Down at the Quidditch field, crowds of students gathered around to watch the final match to determine the champion Quidditch team of Hogwarts, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang. Lily was pale, and was holding the support of Remus, who was a bit uncomfortable with a girl dragging him down. "Calm down, Lil, it's not as if they have to fight a dementor or anything that dangerous."

"Oh, but maybe he is. What if Beauxbaton had something up their sleeves?" Lily replied, pointing at shadows lurking in the corners.

Melanie chuckled, "Oh, come on, Lily, you don't believe that Sirius, Sarah, and James are going to wimp out on a dementor, do you?"

Lily nodded, "You're right. They'll be fine."

Her best friend smiled, "Look, we have seats in the front. Courtesy of Sam and Samantha, of course, our favorite Ravenclaw-Gryffindor twins."

"Yeah," Remus grinned, "A better view of Prongs breaking his jaw from smacking the ground after catching the Snitch."

He received a jab in the stomach from Lily, who glared at him. They reached the empty seats. Melanie looked around, puzzled. "Where's Peter?"

Making sure that Lily remained seated, Remus muttered, "Probably still with greasy Snape. You know how much he admires Severus. If you ask me, I think Peter's been hiding things from us."

"Oh, come on, guys," Melanie retorted, "He's probably trying to suck up to Snape, because of, you know, last year. To get at his good side."

"What would you know about his good side?" Lily snapped back, standing up, "He's all bad if you ask me, I mean, he's in Slytherin, and everyone knows that when you're housed in Slytherin, you're a bad wizard. Look at Voldemort, and his followers. They were all in Slytherin."

Melanie pulled Lily's arm and forced her to sit. "Okay, you brought your point up, now, sit down. Look, Sam is going into the podium. He's about to announce the teams and start the game."

Sure enough, Samuel pointed a wand to his throat and muttered something inaudible. When he began to open his mouth again, his voice was heard all the way to the other side of the field. "STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS, BEAUXBATON AND DURMSTRANG! THIS IS THE MOMENT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! THE FINAL MATCH! THE ONE MATCH TO END ALL MATCHES! THE BIG ONE! THE—"

"We get your drift, Mr. Donovan, please get on with the proceedings!"

"MAKE WAY FOR OUR TWO QUIDDITCH TEAMS ABOUT TO FACE OFF! HERE'S BEAUXBATON! LED BY SEEKER DELACOUR AND THE NEW BEATER, REBECCA RUPPERT! THIS IS A GREAT TURN OF EVENTS, FOLKS! FOR MISS RUPPERT HAD TRANSFERRED TO HOGWARTS NOT VERY LONG AGO…" he stopped when Professor McGonagall was glaring at him and continued on with the other team, "AND…HOGWARTS IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THEIR GRYFFINDOR HOUSE TEAM! CHAMPIONS AMONG CHAMPIONS NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME! JAMES POTTER RIDING IN THE LEAD!"

James looked over his shoulder at his Quidditch team, and smiled nervously. Alisha and Sirius were behind him, their bats ready and their faces serious. The Seeker flew over to them and brought his team together. "Okay, I know I'm not very good with these speeches, but I just wanted to tell you guys that it's been a pleasure playing with you all. No matter what, we have the greatest Quidditch team I have ever come up with. Two absolutely aggressive Beaters that haven't yet let anyone get hit with a Bludger…"

Sirius and Alisha smiled, while James continued talking, "Our Chasers are the fastest and the craftiest I've seen…"

"Aww…James, stop, you're making me blush," Sarah said, while Cameron giggled, and Chris nodded, concentrating.

"And a promising Keeper who I'll be naming Captain when Sirius, Sarah, and I leave this year," he said at last.

Lief beamed at him and turned pink, "I wouldn't call my blunders promising, but if you say so…"

"And what about our unbeatable Seeker, huh? Who can't forget how many times Potter has won the game for us? Cheers for James Potter!" Sirius cried out heartily.

"Alright, then, since we've got all of us, it doesn't matter whether Beauxbaton tries their best, because they haven't practiced every bloody day like we did, even in the grueling rain. So what do we say, Gryffindor?!"

"LIONS GO!" the team cried out and flew into their positions, soaring into the air.

Melanie watched Sirius, who was trailing Rebecca, frowning at her from behind. Sirius' girlfriend bristled, and Lily saw this. The redhead patted her best friend's shoulder. "Hey, not with this envy again, okay? Sirius and the others are too serious at the moment to think of hitting on anyone, letting alone with the other team. And haven't you and Sirius made up?"

Lily's friend sighed and sank into her seat. "You know, you can never tell with him, what he's going to do. I wouldn't be surprised if he smashes that Bludger into someone's face."

