Ariel Star again! I hope you liked Chapter one,
and as always, all of this is owned by the fabulous JK Rowling and not by me.
I'm only a devoted (if not a tiny bit obsessive) fan. Enjoy!
PART 3
Ginny walked nervously next to Hermione, clutching her broom tightly
and wringing it every once in a while as though it were some kind of
extra-large dishtowel. Harry, who was walking on Ginny's left, gave her a quick
reassuring smile. Ginny's worries changed gears at the speed of light – from
worries about Quidditch to worries about Harry. Ever since the group's decision
yesterday to have a friendly game of Quidditch out in the orchard, Ginny had
become a mass of nerves. If she made a fool out of herself out here today,
there was a chance she could ruin any and all chances she had with Harry.
Ginny unconsiously clenched her hands tighter around the smooth wooden
handle of the enchanted kitchen broom and quickened her pace. Harry noticed
this and walked a bit faster, also, shooting Ginny a sympathetic smile.
"Nervous?" he asked her, grinning.
YES, Ginny thought immediately, more than you could know. However,
aloud, she said "Not really," thinking to herself, understatement of the
year…
Harry laughed. "C'mon, Gin, I can see right through you," he teased.
"Your knees are knocking together, your eyes look as big as dinner plates, and
if you hold that broom any tighter – " he glanced down at her iron-tight grip "
– you'll either snap it in half or stop blood flow in your arms."
Ginny fumed. Who was he to point out weaknesses? It wasn't like HE was
such a good Quidditch pla – well, okay, so he was. Good Lord, Ginny
thought, I can't even come up with one little fault. "Okay," she
conceded, "maybe I'm a little nervous. I can still play!" she added testily.
"I didn't say you couldn't," Harry replied, those emerald eyes
laughing down at her, a smile playing around the corners of his lips. He took a
step sideways – he was so close! – and threw an arm around her shoulder. It was
almost as if he were another older brother. Ginny resisted the urge to snuggle
closer to him and kept her eyes ahead.
"As long as you don't fall off, you'll be fine." He winked and ran to
catch up with Ron and Bill.
Ginny was in a state of shock. Since when had Harry gotten
so…so…mischievous? Flirty, even? A sly voice sounded in her ear.
"Got Harry curled around your pinkie finger, I see?" came a purr.
Ginny jumped and gasped. She whirled and saw George standing right behind her,
a satisfied smile on his face.
"George!" Ginny said weakly. "You scared me – and no, I don't have
Harry 'curled around my finger,' as you say."
"Oh, still working on it, are you?" he said with the air of one
commenting on someone's school essay.
"Come off it," Ginny hissed. "Go bother someone else."
"Nah," he said, shrugging, "it's more fun to bother you."
"I'm honored," she said mulishly. "What do you want?"
"Just to give you some advice," he said, becoming serious. "I don't
really know how to say this…"
"Well, just say it and be on your merry way, okay?" Ginny said darkly,
but not as darkly as she could have. She was curious.
I'm TRYING…" George looked exasperated. "Just…don't….Don't let
yourself get hurt, Gin. Okay?"
Ginny was amazed. George? Making a statement without wisecracks? She
was confused.
"I'm not going to do anything stupid, George," she said slowly.
"Thanks for the warning, though…"
"I know you won't," George said quickly. "I just mean…I hope this is
really what you want."
"It is," Ginny said, feeling in her heart that it had to be true.
Didn't it?
"Okay," said George. His eyes were searching hers, trying to see if
she was sincere. Ginny looked away. "Well, if you're sure, then…give it all
you've got." Ginny looked up at him, amazed. "Good luck," he said softly. With
these words, George bent down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then
headed briskly up the field. Ginny, unsure of how to react, reached up and
touched her cheek. She smiled. George wasn't so bad. Her smile grew wider, and
she quickly sprinted up the field to the group.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"All right?" Bill called above the jostling, chattering teenagers. "Is
everybody here…?" He did a quick head count and nodded, "great. Now, this
should be simple enough, considering…teams of 5 – I think one Keeper, Seeker
and Beater, but two Chasers - and captains are Ron and myself. Time to choose
teams – line up!"
