Chapter 15

January third could not come soon enough for Santana. Her father took them to the station early that morning, gave them stiff hugs and left as soon as they were through the barrier. His mood had been awful since that fight with Santana's mum. He rarely spoke when he was around, which wasn't often, and when he did it was to Santana and Leon. 

On the second day after the fight, Leon had come in to Santana's room to check on her, and she'd decided it was time to stop giving him the silent treatment. The fighting and tense atmosphere wasn't new to either of them, but they'd always gotten through it together. Leon always used to come to her room and distract her when their parents would get especially loud, which is how Santana spent so much time practicing magic with his wand. So it felt wrong to be angry at her brother when their parents were at it again. 

She'd told Leon what she'd heard about their secret uncle, and they spent the rest of the holiday trying to figure out what he'd done. Neither of them had come up with anything good yet. 

"Come on." Leon said, gripping her shoulder. "I'll help you with your trunk."

Quinn arrived fifteen minutes later. Sebastian ten minutes after that, and then slowly the compartments started to fill up until it was ten minutes to the train leaving. 

"I'm gonna go look for Willow, are you okay?" Leon asked. Santana nodded. "Quinn?" Quinn nodded. "Alright, I'll come back when we arrive to get your trunks. Don't use magic." He pointed at Santana, before leaving. 

"Your brother's a cool dude." Sebastian said. "He looks out for you guys."

"Sometimes I forget he's not really my brother."

"Course he is." Santana said, lifting her feet onto the seat. "I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts." She groaned. "That was the worst Christmas ever."

"Yeah I think I'm going to start staying at Hogwarts for Christmas." Quinn agreed. "I'll tell my dad I want to use the library to study or something."

"If you stay I stay." Santana said immediately. "My mum's completely off her rocker."

"It's not a bad plan." Sebastian nodded. "We could have the common room mostly to ourselves."

"Sounds like heaven." Santana said. 

Their compartment door slid open just as the strain started to move. Mike grinned at all of them, tapping Santana's feet so she could move them.

"Late again Michael?" she laughed, giving him space. 

"My mum's bad with time. She cried again! Like I'm not going to see her during Easter." He sat down.

"Did you have a good holiday then?" Quinn asked. 

"Yeah. My dad let us set off fireworks this year. They were awesome!"

"I'm glad one of us enjoyed our holiday." Sebastian said. "I personally can't wait to be back at Hogwarts."

"I did strangely miss it." Mike said. "It felt more like I was on vacation than like I'd gone home."

A few people walked past their compartment door. One of them was Sam. He paused for a fraction of a second, looking like he was about to say something, then turned away and continued walking.

"How long are we going to be mad at him for?" Mike asked, looking at Santana sadly. "I miss him."

"I'm not really in a hurry to be friendly with him again." Quinn said. "As far as I'm concerned, he chose the Gryffindor's over us."

"I've been thinking about those Gryffindors." Santana said. "And I think we should have a little more fun with them this term."

  ********

When the carriages dropped them off at the school, Santana felt a sense of relief. They said goodbye to Mike at the entrance hall, and made their way down to the Slytherin common room. Santana was in such a good mood that even Rachel's whining about how no one showed up to the gift exchange she had arranged for Christmas, couldn't dampen her mood. She actually found it amusing how worked up Rachel was getting. 

Quickly taking off her robe, she dropped onto her bed, face first, arms and legs spread wide, and let out a long sigh. 

"It's good to be back."

"Do you know, I think this bed might actually be more comfortable than the one at home?"

Santana turned to lie on her side, grinning at Quinn, who like her was spread eagle on her bed, but on her back. 

"….Particularly disappointed in you four. I thought that out of everyone I could at least count on my own dorm-mates to show up at my party."

"Oh it was a party now was it?" Santana asked, lifting her head. 

Rachel glared at Santana. 

"Let it go Rachel!" Sugar groaned, sitting heavily on her bed and crossing her legs. "It doesn't even matter anymore, Christmas is over."

"That doesn't mean I'm not still hurt." Rachel said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Why don't you sing a song about how hurt you are." Quinn suggested. "That way we don't have to listen to you whine."

"That's an excellent idea." Rachel beamed, dropping her frown and crossed arms. "I know just the one."

"Oh what have you done Q?" Santana turned back onto her stomach, pressing her face into the mattress as Rachel started her vocal warm up exercises. She jumped when she felt Quinn tap her leg. 

"I didn't say she had to sing to an audience."

"But I don't feel like moving, it's cold out there. I want to curl up till dinner."

"You sleep too much."

"No such thing."

Quinn chuckled, smacking Santana's leg again. 

"Would you really rather stay her and listen to-"

Rachel let out a long high note that had Santana cringing. 

"That?" Quinn finished. 

"No, you're right." Santana said, suddenly feeling energetic and climbing off her bed. "Let's see if we can find any of the hidden passageways Filch uses."

  ********

The castle almost felt abandoned for how quiet and still it was. It had started snowing as they got off the train, so now the grounds were blanketed in a thin layer of perfectly white snow. Everyone seemed to have taken refuge in their dormitories, because Santana and Quinn didn't pass a single person on their slow walk through the halls. 

Though Santana thoroughly hated the cold, she couldn't help admiring the scene outside. Even Hagrid's hut, which wasn't beautiful by any stretch of the imagination looked warm and inviting, with the smoke wafting out of the chimney and snow settling on the roof. 

"Someday" Quinn said quietly, stopping at one of the windows to look out at the courtyard.  "We'll be old enough to live on our own, and it'll feel even better than this."

"Yeah." Santana moved to stand next to her. She allowed herself a moment to imagine a life where no one could take her wand or broom, and she could spend her days doing whatever she wanted. "I can't wait. Except…it might be a little quiet."

Stunning as the grounds were, the silence was a little unsettling for Santana. 

"Yeah." Quinn turned to look at her. "And quiet can get pretty boring." Santana nodded. "I reckon we're better off living together, just the two of us."

