"And that's another excellent shot from the Ravenclaw team captain John Cooper," announced Piper Combs, a Slytherin 7th year. "The scores are tied at 90 each, with no sign of the snitch anywhere. I've never seen a game this tense, especially with both teams very firmly in the running for the House Cup. In fact, unless either of these teams gets a HUGE lead soon, the House Cup will go to whoever catches the snitch."
James grabbed the quaffle as their team's new keeper Neal threw it back in. Despite having let nine goals through so far, he'd also blocked fifteen other shots, while the Ravenclaw keeper had only blocked seven. Gryffindor seemed to be playing better, but not even close to enough to secure victory.
Every player was giving it their all. Tod and Hefin had been protecting their chasers and seeker with nothing less than extreme vigilance, and Heledd had been leading her fellow chasers James and Wilbur in scoring as many goals as possible. Their seeker Johnathan had been dashing back and forth over and over again, trying to find the snitch, and had seen no sign of it.
The game had been going for two hours so far, and none of the players from either side could afford to let up for any reason. Any second one of the seekers could see the snitch and it would all be over. All fourteen players had shown signs of exhaustion, but none of them were acknowledging it.
James flew for the ring on his right-hand side of the Ravenclaw goals, preparing to make his shot. The Ravenclaw keeper, a fourth year named Steve Blood, flew in to stop it, when James switched the quaffle to his left hand and hurled it at the goal furthest away. Steve tried to fly over to the goal to stop it, but Wilbur was already there to make sure the red ball went through.
"And Gryffindor respond with the Potter-MacRae one-two punch," called Piper. "Gryffindor lead 100 to 90."
James flew past Wilbur and gave him a high five, before getting ready for the quaffle to return to the field. The three Gryffindor chasers spaced themselves out, ready to try and catch it no matter where Steve threw it, but the Ravenclaw chasers were quicker. "AFTER THEM!" yelled Heledd, though James and Wilbur were already hot on the tail of David Rees, who was proving to be a surprisingly good player despite being one of the youngest on the field.
"BLUDGER COMING IN!" boomed Tod's voice, and James watched as an iron ball flew past just feet away from him, aimed at the back of David's head.
David was no idiot though, and easily dodged the bludger without so much as a glance behind him. James smiled, because he knew this manoeuvre. Tod and Hefin had done it several times before.
Hefin, being directly in the bludgers path below, immediately smacked the incoming bludger right back at David. David, still riding the high of dodging the projectile from behind, didn't consider that it might be coming back from below. The bludger hit him in a spot where half the audience (including the players) suddenly winced in pain for him.
"Ooh, that's gonna make it hard to have kids," said Piper from the commentary box. "Potter with the quaffle now. The scores up until now have never been more than a ten-point lead either side. Are Gryffindor about to change that?"
James zoomed past two Ravenclaw players, preparing himself to get another goal. He blocked out the cheers of the crowd, only the game mattered now. He was almost at the goals when…
"Ravenclaw's seeker has spotted the snitch!" called Piper excitedly. "But Gryffindor's Johnathan Samuels isn't far behind him. This could be it."
James turned to where Hefin was flying beside him. "HELP HIM!" yelled James. "Knock their seeker back, stop him somehow, just do something."
"Got it," said Hefin, spotting a bludger and aiming it at Ravenclaw's seeker. James nodded at Tod, getting him to go after another bludger. With the others doing their bit to save the game for the team, James dedicated his focus on scoring another goal. He knew it wasn't going to make a difference either way, but there wasn't much else he could do at the moment. As he lined up to throw the quaffle, he heard it…
"Ooh, Hefin's gonna feel that in the morning," said Piper. "Though Ravenclaw seeker Gavin Rooney may need to get that leg checked out after the match. Samuels now has a commanding lead for the snitch, as long as nothing happens to him."
'Excellent,' thought James, watching as Johnathan flew between himself and the goal, desperately reaching for the snitch. 'We've got thi…oh no.' Johnathan, so focused on grabbing the snitch, wasn't looking to his left, where Ravenclaw beater Trevor Lawrence had just smacked a bludger in his direction.
"LOOK OUT!" screamed James, but Johnathan was too in the zone. James looked around quickly, but none of his teammates were close enough to help. James took a deep breath, knowing exactly what he had to do. James flew as quickly as he could, watching the bludger get closer and closer to its intended target. 'Don't be too late, don't be too late, don't be too late…'
CRACK! James felt a sharp pain explode through his chest as he took the bludger straight to the chest, but at that moment he didn't care. He'd bought his teammate some more time to grab the snitch. James's vision grew dim, and he felt himself slip from his broom. 'I hope this was worth it…' he thought, throwing away the quaffle as he fell to the ground…
"I still can't believe he did that," said someone nearby. "I mean, I've seen heroic plays, but just…that was gutsy."
"It's definitely not a move I've seen very often, especially not at a school level," came McGonagall's voice.
James's eyes flickered open, and saw the roof of the Hospital Wing above him. "He's awake," said Sirius from somewhere next to him. "James, buddy, you okay?"
"What…happened?" asked James, still a bit groggy from being unconscious. "Did we win?"
"James, what you did was extremely dangerous and could easily have gone horribly wrong and left you with way more than a concussion and five broken ribs," said McGonagall in a tone that suggested she should be scolding him but couldn't bring herself to do it. "But…" Before McGonagall could finish her sentence, Heledd lifted up a huge trophy and plopped it on the bed next to James.
"James, if you ever do something that crazy again…" started Heledd, before smiling from ear to ear. "We might just have a few more of these before you leave Hogwarts."
"I really shouldn't encourage this…" said McGonagall, but nobody was listening to her.
"Honestly man, thank you," said Johnathan. "I didn't even know there was a bludger nearby until I'd already caught the snitch. You're the whole reason we won. Rooney didn't leave the pitch even though he had a broken leg, so without you to block for me he'd have just kept going."
"You were really brave," said a girl's voice, and James turned in surprise to see Lily standing there. "I didn't think anyone would do something like that, much less you."
"Th…thank you," stammered James, still shocked to see Lily visiting him.
"Right, I think Mr. Potter is done with visitors," snapped Madame Pomfrey, marching into the room. "Honestly Professor, I'd have thought you'd know better than to let him have so many people crowding around him at once."
"Poppy, he just won his team the Quidditch Cup," retorted McGonagall.
"Minerva, look at me," said Pomfrey. "Is this the face of someone who cares? He'll be out of here by this evening with a little rest, he can celebrate then."
McGonagall sighed. "Okay, you all heard Madame Pomfrey," she said. "Everyone out, let Mr. Potter rest." There were murmurs of disagreement, but not so loud that they couldn't hear McGonagall mutter 'spoilsport' as they left.
"I heard that Minerva," said Pomfrey, checking on one of the Ravenclaw players in a nearby bed.
James just lay back in his bed, grinning like an idiot. Lily came to see him. Maybe there was still hope for him with her. After realising that, winning the Cup for his team was only a secondary victory for him.