Chapter 1 Raindrops and Ginger
When Professor McGonagall brought Harry to him, he barely stopped dancing around inside the castle of Hogwarts. He had expected his team would win the House Cup last year, but Ravenclaw nailed down the victory. This year, his team had to win. It was his earnest wish to win the Quidditch Cup after six years of losing to the Slytherins.
It was nearly the end of October. And the weather had gotten worse. Bullets of raindrops thundered on the roofs and windows of the castle. He shoved open the door of the boy's changing room. The room was filled with the peculiar smell of Quidditch gear, old quidditch broomsticks and dirty socks. Harry had already arrived and started taking off his clothes.
Oliver looked at his lean build and said, "You'd better eat more, Harry. You need lots of stamina to win the game."
Harry felt a little offended by his captain's words. Oliver was sometimes too eager to win, often forgetting how the other members would feel about what he said.
In a bad mood, he said, "I've eaten beacon and two eggs on toast every morning. I know my body very well, thank you."
Then the twins entered soaked from head to toe.
Fred said, "It's raining buckets outside. Are you mad, Oliver?"
George responded, "We need umbrellas instead of Beater's bats."
Oliver didn't hesitate and asked them, "Well, did you at least find out what broomsticks they're using for the next match?"
Fred answered, "They're using new Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. They were shooting through the air like jets."
George said, "They just look like seven green blurs now."
Harry was depressed to hear the unwelcome information about the Slytherins.
Soon the girls were out of their changing room. Harry noticed that they hadn't changed into uniforms yet. Alicia's face seemed to be flushed and Katie was coughing.
Angelina spoke in nasally voice, "Oliver, both Katie and Alicia seem to have caught a cold. They have fevers, too. I think it's spreading because I can't stop sneezing, either. We'll have to take practice off. Sorry." And they left there.
Harry exchanged glances with twins, but Oliver's spirits weren't dampened.
"Well, the odds are that the next match will be played in weather like this. It would be good to get some practice. Are you boys ready?"
Fred groaned and George gave a big sigh and muttered, "Alright. At least we have a big dinner after this. Hunger is the best sauce." He patted Harry on the shoulder trying to cheer him up.
The heavy rain seemed to have a short break. It was drizzling but the wind was picking up. The sky threatened torrents of rain at any moment.
Oliver shouted, "Fred and George, throw a Bludger by turns at Harry. Harry, dodge it and repeat diving and flying up into the air."
Goerge was waiting at the other end. Fred threw the Bludger at Harry on the other side of the pitch. Harry started flying up higher in the air. The first session wasn't so hard. He rather enjoyed the training in the shower of the rain and the wind blowing down from above. The pace of coming Bludgers was slow. It was clear that Fred and George weren't going all out. They seemed to decide that they would make it through by just passing a Bludger not aiming directly at Harry.
Oliver bellowed from the goal posts, "Fred, George, put your whole strength into this! Harry, I'll release the Golden Snitch, now!"
"Keep your temper, Oliver." George shouted back and he returned the Bludger Fred threw from above.
It started raining hard again. It fell down on them in big raindrops. With wet hair stuck to his forehead, Harry squinted at the little glittering wings. He darted towards it but failed. The Golden Snitch slipped away from his right hand.
The wind was now howling in the pitch. He felt like he was fighting the massive gust of wind. Frustration, exhaustion and hunger were filling him. Harry's search for the winged ball seemed to last forever as rain splattered his glasses.
He fantasied over the dinner. He imagined potatoes and beef steaming on his plate and a side of brown gravy that he would pour all over them. Then the winged ball appeared in front of him. Through the haze of the rain he made a second attempt to catch the snitch. This time he succeeded. Oliver looked satisfied and told them that practice was over.
Drenched to the bone, Harry trod miserably to the Gryffindor tower following behind his teammates. Just as the twins and Oliver disappeared behind the portrait of Fat Lady, Harry noticed bright ginger hair to his left. Ginny Weasley stood a few feet away holding out the sports towel for him.
Harry took it and said, "Thank you."
Ginny looked deeply into Harry's eyes, blushed, and turned on her heel. She muttered the password of the Common Room and was through the door before he knew what had happened. Feeling little drops of water trickling down his face, Harry couldn't forget the image of her ginger red hair.
A/N: Many thanks to awesome beta readers, TreacleTart and krazybotharryginny.