"Yeah." A grin spread slowly across Santana's face at the thought. The only thing better than not having to live with her mum anymore, was getting to live with Quinn. "I reckon you're right."

Footsteps in the distance caused them both to turn, the sound much louder thanks to the absence of any other noise. 

"What's ice-skating?" Sam's voice drifted to them from the stairs to their right. Moving fast, Santana pulled Quinn down the corridor, jumping over the short wall into the courtyard, then down to hide behind it. Seconds later, Sam, Azimio, Puck and a girl Santana knew was called Stephanie came walking down the corridor. 

"What kind of idiot are you? How can you not know what ice skating is?" Azimio said, he and Stephanie both laughing as Sam flushed in embarrassment. 

"What kind of idiot are you?" Puck said loudly over their laughter. He was frowning, probably offended since Santana was sure he didn't know what ice skating was either. "How can you not know what a ghoul is?"

"That's different." Azimio said, shaking his head. 

"How?" Sam asked. 

"It just is okay?" Azimio shoved Sam, sending him stumbling into the walls. 

Santana took out her wand. 

"Watch this." She whispered to Quinn. 

Just as Sam had shoved him back, she pointed her wand straight at Azimio. 

"Tarantallegra." She whispered loudly. Azimio's legs instantly began dancing around uncontrollably, moving so fast that he tripped himself and went sprawling into Puck, who was laughing. Puck pushed him off, sending him in Stephanie's direction, but she sidestepped him. The momentum sent Azimio sprawling to the floor. 

Santana ducked down quickly as she saw Sam looking around frowning for who had cast the spell. She took Quinn's hand and led her stealthily along the wall until they were a safe distance from the Gryffindors, then she straightened up, laughing. 

"I've been dying to use that on him." She said, gasping for breath. 

"Did you see his face?" Quinn asked, joining in the laughter. "He looked terrified."

"I wish I could have taken a picture."

"Of what?"

Santana and Quinn spun around to find professor Snape standing behind them, hands behind his back and a suspicious eyebrow raised. 

"Professor." Quinn said nervously. 

"What are you two doing out here in this cold? Shouldn't you be in the common room?"

"Yes sir." Santana said, nodding. "But we…" Her eyes darted around for a suitable excuse. Puck's laughter caught her attention, sounding closer. "We were looking for our friend Mike, he's in Hufflepuff."

"I see…" Snape eyed them both for a moment, then he lifted his gaze to something behind them. Santana turned to see Sam supporting Azimio, whose legs were still dancing around, while Puck and Stephanie followed behind them, laughing. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you?"

Snape's words brought Santana's attention back to the very real trouble she could be in. It killed the laugh that had been threatening to come out at the sight of Azimio's strained face. 

"No sir." She and Quinn said together. She shook her head for emphasis. 

"Mmmh" Snape grunted. 

"Professor." Sam called. Snape looked at him with an expression of utmost disinterest. "Azimio's been jinxed. I don't know who…" he trailed off as he noticed Santana and Quinn, frowning at them. "What are you two doing here?"

"I'll ask the questions here Evans." Snape snapped. Then he looked at Quinn and Santana. "You two better make your way back to the common room. Don't want to catch a cold do we?"

"No sir" Santana said, barely able to contain her smirk. "Bye sir."

They had barely turned the corner when they heard Snape's voice again. They stopped to listen.

"Which one of you jinxed Adams here?"

"It wasn't us professor-"

"Of course it was you. You were the only ones with him when it happened, unless you can tell me there was someone else?"

A pause. 

"No sir, but-" This time it was Puck. He didn't seem to be finding the situation quite as hilarious anymore. 

"Then you will tell me which one of you did it, or I will give you all detention."

Santana had to cover her mouth as she giggled. She could practically imagine all their fearful faces. Quinn was gripping her arm, leaning against her as she too tried to laugh quietly. 

"It wasn't them professor." Azimio said.

"I suppose it was one of the ghosts? Perhaps a portrait? Sir Cadogan likes to cause trouble….or maybe you'd have me believe it was Peeves. It surely seems a thing he would enjoy doing."

"Maybe." Puck said, sounding almost hopeful. 

Santana snorted loudly. As soon as the sound left her, she and Quinn turned and bolted down the corridor, only hearing Snaped agitated yell of "twenty points from Gryffindor" before they hurried down the stairs. 

"He knew it was us." Quinn said once they'd cleared the first flight. She was out of breath both from running and laughing too hard. Santana could relate. She could feel a stitch forming in her stomach. 

"Course." She panted, placing her hand over her stomach and slowing to a walk. "It was obvious."

"Why'd he let us go?"

"Everyone knows Snape favours Slytherins."

"Doesn't hurt that you're the only first year he likes either." Quinn said, grinning. 

"Doesn't hurt us." Santana smirked. 

They giggled all the way back to the common room.

  ***************

"I've figure it out." Santana said. 

Everyone looked up from their books. Mike looked particularly glad for the distraction. 

"How we're going to win the house cup."

"Oh yeah?" Sebastian grinned. "Go on then."

"It's all about beating Hufflepuff next weekend. Sorry Mikey."

Mike shrugged. 

"You say that like it's easy." Quinn said. "You forget we lost our last game."

"Cause our seeker's rubbish." Santana said, waving a hand. 

"And you have a plan to change that?"

"Yes." Santana nodded. "All we have to do, is stay one hundred and sixty points above Hufflepuff."

"Oh that's all is it?" Sebastian chuckled. "Just one hundred and sixty points? Not two hundred? How about a thousand?"

Santana glared at him, unamused. 

"He's got a point. We barely scored fifty points against Ravenclaw last term, what makes you think we'll be able to get one hundred more against a better team?"

"I snuck into the stands when Hufflepuff was training, and I figured out their weakness."

"What's that?" Mike asked. 

"You better not breath a word of this to your captain." Sebastian said, pointing aggressively at Mike. 

Santana slapped Sebastian's hand out of Mike's face. 

"Knock it off. He's not going to say anything."

"So what is their weakness?" Quinn asked. 

