A/N: Sorry updates are taken so long!! I've been studying crazy 4 midterms, so please bear w/me! After next week, I should update every day again or so! Thanks, Jinglez
:-D Oh, and last chapter, I made an error; Slytherin's son was Vladislav, not Vladimir.
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Chapter 35:
In the next few days the plan was coming along very well. The maps were both in the making, they had several ideas for protections, and all of the DA members were working more diligently than ever. There were two new members, a Hufflepuff seventh year and a Ravenclaw sixth year named Lisa Turpin. There were only about five students in sixth year, besides the Slytherins, that hadn't joined the DA. Draco didn't enjoy it, but he knew it had to be done, Harry suspected.
The week passed fairly quickly, and soon it was Saturday, and time for the first Quidditch match of the season, against Ravenclaw. The team had been practicing nearly every day, and Katie, sure enough, had pulled an 'Oliver' on the team, becoming obsessed with practice and winning. Parvati had truly become a superb Chaser, and she, Katie, and Ginny seemed to read each other's minds. Lenore and Alex could almost rival Fred and George in their beating skills. And Ron was becoming much better at blocking goals. Harry thought that the team had a good chance, but he was still slightly nervous as he walked out onto the pitch.
He was immediately greeted by a roar from the crowd. He grinned up at the stadium, catching the eye of Ron, and Hermione. He then lined up with his team as Katie and Ravenclaw's captain, the new DA member, shook hands. Harry looked at the Ravenclaw team, expecting his stomach "not to flip" when he saw Cho's hair prettily ruffling in the air, but Cho was not there.
"Where's Cho?" he asked Ginny quietly. Ginny looked up at him pityingly.
"Cho has Wizard's flu, Harry."
"But… but she came to the DA meeting the other day!" Harry sputtered. Ginny sighed.
"Harry… she must've snuck out of the hospital wing; I didn't think she looked that well, to be honest. I think she's in the same stage still. When her magic leaves, she'll be sent home."
"Why?" asked Harry incredulously, as the whistle blew into the shrill air.
Harry took off immediately, worried about Cho, even though she'd never been his favorite person… what was it? 20% chance of living? Not good. Maybe he could have one of the DA members look up and try to find cures for the disease.
Suddenly, a bludger was flying at him. He rolled over, missing it my only centimeters, then missing Alex as he flew past it by even less than that.
The weather was perfect this afternoon. The sun shone brightly and the wind was blowing slightly. Harry looked over to see who the new Ravenclaw Seeker was. It was Michael Corner, and he was trailing behind Harry. This angered Harry; why did seekers always feel the need to follow him around? Harry had never followed anybody else all over the Quidditch Pitch, letting them find the snitch…
Suddenly Katie whizzed by. "Harry, lose him!" Harry nodded and refrained for only about five seconds. In a split instant, he suddenly made a sharp dive, and he was followed closely by Michael. Harry suddenly felt like he'd resorted to this method a lot as he sharply rose, only a yard from the ground. Michael barely missed colliding with the pitch. Harry sighed collectively and once again began circling the pitch. He finally tuned into the commentating, which Dean Thomas was doing, and rather enthusiastically, too.
"So far no one has scored; Davies with Quaffle, he zooms down the pitch, and it's blocked by Keeper Ron Weasley of Gryffindor! Bell with Quaffle- ooh, nasty bludger hits Ravenclaw Keeper… Little Weasley with Quaffle and- SHE SCORES! Brilliant! Right into the center hoop, too! Well done! Gryffindor leads ten-nil, Captain and star chaser of Ravenclaw, Sam Gnolles with Quaffle… he shoots! Ooh, brilliant bludger from new beater Lenore Felkes, who has come from a school in America and never played Quidditch before this-" Harry grinned as Lenore smiled, flattered. "And, personally, I think she's amazing; has it all, the look, the moves, the equiptment-"
"Thomas!" said McGonagall threateningly. Lenore blushed and Harry couldn't help chuckling.
"Oh- Professor! You have a dirty mind, I didn't mean it that way! Honestly, Professors these days…"
"Thomas!"
"Sorry, sorry… Okay, Parvati patil, another new addition to the Gryffindor Quidditch team, with Quaffle… she passes to Bell, Bell passes back to Patil, who flies to the left goal post, makes sharp pass to Weasley, on right goal pass, pass to Bell, who's underneath- and Gryffindor scores! Gryffindor lead, 20-nil, and it's eighteen minutes into the game…" Harry tuned the commentating back out and continued his search for the snitch.
