Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'. I wish I owned Hayden Christensen though. Damn he's hot!
A/N: Yes, I'm still alive! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile but as some of you already know I've started another story. It's called 'When An Angel Loses Her Halo' and it's L/J romance. Check it out if you like.
So who did send the package? Your guesses were…interesting. Sadly you won't find out who it was for a while. Sorry to leave you hanging! Now this chapter is the Quidditch final. I know for a fact that Gryffindor get beaten by Slytherin. I'd love to let Gryffindor win but I have to stick to the books. I'm moving very fast but it's getting boring and I don't want to lose reviewers.
The Blues rule! On that note, on with the chapter!
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Chapter 14
"What in Merlin's name are you two doing?" Oliver demanded.
"Playing soccer." Alicia smiled at him as if that were perfectly obvious. (A/N: Ok, I've gone back to calling it soccer. I'm from Australia so it seems more natural to me. It makes it easier for everyone else too.)
"And why, might I ask, are you playing soccer?"
"Well, Olly, if you recall the last time I convinced you to play a game with me you stepped on the ball and ended up rolling your ankle," Matt said and Oliver blushed. Truth be told, he was horrible at Muggle sports.
"That's not the point, this is Quidditch practice, the whole notion of it being that you practice Quidditch. I know that neither of you are playing tomorrow but you're going to be a regular Chaser next year, Alicia, and you still need to work on your Quaffle skills," Oliver lectured.
She nodded meekly. "Yes, Oliver."
"Give her a break, mate. She's a lot better now, I don't see any need for extra training," Matt said, jumping to Alicia's defence yet again.
Alicia blushed and flicked the Quaffle up with her toe so she could catch it. She'd spent a lot of time over the past months working on her Quaffle skills with Matt. They'd grown quite close but Alicia had never had the courage to find out if he liked her more than a friend.
"Oh, so you're an expert now are you, Matt?" Oliver eyed him dangerously.
"Keep your clothes on. You get really hard to live with around final time."
"I do not. Now, I have to get back to the rest of the team," Oliver huffed.
"Don't worry about Oliver. He's just really stressed, he always gets like this before a big game," Matt whispered to Alicia as Oliver walked away.
"He really does stress too much. He'll end up with grey hair before he's twenty." Alicia giggled at the thought of grey haired Oliver.
"I think he might already be going grey."
Matt and Alicia began to throw the Quaffle to each other. Matt threw it high, low, hard, soft, long distance and short distance. Alicia didn't drop one catch the whole time.
"I think that's enough practice for today. As far as I'm concerned you're prepared for next year."
"Thanks, Matt. Umm, can I ask you something?"
"Of course," he said as they took seats in the stands with the reserve Keeper Brian to watch the rest of the training session.
"Well…uh, Lee Jordan seems to think that you like me. I don't believe him or anything but still…"
"Oh…look, Leesh, I do like you but only as a friend. Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea but I have a Muggle girlfriend and it's just that you remind me of her. Her name's Belinda and she has curly red hair like you. That's why I like spending time with you."
Alicia let out a long breath. She was relieved to say the least. Now she could be friends with him and not worry about anything else.
Out on the pitch Oliver was making the team do sprint drills. They had to lie on their stomachs then jump to their feet and sprint fifty or so metres.
"I don't see the point of doing this. We're on broomsticks the whole time," Fred complained through a mouthful of dirt.
"Shut up and keep your head down," Oliver ordered.
"There's dirt in my mouth!" Katie said, horrified at having to lie face down on the ground.
"Well, if you kept your mouth closed it wouldn't get in there. Now, on the count of three," Oliver marched backwards and forwards along the 'finish line'. "One…two…three!"
All six of them scrambled to their feet. Katie stumbled and ended up tripping over and taking Rachel down with her.
Fred, George, Angelina and Mitchell managed to finish without falling over. Fred finished first but his joy was short lived.
"That wasn't fast enough. You lot have to cut at least three seconds off that time," Oliver snapped. "Bell! Marsh! I want a lap of the pitch from each of you!"
