Stay - Mattheo Riddle

She Remembers

The Quidditch season was approaching, and Gilbert Blythe, captain of the Hufflepuff team, called a meeting one Thursday evening to discuss tactics for the new season. 

There were seven people on a Quidditch team: three Chasers (Ashleigh, Amina and Cedric), whose job it was to score goals by putting the Quaffle (a red, football-sized ball) through one of the fifty-foot-high hoops at each end of the pitch; two Beaters (Dean and Sam), who were equipped with heavy bats to repel the Bludgers (two heavy black balls which zoomed around trying to attack the players); a Keeper (Gilbert), who defended the goalposts, and the Seeker (Kirra), who had the hardest job of all, that of catching the Golden Snitch, a tiny, winged, walnut-sized ball, whose capture ended the game and earned the seeker's team an extra one hundred and fifty points.

Gilbert Blythe was a lanky seventeen-year-old, now in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. There was hope, encouragement and even a slight bit of desperateness in his voice as he addressed his six fellow team members in the chilly changing rooms on the edge of the darkening Quidditch pitch.

'This is my final year out there with you guys – you all do your best every year – and you make me proud every time and I know that you will make me proud this year, for the last two years we have won the Quidditch cup, and I know that we can do it again this year - especially if we work together as a team,' he told them, striding up and down in front of them. 

'I'll be leaving at the end of this year. And I may never see you guys again so I want to finish this year off with a lot of good memories to take away. We've got the best – ruddy – team – in – the – school,' he said, punching a fist into his other hand, the old manic glint back in his eye.

'We've got three superb Chasers.' Blythe pointed at the chasers who all grinned at him.

'We've got two unbeatable Beaters.' He pointed to Dean and Sam who were brothers, and also very good beaters

'We couldn't have done it without you Blythe,' said Dean and Sam together, Sending the captain thankful nods.

'And we've got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!' Blythe rumbled, grinning at Kirra with a kind of furious pride "and not to mention the best seeker that this school has ever seen!" 

'And me,' he added, as an afterthought.

'We think you're very good, too, Gilbert' said Ashleigh with a smile on her face.

'Yeah Blythe, you're a Cracking Keeper, and an even better captain,' said Kirra with a grin on her lips

'The point is,' Blythe went on, resuming his pacing, "we all just need to try our best out there and kick some ass!"

"Yeah!" the team cheered happily.

Full of determination, the team started training sessions, three evenings a week, which was great for the team but not so great for Kirra and Mattheo since she was training on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday Evenings and the Slytherin team was training on Monday Mornings and Wednesday and Thursday evenings, so they rarely got to spend their free time together. 

The weather was getting colder and wetter, much to Kirra's dismay, the only good thing that she was really getting out of it was having a good excuse to wear all of Mattheo's jumpers.

The nights were getting darker, and Kirra had only begun to worry even more about Sirius, she had been sneaking food and drinks from the kitchen out to him every night, and she had brought him blankets. Kirra returned to the Hufflepuff common room one evening after training, cold and stiff but pleased with the way practice had gone, to find the room buzzing excitedly.