AN – Alright – everyone ready for the next chapter. It's finally October in the story (god am I slow or what?). I love the reviews I get (remember – the more the reviews the quicker I type and post – assuming of course that I can make it down to the internet café). Ok then – onto the chapter.
***
The Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts, England, 5:00 p.m., Friday, October 4
Harry's head pounded as he lay face up on his back. His vision was blurry and the last thing he could remember was a flying slivery-black ball headed straight for him. He blinked twice and Dawn's face swam into view as well as the faces of his teammates. Though his head was still pounding, and there was a searing pain across his scar – his vision had cleared except for the fact that he was seeing everything through cracked glass.
"Harry – are you all right?" Dawn asked, helping him to sit up.
"Woah, Harry, I haven't seen a bludger smash you like that since second year" Ron said. He was of course referring to the bludger that Dobby charmed to 'save' Harry's life.
"You had us worried" Conner added.
"You haven't let a bludger get past you in ages, guys" Angelina said, looking at Fred and George.
"It wasn't them" Harry interjected, before Fred and George could open their mouths to protest, "It was me, I should have dodged it – I got distracted."
"By what?" George asked.
"Nothing" Harry said, rubbing his scar absently "It's nothing, I'm fine now."
Realization suddenly hit and Dawn, Conner and Ron automatically knew what had caused Harry to miss dodging that bludger.
"Well – as long as your alright" Angelina said uncertainly, "Well it's about time to pack it up anyway – first game of the season's Tomorrow – we've all got to rest up."
"That's the first sane thing you've said all month" Fred joked.
"Oh, shut up" Angelina said, but she spoiled the effect by ginning slightly.
"Should we take you up to the hospital wing, Harry?" Conner asked.
"No – I'm ok."
"Good – because we need our Seeker in fighting form for tomorrows game" George grinned.
When Fred, George and Angelina left, Harry tapped his glasses with his wand to repair them.
"Well, what did you see?" Dawn prompted.
"See?"
"Oh, come off it, Harry, you had a vision" Ron snapped.
"Not really a vision" Harry said, "I missed dodging that bludger cuz of a sudden sharp pain…"
"…in you scar" Conner sighed, finishing his sentence "Not good."
"Well?" Ron asked.
"Voldemort – he's feeling… he's sort of… I have this sort of grim satisfied feeling from him."
"You can tell what he's feeling?" Dawn asked, shocked.
"It's been happening for a while now – ever since he's been back" Harry sighed, "I'll get to the bottom of this later – but right now we'd better to get cleaned up and head to Lupin's classroom. Hermione will be there and she'll want to get started."
Ron snorted, "Knowing Hermione – she'll start practicing with or without us."
***
Faith absently scratched Bandit (her pet griffin) behind the ears as she kept her gaze of the family tree tapestry that was now hanging on the wall. She was still a little confused as she stared at the web of connected pictures. All these people – somehow related to her and yet… and yet she couldn't seem to find a connection for the Weasley's although all of them were there.
The loud creak of the portrait that served as a door being opened jarred her from her trance. Sirius allowed himself in – the portrait clicked shut once more.
"Classes just finished?" he asked.
"About an hour ago" Faith replied, "Just came back to feed Bandit and have another look at this" she gestured towards the tapestry.
Sirius scooped up the small black griffin and took its seat beside Faith – resting the creature in his lap as he did so.
"What's on your mind?" Sirius asked.
"The Weasleys" Faith admitted, "I've been looking at this thing for a while, they're all up there but… there's no connection at all."
Sirius squinted, taking a closer look "You're right – I've never noticed that before."
It was true – there were no lines what so ever connecting any of the family to the Weasleys.
"Mother never had the Weasley's on the family tree she owned" Sirius mused "But I always just assumed they weren't up there because they were… how did she use to put it? … oh… a whole bunch of blood traitors."
"Something tells me I really wouldn't have liked her," Faith muttered.