They both turned and stared at their captain. A lap of the pitch? Was he crazy?
"I think we've had enough for today," Mitchell said.
"They didn't finish the sprint so I want a lap from them," Oliver said simply.
"This is all your bloody fault." Rachel glared at Mitch. "Come and join the team! We can spend more time together, you said. What a load of b.s that was!"
"Sorry, sweetheart, I didn't know Oliver would go all fanatical on us."
"Fanatical? More like tyrannical," George puffed.
Oliver ignored George's comment and picked up his 'tactical boards'. "Now I want to go through some last minute plays before we finish up. Angelina, go get Matt, Alicia and Brian. This will be beneficial for them, too."
"Whatever you say," Angelina said with a reluctant shrug. She didn't see why the reserves had to sit through the lectures but she did what he wanted, lest she feel his wrath too.
Alicia stretched her arms above her head as Angelina approached. "Great. Are you finally finished?"
"Not likely. Oliver's moving onto his boards now. He wants all three of you to come and listen as well," Angelina reported.
"Well, I guess we ought to do what he says," Brian sighed.
"That's probably a good idea. He made Katie and Rachel do a lap of the pitch for falling over," Angelina said as she ran her fingers through her ponytail.
The four students trudged back to the middle of the pitch where the rest of the team was sitting. Oliver was pacing in front of them shuffling his boards. Alicia dropped to the ground between Fred and George. The sun was setting in the background as the group waited for the girls to return. Katie collapsed in front of Alicia and Rachel dropped to her knees beside Matt.
"Ok, now we can begin. I just want to go over a few quick plays for tomorrow." Oliver tapped the first board with his wand and the lines and circles began to wiggle around.
The 'few quick plays' were still not finished almost two hours later. The sun had sunk below the horizon but, undeterred by the lack of light, Oliver had simply lit his wand and continued. Katie had fallen asleep as soon as he had started talking. Alicia was half-asleep with her head resting on George's shoulder; he gently rested his chin on the top of her head and fought to keep his eyes open.
"Come on, Wood, everyone's asleep." Fred gestured to his teammates who were each in varying states of alertness.
"Yeah, Rachel's even snoring," Matt pointed out.
Oliver glared at his team menacingly. He emitted a loud bang from his wand and everyone jerked awake. Alicia jumped and caused George to nearly bite his tongue. Katie simply mumbled something and rolled over. She was quite a heavy sleeper evidently.
"What's going on?" Angelina rubbed her eyes.
"Well, as it appears I've been talking to myself for the past hour or so, we might as well get back to the castle," Oliver said. He gathered up his boards and marched off.
"Katie! We're going!" Fred shook her violently.
She rolled over and slapped him away. "What? Stop doing that!"
"We missed dinner," Angelina groaned and rubbed her empty stomach.
"Never fear, George and I can fix that. You provide the room and we'll provide the food."
"Our dorm in ten minutes. Whole team's invited," Angelina announced brightly. Normally she'd never let the boys in her room but her brain was over ruled by her grumbling stomach.
Fred winked at her. "It's a date."
The two of them had gone back to flirting frequently. Angelina was still torn between Cedric and Fred. They both had qualities that she liked. With the help of Alicia and Katie, she'd drawn up a pros and cons sheet on both of them. It had only succeeded in making her more confused though.
Nearly two hours later…
The team, minus Oliver, was still in the second year girls' room. Stomachs full and muscles tired, they lay around talking.
"Ok, Angelina, if you had to be stuck on a deserted island with Snape or Fred, who would you chose?" Alicia asked.
"That's hard…Snape definitely."
Everyone laughed and Fred looked horrified. Angelina giggled and rolled her eyes.
"I'm joking. Really, do you think I'm that stupid? Alicia, same question for you but Oliver and George this time."
"Oliver or George? Well, with Oliver being all psychopathic I'll have to say George."
Just then the door flew open. Oliver stood there in his Gryffindor boxer shorts and a white shirt. He had his arms folded across his chest. He would have looked scary if he weren't in his pajamas.
