The Final Game
"How on Earth did Dumbeldore find him and think that he would be a good Defence teacher?" Hermione said as they walked into the common room. They were met with loud chatter from fellow Gryffindors, something Ila was grateful for. She could finally focus on something that wasn't about Him. "The man's clearly unhinged!"
"Mione…" Ron said, but even he couldn't find a good excuse for what he did during their lesson. Instead, he collapsed onto the couch beside the fireplace, throwing his bag onto the floor. Ila joined him, with Hermione taking the floor and began taking out her homework. Ron groaned, propping his feet on Ila's lap as he took up the rest of the couch.
"Honestly, I think we should complain," Hermione said.
"But it was Dumbledore who was the one who got him," Ila said. "I doubt he'll do anything."
"Go to someone like – Ila, do you mind massaging my feet?"
"No," she said simply, pushing his feet of her.
"Go to someone like McGonagall," Ron suggested, slightly offended by Ila. "She'll have to listen to us."
"Would she even believe us?" Hermione said, starting her homework for Ancient Runes.
"Course she will," Ron said, smiling. "We're her favourite students."
Ila and Hermione both gave him a pointed look, asking him to rethink his opinions.
"Maybe if we get a bunch of other people," Ila said. "What about….Neville and Parvati and Lavender? We can even get Dean and Seamus to do it too. She'll think differently if a lot of us go."
"Ila, I think you just named McGonagall's top five hated fourth years after the three of us," Hermione said flatly.
"She doesn't hate you because you do anything bad," Ron said. "She only hates you through association."
"Because that makes me feel a lot better," Hermione quipped. "I think I'm still going to Dumbledore. He'll have to do something if we go to him. I mean, he practically loves you, Ila."
"Not really," Ila said. "I mean, I'm pretty sure he prefers Ron over me."
"He'll still listen to us if we go to him."
"Ok, look," Ron said, "what's going to happen if we do end up going to him? Even if he says yes, what is he actually going to do?"
"Fire Moody, and then find some other replacement for the rest of the year which'll probably be anyone willing to drop everything that they have just to teach students…defence against the…."
The three friends had a look of dread as they realised who that person would be to drop everything they have to teach defence against the dark arts.
"You know what, maybe we should wait a bit."
"Good idea Ila, see how if he still acts like that for the next couple of lessons and then we'll go to Dumbledore if we really need to." Ron leaned back once more, propping his feet onto Ila's lap while Hermione returned to her Runes homework. "Do you wanna play some Quidditch?" Ron asked Ila.
"Don't you have homework?" Hermione asked the two.
"It's only Divination," Ron said, "that's barely anything."
"How're we going to play Quidditch when Dumbledore's banned us from the pitch?"
Ron looked thoughtful as he pondered Ila's question until he looked around the room to Fred and George with Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson all talking with one another.
"C'mon," Ron said, standing up and pulling Ila to her feet. He offered Hermione a hand too, but she politely refused, telling him that she would rather spend her time on her homework than watching a bunch of people chase after a bunch of balls in the cold. "Thanks for letting us know," Ron said enthusiastically before walking towards the table of fifth and sixth years. No one noticed the two fourth years when they reached them, even after Ron clearing his throat. Three times.
"Hey!" Ila said, and finally, they turned around to the two of them.
"How would you lot like a game of Quidditch?" Ron asked.
"But Dumbledore told us that-"
"Forget what Dumbledore told us, alright," Ron said, putting a hand to Angelina's face, only to swiftly put it down when he saw her eyebrow raise. "He's not going to know, is he?"
The group looked at each other, deliberating their answer as the two friends waited at the foot of the table.
"What's the point if there's no one going against us?" Fred asked. While the fourth years remained stumped, trying to figure out an excuse, Katie Bell had come to their rescue.
"You know, I could ask some of the Hufflepuff members to come by and play with us," she suggested.
