Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter Ten

The Hall was mostly empty when Harry got down to breakfast the next morning, which either meant he'd woken up unusually early or everyone had already had breakfast and had long since left. When he found Hermione and Aeryn there though, he knew he had woken up far earlier than he usually did and the thought made him yawn. The only other students in the Hall were the members of each of the Quidditch teams that would be in the Match later that day.

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table to find Draco and spotted his blond hair almost immediately. As if feeling someone watching him, Draco looked up and caught Harry's eye. They glared at each other loathingly for a few moments before Draco dropped his gaze to talk to Siobhan beside him. Harry smirked and took a seat beside Hermione.

"Why are you up so early?" she asked, handing him a plate of breakfast.

"I'll go back to bed if you want," he replied, making to stand up from the table. Hermione grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down into his seat.

"Don't be stupid," she scolded. "I was just saying." Harry smiled and picked up his knife and fork.

"Good luck today, by the way," he said, looking over at Aeryn.

"They're not going to need luck," Hermione interrupted after Aeryn had thanked him. "I hardly know anything about Quidditch, but even I can tell that their moves are good-"

"Be that as it may," Harry continued, smiling. "You should still take Ron's advice-"

"What advice?"

"Since when can Ron give good advice?" Hermione asked, looking somewhat stunned.

"You should knock Malfoy off his broom," he finished. Both girls groaned and he held his hands up in defence.

"I rest my case," Hermione replied. "Ron can't give good advice." Harry chuckled and grabbed the butter from the middle of the table and Hermione's knife from her plate to butter his toast with. When he'd finished doing that, he looked round the table for a glass a Pumpkin Juice, and when he couldn't find one, reached across and grabbed Hermione's. She glared at him and he replied with a smile before taking a long sip.

"Next time," Hermione started, picking up the glass herself as he put it back in front of her. "I'm going to put something in it. Like a potion that makes you grow rabbit ears-"

"Would they be cute rabbit ears?" he asked, thoughtfully. Aeryn smiled behind her glass so that the glare Hermione was sending Harry wouldn't be directed at her too. Harry seemed unfazed by the look he was receiving, though and he continued to eat his breakfast. Aeryn knew for a fact that, while Hermione's glares wouldn't make Harry flinch or feel uncomfortable, Ron was the complete opposite. One look from her would shut him up in an instant, whereas Harry would just smile and continue. Ron has said that the two of them weren't dating, but if he hadn't, it would have been what Aeryn instantly assumed.

"Morning," Ron said, cheerfully, taking a seat beside her. She turned away from Harry and Hermione to face him, finding herself blushing a little when she thought about their midnight trip to the kitchens the night before.

"Rather cheerful this morning aren't you?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at Ron who shrugged in response, still smiling as he buttered his toast. Hermione looked between Ron and Aeryn and when she caught they other girls eye, she clicked and sent a knowing smile in her direction, opening her mouth to say something. Aeryn blushed even more and then to make Hermione shut up, she nodded over at Harry, reminding her of what she'd revealed after Hogsmeade. Her mouth snapped shut instantly.

The two boys, oblivious to the exchange had already started talking about the Quidditch game that would start in under an hour.

"Malfoy's going to be in for one hell of a beating-"

"I've already told you, Ron. I am not going to hit him-"

"No," Ron corrected. "Not that kind of beating. I mean that you lot are going to thrash him. For starters, your brooms are the fastest things I've ever seen, and you've got bloody good strategies-"

"May I remind you," Hermione interrupted. "That there is more than one person on that team-"

"I know, but if you beat the Slytherin's, then you're still beating Malfoy, aren't you?" Hermione rolled her eyes and finished the last of her breakfast, dragging Harry up from the table with her.

"Well, we're going to go and get seats so we don't end up sitting in between a group of First Years again," she announced. "We'll save you a seat, Ron. Good luck Aeryn." They both thanked her and then watched as she half dragged Harry out the Hall.

"I should probably go soon, too," Aeryn said when she saw Siobhan stand up from the Slytherin table. "Siobhan will want to go through last minute strategies."

