A Marauder's Guide to Falling in Love

Chapter Five

November was welcomed with a glistening veil of white over the grounds. The trees were shimmering with tiny crystallized icicles, and the giant lake was frozen over with a thin layer of frost. Although the image was quite breathtakingly beautiful, the temperature was cold enough to keep even the most mesmerized admirers indoors.

The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin occurred the second Saturday of the month. Marlene was anticipating the match as a distraction from her studies which she had full forcedly stepped up on in the last week.

She was already starting to feel the academic pressures of her end of the year finals, and she was definitely not the only one. One Ravenclaw student actually broke down sobbing in the middle of their History of Magic lecture claiming that he didn't understand the equation. Everyone was slightly baffled until it became clear that he was so stressed out that he believed he was still in his Arithmancy class.

She had managed to make a slight improvement in her Potions. She had earned an appreciative nod from Professor Slughorn in her last class as he passed by her table; something that she was completely caught off guard with, but appreciative nonetheless.

Still though, she was not making any improvements with Transfiguration which left her with very little confidence. The much needed distraction in the form of Quidditch was met readily by her the morning Saturday rolled around.

Marlene was joined by Lily and Mary and the three girls made sure to bundle themselves appropriately before seeking out seats at the pitch.

Lily had used a handy warming charm so that the chilly winters breeze would not affect them; a charm that Marlene made a mental note to learn later.

The Gryffindor team entered the pitch from the side tents and the crowds began cheering loudly. It was apparent with the difference of volume which team the majority of the school were routing for.

Marlene watched as James scanned his head eagerly through the crowd before spotting them and instinctively shot his hand into his messy excuse of a hairdo. He waved vigorously in their direction, no doubt intended for Lily who blatantly ignored his efforts.

"And they're off!" the announcers magically magnified voice filled the pitch quite suddenly. A flash of red and green lifted from the ground as the teams kicked off.

"Potter's got the quaffle and narrowly dodges the bludger sent his way by Wilkes, nice maneuver there Potter! He's attempting to barrel through Black and Avery - what in Merlin's name does he think he's - he feinted right – amazing! - passing off the quaffle to team mate Hooper and just narrowly dodging the infuriated rages of Lestrange!"

Remus had been right when he said the boys had been studying the other teams. It was clearly evident in all their moves that they knew exactly how to read the forthcoming actions of the other team. The crowd was definitely engaged in the match, and many chose to verbally express their feelings with 'ooh's' and 'aww's' in all the appropriate places. There was even a moment when Potter rolled upside down on his broom at the last minute to fly between two beaters causing them to smack one another with their clubs. Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes accordingly.

"Of course he would take the opportunity to show off like that," she muttered under her breath but Marlene caught a small smile playing at the corner of her lips.

It was definitely a longer match than usual, although you couldn't tell by watching it as every piece was captivating for those watching. Marlene cheered loudly along with the crowd as another quaffle made it through the center hoop.

"Hooper scores again, that's one eighty to sixty in favor of Gryffindor!"

The crowd continued cheering loudly, including Marlene who was completely mesmerized with the pure excitement ensuing on the field. She caught a glimmer of the snitch hovering above Slytherin's left goal post moments before the two seekers became overwhelmed in a race to reach it first. It was a blur of red and green and the stands became quiet as everyone held their breath, waiting to see who would get to it first.