45 — CATCH THE SNITCH

***

   "DAMN, how are they all so fast? Mane is up and flying with the Quaffle in possession as she weaves her way through Ash-Wood and Creevey—oh! She inches up to the posts. Will Scamander be able to block it? And she scores! The score is now at 0 — 10 with the badgers in the lead! Hufflepuff is off to a brilliant start!"

  Thalia sat, hovering on her broomstick, high above the pitch, as she gazed upon the arena for the tiny little gleam of gold that she was desperate to catch, but it was no where in sight as of the moment.

   "Don't even bother to look for it. We all already know who's going to win this," James smirked, casually flying past her.

   Thalia rolled her eyes. "Oh please—"

   Suddenly, James' eyes went wide, his mouth parting slightly before he zoomed straight past Thalia.

   "It seems as if James Potter has seen the snitch? Already? Scamander seems to be in shock, yet she chases after him! Wait—he stopped?! Has he lost sight of the snitch? No? He was just fooling us all? Sneaky bastard... no cussing? Why not?! All eleven year olds probably listen to their parents mouth off anyway! I mean we are British for Godric's sake!"

   "Gotcha," James winked, with a prominent grin as he flew past Thalia, who was fuming with anger and frustration.

   "Just watch me win, and you will shut up in a flash," Thalia retorted, sticking her tongue out playfully at him.

   "West passes to Davis! Ash-Wood intercepts! The Quaffle is now in possession of the Gryffindors! Will they make their first shot? They are falling behind by 30 points... But it is now their chance to catch up! Ash-Wood passes it to Weasley! And he makes the shot—oh! Moreno blocks it! Safe! We are still at 0 — 30!" Owen loudly said. "Let's go badgers! Take that you stuck up Gryffindors! What? The commentators cannot be biased? Seriously? Look, I'm tryna impress my future date here. I'm a simp. Deal with it."

Thalia chuckled and rolled her eyes. Of course, Owen was going to be biased—not that she minded anyway.

She turned to James who was gripping his broom so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. His jaw was clenched tightly, and Thalia snorted at his jealousy. Owen was just teasing, and it was hilarious to see James all worked up.

"He is just kidding," Thalia assured.

"Yeah well, I'm not kidding when I say that I'm going to bash his head into a wall with my bare fists if he makes just one more remark about you," James muttered.

Every now and then, Thalia would glance back down to the game that chorused on beneath her. She smiled to herself as she kept looking for the snitch because the Hufflepuffs were still in the lead. Gryffindor has made some shots, but Hufflepuff was ahead by a decent amount.

The match was a lot more smooth, compared to the previous competition with the Slytherins. Gryffindors weren't the type to cheat or play dirty, so the match was fair. However, they were very determined to crush the Hufflepuffs. But the Hufflepuffs were experts with teamwork and had a certain fire in their hearts that the Gryffindors did not.

It was time for the badgers to prove to the entire population of Hogwarts that they were not pushovers and doormats.

   The match continued on and on for what seemed like a couple centuries. It ended up taking far longer than Thalia had been hoping. Several times within the near two hours that had passed, Thalia had thought she saw the snitch, but it just ended up being random golden gleams of light being reflected on random metal objects.

   As Thalia continued to frustrate over not being able to find the snitch, the two teams continued to battle it out. Several fouls were called, but Hufflepuff was still in the lead. And thank goodness for the Hufflepuff beaters, for the bludgers seemed very on it for this match.

"Creevey scores! We are now at 80 — 120, with the badgers still in the lead? The game continues on, but will the Seekers ever end this game?

Suddenly, Thalia caught sight of a flying gleam of bright gold.

The snitch.

Without hesitation, she immediately shot forward.

James had seen it just mere seconds after Thalia, and he too, had immediately dived for the snitch.

"Everyone, everyone! The snitch has been seen! I repeat: The snitch has been seen! Scamander is ahead of Potter—but just barely! Will Thalia Scamander bring another win home for the cup? Or will James Potter manage to catch up and bring home the lions the House Cup?! Scamander reaches her hand out! She is into it! She is onto it! I can see her fingers curling over it! James is trying to reach farther, but he can't! Thalia stopped! The snitch has been caught, ladies and gentlemen! I repeat, the snitch has been caught!" Owen cheered loudly. "Beaters and Chasers, our sixth and final Quididtch match of this school year has come to a close. That is another 150 points to Hufflepuff! 90 — 280! Congratulations to our badgers for winning the Inter-House Quidditch Cup this year!"

   With a giant grin across her face, Thalia sat on her broomstick, panting heavily as she slowly rode it down to the bottom of the pitch with the golden snitch still clutched in the palm of her hand.

   She won.

   She actually did it.

She caught sight of James just hopping off his broom as well.

Without thinking, she ran up to him and grabbed the sides of his face and pressed his lips to hers—in front of the whole school.

The crowd was cheering loudly before, but as Thalia pulled away, the noise got significantly louder as whistles and screams echoed about the stadium.

Thalia blinked a few times at James' shocked face. "I-I didn't mean to. I'm sorry—"

But she was cut off, when James pressed his lips to hers once more.

"Thalia Scamander... will you be my girlfriend?" James asked nervously as he pulled away.

"I thought you'd never ask," Thalia grinned, kissing James again.

***

All his life, James Sirius Potter had loved Thalia Scamander. For years on end, he chased after her, yet kept on getting rejected. But year after year, he never gave up.

But in this short time of their seventh and final year at Hogwarts, everything changed, and the world seemed to answer to him and give into his wishes.

He finally got her love.

From twists and turns and to holes and bumps, along a long and tiresome journey, they finally made it—together.

A new relationship was born—one the world never would have thought come to light.

A love—years in the making.

And as the students and teachers of Hogwarts cheered at the miracle taking place before them, James Sirius Potter's heart swelled in relief and pride as he smiled brightly at the girl that stood next to him.

Because after all this time...

He had finally caught the snitch.

***

A/N:

And that's a wrap.