On the first Saturday in November, the Inter-House Quidditch season started. The first match, tradition dictated, was between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Somehow it always felt like a needle-match. Gryffindor set a lot of store by their sports prowess and Slytherin set a lot of store by winning. In bygone days Slytherin were given to winning by any means available. Since the war, Lydia learned, they had focused more on hard practice and clever tactics. Lydia, and others, were not convinced. Slytherins seemed to fall into two camps: the reformers and the traditionalists. Professor Malfoy, Head of Slytherin House, was a great champion of reform. HIs allies were muggle-borns and half-bloods whose fashion sensibilities were of a Gothic nature. But there were still many children and grandchildren of Death Eaters amongst the Slytherin students.
There was a strong feeling in the other three houses that Gryffindor were the favourites. They had a good goalie, two great chasers and a great seeker and the rest of the team were not at all below standard. In contrast Slytherin had a good seeker and two powerful beaters. These latter, fifth-years Bulstrode and Midgen, were definitely related to former Death Eaters, though not directly. The saving grace for the team was that Professor Malfoy had appointed a true reformer as the captain, Colin Moody. He was a chaser and, though a year below Bulstrode and Midgen, had been successful at keeping them in line and within the rules.
Bulstrode and Midgen, Lydia and her friends knew, had a reputation for being troublemakers. On Lydia's very first day at Hogwarts they had been mentioned by Professor McGonagall. Sophie's worry was that they might pick on her as the smallest player. Everyone else worried that they would pick on her as the best player. Publicly, Lydia and Freddie dismissed them as a threat because, they pointed out, Sophie was too fast and too aerobatic to be in any danger from them. In private, they confessed to each other that they were concerned. Sophie, though growing, was still the smallest on the team and Bulstrode and Midgen were both huge.
Lydia and Freddie said a quick goodbye and good luck to Sophie at the changing room door. They made their way towards the stadium and its stands with the rest of the school and visitors. It was a cold day but clear, with a high backdrop of icy clouds and a little blue sky visible.
Lydia was the first of the pair to speak. "She looked worried."
"Nah," said Freddie. "She looked terrified."
"Oh, and that's good, is it?" Lydia snapped.
"No. As I was going to say, as soon as she gets on her broom and flies that'll all be forgotten. You've seen her on her broom, she looks crazy happy. She and Tom will rip up the sky and it won't matter who gets the snitch. I can't see what Slytherin can do about it."
Lydia scowled at him. "Really? You can't see? They'll bombard her with bludgers. Bulstrode and Midgen are built like trolls. It'll only take one hit and she'll be flattened!"
"Everybody tried that against Fletcher last year. They didn't touch him. And Sophie's smaller and more manoeuvrable."
"What's this?" asked Dean, as he and Oddy joined them at the bottom of the stairs. "Sophie versus the bludgers?"
"Yeah, they won't get near her," Freddie pronounced.
Lydia snorted. "It's an accident waiting to happen. They don't get Tom Fletcher because he's experienced."
"And gorgeous," said Tina, joining them with Shona and Maisie.
Dean shook his head, ignoring Tina. "They've been practising with the beaters ganging up against Sophie. Never got near her."
Oddy snapped his book shut. "I agree with Lydia. There is a significant risk of Sophie being hit. Bulstrode and Midgen are extremely powerful. It is a classic low-probability, high-impact risk situation. It is unwise to ignore catastrophic risks just because you guess the probability is low. The probability may be one in a million but the outcome is either zero or a hundred percent."
They all looked at Oddy.
"It only takes one distraction," Lydia added.
"Oh, well!" Freddie declared. "Let's all give up 'cos there's a tiny chance we might die."
"Actually," Oddy piped up, "there's a certainty of…"
"Oddy!" they all chorused.
"How about we watch the match and enjoy it?" Freddie suggested. "Here. Bag of cauldron cakes to hand round."
He opened his shoulder bag and pulled out the paper bag of cakes that had been making it bulge.
Dean rubbed his hands. "Ah! Good man. Or, er…"
Lydia flashed him a furious glare. "Thanks, Freddie. Really good of you."
