On Saturday, October 24th, 2020. the first Quidditch match of the season was held as Gryffindor took on Slytherin.
This was a few weeks earlier than normal but as both Gryffindor and Slytherin had had ample practices both Gryffindor captain Wesley Wood and Slytherin captain Ernie McMillian Jr. were okay with this.
As Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Stephanie. Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily entered the Gryffindor changing room and put on their scarlet Quidditch robes, Lily looked around at Ainsley and something sank in on her.
Lily then looked around at all her teammates and made an emotional plea.
"Hey, " said Lily emotionally, "As you all know, this is Ainsley's last year at Hogwarts. Therefore, this year is her finally opportunity to win a Quidditch Cup with Gryffindor. Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Samantha, Stephanie, I say we should dedicate this season to Ainsley."
Lily had an idea, but she would need six helpers. She therefore said, "Wesley, Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Samantha, Stephanie please come here. "
Wesley, Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Samantha, and Stephanie all crowed around Lily and she whispered something quietly in their ears.
Next nanosecond Wesley, Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily all raised their wands above their heads.
Wesley, Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily all waved their wands in the air and next nanosecond the word A-I-N-S-L-E-Y was spelled out in the air in glowing neon letters.
Wesley, Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily then waved their wands a second time and to the right of A-I-N-S-L-E-Y appeared the message WE LOVE YOU!
Ainsley felt her insides warm to the point of feeling blue hot as she looked up at the moving tribute her captain and teammates had just given her.
"Thanks, everyone, for the tribute," said Ainsley meaningfully, "I am very touched. And especially thank you, Lily for the dedication."
"The rest of us will have other opportunities in the future," said Lily passionately, "But for Ainsley, this season is it. It's her last chance at another Quidditch Cup. Let's all put our hearts and souls into winning the 2020-2021 Quidditch Cup for Ainsley."
Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all looked directly at Ainsley and chorused "Win one for Ainsley!"
Ainsley felt something special hitting her heart as the team galloped out onto the pitch. Everyone was committed to making this season special for her.
These people were truly her friends and not just her teammates.
Fittingly, it was Ainsley who took the opening faceoff for Gryffindor. She was feeding off the emotion of the day and felt a kindred spirit inside of her.
Unlike the previous year's Gryffindor-Slytherin match, the weather was perfect. It was 75 degrees and the sky was blue and clear.
James was calling the commentary as usual.
"Ainsley Cochlain of Gryffindor opening up against Megan Nash of Slytherin. Madam Macavoy tosses the quaffle into the air. Cochlain out jumps Nash to gain possession of the Quaffle for Gryffindor. " called James through the microphone, "Cochlain looks north up pitch. Dursley is wide open. Cochlain tosses the quaffle ahead to Dursley, PERFECT PASS! Prevent drifts too far left. Dursley short shot towards the right hoop. DEVON DURSLEY SCORES! 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"
It couldn't have been more fitting, Ainsley with her special season and Devon finally playing in his first match, hooking up for the first goal of the Quidditch season.
Devon was quickly erasing the doubts his poor practices had given Wesley about keeping him on the team.
"Bortles with possession of the quaffle. Bortles throws a pass for Hafner. Intercepted by Dursley! Bortles, Hafner and Nash don't realize what has happened and are still flying towards the south end of the pitch. This leaves Dursley, Cochlain, and Weasley by themselves. Prevent plays the middle hoop, Dursley has Weasley on his left and Cochlain on his right. Dursley with an underhanded pass to Cochlain. Prevent moves right. Cochlain shoots. SHE'S BEATEN HIM! AINSLEY COCHLAIN SCORES! GRYFFINDOR LEADS 20-0!"
Things couldn't be going any better.
Devon, Ainsley, and Roxanne worked in a perfect tandem. It was jaw dropping how their passes could hit each perfectly in the hands. It was as though it was Joe Montana throwing to Jerry Rice. This set up excellent scoring chances on easy shots.
Eventually, Devon and Ainsley would score goal five goals apiece. Roxanne didn't have much to do in this match in terms of shooting, but she didn't mind if her team won. Besides, this was Ainsley's special year and Devon's first ever match. They deserved the glory on this day. And Roxanne had never given a damn about the spotlight anyway. Just win baby. Sometimes, that meant stepping aside and letting teammates shine. Devon and Ainsley were shooting so well that why should she try to shoot. She was more valuable to her team passing today and as long as Gryffindor won, that was all good.
