A/N: It's been forever and ever, but here you are and thank you to all those who reviewed.
***
Chapter 11
First match of the year was Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. Harry didn't like what he saw. Well, he did like part of what he saw. Cho was there as the Ravenclaw seeker, looking just as pretty as ever. Malfoy was also there. Much to Harry's dismay, he was good. Apparently he had been practicing over the summer. Harry watched from the stands as Malfoy went into a perfectly controlled dive. Cassandra gasped and squeezed Harry's arm absently. Malfoy pulled out of the dive and Cassandra gave a sigh of relief.
"Wow! That was almost as good as one of your dives," she said grinning. Harry smiled, noting her use of the word almost.
The Madame Hooch blew the whistle. "What? Draco Malfoy caught the Snitch! Slytherin wins!" Lee Jordan cried, disbelief stamped plainly on his face. Harry could hardly believe it either. As far as he knew, Malfoy had never caught the Snitch. "Oh that's wonderful!" Cassandra cried.
"Do you have any idea what you're saying?" asked Dean.
"Look, darlin'. Let me explain how things work around here. Slytherins hate all Gryffindors. No exceptions. We hate all Slytherins right back, especially Draco Malfoy," Seamus said.
"But why?"
"It's just the way things are," Dean said.
"But that's so incredibly stupid it's not even funny!" she protested.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"You're hating someone just because they sleep in a different section of the castle! That's ludicrous!" she exclaimed.
"We don't hate them because they sleep in a different part of the castle. We hate them because they're a bunch of sneaky, underhanded gits," Ron said.
"Scummy lot, they are," Seamus added.
"Even You-Know-Who was a Slytherin. All dark wizards come from Slytherin," stated Dean. Everyone else nodded. It was a well-established fact.
"Not all," she whispered.
"What do you mean not all?" Seamus asked.
"There was- is one from Gryffindor," she explained. Harry froze. She was talking about Wormtail, but how did she know about that?
"Black? He's a loony," Dean said.
"Not Black. Someone else. You mean you don't know?"
"Know what?" asked Neville.
"Never mind," she replied shaking her head. She looked so lost.
"That's not the point. The point was that Slytherins are no good. They hate us. We hate them. End of story," Seamus explained. Cassandra shook her head again.
"That's not the end of the story. You can't just categorize people like that. You don't even know half of them," she said.
"I don't want to know half of them. Is something wrong with you?" Seamus asked, beginning to lose patience with her. Why was she refusing to understand something that was so completely obvious?
"I guess so," she said, running down to the field.
"Some co.-captain you got there, Harry. Sure you can trust her?" Ron asked.
"Positive," Harry replied, much to Hermione's disappointment.
The Gryffindors watched as she walked up to Malfoy on the field. "What is she doing?" somebody asked. Dean looked through his binoculars.
"She's talking to him!" he said.
"Talking to Malfoy! Eww!" said Lavender.
"I couldn't agree more," said Ron.
"What's she saying?" asked Harry.
"It looks like she's saying congratulations- blah, blah, blah- something about Quidditch practice tonight- some more stuff I don't understand- midnight," Dean said.
"Midnight?" echoed Seamus. "What reason could they possibly have to mention midnight?"
"Maybe she's meeting him at midnight," Parvati said.
"What can they do at midnight that they can't do at some reasonable hour?" Neville asked. That's what Harry wanted to know.
At midnight, Harry took out the Marauders Map. He looked for the dot labeled Cassandra Figg. She wasn't anywhere in Gryffindor Tower. He had a feeling she wouldn't be. She wasn't near Mrs. Figg's office, or Dumbledore's. Harry found her at last. She was in the Slytherin common room with Malfoy. Not only was she with him, but there was virtually no space between the two dots. What was she- Harry stopped himself. He didn't want to know what they were doing. He'd kill him anyway.
Harry didn't get much sleep that night. At five in the morning he went down to the common room. Cassandra was there already, humming softly to herself. "Morning, Harry. Sleep well?"
"No," he grumbled.
