Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

19.

"It's nothing," she quickly said as she kept her arms crossed over the shirt, hoping to cover up the name Weasley at least. But it was useless, as most people had already seen the surname and number that matched one of the Beaters on the Gryffindor team. Remus chose to let it go before turning to the pitch where all the players had mounted their brooms and were waiting for Madam Hooch to blow the whistle. "I wish Sirius was allowed to come watch this. He'd love to see Harry play."

"He is here," Remus added before pointing behind his shoulder subtly to a familiar shaggy dog sitting at the top of the stairs. It's tail was wagging and it's tongue hang out of it's mouth, portraying how excited he was to watch the match.

"Wow he's riskin' it a bit isn't he?" Ron mentioned.

As soon as the whistle blew, a flurry of red and blue Quidditch robes could be made out from the commotion that was mostly a blur to Sophia. She was astonished to see how fast Harry was flying around the pitch in search for the snitch, as his Firebolt was definitely faster than any other broom that was currently in the air. He was keeping an eye on the Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang, in case she'd seen the snitch before he did. Or at least that's why Sophia thought he was looking at her.

Sophia caught sight of the red hair zooming past the Gryffindor stands, making her beam at the sight of Fred hitting a bludger away from one of the Gryffindor Chasers named Angelina Johnson. Him and George we're calling out to each other across the game, making jokes and stabs at each other at being the better Beater. Oliver Wood could be heard yelling from his spot at the goalposts for them to stop messing around, but it went unnoticed by both twins. They were having too much fun to listen to their Captain.

Students and teachers alike watched in anticipation as Gryffindor were leading by ten points, but could easily be surpassed by Ravenclaw. They needed Harry to find the snitch to end the game, which would ultimately land them the House Cup. Even the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins that had come along were starting to become excited from the fifty-fifty chance for both teams.

"Come on Harry!" Hermione yelled in encouragement.

"Put your back into it you lazy sod!"

Remus, Ron and Hermione turned to look at Sophia who's cheeks had flushed from her being wound up and encaged with the game. They had never thought that those words would come from her mouth in particular, especially when it comes to Quidditch. Remus was the most surprised to hear his daughter use such language, but wasn't angry at her. He had always been a fan Quidditch during his young years at Hogwarts, and knew how into the game you can get when it really comes down to it. When he had learnt that Sophia wasn't into the sport, he was partially upset. But that had seemed to change now, and he knew it wasn't solely because of the game itself.

"What?" she questioned when she noticed these stares. "I like Quidditch now."

"Hm I wonder why," Ron sniggered.

"Chang's spotted the snitch!" Lee Jordan called out into his microphone. The commentator of the match announced the Ravenclaw's Seeker's dive towards the small golden ball. Harry had realised this and began to descend after her, his broom gathering much quicker speed and he was soon neck and neck with Cho Chang.

Within a few seconds, Harry's hand had clenched around the flying snitch and signalled the end of the game. The Gryffindors erupted into screams and cheers, jumping in the stands in truimp to another win three years in a row. Sophia and Hermione threw their arms around each other and jumped up and down in glee, before Sophia turned to her father who looked ecstatic at the win. The two embraced each other in joy before following all the Gryffindors down to the pitch where the team was descending to take the cup from Madam Hooch's hands.

The whole team were patting Harry on the back and cheering together, the huge cup being handed to Harry to hold up for the team. The Ravenclaw's descended to the grass with glum looking faces, yet shook hands with the Gryffindor's to show their good sportsmanship. Harry and Cho exchanged a look and congratulated each other for being such good flyers, and turned their different ways before anyone could really notice.

Sophia spotted Fred and George who were happily jumping up and down in glee, and ran over to them. She leaped into the air and wrapped each of her arms around the backs of their necks to embrace them tightly at the same time. They barely caught the small girl before she fell backwards and squeezed her. They held their bats in their free hands and wrapped one of their arms around Sophia's waist to hold her snug between the two.

"You did it!" she squealed as they attempted to smother her completely in bear hugs.

"I think we need to finally get Sophia here on a broom Freddie," George spoke up and his brother smirked. Sophia's eyes widened in fear as quickly attempted to get out of their hold to run away, but their strong arms kept her at bay before she could escape. George slowly began picking up his broom from the floor and edging it towards the struggling third-year.

"I think so too Georgie."

"Not on my watch you won't," Remus intervened and saved his daughter from the twin boys. She sighed in relief as the two let go of her, and went to step next to her father who grinned at the boys' mumbling about the man 'ruining their fun'.

"You played well boys, much better than the Beaters we had back in my time here," Remus stated, clapping the two on their shoulders. The twins beamed at his praise, and thanked him. George began to talk to him about what it was like back in his day at Hogwarts, and if he had ever played on the team. This left Fred and Sophia standing together, still flushed red from the excitement of winning the match.

"I'm sure we only won because you wore my jersey," Fred teased and Sophia laughed.

"Oh yeah, Harry's Firebolt was pretty trash if you ask me," she replied. The two stared at one another as the commotion around them continued, with congratulating and hugging from students and players. Teachers had even come on to the field, but that was all a blur in the background.

The Beater's eyes ran over Sophia's beautiful face and soon landed on her lips, which looked so inviting to him. Fred was beginning to feel giddy and confidence surged through him, taking a step closer towards Sophia who stared up at him silently. He watched for any sign of protest and when he received none, Fred began to lean down closer to the girl's face. His lips were so close to her's that they could feel each other's breath fanning their faces, and it would only take a milimetre more to finally connect. Sophia stared back and noticed all the tiny freckles that littered Fred's nose and cheeks, holding her breath as he inched closer and closer to her lips. The Beater began to lift his arm to place his hand against Sophia's cheek, finally ready to seel the kiss once and for all.

"Has Fred asked you about the Quidditch World Cup yet Sophia?!" Ron sprung next to the two and they immediately jumped apart with red cheeks and embarrassingly shuffled their feet away from each other.

"RONALD WEASLEY!"

Hermione began to chase the redhead away across the pitch in fury, as she had seen him ruin such a perfectly good moment between Fred and Sophia. George and Remus stood aside with their faces in their hands, groaning at the two who were now further apart from each other than ever. George wanted to pull out his wand and hex Ron for his stupid obliviousness, but it seemed that Hermione was doing that already with spells he didn't even know. He was satisfied to hear Ron cry and yelp from the sparks that hit him from Hermione's wand.