Quidditch Match to remember
The month of October passed quickly for Kiara. Having started it with at least one apology, her class work and homework did improve, mostly due to the fact Severus was checking each piece of homework and coursework before she submitted it. By the time Halloween had come and past, she was acing most of her classes with the exception of Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was like Rominisci had launched a personal vendetta against the Snape family, and more than once, Kiara still found herself sitting at the back of the Potions classroom, catching up with work. Even Severus had given up on getting Kiara to ignore the idiot.
Her relationship with Harry continued in secret, but Kiara couldn't help but to sit up late at night and watch him carefully, Blaise's words echoing through her mind. She still didn't get by what he had meant that day by asking her to promise she wouldn't fall in love with him. By now, she knew Blaise well enough he hadn't said it out of jealousy which would have been the easy and straightforward solution. Draco had yet to relent, and when it came with anything to do with Harry, Kiara and Severus couldn't agree about anything.
Severus had become rather withdrawn but so had Kiara. Pansy and Millicent thought she wasn't as interesting as she had been to start with. Draco blamed Blaise's bad influence whilst Kiara just shrugged it all off. Even when she wasn't acting the perfect Slytherin, Kiara had noticed that she was still very Slytherin. Sometimes her Gryffindor side did show up but very rarely. She wasn't exactly about to act like the mother she had never known.
Now it was an early Saturday morning and Kiara was sitting with the Quidditch team along with Blaise, offering moral support. Draco looked extremely tired, and he would be. He had spent every last minute trying to whip his team into shape. He intended to win the Quidditch up this year, even if Slytherin probably wouldn't win the House Cup until Harry finally left the school. Kiara was currently trying to coax some food into him.
"Draco, please eat something. What good are you going to be when you faint and fall off your broom?" Kiara said wafting a piece of toast in front of his face. He just scowled but didn't take it. "I won't be there to catch you."
"When have you ever been there to catch me?" Draco retorted, snatching he piece of toast out of Kiara's hand and shoving it into his mouth. With his mouth still full, he turned to Kiara and sprayed her with food whilst saying, "Happy now?"
"You can be so revolting sometimes."
"Thank you."
Kiara shot a glare at Blaise who had a small smile on his face, warning him not to ever bring it up again. She may have now been covered in a few breadcrumbs that had been in Draco's mouth but at least he had eaten and was now reaching for another piece of toast. Draco was through his third piece when a fourth-year Slytherin came into the Great Hall that was empty apart from the two teams playing today – Gryffindor and Slytherin, and a few supporters able to get out of bed earlier than needed.
The boy approached Kiara, who happened to be the most approachable person at the table right now. The team looked like they would clobber anyone and anything with their wands if they were at hand and Blaise was known to be a generally unapproachable person. Kiara was the only one who looked harmless, and considering she was shorter than him, a safer bet.
"Madam Hooch sent me to inform the Slytherin team that she has come down with something and Professor Rominisci will be refereeing the match today," he told Kiara before hightailing it out of the Great Hall. He had a feeling that the Slytherins would be less than happy.
"Um, guys?" Kiara said, getting the attention of everyone on the table. She hadn't realised until then she was the only girl on the table. They all looked up from their food or their conversations and waited. "I have some possibly bad news. Madam Hooch has come down with something, and Rominisci will be refereeing."
"Not that fucker!" Draco groaned. It was now common knowledge that Rominisci hated everything and anything associated with Snape, which meant that he took a dislike to the Slytherin House whose Head was Severus Snape. Rominisci and Severus were in a battle to see who could award and take points away in one lesson.
"You never know. Things might go our way," Dreg Simmons, a stocky seventh year muttered. He had replaced Crabbe as Beater, and he certainly performed better. It also helped that he was able to give and take instructions without a five minute hesitation.
"How can it? Rominisci hates Slytherin."
Dreg shrugged at his anxious Captain. Kiara had no time to consider what he had just said as she was busy trying to get Draco to stop pulling his hair out. It was nice hair and it would be such a waste if it was ruined.
