Quidditch…
When the girls reached the common room the next morning it was an array of red and adornments, and scattered singing as people headed down to breakfast on the morning of the Quidditch match. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter had already gone down to breakfast. Dani was appropriately subdued, and Lily was still excited at the prospect of spending Christmas with James. Ella, however, was prancing around as though she was on a pogo stick, bouncing right up to people singing a meaningless chant of support to the team and wearing Griffindore scarves, Sirius' old Quidditch jersey and bright red gloves. Her hair had been transformed into a red and gold creation of colour, and her face was practically unrecognisable under the layer of face paint that covered it.
"Calm down El." Said Lily, steering her friend out of the common room, wearing James' old jersey and red army stipes. " The game doesn't start for hours yet, we'll have to sedate you for breakfast."
"Breakfast!" she squealed. "I love breakfast on Quidditch morning, with the colour and the excitement, and the players coming in to all the cheers…"
"Dani." Said Lily, turning to her other best friend as Ella rambled on about flags and music, and atmosphere, " You look…neutral."
Dani, who was dressed in a grey dress, with her hair pulled up into a ponytail and no makeup on her face.
"That was the point." She said dully, surveying her outfit with a look of distaste as the three of them walked to breakfast. "I did have some makeup on, but my blush was red, so that was out of the picture…"
They got to their seat in the great hall, and sat down opposite the four boys, James and Sirius in their Quidditch robes, and the others dressed in red. The whole hall was a moving sea of red and blue.
"Girls!" cried James happily, waving his hand at them as they took their seats. "Sit down sit down!"
James' way of dealing with nerves was being loud and obnoxious, Sirius and Lily knew that, but for the other two girls who hadn't worked it out they stared at him as though he was crazy for the over enthusiastic welcome, before Dani hesitantly took her seat and Ella came to herself and bounced up onto the seat with her balled fist in the air.
"Griffindore is going to WIN!" she cried, and dived under the table laughing as breakfast foods and insults were thrown at her from the next table, as well as approving cheers from those supporting Griffindore, and her friends.
Peeking back over the top of the table, panting, Ella finally took her seat, the boys looking at her as though she was mad.
"She was like this all morning." Lily told them, smiling, and Sirius laughed, before turning his attention to Danielle.
"You look like you're about as into it as Ella, aren't you Dani." He said eagerly, rolling his eyes. Dani looked guilty, and wouldn't meet his eyes. Lupin through Sirius a reproachful look and Sirius looked apologetic. Remus must have told him to go easy on the girl.
But there was one person who wouldn't be, Lily thought, as she watched Matt walk over to where they all sat, his blue Quidditch robes trailing his body, and something hidden behind his back.
"Hey Dani." He said, leaning down to where she sat. "You're not supporting anyone."
She laughed awkwardly, and turned around to face him.
"Sure I am." She said. "I'll be cheering for both of you."
"Both of us?" he asked, giving a fleeting look to a jovial Sirius.
"Both of the teams." Dani corrected. "Of course I'll cheer you on though Mat." She said, while a small, forced smile. He smiled back, and passed her the thing that Lily had seen him hold behind his back.
"Here," he said, with a snide glance across the table. "For you to wear at the match." And he kissed her before heading out of the great hall, with one last yell at his team.
Ella pried the thing out of Dani's hand as she groaned. Sirius scrambled around on the ground searching for the fork that he had dropped when Dani and Mat had kissed, and James growled as he saw the flash of the blue rosette that Ella was holding in the air with a look of great disgust plastered on her red and gold face.
"Ew. That's gross. It's Ravenclaw colours." Ella squealed, holding the rosette with the tips of her fingers.
Dani let out a cry of frustration. "Great! After all of that I have to wear this any way! So much for staying neutral, now I'm supporting Ravenclaw! I'm going to be murdered!"
"By Sirius." Added James in an undertone to Lily across the table, for Sirius' eyes had grown wide at the sight of the blue badge.
"So don't wear it." Lily suggested.
"I have to. He's my boyfriend, I really should be supporting him, I guess…"
James gave a yelp as Sirius kicked him under the table.
"Wow-eee-lll…you could always dump him and then you won't have to wear the rosette, and go out with someone so possessive." James suggested. Sirius nodded his approval.
Dani looked for minute as though she was going to argue back, but James realised, and grabbed Sirius by the arm.