"Probably" Sirius grinned, "But the only family tree's I've ever seen was the one my parents had and this one which I think belonged to my Great Uncle Martin – he was one of the good ones. When I saw the Weasley's on his chart I just assumed mother had excluded them from hers and that we were distantly related. I never took a closer look to see how we were related."
"So we're not related to them?" Faith asked.
Sirius shrugged "Not sure – I'd have to ask Andromeda or maybe Narcissa…"
"Narcissa Malfoy?" Faith put in.
"She's the good sort."
"She married Lucius Malfoy – how good can she be?"
"She was just a little too eager to please the rest of the family and avoid being blown off the family tree," Sirius chided, "Too young to realize what she was doing – poor thing."
"So why did she stay with the bastard when she did gain control of her sanity?" Faith asked.
"Draco" Sirius said simply, "She was about six months pregnant – if she left Malfoy, the family wouldn't have supported her and Draco would have grown up without a father and financial support. Of course I would have helped – but I was kept busy between keeping you and your mother hidden and working for the Order. I don't think she thought to contact me at all. Then when I did find out I was trying to murder Pettigrew and then I got thrown in Azkaban."
"Rough" Faith noted.
"But anyway – I'll send that owl to Narcissa, I think Andromeda's away somewhere. Besides – an owl flying in when she's entertaining muggle friends – not good."
***
"Concentrate" Harry said, "Think happy thoughts - literally, people, it's what a Patronus is made from."
Harry had been a little uncomfortable teaching his friends, but he found they were quite eager to learn - even if they always took a chance to poke fun at him whenever possible. Conner took advantage of Harry's embarrassment by snapping at attention and mockingly calling him 'Professor Potter' when he explained things to them.
The room was quickly filling with smoky, silver light. The largest cloud, of course, erupting from Hermiones wand. This wasn't their first lesson - they'd been practicing every other day after Quidditch practice for about a week now. And everyone was slowly improving. Even Ron had managed to produce a decent sized cloud by using the recent memory of him making the Quidditch team. The smallest wisp of silver light, however, came from Conner. His 'Patronus' had only grown very slightly over the week. When Harry had gently questioned it, Conner had simply shrugged and replied 'I don't have very many happy memories to look back to'. Harry suspected that whatever happy memory Conner was using, it was probably a memory at Hogwarts.
***
"I'm just saying it might be a good idea" Willow said, "I mean, they always have an annual feast anyway – so why not have dancing with it."
Most of the gang was in the Common Room of the East wing – the topic of discussion; the Halloween Feast.
Tara nodded "I think it's a good idea."
"I agree" Anya put in "They had a Yule Ball last year – I heard about that from Dumbledore – it was mostly because of the Triwizard Tournament, but it might be fun."
"Fun?! It'll be a blast," Xander said happily, concentrating hard on the chessboard in front of him "Bishop to C3."
The white Bishop moved into place, plowing Spike's black knight as it did so.
"Bloody hell, how'd you get so good at this" Spike muttered.
"Years of nothing to do on Friday night but avoid my parents arguing and play Internet chess" Xander replied.
"Isn't there something else we should be worried about?" Gunn put in, placing the stereo he'd used for his latest lesson back in place, "For example – kicking the ass of Lord what's-his-face."
"C'mon, Gunn, loosen up – live a little" Buffy joked, sinking into the couch next to Willow, "Besides we can't form any sort of plan when we don't have that much info."
"I'm all for it as long as I don't have to get on the dance floor" Angel grumbled.
Everyone else grinned and stifled giggles.
"C'mon, Angel, it's like Buffy said – live a little" Cordelia grinned.
"Uh – already dead here" Angel said, raising an eyebrow.
When the laughing died down Oz spoke "I'll talk to Dumbledore about Halloween tomorrow, I'm sure he'll…"
He was interrupted as Fred then walked into the room with a slightly puzzled expression on her face.
