Chapter 8

"You have to eat, Ron," Hermione said plaintively. "You need your strength and energy for the match."

"I know, Hermione. You don't need to fuss over me," Ron said, exasperated. He was clearly tired of all the nagging.

Harry leaned over and spoke to Ginny in a low tone. "I don't know what she's talking about. I've never eaten a thing before a game, and I still do pretty well for myself." He gestured at his still full plate for emphasis. "I'm not going to say anything to her, though. Not when she's like this." Ginny giggled, and Harry was happy they had finally got over the embarrassment of the towel incident. It had taken most of the week, but they had finally made it.

"I wouldn't want to either," Ginny said. "I think my dear older brother has lost the plot if he thinks he's going to win an argument with Hermione."

"I don't know," Harry mused. "I'd say they're equally stubborn. This particular argument is going to end in a tie though. Team! Locker Room!"

* * * * *
"Welcome ladies, gentlemen, and Slytherins, to this great day," crowed Lee Jordan enthusiastically. "Today we have Slytherin versus Gryffindor. And here come the Slytherins. After the year break, they are now captained by Draco Malfoy, who I'm sure had the position bought for him by his father." His pronouncement was greeted with a chorus of boos from the Slytherin section.

"Jordan!" screeched Professor McGonagall.

"Sorry Professor," said Jordan, wholly unrepentant. "And here come the Gryffindors, led by Captain Harry Potter." He paused to allow for the cheers from the Gryffindor cheering section. "The big story for this team is the addition of yet another Weasley. Yes, the youngest brother Ron is now the Keeper, and some say he could be even better than Oliver Wood."

Hermione and Ginny were sitting together, and for once Hermione seemed interested in the game, even if her attention was mostly on the Keeper. "Oh, I hope Ron does well. He'll be absolutely unbearable if he doesn't," she said nervously.

Ginny seemed to be relishing the opportunity to be the calm one. It wasn't often one caught Hermione unruffled. "Relax, Hermione, he'll be fine. I've been out at practice all these weeks, trying to throw the Quaffle past him. He's darn near impossible to beat."

Lee Jordan was still going. "In memory of Cedric Diggory, we will have a moment of silence." Harry bowed his head, and memories of the maze flew by his mind's eye. When the moment ended, he had to wipe a single tear from his eye. He pushed out the dark thoughts and focused on the game.

The teams gathered at center. "Captains, shake hands," commanded Madam Hooch. Unlike the previous meeting between the teams, when then- Captains Flint and Wood had tried to break each other's hand, Harry and Malfoy shook hands easily. Malfoy wore a smirk, while Harry's expression was one of quiet confidence. He felt, rather than saw, his team behind him. He could feel Ron's nervousness, the Chaser's determination, and the twins' readiness to protect. He knew they would come out ahead.

"On my whistle," Madam Hooch ordered, and both teams tensed. "Three . . .Two . . .One . . ." TWEET. Harry took off higher than everyone else, as was his custom. He glanced around the stands. It wasn't quite the solidarity shown in the Championship game two years previous, but the crowd was solidly on the side of the Gryffindors. His first action was to check Malfoy's location. He wasn't even pretending to look for the Snitch; instead, he was staying close on Harry's tail. Harry shook his head. It seemed that Malfoy didn't learn. He would get to have fun today.

Harry turned his attention to looking for the Snitch while also listening to the commentary from Lee. "Slytherin in possession. Warrington takes the Quaffle, makes a move around Spinnet. He's flanked by Montague; they're closing in on the scoring area. Ouch, Montague takes a Bludger in the stomach; good work by a Weasley, not sure which one. Warrington's on the move, he's to the scoring area, but the new Keeper Ron Weasley's with him. He - NO YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT!"

While Ron had had his attention on Warrington, the new Slytherin Chaser, Ossidine, had flown into him from the side, nearly taking Ron off of his broom. While Ron flew off trying to catch his breath, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and began yelling at Ossidine. Harry, doing his duties as Captain, flew down to check on Fred and George. They wore identical expressions of barely controlled anger, and they were gripping their Beater's Bats very tightly, but they refrained from retaliating, to Harry's surprise and delight.

