Sawyer was quite certain that she was the only sane person in Hogwarts.
By the time the holidays were over, tension between the two teams of Slytherin and Gryffindor and their Houses was at the breaking point. A number of small scuffles broke out in the corridors, culminating in a nasty incident in which a Gryffindor fourth year and a Slytherin sixth year ended up in the hospital wing with leeks sprouting out of their ears (Sawyer was the one in charge for that, but no one needed to know it, as she blamed Marcos Flint, the captain of Slytherin. She wasn't doing it for team spirit though, it was just funny).
Wood, who now had Sawyer trailing behind him at most times, was the most ridiculous of them all. None of the team members were allowed to walk alone, and Harry was getting crowded more than ever. The whole of Gryffindor House took up the challenge enthusiastically, so that it was impossible for Harry to get to classes on time because he was surrounded by a vast, chattering crowd.
"So Harry gets a whole house to keep him safe, the rest of the team are all walking together everywhere with only Lee with them, and you're all alone?" Sawyer wondered at dinner the day before the match.
"Hey, I've got you and Meeko," Oliver grinned, bumping his shoulder with Sawyer's.
"Like I care about this," Sawyer mumbled.
"You cared enough to hex this Slytherin from sixth year."
"I also hexed this guy from my year, what's his name," Sawyer shrugged, playing with her food. The excitement was rubbing on her, and despite not loving Quidditch all that much, just like the rest of the Gryffindors, she couldn't eat.
"Can't eat either?" Oliver asked as he pushed off his plate, making Sawyer shake her head. "Let's head up to the Common Room then."
Oliver was probably the one most nervous. He either muttered to himself about Quidditch, or was completely silent. Sawyer tried to get him to talk about casual stuff every once in a while but it hardly worked.
When they entered the common room there was a great deal of noise. Fred and George were dealing with the pressure by being louder and more exuberant than ever, which surprised Sawyer since she often thought they're as loud as they get. Oliver was once morr crouched over a model of a Quidditch field in the corner, prodding little figures across it with his wand and muttering to himself, as Sawyer watched him, patting Meeko.
Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were laughing at Fred's and George's jokes while Harry was sitting with Ron and Hermione, removed from the center of things, for once.
Meeko escaped Sawyer's hold at some point and walked over to Oliver, peering up at him, though he hadn't noticed, not until Meeko nudged him.
Oliver turned to look at him, surprised and alarmed.
"Oliver, you should probably sleep," Sawyer grinned lightly, "it's already past nine, and you need to be ready for war tomorrow."
Oliver grinned, nodding. "Guess you're right. I can't do much more now, can I? Alright," he sighed, leaning to kiss Sawyer's cheek, "goodnight Saw." Sawyer wanted to comment about it being an awful nickname, but her heart was up too high in her throat, so she just stared at him. "Team! Bed!"
He stood up, as well as the rest of the team, "night Oli," Sawyer managed in a mumble, and he grinned at her as he turned away.
She averted her gaze to the carpeted floor, where Meeko was watching her with satisfication.
"Shut up, you're a cat."
::
The Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall the next day to enormous applause. Both the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were applauding them too. The Slytherin table hissed loudly as they passed, but Sawyer noted to herself that the Slytherin team was paler than usual.
Oliver spent the whole of breakfast urging his team to eat, while touching nothing himself, and wouldn't listen to Sawyer when she urged him to eat. He even dodged a binding spell she attemped to use to force him into eating-- the same guy from her year that she hit with the spell was hit again, and she sheepishly undid the binding.
Oliver waited , not very patiently, for Fred to finish his tea, then he hurried the team off to the field before anyone else had finished, so they could get an idea of the conditions. As they left the Great Hall, everyone applauded again.
Again, Sawyer really couldn't wrap her head as to why. She just didn't like Quidditch all that much.
"I reckon that if I wasn't friends with them, I wouldn't give two shits about this match," she huffed lowly to Meeko, who was licking his paw. And true, until that year, Sawyer's never even attended a match- aside from the first one at her first year, even she had to admit that Charlie Weasley was an amazing seeker.
Sawyer was the last one to leave the hall, glueing bacon to Meeko's whiskers, watching in amusement.
"That counts as animal abuse," Remus told her as Dumbledore left the hall with McGonagall. He sat down next to her, watching with amusement as well.
"I'm sure Meeko doesn't mind," she said as Meeko hissed, obviously minding. Remus laughed, but undid the spell, making Meeko paw at the bacon, before attacking Sawyer, who grabbed him safely. "Feeling nostalgic sitting at the table?"
Remus nodded, smiling as he trailed something underneath the table.
"What are you doing?" she wondered, making him signal for her to hold on for a second.
"Here it is," he grinned in satisfaction, grabbing Sawyer's free hand and allowing her to trace over the words carved to the down side of the table. Sawyer frowned, before she realized what was written there, laughing.
