They all have their own game-day rituals. Lexus is superstitious enough to eat pancakes and coffee for breakfast before every single game. They make it through the day, though she could see the pouncing knees and the distractions in class. Everyone was buzzing for tonight's game. McGonagall didn't assign homework for once and Snape's mood was a degree above horrible.

Then she got back to the common room, the beginnings of a celebration going. Music was playing and some nonplayers were already sipping on non-school-approved drinks. When it was time, the team came down in full gear. A tunnel made for them as they clapped hands with their housemates on the way out the door.

They ran to the first floor, jumping off the balcony, straight to their brooms. Theo flipped over, cheering at the freedom of it all. He was so natural on a broom, in either year bouncing back and forth between manor's flying was a regular pastime. Theo adapted differently to the broom, using it as an extension of himself. You'd never see a greater smile on his face when he got to smash something hard with a bat while flying. It was every teenage boy's dream.

They flew down to the field, gaining their bearings and adapting to the weather. The wind wasn't too bad, but Lexus noted that she would have to throw a few inches to the left to land her shots correctly.

She flew up to meet Draco, who was doing the same thing he did every game, flying high and looking down on the field as a whole. Up here it was much easier to think of it as a game. They were players, a goal, and opponents. All simplified by how far away it was.

"Watch out for the twins, they are bound to retaliate for the sigil." He warned. His eyes trained on the Gryffindor team.

"I'm quicker." Lexus continued analyzing, "Potter might play rough, two captain positions open up when Oliver and the twins leave, he'll be looking to prove himself."

"I won't give him the satisfaction." He promised. My eyes finding a new face on the field from this height too. "Do you know anything about the Weasel girl?"

"They've kept her training pretty quiet, I think Oliver has been training her personally. I imagine she'll be better than most people her age."

His voice was calm but his stance was ready. I scanned the bleachers, smiling when I saw his mother sitting next to Mrs. Zabini. They stopped saving a seat for my mother after the first three games I had as Captain. Marcus was no longer playing so there was no reason to bother. If Marcus hadn't begged for me to play in the first place, I may never have seen a Hogwarts quidditch field from this view.

"There's too many damn ginger's in this field." Draco rolled his eyes, "Do you think their parents had the goal of filling up an entire team roster? It would explain why they had so many."

Cheers came from the crowd, and they looked down. Theo was performing dangerous stunts on his broom to boost morale. "Your boyfriend is an idiot."

"He's my idiot." She smiled softly, noticing the smile on his face. She studied him for a moment as he hung from his broom by one hand. "Does he seem alright to you?"

"You two have basically been married since you were six, the honeymoon phase is bound to wear off." Draco didn't think anything of it. If Theo had told him anything from the safety of their dorms, his face didn't show it.

"I know. He just... seems different. I just hope he's still happy."

"The two of you have one year left here, give him a minute to mourn his childhood. This is the last of it you're going to get. We both know our parents have our lives calculated out by the minute as soon as we leave. My father is trying to get me to graduate early to start falling into his footsteps."

I wondered if Draco was solely speaking on Theo's behalf, or if the platinum blonde had found safety in the halls of Hogwarts. It was drastically different than the manor we went back to in the summers and on Christmas break. It had come to a point where neither Hogwarts nor the Manor place seemed like home. Just a place to stay in passing.

"Your mother wrote to me," I told him.

"Of course, she did." He threw his head back. "She told you then? The search for my future wife has been initiated."

"She wanted to know if I had any suggestions." He looked like he wanted to throw up. "They aren't going to leave you unwed. You should give me an idea of any girls that caught your eye so you can at least get a fragment of your opinion in."

He thought for a second, sighing, "You remember that girl, Blaise took to the ball, Astoria?"

"Greengrass." She smiled, the habit of knowing all the pureblood descendants shining through.

Draco picked at a chipped paint spot on his broom. "Yeah, her."

Lexus nodded, knowing that only when Draco wanted to would she see into his feelings. It was rare, but Draco Malfoy did have parts of him that seemed human. He stared out into the sun, squinting, "Do you wanna marry him?"

"I got lucky. He's my best friend. I could have gotten far worse." She had come to that conclusion a long time ago. Arranged marriages were part of her family's tradition; she didn't know of the idea of marrying for love until she came to Hogwarts. "We've been to hundreds of parties and galas everywhere we go. Someone pinches our cheeks and tells us how cute our kids will be."

"Gross."

"It's even weirder when you are eleven." She added, remembering the first time someone fantasized about children having children. She didn't even know how babies were born at that point.

"Our kids will be friends though?" Draco glanced over at me. I saw the look in his eyes, I knew what he was really asking.

"We will still be friends, right?"

We were graduating this year, Theo and I would be wed and the second chapter of our lives would start. A chapter that might not have Draco written in it. The workforce would pick us up and drop us somewhere, possibly across the world and one day we would become lords and ladies of the manors we grew up in.

"We're family, Draco." I reached out, putting my hand on top of his.

"Aye, Aye captains," Theo yelled up to us as he lounged on the back of his broom. "We have a game to win."

As far as game traditions went there was one more.

I swooped down, coming up next to him. He stood up on his broom. Effortlessly intimidating the Gryffindors that watched behind us. I threw one of my legs over, sitting side-saddle on the broom as I leveled my face with his.

He smiled, looking awfully smug. Once upon a time, he told me this was his favorite pregame tradition, my hand slid to his cheek, kissing him sweetly. His hands gripped my broom, pulling me closer.

"Good luck." He smiled, idling on me a little longer before we had to take positions.

