Chapter 31: Victory
I looked at her, shocked. "What?" I asked in a whisper.
Bella held out a piece of parchment to me. I took it, looking it over. "He sent me this," she said quietly.
Bella,
We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed. Beaky has enjoyed London. I won't forget all the help you gave us.
Hagrid
There were giant tear-marks all over the parchment from Hagrid's tears. I felt awful. We hadn't helped Hagrid once, and now Buckbeak was going to be put to death.
"They can't do this," I said quietly. "Buckbeak isn't dangerous!"
Bella shook her head. "It doesn't matter. The committee was scared into it. Lucius Malfoy got up, and you know what he's like. There'll be an appeal, though I don't see how it'll be any different. Things won't change any."
"Yes they will," Rosalie said, looking at Bella. "You're not going to have to do all the research alone this time. I'll help," she said.
Edward nodded his head in agreement. "Me too. You won't have to do this all by yourself," he promised.
Bella looked at the two of them, tears welling in her eyes. "Oh, Rose!" she said, throwing her arms around Rosalie. Edward and I stood back, glad to see our two friends had finally made up. "And I'm really sorry about Scabbers," she added.
Rosalie shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay. He was an old rat, anyways. And he didn't do anything. Who knows, maybe Mum and Dad will get me an owl now," she said optimistically.
The next day, the four of us, all finally speaking again, headed down to Care of magical Creatures, where we found Hagrid in a sad state. He let the class do what they wanted so the five of us could talk, class being the only time we were able to see him with all the new security measures in place.
"It's all me fault," he sighed. "Got tongue tied. I kept droppin' me notes an fergetting all the stuff yeh looked up for me, Bella," he said, looking over at her. "An' then Lucius Malfoy gets up there an' the Committee did exactly as he wanted." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his handkerchief and blew his nose into it.
"Don't give up, Hagrid," Rosalie said kindly, placing a hand on his arm as he dismissed the class. "There's still the appeal."
"S'no use. Lucius Malfoy owns them Committee members. I'm jus' going to make sure Beaky's last days are enjoyable."
Hagrid turned, sobbing as he walked back into his cabin.
"Listen to him blubber!" came a cold voice. The four of us turned, seeing Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle standing in front of us. "Have you even seen anything so pathetic? How are we expected to take him seriously as our teacher?" he sneered.
I saw Edward and Rosalie move towards him, but Bella beat him here, drawing her wand and pointing it at his neck. "Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic! You foul—you evil—"
"Bella, don't do it," Edward said, grabbing her arm. "He's not worth it."
"Get off me, Edward!" she practically yelled, causing him to take a few steps back. She looked at Malfoy, shaking her head. "He's right, you're not worth it." She lowered her wand, placing it back in her bag. Malfoy smirked at her, snickering before Bella turned around and punched him in the nose.
The three of us stared at her as Malfoy fell to the ground. Crabbe and Goyle helped him up, and the three of them headed into the castle, muttering murderously under their breath.
"Bella!" Edward exclaimed, his voice both shocked and impressed. "That was brilliant!"
She ignored him, turning to me instead. "Oh Alice, you have to beat him in the Quidditch final. You just have to, because I won't be able to bear it if Slytherin wins."
"Come on," Rosalie said, taking her arm. "We're due in Divination soon," she said, staring up at Bella with admiration. After all, she did the one thing all of us had dreamed of doing.
"It's the quiet ones," Edward whispered to me as we headed up the stairs to Professor Trelawney's room. "You never suspect them."
I shook my head as we ascended the ladder to Professor Trelawney's room, joining Rosalie at a small table next to the one Edward and Bella were seated at. Rosalie stared at the crystal ball sitting on the table. "I thought we were still supposed to be doing palmistry for another week," she said.
"Don't complain. I was getting sick of her practically fainting every time she looked at my hand," I said, rolling my eyes. Rosalie smiled, nodding in agreement.
"Good day," came Professor Trelawney's voice as she descended the stairs from her office, looking over all of us. "I decided to introduce the orb a little earlier. The fates have informed me that your examination in June will concern reading the orb, and I wanted to give you as much practice as possible," she said.
I heard Bella snort at the next table. "That fates?" she said, not bothering to lower her voice. "Who sets the exam? She does! What an amazing prediction," she said sarcastically. Edward, Rose, and I could barely contain our laughter.
