Yu Nishinoya and the Shrieking Shack

by Killthespares

In general, it's almost always a bad idea to give Hogwarts students a device that controls time. In other news, Noya acquires a terrifying new animal interest, Kuroo attempts to balance politics and school work, and Yachi gets suspicious. Oh, also, someone might be trying to kill Hinata but what else is new... Third story in series. Contains Slash.

15. The Quidditch Semi-Final

Hinata hated this so much.

A week and he was barely alone long enough to go to the bathroom!

Don't get him wrong, he loved his friends-really-but he felt like he was going to go insane if everyone didn't quit worrying over him.

Luckily, he had a plan.

Un-luckily, it was a secret plan-a super practically perfect plan that unfortunately the rest of them absolutely could not know about! Which meant said plan was nearly impossible to carry out.

"And see, if you hold your knife a bit to the side," Suga said softly, angling his knife just so to show Hinata, "it makes it so much easier to slice thinly into the Doxy spleen which is just great for getting it to absorb into the potion faster."

Hinata dutifully took notes while beside him, Daichi gazed at his boyfriend adoringly-which was impressive considering Suga was still slicing up the spleen.

Suga blushed. "It makes a really great tonic for pixie bites, too."

"And gnomes," Daichi added. "Different recipe, though."

"Really," Suga asked, looking up from under his lashes, and Hinata had to wonder for at least the twelfth time this lesson if conversations like this could actually count as flirting.

"Definitely," Daichi didn't look away, "Mom always keeps some on hand for gardening."

"You'll have to show me the recipe sometime. I'd love to try it. "

"I can do that. I'm sure you'll get it no time, though, what with how good Nekomata says you are at Healing."

Suga tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. "Flatterer, I'm not that good."

"That's not what Asahi says." Daichi grinned.

He laughed. "Actually, Asahi's far better at it than me. Not that he believes me."

"Maybe, but I bet you're a lot prettier to watch." Daichi winked and Suga blushed again, smiling widely.

Hinata shook his head, packing up the last of his things.

He was starting to think he should never fall in love. It made everyone too weird and frankly, Hinata wasn't sure why.

Suga cleared his throat, turning back to Hinata. "So, that should be all you need for Irihata's next test. Don't forget to go over the stirring rotations for the Shrinking Potion, alright?"

"Got it," Hinata said, giving him a thumbs up.

Daichi ruffled his hair. "And don't let Irihata trip you up with that trick question he has on Doxycide, okay? That's how he got me."

Suga hid a smile as the three walked to the door. "Not still bitter, are you?"

"Eternally," Daichi teased. "I take it you got a perfect score?"

"Near perfect," Suga admitted lightly.

"Of course," Daichi said and there was another of those heavier-than-they-really-needed-to-be looks between the two while Hinata waited in boredom, glancing down the hall.

Hmm, there was a shot…

Daichi and Suga still looked fairly lost in whatever moment so Hinata took his chance. He cleared his throat. "Well, I guess I'll just go and-"

He barely made it a step before the pair moved and two separate hands snapped out to grab each of his shoulders.

Daichi raised an eyebrow. "And just where do you think you're heading alone?"

Hinata made a pained noise. "Oh, come on, the Great Hall's barely two minutes away!"

"Then , it won't be any trouble for us to walk you," Suga finished sweetly.

Hinata's shoulders slumped.

"You have the Invisibility Cloak, right," Suga fussed over him and Hinata dully held up the cloak for Suga's inspection.

"Good." Suga nodded. "Keep it on until we get to the Hall, alright? I'll cast a Notice Me Not Charm on you."

Hinata thought about making another argument but one quelling look from Daichi and the words died on his tongue.

He gave up. He wouldn't be alone for a single second until he died of old age.

Somehow, despite what he said, Hinata felt absolutely sure Oikawa would not have behaved the same had their situations been reversed.

Resigned, he slumped along between Suga and Daichi-a dejected, invisible mass-and thought that at least the Quidditch game was that weekend.

Suga and Daichi walked him straight to the Great Hall before pointing him in the direction of Yachi and Kageyama's table.

