Bane Academy: To Run From Fear

Chapter 12

Shae

"Anyone know where Noah is?" Luna calls out, her soft voice barely travels around the room. "The game starts in ten minutes."
The ceiling and walls of the Ravenclaw's prep room that's under the bleachers are only made of thick, white fabric and the floor is just grass and dirt. I'm sitting on a bench by myself while the players do stretches, give pep talks and get their broomsticks ready. Everyone on the team has a Cleansweep broomstick, not as good as Firebolts or Nimbuses, but still pretty decent broomsticks.
"Miss, I just got a text from him, says he can't make it. He claims he still hasn't recovered from his wrist injury. Both him and Nathaniel from the Slytherin house." A Quidditch team-member calls out.
"I bet they're wagging together and playing video games in their dorm." An olive-skinned girl named Mia whispers to me.
"Knowing Noah, probably." I laugh.
"Ah." Luna says surprisingly calm. "Well where's our reserves?"
"They don't come anymore. All of us are usually playing and John should be better by now." Another student calls out, rolling his eyes.
"Hmmm...." Luna thinks to herself. "Maybe I could fill in for Noah."
The whole Quidditch team laughs in response and Luna thinks again.
"We can't go on with only two chasers." Another player whines.
"Shae, you should fill in for Noah." Mia whispers to me.
"Oh, I'm not that good at fly-"
"Do you know what the chasers do?" Mia asks.
"Well, I know they throw the Quaffle through the three rings." I answer.
"And you've flown before?"
"As I said, I'm not that great at it-"
"Shae volunteers to fill in for Noah!" Mia shouts to Luna.
"Oh, that's terrific! Quickly, put these on." Luna says passing me a Ravenclaw uniform. "And we'll get you a broom."
"But Miss Lovegood, I-"
"Thank you so much Miss Fall, we would've had to forfeit the game if it wasn't for you!" Luna says excitedly.
I turn around to the change rooms and pass Mia on my way and narrow my eyes.
"Don't worry, I'm a chaser too." Mia laughs. "It's a lot of fun."

As the Ravenclaw team walks out onto the field, the audience cheers in excitement. The bright white lights surrounding the field blind me at first, but a minute or two later, my eyes adjust. I can now see the audience and think the entire school is here watching. I see werewolves, fairies, nymphs, humans, everyone. At the front is Emma, the team captain, holding up the black and blue Ravenclaw flag. I look past Emma and see the Slytherin team approaching the centre of the field as well, also carrying their flag. That's when my nerves and adrenaline starts to kick in.
Before I know it, all fourteen players are in the air, seven in Ravenclaw, seven in Slytherin. The game hasn't started yet, we're just hovering in the air while the referee reminds us of the rules, but my nervousness drowns out the sound of her voice.
"Hey!" Mia whispers from beside me, getting me out of my trance. "I wonder who replaced Nathaniel on their team."
I search the team members, looking for a face that doesn't belong. Finally I see it. She has very light brown curly hair and very pale skin. Her face is painfully similar and her green eyes are narrowed and locked onto me. It's Becca.
The referee unlocks the bulky case on the ground, two large ugly bludgers and a pretty and tiny golden snitch flies out. "On your marks!" The referee calls out. "Get set!" I grip my broomstick tighter. "Go!" The referee throws the Quaffle up high in the air.
All the chasers fly for the Quaffle at once but a Slytherin gets there in less of a second.
"I'll go up with Zander, you move down field!" Mia shouts at me. "Good luck!"
"Mia, no!" I shout back. "Stay with me-and she's gone."
I fly up slowly and hover over the match. I can see two seekers racing after the golden snitch alongside each other on the left me, the five chasers, including Mia, Zander, Becca, and the other two Slytherins chasing after the Quaffle on Slytherin's side of the field and four beaters hitting the ugly Bludgers.
"Slytherin, 50 to Nil!" I hear the enthusiastic commentator announce over the pa.
Since the beginning of the game, the Quaffle hasn't even been anywhere near Slytherin's rings. Even the Chaser defending me has gone up to the other side of the field. All I've been doing is waiting up here on my broomstick by myself and dodging Bludgers.
"Slytherin, 160 to Nil!" The commentator announces quite a while later.
Down the field, Emma's shouting angrily at the team, while Slytherin is high five-ing theirs.
Why are we still trying? At this point, it doesn't matter which team catches the snitch, either way, that team gains 150 points, it ends the game and Ravenclaw loses. We should just forfeit-
"Shae!" Mia shouts. I snap out of my day dreaming and see the Quaffle falling slowly and flying through the air in my direction with Becca racing straight towards me.
I quickly move forwards and catch the Quaffle and take a sharp left before colliding with Becca. Unfortunately, it's too late and we crash into each other. My side throbs from me and Becca's fight and I let out a yell. We're three quarters down the field, not far from the rings. Becca's centimetres away from my right and is travelling at the same speed as me, I just can't seem to shake her. I sense other players flying behind me, but whether those players are Ravenclaw or Slytherin, I continue to race towards the rings.
But I'm going too fast. Panicking, I pull the front of my broomstick up and fly up into the clouds. I can feel the sweat and adrenaline pumping all throughout my body. To my right Becca is still there, she looks threatened, but she continues to fly higher and higher. She bumps into me, then again harder. I do the same back, but do it too fast. Becca and I sway through the cold and damp air, which causes me to fall back down.
As I plummet back towards the earth, I see the rings to the far right and quite a bit below me. Then everything goes silent. I don't feel the wind in my ears, I can't hear the commentators or the audience. I only hear my breathing and heartbeat.
I pull my broom up to a stop, hovering 20 or so metres above the ground. I look and aim the Quaffle to the left ring to confuse the keeper, then quickly change my aim to the right ring. I pull my hand back behind me and as I throw my arm forward, a hard being pushed me off my broom. A Slytherin. Probably Becca.
I gain back my balance and the world around me is back to normal, I can hear everything once again. I look around confused. Both teams are cheering and the Quaffle is on the ground in the sand pit below the rings.
"Shae!" Mia shouts. "You scored us the first ten points!" She says excitedly. "The Quaffle went in!"
"What?" I say confused. "Why are you so excited? We're still losing by 150 points."
"Yes, but our seeker caught the snitch right after your goal! It's the end of the game! 160 each!" She shouts.
"Are you serious?" A huge smile spreads across my face. "Oh my god!"
The game has been going for a few hours, maybe the other team is cheering because the game is over. I think to myself. Or they're just showing really good sportsmanship, after all, it is a tie. I see the referee argue with a teacher about something inaudibly. But I don't think much of it, I'm just happy we didn't lose.
I fly over to Becca slowly. "Good game." I say with my hand out, offering a handshake. She'll probably hate me even more now.
"Good game." She says with a huge grin on her face. "Maybe next time."
Or maybe she won't hate me.
"Aaaaand that's the end of the game!" The commentator announces over the pa. "The game has ended with a score of 160-150! Ravenclaw caught the snitch, gained 150 points and ended the match, ultimately making Slytherin come out on top! Thank you all for coming!"
I turn to Mia, both of us still hovering in the air on our brooms. "What?" I ask. "I thought we won."
"We did, we had to." She replies, just as confused as I am. "There must be some sort of mistake..."
Now it all makes sense. The referee and teacher arguing, Slytherin cheering and Becca saying "Good game. Maybe next time." She didn't mean that Slytherin might win next time, she meant Ravenclaw...