Arcane [Sirius Black]

Chapter 26 - Blundering Bludgers

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Diana gripped the wooden handle of her broom with white knuckles, her hands wrapped tight in an attempt to ground herself. However, her nervous hold was nothing in comparison to the crushing handshake James and the Slytherin captain were exchanging in the middle of the field. 

She just barely registered the annoyed huff of Madame Hooch telling them off before the sharp whistle was blown and everyone was in the air. Going higher than the rest of the team, Diana whipped her head around looking for the little glint of gold she wanted.

She tried not to notice the vast amount of students in the stands, knowing one glance at the cheering faces would cause her to fly off into the forbidden forest. Instead, she flew lower, stomach twisting with the same worry one might get while trying to finish a timed test without any answers.

And then something moved in the corner of her eye, hovering near the Hufflepuff stands so closely the gold nearly blended in with its backdrop.

Diana looked up only to lock eyes with Regulus Black, who had also seemed to notice the Snitch. They stared for no more than a millisecond before Regulus darted off towards the stand with Diana right on his heel.

He was quick, and Diana had to practically lay on her broom in hopes that she'd catch up. The boy was most certainly skinnier than she was and the aerodynamics of it all left her cursing.

Luckily, however, she managed to make it to his side, their robes whipping against each other in the wind. He elbowed her but she regained balance, throwing herself into his side trying to push him back further. They rumbled with each other in the air a bit more, so distracted they barely noticed they were flying directly at the stand until the sun disappeared behind the billowing Hufflepuff fabric now encasing the two seekers within.

The snitch was still on the run and Diana didn't dare falter in her speed, nearly losing her head to a wooden beam directly in front of her, dodging downward at the last second.

Regulus reached his hand out, grimacing as his shoulder extended as far as it could go. Just as his fingers were about to touch its gleaming surface, Diana shot forward into him, sending the two of them spinning within the hollow wooden tunnel. Regulus hit his back against the side, Diana scraping her arm on the beam to her left.

The snitch, fluttering with vibrancy, hovered in the air as if mocking them before disappearing back into the sunny expanse of the pitch.

Regulus sighed deeply and sent Diana a glare (which she returned steadily), readjusting his balance before flying after her into the action-packed game once more.

James was in the midst of sending the quaffle at the goal when the Slytherin team spotted their seekers zoom past, neck to neck still. Rosier's evil laugh reached Diana's ears through the wind.

"Need me to get the bitch off your back, Black?" he shouted.

Regulus didn't respond to that but Diana rolled her eyes with contempt, sending a glance toward the smirking boy above her. He was lazily perched on his broom, beater bat swinging in his hand as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Don't worry, I'll do it anyway," he muttered to himself.

Diana kept her eye on the prize, paying no attention to Rosier as he signalled to Avery who signalled to Mulciber who signalled to Severus Snape, sat in the stands. And she didn't notice until she heard someone call her name that a bludger was heading straight toward her back. Her eyes widened and she dove out of the way, focus now targeted toward trying to stay alive than on the snitch Regulus was still in pursuit of.