"Better get down to the pitch mate, see how the conditions are and all." James said, helping a frustrated marauder out of his seat and heading out of the hall. He looked back at their spot and mimed a stressed out; help, at the others, and while they laughed, Dani didn't notice, for she was too busy reluctantly pinning her rosette to her grey dress.
The girls headed down to the pitch, Dani picking absent-mindedly at her blue rosette, which was drawing hisses form angry Griffindores.
"Just take it off if it bothers you so bad Dani. I think that was a very unfair thing of him to do, if you don't mind me saying." Commented Ella, a sentence that would have made Sirius eternally grateful had he not already been down at the Quidditch pitch.
"It's not that simple El, you heard me telling the guys!" Dani argued, taking her hand of the badge, with great effort.
By the time that Ella, Dani and Lily found Lupin and Peter, the stands were extremely crowded, and an array of colours. Cringing slightly at the noise, Lily slid in next to Lupin, and Ella sat on the other side of her. Or rather, stood on the other side of her. The girl was again, standing on her chair, and as much as Griffindore enjoyed the excessive team spirit, the red clad supporters behind her were not so accommodating.
"Thanks!" cried an unabashed Ella, waving a flag that had thumped her on the head as she sat down next to Lily.
"Be careful El, you don't want to get your self hurt." Said Remus, cocking his eyebrow curiously at her blatant enthusiasm.
"I'm making up for Dani's lack of house spirit Remus! Someone has to!" she cried over the roaring crowd, as the Ravenclaw team flew out onto the Quidditch pitch. Matt was flying last, and he looked up into the Griffindore stand, seeking out Dani. When he waved she raised her hand and gave a half-hearted whoop, which was ill received by those surrounding her, who took it as a sore mark of treachery.
"And the Griffindores!" cried a sixth year who was commentating, Chris Pillory, an enthusiastic Hufflepuff. After having Sirius commentate in his first year, McGonagal had decided it best to always have an unbiased commentator.
The Griffindore team shot onto the field, James bringing up the rear. The entire stand erupted with an ear-splitting cheer, and even Dani rose to her feet screaming in elation at the sight of Sirius' handsome black hair looking gorgeous and windswept, but she stopped abruptly, noticing Mat's jealous eyes were still on her.
The referee blew the whistle for the crowd to stop, and only Ella was left standing, waving her arms wildly. Lily pulled her back to her seat like an over inflated balloon.
The captains shook hands. James looked into mat's eye, and gave a firm grip, but let go quickly, ignoring Sirius' cough, which sounded remarkably like rip it off.
Another sharp blow of the whistle and the game had begun. There was one other chaser on the team, apart from James and Sirius. Marcus Finley was a sixth year, and the three of them could work together with seamless precision. The seeker, Corrie Mather, was a fifth year girl, who was, in James' opinion, the lightest, speediest thing in the air apart from the snitch. Their only problem was their keeper, who had had to be replaced that year, Jim Thomas. The quaffle was thrown into the air, and at once Sirius and Mat sped towards it. James rolled his eyes. That wasn't what they had planned. He was always the one that grabbed the quaffle, he was speedier, even though Sirius' reflexes were probably better than his, but he knew from the moment that Mat dived for the red ball that he wouldn't be the one racing for it.
Mat's hands closed around the quaffle. Sirius let out a grunt of frustration, and after an apologetic look for James he sped off after Mat
"Sirius don't be a dick!" James cried, but Sirius didn't hear him. The wind was rushing past his ears as he circled Mat and cut him off.
"What the hell are you doing!" cried Mat, trying to regrip his broomstick as the abrupt stop almost threw him off.
"Not doing anything wrong! Not like I touched you, was it!" roared Sirius over the wind., and Mat doubled back and sped off towards the goalposts again.
"Sirius!" James cried, and his friend turned around. Hurt and frustrated though he was, Sirius was determined not to let the whole of Hogwarts see the furious tears that has welled up behind his eyes, and he especially didn't want James to think any less of him, so Sirius turned away from his best mate, and looked at the result of his interference at the other end of the pitch.
Back in the stands, Dani's mouth was open in horror.
"That does it! He almost knocked Mat off his broomstick! I'm not going to get my wand in a knot over what that idiot thinks!" she said boldly to the others, sounding a lot more like their defiant friend than the girl who had possessed Dani over the last few days.
Pointing her wand at her dress she transformed herself into a vibrant blue outfit with hair and face to match. Ella shrieked.