"Oh, poor dear. Why not?"
"You and Malfoy kept me up." Cassandra looked puzzled.
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Malfoy together."
"But, Harry, you see us together everyday."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then what do you mean? Is this part of being a wizard- speaking in riddles so that no one has the slightest idea what you're talking about?"
"I know you and Malfoy were together last night."
"Wha-"
"I saw you."
"Saw us doing what?"
"Well, I didn't see you personally. I saw you on this," he replied, unfolding the Marauder's Map. Cassandra looked at it in mute fascination.
"What are you so upset about?"
"When I looked at this map, I saw two dots, one was you, the other was Malfoy."
"And?"
"And the two dots were practically on top of each other!"
"Harry, what do you think we were doing in the common room?"
"I spent all night trying not to think about it."
"I see. Would you like me to tell you exactly what happened?" she asked.
"Go ahead."
"Fine. I walked into the Slytherin common room to meet Draco. I waited a moment. He came down the stairs. I hugged him and congratulated him on his win that afternoon. Then we talked. Nothing else happened,"
"Alright."
"Harry, were you jealous?"
"Jealous? Of Malfoy? Please!"
"You were!" she exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "Aw. That's so cute!"
"I was not-" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"You have no reason to be jealous of Draco," she assured him, turning to go out.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm meeting Neville in the library."
"Again?"
"I'm completely lost in Herbology and Neville needs help in Divination. I 'll see you later."
"Bye."
The first game the Gryffindors played was against Hufflepuff. They had a new seeker this year and a new captain. Cedric Diggory had held the positions last year. The game started off well enough. Gryffindor scored first. This was followed up by a goal from Hufflepuff Chaser Ernie Macmillan. Seamus, who had agreed to be keeper for the Hufflepuff game so that Ron could be keeper against Slytherin, merely shrugged. The game wore on. Harry hovered above the game looking for the Snitch. So far he hadn't seen it. A flash of gold caught his eye. There it was! He saw it hovering near the ground, directly below him. Harry dived sharply. He heard gasps of admiration as he plummeted toward the ground. He reached- GOT IT! Harry turned around just in time to see the Bludger hit Seamus and hear the sickening crack it made as it crashed into his ribcage. He watched in horror as Seamus plunged to the ground fifty feet below- and was caught neatly by little Zoë Magi, the reserve Seeker.
There was a momentous sigh as the entire crowd let out the breaths they had been holding in unison. Instantly everyone was on the field. Professor McGonagall conjured a stretcher for Seamus. "Would you like to come to the infirmary with him, Miss Magi? You probably saved his life." Zoë nodded and left the rest of the team to celebrate their win. "Poor Seamus," Cassandra sighed.
"Poor Seamus! Why didn't you do something?" asked Ron.
"What could I have done?"
"You could've caught him yourself."
"Are you crazy? I can't fly. I'd probably end up impaling him with my broom. Besides, I didn't see you doing anything."
"Neither one of you could've done anything. All that could be done has been done. Stop fighting," Hermione said. Ron glared at Cassandra, hate crackling between the two of them like electricity.
"Slytherin lover!" he shouted. Everyone gasped. Cassandra couldn't say anything. She did what she always did when she was upset- she left.
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said that one," Ron admitted.
"Yeah, maybe," Harry said.
"Well, did we win or did we win?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, why are we standing around here? Let's celebrate!" said George.
Harry couldn't sleep that night. The Gryffindors had celebrated their win far into the night and Cassandra was nowhere to be found. Where could she be? Where would Cassandra run when she was hurt? There was Dumbledore and Mrs. Figg of course and- Malfoy. Cassandra couldn't be stupid enough to run crying to Malfoy because Ron had called her a Slytherin lover would she? In Harry's opinion, running to Malfoy crying about anything was stupid, because Malfoy wasn't capable of pity or understanding. Unable to stand the combined weight of his thoughts and the silence resounding through the dorm, Harry decided to go for a walk.
He was wandering around the second floor when he heard giggles from around the corner. "Oh you didn't!" said a voice Harry recognized as Cassandra's.
