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The rain slashed into the earth like heavy swords. But that didn't stop the Hogwarts students and teachers from filling the stands. It seemed the whole school came out, according to flint, the first match of the season always has the biggest audience. Amelia made her way down to the locker rooms where the rest of the Slytherin team resided. Wordlessly wondering in where an impatient Flint waited along the other Slytherins.
" What took you so long?"
" Heavy rain. Couldn't see."
Flint grunted in annoyance but pushed the girl toward the rest of the team to commence his speech. A second pep-talk of sorts after the abysmal performance of last year's season. That not even the shiny new brooms were able to help.
" We have to beat the Gryffindor team. It has gone on long enough with their wins, especially since that Potter join." Flint expressed, voice drenched in envy, " Weasley, we expect a lot from you."
Amelia stared at him, wide-eyed, but nodded. Her shoulders felt heavy and her heart beat a little faster against her chest. As they walked out toward the field she could hear the rain splattering on the ground. The winds roared, covering up any chattering or cheering that was coming from the crowd, whose colors overwhelmed her. The burst of red and gold was seen in almost every section alongside lion heads. The Slytherins had their coroner. The entire house was decked in green and silver in support.
The Gryffindors approached them from the other side of the field, wearing their Scarlette red robes. The captains walked to each other and, reluctantly, shook hands. Flint gave Oliver Wood a menacing glare and Wood looked like he had lockjaw and simply nodded. In a glance, Amelia held eye contact with her brother, Fred, who gave her the most mischievous smile she had ever seen. She heard the faint instruction of Madam Hooch's to mount their broom. Amelia looked down and lifted her right leg from the mud and swung it over her broom, an extra firebolt that the team had thanks to Lucious Malfoy. Madam Hooch then put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant — they were off.
Amelia rose fast, stumbling a little as her broom began to shift around due to the winds. She gripped the handles tightly to steady herself. When she regained her balance, her attention returned to the field in search of the golden snitch. With only ten minutes into the game, Amelia's clothes were glued to her skin, and her exposed skin felt frozen in ice. Her eyes blinked away the raindrops but even then she still had trouble seeing her teammates, let alone the tiny snitch. She flew back and forth across the field, passing flashes of red and green. Her eyes analyzed the ground, the sky, and around the stands for even a glimpse of gold. But nothing yet.
Three times Amelia came close to being beheaded by a Buldger, each time she could have sworn she heard the menacing laughs that belonged to Fred and George along with flashes of red robes. But the commentary was drowned out by the sound of the rain that she could not be sure. She didn't even know what was happening in the game. The one thing she hoped was that they were in the lead.
The skies grew dark as time passed. No golden snitch in sight. Amelia flew aimlessly trying hard to spot the tiny golden snitch that her team desperately needed her to do. It is her only job. But the sound of Madam Hooch yells and repeatedly blowing into her whistle caught her attention.
She landed on the ground and walked up to her team. Shivering as she spoke.
" What's going on?"
" Gryffindor called for a time out. Have you seen the snitch yet?" One of her teammates asked.
" If I did the game would be over now," said Amelia, her voice annoyed as she started to feel uncomfortable in her wet clothes. " What's the score anyway?"
" They are up fifty points," Flint announced, angrily.
The whistle sounded once again and up went the Slytherin team. Amelia felt slightly discouraged by the current points but she decided not to dwell on it too much. She had the chance to turn things around for them. All she needed was to find a golden snitch in the treacherous weather.
Her eyes looked attentively as they blinked away the rain. But when Amelia turned her head and caught sight of Harry Potter looking at the sky, the golden snitch was hovering, tauntingly, a few feet behind him. Like the flashes of lightning in the sky, Amelia raced forward. Eyes locked on the snitch.
" Harry behind you!" Oliver's voice yelled in desperation.
The snitch began to race away once Amelia closed it on it. She speeds after it. Not concerning herself if Potter was close behind.
" Come on," Amelia grunted as the snitch was almost in her clasp. She leaned forward in her broom, eyes zoomed in on the snitch. She lunged forward, flipping over with her broom still in hand. Losing control, she tumbled to the ground. Her broom flew away on impact as she tried to soften the blow with her left hand.
" AMELIA!"
Her head hurt. As did the rest of her body. Especially her left arm. But with the little strength she had, she lifted her right hand to show off the golden snitch that rested between her fingers.
