Harry Potters Twin Book Three

My First Defeat ~not edited~

"Nixie," I felt someone shake my shoulder, but my eyes were glued shut. "Nixie, wake up."

I heard people giggle, but I don't know why.

"Nixie..." His voice was familiar now. He was Cedric, Cedric Diggory.

"Try throwing water on her," I heard Hannah Abbott whisper worriedly. "She is breathing, right? I mean, she didn't die, did she?"

"No, she has a pulse," Cedric said, and I felt his hand on my throat. "She's just tired."

"Well, you better wake her up," An unfamiliar voice said. "Her team is glaring at us."

"Nixie, your going to be late for Quidditch," Cedirc whispered.

I jumped up, my eyes flying open and I glanced at the people surounding me. They were the group of Hufflepuffs Cedric usually talks to, his friends. I blinked.

"What am I doing here -OH!" The events of what happened popped in my head. "Oh, I have to talk to Oliver. Bye Cedric."

"Bye, Nixie," Cedric called.

I smiled at him and skipped to my team, my spirits unusually high. I plopped down next to Harry and nibbled on some toast.

"Hello," I chirped.

"What were you doing snuggling with the enemy?" Fred asked, squinting his eyes at me.

"I just fell asleep on his shoulder," I defended myself.

"And came skipping over," George said.

I huffed but didn't disagree.

"It's going to be a tough one," said Wood, who wasn't eating anything.

"Stop worrying, Oliver," said Alicia soothingly, "we don't mind a bit of rain."

But it was considerably more than a bit of rain. Such was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school turned out to watch the match as usual, but they ran down the lawns toward the Quidditch field, heads bowed against the ferocious wind, umbrellas being whipped out of their hands as they went. just before I entered the locker room, I saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, laughing and pointing at Harry from under an enormous umbrella on their way to the stadium.

The team changed into our scarlet robes and waited for Wood's usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn't come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd gulping noise, then shook his head hopelessly and beckoned us to follow him.

The wind was so strong that I staggered sideways as I walked out onto the field. Fred and George had to grab both my arms and pull me towards the center. If the crowd was cheering, I couldn't hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder. Rain was splattering over Harry's glasses. How on earth was he going to see the Quaffle in this?

The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood now looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded. I saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, "Mount Your brooms." I pulled my right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over my Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant — we were off.

I rose fast, but my Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. I held it as steady as I could and turned, squinting into the rain.

Within five minutes I was soaked to my skin and frozen, hardly able to see my teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch. I flew backward and forward across the field past blurred red and yellow shapes, with no idea of what was happening in the rest of the game. I couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice I came very close to being unseated by a Bludger.