Chapter 11: Old Friends

Two weeks later, the Hogwarts Quidditch team was announced over dinner. Dumbledore began by congratulating all the players who tried out for the team, then began to read names according to house.
"From Gryffindor; Harry Potter, Marcus Greenstone and Ron Weasley." Dumbledore announced with a certain amount of pride in his voice. Needless to say, the Gryffindor table exploded with cheers, and even some of the other tables applauded politely. The Slytherin table seemed to remain silent with resentment as usual. Once the rest of the team was announced, Dumbledore made another announcement.
"The first match will be against the Durmstrang Institute on Christmas Eve. It will be followed by the Christmas ball in the evening. The match will begin at two in the afternoon, and the ball will begin at eight."

After the meal, Harry met Cho in the corridor outside the hall.
"Congratulations Harry, I knew you'd do it..." Cho gave him a little kiss to congratulate him again.
"Thanks!" Said Harry, now beaming with happiness.
"You'd better get that Snitch for me..."
"It's in the bag..." Harry said confidently, despite the fact that he strongly doubted that he could beat Viktor Krum...

Marcus and Ron seemed to be getting on better over the past week, and Ron seemed to have accepted that Hermionie had made her choice. Due to this fact, the five (including Cho) went to celebrate at "The Three Broomsticks" at the weekend. It was there that they ran into some old friends. They strolled casually into "The Three Broomsticks", towards their usual table, saying hello to the other various regulars in the process. Then they noticed that their table was taken... But they were soon glad it was, as they recognised Fred, George, Oliver Wood and the rest of last year's Gryffindor Quidditch team.
"Harry!" They cried out almost in unison... Harry was dumbstruck. He knew Fred and George were visiting soon, but didn't realise that they'd re-unite the team...
"It's so good to see you all again!" Fred said cheerfully as he got up and started shaking the hands of everyone. Hermionie introduced Marcus to the rest of them.
"This is Marcus Greenstone, he's new this year, an excellent beater, and also my boyfriend!"
"Cool!" George got up as well, and everyone made room for the five to sit.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, though he suspected the answer already.
"What else for? The school Quidditch of course" Oliver Wood had always been the world's number one Quidditch fan, and he hadn't changed a bit.
"We heard you three all made the team... What positions are you playing?" Asked Angelina.
"Well, Marcus and Ron are the beaters, and Harry's naturally the seeker..." Cho spoke up for the first time.
"Are you two... you know..." Fred asked, motioning to Harry and Cho, who smiled and replied happily.
"Yeah, we're going out..." Fred and George began wolf whistles on cue before Wood intervened again...
"So Harry, do you think you're going to be able to beat Krum and Durmstrang?" Hermionie's ears pricked up with the mention of Krum, but Harry answered confidently.
"Yeah, course I can beat him. I've got two of the best beaters in the world on my side, and a few new tricks up our sleeves." He winked, looking cunning.
"How's Ginny doing?" George asked, showing some concern that the only supervision his little sister was getting was from Ron.
"She's doing great," Ron replied. "A real asset to the team."
Hermionie was next to speak.
"How's the joke business going then guys?"
"Not too bad, but we've got some ideas on the horizon that will blow you away... Literally!" Fred responded eagerly. George had an idea...
"We could ask Dumbledore if we could sell some things at the game next week!" He proposed with noticeable enthusiasm. Ron seemed to agree.
"Dumbledore seems very relaxed recently, I think he'd probably let you, as long as the stuff's not too stupid..."
"Or dangerous." Hermionie added.
"Hey! It's us!" Fred and George said at the same time, trying to sound slightly offended... The conversation went on for another three hours before it was noticed that they should be back at school in half an hour. This prompted a rapid goodbye, and promises to catch up again soon. They only just made it back to school before Snape could put them into detention...