My Father's Only Rule {DRACO MALFOY X SNAPE'S DAUGHTER}

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Final Quidditch Cup

March 1998 - Hogwarts

I knew this year would be full of lasts. But I never thought putting on my Quidditch uniform for the last time would be so hard. And I never thought I would make it to the quidditch cup with the team I had managed to place together. I've been covering both beater positions simply because, well, I can. I've moved Goyle to keeper. Blaise has been the lead chaser. And although we've got a few new members covering the other positions, Blaise, Goyle and I have been holding the team together.

Our seeker, Andrew Hilton, couldn't catch the snitch if his life depended on it. And our other two chasers, Jenny Shipley and Angie Matthews were brand new to Quidditch and were far from good. We had played one strategy all year. Andrew, Jenny, and Angie were in charge of distracting the other team's seeker until Blaise had scored over 150 points. It wasn't hard for him because I had gotten comfortable with the idea of knocking the other team members out, or at least pretending to so they would get scared and back off. Goyle was an idiot, but when he was told all he had to do was stop the quaffle from going in the hoops, he could really focus on it. Once we had scored enough to win even with the other team catching the snitch, I'd start really focusing on knocking out the other team chasers. With nobody left to score for them, the other team seeker would be forced to catch the snitch and end the game. The only game we had lost with this strategy was against Gryffindor.

Ginny Weasley was an absolute beast on the quidditch pitch. So we weren't able to score enough to win with them catching the snitch. We were playing Gryffindor in the finals today. I wasn't expecting to win, but I knew I would have a good last game. I gave my team one final pre-game talk before we went out.

"Alright guys," I said as we gathered in a circle. "Considering more than half this team is new to quidditch, I'm very very impressed that we've made it this far."

"Is this your way of saying we're going to lose?" Jenny asked me.

"No," I said. "I'm just saying you should be proud of yourselves. Jenny, Angie, Blaise, and Andrew have never played Quidditch before. Goyle has never played keeper before. And I've never covered two beaters for an entire season. It's honestly a miracle that we've made it this far."

"So, we're not going to win," Angie said.

"I didn't say that," I said. "But we're playing the one team we haven't beaten. I'm just saying that even if we do lose, we have a lot to be proud of. Now let's do this thing." We started to line up to fly out in formation when Andrew approached me.

"Grace, I've been thinking about trying something new," he said.

"On the last game?"

"Well, I've wanted to try it for a while," he said. "I was thinking, maybe if I-"

"It's the last game, Andrew," I said. "Just have fun, ok?"

The doors swung open as we heard the loud cheers for the last time. It was refreshing to hear so much happiness after this gloomy year, even if the stands were half as empty. The entirety of Dumbledore's Army was gone, with the exception of Ginny. They were either being tortured by the Carrows for information or serving in detention with Umbridge's quill. But it didn't matter at that moment. This moment wasn't about war, Dumbledore's army, or Voldemort. This moment was about quidditch.

We flew around the pitch as we usually did, and for the last time, I broke formation to give Jane a high five.

"THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!"

It was the last time she'd ever scream that from the stands. Draco blew me a kiss for good luck.

When the quaffle was released, I wasn't thinking about strategy. I wasn't thinking how I just had to win at all costs. I was thinking about how I would enjoy this game, even though it was likely that we would lose. I was remembering all the good times I'd had playing quidditch through the years. I was reliving all the moments of triumph.