The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. The Slytherin first team were looking very smug indeed, and none more so than Malfoy.

'Ah, if only my arm was feeling a bit better!' he sighed, as the gale outside pounded the windows.

At dinner that evening, Harry, Ron and Hermione told us about an incident that had occurred during Défense Against the Dark Arts, where Snape had been covering for an ill Lupin. He had ignored everything they were supposed to be doing and instead insisted on teaching a lesson about werewolves, which they weren't due to start for ages yet. He had criticised everything from Lupin's teaching methods to Hermione's eagerness to answer questions, and given Ron a detention for defending Hermione.

"He gave you a detention for criticising his teaching, yet he spent all lesson criticising Lupin's? What a hypocritical twat!" I said

"I know. I don't understand how Dumbledore puts up with it" replied Ron

Hermione still looked upset by what Snape said to her.

"Cheer up mate, we've got Quidditch tomorrow!" I said, patting her on the back.

"Oh yeah, in this weather, that's gonna be so fun!" she said

"I'm looking forward to it. Most people don't want to play in this weather, but I do. I need a challenge, and if I want to go pro one day I may as well get used to it"

"Not everyone loves Quidditch as much as you Ginny. Believe me, I do love it, but in these conditions I'd rather be reading by the common room fire"

"Well, you are going to be playing, so just grit your teeth and get on with it. Trust me, once you're in the thick of it and focusing all your energy on chasing, the weather won't bother you"

"I can only hope you're right"

Matchday arrived, and I was in the stands along with the first team to watch the reserve game. The weather had not let up, so we were all sat under a special Gryffindor canvas cover. I watched Alicia shake hands in the centre circle with Hufflepuff reserve captain Summerby, and briefly I wondered if he was related to the pro player with that name.

Hermione looked like she'd shaken off her negative feelings, as she looked really determined as she lined up alongside Demelza and Alicia. Once the game started, it became clear that I was right, as the three of them were just as effective as usual. Hermione scored 3 goals within the first 15 minutes, Alicia and Demelza also fired in a couple of their own, so the score was very quickly 70-30 to Gryffindor. After half an hour, it was 140-90, and it began to get quite a bit dirtier. First, Alicia was rear ended by a Hufflepuff chaser, but Demelza missed the resulting penalty. Then, Sloper made an illegal blocking move on Summerby, and frustratingly that penalty was scored.

At this point it looked like our heads had started to drop, as Alicia was unseated by a bludger. She wasn't badly hurt, but nonetheless had to go off and therefore Mary took part in a match for the first time. I could only hope that she and Demelza could put aside our current differences for the sake of the game, but sadly it appeared they couldn't, as they made a point of only passing to Hermione. She did score several goals through this, but it was no where near as effective as it would have been had all 3 of them been working together.

After another 20 minutes of this had passed, I stood up and yelled "DEMELZA, MARY, STOP BEING IMMATURE GITS AND WORK TOGETHER! YOU'RE TEAMMATES, ACT LIKE IT!"

Before they could, however, a loud cheer went up from the Hufflepuffs, as Summerby had caught the snitch to win them the game. This was extremely frustrating, as since Mary had come on, Hufflepuff hadn't scored a single goal, so if we had just played properly, then we may have scored enough goals to negate that snitch catch.

We entered the changing rooms to see Demelza and Mary being told off by Alicia for their lack of togetherness. Demelza at least looked remorseful, but Mary seemed indifferent.

"Sorry" Demelza said as she passed us.

I didn't even answer, I was too annoyed. I just had to work extra hard to make sure we won our game. We changed into our scarlet robes and waited for Wood's usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn't come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd gulping noise, then shook his head hopelessly and beckoned us to follow him. The wind was so strong that we staggered sideways as we walked out onto the pitch. The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the pitch, wearing canary-yellow robes. The captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood now looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded.

I saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, 'Mount your brooms.'

I pulled my right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over my Cleansweep Eleven. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant – we were off.

I rose as fast as I could and I saw Angelina grab the Quaffle and charge towards the hoops. I ducked a Bludger and called out for a pass, which she made. I then looked around for Katie, but couldn't see her in the rain and my moment of indecision cost me, as a Hufflepuff chaser snatched the Quaffle from my hands, and that led to them scoring the opening goal. I swore to myself and vowed from that moment to just try and score whenever I had the Quaffle for the rest of the game. Eventually we managed to establish a 50 point lead, and at that point Wood called for a timeout. We all landed and gathered under a large umbrella at the edge of the pitch.

Harry took off his glasses and wiped them hurriedly on his robes.

'What's the score?'

'We're fifty points up,' said Wood, 'but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night.'

'I've got no chance with these on,' Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses. At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming.

'I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!'

He handed them to her and, as the team watched in amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand and said, 'Impervius!'

'There!' she said, handing them back to Harry. 'They'll repel water!'

Wood looked as though he could have kissed her.

'Brilliant!' he called hoarsely after her, as she disappeared into the crowd. 'OK, team, let's go for it!'

The game continued, and I scored 4 goals. It seemed like momentum was really in our favour, but suddenly, everything changed. I had the Quaffle in my hands once again, but then I felt a cold that was not natural, nothing to do with the weather. I looked down, what I saw made me drop the Quaffle. At least 100 Dementors were on the pitch. I struggled to concentrate, the sounds of the match had disappeared and were replaced with that of Tom Riddle's voice. My broom dropped a few feet and that startled me back into reality, just in time to see someone falling through the air, too far away to catch. I had no doubt who it was though. Speeding towards the ground, seemingly on his way to death, was Harry.