November 21, 1999
Falmouth Falcons stadium, Falmouth, England
Ginny Weasley stood in the guest locker room of Falmouth stadium. She found a nearby bench and put her bag down. She took out her Quidditch uniform, pushing aside her practice uniform and her small notebook. She put on her gold and green sweater, khaki pants, and riding boats. She saw Vasilina approach out of the corner of her eye as she folded her civilian clothes.
"Ready for your first game, Weasley?" She asked her
"I was born ready, Sofka," Ginny smirked.
"Like the confidence, but knowing you, you always have it" Vasilina said
"You say that like it's a bad thing"
"Of course not" Vasilina laughed
"Ok Ladies, seeing as it's the first game of the season, it's time to hand out robes to our rookies" Morgan yelled from the middle of the room
"C'mon, you don't want to miss getting your own robes, do you?" Vasilina asked
"No way," Ginny grinned. She and Vasilina walked to the center of the room, where the rest of the team, reserves and all, were waiting.
"Oh I hope I have a good number Nicky" Myra gushed. Rather overly dramatic in Ginny's opinion
"I'm sure you will!" Nicole smiled
"Since when is Nicole Nicky?" Vasilina whispered
"No idea" Ginny whispered back
"Now first up, our newest starting chaser, Ginny Weasley, number 6!" Ginny walked up and took her new quidditch robes. She thanked Morgan and walked back over to Vasilina. She unfolded it and looked at the back. It had her name in all uppercase letters and a large 06 under it. It was just like her dreams. She hugged the robes to her chest before putting them on. "Next up is our first chaser alternate, Myra West, number 4" Ginny watched, not particularly paying attention, she was just too excited to get on the field. Her daze was broken by a sharp whistling sound.
"All right Ladies, time to head up to our first game!" Morgan cheered. They grabbed their brooms and headed to the dock, waiting to be announced. Ginny looked up, Falmouth stadium was filled up to the max. She looked around the crowd. Her family was here, somewhere. She knew Mum, Dad, Bill, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville and possibly Teddy, Fleur, the twins and Percy. were there to cheer her on, in her first professional quidditch match. God, this is exciting! She couldn't even fight her smile.
"Now, for our away team, THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!" the announcer yelled. "First up is number 9, The team's Keeper, Nicole Gordan!" Nicole flew up into the stadium, to the cheering Harpies fans "Next up, numbers 15 and 18 Beaters Sonya Ramirez and Gilat Kanfo!" They both followed "And of course, the team's seeker, number 2, Leí-Hua Tsui!" Lei flew up after them, waving to the crowd.
"Tsui is interesting among the Harpies, having only been the hufflepuff starting seeker for the 1995-1996 school year" a familiar voice sneered. "She lacks the experience that her fellow returning team members have. Of course she was only made a seeker because of the untimely passing of Hufflepuff seeker Cedric Diggory" Ginny tried to place the voice
"Oh god, she's reporting" Gwenog groaned
"I can't believe her" Vasilina growled
"It's Rita Skeeter!" Ginny yelped in shock
"You know her?" asked Myra
"Oh god.." Gwenog mumbled
"It can not be Skeeter!" Ginny nearly yelled. She couldn't believe it! Her first quidditch match and bloody Rita Skeeter was commentating
"And of course, the team's chasers, numbers 17 and 5, Gwenog Jones and Vasilina Sofka!" The announcer yelled. Gwenog and Vasilina flew up, leaving Ginny alone with Myra and the rest of the reserves
"Oh, looks they forgot someone" Myra smirked
"Bugger off" Ginny mumbled
"And last but certainly not least, the Harpies newest chaser, fresh from the Gryffindor championship 1998-1999 team, number 6, GINIVERA WEASLEY!" The announcer yelled. Ginny took a deep breath, mounted her broom and took off. She heard the crowds cheer as she took her place next to the other harpies.
"Weasley is fresh from Hogwarts but has already been in the papers many times" Skeeter said snootily "mostly for her amorous romantic relationship with the boy who lived-" Ginny had to fight to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
"Now to begin the game" the other announcer cut her off. The referee came onto the field, Gwenog and the Falcon's captain shook hands before the balls were let loose. "And the snitch is up!" yelled the announcers. Vasilina quickly caught the quaffle. Ginny flew a little bit in front of her, ready for any needed passes. Gwenog stayed behind Vasilina in case the other team got the ball, just like in practice. Sonya was on the right looking for bludgers, while Gilat was on the left. Lei was flying around, looking for the snitch. Vasilina threw the quaffle to Ginny right as another chaser was about to hit her. Vasilina fell back while Gwenog flew forwards to catch any passes. Ginny was nearly at the posts when the keeper started yelling at her
"Nice arse Weasley" he yelled "not too bad looking from the front either. Although you have Potter's property written all over you! Probably a good thing, seeing as it got you on the team!" Ginny's blood boiled. The misogynistic prick! Ginny winded up for her shot and threw the quaffle as hard as she could. He laughed "Let's see if your really as good as they say or if you're just a stupid- Oof!" He groaned. The quaffle hit him straight in the chest, with so much force that both the quaffle and himself fell into the hope. Ginny heard the cheers around her and turned her head backwards. The rest of her team was cheering as loud as the fans. She scanned the crowd and saw very familiar red hair. She looked closer to see Ron and George laughing their arses off. Harry's smile was infectious. She couldn't help but yell in excitement.
