Unrequited

15

Asphodel felt confident as she walked into the Quidditch pitch with a Nimbus 1000 in her hand and a head held high as her ponytail swayed back and forth. She ducked her head under the fabric flap as she stepped into the Hufflepuff tent where the rest of her teammates were.

"Ah, there you are Asphodel! I hope you're ready. With all of our skill we have a chance of beating the Ravenclaws." Amos Diggory, seeker and captain of the Hufflepuff team said to her as he gave her a slap on the back and she smiled sheepishly. "Oi, is that a Nimbus 1000?"

"Sure is," Asphodel replied as she tossed it back and forth inbetween her hands.

"That'll be our good luck charm," Amos replied as he clinked his broom with hers. He ushered the team to gather around him. "This is a new year, which means a new chance arises. The Ravenclaws may be booksmart, but they don't always make smart choices on the field. Our main goal is to rack up as many points as possible and buy me time to look for the Snitch. I want one beater to be aiming bludgers at the other seeker and the other to be watching out for any goals they'll try to put past us." Everyone nodded, a rush of adrenaline surging through Asphodel. "If we win this, we'll be going against the Slytherins next. So, are we ready mates?"

"Yes!" They all exclaimed in unison, putting the ends of their brooms in the center of the circle they formed. "One, two, three... Hufflepuffs!"

They bursted out through the tent and ran onto the field as roars erupted from the stands. Asphodel couldn't see if James and Faun were there, but the thought that they were gave her even more adrenaline as she met on the center of the field with the other team. Asphodel met her eyes with the Ravenclaw seeker, Jasmine Liu. Asphodel had seen her play before in her second year. Although Jasmine was only a third year then and a seventh year now, she felt intimidated seeing as Jasmine could only get better.

"You know a good broom doesn't always give you an advantage," Jasmine said slyly as she hopped onto her own Nimbus.

"We're about to find out," Asphodel retorted as she felt her feet hover over the ground. She listened to the referee talk and explain good sportsmanship and he said he didn't want any bad injuries this game. Asphodel nodded, just wanting to get it over with already.

She watched as she saw the familiar objects, a Quaffle, bludgers, and last of all, the Golden Snitch. Asphodel gripped her broom tighter and the cheering on the stands only became louder.

As soon as the balls were tossed in the air at a high height thanks to magic, Asphodel was off, speeding forward. She grabbed the Quaffle and dived.

"Starting off the match with Asphodel May from the Hufflepuff team grabbing the Quaffle already!" Asphodel heard Sirius's voice come from the commentating booth. "Looks like that got the Ravenclaw beaters fired up as they're trying to aim their bludgers at her."

"Come on," Asphodel said to herself as she pushed the broom forward. The Nimbus 1000 was insanely fast. Everything was a blur except for what she could see ahead and she had to really focus on not flying off. She went full speed towards the Ravenclaw goal, made a quick turn, and subconsciously threw the Quaffle. Asphodel was going so fast she couldn't see where it was now, but she had turned around and speeded back towards the Hufflepuff side, hoping it did something.

"Asphodel decides to risk it, and it's good! That's the first goal of the game, folks! Ten points to Hufflepuff!"

Asphodel couldn't believe it. It actually went in. She had made countless goals in practice, but this was her first real game. As she skimmed the stands she could see the Hufflepuffs cheering and waving yellow and black flags. She didn't want to celebrate the victory too soon, seeing as it was only ten points.

"And here comes one of the Ravenclaw chasers, Devyn Smith, heading straight towards the Hufflepuff goal!"

Sirius's voice snapped Asphodel back into reality. Luckily, her other chaser teammate was quick enough. As Devyn threw the Quaffle, he intercepted it before the keeper could even hit it back. Asphodel sped behind the other two Ravenclaw chasers and outstretched her arms.

"What a play! Link Scrunch intercepts the Quaffle and an immaculate toss over to Asphodel, again! Could this season be the start of something new for the Hufflepuffs? It looks like Asphodel is the star of the show tonight, people take notes— and there she goes again. Another ten points to Hufflepuff! It's twenty to zero now!"

Asphodel didn't want to stop. She wanted to make goal after goal after goal. As she sped back, a bludger whizzed right past her. She looked for where it was going.

"Bloody hell! That was a bullseye for Ravenclaw seeker, Jasmine Liu, look at her! She's gone way off course from the Snitch now, and now she's just spinning and spinning and spinning..."

Asphodel saw the Quaffle in one of her teammates hands and sped up to him in case. "Just tell me when to throw it," He said and Asphodel nodded. The chasers were onto them now and Asphodel went to the other side of the field. He threw it and she caught it and she threw it back to him, once all the chasers surrounded her. "Now!" She shouted and he threw the Quaffle seamlessly into the goal.

"You know what they say, team work makes the dream work! That's thirty points Hufflepuff has on Ravenclaw!"

Asphodel heard Jasmine grunt in frustration as she circled around them. "What is wrong with you guys? Get it together!"

"Worry about yourself and catch the snitch!" Devyn shouted back at her.

"There's a little commotion going on in the Ravenclaw side of the field. Are they trying to distract themselves from the fact the Hufflepuffs scores yet another goal? Forty to zero!"

As Asphodel and Link zoomed back they high fived each other and Asphodel gave a thumbs up to the other chaser across the field, Tommy Knobs.

Asphodel saw a glint of gold beeline past her. Then she saw Amos right behind it, dangerously close to her and the snitch. She watched and hoped as Amos made the attempt and outstretched his hand.

"What's this? I see a speck of gold coming from below, could it be what we all think it is? It is! Amos Diggory for the Hufflepuffs has just caught the snitch! And that's game, mates! One hundred and ninety points to zero! They're really going for it all. What is this, a new record? Well Marlene McKinnon I won the bet so that means you owe me—" The rest was cut off as McGonagall snatched the microphone out of his hands. The feedback echoed across the field before the professor's voice was heard. "Congratulation Hufflepuff! And that concludes the first match of the year."

Asphodel was in disbelief. She could almost start crying if the sweat dripping down her face didn't look like it. Link and Tommy were crushing her as she squealed in excitement. They landed on the grass to shake the Ravenclaws' hands and tell them good game. They look defeated and Jasmine was crying.

Amos slung his arm around Link and Asphodel as they talked about the clean interception he had pulled. "Well you know what this means," Amos said and Asphodel raised a brow.

"That we won?" Asphodel guessed and Amos shook his head.

"Yes. But also, come into the common room with your party face on, and bring your best set of fire whiskey."