Like most quidditch games, I was struggling to keep my attention on the actual sport for most of the time. I liked quidditch, it was fun enough, but it could get tedious watching twelve people try to score or defend against goals while two chase a tiny golden ball around at top speeds. Sometimes the games were quick, and others were much longer than I thought necessary.

This was somewhere in between, but I still felt my attention span lessen with each minute passing. Every "ding" of the scoreboard counting another ten points made me look up to see who scored, then I mindlessly returned my gaze back to Draco and Cho Chang.

It was more of a ritual thing, my eyes following the seekers, but a person could only watch a green figure and a blue figure chase that ball for so long. It got tiresome.

Daphne, on the other hand, seemed amused more than ever. In fact, it was uncharacteristically attentive of her to watch so closely. I turned to look at her, and scanned where her eyes were following.

It was a brunette boy, clad in green which meant he had to be a Slytherin. I wouldn't expect her to like anyone outside of our house, anyway, but it was like her eyes shone as she watched him move about. He must have been a chaser, by the nature of how he moved about and handled the quaffle.

That meant it had to be either Theo, Marcus, or Adrian. I could rule out Marcus Flint right away, seeing as I knew she'd said to me many times before he was the worst looking on the entire team, but I couldn't pinpoint whether it was Theo or Pucey. She'd liked Adrian in years past, so that wouldn't surprise me, but Theo was handsome too, and they certainly had a good relationship as friends.

I took a second gander, this time closer and more intent on trying to differentiate. It was harder than I thought, actually, since they were both tall and lean brunettes. Unlike Draco who was easy to spot as seeker and with his platinum hair, Theo and Adrian sort of blended together from far enough away, considering the speed of their brooms too.

Once one chucked the quaffle through the goal post, I heard the voice of Lee Jordan exclaim, "Theodore Nott scores ten points for Slytherin!"

My attention on Daphne was fixated so I could judge her reactions. She seemed unaffected, her eyes still on someone else.

And so, I deduced, it was Adrian after all.

"Pucey? Really, Daph?" I asked.

She looked at me, eyebrows raised and confused as ever. "Wh- what? How did you know? I never even said anything!"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "You really thought you could hide that? You looked like a lovesick puppy, for Merlin's sake."

"Hush! I don't need our whole house overhearing," she quieted, looking around nervously. In her defense, we were in the Slytherin stands packed together like sardines. Anyone could have heard if she didn't prompt me to quiet.

"But come on," she continued, "you know it's always been him."

"When you were fourteen and fifteen?" I mused.

"Some crushes never die."

She was certainly right about that, but I just couldn't fathom how she was still into Adrian after all this time. I remember she allegedly got over him sixth year after he was rude to her on a few occasions, and he had gone out with our friend Tracey. That meant he was off-limits; you couldn't like your friend's boyfriend.

"Do you plan on speaking to him anytime soon?"

She shrugged dismissively. "Don't know, it's not much of a priority. I'm fine with admiring from afar. Wouldn't be anything new."

"There's the party after the game today," I suggested, "you could join Draco and I for drinks, Adrian is always somewhere close by."

"That's if we win. Judging by the scoreboard, we're nowhere near."

That prompted me to look up, and unfortunately, she was right. It was 90 Ravenclaw to 20 Slytherin; we were getting destroyed.

"There's still time for Draco to catch the snitch," I offered, digging for any source of solace I could find.

"Not as much time as you'd think. Ravenclaw's got the quaffles as of right now," she pointed to their chasers.

I turned my attention back to Draco who looked rather even with Cho Chang. They were both quick, no doubt, but Draco seemed like he had some killer instinct Cho lacked. It wasn't good, necessarily, because I'd seen before how his arrogance and aggression could get the better of him. It wasn't uncommon for him, or Slytherin in general, to resort to dirty tactics to win a game or two.

