Chapter 15
The Games Begin
Cassie opened her eyes the next morning and knew immediately that she had slept a lot later this morning than she had been able to yesterday. She pushed back the heavy curtains around her bed and squinted against the sudden brightness. Ginny was sitting on her bed, reading one of her textbooks.
"Good morning, Ginny."
"Hey, Pia. How did you sleep?"
"Great. Aren't we running late, though?" It had to be at least 9, judging by the light.
"No. Saturdays are a little more laid back. As long we are done eating and everything by 11. That's when I'm supposed to be down to the changing rooms."
"Oh, yeah, the match." Cassie wasn't sure how much she was going to enjoy watching this. The entire school seemed to be really excited about the game but since she didn't have any idea what was going on, she was worried she was going to prove her ignorance in front of the rest of the school.
"It should be great. We shouldn't really have any problem against Hufflepuff, although if you listen to Ron and Harry at breakfast, they'll convince you we're doomed. I think it's their way of trying not to get overconfident."
"That's probably smart. Ron seemed pretty confident last night, though."
"Yeah. He was. I don't think he's ever had such a good practice."
"What does he do exactly?"
"He's the keeper . . ." She broke off because Saffron's curtains were suddenly thrust open and her dark head poked out, looking in their direction.
"He's a really good keeper, too. I still think he should try to get onto a professional team."
"Thanks. I'll tell him you said that. But you know he wants to be an Auror, Saffron."
"I know. But there are lots of Aurors. His team could really use a good Keeper and lets face it, anyone decent is just not going to join up with them." They both laughed, apparently at some sort of inside joke and Cassie smiled broadly because she should probably be in on it, too. Saffron climbed out of her bed and came over to sit on the end of Ginny's bed, looking right at Cassie, who smiled at her but felt nervous. "Both of your hairdos look so good! Who did them?"
"I did. Does it still look good?" Cassie patted her braid, checking to see if much of the hair had come out overnight, but it still felt all in place.
"Yes. It looks great. I've been trying to convince Ginny to let me do something with her hair for a while. Glad she listened to her cousin if she won't listen to her friend." She paused, examining Cassie a little bit longer and Cassie almost felt like squirming under her steady gaze but resisted. "Hey, your nails aren't making noise."
Cassie looked down, trying to look casual. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I had to spell them quiet again yesterday afternoon when I went to the library with Hermione. The librarian kept walking by and glaring at me."
"She would. I bet no other students were in there for you to even bother!"
"Hermione was there and I think she was happy when they were quiet." Saffron's mouth twisted with a slightly disgusted expression.
"All that girl ever thinks about is school work."
"Oh, I don't know about that, Saffron. I think she's managed to find something else to occupy her brain lately." Ginny closed her textbook after delivering that line and Saffron laughed.
"Yeah, you're right." She may have continued but both Elspeth and Rhiannon popped their heads out between their respective hangings and they all started talking about Ron and Hermione. Ginny just winked at Cassie and then joined right in the discussion. Cassie had a few comments to make as well. She thought they were a great couple and proceeded to tell the girls that, although Saffron didn't seem too impressed by the pairing. After several minutes of friendly gossip, everyone decided they had better get going if they wanted to eat anything decent at breakfast.
While the other girls gathered up their stuff for showers and things, Ginny and Cassie were able to just get dressed. Cassie turned her back to the majority of the pictures on the walls as she hurriedly pulled her clothes on. She didn't quite trust this charm that Ginny had mentioned, especially as one of the cuter men in a picture over Rhiannon's bed kept winking at her. It was very disconcerting. She knew she was still going to have to go down to the bathroom to do her makeup and brush her teeth but she was greatly relieved that she wasn't going to have to worry about having Ginny dry her hair. Ginny had slipped on some pretty sloppy jeans and what she called a "Weasley sweater," rationalizing that she would have to change into her Quidditch robes in a couple hours anyway. But then she changed her mind. "My hair looks so good that I think I'll put on something decent this morning after all."
