Chapter 23
The holidays went far too quickly for Marian's liking. Part of her was desperate to return to finally get into the vault, but the other part of her was all too aware of their upcoming exams. She spent a lot of time revising over the holidays, ignoring her mum's wails of despair that she always had her head stuck in a book.
She wasn't the only one to be starting to panic about the exams. Rowan only left the library now for lessons and mealtimes – she was also tutoring Barnaby twice a week, who wore an expression of terror every time the exams were mentioned. Skye wasn't much better. "If I don't pass fourth year, my dad will kill me!" she moaned to Marian as she helped her with her Charms homework. "You still need OWLs to be a professional quidditch player, you know. I don't know why!"
Murphy, who was sitting across from them, snorted, exchanging amused glances with Marian. The three of them, along with Charlie, had taken over the table furthest away from Madame Pince in the library. "There are lots of reasons why you need a brain to play quidditch, Parkin! How about healing yourself if you get injured? Or working out strategy? Or…"
"Shut it, McNully!" Skye growled. "I leave all that stuff to brainboxes like you and Marian."
"Come on," Marian said. "You can do this. Just focus on one spell at a time. Cheering charms – what is the incantation?"
"Er…" Skye glanced at Murphy for help.
"Don't look at him! Think!" Marian instructed sternly. "Think… cheering… happy…"
"Cheerio?" Skye suggested hopefully.
"'Cheerio'?" Murphy and Charlie both sniggered.
Marian glared at them. "You two are not helping! It's Exultus, Skye. Go on. Try it out."
"Try it out on Marian," Charlie said, smirking. "I think she needs cheering after tutoring you, Parkin!"
Skye rounded on him, wand drawn. "You know I'm pretty sure I remember the incantation for the leglocker curse, Weasley, and I'm about to try it out on you!"
He just chuckled and stood up, stretching. "Save it, Parkin! We need to go and have Rakepick fire spells at us for an hour or two. Come on, Cursebreaker."
The training with Rakepick had continued after the holidays. Marian was desperate for Rakepick to set a date for entering the vault, but so far she had continued to insist that they weren't yet ready. To be fair, Marian could see her point. Marian had never managed to win a duel against Rakepick, and Rakepick kept telling them that a dark wizard would not hold back the way that she was. It frequently left Marian with aches and pains from rolling about trying to dodge spells, or from being hit by them. With additional quidditch practices on top of that, Marian often felt like a walking bruise.
Today, however, Rakepick smiled at them when they finished training. "Good. Very good. You are coming on well, all three of you. You'll never feel ready to fight off dark magic, and if you are, you shouldn't. But you've made great progress."
"You're a good teacher, Madame Rakepick," Bill replied, blushing a little. "You should be our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher – you're much better than he is!"
Charlie mimed being sick behind Rakepick's back and Marian struggled not to laugh.
Rakepick raised her eyebrows. "I've thought the same thing, Weasley. Well, it is time. We'll go into the forest next week."
"What?" Marian exclaimed excitedly. "Really?"
"Yes, Baker. Really. I know you have your very important quidditch match this weekend," Rakepick said dryly. "But I don't see why we can't go next weekend. Might as well get it all over with before the exams start."
The three of them were very excited during dinner. They sat together in a huddle, heads together, discussing what they should take and what might be waiting for them. They were interrupted by a loud cough. Turning, Marian saw Murphy just behind her, his face suspicious.
"Oh," she said in surprise. "Hi."
Focusing on her, he ran a hand through his hair, looking awkward. "I – er – I was wondering if I could borrow you for a bit? I wanted to ask your advice on strategy for the match. If you're not too busy?" He scowled slightly at Bill, who returned his glare.
"No, of course not. This can wait." She turned back to the two Weasleys. "Let's meet again on Sunday, after the match! We can make our final plans then."
Charlie nodded, still looking excited. Bill narrowed his eyes at Murphy. Marian knew that he hadn't forgiven him for breaking up with and ignoring her.
