Chapter 10-The Lion and the Raven

With all the excitement surrounding the upcoming ball and the fact that Victoria had, in fact, secured a date, she had almost forgotten about the start of the Quidditch season. As she had expected, Gregory Kingsley, a burly, sallow seventh year, was pushing the team harder than ever. Their season practice began with an early morning pep talk.

"The House teams are training harder than ever, and I heard Ravenclaw has a new Chaser whose ready to kick our arses."

Victoria smirked. If she wasn't already playing for Gryffindor she might just switch teams and Houses. The Sorting Hat had considered putting her Ravenclaw. She was musing over this as Kingsley continued.

"As a result we have to train harder. Our first match is against Ravenclaw… In three weeks. As a result, Victoria you have to catch that snitch; Knott is a good flyer and he's fast which means you have to catch the Snitch before he can put Ravenclaw ahead."

Victoria nodded.

"Absolutely."

She didn't mention she had known Jeremiah since they were kids and knew he could fly fast, but she had a feeling the fact that she knew him so well might just give her an advantage, besides a Firebolt could out fly a Nimbus any day of the week.

The morning of the match was filled with the usual excitement. The Houses of the teams playing the match were talking loudly from across the Great Hall.

"Fleek says we got it." Jeremiah said with a grin from where he sat at the Gryffindor table over breakfast.

Just before Victoria could reply a Ravenclaw boy walked past the Gryffindor and smacked Jeremiah on the back of the head.

"Yeah, Jer, don't be giving away any of our trade secrets." The boy, a fifth-year with dark hair smirked as he walked away.

"You don't have anything till Hooch calls it." Victoria shot back smartly. "I'll be catching the Snitch before your four hundred points up."

"I'll take that." Jeremiah replied, his eyes sparkling. "Loser buys the other a butterbeer over the next Hogsmeade weekend."

They shook hands.

"Deal." Victoria replied firmly, "May the best team win."

Jeremiah and Victoria didn't see each other again until the teams were heading for the locker rooms. Jeremiah caught up with her.

"Hey, in all seriousness, good luck out there today… Have a good game, no matter who wins."

Victoria nodded.

"Yeah, you too. See you out there."

Then she turned and followed Pansy into the locker rooms.

"A little friendly rivalry, eh?" Pansy asked as the girls got into their robes.

Victoria shrugged as she maneuvered back under her broom and carefully stowed her cane in her locker.

"Admit it, you want us to beat him." Pansy stated.

"Maybe a little." Victoria admitted.

"… But, you don't want to see him lose because then you'll feel bad."

In answer, Victoria sighed.

Before Pansy could reply with another comment Kingsley poked his head around the corner.

"You two coming? No time for girl talk we got a game to play!"

Victoria could hear Pansy still laughing as they headed for the pitch.

When they arrived on the pitch the teams were lined up facing each other, captains standing to face each other and Madame Hooch standing in the middle.

"Captains, shake hands." She instructed in a firm, no-nonsense voice.

Fleek and Kingsley did so, but neither of them were smiling. It was clear to Victoria (from where she was at the end of the line) these two captains took their game very seriously. From across the way, she could just make out Jeremiah in the middle of the line holding his Nimbus and dressed in robes of blue and silver; he winked at her when she caught his eye.

"Mount your brooms!" Madame Hooch ordered.

Victoria leaned forward, gripping her broom with her knees ready to take off the moment the whistle blew.

"Three, two, one!" At one last from the whistle fourteen brooms flew into the air Victoria rising quickly. Another part of her strategy was an anti-vertigo potion she took before flying. It helped her head stay clear and kept her from getting dizzy when she was diving and had to pull up quickly. Just as Victoria rose above the scramble of players she saw Jeremiah dart off in the opposite direction, from a quick glance Gryffindor was in possession but judging from the knot of Ravenclaw Chasers that wouldn't be for long. A few seconds later she heard:

"Ravenclaw in possession…RAVENCLAW SCORES! In an excellent move from their new Chaser Jeremiah Knott!"

Victoria grinned as she watched Jeremiah streak back down the pitch. In all the excitement she almost had forgotten she was supposed to be looking for the Snitch and glanced around locating the Ravenclaw Seeker, a thin boy with brown hair that looked oddly bored. Victoria calculated in her head how fast she could get down if he happened to spot the Snitch, realizing he would probably catch it before her. However, they still had a ways to go before she had to worry about catching the Snitch, just as she considering this there was a cheer from the supporters in red and gold; Gryffindor had scored.

The score was now tied, but not for long. Soon after, Ravenclaw scored again, doubling their score. The game went back and forth like this for several minutes and finally Gryffindor had pulled ahead scoring a hundred and fifty points.

"Come on, come on," Victoria grumbled as she glanced around for the Snitch. Readjusting her grip on her broom she changed direction. At the same time she moved a little bit and glanced at the scoreboard, which currently read 300 to 350, a hundred and fifty more points and she would lose her with Jeremiah.

Just then, she saw it; the glittering Snitch, which was winking in the sunlight and she streaked to towards the Ravenclaw goalpost just as Jeremiah was headed the same way. She barely had time to react and only saw his startled face as they collided mid air, their bodies and brooms making a spectacular "SMACK-THUD!"

"Foul to the Gryffindor Seeker!" A thin fourth-year with unruly blond hair yelled.

Meanwhile, both captains called for a timeout.

"Smith, are you okay?" Kingsley shouted, "What happened?"

"Fine." Victoria mumbled, rubbing her head, which was still throbbing, "just… Miscalculated." She glanced at Jeremiah who shrugged and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Right." Kingsley was back to business, "Take the penalty and let's get back to the game."

Taking the penalty took longer than Victoria would've liked and by the time she could resume active play again the Ravenclaw seeker was already halfway across the pitch and knowing what she did, she knew he had seen the Snitch, taking full advantage of her timeout.

Muttering of four letter word under her breath, she took off after him, but she was halfway to the ground before she realized she was too far behind, her collide with Jeremiah had cost her a lot of time; in more ways than one.

It was over before she could blink, 450 to 420. It had been a close game and despite their loss Victoria was happy with the outcome. She was still smiling as the team made their way to the locker room discussing their mistakes. By the time she saw Jeremiah they were on their way to the hospital wing, both sporting spectacular black eyes and various bumps and bruises.

"That was a close game," Jeremiah commented, "I don't think I could've played any better."

Victoria nodded.

Meanwhile, they reach the hospital wing. Clicking her tongue and disapproval, the school nurse, Madame Pompfrey fixed they are bumps and bruises with a flick of her wand.

"It was a fair game." Jeremiah murmured when they had exited the hospital wing heading down to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Yeah, fair." Victoria agreed.

As they reached the bottom of the staircase Jeremiah turned around and grinned at her.

"You, owe me a butter beer when they announce the date of the Hogsmeade visit."

"A deal's a deal." Victoria replied nodding. Once again, they shook hands grinning at each other.