Returning to the hustle and bustle of the school on Monday morning was very refreshing. Lori finished the brewing of the polyjuice potion. A batch big enough to slip to at least thirty students. Although I was not much help on the brewing process, I was the one to slip it to everyone. Of course, that would only be at the end of the school year, and I didn't need to worry about it for another few months.

When I walked into the common room on Monday, there was already a notice posted.

SEVENTH YEAR BALL
Six pm on June Ninth,
Hosted in the dining hall.
Formal wear,
Sixth years can attend only if invited.

"You can't go with Vincent then," June nudged me with her elbow.

"I'll go with Lori." I shrugged, "Not like she can go with Elio either, and Liane would probably go with us too, won't you?"

"Oui," she nodded, "Zese "'ogwarts boys are, 'ow you say, not my type."

"Not even the Hogsmeade dude?" June snorted. "You two seemed to get along well."

Liane reddened, and shook her head frantically, "Ee was nice boy, but very ehm, boring."

~~~~

The day of our match against Hufflepuff came quickly. I fixed myself a cup of warm tea and headed down to the library as I usually did on match days.

Oliver was already sitting at the library table. A small Tupperware sat next to him.

"Woody! Fancy seeing you here." I exclaimed, plopping down in front of him, and he met me with a smile.

"Here." He pushed forward the small plastic box.

"What's this?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Cookies," He grinned, looking highly pleased with himself.

"You got me cookies?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Well more like Fred and George nicked it from the kitchens for me and then I gave them to you." Oliver chuckled good-naturedly. "So I saved some for you."

"And why would you do that?" I giggled, "They must be laced with some kind of opium or arsenic."

"I wouldn't do that," Oliver rolled his eyes, "Not today at least."

"Oh right," I said, opening the Tupperware, "You need Ravenclaw to win so that you don't try and drown in the showers again."

"Aye," he smirked, "But also thanks for everything, even if you don't win."

"Oh I will," I took a large bite of the cookie, and it practically melted in my mouth, "No doubt in my mind about it."

"Do you really think you'll be able to beat them by two hundred points?" Oliver raised his eyebrows.

"I've got a plan." I nodded.

"Is it that brilliant?" Oliver snickered.

"It's a bit of a gamble, but if it goes how I want it to, it should work out perfectly."

~~~~

The weather was bright and sunny, and my feeling about the match was very good. We walked onto the pitch and were met with tumultuous applause from the stands.

"Remember, only start actually playing when I seize the quaffle at the throw-off." I turned back to my team, still out of ear range from everyone. "Page, let them score until that happens."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Roger asked pointedly.

"No, I'm not." I snickered, "But if we pull this off it will be a hell of a feat."

"You're crazy." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh and Cho," I looked at the small seeker, "Make sure Diggory doesn't seize the snitch while we're playing on easy. If he sees it distract him with anything you can. Start actively seeking the snitch when we're at least fifty points in the lead."

I walked towards Cedric Diggory and firmly shook his hand.

"Good luck," I smirked.

"As to you." He smiled warm-heartedly.

"On your brooms!" Madam Hooch yelled, and all of us quickly mounted.

With a whistle, we were off. The quaffle was momentarily seized by one of the Hufflepuff chasers, and they sped past me.

"AND THE MATCH HAS COMMENCED!" I heard Lee Jordan yell excitedly. "HUFFLEPUFF WITH THE QUAFFLE!"

I sped after the Hufflepuff chaser but made sure to keep at least ten feet of distance between us.

The wind howled in my ears, and I could no longer make out full phrases that Lee Jordan was spitting into the megaphone. I could see my teammates act apprehensively around the other team, and Cho was dodging bludgers left and right with Liane and Jason circling her and weakly hitting them back.

"WATCHING THE RAVENCLAWS RIGHT NOW IS SIMPLY EXHILARATING!" Lee Jordan laughed into the megaphone, and the crowd echoed a laugh.

My attention flicked over to where Cedric's yellow blur was evidently chasing the snitch. The snitch was only a few paces ahead of him. My heart lodged in my throat. This could be the downfall of my plan. I could already make out the look of disappointment on Oliver's face in my mind. Suddenly, a blue blur flew in front of him, making him rapidly pull his broom back as to not hit it, halting himself in mid-air. It was Cho! She had managed to stop Cedric and gave the snitch time to fly out of view again.

I sighed in relief and turned back to where I was flying, just in time to avoid the goal post I was about to crash into.

The game carried on like this for an agonizingly long wait. In fact, the Hufflepuffs managed to score two times. As we got back into a play-off position, I noticed the chasers looking relaxed on their brooms, laughing and joking with each other. Cedric was hovering above everyone, and even from afar, I could see his relaxed expression.

This round, their gameplay was much more relaxed, and the chasers even started passing the quaffle right next to me.

"ANOTHER TEN POINTS TO HUFFLEPUFF!!!" Lee roared, "THAT'S GIVING THEM A THIRTY TO ZERO LEAD!"

All the Hufflepuffs adrenaline had gone. It was time to play.

The whistle sounded, and I charged full speed at the quaffle, seizing it with no effort. It was satisfying to finally feel it in my arms. I continued speeding ahead, leaving the Hufflepuff chasers what can only be described as in the dust. I could hear bludgers whizzing behind me, and it was evident Liane and Jason Samuels were now fully in the game.

I didn't even have to pass to any of my fellow chasers before I got to the goalposts. The Hufflepuff goalie looked slightly scared and kept swerving between goalposts trying to cover all three at once. A simple curveball was enough to surpass his defense, and score ten points for Ravenclaw.

