Chapter Summary: Mallory's tryout and we find out her family history.

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Chapter 14

Sunday morning, Mallory stood with the Gryffindor Quidditch team on the pitch, a broom in her hand, and a tentative look on her face. "Have I mentioned I've never really flown before?" Mallory asked as she mounted the broom.

"Twice," Harry said as he stood off to the side with Hermione and Ron. "Relax. You'll do fine."

Letting out a nervous laugh, Mallory kicked off and hovered about 10 feet in the air.

Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson took off as well and waited until Mallory was in position before the goal posts. "We'll try a few easy lobs to start off," Katie said, cheerfully.

Mallory nodded and watched as the three Chasers zoomed off, passing the quaffle back and forth. Then Alicia made a sudden grab and hurled the red ball toward one of the goals.

Mallory zipped over and while she missed catching the ball, she was able to knock it away. "Okay…" she said, still tentative. "That was okay."

"Try to catch it next time, Mallory," Angelina said, encouragingly. "Don't be afraid to use your hands."

"Gotcha!" Mallory replied, waiting for the next goal attempt.

Over all, Mallory was able save 7 out of 10 goals and while it was only 1 better than the others that had tried out before, Angelina was willing to take it. "Well, at least we have a keeper again," Angelina said as she put the quaffle away. "Team practice Tuesday night, alright?"

Mallory nodded as she put the broom away. "If my dad finds out…"

"Is he… a muggle or…?" Alicia asked as put her own broom away.

"Muggleborn," Mallory replied. "He's… just always been afraid I'll hurt myself if I play Quidditch." Looking over at Ginny who seemed to be moodier since the previous night, Mallory said, "Look, I know ya'll are mad at Ron, but Ginny's not to blame."

"If Ginny hadn't been kissing Malfoy—" Alicia countered.

"Why would she kiss him anyway?" Katie asked. "Malfoy's never been nice to her or her family. She had to know how Ron would react."

At lunch, Harry found Ginny and sat down next to her. "Why did you kiss Malfoy?" Harry asked, as soon as Ginny acknowledged him.

"It's… It was so stupid," Ginny replied, poking her chicken and potatoes with her fork. "Anyway it… doesn't matter now."

"Ginny, you're like my sister," Harry said, trying to get her to talk. "I like you… but I've never… you know, felt that way about you."

"I've had this mad crush on you since I first saw you," Ginny said, not looking at Harry. "And… then this summer I…"

"Ginny, I asked you to take my shades off," Harry insisted. "I wanted to just be blind instead of trying to live with partial vision. None of what's happened to me is your fault."

"I just wanted you to… to feel jealous," Ginny said, sighing. "I wanted to be with you and then you started hanging out with Mallory… I just felt like… I was just tossed aside."

"Is that why you wanted to take my place as Seeker?" Harry asked, a smile starting to cross his face.

Ginny gave the smallest smile back. "Yeah. I just wanted you to notice me."

"Ginny, I want us to be friends. Just friends, okay?"

Ginny finally turned to look at Harry. "So you and Mallory…"

"I love you like you're my own sister," Harry said again. "But the two of us… I don't think it would work out."

Ginny nodded as tears started sliding down her cheeks. "Okay," she sniffed. "I just thought…"

"I know. And I'm sorry."

After the previous night Malfoy hadn't expected to see Ginny again so he was surprised to find her waiting for him in the Entrance Hall. "Come by for another quickie?"

"Was this your plan all along?!" Ginny said, looking furious. "Get me and Ron kicked off the Quidditch team so Slytherin could win the House Cup this year?! You USED me, didn't you?!"

"You were using ME to make Potter jealous," Malfoy countered, surprised that Ginny was yelling at him like this. "How'd that work, by the way?"

"It didn't, thank you very much," Ginny snapped.

"Look, Weasley," Malfoy said, succinctly. "I won't deny it was fun but I didn't use you for anything. You used me, end of story." After a moment, though, he added, "But I'll tell you what… I owe you one."

"Oh, that's your game, is it?" Ginny said, crossing her arms. "Make a mess of things then just flippantly say 'I owe you one'?"

Malfoy let out a slow sigh while still keeping his expression cool and impassive. "Sometime… when you really need my help… I'll help you. Whatever you want."

Ginny looked doubtful. This could very easily be some sort of ploy so that she actually trusted him. "Anything?"

"Anything," Malfoy confirmed. "But just once. After that, I'll go right back to hating you."

