"Lee, wait!" Lee turned and saw Alicia hurrying toward him as he stood outside the Gryffindor common room, ready to give the password. Under her arm she acrried a book bound in shiny leather.
"Where've you been, Alicia?" asked Lee, irritated. "You were s'posed to meet me and Fred in the library- for Quidditch research." He raised his eyebrows, implying ulterior motives.
She laughed mockingly. "I do have a life, you know. Me and the girls went out to play some Shuntbumps on the pitch before it got dark. But I did get you a book. Here."
Lee held out his hand expectantly, feeling the watchful eyes of the suspicious Fat Lady upon his back. Alicia started to hand it to him, but she frowned and hugged it to her. "Hang on," she said. "I just realised something."
"What?"
"You never did tell me how you got rid of Bulstrode."
"Well. I Confunded her into thinking it was two in the morning, then I sent her back to bed. It was genius on my part, I reckon." He gave her a grin which she did not return.
"You broke your promise then." She looked both accusing and rather disappointed.
"Eh?" asked Lee.
"Lee, you promised you wouldn't mess with anyone- meaning Bitchy Bulstrode or whoever! I hate the Slytherins as much as the next Gryffindor, but-"
"Come off it, Alicia! I promised not to knock her out and lock her in a cupboard, I didn't promise not to Confund her and send her back to bed!" Lee didn't realise he was yelling until he finished.
"It's the same thing!"
"NO, IT ISN'T!"
Alicia was beside herself. "You're impossible!"
"YOU'RE impossible!" Lee countered.
She took a deep breath. 'I never know where I am with you devious little first-years."
"Devious," mused Lee. 'Yeah, that's me." He looked quite happy about it.
"Honestly, Lee!" she cried in irritation. She shoved the book into his hands and stalked past him. "I'm sorry I went out of my way to get you the book! Bird Claw," she said venomously, giving the password the Fat Lady and scrambling into Gryffindor.
Lee cast an amused eye after her before opening the book, a black-bound text entitled, 'Great Magical Escapes of the Twentieth Century'. It looked new, and there was no Hogwarts Library stamp- maybe she'd borrowed it from one of her friends?
A miniscule scrap of yellowy parchement had been slotted into the leather bindings. He extracted it and read it idly. It appeared to be a note.
It WAS a note, and it read thusly: 'LJ- or should I say, MC?- just a quick note to say sorry for not turning up, and you'll do great tomorrow. I can't keep a lookout for the Prefects like the twins, because I'll be playing, obviously. I'll be rooting for you! Good luck, from AS.'
Lee suddenly felt something between annoyed, flattered and guilty. Hang on- there was a PS...
'PS: Keep the book. My mum demands that I read some intelligent-type books that don't have the words Quidditch, Chaser or Sport in the title, so she took out this Flourish and Blotts subscription for me. Most of the books really bite, but this one's all right. I figured you'd like it- might give some ideas.'
Make that VERY guilty, thought Lee uncomfortably. "Damned girls..." he muttered uneasily, and climbed into the common room.
The Weasley twins were nowhere to be seen, so Lee tucked the note into his pocket and, in uncharacteristic quiet, settled down in a chair to read.
As with any wizard book, the pictures moved. Unlike many books, this one held Lee's interest for a long time. He flicked happily through it, revelling in the amazing and unthinkable ways that witches and wizards, some only a few years older than him, escaped from Dark Wizards. Some of them were hilarious! Some disturbing. Some so, well, DEVIOUS that Lee didn't think even the Weasley twins could come up with escape plans like that.
Alicia was sitting with her friends by the fire, chatting animatedly, giggling loudly. Lee caught her eye as she was smirking at an insulting song about Snape she and the second-year girls were composing. They looked at each other for a moment.
Lee held up the book a little so she could see it and mouthed, "Alicia? Thanks." She nodded and grudgingly smiled at him before volunteering a rhyme for the fifth verse.
Well, thought Lee. At least she's forgiven me. Can't have accomplices in the War of the Commentators turning against each other, can we?
* * *
"Gerroff, Fred!"
"Quit stepping on my foot, George!"
"Get off first! Get- HURK! Ow, that was my stomach!"
Lee, standing behind the column, his face once again hidden by the hood of his black Hogwarts robes, looked behind him at the twins. He stepped forcefully sideways, squashing them.