The Slytherin stand erupted in cheers. Loud enough to be heard past the rain and a couple of boos ( and the hysterical crying of Oliver Wood). A new chant emerged from her house. Amelia tried to listen but her body gave up. She laid back down on the ground, tired and cold. All she wanted was to sleep for the rest of the week. But of course, her house and teammates did not let her. For she felt her body being lifted. She opened her eyes and saw the many faces of Slytherins. All were drenched from the rain but their smiles were bright.
" WEASLEY IS OUR QUEEN! WEASLEY IS OUR QUEEN!"
" YOU DID AMELIA! I KNEW IT!"
Amelia grunted at the sound of Aries's voice, still cursing at him, but she smiled. People who she never interacted with came up to her. Thanking and hugging her in gratitude. Amelia tried to get away from the crowd. Her body ached and she strongly believed she broke her arm during the fall. But more Slytherins congratulated her. Only just now realizing how popular quidditch truly is.
" How did we not know you were this good at Quidditch?" Justin's voice sounded in her ear as he hugged her unexpectedly. " That was amazing!"
" Thanks, Justi— Why are you wearing red?" Amelia looked between the two boys who stood out. Wearing red and golden amongst the Slytherin celebration.
" Don't be mad—"
" If you needed something green you could have just asked."
" That and we just could not find it in ourselves to wear those colors," Ernie added. Looking around, seething at all the happy Slytherins. "And green is not my color."
" And yet I wore yellow for the Hufflepuff match."
" That's different," Ernie said.
" Really? How so?" Justin felt the tension rising and quickly decided to intervene. He wanted to support Amelia, but he didn't think a muggle-born like himself should wear the colors of a house that are not fond of his existence.
" Hey, are they calling you their queen?" asked Justin. Some Slytherins were still shouting in glee. Calling Amelia a lot of admirable things that fluttered her heart. Never did she imagine her housemates would call her anything else but a blood traitor.
" I think so." Amelia smiled, face wet as it flushed red.
" STEP ASIDE!" The urgent voice of madam Hooch roared through the crowd.
As the Slytherins watched their team member tumble down to the ground in an attempt to catch the snitch and thus granting Slytherin a win. The skies were dark and their once bright green and red robes were a darker shade. The anticipation of Amelia catching the snitch was enough to gather people's attention away from the other seeker. They didn't see or notice Harry Potter nearly falling fifty feet from the sky. From the stands, Dumbledore, with a wave of his wand, was able to slow down his impact. Although Harry still fell from a great distance. The headmaster then magicked him onto a stretcher and the rest of the Gryffindor team followed them to the hospital wing.
Amelia looked down at the snitch in sorrow. Did this game win even count if the other seeker was badly injured? Harry did look awfully pale.
" We should get you to the hospital wing too," Ernie added as he looked at the Weasley who hadn't moved her left arm once and winced whenever someone touched it.
" I need to talk with—"
" Amy, arm first then whoever you need to speak with later," Ernie said, eyeing her wound.
The two boys walked her to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was already busy with Harry, an much more urgent matter than a sprained arm, so she wrapped her arm up, gave her a potion, and wished her well.
" Hmm, perhaps Hogwarts should get more nurses." Amelia sighed. Exhausted as she ate dinner at the Hufflepuff table. Her arm ached every time she reached for her goblet.
" Shouldn't you be eating at your table?" Justin asked. The Slytherin table was pact as students ate cheerfully. Even after the incident with Harry Potter.
" Oh. Yeah. They usually aren't as welcoming toward me."
" That's certainly not the case now," Ernie said happily, watching their friend leave.
Amelia walked toward the Slytherin table, wearily, and took a seat beside a couple of people her year. The moment she sat down everyone cheered, greeted her, and asked her how her arm was.
" Oh, Pomfrey gave me a potion to help heal it."
As dinner continued, Amelia was addressed by the most absurd nicknames. Some named her the Saviour of Slytherin, a red miracle, and a true snake ( in a good way). But even now, off the fields and in the great hall, people still chanted Weasley is our queen.
" See, it took a girl to finally join the team to get us a win." A sixth-year commented, looking at the Slytherin team with a raised eyebrow, " It's what I've been saying since last year when you picked that Malfoy boy over me."
" Shut up, Burke." Flint grunted.
The Slytherins were truly dramatic.
" What did I say." Aries seated himself beside the girl, plate in hand as he pushed his extra chicken onto her plate.
" I didn't expect it all to play out like that."
" You are an ace, Weasley." Aries complimented, " Later tonight there is going to be a celebration in the common room. You going to be there?"
