"Good morning Nym!" Harry called as he yanked her down onto his bed.
"Ack!" Tonks squawked as she bounced and Harry threw his arms around her.
"Beautiful day." He said and kissed her on the cheek before bouncing out of bed and quickly throwing on a shirt.
Tonks was still lying on his bed blushing and smiling when he walked out of the room and she had to scramble to catch up. Hermione was just coming down the girls' stairs when Harry made it to the common room and without wasting a moment he wrapped her in a hug and kissed her on the cheek too.
"Well, good morning Harry."
"Morning Mione." Harry said with a smile.
"Not that I mind, but what brought that on?" Hermione asked blushing.
"Just seemed like what I should have done." Harry shrugged. "Same reason as why I kissed Nym too."
"Oh," Hermione looked to Tonks, who blushed again and nodded. "I see."
"Is that okay?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" Hermione asked looking him directly in the eye.
"I don't know." Harry said flatly. "So if there's no problem here on to breakfast?"
"Breakfast!" Tonks agreed.
"Breakfast." Hermione said with a nod.
As the three made their way down to the Great Hall they were all silently wrapped up in their own thoughts. Harry was combing through all his memories of Hermione to try and find if she ever expressed displeasure with spontaneity and coming up blank. Hermione and Tonks were both trying to figure out ways to attract Harry's attention away from the other and wondering when their inevitable conversation would take place.
Hermione managed to maintain her train of thought the entire way there but by the time they had made it to the entrance hall Tonks had gotten distracted by thoughts of Harry. Even though she knew he would be looking down lost in thought she couldn't help but turn to the side in hopes that he would look up at her. Being hopelessly lost in thought and not looking in front of her she failed to notice someone's cat hoping to get petted.
Her brain did notice the soft yielding object under her foot and quickly made her hop to avoid stepping on it. That cat was completely uninjured, if a little surprised, but Tonks failed to catch her balance when she landed and fell sideways and, in a show of poise and grace normally reserved solely for ballerinas suffering from alcohol poisoning, Tonks stumbled across the hall and collided with a suit of armor.
Tonks hit the floor hard but she'd be damned if she was going down alone. The clatter of armor bouncing and sliding around the hall sent the cat fleeing. A blushing Tonks stared up at the other two from where she was sprawled amongst the wreckage, too stunned to move. Harry and Hermione stared back mouths agape at the suddenness and violence of the affair. After a few moments the silence got to be too much for Tonks "Well that was embarrassing!" and she started giggling.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked before she started laughing too.
"Nothing hurt?" Harry added, smiling, while offering her a hand up.
"Just my ego. Thanks." Tonks laughed and accepted Harry's help. "Wonder how many people heard that."
"Dunno, probably a lot of them, we are right next to the Great Hall." Harry said and put the suit of armor back the way it was meant to be with a wave of his wand.
"Great." Tonks grumbled as she started to dust herself off. "Cats are a menace."
By the time she had finished straightening her robes Tonks was cheery again. All smiles the three walked into the hall and took their normal places at Ravenclaw table, with the rest of the members of the court. Harry smiled around at all of them while Hermione and Tonks sat down on either side of him. "Morning everyone."
"Morning 'Claws." Hannah said back.
"Did you see anything in the Entrance Hall?" Fred asked.
"There was a loud noise out there a couple minutes ago." George added with a smile.
"We expect to hear Filch yelling shortly." Fred grinned.
"That was me." Tonks admitted. "Took out a whole suit of armor."
"Nice." Blaise whispered appreciatively.
"Good choice." George commended.
"It normally takes him a couple hours to put one of those back together." Fred nodded.
"Or he has to swallow his pride and ask a professor to do it for him." George elaborated.
"Harry already put it back together." Hermione said and smirked as the twins' faces fell.
"Aww, why'd you do that?" Fred pouted.
"Ignore them Harry." Susan interjected with a pointed frown. "It was the right thing for you to have done."
