All of the Slytherin team members showed up at breakfast wearing Draco's shirts. This caused a bit of a stir, seeing as how all eyes were on the Quidditch players on either team. And, as Roderick had predicted, Dumbledore's eyes were on them as well. But it wasn't Dumbledore that approached the Slytherin table in offended outrage. Instead, it was Professor McGonagall. "As you are well aware," she sniffed through flared nostrils, "that attire is quite inappropriate! I am forced to take five points from Slytherin for each of you."
"It doesn't matter; we'll make them up today during the game," Perry Albright declared, sending every Slytherin within earshot into thunderous applause and hoots of team spirit. Professor McGonagall thinned her lips and stalked off. Draco watched her go, thinking wistfully if only he were a few years older, and if only she wasn't head of Gryffindor House...
"Did you sleep better last night?" Severus asked him as he sat down next to Draco.
"Does it help you sleep? The dagger?" Draco asked.
"With this group..." Severus sighed, then turned his attention to his orange juice.
"Ah, good, giving our new Seeker a few more pointers before the game; good man!" Roderick said as he moved his seat next to Draco on the other side. "If there's anyone who can give you some pointers, it's Severus Snape!"
"Now, see the little Seeker over there, sitting next to Lupin there? He's the weak point in the team. He's inexperienced. He's only played one game, and that was against Ravenclaw. Needless to say, Ravenclaw is in first place, and most likely will remain there," Severus explained.
"How are their Chasers?" Draco queried as he ate some porridge.
"Above average, but not the be-all-and-end-all, certainly. No, their Beaters, they are Gryffindor's best asset. Stay away from them, Draco."
"That's the best advice you could have gotten; I was going to say it myself," Roddy said as he nodded emphatically.
Draco's attention wandered, and he looked over to Evan and Lestrange. They seemed really thick together lately. But Evan didn't seem to hold much animosity in his eyes, though he had every reason to. Instead, it was Lestrange that had the darkness in his eyes.
Before Draco knew it, he had his uniform on, and his Nimbus 2002 in hand. It was a moment that he'd remember the rest of his life, going out onto the field with the other team members. The feeling was that of marching onto a battlefield, ready to kill or die trying. There was either hair-raising screaming or the undertone of jeering filling the early spring air. Madame Hooch's screeching whistle somehow overpowered all the outside noise, and Draco mounted the broom. Along with the other team members, he flew to the center of the playing field. All of the Quidditch players formed a circle around Madame Hooch; one half being scarlet and the other half emerald.
"Captains! I want you to shake hands; this is going to be a clean game! I mean it!" she warned them. She wasn't completely stupid; anyone could have seen the tension, anyone could have felt the hate and bad blood between the two teams. One team feeling the other was unjustly accusing them of trying to kill their former Seeker, and the offended team burning for revenge. Potter, the Gryffindor captain, was being made to shake hands with one of his prime accusers, Roderick. Draco could feel the vibes cutting through his stomach as the two of them stared eachother down, and Roderick spat on the ground. The other Slytherins cheered this gesture, which only made the expression on Madame Hooch's face even more murderous. "You either shake hands and act like civilized wizards and witches or the game gets cancelled!"
Potter, being the typical Gryffindor, held his hand out, even though his blue eyes burned with fury behind his glasses. Roderick looked at Potter's gloved hand as if it had germs on it, but he shook it very precariously. Draco could hear the sigh of relief from Madame Hooch, since it was echoed throughout the Quidditch field.
Satisfied that the proprieties were met, Madame Hooch kicked open the Quidditch ball case. The Golden Snitch buzzed up and away, but only Draco and the young Gryffindor Seeker took note of it. The ever-deadly black Bludgers darted out of sight, but the red Quaffle sat happily in the case with not a care in the world. Madame Hooch blew her whistle one last time, and tossed the Quaffle high into the air. Draco whizzed away, unconcerned about the Quaffle, since he was no Chaser.
"And, they're off! Nelson, Rigby and McNeel, the Gryffindor Chasers, have possession of the Quaffle," announced Octavius Reed, the Ravenclaw Captain, and selected announcer for this highly charged game. The logic behind the choice for announcer was obvious; since Ravenclaw was far ahead of both Slytherin and Gryffindor, it was felt that he would be more objective in his announcing for the game.
"Slytherin is in dead last place following the loss of their regular Seeker, but that may soon change. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a broom move that fast before!" Draco couldn't help but smirk, but he had to pay more attention now to his surroundings; he could ill afford to be too distracted by the announcer. "Of course, it might help Gryffindor's cause if their Seeker, only his second time out, can get it right this time..."