"Yes, that's stooging on Slytherin, the low-down pieces of . . ."

"Jordan, keep on the game."

"Sorry Professor. Anyway, Johnson of Gryffindor lined up against the Keeper. She takes the shot. SHE SCORES! Ten to zero, in favor of Gryffindor." Harry did a quick loop in celebration, and the game continued.

"Slytherin in possession, Montague with the Quaffle. Ouch, Ossidine takes a Bludger. Oh no, He takes the other one too. Fred and George Weasley must be angry after the vicious penalty against their little brother Ron." Harry looked at the twins; they were both looking very pleased with themselves. When George noticed Harry looking at him, he grinned and winked. Jordan kept on with his commentary. "Montague makes a quick pass to Warrington, pass back - no, it's taken by Spinnet. Spinnet ducks a Bludger sent her way by Derrick, who, when paired with Bole, makes up a true half-wit. Spinnet leaves the Quaffle for Bell. Bell avoids Warrington, passes to Johnson. Johnson loops, drops the Quaffle. No, wait, she left it for herself, great move, dumps it off to Spinnet. Spinnet fakes left, shoots right, SCORE! 20-NIL GRYFFINDOR! A beautiful move by a beautiful girl, and the Keeper apparently left his skills in the locker room."

Harry used the stop in the game to signal a play in to Fred and George. The game began again. "Slytherin in possession, Montague has it. He starts toward the goal - Wait, what's this?" Harry had gone down to the level of the rest of the players, and had begun a complicated weave. With a check over his shoulder, he made sure Malfoy was still there. He was right behind him, as Harry wasn't using his full speed. Harry swung around the Slytherin Beater Bole, and came face to face with George Weasley taking a mighty swing at a Bludger. The Bludger came rocketing towards him, the full weight of the swing behind it. At the last second, Harry veered left, leaving Malfoy to catch the Bludger directly in the ribs with a sickening crunch. Malfoy spiraled downwards on his broom, and Madam Pomfrey came sprinting out to attend to him. Harry went up to search for the Snitch unmolested.

"Brilliant coordination between the Gryffindor Seeker and his Beaters. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you Malfoy?"

"Jordan, remain unbiased!"

"My apologies Professor. Gryffindor in possession, Johnson bringing it up." Harry tuned him out for the moment. The game began to get lopsided. It was clear to everyone that the Slytherin Chasers, especially the new one, Ossidine, were no match for the amazing teamwork of the Gryffindors, who had been together for five years. Harry watched as the Gryffindors scored three more times in quick succession, and then saw the Slytherins manage to get one of their rare shots against Ron.

"Spinnet makes a bad pass, Warrington with it. Warrington pitches it to Montague; he's in on goal. He fakes, Weasley doesn't bite, he shoots, but no, the new Keeper denies him. It's still 50 to nothing Gryffindor. Oh, it looks like the Slytherin Seeker is rejoining the game. He still looks to be hurting though. Weasley tosses the Quaffle to Johnson, and Gryffindor is on attack again."

Malfoy seemed to learn from his previous painful experience, as he was staying much further away from Harry, and also looking before he followed Harry anywhere. Harry smiled. He now had Malfoy hesitating, so he'd probably get a freer chance at the Snitch than he would have before. Harry resumed listening.