"And that marks Ginny Weasley's first professional goal!" Yelled the announcer
"It will certainly be one for the record books!" a commentator said
"And due to section 17 of the quidditch hand book, Ginny Weasley managed to score 30 points for the holyhead harpies!" another yelled
"She may have little trouble on the pitch but she might be so lucky in love. Her longtime boyfriend was seen standing especially close his longtime friend Hermione-"
"Oi Skeeter! Shut it!" Gilat yelled
"That was a foul!" The other team's keeper yelled
"Like she said before, Shut it!" Gwenog yelled back. The referee took the quaffle from the ground and through it in the air again. The other team's chaser grabbed it and flew towards the harpies' posts. Ginny and Vasilina flew quickly to catch him. Gilat saw a bludger head towards Gwenog and hit it away from her, only to have it fly towards Ginny and Vasilina. Lei who was still circling yelled for them to get down. Ginny and Vasilina both ducked, while the other chaser sped up reaching the posts and taking his shot. He got the ball into the 3rd hoop, the easy hoop.
They continued to play, eventually tieing at 80-80. Ginny had 2 goals, Gwenog had 3 and Vasilina had 1. Gwenog had been nicked by a bludger but the team had otherwise been unscathed.
"The snitch has been spotted!" The announcer yelled. Leí sped past as Ginny caught the quaffle. Ginny made her way to the posts only to have the other team's chaser shove her so hard she nearly lost control of her broom
"Foul!" Gwenog yelled
"What are you gonna do about it girly?" Their chaser, Marcus Flint yelled
"Tsui and Lockwood race for the snitch! It's unclear who will get it!" Flint continued to race to the goal as Leí raced to the snitch. Leí reached forward and Flint took his shot
"Flint scores for the falcons!" Leí sped up and grabbed the snitch, seconds before Lockwood "and Harpies seeker Leí-Hua Tsui caught the snitch! Ending the game 90-230! Harpies Win!" The harpies fans cheered louder than Ginny could ever imagine. But that was nothing like the Harpies. They were yelling proudly
"Wooh" Ginny yelled, joining in. Gwenog gestured for the team to fly over. Ginny flew over.
"Harpies on three" Gwenog yelled for the crowd to hear "one, two, three!'
"HARPIES!" They yelled as loud as they could
"HARPIES, HARPIES HARPIES HARPIES" the crowd cheered. Ginny could hear the faintest "Go Ginny!" Probably from her family. It was an incredible feeling, to have the whole stadium cheer for her, no for her team.
The team left the field and after meeting with fans, they took a port key to the hotel they would be staying at for the night. It was a muggle hotel, but that wouldn't be a problem for them. "Alright Ladies, excellent game today, especially Ginny and Leí" Gwenog told them. "Dinner's at 8 and the after party is at 9, so no one better be late. For rooms tonight, we have Gilat and Sonya,-"
"Obviously" Nicole jeered, jokingly. Gilat burst out laughing
"Ginny and Vasilina, Myself and Leí, Nicole and Myra. Any questions?" No one raised their hand "alright, meet here at 7." Ginny and Vasilina took their room key and headed to their room.
"So what are you wearing tonight?" Vasilina asked
"Don't really know, no one bothered to give a dress code" Ginny responded
"Do you at least have options?"
"I've got two crop tops, a zip up skirt a dress and some shorts" Ginny said
"I can work with that." Vasilina said "can I see the dress?" The dress was short green and polka dotted. "Not the best, can I see the crop tops?" The first one was purple and velvet while the second one was deep royal blue with white-gold sparkles that made it look like a starry sky. "Ok, the second one is perfect, what color is the skirt?
"Black and gold" Ginny said
"Ok, go change, I'll pick out accessories," Vasilina said.
"I think I can pick out my own, so you have time-" Ginny said
"Ginny, you are a rookie and it's your first after party! Let me help you!"
"Fine," Ginny threw her hands up and headed to the bathroom. She walked out to see that Vasilina picked out black and gold mid calf black boots and Ginny's leather jacket.
"That jacket is great Ginny, I would kill for something so vintage" Vasilina said, hugging the jacket
"Well 2 people had to die for me to get it so.." Ginny looked up to Vasilina's horrified face "god, sorry, that was morbid"
"Is that true?" She asked. Her face looked awkward, like she was walking on eggshells.
"Yeah" she swallowed hard "It was Sirius's first, then Tonks' and then mine. Tonks left it for me"
"Were you guys really close?" Vasilina asked
"Yeah, they were somewhere between a sibling and a best friend"
"It must be hard, losing so many people I mean"
"You have no idea" Ginny had to force down a sob. "We still have a party to go to don't we" she said with a fake smile
"I can help you with your makeup"
"Sure," Ginny said. Vasilina headed into the bathroom to change. Ginny slipped on Tonk's jacket and fastened her boots. She put in a gold bracelet and fixed her locket. She braided her long red hair into a French braid. Vasilina walked out. She was wearing a lace top, a black leather skirt and a leather jacket that was much newer than Ginny's. Her long, coffee hair was let down and she had done a dark, dramatic, makeup look.
"So what are you doing for your makeup?" Vasilina asked
"I was thinking something natural but bold. Any ideas?" Ginny asked
"How about a subtle smokey eye with gold glitter and bright red lips?"
"Perfect" Vasilina did Ginny's makeup and the two harpies headed downstairs.