The Most Precious Snitch

Chapter 1

The snitch was within both of the seekers' grasp when a thunder strokes the Hufflepuff seeker's broom. He fell 180 degrees down, surprisingly still managing to remain on his broomstick. Just a few meters before hitting the ground, Cedric Diggory forced himself to urge his broom up and steadies himself. The crowd had gone from an unmistakable 'oh no!' to become deadly silent. Before what happened was registered, Cedric saw a figure –whom he figured was Harry Potter- falling alarmingly fast. The snitch had begun fleeting near Cedric again and common knowledge told him he could catch it within a matter of seconds. But the question is: which 'snitch' does he want to catch?

Cedric heard the Griffyndors gasped as Harry fell faster and faster. His mind was made up. No silly snitch was worth losing a schoolmate. He sped towards the falling boy praying he'll be in time to catch him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the Headmaster stood up and muttered something. He didn't care though. Surprisingly Harry's fall slowed down. But the boy was still in danger. Cedric urged his broom to go faster. Unfortunately, without a moment to brace himself for the extra weight, his broom, an unconscious Harry and of course, himself, fell from around 30 meters above the sky.

The Hufflepuff landed on his back (which, later, he realized that his broom had flown away before the impact) with the boy-who-lived in his arms.

It was a truly awkward moment for both teams. Neither side caught the snitch. Neither side would ever admit what a mellow sight it was.

-Two days later-

Harry was preparing to be released from the hospital wing when Oliver Wood walked in.

"Madam Hooch had decided we're having a rematch…" he informed Harry with a truly confused look plastered on his face.

Harry hadn't the heart to tell Wood that it was expected all along since neither seeker caught the snitch, "That's great! Although, Diggory would've caught the snitch…"

"I thought so too. Besides he caught you for us so I…" Wood replied, avoiding Harry's eyes, "Say he didn't catch you and got the snitch. Knowing Hufflepuffs they would want a rematch anyway cause you'd have fallen… well… you know where I'm going with this, we could never win the House Cup without you anyway. I mean really, you fell from over 100 meters high Harry… So I…"

"Oliver… I get it…" Harry smiled.

"Yeah, uhm, that's why I hope the rest of the team don't, well, I hope they won't get upset when I tell them, I, uh, forfeited the rematch…" the Captain replied uncertainly. He had a glazed look in his eyes and Harry could tell he still couldn't believe he had just let Hufflepuff won himself.

"Oh…" was all Harry can say.

The news didn't hit the team too well but all of them understood. It was like having to choose between Harry and the match. If a Hufflepuff could choose him over the snitch so easily, they couldn't see any reason why THEY couldn't. It still didn't stop the Gryffindors from feeling like a wreck though.

Harry walked into the Great Hall, planning on catching Diggory before lunch time was over. The Hufflepuff was admitted into the hospital wing but was released before Harry was even conscious. The Weasley twins told him he broke his arm and sported a few scratches here and there. Madam Pomfrey made his broken arm her first priority when she worked on him. Later, he walked out of the hospital wing with a perfectly functioning arm and the forgotten scratches. Of course, he was given a potion to apply on the scratches, but Madam Pomfrey was so hysterical over Harry that she completely forgot to even have a proper look at the scratches.

Harry noted that Diggory wasn't even at the Hufflepuff table. Just as he was about to turn around, a couple of Hufflepuffs approached him to ask how he was. Harry chuckled at the thought that if it was the Slytherins, they wouldn't have cared if he died. They might be celebrating his death in fact.

Later Harry found out that he was excused from lessons for the rest of the day. After chatting with Ron and Hermione, Harry went off to find Diggory again around dinner time. This time, he stalked around the Hufflepuffs area. He wasn't exactly sure where it was so he ended up wandering here and there.

It was after a half-an-hour search that Harry decided to give up. He was about to walk off to Gryffindor's tower when a voice stopped him.

"No, Oliver, I don't want to win just because your team is not competing…" a voice said.

"Technically Cedric, we're STILL competing. We're just forfeiting one match. If your team loses against Ravenclaw then we're back in the running." Harry heard Wood answer.

"Alright, when the two of you are done, I'll be in the Great Hall with Penelope," a new voice, whom Harry suspected to be Percy Weasley's, cut in, "Honestly, who on earth fight over this kind of thing?"

"For once, we agree with Perce, Cedric, you won. Oliver, stop implying he'll lose against Ravenclaw…" a fourth voice joins in. Harry recognized the voice straight away; Fred Weasley's.

His twin spoke next, "Although we don't deny we like to think of it that way…"

Harry was curious. He didn't know The Weasleys, Oliver and Diggory were on a first name basis. By the tone they were using, it was almost as if they had been best mates since they were babies! Harry identified the source of the commotion. It was an empty classroom which, to Harry's knowledge, hasn't been used for years. He leaned in at the door and pressed his ear against the wooden barrier. It wasn't his fault he was curious, must haven been something inherited from James Potter himself.

Suddenly, as soon as his ear touched the wood, a deafening ringing sound filled the room and the nearby corridor. Harry pulled back immediately and covered his ears.

