Jonah: Thank you. I'll tell you what, when I hit book three I'll repost this story on Twisting.
Dreamweaver: It appears great minds think alike, I had planned originally for Xander to shake Principle Goodvibes… sorry wrong show, Professor Quirrells hand and have him burst into flames, but thought nah, cliché and BORING.
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Seriously, I'm happy because Harry Potter doing it over has already been done, Harry Potter in fact has been done to death on this site. This idea isn't even unique, it's borrowed with the authors permission, Susan Anthony over at Twisting, if Wishes were Thestrals we'd all run screaming. If you appreciate my work go read hers and bump up her reviews and S'TarKan's Nightmares of the futures past.
Chapter 10
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Game on!
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"Mr. Potter and Miss Granger, some assistance please."
Percy was definitely in his element as Dumbledore had called for immediate order and asked the Prefects to take the students back to their Common Rooms. They helped Percy, who was a little friendlier to him since their discussion, direct the flow of students; this time Xander felt no urge to go Troll hunting, and let the teachers get on with it.
They sat up with the other students for a while, talking and speculating what was happening, but otherwise the rest of the evening was very quiet. He took the time to sit with Ron and Hermione, and they went through their homework to make sure everything was up to date and in order. Xander's was fine, but Ron's was not, and with a little help, they got his homework sorted; even Snape's essay was done.
They went to bed after the 'all clear' was sounded; Xander; unlike some of the boys; slept easily…
Xander spent the rest of the month practicing Quidditch with Ron; he had managed to drag Hermione out into the cold mornings with much groaning, but she joined them, albeit reluctantly. Eventually, he even managed to get her on a broom and got her to lift a couple of feet into the air. All he had to do was get her over her fear of flying and she would be fine. The Defense Against The Dark Arts sessions were moving along nicely; they now had to split it up into to two lessons as more students were joining.
"I jog every morning," Xander said to Ron. Ron grimaced at the thought of exercise that did not involve magic. "If you want to join me, feel free…" He made the same offer to Hermione.
Hermione did, she joined in jogging and the two talked about everything: school, the wizarding world and life afterwards. Xander had not really thought that far ahead, after all, in the books Harry had gone on to work with the Ministry and had changed it practically overnight. He was thinking about business and helping the Slayers after the fall of the Council; perhaps he could even be a liaison to the wizarding world. It was worth thinking about, but not just yet; first of all he had to survive.
Snow soon began to fall onto the ground and covered it up quickly; snowball fights ensued, and sadly, so too did the Quidditch season. The first thing Xander did was grab Hermione and the two of them looked up warming spells. She found one that could be put onto clothes and they tried it out. Xander ordered a pair of gloves that would prevent him from slipping off the broom and they applied the spell to that as well.
"Niceeee," Xander grinned, as he felt warm and fuzzy all over, the spell definitely worked. "I guess that makes me hot stuff then…"
Hermione giggled.
He could go into Quidditch, Xander thought with a mental snort. All the glory he could get from that, but nah, neither he nor Harry liked the limelight much, preferring to stay in the background to be a string puller.
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"Okay, men," Wood said.
"And women," said the Chaser, Angelina Johnson.
"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."
"The big one," said Fred Weasley.
"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.
"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Xander, "we were on the team last year."
"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."
He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else."
"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."
Xander grinned; he was donning his newly bought clothes, and had his new broom to boot. The broom was everything he wanted, fast, agile and could protect him against curses, which he'd been very specific about.
Xander looked around at the stages and saw the crowds of people watching, teachers and students alike. He held his broom by his side and watched as Wood walked up to the middle of the pitch like his other 'half', both Captains smiled at each other and shook hands, although there was a lot of venom between the two.
"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you,"
The other captain Marcus Flint smiled nastily…
"Mount your brooms, please."
Xander did, and as she blew the whistle, she threw the Quaffle into the air and released the catch on the trunk which held the Bludgers and Snitch tightly. The Bludgers shot off in search of some bones to break and the Snitch fluttered its wings and shot heavenly. Xander followed suit, kicking off and hurtling upwards. He kept his sight on the golden, fluttering ball, letting the Hyena senses come to fore, his ears let him know what was going around him while his sixth sense picked up on anything flying his way. He dodged the Bludger that aimed toward his head, and climbed as high as he could dare.
"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too -"
"JORDAN!"
"Sorry, Professor."