"Slytherin in possession, Ossidine on the attack. A Bludger from one of the Weasleys forces him to drop the Quaffle, but Warrington's there to pick it up. Warrington gets his pocket picked by Bell, and Katie begins her way down to the Scoring zone. Bell has the Quaffle, and she's moving down the pitch at high speed. Here comes a Bludger, whew, she veers out of the way. Bell runs into defense from Montague, veers up, leaving the Quaffle for Johnson. Johnson takes it, no, she goes right by it, all of the Slytherin defense goes with her and Spinnet takes it, shoots at the wide open goal and SCORES! BRILLIANT TACTICS BY THE GRYFFINDORS! It's 80 nothing, and this is how you play Quidditch. Are you watching, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" Harry was getting tired of watching the game. The Gryffindors scored three more times in a row while the Slytherins managed their first score on a controversial play, and it was apparent that the Slytherins were no match for the highly experienced Gryffindor Chasers. He wanted to find the Snitch before something could go wrong. He still hadn't seen the telltale glimmer of gold, though, and he resumed looking for it.

"It's 110-10 Gryffindor, and I still say that Slytherin goal should be disallowed due to . . ."

"Jordan, one more time . . ."

"Won't happen again Professor. Bell has the Quaffle; she's on the move. Bell ducks a Bludger, gives it Spinnet, right back to Bell. Good give and go there, completely fools Ossidine, not that that's hard to do. Bell takes it in, shoots, and the Keeper blocks it. You filthy ba . . ."

"JORDAN!"

"The Keeper throws it out to start the Slytherin attack, no, it's stolen by Johnson who passes it to Bell. She shoots, and it's an easy score after the horrible throw by the Keeper.

"It's Slytherin on the attack again, Ossidine with the Quaffle. He immediately gives it up to Montague. Smart move by Ossidine, he's done enough damage as it is today. Montague passes it to Warrington, who narrowly avoids a Bludger. Warrington dodges Spinnet, goes in, and passes it back to Montague. Montague ducks another Bludger, goes in, and oh no, he scores." Jordan swore, and nearly got the magical megaphone taken away from him by Professor McGonagall.

"It's Johnson with the Quaffle. She slips around Warrington, ducks a Bludger, bearing down on Montague - Does Potter see something?" Harry had seen the Snitch hovering around midfield, and begun one of his well-known dives. As expected, Malfoy had taken an extra couple of seconds to make sure he was actually going for the Snitch and not doing a Wronski Feint. This gave Harry plenty of time, and by the time he got to the Snitch, he was a good 20 feet ahead of Malfoy, and he caught the Snitch easily.

"YES! POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH AND THE GRYFFINDORS WIN 270 - 20! Is this the greatest team in the history of Hogwarts? I don't know, but it's very apparent that Potter has his team in top form."

Harry was mobbed by his teammates after he touched down at the center circle. After he broke through the rest of the group, he fought his way through the mob of Gryffindors that had streamed on to the pitch, and made his way to Ron, who was receiving an enthusiastic hug from Hermione. "Great game, Ron!" he yelled over the din of the crowd.

Ron chuckled. "Yeah it was, wasn't it? It helps when your Chasers can play keep away with the Quaffle, though." His little sister interrupted him by jumping on his back. "Hi Ginny. Brilliant, wasn't I?"

"You arrogant git," said Ginny, laughing. "You were good, but brilliant? You really have a big head." She turned and gave Harry a hug, and he turned scarlet on cue. "This guy, on the other hand, was brilliant." Harry got even redder at that pronouncement.

"I couldn't have done it alone. That play George made really helped me a lot. Speaking of that, where those two?"

Ginny turned and pointed. "I believe that would be them."

Fred and George were floating up on their broomsticks, and having fun dive- bombing the crowd. Finally, they climbed off their brooms, and made their way over to their two younger siblings and their friends. "Hey Harry, Ron, hurry up and get ready. We're going to have the biggest party you've seen yet."

Harry and Ron grinned at each other, and raced to the locker rooms.

* * * * *
The party was in full swing. Fred and George had again sneaked off to Hogsmeade, and had brought back enough Butterbeer and sweets to either feed an army of adults for three years, or the entirety of Gryffindor house for one really long day and night. Most of the tables had been dragged into a line to provide a buffet of sorts for the party. Most of the chairs had been moved into circular groups for conversation, most of it loud conversation. A few of the groups still had tables in the middle, so people could play Exploding Snap or other games. There was a large area that was devoid of furniture; someone had gotten a wireless and had music going. At present there were only a few couples dancing, but the number was gradually increasing.

