The next couple of months were fine, for a change. March finally brought back some sunshine. And even though I really liked rainy and cloudy weather, it was a welcome change. A less welcome change was… uh, well, a mass breakout from Azkaban. Yep. 10 Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange escaped the prison in mid-March and had probably rejoined Voldemort.

Other than that… things were mostly normal.

Me and Daphne hadn't really told anyone about… us. In fact, we hardly got any time alone. The time we did get alone was usually spent studying, generally in the library or in the grounds, because by the time April rolled around, teachers unleashed hell upon us. OWLs were just two months away, and the teachers had made it abundantly clear how very crucial they were.

In fact, in late April, fifth year students had to attend a 'Career Advice' meeting with their Head of Houses to decide what subjects and grades they'll need for whatever career they want to pursue. They had even given us a bunch of pamphlets for different careers to consider beforehand. I'll be honest I hadn't really thought that much about what I actually wanted to do when I graduated from Hogwarts. I just had too much stuff on my mind all the time.

The Auror pamphlet caught my eye, but uh… well, it was definitely demanding. To become an Auror, you had to get NEWTs in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Herbology, and nothing under Exceeds Expectations grade. Assuming I was even able to get that, I'd then have to go through another three years of training and examinations.

Luckily, another option got my attention, one that sounded even more appealing to me than being an Auror. A Curse-breaker.

Basically a curse-breaker's job was to find artefacts and relics and remove any curses or enchantments they may have on them. It was definitely an adventurous job, and a pretty dangerous one, but it sounded appealing. The required qualifications were admittedly tough, but not quite as much as Auror ones. Plus, curse-breakers only had to go through an eight-month training course after Hogwarts.

If that backfired… well, I could always try for Quidditch.

My career advice meeting with Professor Snape was scheduled for a Friday evening. I entered his office, a dark room with greenish lighting that reminded me in a strange way of the Chamber of Secrets. There were shelves containing a number of intriguing items I assumed were related in some way to potion-making.

"Have a seat, Malfoy," Snape said, sitting at his desk with his hands crossed.

I sat down. Snape opened a desk drawer and pulled out a stack of pamphlets and began arranging them.

"As you may be aware," he said. "The purpose of this meeting is to help you gain a better understanding of which subjects you should choose, what grades you'll be needing, and where you currently stand – concerning to the career you want to pursue. So, tell me, Mr. Malfoy, have you thought about what you would like to do once have left this school?"

"Well… I was thinking, curse-breaker sounded good," I replied.

Snape withdrew a purple pamphlet with the words 'Curse-Breaking' emblazoned with gold text on it.

"You should know, then," Snape said. "That this is no easy job. Qualifications asides, there's a high-risk factor to curse-breaking. You are quite literally facing dark magic on the daily. While fatalities have declined in recent years, serious and in some cases, permanent injury is still not uncommon in this field. Are you sure about this decision?"

"Yes," I said.

"Very well, then," he said. "In order to become a curse-breaker, you will need NEWTs in Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Ancient Runes – as well as at least an OWL in Potions. This will be followed by an additional training course of eight months after you have left school. Your performance in Charms, Defense and Potions seems to be satisfactory so far. However, Professor McGonagall does not admit students into her NEWT class with anything under Exceeds Expectations, and right now you're averaging Acceptable, so you'll have to put in some extra effort there. Then there's the more pressing matter of Ancient Runes."

"Right, about that, Professor," I said. "I picked Care of Magical Creatures instead of Ancient Runes back in the third year. Can I still give the OWL exam for Runes, though? And then progress to NEWT level if I manage to pass?"

"Technically, yes you can," Snape said. "However, it will be extremely difficult. You would have to catch up on three years' worth of study by yourself in a month and a half. Not to mention you already have eight other subjects to worry about. I suggest you talk to Professor Babbling and see if she can lend you any spare textbooks. You can progress to NEWT level in Ancient Runes with an 'Acceptable' grade but you are already at a major disadvantage, so you'll have to work extremely hard. Consider yourself lucky that Arithmancy is no longer a requirement for curse-breaking, otherwise you'd have to study a tenth subject as well."

Well… this was certainly a pickle. Afterwards, I went to Professor Babbling's office, and she was able to lend me the spare textbooks I needed, after which I went back to the common room. Textbooks were one thing. What I needed now were notes, and I sure as hell wasn't gonna sit down and make three years' worth of notes. So, the best option would be to borrow them, preferably from someone smart.

Daphne was the smartest Slytherin in our year, but she didn't take Ancient Runes. Neither did Zabini, so my best bet was Nott.

