First of all, sorry for not updating for so long! I haven't abandoned this story, but I was busy both with work and the new book! This of course isn't anywhere near canon anymore, but I will continue it 'cause I still think it's a cool story J I hope I'll still have readers who like it as well. I'll probably start a new story soon, got a start on a 6th year, OOP canon story in the works. Well, enough chatter, on with the story itself!

8.  Quidditch and Hogsmeade weekend.

On Saturday Harry and Ron woke early, even though the game against Ravenclaw wouldn't start until after lunch. They tried to do some homework, but they couldn't concentrate. They ended up talking Quidditch all morning, driving Hermione off the wall, until she gave up and left for the library. After lunch, of course, she came with them to the field to watch, Harry knew she would not miss their game.

They flew around and threw the Quaffle around to warm up, and soon Madam Hooch called them down for the start of the match.

Harry eyed Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker, and they greeted each other with a brief nod. Unless the Snitch would be extremely hard to find, it would be the catching of the Snitch which won the game. Harry liked Cho well enough, but he also knew their own team was better than hers, and he would do his best to win. Neither Ravenclaw nor Hufflepuff were as big a challenge as the Slytherin team was. Still, it wouldn't do to underestimate them.

Fred was the Captain this game, and he shook hands with Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Captain. After the two teams greeted each other, Madam Hooch released the Bludgers and the Snitch, then blew her whistle as she threw the Quaffle into the air.

Harry pushed off and shot upward, already scanning the field for the Snitch. Cho, on her older broomstick, was well behind him.

Lee Jordan was commentating as usual, and he called out the names of the Chasers on the ball. Harry paid only a little attention, leaving the Chasers to do their job and trusting Fred and George's skill to keep the Bludgers away from him. People often though the Seeker was the only truly important position on the Quidditch field, but a Seeker who constantly had to dodge the Bludgers would have little chance to catch the Snitch.

He did notice the first attack of the Ravenclaw Chasers, and cheered as Ron caught the Quaffle, immediately passing it off to Katie. Soon after, Angelina scored the first goal for Gryffindor.

Harry made sure he stayed close to Cho. With her slower broom, if they were close when the Snitch appeared, he could definitely win. If they were further apart, there was a chance she'd be lucky and spot the Snitch nearby, too far for even his Firebolt to catch up.

Fred and George kept the Bludgers constantly targeted on the Ravenclaw Chasers, who had a hard time with the twins, and Ron did his best to do well in his first game, so Katie, Alicia and Angelina scored three more times before Ravenclaw got their first goal.

Two more goals for Gryffindor followed before the Ravenclaws even came close to the Gryffindor goal, then Ron stopped two attacks. Anyone who honestly believed he'd got his position because of favouritism should now know better. Finally, when the score was 90-10, Ravenclaw scored again, but Angelina immediately retaliated and they led by 100-20.

Harry still hadn't spotted the Snitch, even though he'd scanned the entire field several times. Which wasn't quite unusual, the tiny golden ball was meant to be elusive. But the sun was shining, and Harry hoped to catch a glint.

Cho scanned the air on the opposite side from wherever he was, knowing the same thing he did about the speed her broom was capable of, and hoping for luck to run her way. She'd tried to shake him off earlier on in the game, but when he'd doggedly stayed on her tail she'd given up.

Suddenly Harry saw something blink near the bottom of the stands. It was far enough on the other side of the field that he didn't need to fake his interest, instead he relied on his Firebolt's speed to get there first. He kicked his broom into gear and sped off, leaving Cho behind. An expectant roar came from the Gryffindor stands.

"Harry has seen something!" Lee commented, but Harry barely heard him. He focussed on the exact place where he'd seen the glint, scanning the immediate surroundings, and then he saw it, almost on the ground.

He banked left, reached down and felt the soft feathers of the tiny ball as it wriggled in his hand. Cheering, he pulled up, holding the Snitch aloft.

The twins flew over, slapping him on the back, but Harry flew on to the goal posts to congratulate Ron on his performance. Then they landed and were instantly rushed by their housemates.

