Chapter 9: Gryffindor and Ravenclaw…Again
"Okay,
Gryffindors," Harry said, giving his pre-game pep talk, "Just play your hearts
out. Ravenclaw is a great team this
year, but we're better! Keep your minds
on the game, and we can't lose."
The
seven Gryffindors walked onto the field with a bit of confidence. They had long ago stopped being nauseous
before a game and were now ready to play. Harry glanced at the Ravenclaws and then felt his stomach jump with
surprise. There was Azar, dressed in
blue with broom in hand. She gave Harry
a grin and exuberate wave.
"Mount
your brooms!" Madam Hooch called.
Harry
shook himself out of it and climbed on his, still staring at Azar. At the whistle, the fourteen players of red
and blue rushed up into the air. Harry
took his place hovering over the game and was soon joined by Azar.
"Surprised
to see me?" she grinned.
"Uh,
yeah," Harry said, "You're the seeker?"
"Yep."
"But
you weren't last game. What happened to
Ackerley?"
"His
grades were suffering and so he had to leave the team for a while. So, for now, I'm the Ravenclaw seeker!"
"Ah,
well stop chattering. You're
distracting me."
"No,
you're distracting me, Harry legs."
"Argh!"
Harry yelled, pretending to be aggravated but smiling as he zoomed away from
her.
The
game got well underway. Harry kept a
lookout for the Snitch, passing Azar every now and then.
"I
got you now, Harry legs!" she called out one time, diving for the ground.
In a
bit of a panic, Harry dived after her. It wasn't until she pulled up sharply that Harry realized she was just
playing around.
"Nice
try!" he called as they got back up in the air.
"I
know, wasn't it?"
"Ravenclaw
in the lead, 100-30!" Anthony Moon, a Ravenclaw sixth year who had taken Lee's
place, hollered as the Ravenclaw chasers scored again.
Harry
looked a bit glumly at his chasers. Yes, the wonderful trio that had been Johnson, Bell, and Spinnet had
been broken up, but there was something else. Alicia didn't seem in the game; her mind was clearly elsewhere. Harry had noticed it at the last few
practices, but had been hoping it would disappear at game time. It hadn't.
Harry
tried to keep his mind on the Snitch, but found himself watching his team more
and more. Katie was taking command of
the chasers, realizing that they had to start scoring or even catching the
snitch wouldn't give them a win. In the
next two minutes, Katie managed to score, steal the quaffle back, and score
again. Bella managed to intercept the
quaffle and quickly passed it to Katie.
"Go
long, Alicia!" Katie called, hurling the quaffle toward the Ravenclaw
goalposts.
Alicia
bent over her broom, speeding ahead of the quaffle. She looked over her shoulder, ready for it to come. Having timed everything just right, it fell
neatly into her arms. The Gryffindors
gave a cheer and Harry was ready to join them, when his heart gave a jolt.
"Alicia!"
he cried, but too late. She hadn't
looked forward in time and, still going at breakneck speed, her shoulder had
connected with the metal goalpost. Her
broom spun out of control and then, to the crowd's horror, she fell off it,
landing roughly on the ground below.
"Time-out! Time-out!" Harry screamed as he raced down
to her.
Madam
Hooch's whistle blew and all of the Gryffindor team rushed down to Alicia's
limp figure. Harry reached her first
and was surprised to find her conscious…and crying.
"Alicia,
are you all-?"
"I
can't move my arm, Harry," she said quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks,
"I've tried, and it won't move."
"Oh,
Alicia…" he said, trying to sound comforting though he felt his throat
tightening.
Everyone
from both teams landed now, even Madam Hooch. Professor McGonagall came running over, her face a little blanched.
"Thank
goodness you're awake," she said breathlessly, "What hurts, Alicia?"
"My
arm, Professor. I-I can't move my arm."
A
few worried murmurs came from her teammates.
"I'll
take you to the Hospital Wing at once," McGonagall replied, magicking up a
stretcher underneath the girl.
The
crowd applauded as McGonagall led Alicia out, some standing in admiration.
"Mr.
Potter," Madam Hooch said, a little reluctant as she came up to Harry, "you
have five minutes to find a replacement, and then you forfeit."
"Don't
worry, we have one," Harry answered, though a little grimly.
Harry
walked up to where Ron was sitting. "Well, you're our reserve, Ron," Harry said, giving him a smile.
"M-me?"
Ron stuttered, "Oh Harry, I can't. I
mean, I-I'm not even ready and-"
"We
need a replacement or we forfeit, Ron," Harry said sternly.
With
a gulp, Ron nodded. "Well, hurry up and
change, then. You have five minutes to
get back out here."
Ron
was back in a jiffy and everyone mounted his or her broom again. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and they soared
off into the sky. It wasn't long before
Harry concluded Ron had been right; he wasn't ready. The first time Ron got the quaffle, he passed it to a Ravenclaw
who took it in to score. Ron cheered a
moment before realizing it was the other team that had scored. When Ron dropped the quaffle for the third
time, Harry realized he had better catch the Snitch soon or Ron would be
laughed out of Gryffindor.
"I'm
sorry about Alicia," Azar said as she passed Harry.
"Me,
too," he sighed.
He
flew around slowly, straining his eyes for the glint of gold. And then he saw it. The Snitch was doing figure eights near the
ground, right below Azar. Harry knew he
could get to it before her, but decided to have a little fun. He flew over to Azar, grinning.
"Now
I've got you, Zarina!" Harry cried, imitating Azar's previous dive.
"Oh
yeah! Like I'm gonna fall for- oh no…"
Azar
had quickly dived after him, realizing he was not joking. But Harry had too much of a lead on
her. He grabbed the Snitch, pulled up,
and landed perfectly on the ground.
