OUTCAST | SIRIUS BLACK

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

SEPHY, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!
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"Has anyone ever told you that the green robes truly bring out the red in your hair?"

"Good morning, Avery," Seraphina said with a snort, "and no. Are the other lads ready soon? We need to be able to eat our breakfast in peace."

"They are on their way, Cap," Avery assured her calmly, gracefully dropping down on the couch, wearing the same green and silver robes she was dressed in. It was time for the first Quidditch game of the season against the Gryffindors. "Look, Black is here already."

"And this is why you are my favourite," Seraphina told him with a grin.

"I was here first!" Avery exclaimed, clearly offended.

"You are disqualified for being annoying," Seraphina told him just as the rest of the team joined them as well. They walked down to the Great Hall as a group; it was only about half full by now since it was still quite early. But soon all of the other students who wished to get a good seat at the games would arrive.

The Slytherin Team ate their breakfast mostly in silence. And everyone's attention turned to the entrance when the Gryffindor Team entered and their entire table broke out in applause, as did a few people at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table. James and Sirius had large cocky smirks on their faces, relishing in the attention and praise they were seeing.

"I do wonder who they will be cheering for," Seraphina snorted. It was no secret for the Slytherins that no one outside their own house ever cheered for them. The other houses always cheered for their opponents, no matter what they did.

"Let's go down to the pitch," Seraphina told the boys when she noticed that all of their plates were empty. She stood up, prompting the rest of the team to do the same, and when they made their way towards the door, someone actually had the audacity to start booing, which prompted even more people from the other three houses to do the same.

Seraphina looked over at Regulus, laughing in disbelief, "Classy."

"They are fools, all of them," Regulus scoffed.

Seraphina couldn't help but feel a bit hurt by the hate she was shown for absolutely no reason. It was like when Mary MacDonald had assumed she was a terrible person just because she was a Slytherin. All she wanted to do was play Quidditch, but being booed at for no reason took some of the fun out of it.

But she pushed down what she was feeling to the best of her abilities and an hour later, she was walking out into the arena. Madam Hooch stood in the centre waiting for them. "Captains, shake hands," she said and Seraphina stepped forward and offered her hand to James. As they shook hands they did their little staring match, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was still angry with her for not giving them time to practice the previous day.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," Madam Hooch said, once they were all gathered around her. And as usual she was particularly speaking to the Slytherin Team. All of the guys gave Seraphina a pointed look; they had promised her that if Madam Hooch ever not assumed they would play unfairly, they would play nicely. For some reason, Sera doubted that would ever happen.

Then they mounted their brooms and flew up and when Madam Hooch blew in her silver whistle, the game started. Grayson Smith had for some reason been allowed to remain as the commentator and after one sentence, Seraphina was done with him. "And as usual, Seraphina Weasley, takes the Quaffle first after James Potter decides to be a gentleman!"

After that, she decided to zone out on what Smith was saying. He was probably just trying to provoke her. The first hour passed by quickly without the Snitch even being spotted. But after the first sighting, seventy minutes into the game, was when things turned ugly. The score was eighty for Slytherin and seventy for Gryffindor when both of the Seekers dove towards the Snitch.

But it was starting to rain so it disappeared before either Seeker could catch it. Seraphina's instruction to keep out of the way until he caught sight of the Snitch since they didn't want him to be attacked before he had to be. But after making that dive he was fully exposed and Seraphina saw the exact moment Sirius took aim towards his brother whose head was turned the other way.

She was not close to the Quaffle at the moment and out of pure instinct - a very stupid one - she decided to protect him. Everything moved in slow motion for her as she steered her broom in Regulus' direction and managed to block the Bludger before it could hit him. The only problem was that she didn't have a Beater's Bat so the Bludger crushed into her stomach which almost knocked her off her broom - and that definitely knocked the air out of her.

"Ooooooh, Black hits the Bludger straight at Weasley who is barely clinging onto her broom!" Smith yelled, which she only could hear vaguely in the background as she tried to get some air. "This might be the first time ever that Sirius Black wishes he was someone else!"

"Sera!" Regulus, who was the closest to her, was by her side at once, holding onto her broomstick so it wouldn't lose control while one hand rested against her back to make sure she didn't fall backwards. "Why the bloody hell would you do that?!"

Seraphina coughed and when she finally got some air into her lungs again, she breathlessly said, "Didn't I tell you that I would heroically throw myself in front of you if your brother ever tried to kill you?" she coughed again, and winced in pain.

"Sephy, you bloody idiot!" James said as he and Sirius neared them, only to be stopped by Pucey and Avery.

"Get out of my way," Sirius sneered at Avery, who pushed him backwards. The two of them looked ready to kill each other, and they might have tried to have Madam Hooch not blown in her whistle.

"That's enough, Black, Avery!" she yelled warningly. Then she turned to Seraphina. "Are you playing-"

"I am playing," Seraphina said firmly, ignoring the pain in her ribs.

"Your ribs might be broken-" Regulus argued.

"I am playing for as long as I am conscious," Seraphina told him. She sent a quick look over at Sirius who was glaring murderously at Avery. As if he noticed her gaze, he turned to her, eyes softening a bit. His dark hair was sticking to his forehead from the rain, reminding her of the night he had arrived at the potters- She was the one that broke eye contact, "Time-out!" she called and the team flew down to the ground.

"Weasley has called for a time-out for the Slytherin Team!" Smith announced.

The seven players huddled up on the ground and Avery landed beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay, Cap?"

"I will live," Seraphina told him. "At least long enough to win this game. Now listen up - I have a new strategy."