Chapter Two - The Audition.
A beautiful full moon hung over the two figures standing on the edge of the lake in the Hogwarts grounds.
"Ginny?" Harry began.
"Yes, Harry?"
"I...I think you're amazing and I..."
"Yes?"
"I love you, Ginny."
"You do? Really?"
"Really."
Ginny opened her mouth to respond, but instead of her usual soft, sweet, beautiful voice came an icy, sour, bad-tempered male voice.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Potter, and if I have to ask you to pay attention again, I'll make it a hundred and twenty!"
Harry jerked out of his daydream and found himself back in Snape's icy dungeon in the middle of a Potions lesson. A lot of the Gryffindors frowned at him. He couldn't really blame them, this was the sixth time that day he'd lost Gryffindor house-points during lessons for not paying attention, but how could anyone expect him to devote his attention to his lessons when he was so desperately looking forward to seven o clock that evening when he'd be meeting Ginny on the Quidditch pitch again for her auditions for the Gryffindor Keeper? Her warm brown eyes and gorgeous cheeky smile kept seeping into his thoughts, blanking them out completely. Every second that ticked on his watch was a second nearer seven o clock. Ginny kept grinning and winking at him when they passed in corridors and at mealtimes, leaving him feeling so light-hearted it wasn't until Hermione poked him in the back or waved her hand in front of his face that he returned to his senses. Harry tried his best to make sure Ron didn't notice anything, as he was pretty apprehensive as to how he'd react if he found out about Harry's new feelings for Ginny. The last thing Harry wanted was another argument with Ron like the one they had last year, but how do you explain to your best friend you've got a crush (was it a crush? it seemed so much more than that) on his little sister?
At long last, the bell rang at the end of Divination and Harry, jerking out of another wonderful fantasy, grabbed his schoolbag, ignored Professor Trelawney's warning for him to beware of thunderbolts, kicked the trapdoor open, jumped out before the silver ladder had unfolded, raced down to Gryffindor Tower, flung his bag down, dashed down to the Entrance Hall, ignoring the crowd trooping into the Great Hall for supper (he felt he didn't need to eat anymore, anyway), sprinted down the sloping lawns to the empty Quidditch pitch, waited a second, realised he'd forgotten his Firebolt, ran back up to the Gryffindor common room, up to his dormitory, grabbed his Firebolt, ran down the marble staircase, stopped, realised he could have saved himself a lot of trouble by using a Summoning Charm, slapped himself and kept running down to the Quidditch stadium, by which time Ginny had finished her supper and had made her way down to the pitch.
She was gazing at the sunset, leaning against one of the goal hoops, her glossy red hair glowing in the setting sun. When she spotted Harry, she gave him a smile that would have lost him two hundred points had he been thinking about it during one of his lessons.
"Hiya Ginny!" Harry panted.
"Hello Harry," she smiled.
"Sorry I'm late."
"That's okay, I only got here a minute ago." Her smile was driving Harry crazy. "Katie, Alicia and Angelina are just finishing their supper, they said they'll be down in a minute."
"Right."
A slightly awkward pause followed as the grinned rather nervously at each other.
"Had a good day?" Harry asked.
"Busy," Ginny replied good-naturedly, then frowned slightly and added. "McGonagall got a bit shirty with me because I wasn't paying attention in her class, but I was thinking about last night and..."
"You -you were?" Harry stammered.
"Hiya, you two!"
Angelina, Katie and Alicia had arrived, each wearing their scarlet Gryffindor robes and clutching their broomsticks and a Quaffle.
"Right, Ginny," said Angelina, tossing the Quaffle from one hand to the other as she spoke, "this is what we're going to do. We're going to do our best to score against you and depending on how well you save these shots, Harry'll decide whether or not you're fit to play Keeper for us."
She spoke warmly, with plenty of encouragement, but there was a touch of skepticism as to Ginny's capabilities in her tone that made Harry frown.
"I've got complete confidence in you, Ginny," said Harry as he handed Ginny his Firebolt. "Just fly like we did last night, okay?"
