Chapter Ten
"You know, Clint," Maggie Whitehouse, one of two commentators for the match began slyly, watching as the two teams ran through their warm-ups and hyped up the crowd, "I've heard some comments as to why Mr. Oliver Wood is on the Cannons." The woman giggled with delight and glanced at her partner, Clint Jordan.
Clint rolled his eyes, "If you aretalking about the glory days between Oliver Wood and Crystal Fletched, I think you might have a valid point." There were roars from any fans listening, but they were so mixed together, it was a difficult feat to tell if they were in support of what the announcers were saying, or in protest. "They were a pretty hot item for quite some time."
Maggie nodded her agreement, "I'm sure he's getting a pretty good paycheck from his coach."
Listening to the dirvel that dripped from the lips of her least favorite announcers made Crystal blood boil. So what if she had had a bit of fling with the keeper while they had been teammates, that had been a while ago, and that was not why Oliver Wood was the ideal keeper for her team. She could only imagine how Oliver was listening to the news, if he listened to it at all.
After an extended wamr-up, the match was ready to take way, and Crystal couldn't be more anxious about it. Rather than her reassuring her players of victory and calming them down so that they were in good spirits to play, the roles were quite reversed. Each member spoke soothingly to her in whatever language they were most fluent in, and assured her the match would have a victorious outcome in their favor. At the whistle of the official, the seven players flew off to meet at the center of the pitch with their opponent. Soon, the Chuddley Cannons would be proving their talents to the rest of the world.
Though this was truly a big deal for Katie, she felt perfectly at ease in preparing for the match. The thousands of people seated in the stands didn't seem to phase her, nor did the nasty looks from one chaser in particular bother her. She smiled angelicly and winked to both Richard and Seaver.
"Chuddley Cannons defend the south side of the pitch. The Hornets will defend the north side." The official looked the captain of each team carefully as he began the next part of his small speech, making certain each leader heard him clearly. "You are all very well aware of the game rules, and should you break any of them, you will be immidiately ejected from the match and the next two matches. Am I perfectly clear?"
To demostrate their understanding Seaver and the opposing captian not only nodded to the official, but exchanged brief, friendly hand shakes. The crowd cheered loudly as the snitch and bludgers were released. The second official tossed the quaffled high into the air, signifying the match's begin.
Katie swore silently to herself as the quaffle slid just past her fingers and into the grasp of the Hornets' star chaser, Sean Livingston. According to almost every article she had ever read about the chaser, his speed was unmatched and quite a formidable apponent when in the zone. His deadly accuracy might even prove to be a problem for Oliver, who hadn't his played his best for quite some time.
A bludger whizzed past Livingston, brushing along side his left arm, causing to draw back in shock rather than continuing to move forward and ignoring his near brush with the deadly instrument.
Once the bludger had continued on its path, Livingston advanced forward, ignoring his two other teammates and having the intent of making the first goal. Richard and Seaver were on his tail, but as the opposing chaser gained speed, there was no way they would be able to steal the quaffle.
Vlad noted the despair of his teammates and attempted to contact his counterpart, who had far more accuracy than he. Though Dimitri could see his partner in crime, there was no way of him knowing exactly what was needed of him. He was terrible at reading lips, and no matter how loud Vlad shouted, the roaring crowd over-powered him terribly, ultimately breaking down communication of all sorts.
Crystal scowled and slammed her fist again the railing that prevented her from jumping out onto the pitch and rattling the brains of her team. How could they even begin to believe that they would be able to talk to each other while on the field was beyond her. She crossed her arms and huffed, not bothering to hide a pout. "I didn't prepare them enough."
Katie urged her broom forward and lowered her torso so that she was laying flat on her broom. She had to at least try and slow Livingston down a bit, even if she couldn't completely stop him. In little to no time, Katie was half a broom's length from the famed chaser and still gaining speed. Once her presence was realized, Livingston swore loudly and picked up even more speed.
"Whoa, Maggie! That little Bell girl is evenly matched with Livingston! Can you even begin to believe that?" Clint called out loudly, watching excitedly at the two racing chasers. "Livingston is the world's fastest chaser, and here comes this little green ametuer--"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Clint," Maggie cut off, leaning back lazily in her seat, though paying close attention to the match's progression. "She isn't dead even with him, and he's still got a lot of speed to gain."
