Words Could Never Say It

Chapter Five - Quidditch

Draco had received a detention for his attack on Hermione Granger, and he didn't complain about it. He knew he deserved worse for trying to punch someone in the middle of the crowed corridor like a fool. He at least should have waited for a dark passageway or archway to do it... Hogwarts had tons of them.

Now, however, was not the time to dwell over detentions and Mudbloods. The first Quidditch match of the season was coming, very soon, and Malfoy was spending his afternoons either on the pitch with his teammates or on the open grounds, practicing on his own. The first match this year was Hufflepuff versus Slytherin.

"None of the other houses are talking about it," scowled Montague, captain and a Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team after the last practice of the week before the game, "but Hufflepuff say they have a new 'secret weapon'. Apparently, they got a hot new Seeker to drink up the memory of Cedric Diggary and regurgitate it." He slightly sneered, smirking as a bit of an undertone with confidence. "Should be no problem for you, Malfoy. I heard this great 'secret weapon' hasn't ever even seen a Quidditch pitch before. It'll be a piece of cake." However, Draco had a bit of a sinking feeling... Harry Potter was said to be a 'piece of cake' too. And he somehow doubted the Seeker hadn't seen a pitch before...

Draco shifted lightly, holding on to the handle of his Nimbus 2001, and nodded slowly. "Yeah, of course." He smirked darkly. "So long as you all watch the rest of those idiots, I'll be just fine. You take care of the Hufflepuffs, and I'll take care of the Snitch. That, you know I can do." The other members of the Quidditch team sniggered and nodded to themselves.

The day of the match finally arrived, and the Slytherins were running more calm than usual before a Quidditch game. Hufflepuff hadn't won the cup in years, and their chance to take it had been with Cedric Diggary. Now this new 'secret weapon' was all they had, and several of the Slytherins doubted that it even existed, or that it was worth keeping secret.

Taking to the air beside Montague, Draco narrowed his eyes at the approaching yellow uniformed Quidditch team. They were all small and he couldn't even make out their faces yet. Slowly, the two teams began to circle each other, and Hooch appeared below, calling out how she wanted a clean game and all that rubbish. Montague and the new Hufflepuff captain, a heavy-set boy with a kind face, big eyes, black hair and Hufflepuff Keeper named Mario Devenish, shook hands begrudgingly, and the two teams took fully to the air. Draco could see the other seeker fully now, and he thought he'd lost the feeling in his hands for a moment. The sheet of liquid ebony hair tied back in a yellow ribbon, the scarf around her neck, tucked under her uniform, and piercing lavender blue eyes, staring right at him.

Emily Rose Matthews was the new Hufflepuff Seeker.

Madam Hooch's whistle sounded loudly through the cool October air, and the crowd erupted as the Hufflepuff team took position of the Quaffle first and began to run it toward the goals. Malfoy's gaze scanned over the entire field, and when he couldn't see the Snitch, he turned back to Emily again, eyes half narrowed with anger, half-wide with shock. This was very unexpected... but he was still so angry at her for pulling him off of Granger earlier that week, he could think of nothing more he wanted to do than push her off her broom.

Her broomstick... Malfoy's stomach sank far into his thighs as he looked at her broom. A Firebolt, just like that blasted Harry Potter's, and a well outclassing of his own Nimbus 2001. She was staying well away from him, her hair pulled by the chill winter wind as she looked over the field, her eyes occasionally falling to him. The sounds of the game drowned out from behind him as he saw her balanced so precariously on her broomstick, so delicately seated, her sharp eyes looking to and fro over the field, and as angry as Draco had been with her at the start of the match, the strange feelings that had first drawn him to her in that first potions class were returning in full force.

He heard the Gryffindor, Lee Jordan, shouting out the play-by-play moves of the match. Hufflepuff scores first... Slytherin scores five times after... Hufflepuff again twice... Slytherin with the Quaffle... Bludger to the back of Montague's head... Bludger bat to the back of Devenish's head... Foul shot to Hufflepuff...

Draco was suddenly startled as Emily twisted hard on her broom and took off like a shot downward, the wind whipping at her yellow Quidditch robes. She'd spotted the Snitch. Draco lowered his chest to the broom and took off after her, his broom outclassed but still extremely fast in its own right. Emily twisted through the goal posts of his own team, and was suddenly flying right at him. He barely saw the flitting sparkle of gold pass him as the tiny wing cut his cheek, and he made a snatch but missed. Emily streaked passed him, twisting hard to avoid a collision as she shot down after the Snitch, and Malfoy followed right behind her.

Emily twisted sharp to the left and Malfoy was quite suddenly very aware that the ground was a lot closer than he had originally thought. The gold speck was gone from his view as he twisted hard to the right, skidding sideways only a few feet above the ground for several yards before turning upright and rising into the sky. There! Above him, he saw the twinkling of the Golden Snitch, and he pressed himself tight to his broomstick, shooting toward it as fast as his Nimbus 2001 could fly. The wind whipped through his platinum blond hair as he saw the glittering gold ball get closer, closer still, and he outstretched his hand, a grin spreading across his face...

Then, quite suddenly, all he knew was pain. He heard the shrieks of terror from the crowd as he felt his arm break with its sudden impact with... something. A Bludger, maybe...? He hovered for just a moment in midair as he felt his broomstick handle shatter beneath his fingertips and spray out in all directions, and then began to fall. He was only vaguely aware that he was screaming as his body twisted in his decent and his shattered broomstick falling all around him. He had been at least eighty feet above the ground when his broom had shattered for this unknown reason. He knew it, this was it, the end, he was going to fall and die right here on this Quidditch pitch!

But as the ground came closer and closer and he was less than ten feet from it, he was suddenly aware that a pair of arms had grabbed him around the waist and twisted around so that he saw the sky. He and whoever had grabbed him hit the ground, hard, and rolled repeatedly in the grass at the angle they had fallen toward the Hufflepuff goals. He heard a CRUNCH under him on impact, knowing that whoever had taken hold of him had also broken something. The arms let go of him when they came to a near stop, and when he rolled once more out of them, they were both deathly still.

Slowly, Draco raised his head, very aware that blood was running quite freely from his nose and a deep scrape on his chin from where he'd hit the ground. Footsteps were coming... the other Quidditch players and Madam Hooch no doubt. Draco turned his head slowly around to the other figure laying on the grass, and his heart seized in his chest.

The sheet of ebon hair was tangled and matted with grass and blood, fair skin dirty with mud and crimson blood that poured freely from her nose and a long gash across her temple, bronze and yellow scarf half exposed passed ripped yellow Quidditch robes. Emily Matthews lay very still, slowly opening her piercing eyes, tears flowing quite freely as she looked up at Draco. Her leg was twisted beneath her in an unnatural and very painful position, and she didn't try to move it. Draco heard the other Hufflepuffs scream, "Emily!" as they ran toward her, and she turned her head to the sky. Slowly, she raised her gloved hand into the air, and Draco could clearly see the tiny gold wings curl in on themselves as Emily held it tightly. In the confusion, she had caught the Snitch.

The next several moments were a painful blur to Draco as his teammates gingerly pulled him to his feet, and he needed their help getting to the hospital wing. All of course but Montague, who was in a shouting match with Madam Hooch and Devenish about what had happened to Draco and Emily. Through the heavy buzz in his head, he sorted out what had happened as they dragged him to the hospital wing to see Madam Pomphery and told him the many versions they had seen.