"Their keeper. She's good, but she's not as fast as our chasers can be. She can't change directions quickly. So all we have to do is make sure we confuse her. Send her heading for the wrong goal and change course at the last second."

Quinn was nodding, looking excited. 

"Trick plays."

"Exactly."

"That's brilliant." Sebastian said. "If we can do that, then it won't matter who catches the snitch."

"And we won't have to keep it up for too long, cause the Hufflepuff seeker's the best in the school. She'll end it for us."

"Santana you've got to tell Daniels." Sebastian said. "We still have a week, he can work this into their last minute training."

"Obviously." Santana rolled her eyes. "Why do you think I came up with this idea?" 

"Let's go find him." Quinn said, standing up. 

"Can't." Sebastian groaned. "I have to finish this chart before astronomy."

"I'd give anything to stop doing this potions homework," Mike mumbled, "but I don't think your captain would like a Hufflepuff present while you talk about strategies to win against us." He looked sadly at his books. 

"We'll be quick." Santana said, standing as well. "Meet at the astronomy tower?"

Sebastian nodded gloomily, pulling his parchment closer to him.

"See you at dinner Mike." Quinn called, then she and Santana turned and left the library. 

  ************

They found Daniels in the Slytherin common room with a few other sixth years. They walked right up to him, interrupting the conversation he was having. 

"Little Lopez," he greeted. Santana gritted her teeth as Quinn chuckled. "What's up?"

"I had an idea, for how to win the match this weekend.

Daniels sighed, sharing a look with his friends and standing up. 

"Listen," he led them a few feet from where he'd been sitting. "I know your passionate about quidditch and all that, but enough with all your ideas."

Santana didn't like the way he said 'all your ideas' as though she'd been hounding him constantly. Since returning from Christmas break a month ago she'd talked to him maybe thrice, and only offered her thoughts after training once. 

"But I had this one after watching the Hufflepuff's training."

"They're a tough team, but I've got a plan. Travis is going to end the game early."

"Your plan is to rely on Travis?" Santana asked, shocked. "Travis who couldn't catch the snitch against Ravenclaw?"

"I've been working with him. The only way we win is getting that snitch before Hufflepuff have a chance to score too many goals."

"No, the only way we win is keeping up enough points so when they catch the snitch it doesn't matter. Travis has no hope of catching the snitch before Abigail."

"Santana, Webber is one of the best keepers-"

"Right, but if we come up with trick plays, confuse her, send her to the wrong goals, she's too slow to pivot quickly. We'll get more goals in and tire her out. The longer the game goes on, the more goals we'll be able to score. All you have to do is stop Hufflepuff scoring and when Abigail catches the snitch-"

"No. We don't have time to start trying to run trick plays."

Santana frowned. "We have a week. You're running practices anyway, just add the new plays-"

Daniels took in a deep breath, holding up his hand to stop Santana. 

"I know you mean well, but just…" he shook his head. "I'm captain. Stop busying yourself coming up with tactics and ideas, that's my job."

"Well you're doing a crap job." Santana said angrily. She hated the way Daniels was looking at her, talking to her like she was a child who didn't know what she was talking about. 

"Excuse you?" One of the sixth year girls said, walking towards them. 

"You heard me." Santana said loudly. "He's doing a crap job. We were twenty points ahead of Ravenclaw before they caught the snitch. Our chasers are good and instead of doing everything you can to make sure we win this time, you're saying you're too lazy to come up with new plays?"

"Watch it" Daniels pointed threateningly at her. "Just because your dad is some world famous quidditch player doesn't mean you can tell me how to run my own team. You've never even played real quidditch. Never played in an actual match. You don't know anything about-"

"I know more than you!" Santana yelled, stepping closer to Daniels. 

"You little…" Daniels grabbed Santana's arm so hard she cried out. Quinn jumped forward, trying to pull his hand off her. 

"Let go of her!"

Daniels tore Quinn's hand off him, holding it firmly, and from the way Quinn flinched Santana knew it was as hard as he was holding her. 

"Get your hands off my sisters."

Santana looked back to see Leon and Willow having just walked into the common room. Daniels let go of her and Quinn, taking a step back. 

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Willow asked, walking quickly towards them. 

"His sister was running her mouth-"

"Both of them?" Leon asked, wedging himself between Daniels and Santana and crossing his arms over his chest. He was a year younger than Daniels, but already a foot taller, with broader shoulders. Santana couldn't help but smirk as Daniels took several steps back. 

"The other one attacked me."

"You were hurting her." Quinn said angrily. 

"Do you feel like a big man Henry?" Willow asked. "Beating up little girls?"

"I wasn't going to beat her up. I just wanted to get her out of my face." He shot Santana a glare. Santana sneered back from behind Leon.

"Listen we're mates." Leon said. "And I know my sisters can be annoying, believe me." He chuckled. 

"Hey" Santana prodded his back.

"But mates or not, you touch them again and you'll lose the hand."

"Yeah alright." Daniels raised his hands. "Just tell her to stay away from me."

"I will if you say you'll think about what I told you."

Shaking his head, Daniels turned and walked back to the armchair he'd been sitting on. 

"Come on." Leon grabbed Santana's arm and dragged her out of the common room. "What was that?" He asked, letting her go in the corridor. 

"Nothing, and I wish people would stop grabbing me."

"I wish you'd stop forcing me to pick fights with my friends."

"I never asked you to get involved."

"Right." Leon shrugged. "I'm supposed to just watch on as you get beaten up?"

"I can handle myself."

"Oh yeah it really looked like it."

"We didn't do anything wrong." Quinn said. "She was just telling him the idea she came up with to win us the match this weekend."

Leon looked from Quinn to Santana, seeming to understand something. 

"Urgh" he sighed. "Why do you always have to be right? Huh? Why does everyone have to see things your way?"

"Because my way is usually the best way. Besides, have you heard what his plan is? He thinks Travis is going to-"

"It doesn't matter." Leon said angrily. "He's captain, not you. You're not even on the team."