Clint shook his head, "Look how close he is to the goal, though. If Livingston goes any faster, Bell will run him right on out of the stadium! And have you ever seen the guy have to score against Oliver Wood and under such pressure? This is going to be a very interesting match indeed, Maggie. You mark my words."
"Then consider them marked," Maggie replied with a smirk and roll of her eyes.
Katie leaned to the left, bumping Livingston slightly off course and causing him to retaliate by leaning right in attempts to throw her off. And so the battle had begun, but no one was quite sure as to how the battle end.
Except for maybe Oliver, who was watching intensely. At first he was rooting for Katie to make the steal, or even push the bloody bloke off course, but a moment later, he finally realized what it was the blonde was doing. A smirk slowly graced his features and an aura of confidence built up around him, a confidence he hadn't felt since his glory days at Hogwarts.
As Livingston drew nearer, he dropped his speed dramatically in attempts to throw the blonde off so that he could make the first ten points of the game. Katie allowed him to prepare his shot, but swerved away and stationed herself closest to the low hoop; Oliver's sweet spot to pass whenever he made a save.
"She gave up!" Clint yelled out, giving away the fact that he had been rooting for the young woman.
Maggie rolled her eyes and smirked, "As expected. You always cheer for the rookies, Clint. I don't get you sometimes."
The man glared at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the pitch where the chaser was winding up for his shot. "Hey, what do you think Wood is doing out there."
"Hm?" Maggie leant foward in her seat to take a better look at the pitch, to be more specific, at Oliver Wood. She cocked her head to one side as she answered, "It looks like he's going to actually try to block a shot, but if he can't stop Japan's shots, there's no way he can take on the world's best."
Crystal bit down on her lips as she watched. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and the long, dramatic stretch was something she wasn't quite able to handle. She didn't understand why Katie hadn't taken on the brute, but perhaps her new chaser had a new agenda tucked away somewhere. Hopefully, winning this match was included in it.
"Don't underestimate, Maggs," Clint warned, watching the moment intently, "You and I both know that some strange things always seem to happen, especially in this stadium."
Oliver's smirk was a bit unnerving from Livingston's point of view, but he ignored it has he took quick, careful and an accurate aim and one of the three hoops.
He never missed, and he never would. The quaffle left his fingertips, whizzing toward the second highest goal post. Even if Oliver was able to catch up to the quaffle, he'd be unable to stop it. His accuracy was deadly, the speed and power behind the quaffle was even deadlier. There was no way it could be stopped.
Crystal's breath was caught in the back of her throat, and in that instant she felt as if she were going to absolutely faint. "I can't believe it," she breathed silently. "I can't believe it!"
"For the love of Merlin, Clint!" Maggie shouted out, standing up, completely ignoring the fact that she was supposed to be announcing the score, or the lack there of, "He completely shut Livingston down!"
"You're right, Maggie," Clint said with a grin. "And he passes it off to Bell and the Chuddley Cannons have full possesion of the quaffle." He chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Will you look at that, the Hornets are too shell-shocked to even move!"
Cannon fans cheered loudly, though their cheers were drowned out by boos from Hornets fans as well as those fans attempting to coach their shocked and inert team. In little to no time, the score was 10-0 with the lead belonging to the Cannons. Seaver yelped with joy when she made a goal herself, bringing them up, 20-0. Even Richard had to celebrate when he scored. The momentum belonged entirely to this prodominately young team.
Crystal crossed her arms over her chest and shifted nervously from foot to foot, her eyes scanning the are for the snitch. As expected, it didn't appear in the first twenty minutes of the game, but they were nearing the completion of the first hour, and there was no sight of it. Of course, Tevin would occassionally go for an invisible snitch, faking his opponent out, but Crystal worried about his playful nature and lax attidtude. While Tevin was goofing off, the other seeker could spot the snitch, but there was no way Crystal could voice her frustrations with him at this moment in time. There was no way to communicate with him while not distracting him from searching for the the little winged ball.
Oliver had made many miraculous saves, but as any human would, he made a few fatal mistakes, gifting the other team with points. As it was, the Cannons were still in the lead, 90-30.
