Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Sailor Moon.

Note: Happy Birthday Lisa! Hope you like your birthday present/chapter!

From Out of the Past and Into Dreams of the Present

Chapter 12

Volleyball and Quidditch

"Serena, come on!" Raye hissed. "We've got a meeting."

"I'm gonna stay at Hogwarts," Serena groaned, waving her hand. "Why should I have to go?"

"Because we have to discuss what everyone is doing," said Lita. "Come on, Serena."

"Fine," said Serena said, throwing back the covers. "Let's get this over with."

"You're not getting dressed?" Raye asked as Serena slunk to the door instead of her trunk.

"Why bother?" Serena demanded. "I'm going back to bed after this."

Raye and Lita sighed and followed Serena down the stairs. They met in the magical mythology classroom. Professor Halos was still asleep.

"I have the names and address of the boys tha twill be in each of you areas," said Ami, passing lists around. Lita, Amara and Michelle huddled together to look at the London list.

"Vincent Sandmon?" Amara gasped. "I can't understand half of what this guy says! He speaks English with a Jamaican accent.

"Sounds more like Jamaican with a Scottish accent if you ask me," says Raye. "I wish he'd pick an accent and just stick to it."

"Hey, he's pretty cool either way," said Mina with a shrug.

"So why don't you talk to him?" demanded Lita. "He's in your house!"

"I can't understand him anymore than you can!"

"Does he seem like a logical match for Stratus?" said Amara.

"The heart, social and character numbers don't match," replied Ami, "but after reviewing the numbers in each name, they both have three ones, two threes and two fives."

"Why does it sound like you're talking about money?" Serena questioned, rubbing her head as she sat in a desk. The team ignored her and moved on.

"Who feels brave enough to talk to him?" asked Lita. "Rock paper scisors, let's go."

Amara, Lita and Michelle all did rock, paper scissors to determine who would speak with the hard-to-understand Jamaican/Scottish wizard, Vincent Sandmon. Lita lost and was chosen as the poor soul to try to find out if he was a likely candidate for Stratus.

"I'm going to have to use a pad of paper and a pencil and make him write what he means!" Lita groaned.

"Good luck with that," said Raye.

"Thanks."

"Interesting numbers for Terry Parish," said Amara, looking them over..

"Yes, they're the same as Nicolas Flamel's," Ami said.

"Some of his dreams are similar to Darien's," Michelle stated, "one of his dreams said something about being lost in a rainstorm."

"We'll go with it," said Darien. "Anything to do with weather or a palace is good enough."

"I'm afraid I won't be able to do much work with the search," said Hotaru, "Professor Dumbledore wants me to help him find the things he's looking for."

"Understood," said Darien, "just do what you can. We've made a deal with Dumbldore. He let us search his school if we promised to keep it safe. This Voldemort he speaks of is really dangerous."

"Harry will be staying at the Weasleys," said Mina, after looking at the names on her list. "But you don't have him down in the Cornwall and Devon list. What're his numbers?"

"Oh, right," said Ami, checking her notes. "his social and Character numbers are just one off of Stratus' but their hearts are no where near the same. Not a very likely possibility."

"Really?" said Serena. "He seems to remind me of Stratus in a way. Something about him."

"Yeah," said Mina in agreement.

"Well of course there is," said Lita, turning her head to Serena. "Dumbledore's told us about what happened to him as an infant. Surviving the killing curse, stopping Voldemort again and again…But that doesn't necessarily rule out he's Stratus."

"Yes, and with the return of this Voldemort," stated Trista, "I don't believe assuming he being Stratus is good until we know for sure. He already doesn't like the fact that people seem to know more about him that he does."

"Are there any matches in his name?" Mina asked hopefully.

"Yes, they both have one five, and three nines," answered Ami.

"Well, it's a start," said Mina. "I'll keep a close eye on him."

"Just not too close, Mina," Artemis told her, "be sure to search for other candidates. We're here to find Darien's brother, not your next boyfriend."

"Hey!" Mina yelled and the girls laughed.

