I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk!

The Moonlight Glares

Liza Lew

Disclaimer: I don't own any of JK Rowling's wonderful world or characters. I own my own characters and the plot only.

Chapter 22

The Beauxbatons team was standing in the empty field waiting for Harry when they got there. TJ was grinning.

"This is where we're playing?" asked Ron.

"No," said TJ, "We're playing in my quidditch pitch. Smith mansion. Flo there."

"Fine," said Harry, and the teams parted ways.

When Hermione stepped out of the fireplace, she was in a room that went up three or four stories. Shivering, she stepped out of the glass doors into the night air. She could see the quidditch pitch in the distance. As the team and Neville stumbled out of the fireplace behind her, she led the way.

As soon as the nine Gryiffindors entered the stadium, there was a loud roaring. Hermione glanced in the stands to see three-quarters of the Hogwarts students and alumni in the stands.

Hermione leaned over to Harry, "How did they all hear about this?"

Ron grimaced behind Hermione, "Well we kind of let it slip that we were playing when we went off looking for the rest of the team…" he said.

The next moment fourteen quidditch players in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff colors were walking up to the gryffindors.

Cho Chang and the Hufflepuff captain walked up to Harry.

"Harry," said Cho, "If you need alternates, all of us are here."

"Yeah," said the Hufflepuff captain, "But we agreed anyways that you guys are the best team to represent us. So kick some butt out there." He stuck out his hand to Harry, who shook in. Harry nodded to Cho, and parted the students to lead his team out onto the quidditch pitch.

There was a roaring in the stands. The Hogwarts players one-by-one mounted their brooms and flew up into the air. They drew up across from the Beauxbatons players and the ref flew up between them, holding the quaffle. The bludgers and snitch were released. Then the whistle blew, the quaffle was thrown into the air, and the game began.

Half an hour later the entire stadium was cheering its heart out as Ginny scored another ten points for Hogwarts. The score was now 70-50, in Hogwarts' favor. Hermione was in the stands watching Harry above survey for the snitch when there was a tap on her shoulder.

She turned and a smile came over her face. "So you decided to show up even?"

"Yes," said Draco, exasperated, "Even though it's Gryffindor representing us."

"Well, you had to get over that at some point, since your girlfriend's a Gryffindor," she stuck out her tongue at him.

"I suppose so," Draco said, coming up to stand next to her, "So what's been going on the last bit?"

Harry had seen Draco join Hermione up in the stands. No one could miss that blond hair. What he didn't get was why Malfoy had given up his own free time to be with Hermione. It wasn't as if he was required to be here according to the pureblood society rule book. Harry shook his head and went back to searching for the snitch, zooming over to the other end of the pitch to get a different view of things.

Ginny grinned as she zoomed along the pitch across from the other chasers. Katie had the quaffle and the Beauxbatons chasers were far behind them. So much for girls not being able to play quidditch! The three Gryffindor girls were whooping their butts!

Ron, back at his end of the pitch, was breathing a sigh of relief. The quaffle was back in Hogwarts possession, which meant he could catch a breath. This game hadn't been overly nice to him. Those chasers were fast. One second the quaffle was in their hands, the next through the hoop. He was just glad Ginny, Katie and Alicia were able to make up for it by scoring several more goals.

Draco, back in the stands, was watching each of the players. He would have loved to be up there, riding his broom, with the excitement of the game and the ability to show off to everyone around. Potter was circling the stadium. He'd seen Potter do that many times before. Of course, most of the others times, he'd been doing the same thing. Why couldn't he have been on the Hogwarts team? He was, after all, a Hogwarts student, and at least the second-best seeker if not the best at Hogwarts. Surely that should have warranted at least a position of seeker. He turned to Hermione.

"'Mione, who decided which team was playing for Hogwarts."

"Harry of course," Hermione said, still intent on the game.

"What, is he now captain?"

Hermione gave him a look that said quite plainly DUH. "He got his letter a week ago, he's Gryffindor captain this year."

"Ah. But how does that justify him being captain of this team?"