"Don't say that," Remus scolded her, "I don't want to remember what he did last year…"

The three looked at each other and nodded, going back to the game, where they saw Cameron throw the Quaffle into one of the hoops, scoring ten points to Gryffindor. Melanie jumped up and screamed out with delight. "Go Gryffindor! Come on! You can do it!"

Remus laughed. "At this rate, Melanie, we'll be needing a cheerleading squad for each house. You guys scream so loud!"

"OH! TRISTAN LOMBARD GIVES US A MAGNIFICENT BLOCK! SORRY, CAMERON, BETTER TRY NEXT TIME! AND ZERAH'S GOT THE QUAFFLE…ONTO JAMAIS…THERE HE GOES! NO! I MEAN…ER…HE SCORES TEN POINTS FOR HIS TEAM! WAY TO GO!" Sam said, a bit unwilling with his last sentence. "WATCH OUT, ALISHA, BLUDGER COMING YOUR WAY! NICE BAT!"

The Bludger soared away and Rebecca chased after it, her face blank and focused on the Bludger. Lily muttered under her breath, "What got her goose? Why is she speeding after a Bludger?"

Before anyone could answer her question, the blonde veela-like young lady swung her bat and aimed the Bludger out at James, who was not paying attention to the game at all, concentrating on the Snitch. He didn't see the Bludger coming his way, and neither did Sam, who was watching the Chasers. Remus jumped from his seat and started to wave his hands, screaming his head off. "JAMES!! BLUDGER!"

James managed to look back, but he didn't have the speed to turn around in time. He closed his eyes and waited for the collision…but nothing happened. He heard a THWACK! and reopened his eyes, to see Sirius taking a deep breath. His best friend smiled at the Seeker. "I've been trailing that Ruppert girl to see if she would be doing anything funny."

"Thanks, Sirius, you saved my life back there," the Head Boy said weakly, "If that had hit, I would have let it take me down 50 feet."

"Nonsense, what about your awe inspiring speech?"

"GREAT SAVE SIRIUS BLACK! HE MANAGED TO OUTMANEUVER AN ONCOMING BLUDGER TOWARDS JAMES POTTER, OUR MOST VALUABLE PLAYER IN THE FIELD AT THIS MOMENT! IT SEEMS THAT WITH BLACK AND POTTER ON THE FIELD, NOTHING WILL STOP THEM! AN INSEPARABLE TEAM!"

Sirius shook his head, "Sam forgot to mention the fact that I would have jumped in front to save you from that Bludger."

"Hey, watch your back, too," James chuckled, "BEHIND YOU!"

The Beater swung his bat to stop another oncoming Bludger coming their way. Frowning, Sirius decided to stay near James, in case someone like Rebecca would decide to throw something besides a Bludger their way. Remus slumped to his seat, exhausted. "This game is taking energy from me as well…"

Sam Donovan continued to scream out to the spectators. "ARGH! WHY HAVE I BEEN SO DISTRACTED?! LOOKS LIKE BEAUXBATON IS IN THE LEAD WITH 70 POINTS UP! HOW HORRIBLE! THIS IS DEGRADING! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

Sarah managed to score once until a Bludger knocked her over, almost falling out of her broom, if not for Chris, who helped her back on the broomstick. She moaned and felt her head. The blonde growled. "Okay, that's it, if they're going to play rough, it's time to show them the true colors of Sarah Morran…"

"Sarah! Catch it!" Cameron screamed, throwing the Quaffle out at her.

Another Bludger came about, and Sarah cursed, getting out of the way. "Where in bloody hell did those things come from?! It's as if we've got too many Bludgers let loose around here!"

Melanie muttered the same suggestion to Lily, who looked around in earnest, trying to find out whether or not her friends were safe. She saw Sarah dodge another Bludger and score another ten points. Remus, getting too anxious, opened up the map inside his sleeve. He watched his friends flying about in different directions, with Sirius and James pairing up together. The young man frowned. Melanie was right…there were more than four Bludgers floating about… "Lily, there are 7 Bludgers in play, and they seem to be coming from over at the Slytherin side…"

The Head Girl turned her head towards Slytherin, and realized that Snape was letting out Bludgers like a madman. The Slytherins didn't seem to care, they were enjoying it too much. Lily stood up in rage and stomped her way over to where Snape was seated, her wand out and ready to be used. "SEVERUS SNAPE! YOU STOP THAT NOW! EXPELLIARMUS!"

Snape's wand flew from his hand, and the Slytherins glared at her with more than anger in their faces. One of Snape's friends was about to grab her, but Remus and Melanie were there by her side, wheeling her back to her seat. She was still holding Snape's wand, and was thinking about snapping it in two when Melanie discouraged her about it. "The Bludgers have stopped coming now. And Sam's brought the attention about them to Madame Hooch. She's already gotten rid of all of them except the two that are supposed to be there. So calm down, Lil."

