Return to Action.
Much to his disappointment, Draco also missed the second match of the season. He'd been sure he was fit enough to play, but Theo had thought otherwise and to prove his point, he'd put Draco through a tough forty minutes fitness test. By the end of the forty minutes, Draco had started to have trouble with his shoulder so he was forced to concede that Theo was right, and he wasn't ready to return to the team. However, that still didn't stop him from being disappointed not to be back playing.
Unlike the first match, which had been played at home, the second match was an away fixture and with not playing, Draco chose not to travel with the team. Instead he stayed at home and listened to commentary on the radio, and when The Cannons won he celebrated at home with Hermione when she returned from work.
His disappointment of missing the first two matches of the season spurred Draco on, and he had several extra sessions with Theo to ensure he was raring to go come game three of the season. Happily Theo gave Draco his seal of approval a few days before the game, meaning he was fit to play his first match of the season.
Harry had been thrilled to have Draco back, even though it had given him something of a selection dilemma. There was never any option of not playing Draco once he was fit. While Draco also had to earn his place on the team like the rest of his teammates, and a spell of bad form would see him missing matches, he'd been performing excellently in training and Harry saw no reason why his good form wouldn't transfer into a real match. Besides, Draco was one of The Cannons best players, and more importantly he was one of their star players whose mere presence on the pitch resulted in an increase in the supporters watching the game.
Wanting Draco back in the team gave Harry a tough choice to make and it took him a while to slot Draco into the team as a Chaser and play him alongside Alicia and Angelina. It really was tough luck on the Chaser who had to make way for Draco, but Harry had spoken to him personally and ensured him that he wasn't at all disappointed with his performance. Fortunately, every member of The Cannons squad understood that they couldn't all play at once and as long as the team continued to play well and win, they were all happy.
On the morning of the match, The Cannons had a final training session in the stadium, before having a light lunch and they then began their final match preparations. As he got ready to play his first competitive match in a few months, Draco was surprised to find himself overcome with nerves. After playing quidditch for so long, Draco rarely got too nervous, and he could only recall three other occasions he'd been as nervous before a match.
The first time had been before his very first quidditch match, way back in his second year at Hogwarts. Not only had Draco been playing for his house for the first time, he'd been playing in a position he'd never really played before as their Seeker. Then there was the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, who had given Draco a firm warning that he would be straight back off the team if he screwed up the game. Still, Draco had battled through the nerves and they'd easily won the match against Hufflepuff, cementing Draco's place on the team.
The next time Draco had been as nervous ahead of a match was his first professional game for The Tornadoes. Draco had been very aware that very few people got a chance to play the game they loved for their job, and he hadn't wanted to blow his one opportunity to forge himself a quidditch career. Thankfully, his first match with The Tornadoes coincided with Blaise's and the two friends gave each other the moral support they needed to get through the match and impress their new bosses.
And finally, the last time Draco had been as nervous before a match had been his first match playing Chaser for The Cannons. Harry had taken a big gamble letting Draco play the position he'd always dreamt of playing in, and Draco had wanted to prove to Harry and everyone else that he was right to give him that chance. Luckily, Draco had thoroughly impressed on his first outing as a Chaser, and since then his nerves had never been an issue before a match.
However, this was the first time Draco had returned from an injury, or at least the first time he'd returned from a serious injury. He'd missed the odd match here and there with niggles, but never before had he been out injured for months. In actual game time it may have only been three matches, but considering he spent most of his summer recuperating, Draco was still nervous about his return. He'd been playing well in practice, but all he could think about was what if he failed when it came to facing the opposition. What if he'd lost whatever spark it was that made him one of the most talented players in the league?
"Are you okay Draco?" Alicia asked in concern as the team flew out onto the pitch and they took up their starting places while Angelina did the captain's honours in the centre of the pitch. "You look pale."
"I'm always pale," Draco replied with a weak smile.
"I mean deathly white," Alicia said. "You're not going to pass out on me, are you?"
"No, I'm fine," Draco answered. "Just a bit nervous," he added when Alicia continued to scrutinise him.
"Ah, the return from injury nerves," Alicia chuckled. "I know all about them. In my second season I tore my hamstring and was out of action for almost three months. I was petrified my first match back thinking I wouldn't be able to play to the same ability."
"How did you deal with the nerves?" Draco asked.
"I got hold of the quaffle as soon as I could and scored," Alicia replied. "Trust me, Draco, once you've scored a goal, all your confidence will come flooding back and it'll be as though you were never away."
As the balls were released and the whistle blew for the start of the match, Draco hoped that Alicia was right and his nerves would soon settle. Almost immediately he got the chance to do as Alicia advised as he found himself with possession of the quaffle. With a determination he'd never quite felt before, Draco put his head down and sped towards the opposition goal with only one thing on his mind – scoring. When the quaffle went soaring through the top ring and the crowd rose to their feet to cheer, a huge smile broke out on Draco's face as he felt his whole body flood with confidence.
"Welcome back Draco, now get us a few more," Angelina called from nearby, flashing him a wide smile.
"Will do," Draco called back as he got his head back in the game and set off to produce the best performance of his career.
