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Sixth Year - 1977
CORDELIA SITS BETWEEN MARLENE AND JAMES THE MORNING OF THE NEXT SLYTHERIN QUIDDITCH MATCH. It's been two weeks since Sirius led Snivellus to the Willow, and the Marauders were not speaking to him. The girls noticed the tension, but they did not anticipate it would last this long.
After they've finished their breakfast, the girls follow Cordelia out of the Great Hall and corner her before she can make it to the pitch.
"Alright, what is going on?"
Cordelia raises one eyebrow at the red haired girl, "What do you mean?"
"You lot are fighting about something," Alice whisper shouts. "The boys won't even look at Sirius, Delia."
When Cordelia avoids eye contact with them, they fear the worst. Marlene clears her throat, asking softly, "Did he do something... to you?"
The insinuation has Cordelia sputtering. She violently shakes her head, and the girls all relax their shoulders.
"No, he would never..." she insists, faltering when she recalls just what he had done. Does she really even know him?
"It's not my place," she says shortly, stepping around her sister and continuing toward the pitch. The sounds of disagreement followed her the way.
Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief when she reached James. His face was hard as he surveyed their opponents and arch-rivals.
Leaning close to her, he muttered, "Knock these prats out of the sky."
"Aye, aye, Captain."
From her peripheral, she could see Sirius walking toward them. She mounted her broom and ascended without a second thought.
Regulus catches her eye from across the pitch. He tipped his head ever-so-slightly into a nod, and she did the same. It was as close to a good luck as possible for them.
At the whistle, the match began.
-
They were coming on two hours and still no snitch. Cordelia's arms were heavy at her sides, and her hair was wet with sweat.
She looked absolutely wrecked, but she was better off than the Slytherin players. More than one of them sported bloodstains on their uniform, and there was no shortage of bruises.
James flew high above her, searching for any sign of gold.
"Delia."
She tensed on her broom, but she didn't acknowledge him. Her fingers tightened around her bat to the point where it was almost painful.
"Delia."
Raising the iron bat, she smacked the bludger zipping toward her with all her strength, grunting, "What?"
"Can we talk? Please?" Sirius pleaded.
Cordelia brushed the hair escaping from her ponytail out of her face and gritted her teeth.
"Now?" She hissed angrily.
Regulus raced past her, heading in the same direction as James. That could only mean they were chasing the snitch.
She sought out a bludger to send after the Slytherin Seeker, but Sirius was undeterred.
"After the match? Please, Delia," Sirius continued, hovering beside her.
She ignored him, trying to focus on quidditch. Intercepting a bludger, she batted it toward where James and Regulus were elbowing each other.
James managed to roll out of the way, being finely tuned to recognize the whistle of one of Cordelia's speeding bludgers. She was surprised when Regulus managed to dodge it at the last second, throwing her a sneer over his shoulder.
"Take him out, Delia!" James growled as he passed her.
"Working on it," she grumbled.
Sirius had seemingly abandoned the match and was trailing after Cordelia. Her anger coupled with the stress of a long match made her next swing especially dangerous.
Her hands tingled from the vibration off the iron, and she watched the bludger as it headed straight for Regulus. Watching it meet its mark, Cordelia felt her heart drop into her stomach.
James managed to close his fist around the golden snitch just as Regulus fell off his broom.
Cordelia was flying toward him before she realized it. She seized the back of his robes, her arms jerking from the force of his weight. Her broom began dropping, trying to hold both of them and failing.
"Fuck," she yelled. Frantically trying to keep ahold of her friend and control her broom, she let out of a scream she would surely be embarrassed of later.
The ground was rushing at them too fast, Cordelia knew. If she let go of the Slytherin Seeker, she'd be able to right her broom and descend normally.
If she didn't let go, it'd really hurt.
"You're insane," James yelled angrily in her ear. She felt his hands circle around her waist, and he started to pull.
Their combined strength allowed for them to slow down just enough for a small crash landing. Cordelia felt her body meet the ground, and she rolled several times before she sat up. Panting, she gave James a thankful smile.
"Cheers, McKinnon," Regulus wheezed, holding his ribs. "Could've done without the bludger though."
She let out a surprised laugh, standing to her feet and lending a hand to James. Before she could speak, the rest of the quidditch players were upon them.
Marlene smacked her on the back of the head, hollering, "Have you lost your mind?"
Cordelia simply gave her a tired smile and rolled her shoulders, wincing at the stab of pain in the left. Definitely dislocated.
"What in Merlin's name was that?" Sirius asked incredulously.
She eyed him for a moment before returning her attention to his little brother. She plastered a goofy grin on her face, gesturing to her injured shoulder.
"Hospital Wing?"
Regulus shook his head, but the corner of his mouth quirked into an almost smile.
"If we must," he croaked, clutching his ribs in pain.