"I couldn't be concerned less with how right it was, I just wanted to protect Nym from further embarrassment." Harry said quickly. Harry noticed that Daphne smiled approvingly when he said that, and filed it away for later. With a small shrug he turned and looked down the table until he spotted a specific seventh year quidditch captain. "I've been thinking about weight training in the mornings."
"Oh?" Tonks asked puzzled by the sudden change of subject.
"Mmhmm." Harry murmured as he poured some coffee.
"Why?" Hermione asked and looked down the table to try and figure out who he was looking at.
"Why not?" Harry shrugged. "I mean, I can only grow my muscles so big and they keep the same strength to mass ratio."
"My dad told me that when he was young that when he worked out in the morning he was more awake all day." Hannah spoke up brightly.
"We've noticed better control over our magic since we started beating." Fred observed lazily.
"Although that could also have just been from us getting older." George admitted.
"We're magical, we don't exercise." Blaise scoffed.
"Well I think it is a great idea!" Tonks exclaimed. "Where do we get weights though?"
"There is a gym down in the quidditch stadium." Fred offered helpfully.
"But you have to be on a team to get access." George cut him down.
"Oh." Harry said glumly. "Don't suppose you can let us in?"
"No, sorry." George shook his head.
"There are strict rules there." Fred offered. "Since no faculty is in the room constantly and we all have access whenever we want the machines are enchanted to only allow people use them who have taken the safety lessons."
"It normally happens on the first training day in there." George sighed. "But without being keyed in they just won't work for you."
"Well, we could still run." Tonks said quietly.
"Or we could try out for the team." Harry frowned.
"Do you really want to work out more than you don't want to be on the team?" Daphne asked. "You seemed very adamant about it last year."
"Well, my opposition to being on the team was really around being seeker." Harry shrugged. "If I don't seek it should be tolerable."
"So chaser then?" Hannah raised an eyebrow.
"Yea, sure." Harry said offhandedly.
"Are you sure you're up to it?" Tonks asked. "I've been training with Gwen all summer, it's a lot harder than it looks."
"True, I'll just have to see how I do though I guess." Harry smiled. "Unless there is another way to gain access that I'm not aware of."
"I don't know." Fred shook his head.
"The captains would know though, might as well ask." George added.
"Good point. Where is ours?" Tonks asked and looked down the table towards the captain. Harry immediately looked the other way and pretended to be searching. "Oh, there he is! What's his name again?"
"Mike I think." Harry said as he leaned around to be looking the correct direction.
"HEY MIKE!" Tonks shouted and got no response. "MIKE!" She tried again and again there was no response, so she picked up a bagel and flung it down the table, hitting him in the head. "HEY! MIKE!"
"My name's not Mike!" The captain shouted back making Tonks frown and turn towards Harry.
"Really? Are you sure?" Harry called down the table.
"Yea, pretty sure!" The captain called back. "But I can see how you'd make that mistake."
"Then what is your name?" Tonks asked.
"Jeremy."
"Jeremy?" Hermione shouted in disbelief. "How is Mike an understandable mistake for Jeremy?"
"My last name is Michaels." Jeremy called. "You guys probably misheard someone saying that alone."
"Oh." Harry trailed.
"So what's up?" Jeremy asked.
"Is there anyway to get into the weight rooms without joining a quidditch team?" Harry called.
"Um, no, sorry." Jeremy replied smiling. "You could always join the team if you want in there."
"Okay!" Harry called. "When are tryouts?"
Jeremy's jaw dropped and his fork fell from his hand. "You serious?"
"I don't know yet." Harry smiled. "Just tell me when they are!"
"The nineteenth, two weeks from Saturday!" Jeremy called back with a huge grin on his face.
"Don't expect me to like it though!" Harry yelled, trying to get the last word.