Murphy led the way out of the Great Hall and Marian followed him, feeling slightly nervous. She hadn't been alone with him since their breakup in the quidditch changing rooms, six weeks before. As he made his way into the empty classroom at the bottom of the spiral staircase to Ravenclaw Tower, Marian hesitated. This place was somewhere they had come for stolen kisses. Her chest tightened at the memories.
"Marian?" he asked from inside the room, turning, his face confused as he noticed her hesitate.
Pushing the memories to one side, she followed him in. "Sorry," she muttered, feeling her face start to heat up. Didn't he ever think about it? Did he wonder what might have been if they hadn't broken up? Did he regret it at all?
He rolled out a large piece of parchment across one of the empty desks. "So. Slytherin."
"Big, scary, mean people on fast broomsticks?" Marian shot him a smile. "I think I know who you're talking about."
He chuckled. "Well, quite. I've calculated it, and they are on average 0.9% taller than our team, and 1.8% broader."
"Anthony must be bringing our average down," Marian quipped.
"He is actually," he replied, grinning. "Him and you!"
"Hey – I grew about a foot last summer!" Marian reminded him. "And they must be at least 68% meaner."
"Well, it's hard to calculate meanness. It's quite subjective."
"You could calculate the average number of fouls they commit?"
"Twelve, believe it or not."
"Twelve?" Marian gaped at him. "Are you serious?"
He laughed at her astonishment. "Yes! They really are quite a mean bunch. Those beaters, in particular."
Marian groaned. "Merlin's pants! OK – strategy?"
Murphy tapped his quill against his face. "They're always on the offensive. Their defences are poor."
"I noticed that," Marian said excitedly. "In the match against Hufflepuff! I mean, I missed the game against Gryffindor, but…" She trailed off as she remembered the reasons why she'd missed that particular game. She'd been in the hospital wing with Murphy.
"Yes, well…" Murphy raised his eyebrows and Marian realised he knew what she was thinking about. "From what I heard, it was a similar story. They're constantly on the lookout for how to attack and how to weaken the other team, but they're a little bit arrogant as a team, I would say. They have good brooms – lots of rich parents there – so they're quite fast. They're not the best communicators but they have practised a lot, so their teamwork isn't bad."
"So what are you thinking?" Marian asked, chewing on a fingernail as she tried to think like him.
"Play to our strengths – our attack is good and their defence is bad. But more than that – we need to be ruthless! We need to take no prisoners because they certainly won't!"
"And what? Will we do what Hufflepuff did? Protect Anthony with our beaters?" Marian frowned. "That worked for them."
"It did," Murphy replied slowly. "It might have made Slytherin reconsider though. They might think they should focus their attack on you three. It's hard to tell at the moment. I'm still trying to work out the exact likelihood."
Marian gestured at the parchment. "What's all this then? Talk me through it."
They spent over an hour poring over Murphy's strategy, with him prodding the little figures across the parchment and Marian asking questions. Occasionally Murphy would nod and score something out or change something. Eventually, though, Marian yawned. "Sorry, Murph – do you mind if we carry on with this tomorrow? I'm exhausted!"
"Of course!" He said quickly, rolling up the parchment and stowing it in his bag. "I forgot – you were training before this, weren't you? With Rakepick?"
Marian nodded but didn't expand on this. While they were talking about quidditch, it almost felt as if nothing had changed between them. It had been nice, but she couldn't forget that it was Rakepick and Snape and the vaults that had come between them in the first place.
"How is it going?" Murphy asked, either not picking up on the fact that Marian didn't want to speak about it, or choosing to ignore this. "Everything with the vaults, I mean?"
"Fine," Marian said quickly. "Just – yeah, it's all going fine."
Murphy peered at her for a moment, then obviously decided to keep going. "You've had the arrowhead for a while – when are you planning to go into the forest?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Soon. We've been practising our defensive spells with Rakepick, as you must have gathered."
"Good," he replied, nodding. Marian must have looked sceptical, because he continued, "I mean it. I'm glad you're preparing properly. Even if it is with Rakepick."
