Why We Fight

Part 25:
Where Do We Go from Here?
(Monday, October 10, 1977)

"This is going to be the best game ever," Peter proclaimed. He was decked out in scarlet and gold sitting in the Gryffindor stands. Lily and Hermione sat in the very last row, looking over each other's papers and offering suggestions.

Lily looked at Hermione. "You're really good at this," the redhead said. "I've always had loads of trouble with Arithmancy. Professor Agnosco isn't much help either." Hermione beamed at Lily, flushing at the praise.

"It's nothing really," she said. "I've always been good with numbers. Numbers are the only constants I've really noticed between this world and my world."

"The Muggle world?" Lily asked and Hermione nodded slightly. Not just the Muggle world, but my world, the brunette thought. "I've always been terrible with math." Lily wrinkled her nose as she examined the complex equation that Hermione had been helping her with. "I only got eleven O's because of Arithmancy."

"I got nine," she admitted. "And an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts but Severus has been helping me with that." She looked at Lily with realization. "You take all twelve classes? How do manage?"

Lily paled slightly. "Lots of hard work," she murmured.

---

Draco was nervous...which was a first for the Slytherin-turned-Gryffindor. He paced the locker room, holding the ancient Shooting Star, its bristles dragging on the ground. He wore his scarlet-and-gold uniform (after he'd finally remembered to change out of his school robes and into the uniform). He was, of course, the only nervous one. Remus, Regulus, and Stebbins tossed a Quaffle as Sirius made some adjustments to his padding and examined Draco's pacing. Abercrombie practiced swinging his bat well away from the other boys and James bored a hole into the wall, lost in thought.

Finished with his pads, Sirius turned his full attention to the gray-eyed blonde. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and... "Bloody hell!" Sirius cried suddenly. Regulus dropped the Quaffle and James fell off the bench he sat on, banging his head on the locker behind him. James glared daggers at the larger boy.

Draco, lost in thought, hadn't even noticed Sirius's sudden outburst. "Stop pacing!" he ordered the blonde. The Shooting Star dropped from Draco's hand with a thunk and frowned at the six other boys. James picked himself up off the floor, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry, mate," the hazel-eyed Chaser said. "Remy's on your team now."

Remus looked sheepish. "How long am I gonna be paying for that?" he asked.

James clapped the werewolf on his shoulder. "As long as it's funny, Remy."

McGonagall entered the locker-room. "The match is about to start," she stated and the seven boys filed out onto the Pitch.

---

In the Gryffindor stands, Hermione, Lily, and Peter watched as the players streamed onto the Pitch. "You know, this is the first Quidditch game I've ever gone to," the older girl said.

Hermione smiled. "I go--went--to every Quidditch game since first year. Harry and Ron are on the team. Ron's sister, Ginny, was going to try out too." Her smile faded as she thought about her friends nearly twenty years in the future, three years away from even being born. She stared off into the distance.

"Cheer up," Lily said. The voice bought her back. "You'll see them again over the holidays." Hermione swallowed thickly as the whistle for the game started. The fourteen figures began flying all over the Pitch and Lily's attention was drawn to the game.

Will I ever see them again? Mum, Dad, Annabel, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville... She looked at the journal that showed a bit from inside her bag. It was the only link she had to her home.

---

In the Slytherin stands, Severus pretended to study the Quidditch game. He loved Quidditch but had absolutely no talent for it and James had been sure to rub it in when he had tried out in his second year. In the very back row of the stand, Severus gave all impression that his black eyes were studying the game in progress while his mind was elsewhere. His mind was on the Dark Lord's order.

For the past month, Severus had been pushing his initiation into the back of his mind but as the Halloween Masque drew ever near, the subject of Hermione kept popping up. And every time his thoughts returned to that night in the Dark Lord's hold, the skin around the Dark Mark began to crawl and Severus grew nauseous. Lately, there had been nightmares of the open possibility of what the Dark Lord would do if Severus failed his task.

Dark bags had formed under his bloodshot eyes and stubble darkened his chin. The more he slept, the more tired he grew, and he very rarely slept anymore. The past week had been the worst. The nightmares had grown so horrifying that Severus hadn't slept in the better part of four days.

Since the Dark Lord's ultimatum, Severus had been withdrawn, especially around Hermione. The dark-haired girl hadn't seemed to notice. She seemed content with his monosyllabic responses. Before he knew it, the match was over with a score of two-hundred-fifty to zero in favor of Gryffindor. The new Keeper had performed admirably. Severus slowly made his way through the crowd, unaware of Hermione's eyes on him.

---

The Gryffindor Quidditch team roared, a great cacophony of cheers for the seven boys as the team exchanged high-fives and pats on the back with each other. "We won, Draco!" James cried.

"It was only one game," Draco said bemused.

"Well, we Gryffindors take our games seriously," Sirius stated. "It means a party on the pitch."

"The last time I was promised a party on the pitch, all I got was an assignment to steal the bloody Cup," Draco said with a teasing pout.

Remus examined Draco slightly. "Ah, but this party's not for you, mate. It's for the greatest team in Hogwarts history," Peter said.