Chapter 53
Meredith spent the Easter holidays holed up in the library. NEWTS were coming up fast and she was
working so hard her brain was starting to hurt. The upcoming Quidditch final had everyone on edge.
The Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry had never been so tense. It seemed that when Meredith wasn't
studying she was breaking up the scuffles that seemed to be popping up all over the place. With a
wince she ran her thumb over the small cut on her lip which she'd received when she'd stepped in to
break up two fourth years and one of their fists had caught her face. She'd nearly gotten another
injury when she'd been standing to close to Oliver when Flint had attempted to hex him. She'd been
lucky and the only damage had been to the sleeve of her robes. Oliver had been ready to commit
murder but she'd held him back. She'd be so happy when the final was done with. Maybe then Oliver
would actually spend some time studying for his NEWTS. She glanced up as a shadow fell across the
desk and saw Patricia standing there. From the look on her face Meredith suspected she wasn't
coming with hostile intent but she was not going to lower her guard.
"Hey," Patricia greeted her.
"Hey," Meredith said setting down her quill.
"What, uh, happened," she asked gesturing to her own mouth.
"Ran into a Slytherin's fist," Meredith said dryly. Patricia nodded.
"Um…" Patricia mumbled glancing at the floor. "Can…uh, I sit down."
"It's a free country," Meredith said. Patricia sat down and for a while neither of them spoke.
"I've been thinking about the last couple weeks," Patricia said. Meredith stared at her.
"Look, I'm not okay with the whole werewolf thing. Or that you lied about it. But the things that I said
about your dad and Sirius Black, well that was wrong."
"Was that supposed to be an apology?" Meredith said barely keeping the bite out of her voice.
"Meredith," Patricia said. "You and I have been through so much together. I don't want our friendship
to end like this." Meredith bit her lip and looked away. Seven years they'd been friends. Practically
sisters. But there were just some hurts that just went too deep.
"I don't want it to either," she said. "But I can't just forget what you said. What you accused my father
of. Merlin Patricia do you have any idea how much you hurt me."
"I know," Patricia said. "I am sorry Meredith, really I am. Your dad is a good man. I mean he's been
nicer to me than my own father ever was. His….condition….I guess it's hard to see past it but…I'm
gonna try. If you'll let me." Meredith sighed. She wanted to. She really did. More than anything she
wanted things to go back to the way they had been. But some things were just too hard to forgive.
"I don't know Patricia," Meredith said. Patricia looked sad but she nodded.
"Do you mind if I stay and work on my Charms essay?"
"Like I said," Meredith said taking up her notes again. "It's a free country." For a long while the only
sound was the scratching of their quills. Meredith glanced up every now and again to see Patricia
crossing things out with a look of utter frustration on her face. Finally Meredith couldn't take it
anymore.
"Oh just give it to me," she snapped holding out her hand for the essay. Patricia passed it over with a
tiny smile.
"You've got your wand movements backwards. It's swipe and jab not jab and flick. And this
incantation will blow up what you're trying to vanish. Good lord, Patricia!" Patricia smiled a little.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to stay mad at me." Meredith glared out of the corner of her eye.
"I'm still mad, I'm just a soft touch when it comes to hopeless cases." Patricia giggled and Meredith
couldn't help smiling a little herself.
The day of the Quidditch final finally came. Meredith glanced up from her breakfast as the Gryffindors
burst into applause. Oliver was a bundle of tension as he sat next to her.
"Eat up everyone," he ordered the team.
"Bacon?" she asked him passing him the plate.
"Uh…no thanks."
"You've got to eat something."
"My stomach is so jumpy right now I don't think I could keep anything down. Take some toast
Angelina. Harry have some more sausage." Meredith bit her lip to keep from smiling. Oliver didn't
stay at the table long. He left to check out the field. Everyone applauded again when the rest of the
team left to join him.
"Are you going to the match?" Patricia said appearing at her shoulder. Meredith turned and looked at
the coolly. Patricia had been attempting to make amends for the last week but Meredith had not
exactly accepted her back yet.
"Oliver asked me to go," she said.
"Great," Patricia said. "I'll um save you a seat?" Meredith sighed and just nodded. Maybe she was
being hard headed. Patricia did seem sincere in her apologies and she was trying. She'd been overly
friendly to her dad whenever she saw him in the hall. Maybe she did deserve another chance. After
stopping by her dorm for a jacket she went out to the field. She made her way up the bleachers. She
spotted Patricia sitting near the top. Percy was beside her on the bench sitting with Penelope and
there was an obvious space between them. She sighed and climbed up the bleachers.
"'Scuse me," she said to the fourth and fifth years seated on the bench. She slid along till she came to
the spot Patricia had saved for her and sat down.
"Good weather," Patricia said. "Though the sun's pretty bright. I hope Harry will be able to see the
snitch."
"They need to win by more than 200 points," Meredith said thoughtfully. "It's all gonna depend on
Harry."
"Yeah well Harry's got that Firebolt," Patricia said. They glanced at each other and smiled. The crowd
jumped up and cheered as the Gryffindor team flew out onto the field.