Suga leaned next to him. "The Notice Me Not Charm should make sure no one sees you pull off the cloak; but, be careful, alright?"

Hinata nodded before remembering they couldn't see him and adding on a "Will do."

"Stay safe," Daichi warned before finally the two left him to find their own seats while Hinata unnoticed made it to his own table, scanning the hall as he did.

Hinata paused.

In a far corner of the Great Hall was a single figure, wrapped up in a bronze and blue scarf and sitting quietly with a book open in his hands.

And it was exactly the figure Hinata needed to see.

Blessing fate or destiny or whatever cosmic force there was behind Divination, Hinata all but ran to the table and fell down to the seat.

"AKAASHI!"

Akaashi jumped, eyes going up and then through Hinata, mouth turning down into a confused frown.

"It's me," Hinata said, quickly lowering his voice, "I'm invisible!"

Akaashi blinked. "Hinata?"

"Yeah," Hinata breathed out in relief, "thank Merlin, you found me! I thought I'd never get a chance to see you alone! How'd you know I needed to talk to you? Was it like a vision or a prophecy or..."

Akaashi winced. "Um, I didn't-"

"Anyway," Hinata waved him off, "not important. The important thing is apparently someone's trying to kill me."

"I know." The psychic nodded.

Hinata's eyes flashed. "You saw it?!"

"Bokuto told me," Akaashi finished.

"Oh….okay." He paused. "So, who is it?"

"What?"

"Who's trying to kill me," Hinata pressed. "You have to know, right? I mean you knew about Sora and the Founders' Tasks and you even helped with the basilisk, so you have to know about this, yeah? I mean I know you don't really like to interfere with things because then it makes the visions less clear or something; but, if it's only this, that's fine, right? You can just tell me who it is and then I'll tell the others and I won't mention you or anything so-"

"I don't know who it is," Akaashi interrupted.

Hinata stared and Akaashi met his eyes.

"Huh? But what about your visions? You've had to see something!"

Akaashi looked back down at his book. If Hinata didn't know better, he'd even say the other boy was blushing.

"My visions have been….," Akaashi paused, looking like he was internally debating, "malfunctioning, I suppose. It's been happening all year."

"Your visions are broken!" Hinata yelled, quickly shushed by Akaashi. "But, you're a psychic! How does that even work? Wait, does that mean like the future is broken or something?"

"I sincerely doubt the future is 'broken'," Akaashi deadpanned before sighing. "I don't know why it's happening. It's strange. Normally, I get scenes, pictures at least. Things that I can make sense of even if they don't all come from the same time line. But, now? It's like it's changing too fast. The futures are muddling together and I can't make out which is which."

Hinata swallowed. "But, that's like….really bad, yeah? It can't be a good thing if you don't even know the future."

"I'm hoping it passes," Akaashi said quietly.

"You said it's been going on all year and you don't even know why!"

Akaashi didn't say anything.

"What if you told someone," Hinata suggested. "Like Professor Nekomata! I bet he could figure it out! Or maybe Bokuto-"

"No," Akaashi interrupted immediately, hard enough for Hinata to flinch. Akaashi sighed, lowering his voice back to normal. "I'll figure it out somehow. We don't need to tell anyone."

"...okay," Hinata agreed reluctantly.

Akaashi gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Hinata, I'd...I'd help if I could. I promise."

"I understand."

Hinata mentally kissed goodbye to the best plan he had of getting out of this easily. It looked like he was stuck on monitoring duty forever.

ooooooo

Asahi didn't like to make things difficult.

If pressed, the larger teen would say that was pretty much his defining trait and why he made such an absolutely atrocious Gryffindor.

Asahi preferred being quiet. He liked settling into the background even as he despaired over the fact that, because of his size, that was practically impossible. He liked playing things safe and waiting-hopefully, long enough that the danger would simply pass by.

He didn't like danger. He didn't like trouble.

And, most of all, he hated when people were hurt.

Across from him, Noya laughed cheerfully. "It's just a scratch, Asahi! Quit being all frown-y!"

