Theodore Nott cursed internally as he paced around the otherwise empty dorm room. The Easter holidays were over and he hadn't been able to carry out any acts of revenge. He had at first thought to target the whole of the 'Gryffindor quintet', only to realize that even if he got Crabbe and Goyle to back him up, he was still outnumbered and the five of them would overpower his trio, especially as Crabbe and Goyle weren't that skilled at offensive or defensive spells. Then he thought of somehow getting the Romanov twins alone, but they were always with their friends whenever they left the Gryffindor common room, or with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Finally, Theodore had written a note pretending that their cousin Jonas had wanted to speak with them in private and sent it to them, but that hadn't worked either. Instead, after Alex had read the note, which had been delivered with the rest of the mail at breakfast, he had gotten up and headed to the Slytherin table. "Jonas, you said you wanted to speak to me and Beth in private?"
Jonas, who had been talking to Caleb Selwyn and Astoria Greengrass, interrupted his conversation to look confused and say, "No, I didn't. What gave you that idea, Alex?"
"Well, I got a note supposedly from you that said you did," Alex replied. "I wanted to confirm if it was true, since you don't normally use a school owl, but would use the owl you share with Ivan, I don't think the handwriting of the note is yours, and if you really needed to speak to Beth and me privately, you'd more likely go to us directly and request a private meeting."
"Let me see the note, please." Jonas had scanned the piece of parchment that was handed over and said, "That is definitely not my handwriting. I think someone is trying to trick you and Beth to going somewhere so that they can play some sort of prank on you."
Astoria then piped up with, "My sister told me that she heard from Draco that Theodore Nott is still mad at you and your sister. Draco thinks that Nott might still want to get some form of revenge on you."
"That's probably what it is," Alex said. "Nott wants to get Beth and me alone so he can do something to us. Well, I don't have proof, but I can at least turn the note in to Professor McGonagall and let her look into it. She ought to recognize Nott's handwriting, unless he disguised it. Thanks, Astoria."
Theodore, who had seen and heard all this, had only been able to snarl at that particular plan being foiled, curse Astoria, Draco, and Daphne, and vow to be a little more careful if Draco was suspecting that Theodore hadn't stopped his vendetta. At least he had taken the precaution of disguising his handwriting by the simple expedient of writing with his left hand, so the note couldn't be pinned to him. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape had questioned him after breakfast, but he had denied all knowledge of it. Since Truth Potions couldn't be used on underage witches and wizards without parental consent, and then only in connection with a court case, the two Heads let him go for lack of concrete evidence, though Professor Snape still looked suspicious.
He had then tried to come up with other plans to get the Romanov twins alone, but hadn't been able to come up with anything. At that point, he was desperate enough to just hide somewhere and hit them with a spell as they passed by, but the school term resumed, which meant he was back on suspension and the chance was lost.
Then he had thought of getting the Slytherin Quidditch team and some of his housemates in attacking Alex and Beth, since the final match of the year, which was between Slytherin and Gryffindor, was taking place the Saturday after the Easter holidays. After all, Alex was the Seeker for the Gryffindor team and his twin was the reserve, which would incite at least some Slytherins into wanting to take out the competition. Unfortunately, this plan never actually came into fruition, for the Gryffindors, or at least their Captain Oliver Wood, anticipated it happening and Alex and Beth were not only surrounded by their friends, but by their dormmates and at least a couple of other Gryffindors at all times in public.
Maybe I ought to concede defeat for now, Theodore thought. Professor Snape won't take off probation until the end of the school term, and if I get caught doing something, he could extend it to the next school year. I can spend the summer coming up with ways to get back at the Romanov twins and then do something to them next year.
With that decided, he stopped pacing and settled down to write the Potions essay Professor Snape had assigned.
