Part III: Revelation
Chapter VI: In Which Hermione Gets Proven Right
Summer was quickly approaching, bringing with it patches of blue skies and warmer weather. As much as Corinna wanted to pick up where they left things, Winky hasn't been in a right state to talk. Both Harry and Terry reassured her that she'll get her chance to make things right, but she had a feeling that was never going to happen at this point. Winky might be too far gone and Corinna much too late.
Harry hadn't made much progress with Slughorn or Malfoy. Ron hadn't done anything about Lavender, simply avoiding her whenever he could. And Hermione was busy criticizing all three of them for one reason or another.
Corinna met up with Harry on the afternoon of the twenty-first as all those who were seventeen were going to Hogsmeade to take their tests. She had just gotten done telling a nervous Terry good luck before he joined the others in the Entrance Hall. There weren't many in the class that day: only Harry, Corinna, Ernie, and Malfoy. Since there were so few, Slughorn told them to make something interesting. Corinna could only hope that Harry made something that would help with Slughorn as she went about making a Wound-Cleaning Potion, something that all Healers were expected to excel at. She was relieved that Slughorn told her that she brewed it nearly perfectly. "I would chop the fairy wings finer next time, Corinna. Other than that, excellent, excellent."
He moved on to Harry's and was over the moon with his praises at his Potion to Induce Euphoria. Slughorn thought it might be his mother's innate talent at potions coming through, but Corinna knew it was one hundred percent the Prince's doing. As the bell rang, Slughorn made his hasty exit against Harry calling for him to try the potion. Corinna gave him a sympathetic look as they cleaned up their potions and headed out of the dungeon.
Since Slughorn hadn't bothered to assign any homework, they had the rest of the afternoon to come up with plans to help Harry get the memory from Slughorn. "Ron suggested that I use my Felix Felicis," said Harry after a while.
"Seems like a pretty damn important thing to use it on," said Corinna as she watched Harry. "But you don't seem to think so."
"I was kind of hoping to save it for something."
"Like what?"
"Something special."
Corinna quirked a brow but didn't press as Ron and Hermione came bursting into the common room just then.
"Harry, Corinna!" cried Hermione. "I passed!"
"Well done," said Harry. "And Ron?"
"He—he just failed," whispered Hermione as Ron slumped into the couch in front of them. "It was really unlucky, a tiny thing, the examiner just spotted that he'd left half an eyebrow behind…How did it go with Slughorn?"
"No joy," said Harry. "Bad luck, mate, but you'll pass next time—we can take it together."
"Yeah, I suppose. But half an eyebrow. Like that bloody matters."
"I know," said Hermione, "it does seem really harsh."
They headed down to dinner together, but Corinna broke off when she saw Terry talking with some other Ravenclaw sixth years and Seamus. "Well?"
"I passed," he said proudly. "Warn your aunt and uncle that I will be popping in for dinner from time to time."
"Congrats, Terry," said Corinna. "What about you Seamus?"
He mumbled something about being a foot short (Corinna couldn't tell if he was talking about distance or limbs) before he made his excuses to join Dean at the Gryffindor table. She split off as well to meet back up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They ragged on the apparition examiner all through dinner, which made Ron feel a bit better. They headed back to the common room, and the discussion shifted from the exam to getting Slughorn's memory.
"So, Harry, you going to use the Felix Felicis or what?" asked Ron.
"Yeah, I suppose I better," said Harry. "I don't reckon I'll need all of it, not twelve hours' worth. It can't take all night. I'll just take a mouthful. Two or three hours should do it."
They had to wait awhile as Slughorn had just entered the Great Hall and he liked to take his time during meals. The plan was that Harry was to wait until Slughorn would have time to go back to his office before taking the potion and making his way to his office to talk with him. As the sun started to set and making sure that Harry and Ron's roommates were all in the common room, they snuck up to the boy's dormitory (something Corinna didn't think that girls could do, but an archaic rule allowed it). She didn't think she wanted to go back anytime soon. Teenage boys, it seemed, didn't know how to clean up after themselves. Not that girls were much better, but at least their smelly products helped mask some of it.