Marian tried to smile. "I'm pleased you approve." It came across sounding slightly sarcastic, though.
He sighed, reaching out a hand as if to touch her, but thinking better of it. "I just – look, I know we're not going out anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't still care about you. Just be careful, all right?"
Marian nodded, not trusting herself to speak. There were so many things she wanted to say, and she didn't think she could vocalise any of them. After a minute, as they were about to head out of the classroom, she caught his arm. "Murphy?"
"Yes?" he asked quickly, stopping.
"I'm sorry. I really am." Her voice was quiet. "For not trusting you, I mean. For what it's worth, I trusted you more than anyone else. I think that's why I went a bit mental when I thought… I didn't think I could trust anyone. But I should've realised you wouldn't do that. So I'm sorry. I just thought you should know."
"Thank you," he replied, equally quietly. "I'm sorry too. You were in a state – I could see that. I probably reacted too harshly. I know Snape said something to you that made you react like that. And then I was a bit of a git, ignoring you. I shouldn't have. I was just hurt that you didn't trust me, and then you were off with Weasley all the time. And I'm sorry for that too – what I said about you. I know you heard that. I didn't mean it. I was just…" He shook his head. "I don't know why I'm making excuses. It's all in the past now, I guess. But I'm sorry, too."
Marian felt very sad suddenly. "It's all my fault. Everything was going so well and then I ruined it. It's just what you thought would happen, back on the train."
Murphy shook his head. "No, that was stupid. I was scared of being with you, and of not being with you. I was scared of what other people would think, or scared of what you would think if you got to know me better. I didn't realise how good it would feel, to be with you, when I said that. I'd do it again."
"Would you?" Marian asked, her heart suddenly beating very fast.
His face was serious as he said, "I would." He reached out slowly to touch her face, his fingertips ghosting over her cheek. "Goodnight, Cursebreaker." And he left the room, leaving Marian alone, lost in thought, her fingers touching her cheek.
The next morning at breakfast, everyone was talking about the fact that the following Saturday would be the final Hogsmeade trip of the year. Marian frowned – they'd planned to go to the Forbidden Forest on Saturday, and that would be completely impossible now. The teachers would know they were up to something if they decided not to go to Hogsmeade. She was muttering about it in irritation to Rowan as they left the Great Hall, when she heard her name being called. Looking round, she saw Bill Weasley jogging towards them from the direction of the Great Hall.
"Didn't you hear me? I was calling you!" he panted, catching up to them.
"Sorry! We were too busy discussing Hogsmeade!" Marian pulled a face at him. "It's ruined our plans!"
"That's what I was going to talk to you about," Bill replied. "It's fine. We can go on Sunday instead. Meet me and Rakepick in the Three Broomstick's and we can plan… things."
"Things?" Marian smirked at him. "That sounds… mysterious!"
"I am a man of mystery! Look!" He suddenly shrunk to the size of a teacup.
Rowan gasped. "You've been learning more non-verbal spells! Amazing! Can you teach me?"
Returning to his normal size, Bill shrugged and nodded. "Sure. If you like."
"Show-off!" Marian teased, giving him a little shove. "Anyway, why does Rakepick have to be there?"
"If you want to go on a date with just me, Baker, you only have to ask." He grinned at her and winked. "We could pay another visit to Madame Puddifoot's."
Marian felt herself blushing. "Er – The Three Broomsticks is fine…" she stammered in embarrassment.
"Great – see you at twelve o'clock, on the dot!" He chuckled at her stammering and wandered off, waving over his shoulder at them.
"Rowan – what just happened?" she whispered to her friend as soon as he was out of earshot.
Rowan sniggered. "I don't know, but I think the whole school just heard, whatever that was."
"I really hope he was joking."
"I think he was. He did wink at you."
"But was that a jokey wink or a flirty wink?"
"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure your ex-boyfriend heard it all, just to let you know," Rowan nodded towards the entrance to the Great Hall. Glancing around, Marian saw that Murphy and Talbott were among the people who'd come out just behind Bill and must have heard the whole thing.
