It looks like the end of Ron and Hermione's friendship. Each are so angry at each other, that it's hard to see whether they will ever make up.

I, of course, am taking Hermione's side in this. There isn't much proof that Scabbers had actually been eaten. For one, the cat hairs could have been there for a while, and the blood could have been from anything. I totally believe her, but Ron full-on raged at me for taking her side when I said to him to look under everyone's beds. Well, I'm sorry for trying to help, Ronald.

Bonnie and Amy are both staying out of it, not wanting anything to do with the fight between Ron and Hermione. Harry, however, has taken Ron's side, attempting to convince both Hermione and I that all the evidence points to the fact that Scabbers was eaten.

Ron isn't taking the loss of his rat very well, though. He keeps moaning around, and won't cheer up no matter what anyone says. Fred and George attempted to get him to snap out of it by telling him that Scabbers was useless and that he should get a new rat. He just snapped at Fred and went back to being annoying about it.

In a last-ditch to cheer Ron up, Harry offered to let Ron ride his Firebolt after Quidditch practice that evening. Ron gladly agreed, of course, asking if he could practice shooting a few goals on it. I tried to persuade Hermione to come, but she said she had to keep studying. I can tell it's because she doesn't want to be around Ron, and that's completely understandable.

Madam Hooch, who is still overseeing Gryffindor practices to keep an eye on Harry and I, is just as impressed with the Firebolts as everyone else is. She takes mine in her hands before takeoff and is now giving us the benefit of her professional opinion.

"Look at the balance on it! If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a slight list to the tail end - you often find they develop a drag after a few years. They've updated the handle too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows - a pity they've stopped making them. I learned to fly on one, and a very fine old broom it was too..."
She continues in this vein for some time, until Wood speaks up, "Er - Madam Hooch? Is it okay if Sarah has her Firebolt back? We need to practice..."

"Oh - right - here you are, then, Potter," Madam Hooch says. "I'll sit over here with Weasley..."

She and Ron leave the field to sit in the stadium, which is empty. The rest of the Gryffindor team gather around wood for his final instructions for tomorrow's match.

"Sarah, I've just found out who Ravenclaw is playing as Seeker. It's Cho Chang. She's a fourth year, and she's pretty good... I really hoped she wouldn't be fit, she's had some problems with injuries..." Wood scowls his displeasure that Cho Chang had made a full recovery, then continues, "On the other hand, she rides a Comet Two Sixty, which is going to look like a joke next to the Firebolt." He then gives my broom a look of fervent admiration, then says, "Okay, everyone, let's go -"

Yes, I finally get to ride the Firebolt! I mount the broomstick, which is a sleek as ever and kick of from the ground.

This is the best thing ever! It turns with the slightest touch, even more than my Nimbus 2000. Its speed is so fast that as I zoom down the field, the stadium turns into a green and grey blur. I turn and spin and dive, narrowly dodging the rest of the team as I fly around the pitch.

"Sarah, I'm letting the Snitch out!" Wood calls out to me as I start to slow down.

As I continue to fly, I watch as the Snit h darts out from behind Wood. I race toward it, and in a matter of ten seconds, it's already in my hand.

The team cheers loudly as I let it go again, and giving it a minutes head start, I tear back after it. It weaves in and out of goal posts and team mates legs, before a catch it near Harry, making him dive out of the way.

This is the best practice ever. I catch the Snitch in the shortest times and the team, mesmerised by the amazing brooms, play without fault. As I flew around catching the snitch, the rest of the team were watching Harry as he sped down the pitch on his own Firebolt, speedily throwing the Quaffle into the goal hoops. When the practice is over, Wood doesn't have a single criticism to make, which, according to George, is a first.

"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" Wood says, clapping his hands together. "Not unless - Harry, Sarah you've both sorted out the Dementor problem, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Harry says.

"Yep," I say. "If they come, we're prepared."

"The Dementors won't turn up again, Oliver. Dumbledore'd go ballistic," Fred says confidently.

"Well, let's hope not," Wood says. "Anyway - great work, everyone. Let's get back to the tower...turn in early..."

"I'm staying out for a bit; Ron wants a go on the Firebolt," Harry says, as he heads over to Ron, Firebolt held over his shoulder.

Not particularly wanting to stay and watch Harry and Ron, I go to the locker rooms with the rest of the team to get changed, before heading back up to the castle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning at breakfast, many people come over to examine my Firebolt. I wanted to wave it in front of the Slytherin's, who all look thunderstruck.