The game was 70-20 Gryffindor forty minutes later, when Harry finally spotted it, fluttering near the ground, right in the middle of the field. He dove for it, and was followed a moment later by Michael Corner. But Harry was too far ahead… and sure enough, in a few seconds he felt his fist clamp around the Snitch. He rose from his dive, smiling widely and holding up the snitch, greeted by wild cheers from everyone but the Slytherins and Ravenclaws, who looked upset.
After the Quidditch match, there was a party in the Gryffindor common room. A few seventh years magicked speakers and magic stereos that actually played some Muggle music, which most students preferred anyway. Harry volunteered to get food from the kitchens, and Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Lenore, and Tag-along-Creevey followed.
Colin was talking excitedly about the match. "You were brilliant, Harry, I mean that Wronski Feint- That was unbelievable! Rivaled Victor Krum's, it did-" Hermione groaned as Ron turned bright red from anger.
"He's not that good at Quidditch-"
"Yes he is;" persisted Colin, "Harry's amazing! You and Gin and Lenore are all really good, too, thou-"
"I wasn't talking about Harry," snapped Ron, "I was talking about Krum, the-"
"Oh, Ron, I wish you'd stop," pleaded Hermione. "I don't like him either, so calm down!" Ron gritted his teeth.
Harry, feeling that an immediate subject change was in order, was about to speak, when-
"Why, what have we here?"
"Sneaking to the kitchens, are we?"
"Even three well-respected prefects?"
"We taught them well, didn't we Fred?"
"Fred! George!" screamed Ginny and delight as she ran to hug her older brothers. "I missed you two- we just won Quidditch! We're having a party, but what are you doing here?" George rolled his eyes and ruffled his sister's hair.
"Well, you couldn't have a party without butter beer?"
"And honeydukes chocolate?"
"And Fire Whiskey-"
"And Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, now could you?"
Harry laughed. The twins were clad in dragon hide suits again, but light blue ones that didn't clash as badly with their hair. "How did you get in, and why? Really?"
Fred laughed. "Details, details… Well, we got in from the passage-"
"What passage?" asked Colin eagerly.
"Nothing," said George hastily. He then continued Fred's sentence. "And all the British and American Aurors stationed here are coming tonight, so we figured we'd blend in…"
"Tonight?" asked Lenore eagerly.
"Yep," smiled Fred. "By the way, to all you Quidditchers, great game! 220-20, awesome game! Great Keeping, Ron, you only let in two! That's better than Oliver could even do most of the time.
Ron grinned and ruffled his hair modestly. "Well…" Hermione smiled.
"Well," said Fred. "Do we have a party or not? Oh, also why we came was to deliver the DA stuff. I hear it's going well this year?" Harry nodded vigorously.
"Definitely," he said. So the group of eight made a quick trip to the kitchens and then hurried to the Gryffindor tower. And they were almost there, to the Fat Lady, when, unfortunately, Snape walked by. He glared at them and continued walking by, when suddenly he stopped and did a double take. Harry hurriedly shoved Fred and George under his invisibility cloak.
"Potter," hissed Snape. "Did I just see- was that-"
"What, Professor?" asked Harry, trying to sound innocent.
"Nothing… must be imagining things… five points from Gryffindor for your insolence, Potter…" With that, Snape stalked off.
"Bllody Bastard!" muttered Fred angrily when Snape was gone, whipping off the cloak. "You weren't being insolent!"
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The party lasted for a few hours but stopped at dinner because people were curious about the new Aurors coming. Everyone was delighted about Fred and George being back, though George spent most of the day making out with Katie, as they hadn't seen each other in a while. Fred had provided all of the entertainment, as well as teasing his brother ruthlessly. He also gave a few cracks at Ron and Hermione, announcing to the whole coomon room that they'd been seen snogging on numerous occasions over the summer. Most of the people 'oohed' at this and thought it was so sweet, but Hermione and Ron were still mortified.
