A/N: I had this whacked out dream this morning where I was in the body of Patrick Stewart and I was tracking down some aliens in a hotel. I got tokens every time I used the elevator and I found a whole load of quarters. I carried a six shooter in my POCKET and every time I tried to shoot a bullet at the female alien, she would stop it and sneer at me. I kinda woke up somewhere around the time she was making me take down a number.
Okay... I know... weird and strange. I've already mapped out most of the important stuff for the first three years of Harriet. *tee hee* she's just sooo adorable! What do you think of my rendition of a young Albus Dumbledore? When I was drawing what he would look like, he ended up looking like Elijah Wood for some reason or other. I hadn't intended it to happen, it just did.
The song that I played while writing the Dead!Colin scene was "Deora Ar Mo Chroi" (Tears on my heart) by Enya. Kinda Apprapoe, eh?
Chapter Nine
It was the first quidditch game of the season. Harry had to get Denis to calm down before the game, or they would have to play without a chaser. The problem was trying to find him. He had taken to finding places to hide.
For a week, no one could find him. He didn't even go to class. Harry had to ask the fifth year Gryffindor boys if they knew where he was. Of course, they didn't.
Harry had to resort to drastic measures. The Quidditch game was the very next day and he had to use everything in his arsenal that he could to find Denis. He was going to use the Marauder's Map.
Harry walked into the boys dorm and went to his trunk. He searched through it and found the pocket Sneakoscope making noise as usual. Harry ignored it and looked through the rest of the trunk. Somewhere in here was his father's map. The one that his father and his friends made to help them with wandering around Hogwarts.
It wasn't there. The Sneakoscope was whining loudly and Harry slammed the trunk down to muffle it. Where had it gone, he wondered.
Albus walked in talking to Ginny in a pleasantly conversation. Albus smiled at Harry. "Harry! I was just talking to Ginny here. She's being ever so nice to me..."
"Harry? What's wrong, Harry?" asked Ginny.
Harry huffed in irritation. "I can't find someone and I can't find a particular piece of parchment."
Albus stared at Harry with a knowing smile. Harry felt like a tiny bug under that gaze. "I think I saw Sirius looking through your trunk, this morning."
Harry growled through gritted teeth. "I'm going to hurt him, so badly..." Then, Harry calmed himself down. "Do you know where he went off to?"
Albus kept that smile on his face. "I think he said he was going to have some fun with a few snakes..."
It hit Harry like a lightning bolt. He said his goodbyes to Ginny and Albus and dashed out of Gryffindor Tower. Harry had not found his invisablity cloak in his trunk. He reasoned that Sirius had found it along with the map.
He ran to the dungeon area of the Slytherin house. He ran until he came to the gargoyle that guarded the entrance. He tried to remember what the password was. "Draconius!"
The gargoyle hopped aside and revealed the door that led to the common room of Slytherin house. He walked through looked around. There were Slytherins in the Common room. They were talking and doing homework. He spotted Draco talking to Crabbe and Goyle in a couch in front of the fireplace. He walked over to them.
Harry was ignoring the many glares and stares that he received from everyone in the common room. "Draco... I need to talk to you...."
"Why should I, Potter...." Draco drawled automatically. He looked up at Harry and sneered. "Did you know that you are in the wrong house? What happened... did the mighty Harry Potter take a wrong turn? Or did you want to come over to the dark side...."
"Malfoy... I'm warning you..." Harry growled. He was bristling as bad as Ron had a tendency to do. Harry swallowed it and took a deep breath. "Have you seen anything strange happen here?"
"Aside from you showing up? No...." Draco drawled. He waved his hand at Harry in a dismissive manner. "If you are quite through, I have a conversation to get back to..."
Harry was thinking of the many things he could do to Draco that would cause him great pain, but was interrupted by someone tapping him on the shoulder. Harry wheeled around and saw Thomas Edward Nigma staring at him with his cold dark eyes. "Sir.. What are you doing in this house? Shouldn't you be in Gryffindor right now?" He said with a cold smile.
