In the days that followed, Arlene was suffering from a very bad case of nostalgia.
It wasn't the first time that Hermione had started avoiding her because she was about to reveal her feelings, and the rejection was taking its toll on Arlene's ego.
But she didn't have time to worry about her love life, or the impending finales or even the soap opera that was the Black family.
Because Hagrid was now expected to depend Buckbeak himself at the appeal, and Arlene's mother couldn't help because apparently she'd been the prime suspect in aiding a mass murderer because she had defended him when he was first convicted which makes no sense since she was the one who always warned Arlene about her uncle and-
Arlene took a deep breath, she couldn't afford to drown in her thoughts, because, regardless of her personal drama, the Quidditch Finale was getting closer by the day, and the closer the date came, the more Marcus started to channel Oliver Wood's obsessiveness.
The Easter Holidays that year was gloomier than most, Hagrid understandably didn't want to decorate (it was clear Filch wasn't going to either) and the fifth to seventh years –the work force that organized most celebrations- were crammed with studying.
Sometimes, Arlene would steal a glance at the Gryffindor table during meal times and find Harry doing his homework (he was as overworked by practice as she was) Ron reading a different book in the Magical Law genre (at least Hagrid wasn't completely on his own) and Hermione studying (at least she wasn't fighting with the boys anymore)
And as though all that wasn't enough, tensions between the two houses piled more problems on Arlene's plate, Gryffindor hadn't won the cup since the legendary Charlie Weasley was seeker, not to mention that it was both Oliver and Marcus' last year, and both wanted to win it.
(A Gryffindor fifth year voiced his doubts that Marcus would be graduating that year and ended up in the hospital wing after Miles hexed him)
But dealing with Flint's micromanaging during practice in no way prepared her for the day of the match.
"Draco don't you dare get red carded like last time-"
"-you should've clipped your nails Peggy! You would've had a stronger grip-"
"When's the last time you changed the broom's handle Arlene?"
"Did any of you even read the strategy I owled you!"
Miles finally had enough and slammed his locker shut, then proceeded to voice all of their thoughts in a booming Scottish accent "Marcus, one more word and I will make Jade dump you, you over-glorified waste of hair!"
By the time they stepped into the Pitch, her entire body was filled with dread and anticipation.
"And here are the Gryffindors!" Lee Jordan's voiced boomed "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years-"
The rest of the sentence was overshadowed by the Slytherins' boos.
"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint," continued in a sweet voice "Burke, Salvatore, Derek, Malfoy, Blechley and-"
Again, the sentence was cut off, this time by Gryffindor.
"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 Salvatore, Salvatore of Slytherin tearing up the field- WHAM!- nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Salvatore drops the Quaffle, it's caught by Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina nice swerve around Flint- SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Arlene shook her head, they had very clear instructions from Flint to play defense rather than offence, as even Gryffindor had to be more than fifty points and catch the Snitch in order to win.
The next series of events were a blur, Marcus crashed into Angelina, Arlene scored a goal, Fred threw a bludger into Marcus' neck, Marcus broke his nose, the game was paused as Madame Pomfrey preformed an Episkey on him, the game restarted with a penalty shot to both teams, they both score.
Suddenly, Arlene spots the Snitch near the Gryffindor hoops, excitement fills her as she turns to Draco and-
He's racing Potter to the Slytherin hoops.
She could basically feel Draco's rage at Harry's trickery radiate off him when she approaches him during the second time out (George fell off and took Miles down with him, they were both hatefully glaring at each other as Pomfrey attended to their wounds and Hooch lectured them).
"We're thirty to ten." She informed him.
"I'm aware."
"Flint doesn't want us on offence, which means that we need you to catch the Snitch."
"Why are you telling me this?" Draco snapped.
"Because." She hissed, attempting to seem inconspicuous under Wood's watchful glare "whenever we play against Gryffindor, you let Harry get into your head."
"I do not!" He exploded.
"Yes you do!" she argued, switching to French "this is going to turn into a very desperate game, and in desperate times, desperate measures must be taken."
Draco paused, catching on "What do you have in mind?"
The game resumed once again and it became increasingly obvious that Arlene had been correct, it was quickly turning into the dirtiest game any of them had witnessed on both ends.
