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Chapter 10: A Nice, Clean Game
Will POV:
"Just eat something." I said.
"No." said James, Al, and Fred at the same time.
Caitlin joined in. "Have some eggs, they're really good!" she wheedled, forking a piece of toast and dangling it in front of James and Fred's noses. She had dropped her anger just for today, and decided to support her friends in their first match of the season.
It would be Gryffindor against Slytherin in a duel to the death. The most heated rivalry at Hogwarts had been taken to a new level last month, as Flint, the Slytherin Captain, had been expelled (due to his role in the framing of Yours Truly). I could not be happier. Flint was gone, Slytherin was angry, and I was getting a chance to do something worth being proud of for the very first time at Hogwarts.
Scorpius Malfoy had replaced Flint as Captain, and in the past few weeks, Slytherin had sworn their vengeance. Al and I could barely walk in the hallways without having a nonverbal spell being shot at us. Eventually, James ordered that all members of the Quidditch team constantly be surrounded by Gryffindors. The girls I could live with. The first year boys, however, I could not. One asked Al very shyly for his autograph. I laughed hysterically until he asked for mine as well.
Anyway, the morning of the match had come. It was a crisp, clear, November day, and I had spent my whole breakfast trying to get the rest of the team to eat. Devon and I were the only ones eating, and Devon was wolfing down his food so fast he was probably hoping it would distract him from the task at hand.
We finished breakfast, and James stood up, announcing to the team that it was time. We walked in a group down to the field (pitch…whatever). As I strapped on my uniform I grinned. James had begun his pump-up speech, but it was very weak. He was feeling the pressure in his first game as Captain. I was feeling very differently.
Today I was excited, without a twinge of doubt, for the first time in a long time. It was time to go. I was ready to show the Slytherins up, before they figured out what had hit them.
Together, we walked out onto the pitch, met by cheers from what seemed to be about three-quarters of the crowd. I saw Hagrid cheering loudly from the stands. I even saw McGonagall clapping softly, but excitedly, with a slight smile on her face.
Grinning to myself, I mounted my broom, and kicked off.
/
Caitlin POV:
Syd and I met Rose at the Entrance, and walked off through the grounds together.
"So Rose, who're you rooting for today?" I said jokingly.
She smirked indignantly, turning pink. "Gryffindor, of course! Scorpius can-"
She trailed off as the Quidditch pitch came into view. We found seats very high up, near the teachers' box. I was shunted slightly aside as a great big hairy figure squeezed through the crowd, grunting, "Budge up, move along, there ya' go…"
Looking down below, onto the pitch, both teams walked slowly out of the tunnel and entered the pitch. I saw Will grin and take off. I might have even detected a wink in our direction. The two teams formed a circle in the air.
"Captains, shake hands." Said the referee, the ancient Madam Hooch.
Scorpius and James, staring daggers at each other, touched hands very quickly, and then moved away from each other.
"Right, now I want a nice, clean game from all of you!"
And with a count of three, and a tumultuous applause from the crowd, the balls were released.
I didn't know everything about the sport, but it was pretty straightforward. Al and Will had been talking about it for ages, and Syd had given me a crash course the night before, so I could follow pretty much everything that was happening in the air.
"HELLO AND WELCOME, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE QUIDDITCH SEASON, GRYFFINDOR VS. SLYTHERIN!" A voice rang out from the teacher's box. Looking over, I saw that a fifth year Ravenclaw named Michael Goldstein was commentating. "GRYFFINDOR THE FAVORITE IN THIS ONE, CONSIDERING THE RECENT EVENTS INVOLVING FORMER SLYTHERIN CAPTAIN KURT FLINT, BUT SCORPIUS MALFOY HAS TAKEN OVER FOR SLYTHERIN, THEIR FIFTH YEAR SEEKER LOOKING TO TURN THINGS AROUND. BEATERS ARE WALDEN SMITH AND JAMES KIRKE; CHASERS ARE ANDREW CARMICHAEL, MARK JONES, AND MAC HORNBY. KEEPER IS RICH MCLAGGEN. AS FOR GRYFFINDOR, IT'S A WEASLEY DOMINATED TEAM WITH AN INTERESTING ADDITION THIS YEAR. WILL TURNER, TRANSFER FROM SALEM, HAS TAKEN OVER THE THIRD CHASER POSITION, ALONG WITH DEVON THOMAS AND GRYFFINDOR CAPTAIN, JAMES POTTER."
There was a roar of applause upon hearing James's name. Apparently he was something of a fan-favorite among the rest of the school.
