Months passed, and it was eventually time for the Quidditch final. Hufflepuff was out of the running, as was Slytherin, so a tense school eagerly anticipated the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match. Natalie and Nathan exchanged much friendly banter in the lead-up to the contest.

"C'mon, surely Victoria would want you to be a gentleman?" Natalie teased.

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Scared you'll lose, so you're asking me to let you win?"

Needless to say, there was a lot of bragging rights on the line. Natalie had mentioned how tense Oliver Wood was at breakfast- this being his last chance to win a Quidditch Cup at Hogwarts. The reliable Gryffindor Keeper had refused to eat anything, snapping at a rather timid first year who was passing and had coughed behind him, before he realized who he was yelling at and apologized. He then returned to not saying anything, but staring at his porridge instead.

At a little before 9 o'clock, Eddie assumed his seats in the Hufflepuff section of the stands and waited, not caring who won, as he would be happy either way.

When the two teams marched out to the pitch, a tidal wave of noise greeted them. About half of the crowd was wearing scarlet rosettes, waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them, or brandishing banners with slogans like, "GO GRYFFINDOR!" or "LIONS FOR THE CUP!"

However, Ravenclaw was not short on supporters, however, as there were many dressed in the house colors of blue and bronze, including much of the Slytherins. Eddie, Nathan, and Claire, not being affiliated with either house, did not show any allegiance, Eddie noticing that Cho Chang was now Seeker for Ravenclaw.

"And here are the Gryffindors!" Lee boomed. "Natalie Rogers, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinett, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Oliver Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years."

Madam Hooch ordered Wood and the Ravenclaw captain Robert Hilliard to shake hands, and they begun the game.

As the fourteen brooms rose into the air, Natalie immediately started looking for the Snitch. Meanwhile, Nathan had grabbed the Quaffle and was streaking towards Oliver. Nathan tried faking Oliver out, but he was ready, expertly deflecting the shot.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Ravenclaw goalposts, looking good, Alicia!- Argh, no. Quaffle intercepted by Turner, Turner of Ravenclaw tearing up the field"

WHAM! The Bludger smashed into Nathan as he dropped the Quaffle. Eddie winced.

"Nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by- Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on Angelina - nice swerve around Page- duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger! SHE SCORES! TEN ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!

The match was progressing fairly well, neither team willing to budge as the score climbed higher and higher. Both teams reached the 500s by noon, and the 1000s by dusk. The crowd was restless, neither team seemed willing to catch the Snitch. At one point, a Gryffindor sixth year almost fell over the railing trying to catch the pesky golden ball himself.

"And you shall serve detention for two weeks!" McGonagall barked. It was clear the anxiety was getting to her.

"My knowledge is that if the game doesn't end in the next forty-five minutes, it could be the longest game in Hogwarts Quidditch Cup history," Lily sleepily announced over the mic. This startled the crowd slightly, as Lily had remained quiet for the past several scores. It seemed that only Lee Jordan and the players were still into the match as the sun set over the pitch.

Nathan had put on a furious barrage of points, scoring forty-two goals. Natalie, for her part, was desperate to catch the Snitch and end it. Then, she saw it.

Furiously, she broke for it. She said later it was the most intense she had felt in her life. Natalie threw herself forward, knocked Cho's hand out of the way, taking both hands off her broom. She dove for it and-

"YES! YES! YES!"

Her shriek of joy was heard throughout the stadium, and it was bedlam the moment Madam Hooch's whistle went off. It was a sea of crimson and gold was storming the pitch. The crowd must have just been relieved it was finally over. Final Score: Gryffindor eleven hundred and ninety, Ravenclaw one thousand and sixty. Natalie hoisted the Quidditch Cup into the air. Gryffindor had won. Wood came down and was embraced by his teammates, he had let in a hundred and six goals, yes, but he had saved hundreds more. He was tired, he was exhausted, but he had just achieved the goal he had undoubtedly set out to do when becoming Quidditch keeper, and which Natalie had just accomplished in her third year of trying- to be a champion.

McGonagall, who was the most relieved of them all, walked over to the happy group with the Quidditch cup and handed it to them, and Oliver triumphantly hoisted it into the sky. Lily took this opportunity, and quickly fell asleep right at her microphone, not even grabbing a bite to eat like the rest of the crowd. Lee had gone to join the Gryffindor celebrations. Eddie was walking a very drowsy Hannah back to the common room when he heard over the mic Lily's sleep-muttering. "Pawtucket...Rochester...Ripken...Boggs..33 innings..1981.." Eddie chuckled to himself. Even asleep that girl always had sports on the brain. He asked Claire and Sean to go gently wake her up before she accidentally exposed their secret to the rest of the school.

Meanwhile, back in the Gryffindor common room, the party was one of the longest they'd ever had, and to many people's surprise, Tom ran to Natalie as soon as she came through the door, still in her Quidditch robes, and hugged her, publicly showing intense emotion for the first time. The general consensus was that he was nothing but an oddball bookworm. "You're absolutely amazing, you know that?" he mouthed silently to Natalie, and she smiled, and gave him a hug of her own. It had been quite the day.