"Whatever you say!" Jeremy called back before turning and scanning Gryffindor table until he found Oliver Wood. Eventually Wood felt the pressure of someone watching him and met Jeremy's eyes, who promptly stuck his tongue out at Wood and mouthed 'We're getting Potter!'
Cho Chang had been so relieved when she heard that Harry was refusing to play. She had spent the last two years practicing and finally felt like she was ready to try for the seeker position. The chasers last year were friends of hers and her hopes had almost been dashed when she heard about Harry's flying. Her hopes were looking bleaker than ever because she knew that she couldn't compete with him, and this was going to be her year. Well I'm not going to waste my time trying to do the impossible.
HPCOC
"Hermione, we need to talk." Tonks said that night as she climbed into Hermione's bed just before lights out.
"Yea, I know." Hermione said sadly.
"We both know we both like Harry." Tonks said flatly. "Right?"
"Right," Hermione bit her lip and looked to the side. "What do we do about it?"
"Friendly rivals and see who he picks?" Tonks suggested.
"And we have to promise that there will be no hard feelings when he does." Hermione insisted.
"Agreed." Tonks nodded and the two of them shook hands and grinned. "Now that that is out of the way, we can be giggly girls about him together!"
Hermione instinctively giggled at that. "Those eyes..."
HPCOC
Dearest Ginny,
Tell your 'friend' that if she wants to attract the attention of a boy, the first step is to do something he's interested in. You like flying, so if he is interested in quidditch at all you should join the team. I mean, your friend should if she likes flying...
Ginny went over his advice again. It was completely rational and Ginny could tell that everything he said was correct, but she really wish it had taken him longer to figure out that her 'friend' was her. In the two weeks since she had gotten this advice she hadn't found a better way, and so she was down in the Great Hall early for breakfast on the nineteenth. She'd mistakenly told Luna about her plans where Toni could hear.
As annoying as Toni had been over the last few days Ginny did notice that Toni never made fun of her in front of Harry. That was probably just because once she did so she would lose a lot of blackmail. Telling someone's crush about them is an amazingly efficient threat. Either way now wasn't the time for her to be worrying about it. A few minutes later she had finished eating and was headed down to the quidditch pitch for tryouts.
HPCOC
"Harry Potter sir." Marny said as he shook Harry awake. "Nap time is over."
"Wha- oh right, thanks Marny." Harry grumbled as he swung his legs out of bed. Two weeks ago he got a crazy idea and since then he had been turning back six hours each day to carve runes into grains of sand.
The idea was that with a quick to carve and simple rune set each grain would be able to transmit a signal to him if there were any magical signatures within three meters of it. With enough of them spread out through an area any witch or wizard would be easy to locate. Harry was able to carve about a tablespoon's worth every day and still have time for a quick nap, so as to not disturb his sleep schedule more than necessary. I am so glad I thought of the recall runes before I got too far in. I would hate to have to repeat this process every time I wanted to change what area was covered. I would probably never put them down if I couldn't call them back easily.
Harry stood and yawned. A satisfied groan escaped his lips as his back cracked while he stretched. He patted himself down to be sure that he wasn't leaving anything that he was supposed to take nor taking anything he was supposed to leave. A second Harry warped into the room and pulled out his time turner with a quick smile and disappeared as he fell backwards through time.
Harry warped to the bathroom that his other self had just left and walked out. Harry headed down to the common room and greeted Hermione and Tonks with a hug and kiss on the cheek, which they returned, as had become custom. Linking arms the three of them made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. When they got there Hermione noticed Ginny already there and subtly steered them away from her and took seats a fair distance away. Harry was already dressed for tryouts, and it didn't go unnoticed.
"I see you've decided to wear clothes today Potter." Theodore Nott sneered from behind them. "Finally decided to be a civilized human being?"
Harry turned and coldly regarded the boy that was trying to become his rival. I thought I dealt with this problem by moving Draco. Probably just a Slytherin thing though, top of the heap there has to challenge me or something. Harry sighed. "No."