"Ladies and gentleman, I am back. Couldn't get rid of me for long could you?" Lee Jordan commented as the stands began to fill up. The boy with the dreadlocks had certainly grown in the short space that was summer, and he certainly looked every bit the eighteen years old he was now. McGonagall sat next to him as she had always done, making sure he watched his mouth. "First match of the season- Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Who's going to win?"
Kiara sat in the stands between a very grumpy Severus who looked very much as if he'd rather not be there and an expressionless Blaise; not the very best of company but it sure beat sitting with a group of giggling and screaming girls. She was wrapped up warm with a silver and green scarf wrapped round her neck and a matching headband to show her support. She felt nervous as this was Draco's big chance and felt nervous for him but also because Harry was also playing and she was going to have very hard not to cheer if he so happened to catch the Snitch instead of Draco.
"Excited?" Severus asked as it was almost time for the match to start.
"More like nervous for both the team captains," Kiara replied, keeping her eyes on the field where Rominisci was doing a quick check over of everything by flying round the field and the posts. "I can't believe Madam Hooch chose this match to be ill."
"I heard she got food poisoning." Before Kiara could enquire, the whistle sounded and Lee Jordan's commentary echoed round the stands.
"Time for the game to start. Introducing the Gryffindor team, whom I have fifty Galleons riding on- Potter, Weasley, Weasley, Thomas, Finnegan, Bell and Brown!" There was an eruption of cheers from the Gryffindor side, all dressed in the house colours of red and gold. "And the Slytherin team- Malfoy, Pucey, Simmons, Goyle, Nott and two others I've forgotten!" The same amount of cheering came from Slytherin, clad in the House colours of silver and green.
The two teams had shot up into the air when they had been introduced circled the pitch once and landed in their positions; both captains stood facing each other, Rominisci in the middle. Both teams were glaring daggers at each other, hoping on in the opposition might suddenly have a heart attack or faint but certainly not happy about the choice of referee. Madam Hooch was a favourite but for the Gryffindors it sure beat having Severus as referee.
"I want a clean game from all of you. No cheating," Rominisci said and Draco and Harry shook hands although it seemed they were both out to break each other's hand. They let go and mounted their brooms. "May the best team win."
"And they're off! Gryffindor is in possession of the quaffle, new girls Brown and Weasley sure play well together with Bell. Bell getting closer to the goal and- oh no! Pucey has taken the quaffle. Weasley had better watch himself. Slytherin has scored. Ten-nil."
Cheers broke out from the Slytherins. Only two minutes in and they had already scored. For the first time in a long time, Slytherin stood an equal chance at beating Gryffindor, even with Harry playing, who by chance, even half an hour into the game had yet to find the Snitch. Lee Jordan had tamed his tongue but he still found comments to makes "…that no good spawn of the devil…would have knocked her clear off her broom if he came any closer…" or "...Goyle is playing quite well despite his brain capacity…must be because he's got a smarter partner now..."
Harry was circling the field, keeping above the game and keeping a lookout. Draco was doing the same, but considerably lower than Harry since he was occasionally screaming instructions at his team. He was glad that it was warm and only slightly windy but the sun wasn't the greatest condition for playing and winning a game, although it often made the Snitch more visible. As Slytherin scored yet again to make it 90-80 to them, Harry decided to go down and see exactly what was going wrong. Slytherin should have been easy to beat. His team was playing well; it's just that they kept getting veered off course by a Bludger, most of the time sent by Dreg Simmons.
"And Potter has stopped circling to come down and watch a bit of the action. Personally I'd hate to be a Seeker. Sitting there until you see the Snitch and then plummeting how many feet. Bell is in possession of the quaffle and she's going for it and –"
There was the audible crunching of bones and everything went quiet. Dreg had aimed a Bludger directly at an unsuspecting Harry who was now falling through the air. He landed on the grass with a thud and it took a few moments before anyone responded.
