I don't deserve you guys ;P

Glad that everyone seems to like Quinlin :) It's funny - he started as just a generic teacher, and then his character kind of wrote itself. I'm really looking forward to see how you guys react in the later books...

Speaking of, whenever I read the reviews about what you guys think about parings, all I can think is "Wow... you guys are either gonna love me or hate me starting in Book 4..."

With that being said...

Breakfast in the Great Hall was abuzz with noise and activity the morning of the last Saturday of November. Quidditch season was finally about to get underway, and the first game of the season was set to play that afternoon; Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The entire Gryffindor Quidditch team was seated together near the centre of the House table as their friends and fellow Gryffindors pressed in around them from all sides, offering 'good-luck-s' and 'break-a-leg-s'

Pepper sat in the thick of it all, next to Albus as she cheerily tucked in to her plate of eggs. She was excited for the game that was to take place in the afternoon; nervous, too, but more so excited. She'd practiced for weeks with her team and on her own, and she felt that she was ready for almost anything the Slytherin team could throw her way. Even the glares and sneers that Teddy was sending her from the Slytherin table couldn't faze her today. She even caught herself humming cheerily as she buttered a slice of toast.

"You're certainly happy today," Albus remarked, catching onto her light mood. Pepper shrugged.

"Why shouldn't I be?" She took a big bite of her toast, chewed and swallowed. "The sun is shining, soon I'll be flying, and I have mail." Albus looked around the area of table in front of Pepper, confused for a minute. She shook her head, directing his gaze upward with a pointed finger. At that moment, and flock of owls swooped down from the ceiling, dropping parcels and papers in front of the still eating students. A particularly large cluster of owls were grouped around one long, narrow package, and they drifted down to Pepper's seat. The owls let go of the package in unison and Pepper expertly reached up and caught the tightly wrapped package, feeling the smooth surface of its narrow handle through the paper.

"You got a broom?" Albus stated it as a question, quirking an eyebrow. Pepper shrugged before proceeding to tear in to the plain brown wrapping. She tossed it over her shoulder and on to the cold flagstone floor of the Hall as she revealed a gleaming chestnut brown broom, emblazoned with gold. "You got a Firebolt?"

"Of course. It's not like I don't have almost unlimited supplies of money at my disposal," Pepper said almost sheepishly. She rose from the table, grabbing her new broom as she stood. "I'm going to take this for a test flight before the game. See you out there." Pepper held the shiny new broomstick across her shoulder as she exited the Hall. The grounds were empty, as most of the school was either still in bed or else still eating breakfast. As soon as Pepper's shoes touched grass, she swung a leg over her broom and shot off into the air.

It was marvelous. The Firebolt responded to her slightest thought, and turned on a time. It felt smooth and sleek under her grip as she cut through the air. The vibrations running up and down the handle and into her hands were almost minimal, unlike the old Cleansweep that she had practiced on. The vibrations from that broom had almost caused her to bite off her own tongue, once or twice. Pepper flew swiftly towards the Quidditch pitch where, in less than an hour, the first game of the season would be underway.

Pepper made loop-the-loops in the air and performed complicated rolls and manoeuvres on her broom until she noticed the rest of the Gryffindor team filing out of the school and beginning to make their way down towards the pitch and their locker room. The Slytherin team followed close behind, and soon, Pepper knew, almost every student in the school would be coming out to find good seats to watch the game from. Pepper dove from her great height in the sky, gliding to a halt in front of the passage going into the Gryffindor House dressing room. She leaned her broom up against the wall outside the door before stepping inside.

The room was clean; someone had been in their recently to make sure that everything was nice and neat for the big game. One wall of seven lockers faced Pepper, each with a different name and position on it. Her locker was the first on the left. Pyramus-Zaniel, Chaser. The letters were boldly inscribed in gold on the scarlet door, and every time Pepper saw it, she felt a swell of pride. Next to her locker was Adam's; his also was inscribed with a gold star that showed his Captaincy. Several benches sat in the middle of the room, facing a wall that held a chalkboard. The board was covered in complicated, moving squiggles of chalk that Adam had drawn for them at their last practice, detailing their newest strategies to win.

"You ready, Pep-N-Step?" James drawled from behind her. Pepper turned; he was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and a small smirk on his face.

"Pep-N-Step? That's the best you could come up with?" Pepper grimaced. James only shrugged.

