Chapter 10

"We've come this far. We've beat down every defense we have. We've soared over the obstacles. We beat Slytherin two hundred to twenty for crying out loud. We can do this. We're ready. Go Gryffindor on three! Are you ready?" The team gave a mild applause and Harry stared at them incredulously. "What was that? I believe I said ARE YOU READY?"

The team started whooping and cheering, finally getting excited. They all put their hands in a circle and screamed, "GO GRYFFINDOR!" after three counts. They raced out to the field, clutching their brooms and slapping each other's hands. They wanted this more than anything.

Harry ran beside Ginny, and suddenly everything they had been through melted away. They were just Wood and J again. They were laughing as they eagerly ran to the center of the pitch. Every now and then Ginny jabbed him in the shoulder and he nudged her in the shoulder. This had always been their warm up before a game.

They all arrived at the middle, holding onto their brooms anxiously. The Captains shook hands and as soon as Madam Hooch gave her whistle a sharp blow, the teams flew into the air. They were all looking around eagerly.

Ginny could feel her heart pounding against the walls of her chest. She was sure it would fly straight out of her mouth if she gave it the chance.

And suddenly, it happened in a slow, fluid like motion. The Snitch had been released, and Harry was keeping a close, sharp watch on it. The Bludgers were already flying around like mad. The Quaffle was going to be released any second…

Then it happened. The ball flew up in between the six Chasers and Andrew bolted in to grab it before anyone else could. However, a Hufflepuff managed to grab it a split second sooner.

Ginny saw her opportunity and advanced on the Chaser, her Clean Sweep doing a better job than she had ever expected. She came right up behind him, punched the Quaffle out of his arm, and watched as it soared into Andrew's arm. She did a sharp U-Turn, ducked a mad Bludger, and flew toward Andrew.

Carly was already up at the opposite end of the pitch, waiting. However, before Andrew had a chance to pass her the Quaffle, a Bludger flew into his side, causing the Quaffle to fall. His body slumped over the side of his broom and he was dangerously close to falling off. Ginny raced over to be underneath him in case he did.

While they were making sure Andrew didn't get killed, Hufflepuff had managed to score ten points. The sea of yellow and black was going crazy. Harry looked over at Ginny and Andrew. He made a motion that told them to keep going. Andrew was leaning lazily to the left, but stiffened his resolve. He was now more determined than ever to win that Quaffle back.

Hufflepuff was just as determined as Gryffindor, but Ginny knew that she was sincerely more resolute. She wasn't going to allow her thoughts linger on anything but Quidditch and that red Quaffle… where had it gone? Where had it gone?

Then she spotted it. She zoomed in, intent on getting to the ball before the opposing Chaser had a chance to dispose of it through their hoop.

Carly was already on the opposite side of the Chaser, and remembering the play they had gone over at practice, Ginny zoomed to the other side. It was the Intimidation Tactic. They would bombard the Chaser until it was easy to just grab the Quaffle from his hand.

However, as Ginny approached, she found that what Carly was attempting was not working. The Chaser sat straight up, throwing it to his teammate, and scoring. Hufflepuff was up by twenty points.

The Gryffindor crowd was getting disappointed, but they were pressing on their buttons nonetheless. All the team could hear was the dull roar of lions, and this somehow strengthened them.

Harry was not discouraged whatsoever. He was practicing his scare tactics as well. Dane was doing a great job. The two goals he had let in had only been lucky shots. Dane was doing his best.

The process of flying around the pitch and then shooting suddenly was working great to fool the Hufflepuff Seeker. He was following Harry around like a lost puppy, and when Harry knew he was right where he wanted, Harry would fly off a different way. This was doing the team a lot of good, considering the Chasers were having a hard time.

Ginny was becoming so frustrated she wanted to scream. The Chaser who had the Quaffle was directly in front of her, but she had noticed that her Clean Sweep was acting up. It was becoming slower and jerkier every time she went to make a sharp turn. She was gaining on the Chaser, but it wasn't quite fast enough.

At the last second, Andrew flew from above and snatched the Quaffle out of the Chaser's hand as she had wound up to throw it.

Ginny made a cut across field back to the rival hoop. She was becoming agitated with her broom, but it got her there soon enough for her to catch the Quaffle and throw it in when their Keeper wasn't looking. Gryffindor now had ten points.

Harry smiled charmingly at his beloved redhead and she had no time to think about what the smile meant as she dove in to catch the Quaffle again. Within ten minutes, the score had escalated considerably to fifty-sixty, Hufflepuff.

Harry was suddenly exasperated. No matter how many times he pretended to see the Snitch, nowhere on these small excursions had he actually spotted it. Whenever he would look around for it, his attention would focus slightly on Ginny and then back to the pitch. There was no use trying to locate it from a distance.