After the party had lost its momentum, people began drifting to the Great Hall. The Aurors were just arriving when Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lavender, Katie, Fred, and George arrived. There were maybe 50 Aurors all grouped near the staff table. Supposedly, a whole half of the eighth floor corridor provided living accommodations for the Aurors. Some students, whose parents were Aurors, were absolutely mortified, though at least half of the Aurors were Americans. Harry looked over to Lenore and found that she was over by the Aurors, chatting animatedly with what looked like the only two new students.
One of them was a girl Harry's age. She had medium length straight hair that was brown with red streaks. She had dark, serious brown eyes… but Harry could see a glint of humor in them. She had a lot of freckles dotting her face, and she was smiling beautifully for a moment as she hugged Lenore, but then the smile evaporated from her face as she got into a conversation. Almost everything she said seemed to make Lenore laugh, though the girl didn't smile with her lips, but with her eyes, which crinkled as they danced merrily. Harry guessed that this had to be Tabitha.
There was another girl beside Tabitha, with auburn hair and light brown eyes. She looked to be maybe a second or third year. Unlike Tabitha's eyes, hers were wide and showed her emotion. This girl had few freckles on her creamy complexion, and she smiled openly. She was looking around the great Hall in awe, and her eyes looked excited and nervous. Harry vaguely wondered how Tabitha and her sister were going to be sorted, when Lenore brought her friend over.
"You guys!" she said happily, walking to the Gryffindor table. "This is my best friend, Tabby Greenly!" she gushed.
"Hey you guys," said Tabitha in greeting casually.
"Are you from America too?" asked Lavender interestedly.
"No, I'm from Ireland," said tabby sarcastically. Lavender looked put out. Lenore rolled her eyes,
"Sorry, guys, you'll have to excuse her… brutally sarcastic; it kills you… downright cynical, you are…"
"Ugh," said tabby. "Big word… you're becoming British, Lenore! God save the… Queen!" At this she began laughing, while everyone else raised their eyebrows.
"Sorry," said Lenore, "It takes getting used to… we began school as enemies but became friends when we got stuck in detention together…"
"Ah, the good old days…" sighed Tabby. She then looked around. "So who are all of you?" Lenore laughed. Harry noticed how much more extroverted Lenore became around Tabitha.
"Sorry, Tab… this is Harry Potter." Tabby squinted at him.
"Lenore… he has your eyes." Lenore nodded uncomfortably as a bunch of surrounding Gryffindors curiously looked to see the resemblance.
"Yeah,… I guess. This is Robyn, this is Hermione, that's Ginny; she's a fifth year, that's Ron, that's Seamus and Dean and Neville… these are Fred and George…"
"Oh!" exclaimed Tabby suddenly. "The Weasleys! So pleased to meet all of you! I've heard loads from Lenore! Fred; George… you're my inspiration. And, Ron, you so need to ask out Hermione already! And, Ginny, you seem really nice, but you need to know that what you want is right in front of you." She then looked around. "Oooh! Lenore! Is that Draco Malfoy?"
"No… that's Roger Davies. Malfoy is him." Lenore pointed to the Slytherin table.
"Oh!" said Tabby, "Duh! Anyway, I'll see you guys after me and Gwen get sorted. Bye!"
"Who's Gwen?" asked Ron as he watched Tabby walk away confidently.
"Oh; that's her little sister; a third year…"
Several minutes later, Dumbledore arose and began to speak.
"Good evening, good evening, students, faculty, friends… I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of the new Aurors who have come to protect our school. I ask that they be allowed to do their job and treated with utmost respect. I know that some student's parents may be here now, but, I assure you, this should have no affect on you seeing them all the time if you wish. I would also like to welcome two new students from America, the children of one of the new Aurors, Tabitha and Gwendolyn Greenly. Tabitha is a sic\xth year and Gwendolyn a third. Minerva, I believe you have the sorting hat?"
Tabitha made her way into the front of the school. She did quite well in front of crowds; she didn't look nervous in the least. She put the hat on and closed her eyes. It was there for at least three minutes before it finally chose.
"SLYTHERIN!" Lenore's face fell. Tabitha looked less happy than before, but she still didn't look upset. She calmly made her way to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Draco Malfoy.
Next her little sister was sorted. The hat was on Gwendolyn's head no less than thirty seconds when it made its decision.
"RAVENCLAW!" After Gwen joined the Ravenclaws, Dumbledore announced a Hogsmeade weekend the next week, followed by the Halloween Ball, and he then dismissed the students.
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