It paused and unpaused so many times that Arlene was getting irritated, Miles threw another foul worthy bludger at Harry, the twins retaliated with an even more foul worthy hit at Draco, which was answered by Jade 'accidently' throwing the quaffle at George head, which was then grabbed by Katie who scored the forth Gryffindor goal.
It wasn't long until Arlene was a victim of the violence herself (which she managed to avoid since the twins didn't hate her and none of the girls wanted to hit a third year unprovoked) but eventually Spinnet crashed into her and left her with a black eye, a split lip and a couple of scratches and bruises.
Angelina scored. Sixty-ten. Moments later, Fred pelted a Bludger at Jade, knocking the Quaffle out of her hands; Alicia seized it and put it through the Gryffindor goal, seventy-ten.
The Gryffindor crowd below was screaming itself hoarse, Gryffindor was sixty points in the lead, and if Harry caught the Snitch now, the Cup was theirs.
As though it sensed the high stakes, the Snitch appeared twenty feet above Harry.
Arlene felt her heart sink as he sped up his broom, he almost caught it when Draco caught up with him, but instead of reaching for the Snitch, he reached for Harry's broom.
It was an obvious foul, but then again, it was a desperate game, and honor never won its owner anything but hardship.
"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics." Madam Hooch was screeching, but Draco ignored her and instead turned to the closest teammate, which was Jade, and although he never liked her for being a muggleborn, he high fived her.
"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee Jordan was howling into the megaphone, leaning out of Professor McGonagall's reach. "YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B-"
"A foul by Slytherin seeker Malfoy." Sage interrupted with a calm voice after snatching the microphone from him. She continued to comment while McGongall yelled at Lee.
Arlene wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, it wasn't the longest game she'd played, nor was it under the toughed conditions, but it had turned into –and that was a direct quote from Hooch- the dirtiest Inter House Quidditch game of the decade.
(Arlene strongly doubted that, Harry got his broom jinxed on his first year and a bludger cursed on the second, not to mention fell from the sky after the dementors showed up just a few months ago, but Hooch seemed angry and she didn't reckon correcting her would help)
Peggy blocked Gryffindor from scoring their penalty shot and the game took an even more desperate turn. Harry looked like he could strangle Draco if he got his hands on him and Draco looked pleased for getting back at him for that stunt he pulled.
Harry wasn't the only one, the Gryffindors were mad, and the Slytherins were smug.
It was the worst combination possible.
But a good result of it was that they were so busy trying to murder each other, none of them were quick enough to pick up Arlene's ploy.
It went like this.
The Quaffle was handed to Arlene, she started flying to the Slytherin goal.
It went like this.
Arlene dodged Fred's bludger, but let the ball slip from her hands, and all the chasers went after it, the beaters flew ahead to watch out for bludgers, and the keepers focused on who caught the quaffle.
It went like this.
Arlene dropped a golden galleon as she flew back to her place on the defense line.
It went like this.
Arlene yelled "Draco!" and pointed oh so clearly at the dropped glimmer of gold "cerceau du milieu!"
It went like this.
Harry didn't see Draco rush in the opposite direction, because Harry dived after the glimmer.
It went like this.
Harry soon realized that Draco wasn't following and turned to see him speeding at a second golden glimmer near the Slytherin hoops.
It went like this.
Harry, with the speed of the almighty Firebolt darted after him and managed to catchup.
Arlene felt her body go cold, Harry was much much faster than Draco, he was getting closer to the Snitch, he-
Before he could do anything, Draco demonstrated the greatness (or possibly madness, she hadn't decided yet) of the Noble And Most Ancient House OF Black™
By jumping off his fucking broom.
Harry –and everyone- stopped (understandably) in their tracks for a few seconds to wonder what in the name of Merlin was Draco thinking.
Harry broke out of his daze and continued speeding towards the Snitch, but as it turned out, the potential energy of a fourteen year old boy dropping from the sky was slighter faster than the kinetic energy of the Firebolt.
Arlene's body finally reacted to the fact that Draco was fucking free falling and directed her broom towards him, she reached out her hand and barley got close to grab one of his arms.
"What in Crowley's name were you thinking!?" she yelled at him as she attempted to stop the broom from tipping over "do you know how hard a dead cousin is to explain to your mother?"
"I'm thinking I'll have to ask my father for a new broom." Draco winced.
Arlene's confusion lasted for a second until she turned back and saw the broom crash into a million little pieces.
