A/N: I is back! And I talk good American! Sorry, I'm just so happy NaNoWriMo's over! Oh, and since I always have to do this… Dedicated to EmmyHiggs, cause she's my super awesome IRL best friend. Love you!
Beth would just like to add that she spent a whole month on this chapter and if I mess it up she'll kill me. Luv ya too, Bethy. Gads.
Megan was sitting on a bench at breakfast next to Annie. It was Saturday, the 28th of February. Today was also the Quidditch Match against Hufflepuff. Against Hannah's house. Megan gulped. Would she be able to do it? Somehow, she doubted herself. It was nearly impossible to imagine herself scoring and winning against Hufflepuff. They were said to have a good defense, although their offense was said to not be so great. Oh well. Gryffindor's offense was amazing, but their defense…? Not so much. In fact, it was downright awful. And Megan was nearly ashamed to admit that she was on the team. She pushed her eggs around her plate. The girl was nervous, which did absolutely nothing to help her appetite.
"Megan, you need to eat. I swear, I will force-feed you," Annie threatened her friend, her tone scolding and disapproving. Megan speared a miniscule egg with her fork and shoved it in her mouth. She opened her mouth, chewed, and swallowed so that her friend could see. Annie wrinkled her nose.
"See? I'm eating," Megan retorted. "No force feeding necessary." Her petite blond friend shoved her, giggling.
"You're going to become anorexic," she scolded. "Eat a whole bagel. Now." Megan scowled at her friend, but grabbed a buttery bagel off the table and began to eat it in tiny bites, Annie watching her every move like a hawk.
-o-O-o-
Megan walked out of the Gryffindor changing room with the other members of her team, Her scarlet and gold robes blew out behind her, and she felt the chill wind with every step as it raked through her long brown hair. She shivered, clutching her Cleansweep 9 more tightly in her right hand. All nine members of the team entered the sandy ground of the Quidditch Pitch. It was slick and nearly covered with ice. Megan slipped, and nearly lost her footing, but a hand from Oliver under her elbow kept her upright. She looked up at the handsome fifth year and blushed a dark red, embarrassed.
"Careful, now," Oliver cautioned her, his Scottish accent thick. "We don't want you to go slipping away on this nasty ice, now do we?" Megan could only shake her head, not trusting her voice. She mounted her broom and kicked off. The game began.
A seventh year girl on Hufflepuff named Christina Flores caught the Quaffle and sped off towards Oliver, who was guarding the Gryffindor goal hoops. Fred knocked the big red ball out of her hands with a well-aimed Bludger. Megan watched, frozen, as the Quaffle plummeted toward the ground. She knew she should go get it. But it seemed that she'd fall if she tried to move.
"Bell is quick to pick up the Quaffle and pass it to Spinnet. Spinnet is speeding off toward the goals, passes to Bell, who passes it back. Gryffindor scores!" Lee Jordan was dancing around the commentator's box, always just out of the grasp of a pretty girl. Megan cursed internally at herself. She could've been part of that play! But no, she had to freeze up like some amateur.
Christina Flores caught the Quaffle from the Hufflepuff keeper and immediately tossed it to another seventh year named Eric Sanchez, a tall, burly boy with a shock of ginger hair. He tried to pass it back, but he lost his grip and it fell into Katie Bell's awaiting arms. Megan's brain kicked into high gear, and she sped downwards. Katie passed it to her, and she took off down the pitch. Alicia came up on her right side, Katie on her left. Unfortunately, Alicia, being Gryffindor's best scorer, was being heavily guarded, so Megan passed the Quaffle to Katie, who took a shot and scored.
Gryffindor scored three more times during the game, and Hufflepuff scored twice. The score was 50 to 20, and Gryffindor was in the lead. Eric Sanchez had just scored once more, bringing the score to 50 to 30. Wood passed the Quaffle to Megan, and she was searching for Alicia so she could pass it.
"Potter has caught the snitch, beating Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory!" Lee Jordan yelled into the microphone. The pretty girl was smacking his arm, an annoyed look on her face. "And this has been your commentators."
"That's Lee Jordan, and I'm Jordyn Lee," the girl said, yanking the microphone away from Lee. "And since he didn't let me commentate at all, I'm doing the next game." Megan let the Quaffle drop and flew down to the ground to join her team.
"You did great!" Oliver shouted, scooping her up in a hug and kissing her cheek. "Good job, midget!" Megan blushed a deep scarlet, hanging on for dear life.
