Chapter Six: The Quidditch Match

It was a bright, clear and very hot Sunday afternoon when Ron, Harry and Hermione arrived at the Quidditch stadium, where Puddlemere United was to play Ireland's Dublin Devils. They all wore rosettes-provided by Ginny-in the Puddlemere colors and each carried pairs of Omnioculars.

"Daily Prophet says Ginny's the most promising Seeker to play for Puddlemere," Ron was gushing as he handed over several Sickles worth of coins to purchase his numerous sweets.

"Ron, if your teeth don't fall out by the time you're 30 I'll be shocked," Hermione scolded, as he stuff his pockets full with hard candies and Chocolate Frogs.

"That's a bit rich, coming from you," said Ron as he popped a whole Chocolate Frog in his mouth and chewed it thickly. He handed her a frog, and she took it, smiling.

Harry rolled his eyes, but he found he wasn't annoyed at all. They were perfect together, he thought, and he felt the usual pang of envy every time he saw how happy his two best friends were together. He'd had that once, with Susan, before she dumped him. Maybe he could have that with Cho, he thought hopefully. Now that she's not sobbing into her tea over Cedric and I'm not sobbing into MY tea over Susan.

They entered the stands and took their seats. Harry felt the usual rush of excitement to see a Quidditch match-the only thing that was more exciting than watching a match was, of course, playing in one. Of all the things he missed about Hogwarts, he missed Quidditch most of all. It had been a constant in his life there-but for a few interruptions-and had seen him through some of his worst difficulties. It was as good a friend to him as Ron and Hermione had ever been. But now he was a spectator. He sighed under his breath. At least he'd get to see Ginny play, finally, instead of only catching glimpses of her as he zoomed around on his own broom looking for a Snitch.

Harry opened the program, which featured smiling, moving portraits of all seven Puddlemere players. Oliver Wood looked as burly as ever, grinning broadly, even a bit smugly, from his photo. Harry's eyes fell on Ginny's photograph. She had a radiant smile on her face and Harry felt his insides get warm as her picture smiled up at him. Her eyes sparkled. Harry suddenly realized he couldn't wait to see her again. He wondered when they'd get together for another lesson. He hoped it was soon. Reading the books she'd given him-which he'd done most of yesterday and well into last night, hadn't really compared.

Harry was just settling into his seat, his mood light and happy, when he glanced to his left and felt his stomach drop.

There, not thirty feet away, sat Draco Malfoy. And next to him, holding his hand and sitting very close, was Susan Bones.

Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Ron and Hermione glance over in Malfoy's direction.

"Harry," said Hermione, quickly, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

Harry swallowed hard. "It's okay," he lied, looking down. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, glancing at Ron and then back at him.

"Yeah," said Harry, a bit too forcefully. Hermione got the hint and said nothing else, but she exchanged a worried look with Ron.

Harry sat back in his seat, hating himself, and hating Draco Malfoy even more. I'm OVER Susan, Harry thought angrily. I've been over her for ages.

So why does it bother you to see her with Malfoy? a voice inside his head needled him.

Because it's Malfoy! another voice yelled. Your arch-enemy. The dirty great prat who tormented you for your entire existence at Hogwarts, who nearly got your best friends killed. Susan's shagging that...that...

"Harry?" said Ron. "Uh, you okay? The match is about to start."

"Right," said Harry quickly, picking up his Omnioculars.

The fourteen players zoomed out into the air above the pitch; the Puddlemere United players were dressed in shades of blue; the Dublin team in green and gold. Harry moved his Omnioculars around until he caught sight of Ginny. She had a very focused, intense expression on her face. Her bright red hair she had arranged in a simple plait that fell down her back and caught the light. She was by far the best looking thing on a broom Harry had ever seen. He felt his stomach lighten a bit. Focus on Ginny, he thought, and forget about Susan canoodling with Ratboy.

Surprisingly, Harry found that this strategy worked well. As the game got under way he found his attention riveted on Ginny's team, but most especially on Ginny herself. She was a fantastic player-probably the best Chaser he'd seen since Angelina Johnson, if not better. Her small size gave her an edge in speed, but beyond this was her incredible control and skill with her broom; she had mastered turns and dives and feints that even Harry hadn't quite gotten the hang of.

"It's Ginny Weasley in possession," the announcer blared. "She's...what's this? She's diving! O'Malley, Sullivan and Riordan are all in pursuit. Puddlemere's other Chasers can't get to her! She's put on speed! What on earth is she doing?"

Harry gasped. Ginny seemed to be diving straight toward the ground. No, he thought, she can't be. Not...