The day of the final Quidditch match of the school year dawned clear and sunny with only a few clouds. Other than maybe some visibility problems due to the sun, the weather conditions were perfect. The entire school, with the exception of Professor Snape, the more neutral teachers, and Slytherin house (except for Ivan and Jonas, who chose to support their cousin over their house) were supporting Gryffindor, all of them wearing red rosettes or some other symbol of their support. In fact, the Ravenclaw quintet were showing their support in a rather unique way. Luna, Ginny, and Leah were wearing jewelry that they (or Vera) had transfigured to show lion heads and the Gryffindor crest and nail polish of sparkling red and gold stripes. All five of them were wearing red hats that had gold lions crushing green snakes underneath their paws emblazoned on them. They also wore pins that depicted lion heads, which made a roaring sound when tapped, and red and gold rosettes were liberally scattered on the sleeves and hems of their robes (and in Leah's case, red skirt and gold top.)
Beth and Alex's parents, along with Sirius, came to watch the match, wearing red rosettes to show their support for Gryffindor as well. However, when Sirius saw what the Ravenclaw quintet was wearing, he declared that it was an excellent idea and transfigured his hat to look like theirs and spelled the Gryffindor crest on his robes to roar as well.
The match started off quite well, though it seemed that Marcus Flint had decided to go for size over skill (at least according to Lee Jordan's commentary), since he had changed his lineup of players and all of them were the big, burly type, except for Draco Malfoy, who looked small in comparison. Mindful of the fact that Gryffindor had to be in the lead by more that fifty points before Alex could catch the Snitch, or they'd win the match but lose the Cup, he focused on dodging Bludgers and doing his best to keep Malfoy from spotting the Snitch before then.
At one point, when the score was at thirty-zero, Gryffindor, Alex spotted the Snitch fluttering by the foot of one of the Gryffindor goalposts. As he couldn't catch it yet and he didn't want Malfoy to see, he instead faked a look of concentration, pulled his Firebolt around, and sped off for the Slytherin end. The feint worked, for Malfoy, thinking that Alex had seen the Snitch there, went haring after him.
While Malfoy was apparently playing a clean game, at least in regards to his opposite (probably because of the truce), the same couldn't be said of the rest of the Slytherin team. They were enraged that Gryffindor had taken an early lead and were now resorting to any means to take the Quaffle. One of their Beaters, Bole, hit Alicia with his club and tried to say that he'd thought she was a Bludger. George elbowed Bole in the face in retaliation and Madam Hooch awarded both teams penalties. Wood was able to pull off a spectacular save, while Alicia scored, making the score forty-ten to Gryffindor.
The score was seventy-ten to Gryffindor when Alex spotted the Snitch, sparkling about twenty feet above him. He went streaking after it, Malfoy in close pursuit. Since Alex had the faster broom, he got there first and was just about to grab the Snitch when he felt his Firebolt slowing down for some reason. He gave a little leap and grabbed the Snitch before it could fly away, then turned his head around just in time to see Malfoy let go of the tail of the Firebolt, a disappointed look on his face. Apparently what had happened was that he thought to grab the Firebolt's tail in the hope of slowing it down and keep Alex from catching the Snitch, but it had obviously failed.
In the normal course of things, Malfoy would have been told off for that behavior and Gryffindor would have been awarded a penalty, but as Alex had caught the Snitch, the match was over and everyone (except the Slytherins) were too busy celebrating Gryffindor's win to pay much attention to that. The rest of the Gryffindor team surrounded Alex as Malfoy flew off, shouting "We've won the Cup!" Tangled in a many-armed hug, the Gryffindor team sank, yelling hoarsely, back to earth.
Wave upon wave of crimson supporters was pouring over the barriers onto the field. Alex's parents managed to give him brief hugs and exclamations of congratulations before he and the rest of the team were hoisted onto the shoulders of the crowd. Thrust into the light, he saw Hagrid, plastered with crimson rosettes, the Ravenclaw quintet and Sirius tossing their hats into the air with joy, and Percy and Vera, jumping up and down like maniacs and hugging each other, before pausing to kiss each other. The rest of the Gryffindor quintet fought their way over, beaming widely. Beth and Neville were holding hands, and Ron and Hermione hugged each other.
The four of them apparently were unable to speak, so joyous were they over the win. Instead they just continued beaming as the Gryffindor team went to the where Professor Dumbledore was waiting with the Quidditch Cup. A sobbing Oliver happily took the Cup and handed it to Alex. As Alex took it and lifted it in the air, he felt more happiness than he had ever felt before in his life. A cheer came from his mouth, which was echoed by everyone around him.