Draco sought out little Gilderoy Lockhart, and found him wearing a very red face under his golden hair. He wasn't about to let the runny-nosed twelve year old catch that damned Snitch!
"Simmons has intercepted the Quaffle! He passes to Wilkes, who heads straight for Goalpost Three!" Draco could hear the crowd beginning to get excited. He gives a glance over in that direction. Ashton and Fogerty wore faces on them that looked like war masks, whacking one Bludger in the midst of the tightly formed Gryffindor Chaser group. The black ball forced them to scatter.
"Gryffindor's Keeper blocks the shot, but wait! Simmons and Nelson combat over the Quaffle!" Draco heard the audience gasp. "Simmons drops the Quaffle!" Draco could see the red Quaffle falling, and he didn't give it a second thought. He dove down to try and catch it. "I say! Has Malfoy spotted the Snitch already? Hey wait a minute! I thought he was a Seeker, not a Chaser!" Draco heard Octavius exclaim as he caught the Quaffle and tossed it to Wilkes. Several specators booed him, but he shrugged it off and watched as Lockhart played catch-up with him, diving for a Snitch that was nowhere near there.
After that bit of play, Gryffindor scored four goals, while Slytherin scored two. Draco vowed to keep himself out of the fray. But he had no clue where the Snitch was, and, let's face it, Quidditch gets pretty boring for a Seeker until the Snitch is sighted. Seventy feet above the ground, Draco was so high up that not even the Bludgers were coming around. He kept his eye on Lockhart; there was always the chance that the little twerp might see the Golden Snitch. After all, as an adult, Lockhart was one of the biggest gold-chasers Draco had even known.
"Slytherin scores! Forty to thirty, Gryffindor! Nelson in possession of the Quaffle, passes it to McNeel. McNeel artfully dodges that Bludger from Ashton! Black sends it in Pinkerton's direction; sends her spinning!"
Draco decided to get closer to the action; he'd had enough of hanging around up there. And besides, Pinkerton was the only female on the field; Draco's dumb cave-man sense kicked in and sent him in Black's direction.
"Malfoy, what the hell are you doing!" Pinkerton screamed as she watched Draco nearly collide with Sirius Black. Potter swooped down in his friend's direction. Then Fogerty joined into it, until Madame Hooch's whistle cut through the air.
"Time out!" she declared.
"I'm warning you, Black! Back off her!" Draco snarled. Sirius was giving Draco a look that someone who was looking at a madman would give.
"Are you through pounding your chest yet, Tarzan?" Pinkerton snapped at Draco.
"Who's Tarzan?" Draco asked, puzzled.
"Fogerty, hand me your bat so I can whack him on the head with it!" Pinkerton growled.
"Okay, I get the idea..." Draco protested as Pinkerton approached with Fogerty's bat while everyone on both teams cracked up laughing.
"Is everything alright?" Madame Hooch asked in wonderment as she heard everybody laughing.
"Looks like Malfoy's getting a lesson about how there's no such thing as chivalry on the Quidditch field!" Octavius explained to the spectators, who all began either laughing, jeering or making other noises.
"I thought you were a strange one from the looks of you..." Madam Hooch muttered to Draco. He smirked while she blew her whistle. Play resumed, with Perry Albright getting a workout from Nelson and Rigby. Ashton shot a Bludger in their direction, but only Rigby was driven off course from this.
And it was right then, that Draco caught out of the corner of his eye a tiny glinting object buzzing above the Hufflepuff stands. He careened in that direction, and so did Lockhart.
They both caught up to eachother right above the stand, where the Snitch zipped up and down, back and forth, over everyone's heads. The noise from every direction was overwhelming. "This is for real! Lockhart and Malfoy have cornered the Snitch!" boomed Octavius over all the other noise. Draco could dimly hear Slytherins screaming at the top of their lungs, while Gryffindors began chanting "Go, Lockhart! Go Lockhart!"
Draco heard some "Go Lockhart!" coming from right inside the stands. But a lot more were screaming. He didn't understand it until he got even closer and saw the faces of screaming girls lined up directly under him. The Snitch made a sudden dive down into the stands. The group of girls squealed as Draco flew right into their midst.
He actually landed in the stand. The Snitch flitted in front of one girl's face. She had cinnamon eyes that sparkled in delight as she reached out in front of her and clasped the Snitch. He strode right over to her, and Lockhart tripped before her as well. The only noise now int he entire field was Octavius' voice: "Never in the history of Quidditch has something like this happened. The Snitch is caught by a spectator! The lovely Miss Webster has the outcome of the game in her hands!" This was accompanied by the vapid squeals of all her friends, giggling furiously as Draco looked into her eyes.
