Hey everybody! I realize that many of you may shun me due to my *cough* epic slowness in updating… I know 3 years is pushing it. But here it is happily so edited and back underway.

SIDE NOTE: I OWN NOTHING… wish I did, but I don't

Chapter One

As Ginny picked her scattered books up from the empty hall she started thinking of what she really wanted to do with her life. She had spent 17 years of her life obsessed and focused on one thing and one thing only… Harry Freakin' Potter. She probably would still be obsessed with him to, if she hadn't just walked in on him and her brother making out in the broom closet. What Percy was doing at Hogwarts was one thing, why the hell he was making out with "the boy who was apparently gay" was a whole other thing. It was Ginny's 7th year, but the so-called 'golden trio' had returned to finish out Hogwarts, along with most of their class, so she knew she would spend a significant amount of time in classes with Harry. She just couldn't figure out how she was going to not say anything to him. It had taken a long time to rebuild the castle after the battles were settled, and her family had been surprisingly lucky when it came to casualties in the war, only loosing Fred in the end. Harry had been with them since then, and she had thought that he was meant for her. He was always protecting her, making sure that she was ok. He had told her he just needed time, that it was just the aftereffects of the war. Apparently no one told him that liking cock wasn't an aftereffect. When she had finally gotten past the shock of what she was seeing, she had just run. Moving as fast as her feet could carry her she had even left the closet door wide open so all could see them. She had made it almost clear across the castle before she tripped over that damn cat.

Said cat was now circling around her, watching her pick up the last of her things from the stone. "You could try to help me you know." The cat moved itself in front of her, and batted a stray book towards her as though it understood what she had been saying. "That's more like it." Though that was the only thing that cat did to help her before it started circling her again.

As Ginny reached for her transfiguration book the cat stopped dead in its tracks, and started butting its head against her leg. "What are you hungry or something? Don't you have an owner to annoy?" Ginny grabbed the last book from the floor, and stood to continue to her dormitory. She had only walked a few feet before turning to look at the cat now sitting where she had been before. Its eyes were looking up towards her almost hopefully. "Well are you just going to sit there, or are you coming with me?" The cat seemed to think for a second, and then trotted up to her, its warm brown eyes looking up at her as she strode towards her dormitory.

As Ginny traveled the rest of the way across the castle she tried to wrap her mind around everything. She knew that Harry wouldn't intentionally hurt her, so it had to have been something that he'd been struggling with. There had to be a reason, something that would keep him from telling her, maybe she really was just his best friends little sister. The annoying fourth wheel that he just felt obligated to protect.

Ginny didn't bother looking around the common room as she entered, she knew that Hermione would be in the library, Ron in the kitchens or on the overgrown Quidditch pitch, and Harry was locked in a closet with her brother… her damn stodgy prissy arse brother. Her feet carried her half way up the stairs to the girl's dormitory before she realized that the cat hadn't followed her. She poked her head down the stairs, to find the cat sitting at attention at the bottom of the staircase staring up at her. "Well are you coming?" The cat let out a small mew before lowering its head to the floor. Ginny made her way down the stairs again, scooping up the little fur ball and carrying him merrily up the stairs. "You know it would be a lot easier if you would just follow me without all the protesting." Ginny laughed a bit as she scratched the top of the cat's head.

Ginny threw her books carelessly atop her trunk before flopping down on her bed, and staring towards the ceiling. How could he be gay and she not know about it. Ginny closed her eyes, but all she could see was Harry's raven black hair in stark contrast with Percy's bright red locks. Ginny's eyes began to water as she thought of all the wasted time, and wasted memories that she had spent on Harry. She spent years upon years fawning over the boy-who-lived and wasting every last ounce of energy hoping that one day he would see her in the light that she saw him in. "You know, I just don't know how I could ever have thought that he would love me. I was so stupid, he is the boy-who-lived, and he fought Voldemort and won. Why would he ever love me, the poor girl down the road who just happens to be Ron's little redheaded freckle faced sister?" Ginny posed the question to the air as she mused through her thoughts. Heaving a sigh she relented, "Oh right… I have the wrong bits apparently".

