This one was more of a fill chapter…basically it's me rambling about Quidditch…
DISCLAIMER: well sure why not do another? I don't own it all, as you know. And just for safety's sake, I will tell you all that a couple of lines ARE drawn from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-just like 3 though and they are all dialogue, for accuracy.
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The summer before fifth year (or fourth year for one) was one to be remembered. The friendships between the Gryffindors were drastically shaken, and as inconceivable as it seemed four years ago, they began to forget some of their rather strong differences. Well, for the most part.
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Mrs. Weasley had invited the group to stay at the Burrow for two weeks in the summer, and they had all gladly accepted. Harry too had been invited to stay with Ron, so with the exception of the Quidditch Nazi, the entire team was together again. That of course, meant daily scrimmages.
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Fred mixed up the paper clippings in an old top hat, and while closing his eyes, drove his hand into the depths.
"AARRRRHGGHH" he hollered out in apparent pain. The rest of the group jumped up in shock, Alicia screamed on instinct, and Angelina rushed to his side.
"Fred! What happened?" she whimpered, gripping his wrist.
"Ohh," he moaned. "I—I," his eyes were still scrunched tightly, but he slowly opened his left one and peered at the nervous faces around the room. Suddenly he let out a loud laugh and dropped the hat to the floor.
"Man you should have seen your faces! That was BEAUTIFUL!" he yelled between laughs. The others slumped back in their seats and sighed with an air of unsurprise. Angelina punched him.
"Okay okay, fine, really now," Fred stated, while plopping himself down next to the hat.
"Today's captains are as follows: Team one, oooh! The ever wonderful, perfect, hilarious, gorgeous, ME!" he called out in glee. Everyone else groaned their disapproval loudly. Fred just kept smiling jovially.
"Alright now, team two will be…ooh this should be good. My opposing captain will be none other than the lovely, talented, and downright terrifying, Alicia Spinnet!" he said grandly, singing out the last syllable of her name. Alicia laughed and stood up to shake his hand, as tradition called for, when a clap of thunder sounded over the house.
"I told you she was terrifying." Fred said quietly, while they all looked mournfully at the newly falling rain outside. Well, all but two that is. Alicia and George were both smiling broadly, and exchanged cheerful high fives.
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Only one goal separated the opposing teams, and the rain was coming down in sheets. Without a snitch (it had flown away in the first week of summer) they had to play to a certain number of points.
"Alright guys, this is it. One goal and it's theirs. All we need is a penalty though, and we've got it." Alicia said encouragingly to her team. The group, Ron, George, Katie, and Charlie, eagerly huddled around her, faces dripping, but gleaming in excitement.
"So here's my idea. We're going to team up in a sense. Charlie, you're going to help Ron. Protect him if Fred and Bill get near him, and cover a goal if Angelina and Ginny get near okay? George, you've got to cover Katie and me. Just get us as clear of a shot to the left goal as you can. Now this goes to everyone, if they're about to score, FOUL THEM. Stop laughing I'm serious! They can't win with just a penalty shot! Now on the other hand, we CAN win with a penalty, so don't avoid being fouled! Everyone clear? Okay, GO!"
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"ALICIA THAT WAS AMAZING!" Angelina screamed through the downpour.
"Angel, she's on the OTHER team!" Fred whined.
"But did you see that penalty shot? It was BEAUTIFUL." raved Angel.
Alicia just grinned happily. Nothing in the world could hide the joy she got from scoring a goal. With a splash, George landed just behind her. Alicia spun around, and they both yelled in joint excitement.
It had been a glorious finish to a rather wet game. Alicia was set to score, but Fred came straight towards her, with a bludger close at hand. Just as he was about to slam it, George nailed him from the side, knocking him closer to Alicia. Stunned, and more importantly pissed off, Fred flew straight into Alicia, and grabbed her broom to steady himself-a clear foul- just as Bill was about to stop her. Alicia earned a penalty on goal, which she rarely ever missed.
"Ali!"
"Georgie!"