"Yeah well you said yourself, as soon as I am we'll start winning games."

Leon shook his head. "If you're on the team now. He's captain one more year Santana. With what you just pulled what makes you think he'll want to add you next year?"

"He'll have a hard job explaining why she's not on the team once everyone sees her try outs." Quinn said. Santana nodded. 

"You two are impossible." He narrowed his eyes at Santana. "I thought mum was over-reacting about your arrogance but from what I can see, she was right."

"Piss off!" Santana yelled, drawing her wand. "I was right! He's the one who was being arrogant, refusing to listen to me because I'm a first year, when I've been training on a broom since before he was even at Hogwarts."

"Santana put your wand away." Willow said, stepping slightly in front of Leon. "It doesn't matter if you're right if you lose your temper like this all the time. All that's gonna do is get you in trouble."

Scowling, Santana pocketed her wand. 

"Come on Quinn." She stormed passed Willow and Leon. "Next time, stay out of it Leon."

"Maybe I will!"

  ************* 

Santana woke up that Saturday morning already feeling annoyed. She almost didn't feel like going to watch the match. She wasn't sure she could take the embarrassment of watching Slytherin lose, especially knowing she had a plan to keep it from happening. 

But, when she'd finished her breakfast, she found herself walking down to the quidditch pitch. Mike, who was dressed head to toe in yellow, came to wish them good luck before rushing off to join the other Hufflepuff's in the stands. 

"We're going to need it." Santana sighed. 

"I swear, if we lose, I'm going to put a beetle in Daniels' pillow." Sebastian said, sitting on Santana's left. 

"I'll help." Quinn muttered. 

The first twenty minutes of the match were uneventful. Neither side managed to score a goal, and while Santana still didn't like him, she had to admit that Daniels was a good keeper. There were a couple of shots by the Hufflepuff chasers that Santana had been sure would go in, but he'd managed to save them. 

But this wasn't encouraging for Santana. She knew it was only a matter of time before the Hufflepuff seeker caught the snitch. Every few minutes she could be seen gliding smoothly around the pitch hunting for the evasive golden snitch, all while Travis stayed feet above the game. 

"Does he expect the snitch to fly up his nose?" Quinn asked, when another ten minutes had gone by and Travis hadn't moved. 

"Beats me."

The tension coiled tight in Santana's stomach as the game wore on. Daniels' saves were getting more and more clumsy, so she knew it was only a matter of time before Hufflepuff scored. 

There was a moment where her heart nearly stopped, when the Hufflepuff seeker went into a sudden dive. The crowd got excited, the commentator yelling about how she'd seen the snitch. Santana wanted to close her eyes. To end the game with no points on the board at all would be worse than she could have imagined. 

But she'd been saved by one of the Slytherin beater's hitting a bludger right at Abigail, hitting the back of her broom and sending her spiraling. 

Slytherins cheered loudly as Hufflepuffs groaned, but all Santana could do was let out the breath she'd been holding. She felt close to throwing up. 

Then it happened. Fifty minutes into the match, Hufflepuff were the first to score. Santana's stomach plummeted. The goals would just keep coming now, she knew that. Her father always said that once a keeper let one in, others always followed quickly. 

True enough, not five minutes later, another goal was scored by Hufflepuff. 

Santana groaned, covering her face. 

"Might as well go back to the castle." She muttered.

"And look at Daniels. He almost looks shocked." Quinn said. 

"The git actually though Travis would have ended the game by now." Sebastian spat.

"It's a miracle Abigail hasn't caught the snitch yet." Santana said, shaking her head. "I wish she would, and just put us out of our misery."

It was true that being twenty points down wasn't the worst position to be in, but losing one hundred and seventy to zero was, for many reasons, not the least of which was that it would take them out of the running for the quidditch cup. 

The whistle was blown, followed by Madam Hooch yelling "Time out, Slytherin"

Santana dropped her hands to see what had happened.

"Was somebody fouled?" she asked, though she knew that couldn't be it, since the commentator hadn't said anything. 

"No." Sebastian said. "Daniels just called it."

"What's he doing? Is he waving?" Quinn asked. "At…is he waving at us?"

Santana leaned forward, squinting. "I think he's calling us over."

As Daniels flew to the ground, he was gesturing wildly in Santana's direction. 

"Really?" Sebastian asked, frowning. 

"He wants you to tell him your plan." Quinn said excitedly, shoving Santana. "Go on, hurry up."

Santana sprinted from the stands to the pitch, arriving completely out of breath in front of the exhausted Slytherin team. 

"Alright Lopez." Daniels said, barely looking her in the eye. "We can't do any worse, and Travis hasn't even caught a glimpse of the snitch all game so…go on, tell me."

Forgetting her anger at Daniels, Santana rushed to explain her idea as quickly as possible, while still making sure they understood. 

"Mmmh" Daniels turned to look at the Hufflepuff keeper, who was standing at the opposite end of the pitch. "She had an injury two years ago, in a match against Gryffindor, it was pretty bad, she spent nearly a month in the hospital wing. Maybe that's got her spooked."

"Makes sense." Santana nodded. "She's playing cautiously. Attacking the quaffle from the left as much as possible. That works to our advantage."

Daniels nodded, turning back to the team. 

"Alright here's the plan, Rodger take a break, Lopez change into some robes and get a broom, you're our new chaser."

"What?" Santana asked, her eyes bugging.

"Well, it was your plan, and we haven't practiced any trick plays so…you're going to have to lead the other two."

Santana's heart was beating wildly. 

"You said you know more than me." Daniels smirked. "Prove it."

Santana felt herself smirking back, despite her disbelief. 

"Hurry up, Madam hooch is about to call us back."

One of the other chasers led Santana to the changing rooms and showed her where the spare robes and brooms were. She changed quickly, barely able to believe it. Her first ever quidditch match, and she was being tested. What would happen if her plan didn't work? What if they still lost? Would people blame her? 