Harry dug through his trunk until he found the tiny bottle with the brilliant gold liquid inside. He stood up and faced the three of them as he examined the bottle. "Well, here it goes," he said and took a careful sip. He ignored Hermione's question of how it felt as he seemed to ease into the feeling it was giving him. He was beaming as he hid the rest of the potion in the same hiding place. "Excellent," he finally said as he straightened back up. "Really excellent. I'm going down to Hagrid's."
"What?" Ron and Hermione said in unison.
"Why would you go to Hagrid's?" asked Corinna.
"No, Harry, you've got to go and see Slughorn, remember?" said Hermione.
"No. I'm going to Hagrid's. I've got a good feeling about going to Hagrid's."
"You've got a good feeling about burying a giant spider?" asked Ron.
"A giant what?" asked Corinna, looking between the three of them. "What are you talking about?"
"Yeah," said Harry, ignoring Corinna's question as he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak. "I feel like it's the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?"
"No," all three of them said, staring at Harry as if he was insane.
"This is Felix Felicis, I suppose," said Hermione. "You haven't got another little bottle full of—I don't know…"
"Essence of Insanity?" suggested Ron.
"Draught of Doltishness?" added Corinna.
Harry pulled the cloak over himself and laughed. "Trust me. I know what I am doing. Or, at least, Felix does." He headed for the stairs and the three of them could only guess that he had left. Hermione and Ron walked together down the stairs and Corinna hung back behind them.
"What were you doing up there with her?" shrieked Lavender. She didn't see Harry and Corinna must have been far enough back that she only saw Ron and Hermione. Corinna decided to stay put.
"Well, um, we were just…" Ron scrambled to find an excuse, and it seemed that Hermione wasn't going to offer anything. "I needed to grab a book."
"Then where is it?" Lavender demanded. The common room seemed to suddenly get quieter and Corinna could see Ron's ears growing red. "Why don't you just tell the truth? You were up there with her s…sn…" She couldn't seem to say the words.
"No, wait, listen—"
Lavender wasn't listening. "I should have known something was up the moment she started talking to you again! You have been cheating on me, Ronald Weasley!"
"What, no—"
Lavender let out a shriek that Corinna guessed was a sob. "We are over! There, now you don't have to sneak around with…with her!" Corinna stepped further down to see Parvati ushering Lavender up to the girl's dormitory. Sure enough, everyone in the common room was watching the drama unfold.
Ron seemed at a loss for words and Hermione seemed to fail at quelling a smirk.
"I'm guessing this would be a bad time to ask about the giant spider," said Corinna from behind them.
They sat at one of the available couches and Ron explained what had transpired their second year where they had gone into the forest on Hagrid's suggestion and talked with a giant spider named Aragog that proved that Hagrid hadn't released the monster that was petrifying students that year.
"Mind you, after saying he wasn't the one petrifying the students, he still tried to kill me and Harry to feed his children," Ron explained. "Wouldn't have made it out of there if it wasn't for my family's Ford Anglia."
Corinna had so many questions she didn't even know where to begin. It was times like this that she felt like such an outsider still. There was so much history between that three of them that she felt like a fourth wheel and, in this case, it didn't complete the vehicle.
"He was sick all year, Hagrid sent us a letter this morning telling us that he had died, and we were welcome to go to his burial tonight," added Hermione. "I honestly haven't a clue as to why Felix would want Harry to go down there tonight. But, if it helps him get that memory, I suppose."
"Who are we to question it," Corinna agreed. "So, Ron, how does it feel to be a free man?"
"Brilliant! I'm just glad I didn't have to end it."
"Coward," Hermione muttered, but her smile was back in full force. Corinna gave her a knowing look, but Hermine seemed to ignore it.
As it approached midnight, they were getting impatient and Hermione made Ron go get Harry's enchanted map of Hogwarts. After unlocking it with the unusual incantation, they watched as Harry made his way up to the dormitory. However, he seemed to back track after running into Sir Nicolas and went to Dumbledore's office. "He must have gotten it if he went there!" said Hermione, looking relieved. As odd as the decision for Harry to go and visit Hagrid was, it worked out in the end. "Who knows how long they will talk. We might as well head to bed."