"George, Fred, I have two words to say to you- SHUT. UP. They'll hear us!" he hissed frantically.
"That was five words," said Fred mutinously.
All three froze as a crowd of Slytherins materialised out of the smoky darkness of their common room.
Lee stiffened his resolve. "Fan out," he mouthed to the twins. "In ten seconds we get 'em."
The twins nodded and slinked off into the shadows while Lee tensed himself for the moment of truth.
"... you say this was where he got you before, Marionne?" asked a girl with teeth like a squirrel and a voice like nails on a blackboard.
"Yeah," sniffed Marionne. "Lumos!"
To Lee's horror, she lit her wand. He backed up against the wall and held his own wand in a bone-crushingly strong grip.
He gulped as the light was slowly directed toward George's hiding place. He'd be seen, he'd be-
"STUPEFY!" bellowed Lee, leaping from his hiding place. There was a confused silence in which two Slytherins crumpled to the ground. Then two more voices tore the air.
"Dammit, where's my wand- STUPEFY! STUPEFY!"
"STUPEFY! Yeahhhh!"
A boy began to say something, but dropped onto the floor. There was silence as the 'triplets' gazed down at the unconscious Slytherins.
"Um, yeah."
"Well. Er, Lee? I thought we were Confunding them," asked Fred, his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah," said George, stepping from a place a good metre from where Lee thought he'd be.
"Hang on," said Lee in confusion. "Weren't you over there?" He pointed.
"Lee, man. You don't become the world's greatest prankster without learning some complex escape tricks," he explained patronisingly.
"No way! I'M the greatest!"
"Take that back!"
"Never!"
"Er, guys? How about discussing this at some other time?" asked Lee, gazing down at the Slytherins.
"Come on," said Fred, beckoning the other two.
* * *
Lee swore under his breath as he saw the security on the commentator's booth. Fred had gone to save the twins and the girls some seats, while George had insisted on coming along.
Two tall Hufflepuff prefects stood there like guards.
"Crap," whispered George. "How're ya gunna get past them?"
"Errrrrrr..." mumbled Lee.
George looked at him witheringly. "Lee, you can be a mastermind prankster but you can also be a dungbrained sod, OK? Leave it to me."
George smoothed down his hair so as to look more respectable, pulled down the hood of his robes and danced over to the prefects. He yelled in a high-pitched voice that made Lee nearly burst into laughter, "Oh, I'm so glad I've found someone! My brother has gotten into a fight with the Slytherins, and I need someone to help me break it up!"
The taller Prefect raised her eyebrows. "Aren't you George Weasley? The George Weasley who booby-trapped the teacher's lounge?"
"Oh, PLEASE!" begged George, falling onto his knees and clasping his hands. A snort escaped Lee.
"ALL RIGHT!" hissed the shorter one, backing away. "C'mon, Lizzie. I can see I'm gunna need some help."
"McGonagall said to stay here," she said pointedly.
"It's only a few minutes 'til the game," he told her. "I'm sure that Mystery Commentator bloke would've showed up earlier. Besides, he cut Hufflepuff some slack in the last game-"
"Oh, please come! The Slytherins are going to murder him!" wailed George. He tore off with the Hufflepuffs following. Lee slipped into the commentator's booth.
The first thing he did was lock the door. A few spells later he was sitting by the window. Lee drew a deep breath.
"Hello, Quidditch fans! I'm the Mystery Commentator- LET'S PLAY QUIDDITCH!" bellowed Lee. The stadium exploded with cheers, but the reactions were mixed.
"I knew he wouldn't let us down!" trilled Davina Johnson rapturously.
"How'd he get past the Prefects?" asked a Ravenclaw in confusion.
"Damn, it's that Mystery Commentator again!" whined a Slytherin fourth-year.
Lee felt once again like he could do anything. Anything at all! The others were on his side, and that was all that mattered!
"On the Gryffindor side, we have the great Charlie Weasley as Seeker! There is no WAY the Slytherins will win, with him on their side! Also Oliver 'Obsessed' Wood, playing Keeper. The Chasers, Bundy, Dunstan and, in her second ever game, Alicia Spinnet! Lookin' good, Alicia!"
