France and England were playing first so Harry quickly left his friends and waited in the locker room for the teams to be announced. England was first and since this was being played in their home stadium, they got a thunderous applause from the crowd. France came next and also received a loud applause, which got turned up a bit when Harry was announced. Play started and Harry soon realized that the French team was a bit off today. Things just weren't going well for them. They missed some easy runs and failed to stop some easy ones as well. After the first twenty minutes, they were down by 60 points. After the next twenty minutes, they were down by 100. It was then that Harry saw something that flashed him back to his first professional match. He saw something golden flash right behind Kristi's head. She was at the other end of the pitch coming towards him so he darted straight for her. The other seeker didn't take off, thinking this was another feint. Harry remembered the same terrified look come on Kristi's face as the last time, and at the last second, she pulled away leaving the exposed snitch right in front of Harry. He quickly grabbed it and raised his hands. France had won.
After showering, Kristi came over and said, "One of these times I'm not going to move."
"Oooh, that's going to hurt then," Harry replied with a smile. "How have you been?"
"Ok. And you?" she asked.
"Been better, but I'll be ok. Thanks again for getting Ron the tryout. He started the last three games and did well," Harry said.
"I know. I keep up on these things," Kristi said.
The coach came over telling them to make sure and rest for the match tomorrow. Everyone expected it to be against Bulgaria and Harry had only beaten Krum twice.
Harry gave his quick interview and met his friends then quickly took them to the team box to watch the second match. They were standing around waiting for the start when Kristi came over and wanted to talk to Harry.
"I expected them to look like they want to kill me," Kristi said.
"They shouldn't, I told them the truth about what you did and why it didn't work. You know I can't blame you really," Harry told his ex-girlfriend.
Kristi looked a bit sad. "I'm just not the worrying kind. I like my nice simple uncluttered life."
"I can understand that. I don't see my life ever being like that," Harry replied honestly.
"I did want to thank you for the comments you made to the press. You could have made some people really hate me."
"I hope you didn't think I would do that. I would never intentionally hurt you."
"I know, but it's been my experience that most people would. I'll let you get back to your friends. Do good tomorrow," Kristi said before leaving.
"I can't believe you're still nice to her," Kelly said once Harry returned to his friends.
"Why? She was honest and told me what it would take for us to stay together. Kristi wasn't the type to hide what she wanted or felt. I can't complain much about that. I could have stayed with her if I wanted to give up everything except Quidditch," Harry said.
He saw Cho look sad so he put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Come on the match is starting. Cho, look for things I can use against Krum tomorrow."
The match started and Harry stayed focused on Krum. Throughout the entire match, he couldn't see any weaknesses in Viktor's technique. Krum really was an amazing player. The match lasted about 45 minutes and Bulgaria won. Hermione and Cho went back to Harry's and spent some time talking about the match. Cho didn't have any good suggestions for Harry to try against Krum.
The next day, the same group of people headed back to the stadium for the finals. The mood in the locker room was tense. Kristi kept glaring at Jacque to say something about Harry never beating Krum. All Harry wanted to do was to start playing. Bulgaria was announced and the crowd cheered loudly for Krum. France was announced and the crowd cheered loudly for Harry. Harry and Viktor greeted each other in the middle and went back to their teams.
The match started quickly and Harry instantly knew the French team was playing better than they had in yesterday's match. Both teams seemed to be equally matched and were blocking each other's drives and then matching any scores. Viktor and Harry had taken off for the snitch when a bludger forced them both to swerve and the snitch disappeared. The score was going back and forth between the two teams when the snitch was spotted again. Harry and Viktor both dove toward the ground for it. Leveling off, they both were chasing it over the pitch, right above the ground. The snitch was heading straight for one of the stand columns. Harry flashed back to smashing into the column like the last time this happened but kept chasing the snitch. At the last second, he caught a glimpse of Krum pulling up but Harry held the chase for another split second and clamped down over the snitch before pulling up. He didn't crash into the stands, but did get tangled up in the banner than hung down over them. Harry fought to get untangled and his broom fell away and then he too dropped to the ground. Luckily he had only been a couple meters up when he finally untangled himself. Harry immediately stood up and raised the snitch above his head; not believing that he had just beat Viktor in the finals. Viktor came over quickly and congratulated Harry. Harry noticed Viktor had a strange look on his face but was sincere in his congratulations.
Harry grabbed his broom and ran toward the coach who hugged him. The rest of the team came down and were congratulating him as well. The locker room was a circus; there were so many people in there. Harry had grabbed his friends and pulled them in to join the celebration. Some of the players started stripping down to take showers so Harry asked his friends to stand off to the side near the door so he could take his shower. Harry took his pants over to the shower area with him so that he could put them on before coming back into their area where the crowd of friends had gathered. When he came back, he quickly finished dressing and was getting many congratulations from the rest of the team. Kristi had grabbed him before she even finished getting dressed; she had only put her pants on. Harry saw Kelly hit Sirius and wondered what his godfather had said. After the pandemonium died down, Harry walked out to give his interview and couldn't believe how many people were there waiting. He found his favorite reporter.
