- CHAPTER SEVEN -
❛ i want to shine in your eyes like the stars do. ❜
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As though someone had pushed the 'fast forward' button on my life, November arrived, and so did the first Quidditch match of the season.
I woke up on the day of the match, not having slept all night. My nerves were all over the place, I was anxious as hell. Juliet and Ray insisted on some breakfast but I didn't touch the food. I told my teammates to finish eating and meet me in the lockers.
"Alright, this is it, team," I said loudly when everyone was gathered for my speech. "Slytherin House hasn't lost the Quidditch cup in over years. We've all become accustomed to seeing the Cup in Slughorn's office and I won't let that record break under my watch.
"We don't have to worry anyway," I said breezily. "We have three excellent Chasers," I pointed at Mulciber, Avery, and Crouch. "I heard that Potter has recruited a new Keeper so you three, do. not. let. the. Quaffle. out. of. the. sight. Keep your eyes on that ball and we'll take care of the rest."
The Chasers gave a curt nod.
"Speaking of, you need not fuss about the Bludgers or the other team's Beaters, Nathan and I will not let them get near you. You might be new, Rutherford, but I believe in you."
Nathan beamed at me.
"The Keeper," I turned to Evan, who winked at me, "as much as I hate to admit, you're good. Pretty self-explanatory, don't let the Quaffles in. Especially Potter, keep an eye on him, he's been on the team for five years now."
"Don't sweat, babe, leave it to me," said Evan. I suppressed an eye roll.
"Lastly, but definitely the most important person," I looked at Regulus, "our Seeker. You know Meadowes is a good Seeker, you've played against her a lot of times. So I assume you know her moves by now. The Chasers might score every single goal but in the end, it all comes down to you, Regulus."
"I'll make you proud, Captain," said Regulus with a smile and a salute.
"Well," I sighed, "let's go win this game."
Hundreds of footsteps and voices could be heard outside as the students piled up on the stands, half of them wearing Slytherin green scarfs and flags while the other half were flashing red.
Cheers from the green side echoed in the cold sky as we stepped out of the lockers and into the pitch. I saw the Gryffindor team on the other side, Sirius stood with his Beater bat on his shoulder, running his hand through his hair against the wind. Marlene stood near him in her Chaser robes, giving me a hostile stare.
"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch announced.
James and I clasped hands like professionals, his grip slightly loosened when he realised that I wasn't trying to crush his hand like the previous Captains.
"Good luck, Larson," he told me. "May the best team win."
"I know we will, Potter," I smiled at him.
"Mount your brooms. . . On my whistle. . . Three, two, one!"
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and fourteen brooms launched into the sky. I gave my Beater bat a squeeze and shot into the middle of the pitch, looking for Bludgers.
"Annnd they're off!" said Ken Adams into his mic, who was commentating as usual. "The Quaffle is immediately caught by Avery of Slytherin, he passes to Mulciber- who reverse passes to Avery, easily dodges a Bludger from Black of Gryffindor- the new Slytherin captain did not disappoint, she knows how to pick her players- Avery is close to the goal posts. . . He pulls back and. . . SCORE! The first goal of the year goes to the Slytherins!"
The crowd roared and booed. Feeling way better about the match, I wheeled around just to be met with the face of someone I didn't want to see.
"Hey, Larson!" Sirius called out, swinging his bat. "Aren't we a fake match made in heaven? Look, we're both Beaters!"
"Sod off, Black!" I yelled back, flying in another direction, just in time to save Regulus from a Bludger.
"Thanks, Cap!" He smiled at me and resumed his search for the Snitch.
I joined Nathan and we flew side by side, changing directions once in a while whenever we saw a Bludger near our teammates. It was a bit scary, really, how we understood each other without using any words. It was almost as if we knew how to read each other's minds, like telepathy.