Down on the pitch, Alicia blushed a little and ducked her head. "Shut up, Lee," she muttered happily.
"The Beaters, seventh-years Angela Radnor and Micheal McClare are both rough and ready- if you're a Gryffindor lion, let me hear you cheer!" howled Lee. For the second time, the stadium exploded.
"Going a bit overboard, isn't he?" asked Davina's friend Lisa, frowning.
"He's right all the way, of course!" cried Davina, glaring. "We have the best team in the whole school!"
"And," continued Lee, "on the Slytherin side, there's all your old enemies- er, favourites. Let's give them what they deserve, shall we?"
Catching his drift immediately, all the Gryffindor supporters booed. The Slytherins booed them back. Lee interrupted.
"LET'S- PLAY- QUIDDITCH-! The Bludgers are up... the Snitch is up (keep your eye on it, Charlie!)... and there's the Quaffle! We begin play!"
The crowd was on it's feet, and they weren't ten seconds into the game.
"And it's Kathleen Bundy with the Quaffle, heading for the Slytherin goalposts. She ducks around third-year Marcus Flint, possessor of the world's worst acne problem! Yeahhhh! Go it, Kathleen! DUCK, IT'S- oh, my God, did you fans see that Reverse Pass? The Reverse Pass, difficult to pull off but flawless in this case, sends the Quaffle over to- Spinnet, it's Alicia Spinnet with the Quaffle, dives into a Woollongong Shimmy. Wow, look at her go! GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
Angelina jumped to her feet and started cheering, "Go go Gryffindor! Go go Gryffindor!" Katie joined in. Soon, three quarters of the crowd were howling, "Go go Gryffindor! Go go Gryffindor!"
Fifteen minutes later, Lee was cheering Charlie Weasley. "Come on, Charlie! You're so close! Woo, yeah! THE SEEKERS ARE NECK-AND-NECK! Punch him, Charlie! Take out the blighter!"
The crowd was breathlessly roaring! From up in the commentator's box, Lee saw something weird... many of the seats had been vacated. However, so intent on making himself heard was Lee that he didn't really give it a second thought.
"CHARLIE WEASLEY OF GRYFFINDOR CATCHES THE SNITCH! Gryffindor wins, one hundred and ninety points to thirty!"
The stadium was beside itself. Girls from different houses who'd never spoken to each other in their lives were hugging, boys were clapping, cheering, pumping their fists in the air. A few were still cheering brokenly. "GO GO, GRYFFINDOR! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!"
"I'm Le- the Mystery Commentator signing off!" said Lee hurriedly. "Nox. Deteriatus." He turned to leave the room.
Something was wrong. It was quiet... too quiet. Lee shook off the weird feeling that something bad was going to happen. He gave the moving pictures a small wave and opened the door of the box.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" screamed about seventy girls, all at once. Yep, you guessed it-
The whole corridor was choked with people trying to get a look at him.
Lee froze. He could see Angelina's sister and her crew near the front.
"Oh my God! It's the freak!" yelped Lisa. There was a pause. "HE'S SOOO FIT!"
At least three cameras went off.
Lee groped for the doorknob, but it seemed to have disappeared.
"It's Lee Jordan!"
"Lee Jordan?"
"The Weasley Triplet?"
"It's Lee Jordan!"
"Isn't he a first year?"
"He is!"
"Lee Jordan is the Mystery Commentator? Good on ya, Lee!"
Lee then did what anyone would've done in his situation. He panicked. He darted back inside the commentator's box and slammed the door, pressing his back up against it.
In the crowd, Angelina and Katie looked at each other in alarm as Fred, George and (still in her Quidditch robes) Alicia turned up.
"Come on!" ordered Angelina, snatching Fred's hand and dragging him toward the door. "Coming through!" she yelled.
"We're his friends!" snapped Katie, punching a fifth-year boy in the chest.
"Let us through!"
"Yeah! We're his friends!"
Lee felt someone banging on the door. "Lee!" he heard Alicia call. "It's us! Let us in!"
He opened the door a fraction and the twins, Katie, Alicia and Angelina ran in, slamming the door again.
"Wow... I've never been up here," commented Katie looking out of the window.
"That is the last thing we should be thinking about," said Angelina commandingly. Everyone turned around to her and Fred and smirked.
