Even When There's No Way, There's Always A Will
~* Here's the next chapter! I hope you're all having fun reading about the Quidditch competition! I'm certainly having fun writing it! *~
Chapter 29 ~ Resolutions
The night games were minutes from beginning, and the teams had been announced onto the four different Quidditch Grounds. Hermione and Ron positioned themselves in the Grand Stand so that they would be able to watch both games with Hogwarts in them.
In the middle of the Grand Stand, was the announcers box, with four different compartments - one for each Stadium. There was a notice board on one of the walls of the announcers box, and it had the results from the first round. Winning teams underlined.
***********************************************************
Round 1
Pool 1
Hogwarts Gold v Starkals White (210 - 20)
Beauxbatons Indigo v Durmstrang Blue (160 - 140)
Pool 2
Beauxbatons Violet v Starkals Black (240 - 100)
Durmstrang Green v Hogwarts Silver (260 - 90)
_________________________________________
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'Come on Hermione,' Ron said, tugging at his friends' arm. 'The games have just started!' Hermione was just about to follow Ron back to their position, when she spotted Draco.
'I'll be with you in a few minutes,' Hermione said. Ron nodded, to engrossed in the Quidditch games to worry about where Hermione was going. She hurried over to Draco and gently tugged on his arm.
'Hi, Granger,' Draco said, sounding like he was off in another world.
'Are you doing any better?' Hermione asked.
'No, not really,' He replied. 'Did you put that memory charm on Harry?'
'Yes, and I feel terrible about it, but I made sure only to wipe out the memories of Cho telling him the things that you apparently did to her,' Hermione reassured him.
'I appreciate that,' Draco told her. 'What about Andrea, has she said anything to you recently?'
'Not really, just that she'll reconcile with you when she's ready to talk to you again,' Hermione said. 'She was pretty mad with you for punching Cho, but these rumours are pretty sick, and she knows that you need her,'
'She can come and talk to me,' Draco said.
'That's exactly what she's been saying, honestly, you both are as stubborn as eachother!' Hermione scoffed.
'Andrea's the least of my worries, I went and had words with Cho the other night,' Draco told Hermione, who's eyes widened.
'You moron! You shouldn't have said anything to her!' Hermione hissed. 'Now she's going to be more determined to get even with you,'
'There isn't anything for her to get even with,' Draco replied.
'Well you did punch her in the face,' Hermione said.
'True, but I didn't mean that, I wish I could take it back,' Draco dropped his eyes to stare at the platform they were standing on.
'Anyway, Andrea wants to talk with you, so she'll come when she's ready,' Hermione said happily. 'Now, I'm off to watch Harry crush Starkals Black!' She turned away from Draco and walked back to where Ron was sitting, cheering for Harry's team, Hogwarts Silver.
~***~
Later that night, Draco ran into Andrea when they were on their way to the Slytherin common room.
'Er, hi, Draco,' Andrea said quietly.
'Hi,' Draco replied.
'How have you been?'
'You know how I've been,' Draco said sharply. 'Betrayed and annoyed.'
'Yeah, so what are you going to do about Cho?' Andrea asked.
'One thing at a time please,' Draco said, stopping and turning to face her. Andrea stopped walking just before she ran into Draco. 'I want to know if everything is good between us,'
'Well, sure everything's good with us,'
'You were pretty cut up over me violently lashing out at Cho,' Draco said it like he regretted every moment of punching Cho.
'Of course I was annoyed at you for that, it was so wrong of you, but I'm sure you know that now,' Andrea paused. 'So there's really no point in me holding a grudge against you, especially now with a lot of people angry at you,'
'Is that the only reason?' Draco asked. Andrea averted her eyes.
'No,' She replied.
'What else, then?'
'I missed hanging out with you, okay? You're my best friend, is that so bad?' Andrea said. Draco stepped forward and wrapped his friend in a hug. He had never hugged a girl before without other intentions in mind, and it felt somewhat reassuring.
'I missed you too,' He said. 'I don't know what I would do without you,' The two of them pulled away from eachother. Andrea had some tears flowing down her cheeks. She sniffed and wiped them away.
'So what are you planning on doing about Cho?' Andrea asked.
'I don't know, I still care about her greatly, but then she's doing this…' Draco trailed off.
'You still care about her? Come on Draco, you should know better,' Andrea insisted. 'How can you still have feelings about Cho after all she's put you through?'
'I don't understand it myself, but I miss being with her,' Draco said.
'Alright then, I don't get you sometimes,' Andrea replied and they headed into the Slytherin common room.
~***~
'Great game last night, Harry!' Ron said over breakfast. 'You completely crushed their Seeker and Captain, Tai Sullivan!'