"You two go ahead," said Corinna. Hermione handed over the map and they all bid each other goodnight. Corinna moved to the chairs by the fireplace and watched the coals crackle. She didn't know at what point she had fallen asleep, but the next thing she knew was that she was being woken up by Harry shaking her shoulder. "Corinna, wake up."
"Huh, what?" she mumbled, sitting up and wiping away the dried drool on her chin. She wildly looked around as she tried to remember where she was. "What time is it?"
"Nearly half three," said Harry as he sat down in the other chair. "You didn't have to wait up for me."
"Evidently I didn't," said Corinna around a yawn. "I'm guessing you got the memory and then went to Dumbledore."
"Yeah," said Harry. "I ran into Slughorn on my way to Hagrid's and he joined me so he could get acrumentula venom. Then he and Hagrid got drunk and shared stories. He talked about my mum and I used that as a way to get him to give me the memory. It was of him telling Voldemort—" It was a sign that Corinna was now used to Harry saying the name freely as she didn't react "—about Horcruxes. The Horcruxes are part of his soul split up so he can never die while they are still around. The thing is, he apparently made six of them. We already destroyed two of them. I destroyed the diary my second year without realizing what it was, and Dumbledore destroyed a ring. We know the other one is in his snake, Nagini, and the other three are, we assume, other prized possessions from the founders."
"Damn," said Corinna, slowly drawing out the syllable and she took what Harry said in. "So, you have to destroy the other Horcruxes, and then you can kill him?"
"Basically, yeah."
"Seems easy enough," said Corinna. "I mean that's only, like, five things you need to do."
"Dumbledore thinks he knows where another one is, actually. He's letting me come along with him once he locates it."
"That's great," said Corinna. "Then we'll be one step closer to defeating…Vol—You-Know-Who." She, apparently, still couldn't say it herself.
"I just hope we can do it soon and locate the others," said Harry. "Too many people have gone missing or lost their lives and it is only going to get worse from here."
"I hope so, too," said Corinna as she leaned forward and took Harry's hand. "Come on. Let's go to bed. We have Charms first thing."
"Yeah," said Harry, but he did not make a move to stand up. He stared at the fire a long moment before finally standing up. "Goodnight, Corinna."
"Goodnight, Harry." Corinna turned to head to the girl's dormitory, leaving Harry standing by the fire.
Harry told Ron and Hermione what had happened that previous night during Charms after casting a Muffliato charm on those around them. It didn't stop Flitwick from coming around and being disappointed by Harry and Ron's progress in the freezing charm and assigned them practice. Although her vinegar was slushy in the flask, she was able to fully freeze it by the end of class.
They made their way up to the common room after class to see a group of seventh years gathered around one of the couches. Corinna didn't think anything of it until Hermione squealed, "Katie! You're back! Are you okay?"
It was indeed Katie Bell, looking healthy and not screaming in agony. "I'm really well! They let me out of St. Mungo's on Monday. I had a couple of days at home with Mum and Dad and then came back here this morning. Leanne was just telling me about McLaggen and the last match, Harry."
"Yeah, well, now you're back and Ron's fit, we'll have a decent chance of thrashing Ravenclaw, which means we could still be in the running for the Cup. Listen, Katie…that necklace…can you remember who gave it to you now?"
Katie shook her head. "Everyone's been asking me, but I haven't got a clue. The last thing I remember was walking into the ladies' in the Three Broomsticks."
"You definitely went into the bathroom, then?" asked Hermione.
"Well, I know I pushed open the door," said Katie, "so I supposed whoever Imperiused me was standing just behind it. After that, my memory's blank until about two weeks ago in St. Mungo's. Listen, I'd better go, I wouldn't put it past McGonagall to give me lines even if it is my first day back…"
She scurried after her friends and the four of them took up seats at a table by the window.
"So it must have been a girl or a woman who gave Katie the necklace," said Hermione, "to be in the ladies' bathroom."
"Or someone who looked like a girl or a woman," said Harry. "Don't forget, there was a cauldron full of Polyjuice Potion at Hogwarts. We know some of it got stolen…" They paused for a moment as they took the information in. "I think I'm going to take another swig of Felix and have a go at the Room of Requirement again."
