Author's Note: All right now, don't kill me! I'm slow in everything I do, including reading and updating. I'm now one year older! Finally! Merci Beaucoup to all my lovely reviewers! By the way, the Incredibles are absolutely cool! It's a must-see!
Larthawyn You're absolutely right. It is supposed to be raining on that day, but I decided to alter it. I prefer a turn of events. Good luck for college!
Peachgirl1608 Hi there! Always so encouraging of you. Thanks so much.
Pia O' Leary At first, I was confused by what you were saying…but then I realized what it was about. Well, regarding your question, they are all in their last year. I know it's not exactly following the book, but I figured it would be much easier for my story. Yep. Thanks for reviewing!
Pokethepenguin01 Phew, exams weren't that bad after all. Thanks for the review!
Ice And Fire Vanessa Real thanks! It did indeed brighten my day. Or rather, night. Arigato!
xxGREEN BAYxx Haha no you're not stupid…it's just not often that one has a name similar to that of a football club. Oliver definitely deserves it, but Katie is also too hot-tempered, like me. Thanks for reviewing!
Including:
Kimberly Grace, Endlessromance, Lia06, Febgirl, Redhaired, The ever-lovable snuffles, Katie and p0pptartt
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable here. Certain excerpts might be taken from the book, but they are modified by me. The rest of the chapter is entirely written by me too.
Resources: Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Pages 131 to 135
Chapter 9: A Time Of Infirmity
"Team Captains, shake hands! May the better team win." The referee's voice resonated throughout the entire field. Both Cedric and Oliver walked up to each other and shook hands. Diggory smiled at Wood out of sheer politeness, but Oliver did not return it. He merely stiffened his jaw and nodded curtly, as he remembered Katie's words about the opposing Quidditch Captain. Each team then mounted their brooms and the shrill blowing of Madam Hooch's whistle triggered off an atmosphere of intense rivalry.
Lee Jordan, who was commentator, could be heard yelling above the crowd's cheers.
"And it's Gryffindor in possession, with the Quaffle in Johnson's hands. She is blocked by Beater Bradley, and passes skillfully to Spinnet – way to go, Angelina! Spinnet, looking determined, is heading for the goalposts, swerves left – she was feinting – turns right and SCORES!"
Angelina and Katie grinned at Alicia, giving her a thumbs-up. Oliver was however, looking at the sky worriedly. Thunder was rumbling in the distance, and it was beginning to drizzle. It definitely looked like a storm was brewing.
"Quaffle now with Bell, she streaks up the pitch, swerves around the Beaters – great job there, Katie – makes for the goalposts, and seems to be heading for the Keeper himself – careful now – passes to Johnson, zooms up, narrowly avoiding the hoops – and Johnson SCORES!"
"Gryffindor back in possession again, oh no, the Quaffle is intercepted by Stevens. He makes for the Gryffindor goalposts – zooms directly towards Wood, tries to get the Quaffle past him – and YES! WOOD SAVED IT!"
The Gryffindors could be heard cheering merrily, despite the rain, for their team seemed to have an enormous chance of winning.
"Score is now twenty- zero, in Gryffindor's favour! Quaffle's now in Hufflepuff's possession. Hart ducks a Bludger – close shave – heads for Oliver, heads for the right – but passes to the left – Wood tries to save it – oh no- but Hufflepuff SCORES!"
Canary yellow flags were waving determinedly in the thickening rain. Oliver frowned in frustration. His team was known to be unable to play in bad weather. Most importantly, his seeker, Harry Potter, currently the most vital team member, appeared lost and confused. He was flying all over the pitch, squinting into the rain. Oliver's heart nearly jumped out of his mouth when Harry narrowly missed a Bludger. However, he still had to attend to his own duty, by blocking the goalposts. He had no choice but only to pray fervently for his Seeker to find the Snitch soon.
After the first streak of lightning that illuminated the entire stadium, Oliver made up his mind. His team was currently leading, thanks to all the training they had, but they were going to lag behind if the game continued in the storm. He gestured frantically to Madam Hooch, and made the signal for time out. The referee got the message and seconds later, a piercing sound of the whistle that sliced through the air could be heard.
Gradually, his teammates splashed clumsily down onto the mud. Oliver subconsciously did a head count, to ensure that nobody in his team was left out there in the storm
George, Fred, Katie, Alicia, Angelina…wait, where's Harry?
Realizing that his Seeker was still out flying in the storm, Oliver waved frantically at Harry to come down.
"I called for time out! Come into the shelter." Oliver shouted to his team. They huddled under a huge umbrella at the edge of the pitch, extremely glad to feel the warmth creeping back into their bones.
"What's the score?" Harry asked, wiping his glasses on his robes.
"We're fifty points up." Oliver replied. "But unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."
"I've got absolutely no chance with this on." Harry said, waving his glasses exasperatedly.
"I've an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!" It was Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends. The entire team watched in amazement as the clever witch took Harry's glasses and tapped them, saying "Impervius!".
"There now, they repel water!", she announced proudly and disappeared into the crowd.
"Brilliant!" Oliver called to her, looking extremely hopeful all of a sudden.