"Look at the Slytherin Beaters go, they look like know what they're doing! Quaffle is now in the possession of Crouch, who passes to Avery- and Avery. . . Er- gets hit by a Bludger, he drops the Quaffle- caught by- Potter, he flies to the hoops- that's a Bludger- ah bloody hell, Azura Larson knocks him out with her Bludger. What a player she is, I've never noticed how beautiful she actually is until now-"
"Adams!" snapped Professor McGonagall.
"Just some interesting facts, Professor. McKinnon of Gryffindor gets the Quaffle now, soaring towards the hoops- dodges Avery- and Mulciber! She goes. . . She goes. . . Ah, a Bludger from Rutherford! He has a terrific aim, that boy has. Of course, he's the son of the Quidditch queen Lucretia Rutherford herself-"
"Adams, would you mind telling us what's happening in the match?"
"Right you are, Professor! McKinnon recovers quickly from the hit, passes to Potter, and Potter is away-"
I tried to knock the Quaffle out of James's hands again but Sirius seemed to be attached to him by the hip. He refused to move aside from James, sending all of my Bludgers back in the Slytherins direction.
"And Potter scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!"
I turned to glare at Evan, who looked unbothered. The game heated up from this point. Both the teams were equally raged and talented, and the game was moving at a steady pace with no ups and downs. Soon, we were only twenty points ahead of Gryffindors with seventy to fifty.
"Do you really think your little team could beat us, Larson?" Sirius asked, hovering near me.
"Don't you have Bludgers to hit, you idiot?" I retorted. "Why do you keep bothering me?"
"I'll stop bothering you when you accept to be my girlf- HEY!"
I swung my bat and sent a Bludger at his chest, and he went spiralling around. Good riddance.
"Slytherin Beater Larson just knocked out the Gryffindor Beater Black- hell, that hit looked personal. Anyway, both the team's captains seem to be riled up at the steadiness of the match- nobody knows how this could turn out- oh wait, has Regulus Black spotted the Snitch?"
I turned sharply and of course, Regulus was sprinting towards the ground, his face set on the small golden sparkle. He and Dorcas were neck to neck as I held my breath, hoping and praying to every single god that existed that Regulus should get the Snitch. They were close to the ground now, less than ten metres, Regulus lurched forward and in single one scoop, his fingers closed around the Snitch.
"REGULUS BLACK HAS GOT THE SNITCH! ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS TO SLYTHERIN!"
Madam Hooch blew her whistle. "Slytherin wins!"
Regulus held the Snitch in his hands and beamed at crowed, but he was soon engulfed in a tight hug by the rest of the teammates, including me. I could actually feel the tears welling up in happiness, I always thought the Captains were overreacting when they cried after a victory but they really weren't. Knowing that your team won, mostly because of your hard work, it was bound to open the tap in the eyes.
"Holy shit, we won! We won!" I screamed, hugging Regulus and Nathan at once, who laughed and hugged me back enthusiastically.
"All thanks to you, Cap," said Regulus. I choked out a laugh and rubbed my eyes.
"It's all you, what did I do," I said, pulling away. The roaring crowd from the stands ran to the pitch, Ray and Juliet approached me and threw themselves at me.
"You were brilliant!" Juliet squealed, her cheeks pink.
"Oh, honey, I knew you'd win!" Ray exclaimed, grinning. "You're a natural at this."
"Thanks- thanks, you guys," I breathed, my cheeks hurting from smiling. Then I spotted Sirius a few feet behind Ray, his expectant gaze fixed on me. I turned back to my friends, "I'll be right back, okay?"
I made my way to him, his sulky face brightened up just a little.
"Come to gloat?" he asked.
"Shut up. Where's Potter?" I said, looking around.
"You know James," Sirius shrugged. "He's probably trying to jump off a cliff, I reckon."
He chuckled humourlessly, shoving his hands into his pockets. The air between us was suddenly awkward, our usual banter was now gone.
"Uh huh," said Sirius suddenly. I followed his gaze to see Marlene storming up to us, her ugly glare set on me. Man, she looked pissed.