Harry brushed him aside. "I don't need to be patronized right now, Nigma... Right now I need to find a few trouble makers that are going to set some kind of trap here..." Harry said. The last thing Harry needed was to get into trouble because of Sirius and Remus. He wondered if Minerva was with them as well, but he dismissed it when he recalled seeing her with Avalon.
"Aw... I didn't know you cared, Potter..." said Draco with a sneer.
Harry grimaced at Draco and huffed his irritation. Harry stalked out of the common room and promptly ran into something that was leaving through the doorway. Harry had a thought as to who it was.
Harry heard the footsteps and followed them. When he got close enough, he grabbed at the air. He had hoped that he would grab the cloth of the invisablitiy cloak. He did and he came up under the cloak and found himself behind Remus. He tapped Remus' shoulder and grinned at him as he slowly turned and stared at him. "Hello!" Harry said gleefully.
Remus tapped Sirius on his shoulder. Sirius brushed Remus off. "Not now, Remus... I asked you to keep an eye out for the Prongs look a like...." His voice trailed off as he stopped and turned.
Harry grinned and waved at Sirius. "Hullo!" Harry said in a cheerful voice. He wanted to be like his father and join in the fun, but right now he had to keep things in order and that meant he had to act like Percy Weasley.
Harry threw the cloak off of them and started wrapping it up. Sirius stood stunned at Harry. Remus smiled in a knowing manner. Harry had had enough. "Give me the map, Sirius... I've got to find one of my players or else I am one man short on the field tomorrow."
"If I didn't know any better... I would say that he WAS James, Sirius..." Remus said thoughtfully. "Certainly acts a lot like him...."
Sirius huffed indignantly and handed Harry the map. "Party drooper..." Sirius said glumly.
"Thank you... now please go back to Gryffindor Tower..." Harry said with a smile. Remus put an arm around Sirius' shoulders and they started walking off to Gryffindor Tower.
Harry pondered what Remus had said. He smiled and shook his head. He remembered that James had been Head Boy as well and probably had to act like a jerk to get his friends to stay out of trouble.
Harry took out his wand and tapped it onto the blank sheet of parchment. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good..." he said.
Immediately, black spidery scribbling started forming letters. "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs present the Maurader's Map." It said in the handwriting. Then, a map of Hogwarts started forming. Harry looked around the map. He looked down corridors and everything with his nose pressed up against the paper.
"I wish I could find Denis more easily." he sighed.
As if on cue, the map made everything disappear except a section near the great hall. Harry pressed the map up to his nose again and he saw a small figure that was labeled as Denis Creevy.
Harry tapped the map with his wand and spoke. "Mischief Managed.." The map went blank and Harry stuffed it into his jeans pocket.
He jogged down the corridors until he reached the great hall. He went to the broom closet that he thought he saw Denis in and knocked on it. "Denis? Are you in there?"
"Go away, Harry..." He said in a grim sort of voice.
"I'm not going away... I need to have my team filled out and you seem to be missing from it, Denis..." Harry said with a smile.
"I don't care right now..." Denis said. His voice was cold and almost emotionless. "Don't you care that I've just lost my older brother? My flesh and blood? Don't you care that he worshiped the ground you walked on and you barely acknowledged him?"
"He drove me nuts, Denis..." Harry realized that may have not been the right choice of words.
"True.... but you could've been a bit nicer to him..." Denis said through the door. This wasn't going to be easy.
"I cared that he chose to say goodbye to me... I think that is rather fitting of him, don't you think?" Harry said to the door. There was silence for a full minute.
"I'm his little brother.... why didn't I see him.... why didn't he come to me...?" Denis finally said. This really wasn't going to be easy.
"You're upset because he showed himself to me and not you, that's what it is isn't it. You're jealous, aren't you..." Harry said. He was starting to understand what Denis was going through now.