"That's a good idea. I happen to know that Harry really likes hair in French braids." Suddenly, Cassie wanted to cover her mouth and hide under the bed. She tried not to mention the time she and Harry had been together when she was with Ginny. She always felt a little bit guilty about it although in her rational mind she knew that neither she nor Harry had done anything wrong. She just felt that if the situation were reversed, she would not want to be reminded that her boyfriend had really enjoyed kissing someone else. Ginny looked up at her rather sharply and there was a hot rush of color into her cheeks. "Oh, Ginny. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to -"
"It's all right. I dated other boys, too, you know. It's just . . . . Does he really like the braids?" Her smile looked a little forced as she opened her trunk to examine her options of what to wear that morning.
"He said he did." Cassie glanced down at her own trunk. Then something occurred to her that hadn't before this minute. "Where are my clothes?"
"What?" Ginny had pulled out a nice-looking wrapped skirt and was examining it critically.
"My clothes. I put them here that first night and last night and I just noticed that they're gone!" Cassie was fairly concerned because she hadn't brought very many outfits and wasn't sure how she would get money to get more if two of them had already disappeared.
"Well, they've been washed, of course. Aren't they in your trunk?"
"Washed? Who washed them? When?" She opened her trunk and sure enough, the two school uniforms she had worn so far were folded neatly along with her robes.
"The elves. They usually wash the clothes every night. Does this look okay together?" She was holding a pretty green sweater up to the skirt and holding them out to Cassie.
"Yes. But wait - are you telling me that elves come up here, get the clothes, wash them, and dry them for every person in the castle?"
"Basically. Remember when you stayed here last summer? Well don't you remember your clothes were at the end of the bed folded when you woke up the next morning?"
Cassie looked embarrassed. "Well, no. Everything was such a blur."
"I understand. Okay, do you think I'll look strange in a skirt? I mean it's Saturday morning after all - why would I wear a skirt?"
"Because it's not jeans. Wear the skirt, it'll look great. But I still don't understand about the washing."
"Well, it's magic. That's all. Okay, I'll wear these." She started taking off her knitted sweater to slip the more elegant one on. "Oh, I've got to get your nails roaring again before we go down to the bathroom." She waved her wand at Cassie's nails and they both finished dressing quickly. Then they grabbed their wands, their toothbrushes and some makeup and hurried downstairs. They found a couple of open places at the crowded sinks and mirrors and started brushing their teeth. As they were finishing, Elspeth, Rhiannon, and Saffron pushed their way in beside them. Cassie was trying to apply her makeup quickly. Being around all these girls made her really nervous that any minute she would be expected to do something magical. As she pulled out her eye shadow, the other girls all stared at the compact.
"You have Muggle makeup! My parents don't allow me to have any." Cassie noted a hint of jealousy in Saffron's voice.
Rhiannon looked into Cassie's makeup bag appraisingly. "I get some whenever we visit my mum's relatives. Unfortunately, it's been awhile. Those are some nice brands you have. They're a lot better than the stuff we can get in Hogsmeade or even Diagon Alley."
"Well, you can use whatever you want. I don't mind." Rhiannon smiled gratefully at Cassie as she selected some eye shadow. The other two looked on hopefully and Cassie told them to use what they wanted. As the girls thanked her and reached over to look at her selection of makeup, she noticed Ginny on her other side staring self-consciously into the mirror and looking down at all of the different items. Cassie pushed the foundation toward her and whispered, "Foundation." Ginny smiled appreciatively and began applying it like Cassie had done the morning before. Over the next few minutes, Cassie pushed over eye shadow, blush and lipstick.
"Do you think it's too much?" Ginny asked a few minutes later as they left the bathroom and headed back to their dorm room to return their toiletries.
"No. You look great. Really." Cassie knew that Ginny was very self-conscious, sure that she was not as pretty as the rest of her roommates although Cassie thought she looked just as nice as they did.
They went down into the commons room to meet Hermione, Ron, and Harry. The three of them were sitting on one of the couches across the room from the stairs. Harry and Ron looked slightly agitated but Hermione looked relaxed. As the younger girls entered, all three of them stood up. Ginny walked up to Harry, who looked pleasantly surprised at her appearance. "Boy, what's the occasion? You look great."
"Just wanted to look nice." Ginny flushed slightly but Cassie smiled encouragingly at her.