They cried simultaneously as they sloshed towards each other in the mud. She jumped into his arms, and he spun her around in a circle above the ground. He set her down softly, and kissed her on the cheek. The two looked joyfully into each other's eyes, unaware of the looks of shock spreading over their teammate's faces at their sudden affection.
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The rest of the summer basically passed as stated above, Quidditch, unruly weather, and confused friendships. Fifth year was no different.
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With it being Oliver's final year to bring the Quidditch cup back into the rightful Gryffindor hands, Quidditch became life. Eating, breathing, and especially schoolwork, were merely secondary tasks required to be able to practice.
"You'd think after five years here, those first day butterflies would have worn off." Alicia said laughing, while walking arm and arm with George-as they had taken to doing.
"Well there's Ollie, so they shouldn't last long." Fred said with fake enthusiasm. Katie looked around for the captain, and ran blindly away. Unfortunately, she ran before catching sight of him, and went straight into his capturing arms.
"Excited to see me Bell?" Oliver asked with a sarcastic smile. Katie twisted and flailed in his grasp, and glared daggers and her friends who were experiencing fits of hysterics.
"So, I'll see you all after the feast!"
"WHAT?!" was the only response he gathered from the entire team.
"We're winning the cup this year team, and I don't care what—" But his meant to be inspirational speech was interrupted by Angelina leading a march away from him and into the open castle doors.
"Well?" Katie asked expectantly.
"What?" Oliver replied obliviously.
"Are you going to let go now, or is this some sort of pre season test I should know about?" Katie giggled. Oliver blushed strongly when he realized he hadn't let her go, and hastily pulled his arms away and turned away muttering incomprehensibly.
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"Hey guys, why are Leesh and George passed out on the couch?" Oliver asked with a touch of shock and intrigue lingering in his tone.
"Fist day detention tradition, remember?" Katie answered simply, without bothering to look up from her text book.
"Oh right, well tell them- hey wait! They're not arguing! They, they look like, friends!" exclaimed their captain with obvious excitement. The rest of the team laughed his happy realization.
"I'll say." Fred said, without sharing Oliver's enthusiasm.
"Once they realized that they don't actually hate each other, they've been inseperable. It's a bit disgusting really." He said dully.
"Wait, they're not…they're not, well you know…are they?" Oliver questioned, now looking quite frightened.
"Ew. Gross Ollie." was all Katie could muster.
"Hey." murmured George from the couch.
"I heard that." He muttered again, without opening his eyes.
"Oh, well let's keep it that way. Now that you're awake, I came to tell you that we're having our first practice tomorrow morning before classes!" his happiness clearly was not shared among his peers.
"Sorry Ollie, we can't hear you. We're sleeping." Alicia said simply
"WOOD!" Angelina screamed, using his last name as she always did when provoked.
"It's our fifth year! Do you have ANY idea how much work we've already got?" she raved.
"Well, it's not like you'd be doing it a five in the morning anyway!" Oliver stated jovially, as though that would clear her worries. He jogged away before being hit by Katie's quill. Suddenly they all realized just what a year they were in for.
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"Ali, it's okay! Pomie can fix anything!" Fred reassured the bleeding chaser. Practicing before the sun rose turned out to be a less than well laid plan. Without the assistance of light, quaffles were surprisingly hard to see, as apparently were chasers. Oliver had deflected a shot directly into Alicia's face.
"Shut up Fred, I don't care if it's fixed; I just want to break Ollie's. And don't call me Ali." She mumbled gruffly, tilting her head back and holding onto her nose.
"Alicia, how many times can I say I'm sorry?!" Oliver groaned in despair.
"Until you stop being a psychotic Quidditch Nazi!" she shrieked in anger. George put his arm around her as they ascended the stone steps, when she promptly fainted at the top. George instinctively caught her, and looked back at Oliver with anger. Oliver stood with an expression of shock and misery. It wasn't hard to hide the fact that his fear of loosing a chaser was preoccupying his worry for Alicia.
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"Madam Pomfrey, I NEED her on the team! She can NOT miss practice if we're going to win the cup this year! Yes-yes I understand that she suffered severe bleeding and-yes I understand that but you need to-well yes. Of course I want her to play in the finals! But Madame! MADAME!"