"What?" Nott asked surprised at the lack of a come back.
"I haven't decided to become a civilized human being." Harry rolled his eyes. "Duh."
"Oh." Nott's face went from confusion to triumph right back to confusion again. He turned to Tracy and Pansy, who were a few steps behind him, and they both just shrugged.
"You clearly don't get it." Harry shook his head mournfully and turned back to his plate, with a quick glance to each side he saw both girls holding back laughs.
"Get what?" Two words was all it took to break both girls. Harry joined them in laughing almost immediately and Nott turned and stomped off.
"It's almost too easy." Harry said wiping away a tear after a minute when he was sure Nott was gone.
"Hurry up and eat Harry, we have to get down to the pitch in a few minutes." Tonks urged and attacked her food with renewed fervor.
"Try not to eat your hand on accident Tonks!" Hermione laughed.
"I could just grow a new one." Tonks shrugged offhandedly.
"Really?" Hermione stopped eating and stared.
"Yea, it's not really that big of a deal." Tonks nodded. "You have to drink a lot of milk after you regrow bones though. I'd rather lose an ear or my nose."
"Can you do that too Harry?" Hermione asked, turning to the boy.
"Can't say I've had a reason to try yet." Harry shrugged. "I'll let you know if it ever comes up."
"Well, learn something new every day huh?" Hermione breathed, shaking her head, before turning back to her meal. After a year around these two she could honestly doubt that she would stay surprised for very long any more.
A few minutes of quiet eating later the three got up and went down to the stadium. Hermione split off and found a place to watch from the stands, quite a few other people were doing the same. Harry and Tonks walked onto the field where they were separating people into groups based on what they were trying for. One beater had graduated and needed replacing, as had two chasers. The seeker position was always open so the team would always have the very best for that spot. Harry and Tonks added their names to the chaser list and made their way over to that group.
The keeper took to the air and did a few warm up laps around the hoops while Roger Davies, the one remaining chaser, made his way over to the chaser hopefuls. He picked up the list and ran his finger down it while reading all the names. He stopped at one all of a sudden. "Weasley!"
"Yes?" Ginny asked from the front of the group.
"First years aren't allowed on the team." Davies told her bluntly. "You're wasting your time here."
"I know, but next year I'll already know what is going to happen when I try out again." Ginny smiled. "I don't see it as a waste so much as a fact finding mission."
"Very Ravenclaw of you." Davies nodded approvingly. "Very well. Good luck."
"Thank you." Ginny looked up to the stands when Davies turned back to the list and found Luna sitting alone. Luna smiled reassuringly and waved, Ginny smiled and waved back before moving her gaze on. Toni and Julie had decided to come watch as well. They were also smiling and waving but not in a manner that made Ginny want to return the gesture, a different gesture sure, but not that one. With a slight grimace she turned her attention back to Davies.
"I thought you'd be over with the seekers." Davies said to someone.
"I don't want to seek, sorry to disappoint." Someone replied and her eyes widened when she recognized the voice as Harry's. She'd heard he was trying out, which was the only reason she was there, but like everyone else she expected him to be seeking.
"You ever try chasing before?" Davies raised an eyebrow.
"Nope." Harry said with a cocky grin. "But I look forward to seeing how bad I am."
HPCOC
"You're really bad Potter." Davies sighed in resignation after Harry missed his sixth consecutive shot.
"I know." Harry said sadly as he flew his broom to the end of the line. He was good in formation and at catching the ball, but it never went where he wanted it to when he threw it. His only successful pass was when the other chaser dove sharply to make up for his throw.
"Weasley! You're up!" Davies shouted and Ginny started on her sixth run.
It was hard to hear over the shouts coming from the beater section but Harry ignored it and watched as Ginny took off down the pitch. The shouts from behind him got louder just as a bludger went rocketing over his shoulder and passed the other chasers. Harry could tell that Ginny was completely focused on her task as she entered the obstacles.
