The wind howled ferociously that morning. The Gryffindor quidditch team had eaten breakfast together before making their way to the pitch for today's game. Arielle remained silent all morning. Word had gotten out that she would be subbing in for Frank Longbottom, and the Slytherins were less than pleased. They were under the impression that this game would be easy considering the Gryffindor team was one player short. However, Arielle Malfoy would be playing as a substitute chaser despite Emma Vanity's desperate attempts to get the Head of Slytherin House and Potions Master Professor Slughorn to object. Much to the Slytherins' quidditch team's disgust, Slughorn seemed overjoyed to watch Arielle play in today's match.
Both teams lined the field. The Slytherin team included Emma Vanity as captain and chaser, Avery and Mulciber as beaters, Evan and Lucienda as chasers, Wilkes as keeper and Regulus Black as seeker. The Gryffindor line up included James Potter as captain and seeker, Sirius and Remus as beaters, Peter, Arielle and Rowan as chasers, and Keysolah as Keeper.
"Players please shake hands." Madam Hooch said eyeing the two teams harshly.
Emma scowled as she shook hands with James Potter reluctantly before moving down the line of Gryffindor players. Each of the Slytherin players shook Arielle's hand kindly except for Emma whose nails dug into her wrist. Arielle tried not to yelp in pain. Evan gave her a reassuring wink and Lucienda managed to give her an excited smile. Regulus was the last to approach, looking Arielle dead in the eye and pulling her in close. Her heart began to race wildly in her chest as he stared into her dark blue eyes. Arielle refused to show any emotion but strength as this was her chance to humiliate him and his friends as they did to her. Regulus's eyes glistened, unreadable, and he held onto Arielle's hand a little too long causing Madam Hooch to clear her throat.
"Vanity, as you know the Gryffindor's have an approved last minute substitution. Let's try to keep this game clean. I will not hesist to blow the whistle!" Madam Hooch said fiercely.
"Brooms ready!"
Both teams mounted their broomsticks.
"Three, two... one.."
A loud whistle blew and the match began. After two hours of intense quidditch the score was Gryffindor 150 and Slytherin 120. Arielle was starting to feel exhausted as a bludger nearly took her head off with an almost sorrowful looking Avery at the other end of it. James managed to call a time-out and the Gryffindor team huddled on the field, painting. Arielle wrapped her long hair into a ponytail and wiped the cold sweat off the back of her neck as she listened to James and Sirius argue about what to do next.
"Regulus is really giving you a run for your money today James. I don't know how much longer I can last up there." Keysolah, the Gryffindor keeper croaked. Peter, Rowan, and Remus seemed to nod in agreement.
"Maybe try a Wronski Feint?" Arielle suggested. A Wronski Feint was when a seeker attempted to trick another seeker by diving down seemingly looking for the snitch and pulling up the last minute, leaving the other seeker to crash into the ground.
"I've already tried that, several times actually." Potter sighed.
"We're gonna have to get dirty." Rowan said shaking her head.
"Wait! I got it!" Sirius nearly yelped, gaining the attention of the Gryffindor team.
"How about a good old fashioned damsel in distress?" Sirius smirked.
"We can try to knock Emma off her broom, but I don't see how that will solve the Regulus problem, it will be Wilkes who goes after her not Regulus. Haven't you heard their engaged?" Rowan stated matter of factly.
"I wasn't talking about Emma." Sirius said slyly. James seemed to catch on to his friend's train of thought and a wicked smirk emerged on the seeker's face.
"It would be perfect, and there would be know way Madam Hooch could foul us for it…" James contemplated.
"Care to fill the rest of us in on your little plan?" Arielle asked confused.
Sirius gave Arielle a knowing glance and James joined in. The other players seemed to be picking up on it as well and suddenly the whole team was staring at her.
"Wait...you can't be serious?" Arielle said bewildered.
"It's the perfect plan, we just need to make sure that Regulus sees you when you fall..." Sirius began.
"Are you saying you want me to pitch myself off my broom? And what the hell, might I add, makes you think that Regulus is going to surrender his position, forfeit Slytherin's chances at the cup, all to rescue me? You've seriously gone daft." Arielle scoffed.
"Look this will work, the team's tired, we haven't scored in the last 30 minutes. It's our only option." Sirius replied.
"Maybe we should think of something else Sirius…Regulus might not..." Remus interjected.
"No." Sirius interrupted. "He's my brother, I know the git. The question is not whether or not he will rescue Arielle, it's whether or not he does it in a timely manner."
Arielle snorted.
"Great! Just great! So the plan is to have me plummet to my death and pray that THE OPPOSING TEAMS SEEKER, is going to catch me before I'm flaten on the pitch." Arielle said almost hysterical.
"Listen Arielle, you told me you wanted to humiliate the bastards, well what better way to do it than this huh?" Sirius whispered so only Arielle could hear. "Regulus Black costing the Slytherin team the match to save a Gryffindor girl, image the scandal... the humiliation."
