Chapter 6:

A Win, A Loss, And Something In Between

I stood among my teammates, ready to mount my broom. James was giving the usual pep talk as he paced in front of us, talking about sportsmanship, winning, speed, agility, endurance, blah blah blah. He`s one of my best friends and all, but when James gets going with the Quiddich pep talks, I really can`t help but tune him out. Apparently, neither could the rest of my teammates, because looking around at the other members of the team, they were all pretty much trying not to fall asleep. Ourstarting keeper, Josh Robins, was gazing off into space with his arm around his girlfriend, inside chaser Linda Perkins. Josh`s brother, Bradley, was nervously fiddling with his broom. Initially Bradley had tried out for seeker despite his inability to catch a snitch, and apparently James had seen such promise in him as a chaser that he gave the kid his starting position, and became the new seeker himself. It had been a controversial move at the time, but paid off in the end; Gryffindor was top of the league so far this season. As it turned out, James wasn`t a bad seeker.

Behind some of the reserves, who were only geared up because of the high tendency of our starters to get hurt, Sirius had his bat hung on a lazy shoulder, and our other beater, Vanessa Peters, was the only person actually paying attention.

Sirius hadn't said much of anything to me after breakfast yesterday. Alice said it didn't mean anything, and that Frank sometimes didn't see her for a few days due to the fact that there was loads of homework and they didn't share many classes. It was true that the Marauders had been busy planning a 'welcome back Mattie' fireworks show after the game today. Lately, the guys had been obsessed with muggle items of mass destruction to the extent that I almost regretted ever telling them about it. Good thing they didn't know about dynamite.

"Let's win this thing!" James yelled, finishing his speech.

We cheered and ran on to the pitch. The roar of the stadium hit us full blast as soon as Vanessa opened the locker room doors, and as everyone (save the reserves) started kicking off, I felt a gloved hand stop me before I could follow suit. I flinched at the pressure on the still bandaged arm.

"Are you sure you`re okay to play?" James commented, pointedly looking at the bandage plastered on my forearm. "I know as a captain that the team needs you, but if this impacts the rest of the season, a little break might be worth it. Also, as a friend, I don`t want you to push this thing too far to the point of reinjuring yourself. Cursed wounds are serious."

I restrained myself from making a Sirius pun, since that would most likely be unconvincing. "If I took time off, people would start to wonder what kind of fox bite isn`t an easy heal. Besides, I`m fine."

To punctuate my point, I kicked off into the air and flew up to where the others were already circling. Merlin, I loved flying. The Gryffindors whooped and yelled as we circled into our positions, James having flown up right after me. Then the Slytherins came out, thirsty for a win after the last match when they`d barely beaten Hufflepuff.

"Welcome, Hogwartians, to the semi-final Quidditch match, Slytherin verses the totally awesome Gryffindor! Whoever wins this match will play against Ravenclaw for the cup. So get your cowbells ready folks, because the match is about to begin!" I smiled, shook my head, and stifled a laugh as Melody began announcing. How McGonagall still let her keep the job after she called the Slytherin team captain 'Lying, cheating, scum of the Earth' on the commentary for the last match was beyond me.

"And here`s the tip off!" My brain went into autopilot as the game began.

"Perkins gains possession, passes up to Robins, look at him go! Robin, boy wonder is soaring up the pitch, past them all, and … Oh, that`s gotta hurt, right in the back. Rockler and Martin passing up the field, excellent steal by Bell, that girl`s not afraid of anything! She just got out of St. M… nice pass to Perkins, SCORE!"

Taking a deep breath, I high-fived Linda and focused on the quaffle, not the jarring throbbing in my arm.

"It`s already Ten-nothing, Gryffindor. They`re really kicking butt today! Oh no, that twat Stanford's got the quaffle, block it Robins! Peters hits Stanford with a bludger, excellent work Vanessa! That girl`s got fire, and a little bird told me she`s got some grief to take out on Martin especially."

Also incredibly biased, Mel was notoriously the most controversial quiddich announcer in the history of Hogwarts. She was also the most fascinating, bringing in twice the crowd in her first year alone.

"Oh, nice try Robins. Too bad. Burton scores for Slytherin."

