Harry's tenure as Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team had had a rocky start. First the tryouts, which had become a spectacle as dozens of students showed up just to gawk at him. The keeper selection had not been a clean contest, but at least Ron was a solid choice, as long as his nerves held up. Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote on the other hand were uninspired choices as beaters, and their competitors had been even worse. If there was one bright spot, it had been the Chasers. Katie Bell was a veteran of five years and had two cups under her belt. Ginny had previously played seeker to substitute him due to Umbridge's ban, but the Quaffle turned out to be her true calling. If she got the ball in front of the goalposts, it was going in. Demelza Robins was a promising prospect and, although she was no Angelina Johnson, had put forth a solid showing, a playmaker who preferred to barrel through defences before passing the Quaffle to Katie or Ginny.

It only went downhill from there. Katie had been put into St Mungo's by a cursed Death Eater plot, Ron had needed to be tricked with a luck potion to deliver a stunning performance and despite their solid victory, their beaters might as well have stayed in the locker room.

With many changes compared to the previous years, Harry had come to the conclusion that they needed to do some team-building beyond the pitch. However, the first date turned out to be a disaster since Katie was put under the Imperius curse and suffered a nearly mortal injury before the meeting could even begin. And fifteen minutes into the second meeting, only one player had shown up. The only reason it could be considered an improvement compared to the first attempt was that no one had ended up in hospital.

"I think I might be the reason why Ginny isn't here," Demelza admitted after Madam Rosmerta brought them their drinks. And although Ron was in the pub as well, he and Lavender were a few tables away in their own booth, tucked away in a dark corner.

"Oh?"

"Well, I told her that Ritch and Jim earned themselves a detention with Flitwick, so she probably thought we would cancel the event. She and Dean went to Madam Puddifoot's, so probably won't see them here."

"I was hoping to make Angelina's idea work, even without Katie here. But it looks like I won't have any more luck with the idea than she had."

"You know, I've got nothing else planned, so we can simply hold the team meeting with just the two of us and then simply call the next one the second Gryffindor team meeting."

"Third. And we need a name which is less of a mouthful."

"Do you know what Angelina had in mind?"

"No, the first meeting last year was canned because Hermione had the idea with Dumbledore's Army and Angelina remembered that she would have to take her NEWTs at the end of the year. And if there was a second meeting I wouldn't know since by then Umbridge had banned me."

"I still can't believe that the cow got away with her bullshit for a whole year."

"There were - circumstances. Looking back it probably would have been for the best to make her disappear, but - " Harry trailed off and shook his head, the memory of Sirius and the mess in the Ministry shot a jolt of pain through his chest.

"Just how much of what the Prophet wrote this summer has been true?" Demelza asked with visible concern.

"It's a long story. If you really have nothing else planned?"

"No, I have already been at Honeydukes, I divvent need anything from Scrivenshafts, so the only other place I would like to visit is the Three Broomsticks," Demelza replied with a nod at the booth they were in. "And it would be nice to talk to you without getting shouted at."

"The downside of being captain. But trust me, I'm not even in the same league as Oliver Wood was, or else you would be waking up at 6 in the morning to study plays."

"Wait, that actually happened? I thought Katie just made that up."

"No, Oliver - he was a Quidditch nutter, but he really knew how this whole captain business was supposed to work. Me, I'm flying blinder than during that match against Diggory," Harry explained. On the field, he had to be the unwavering leader, but the same did not apply to a Hogsmeade pub.

"You won your first match. Even if you had to trick Ron to get his confidence up."

"We won. And - it's not like I'm bad at Quidditch, but I didn't grow up devouring Quidditch magazines like Ron did, learning to read with books that analysed the plays of the 1871 World Cup. I know seeking, but I can't be the general directing the plays as Wood did, or lead from the front like Angelina. The most I can do is dive-bomb an attacking formation or draw the attention of the beaters."

"You make it sound so martial."

"Well, the goal of Quidditch is for the captain to direct attacks against the enemy's line of defence and break through with an aerial assault, be it by blitzing a flank or attacking across a broad front until you can shoot a goal while dodging cannonballs," Harry said in the best imitation of his former captain, although towards the end he could not keep the laughter from his voice. Demelza had started giggling long before that. "I swear, the first time Wood sat me down to teach me a few plays I was confused why he suddenly was talking about some battles. I had no idea what Quidditch even was and he goes on about bombarding the defence and breaking the stalemate."

"I remember when Da' introduced me to Quidditch. Took us to see a Harpies game, it was a good match but I was more impressed by the stadium."