She'll be a sitting duck after the first turn. Without a second thought Harry leaned forward and pulled the broom along as he flew under his own power to cut the bludger off. As she came around the corner the bludger altered its course. Her eye's grew wide with surprise when she saw Harry bearing down on her and just before the collision Harry corkscrewed. During his second revolution Harry grabbed the bludger and shoved it towards the ground as hard as he could. He pulled up and stopped instantly and Ginny, fortunately, had gone up to avoid hitting Harry rather than down, where she would have met the bludger.
"Thanks." Ginny said once she realized what had happened, blushing furiously.
"No problem Ginny." Harry panted. "Would have done it for anyone."
Ginny smiled at him as Davies flew up. "Potter! That was excellent! Go join the beaters. You'll probably make it! You sure won't here."
Harry took a couple deep breaths to recover. "Alright. I mean might as well I guess."
"Weasley, you can either take this as a miss or we can start your run over." Davies said to Ginny as Harry flew off to the other area.
"Considering I can't make the team anyway, I think-" Ginny said hesitantly and cut herself off. Quit now and Toni will have you! She thought, then, nodding firmly, she found her resolve. "no, I'll go again."
"That's what I was hoping to hear." Davies smiled. "Go back to the start."
HPCOC
After the chaser trials finished there was a short break while a smaller section was being boxed off. The last stage for the beater trials was a time trial. One beater would enter the box along with six practice bludgers and one stationary target. They had ten minutes to hit the target as many times as they could.
Harry was having a blast. Six bludgers were enough that he had trouble tracking them all continuously. He hit as many as he could towards the target while he was dodging and twirling around the rest. He lost count at ten and after that stopped watching to see if they even hit. For all he knew he only hit the target those ten times.
Finally the whistle blasted and Harry flew out of the enclosure. As he came around the corner and into the stands where the beaters were gathered he noticed a great number of gaping mouths. Harry's shoulders dropped and he rubbed the back of his neck. "That bad, huh?"
"Bad?" Jeremy repeated. "131 is not bad. I think it might be a new record actually."
"131!" Harry shouted. "You're lying to me."
"Roughly four out of every five attempts." Davies said looking up from a piece of paper.
"The Weasley Twins got 114 and 120, I think." The keeper, Grant Page, fourth year, added. "And no one's ever done it before without getting hit."
"Wow." Harry said dumbly as he dismounted and set the broom down.
"Harry that was amazing!" Hermione squealed as she, Tonks and Luna came running over. Hermione and Tonks kept running and simultaneously wrapped Harry in the tightest hug of his new life.
"Thanks you guys." Harry laughed, although the words were slightly muffled by hair. "You did pretty good too Nym."
"Yea she did." Davies said nodding.
"It's all thanks to Gwen." Tonks said bashfully.
"Gwen who?" Davies asked. "I'd like to compare notes on training."
"Jones." Hermione said quickly before anyone else could respond.
"You mean Gwenog Jones? As in Gwenog 'Captain of the Harpies' Jones?" Jeremy asked awed.
"Yea, she's dating my godfather, Sirius Black, it should have been in the papers early August." Harry explained. "Didn't you hear?"
"I don't read those sections." Jeremy shrugged. "Peoples' personal lives aren't any of my business."
"I think I'm going to like you." Harry said smiling.
Jeremy smirked and excused himself before standing up to address all of the hopefuls. "Alright, we have two beaters to test out still, then we'll be moving on to seekers. Beaters can leave when those start just like the chasers were allowed to, our decision will be posted on Wednesday. Rickard, your turn."
"Why bother?" Rickard called back. "There's no way I'll top that."
"That's your choice." Jeremy said and waited for a moment before Rickard signaled that he wasn't going to try. "Okay then, Turner, you want your shot?"
"No thank you, I'm with Rickard on this one."
"Alright, beaters can leave." Jeremy sighed and made large black marks next to the last two names on the list, they were far less likely to ever make the team now.
