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The start of January had rain lashing against the windows almost every day. Few were brave enough to face the rain, save for the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Quidditch teams, whose upcoming match had them out on the pitch at the crack of dawn.
"This is their last match," Lori addressed her team, "if we manage to get ahead of them on the podium, we'll be almost certain to take the Cup."
Fred sniggered, "Yeah, because Slytherin and Hufflepuff are so far behind."
"The scores on the doors are," Lori pulled the crumpled list out of her back pocket, "Ravenclaw is first with 260, then is with 170, then Slytherin with 150 and Hufflepuff is last with 20."
Lori looked at Ginny, Alicia, Katie and Angelina, "This one's on you. Ravenclaw will get the Snitch in this match, no doubt about it."
A few of them started protesting, silenced by Lori's finger, "Cho Chang isn't a substitute and she's focused unlike Malfoy. This match is all about goals, we need to make as many as we can."
Fred and George snickered, "Hufflepuff will get flattened by Slytherin, so we'll drop on the tables after their match."
Lori nodded sadly, "But, the more goals we make in this match, the easier our match against Hufflepuff will be."
Angelina raised her hand, "Their Seeker is a huge seventh year, you'll have no troubles against him."
"Thanks." she smiled, "but we would still need to be leading by quite a few goals before I take the Snitch. That last match is our time to go on the offensive and shine."
They all nodded, before being dismissed and left for the changing rooms. Katie thought that Lori was being pessimistic about her performance against Cho, but she was just being realistic.
Lori didn't even both changing, she traipsed back up to the castle still in her flying robes, grabbing a towel and her wash kit from her dorm and going to the Prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor.
A familiar, shrieking wail was ripping through the walls as she approached, pushing the door open to see Cedric sat there with his egg.
"Sorry," he shut the sides, the screams dying instantly, "just having a think."
He was wrapped in his Hufflepuff scarf and some warm athletic clothes, sweat beading on his forehead as if he had just come from a run. His bare feet skimmed the water in the full bathtub, the cuffs of his trousers slightly darker where they had gotten wet.