"Did you see his face?" Ron says, sitting down across from me at the Gryffindor table, nodding over to Draco, who is eyeing the Firebolts enviously. "He can't believe it! This is brilliant!"

I smile and wave to Draco, before going back to my chat with Hermione about or last Muggle Studies class.

I made sure Bonnie and Amy were watching the Firebolt, as people came over to have a look and even hold the Firebolt.

"Sarah," comes Percy Weasley's voice. "Please win this match. I have a bet with Penelope: ten galleons on the winner. And I don't have ten galleons, so I'm hoping you'll win for me. Yes, yes, Penny I'm coming!" He calls out to Penelope Clearwater, before bustling off.

"Sure you can manage that broom, Potter?" I hear Draco say coldly to Harry. Oh no.

"Yeah, reckon so," Harry says casually.

"Got plenty of special features, hasn't it?" Malfoy says, his eyes glittering maliciously. "Shame it doesn't come with a parachute - in case you get too near a Dementor."

Crabbe and Goyle snigger.

"Draco," I say warningly to him, but he ignores me, waiting for Harry to say something.

"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours, Malfoy," Harry says. "Then it could catch the Snitch for you."

The Gryffindor table erupts into laughter. I'm the only one that doesn't laugh. "Draco, just go," I say, turning back to Hermione as he stalks off back to the Slytherin table.

At a quarter to eleven, Harry and I head off to the Gryffindor change rooms, with our Firebolts, ready for the match against Ravenclaw. This is the most confident I've ever been for a match, because I can feel that we're going to win.

The weather is much better today than it was for our match against Hufflepuff. It's cool, but clear, which is almost perfect conditions to play in.

"You know what we've got to do," Wood says, as we prepare to leave the locker rooms. "If we lose this match, we're out of the running, just - just fly like you did in practice yesterday, and we'll be okay."

We walk out onto the field to tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, are already waiting in the middle of the field. Their Seeker, Cho Chang, is the only girl on their team. She's a little bit taller than me, but that's had nothing to do with skill. I just have to beat her, and we're in the running for the Cup.

"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch says briskly, and Wood shakes hands with the Ravenclaw Captain, Rodger Davies. "Mount your brooms... on my whistle... three - two - one-"

As soon as the whistle blows, I kick off from the ground, soaring high on my Firebolt. Isn't away I begin to zoom around the stadium, in search of the Snitch, also listening to Lee's commentary.

"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry and Sarah Potter are flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship -"
"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" Professor McGonagall interrupts.

"Right you are, Professor - just giving a bit of background information - the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and-"

"Jordan!"

"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor, heading for goal..."

I streak past Angelina Johnson, in the opposite direction, looking around the pitch for even a slight glint of gold. As I circle the pitch, I notice that Cho Chang is tailing me, keeping close behind me.

"Show her your acceleration, Sarah!" Fred yells out to me, as he hits a bludger off in the direction of a Ravenclaw Chaser.

I speed us, urging the Firebolt forward causing Cho to fall behind. Just as Katie succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match, and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild, I see it - the Snitch is close to the ground, flitting near one of the barriers.

I quickly dive coward after the Snitch; Cho saw what I was doing, and is now tearing after me as fast as her Comet TwoSixty will go. I keep speeding us, excitement flooding through me. I'm ten feet away, before a Budger comes pelting past me from out of nowhere, making me veer off course.

As soon as I look back to where I was chasing the Snitch, I notice that Snitch has left my sight again during those few crucial seconds. Cursing, I aim my Firebolt upward, before circling the pitch again

There's a great "Oooooh" of disappointment from the Gryffindor supporters, but much applause for their Beater from the Ravenclaw end. George decides to vent his anger by hitting the second Bludger directly at the offending Beater, who is forced to roll right over in midair to avoid it.

"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn - Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision - balance is really noticeable in these long -"

"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"

Ravenclaw is catching up to us. They now have three goals, and if Cho catches the Snitch then we will lose. I begin to frantically search the pitch, as Gryffindor scores another goal, curtesy of Harry.

I see it for a second time, circling the Gryffindor goal post.

"SARAH, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE NICE!" Wood roars at me as I swerve around Cho to avoid a collision. "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"

I turn and catch a sight of Cho, who is grinning. Ignoring her, I search for the snitch for a third time, as it had vanished again. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Cho is following me, instead of finding the Snitch herself. Alright then, Cho, I think to myself, if you want follow me, you'll have to deal with the consequences.