"Oh, great galloping gargoyles!" Marian swore.
They had a final quidditch practice that afternoon, and they spent a lot of time discussing their strategy for the upcoming game. Marian was confused by Murphy, who now seemed to have gone back to distant politeness with her – did he regret what he'd said last night? Was this because of what he'd overheard in the Entrance Hall? She didn't know, and she couldn't let herself think about it when she needed to focus all her attention on the game.
That night, Marian tossed and turned as she tried to fall asleep. If they didn't win tomorrow, then Slytherin would win the Quidditch Cup. They needed to win. She needed to get to sleep so she would be on top form. But there were so many things going on in her head – the match, the thing with Murphy, the trip to Hogsmeade, exams and, most importantly, finally getting into the vault. Daylight had started to filter into the dormitory by the time Marian eventually fell asleep, exhausted, and it felt like only a second later that Skye was shaking her awake.
Tensions were running high in the Great Hall. Everyone knew that the quidditch cup was between Ravenclaw and Slytherin now. People in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were choosing sides, some with their faces painted blue or green, others wearing scarves or homemade badges. Orion sent Anthony Davies out of the Great Hall as soon as he arrived, as he was so worried that a Slytherin was going to try and injure him before he got to the pitch. Orion was grim-faced and looked like he hadn't got much more sleep than Marian had managed. As soon as they'd all finished eating, he marched them all down to the changing rooms. Even Murphy looked paler than normal, Marian thought, as they all gathered around Orion, waiting for his usual vivification.
"My friends," he began, gesturing to them all. "Today is the day. The most important day of our lives so far…"
"Steady on, Amari!" Andre said, glancing at Marian with some amusement. She grinned at him, the first time she'd felt like smiling all day.
"If we win today, we will go down as a Hogwarts legend – the team that beat Slytherin twice in a row, with Orion Amari as their captain," Orion continued, his eyes starry as he imagined this. "And if we lose, we allow Slytherin to reclaim their crown as the undisputed champions of the school."
"Wow, he's going all out today," Skye muttered in Marian's ear.
"I know – where does he get this stuff?" Marian replied.
"McNully – reveal the line-up for today!" Orion ordered regally, and Murphy moved forward, one eyebrow raised.
"OK. Not a surprise, really. They've made no changes since their previous games: still Randal, Parkinson and Pucey as chasers, still got Higgs as their seeker, still got Dodds as keeper, and Turnage and Arnold as beaters. Watch out for them – they're the usual troll-like idiots Slytherin like to use as beaters," he said. "Higgs is really quite good, too – he's no Charlie Weasley, but he's probably their best flier. He'll play dirty, Anthony, so just keep an eye on him. As for the chasers – well, Pucey's not a bad guy, actually, but the other two are prone to fouls, especially cobbing. Marian, you're the smallest, so I reckon they may well target you. Keep half an eye on them if you can."
Marian nodded grimly. "I can do that. What are our chances, Murphy?"
He smiled wryly. "Do you really want me to tell you? The weather is good, not much wind so that shouldn't impact on speed or visibility. At the moment, we're ahead on points, but I would expect them to be on the attack today for that reason, so be careful, everyone. They'll use their beaters to try and take you out, especially Anthony and Marian."
"Great," Marian muttered to Skye.
"I should go. Good luck, all of you! See you on the other side!" Murphy smiled around at them all, but he looked tense, Marian thought, as he disappeared to go and take his place in the commentary box.
It wasn't long before Madame Hooch summoned them onto the pitch. Marian's stomach was churning as they took up their positions. The Slytherins, as Murphy had told her, were a huge bunch. She recognised most of them from the previous year. One of the chasers, who she thought was called Pucey, shot her a smile, and she returned it cautiously. As the whistle blew, she rocketed upwards, lunging for the quaffle, just managing to snatch it and dive out of reach before the captain, Randal, smashed into her.