"Alright," George said, looking at the rest of his friends, who were nodding in agreement. "Let's do it then."
Half an hour later, the group were walking out of the castle, the girls and Ron holding the brooms, while the boys were carrying the case, which had the Quaffles, Bludgers and most importantly, the Snitch. As they were walking down the pitch, Ila found herself thinking about Cedric. He was on the seeker for Hufflepuff. This was going to be their rematch. Would she win? Show his father who's the better player. Maybe she'll try the Wronski Feint on him.
"Weren't Hufflepuff losing members last year?" Lee said as he pointed to the massive group of students that looked far too big to be the seven-membered squad of the Hufflepuff team. It wasn't until they walked closer did they realise that it wasn't just the Hufflepuff team.
Katie Bell stood in front of them, a weak smile on their face.
"So, there may have been a slight miscalculation about how many people we're going to join us," she said sheepishly once the team arrived.
"Slight?" Angelina said. "This looks like a bit more than slight, Kate."
"I can explain," she said hurriedly. "Basically, I went to the Hufflepuffs, and I told them what we were doing and telling them we wanted another team to play with us, and then Cho was there, and she said that Ravenclaw could play too and then she rushed up all the way to the Ravenclaw tower just to get her team ready and I felt too bad to not say anything so I just let them come." Katie's explanation kept getting quieter and quieter to the point where the team had to move closer to her whispers.
"Ok," Alicia said, "so then why the fuck do I see Marcus Flint giving me the side-eye?"
"You know, I'm not too sure how the Slytherins figured that one out," Katie said, genuinely confused. "I guess they always know how to slither their way into things."
"Give me a break," Angelina muttered under her breath, dropping the brooms onto the floor. "Right, I'm going to find all the captains so we can figure everything out," she told the team.
"Oh, and by the way, we have a few people watching us," Katie told her just as she was about to leave. She pointed to the stadium, which was filled with what seemed to be the entirety of the school. Angelina muttered something which Ila couldn't hear but sounded similar to "I'm going to ducking spill der."
Strange.
Fred, George and Lee dropped the case, stretching and getting ready to play for their match, while Ron and Ila took their seats on the grass.
"If Slytherin's are here, doesn't that mean Malfoy's here too?" Ron asked her.
"If he were, surely we'd notice," Ila said as she looked around the crowd of students, waiting for a flash of blond to pop out. "He'd be the one to make all empty threats about what he'd do if he won only to end up losing."
"At least when they go against you," Ron said. "I don't think there's ever been a match where you haven't gotten the snitch."
"No, there was last year, remember? Wood nearly drowned himself after that one."
"You're lucky you only heard it from us," Fred said, joining their conversation.
"At least you're not the one who found him," Geroge said, taking his seat opposite them. "The guy thought the best way to go out is to be naked."
"Ironic, since his name's Wood and he's barely past-"
"Ila!"
"Cedric," she said as she turned towards the source of the voice. He stood there, smiling down at her. His hair was floppy, and Ila had the urge to run her fingers through –
"I didn't know you'd be here," he said, crouching down as if he was talking to a child.
"Well…it was Ron's idea to have a Quidditch match," Ila said, laughing nervously, though he never said anything remotely funny.
"Pretty cool idea," Cedric said. "It's a lot more fun without any of the teachers around."
"Oi! Diggers, stop flirting around. Johnson's looking for you, y'know," Fred said, making Ila so grateful that she couldn't blush.
"Sorry about that," Cedric said, holding his hands out to surrender. "I just wanted to scope out the competition, that's all."
"Stop being a perv and leave," George said. Taking no offence, he smiled lazily at Ila, which she smiled back, though it was more enthusiastic than she hoped before he walked away, finding Angelina. She kept watching him until he melted into the blob of students before she turned around slowly.
"What the hell was that for?"
"Uh – protection."
"Uh – no."
"Ila, trust us," Fred said, slinging an arm around his brother, "you don't want to be with a sixth year. They're not great."
