"Just relax. Imagine you're flying alone with no pressure at all", said Jisung, holding y/n's shoulders thight to prevent her from shivering.

"It does not work like that Sungie", she replied, trying to get rid of the boy's hold: she needed to move, or else she felt like she might explode. "Pretending not to be around a bunch of people does not make them magically disappear! And besides, I am Keeper: how am I supposed to be flying alone? My position implies the presence of other players".

Jisung rolled his eyes. "I was trying to be helpful! You look like you're about to pass out!"

This was y/n's time to roll eyes. "Oh, thank you Sungie! Very supportive of you!"

Jisung blinked mischievously. "You know you can always count on me. And at the end of the day, let's face it – the world won't end if we lose this match".

"The world might not", replied a voice, making the two turn around to meet with Gryffindor's Seeker, a fourth-year named Jongho, "but I cannot make promises about your world. Angry Gryffindors can be scary, just saying".

Y/n shook her head: between Jisung and Jongho, she couldn't decide whose words were the least helpful. "Where's the rest of the team?", she asked Jongho instead.

"In the changing rooms. We don't really like to wait outside, I was just sent to check on you. Are you feeling okay? Do you want to come in?"

Y/n politely denied the offer. "Thanks Jongho, but I think I'll just stay here. I'll join you in a while. Is it good?"

Jongho smiled. "Don't worry. But should you have any problems – just tell me, okay? We're a team, even if only for today!"

Y/n thanked him with a big grin: she was really grateful for the Gryffindor team, that had welcome her immediately and had really helped her get through the last days of training so that she could come to the match prepared.

After Jongho left, arrived Felix: the Hufflepuff simply wanted to wish her good luck, and also see in which conditions she was in. "You look better that what I had imagined", he stated. "You're still standing up on both your legs; this is a great sign!"

"And you dare call me the unsupportive one?" asked Jisung, faking indignation. Felix slightly punched him, and that made y/n chuckle: in a way or the other, the two were actually doing a pretty good job at keeping her mind away from the upcoming match.

"In any case, I'm excited to see how this match unfolds – a pity that my seats are not in the best of positions, but- oh hey Seungmin!" Felix happily addressed the boy, who was walking towards the stands with a group of Slytherins.

At the hearing of his name being called, the boy turned back; and once spotted the trio, hurried off to meet them.

"I came for Minho", he explained once arrived, "I always do whenever he plays, although I'm not particularly interested. But of course today you're also playing!" he added turning to y/n. "I wanted to wish you good luck. I can't say that I am rooting for you, but I do hope you'll do your best. I'm sure you're a well-skilled player!"

The compliments made y/n want to blush, but she fought that first instinct away: she was about to play, damn it! She couldn't blush like some stupid girl. "Thanks Seungmin. I can't really say if you're honest, but I appreciate it".

"I mean, you're not wrong" replied the Slytherin, laughing. "I know less than nothing. But really – good luck".

Y/n looked carefully at everyone of them, and then looked carefully at the changing room Gryffindors were gathered in. She could do it. Her people believed in her.

***

The whistle echoed in her ears like a sound coming from far away. She lifted her suddenly heavy feet from the ground and sped towards her position. Her hands were shaking, but she decided to ignore the feeling and flew quicker.

She heard a few "Good luck"s coming her way, but she couldn't recognise who'd said it: had it been Hoongjoon? or Jongho?

Once arrived, she set her eyes in the middle of the pitch, trying to spot the Quaffle: where was the bloody ball?

After the quickest panick attack she thought she'd ever have, her eyes managed to find the ball: it was safe in Hoongjoon's hands, flying towards the other rings.

She sighed in relief, but the temporary calm did not last long: a low whistling suddenly came to her ears, and with terror she noticed a black shiny ball flying her way. She soared as quickly as possible, and felt the Bludger pass just short of her feet.

Turning back to see where it would crash, she also noticed Jongho scraping an escape from it just in time. "Fuck off, Song!", she also heard him saying. The reply of the Slytherin Beater was lost in the wind.

It was then that she remembered she could hear the commentating to understand what was going on in the pitch: "GRYFFINDOR HAS THE QUAFFLE! KIM PASSES IT TO DAVOS, WHO PASSES IT BACK TO KIM... HE FLIES... HE'S ALMOST THERE... AND HE SCORES! 10 POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!" roared the commentator. Y/n could tell he was quite biased, and had she taken the time to look at who they actually were, she would've easily understood why: Choi Soobin was known to be Gryffindor's best hype-man.

But her thoughts were well away from trying to understand who the commentator was: Gryffindor scoring a solid ten points was of course really good, but it also meant that the Quaffle would be passed down to the Slyherins. And their chasers were known to be extremely good...

"HWANG TAKES THE QUAFFLE! SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE'S MEANING TO HAND IT OVER TO KANG- WOAH!" from what Y/n could see, Hwang Yeji had just acted a very smooth faint, "SHE DOES NOT! AND THERE COME THE SLYTHERINS, IN A PERFECT ARROW POSITION" it really hurt Soobin to say 'perfect', "THEY'RE CUTTING THROUGH THE PITCH, THE SMOOTH FUCKERS!..."

"CHOI SOOBIN, WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" roared back the Headmistress, from her high seat: although she was not requested to watch over the commentators anymore, it seemed to be a habit she still struggled to get rid of.

Y/n felt the tension build inside her: she was watching the three chasers impeccably flying up towards her, sharp and quick as ever, and Yeji suddenly passing the Quaffle to that on her right, and he precisely throwing it into one of the rings...

Y/n sprinted off, and felt her fingers smash strongly against the Quaffle surface: she did not have reflexes quick enough to catch it, but it had worked – she'd changed its trajectory!

"THE GRYFFINDOR ALTERNATE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT! BEAUTIFUL PARADE! AND NOW WE CAN SEE THE GRYFFINDORS GOING BACK TO ATTACKING, THE QUAFFLE IS IN THEIR HANDS!..."

Y/n would've wanted to say that the rest of the match had gone just as smoothly – but sadly, things had shortly afterwards started to take a fast turn.

Slytherins just had the best strategies, formations and techniques she'd seen all belong in a team after a pretty long time; and the slow start they'd shown at the beginning had quickly evolved in something way more professional.

The girl could've sworn she'd tried her absolute best to block as many Quaffles as she could; but some strikes were just so sudden and precise that she was having a hard time realizing they'd even happened.

It must've been at around 80 points for Slytherins and 50 for Gryffindors when she heard three whistles being blown in a row: she looked down at Mme Hooch, who was starting to fly towards the middle of the pitch; and then a little higher up, to see the Slytherins gather up around one player, whose hand was up into the air, and holding a small golden ball.

The girl could not really describe what she was feeling, at the understanding of what had just happened: disappointment was definitely there, and however it wasn't bringing her down either.

She forced herself to fly towards her teammates, who had started to descend and make their way back to the changing rooms. The screams of the crowd were almost inaudible.

"We did a great job" was saying Hoongjoon when she reached them, "Chan had warned us that we were going to face a very strong team, and overall – also considering the situation – we did great!"

Y/n landed beside Jongho, smiling for the words of support the temporary leader had spoken.

"Why are you smiling?", complained the Seeker, "we've just lost!"

Y/n shook her head, the grin not escaping her lips. "I've just played the best match of my life!" she sqeaked happily.

~🤍~
hello! so here's the match~

i hope i did a great job at describing it – i remember when reading the books, quidditch matches were also the chapters that made me the most anxious lol (Voldy could never).

What's your favorite HP book?
hard question aargh but i think imma have to go with the Deathly Hollows!

see you on monday – it'll be chan!

Vic🌙.