On the morning of the season finale, Lizzie woke at the crack of dawn, feeling sick to the stomach with nerves. By the time she left her parents' house in Dorset and made her way to the training grounds, the sun was rising in a perfectly blue sky, promising a hot and sunny day ahead.
"This ain't ideal," muttered Ethan as Lizzie entered the changing rooms together with Skye. He looked like he had been there for hours already, pacing up and down the room, eyes flicking nervously between the window and the blackboard with their match plan. "This ain't ideal at all."
Ethan had good reason to be worried; a few hours into the match, whichever team would have to fly against the sun would have a distinct disadvantage. It was something that couldn't be helped now, though, so Lizzie and Skye left him to his devices and gathered up their robes to get changed.
They were quiet as they changed into their blood-red robes with the crossed cleavers on the chest, as were Bethany Tweed and Scout Sheridan, who arrived shortly after them. Lizzie wished one of them would say something to help distract herself from her rising nausea, but it seemed like she was out of luck, and each of the four women remained silent.
By the time they returned to the team room, Orion, Warren Porter, and Dougal Docherty had arrived as well. They stood by the tactics board, trying to calm an increasingly erratic-looking Ethan. Lizzie used the moment to cast a long look across the room she had spent so many hours in over the last couple of years. Knowing that the next time she would be here it would be with a different team, wearing different colours, suddenly seemed both absurd and terrifyingly real. Feeling her heart sink, she sat in her designated spot, leaning against her locker and hoping the next few minutes would tick by a little faster.
When everyone was geared up and ready, and Ethan and Skye had made their final speeches, Lizzie was reduced to a nervous wreck, her hands shaking so badly that she struggled to close the buckles of her gear. She forced herself to stop and breathe before she tried again; it was either that or throwing her stupid gloves against the wall.
As the leather strap slid from her fingers for the fourth time, she cursed under her breath. The rest of the team was already shuffling from the room, and she still hadn't even closed her gloves.
"You were always fidgety before the big matches," Orion said as he passed her. Instead of following the others and leaving her to her misery, he stopped. "If your mind is unbalanced, so will be the rest of you."
"Who even thought these up?" Lizzie muttered in return, glaring at her unbuckled arm protection with disgust. "Why isn't there a spell to close them?"
"I believe Andre was on the case." Orion nodded at Lizzie's gloves. "May I?"
Shrugging helplessly, Lizzie raised her hands, and Orion quickly fastened the buckles on her left arm. As he moved on to the other, he paused.
"Your nerves don't match your confidence, it seems."
"What?"
He carefully got hold of Lizzie's right hand and turned it so that the sleeve of her robes slid back to reveal her wrist. His touch was light, his fingertips barely putting any pressure on her skin, but Lizzie held her breath regardless as his thumb brushed over her racing pulse.
"I remember the day you first wore your topaz around your wrist," Orion said with a melancholy smile. "Skye said you wore it to every single match since, even after I left. Knowing that it gave you strength where I failed to is a consolation, but it's good to see that you don't need it anymore."
Lizzie laughed weekly, silently mourning the loss of Orion's touch as he withdrew his hand. "I'd kill to have my necklace right now. I'm so bad without it, it's pathetic."
"You still haven't found it, then?"
"No, it's gone for good. Any idea on what the universe wants to tell me with that?"
The corners of Orion's mouth curved into a smile. "My humble guess is that it wants you to have faith. Everything you need to shine is already within you."
"Right now, everything within me really feels like it wants to come out."
Her words made Orion laugh, a low, warm sound that made Lizzie feel a little better. When he opened the clasps of his own arm protection, underneath which he had wrapped his old necklace with the bright, polished stone around his wrist, she blinked in surprise. Her confusion turned into astonishment as he made to brush the leather string from his hand.
"What are you doing?"
"Fate has been a fickle companion lately, but I trust that it will lead us to our destiny today," he said as he held the pendant out for Lizzie to take. "You need the reassurance more than I do."
Lizzie's eyes flicked between Orion and the necklace. She was tempted to accept his offer but, at the same time, knew that she shouldn't. She missed her topaz necklace, and she missed him, and that was why she shook her head and closed Orion's hand around the pendant again.
"Thank you," she said, her voice feeling raspy in her throat, "but I can't."
"I wouldn't have offered it if it wasn't okay."
"I know," Lizzie smiled sadly, "but it's time I learn to play without either you or my necklace. I'm a big girl now."
"You are indeed," Orion said with an incline of his head. "Then let me offer you a piece of advice instead - don't linger in the past, and don't worry about what's to come. None of it is of importance. All that matters is -"
"- the here and now."