"BEATERS ARE FRED WEASLEY AND CHLOE MIDGEN, KEEPER IS AUDREY BAILEY, AND SEEKER IS AL POTTER! NOW TO THE GAME FOLKS, IT'S GRYFFINDOR WITH THE LEAD OFF THE BAT, IT'S TEN TO NOTHING OFF OF THE EARLY SCORE BY POTTER! NOW CARMICHAEL IN POSSESSION, HE'LL FLIP IT OVER TO HORNBY- OH NO HE WON'T! NICE STEAL THERE FROM TURNER AS HE'LL TAKE IT THE OTHER WAY!"
I cheered loudly at this, and Will zoomed past the side where we were sitting, his brow furrowed as he edged past the Slytherin defense.
"THERE'S A NICE BLUDGER SENT HIS WAY BY KIRKE, BUT HE GOT RID OF IT! THOMAS NOW THE SWING OVER TO POTTER, BACK TO TURNER- OH, VERY NICE! THAT'S AN EXCELLENT FEED BEHIND THE BACK TO THOMAS, WHO PUTS IT AWAY NO PROBLEM, GRYFFINDOR BY TWENTY!"
The crowd roared with this exciting development. I smiled. Gryffindor was winning, and everyone was finding out that Will could play.
"IT'S CARMICHAEL WITH POSSESSION, AS THE SLYTHERIN'S FORM AN ARROWHEAD-OOH! TURNER BATTED OUT OF THE WAY THERE WITH A NICE BLUDGER FROM SMITH. IT'S HORNBY NOW, HE'LL DRAW AND KICK IT OFF TO JONES, NICE PASS, ONLY THE KEEPER TO BEAT NOW- OH WHAT A SAVE! AUDREY BAILEY WITH A BEAUTIFUL BLOCK ON THE LEFT HOOP, AS GRYFFINDOR GETS THE QUAFFLE BACK!"
The crowd cheered, except for the side dressed in silver and green, which groaned audibly.
"NOW THOMAS WILL TAKE THE QUAFFLE, DROPS IT DOWN TO TURNER, GOOD FEINT, ONE TO BEAT- GRYFFINDOR SCORE! THEY LEAD BY THIRTY! WHAT'S THAT-OH, LOOKS LIKE KIRKE ISN'T HAPPY, HE NEARLY KNOCKED TURNER OFF OF HIS BROOM THERE, THAT'LL BE A PENALTY-"
The crowd roared with indignation as Hooch blew her whistle. Devon and James had to hold Fred back, as he was close to attacking Kirke with his club. Will was grinning mockingly at Kirke, egging him on with a sarcastic expression.
"OKAY, SO AFTER THAT DISPLAY OF BLATANT UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT BY THE SLYTHERIN BEATER-" Neville's voice cut him off warningly. "SORRY SIR, JUST TELLING IT LIKE I SEE IT…TURNER PUTS AWAY THE PENALTY, NO PROBLEM…NOW ITS CARMICHAEL TO JONES, JONES WILL DODGE A BLUDGER- BUT NOT THAT ONE! NICE BLUDGER THERE FROM FRED WEASLEY, GRYFFINDOR BEATER! ITS HORNBY RETRIEVING THE QUAFFLE, HE'LL TAKE IT HIMSELF- MAYBE TRY FOR SOME TEAM ACTION THERE, MAC- BUT HE BEATS BAILEY THAT TIME, AND SLYTHERIN IS ON THE BOARD, DOWN TWENTY, STILL ANYONE'S GAME."
It was definitely anyone's game, and it continued back and forth fairly competitively, although Gryffindor was starting to pull away…
"THOMAS, TO TURNER-NICE NO LOOK FEED THERE TO POTTER-AND JAMES POTTER PUTS IT AWAY. GRYFFINDOR BEGINNING TO RUN AWAY WITH THIS ONE, 180 TO 70-AND HAS MALFOY SEEN THE SNITCH?"
The crowd gasped as both Malfoy and Al sped into a dive, a speck of gold barely visible right in front of them. Malfoy was just ahead; he was going to get it…
"NO! GREAT BLUDGER THERE FROM WEASLEY, LOOKS LIKE BOTH SEEKERS LOST IT THERE-LUCKY BREAK FOR GRYFFINDOR. SCORE NOW 200-70 (James having scored twice while McLaggen was watching Malfoy chase the Snitch) AND NOW TURNER HAS BEAT JONES, AND IS ONE-ON-ONE WITH MCLAGGEN, THAT'LL BE PUT IN, AND GRYFFINDOR'S UP BY 140! OH! THEY'VE SEEN IT AGAIN! MALFOY AND POTTER LOCKED IN PURSUIT, POTTER RIGHT ON MALFOY'S TAIL, MALFOY'S RIGHT THERE…MERLIN! MALFOY'S BLOCKED BY TURNER, HE FLEW RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! MALFOY SPINS OUT, AND-WOW! GAME OVER! AL POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR…WINS!"