Forty minutes later, James caught the snitch and we won, 250 to 80. Hufflepuff Emma Riley owed me five galleons, and the adrenaline rush was probably going to wear off soon and let me feel the full impact of what I`d just done to my arm. But all that was yet to come, and when I left the locker room, sure enough, fireworks were going off, and the Gryffindor tower was alight and wild. The party wasn't in full swing, but it would be soon.

After locking my own broom away, I began to consider what the night may hold. If I hadn`t been hallucinating Monday night, and Sirius had kissed me, maybe he was already waiting upstairs for a more conscious part two. It was one of those nights that felt full of possibilities.

Starting back up to the tower, I wondered how much food the guys had managed to smuggle up without me. Well, they probably had Mel or Frank help them. Bradley`s broom had been the only one still outside the locker room, so everyone else must have beat me up there already.

When I reached the Fat Lady, she wasn't alone. Next to the portrait, Vanessa was intertwined with some guy. It seemed a bit early for that, but even though she was a year younger than me, Ness had always been the type to seize the moment, and no matter how inconvenient her seizing may be for bystanders. Besides, as Mel had tactfully mentioned in the match, she had just gotten over a bad breakup with cheater, so she deserved this. I tried to get around the kissing couple and into the common room, but then they turned at an angle where I could get a good look at who exactly Vanessa had chosen to, well, seize (or maybe, I wondered as my stomach pitched, he had seized her). Sirius gave me a look over Vanessa`s shoulder, a look that was the occupied equivalent to a smug grin.

I turned and ran down the stairs. Before I`d even gotten a flight down, I collided with Bradley, almost sending us tumbling, if he hadn't caught me. The kid gave me a bizarre, questioning look, and then the two behind me caught his eye. The poor kid paled, and I felt bad for him, who had a little not-so-subtle crush on Vanessa, and I knew he`d got his hopes up a bit since her break up. I tried to take off again, but small as he was, he held me back, "Don't let them ruin the night for you, Mats. It's okay. Will you come back up and go to the party eventually if I let you go?"

He was a good friend, and we`d gotten close since I`d taken him under my wing when he joined the team, so he was practically my fourth brother. I felt bad for lying to him as I nodded yes, but he`d probably get over the whole Nessa thing when he got hailed as a hero inside the common room. I had no intention of returning any time soon, or going to the party if I did. He let go, and I sprinted away.

My first instinct, as I was running, was to think up some form of revenge. After all, that's what I usually did if anyone I knew was in my situation. But Vanessa was my teammate, and not a bad girl, and although Sirius was a prat, he was just being his usual self. It would be really petty and mean of me to ruin it for Vanessa just because I really liked Sirius, although he clearly didn't like me. I was probably hallucinating then, that night I thought he kissed me. Wishful thinking, I suppose. It had been so convincing, too.

Defeated, I slumped against the nearest wall. Ugh, I was not going to die here in a puddle of self-pity. That`s just pathetic. Wait, where was I? The paintings on the wall didn't look very familiar. To my left was a tall spiral staircase, with an archaic air of mystery. I`ve been all over the school, but I'd never seen this staircase before. Well, it wasn`t like I had anything better to do now, and I could use a distraction...

So, yeah, I went up the mysterious, winding, tall, somewhat creepy, possibly unstable, ominous, stairs. No big deal. Not.

After climbing for what seemed like forever, I finally reached what appeared to be the top. The landing held no portraits, or pictures, or gargoyles, or windows. There was just a lone door, bookended by torches, with a weird bronze knocker with an eagle on it. Well, it was worth a shot to knock.

I banged the knocker. The eagle suddenly came to life, shocking me into almost tumbling back down all those steps. Its creepy bronze eyes stared at me, unblinking (well, probably because it had no eyelids, but still), and said "Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?"

Okay. Um, well, maybe this was some sort of test. As long as it didn't actually ask stuff you would learn in History of Magic, Divination, Herbology, or other boring classes, I was fine.

A muggle impression of a witch? Nah, too confusing. It had to be more straightforward than that.

"Fire?" I said hesitantly, really hoping I wasn't wrong.

"Well put." Freaky Eagle said.