As she grabbed a broom she found herself wishing she had her firebolt 5. She knew it well, and she trusted it. She'd only used these old brooms during flying lessons, and they barely did anything then for her to really know how these brooms worked. 

She gripped it hard as she ran out of the changing room, knowing she was going to have to give the performance of her life. 

  ********

It took less than five minutes for Santana to know that speed wasn't going to be on her side. The broom she was using began to jerk if she pushed it too hard. She was going to have to play smart. 

Hufflepuff had the quaffle and were making their way to the Slytherin posts. 

"Hey." She called to the beater nearest her. "Hit one in between them, break them up."

He nodded, then raced off to catch up with the bludger. 

She flew to the chasers. 

"One of you go block them off, I'll come in from the side, one of you be waiting below us."

They nodded, and Santana flew off. She didn't have time to watch what the others were doing, she just had to hope they would be there. 

Going as fast as she could, she caught up with the boy holding the quaffle just as a bludger came soaring between him and his teammates. He veered to avoid it, and Santana took her chance. Before he'd straightened his course, she sped up and slammed into him, making sure her elbow connected with his hand, which was holding the quaffle. He cried out and dropped it.

Santana looked down quickly to see her fellow Slytherin catching the quaffle. 

The Slytherin stands erupted in cheers. 

Quickly turning around, she flew straight for the goal, knowing the other chasers would follow her lead. A few feet from the goals, she turned, holding her hand out for the quaffle. As soon as it was passed to her, she flew first left, then right, trying to bait Abigail into moving from one of the posts. She flew up to the tallest one, raised her hand as if about to shoot, then dove down quickly. That worked, the keeper flew after her, rushing to protect the post on the right, which Santana was nearest. 

Just as Santana was about to fly back up to try score on the higher post, she saw a bludger coming towards her at full speed. Perfect. She gripped her broom tight with her right hand, tucked her knees closer to it and the quaffle into her chest, and performed a loop to avoid the bludger. As she was upside down, she drew her hand back and threw the quaffle as hard as she could at the post to the right. She was a bit far from it, but so was the keeper, so it was the best option. 

She knew she'd scored before she'd returned upright. The applause from the Slytherin stands was thunderous. 

Santana let out a breath. She could do this. 

  ********

Maybe it was because she was now a part of the game, but time seemed to go by much faster after her first goal. The other chasers caught on to what she was doing quickly, and began trying the same confusing maneuvers. They stopped going for obvious or easy shots, and while that meant that sometimes they simply missed the post altogether, it also meant that forty minutes after the time out, Slytherin was one hundred points up. 

The Hufflepuff players were getting desperate, because they started throwing themselves at Santana any time she had the quaffle. If she hadn't spent hours out with her dad as he trained her on keeping the quaffle in hand, she was sure she'd have dropped it many times by now. She'd almost fallen off her broom more than once just because she refused to let go of the quaffle, but she'd gotten a penalty both times so she wasn't complaining. Those had been the two goals to put Slytherin at one hundred and twenty points. 

Just six more, she kept repeating to herself. All they needed was six more goals and they would be safe. Daniels seemed to have been bolstered by their first goal, because he hadn't let so much as one goal passed him since. If he could keep that up, and they scored six more times, they could win.

Every time Abigail sped up or dived, Santana's heart stopped. She had to stop herself from watching Abigail's every move, and focus on the game. She was now responsible for their win or loss.

Tearing her eyes away from Abigail for what felt like the hundredth time, Santana caught the quaffle thrown to her and made her way steadily to the goal posts. She had to swing upside down to avoid a bludger aimed at her head. 

The keeper was frowning heavily, eyes fixed on Santana's throwing hand. To throw her off, Santana threw the quaffle between her hands quickly. She threw it up, then quickly caught it, pretended to drop it, dropping a few feet as she tried to 'catch' it, then threw it up again, intending to swing round and hit it with the back of her broom. But her broom didn't move. The quaffle fell towards the ground as Santana turned to see one of the Hufflepuff beaters holding on to the back of her broom. 

"What the hell?"

The whistle sounded, and then seconds later madam Hooch shouted, 'foul!" 

Santana was shaking her head, about to thank the Hufflepuff player for handing her a free goal, but before she could she saw Abigail tearing across the field. 

She dove quickly, snatching the quaffle from the Hufflepuff chaser that had caught it, and aimed for the post. It had just sailed through – the keeper had not been expecting her to take the penalty so quickly, when the whistle blew again. 

"Abigail caught the snitch." The commentator announced. 

"Hufflepuff win." Madam Hooch yelled. 

  *************

Quinn, Sebastian, Leon and Willow came to find Santana in the changing rooms after the match. Even though the other players had left for the castle already, Santana couldn't bear to face the rest of her house. She'd sat on one of the benches, not even changing out of her robes, and stared at her broom on the floor.

They'd lost. 

"Santana you were bloody brilliant!" Sebastian said as soon as they found her. He slid onto the bench, bumping into her, and gripped her shoulder. "You scored seventy points on your own!"

"In your first match." Quinn said proudly. "Hufflepuff didn't even know what hit them."

"Oh man, I knew you were going to be a beast." Leon said.

"We still lost."

"Santana are you kidding?" Willow asked, sitting down on her other side. "You'd think we won with how much everyone is celebrating."

Santana looked up.

"People are celebrating?"

"Yeah." Leon said, kicking her foot. "Nobody cares that we lost. Hufflepuff caught the snitch but we still got one hundred and thirty points, which means we're still in the running for the cup."

"And with you on the team we'll definitely win our next match." Sebastian said excitedly. "All we need to win the cup is for Hufflepuff to lose against Gryffindor next month."

"You have all the other houses scared." Leon said, laughing. "I heard Taylor talking about having to call a Gryffindor team meeting after this."

Santana frowned. 

"No one is mad we lost?"

"Santana, we didn't have a hope in hell of winning." Willow said, gripping her knee. "An hour in we hadn't scored and were two down."

"Then you came in and changed everything." Quinn said, pointing at her. "Your first goal, when you were in the middle of an awesome loop, had everyone's jaw dropping."

