A/N: I think I might be posting this chapter with all the others but o
well. I am incredibly sorry about the wait! I think I'll write like a lot
of chapters now, and post them every two days or something. Well, we're
getting to the nitty gritty of this story which means that (sniff) it's
ending soon! Well enjoy the story! Oh, and I know that I have a hell of a
lot of spelling mistakes, but my spell checker obviously doesn't pick them
up. I LOVE YOU REVIWERS SO MUCH! I can't believe how many I have!
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
~*~*~*~ Chapter 26: Harry's Last Game ~*~*~*~
"I can't believe that! Does this mean that it is going to be tougher on Harry and Draco to defeat Voldemort?" Hermione asked with open eyes.
"Well, I think they're job is hard as it is, so it isn't easy to say. Anyway, I want you to be very supportive of Hilary and be incredibly nice to her. Harry, Draco, I think we'll give the extra class a miss today. You can all go."
"Should we go talk to her?" Ginny asked.
"no, I think we should leave her till dinner. We have quidditch practise so there won't be enough time to go and properly talk to her."
"Gees Harry! Can't you call it off?" Hermione snapped.
"No I can't! our game is tomorrow and we need to practise. Now get changed. Draco has booked the pitch halfway through so we have a shortened training time."
Ginny, Ron and Hermione followed Harry gloomily down to the changing rooms.
"Hey, at least with quidditch finished earlier we can go and see Hilary quicker," Ginny announced.
"No we can't. I am going to be going over the game plan for the rest of the time. now lets get started. The better you do, the quicker we finish," he said.
The team practised the best they could, which was exceptionally good. About an hour in, Draco came to the pitch.
"What are you doing here! It's our training time!" harry yelled.
"I came to see what you were up to," he said innocently.
"Look, just because we're friends and all, doesn't mean that you can watch us. During the quidditch game and right now, we are enemies," Harry said to him.
"Ok then. I'll treat you as an enemy Potty," he drawled and walked off.
"Harry! Stop being so secretive! He has no where else to go!" Hermione shrieked.
"Yes he does and if you looked closely, I could see a quill and parchment sticking out of his pocket. He was going to spy on us."
Hermione flew above him silently and saw that Harry was right.
"That little slime ball! I guess things haven't changed when it comes to quidditch," Hermione muttered.
The training continued until Draco and his team walked out.
"Time's up Potter. Get off the pitch and prep yourself to lose," he sneered and turned to his team.
"Listen. I know you may have become friends with some of them, but that friendship is on hold until after quidditch. We are enemies," he mumbled to them.
Harry led his team off the pitch and into the changing rooms where he went over game strategies for over an hour.
"Ok, now go and wash up and I want to see you in the Great Hall in half an hour. We sit together in case I come up with any more ideas," Harry finalised.
Everyone jerked out of their stupor and headed to the showers.
"Did you listen to anything Harry said?" a 4th year boy on their team asked.
"Nah," Ginny replied and yawned.
LATER THAT NIGHT.
"Ok team. Bed. I want to see you full of energy tomorrow. you know how much this means to me and the whole of Gryffindor. I know we can do it," Harry said.
"Yeah, we know we can do it too Harry," a chaser on their team replied.
The six of them got up and went to their dorms and to bed.
THE NEXT DAY.
Hermione woke up with a jolt. She turned over and looked at her clock. 5.49. She didn't have to be up for another two hours. She rolled over and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. It wasn't happening. Hermione got out of bed, put on her huge fluffy dressing gown and slippers and crept quietly into the common room. She decided to sit there and read a bit until the others woke up.
The fire had been put out. Hermione muttered a few words and sparks shot out of her wand creating orange and red flames that licked the room with warmth. She settled into the chair and pulled out her most recent book on Floringles and Flortescos, two types of underwater plants.
About two hours later, Ginny ambled out, yawning. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had thrown on a pair of jeans and a fluffy jumper. Hermione had gotten dressed a little while ago and was also wearing jeans with a hoodie. She smiled at Ginny.
"Morning. Sleep well?" Hermione asked her.
"Yeah. What time did you get up?" she asked.
"About sixish."
"Gees Mione! That's damn early. Now lets go get food. Harry will kill us if we're not there in the next ten minutes," she told her, nervous butterflies dancing in her stomach. The two girls looked perfectly calm but that was nothing compared to the swirling in their stomachs. This was a big game and everyone knew it. it was the last year Harry would play for Gryffindor and he wanted to go out with a bang.
Ginny and Hermione entered the Great Hall and looked around for Harry. They found him and the rest of the team and sat down. Harry looked incredibly pale with a hint of green. He wasn't eating, and Hermione felt she would chuck it up if she tried to eat. Ginny settled for a small glass of pumpkin juice while Ron ate considerably less that he usually did.
"Ok team. Change," Harry managed to get out and they headed silently to the changing rooms.
"Now, we are going to try our hardest and win today. There is nothing at all stopping us. The wind and weather conditions are perfect, the pitch is nice and firm, and Slytherin have losers for players. Now let's get out there and show them what we're made of!" Harry exclaimed as he led the team onto the pitch.