"I don't have to hang out with Cedric to know that," Ila said snarkily.
It was another ten minutes before something had happened. Mainly the announcement of what was actually going to happen for the Quidditch game. At that point, Ron was beginning to grow tired, and Ila could feel the clock ticking away, past her optimum sleeping time.
"LISTEN, EVERYONE!" Angeline shouted, silencing the crowd. "This game is going to have to be a short one since curfew's going to be in an hour. So, here's how it's going to work, it'll take too long for each house to play against each other separately, so we're going to join with another house. Which, yes, that means that we're going to have to leave some players out. If worse comes to worst, then we'll get some reserves, and they can switch out. Does that sound good?"
There was a general positive murmur from the crowd, and Angelina carried on.
"So the teams are going to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff-"
"Oh, why do we have to get the shit house!"
" – vs Slytherin and Ravenclaw." Angelina grouped the Gryffindor team and found the Hufflepuff team, while the Slytherins and Ravenclaws did the same. The group then decided who would stay on and who would play as reserves.
"Alright, so I think Fred and George are going to be beaters, Bella as keeper and Alicia, me and Ced are going to be Chasers and Ila'll be Seeker, alright?"
"What about me?" Ron said. "I was the one who wanted to play the bloody game in the first place!"
Angelina grabbed him by the shoulder, shaking himself slightly as she spoke. "This might be the only Quidditch match that we'll have this year. Yes, it might be unofficial, but we still need to win this. We cannot lose ourselves to the Slytherins. Alright?"
"Alright," Ron said quietly, looking a bit green as he stepped away from her. He held onto Ila tightly for the rest of the pep talk. "Fair enough."
"As I said, this is probably the only game we'll be able to have this year, so we need to win this. Right, you two, what're you going to do?" Angelina pointed at the two beaters.
"Try and knock out Slytherins as we can without getting any fouls…or deaths," Fred said before standing up straight and saluting.
"Good. You two, what're we going to do?"
"Get as many Quaffles into the hoops before Ila catches the Snitch?" Cedric said, unsure.
"You don't sound too sure, Ced," Angelina said sternly.
"Get as many Quaffles into the hoops before Ila catches the Snitch," Cedric said, more confident.
"We're going to talk right before the game starts," Angelina said. "What about you, Bells?"
"Stop Slytherin's scoring."
"And Ila," Angelina said, turning to her. "What're you going to do?"
"Catch the Snitch," Ila said, trying to make sure her voice didn't rise into a question.
"How?" Her eyes turned to slits as she peered closer to Ila.
"I dunno-"
"That's not an answer, Ila; you're going to be up against Malfoy, alright? He's probably waiting for you to slip up so that he can finally beat you after years of losing. He's going to be waiting, Ila, so tell me how you're going to find that snitch?"
Ila stared at Angelina, suddenly wondering why a 5ft 10 white guy, with an unhealthy obsession for Quidditch, was standing in her place. This is what happens when you've been bossed around by Wood for so many years.
You end up turning into him.
"I guess…I can try and do the Wronski Feint," Ila said sheepishly. "I've been watching Krum do it for a couple of weeks now…I think I can do it."
"You think, or you know?" Angelina muttered as she stepped closer to Ila.
"I – I know."
Angeline sized her up one final time before clapping her hands and facing the group.
"We're ready, hands in," Angelina put her hand out as she waited for the others in the group to follow her. No one really wanted to do so, but then again, no one really wanted to deal with an angry Angelina, and so, they all slowly but surely placed their hands on top of hers, Ila being the last to do so.
"Ready? Three…two…one…Gryffindor!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Why the hell am I here!"
Since it was Ron's idea to have a Quidditch match and he wasn't allowed to play, he was made the next best thing.
