Alice watched the grass go by beneath her feet, little drops of dew suspended on the blades like transparent blood on miniature swords. The ground became gravel and she looked up to see that she had already reached Hagrid's hut. She turned and saw a dozen or so young wizards frolicking in the air amount their broomsticks. Sure enough, there was Harry Potter on his Nimbus 2000; tag with Harry Potter didn't seem much fun to her. no one would be able to catch him. A bolt of red flew past that might have been Ginny Weasley. Two figures landed in the distance and came running toward her. It was Claire and Hypothia, flushed and panting. By the time they had reached her, they stopped to catch their breath for a moment, then Claire gave Alice a sly grin, "Hey, Alice, guess what," she said patronizingly, more stating than asking.

Alice looked at her with very large, confused eyes.

"SEAMUS FINNIGAN is here!" Hypothia burst out, unable to contain herself.

Alice turned, expressionless, back toward where she had come from, somewhat dejected and prepared to leave. But alas, they had already seized her by her cloak and were dragging her toward the others. As if to add to the sense of futility in trying to escape, Claire said quietly, "Come on, if you don't play we won't let you have any more corn."

By then, the rest of the players had landed and were coming over to greet her. Harry, Hermione, Ron AND Ginny. A few others she didn't know. And Seamus. standing back a little way, paler than normal and breathing heavily, taking occasional swigs from a water bottle he produced from his cloak. She was so intent upon memorizing his image that she never even heard the names of the faceless students she was introduced to, and only mentioned a "pleasure" or a "nice to meet you" when it seemed that no one else was talking because they were waiting for a response from her. Someone nudged her from behind and she was pushed toward Seamus. He had noticed her by then and it simply wouldn't do to run away now. He held out his hand to her (in her stupor, she almost asked him what he intended for her to do with it) and said (in a voice that echoed that of the gods themselves). "Hey."

"Hi," Alice said, grabbing his hand and shaking it firmly.

"Seamus Finnigan," he announced (as if she didn't already know)

"Alice." she said, afraid to give out her last name. She knew very well the reputation her big brother Draco had gotten the Malfoy name, and she didn't want that spilling over onto her, especially in front of. him. "Nice to meet you," she continued, the voice inside her head yelling 'Nice? Is that all you could come up with? It's NICE to meet you?!'

"Pleasure's all mine," he said, staring into her soul with watery blue-gray eyes. He was still holding her hand. She was panicking. She didn't know what to do so she simply stood there, absorbing the warmth of his smooth dry hands, allowing him to conquer her with his eyes. And she almost enjoyed the discomfort.

Harry's voice floated over the loose crowd, "Hey, let's start!" Alice and Seamus let go of each other simultaneously, both stared at the ground for a moment wondering if anything more should be said, and grabbed their brooms.

.

After the rules were announced, the players rose into the air and darted about like fireflies, trying to tap one another with their wands (tapping was okay, but no magic was allowed). Alice wasn't really in the mood to get all tired and sweaty, so she flew up toward the clouds and enjoyed the steady mist collecting on her face. She hovered at the level of the highest trees, admiring the view. Admiring life. she could still feel his firm grip on her right hand, and she was still reluctant to touch anything with it for fear that the sensation might rub off. Suddenly, a bold of lighting struck her and for a moment she was paralyzed in a buzz of white light. She turned to see Seamus, staring at her astonished. He looked down at his wand, then back at her and called, "Sorry. Accident!" and smiled. Good god. she almost fell off her broom. She was numb except for the slight tingle in her fingertips from the electric current. from SEAMUS' wand. It was almost as good as if he had hugged her.

Suddenly hit by a surge of enthusiasm and adrenaline, she pulled her wand out of her cloak and looked to Seamus, who grinned slyly and nodded his head a little in approval. Alice grinned back and Seamus took off in the opposite direction. Alice zoomed past hovering, confused tag-players, swished-and-flicked her wand at Seamus and instead hit a tree in the distance. It burst into flames and collapsed into itself in a matter of seconds. Good thing they didn't have that effect on wizards. Alice doubted that Seamus would live up to his sexiness in the form of a pile of wet ash.

The damp air condensed on her face as she sped after him. He turned and flicked his wand at her, but she ducked and the flash of light flew over her head. She aimed and flicked again, this time right on target. He twitched a little and was surrounded by a purple aura, which presently evaporated. leaving him skyrocketing toward the ground at an outrageous angle.

"Oh god, he's going to die and it's my fault," Alice though frantically. She didn't realize the absurdity of her thought processes until after the fact.

He pulled up on the end of the broom with admirable coolness, turned and yelled, "Nice!", making Alice go all warm and fuzzy inside. They flew up over the forest, above the fire-colored fall trees, constantly "accidentally" shooting at each other back and forth with their wands, complimenting one another on their aim or broom handling. Soon they had descended into the forest, dodging dense foliage and waving at unsuspecting forest creatures as they sped by. Seamus was now chasing Alice, somehow, and she wasn't very experienced when it came to flying under such conditions. Moments later, she miscalculated a turn and flew straight into the leaf-carpeted ground. She lay there for a moment, sprawled face-up with an ecstatic smile on her face, her broom suspended in a bush a few yards away. The next thing she knew, Seamus was heading straight toward her at an alarming rate. The smile quickly evaporated from her face and she began to get up, when Seamus crashed to the ground almost on top of her, and together they rolled over in the leaves twice and in the end, he WAS on top of her, either perspiration or precipitation dripping down his wonderful face (she really didn't care which), both of them panting in unison and staring at one another. He was directly on top of her, hands planted on the ground on either side of her head. Alice would have been content with just that. The day's events thus far had been enough to keep her loving life forever. She could feel the damp, crunchy leaves beneath her and in her hair. Seamus had gotten bits of twigs and things all over himself, and a small scratch meandered across his right cheek, the blood just coming to the surface. Neither of them had fully regained their breath, when Seamus suddenly released his arms which had been supporting him above her, falling onto her and kissing her hard, the most wonderful, powerful kiss she had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. She kissed him back, attempting to mimic his passionate forcefulness, and threw her arms around him, wishing she'd never have to let go.