Asahi didn't say anything, holding Noya's wrist carefully as he examined the scrape along the arm.

It's not as if it was a big cut or anything. The faint signs of blood were already wiped away by the time Noya had come to Asahi.

Still…

With his free hand, Noya poked at Asahi's frown before moving onto his chin and tilting it up until he was meeting Noya's eyes.

Noya grinned. "Come on, a quick Episkey and it'll be good as new."

Things were never good as new. Even when mended, even when healed, the hurt still happened. The scab had still bled. The skin had still protested abuse in blackish purple.

Healing could erase the signs; it would never erase the past.

Asahi didn't need a class to teach him that.

"It could still get infected even with Episkey," Asahi said instead, voice quiet. "One second, I think I have a tonic in my bag."

Noya hummed in assent. "Always taking care of me, Asahi."

Asahi knew he was blushing, even worse as he started spreading the potion along Noya's arm, watching as the scrapes faded and sunk back into unmarked skin.

Noya beamed at him.

"My hero, slayer of bruises and abrasions everywhere," Noya teased. "See, Asahi, you saved me already. Keeping me safe yet again."

Always, If you let me.

He bit his lip before the words rushed out. As if his crush wasn't pathetically obvious already.

He cleared his throat. "Maybe no more flying through the Forbidden Forest, then?"

"Or at least keeping to the bigger clearings." Noya laughed again. "I swear, Asahi, that tree came out of nowhere! Good thing I stayed on my broom, yeah?"

"You should be more careful," Asahi said, trying hard to keep the worry out of his tone.

Noya winked. "Aren't I always?"

"No," Asahi said bluntly.

Noya...he...he was never careful. Always running into things with a bright smile, an open hand, and an absolute assurance that he was doing the right thing.

Asahi loved him for it. He adored him for it, like watching the power of a thunderstorm rolling through a valley, blowing everything away fast enough that even the sun couldn't catch it.

It terrified him.

Because what if...what if one day, the storm tore Noya apart, too. What if one day, the danger that Noya chased bit back.

What if Asahi couldn't keep him safe.

After all, he never had before. Asahi had never been able to stop the cuts, all he could manage was bandaging Noya after.

Asahi let go of Noya's wrist. "You should get to the pitch. The game's soon; Captain Akari's going to be wondering where you are."

"Oh…," Noya cleared his throat, looking sheepish. "Um, right. Thanks, Asahi."

Noya bounced back to his feet, sending Asahi a cheerful wave even as he held his previously injured arm still close to his chest. "See you after the game, okay?"

Asahi nodded. "Good luck!"

He watched as Noya left.

Asahi didn't like to make things difficult.

If pressed, he'd say that was his defining trait.

But...maybe, if they pressed just a little bit harder, Asahi would say something entirely different.

Because, above everything, Asahi wanted to see Noya smile, happy and most importantly safe. He just wished Noya made the last part easier.

He sighed, looking up at the rolling clouds.

It was impossible to stop a storm.

ooooooo

Matsukawa and Hanamaki collapsed on the bench and Oikawa restrained an eye twitch.

"Miscreants," he greeted.

"Tooru," Makki returned with a grin,

Matsu just snickered. "Who says 'miscreant' anymore! You're like an old man!"

"Aww, don't bother him, Matsu," Makki pouted. "Can't you see he's working?"

Oikawa looked up suspiciously.

Matsu nodded, smile dropping. "You're absolutely right, Makki, my dear chum. How inconsiderate we're being."

"Rude, even," Makki agreed.

"Downright despicable."

"Atrocious, really."

Oikawa sat down his book. "Fine, what do you two want?"

"Nothing much," Makki said brightly. "Say, what's a good book for illusion charms?"

Oikawa narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Because Makki and I are utterly dedicated students and exemplars of our House," Makki deadpanned. "It's for our end up the year prank. What do you think?"

"You're starting early," Oikawa commented.

Makki shrugged. "Technically, we already started either really, really early or kind of late, actually. Depends on your perspective."

