Glory |A. Potter|

Sixty-Seven

In the Quidditch stands, most students in the school had gathered. The second round of matches this year was upon them, and today, Slytherin and Gryffindor were fighting tooth and nail to win.

Jane watched the match with rapt attention, eyes wide so she could take in every little thing happening in the game. This time, she was faring a lot better than the last time, perhaps because she had gotten through this once, or maybe because she now had a broomstick of her own again. Either way, she was somewhat enjoying the game this time. Her friends were around her to be her support, of course, the way they had been the last time.

Ramona and Scorpius hadn't found seats next to her and Albus, and so they were sitting at the row above them. They were leaning in all the time, constantly yelling something in their ears about the game—and sometimes their commentary had absolutely nothing to do with their game, Jane could care less about the haircut of the Gryffindor sat a few ways on their left—while Albus next to her was a lot more calm, not engaging them in inappropriate behaviour, answering comments that had to do with the game only, even though he didn't know much about Quidditch. His hand, for the duration of the game, didn't leave Jane's knee.

In the pitch, Antonio was soaring, flying the way he always had. Despite being knowledgeable about Quidditch herself, though, Jane couldn't help the sudden squeeze of her stomach every time he took a sharp turn or a dive, even though she knew for a fact she had been flying a lot more recklessly when she had still been playing.

The match was an intense one—one of the younger members of the Gryffindor team got hit by a Bludger, Antonio almost got hit once too—and about two hours later, the two teams were tied without any sign of the Golden Snitch anywhere. The crowd was starting to get restless, impatient, the more they waited, the more their cries turned less enthusiastic. Ramona, Scorpius and Albus were heard muttering about the golden snitch that refused to be found. Jane, however, seemed unbothered, as engaged in the game as she had always been.

And then the Snitch made an appearance.

Jane leaned forward in her seat, eyes wide as she frantically watched the descent of the Seekers after it, closer and closer to the ground. It rose without a sign, making the work of the Seekers all the more difficult as they attempted to follow after it. The Gryffindor Seeker, though, was more experienced. A few moments later, the Snitch had been caught.

"That's a shame," Jane frowned as the Gryffindors cheered, her eyes trailing over to Antonio slowly landing. "They played so well."

"Both teams did, they deserved it," Scorpius pointed out as he stood up, got ready to leave. Ramona followed his lead and after a moment, Jane and Albus did the same, his hand leaving her knee at the movement.

"Slytherin should have won last year though and they didn't," Jane pointed out as they started going down the stands and heading to the castle. "Now it's going to be even harder to win."

"What does it matter anyway?" Ramona asked softly, her eyes on the back of Jane's head as they got down the stairs. "It's not like this is the last chance for our house to win the Quidditch Cup."

"It's our last year, though," Jane briefly looked back at her before she turned ahead, careful to not fall down the stairs. "Wouldn't you want our house to win?"

"It doesn't really matter to me."

Jane let out a deep, almost disappointed sigh. Deep in her loss-induced grief as she was, she failed to notice the amused looks her friends exchanged behind her back.

She didn't say a word as they headed back to the castle, too consumed by her thoughts and all the ways the Slytherin team could train to win against Hufflepuff in their next match to take part in her friend's conversation about something Ramona had overheard some of their housemates talking about at breakfast. They let her be until they reached the common room and Albus tugged her beside him on the couch so they all sat together.