glow. // cedric diggory

24

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

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By the time Ellie had arrived at the Quidditch pitch, the game was in full motion. Each player on a broom was a blur of yellow or blue as they raced around in the air, trying to steal the Quaffle from one another, beating Bludgers away from teammates, and searching for the ball that could win the whole game.

Cedric and Cho Chang were floating around on their brooms on opposite ends of the pitch, Cho near the Ravenclaw goalpost, Cedric closer to the Hufflepuff stands. It was cloudy and snow was falling to the ground as students cheered loudly when Minnie Bellrose scored ten points.

"And Minnie Bellrose takes the Quaffle to the goal and....SCORES! That's ten more points for Hufflepuff, increasing their twenty-nothing lead against Ravenclaw!" Lee Jordan announces happily. "Right now, we can see Morgan Chedsey swatting away a Bludger from fellow Beater, Valerie Jackson, as Ravenclaw takes their possession. Richard Brenner, Hufflepuff's Keeper, gears up to block a shot as Roger Davies races towards him with the Quaffle, Keegan Knotter hot on his tail!"

As Roger got closer and closer, so did Keegan. The two were almost neck and neck, but Roger managed to launch the Quaffle into the goal furthest from Richard.

"That's ten points for Ravenclaw, upping their score to twenty-ten! What admirable hustle from team captain Roger Davies!" Lee exclaims, adjusting his microphone in the announcer's booth. the Chasers and Beaters continue to play their game, and Ellie is sure Ravenclaw has scored a couple of more times, leaving Hufflepuff in their dust. Suddenly, Cedric begins to fly off quickly, away from the stands and higher up into the air, drawing Ellie's attention away from what's happening below. This prompts Lee Jordan to speak again. "It looks as if Cedric Diggory has caught sight of the Golden Snitch! Cho Chang has just taken off after him and now the two are maneuvering in order to prevent the other from reaching the Snitch first!"

That's when the little golden menace takes a sharp turn into a dive. Cho, seemingly confused as to where the Snitch had gone, looks around the sky as Cedric angles his broom towards the ground, diving in the path of the Golden Snitch. Cho had eventually recovered her senses and began chasing after Cedric once more, but by then it was far too late. His hand was already outstretched as he leaned forward on his broom, his eyes squinty against the falling snow.

He accelerated one last time before his fingers closed over the Snitch. "And so the game ends!" Lee cheers. "Cedric Diggory has caught the Snitch! That's another one hundred and fifty points for house Hufflepuff, leaving the score at one hundred and seventy to thirty! Hufflepuff wins!"

This provoked the large crowd of Hufflepuffs, Slytherins, and Gryffindors to erupt into cheers. Ellie clapped and cheered loudly as Frankie whooped beside her. The teams touched down on the turf and Cedric and Roger Davies shook hands before Cedric ran back to his team and began cheering with them. 

The stands began chanting, "Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!" as the team made their way out towards the locker rooms. Ellie left before Lee began the game recap as he did after every Quidditch game, reading from each player's highlights booklet for the game. She pushed through the crowd, letting out a polite, "Excuse me," whenever someone was in her way.

The Hufflepuff team was still chattering excitedly as they left the pitch. Ellie pulled her jacket tighter around herself, shivering from the cold. "Ced!" she called out as she chased after them.

At the sound of his name, Cedric turned around, his face still lit up with a bright smile. "Ellie!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, his face dropped. "Wait, why are you here? I thought I told you to stay in bed!" He quickly pressed the back of his hand to her forehead to check for a fever before she hit it away.

"Cedric, I'm fine," she insisted. "But I had to come and see you play. That had to have been one of your best catches yet!"

Cedric smiled sheepishly, though his eyes were beaming with pride. "Thank you," he said, taking her hands and his and rubbing them to keep her warm. "I'd hug you right now, but I'm rather sweaty and last I checked, you hate sweaty hugs."

Ellie scrunched her nose. "You know me far too well. If I hadn't known you all my life I might have assumed you've been stalking me."

"What makes you think I haven't?" he teased, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I'm going to go and shower and then I'll come and find you. Now, do me a favor and go up to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey check you. I don't want you to get sicker because you were out in the cold just to watch me play."

Ellie rolled her eyes but nodded anyways.

"You promise, Campbell?"

"I promise, Diggory."

"Great, now go, I'll find you once I'm done showering all this sweat and mud off," he told her, giving her hand one last squeeze before walking back off in the direction of the Hufflepuff tent.

Ellie watched him go with a dopey smile on her face, like his happiness was her happiness, and together, they were on top of the world. And with him being a Champion for the Triwizard Tournament, Ellie was convinced that this wouldn't be the last time they were on top of the world together.

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AUTHOR'S CORNER

Another short filler guys sorry :/ I've been in such a big writers block state right now so I'm trying to get back into the saddle. I like the writing in this chapter and Quidditch games are always fun to write, so past me was wonderful for setting it up so that I have a scene I actually want to write. So thank you past me!

Actual plot coming soon!