Chasing The Stars | Marauders | Sirius Black

7 ~ The Match

"Protect me, Black." he looked at her and winked, replying with the same words as he always does, 

"I always do, Malfoy!" James shook hands with the Slytherin captain and the whistle sounded, the quaffle was launched into the clear blue November sky. Eloise flew into the air, dashing forwards straight away, the red quaffle landed in her outstretched arm and she bent closer to the broom to go faster. She zig-zagged through the air, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She heard the whistle of a bludger by her right ear and swerved, narrowly missing being hit. She had reached the Slytherin hoops. The keeper stared into her eyes, his hands out either side of his body, Eloise smirked and dipped, throwing the keeper off-guard as he flew lower as well, she suddenly pointed her broom upwards and rose in the air. Being quicker than the keeper, she had a clear shot of the hoop. Eloise threw the bludger and it sailed through,

"10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" Remus' voice called, she punched the air and turned around, high-fiving the other Gryffindor chaser, William Wood.

Eloise had scored another 3 goals for Gryffindor and William 2. "ANOTHER 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! Gryffindor is now leading 60-20. GO ON LIONS!" 

"Mr Lupin! No biased opinions!" McGonagall's voice could be heard through the speaker. Eloise saw a blur as James flew forwards so quickly it gave her whiplash, he was chasing a golden speck with Regulus Black not far behind, 

"Gryffindor seeker, James Potter, seems to have caught sight of the Golden Snitch but he's only inches ahead of Slytherin seeker Regulus Black." The anticipation could be heard in Remus' voice. James' fingers were outstretched towards the Snitch, he leant forwards and managed to gain a small spurt of speed - but it was enough. The Golden Snitch was trapped in James' fingers as he flew down to the ground. Eloise flew to the ground as well and flung her arms around James' neck, Sirius jumped on top of them along with the rest of the team until they were a heap on the ground. "JAMES' POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS! FUCK YES!" "Mr Lupin!" McGonagall sounded furious but she too was celebrating as Gryffindor won their first game of the year and the Slytherins, who were all scowling, had lost.

~~~

The Gryffindor Common Room was alive. James and Sirius were stood on a table with goblets of Butterbeer, chanting. Remus was dancing to some trashy mixtape with Mary McDonald, and even Lily was laughing at James doing a weird dance. Eloise was stood by the window with a grin permanently plastered on her face. Lots of Gryffindors had come over throughout the course of the evening, congratulating her on her playing but one person had been looking over at her constantly, William Wood. Eloise was just enjoying the sight of her crazy friends. 

"Hey." William had walked over to her and was now leaning on the wall next to her, 

"Hi, William." she smiled warmly and took a sip of her drink. 

"You played great today, Elle!" he put a hand on her arm, 

"Thanks, you too! Without your goal at the end, the Slytherins could've had a chance to catch up." William scratched the back of his neck, 

"You know, Eloise, I was wondering-" he caught her eye and she tilted her head, "Well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out with me tomorrow?" he raised an eyebrow and Eloise was taken aback, she thought she heard footsteps behind her and shited her eyes to the side, she caught sight of some black hair but decided to let it go. William Wood was a tall, strong sixth year. He had been on the quidditch team for the whole time Eloise was and they had gotten on rather well. They spoke often about quidditch and sometimes lessons and Eloise had found William's company very pleasant. She looked into his eyes and felt a small hand on her wrist,