Marooned - Fred Weasley

Chapter 38: The Match

The long awaited game between Gryffindor and Slytherin had arrived.

Ron was nervous, he was the Keeper of the team, and he was afraid to ruin it for them. He was a bit clumsy, but he could be really good at it, he just needed a bit more confidence that he could.

"You'll be fantastic, all right? Try eating something, will you?" pleaded Sarah, putting a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. Ron was pale, looking at his plate, and it was unsettling that he didn't want to eat anything.

"I must've been mental to do this," he said in a croaky whisper, "Mental."

"Don't be thick," reassured Harry, "You'll do fine. It's normal to be nervous."

"I'm rubbish. I'm lousy, can't even play to save my life. What was I thinking?" whimpered Ron again and Sarah and Harry exchanged a worried look.

"Get a grip," said Harry, "Look at that save you made with your foot the other day, even Fred and George said it was brilliant."

Ron's face seemed to fall apart as he looked up at him, "That was an accident, I didn't mean to do it. I slipped off my broom when none of you were looking and when I was trying to get back on I kicked the Quaffle by accident. "

Harry seemed to be quite disappointed in that.

"Well, look at it this way," said Sarah, "a few more accidents like that and the game's won, isn't it?"

Ginny and Hermione sat down next to them, "How are you feeling?" asked Ginny and Harry looked up at her, "He's just nervous."

"Well it's a good sign, I find it useful to be a bit nervous before an exam," said Hermione, and Sarah nodded, although the others didn't react much to her statement.

"Hello," said a dreamy voice behind them, "I'm supporting Gryffindor."

It was Luna Lovegood, wearing a giant lion head as she sat down next to them, "Look what it does."

The lion head roared in what Sarah fathomed was a really realistic imitation of a lion's roar and they all flinched, staring at it with wide eyes.

Angelina came in then, announcing they should get going, and they all got up, and walked to the stadium. It was a bit frisky, in late November, it was expected. Sarah walked with Angelina until she saw the Quidditch team all dressed in their uniforms, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of Fred that she quickly dismissed. She walked towards Ron and Harry, and to her surprise, Ron looked a bit better than before, seeming as though Hermione's peck was beneficial.

She grabbed his shoulders, "You ready?"

He hesitantly shook his head.

"Well, too bad, because you have to be. You can do this."

Ron's lips curled a bit and he walked forward, with a small whimper.

Harry tugged on her sleeve and whispered, "I think the Slytherins are up to something. I just saw a banner in their changing rooms that said 'Weasley is our king' and I've got a bad feeling about this. We can't let Ron be thrown off his game any more than he's already done himself."

"Okay-Um," she tried searching her mind of all the possibilities of the match going wrong, and she nodded forcefully, "You just focus on catching the snitch, I'll keep an eye out for their schemes."

Harry nodded gratefully and she sent him on his way after wishing him good luck. She walked to reach the twins, too, trying to set her arm around them, but that was impossible, she simply reached up to grab their shoulders, "Hey."

Fred looked down at her, and realized she was touching his shoulder and for some reason that didn't at all calm him down at all. But that couldn't be right. He isn't nervous, of course he isn't. She's his friend, his best friend, and she's touching his shoulder, everything's fine. He absolutely did not start freaking out because Sarah McCauley was touching his shoulder.