The iron gate shook in Ron's white knuckled hands. He'd been shaking the gate excessively since the realization that his mum would put an end to his life much quicker than little Ginny could popped into his head.

"PLEASE! JUST OPEN THE GATE! I SWEAR WE'LL GET TICKETS THIS TIME! IT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE! WE SAVED THE WORLD! DOESN'T THAT COUNT FOR ANYTHING THESE DAYS?" But his yells went unheard. They were drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. He'd just taken to banging his head on the iron when Harry called out to him from his left. Forehead still firmly placed on the gate, Ron rolled his head in Harry's direction, his eyes lighting up at the sight.

It was like someone up above had pitied them. Twenty feet over, a ramped-up fan decided to blow a hole in the iron fence.

"Wicked!"

Hermione nearly dropped her ominciulars at Ginny's daring move. Even from her box Hermione could see the disbelief across Draco's face as he rounded around, tearing off down the field after her. The ting of a bell sounded, and the Falcon fans roared as Rhys tossed the quaffle through the hoop on the right. Bringing the ominciulars back to her eyes, she scanned the field for Ginny and Draco once more, catching sight first of a great save by Dillon. The quaffle was inches away from the hoop, barley caught between his fingertips. Apparently, the other members of her box noticed the same thing as they were all nodding appreciatively.

With a smile that could light up a room, Dillon tossed the quaffle in Lance's direction, who had just ducked an incoming bludger. He raced up the field, Avery flanking the left side, headed straight for the Harpies hoops. A quick toss to the left and an underhanded, around the back toss back, and Lance shot the quaffle through the center hoop with ease. The bell chimed again, and the Falcon's fans were on their feet, high-fiving their neighbors.

Her grip tightened on her ominculars as she quickly scanned over to Ginny and Draco once again racing across the pitch. It seemed that with Ginny's spectacular turn, she had been able to stay yards ahead of Draco. Pushing his broom as hard as he could, it still didn't seem to make much difference. He'd almost lost hope as he saw her outstretched hand before seeing that flash of gold take a dive. Quickly aiming his handle in the same direction, down he went cutting at a forty-five-degree angle. Ginny shifted herself towards the pitch as well, hot on the snitches tail. Hermione was sure she's lost all blood to her fingers with her tight grip. This was it.

"Hurry mate get to the nearest tunnel! If we miss the end of this game, I'll never hear the end of it."

"You're telling me!" Harry and Ron pushed through the hole in the fence along with a large group of fans. Harry had never been more thrilled about shoddy craftsmanship in his life. They heard the crowd roar and with a quick glance at each other, pushed their way to the front of the group, the green pitch once again coming into view.

"Look!" Harry followed Ron's freckled hand to catch sight of Ginny and Draco neck and neck in a downward dive, golden snitch just out of their fingertips. He didn't even realize he'd stop breathing until the crowd roared in disappointment as the snitch quickly changed directions, causing the seekers to pull their brooms up quickly in an attempt to level out.

Draco let out a frustrated growl as the snitch took off again in a new direction. He had been so close; he swore he grazed the small wings with his fingertips. Looking to his left, it was obvious Red had lost sight of the snitch again as well.

"Come on Red. I thought we were playing for keeps!" He watched with satisfaction as her cheeks grew scarlet in annoyance. With a cold stare his direction, she took off, heading back towards higher ground. A long ding brought his attention to the scoreboard; 110-110. It was clear this game would be won with the catch of the snitch. Taking a quick glace back in Ginny's retreating direction, Draco took his search low, hoping to catch that glimmer of gold.

Darting his attention left, right, and all around, the large loops Draco was making in the lower half of the pitch were coming up empty. Draco scanned his eyes upwards, noting that Ginny hadn't seemed to have any luck either. Watching as Avery attempted another goal, a streak of gold jumped in front of his line of sight. He could see it perfectly; every flap of the wings; every slight movement. He's found the snitch and he wasn't planning on coming up short this time.

"Oh no," Harry pointed towards his left. "Malfoy found the snitch and Ginny hasn't seen it yet."

Ron's jaw dropped slightly, his hand clenched together. "GINNY! GINNY!"

"She's can't hear you Ron-"

"GIN! THE SNITCH! MALFOY FOUND THE SNITCH!"

"Ron! Stop it! You're going to draw unwanted attention." Harry took a nervous look around just as Ginny caught Draco's movement out of the corner of her eye and was barreling down the pitch.

"You two again?!" It was honestly not their day. "How'd you get back in here?"

Harry grabbed onto the back of Ron's shirt, who was still yelling at his sister, and started dragging him through the crowd. "Gotta move Ron. We have to move!"

"Oi! Get back 'ere!"

Once again Hermione found herself gripping the ominciulars tightly in her hands. Draco was on the tail of the snitch, but Ginny wasn't one to give up that easily; her red ponytail straight out behind her as she shot across the field.

"Malfoy is in pursuit of the snitch! But Weasley is right behind him!"

He was pushing his broom, trying to stay low. The instinct to glace back was strong. He couldn't give up now. Couldn't let his insecurities in. This snitch was a nasty little thing; darting in all directions, Draco was thankful he wasn't one to get motion sick. He could hear the roar of the crowd, she had to be hot on his tail. He was gaining on it now, so close he could taste the victory. Stretching out his arm, he was inches away, until the dirty little thing darted to his left and directly into Ginny's path.

