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?!" Neville screamed
from the stands.
"He's trying to save Cho!" said
Hermione. Her face paled.
"Why is he always doing that?" Neville
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," Neville 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: I had to have a Quidditch scene.
One of the many advantages of the Harry/Cho pairing at this point is that
I could do this Quidditch scene. To see a wonderful picture of my favorite
seekers, look at Starling's wonderful picture "Seekers" at http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/i/z/izcovich)
I hadn't even known about that picture when I wrote this scene. An eerie
coincidence, huh? In Chapter 7, well, there's some romance and some more
clues to the mystery.