"What?" asked Fred. He and Angelina looked down, realising they were still holding hands. They both let go abruptly.
"Oh, Lee, you sod," said Alicia, rolling her eyes. "You didn't even have your hood up!"
"I... I wasn't thinking," muttered Lee.
"Obviously," said Katie dryly.
"... everyone, please go back to your houses in an orderly manner. JORDAN!" yelled McGonagall through the door. "You have five seconds to open this door and explain yourself!"
A series of firecrackers exploded in the corridor, and there were a few shriekds. They could hear the grudging footsteps of kids heading back to their houses.
George looked at Lee, who had gone rather pale. Lee nodded and George slowly opened the door.
McGonagall and Snape swept into the room, bearing down on Lee.
"Lee Jordan," said McGonagall in a dangerous voice. "You have not only been caught commentating a Quidditch game without permission, but we have found six unconscious Slytherins down in the dungeons and have decided that they must have something to do with all of... this. Explain yourself."
She cast a steely eye over the assembled Gryffindors. "Were you alone, or did you have accomplices?"
There was a silence. Then-
"I helped him, Professor," said Fred, stepping forward. "I helped Stun those Slytherins. I kept watch. I helped him learn Sonorus."
"So did I, Professor," confessed George, taking his place beside Fred. "I taught him the Agarium spell to disguise his voice. I tricked the Prefects into leaving their posts."
"I'm to blame too, Professor- Professors," said Alicia quietly. "I knew it was him, but I didn't tell anyone. I wanted him to commentate."
"We helped too!" said Katie, looking at Angelina, who nodded vociferously.
"How?" asked McGonagall suspiciously.
"Ummm... we egged him on, Professor McGonagall," supplied Angelina lamely.
Lee stepped forward, the last. "Everyone knows it was my fault," he said. "I was the leader." He looked quite proud of himself for a second. The twins grinned at each other and Alicia nodded slightly, a smile curling the corners of her mouth.
"How brave of you," said Snape sarcastically. "Such intelligence. I'm sure the headmaster will find your little prank almost as funny as I do." He beckoned Lee.
"Come on, Jordan," he snarled. "We will deal with your friends later, but rest assured that all six of you will be severely punished."
Lee followed along, hanging his head. Suddenly, as soon as he entered the corridor, Angelina, Fred, George, Katie and Alicia burst into riotous applause.
McGonagall was beside herself. "BELL! JOHNSON! SPINNET! You, Weasleys! This is not a laughing matter! Come with me, please."
As they were shepherded in the direction of the opposite stairs, Lee turned around. Although he was sure he would be suspended, although he was positive he'd broken the record for the biggest foul-up in Hogwarts history, he couldn't help it. He called to them, "We've won the War of the Commentators!"
"Yeahhh!" yelled the twins, beginning to clap again but silenced by a barked, "SILENCE!" from Professor McGonagall.
"JORDAN!" yelled Snape and McGonagall together.
As Lee watched his friends disappear down the stairs at the other end of the corridor, he was suddenly aware, all in a scary second, of just how much trouble he was in.
* * * * *
I am SO sorry about how long it took to get this chapter up! I really like this story (writing it, anyway) but it's murdering me trying to finish it. But I will! There's another chapter coming- I'll try to have it up faster, but I'm not promising anything.
To my reviwers:
Female Fred- sorry about the unimaginative way in which I disposed of Marionne in this chapter. I couldn't think of anything else, and I TRIED to make it funny, honestly I did! Oh, and thank you for your encouraging review.
Bastet- thank you! I was worrying about the twins in this story, but that review calmed me down. Thanks! I really appreciated your review.
Futon- ha ha. No, seriously, I'm glad you like it so much. Um, you DO like it, right? Damn. I have a feeling I shouldn't'a said that. Anyhow, I wish I was paid to be such a lazy slacker.
Normandie M- Thanks for telling me her name. Some people said it was Taylor, so I was confused. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter.
To the other new reviewers- Ember, eponine, Skye, CrystalWolf and Chibi-Crysti- you guys RULE! All of you do, I mean. Twenty-fove reviews... I was NOT expecting that many. But I don't mind *GRINS MISCHIEVOUSLY*. Sorry if I didn't remember to mention a reviewer.