"That would be a complete waste of potion," said Hermione. "Luck can only get you so far, Harry. The situation with Slughorn was different. You always had the ability to persuade him, you just needed to tweak the circumstances a bit. Luck isn't enough to get you through a powerful enchantment, though. Don't go wasting the rest of your potion! You'll need all the luck you can get if Dumbledore takes you along with him."
"Couldn't we make some more?" asked Ron. "It'd be great to have a stock of it. Have a look in the book."
Harry pulled out his copy of Advanced Potion-Making and turned to the page that include Felix Felicis. As Corinna read it over his shoulder and her heart sank. "It's seriously complicated," she noted, and there weren't a lot of notes from the Prince about it, either. "And it takes six months as you've got to let it stew."
"Typical," said Ron.
As April was coming to close, May came along with a vengeance as the long-awaited Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match was just around the corner. Quidditch always seemed to bring out the worst in everyone, but it seemed much, much worse this year. Corinna couldn't even walk the corridors without receiving jeers and insults from the Ravenclaws, particularly those who were on the Quidditch team. Some even tried to curse her while there weren't any teachers around.
"Why are they cursing me?" Corinna asked as she walked with Hermione back towards Gryffindor Tower just a few days before the match. She had just blocked a jelly-legs jinx from one of the Ravenclaw beaters and then put him in a full-body bind. "I'm not even on the bloody team."
"You're dating the captain," said Hermione as she frowned at the piece of paper in her hands. "Maybe they are hoping to do something to you to throw Harry off his game. You go on ahead. I'm going to go talk to Professor Vector really quick about my essay. Can you let Harry and Ron know I'll meet them in the Great Hall for dinner?" Corinna rolled her eyes but agreed that she would.
She went into the Common Room. It was mostly empty as she made her way to the girl's dormitory to drop her things off when Dean intercepted her. "Hey, Corinna, could I talk to you for a mo'?"
"Yeah," she said as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "What's going on?"
"I don't know who else to talk about this," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Corinna had to crane her neck to look up at him as he was the same height as Ron. "It's about Ginny. I don't want to talk about it with any of her friends because they might tell her, Seamus is my best mate but he's terrible at advice, Ron's her brother, Harry might as well be, and Hermione is…well, I'd rather talk to you about it."
Dean seemed to be taking his time getting to the point. "It's fine," she reassured as she lead him over to the chairs by the hearth. It was getting warm outside during the day, so it was only lit at night.
He released a tense breath as he stared at the cold fireplace. "We haven't been on good terms lately, and it seemed to have gotten worse since I was booted from the team."
"Have you talked with her about it?" asked Corinna. "I mean, I don't know Ginny that well, but she definitely isn't one to sugar coat it and will let you know when she isn't pleased with something."
Dean shook his head. "I try to be nice to her by helping her through the portrait or offering to carry her books."
"Okay, I see the problem," said Corinna. "I get that you are trying to be nice, and on someone like Lavender or Parvati, that might work, but Ginny is a very independent person who grew up with six older brothers. She isn't going to think you are helping by doing those things, she's going to think that you don't think she is capable of doing things herself. She wants a boyfriend, not another brother."
"I get that," said Dean. "Then, what should I do to show that I still care?"
"Dean, I don't think showing that you care is your problem," said Corinna. "I think you two need to talk. Have an honest conversation about what you both want out of this relationship. Again, Ginny is going to speak her mind without any problems."
He slowly nodded as he took it all in. "Talking," he said with a sigh. "Why do girls like to talk about relationship stuff so much?"
"Because we learn at an earlier age that communication is important," said Corinna, shaking her head. "It's not our fault your lot is slow on the uptake."
Dean let out a humorless laugh. "Thanks, Corinna. No wonder it seems like you and Harry have a good relationship."
"Don't jinx it," she said. "But, if you ever need to talk, I'm here."
"Yeah, uh…" Dean's eyes widened as he looked past Corinna. She turned and gaped in horror at the state of Harry. He was covered in what looked like blood, but it was black against his robes and his extremely white skin. "What the hell?"
