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Chapter 15: A Parent's Example
Three days after the now famous "Snape incident", Ron was called to do his detention. When eight o' clock came around, Ron left the common room through the portrait hole, muttering curse words under his breath.
Harry was busy trying to reply to Sirius. He wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to say. He knew he wanted to tell him about Ginny, but he wasn't exactly sure how to word it. He also wondered if he should ask questions about Voldemort. Nah, I better not. Harry thought to himself, it would probably only depress him. What Sirius needs is a nice letter about normal things like quidditch and…girls. Harry smiled at the thought of Ginny. He paused and began to write.
Dear Sirius,
It's nice to hear you are doing well. I am also doing fine. We beat Ravenclaw in our first match, even though I did not catch the snitch. Gryffindor's chasers are the best. Tomorrow is our match against Slytherin and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I hope I get the snitch tomorrow; Malfoy needs to be taught a lesson.
Harry thought about going into detail about the "Snape incident", but decided against it. Ron might not want him to share the story with Sirius. He continued to write.
I know this is going to sound stupid, but I really don't know how else to say it. Ginny Weasley and I are "together".
Harry looked at the words on the parchment, thinking they sounded even dumber on paper than they did in his head. He sighed and did not change the wording.
We went to the Halloween Ball together. She's a really great girl and I like her a lot.
Harry paused, wondering if he should say something about the kiss. He decided that he would. After all that would be something he might tell his father and wasn't that the purpose of a godfather? To answer all his dumb questions and listen to him ramble on about things. Harry smiled. He was happy that he had Sirius.
We even kissed about a week ago, though Ron walked in on us. He wasn't too happy, but in the end Ginny and I made him see reason. Well I better get going. Say hi to Professor Lupin for me.
Harry
Harry walked up the owlery alone. Hermione had been too immersed in a book to accompany him, Ginny was doing homework, and Ron was still in detention. He didn't mind the time by himself. It seemed he got less and less of it these days.
He tied the letter to Hedwig and looked out at the starry sky. Harry sighed. He wasn't really one for wishes. After all, he didn't believe in stupid things like divination, but he felt the current situation in the Wizarding world deserved a wish. He looked at a single bright star in the sky, and whispered, "Please make Voldemort go away. Please let him die. I want to be a normal kid. I want my friends to able to be normal kids. I want the pain to stop. I want everyone to be safe."
Harry felt tears welling up in his eyes. It was too much, it was all too much. How were they supposed to deal with all this when they were just teenagers? He sorted through his conflicted thoughts, and wondered how his parents had dealt with it. He remembered what Sirius had told him about his parents, in some of his letters over the summer. His parents had been happy, even when Voldemort was around. They had done their best to not let him get in the way of their lives. With new resolve, Harry brushed the tears off of his cheeks, and vowed to never think of Voldemort when it was unnecessary again.
That night, Harry and Hermione waited up for Ron. Harry's quidditch nerves were kicking in and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep if he went up to bed. Ron came through the portrait hole a little after midnight. They looked up at him expectantly, waiting for him to launch into his usual tirade about Snape.
They were not disappointed. "I can't believe what he made me do! I had to boil and prep sixty sheep's brains for Snape's Seventh Year classes tomorrow." He let out a frustrated groan. "It took forever and it was so boring."
Harry nodded in sympathy and a few minutes later walked up to the boys' dormitories by himself. Ron and Hermione had decided to stay up for a game of chess, but Harry thought that he should get some sleep for the next day's events. It took awhile for Harry to nod off, but when he finally did he was out cold, his dreams filled with quidditch.
~*~*~
The next day, Harry awoke at 9am to Ron shaking him. "Get up you lazy git! You have to get breakfast before the game."
"Wha…?" Harry asked stupidly, still half asleep.
Ron frowned. "Quidditch! You know, that game where you fly on broomsticks." Harry shook his head and grinned.
"Thanks for the explanation." He said mockingly.
Ron smirked. "Anytime." Harry soon found himself sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast, Ron and Hermione to his left and Ginny to his right. He didn't feel very hungry as he picked at a piece of toast, which Angelina Johnson had forced into his hands.
"You need your strength today, Harry!" She had shouted exuberantly, sounding much like Oliver Wood.
"Hey why's there a big crowd around the Slytherin table?" Fred Weasley asked, looking curious.
"Dunno." His twin answered him. Harry turned around in his seat. It was true. Many students from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables had flocked over to the Slytherin table and were peering at something closely. Suddenly, Harry saw Justin Finch-Fletchey, a Hufflepuff boy in his year, making his way towards the Gryffindors.
"Did you lot see that, yet?" He asked excitedly.
Fred Weasley raised an eyebrow. "Define, that."
Justin smiled before answering. "Draco Malfoy's got a Thunderbolt! Can you believe that! I hear it's twice as fast as the Firebolt!" He shouted, looking at Harry.
Ron looked annoyed. "That's great." He said dryly. "We're happy for him."
Justin looked at Ron for a second, before a look of comprehension came over his face. "Don't worry." He said with an easy grin. "I'm rooting for Gryffindor at today's match." He gave them one last smile before disappearing to the Hufflepuff table.
"We're so glad we have your support!" Ron muttered with fake enthusiasm. "Can you believe that? Of course Malfoy needs the best broom gold can buy, with no skill what else does he have going for him?"
