Eternal Patience

Crushed

Barnaby had spent practically every second of his spare time with Liz and the chimera, but this Saturday was the first quidditch match of the season, and he wasn't about to miss that. 

He and his teammates sat together in the Slytherin stands, eager to scout out the competition as Gryffindor and Hufflepuff prepared to face off. 

"Finally, we're gonna have a look at Gryffindor's new beater," muttered Sinclair angrily. Amari, the Gryffindor captain, had been quite secretive about the team's lineup this year, and no amount of spies or jinxes had revealed the new Gryffindor beater to him. Gryffindor's old beater, Bean, had been kicked off the team due to poor grades. Barnaby shook his head, wondering how poor her grades had to be if he was allowed to play quiddtich and she wasn't. 

"Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts's first quidditch match of the season. Today's game, Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor!" called out the commentator from the teacher's box. 

Cheers erupted from the stands as fourteen broom zoomed from the tunnels on either end of the pitch, yellow and scarlet robes soaring around in wide circles. 

"Well, that's just their injured chaser from last year," bellowed Michael, Barnaby's fellow beater on the Slytherin team. "If he couldn't hack it then, I'm not worried about him now."

"He's not got a bat," muttered Sinclair. 

Barnaby, who'd been searching the players for Sarah, spotted her flying low to the ground, the gold number four identifying her. She held something in her left hand. Peering down, Barnaby realized it was a wooden club. 

"She's a beater!" he exclaimed, grinning madly. 

***********

To no one's surprise, Gryffindor flattened Hufflepuff. It looked like the lions would be their biggest competition this year. Sinclair was already strategizing how he would adjust practices in order to take them down. 

As Barnaby joined the crowd of students making their way back to the castle, all the talk seemed to be centered on how brilliantly Skye Parkin had played. She certainly had preformed well, but Barnaby was amazed that no one spoke about how flawlessly Sarah had taken up the new position. It had been thanks to her that the Hufflepuff seeker hadn't caught the snitch halfway through the match, afterall. Barnaby couldn't believe how someone of her stature could hit the bludgers with such ferocity. It had been incredible to watch. 

Barnaby waited in the courtyard for the Gryffindor players to arrive. He wanted to congratulate Sarah before she was pulled away to the Gryffindor party that would last the entire day. When he saw her, he rushed forward, the first to greet her. He lifter her up in the air, shouting, "That was the best quidditch I've ever seen!" 

Sarah laughed as Barnaby returned her to the ground. "Thank you, but I'm nowhere near as good as you."

"Why didn't you tell me you were playing beater this year?" he asked. "We could have trained together."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to, but Orion wanted to keep it a secret. He said I was our secret weapon."

"He's not bloody wrong there," said Barnaby. "How'd you learn to hit the bludgers so hard?"

Sarah glanced sheepishly over at Skye Parkin before answering. The girl was surrounded by fans and didn't notice them. "Rath has been training me." Rath was the ruthless beater for the Ravenclaw team.

"Wow, no wonder. Well, remind me not to get into a fight with you anytime soon." He squeezed her bicep, making her giggle. 

Penny detached herself from Skye's adoring crowd to join them. "Well done," she said to Sarah. "That was quite a game. Did you see how many goals Skye scored?!"