Alicia came to-only to hear Oliver's trembling voice. She squeezed her eyes shut, and reopened them to see Fred and George playing exploding snap on her stomach.
"Bloody Hell!" she shrieked, sitting up abruptly and knocking their came to the floor.
"Such language Ali!" George reprimanded.
"We just thought we might help wake you up!" Fred explained. "Hey, why can he call you Ali?" Fred asked with sudden realization.
"Because, you say it all wrong. And because I said he could." She stated simply, clearly she wasn't going to explain further, so Fred slumped back into his chair.
"Where are Katie and Angie?" grumbled Alicia.
"Well Angelina's getting all the work you missed, and as for Katie…" he trailed off, pointing to the bed next to her.
"Kit!" Alicia called out.
"What happened?" she asked in fear.
"Well, she MAY have broken her wrist. But she's fine! Really!" Fred tried to convince her.
"Oh God, this is going to be a long year." Alicia sighed, slumping back down in her bed and shutting her eyes.
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"Alright team, so the weather's not exactly ideal but-"
"Oliver, we're about to play in a torrential downpour. Now PLEASE be serious." groaned an exasperated Angelina.
"Right well that's true but-oh okay fine. Just, just- oh God it's going to be a tough one." moaned the deflated captain, who refused to eat.
"Stop worrying Oliver, we don't mind a bit of rain." came Alicia's best soothing voice. Even before the game, there was no pep talk from their usually chatty captain. Wood just kept pacing and grumbling in some apparently made up language. The moment they stepped onto the pitch, they were soaked through. The game was impossible to follow, and the chasers could scarcely see each other, let alone pass. Within minutes, Wood called a timeout. Alicia clung to both Fred and George, and Angelina and Katie were squeezing each other tightly in vain attempts to retain heat as they all huddled under an enormous umbrella. Poor Harry couldn't even see through his glasses, until Hermione came to the rescue; and the twins couldn't tell who to aim bludgers at. Katie had her wrist taped up tightly with soggy wrappings, while Alicia wasn't technically supposed to play in the match and looked ready to pass out. After Wood's unsuccessful attempt at inspiration, the team took flight again. Only after a few minutes of flight, the team watched in terror as Harry plummeted towards the ground below and hit it with a sickening slap of mud. Hufflepuff roared into cheers, while the Gryffindor team sprinted to their fallen seeker. The twins hauled him into the air, and a morbid parade of scarlet followed him them into the hospital wing.
When Harry awoke, he found the entire team, plus Hermione and Ron, surrounding his bed and dripping mud onto the once white hospital floor. They looked as though they had all been drowned in mud for days.
"What happened?" asked Harry, suddenly sitting up.
"You fell off," explained Fred. "Must've been—what—fifty feet?"
"We thought you died." whispered a trembling Alicia.
"But the match…" said Harry. The team's collective silence told him all that he needed to know. Harry let it sink in, while the rest of the team debated the points needed to still get into the final match. Madam Pomfrey came in with a nasty looking potion, and Alicia and Katie ran out with their heads down.
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Loosing a match was quite a let down to the team. The next week all seven of them moped around the hallways like lost puppies. Oliver however, found this to be the perfect reason to restart morning practice. He was nowhere to be seen for the first two days, and the team worried that he had succeeded in drowning in the showers. Either that or he was planning a memorial for Harry's destroyed broom.
"Come on Ali, I haven't seen you smile in two days. That's a bloody record." George said, while prodding Alicia's elbow.
"What's to smile for? We lost for the first time since we've had Harry, who nearly was killed by Dementors, our seeker has no broom to ride, I'm still sick from being soaked to my core in mud, and I can't take this damn thing off my nose for six more days!" she shrieked, indicating the strip across her nose that was magically placed there by Madame Pomfrey. George did his best to stifle his laughter, but still earned himself a stiff punch in the arm.