"I'm almost twelve," she said, laughing. "And put me down!" The Gryffindor Captain set her down gently, still beaming proudly like a fond older brother. She grinned back up at him, before being swept into other hugs from Alicia and Katie.
"You're awesome, Abbott," Katie laughed. "I claim you as my ickle teddy bear squishy." Alicia frowned mock-angrily at her friend.
"That's not fair," she said, giggling. "I was going to do that."
"You can share me?" Megan suggested. The girls looked at her like she was insane.
"No!" they said in unison, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Who does that anymore?" Megan shrugged, and then left her team to go find Annie. She didn't have to walk far. The two girls bumped into each other outside the Gryffindor changing rooms. They walked together to lunch, laughing and chattering about the match.
"You did awesome today!" Annie exclaimed, bouncing along next to her friend. "Wood even hugged you!"
"I know!" Megan exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "He kissed me on the cheek, too." Annie squealed in response and they continued bouncing along on their way to lunch, discussing the highlights of the game.
-o-O-o-
Megan wandered outside, the frigid air surprisingly refreshing. It was March 14th, and she was ready for Easter Holidays. Unfortunately, they wouldn't begin for another three to five weeks. It felt nice, as opposed to staying cooped up in the castle all day long.
Thud… Thud… Thud…
Megan spun around, looking for the source of the noise. To her left, another snowball smacked against the tree with a thud. Megan watched as another snowball was thrown. She whipped her head around, her long hair flying in all directions as she looked in the direction of where the flying projectile came from. Standing about five or six feet away was blond haired, gray eyed, pale-faced Draco Malfoy. Megan sidled over and leaned against a nearby tree.
"Hey, stranger," she greeted him, smiling shyly. "Haven't seen you about lately." Draco jumped, whirling around and slipping on the icy ground.
"Megan! Hi! What are you doing out here?" Megan giggled, sliding over to where he was standing and putting a hand on his elbow to steady him.
"I was just taking a walk," she explained. "It's much better then staying in the castle all day. What brings you out here on this freezing cold afternoon?" Draco shrugged, seeming not to notice her hand on his elbow.
"I just… I came out here because I needed to be alone and think things through." Megan stepped back as if she'd been slapped.
"I'll just go then," she suggested, her tone a little stung. She turned ready to go, but Draco grabbed her arm.
"Don't go," he pleaded. Megan turned and looked into his eyes. He smiled hopefully at her. "Please?" She smiled slowly back at him. There's something different about him, she thought once again. Megan hoped she wasn't going mental. The two children stayed out, having a snowball fight, until both had noses that were as red as cherries and they couldn't feel their fingers.
-o-O-o-
After dinner on March 16th, Megan sat in the common room, putting the finishing touches on her essay for McGonagall. When it was completed, she gathered her things together and went up the spiral staircase to her dormitory. She changed into a magenta tank top and long pajama pants, even though it was technically too cold for a tank top. She went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and then went back into the dormitory. Megan was pulling back her covers when she found a piece of parchment sitting on her pillow. It was folded neatly in half, and her name was written on it in tidy cursive. Megan studied the handwriting closely, but didn't recognize it as anyone she knew. She opened up the letter and looked down to the signature. The letter was signed "SA." Again! Megan started to read her letter, but she was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and Becca walked in.
"Hey, great game today," she said, grinning.
"Thanks." Slowly, the other girls trickled in, and Megan knew she would never be able to look at her letter that night. She tucked it away into her school bag and fell asleep.
-o-O-o-
Megan woke up early on March 19th, and went down to breakfast. She pulled the letter from her bag. It was still in the same perfect condition that it had been the night before. She looked around to see if anyone else had gotten up early, like she had, and was watching her. She sighed in relief when she discovered that the Hall was relatively deserted except for a few sixth years. She felt a tap on her shoulder, and she whirled around, hiding the letter.
"You're up early," Draco greeted her, grinning. It was a bizarre expression to see on his face. Megan didn't like it. It wasn't like Draco to be happy. Why? Megan thought. Why do I always have to be the one that he comes over and picks on? Out of all the horrid girls at this school, why me?
"Nothing that concerns you," Megan snapped. Her words came out a bit more harshly then she'd intended. "Why are you up so early, anyway?"
"Why do you care?" he asked defensively.
"It was just a question," she muttered mutinously. Draco sneered at her, then turned away and sat down at the Slytherin table.