A/N- Well, here's the 3rd installment. I meant to update 3 days back, but my results came out and I was so ecstatic to find that I had topped the school, that I didnt have time for anything but a shopping spree. Hopefully this chapter is long enough to compensate for the delay.
Lavender closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for the impending crash which never came. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into the blue ones of Seamus Finnigan.
It is probable that they would have stood like that for a long time, or at least till Seamus' arms ached, if Parvati and Hermione hadn't come rushing over and asked Lavender breathlessly if she was alright.
Seamus hurriedly let go of her and she fell to the ground with a big thud. "Aaah! Now I'm not!" she cried.
Hermione turned furiously towards Seamus. "How dare you try to injure our Keeper?"
Seamus was torn between defending himself from Hermione's unfair accusation and expressing disbelief at the thought that any team dared hope for victory with Lavender as Keeper.
In the end he did neither, for the girls had walked away in a huff, leaving behind them a rather constrained silence.
"Great catch, Seamus," said Harry at last breaking the quiet.
"Shut up, Harry."
Hermione was surprised at the number of people who had turned up to watch the match between the boys and the girls. Nearly the entire Gryffindor student body was there and she could even spot a stray Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Yes, she had definitely got a glimpse of a pair of radish ear-rings.
"Get a load of that," whispered Ginny. "Malfoy and his goons are here as well."
Hermione arched her eyebrows and smiled. "Wonder who they'll support?"
They both walked towards the Hufflepuff changing room, which the Hufflepuffs had graciously allowed them to use, since the guys were using the Gryffindor changing room.
Lavender and Parvati were already there, but there was no sign of Natalie, Claire and Yvon.
"They said they'd be here at least a half an hour before the game starts," said Ginny. "Well there are only 10 minutes for the game and they haven't arrived," said Parvati grimly. Just then there was a sound of feet and the trio came in, panting. "Sorry we're late," said Yvon.
"We were waylaid by the boys," said Natalie, whose statement captured the attention of the other girls immediately.
"Did they try to hex you?" asked Lavender.
"Nothing so crude as that," said Natalie laughing. "They didn't want us to play today. They said that the fight was only between you girls and them, and they didn't have anything against us."
The other girls had expressions of outrage on their faces. "Of all the confounded cheek!" said Hermione furiously. "Right before the match too!"
"Those low-down, lying, twisted, Slytherin scums!" said Parvati heatedly.
"What did you say?" asked Ginny.
"Naturally we refused," said Natalie. "We couldn't leave you girls like that. You'd be flattened."
Hermione opened her mouth furiously, but was cut off by Claire. "Though we were a little tempted when the cute red-head with freckles said that he would give us an autographed photo of Harry Potter…"
"The Irish guy was cuter," said Yvon.
Ginny, looking at the incensed faces of the older girls hurriedly intervened. "It's almost time, girls. Let's get going."
Harry noticed differences between the normal Quidditch games and the one he was currently going to play in. For one, there was no commentator. Probably McGonagall thought that this match was too unimportant to merit one. Secondly, there were cushions placed all over the pitch.
"So that the delicate girls don't break their bones when they fall, which is going to be pretty often," said Seamus sneering.
Harry smiled feebly. He really wasn't comfortable about this dispute with the girls. He felt that a harmless conversation had just been blown out of proportion. McGonagall was right. They all needed to stick by each other. Not be having some silly, juvenile contest. If Dumbledore hadn't intervened, they wouldn't be here at all. 'Its all Dumbledore's fault,' he thought, a little unfairly.
Madame Hooch's whistle blew jerking him out of his thoughts. He mounted his broom and flew up. All at once his Quidditch skills kicked in and he focused only on one thing – getting the snitch.
Since there wasn't any commentary, he had no idea what was going on. When he thought he heard cheers, he looked around and saw that one of Ginny's friends had scored. He glanced at Ron and saw him clutching his hair in frustration. Harry shook his head. It was going to be pretty demoralizing if Ron allowed so many goals in his very first game of the year, that too against girls.