Oikawa's suspicion rose at least thirty percent. "Wait, is this the same prank the reason you two were practically quiet last semester? Don't lie, I've thought about it. If you were just doing it to irritate me, you'd stop after a week, not a month."

"Book?" Matsu smiled innocently, absolutely refusing to answer.

Oikawa sighed, obediently pulling out some parchment and scribbling down a few titles. "Why ask me?"

"Because you've read practically half the library and we've never seen you with a zit in five years." Makki flicked Oikawa's nose. "Not too mention your abysmal sleeping habits. No way you're not using an illusion charm."

"It's just a good skin care routine," Oikawa muttered darkly as both Matsu and Makki sent him twin disbelieving looks. He huffed. "How likely is it that this prank annoys me?"

"Annoys you?" Matsu taped his chin in consideration. "Fairly low, actually."

Makki picked some imaginary lint off his shoulder. "We've decided to annoy the administration for once. Call it our end of the year gift!"

"How considerate." Oikawa rolled his eyes. "Don't get expelled, finding new roommates is a bother."

Matsu cooed. "Ha, look who cares!"

"No, no, remember, Matsu, we're not bothering him right now," Makki grinned. "After all, look how tense he is!"

Oikawa pointedly turned back to his book.

"So true," Matsu agreed. "Say, Makki, do you think it's Arithmancy?"

"Possibly," Makki considered. "But, no, I bet it's wandless magic!

Matsu laughed. "Fair point, I heard he caught a desk on fire!"

"I heard it was the room!" Makki tilted his head. "So, what about it, Oikawa, is it the wandless magic?"

Oikawa didn't deign to answer.

Matsu hummed. "Or is it that stupid bet with Kuroo?"

"Or is it about the boggarts in the woods," Makki pressed.

"Or that Miki dumped you?"

"Or is it about the time turner?"

"Or is it the Ministry committee?"

"Or is it that someone's trying to kill Hinata?"

Oikawa threw up his hands, expression a mix between bewildered and aggravated. "Seriously?! How do you two know about that stuff?!"

Matsu patted his back, conciliatory. "We're pranksters! It's our job to know everything!"

Oikawa slammed his head on the table.

He tried to reassure himself that they still didn't know about the basilisk from last year.

...Probably.

It was 80 to 20 odds, at least.

ooooooo

"The Quidditch Semi-Finals."

There was a flash of lightning, illuminating the solemness of Bokuto's expression while throwing the other half into sharp contrast as thunder echoed around him.

"As you all know, Gryffindor has the same record as us-one win against Slytherin and a loss against Ravenclaw. Which means this game is our first step at redemption." Bokuto's hand clenched into a fist. "Our one moment, our chance! This is the day we stand tall and reclaim our victory!"

He turned, Quidditch robes sweeping dramatically around him.

"So, my mighty Hufflepuff team, let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt."

The team stared.

"So cool!" Hinata said, practically vibrating in excitement. Beside him, Kageyama nodded, looking close to awestruck.

"Wow." Futakuchi frowned. "That was...actually kind of poetic."

Koki smiled. "That's because he stole it from 'The Art of War'."

Futakuchi's head jerked, turning to glare at Bokuto. "Hey, wait-"

"So," Bokuto continued blithely, "the winner of this match gets their rematch against Kur-er, Ravenclaw for the final. And we know Gryffindors a tough team, but, I think-"

"When did you even read 'Art of War'," Futakuchi interrupted, not to be deterred.

Bokuto blinked. "It's Akaashi's favorite book."

Futakuchi's jaw dropped, shooting a decided look to where the Ravenclaw was sitting peacefully at the side of the locker room.

"Your favorite book is 'The Art of War'?!"

Akaashi shrugged.

"That and Machiavelli's stuff," Bokuto dismissed, "Anyway, Gryffindor's a good team; but, so are we! We've worked hard, we've made good plans, and we've beaten them before. All we gotta do now is make sure we beat them again."

The team nodded with varying levels of enthusiasm, all except for Futakuchi, who was still twisting to look at his team. "Are we really going to ignore how terrifying Akaashi is?"

