Chapter 8: Quidditch

After moths of endless practice, day or night, rain or shine, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was finally ready for their first Quidditch match of the season. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Although they were fully prepared for the match, they knew that their chances of winning were very low. The Ravenclaw team had made a turnover and was at least thrice as good as before. Especially with Jason, Kal and Adrian in the team. It was simple invincible.

Harry woke up at five that morning after being shaken awake from his sleep by a nearly freaking out Ron. The both of them got dressed and returned to the pile of homework that was still incomplete. But no matter how hard they tried, they found themselves unable to concentrate as their minds would tend to wonder off to the quidditch match that was going to happen in a few hours' time.

By nine, they dragged their feet into the grand hall. Harry was practically dreading the match. Once they entered the hall, the Gryffindors who were there cheered and beamed but the Slytherins just jeered like ever. It was not surprising to see Draco Malfoy glaring darkly at them.

Harry ate a little but realized that Ron was not eating at all. He took a swift look at the three girls. Lishia and Jacky were eating heartily but Angie was undoubtedly on her diet again. However, all three of them seemed as cheerful as ever. And if possible, even more cheerful.

When they were all done eating, Harry walked out of the grand hall before the rest of the students jam the door. He reached the changing room to find Ron already there, fully dressed. Harry changed and waited for the rest. When everyone of the team was ready, he gave his pre-match talk.

"As all of you know, the Ravenclaw team is very strong this year and are making a comeback. So I urge all of you to do your beast. That's all" Harry nodded and headed out of the room. The rest followed.

Harry stared at the quidditch pitch now bustling with people. Today's match would not be a short one, he thought. Madame Hooch stood in the middle of the pitch with a whistle hanging around her neck. The Ravenclaw team was already there.

Cho Chang was leading the team, her long hair flapping in the wind. Then came the commentating, "Welcome to the first quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!" the whole stadium was filled with cheering and whistling.

"I'm your commentator for this year, Colin Creevy." Colin was jumping excitedly around the commentator's stand.

"Team captains, please shake hands!" Harry and Cho both stepped forward but none of them took the initiative to shake the other's hand. Ron and Kal nudged Harry and Cho respectively at the same time. Harry blinked and stretched out his hand. Cho did the same and they shook. Eyes drilling into each other's minds. "All right! That's long enough for a handshake." Madame Hooch commented. She released the bludgers followed by the golden snitch. "Seekers! Please get ready." She remarked and released the quaffle. Harry and Cho broke off eye contact, blushing.

Ginny got the quaffle and passed it to Dennis who in turn passed it to Angie. Harry circled in the air, looking for the snitch. However, it was nowhere to be found. At the same time, Cho was looking for it too.

"Gryffindor in possession with the quaffle. Yang – Weasley – Yang – Creevy – Y... Oh no! Intercepted by Wong! Ravenclaw in possession. Wong with quaffle, passes it to... Yes! Angie's got it! Possession back to Gryffindor. Nice bludger work by Lishia..." Colin's comments were soon drowned by cheers. The sky was turning dark. Both Harry and Cho were looking everywhere for the snitch. Two hours soon passed with both teams scoring.

Harry managed to catch snippets of Colin's comments. The scoring was something like four hundred and fifty to four hundred and forty to Gryffindor. Squinting for the tiny golden fluttering thing as hard as possible, Harry surveyed the pitch thoroughly hoping to find it. Cho was not having much luck with it either though Harry was pretty sure she had given up hope in finding the Snitch as she was zooming across the pitch shouting comments to her teammates. After listening to some of the comments, he had this strange feeling that Cho was present at every one of their trainings, observing their movements and strategies as well as their weaknesses.

The game just went on like that. Harry was resorted to doing the same thing as Cho. The sky grew a bit darker. He panicked. They did not have any reserves available unlike the Ravenclaws who got replacements for every position. Harry combed the pitch all over again. Then he saw something like a little ball kicking around frantically in Ron's pocket.

Harry took another glimpse at Cho. She was still oblivious that he had already spotted the snitch. But Harry had to be really careful and swift. Cho was far nearer to Ron than he was. He flew a bit closer to Ron, earning a vary look from Cho.

Kal was about to shoot for the twenty-third time of the day when a bludger by Jacky unseated him completely from his broom. Cho saw and immediately flew down without second thoughts. Harry weighed his chances of winning if he catch the snitch then. Victory was his. However, he decided against it. "It's not because of Cho. It's because of Kal." He reminded himself. It made sense to him at least. The game resumed with Kal being rushed to the hospital wing on a stretcher. Without Kal, the Ravenclaw team seemed a little weaker than before but still very strong. It seemed a must for Harry to end the game quickly as he knew well that the other team has a better stamina.

