True to Robin’s word, the days soon began to fly in. Before the girls could catch a breath September had vanished and October was eager to do the same. The breezy warmth of the autumn gave way to the stronger winds and downpours of the oncoming winter. A blue sky became a rarity, in its place a dreary batch of grey clouds settled in and showed no signs shifting in the near future. The last, action packed week of the month saw the build-up to the first Quidditch match of the season.
Whilst Kim, Lex, Elysa and Nat were all very excited at the prospect of their house’s first game, Marie could barely contain herself. During the last days before the match the young girl positively bounced around the castle. Their beloved Hufflepuff was lined up to play against Gryffindor on the Saturday before Halloween. Marie took to reciting the statistics of past Hufflepuff and Gryffindor encounters, and telling anyone who would listen absolutely everything about the players on both teams. James Potter featured prominently in these long-winded speeches, which left Natalie with a sore jaw after all the teeth gritting she was doing.
Kim found Marie’s tales very informative; she learned a lot about Quidditch in a very small space of time. Although she was slightly disturbed when her friend started analysing what the Gryffindor Seeker ate for breakfast on the morning of the match.
“He’s helping himself to a banana now, that’s a bad sign. Bananas are full of energy,” she confirmed as her own breakfast lay forgotten on her plate and she craned her neck to look around Lex. “Do you think that I should wish James good luck?”
“Up to you,” shrugged Elysa.
“What’s more important to you, your house or your cousin?” Nat rolled her eyes and popped another forkful of beans on toast into her mouth.
“They’re both equally important to me,” Marie replied, barely taking her eyes off the Gryffindor team.
“You’ll have to make a decision one day, it’s them or us,” Nat pointed out.
“Nat! They’re my family!”
“And we’re your friends. Your friends are the family you choose for yourself. Take a look around, this is the family you chose, this is where you belong.” Natalie took a long sip from her goblet of pumpkin juice.
“You know something, Nat, every now and then you say something that really makes sense,” Lex commented as she stared thoughtfully into the distance.
“Only every now and then?” Nat demanded with a mocking smile on her face. Lex nodded cheekily at her. “That’s because I don’t want to outshine you with my brilliance.”
A series of snorts shot round the group.
“You keep telling yourself that,” Kim chuckled and patted the other girl sportingly on the shoulder. The five of them sat at the table giggling until there was a mass of movement from around the hall as all the students began their journey on to the grounds.
Some strong rays of sunlight were trying desperately to break through the thick, dark clouds. It was undoubtedly only a matter of time before the rain began. Up until now the girls had never had any cause to go near the Quidditch stadium, they had only ever seen it from the castle and were amazed by the sheer size of it.
The arena was oval shaped, and looked rather like a brightly coloured fortress. It consisted of eight tall towers that were bedecked in the colours of the school houses. There was a large archway in one wall that lead to a selection of corridors and staircases. As soon as they passed through the arch, the girls took off down the right hand passageway and continued past three towers before they reached the yellow and black decoration of the Hufflepuff stand. They headed up a several flights of stairs on their left and when they eventually emerged in the fresh air at the top, they were astounded. They selected seats not too far from the front and took a second to admire the atmosphere that surrounded them.
They were now more than twenty feet above the ground, and looking down across a vibrant green pitch. At either end of the stadium were three tall hoops, which Marie soon explained were used for scoring. A multitude of dazzling colours surrounded them. To their left was the blue and silver of Ravenclaw, and to their right was the Red and Gold of Gryffindor.
All around them were flags with varying images on them. One in their stand depicted a rather large group of badgers biting the paws of a lion. The noise level was extraordinary; everyone was chanting and shouting as loud as their voices would let them. In a stand almost opposite them the Slytherins were concocting some kind of song together. The tune of “All brawn and no brains, they don’t know how to win a game!” breezed across the grass to them. Only Marie didn’t think it was appropriate to howl with laughter. The Hufflepuffs listened carefully and before long had joined in the chorus of the song
The Gryffindors, who were in the stand next to them, seemed thoroughly unimpressed with their display and started booing loudly in an attempt to drown them out. When Natalie spotted a glaring Paul amongst their audience, it only compelled her to sing more raucously.
The game proved to be an exciting time for Kim and Elysa, neither of whom had attended a game before. Every time one of the players went into a dive they would subconsciously hold their breath. Marie spent most of her time hopping up and down in indecision. Whenever Hufflepuff scored she cheered, and when James came close to grabbing the Snitch to win the game for Gryffindor she nearly fell out of the stands in excitement. Natalie’s heel coming down fast and hard on her toes was the only thing that stopped Marie from toppling to the grassy floor below. James did eventually end up catching the Snitch, up until that point there had only been twenty points between the two teams. The Hufflepuffs and the Slytherins groaned in unison, while the Gryffindors cheered louder than they had at any other time during the match. When her cousin did a victory lap of the pitch Marie beamed and waved proudly, this resulted in Nat pointedly turning her back on her friend and proceeding to commiserate with Lex, who looked like she might cry.
As they all filed down the stairwell and back on to the corridor that they had come from they ended up interspersed with the Gryffindors. The look of misery adorning the girls’ features was just too much temptation for a certain red and gold student. “What do you have to say to that then?” Paul demanded of Nat as she streamed past him arm in arm with Lex.
“What do I have to say to what?” Natalie asked lightly, feigning ignorance.
“You were up there singing your heart out and it didn’t do any good, did it? We beat you in the end,” he replied smugly.
“I happen to think it’s terribly sad.” Nat tipped her chin downward and shook her head ever so slightly.
“You think what’s terribly sad?” Paul tried to hide his confusion and failed miserably.
“Well, your Quidditch team obviously got all the talent for your house. Such a shame, you’d think they might have shared some.” Despite trying to frogmarch away from Paul up the hill towards the castle, the Gryffindor proved he wasn’t easily shaken.
“Exactly what does that mean?” he challenged her boldly.
“It means that you’re a big, talent less, brute!” she yelled as loud as her lungs would permit.
“That’s it; you’re in for it now!” Paul whispered dangerously as he reached into his robe pocket for his wand. He pointed the long wooden instrument at Natalie and muttered, “Petrificus…”
Before he could finish he suddenly started wobbling all over the place, completely unable to stand up straight. As the gathered crowd started to point and laugh, and Nat stared at him in bewilderment, Kim pushed her way through the onlookers. “You should not be trying to hex people. It’s not very nice,” she seethed. When one of Paul’s flailing limbs suddenly came too close to her she gave him a swift kick in the shins and began pushing Nat and Lex towards the castle.
“Kim…” breathed Nat.
“That was amazing!” squealed Elysa.
“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant,” Lex muttered. Marie nodded in accord.
“Well, he deserved it,” Kim said with a tone of finality and a small smile.
“I knew I liked you for a reason,” grinned Nat as she took the other girl’s hand. The group continued to recount the incident well into the night, and every time they did it elicited a louder laugh.
Meus Solitarius Cor Curens by mrsgeorgeweasley
Chapter Notes: A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one, I've had a busy couple of months. My deep love and respect goes to Astrid Skywalker, Physical Graffiti and Alexis Taylor, you guys rock my world.