"Potter is down! He's been knocked off his broom by the dirty rotten idiot that is Dreg Simmons. Always hated him when I was here. Arrogant fatso."
Rominisci blew his whistle and signalled for a pause in the game. Everyone waited for a foul to be called, but none was. Instead he walked towards Harry and crouched down to his level. To those in the stands it was impossible to see what was going on. Hermione had already run onto the pitch to see what had happened and Kiara felt a strong urge to do so.
"Would you believe it folks? It seems the Gryffindor Seeker has been knocked out cold. And why isn't the referee issuing a foul? I'm not one to criticise teachers but there's a fine line between overlooking and being blind. Anyone can clearly see that was a foul on Potter by Simmons. That Bludger was no accident."
A lot of people shared this thought and it wasn't only the Gryffindors. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students who had come along just in the name of school spirit were also outraged. Kiara was amongst the scattered few Slytherins who thought the same. Minutes passed and Rominisci still hadn't stopped looking Harry over.
"Shouldn't he be sent to the Hospital Wing or something?" Kiara asked nervously, waiting for Harry to get up and shake the fall off. Severus frowned. He hated the boy and wanted his team to win, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Harry actually needed help.
"Professor Rominisci doesn't feel so," Severus replied but keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the pitch. Both teams had come down and stood around, talking to not only their fellow team members but members of the other. It seemed that Draco and Ron were having what appeared to be a civil conversation.
"Well fuck him. I have a bad feeling about this. I'm going to see what's up."
"Kiara don't," Blaise said, also grabbing her arm at the same time as Severus, keeping her firmly in her seat. She struggled for a bit, but finding that she couldn't resorted to glaring as evilly as she could without looking like she was squinting as some people ended up doing. "Think about this very carefully."
"I have. Now let me get to Harry."
"Zabini, you know as well?" Severus asked, his voice not revealing the twang of hurt he was feeling inside.
"Yes sir. I will gladly discuss this with you afterwards. However, now is the time to make sure Kiara doesn't make a mistake by running onto the pitch. Imagine how bad Slytherin will look?"
Kiara snorted. "How bad? Slytherin won't look bad for helping out a fellow student. I'm sick of this prejudice and rivalry. I'd quite frankly rather shave my hair off than not do anything."
"What is Rominisci playing at?" Lee Jordan's voice boomed through the stadium. "Potter has been down for at least five minutes but he is showing no intentions of sending him to the Hospital Wing or giving that foul. If I knew better, I would never say that I think that Rominisci may just want Potter dead."
There were loud gasps, and Kiara took this as a chance to wrench herself out of their holds, stepping on Blaise's foot to get him to let go of her completely. As fast as her feet would carry her she was on that pitch, her heart pounding in her chest and pushing Rominisci out of the way. Blood was oozing coming from a cut on Harry's head and she could see he had broken several bones. And Rominisci had nothing about.
"What exactly are you doing?" Kiara shouted at Rominisci who was watching her, with quite an amused look on his face. "He could die, you dumb prick! And there you are just standing there as if it'll stop the bleeding and fix his bones."
Ignoring the fact that she had just lost Slytherin fifty points, Kiara tried to remember what Madam Pomfrey had taught her in the few weeks she had been in the Hospital that summer and whenever she went for a check-up as Madam Pomfrey had insisted on keeping a regular check on Kiara's temperature. First, she had to stop the bleeding. A simple spell could do that. Waving her wand that she had retrieved from her inside pocket, Kiara groaned with frustration when it didn't work. In fact, all the spells she tried didn't work.
"What? The ever so perfect Kiara Snape can't fix his little cuts?" Rominisci said sarcastically. Kiara glared at him, quite annoyed actually. He knew it wouldn't work but he had let her try anyway, therefore wasting time. "You should have asked. I would have told you."
