I don't own the Harry Potter series. All rights go to J.K. Rowling.

Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw

The feud between Ron and Hermione had reached its peak and even Ella wasn't able to comfort the third year girl. She was completely turned away when she tried to help. Hermione was now solely focused on herself and Hagrid. Ella didn't take it personally, but she still wished she could help out. Similarly, the twins tried to cheer up Ron, but he, too, was inconsolable.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was. And he's been off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly –one swallow –he probably didn't feel a thing."

"Fred!" Ginny cried appalled. Ella, for one, agreed with Fred's idea. It was for the better.

George ignored his little sister and reminded, "All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself."

"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron countered miserably. "Remember, Harry?"

Harry nodded and tried sounding as sincere as possible as he said, "Yeah, that's true."

Fred, who no longer could keep a straight face, told Ron, "His finest hour. Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?"

Ron refused to cheer up until Harry offered to let him take a ride on his Firebolt at the final practice before the match. This certainly cheered him up enough that Ella and the twins could move away from the boys. Ginny moved to talk to Colin Creevey, a boy in her year who had been Petrified with Ella the year before.

"Stupid cat, I think Ron's got the right to be angry," George remarked as they all sat at an empty table.

Ella snorted, "A right to be angry because a cat was acting like a cat? Come off it. This was simply nature at work, nothing more or less."

George rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say, but that cat had it out for Scabbers from the start. Crookshanks only ever went after him and there are plenty of other rats in this place."

"Maybe Crookshanks is a mercy giving cat. He saw that Scabbers was wasting away, as Fred so elegantly put it, and so he decided to target Scabbers in order to end his life quickly," Ella argued back.

The two looked at Fred with their eyes urging him to take their side.

"Oh no, I'm not getting involved with this. It's a rat, no point in arguing over its death."

Snowflakes were falling from the inky sky above. Ella had already been through her terrifying dreams and this was a new one. She'd been panicked moments before by the ever nearing future, but in this dream she felt extremely sad.

Her breath fogged the air and she was willing herself to not cry, but why would she want to cry anyway? It was just a boy. Ella knew it was a boy, but who was the boy she was upset over? Why was she outside in the frozen air feeling upset? She heard rushed footsteps headed towards her, but she ignored them. She didn't want to be bothered at the moment.

Not wanting to be bothered threw her into another dream. She wasn't pleased to see the dragon facing the boy she couldn't recognize. He seemed to be doing very well, but why anyone would want a golden egg was beyond her. This was like sticking your hand in a shark tank after getting a paper cut. A broom whizzed by her head.

She shot up without a cry or yell the morning of the match, but her heart was pounding in her throat. Ella could have sworn that the person on the broomstick was Harry, but she wasn't completely sure. He'd never appeared in the dream before. Granted, that didn't stop Harry from getting pulled into dangerous, life-threatening situations anyway. Ella went down to the Great Hall with the team and Lee. The Firebolt was receiving an honorary treatment and was parade down from Gryffindor tower.

The entire Great Hall was infatuated by its presence. Soon after it was sent down Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws began to come over to get a closer look at the best broom in the world. Ella noticed that the whole team was practically swelling with pride. Fred and George were grinning broadly at the thunderstruck Slytherins across the Hall.

"Do you think I could touch it?" Penelope Clearwater, Percy's girlfriend, asked Harry in awe.

He let her and Percy heartily warned his girlfriend, "Now, now, Penny, no sabotage!" He looked towards the team, "Penelope and I have got a bet on. Ten Galleons on the outcome of the match!"

Penelope smiled sheepishly and told Harry, "Thanks." The she left back to her table.

Percy turned to Harry with an urgent whisper that was just barely audible to Ella and the twins, "Harry –make sure you win. I haven't got ten Galleons. Yes, I'm coming, Penny!" He then rushed away to go eat with her. Ella and the twins erupted in a fit of laughter.

"Glad to see he's becoming more like us," Fred said proudly.

"I suppose we should help him then?" George asked.

"You better! We don't want to lose just to get at Percy!" Ella told them both. The excitement had finally crept into her and she was buzzing with the same energy as everyone else in the hall. The Firebolt only added fuel to the fire.

Malfoy swaggered over a few minutes after and jeered, "Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?"

"Yeah, reckon so," Harry said casually.

His eyes glinted and he said conversationally, "Got plenty of special features, hasn't it? Shame it doesn't come with a parachute –in case you get too near a dementor." The Gryffindors within earshot immediately glared towards Malfoy. His cronies sniggered stupidly.

"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy. Then it could catch the Snitch for you." Harry retorted smugly. The team laughed loudly and Malfoy scurried away to tell the Slytherin team that it was indeed a real Firebolt.

At a quarter to eleven, Lee and Ella's friends left for the pitch and the two friends sat for a bit longer before going themselves. Instead of a torrential downpour of rain, the day was crystal clear with a slight breeze.