"Speak of the Devil…"
"What are you all doing in here? You should be in bed! We have the final tomorrow and you're in here mucking around!"
"Calm down, Olly. It's only 9 o'clock," Mitch said.
"You're Head Boy! You should know very well you're not allowed in here!"
He shrugged. "I know but I was really hungry after you made us skip dinner."
"Oh, so it's my fault now?"
"I didn't say that."
"Well, that's what you were implying. Now, everybody who doesn't belong in here - OUT!" Oliver pointed to the door.
"Now I know why you picked me over him," George whispered to Alicia.
"Good night," she said with a smile.
Everyone left, besides Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Oliver. Angelina glared at him then snatched up her pajamas and stomped into the bathroom. Katie went to brush her hair in front of the mirror.
"Do you think I was too hard on them?" Oliver asked Alicia.
She inclined her head slightly. "Just a bit."
"I just really want to win tomorrow. Winning the Quidditch Cup has been my dream ever since I was five years old."
"You may not get it tomorrow but I'm sure you'll get it someday. There's plenty of time for Quidditch glory but maybe you shouldn't act like such a nutter. You scare me sometimes."
"I'll try to tone it down a bit for you, Leesh. Good night, then." Oliver gave her one of his trademark smiles then left.
"He has such a gorgeous smile," said Katie, who had been watching in the mirror.
"Ms Bell? Do you like Oliver?"
"Along with every other girl in the school." She chuckled and pulled her hair into a ponytail. "I wouldn't say that I like him exactly...let's just say I appreciate him."
Alicia smiled and shook head. Appreciate him? Katie came up with some odd things at times.
The next day…
The Gryffindor team sat in the change room in silence. The reserves were sitting in there too.
"I think I'm going to faint," Rachel groaned softly.
"Take deep breaths," Oliver advised.
Alicia gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder "You'll do fine."
Oliver then went around and talked to everyone individually to make sure they knew what their jobs were.
"Fred?" Oliver peered at one of the twins.
He looked up slowly. "Yeah."
"Knew I'd get it eventually. You focussed this time?"
Fred nodded emphatically at his captain. "Totally focussed, couldn't be more focussed. Focussed is my middle name,"
"Glad to hear it. Just keep those Bludgers in line." Oliver thumped him on the shoulder. So far so good.
"Those Slytherin Beaters have got nothing on you two," Matt said confidently.
"Just work together and do that twin thingy you do so well and you'll dominate," Alicia added.
"Angelina? Katie? You feeling all right?" Oliver asked.
Katie shook her head, looking a little pale. "Hell no."
"You'll be fine when the game starts. You Chasers have to start working as a team, I want you passing the Quaffle around a bit more. Just remember the plays we ran through yesterday?"
"Uh, sure," Katie said. She didn't remember anything past, "Now here's the first play…"
Oliver moved on to talk to Rachel and Mitchell and Katie looked at Angelina. From the look on her face, Angelina obviously didn't remember any of the plays either. They both giggled nervously.
"Well, it sounds like the stadium is filling up, we better get up to the commentary box," Lee said.
Alicia hugged Katie and Angelina. "Good luck." Alicia hugged Katie and Angelina.
"See you after the game." Matt waved jovially to everyone.
As Lee and the reserves exited, Oliver began his usual pep talk. This time he was finding it hard to come up with something inspiring. This was his first final as captain and he was very nervous.
"A champion team will always beat a team of champions," was all he could manage.
"That's so cliché," Angelina said, rolling her eyes.
"Hang on, so you're saying we're a team of champions?" Fred tilted his head in confusion.
"No! We're a champion team!"
"We are?"
"Yes! Bloody hell, you lot make it so difficult sometimes. I'm trying to be all optimistic here," Oliver sighed.
"Ok, so let me get this straight, you're saying we're not champions but we can beat Slytherin, a team that is full of champions," Fred said. He was having a little trouble grasping the concept.
"No! What I'm trying to say that we have a champion team but all they have is a bunch of champions - hang on…" Oliver shook his head, he was getting himself confused now.
"I think I'm getting a migraine," Rachel groaned.
