AN: This chapter is the most enjoyable for me to write. It also came easily, somehow... I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to everyone who gave their reviews... Keep them coming! :D
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Harry woke up early on his second day at Sirius' house. They had planned to have a game of Quidditch so he expected everyone to be up already. When he got down to the dining room however, he saw that the only two people awake were Sirius and Ginny. Sirius was dressed properly and he looked like he was going somewhere.
"Sirius, where are you going? I thought we're going to play Quidditch today," Harry said as he grabbed a toast from the table.
"I have an appointment," said Sirius importantly. "So you'll have to beg Hermione to play with you," he added with a smirk.
"An appointment? But you're on vacation!" protested Harry. Begging Hermione to play Quidditch didn't sound too appealing.
"It's a date," interjected Ginny, giving Sirius a knowing grin.
"Well, you caught me," Sirius said easily. "It is a date. And I can't keep her waiting. I'll see you this evening—or tomorrow," he added with a maniacal smirk and an insincere bow. With a faint pop, Sirius disappeared from his spot.
Ginny turned to Harry. "Where is everybody?" she asked exasperatedly. "I thought we were going to play Quidditch. I was up an hour ago."
"An hour ago?" Harry asked incredulously as he checked his clock. "That was six-thirty!"
"Glad to know you can subtract time values," Ginny said sarcastically.
Harry rolled his eyes at her. "I never know you to be a morning person," he commented.
"No, but I'm a Quidditch person," said Ginny matter-of-factly. "Besides, I always wake up early when it's a new place—something about the bed or whatever… And we're supposed to start playing by eight!" She said the last statement loudly, turning her head in the direction of the bedrooms in the hopes that she might wake someone up.
"We said we'd start at nine," Harry corrected her.
"Did we?"
"Yup."
"Oh!" yelled Ginny, louder this time. "Scratch that! We'll start playing at nine! You all better be up by then!"
Harry snorted at Ginny's antics. "I can't believe Sirius left us here," he told Ginny with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "There are only five of us who'll be playing—and I'm not begging Hermione to play."
"We can ask Randy," said Ginny jokingly. It took Harry a few seconds to remember that Randy was the house-elf and he laughed belatedly at Ginny's comment.
Ginny wrinkled her nose at Harry in a mock-disgusted attitude. "We'll have to do something about those brain synapses of yours," she told Harry jokingly.
"Synapses! Do you even know what those are?" Harry asked challengingly though he had no idea about synapses himself.
"Yes," said Ginny, now adopting a know-it-all tone. "They're the things that connect one brain part to another brain part." At least that was what she remembered Michael saying, she had zoned out by the time he started talking about the spinal column.
Unable to stop himself, Harry laughed out loud at Ginny's description. "Yeah, right," Harry said sarcastically.
"You can ask Hermione!" Ginny said defensively at Harry.
"Speaking of Hermione," began Harry, "there are only five of us who will be playing."
"Oh, don't worry about it, I'll ask Hermione," Ginny said offhandedly. "She won't mind. It's only for today…."
"Yes, but can she play?" Harry asked doubtfully.
"She can fly," Ginny pointed out, not really answering Harry's question. "And we'll divide the team evenly."
"Well, in that case, it will have to be me against all of you," Harry said smugly.
"You," began Ginny, she leaned on her seat and surveyed Harry with a smirk, "have very grand delusions about your abilities."
"They're not delusions, Ginny," said Harry, not losing his smug tone. "You very well know that I am simply the best Quidditch player in the world. I could make Viktor Krum lose his job," he added grandly.
"You will make Ron very happy," said Ginny, nodding solemnly at Harry.
Unable to think of a wittier comeback, Harry contented himself by laughing at Ginny's comment. He suddenly realized that he had missed spending time with her. He wondered why they hadn't hung out more often after Christmas. He had explained that away with the fact that they weren't in the same year. But all that seemed forgotten now, as though it never really happened. The important thing is that they are hanging out again—and having fun at Ron's expense.
**
Contrary to Ginny's dark predictions that they won't be able to start playing Quidditch by nine o'clock, she, Harry, and the others found themselves assembled at the pitch at quarter to nine.
"We're teaming up with Ginny!" George declared when it was time to divide themselves up. He had one arm around Fred's shoulder and the other around Ginny's.
"What?" exclaimed Ron, he had thought of a fairer way of dividing the teams up but Fred, George, and Ginny were grinning winningly at them. He looked at his three siblings then at Harry and Hermione, sizing them up. "Oh, alright," he finally agreed, deciding that there was no fair way of dividing them up anyway. "You okay with this?" he asked Harry and Hermione.
"Don't worry about it, I'll win even if it's you all against me," Harry said jokingly. He smirked as Ginny coughed loudly.
"Just so long as I play Keeper," said Hermione unenthusiastically.