"Oh?"

"They don't really have a Quidditch pitch, they have a bunch of buildings in the Irish Sea, all tied together with magic. The goalposts, the stands, it's all surrounded by water."

"So if you fall off your broom, you go for a swim?"

"Pretty much. The announcer has a big whistle just for that, it sounds like the one on the Hogwarts Express. Or like on an old river barge."

"That doesn't sound too bad in the summer, but imagine falling into the sea in January."

"I think their madness is part of their charm. Da' said that the first few rows are considered the best seats during a storm. After graduating from Hogwarts, he and a few mates regularly went there, and he said that being drenched by the waves and warming up again with Firewhiskey again and again while screaming some fan song in Welsh was some of the best fun he has had. Not that he knows Welsh."

"Somehow, I don't think that this will catch on here."

"No, but can you - can you imagine Snape's or McGonagall's face if they had to oversee such a match?" Demelza asked, laughing so hard at the mental image that she had to hold onto the table.

"I think Fred and George would have celebrated each goal with a shot of their own."

"Oh Merlin, can you imagine if all players had to drink whenever their team scored."

"It would be a nightmare to play - but hilarious to watch," Harry admitted with a chuckle. "Although the best strategy would be to let your opponent score while you try to stay sober so that the seeker can catch the snitch."

"You're just saying that because you're the seeker!" Demelza laughed.

"Well, I'd like to see someone pull out of a hundred-foot dive after fifteen shots of firewhiskey."

"I think Lynch made a good showing of that during the World Cup final. Just straight into the ground. But I wouldn't want to imagine what fifteen must feel like, 3 shots was bad enough."

"You've tried Firewhiskey?" Harry wanted to know.

"Last year, after we won the Cup the Weasley Twins organised all kinds o' things which would've driven Umbridge up the Wall. Ginny nicked a small bottle from her brothers, so she, Amy and I tried some. But Ginny was full of energy after catching the snitch, so she was a little too generous with her own glass. I spent the next hour holding her hair as she hugged the loo, repeatedly."

"Do you know Ginny well?"

"We're good friends. Technically, we're a year apart, but she's actually just three weeks older than me, and when I came to Hogwarts she hadn't made any friends - I guess that's what being possessed leads to."

"She told you about that then?"

"Waking up next to a dead basilisk and with your childhood hero on the other side tends to leave an impression, especially if he's holding a legendary sword."

"How close were you to being in Ginny's year?"

"Three days - honestly I'm more annoyed that Ginny is older than us than that I had to wait almost a year after me birthday before I got here," Demelza grumbled good-naturedly.

"Hermione, a friend of mine, is also born in September, but it wasn't until our third year that I realised how she's almost a year older than me. And given that she got petrified by the basilisk and had used a time turner to take all electives, I don't even know how much older she is by now."

"You can get a time turner for electives?"

"Yeah, but it's honestly not worth it because you run yourself ragged and to be perfectly honest, neither divination nor muggle studies are worth the time. Hermione looked more zombie than human at the end of that year, and the s - "

Their conversation was interrupted by a trio of girls who walked over to their table, and it took Harry a moment to remember their names, not helped by the way Romilda Vane had leaned forward as she rested her hands on the table, displaying a rather distracting amount of her chest which went beyond mere cleavage.

"Hi Harry," she said and batted her eyes at him. In her mind, it probably was a suave move, but in fact, it left her looking as if she had a fly in her eye.

"Ehm - hello."

"Why don't you come over to us when you're done here, doing whatever you two do? We have butterbeer and better company."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry said and tapped the label of his bottle. He was also quite sure that his current company would be more pleasant. A distant memory of Malfoy going on about the right sort of company popped into his mind.

"See you, soon," Romilda replied breathily and walked back, her friends following her wordlessly.

"Be careful with that one," Demelza hissed once they were alone at their table again, her voice full of venom.

"Don't worry, it takes more than butterbeer to entice me," Harry replied and held up his bottle before he emptied it and waved to Madam Rosmerta about a new one.

"I would be more worried about what she put in that beer. Romilda has been plotting to slip you a love potion since she got back from the holidays."

"I know, Hermione overheard them talking about it in a loo, but couldn't do anything since they didn't bring the potion with them."

"That's ridiculous, she should be expelled for that!"

"Does it really surprise you? I mean, the year before you came to Hogwarts, Fudge threw Hagrid into Azkaban to look like he was doing something. The next year there was the mess with Sirius, who had been innocent the whole time, last year we had Umbridge and now Malfoy is getting away with his plotting."