Did you like the little F/A moment I put in here? I hope the eleven and twelve-year-old characters don't seem too old.
See ya in a bit, then!
"Where've you been, Alicia?" asked Lee, irritated. "You were s'posed to meet me and Fred in the library- for Quidditch research." He raised his eyebrows, implying ulterior motives.
She laughed mockingly. "I do have a life, you know. Me and the girls went out to play some Shuntbumps on the pitch before it got dark. But I did get you a book. Here."
Lee held out his hand expectantly, feeling the watchful eyes of the suspicious Fat Lady upon his back. Alicia started to hand it to him, but she frowned and hugged it to her. "Hang on," she said. "I just realised something."
"What?"
"You never did tell me how you got rid of Bulstrode."
"Well. I Confunded her into thinking it was two in the morning, then I sent her back to bed. It was genius on my part, I reckon." He gave her a grin which she did not return.
"You broke your promise then." She looked both accusing and rather disappointed.
"Eh?" asked Lee.
"Lee, you promised you wouldn't mess with anyone- meaning Bitchy Bulstrode or whoever! I hate the Slytherins as much as the next Gryffindor, but-"
"Come off it, Alicia! I promised not to knock her out and lock her in a cupboard, I didn't promise not to Confund her and send her back to bed!" Lee didn't realise he was yelling until he finished.
"It's the same thing!"
"NO, IT ISN'T!"
Alicia was beside herself. "You're impossible!"
"YOU'RE impossible!" Lee countered.
She took a deep breath. 'I never know where I am with you devious little first-years."
"Devious," mused Lee. 'Yeah, that's me." He looked quite happy about it.
"Honestly, Lee!" she cried in irritation. She shoved the book into his hands and stalked past him. "I'm sorry I went out of my way to get you the book! Bird Claw," she said venomously, giving the password the Fat Lady and scrambling into Gryffindor.
Lee cast an amused eye after her before opening the book, a black-bound text entitled, 'Great Magical Escapes of the Twentieth Century'. It looked new, and there was no Hogwarts Library stamp- maybe she'd borrowed it from one of her friends?
A miniscule scrap of yellowy parchement had been slotted into the leather bindings. He extracted it and read it idly. It appeared to be a note.
It WAS a note, and it read thusly: 'LJ- or should I say, MC?- just a quick note to say sorry for not turning up, and you'll do great tomorrow. I can't keep a lookout for the Prefects like the twins, because I'll be playing, obviously. I'll be rooting for you! Good luck, from AS.'
Lee suddenly felt something between annoyed, flattered and guilty. Hang on- there was a PS...
'PS: Keep the book. My mum demands that I read some intelligent-type books that don't have the words Quidditch, Chaser or Sport in the title, so she took out this Flourish and Blotts subscription for me. Most of the books really bite, but this one's all right. I figured you'd like it- might give some ideas.'
Make that VERY guilty, thought Lee uncomfortably. "Damned girls..." he muttered uneasily, and climbed into the common room.
The Weasley twins were nowhere to be seen, so Lee tucked the note into his pocket and, in uncharacteristic quiet, settled down in a chair to read.
As with any wizard book, the pictures moved. Unlike many books, this one held Lee's interest for a long time. He flicked happily through it, revelling in the amazing and unthinkable ways that witches and wizards, some only a few years older than him, escaped from Dark Wizards. Some of them were hilarious! Some disturbing. Some so, well, DEVIOUS that Lee didn't think even the Weasley twins could come up with escape plans like that.
Alicia was sitting with her friends by the fire, chatting animatedly, giggling loudly. Lee caught her eye as she was smirking at an insulting song about Snape she and the second-year girls were composing. They looked at each other for a moment.
Lee held up the book a little so she could see it and mouthed, "Alicia? Thanks." She nodded and grudgingly smiled at him before volunteering a rhyme for the fifth verse.
Well, thought Lee. At least she's forgiven me. Can't have accomplices in the War of the Commentators turning against each other, can we?
* * *
"Gerroff, Fred!"
"Quit stepping on my foot, George!"
"Get off first! Get- HURK! Ow, that was my stomach!"
Lee, standing behind the column, his face once again hidden by the hood of his black Hogwarts robes, looked behind him at the twins. He stepped forcefully sideways, squashing them.
