Chapter 6: Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw
Even though Cho was happy to be Harry's girlfriend, Harry saw that she was not totally happy. It was, of course, natural to mourn, and Harry also regretted the passing of Cho's parents. However, the first Quidditch game of the season, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, was the most anticipated game in a long time. Not only would this be the first game in roughly a year, but its main matchup was between two seekers who were undoubtedly the most talked-about couple in the school. Harry and Cho seemed unaffected, however, spending roughly the same amount of time with each other as before. The Gryffindors had a generally good relationship with the Ravenclaws, anyway; if Cho was the Slytherin seeker, however, then there would be quite a bit of tension around the school.
This year, Ron was on the team. With money he received from the twins, Ron had bought his own Nimbus 2000 and had taken over Oliver Wood's position of keeper. Harry hoped that Ron didn't know that the twins' newfound wealth was Harry's winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. Both Harry and Ron were quite excited about being on the team together, and Harry thought that Ron did indeed laugh more these days. Their friendship seemed to be growing stronger.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the common room the day before the match. Ron had been tapping his foot on the floor. "Harry," he said suddenly, "don't go easy on her, please! She can be dangerous. You could get your first real loss and cost us the cup!"
"Oh, Ron," Hermione replied, "don't take this so seriously. You don't have to be so dramatic."
"That's what you think," Ron countered.
"We've talked about it," said Harry finally. "The best thing for us is to both try our best and see who wins." He shrugged and then returned to his history of magic textbook.
"Sounds easy
in principle," Ron allowed. "But what if something unexpected happens?"
The day of the game, Harry found himself in the locker room with the jitters. "Harry," said Fred nervously, "you have to get the Snitch. Girlfriend or not. Show no mercy."
"I know," said Harry casually. "I just have this strange feeling that something bad is gonna happen."
"Um, that doesn't
really comfort us," said George.
Harry and the Gryffindors saw the Ravenclaws out on the grounds. It was a clear, quiet night with a crescent moon overhead. The stands were packed and the cheers had already begun. Harry looked for Cho on the other side as he mounted his broom. She gave him a thumbs up. He did the same. Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and the players shot up into the air.
Harry and Cho looked for the golden snitch from separate locations high in the air. Amongst all the players and all the yells, Harry mentally kept track of the score by listening to Lee Jordan. Gryffindor led by a score of 10, then 20, then 30, to 0. Finally, a Ravenclaw chaser put a goal in past Ron. Harry looked back at Ron, who grinned as if to say that now he was serious.
Harry looked back at the field and then focused on Cho. She was staring at a point slightly below, maybe 30 feet above the ground. Harry decided that he should turn his head away and look elsewhere.
But then Cho
made a shallow and quick dive, and Harry's eyes suddenly looked down and
he saw it as well: the golden snitch was flying quite close to her. He
instinctively started dashing toward the snitch, knowing that she had a
head start and that all eyes were now on them. There was still a slight
chance that he could make it there. As Cho approached within 5 feet of
the snitch, Harry saw something happen to Cho that made him feel immediately
sick. Cho's broom suddenly started plummeting straight down, and it was
obvious that there was no way that Cho could control it. Suddenly, he saw
her eyes close, her head fall as if some unseen force had rendered her
unconscious. He immediately dove with a combination of speed and angle
of descent that was unprecedented for him, but his brain determined that
this was the only angle that gave him hope. As he approached Cho and her
plummeting broom, Harry found himself praying for some miracle. He also
noticed that several players were watching as if frozen by shock.
"What is he doing?!" Ron screamed from the stands.
"He's trying to save Cho!" said Hermione. She grabbed Ron's hand and held on.
"Why is he always doing that?" Ron said in frustration while keeping his eyes transfixed on Harry.
"It's automatic for him, like I said," Ginny said while staring at Harry with mouth agape.
"It's in his
blood," Ron added. "His Dad saved Snape, for heaven's sake. Harry'd probably
risk his life for Malfoy if it came to that."
As Harry neared within a few feet of Cho, he saw that there was almost no way he could catch up to her. He could only resort to one crazy idea. When he was only three feet off the ground, he let go of the broom and lunged off it in Cho's direction with arms outstretched. The air was knocked out of him as Cho, still holding onto the broom, landed in his arms. He fell on the grassy bottom, still holding her, and the wind was knocked out of him once again. He thought he heard one simultaneous gasp from the crowd. He lay there and stared at his unconscious girlfriend. Her eyes were still shut and her hands still held on to the broom with a grip so strong that he could not open her fingers.
A familiar voice broke his reverie. "Harry."
Harry looked over his shoulder to see George floating nearby. "Harry," George continued, "the game's not over."
Harry felt suddenly revolted. "I don't care about your stupid game! We need Madame Pomfrey right away!" he shouted.
George cringed slightly, stared past Harry, and then said placatingly, "Harry, Pomfrey's heading your way."
He looked in the direction in which George was looking and indeed saw Madame Pomfrey. "I'm sorry," he said finally.
"Forget about it," said George dismissively. Harry saw some other players head his way to support George. "We're leading by 30. Get the snitch. Cho will be fine."