"AND RAVENCLAW SCORES WITH AN IMPRESSIVE TIMING OF FIFTEEN SECONDS!" Lee pumped the air with his fists, "STONE TRULY EMBODIES THE EAGLE WHEN IN THE AIR!"

The Ravenclaw stands roared with happiness. Boos could be heard from the Hufflepuffs but were mostly overpowered by the copious applause by the Ravenclaws, and I had a feeling that Oliver and his team were clapping louder than anyone in the stands.

Our team crushed Hufflepuff, with a three hundred and fifty point lead. They were not able to score again, and we took the win with ease. I think my team was just holding back the energy, and it unleashed when I seized the quaffle. My plan had worked flawlessly.

I landed in front of the large cheering crowd. Liane pulled me into a bear hug only moments after she landed, barely getting off her broom, and just letting it drop to the ground.

"Ooh Y/n, you were trés brilliante!" She squealed, "Your plan worked!"

Before I could respond, June, Lori, and Sarah's arms threw themselves around Liane and me. We became a small pile of squealing. When we finally separated, I looked ahead into the crowd of cheering Ravenclaw supporters.

Oliver.

He stood ahead of us. His hands crossed, and a goofy grin spread across his intense features.

I excused myself from my friends and walked towards him, but before I could make my way over to tell him to wipe that shit-eating grin off his face, I was picked up and lifted into the air by Fred and George.

"Hear ye, hear ye," Fred hollered.

"Make way to the queen!" George echoed.

I couldn't help but burst out in giggles as they ran with me through the crowd.

"PARTY AT RAVENCLAW DORMS TONIGHT! EVERYONE ABOVE FOURTH YEAR IS INVITED!" I whooped.

"AND IF YOU'RE NOT, YOULL FIND OUT AT THE DOOR!" June howled after us.

~~~~

A simple dark blue satin dress wrapped snugly around my body, and I felt surprisingly confident in it, despite how showy it was. June said it looked "bomb as fuck" and Liane just squealed and clapped, so I take it that she liked it.

I stood on the second floor of the common room and overlooked the preparations going on below. June was intently casting silencing charms and activating invisibility charms, and her wand was expelling all sorts of light beams into every corner imaginable. She wore a power suit, with a bralette instead of a shirt, and wide-legged red pants with a goofily decorated and matching red blazer. Her hair lay in a short, flat and black bob against her head, and sporting eyeliner wings larger than I thought was possible.

Penelope Clearwater was actually helping her set up, most likely to ensure she doesn't get in trouble for another busted party.

I saw a few sixth years charming joints to be self-lighting and setting them on neat platters.

Liane flew around the top of the common room enchanting the lighting. She had a sort of knack for it, and within minutes, the common room was transformed into a purple and blue haze, with softly flashing lights, and the atmosphere of a rave. She herself was dressed in average day wear clothes, but as soon as she finished the lighting she rushed to the dorms and emerged within minutes changed. She dawned a beautiful white minidress, with ruffles and lace in every place that you could think of.

The alcohol was as per usual set at the top of the stairs, with a deactivated invisibility charm. Penelope was in charge of all invisibility charms and saying their code words, so I knew she wouldn't touch a drop of alcohol that night.

A couple of students were setting up self-serving floating platters of potions that I was wary of and unsure if I was willing to try.

Lori and Sarah were the first to arrive.

Sarah was the most modest out of the whole friend group, as she wore a yellow dress with puffed sleeves that went down slightly above her knees.

Lori on the other hand had a sparkly green dress with a halter top. Her cheeks were heavily dusted with rosy blush, and her lips were accentuated by cherry lipstick.

Soft dance music filled the common room in its entirety as people started entering. Lori and Liane instantly went onto the dance floor, and I could see them grinding on each other while laughing. June and Sarah on the other hand found themselves on a nice sofa and were sitting and chatting while smoking joints. I remained atop the balcony of the second floor, watching the door intently.

Our eyes locked immediately as he entered, and I felt that all familiar fluttery feeling in my stomach, that I quickly pushed down. Oliver waved up at me and began walking up the stairs. A lopsided grin spread across his freckled face, and he stopped right in front of me. He looked up and down at me, his gaze ultimately ending back up in my eyes.

"What the hell was that Stone?" He chuckled, grabbing himself a cup of spiked butterbeer.

"Whatever do you mean?" I asked, innocently batting my eyes up at Oliver.

"I mean you were completely failing at the start!" Oliver exclaimed, "I genuinely thought you might lose."

"Oh Woody," I said good-naturedly, patting his shoulder, "You witnessed the golden opus of my Hogwarts quidditch career."

"That was planned?" He startled.

"Why if course. It's simple. Hufflepuff was really anxious to go against us because Ravenclaw has a known reputation for being a good team. They had high amounts of adrenaline pushing them at the beginning." I shrugged.

"So you're saying..."

"Exactly," I nodded, "Once they got a few goals in their first wave of adrenaline mostly wore off. So when we actually began playing they were caught off guard, allowing us to get the upper hand."

"Holy shit Stone, that's genius!" Oliver looked at me with a shocked expression, "But wasn't that a huge gamble? I mean the odds of them actually getting caught that off guard was fifty percent."

"Mhm," I hummed, pouring myself a punch. "But that doesn't matter now does it?"

"Stone you can not believe how happy I am right now." Oliver snickered.

"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrows.

"So happy I could probably kiss you."

"Excuse me?" My eyes widened, and I felt myself choke on my drink a little.

"I mean that as the saying!" Oliver reddened, "I don't actually want to kiss you right now or anything don't get the wrong idea Stone."