"I did! You should've seen it!" said a voice he couldn't identify.
'Myrtle, I'd have died!" Cassandra laughed. Harry froze. Myrtle? Moaning Myrtle? Gloomy Moaning Myrtle? Laughing like a normal girl? Couldn't be.
"It's not worth all that. Believe me, I know," Myrtle giggled. Cassandra giggled too. They came around the corner. It was Moaning Myrtle! Harry had never seen her so happy, not even when she caught him naked in the prefects' bathroom. Cassandra stopped.
"Oh, hello, Harry," she said.
"Hello. What are you two giggling about?"
"What you look like naked," Cassandra replied. Harry blushed beet-red as Cassandra and Myrtle broke into fresh laughs and hurried past him. It took him it took him a few minutes to realize that Cassandra might have been lying.
Finally, it came. Gryffindor would play Slytherin that afternoon. At breakfast the entire school was chattering excitedly. Cassandra looked nervous. "What's the matter?" Ron asked. "Don't know who to root for?"
"Ron, I know it's hard, but could you, just this once at least try not to be an ass?" she retorted.
"I'll try when you stop being such a complete b-"
"Gryffindors are known for their chivalry. Are you sure the sorting hat didn't make some kind of mistake?"
"Yes it did. You quite obviously should be in Slytherin, since you mix so well with them!"
"Better to be a 'sneaky underhanded git' as you call them, then a completely rude smart ass like yourself. At least Slytherins treat their fellow Slytherins with a bare minimum of courtesy!"
"Courtesy? Hah! Slytherins wouldn't knew courtesy if it bit them!"
"Neither would you," she replied.
"Oh my God! Someone said something you don't like and you didn't go running to Malfoy! Somebody pinch me."
"I could punch you, if you like," volunteered Neville.
"What?"
"The poor girl is distressed. She doesn't need you to make things worse. Now please, save you energy for the game and shut up," Neville said. Harry was astounded. That was the second time in a few weeks that Neville had taken a stand against something. What was up with him? Cassandra smiled at him.
"Thank you, Neville," she said, sounding truly grateful. Neville blushed and looked down at his plate.
Harry felt excitement coursing through his veins as he stood on the Quidditch field. He had two aims for this game: catch the Snitch and make Malfoy look bad doing it. Madame Hooch blew her whistle. Instantly 16 people kicked off the ground and rose into the air, 7 from each team, Madame Hooch, and Cassandra.
Almost immediately Angelina scored for Gryffindor. Harry circled around looking for the Snitch. Slytherin scored a goal. That was their only goal the entire game. Ron was like a wall on his new broomstick- a Firebolt, courtesy of Fred and George. Harry had to admit he was good. Lee continued his slightly biased commentary. "Troy has the Quaffle for Slytherin. He takes a shot. Blocked by incredible Keeper Ron Weasley. Gryffindor's chances for the Quidditch Cup are looking really good this year. Another goal blocked by Ron Weasley. Weasley passes to Alicia Spinnet. Watch out for that Bludger! Ooh! Nice save. Fred or George (can't tell from here) sends the Bludger toward Malfoy, Slytherin Seeker. Malfoy barely dodges. Alicia scores!" Harry saw the Snitch. He went into a dive.
"Harry dives. He's going after the Snitch! Foul!" Lee cried as a Slytherin Chaser ran into Harry, nearly knocking him off his broom. "Katie Bell takes the penalty shot. It's good!"
Harry concentrated on looking for the Snitch, ignoring the unpleasant feeling that Malfoy was following him. He thought of the Wronski Feint. It was a risky move, but he had done it the other day and Malfoy was really starting to bother him. He made up his mind. He went into a sharp dive, gaining speed as he neared the ground. Malfoy followed. Three feet from the ground, Harry spiraled upwards. Malfoy barely avoided having his face forcefully introduced to the ground. "Pity, too," Harry thought.