"You succeeded." Harry's hands came up to her hair, tugging gently on the end of her braid. "I love your hair." Ginny and Cassie both laughed. "What? What did I say?" But neither of them answered him so he just shrugged. The five of them exited the portrait hole a minute later. As they walked down the corridor toward the Great Hall, the three teammates were enthusiastically discussing the upcoming match while Cassie and Hermione strolled along listening. All of a sudden, Cassie jumped backwards and gave a small cry of fright as a ghostly image appeared out of the wall just in front of them. Nearly Headless Nick cheerfully greeted the group.
"Ah, Harry, good luck at the Quidditch match today. I know you'll catch the Snitch right away. And you too, Ron. Good luck. And, of course, Ginny. I know you'll do well. We need to uphold the honor of the house. Besides, I made a bet with the Fat Friar that Gryffindor will beat Hufflepuff. So don't let me down."
Ron was barely concealing an evil grin. "And what exactly are you going to use for your bet? Ghosts don't use money, and you can't bet a butterbeer or something like that."
Nicholas stared down at Ron with a dignified glance. "Well, it's the principle of it, isn't it?" He glanced past the front three at Hermione and Cassie. "Hello, Hermione. Ah, and you must be Miss Spencer, the newest student in Gryffindor House. Welcome. I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington."
Cassie had stepped back against the wall and was staring wide-eyed at Nicholas. She made a small squeak and hesitantly waved her hand in greeting. Ron's grin had broadened even wider. "He's also known as Nearly Headless Nick." Cassie gave Ron a sickened look and then glanced back at Nicholas with even more horror.
"I . . . I, don't think I want to know w-why you're called Nearly Headless."
Nicholas glared at Ron in displeasure and mumbled something about how he shouldn't be continuously blamed for having had an incompetent executioner who had not bothered to sharpen his ax. He then again wished the three good luck and disappeared into the wall. Cassie sunk against the opposite wall and stared in shock at where Nicholas had disappeared.
"Th-that was a ghost."
The other three grinned as Hermione tried to comfort her. "Yes. But don't be scared. Most of the ghosts are really nice. Especially Sir Nicholas."
"You mean there are other ghosts here?"
"Sure, a lot. There's the Fat Friar, the Bloody Baron, and, of course, Moaning Myrtle."
"Moaning Myrtle?"
"Yes. You don't want to use the loo on the first floor. It's really hard to pee while Myrtle's moaning and crying in the toilet next to you."
"Uh, yeah. Okay, I'll, uh, keep that in mind." Cassie straightened up and stood away from the wall. They started walking again, Cassie walking in the middle of the hall, now, and staying very close to Ginny.
"And don't forget about Peeves," Ginny suddenly added with a grin. Hermione gave a slight roll of her eyes.
"Oh yeah, him. Well, actually he's a poltergeist, not a ghost." Ron had a look of disgust.
"Well, whatever he is, he's definitely a pain in the . . ."
"I heard that, Weasel Weasley. Tut, tut, tut, were you going to say something naughty?" Cassie jumped again as a tiny man with a pointed little face and a cackling voice appeared out of nowhere. "I think Professor McGonagall wouldn't approve."
"Oh, shut up, Peeves."
Peeves pointedly ignored Ron and instead turned to Cassie with a big smirk on his face. "And you must be the newest Weasley, except your name is Peeeeeeeee-a."
Cassie gave Peeves a scowl and decided she did not like this little ghost, poltergeist or whatever it was. Harry stepped forward. "Bug off, Peeves, or I'll tell the Bloody Baron." Peeves gave a big raspberry and disappeared through a wall. Cassie was very nervous, now. She tried not to be concerned about the fact that ghosts could suddenly appear and disappear, nor did she want to dwell for too long on why that first ghost was called Nearly Headless. Instead, she concentrated on the friendly banter and tried to figure out what she could about the upcoming match.
They sat down at the Gryffindor table near Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas who both said hello between bites of scrambled eggs and sausages. As Cassie's stomach was not tied in knots this morning, she tackled her breakfast with relish. In a moment or so, she had her plate filled with eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes and wheat toast. Harry, Ginny, and Ron, on the other hand, each settled for a piece of toast and a piece of bacon which they only nibbled. As they were eating, Harry looked up at the ceiling.
"Good. It's going to be a clear, sunny day."
Cassie did a double take at Harry and then glanced up to see what he was looking at. She choked on her toast when she saw a sunny blue sky with a few cottony white clouds lazily floating through it.