I glance at her, before diving downward, as if I'd just seen the Snitch. As if on cue, Cho follows, but as soon as she gets close to the ground, I pull out of the dive in a flash. Not look back, I keep looking for the Snitch. Then, I see it for the third time, glittering way above at the Ravenclaw end.

I accelerate; so, many feet below, does Cho. I'm winning, I'm beating her, gaining on the Snitch with every second - then -

"Oh!" Cho screams, pointingtoward the ground.

Distracted by Cho's sudden outburst, I look down to where she's pointing.

Three Dementors are look up to me. Oh no, dear Merlin, no!

Before I can pull out my wand to cast the Patronus, a shield of white glows from the other side of the field. Harry had just cast the Patronus.

Not having the time to watch as Harry casts the Patronus, I speed back after the Snitch, which hasn't gotten far. I'm close - so close. I put on one last spurt of speed before stretching my arm out and close my hand around the small, struggling Snitch.

Madam Hooch's whistle sounds as soon as I grab the Snitch. I turn around in midair and see six scarlet blurs bearing down at me; next moment I'm on the ground, being tackle hugged by Fred, George and Harry. I can hear the Gryffindor's roaring from the stands, as they come to fill the pitch.

"That's my girl!" Wood keeps yelling, clapping his hand on my back.

As soon as the Gryffindor team lets go of me, I'm tackled again by Harry, Amy and Bonnie. Ron comes onto the field, but doesn't hug me; he just shakes my hand.

"Yes!" Bonnie yells, yanking my arm into the air. "Yes! Yes!"

"Well done, Sarah!" Percy says, looking delighted. "Ten Galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me -"

"Good for you, Sarah!" Dean roars from the crowd

"Ruddy brilliant!" booms Hagrid over the heads of the milling Gryffindors.

I make my way over to Harry who is talking with Dad.

"The Dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry says excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"Nor did I!" I pipe up.

"That would be because they - er - weren't Dementors," Dad says. "Come and see -"
Staring at Dad, Harry and I follow him out of the crowd until we reach these of the field. "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright, Harry," Dad says.

Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground are Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes.

It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, is Professor McGonagall.

"An unworthy trick!" She shouts at the . "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor team! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"

I glare at Draco. Why would he do this to me? I thought we were friends.

Going back to the excited crowd, I begin to forget about Malfoy as we all head up back to Gryffindor Tower for a party.

It's almost as if we've already won the Quidditch Cup; the party goes on for the rest of the day and well into the night. Fred and George, disappeared for a few hours and returned with armfuls of bottle of Butterbeer, pumpkin fizz and several bags of Honeydukes sweets. I can tell they did it with the help of the Marauders Map

The only person not joining in on any of the festivities is Hermione,who is sitting at our table reading Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles, which we had to read for Muggle Studies.

Ron decided to make Hermione upset, causing her to head up to the dormitories in tears, after loudly shouting something about 'if Scabbers were here...' He's a right, fowl git.

I wanted to go upstairs to comfort her, but none of the Gryffindor's even let me through the the dormitories, so I had to hope that she was okay.

The party lasted all night. Well, up until Professor McGonagall came in at one in the morning to tell us to go to bed. As everyone else went up to their dormitories, I stayed back to help Fred and George clean up the mess.

"What a night," I sigh, clearing up empty bottles of Butterbeer.

"Yep," George says. "An awesome win deserves it."

"I guess so," I say.

Fred, George and I continue to clean up, with Fred leaving early, leaving George and I alone to clean the rest saying he was tired. So are we, but he did play well today.

As soon as George and I finish, I go to head up to the dormitories so I can go to sleep, but George says,

"Sarah, can I - er - talk to you for a moment?"

Nodding, I step back down the few steps I'd already taken and head over to George who is standing over by the fire.

"What's up-" I begin, but George cuts me off by kissing me on the mouth.

To stunned to do anything else, I kiss him back, closing my eyes. His hands snake around my waist, deepening the kiss as my hands find their way to his chest. We kiss for a few moments, our mouths moving in sync, before I realise how wrong this is.

No, I can't kiss George, he's one of my best friends. He's told me on countless occasions how he likes Angelina. No this is very wrong.

I break off the kiss, by pushing lightly on his chest. "No," is all is say, before taking a step back.

"Sorry," George says, looking down at his feet, a blush formed on his cheeks. "I just, I've wanted to do that for a while and-"

I cut him off, "I thought you liked Angelina?"

"I do - did - but..." He says, biting his lip. "Sorry, that kiss was wrong."

"It was," I say. "But George, I like you, but only as a friend."

"I know," he says, playing with his feet.