"Excellent conditions!" Lee exclaimed happily as they made their way to the booth. "They'll actually hear me this time around." Ella just smiled and took her seat next to him.

They waited only a short while for the teams to enter the field. The Gryffindor team looked nervous yet confident while the Ravenclaw team eyed Harry's broom with a mixture of envy, awe, and apprehension. Cho gave Harry a small smile and Ella was glad she was well enough to play. She very nearly missed it from her injury. The whistle blew and all the players shot in the air –none higher than Harry.

"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor." Ella looked over towards Lee puzzled. He'd been excited but she didn't think he'd use his commentary on the broom instead of the game. "According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship –"

"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" McGonagall interrupted.

Lee grinned mischievously, "Right you are, Professor –just giving a bit of background information –the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and –"

"Jordan!"

"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor heading for goal…" Lee commented about the game with the same enthusiasm. Ella leaned forward to see Katie moving closer to the Ravenclaw Keeper.

"YES!" Ella yelled as Katie score Gryffindor's first goal. Just as they were celebrating that first goal, Harry began diving towards the ground. It was obvious he had just caught sight of the Snitch and everyone was watching him with bated breath. A Ravenclaw Beater chose that moment to whack a Bludger his way. In the time it took Harry to avoid the object, the Snitch had disappeared. Ella sighed in disappointment as the game continued on. George smacked a Bludger at the Beater to get even with the action.

"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero," Lee announced to the anxious crowd after another Gryffindor goal was scored. "And look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn –Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision-balance is really noticeable in these long –"

"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVIRETISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!" McGonagall hollered at Lee who'd gotten off topic again. Ella knew it was no use. Once Lee was in a certain mindset there was no redirecting him.

Ravenclaw began playing even harder after that. They managed to score three goals in a short amount of time. If Cho caught the Snitch, it'd be all over for Gryffindor. Harry was frantically searching for the Snitch and when it seemed like he'd finally spotted it –Cho blocked him. Ella groaned. It was difficult to not be resentful of her Divinations friend when she was blocking them so thoroughly.

"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN! KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!" Wood bellowed so that nearly everyone could hear him. Ella didn't completely agree, but Harry looked dazed in Cho's presence.

Cho followed Harry's broom without a care in the world. It was her tactic to find the Snitch. Let Harry spot it, and then take it herself. Clever, but not full proof. Harry caught sight of the Snitch and shot off once more. Cho followed several feet below him. He was getting closer when there was a gasp from the crowd. Three black dementors were on the ground, but there was something wrong about it. There was no chill in the air. Ella watched Harry, not hearing any screams herself.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry yelled pulling a wand out of his shirt. A silver stag erupted from it and charged the three creatures. Ella saw them topple over revealing Malfoy, his friends, and the Slytherin Captain –no dementors at all. Madam Hooch's whistle blew just as Harry managed to grab ahold of the Snitch.

The entire Gryffindor crowd erupted in loud cheers and all the Gryffindor teammates collided in a giant hug. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie all gave Harry a kiss and Fred was hugging him so tightly out of excitement that it seemed like Harry wasn't able to breathe. Lee barely managed to choke out the final score before Ella was pulling to meet the team as they landed on the field. Ron was leading the hoard of Gryffindors straight to the team, and Ella sprinted to catch up to the happy people.

Ron yanked Harry's hand into the air and screamed, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Many others were letting out roars of compliments to Harry. The team was flushed with happiness as was much of the Gryffindors.

Fred turned and caught sight of Ella. He rushed over and gave her a hug lifting her completely off her feet and spinning her around. She let out a breathless laugh as he set her back down, but before anything else could be said the girls were hugging Ella as well.

"You were all wonderful!" Ella yelled out over everyone else. The rest of them just beamed at each other.

"This calls for a celebration!" Fred roared and the Gryffindors cheered in approval. "Where's Harry?"

"There!" George said pointing to the edge of the field. Ella followed Fred and George as they made their way to him. "Come on, Harry! Party! Gryffindor Common Room, now!"

"Right!" The boy called back and the twins pulled Ella along through the crowds of people.

It was just the three of them and Fred explained the game plan, "We'll go to the kitchens first for the butterbeers, and then we'll go to Honeydukes for the sweets. It'll take a little while but we should manage it in a little over an hour."

Ella nodded doing her best to keep up with the twins' long strides, "And we'll leave money at Honeydukes, won't we?"

George laughed, "We always do." So Ella followed them into the kitchens where the House Elves gathered as many butterbeer bottles as they could. Ella asked one House Elf if there was any way she could get a calming potion for her friend.

"Oh yes, Miss! We House Elves are very good at helping with things like those. People come to us for medicine stuff all the time, they do!" The Elf squeaked to her. She tucked the small bottle in her robes and followed Fred and George shortly after that.