"I want a fair game from the both of you, alright? No foul play, no hijinks and definitely no sabotage," Ron said to the Gryffindor and Slytherin head captains. Ila was pretty sure she heard the same speech from Madame Hooch. "Now, give a friendly hand - "
"Piss off Weasel. This isn't an actual game. There's no teachers around, so who says I have to listen to you?" Marcus Flint said before walking back to his team of Ravenclaws and Slytherins. They huddled into a big group, exchanging a few last minutes tactics before finding their positions and flew into the air.
"Er - what - what does he mean by that?" Ron asked Angelina.
"You have to be ready to get Madame Pomfrey," she said before heading back to her team.
Ila mounted her broom and flew up to the height of the hoops. She could see Hermione sitting at the stands. While she was reading, it was nice to see her come by. As she scanned the pitch, she realised that there was a reason why Quidditch games were always held in the morning. With the sun being drowned by dark clouds that were threatening to pour, she flew over to Ron to mention the problem. Ron nodded and headed over to the commentator's stand where Lee Jordan was. Ron came back, and bright floodlights lit up the field as Ila made her way back to her original position.
With the added light, Ila saw that almost all of the Gryffindor and Slytherin towers had been filled up with students, anxiously waiting for the students to begin. At the back of her mind, she wondered how the teachers hadn't realised. Perhaps they did, and they didn't care.
"WHOO! GO ILA! GET THE SNITCH! C'MON PARVATI, LET'S DO IT - "
"TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT, WHO DO WE APPRECIATE? NOT THE KING, NOT THE QUEENS BUT ILA...Potter doesn't really go with anything, does it?"
Ila blinked at Lavender and Parvati, trying to figure how to make a chant that rhymed with her name. On the opposite side, she could see something similar be done to the Slytherin's seeker.
They must have been lower than third-year who held up signs that supported Malfoy. "C'MON, MALFOY! GET RID OF THAT HALF-BLOOD FOR GOOD!"
Maybe they were first-years who didn't know how Quidditch is actually played.
"Everyone ready?" Ron asked, flying over to the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams, who all nodded. He then gingerly flew towards the Slytherin and Ravenclaws and asked them the same. They mostly ignored them, which he took as a yes.
"Hey! Ila," Cedric said, flying over to her.
"Get back into position Ced," Angelina hissed. Cedric held up two fingers, letting her know that it wouldn't take long.
"I er - I just wanted to say good luck," he said quietly. It felt like he only wanted her to hear it. The conversation was only for the two of them.
"Yeah, you too," Ila replied.
"And er - if you know, Malfoy gives you any trouble, just...give me a shout, alright? I promise I won't hesitate to do something."
Ila chuckled, and he waved goodbye before getting back into position. She could see Angelina getting frustrated with him, nearly pushing him off his broom. Ila heard a laugh from the other side. It was Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker/ Team Captain/ current Chaser. She bit back a smile as she watched the fight between Angelina and Cedric. He looked up when he saw someone was laughing. But he didn't look mad. It was strange. Ila couldn't tell what he was thinking. She couldn't dwell on it much longer as Ron yelled -
"RELEASE THE BALLS!"
The whistle blew, and the game started.
Ila forgot how much she loved Quidditch. It was one thing playing it with the Weasley's with no stakes at all or watching it at the Cup Final, but merlin did she miss the rush of adrenaline pouring into her veins, her heart pumping that extra bit harder.
"THERE GOES FLINT, FIRST TO TAKE THE QUAFFLE - "
Ila stopped moving, surveying the field around her. Her first task was to find the snitch. All she needed was a glimpse of gold.
"AND DDDDOOOOWWWNNNN HE GOES! THANKS TO YOUR FAVOURITE PAIR OF WEASLEYS!"
The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams celebrated as Fred and George whizzed around the entire pitch, while many of the Slytherins claimed it as foul play. "OI! NO CHASING THE REFEREE UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET DISQUALIFIED!"