"All right, team! Let's go for it!" The team climbed back on their brooms, wet, but filled with fresh confidence.
All seemed to be going on fine. However, moments later, Oliver noticed that Harry's hands were slipping on his broom handle and he had dropped a few feet. Suddenly spotting the Snitch behind his Seeker, Oliver panicked and shouted the first thing that came to his mind.
"Harry, behind you!"
Harry turned. Both he and the Hufflepuff Seeker, Cedric Diggory, saw the Snitch at simultaneously and pelted up the pitch, zooming towards the tiny object, each urging on their own brooms. However, an eerie silence suddenly seemed to fall across the stadium. Harry took his eyes off the Snitch and looked down. Standing below, with their hidden faces pointing up towards him were at least a hundred Dementors. Feeling weaker by the second, Harry fell unconscious and felt himself being engulfed by an inky blackness far below him.
Oliver was horrified as he saw his precious Seeker falling onto the ground. He watched on, helpless and defeated, as Diggory's fingers closed around the Snitch, and the whistle was blown, signaling the end of the match.
"Luckily the ground was so soft."
"I thought he was dead for sure."
"But he didn't even break his glasses."
"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."
The Gryffindor team, with the exception of Oliver, together with Ron Weasley and Hermione, was huddled around Harry in the Hospital Wing, speaking in hushed whispers. They were splattered with mud from head to toe, and were very wet.
"Ah! He's finally coming around. Harry, how're you feeling?" Fred said, looking extremely white but relieved.
"What happened?"
"You fell off. Must have been – what – fifty feet?"
"We though you'd died," said a shaking Alicia.
"But the match. What happened? Is there going to be a replay?"
Silence.
"We'd didn't – lose?" Harry questioned disbelievingly, as a look of realization dawned upon his face.
"Diggory's got the Snitch. Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Demanded a rematch. But they won fair and square – even Oliver admits it." George explained.
"Where's he?"
"Still in the showers. We think he's trying to drown himself." Fred said.
Harry put his face to his knees, ashamed and defeated.
"Come on, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."
"There had to be one time you didn't get it."
"It's not over yet. We lost by a hundred points. So if Hufflepuff lose to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin…"
"Hufflepuff will have to lose by at least two hundred points."
"But if they defeat Ravenclaw…"
"No way, Ravenclaw are too good. But if Slytherin lose against Hufflepuff…"
"It all depends on the points – a margin of a hundred either way…"
Everyone fell into a state of ponderous thinking. After a while, Madam Pomfrey came in to chase the team away and leave Harry in peace.
"We'll come and see you later. Don't beat yourself up, Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've ever had." Fred said encouragingly.
As the team shut the door behind them, Fred turned to Katie and said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Katie, you ought to go and cheer Wood up."
Katie opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut it from the looks Alicia, Angelina and the twins gave her. It was unmistakably an order.
"All right, all right." Katie grumbled and trudged out towards the locker rooms beside the Quidditch pitch. She entered the room silently, in case Wood was irate and blew up on her. She glanced around and saw a dripping Oliver sitting on the bench, with his head in his hands. Katie took her place beside him on the bench, waiting. Oliver, sensing a movement, looked up dejectedly at Katie.
"Katie, what am I going to do? I worked all of you so hard, and…Harry…"
"Harry's not at fault. No one is. Don't blame yourself either. All is not lost. If we beat the other teams, we still stand a chance of winning the Cup."
Oliver stared into space.
"You're right, Bell. I trust you. And, about yesterday…"
Katie, to his surprise, smiled sadly. "Let's forget about it. I'm sorry I was in a bad mood and took it out on you. I know you did it for everyone's good. Forgive me?"
"As always, Bell. But I was at fault too. I was really mad during practice, and I don't blame you for being fed up. Forgive me too?"
"As you wish, Wood."
"Truce." They both said at the same time, and shook hands, glad that the barrier between them was chipping away.
Katie rose up. "We should really get going. A warm bath might do you good, or you might catch pneumonia."
"With you?" Oliver smirked cheekily.
"Pervert." Katie rolled her eyes and smacked Oliver lightly on his shoulder.
Oliver, however, held Katie's hand that was stretched out, and stood up, pulling her towards him. Her eyes widened in shock as he leaned forward and their lips brushed lightly against each other. Both of them felt a tingly sensation never felt before, and sparks seemed to literally light up around them. Oliver moved to put his arms around Katie, but she jerked and pushed him away.
"What are you…doing?" She whispered, taking a few steps back.
Oliver himself was surprised by his boldness. He stared at Katie thoughtfully.
"I…don't know. I'm…sorry, Katie. I shouldn't have done that."
"I don't feel anything for you yet, Wood. Please don't do that anymore." Katie said, and ran out of the room, before Oliver could stop her. She dashed back to the castle, face streaked with tears of guilt, for she had lied blatantly and broke a heart to save her own pride.
As you can tell, I've absolutely no idea of how to commentate a match, so feel free to correct any mistakes. Review if you want, constructive criticism if you feel like it, and just reading it would be fine. Until then, Ta.
