A/N: Ok, Lise here. Beth and I start school on Wednesday, and we're trying to churn out two chapters before then, so don't blame us for the crappy quality or the length. We're just trying to make you flying monkeys happy.

The next day, Megan quickly got ready for class, and then waited for Annie, as she usually did while they were on speaking terms. When Annie had finally decided which shirt to wear, she asked,

"Can we go to breakfast? I'm starving."

"Of course you are," Megan replied sardonically, smiling. The two girls left the dormitory and went downstairs. The moment they sat down in the Great Hall, Annie began loading her plate with pancakes and sausages. Megan laughed quietly to herself and began to do the same. Their breakfast was interrupted a little while later by Katie Bell, one of the other Gryffindor Chasers. She came over to where they were sitting and tapped Megan on the shoulder. Megan turned her head to recieve the message Katie had for her.

"Wood told me to tell you that we have a mandatory practice tonight after dinner. It starts at seven and will go as long as it needs to," the second year informed her.

"Thanks, Katie." Megan knew that Wood wanted to practice as much as possible. He had two new players on the team and wasn't taking any chances.

Over the next month, Megan was nearly driven to tears by Wood's maniacal need to practice. He scheduled regular practices on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but as the Gryffindor Team neared their first match, he sceduled them everyday, including weekends. Finally, the night before the match arrived. Megan was excited, but very, very nervous. There were two very large problems with the upcoming match against Slytherin. The first: Megan didn't know if Rose would make an allowance for her, despite their friendship, because Rose hadn't spoken to her in a month. Which brought her to the second: She'd actually be facing her friend as an enemy, and she didn't think it was possible. And that gave her a third problem: she'd get teased by her friends and Draco if Gryffindor lost. Megan, that is. Not Rose. She didn't even know if Rose cared what she thought, because they hadn't spoken in a month. Speaking of getting teased...

Draco, his goons and his sister walked by Megan's table in the library.

"Ready for defeat tomorrow?" jeered the head goon. Megan waited for Rose to snap at him, but her friend just avoided her gaze.

"You wish, Malfoy," she replied absently, checking over her Potions essay for the fourth time.

"You know, you could be Slytherin's ticket to victory," Malfoy snapped. Again, Megan waited for Rose's reprimand, but instead, she just giggled softly. Traitor, Megan thought angrily, but composed herself enough to snap back at the Malferret. It was a far better use of her time.

"Whatever, Malfoy." Then she turned back to her homework, pulling out her unfinished questions from page 394 of her Charms book. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malfoy, Rose, and the goons walk toward another table in the library. Malfoy's shoulders slumped dejectedly, and Megan noticed that Rose had her arm around him, whispering in his ear. The scene made her want to jump up and apologize to him for snapping at him; to comfort him somehow. Wait! Did her brain seriously just come up with those thoughts? Did she really want to go over and comfort the Malferret? She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thought. I need to out of here, now, Megan told herself. She packed up her unfinished homework, got up, and almost ran out of the library and back to Gryffindor tower.

For the rest of the day, Megan avoided Malfoy like a plague. She hid in Gryffindor Tower for her free periods. She went to lunch at the earliest time that they would allow and ate in record time. For all of her classes with him, she arrived as late as she could without being tardy and sat on the opposite side of the room from him to avoid confrontation or communication of any kind.

Before long, dinnertime had arrived. Megan successfully avoided Malfoy by going over and sitting right next to the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, that included Harry. She had also long forgotten the un-Meganlike thoughts that had plagued her in the library.

"Ready for practice, Harry, Megan?" Alicia Spinnet asked. She was a pretty third year, with long, light brown hair that swished when she moved. Megan noticed George Weasley following Alicia's movements out of the corner of his eye and stifled a giggle. Harry took a long drink of his pumpkin juice before nodding.

"Yeah," Megan answered, still watching George. "Ready as I'll ever be." George noticed all of a sudden that he was being watched. The rest of the team laughed out loud as their Beater turned bright red and slopped pumpkin juice down the front of his robes. All except for Alicia.

"I hate it when that happens," she told him sympathetically, and handed him a napkin to mop up his front, causing his ears to go even redder. Fred caught Megan's eye across the table and winked, causing her to giggle.

"Alright, team," Oliver Wood said, taking a last bite of his shepard's pie and standing up. "Practice time."

