"Jude, we have this fight every year! Just eat the damn toast!" I said angrily through my teeth.
"Frenchy, I am not hungry. I never eat breakfast would you shut up with your damn toast!" Jude said as the rest of the team used our argument to work off pregame jitters. I forced all of them to eat at least a piece of toast even Jude although I had to in the end threaten his with a quaffle repelling charm. Once I was satisfied with the amount of food they all had in them, we walked down to the pitch.
The first match of the year seemed to always be Gryffindor and Slytherin. As I stepped into the changing room, I was filled with a bubbling excitement that I got before every match. I love the way my Quidditch robes fit like they were made for me and like that was were I belonged.
I clapped Morwyn on the back asking if she was alright because she had begun to look about to vomit. When we were decent we went into the meeting room where the guys were already waiting. Everyone gathered on the bench in front of me.
"Alright mates, now we know that the Slytherins are going to play dirty. Remember what I told you, Hale and Colt." They nodded both smiling widely. "Also chasers, be careful. Actually everyone be careful, there players have been known to sandwich us, which usually results in injury. On a lighter note, we've got a superb team this year and I
think we have a great shot at the cup! Now let's go kick some ass!" The team let out a large cheer and we walked out on to the pitch. I looked up into the crowd full of scarlet and gold.
Pushing hard off the ground I rose quickly into the air and the rest of the team followed.
"And as you all know, that is the Gryffindor Quidditch team led by their seeker and captain, the lovely Victoire Weasley!" I gasped and looked up at the familiar voice. I flew quickly over to the announcing stand. "Conrad, darling!" I squealed at the sight of my friend who had also been one of the best beaters Hogwarts had ever seen.
"Hey French. You better win this one, I refuse to call a match where we lose." I laughed and blew him a kiss as I flew away. The team took a practice lap around the pitch in our trademark v-shape. Slytherin strode onto the field and took off. Conrad was saying something about the Slytherins that was quickly cut off when Professor McGonagall hit him in the back of the head with her fan.
Madame Hooch, the Quidditch referee blew her whistle and we all landed in the center of the pitch. She let the bludgers and the snitch out as she said. "Alright now I want
a nice clean game." She looked pointedly at the Slytherin team with her haunting amber eyes that Dad had told me once were because of an Animagus potion that went bad.
She blew her whistle again and threw the Quaffle in the air. I flew high above the game and we had already scored by the time I got to my desired height. I laughed as I listened to Conrad's commentary.
"And Maggie's got the quaffle again. She dodges one of the very large Slytherin eaters. She really is such an accomplished flier and Maggie Thayer scores again how Gryffindor! Turpin has the quaffle and is headed down the pitch but new chaser Morwyn Barnes flies directly at her causing Turpin to drop the quaffle into Drake's arms." He started down the pitch and he, Morwyn and Magda passed the large red ball to and fro. "I can see why Morwyn made the team this year. She fits in perfectly with Drake and Maggie."
Two sets of emerald green robes caught my eye as they sped down the pitch toward Jude. At the same time they tackled him and a small golden ball caught my eye down by the field. I broke into a dive, ranting loudly along with Conrad about the illegal move. I reached out and caught the snitch just as Madam Hooch whistled for a time out. I looked at the score, it had changed from 60-0 to 210-0 but no one else seemed to notice.
I started yelling at Onyx Bulstrode who was the captain. He was a large, sulking boy with a hook nose and deep set eyes. He yelled back and soon everyone on both teams was arguing. The thing that really triggered me was his remark about my mudbloods. I'm not sure if I threw the very first muggle punch or not but the argument broke out into a full blown battle. Conrad had switched and was now commentating the fight. He was screaming at me to "Break his nose, French!". When someone finally pulled us apart, I could feel that I had definitely broken my own nose as well as a few bones in my hand and my shoulder felt out of place.
I looked at Onyx, he was clutching his nose, left eye, and his jaw looked severely out of place and his arm was bent at an odd angle. He also had a large cut on his forehead that was bleeding. The other Slytherins were in similar shape but so were the Gryffindors. Magda had a chunk of hair missing and she was bleeding profusely from cuts all over her. Madame Hooch ordered us all off the field and I saw as two of the Slytherins drug Mildred Turpin off, unconscious. The crowd was chanting 'Gryffindor! Gryffindor!' and
Conrad was congratulating us all on making him proud of our fighting abilities. Before we walked off the field, I raised my fist with the snitch in it. The rest of the team as well as most of the crowd followed me. Madame Hooch had to threaten us with suspension to get us to leave the pitch.