Bokuto turned to Hinata. "Hinata, same plan as before, right?"

Hinata shot him a thumbs up. "Don't die!"

Futakuchi face palmed.

"I hate this team," he muttered.

Aone patted his back comfortingly.

ooooooo

Akari Hayadeisu, seventh year captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, looked out at her team with pride and barely suppressed fondness.

Her team.

On one side of the locker room, Daichi had his arms crossed and his glare steadily intensifying as Noya tried feebly to explain exactly why he was late to practice. Akari vaguely caught the words 'flying' and 'Forbidden Forest' before she purposefully tuned out for her further sanity.

Besides, she had full trust that Daichi would handle it as always. She wondered if he realized yet they were grooming him for captain?

Near them, their two Beaters-Tanaka and their former reserve member, Kamasaki-were talking animatedly while swinging their bats with the kind of carelessness Akari swore she never saw from other team's Beaters.

Their new primary reserve member, Ennoshita, looked like he was having a much more peaceful chat with Michimiya, the youngest of the team's Chasers.

There was a peacefulness here in the chaos. Even as the storm beat right outside, the warm thrum of anticipation beat through the locker room.

Her twin sister Niko came up to punch her shoulder.

"Hey," Niko said, voice too low for the others to hear, "quit giving them that look. We've still got Ravenclaw to beat. This isn't our last game, trust me."

"That so," Akari asked.

Niko nodded, grinning fiercely. "I won't let it be."

Akari laughed. "Well, then, I guess I better give a pretty killer speech, huh?"

Niko rolled her eyes, making a shooing gesture.

Yeah, Akari thought again as she stepped forward with a smile. Her team.

At least for a little while longer.

ooooooo

There was something about this game.

It wasn't the terrifying, cold of the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff game. But, still, there was the beat of the thunder behind them, making the player's fly just a little bit faster as their hearts beat in tune. The players were all soaked to the bone, the lightning flashing against determined faces even as the booming sound could almost be mistaken for cheering.

It wasn't the annoyance and disdain that came with playing Slytherin. But, still, there was that fierce sort of competition. More than a want; but, a need to win, the desire to push just a little bit harder and fly just a little bit faster.

Most of all, what made the difference wasn't the storm and it wasn't the competition.

The game was fun!

Hinata swooped down across the field, laughing as he caught the swing of Kageyama's last throw.

Tanaka grinned, smacking a Bludger down to him just as quick.

"Eep!" Hinata threw the Quaffle up, dodging the Bludger by an inch.

Koki swung down to catch the Quaffle, only to be intercepted at the last second by Michimiya.

Hinata stuck his tongue out at Tanaka, the later winking before both flew back down to the other side of the pitch.

Futakuchi recovered faster, hitting a Bludger at Michimiya, who gracefully swerved out of the way before throwing the Quaffle back to Niko.

Aone's next Bludger missed the Gryffindor Chaser by millimeters and Niko grinned sharply, almost to the goal before-

Mad Dog and Noya both speed smack in the middle, eyes caught on a tiny glint of gold as they jostled each other to get ahead.

Niko swerved back, swearing as she barely avoided ramming into them, and Futakuchi's Bludger hit at just the right second as she lost her grip of the Quaffle.

Kageyama caught it out from under her and, for a moment, Hinata couldn't tell if it was the cheers of the crowd or the boom of thunder echoing around the Quidditch pitch.

Hinata didn't wait to watch Kageyama's eye-he didn't need to-flying nimbly across the field, ducking in and out to avoid Tanaka and Kamasaki.

He closed his eyes against the rain, focusing on instinct and the rush of the wind against his soaked robes.

And, for a second, with his eyes shut tight as he waited with absolute surety for Kageyama's toss, Hinata thought back to his very first game three years ago and Kageyama's voice ringing in his ears.

"Don't look for it, just be there!"

Just like he knew it would, the Quaffle smacked into Hinata's glove as if drawn by a magnet and Hinata grinned as he swerved up to the goals.

He ducked a Bludger without looking before throwing at the goal, the Quaffle barely squeezing by before Daichi could get there.

