There's a rumble rolling up from the pitch, and it's not from the roar of the crowd. I guess my list ruffled a few feathers.

~xoxo, Gossip Witch

"This is the most important game of the season," Wood stated, meeting the eyes of every player gathered around him in the locker room. He was sick of the attitudes that liked to show up in the locker room on game day. "Slytherin has always been our hardest match, and I will not have you going out there and making a mockery of this team."

Oliver's glare landed on Harry and Ron, who were having a conversation of their own in the back. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Potter. Weasley. Am I interrupting you? Would you like to share your conversation with the rest of the team since it's more important than my coaching about the most important game of the season?"

Harry carded a hand through his hair and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, coach," he replied, offering a smile.

"Sorry's not bloody good enough. If you two can't focus on my instructions, then you won't play," Oliver said, glancing around the room at the rest of the team. "That goes for all of you. So I'll ask again, Potter and Weasley, do I have your attention, or would you like to warm the benches?"

Harry and Ron shook their heads, crossing their arms over their chests as they leaned up against the lockers. "Sorry about that," they mumbled in unison.

"Anyone else?" Oliver huffed, taking one last look around the room. He smirked as he noticed the rest of the team hiding from his glare and shaking their heads. "That's what I thought. Now back to the game."

~xoxo~

"Look," Marcus began, taking time to make eye contact with each of his players. "We beat them before. So as long as we keep our heads on straight and our eye on the prize, Slytherin will remain undefeated this season, going on to take the House cup."

Draco let out a huff as he leaned his head back against his locker. Quidditch was the furthest thing from his mind. No matter how good Hermione made him feel or how well distracted she helped him be, there was no forgetting that he wasn't the most eligible wizard in Hogwarts. All he wanted to do was prove to the entire school that he didn't deserve the ranking he had gotten, but losing this game wasn't the way to do it. He pushed himself away from the locker and shook his head, letting out a groan.

"Everything okay, Malfoy?" Theo asked, furrowing his brow as he looked Draco up and down.

"I'm fine," Draco grumbled, glaring at Theo out of the corner of his eyes. "I'm strategizing."

"Oh," Theo huffed, nodding his head slowly. He could tell Draco was lying through his teeth, but he needed to save his energy for the game. If Draco wasn't going to be all in, then Theo knew he needed to be on top of his game. If they lost, Flint would never let them hear the end of it.

"Are we clear on today's objective?" Marcus asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he glanced up at the clock on the wall. They were five minutes away from the start of the match. He could tell from the looks on their faces that they weren't ready to go out there.

Shaking his head, Marcus whispered a silent prayer to whoever was listening before motioning for them to head out onto the pitch. "Go get warmed up. Don't screw this up."

~xoxo~

Harry rolled his shoulders as he approached the scrimmage line, keeping a tight grip on his broom. His eyes met Draco's, and a smirk pulled at the corners of his lips. Harry jumped onto his broom and sighed as he felt the wind against his face. For the first time in a long time, Harry felt like he was on top of the world.

He had lost Hermione to Draco and Pansy to Fred. It'd be nice to come out of this game with a win since he was busy losing in every single other aspect of his life. The best thing that had happened to him was coming in second to Theo Nott and seeing Malfoy fall apart at his own ranking on the list.

"Serves him right," Harry laughed, grabbing hold of his broom and lining up across from Draco. He flashed a smile at him. "You ready to lose, Malfoy?"

"I think you meant to win, Potter," Draco replied, narrowing his eyes at him as he steadied himself on his broom. "Slytherin is undefeated. How many losses has Gryffindor suffered this season? I think it's five, right?"

"Twice," Harry grimaced, rolling his eyes.

"And who was the victor in those two losses?" Draco teased, biting back a laugh as he watched the shame coat Harry's face. A smile pulled at the corners of his own lips, and he nodded his head. "That's what I thought."

Harry opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by Madam Hooch stepping out on the field. The crowd gathered in the stadium went quiet as everyone directed their attention to the center of the field.

Madam Hooch cleared her throat and pressed her wand against her voice box. She looked around at the students lined up and let out a sigh before she addressed the crowd. Tension was high on the pitch, and there was nothing she could do about it. All she hoped was that they would play a fair game.

"The winner of this match will go on to face the winner of the Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw match on Friday," she began, looking around the field and up in the stands. "That match will determine the winner of the Quidditch House Cup. There will be a celebration in that house's honor at the end of the term."

"I expect a fair match," Hooch continued. "There is no need to harm your opponent to win the match. Any suspicion of intentional harm will result in your dismissal from the game. Am I understood?"

A chorus of agreement arose from the pitch. Madam Hooch took note of the nodding of heads around her and smiled.

"Good," she said, resting her hands on her hips. "That being said, brooms up!"

The game was on.

~xoxo~

Harry caught sight of the snitch out of the corner of his eye and took off toward the far side of the pitch. Draco chased after him quickly and cut him off by flying underneath the goalposts.

He tossed his head back with a laugh when he saw the surprise on Harry's face as he caught up with him. Draco focused his attention on Harry, ignoring the path laid out in front of him. The snitch was just ahead of them, and Draco was able to keep his eye on it in his peripheral vision.

Harry could hear someone shouting at them from the stands, but he ignored it as he turned his broom in towards the pitch. If he was going to catch the snitch, then he needed to get ahead of it, and Draco was getting in his damn way.

"Move, Malfoy," Harry shouted, pulling back on his broom to turn into the pitch. He could feel Draco's foot against his leg. If the two of them were not careful, neither of them was going to walk out of this game.

"In your dreams, Potter," Draco hissed, pulling on his broom to turn into Harry. Before he realized what he was done, he felt himself plummeting to the ground. He noticed that Harry was falling too. "Son of a bitch."

As their bodies crashed into the ground, the entire stadium went silent.

~xoxo, Gossip Witch ~

Want to be a part of the Gossip Witch fun?

This story is meant to be slightly interactive. Submit anonymous blasts about the students at Hogwarts and you might find your prompt used as inspiration in a future chapter! Submit your blasts to the xo-gossipwitch blog on tumblr.

Thanks for continuing to inspire this story!