Feeling his eyes on her, and with her hand still resting on top of his, the fluttery feeling in Lizzie's stomach made way for a far more pleasant one. For just a moment, just because she desperately needed a piece of Orion's calm and confidence, she didn't push the feeling away.
"The here and now," Orion nodded. "Let's remain in the moment and forget what lies beyond. This is the moment of your final bow. Let's make it unforgettable."
***
While Lizzie had still been slightly nervous as she and Orion had hurried after the rest of their team and lined up at the pitch entrance, all of her anxiety vanished the moment the referee released the Quaffle. She followed its ascent with her eyes, and as soon as the umpire's whistle sounded, she shot straight after it.
Due to her injuries, Lizzie hadn't played either of the two season fixtures against the Magpies and now got to experience first-hand what the Daily Prophet had come to call 'otherworldly skill'. The Bludgers coming after her were aimed with frightening precision, and the Montrose Chasers flew with such agility that it was all Lizzie could do to keep up with them.
Montrose's most dangerous asset, however, was their Keeper. Anthony O'Leary - a tall, brawny man with curly dark hair and keen eyes - had recently been nominated as reserve Keeper of the Irish National Quidditch team, and he did his best to prove the scouts' decision right. His reach was infamous, and more than once he thwarted a goal Lizzie had believed foolproof with apparent ease.
Despite their best efforts, the Wanderers soon trailed behind in points. When O'Leary kicked the Quaffle away after another failed attempt on his goalposts, Skye crossed into the ball's path and plucked it from the air. She flew high above the rest of them, and Lizzie only needed one look from her to know what was on her mind. She called out to Orion, who understood immediately.
As soon as Skye dropped the Quaffle for Lizzie to catch, the three Chasers turned and sped off toward the Magpies' goalposts once more. Abigail Adler - a tall, brunette witch who had been on the Ravenclaw team - came at Lizzie, trying to knock the Quaffle from her hand, but Lizzie passed it to Skye again and let her broomstick drop so that Adler shot by right above her head.
They were rapidly approaching the scoring zone, and when Skye gave the signal, they simultaneously stood, surfing through the air the rest of the way. Lizzie caught the Quaffle Orion passed her, took a moment to adjust her balance, and fixed her eyes on the goalposts. O'Leary was hovering in front of the middle one, his head turning between the advancing Chasers as he tried to determine who would shoot.
Ignoring her hammering pulse, Lizzie crouched low on the handle of her broom and called for Skye right as she shifted her weight. Her Silverswift instantly followed her command, turning sharply in the air, and as it did, Lizzie focused, exhaled, and jumped, using the momentum to pass the Quaffle upwards.
It felt like she was weightless for a moment, floating in the air like a bird in flight. Then, gravity took hold again. There was a panicky flutter in her stomach as the air rushed past her, grappling and whipping at her hair and robes. She had to fight not to flail her arms and legs and concentrate on where she wanted to land instead. For a horrible second, Lizzie was convinced she would miss Orion flying below her and drop to the ground like a stone, but then Orion's hands caught her by the shoulders and pulled her in as her feet connected with the handle of his Nimbus 2000. It swayed from the impact, both of them tensing to keep the broomstick balanced.
Both their heads whipped around a moment later when the goalposts flashed up, and the stands erupted in screams. Lizzie joined in the cheers as the commentator announced Skye's goal, flinging her arms around Orion's neck in celebration. He hugged her back, shouting something she couldn't hear above the noise. They let go of each other as a madly grinning Skye approached them.
"We did it!" Skye shouted as soon as she was within earshot. "Smashing job, you two!"
She leaned in to high-five both Lizzie and Orion. Supporting her weight on Orion's shoulder, Lizzie was just climbing back onto her broomstick Skye had brought when Orion suddenly shouted, "Watch out!"
Her eyes snapping upwards, Lizzie immediately spotted the Bludger hurtling at the three of them. Behind it, Dougal was desperately trying to catch up, but he was too far away. Lizzie was jerked backwards by Orion, but Skye wasn't so lucky. The Bludger collided with the handle of her Comet, which burst apart into an explosion of splintered wood.
Skye stared at her cracked broomstick in shock, and as the magic left the now-dead wood, she only had time for her mouth to open in surprise before she dropped from the air. Lizzie screamed and instinctively lurched forward, but Orion held her fast lest she'd make his Nimbus topple. Without anyone paying attention to it, Lizzie's broom had slowly spun out of reach, forcing her and Orion to watch in horror as Skye rushed toward the ground with her red robes flapping about her body.
It took what felt like an eternity for the referee to react. Whipping his wand out, he magically slowed Skye's fall, but there was still an audible thud as her body hit the grass.
