A/N: After a long wait, I bring you…chapter 21! Hope it's okay. I'm the worst at commentating. I'll do a longer note at the end.
Chapter 21
The Quidditch stadium was already heaving with witches and wizards when Hermione and George arrived. It was the first proper match outside of Hogwarts Hermione had been to since the world cup, (George had seen a couple of Puddlemere United's games, as Oliver Wood could get him in cheap) and they were both looking forward to it, especially as Ginny was to play for the Holyhead Harpies. The pitch and stadium were considerably smaller than the one they used for the world cup, but were slightly bigger than the ones in the Hogwarts grounds. They looked around for a group of people with red hair, but they could not spot the rest of the Weasleys in the huge crowds.
"Do you know where we're supposed to be sitting George?" Hermione enquired, still straining her eyes in search for the family.
"I think we are in a box which Ginny got free for the family. It's quite high up; we should go and ask at the ticket office. Do you think the rest of the family are even here yet?"
"They said to meet us at 1.30, and its twenty five to two now, so I assume they're already here. They have our tickets, so-" Hermione broke off as she heard a voice from above yelling her name.
"HERMIONE! HERMIONE! GEORGE! UP HERE!" Harry and Ron were shouting at the top of their voices from about 50 feet above them, waving their tickets in the air. The two on the ground waved, and Hermione summoned the tickets down to give to the ticket collector.
"The match starts at 2, do you suppose we can climb 50 feet within 20 minutes?"
"Of course we will George, don't be ridiculous. How slowly do you suppose we walk?"
"I can't be bothered, I'm feeling rather lazy today," George said, moaning.
"Well, just feel glad you're not playing then," Hermione said, handing the tickets over.
"Actually, I'd rather be playing."
"Well that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Come on, up we go," Hermione said after the ticket master had granted them permission to enter.
"I haven't seen or played Quidditch in a while, this will be fun. Also work is hard again, love potions for Valentine's Day last week was ridiculous! Can't people just leave others be and fall in love with whoever they want? I've never understood love potions. I know we make them, but that isn't the point. Obviously Harry's dad didn't approve of them either; otherwise he would've used one on Lily. I heard he liked her for years but she never went out with him until their seventh year."
"Yeah that is true. I suppose he thought Lily would hate him even more than she already did and curse him or something; apparently Lily was just like Ginny is: feisty. Also I guess he cared for her and her choices, so didn't want to push her into anything. Romilda Vane tried to smuggle Harry a couple of love potions in our sixth year; that was when Ron accidentally fell in love with her. He ate one of the chocolate cauldrons which Romilda had given to Harry," Hermione explained as they ascended the seemingly never ending staircase up to their seats.
"Ron always eats everything, it's no surprise really. Was he going out with Lavender then?"
"Yeah he was, and she didn't really like the fact that Ron had supposedly fallen in love with someone else. She was so possessive of him. It was really annoying; I didn't speak to Ron for weeks while they were going out. It was ridiculous. Of course, it's awful she was bitten by a werewolf, but I'm glad I haven't seen her properly since the war. We never really got on anyway; I was too much of a nerd for her liking. She and Parvati were always going on about the boys in the school and what they were going to wear and when and how they were going to style their hair and all the things I didn't care about."
"Just like the good, down to earth girl you are. Girls with too many frills and bows make me shudder; they try too hard to be someone they're not."
"I think that's why we didn't get on very well; we always scorned the other for things we didn't agree with. It's much less drama having boys as best friends, and more interesting as well."
"Well you would know," George said, smiling. "Fred and I only really hung about with Lee for our first two years; after that we were sort of friends with everyone in the house. We stopped being looked down on so much, when everyone found out we were good Quidditch players. They started to accept our pranks more by then. Hogwarts was brilliant; I always complained about school but it was good fun."
"Well it's much better than Muggle school would have been; no magic, just maths and science and all those awful subjects."
"How different are the lessons in the Muggle world?"
"Well…they don't use magic!"
"State the obvious why don't you, 'Mione. Apart from that."
"Well I guess Arithmancy is a bit like maths, then Biology would be Herbology, Physics would be Astronomy, Chemistry would be potions. Religious studies I guess could be kind of similar to Divination, and then they study History just without all the magic. Wizards never really learn literacy; I guess you just learn that as a young child."
"So there're quite a lot of similarities if you exclude the magic then. That's quite interesting actually," George said, really intrigued.
"I think Muggles have more right to complain about school than we do. Although I've always loved school; I love learning anything I can."
"Well I think anyone could guess that. Come on, just one more flight of steps to go. I'm really looking forward to this match," George told Hermione, and they continued to talk about Quidditch.
