Before long, Severus and Remus' time came too on the Quidditch Pitch. The Ravenclaw team had been training for a month and a bit, and worked seamlessly as a team. Natalie scored, Remus scored, Severus caught the Snitch... it was all in the bag.
However, it was the beginning of December, and not only did the cold numb your entire body and make it extremely difficult to catch things, it also happened to be a blizzard on the day of their match against Hufflepuff. From their year, Deidre Spinnet, Alicia Fawley and Selena Shafiq were on the Hufflepuff team, which mainly consisted of girls. Jason Macavoy and Orion O'Flaherty had both gone for the Keeper position, and had ended up brawling instead of flying, resulting in their immediate disqualification. Spinnet and Fawley were both Chasers along with a fourth-year, and Shafiq was their Seeker, playing alongside a female seventh-year Keeper, and two male sixth-year Beaters.
Remus, while not as nervous as Lily had been, looked slightly queasy as he faced breakfast on the morning of the match. Considerately, for once, Severus had taken the task of loading food onto his friend's plate, and had given him a fried egg to symbolise the Quaffle and made hoops out of his sausages. Despite frowning even more at the diagram on his plate, Remus had nodded his thanks, and Severus, now gratified, had tucked into his own meal, two mere lukewarm pieces of toast, and a mug of similarly lukewarm coffee, a beverage which neither he nor Lily had realised Severus drank before this year.
Natalie, on the other hand, appeared quietly confident, and dug into her food with great gusto, whilst continuing to have an active input in Severus' monologue about Golpalott's Third Law. Lily joined them halfway through, beaming with excitement.
"Hi Remus, Natalie! Sev, Selena says she's ready to beat you," she exclaimed, claiming the space on the bench beside Severus.
Severus paused in his speech, but said nothing, only raised an eyebrow. Lily carried on, oblivious.
"I hope you know what you're doing; if you got hurt_"
Severus raised a finger which instantly called for calm.
"Lily, I'll be fine. I have Remus and Natalie to watch over me."
At these words, Remus lifted his head and gave a weary smile, and Natalie contained her laughter at Lily's worried expense.
"Also, Lils, you were on that pitch a few weeks ago and I didn't worry myself to pieces over you," Severus commented.
Lily turned an anxious face to him.
"But you're not a worrier. Oh, Sev_"
He drew her into a tight embrace before she could say any more and she muttered something into his shoulder.
"What was that, Lils?" He asked.
"I said, 'I'm glad I have you'," she said, blushing slightly.
Severus laughed.
"And that's all I need to beat Selena! Come on Natalie! Buck up, Remus. We've got a match to win!"
*
To say that Severus didn't enjoy being frozen to his broom at thirty feet would be an understatement. He loathed it. However, at least he could take pleasure in the fact that Remus, Natalie and Sarah kept getting past Hufflepuff's Keeper, Felicity Fleet, a seventh-year who had been planning on trying out for the Holyhead Harpies upon graduation. This ambition had most likely been procured from a hallucinogenic dream during which Fleet actually saved more than one goal.
As thirty minutes slowly drained into one hour and thirty minutes, and Ravenclaw's score went from 30-0 to 80-20, with Deidre Spinnet and Magnus Cadwallader's older sister Millicent having scored in the 43rd and 78th minute respectively, Severus searched the skies for the umpteenth time and finally saw the Snitch. He saw Selena chase after it, but his mind was in overdrive. If the Snitch darted there_ oh, and whizzed past there_ perhaps he could do it.
Ignoring Bradley's bellows to 'get out there and CATCH IT!' Severus carefully manoeuvred along his pre-planned course. He waited until Selena was going flat out to catch the Snitch and then made his move. He urged his broomstick into action, getting to a break-neck speed as he caught up Selena. He further ignored both the school broom's creaky protests and Selena's worried gasp as he looped around her and followed the Snitch into its hasty plummet. Now, relieved that Selena was no longer at risk, he easily raced to catch up with the Snitch and, two metres away from the ground, caught it.