"Snooper alert!" screamed a voice inside. Harry couldn't decide whose it was as he was too busy trying to block out the sound. He turned around and tried to run when he heard footsteps from the other side of the door approaching. Somehow though, he couldn't move. He looked down and saw the most amazing thing; the door handle had turned into a pair of golden hands and was currently holding Harry by the waist. Must be a Weasley charm, Harry thought miserably.

The door was yanked open and Harry was, unfortunately, still stuck to the door, which caused him to be yanked back along with the offending piece of wood.

Five pair of eyes turned towards Harry. Harry felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Uh… Hi?" said Harry in a squeaky and timid sort of voice.

Harry learned that the Woods, Weasleys and Diggorys have been associated with each other for quite a long time. Starting from, as Fred puts it, 'our great-grandparents' great-grandparents' grandparents'. They had welcomed Harry into their conversation but Harry couldn't stop feeling awkward being in the room itself.

It was no secret that Diggory and Oliver were two of Hogwarts' princes-charming. Percy was the Head Boy and the Twins were famous for their pranks. Harry could probably handle them individually, but together, Harry felt so very small.

How he wished Ron was with him.

After a couple of more small talks, Diggory asked Harry if he were okay already. The question reminded Harry why he was even there in the first place.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine… I was, er, actually looking for you…" Harry replied, and then noticing how the rest of the room had arched their eyebrows, Harry quickly finishes, "I wanted to thank you. For, erm, well, saving me…"

"Of course, no problem… It was the right thing to do… Besides, Oliver here had GRACIOUSLY let Hufflepuff win, didn't you, Oliver?" Cedric replied, teasingly.

Oliver looked bewildered and mumbled a few incoherent words before nodding his head. The rest of the room laughed and it was then that Harry noticed a remarkably sexy scratch on Cedric's left cheek.

'Wait the minute… how on earth can a scratch be SEXY? And since when did Diggory become Cedric…?' Harry thought to himself.

The rest had noticed how suddenly thoughtful-looking Harry had became.

"Ah, debating with yourself again are you, Harry?" teased Fred.

Harry's cheek turned a shade pinker, "No, I, well, yes. I just noticed you still have scratches on you Ced-Iggory…"

"Ah, 'Ced-Iggory'. Hey Cedric, that's a nice new nickname we could call you…" said George, "but you're right Harry that one on his cheek is the only one left… It's pretty stubborn…"

"Yeah, it wouldn't budge… We've tried all sorts of things, we've tried bandaging it, but it only made it more obvious…" continued Fred.

"We tried everything really. We even tried kissing… Well, it's still there…" finished George.

Harry's eyes went wide with innocent shock, "Kissing?"

The five looked at Harry oddly for a while before bursting up, "His scratch of course! You know, kiss it better? What were you thinking?"

Harry blushed outright. "Maybe because it hasn't been kissed by the right person eh, Cedric?" teased Oliver.

Cedric laughed. "Yeah, maybe YOU should kiss it, Harry," joked the twins.

Harry discretely went red again. It was no secret how the older boys and girls act in Hogwarts. Same-gender relationship wasn't uncommon. Friends make out with each other when the moment calls for it, couples invite their friends into their dorms at night, and all those jazz. But Harry, being only 13 years-old after all, couldn't help but feel shy at the topic.

Cedric nodded his head, pretending to agree. After nodding a couple of times, he broke into a somewhat good-nurtured smirk and winks at Harry. Before Harry could respond though, Percy stopped laughing without a warning. He stood up and said, "Time to go, dinner will be over in 15 minutes."

Without waiting for a reply, Percy rushed out, pausing at the door for his friends expectantly. The twins stood up and started walking for the door. Oliver quickly got up too and gathered his books while Cedric, reached for his pieces of parchments which were scattered about the floor around his chair.

Harry's brain was overdrove, literally. What just happened may seem innocent, but Harry had seen the look on the five before Percy decided to ruin the moment. Their eyes were twinkling. Cedric wasn't joking. He was actually FLIRTING. Harry almost fainted.

"Harry! There you are! I've been looking ALL OVER for you!" Hermione's voice cut through Harry's trains of thoughts. He looked at Hermione who was tapping her foot impatiently outside the classroom. Ron was nowhere in sight.

Harry made to move but a thought –a highly disturbing one, later he judged- crept into his mind. Cedric was still seated, trying to arrange his parchments. The Twins were teasing Percy about something. Oliver was busy trying to find his Potions book. No one was looking, or so he thought anyway.

Harry stood up, walked to Cedric, bent over a little and kissed Cedric's left cheek where the scratch was. Before Cedric could respond, Harry turned and rushed out, dragging a very wide-eyed Hermione with him.

How glad he was Ron wasn't there.

TBC

Yaviel's Notes: How do you like it? This is going to be a 5 chaptered or more kind of story… So I hope I didn't do too badly for the 1st chapter. I'm sure by now you've realized who the 'most precious snitch' is… Lol… Well, 'till the next chapter… Review please!