"Could be worse."

"True," Pepper conceded. "And yeah, I'm good. Thanks for asking." James nodded, striding past her to open his own locker. Pepper followed suit, staring at her Quidditch robes that had just been embroidered with her name. The rest of the team filed in and went to their respective lockers. Pepper stripped off her Muggle sweater, wearing only a white camisole underneath. Immediately, the entire team of boys blushed and turned towards their own lockers. Pepper grinned before shrugging into the sleeves of her scarlet Quidditch robes.

They dressed quickly, pulling on stitched leather arm guards, shin guards, boots and gloves. Pepper's gloves only covered her palms, leaving individual holes for fingers so that she could still have full mobility in her hands. The day was bright and sunny; it didn't look like rain, but she still tossed her goggles around her neck, just to be safe. When the entire team was dressed and ready, they all sat on the wooden benches facing the chalkboard and Adam.

"We're ready for this, team," Adam began. "We know our strategy inside and out. We've got more practice, more drive, and more talent than the Slytherins." His eyes raked over each one of his players. "Just keep a level head and focus out there. Fly out of the sun: that should stop them from seeing us coming. Don't provoke the Slytherins; we don't want any injuries today." His eyes flicked to Pepper's face, and she blushed sheepishly.

The roar of the crowd could be heard from above and all around them as their school mates settled in to watch the game, cheering and shouting the names of their preferred House or player. Pepper imagined Grape, Sacha, Cameron and Rose sitting together in the stands, decked out in scarlet and gold. Mikaela would be cheering for Slytherin of course, but she knew that her friend was secretly backing her. The Gryffindor team sat for a moment, listening to the cheers. "Let's do this," Adam nodded, and they all stood, filing into line at the door. Pepper stood right behind Albus, who was looking slightly green. Her hand snaked forward and caught his as they left the dressing room, clutching his gloved fingers desperately. Albus glanced at her over his shoulder and smiled.

The roar when they stepped out on to the pitch was deafening. Pepper blinked at the sudden explosion of sound and colour surrounding her. Nearly three quarters of the stadium was filled with students clad in scarlet and gold; Gryffindor was the favourite to win the Quidditch Cup that year. They hadn't won since Harry Potter himself had played and now, with both of the legends sons on the team, everyone was hopeful. Pepper grinned, raising one hand in a small wave as they took to the centre of the pitch.

They lined up in formation in the centre of the pitch surrounding Madame Hooch and the small casket that held the Quidditch balls. Each team member took to the sky; Albus rose slightly above the rest; his eyes already darting around the pitch to see the competition. The Slytherin team consisted of seven older, burly boys, all in their final few years at Hogwarts. Pepper glimpsed Teddy off to one side, hefting his Beater's bat and glaring at her like she was a piece of meat.

"The Bludgers are released, followed by the Snitch-"

Pepper tore her attention from Teddy as a voice echoed around the stadium, announcing the release of the two Bludgers and the tiny Golden Snitch. Her eyes narrowed in on Madame Hooch as the flying instructor grasped the Quaffle in her hands in preparation to throw it into play.

"The Quaffle is released, and the game begins!"

Pepper swooped forwards towards the Quaffle, ducking under the arm of a Slytherin Chaser as he made a swipe for the same. Her fingers fumbled for a moment, but soon the red ball was in her grasp and she swerved around the emerald clad boy, pulling the Quaffle in under her arm. Easily, James and Brent fell in slightly behind her on either side as she swept towards the Slytherin Keeper. Casting a quick glance over her shoulder at James, Pepper winked, mouthing "Porskoff." James blinked in understanding, dropping down slightly.

Pepper faced the Slytherin Keeper, who was following her every move carefully; all that remained between her and the goal. Pepper swooped upwards, training her eyes on the centre and tallest of the three hoops. The Keeper followed her, rising up with a determined look in his eye, and Pepper dropped the Quaffle. She swerved around the surprised Keeper and the hoop just in time to see James aim a shot at the far right hoop. The bell rang, and Pepper fist-pumped.

"James Potter scores for Gryffindor! 10 points!"