He turned his attention back to finding the Snitch. He spotted Ginny diving suddenly and assuming she had spotted the Snitch he directed his broom towards her. He was wondering where she had seen the Snitch, when she suddenly turned and flew in the opposite direction. He turned his head and just in time too, for a bludger went zooming past the place where his head had been only a second ago.
He caught sight of Hermione with the club, looking appalled. She looked as if she was about to come flying over and apologise, when wiser councils prevailed and she zipped away.
Hermione's hands trembled and her palms were so sweaty that the club kept slipping from her grasp. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to be afraid of as long as she didn't look down. She tried to think of all the nasty things that the boys had said to her, so that she could replace her fear with anger.
Just as she was thinking about Seamus' particularly vicious jibe against the girls, she heard a cheer and saw that Natalie had scored. Her heart leaped and miraculously she found all her fears gone. She was just about to cheer, when she saw a bludger heading towards Ginny. She sped towards it and hit with all her might in the opposite direction, only to see Harry in the line of the Bludger.
Her heart almost stopped, but luckily the bludger missed him. She saw Harry turn to look at her and read the hurt and accusation in his eyed. She wanted to go over and apologise, but just in time she saw his expression change to one of grim determination and with a jolt realized that she was in a match. A match against the boys and her job was to direct the bludger towards them.
But, why did she feel so horrible?
Ginny smiled to herself. That was a good piece of flying. Make Harry think she'd seen the Snitch, lure him towards her and then speed off in the opposite direction. Harry would take a minute at least to get his bearings again. Not to be compared with the Wronski Feint, of course, but she was slowly getting there.
Her smile quickly faded when she saw the Snitch hovering just a few inches to the right of Harry. She was surprised that he hadn't noticed it yet. He was looking in the other direction, and with luck she ought to be able to catch it before he did.
She caught Parvati's eye and gestured her to distract Harry with a bludger. She turned towards the Snitch, only to find it had vanished. She looked at Harry and saw him smiling triumphantly holding up his hand, where the Snitch was fluttering madly.
The game was over.
Lavender closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for the impending crash which never came. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into the blue ones of Seamus Finnigan.
It is probable that they would have stood like that for a long time, or at least till Seamus' arms ached, if Parvati and Hermione hadn't come rushing over and asked Lavender breathlessly if she was alright.
Seamus hurriedly let go of her and she fell to the ground with a big thud. "Aaah! Now I'm not!" she cried.
Hermione turned furiously towards Seamus. "How dare you try to injure our Keeper?"
Seamus was torn between defending himself from Hermione's unfair accusation and expressing disbelief at the thought that any team dared hope for victory with Lavender as Keeper.
In the end he did neither, for the girls had walked away in a huff, leaving behind them a rather constrained silence.
"Great catch, Seamus," said Harry at last breaking the quiet.
"Shut up, Harry."
Hermione was surprised at the number of people who had turned up to watch the match between the boys and the girls. Nearly the entire Gryffindor student body was there and she could even spot a stray Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Yes, she had definitely got a glimpse of a pair of radish ear-rings.
"Get a load of that," whispered Ginny. "Malfoy and his goons are here as well."
Hermione arched her eyebrows and smiled. "Wonder who they'll support?"
They both walked towards the Hufflepuff changing room, which the Hufflepuffs had graciously allowed them to use, since the guys were using the Gryffindor changing room.
Lavender and Parvati were already there, but there was no sign of Natalie, Claire and Yvon.
"They said they'd be here at least a half an hour before the game starts," said Ginny. "Well there are only 10 minutes for the game and they haven't arrived," said Parvati grimly. Just then there was a sound of feet and the trio came in, panting. "Sorry we're late," said Yvon.
"We were waylaid by the boys," said Natalie, whose statement captured the attention of the other girls immediately.
"Did they try to hex you?" asked Lavender.