"TEN POINTS HUFFLEPUFF! THAT'S HUFFLEPUFF FIFTY TO GRYFFINDOR TWENTY!"

He let out a breath, catching Kageyama already preparing somewhere in his periphery.

Hinata gripped down on his broom, readying as Daichi retrieved the Quaffle.

Three years. And still so much more to go.

Hinata couldn't wait.

ooooooo

Noya freaking loved Quidditch!

The Snitch dove sharply enough that it all but dropped from the air.

Noya pushed down on his broom, using every inch of his weight to push it down, down, down and faster, faster!

Beside him, Noya felt a gust of wind and the spray of water as Mad Dog did the same as once more, they were off-neck and neck, chasing the snitch as it wove between the other players.

If there was one bad part about being Seeker it was this, as soon as Noya caught the Snitch, the game was over. Noya hated that part. If it was up to him, the game would last forever or, because Asahi would probably give him a sad look if it was literally forever, then at least until everyone got too exhausted to play.

With barely a twitch, the Snitch twisted back up into the sky and Noya pulled up, ducking around Kamasaki at the last moment, to follow the Snitch up into the clouds.

The clouds burst around him, fast enough that Noya couldn't tell what was thunder and what was heartbeat.

His eyes darted around, trying to find the trace of gold; but, there was nothing except the deep grey of storm clouds.

Mad Dog stopped, too, letting out a cross between a growl and a grunt. Noya grinned back in a moment of Mutual Seeker Telepathy.

Next time, Noya promised.

Mad Dog growled again, pushing back down through the clouds in the direction of the field below.

Noya hesitated.

Around him, lightning crackled in a way that Noya could feel running up his bones and made him momentarily wish that their brooms weren't charmed to ward off electricity.

He bit down on a grin. Asahi would probably hate that thought, too, the big worry wart.

On his arm, the slightly tender newly patched skin was stuck down with the chilled dampness in a way that was almost soothing.

Noya shook his head, aiming his broom back down to the clouds.

Okay, he thought in the middle of the storm, be watching, Asahi, because this next catch is for you.

ooooooo

Bokuto dived for the left goal.

He wasn't fast enough, not with the rain, the Quaffle slid off his fingers before he could get a hold on it, but maybe…

There wasn't time to think, he just pushed his fingers just a bit more, focusing on pushing rather than catching just enough…

The Quaffle redirected, hitting off the outer ring of the goal rather than falling through and Bokuto all but beamed at Niko's swears.

He dove down to recover the Quaffle, catching it and twisting it before he could even get a firm grip so it pulled back up to Kageyama.

"MISSED GOAL!" The announcer's voice rang out over the storm. "HUFFLEPUFF'S CAPTAIN STOPS GRYFFINDOR CHASERS TO KEEP THE SCORE AT HUFFLEPUFF SEVENTY TO GRYFFINDOR FIFTY!"

Bokuto grinned, flying protectively around his goals as Gryffindor tried to pull off a last second interception, Michimiya barely touching the Quaffle before it was aimed to the right.

Bokuto hit it back with the back end of his broom, realizing his mistake at the last second as Akari caught it on the rebound and hit it to the left.

"GOAL FOR GRYFFINDOR! SEVENTY TO SIXTY!"

He grumbled as he retrieved the Quaffle, throwing it back into play to Koki, who managed to toss it successfully off to Kageyama.

Bokuto sat ready on his broom and focused, waving good-natured at the wink Akari threw him.

"Getting tired that easy," the Gryffindor captain teased him.

Bokuto laughed and Akari took off down the field.

Bokuto pressed his lips firm to stop from smiling, resolving here and now that he would never let another Quaffle get by him in his entire life.

ooooooo

Tanaka hit the Bludger with a loud smack! that reverberated down his arm like a canon.

It still wasn't fast enough to catch the bright orange and yellow blur, sweeping down the field in a way that almost defied gravity.

Kamasaki was breathing heavily beside him. "I really thought you were exaggerating that he was that hard to catch!"

Tanaka shrugged.