Was it his imagination, or did Ginny's eyes light up at the word "we"? It was just your imagination, he told himself firmly as the four girls mounted their brooms and kicked off the ground.
At first, Alicia, Katie and Angelina seemed to be playing on a much easier level. After a few minutes, though, when they realised they had a serious candidate for the Keeper job, they sped things up and within seconds, they were playing at their best, reading each other's minds, zooming around in loops and dives, demonstrating their superb flying skills, challenging Ginny with the Quaffle at every available second, so she hardly stayed still at all. Harry was full of admiration for Ginny. He could see her determination as she lunged for the Quaffle countless times a minutes and once again felt her love for flying. After fifteen minutes, Ginny had saved most of the Chasers' fabulous attempted goals, and Harry, delighted called the girls down.
"Harry, you'd be mad not to take her on!" gushed Alicia. "She's about as good as Oliver was!"
"It's okay, Alicia, I don't need you to tell me she's brilliant," Harry grinned at Ginny as she landed neatly and silently next to him. "Welcome to the team, Gin," he beamed at her, outstretching his hand, which Ginny shook enthusiastically. As she did, a tingling sensation shot down Harry's spine and all over his body and he felt the last thing he wanted to do now was to release her baby-soft hand, and when he did, he did it with extreme reluctance.
"Team practice is three times a week," he continued. "And we've got our first match of the season on Saturday." He then turned to the other three girls, "we're playing Slytherin and I've heard Malfoy's the new captain, so watch out for dirty play."
He noticed Ginny looked slightly put out by this last comment, so he added warmly, "don't worry, Ginny. You're more than a match for them. You're an exceptionally special person, you know."
Ginny's eyes definitely lit up this time and Harry, feeling he'd said too much added quickly, "What I meant was, you've got a very special talent when it comes to Quidditch, that's what I meant."
Harry never knew if he'd managed to cover his tracks or if the damage had been done, because the smile Ginny had awarded him with following this comment made his knees buckle, his head spin and his mind blank.
A/N Bit flimsy, I know. Next chapter should be up soon I hope. Let me know what you think.
A beautiful full moon hung over the two figures standing on the edge of the lake in the Hogwarts grounds.
"Ginny?" Harry began.
"Yes, Harry?"
"I...I think you're amazing and I..."
"Yes?"
"I love you, Ginny."
"You do? Really?"
"Really."
Ginny opened her mouth to respond, but instead of her usual soft, sweet, beautiful voice came an icy, sour, bad-tempered male voice.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Potter, and if I have to ask you to pay attention again, I'll make it a hundred and twenty!"
Harry jerked out of his daydream and found himself back in Snape's icy dungeon in the middle of a Potions lesson. A lot of the Gryffindors frowned at him. He couldn't really blame them, this was the sixth time that day he'd lost Gryffindor house-points during lessons for not paying attention, but how could anyone expect him to devote his attention to his lessons when he was so desperately looking forward to seven o clock that evening when he'd be meeting Ginny on the Quidditch pitch again for her auditions for the Gryffindor Keeper? Her warm brown eyes and gorgeous cheeky smile kept seeping into his thoughts, blanking them out completely. Every second that ticked on his watch was a second nearer seven o clock. Ginny kept grinning and winking at him when they passed in corridors and at mealtimes, leaving him feeling so light-hearted it wasn't until Hermione poked him in the back or waved her hand in front of his face that he returned to his senses. Harry tried his best to make sure Ron didn't notice anything, as he was pretty apprehensive as to how he'd react if he found out about Harry's new feelings for Ginny. The last thing Harry wanted was another argument with Ron like the one they had last year, but how do you explain to your best friend you've got a crush (was it a crush? it seemed so much more than that) on his little sister?