"Dean, I think they're for everyone," Maisie pointed out.
Dean put on a hurt look. "Yeah, I know. What do you think I am?"
"A voracious glutton who does the minimum of homework and who needs to read around the subject more instead of relying on his friends," said Oddy.
"Aw, man," Dean protested. "You've ruined my appetite, now."
"Won't last," Oddy said, looking back down at his book.
"Shh!" hissed Shona. They're coming out."
Half of the audience roared, the other half applauded. The teams and Madam Hooch came out onto the pitch. A prefect carrying the quidditch chest followed them.
"And the teams are ready," came the commentary from a magically amplified Tommy Torpington, the Head Boy. "The referee is ready, and the quidditch chest is about to be opened. There they go! The bludgers are out, the snitch is on its way. Madam Hooch is about to launch the quaffle… Game on!"
Madam Hooch blew her whistle as the red quaffle was launched into the air above the middle of the pitch. Both centre chasers shot after it, Tom Fletcher getting to it first for Gryffindor.
"Gryffindor have the first touch," came Torpington's voice. "Fletcher to Inkwood to Smith to Inkwood to Fletcher to Smith to… No, Moody gets to it. Inkwood has it back! Fletcher. Inkwood. Fletcher, Ink, Fletch. Fletcher scores! Before the bludgers are even in play Gryffindor have scored. Ten - nil to Gryffindor. Everyone back in place, aaand Moody with the quaffle, to Edgecombe, to McLaggen, back to… No! Inkwood intercepts, dodges a bludger. To Smith, to Fletcher, Inkwood, dodge, Fletcher, Inkwood, dodge, Fletcher to Inkwood WHO DODGES AGAIN. Fletcher, Smith, Inkwood scores, and dodges another bludger. Twenty - nil to Gryffindor. Slytherin are targeting Inkwood with those bludgers and she's dodging them like they're sleeping trolls."
The play continued like this with Gryffindor taking possession most of the time. Sophie was continually targeted by the Slytherin beaters but Gryffindor kept on scoring. Bulstrode and Midgen were hammering the bludgers at Sophie. Gryffindor's beaters, Vance and Jones, were chasing the bludgers more than using them against Slytherin players.
After Gryffindor scored for the ninth time, Colin Moody, the Slytherin captain, had a word with the beaters. Following their chat their tactics changed. They spent less time using the bludgers and more time trying to stay close to Sophie and get in her way. They were intimidating rather than completely obstructing, so they were just within the rules.
Then Lydia felt her mind lurch. Sophie was heading for the Slytherin goal rings and her seventh goal when time slowed for Lydia. She saw the shadowed outlines of different futures. This had happened to her once before. This time she could make out four different futures rather than two.
In the first, she saw Bulstrode and Midgen's intentions. They were closing in on either side of Sophie to trap her between them and fly her straight into one of the posts which held up the goal rings. With Sophie's speed and the momentum of the two beaters behind her, she would smash into the post. The force would be more than the padding around it could manage. She would smash headfirst through the pads and into the hard post inside, cracking her skull and breaking her neck.
In the second future she saw, Lydia would act early, pushing the beaters away from Sophie. The interference would be obvious and Gryffindor would be disqualified and forfeit the match. It would be discovered that Lydia was the one who had interfered, causing difficulties for her and many others.
In the third future, Lydia would leave it to the professors to help Sophie. They would react but Sophie would be seriously and painfully injured. Slytherin would be disqualified and Bulstrode and Midgen expelled from Hogwarts. Sophie's injuries appeared to be life-changing but Lydia would be able to heal her in secret.
In the fourth version, Lydia would interfere to save Sophie's life by wrapping the goal post in an energy-absorbing shield at the very last moment. By this time the professors would have reacted and be aware of Bulstrode and Midgen's intentions. Slytherin would be disqualified and the beaters reprimanded and thrown of the team. Sophie would go to the hospital wing, but only with bruising.