Harry and Malfoy shook hands, though very briefly and the team mounted their brroms. Madame Hooch kicked the crate open and the 14 players rose into the air.
Hermione grabbed the quaffle first and dodged around the other players. She neared the Slytherin end and put it through the left hoop.
"Gryffindor take a very early lead, 10 to 0."
The game continued pretty much like this for the next ten minutes. The Gryffindor's were doing considerably well, owing to the fact that they were now in possession of two firebolts. The score had now evened up. It was Gryffindor in front 50-30. Harry needed to wait until they were 40 points up before catching the snitch.
He looked around and saw Malfoy dive for the ground. Harry looked directly down and saw the snitch hovering quite a few feet below him. Harry could easily catch the snitch now if he wanted to because he was much closer. He wheeled his broom around and dived at Malfoy, stopping just in front of him. Draco had to swerve suddenly upward, and by the time they looked down, the snitch had taken off again.
Up in the centre of the pitch, Ginny was flying towards the Slytherin goal, the quaffle tucked under her arm. A Slytherin beater swerved in front of her at the last minute and whacked her broom with his bat which sent her spinning away. She had dropped the quaffle and a Slytherin chaser had picked it up.
Just then the whistle blew.
"That is unacceptable playing behaviour. The bat is used to hit the bludger, not the players of their broom!" Madame Hooch screeched. She awarded Gryffindor a penalty and the pther Gryiffindor chaser put it through nicely.
After about twenty seconds, Ginny had put through another goal, which meant that Gryffindor was leading by fourty points. Harry spun around and looked carefully for the snitch, as well as keeping an eye on Draco and his movements. The stands had become a bit more quieter and all eyes were on the two seekers. Hermione put through another goal, but no one took notice as Harry had suddenly taken off to the Slytherin end of the pitch.
Bludgers were aimed at him, both missing. He veered upwards and saw the small shimmery bal a few feet in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Malfoy racing up beside him. Harry reached out his hand and grabbed onto air. He hadn't caught it yet. He lay his body flat on the broom and urged it up faster. Just before the snitch was about to make a right he reached out and snatched it away.
A tremendous cheer went up from the crowd. He descended slowly only to be surrounded by the Gryffindor quidditch team. This was very reminiscent of his third year triumph. They reached the ground and the first person to run to them was flailing their arms everywhere with the biggest grin on their face. Hilary sprinted over and nearly bowled them over with the force she slammed into them with.
That night the Gryffindor's were allowed to take over the Great Hall and celebrate, provided professor McGonagall was there and they wrapped it up at about 2 in the morning.
They all had a great time talking about the play used and eating and drinking. It was a very joyous moment for them. Little did any of them realise, there was a shadowy face lurking around, following their every move.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
~*~*~*~ Chapter 26: Harry's Last Game ~*~*~*~
"I can't believe that! Does this mean that it is going to be tougher on Harry and Draco to defeat Voldemort?" Hermione asked with open eyes.
"Well, I think they're job is hard as it is, so it isn't easy to say. Anyway, I want you to be very supportive of Hilary and be incredibly nice to her. Harry, Draco, I think we'll give the extra class a miss today. You can all go."
"Should we go talk to her?" Ginny asked.
"no, I think we should leave her till dinner. We have quidditch practise so there won't be enough time to go and properly talk to her."
"Gees Harry! Can't you call it off?" Hermione snapped.
"No I can't! our game is tomorrow and we need to practise. Now get changed. Draco has booked the pitch halfway through so we have a shortened training time."
Ginny, Ron and Hermione followed Harry gloomily down to the changing rooms.
"Hey, at least with quidditch finished earlier we can go and see Hilary quicker," Ginny announced.
"No we can't. I am going to be going over the game plan for the rest of the time. now lets get started. The better you do, the quicker we finish," he said.
The team practised the best they could, which was exceptionally good. About an hour in, Draco came to the pitch.
"What are you doing here! It's our training time!" harry yelled.
"I came to see what you were up to," he said innocently.
"Look, just because we're friends and all, doesn't mean that you can watch us. During the quidditch game and right now, we are enemies," Harry said to him.
"Ok then. I'll treat you as an enemy Potty," he drawled and walked off.
"Harry! Stop being so secretive! He has no where else to go!" Hermione shrieked.
"Yes he does and if you looked closely, I could see a quill and parchment sticking out of his pocket. He was going to spy on us."
Hermione flew above him silently and saw that Harry was right.
"That little slime ball! I guess things haven't changed when it comes to quidditch," Hermione muttered.
The training continued until Draco and his team walked out.
"Time's up Potter. Get off the pitch and prep yourself to lose," he sneered and turned to his team.
"Listen. I know you may have become friends with some of them, but that friendship is on hold until after quidditch. We are enemies," he mumbled to them.
Harry led his team off the pitch and into the changing rooms where he went over game strategies for over an hour.
"Ok, now go and wash up and I want to see you in the Great Hall in half an hour. We sit together in case I come up with any more ideas," Harry finalised.