She was lost completely in her thoughts, so much so that she didn't notice the cat staring intensely at her as it waltzed across her bed and jumped, landing squarely on her thighs. Ginny jolted out of her thoughts, and her eyes met the molten chocolate ones of her new cat. "I suppose I should give you a name. That is, if you intend to stay with me and not run off and trip another unsuspecting girl." At this the pretty cat nuzzled its head against her stomach, then stared back up at her face. "Alright then," Ginny said with a giggle. "How about Rupert?" A growl rose up from the seemingly precious cat. "Ok… Ok… then how about Daniel?" A less impressive growl, but still a growl erupted from the cat once more. "Fine," Ginny closed her eyes to think of something. She listed off a whole slew of more popular wizarding names, including Harry. All elicited a low but strong growl from the little fur ball. "I'm sure that we can come up with something that we both like." Ginny looked around the room, searching for something inspirational. As her eyes wandered over the various piles of miscellaneous junk a shiny black record that Luna had lent her the other day jumped out at her. It's title read 'The Cool Jazz of the Masters' she mused over using one of the musicians names. Though, all the odd muggle music on it was a bit weird. That particular type of music was a little interesting, and a bit unique. However, whenever she heard the high pitched squeal of those little brass things she couldn't help but hum along. "What about Jazz?" The cats head tilted to the side a bit, and then a meow of approval left his mouth.

"Alright Jazz, now what do you think I should do about Harry?" Jazz made a small circle on her lap, before settling his head on her knee, to listen. "At least I don't have to deal with him all on my own. I've always got someone with me when I see him." Ginny mused on speaking absently to Jazz as she thought through her problems. She always found it comforting to talk about her problems aloud. It was almost as if it helped her work through her problems with a little more ease then when she kept her thoughts locked in her brain. Ginny slowly ran out of things to say, so she just sat, her hand gliding through Jazz's sleek coat. She had just about drifted off to sleep when Hermione burst in the door, shocking her out of her light sleep.

"GINNY! What are you doing in bed?" Hermione's chest heaved with ragged breaths, as though she had run all the way from the library, which it was most likely she had. The moment Hermione stepped through the heavy oak doors of Hogwarts she had holed herself up in the library. In her eyes she was a whole year behind where she should've been. "Never mind, you can't miss dinner!" Ginny rolled her eyes at the woman who was notorious for missing dinner herself.

"Oh, and why Oh-Brilliant-One, am I required to go to dinner?" Ginny let out a startled yelp as Jazz darted from her lap as she mentioned dinner and trotted hastily out the door.

"Who was that? Never mind… you have to come because Dumbledore is making a VERY important announcement." Ginny groaned as she rolled her legs off the bed and stood.

"When is Dumbledore not making a very important announcement?" Ginny stretched as she stood, glancing out the door where Jazz had left through. "The stairs must me malfunctioning again." Hermione's gaze went passed her to see that the stairs had flattened to a shiny slick slide.

"Well at least that makes going down more interesting, and you know that it's important we give Dumbledore all the support we can." Ginny nodded, she knew that some of the remaining ministry officials were having troubles adjusting to the post-war circumstances.

"Fine, but I still don't want to actually go. I mean what could be so important that all of us need to be there? Plus you could always just fill me in later." Hermione sent Ginny her token glare that had been rumored to rival even Snape's.

"Ginevra Weasley, you know that it is my duty as head girl to insure that all rules and requests by the headmaster are fulfilled by students. That and I AM NOT going to dinner with those two buffoons all by my lonesome… So move your arse." Ginny just shrugged in defeat before Hermione herded her out the door and down to the common room.

…...

The new and improved Great Hall was scattered with all the students that were currently attending Hogwarts. This normally would've filled each and every inch to the max, but after the war less families felt comfortable sending their children away from home for long amounts of time, even with Dumbledore running things again. Though it did still unnerve a few that a ghost was the headmaster of the school. Not many understood why McGonagall had stepped down when he had appeared, only those who knew of the romantic relationship that had been brewing between the two over the last century. She had cried for a solid week after the war was over, grieving for him finally after all that time. It was half way through the renovations that he appeared; they had been rebuilding one of the outer walls protections when he just popped in out of nowhere in certain Dumbledore fashion.

As Ginny nibbled at her toast she could feel Harry's worried eyes on her every so often. "Harry, mate, what's wrong with you today?" Ginny's eyes flicked from Harry to Ron then back to her plate.

"Nothing, I just… no, it's nothing. Promise." Harry's eyes stayed glued to his plate.

"Harry, I hate to say this, but Ron is right. You look as though something is really bothering you. You know you can…" Dumbledore's booming voice rang through the hall, cutting off Hermione's words.

