An Unpredicted Exception @Hogwarts

13

Celine and Julie follow Theodore to the Slytherin tribune. It is not that often that other houses look at the game from a tribute that is not their own. But it happens enough not to make them stand out. Theodore leads them to a few free seats more at the top. A few boys and many girls great him on their way. When they find a free seat, Celine recognizes the girl behind her. It is the same girl with the long black hair that called them spies last time. "Anthea, this are Julie and Celine, they are rooting for us today." Theodore says happily. The girl, Anthea apparently, looks at them. The moment she recognises the other two is obviously showing on her face. "Ah, okey." She says, not making further eye contact with the girls. They all sit down, and unfortunately the girl chooses to sit right next to Celine, while Julie got the seat on Celine's other side. Celine looks a bit nervously at her hands, sneaking glances at Anthea. Julie completely ignores the existence of the Slytherin girl, probably still mad, and starts talking with Theodore besides her. They talk about their Diviantion lessons, a course Celine doesn't follow. Julie had told her about Professor Trelawney, how chaotic she can be, but also that she is very kind and seems to love her job. But in her last lesson, Professor Umbridge came by. She isn't happy with the way Professor Trelawney teaches. Celine can't really talk along with Julie on this subject, so she chooses to look at the field, still empty at the moment.

She doen't have to wait long though, because after a few minutes the teams come on the field. Everyone starts to cheer for their favorite team. Then the snitch is released and the game starts. Celine directly searches for Horace. She finds him flying with the Chasers to protect them from the Buldgers. Both teams are fighting to get the overhand, but after a few goals, they are still tied. "Come on, Come on." Anthea chants next to Celine. A Chaser from Slytherin comes close to the goals and want to trow, but a Beater from Gryffindor manages to hit a Buldger straight to her. The girl drops the Quaffle to protect her face with her hands and shrieks. The audience gasps. But both Beaters form Slytherin are close enough to take action. The blond beater hits the Buldger away from the girl, right on time. Now the Buldger goes straight to the other Slytherin Buldger, Horace, who takes his position and beats the Buldger right back to the Beater of Gryffindor. Horace hits the Buldger with such a force, that the other player can't react fast enough to hit it back and had to dodge in the last second, to prevent it form hitting his head. Celine cheers louder. "Gosh they are awesome." she sighs. Anthea looks at her with an unreadable face. "Well sorry to inform you, but that blond one is already taken." She says, not sorry at all. That surprises Celine. "Is he your boyfriend?" She asks. "Yes he is, so don't try anything funny, I saw the way you were looking at them." hearing that makes Celine laugh, cause the girl did see at least something right, "Ah don't worry, I was only looking at Horace." She smiles. Then realizes that she just accidentally confessed her crush to some stranger. Anthea snorts, but doesn't retort on that. Well, Celine thinks, that explains at least the protectiveness of the girl for her team. 

After 30 minutes the game Slytherin is in the lead with ten pions more that Gryffindor. Right now all the gazes are drawn to the seekers of both teams. The teams keep scoring, but it became clear that the winner of the game would be the catcher of the snitch. Neither Potter from Gryffindor nor Malfoy from Slytherin had seen the snitch until, right now. It was unclear whether it was Potter or Malfoy who dived earlier to the ground. The moment they started moving the crowd exploded in screaming of cheers. Malfoy and Potter were now flying side by side, searching for the small golden ball. The seekers were battling for mere minutes, but it felt like the whole 30 minutes all over again, the tension was visible in the air. Everybody watched them as if they were playing for their lives. But then it was over. The snitch was caught. It was a close call, but in the end it was Potter who won.

An explosion of red and gold filled the field, the people from all except of the Slytherin tribune roared. There everybody was quiet. Some people were saying obscurities under their breath, others just stood up and walked away. "Shit." Julie says. "there goes our plan." Celine looks at her friend. "What now?" They couldn't walk up to Horace with the excuse of congratulating him anylonger. "Now," Theodore says calmly, while standing up "We are just going to comfort a friend after his lost game." 

Theodore went into the boys changing room, looking for Horace. Meanwhile Julie and Celine were sitting on a bench outside, waiting for the Slytherins. Theodore would take Horace outside right to them. And after the usual 'You did well' and 'Next time you guys will win', they would bail them. Not the most solid plan. Horace could just walk away, but it they could try. And if Theodore was right, then Horace was sorry too. Celine takes a deep breath. She is twitchy after her last talk with the boy. Nevertheless, while seeing him in the game, she realized that she still likes him. "Ah there you two are." Celine jumps when she hears Theodore's voice. Looking up she sees Theodore and Horace walking right to them. Horace is holding his bag with his quidditch gear. The moment he spots Celine, his steps falter. She meets his gaze but then looks away, a pink flush spreading over her face. "Well played Horace, too bad that Potter was slightly earlier with catching that stupid golden ball."Julie tells Horace while walking to him. She pats him on his shoulder. "Thanks." Horace murmurs. "Yeah like I said, you defended your Chasers well. You and that other Beater make a good team." Theodore chatters. That makes Horace smile a little. Celine also stands up from where she was sitting. "You were really cool today." she admits. Horace looks a bit uneasy, but then starts to grin. And that is Theodore's clue to leave. "Julie can I have my coat back now?" Julie looks at him with theater shock. "Oh no, your coat. I think I left it on the tribune somewhere. Sorry, I will get it right now." Theodore, the better actor, looks at Julie dumbfounded. "You-you left it? That is my favorite coat! I will help you search." He then turns to Horace. "Please wait here for me, this shouldn't take long." Then he takes off with Julie, running back to the tribunes. Horace looks after them confused. "Why did Julie had Theo's coat?" He asks. Celine smiles, at least the plan worked. "Julie said she was cold, so Theodore lend his coat to her." She answers him. "Aha," Horace, says. Then he seems to become aware of that they were left alone. "Uhm." he starts, scratching his neck. "Shall we sit here then while we wait?" He proposes. Celine nods and they sit on the bench. An awkward silence falls over them. Celine wants to say sorry, but she doesn't know where to start. Her hands are clenched in her lap. She swallows and then looks up. There she meets two sorrowful brown eyes. She opens her mouth to start. But he shuts her with laying his hand for her mouth. His touch is careful this time. Big gray eyes are staring at him curiously. "I know I might not deserve it, but will you please listen to what I have to say first, Celine?" he asks softly, his voice low. Celine looks in his pleading eyes and agrees.