"Malfoy? That's the blonde Slytherin from your year, right?"

"Yes, he's - he's been acting oddly this year, even by his standards. I think he might be working for Voldemort."

"You don't think - Katie?" Demelza asked, her voice suddenly thick.

"McGonagall says he had a detention with her, but I know he was involved in the attack - I just don't know how."

"Merlin, compared to that, a chit with a love potion is nothing."

"I would still prefer her not to try anything. Who knows who might get caught up in it."

"Well, Romilda has a rather large crush on you. But this year has been a little extreme, even by her standards. But that's the drama queen for you."

"So she is like Lavender then?"

"Lavender 's nice, you can always ask her for help. Always knows a spell or a potion," Demelza replied with fondness in her voice.

"Really? I never got the impression that she was good in those subjects."

"Not for schoolwork, but there are spells Professor McGonagall does not teach - female spells," Demelza explained and noticed the blank look Harry drew at that. "You know, for hair care, for nice skin - for cramps."

"What - oh - I see. And Romilda is not like that?" he stuttered, his own face just as red as Demelza's.

"No, Romilda - She is nice to her friends, but to others - I met Amy on the train before I was even sorted, and that meant that Romilda hated us."

"What? Why?"

"Their families have a feud which goes back centuries. Started over a goat of all things, but over the years there were a few too many mysterious deaths for everything to be a coincidence. So when I made a friend, I picked the other side," Demelza explained and laughed at Harry's dumbstruck expression. "I know it sounds insane, but I guess I am used to it. It is not like Amy and Romilda duel at midnight or anything, but they are both rather - insulting."

"Romilda sounds worse with every word you say."

"She can be a bit difficult, especially after she got the crush on you. It's not that you aren't attractive, it is just that if you listened to that gal, you would think that the only reason you are not walking across the Black Lake is that you divvent want to show off."

"You think I'm attractive?" Harry asked and Demelza's eyes went wide.

"Well - I just said that you are not not attractive - not that you are ugly - not that there would be anything wrong with you being ugly - which you are not - "

"Do you want a shovel or have you dug deep enough?"

"I hate you," Demelza mumbled and crossed her arms, pouting adorably before she glared at Harry. "Well, you try coming up with compliments on the spot!"

"Come on, how hard can it be?"

"Do it then! Say something nice about us!"

"Uhm - You have - your - "

"See? It is not that easy."

"You - ehm - have nice teeth," Harry eventually got out, her smile goading him into the blunder.

"Wow, with a compliment like that, you might even cure Vane of her obsession."

"See, all according to plan then."

"Yeah, only that I'm not Romilda."

"I might need glasses, but I could tell that much."

"Given your charming words, I'm not so sure. Just as a reminder, I'm blonde, she has that raven hair which is ridiculously luscious," Demelza said and held up her braid, but for all her joking, there was an edge to her voice.

"You have a prettier smile."

"What?"

"When you smile, you look happy - at ease. She looks as if she is putting up some act, like she's trying too hard," Harry elaborated, slightly confused by his own explanation. He was not making things up, but he didn't know why he was even telling her that.

"Much better."

"And your voice is a lot nicer."

"Now you are exaggerating," Demelza laughed.

"You are more pleasant to listen to, your voice is soft and you speak quietly. It's - calming, while hers gets under my skin."

"I think that's less about her voice and more about that she is talking about giving you a love potion."

"You might have a point there," Harry conceded with a laugh.

"Just maybeeee."

"Or it could be your accent - I can't quite put my finger on it, but it sounds nice."

"I was born up north in Washington, but we moved to Cardiff when I was six since wor Mum got a promotion. Or rather, her boss got a promotion and offered to take her along to the Welsh branch with a nice raise."

"And your father?"

"He apparates to work, so it doesn't really matter where from. Da' works at Flourish & Blotts, so you might have even met him without realising it."

"Maybe - to be honest, whenever I was at Diagon Alley, I was looking forward to magical ice cream, not books. Mr Fortescue made the best ice cream, and he was amazing. I spent one summer in the Alley, and I think I've been at his parlour every day. He helped me with my homework and gave me all the ice cream I could have asked for, and then some," Harry explained, although halfway through his voice went from happy to mournful. Whatever the Death Eaters had done to Florean Fortescue, the kind man deserved none of it.

"You spent a summer in Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah, I had to live with my Muggle relatives and they - imagine Malfoy as a Muggle."

"Sounds pleasant."