"Snape even asked why you didn't play from the start. He said he'd have a word with that git Daniels." Sebastian said gleefully. 

"You're a legend." Quinn said. 

Santana felt herself smiling. They'd lost, but no one blamed her. That was all she needed to hear. Everyone knew she'd done everything she could. 

"Good." She said, standing up. "But we'd have won if Daniels wasn't such a prick."

"He knows it." Leon said, his smile fading. "Don't go picking a fight."

"I won't." Santana shook her head. "He at least had the good sense to ask for help when things got bad."

"Good."

"Just as long as everyone knows I was right and he was wrong, I'm fine." She smirked.

"Are you serious?" Leon groaned. 

"Let it go." Willow laughed, standing and walking to Leon. "She was right after all."

"That's the kind of talk that gives her a big head."

"You can say I'm right Leon. It won't kill you."

"You wish." He scoffed. Then with a smile he added. "But you made me proud out there. Dad will be so mad he missed it."

Santana smiled wide, feeling warmth trickle through her veins at the thought of her dad in the stands, cheering her on. Then a thought struck her, filling her with barely containable excitement. If she was on the team now, she could probably get permission to bring her broom from home. 

"Can I borrow Toffet?"

"Course." Leon grinned, looking like he knew exactly what she was thinking. 

  ****************

Mid way through lunch, Santana left the great hall. She needed a minute to herself to really take in what had happened. That morning she'd woken up with a sense of dread, and now she couldn't remember ever being happier. She'd saved Slytherin from complete humiliation. She'd played her first quidditch match and been amazing. She was on the Slytherin team in her first year. Even her dad hadn't gotten onto the team in his first year.

She sat down on the front steps, thinking about how different her year was going to be now. She was going to have Quidditch practice, which she was excited for, and one more match against Gryffindor. She would not lose that match under any circumstances. Losing to Gryffindor was something she just couldn't stomach. 

"Hey."

She turned, having to squint against the sun, to see Brittany standing beside her. 

"Hey."

"Can I sit?"

Though it made her uncomfortable to think of what the other Slytherins would say if they saw her sitting with Brittany, Santana nodded. It felt a lot like their first real conversation, when Santana had followed Brittany to the lake. 

When Brittany was sitting, she wrapped her arms around her knees and turned to Santana. 

"You were really cool out there."

"Thanks" Santana smiled. 

"How did you get so good on a broom?"

"My dad."

"Is he good too?"

Santana frowned. "You don't know who my dad is?"

Brittany shook her head. 

"Stephen Lopez…" she said, trying to jog Brittany's memory. Brittany continued to look at her blankly. Santana shook her head. 

"He played as seeker for Britain five world cups in a row. He's known for always catching the snitch. He's only ever been beaten to it three times in his career. One of them was the famous world cup of 2014, where he was fouled."

"Oh…so he's famous?"

"Yeah." Santana chuckled. 

"That's cool. I don't really know anything about quidditch. My parents don't watch it."

"Yeah well muggles don't do they?" Santana shrugged. 

It was Brittany's turn to frown now. 

"My parents aren't muggles."

"Really?" Santana raised an eyebrow. 

"Why would you think that?"

"You just…you don't seem to know a lot about…magic and…. I just figured…"

Brittany's face fell. 

"Well now you know I'm just stupid." She said, her voice cracking. 

"No, I didn't-"

"I just wanted to tell you congrats on the game…"

Santana saw a tear rolling down Brittany's cheek as she stood up, turning to walk back into the castle. 

"No Brittany." She called. "I didn't say you were…." She sighed as Brittany disappeared through the large front door. "…Stupid."

She went back into the castle after that, joining everyone else at the Slytherin table. She didn't much feel like rehashing her awesome first quidditch match, not with the memory of Brittany's hurt, red-rimmed eyes burned into her memory. When she wasn't even able to enjoy dessert, Santana knew she was going to have to find a way to apologise to Brittany, just so she could stop feeling this weird…guilt.

Then she could go back to her life. 

  *************

The solution presented itself the following week before breakfast, as Santana was getting dressed. Sugar was talking endlessly, as she usually did, this time about valentine's day. 

"Why do you even care?" Quinn asked, taking her uniform out of her closet. "Who do you think is going to ask you to be their Valentine?"

"No one." Sugar shrugged. 

"So tell me why we're talking about this again?" Santana asked. 

"Surely you understand the fanfare around the holiday Santana?" Rachel said as she stood in front of her mirror and combed her hair. "A time of the year where people take the time to tell the people in their lives that they love them…a holiday not centred around receiving gifts but giving them…It's wholesome."

"Uh no." Sugar said. "That's not the point of valentine's day at all."

"It's not?" Lauren asked, frowning. 

"Not at all! Valentine's day is like your birthday. It's a day where everyone you know has to show how much they really love you by spoiling you with gifts and attention."

Santana and Quinn shared a confused frown. 

"Did daddy Motta tell you that?" Santana asked. 

"Yeah. Every year daddy buys me jewellery and clothes, flowers and a teddy bear which gets bigger every year. Last year I could barely hold it up."

"Well I doubt he's going to have one delivered to Hogwarts Sugar." Quinn said. 

"That doesn't matter. I know he'll make up for it with awesome gifts. I showed him a charm bracelet I really wanted, that changes colour based on your outfit."

Santana didn't really listen much after that. She sat on her bed, absent-mindedly tying her tie and thinking. 

Valentine's day wasn't a day that she really considered a holiday. In her house it passed without much 'fanfare' as Rachel put it. Her mum went to work like usual, maybe with an extra kiss from her dad. They didn't go out to dinner, didn't fill the house with flowers or blast songs of love on the radio. Most of the time Santana didn't even remember that it was Valentine's day until later that night or the next day, when Quinn would relay to her what expensive gifts her father bought for her mother. It was usually a necklace. 