"He was stupid.... so stupid!" Harry heard something hit the door. Harry jumped back with a hand over his ear and hit the floor hard.
Then, the door opened and out walked Denis. Harry saw him now, not as the little first year that he saw walk in drenched to the bone, but a fifth year now. His features were slightly different from that of his older brother, who was still rather short and mouse like. He was taller and lanky with wide eyes that now glared down at Harry.
"What was that you threw at the door?" Harry asked. He was still looking up at Denis from the floor.
Denis picked up a book and handed it to Harry. "Here... he would've wanted you to have it...." Denis said. "It's the scrap book that he's kept since his first year."
Harry took it and stood up. No matter what, Harry was still taller than Denis. "Er... thanks..."
"Don't mention it..." Denis rubbed his nose. "So... about that game..." Harry grinned widely.
The next day, Harry walked out with his entire team. Out on the other side was the Hufflepuff team in their canary yellow robes. Hannah Abbott was the team captain this year. She was a chaser.
Madame Hooch walked out and held out the quaffle. "Now... I want a nice clean game..." She put her whistle in her mouth and blew. Everyone flew into the air.
Harry flew up higher than anyone and kept an eye out for the snitch. He watched as Astra and Nevaeh played the bludgers like a well oiled machine. Ginny and Kennedy were passing the quaffle to one another until it got to Denis and he through it past the keeper.
"Ten points to Gryffindor!" went the new emcee.
Hufflepuff seemed to be at it's weakest moment as Harry had ever seen it. Harry knew that the Hufflepuff used to be better than this. Gryffindor scored again.
"What's going on?" Harry said. Then, he saw the Hufflepuff seeker shoot up towards the sky past Harry. "Oh no you don't..."
Harry sped upwards and saw the flitting gold of the snitch. Harry easily passed the Hufflepuff seeker. Harry reached out, but a suddenly pain in his back made him drop. A bludger had hit him. The Hufflepuff seeker sped downwards at Harry.
The Hufflepuff seeker came up underneath Harry and caught him. "Careful there..." He said cheerfully.
Harry mounted his broom and smiled at the seeker. "Thanks..."
"No problem! I like good competition." The other seeker said with a grin.
"We get to look for the snitch again...." Harry said.
Harry watched as Hufflepuff finally made a score on Gryffindor. There was tultumulous applause from the Hufflepuff crowd. Harry smiled at the seeker next to him.
"A galleon says that we win..." said the seeker.
"You're on..."
"It looks like the two team seekers are buddying up! Is this a new formation for the Hufflepuffs? Or are the Gryffindors pulling a fast one on the Hufflepuffs!" went the emcee.
Astra was having to play hard to get with one of the Hufflepuff beaters. It was a guy with ginger hair and laughing brown eyes. She smirked and hit the nearest bludger at him. "Catch!"
"This is really bizarre! They seem to be playing a game of street quidditch... not really any competition in here..." the emcee said again.
That wasn't true, though. At least not between the Hufflepuff seeker and Harry. "No... the odds of us burying you are better...." said the Hufflepuff seeker. "Two Galleons..."
"No raising the stakes, mate... one galleon... I don't want you to lose most of your money..." Harry said. "Besides... I've got plenty...."
"So my money's not good enough for you, eh?" said the seeker with a wide devilish grin. He was baiting Harry. "My name is Christopher Trent...." He held out his hand in a friendly manner.
"Harry... Harry Potter..." Harry shook his hand and grinned back. He let go and looked back at the game. "When are you going to get serious with us, eh? You aren't playing your hardest and my people thought you would, which was why we scored on you so easily...."
"We wanted to make believe that we weren't in an actual competition. It's much more fun that way, you know?" said Christopher.
"Well... it seems that my people have figured it out... my beaters are playing catch with your guys..." Harry said as he pointed out Nevaeh and Astra.
"Your beaters are really strong... especially that elf girl... Astra is what you called her? She's pretty..." Christopher said with an evil grin.