The stadium erupted, as the players in red and gold came to the ground to meet Al and Will, pumping fists and engulfing them in a hug. A sea of students began to swarm the pitch, cheering wildly, as Al raised the Snitch in the air. The whole team was patting Will on the back for his daring maneuver.
Malfoy had been about to get the Snitch when Will burst right in front of his face, surprising him and forcing him to spin out, leaving Al alone to catch the Snitch. Malfoy could be seen yelling at the top of his lungs, cursing Will and begging Madam Hooch for a penalty, but it would not work.
Gryffindor had won, and the entire team raised Will and Al on their shoulders and passed them along, over the crowd, all the way back to the castle.
"Party in the Common Room!" shouted James. Everyone roared with delight, and they set about singing an old Gryffindor favorite, "Weasley is our King."
/
Will POV:
The common room was in an uproar. After two hours everyone was still going strong. I think I had been tossed over the top of the crowd for about half an hour before I went off to the corner with Rose and Al. We were almost running out of the food James and Fred had stolen from the kitchens.
"Oi, Al! Will!" James and Fred appeared out of the crowd. "Follow us!"
Al grinned and bounded up, as I stood up, slightly confused. "We're going to Hogsmeade," he explained. I was still confused.
"Isn't that like…way off of the grounds?"
James and Fred mocked disappointment, shaking their heads. "You have much to learn, young one." They said disparagingly. I followed the three of them down a few hallways, until at last we came to a statue of what looked like a hag with an eye patch. It was here that James and Fred explained to me about the school's secret passageways. They also showed me what they called their "crown jewel." The Marauder's Map.
I had to admit: It was pretty cool. That scrappy old piece of parchment showed where everybody in the castle was, and what they were doing. We followed the dank, damp, tunnel to Hogsmeade, and I set foot in it for the first time after emerging from a dark cellar in a candy shop.
We gathered supplies for the party. Apparently Quidditch parties lasted pretty late, and got pretty crazy. James paid for countless amounts of butterbeers, and even returned to us with some firewhiskey, while Fred went off to a joke shop- returning with his arms full of wizarding merchandise.
We set off back through the tunnel, and walked through the portrait hole minutes later, heroes once again.
/
Caitlin POV:
I sat down, fairly tired. It was around midnight, and amongst all of the constantly screaming people, I couldn't find Will. Then, he came through the door with an armful of food. Everyone roared with delight.
"Later!" he yelled in response to my questioning look.
Then, as he vanished, James came over, carrying three firewhiskeys.
"There we are," he said, looking pretty plastered himself. I looked at the bottle skeptically, and then saw Sydney and James drinking their bottles and laughing over something-or maybe nothing at all in particular.
My reckless abandonment took over, and I poured some of the hot liquid down my throat. It burned slightly, but in a tasty way, and I felt good about myself for the first time in a long time.
I joined in laughing with Sydney and James for no reason, and we got crazier and crazier, yelling and jumping while drinking the firewhiskey, joining in the fray. It was hard to stay together after Fred, who had twenty girls surrounding him, joined us. He pushed through the crowd to get to Sydney, and they started dancing raucously. It was even harder to stay anywhere remotely near James, as every single Gryffindor girl would do anything to touch him slightly. I was too busy laughing and having fun to notice the furtive, angry glances that Will was giving me from the corner.
/
Will POV:
"Nah, I don't drink." I said to Al.
"Suit yourself. Have a butterbeer then."
"Alright, thanks."
"No problem." He said as we sat down. I was tired from dancing, jumping and yelling. Trying to not concentrate on Caitlin and James dancing rambunctiously in the center of the room, I turned my attention to the lovely young ladies who were trying to get my attention.
"Guess the night's not over quite yet," I said to Al, who was staring at the five fourth years glancing over at him and giggling.
"Huh?" He said, clueless, still staring at the girls.
"Yep." I said with a chuckle, and then we got up once again.
This chapter was extremely fun to write- I love writing Quidditch! Please Review! Any Ideas, Predictions, Critiques or Suggestions that you guys have are more than welcome! Thanks again to mixandmingle for the awesome reviews! Please tell me what you think of this story! Also tell me whether or not chapters need to be longer. I should have another one up by Friday at the latest. Thanks a lot!