I pushed his hair out of his eyes, ignoring the Gryfinddor's calls to 'get a room'. "Good luck."

I floated down, centering myself in the front of the chasers. Madam Hooch nodded between myself and Angelina Jonhson. We nodded back, signifying that our teams were ready.

"Opening game. Start the season off smart and safe. Set the standards for the following games."

"Yes, ma'am." We both agreed, our eyes both locked in a stare. Angelina Jonhson would not hold the title for most points scored, I wouldn't let it. I gripped my broom a little tighter, as Madam Hooch released the snitch. It flew away, disappearing into the sky. She took the quaffle out and we floated a few feet above her head. The whistle blew, she threw the quaffle and the next second it was in my hands. The stadium went from complete silence to utter chaos. The bulgers were released and Theo smacked one Angelica's way, trying to get her off my coattails.

I passed the quaffle over to Blaise, narrowly dodging a bullet off the bat of George Weasley. I swung down low, coming back up to use my body to get in between Katie Bell before she could reach Blaise.

He shot, narrowly missing as Oliver scooped it a foot before the ring, passing it over to Ginny Weasley.

"Crabbe!" I hollered down the field.

He leaned to the side, She made it halfway down the field before he used most of his body weight to slam into her. She yelped, dropping the quaffle to put two hands on her broom to avoid falling over. Welcome to the first line Ginny.

Blaise dove below, taking it into possession before Angelica could get to it. I guarded him from behind, flying laterally so she had to slow down to avoid colliding with me. Goyle took his other side, Theo was flying above us and Crabbe perfected the formations below us. No Gryffindor could attack without going through one of us.

I heard the Slytherin stands screaming, chanting Blaise's name, and stomping their feet. We pulled up to the rings, Blaise aimed for the furthest one to the left. Wood clipped it with the edge of his fingers, sending it slightly off course. I stretched out, breaking the formation and tapping it back in the right direction. A second later, I didn't see it go through the hoop so I could avoid running into a bulger but the screaming from the student section told me it went in.

"Captain Lexus Flint, number 3, scores the first point of the year assisted by Blaise Zabini! Good for him to be able to make up for his failed shot earlier in the-"

You could audibly hear the smack with the newspaper over the announcement system. That came with it.

Lee Jordan was suspended from his announcement position for a year after he asked Luna Lovegood to the Yule ball over the speaker after Ravenclaws won. Draco hated his announcements, but Lexus herself couldn't stop herself from smiling.

Theo high-fived her as she rode by, preparing for Gryfinndors's possession.

The game continued after forty minutes of play, a timeout was called my Lexus. Every time Harry and Draco found the snitch, they just as soon lost it.

"With the score locked at 50 to 70, Slytherin keeps the lead by two quaffle throws. Perhaps if that Bastard, Theo Nott didn't knock-" The smack of the daily profit - "I mean, Slytherin Theo Nott hadn't 'accidentally' given Kaite Bell a concussion this game wouldn't be the same."

Crabbe threw his helmet down, "Ginny Weasley is so far up my ass I can barely move."

"Just admit it, a fourth-year is making you her bitch right now." Theo laughed as Crabbe threw a small rock from the ground at him.

Ginny had the same passion for vendetta that her brothers did. Lexus was dodging a bludger every three seconds, whether she had the quaffle or not. She had only been able to assist goals, not make any since her first one.

"We need to keep the flying low, they are better at higher altitudes. We can't keep letting the twins on either side, we have to try and keep them together so that they won't be able to bat back and forth like that. If we can't manage that, at least try to block their view so they can't communicate with each other." I was advised as the offensive line coordinator.

"Try a goose formation, next. Pass it quickly. I don't want the quaffle in your hands for more than two seconds. Keep them looking and it'll keep them busy. Theo aims for the Weasley girl, her brothers will protect her and drop focus on us." Draco ran his gloved finger across a map of the field, much like the view he got from above.

"Okay, get some water, we're back out in three," Lexus ordered, making the crowd disperse.

Theo and Draco hung around, sighing. "I'll get the snitch, none of it will matter."

"Hurry it up mate, I don't have all day." Theo teased. Before he heard Lexus's sharp hiss as she took off her glove.

Her arm was bruised from the joint of her thumb all the way around her wrist.

"What the hell is that?" Theo grabbed her arm lightly. She winced again but answered.

"You know when I went for that shot but a bludger came out of nowhere? Well, I hadn't exactly go of it quite yet."

"Draco, go get Madam Pomfrey."

Draco wouldn't have taken orders from Theo in any other case.

"No!" I jumped, taking my arm back from Theo's grasp. "I'll be out for the rest of the game."

"You can't play with a broken wrist." Theo fought, inspecting the bruises even more to note that they had been developing for quite some time.

Lexus rummaged through the bag, pulling out a small green vial. "I promise, I'll go to the medical wing as soon as the game is over. If I take Wiggenweld Potion, it'll numb it and start the healing process, give me a little stamina too."

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, leaning his chin on his broom.

She banged the potion back, downing the whole bottle. She was pretty sure she was only supposed to take half but she needed it to get to work. "Yes. I won't give those asshole Gryfinddors the chance to win. Worry about the snitch, not me."

"I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey the minute it's over."

"Fine." She agreed, wrapping her wrist in athletic tape. Then when the boys weren't looking, she taped her hand to the broom. She felt the strength in her grip strength suffer at the cost of diminishing after the hit. The last thing she needed was to fall a hundred feet because of a silly wrist injury.