"George, Fred, I have two words to say to you- SHUT. UP. They'll hear us!" he hissed frantically.
"That was five words," said Fred mutinously.
All three froze as a crowd of Slytherins materialised out of the smoky darkness of their common room.
Lee stiffened his resolve. "Fan out," he mouthed to the twins. "In ten seconds we get 'em."
The twins nodded and slinked off into the shadows while Lee tensed himself for the moment of truth.
"... you say this was where he got you before, Marionne?" asked a girl with teeth like a squirrel and a voice like nails on a blackboard.
"Yeah," sniffed Marionne. "Lumos!"
To Lee's horror, she lit her wand. He backed up against the wall and held his own wand in a bone-crushingly strong grip.
He gulped as the light was slowly directed toward George's hiding place. He'd be seen, he'd be-
"STUPEFY!" bellowed Lee, leaping from his hiding place. There was a confused silence in which two Slytherins crumpled to the ground. Then two more voices tore the air.
"Dammit, where's my wand- STUPEFY! STUPEFY!"
"STUPEFY! Yeahhhh!"
A boy began to say something, but dropped onto the floor. There was silence as the 'triplets' gazed down at the unconscious Slytherins.
"Um, yeah."
"Well. Er, Lee? I thought we were Confunding them," asked Fred, his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah," said George, stepping from a place a good metre from where Lee thought he'd be.
"Hang on," said Lee in confusion. "Weren't you over there?" He pointed.
"Lee, man. You don't become the world's greatest prankster without learning some complex escape tricks," he explained patronisingly.
"No way! I'M the greatest!"
"Take that back!"
"Never!"
"Er, guys? How about discussing this at some other time?" asked Lee, gazing down at the Slytherins.
"Come on," said Fred, beckoning the other two.
* * *
Lee swore under his breath as he saw the security on the commentator's booth. Fred had gone to save the twins and the girls some seats, while George had insisted on coming along.
Two tall Hufflepuff prefects stood there like guards.
"Crap," whispered George. "How're ya gunna get past them?"
"Errrrrrr..." mumbled Lee.
George looked at him witheringly. "Lee, you can be a mastermind prankster but you can also be a dungbrained sod, OK? Leave it to me."
George smoothed down his hair so as to look more respectable, pulled down the hood of his robes and danced over to the prefects. He yelled in a high-pitched voice that made Lee nearly burst into laughter, "Oh, I'm so glad I've found someone! My brother has gotten into a fight with the Slytherins, and I need someone to help me break it up!"
The taller Prefect raised her eyebrows. "Aren't you George Weasley? The George Weasley who booby-trapped the teacher's lounge?"
"Oh, PLEASE!" begged George, falling onto his knees and clasping his hands. A snort escaped Lee.
"ALL RIGHT!" hissed the shorter one, backing away. "C'mon, Lizzie. I can see I'm gunna need some help."
"McGonagall said to stay here," she said pointedly.
"It's only a few minutes 'til the game," he told her. "I'm sure that Mystery Commentator bloke would've showed up earlier. Besides, he cut Hufflepuff some slack in the last game-"
"Oh, please come! The Slytherins are going to murder him!" wailed George. He tore off with the Hufflepuffs following. Lee slipped into the commentator's booth.
The first thing he did was lock the door. A few spells later he was sitting by the window. Lee drew a deep breath.
"Hello, Quidditch fans! I'm the Mystery Commentator- LET'S PLAY QUIDDITCH!" bellowed Lee. The stadium exploded with cheers, but the reactions were mixed.
"I knew he wouldn't let us down!" trilled Davina Johnson rapturously.
"How'd he get past the Prefects?" asked a Ravenclaw in confusion.
"Damn, it's that Mystery Commentator again!" whined a Slytherin fourth-year.
Lee felt once again like he could do anything. Anything at all! The others were on his side, and that was all that mattered!
"On the Gryffindor side, we have the great Charlie Weasley as Seeker! There is no WAY the Slytherins will win, with him on their side! Also Oliver 'Obsessed' Wood, playing Keeper. The Chasers, Bundy, Dunstan and, in her second ever game, Alicia Spinnet! Lookin' good, Alicia!"
Down on the pitch, Alicia blushed a little and ducked her head. "Shut up, Lee," she muttered happily.