"Same goes to you, Lita," said Artemis, "keep your minds on the mission."

"What?" Lita exclaimed. ""W-what's that supposed to mean?"

"I think it means," said Raye, "that just because a guy reminds you of your old boyfriend doesn't mean you can forget all about the reason we're here."
"I'l be at the time gates mostly," said Trista, "now that the school is less populated, it'lll be easier for me to find Stratus' tracker."

"And I'll use the fire on these names," said Raye, "I can try to enter their dreams while they sleep."

"Sounds good," said Darien.

"How are we supposed to search for Stratus though?" Lita inquired. "I mean, do I just ask random guys if the like thunderstorms or something?" She chuckled nervously and expected her friends to laugh too or to give her a better idea. However, Darien supported it. He smiled.

"That's a great idea!" Darien said.

"It is?" Lita asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, my first few dreams were of Stratus manipulating thunderstorms," said Darien. "I think that was his favorite to control because he got some sort of thrill from it."

"So, I can try matching up the kind of weather they like best?" Lita suggested.

Darien nodded. "Seemed like Stratus got bored with sunny skies all the time. I mean, he was in a good mood and the sun would be shining but he liked it when the weather was exciting. Thunderstorms were most often his favorite I'd say."

"And what would be his least favorite?" Lita asked.

"When it's hazy," said Darien, "he keeps complaining he can't see what he's doing when it's all overcast."

"We've got to use every possible option," Luna said.

The scouts and Darien nodded in agreement."

"It's breakfast time," Lita said, checking her watch. "We'd better go now if we want time to get our bags."

"Right," Darien said, "when you found a good match, "contact me immediately."

"Will do," said Ami.

Serena stretched. "Well, now that we're done, I'm going to go back to bed. Merry early Christmas, everyone."

Lita, Amara and Michelle started their search on the train ride to London. They went from compartment to compartment, asking the boys questions about dreams, Quidditch and other random things. Michelle knew of some boys with dreams similar to what Darien was having so she searched the train for them. Instead of opening door after door and poking her head in, she used her mirror to show her who was behind the door in each compartment. When she found the boys she was looking for, she casually opened the door and talked to them.

"Miss Kaioh?" said a boy with long, unruly brown hair. He was a slightly pudgy five foot six seventh year from Ravenclaw.

"Hello, Terry. I've been analyzing your dream with the rainstorm. Have you ever had dreams with weather before?"

He gazed at her in surprise. "The rainstorm dream?"

"Yes, I found it quite interesting," she said, "storms mean that you are struggling with something."

Terry laughed. "Besides preparing for NEWT's, I'd say I'm doing just fine. And I think I'm all right for my NEWT's anyway."

"I see…well then…your dream about the rainstorm, was that a memory?"

"Yeah," Terry said, "I was actually remembering a time when I was in boy scouts. I was just eleven and it was the summer before Hogwarts. I wanted to hve a look around the campign ground and then I got lost."

"Why do yu think you were remembering this dream?" Michelle inqured."

"Not sure . I really like nature and stuff like that," Terry said sheepishly.

"You have dreams like this often?"

"Do I dream about the weather you mean?" he asked. "Well, no…not really."

"Thank you, Terry," said Michelle and she stepped out of the compartment.

"What was that about?" a couple of his friends asked.

"Beats me," Terry said with a shrug.

Michelle moved onto the next compartment and talked to Xander Flake, a sixth year Ravenclaw. For a sixth year he was only four foot seven and he had bowl cutplatinum blond hair a little past his ears. He wore coke-bottle glasses on his round face and had a large fat nose. He looked up from a Muggle murder mystery book.

"Hello Xander," said Michelle, "can I talk to you about your dreams?"

"My dreams?" Xander asked, raising an eyebrow as he closed his book.

"Yes, the ones that start with stormy nights.," she said, "I think they mean something very important."

Xander laughed. "Oh, I'm really into murder mysteries, conspiracies and things like that. I guess that was just my imagination getting the better of me. Many murder mysteries start with 'stormy nights,' you know. Why do you ask? You think my dreams probably mean there will be a murder soon?"