Arielle had to admit, something like this, if it worked...it would destroy the bad boy image Black had spent years perfecting. The Slytherin House would lose their chances at the cup, and Regulus would feel exactly how she felt the night of the Christmas Ball when she read that stupid list. There was one small flaw in Sirius's plan. He seemed to have this insane idea that Regulus would actually try to help her if he saw her in distress. Black didn't care about anyone but himself and Arielle was certain that this plan wasn't going to work.
"So Arielle when James gives you the signal that he's got eyes on the snitch, you will place yourself in Regulus's line of sight and fall, got it?" Sirius said.
"Fuck...okay." Arielle muttered, her wits suddenly leaving her.
Arielle's heart began to beat rapidly in her chest. This was dangerous, even for her. Her mind raced with thoughts, perhaps she would be able to create a force field like she did in the Shrieking Shack to save Severus, in order to break her fall. Maybe she could disapparate before her bones smashed against the grassy field. Surely, Dumbledore would be forced to kick her out, but hey that was better than possibly dying right?
Madam Hooch blew her whistle beckoning the teams back to the starting line.
"It's going to okay, I promise." Sirius said placing his hands on Arielle's shoulders reassuringly. Arielle searched his grey blue eyes for any sort of doubt. Surely, Sirius wouldn't suggest such a plan if he wasn't absolutely certain it would work.
The whistle blew and Arielle was in the air for what seemed like forever. She watched James fearfully while flying around the stadium trying to look busy. In the meantime, Slytherin managed to score another 30 points and the match was tied. There was no backing out now. Her throat constricted when she saw James give her the signal. She flew directly into the Slytherin seeker's line of sight before stumbling off her broom and hanging onto the wood with her slippery wet hand. As each finger slipped off the handle, Arielle couldn't help but feel utter terror.
Regulus followed James vehemently across the quidditch pitch. Potter was skilled at locating the snitch, but he was slower at catching it. Regulus knew their best chance of winning this match was to out race his competitor for the snitch. Just as he saw James dash off towards the fifth tower of the stadium, Regulus felt his stomach lurch at the sight of Arielle Malfoy dangling dangerously from her broom. It was a split second, Regulus barely blinked, when he saw the Gryffindor girl begin her plummet towards the ground. Regulus looked over at Potter who was fervently chasing after the snitch. He growled angrily before taking off with lightning speed.
Arielle tried to scream but no sound came out. She closed her eyes tightly, the blur of the world surrounding her was too much to bare. Arielle had been scared before, utterly frightened in fact, but nothing compared to ultimate feeling of dread she had now.
Arielle felt her back smack into something hard. It didn't hurt as much as she imagined it would. She supposed in death, pain became irrelevant, nonexistent even. It wasn't until she felt like she was being pulled up, instead of down, that she opened her eyes. It was the quidditch pitch clear as day. She looked to center of the field and saw James Potter triumphantly holding the snitch and his teammates flying down to join him. Her ears were ringing loudly and a voice from behind her was speaking softly, "Are you okay? Arielle?" She looked down to see herself straddling a dark wooden handle, as her gaze shifted upward, a muscular arm seemed to be holding her in place.
"It worked." She managed to mumble.
Someone hissed angrily behind her.
"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd do something like this." A familiar voice sneered.
Arielle swung her leg over the handle so that both of her legs dangled next to each other off the broom. Gripping the broom with both hands to steady herself, Arielle looked up into the grey blue eyes of her savior.
Regulus shook his head in disbelief.
"This was dark even for you." He nearly whispered searching her big blue eyes for some sort of explanation, hoping she would deny it. Arielle opened her mouth to speak but decided to look away. She suddenly felt guilty for her role in this rouse. Regulus and Arielle slowly flew down to the field avoiding each other's gazes. Just as Arielle's feet touched the ground, she was nearly knocked over by a rabid Wilkes who charged at his teammate with a vengeance.
"You fucking idiot!" The seventh year yelled, pushing Regulus forcefully, knocking his broom out of his hand.
"Costing us the match? Forfeiting our chance at the quidditch cup? All for that—slag." Wilkes bellowed.
Arielle looked around at the other Slytherins. Avery and Mulciber looked livid. Lucidena was crying, even Evan looked mortified.
"What was I supposed to do, let her fall to her death?" Regulus shouted back defensively choosing not to reveal that Arielle had fallen on purpose.
"You're damn right you were" said an eerily calm voice. Emma Vanity walked towards Arielle slowly with a dark expression.
"This little snake knew you would fly after her. Didn't you?" Emma said vehemently.
Arielle opened her mouth to deny it, but the words were lost on her tongue.
"Well would you look at that...for once, Princess Malfoy doesn't have something to say." Emma vexed.
"I could kill you right now." Emma said grabbing Arielle by her black ponytail and jabbing her wand at the Gryffindor's throat.
"Okay, back off Emma." Regulus said grabbing the Slytherin captain by the arm.
"Hey don't fucking touch her!" Wilkes shouted and with a loud pop punched the shaggy haired boy in the face. Regulus stumbled backward clutching his left eye and cheek.