"Ron, come on!" Harry 's grip on Ron's shirt was starting to slip as pulling him through the crowd was proving to be difficult. Ron couldn't keep his eyes off the game.

"Harry, look!" Seeing as Ron had completely stopped at this point, carrying on was a useless endeavor. Following his line of site, Harry saw Ginny's outstretched hand clasping around the tiny, golden ball. Ginny had caught the snitch, her smile a mile wide.

"She's bloody brilliant! Don't you ever tell her I said that. She'll never let me live it down. GO GINNY!"

Ron's cheering was put on hold however, just as the security wizard grabbed his collar, quickly scooping up Harry's as well.

"I've had just about enough of the twos of you. Time to go."

"No need to be so rough," Ron yanked his collar free, wiping a few invisible specks of dirt from his shirt. "I've seen everything I need to see here."

"Oh brother," Harry let out a sigh with a roll of his eyes.

Draco felt his heart rip from his chest. Inches. He was inches away from glory. He saw the heads of his teammates sink in defeat. They lost. He lost.

He slowly made his way to the ground, trying to avoid the cheering Harpies. His feet touched the ground with a slight thud. He unfastened his gloves, tossing them to the ground. He could see Red across the field, lifted up on the shoulders of her teammates. Draco tried so hard not to let the disappointment stain his face.

His teammates had gathered, Coach O'Kelly making his way towards them, Michael trailing close behind. Draco's head popped up slightly as he felt a pat on his back. Dillon gave him a small smile and a shrug of the shoulders. Rhys sent a nod his way and Avery hook an arm around his shoulders.

"Next year."

It sounded like a promise.

Hermione couldn't move. She was frozen in place. The occupants of her box had stood, gathering their belongings and were headed for the door, but she couldn't force herself to get up. They lost.

"Miss Granger?" Her head shook back into focus. "We need to head to the post-game press conference."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Nigel." Her legs felt shaky and a little weak. Taking a deep breath, she managed to pull herself up to her feet.

The walk down was long. She passed by excited fans, cheerful groups and camera flashes. Ginny and a few other members of the Harpies were currently on the platform, wide grinned and red cheeked. It was apparent they had been celebrating their victory in the locker room. Hermione noticed Michael and took her place next to him. He gave her a nod and a quick pat on the back. Her smile in response was small and a little sad.

"Miss Weasley, how did it feel to bring the victory home?" Hermione had never seen Ginny so happy. Her freckles spotted her face and she couldn't seem to stop smiling.

"Honestly, it feels like a dream. I can't believe-" Ginny trailed off, her eyes suddenly widening. Hermione turned, following her gaze just in time to see Harry and Ron being escorted out.

"I'm gonna figure out how to go about getting a life ban for the two of yous."

"Honestly sir, this has all just been an unfortunate mistake. I assure you, I am in fact Harry Potter. This," he gestured to an uninterested Ron. "Is Ronald Weasley. We really need to be over there-"

"OI! What's going on?" Ginny had snapped out of her gaze, sliding her chair back and exiting from the stage. The security wizard stopped, quickly realizing she was speaking to him.

"Oh, um… you see there was an indent," Harry didn't get much further, Ginny silenced him with a stern look. The tips of Ron's ears turned red from the glare Ginny shot his way.

"Would it help if I told you how proud I am of you?" Ron questioned. Ginny let out a deep sigh, shaking her head and running her hand down her face.

"Sir, thank you for doing excellent work. Remind me to tell your boss you deserve a raise." The wizard's face lit up in joy. Ron's mouth dropped open and Harry hung his head in shame.

"You've got to be kidding me Gin!? Bloody hell women, you're insane."

"See you after, love." Ginny lifted Harry's head and dropped a kiss on his lips with a wink. She had a hard time controlling her laughter as they were once again removed from the stadium.

The rest of the Harpies had been escorted off the stage, the Falcons filling their empty seats. Michael had stepped away, fielding questions from the hungry reporters. Hermione found she couldn't take her eyes off her team. She expected to find them downtrodden, beaten, low. Instead, she noticed they held their heads high, they showed no weakness, no regrets. Her smile grew slightly.

"Mr. Malfoy, how did it feel in those moments after Weasley had caught the snitch?" She watched as he thought for a moment, eyes on the table and a small side smile on his face.

"I won't lie to you Leroy, it was a bloody terrible feeling. Potter and Wesley had a bet going, and I let him down. I let more than him down. I let my mates down, my organization, myself. But I really let someone down. I had one goal this year, win the World Cup. That was what was asked of me, that's why I was brought here, and I let her down." He found her in the crowd, their eyes locked. She felt a flutter in her chest.

"When I landed though, the guys they gathered around, and it was alright. I found things here that I wasn't expecting to find. To be honest, I've found things I didn't even know I wanted. I found a team that I feel I can stand behind, mates that I can work alongside, an organization I'm happy to promote and a woman I hope will have me long term. I'm all in if you'll have me?" The reporters in the crowd had turned, directing their attention to her now. She could hardly see the flashes; the tears were rolling down her cheeks. She felt herself start to nod, laughing as he came running off the platform, taking her in his arms. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck, capturing his lips between hers.

He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. "Next year we'll get them."

"Next year."

There are not enough apologies in the world to tell you how sorry I am that I made you wait this long. This has been the worst case of writers block I've ever had. I am sorry if you find errors, I was so excited to get it to you, I couldn't wait. I'm sure I will read it again and replace somethings. Thank you for all the reading you do.

-BKC