Our maneuvers all came out at once, though I had politely waited for Jojo to act upon his own maneuver before I pulled out my own.
Off to my side, Lysander blatched the other opposing seeker off her broom. Without another seeker on call for our opponents, it appeared that the curtains would close for them permanently. Valetin was still soaring high above, hidden in the clouds and the rain that I wipe out of my face once again and slick my bangs in an attempt to keep hair out of my eyes. Blinking once or twice more, I sneeze softly from the cold and then close in on my target. The crack of a bat (not my own, but rather the Koldovstorez Beater's that the two-headed dragon had on loan for this match in particular) echoes softly off to the side, though judging by commentary he had had no dice on being able to make his attack count. I knew how that felt, especially when I had been a first year at Durmstrang in this very same sport as a Keeper. I always hated missing my marks.
Jojo's aim had been true, and the redhead that I had crunched the ribs of previously and that Charlie had tried to blatch, topples from her broom. In a refined maneuver as if I were diving to save Val or another teammate, I spiral down into a sharp slope, feeling the stinging wind against the raindrops on my face as I try my best to hit higher and higher speeds and defy the constructs of maximum velocity in the physical laws of freefall. My bat, now gripped tightly under my left arm to avoid losing it, my left hand holding the ebony handle of Valetin's family Firebolt, my right hand extending out, farther and farther... as if I were to try and snatch my own sort of snitch...
The whispering of a blue and bronze cloak below me, my fingertips tickled by the fabric. A little further... a little further.... 'Come on... come on..... dammit.... I've got you...'
My fingers hook on the hood of the cloak, and I dig my fingers down the back of the cape until a whole handful of it is snarled in my fingers. So close to the ground that we could almost crash together, I yank myself upwards to cancel the dive, in turn bring the redhead Ravenclaw chaser with me as I scrape along almost on the ground for a moment before yanking the Firebolt once more and commanding it to climb into the skies at a mild slope once again and (for the poor chaser) into an almost entirely unsuspended position in the air.
But, I find that I am unable to hold her for very long, and before I can pull up and to safety in its entirety, perhaps it was something uneven on the ground beneath the Chaser's feet that causes either my hand to slip or her to be jerked out of my grasp, but she is suddenly no longer in my hand, instead on the ground with the other broken Ravenclaws. I wince. I would now most certainly have to go to the medic's tent, or St. Mungos, if injuries were severe enough.
Glancing to the skies ahead to distract myself from this misfortune, I notice that Valetin has his hand held out, as if to snatch that goldbug... he must have grabbed it. His hand closes and he seems ready to pull out of the dive. Meeting Valetin in the middle, I nod to him and focus on the good things that had come from this game. We had won at last.
"Excellent, Valetin. Now those previous years mean nothing. Durmstrang rules supreme once more." I shift the maple bat over my knees again, watching the rest of my team like a mother bear keeping an eye on her cubs. When Valetin mentions detention, I shrug and shake my head in incredulousness of even being called out on the play I had performed. "If you want to come along... I doubt that they'll argue about it. Besides, I didn't even hurt her. I probably spared her more injury than if she had just hit the ground. Still, a tough cookie. You see how many times we had to go after her before she finally went down? HEY, GOOD WORK ON THAT, JOJO!" I shout after our star keeper, waving towards him if he looked my way. "Only one player left in the sky by the time we were through, and all of them claimed by Durmstrang. What a team."
The glitter of the snitch only catches my eye after Valetin presses it softly against his lips in a soft kiss. I imagine. That moment must have been one that he had been waiting for for years. On a changing team, even with all the changing team rosters... we had managed to pull out a win. And it was about dang time too.
It wasn't until Val offered the snitch to me that I swore my heart stopped for a second. The little gold orb seems almost visibly shaken up and disoriented after being snatched out of the air by Val's precise hand. Glittering dully in the rain, its small curvatures and engravings catch the rain and seeming to be magnified by the droplets on it. "Val, I can't... it's yours. You won it fair and square..." I complain to him almost childishly. It didn't feel right to take it from him. Not after all the hard work that he had put into it... that we had put into the team. Still, I knew Val well enough to know that he didn't readily back down from giving something until he had finally managed to give to others what he felt that they deserved to be given.
Reluctantly, I found myself taking the tiny snidget into my far larger hand, turning the orb and rolling it between my fingers in curiosity, ever careful of its delicate silver wings. I would have to find somewhere safe for it... somewhere special.
"I... don't deserve this. Thank you Val. Here's to many more successful years." I finally accept the gift and hold the snidget in my hand to avoid losing sight of it if it could choose to fly off without warning. In a reflection of Val's own affection on it, I kiss the knuckle of my right hand, the one holding the snidge. The small scar that crept down the back of my hand following my veins up and under my sleeve... similar to the ones that Val has as well. Struck by electric light.
A blur of movement, and Madhup joins the party as well in his own incredible and boisterous way. "Madman! Nice to see you not taking a penalty lap! Nice scoring out there. Good on you for playing fair, as we can always count on you to do, eh?" I joke with him lightly as he throws an arm around me in a celebratory hug. "Ach... well, it seem like it. I think this'll be my first one... ever!" I was usually a very good student... actually... I was always a good student. Academically... socially... sporting...
This was the first time I would be getting in trouble for something. Huh. Interesting.
It seemed to be a first time for everything kind of day today, didn't it?
