May the Best Man Win |×| Fred Weasley | 1 |×|

×| SEVENTY |×

RAVENCLAW WOULD NOT BE PLAYING IN THE FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH OF THE YEAR. Strategically, this was a benefit. Evelyn could review the strengths and weaknesses of two out of three of her opposing teams and use the information to her advantage in the future. The game was to be between Gryffindor and Slytherin- Evelyn had teased Ashton that she wouldn't need to know anything about the Hufflepuff team before their match as they'd be an easy defeat - which was ideal. The as the two biggest contenders for the cup, those houses would take the most work to beat, Evelyn thought.

Well, maybe less so gryffindor she corrected her thought amusedly from her seat in the stands when she spotted Fred waving at her as he walked out onto the pitch. Something told her that - probably to Angelina Johnson's dismay - Fred, and therefore George, would not be trying to strike out Ravenclaws new captain during their match. But Slytherin she still had to look out for.

As she waited for the match to kick off, Evelyn's mind wandered back over all that had happened in the last month or so. NEWT year just meant classes had gotten significantly more difficult, and being the senior class of Hogwarts brought along with it a separate kind of pressure too. The Dumbledore's Army meetings had come into full swing and were already proving to be far more useful than Umbridge's lessons. She'd had many meetings with professor Flitwick to try and get the ravenclaw team re-instated and had thankfully managed to get approval to resume practice a couple of weeks ago - ever thankful it hadn't been as much trouble  for her as it had been for the Gryffindor team. On top of all that, Evelyn was surprised she still found time to socialise and (more importantly) make ice cream.

"Are you allowed to support other teams when you're the captain?" Max asked Evelyn just as the quaffle was released into the air, gesturing with a smirk to the Gryffindor scarf Evelyn had poached from Fred before the match. Evelyn blushed - then she told max to shut up so that she could focus on the game.

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The lyrics of "Weasley is our king" rang throughout the stadium once again as Ron Weasley failed to block yet another goal from Slytherin. Evelyn made sure to glare at anybody in her vicinity who joined in on the chorus and was comforted to see that nobody from her team had stopped so low as to ridicule another team, all seven of the ravenclaw players sitting in silent protest.

Evelyn imagined Fred and George would be furious with the Slytherin's for the mockery that was being made of their younger brother. She knew that beneath all the jokes they played on the boy, the twins genuinely cared for Ron (thought they had their own unique way of showing it) and Evelyn could not even imagine what sort of practical joke tornado was bound to descend on Slytherin house as soon as the match was over.

Whatever jokes Fred and George played in that instance, Evelyn decided they would be very well deserved.

Then it all happened so suddenly: Harry Potter had dropped into a nose dive and Draco Malfoy the Slytherin seeker was jostling him as they raced to the snitch. Evelyn stood with the rest of the crowd, caught in the excitement of the moment, and leant far over the railing to watch as the two boys fought for the tiny golden ball.

The entire crowd's breath hitched in a united gasp at the sight of a bludger rocketing into Harry's side, and Evelyn held her breath as he fell the last few feet to the ground - the snitch nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, she thought he'd blown it. Then a pinprick arm raised into the air clasping the struggling ball and Lee announced over roaring cheers of everyone but the Slytherins that Harry Potter had caught the snitch: Gryffindor had won the first game of the season.