"Er…." Michelle began, rubbing her forehead.

Xander gasped and pushed up his glasses. "But of course! You-know-Who is back to power and many people have died since his return. I wonder if I'm dreaming about the death of his next victim." Xander stood to his feet, put a hand on his hip and raised an arm. "Then I must warn this individual and save him or her from the wrath of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

"Oh boy," Michelle mumbled.

"Is that why you are at Hogwarts, Miss Kaioh?" he inquired. "To catch You-Know-Who! Ah! I see…you're not a teaching assistant after all….yes…I see! I know who you are! You are a detective and you're here undercover!"

Michelle smiled. "Well, that's one way of looking at it."

"And you're here to solve the mystery of You-Know-Who's weakness and save us from him. Don't worry, Miss Kaioh, I won't tell anyone your secret!"

"Oh thank you, Xander," Michelle said softly. "I should be going now."

"And one more thing," said Xander, "if you need help solving other mysteries, I am your man!"

"Hmm, maybe you can help me," Michelle said.

"Really?"

"I am looking for a missing person," she said, "I have reason to believe he is a student at Hogwarts. He is the long lost brother of a good friend of mine."

"I see," said Xander, "do you have a picture of him or anything?"

"No, we would've found him already," said Michelle with a sigh. "You see, my friend dreams about his brother. He never knew he had one."

"Ah-ha! Yes! I've read a book like this once!" Xander said excitedly. "A man dreams about a mysterious boy with a scar for months and months. He doesn't know what it means. He sees psychics about it and they tell him that the boy in his dream is someone from his past…someone close…a brother! How odd…just like I've read in Out of My Life and In My Dreams! How crazy is this?"

"Yes, how interesting," said Michelle.

"So….that's why you asked about my dreams," he laughed. "You think I'm the brother to your friend?"

"Well, I don't think you can be him," said Michelle.

"Yes, you're right," said Xander. "I have no brother. Just a kid sister. What do you know about this mysterious brother?"

"Well…the dreams are associated with weather," said Michelle, "so anyone that has dreams about weather is a likely possibility of my friend's brother."

"Any other factors?" he asked "The guys age or something?"

"He should be around the age of sixteen," Michelle said.

"Ahh, that's good," said Xander, "you won't have to worry about students less than year four. Well, I'll keep an eye out for ya."

"Thanks, Xander," said Michelle, "I'll leave you to your own mystery now."

Xander picked up his murder mystery and Michelle left the compartment with a sigh. "No way that guy could be Stratus."

Lita took a breath and walked into the compartment Vincent Sandmon was in. There were two other boys with him, a Scottish boy by the name of Angus and a Jamacain boy named Demont. The few people that were able to understand Vincent Sandmon with his thick mixed accent were those from Jamica or Scotland.

Lita walked in. "Um, hello, is it all right if I sit with you guys?"

"S'aight," said Angus.

"Thanks," she said and she sat down. "So, um, you think we'll get lots of snow this year?"

"Dunno," said Vincent, "I'll be at Jamaica for the holidays. My I'll be spending my Christmas surfing while the rest of ya are freezing." (Even though I looked up both Scottish and Jamaican languages, there is no way I can make a person speak with both accents. So pretend you don't know what I just wrote here.)

"So you'll be in Jamaica then?" Lita asked.

The three boys stared at her.

"You understood him?" said Demont in disbelief.

"Er, I think I did," said Lita, "just a tad. He did say he was going to Jamaica, right."
"Yeah, mon," said Vincent, grinning. A sixth year Hufflepuff, Vincent was shrt for his age being lnly five foot two. His skin was copper toned and had short brown hair and hints of a mustache. "I'll be visiting me grandparents."

"That's so cool!" Lita exclaimed. "I really can understand you!"

"How's that?" said Angus. "You have any Scottish blood in you?"

"Nope," said Lita.

"Jamaican maybe?"
Lita laughed. "Nope, I'm a true Japanese girl! I'm surprised you guys can even understand me!"