I cornered him after dinner and he agreed to give me his notes, but he did ask me to return them as soon as possible because he needed them. That wasn't a problem for me, since I was able to return them that same night thanks to a little something known as the Doubling Charm. Not a part of our curriculum till the sixth year but worth learning earlier nonetheless.

Going into May, though, another worry started weighing down on me. We were now nearing the end of the Quidditch season, and Montague was booking the pitch for Quidditch practice at every chance.

This year had witnessed an unusual situation. Normally, the House teams play against each other and whoever has the most points by the end of the season are declared champion. However, this year Gryffindor and Slytherin were tied for points. Slytherin had finished their 3 matches first with a combined total of 840 points. Gryffindor had needed 260 points out of their last match against Ravenclaw in order to beat us and become champions.

That meant Harry could only go after the Snitch once they were 110 points in. Problem was, Cho Chang had spotted the Snitch before him so he had to give chase. In the end, he managed to get the Snitch from right under her nose, but Gryffindor had only been at 100 points, so they ended up tied with Slytherin for the cup.

Harry had gotten a bit of criticism for that, but to be honest he didn't deserve it. If he hadn't caught the snitch then, Gryffindor would have lost the match and the Cup.

To decide who would be the champions this year, there would be a tie-breaker between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The last time a tie-breaker match had happened was in 1982.

Of course, this was a headache for us, especially since our only loss in this season so far had been against Gryffindor. We only had two weeks to prepare, and Montague was not taking any chances. To be honest, my respect for the guy had gone up seeing how hard he was working with the team. Especially compared to how Markus Flint had been, Montague was a pretty decent captain.

The downside was that my schedule was now more hectic than it had ever been. Mercifully, Ancient Runes had turned out to be pretty easy. Otherwise, I might have totally given up on the Curse-Breaker thing.

The night before the Quidditch final, Montague had one last training session, and everything went according to plan. The team now had experience with each other and functioned well as a single unit. Astoria in particular was performing exceptionally well.

I was really tired after the training but I still had patrol duty after dinner. Although that wasn't as bad as it used to be ever since I found a hidden door that led to a tiny balcony. The balcony had a really great view, it overlooked the entire grounds and you could even see Hogsmeade from there.

I came upon the spot a couple weeks ago and ever since I've been camping out here, looking at the Marauder's Map for any curfew-breakers – which there never were. Like, seriously, I'd been here eight months and in all that time I have never once seen anyone breaking curfew.

As I sat on the balcony looking out into the night, my thoughts turned towards exams, and what would come after. I hadn't had time to give it much thought, but Voldemort would have taken up residence in Malfoy Manor. Call me crazy, but I wasn't keen on spending the summer hanging out with an evil Dark Lord.

But… there was also the possibility that Lucius and Narcissa were trying to keep me away from all that, mainly because of the letter I received before Christmas. If they had been trying to keep me away then, they might try to do it again. I had cousins in France, I had spent summers there before. They might send me there. I'll wait till start of OWLs, if I haven't received a letter from them by then, I'll write one myself and ask to spend the summer away.

Eventually the patrol ended and I headed back to the common room. It was empty save for Daphne, who was sitting on a sofa by the fireplace, still studying.

"Hey," I said, crashing next to her.

"Heyyy," she smiled back.

"Still studying?"

"Yeah," she said. "History of Magic is killing me."

"Heh, imagine struggling in History of Magic. Can't relate, sorry."

"Arse," she muttered.

She closed her books and put them aside. I took the opportunity and lay down sideways, placing my head on her lap. She ran her hands through my hair gently, which was an extremely effective stress relief.

"How was your day?" she asked softly.

"Exhausting," I sighed. "Yours?"

"Fine. Listen, you're overworking yourself, Draco," she said. "Why'd you even take that extra subject? Right at the end of the year, too…"

"Ancient Runes? It's actually pretty easy," I said. "It's not a huge deal. Besides, after tomorrow I'll be done with Quidditch. That's three evenings a week freed up, so it'll get better."

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah… I'm nervous. I'm worried I might screw up… fumble the snitch or something. I mean, it's kinda my fault we lost against Gryffindor back in November."

"No," she said firmly. "That wasn't your fault."

"It was, I was supposed to avoid the Bludger, that's Quidditch 101. Don't get your ribcage shattered."

"Well, whatever, I'm sure it's not gonna happen again. Anyone who's seen you play in the last couple of matches knows you're amazing. You're gonna crush it tomorrow."

"You really think so?" I said.