"WHAT'S THAT?! OH MY GOODNESS! IT'S THE SNITCH! THE SNITCH HAS BEEN FOUND! NO!! WHERE DID IT GO?! COME ON, POTTER! GOTTA CATCH IT BEFORE DELACOUR DOES!"

Professor McGonagall yelled, "SAMUEL! BE UNBIASED WILL YOU?!"

Sam wasn't left any time to apologize when he saw something that made him scream ever the more louder, "WAIT…WHAT IN THE BLOODY WORLD IS HAPPENING?! SIRIUS AND JAMES, HOLD ON! SOMEONE'S PLACED A HEX ON THEM!"

James and Sirius were in the air, hanging onto their precious lives as their broomsticks were moving about wildly, unable to be controlled. Sarah watched in horror, and she glimpsed in the corner of her eyes that Felicity was diving towards something small and golden…Without warning, Sarah shot towards the Snitch as well, gaining speed and not caring whether or not she would smack into anyone. The blonde Chaser stretched her hands and grappled Felicity, pushing her away from the Snitch and into the outer court of the Quidditch field. Felicity gave out a frustrated shriek and started clawing at Sarah, who tried to untangle herself from the wild Seeker.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle, yelling for them that a foul was being committed and she called for a time-out. It was beginning to be a very grueling Quidditch match, and more than half of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was bruised with some kind of injury. Sarah's face was disheveled and a small gash was on her arm, obviously from Felicity, who had scratched her. Chris examined the cut and burned with anger. "Some nerve she's got…scratching you…Madame Hooch should have called a foul shot for that, too."

"I'm okay, Chris," Sarah said, leaning on Sirius, who was gasping for breath, apparently tired, "It was nothing. At least I stopped her from getting the Snitch."

Lief frowned. "I don't get it. I was watching, and I don't get how the broomsticks were acting that way."

Lily, Melanie, and Remus barged in, with Melanie rushing towards Sirius, bursting into tears. "I thought you were going to die!"

"Hey, Mel," Sirius softened, flinching a bit as she hugged him tightly, "This is no time to feel sentimental for me, okay? James and I are fine. Though that thing did give me a scare…"

The Head Girl glanced worriedly at James, who closed his eyes and leaned on one of the lockers, clutching his completely broken glasses in one hand. Lily sat down next to him and forced him to give her his glasses. Her green eyes looked down upon it and sighed. "I had the assumption that you guys would be fine. But this…?"

Lief shook his head, bandaging Cameron's shoulder. "Yes, but we completely had no idea that such people would go on about with tactics like this! It's as if Slytherin is helping them out…"

"Whoever said they weren't?" Remus spoke out, shaking his head, "Lily found Snape throwing more Bludgers into the Quidditch field. How he got to them, I have no clue, but there were more Bludgers in the game than in a regular match. No wonder you guys had to dodge it almost every turn you make. But I wonder who hexed the broomsticks…?"

Melanie was still sniffing into Sirius' shirt and looked up, her blue eyes flashing with more anger than concern, "If I find out, that person will terribly pay…"

Sarah was looking at her cousin with a grin. "Hey, that was my line. Watch it, cousin, you're becoming like me everyday…"

Sirius looked on helplessly as the raven-haired beauty continued to clutch at him. James couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. He turned towards Lily, who was still playing with his glasses, her mind elsewhere. The Seeker reached for her hand and tried to pry the glasses from her. The red head jumped and looked at James, coming back into reality. She blinked and tapped her wand towards the glasses, muttering a small charm and handed the glasses back to its owner. "I'm sorry, I was a bit…preoccupied."

"Come on, are you guys okay?" James asked his Quidditch team.

They looked up at him, filled with determination and fury. Cameron nodded. "I might have a limp arm, but that doesn't stop me, James. We'll pound them."

Lief nodded. "James, I think now is the time to put our last formation into action."

James agreed. "Okay, guys, here's the new plan. The Snitch is out. All we need is to get the Snitch and the game is ours. Alisha, Cameron, and Chris, you stay near Lief and help him in blocking the other side from making any more points. Sirius and Sarah, you come with me, and try to keep Felicity in check. Got it? For now, it's a defensive strike."

Remus nodded with approval, "Good strategy. Couldn't give you any better myself. Come on, Lil, Mel, we better go back to our seats."

Lily smiled at her friends. "Hey, be careful out there. We'll make sure not another hex touches any of you guys."

Melanie nodded, also brightening, "And whoever is trying to bewitch you, they forgot that the smartest and craftiest people around Hogwarts are the Mauraders themselves. They'll be paying for what they've done."