The two teams flew into the air and lined up around the pitch. Lily and Stanley faced each other down...both grimly determined to win. They barely heard Madam Bell as she gave her instructions. The snitch was released and it hovered in the air, right in front of Stanley and then it was gone. Then the bludgers were released and the four beaters gripped their bats a bit tighter. Finally, the quaffle was released and the match began.

Lily took off in a flash and grabbed the quaffle. James and Louis stayed right behind her, just as they had planned and before anyone on the other team could react, Lily had put the quaffle through the hoop and scored the first points for Gryffindor.

"See, I wasn't exaggerating," Draco said as Lily scored twice in quick succession.

Five minutes into the match and the score was 30-0 to Gryffindor. Ginny was impressed. It had been a couple of years since she'd watched her daughter play and clearly she had missed a few things.

Albus and Stanley had taken up positions a bit higher up in the air than the rest of the players. They were flying around looking for the snitch and watching the action below them with interest (Albus) and concern (Stanley).The Slytherin captain had trained his players well and he trusted them to know what to do. So his initial reaction to this assault from Lily was to stay where he was and hope that his chasers would swing into action and even the score.

They were trying, but Frank stood like a wall in front of the hoops and refused to let anything through, while Lily continued her charge at the other end.

He was loath to abandon his position and leave Albus free to grab the snitch if it showed, but when the score became 50-0, he had no choice but to go yell at his players. It wasn't as if they weren't doing anything to stop Lily, but no matter what they tried, she seemed to slip away at the last moment and score. Josh Macmillan, the Slytherin keeper, looked utterly helpless in front of her. Lily was fast and she moved around a lot...Josh was simply unable anticipate her movements and he ended up letting the quaffle through every time. Stanley needed to speak to his keeper...

"I think she's trying to score enough points to make the catching of the snitch irrelevant," Draco said.

"I agree. It is an excellent strategy considering that the other team's seeker is better than hers," Ginny said.

"James and Louis are not even trying to score. They're just making sure that Lily can score freely. That is real team play," Harry said.

The Gyffindor end of the stadium was going crazy. All the clapping and cheering was getting on Stanley's nerves as he made his way down to his players, trying to figure out what to do and hoping desperately that the snitch wouldn't show. He'd had a clear strategy...each of his chasers would shadow one of the Gryffinor chasers, who usually tended to be spread out in a semicircle as they passed the quaffle from one to the other and tried to score. But it seemed that Lily had totally changed her strategy for this game. James and Louis were flying right behind her and making no attempt to score. She did all the scoring while they kept the Slytherin chasers away from her.

Stanley had to think fast because Lily had scored again and the score was now 60-0. If she was allowed to continue like this, it wouldn't matter a whit whether he caught the snitch or not. He flew down to his beaters. "Ignore everyone else. Aim for James Potter and Louis Weasley. Keep those bludgers flying at the two of them, so they can't focus on Lily Potter, got it?"

Then he flew down to meet his chasers. "I want you guys to stop trying to get to Lily Potter. The way they're playing now, that simply isn't possible. Claire and Carlo are going to be aiming for Potter and Weasley. You stick close to them as well. The moment they lose focus even a bit, you swoop in and grab the quaffle. Don't try to score on your own, Keep passing the quaffle back and forth. That way their beaters won't know who to aim for. Got that?" His players nodded and set off, while Stanley went to give his keeper a quick pep talk. That done, he got back to circling the pitch. All this strategising had taken a few minutes and luckily, the snitch hadn't shown in that time.

"That is the hardest thing about being the seeker and the captain," Harry said. "Talking to your players requires that you give up your position and risk missing the snitch. It's a real handicap."

"It is always best to have a captain who is a chaser," Ginny said. "You're right in the middle of the action...I wonder what Stanley's told his players," she said as the scoring started to slow down a bit.

It was now twenty minutes into the match and the score stayed at 60-0. The Zabini twins had taken their captain's words to heart. The pelted James and Louis with bludgers every chance they got...

James and Louis were under attack and they spent so much time diving and ducking and trying to get away that Lily was left unprotected and all three of the Slytherin chasers were able to swoop down on her and halt her assault on the scoreboard. And soon Slytherin started scoring as well. Forty minutes into the match and the score was 60-30 to Gryffindor.

"He's Oliver's son, alright," Ginny said as she watched the action. "That was very smart, using his beaters like that. Now the Gryffindor chaser formation is broken and unless their beaters swing into action, the scores will even out and it will all come down to the seekers."

An hour into the match and Lily was finding it harder and harder to score. Frank was under attack from Jeremy and Violet who kept coming at him from every direction. He made a lot of saves, but they ended up scoring every now and then. The scores started to even out. Gryffindor was still in the lead, but just barely. The scores stood at 80-60 when Lily decided that she had to do to do something...

She flew over to Fred and Liam. "I want you to focus on their keeper. Unsettle him any way you can. Go for their beaters every now and then and for Merlin's sake, get the pressure off James and Louis."

The momentum swung Gryffindor's way again after that and their score went up to 100 points while Slytherin stayed at 60. It was still a tiny difference that the snitch would completely wipe out. Both teams found themselves hoping that their seeker would deliver.

"I think it's going to come down to the seekers now," Harry said. "So I guess Slytherin's chances are better, then."

"Oh I wouldn't rule out Albus just yet," Draco said. "He may not be as good as Stanley, but he's really smart. Something tells me he's going to win this one for his team."

Ginny was honestly surprised to hear those words. Draco was the head of Slytherin house and it was only natural for him to want his team to win. In fact, the Draco of old would have been declaring loudly that Gryffindor stood no chance at all. But here he was, being all genlemanly and reasonable. She found it difficult to reconcile the image of Draco Malfoy that she'd had in her head since her school days with the man in front of her. Was Harry right? Had Malfoy really changed?