"I'll come with you, but can I finish my toast first?" he asked, taking a bite from it on her nod. He ate as fast as he could and they only ended up being five minutes behind Siobhan. Ron stopped outside the changing rooms and smiled.

"Well, good luck. You'll beat them." Aeryn smiled back and then stood on tiptoes to kiss him.

"Don't forget to cheer," she said.

"I won't," Ron replied. "Don't worry." Aeryn waved at him as he ran off to join Harry and Hermione and then turned round to enter the changing room. Most of the team was there already and Aeryn went to sit next to Ailish, chancing a look over at Siobhan and David who seemed to be arguing about something. She watched as Siobhan slapped his hand away as it came to rest on her arm and then as his face turned red and he whispered a reply to whatever it was that she had just said, angrily. Aeryn looked away as their conversation come to an abrupt end, not wanting to get caught staring at them. David stormed off to the other end of the room and Siobhan turned to face the rest of the team, snapping a 'you're late' at one of the students who hurried in the door.

They did have to sit through Siobhan going over strategies one last time, and her saying how annoyed she would be if they lost. Anyone who had been in her house back in Australia knew that this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Of course, if it was her form of a pep talk, it didn't do very much for the confidence of the team. If anything, they were more scared now than they had been when they walked through the door.

Each member of the team was given a new kit that had been ordered for them at the beginning of the year. They were in their school colours – black and red – and the emblem of the Australian Academy was sewed onto the front. Each of their names were stitched on the back in big capital yellow lettering.

"Hurry up and get ready," Siobhan ordered, pulling her own kit out of the cardboard box in front of her and watching as everyone hurried to do as they were told, each stepping into an empty cubicle to change. Siobhan was already waiting for them when they stepped out and each of them grabbed their brooms and followed her towards the entrance to the pitch, waiting until they were called out. The Slytherin team walked up beside them a few minutes later and Draco smirked when Siobhan looked round at him, mouthing 'get ready to loose' to which she replied with a silent 'you wish'. They didn't have to wait long until the doors opened and everyone mounted their brooms, flying into their starting positions.

Madame Hooch mounted her own broom and put her whistle in her mouth, getting ready to start the match. It was only after the captains had shook hands that Siobhan stopped watching her and looked across at Draco, who was already looking at her, an amused look on his face. The Snitch and Bludgers were released below and Siobhan watched as the tiny golden ball fluttered madly around Draco's head before flying off towards the stands. Then the whistle blew and everyone shot off in different directions. Siobhan flew straight past Draco and he hurriedly turned round to follow her, his broom barely fast enough to keep up with her.

"Slytherin have the Quaffle first," a somewhat detached and dreamy voice announced from the teachers box. Draco recognised the voice as the same girl who commentated the matches the year before – Luna Lovegood – and he chuckled, remembering vaguely how amusing those matches had been. A Bludger flying in front of his face brought his thought back to the present and he came to a sudden stop to avoid it, giving Siobhan a chance to shoot well ahead of him.

Down in the crowd, amongst the Gryffindors, Ron laughed triumphantly and punched the air.

"She hit the Bludger at him," he stated.

"I don't think she meant for it to go in his direction," Hermione replied. "It was going to hit one of their chasers and she had to deflect it." Ron either didn't hear her or decided to ignore her and continued to watch the match, cheering along with everyone else.

"Oh look!" Luna exclaimed, making the majority of the students look around to see what she was talking about. "A swarm of Lorkalsnacks. Be careful everyone. If you're not careful, they could come and chew the top of your ears off – pardon? Oh sorry, Professor. I was just warning everyone."

Aeryn laughed from where she was hovering on her broom and looked around for either of the Bludgers. Ailish was doing the same from the other end of the pitch and seemed to be having more luck when a Bludger came flying in her direction. Looking around the pitch, she just caught a glimpse of David scoring the first goal of the match and was vaguely aware of whoever it was commentating the match announce the goal and throw in a 'oh look, I wonder what that is on the hoops, I've never seen anything like that before – Sorry Professor.'. After looking over at the hoops and finding absolutely nothing there, Aeryn shook her head, smiling and vowed to ask Ron about her later. Deflecting a Bludger as it flew towards her head, Aeryn took one last look around the pitch before shooting forward to help her team mates.