Playing with Malfoy enough times, she knew his tactics. He would let her find it for him. With one part of her trying to keep an eye on the snitch, the other wondered where Malfoy was.
"THERE GOES THE WHISTLE – DIGGERS THROWS IT TO JONHSON – BACK TO BELL – AND BACK TO JOHNSON – BACK TO BELL AND…SCORE! TEN TO ZERO FOR GRYFFINPUFF WITH A WELL-PERFORMED FORMATION LOOPING JUST TO RUB IT IN THEIR FACES!"
"Gryffinpuff?" Angelina yelled at Lee. "That's the best that you can come up with?" Lee shrugged before the match started once more – this time, the ball was in the Slytherin's court.
Starting to scan from the Gryffindor stands, it was halfway through when she saw him. He was completely still, only staring at her. Except it was different from the other times.
"WE FINALLY GET TO SEE SOME ACTION WITH THE HUFFLEPUFFS. IT LOOKS LIKE BELLA IS GOING TO HAVE HER WORK CUT OUT. FLINT WITH THE QUAFFLE – PASSES BELL – PASSES DIGGERS – BUT JOHNSON BLOCKS HIS PATH – OH, HERE COMES THE OTHER TWO CHASERS! WHAT'RE YOU GOING TO DO NOW, FLINT! TAKE THAT, YOU SLIMY, EVIL – oh and Goyle's taken Johnson down…ten all…whoo…."
She couldn't quite put her feelings in the limited boundaries of words when she saw him look at her. The feeling was hard to filter into a coherent sentence. It wasn't malice, like in the past years. He wasn't disgusted or angry or any other emotion he usually had as default when looking at people like her.
He was just watching her. A lot of people watched her. But it wasn't for the right reasons. They only cared for 'The Girl Who Lived.' That was who they were staring at. Instead of her, it felt like Malfoy was watching Ila Potter.
What is with this poetic shit? Get a hold of yourself, woman! Get your head back in the game!
Ila watched Angelina brush Alicia and Katie off her and get back on her broom. She cracked her neck and was ready to play once more. With one final look to the others, the ball was released once more. Ila needed to get back to playing.
But she still hasn't found the snitch.
When has that ever stopped you?
An idea formed in her mind. Making sure Malfoy was still watching her, Ila angled her broom and flew upwards. She picked up her pace and checked behind her. Malfoy was still there.
Good. It wouldn't work if he were following her now.
Once Ila was above the playing pitch, she stopped. She had to be travelling at the right angle. She would have to pull the broom up at the right time so she wouldn't get injured. Quidditch didn't require Ila to think. She would just do it. It came naturally to her. That's why she enjoyed it so much. Hopefully, she wouldn't be proven wrong tonight.
Breathing a deep breath – hopefully not her last – she aimed her broom at a specific point and leaned forward.
"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT? IT SEEMS POTTER MIGHT HAVE FOUND THE SNITCH!"
"C'mon, Malfoy! Follow her! What the hell is wrong with you?" Ila heard Flint bark out instructions to Malfoy.
She was getting closer to the ground.
"ISN'T SHE SUPPOSED TO STOP SOON?" Jordan asked the crowd.
Ila peeked over her shoulder to see Malfoy following her. She smiled. It was at this moment did Malfoy realise what had happened. She never had the snitch, to begin with. She was pulling off that stupid stunt Krum had pulled.
But it was too late.
He was going too fast now. He couldn't stop now. He'd crash into the ground.
Ila watched the ground come closer and closer until she could see the white lines of the quidditch pitch become clear. Just a few more metres, she told herself.
"SHE'S GOING TO KILL HERSELF!"
It seemed that everyone on the pitch had stopped to watch Ila and Malfoy. Thankfully for the Gryffinpuff team, this meant the opposition was distracted.
Three metres.
Johnson got the attention of her fellow teammates. She motioned the twins to find the bludgers and pointed at Montague, who had the Quaffle.