Harry went back to circling the field. He blinked twice. The Snitch was right in front of him! With lightening reflexes, he reached out and caught it. He raised his hand in the air. Madame Hooch blew the whistle. "Game over! Gryffindor wins 250 to 10. Hah! Take that Slytherin! Sneaky, cheating, no good-"
"Lee!" Professor McGonagall warned.
"Sorry, Professor."
Harry was immediately surround by cheering teammates and classmates. "Harry, Ron, that game was fantastic!" Hermione cried hugging them both.
"You really think so?" asked Ron, thankful that the blush creeping over his cheeks could be accredited to his exertions as keeper.
"Oh, yeah," Seamus said, "absolutely fabulous." Ron grinned.
"How are you feeling?" Harry asked Seamus.
"I've been better, but wow! It was almost worth getting hit if we beat Slytherin that badly," Seamus replied. Dean shook his head. Harry laughed.
He tore himself away from the crowd of jubilant Gryffindors to look for Cassandra. Oh, look, there she was talking to- Malfoy. Harry frowned. She patted Malfoy on the shoulder before running over to Harry.
"Harry, that was incredible!" she cried, hugging him. He hugged her back.
"Weren't we awesome?"
"Unbelievable! And that dive! You nearly scared me to death thinking you were going to crash!"
"It takes nothing short of a crowd of dementors to knock Harry out of the game!" Fred said.
"He caught the Snitch with a broken arm once," said somebody.
"Then Lockhart did him one better and removed all his bones for him!" Ron said.
"Not all of them!" Hermione protested.
"Do you remember the time he nearly swallowed it?" Neville asked.
"Marcus Flint had a fit!" George laughed. Harry grinned sheepishly.
"Is that true?" Cassandra asked.
"Yeah," Harry said almost unwillingly. Cassandra laughed.
"You are something else! Did you know that?"
"Of course he is! Don't you know the story of Harry Potter?" someone asked. Cassandra looked at the blush rising in Harry's cheeks.
"No," she said with an evil grin. "Tell me all about it."
***
What did you think? More when I think of it! Please review.
Luv ya!
J. Silver
***
Chapter 11
First match of the year was Ravenclaw versus Slytherin. Harry didn't like what he saw. Well, he did like part of what he saw. Cho was there as the Ravenclaw seeker, looking just as pretty as ever. Malfoy was also there. Much to Harry's dismay, he was good. Apparently he had been practicing over the summer. Harry watched from the stands as Malfoy went into a perfectly controlled dive. Cassandra gasped and squeezed Harry's arm absently. Malfoy pulled out of the dive and Cassandra gave a sigh of relief.
"Wow! That was almost as good as one of your dives," she said grinning. Harry smiled, noting her use of the word almost.
The Madame Hooch blew the whistle. "What? Draco Malfoy caught the Snitch! Slytherin wins!" Lee Jordan cried, disbelief stamped plainly on his face. Harry could hardly believe it either. As far as he knew, Malfoy had never caught the Snitch. "Oh that's wonderful!" Cassandra cried.
"Do you have any idea what you're saying?" asked Dean.
"Look, darlin'. Let me explain how things work around here. Slytherins hate all Gryffindors. No exceptions. We hate all Slytherins right back, especially Draco Malfoy," Seamus said.
"But why?"
"It's just the way things are," Dean said.
"But that's so incredibly stupid it's not even funny!" she protested.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"You're hating someone just because they sleep in a different section of the castle! That's ludicrous!" she exclaimed.
"We don't hate them because they sleep in a different part of the castle. We hate them because they're a bunch of sneaky, underhanded gits," Ron said.
"Scummy lot, they are," Seamus added.
"Even You-Know-Who was a Slytherin. All dark wizards come from Slytherin," stated Dean. Everyone else nodded. It was a well-established fact.
"Not all," she whispered.
"What do you mean not all?" Seamus asked.
"There was- is one from Gryffindor," she explained. Harry froze. She was talking about Wormtail, but how did she know about that?
"Black? He's a loony," Dean said.
"Not Black. Someone else. You mean you don't know?"