At long last, the bell rang at the end of Divination and Harry, jerking out of another wonderful fantasy, grabbed his schoolbag, ignored Professor Trelawney's warning for him to beware of thunderbolts, kicked the trapdoor open, jumped out before the silver ladder had unfolded, raced down to Gryffindor Tower, flung his bag down, dashed down to the Entrance Hall, ignoring the crowd trooping into the Great Hall for supper (he felt he didn't need to eat anymore, anyway), sprinted down the sloping lawns to the empty Quidditch pitch, waited a second, realised he'd forgotten his Firebolt, ran back up to the Gryffindor common room, up to his dormitory, grabbed his Firebolt, ran down the marble staircase, stopped, realised he could have saved himself a lot of trouble by using a Summoning Charm, slapped himself and kept running down to the Quidditch stadium, by which time Ginny had finished her supper and had made her way down to the pitch.
She was gazing at the sunset, leaning against one of the goal hoops, her glossy red hair glowing in the setting sun. When she spotted Harry, she gave him a smile that would have lost him two hundred points had he been thinking about it during one of his lessons.
"Hiya Ginny!" Harry panted.
"Hello Harry," she smiled.
"Sorry I'm late."
"That's okay, I only got here a minute ago." Her smile was driving Harry crazy. "Katie, Alicia and Angelina are just finishing their supper, they said they'll be down in a minute."
"Right."
A slightly awkward pause followed as the grinned rather nervously at each other.
"Had a good day?" Harry asked.
"Busy," Ginny replied good-naturedly, then frowned slightly and added. "McGonagall got a bit shirty with me because I wasn't paying attention in her class, but I was thinking about last night and..."
"You -you were?" Harry stammered.
"Hiya, you two!"
Angelina, Katie and Alicia had arrived, each wearing their scarlet Gryffindor robes and clutching their broomsticks and a Quaffle.
"Right, Ginny," said Angelina, tossing the Quaffle from one hand to the other as she spoke, "this is what we're going to do. We're going to do our best to score against you and depending on how well you save these shots, Harry'll decide whether or not you're fit to play Keeper for us."
She spoke warmly, with plenty of encouragement, but there was a touch of skepticism as to Ginny's capabilities in her tone that made Harry frown.
"I've got complete confidence in you, Ginny," said Harry as he handed Ginny his Firebolt. "Just fly like we did last night, okay?"
Was it his imagination, or did Ginny's eyes light up at the word "we"? It was just your imagination, he told himself firmly as the four girls mounted their brooms and kicked off the ground.
At first, Alicia, Katie and Angelina seemed to be playing on a much easier level. After a few minutes, though, when they realised they had a serious candidate for the Keeper job, they sped things up and within seconds, they were playing at their best, reading each other's minds, zooming around in loops and dives, demonstrating their superb flying skills, challenging Ginny with the Quaffle at every available second, so she hardly stayed still at all. Harry was full of admiration for Ginny. He could see her determination as she lunged for the Quaffle countless times a minutes and once again felt her love for flying. After fifteen minutes, Ginny had saved most of the Chasers' fabulous attempted goals, and Harry, delighted called the girls down.
"Harry, you'd be mad not to take her on!" gushed Alicia. "She's about as good as Oliver was!"
"It's okay, Alicia, I don't need you to tell me she's brilliant," Harry grinned at Ginny as she landed neatly and silently next to him. "Welcome to the team, Gin," he beamed at her, outstretching his hand, which Ginny shook enthusiastically. As she did, a tingling sensation shot down Harry's spine and all over his body and he felt the last thing he wanted to do now was to release her baby-soft hand, and when he did, he did it with extreme reluctance.
"Team practice is three times a week," he continued. "And we've got our first match of the season on Saturday." He then turned to the other three girls, "we're playing Slytherin and I've heard Malfoy's the new captain, so watch out for dirty play."
He noticed Ginny looked slightly put out by this last comment, so he added warmly, "don't worry, Ginny. You're more than a match for them. You're an exceptionally special person, you know."
Ginny's eyes definitely lit up this time and Harry, feeling he'd said too much added quickly, "What I meant was, you've got a very special talent when it comes to Quidditch, that's what I meant."
Harry never knew if he'd managed to cover his tracks or if the damage had been done, because the smile Ginny had awarded him with following this comment made his knees buckle, his head spin and his mind blank.
A/N Bit flimsy, I know. Next chapter should be up soon I hope. Let me know what you think.