After conversing about the weather, languages and different accents, Lita remembered why she was boy hunting in the first place. She made an excuse that she had to visit a friends compartment, grabbed her trunk and left the compartment of the three boys.

"Well, I guess I didn't need that pen and paper after all," Lita said to herself. "Okay, who's next?" Lita skimmed her list. "Ooh, Luke Whitewall! He's such a hunk. I've just gotta find his compartment!"

After a moment of searching, she found the handsome seventh year Hufflepuff's compartment. He had shiny blond hair, a great tan, cute little dimples and he looked more like an underwear model than a wizard. Smiling shyly, she opened the compartment door and walked in. To Lita's bonus, there were a couple of other hot boys in the room: the head boy Vance Ball and the wealthy Joshua Krellson, both from Hufflepuff.

"Hi…can I join you?" Lita asked.

Luke smiled his perfect white smile, his blue eyes twinkling. "Sure."

"Yeah, come on in," said Joshua Krellson. He had the body of a surfer and pale blue eyes.

"So, um, what do you guys plan to do for Christmas?" Lita asked.

Luke shrugged. "Whatever I'm in the mood for that day. I guess I'll just spend Christmas with the family."

"Yeah, I'll go with my parents and pick out a Christmas tree," said Joshua, "and my older brother is coming home too."

"How nice."

"I wanted to spend Christmas at Hogwarts," said Vance Ball dully, "since it's my last year and all, but all my family want to give me their presents for making Head Boy."

"How about you…what'd you say your name was?" Luke asked her.

"Lita," she answered sweetly. "And I'm just spending Christmas at The Leaky Cauldron."

"The Leaky Cauldron?" Joshua asked.

"Yes, I'm staying there with a couple of my friends," she replied.

"Where're your parents?" Luke asked.

"They died in a plane crash when I was still a little girl," Lita answered.

"Oh, that's so sad," Luke sympathized. 'I'm so very sorry."

"What's a plane?" Joshua asked airily.

"Don't you take Muggle Studies, Josh?" Luke asked him. "It's what Muggles use as a form of transportation. Planes fly."

"It's all right," said Lita, "it happened a long time ago. I don't even remember it. Say, you guys like thunderstorms?"

"Not during Quidditch games," said Vance, "as any Quidditch player will tell you."

"I do sometimes," said Luke.

"You do?" Lita asked, moving to sit next to him in a quick spring. "Really?"

"Yeah," answered Luke. "I think they're cool, I mean, the way how the sky all lights up. It's pretty exciting."

"Oh, I think so too!" Lita said. "Erm, what about snow, do you like snow?"

"Oh, sure, sometimes," he said with a shrug. "It's cool to make snowman every now and then but some days I just wish it wouldn't snow, you know?"

"And how about when," Lita said quickly, "when the weather is cloudy?"

Though he was confused with all the weather questions, Luke smiled and answered her. "Well, they're nice sometimes. I mean, it is warmer when it's cloudy, isn't it? The clouds are like a big blanket over the sky tucking you in. But other days…I just want to see the sun, you know?"

Lita stared at him as if she had found Stratus and her new boyfriend all at once. "Yes…I know…"

"Hey, Luke, you're coming to my New Years party, aren't you?" Joshua asked suddenly. "I think I can get the Weird Sisters to come."

"Of course," Luke answered.

"Party?" Lita inquired.

"Yeah, Joshua's having a New Years party as his house. Hey, you ought to come too!"

"Really?"

"Sure!"

"You don't mind, Joshua?" Lita inquired.

"Hey, it's fine with me," said Joshua with a shrug. "My parents will be out and my place is plenty big enough for parties."

"I'd love to come!" she said.

"I'll come to the Leaky Cauldron and come get you," said Luke, "you probably don't know your way around London quite yet, do you?"

"No, it's a big city," she replied.

"And it's dangerous for a young girl such as yourself to be wandering alone," Vance said, "especially now that You-Know-Who has returned. At least Hogwarts is still safe."