-0-

The next weekend was Hogsmeade weekend. Harry hadn't been sure at first that they'd still be allowed to go, now that Voldemort had returned. But to his relief the announcement said nothing, and the only real precaution was that Professor McGonagall told Hermione, him and the other Prefects to keep their eyes open and shoot a stream of sparks into the air at any sign of trouble. She wasn't expecting any, or they wouldn't be allowed to go at all.

They didn't waste time, leaving immediately after breakfast. As did almost everyone, truth to tell. The walk to Hogsmeade was pleasant, even though it was October it was sunny and dry. Ron wanted to go to Zonko's first, but Harry disagreed, suggesting they'd do their shopping later so they wouldn't have to carry their purchases all day long.

Swayed by his argument, Ron relented and they went to Honeydukes' only, then found a nice place to sit, not too far from the Shrieking Shack. They munched their sweets, talked, and enjoyed the nice fall weather.

Eventually they got up and went into the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer. Madam Rosmerta greeted them by name. They'd returned twice to practice Apparating since that first afternoon, Apparating in from the street and back again, but of course on those occasions they didn't have time to stay for a drink. Professor Flitwick took them straight back to Hogwarts, reminding them that it was still a class and they weren't allowed to eat or drink during the lessons. It was too important to concentrate on the spell. But today they were free to do as they liked. They all ordered Butterbeer and Hermione, who had eaten less sweets than he and Ron had, ordered a ham sandwich as well. Harry and Ron were full with chocolate, Every Flavour Beans and Jelly Slugs.

After lunch, such as it was, they went shopping. They didn't need any school supplies yet, so early in the year, but Hermione wanted browse the book shop and after that they finally went to Zonko's.

It was crowded. At first Harry thought it was because more students had had the same plan, to go here last of all. Then he saw Fred and George in the middle of a small crowd near the counter.

Harry couldn't make out what they were doing, but he heard a small pop and then lots of laughter. Ron groaned. Harry knew he liked pranks as much as the next person but he was also exasperated by his brothers. He'd been on the butt end of many of their jokes. He started to check out the merchandise on the far shelf, and Harry joined him. Throwing an occasional look over his shoulder –he was curious- he checked out the items. As always there were dozens of pranks and joke items, but many were mentioned on Filch's list of forbidden objects. Not that he or Ron knew the entire list. Only Fred and George claimed they did, and Harry wouldn't be surprised if that were true.

Ron pointedly ignored his brothers as he picked out several new items, and Harry didn't argue. He'd find out later what the twins were up to. And he didn't want to get them into trouble either, or any more trouble than they'd get themselves into, so perhaps it was better not to watch them too closely.

Hermione just shook her head at their enthusiasm for each new gag item. Fred and George were always trying to talk her into helping them develop their pranks, but Harry had long accepted she wasn't interested in that kind of thing, just like she'd accepted that they were.

They paid for their purchases and left, meaning to go back to Hogwarts for dinner. However, they'd barely turned towards the castle when Hermione spotted Crookshanks. They followed the cat without hesitation, although Ron groaned when they noticed he led them all the way back through the village, past Dervish & Banges on the far side of the town.

Nearly there, Harry was the first to spot Draco, standing among some trees where the road led out of the town and into the mountains. With him was a tall man. For a moment Harry thought it was Mr Malfoy, then he realised the man had dark hair. Who would Draco meet here, on the outskirts of town? Not that there was a school rule against meeting anyone, but the very fact that this was Draco and the way Crookshanks behaved made him think something was amiss. He cautioned the others and they stayed back between the last houses of the village.

"Who's that?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I bet it's a Death Eater though."

"I wish we could see his face," Hermione remarked. The man had turned away from them and had the collar of his cloak pulled up. Then he walked off and Disapparated. "Should we tell someone?"

"Tell them what? That Draco met someone in Hogsmeade? There's no rule against that, we don't even know who it was," Ron complained.

"Tall, dark hair, that's not much to go on," Harry had to agree.

Crookshanks meowed, and Hermione looked at him. "You know, don't you? You're trying to tell me something."

"Have you had any luck in the library?" Harry asked.

She shook her head, then frowned. "Not at all. If I haven't found anything in two weeks, I'm asking Filch."

Harry nodded. "We'll keep an eye on Draco in the meantime."

"Come on, let's go before he sees us," Ron suggested.

They walked back through the town and all the way to Hogwarts, still distracted by Draco's meeting with the stranger.