"Harry?" Corinna jumped up and looked him over, but it seemed that the blood wasn't his. "What happened?"
"I don't have time to explain," he said shakily. "But I need your copy of Advanced Potion-Making."
"But, why? Ha—"
"Please," he said in an almost small voice. "I need it and I need you to hide my copy. Someplace Snape would not think to look for it."
Corinna was still very much confused, but she pulled her copy out of her bag and traded it with Harry's. "I got it," she reassured.
"Thanks," he said and then ran up to the boy's dormitory.
Corinna stared at where he left. She glanced back at Dean, who looked as confused as she felt. She just shrugged at him as she headed for the girl's dormitory, but if Snape suspected anything, he might think to look at his friends. Instead, she turned back around and left the Tower. She went to the seventh floor opposite the tapestry of Barnebas the Barmy. With a steadying sigh, she paced the blank wall, thinking about how she needed a safe place to hide Harry's book.
A door appeared and Corinna went through it into a room that was full of…stuff. That was the only way to describe it. It was as large as a cathedral full of things that were left by generations of Hogwarts students. There was demolished furniture haphazardly stacked in a way to keep a way clear for people to move about, thousands of books that were either hidden or stolen for various reasons, and so many other things that Corinna couldn't even begin to list them.
It was set up with various alleyways to get through the entire room and Corinna chose one at random. She was certain that Harry would want the book back once he was done dealing with Snape and whatever sort of trouble brewing there, so she wanted to put it in a place that wasn't obvious but would be easy for her to find. The problem was that there were so many good places to hide it, as long as she remembered how to get there. After walking from the front where the door was to the back, she knew she just needed to pick a spot.
She took a left at the broken vanishing cabinet that Montague was lost in the previous year and Corinna had to Confund him in order to not have tattle on the Weasley twins as they were the ones who put him in it. She walked past a large pile of what looked like gold and jewels. She spotted a cupboard that had seen better days and wrenched the door open as the hinges were rusted together. "Oh, Merlin," she whispered as she spotted a cage that held something that had long since died. "You owe me for this, Harry Potter!" Avoiding what was once inside, she slid the book behind the cage and closed the door again. Thinking she might have a hard time remembering which cabinet she put the stupid book in, she found a tarnished tiara among the pile of jewels and hung it on the knob. She then carefully walked back towards the exit, making sure to memorize the path to the cupboard before going back into the hallway.
No longer hungry, she made her way back to the Common Room. There were already a few people back from dinner, all talking in low whispers. "Corinna," said Ginny, rushing over from the couch. "Dean was just telling me what happened with Harry. Why did he ask you to hide his Potions text?"
"No idea," she admitted, which was part of the truth. "Why aren't you at dinner?" She looked at her watch and was surprised by how long she was in the Room of Requirement.
"Just got done when Harry came up to us looking all shaken and told us that we were going to have a team meeting, including Dean, up in the Common Room." Ginny looked uncomfortable. "You don't think that they are related, do you?"
"Probably," said Corinna as the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team and Hermione walked in with Harry taking up the rear. "I'll leave you lot to it, then." She walked away from Ginny and Dean and glanced over at Harry. He was hunched over and walked right passed her. She stood next to Hermione on the edge of the group. Although they were not part of the team, they both wanted to know what was going on.
Harry did not look up from the carpet as he addressed the group. "I won't be able to play in the match this Saturday." This statement immediately caused an uproar and he ran a hand through is unruly hair. "Listen, it's not up to me. I…I cursed Malfoy and caused him to go to the Hospital Wing. Snape has given me detention every Saturday until the end of term, including this one." Again, people tried to talk over him, but he just plowed through what needed to be said. "Ginny, you'll be seeker, and Dean will come back on as chaser. I know you lot will be able to win us the cup. We've had some of the best practices leading up to this, so I know you'll do fine without—"
"Potter!" They all turned sharply to see McGonagall standing in the portrait hole looking as if she was going to explode. "My office! Now!"
The look on Harry's face was very reminiscent of that when he was called as the unexpected fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament. He woodenly walked past his teammates, who had immediately stopped talking when McGonagall walked in but they were all still very much angry at him.