"The Beaters, seventh-years Angela Radnor and Micheal McClare are both rough and ready- if you're a Gryffindor lion, let me hear you cheer!" howled Lee. For the second time, the stadium exploded.
"Going a bit overboard, isn't he?" asked Davina's friend Lisa, frowning.
"He's right all the way, of course!" cried Davina, glaring. "We have the best team in the whole school!"
"And," continued Lee, "on the Slytherin side, there's all your old enemies- er, favourites. Let's give them what they deserve, shall we?"
Catching his drift immediately, all the Gryffindor supporters booed. The Slytherins booed them back. Lee interrupted.
"LET'S- PLAY- QUIDDITCH-! The Bludgers are up... the Snitch is up (keep your eye on it, Charlie!)... and there's the Quaffle! We begin play!"
The crowd was on it's feet, and they weren't ten seconds into the game.
"And it's Kathleen Bundy with the Quaffle, heading for the Slytherin goalposts. She ducks around third-year Marcus Flint, possessor of the world's worst acne problem! Yeahhhh! Go it, Kathleen! DUCK, IT'S- oh, my God, did you fans see that Reverse Pass? The Reverse Pass, difficult to pull off but flawless in this case, sends the Quaffle over to- Spinnet, it's Alicia Spinnet with the Quaffle, dives into a Woollongong Shimmy. Wow, look at her go! GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
Angelina jumped to her feet and started cheering, "Go go Gryffindor! Go go Gryffindor!" Katie joined in. Soon, three quarters of the crowd were howling, "Go go Gryffindor! Go go Gryffindor!"
Fifteen minutes later, Lee was cheering Charlie Weasley. "Come on, Charlie! You're so close! Woo, yeah! THE SEEKERS ARE NECK-AND-NECK! Punch him, Charlie! Take out the blighter!"
The crowd was breathlessly roaring! From up in the commentator's box, Lee saw something weird... many of the seats had been vacated. However, so intent on making himself heard was Lee that he didn't really give it a second thought.
"CHARLIE WEASLEY OF GRYFFINDOR CATCHES THE SNITCH! Gryffindor wins, one hundred and ninety points to thirty!"
The stadium was beside itself. Girls from different houses who'd never spoken to each other in their lives were hugging, boys were clapping, cheering, pumping their fists in the air. A few were still cheering brokenly. "GO GO, GRYFFINDOR! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!"
"I'm Le- the Mystery Commentator signing off!" said Lee hurriedly. "Nox. Deteriatus." He turned to leave the room.
Something was wrong. It was quiet... too quiet. Lee shook off the weird feeling that something bad was going to happen. He gave the moving pictures a small wave and opened the door of the box.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" screamed about seventy girls, all at once. Yep, you guessed it-
The whole corridor was choked with people trying to get a look at him.
Lee froze. He could see Angelina's sister and her crew near the front.
"Oh my God! It's the freak!" yelped Lisa. There was a pause. "HE'S SOOO FIT!"
At least three cameras went off.
Lee groped for the doorknob, but it seemed to have disappeared.
"It's Lee Jordan!"
"Lee Jordan?"
"The Weasley Triplet?"
"It's Lee Jordan!"
"Isn't he a first year?"
"He is!"
"Lee Jordan is the Mystery Commentator? Good on ya, Lee!"
Lee then did what anyone would've done in his situation. He panicked. He darted back inside the commentator's box and slammed the door, pressing his back up against it.
In the crowd, Angelina and Katie looked at each other in alarm as Fred, George and (still in her Quidditch robes) Alicia turned up.
"Come on!" ordered Angelina, snatching Fred's hand and dragging him toward the door. "Coming through!" she yelled.
"We're his friends!" snapped Katie, punching a fifth-year boy in the chest.
"Let us through!"
"Yeah! We're his friends!"
Lee felt someone banging on the door. "Lee!" he heard Alicia call. "It's us! Let us in!"
He opened the door a fraction and the twins, Katie, Alicia and Angelina ran in, slamming the door again.
"Wow... I've never been up here," commented Katie looking out of the window.
"That is the last thing we should be thinking about," said Angelina commandingly. Everyone turned around to her and Fred and smirked.
"What?" asked Fred. He and Angelina looked down, realising they were still holding hands. They both let go abruptly.