An hour and a half into the match and the scores were nearly level at 130-120. Gryffindor was still in the lead. The game had been intense so far and both teams had fought really hard for every point. They were exhausted. Albus and Stanley hadn't had much of a role to play in the game so far and they weren't particularly tired. But they were bored. There had been no sign of the snitch after the start of the game and squinting in every direction under the sharp winter sun was starting to take its toll. Twice Albus had thought that he'd spotted the snitch and taken off after it, only to find that he was mistaken.

The first time might have been a fluke, but when he did it the second time and Stanley went flying after him at a crazy speed only to have Albus shrug ruefully and fly away, he was convinced that Albus was doing it just to throw him off his game. Most of the crowd was convinced of this as well.

"I know it looks like that, but I find it hard to believe that Albus is doing it on purpose," Harry said.

"It's good strategy..." Ginny said.

"He's not doing it on purpose," Draco said. "Strategy or not, Albus isn't really capable of guile like that. And his disappointment seemed genuine both times."

Ginny was struck despite herself, by just how reasonable Draco sounded. Harry smiled at this defence of Albus and turned to look at the man beside him. Their eyes met, they held each other's gaze for a couple of moments and then they both turned away feeling strangely flushed and breathless. What was that? Harry wondered. Why am I reacting to Draco like that? He pretended to watch the match as he tried to make sense of his behavior. Draco turned to look at Harry just then and he was surprised to see a slight flush on his cheeks...Did Harry feel that too? He wondered.

Ginny had luckily been too absorbed in the game to notice any of this. The match went on for another hour and there was still no sign of the snitch. The players were really worn out and they slowly abandoned all semblance of strategy. The chasers were doing everything they could to score, the beaters kept aiming for any member of the opposing team that happened to catch their eye. The keepers were under intense pressure and it was here that Frank Longbottom showed his class. He had taken a real beating in the first hour of the match, but he barely let anything through in the second with the result that after the second hour the scores stood at 180-140 with Gryffindor in the lead.

And then Albus thought that he saw the snitch...again. It was at the Slytherin end of the pitch, hovering just a couple of feet behind their goal hoops. He was afraid that it might once again prove to have been no more than a trick of the light. He edged closer as he tried to make sure. He moved so casually the no one thought anything of it. Stanley was all the way over at the Gryffindor side of the pitch. Albus was still a significant distance away when he saw a distinct flutter of wings.

It was the snitch and considering where Stanley was at that moment, he had no chance of seeing it. Albus took a deep breath and continued to move casually towards the snitch. It was only when he was few feet away that he picked up speed. It was a moment before Stanley noticed and then he cursed and took off in the same direction. The rest of the players stopped what they were doing and watched the two seekers...the crowd went absolutely quiet as they held their breaths. Scorpius was stiff with tension...he crossed his fingers and hoped that Albus would somehow find his way to the snitch...and he did. He swooped down and caught it, with Stanley still several feet behind him. Having been at the other end of the pitch had cost Stanley dearly. He knew that Albus had just got lucky and that it hadn't anything to do with skill, but he couldn't help cursing as he made his way to the ground.

Albus was relieved...he held the snitch aloft as the descended to the ground looking utterly surprised. He'd done it...somehow and he couldn't quite believe it. The Gryffindor team exploded in cheers and applause as Madam Bell blew her whistle to signal the end of the match. They flew down to the ground and Albus found himself surrounded by his team mates. They hugged him, they thumped him on the back, they shook his hand and they celebrated their win and revelled in the applause of the crowd.

Scorpius felt as if a huge weight had been taken off his chest. He was sitting among the Gryffindors with Rose, everyone around him was jumping and clapping...and congratulating him for some reason...

"He did it...he actually did it! That was fantastic," Harry said as he applauded. He was very glad that Albus' final match had ended in a win.

"I knew he'd pull out something special today. It was really smart of him to keep his cool and not let anyone know that he'd spotted the snitch," Draco said, as he applauded heartily. He felt bad for his Slytherins and he felt a bit like a traitor for feeling so happy that their opponents had won, but he couldn't help himself. For him, this match had been all about Albus and he couldn't wait to meet him and tell him how proud he was.

Ginny was over the moon and she couldn't stop applauding. "That was a fantastic match and I'm not saying that just because Gryffindor won. This was as good as any professional match, if not better...the quality of play, the tactics, everything," she said.

The Slytherin team made their way to the ground much more sedately. Stanley was crushed. He felt responsible for the loss, though he knew that it was not his fault that he'd been all the way over at the other end of the pitch when the snitch had showed up. The rest of the team just felt miserable. It had been a gruelling match and they had played their hearts out. There really hadn't been much between the two teams until the end. It was awful to lose the match after fighting so hard to win it.

James had been standing a couple of feet away from the rest of the team watching his brother. Then he made a decision...he walked up to Albus and shook his hand. "That was excellent work, Al," he said.

"Thanks Jamie," Albus said and then he impulsively pulled his brother into a hug. James was surprised and more than a little relieved as he returned the hug. He may not understand or support everything that his brother did, but he loved him a lot and he hated fighting with him.

Lily practically jumped on her brothers and hugged them tight. She was so happy. They had won the match and it was a wonderful bonus to have her brothers make up as a result. She hated it when they were at odds with each other.

"Well that's a happy sight," Draco murmured as he and Harry exchanged a meaning glance. Ginny smiled at the sight as well, though she wasn't really aware of the significance of the moment.