"Hermione, Keepers are just as important to the team as everyone else," chided Ron. "It's not a fall-back position," he added flatly.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "I know, but it's the one that doesn't require too much flying around," she said matter-of-factly, prompting everyone, including Ron, to laugh at her comment.
Ginny stopped everyone in mid-laugh as she mounted her broom and shot to the air. "Come on! What are you waiting for?" she yelled to the others.
Grinning widely, Harry mounted his Firebolt and went after her. Ron, Fred, and George followed a second later as Hermione mounted her own broom with a resigned sigh.
*
Two hours later, the two teams were neck and neck in points. Much to Ron's delight, Hermione proved to be a better Keeper than everyone expected. Though she was never able to keep Ginny from scoring, she at least stopped Fred from making more than half of his goals. George was unsurprisingly good at Keeping too, and Harry and Ron weren't able to match Ginny's superiority in goal-scoring. They made up for that by double-teaming her whenever she has the Quaffle. With Ginny, Fred, and George in the offensive and Harry, Ron, and Hermione putting up a good defense, the two teams found themselves with seventeen goals each.
With the sun starting to reach the zenith, Hermione suggested that they go to sudden death—whichever team makes the first goal wins and gets the bragging rights. Everyone was getting hungry so they agreed to this, deciding to have a team meeting before they start with the sudden death round.
"Okay, huddle, huddle, come here Harry, Hermione," called Ron as he landed on one side of the pitch. He put his arms around Harry and Hermione's shoulder when they reached him.
"So, what are we going to do?" Hermione asked conspiratorially.
"Harry?" asked Ron.
"Same thing we're doing a while ago," said Harry decisively.
"Yeah!"
"Okay!"
"What were we doing a while ago?"
"Ron!"
"Just kidding, Hermione."
"So we're good?" Harry asked finally.
"Yup," Ron and Hermione said in unison.
The three of them straightened up and looked across the pitch to see Fred and George listening attentively to Ginny. They ended a few minutes later. Harry looked suspiciously at Ginny, knowing that she had thought of a better plan than 'doing the same thing they were doing a while ago'.
"Our ball!" declared Fred.
"Shut up, we play for it," said Ron. He grabbed the Quaffle from Fred and put it in Sirius' Quaffle launcher, timing it to one minute.
"It was worth a try," George told his twin as he slapped him on the shoulders. He then proceeded to take his position near the goalposts.
"Three, two, one," Harry heard Ginny mutter in time to the Quaffle launcher's countdown timer.
When the timer reached zero, the Quaffle shot high up into the air. Harry and Ginny flew after it a fraction of a second later. With both of them heading for the Quaffle, Harry was sure they were headed for collision, but Ginny just smirked at him as she continued to fly straight for the ball—and at him. Not wanting to injure Ginny, Harry swerved left at the last second. Ron shouted something at Harry in a frustrated tone but Harry didn't have time to listen to him—Ginny was already heading straight for the goalposts. He accelerated after her, Ron right behind him, and luckily, they were able to reach Ginny before she got to the scoring area.
With Harry and Ron double-teaming her, Ginny knew that she won't be able to make a sure goal, especially since she was outside the scoring area. But she got them where she wanted them to be. With a smug smirk at Harry and Ron, Ginny dropped several feet below them and passed the Quaffle to Fred, who flew freely into the scoring area as Hermione nervously guarded the goalposts.
With lightning-quick reflexes, Harry sped after Fred and had almost reached him when Fred gave him a smirk not unlike Ginny's and passed the Quaffle back to her. Harry was used to tricks though and he knew they were planning something. With a clear head, he decided to stick with Fred, just in case Ginny throws the Quaffle back at him. He also knew that Ron was guarding Ginny.
Ginny easily received the Quaffle from Fred and saw that Harry stayed with him, just as she had expected. She saw Ron heading towards her but Fred had already turned in the air and headed straight for them to screen Ron—like they'd planned. Ginny flew away from Ron, who made to follow her only to realize that Fred was screening him.
Realizing what Ginny was about to do, Harry flew away from Fred and desperately headed for the goalposts as Ginny hurled the Quaffle with surprising strength and accuracy towards one of the goals.
"Harry, look out!" squealed Hermione, her eyes glued to the Quaffle that was speeding in the direction of Harry's head.
Still disoriented after Ginny and Fred's game play, Harry spun to see what Hermione was looking at. He'd only just turned in the direction of Hermione's stare when the Quaffle collided with his head. He closed his eyes just in time as his glasses shattered and one of the shards lodged itself at a point directly below his right eye. He heard several people screaming but he couldn't tell who they were nor could he hear what they were saying over the loud ringing in his head. He put his right hand over his face and opened his left eye as he maneuvered his broom one-handed towards the ground.
