Grail!
Scarlett truly hated playing against the Wasps. Ludo Bagman’s face on that gigantic screen brought literal pains to her chest, and it was as if he made it a point to be in her line of vision just to flash her that smirk of his. Ugh. Playing for the Wasps had been the worst season of her life and she hated having to relive it every time they played in Wimbourne.

It was probably an attempt at a scare tactic, she thought as she readied herself for the quickly approaching swarm of players. Bagman was trying to get into her head so that she got distracted, but Scarlett was better than that. It was going to take more than his ugly face to get that quaffle through one of her hoops. Left, right, left, she watched the red ball get tossed back and forth, just out of the grasp of their chaser. Carys was going to swoop in at any second from below, and Tristan from the top, but until then---

She winced at the sight of a bludger smacking the Wasps’ chaser straight in the gut, sending him flying off his broom. Her eyes followed the quaffle that had dropped down with him. Scarlett lurched forward to accept the ball from Carys (coming from below, as she had predicted), and it was only because of the gasp of the crowd that she looked up and managed to see the broomstick before it hit her.



Scarlett managed to keep her grip on her own broom as she was pushed back by the force. She blinked, wondering why the crowd was shouting like it was. Carys had the quaffle, but no one was moving, the game had stopped. She blinked again and looked down at her stomach. Oh. Did anyone else see the broomstick protruding out of her?

Her eyes drifted up to the big screen and for the first time that night it was someone other than Bagman being showcased. Funny. Scarlett blinked at the giant image of her on the screen before she lost her grip on her broom and tilted, sliding off into a plummet toward the pitch.