"Why would I be nervous?" she asked coolly.
"Because you're shaking," said Albus, smiling and pointing to Rose whose hands were trembling slightly.
"I'm cold," she said.
"It's hot outside," said Scorpious, pointing to the blazing sun that lit up the pitch in a glorious sheen.
"So?" asked Rose. But it was the truth. She was a little scared. She always was before matches. Maybe it was because of the crowd.
"You're just lucky it doesn't affect your flying abilities," said Albus pointedly, grasping his firebolt tightly.
"All set?" asked James, joining them. His smile faded when he caught sight of Scorpious.
"Hey,are we ready?" came Dani's voice as she drifted to join them. "Five minutes then we're flying out," she said to Rose excitedly. Rose groaned and leaned against the wall. She was having the impressive urge to vomit. Why did this always happen to her? Why?
"Rose?" asked Scorpious.
"Cori, I can't do this," groaned Rose, clutching her stomach. "By the way, you might want to move back a little, I might barf on you."
"I don't care," said Scorpious impatiently. "Are you feeling ill again?"
"It always happens before matches," sais Dani worriedly. "But she's looking a little paler then usual..."
"No!" said a voice behind them. Rose notcied it was another on of their chasers, Robert Davidson. "You're not going to leave, are you, Rose?" he asked, looking a little scared. "You're one of our best chasers!"
"She's not leaving!" said Scorpious angrily. Turning to Rose, he spoke firmly. "You can do this. I know you can. All you have to do is go out there and try your best. You've got two people protecting you." Rose found that his words were starngely reassuring. She felt some of the sick feeling she was experiencing just moments ago dissapear and she raised a hand.
"Fine," she said. "I'm fine. I'll play." There was a whoop and cheers.
"Let's do it then!" shouted Robert. They all mounted their brooms and flew out into the air, the cheers from their house welcoming them. Rose flew a little lower and saw Madam Hooch striding onto the pitch, carrying a chest with her. Laying it down on the floor, she looked up at the opposing teams.
"Now, I want a good, clean game!" she barked. She turned to Ravenclaw and added rather severely. "From all of you." Opening the chest, she threw a large, red ball into the air.She released the pelting bludgers after and lastly came the golden snitch, it's white wings fluttering lightly against the cool wind.
"The game...begins!" The shrill whistle set Roses' nerves on air, but ignoring them, she immediately flew after the quaffle. It wasn't hard, her broom was fast and she had developed her skills during the holidays. Expertly catching it between her fingertips, she flew as fast as she could, aware there were three other Ravenclaw's in toe.
"And Weasley's caught it!" Came the commentator's voice, booming through the pitch. The screams from the Gryffindor's encouraging her gave her an upbeat as she easily threw the quaffle to Dani who was a little in front of her.
"She throws it to Summerfield..." Dani caught it and threw it to Robert who caught it who threw it back to Rose who chucked it into one of the hoops. It cleanly shot through the other side as the Gryffindor supprters screamed loudly.
"Weasley scores! Ten points to Grtffindor! Barely five minutes into the game!" Rose gave a thumbs up to Albus who was hovering between three hoops on the other side. He grinned at her.
Looking towards her other side, she saw Scorpious's bat slam into an oncoming bludger. It flew towards the other side, hitting a Ravelcaw chaser right in the chest. He buckled over in pain and fell off his broomstick, his body thumping onto the grass.
There was an angry yell from the Ravenclaw's but the Gryffindors laughed and cheered.
"And Summerfield's in posession of the quaffle!" came the commentator. Rose notcied Dani clucthing the qauffle tightly against her while four angry Ravenclaw's chased her. Swearing a little under her breath. Rose swerved sharply and urged her broom on as fast as it could go.
Dani noticed her and chucked it to her. Catching it, Rose soared through the pitch, stopping at the goalposts. The Ravelclaw hovered between the three hoops determinedly. Rose, rolling her eyes', chucked it through one of the hoops.
"Weasley scores again! Another ten points to Gryffindor!" Rose laughed loudly. Everyone had been warning her since morning how hard the Ravenclaw's were to beat, but they were proving themselves easier then the Slytherins. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw James flying around the pitch in a despersate search for the snitch. Along the way, she saw Albus block the quaffle from going into the hoop.
"Excellent save from Potter," said the commentator. "Oh look, I think Potter has found the snitch!" Sure enough, when Rose looked down, she saw James flying furiously after the golden snitch, its wings were fluttering frantically; after a minute or so, James and the Ravenclaw seeker were head to head...
"Rose! Watch out!" came Dani's shriek not far from her. Rose looked up to see a bludger speeding towards her. Looking around, she saw Scorpious on the far end of the pitch; he wasn't even looking her way. Gulping, Rose's attention turned back to the bludger- it was a mere second from knocking her off her broom...
Concentrating hard, Rose stood on top of her broom and did a quick cartwheel over the bludger as it soared past her broom- just where her chest had been a couple of seconds ago. The stunt awarded Rose whoops and cheers of admirations as she fell neatly back to place on her broom.
"Potter's caught the snitch! Gryffindor's won!" came the screaming commentator. Rose looked down to see a beaming James clutching the snitch in his hand. The Gryffindor supporters yelled happily and Rose flew down to join the rest of her team.
"That was awesome!" said Albus as they walked through the double doors and into the hall. "Seriously, I think that's the best we played!"
"Rose, where the hell did you learn that stunt from?" asked Dani, her eyes' wide.
"Well, it was a long time ago. I was just standing in Lily's room when the thought of performing stunts on a broom just...came to me."
"So you learnt how to do it by yourself?" asked Albus, green eyes' wide. Rose shrugged.
"Kinda," she said. Dani, Rose, Scorpious and Albus sat together on the Gryffindor table.
"Can't wait till the next match!" said Dani excitedly. "I think we're doing Slythering next..."
"Yeah, we just can't wait for that," said Albus sarcastically.
"They're easy to beat," offered Scorpious.
"Er...Rose?" came a voice from above. The four looked up to see a fourth year from Hufflepuff. His name was Matt Richardson. He had long, blonde hair that stopped just by his shoulders and piercing blue eyes' that made Rose think of the sky in summetime..
"Yeah?" asked Rose. What on earth did Matt want with her?
"Just stopped to say that you were really good in the match."
"Yeah, she was, wasn't she?" asked Dani proudly. Matt smiled, his dimples showing.
"Yeah, And...I also wanted to ask you something else."
"Sure," said Rose easily.
"Do you want to go with me to Hogsmeade next week?"
Rose was so caught off guard that she immediately said, "Yes." She didn't know if it was her or her imagination, but she thought she felt Scorpious stiffen a little beside her.
"Great!" said Matt, smiling again. He noded at Dani and Albus, ignoring Scorpious and walked away.
"Whoa, Rose!" said Dani when Matt was out of earshot. "Your first date with Matt Richardson!"