Harry let go of Cho finally and saw that his broom was lying on the grass in fine condition. He walked over to it, mounted it, and looked skyward for the snitch. He was so angry with the whole game. He looked around the entire field from the below until he finally saw it. Flying at a tremendous speed skyward, he heard the sounds of the crowd reawakening. He looked around as he ascended, noticing two bludgers come his way from two different directions. He dodged both of them deftly while his speed was undeterred. Finally, he caught the snitch and the game was over. He heard cheers. Instead of relishing the victory, he quickly dove down to the spot where he had left Cho. They were mounting her on a magical stretcher now, and as Harry approached, they were quickly transporting her to the infirmary inside. He quickly made plans to spend as much time as possible that night and every other day thereafter watching her until she recovered.
He knew that several people would love to congratulate him, but he was not in the mood. He finally reached the ground, dismounted, and carried his broom with him as he raced after Madame Pomfrey and the students who were assisting her. When Harry finally arrived outside the hospital door, he estimated that they had been in there ahead of him for a few minutes. He knocked on the door anxiously until it opened partially.
"Harry," Pomfrey's voice said as if she expected him. She had a cross expression on her face.
She started to say something when Dumbledore's voice came from within the room. "Let him in, Poppy," said Dumbledore.
Pomfrey opened the door the whole way. Harry mumbled his thanks and walked in nervously. He saw that Cho was on the hospital bed with her eyes still closed and the broom still in her white-knuckled hands. "She'll be fine, Harry," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "She was a victim of some powerful dark magic," he said sternly. "She is unconscious and her hands were specifically forced to hold onto the broom. Pomfrey says that if you were a second too late, then she would have died. I would think that whoever did this did not count on you making that dive."
Harry did not know how to reply.
"I need only give her some of this root," Dumbledore continued. "She will recover by sometime tonight. It takes most people roughly 24 hours, but I would think that she is a strong enough person to recover before morning. Poppy," he said. Pomfrey looked at him. "Please accomodate Harry for tonight. I think that he will not be able to sleep anyway. Perhaps he deserves to be the first to talk to her."
"Yes, Albus," said Pomfrey reluctantly, and she left to presumably check on other patients.
"I too must leave to take care of other pressing matters," said Dumbledore. "That was a brave thing you did, Harry," the headmaster continued.
"It was instinctive," said Harry. "It just happened, Dumbledore. I'm just glad that she'll be OK."
Dumbledore smiled. "Bye Harry," he said as he left the infirmary.
Harry watched
Cho for a while and wondered who on earth would do this. It was eerily
similar to what Quirrel had done to him several years ago, but Quirrel
was gone. First, she was orphaned. Then, she was attacked at a Quidditch
match. It seemed that the sinister joke was to make all the bad things
that happened to Harry happen to Cho.
The door suddenly opened, and Ron
and Hermione entered.
"We brought your homework," said Hermione as they entered.
"My idea," said Ron. "You're going to be here all night according to Dumbledore. He talked to us just outside the door."
"Thanks," said
Harry. They chatted about the events of the night until Ron and Hermione
left at close to midnight.
At 2 AM, Cho stirred. Harry reacted reflexively. "Cho?" he said anxiously.
"Harry?" she said. She opened her eyes, looked at the broom, and let go of it.
"You were made unconscious and then your hands were commanded to hold onto the broom and then your broom plummetted . . " He trailed off, because it was hard to relive the experience.
"And then you saved me," Cho filled in. She saw his startled expression. "Before I slipped into unconsciousness, I saw you begin to dive to catch me. Thank you, Harry."
"You're welcome," he said finally. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"This is very sweet of you," Cho said happily.
Harry blushed furiously. "Well, er, you would have done the same for me."
"I would have tried at least," Cho said. "Come on," she said as she got out of the hospital bed and picked up her broom. "We need to get to our dormitories. I'll tell you what I remember from the experience along the way."
He held the door open for her and they stepped out into the hall. Holding hands, he walked her to the portrait in front of the Ravenclaw common room. Along the way, Cho said that she had heard voices saying, "Die Cho."
"This is about you?" Harry asked incredulously.
"I think it's
about us," said Cho unsurely. They said goodbye and then Harry finally
left Cho to head back to his dormitory and sleep.
A/N: This scene was added after the story was completed. I realized that I had to include some Quidditch. More importantly, these extra scenes made the plot much stronger and better developed. However, adding this chapter forced me to change the ending somewhat and change chapter 6 into 7, chapter 7 into 8, etc. One of the many advantages of the Harry/Cho pairing at this point is that I could do this Quidditch scene. There's no way I could do it with H/G or something. In chapter 7, we get some clues as to what the evil force is.
Note added 3/31. A few days after
publishing this inserted chapter, I saw Starling's wonderful picture "Seekers"
for the first time. (http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/i/z/izcovich) An
eerie coincidence, huh? If I had seen that picture earlier, I would probably
have been inspired to write this chapter even better! Starling, what have
you done to me? I like Cho way too much now!