Professor Trelawney ignored her and continued on. "Crystal gazing is incredibly difficult. I don't expect many of you to see anything, though if we're lucky, some of you may See before the class ends."
Rosalie and I stared at the crystal ball, seeing nothing. "This is stupid," I sighed. "I mean, do you even see anything?" I asked.
"Yeah. Someone spilled their candle on the table. I can see the burn mark," she said, sighing and letting her hair drop in her face.
"This is pointless. I could be doing so many more important things," I said, picking at my fingernail polish. "So how are things with you and Oliver going?" I asked, completely ignoring the crystal ball sitting on the table.
Rosalie shrugged. "I don't know. He's sweet and everything, but I don't think we're the best match. He keeps talking about what's going to happen when he graduates. But I'm still only 13. I'm not thinking long term. I'm only thinking about what's going to happen next week," she said.
"So break up with him?" I suggested. "If you're not happy with him, then end things."
Rosalie nodded. "I think that would be best. But I'll do it after the cup. I don't want to screw everything up for the team by breaking his heart right before the big match," she said, reaching over and squeezing my hand.
"Beautiful, best friend Alice!" came a melodious voice, waking me from my sleep. I let out a sigh, rolling over in bed and looked up at Rosalie's face, her blonde curls covering my eyes.
"Rose, what do you want?" I sighed, sitting up in my bed, dressed in a large tee shirt of Jasper's.
"Look, you've been bummed ever since Jasper and Emmett left last night. I know you miss Jasper, but…"
"No, that's not it," I whispered, pulling my knees to my chest. "I'm kind of glad he went home, to be honest," I admitted.
"Glad? But, he's your boyfriend. You love him. What happened?" she asked, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
I shook my head. "I can't tell you. You're going to laugh at me."
Rosalie sighed. "I'm not going to laugh, I promise. Just tell me why you wanted Jasper to leave after you spent the last two months whining about missing him."
I sighed. "Well, we managed to find the room we used for DA practices last year—the room of whatever you want it to be or whatever it's called. And Jasper managed to turn it into this romantic bedroom. It was really very sweet. And, well, we were going to do it."
Rosalie's face went red. "Oh, Alice, I don't want to hear about your sex life."
I sighed, shaking my head. "No, that's not what this is about. We'd never been intimate before. This was going to be our first time. But as soon as he touched me, I passed out and went into another vision. A long one. He said I was out for almost half an hour. And then, well, we got in a fight about it."
"Why? I mean, it's not like you did it on purpose."
"I know I didn't, But he kept saying how he didn't know being with me required this much work and he didn't know if it was even worth it. So he slept on the floor and we didn't even speak when he left the next morning."
"What are you going to do?" she asked, looking at me.
"I don't know, Rose. I just need to think about if Jasper's really worth fighting for."
"Alice!" Rosalie hissed. "You had another flash thing, didn't you?" she asked as I tried processing what had happened. I didn't like seeing these flashes about Jasper and I fighting. I was starting to sense that there was a good possibility we were going to date at one point. I just didn't know when, and I didn't know if it would last. I didn't know how to explain that to Rosalie.
"Nothing," I said quietly as there was a slam. Both of us turned around to see Bella standing up, shoving her book into her overstuffed bag.
"Fine!" she yelled. "Fine! I give up. I'm leaving!" And, after hitting Edward with her bag, she stormed down the stairs and out of the room, everyone staring after her.
"Ooh, Professor," came Lavender Brown's voice. "You were right. Remember what you said before? 'Around Easter, one of us will leave us forever.' You meant Bella, didn't you?" she asked.
"Yes, I did. I knew Miss Swan didn't have what it takes, but I hoped I was mistaken. The Inner Eye can be a burden," she said with a dramatic sigh as Edward joined us at our table.
"First Malfoy then Trelawney—we'll be lucky if she doesn't murder someone by tonight," he said quietly, looking at the two of us.
By the time Easter came, we were all welcoming the break. Unfortunately, it wasn't as much of a break as we wanted. All of our professors gave us lots of work over the holidays, plus exams were coming soon. Everyone seemed to be feeling the stress, though no one more than Bella. She was always the first to arrive in the common room and the last to leave—most likely because she was taking more subjects than anyone else.