'She was a really good Seeker though…' Harry muttered. 'If we come up against them again, I don't know if she'll let me get the snitch!'
'Of course she won't let you get the snitch, but I'd like to see her try and stop you!' Ron laughed gleefully. There were fliers floating around the Great Hall, showing the results from Round 2. Hermione plucked one from the air and read it.
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Round 2
Pool 1
Starkals White v Beauxbatons Indigo (170 - 50)
Hogwarts Gold v Durmstrang Blue (200 - 140)
Pool 2
Starkals Black v Hogwarts Silver (250 - 90)
Beauxbatons Violet v Durmstrang Green (150 - 20)
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'This puts Hogwarts Silver and Starkals White on the same amount of points,' Hermione said, showing the flier to Ron and Harry. 'Both teams have won both their games,' She explained.
'How does the point system work, Harry?' Ron asked.
'Well, teams score point for games, three points for a win, two points for a draw and one point for a loss,' Harry explained to his friends.
'No Seeker in their right mind will catch the Snitch if it means a tied game,' Ron said.
'Not necessarily, if the team was struggling, then a Seeker may catch the Snitch to end the game for their team,' Harry said.
'Makes sense,' Hermione said.
'Who do you play today?' Ron asked.
'There's only one game left in the rounds, before the competition goes into Round Robin,' Harry told them. 'My team plays Beauxbatons Violet this morning at eleven o'clock.'
'Oh, okay,' Ron said.
'What's Round Robin?' Hermione wondered aloud.
'That's like a Preliminary Round, where teams are paired off in order of their completion in the Rounds. For example, if my team and Starkals White both finish first in the different pools, we will be paired off to play,' Harry said. 'Round Robin plays three times, each time knocking out the team which loses out of the bottom two teams, and the winner of all the teams, which will advance onto the next stage.'
'Oh,' Hermione shrugged.
'Say, the winner of Round Robin Knock out 1 is Durmstrang Blue, they advance straight into the Grand Final. Then if the winners of Round Robin Knock out 2 and 3 are Starkals White and Beauxbatons Violet, those two will play off to see who plays Durmstrang Blue in the Grand Final,' Harry explained.
'That's starting to make sense,' Ron said.
'In each Round Robin, every team has an even chance of making it to the next stage, so every team has a chance of winning the Round Robin,' Harry said.
'That sounds like a fair idea,' Hermione said.
'Why didn't they just use Round Robin Knock outs to begin with?' Ron asked.
'Well, the Rounds that we're playing now are our opportunities to make a better position for ourselves in the Round Robin Knock out stages,' Harry said. 'I rather like this system.'
'Yes, it does seem good,' Hermione said.
'Are you looking forward to the last game of the Rounds?' Ron asked.
'Yeah!' Harry replied anxiously.
'Do you think you'll win?' Hermione asked.
'Don't ask me that, I might jinx it,' Harry replied.
~***~
Draco hurried through the halls after breakfast, hoping to find Cho. She had definitely gone down to the Slytherin Dungeons, and Draco was determined to find her. He wanted to sort things out, and get to the bottom of why she was acting the way she was.
'I thought you said you would never come back,' A voice said from behind him. Draco recognised it as Cho's voice, and didn't turn around to face her.
'I was angry,' He replied. She walked around Draco and faced him, looking up into his eyes, which refused to meet hers.
'Why are you following me?' Cho asked.
'I want to know why you're spreading these rumours that I've beaten you,' He said, still not looking into her eyes, fearing what he might find there.
'Defence,' Cho replied.
'Against what?'
'You hurt me that night,'
'And you think you didn't hurt me?' Draco snapped.
'I'm sorry, but you asked for the truth,' Cho said.
'You slept with Potter, I just can't get that image out of my head,' Draco told her.
'Alright, that was a lie,' Cho said.
'What?' Draco cried. 'You said you were being honest!'
'I wanted to see your reaction, and I got it,' Cho said.
'How could you do that to me?' Draco asked.
'I don't know, I just wanted to know what you would do if you thought I had been with Harry,' Cho said.
'Why?'
'I wanted to see if you would trust me after that,'
'Well you've made it quite clear that I can't trust you.' Draco told her, finally looking into her eyes, with a cold stare. She said nothing for a while.
'I guess I deserved that,' Cho said quietly.
'I can't shake these feelings that I have for you, but we can never be together, because I can't trust you,' Draco said to her.
'What if you could trust me?'
'I don't have time for "what ifs", what's done is done, you can't change that!' Draco yelled. 'You deceived me in the worst possible way and I don't know if I can ever forgive you for it,'
'Fine then, walk away from love, it's just like a Slytherin to be cowardly,' Cho said.