Unfortunately for Slytherin, Megan, Nicole, and Natalie got very frustrated after Gryffindor's second goal and started playing poorly, dropping passes left and right and getting a small number of shots on goal. And Samantha saved the few shots they did get on goal with ease, bragging about it every time.
"No one's EVER scoring on me," she would smirk as she puffed out her chest.
Fred and Stephanie didn't have as much to do as in some prior matches as the bludgers seemed docile on this day. It seemed easy for Fred and Stephanie to swat them away with gentle taps of their bats when they did become a factor.
Finally, Lily saw the snitch hovering towards midpitch and made a sharp turn. Unfortunately, Lily had overflown the snitch. But was that going to deter Gryffindor? Not if Lily had anything to say about it. There was a major advantage to the fact that Lily was wearing flip flops. Though Lily had zoomed past the snitch, it was still visible to her behind her.
Lily stuck her left foot out behind and tried to catch the snitch with her toes.
Incredibly...
"Lily Potter has the snitch in between her the two leftmost toes on her left foot," announced James in amazement, "Unfortunately the rules of Quidditch require hand possession for a catch to count. "
Upon hearing this, Lily bent down and plucked the snitch out of her toes with her right hand. She then secured her right hand into a fist and held it around the snitch for several seconds.
"LILY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" yelled James ecstatically, "GRYFFINDOR WINS 250-0! YES! YES! YES!"
Fred, Devon, Roxanne, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily all ran towards the center of pitch and shared a gigantic group hug.
Wesley and James quickly ran to join them and Albus and Hugo also ran down from the stands.
"Big sis!" exalted James radiantly, "That was the most resourceful play I've ever seen by a Quidditch player. Using your toes to gain possession of the snitch was truly ingenious!"
"Big sis," beamed Albus in an equally proud voice, "That was a perfect way for you to win a match. You should keep this snitch and hang it in our trophy room at Potter Manor next to the snitch you caught in your first match last year."
"Thanks a lot, baby bros," smiled Lily, "I can't wait to hear what dad thinks of what I did today. But it wasn't all about me. Samantha shut out Slytherin as usual."
"Of course, "said Samantha boastfully, "I'm the best damn Keeper in the world and you better know it. In fact, I'm the best athlete in the world. Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Mike Trout, etc., all have NOTHING on me. I gave us yet another shutout and have NEVER let a goal in in either soccer or Quidditch. YOU LIKE THAT! YOU LIKE THAT!"
"And let's not forget the play of Devon and Ainsley at Chaser," said Lily.
"Hey, Devon, you now have the Chaser spot permanently. Your practices may not be great, but you have shown you come to play when it's all on the line." Said Wesley proudly.
"Didn't I tell you that would happen?" grinned Hugo.
"Yes, you did, "admitted Wesley, "After Devon won the Chaser trail fair and square, it was wrong of me to try to bump him from the team without letting him play in a match first."
Devon went up to Hugo and embraced him.
"Hugo," said Devon with his eyes watering, "Thank you. Thank you for sticking up for me at your own expense when you knew it was right thing to do. You could easily have jumped at the opportunity Wesley presented you to take my Chaser spot and didn't. I had my rightful opportunity today because of your spirit of friendship and fair mindedness."
"Hugo, like all Weasleys not named Ron, has always been infinitely fair minded," said Lily proudly, "Besides, he'll get another chance next year when Ainsley is gone."
"Lily, you gave me great encouragement all along. From convincing me to lose weight and change my eating habits to persuading me to try out to believing all along that I could do what I did today, your support never wavered."
"Devon, I couldn't be prouder of you and Gryffindor couldn't have gained a better new player this year. You've come so far from being that fat boy you were last year," Said Lily warmly.
"Big sis, do not use that offensive three letter f word," asked James.
"Sorry about that baby bro," said Lily quickly, "And Ainsley, you were awesome out there today."
"I want to make my last year a good one," said Ainsley fiercely, "I fed off the emotion of having the season dedicated to me and being given such a heartfelt tribute. I love all my teammates with all my heart, and it matters deeply that me that my teammates care so much."
Ainsley felt this within her and so did Lily and everyone else.
This team truly had a special bond.