For once, the twins weren't the center of attention. Instead, they were seated in the group of chairs and couches closest to the dancing area, conversing with the three Chasers and Lee Jordan.

"I can't believe that stunt to get Malfoy with the Bludger worked," Angelina said gleefully. "In practice it looked completely impossible to pull off."

"Ah yes," said George, "but Harry's always told Denis not to just follow the other Seeker around, but to look for the Snitch on his own and keep his eye on the other guy. Malfoy's too stupid to realize that particular fact."

"Speaking of stupid," said Katie, "How did you manage to keep from retaliating when that new Chaser took out your brother?"

"Well, we didn't want to upset His Highness, Captain Potter," said Fred. "His hair might actually go normal if we did that. Besides, we just waited until it was legal to get our revenge."

"How is the plan to get Harry with Ginny going anyway?" asked Lee.

The others filled him in on the events from the practice earlier in the week. "They were avoiding each other for awhile," said Alicia, "but now they seem to be fine with one another." She gestured over to another group of seats, where Ron and Hermione were sharing a couch facing Harry and Ginny in separate chairs. "There doesn't seem to be any romance going though."

A new song came on, and Angelina jumped up. "Come on, Fred, this is our song." Fred looked apologetically at his twin, then grinned and gave him a thumbs up. The rest of the group looked at George, who looked uncharacteristically embarrassed.

"Er, Katie, would you like to dance?" he asked tentatively.

"I'd love to, she replied and off they went, leaving Alicia and Lee discussing the subtleties of his announcing.

After a couple of songs, George noticed Ron and Hermione had also joined the dancing couples. George and Katie danced their way over to the area Fred and Angelina had cleared with their exuberance, and George tapped his twin on the shoulder and pointed over to where the younger couple calmly swayed to the music. Fred apparently understood what was asked of him, because he parted with Angelina and made his way to his younger brother.

"Hello, Ron. Mind if I cut in?" he asked.

"Why?" Ron asked, with some skepticism in his voice.

"Because I want to dance with Hermione, you git," Fred replied. "Don't you realize that it is a sign of great respect when another man asks to dance with your girlfriend? You don't have to worry; I'll take good care of her."

"Well, okay," Ron said, and he walked to where they had left Harry and Ginny.

"So, to what do I owe the honor of this dance, Fred?" asked Hermione with a slightly unhappy look on her face.

"I just wanted to ask how you thought the plan was going," Fred replied calmly. "You get to hang around with them a lot more than we do."

Hermione sighed. "It seemed to be going well up until earlier this week. Then, all of a sudden, they started avoiding each other. It wasn't until today that they managed to stay in the same conversation for longer than two minutes. What happened?"

Fred explained to her the events of the early-week Quidditch practice. "I imagine they were both embarrassed," he said. "The question is why Harry was embarrassed. Was it just because he saw her like that, or because seeing her like that made him notice some feelings for her?"

"That's a good question," answered Hermione. "I'm afraid I don't have the answer though."

While Fred and Hermione were dancing and conversing, Ron had walked over to the area where he and Hermione had left Harry and Ginny. When he got there, though, he found only Harry, and he was so still he seemed to be asleep. Ron prodded him and spoke.

"Harry. Harry, what's wrong? Where's Ginny?"

Harry jumped half a foot when Ron spoke. "Huh? What? Oh hi Ron. There's nothing wrong, I was just thinking. Ginny went over to talk to Brad Arnold, you know, the other new Chaser?" All these words came out in a very fast rush, in an almost guilty tone.

"Calm down Harry," Ron said. "You're not being truthful with me either. Something is wrong, and I think I know what it is."

"Oh." Harry turned a brilliant shade of crimson. "You do?"

Ron nodded sagely. "Of course I do. I am your best friend after all, and you're acting very much like I did."