"Oh, I'm tougher than I look," Lita said with a grin. "Trust me."

Once they got to their room in The Leaky Cauldron, Amara, Michelle and Lita discussed their progress.

"I spoke to several Astronomy students, but Astronomy does not seem like such a factor in determining Stratus' identity. "Not unless we find out what his star chart may have been like and match it with a star chart with a boy here."

"But is it possible that all the planets and stars could be in the same location as both Stratus and whoever is incarnation is?" Michelle inquired.

"I'm not sure," said Amara, "we don't even know what Stratus' star chart is. Anyhow, I spoke to some boys on the Quidditch team, subs and those that were generally interested in Quidditch. The weather was quite mild at the Quidditch games. Either Stratus' incarnation is Quidditch player or is just a big fan."

"Good idea," said Lita, "what'd you find out?"

"I told the boys I intended on playing professional Quidditch or at least coaching it," she said, "and I asked them how serious they were about Quidditch. Cormac McLaggen may be the substitute Keeper, but he takes it seriously."

"But he didn't even play in the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match," said Lita, "and anyway, he seemed kind of upset that he wasn't picked. If he really was Stratus, then the weather probably would've been foggy or something. The guy's a big jerk too. I don't know what Hermione sees in him."

"Yes, I realized he was a very low candidate," agreed Amara, "even if his character and social numbers match Stratus'. I spoke to Lenny Jones, a back up chaser for the Hufflepuff team. His numbers don't quite match with Stratus and he's too emotionally unstable to be Stratus. The reason why he is a back up player anyway is because his playing can be erratic at times."

"Then I guess it's good Mina was the sub Chaser instead of him," Lita said.

"I'm afraid I didn't' find any reliable matches," said Amara with a sigh. "Did either of you have any luck?

Michelle shook her head. "I spoke to the boys that dreamed about weather or living an early era," she said, "but no matches. However, Xander Flake did volunteer to help me."

"What'd you tell him?" Amara asked.

"Not much," she said, "he was able to figure out I was working on some kind of mystery. He said I had to be a private detective working undercover. He enjoys solving mysteries and things like that."

"Well, that's kind of what we are," said Lita.

"How did you do, Lita?" Michelle inquired.

"Oh, I think I did okay," answered Lita, leaning back into her pillow. "Luke Whitewall looks very promising. He digs thunderstorms. I've been invited to a new years party so I'll be able to keep a closer eye on him."

"Good, any other leads?" Amara questioned.

"Um…er…." Lita said nervously. "Uhhh, no."

"Lita, you didn't just sit in the same compartment for the whole train ride to London, did you?" Amara demanded.

"Of course not!" Lita retorted. "I sat in two! I found a close match to Stratus and I was able to understand Vincent Sandmon so you can't say that I didn't accomplish anything!"

Though Mina arrived at the Weasley's rather late, she was in the mood to teach Ginny some of her trademark Quidditch moves. "I'm ready when you are, Ginny!"

"Yeah!" said Ginny, "let me just grab my broomstick."

"You have plenty of time to play Quidditch," said Mrs. Weasley. "I think you should have dinner and go to sleep. It's far too dark and cold to play now."

"Ah, man," Mina mumbled, "and I already had our session planned out. First thing tomorrow then."

"Okay," replied Ginny as she and the rest of the young Hogwarts students gathered around the table for dinner.

"Hermione's going to New York?" Ron asked in disbelief as he stirred his soup. "What exactly is a dental convention anyway?"

"It's just where dentists get together and talk about teeth and stuff," Harry said.

"That sounds kind of boring," said Mina, "her parents are just bringing her along to it?"

"Well I'm sure she'll do a little bit of site seeing while she's there," Harry answered. "She promised us souvenirs."

"This soup is great, Mrs. Wealsey," Mina said, "it really hits the spot. Thanks."

"You're welcome, dear," answered Mrs. Weasley.

After eating, everyone went upstairs for bed. Mina looked at the family photos and when she saw Bill, she pointed him excitedly and looked at Ginny. "Who is this?"

