Chapter four

Disclaimer: I ain't rich or old enough to own Harry Potter.

Dew sparkled on the grass on the field. Harry had already changed into his Quidditch robes and was holding his firebolt. It seemed as if the whole Gryffindor house had shown up for try-outs. He smiled at everyone, laughing on the inside. He drew his wand and drew three lines on the ground in scarlet. A first year counted for a minute on his fingers, then raised his hand. Harry rose an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Um…aren't there four positions on a team?"

"Yes there are."

"So why are there only three lines?"

"I left out the Seeker group."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the Seeker."

"Shouldn't you have to do try-outs then?"

"I'm the captain. But I'm going to train a few extra people to be substitutes, in case something happens where the actual member can't be there."

"Even if it's you?"

"Yes." Harry was starting to get tired of these questions.

"So why isn't there a line for the extra Seekers?"

"Because I'm going to test for those later today, probably after lunch."

"Oh okay."

Relived that the question session was over, Harry turned to the rest of the group.

"Okay, you've all come here to try out for Quidditch, and you probably already know what you want to be on the team so I need you to get into groups depending on what you want." He pointed to each one, saying what it was for. "Keeper, Beater, Chaser. If you came here to try out for Seeker, stay and watch or try for something else. I'm going to see about substitute Seekers later."

At that, all the people shuffled into their respective groups. Harry smiled to see Lei in the front of the Keeper line. However, he also saw Ron in that line, looking a little nervous. Ginny looked a little confused, then went over to the Chaser line. Harry knew she'd wanted to be the Seeker, but also knew she was a good Chaser.

"Alright, we're going to test Chasers and Keepers first. Lei, Ginny, you're up."

Lei smiled and stepped up with a Nimbus 2000; Harry figured she'd wrote home before school started and asked for one. Ginny had her own Nimbus 2001 and walked proudly over to Harry. Her hand brushed against his and it tingled. They mounted their brooms and shot into the air. Lei looked suddenly nervous and started shaking. Ginny giggled, but Harry mounted his Firebolt and shot up to her side, much to Ginny's irritation.

"Alright, Lei?"

"Yeah, don't worry."

"I won't; you'll do fine. Don't worry if you can't keep them all out, she's good."

Lei nodded and Harry came back down. He then opened the wooden box beneath them. He then took the Quaffle and threw it up into the air. Ginny flew over and grabbed it. She then threw it straight at the taller hoop, but Lei shot up and blocked it. Ginny flew over and grabbed it, flew over to the middle, and threw it again. It went straight for the smaller hoop, Lei stretching her arm out to block it. It grazed her fingertips, but didn't stop. It did, however, miss its mark. Ginny's face turned red as her hair. She then flew and got it back, then vaulted it into the other hoop, making a perfect goal. Harry clapped and called them back down. He nodded at them both, making Ron even more nervous. He was next though, and was confident he wouldn't mess up. He flew up to the goal posts to face a seventh year. However, even though he didn't think he had a chance, he blocked all of the shots. Harry clapped for them, nodding at Ron. The rest of the try-outs went much the same way, then came the Beaters. Fred and George stepped up first, taking their clubs and shooting into the air. Harry unleashed the Bludgers and the twins instantly started batting them back and forth, making wise-cracks the whole time. Then, after a particularly interesting move that looked like a ballerina on a broom [done by Fred], Harry called them down, laughing. He tested the other Beaters, most of whom just hit a Bludger into the other's face, but a few were good enough to be considered. Harry then turned to the group of people.

"Well done, everybody, great job. Now, we're going to go to lunch now, and then we're meeting in the common room to see who made what part. Don't forget, right after you see if you made it or not, if you want to try out for Seeker come out here and I'll test you. Good work, everyone, and I'll see you later."

Harry then clapped, along with everyone else clapping for a job well done. He then caught up with Ron and Hermione and sighed.

"Alright, mate?"

"Yeah fine. Just worried about picking and choosing, that's all."

"Well it looked to me like you were picking and choosing during the try-outs."

"Yeah, but there were quite a few good ones. I'm thinking mainly about picking and choosing substitutes; we can't have a ton of them, you know."