"She's taken...."
"By you? I thought you had that Weasley girl...." Christopher looked confused.
Harry blushed severely. "No.... by the captain of the Slytherin team..."
"Slytherin! Rubbish... that's what that entire lot is... absolute rubbish!" Christopher punched the air with a fist and swerved his broom.
"Well.... she seems to keep him from being completely hopeless... he seems to be genuinely friendlier now..." Harry said. "He only poked fun at me when I saw him yesterday." Friendlier was an absolute overstatement, but Harry wasn't going to be too unkind.
"This game has taken a turn! It looks as though Gryffindor has finally set the terms for this match now! Hufflepuff better get serious if they want to win." the emcee shouted in excitement.
As if on cue, Hufflepuff started getting more aggressive. Astra had to bat away more bludger attacks away from the chasers than before. She grunted aggressively as she hit a bludger at one of the beaters. Then, she sped past it and hit away from the beater just before it was in range of his face. She winked at the boy and waved. "Bye!"
He looked as white as a sheet and looked like he had wet himself in fear. The secret move of hers had worked yet again.
Harry saw the snitch at the Hufflepuff teams scoring hoops. He raced against Christopher to get at it. He was racing at top speed and still Christopher was level with him. He briefly wondered what kind of broom he had that could match a firebolt.
He urged the broom faster and as if it rad his mind, he sped up faster than Christopher. He reached the goal post and caught the tiny glittering snitch. "Gryffindor wins! Gryffindor wins!"
Harry flew to the ground and tossed the now deactivated snitch to Madame Hooch. He walked over to Hannah Abbott and put out his hand. "Good game, Hannah..." he said with a smile.
She stared at him for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah... it was good... Thank you...." She shook his hand and walked off.
Christopher walked up to Harry as he fumbled his broom and coin pouch. "I think I can find what I'm looking for in here...." he said as he picked around the pouch.
Harry put a hand on Christopher's shoulder. "That game was enough, Chris... thank you, but I already said I don't need anymore money..."
Christopher smiled at Harry pleasantly. "You really are a great guy.... just like all the story books say.... Good luck... Harry Potter..." He shook Harry's hand gleefully and skipped over to Hannah Abbott, pulling her in a hug and giving her a peck on the cheek.
Harry started toward the rest of the Gryffindor team when he saw Susan Bones standing solemnly by the entrance to the Gryffindor change rooms, which was beside one of the set of stands for Gryffindor. Her red hair flowed in the breeze. Her round, cherubic face showed a heavy sadness that spread into Harry. Then, she smiled at him and curtsied. "Good bye, Harry Potter.... the greatest of us all...." Harry heard her voice as though it were carried on the wind. Then, she walked behind one of the stands and disappeared from his sight.
Harry had a pit in his stomach. He heard a high pitched scream of absolute fear and agony. He ran to the sound. His heart pounded in his ears like a drum. He ran to the now silent area behind the Gryffindor stands.
What he saw, made him feel sick. Susan Bones was up against the back wall of the stands, her hands were tied to two poles that held them aloft. He head was back against the support beam behind her. She was a bloody mess of shredded clothes, blood and flesh.
He walked over to her, suppressing his urge to vomit and touched the cold white skin of her face. Her red hair was everywhere. There was something scratched onto her forehead.
He took out his wand and used a severing charm on the bonds. Hermione had come around the corner and screamed as he took her down and laid her on the ground, her head in his lap.
He had never really known her. He knew that she was a Hufflepuff. She was in his year. That Voldemort had killed her grandparents. He knew that she was sweet to him when she saw him, normally.
"What's on her forehead...." Hermione said in a trembling voice. Harry heard people coming over.
Harry stopped holding the bloody mass in his arms and looked at her head. He traced the uppercase letters on her forehead. "D.... M... V..."
"Department of Motor Vehicles? What the blazes is that supposed to mean...." Hermione said.
