Now, I am sorry about how long this chapter is. I think it is about twice the size of the last chapter. I just couldn't bring myself to split it and, I figure, you guys probably like the longer chapters, huh? Well, I hope so, because this is definitely one of them.

This chapter was fun to write and I hope you guys like it as much as I do. If you do, or even if you don't, please leave a review. I would love to hear from you, even if you are telling me it is the worst story ever written. I know a lot of you have read this, so just take 30 seconds to let me know what you think. Please!

I have to give credit to my cous on this one. She really helped me get through a couple tough spots. And since were doing that, I should also thank the rocks, and the beach, and the lake.....

Just Kidding! Here is the chapter!


Chapter 3: The Match

Ginny was picking at her food. She could hear the voices of her friends as they enjoyed their lunch, but she couldn't bring herself to eat. She was too tired. Gently massaging a kink out of her neck that had resurfaced from her cramped sleeping quarters from the night before, she yawned and sighed. She had no energy left and somehow she doubted it was only because of lack of sleep. Ron hadn't spoken to her in weeks and Hermione barely noticed her as they passed in the hall. Ginny knew it wasn't their fault; they were going through the same thing Harry was, but she still suffered from the withdrawal of her best friends. She had grown closer to those three in the last year than everyone except Lizzy, but she no longer felt like she new them. She sighed again and tried to focus on the conversation.

"He is totally still available," Des was saying with conviction, "I can tell by the way he walks. A taken guy, especially one of his league, walks as though he is being tortured."

"Whatever Des," Lauren said, "I can see by the way she looks at him, so arrogant and proud of herself. She has him safe in her clutches."

Ginny had no idea who they were talking about and soon tuned her friends out. A moment later, however, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Ginny looked up, startled out of her dozing.

"Ginny," It had been Lizzy that woke her, "We have the afternoon off today, so you and I are going to go do some flying. What do you say?"

Ginny looked at her friend thoughtfully. A change from the normal schedule of studying would be nice and it had been ages since she had flown. Quiditch had been cancelled this year because of You-Know-Who's reign and she thought a good fly might just clear her head a little bit. "You know?" She asked, finally breaking into a grin, "that may be the best idea I have heard in ages."

Lizzy chuckled and together they ran up to the dorms to get their brooms. They quickly walked back down to the Quiditch pitch. When they reached it, Ginny felt the first true smile forming on her face. She mounted her broom and kicked off, soaring through the sky. She felt the wind whip though her hair and she could feel her heart lift. A weight she didn't know existed fell from her shoulders, and for the first time in months, she felt like herself again. She laughed out loud and Lizzy, glad her friend had finally found some freedom, joined her. Ginny touched down and ran into the team locker rooms, grabbing the chest of balls from the storage closet. As she turned around from shutting the locker room door, she noticed some people standing at the edge of the field talking to Lizzy. She squinted, trying to see who had crashed their party. Then she noticed the tell tale short red hair and grinned. Walking over, she heard some of their conversation.

"Please guys," Lizzy was pleading, "I just got her to smile. She was actually enjoying herself. Could you please leave?"

Ron scowled, "Why should we make a difference to whether or not she has fun? We'll stay on the opposite side of the pitch if absolute need be."

Ginny set the balls down a yard or so behind Lizzy and just as she was about to open her mouth to argue further, Ginny slipped a hand over it. When Lizzy jumped, she chuckled. "I'm very glad to hear that you care so much about my happiness, but really, this should be fun. Let them join us!"

Lizzy turned to stare at her in disbelief, but quickly recovered. Looking thrilled, she hugged Ginny. "Oh good!"

She grabbed her broom and flew off, followed by Ron. Ginny bent down to get the Quaffle, but as she was opening the chest a pair of feet walked themselves to the other side. She looked up to see the owner. "Oh. Hi Harry." She whispered.

"Ginny," He said just as quiet as her, "I'm really sorry. I know I should have been there on time, or at least have let you know I would be late."

Ginny nodded slightly. "Yes, you should have, but it's okay. I'm over it now."

Harry smiled in relief.

"But promise me one thing."

His grin faded slightly, "Anything."

"Never do it again." She said, looking him direct in the eye.

"I won't. I promise."

Ginny smiled at him and stepped around the chest to hug him. As his arms wrapped tightly around her waist she sighed. It was nice to finally be back on good terms with him. However, as their lips met in their first kiss in over a week, she noticed something missing. She supposed it would take a little while to get used to actually wanting to kiss each other again. Her heart warmed as she realized it was their first heartfelt kiss in a very long time.

She broke off the kiss and grabbed the Quaffle. Kicking off on her broom, she yelled over her shoulder, "Bet Lizzy and I can beat you and Ron!" and took off toward the goalposts.

Half an hour later, Ginny and Lizzy were winning 60-40. Lizzy, although never having played Quiditch before in her life, was actually a surprisingly good chaser. Although Harry and Ron both played Quiditch, they were only good at seeker and keeper respectively. Besides, Ginny knew where her brother's weak spots were.

Harry shot toward the girls' goal and Lizzy and Ginny raced to get between him and the goalposts. Getting there, they faced him. Harry threw the Quaffle as hard as he could toward the right goalpost. Ginny reached out and caught it with ease.

"No fair!" Harry yelled, pretending to pout. "It was two against one!"

Suddenly they heard slow and deliberate clapping. "Well, well," a voice sneered, "somebody bested Perfect Potter! What a surprise!"

Ginny looked down to see a blonde head leading four others. She groaned and steered her broom to land in front of him.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" She hissed.

"Well, it was a Weasley that beat him too." He continued with a smirk. "Now that really is a surprise."