It was a long walk to Hogsmeade, but Fred and George kept cracking jokes so their good mood would last. Fred kept looking towards Ella, but she was talking animatedly to George about how furious McGonagall was at Lee for advertising the Firebolt so much. George was laughing, but tried to get Fred back in the conversation as much as he could.

Soon enough, they had all the food and were back in the Common Room with everyone else. There was a great deal of cheering when they all arrived with arms filled with treats. They were all shocked but pleased to see the Weasley twins had done it again.

"How did you do that?" Angelina squealed as George began throwing Peppermint Toads to the crowd of Gryffindors. Ella looked over in surprise at the two boys.

"You never told any of the other girls about the kitchens or Hogsmeade?"

Fred shook his head, "Only you."

"But why?" Ella asked him curiously.

"We felt closest to you," George explained to her. "You were the one person we could trust with the secret entrances and passageways." She blushed but was quickly caught up in all the festivities. The party continued all through the day and well into the night.

Ella was laughing at Fred and George as they juggled some butterbeers and occasionally tossed one bottle to the other. It was really impressive. They took a break after ten minutes of the coordination.

"So Ella –" Fred was cut off before he'd barely started.

"If Scabbers hadn't been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them!" Ron said loudly. Ella watched Hermione burst into tears and run up to the girl's dormitory with her book.

She turned to Fred, "I'm sorry, I need to go help her."

"That's fine," Fred said in a slightly strained voice. Ella assumed it was at Ron's rudeness.

Without another moment's delay, Ella rushed up to Hermione's room in the girl's dormitory. She was softly crying into her Muggle Studies text book. Ella doubted she could even read a single word. Ella moved slowly to the edge of Hermione's bed. She sat on the edge and ran her hand through Hermione's bushy hair similarly to how Mr. Weasley had.

"I-I didn't th-think Crookshanks w-w-would ever eat Scabbers," Hermione hiccoughed.

"It's alright, I know," Ella whispered soothingly to her. "I think you need to take a break for tonight. Here –I got this calming potion for you." Ella popped the cork off and handed the slightly steaming drink to Hermione. The girl didn't even question it and downed the potion in one go. Nearly instantly, her eyes slid out of focus. Ella gathered up her books and put them away as Hermione fell asleep.

Ella returned to the party for almost an hour more before McGonagall came into the Common Room and yelled at them to go to bed. Reluctantly, the Gryffindor students made their way to bed. Ella rested her head on the pillow feeling completely happy. Sure, her dreams were awful, but Pettigrew was gone and Gryffindor was a match away from the Quidditch Cup. It was wonderful.

Things were terrible. The crowd of masked people were laughing and cackling all around her and she didn't know which way to turn. She just knew there'd be no chance of getting away from them, so she knew she couldn't be caught. There were others being tossed about through the air and it was enough to twist Ella's stomach around. Ella fell on a tree branch and scraped her palms trying to soften the blow.

People were rushing all around her and it seemed like they were nearly trampling her. Ella couldn't make it back on her feet. The people were getting nearer and Ella felt a scream beginning to rise in her throat.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ella jolted awake, but she wasn't the one yelling. It came from the boy's dormitory. Ella and Katie jumped out of their beds and began to descend to the Common Room. There was some commotion going on down there. Other girls that heard the yell were coming down as well.

"What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" Fred asked just as the twins appeared.

Percy scrambled into the room pinning his Head Boy badge to his pajamas, "Everyone back upstairs!"

Ron stood in the middle of the Common Room with all of his roommates looking extremely pale. More people kept coming down, but Ron's eyes were locked on Percy. He trembled horribly.

"Perce –Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" Ron spluttered in a faint voice.

The Common Room went very still. Ella's mind raced wildly. If Sirius came in the castle and went to Ron that must have meant Pettigrew was still alive. Why didn't she see it before? The rat faked his death for a second time.

"Nonsense!" Percy assured his brother looking startled nonetheless. "You had too much to eat, Ron –had a nightmare –"

"I'm telling you –"

The portrait hole opened and slammed shut causing everyone to jump. Professor McGonagall reprimanded, "Now, really, enough's enough! I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" Percy responded. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother, Ron here had a nightmare –"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron shouted at Percy, losing his temper. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP; AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Professor McGonagall stared at Ron before scoffing, "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him! Ask him if he saw –" Ron told her pointing shakily towards Sir Cadogan.

She huffed before leaving the room and going out to talk to the portrait. Everyone waited in anticipation at the outcome. Ella's ears were so focused on the conversation she was surprised she couldn't hear their heartbeats.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" The portrait cried proudly. Everyone's mouths dropped open.

"You –you did?" McGonagall asked in shock. "But –but the password!"

Cadogan defended himself, "He had 'em! Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

She returned to face the stunned crowd with a face white as snow, "Which person…which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?" Ella paled realizing what happened.

Neville Longbottom raised his hand slowly, and a flood of guilt crashed on Ella.

A/N: Sorry this is late a day. Busy week of classes and all. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always keep up with the wonderful reviews. They're really amazing!