𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧

chapter 7

the next day, classes went by for talia as usual. she got glared at by snape, smiled from hermione and she was now in her dorm bathroom getting ready to go with pansy and astoria to watch the quidditch game. apparently, quidditch at hogwarts was like the equivalent of football in america.

talia was a little confused as to why there was a game already so early in the year, but astoria told her it was slytherin vs. hufflepuff and they always had a game super early in the year since slytherin was really competitive. it didn't really make sense to talia, but she shrugged it off.

"okay, i think i'm ready." talia said, walking out of the bathroom. astoria and pansy grabbed both of her arms, pom poms in their hands and them excited to go to the game.

"we're going to have so much fun!" pansy said as they walked to the field.

when they got there, talia noticed it was extremely different than how it looked the night prior. instead of being empty, it was filled with students from every house and a variety of grades, all of them rooting for their favorite team. each stand was extremely full, and there were players from the hufflepuff team and the slytherin team on opposite ends of the field. they weren't playing yet, but they looked like they were getting ready to get on their brooms.

"how exactly does this game work?" talia asked her friends as they found seats in the crowded stands.

"the object of the game is to score more points than your opponents. the people score points by scoring goals which is done by placing one of the balls in a quaffle." astoria said.

"once the ball gets into the quaffle, you score ten points. if you capture the golden snitch, that's worth thirty points and you win the game." pansy informed. talia nodded, not fully understand and only slightly knowing what will happen. she figured she'd pick up on it once the game started.

after each team was introduced, they started playing. every now and then, the slytherin stand would cheer loudly. however, the hufflepuff stand cheered just as much.

talia noticed how attractive some of the guys looked in their quidditch uniform. she would never admit it, but draco looked...really good.

michael did, too. talia couldn't help but notice the glances he would throw her everytime he got close to catching the snitch. every time michael looked at her, draco would get frustrated and push him out of the way, trying to get the snitch for himself. when michael started to notice the pattern, he used that to his advantage.

the snitch was so close to him, practically at his finger tips. him and draco were side to side, both of them with a hand out. they went up, down, even in between stands as the rest of the team played on the field.

"watch out talia!" michael yelled, knowing draco would look. talia wasn't even around, she was all the way at the other end of the field three stands away. draco, not noticing, looking away from the snitch thinking talia was near. all it took was that second he looked away from michael to grab the snitch and win the game.

the hufflepuff stand broke out into loud cheers, and talia saw draco at the bottom of the field, throwing his gloves on the ground. she rolled his eyes at how he was being a sore loser.

"i'm gonna go congratulate michael!" talia yelled to her friends over the loud cheers from the stands not far from them. pansy rolled her eyes.

"are you joking?" astoria asked. talia just shook her head.

she didn't feel like arguing with the two stuck up slytherins. she just wanted to go and congratulate her friend without any issues. was that too much to ask?

talia was thankful that when she walked up to the hufflepuff victors, she wasn't the only one who didn't play quidditch down there. there were other people telling their friends things like "good job" and "congratulations".

"talia!" she heard. she saw michael walking up to her and separating from his team, a smile on his face.

"hey! you did a great job. i don't know how you caught that thing without falling off your broom." she said. he laughed at her joke, which she was grateful for. it'd be awkward if he didn't.

"do you know how to ride a broom?" he asked. she shook her head.

"i've never learned. and don't try to talk me into it. i don't want to embarrass myself by falling on my ass." talia joked again.

michael laughed and glanced back at his teammates, then back to talia. he looked at if he was contemplating something before he stared at her, becoming a bit nervous.

"we're having a little get together in the common room, soon. i wish i could invite you back, but.." he said, letting his sentence linger out. he glanced down at her slytherin tie, and talia couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"oh. no, it's okay. i really just came to say congrats." she smiled. michael nodded.

"thanks." he mumbled.

he gave her a pat on the shoulder, walking away afterwards with his teammates and leaving talia to stand there by herself. she slapped herself in the forehead, extremely embarrassed of how awkward their encounter just was.

as she turned around and started walking back to the castle, she saw draco walking to a different section of the castle she didn't before. he didn't look happy at all. his slytherin quidditch uniform was ripped and his broom had a big scratch in it, one that definitely wasn't there before. he stomped in the grass, leaving slight footprints behind from the grass being pressed together.

talia, being the curious and slightly newsie girl she was, decided to follow him. she was also a little worried. she hasn't seen this part of the castle yet. it was a little entry way on the side that led to a small room with nothing in it but a statue and a bench. almost like and indoor garden without the flowers.

"draco?" she asked once it was just him and her.

he turned around, startled. he wasn't expecting anyone to be back here. once he realized it was just talia, he felt relieved.

"you're not supposed to be back here." he mumbled, going back to unwrapping the athletic tape from his hands. talia shrugged.

"it seems like neither are you." she said.

"what do you want, talia?" he asked her, throwing the rest of the tape in his bag. talia didn't like the tone he was speaking to her with. she was just worried about him, that's the only reason she followed him back here.

"look. i get your upset, but you have to realize michael won fair and square when he caught the snitch." tal said. draco let out another huff, becoming frustrated.

"how do you know? you have no idea what you're talking about." draco said, throwing his hands up at his sides.

"for your information-" talia started, but draco cut her off.

he didn't like how she was talking about michael. like draco was the loser and michael was the winner. draco doesn't loose anything. he can't, especially not to a hufflepuff.

"merlin's beard, shut up. you know nothing about quidditch, no matter how hard you try or how much you think you do. you know nothing about hogwarts, nothing about being a real wizard." draco snapped. talia tried to talk, but she couldn't say anything. she was too busy trying not to cry in front of him.

"face it. you're useless." he said, now only standing a few inches away from her. he noticed her tears, but he didn't care if she cried.

draco didn't mean anything he was saying, but he was angry. it didn't matter who it was he yelled at, he had to take it out on someone.

he scoffed at talia, before walking to pick up his gym bag. unexpectedly, she didn't say anything to him. she just stood there and watched, tears building up as he left, not taking another look at her.