The following Saturday was Draco's first Quidditch match.

"Have an English muffin, Draco," Blaise suggested.

"I'd rather not have anything in my stomach to throw up," Draco coldly replied.

"Alright, mate, just trying to help."

Draco stared at his English muffin for a while before reaching for a green apple.

"I thought you weren't hungry?" Blaise asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Would you rather I starve to death?"

Suddenly, an owl flew in carrying a wrapped package.

"What do you reckon that is?" Theo asked.

"I don't know," Draco said sarcastically. "I mean, it's not as if it's the exact shape of a broom."

"You're right, Draco. What could it be, then?"

For a moment, Draco thought Theo was joking, but he looked dead serious.

"Looks like it's Potter's," Adrian observed.

"Look at Weasel all eager to open it," Draco said. "Bet he's never seen one in his life."

Draco watched the three liars tear apart the wrapping to reveal the Nimbus 2000.

"Correction," Draco said, "Weasel's never seen a broom worth more than his entire house."

His friends laughed and Blaise asked, "Don't you have that broom, too?"

"Mine wasn't paid for by the school," Draco simply replied. "You'd think Potter's parents would leave him some money. I bet they're happier now that they're dead. Potter looks happy, too."

Blaise was puzzled by his friend's comment, but shrugged it off once he'd recalled what had happened.

"Still a bit furious at the troll ordeal?" he asked Draco.

"Not just a bit. Those filthy liars think they've gotten away with it. Revenge comes today. Pitiful Potter won't be looking so good on a broom next to me."

___________________________________________________________

"Scared, Malfoy?" Marcus Flint said, mockingly, as the Slytherin Quidditch team waited to fly onto the pitch.

"Of what, winning?" Draco shot back.

"If you don't fail to disappoint me today, Malfoy, I'll have Higgs back on the team."

"You should be more concerned about your own skills...or lack of them, I should say."

Before Flint could reply, the door opened, and the team flew out onto the pitch, circling around, showing off on their brooms.

"Hello!" came the amplified voice of Lee Jordan from Gryffindor. "Welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season! Today's game: Slytherin vs. Gryffindor!"

The spectators went wild.

"The players take their positions, as Madam Hooch steps out onto the field to begin the game!"

"Now, I want a nice clean game..." Madam Hooch told the players. The looking directly at Flint, she added, "...from all of you."

Lee Jordan commentated on the following events, "The Bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch. Remember, the Snitch is worth a hundred and fifty points. The Seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game."

"Yeah, Draco!" shouted some of the Slytherins and others joined in on a chant, "Malfoy! Malfoy! Malfoy!"

Gryffindor, thinking they were better, countered the Slytherins with a "Potter! Potter! Potter!"

Lee Jordan said, "The Quaffle is released, and the game begins!"

Draco soared above everyone else as he watched some chaser from Gryffindor score the first goal. He saw Potter clap and almost get knocked off his broom by a Bludger so Draco laughed at him...and a Bludger came close to knocking him off as well.

Not too long after, Wood blocked Flint's goal and Gryffindor scored yet another goal.

Draco sighed. He couldn't wait until he was captain; he'd pick players who weren't completely clueless.

He ignored the game until Slytherin started scoring goals. He smirked at the frustrated expression on Potter's face. When the two houses were tied, Draco saw Potter snap his head towards something...the golden snitch.

Potter rushed after it and Draco followed. Suddenly, Potter's broom started spinning out of control. The snitch was gone already. Draco knew neither the broom nor its rider was at fault for this. His eyes wandered towards the staff section and he saw Quirrell muttering something, as well as Snape. It seemed that bloody Granger had noticed that, too.

"Annoying know-it-all," Draco muttered as he flew over the staff section. He removed his wand from his robe and muttered, "Petrificus Totalus" while pointing it at Quirrell. Soon enough, Potter was back on his broom, flying towards a smug Draco.

"What was that all about?" he asked Draco.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You just Petrified a teacher!"

"He was cursing you."

"No he wasn't! If anyone, it was probably Snape."

"Look, I don't appreciate you acting like you're the most perfect person in the world. I still haven't forgotten the troll incident, and Professor Snape happens to be a friend of my father's. So if I hear any more false accusations and lies from you, I'll dig up your dead parents and scream at them in front of you for not teaching you any better!"

"Malfoy-"

Draco's eyes suddenly widened as he zoomed past Potter towards the golden snitch. Potter immediately followed him and the two raced neck in neck towards the ground. Draco pulled up just in time, or he would have crashed. Of course Potter wouldn't; he had enough time to straighten up.

Potter stood up on his broom and reached for the snitch as Draco found the perfect angle from which to swoop in and do his job. When Potter stepped forward, Draco jumped off his broom and grabbed the snitch...just as Potter's mouth came in contact with Draco's glove. Both seekers fell to the ground.

Madam Hooch immediately rushed over to them.

"Slytherin has the snitch!" she called.

The Slytherins burst into cheer as the Gryffindors booed.

"Slytherin wins, 170 to 20!" Lee Jordan shouted, a bit angry.

Off the pitch, Draco's friends and teammates congratulated him.

"Nice catch, mate!" Blaise said.

"Yeah," the others agreed.

Marcus Flint came up to Draco and said, "Looks like I won't be replacing you after all." He left just as soon as he'd come.

"That thing with Potter's broom, that was weird!" Adrian said.

"What'd you curse Quirrell for?" Theo asked.

"You saw that?" Draco asked, stunned.

"Just barely caught it! You're lucky the rest of the school was busy watching Potter. Dunno why you saved him, though."

"You know those filthy Gryffindors, Theo, they'd've said that Slytherin only won because of Potter's broom malfunction."

"True," Blaise admitted, "but that's that. Let's go celebrate with our star player!"

As Draco walked to the dungeons, Potter, followed by his pals, came up to him.

"Malfoy," Potter said, looking at him expectantly.

"Yes, Potter?"

"Thanks."

Draco merely nodded and headed off towards the dungeons. He could feel Potter's stare on his back so he stopped and replied, "Don't mention it."

Footsteps went in the other direction and Draco went to his dorm.

_____________________________________________________________

"I can't believe you thanked Malfoy!" Ron repeated for the hundredth time in their room.

"He saved my life," Harry told him.

"Hermione was on her way to stop Snape, too!"

"It wasn't Snape, apparently."

Ron stopped pacing and said, "What?"

"Malfoy told me that Quirrell was the one cursing me. That's why he Petrified him and not Snape."

"Why?"

"I don't know, Ron. I think I'll be heading down to lunch now. Seeking isn't that easy, you know."

A/N: I encourage you all to share this book with your friends, comment, vote, and keep on reading! Thank you all so much!