Chapter 8

That week was probably the worst week I had suffered for a long time. I had classes, so much work and to top it all off, Quidditch practices that I swore were going to kill me. Wood kept drilling it into our heads that he didn't want to lose this year and we had to eat, breath and sleep Quidditch. I exactly did that. I didn't pay any attention in classes and ended up thinking Quidditch. In Transfiguration, instead of taking notes, I was drawing Quidditch plays. In Potions, I would practice maneuvers with my ingredients, much to Snape's annoyance. He eventually gave me a detention for spinning an ingredient around his head. In the halls, I would weave through the hall, pretending to be flying. It just got worse. In Care of Magical Creatures, I had to go the Hospital Wing because I wasn't paying attention to the Doxies and ended up getting bitten. On Thursday, Wood worked us to the max, reminding us that our first match against Hufflepuff was that Saturday and Friday's practice was going to be brutal, on Friday…I was completely out of it. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, we were suppose to be practicing enchanting an inanimate object into some defensive weapon when I mispronounced the incantation and ended up causing several spiders to run up Ron's arm. He screamed and Professor Lupin said to me, "See me after class."

I knew I was in for it. Once the class was dismissed, I tried to get out before Lupin could stop me, but he got to me. "Miss Potter, may I have a word with you in my office?"

I could hear Rachel humming the funeral song as I turned and sulked towards Lupin. He led me into his office which was actually perfectly normal. It wasn't covered in self portraits of himself like Lockhart's was last year. Once he closed the door, he asked, "Tea?"

I shook my head as Lupin placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me to a seat in front of his desk. Once I sat down, he rested against his desk and said, "According to the other professors, this isn't the only time you've been distracted, but only this year. I'm sure you're worried about Sirius Black, but I doubt that is what is distracting you. So, you want to tell me why you sent a hoard of spiders on Mr. Weasley?"

This had to be a trick. He was going to try to trick me into confessing into something. I wasn't going to play along with his little tactics, so I decided to lie. "Nothing's on my mind, except for my ingenious scheme for my next Potions lesson. It will be a…booming lesson."

And then, the unexpected happened. He laughed. Why was he laughing? "You are just like him."

"Like who?"

"You're father."

My eyes grew wide at his statement. "You knew my father?"

"I was one of his best friends when we attended Hogwarts. Such a great guy. But, he was horrible at lying. You do the same thing he did when he lied. You use very amusing puns. So, are you really going to tell me what is bothering you?"

I guess there was no way around this. Great, now he's going to think…wait, why did I decide to hide this from him in the first place? I don't know. I blame Wood. "Wood has been working us to the bone in Quidditch practice. My day seems to never end. I wake up, attend lecture after lecture, go straight to practice and then come back and fall asleep while Hermione does my work for me and I do the same thing everyday. I have no time to myself, you know?"

"I understand. I figured something was up when I received your last homework assignment. I'm sure you couldn't have possibly written a four page essay on defensive spells. Yes, you're father was the same way. Back in our fourth year, they had a chance at winning the cup. Before their last match, James was out for hours everyday for practice. When he came back to the Common Room, he was dead tired. But he still found time to be himself. He always had a smile and some evil plan for everyday, no matter how much his arms hurt. And we won."

"Why are you…?"

"Because if you are anything like your father, which according to all the professors, you are his reincarnation, you will be able to make things better. Things always get worse before they get better. You may not see how to make it work now, but you are like him, and therefore, you will make it work."

Wow, this was the first time I had a talk with a teacher where I wasn't getting yelled out. I liked this guy. I smirked at him, which I NEVER did to any of my other professors, and replied very quietly, "Thank you."

I was getting up to leave when Lupin said, "I'm always here for you and Harry. Oh…and good luck tomorrow."

Luck? Ha! We didn't need luck. We were Gryffindor! We could do anything. I quickly left his office before he found out that I had left a little surprise in his classroom and met up with everyone in the common room before Rachel, Harry and I headed out for our final practice before the match. Once practice was over, I immediately ran up to my bed and fell asleep.

---oOo---

That morning, I would have slept in and missed the match if Rachel hadn't used that snake spell Malfoy used last year to wake me up. I hated and thanked her for that. It was our first match against Hufflepuff. Normally it would have been against Slytherin, but because a certain weasel who shall remain nameless (DRACO MALFOY) was too injured to play, they moved the matches around. I hated Malfoy so much…in fact, I still do. Once we took the field, the crowd cheered for us. Once we were warmed up, Madam Hooch released the balls and began the game. It got brutal fast. I nearly got hit with a bludger a few times, but the twins set them away. It was looking promising until Harry got rammed into one of the towers, causing him to fall and break his arm. I passed the Quaffle to Rachel and flew down to Harry. "Harry! Harry! Are you alright?"

