Cry Wolf
XI: 'You failed Horribly By The Way.'
"Ginny, Ginny wake up!" Anna-Rose bellowed as she tackled the still sleeping Ginny. Apparently she had just rushed up from the common room; Ginny however was still tired and not at all ready to get up yet.
"Anna, what has gotten into you?" She moaned as she rolled over and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes while they watered all over her fingers from the change of light they were desperately trying to adjust to.
"Ginny you won't believe what McGonagall has done! She's cancelled classes for today; we're playing our quiddich game against Slytherin in a couple of hours." Anna exclaimed while jumping up and down on the bed.
"We're what?" Ginny shrieked while sitting stark upright. How could they play their quiddich game now? It wasn't supposed to be until the weekend! "Why?" She demanded as Anna continued to jump around with glee.
"Something about Barry having to go home tomorrow because his grandma is sick, he's Slytherins seeker you know, but anyway he won't be coming back until next Monday so McGonagall thought that instead of postponing the game she would bump it up." Ginny groaned and lightly pulled her hair as her usual quiddich jitters started to set into place. She was going to be playing in two hours! How could she possibly be expected to play today? She had barely gotten any sleep last night while she had pondered how to find out if Snape remembered about the incident or not.
"This is horrible!" She wailed. "How can you be so excited? I've been playing longer than you and I still get nervous." Ginny spread her hands in questioning while Anna continued to jump, but by now she had moved to her own bed. Ginny caught a glimpse of her shrugging.
"I don't know." Anna said truthfully. "I guess I'm not the nervous type, besides all I can think about is that we get to miss potions!" She added with glee, and then she jumped one last time before allowing herself to fall onto her bottom. Ginny felt her spirits drop at the notion of missing potions but then shook her head and exploded from under her covers with panic.
"Oh, I've got to get ready! Where's my uniform? Where's my broom?" She asked frantically while dodging around her bed in search of them. Anna offered no help from where she sat but giggled as she watched Ginny panic. Finally after nearly twenty minutes of searching Ginny was fully dressed in her uniform and clutching her broom. She then forced a very hyper active Anna-Rose who was already dressed and prepared to accompany her to the pitch.
"But what about breakfast?" Anna had whined, trying to convince Ginny that they should eat but Ginny shook her head and dragged her friend past the great hall and out through the front doors.
"No time for breakfast, we have to get some practice flight in before the game." Ginny said bluntly, while ignoring the gurgle in her own stomach. If she was going to play against Slytherin a week ahead of schedule and be expected to be on the top of her game then she had to get warmed up. Slytherin had a much better team than last year; all of their chasers were not only talented but twice the size of the Gryffindor chasers. Their beaters seemed to enjoy inflicting pain, their keeper was as quick as lightning and Barry Binnetly, much as she hated to admit it, had eyes like a hawk.
"Fine, we'll go get some damn practice, but you better believe that you're going to be sneaking me food form the kitchens afterwards." Anna said hotly before stomping after Ginny, which was a relief because Ginny no longer had to waste her energy dragging her.
"If we win I won't have to, the whole house will do it for me." Ginny said smartly. "C'mon I'll race you." She added before jumping onto her broom and tearing off towards the pitch.
"Ginny! That is no fair you had a head start!" She heard Anna bellow from behind her before glancing back to see her friend kicking off. Ginny laughed and leaned closer to her broom, putting on a burst of speed.
"Catch me if you can!" She screamed before darting into a climb so that she could fly in from over the pitch walls. But Anna didn't catch her, she was too far behind.
"And here comes the Slytherin team! Beaters Patterson, and McCauley, chasers Scizzerit, Activby, and Reets, keeper Chazef and seeker, Binnetly!" The voice of Luna Lovegood drifted across the quiddich pitch as the Slytherin team darted out of their changing room as their names were called and then began a slow circle around the pitch. ¾ of the crowd met them with rounds of boo's and hissing while the Slytherins screamed at the top of their lungs to show their support. Ginny gripped her broom tight, trying to fight the butterflies that were battering themselves off of the sides of her stomach.
Anna-Rose looked very grey beside her and Ginny snorted as she remembered what she had said. 'Not the nervous type indeed.' The stress of the game had eventually caught up to Anna-Rose, the poor girl had retched twice in the locker room before Ginny had cast a calming spell on her, but it had done little to help, her knees still shook as she waited to take off on her broom.