Suddenly realizing that a student was dangling from a broom –one that threated to spill them both into the ground- Hooch cast a Spongify under them, but Arlene managed to land them both safely.
The moment his feet touched the floor, Draco turned to the Slytherin stand and held his hand up, the Snitch's glowing golden metal was reminiscent of the Quidditch Cup.
The reactions started before Lee and Sage could announce the results, Gryffindors booed, Slytherins cheered, their team sprinted towards Draco, and suddenly nothing mattered, not the bruises not their aching joints or aching muscles, nothing but the sound of cheered as they threw him into the air.
McGongall looked heartbroken, but not as heartbroken as Oliver, who looked close to tears.
Arlene tugged on Marcus' sleeve.
"Arlene!" he turned to her "now that was a brilliant move, can't believe I didn't think of it myself-"
"Go talk to Wood." She informed him.
"The only way I'll go talk to him is to do my victory dance.
Arlene frowned "What if you were in place?"
He rolled his eyes "I suppose Oliver had memorized no less than thirty different insults that double as puns for the possibility that we would lose."
"Go talk to Wood." She repeated "you owe me one."
Flint rolled his eyes but went nonetheless, the Gryffindor team took defensive stances the moment the noticed him approaching.
"What do you want Flint, you've already won, you don't need to rub it in." Oliver spat.
"I came to say that you played well." Marcus said with an air of good sportsmanship.
"What?" Wood looked confused, she didn't blame him, he and Marcus exchanged insults from their first moment together on the field.
"You played well, it was a close game, exactly like every game against Gryffindor I've played since you became Captain, and even though I loath your personality, and would never in a million years think about becoming your friend –not even as a joke- I respect your talent, and I would be honored if we ever played on the same pitch again." He declared, insulting and complimenting him at the same time in classic pureblood/British fashion.
Oliver stared at him like he wasn't sure how to react.
Marcus realized they were waiting for him to say something else.
"And I- uh, might have heard that Puddlemere United are interested in recruiting you." He continued "And I know this game won't affect that because honestly, if events weren't stacked against you the last two years, you would've won. But then again you were the one who got Harry 'trouble magnet' Potter on your team so maybe you deserved it." He cleared his throat "Anyway, I sincerely wish you the best."
Oliver kept staring "Puddlemere is interested in recruiting me?"
That made the girls break out of their daze.
"Is that seriously the only thing you focused on?" Katie said in a scolding tone.
"That's my dream team, Katie!"
Flint walked away while they were distracted and made his way to Arlene, who was standing only a few feet away.
"Happy?"
"Very."
Marcus rolled his eyes and went with the rest of the team to get the Cup, Arlene glanced at Harry and felt a jab of guilt. She wondered if she could push her luck and get Draco to talk to him, but then decided that the only way Harry would feel better is if he hexed Draco, repeatedly.
"Miss Burke." Madame Hooch approached her "care to explain this?"
She held up the glittering galleon.
Marcus froze and turned to look at her, a silent question on his face, need help?
Arlene shrugged effortlessly "Oh I think that's one of mine, must've dropped it during the game."
Hooch narrowed her eyes, she wasn't stupid, but neither was Arlene.
"And why, pray tell, would you have a galleon during the game? Lots of shops up there?"
"It's my lucky galleon," she explained "I never attend a game without it."
"Arlene, you know you'll have to have a rematch if you'd interfered with the seekers." Hooch told her firmly.
"I didn't interfere," she lied through her teeth.
"You pointed at it."
"I thought it was the Snitch, I hadn't realized my galleon had fallen yet you see."
"Then why did Mr Malfoy go in the correct direction?"
Arlene shrugged "He must have seen the Snitch before Harry started flying."
Hooch stared at her for a moment.
She handed her her coin "If you repeat that I won't hesitate to ban you from the team."
"Aye aye captain." She saluted sarcastically, then turned to Marcus with the biggest shit eating grin she managed to conjure "let's go get our prize."
They all smelled like sweat and adrenaline, but they smiled nevertheless and held the cup up high, Draco was on Flint's shoulder, Peggy was piggy back riding on Miles and Arlene was held bridal style by Jade, all seven of the team pilled together and smiled bright for the camera.
Sage appeared after the camera was pulled away and joined their fifth post win group hug.
If that moment wasn't Patronus worthy, she didn't know what was.