"Fred?" Gunn asked, not missing a beat "Fred, are you alright – is something wrong?"
"No – everything's fine" Fred said, but that was far from true.
She'd just come back from dropping off the fresh supplies in the potions store room – Snape had been there as usual but he was now more and more frequently rubbing his arm. Fred shook her head – the Potions Master was all right once you got to know him… even if he was irritable and cranky. She was concerned – maybe she should take it to Dumbledore – but she suspected that the Headmaster already knew. Aside from the fact that he seemed to know everything that was going on in the castle – Fred noticed that whenever a look of intense pain came across Snape's face, he'd automatically go to Dumbledore. Fred decided not to dwell on it – if anyone could help Snape it was the Headmaster.
***
The Next Morning…
Harry thought that – with Wood gone – the team might actually avoid being force-fed a monster breakfast before each Quidditch match. That however proved not to be the case.
"C'mon everyone, eat up" Angelina said, pilling food onto everyone's plate but her own, "We need our strength for the match."
"It won't do any good if we're too heavy to get off the ground" Fred grumbled.
This brought a laugh from the rest of the team – Angelina pretended not to notice.
"Honestly" George muttered to the rest of the team, "I wonder if Wood's died and she's channeling his spirit."
Harry snorted in his pumpkin juice.
At eleven o'clock almost the whole school headed down to the Quidditch Pitch. The playing Quidditch teams – Gryffindor and Slytherin – marched straight to the change rooms.
Dawn slid into her new Quidditch robes glancing nervously outside.
"The whole school's out there" Dawn almost squeaked.
She wasn't the only one nervous; Ron kept readjusting his robes and flattening his hair.
"Oh for heavens sake, Ron – it's a Quidditch match, not a beauty pageant," Conner snapped – not short of fear himself as the half-demon rubbed sweaty palms on his robes.
"It's different with everyone watching you" Ron said, his voice nearly as high as Dawn's.
"Just pretend they're not there" Harry said, knowing it wasn't much comfort.
"Not there?" Dawn snorted, "That's impossible with everyone yelling…"
"Just relax people" Angelina's voice called over them.
It was hard to see but Harry knew that Angelina was just as nervous as Dawn and the others. This was the first Quidditch match they would play with her as Captain.
"We trained" Angelina said, fighting to keep her voice even "remember we've trained and we have the best ruddy team in the whole damn school!"
"Here, here!" Fred and George yelled.
"Now let's go out there and kick some ass!"
---
Lee Jordan pointed his wand to his throat and sat at the scoreboard, ready to do his usual job of commentator.
"Sonorus" he muttered, his voice suddenly increased in volume, "WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH OF THE YEAR – SLYTHERIN VERSUS GRYFFINDOR."
There was an eruption of cheers.
"ON THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM – CHASER AND NEW CAPTAIN ANGELINA JOHNSON, WITH NEW RECRIUTS DAWN SUMMERS AND CONNER O'NEIL. BEATERS FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY JOINED BY THEIR BROTHER RON WEASLEY AS THE TEAMS NEW KEEPER AND HARRY POTTER AS SEEKER."
Gryffindor supporters cheered while the Slytherins tried to make their jeers heard. With a little less fervor Lee introduced the Slytherins.
"AND ON THE SLYTHERIN TEAM – NEW CAPTIAN ADRIAN PUCEY, WITH FELLOW CHASERS CLARKE BANNER AND BRIAN TATE. NEW BEATERS VINCENT CRABBE AND GREGORY GOYLE. NEW KEEPER TYLER GREEN AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST – SEEKER DRACO MALFOY."
It was then Slytherins turn to cheer. Spike (sitting in the teachers stand) applauded his nephew.
In the teachers box along with the usual Hogwarts Professors – were also the newest recruits. The scoobies and the AI gang sat amongst the teachers – Sirius sat next to Faith and Oz with his uncle (the full moon ended a day before). But Hagrid as usual was sitting amongst the Gryffindors cheering the team on.
