Everywhere, Everything

xviii. Lions VS Badgers (And A Couple Of Snakes)

The next morning, while Hermione and Tigerlily took notes for Defense Against the Dark Arts, they overheard Harry and Ron whispering amongst themselves about what they'd do if they had the chance to use the Sorcerer's Stone. Hermione whirled in her seat and hissed at them to keep their voice down, which only earned her an aggressive roll of Ron's eyes.

"I've decided I'm going to play." Harry told them, changing the topic to avoid any trouble between the two. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them...it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field." said Hermione, turning back to her notes with a huff. Tigerlily smiled at Harry encouragingly and nodded in agreement with his decision.

As the match got closer, though, Harry found that Tigerlily's reassuring smiles were not enough to keep his growing nerves at bay. The rest of the team wasn't too calm, either. The idea of beating Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful — no one had done it in years — but would they really be able to, with such a biased referee?

"Oh, please. You've got this. You're a lot better than the other teams, regardless of who's refereeing. You'll win. Fair and square." Tigerlily tried reassuring Oliver one afternoon after she caught him anxiously biting his nails while he stared directly at a random spot on the common room's carpet, though her heart wasn't fully in it.

"Thank you, Tigerlily, but you're just saying that to make me feel better." He replied gloomily.

Tigerlily pursed her lips. He was right.

"I still mean it. I've seen you lot practice and you're all incredible — especially you." She insisted. "Don't think I don't know you're going easy on me when we're training. You're probably the best Keeper this school has seen in ages. You're gonna do great, you'll see."

Oliver finally looked up and managed to smile at her, pulling her into a tight one-armed hug.

"Thanks, Puddlemere."

❋

When the day of the match finally arrived, Tigerlily went to wish the team luck along with Ron and Hermione. The other two focused on giving Harry a pep talk, but Tigerlily was doing her best to encourage the whole team individually and let them know she was rooting for them (as if they'd ever forget). As she and her friends left the changing rooms, they overheard Hallie gathering her team to start a chant and get them amped up and ready to play. Tigerlily took a deep breath and crossed her fingers as she followed her friends to the stands.

They found an empty spot next to Neville, who immediately lit up when he saw them and began asking why the three of them had brought their wands to the match. Truth was, the three of them had been secretly — they did not even tell Harry — practicing the Leg-Locker Curse and were planning to use it on Snape if at any point throughout the game he seemed to be trying to hurt Harry. Tigerlily didn't have the heart to tell Neville they'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using the very same curse on him, so she just shrugged and said, "Just in case."

"Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis." Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.

"I know." Ron snapped. "Don't nag."

Tigerlily nudged him and said through gritted teeth, "Be thankful she knows what she's doing!"

Ron was just about to shoot some remark back when suddenly he spotted someone in the crowd.

"Hey, Dumbledore's here!" he pointed at the section in the stands where most of the teachers sat, which was elevated and had a much better view than theirs. Then, his gaze and finger shifted to the field where their least favorite referee, clad in dark robes, was marching towards the center with his broom in hand. "I've never seen Snape look so mean. Look — they're off! Ouch!"