The Quidditch match schedule had come out — the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match would be held on the weekend of the third week of term.
Cho Chang had been rather troubled lately. Ever since term began, spurred on by the thought of Harry's Firebolt, she'd been putting in extra hours of practice at the Quidditch pitch every single day.
"Nice work — you shaved another minute off your Snitch-catching time!"
At the Ravenclaw captain's call, the whole team finally broke apart to rest.
Cho Chang gripped her Nimbus and jogged over to the stands. "I can't believe you actually came to watch me!"
Kate looked both puzzled and amused. "Why wouldn't I come? There's no rule against people from other houses watching practice on the pitch, is there?"
There wasn't any rule written down, no — but it was one of those unspoken understandings everyone just followed.
After all, during practice, teams ran drills specific to their strategy. If outsiders watched, tactics could easily leak.
But Kate had walked right in, bold as anything.
As the Ravenclaw captain put it, "With a Shafiq around, even Cho Chang could pull Firebolt numbers on a Nimbus."
When he said that, the teammates around Cho Chang all stifled snickers, and all she could do was be grateful Kate hadn't been standing close enough to hear.
Not that it made much difference, though.
The moment she thought of Kate standing there in the stands cheering her on, Cho Chang felt like she had boundless energy to burn.
"Come on, let's go. You must be bored, standing around here so long," she said, taking Kate's hand and leading her off the pitch under a barrage of gossip-hungry stares from the team.
Kate let herself be pulled along, a little confused — she hadn't actually been bored at all.
She herself wasn't much good at sports, and neither was Hermione. But Cho Chang was different — the way she soared through the air really did look like a fierce, graceful hawk.
Kate didn't have any particular interest in Quidditch itself, but she loved watching Cho Chang pour her sweat and effort into the pitch.
It was probably the same feeling those girls in her past life used to get watching boys play basketball.
It was never really about the basketball. It was about the boy playing it.
As they were leaving, Kate noticed a few of the Ravenclaw players still staring after them, and casually raised a hand to wave at them.
"What are you doing?" Cho Chang, flustered, thumped her on the arm. "Ignore them, just walk faster!"
If they didn't hurry, her teammates would catch up and start teasing them to their faces.
Kate blinked, and a little bewildered, quickened her pace to keep up, a strange feeling rising in her chest.
Could it be that Cho Chang thought her coming to watch practice had been some kind of bother?
A faint sense of disappointment spread through her chest at once. She lowered her eyes and let Cho Chang lead her all the way out onto the lawn outside the castle before finally coming to a stop.
Cho Chang let go of her hand with one arm and leaned her broomstick against a tree with the other, and only then did her nerves finally ease. She looked out at the Black Lake before them, her mood considerably lighter.
"Don't worry — Harry might have a Firebolt, but I believe my own hard work won't fall short of him by an inch!"
She said it with real spirit, and it swept away the last traces of the low mood that had been settling in Kate's chest. Kate immediately stepped up to stand beside her.
"I know you're confident. But if you had the chance to fly a Firebolt in a match too, would you want to?"
Cho Chang turned, startled. "Isn't Harry your friend? Why would you want to help me instead?"
"Because you're the friend who matters more," Kate answered earnestly.
She'd actually wrestled with the decision for a while before saying it — a good two or three seconds, at least.
She knew that if she brought out the Firebolt, everyone would realize the one Malfoy had was actually hers. But she still wanted Cho Chang to try it.
At the very least, Cho Chang deserved to start from the same line as Harry — that was the only way the match would really be fair.
As for Malfoy, it had been a full week now since she'd exchanged a single word with Kate.
Kate wasn't sure whether something she'd said before had struck a nerve, or whether Malfoy genuinely wanted to change.
Either way, the Firebolt had been hers to begin with. Who she chose to lend it to was entirely her own business.
And if Malfoy got angry about it, well — that might even give her a reason to come find Kate and talk, which would let Kate see what she was really thinking these days.
But Cho Chang only thought it over for a moment before shaking her head with a smile. "No need. I think the Nimbus you gave me is plenty good. I really like it."
"But the Comet 260's performance is nowhere near the Firebolt's," Kate said, frowning, not quite understanding. "You could have much better conditions to compete under."
"I know. I know that if you wanted to, you could get your hands on a Firebolt for me without any trouble at all."
Cho Chang lifted a hand to brush a stray strand of hair back behind her ear, then turned to look at Kate again. "But if I did that, wouldn't the match just turn into a contest between Quidditch equipment?"
Kate blinked, then said a bit impatiently, "But equipment has always been part of the match. Every top team flies the best broomsticks there are."
"But I want to try," Cho Chang said, pressing her lips together, the light in her eyes growing steadier. "I want to see just how far I can push myself and my own broomstick against Harry and his Firebolt."
The words might have sounded a little naive, but they were proof of the confidence Cho Chang had built through sheer hard work and practice.
Of course.
Kate put her hands on her hips, helpless. "I should've known you wouldn't take the Firebolt."
"Oh?" A flash of amusement lit Cho Chang's eyes. "If you already guessed that, why did you even ask me?"
She'd expected as much, and yet she still hadn't quite been able to help herself from trying.
Kate leaned back against the tree, tilting her head to study the Comet 260 at Cho Chang's side. "Even so, the Comet's performance really is a bit too far behind."
"Once I graduate and start earning money, I'll be able to get a broomstick all my own," Cho Chang said, unbothered, lovingly wiping down the broom's handle, already polished to a shine.
"All right, then," Kate said, spreading her hands with a look of mock helplessness. "Actually, the school's got a batch of Nimbus 2001s that got retired from the top teams recently. I imagine in a few days they'll be handed out to the house teams."
Cho Chang's eyes went wide with shock. "Secondhand broomsticks retired from top teams are usually kept as backups — how could they possibly—"
Then realization struck her, and half excited, half delighted, she grabbed Kate by the collar. "You bought them and donated them to the school, didn't you?"
"Not exactly bought," Kate corrected. "My family's invested in a few teams, and I just happen to have some dealings with their owners."
Any problem money could solve wasn't really a problem at all.
Besides, secondhand broomsticks weren't even that expensive to begin with.
Faced with her generosity, Cho Chang couldn't help but duck her head and grin foolishly for a moment before catching herself and thumping Kate lightly. "Don't go throwing your money around for no reason from now on!"
"I'm contributing to the school — how is that throwing money around for no reason?" Kate said, spreading her hands with a perfectly straight face.
But at the sight of Cho Chang's clearly unimpressed expression, she immediately changed her tune. "Yes, ma'am — Miss Cho Chang's every wish is my command!"
"You are seriously... " Cho Chang trailed off, torn between exasperation and laughter, reaching out to swat her.
Kate dodged out of reach just in time.
And the two of them ended up chasing each other around under the tree, dodging and darting, laughing all the while.
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