"True. Should we get lunch in the common room?"

"Sure, but not Ron. I know you're going to be on the team, that much is obvious, but if you're up there with me then they'll think…you know…"

"Then I'll go down to the Hall too; they could think the same if I stayed with you."

"True. I'll see you later."

"See you."

With that, Harry turned and went up the stairs to the common room. Once there, he asked the Fat Lady not to let anyone in until he was ready. He then summoned Dobby and ordered food, then set to work writing out the lists of names.

There were several people waiting outside the portrait hole by the time Harry opened it up. The Fat Lady looked proud of herself [apparently she'd sung for them while they'd waited], and Harry walked out as everyone looked for their names. Once out of eyesight, he darted down the hallway and stairs. He then ran outside, mounted his broom, and shot up into the air. He flew higher, higher, higher, until he could touch the clouds. He remembered his third year, with the dementors, but pushed those thoughts from his mind. He then flew over to the Quidditch field and landed in the center. He then dismounted to wait for the people to come.

In a few minutes, about ten people walked up, looking a little down. Harry sighed, hoping none of them wanted to beg him for a position. He walked up to them, holding his Firebolt.

"Alright, I know you all are down because you didn't get the position you wanted, or because you think you have no chance at all. That's okay to feel, but don't let it get in the way of your testing. I'm going to test each one of you individually to see if you can catch the Snitch if, for some reason, I can't make it to practice or a game."

The annoying first year from before raised his hand. Harry nodded at him. "Why wouldn't you come? You're the captain."

Harry knew this had been coming and, judging by everyone else's curious looks, decided to tell them simply, hoping to make it short. "I have asthma and if something were to go wrong, either I wouldn't be able to show up or I'd be here but couldn't actually practice or worse yet, play."

No one's looks changed, if anything they grew more quizzical, but Harry's tone had said quite plainly that it was not open for conversation. So he pulled a pair of gloves on, asking everyone to form a line. The first year was in front, making a seventh year look like he was about to curse him. Harry opened the Hogwarts crest and withdrew the Snitch. He then motioned the first year to come up. They both mounted their brooms, Harry flying up. He released the Snitch and blew his whistle. The first year putted up in the borrowed Shooting Star, looking everywhere for the golden ball. Harry kept his eyes peeled, having a pretty good idea where it was just in case the boy couldn't find it. After a few minutes, the first year shook his head. Just as Harry sent him back to the ground, the Snitch whizzed by Harry's face, making him laugh. The first year sulked as Harry took the golden ball into his gloved hands. One after the other, people flew up to try out for substitute Seeker. Harry accepted Ginny alone, knowing that she had plenty of substitutes for Chaser. The two stayed on the field as the rest left, pouting because they didn't get to be on the Quidditch team of Harry Potter.

Ginny looked into Harry's eyes and smiled. She didn't just see the lightning bolt scar, or the asthmatic pure-blood. She saw Harry, a fifth year Gryffindor with a heart, a soul, and feelings.

Harry saw in Ginny, not a Wesley, nor a girl a year younger than him. He saw the sister of his best friend, and couldn't help but think that his growing feelings for her were somehow wrong. But he didn't stop her when she caressed his cheek and kissed him. But he wouldn't open his mouth to her, though her tongue traced his lips. It was just wrong to snog his best mate's sister, wrong wrong wrong. So he was a little relieved when she backed away from him, but at the same time he longed to feel it again. Ginny smiled, turned and walked away. Harry stared after her, then got onto his broom and, grabbing hers from the ground, flew after her.

"Here," Harry handed her her broom, "its easier to fly there."

Ginny smiled and took the broom, mounted it, and shot up. Harry followed her, soon passing her into the clouds. They flew together for a time, fingers interlocking as they went. As they circled around Hogwarts grounds, Harry couldn't help but remember with a pang the flight from the dragon he'd had just last year. He shook his head to clear it though, wanting to savor every moment of his time with Ginny, flying like this. Soon, however, they had to land. They did so right in front of the doors and dismounted, carrying their brooms to the common room.

Harry and Ginny found Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Lee all sitting in the common room. They sent their brooms to their rooms and sat down, looking into the fire.

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