"Know what?" asked Neville.
"Never mind," she replied shaking her head. She looked so lost.
"That's not the point. The point was that Slytherins are no good. They hate us. We hate them. End of story," Seamus explained. Cassandra shook her head again.
"That's not the end of the story. You can't just categorize people like that. You don't even know half of them," she said.
"I don't want to know half of them. Is something wrong with you?" Seamus asked, beginning to lose patience with her. Why was she refusing to understand something that was so completely obvious?
"I guess so," she said, running down to the field.
"Some co.-captain you got there, Harry. Sure you can trust her?" Ron asked.
"Positive," Harry replied, much to Hermione's disappointment.
The Gryffindors watched as she walked up to Malfoy on the field. "What is she doing?" somebody asked. Dean looked through his binoculars.
"She's talking to him!" he said.
"Talking to Malfoy! Eww!" said Lavender.
"I couldn't agree more," said Ron.
"What's she saying?" asked Harry.
"It looks like she's saying congratulations- blah, blah, blah- something about Quidditch practice tonight- some more stuff I don't understand- midnight," Dean said.
"Midnight?" echoed Seamus. "What reason could they possibly have to mention midnight?"
"Maybe she's meeting him at midnight," Parvati said.
"What can they do at midnight that they can't do at some reasonable hour?" Neville asked. That's what Harry wanted to know.
At midnight, Harry took out the Marauders Map. He looked for the dot labeled Cassandra Figg. She wasn't anywhere in Gryffindor Tower. He had a feeling she wouldn't be. She wasn't near Mrs. Figg's office, or Dumbledore's. Harry found her at last. She was in the Slytherin common room with Malfoy. Not only was she with him, but there was virtually no space between the two dots. What was she- Harry stopped himself. He didn't want to know what they were doing. He'd kill him anyway.
Harry didn't get much sleep that night. At five in the morning he went down to the common room. Cassandra was there already, humming softly to herself. "Morning, Harry. Sleep well?"
"No," he grumbled.
"Oh, poor dear. Why not?"
"You and Malfoy kept me up." Cassandra looked puzzled.
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Malfoy together."
"But, Harry, you see us together everyday."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then what do you mean? Is this part of being a wizard- speaking in riddles so that no one has the slightest idea what you're talking about?"
"I know you and Malfoy were together last night."
"Wha-"
"I saw you."
"Saw us doing what?"
"Well, I didn't see you personally. I saw you on this," he replied, unfolding the Marauder's Map. Cassandra looked at it in mute fascination.
"What are you so upset about?"
"When I looked at this map, I saw two dots, one was you, the other was Malfoy."
"And?"
"And the two dots were practically on top of each other!"
"Harry, what do you think we were doing in the common room?"
"I spent all night trying not to think about it."
"I see. Would you like me to tell you exactly what happened?" she asked.
"Go ahead."
"Fine. I walked into the Slytherin common room to meet Draco. I waited a moment. He came down the stairs. I hugged him and congratulated him on his win that afternoon. Then we talked. Nothing else happened,"
"Alright."
"Harry, were you jealous?"
"Jealous? Of Malfoy? Please!"
"You were!" she exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "Aw. That's so cute!"
"I was not-" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"You have no reason to be jealous of Draco," she assured him, turning to go out.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm meeting Neville in the library."
"Again?"
"I'm completely lost in Herbology and Neville needs help in Divination. I 'll see you later."
"Bye."
The first game the Gryffindors played was against Hufflepuff. They had a new seeker this year and a new captain. Cedric Diggory had held the positions last year. The game started off well enough. Gryffindor scored first. This was followed up by a goal from Hufflepuff Chaser Ernie Macmillan. Seamus, who had agreed to be keeper for the Hufflepuff game so that Ron could be keeper against Slytherin, merely shrugged. The game wore on. Harry hovered above the game looking for the Snitch. So far he hadn't seen it. A flash of gold caught his eye. There it was! He saw it hovering near the ground, directly below him. Harry dived sharply. He heard gasps of admiration as he plummeted toward the ground. He reached- GOT IT! Harry turned around just in time to see the Bludger hit Seamus and hear the sickening crack it made as it crashed into his ribcage. He watched in horror as Seamus plunged to the ground fifty feet below- and was caught neatly by little Zoë Magi, the reserve Seeker.