Two metres.
Johnson flew underneath him without attracting him or his fellow teammates attention and waited.
One metre.
"NOW!" Angelina screamed.
Simultaneously, as the twins used a Dopplebeater Defence, in which both beaters hit the Bludger to get twice the force and aimed it right at Montague, Ila pulled up sharply from the ground. Montague flew off his broom, letting go of the Quaffle, which landed right in Angelina's hands. Malfoy, unfortunately, followed Ila's suit and pulled up from the ground moments before he was going to crash.
"A SMART MOVE FROM THE GRYFFINPUFF TEAM! WITH EVERYONE DISTRACTED BY ILA'S PERFECTLY PERFORMED WRONSKI FEINT, THE GRYFFINPUFF TEAM WERE ABLE TO GET MONTAGUE DOWN TO MOTHER FUCKING GROUND BEFORE GETTING THE QUAFFLE TO SCORE ANOTHER 10 POINTS! TWENTY TO ZERO!"
The Gryffinpuff students yelled, banging on the stadium in happiness. As Ila caught her breath, she could even see Hermione cheering her on.
"Nice work with the Wronski Feint," Angelina said as she stopped beside her.
"I could say the same with whatever you pulled back there," Ila said.
"It's just quick thinking," she said. "Listen, have you found the snitch yet?"
Ila shook her head.
"Right, according to Fred, he saw it go all the up there," she said, nodding to the clouds. "I want us to get as many points against the Slytherins before you catch the snitch. Take as much time as you need before you head back down and show everyone, alright? Do anything you can to stall."
"Sure," Ila said before they headed back to the positions. Angelina nodded at Ila, and the whistle blew once more. Ila headed straight for the sky once more. She travelled up so high until Lee Jordan's commentary was muffled.
It was much colder up here.
But the snitch wasn't here.
Ila flew higher and higher, passing the clouds, which were getting darker the further she went. She hadn't even realised just how far away the rest of the teams were until –
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, POTTER! YOU'RE GOING TOO HIGH!"
Ila stopped so abruptly; she nearly fell off her broom. She looked down to see Malfoy cautiously watching her. She could spare a few seconds. They probably still needed a few more minutes.
"What do you care?" she yelled beneath her. They were so high up; it began to rain heavily. Her vision was beginning to blur to the point where she took her glasses off. There was barely any difference.
"You're going to get yourself killed all for a game of Quidditch that won't even count! Stop being an idiot! You're going to fall off your broom if you go too high. Get down NOW!"
"And you're only saying this to distract me so you can get the snitch yourself," Ila countered before leaning forward on her broom and accelerated forward. It was slightly harder to see where the snitch actually was without her glasses, but luckily, Ila caught a golden glimmer against the grey, black clouds.
Malfoy hesitated before flying up higher, closer to where Ila was. "You nearly got yourself hurt with that Wronski Feint – and now you're doing this? This game isn't nearly as important as your health, Potter!"
Ila scoffed. She turned around and flew closer to him. "What is up with you? You're acting so weird! I've seen the way you act with Parkinson. Why didn't you do anything when she wanted you to fight with Ron? You, of all people, wouldn't miss out on the chance of hurting him!"
"Do you really think now's the time to talk about this?"
"Do you think anytime is a good time to talk about it?" Ila countered. "Do you not remember who we are?"
"Of course I do," he said.
"It's like you're a completely different person Malfoy," Ila said, and suddenly everything that had been on her mind for the past few days spewed out of her mouth. "You act as if you hate the Slytherins. You hate Parkinson. You pretend to hate that your friends bully other people. I saw the way you reacted when Parkinson poured water over that Hufflepuff. I saw how you stopped Crabbe and Goyle. You haven't said a word to me about...fucking anything!"
"Yeah, because you don't dictate my whole life, Potter. My personality isn't just hating you. You do know that?"
