The Project

𝐓𝐞𝐧

𝟏𝟎.𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞"𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗦 𝗜 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗"𖥸♪ 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎 - 𝙺𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝙻𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚛 ♪

      The locker room felt too small. Too fucking small, as she sat there with her broom at her side, her head buried in her hands. She had already changed out, so now it was just a waiting game. The cheers from the people in the stands could be heard even through the walls of the changing room, and they did nothing to quell her anxieties.

Draco walked out and sat beside her, wearing his Quidditch robes. Alina glanced up at him, and she could see he was just as anxious as she was. He hid it better, though.

"We'll do fine. We've practiced this."

She was sure his words were for himself as much as they were for her. Alina could only nod, and soon enough they were heading onto the field.

She shielded her eyes from the sunlight as her eyes adjusted. In the stands the student body sat, half decked out in green and half in green. The middle sections had students with both colors mingling, some even wearing both.

"Would it really be so bad if I just walk off the field?" she considered, diverting her eyes from the stadium to the other team on the field. She was friendly with most of them, and the smiles and nods they gave her calmed her nerves just a bit. Only a bit.

They walked out onto the field and took their positions, ready to fly.

As soon as they were up in the air, Alina felt her worry turn into focus.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The game was almost over. Hufflepuff and Slytherin were neck to neck in points. Neither had found the snitch yet, and it would come down to that for the clear winner.

The game was intense, but both sides played fairly, without any cheating or shoving. She loved the Hufflepuff team for it.

Nothing mattered to her save for the other players and winning. The people in the stands were drowned out by the rushing wind, and she had no time for anxiety. All her focus was on winning the match. Alina was flying, chasing the ball as the other team got it, when-

There. She swore she saw a flash of gold out of the corner of her eye. Draco was nearby, too. But she couldn't be sure-

She had to make a choice.

The maybe snitch or stopping Hufflepuff from scoring a goal-

If she chose wrong and they lost because of her-

She didn't have time to think-

She fell back, nearly running into Draco and his broom. When he glared at her, her eyes flicked towards-

There.

He saw, too, and veered off after it.

Cheers went up from the yellow side of the stadium.

Goddamnit, she had cost them a point, and if they lost because of her? No, she couldn't think like that, wouldn't. She had faith in Draco and his role on the team.

Alina threw herself back into the game, flying after her teammates who were giving her odd looks. Fuck, she knew they trusted her descisions, too, but they'd give her so much shit if she had cost them the first game of the student.

They continued to play, neither side scoring and both starting to become brutal-

Gasping from the crowd, then excessive cheering.

Alina couldn't look, she wouldn't-

The Slytherins in the stands stood up, cheering wildly.

Relief flooded over her, and she buried her face in her hands for a moment, processing what had just happened.

She hadn't lost them the game, she hadn't lost them the game.

A relieved, shocked laugh left her as she joined the rest of the team who were landing on the field beside the Hufflepuffs. Her teammates were cheering, hugging Draco and slapping him on the back for giving them the win.

His eyes met hers, and he flashed a smile, pushing through their cheering and hugging teammates to clap her on the back, too.

"Thanks for the nudge in the right direction, Dupont."

"Ah, well, I was only lucky enough to see it. You followed and caught it," she pointed out.

He grinned at her, shaking her shoulders.

"We won, Alina!"

Alina let herself smile back, relief overtaking everything else. And pride.

"We won," she agreed, turning to congratulate her teammates and praise the Hufflepuffs.

They'd won.