"Harry?" Luna asked quietly.
"Yes?" Harry turned and presented a very open face.
"Could I talk to you after dinner? It's important." Luna said nervously.
"Sure. Common room okay?"
"It's a bit embarrassing, I'd rather not discuss it where others could hear." Luna whispered as she leaned close.
"What do you suggest then?" Harry whispered back.
"How about a walk outside." Luna said as she pulled away.
"Okay." Harry smiled, behind him Hermione and Tonks frowned.
"Thank you!" Luna threw her arms around him, completely oblivious to the other two.
"No problem." Harry said dismissively and turned to Hermione and Tonks as soon as she let him go. "You ladies want to watch the seekers or are you ready to go?"
"If you don't have anyone specific to root for you'll probably just find it to be boring." Davies advised.
Tonks looked to him, then to Jeremy before nodding and turning back to Harry. "Let's go then."
Hermione nodded and Harry agreed. As they were leaving Tonks shot Luna a look and hooked Harry's arm. Harry then felt lopsided and offered his other arm to Hermione, who gladly took him up on the offer. "So...sounds like we both made it."
"I don't know the game very well but I would certainly agree." Hermione beamed.
"You did for sure." Tonks nudged him with her shoulder.
"We'll see." Harry said, not sure whether it came out humble or conceited. "So who do you think will be the other chaser?"
"I don't know. If Ginny were older she would have gotten the spot easily. I think she did better than me!" Tonks waved her free hand about casually. "Not sure otherwise. Stephens was pretty good, and Davies kept making eyes at her. I'll bet she gets it."
HPCOC
"So what's going on?" Harry asked as he and Luna made their way down the front stairs that evening.
"I've been told that it is a normal part of girl life," Luna started, looking down at her feet. "but I think it is mean spirited."
"Is someone bullying you?" Harry asked turning and making her look at him.
"No, not me." She turned away. "I don't want to use any names though, in case I'm wrong."
"What's been happening?" Harry asked patiently.
"A girl in my dorm has made a few claims she couldn't back up and the other girls challenged them." Luna said without emotion.
"Well that doesn't sound unreasonable. What else?" Harry pressed.
"Well, I think they made comments afterwards, I think it made her cry." Luna was looking at her feet again. "And one time I caught them trying to force their way into the bag she keeps her diary in. They stopped when I got there though."
"I see." Why isn't she asking Hermione or Tonks? Harry thought.
"I wasn't going to say anything but it has gotten worse over the last couple weeks." Luna said guiltily. "I feel bad that I haven't said anything before."
"Luna, don't feel bad about it. You cannot control the actions of others anymore than they can control yours." Harry pulled her into a one armed hug as they walked. "Bullies don't care about gaining approval, they'll do what they want regardless. The best thing you can do is pretend they don't exist and surround yourself with people who appreciate you. You should tell that girl the same thing."
"So it is bullying and not just bonding." Luna asked quietly.
"Yes, it is bullying." Harry nodded sadly.
"Thanks for talking to me." Luna hugged him tighter. "You did really good today, by the way."
"Thank you." Harry smiled.
As they finished their walk and chatted about nothing in particular Harry had something Luna said come back to the front of his mind, over and over. Neither of them noticed the two sets of eyes following them.
HPCOC
Harry quickly glanced around the room as he followed Luna through the door to their common room. For the first time he noticed how coldly Hermione and Tonks regarded Luna. Their faces brightened as soon as they saw him though. Interesting. He thought as he made his way over to them.
"What was that about Harry?" Hermione smiled.
"Can I talk to you two alone please?" Harry said seriously.
"Um, okay." Tonks said and stood up uncertainly, Hermione frowned and stood up as well.
Luna was out of the common room before they started to leave, Harry wasn't sure how she would feel about this. With a mental shrug Harry led the girls out of the common room and down the hall a little way. "Have you two been picking on Luna?"
