Harry circled high above the action, and swore as the Germans scored again. The Quidditch World Cup and 45 minutes into the game England were down by 60 points. He hoped he would catch sight of the snitch soon because it didn't look like the chasers were going to pull themselves together.
In the stands, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and the rest of the Weasley family watched the action intently. Ron had been yelling insults through most of the game, although no-one was sure if they were directed at the German chasers scoring against them, or the poorly performing English players. Something gold zipped past the glass window of the box they were seated in.
"Was that the snitch?" Ron yelled excitedly, "Did Harry see it? He better get it soon, it's England's turn to win the cup now! We've waited nearly 40 years bloody hell what was that?" The last part of his speech was directed at a bludger swerving at the last minute to avoid smashing the window. The people in the seats were protected by charms from the action, but this box was apparently not.
Hermione was actually rather bored, England were losing and Harry hadn't even done anything yet. She wasn't sure what Ron was getting so worked up about, he'd have forgotten in two weeks if they lost anyway.
At that particular moment, Harry actually shared Hermione's feelings. He'd been flying in circles for nearly an hour and not even a glimpse of the snitch, and the German seeker kept spitting at him. At least he'd had a few bludgers to dodge, the German beaters were bloody good he'd give them that. He groaned as the other team scored again, so were their chasers, he'd just have to hope he was a better seeker.
God, that seeker had a big nose.
It was while he was thinking this that he noticed that the German was speeding directly towards him. Trying to knock him off his broom? Well...
Something small, round and gold flew through his hair, and in a second Harry had somersaulted over to turn around and was speeding after it, the German seeker close behind him. The snitch was just out of his reach, his fingers brushed its edge and it darted away in a different direction. He could almost feel the other seekers breath on his neck, but it was beginning to outrun both of them, it was a foot away from his outstretched hand now, if he jumped he could probably...
He launched himself from his broom, catching the snitch and in the same instant realising he was probably going to die. Luckily the England keeper had more sense than keeping skills, and flew up to catch him with a heavy thud.
A second ago he'd been about to die, now he was being hugged by his team-mates and all around him there were fire-works and people cheering. His head was spinning and he could still feel the tiny gold ball trying to escape his fingers.
Hermione was quite tired actually, they'd been up early the previous morning to get here and she was just about to doze off when...
"YES, WE DID IT! I KNEW HE COULD DO IT, WELL DONE MATE."
Ron was yelling and jumping up and down and hugging everyone including her.
Ginny was laughing and pulling her out of her seat, "We won Hermione! Harry caught the snitch!"
And she found herself yelling and cheering and jumping around too.
Harry had retrieved his broom for the victory lap, but first flew to the window of the box his friends were sitting in, and, grinning, made a gesture with his hands to ask them to come outside into the seats. Ron was up and running before he'd flown away, Hermione and Ginny followed quickly behind.
They made the victory lap, Harry holding the snitch in the air for as long as his aching arm allowed and shook hands with the German team.
As the Cup was due to be presented, Harry, elated with confidence and happier than ever, tapped the Minister on the shoulder and said quietly, "Can I say a few words, mate?"
The Minister was a bit surprised, it wasn't traditional, but this was the Boy Who Lived...
Holding his wand to his throat to magnify his voice, Harry looked directly at Ginny and held the snitch in the air, clenched between a thumb and finger for everyone, but especially her, to see.
"You will marry me won't you?" he yelled.
On the screen used to show the scores, the crowd saw Ginny's eyes fill with tears, beside her Hermione was crying and Ron was shaking his head in amazement. She said something no-one heard, until Hermione jammed her wand against Ginny's throat.
"'Course I will you stupid bastard, now let him give you that bloody cup before everyone gets bored and goes home."
And the stadium cheered, louder than before, and Harry laughed and cried and yelled and jumped around and when he finally got to see Ginny close up, she hugged him and laughed at him and said, "I'm expecting a ring and not just that stupid snitch."