Wood held practice for and hour and a half. Then it started to get dark, so he reluctantly called the team down from the air. After the team had put away their brooms, he had them sit down on the changing room benches and gave them a long lecture about the next day's game. Megan noticed Fred Weasley start to nod off on Katie Bell's shoulder. Katie slapped his face gently and told him to wake up. He did so, before his twin brother actually fell alseep on the shoulder of Alicia Spinnet. Alicia, unlike Katie, let the Weasley twin sleep, instead of waking him up. After what seemed like ages, Wood finally dismissed his tired team, a bit reluctantly. Megan plodded up to her dormitory with Katie and Alicia, before they separated at the landing; Katie to go up another floor and Alicia to go up two to reach their dormitories. Megan took a nice hot shower, changed into her pajamas, flopped into bed, and immediately fell sound asleep.

-o-O-o-

Megan was quite nervous the next morning. She sat at the Gryffindor table, staring at her breakfast. It made her feel nauseous. Eventually, with quite a bit of coaxing from Annie, that eventually turned into death threats, she ate a few nibbles of dry toast. Down the table, she could see Hermione and Ron doing the same thing to Harry. He looked over and grimaced at her, and she grimaced sympathetically back, making him crack a weak smile.

"It's time," Wood said hoarsely to his team, getting up and leaving the hall. The other six quickly followed suit.

Megan walked out on the pitch with her team, clutching her new Cleansweep 5 in her left hand. Her palms were sweaty, and she felt sick. She scanned the stands for her friends and saw Annie sitting with Hermione and Ron, who were holding up a banner they'd made saying "Potter for President." Her best friend gave her a cheeky wave, and Megan smiled back, then turned to focus on the approaching, emerald clad Slytherin team. Each player on that team had much newer models in their hands, and they all lined up, shoulders rolled back and extremely intimidating looks on their faces. All except Rose and her friend Jesse, who looked like they were holding in laughter. Madam Hooch instructed Oliver Wood and the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, to shake hands. They did so, Flint seeming like he was trying to crush the life out of Oliver's hand.

"Mount your brooms," the Quidditch referee called. "On my whistle. Three... two... one!" Fourteen players shot into the air, Flint and Wood quickly making their way to their respective goal hoops.

"The snitch is released!" yelled Lee Jordan, who was commentator. Megan knew Harry would be tracking it obsessively with his eyes. "And the match begins!" Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle up in the air. "Bell catches the Quaffle, and... SCORE!" Lee yelled. "Ten points to Gryffindor! Take that, you slimy-"

"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall yelled.

"Sorry Professor." Megan noticed Adrian Pucey of Slytherin catch the Quaffle and make a mad fly for the Gryffindor goal. She raced after him. One of the Weasley twins, she couldn't tell which, hit a bludger at the Slytherin, causing him to drop the Quaffle. "Pucey drops the Quaffle! Abbott catches the Quaffle and throws it to Spinnet. Quick little thing, that girl, and only a first year, too!" Megan grinned, having made her most successful pass yet.

"Spinnet puts it away for another ten points! Gryffindor leads Slytherin twenty to zero! Take that, Slytherin!"

"Jordan!"

"Sorry, Professor. Lundy takes the Quaffle and scores. Ten points to Slytherin." Wood threw the Quaffle to Alicia, who immediately passed it to Megan. Down the pitch they went, tossing it back and forth like they'd practiced so many times. But they hadn't factored in Rose. As Megan caught the Quaffle and got nearer to the Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, Rose hit a Bludger at her, causing her to duck and drop the Quaffle. "Abbott drops the Quaffle, dodging a Bludger hit by Malfoy, damn you you slimy, good for nothing-"

"Jordan!"

"I'm telling it like it is, Professor! Flint takes the Quaffle and puts it away. Slytherin scores. The score is now tied at twenty to twenty." As the game went on, Gryffindor and Slytherin were each able to score another three goals, tying the score at fifty to fifty. "And the score is tied. fifty to fifty," Lee announced glumly. "Come on, Gryffindor! Whip their slimy arses!"

"Jordan, I'm warning you..."

