Conflicted Loyalites

Chapter 15

Harry's POV

The quidditch match, surprisingly, went pretty well.

I knew Malfoy was a good player - I'd played against him loads of times - but he was better than I thought he'd be, especially after being out of the team for so long.

He was quick, and he knew what he was doing. I found myself stopping to watch him a few times, just admiring his form, and how perfectly he held the broom.

I'd realised early on that this was a good strategy; watching the other players rather than just searching for the snitch yourself. It meant less unexpected crashes, which had been an issue a number of times in the past.

I'd hit into Malfoy before, not long after we'd both joined the house teams. It was painful, and dangerous. I didn't fancy losing an eye, or the bones in my arm ever again, so I'd started to stick by this strategy above all others. Of course, it didn't always work, but more often than not it was pretty effective.

It was more difficult with less people, too. In practices there was less to watch, and in one on one matches it was better to keep an eye on the pitch as well.

I wondered if Malfoy knew what I was doing. His hands were tight on the broom handle, like he was scared of falling, and there was a red flush to his face which really only made his hair seem more luminous than usual. It was weird the things you noticed from watching others like this.

I looked away from Malfoy since he clearly had no idea where the snitch was, and instead inspected the pitch. The snitch had completely disappeared - which wasn't unusual at all. The first time I'd seen it released, I thought it was some kind of magic that actually made the snitch go invisible, but it turned out it was just very small and very fast.

There was a flitter of something green and platinum off to my left. I snapped my attention back to Malfoy just in time to see him dart forwards. After what? I scanned the air before him, all across the stadium, and then I saw it.

The snitch!

It was buzzing in a small, uneven circle some distance away from my opponent.

Now, the chase would really begin.

I swung my weight forwards and dove towards the Slytherin. The wind whistled in my ears, fleeing through my hair like it was trying to pry me from my broom. I pushed myself closer to the broom, and gritted my teeth against the wind. I needed to pick up speed if I was going to catch up with Malfoy. He really did have perfect form, it was more than admirable to see.

The first time I'd seen him on the Slytherin team, with the new brooms and that shit-eating smirk of his, I hadn't realised that he was pretty good at the sport. It was like he'd bought himself a place in the team, rather than earned it himself.

Now, I had evidence that he was maybe a worthy opponent.

The snitch was quickly growing in size, glimmering in the sunlight and feinting left and right in various attempts to throw us off.

Malfoy was a blur to me now, a figure in the background. He was close by, but he wasn't close enough. The wind in my ears sharpened my focus, blurred my vision.

One downside of wearing glasses was that when they didn't do their job right, I couldn't see at all. That was a problem sometimes in quidditch, because of rain or dirt or steam. This was one of those times, and so for the next few seconds, I was working pretty much blind, only just able to see that jerking golden sphere. I had to trust my instincts. There was no way I could let Malfoy beat me here.

I took my right hand off of the broom, and in one swift movement, reached forwards, and closed my fist on the air where the snitch had been.

Confusion settled in my mind after a second or two as I started to slow down, still pretty much blinded.