" I guess so, yes."
For the rest of dinner, people kept congratulating her. Theo and Blaise would only address her as queen no matter how many times she told them to stop. Completely embarrassed by such nicknames. Once dinner finished, she was whisked away by Blaise, Theo, and a couple of other third-years who led her down to the dungeons.
Green and silver streamers covered the common room along with other celebratory decorations.
" Weasley," Amelia turned to Flint who displayed his crooked teeth in a smile, " Madam Hooch called for Wood and me and it had been decided that you caught the snitch fairly. You won us the game, regardless of the dementors interference."
" The what now?" Amelia asked, looking at her teammates who stood a little bit away for clarification.
" Yeah, Potter fell because a dementor approached him."
Amelia hummed. Dissatisfied with such events. She would have rather done a rematch and proven herself as a seeker against the unbeatable Potter. But instead, she won on a technicality. She did nothing wrong but Potter wandered off and caused himself the game.
The common room filled up with students, talking loudly and happily about the possibility of winning the quidditch cup now that they had a Weasley on the team. Amelia smiled politely at everyone that complimented her. She watched as her only three Slytherin friends talked amongst each other gleefully. She caught sight of Pansy standing alongside Daphne and Millicent, each with a dissatisfied look on their face. Although happy their house team finally won a match, it wasn't enough to get the Weasley girl in their good graces. Especially since Amelia took the seeker position that, to them, rightfully belonged to Draco Malfoy.
The boy who watched the game from the stands with everyone else. Amelia looked for him. Not catching his bright blonde hair anywhere. She walked past his Crabbe and Goyle who were eating the food that the seventh years provided. Pansy and her gang stayed near the fireplace, soaking up the warmth that they were deprived of for the last two hours. It wasn't until a couple of students near the window left that she saw the blond boy.
" Malfoy?" Amelia sat across from him at the bay window. She looked at the pitch dark waters of the Great Lake and tried to see if she could catch a glimpse of any Merpeople.
" Leave me alone, Weasley," said he, scooting away from her.
" Look, I just wanted to apologize about the other day"
" When you caused my mouth to disappear! What kind of magic was that anyway?"
Amelia thought back to all the books she read over the summer. She wasn't sure if it was ancient greek magic or from one of the dark magic books she read.
" I think I just saw it somewhere..." she mumbled, " But that's, not the point. I shouldn't have done that. Escpelly when you didn't have your wand. I'm sorry."
Draco stayed quiet. He was still weary of being so close to Amelia. He couldn't help but fear she might pull something again. Who knows what other magic she knows to cast?
" Wherever, Weasley." he grunted, " Just so you know my arm is feeling a whole lot better recently."
" Oh, is it?" Amelia almost laughed. She figured the boy would spontaneously get better once his position on the team was threatened.
" Yes, I'll be playing seeker for the team real soon."
" I hope so. All that training and flying isn't really for me."
" What? Why? you were a natural?" said Malfoy.
Amelia raised an eyebrow at his words. Unsure of how to feel about the compliment when just a second ago he was reserved.
" Quidditch isn't for me," she confessed. She dreaded practices and rather not fly in the rain aimlessly for hours. " and that has to be the only nice thing you have said to me in the past two years."
" Perhaps you should just stay on the team. Everyone seems to prefer you now." Malfoy grumbled.
" Malfoy," she sighed, " Maybe if you took quidditch a tad bit more serious then perhaps you too could be a better seeker."
" You do know my father got me my position."
" oh, yeah," she said, " At least you are aware of how you got this position. You should start practicing to prove to everyone that you are up for the task."
" What is this? A pep talk?"
" Well, you are the one mopping around, looking out the window with a sad look on your face." she pointed out. Gesturing around for emphasis, " Once your arm gets better, start working. Don't let my hard work go to waste."
" All you did was go to six practices and played one game."
" And yet I won us a match and they are calling me their queen."
" Please, there just being dramatic. They'll go back to calling you a traitor sooner or later. You were eating with those pathetic Hufflepuffs."
" Hey!" Amelia said glaring at the boy, " Do not talk about my friends like that. Remember what I did to you." her eyes narrowed down at him in a menacing way that made him move away from the girl.
" Merlin, fine."
" Hm, that was our first pleasant conversation." Amelia smiled. She looked around the room and felt like things were finally starting to look up for her. Although, she probably will never change her dormmate's impression of her. That is something Amelia could live with.
" Don't get used to it."