Angelina and Adrian, both being Captains, were forced to shake hands; both looking as though trying to break fingers as always when Slytherin and Gryffindor played.
Harry raked his eyes over the Slytherin team – there were still no girls. Adrian Pucey – the same age as Angelina Johnson, had been on the team since Harry's first year and was now finally Captain. Clarke Banner was older than Harry but had joined in Harry's second year and Brian Tate had become a Chaser a couple of years before now. Crabbe and Goyle were the new Beaters – no surprises there really, both were heavy and stupid enough to be the Bludgers themselves instead of Beaters. Harry looked at Draco Malfoy with slight confusion – he'd never looked nervous before a match – always cocky and arrogant. But not this time – he was pale and noticeably thinner and the arrogant smirk he usually had was replaced by a frown – as if his mind was anywhere else but the Quidditch Pitch. Harry shook his head – if something was going on with Malfoy if wasn't his problem. The last member of the team was the youngest and easily the smallest. Tyler Green – the new Slytherin Keeper – a fourth year – he was in the same class as Ginny. He was the one Harry was the most cautious of. No one besides the Slytherin team had ever seen him fly before. He didn't look much like a Slytherin either. He was the shortest and thinnest – while his teammates were tall and bulky (with the exception of Malfoy who was sort-of-tall and thin). Tyler had scruffy, slightly spiked dark brown hair and deep blue eyes that were unreadable.
"MOUNT" Madam Hooch ordered jerking Harry out of his thoughts as she stepped onto the middle of the field, the crate of Quidditch balls at her feet and a broom in one hand.
All the players obligingly mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and everyone kicked off at once. The crate was then opened and the Bludgers shot from into the air closely followed by the Snitch witch did a couple of loops before vanishing. Madam Hooch picked up the Quaffle and gave it an almighty toss into the air before kicking off into the air herself to referee. Lee didn't miss a beat…
"Angelina Johnson steals the Quaffle for Gryffindor – a superb chaser who still won't go out with me because she's dating Fred –"
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, Professor. Johnson zooms down the pitch and – oh she's stopped – excellent play by Adrian Pucey. Slytherin in possession now flies forward – backward pass to Banner – who passes to Tate speeding down the pitch – dodging Gryffindor Chaser Dawn Summers – passed back to Banner underneath him – OH! Bludger almost kills Banner – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley. Great play from the Gryffindor Beater."
Way above the game, Harry cheered with Malfoy only twenty or so odd feet to his left.
"Gryffindor back in possession – new Chaser Dawn Summers flying down the pitch – passes to Conner O'Neil – passes to Johnson – back to Summers – back to Johnson – Summers – Johnson – O'Neil – he's going to score…"
Harry watched as the red robed figure of Conner dodged a Bludger, ducked under Tate, passed back to Dawn who past to Angelina who passed back to Dawn and then to Conner who zoomed forward and threw the Quaffle towards the hoop and it would have been a perfect shot if…
"… And excellent save by new Keeper Tyler Green – no one saw that coming."
Harry was shocked to say the least – Conner had some of the best natural talent he'd seen in a good long while. And this kid (well to be fair he was fourteen) blocked one of Conners super speed shots. Harry wasn't the only one in shock – Conner seemed a little taken aback and the rest of the team were staring open mouthed. They were so stunned that George almost missed blocking the bludger headed straight for his nose (he whacked it just in time).
"Impressed, Potter?" Draco Malfoy sneered – suddenly getting some of his old malevolent attitude back, "Green's good, real good."
Harry blinked – it wasn't often that Malfoy complemented anyone but himself – even if they were in his own house.
"C'mon guys snap out of it" Harry heard Angelina yell.
The game continued.