'Okay,' Xander thought as he watched the other Seeker scanning the air around them, 'time for phase one.'
He made as though he'd seen something, whipping his around quickly. The enemy Seeker saw the sudden movement.
'You have to win the crowd.'
Xander remembered the line from Gladiator as he shot towards the ground, the air rushing in his ears and the ground getting closer, he reached out his hand in a grasp. The other Seeker was definitely on his tail now.
"Merlin's beard, he's got something!"
Xander felt all his warning signals blaring, when he felt it was time he pulled the broom up with all his strength, grunted with the exertion.
"I don't believe it!" He raced upwards, and saw the other seeker lying on the ground. The crowds roared as Xander rose past them.
"I don't believe it," Jordan repeated himself, "He's pulled the Wronski Feint!"
The crowd roared with delight… Xander saw it just as he saw Hooch stomp out into the middle of the pitch, just as she pulled out her whistle and blew hard, bringing the game to an end for the day.
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The twins kicked off from the ground on their brooms at the same time, launching upwards with the rest of the group. Both of them were in complete agreement with the other, there was nothing like flying. Nothing at all.
Fred and George slapped hands as they pulled out their batons, George ducked a Bludger that was on a course for his head, whacked it with all his strength and Fred saw it and got it off the rebound. The Bludger narrowly missed Flint.
"Nice shot there from the Weasley twins, shame they missed!"
Fred grinned at Jordan as the commentator cheered them on and received another telling-off, yet again from McGonagall. Angelina managed to get a hold of the Quaffle and threw it to Alicia Spinnet, who spiralled around as she took hold of it mid air. They passed it back between each other until Flint came up between them and yanked it mid-catch. He headed full-pelt towards the Gryffindor goal and threw it with all his might.
But Wood was there and he was on form, as usual, jumping up and spinning around.
"I don't believe it!"
Something about Jordan's tone of voice caught Fred's attention, he looked towards Harry, the slight form, as his head spun around, his eyes zeroed in on something and he dove.
Fred grinned…
George grinned…
The two of them followed suit and kept the Bludger out of the way, knocking at Slytherins who tried to stop their star Seeker from getting the Snitch.
But something was wrong… George couldn't quite put his finger on it, but as soon as Harry started pulling up he did get it. He was pulling the Wronski Feint!
George watched, open-mouthed, his twin equally delighted as the other Seeker slammed into the ground and bounced a few times before stopping cold. Harry started spiraling upwards, and something in that moment happened that George finally understood, something clicked in his mind and both twins watched expectantly, as Hooch walked out, pulled her whistle and blew…
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Xander wrapped his hand around the Snitch, stopped mid-air as Hooch blew the whistle and lifted his hand up in triumph.
The crowd went wild, (well, the Gryffindor side did at least), people stood up clapping and cheering, the teachers too, as they realized that despite the fact that Hooch had blown the whistle to call the end of the game due to an injury, Harry James Potter had grabbed the Golden Snitch and had won it.
Xander grinned at the crowds; he landed on the ground besides scowling Madam Hooch and looked at the crumpled form beside her.
He could tell instantly that the boy was alive, he could see the slow movement of his chest, and hear the shallow breathing… the beating of his heart.
"Potter, what the hell do you think you were doing!"
"Winning the game, Miss…"
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Hermione and Ron sat in the crowds, shouting along with the others, as the team played and scored, as Wood protected the goal. The players, dodging and blocking and Jordan commentating.
"- Come on, now, Angelina - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
Hermione clapped her hands in joy, as did Ron. She'd never liked football much, not like her father who watched it when it was on. Normally she couldn't stand sports but this…
It was thrilling to watch as the players dodged real attacks that were incredibly dangerous…
"Ron, look…"
"What?"
He was too busy watching the attractive players; she rolled her eyes.
"Ron, history in the making," she said, slightly irritated.
Even as she said it, she felt it within the pit of her stomach, she saw Harry see something and dive. Ron saw it too.
"Wait, there's no Snitch…"
Not that he could make out anyway… His eyes widened.
"Holy shit…"
A term he'd heard his brothers use a couple of times, a Muggle term, kind of like Merlin's beard…
Harry dived and he dived fast, launching himself at the ground with a furious speed as the other Seeker joined him, but didn't make it back up again.
Ron stood up and cheered loudly, as Harry reached out and grabbed the Snitch mid-air. Ron was impressed, damn impressed.