There was a momentous sigh as the entire crowd let out the breaths they had been holding in unison. Instantly everyone was on the field. Professor McGonagall conjured a stretcher for Seamus. "Would you like to come to the infirmary with him, Miss Magi? You probably saved his life." Zoë nodded and left the rest of the team to celebrate their win. "Poor Seamus," Cassandra sighed.
"Poor Seamus! Why didn't you do something?" asked Ron.
"What could I have done?"
"You could've caught him yourself."
"Are you crazy? I can't fly. I'd probably end up impaling him with my broom. Besides, I didn't see you doing anything."
"Neither one of you could've done anything. All that could be done has been done. Stop fighting," Hermione said. Ron glared at Cassandra, hate crackling between the two of them like electricity.
"Slytherin lover!" he shouted. Everyone gasped. Cassandra couldn't say anything. She did what she always did when she was upset- she left.
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said that one," Ron admitted.
"Yeah, maybe," Harry said.
"Well, did we win or did we win?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, why are we standing around here? Let's celebrate!" said George.
Harry couldn't sleep that night. The Gryffindors had celebrated their win far into the night and Cassandra was nowhere to be found. Where could she be? Where would Cassandra run when she was hurt? There was Dumbledore and Mrs. Figg of course and- Malfoy. Cassandra couldn't be stupid enough to run crying to Malfoy because Ron had called her a Slytherin lover would she? In Harry's opinion, running to Malfoy crying about anything was stupid, because Malfoy wasn't capable of pity or understanding. Unable to stand the combined weight of his thoughts and the silence resounding through the dorm, Harry decided to go for a walk.
He was wandering around the second floor when he heard giggles from around the corner. "Oh you didn't!" said a voice Harry recognized as Cassandra's.
"I did! You should've seen it!" said a voice he couldn't identify.
'Myrtle, I'd have died!" Cassandra laughed. Harry froze. Myrtle? Moaning Myrtle? Gloomy Moaning Myrtle? Laughing like a normal girl? Couldn't be.
"It's not worth all that. Believe me, I know," Myrtle giggled. Cassandra giggled too. They came around the corner. It was Moaning Myrtle! Harry had never seen her so happy, not even when she caught him naked in the prefects' bathroom. Cassandra stopped.
"Oh, hello, Harry," she said.
"Hello. What are you two giggling about?"
"What you look like naked," Cassandra replied. Harry blushed beet-red as Cassandra and Myrtle broke into fresh laughs and hurried past him. It took him it took him a few minutes to realize that Cassandra might have been lying.
Finally, it came. Gryffindor would play Slytherin that afternoon. At breakfast the entire school was chattering excitedly. Cassandra looked nervous. "What's the matter?" Ron asked. "Don't know who to root for?"
"Ron, I know it's hard, but could you, just this once at least try not to be an ass?" she retorted.
"I'll try when you stop being such a complete b-"
"Gryffindors are known for their chivalry. Are you sure the sorting hat didn't make some kind of mistake?"
"Yes it did. You quite obviously should be in Slytherin, since you mix so well with them!"
"Better to be a 'sneaky underhanded git' as you call them, then a completely rude smart ass like yourself. At least Slytherins treat their fellow Slytherins with a bare minimum of courtesy!"
"Courtesy? Hah! Slytherins wouldn't knew courtesy if it bit them!"
"Neither would you," she replied.
"Oh my God! Someone said something you don't like and you didn't go running to Malfoy! Somebody pinch me."
"I could punch you, if you like," volunteered Neville.
"What?"
"The poor girl is distressed. She doesn't need you to make things worse. Now please, save you energy for the game and shut up," Neville said. Harry was astounded. That was the second time in a few weeks that Neville had taken a stand against something. What was up with him? Cassandra smiled at him.