Draco hovered above the hoops of the Slytherin goals and looked hopelessly around for the Snitch that he hadn't seen since the beginning of the match forty minutes ago. His gaze was torn from the Match when he was thrown sideways on his broom, barely managing to keep a grip on it.

"Watch yourself, Draco," Blaise's voice taunted.

"Piss off, Zambini," Draco ordered. "We're meant to be playing Quidditch, not insulting each other." Blaise smirked and grabbed the Quaffle as it was thrown to him by one of their team mates.

"Think fast," he hissed, just loud enough for Draco to hear, before throwing the red ball at him. Draco made attempt to duck, but the ball was moving faster than he thought it had been and it hit him painfully in the side of head, knocking him halfway off his broom. Gripping it tightly, he forced himself back up and was ready to yell at Blaise when Madame Hooch flew up between them.

"Problem boys?" she asked, looking between the two Slytherins. Draco brought his hand up to his jaw to check it wasn't broken or damaged in any other way before shaking his head.

"Of course not," he replied. "Just discussing tactics-"

"That's not what it looked like to me," she interrupted, sternly, looking at Draco and then at Blaise. "If I see any more violence, I'll kick you both out of the game. Have I made myself clear?"
"Crystal."

"Good." With that said, the teacher flew off, leaving the two boys alone again. Blaise obviously decided not to take his chances with the threat they had just been given and smirked before flying off to join back in with the game. Draco glared at him until he was just a speck on the field and then went back to looking for the Snitch. Siobhan didn't seem to have seen it either, which made him feel better. Listening for the score, it only took him a few minutes to find out that the Match wasn't in their favour; 250 to 110. It was seconds before he darted off to take a better look around the Pitch that he saw the tiny golden ball floating around their goalposts.

Not caring that Siobhan was watching him and would surely see what he was doing, Draco steered his broom down and headed straight for the Snitch, careful not to let it out of his sights.

"Oh look! Draco's seen something! Maybe it's a Gymipuff – Oh…The Headmistress says it the Snitch. Why would he be looking for the Snitch when there are so many more interesting things on this Pitch?" Chuckling to himself, Draco looked around briefly to see where Siobhan was and found her a few feet behind him. He flashed a grin and turned back round in time to avoid ploughing into a Slytherin Beater. By the time the Snitch had veered downwards, Siobhan was at his side.

"Looks like you're going to loose, Draco," she called over the sound of the rushing wind.

"I think not," he replied, forcing his broom to go faster. Siobhan didn't struggle at all to keep up with him and it wasn't long before she started to overtake him. Cursing under his breath, Draco leaned further forward in the hope that it would increase his speed. It didn't. He managed to catch back up with Siobhan a few seconds later when the two of them had to pull up quickly to stop themselves from flying straight into the ground. It was close, but both of them managed to pull up without hurting themselves and then they were both after the Snitch again. Draco's broom however was no match for Siobhan's and she began to overtake him again. Desperate, he grabbed hold of the handle of her broom to slow her down.

"Draco! What the hell are you doing? You're going to get us killed!" she cried, trying to shake him off without taking her eyes of the Snitch.

"Would I do such a thing?" he asked, pushing himself forward before releasing his grip on the broom. It didn't get him very far, but Siobhan was still behind him, trying to speed up and keep some control of her broom. The Snitch was barely a meter away by this point and Draco lifted his hand up to get it, then instantly dropped it when the ball flew back upwards. Following it, Draco managed to avoid a few close calls with his team mates which would have undoubtedly ended badly. They only got up to half the height of the stands when the golden ball changed course again, going back in a horizontal line across the pitch. Draco changed direction with an annoyed growl and shot after it again.

That was when Siobhan managed to catch up with him, pushing him sideways so that she could have a better shot at catching the Snitch.

