At breakfast a few days later Lucy was flicking through a potions library book, trying to find a description that matched the one they'd seen on the sixth floor balcony. James sat down next to her and frowned at the book propped up against the milk jug. "Do you want to announce what we saw to the whole hall?" he asked.

"Tetchy much?" she asked. "I'm not having much luck anyway, and I could simply be studying."

James sighed, because the truth was, he was nervous. It was his first Quidditch match today, Hufflepuff v Ravenclaw. He had slept badly and the tossing and turning hadn't taken his mind off of Quidditch. The Potters were famous for their skills on the pitch, both James's father and grandfather had been excellent. If he were anything less, he might feel like a failure. That said, looking at breakfast he suddenly felt starving. He loaded his plate with scrambled eggs and bacon. Only when he'd finished and started on some toast did he realise the atmosphere was charged, with everyone looking forward to the coming match, the first one of the season.

"Looking forward to the match? Fred asked, coming over from the Gryffindor table.

"Yes," James said decisively. "As long as we win." But he felt nervous anyway. He went down to the pitch with the other members of the team and there was total silence as they got changed into their yellow robes.

Robyn turned to the team, smiling at them. "Right team, just play like you did in training earlier in the week, and we'll be fine. The Ravenclaw chasers are very good, but their seeker isn't great. Just try and stop them scoring as much as possible. And you two," she added, turning to James and Piper, the other beater. "Give them hell." James smiled, even though his insides felt like they'd turned to lead.

Robyn Saunders lead the way onto the pitch and James looked at the Ravenclaw team critically. Their beaters were massive seventh year boys, but everyone else on the team were girls. Their seeker was a tiny blonde girl who had to be a first year, she looked so young. Clearly inexperienced. But then, James thought so was he, so that didn't mean much.

"Right, on my whistle," Madam Moonshine said, the Quidditch referee. "Three two one…" The whistle rang out shrilly throughout the stands and everyone kicked off simultaneously, hearing the roar of the crowds as Ravenclaw immediately took the Quaffle. James could see both bludgers, one scattering four chasers, the other heading towards the Hufflepuff seeker. James streaked towards it as Mex dropped a few feet to avoid it and James took aim towards the Ravenclaw chaser, heading towards the goal, quaffle under her arm. He hit it and then watched with satisfaction as she avoided it, but dropped the Quaffle with her distraction. Robyn caught it and started streaking up the pitch in the opposite direction.

James spent the next half an hour trying to distract the Ravenclaw chasers, who were very good. The score was tied, 70-70 when he saw it. The blonde Ravenclaw seeker had dived magnificently, as if she'd jumped off of a cliff with the speed of her dive. She'd seen the snitch, and Daniel Mex hadn't. "Piper!" James shouted to his fellow beater over the rising noise of the crowd who'd caught on to what was happening. Matthew looked at him, and saw the situation immediately. He nodded and they both hit the bludgers directly towards the seeker within seconds of each other.

Both black balls careened towards her. She was so focused on the golden snitch that she didn't have any attention for anything else and one hit her in the small of the back, the other smashed into her right arm, breaking the bone. She fell off of her broomstick and hit the pitch hard, moaning with pain. And the snitch had vanished into thin air, much to James's relief. Matthew smiled at him, relieved as he was and the Hufflepuff crowd cheered. Robyn flew around them in a time out as the Ravenclaw seeker had her broken arm fixed. She wanted to get back in the game rather than go to the hospital wing.

"Well done," Robyn said, smiling at both of the beaters, Quaffle tight under her arm until play resumed. James smiled easily as the Ravenclaws all took to the air again, their seeker white faced but determined. He kept hitting bludgers as fast and as hard as he could, mostly at the Chasers. He stopped about ten goals before Merryweather soared high into the air like a champagne cork. He was going so fast that he had to have seen the snitch. The Ravenclaw seeker followed, urging her broom to go faster. James hung in mid air for about a minute, watching the drama unfold, before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"Ouch," he said under his breath as a bludger hit him in the back of the head, sent to him by one of the Ravenclaw beaters. James turned, seeing the seventh year grinning at him wickedly. James gave it a good thwack and sent the bludger towards the chasers. The seekers were too close together to aim with any accuracy. All six chasers scattered from the bludger with squeals of surprise.

Then the final whistle blew. Both seekers were more than two hundred feet in the air and no one could see who'd caught the snitch. Both of them floated downwards, almost in slow motion. Then James smiled. Daniel Mex came into view as more than just a blur, and he had his hand clasped around the snitch.

The Hufflepuff seeker had caught it. They'd won.

The cheers from the stands gained in volume as people realised what had happened. Then the volume exploded, the groans of the Ravenclaws lost in the happiness of the Hufflepuffs. James directed his broom to the ground and then got caught in the group of team members all hugging each other and patting them on the back. Robyn was thrilled, her face beaming. "We won!"

"Yes we did," James agreed. Daniel Mex was smiling too, snitch still in his hand. He found James and coughed slightly.

"You saved my neck there Potter," he said. "We'd have lost if you hadn't blocked Sally Jenkins. She nearly had that snitch."

James shrugged. "It's what I'm supposed to be doing," James said simply. "And the important thing is we won." Daniel smiled widely.

"Well, thanks anyway," he said. James nodded and smiled as many Hufflepuff banners were being waved over the stands in happiness. There'd be a party tonight, James realised. In the common room, with the euphoria of a Hufflepuff win.

For the first time James felt so glad he wasn't in Gryffindor. He was out of his fathers shadow, and winning, doing it on his own felt wonderful.