Marian was vaguely aware of Murphy's commentary as she zigzagged down the pitch, passing to Skye, who passed back as one of the beaters whacked a bludger towards her, forcing her to roll over in the air. Marian was about to take a shot at the goal hoops when someone knocked into her from the side, wrenching the quaffle from her arms as she struggled to stay on her broom. It was Pucey, but he didn't pass or fly away – instead he grinned at her again. "Sorry about that, Baker – you can have it back, if you like?"
"What?" Marian stared at him.
"Pucey – pass the ball! Pass it! What are you doing?" Randal was yelling at him from up the pitch.
Pucey just rolled his eyes. Marian lunged for the quaffle but he held it out of reach. "Uh-uh. I don't think so." He said, still grinning at her. "You can have it – on one condition!"
"And there seems to be some kind of conversation taking place between Ravenclaw's Marian Baker and Slytherin's Tom Pucey," Murphy was saying into the loudspeaker, his voice tinged with confusion. "Don't they realise we're in the middle of a game?"
"Are you mad?" Marian raged at Pucey. She looped him, trying to grab the quaffle, but he ducked and rolled, the ball clamped to his chest. She glanced over at Skye for help and saw Skye nod at her, turning to Orion and jerking her head. Marian knew they'd try a Parkin pincer to force him to drop the ball.
"Pucey, you tool!" Randal was shouting. "Pass the ball! Do something!"
"I tell you what, Baker – I'll make a deal with you!" Pucey cried to Marian as she made another attempt to swipe it from him. "I'll give you the quaffle, if you agree to go on a date with me!"
"What?" She couldn't believe her ears. "Are you serious? We're in the middle of a game!"
"I know!" He chuckled mischievously. "I don't care. I hate Randal anyway. This is my last ever match!"
Marian smiled at him uncertainly. "Just give me the ball then!"
"Will you go out with me?"
"No, of course not!" She laughed. "I don't even know you!"
"You'd get to know me," he replied suggestively.
"The answer's still no!" Marian said, aware of Skye closing in on the left and Orion swooping down on them from behind.
Pucey seemed to realise this too, though, as he suddenly passed the ball over Marian's head to the other Slytherin chaser, Parkinson, who was glaring furiously at him. "Your loss!" He cried as Marian zoomed off in pursuit. She shook her head, smiling. What a strange guy!
It didn't take long for the fouls to begin. Skye had scored twice in quick succession, dodging the bludgers hit her way by the two Slytherin trolls. She caught the quaffle again and was about to pass to Marian when the captain, Randal, flew up beside her and elbowed her viciously in the face. She tried to cling on to the quaffle through a heavy nosebleed, but luckily Madame Hooch had seen this and allowed Skye to score again with a penalty. Andre was nearly bowled over when both the beaters attacked him at once, hitting bludgers at his stomach. Luckily, he saw just in time and rolled over in midair to avoid them, but it was a close shave. While this happened, Randal made the most of Andre's distraction and scored Slytherin's first goal of the match. Marian was being distracted for a totally different reason – Pucey wouldn't leave her alone! He showed barely any interest in taking part in the game, other than if Marian had the quaffle. She got quite angry with him the next time this happened.
"Look, if you don't want to play quidditch, fine, but the rest of us do!" she screeched at him as he suddenly took a break from hanging upside down in the air to try and tackle her as she shot up the pitch, quaffle clamped to her chest. Spotting Orion below, she suddenly dropped the quaffle down to him, and Pucey immediately slowed down and yawned.
Later on, he intercepted a pass from Skye to Marian beside the Commentary Box, but again, refused to hand over the ball to his teammates or try and shoot. "I've changed my terms!" he shouted to Marian. "Just a kiss, Baker! Just one kiss, and I'll pass to you instead! Heck, I'll even score a goal for you if you like!"
Marian swore at him. "Stop messing around, Pucey!" she yelled. "Why on earth would I agree to that?"
"I'm a good kisser?" he replied suggestively, waggling his eyebrows. "And I'm reasonably good-looking? And what do you have to lose, really? I'm offering to score a goal for you!"
At that moment, Marian dived and succeeded in wrestling the ball from his arms.