"And now let's bring in the Gryffindors," Luna announced, the majority of the crowd cheered while the Slytherins made sure that their own boo's and hisses were well heard. "And here they are. Beaters Peakes and Coote!" The two boys ahead of Ginny zoomed out of the changing room doorway, "Chasers Bell," Katie tore off after them, "Frizzen," Anna-Rose nervously zipped out of the doorway, "and Weasley." Ginny gripped her broom and dashed out of the doorway, letting the wind against her face calm her nerves while Luna called out their new keeper Dormotley and their still shaky seeker, Zwicker.
The seven players completed their lap of the pitch until Madame Hooch blew her whistle, signaling the teams to meet in the center of the field, Katie Bell and the Slytherin captain shook hands while Madame Hooch gave her usual speech about a fair and safe game. Then, before Ginny had time to catch her breath the whistle was blown and the red quaffle was being thrown into the air.
"And there they go, Bell in possession, passes to Weasley," Luna said almost lazily as Katie dashed forward and then chucked the quaffle to Ginny, who tucked it under her arm and began to rush her way towards the Slytherin goal posts, only to find herself being blocked by Activby who gave her a wicked grin. Searching around her she quickly spotted Anna and tossed the quaffle in her direction.
"Weasley passes to Frizzen, and oh she's dropped it." Luna said with disappointment as Anna swerved the wrong way and missed the quaffle, her face turning bright red in embarrassment. Ginny heard Activby laugh before darting away.
"Quaffle is caught by Reets, Reets passes to Scizzerit, and both are looking pretty unstoppable. C'mon Ginny, get that quaffle, don't just sit there in mid air." Luna said, egging her on.
"Miss. Lovegood, please stick to what is happening in the game." The voice of Professor McGonagall cut through the commentary. Ginny shook her head and pulled herself out of her trance before dashing after the Slytherin chasers.
"Of course professor, Both Weasley and Bell are now on hot pursuit, Frizzen is falling behind though."
'C'mon Anna-Rose!' Ginny silently urged her friend as she pulled up next to Scizzerit, suddenly very aware of how much larger he was then her. Taking a deep breath she tried to knock the quaffle out of his hands but he swerved out of her reach.
"Scizzerit passes to Activby; Bell is closing in on him!" Ginny watched as Scizzerit tossed the ball to Activby who caught it and headed towards the goal posts, Katie right on his heels. "She's almost caught him!" Katie pulled up next to Activby and was reaching for the quaffle; it was almost in her reach.
Just then there was a loud thwack of wood connecting with something solid, and a whizzing sound accompanied by something rushing by Ginny's shoulder.
"Slytherin beater Patterson has jumped into the action. Watch out for that bludger Bell!" Luna warned, Katie snapped her head around and spotted the bludger, she swerved to avoid it and then went back to chasing Actviby, but during the distraction Activby had passed to the other Slytherin Chaser.
"Activby passes to Reets, all three Gryffindor chasers are too far away to do anything, Reets advances on Gryffindor keeper Dormotley," Ginny watched the advance with her teeth clenched knowing it was too late to try to stop them. "Reets throws, Dormotley swerves left, too bad the ball went right, Slytherin scores." Luna said disappointedly. Ginny cursed before rushing forward to take the quaffle and make another attempt on the Slytherin goal.
For the next half hour play continued much the same way, Slytherin scored four more times, Gryffindor received a penalty shot because Activby had rammed into Katie, but the Slytherin keeper Chazef had blocked it with ease, after which Slytherin had scored again. As usual the crowd erupted into a chorus of boo's while the Slytherin end of the pitch cheered and openly expressed their glee. Ginny could only imagine the smug look that Snape would be wearing but when she searched for him among the stands she didn't find him.
"Game stands at sixty to zero for Slytherin, Gryffindor in possession with Frizzen taking the quaffle." Luna announced as a very grey Anna-Rose tucked the quaffle under her arm and began to race towards the other end of the pitch. Ginny turned and dashed forward, keeping pace with Anna in case she should decide to pass.
Suddenly from nowhere the Slytherin beater McCauley was in Anna's way and when she made to swerve he swerved with her, there was a dull thud as the two players collided, Anna dropping the quaffle and swinging off of her broom. Screaming as she dangled only left gripping on by one hand while McCauley at such a greater size was barely even daunted.
Madame Hooch's whistle rang through the air as she called for a penalty shot to be taken by Anna for Gryffindor. McCauley shot Anna a very evil look before darting away, Ginny glared at him while helping Anna back onto her broom.
"And it appears that a penalty of interference will be called against the Slytherin team. Frizzen is going to be making the shot." Luna informed the audience.
"Here you are Frizzen, all right on you're broom are you?" Madame Hooch asked as she handed Anna the quaffle. Anna nodded that she was fine before lining up to take the shot. Ginny watched her heart racing.