"My oldest brother Bill," Ginny answered. "He works for Gringotts."

"When can I meet him?" Mina asked.

"He'll be here for Christmas dinner," she answered, "but I'm sure he'll be here tomorrow."

"He's so good looking!" Mina exclaimed.

"Don't get your hopes up…he's engaged."

"Oh, why congratulations!" Mina said. "Who's ever engaged to him is very lucky!"

"Wish I could say the same for Bill," Ginny grunted as she climbed the stairs. Mina followed her, slightly confused.

"What do you mean?" Mina asked. "Don't you like her?"

"Well, I know that Bill can do much better than Fleur Delacour," Ginny said, pushing the door to her room. "She's part veela and she can really get on your nerves."

"Is she going to join us for Christmas dinner?"

"Looks that way," Ginny sighed. "She might be here tomorrow. She's staying here with us. I don't know where she is today. She and Bill are probably out at work or on a date or something."

"She works at Gringott's too?"

"Yeah, she didn't come here for a job opportunity but more of an opportunity o snag my brother," Ginny said bitterly. "Bill's just fallen for her veela charm. He should know better. He outwitted lots of traps and things when he collects treasure from ancient ruins and such, I'd thought he'd know enough to see through Phlegm."

"Phlegm? That's what you call her?"

"Yeah."

"Ouch…you must really not like her," said Mina.

"Just wait until you meet her," Ginny said with a slight smile, taking off her school robes and getting into her pajamas. "Let's just go to sleep so we can get up early enough for some Quidditch."

"Yeah, we'll need our rest," Mina said, removing her school robes and getting into her pajamas as well: a Volleyball Camp T-shirt and orange bottoms. She patted Artemis on the head. "Goodnight, Artemis!"

Artemis purred and Mina crawled into bed. She closed her eyes and a loud banging came from above them. Artemis let out a loud meowing yell and hid under Mina's bed.

"What was that?" Mina questioned.

"Oh, that's the ghoul," said Ginny with a yawn. "He likes to shake the pipes and things to remind us he's still here."

"A ghoul? You have a ghoul?"

"Don't worry," said Mina, "he never leaves the attic and he's not dangerous. Just annoying. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Ginny fell asleep within a few moments but Mina dint' fall asleep so quickly. She lay on her back, staring the ceiling. The was a ghoul in the attic, the handsome eldest son of the Weasley was engaged to a part veela girl, and Harry Potter was sleeping just a few rooms away. Mina didn't know how she was going to do her research with all these "distractions" let alone sleep. Mina sighed, turned on her side and fell asleep.

The two girls got up early, ate breakfast, and walked outside dressed in their Quidditch attire with broomsticks in hand. Ginny took off in the air first and Mina took the Quaffle from the box.

"What will we start off first? How about that flip in the air before hitting the Quaffle?"

"We'll do something like that," said Mina, putting the Quaffle under her arm and taking off in the air. "It's called a smash. It's a very hard hit and it's one of the most powerful Volleyball moves. K, watch closely."

"I'm watching."

Ginny wasn't the only one watching. Harry, who had woken up from a weird Christmas dream again, was watching the two girls from Ron's bedroom window.

Mina tossed the ball in the air and hit the Quaffle hard with her hand. Her power was strong but her aim was bad. The Quaffle flew right to Ginny and hit her in the head. Ginny let out a yell and fell off her broom. Harry gasped and laughed at the same time.

"Oh my gosh, I killed her!" Mina exclaimed, setting her broom down and running to the fallen Ginny. "Ginny, speak to me! I am so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Well…I think I can see why you call it a smash," Ginny said weakly.

"Let me help you up," Mina said, grabbing her arm and pulling her inside the house. "I am so, so sorry! Let me get you some chicken soup, or a thermometer."

"Are you sure you don't get hit in the head too?" Ginny asked. "That's what you get for someone that's sick. Not when they're hit in the head."

"Ginny what happened?" Mrs. Weasley questioned.

"I'm fine, Mum," Ginny insisted as Mrs. Weasley crowded around her.