"She's nearly on the ground now...she...PULLS UP! INCREDIBLE! Ginny Weasley pulls off a Wronski Feint! You don't ever see that move done by a Chaser! She's...she's pulled up, she's going for goal...whoa, she narrowly dodges a Dublin Bludger and...SHE SCORES! It's 80-70 Puddlemere!"

"Holy shit!" Harry and Ron said together.

"Go Ginny!" Ron bellowed, waving at her. "That's my little sister!" he added, puffing out his chest with pride.

"I can't believe she pulled that off!" Harry yelled, his hands getting raw from clapping. "I knew she was good, but..."

"She told me she practiced that Wonky Faint thing all last year," said Hermione, clapping primly.

"WRONSKI FEINT!" Harry and Ron both yelled.

The game continued. Harry couldn't help but notice that the Puddlemere Seeker seemed to be the weak link-Harry counted three separate occasions where the Seeker, whose name was McCutcheon, missed seeing the Snitch. A few times Harry held his breath as the Dublin seeker began to zoom off in one direction, but Harry quickly realized the Dublin seeker was feinting, trying to fake out McCutcheon.

"Stupid git, falling for that one twice," Harry muttered. If McCutcheon didn't get his act together it might wind up falling to the Chasers and Wood-who was keeping goal more brilliantly than Harry had ever seen him-to win the game for them. But that would mean the game might go on for hours.

It didn't, though. Very quickly after Harry began to feel completely disparaging things for McCutcheon, the Puddlemere Seeker did seem to catch on. He caught sight of the Snitch and zoomed after it, and it was then that Harry saw he was a pretty good flyer after all. McCutcheon dodged two very fast Bludgers without breaking stride toward the Snitch, and in the next minute, with the Dublin Seeker right behind him, McCutcheon's fingers closed on the Golden Snitch.

"PUDDLEMERE WINS!!!" the announcer screamed.

"Yeah!" Harry and Ron yelled, leaping up from their seats. Harry had never been so thrilled to be a spectator to his favorite game in all his life. The seven Puddlemere players flew in a circle, all of them punching fists in the air, when Ginny circled close by and caught sight of him. Harry beamed at her and gave her the thumbs up, and she smiled and waved. Harry watched her as she zoomed down to the ground, alighting easily from her broom and immediately being crushed in a bear hug by her teammates.

"Let's go," said Ron urgently, grabbing Hermione's hand and leading her out of the stands. Harry nodded, grabbed his Omnioculars and the program and followed Ron-who was easy to spot considering his height and bright hair- out of the stands. Harry couldn't wait to congratulate Ginny.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They met the team just outside the changing rooms. Ginny was the last to come out; her skin looked freshly scrubbed and her hair was wet. She wore jeans and a white t-shirt. She smiled at Harry. She looked beautiful.

"Ginny!" Ron yelled, clapping her in a hug. "My God! You were bloody brilliant!"

"Your sister won us the game," said a rough voice. Oliver Wood had strode over to them. "Can you believe that Wronski Feint?"

Wood and Ron exchanged greetings, then he and Hermione headed off, Ron announcing that he was starving (despite having eaten a few pounds worth of candy) and that he had to eat right then or he'd pass out dead on the spot. Hermione rolled her eyes but followed him out of the stadium; Ron promised to see Harry later, at home.

"Congratulations, Ginny!" Hermione called, waving. Ginny waved back.

Wood glanced over and spotted Harry. "Harry Potter!" he yelled, clapping Harry heartily on the back. "Good to see you, mate! How's the Auror career?"

"Not bad," said Harry, wishing at that moment that he'd chucked the idea of being an Auror and had instead pursued Quidditch as a career.

"Bet you miss this," said Oliver perceptively.

"Definitely," said Harry. "But you all were amazing. Best match I've ever watched."

"Yeah," said Wood, but his features darkened. "Too bad we're not moving on to the finals, though."

"No kidding," said Ginny, coming to stand next to Wood. "Then again, with the way Wood's been practicing us, it'll be nice to FINALLY get a break."

"No rest for the wicked, Weasley!" Wood said jovially, clapping her a bit too hard on the back. She winced but Wood was just too excited about winning to notice, and Ginny smiled.

"Oi, Katie!" Wood jogged away from them, waving, in the direction of Katie Bell. Harry couldn't help but watch as Wood grabbed Katie around the waist and twirled her around. She laughed as he lowered her and kissed her rather enthusiastically right there on the Quidditch pitch. Harry looked away and cleared his throat.

"Didn't know about them," he said, feeling once again slightly bereft. Wood and Katie headed off, arms around each other.