"I know so," she said. "You're gonna crush it."

"…Thanks, Daphne," I said.

[…]

The next morning was an anxious one. Tensions were through the roof in the Great Hall, and Gryffindors and Slytherins kept shooting each other nasty looks from their respective tables.

Let's hope they stuck to shooting looks and not anything else.

Daphne kept urging me to eat something but I didn't have the appetite. I felt I might throw up. Astoria, on the other hand was a completely different story. After the first match she hadn't had any problems with nerves at all. Heck, she was casually eating breakfast while reading the Daily Prophet. That girl was destined for pro-quidditch.

After breakfast the team headed to the stadium. The fresh air and clear skies helped relax me just a bit. We changed into our team uniforms quickly and Montague went over our plan once more before we flew out into the pitch. The crowd was roaring, undoubtedly the loudest it had been all season. Three-quarters of the crowd were wearing red and gold, while the other quarter was a sea of silver and green.

"WELCOME TO THE TIE-BREAKER FINALE OF THE 1995-1996 QUIDDITCH CUP," Lee Jordan's voice rang out through the stadium. "SLYTHERIN VERSUS GRYFFINDOR!"

Wheeew. Okay, stay cool. You're gonna crush this.

After the captains had shaken hands and the teams had gotten into position, Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle in the air and the game began. Gryffindor took possession early on when Angelina Johnson snatched the Quaffle from Montague and began racing towards the goal posts. Her attempt was unsuccessful thanks to an impressive save from Bletchley.

The Quaffle went back to Montague, who carried it halfway down the pitch before passing it to Astoria. As she neared the Gryffindor goalposts, the Slytherin side started singing 'Weasley is our king,' although it was barely audible over the rest of the crowd roaring. Still, it didn't matter because Astoria was able to score anyway.

"AND SLYTHERIN OPENS THE SCORING!" Lee Jordan yelled. "Astoria Greengrass has been sensational throughout the year, an excellent find by the Slytherin captain!"

Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor took the Quaffle and barely made it halfway across the pitch before Astoria recovered possession, and scored again.

Twenty minutes into play, Slytherin was leading Gryffindor 80-20, with half of those points coming from Astoria. The once roaring crowd of red and gold was mostly silent now. Meanwhile I kept searching for the snitch. Harry had been mostly hovering around the edges of the pitch as well, observing. The snitch hadn't shown yet.

Angeline Johnson was hit by a Bludger, resulting in her dropping the Quaffle which was then picked up by the Astoria, but she was barely able to get going before she had to dodge two Bludgers at almost the same time courtesy of Fred and George. As the game went on the Gryffindors seemed to be targeting her more and more. She was single-handedly kicking their asses, it made sense, but something needed to be done lest Astoria end up out of commission. Thankfully Montague noticed this and told one of the Beaters to be close to her at all times.

This ended up slightly hindering her maneuverability, but it was still better than the potential alternative.

Suddenly, Harry dived. At first I didn't follow, thinking he was doing the Wronski Feint again, but then I noticed a small glint of gold ahead of him and damn near had a heart attack. I dived as well, pushing myself and the broom to it's absolute limits. Just as I started closing the gap between us, Harry noticed me on his tail and sped up as well. The snitch took a sharp left turn near the foot of the slytherin goalposts. Both Harry and I turned at the same time, but since the Firebolt could make sharper turns than the Nimbus 2001, and since I was right on his tail, we almost ended up colliding. We missed narrowly, but the momentary chaos was enough to make us both lose sight of the Snitch, which was more to my advantage. We both went back to our positions, but not without shooting each other a quick glare.

The match continued. Gryffindor was slowly starting to get their shit together, but Slytherin still held a decent lead of 130-90. All that would be worthless though, if I lost the Snitch to Harry. I kept my eyes peeled, scanning the ground for any sign of that tiny golden ball.

"OOH! That was a mean Bludger right there from Fred Weasley- I think it was Fred anyway, hard to tell from up here – but it's hit the Slytherin keeper Bletchley right in the face! He's still flying, but who knows for how long…"

Fuck, this was bad. Our keeper was injured, meaning the goals were now vulnerable.Sure enough, Gryffindor started catching up quickly now that two of our key players were handicapped. Within ten minutes the scores were level at 140 each.

I was still looking for the Snitch. The problem was, if the thing was nowhere to be seen on the ground, then it was likely floating somewhere near the crowd, which made it borderline impossible to find. The glint from someone's watch, for example, could be easily mistaken for the Snitch. So searching for the snitch above the crowd was like trying to find a needle in stack of slightly different needles.

