An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Fifty

I went down to the Quidditch pitch bright and early the next morning, just in case this storm thing decided to show up before the match this time. Oliver grinned when he saw that I beat him to the match, and I realized a massive flaw in my plan: he was now more convinced than ever before that I was just as invested in Quidditch as him.

Oh well. Oliver graduated after this year, and we only had two Quidditch matches left. I could survive that.

Oliver said over and over how badly we needed Hufflepuff to lose in order to have a chance at the Cup, but I didn't want to cheer against Cedric. I decided on being as neutral as possible. I spent most of the game just scanning the sky and my Heads Up Display for any sign of disturbance coming our way.

The match went on for a while, but eventually Slytherin beat Hufflepuff and ended the game. Oliver shot out of his seat cheering which was one of the weirdest things I'd ever seen, especially when I knew how much he hated Flint. After he'd finished bear-hugging me in celebration, I raced down to the pitch to search out any signs of an anomaly.

I pushed past the cheering Slytherins toward the far end of the pitch, where Cedric and I had been a few months before. Still nothing, but that didn't break any patterns yet.

"Alexa! Hey, are you okay?" I turned to see Adrian coming over, looking concerned.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You look a little crazed, pushing through the crowds of people celebrating. It's odd, especially considering this means that your team has a good shot at winning the Quidditch Cup for the first time in years," he explained.

"Oh, yeah. Okay, you know that storm thing I told you about? The one that got me doing all that research?" Adrian nodded. "Well, there's a fairly good chance that it's going to show up today."

Adrian's eyebrows shot up which, for him, was an extreme reaction of surprise. "Shit, seriously? Do you need help or anything?"

"No, it's fine. I have a plan, I'm prepared this time." Technically true. "Just, you know, maybe come find me if I'm not in Transfiguration on Monday, yeah?"

"Ha. Fuck that, I'll come find you if you're not at breakfast tomorrow morning."

I grinned. "Thanks Adrian. Now get out of here, I don't want you getting hurt. I'm sure Fred and George wouldn't mind you joining the Gryffidnor celebration if you decide you don't want to see Flint celebrate."

Now it was Adrian's turn to grin. "Nah, thanks for the offer though. I think I'll stick to my own party. I can't poison Warrington and Montague from somebody else's Common Room."

We shared a laugh over that, and then Adrian got serious again.

"Alexa, be safe out here. I know Gryffindors are usually the obviously stupid reckless ones, but try not to fit your house stereotype this time, okay?"

"Alright Adrian, I promise. But also, shut the hell up about stupidly reckless. You snuck into the Restricted Section with me and it took absolutely no convincing, so you really can't talk."

"I said obviously. Slytherins are better at being sneaky when we're reckless." I just shook my head as Adrian winked and walked away. Absolute bullshit technicality, but whatever.

I turned my attention back to my surroundings, but nothing was going on. I caught Cedric slouching over to the locker rooms out of the corner of my eye, and debated whether or not I could risk going over to him. It didn't take me long to decide that I couldn't just leave him alone, looking crushed after getting knocked out of the running for the Quidditch Cup.