A/N: I can't believe that Harry Potter has ended! ;-; Am I the only one out there that hasn't seen the final movie yet? Because all of my friends have gone, several even going on opening night, and it's sort of dissapointing. At least I know that, in the words of J. K. Rowling, Hogwarts will always be waiting to welcome me home. A shame that the walls aren't welcoming to Mathew, no?

"Do you fly?" Blaize asked, head tilting to the side slightly so that he could face Mathew without turning away from the quidditch practice going on in front of them.

It was the first time that Mathew had seen any of his house-mates on their brooms and he was slightly dissapointed. Aside from Draco, the seeker, not many of them actually had any talent. Mathew knew the type; only out there to say they were out there and get extra classes off.

That was how Alfred had been when he was going to Hogwarts too. It wasn't the flying that called his brother to the field, but the fame and recognition that came from being the star-flyer of the Gryffindor team.

Red and gold blurred together as he raced through the air, one handoutstretched in front of him as he reached for the small golden orb. For a moment, it looked like Alfred was going to catch it and end the game, Gryffindors would win again and the Slytherins would be left in the loosers place. The snitch flitted away, swooping under the broomstick and zooming off, just before Alfred's fist closed around it.

It hadn't surprised Mathew in the slightest when his brother made seeker. Alfred always did attract the attention onto himself.

Mathew had been a member of the Slytherin quidditch team, holding the same position as both his brother and Draco. Three years in a row, he'd held that position and he'd been good at it.

That first year, people saw him.

The second year, people knew his name.

The third year, Mathew couldn't take it anymore.

A flash of green and silver was all that the crowd could see as Mathew zipped across the arena. He swerved around a Gryffindor beater, flew under his brother, and put on as large a speedburst as he could. One gloved hand reached out, grasping, grasping, and then...the game was his.

"I used to fly." Mathew offered as an answer, soft smile on his face just like it always was. His lapse in answering wasn't paid attention to since it had seemed like he was merely watching the game.

Slytherin was leading by twenty points. Draco had already spotted the snitch twice, too, though it had gotten away from him both times. It was making for a rather intense game actually.

Blaize frowned slightly, turning further away from the match so that he could look at Mathew better. "What do you mean you 'used to'?"

Mathew had won and all of the school had seen it. He was bringing the snitch down to the ground, still grinning and panting, when he heard the announcer.

"And the winner is Gryffindor, thanks to a marvelous catch by Alfred!"

No one believed him when he tried to tell them that Alfred hadn't caught the snitch. Alfred never said otherwise.

"Oh, I was just never any good at it. My brother, Alfred, he was the one good at flying." Mathew didn't say a word about the fact that, when he was flying, it felt as though he was free.

From his duties as a son and a brother.

From his responsibilites as a nation.

Free from everything.

But in that third of year of being a seeker, no one could tell the difference between himself and Alfred. Scores he made were given to his brother and Slytherin started to loose. So Mathew quit the team and, by that time, no one was really sad to him go. It gave other kids an opportunity to play.

Blaize nodded, mouth open to say something else, before it was announced that Draco had once more taken off after the snitch. This time, with Harry Potter in tow.

And Mathew watched as Draco put everything he had into his broom and reached for the snitch, desperatly trying to catch it -

to be known and seen in a different light from usual

- only to have it snatched away by the Gryffindor and the glory go elsewhere.

Mathew was the only Slytherin to clap, the only one on the entire green and silver clad side of the stadium, and stand up. Blaize and several other students gave him looks when he did but Mathew ignored them.

It was Draco he was clapping for, after all.