"Sorry, Professor. Lundy has the Quaffle. Passes it to Flint... who drops it. The Quaffle is caught by Abbott." Megan gripped the Quaffle firmly and raced toward the goal hoops, determined to score at least once. "Abbott scores! Bletchley gives the Quaffle to Flint. He passes it to Lundy... but is intercepted by Bell! Well done, Gryffindor! Ooh, that's going to leave a mark! Malfoy hits Bell with a hard hit Bludger." Katie looked dazed, but managed to stay on her broom. The Quaffle was free falling toward the Earth. Megan raced to capture it, but Pucey got there first. "Pucey scores. The score is tied sixty to sixty. Was that the Snitch?" Time seemed to slow down as Harry and the Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs raced neck and neck toward the ground. "Higgs captures the Snitch. Bad luck, Potter. Slytherin beats Gryffindor two hundred and ten to sixty." Higgs touched down to the ground and waved the Snitch triumphantly above his head. The Slytherin supporters erupted into cheers. Megan could see Rose's friends and Draco making their way down to the pitch to congratulate their team. She also noticed Rose's friend and teammate pick Rose up and swing her around. Then the two of them joined their team in the victory lap around the pitch. Boos could be heard from the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Megan and the rest of the Gryffindor team touched down to the ground and dejectedly made their way back to the changing rooms. The feeling of defeat was slowly starting to sink in. Once Megan was showered and changed, she met up with Annie outside of the changing rooms.

"Hey, Meg," her best friend greeted her.

"Hey, Annie."

"You did really well today. I know you did your best and that's what counts." Megan's head snapped up.

"Thanks. But that wasn't my best. If it was my best, we would've won."

"You're welcome. You'll win the next one, don't worry."

"Annie, just so you know, I've already heard this lecture. From Wood. And I don't want to hear it again," Megan said, smiling half heartedly. Annie laughed and linked her arm through Megan's, leading her back to the Common Room.

At lunch, Draco came over, no doubt to gloat about Slytherin's victory.

"Hey, I was right," he sneered.

"About what?" Megan asked. "How you're eventually going to be reclaimed by ferrets and made their slave?"

"About how Slytherin would win."

"Pity. I had hoped that the ferrets would see sense." Draco got a very ugly look on his face. His voice dropped so that Megan could barely hear it.

"At least I'm not a filthy little Mudblood," he spat maliciously. Megan recoiled like she'd been slapped. She got up and dashed from the hall, not wanting her archenemy to see her cry. She ran to her dormitory and flung herself on her bed, tears streaming down her face. Draco Malfoy was cruel and cold hearted, but she'd never thought he'd stoop so low as to use the word "mudblood." And what positively baffled her was why she cared so much about the fact that is was he who had called her that, not the name itself. The name was irrelevant. But Draco... She didn't know what to make of her treacherous thoughts.

Megan stayed in that position until dinnertime. When she knew that everyone else would be feasting in the Great Hall, she snuck down to the kitchens. She didn't want to see Draco now that she felt how she did, and she knew that she would see him if she went to the Great Hall. But what gave her a big shock was that after she'd tickled the pear and the painting had swung open to allow her access, she saw Draco Malfoy sitting at a table, angrily chopping away at an apple until there was nerly nothing left but mush.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, wanting to eat her harsh words the second they left her mouth.

"Why do you care?" he sniped back. Megan took a calming breath.

"I don't fancy seeing your face while I digest my dinner."

"I thought you'd be sulking in the Great Hall with the rest of the Gryffindor Loser Squad."

"You just think you're so great, but news flash! You're just an arrogant toerag, and I hate you!" Megan really wanted to take back those words now. Especially when Draco's gray eyes flashed a murderous black.

"Why do you think I'd care?" He snapped. "You're just a filthy Mudblood." Megan knew that these words were meant to hurt her, but the hurt seemed to have been drained out of her. All that was left was empty space. She gazed at the Slytherin heartthrob with an unreadable expression on her face before she walked stiffly past him to the table where he'd been murdering the apple. She picked up the sharp knife and turned to face him. Draco stepped back, a bit alarmed at the sight of the girl holding a sharp object. Megan laughed harshly.

"I am not going to maime you, although the thought is tempting," she informed him, in a voice devoid of any emotion. Then she brought the knife to her fingertip and made a deliberate cut. The bright red blood flowed freely to the floor, but she stood there like a statue, making no move to clean it up.

"What did you do?" Draco yelped, stepping back against the wall, eyes tightly shut.

"See, Draco?" Megan asked quietly, leaving his question hanging in the air unanswered.

"See what?" he asked, eyes still shut tight. The young girl sighed heavily.

"My blood, Draco." The boy opened his eyes and glanced at the floor, looking slightly sick, before meeting her eyes defiantly.

"What about it?" Megan chose her words carefully, hoping to make him understand.

"It's not mud, Draco," she told him softly. "It's the same as yours."

"NO!" Draco yelled, before turning, throwing the kitchen door open, and running away. Megan gazed frustratedly after him, blood still dripping from her finger down to the floor and mingling with the other blood and overturned apple mush that lay there.