Once the portrait hole closed, the team started talking amongst themselves again. Ron broke off and went over to Hermione and Corinna. "There's got to be something he's not telling us," said Hermione as they went over to a table by the window. It was steadily growing darker outside. "Corinna attacked Romilda Vane and only got one detention."
"I didn't cause her to need medical assistance," Corinna reminded. "But, well…" She explained to Ron and Hermione what had happened when she was talking with Dean.
"It must have to do something with that book!" Hermione shrieked. More people were coming into the Common Room and everyone seemed to have already heard about Harry and Malfoy. "I don't think you should tell him where you hid it."
"I think I can decide that for myself, thanks," said Corinna coolly.
It was a few minutes later that Harry came back. He didn't look much better as he stiffly took the seat next to Corinna. Under the table, she reached over and placed a comforting hand on his knee. "What really happened?" she asked.
"That all did happen," said Harry, leaning forward so his elbows rested on the table, weariness and embarrassment etched on his face. "I found Malfoy in the boy's bathroom with Moaning Myrtle." Corinna vaguely remembered the ghost that haunted the girl's second floor lavatory. All the girls avoided that bathroom like the plague, only using it under the direst of circumstances. "I tried to stay hidden to hear if he would admit to working for Voldemort, but he saw me and cursed me. We attacked back and forth, but he was about to use Crucio and I decided to use Sectumsempra. It…it was horrible. It looked like a knife slashed at his chest. There…there was blood everywhere!
"Myrtle shouted there was a murder and Snape came running. He fixed up the wounds but took him to the Hospital Wing to get some dittany to fix it further. When he came back, he demanded to see my schoolbag. He must have known about the Prince's book. So, I had Corinna hide mine, and I borrowed hers. He saw your name written in it, and I told him it was a silly joke between us, but I don't think he believed it. He gave me detention every Saturday until the end of term. He must have told McGonagall and the other professors because she just gave me a dressing down over it. She said I was lucky I wasn't expelled."
"You were!" said Hermione, crossing her arms over her chest. "I won't say 'I told you so,'"
"Then don't," said Ron. "Leave it, Hermione."
"I told you there was something wrong with that Prince person," she continued, ignoring Ron's angry remark. "And I was right, wasn't I?"
"No, I don't think you were," said Harry.
"How can you still stick up for that book when that spell—"
"The Prince only copied it out!" Harry turned his head to glare at Corinna and she glared right back. "It's not like he was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he was making a note of something that had been used against him!"
"I don't believe this," said Hermione. "You're actually defending—"
"I'm not defending what I did! I wish I hadn't done it, and not just because I've got about a dozen detentions. You know I wouldn't've used a spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you can't blame the Prince, he hadn't written 'try this out, it's really good.' He was just making notes for himself, wasn't he?"
Hermione turned sharply to face Corinna. "Don't tell him where you have hidden it."
Before Corinna could say anything, Harry interjected, "Listen, without the Prince I'd never have won the Felix Felicis. I'd never have known how to save Ron from poisoning. I'd never have—"
"—got a reputation for Potions brilliance you don't deserve?" added Hermione.
"Will you both just shut up," said Corinna, feeling a headache coming on. She wasn't sure the cause, but they were not helping it. Unfortunately, she could see both sides of the argument and wasn't sure what she should do. "For right now, it's safe in the Room of Requirement, but good luck finding it," she added when Harry was about to interrupt. "I have it pretty well hidden and it would probably take years for you to find it among the rubbish. But, also, Hermione, you need to lay off. Malfoy was about to use an Unforgivable Curse, one that my mother favors. I am not going to apologize for thinking that Harry was lucky to have something like that in his arsenal to stop Malfoy.
"Well, of course I'm glad Harry wasn't cursed! But you can't call that Sectumsempra spell good, Corinna."
"I didn't," Corinna muttered. "Don't put words in my mouth, Hermione!"
"I wasn't. You just made it seem like it was a good thing."
"Compared to the fucking Crucio curse, yeah, it is."
It seemed that even Hermione could see how much Corinna loathed that. The conversation seemed to instantly drop, but the tension stuck around for the rest of the night and into the rest of the week. Harry had to deal with taunts from the Slytherins for putting one of their own in the Hospital Wing, and jeers from Gryffindors for diminishing their chances of winning the house cup. Although she despised how it happened, at least people were now going back to ignoring her.