"They got together last year," said Ginny, looking away as well. Their eyes met and she blushed, just a little.

"Thanks for coming to the match," she said.

"You were brilliant," said Harry. "I can't believe...a Wronski Feint. That was incredible."

"Thanks," said Ginny, blushing, but with a hint of pride in her voice. "You know, I learned that from you."

"Yeah?" said Harry, grinning. "I don't remember teaching it to you."

"You didn't," said Ginny. "I just watched you fly. Whenever I could, you know. In practices sometimes. But I remember in your seventh year how you liked to disappear for hours at a time. I'd see you flying, from the common room window."

"Yeah," said Harry, feeling a bit embarrassed but oddly pleased that Ginny had been watching him. "I...liked to get away. Especially those first few months, after...Susan. Flying helps me think."

"Me, too," said Ginny. "Maybe that's why we got so good at it. I practiced my arse off after Colin and I split up." She paused. "Anyway, I watched you and I got a decent idea of how to do it."

He looked at her again and saw the same sadness in her eyes that he'd seen only two nights ago. He felt an ache in his chest. She should be happy. No, thrilled. Her team might not be going to the World Cup but she'd just helped her team win a brilliant game. People would be talking about her flying for weeks to come. So why, Harry wondered, did she look so sad? Harry couldn't stand it, he had to ask.

"Ginny, are you...okay?" he asked, taking a step toward her.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, but she didn't meet his eyes. "I'm really tired, actually."

"Oh," said Harry, torn between wanting to push the issue and not wanting to pry. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, looking up at him again. She smiled, but again, the smile didn't reach her eyes. "You read those books I gave you?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," said Harry, slightly disconcerted by the change of subject and not sure he wanted to discuss this sort of thing right there on the Quidditch pitch. "Uh, you were right. Very informative."

"Maybe," said Ginny slowly, taking a step toward him, "we could get together later this week. You know, to...go over things."

Harry felt a rush of blood race to his groin. He swallowed and conjured up a thousand dead kittens in his mind.

"Yeah," he said, images of dead kittens competing-and losing-against images of Ginny in her knickers, Harry's hands stroking her.

"Great," she said, smiling. "Wednesday?"

"What?" Harry said dumbly, then he blinked and remembered himself. "Yeah, Wednesday."

She smiled at him, and for a moment they only looked at each other. "Um, shall we go, then?" Ginny said. "I'm starving. Maybe we could catch up with Ron and Hermione."

"Oh!" said Harry. "Yeah, uh, let's go."

They started off, and to Harry's pleasant surprise Ginny too his hand and smiled shyly at him.

They were halfway away from the pitch when Harry heard a voice call to him.

"Hi, Harry."

He and Ginny whirled around to see Susan Bones.

Harry felt his stomach drop again. He hadn't gotten a good look at her in the stands. She was just a bit taller than he remembered. Or maybe she was standing up straighter. Her dark auburn hair had been cut stylishly and fell just past her chin. She wore robes-blue ones-and had a tan and a healthy smattering of freckles on her nose. She looked wonderful.

"Hi," said Harry, looking at her and feeling Ginny let go of his hand.

"How are you?" Susan asked, taking a tentative step toward him, glancing at Ginny.

"Fine," said Harry, his jaw suddenly stiff.

"Congratulations, Ginny," said Susan, in an unnaturally cheerful voice. "You were excellent."

"Thanks," said Ginny coolly, giving Susan a slightly frosty smile.

There was a long and excrutiating pause. Harry wanted to flee, but his feet seemed rooted to the grass. He wanted to grab Ginny's hand again, in part because he liked holding her hand, but in part because he wanted Susan to believe he'd forgotten all about her, that he'd moved on, that he'd found another girl. A better girl. A girl who wouldn't dump him because he was inadequate in bed and take up with another bloke only a few weeks later.

"Susan, let's go!" Harry's eyes moved from Susan's face to see, about twenty feet off, Draco Malfoy. Malfoy shot Harry a smug smile.

"I should go," said Susan, smiling awkwardly. "It was nice to see you, Harry."

"You, too," Harry lied, his voice working against the lump in his throat. She turned and started off; Harry watched her as she moved toward Malfoy, watched as they came together. Malfoy shot Harry another triumphant smile and put his arm around Susan, and they left the pitch together.

Harry swallowed again.

"Harry," said Ginny slowly. "Are you-"

"Fine," Harry lied. "I'm fine. Let's...let's get the hell out of here."

He stalked away from the field, not waiting for Ginny to take his hand this time.