"Slytherin in possession" Lee announced, "Tate with the Quaffle – passes to Pucey – passes to Banner – back to – ANGELINA WATCH OUT –"
Angelina had flown in to intercept the passing from Banner to Tate but missed as she narrowly dodged a Bludger sent her way by Goyle. There were several murmured protests from the crowd – but the play was legal. Adrian Pucey suddenly yelled something to his team. To Harry is sounded a bit like 'Show no mercy' – then he realized that was probably exactly what he said.
That did it – the Slytherins were through with playing nice. Gryffindor was in possession of the Quaffle once more only to have it snatched back in no time by Tate. Crabbe smashed Fred in the nose with his Beaters Bat while back-swinging to hit a Bludger – Gryffindor was awarded penalty. Angelina took it – but Tyler Green was too quick for her. The game went on Slytherin in possession once more.
"… Banner with the Quaffle – passes to Tate – passes to Pu – NO HE FAKED IT – it's Banner coming up fast with Quaffle – BLOCK IT WEASLEY – OH NO – SLYTHERIN SCORE – Slytherin ten Gryffindor zero."
There was an excessive cheering from the Slytherins crowd and booing from Gryffindor supporters. Harry glanced down at Ron who seemed to be swearing under his breath – face as red as his robes.
"C'mon, Ron" Harry muttered "Keep your cool."
"Gryffindor in possession – Summers with the Quaffle – passes to O'Neil – passes to Johnson – back to Summers and – THEY'RE GOING TO CRASH –"
Adrian Pucey was headed straight for Dawn so in a few short moments they would crash head-on. Dawn didn't falter – she was an inch away from Pucey's speeding broom when she jerked upwards over the Slytherin Captain dodging a Bludger as she did so… There was a thunder of boos from the Slytherin side.
"- And Bludger hit by Vincent Crabbe hits Captain Adrian Pucey head on" Lee announced happily "I hope it hurts you son of a –"
"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall yelled.
"I mean, take that you oversized mountain troll –"
"Jordan you're asking for it."
"Alright, alright – Bludger almost knocks out Slytherin Captain – AND DAWN IS COMING UP FAST –"
Everyone had been focusing on Pucey they didn't notice that Dawn had made it past the other two chasers with the Quaffle and was closing in on the Slytherin goal.
"Summers with the Quaffle – she's going to sco– NO I DON'T BELIVE IT – another excellent save by Green."
The Slytherins cheered feeling slightly better that Gryffindor hadn't been able to score. Pucey shook his head – still dazed – nose looking like it might be broken. Madam Hooch flew over exchanging a few words with the Slytherin Captain. Pucey shook his head several times and there was another eruptions of cheers from the Slytherins when Pucey stayed on the field.
Harry did another lazy lap around the field – Malfoy never too far away incase he saw the Snitch. Harry's eyes darted from side to side behind his glasses looking for any signs of the little gold ball. Lee was still commenting on the game.
" – Tate closing in on the Gryffindor hoops – dodges a Bludger – swerves around Johnson – throws the Quaffle – BRILLIANT SAVE BY RON WEASLEY –"
Harry cheered along with the other Gryffindors. Ron's ears went very pink – he was torn between pride and shock at being able to block Tate.
---
The moment was short lived however – an hour and a half had already passed and Slytherin had just scored yet again.
"- That's now Slytherin one-hundred-and-fifty Gryffindor nothing –"
Harry groaned in frustration – no game had ever been this bad. And it wasn't like Conner, Angelina and Dawn weren't getting anywhere near the Slytherin goals. They'd had several shots more than the Slytherins not including the penalty shots they'd earned when Goyle smashed a Bludger towards Madam Hooch, when Brian Tate deliberately crashed into Conner and a number of times the Slytherin team had tried to cause severe injury to the Gryffindors.
No, it wasn't Dawn, Conner or Angelina. They would have made all those shots if the Slytherin Keeper wasn't so damn good. Tyler Green had talent that's for sure.
