly.

"Yeah. Took a nasty hit to the head, but I should be fine," she muttered, leaning back on the bench. "It's nothing but exhaustion."

I nodded, punching her arm lightly. "MVP right here, for sure. You did better than their goalie, and he's bigger than both of us combined!" She laughed, rolling her eyes at me as the whistle blew, signaling it was time again.

For the first twenty or so minutes, it was the same old stuff that had been going on in the last half, each team fighting as hard as they could for the ball and to keep it on the other side of the field with none getting anywhere. I knew without a doubt that all of us, even the other team, were tiring, and tiring quick.

Ten minutes later, the other team scored two goals in a row, knocking the team, and Addis, especially, were knocked so low it was almost to the point of no return, leaving the other team thinking they had this game, and us, in the bag.

As the subs switched again, with only ten minutes left to go, I beckoned James and Sirius over.

"Think you could make it to the end if Sirius and I covered you?" I asked James hopefully.

"Dunno…" he said tiredly, looking down the field at the huge, seemingly refreshed boys. "I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try."

"Good. We've got your back, don't we Snuffles?"

"Even if they've broken every bone in my body. It's like Quidditch, mate," Sirius agreed, looking ready to take down everyone on the field singlehandedly, even if he was tired. Stupid, stubborn, idiot brother of mine. That's why I loved him.

David, the other team's team captain, had the ball, and I took off after him, Sirius on the other side as James ran ahead, guarding potential hazards to us that David could pass to.

You've got him, Sirius said to me, and I did.

I ran into him, shoulder lowered, and made him stagger to the left, losing his balance since he didn't see me. I took the ball and dribbled farther up the field as James ran up the field, getting open as best as he could. I launched it to Sirius, who faked out one of the enemies and sent it to James.

Seconds were counting down as James ran forward and kicked it towards the goal, but the goalie hit it out, launching it in the air with his fist. I cursed as I saw it lowering towards the ground, knowing it would be over and knowing it would mean we lost when out of nowhere Ian appeared and headed the ball, sending it flying into the top corner of the goal, catching the goalie, and quite frankly everyone else for that matter, by surprise.

The whistle blew, and it was like the world stopped turning.

We'd done it. We'd actually done it! I'd had my doubts, but we'd beat them, at the last minute, because we were the better team. Yelling, I ran forward and grabbed Ian 'round the middle, giving him a bone crushing hug as the rest of the team surrounded us, each yelling things that were lost as another spoke. I let go and looked around me, satisfied.

We made our way to the sidelines to line up to shake hands with the other team, each of us getting a grin, a pat on the back, and a "Good job, kid!" from Sluggy. As we shook hands, many of the boys on the other team were shooting daggers and cursing under their breath at the others on my team, but neither of them even glanced at me. That is, until it was David's turn. He shook my hand, again squeezing it harder than necessary, and said in an undertone,

"Wait until next time, little bitch, and you'll get what's coming to you." His eyes were cold and hard, hate filling them to the brim.

But I just gave him my best, award-winning smile. "You know, if I had a dollar every time somebody gave me that threat, I'd be rich enough to own you and your pathetic excuse of a team. See you next time, hotshot." And with that, I grabbed the ball bag and led my team and Sluggy off the team, once again ignoring all of the stares coming from everyone, everywhere.

Only this time, I had on a smile, waving at whoever didn't glance away when I looked their way.


A/N: First off, SOO sorry this is WAY overdue guys! I just dug myself in a hole in this chapter, and no matter what I did or thought of I just couldn't get out of it! And I don't understand how or why that happened! I promise I'll try to not let it be like that again, though!

Also, I know this chapter might have been a wee bit boring, which is why there won't be many chapters completely devoted to soccer games in the future (maybe one or two more, but they'll have more action and stuff) because I wasn't sure I liked how this turned out. It's sorta hard to put sports in words, ya know? So please forgive me if you were disappointed…especially after that wait!

My thanks:

Azalia Fox Knightling: Haha, yeah well Sluggy can be a bit clueless, huh? Yup! I'm a bit suspicious too! I guess we'll have to wait and see what Flynn wants this time! ;) Thanks for your review!

Clawstone: Haha wow! You really love that many things about this story? Jeesh…THANKS! Haha, and concerning the whole characters…well, I'm not sure what will happen between who, yet, but I can promise there will be a little bit of both pairings. So, both yay and nay for you, huh? :) Thanks for the review! It made ms smile.

PurpleKyuubi: Haha SORRY! :) Here's more for you! Hope you like it!

GreatIceDragon: Here's the update! And yeah…sorry 'bout that… It was a second thought that I made this the prequel, but I had tons of ideas for the stories being related and…well, I'd already started/finished the other one. I can guarantee that the second book (where this one will come into play) will be put on hold when I get to a certain part until this story is finished. I'm really sorry I did that to you, because I normally hate reading things out of order, too. Thanks for your review, though! I'll try and get this story done as soon as I can!

Alrighty! So all that's left to do is for you guys to R&R, and I'll try and get another chapter done super quick! I'm hoping for smooth sailing from here on out…but I'm not sure how that'll work out, for it hasn't exactly been very nice to me lately. :(

Nike