Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter, I'm not making money with this story, etc.
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Harry spent much of his free time the rest of the week paging through his Divination book, hoping to find some clue about Cho's dreams. He became so involved in studying he was surprised at how loud the Great Hall was on Friday night.
"What's going on?" He asked Ron, watching students at the other tables shout to each other.
"Harry? Where have you been?" Ron gave him a funny look. "The first Quidditch match is tomorrow."
Harry could have kicked himself. The Gryffindor team had been talking about the first Quidditch match for a month. Tomorrow Ravenclaw would be playing Hufflepuff to open the season. For the first time in several years, Gryffindor wouldn't be playing the first match of the season, a fact that Angelina had pointed out numerous times, allowing the Gryffindor team to observe before they had their first game. After the Quidditch season had been cancelled last year to allow for the Triwizard Tournament, the entire school was anxious for this year's season to start.
Harry awoke the next morning to a tapping on his dorm window. He pulled back the curtains and jumped at the sight of two eyes staring back at him. Laughing at himself, he opened the window and an owl Harry recognized as belonging to the school flew in. It perched on his bed and Harry untied a scrap of parchment from its leg. Hooting softly, the owl flew out the open window, leaving Harry staring at the parchment in shock.
Harry,
I need to talk to you before the Quidditch match. Please. I need your help; I had another dream.
Cho
Harry dressed quickly and, knowing the library wasn't open so early in the morning, hurried to the Great Hall, hoping Cho would be there. She was. The moment he entered the Great Hall, she jumped up from the Ravenclaw table. Before he could say anything, she pulled him out of the Great Hall and down the step of the entrance hall and led him outside.
"Cho, what's going on?" He asked her angrily, wondering if his shoulder was pulled out of its socket. The he saw her face. She was scared to death and shaking terribly.
"Harry, I don't know what to do. I'm so scared. I-" she was talking so far Harry could hardly understand her."
"Whoa, slow down." He told her. "What was your dream about?"
Cho sat down on the steps leading up to the castle and took a deep breath. "This one was strange; it was like I was another person. I was in the stands watching myself play in the match; we had only been playing a little while but we were beating the Hufflepuffs by thirty points. I saw the Snitch, or I guess I saw myself see the Snitch, hovering about ten feet over the Ravenclaw goals. I was about halfway there when I lost control of my broom and it sped in the direction of the Dark Forest. Suddenly I wasn't in the stands anymore, I was in the forest. I saw myself lying on the ground next to my broom, but I couldn't see anything else. I heard voices though, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Then I heard the words 'Kill the girl,' and I woke up."
Harry wasn't sure what to say. He knew he had to say something. "Do you know why you lost control of your broom?" he asked lamely.
Cho frowned. "In the back of my mind, it seemed like I could hear someone saying 'Accio Silver Lightning '."
"You have a Silver Lightning?" Harry asked, surprised.
"I just got it this summer." Cho replied. "My old Cleansweep Seven had seen better days. They just came out in May, but they're less expensive than a Firebolt or the newest Nimbus."
"I know." Harry answered. "Ginny just got one."
"Really?" Now Cho looked surprised, forgetting about her dream for a minute. "I thought I had the only one in the school."
"What if," Harry thought out loud, "What if you didn't ride your Silver Lightning today?"
"What?" Cho looked at Harry like he had just grown another head.
"What if you rode a different broom? When your Silver Lightning is summoned, you wouldn't be on it."
"I like that idea." Cho said thoughtfully. "But I what broom am I going to use? I can't ride one of the school's, I'd have a better chance of catching the Snitch if I was walking."
Harry paused, wondering what he was doing. "You could use my Firebolt." He said, and almost kicked himself. He hated the idea of anyone but himself riding his Firebolt. He had let Ron and the twins ride it a few times, but only for a few minutes and never in a real match, where accidents were very likely to happen.
Cho hesitated, "Are you sure?" she asked.
