Chasing The Keeper

The Quidditch Final

The next month flew by like an uneventful blur, however despite me not being very involved with the Gryffindor house, and with my nose entirely submerged in textbooks studying I could tell the whole of Gryffindor House was obsessed with the coming match. Gryffindor hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since the legendary Charlie Weasley had been Seeker. That isn't to say that Ravenclaw was any less invested. The excitement of the Gryffindor rubbed off on the largely apathetic Ravenclaws that simply liked to watch the games unfold, and didn't take our losses to heart. This time was different. The tension in the air was palpable, and I even had our Head Boy and Head Girl lecture me on the importance of sportsmanship, despite never doing so before. I guess they sensed the overwhelming competitiveness in the atmosphere.

Never, in anyone's memory, had a match approached in such a highly charged atmosphere. By the time the holidays were over, the tension between the two teams 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.

"It's madness!" Oliver exclaimed one day as we were idly passing the quaffle between us on the pitch, "I've got the entirety of Gryffindor on their toes and escorting Potter to classes because Slytherin won't leave him alone!"

"From what I could tell, everyone in Gryffindor is more than happy to protect Harry." I chuckled, "You're not even letting the poor kid get to classes on time with the number of people around him."

"What other choice do we have?" Oliver asked, throwing the quaffle back to me.

"Dunno." I caught it and shrugged. "I don't even know why we're talking, aren't we not supposed to socialize with the enemy?"

"What do you think of this whole Celestial Ball after N.E.W.T's?" He said, ignoring my previous statement. "I'm thinking of skipping it."

"Why?" I asked, his words landing a soft punch on my gut.

"Well, for starters, I don't have anyone to go with," Oliver stated matter of factly after catching the quaffle again.

"You don't have anyone to ask?" I frowned.

"I guess." Oliver nodded.

"Well I'm going with my friends," I said as indifferently as I could. Oliver wasn't going to ask me, and even getting my hopes up was stupid.

~~~~

The night before the quidditch match, the usually quiet and serene Ravenclaw dorms were loud and I had an everpresent buzzing in my ears. Liane and I sat together in silence. Cho was panicking on the couch in front of us, and Roger Davies alongside Randolph Burrow was creating even more commotion behind us. I was looking over the strategy map of the pitch. My head felt like it was splitting open by nine o'clock.

"Alright team, time for bed!" I yelled over the ruckus and headed over into the girl's dorm.

~~~~

Both the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor teams entered the dining hall to applause. Only the Slytherin team was hissing in our direction from their table.

I spent time encouraging my team to eat up, before hurrying off to the field to get a clear view of the weather conditions. This was not one of those days where Oliver and I met before each other's matches. But I was content in walking alongside him when going down to the pitch.

"Hey Wood?" I said as we walked briskly down the foresty path to the pitch.

"Hm?" He looked over at me.