Mischievous-A Marauders Fanfic

6-Gryffindor V Hufflepuff

Sephy woke up the next morning a bundle of nerves, not only for the match ahead but also for the heist her friends were planning without her. When they had understood their full situation, the seven of them had quickly wolfed down their dinners and charged up to the Gryffindor common room to get some ideas together before James and Sephy had to go down to Quidditch practice. They had planned after practice until about half ten the previous night, and while James and Sephy had to play the match, Remus and Samantha could finish the potion and Halley, Sirius and Peter could use James's Invisibility Cloak and get some Mandrake leaves from the Herbology greenhouses.

It being a Quidditch match day, afternoon lessons were cancelled, and the seven friends sat in lunch, nervously picking at their food. James and Sephy were the most nervous, as Nashville had really bitten into the whole team the previous night, expressing forcefully how despite their own talents, Slytherin could easily be ten times better, and they needed to train their socks off all year around if they wanted to break this streak. Sephy winced into her bacon sandwich as she relived Nashville's harsh words. Beside her, James cringed also, and Sephy could guess what he was thinking about.

Samantha and Remus were in tight discussion over the Mandrake Leaf potion they had hidden in one of the unused girls bathrooms on the first floor, a bathroom haunted by possibly the most irritating of all the Hogwarts castle ghosts, known as Moaning Myrtle due to the fact she literally never shut up. Remus in particular had begun simply hexing her every time she popped out of a pipe, and since the episode at the start of the year with Halley and Peeves seemingly worked rather effectively, Silencio was Remus's favorite choice, with the Langlock jinx coming in a close second.

Halley and Sirius were sitting close together, briefing Peter on his task for the afternoon. As the most innocent of the seven at first glance, Peter had been chosen to be the one to blindly wander through the Herbology greenhouses, seemingly looking for Professor Sprout, leaving doors open for Halley and Sirius to sneak through under the Invisibility Cloak. Everyone knew they only had one shot at this, whether they were playing Quidditch, brewing illegal potions or sneaking off to nick stuff from the Herbology greenhouses. Understandably, everyone was rather nervous.

Sephy and James got up first, hurrying away, down to the Quidditch grounds to get changed into their kit, to calls of good luck from the other five. Sephy's insides were in a knot, and James was looking a little pale.

"What are we worrying about?" he scoffed to Sephy, as the two of them sat together, changed, and brooms in hand.

"Halley and Sirius" Sephy replied tightly. "I couldn't give one about the match. It's only Hufflepuff."

"Don't say that." Nashville had appeared suddenly behind them, and both fifth years jumped out of their skin. "The first mistake in a game of Quidditch is underestimating your opponent. Potter, I want you on full powers. You're up against Pritchard, and he's an old hand, so there's a chance he'll try to tail you. Don't let him. Dives, dips, feints, the lot. And get this match over with ASAP. Cardale, give them all hell. Any less than two broken noses and I'll be severely disappointed. Up you get, now."

James and Sephy clambered to their feet, a little cheesed off, the latter whipping her hair into a tight bun on the top of her head.

"Is it just me, or is Nashville asking for too much?" James asked dryly.

"He knows we can do it if we want to" Sephy replied flippantly. "It's just he knows we were hoping to save our ruthlessness for Slytherin. He doesn't want us to. He wants us to dominate the entire season."

"To be fair" James agreed. "We do have an excellent side."

They arrived in the last partition before the pitch itself, and could hear the roar of the crowd already. Sephy flashed her teeth nervously at James before they took their places, preparing to walk out. Nashville was at the front.