Murphy's commentary was hilarious. He'd obviously heard what was going on from the Commentary Box. "So it seems that Slytherin chaser, Tom Pucey, is more interested in pursuing Baker than pursuing the quaffle today. Three times now he's been in possession of the ball but has chosen instead to try and bargain with Baker. Perhaps Pucey should realise that Baker doesn't need his help to score?" This was met with loud cheers from the Ravenclaw supporters.
The next time Pucey had the quaffle, Marian didn't wait for him to start talking, but tried out her Speelman Steal again, which she had practised more since their game against Gryffindor. She kicked his broom so hard from underneath him that he swore and dropped the quaffle immediately, letting her grab it, zip towards the goal and send it through the centre hoop with a flick of the end of her broomstick.
"Wow – phenomenal flying from Baker, there!" Murphy's voice boomed around the stadium as Marian punched the air. "A successfully orchestrated Speelman Steal followed by her usual Finsborough Flick. Well done, Baker! Ravenclaw are now sitting on forty points, to Slytherin's ten!"
Murphy had been right to worry about Anthony Davies. The two Slytherin beaters were constantly trying to target him. Luckily Anderson and McAllister were ready and successfully defended him from their attacks, but it left the rest of the team quite exposed. Marian felt more exhausted than she normally did, and although she knew lack of sleep had something to do with it, the constant dodging of bludgers was starting to get very tiring. After Slytherin managed to score another two goals, Orion asked Madame Hooch for a time-out. Marian gratefully flew to the ground, staggering a little as she landed, her legs feeling weak. In the changing room, she eagerly swigged back pumpkin juice and ate a couple of chocolate frogs.
"Marian, what on earth is going on with Pucey?" Orion asked her curiously. "I've never seen anything like it."
She shrugged. "Search me! He keeps trying to ask me out or trying to bargain with me to kiss him in exchange for him shooting us a goal! Says he hates Randal. Weird!"
Skye sniggered. "You do attract weirdos, Baker! No offence, McNully!"
Murphy had suddenly materialised in the changing room. He glanced at Marian anxiously. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah," she replied, feeling half-amused, half-irritated. "He's just annoying!"
"You won't actually kiss him, will you? Or go on a date with him?" Murphy asked, looking worried.
She glared at him. "Are you really asking me that? Really?"
He looked embarrassed. "Sorry. Anyway, I was coming to talk to you all about strategy. We need to change it. The bludger-dodging is exhausting you all."
"Yeah, and I can't actually see anything because I'm surrounded by so many beaters!" piped up Anthony Davies, the seeker.
Orion nodded. "We need Anderson and McAllister to protect the whole team. Anthony needs to see – you'll just have to fly fast and be nimble. And we need help – the Slytherins are playing dirty, as we thought they would."
He and Murphy put their heads together for a moment of hurried discussion on tactics, before Murphy had to head off back up to the Commentary Box. The team, feeling a little more refreshed, set off back to the pitch and mounted their brooms. Marian glowered at Pucey when he winked at her.
Back up in the air, Marian felt like she had a new leash of life. She, Orion and Skye worked seamlessly together in their usual manoeuvres, with first Orion and then Marian scoring goals, bringing them up to sixty points to Slytherin's thirty. Suddenly, though, there was a horrible noise from behind Marian. She turned, to see Anthony Davies falling through the air, his hands clasped to his chest. Madame Hooch cast a cushioning charm just in time, but he lay very still on the ground. He'd been hit in the chest by a bludger and he was quickly rushed off to the hospital wing. Marian groaned. They had very little hope of winning the match without their seeker. It was even more important that they score as many goals as they could. Orion nodded to her and the pair of them squeezed the other Slytherin chaser, Parkinson, letting Skye swoop in to force the quaffle from her, and hurl it through the centre Ravenclaw hoop. The stands went wild.
