Silver Lining

Chapter 17

Remus lowered himself back into his seat, fuming. I stared at him with my jaw agape.

"You... you punched him."

"Yep," he growled, tapping his fingers on the table rapidly.

"You shouldn't have punched him," I reprimanded.

"He shouldn't have called you a mudblood." I smiled, laughing slightly.

"You're crazy," I shook my head, resting my head on his shoulder, "but thank you." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, holding me close to him until Madam Pince poked her head around the corner and we hurriedly returned to our work. I smiled slightly to myself at the light blush creeping up his cheeks.

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It seemed only fitting after the incident in the library that there was to be a Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch game the next day. Remus and I had both been on edge, seeing as Remus had severely broken a school rule, but we assumed Dolohov had been too scared to rat on us since McGonagall made no appearance. So, Lily and I arranged to meet Peter and Remus in the Common Room just before the game started, to go and find the seats that Marlene, Alice and Olivia had promised to save for us.

"Hello!" I grinned excitedly at the two boys waiting for us. "Am I supportive enough?" I spun around, and the other three laughed as they took in my Gryffindor scarf, beanie, gloves (courtesy of Remus), jumper, and face paint.

"At least the gloves are being put to use," Remus smiled and I jumped up into my toes to mess up his hair with my gloved hand. He yelled and batted my hands away. "I take it back! I wish I'd never bought you those damn thi-"

"Let's go, you two," Lily nudged my arm and I giggled as we walked out into the corridor, watching Remus pull a red beanie over his hair. I bounced in excitement as we strolled through the chilly weather to the Quidditch pitch. I know I said I hated the sport, but I was excited to see James and Sirius play and to know what all the fuss about them was really about. I hadn't been to a game in... a while. We filed into the Gryffindor section of the crowd, spotting the other three girls waving violently to us from the very front of front row seats. I grinned, hurrying down to them and hugging each in turn.

"Are you excited?" I called over the bubbling crowd. A few people from both opposing houses had begun changing war cries and cheers.

"Of course!" Olivia shouted back, grinning, and began to join in with the cheering Gryffindors anticipating the start of the game. Before I knew it, the two teams appeared on the grass below, striding towards each other. I spotted James and Sirius in the small group and cheered wildly. James raised his hand in a wave in our direction, and Sirius raised his fingers to his temple in a sort of salute with a wide grin. With the blow of a whistle, the teams swung their legs over their brooms and kicked off the ground.

The game was incredible. With front row seats, we saw everything that went on, and often had the players flying by so close and so fast my scarf whipped the face of the poor second-year girl behind me. James and Sirius flew by too; I think Sirius flew by a few more times than necessary just to see the surprised looks on our faces. 

"The score remains at 50-180, to Slytherin." I bit down on my thumbnail.  Our seeker needed to catch the Snitch now, or we needed to score a few more goals very quickly. "The ball is intercepted by Potter and passed to Dawes- this could be another much-needed goal for Gryffindor-" The crowd froze in anticipation. "- and it's intercepted by the Slytherin chasers. Better luck next time." I let out a groan of frustration as the Quaffle was thrown from green-clad player to player and flew straight through the unguarded ring, scoring them another goal. 50-190. One more goal to Slytherin and catching the Snitch would be pointless. Come on, come on, come on.