"Back off if you want to keep your face intact," Aly warned, pulling out her wand and glaring at Malfoy. He shuffled away, obviously flustered. She sighed and put her wand back inside her back and walked down to Charms. Today was the Quidditch final. She was so nervous, she shook. She took a seat next to Kylie.

"Nervous?" Kylie smirked. Aly nodded.

"Stop freaking out! I'm sure you'll be fine," she said gently. Aly took a deep breath and sat all through Charms assuring herself that she'll be perfectly fine. Perfectly fine.

***

"I'm not going to make it," she gasped, feeling nauseated as she stared at the doors that led to the stadium.

"Come off it!" Katie scoffed. "I'm sure we'll be great."

"Aly, you think to stop thinking so negative," Oliver agreed. "Just think...holding that cup...golden, and engraved with 'Gryffindor House.' Just imagine that." Aly sighed and nodded.

"Harry," Oliver said turning to him, "You've got to play well. I've heard from other teams that the Slytherins are playing pretty dirty. Don't stoop to their level," he said. Harry gulped and nodded. Aly noticed that his face was red again.

"Harry," Aly said with a sly grin, "Cho Chang?" He glared at her and was about to open his mouth, but the doors had flown open. Aly sighed and mounted her broom. The team went flying.

They were immediately greeted by cheers and whoops of the other houses (except for Slytherin, of course), and Aly grinned. She enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her face. She rose into the air.

"Aly!" Oliver's voice called. "You'll be starting!"

What?! Her heart stopped. She looked to the center of the circle, where Madam Hooch and the Slytherin chaser were waiting. She gulped.

"Come on, Aly!" Amanda yelled from the stands. "You can do it!"

Aly took a deep breath and flew to the center and stared directly at the Slytherin's eyes.

"I want a fair game, all of you!" Madam Hooch barked. She rounded on Malfoy. "Especially you."

She threw the Quaffle into the air.

"Starting Attack 5!" Aly yelled.

Michael and Katie flew towards the Slytherin chaser and sandwiched him in between them.

Aly grabbed the Quaffle and sped off. The Gryffindors yelled with glee. Aly smirked as she raced towards the other side of the pitch. Let the game begin.

***

The Slytherins seemed to read their every move. Everytime Aly moved swerved to the left, they swerved to the left. Everytime Kay or Sam tried to send a Bludger at the other team, the Slytherin Bludgers would send it right back. On top of all of that, they were playing like dirty, rotten cheaters.

"Ouch!" Aly screamed. Tears sprang to their eyes as she glared at the Chaser flying in front of her. For some reason, Lola thought it'd be funny to grab Aly's hair to prevent her from getting to the other Slytherin chaser. Aly wiped away the tears angrily and plunged her hand into her robes.

"I'll show you," she muttered. "Incendio!"

Lola's hair caught on fire. She started screaming wildly. Everyone in the stands stood up as she flailed around, trying to put out the fire. Aly smirked. Lola crashed into one of her own teammates and fell to the ground. The Gryffindors roared with applause. Aly punched her fist into the air, but it was a short-lived victory when she turned her head and a Bludger met her forehead. She was knocked off her broom, but managed to hold on. The Gryffindors all stood in up horror as Aly hung onto her broom in a panic. Aly stared at her broom in panic as she tried to figure out how to get up. Then she heard a whistle and turned her head. A Beater was heading right towards her.

"NO!" Cedric yelled, standing up in the Hufflepuff section. "Aly!" He shook his head in terror.

"Crapit!" Aly swore, swinging herself by one hand on her broom to gain momentum. Amanda giggled in the stands.

"She looks like a monkey."

"Shut up," Damien spat.

Aly gritted her teeth and with one final swing, tossed herself onto her broom. The Gryffindors cheered with relief as Aly rubbed her head. Suddenly the Beater swiveled around and headed for her, waving his bat sadistically.

"Aly! Heads up!" Aly heard a voice yell. She turned her head and saw Fred's bat flying towards her. She caught it one handed. "Bludger!"

She heard a cackling sound and turned her head a fraction of an inch. She started flying. The whole stadium stood up in disbelief as Aly flew around the stadium, smiling. She had a plan. She flew over to the one of the towers and analyzed the angle the beater was at. Then she looked directly at the beater and swung with all her might. The Bludger went flying in the opposite direction and hit the beater. He fell to the ground and the Gryffindor section roared in approval. Aly covered her mouth in surprise, and then started laughing. Hovering the air, she scanned the scene and gasped.

"Scum!"

Aly looked up and saw Malfoy holding onto the tail of Harry's broom, preventing him from getting the snitch that was just close enough to touch. She glared at looked around the field. Slytherins were doing everything dirty to make sure the Gryffindors were thrown off. Aly looked at Harry, and then looked around. She gasped and started flying.

"Harry! The Snitch!" she yelled. Harry swerved on his broom and darted into the opposite direction. She blocked a Chaser headed for Harry.

"Move it!" he growled.

"Move me," she said just as fierce. She turned around just in time to see Harry grab the Snitch. A moment of silence.

"Yeah!" the Gryffindors roared. Aly grinned.

"We did it! We did it!" she yelled. She soared over to Harry and jumped his bones. The whole team fell to the ground, yelling happily. Aly stood up and brushed herself off. The Gryffindors suddenly flooded the arena, roaring with pride. She looked around and saw her friends running over to her. Amanda, Hayden and Damien gave her high fives. Char stood in front of her, his arms open. She hugged him, laughing, aware that he was hugging her longer than necessary. She pulled back, grinning. His face was just as bright and happy as she pictured. Madam Hooch passed them the cup. Aly cried with joy.

Mum, just look at me now.