*~~HP~~*
"Aaaaaaaand, Ginny Weasley flies past the goalhoops, the Quaffle clutched in her hand, shoots from the side aaaand…Oliver Wood, Puddlemere United keeper blocks it. The Quaffle flies straight into Gwenog Jones' Open arms and she loops around two Puddlemere chasers, feints left and she SCORES FOR THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES! THAT MAKES IT 150:90 TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!"
A communal cheer rose around the whole stadium, cheering for the Harpies, the Weasley's particularly yelling themselves hoarse. Ginny flew past them and gave them a wide grin as she swept straight past them in a blur of green and yellow, as was the colour of their Quidditch robes. They had been playing for one hour and fifty minutes, and the weather had got better as time went on. Nobody could make themselves heard over the screaming that the crowd was producing.
"Oh look at the Puddlemere seeker Davies go! Has he seen something? Shooting straight up into the clouds, but alas, the Harpies seeker Swift is hovering down the Puddlemere shooting end! Who has the right idea? Meanwhile, Puddlemere chaser Jeffries has hold of the Quaffle, aims for the centre hoop of their goal end, and misses, the Quaffle flying straight into the Harpies Ginny Weasley's arms – MIND THAT BLUDGER, WEASLEY! Miss Weasley narrowly dodges a Bludger, flattening herself onto her broom but letting go of the Quaffle, dropping it into a fellow chaser's arms. The Harpies Beater Anning thwacks the offending Bludger down the other end of the pitch, only for it to boomerang straight back in the same direction! The Harpies lose possession of the Quaffle, and the seekers are nowhere to be seen! Puddlemere chaser Collingham has a firm grip on the Quaffle, a Bludger skims past him and he shoots and SCORES! THE CURRENT SCORE IS 150:100 TO THE HARPIES! COME ON YOU PUDDLEMERE'S YOU NEED TO CATCH UP!
"Harpies chaser Simpson catches the Quaffle in the tips of her fingers and zooms off down to the other end; passes to fellow chaser Jones who then swerves and ducks the Bludgers, now sweeping across the pitch to the Puddlemere chaser Weasley who dodges; GINNY WEASLEY SCORES! WE ARE REALLY SEEING SOME TALENT TODAY FROM THE HARPIES! THAT IS 160:100 TO THEM, KEEP UP THE GAE GUYS!"
At this, the Weasley's began to jump around in their stand, ecstatic for Ginny, the emotions running high.
"Where have the seekers got to? Let's hope nothing too interesting is happening up there! Harpies beater McMahon wrestles with a very strong willed Bludger, trying to keep it away from her fellow team member Jones, who is currently in possession of the Quaffle. McMahon fails with the Bludger which aims itself for Gwenog; but McMahon soon has hold of it again; Harpies have lost possession of the Quaffle, Puddlemere chaser Primer is streaking across the pitch, passes to Kennedy, who passes to Collingham, back to Kennedy, Primer, Collingham, they lose the Quaffle as Harpies keeper Murray blocks it just as they reach the goalposts and Weasley is far too wise for their team! She is really proving herself in her first game! She passes to fellow chaser Simpson who lets it skim the tip of her fingers as a Bludger sweeps past her; Puddlemere beater Rockley following quickly in its path but Weasley is underneath and catches the Quaffle before Puddlemere's Collingham can get to it, she aims, shoots and SCORES AGAIN! I HAVE NEVER SEEN A GAME MOVE SO FAST! SCORE LIES AT 170:100!"
The Weasley's were growing hoarse with all their screaming and Molly had taken to her chair; her legs tired of standing up, but still beaming for her daughter's success.
"Oh look! Here come the seekers, Penny Swift from the Harpies is right ahead, and THEY HAVE LOCATED THE SNITCH! Game continues in the centre, chaser Primer in possession, swapping between him and Kennedy down the pitch, marked by Jones and Weasley, Swift reaches her arm out stretching forward, come on you can do it, and SHE CAUGHT THE SNITCH! 150 POINTS ARE AWARDED TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, CHAMPIONS OF TODAY'S GAME! FINAL SCORE IS 320:100 TO THE HARPIES! THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING!" The commentator's voice went dead and the crowds could be heard cheering wildly for the winning team, who were currently doing a lap of honour. Everyone was exchanging hugs, and even Puddlemere United supporters were cheering for the efforts of their team.
"GO GINNY!" all the Weasley's shouted as she flew past in her lap of honour. The whole stadium was ecstatic, and the teams soon dispersed through their gateways and the crowds started to expel themselves from the stadium, chatting happily about the game they just witnessed.
A/N: That was probably not great, but you'll live. I am currently in the middle of all my GCSE's and I am revising hard, which is why I haven't had time to write much. Please be patient with me, I do intend to finish this story and I will try my hardest to update at least every other week. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but if I don't give myself any deadlines, it will never get done. Please leave a review as I really appreciate it and I will talk to you guys soon. Thank you!
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