Everyone shuffled into a misshapen line and commenced waiting for
their name to be called. Ginny's nerves, which had mysteriously disappeared
since her talk with George, came rushing back with a tidal-wave force. She
started to shake again. She hoped it wasn't too noticeable. Ron and Bill went
to the front, facing them, and Bill generously allowed Ron to have first pick.
Ron immediately chose Harry, which was no surprise, as they were best friends
and (to Ron's advantage, in this case) Harry was a spectacular Quidditch
player. Harry, looking especially elated for some reason, went grinning to
stand by Ron. Ginny said a quick prayer that Ron would pick her and then turned
her attention back to the choosing. Bill, who looked slightly put out, wisely
took Charlie, as he too played Seeker and would pit well against Harry. Ron's
next pick was George, who played Beater. Bill countered by taking Fred, who
grinned at George as he took his place on Bill's right.
Now only four were left – Ginny, Hermione, Lee, and Percy. It seemed
as though Ron and Bill had stacked their teams as much as possible by taking
real Quidditch players first, and were now down to the greenies. Ron looked
back to his team and they held a hurried conference over their next pick. Ginny
crossed her fingers inside her pocket; quite apart from wanting to be on
Harry's team, she didn't want to be last, either. Ron kept glancing at Hermione
and seemed to be about to pick her, but then George suddenly glanced from Ginny
to Harry, said something low in Ron's ear and Ron paused, nodded, and called
out "Ginny, c'mon, get over here."
Ginny, a huge smile on her face, jogged over to Harry, Ron and George,
clutching her broom. She gave an especially grateful smile to George, for she
had a feeling he had had something to do with her being on the team. She looked
at Harry – had he wanted Hermione before her? – but he smiled and said, "Glad
you're with us." Ginny's heart leapt. George gave her a knowing smile and
elbowed her gently.
Bill, across from them, was having a conference with his half-formed
team, also. It was rather obvious that the choice was down between Hermione and
Lee, as all the Weasleys knew that Percy couldn't play Quidditch to save his
life. It seemed that Bill was in favor of taking Hermione, and was whispering
that to his team, but Fred straightened up and looked at George, who looked
back at him, gesturing to Ron. He jerked his head in the direction of Hermione,
and then looked pointedly at Ron again. Fred grinned wickedly (it seemed as
though he had known what George was saying all the time) and said something to
his team, and sure enough, Bill straightened up and called out to Lee. Ginny,
who was utterly in the dark of what had just happened, looked back and forth
between Fred and George, who both wore smug smiles. "What was that all about?"
she whispered to George, glancing at Ron and Hermione.
"Oh," George said, "Fred and I are just playing a bit of the
matchmaker." He smiled evilly.
"Matchmaker?" Ginny said stupidly. "What – you can't mean Ron
and Hermione?"
"Oh yes, that's exactly what I mean," George said quietly. "It's so
obvious that those two are head over heels falling for each other, haven't you
noticed? And Fred and I are just…helping things along, you could say."
"How much are you 'helping?'" Ginny asked shrewdly. She didn't want to
think Fred and George would use magic to get Ron and Hermione together, but,
well…
"Oh, we're not using magic or anything," George assured her. "No, that
would be wrong!" He faked a scandalized look. "I can't believe you think Fred
and I would resort to such horrible rule-breaking! You know we NEVER break
rules!" Ginny smiled, as did George. "No," he said, "all we're doing is getting
them around each other a bit more, you know, to make the gits realize they were
meant for each other."
"They seem to fight all the time," Ginny observed.
"Yeah, well, it's all an act," George said wisely. "They know they
like each other, they just won't fess up. We'll get them." He nodded
satisfactorily. "Course," he added, "if Ron goes and takes Perce now, we'll
have to bash him over the head to make him see sense…a hammer should do the
trick, don't you think?"