"Nothing so crude as that," said Natalie laughing. "They didn't want us to play today. They said that the fight was only between you girls and them, and they didn't have anything against us."
The other girls had expressions of outrage on their faces. "Of all the confounded cheek!" said Hermione furiously. "Right before the match too!"
"Those low-down, lying, twisted, Slytherin scums!" said Parvati heatedly.
"What did you say?" asked Ginny.
"Naturally we refused," said Natalie. "We couldn't leave you girls like that. You'd be flattened."
Hermione opened her mouth furiously, but was cut off by Claire. "Though we were a little tempted when the cute red-head with freckles said that he would give us an autographed photo of Harry Potter…"
"The Irish guy was cuter," said Yvon.
Ginny, looking at the incensed faces of the older girls hurriedly intervened. "It's almost time, girls. Let's get going."
Harry noticed differences between the normal Quidditch games and the one he was currently going to play in. For one, there was no commentator. Probably McGonagall thought that this match was too unimportant to merit one. Secondly, there were cushions placed all over the pitch.
"So that the delicate girls don't break their bones when they fall, which is going to be pretty often," said Seamus sneering.
Harry smiled feebly. He really wasn't comfortable about this dispute with the girls. He felt that a harmless conversation had just been blown out of proportion. McGonagall was right. They all needed to stick by each other. Not be having some silly, juvenile contest. If Dumbledore hadn't intervened, they wouldn't be here at all. 'Its all Dumbledore's fault,' he thought, a little unfairly.
Madame Hooch's whistle blew jerking him out of his thoughts. He mounted his broom and flew up. All at once his Quidditch skills kicked in and he focused only on one thing – getting the snitch.
Since there wasn't any commentary, he had no idea what was going on. When he thought he heard cheers, he looked around and saw that one of Ginny's friends had scored. He glanced at Ron and saw him clutching his hair in frustration. Harry shook his head. It was going to be pretty demoralizing if Ron allowed so many goals in his very first game of the year, that too against girls.
He turned his attention back to finding the Snitch. He spotted Ginny diving suddenly and assuming she had spotted the Snitch he directed his broom towards her. He was wondering where she had seen the Snitch, when she suddenly turned and flew in the opposite direction. He turned his head and just in time too, for a bludger went zooming past the place where his head had been only a second ago.
He caught sight of Hermione with the club, looking appalled. She looked as if she was about to come flying over and apologise, when wiser councils prevailed and she zipped away.
Hermione's hands trembled and her palms were so sweaty that the club kept slipping from her grasp. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to be afraid of as long as she didn't look down. She tried to think of all the nasty things that the boys had said to her, so that she could replace her fear with anger.
Just as she was thinking about Seamus' particularly vicious jibe against the girls, she heard a cheer and saw that Natalie had scored. Her heart leaped and miraculously she found all her fears gone. She was just about to cheer, when she saw a bludger heading towards Ginny. She sped towards it and hit with all her might in the opposite direction, only to see Harry in the line of the Bludger.
Her heart almost stopped, but luckily the bludger missed him. She saw Harry turn to look at her and read the hurt and accusation in his eyed. She wanted to go over and apologise, but just in time she saw his expression change to one of grim determination and with a jolt realized that she was in a match. A match against the boys and her job was to direct the bludger towards them.
But, why did she feel so horrible?
Ginny smiled to herself. That was a good piece of flying. Make Harry think she'd seen the Snitch, lure him towards her and then speed off in the opposite direction. Harry would take a minute at least to get his bearings again. Not to be compared with the Wronski Feint, of course, but she was slowly getting there.
Her smile quickly faded when she saw the Snitch hovering just a few inches to the right of Harry. She was surprised that he hadn't noticed it yet. He was looking in the other direction, and with luck she ought to be able to catch it before he did.
She caught Parvati's eye and gestured her to distract Harry with a bludger. She turned towards the Snitch, only to find it had vanished. She looked at Harry and saw him smiling triumphantly holding up his hand, where the Snitch was fluttering madly.
The game was over.