Metanoia • Harry Potter • Book I

Chapter Twelve

Saturday morning brought around Slytherin's first Quidditch match. The one between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had taken place earlier in the month but the mood had been severely dampened by the shadow of the Chamber.

It was all Draco would talk about, whenever he was making sly comments about Mrs Norris. He painted elaborate tales about how he'd beat Harry and show off who was the superior flyer. At first, Keziah had tried not to laugh but then she'd realised this was Draco she was listening to, and then she laughed openly.

As her dormmates got ready for the game, wearing all sorts of Slytherin memorabilia, with Pansy Parkinson even painting her cheeks green, Keziah sat sourly on her bed, reading one of Lily Moon's comics.

She'd said she wasn't going to the game and she was sticking to her word.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" asked Daphne, standing in front of the mirror to make sure her scarf was artfully knotted. "I know you're mad at Harry but don't you want to support the team?"

"And watch Draco prance around for an hour?" Keziah mimed vomiting. "No thank you."

Daphne sighed. "I'll see you after the match then."

Waving with a little smile, Daphne shut the door, leaving Keziah feeling horribly lonely. If she was being completely honest, Keziah wanted to go to the Quidditch match but she wasn't feeling fond of either team.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Keziah threw the comic down on her bed with a screech of frustration. The Common Room was empty as she walked through it, still deliberating whether to go.

"Why aren't you at the match?"

Keziah jumped at the voice. Somebody was still here. She whipped around to see Adrian Pucey in one of the armchairs closest to the fire. He had 'The Beater's Bible' in his lap, the page dog-eared.

"Don't feel like it," she replied, shrugging. "I'm not too happy with either side so..." She shrugged, sitting down. "How about you?"

"I don't think I could face Flint," Pucey admitted, watching the flames. "He's replaced me with Cassius Warrington. I'm happy for him, but I don't think I could watch it, knowing I could be up there."

"I'm sorry I lost you your position," said Keziah, rubbing her neck.

"I already told you it's not your fault. I needed an excuse to get away from Flint anyway. He's a prick."

Keziah laughed, which made Pucey smile slightly.

"You should still go to the match," she said. "If you like Quidditch so much, you shouldn't let Flint take that away from you."

Pucey's lips quirked and Keziah thought he was going to yell at her. Instead, he just closed his book and looked her dead in the eyes.

"You're a strange one, Potter," he said, shaking his head. "But I'll make a deal with you. I'll go to the match if you join me."

Keziah wanted to argue. She'd told Harry she wouldn't come to the game and to go back on her word would just make her look stupid. But he was her brother after all and it would be cruel not to support him.

Pucey raised a thin brow.

"Let's go," she sighed.

The match had only been going on for around fifteen minutes when Keziah shuffled her way through the Slytherin stalls to her friends. Luckily, they were further back, so she didn't have to tread on too many toes.

"What happened to being a sourpuss?" Blaise grinned, wrapping a scarf around her neck in greeting.

"Sod off," Keziah replied, leaning into Theo in some attempt to shield herself from the bitter wind.