But Ron didn't have to worry about seeing a hospital anytime soon, as
least, not because of the Quidditch picks; he immediately chose Hermione
without even consulting his teammates. It was a bit of a giveaway that he
wouldn't take Percy, who ended up being Bill's last pick. Being last seemed to
tick him off, for as he walked over to join Bill you could hear him muttering
"I couldn't be doing work for the office today, could I? Nooo, I have to play Quidditch
with Ron and his stupid friends…what a nightmare…I don't even like
Quidditch, what a stupid game…" Ginny knew this was an out-and-out
lie, as Percy followed Quidditch as avidly as Ron, George, and Fred sometimes.
"Okay," Bill called, "ten minutes for a team conference and then I
guess we'll let the balls loose, shall we?"
The equipment had to be the most hilarious part of their makeshift
Quidditch match. Ginny was downright rolling earlier that morning when Hermione
had arrived and tried to make the balls float, and the Bludgers had to not only
float but try to unseat the players, too. They finally decided to use a
basketball for the Quaffle, two volleyballs for Bludgers, and a golf ball took
on the role of the Golden Snitch. They had really had a time trying to get the
volleyballs in particular to respond to the spells; on one Bludger Hermione had
overdid the Magnet/Hurling Hex and it had proceeded to knock Molly's best vase,
three picture frames, and a large centerpiece off of the coffee table after
nearly taking Hermione's head off. It then zoomed into the kitchen, leaving
numerous broken pots and dishes in its wake. The chaos finally stopped when
Harry managed to dive on top of the thing (thought not before it knocked his
glasses off) and Hermione could stick her wand under Harry's arm, touch the
ball, and reverse the spell. This was a big mistake, as now the ball flew up
under Harry's shirt and refused to come out, cowering as though it were afraid.
"Oh," Hermione said dispiritedly, "since it was a Magnet/Hurling Hex, now that
I've reversed it, the bludger won't move – d'you see, the opposite of hurling."
The ball under Harry's shirt gave him the appearance of a pregnant person, a
pregnant MAN, no less, which had Fred and George laughing so hard that tears came
rolling down their face. Well, pretty soon, everybody was laughing – Hermione
had such a bad giggle fit, sitting there staring at the pregnant Harry, that it
was over 30 minutes before she could dis-spell the ball completely. Harry
pulled it out, howling with laughter, as Lee took it lovingly into his arms and
proclaimed: "The little dear! Rather chubby, isn't it? Oh well, I still love it
to pieces!" Fred had christened the thing "Porky," and they had passed it
around the circle, praising its good looks. Finally, Hermione had gotten the
spells right, and they had been able to head out to the field.
Ginny shook her head and blinked, turning her attention back to Ron,
who was speaking in hurried whispers to the team.
"Okay, we've got a good team, here, I think – made better by the
simple fact that Percy's not on it." He grinned and glanced over at Bill's team
conferring. "So…Harry's Seeker, obviously, and George is Beater…Hermione and
Ginny, you can be Chasers, and I'll play Keeper. Any problems?" He looked around
expectantly. When no one spoke, he clapped his hands and continued. "Good.
Now…we don't really have time to discuss tactics or plays, so just do your
best, avoid Bludgers, and pray that Harry catches the Snitch soon. Ready?"
Everyone nodded. "Good. Let's go!" They turned out of their circle and faced
Bill's team. Bill continued talking for a good many minutes, it took Ron
clearing his throat loudly twice and George letting out a fake sneeze to get
him to straighten up and bring his team over.
"We don't have a commentator, so everybody just stay alert, okay?"
Bill asked them. "We're ready to start! Mount your brooms!"