"What?" Hermione asked surprised. "No, of course not! At least I don't think so."
"What do you mean by that?" Harry raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"Well, I read an article out of the Quibbler on snorkacks, and I went to ask her some questions about it." Hermione bit her lip. "I was confused after the second word and it went down hill from there, and somehow I ended up with a potted plant overturned on my head."
"Really?" Harry gaped. "Why didn't I hear about that?"
"Well, it was really embarrassing and a good bit awkward. I just took a shower and decided to pretend it never happened." Hermione blushed. "I was trying to be nice, honest."
"I believe you." Harry smiled. "It is understandable at least. Nym, you have anything to add?"
"I had to learn the hard way that her non-sequitur and ridiculous sounding theories were a pattern and not just a joke." Tonks looked down. "I thought the Lovegoods were just pulling a big joke on everyone else. I thought she'd laugh when I played along."
"Did she tell you that we were making fun of her?" Hermione asked concerned.
"She didn't say any names, and had a very hard time approaching me about it." Harry said. "I don't know she was talking about you but I felt that I could rule you two out first without causing a scandal. That and I saw how you looked at her when she came in."
"So, she might not have any problems with us?" Tonks asked after she and Hermione had just blushed for a minute.
"From what you've told me, I think it was all just a misunderstanding." Harry nodded. "Do you have a problem with her?"
"No!" They both exclaimed together and then blushed again, looking at each other. Tonks coughed and Harry thought she said 'repetition' but he wasn't sure.
"Okay, I'm not going to try to interpret that." Harry laughed while frowning slightly, making a very strange face overall.
"Do you think we should apologize?" Tonks asked Hermione.
"Yea, probably. Besides it doesn't do us any harm." Hermione nodded.
"One more thing." Harry said suddenly. "Did either of you try and get into her diary?"
"No." Hermione shook her head.
"Me either." Tonks shook hers too.
"Hmm." Harry frowned. "Could you two keep an eye on her too. I think someone else might be intentionally picking on her."
"Could you give us a few minutes to compose our apology?" Hermione asked.
"Sure." Harry turned walked back into the common room. Luna wasn't downstairs but that was okay. A few minutes later Hermione and Tonks walked in and after looking around they headed up to the girls' dorms.
HPCOC
"It must be hard watching all those people going to check if they're on the list and knowing you won't be." Toni whispered harshly into Ginny's ear as Jeremy posted the results.
"Harry made it, we were all watching." Julie added. "Bet Tonks makes it too, and then they'll be spending even more time together."
"Too bad you're too young. Harry would never go for someone like you." Toni carried on fueled by the tears welling up in Ginny's eyes.
"And no matter how pretty you get, Tonks will be able to be prettier." Julie hissed.
"Shut up!" Ginny whispered.
"Weasley!" Ginny jumped and looked up, Jeremy was waving her over.
"Yes?" She asked trying to keep an even voice as she walked over.
"Listen, you know you couldn't make the team because of your age, but you're really good. I talked to Flitwick and he gave me special permission to let you on the team in a reserve position only." Ginny screamed and jumped on him. He returned the hug laughing and set her down before continuing. "Reserve, Ginny, nothing to get too excited for. You'll only be able to play in a game if one of our other chasers can't. Here's the good part though. Tonks and Stephens made the actual line up, but Stephens is in my year and she'll be gone next year. If you do good work and show improvement then next year whomever is the next captain, Davies will be by the way, probably won't even bother with tryouts for the slot."
Ginny was bouncing happily on the balls of her feet with the largest smile anyone had seen on her. "I've got to go write Bill, and Charlie, and Dad, and Mum, and...well you know." Ginny turned, threw Toni and Julie a two fingered salute and sprinted up to her dorm.
Toni and Julie watched the whole ordeal in complete shock. A few minutes later they finally snapped out of it and stormed over to the bulletin board to see for themselves.