'You don't know the first thing about Slytherins,' Draco sneered.
'I know that they're cold hearted and unforgiving,' Cho tested.
'How do you expect me to forgive you?' Draco asked, his voice softening a small amount. 'You've lied way too many times,'
'Tell me, how many lies have you told me?' Cho asked. This question left a small silence. 'Be honest now, at the start of the year you would say anything!'
'That's right, I said a few things which I didn't mean,'
'Our relationship was based on a lie then, wasn't it?' Cho said. 'How can you punish me for something that you are so good at? It makes you a hypocrite, Draco.'
'Maybe I am a hypocrite,' He said stubbornly.
'I think you're just scared of commitment,' Cho pushed.
'I am not scared of anything that you can offer me,' Draco challenged.
'I'm offering you a whole lot, and you're knocking it back,' Cho said.
'Wonder why…' Draco said spitefully.
'It means that you're scared,' Cho said.
'I will not start anew with you based on a challenge!' Draco roared, sensing what she was trying to do.
'Then what will get you to come back?' Cho asked.
'Honesty,' Draco replied, and turned away from her.
'Fine,' Cho replied, watching him walk away.
~***~
Ten minutes before eleven, every team was warming up, preparing for their final game in the Rounds. These games were going to be very exciting games, and every student and teacher residing in Hogwarts was out in the Grand Stands watching, eagerly, for the start of the four games.
Justin was pacing in the dressing room while his team sat nervously on the bench. Cho fiddled with her wand, her mind on the conversation she had shared with Draco earlier that morning. honesty…
'… we've won a game, and lost one, so this is a very important game for us!' Justin was saying.
'Who cares if we win or lose? We're all getting an even chance in the Round Robin Knock Outs anyway,' Marcus jeered.
'It matters because we want a better position in the first Round Robin,' Justin growled.
'But if we're at the bottom of the pile, we'd have a better chance of knocking out the lower teams, if we're near the top, then the best teams will crunch us straight away,' Katie argued.
'We'd like to be somewhere in the middle,' Terry pondered. Justin sighed.
'Whatever, just go out and play Quidditch to the best of your ability,' He said. 'If we win, fine, if we lose, fine.'
The team members of Hogwarts Gold mounted their brooms and waited to be announced. They were playing on Stadium 2, and the announcer for this stadium was female. They heard her feminine voice announce the game, and the teams playing on her stadium.
'THE HOGWARTS GOLD KEEPER AND CAPTAIN, JUSTIN FINCH-FLETCHLEY!'
Justin flew out of the dressing rooms, and straight to his position to start off the circular formation in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch.
'CHASERS, KATIE BELL, TERRY BOOT AND MARCUS FLINT!'
Katie, Terry and Marcus flew straight up to Justin and hovered next to him, forming their part of the circle.
'BEATERS, SEAMUS FINNIGAN AND VINCENT CRABBE!'
Seamus and Crabbe flew to their team members to complete the Hogwarts semi-circle.
'FINALLY, SEEKER, CHO CHANG!'
Cho flew up a few metres above her team mates and faced the same direction as them, awaiting an opposition to glare at.
After Beauxbatons Indigo were introduced, the circle was complete. The referee blew his whistle, releasing the four balls, Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch. Cho remembered the first time she had met with Miguel Lopez, and he had told her about falling in love with Latetia De Clauzel, Seeker of Beauxbatons Indigo. Latetia and her twin, Valerie, had fooled Miguel because Latetia didn't like him, but Valerie did. So Valerie had pretended to be Latetia, fooling Miguel. Cho felt a rush of anger towards Latetia, before remembering that Miguel had kissed Mariette.
'So, you are Cho Chang,' Latetia said as the two Seekers hovered in mid air, scanning the Quidditch Pitch for any signs of the Snitch.
'Yeah, and you're the girl who screwed Miguel over,' Cho replied in a harsh tone.
'He cheated on you, so don't you get annoyed with me,' Latetia scowled.
'Don't speak to me,' Cho glowered, and sped off to the other end of the pitch. In the back of her mind, she heard the announcer yell out that Beauxbatons Indigo scored.
~***~
On Stadium 1, Starkals White were playing against Durmstrang Blue. Starkals White worked so well as a team, and they were already up by 40 points.
'RICKY KUNDE SCORES FOR STARKALS WHITE! 50 - 0 TO STARKALS WHITE! LOOK AT THEM GO!'
Ricky did a figure eight in the air, before heading back into the game. He slapped a high five with Melanie, and they hurried after the Quaffle, which was now in the possession of Durmstrang Blue Chaser, Dennis Schulz.