The moment Angie had got the quaffle and was heading towards the Ravenclaw goal posts, Harry edged another inch closer to Ron. However, Cho did not know as she had directed her vision to the other side of the pitch, although still keeping a close eye on Harry. He knew that any sudden or abrupt movements would cause the Gryffindors to lose. Planning out all his moves meticulously, Harry moved closer to Ron yet again.

When he was as close to Ron as Cho was, he made a dive for Ron's pocket. Cho an inch behind. Harry stretched his hand as far as he could and made for the snitch. Just then Cho's broom came knocking into his and the both of them lost their balance and fell. Down, down, down the went, cutting through the air. Their speed dropped at about ten feet above the ground. Harry landed on the ground with a soft 'thud!' and Cho landed right on top of him. He could feel her breathing rapidly against his neck. Harry opened his eyes and Cho stirred. Then the seekers looked at each other and were startled by their awkward positions. He moved, she moved, but neither too much. Harry bent his head down a little and Cho craned her neck. They met... For a brief moment, which seemed like eternity. They had enjoyed it, every second of it.

When they finally broke away from each other, they noticed at least a thousand pairs of eyes staring at them. The game stopped, all the players were standing on the ground with astonished looks on their faces. Madame Hooch was the first to speck, "Now, if the both of you are done. I'd like to ask whether you agree to end this game as all players have touched the ground." Harry opened his mouth to speak but Cho was faster. "Erm... May I know the current point standing?"

"Four hundred and seventy to four hundred and sixty to Ravenclaw" Madame Hooch answered. Harry's heart dropped. They had lost.

"So I take it that both teams agree to end this game? Well then, Ravenclaw wins!" Madame Hooch announced. Ravenclaw and Slytherin burst into cheers. The Hufflepuffs clapped. Harry led the team back into the changing room to get changed and went down for dinner... His mind still full of somebody.

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Due to some important events that was going to be held in Hogwarts later that year, all the rest of the matches were brought forward giving the Gryffindor team even more pressure than ever.

The next quidditch match of the season so happened to be griffindor versus slytherin. It was known by then to be the classic match. Every year the most intense match was between these two houses. And harry was just as prepared for another victory although the Slytherin team was still gloating at their defeat. He spent most of his spare time on training, resulting in an increase in hermione's nagging about lagging behind schoolwork. But none of his team mates seemed to mind the extra pressure.

It was drizzling on the day of the match, but that did not darken the spirits of the griffindor team or the house. The sun was out and there was sufficient light. They cast the all so useful water repelling spell on all those with glasses [harry, lishia, jacky], and took off. Harry strode purposefully towards the center of the pitch, where madam hooch was already waiting. He and draco reached her at the same time, and glared at each other. Draco looked away.

They shook hands, and got onto their brooms. The snitch and bludgers were released, and harry heard a whisper of excitement from lihsia to jacky. The qaffle was thrust into the air, and harry immediately zoomed off to the place where he last saw the snitch-near the teachers' seats.

As he expected, it wasn't there. Methodically, he flew around the pitch in circles, passing malfoy every round. He also shouted words of encouragement and advise to his team mates. The score was now fourty to seventy with gryffindor leading. Suddenly, angie came hurtling towards him, unable to control her broom. Harry dodged, and called for time out. It was soon discovered that her broom was jinxed, and gryffindor was awarded three penalties, all of which went in.

The game continued, and harry saw no hurry to find the snitch as he was leading by a large number of points. It was now two hundred and thirty to ninety. By his calculations, their house had the most number of points, [a grand total of seven hundred and fifty four] and he saw no reason to stop increasing the points.

He soon got tired of waiting, as he kept a watchful eye on malfoy. Then he saw it. Caught in ginny's hair as if it was a hair clip. She was much closer to malfoy than harry would have liked, and he cautiously inched towards her. Unfortunately, malfoy noticed the change in behaviour and soon spotted the snitch. He raced towards it as harry zoomed across the pitch.

Malfoy's hand was seven inches away from ginny when two bludgers from either side hit him. On on the head, the other at his feet. As a result, he went spinning counter clockwise towards the ground. There was a loud sickening crack as he landed. But harry had gotten the snitch. They had won.

Malfoy was sent to the hospital wing with seventeen broken bones in a coma. Of course he was soon well enough to be discharged, but he walked around with an obvious limb, moaning and groaning. Ron seriously suspected it was all an act.

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter. It was kinda rushed. Actually we had this out 2 months ago but too lazy to vet through and post it. Haha. Yeah. More deaths are coming in the next chapter... Of course, SOMEBODY will join the D.A. ;) we're still not revealing who it is. Haha. Please review. Thank you!

Lotsa love, Amerus