"Gryffindor
wins!" Anthony cried, though with noticeably less enthusiasm, "170-130."
Harry
held up the Snitch proudly for a moment, then was tackled from behind.
"I
ought to wallop you good for that one, you sneaky little git!" Azar laughed,
shoving Harry's face into the grass.
Harry
reached up and managed to pull her off by her robes. He quickly stood up and they linked arms, pushing against each
other.
"Well…I
learned…from the best," Harry said, straining against her.
"You're
a little…exposed…Harry legs," she grinned.
Harry
quickly snapped his thighs together. In
his momentary distraction, Azar flipped him back on the ground, sat on his
back, and grabbed on of his legs.
"Ow,
ow, OW! That really hurts!" Harry
yelled, though still laughing.
"A-hem."
Harry
and Azar both looked up and saw they were surrounded by the Gryffindor team.
"Oh,
you probably want your Seeker back," Azar smiled.
"Yeah,
might be nice," Ron grinned back.
Azar
got up and then grabbed Harry's hand to help him up. She shook his hand firmly.
"Good
game, Harry legs."
"You,
too, Zarina. Not bad for your first go
at Seeker."
Harry
was then swept away with the Gryffindor crowd, but kept his eyes on Azar as
long as he could. The other Ravenclaws
had come up to her and, for the second time since he'd met her, the smile
melted from Azar's face. She looked
extremely disappointed with herself.
"Let's
go give Alicia the good news," Hermione grinned, bringing Harry's thoughts
forward.
"Off
to the Hospital Wing, then!" he cried.
"So
once again, Harry saved the day," Katie added as the team finished telling
Alicia about the end of the game.
"I'm
glad my stupidity didn't lose the game," Alicia said, giving a pained laugh.
"Hey,
it could happen to anyone," Bella consoled her, "How's your arm?"
"Madam
Pomfrey basically fixed it all the way, though my shoulder is still pretty
sore. I dislocated it, along with
breaking my arm in three places."
"Ouch,"
Ron winced.
"I
think I'll be okay."
"Everybody
out!" Madam Pomfrey shrilled as she came in, "It's late enough and she needs
rest!"
"See
you later, Alicia," Harry called as Pomfrey shooed them out.
The
team walked back to the common room in a good mood, despite Alicia's
circumstances. They had, after all,
won. There wasn't much of a celebration
there, though. There weren't any Fred
and George anymore to sneak food from the kitchens or start the party. Harry and Ron plopped down on a couple of
chairs. Hermione plopped down on Ron,
dangling her legs over the arm of the chair.
"Oof!"
Ron said, wincing.
"I'm
not that heavy!" Hermione laughed.
"I
stunk today, didn't I?" Ron asked after a moment.
"Uh…"
"Er…"
"I
know you can do better, Ron," Hermione smiled, "You were just nervous. Remember my first game?"
He
laughed. "Yeah. Poor Madam Hooch. She didn't know what to call when a Beater cuffs her own Keeper."
"But
she got a lot better," Harry smiled, "First games can be a bit awkward."
"I
remember a certain someone that managed to have an excellent first game, even
though his broom kept trying to buck him off," Hermione said.
"Yeah,
we won because the Snitch flew into my mouth!"
"Hey,
Herm, I was-" Ron stopped when she gave
him a look.
"Hermione,"
he corrected himself, "I was wondering about you being a hawk. Why'd you choose that?"
"Oh,
the animagus doesn't choose the animal. The animal chooses the animagus. I'm not exactly sure why I'm a hawk. Oh, except I'm a red-tailed hawk. Gryffindor pride!" she grinned.
"Well,
let's see," Ron mused, "Hawks are bright, bold, and beautiful."
Hermione
smiled with pleasure.
Ron
added slyly, "So I can't imagine why you're one."
Hermione
took Ron's face in both her hands, squeezing his cheeks and looking at him nose
to nose.
"You're
lucky you're so cute," she cooed, "or I'd smack you."
Ron
smiled and gave her a little peck.
"Er…I
think I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," Harry said, getting up.
"Good
idea, Harry!" Ron grinned.
****
Harry
woke up early the next morning and went down in the common room. He was hoping for a bit of 'me time', but
found Alicia already there.
"Oh,
hello, Alicia," he said, sitting next to her.
"Hey,
Harry," she answered, smiling weakly, "I was hoping I could talk to you alone."
Harry
raised his eyebrows as a question.
"I'm
dropping off the team," she said firmly.
Harry
felt his jaw drop. "You're-you're what?!"
"I'm
dropping off the team," she repeated, "I'm only a hindrance. It's for the best."
"What
are you talking about?" Harry asked, aghast, "You can't leave now! We need you, Alicia!"
She
just stared into the fire.
"This
isn't about yesterday, is it? Alicia,
it was a mistake. Everybody makes
mistakes."
"I'm
just not going to be on the team anymore, okay?!" she yelled, tears streaming
down her cheeks as she ran to her dormitory.
Harry
could do nothing but stare. He couldn't
believe it; Alicia Spinnet was quitting the team. He just couldn't figure out why. Looking at the fire, he tried to figure it out. 'Maybe her grades are dropping,' he thought,
'or her arm might be permanently damaged and she doesn't want to tell us.'
He
went to an early breakfast, the questions still laying on his mind. As more Gryffindors filed in, he knew he'd
have to tell them. Alicia Spinnet
didn't want to play.
~*~*~
A/N: Yah! I finally put in a Quidditch game! ^-^
Hope you guys liked this chapter, and that it was a bit more exciting.
Thank you all for the reviews!!! And I'd love more! *small hint there*
Be excellent to each other!
-Ady