"Oh no you don't," he growled, pushing her back out of the way and reaching up to catch the Snitch again. She did the same, pushing his arm down first.

"Ready to get beaten?" she asked, smirking.

"As if," he sneered, shoving her out of the way, giving him time to take the lead again, barely. Though he didn't want to look round for fear of loosing the Snitch, he knew that she was still behind him.

It was then that he heard the unmistakable sound of a Bludger hurtling towards him. Still not daring to look round, he willed his broom to go faster to avoid it. Siobhan didn't seem to have seen it however, and just as she darted forward to catch up with him again, he heard the ball hit her, and then felt her jerk violently to the side, knocking him clean off his broom. As a last moment hope, he closed his hand and was relieved to feel it wrap around something that he hoped was the Snitch.

Looking round and holding onto his broom with a single hand, he tried to find out where Siobhan had gone. It was the startled gasps and the abrupt end in play that helped him to discover that she was no longer in the air. He followed the direction of everyone else's line of sight and found her laying on the Pitch 60ft or so below him.

Not sure how to get back onto his broom with one hand and in mid air, Draco put the snitch between his teeth and swung himself back up before taking it out and holding it up briefly so that everyone could see that he had caught it.

The Slytherin stands erupted in applause and he lost interest at that point, pointing the handle of his broom towards the ground, going as fast as it would let him. Most of the Australian team were already there, standing around Siobhan, and as soon as Draco got there, he pushed them out of the way and knelt down beside her. However, before he'd had a chance to do anything, Madame Hooch had come up behind him and pushed him to the floor where he landed unceremoniously on his back, in the dirt.

"Is she alright?" a voice asked. Draco looked up from Siobhan to find David McDonald looking worriedly down at her and he glared at him hatefully.

"She'll be fine," Madame Hooch replied, waving him away when he tried to step closer. "Just a few broken ribs. The fall knocked her unconscious so she may have concussion, but she'll be fine in a few hours. Now get out of my way, I need to get her to the Hospital Wing." Everyone except Draco did as they were told, giving the teacher enough room to conjure up a stretcher. Then, as if just remembering that they were still in the middle of a game, she turned to Draco.

"Did you catch the Snitch, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes," he replied, holding out his hand to show her but not taking his eyes off Siobhan.

"Good, good." Taking the golden ball from him, she levitated the stretcher and made off to the Castle. Draco picked up both their brooms and darted after them, keeping at a distance so that Madame Hooch wouldn't yell at him.

Harry, Ron and Hermione appeared on the Pitch a second later along with what few Australian students there were. Aeryn spotted them straight away and ran over, letting Ron lift her up and twirl her around.

"Told you, you'd win," he congratulated once he'd set her on her feet again.

"What was the final score?" she asked, looking towards the teacher's box. "I wasn't really listening."

"270 to 260," Harry replied. "So it was a pretty close call. If Malfoy had caught the Snitch a few seconds later it would have been a draw." Aeryn nodded, smiling.

"What happened up there?" Ron asked, nodding his head towards the Castle as if it would explain what he was talking about. Everyone seemed to get it however and Aeryn looked over at her team.

"Ailish was aiming the Bludger at Draco but Siobhan got in the way just as it was about to hit him," she replied. "We thought he would pull back and give Siobhan a chance to overtake him. Obviously he had no intention of doing any such thing."

"Ah, that's such a shame," Ron said, shaking his head. "You nearly hit him-"

"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "You may not have noticed, but Draco isn't half as bad as he was last year and need I remind you that he saved my life?"

"I know he did, but that doesn't mean-"

"Well look on the bright side," Harry quickly interrupted before an argument broke out. "At least you won the Match-"

"Barely," Aeryn replied, looking between Hermione and Ron, the latter of which seemed to have already forgotten what they were arguing about anyway.

"But you still won. Which means celebrations are in order." This made Ron smile and he rubbed his hands together.

"You think you could sneak to Hogsmeade for some Butterbeer?" he asked, looking expectantly at Harry.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to manage that."