Pepper would have high-fived her teammate, but there was no time as one of the Slytherin Chaser had caught the Quaffle and was now streaking towards the Gryffindor end of the pitch. Pepper rushed forward to fall in behind the Chaser, her face nearly touching the tail twigs of his broom. The Chaser looked back over his shoulder and yelped upon seeing Pepper there. A foot lashed out and connected with her face; Pepper felt a sharp stinging pain as she fell away from formation. Loud groans could be heard from the crowd and Pepper felt the stinging replaced with a dull ache, and tasted the coppery tang of blood as it dripped from her noise over her lips. TWEET!

The play halted with the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle. She called a foul on the Slytherin Chaser for 'skinning' before handing the Quaffle into Pepper's possession to take the penalty. Pepper wiped the blood away from her mouth as best she could before lining up in the centre of the pitch. James flew up beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern as he watched the blood drip over onto Pepper's robes. She nodded, hefting the Quaffle in her hand before streaking down the pitch. She was angry now, and the Keeper didn't even see the Quaffle coming as it flew at an impossible speed past his head.

"Another 10 points!"

The game continued in that fashion for another half hour. Gryffindor scored another 5 goals, totaling 70 points over all. Slytherin got several shots off as well, but only managed to sneak two of them past Adam's quick fingers, making the score 70 - 20. After the skinning call, any fouls were either avoided or purposefully done when Madam Hooch wasn't watching. On one occasion, two of the Slytherin Chasers had rammed into Pepper from both sides, forcing her to drop the Quaffle into the hands of their waiting teammate. A slow anger started burning in Pepper's chest and she could feel hear her blood pounding in her ears. The charm around her neck practically seared with heat, begging her to burn the ones who were causing this pain. Pepper grimaced, feeling the now dried blood on her lips crack as she fought back the fire.

Pepper had only seen glimpses of Albus throughout the game, ducking Bludgers and generally avoiding the play as his eyes raked the area for the Snitch. Occasionally, he would dart after something, and disappear from view for several long moments. Once, as Pepper rolled on her broom to dodge a well aimed Bludger, she caught a glimpse of the tiny golden ball before she whirled past it again. Moments later, Albus shot past her, the Slytherin Seeker close on his tail.

They played for over an hour, until Pepper could feel her own sweat mingling with the now dried blood on her face. The score was up now, 120 – 60 for Gryffindor. 80 of the points had been scored by Pepper. Both teams were beginning to get tired, and with that, they became increasingly more violent. James was racing towards the Slytherin hoops when, out of nowhere, a Slytherin Chaser came and collided with him, almost knocking him off of his broom. "What the heck!" James roared, swooping down on that Chaser. "What's your problem?"

In response, the Chaser reached out and punched James right in the face. With a growl, James grabbed the boy using the collar of his robes, pulling him off of his broom slightly. The Slytherin boy had at least 50 pounds than James, who looked practically dwarfed in comparison. The entire situation might have been comical, if it was so potentially dangerous. Madam Hooch was flying over with her broom, her hand inside her cloak, prepared to draw her wand to stop the fight, when an excited cry rose over the pitch.

"I've got it! I caught the Snitch!"

Albus dove down from the clouds above, clutching something in his left fist that glinted gold in the sunlight. The Slytherin Keeper drifted down after him, looking dejected and ashamed as he flew towards his teammates. The pitch was silent for a moment, before the air was split with excited cheers on three sides. The rest of the Gryffindor team surged towards Albus, grabbing at him and pulling him into excited hugs. In the centre of it tall, Albus grinned, waving his hand and the Snitch in the air excitedly. The announcer gave the game's results in a loud voice breathless with excitement. Gryffindor: 270, Slytherin: 60.

Pepper hung back a little, coasting towards her team and her friend as they celebrated. She smiled rather stupidly, the pain in her face forgotten, as well as the burning need for the fire as she revelled in the moment. She glanced behind her, where the Slytherin team crouched on their brooms, muttering angrily and patting each other on the back. On the fringes of the group, Teddy hung, his eyes shooting murderous daggers towards Pepper. Madam Hooch held on to the Quaffle and was currently chasing down a rogue Bludger over the pitch. The Bludger flew towards Teddy, who glanced at it with a scheming look.

Too late, Pepper realized what was happening, and she didn't even have time to duck out of the way as Teddy swung his bat and the Bludger in her direction. She heard a thud and someone's outraged scream before everything went black.

Mwahahaha! Yeah, I'm leaving it there.

Kudos to Google for supplying me with Quidditch plays.

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