My mind floated back to how he had knocked Cedric off his broom a few games back. The only difference was that there, it backfired on him and Hufflepuff won the game. But judging by how Draco looked, and the impatience to win —to prove something— that I knew was bubbling up in him, made my skin crawl with jitters that he might pull something underhanded to steal a victory from Ravenclaw.

"You never know," I looked back at Daphne, "he might surprise us."

"For your sake, I hope he does."

I sighed, knowing he must be getting upset. I could see in the way his figure dashed more aggressively than Cho who had a more elegant and graceful appearance about her agility. Draco was hungrier, more blunt and willing to make moves that could be considered dangerous.

"Damn, Draco could calm down a little. No need to act like a bull in a china shop," she huffed, pointing to how he dashed across the field in upsettingly quick manner.

"He's certainly getting closer to the snitch than Cho, though."

"Eh, seems to be fluctuating back and forth. Don't know how they keep their attention on it for so long."

Unlike the seekers, I found it increasingly difficult to maintain focus on the game. Even though she was enchanted by Adrian, I knew she was getting bored too. I liked watching Draco move about, but not when he used these guerilla maneuvers.

My eyes wandered around the pitch, looking at who was there. No doubt, the only two large crowds were Ravenclaw and Slytherin, but plenty of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs still came to observe. I once remember Draco saying that they often go to other games to better understand each other's strategies and can plan theirs accordingly.

"Cho Chang makes a daring move for the snitch!" I heard Lee Jordan's voice boom over the speakers, ripping my attention away from the crowd and back to the game. "Close, but not close enough it seems! The Ravenclaw seeker plunges for the ball, but misses by a hair. Draco Malfoy responds, even with Chang, a little too close for comfort!"

Lee was absolutely correct; Draco was too close. They were practically pressed shoulder to shoulder, which was surprising with how Draco managed to get so close after Cho almost caught it. Draco leaned into the broomstick a little more, maybe trying to find some more pace. The snitch zig-zagged around, darting from left to right, up, down and back around. The two seekers almost looked like parallels of each other, mimicking the same movements as they both followed the gold ball so close behind.

Draco looked over at Cho, before making the move to extend his arm out to the snitch. It was a lost cause, as it was simply too far, but his arms were undoubtedly longer than hers. His broom wouldn't have to be closer than hers if he wanted to get it, which she clearly realized as she tried to force some extra speed out of her broom.

Unfortunately, it looked like Draco's extended arm caused some imbalance on his broom, now that his weight was unevenly appropriated. He looked like he wobbled a bit, causing him to grasp his broom with both hands again and fall considerably behind Cho. For a moment I thought he might have screwed himself over, but I almost made the mistake of forgetting quidditch was a team sport.

"Slytherin Beater Lucian Bole looking deadly with the bludger! He knocks it straight toward Chang, far ahead of Malfoy," Lee narrated for the crowd.

The bludger looked lethal, barreling toward Cho at such top speed. The ball had a mind of its own, but the beaters (especially Slytherins) did a fatal job of sending it to the other team. Cho barely dodged it, but certainly looked shaken up as a result. She refocused her attention back on the snitch and went about her pursuit of it, moving around more rapidly to avoid a future bludger attack.

While the ball wasn't aiming for her anymore, the bludger looked like its new target was Draco. Still considerably behind Cho, he had to make an effort to dash around the bludger and any potential attacks, since the beaters were far enough away that they couldn't defend against it or send it to another player.

"The Slytherin seeker takes a clear shot at the Ravenclaw!" Lee announced. "In a shocking move I've never seen before in a civilized game, he projects the ball at Cho Chang in front of him, nearly knocking her off her broom!"

"What the hell?" Daphne's jaw drops, my expression probably mimicking hers.

There was no way Draco just did that. He somehow caught the bludger like a quaffle and launched it at her, like a primitive rock throwing contest. That was well outside of the bounds of a seeker's territory, and could be considered an illegal or at least penalizable, dangerous move.