Edward and Rosalie, when not doing work, were looking up things for Buckbeak's appeal now that Bella had no time. They each had a stack of books and were pouring over them, looking for past cases Hagrid could use in his defense.
I had to work everything around Quidditch. Oliver had us practicing nightly in addition to hounding me everywhere I went. The match was the Saturday after holidays ended. And, as Wood reminded us before, during, and after every practice, Slytherin was ahead by two hundred points, so we needed to win by more than that to win the cup.
Which meant winning the match depended on me catching the snitch at the right time. Just what I needed, more pressure.
By the time holidays ended, the only thing everyone in the school could think about was the match, and the tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin was at its highest. Every day, there was at least one incident of a Slytherin-Gryffindor scuffle in the corridors.
That also meant I was a prime target. Everywhere I went, someone was trying to trip me. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be stalking me, though they never got within a foot of me—Oliver had ordered the entire Gryffindor house to act as my bodyguards. They had all enthusiastically risen to the cause.
Especially Jasper.
The two of us had barely spoken since the kiss. Even at practice, we avoided each other. I assumed he had just been caught up in the moment and kissed me. After all, it had been a big win. And his behavior showed that—he was embarrassed he kissed me. Not that I blamed him. Why wouldn't he be embarrassed? I was a freak, after all.
The night before the game, Wood sat us in the locker room after practice. He looked at us all and opened his mouth before closing it, shaking his head. "Get to bed," he finally said before walking out of the room, muttering to himself about different plays for tomorrow.
I grabbed my things, heading up to the common room with Angelina when someone grabbed a hold of my arm. I turned, seeing Jasper standing there. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.
I nodded to Angelina to go up without me before walking beside Jasper, the two of us heading up more slowly than the others. "What is it?" I asked quietly, looking at the ground instead of up at him.
"I wanted to apologize. For messing things up between you and Harry," he said.
I let out a sigh. "Don't be. It wasn't working out anyways. We weren't right for each other. I should have broken up with him before that," I admitted. I didn't know why, but I could talk to Jasper about things like this.
"Oh, well, I still feel bad. I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I mean, not that it wasn't nice," he added. "It was very nice," he said quietly.
I smiled a little. "Yes, it was nice," I said before pausing, grabbing his arm to stop him. He looked down at him. "Jasper, what does this mean? What are we supposed to do now?"
He bit his lip, looking down at me. "I don't know," he admitted. "I like you. I really do. But, I don't know. You're too young for me, still. I think we should stay friends for now. Good friends. May I write you this summer?" he asked.
I smiled, nodding my head. "Yes, I would like that, actually," I admitted. Though my heart ached a bit when he said I was too young still. Did that mean at some point I wouldn't be too young for him? I hoped so.
He put an arm around my shoulders, walking me back upstairs. We paused outside the portrait and he looked down at me. "Just don't get another boyfriend now, or I might have to break you two up," he joked, kissing the top of my head before giving the password and heading into the common room.
I walked in, taking a seat next to Rosalie, who was looking over at Emmett. "Sometimes, I hate him so much," she sighed.
I gave her a look. "Oh would you stop it," I sighed. "He fancies you."
She snapped her head, staring at me. "What?"
"Edward told me so. He got very jealous when he saw you snogging Oliver. But you are not to do anything until you end things with Wood," I said, giving her a look.
Rosalie nodded her head. "I know," she said. "I promise not to." She took in my anxious appearance. "Alice, relax. You'll be fine tomorrow. You have a Firebolt, after all."
"Yeah, I know," I said, my stomach churning. Everyone else seemed to be feeling the same way I was. Emmett, Fred, and George were all joking loudly, their nerves making them more outgoing than usual. Jasper was sitting by the fire, staring into it. Oliver was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. When he finally ordered us to bed, I was actually relieved.
The next morning, the team and I entered the Great Hall to applause, along with a few boos from the Slytherin table. I looked over, noticing Malfoy looking paler than normal.
I stared at the eggs on my plate, not wanting to eat them. I was sure I'd throw them right back up. Wood ran off without eating a bite, wanting to get to the pitch early to check the conditions. The rest of us left together, everyone applauding us again. Jasper grabbed my hand, squeezing it lightly.