"Oh, Lee, you sod," said Alicia, rolling her eyes. "You didn't even have your hood up!"
"I... I wasn't thinking," muttered Lee.
"Obviously," said Katie dryly.
"... everyone, please go back to your houses in an orderly manner. JORDAN!" yelled McGonagall through the door. "You have five seconds to open this door and explain yourself!"
A series of firecrackers exploded in the corridor, and there were a few shriekds. They could hear the grudging footsteps of kids heading back to their houses.
George looked at Lee, who had gone rather pale. Lee nodded and George slowly opened the door.
McGonagall and Snape swept into the room, bearing down on Lee.
"Lee Jordan," said McGonagall in a dangerous voice. "You have not only been caught commentating a Quidditch game without permission, but we have found six unconscious Slytherins down in the dungeons and have decided that they must have something to do with all of... this. Explain yourself."
She cast a steely eye over the assembled Gryffindors. "Were you alone, or did you have accomplices?"
There was a silence. Then-
"I helped him, Professor," said Fred, stepping forward. "I helped Stun those Slytherins. I kept watch. I helped him learn Sonorus."
"So did I, Professor," confessed George, taking his place beside Fred. "I taught him the Agarium spell to disguise his voice. I tricked the Prefects into leaving their posts."
"I'm to blame too, Professor- Professors," said Alicia quietly. "I knew it was him, but I didn't tell anyone. I wanted him to commentate."
"We helped too!" said Katie, looking at Angelina, who nodded vociferously.
"How?" asked McGonagall suspiciously.
"Ummm... we egged him on, Professor McGonagall," supplied Angelina lamely.
Lee stepped forward, the last. "Everyone knows it was my fault," he said. "I was the leader." He looked quite proud of himself for a second. The twins grinned at each other and Alicia nodded slightly, a smile curling the corners of her mouth.
"How brave of you," said Snape sarcastically. "Such intelligence. I'm sure the headmaster will find your little prank almost as funny as I do." He beckoned Lee.
"Come on, Jordan," he snarled. "We will deal with your friends later, but rest assured that all six of you will be severely punished."
Lee followed along, hanging his head. Suddenly, as soon as he entered the corridor, Angelina, Fred, George, Katie and Alicia burst into riotous applause.
McGonagall was beside herself. "BELL! JOHNSON! SPINNET! You, Weasleys! This is not a laughing matter! Come with me, please."
As they were shepherded in the direction of the opposite stairs, Lee turned around. Although he was sure he would be suspended, although he was positive he'd broken the record for the biggest foul-up in Hogwarts history, he couldn't help it. He called to them, "We've won the War of the Commentators!"
"Yeahhh!" yelled the twins, beginning to clap again but silenced by a barked, "SILENCE!" from Professor McGonagall.
"JORDAN!" yelled Snape and McGonagall together.
As Lee watched his friends disappear down the stairs at the other end of the corridor, he was suddenly aware, all in a scary second, of just how much trouble he was in.
* * * * *
I am SO sorry about how long it took to get this chapter up! I really like this story (writing it, anyway) but it's murdering me trying to finish it. But I will! There's another chapter coming- I'll try to have it up faster, but I'm not promising anything.
To my reviwers:
Female Fred- sorry about the unimaginative way in which I disposed of Marionne in this chapter. I couldn't think of anything else, and I TRIED to make it funny, honestly I did! Oh, and thank you for your encouraging review.
Bastet- thank you! I was worrying about the twins in this story, but that review calmed me down. Thanks! I really appreciated your review.
Futon- ha ha. No, seriously, I'm glad you like it so much. Um, you DO like it, right? Damn. I have a feeling I shouldn't'a said that. Anyhow, I wish I was paid to be such a lazy slacker.
Normandie M- Thanks for telling me her name. Some people said it was Taylor, so I was confused. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter.
To the other new reviewers- Ember, eponine, Skye, CrystalWolf and Chibi-Crysti- you guys RULE! All of you do, I mean. Twenty-fove reviews... I was NOT expecting that many. But I don't mind *GRINS MISCHIEVOUSLY*. Sorry if I didn't remember to mention a reviewer.
Did you like the little F/A moment I put in here? I hope the eleven and twelve-year-old characters don't seem too old.
See ya in a bit, then!