Hermione, Draco, and James found that November was exciting. Once the troll had been taken care of, the school had calmed down. The Gryffindors still talked about how they were sure they could have taken it on, but everyone else just rolled their eyes.
"You ready?" James asked about the game that was scheduled for the next week.
"We're ready," Hermione said. "Are you?"
James grimaced. He was a natural flier. But he didn't have as much experience as the people who had grown up in the wizarding world.
"As ready as I can be. Hope this next week makes me feel more confident."
"Me too," Hermione said.
Theo rolled his eyes. "As if you couldn't smoke us every single time. I'd guess you're even better than Katie Bell."
"Who's that?" Draco asked.
"One of the chasers for Gryffindor. They tried to keep it quiet. Tried," Theo said.
"Any news who the seeker is?" Blaise asked.
"Some third year I don't know the name of," Draco said. "Not that I care that much. It's Gryffindor."
Daphne sat down gracefully. "Is there a reason we're talking quidditch? I was under the assumption that we were supposed to keep that quiet."
"Who told you that?" Theo asked.
"You guys might not be as bad as the Gryffindors, but you aren't the sneakiest," Tracy said.
"Which is expected from eleven year olds," Daphne said.
The morning of the match, the three chasers were nervous.
"Light breakfast," Daphne said. "Don't eat too much."
"Wasn't planning on it," James said. He looked pale.
"We'll be good. Just remember to avoid the Weasleys," Hermione said. "Though that shouldn't be hard."
"More like avoid the aim of them," Draco said. "Considering how in sync those two are, we shouldn't have too much trouble. The one will give off the moves of the second."
"Just avoid bludgers," James mumbled. He ate his toast slowly, trying to not scarf it and make himself sick. He just wanted breakfast to be over.
"Are you nervous?" Tracy asked.
"No," Draco and Hermione said in unison.
"Yes," James answered at the same time.
"Mixed responses," Theo said. "Probably not good."
"Were you expecting anything different?" Blaise asked. "Evans here isn't exactly the most experienced. Shouldn't he be a bit nervous?"
"He'll be great," Hermione said. "James has put in the effort. And he's kept up with his studies. So there's not much to worry about. And it's Gryffindor. They barely have a good seeker."
"I'm so glad that we haven't heard much about that. Do you know how impossible it would be to ignore them if they were even slightly confident about the outcome?" Daphne asked.
"Yeah," Theo said. "Just watch out for the chasers. Those girls are apparently rough."
"Katie Bell's only a year older than us," Tracy added. "She can't be that good."
Hermione and Draco shared a look. They were both aware that age wasn't necessarily a good indicator of someone's skill. Draco was pretty good at rugby and he was small for his league.
They finished breakfast and headed off to the locker rooms. Once they were dressed in their green robes, they all felt much more confident.
Flint gave a short speech about the game. There was a big boost of morale amongst the team.
"Oh," Terrene Higgs spoke up. "Don't cheat. No one's going to expect us to play clean but that means we have to be even cleaner than every other team."
The three chasers nodded. They knew just how much the rest of the school distrusted them. And the fact that they had made the team wasn't likely to help that. But they were good. Snape wouldn't have let them join if they weren't.
Once they were on the field the crowd seemed far away. They mounted and flew up.
The commentator was one of the Gryffindors who seemed to be very interested in Angelina Johnson. Though, he seemed to be pretty hot on all three of the Gryffindor chasers. Which didn't seem to amuse anyone.
Hermione, Draco, and James found themselves spinning, chasing, and whirling through the air as they scored the first five goals. Flint and Warrington kept the Weasley twins busy scrambling for the bludgers. It was a pretty good game for the first half.
Then James' broom started jerking. Hermione hovered next to him, quaffle in hand.
"You okay?" she shouted.
"Broom won't work," he yelled back at her.
"You and Malfoy go hound those posts," Flint called her. "We'll take care of Evans."
Hermione swirled and picked up passing the quaffle off to Draco. They tossed it back and forth, complicated maneuvers keeping them focused on the target. They scored several more goals before Hermione got a glimpse of the teacher's section.
Snape was looking at James, but he wasn't the only one. Quirrell was as well.
Once the quaffle was back in play Hermione signaled subtly to Draco. They played around, teasing the Gryffindor chasers. And then Hermione took the quaffle and spinned directly over the teacher's box. She knocked into Quirrel and felt a slight jolt through her.
She tossed the quaffle up and saw Draco catch it before she spun herself steady and headed over to catch up with the boys. They only managed to score one more goal before Terrence caught the snitch. There was a huge cheer and all the players landed.
"You got yourself a nice team Flint," Wood said.
"You too. I hope you win the rest of your matches."
They walked off the field, and cleaned up. Once everyone had showered they were back in the common room.
"So, what exactly does Quirrell have to do with this?" Theo asked.
"Don't know yet," Hermione mumbled. "But it feels bad. Whatever spell he was using would have to be strong."
"You aren't hurt are you?" James asked.
"My back's a little sore. It's mostly like I got shocked."
James winced a little. He didn't know what a contact like that could do to a person. And Hermione wasn't one to make a big deal of injuries. If she said it hurt, it probably was pretty bad.
"That's it," Draco said. "We're going to see Madame Pomfrey."
A/N: Hope you guys like this one. It was interesting to try and write the game. Hope I didn't make anyone too upset with it.