"I can't move my arm."

That wasn't good. "Can you still fly?"

Harry shook his head. That was REALLY not good. I watched as Madam Pomfrey came out onto the field and took Harry to the Hospital Wing when it hit me...literally! George had flown down to try and stop a bludger from hitting me when his bat hit me on the shoulder. It was painful, but gave me an idea. Quickly, I jumped on my broom and flew up to the rings where Wood flew. "Wood, Harry's hurt!"

"I can see that! Look, you have to…DUCK!"

I ducked as the Quaffle flew at Wood, causing him to catch it and throw it off to Katie. Once they flew away, he said to me, "Look, you need to work on getting enough points so as no matter if they catch the Snitch, we still win."

"Actually, I had a better idea. Let me take over the role as Seeker for just this once."

Wood looked at me like I was crazy. "When I was at the Weasley's, I was really good. I caught their Snitch almost every single time!"

"Yeah, but this isn't the Weasley's!"

"You don't think I don't know that! Just this once or we'll be out here for the rest of the day!"

I could see that Wood wasn't very fond of the idea, but what did he have to lose? After thinking it over, he replied, "Don't make me regret this!"

I smiled and flew high over the pitch, taking Harry's position. Everyone looked so small from up there. I watched as we made goal after goal. We were far ahead, but only by 50 points. And that's when I saw it. The Snitch was hovering over by the East tower where the professors sat. I leaned forward and sped as fast as I could towards the tower. The Snitch sensed me and flew off, causing me to chase it. I could see that the Hufflepuff seeker had noticed me and was coming after me and the Snitch. I knew that I had to catch it before him. I pushed my broom to the max, flying in circles around the arena. The Snitch was there, just inches in front of my fingers. Their seeker pushed me and I pushed back, causing him to lose control. He needed to learn how to control his broom while playing dirty. I focused on the Snitch, which was heading back towards the Professors. I got closer and closer, leaning as far as I could. The Snitch headed into their podium and I lunged.

I fell off my broom and into their stands, one hand clenching my broom and in the other, the little golden ball. I looked up to see that I had unfortunately fallen into the lap of Professor Snape, but I didn't care. I had caught the Snitch! I stood up and showed it to all. I could hear everyone clapping and cheering my name! I jumped back on my broom and flew down to the ground. The Gryffindor team followed me down and jumped off with me. The twins hoisted me on their shoulders and we jumped around in victory. This was the first time in Quidditch history that a Chaser had caught the Snitch. It was amazing. I felt like…well, like a hero. As I sat up there, the Hufflepuff seeker came up to me and held out his hand, shouting, "Well played."

I shook his hand and allowed the Gryffindors to carry me to the Common Room.

---oOo---

That night, the Common Room was hoist to a magnificent party. Loud music was playing, people were celebrating and congratulating me. The team had refused to shower and we remained in our stinking uniform, but no one cared. I was sitting with Ron and Hermione when Harry came walking up to us, his arm in a cast. "Congratulations, Elliot, I heard you saved the match."

I stood up and we shared a hug. "Thanks, but I prefer Chaser."

"That's good to hear."

Suddenly, I felt Fred and George grab my arm and haul me up onto the couch. George whistled over the crowd, quieting everyone as Fred announced, "Attention Gryffindors!"

All eyes turned to us. "As you know, our hero of the match today is none other than Miss Elliot Potter," he continued.

Everyone cheered, causing me to blush. I could see Amanda and Rachel laughing. "To thank her for her contribution," began George.

"George and I have a little something special to express our gratitude," finished Fred.

They turned and looked at me and I could the malicious intent in their eyes. "Ready Fred?"

"Ready, George." Suddenly, the jumped over the couch, turned and hoisted me onto their shoulders again. "PUT ME DOWN!"

But they didn't. They began to spin in circles, saying in a sing-song voice, "Put you down? NEVER!"

I screamed as everyone cheered and clapped. Finally, the set me back down, but I felt dizzy. Harry and Ron guided me back to the couch and sat me down as Hermione, Rachel and Amanda joined us. "Did you two put them up to that?" I asked Rachel and Amanda.

"We might have had something to do with it," smiled Rachel.

"You know I HATE IT when they do that."

"Relax, it was just for fun," replied Amanda.

We sat and talked and slowly, the party died. Once everyone retired and went to bed, we all retreated and fell asleep. For once for a long time, I felt at ease.

TBC…

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