She wrote something down on a small piece of parchment and ran off. Harry cradled the lifeless head of Susan Bones in his arms and spoke in barely a whisper. Like what he had heard her sound like. "Good bye, Susan...."
Okay... I know... weird and strange. I've already mapped out most of the important stuff for the first three years of Harriet. *tee hee* she's just sooo adorable! What do you think of my rendition of a young Albus Dumbledore? When I was drawing what he would look like, he ended up looking like Elijah Wood for some reason or other. I hadn't intended it to happen, it just did.
The song that I played while writing the Dead!Colin scene was "Deora Ar Mo Chroi" (Tears on my heart) by Enya. Kinda Apprapoe, eh?
Chapter Nine
It was the first quidditch game of the season. Harry had to get Denis to calm down before the game, or they would have to play without a chaser. The problem was trying to find him. He had taken to finding places to hide.
For a week, no one could find him. He didn't even go to class. Harry had to ask the fifth year Gryffindor boys if they knew where he was. Of course, they didn't.
Harry had to resort to drastic measures. The Quidditch game was the very next day and he had to use everything in his arsenal that he could to find Denis. He was going to use the Marauder's Map.
Harry walked into the boys dorm and went to his trunk. He searched through it and found the pocket Sneakoscope making noise as usual. Harry ignored it and looked through the rest of the trunk. Somewhere in here was his father's map. The one that his father and his friends made to help them with wandering around Hogwarts.
It wasn't there. The Sneakoscope was whining loudly and Harry slammed the trunk down to muffle it. Where had it gone, he wondered.
Albus walked in talking to Ginny in a pleasantly conversation. Albus smiled at Harry. "Harry! I was just talking to Ginny here. She's being ever so nice to me..."
"Harry? What's wrong, Harry?" asked Ginny.
Harry huffed in irritation. "I can't find someone and I can't find a particular piece of parchment."
Albus stared at Harry with a knowing smile. Harry felt like a tiny bug under that gaze. "I think I saw Sirius looking through your trunk, this morning."
Harry growled through gritted teeth. "I'm going to hurt him, so badly..." Then, Harry calmed himself down. "Do you know where he went off to?"
Albus kept that smile on his face. "I think he said he was going to have some fun with a few snakes..."
It hit Harry like a lightning bolt. He said his goodbyes to Ginny and Albus and dashed out of Gryffindor Tower. Harry had not found his invisablity cloak in his trunk. He reasoned that Sirius had found it along with the map.
He ran to the dungeon area of the Slytherin house. He ran until he came to the gargoyle that guarded the entrance. He tried to remember what the password was. "Draconius!"
The gargoyle hopped aside and revealed the door that led to the common room of Slytherin house. He walked through looked around. There were Slytherins in the Common room. They were talking and doing homework. He spotted Draco talking to Crabbe and Goyle in a couch in front of the fireplace. He walked over to them.
Harry was ignoring the many glares and stares that he received from everyone in the common room. "Draco... I need to talk to you...."
"Why should I, Potter...." Draco drawled automatically. He looked up at Harry and sneered. "Did you know that you are in the wrong house? What happened... did the mighty Harry Potter take a wrong turn? Or did you want to come over to the dark side...."
"Malfoy... I'm warning you..." Harry growled. He was bristling as bad as Ron had a tendency to do. Harry swallowed it and took a deep breath. "Have you seen anything strange happen here?"
"Aside from you showing up? No...." Draco drawled. He waved his hand at Harry in a dismissive manner. "If you are quite through, I have a conversation to get back to..."
Harry was thinking of the many things he could do to Draco that would cause him great pain, but was interrupted by someone tapping him on the shoulder. Harry wheeled around and saw Thomas Edward Nigma staring at him with his cold dark eyes. "Sir.. What are you doing in this house? Shouldn't you be in Gryffindor right now?" He said with a cold smile.
