Everyone belongs to JK Rowling except for Andromeda, her friends and Edward Elms. If I've left anyone out you'll know.
Harry woke early from a strangely dreamless sleep. It was five o'clock, but he knew without doubt that he wouldn't sleep again, so he got up and dressed. The match didn't kick off until nine, so he went over his Divination homework again. He was alone in the common room and had finally located the right book, so to his delight, it was soon finished. But that meant that he had nothing to do.
He sat in the common room thinking for a while, then wandered aimlessly around it. Until seven, he couldn't go out, and by then he'd be able to go out and get in some Quidditch practise anyway.
Just then, the door to the fifth-year boys' dormitory swung open again and Ron emerged. 'What are you doing up, Harry?' he asked.
'Couldn't sleep,' Harry replied abruptly.
'Quidditch nerves?'
'Yeah,' said Harry, glad of an excuse.
'Yeah right.'
Harry was taken aback. 'What?'
'There's been something bothering you for ages, and it isn't Quidditch. You've been really – distant. What's going on? Is it Cho?'
'No! No, I haven't thought about her for days.'
'Well, what is it then?' Ron was impatient. 'You can tell me, Harry. You don't get up at five in the morning for nothing.'
'Well, you got up too.'
'You woke me up! And you haven't answered the question.'
Harry wished he'd said it was Cho. He didn't quite know what to tell Ron. He couldn't tell him about Andromeda, could he? 'Just the Slytherins. They've been bothering me.'
'More than usual?' Ron sounded sceptical.
Harry remembered something he'd told Andromeda only the other day. Why shouldn't he tell it to Ron? They were best friends, after all. 'When I put on the Sorting Hat, it thought about putting me in Slytherin.'
Ron was silent for a moment. 'But it didn't. That's the important thing.'
'I know. And Dumbledore told me later that it was probably because Voldemort –' Ron winced – 'put some of his powers into me when he tried to kill me. When he killed my parents. But that's not it. Couldn't the Sorting Hat make a mistake? Couldn't there be people that belong in Gryffindor, but aren't? And wouldn't they be really lonely, in Slytherin or something? Everyone would hate them, just because of where they were put. Through no fault of their own. It just isn't fair.'
Ron looked very taken aback. 'I don't know what's going on, Harry. Obviously there's something, but I can't figure it out. I don't know why you can't tell me. I'm your best friend. I'm going back to bed.' And he went back up to the Gryffindor tower, rather more quickly than was necessary.
Harry had a lot more to think about. Could he tell Ron about Andromeda? Would Ron think he was stupid? Why did it matter so much? If Andromeda had been in any other house, it would have so much easier. It was just prejudice, he decided. Bigotry.
Before he knew it, seven o'clock came and went. People were milling around the room, Ron and Hermione talking in hushed whispers and not approaching Harry. Hermione hadn't even said good morning when Angelina Johnson, that year's Quidditch captain, came over to Harry.
'You'd better get a move on,' she hissed. 'Pre-match warm-up starts in ten minutes.'
Harry changed into his Quidditch robes – he wasn't sure why he hadn't put them on in the first place – and rushed down to the hall. Not many people were there yet, so he ate a piece of toast, almost without being aware he was doing it. Then into the grounds, where everyone except the Weasley twins had already assembled.
Angelina, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and their new Keeper, a fourth-year called Edward Elms, were already in the air. The girls were throwing the Quaffle to one another and Edward was trying to keep it from scoring in the hoops. He spotted Harry first. 'Hi, Harry,' he called, waving. Distracted for a moment, he overlooked the impending Quaffle and it sped through a hoop after a powerful shot from Alicia. 'Seen Fred and George?' he enquired, zipping around the posts to catch the red wooden ball.
'Not yet,' replied Harry. 'Maybe they've slept in.'
'Well, we can find out,' Edward said, pointing downwards. Harry looked behind him. Colin Creevey was approaching, his younger brother Dennis in tow. 'Send them to get them, will you?' he asked, diving to save a difficult diagonal shot by Katie.
'Hi, Colin, hi, Dennis' said Harry, glad for once to have a reason to get rid of the Creeveys. 'Would you two go and find Fred and George? They're late, and we need a bit of practise before the match.'
'Sure, Harry,' said Dennis eagerly, and they sped off again. Harry shook his head and, mounting his Firebolt, kicked off to join the others.
People were assembling in the stands already as Harry practised the Wronski Feint. It was a move he was eager to perfect. Dives were his speciality, and if he could pull this one off it would be nothing short of spectacular. He saw Andromeda and her group of older Slytherin girls climbing up the stands, however, and collided awkwardly with the ground.