I was finishing making the bed in Mrs. Weasley's room, placing the pillows neatly on the bed. There was a cough behind me and I turned towards the noise, seeing Jasper standing there.
"Hey," he said quietly, walking into the room with a basket of laundry.
My face went red as I saw him. "Hey," I whispered, looking at the ground. "Haven't seen you since the funeral," I murmured quietly.
Jasper walked over to me, placing the basket on the bed. "You know, I never gave you a birthday gift," he said. With a glove on his hand, he tilted my face up to his, pressing his lips against mine. The normal spark I felt when we kissed was there, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the moment.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close. I didn't stop him, placing my hands on his shoulders. He started backing me towards the bed until my legs were pressed against the edge of it when we heard a throat clear.
I pulled away and both of us looked over at the door, seeing Edward. "Mrs. Weasley wants you downstairs, Alice. Said something about the cake," he said. I nodded my head, walking away from Jasper without a second glance.
"Whoa, easy there," Jasper said, catching me as I almost fell. "You okay? You seemed to zone out there for a bit."
"I'm fine," I said, knowing I'd have to tell him eventually what was happening. Not yet. He wasn't ready to hear everything. Eventually, but not yet.
The seven of us sat in the locker room, everyone too tense to say anything. It what seemed like a minute, Wood lead us onto the pitch, all of us clutching our brooms. There was so much noise coming from the crowds, both cheers and boos. Most of the crowd was dressed in scarlet, with a section all in green.
"And here are the Gryffindors!" came Lee's voice. "Brandon, Johnson, Cullen, Whitlock, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood!" he said, the crowd cheering."Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a few years—" he started, but was met by boos from the Slytherins. "And here come the Slytherins, let by Captain Marcus Flint. He seems to be going for size rather than skill." More boos.
Though Lee was right. With the exception of Malfoy, every Slytherin player was enormous. "Captains, shake hands!" came Madam Hooch's voice. Wood and Flint took each other's hand, both seemingly trying to break the other's fingers. "Mount your brooms. Three…two…one…" then the whistle.
I pushed off the ground, flying into the air. I took one look around before flying off, Malfoy following me closely.
"Gryffindor in possession, Jasper Whitlock with the Quaffle," Lee said. I paid close attention to his commentary of the game. I had to wait to catch the snitch until we were more than fifty points ahead. And I had to make sure Malfoy didn't catch it, too.
"He's heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts—looking good—NO! Quaffle intercepted by Warrington of Slytherin, now heading back towards the Gryffindor goal posts—ooh, nice Bludget hit by George Weasley—Angelina Johnson in possession—SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO GRYFFINDOR!" he shouted.
I smiled, giving her a thumbs up. She punched the air victoriously—
"OUCH!"
Angelina nearly fell off her broom as Flint flew straight into her. "Sorry!" he said to a mass of boos. "Didn't see her," he said, smirking.
A second later, Fred threw his Beater's club at the back of Flint' head.
"Enough!" Madam Hooch shrieked. "Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser. Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate harm to their Chaser!"
"Oh come on!" Fred yelled, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle in his face.
Emmett flew forward to take the shot, scoring easily. Wood then blocked Slytherin's shot. We were up, twenty-zero. I smiled, flying around with Malfoy still on my tail.
Jasper flew up the field with the Quaffle, which was stolen by Slytherin, then stolen again by Emmett. "Cullen with possession of the Quaffle, heading towa—THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"
Montague had swerved in front of Emmett and grabbed his head, causing him to drop the Quaffle. Madam Hooch blew her whistle, awarding Gryffindor another penalty. Emmett scored easily.
"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT YOU LOUSY, CHEATING—"
"Jordan, if you cannot comment in an unbiased way—"
"I'm just telling it how it is, Professor!"
I felt my heart skip a beat as I saw the snitch, floating by the one Gryffinor goal post. But I couldn't catch it yet, we were only thirty points ahead. Instead, I flew in the other direction so Malfoy wouldn't see it.
I felt a gust of wind as a Bludger sailed past my right ear, then the same on my left. I could sense the Slytherin Beaters flying on either side of me, ready to strike me down.
I flew straight up, hearing a crunching sound as they collided with one another. I did a small victory spin, grinning. It would take more than that to beat the Firebolt.