Ginny started forward but Lizzy, who had just landed behind her, grabbed her arm. Ginny looked at her and Lizzy shook her head.

"Malfoy!" Harry shouted from across the field. "Get off the pitch. We were here first!"

"So?" He sneered. "We come here nearly every day. You could basically call this our pitch."

A tall girl with very long blonde hair stepped up to Malfoy and whispered something in his ear. Ginny eyed her with distaste. She was nearly as skinny as the broom in her hand. She wore black makeup that stood out drastically against her pale complexion and stick straight hair. It reached to her waist with no layers, only bangs cut straight across her eyebrows. Her look was severe, and, had Ginny not known that Malfoy was an only child, she would have thought her his sister.

In response to her comment in his ear, Malfoy turned to look at the other people behind him. One was Pansy Parkinson. It was the first time Ginny had seen her that year, and she was surprised. Her once long black hair had been chopped off severely at her chin, making her mocking smile stand out all the more. The other two boys Ginny didn't recognize. One had black hair and was scowling while the other had brown hair, and, although he wasn't smiling, he didn't look cruel. Ginny shook it off as nonsense however. They were Slytherins after all.

Seeming satisfied with his crew, Malfoy turned back around. "You know Serina?" he asked, "that was actually a very, very good idea."

Ginny felt the others tense behind her.

"We challenge you to a game of Quiditch," He continued, "Whoever wins gets the field for the rest of the week. Whoever loses must leave whenever they are asked."

Ginny looked at her friends. They seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move. Ron looked as if he was about to leap on Malfoy, but Harry's hand on his arm held him back. Turning back around Ginny was about to agree, when she noticed a significant problem with their teams.

"You need to get rid of someone." She said. "If you do that, it's a deal."

He scowled, obviously having hoped we wouldn't notice. "Fine," he hissed, "Pansy, go watch."

"What?" she screeched, "Why me?"

"Because you're absolutely hopeless at Quiditch." He said simply.

She huffed, "Fine! Well, we're over now! Don't even think about coming near me ever again!" She stomped off to sit in the stands.

"She'll be back in my room by," Malfoy looked at his watch, "four o'clock. It's not like we were ever really dating anyway." He was muttering to Serina. "One kiss when you're drunk and she seems to think you love her."

Serina chuckled as he slipped his arm around her waist. "Now," she said in a sweet voice, "Where were we?"

They all mounted and the game started. They each had three chasers and a keeper. Ron was theirs; the brown haired boy was Malfoy's. There were no seekers and no beaters, but there was only one rule: the first one to 100 wins.

Ginny felt fierce determination ripping though her as she dived, looped, and swerved as she avoided the Slytherins' nasty jabs. Of course, she made some of her own. She scored the first goal, followed closely by Malfoy. After a particularly nasty block by Serina that nearly knocked her out of the air, she realized that this was serious, way more serious than she had previously taken it. Suddenly, she really wished Harry was a Chaser and Lizzy actually played Quiditch. As good as Lizzy was doing for a beginner, Ginny was still the only one her team could truly rely on. Malfoy's team, however, was a bit better equipped. It seemed that both Serina and the black haired boy were experienced at chaser and Malfoy was pretty good, for a seeker. After two more goals by the Slytherins, Ginny realized that she needed to do some scoring, and fast. Swerving under Lizzy, she called for the ball. Lizzy dropped it and Ginny caught it, ducking the black haired boy in the process. She darted forward and threw the ball to the left goalpost. She scored and her team cheered. She scored three more times before the Slytherins scored again.

Finally, when it was 70-60, Lizzy scored for the first time, tying up the game. All four of them screamed and cheered for her while the Slytherins scowled. Malfoy started the ball again and Ginny shot at him, completely intending to knock him off his broom. However, he saw her coming and dropped sharply, successfully dodging her, but dropping the Quaffle in the process. Harry flew beneath him and grabbed the Quaffle, finally getting his first score.

When it was 90-90 all nerves were on end. Ginny could feel the tension between the two teams. Every time they came in contact with each other, curses could be heard, often screamed loud enough to be heard in the castle. The field was chaos. Somewhere behind her she heard Lizzy yell.

"Shit!" followed closely by, "Ginny! Watch out!"

She whipped around to see Serina barreling toward her. "Fuck." She hissed, and shot straight up. Only after she was ten feet above the girl, did she realize that Serina had the Quaffle. "Ron!" She shouted. "Be ready!"

But it was too late. The Quaffle had just gone through the center goalpost. The Slytherin team surrounded Serina, cheering and hugging her. Pansy ran out to join them. Ginny and her team drifted together into the middle.

"Sorry guys." Ron said, disgusted with himself, "that was all my fault."

Ginny shook her head. "No it's not. I didn't stop her when I could have."

"And I dropped the Quaffle." Lizzy pointed out.

Ron just shook his head as they drifted down to the ground. Malfoy was waiting for them. "Well." He sneered, "I think it goes without saying, but we won! So, leave."

They scowled, but obeyed. Looking back, Ginny saw Malfoy turn back to his team. Pulling her wand out of her robes, she sent a curse at his back and as his legs started tap dancing she laughed out loud and took off running, pulling the rest of the team along with her.


I want to add one more thing. There is some sort of strong language in this. I want you to know that this is not common for me, I normally don't use f**k ever, but I wanted to express the tension of the situation and that seemed like a good way to get the point across. If I offended anyone, I am very sorry.

Myzoey88

Update 9/19/09: I'm sorry about how long it has taken to get chapter 4 up, but with school starting and then I had an exchange student from Germany for two weeks, I've been super busy. Now that everything has calmed down, I will be posting soon. I promise!