Ginny, along with everyone else, clambered onto her enchanted kitchen
broom. She glanced around at the various flying aids – Harry, Fred, George,
Ron, and Charlie all had real brooms, but the rest had to make do with whatever
they could find in Molly's pantry – Lee was riding a mop with some of the tail
strings pulled out, as it was too bottom heavy to fly with all of the thick
yarn still in. Ginny didn't want to think about what Mum would do when she
found out they had mutilated her mop. Fred and George had been a bit
embarrassed, having to give Lee a mop to ride, but the reaction from Lee hadn't
been at all what they had expected; Lee had been delighted with the mop and was
thrilled that he had the 'privilege' of riding it. Ginny smiled – she had a
suspicion that Lee didn't want to make Fred and George feel bad, and had only
pretended to be glad about the mop – but you really never knew with him. He
might've really been thrilled.
Bill, hovering about a foot off the ground on his broom, shouted the
he was going to swoop by the box, kick it over, and release the equipment. The
players were poised, ready to take off at any sign of movement from the box.
Bill dived. The box seemed to explode, and all of the balls came tumbling out.
Ginny held her breath – it didn't seem that they were going to fly! – but
suddenly the basketball rose into the air and was caught by Lee, who zoomed off
toward the makeshift goalposts. The teams let out a cheer – the Quidditch game
was on!
Part 4
"Gin – catch!"
Hermione's yell echoed across the orchard. Ginny looked above her head
and saw Hermione holding the Quaffle, her arms outstretched and poised to drop
the ball right onto Ginny's head. Ginny instinctively held her arms up and felt
the Quaffle's heavy weight drop into them. She brought the Quaffle down,
staring at it – this was the first time she'd even gotten the Quaffle all game
– when Harry's yell brought her back to her senses…
"Ginny! There's a bludger – go – MOVE!"
Ginny looked to her side and got a glimpse of a volleyball pelting
towards her face. She tore off down the field, the Quaffle still clamped
tightly under her arm, and stopped, hovering, a few feet in front of the
goalposts that Percy was supposed to be guarding. Percy was, in fact, having
somewhat of a shouting match with Fred over him not being there to stop a
bludger from nearly knocking his head off two minutes earlier. Fred was grinning
and hanging in midair with a totally casual appearance, enjoying making Percy
quite close to pulling all of his hair out in frustration. Ginny paused,
uncertain of whether to just toss the Quaffle through the completely unguarded
goalposts – she felt it might be a bit unsporting to do so when they had such a
horrible defense set up – but she heard George screaming.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! SOMETIME THIS MILLENUIM, GINNY DARLING!
I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU SCORE BEFORE I DIE!"
Ginny stuck her tongue out at George and lobbed the Quaffle through
the goalposts. It soared right through and her team let out a mad cheer.
"That puts us, what – 60 points up?" asked George, counting on his
fingers as he flew by Ginny.
"I think 70," called Hermione as she ducked under a bludger, staring
around for the Quaffle. "Though if Percy wasn't such a horrible Keeper we'd
probably just barely be winning."
"Hey, I think we could beat them even with a good Keeper!" Harry
cried, circling above Hermione like an oversized eagle. "You know, too, part of
the reason our lead's so big is because Ron's been stopping everything they
throw at him. And Bill's been throwing HARD," he added pointedly.
"I must say he's doing better than I expected," Hermione admitted.
Just then, they were distracted in the form of a bludger being knocked from
somewhere on their left by George right at Lee Jordan, who was racing up the
field in the opposite direction. Lee, startled, dropped the Quaffle and Ginny
soared under him to catch it expertly with one hand. George whistled loudly,
and Harry, eyes wide, said, "That was a great catch!" Ginny grinned and tossed
the ball to Hermione, who pelted up the field to hurl the Quaffle past Percy,
who was desperately trying to ward off both Bludgers and guard the posts at the
same time. Fred, clutching his broom to keep from falling off in laughter, was
making absolutely no attempt to knock Bludgers away from Percy.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Two and a half hours later, Ginny was getting tired. She'd been hit
twice with a bludger – both times it was Porky – and had already scored an
amazing 9 goals. Light was dimming, and Ginny was sure she wasn't the only one
dreaming of sheperd's pie and mashed potatoes and countless other foods sitting
out on Molly's kitchen table…
"Oh, come on," Hermione moaned, "how much longer can this last? My
knee joints are seizing up…" She kicked her legs out vigorously.
