♕ thirty two

Hermione woke to the feeling of Pavarti shaking her shoulders rather vigorously. 

"Hermione!" she squealed, rustling the covers. The sleepy brunette opened her eyes slowly and stretched. 

"Whassamater?" she asked groggily. Pavarti threw her hands up excitedly. 

"It's the Quidditch match!" Without another word, she sprinted out the door and down toward the Common Room. 

Hermione sat up and frowned, for a moment forgetting about the big day. She rubbed her eyes. 

"The quidditch match..." she repeated softly. Suddenly her eyelids flew open and her gaze flew to the grandfather clock on the wall. The match was starting in ten minutes!

Hermione ransacked her drawers until she found a classic white top and black leggings, lace up brown leather boots and her robes. She opted for a scarlet and gold Gryffindor Scarf, grabbing a little lion flag before racing out of the dormitory. 

Even though the match hadn't yet begun, the students were roaring and stomping in the stands as Hermione reached the staircase. The noise was deafening. She clamped a pair of earmuffs onto her head, partially because she wished to help her ears stay warm and partially because she wanted to keep her hearing abilities. She took her usual seat beside Neville and Luna and looked eagerly out onto the Quidditch Pitch, where the doors from the underground locker rooms were slowly raising. The tips of the signature scarlet Gryffindor Quidditch robes appeared, and the crowed went even wilder; if that was possible. 

Out first was Harry, who zoomed past the spectators at breakneck speed. Everyone on the east side of the stands ducked down, oohing and ahhing, as Harry barely missed them with a swoop down into the bleachers. 

Next to fly out was Angelina, Katie, and Ginny, the three star chasers; they flew in a triangular formation and zipped through each of the hoops at one end of the field; then flew in a straight line and each of them stood up on their brooms. Hermione cheered and clapped as Ginny pumped her fists in the air. 

Following the Chasers' amazing entrance, Dean and Seamus flew out with their Beater's clubs slung over each shoulder. The two boys curved around opposite sides of the pitch and then soared straight at each other; Hermione was certain they would crash, until each pulled out at the last second and sped toward the sky. The Gryffindors gave a mighty cheer. 

Lastly came McLaggen; and although he received the least applause, his entrance was nothing short of spectacular. He rolled over on his Nimbus 2000 and dangled off the handle of his broom for a second; before heaving mightily and flipping himself back onto his feet. He grinned and joined his team down at the north side of the pitch. 

Ravenclaw then proceeded to make their entrances; Hermione watched and clapped politely as Roger Davies and his team congregated at the south side of the field. A small figure could be seen walking out to the referee's podium; there was no mistaking Madame Hooch's stark white hairdo. 

"Ladies and Gentleman, students and staff;" she began. "Welcome to our 413th annual Hogwarts Quidditch Tournament!" 

The cheers could probably be heard from southern France, as the students clapped and roared. She saw Professor McGonagall grinning from ear to ear over in the teacher's section of the stands. 

"I want a clean match from both Houses," Madame Hooch said strictly. "Teams to center field!" 

Both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams flew down to the ground where they dismounted their brooms and the captains shook hands civilly. She saw Harry give a polite smile, but Hermione knew him well enough to tell that he wouldn't stay polite for long. 

"Mount your brooms!" Madame hooch commanded. Ginny swung her leg over her Firebolt. 

"Snitch in the air!" She flicked her wand and the golden snitch flew up and out of sight. The bludgers were still chained tightly into their holds and the Quaffle was handed to Angelina. 

"On your mark..." she said loudly. 

"Ge set..."

Hermione waited with bated breath. 

"GO!" She roared. The bludgers were released and brooms moved up with startling speed as blue and red robed people flew about the field. 

"And the Quaffle is passed off to Johnson," Madam Hooch began. "Johnson passes it to Bell, Bell passes to Weasley; Weasley with a nice hurtling maneuver..."

The commentary was lost as Hermione looked up to see Harry, eyes alert and glancing quickly around the field. But he hadn't spotted anything yet. The snitch had yet to be seen by both seekers, but the game had only just started. 

"Weasley with a nice shot- and she's scored!" Hermione looked toward the goalposts to see that Ginny had scored the first points of the season. The chaser pumped her first in the air as the crowd chanted her name. 

"And it's Davies, with a pass to Mulligan, swerving maneuver around Johnson, fake pass to Edelman and instead, passed to- but it's intercepted!" Angelina was a bullet as she zipped down the field, quaffle tucked under her arm as she delivered a hard blow into the left goalpost. Roger Davies, the captain and Keeper of the Ravenclaw Team, made a dive for the ball; but it whistled past his fingertips and sailed through the circle. 

The Gryffindor crowd went wild, as the quaffle was recovered by Davies and he threw the ball to Edelman. 

"Look!" Hermione heard Neville shout. She glanced up at Harry, who was currently tearing off across the field toward a glint of gold hovering hear the Hufflepuff section of the stands. He had seen the snitch. 

But Bloomfield, Ravenclaw's Seeker, was right on Harry's tail; the pair zoomed toward the crowd and were a blur of blue and red. 

The Gryffindor stands erupted in a thunderous roar as Harry came out victorious, clutching the snitch in his fist and grinning brightly. Realizing they had won, the rest of the Gryffindor team flew down to congratulate him. Hermione cheered. Neville whooped and hollered. Harry embraced his teammates as they clapped one another on the back, celebrating the victory of their first Quidditch match.