Pranking hearts

The past few weeks were very hectic. Filled with pressure from Sirius Black walking around freely. And for Rhea, the pressure was just a tad bigger. Many people had the chance to see her father face to face. How come she didn't? Call her foolish but she desperately wanted to see her father. It was something that she craved since she last saw him when she was less than three years old. 

There also was the last match of the season nearing. The most feared one. Match against Slytherin which they needed to win. Wood was stressing about that every single day. But the majority of the team also had O.W.Ls that year. Which meant their free time should have been spent on studying. And Rhea was having a quite hard time balancing all that. The others just said that they don't care anymore. Happy enough with average grades. But Rhea wanted to achieve something. And so she had to handle it all. 

That day of the match Rhea spent a good half an hour staring at herself in the mirror. Giving herself some pep talk. Her uncle told her that her father and his best friend used to do it before their Quidditch matches. It was something like their ritual and so she wanted to try it too. Thinking that it couldn't hurt and if anything it might make her slightly less nervous. And surprisingly...it worked quite well. Rhea walked into the locker rooms confidently. She was able to maintain a conversation with others. Not like usual when she was mainly quiet to keep her focus on the game. It was quite a pleasant change which gave the other players of the team some confidence as well. 

"And here are the Gryffindors!" yelled Lee, who was acting as a commentator as expected. Katie was sitting next to him. Her head tilted to the side to avoid having her ear blasted off. "Potter, Black, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years..." Lee's comments were drowned by a tide of 'boos' from the Slytherin end. The Gryffindor team merely rolled their eyes. Slytherins were so full of themselves. "And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill..." More boos from the Slytherin crowd. Lee did have a point. Malfoy was easily the smallest person On the Slytherin team; the rest of them were enormous. Well apart from Edmund. But Flint couldn't just replace him because he was one of the best Chasers he has. And the lad was pretty tall anyway.

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch said when the two teams made their way towards the centre of the pitch. Flint and Wood approached each other and grasped each other's hand very tightly, it looked as though each was trying to break the other's fingers. Rhea didn't fail to notice the taunting look on Flint's face, trying to push Oliver off the cliff before the match even begins. "Mount your brooms!" Rhea had her new broom with her. It was the first time she would be using it since on her last match against Ravenclaw she wanted to stick with her old one just in case. "Three...two...one..." The sound of her whistle was lost in the roar of the crowd as fourteen brooms rose into the air. 

And as it was already a tradition Rhea soared up to capture the first Quaffle for her team. She flew past the Slytherin players. Ducking under Edmund who that morning looked a bit pissed off. which was quite new since he looked unbothered by things most of the time.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Rhea Black of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, passing to Alicia Spinnet," Rhea dropped the Quaffle straight into Alicia's arms while dodging the Bludger that came her way. "Alicia is heading straight for the Slytherin goalposts, looking good, Alicia!" Just as Lee yelled Warrington a Slytherin player zoomed by Alicia, grabbing the Quaffle out of her hands. "Argh, no, Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing UP the field." 

Rhea groaned, they needed to score the first points otherwise Oliver will lose all his hope and that is something they don't want from their Keeper. Her pale green eyes searched the field, finding one of the redhead Beaters of her team. 

"George!" Rhea yelled flying past him. Her left hand mentioning towards Warrington who was flying in front of her. George nodded to himself searching for a Bludger before following up with Rhea's plan. Smashing the ball in the direction of Slytherin Chaser.  

"Nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by," Rhea flew under him just in time to grab the Quaffle and take a sharp turn heading back towards the Slytherin goals. "Black, Gryffindor back in possession, Gryffindors now have an unbeatable chance to score since the Quaffle is in the hands of the greatest Chaser the school has seen in history, come on, Rhea," Rhea rolled her eyes at how enthusiastic Lee was. The boy was exaggerating according to her. 

But everyone else would agree with him. Even McGonagall, hence the reason why she didn't stop his praising. Edmund was flying right at her, but Rhea could see in him that he wasn't actually trying today. She threw the Quaffle up and ducked under Edmund catching the Quaffle behind him, making the crowd go crazy. 

"Nice swerve around Pevensie...duck, Rhea, that's a Bludger!" At the sound of Lee's warning, she swirled her broom shooting right into the middle hoop the Slytherin Keeper having no chance of catching it. "SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!" Rhea grinned doing her celebratory spin on her broom, the sea of scarlet below was screaming its delight. 

The stands were booming with cheers, Rhea bathing in the praises and attention until she felt a strong impact on her right side causing her to almost lose her grip on the broom handle. Rhea was nearly thrown from her broom as Marcus Flint went smashing into her his size comparably larger than Rhea's.

"Sorry!" Flint argued as the crowd below booed. "Sorry, didn't see her!" He smirked in Rhea's direction while the girl was trying to calm her furiously beating heart from the shock of almost falling off. The top of her body leaned against the handle of the broom trying to gain back her stability. A moment later, Fred chucked his Beater's club at the back of Flint's head. Flint's nose smashed into the handle of his broom and began to bleed. While George flew over to Rhea to check if she was okay. 