Privately, in a way he was never admitting even to Noya, he kinda sort of maybe understood the stunned kind of hero-worship Nao showed around his hero.

Without a shred of doubt, Hinata was the absolutely most infuriating player Tanaka had ever played against with the only close second-

"I swear they're not even looking at each other," Kamasaki despaired, just as Kageyama threw what looked like blindly across to Hinata in a place Tanaka would swear the smaller boy wasn't anywhere close a second ago.

"That's because they're probably not," Tanaka said, letting out a half laugh.

Kamasaki shot him a look like he was crazy.

Tanaka didn't have time to answer, pulling down and moving on reflex to hit the Bludger back, actually managing to knock the Quaffle outside of Hinata's hands and into Michimiya's.

He pulled back up to Kamasaki with a grin. "You get used to it!"

"Why couldn't they be Gryffindors," Kamasaki moaned a bit desperately.

Tanaka looked at him seriously. "I ask myself that every match."

Any continued conversation was momentarily delayed as Bokuto caught the hit from Niko and the Quaffle was thrown back to Kageyama.

Tanaka bit back on a moan as Kageyama threw the ball seemingly at random only for Hinata to duck down behind to grab it.

Truly, no one understood the sheer craziness that came with blocking the Hufflepuff team.

ooooooo

There was a flash of gold, almost invisible with the weight of the clouds and Kyotani dove.

Kyotani, the resident Mad Dog of Hufflepuff, wasn't the type to get lost in his head so he just moved-eyes targeted solely on the slight glint like a pit bull's grip on a frayed rope.

Beside him, he felt more than saw another presence pulling beside him; but, it didn't matter.

All that mattered for Kyotani was the chase for the small golden ball and the whip of yellow and black uniforms all around him.

ooooooo

For my seniors!

Michimiya rushed forward, pulled back, dove down, shot up, pushed herself further and faster and more and greater and lost everything in the absolute rush of the next second of the game.

It didn't matter if they won. Not really. Definitely not for her, she was only a fifth year, she had more years ahead.

But, this could be her Niko and Akari's last game-her fellow Chasers, her seniors.

Michimiya grit her teeth and held onto her broom.

And Merlin help anyone who believed she wouldn't give it her all!

ooooooo

In the end, the game went like this….

The score was one hundred to eighty with Hufflepuff in the lead.

Akari threw off to her sister Niko, who aimed for the goal just one more time.

Bokuto swerved down, almost slamming into the goal in his quest to catch it.

Michimiya held her breath, waiting.

Bokuto intercepted it barely, tossing it back up to be caught by Koki.

Kamasaki hit a Bludger towards Koki.

Koki threw behind him to Kageyama.

Akari and Michimiya dove to intercept.

Kageyama tossed blindly across the field.

Diving to pick up Kamasaki's Bludger, Tanaka hit it with everything he had.

SLAM!

The Bludger hit into the Quaffle, throwing it off course and dropping quick.

Skimming millimeters from the grass, Niko intercepted it and pulled up.

Futakuchi's Bludger nearly knocked her off of her broom and the Quaffle went up!

Hinata grabbed it out of the air, racing to the goal posts.

Akari swerved up beside him, trying to cut off his path.

Aone moved in front of them, dividing them and cutting off Akari.

Daichi let out a breath, already moving to the left where Hinata was aiming.

Hinata threw the Quaffle at the goal.

A whistle blow screeched across the pitch.

All players stopped.

Except for one.

And, standing proudly on the ground, a single player held up a closed fist and opened his hand to the crowds. In his palm laid a bright gold ball rested easily, folding up faint golden wings.

"GRYFFINDOR'S SEEKER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! FINAL SCORE: TWO HUNDRED TO ONE HUNDRED POINTS! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

Noya grinned.

It was….a really good game.

ooooooo

A/N: Hey, guys, bit of a different style for the Quidditch game this chapter so hope you enjoyed :) Next Chapter: Less Than Invincible Post Date: Feb. 23/24th (full disclosure: I'm out of town next week on my major writing days so this might throw the schedule off some; still planning for the usual two week date though)