Quidditch and Realizations

            Harry woke the next morning to the sun shining brightly into his face. He put on his glasses to bring everything into focus. Looking over at Ron's empty bed he realized, the Weasley's must have let him sleep in really late. As he rolled out of his makeshift bed, Harry realized, he was home. This house was the only place other than Hogwarts where he felt that he actually belonged.

            He made his way down the stairs listening to the noises of dishes clanging around and being washed. As soon as his foot left the bottom stair, Mrs. Weasley was all over him.

"Harry dear, we didn't expect you to be up so soon. Here, hold on for a moment, I'll whip up some bacon and toast for you, is that okay?"

            Harry nodded dumbly, she had spoken so fast his mind was still catching up when she magically produced the said items and placed them on the table. He ate slowly under the watchful eye of Mrs. Weasley, she seemed highly motivated in her personal goal of fattening him up especially since she knew how little food he usually got while with the Dursley's. As he finished up, he realized, the Burrow was currently devoid of all sounds that indicated the presence of children.

"Mrs. Weasley? Where is everyone?" he asked while putting the dishes in the self washing sink.

"Oh, they're out back playing Quidditch, Ron said to let you know as soon as you were up and about."

Harry felt a smile grow on his face. 'Quidditch,' he thought, 'this'll be great, I haven't had a nice relaxing flight on my Firebolt in over a year!'

He ran upstairs and grabbed his broomstick, he was about to rush right back down the stairs when he glanced out the window. 'The OPEN window,' he thought to himself. Without a second thought, he launched himself out of the window, pulled himself onto the broom, and didn't pull out of his dive until he was barely a foot off the ground. In the midst of feeling the wind rush over his face and the exhilarated feeling he had inside, he thought he heard Mrs. Weasley's shocked gasp at seeing him just plummet to the ground. He laughed as he imagined her expression, and skimmed the grass all the way to the sheltered paddock where he could already hear the activity going on.

He hopped off the broom and walked into the clearing to see a 2 on 2 game fully under way. Ron and Ginny were facing off against Fred and George in a makeshift Quidditch match. They were using what appeared to be an old discarded football as a Quaffle.

'Yes, very old.' Harry thought, 'the white and the black are almost indistinguishable.'

He watched on as Ron sat determinedly in the keeper position while Ginny worked hard at trying to get past what looked like Fred. Unfortunately for her, Fred was by far the superior flyer and had managed to steal the ball and make for the makeshift hoops that had been constructed. Harry let out a low whistle at the sight of Ron blocking the shot. It was a very acrobatic move on his part and Fred looked dumbfounded. At the sound of his whistle though, everyone realized Harry had arrived.

"Oy!! Harry! How long have you been standing there mate?" Ron asked with a still satisfied look on his face.

"Long enough to see that you have really been practicing, are you planning on trying out for Gryffindor keeper this year?"

At this George flew down and landed next to Harry. "He sure is! Me and Fred here, we've been training him up pretty hard here lately. He's getting pretty good too, I can't believe that last save he made, bloody brilliant it was."

Harry heard him start to go on about how great it would be to have another Weasley on the team but he was too occupied watching Ginny to pay attention. After everyone had acknowledged his presence Ron and Fred had flown down to each other and were talking animatedly about something. George was talking to Harry, and that must've made her feel left out, because it looked like she was getting ready to leave.

"Harry...Harry!?!?!? Are you listening??"

He snapped out of his thoughts as George started shaking him to get his attention. "Sorry, I was…distracted, just thinking about stuff"

He raised an eyebrow and looked over to where Ginny was leaving the paddock and started to grin. "Distracted huh? Well maybe if you go ask her to play," he jerked his head in her direction, "she'll stick around for a bit."

Harry's head jerked up. "What are you talking about?" he said, feeling a blush creep onto his face.

"Oh nothing, but if you did want her to stay, you missed your chance," indicating she had left, "I guess its just you and Ron now, think you're up for a match against Fred and I?"

Harry didn't respond. He glanced at where Ginny had disappeared from, sighed inwardly, looked over at George's expectant face, and just launched himself into the air, and lost himself in the thrill of flying. Soon the others joined him, and instead of actually playing a game, they goofed around until lunch was announced.

Lunch was a simple affair. Mrs. Weasley had made sandwiches and provided pumpkin juice to drink. Everyone was fairly quiet. The twins were whispering to each other under the watchful glare of their mother.

'They must be planning a new Wheeze', Harry thought, smiling to himself.

            Ron seemed fairly distant as he ate. It looked like he was just staring out the window into nothing. Ginny was engrossed in looking over something that looked like a sketchbook. Harry ate slowly, every once and a while stealing glances at Ginny as she alternated between eating her sandwich and chewing the tip of her quill.

            The meal was over shortly and everyone dispersed to go about their own things. The twins ran straight up to their rooms. Ron still seemed fairly out of it as Harry watched him ascend the stairs to his own room. Mrs. Weasley retired to the kitchen to do the dishes so Harry decided to help. He couldn't help but notice that Ginny had somehow disappeared once again. He sighed to himself as he once again thought about the picture she had given him.

            "What's wrong Harry?" Mrs. Weasley questioned at the sound he had made. Harry thought fast.

            "Nothing really, I was just wondering why Ron seemed so far away all of a sudden. It was like he was in a different world."

            Mrs. Weasley turned to him, "I know dear, it is strange. He's been like that off and on ever since the end of term, but I think it has something to do with a certain friend of yours." She said with a wink. With that she turned away and finished the dishes with a flick of her wand.

            Harry thought about what she had just said for a few moments. He knew who she was talking about, and after thinking about it, it didn't come as much of a surprise. Ron had been pretty stupid around Hermione ever since the Yule Ball. But thinking about that just made him come back to Ginny again. He knew he wouldn't be able to find her now, but he told himself, he would talk to her soon, if not the next day, then by the end of the week. With that, he spent the rest of the day laying in the garden, thinking about what he would say.