"Congratulations Harry. France now owns the cup."
"Thanks. Ms. Mishmas. I still can't believe we beat Bulgaria. The team played great."
"Why do you think Krum pulled up at the last minute?"
"Probably because Viktor has more sense than I do." Harry said and laughed.
"I understand you haven't signed a contract for next season yet. Are you planning on going somewhere else?"
"I want to be back, the team just hasn't presented me with a contract yet. It's up to the team on if I'll be back or not."
"Please come to Paris more. Now that you're available again, I'm sure you would have a good time."
"You know what Ms. Mishmas. I promise I'll do that. I really enjoyed it every time Kristi took me out and now I'll just have to do it on my own."
"Oh, you won't be on your own for long Harry. Congratulations again."
Kristi came over and grabbed him again. "I knew you could do it. The team is so screwed now. They'll have to pay you whatever you want to come back. Come on, you've got to come to the party tonight."
Harry turned and asked his friends to come. To his surprise, Hermione and Cho both agreed so Harry told Kristi they would come as well. Kristi announced she would get them a limo so they were supposed to meet at her place.
Sirius and Kelly congratulated Harry and then went home. "Harry. Cho and I don't know how to get to Kristi's and you can't pull us both. How will we all get there?" Hermione asked sounding concerned.
Harry was in such a good mood when he said, "Come here you two." Harry quickly pulled the two girls into a tight hug and apparated with both of the girls still hugging him. The next thing the two girls knew they were outside of Kristi's apartment in Paris.
"Harry! You can't just go around doing things like that. How did you know it would work?" Hermione said sounding really upset.
"I'm so happy, I feel like I can do anything. Cho, were you worried?" Harry asked still feeling elated.
"Not at all. I've known for a while you can do anything," Cho answered with a smile.
"Come on Hermione have some faith in me," Harry said still smiling and knocked on the door.
Kristi opened it quickly and pulled them in saying, "Show them around Harry, I need to change. By the way, so do you. Luckily you left some of your clothes here." Kristi pulled him into the bedroom to change. They both appeared a short time later dressed in much nicer clothes. Hermione and Cho were both stunned at how comfortable Harry and Kristi were around each other since they had broken up earlier in the year. Kristi poured them all some champagne and showed them around her apartment. Both girls loved the view Kristi had.
Harry thought of something and said. "Ok, you all know how the press will be. By tomorrow one of you two will have been Kristi's date and the other will have been mine. Or, it will be that Kristi and I are back together and you two are a couple. Or, it will be that I'm having a very good night. Wait and see."
Kristi had them wait for a while so they would be the lasts ones to the party. When the limo doors opened, Hermione was kind of hesitant because of all the yelling. Kristi got out first and the crowd went wild. Cho came next and there were some gasps, then Hermione and more gasps, finally Harry exited the limo and the crowd went wild again. The four all waved a bit since they were in such a good mood. Only Hermione seemed a little unnerved by the whole thing. Harry noticed this and leaned into her ear, "Say the word and I'll get you out of here." She squeezed his hand in appreciation.
Kristi was in her element here and Cho seemed very happy to be here as well. So many people intimidated Hermione. The only thing Harry liked was all his teammates were having such a good time. Hermione started to loosen up after a while and even came to dance with Harry a few times.
It was getting very early in the morning when Harry suggested they leave. Cho seemed reluctant but did come with Hermione and Harry. Since they had all been drinking, Kristi suggested a nice hotel just a couple blocks down and had the limo take the trio there. Harry got a two-bedroom suite for them and they all went straight up. The friends had one more toast to a great night and the championship before going to bed. Cho and Hermione were taking one bedroom with two beds and Harry was taking the other.
Hermione got up after a few hours to use the loo and noticed Cho was gone. She saw the door to the common area was open, so she went through to investigate. Then Hermione saw the door to Harry's room open. She immediately felt anger towards both Cho and Harry. She didn't put this past Cho, but thought Harry should know better. Then she remembered how much they all had to drink and was just disappointed in him. Before turning back, she noticed something move on the floor so she walked closer to Harry's room. Hermione saw Cho lying on the bed in her panties and shirt and then saw Harry on the floor. He had pulled a pillow down and was asleep, still wearing his pants and socks. Once again, she was reminded of just the kind of person Harry was. Hermione was sure Cho had come in to do more than sleep, and Harry must have decided to sleep on the floor instead. Now she was really glad she came, because she realized that even in a situation like this, she could count on Harry to do the right thing.
The End
Notes: The only purpose of this story was to get careers/situations setup for the next story. I didn't really put much time or effort into it. Sorry.