But it wasn't lost on her that people loved the holiday. Mike's mum always baked heart shaped cookies and decorated them with pink icing. When Santana was younger, Mrs Chang used to make them help her, giving them jobs like stirring the batter or transferring the batter to the tray. Santana might have been able to enjoy herself, if it weren't for the fact that Mrs. Chang was the kind of lady that played all the love songs all day long and gave out flowers to random passers-by. Sometimes, if she was in the middle of baking, she would send one of the kids out to give a stranger a rose. Santana had always found an excuse not to, one time even faking being sick. 

Then there were the people that hated Valentine's day. Those people were Santana's favourite. She wouldn't say she was one of them, after all the day barely meant anything to her so there was no reason to love or hate it, but she loved how annoyed some people would get. Scowling at all the pink and red heart shaped decorations, groaning whenever they heard a love song, and talking about how absurd it was to waste galleons buying a gift for a person who should already know you love them. On the days when she did remember that Valentine's day was coming up, Santana liked to go to Diagon alley and watch people, mostly middle aged men, be dragged around all the stores, grumbling all the way. 

She was grateful, when they walked into the great hall for breakfast, that it was not decorated in pink and red. She hadn't been sure what to expect, given how the school had gone all out for Halloween and Christmas. There was of course still the possibility that they would decorate on Valentine's day itself, but this was at least a hopeful sign. Hagrid had started Christmas decorations as soon as it was December. 

They made their way to the Hufflepuff table, to get away from Rachel and Sugar's argument about the true meaning of Valentine's day.

"Morning." Mercedes greeted them cheerfully, dropping the book she was reading to look at them. 

"Why are you reading Mercedes?"  Santana asked.

"Oh no I'm not studying." Mercedes closed the book to show them the book title. "It's a novel."

"Do you have to read it?" Quinn asked. 

"Well no."

"So not only are you reading at breakfast, but you're reading for no reason?" Santana scooped some eggs onto her plate.

"Prince Caspian, the return to Narnia…" Sebastian read aloud. "Where's Narnia?"

"It's a fake place." Mercedes chuckled. "Made up by the author."

"Oh so this dude isn't really a prince?"

As Mercedes began explaining the plot of the book, Santana watched Brittany walk into the great hall. Trailing just behind the group of Gryffindors like she always was. Close enough to hear what they were saying, but far enough away that they didn't notice her. 

Brittany hadn't been smiling at her like she usually did whenever they caught each other's eyes, and strangely enough, that bothered Santana. She'd always found it really weird that Brittany was so happy to see her, but now that she wasn't….it didn't sit right with her. 

As Brittany sat down a seat over from the girls she'd come in with and began serving food, Santana sat just a little straighter in her chair. Brittany seemed like exactly the kind of girl that enjoyed Valentine's day. She could just imagine Brittany gushing over the flowers and all the pink everywhere, and she didn't even know Brittany well. 

Santana would bet anything that giving Brittany a Valentine's card would be the best way to apologise for not calling her stupid last week, especially since she was pretty sure Brittany wouldn't be getting any others. It was slightly irritating how bad she was feeling about that, considering she hadn't actually done anything wrong, and had actually called Quinn much worse than stupid, and didn't actually know Brittany well enough to warrant guilt over hurting her feelings, but she blamed that damn hurt look on Brittany's face. The tears in her eyes. Santana would be happy never to have to see that again. 

So she'd make a damn Valentine's card if that's what it would take. 

"Morning everyone." Mike chirped, taking the seat next to Quinn. "Cedes why didn't you wait for me?"

"You take too long to get ready Chang. I was hungry." 

"You could have come to get me."

"And walk into the boy's dormitory?" Mercedes asked in shock.

"Why not?" Quinn asked. "We go get Sebastian all the time."

"They're changing and…stuff…I don't need to see that." Mercedes shook her head. 

They all laughed. 

"I went looking for you guys at the Slytherin table." Mike said. "And I saw Rachel-"

"Oh I'm sorry." Quin cringed. 

Santana grinned at her.

"She asked me why you two hate Valentine's day." Mike continued.

"I don't hate it…" Santana said. "I just don't care. What's so special about it you know?"

"I like the gifts my dad gets me, but I'm with Santana. Unlike Christmas and your birthday, Valentine's day just feels forced. My dad only gets me stuff because he was getting stuff for my mum, because it's what a husband does. He just hands them to me like…" Quinn held out her fork, screwing up her face. "And you." She said in a deep voice. 

"Your dad seems really cheerful." Mercedes said. 

"Well it's not supposed to be like that." Mike said. "It's not even really about gifts."

"We've already heard two theories on what it's about already." Santana said, mouth full of pancake. "And have we mentioned we don't care?"

"It's supposed to be a day where you make the people in your life feel loved. My mum has us do a bunch of family activities together. Baking, cooking, gardening….things like that, and then we sit down and talk while we decorate cookies. It makes us really feel like a family."

"Isn't that the point of Christmas?" Quinn asked. 

"Can't there be more than one time a year when you celebrate family?" Mercedes asked, chuckling. 

"Why do you even need to celebrate family?" Santana asked. "What's so great about having a family? You're born into it, it's not like they chose you or you chose them. Nobody had a choice in the matter, believe me I would have chosen a different mother. And you see them every day. You'll see them for the rest of your life. Why do you have to celebrate that?" 

"Okay fine." Mike said, looking like he really wanted to argue. "Fine, maybe Valentine's day means something different to everyone. But answer me this, what do people usually buy on Valentine's?"

"Flowers."

"And?"

"I don't know…chocolate?"

"That's all I'm saying." Mike raised his hands, leaning back slightly. Santana smirked. She didn't really care about celebrating love, didn't really care about flowers or gifts, but chocolate? Chocolate she could get behind. 

"You know what Mikey." She said nodding. "You're right. Valentine's day may be worth celebrating after all."