Everyone jerked out of their stupor and headed to the showers.
"Did you listen to anything Harry said?" a 4th year boy on their team asked.
"Nah," Ginny replied and yawned.
LATER THAT NIGHT.
"Ok team. Bed. I want to see you full of energy tomorrow. you know how much this means to me and the whole of Gryffindor. I know we can do it," Harry said.
"Yeah, we know we can do it too Harry," a chaser on their team replied.
The six of them got up and went to their dorms and to bed.
THE NEXT DAY.
Hermione woke up with a jolt. She turned over and looked at her clock. 5.49. She didn't have to be up for another two hours. She rolled over and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. It wasn't happening. Hermione got out of bed, put on her huge fluffy dressing gown and slippers and crept quietly into the common room. She decided to sit there and read a bit until the others woke up.
The fire had been put out. Hermione muttered a few words and sparks shot out of her wand creating orange and red flames that licked the room with warmth. She settled into the chair and pulled out her most recent book on Floringles and Flortescos, two types of underwater plants.
About two hours later, Ginny ambled out, yawning. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had thrown on a pair of jeans and a fluffy jumper. Hermione had gotten dressed a little while ago and was also wearing jeans with a hoodie. She smiled at Ginny.
"Morning. Sleep well?" Hermione asked her.
"Yeah. What time did you get up?" she asked.
"About sixish."
"Gees Mione! That's damn early. Now lets go get food. Harry will kill us if we're not there in the next ten minutes," she told her, nervous butterflies dancing in her stomach. The two girls looked perfectly calm but that was nothing compared to the swirling in their stomachs. This was a big game and everyone knew it. it was the last year Harry would play for Gryffindor and he wanted to go out with a bang.
Ginny and Hermione entered the Great Hall and looked around for Harry. They found him and the rest of the team and sat down. Harry looked incredibly pale with a hint of green. He wasn't eating, and Hermione felt she would chuck it up if she tried to eat. Ginny settled for a small glass of pumpkin juice while Ron ate considerably less that he usually did.
"Ok team. Change," Harry managed to get out and they headed silently to the changing rooms.
"Now, we are going to try our hardest and win today. There is nothing at all stopping us. The wind and weather conditions are perfect, the pitch is nice and firm, and Slytherin have losers for players. Now let's get out there and show them what we're made of!" Harry exclaimed as he led the team onto the pitch.
Harry and Malfoy shook hands, though very briefly and the team mounted their brroms. Madame Hooch kicked the crate open and the 14 players rose into the air.
Hermione grabbed the quaffle first and dodged around the other players. She neared the Slytherin end and put it through the left hoop.
"Gryffindor take a very early lead, 10 to 0."
The game continued pretty much like this for the next ten minutes. The Gryffindor's were doing considerably well, owing to the fact that they were now in possession of two firebolts. The score had now evened up. It was Gryffindor in front 50-30. Harry needed to wait until they were 40 points up before catching the snitch.
He looked around and saw Malfoy dive for the ground. Harry looked directly down and saw the snitch hovering quite a few feet below him. Harry could easily catch the snitch now if he wanted to because he was much closer. He wheeled his broom around and dived at Malfoy, stopping just in front of him. Draco had to swerve suddenly upward, and by the time they looked down, the snitch had taken off again.
Up in the centre of the pitch, Ginny was flying towards the Slytherin goal, the quaffle tucked under her arm. A Slytherin beater swerved in front of her at the last minute and whacked her broom with his bat which sent her spinning away. She had dropped the quaffle and a Slytherin chaser had picked it up.
Just then the whistle blew.
"That is unacceptable playing behaviour. The bat is used to hit the bludger, not the players of their broom!" Madame Hooch screeched. She awarded Gryffindor a penalty and the pther Gryiffindor chaser put it through nicely.
After about twenty seconds, Ginny had put through another goal, which meant that Gryffindor was leading by fourty points. Harry spun around and looked carefully for the snitch, as well as keeping an eye on Draco and his movements. The stands had become a bit more quieter and all eyes were on the two seekers. Hermione put through another goal, but no one took notice as Harry had suddenly taken off to the Slytherin end of the pitch.
Bludgers were aimed at him, both missing. He veered upwards and saw the small shimmery bal a few feet in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Malfoy racing up beside him. Harry reached out his hand and grabbed onto air. He hadn't caught it yet. He lay his body flat on the broom and urged it up faster. Just before the snitch was about to make a right he reached out and snatched it away.
A tremendous cheer went up from the crowd. He descended slowly only to be surrounded by the Gryffindor quidditch team. This was very reminiscent of his third year triumph. They reached the ground and the first person to run to them was flailing their arms everywhere with the biggest grin on their face. Hilary sprinted over and nearly bowled them over with the force she slammed into them with.
That night the Gryffindor's were allowed to take over the Great Hall and celebrate, provided professor McGonagall was there and they wrapped it up at about 2 in the morning.
They all had a great time talking about the play used and eating and drinking. It was a very joyous moment for them. Little did any of them realise, there was a shadowy face lurking around, following their every move.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~