In The Shadows² ★ Draco Malfoy

*Sectumsempra

Briar's woes seemed to worsen as March arrived along with Gryffindor's next match against Hufflepuff. But unfortunately for them, Ron had had an accident with a poisoned bottle of mead Slughorn gave him and was in the hospital wing, which meant McLaggen had to take the keeper's place

He spent every practice either giving Harry tactic advice, shouting at the other players, or reminding everyone how he had dated Briar. And unfortunately during the match, McLaggen took ahold of Cootes's bat and sent a badly aimed bludger at the back of Harry's head, so Gryffindor ended up losing

And to make the quidditch teams hopes even lower, Ginny and Dean split up before March was over, making practices incredibly awkward now that they had two sets of exes in the team. When Katie Bell was discharged from St Mungo's and made aware of all this drama she laughed

"As if we're winning the cup this year," she said to Briar with a laugh

"I know," she sighed "But now that you're back and Ron's fit, we actually could have a chance of getting it"

"Katie!" cried the voice of Harry Potter as he ran over "Are you okay?"

"I'm really well!" she said happily. "They let me out of St.Mungo's on Monday, I had a couple of days at home withMum and Dad and then came back here this morning. Briar was just telling me about McLaggen and the lastmatch, Harry..."

"Yeah," said Harry, "well, now you're back and Ron's fit,we'll have a decent chance of thrashing Ravenclaw, whichmeans we could still be in the running for the Cup. Listen,Katie..." He dropped hisvoice "...that necklace...can you remember who gave it toyou now?" 

"No," said Katie, shaking her head ruefully. "Everyone'sbeen asking me, but I haven't got a clue. The last thing Iremember was walking into the ladies' in the ThreeBroomsticks."

"You definitely went into the bathroom, then?" he said

"Well, I know I pushed open the door," saidKatie, "so I suppose whoever Imperiused me wasstanding just behind it. After that, my memory's a blankuntil about two weeks ago in St. Mungo's. Listen, I'dbetter go, I wouldn't put it past McGonagall to give melines even if it is my first day back..."

She bid her fellow teammates goodbye and hurried after her friends so Briar turned to Harry, who was wearing a confused look "You okay?" she asked him

"Yeah," he nodded and quickly turned on his heel, leaving the common room

The following fortnight saw the best Quidditch practicesHarry had known as Captain. His team was so pleased to berid of McLaggen, so glad to have Katie back at last, that theywere flying extremely well. 

Interest in theGryffindor vs Ravenclaw game was running extremely highthroughout the school, for the match would decide theChampionship, which was still wide open. If Gryffindor beatRavenclaw by a margin of three hundred points (a tall order,and yet Harry had never known his team to fly better) thenthey would win the Championship

But a few days before the big match, Harry found himself standing in the entrance of the 6th floor boy's bathroom, watching an unlikely scene in front of him

"Don't," crooned Moaning Myrtle's voice "Don't...tell me what's wrong...I can help you..." 

"No one can help me," said Malfoy. His whole body wasshaking. "I can't do it...I can't....It won't work...and unless Ido it soon...he says he'll kill me..." Malfoy gasped and gulped and then, with a great shudder,looked up into the cracked mirror and saw Harry staring athim over his shoulder.

He wheeled around, drawing his wand. Instinctively,Harry pulled out his own. Malfoy's hex missed Harry byinches, shattering the lamp on the wall beside him; Harrythrew himself sideways, thought Levicorpus! and flicked hiswand, but Malfoy blocked the jinx and raised his wand foranother -

"No! No! Stop it!" squealed Moaning Myrtle, her voiceechoing loudly around the tiled room. "Stop! STOP!" 

There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harry exploded;Harry attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off thewall behind Malfoy's ear and smashed the cistern beneathMoaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly; water pouredeverywhere and Harry slipped as Malfoy, his face contorted,cried, "Cruci -" 

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" bellowed Harry from the floor, wavinghis wand wildly. 

Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though hehad been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggeredbackward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with agreat splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.

Moaning Myrtle let out a deafening scream: "MURDER!MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"

And when Professor Snape gave Harry a detention that Saturday morning, making him unavailable for the match, Harry's heart shattered

The news of Malfoy's accident spread like wildfire and on the morning of the final quidditch match, Briar decided to ditch breakfast and made her way up to the hospital wing, where she found him laying in a bed, sleeping peacefully

She crept across the room in case Madame Pomfery would hear her and kick her out, and stopped next to his bed

She didn't know what to say, and he probably wouldn't even hear her. So Briar leaned down until her lips were pressed against his forehead before she quickly dashed from the room and immediately headed to the quidditch pitch

The team was angry with Harry, but Briar knew they had to get it together for him

"Listen up!" she called to them "Today is our chance to take the cup. We've worked so hard all year, we've overcome injuries from cursed objects and poison, so detention is nothing in comparison. Ginny, you're faster and better than Cho and you can't let her get to you. Focus on that snitch. We deserve this cup. We're Gryffindors! We got this! So let's go out there and show everyone why we're the best house! And let's make our captain proud!"

The team cheered and roared in agreement, and then the 7 of them made their way out onto the pitch. Briar shook hands with Ravenclaw's captain before Madam Hooch blew her whistle and they shot into the air

Briar had no time to keep an eye on Ginny, but she focused on playing with Katie and Dean. Katie and Briar had been playing together for 5 years and they had a natural rhythm and understanding which none of the Ravenclaw players could disrupt. And Dean may not have played with them for long but he knew where to be at all times.

Briar was also very relieved to see Ron had his confidence back and although he let a few goals in, he saved the majority.

Ravenclaw were a good team for sure and after nearly an hour the score was 300 for Gryffindor to 140. But as Briar was streaking towards the goal, she was cut off by a sudden flash of blue and red right in front of her face, which must have been Cho and Ginny, causing her to duck and throw the quaffle to Katie

Katie held the quaffle ready to score another goal, but that wasn't necessary when Luna's voice rang out over the stadium

"Ginny catches the snitch! GRYFFINDOR WIN!"

Immediately the atmosphere was electric and the pitch was swarmed in red and gold supporters and players celebrating together. From the stands Professor McGonagall smiled proudly, but inside she was dreading having to be up all night thanks to the noise they would be making

And sure enough the Gryffindor common room was a sea of people dancing and drinking all through the day

Briar and Ginny were dancing on a table in celebration, when the portrait hole opened and their captain came through. Ginny jumped off the table and sprinted over to him, and before anyone knew what was happening Harry and Ginny were kissing

The room quietened as everyone watched, and everyone seemed happy except for two people. Ron in particular looked like someone had just hit him over the head. But when the pair broke apart, they left the common room wordlessly, leaving everyone in shock and Briar made a mental note to never ever ever let Ginny live this down

Briar and Hermione screamed and cheered in joy, and with that the party restarted.