The Gryffindors laughed loudly. They all went back to breakfast and no one seemed too worried about the fact that the opposing seeker had the fastest broom on the planet. Harry, on the other hand, was feeling very anxious. If it came down to a dive, then Malfoy might get the better of him. He gulped nervously, but thankfully no one noticed. He set his toast down, not feeling hungry at all.
About a half hour later, Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team stood in the locker rooms, listening to Angelina's pre-game pep talk. "Team!" She shouted, making them all jump. "We played an excellent game against Ravenclaw, but that's no reason to get complacent!" She said fiercely. "We need to win! We need to slaughter those slimly Slytherins!" Angelina yelled pumping her fist into the air.
"Whoa, too much alliteration." George said, shaking his head. Angelina glared at him. "I was just kidding." He said quickly, holding up his hands in mock innocence.
With that, they ran out onto the field and took their positions. Angelina shook hands with the Slytherin captain. He glared at her maliciously. "Game on!" Harry heard Madam Hooch shout as the balls were released into the air.
Harry felt a violent shove to his broom. He looked behind him to see Malfoy rocketing off in the other direction. The Thunderbolt sure was fast, but Harry did not waste time on gaping. He darted through the crowd of players on the field, dodging bludgers as they whooshed past him, frantically looking for the snitch.
A few of Lee Jordan's comments did not escape his ears. "Angelina Johnson speeding towards the goalposts! She passes to Katie Bell, but oh! The play is broken up by the Slytherin defense. Slytherin is playing decently against the Gryffindor tactics. It remains a 0-0 game."
Harry kept scanning the skies, hoping for a sign of the tiny golden ball. It was imperative that he see the snitch first. With Malfoy's superior broom, Harry would not be able to catch up if Malfoy was in the lead.
Harry glanced at Malfoy, and then did a double take as he saw Malfoy heading into a dive. Harry's heart sank as he urged his broom to race after Malfoy even though he knew it was hopeless. Malfoy smirked back at Harry before reaching his hand out.
CRACK! Harry started at the noise. A bludger sent by one of the Weasleys had hit Draco's hand. A few of his fingers seemed to be broken. The injury looked similar to Harry's own, in second year. But most importantly, the bludger had stopped Malfoy from closing his hand around the snitch.
The Gryffindor section of the stands cheered with enthusiasm. Harry listened to Lee Jordan's remarks as he watched Malfoy grimace in pain. "OH! Nice play by George Weasley! He just saved the game for Gryffindor! C'mon Potter, find the snitch!"
Focusing harder than ever, Harry examined the sky, looking for the tiniest golden glint. Malfoy, it seemed, had set aside his pain for the time being and was busy looking for the snitch as well. Harry needed to throw off Malfoy's concentration.
Harry stared hard at a spot, towards the middle of the pitch and began to dive. As predicted, Malfoy came after him. Harry put all his thought into his dive. He had to pull out at the correct time, so Malfoy would crash into the ground just as Lynch had done at the Quidditch World Cup, a couple summers ago. Harry imagined Krum's flawless movement in his head and pulled out at the perfect moment. The only trouble was, Malfoy had not followed. He had pulled out of the dive a second before Harry had.
Harry swore under his breath. He had been working on the Wronski Feint for some time, but for the life of him he could not get it right. He let his disappointment go for the time being as he searched the skies for the snitch. He listened to Lee's commentary hoping to hear the score.
"Oh! Nice save by Ginny Weasley! She is really on today! Thanks to that fabulous save, Ginny keeps this a scoreless match! Slytherin has been successful, thus far, at shutting down the Gryffindor chasers." He sounded rather gloomy at his last comment.
And suddenly, Harry saw it. Small, golden, and round. It's little wings fluttering, tauntingly. He dove. He sped past Malfoy and heard the boy give a shout. "Nice try, Potter!" Harry smiled. Malfoy thought he was feinting! Halfway through the dive, Malfoy must have realized that Harry was not playing a trick. Even with his first-class broomstick, Malfoy was too far behind to catch up. Harry reached his arm out and enclosed the snitch in his fist.
He raised it in triumph and his teammates came over, congratulating him. Harry head Lee shouting. "Harry Potter gets the snitch and ends the match! 150-0, Gryffindor! Ginny Weasley gets the shut out! Nice, grab Potter!"
Ron and Hermione came onto the field with their own congratulations. Ron was first. "Ah! Awesome catch Harry! Did you see Malfoy's face? He thought you were feinting!" He grinned. At that moment, Ginny rushed over to join them. "And you!" Ron continued, grinning. "Ginny you were great! That second save…I thought it was in for sure."
Harry smiled at his friend's enthusiasm. "Yeah, you were great, Gin." He said truthfully. Ginny's performance had been flawless.
Hermione was glowing. For a rare moment, she too was showing great enthusiasm for quidditch and Gryffindor's huge win. "You both played very well." She said excitedly, nodding at Harry and Ginny. Talk of the match continued for a while, and they returned to Gryffindor to see that Fred and George had already started a loud and raucous victory party. They joined in on the festivities, and for once Harry felt he was having a carefree time. Not one time did he think of Voldemort's name. Not one time did he worry about the events in the world. Perhaps he was finally learning from his parents' example.
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