"Dad's a huge dork!" she snorted, tracing again the Sirius Black Rulez, James Potter Suckz. "What with the Z?"
"He always went on about Z suffering from discramination, and attempted to use Z whenever he could. It was a phase going on from third year to the middle of the fifth, thanks Merlin he grew out of it."
Sawyer giggled, and despite thoughts clouding her mind and making her doubt her decision to stay quiet, she decided she likes Sirius Black, at the very least.
"Let's head out," Remus offered, making Sawyer nod as she followed after him to the field.
Three quarters of the crowd was wearing scarlet rosettes, waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them, or brandishing banners with slogans like "GO GRYFFINDOR!" and "LIONS FOR THE CUP" Behind the Slytherin goal posts, however, two hundred people were wearing green; the silver serpent of Slytherin glittered on their flags, and Professor Snape sat in the very front row, wearing green like everyone else, and a very grim smile.
"How strange is seeing Snivelus with something other than black," Sawyer laughed as she watched him.
"Stop calling him that," Remus noted with a smile, obviously not caring all that much.
"Yes father," she drawled cynically as they climbed up, sitting next to Hagrid, who was speaking with Ron, Hermione and Neville.
"Professor," he corrected, making her laugh.
"Yes Professor Father."
"Shut up."
"And here are the Gryffindors!" yelled Lee, who was acting as commentator as usual. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years --"
Lee's comments were drowned by a tide of 'boos' from the Slytherin end.
"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill --"
More boos from the Slytherin crowd. But Lee made a point, Malfoy was easily the smallest person On the Slytherin team; the rest of them were enormous.
"Captains, shake hands!" said Madam Hooch.
Flint and Wood approached each other and grasped each other's hand very tightly; it looked as though each was trying to break the other's fingers. Sawyer, rather than going for team spirit, raised her wand and tried to aim a Bone Cracking spell at Flint, before she had her wand snatched from her by Remus.
"Hey!" she whined, watching as Remus put the wand in his cloak. She grinned wickedly as she took out a second wand, but Remus snatched this one away too. "Party Pooper!"
"Mount your brooms!" said Madam Hooch. "Three...two...one..."
The sound of her whistle was lost in the roar from the crowd as fourteen brooms rose into the air.
"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinner of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no -- Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the field -- WHAM! -- nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by -- Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina -- nice swerve around Montague -- duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger! SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Angelina punched the air as she soared around the end of the field; the sea of scarlet below was screaming its delight
"OUCH!"
Angelina was nearly thrown from her broom as Marcus Flint went smashing into her.
"Sorry!" said Flint as the crowd below booed. "Sorry, didn't see her!"
A moment later, Fred Weasley chucked his Beater's club at the back of Flint's head. Flint's nose smashed into the handle of his broom and began to bleed.
"That will do!" shrieked Madam Hooch, zooming between then. "Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!"
"Come off it, Miss!" howled Fred, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Alicia flew forward to take the penalty.
"Come on, Alicia!" yelled Lee into the silence that had descended on the crowd. "YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry turned the Firebolt sharply to watch Flint, still bleeding freely, fly forward to take the Slytherin penalty. Wood was hovering in front of the Gryffindor goal posts, his jaw clenched.
"'Course, Wood's a superb Keeper!" Lee told the crowd as Flint waited for Madam Hooch's whistle, and Sawyer grinned happily to herself, though she couldn't quite understand why. "Superb! Very difficult to pass -- very difficult indeed -- YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!"
Relieved, Harry zoomed away, gazing around for the Snitch.
"Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession -- no! Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell, Katie Bell for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, she's streaking up the field -- THAT WAS DELIBERATE!"
Montague, a Slytherin Chaser, had swerved in front of Katie, and instead of seizing the Quaffle had grabbed her head. Katie cart-wheeled in the air, managed to stay on her broom, but dropped the Quaffle.
Madam Hooch's whistle rang out again as she soared over to Montague and began shouting at him. A minute later, Katie had put another penalty past the Slytherin Seeker.
"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING --"
"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way --"
"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!" Sawyer laughed at her friend, watching the match again.
Harry must've seen the Snitch, since pulled his Firebolt around and sped off toward the Slytherin end -- Malfoy went haring after him, and Sawyer started cussing.
"That fool! He has to wait until they're fifty point up or─" One of the Bludgers came streaking past Harry's right ear, hit by the gigantic Slytherin Beater, Derrick. Then again, the second Bludger grazed Harry's elbow. The other Beater, Bole, was closing in.
"Oh snap," Sawyer murmured, not watching the match anymore. Bane was standing at the edge of the pitch, looking at her sharply.
"I'm going to the bathroom, Remus, be right back," she told him, making a focused Remus nod, distracted.
What could he want?