"Oh no," I said, turning to the opposite side, where Evan was approaching us, grinning inexplicably and his arms spread in front of him, as though he was coming here to hug or kiss me.
"McKinnon looks like she's gonna kill me," I started, looking at Sirius.
"And Rosier looks like he's gonna kiss you," Sirius said, looking back at me.
We both looked at each other, weighing our options and wondering what on earth the other was going to do. Then, I did something. . . really questionable.
I grabbed his front collar and pulled him to me, pressing my lips on his.
He seemed startled at first, but then he recovered quickly, one of his hands snaked around my waist, tugging me closer to his chest as he kissed me back.
Holy Merlin.
Wow.
Actual electricity seemed to cackle between us as we kissed in the middle of the Quidditch pitch, in front of the entire school. The kiss was entirely different from how Evan and I used to kiss. It had a bit of fire to it, a sprinkle of passion and I liked it very much.
I was kissing Sirius Black in front of the whole school.
"Shit," I broke apart, and Sirius's eyes flew open, both of us panting slightly.
"Larson. . ." He said breathlessly.
We looked around. Marlene and Evan were fuming in their spots, smoke coming out of their ears. The students who were cheering and celebrating the Slytherin victory were all dead silent, watching us. Even the Professors were looking at us. Juliet and Ray's jaws were on the floor.
I mean, the two students who were at each other's throats all the time, kissing?
Turning back to Sirius, I said, "Black, I am so-"
I was cut off by his lips on mine and the electricity was back again. So was the sound of the cheers. I didn't know so many people were happy to see me and Sirius together. I could vividly hear James shouting his lungs off, but it was hard to concentrate on your surroundings when you were being snogged your head off by the God of Kissing.
This time, he pulled away, biting his swollen lips and looking down at me with a surprised but pleased look.
"What the hell, Azura?" someone yelled.
Sirius and I pulled away completely and turned to see Evan in front of us. Marlene was nowhere to be seen, and neither were her friends.
"Are you serious?" Evan spat.
"No, that'd be me," said Sirius, stepping closer to me, giving me some major deja vu.
"I didn't take you for the type to order boyfriends out of a Witch Weekly magazine," Evan said, looking at me. "I am really disappointed in you, Azura."
I knew what he was doing. He was checking if Sirius was really my 'boyfriend' or not.
"I thought I told you to stay away from her, Black," Evan's glare turned to Sirius next.
"Who are you to lecture me, my mum? James? Remus?" said Sirius, raising his eyebrows. "I just couldn't keep my hands off her. She's irresistible."
What the fuck was going on? Oh god.
"Azura, is he for real?" Evan asked me, his nose flaring. "Tell me this is all a sick joke."
"I- well- um," I hesitated, my whole body tensing up. Evan's mouth upturned into a cocky grin.
"I knew it," he sneered. "You can't be over me yet. You're too weak."
"Don't talk to her that way, Rosier," snarled Sirius. "She's a hundred times stronger than you think."
"Don't make me laugh, Black," said Evan, his grin widening. "A filthy mudblood like Azura know what's best for her. Isn't that right, Azura?"
I blinked. A lot of people, who were apparently watching the scene like a TV show, gasped. The teachers tensed and began to walk over to us.
I stepped forward, trembling with fury.
"Shut. Up."
SMACK.
My hand connected to his face in a sharp slap, the sound ringing louder than it actually was since the whole pitch was silent. Evan staggered, obviously not expecting me to do anything, let alone slap. Sirius let out an impressed whistle.
"You're a disgusting human being, Evan Rosier," I said thickly. "And we are never ever getting back together. I- I like Sirius now, and he is my boyfriend. So leave us alone before I upgrade my slap using a Bludger bat."
With that, I grabbed Sirius's hand and marched back to the castle.
When did the wallflower Azura Larson's life get so dramatic and complicated?