The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

LV. The End?

“All right. This is it. This is our last chance to play together as a team.” Olivia looked around the room, determination gleaming in her eyes. “I know that Hufflepuff is a tough team this year, but I also know that we’ve trained harder than we ever have before. I know that we can beat them. I know that we can win the Quidditch Cup. I have faith in you. We’re in this together, and we’re going to win this together.” She looked around at her team again. “Are we ready?”

“Yes!” the team cried in unison.

“Right,” Olivia said. “Let’s get out there and win!”

The team jumped from their seats, and prepared to take the field. Olivia and James remained behind a moment.

“Are you ready for this?” James asked.

“Are you?” Olivia asked. “This is it, James. This is our last match. Can you believe it? Do you remember when we were little second years, getting ready for our first match? Did you ever dream it would end this way?”

“I never dreamed of it ending,” James said honestly. “Back in second year, I couldn’t imagine the team without Derek.” He sighed. “I’m really going to miss this.”

“So am I,” Olivia agreed softly. She smiled. “Well, let’s get out there and love every moment that we have left.”

“Right,” James agreed.

Cheers rose up around them as they took the field. James looked at the Hufflepuff players. He and Olivia had spent plenty of time studying their strategies, but still weren’t positive that they could beat them. They were concerned that it would come down to a battle between the Seekers – even with the extra training Olivia had put Keith through, they still weren’t certain that he could beat Hufflepuff’s Seeker, Audra Kent. Their plan was to run the score up themselves. They knew that between the two of them and Chelsea, they could easily outscore Hufflepuff. It was just a matter of actually doing it.

The match began, and they players soared into the air. James paid close attention to the feel of the wind in his hair. Who knew how often he’d have the chance to fly once they were done with school? He scanned the crowd, and found his friends. Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Dana, and Laura were sitting together. He grinned to realize that Dana and Aidan were on opposing sides for this match. Well, he would do everything he could to make sure that it was Dana who got to rub it in that her team had won.

The Quaffle soared toward him. James caught it, and tossed it to Chelsea, who was perfectly positioned to score. She did, and Gryffindor took the lead, 10 – 0. They were off to a promising start.

The match continued for over an hour, with the Seekers trying again and again to trick one another by taking off across the pitch with looks of feigned concentration on their faces. The Chasers, Keepers, and Beaters were battling it out, all trying to keep their team in the lead. Between the Chasers, there wasn’t much of a contest – Gryffindor, whose Chasers had been playing together for years, had a distinct advantage. By the time the Snitch finally did appear, they were leading by 120 points.

Olivia looked at James in agony as Keith and Audra streaked across the field. She flew closer to him.

“We’re only up by 120!” she screamed.

“We still have time!” James bellowed.

He shot across the pitch, and intercepted the Quaffle that the Hufflepuff Chasers had been passing back and forth. Chelsea, who had been watching him, was there in an instant. Passing the Quaffle back and forth between the two of them, they carried it back to their side of the pitch. Chelsea tossed it to Olivia, who scored again. They were closer. They had to keep it up. James scored, and then Chelsea scored. They were exactly 150 points up over Hufflepuff.