A Gryffindor girl stood next to her, and Draco recognized her from potions class. She was the girl Severus was in love with. She was talking softly in her friend's ear. They both had their hair braided exactly the same way--one single thick braid in back. Miss Webster's hair matched her eyes perfectly, while Lily's green ones were a complete contrast to her red hair. "Dru, you have to give it to Gilderoy," Lily was saying urgently, "so Gryffindor can win and this ridiculous rivalry can end."
At once, several more girls screamed in protest "No! Give it to Draco!" They sighed and batted their eyes at him. "Oh my God, he's even cuter up close..." one of them whispered loudly. Three other girls giggled even louder and stepped closer and said, "I'd give it to Draco..." It was only the many years Draco's father had drilled into him the necessity to mask his feelings with his face that kept him from blushing to the roots of his white-blond hair.
Dru Webster looked into Draco's eyes, and they held challenge in them. He gave her a look back; he could handle it. She released the Snitch, and it zipped away. Lockhart made a noise of frustration, and while Draco agreed with him, he also was rather glad she hadn't handed it to Lockhart. He smirked at the girl, and took off on his Nimbus 2002 while the girls squealed in protest.
Back in the air, Draco caught sight of the Snitch again. Black and Potter loomed; they both had their eye on the Snitch as well, even while everyone else resumed play. And thought they could not fly as quickly as he could, they could pelt him with Bludgers just as well anyway. Draco spotted Lockhart coming full speed from the opposite direction as the Gryffindor Beaters. They were unintentionally going to squeeze him between them. Maybe he could use this to his advantage...
"Lockhart's heading straight for Malfoy!" Octavius exclaimed. Draco took off for the Snitch. Potter's bat made a familiar cracking sound. The Bludger impacted Draco's Nimbus' tail, and he was set spinning just like Pinkerton had been. "As Malfoy loses all sense of direction, Lockhart's gaining on the Snitch!"
Cursing, Draco set himself straight and barreled forth, not paying attention to the nausea he was feeling from dizziness. He sought Lockhart's scarlet robes like a beacon. "By the Goddess, look at him go!" Octavius shouted. The Slytherins that he passed by cheered Draco so loudly that he thought he might go deaf. He barely noticed Severus hanging over the side of the stands, screaming his throat hoarse. "Malfoy's closed the gap between himself and Lockhart!"
Another Bludger impacted out of nowhere; this time, his broomstick cracked! "Shit!" Draco hissed, turning his eyes up to James Potter close on his tail. And just as Draco tunred around and looked on as Lockhart struggled to catch the Snitch, Octavius boomed, "Slytherin scores another goal! Now it is a tie: Forty points even!"
Could he push the Nimbus in the condition it was in, with a deep crack along the middle of the handle? Could he shake Potter, and now Black who had joined him for the kill? Will Lockhart's fingers close around the Snitch before anything else could happen? Jim, another one's coming... Draco shook his head. What was that? I see it, Sirius.
Draco gaped. The bastards had a little telepathy thing going on between them! Well, he would teach them a lesson that they won't soon forget...
He turned around and stared up at Sirius Black as he swooped over to a Bludger and cracked it in Potter's direction. I'm sending it to you-- "Aaagh!" Black wailed in terror suddenly, dropping his bat as he screamed and held his head as if it would explode if he didn't. Potter turned around and gaped, then joined Sirius in crying out in horror.
"What's happened to Potter and Black?" Octavius wondered aloud. Draco knew, of course; he used his psychic abilities to sever the connection between the two Beaters. And he wasn't gentle about it, either. He flew as fast as his broom could manage over to Lockhart, who was nearly crying in frustration as he struggled to catch the Snitch.
"Get out of my way," Draco growled, using his left leg to kick Lockhart away. He spun upside down on his broom, unable to right himself as he drifted off. Then, Draco flew slowly over to the Snitch and snatched it into his grip.
"Malfoy has caught the Snitch! The game is over, at One ninety to forty, Slythering wins the match!" The tumult from the Slytherin stands was rather like an earthquake shaking everything around. Many other voices, either supportive or not, joined in. Draco heard very little of it as the Snitch shivered in he hands. He watched Potter and Black as they crouched on the ground.
Draco landed beside them, dragging his broom behind him like a warrior would carry his spear after a battle. "That was the payback for what you did to Severus Snape. Maybe Madame Pomfrey can fix you up...and maybe she can't." Black and Potter both gaped at Draco as he was dragged away from them, carried on the shoulders of the two Slytherin Beaters.