Headstrong

Chapter 27

Angelina and Alicia suddenly giggled.

"What?" Oliver and Amanda asked.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" Angelina giggled.

"Strong and silent," Alicia said.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together-" Fred said.

"He is my friend!" Amanda exclaimed, "I'm just putting it out there. Those comments are rude."

Oliver nodded, "Great. You can distract him before the game."

"I'm not going to do that. Honestly, Oliver, you're getting worked up. We can beat them either way. You said it yourself, we're an amazing team." She shook her head and buried it in her hands, feeling exasperated.

"She's right Oliver. I don't know why you're worried, Hufflepuff are a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes."

Amanda was going to say something, but decided to leave it.

"We were playing in completely different conditions! Diggory's got a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin are trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!"

"Oliver, calm down!" said Fred, slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously."

Amanda hid her grin.

...

On the day of the match, Amanda joined the rest of the team for breakfast. She had a strange feeling in her stomach.

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

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

"I feel like something bad is going to happen." Amanda said, clutching her stomach.

"We shouldn't need to tell you not to worry too." Angelina rolled her eyes, "Everyone, everything is going to be fine."

"But the last time I felt like this, someone was Petrified." Amanda protested.

"She's got a point." Fred said.

"It'll be fine." Harry reassured her.

"Don't make me say 'I told you so' later on." Amanda said to the team, who rolled their eyes. Amanda smiled and took a bite of her toast.

When they finally walked onto the pitch, Amanda's bad feeling felt like it was going to overtake her. She pushed it aside and focused on the start of the match.

It was pouring down, but she just tied her hair back and got onto her broom.

She saw Madam Hooch blow the whistle, and she kicked off.

She immediately grabbed the Quaffle and lost herself in the game, she was so focused. She blocked out all noise and focused on the ball in her hands and the people around her.

She raced to the goalposts, threw the ball...and scored!

She did a quick lap of the pitch and went to help Angelina and Alicia score another goal. The three of them worked as a real team. They managed to get many goals, and took the Quaffle from the Hufflepuff Chasers many times before they could reach Oliver.

She lost track of time. With the first flash of lightning came the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle. Amanda flew down to the ground to meet her teammates.

"I called for time out!" Oliver roared over the storm, "Come on, under here-"

They huddled under an umbrella. "What's the score?" Harry asked.

"We're fifty points up, well done girls. But unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."

"I've got no chance with these on," said Harry.

"What about the goggles I gave you?" Amanda asked.

"I forgot them." He replied glumly.

At that moment, Hermione appeared at Harry's shoulder.

"I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!" Harry gave her his glass and she cast a spell on them.

"There! They'll repel water!" She handed them back to Harry and he beamed.

Oliver looked like he could kiss her. "Brilliant!" He called hoarsely, "OK, team, let's go for it!"

They zoomed off again. Amanda, Angelina and Alicia scored more goals as the Chasers from both teams zoomed across the pitch.

For a second, she saw a shaggy black dog in the empty, topmost stands. She winked at the dog before zooming off again. 'What would Sirius be doing here?' She wondered, but pushed it aside.

She had a game to win.

Harry whizzed past her, and a second later, she felt a cold feeling start to seep into her. Suddenly, something grabbed her arm and yanked her off her broom.

She screamed loudly as she saw two Dementors, which had grabbed her wrists. Her broom had zoomed off, but she saw one of the team grab it as it went past.

She struggled against the grip of the Dementors, but their grip was firm. She shrieked again as the Dementors started pulling her up, to more of them.

Slowly, the memories started to seep in. Tears started to fall in rivers from her eyes as she remembered all the terrible memories, forgetting the happy ones.

She cried out, "Mum! Dad!" 

She desperately screamed their names, but they weren't there. They were gone.

Suddenly, Harry fell past her. She screamed his name, over and over, but why was Harry ignoring her...

She screamed louder as the memories flooded in quicker and quicker...

She was being tilted back...There were more of them now...Several had grabbed her limbs, stretching her out...

She saw one Dementor out of the corner of her vision, reaching for its hood...

The memories imprinted themselves in her head and she cried even more desperately...

Then a silvery light shone near her and she started to fall...

And then she lost consciousness.