"Be a sport, Hermi," George called over his shoulder. "We've only been
out here for three hours!"
"Three hours, my butt," Hermione muttered to Ginny. "It's been 7 at
least." Louder, she added, "And don't call me HERMI!"
"All right, all right, don't bust a blood vessel," George yelled. He
paused, then said even louder, "Hermi."
"GEORGE!" Hermione shrieked. "Oooh, that brother of yours," she said
to Ginny, seething. "I could….you know what? I will." And, to Ginny's utter
amazement, she tore off after George, yelling "You don't know what you're in
for, boy!" George, looking back over his shoulder, grinned evilly, but didn't
look in the least perturbed. He took off, calling "Hermi! Hermi!" back at her.
Hermione sped up.
Ginny laughed, then turned her attention back to the match she was
supposed to be in. She hung in midair, witnessing one goal be blocked by Ron.
She was a bit startled by the intense look on Ron's face – he was really
serious about this. She hung in midair long enough to see Lee cursing in
frustration at his missed chance, when suddenly she felt a soft *swoosh,
swoosh* next to her ear. Ginny reached up to swat the dragonfly or whatever it
was away, when she saw a shimmer of soft white out of the corner of her eye.
She froze.
Lowering her slighty trembling hand, she turned her head slowly and
carefully to see their makeshift snitch floating calmly by her left ear. Ginny
sucked in her breath and stared around wildly for Harry. Half-formed thoughts
were jumbled together in her mind. Can I catch it? Is that legal? Will we
win, or will we lose because I'm not allowed? She decided to keep one eye
on the Snitch and look for Harry with the other. She soon spotted him, above
Percy's goalposts, chatting with his eyes still on the air – he was obviously
scanning for the Snitch. Ginny flew a few feet over, and tried to motion to
Harry without Charlie noticing. "Pssst – Harry!" she whispered loudly before
realizing that Harry couldn't hear a whisper from the other end of the field.
She lifted one arm off her broom and waved frantically. George saw her and
zoomed over.
"You okay, Gin?" he asked.
"Get Harry," Ginny said through gritted teeth.
"Why?" George asked, puzzled.
Just then, the worst possible thing happened. Ginny had kept her arm
waving, trying to attract Harry's attention – and she had gotten Charlie's
instead. It didn't take Charlie long to see the tiny Snitch floating next to
Ginny's head – the white mark stood out starkly from the vivid red. He
immediately dove down at her. Abandoning all pretense, Ginny screamed out into
the night,
"HARRY!"
Harry started. He swung around, saw Ginny waving like mad, and
simultaneously saw Charlie diving right for a tiny, sparkling white
sphere…Harry took off, eyes straining to keep the Snitch in sight –Charlie was
miles ahead. It was no use. Charlie pulled sharply up out of his dive, his hand
clutched into a tight fist and a wide smile on his face. Ginny had her own face
in her hands.
Harry pulled up and sank to the ground, along with the rest of the
team. He hadn't caught the Snitch…Charlie had gotten there first. Of course, he
wasn't completely taken off guard or anything…Charlie was undoubtably a
remarkable Quidditch player, a real find. But still…he had rather wanted to win
for his team…for Ron, who had worked so hard as Keeper…for Ginny…
For the team.
The rest of the kids were huddled into a conference. Harry walked over
and was surprised to see Charlie's face contorting into a disappointed,
disgusted look.
"You mean after all that…we still lost?" he was saying incredulously.
"'Fraid so," Hermione said a bit too cheerfully. "Final score was
210-190…Ron's team wins."
"But…we caught the Snitch!" Lee cried, outraged.
"Yeah, but you only scored four goals. We scored 21…nine by me, eight
by Hermione, and two each by George and Harry. How they ever even got the
Quaffle is a mystery to me…but we still came out on top." Ginny was smiling,
relieved. "And you thought mental math wasn't my thing…bullocks to you, Freddy
boy. Losers wash the dishes." Laughing heartily, Ron's team made their way back
to the kitchen.