Ligia Leite and Vicky Heather, the two Seekers, had seen nothing of the Snitch so far. Ligia flew with a determined look on her face, her auburn brown curls flowed back as she sped around the Pitch. She wanted to win the game for her team as soon as possible, but Vicky was the "Unbeatable Seeker" of the tournament, along with Harry.
'A NEAR MISS WITH THAT BLUDGER, LUCKY RYAN PANCARI HAS GOOD DODGING SKILLS! SEE THE LOOK ON POMORY'S FACE, HE'S OBVIOUSLY NOT USED TO MISSING!'
It was true, Durmstrang Blue Beater, Elliot Pomory looked as though he could tear apart a brick wall with his bare hands. Ryan winked at him, and passed the Quaffle to Ricky, which was quickly intercepted by Chaser and Captain of Durmstrang Blue, Esmerelda Bryant.
'LOOK AT THAT GIRL FLY! DAVIDSON HAD BETTER WATCH OUT, BECAUSE ESMERELDA IS DETERMINED TO SCORE!'
Ricky, Ryan and Melanie trailed Esmerelda with no luck. She attempted to put the ball through the left hoop, but Phillip Davidson was too quick, and he knocked the Quaffle back into the game at Melanie's outstretched hands.
'AN AMAZING SAVE BY KEEPER PHILLIP DAVIDSON!'
~***~
Meanwhile, on Stadium 3, Starkals Black and Durmstrang Green were leaving the Quidditch Pitch, as Seeker Tai Sullivan had caught the Snitch for Starkals Black within the first ten minutes of the match.
In Stadium 4, Hogwarts Silver were clearly winning against Beauxbatons Violet, 70 - 10. Harry was doing another spectacular performance in the air above the game. His flying techniques dazzled the audience and confused the opposing Seeker, Valerie De Clauzel.
'HANNAH ABBOTT AND ALICIA SPINNET WORKING BEAUTIFULLY TOGETHER AS A COMBINATION OF CHASERS!'
Cora Black occasionally joined in with Alicia and Hannah, but she generally kept to trying to avert the other Chasers, Jacquez Clarke, Michelle De Sinte and Eponine Mentuez, from getting hold of the Quaffle.
Hannah scored, putting the ball in the middle hoop, past opposing Keeper, Miguel Lopez. A loud cheer rose from the supporters in the Grand Stand.
~***~
That night at dinner, Andrea and Draco were sitting in their usual spot at the end of the Slytherin table.
'Look, Draco, I'm sorry about trying to make you choose between me and Cho,' Andrea said, looking up from her plate.
'Don't worry about it, I'm just glad that you're talking to me again!' Draco said with a smile. 'It was hell without you around.'
'Really?'
'Yeah, so never get pissed off at me again, okay?'
'I can't promise that,' Andrea said with a sly smile. 'You're just so easy to get annoyed with!' She smacked him playfully on the arm.
'You're not the easiest person to get along with sometimes either!' Draco winked.
'Anyway,' Andrea said between laughter. 'Which teams won today? I didn't really get around to watching the games, I was pre-occupied,'
'With what, or should I say with who?' Draco asked, curious.
'Oh, just one of the Starkals boys who didn't get chosen in the teams,' Andrea said dreamily. 'Jason Jimenez.' She told him.
'Really, he's the one who looks like a rock star,'
'Yes, he plays the guitar, in a band called NSA, it stands for No Strings Attached!'
'Sounds fun,' Draco grumbled, not really interested in Jason.
'Luke Gal is the drummer, and there's two other guys who aren't here, they are Sean Parsonson and Jason Brown.' Andrea continued.
'I don't really care,' Draco said blatantly.
'Sorry, so who won?' Andrea asked quickly. Draco pulled out a folded piece of paper, it was the results for Round 3. Andrea took it, and opened it up.
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Round 3
Pool 1
Hogwarts Gold v Beauxbatons Indigo (170 - 30)
Durmstrang Blue v Starkals White (220 - 0)
Pool 2
Durmstrang Green v Starkals Black (240 - 60)
Hogwarts Silver v Beauxbatons Violet (260 - 20)
_________________________________________
***********************************************************
'That means that Hogwarts Silver and Starkals White finish first in their pools,' Andrea said.
'Yeah, and Hogwarts Gold came third,' Draco muttered. 'They probably would have done better with me as their Seeker, instead of Cho,'
'Why's that?' Andrea asked, giving him a skeptical look.
'Cho always lets her emotions get in the way of other aspects of her life, I don't,' Draco explained.
'Yeah, that makes sense, Cho does have a lot going on now, and she is an emotional person,' Andrea said, pondering what Draco had told her.
'Exactly,'
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~* There's the chapter, I hope everyone liked it! Please review guys! *~
~Gryffindor Gal~