"What is going on? Potter is still down, and I am informed that Kiara Snape is down there, but I can hardly believe it's to help. There's probably an ulterior motive. If she's anything like her father dearest, I am definitely praying hard for Potter. I mean…it is a good thing to see someone from Slytherin helping a Gryffindor. Happy Professor?"
Searching her mind for something that would help Harry, Kiara also transfigured her scarf into a gauze and from the first-aid kit needed at every Quidditch match took out a cleansing balm. Kiara almost cried when it did nothing but clean up the surrounding area on Harry's head wound but not stop the bleeding all together. And there was still the issue of the broken bones. It would be unsafe to even transfer him onto a stretcher.
"Hermione," Kiara called out. Hermione immediately crouched down to Kiara's level, waiting to hear Kiara's request. "I need you to tell me what my body temperature is. Not exactly but something like hot, cool, normal, whatever."
Hermione touched Kiara's arm and by instinct immediately withdrew her hand. "You're burning hot," Hermione said. Kiara thanked her and began wondering if what she was about to do was either smart, safe or worth her energy. Deciding that it was, Kiara concentrated and placed a hand on Harry's forehead.
The effect was instant. The moment her skin met his, she felt as if all her energy was being zapped out of her but right before her eyes, the skin began to heal up, until there was nothing more than a very faint scar going from his hairline to his brow and she could have sworn his bones seemed to straighten out. When it was done, Kiara fell backwards onto the grass, feeling very tired and parched. She had just partially saved her own life.
"And what is this? Potter is getting up. Everyone, Potter is up. Did Kiara Snape have anything to do with it? Sources tell me she did! Well what do you know? The world is coming to an end. Now Professor Rominisci, about that foul?"
"Thanks," Harry smiled as he pulled Kiara onto her feet. She could at least stand, which wasn't a bad thing. Kiara smiled back, and for once, didn't care what Draco thought, who was looking at them with a very deep scowl on his face, especially as she leant on Harry for a little support.
"How do you know I did anything?" Kiara asked innocently.
"Because after I was knocked out, I kept hearing this voice going 'if you don't wake up Harry, when I die I am going to haunt you forever' and there is only one person who would be thinking like that."
"Well, perhaps I was a touch dramatic." Harry snorted. Kiara was one of the most dramatic people he had met. She punched him playfully, but he didn't get a chance to retort before Draco came marching up to them. Kiara tensed a great deal.
"I don't want to hear it Kiara. We'll discuss this after the match," Draco said, as Kiara was about to say something. He turned to Harry, and for a fleeting moment Kiara got the feeling he was going to punch him, but instead Draco held out a hand. "Maybe it's time for that truce you were talking about?"
"Gladly."
"The world has come to an end. First Potter and Snape's daughter, and if rumour is true they are now a couple, and now Potter and Malfoy are shaking hands. The good old Slytherin and Gryffindor feud has come to an end. Seems Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are joining in too. Am I the only one who hasn't forgotten this is meant to be a Quidditch Match?"
"Professor Rominisci, both teams agree that Simmons did send that Bludger on purpose therefore I'm replacing him with Crabbe and the Gryffindor team get a free pass," Draco said to Rominisci who seemed to consider this for a moment before mounting his broom and shaking his head.
"Carry on!" Rominisci shouted, blowing his whistle. There was immediate outrage in the stands. Someone started stomping whilst shouting 'FOUL! FOUL!' and soon everyone present was doing the same.
"I still can't see what this man is doing. He is insisting that they carry on. Professor, do something! What do you mean you can't, it's up to the referee? You have lost your bloody mind. There is going to be a riot if you don't do something. Look, even Professor Snape is going down there at his team's request. Don't just sit there!"
Rominisci touched down as he watched both the Professors approaching. He touched down with a small smile on his face, looking extremely arrogant despite the situation. Before speaking both McGonagall and Severus nodded and shook hands, even if rather hastily, to show that they too were calling a truce.
"Minerva, Severus, what can I do for you on this glorious morning?" he said cheerfully, enough to make Severus wish he could strangle his younger. "See I'm afraid I'm a bit busy."