"The Chuddley Cannon fans are really riled up about this match, but you have to remember, it's still anyone's game at this point in time," Maggie's voice drifted easily over the heads of the thousands of fans that crowded the stands.
Crystal rolled her eyes at hearing the announcer woman's words. She made a small face and responded silently, "Thanks for reminding me, Maggie. Way to ruin the moment."
"Hey!" Katie called out furiously as Livingston brushed past her in an unneeded fashion. At hearing her cry out, the prick looked back, smirking evilly, and winking suggestively at her. Katie swelled in anger before zooming off after him in a half crazed manner. "Oh, you are going to get it, and you are going to get it good."
"This battle has been raging on for two hours, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon," Clint was saying to Maggie with an anxious and excited grin on his face. "Though the Cannons have the lead, the Hornets, after getting over their early game shock, aren't holding anything back. Especially not Livingston."
Maggie nodded, "You're right, Clint, and if you've been watching the match closely, you're seeing that Brian Hart and Traci Clay, Livingston's fellow chasers, have also stepped up their game as well. They're scoring average is nothing compared to that of their teammate, but they're strong passers and aggressive flyers and that has to account for something in Quidditch."
Still concentrating on the match, Clint nodded, "You're right Maggie, but if you want to talk about intensity, check out the Cannons' Katherine Bell. She seems to be absolutely burning out there on the pitch."
"I'll give you that one, Clint. She's absolutely--- Oh my goodness! Did you see that steal Bell just made? I bet Livingston's coach is infuriated by now!" Maggie called out, a broad grin on her face. "It looks like the Cannons might be a force to be reckonned with."
Crystal nearly jumped with excitement, but refrained from doing so and instead, opted to tap her foot on the wooden floorboards that made up the floor of the Cannons observation deck. "You guys better not screw me over and lose this thing."
"Oh my! It looks things get exciting as Tevin O'Reiley, seeker for the Cannons, spots the snitch!" Clint called out excitedly as the Irish player made a dramatic dive.
Katie swerved around to see if Tevin was really diving yet again. Did he really see the snitch this time? or was he simply diving for the sake of it? She quickly whipped her head around to find the opposing seeker. He had a smug look on his face and absolutely refused to budge from his spot, convinced that Tevin was only doing another feint.
"Tevin!" Seaver called out, cupping her mouth with her hands so that her voice would amplify, "He ain't followin' ya, mate! End this game now!"
The seeker must have heard the advice of his captain, and he must have seen the snitch and actually been following it, because in an instant, the man held said winged ball tightly in his grasp, high above his head and waving it for the crowd to see. Cheers and boos alike filled the stadium at the match's end.
Katie whooped loudly and performed a loop-d-loop, which only caused more cheers to errupt from the crowd. Richard leaned heavily on his broomstick, watching both his teammates and their fans celebrate noisily, a broad grin on his aging face. Vlad and Dimitri exchanged handshakes before flying over the crowd, encouraging them to cheer louder. Seaver had flown quickly over to Tevin and hugged him so tightly that she practically lifted him from his broom, leaving him to beg her to put him down. Oliver whooped loudly as well, and joined Dimitri and Vlad in flying over the crowd. Crystal was left to melt on the observation deck from relief.
"THE CHUDDLEY CANNONS WIN!" Clint called out, though it was not at all needed. He pointed his wand at his throat, disenchanting himself so that his voice no longer filled the stadium and he held his hand out to Maggie, "You owe me one hundred galleons, woman. Pay up." Maggie only scowled.
TooSweet4Words - I'm glad you're lovin' it and I hope you keep lovin' it, because I love writin' it. Heh.. heh.. Anyway.. Thanks a bunch and lookf orward to recieving more.
Alright kiddies, I have to admit, I wasn't very good at continuing at to post and update and all that, and for that I am sorry, but sometimes life interrupts, but I do promise that FWTC will not die, because I said so. Uhm.. Let's see is there anything I'm forgetting to mention. Hmm.. Uh, no! To all of those who did read it, and didn't review, hope you enjoyed and hope you keep enjoying, and even if you don't, I'm going to keep on writing until the end because this fic is sooo much fun! W00T W00T! Anyway..
Later days my little kiddies!
Richi Sama