"The last time I looked up it was all dark with twinkling little lights."
Hermione grinned. "The ceiling's charmed to look like the sky outside."
Cassie shook her head in disbelief. "This place is so amazing," she whispered to Hermione as she again began to eat. She was in the middle of pouring her second cup of hot chocolate when she noticed Dennis Creevey several places down the table looking her over appraisingly. Cassie felt a little self-conscious and could only wonder what Colin must have told him. But she smiled and gave a little wave and he returned it.
As breakfast was ending, a gaggle of Gryffindor students sauntered by wishing Harry and the two Weasleys good luck. All three gave nervous smiles and waved their thanks. Finally, two girls and two boys walked up to Harry and the others and looked on expectantly. He, Ginny, and Ron all said hi. Ginny made the introductions.
"This is our cousin, Pia. Pia, this is the rest of the team. Deana Johnson and Honey Tattershall are both chasers, like me. The guys are Geoffrey Hooper and Kenton Wandweelder. They're our beaters. Deana's older sister, Angelina, was on the team. She was on the team when George and Fred played. They were both beaters."
"Oh," Cassie said, trying hard not blush at Ginny's little wink as she talked about George. She wasn't sure at all what chasers or beaters were. However, she all of a sudden had a new interest in the game and knew she was going to have to pay special attention to the beaters.
As the large group, now numbering nine, exited the Great Hall, Hermione gave Ron a hug and kiss and whispered something in his ear. Whatever it was Hermione said to him, he must have liked it as his ears turned pink and he gave her a big smile. The Gryffindor team filed out the front door of the castle and Cassie and Hermione watched them cross the lawn before they started up the stairs for the commons room.
"Whatever you said to Ron must have been pretty good. His ears turned pink."
Hermione flushed a little in response. "Oh, well, I just told him he was a great keeper and that I'd be cheering for him. He likes to know I'm watching."
"I'll watch, too, but I don't think I'm going to understand what's going on too much."
"That's okay, I still don't understand everything, but it's a lot of fun to watch. After seeing a Quidditch match, you'll never be able to watch cricket again, I'm afraid. It's an incredible game. Very exciting. But I still don't get into Quidditch like the Weasleys do. They all love it."
"Well, I have a feeling you better start enjoying it more; you're going to be around it for a long time." Hermione blushed and grinned at Cassie. They both laughed as they started up the stairs.
"Yeah. You're right. I'll probably have to live my entire life in a house decorated in Chudley Cannon orange and believe me, that is not a happy thought." Cassie smiled. That was the first time she had ever gotten a hint that Hermione and Ron's relationship was that serious. She considered mentioning it, but decided against it. It may embarrass the girl and she didn't want to do that.
"What are the Chudley Cannons?"
"Oh, that's Ron's favorite professional Quidditch team and their colors are a really hideous orange and black. Remind me to show you the scarf he gave me last year for Christmas. You'll know what I mean. To add insult to injury, they are by far the worst team in their league and probably in the entire country. They almost never win and when they do, it's usually just dumb luck."
"That's Ron's team, then?" Cassie smiled broadly.
"Yes. What's funny?"
"I just got a joke that Ginny and Saffron were laughing about this morning. They said that Ron should become a, um, keeper I guess, for his team because they need a good one of those more than he needs to be an Auror, or something like that."
"Well, that's true enough, but I think being an Auror is more important." They climbed for a few more minutes in silence. Then they noticed Remus Lupin coming down the stairs, waved, and went up to him. Cassie looked around to make sure no one was near by.
"Remus, you don't really expect me to do that essay for your class, do you?"
"That's Professor Lupin to you, and yes, I do want you to write the essay."
Cassie felt her face flushing in embarrassment. "Oh, I'm . . I'm sorry, Professor Lupin."
Remus' face broke into a grin. "It's okay, Pia. You just need to remember where you are. But I really do want you to write the essay. It will help you to understand what the Imperius Curse is like. You need to understand it." He got a contemplative look on his face and continued. "In fact, I'll be very interested to read your perspective of what happened. It won't hurt to put what happened in class down on paper."
"You wouldn't say that if you'd ever seen me write with a quill, Re -, I mean, Professor Lupin." Hermione laughed but Remus looked a little confused.
"You can't write with a quill? Why not?"