"I - I am?" Harry asked shakily.

"Sure, I mean you avoided her; you're embarrassed with the mere allusion to her. You've got it bad," Ron said wisely.

"Er, Ron, I'm almost afraid to ask, but what are you talking about?" Harry queried hesitantly.

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry. "Do I have to spell it out for you? You've fallen for my sister. Fallen hard too, if I'm not mistaken. Now, I know Hermione thinks I'm inobservant and clueless, but I'm not nearly as bad as she thinks. You've got a thing for Ginny, but you're too afraid to do anything about it."

Harry blushed as if he had never been so embarrassed in his life. "How long have you known this?"

Ron pondered this question for a little while. "Well, I suspected something for awhile, but it wasn't until you asked me about me and Hermione that I actually figured it out."

"Hermione and me," Harry corrected automatically. His first irrelevant thought was that Hermione had rubbed off on him, but his thoughts quickly wandered back to that evening. He still hadn't quite got over how he had seen Ginny that night.

"Whatever," Ron said cheerfully. "Anyway, why do you think I actually told you all of that? By all rights I should have told you to shut up and go to sleep. I just wanted to help out my best mate. Unfortunately, you're as big a chicken as I am. Now, why don't you go over there and ask my sister to dance?"

"You're okay with this?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Of course I am," Ron answered evenly. "Who would be better for my baby sister than my best mate. I won't say I don't find it slightly weird, and it goes without mentioning that if you hurt her in any way, you're a dead man. All of that aside, I think it's great. Now get your backside over there and ask her to dance. I've got a girlfriend to attend to. Can't have her thinking I actually notice what goes on around me, after all."

Harry was thoroughly relieved. It was like having part of the weight lifted off of his shoulders. Now it was time to take care of another part of it. "Thanks, Ron. I'll do that. You have fun."

Ron grinned. "You too. Now move!"

Harry slowly walked over to where Ginny was talking to her fellow Reserve Chasers. As he got closer, his footsteps got slower, and his legs seemed to add weight as if someone was pumping them full of lead. When he got a few feet away, he almost turned and ran, but he thought of Ron, took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and tapped Ginny on the shoulder.

She turned around. "Hi Harry. Need something?"

Harry nodded his head, and worked his mouth, but it was a second before his voice began to work. "Er - I was wondering if you would like to dance?"

Her smile almost made Harry fall over on the spot. "Of course, I'd love to." She turned and said goodbye to her teammates, then followed Harry into the cleared out area.

Ginny's mind was buzzing so much she could barely hear her own thoughts. Not that her thoughts were that great; "I'm dancing with Harry Potter" just kept going in circles around her head. She couldn't believe her good fortune. They danced in silence for a while, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Ginny finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Great game today," she said, then mentally slapped herself for the lame comment.

Harry nodded. "Uh-huh. I didn't expect it to be so easy though."

"I can't wait to get out there myself," she continued bravely. "It must be a lot of fun."

The music changed to a slower, more intimate song. Harry nodded again, but didn't say anything. He seemed to be fighting with himself over something. "Will you go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" he asked. The words burst out of him as if someone had popped a balloon.

Ginny shook herself. This couldn't be real. She had to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Of course Harry. We always go together. You, me, Ron, and Hermione."

Harry shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I meant just you and me. Kind of - er --," he visibly swallowed, "a date?"

Ginny nearly fell to the floor. The blood rushed to her cheeks, her ears, even the rest of her skin. She thought her skin probably matched her hair in color and intensity. "Really?" she breathed. Harry nodded his head tentatively. She didn't notice the deer in the headlights expression on his face. "I'd love to."

Harry let his breath out audibly. His expression turned into a profound picture of relief and happiness. He brought his face close to hers. "Thank you," he whispered into her ear. Ginny just nodded; she didn't trust herself to speak. He then brought his face back into her view and bent into hers. Their lips met, and she finally had the kiss she had always dreamed about.