We all changed into our normal clothes. I had a large gash on my chest that was heavily bleeding on to my white t-shirt. Professor McGonagall came down into the meeting room where we all were sitting and ordered us to the Hospital Wing.
Madame Clearwater was taking a spare, running around the wing trying to decide who the worst was. She made all of us sit on beds but had the insight to put us on one side and them on the other. She was going about how much she despised that nasty game of Quidditch.
Conrad had somehow managed to get up into the hospital wing. He strode over to my bed and held out his fist. I bumped it with my good hand." Damn French, Cane would be so proud of you he might've cried, if he was here." Conrad referenced the other beater our first two years. He had been a little to fond of fighting and was now part of a muggle boxing league. We chuckled together with the other people who had been on the team with him.
"So, I know that seekers are usually the ones who get hurt but it seems like you are always hurt." He said, sitting down on my bed.
"Do you remember the first time we met?" He asked still laughing. My nose hurt when I laughed but I couldn't help it. "Of course! How could I forget, you broke my nose!" Everyone laughed at that.
"How did he break your nose?" Colt asked from the bed beside me. He looked at Conrad with admiration and I realized that he had probably admired him for the past few years.
"Well it was my first practice as beater and I was very nervous. I mean I was only a second year."
"Anyway, he and Cane the other beater were hitting a bludger back and forth when I dived to catch the snitch we were practicing with. I caught it and leveled out just in time to get the backswing of his bat right in the face." We chortled.
"Vic is kind of an injury magnet." Maggie said from my other side.
"Seekers usually are the ones who get beaten up." I defended myself.
"How many times HAVE you gotten hurt playing?" Conrad asked.
"Oh bloody hell; let's see first year you broke my nose, that huge Slytherin beater knocked me off my broom and I broke my arm." I paused to think.
"Don't forget that summer when we were in the orchard behind the Burrow and Dad flew past you, distracting you. She fell off and broke a couple ribs." Drake added.
"Seven actually and I had a concussion." We laughed.
"Second year, you got hit with that bludger in the first game and broke your jaw." Magda reminded me.
"Oh yeah! That was all that year. Third year was the worst. First, I got hit in the side of the head with a bludger in the middle of a forty foot dive, fell on my head and broke two vertebrae. Then the next game, I collided with the Ravenclaw seeker and broke three fingers in my left hand."
"And the game after that the Slytherin beaters sandwiched her and she sprained her wrist on the same hand." Conrad said. Colt chortled, "I remember those."
"Did you get hurt your fourth year?" Hale squinted trying to remember his second year.
"Hmmmm... Yeah! That was the year I fell seventy feet because the bludger hit me in the back of the head, actually I just had a lot of bruises because I landed on my back." I still laughed.
"Remember the Slytherin game last year?" Morwyn said. My chest hurt when I thought of breaking all my ribs and the top of my right arm when I was in a fifty foot dive and the Slytherin seeker dove into my side.
"The last match was definitely the worst." Drake sighed.
"I don't remember that, what happened?" Colt said.
"You would remember if you saw it. That was when you had dragon pox." Hale said.
"A Slytherin chaser sandwiched me into a wall and as I fell a bludger hit my head, cracking my skull and knocking me out." I explained.
Jude shook his head. "I thought that was the one that finally killed you."
"Yeah, it was the scariest half hour of my life." Drake added.
"Frenchy, you really gave us a scare that day." Conrad brushed a piece of hair out of my face.
Madame Clearwater bustled over and quickly without warning popped my arm back in. My vision went fuzzy for a minute from the pain. She frowned at my shirt which was soaked through with blood. Curtains appeared around just the two of us and she told me to take my shirt off. I heard a whoop from Jude. She sewed my skin back together with magic; she also straightened my nose and fixed my hand. Once she had fixed up the entire team we were allowed to leave.
Conrad had to get going so we parted at the entrance to the hospital wing. The team fell into our v- shape like we did in practice. I'm not sure why, maybe to look tough or maybe it was to look unified. I was at the front, Jude and Drake then Magda and Morwyn and finally Hale and Colt. We looked quite grubby; most of us had blood stains on our clothing. Both of my eyes, one of Jude's, one of Morwyn's, both of Hale's and one of Colt's eyes were black. Colt also had a fat lip that made him look like he was pouting. I had never felt better in my life.
The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open at the sound of the password. We were met by a rush of chaos of the best sort, celebration. In all of the chaos I had forgotten about the snitch and won. The bulge in my pocket drew my attention. I pulled the Golden Snitch out and held it up in my fist. Everyone held their fists up like they had done at the pitch.
The party was amazing and lasted well into the night when Professor McGonagall threatened us. I collapsed into my bed when the sun was turning the sky a shocking pink.