"You suck at pep talks," George told his captain.
Totally defeated, Oliver threw his hands in the air and said, "Fine! Just go out there and try not to lose too badly!"
Katie grinned in approval. "That's much better."
The team was feeling a little more at ease as they took to the Quidditch pitch. Facing off with the much larger and much nastier Slytherin team they began to get nervous again.
"Hi, pretty little thing," one of the Slytherin Beaters said to Angelina.
"Thing? I am not a thing!"
"Save it for the pitch," Katie whispered.
"Now, I want a clean game from both teams." Madam Hooch looked pointedly at Flint, as did the entire Gryffindor team.
With the formalities out of the way, the whistle was blown and the game began as the crowd erupted with cheers.
"And it's Bell with the Quaffle! She's tearing down the pitch! She dodges right…left. Look out that's a Bludger!"
Alicia closed her eyes tightly, refusing to watch.
"Bell dodges the Bludger which is hit away by a Weasley, I can't tell which one but does it really matter. Bell passes to Johnson. She fakes left then shoots right! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Lee shouted excitedly.
Matt nudged Alicia gently. "You can look now."
She peered cautiously through her fingers. "That was too bloody close."
Unfortunately for the Gryffindors, that was the last time they scored for 15 minutes. Alicia had covered her eyes again but this time it wasn't because she was scared, she was ashamed.
"Slytherin team scores again. 70-10," Lee announced dully.
"Their attack has fallen apart," Alicia mumbled.
"They're not, what's the word? Synchronised…that's it. They're not synchronised," Matt said.
"The Seekers have gone into a dive!" Lee yelled suddenly, causing Alicia to jump in surprise.
All the players hung in mid air to watch the Seekers. They were diving straight towards the ground at a startling speed. Oliver was gripping his broom handle so tightly that it nearly snapped.
"If Rachel get the Snitch we win," Brian said anxiously.
"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious."
Angelina was hovering near Katie watching the Seekers race.
"I have a bad feeling about this," she said uneasily.
Back in the commentary box everyone was starting to get the same weird feeling.
"It's a Wronski Feint!" Alicia squealed.
"Pull up, Rachel!" Mitchell yelled at the same time.
Rachel was too far away though. As the Slytherin Seeker skimmed the ground Rachel hit the ground with a sickening thud. She rolled then lay motionless on her back.
"The Gryffindor Seeker is down!" Lee jumped from his seat as everyone else in the stadium did the same.
"RACHEL!"
The entire Gryffindor team dove towards her. Mitch was in the lead, of course. He jumped from his broom a few feet from the ground.
"Rach! Say something!" He knelt beside her and grabbed her hand.
"Ouch," she groaned.
"Is anything broken?" Oliver asked.
"Everything, I think."
"Slytherin wins," Lee said while the team was still down.
"What?" Oliver looked up to see the Slytherin team rejoicing as the Seeker held his hand in the air with the Snitch grasped tightly in his fist.
"Slytherin win the Quidditch Cup 220-10," Lee said rather monotonously.
"But we were all on the ground! It's not counted!" Oliver yelled at Madam Hooch.
"You never called an official time-out, Wood, you know the rules. The game is finished and the decision can't be changed now," the Professor reasoned.
"Come on, Oliver." Angelina grabbed her stunned captain by the arm and dragged him away.
The whole Gryffindor team, minus Rachel and Mitch, stood side by side and watched the Slytherins holding the prized cup above their heads. Oliver stood with his arms folded firmly and his lips pursed tightly.
"I'm sure we'll do better next year," Alicia whispered to him.
"I sure hope so," he replied.
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A/N: Jeez, that was hard work! Got it done though. The next chapter will be the start of third year! Now it gets interesting, my friends! We see the Philosophers/sorcerers stone from their point of view. It'll put a new perspective on everything for you.
Whoops, nearly forgot to thank CatsEye for being my 150th reviewer. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to Meeny Moo (AKA Meenal) because I never would have got it done if she wasn't nagging me every five minutes.
Have to go watch State of Origin! Bye! Oh yeah, please review!