"Pleasant evening all!" The smiling mildly transparent form of Dumbledore drifted through the staff table where he sat watching over the hall. "I know that you are all wondering why I have asked you to gather tonight. I have a rather surprising, and hopefully happy announcement to make." As Dumbledore began to open his mouth, a rather loud bang rang from the back of the hall. A slightly disheveled figure emerged from the door, and strode towards the front of the hall. "Ah, Mr. Wood. Just in time." The collective hall turned towards the figure of Oliver Wood, and some girlish gasps rang through the hall at his appearance. Most had heard the horrors that happened to him during the war, but none had actually seen it in person. He was still the same, but there were a few small changes that you could tell immediately. His skin was paler, but that wasn't the surprising thing it was the small scars that etched their way across his strong face. His chiseled jaw was notched in a few places, giving him an almost terrifying look. His eyes were still just as sexy and smoldering brown as before, but they had taken on a harder, wiser look. "Mr. Wood will be heading up our new task." Heads snapped back to Dumbledore as he began speaking again. "We are going to start up the Hogwarts Quidditch teams again, with a bit of a twist." The moment the word Quidditich was uttered Ron jumped on the bench with a hand in the air and screamed.

"Yes! FINALLY!" Harry pulled Ron back down to the bench, but Dumbledore smiled knowingly in his direction, though his smile turned to a frown as Hermione stood with a huff and turned to walk away. "Hermione, where are you going?" Ron's musing was caught throughout the whole hall as heads turned to the bushy haired witch.

"While I am utterly glad that everyone will have something fun and exciting to do while they are putting off studying, I need to get back to the library. I've been away from school for too long as it is, and I need to catch up on my work." With a swish of her robes Hermione disappeared from the room, leaving everyone in a stunned silence except for Dumbledore, who expected this from his star pupil. Snape sneered as Dumbledore's transparent eyes still managed to twinkle at the sight of such a common display among the castle.

Snape would never admit in public that it was thanks to that certain bouncy brunette that he had managed to live after Nagini bit him. He was however constantly reminded of that fact, as a sudden jolt of pain would shoot up from the still slightly toxic puncture wounds. She had risked her life and her friend's lives to apparate him (illegally he might add) to just outside the Hogwarts grounds, then somehow managed to get him to his lab. The venom had paralyzed him instantly, but Hermione had known from years of 'borrowing' things from his stores that a single boazer stone laid in a hidden back corner. She had rushed in, and forced the stone down his throat, saving him. The site of the puncture wounds however had never healed quite right; leaving jagged white marks the size of quarters on his neck. Every so often he would catch Hermione staring at him during class. He figured that she regretted saving him, it wasn't as if he had ever done anything for her. Now however he owed her a life debt, and she would have to set those terms for him. He hadn't even gotten up the nerve to thank her, which most figured was just him being snarky. For all intensive purposes he was still pretending to be the bastard he had always been while he was working for Voldemort, but really he wasn't always the man most took him to be. He had tried to be nice at the beginning, but found that it was so engrained inside of everyone's minds that he was an evil man that no one took him seriously. He was determined to eventually make someone believe he was an actual human being, and not the heartless bastard that most thought he was. Snape was forced out of his thoughts as Dumbledore spoke again, the image of Hermione drifting to the back of his mind.

"Yes Mr. Wesley, we will finally be starting the teams up again, but there are a few changes. I will leave Mr. Wood to explain the rest however." Dumbledore floated over to stand behind Minerva, a ghostly hand on her shoulder as he relinquished the podium to Oliver.

As Oliver approached the front of the room he couldn't help but shiver under all of the eyes watching him. He looked over to see even Malfoy was staring at him in eager anticipation from the Slytherin table; it was then he realized that these kids really weren't kids anymore, after all they had been through, and all they had seen they needed some joy back in their lives. "I know that you are all undoubtedly excited, but there will be a few more unique features to this set up. We will still have the normal seven person teams, with the 4 teams that will be competing for the cup. Though, there will be a bit of a twist, teams wont only be judged based on the score at the end of the game, but on the technique, and skill throughout the game. These things will all count when it comes to the cup. Myself and a few other past players will judge the talents and skills of the individual players as well as their skills as a team. I realize that this may be a bit of a shock, but it is the way that it will be. I will be making the final decisions on the members of the teams, at tryouts which will be held tomorrow." At this news a stunned silence hung through the air.

"That's not nearly enough time to prepare!" Oliver took in the bright red hair of Ginny Weasley who stood at her table, staring up at Oliver in shock. Her shrill voice reminded him of when Mrs. Weasley use to reprimand Fred, George, and himself after some of their shenanigans, but this girl looked only a bit like her mother. He had seen her in battle a few times, but it was always in passing as one or both of them were shooting off a spell or diving behind a barrier. He now looked at her with fresh eyes, he had never expected for the little sister of his best friends to look… well hot. He took in her battle-toned figure that was only partially obstructed by her robes, and her huge honey flecked brown eyes that stared back at him in defiance. "You cannot seriously expect us to be ready after all this time without playing, in one night!" Oliver took in her form, hands on hips, her lips pursed in anger. He liked how her hair was wild and streaked with strawberry blonde highlights and dark auburn sections, that curled unruly around her head as though she had spelled it this morning, but it was slowly wearing into chaos. It took him a moment to process everything before he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Miss Weasley, the purpose of catching you off guard is to see who of you have the raw unbidden talent to perform as I expect. I am attempting to see who of you are still focused enough to perform admirably. If you do not have the required skills Miss Weasley then perhaps you shouldn't try out." Oliver smirked at Ginny's look as it turned ice cold.

