Not Just a Game

NOT JUST A GAME

"Harry! Watch out!"

Flying on his new Freezestick 2005, Harry swerved sharply to the side just in time to dodge a Bludger going no less than 100 mph. His somewhat lengthy jet black hair was blown upward by its passing wind.

Angry that the distraction made him lose sight of the Snitch, Harry shot up into the air and began searching the field again. That's when he saw Malfoy take a steep dive towards the ground. This was the Quidditch finals of seventh year...Harry could not afford to lose. He would not lose. He plunged through the air by lying flat on his racing broom and watched as Malfoy's broom tail grew bigger.

Then, as suddenly as the Slytherin Seeker had taken the dive, he pulled up and away. Harry panicked for half a second, then recognizing Malfoy's attempt at a Wronski Feint, he too pulled away. Malfoy was always too cowardly to be able to pull off a Wronski Feint; his weakness was that he always pulled out way too early, giving his opponent ample time to register the trick.

Harry floated randomly in the air as he made his broom parallel to the ground. He watched Ron make a close save, then on the other side, Ginny made a goal. That tied up the score, seventy to seventy; now, whoever catches the Snitch wins. Malfoy was circling the fields, obviously waiting for Harry to find the Snitch.

Squinting his eyes, he saw it. It was dancing merrily around the bottom of the Slytherin goal posts; no other players were there. Malfoy was much closer to it than he was though. It would be too risky if he were to take a sudden dive, but how else was he going to get it?

Taking a deep breath and gathering seven years of practice and skill, he made a dash for it. He now kicked his feet back to the straw end of the broom as well as leaned forward onto it. He looked like a slug wrapped around a tree branch; from far away, it was hard to tell that there was an eighteen-year-old-boy holding on for dear life.

To his misfortune, Malfoy caught on much quicker than he would have liked, and he too raced towards the Snitch. Harry outstretched his catching arm, hoping that it's three foot length would help him win the game as it did many times before. But the Snitch was almost twenty yards away, and Malfoy was getting there much faster than he was. Then suddenly, the little golden ball twitched and spun away. Harry heard Malfoy curse it angrily (since he was undoubtedly less than two yards away from victory), but that didn't stop him from continuing his pursuit of the Snitch.

The Snitch had flown its way towards Harry, but not much. It paused for a second in midair. He and Malfoy were now at equal distance with it. They glared each other in the eyes and then sped at it with full speed.

The crowd gasped in one loud "HUUUUH", and the game above them paused; everyone was watching the two of them now. The crash happened in less than two seconds, but it was the most crucial two seconds in the whole three-hour game. It looked like Malfoy's hand had caught the Snitch first, but no one could be sure, since Harry came at a different angle. Both boys flew off their brooms and crashed onto the grass field below once contact was made. One arm from each boy was outstretched, and it looked as if they were holding onto each other. Despite the embarrassing scene, neither was willing to let go.

Madam Hooch ran to them with her whistle clamped tightly between her teeth. What she saw amazed her...nothing like this had ever happened before. Her jaw fell open a bit, allowing the whistle to collapse onto her windbreaker.

Harry had the Snitch in his hand alright, he held it with four fingers on top and his thumb clamped it firmly on the bottom, but what amazed the judge was that Malfoy was also holding the Snitch, in the exact same position, except that his hand occupied the two sides of the Snitch that Harry's didn't. Both of them had their hands on the Snitch, and both of them held it equally.

Stumped by the situation, especially since the score was tied, Madam Hooch decided to take the game into a death round: whichever team scored the next goal would win the championship. That meant Draco and Harry were out of the game. This did not bode well for either of them.

Both teams called a time out. Malfoy gave his teammates a sermon full of threatening encouragements. Everyone knew what was on the line for both Harry and Draco. It was rather silly, but the deal was made and it had to be carried out. Harry was a bit nicer to his team, but he got the same message across. The huddles were then broken up and the death round began.

Harry watched from his side of the field while Malfoy watched from the opposite end. Both had their arms crossed and watched without blinking their eyes once. On the Slytherin team was Crabbe and Goyle as the Beaters (amazingly enough - Madam Hooch strengthened the wood of their brooms to keep them from snapping in two under their weight), then there was Blaise Zabini as the Keeper (he was fast and flexible - so far, only Ginny had been able to score on him). One of the three Chasers was Theodore Nott, the other two were sixth years that Malfoy probably didn't even know the names of.

On the Gryffindor team, Ron was the Keeper (with much improvement since his first year). Ginny signed up for Chaser along with two younger students (one which included Colin Creevey - Harry only admitted him because he knew someone had to lead the team after his class graduated). The Beaters were Seamus and Dean (which was quite unexpected, but the spots needed to be filled after the twins left). All in all, the team got along really well and won most of their matches (no one held the honor of being undefeated).

Malfoy groaned as he watched Ginny steal the Quaffle from one of his sixth years. He cursed Blaise for having an affair with her last year; ever since, she was able to make every goal that she shot at him. He was obviously still in love with her, but she decided that it would be better for the both of them if she broke off their "unhealthy" relationship.

Crabbe slammed a Bludger in her direction, causing her to swerve off course. She threw the ball to Creevey, and he made a pathetic attempt for a goal. Blaise easily stopped the Quaffle three feet away from the hoop. He then threw the Quaffle to one of the sixth years. The little Slytherin boy, who now held the Quaffle, sped through the other players to the other side of the field. He was fast. He pitched the Quaffle with all his might, but Ron beat it away with the back of his broom. Ginny caught it and headed back towards Blaise.

Harry scanned the crowd to see where Hermione chose to sit this time. He scanned the Slytherin side first, and she wasn't there. That brightened his mood a bit, but when he couldn't find her on the Gryffindor side either, he was back to being sulky.

Malfoy saw what Harry was doing, but he didn't bother checking the crowds today. It didn't matter anymore. Hermione could root Harry on, or she could root him on, but after this game, only one of them would be left to take care of her. So it didn't matter. He and Harry made a deal to end the love triangle between themselves and Hermione. Whoever lost this game had to walk away from her and leave her to the victor.

Another hour packed with false alarms had passed, and still no one had made a goal. It was obvious that all the players were starting to tire out, but the crowd was still as energetic as ever. They gasped every time a Quaffle got within ten feet of the hoops and cheered/jeered every time it got passed between teams.

Then, finally, it happened. With a swing of a tired arm, and pure luck that the Keeper was distracted by a Bludger...a goal was made. A decisive goal was made. The crowd went wild, well, half of the crowd did. The other side jeered and cursed the game. Harry and Malfoy had no reaction, this game was far too important for one goal to end; neither of them really comprehended the fact that the decision was made...that the game was over.

They simply stared at their teams as they lowered themselves onto the pitch. Then they stared at each other. That was it. It was over.

Gryffindor had won.