'C'mon Anna, show them who's boss.' She thought, silently encouraging her friend. Anna-Rose took a deep breath before squaring her shoulders and zipping forward, the quaffle tucked securely under her arm, her eyes set firm as she watched the Slytherin keeper bob up and down, waiting for her.
"And she's off, can Frizzen make the goal? She hasn't shown much potential yet but perhaps this will be her moment to prove that…" Luna suddenly faltered and Ginny's stomach filled with dread as she realized what must be happening. 'Don't let it be Binnetly!' She thought urgently as she whipped her broom around and searched frantically for any sign of either seeker. She didn't notice that every other player except for Anna had also done the same. (Consequently Anna made the goal.)
"It appears as if Zwicker has spotted the snitch!" Luna said excitedly as the Gryffindor seeker sped into a reckless dive, angling himself towards the Gryffindor goalposts where a tiny glint of gold could be seen darting around its base. "Now Binnetly has seen it too and he's gone after the tiny ball." Luna added. Ginny's glance darted to the Slytherin seeker Barry as he spotted the snitch and tore towards it.
'He's so much closer!' Ginny thought as she desperately wished that Zwicker would go faster. In actuality the two seekers arrived at the goal posts at the same time, the snitch darted away from both of them and fluttered up the side of the pitch walls, both boys banked sharply and tore after it, neck to neck in their pursuit. Both reached out hands as they closed in on the tiny blink of gold, flying dangerously close to the ground, the toes of both boy's were dragging in the grass.
A unified breath was drawn in around the stadium style seating as the crowd waited for a fist to close around the game winning ball, but suddenly the two boys tripped each other up and crashed into the ground in a heap, lucky they had been flying so low that neither would be seriously hurt.
The crowd moaned as they assumed that they snitch had gotten away but Ginny kept her breath held, she had not seen a glint of gold darting away from the crashing seekers.
"Is it gone? Did it get away or was it caught?" Luna asked as both boys tried to detangle themselves from each other, both looking equally disgusted.
"Well, if one of you has caught it please share it with the rest of the stadium!" McGonagall barked over the pitch, her magnified voice sounding very irritably indeed.
'C'mon Zwicker!' Ginny mumbled as she watched the two boys get shakily to their feet. The whole school was so focused on the two seekers that no one noticed that Activby was repeatedly throwing the quaffle through the Gryffindor goalpost.
"Well?" McGonagall asked again. Zwicker quickly detangled his robes from around Binnetly's arm and then stalked away angrily, Ginny's hopes fell as she watched as Barry smirked and raised his fist in triumph, a pair of tiny gold wings beating from between his fingers. The crowd around them groaned again while the Slytherins exploded in triumph.
"Slytherin seeker Binnetly had caught the snitch." Luna said glumly. "Slytherin takes the game, final score, Gryffindor ten, Slytherin two hundred and ten." Ginny slowly glided to the ground where she met the rest of the team who all looked glum. Anna looked especially upset. But as Katie joined them she gave them each an approving look.
"Wipe those looks off of your faces." She scolded. "You all have nothing to be ashamed about, you all played wonderfully, we just had a bit of bad luck that's all. You did especially well for your first game Anna, and Zwicker, you were marvelous." She commented the team. Anna blushed and grinned with pride at the captains comments while Zwicker blushed with what Ginny thought might be crush induced embarrassment before looking at his shoes and kicking a random rock. "Now all of you hit the showers, I will not have a stinky team." Katie joked before heading towards the changing room, ignoring the Slytherins as they did their victory lap. Ginny giggled before falling in behind.
After the game and after they had all showered and changed, Katie informed the team that they had missed lunch, so to make up for it she was going to accompany them all to the kitchens and they were going to have a feast courtesy of the house elves.
Everyone cheered, Ginny especially, she was feeling ravenous since she had also missed breakfast, and after much joking around and laughing they made their way to the kitchens, tickled the pear and went inside. Much to Ginny's surprise they were met by Dobby who was wearing a violent green sock matched with another white sock that had red and blue stripes, his sweater was the one that Ron had given him last year and his tea cozy that he wore on his head was a deep shade of purple.
"What can Dobby be getting for the sirs and misses?" He had asked with a squeaky voice and a curt bow upon their entrance. Katie smiled at him.
"We, dear Dobby, have just lost our first quiddich game of the season and were wondering if a feast would be out of the question?" She asked gently. Dobby gave her a look as if she were mad for wanting to celebrate losing, his eyes passed over the rest of the group before spotting Ginny and widening.