Harry brushed him aside. "I don't need to be patronized right now, Nigma... Right now I need to find a few trouble makers that are going to set some kind of trap here..." Harry said. The last thing Harry needed was to get into trouble because of Sirius and Remus. He wondered if Minerva was with them as well, but he dismissed it when he recalled seeing her with Avalon.
"Aw... I didn't know you cared, Potter..." said Draco with a sneer.
Harry grimaced at Draco and huffed his irritation. Harry stalked out of the common room and promptly ran into something that was leaving through the doorway. Harry had a thought as to who it was.
Harry heard the footsteps and followed them. When he got close enough, he grabbed at the air. He had hoped that he would grab the cloth of the invisablitiy cloak. He did and he came up under the cloak and found himself behind Remus. He tapped Remus' shoulder and grinned at him as he slowly turned and stared at him. "Hello!" Harry said gleefully.
Remus tapped Sirius on his shoulder. Sirius brushed Remus off. "Not now, Remus... I asked you to keep an eye out for the Prongs look a like...." His voice trailed off as he stopped and turned.
Harry grinned and waved at Sirius. "Hullo!" Harry said in a cheerful voice. He wanted to be like his father and join in the fun, but right now he had to keep things in order and that meant he had to act like Percy Weasley.
Harry threw the cloak off of them and started wrapping it up. Sirius stood stunned at Harry. Remus smiled in a knowing manner. Harry had had enough. "Give me the map, Sirius... I've got to find one of my players or else I am one man short on the field tomorrow."
"If I didn't know any better... I would say that he WAS James, Sirius..." Remus said thoughtfully. "Certainly acts a lot like him...."
Sirius huffed indignantly and handed Harry the map. "Party drooper..." Sirius said glumly.
"Thank you... now please go back to Gryffindor Tower..." Harry said with a smile. Remus put an arm around Sirius' shoulders and they started walking off to Gryffindor Tower.
Harry pondered what Remus had said. He smiled and shook his head. He remembered that James had been Head Boy as well and probably had to act like a jerk to get his friends to stay out of trouble.
Harry took out his wand and tapped it onto the blank sheet of parchment. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good..." he said.
Immediately, black spidery scribbling started forming letters. "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs present the Maurader's Map." It said in the handwriting. Then, a map of Hogwarts started forming. Harry looked around the map. He looked down corridors and everything with his nose pressed up against the paper.
"I wish I could find Denis more easily." he sighed.
As if on cue, the map made everything disappear except a section near the great hall. Harry pressed the map up to his nose again and he saw a small figure that was labeled as Denis Creevy.
Harry tapped the map with his wand and spoke. "Mischief Managed.." The map went blank and Harry stuffed it into his jeans pocket.
He jogged down the corridors until he reached the great hall. He went to the broom closet that he thought he saw Denis in and knocked on it. "Denis? Are you in there?"
"Go away, Harry..." He said in a grim sort of voice.
"I'm not going away... I need to have my team filled out and you seem to be missing from it, Denis..." Harry said with a smile.
"I don't care right now..." Denis said. His voice was cold and almost emotionless. "Don't you care that I've just lost my older brother? My flesh and blood? Don't you care that he worshiped the ground you walked on and you barely acknowledged him?"
"He drove me nuts, Denis..." Harry realized that may have not been the right choice of words.
"True.... but you could've been a bit nicer to him..." Denis said through the door. This wasn't going to be easy.
"I cared that he chose to say goodbye to me... I think that is rather fitting of him, don't you think?" Harry said to the door. There was silence for a full minute.
"I'm his little brother.... why didn't I see him.... why didn't he come to me...?" Denis finally said. This really wasn't going to be easy.
"You're upset because he showed himself to me and not you, that's what it is isn't it. You're jealous, aren't you..." Harry said. He was starting to understand what Denis was going through now.
"He was stupid.... so stupid!" Harry heard something hit the door. Harry jumped back with a hand over his ear and hit the floor hard.