The resulting roar was deafening.
Bradley was the first to reach him, seizing him by the shoulders and shaking him with barely-controlled excitement. Remus was next, cautiously plucking Bradley's fingers from him and giving him a bear hug that could compete with the hug he'd given him the previous Christmas. Natalie grabbed him too, and soon it was a massive huddle, with Severus awkwardly standing in the middle, trying to resist the urge to panic from the claustrophobia and shrug them all off. It was Remus who noticed, eventually, his desire to have them all off him, and managed to get the team away.
"It's Lily's turn, now," the boy shrugged at Bradley's inquiring glance.
And so it was. The girl had raced down from the stands as soon as Madam Hooch had blown her whistle signalling the end of the match, and now jumped into Severus' arms, almost sobbing with relief.
"Hey, hey, Lils," Severus spoke softly, trying to catch her attention as he swung her round. "I'm okay, alright. I'm fine. I'm fine."
His words did little to comfort Lily, however.
"You could have died!" She exclaimed at last, pulling her head away from his chest. "Pulling that stunt with the loop-the-loop. You should apologise to Selena!"
"I need to speak to her anyway," Severus replied as they broke apart. "It was a good game and she played extraordinarily well. She's really a very good opponent."
"You're just better," Remus interrupted, having drifted over.
Lily scowled at him.
"That's my friend you're talking about," she retorted, hands on hips.
"I'm your friend, too," Severus reminded, a smile playing on his lips.
"Yes, you're right," Lily said, frowning. "Don't confuse me!"
"I'm not," Severus smirked. "I'm simply always right."
"Oh, go and see Selena," she waved him away. "Remus, how are you?"
"Wonderful," smiled Remus. "Ravenclaw are tied with Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup."
Lily grimaced. "We're only halfway through the year, Lupin, don't get ahead of yourself." She paused, both of them watching as Severus began apologising to Selena, who was still slightly white from her shock. "You going home for Christmas?"
"Nah," he replied. "I'm staying."
"Oh, Remus, you should have said!" Lily exclaimed, distraught.
"Don't worry," Remus laughed, "I've got Edgar and George."
"What's Nicholas doing?"
"Hosting a Ministry ball," Remus informed her. "It's what the swanky Slytherins usually do, but the Goldsteins wanted their go at it."
"I suppose Malfoy's annoyed," Lily commented. "I mean, now that he's graduated, he'll have nothing to do but wait for Narcissa Black to graduate too."
"True," Remus snorted. "He'll be lazing about at home whilst Daddy Malfoy makes all the money."
Severus joined them again.
"Selena was relieved I was alright," he stated, stopping beside Lily.
"As were we all," Remus said, rolling his eyes. Lily elbowed him in the ribs.
"Anyway, what were you talking about?" Severus asked curiously, watching their interactions with great interest.
"Christmas!" Lily exclaimed happily.
"Ah, that."
"Oh, don't do that, Sev," Lily pouted. "You like Christmas as much as the rest of us."
"If you say so." Now it was Severus' time to roll his eyes.
"And you won't even get the wonderful food of Hogwarts," Remus laughed.
"I'll have you know," said Lily seriously, "my mum makes the best Christmas dinner."
Remus looked to Severus for confirmation.
"She is actually right," Severus informed him. There was a pause. "For once."
With a yell, Lily made for Severus, but he was already running away, his speed on the ground almost parallel with his speed in the air. Considering that he was gradually being left behind, Remus picked up his heels and raced after them, whooping all the way.
*****
A.N. Okay, so Christmas will be the next chapter. Perhaps Severus will enjoy it for once - who knows? Certainly not me, for one. XD
I've added the Quidditch teams to the character list for people who don't want to get confused over the extended world I've added to JK's, so take a look at that.
Thank you for reading and PLEASE COMMENT!