The Chaser : A Fred Weasley Fan Fic

Six: Gryffindor VS Hufflepuff

The first match of the Quidditch season was slowly approaching. Training had increased to three times a week under Woods orders and I ended every practice tired and incredibly sore. I had never experienced such exhaustion before and I silently prayed I'd be able to make it to the end of the year without collapsing.

We had been training for weeks on end, preparing to play against the Slytherins. As I hadn't played a single real match in my life, Wood painstakingly went through nearly all the ones he'd played while he'd been at Hogwarts. We were eager to listen at first but slowly our eyes began to lull and there was only so many times we could here that Slytherin had one the cup again.

All it had taught me was that Slytherin played dirty and we'd have to be careful. But the upcoming match, unfortunately would not be my chance to face them.

"They've rescheduled it!" Oliver fumed, pacing around the common room waving a piece of parchment around in everybody's faces.

It was a week before the match and he'd gathered us all up in the common room by hammering furiously on our dorms and demanding we go downstairs for an emergency meeting. With the way he'd behaved I thought I really was getting thrown off the team this time.

We sat around on the sofas and armchairs, as Oliver began to read out that Marcus Flint had managed to delay the match, claiming his Seeker was injured.

"You're kidding!" The twins bellowed in unison, Fred snatching the note from Wood's hand.

"He's not even injured!" Harry protested, "I was in the class with Malfoy, the Hippogriff barely touched him"

"We're playing Hufflepuff instead?" George called out, his eyes still glued to the words on the page.

"Well that'll be easy" Angelina chuckled, leaning over Fred's shoulder to get a better look. Jealousy prickled as I saw her press against him, but I wasn't quite sure why. I pushed it aside, trying to focus on what everyone was saying.

"Easy?" Oliver repeated, "We've been training to play Slytherin not Hufflepuff! Besides they've got a new Captain and Seeker, we have no idea how he'll play"

"Not to mention we'll all be so distracted by him" Katie raised her eyebrows at him and nudged me playfully in the side. We'd all heard that Cedric Diggory was the new arrival to the team and it had enthralled most of the female population of the school. Not only was he devastatingly good looking but he was now captain of a Quidditch team.

"Not you too?" Fred groaned, slumping further into the sofa and rolling his eyes at Katie.

"He's attractive! You can't deny it. You agree with me, don't you Tilly?" Katie asked. My eyes flicked up to Fred and his face had twisted in anguish.

"He's quite nice to look at, yes" I shrugged nonchalantly. Fred scoffed and turned to face away from the two of us.

"That pretty boy! He'll be a rubbish captain" George exclaimed, sharing in his brother's disdain.

"Let's hope so" sighed Oliver, reading over the parchment another time and shaking his head angrily at it.

The day of the match had arrived, and I was feeling strangely relieved. We'd trained every night since the meeting, changing our entire strategy so that we were prepared to play a far fairer team.

I was hoping once this match was over with, that practice might ease off a little bit, there was a good month or so until the next one, surely Wood would have to at least give us a week's solace.

We woke up early on the day of the match, despite it not starting until 11am. It was already clear from the early hours that this wasn't going to be good weather to play in. Dark clouds, heavy with rain, loomed over the pitch and the first splatters came as we bustled into the changing rooms.