Then, the door opened and out walked Denis. Harry saw him now, not as the little first year that he saw walk in drenched to the bone, but a fifth year now. His features were slightly different from that of his older brother, who was still rather short and mouse like. He was taller and lanky with wide eyes that now glared down at Harry.
"What was that you threw at the door?" Harry asked. He was still looking up at Denis from the floor.
Denis picked up a book and handed it to Harry. "Here... he would've wanted you to have it...." Denis said. "It's the scrap book that he's kept since his first year."
Harry took it and stood up. No matter what, Harry was still taller than Denis. "Er... thanks..."
"Don't mention it..." Denis rubbed his nose. "So... about that game..." Harry grinned widely.
The next day, Harry walked out with his entire team. Out on the other side was the Hufflepuff team in their canary yellow robes. Hannah Abbott was the team captain this year. She was a chaser.
Madame Hooch walked out and held out the quaffle. "Now... I want a nice clean game..." She put her whistle in her mouth and blew. Everyone flew into the air.
Harry flew up higher than anyone and kept an eye out for the snitch. He watched as Astra and Nevaeh played the bludgers like a well oiled machine. Ginny and Kennedy were passing the quaffle to one another until it got to Denis and he through it past the keeper.
"Ten points to Gryffindor!" went the new emcee.
Hufflepuff seemed to be at it's weakest moment as Harry had ever seen it. Harry knew that the Hufflepuff used to be better than this. Gryffindor scored again.
"What's going on?" Harry said. Then, he saw the Hufflepuff seeker shoot up towards the sky past Harry. "Oh no you don't..."
Harry sped upwards and saw the flitting gold of the snitch. Harry easily passed the Hufflepuff seeker. Harry reached out, but a suddenly pain in his back made him drop. A bludger had hit him. The Hufflepuff seeker sped downwards at Harry.
The Hufflepuff seeker came up underneath Harry and caught him. "Careful there..." He said cheerfully.
Harry mounted his broom and smiled at the seeker. "Thanks..."
"No problem! I like good competition." The other seeker said with a grin.
"We get to look for the snitch again...." Harry said.
Harry watched as Hufflepuff finally made a score on Gryffindor. There was tultumulous applause from the Hufflepuff crowd. Harry smiled at the seeker next to him.
"A galleon says that we win..." said the seeker.
"You're on..."
"It looks like the two team seekers are buddying up! Is this a new formation for the Hufflepuffs? Or are the Gryffindors pulling a fast one on the Hufflepuffs!" went the emcee.
Astra was having to play hard to get with one of the Hufflepuff beaters. It was a guy with ginger hair and laughing brown eyes. She smirked and hit the nearest bludger at him. "Catch!"
"This is really bizarre! They seem to be playing a game of street quidditch... not really any competition in here..." the emcee said again.
That wasn't true, though. At least not between the Hufflepuff seeker and Harry. "No... the odds of us burying you are better...." said the Hufflepuff seeker. "Two Galleons..."
"No raising the stakes, mate... one galleon... I don't want you to lose most of your money..." Harry said. "Besides... I've got plenty...."
"So my money's not good enough for you, eh?" said the seeker with a wide devilish grin. He was baiting Harry. "My name is Christopher Trent...." He held out his hand in a friendly manner.
"Harry... Harry Potter..." Harry shook his hand and grinned back. He let go and looked back at the game. "When are you going to get serious with us, eh? You aren't playing your hardest and my people thought you would, which was why we scored on you so easily...."
"We wanted to make believe that we weren't in an actual competition. It's much more fun that way, you know?" said Christopher.
"Well... it seems that my people have figured it out... my beaters are playing catch with your guys..." Harry said as he pointed out Nevaeh and Astra.
"Your beaters are really strong... especially that elf girl... Astra is what you called her? She's pretty..." Christopher said with an evil grin.
"She's taken...."
"By you? I thought you had that Weasley girl...." Christopher looked confused.
Harry blushed severely. "No.... by the captain of the Slytherin team..."