"It's weird kissing my best friend " I say.

"It is isn't it?" George says, making me let out a laugh. "Let's - let's not speak of this, yeah?"

"Definitely," I say. "We should probably head up to bed."

"Y-yeah," he says, and silently we both head up the stairs and into our own dormitories, saying goodnight as normal friends would.

I go into the dormitory, where the others girls, except for Hermione, are asleep. Hermione, however, is sitting on her bed, lamp turned on, reading her book.

"You took a while," Hermione says, as I sit down on my bed.

"Did I?" I say. I'm not going to tell Hermione what just happened between George and I, I said I wouldn't. But it is just Hermione.

"Yeah," she says, closing her book and putting it onto her dresser. "What took you so long?"

"Uh, cleaning," I say. "And..."

"And what?"

"Georgekissedme," I say quickly, feeling the blush form on my cheeks.

"What?" Hermione says, understanding what I said.

"George kissed me. And I kissed him back, okay, Hermione," I say. "And it was terrible to say the least."

"Is he a bad kisser?" Hermione asks, smiling.

"No," I say. "He's actually a pretty good kisser, but he's one of my best friends. It was weird, and he likes Angelina."

"Right..." Hermione says. "But if he likes Angelina, then why would he kiss you?"

I shrug. "Look, it was a mistake, and we both said we weren't going to talk about it, so I'm just going.p to put that aside and go to sleep, okay?"

Hermione sighs. "Fine," she says. "I want to hear details tomorrow, though."

"No, Hermione," I say, pulling up the quilt cover. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to pretend like it never happened."

"Alright, it never happened," Hermione says.

"Yes, now, goodnight," I say, reaching up to turn my own lamp off.

"Goodnight, Sarah," Hermione says, before turning the last lamp off, leaving the dormitory in darkness.

I begin to fall asleep, dreaming of nothing but peace. No George kissing, no loud Quidditch matches, just nothing.

After what feels like no time, I am awoken by a loud scream from the boys dormitories. I hear groans come from every bed in the dormitory, as everyone reaches up to turn on their lamps.

"What happened?" Lavender asks, as she sits up, hair sticking up.

"I dunno," I say. "There was a scream from the boys dormitories. Let's see what's going on."

All seven of us girls get up, get our dressing gowns and slippers, and head of of the dormitory, which everyone else in Gryffindor has as well. We head down to the common room, where a lot of the house are all standing around, sleepy and puzzled.

"What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!"

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" Fred says brightly, coming down the steps.

"Everyone back upstairs!" Percy says, hurrying to the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge onto his pyjamas as he speaks.

"Perce - Sirius Black!" I hear Ron says, and I quickly head over to him, Hermione, Bonnie and Amy following. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

"What?" I gasp, clapping a hand to my mouth, as the common room turns silent

"Nonsense!" Percy says, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron - had a nightmare -"

"I'm telling you -"

"Now, really, enough's enough!" Professor McGonagall is back. She slams the portrait behind her as she enters the common room and stares furiously around.

"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!" She says.

"I certainly didn't authorise this, Professor!" Percy says. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare -"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yells. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Professor McGonagall stares at him, bewildered. "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he possibly have gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him!" Ron says, pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. "Ask him if he saw-"

Glaring suspiciously at Ron, Professor McGonagall pushes the portrait back open and goes outside. I quickly move forward to listen to what's happening outside the common room.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" McGonagall asks the portrait.

"Certainly, good lady!" Sir Cadogan cries.

"You - you did?" Professor McGonagall says, stunned. "But - but the password!"

"He had 'em!" Sir Cadogan says proudly. "Had the whole week's, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Professor McGonagall pulls herself back through the portrait hole, white as chalk, to the stunned crowd of Gryffindor's.

"Which person," she says, her voice shaking. "Which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

Everyone in the Common Room is silent, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville, trembling from his head to his fluffy slippered toes, raises his hand slowly into the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N:

Oh! I bet you didn't see that coming, eh? The kiss between Sarah and George, I mean. It's not going to have much significance to Sarah later in the series, but it might, you'll have to see.

My friend wanted me to post this chapter tonight, so me being the good friend I am, have done so. *waves* HEY Aly_Ruth But yes, there's another chapter for you, early might I add. Very early indeed. But I hope you enjoy it.

Are there any ideas you guys want for later on in the series? I have a few ideas, obviously, but what do you guys want? It can be for any time in the series from this book to the sixth book, it doesn't matter. Comment :)

Peace out guys, love you!

~Elise