That Saturday, she had considered not going to the Quidditch game, but Terry was dragging her out to the pitch on that clear May day. She had split off with Harry when he went to Snape's office for his first detention, but Terry had intercepted her as she went to Gryffindor Tower.
"You'll regret not going," he said plainly. She noticed that Seamus was no where around and asked him about it. "He's saving us seats since I went to look for you. But you might have to sit between us. Did you know for not even being on the team, he is still very competitive?"
"And you aren't," said Corinna as they joined the crowd in the Great Hall going out onto the grounds.
"Pot-kettle much?" Terry countered. They stepped out of the shadow of the castle and the sun seemed to instantly warm them up. They had removed their jumpers before they even got to the pitch and climbed the stairs to the seats that Seamus was sitting at. Sure enough, Corinna was squeezed between them.
"Your boyfriend really ruined our odds," said Seamus, who was one of those most vocal after it came out that Harry wouldn't be participating in the match. "I hope he's happy."
"He gets to spend the day with Snape," she said dryly. "I'm sure he is having the time of his life."
The Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws met out on the pitch and the captains—Katie standing in for Harry as she had been on the team just as long as he had—shook hands. Soon, they were off. McGonagall, fed up with the subpar commentators that had filtered through, had opted to do it herself. But, it seemed, even she couldn't stay impartial for long as Gryffindor started to pull ahead. Flitwick, as he was the Head of House for Ravenclaw, made it his job to keep her in check. Soon, it became a battle of which professor would have control over the amplifier.
Corinna only vaguely paid attention as it seemed very back and forth between the chasers. Although Katie and Demelza have always been consistently good, it seemed that Dean really stepped up his game. Whether it was for Harry or Ginny, she couldn't be sure. Either way, the three of them were a powerhouse, and the beaters were doing what they could to keep the other chasers at bay, but they still landed quite a few shots. Ron was doing better than he had in the previous year, but he wasn't on his game like he was in the first game against Slytherin. The placebo effect was a hell of a drug.
"No, no!" Terry started panicking as they looked over at the scores. Three hundred to hundred and thirty. If Ginny caught the snitch now, they would win, but it seemed that her and Cho Chang were still trying to find it. "Yes!" One of the Ravenclaw chasers, Mandy Brocklehurst, feinted a throw at Ron to open up the hoops behind him for her to score. "Come on! They just need to get two more scores and then Cho needs to get the snitch!"
"Oh, shite!" shouted Seamus as both Ginny and Cho dove down towards the pitch, both spotting the little golden orb at the same time. "Yes…yes…YES!" As they both rose up from a dive, Ginny held her hand up where the snitch tried to fly out of her grasp. The Gryffindors and their supporters seemed to explode with cheer as they had just enough points to not only beat Ravenclaw but also win the house cup! Even Corinna was on her feet, cheering along with Seamus as Terry remained slumped in his seat, his head buried in his hands.
"Party in Gryffindor common room!" Seamus shouted, completely ignoring his boyfriend. "Corinna, come help me get butterbeer from the kitchens!"
"Yeah!" said Corinna as she looked down at Terry. She sat back down and patted his back. "Oh, don't worry. There's always next year…unless Gryffindor wins it for the fourth year in a row!" She gave another loud, obnoxious cheer just to drive her point home.
He punched Corinna in the arm, but he looked like he wanted to do more. "You don't even like Quidditch," he muttered.
She stood back up and looked back over at the pitch. Ginny and Dean landed and were locked in a steamy embrace that caused a few to wolf whistle. Ron had flown over to another Gryffindor section and seemed to be talking with Hermione, who was eagerly leaning over the edge to talk to him. If something didn't happen with them, thought Corinna, she would eat her wand arm.
But she still felt a pang of jealousy. She wished she had, instead, cheered Harry on as he sped into a beautiful dive to catch the snitch. As he held the snitch high above him, she wanted to be on her feet as his first instinct was to go and seek her out. Instead, she will have to wait for her chance to do so next year.