"Slytherin! Rubbish... that's what that entire lot is... absolute rubbish!" Christopher punched the air with a fist and swerved his broom.
"Well.... she seems to keep him from being completely hopeless... he seems to be genuinely friendlier now..." Harry said. "He only poked fun at me when I saw him yesterday." Friendlier was an absolute overstatement, but Harry wasn't going to be too unkind.
"This game has taken a turn! It looks as though Gryffindor has finally set the terms for this match now! Hufflepuff better get serious if they want to win." the emcee shouted in excitement.
As if on cue, Hufflepuff started getting more aggressive. Astra had to bat away more bludger attacks away from the chasers than before. She grunted aggressively as she hit a bludger at one of the beaters. Then, she sped past it and hit away from the beater just before it was in range of his face. She winked at the boy and waved. "Bye!"
He looked as white as a sheet and looked like he had wet himself in fear. The secret move of hers had worked yet again.
Harry saw the snitch at the Hufflepuff teams scoring hoops. He raced against Christopher to get at it. He was racing at top speed and still Christopher was level with him. He briefly wondered what kind of broom he had that could match a firebolt.
He urged the broom faster and as if it rad his mind, he sped up faster than Christopher. He reached the goal post and caught the tiny glittering snitch. "Gryffindor wins! Gryffindor wins!"
Harry flew to the ground and tossed the now deactivated snitch to Madame Hooch. He walked over to Hannah Abbott and put out his hand. "Good game, Hannah..." he said with a smile.
She stared at him for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah... it was good... Thank you...." She shook his hand and walked off.
Christopher walked up to Harry as he fumbled his broom and coin pouch. "I think I can find what I'm looking for in here...." he said as he picked around the pouch.
Harry put a hand on Christopher's shoulder. "That game was enough, Chris... thank you, but I already said I don't need anymore money..."
Christopher smiled at Harry pleasantly. "You really are a great guy.... just like all the story books say.... Good luck... Harry Potter..." He shook Harry's hand gleefully and skipped over to Hannah Abbott, pulling her in a hug and giving her a peck on the cheek.
Harry started toward the rest of the Gryffindor team when he saw Susan Bones standing solemnly by the entrance to the Gryffindor change rooms, which was beside one of the set of stands for Gryffindor. Her red hair flowed in the breeze. Her round, cherubic face showed a heavy sadness that spread into Harry. Then, she smiled at him and curtsied. "Good bye, Harry Potter.... the greatest of us all...." Harry heard her voice as though it were carried on the wind. Then, she walked behind one of the stands and disappeared from his sight.
Harry had a pit in his stomach. He heard a high pitched scream of absolute fear and agony. He ran to the sound. His heart pounded in his ears like a drum. He ran to the now silent area behind the Gryffindor stands.
What he saw, made him feel sick. Susan Bones was up against the back wall of the stands, her hands were tied to two poles that held them aloft. He head was back against the support beam behind her. She was a bloody mess of shredded clothes, blood and flesh.
He walked over to her, suppressing his urge to vomit and touched the cold white skin of her face. Her red hair was everywhere. There was something scratched onto her forehead.
He took out his wand and used a severing charm on the bonds. Hermione had come around the corner and screamed as he took her down and laid her on the ground, her head in his lap.
He had never really known her. He knew that she was a Hufflepuff. She was in his year. That Voldemort had killed her grandparents. He knew that she was sweet to him when she saw him, normally.
"What's on her forehead...." Hermione said in a trembling voice. Harry heard people coming over.
Harry stopped holding the bloody mass in his arms and looked at her head. He traced the uppercase letters on her forehead. "D.... M... V..."
"Department of Motor Vehicles? What the blazes is that supposed to mean...." Hermione said.
She wrote something down on a small piece of parchment and ran off. Harry cradled the lifeless head of Susan Bones in his arms and spoke in barely a whisper. Like what he had heard her sound like. "Good bye, Susan...."