But… wait a minute. Why was that little fleck moving throughout the crowd?

Holy shit that was the snitch!

I began racing towards it, daring a glance back to see where Harry was. He was on the other side of the pitch, but he had seen me and was in pursuit. Mustn't screw up now.

I chased the snitch, just a few feet above the heads of the crowd, swerving slightly to the right to dodge Luna Lovegood's gigantic lion hat. The snitch soared upwards, I followed suit. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed something black approaching me from the sides at an alarming speed. Instinctively, I twisted the broom handle, spinning around just in time so that the Bludger flew by where my head would've been, while staying on the same trajectory.

I accelerated, catching up steadily to the snitch. I didn't dare take my eyes off it, even though I was starting to get a nasty feeling that Harry was getting extremely close to me. I reached out, trying to grab the golden ball. A red blur crept up next to me. harry extended his arm as well, but I was a few inches ahead. I felt my fingers barely graze the snitch before it pulled ahead again. I leaned forward even more. Any hiccups now and all the effort goes down the drain. My fingers touched the snitch again, and this time I grabbed it firmly, barely an inch ahead of Harry's hand.

"NOOO- I mean, OH! HE'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH! DRACO MALFOY HAS THE SNITCH, SLYTHERIN WIN THE CUP!" Lee Jordan cried into the microphone.

The Slytherin crowd burst into deafening cheer, their noise impressively drowning out the remaining three quarters of the crowd collectively groaning and booing.

But fuck those booing losers, WE HAD JUST WON THE FRIGGING QUIDDITCH CUP! I HAD CAUGHT THE SNITCH!

I landed on the ground, still clutching the Snitch in my fist. The rest of the team landed after me and I found myself smothered in a group hug.

"You did it, you crazy son of a bitch you did it!" Montague said, positively weeping with joy.

The after-match ceremony featured Dumbledore presenting the giant silver trophy to Montague, followed by a group picture of the whole team with the trophy. There were also the player awards. Chaser of the year went to Astoria, Beater to George Weasley, Keeper to Ron, surprisingly enough – turns out he had forty-nine saves this season, one more than Bletchley – and Seeker of the Year was Harry, which was a bummer for me, but not a huge one.

The Slytherins had stormed the pitch by now, and they carried the team all the way back to the common room. A long night of celebrations was ahead.

Back in the common room, I immediately noticed Daphne in the crowd. I pushed my way through to her, and without any hesitation at all, I kissed her.

I doubt we kissed for very long. Truth was I tended to lose track of time, but it was a gasp followed by a thud that caused us to break apart. Turns out Pansy had seen us kissing and passed out… yeah…

Some of the people around us were looking at me and Daphne with varying reactions. Nott was mostly indifferent. Zabini a bit confused, Rachel determinedly looking the other way, and Astoria just shrugged, like she knew all along. A few people were surprised. A few more reacted same as Astoria.

"Let's go somewhere private," Daphne suggested quietly.

"Good idea," I said. "I know a place."

We snuck out the common room just as the celebrations were picking up. I led Daphne to the secret balcony I had discovered recently. The view from there was perfect right now with the sunset, and it was fairly high up and pretty secluded, so we'd have some privacy.

"Wow," Daphne said. "This is amazing, how'd you find this place?"

"I stumbled across it," I said. "This is where I've been spending patrol duty for the past few weeks."

We looked at the sunset for a few minutes, holding each other's hands.

"You were awesome today," she said. "You totally deserved the Seeker award. Dumbledore was being biased."

"Nah, it's no biggie," I waved my hand. "We won the Cup. That's what matters the most. To hell with the Seeker thing. Besides, you're here with me right now. Far as I'm concerned, I have absolutely nothing to be upset about. At all."

She blushed. God she looked so cute when she did that. I gently pushed her back against the wall and we kissed again, this time more passionately, our hands running through each other's hair. I ran my other hand down her back and gently squeezed Daphne's ass, getting her to giggle. After an uncertain amount of time, during which the sun went down, we finally broke apart.

"We should probably head back," I said, as Daphne her head on my shoulder. "People might talk otherwise."

"What's there to talk about?" Daphne said. "The cat's out of the bag. People already know we're a thing."

"Well, you know… they might talk."

"Oh," she said. "Well, let's stay out here a little longer, in any case."

"I'd be glad to."

[…][…][…]

Welp that's a wrap on quidditch! I know this one was a bit of a filler compared to the previous few chapters, but the next one'll more than make up for it, that I assure you!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Signing off for now.