  ***********

Knowing what she was going to do and actually doing it were two very different things however. Trying to find a time to make the card told Santana one thing; she spent way too much time with Quinn. She never got any time alone in which she could work on the card in private. Apparently from the time she woke up to the time she went to sleep Quinn was by her side. She vaguely entertained the possibility of sneaking down to the common room when everyone else was sleeping, but that was quickly dismissed. By the time she finished her homework Santana was more than ready for bed. As bad as she felt for hurting Brittany's feelings somehow, she still wasn't sure how, she wasn't willing to give up her sleep. 

Luckily, Willow saved her a few days to Valentine's day, when she stumbled upon Santana, Quinn and Mike in an empty classroom. 

"Do I want to know what you three are up to?"

"We're studying." Santana answered. 

"Not preparing for another trip into the dungeons are you? Only Leon would have a fit."

"Don't tempt her." Quinn chuckled. 

"Not bloody likely." Santana said, scowling. "I'm not going anywhere near those infernal dungeons as long as I'm at Hogwarts."

"Good." Willow smiled. "Well I guess….carry on then." She turned to leave, hand on the door handle, when she stopped and turned back. "By the way before I forget, I will be expecting a Valentine's card from all of you."

Santana frowned. "What?"

"You heard me." Willow grinned. "That means you too Mike."

"Sure." Mike smiled. 

"Wait…why are we making you cards?" Quinn asked. 

"No boyfriend to do it for you?" Santana asked, unable to help herself. When Willow frowned at her, she shrugged. "Just asking."

"Boyfriend or not, if I don't get cards I'm taking points."

"You can't do that!"

"Tryyyyy meeee" Willow sang, walking out and shutting the door. 

"She's not serious is she?" Quinn asked. 

"Do you want to find out?" Mike asked, laughing. 

Santana's irritation drained quickly at the realization that she now had an excuse to make a card. If anyone saw her she could just say it was for Willow. All she had to do was leave out Brittany's name till the last minute. 

"Might as well." She said, moving back to her position before they'd heard the door opening. "What's one card?"

"Urgh…." Quinn groaned, walking to stand in front of Mike. "Like we don't have enough to do."

"It's just one card." Mike laughed, poking Quinn's stomach. 

"Quiet." Santana hissed. She'd closed her eyes to concentrate. Quinn and Mike turned to look at her. 

"You're not going to get it today." Quinn said. 

"I could get it faster if you guys would actually attack each other."

"I can't hit a girl." Mike said shaking his head. 

"Okay then hit her with a spell." 

"No!" Both Mike and Quinn yelled. 

Santana opened her eyes. "Alright, alright, keep your hair on. I think I'm ready."

Quinn and Mike faced each other. 

"Okay." Santana took a breath and raised her wand. "Protego!"

  ****************

Now that she had an excuse, Santana found herself in the library later that evening, with blank paper and a quill. She'd never made a Valentine's day card before, which made this task hard enough, but she also didn't know Brittany at all. She didn't know what colours were her favourite, she didn't know if she would appreciate a more comedic message, or if she was the kind of girl who'd want something sweet. 

Santana cringed at the thought. She didn't think she could come up with something sweet even if she knew for sure that's what Brittany would want. 

After twenty minutes of wracking her brain, she decided to leave the message till after she'd decorated the card. She couldn't bring herself to make it pink, but she didn't mind red. Using Colovaria, the colour changing charm, Santana changed her piece of paper completely black. She then folded it in half, so that it actually looked like a card, and carefully dragged her quill along the edges so that it had thick red borders. Telling herself no one would ever know the card was from her, Santana re-dipped her quill in the red ink and drew and large love heart in the centre of the front page. She then changed her ink colour to white, dipped the quill in, and proceeded to make random dots all over the page, avoiding the inside of the heart. She cut another piece of paper into a small rectangle and using spello-tape, stuck it inside the red heart. She turned the ink to black, and then wrote in the tidiest handwriting she could muster, 'Happy Valentine's Day'. She would add Brittany's name just before she sent it. 

She dropped her quill into the ink bottle and lifted the card, inspecting it. Aside from the fact that it was a Valentine's day card, Santana actually felt proud of her work. She just hoped Brittany wouldn't think it was too dark. 

"Time for dinner dear." Madam Pince, the Librarian poked her head round a shelf. "You can come back tomorrow."

Santana stood up, stretched her arms up and yawned. She hadn't realised that she'd spent a whole hour in the library. She packed everything back into her bag, carefully placing the card behind all her books and then shouldered the bag. 

She was suddenly starving. 

  **********

Quinn was already in the great hall when Santana arrived. She joined her at the Slytherin table and eagerly began to serve.

"Did you manage to finish it?" Quinn asked.

"No." Santana shook her head. "Barely started. I can't come up with anything."

She didn't want to risk Quinn asking to see her card, in case she saw Brittany with it later and recognised it. That would lead to many questions that Santana didn't want to answer. After all, Quinn didn't even know that Santana had ever talked to Brittany. Santana wanted it to stay that way. 

"You're not alone. I got as far as making mine yellow."

"Yellow?" Santana asked, frowning. 

"Yeah, what's wrong with yellow?"

  "It's a Valentine's day card."

"So?" Quinn asked, clearly getting annoyed. 

"So what does yellow have to do with Valentine's day?" Santana asked, raising an eyebrow as she took a bite out of a baked potato. 

"I've never made a Valentine's card before. Excuse me if I don't know what colours to use."

"Red, pink…you could have even left it at white…."

"Whatever Santana." Quinn mumbled. "I don't care enough to argue with you."

"Better give it to her anonymously. Slip it into her bag or leave it on her pillow when she's not in the room. Otherwise she'll know exactly who to blame for a yellow monstrosity."

"Shut up."

"I can't think of a single instance where it would be normal to give someone a yellow card." Santana continued. "Christmas is white, red and green, birthday cards…..I mean unless the person's favourite colour is yellow-"

"Easter."

Santana stopped eating, turning to frown at Quinn. 

"When have you ever received an Easter card?"

Quinn paused, mouth slightly open, as if thinking. The longer she was quiet, the larger Santana's smile grew. 

"Just shut up Santana!" Quinn snapped, spooning rice into her mouth furiously. Santana laughed.