But it's not as if the Gryffindor team was easing up either. Ron had managed to block most of the Slytherins shots – the second youngest Weasley was actually very good – had anyone else been keeping (except for maybe Oliver Wood) Gryffindor would be behind triple what they were already. The only reason Slytherin were as high as they were now were thanks to a few cunning tactics. Once Crabbe knocked a bludger into Ron's stomach sending him through the hoop himself while Adrian (still mad as a hippogriff with a hernia because of his broken nose) managed to score six times while Ron was being revived.
Lee Jordan was loosing his cool "- Banner swoops clear down the pitch, Slytherin in the lead thanks to a colossal bit of cheating –"
"Jordan" Professor McGonagall yelled; she was having a hard time controlling her temper too.
"OK, OK – Banner with the Quaffle headed down the pitch – passes to Puc – INTERCEPTED BY JOHNSON – GO ANGELINA – Gryffindor Chaser flies clearway to the other end of the pitch and- FOUL – THAT WAS A FOUL YOU MISERABLE –"
Jordan filled the air with magnified curses; McGonagall didn't stop him – she was yelling too. There was a loud screech from the crowd as Angelina plummeted towards the ground. Crabbe and Goyle (who'd both kicked the brooms of the Weasley Twins so they spun out of control) had double hit a bludger, which streaked across the front of Angelina's broom and snapped it in half.
Harry was yelling with the rest of the crowd – that had to be illegal. But there was an even bigger problem; with the broom broken it could no longer fly, which meant Angelina (over a hundred feet in the air) plunged towards the hard ground.
The shrieking from most of the girls in the crowd were no help ("She'll be killed" someone said). Conner and Dawn sped to her rescue but Harry knew they'd never get there in time. But Fred (who'd gotten control of his spinning broom) dove after the falling Angelina in hot pursuit reaching her when she was five feet from the ground grabbing her by the scruff of her robes and yanking up to save her from a messy landing. Madam Hooch signaled a time out, stopping Pucey – who'd grabbed the Quaffle while Angelina fell – from scoring ("Hah" scoffed Ron).
Both teams headed towards the ground – Harry rushing over to with his teammates to Angelina who was visibly shaking though still in Fred's crushing embrace ("Angelina Johnson, don't you ever scare me like that again!").
"Angelina are you alright" Dawn asked – she appeared to be slightly shaken too.
"I'm good, I'm good," Angelina said, as Fred finally let her go "But my broom snapped – we forfeit if I can't fly…"
"Miss Johnson" Madam Hooch said, approaching briskly "Can you still fly? You may use one of the schools brooms… unless you wish to forfeit the match instead."
Angelina glanced at the rest of her teammates apprehensively, she sighed, "The show must go on."
As the teams took a ten-minute break Angelina revised another strategy "Harry – if we ever needed the Snitch it would be now – while we still have some shred of dignity left."
"Where did they get that Keeper" Conner fumed, he was still a bit peeved at the fact that Green had blocked every spectacular shot he'd made.
"Probably on steroids or something" Dawn said, every bit as disgruntled as Conner.
"Steroids?" Ron asked.
"Never mind" Dawn said dismissively.
"As I was saying," Angelina cut in "If Harry catches the Snitch before Slytherin has another chance to score we'd be tied and it wouldn't look as bad than if Slytherin beat us by a hundred and fifty to nothing…"
"Three hundred to nothing if they catch the Snitch" George added.
"That is not going to happen" Harry vowed "I'll get the Snitch if it kills me."
"The last time you said that the bludger almost did kill you" Fred snorted.
"Better yet – get the Snitch or kill Malfoy" Ron said.
"We could win if we just got one more goal and then Harry got the Snitch" Conner put in.
"If that's possible," Angelina mused, "We could try the Hawkshead Formation…"
They were interrupted as a house-elf stepped in and handed Angelina one of the best school brooms (which wasn't saying much, really) and Madam Hooch called all the players back onto the field. ("Remember, Harry" Angelina said, "The moment you see the Snitch – grab it no matter what.") The two teams kicked off to continue to game.
