After breakfast and prying himself out of his stiff over-jacket, Draco walked out to the porch. It didn't take a hot minute for a hexed weight to come flying toward him. Without thinking, he dropped to a low crouch with his head nearly between his knees as he heard the air split above him. Not a second later came a similar sound from a larger object; a person.
"Watch out there, blondie!" A voice called from above him. Slowly, Draco looked up, seeing two identical people in identical Quidditch uniforms. The Weasley twins. "Bludger could've taken your head off!"
"I have a stinging feeling that was your intention." He sighed as the two flew away. He stood up straight, looking out he could make out the rest of the children in the open field.
Ron Weasley was playing Keeper, Ginny Weasley was the second Seeker to Harry Potter. Draco groaned, if Harry was there, only Merlin knew how long he'd keep the fact that he saw him days earlier to himself, or if he even would try. Fred and George, who he'd had the pleasure of nearly being killed by, played as the two Beaters and Granger stood on the sidelines, her wand waving to no end. Evidently, she'd hexed the balls to act like the true ones.
The one of the two others playing, however, he didn't recognize. One with long red hair, tied back, but it was quite obviously a boy, another Weasley. The other, this one he did know, had platinum blonde hair and a light blue Quidditch uniform, Fleur Delacour. He'd seen her throughout the happenings of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but couldn't understand what every boy found so attractive about her. She seemed like a normal, French woman.
"Can I switch to Chaser yet?" A female voice groaned from the field. While lost in his thoughts, Draco hadn't realized the game had stopped for the moment. Ginny was groaning, her head angled back dramatically, similar to a toddler when not wanting to do something their told.
"I can't Seek without someone else trying to get the Snitch first!" Harry shot back, he seemed quite upset at the thought of Seeking alone. Probably because it would get him too used to not being opposed.
"It's a golf ball!" Ginny yelled, throwing her hands in the air. "It's a bloody golf ball, Harry! And we have another broom! We could ask mum or Hermione to Seek with you!"
"You need a Seeker?" A voice called from below, grabbing the attention of everyone in the air. "I happen to play for Slytherin." Draco chuckled, stepping onto the field marked with flour.
It took a little convincing and Potter was surprisingly very willing to let Draco Seek. As was Ginny and the twins, though he assumed it was because it made him a closer target.
Malfoy stood across from Harry on the poorly flour-drawn circle. Hermione finally whistled, though it was much quieter than an actual Quidditch whistle since it came from her lips. Everyone rose to the air, the Chasers and Beaters immediately going for their respective hexed balls. The most painful part of being a Seeker was waiting for the Snitch, golf ball, in this case, to be released.
Draco could see Harry squinting through his glasses, but he kept his eyes as open as possible. Squinting caused vision to blur and darken, and as a Seeker you needed to be able to catch any hint of light immediately.
A pin-sized flash of white caught both the Seeker's attention and both set off for it. Harry, of course, was closer to it by about a foot, as he always was. One of the most frustrating parts of playing Gryffindor, they were always that one foot ahead. That one foot faster.
"Sorry we had to give you such a cheap broom, Malfoy!" One of the twins called as they raced past.
"Yeah, sorry!!!" The other yelled.
Draco thought of retorting, but didn't want to lose his focus on the golf ball. He'd managed to pull up right beside Harry, though height difference had him about an inch further.
Every now and then, one would try nudge the other out of the way, trying to get just a little closer. By then, Ron had blocked 6 shots and missed 8, improving greatly from years prior. Draco had finally managed to knock Harry completely off course, though with the help of the twins. He'd shoved Harry just as they hit the weight towards him, forcing them to go separate ways, the direction Malfoy went just so happened to be the same as the golf ball.
The game continued on, Ron was now blocking more than he let in, 12 blocked and 10 missed, and the twins were getting more reckless with their hits. Yet, nothing could detour the Seekers. Draco was finally the one a foot ahead, with his hand extended and far as his body would let it. He didn't bother watching where it was headed, just where it was.
"WATCH OUT!" Without realizing where he was going, the ball had rung around the goal posts. Harry pulled back, but Draco nor Ron had the time. It happened too quickly to really know what happened before they hit the ground.
The air was immediately knocked out of the both of them as they collided, both falling from their brooms. The fall was blurred, but luckily not far. They both hit the ground, Weasley on his back and Malfoy on his stomach. Draco felt lightheaded and dizzy, he couldn't see anything but a blur of red. He sat up, concerned it was blood.
He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to get his vision cleared.
Ron gasped and coughed, trying to get air back into his lungs. He looked up and saw the bright blue sky and the posts were just in the bottom of his vision. A figure arose in his vision, blurred for a moment, but he could make out the black undershirt at least. The figure of Malfoy slowly cleared, though still a little out of focus due to his head's rapid movement.
He traced the figure down to the tear in the knee of his dress pants. Though he could only see one knee, he was confused until his sense caught up with him. Ron felt his cheeks burn before he shoved the boy straddling his waist off and pushing himself away. He knew Malfoy didn't mean to be on top of him, but he didn't want him there a moment longer.
"Watch where you're going next time, bloody hell!" He yelled, staggering to his feet.
"Can't you hear when I call you for- Oh my, what happened?!" The stout figure of Molly Weasley came into the field, her mood changing as quickly as always.
"We just-" Ron started, ready to make his case before Malfoy turned the story and threatened to bring his father into it. But instead, he was caught off guard.
"It was my fault, Mrs. Weasley." Draco cut him off, swiping blood from under his nose. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and flew into him."
The others around to hear, all besides Fleur and Charlie, expressed the same amount of surprise as Ron. The twins went over and hoisted Draco up by the shoulders, Fred bringing his free hand to his forehead.
"Feeling alright, mate?" George asked, laughing.