"Don't do that here! People will know that I'm friends with you! You'll get mobbed!"
Dani shrugged, and Lupin and Lily rolled their eyes at her.
Angry yells came from behind them, and the roar of the Griffindore crowd when they saw Dani was so loud that for a moment all the players stopped to watch as things were thrown at Dani, who was shouting out support to Mat. Sirius cried out in astonishment, and pointed his broom straight at the point where Mat was about to score.
"And now Black's moving again, and I don't know what he's going to do really. He's headed straight for the Ravenclaw chaser and it doesn't look like he's thinking of slowing down any time soon…"
And he wasn't. Alerted by the commentary, Mat turned to see Sirius shooting past him just in time, and threw the ball threw the hoops before giving a spectacular sloth roll to avoid Sirius' speedy figure.
"Sirius you nutter! Stop trying to maim my boyfriend!" Cried Dani form the stands. Lupin turned to her.
"I don't think that that's going to work Dani." Said Remus, laughing slightly.
"And I don't think that calling Mat your boyfriend will aid the matter weather." Added Lily, giggling. Ella rolled her eyes at Dani, but the blue clad girl, clueless, continued to cheer for the other team.
The Ravenclaw supporters let out a cheer so fierce that Lily was sure she could feel it cause a small breeze. The quaffle that Matt had thrown had soared through the goalposts with ease, and Mat was screaming, his clenched fists thumping the air. Sirius and James were conversing in mutters and Lily, Remus and Ella were exchanging sullen glances at Dani's jubilation.
"What the hell are you playing at Padfoot?" James growled at Sirius, who looked guilty.
"Sorry mate, wont happen again," Sirius muttered back through gritted teeth. "I just can't stand that guy…"
"I know that, and I don't particularly like him either, but that's all the more reason to play a good game and show the prat up, instead of making an idiot of ourselves, now forget about Dani and lets play some good Quidditch!" James said emotively, and Sirius gave a grim smile, before shooting off back into the game.
"And Thomas passes to Finley, who passes to Black to passes the quaffle back to Potter. Potter has the quaffle and is soaring up the field, coming close now to Janson! Janson's keeping isn't as strong as it could be this year…Potter may have a chance…and he passes to Black, who is intercepted by MAT Black races after Mat, who has turned the game around for the Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw in possession now, soaring towards the goalposts, Thomas is getting ready…"
James swerved dangerously in front of Mat, who was ready for it this time, and didn't come any where near falling off his broom, but still gave reason for Dani to scream angrily at him, for Mat had dropped the quaffle, and Sirius was now streaming down to the other end of the pitch.
"AND GRIFFINDORE SCORE!" roared Pillory. At the same instant the Griffindore supported let out whoops of glee, Ella began to dance along the seats, and Remus hoisted her onto his shoulders.
"Griffindore for the cup! Griffindore are the best! Oh Yeah! That's right! Take that you-"
There was a thud as she threw herself back wards and landed in a heap with Remus on the floor. Lily laughed at the mess at her feet, before looking hastily away. They didn't come up until the game had well and truly started again.
Lily laughed, but Dani had noticed nothing, she was too busy watching the furious battle between Mat and Sirius that was taking place on the Quidditch pitch. They were both neck and neck, Sirius holding the quaffle and Mat chasing after him. Ramming along side Sirius' broom every so often, causing him to change course.
"Sirius! You're doing it again! Pass the damn ball!" Bellowed James from underneath Sirius. Sirius dropped the quaffle down to him, and James caught it in his arms and kept flying.
"And Potter nears the goal hoops, he shoots…he scores! Ten Points for Griffindore!" Screams from the Griffindore side of the pitch exploded again, and James basked in his moment of glory, hi fiving Sirius.
The game went on in this way. Until the score was one hundred and fifty to ten, Griffindores way, and the silent fight between Matt and Sirius had reached a boiling point.
"Whoever catches the snitch now wins the match!" Cried Ella over the array of voices and cheers that were issuing from the stands.
Just then, the Ravenclaw seeker went into a splendid dive, and was closely followed by Corrie.
Corrie was a good flyer, but she wasn't this good. The Ravenclaw seeker, Hicks, was fast, and he was flying faster than anyone had ever seen before, focused on the golden glimmer on the other side of the pitch.
Mat had the quaffle in his hands. Reaching to score, Mat had a triumphant smirk on his handsome face, but hesitated when he heard Sirius call.