"GO GRYFFINDOR!" Meredith shouted.
"Lions for the cup!" Patricia shouted.
The cheers turned to boos as Slytherin flew out onto the field. The sound of Madam Hooch's whistle
was drowned out by the roar of the crowd. Alicia had the quaffle and was flying toward the goal. It
was intercepted by a Slytherin.
"Yes!" Percy shouted as Fred pelted a bludger at the Slytherin causing him to drop the quaffle which
was grabbed by Angelina. Meredith clapped and cheered with the rest of the Gryffindors as Angelina
scored.
"FOUL!" Patricia shouted as Flint crashed into Angelina. Fred in turn chucked his beaters club. Both
Chasers were awarded a penalty shot. Meredith felt her teeth clench as Alicia took a penalty for
Gryffindor.
"Yes!" she cheered softly turning her attention to the Gryffindor goal. Wood was tense hovering in
front of the goal. His jaw was clenched tight.
"C'mon," Meredith said rubbing her hands together anxiously. "C'mon Oliver. YES!"
"He saved it!" Lee Jordan shouted. Meredith's eyes were darting all over the field from Oliver, to
Katie, to Fred and George, and occasionally up to Harry. The game was getting exciting and she
couldn't help getting into it.
"YOU LOUSY RAT!" Patricia shouted as a Slytherin chaser swerved in front of Katie and grabbed her
head instead of the quaffle. Meredith too hissed out a small curse. Meredith felt a huge rush of
satisfaction when Katie took her penalty shot and scored.
"What's Harry doing?" a third year in front of her shrieked. Meredith glanced up to the sky. Harry was
speeding toward the Slytherin end of the field with Malfoy close behind him.
"If he catches the Snitch now they'll lose the cup!" Percy wailed. Meredith bit her lip in nervous
tension.
"It's a diversion!" she realized. "He's distracting Malfoy. Oh, lookout!" Two Slytherin beaters were
heading straight toward Harry with their clubs raised. At the last second Harry pulled out of the dive
and the two beaters crashed into each other.
"Oh no!" Patricia shouted as Flint scored. It was turning into a dirty fight. The Slytherins were
resorting to whatever means necessary to get the Quaffle. Alicia scored another point with a penalty
shot after a Slytherin beater hit her with his bat. Wood made another great save when Slytherin took
another penalty shot. Katie scored again. Fred and George were flying close to her guarding her
against bludgers.
"Lousy cheaters," Patricia hissed. Meredith was glaring at the Slytherin beaters. Her eyes narrowed as
they smacked both bludgers at the same time.
"YOU DIRTY STINKING ROTTEN CHEATING SCUM!" Meredith shouted leaping to her feet as both
bludgers smacked Oliver in the stomach. Patricia looked amused at her outrage but the rest of the
Gryffindors were livid. Angelina scored on another penalty shot and then Alicia scored again.
Gryffindor was up sixty points.
"If Harry gets the snitch now Gryffindor wins," Percy said biting his nails.
"He sees it!" Patricia shouted.
"C'mon…c'mon…"Meredith whispered clutching Patricia's hand.
"He's almost….THAT BASTARD!" Malfoy had grabbed hold of the tail of Harry's broom and was pulling
it back. Malfoy's dirty trick had the desired effect. Harry lost sight of the snitch, Alicia missed her
penalty shot, and Slytherin scored again.
"C'mon Gryffindor, pull it together!" Meredith whispered. Angelina got hold of the Quaffle and was
shooting toward the goal.
"Oh no!" Every Slytherin except Malfoy was streaking up the field to block Angelina.
"She'll never get through!"
"Look!" Harry was leaning low on the broom zooming toward the Slytherins.
"YEAH!" Percy shouted as the Slytherins scattered leaving the goal free for Angelina to score.
"NO!" Meredith shouted. They all looked up to where she was looking. Malfoy was diving toward a tiny
gold ball. Harry saw it and shot toward it. The firebolt was fast but he was still far away.
"Go HARRY!" Meredith shouted along with all the other Gryffindor. Patricia was squeezing her hand so
hard it hurt but Meredith barely noticed.
"C'mon Harry!" she thought. Slytherin could not win. It could not happen. After all they'd pulled today
they COULD NOT win! Harry was getting closer. He and Malfoy were right on top of each other. The
both were reaching for the snitch. The Gryffindor stand exploded with cheering as Harry lifted his arm
and everyone saw the snitch in his hand. Meredith was ecstatic. She and Patricia were jumping up and
down hugging each other. All animosity was forgotten as they celebrated. Meredith followed the rest
of her house as they hurried onto the field to congratulate the team. She found Wood who was
sobbing and laughing and hugging his teammates. She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him close.
"Bet you could cast a wicked patronus right now," she said. Oliver laughed. The breath was knocked
from her as he seized her in a rib crushing hug and lifted her off her feet. She laughed as he spun her
in circles making her dizzy. The moment he set her down they were tackled by Patricia and Percy. The
four of them wrapped their arms around each other and headed off to the common room for a
celebration.