Hermione turned back to the game, "Well, he was the one Smith challenged today at the picnic. It's only natural." She paused for a moment and turned back to look at him, "Why, did you want to be on the team?"

"Potter's team?" Draco sneered, "Never." He leaned forward against the railing, intently watching "Potter's" team.

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked off through the crowd to find a more Gryffindor-friendly companion. It was right as Hermione was walking away that it happened.

Harry saw it. The snitch. He dove for it and in the blink of an eye TJ was right next to him. TJ looked at Harry, who was concentrated on the dive. Harry pulled ahed of TJ easily, taking the lead. TJ raised one hand above his head and made a circular motion. His entire team dropped whatever they were doing and flew down. They all flew down in front of Harry, blocking his path. Harry was going so fast he barely had the time to dodge the six players. TJ, meanwhile, went aside and towards the snitch. The Weasley twins saw this, however, and suddenly two bludgers came flying towards TJ who zoomed backwards, losing sight of the snitch.

TJ raised a hand and snapped. The beaters from his team slammed the bludgers and in an instant both were flying towards Harry from opposite directions. Harry tried to fly up but found one of the chasers above him, another below. He was blocked on all sides.

Hogwarts' star seeker was hit simultaneously by two bludgers with a sickening crack. The chaser beneath him moved to let him fall to the ground. A whistle blew and all players came to the ground.

Hermione's head turned at the whistle. She watched in horror as Harry fell down to the ground. She ran forward and shot he wand out towards him yelling "Impedimenta!" luckily softening his fall just as he hit the ground. She banged her way through the rest of the crowd and ran as fast as she could down to the ground.

She got down to Harry just as the other six players landed. She shook him. "Harry! Harry!" she yelled. It wasn't any use, he was knocked out cold. Out of the corner of her eye she saw flashes of blue and yellow. The rest of the Hogwarts players had come down. Hermione began to cry, tears flooding from her eyes as she said "Where's a healer! He needs a healer!"

Suddenly there was an arm around her shoulder. She looked up into Draco's eyes. "It'll be okay. The healer's coming down as we speak."

"What are you talking about Ferret!" Fred spat, "We can't win the game now! We just lost the best seeker we had."

"No offense," added George to Cho and the Hufflepuff seeker.

Cho nodded, "No, you're right. If Harry couldn't get out of that trap Beuaxbatons set up, none of us can. He's the best flyer we have." The Hufflepuff seeker, on the other hand, a small third year, was shaking.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Draco, "Are you saying the two of you are too afraid to be alternate to Potter?"

"D-did you see w-what they d-did to get h-Harry?" The Hufflepuff seeker said, still shaking.

"He's right. Besides, I don't see you volunteering, Oh-mighty-Slytherin-seeker," Cho said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Who said I didn't?" said Draco, standing up, "If you two won't play, get me a broom." The entire Hogwarts group stood staring at him with their mouths open. "Now," he said icily.

The group scattered, trying to find the right things. Hermione was still weeping next to Harry. Draco knelt down next to her.

"You didn't have to do that," said Hermione, "I know you don't want to play with the Gryffindors."

"If I didn't, who would?" Draco looked around, "And you'd probably better get off Harry, the healer's finally here."

Hermione wiped her eyes with her sleeves and stood up. "Thank you," she said quietly.

The Hufflepuff seeker came running up to Draco clutching a broom at this point, "Here sir, this is Harry's broom. It's the best there is."

Draco narrowed his eyes for a second, but took the Firebolt from the younger boy nonetheless. "Let's win this game," Draco said to the assembled Hogwarts students. He then mounted his broom and took off, followed by six skeptical Gryffindors.

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Well, I'm back! I know, I know, you're all annoyed it took me so long to update. You try writing a 22 ch fic, ok? Not easy! Anyways, thanks for the bazillions of reviews last chapter, and the occasional reminders to update! And, as always thanks to Flo so all my grammar wasn't horrid.

Ok, I don't know when I'll update next. Really, I don't. I am like ultra super busy right now. But I'll try.

Ok, Question:

What's the most obscure name you've heard in the Harry Potter Universe?

(There have got to be some good ones...)