Ginny's broom was definitely slowing down. Where it had taken her fifteen seconds before to zoom from one end of the pitch to the other, it was now taking at least thirty. She wanted to burst into tears, resign from the team, or something. Something that would even out their chances. Hufflepuff was still ahead. All Harry had to do was catch the Snitch.

Harry zoomed in and out of the Hufflepuff goals, in deep pursuit of the Snitch. Where could it be? He looked around for his faithful follower and sure enough, the Hufflepuff Seeker was hot on his trail. Harry had to put his Firebolt to the test and push it to its maximum speed. He was no longer in a counterfeit hunt and had to shake his competition.

Ginny was pressing her body forward on the Clean Sweep, but was severely disappointed when she got nowhere. Andrew and Carly seemed like they were light-years ahead of her, passing in and out of the competing Chasers, throwing the Quaffle expertly. The Keeper blocked their goal, sending it to one of the other Chasers. They zoomed back down toward Ginny and her rickety broom.

She tried with all of her might to turn it as sharp as she had been doing it before but it only revolved slowly. She took off after the Chaser, surprised that it had any juice left in it at all.

With all of her might, Ginny pressed forward but to her horror, the broom began to jerk sharply left and right. It was as if the broom wanted her off as soon as possible. She ignored it, still in a hot chase after the Quaffle. She was finally getting to the other goals when a Bludger hit the Chaser in front of her in the arm. He had been lifting the ball in preparation to throw, and when he lost his grip on the ball, it soared straight into Ginny's hands.

Turning once again on the faulty broom, she soared back down the pitch as fast as she could possibly go. She noticed Harry coming up beside her, leaning forward until his chest touched his stick. He had seen it! He had seen the Snitch! Maybe the game would be over before she reached the goals.

However, her broom wanted it to be over before it was. It started to jerk her again, and just as she reached the hoop, it launched her forward.

Ginny had never felt the sensation of being in mortal peril during a Quidditch match. She was sure that this was it. There was no way she was going to survive a fall so high up from the ground. She managed, however, to throw one arm out and with a sweaty hand, she gripped the end of her shuddering broom. She still had the Quaffle in her left hand.

She tossed it in and just as she thought all hope was lost, Carly rocketed up from underneath and bumped the Quaffle into the hoop.

Ginny smiled triumphantly, but then remembered her predicament. She stared at her broom. She was deadly afraid to get back on, just in case it decided to throw her off again. She gripped the broom with her other hand, determined to pull herself back up, but for some reason, she couldn't. She was dangling off her broom ten feet below the Hufflepuff goal, losing grip all the while.

Tears poured down her cheek when reality hit her. What was going to happen if they didn't stop play? What if she lost her grip?

And just as she felt her fingers slip, she felt herself get shoved violently from behind, and she fell backward onto a broom. A strong arm clutched her torso, keeping her on balance. The other arm was reaching… reaching… reaching…

Ginny was vaguely aware of what was happening, but all she remembered at that point was an almighty roar from their side of the stands. She sighed in relief, and looked up to see whose broom she was on.

It was Harry's.

The team soared down onto the field. Carly and Dane were jumping up and down, screaming, while Andrew was clapping wildly, nursing his bruised side. Dietrich and Jack were banging their clubs together. All Harry and Ginny could do was clutch one another while they cheered.

The crowd suddenly had immersed them. "GRYFFINDOR WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!" came the announcement above.

Professor McGonagall handed the Cup to Harry, who in turn, took one side and shoved the other at Ginny. They were both crying as they lifted it up. The entire team huddled around them, touching the Cup in some way as the gigantic scarlet crowd jumped and down.

Harry handed the cup off to Dietrich and Jack and then turned to see Ron and Hermione jumping up and down. Hermione threw her arms around Harry's neck and they laughed together as he spun her around wildly. Ron grabbed his little sister and did the same.

They let go of each other and Ginny went straight to Hermione. They held hands, jumping up and down and screaming. Ron and Harry gave each other a quick hug and started to hoot excitedly as well.

Ron and Hermione eventually found each other after Ginny had given her one last hug. The two went to join in with the cheering and yelling when Harry suddenly got a determined look on his face. He turned to face Ginny, who was beaming at him happily.

Harry then did something that was very unlike him. He grabbed Ginny by the front of her robes, pulled her close, and planted a kiss on her lips. Ginny had no idea what to make of it, so she just let it happen. The kiss grew in its intensity and it was all she could do not to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him in closer.

Harry pulled away from the kiss and leaned his forehead upon hers. His hand was on her shoulder, clenching and unclenching on her robes. His adrenaline was getting the best of him. Ginny forced her arms to stay at her side.

What just happened?