Still in slow-time, Lydia cast an invisible buffer around the goal post. Bulstrode and Midgen crashed into Sophie as she tried to pass between them. Their weight pushed her ahead and down into the goal post. The quaffle sailed on through the goal ring. McGonagall and Flitwick whipped out their wands with what must, in normal time, have looked like the speed of a cobra strike. Sophie crashed into the post and started to drop to the ground. Flitwick's charm slowed her fall and McGonagall's softened her landing.
As time regained its normal pace for Lydia, Madam Hooch blew her whistle to stop the match. Tommy Torpington was bellowing with anger at this foul play. Colin Moody was shouting at Bulstrode and Midgen. People were leaping up and down in the stands and shrieking in dismay.
Lydia sighed. Everything was back to normal.
Sophie scowled, but that hurt and she winced, which also hurt.
"You've had a very lucky escape, my dear," said Nurse Boggins. "If you'd been going as fast as those modern brooms can go you might not have survived. It's a good thing the professors saved you. You can talk to your friends but try not to move. And don't any of you make her laugh. It's not only her face and her pride that are bruised."
Sophie and her four guests, the maximum she was allowed at any one time, waited for the nurse to return to her office.
"Bugger!" said Sophie.
Tom Fletcher grinned. "What a debut match! You played even better than in training. And you got Bulstrode and Midgen thrown off their team."
"I wanted us to win properly," she complained. "With people cheering, not groaning and yelling."
Aidan Kavanagh shook his head. "You played like a professional and you won us the match. Everybody loves you, well, except the Slytherins, maybe. But even most of them are on your side. I mean, Moody was furious!"
"And the nurse says you'll be fine in a few days," said Lydia.
"Yeah. Stop being such a…" Freddie grinned, "SORE winner."
"Y'know," said Tom, "when the nurse said no laughing I don't think she meant for you to tell the worst jokes you can."
Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Longbottom walked into the Hospital Wing.
"Ah, good," said McGonagall. "I thought I might find you two here."
"Yeah, we were just…" Aidan began.
"Not you," McGonagall cut him off. "Ward, Fortescue. Might Professor Flitwick and I have a word with you in the nurse's office, please? Professor Longbottom, I'm sure you wanted to talk to, well, half of your quidditch team."
Neville nodded and grinned.
They could hear him enthusing about the match as McGonagall strode them over to the nurse's office and knocked.
She popped her head around the door. "Sandra-May? Might I borrow your office for a few minutes? I'd like to talk to Inkwood's friends about the situation with the Slytherin incident."
Nurse Boggins gladly let them have her room. She gave the two students a warm smile as she left. Flitwick shut the door behind them.
"I presume," McGonagall said, "that it was you who saved Inkwood's life?"
Lydia nodded. "Yes. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"
"Good gracious, no," said Flitwick. "What little I did to slow her impact might easily have been insufficient to save her. She went headfirst at full speed into that post."
"And my slowing her fall," said McGonagall, "would have been worthless if she had already been crushed. You did the right thing, Lydia."
Lydia shuffled her feet. "I feel a bit bad about all the bruises."
McGonagall shook her head. "Do not. She needs to look as though she has had an accident. If she had walked away unscathed your help would have been too obvious. In fact, I am going to ask Nurse Boggins to keep her in longer than strictly necessary. We will tell Sophie and all the school that there are internal injuries and she is to remain in the Hospital Wing for observation. I believe from Professor Malfoy that she is not aware of, shall we say, that of which the two of you are aware?"
Lydia looked at Freddie. "Not yet, professor."
Flitwick smiled. "I think the time when you should tell her is fast approaching. And I would ask you, young sir, to point out that Lydia saved her life today."
Freddie nodded and grinned at Lydia.
"Freddie and Sophie are coming to stay with us over Christmas," said Lydia. "We were planning to tell her then."
Flitwick clapped his hands. "A splendid idea. Have you been, yet? It's a wonderful house!"
McGonagall frowned. "Hmm. I'm not sure I am entirely happy with the way Ambrose has gone about remodelling the interiors. Nor about who he asked to do the remodelling. But the results are, indeed, impressive."
