The List

Chapter 22. Shield.

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

It was a chant, loud and clear. The wooden beams of the stadium vibrated over the Quidditch team; a stream of dust fell all over Garreth' shoulder a moment later. He was so on edge that he didn't realize. Demelza Robins, one of Gryffindor Chasers, was the one who brushed it off.

The seven figures, wearing red and gold, were standing by one of the gates that led into the field, waiting to be called. Nobody was talking.
Everyone had awoken that Saturday morning without appetite, anxiety flaring in every motion and shift of their bodies.
Some of them hadn't slept at all.

Everleigh had gone into her bedroom late on Friday night, leaving a very troubled Garreth in the Slytherin common room. Just to wake up a few hours later to find him exactly where she had left him, still on his pajamas, running laps around the couches.

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

The sounds from the roaring crowd mingled into a cacophony with the ones coming from the pouring rain that had started the night before. It was the middle of the morning but the overcast sky, dark and dull, made it feel like late in the evening.
Thunders rumbled in the distance.

The gate opened after Madam Kogawa's whistle went off.

They all walked out onto the field to a tidal wave of noise. Half the students were wearing scarlet rosettes and waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them, or brandishing banners with slogans reciting "GO GRYFFINDOR!" and "LIONS FOR THE WIN". Others had painted their entire face red in support.

Behind the Slytherin goal post, however, two hundred people were wearing green; the silver serpent of Slytherin glittered on their flags, and the students chanted for their own house just as hard.
Every stand had been covered with a wooden canopy, shielding the spectators from the thumping rain.

"And here are the Gryffindors!" Lee Jordan yelled on the enchanted microphone, acting as commentator once again. "Grayson, Onai, Weasley, Robins, Noel, Kirke, and Spinnet. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years." Lee's comments were drowned by a tide of "boos" on the Slytherin end. "And here comes the Slytherin team, led by Captain Sallow!"

The stands behind the Slytherin goalposts went wild, celebrating as the seven figures dressed in green and silver progressed through the field towards the center.
Madam Kogawa was waiting for the two teams right in the middle, the big trunk with the enchanted balls by her feet.

Everleigh gripped on her broomstick a bit tighter when her gaze moved around their opponents and she found Sebastian, up front.
The rain had already soaked everyone all the way through, and if it wasn't for that desperate necessity of winning blinding any other emotion, she would've found herself shivering.

Sebastian stared at her for a long second before a slow and cruel smile curled the side of his mouth. Everleigh's jaw clenched in response.

"Captains, shake hands!"

She took a step forward, leaving her formation to meet Sebastian, who had also moved without any hesitation. Seemingly quite ready for that handshake. He extended his fingers towards her slowly and Everleigh reciprocated, letting their palms interlock. She could feel his leather glove against her own.

A second later, Sebastian was jerking on her arm, tugging her close with a single motion. His free hand gripped on her cheek, squeezing hard enough to force her mouth to pout. A gasp died in Everleigh's throat when Sebastian leaned on her and kissed her.

Kissed her.

In front of the entire school.
It had been a swift gesture but the Slytherin crashed his mouth on hers until the cold vanished from her body, an intense heat taking over and expanding across her cheeks.