Ginny smirked. "You kissed me like that and then you're going right back to hating my family? You must be more heartless than I thought."

Malfoy laughed. "It has been a pleasure collaborating with you, Miss Weasley. But with that one exception to be determined… I think this is where we part ways." With that, he turned to head up to the library leaving Ginny standing in the Entrance Hall more than a trifle confused.

"We need to talk, Red," Mallory said when she saw Ginny down one of the corridors. Ginny stopped but she didn't turn around. "Look… I know you and Harry have known each other for years now. And I know that your family has all but adopted him and you feel responsible—for some reason—for Harry's blindness. I'm not stupid, Ginny," Mallory said, waiting for her to turn around. "I know you like him. What I don't know is what you have against me."

The two Gryffindors stood there for a few moments and after a while, Ginny turned. "You… came here from the U.S…. And some how… you and Harry forged this… connection. Maybe because you both have had horrible childhoods or what—I don't know. But… in an instant the two of you bonded. You got close to him in a way I've never… I want what you have with Harry."

"I'm not trying to steal Harry away," Mallory said, shaking her head. "But… Look, let's just say we have more in common than sucky home lives."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, curious. "I know you said your mother walked out, but your dad's a good guy, right?"

Mallory bit her lip and whished that she could just rewind. After a moment she said, "I do not want to talk about it right now. Especially not out in the hallway. I promise I will tell you and Harry when I am ready to talk about it. Now excuse me, please, I need to find Professor Dumbledore's office."

Though she was confused by this comment, Ginny gave Mallory directions to the headmaster's office and Mallory took off down the hall finally reaching the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"Oh, boy," Mallory sighed, trying to think. "Okay, what did Harry say? He likes candy. Okay, candy it is." Looking at the statue, Mallory rattled off every kind of candy she could think of, finally hitting the password of 'marshmallow bunnies'.

In his office, Dumbledore looked surprised to see Mallory Harper come in unannounced. "Miss Harper," Dumbledore said, kindly. "How do you like our school?"

"I like it," Mallory replied, starting to pace nervously. "But, um…"

"But that is not why you came here, is it?"

Mallory shook her head then went to close the office door before facing the headmaster. "My mother's a muggleborn," Mallory said in a rush. "So's my dad, but that's not the point. Mom liked to drink… do drugs… even while she was pregnant with me."

"I presume that those indiscretions are what caused your… disability?" Dumbledore inquired lightly.

"Yeah," Mallory replied, still pacing. "Mom was… she was great when I was born. Went off the drugs… stopped drinking… Up until I was 11 she was the perfect mother."

"And then?"

"She was tired of it. She started smoking joints and… cocaine… cigarettes… she was back to… heavy drinking…" Mallory stopped pacing. "She said she was tired of taking care of a crippled daughter. But she's the one who did this to me in the first place! My leg would be fine if she hadn't…"

"I take it you haven't yet told Harry about this? Dumbledore said, softly.

"I can't… My dad and I don't even like talking about it…"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, thinking. "So would it also be safe to assume that you have also not told your father that you are now the Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team?"

"Because of the fact that my ankle gets out of joint easily… Dad's always been afraid to let me play," Mallory replied. "But with the brace I'm okay. I just have to be careful when I land."

"Why did you come to see me, Miss Harper?" Dumbledore asked, his curiousity getting the better of him.

"Well, you seem cool… for a principal. Headmaster, I mean," Mallory said, shrugging. "And I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. I just needed to get that out of my system."

"It is no bother at all, Miss Harper," Dumbledore assured her.

"Well, thanks for listening to me ramble," she replied, smiling, as she backed up towards the door.

"Anytime," Dumbledore said as Mallory opened the door. "But may I suggest…"

Mallory hesitated, her hand on the open door. "Yes?"

"Share your past with Harry Potter."

"Sir, I don't know…" Mallory said, doubtfully.

"Trust me… Harry deserves to know the truth of your past," the headmaster said, his bright blue eyes twinkling.

"Okay. I'll… I'll tell him," Mallory said as she left the office. Once in the main hallway, she took a few hidden passages and made her way up to Gryffindor Tower where she found Harry alone in the room along Orion/Sirius. "Hey, Harry," she said, nervously. "Uh… got a minute?"

"Sure," Harry replied and waited until he felt her sit down next to him on the couch. "What is it?"

"Well… It's… about that thing I told you I don't like talking about…"