Of Silver and Green

Ch. 25 A Tempest of Scarlet and Emerald

The score was tied at thirty and the match had only been going for twenty minutes. Warrington had already taken a Bludger to the solar plexus and had to be removed from the game. Brynne was looking to even the score by taking out Johnson, Gryffindor's strongest Chaser.

Brynne flew to Blaise's side and murmured to him, "Dopplebeater Defense: Johnson."

Blaise nodded and indicated a Bludger that was currently aimed at Rosenbaum. In perfect synchrony, the two Beaters intercepted the Bludger and hit it simultaneously with all their strength towards Johnson, who was currently streaking towards the Slytherin goalposts, Quaffle in hand.

The girl never saw it coming. The Bludger seemed almost to bounce off her back, and it sent her reeling headfirst over the handle of her broom and crashing to the ground with a crunch. Montague retrieved the forgotten Quaffle as Madame Hooch blew her whistle to indicate a time-out. The girl's leg was bent at an unnatural angle that assured that it was broken. After Madame Pomfrey removed Johnson from the pitch, play resumed.

Both sides were even again, but Brynne wasn't happy with that. She needed to take out Harry before he caught sight of the Snitch. 'Not Harry,' she thought to herself. 'Think of him as Potter: your enemy.' Brynne formulated a plan. It was risky, but if it worked, it guaranteed a Slytherin victory. There were a million things that could go wrong, in which case, her sacrifice would be for naught.

Just as Brynne was in mid-flight to Blaise to inform him of her idea, she watched in horror as Harry angled into a steep dive. Draco sped to follow him, but Brynne knew he could never get there in time. She watched in sick fascination as the two boys hurtled towards the ground, mere blurs of crimson and green. Suddenly, she saw Draco veer away, and moments later, only a foot from the ground, she saw Harry do the same. It had been a fake-out. Harry had performed a Wronski Feint, but Draco had recognized it for what it was before he was in any immediate danger. Brynne sighed with relief and flew over to Blaise.

"Blaise," she whispered. "I have an idea on how to remove Potter from the match."

"Oh really?" he asked interestedly.

"Yes. I am going to do something that is going to completely shock everyone, including Potter, although not nearly so much. You can't let yourself be surprised with my actions, understand? The second his attention is on me, you find a Bludger and knock him, as quickly as you can. You know how good his reflexes are."

"Understood."

"And if it's not too much trouble, if I faint and you've got nothing better to do, could you try to catch me before I hit the ground and break all the bones in my body? That just wouldn't fit into my plans for today."

"Ok..." Blaise said hesitantly, giving Brynne a strange look. "Just get to it, alright?"

Brynne circled the pitch, aiming Bludgers at random Gryffindors, trying to find a good place where everyone would be able to see her. She rose up to the middle of the pitch. As she floated there, waiting for Blaise to get into position, a Bludger came sailing at her, presumably in vengeance for what she had done to Johnson. She wondered which of the twins it was, so she could get him back.

Brynne took a deep breath and steeled herself, and whipped back her cowl with a flourish. She glanced around, smirking slightly as the shock registered. In this time, she sent the Bludger that had been meant for her at Harry. He looked at her in shock; obviously surprised she had the gall to do this. He dodged the Bludger, but barely, and as he did, Blaise sent the other Bludger flying at Harry's head.

Brynne saw it in slow-motion, as the Bludger came up behind him and glanced off his temple, yet hitting hard enough to shatter the bow of his glasses and sending him careening to the ground. She watched in abject horror as he crumpled to in a heap in the grass below.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and Pomfrey rushed onto the pitch. Brynne swooped down to hover several feet above Harry's lifeless body. She saw a thin line of blood trickling from his ear and fought valiantly the urge to vomit. She turned away and flew back to Blaise's side.

She looked up into Blaise's face and saw the regret in his hazel eyes. He put his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder, resisting the tears. "Shh," he whispered, as her shoulders began to heave. "Slytherins never show weakness. Don't cry. He'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Brynne nodded and moved away from him. She glanced around, noting the looks of approval from her teammates and the glares on the Gryffindor team's faces. She scowled back at them with an equal intensity. How could they believe she had wanted to do this? She was his friend for Merlin's sake! She had only been doing her job! She sighed, and as Pomfrey removed Harry from the pitch on a stretcher, prepared herself for the onslaught that would undoubtedly come after Hooch restarted the game.