It was not until the following Friday morning that Sophie was allowed out of the Hospital Wing. At McGonagall's request, Lydia and Freddie went along to pick her up. They took her to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they walked in through the tall doors the gathered multitude of students sank into silence. Then they rose to their feet and cheered. Her friends held her arms aloft like a champion. Even the majority of Slytherin house stood and applauded. A few simply stood because Professor Malfoy had made it clear that it would be expected of them all. Sophie bore it bravely, though Lydia knew she must want to cry. Lydia wanted to cry, herself. Freddie was crying tears of happiness, but that made him look angelic. Lydia knew if she cried, she would end up looking a snivelling, dribbling monstrosity.
Lydia and Freddie delivered Sophie to her second-year Gryffindor classmates. They left her and went to their respective house tables. Lydia stood with Shona, Tina and Maisie while they waited for the applause to die down.
The students sat again and the hall returned to its customary hubbub of chatter. Professor McGonagall stepped up to the lectern and tapped her goblet with her wand. It rang out with a clear sonorous tone. The hall hushed.
She pulled herself up ruler-straight and correct. "I am not accustomed to giving speeches over breakfast. I shall not start now."
"Yay!" came a cry from the far end of the hall.
McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "Thank you for that vote of confidence, Mr Kempton. I wanted to say how proud you have all made me with your response to Miss Inkwood's return to the student body. Thank you all. Please enjoy your breakfasts and the rest of the day, which you may regard as one long free period. No classes today."
The stunned silence lasted only a moment. Fifth-year Gryffindor, Tony Kempton, sprang to his feet.
"Three cheers for Professor McGonagall!" he bellowed.
McGonagall peered at him over her glasses and nodded as the school cheered her.
After breakfast Sophie and her friends, most of them Lydia's classmates and Sophie's teammates, made their way up to the Joint Common Room. Throughout the morning it seemed the whole school passed through that room. They congratulated Sophie on surviving her crash, on winning the game and on being the equal of flyers much older and more experienced. Sophie confessed to her friends that her face was hurting. This time it was not from bruising but from grinning. They all knew the feeling.
Lydia, Sophie and Freddie enjoyed being popular at last. Sophie was the centre of attention, of course, but Lydia found she liked that. It felt restful to be out of the limelight. Teddy Lupin started coming along to the Joint Common Room with Freddie to join them. At first, he kept to one side, always the far side of Freddie from wherever Lydia was. Lydia found she had no ill will for Teddy, so she made a point of including him in conversations, to put him at ease. Eventually he approached her as Dean, Jimmy and Martin were arguing about professional quidditch teams. The rest of their crowd were finding it entertaining that Dean was getting louder and louder. Jimmy kept stirring him up with comments such as, "It's only a game" and "It's not a proper sport like cricket".
"Hey, Lydia," Teddy ventured in a soft voice.
She turned to him and smiled. "Hi, Teddy. How are things?"
Teddy looked down at his hands. "Yeah, cool. Look. I wanted to say sorry, you know. I kinda dropped you and I shouldn't have done."
Lydia looked at him for a moment. "I know. It's OK. I promised Draco that if you ever apologised, I'd forgive you. But I think I'd already forgiven you."
He shuffled on the sofa next to her. "I was weak and scared and pathetic."
She nodded. "Yeah, you were."
He blinked.
"Look, Teddy," she went on. "I understand. You had that whole werewolf thing hanging over you and you just wanted to be liked. It was natural to move away from trouble. You'd be surprised how well I understand."
He smiled weakly.
Lydia bit her lip. "The thing I have a problem with is how you were with Freddie."
"I know, I know," he groaned. "I apologised to Freddie first."
Lydia frowned. "He didn't say."
"Well, it was this morning, after breakfast."
Lydia grinned. "And he said something like he'd never noticed."
Teddy grinned. "Not even that. He said 'cool' and went straight into a conversation about his cousin that he'd wanted to talk about."
Lydia pulled a mock-angry face. "You're not going to get off that lightly with me, Lupin. I'm going to hug you and tell you how much I've missed you – in front of all these people."
And she did.
8