"Enough!" Madam Hooch yelled walking toward the Slytherins with Professors McGonagall and Slughorn. Arielle managed to escape Emma's grasp and McGonagall wrapped a crimson blanket around her shoulders.
"Are you alright dear?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes, thank you.." Arielle began.
Emma snorted loudly. "It was rouse! Why don't you tell them all about it Arielle? How you and your Gryffindor teammates planned this elaborate scheme?"
"Ms. Vanity, are you suggesting that Arielle, an excellent student and prefect deliberately put her own life in danger to win a silly quidditch match?" Professor McGonagall said stunned at the Slytherin's accusation.
"Yes!" The Slytherin captain spat.
"Ridiculous!" McGonagall shouted. "Horace, you really need to get your house in order."
Slughorn looked bewildered by the whole situation.
"Alright off with you. It was a heated match so I'll excuse your lack of sportsmanship just this once." Madam Hooch said shooing the Slytherins away to the locker room.
"You'll pay for this." Wilkes said pointing at Regulus before storming off the pitch.
Arielle looked over at Regulus his left eye was nearly swollen shut. She felt a large lump rising in her throat.
"Regulus… I.."
"Don't." He said dejectedly.
"Merlin's beard Regulus, let's get you to the hospital wing." Slughorn said examining the young wizard's purple eye.
Arielle stood alone on the pitch watching Regulus's retreating form. She was supposed to be feeling victorious. Regulus was humiliated. Gryffindor won the match.
Sirius approached silently behind her, "I told you it would work."
Arielle couldn't bring herself to look at her Gryffindor comrade. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had just done something terribly wrong.
"Your subjects await." Sirius said nodding at the retreating Gryffindor crowd. Arielle turned around to glance at her housemates who were celebrating and now hoisting the quidditch players up in the air.
"Let's go." She said clearing her throat. Arielle banished the regret from her mind, he deserved it.
Regulus followed Slughorn through the corridors of the castle to the hospital wing sneering at anyone who dared to look in his direction. This scheme to win the match had Sirius's name written all over it. There was no way Arielle could have come up with something like this, unless she knew. Regulus shook the thought away as soon as it came. Even if she did know his feelings for her, his feelings that he kept buried deep down in his burdened soul, he had to believe that she would never do something like this, manipulate him in such a sadistic way. There was time when Regulus wanted Arielle to let loose, be more wicked than she normally was. He caught glimpses of her wickedness over the years and it delighted him to see that perhaps she wasn't as innocent as those big dark blue eyes let on. It didn't matter what her motive was, whether she had fallen on purpose or not, because Regulus knew that no matter what her intentions were, he would have went after her anyway.
The party in the Gryffindor common room was raging. Even Lily Evans, after a half hour of protest, gave in to James' pleas to relax and join the fun. Arielle decided that the best way to forget about her guilt and enjoy the celebrations would be to consume enough firewhiskey to sedate a hippogriff. After about four glasses, Arielle was beginning to feel more relaxed. The record player in the corner of the room was blaring her favorite tunes from The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin with the help of a sound enhancing charm. After another drink she found herself sandwiched on the couch between Sirius and Remus, smoking a doobie, and reminiscing about the time they accidentally burned off Flich's hair while trying to perform the incendio charm while intoxicated. It seemed natural being in the common room with the Marauders and Lily who was now sitting on James's lap. She couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of it all. Her entire background, who she was, who her family was, contradicted everything these people stood for and believed in. That's why she felt so close to Sirius. He knew what it was like to be caught between two opposing worlds.
"You're awfully quiet." Sirius began handing her a rolled joint that was already lit. She took a few puffs and passed it to Remus.
Arielle tried to formulate a response, but the fire whiskies had caught up with her and she was feeling sedated. The hours passed and slowly the crowd began to fade. It was three in the morning when Arielle realized that only Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, and Lily remained in the common room. The fire was starting to die out and the room suddenly felt extremely cold.
"Was it how you thought it would be?" Sirius asked. Arielle nearly jumped out of her skin at his voice realizing that she wasn't the only one awake.
She stared into the dying fire. Arielle knew what he was referring to, the revenge that she wanted so badly, was it as satisfying as she dreamed it would be?
"No..." She practically whispered.
Sirius sighed.
"How did you know Sirius, that your brother would risk losing the match to rescue me?"
Sirius seemed to shift uncomfortably in his seat beside her.
"Because, I know he cares for you, a lot more than he let's on anyway..." Sirius said a little reluctantly.
Arielle looked up into the grey blue eyes of her friend searching for a deeper answer. Why? Why did he care about her?
"It was wrong what you did, what I did…winning like that…" Arielle stumbled, feeling like they managed to trick everyone into believing they won fairly.
"I know," were the only words Sirius could mumble.
I am on an update roll. Not sure when it will end, but I will keep going until I burn out. What do you guys think of what Arielle and Sirius did to Regulus? Did he deserve it?
xoxo