McKinnon

| CHAPTER SEVENTEEN |

It was a very beautiful day to watch Quidditch, indeed. Sarai thought to herself as she sat in the stands with Dean, and Seamus. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze. Similar to the weather it felt like when her and Michael had their first date on the astronomy tower. While Sarai herself was nervous on how the match was going to turn out, she could start to feel the excitement as her schoolmates were buzzing about around her, excitedly. She watched the field eagerly, as she could see the Ravenclaw team already standing on the field waiting for the match to begin. As the Gryffindor team slowly began to file out from the locker rooms, the crowd erupted in tumultuous applause. She clapped fiercely, for her friends in Gryffindor house, but also secretly for Michael. From her right, she felt an elbow dig into her rib, and Dean whisper in her ear,
"Are you clapping for us, or for Michael. You never said."
She grinned at him as she shrugged her shoulders,
"Both, I guess."
Dean shook his head, as he grinned back at her. He gave her a thumbs down, "Boo," He said playfully, "Show some house pride, traitor."
She shoved him hard in retaliation of the name calling, which ultimately resulted in him falling off the bench. It definitely also came with an accusatory glare from Dean, as the gryffindors sniggered around him. She blew a raspberry at him, before they were interrupted by the sound of the whistle.
"Blimey, look at him go!" Seamus yelled while pointing at Harry who was zooming at record-breaking speeds through the field. Whatever, he said after, Sarai couldn't catch as his voice was drowned out by Lee, who was providing commentary for the match.
"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick,the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams atthis year's World Championship --"
"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" interrupted Professor McGonagall's voice.
"Right you are, Professor -- just giving a bit of background information-- the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and --"
"Jordan!"
"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor, heading for goal..."
Sarai watched as a red and gold blur streaked past Katie in the opposite direction. Sarai also quickly noticed the Ravenclaw Seeker; also the only girl on the team; Cho Chang tailing Harry closely. Chang was really good at cutting across Harry forcing him to change direction.
"Damn, she's really good!" Sarai admitted aloud, causing Dean and Seamus to nod in agreement.
"Show her your acceleration, Harry!" yelled Fred, while tailing a bludger aiming straight for Alicia.
Harry urged the Firebolt forward as they rounded the Ravenclaw goal posts and Chang fell behind. Just as Katie succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match, and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild, Sarai jumped up from her seat and started cheering loudly for her friend.
She felt a nudge from her left from Seamus, "Oy, check out Harry!" He cried, in just as much enthusiasm.
Harry and Chang were diving. Diving fast towards the ground. Sarai watched as the pair of seekers dover closer and closer to the ground, until Harry was just barely ten feet away from impact when suddenly a bludger came pelting out of nowhere. Harry veered off course, avoiding it by a hair.
There was a great 'oooooooh' of disappointment from the Gryffindors around her, but Sarai clapped politely, as she searched for Michael in the air. Much applause also came from Ravenclaw for their Beater. She watched as George vented his feelings by hitting the second bludger directly at the offending beater who was forced to roll right over in midair to avoid it.
"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn --Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision- balance is really noticeable in these long --"
"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"
Sarai giggled at Professor McGonagall's frustration, before her head shot towards Oliver wood. The Quidditch captain, and Gryffindor Keeper.
"HARRY THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN," Roared Wood, "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO."
Sarai winced as she watched harry awkwardly swerved to avoid a collision.
"Wood's gone a bit crazed hasn't he?" Sarai said to Dean, nearly shouting above the crowd's noise.
Dean laughed and nodded his head in agreement, before yelling a response, "It's his last chance to win the cup, I can't blame him!"
Suddenly, the crowd started 'oooh'ing and Sarai's head shot up to see Michael finally scoring his first point for his team. She jumped up and down and clapped loudly. The Gryffindors around her, started to give her weird looks, trying to figure out who's side she was really on. Sarai didn't care though, all she cared about was the giant grin on Michael's face as he gave her a quick wave.
Suddenly from the corner of Sarai's eye, she saw three black hooded figures on the ground, near the edge of the pitch. Chang must have noticed the same thing, because she too, screamed "Oh."
The next moment happened like lightning, one minute there were the three 'dementors', next there was a flash of silver and white emitting from Harry's wand, blinding the three figures. Sarai watched in confusion, as the the three dementors toppled over on the ground, and revealed, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes.
The sound of the shrill whistle came from Madam Hooch, the referee for the match, calling the game. Sarai shot her head up to the score board to see that Gryffindor had won. And Harry had an especially big win, fending off the dementors. "Fake" or not.
All around the three, gryffindors were making their way down the stands to support their team in its glory. Dean pulled Sarai into a bone-crushing hug, while Seamus himself was cheering the Gryffindor team on very loudly. When Sarai finally managed to escape Dean's embrace, and catch a few breaths, she looked for Michael in the field. He was difficult to spot through the sea of red and gold, but she finally managed to catch a glimpse of the shaggy blonde hair, sporting blue and bronze gear.
Quickly telling Seamus know that she'd be back in a minute to help the rest of her house celebrate, she ran across the field to Michael and threw her arms around him.
"You did fantastic today, Michael!" Sarai said in approval as she pulled back from the warm embrace.
Despite Ravenclaw's loss, Michael sported a large grin on his face. He managed to get the only point on his team. "Did you see the shot I made with the Quaffle?" He asked, enthusiastically. "Threw Wood there for a loop."
Sarai laughed and nodded her head in agreement, "Definitely better than Davies or Burrow ever could." She then paused before stepping on her tip-toes to give Michael another peck on the cheek.
His smile widened even more, as he cupped his cheek. "What was that for? I didn't win." He said, not ungratefully.
Sarai shrugged, "Take it as a 'I'm sorry my team kicked your arse?'"
Michael barked with laughter, before rolling his eyes, "Alright, I'll take it."
--