It really was Draco's best performance as a Chaser and while he, Alicia and Angelina worked together to make a perfect team, Draco was the one stealing the limelight. He was outscoring both his fellow chasers and by the time the game had been going for forty minutes he'd scored more goals individually than their opposition, The Appleby Arrows, had as a team. By the hour mark, chants of 'Malfoy' were ringing around the Rising Phoenix stadium and when Sylvie Knox caught the snitch ten minutes later, the majority of the crowd were hailing Draco as the star player and the reason The Cannons hadn't just won, but had crushed the opposition.
After the game Draco was more thrilled to receive the player of the match award, although when he spoke to the reporters he was quick to remind them that quidditch was a team game. He may have been in scintillating form, but it wouldn't have mattered if the rest of the team hadn't done their jobs.
"So you're back," Hermione greeted Draco with a smile as he finished with the reporters and made his way over to where she was waiting for him. "That was some match you played today. I've never seen you like that before."
"It was a pretty special game," Draco conceded with a smile.
"If you keep playing like that we'll win the league no problem," Hermione joked.
"Let's hope so," Draco chuckled. "I'm heading for a drink with the team, are you joining us?"
"No, I've got some work to do," Hermione replied. "You go and have a good time and I'll see you at home. I'm sure we can find some way to celebrate your spectacular return."
After giving Hermione a quick kiss, Draco headed off to join his team-mates, all the time looking forward to what awaited him when he returned home. When he did get home a few hours later, Draco wasn't disappointed when he found Hermione waiting for him wearing nothing but his old Slytherin quidditch jersey. His win today may have been for The Cannons, but Draco as more than happy to return to his roots as a Slytherin as he and Hermione did indeed celebrate his triumphant return.
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Unlike Draco, who only missed the first two matches, Ginny's return took a lot longer. All in all she missed the first six weeks of the new season. As with Draco before her, she wasn't given the all clear until Theo was totally satisfied with her progress and was confident she could last a whole match, even if it was hours long.
However, unlike Draco, Ginny's selection wasn't automatic once she returned from injury. In training she'd been playing great, and while Harry was now convinced that his girlfriend had a bright future in quidditch, she didn't yet possess the star quality of Draco. Even so, he'd been eager to get her into the team as soon as possible, even though he wasn't sure where she would fit in as the team were going really well and they were sitting pretty at the top of the league.
A week after Ginny had been pronounced fit enough to play, fate dictated her selection in the team as their Seeker, Sylvie, received the bad news that her mother had been taken ill and was in hospital. There was no question of Harry not allowing Sylvie time off to spend with her mother, so while his young talent was off on compassionate leave, it made sense to hand the baton over to Draco as the seasoned Seeker in the squad. With Draco switching to Seeker, it seemed the perfect time to give Ginny her chance to play again and she joined Angelina and Alicia as the trio of Chasers.
If Draco had been nervous upon his return, it was nothing compared to the state Ginny was in. She was shaking just flying out into the stadium and as she took her place for the start of the match, she was sure she was going to mess up and let everyone down. Fortunately, Alicia was on hand to give her the same words of advice she'd given Draco over a month previously.
"Seriously?" Ginny questioned, her nerves still not settling. "You think scoring a goal will help me get back into the swing of things?"
"Trust me, it most definitely will," Alicia replied encouragingly.
"I hope you're right," Ginny muttered as the balls were released, the whistle blew and the game began.
It took Ginny longer than it had Draco to get her chance to shine, but after a few nervous fumbles she found herself in possession of the quaffle directly in front of the opposition goal. With one of the opposing chasers bearing down on her, Ginny knew she didn't have much time, so she took a daring swoop downwards to pull the keeper out of position before soaring back above his head and depositing the quaffle through the ring. As Alicia had promised, scoring a goal did wonders for her nerves, and she continued with the game full of confidence.
After just over ninety minutes of play, Draco snatched the snitch from right under his rival seekers nose and gave The Chudley Cannons yet another win of the season. Unlike Draco's return game, where he'd been star of the show, this performance was a much more all-round team effort, but Ginny was pleased with how she'd fared. By the end of the match she'd scored the same amount of goals as Angelina and she'd been confident that if Draco hadn't caught the snitch when he did, she could have scored plenty more.
"Here's to The Cannons," Blaise cried back in the communal area of the changing rooms as the celebrations began. "Top of the league at Christmas."
"It's still weeks until the Christmas break," Ginny pointed out with a laugh. "We've got five more matches before then."
"And we'll win every one of them," Blaise replied with confidence. "This is our year, Red, I can feel it."
"Let's hope you're right Blaise," Ginny chuckled.
"I'm always right, just ask Draco," Blaise joked.
"Yeah, he's always a right pain in the backside," Draco shouted from across the room, causing Blaise to pout mockingly before yelling light-hearted insults back over to his best friend.
Laughing at her teammates antics, Ginny headed into the female portion of the changing rooms to grab a shower and change out of her quidditch uniform. As she changed she hoped that Blaise was right and that The Cannons could win all their matches before Christmas. If they did so they would most definitely be top of the league for the festive break, and would likely have a pretty decent advantage over their competitors. But Ginny didn't want to look too far ahead, the important thing was that she was back and that The Cannons had won again.