Katie Patrick woke up early that Saturday morning of the Quidditch game to a bleak, gray, rainy day. Today was the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game. Katie, who held such a hatred for Slythein, wanted to crush them until they cried that day. But even she knew that the odds weren't in their favor. Slytherin had the fastest brooms in the world - plus they were feeling cocky, as they thought that they had the Heir of Slytherin on their side.

When Katie opened her curtains, she realized her two friends, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson (two other Gryffindor Chasers), were already up. Katie went to the bathroom first, to find the two girls and their other Chaser friend, Katie Bell, quietly getting ready. They all seemed very nervous, just like Katie P.

They all grunted in greeting and began to get ready together in complete silence, which was a very big change compared to their normal morning routine of loudly getting ready and singing raucously in the shower.

When they were all done getting ready, they headed down to the Great Hall together and sat down in a huddled group with the rest of the team, who was also nervous-looking and completely silent. Harry Potter was the last one down from Gryffindor tower and even he looked like he would puke his entire breakfast momentarily.

At quarter to eleven the two teams began heading to the Quidditch pitch, followed closely by the rest of the school. Katie had no patience for Wood's usual pre-match pep talk even though she wanted to because she had a huge crush on him. But her knotty stomach prevented her from listening. Instead, she braided her hair, then un-braided it, then braided it again.

The speech seemed quite intense and Katie only caught the tail end of it (her attention was only drawn to it because Wood's chest was heaving as it often did when he got passionate and Katie thought that that was quite hot).

"It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to," said Wood, finishing with a large, angry sigh. Katie had to admit that he looked really quite hot when he got all agitated like that.

"So no pressure, Harry," said Fred. Katie barked a laugh that sounded very forced. How Fred could joke around at a time like this, she would never know.

The team walked onto the pitch and their fans roared and cheered for them. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were cheering for the Gryffindors as well, Katie noticed. Most likely because they hate Slytherin with almost as much passion as Gryffindor.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and the game had begun.

At first Gryffindor seemed to be doing well, then Angelina got sandwiched between two burly Slytherin Chasers and she dropped the ball. Another Slytherin picked it up and took it away. He made a shot and Wood missed it by inches. A cheer echoed from the Slytherin side of the stadium. Katie noted that her two cousins Danielle and Jessica Sweet were cheering with Slytherin.

Of course they'd cheer for them, Katie thought to herself as she zig zagged up the field, passing the ball back and forth with Alicia Spinnet. Not only is Jessie in Slytherin, but my two cousins have always hated me. Jessie and Dani (as Katie affectionately called them, much to their chagrin) were orphaned at a young age and were forced to live with Katie and her parents. They always despised Katie and her parents because they are an actual family, and the two orphaned sisters lack the family sense.

The ball was stolen from Alicia just as she was about to make a shot. And another goal for Slytherin was scored. Then Angelina was about to take a shot with no Keeper in sight and a Bludger hit her out of nowhere and she lost the Quaffle. Another goal was scored for Slytherin.

When the score was 60-0, Wood called for a much needed time out. Slytherin was much faster and much stronger and much much more rough.

"What's going on?" asked Wood once the team was huddled together, away from the sneers and laughs of the Slytherin team. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina from scoring?"

"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," George said (or maybe that was Fred), with a tinge of annoyance in his tone. "Someone's fixed it - it won't leave Harry alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done somthing to it." Katie looked to Harry, looking slightly frazzled.

"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then..." Wood said. Katie didn't know what to say. They were getting beaten in all aspects of this game, and the odds just didn't look good.

Finally Harry spoke up. "Listen," he said, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one." The girls all gasped, as they felt an emotional attachment to Harry. Throughout all of the hard Quidditch practices, he had become like a younger brother that they had to protect.

"Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off."

Alicia finally stood up. "Oliver, this is insane. You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry-"

"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" Harry exclaimed. He seemed very anxious to Katie. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"

"This is all your fault," George said, very angrily to Oliver. His face was as red as his hair, although that might have also been because of the cold rain that was coming down harder now than it had been that morning. "'Get the Snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell him-"

By that time Madame Hooch had joined them. She asked if they were ready to resume playing and Oliver confirmed that they were. He reminded Fred and George to leave Harry alone to deal with it, which was completely against every team member's instincts. But Oliver was the Captain and what he said, went.

It was cold in the air, and the team was low in the dumps. After every missed goal, Katie would look up to see Harry careening around on his broom, almost as if he was riding one of those roller coasters she had seen at the theme park near her house. She felt so bad for him, but then again he wasn't the only one being bested at the moment.

Gryffindor was losing. Badly.

Katie wasn't one to give up, but she was finding it very hard to find a light at the end of that particular tunnel.

And then she saw a large scarlet and gold bundle fall out of the sky right in front of her.

"Harry!"

And there it is :) Sorry for the cliffhanger but maybe three reviews will help me put up the next chapter just a bit faster? We'll have to see!

Review please!