The door swung open, revealing a large, circular room with a curiously midnight blue carpet. The ceiling was decorated with stars, and the arched windows held silver and blue banners. Chairs, bookcases, coffee tables, and sofas were scattered throughout the room, and there were students milling about everywhere, all at ease in this strange place. I instantly knew where I was, and my stomach knotted as I looked at the statue by the twin stairs that led up and out of the room. I had seen it once before in a picture, and I knew I was never meant to see it in person.

"Who are you?" a voice called out. I couldn't pinpoint which Ravenclaw it came from, but whoever it was led the entirety of the Ravenclaw population to turn and glare at the intruder. Me.

"Hey, she`s Matilda Bell, you know, the right chaser for Gryffindor."

"How`d she know where our common room was?!"

I was frozen for a moment, shocked I`d found the Ravenclaw common room. They`d always had hinted it was well hidden… well, apparently they weren't as clever as they thought.

More people were now yelling at me, demanding all sorts of things from a memory charm to expulsion. I went through options in my head, but I could only come up with one good one. So, turning on my heel, I set off running once again.

There was a bombardment of footsteps and voices behind me, but I kept going, finally thankful for all those sprints and trail runs James had insisted we continue to do even though it was winter, and Quiddich was played on brooms, not on foot. Also, I helped that as I ran, I jinxed the suits of armor to guard the path behind me.

Somewhere between the charms corridor and the Library, I gave out, choosing instead to duck into an abandoned classroom and rest. My arm had resumed throbbing, and I was so focused on that I didn't even hear anyone approach until they said, "So what were you doing in our common room anyway? Shouldn't you be partying like the other Gryffindors probably are?"

I looked up. It was Fabian MacMillan, Ricky`s older brother. I`d never officially met him before.

"I was helping my friend look for her fleas from her flea circus. She lost them because she dropped the box. I was actually trying to find the Slytherin common room to kidnap some of them to replace the old fleas." Fabian laughed. "Anyway, sorry I burst into your common room like that. I really wasn't trying to find it or intrude or anything."

Fabian smiled. "That`s alright, as long as you don't tell anyone were it is. Otherwise we might have to wipe your memory. That`d be a shame."

"Really? How so?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because you wouldn't remember me asking you, since I know you got a 'P' on that last History of Magic test and you missed some of those classes this week, if you would like me to help tutor you."

Crossing my arms, I pressed, "Well, what`d you get on that test?"

He smirked. "An 'E'."

"Fine. Monday?"

"Would you oblivate me if I said no?"

Fabian held up his wand.

"Alright. See you then." This was one long, eventful night. I decided it was about time to get back to the common room.

When I got to the Fat Lady, Vanessa and Sirius had disappeared off to, eh, I don't even want to think about it, so I was actually able to get into the common room. The party was slowing down, and only a few people still lingered. Apparently the Marauders had gotten tons of food from the kitchens while I was away in St. Mungo's , because there was still some left on the table, quite a feat for this late in the party. Alice was playing some version of beer pong that involved what was most likely butterbeer (but who knew, really, since no prefects were around to enforce anything) with Linda, Josh, Emmeline, and a couple guys over by the fire, with Marlene and a few others looking on and placing bets. Alice gave me a questioning look, probably wondering why I had been absent and was passing our usual scene by, and I gave her a half smile before heading up the stairs to our dorm.

Mary and Melody were already sleeping, shockingly enough (or at least trying/pretending to be), and Lily was reading through her Potions notes. "Where were you? You missed the whole party!" whispered Lily when I climbed into my bed.

"Really long story. Were you studying the whole time?" I said, trying to keep my voice from being brittle, or loud enough to bother the other two.

"Maybe… But I`ve only really doing homework for half an hour at least."

"Forty-five minutes. And she STILL won`t turn the bloody light off." muttered Melody from her bed.

Out of pity, I tossed a caldron cake I`d nicked from the table downstairs on her bed. "Why are you two up her so early?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Those gits fancied themselves a butterbeer drinking contest, who could down the most in a minute that is, and got sick."

"Anyway, thanks to Lils, we`re up, so why don't you tell us that long story?" Mary said.

"Fine."

So I recounted everything that had happened from when I left the Quiddich pitch to my running aimlessly away from Sirius and Vanessa, but as promised, left out finding the Ravenclaw common room. Right before I forced Lily to finally put out the light, I wrote another letter to Ricky.