Harry immediately got off his Firebolt and sat on the ground after he landed. He gingerly took his glasses off and, with his right eye still closed, he raised his hand to the shard that was stuck on his face. He took a deep breath and pulled the shard, causing blood to flow freely down his cheek.
"Harry, are you okay?" came Hermione's concerned voice. Thankfully, the ringing in his ear had subsided.
"Holy—"
"Blood!"
"Harry?" Ginny asked tentatively. Guilt was evident in her voice even though everyone knew it wasn't really her fault.
"Hermione, do something," Ron said desperately.
"What?" asked Hermione. She sounded a little queasy—probably from all the blood.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," said Ginny exasperatedly. "Fred, George, don't just stand there. See if Sirius has any first-aid kits. Check in the bathroom. Hermione, repair his glasses. Ron, dip this in the pool."
Without his glasses on, Harry couldn't see what was going on but he heard footsteps running away from him in two directions. Less than a minute later, Ron came back and handed something to Ginny. Through the blur, Harry saw Ginny level with him and a second later, he felt her dab a wet cloth on his cheek to clean away the blood that was pouring from his wound.
"Hey, it's only a small wound," Ron exclaimed when Ginny finally cleaned up all the blood from Harry's face.
"He still lost a good amount of blood though," Hermione pointed out. "Look at Ginny's handkerchief."
"Oh, yeah."
Harry heard Fred and George coming towards them. "Gin, we got this," one of them said. Harry couldn't tell who it was—their voices were more identical than their faces. "It's for his wound. Accelerates the clotting and prevents scarring. It's on the label. Unless of course that's an old container—and Sirius used it to hold something else." Fred and George were very good at continuing each other's sentences that Harry wasn't sure if only one of the twins said those statements or they alternately said something. He was sure, though, that it was the both of them who laughed when Fred—or George—or both—stopped talking.
Ginny ignored the twins' laughter and handed Harry what he supposed was her handkerchief. "Hold that," she told him.
Harry wrapped his fists around the handkerchief—it was quite wet from his blood. He saw Ginny's blurry outline reach out to one of the twins and get what he knew to be the something for his wound. Ginny dipped her finger in it and Harry backed away slightly in shock and pain as Ginny dabbed it on his wound.
"Keep still," she said sternly. She dabbed the something on Harry's wound again and he felt that it had an ointment-like consistency.
"We found this too, for his bruise," one of the twins said.
"I have a bruise too?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Oh yeah, shaped like the outline of a Quaffle," said Ron. He said it as though having a Quaffle-shaped bruise was something to be proud of.
Tired of not being able to do anything or asses his condition, Harry said, "Does anyone have a mirror?"
"Here, we brought a mirror. We wouldn't want you to miss the state of your face," Fred or George said as one of them put up what looked like a small mirror in front of him.
"I can't see anything," Harry said flatly. He still didn't have his glasses on.
Ginny chuckled. "Hermione, please repair Harry's glasses," she said in an amused tone.
"We can't do magic outside school!" protested Hermione.
"It's okay, we're in Sirius' house anyway," said Ron. "They'll just think he's the one doing the magic."
"But—"
"Hermione, please," said Harry firmly. "I can't see a damn thing."
"Oh alright," said Hermione resignedly. "Reparo."
Harry reflexively closed his eyes as someone put his glasses on. When he opened them again, Ginny's face swam into view. She was wearing a sheepish grin and he couldn't help but smile back despite the pain under his right eye.
"Are you alright?" Hermione repeated her question that was lost in all the commotion.
"Yeah," replied Harry. "Is it a big bruise?" he asked as he put a hand gingerly up his cheek to check which part hurt the most.
"Yep," said Ginny. "Right… there." Harry closed his eyes as Ginny traced her fingers in an arc on the right part of his face.
"Here, see for yourself," said George as he handed Harry a small framed mirror.
Harry took the mirror with his free hand and held it level with his head. He saw that his wound was covered by the white ointment Ginny dabbed on it. He also saw that his bruise did take the outline of the Quaffle that hit him. It ran from his forehead to his jaw line. He traced the bruise with the back of the hand that was holding Ginny's handkerchief.
"I'm sorry, Harry," said Ginny sheepishly.
"It wasn't your fault," Harry pointed out.
"I know," conceded Ginny. "But I'm still sorry."
Harry grinned amusedly at Ginny. A second later, she curled her hand into a fist and knocked the left side of his head lightly.
"Hey, what was that for?" protested Harry.
"I would have made that goal you know," she said in a mock-stern voice.
Harry's grin widened. "I know," he told her surely.
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AN: I know that Ginny & Fred's gameplay seem pretty basic (just simple screening moves). I didn't try to think too much about it really, since this is about Harry and Ginny and not Quidditch. And hey, the simplest maneuvers can become really effective if executed right... right?
Please. Review. Everyone. I would really appreciate reviews, especially on this chapter.. Tell me what you think... :D