"I have no idea what's going on, but if I were you Damien, I would just issue that foul and get on with the game," McGonagall said sharply, racked up that it was her star player and Captain that the team had almost lost, but keeping her temper in quite close check.
"Sorry, no can do."
"What do you mean 'no can do'? Can you not see that they aren't going to calm down until you do something about it," Severus added, personally not bothered that Harry had been knocked off his broom. What did bother him though was that now everyone knew about Kiara and Harry. And that it was their fault he now had to be civil towards McGonagall.
"I am doing something. I'm giving both the teams a choice. Either decide to call it a draw, or play on."
"Never thought I'd say this but I think I might hate Rominisci more than Snape, and I am being quite serious. Rominisci has decided that it's either a draw or they carry on playing. Even with the truce called, how on Earth are they going to decide?"
"I say we carry on playing but let Gryffindor take a few easy shots before we carry on," Pucey suggested, flicking his dark blonde hair out of his eyes as both the teams huddled. Hermione and Kiara were the only others on the pitch, standing by their House; Hermione standing by Harry, and Kiara by Draco.
"Yeah right! We could take those easy shots without you letting us. I say we draw. That way it's fair," Ron suggested, quite a surprise for most people. Ron would have usually been the one doing anything to stop them from drawing. Harry had a feeling Hermione's presence had something to do with it.
"I say we take advice from those who would rather be reading than playing Quidditch. Their advice won't be biased," Harry suggested. It took Kiara awhile to realise he was talking about her and Hermione. She didn't know anything about Quidditch, but Kiara also thought it only fair if they drew.
"Draw," Kiara and Hermione both said simultaneously. Kiara smiled and allowed Hermione to continue with her theory to why it should be a draw rather than carrying on. "Look at it this way; we've gained a lot more from this match. We all actually managed a civil conversation with no wands pointed or anything like that. We united against Rominisci just like the Sorting Hat wanted us to do against our deadliest foes. Continuing the game might ruin that."
"Granger has a point, and actually one that I can understand," Draco said after awhile of thinking. Harry nodded in agreement. "All in favour of this, say 'I'." The majority said I, an almost equal number on both sides. "All against, say 'Nay'." There were considerably less, and their 'Nay' faded away as their team members turned to scowl at them.
"It's all over people. The match is over! A draw has been called, putting Slytherin and Gryffindor both in the first place. Let's just hope the next match, the one between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw isn't the same, or I definitely will not be quitting my day job for this. And where's Professor Flitwick? I want my money back."
"Later Harry," Kiara said as the teams began making their way back to the changing rooms. Harry stopped and turned to her, his arms wide open and a cheeky grin on his face. This would be their first public embrace.
"Later Kiara," he said as he drew her into a hug. God he loved her shampoo. Pulling apart, Kiara waved him off, a happy feeling in her stomach. She felt like she could shout it from the rooftops. Harry Potter was hers, all hers, and hers alone. Well for the moment anyway.
"I hope you know what you just did," Blaise nagged as she walked over to him where he was waiting in the stands. They had become sort of best friends, as Kiara was probably the only person Blaise talked to about almost everything (he talked to Draco when it cam to male issues) and Blaise was the only person in Slytherin who seemed to look past her surname yet still take account of it.
"Apart from end a really old and pointless feud?"
"Yes, apart from that." Kiara frowned.
"What did I do?"
"You just made yourself a potential target for the Dark Lord. He might use you to get to Potter."
"You know what I think about your brilliant thinking?" Kiara asked as leaning on Blaise for support as they made their way back to the castle.
"What Kiara?"
"I hate it to bits."
A/N - Yay! Truce! And thanks for the reviews guys. Made my day and encouraged me to update. D The question still stands. Should Kiara help Harry, help old Voldie or destroy them both? And my chapter will also become considerably shorter so I can update them in a much faster way than I did previously. Well, thanks for reading and until next time!The Dark Lady of R.