Before Harry could stop himself, he said, "Sure. I'll go get it," and ran to his room, grabbed his Firebolt and sprinted back outside.
Cho handed him her Silver Lightning and took the Firebolt, turning it over carefully in her hands. "Are you sure about this, Harry?" She looked at him doubtfully.
Harry hesitated. "You have to play." he said, as a plan began to formulate in his head.
"Well, if you're sure," Cho looked down at the broom in her hands. "Thanks Harry. This means a lot." She smiled at him and began walking towards the Quidditch locker rooms.
Harry looked at his watch. A quarter till eleven. All the students would be making their way from the Great Hall to the Quidditch pitch right now. Harry hid Cho's broom underneath some bushes and ran back to the castle entrance. Pushing his way around some first years in the entrance hall, he heard his name.
"Harry!" Ron and Hermione narrowly missed tripping over several younger students before reaching the spot where Harry was standing. "You were gone when I got up this morning. Where were you?" Ron asked him.
"You missed breakfast." Hermione added, handing him two pieces of toast.
"I know. Thanks." Harry said, thinking quickly. "I was talking with Cho." He told them, purposely not answering Ron's question. He noticed Ron and Hermione share a look when he mentioned Cho's name. But he didn't have time to worry about that now. "I've got to run and grab something, but I'll meet you guys in that stands, okay?" He started for the stairs, not waiting for their answers.
Once he reached his dorm, Harry rummaged through his trunk until he found his invisibility cloak. He ran back down to the common room and out of the portrait hole. Looking around the hallway to make sure no one was watching, Harry threw the cloak over himself and began the trip back down to the entrance hall.
Once he was out of the castle, Harry retrieved Cho's broom and stuffed it underneath the cloak with him. It was much harder than he imagined, walking with the broom, while trying to stay completely covered by the cloak. He managed, with a great deal of difficulty, to walk around the Quidditch pitch to the far side, nearest the Dark Forest, where he sat down to wait. From here, Harry could hear all the play by play of the match and hopefully be able to catch a glimpse of whoever was after Cho.
As he waited for the match to start, Harry's thoughts began to wander. He had spent a little time during the week trying to find some meaning to Cho's dreams or why she was having them. But his Divination book was no help. He would have to spend some time in the library; Harry was sure he'd be able to find something that could help him there. There was something about this last dream that was peculiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. This dream was completely different than the last two, but there was something else.
Before Harry could rack his brain for any more ideas, he heard Lee's voice booming through the microphone, announcing the start of the match. A short whistle blast was followed by a roar from the crowd and Harry knew the match had started. "We had only been playing a little while," Cho had said, so if anything was going to happen, it would happen quickly.
"Ravenclaw scores to make it 30 – 0!" Lee's voice brought Harry out of thoughts he didn't know he was lost in. Suddenly, Cho broom jerked to life. Harry let go of it just in time and it sped off in the direction of the Dark Forest. Harry lept to his feet and ran after the broom, trying to keep it in his sights.
Harry was twenty feet from the forest when the broom disappeared into the trees. Harry's sprint slowed to a walk. Whatever wanted Cho dead was in those trees. He crept into the trees, trying to walk as silently as possible. Not hearing any voices, Harry continued forward, in the direction he hoped the broom would be. Harry caught a glimpse of light ahead of him and almost immediately, the forest opened up into a small clearing. And in the middle of the clearing sat Cho's broom, snapped in two.
Harry drew his wand and approached the broom. "Reparo." he whispered and the broom pieced itself back together. He picked it up and then noticed a set of footprints leading from the broom into the woods. Harry began to follow the footprints out of the clearing when he heard voices behind him.
"It's got to be around here somewhere." Harry froze. He knew that voice. But it couldn't be. He stuffed the broom underneath his cloak and crouched next to a tree, hoping the voices would pass by and not run into him.
A figure stepped into the clearing. "I don't see it." The figure called to someone behind him.
"Well, keep looking!" The voice snapped and Draco Malfoy stepped into the clearing.
R/R!