'OK, Harry?' asked Fred, while George cackled behind him. They had to turn up right now, didn't they, thought Harry furiously.
'I'm fine, thanks,' he answered, brushing off his robes and getting back on the Firebolt. 'Where have you two been?'
'Aha, that would be telling,' George said with an enigmatic smile. Harry decided not to interrogate further – it never worked with Fred and George – and rose rapidly into the air again.
The practice, from then on, went very well. In fact, by the time it finished, Harry wished it could start again, because his usual pre-Quidditch nerves had finally set in. But the match was starting in ten minutes, and the Gryffindor team had to assemble.
'We have a big margin after beating Hufflepuff,' said Angelina, and the whole team beamed at Harry. He had caught the Snitch at exactly the right moment – Gryffindor had been seventy points ahead, a larger than average advantage. 'But wouldn't it be nice to win this too? Of course, what we all want is to beat Slytherin –' smirks from the team – 'but we have to get this over with first. Their Seeker, Chang, is stronger than ever this year, and they beat Slytherin by a fair amount. They're formidable opponents and we have to take them seriously.' Angelina went on to outline the possible tactics they could use, and to tell Harry to try and do as well as he had last match. Then it was time, and they walked out onto the pitch.
Up in the stands, Andromeda was sitting with Helena, Janet, Holly and Rebecca. They, of course, were supporting Ravenclaw – anything but Gryffindor was Slytherin's motto. Andromeda didn't want to make herself conspicuous by cheering for Gryffindor – I never used to care so much, she thought – but on the other hand, she had no ties with Ravenclaw. She would just look neutral, she hoped.
The game kicked off, and after only about ten seconds, Harry Potter was speeding spectacularly towards the ground. Not the Snitch already, surely, thought Andromeda, but at the last second he pulled upwards and Cho Chang, who had been in hot pursuit, sped off at a clumsy angle, narrowly avoiding hitting the ground. It was a feint, Andromeda realised; a distraction.
Harry, meanwhile, was feeling elated. He'd finally pulled off an immaculate Wronski Feint! It couldn't rival Viktor Krum's magnificent efforts yet, of course, but it was a start, and it had worked. Cho rose upwards behind him, at least a ten-second delay holding her back. 'That was great!' she beamed.
'Thanks!' Harry was pleased. It had been a very effective move.
Andromeda was looking intently at the pretty girl next to Harry. They were exchanging words, she was sure, and both were grinning. Come to think of it, she'd seen them together quite often. For some reason she felt disappointed. It hadn't occurred to her that Harry might have a girlfriend. Cho Chang was very small, slight in build and height, with chin-length, shiny black hair. She was Oriental, perhaps Chinese, with wide almond-shaped eyes and creamy skin. Much better-looking than Andromeda.
It was cold on the Quidditch pitch in the midst of the chill November air, even when you were zooming about on a broom. Harry shivered, having had little to do for most of the game so far. There was no sign of the Snitch, and Ravenclaw had scored twice. As he watched, Gryffindor got one back through a particularly smooth move from Angelina. She swooped by the posts, tossing the Quaffle effortlessly through the middle post. The crowd cheered.
Before long Gryffindor were leading. Edward Elms had made several agile saves, and Katie and Alicia had both scored a couple. Even the Bludgers were pretty inactive today, and Fred and George didn't have a lot of work to do.
It was almost an hour later when Harry caught sight of an unmistakable hint of gold. The Snitch! He flew on a narrow angle off to the side and slightly downwards. It wasn't moving. Surely he'd catch it now! Harry was already celebrating when something black and rather large came thundering down towards him. It was a Bludger. He looked up in panic… Fred and George were watching play… he shouted at them and they swept down, but it was very near and he had no defence… he reached down, stretching towards the tiny ball…
Andromeda's hands were over her mouth. That Bludger was much too close to Harry – he was going to be hit! And it looked like he'd seen the Snitch, too. Cho Chang was to his right, not daring to come closer because of the dangerous Bludger. Suddenly Harry curved off to the side and the Bludger hit the ground with a frightening thud. Andromeda gasped, and her friends looked at her curiously. He had caught the Snitch!
Harry couldn't quite see what was going on because the rest of the team had surrounded him in a big hug. He could hear cheering, though. He didn't quite remember actually making contact with the Snitch, just feeling it in his hand and getting out of the Bludger's way. It had had a lot of force behind it, Harry thought, remembering how it had kept going to the ground. But it hadn't hit him, and that was the important thing.
An abrupt ending, I know. Just keep reading. PLEASE…