"Anything for the girlfriend of the great Harry Potter, Dobby will fetch Miss Weasley and her friends some food right away." He said before rushing off. Peakes, Coote, Katie and Anna-Rose all flashed Ginny amused looks while Zwicker and Dormotley, who had not known that she had been dating Harry, watched her with a mixture of confusion and awe. Ginny blushed deeply and made a mental note not to be seen by Dobby again for quite some time. She didn't bother to tell them that she was no longer with Harry.
When the food appeared they all sat down at the replica of the Gryffindor house table that was directly above them and dug in. Throughout the meal Katie constantly talked about tactics for their next game against Hufflepuff while everyone else talked about the thrill of missing classes for the rest of the day. After their bellies were full and Dobby had cleared away the plates, Zwicker produced a deck of exploding snap cards and he, Peakes and Coote set up to play while the rest of the team watched and talked. It was a very long time that they sat there before anyone realized that it was nearly curfew.
"By Merlin, it's nearly curfew!" Anna-Rose had exclaimed after glancing at her watch. "We should get back to the tower." Everyone agreed that they better get back before curfew and stood to leave. They all thanked Dobby for the food. Dobby blushed furiously and mumbled something about it being his job before rushing away from the attention with a tear in his eye. The team watched him go before piling out of the portrait where they were met by a very unpleasant voice.
"Well, if it isn't the Gryffindor quiddich team." Snape said icily as he paused in his stride and turned to face them, a sneer on his face. "And what, may I ask; are you all doing in the kitchen which is out of bounds to students?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and smoothing the front of his robes. The group of students stood startled for a moment before Katie stepped forward.
"I'm sorry professor, but we missed lunch and were really quite hungry so we-"
"Did it occur to you Miss Bell," Snape interrupted, "That you could have asked a teacher to bring you some food, or, since the game only ended right after three, that you could have forced your team mates to wait the two hours until supper?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest, Ginny found she was watching him at full attention and wondering how his chest would feel before she quickly shook herself out of it and looked to the floor.
"No sir, I didn't think that-"
"Exactly Miss Bell, you didn't think at all. Twenty points from Gryffindor for breaking school rules." He paused and his bloodshot eyes glinted menacingly as they spotted Ginny. "And Miss. Weasley, I can assume this is the reason that you did not show up for tutoring." He barked. Ginny forced herself to look up lest risk loosing more points from her house.
"But sir, McGonagall canceled classes for the day-" She began but Snape interrupted her, much as he had already done twice to Katie.
"That may be Miss. Weasley, but tutoring is not a class, it is tutoring. I expect you to come half an hour early next session, and prepared to work hard, this will be the only make up time I will give you." He snapped before turning his attention back to the entire group. "As for the rest of you, get back to your dormitory now. And if I catch any of you in the kitchens again it will be detention with filch for a week." He scowled, then strode past them and deeper into the dungeons, his black robes billowing behind him.
"Greasy git." Zwicker growled once Snape was out of earshot. The rest of the team except Ginny joined in cursing the professor's name while they ascended the stairs into the great hall and headed towards the larger staircase that led to the common room.
"Doesn't he just drive you mad Ginny?" Anna asked hotly as she jumped over the trick step. Ginny shrugged.
"Sometimes," She admitted. "But I'm just glad he didn't take away more points or give me a detention for missing tutoring." She said with another shrug. Anna's brows furrowed and she gave Ginny a mystified look.
"Hey, yea, why do you reckon he didn't do that?" She asked, looking even more perplexed. Once again Ginny shrugged.
"Who knows, maybe he's tired." She suggested.
'Or maybe he's catching on.'
'Nonsense, he hates me as much as he ever did.'
'Well duh, but you know what he was doing don't you?'
'No, what?'
"Battling you're wits. You failed horribly by the way.'
Ginny cursed as she realized that it was true but then smirked. So the mighty potions master had finally gained his point back. Well she'd show him.
"What's the matter Ginny?" Anna asked as she heard her friend cursing.
"Nothing, just stubbed my toe." Ginny lied, Anna-Rose rolled her eyes as if to say you-are-such-a-wuss, before she spoke the password to the fat lady and crawled through the portrait hole. Ginny smiled at Anna's complete obliviousness before following.
A/N: Wow I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Thanks again for reviews, no one's said anything interesting though, so I have nothing to answer to, or do I? Maybe I'm lying eh? Or then again maybe you're lying, and I'm falling for it, or maybe it's, never mind I just made my own brain hurt.
So here's a quick fact that has nothing to do with anything I just said anything about. Did you know that male elephants have nipples in their armpits? Yeah, made me think too.
Sorry for being so weird today, I don't really know what's gotten into me.
-Darth Depravious.