"These two teams are very evenly matched," Murphy was saying into the loudspeaker. "Slytherin's defences have improved greatly over the course of the year, with beaters Turnage and Arnold really developing a good rapport with one another. Ravenclaw's chasers are having to work very hard today to dodge their bludger attacks – oh, look, here's Amari with the quaffle and… yes, he's bodysurfing! A flashy move, but quite risky, particularly with the Slytherin beaters on the loose! But – yes, he's preparing to score and… oh, fantastic work! He dropped the ball to Baker who was waiting underneath, and she's scored, taking keeper Dodds completely by surprise. A superb example of the Porskoff Ploy in action there."
Despite their hard work, the Slytherin chasers were very good, too. Pucey seemed to have received an earful during the Time-Out because he was back to working with the other two chasers, and despite Andre's best efforts, they scored two more goals. Marian groaned. This wasn't going well – they were only thirty points up and they were without a seeker. She had a sudden idea. Pucey had the quaffle just up ahead.
"Hey, Pucey!" she shouted. He turned to look at her, stopping in mid-air, oblivious to the shouts of his teammates. "Go on then! I'll kiss you. Come here."
His eyebrows rose and he looked a little surprised. "Really? Now?"
"On one condition," she said, drawing close to him, close enough that she could smell the sweat from his skin and hear his pants of exertion.
"What?" he asked, eyes focused on her lips.
She suddenly grabbed the quaffle from him and shot up the pitch, scoring a goal almost completely unopposed as the Slytherin players had all been watching them. Ravenclaw went wild.
"A little trickery from Baker, there, means that Ravenclaw are now sitting on ninety points to Slytherin's fifty!" Marian wondered if it was her imagination or if Murphy really did sound relieved as he announced the scores. As she flew past the Commentary Box, she turned her head and shot him a wink.
"You should've been a Slytherin, Baker," cried Pucey who, to his credit, didn't look too put out by what had happened. "You're sneaky!"
"Sorry!" Marian replied, grinning at him.
But she didn't smile for long. Randal and Parkinson had obviously had enough of Pucey and both of them bore down on Marian as soon as she got the quaffle, clearly trying to stop Pucey from getting anywhere near it and interfering. She zigzagged and rolled in the air, dived and tried to pass, but they seemed to be everywhere. In desperation, she shot up the way, lying flat to her broom handle, the quaffle clasped to her chest as she shot past them, before spotting Skye far below and chucking the ball to her as hard as she could. Skye shot forward to catch it and hurled it straight through the nearest hoop. Marian's jubilation was short-lived. The cheers were still dying away from Skye's goal when everyone saw Terence Higgs, the Slytherin seeker, shooting down towards the pitch. Marian saw Anderson beat a bludger towards him, but he wasn't quick enough. Seconds later, Higgs pulled up sharply from his dive, the snitch in his hand. A huge groan emerged from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor supporters in the stands at the same time as Slytherins went crazy for their team.
"And Higgs has caught the snitch, leaving Slytherin on 200 points, to Ravenclaw's 100. If I'm not mistaken, that means that Slytherin have just beaten Ravenclaw to be the frontrunners for this year's quidditch cup. Ravenclaw officially are out of the running, with 550 points to Slytherin's 560. So close! Bad luck, Ravenclaw! And we could be looking at our quidditch cup champions right here – only time will tell! We still have the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match to look forward to in a few weeks' time!" Murphy was trying to sound enthusiastic, but Marian could hear the disappointment in his voice. Her heart was sinking faster than she was as she headed back down to the ground. They'd lost. They'd lost the match, and Slytherin had won the quidditch cup. She didn't need Murphy to tell her how unlikely it was for Gryffindor or Hufflepuff to beat them to it now.
The team trudged back into the changing room silently, heads bowed. Orion looked devastated. He left quickly, saying he wanted to be alone. Marian knew how he felt. She just sat on the bench next to Skye, feeling miserable. They'd let everyone down. It had been so close. If only she'd managed to score just one more goal! Eventually, they made their dejected way back up to the castle. There would be no celebratory after-party for them that evening. Murphy met them outside the changing room, and tried to smile at them, but it was half-hearted and none of them smiled back.