"I'm in love with Danielle Doyle!" Sirius screamed at the top of his lungs. Back in the stands Dani gasped, Lupin groaned, and Lily and Ella giggled. Mat turned on his broom, dropped the quaffle, and Sirius lobbed it across the pitch to James, who sent the red ball soaring through an unoccupied goal hoop.
The Ravenclaws erupted with cheers, watching the seeker battle it out, but stopped as soon as they caught a glimpse of the scoreboard. They hadn't won…the score was…
"ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TO ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY!" screamed Ella, her voice husky from crying out. Hoisted back onto Remus's shoulders, screaming, Ella and Lupin hardly noticed that Dani was still sitting in pleasant shock, her hand over her gasping lips.
Sirius, meanwhile, was celebra5ting in the air, revelling in the joy that hit him when the sound of the stands erupting into sound reached his ears. But the bliss only lasted for a second. A moment later he felt something very hard collide with his head, and he fell through what felt like a deep, dark tunnel.
"Thank god you caught him James." Sirius heard a voice whisper.
"I can't believe that Mat did that."
"I can." Said another voice that Sirius recognised all too well.
"I suppose that he was provoked…"
"So was Padfoot!"
"I never said that he wasn't, but Matt was too!"
"Still, he's a bloody prick! Could have been killed if he'd fallen all that way!"
"Stop saying that." Sniffed Dani, and Sirius quickly shut his opening eyes again, intrigued.
"You ok Dani? He'll be fine, you know that. Pomfrey said he'd wake up soon." Said Remus.
"No thanks to Matt" howled James.
"Calm down James, we were all worried." Said Lily.
"Worried? I don't think that cuts it Lily. Have you seen Matt since the rest of the team were finished with him? He was hexed til he was unrecognisable!" James sniggered. Sirius couldn't contain a snort of laughter.
"What was that? Did he just laugh?" said Remus.
"Can you laugh if you're unconscious?" asked Dani, whipping her face vigorously.
"Course not!" said James happily. "Padfoot open you're eyes you prat!"
Sirius pretended to come to groggily, and sat up.
"What time is it?" he murmured.
"Don't you mean what day is it? Haven't been awake for two ni8ghts now."
"But we won?"
"Course we won! Why do you think the idiot knocked you off your broom?"
"I was knocked off my broom?" Sirius asked, sitting up suddenly. "By who?"
"By Matt." Said Dani quietly, and everyone looked at her, falling silent. She tried to hide another tear as it slid down her face.
"Suppose you were disappointed that Griffindore won, were you Dan?" asked Sirius, with a half hearted smile. She shook her head.
"Really? I thought that you were practically a Ravenclaw these days! Saw you there, dressed in your blue…"
"We have lots of charms homework James, remember? We'd better get going…" Lily said, grabbing him by the arm and beginning to drag him from the hospital wing.
"But I want to see Sir-"
"Now James." She said with demanding finality, and James followed.
"Glad to see that you're alright Sirius!" Lily called out.
"Ohhhh!" said James, realising that Lily wanted to leave Sirius and Dani alone.
"Yeah, we'd better get going to El, got a, err, big day tomorrow…" said emus.
"Why? What's tomorrow?"
"Unless you want to be dubbed thicker than James Potter you come with me now." Said lupin, laughing. Dani looked sheepish, and the other two left, Ella giving Sirius a hug and Lupin patting him affectionately on the shoulder.
Sirius patted the empty spot on the bed next to him, and Dani sat down on it, apprehensively. This wasn't their type of thing. It was James and lily and Remus and Ella who always did the cute talking and the sorry speeches. This was them. They argued so much that they barely got time to be nice to each other. But Sirius knew that this was one time that he couldn't make a joke about hating her, and so he took a deep breath and he looked Dani in the eye.
"Sorry about how I acted at the match." Sirius said finally. Dabni gave him a smile,.
"Me too." She said in a small, nervous voice.
"IO hope that you don't think I just said…what I said…to win the game…because I didn't. I meant every word of it, you know that, don't you?" he said. Dani didn't reply. She looked at him for a moment, as though she were steeling herself to do something, before she leaned forward and kissed Sirius softly on the lips. He grinned, and then, for some reason, pulled back.
"What about Mat?"
"Do you really think that I'd go out with someone who lost to YOU Black?" she said, and he pulled her close and kissed her again.