Lee was in a bad mood – partially because McGonagall had come back to her senses and given him Detention for the long string of curses he'd shouted during the match.
He spelled his throat once more "Now back to this embarrassing stint we call sport –"
"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall warned, though the look on her face plainly said she agreed with him.
"Fine – penalty shot taken by Gryffindor's Angelina Johnson –"
The broom Angelina was now on was nowhere near as good as her own. The broomstick wobbled, causing her to miss the shot, Tyler Green blocking easily.
Harry sped around the pitch, eyes darting desperately seeking the Snitch – it had to be caught and it had to be now. Malfoy stayed close by as usual – which might make it difficult if Harry wanted a quick end.
Suddenly he saw it – a glint of gold and a flutter of wings right next to the Gryffindor goal posts. Harry dove – so did Malfoy.
"POTTER'S SEEN THE SNITCH" Jordan announced with renewed energy, "But wait – hold on what's this?"
Harry didn't dare look, keeping his eyes on the snitch as sped in a different direction with both him and Malfoy close behind.
In the match now above him, Angelina, Conner and Dawn had made a triangle – the Hawkshead Formation –, Conner in the lead holding the Quaffle. The trio sped forward – dodging Bludgers and the Slytherin players fighting their way towards the goal. Conner passed the Quaffle back to Dawn who passed to Angelina who passed back to Dawn and then to Conner. The three Gryffindor chasers kept throwing the Quaffle to each other confusing their opponents who were trying to intercept them or knock them from the sky.
As they neared the Slytherin goals, Conner suddenly stopped short, feigning a pass to Dawn (causing the rest of the Slytherins to charge for her) before speeding off towards Tyler Green who was waiting eyes on the Quaffle.
Conners broom picked up speed, as he tossed the Quaffle from hand to hand in a completely daring move (what if he'd dropped it?) and headed towards the middle hoop. Green planted himself firmly in front of the middle hoop but this was what Conner seemed to be waiting for. The half-demon faked left, dodged right and swooped right under Tyler Greens broom and up again to throw the Quaffle in the middle hoop.
"TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR" Lee yelled.
A second later Harry felt his hand close around the tiny golden ball – it's wings fluttering helplessly against his palm. There was an uproar from the crowd. Because of Conners miraculous goal – they'd won.
"I DON'T BELIVE IT – O'NEIL SCORES AND POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH – SLYTHERIN ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS TO GRYFFINDORS ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY – GRYFFINDOR WIN. OH I SAY –"
Conner had landed and was being kissed firmly on the lips by Vicky.
***
The celebration that night was colossal. Hermione had Collin Creevey take a picture of the entire team and develop it so she could put an engorgement charm on it so it was twenty feet high and thirty feet wide; all with Harry, Dawn, Conner, Angelina, the Twins and Ron smiling and waving, brooms in hand.
Dobby the house elf had personally delivered a huge feast of different desserts to Gryffindor Tower. None of the Gryffindor team could escaped the constant pat on the back, Harry and Conner especially – being the hero's of the match. Harry felt Conner deserved most of the credit – it took all his will and determination (not to mention the strong urge to beat Tyler Green) to make that last goal for the win. Had Harry caught the Snitch a second sooner they would have tied.
A sixth year was shaking Dawns hand so hard she thought it might come off as he congratulated her on some of the best flying he'd said he'd seen in a good long while. While Ron was being clapped on the back heavily and repeatedly being told that Wood would have been proud.
They all stumbled to bed very late but still woke early the next morning to head down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Room on Hermione's insistence that they keep practicing that Patronus that not one of them but Harry could do. To everyone's surprise Conner brought out this wand and bellowed "EXPECTO PATRONUM" – a large silver dog (a German Shepard to be precise) erupted from his wand and sprinted around the room before disappearing. Conner gave a satisfied sort of smile as his friends stared at him, lost for words.