"It was an accident!" Mina claimed. "I was trying to teach her a smash! I think we started too early. Maybe I should've taught you the volley, or the underarm pass or the set…I thought the smash would be good to start off with. I am so sorry! I'll go get yo some ice!"

"But I'm fine," Ginny said as Mina nearly tore up the kitchen looking for ice cubes.

"Where are the ice cubes?" Mina wondered out loud. "Are you bleeding? Should we take you to the hospital?"

"It's just a little bump," said Ginny, "my skull's not cracked or anything like that. Let's go back outside."

"Hold still, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley, tapping Ginny's head, relieving the bump on her head and the headache Ginny had received. "There, Ginny, all better. Maybe you should have a lie down."

"But…"

"Yeah, come on, Ginny," said Mina, "we can practice later. I think we'll do some of these moves on the ground first."

When Ginny was feeling better, Mina and Ginny returned to practice. They began doing their volleyball maneuvers on the ground until Ginny was ready to try them in the air. Sometimes Mina caught Harry watching the two girls play. She always smiled and waved at him. He blushed and waved back. He was slightly embarrassed that he had been caught, but not embarrassed enough to stop watching them. His mind somehow wandered to the homework assignment Halos had assigned in Magical Mythology. How did love play a part in myths? As he watched the two girls do a thing he loved, he wondered if what he felt was love for them. Was he watching them because he loved Quidditch too? Because both the girls were gorgeous and funny and just amazing? Was it their talent? Did he hope to learn a few things?

"Hey Harry, what are you looking at?" Ron demanded as he walked into the room.

"N-nothing," said Harry, twisting around and leaning against the wall. "Just…just checking out the weather."

"More like checking out my sister," said Ron.

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were," Ron said firmly as he strod up to the window and peeked outside.

"I didn't mean to be staring," said Harry, "I just wanted to see how they were doing."

"Yeah, well, I don't think Mina's going to hit Ginny in the head with the Quaffle this time," said Ron. "Whoa! Did you see that? Ginny just slammed the Quaffle into the hoop with her head!"

"Isn't that a soccer move instead of a volleyball move?" Harry asked, looking back outside.

"Wow, maybe I should watch this too," said Ron, "I'm the Keeper and I'm going ot have to learn to block some of those moves."

"Y-yeah," said Harry, looking down at the girls, watching them bunt and spike the Quaffle back and forth.

"Hey!" said Mina once she caught the guys watching them. It shocked them that they both hit their heads on the windowpost. Both Mina and Ginny giggled. Mina flew up to the window and Harry leaned back.

"Why don't you guys come down and join us," said Mina. "You look like you want to."

"Er, well…I…" stammered Harry.

"Yeah, come on," Mina insisted, "let's do a little scrimmage. Aren't there other Quidditch players around here that may want to join us?"

"Yeah, sure!" said Ron. "I don't' think I know of other Quidditch players close to here though. Guess it's just us."

"Oh, bummer," Mina said with a frown. Trying to get a Quidditch game was her only idea of trying to hunt for Stratus. Now what was she going to do? Wander around Devon on foot until she saw a thunderstorm brewing?

"But…" said Harry, "maybe we shouldn't…'

"Come on, Harry," Ron insisted, "You're the team Captain! Maybe you can learn some new plans or something!"

"Sure, okay," Harry said uncertainly.

"that's the spirit!" said Mina. "Come on down guys."

"Let's go, Harry," said Ron, pulling out his broom. "I want to try and block some of those throws…"

Feeling an odd leap in his stomach, Harry followed Ron down the stairs and outside. How was Harry going to play with Mina and Ginny? Ginny was Ron's sister and Harry didn't know anything about Mina. Ginny was dating Dean Thomas and Harry didn't even know if Mina was available Harry then kicked himself for thinking these crazy things. It was just a little scrimmage! What did it matter? He had to think about it as just any other game. If he could play against Cho Chang, he could do this. But how was he going to handle these weird feelings every time he saw the girls?

TO BE CONTINUED