The whistle blew, and as she had expected, the Weasley twins lost no time in sending both Bludgers hurtling towards her. She dodged the first and sent the second flying towards Bell, another Gryffindor Chaser. Bell barely got out of the way in time, but dropped the Quaffle. It was picked up by Montague, who quickly passed it to Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum sank to dodge a Bludger and feinted right, fooling Seamus, as he scored a goal through the center hoop.

"Chaser Rosenbaum has scored Slytherin another ten points, bringing their score up to forty. Too bad Gryffindor's still beating them by twenty! Dirty, rotten cheaters!" Lee Jordan, a very biased Gryffindor, and the announcer, shouted angrily into the megaphone.

"Enough," Brynne heard McGonagall say sharply to Jordan. "They didn't really cheat," she admitted sullenly, almost disappointed that it wasn't true.

"Slytherin scum," Jordan muttered.

The score was sixty-forty in favor of Gryffindor? Brynne must have missed the part where they had scored three times. She redoubled her efforts and zoomed over to Draco to knock away a Bludger that had been aimed at his head, hitting it towards Spinnet, another Gryffindor Chaser.

Brynne glanced at Draco briefly. He gave her an appreciative smile, before realizing what he was doing. He quickly set his face and gave her a curt nod. Brynne had to hide a smile of her own. She did a back flip on her broom and flew away to intercept a Bludger meant for Montague.

As she flew away, so too did Draco. Brynne wondered hi she had done something wrong, but then she heard Jordan announce, "Malfoy has seen the Snitch! Harry would have had it by now if it weren't for those nasty, sons-of-"

"Enough! Or I will take away your announcing privileges," McGonagall said in a warning tone.

Brynne hovered on her broom, watching Draco chase the Snitch, moving with an almost unnatural fluidity. He went into a dive, speed not altering. Out of the corner of her eye, Brynne saw one of the Weasley twins hit a Bludger at Draco. She raced towards it, but she knew she wouldn't reach it in time. Suddenly Blaise was in front of her, smirking as he smashed the Bludger at the offending Weasley.

"Beat you," Blaise taunted good-naturedly.

"Good job." Brynne glanced around for Draco and found him near the ground. She thought she saw a glimmer of gold in the air in front of him as he flew, but she couldn't be sure it wasn't simply her imagination.

Brynne watched as Draco reached out a hand and seemed to almost pluck the Snitch from the air. He raised his arm in the air triumphantly as all the Slytherins in the stands cheered loudly, nearly drowning out the groaning and outraged cries from the other three houses.

St. Paul, Rosenbaum, and Montague circled around Draco, congratulating him excitedly. Blaise and Brynne hovered apart from the group, unsure what to do or whether they should join in the celebrations or if they were even welcome with Draco.

Brynne watched as Draco tossed the Snitch to Madame Hooch and silently removed himself from the fray. He glided away from the group and towards the Slytherin locker rooms. No one followed, although Brynne desperately wanted to.

She glanced around the stadium quickly and saw the man she had hoped not to see. Lucius Malfoy sat in one of the box seats like he was a king reigning over the Quidditch match. Brynne couldn't be sure, but she thought he was watching her. The sensation of his eyes focused on her was something she found distinctly unsettling as well as inherently creepy. It seemed to her as if he was taking her apart with his eyes, but not in the warm way Draco's had. That thought made her skin crawl. She pulled the cowl back over her face and sped into the Slytherin girl's locker room.

Once inside, she sat on the bench in front of her locker replaying various events of the match in her head. She was certain Draco had smiled at her. Or had he? Had it been simply a figment of her overly hopeful imagination?

Brynne also hoped that Harry would be all right. That Bludger had hit him awfully hard in the head. There had been blood even. She felt so horrible about the whole situation, though she knew that it had been her job. The guilt was uncontrollable.

Brynne could almost guarantee that Lucius had approved of her strategy, however. Had even enjoyed watching Harry go down. She frowned unhappily. Now that Harry was out of commission, she would be facing Lucius alone.

The stadium would be clearing out by now, and she knew in another fifteen to twenty minutes the elder Malfoy would be expecting her. She got up with a sigh and removed her Quidditch robes for a quick shower. Dismally she wondered if she would live through this encounter...