"What time?" Oliver looked straight into Ginny's eyes as she spoke, her words coming out sounding more like FUCK YOU than anything else.

"Seven A.M. Sharp." With that Oliver left the stage and passed through the crowds of whispering students and out the door.

Ginny fumed the whole way back to the dorm, as she ran what Oliver had said to her over in her head a million different ways. She was just about to close the portrait of the fat lady when Jazz jumped through the opening, cozying up to her leg and mewing at her. "Hey Jazz. Where did you come from?" The little cat just wound its way around her legs, rubbing against her. "Oh, Well, I think I'm going to bed a bit early tonight. Come on." Ginny scooped Jazz up in her arms, and carried him up to her room, avoiding the ruckus being made in the common room. She didn't know why, but for some reason he really didn't like going up those stairs.

"You know Jazz…" Ginny's voice was muffled as she stripped off her shirt. "…I really hate the fact that Oliver can act so high and mighty, he completely pisses me off." Ginny continued changing out of her school clothes and into her pajama's as she spoke to the fluffy little cat. Ginny looked over at Jazz as she pulled off her bra to find his eyes averted to the bed sheet. "Well aren't you just a little gentleman of a cat." Ginny scooped Jazz up and hugged him to her naked chest before placing him back on the bed and continuing to dress.

"You know what the worst thing about him is though Jazz?" Ginny pulled her oversized Quidditch Jersey over her head then settled herself down on the bed next to Jazz. "He is so incredibly gorgeous. I mean, I want to be really mad at him, but I can't be that angry at a guy that insanely hot, and eloquent." Ginny snuggled down into her bed, and cuddled Jazz to her, stroking his fur as he purred. "He said the most asinine thing to me, yet it was the sexiest thing ever for some reason. Just the way his voice came out of that sexy body and amazing jaw line." The purring coming from Jazz stopped for a moment, as though he was really listening to what Ginny said, before her stroking became too much for him, and he started up again. The light grumbling of the purr lulled Ginny into a deep and fantasy ridden sleep, with the main star being none other than Oliver Wood himself.

...

Oliver wandered quietly through the halls, still unaccustomed to being a staff member. It wasn't long ago that he stole down these same halls to play a prank or swipe something from the kitchens. The latter was his goal for tonight. After his banter with Ginny he had left the hall, completely forgetting to grab some dinner. That little girl was not so little anymore. He hadn't realized quite how much the war had changed her. She was in the thick of things during the battle, he had seen her often enough to know that. He hadn't really taken the time to look at her though. She had nearly knocked him over with that glare of hers, and it wasn't out of fear. Oliver shook his head to try and clear his head as he reached up to tickle the pear. It always seemed odd to him that after all these years they never changed the fruit or made it any more difficult for kids to get into the kitchen.

His head was down as he entered, but snapped to attention as he heard an oddly familiar squeal. "Percy?" There in the dark corner was none other than Percy Weasley, with his hair mussed, no shirt, and his pants unbuttoned.

"Oliver… we… I mean… um… What're you doing here?" Oliver looked around the room, but saw only house elves.

"I could ask you the same question. And what do you mean 'we'?" Percy's head snapped around the kitchen before returning to Oliver. "N… nothing apparently." Oliver gave a knowing glance towards Percy's open pants.

"Ok, Percy." Oliver took a seat at the table and smiled as his favorite elf Winky popped up to him.

"What can I be doing for you Mr. Oli sir?" Oliver couldn't help but laugh at the little elf's pronunciation of his name, though no wizard would understand the muggle police reference.

"Just a sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice Winky." The little elf bowed low and skittered over to another part of the kitchen. Oliver smiled once more as he turned to Percy who was now sliding his shirt over his shoulders. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I had some of the ministers business to attend to." Oliver snickered at Percy's rather pompous tone of voice.

"Sure… did his business include doing some bird in the kitchens?" Percy's face turned a brilliant shade of red as he looked around once more. "Where did she get off to anyway?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Oliver smiled as he pushed half of the huge roast beef sandwich across the table.

"Of course you don't Perc."

Authors note: Reviews = Love