"But our match with Ravenclaw is next! You love playing them, and you're nose will be in one piece again!" he said in his most cheerful voice. Alicia tried not to smile, but couldn't help it for long. She burst out laughing, and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin atop her head. It never ceased to amaze him how comfortable this was, or how he never seemed quite willing to let go.
"Hey, Alicia!" came a deep voice from the other side of the library. George looked up and sighed when he saw Cedric Diggory approaching. Alicia lifted her head and grinned widely.
"Cedric! I haven't seen you since the match!" she said, trying to balance her excitement in seeing him, with her anger at him for getting the snitch.
"I just wanted to let you know, I asked Madame Hooch for a re-match, I really don't think it's fair that you guys lost when Harry was attacked and all. I'm so sorry." He said earnestly, looking straight into Alicia's eyes. George grumbled softly and started to walk away.
"Nice to see you George!" called out Cedric. Despite his constantly friendly disposition, George couldn't help but resent him. He turned to see Alicia hugging him tightly, and to his surprise, that strange feeling increased.
Alicia had always been a bit of a….well a flirt. George always knew it, and he had always accepted it as part of what made Alicia, Alicia. But suddenly, the way she hugged all her guy friends, and held hands with whomever walked her down the hall, and kissed the cheeks of guys that would walk her to class, stopped being cute. Instead, it became incredibly and painfully annoying. What bothered him most though, was the fact that he couldn't figure out why.
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The re-match with Hufflepuff never came, not like anybody really expected it to though. But the Gryffindors pulled off a miraculous victory all the same.
The final game was intense, to put it lightly. One of the hardest games ever fought between two houses, or at least, that's how Lee described it. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin for the cup-a face off between lifelong enemies.
Katie, Alicia, and Angelina were being fouled left and right; and the twins were beside themselves with protective fury.
Angelina was nearly knocked off her broom by Flint- Fred threw his bat at the back of his head and smashed his nose into his broom
Katie was grabbed by the head and thrown like a quaffle by Montague-Lee swore loudly into the megaphone.
Bole and Derrick hit Wood directly in the stomach with both bludgers.
Flint hit Alicia in the face with his club, making her nose bleed again- George elbowed him in the face.
Alicia made penalty after penalty, but her temper only could last so long. Bleeding and shaking with fury she aimed once again, but she missed by a long shot in rage. Harry still couldn't find the snitch anywhere, and Oliver looked ready to cry.
When they thought all hope had been lost, the team watched in sheer joy as Harry suddenly darted forward, chasing Malfoy like a hunter…
The entire population of Hogwarts seemed to be screaming itself hoarse-or booing for those dressed in green.
Alicia, Katie, and Angelina all headed straight for Harry, and engulfed him in a mid-air hug while singing out triumphantly: We've won the cup we've won the cup! With two simultaneous thumps the twins flew into the herd; and a weeping Oliver finished off the group. The team made their way in majestic disorder to the rapidly filling pitch grass.
The crowd pulled apart the hug, cheering and lifting up Harry quickly onto their shoulders. Oliver was still blubbering, and Lee was attempting to crowd surf over to them all.
George and Alicia spotted each other, and attacked one another with glorious hugs reminiscent of summer Quidditch games past. In an of the moment whim, George quickly and unthinkingly pecked Alicia on the lips.
Just as stunned as she was, they both stared at each other in shock. Before they had time to react, there was a sudden surge in the mob, and they felt themselves being lifted up with the rest of the team into the air by the cheering crowd.
"P-pictures team, p-p-pictures!" sobbed a streaming Oliver. They gathered around him, in their sweaty, bloody, glory, still cheering enthusiastically. The twins heaved Harry up onto their shoulders, and the three girls kneeled in front, throwing peace signs and thumbs up into the air. In the very center stood Oliver, hugging the cup and crying in a way that was most uncomfortable to see a grown man do. His free hand rested on Katie's shoulder, who had her arm wrapped around Alicia- who looked about ready to faint again. Besides the fact that Angelina was suffering a sprained shoulder, Alicia had most likely re-broken her nose, and Wood was crying like a 7 year old girl; not one of them could ever remember being happier.