"That will do!" Madam Hooch yelled, zooming between them on her broom since it looked like the ginger would fight with the Slytherin Captain right there in the air. "Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!"

"Come off it, Miss!" howled Fred angrily, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Angelina and Alicia flew towards Rhea. The girl looked quite shaken from the attack and her right arm was still throbbing with pain from the impact. 

"Rhea, you think you will be able to shoot?" Angelina asked, glancing at Rhea who was trying to move her arm back and forth. Feeling a sharp pain erupted through it. She was sure there was something wrong with it but she didn't want to ruin the chances for Gryffindor to let herself be replaced. Godric knows Wood would lose it if Rhea got called off now. 

"Ali, you go," Rhea answered looking over at Alicia. The girl getting her chance to make up for the Quaffle drop earlier. Alicia nodded and flew over to take the penalty. Angelina scanned Rhea with her eyes. To see any flicker of pain but she got nothing and so she flew away to watch Alicia.

"Come on, Alicia!" yelled Lee into the silence that had descended on the crowd. It was the first time he had spoken to her since the ink incident. He didn't even refer to her in the last match. Alicia, fueled by the cheering from Lee scored the goal easily. "YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Everyone now turned to watch Flint, who was still bleeding freely, fly forward to take the Slytherin penalty. Wood was hovering in front of the Gryffindor goalposts, his jaw clenched. Rhea felt slightly bad for his bleeding nose. That must be uncomfortable. Fred must have gotten really angry about Flint almost knocking her down her broom. Of course, the crash could have killed her but it was not necessary to cause him a concussion with the club,

"'Course, Wood's a superb Keeper!" Lee Jordan told the crowd as Flint waited for Madam Hooch's whistle. Rhea watched with hold his breath as Flint went to score the first goal for Slytherin "Superb! Very difficult to pass...very difficult indeed...YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!" Relief flooded Rhea almost immediately as she flew away. Waiting for Angelina and Alicia the toss her the Quaffle to the front. 

"You know, I bet money for this game." A voice said from next to her. Rhea turned her concentration from the field in front of her to glance at the dark-haired boy that was now flying at her level. "I wanted to buy Althea a gift for her birthday for that money so you could do me a favour," Edmund said nonchalantly a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Rhea however didn't find it amusing. The match was quite important for her to be joking about it like that. 

"I don't have in my intentions to lose just so you can treat your girlfriend, Ed." Rhea rolled her eyes turning back to the game. 

"Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession...no! Gryffindor back in possession..." Rhea listened to Lee, watching Alicia dodging past the Chasers of the green team, passing the Quaffle to Angelina. 

"I meant it the other way around," Edmund said suddenly causing Rhea to look at him again. 

"What?"

"I put my money on Gryffindor today, so don't disappoint me doll." Edmund winked at her. "By the way, the Slytherins are after you and Wood. Trying to get either one of you out so be careful." Edmund warned before flying away to try to get back in the game. He made a poor effort to get the ball from Angelina but all the girl had to do was move her broom to the side. 

"And it's Angelina, Angelina passing to Rhea. The girl's streaking up the field...THAT WAS DELIBERATE!" Warrington, a Slytherin Chaser, had swerved in front of Rhea, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, and instead of seizing the Quaffle had grabbed her head. Rhea cart-wheeled in the air and managed to stay on her broom but dropped the Quaffle due to the speed she was spinning. Now she really got the taste of what Edmund meant when he said the Slytherins were onto her. She will be lucky to survive this match. Rhea quickly shook it off. Getting the Quaffle to shoot the penalty, scoring another flawless goal for Gryffindor. 

"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING..." The players of Gryffindor almost laughed when Lee started yelling. The boy had no filter when it came to Quidditch. 

"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way..." Professor McGonagall warned. Although she wasn't fond of the cheating from the side of Slytherins. 

"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!" The game carried on. Rhea passed the Quaffle over to Angelina when Flint went to ram into her side once again. But it seemed like that was exactly what he wanted because he raced after Angelina with a satisfied smirk on his lips. "And it's Gryffindor in possession again, as Johnson takes the Quaffle passed to her by Black, Flint alongside her...poke him in the eye, Angelina!" Rhea almost choked on the air hearing Lee's commentary. "It was a joke, Professor, it was a joke" Just then Flint crashed into Angelina's side, taking the Quaffle. "Oh no, Flint in possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goalposts, come on now, Wood, save!"

But Flint had scored; there was an eruption of cheers from the Slytherin end, Rhea groaned, closing her eyes in frustration. So far it was going so well for them. Lee swore so badly that Professor McGonagall tried to tug the magical megaphone away from him. It was more than obvious the game was getting a dark turn now. Enraged that Gryffindor had taken such an early lead, the Slytherins were rapidly resorting to any means to take the Quaffle. 

Along the game, Bole hit Alicia with his club and tried to say he'd thought she was a Bludger. George Weasley elbowed Bole in the face in retaliation. Madam Hooch awarded both teams penalties, and Wood pulled off another spectacular save, making the score forty-ten to Gryffindor. Rhea went to shoot it since Alicia was experiencing a slight headache from the hit. And she scored. Fifty-ten. 