Angelina had the Quaffle and was streaking up the pitch with Flint following her closely. "Poke him in the eye," Lee said. "It was a joke, Professor. Oh no, Flint in possession. Come on, Wood, save—"
There was a cheer from the Slytherins as Flint scored. Lee swore so loudly that Professor McGonagall had to tug the microphone away from him.
"Sorry, Professor. Won't happen again. Gryffindor leading thirty to ten and in possession."
This was easily the dirtiest game I had ever seen. Slytherin, furious that we had taken an early lead, was using any method to get the Quaffle. Bole hit Jasper with his club and claimed he thought she was a Bludger, causing Emmett to elbow Bole in the nose in retaliation. Madam Hooch gave both teams penalties, and Wood blocked the shot, putting us ahead forty-ten.
Jasper scored. Fifty-ten. Fred and George followed him closly, keeping an eye out for any Slytherins who would want to take revenge on him. Derrick and Bole used their absence to aim both Bludgers at Wood, causing him to roll over in the air, completely winded.
I heard a gasp from the stands and looked down, seeing Rosalie looking up at Oliver with concern. Maybe she really did care about him? I'd think about that later. I had to keep my head in the game.
"YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KEEPER UNLESS THE QUAFFLE IS WITHIN THE SCORING AREA!" Madam Hooch shouted. "Gryffindor penalty."
Jasper scored again. George aimed a Bludger at Warrington, causing him to drop the Quaffle. Emmett seized it and scored, putting us ahead seventy-ten.
We were more than fifty points ahead. If I got the snitch now, we would win the cup. Everyone in Gryffindor knew that—they were getting louder and louder after Emmett scored.
And then I saw it. The snitch was sparkling twenty feet above me. I put on a burst of speed and reached my hand out, but the Firebolt was slowing down.
I turned around and looked horrified at Malfoy. He'd grabbed the tail of my broom, holding me back. "You…you…" I gasped, too mad to form a sentence.
Malfoy smirked at me as the crowd booed him. He'd accomplished what he wanted—the snitch had disappeared. I wanted to hit him, to cause him as much pain as possible, but I couldn't reach him.
"Penalty!" Madam Hooch yelled. "Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics!"
"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee was shouting, holding the microphone out of Professor McGonagall's reaching. "YOU FILTHY, CHEATING—"
Professor McGonagall didn't bother to tell Lee off for cursing. She was too busy shaking her finger and shouting at Malfoy herself.
Angelina took the penalty, but she was so mad, she missed. Our team was losing concentration, which only made the Slytherins happier.
"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for the goal, Montague scores. Seventy-twenty to Gryffindor."
I was marking Malfoy so closely that our knees were touching. If he even breathed in the direction of the snitch, I would know.
"Jasper Whitlock with the Quaffle. Come on, Jasper. COME ON!"
I looked around, seeing every Slytherin player heading to the Slytherin goal. They were going to block Jasper's shot…
With a burst of speed, I sped toward them, watching them all scatter and giving Jasper a free shot, which he easily scored.
"HE SCORES! Gryffindor leads eighty-twenty."
And then I saw it. Malfoy was diving with a triumphant look on his face. He saw the snitch. I flattened against my broom handle, speeding off towards him. I ducked as a Bludger sailed past my ear. I was at his ankles, at his ear…
"Come on," I whispered, urging the broom forward. I reached my arm out, knocking Malfoy's out of the way. I grabbed it, tumbling to the ground. "Yes!" I laughed, holding the snitch in the air to the cheers from the Gryffindors.
Wood was the first one to get to me. He hopped off his broom when it was still in the air, pulling me to my feet and hugged me, sobbing. We were joined by the rest of the team, all pulling me into a big group hug.
"We did it!" Emmett shouted. "We won the cup!" I was lifted up into the air by him as everyone was shouting. Rosalie, Bella, and Edward were all running towards us, a look of excitement in their eyes. I saw McGonagall wiping her eyes on a large Gryffindor flag, all dignity lost.
I saw Wood lift Rosalie into the air and give her a kiss. Fred and George seemed to be too excited to even care while Emmett put me on his shoulders, walking over to Dumbledore, who was holding the cup.
And as a sobbing Wood passed me the cup, I wished there was a demetor around. I could have made the world's best patronus right then.