"Merlin's holey knickers, Skye! Are you okay? " Ethan, who had Apparated onto the pitch even before the rest of the team had landed, almost screamed before he got pushed aside by the Mediwizard, who gave Skye a quick one-over. Not seeing her scrunch her eyes shut and complain as the Healer shone her wandlight into her eyes was among the strangest things Lizzie had ever seen. She and Orion shared a look; he seemed just as worried as she was.
"She's got a concussion," the Mediwizard announced shortly after. "She can't go on."
Ethan moved his lips, but no sound came past them. Then he turned, storming toward the referee with a face like thunder.
"This shouldn't have happened," he barked so loudly that the umpire took an involuntary step backwards. "The Quaffle was out of the game, and the Bludger was beaten anyway. That was a bloody foul ! My captain got seriously injured while you were scratching your balls somewhere on the side. And where even were my fucking Beaters?!"
"He was getting the Quaffle back," Lizzie said, stepping forward and trying not to flinch from Ethan's glare. "He couldn't see Skye falling earlier than he did. We celebrated and didn't watch out. It's awful that she's hurt, but it happens."
Ethan's face had turned a concerning shade of red. "I'm gonna tell you what happens if -"
"Dad?" came Skye's voice from behind them. It sounded awfully small. "Dad, where's my broom? My broom's gone. Rath took it, Dad, I swear. I can't play Ravenclaw without my broomstick."
Ethan's face softened instantly upon turning to his daughter. He knelt in the grass beside her, explaining the situation in a hushed voice. When she protested, he shook his head, laying a heavy hand on her shoulder and muttering something to her Lizzie couldn't hear. Eventually, Skye nodded, brushed off her captain's armband and handed it to her father. As she was led from the pitch to the thundering applause of their fans, Ethan turned to Lizzie.
"Last match in the fold, and you get to be the captain after all," he said tersely and held Skye's armband out to her. "Can't make this shit up, can you?"
Lizzie stared between Ethan and his outstretched hand, her heart hammering against her ribcage. She couldn't be the captain. Skye was the captain. She had never led a team before, this was the final, and they were only six now. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry to do so.
"What is it?" Ethan urged, holding the captain's armband a little higher. "You're Skye's stand-in. This is your chance, lass. Your team needs you."
Feeling like none of this was actually happening, Lizzie forced herself to nod. She watched in silence as Ethan fastened the armband around her arm, all the while giving her instructions she forgot as soon as he stopped talking. When he had gone and Lizzie met the expectant looks of her teammates, she suddenly felt like the pitch was spinning around her.
"Relax, Chaser. Breathe," she heard Orion's voice through the haze. His words took her from inside her head and back to the Quidditch pitch, where her team was waiting for instructions from her, their captain. Feeling both hot and cold, she fought the panic in her voice as she turned to him.
"What are we supposed to do now? We can't do this without Skye. Montrose is too good, and we're behind in points, and none of our strategies work without three Chasers, and... and I don't know what to do." The truth of her words was like a gust of cold water to the face. "Orion, I don't know what to do."
"Listen to me, Lizzie. Liz, hey!" Orion took her by the shoulders to make her stop babbling and concentrate on him. "I need you to calm down and take a deep breath. Good. If you brush away the fog of your doubts, you will know what to do. You've always known. Don't let your light be dimmed by fear of failure. Let your fire pave the trail to victory."
Lizzie swallowed heavily, clinging to the feeling of Orion's hands on her shoulders.
"You really think I can?"
Orion's lips curved into a smile, the slightly lopsided smirk she knew so well.
"I don't think, I know. You can do it. I believe in you, Captain."
A small, only slightly hysterical laugh escaped her. She held Orion's eye for a moment longer before she took a deep breath, gathered herself, and turned to the rest of her team.
"You heard it, everyone - Skye's out for good. The situation looks dire, but I know we can turn this thing around. And why? Because we're a team. We're a family. We stick up for each other when it counts, and right now, we all have to stick up for Skye."
Her fingers closed tighter around the handle of her broomstick as she continued. "This is my last match for the Wanderers, and I want to make Skye proud. I want to make you proud. I don't care about what was or will be, come next season. Sod it. All of it. This here and now is our moment, the moment we've been working for so bloody hard. We can't just let that go."
The more she spoke, the more Lizzie found herself believing what she was saying. Her newfound fire seemed to resonate with her teammates because, one by one, the hopelessness and defeat on their faces vanished to be replaced by a look of stubborn hope. Her confidence growing, Lizzie pointed at the stands.
"Look at our fans! Listen to them. They're singing, for us. All of them are here for us. They give us so much, they're here for every single match. It's time to give them something back."
A sense of grim determination overcoming her, Lizzie mounted her broomstick and looked at each of her teammates in turn.
"The Magpies have had their shiny trophy long enough. It's time to bring it home."