Fred and George Weasley were swooping around her, clubs raised, in case any of the Slytherins were thinking of revenge. And they also noticed how the Slytherins were sticking to her more than was healthy. Bole and Derrick took advantage of Fred's and George's absence to aim both Bludgers at Wood; they caught him in the stomach, one after the other, and he rolled over in the air, clutching his broom, completely winded.

Madam Hooch was beside herself. Rhea was beside herself as well. She was so close to just attacking the Slytherin Beaters. 

"YOU DO NOT ATTACK THE KEEPER UNLESS THE QUAFFLE IS WITHIN THE SCORING AREA!" Hooch shrieked at Bole and Derrick. "Gryffindor penalty!" Angelina took it. And she scored. Sixty-ten. Moments later, Fred Weasley pelted a Bludger at Warrington, knocking the Quaffle out of his hands, Alicia seized it and put it through the Slytherin goal seventy-ten.

The Gryffindor crowd below was screaming itself hoarse Gryffindor was sixty points in the lead, and if Harry caught the Snitch now, the Cup was theirs. Rhea looked to the sky to finally search for Harry. So far she didn't have time to check on the youngest player on the team, she was more than occupied with not dying on her broom. 

Harry was chasing after the snitch. While flying around and trying to focus on her part of the game Rhea noticed how Draco Malfoy grabbed the tail of Harry's broom preventing him to fly faster. Therefore ruining his chances to catch the snitch. Rhea swore under her breath. The violation of the rules was more than evident and Madam Hooch noticed it as well. 

"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics." Madam Hooch screeched, shooting up to where Malfoy was sliding back onto his Nimbus Two Thousand and One. Rhea shook her head Angelina and Alicia flew over to her. Most likely trying to figure out who was to shoot. 

"Who's going now?" Rhea looked over to Angelina at Alicia's question, trying to see if the oldest girl on the team was feeling up for it. Angelina however shook her head. 

"My shoulder feels dead." She muttered angrily. Over the shouts of disapproval of the Slytherin play from Lee, Rhea tried to say something but Alicia was already angrily flying away. She took Gryffindor's penalty, but she was so angry she missed by several feet. Rhea rolled her eyes. It was going down the hill. The Gryffindor team was losing concentration and the Slytherins, delighted by Malfoy's foul on Harry, were being spurred on to greater heights.

"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for goal...Pevensie scores," Lee groaned. "Seventy-twenty to Gryffindor..." Rhea flew towards Edmund, showing nothing but fury in her eyes. 

"What happened with wanting Gryffindor to win?" She asked impatiently, zooming alongside him. 

"Flint is threatening to pull me out of the team if I don't start trying. It's nothing personal. You still have a chance." Edmund dismissed her, flying away. Rhea growled annoyed. She took a sharp turn flying towards Angelina and taking the Quaffle from her. Making her way straight towards the Slytherin side.

"Rhea Black gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, come on, Rhea, COME ON!" Every single Slytherin player apart from Malfoy, who was on Harry's tail, was streaking up the pitch toward Rhea, including the Slytherin Keeper, they were all going to block her, and Rhea's mind was searching for a plan of how to get out of the situation. But from each side there was someone. 

Out of nowhere, Harry wheeled the Firebolt around, bent so low he was lying flat along the handle and kicked it forward. Like a bullet, he shot toward the Slytherins. They scattered as the Firebolt zoomed toward them, Rhea's way was clear. She grinned to herself, scoring into the empty goalpost.

"SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES! Gryffindor leads by eighty Points to twenty!" Just as Rhea scored the ten points she was occupied by ducking out of the way of Flint who was going for her head. And in the next second, she saw Harry holding the Snitch. The game was over and they won. They won the Cup! 

Rhea was attacked from the side by Angelina who flew over hugging her in glee. The two laughed, finally the feeling of satisfaction flowing through their veins. The two girls flew over to the group that had already attacked Harry. 

"We've won the Cup! We've won the Cup!" Tangled together in a many-armed hug, the Gryffindor team sank, yelling hoarsely, back to earth. Wave upon wave of crimson supporters was pouring over the barriers onto the field. Hands were raining down on their backs. 

There was Percy, jumping up and down like a maniac, all dignity forgotten. Professor McGonagall was sobbing harder even than Wood, wiping her eyes with an enormous Gryffindor flag. Rhea got trapped in a hug between the twins who were beside themselves. Her eyes noticed in the background her uncle grinning proudly. Holding his old Gryffindor scarf in his right hand. 

Rhea didn't fail to notice the faint red and gold stripes on his right cheek. Out of the corner of her eyes. Through the sea of bodies, she caught a glimpse of the black fur of the large dog that has been going to the Gryffindor games ever since the year started. He was there wagging his tail and jumping up and down. 

It was something that Rhea had never seen any dog do. He appeared to be cheering on the team quite intensively. If she didn't know better she would think that it was an ex-student or something. But that was impossible since it was a dog. Rhea had no time to think about the dog. Now she was to celebrate. Sink into the attention and praises of her house before she will have to sink down to books since the O.W.Ls were nearing.