Did he have no decency? He threw the ball at her from behind, a sneaky and unfair move at best, lethal at worst from the height they were at. If Cho didn't regain her position, the poor girl would've been out cold, in the infirmary for Merlin knows how long.

Lee Jordan's voice returned over the speakers, much more official and calm sounding than a moment ago, almost like he was reading off something. "Madam Hooch will be investigating the recent maneuver of Slytherin seeker Malfoy toward Ravenclaw seeker Chang for potential rule violations. The seekers may continue their pursuit of the snitch until further notice, however may result in a penalty or disqualification of seeker Malfoy."

Sounds of disgruntled behaviors erupted from the Slytherin side. While I wanted to join in, purely out of team and house loyalty, I knew deep down Draco deserved it. Maybe he wouldn't get a penalty, but what he did was far too dangerous and not acceptable. He was so used to playing dirty, he should just believed in his abilities and play square. He was an incredible talent; there was no need for him to play like a monster.

As almost a sort of karma, the bludger seemed to refocus its course on Draco again. No longer going after Cho, despite him throwing it at her, it directed its attention on the blonde boy. He certainly deserved to sweat a bit after what he did, but it was looking dangerously close, too. Over and over he darted around to avoid its attack.

"How do you feel about Draco looking battered and bruised?" Daphne smirked, her lame attempt at a joke making me nudge her in disapproval.

"Shut up, you're making me nervous," my eyes stayed glued on Draco avoiding the ball. "He might deserve it, though."

"What? I thought you might be into that whole rugged look. It's kind of hot, like battle scars—"

"Daphne!" I cut her off, laughing. It was funny, but didn't lessen my anxieties. It had come far too close to him, close enough to strike him. "Don't say things like that, I'm upset with him for that and worried enough as—"

Before I could finish my statement, I was cut off by the panicked "ahhs" of the crowd, making me turn my neck back to the pitch, my eyes scrambling to find the area of contact.

Oh no. Fuck, fuck, fuck... this can't be happening.

When my gaze refocused on what happened, it was clear there hadn't been a winner. The snitch was still in action, but there were no longer two seekers chasing after it. It was now being tailed by a single hunter, one clad in blue with dark hair.

"Malfoy tumbles to the ground, a clear victim of the nasty bludger that he launched at Chang just moments ago!" Lee narrated, the chatter of the crowd making it almost impossible to hear what he said.

We were pressed against the front of the stands, with nobody in front of us and I still felt like I didn't have a clear view of the action. I wanted to rush down there and be beside him, see if he was alright or needed anything. How was I supposed to just return my attention to the game like nothing happened? How was anyone supposed to do that?

His figure sat unmoving for a moment, sprawled on the grass with his broom to his right. I hadn't seen exactly what happened, but judging by how the bludger was laying next to him, I assumed it knocked him straight to the ground, not just off his broom and he fell. If he just lost his balance and fell, he might've shaken it off and attempted to continue. No, the bludger next to him signified that he was attacked by it, all the way to the ground.

"Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang catches the snitch! With Malfoy out of the way, Chang has a clear opportunity to grab the ball..." Lee's voice trailed off, into nothingness. All white noise to me.

There were a mix of noises coming from the crowd. Ravenclaw cheering, Slytherin booing, but it all meshed together for me. I couldn't differentiate between the two; it was like I could focus on nothing except Draco down there.

He did wrong today, that was something nobody could deny. It was dirty and conniving, underhanded and dangerous, but those thoughts all left my mind once I saw him lying there himself. A few professors had gathered around to check if he needed medical attention. Obviously he did, the boy hadn't stirred since he fell.

Without a second thought, as I knew the game was now over, I pushed and shoved upset Slytherins crowding around the stairs out of the way to make it down to meet him.

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A/N: This chapter's a bit on the shorter side but something tells me you guys will definitelyyyy like the next one. *wink wink*. congrats for making it this far!

Hope everyone's doing well and taking care of themselves! Unlike Draco who took a tumble. hehe.

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