"Believe me, it was worse. My uncle's sister - she breeds dogs. And halfway between saying that my mother should have aborted me and that she should have been killed before she had me, I snapped. Blew her up - well, not the explosive blow up, but like a balloon. It was accidental magic, I didn't even draw my wand, but I thought the Ministry would come and snap it so I panicked and ran away. Tripped over the curb and accidentally called the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley, where the Minister was waiting for me. But because everyone thought that Sirius Black was after me, I didn't get as much as a warning. Instead, I was merely told not to go into the Muggle world while Sirius was on the loose. So that was the summer of ice cream."

"What did you think of the Knight Bus?"

"It's horrible, and the conductor was annoying. Well, before he got put under the Imperius curse, now he's in Azkaban."

"Really? I would have thought - "

"Thought what?" Harry asked after she had trailed off.

"Well, I like the Bus, it's like a roller coaster, but better. I would have thought that you would be a kindred soul, given how you usually fly on the Quidditch pitch."

"You - you like the Knight Bus? The strange contraption which jerks around all the time?"

"It's fun, especially at night when the beds swing around. The armchairs you get during the day aren't bad either, but some tip over no matter what you do. The beds on the other hand always swing back and forth. It is like swimming in the sea, but more exciting."

"You are strange, you know that?"

"Says the boy who plays Quidditch but then picks the role which sits out the whole game for one dive."

"Well - someone has to catch the snitch," Harry pointed out.

"Yes, but you chose that role."

"Well actually - " Harry retold how he had been drafted into the team by Professor McGonagall, and how he expected to get a beating when their head of house asked if she could borrow Wood. A few years later he could laugh along with Demelza about the misunderstanding, but back then he had been terrified and then utterly confused.

After that, they traded stories, Harry talking about some of his more absurd adventures like infiltrating the Slytherin Common Room with the Polyjuice potion Hermione had brewed while Demelza talked about what it had been to grow up in a magical household and how it could confuse her mother even after twenty years of being married to a wizard. Harry made good on his earlier offer and told her what had happened in the Department of Mysteries, even if he skipped some of the more gruesome details. They talked about school and realised that they both liked charms, which led to a story about Demelza repeatedly blowing up the tin soldier she was supposed to animate because of a slightly-off wand motion. They also both hated potions, although for different reasons. Harry simply couldn't stand Snape, whereas she was disgusted by some of the more common ingredients like flobberworms or the various beetles they had to work with.

Sooner than they would have liked, the sun had set and it was time to return to Hogwarts. As he settled the tab, Harry glanced back at Demelza and realised that they had spent the entire day together. And what's more, he had actually enjoyed it. Not that he had expected to despise her, but he would not have thought that time would pass that quickly, especially when the rest of the team did not turn up to their meeting. Madam Rosmerta returned with the change and followed Harry's distracted gaze.

"The next time you are here on a date, order the ice cream cup - it comes with one spoon by default," she offered.

"Oh, we're not on a date."

"Really? You could have fooled me."

That, more than anything else, planted the idea in Harry's head. As he walked back to the table, it appeared more appealing with each step. They have had fun together, Demelza had stuttered her way through the admission that she found him attractive and in return, he considered her cute. She might not look like a model, her short frame and wide shoulders stopped that idea before it could hatch, but between her hazel eyes, her accent and her braided, blonde hair, she had nothing to be ashamed of. Even her crooked nose had its charm, evidence of the effort she had put into crashing through the Slytherin defences during their match.

As Harry made it back to their table and Demelza was putting on her winter coat, which brought forth the memory of Cho in a similar garment, telling him that Cedric had already asked her to the Yule Ball. So before he could really think about it, the words were already out of his mouth, to preempt that kind of mess if at all possible."

"Hey Mel would you - would you like to go on a date with me? Like, a proper first date, on the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

Harry's stutter notwithstanding, a wide smile spread across Demelza's face and her cheeks flushed pink.

"I see two problems with that. We already had our first date, and the next Hogsmeade weekend is a month away."

"Well, Professor Slughorn is hosting this Christmas Party next week - "

AN:

Beta'ed by LifeEquals42.

Just for clarification for the American readers, in this story Demelza is from Washington in the metropolitan County of Tyne and Wear. Historically in County Durham, which is in the North of England, not Washington DC or Washington State. Basically, I listened to a bunch of British accents until I found one which sounded nice and then went looking around in Google Maps for a small town there. Canon has no information about where she is from or how she looks.

And yes, that was a George Carlin reference.