Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor

Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor

On the morning of our match against Gryffindor, I woke up feeling nauseous. You'd be nauseous, too, if you were playing opposite from Harry Potter. I mean, he's the one who caught the Snitch while being attacked by a cursed Bludger! And two years ago, he finished a game after just five minutes! Not to mention the fact that he started playing for his house in his first year... And that practically never happens. So I think I had a very good reason not to feel so well.

Anyway, after carefully applying a hair-combing charm that was sure to last until the evening (When you're playing Quidditch with so many boys, you just have to make sure you look perfect), I went down to try and eat something. Marietta was already there, she never has the patience to wait for me, which is really unfair. Merlin knows that I always wait for her while she chooses the exact make-up color she wants for the day.

Just as I was wondering whether I'll be able to eat any of my toast, Penelope Clearwater - she's one of our prefects - came running to our table.

"You won't believe what I've just seen!" she announced.

"A Blibbering Humdinger?" a voice asked brightly. Turning around, I saw that weird second-year girl; Something Livegood is her name, I think. She has really big eyes, and absolutely strange earrings, and she always looks lost. Oh, and she keeps on inventing all those imaginary creatures, only she thinks they really exist. I sometimes wonder how she got sorted into Ravenclaw, the girl hasn't got a drop of common sense. Sorting Hat's going senile, I expect. Today she decorated her robes with some sort of apron, with an eagle's head protruding out of it. At least she has some proper house spirit.

"Luna," - so that's her name - "there are no such - oh, never mind!" Penelope exclaimed. "Harry Potter's got a Firebolt!"

I stared, open-mouthed. This day was getting progressively worse.

"He's got what?" shrieked Roger (our captain, he's kind of cute), and ran off towards the Gryffindor table. When he came back, he had that determined look on his face he always gets during especially tough practices. "Team, gather around," he called.

He started talking at once. "We don't care about fancy brooms, alright? We've got the best team around here, and we're definitely going to win today. Just try to play like we did on our match against Hufflepuff -"

Ah, the match against Hufflepuff. Such happy memories... They have the most gorgeous captain, Cedric Diggory, who also happens to be their Seeker. I couldn't get my eyes off him when we were playing, so I ended up trailing him for the entire game, which actually proved useful. He noticed the Snitch first, but as we were getting close to it, I managed to swirl around him, block his way and catch it. I almost made a broom-splitting move there, but luckily for me, I managed to steady myself just in time... I don't want to think what would've happened if I've damaged his broom, I've heard that you could get banned for that foul. But in any case, I caught the ball, and we won, and it was absolutely fantastic. Cedric had this shocked look on his handsome face, and I almost felt sorry for him for a second, but then everyone flew at me, and Roger hugged me, and I kind of forgot about it.

I was whisked back to reality as Roger waved a hand in my face. "Cho, are you listening? Concentrate, we need you today!"

Of course they do. If I hadn't got hit by that Bludger just two days before we played Slytherin, I definitely could have saved our game against them. I did play at first, but then their Beater hit me with his bat in the exact same spot as the Bludger, and that was the end of the game for me. They told me afterwards that Madam Hooch was really angry with him, and awarded us two penalty shots, but that didn't help. Eddie Carmichael replaced me, but he isn't as good as me (Really! It's not by chance that I'm the only girl on our team), so Malfoy managed to catch the Snitch, and Slytherin won. I didn't see it; I was still dizzy from that hit.

"Yes, Roger, I heard everything you said," I told him, even though it wasn't entirely true. I was getting more and more nervous - what chance do I have, with my Comet Two Sixty, against a Firebolt? I love my broom, but it isn't even close to the Firebolt's standard. I guess I'll have to do the same thing I did against Hufflepuff. Hey, if I managed to beat Cedric with his pretty eyes, maybe I can win against Harry Potter as well? He's famous alright, but maybe the sight of a girl flying around him would spin his head just a bit. Yes, that's definitely going to work, I thought, I'll just have to make sure he notices me.

We went out to the pitch after breakfast (which I didn't have), and I relaxed a bit, seeing the perfect weather conditions we had. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and the trees were barely moving.

"I wish it was raining," said Bradley (he's one of our Chasers) in a gloomy voice. "Makes it much easier splashing the Quaffle out."

"You know you're not allowed to do it, Stephan," I remarked.

"So what? Madam Hooch doesn't see everything that's happening on the pitch, and in the rain she's bound to miss it," he said wistfully. I didn't bother answering - boys will never learn how to play fair...

There was a big round of applause, and I saw the Gryffindor team coming out of their locker rooms. Harry was walking next to Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain. When I think about it, Wood's good-looking enough, too. Harry's not bad, either. Quidditch players just have something in them, you know?

I gave Harry a flashing smile, as the Gryffindors faced us. He stared, which meant my plan's working perfectly. Now all I have to do is to fly just next to him, like I did with Cedric, I thought. His broomstick really looked wonderful, and I wondered whether I'll be able to keep up with its speed.

We kicked off at the sound of the whistle, and Harry immediately started circling the stadium. I let him fly around it, and then tailed behind him as he got closer. No matter what, I wasn't going to let him win. Lee Jordan, the commentator, said something about the Firebolt, but I wasn't really listening. I started cutting across Harry as soon as I gathered up enough speed. It worked great, he had to keep changing direction mid flight, and the Firebolt didn't help him one bit.

One of the Gryffindor Beaters yelled something as he flew past us, and Harry took off faster. I was lagging behind for a while there, just as Gryffindor scored their first goal. Suddenly, I saw him diving straight down towards the other end of the pitch. I couldn't let him have it! I sped up, but wasn't close enough to catch up with him. He would've caught it, but luckily Craig (that's our Beater) shot a Bludger at him, and he had to fly to the side. The Snitch, meanwhile, disappeared, and I let out a sigh of relief. No more letting him fly far from me, I decided. I started in his direction, just as McGonaggal yelled something at Jordan. The word Firebolt was the only thing I managed to hear, which didn't improve my mood.

Our team scored a few goals, and I was still too far from Harry for my liking. I got a bit closer, and saw the Snitch flying just by one of Gryffindor's hoops. Harry was farther from it than me, but with the speed of his broomstick, I couldn't risk and try to outfly him. Instead, I've dived quickly, and blocked him, so he had to swerve away once again.

"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!" yelled Wood, "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"

Ha! Complete success! I grinned widely, hanging in the air. Harry flew upward, and I promptly followed. Then I saw him diving once again, and copied the movement quickly. At that moment, I saw the Snitch, far from both of us, on our (Ravenclaw's) end of the stadium. I headed in its direction, silently urging my broomstick to fly faster. I could feel Harry accelerating just above me. He was going to get there first... "Come on," I whispered, lying low over my broom, trying to squeeze some more speed from it.

Suddenly, I saw something black on the ground from the corner of my eye. Against my will, I turned my head, and - "Aaah!" Dementors, here during the match! I froze, unable to move. Something white charged at the black figures, and they fell on the ground. The whole crowd erupted in cheers, and only then I realized - Harry Potter got the Snitch.

We lost.

A/N:
This fic was written in response to a challenge to write about Quidditch, including as many fouls as possible. Thanks to the FFF people who read it already!