"Tell that to yourself," Ila shouted. "You've done nothing but hate me all these years because...because I don't fucking know why."
"Just because you're the Girl Who Lived doesn't mean the whole world revolves around you," Malfoy spat. "You're so self-centred that you can't be bothered to look past yourself. I'm not acting different, Potter and I can assure you, I still fucking hate you!"
"You're not acting differently?" Ila said. "Really? Because I saw the way, you acted the night of the forest to Malfoy. The Malfoy that I know wouldn't have acted like that."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Even without her glasses, she was close enough to Malfoy to see his expression shift.
"Stop kidding yourself, Malfoy," Ila said in a low tone. "The old Malfoy probably would've been right by his father's side, tormenting those muggles. But what did you do? You were scared! You were scared of what your own father and his friends were doing to that muggle family, and you hid in the shadows. I could see it. I'm not dumb, Malfoy."
The two stayed where they were. Ila struggled to see properly; her hair was drenched and blown into a million directions as the clouds moved. Malfoy stared back at her, unsure of what to say. He didn't need to.
Ila pulled away from him and flew higher. She could see the snitch getting clearer, meaning she was getting close. A flash of lightning lit the sky, which was followed by a crack of thunder. Leaning, even more, she reached one hand out. It was harder to steer the broom now. Heavy rain splattering her face every second.
But she was so close now.
Her fingertips brushed against the smooth surface of the snitch.
Looking back, retrospectively, Malfoy did have a point about her going too high, and she would fall off her broom. However, because it was Ila, she couldn't admit to Malfoy being right.
One moment she was up in the sky, close to catching the snitch while also, surprisingly, getting lectured by Malfoy of all people.
The next, she was on the floor, with the entire Gryffindor team, staring at her to make sure she wasn't dead.
"Do you guys have to be this close?" Ila asked hoarsely.
She blinked a few times as she pushed herself back into the ground to get some distance between herself and the other members. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief before they hugged her.
Which wasn't great since they all decided to hug at the same time. Something was poking against her chest, and she was definitely sure it wasn't from her team.
"We thought you died!" Ron said, pulling her up to a seated position. She could see everyone that had come to check if she was alright. She couldn't see Cedric.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Angelina said, slapping Ila's arm before pulling her into another hug. "You shouldn't have done that. I could've lost my best seeker."
"It's wasn't that bad," Ila said, slowly pushing Angelina away.
"You could've gotten yourself killed," Angelina said. "You nearly did with the Wronski Feint."
That poking feeling had turned to a flutter. Why was she so nervous? She hadn't actually died. She wasn't even anywhere close.
"I remember falling off my broom," Ila said slowly, "but who carried me down?" Ila quickly looked down to see that nothing was actually broken. The fact that she was conscious should have given it away that she hadn't fallen.
"I did," Ron said. "I saw you with Malfoy, and I thought something was going on. I took you off him and went down immediately."
Oh.
Ila groaned, her head pounding with a million thoughts. And a migraine from the cold she was probably going to get. Not to mention, what was going on in her stupid pocket? When she placed her hand in her breast pocket, she was startled to feel the familiar, spherical shape of the –
"THE SNITCH! IT'S THE SNITCH! ILA POTTER'S CAUGHT THE BLOODY SNITCH! GRYFFINPUFF BEATS SLYTHERCLAW WITH AN OUTSTANDING ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY POINTS TO THIRTY! THAT, FOLKS, IS HOW YOU PLAY QUIDDITCH!"
The entire Hufflepuff and Gryffindor team pulled Ila onto their shoulders and were bouncing her up and down, cheering her along as the students flooded in pitch. With her blurry vision, she was finally able to place Cedric. He was standing towards the edge of the crowd. He was standing next to someone. Ila watched Cedric whisper something into Cho Chang's ear as she giggled and laughed. Further behind, there stood a lone figure.
In one hand, he was holding his broom. In the other, he was holding her broken glasses.