"Thank you, Neville," she said, sounding truly grateful. Neville blushed and looked down at his plate.
Harry felt excitement coursing through his veins as he stood on the Quidditch field. He had two aims for this game: catch the Snitch and make Malfoy look bad doing it. Madame Hooch blew her whistle. Instantly 16 people kicked off the ground and rose into the air, 7 from each team, Madame Hooch, and Cassandra.
Almost immediately Angelina scored for Gryffindor. Harry circled around looking for the Snitch. Slytherin scored a goal. That was their only goal the entire game. Ron was like a wall on his new broomstick- a Firebolt, courtesy of Fred and George. Harry had to admit he was good. Lee continued his slightly biased commentary. "Troy has the Quaffle for Slytherin. He takes a shot. Blocked by incredible Keeper Ron Weasley. Gryffindor's chances for the Quidditch Cup are looking really good this year. Another goal blocked by Ron Weasley. Weasley passes to Alicia Spinnet. Watch out for that Bludger! Ooh! Nice save. Fred or George (can't tell from here) sends the Bludger toward Malfoy, Slytherin Seeker. Malfoy barely dodges. Alicia scores!" Harry saw the Snitch. He went into a dive.
"Harry dives. He's going after the Snitch! Foul!" Lee cried as a Slytherin Chaser ran into Harry, nearly knocking him off his broom. "Katie Bell takes the penalty shot. It's good!"
Harry concentrated on looking for the Snitch, ignoring the unpleasant feeling that Malfoy was following him. He thought of the Wronski Feint. It was a risky move, but he had done it the other day and Malfoy was really starting to bother him. He made up his mind. He went into a sharp dive, gaining speed as he neared the ground. Malfoy followed. Three feet from the ground, Harry spiraled upwards. Malfoy barely avoided having his face forcefully introduced to the ground. "Pity, too," Harry thought.
Harry went back to circling the field. He blinked twice. The Snitch was right in front of him! With lightening reflexes, he reached out and caught it. He raised his hand in the air. Madame Hooch blew the whistle. "Game over! Gryffindor wins 250 to 10. Hah! Take that Slytherin! Sneaky, cheating, no good-"
"Lee!" Professor McGonagall warned.
"Sorry, Professor."
Harry was immediately surround by cheering teammates and classmates. "Harry, Ron, that game was fantastic!" Hermione cried hugging them both.
"You really think so?" asked Ron, thankful that the blush creeping over his cheeks could be accredited to his exertions as keeper.
"Oh, yeah," Seamus said, "absolutely fabulous." Ron grinned.
"How are you feeling?" Harry asked Seamus.
"I've been better, but wow! It was almost worth getting hit if we beat Slytherin that badly," Seamus replied. Dean shook his head. Harry laughed.
He tore himself away from the crowd of jubilant Gryffindors to look for Cassandra. Oh, look, there she was talking to- Malfoy. Harry frowned. She patted Malfoy on the shoulder before running over to Harry.
"Harry, that was incredible!" she cried, hugging him. He hugged her back.
"Weren't we awesome?"
"Unbelievable! And that dive! You nearly scared me to death thinking you were going to crash!"
"It takes nothing short of a crowd of dementors to knock Harry out of the game!" Fred said.
"He caught the Snitch with a broken arm once," said somebody.
"Then Lockhart did him one better and removed all his bones for him!" Ron said.
"Not all of them!" Hermione protested.
"Do you remember the time he nearly swallowed it?" Neville asked.
"Marcus Flint had a fit!" George laughed. Harry grinned sheepishly.
"Is that true?" Cassandra asked.
"Yeah," Harry said almost unwillingly. Cassandra laughed.
"You are something else! Did you know that?"
"Of course he is! Don't you know the story of Harry Potter?" someone asked. Cassandra looked at the blush rising in Harry's cheeks.
"No," she said with an evil grin. "Tell me all about it."
***
What did you think? More when I think of it! Please review.
Luv ya!
J. Silver