"Never mind, Professor. I'll help her." Hermione mouthed "pure blood" at Cassie, who smiled in response. "I told you, Pia. Homework is always helpful. Besides, I'll help you."
Remus smiled again. "I didn't hear that. I've got to run; I'll see you at the Quidditch match." He continued down the stairs and the two girls looked at each other before breaking into giggles.
"You were right! They don't even imagine it would be difficult, do they?"
"Nope. Completely oblivious. Come on, let's hurry. Harry left some stuff for you."
"Harry did what?" But Hermione just smiled and continued climbing. Once in the commons room, Hermione pulled a book and a box off a shelf and put it on the table.
"Harry thought these might help you enjoy the game a little bit more. This book explains the history of the game and some basic strategy." Cassie looked down at it. The book was called "Quidditch through the Ages" and it looked like it had been well-used. "Then, these are for when we actually get to the game." Hermione handed Cassie a set of something resembling binoculars.
"Oh, yes. I remember these from June. That's nice of him."
"Yeah. Well, I'm going to work on an essay really fast. We should probably head down in about an hour if we want a good seat. Be sure to wear your warm robes. It's going to be really cold out there."
Cassie settled in front of the fire and started reading. The book was not really too exiting and the warmth from the fire combined with her full stomach made Cassie very tired. She was just drifting off, when Hermione stood up and told her they would have to head down in a few minutes. Cassie stood up, blinking. "I see that you have the same problem I do with Quidditch. Reading about the theory just bores me to tears. It's great to watch, though. You'll have a good time today." Cassie darted up to her room to grab her heavy winter robes as well as the Gryffindor scarf that Arthur had picked up for her in Diagon Alley. She wrapped that quickly around her neck and hurried down the stairs.
Hermione was visiting with Colin when she got back down and Cassie smiled at him. He stood up quickly. "I was thinking we hadn't really arranged anywhere to meet. Shall we walk over together?"
"Yeah, that sounds great, Colin. I appreciate it."
Hermione was smiling at the two of them. "I think I may just stay in and do some more work on that essay." Cassie looked up at her sharply. Hermione had to come. Ron was counting on it. Then she suddenly realized what Hermione was doing. She was trying to allow the two of them to be alone together, thinking that Cassie really was on a date. She would undoubtedly show up later. But that would never do.
"Oh, no. Come on. Colin knew you would be going with us when we set this up."
"I don't want to be a third wheel or anything."
Cassie opened her eyes wide and tried to signal to Hermione that she really did not want to be alone with Colin. "No, Hermione, seriously. Besides Ron would be mad at me if I left you back here. Cousins have to support each other, you know."
Colin, who had looked a little hopeful at Hermione's change of plans, now smiled rather faintly. "Yeah, come on, Hermione. It'll be a great game and Ron really would be disappointed if you didn't come."
Hermione must have picked up on Cassie's silent pleadings, because she suddenly changed her mind. "Okay. You've talked me into it." She grabbed her robes from the chair and bundled herself into them. "I wouldn't want Ron to think I wasn't supportive, after all."
The three of them descended the long staircases down into the entry hall and then out into the cold afternoon. The bite of the cold surprised Cassie. She had been outside yesterday and had not thought it was this bad. But she almost had to catch her breath at the sudden shaft of cold that reached under her robe and nipped at her fingers. Most of the school's students were traipsing across the lawn, seemingly unmindful of the ice under their feet and Cassie wondered if that was another talent that came along with being a witch or wizard - the ability to ignore frostbite. They were completely down the steps when Hermione heard her name called from behind them. She turned, as did Cassie and Colin. What Cassie saw, up above her, caused her to catch her breath again in complete shock.
That girl, Luna she thought her name was, was standing on the top of the stairs looking down at them and it looked like she had a live small lion strapped to her head. It was roaring loudly. "Wait up, you three. I'll walk over with you. I think I'll sit in the Gryffindor seats. My own house gets mad at me when I wear the hat."
"Sure, Luna. That would be great. We always appreciate the support." Hermione winked at Cassie, who bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. Their walk over to the stadium was a quiet one, due mostly to the fact that the girl's lion hat - which Cassie now realized was actually just a big lion head obviously charmed to roar - made too much noise to allow the rest of them to speak.
Had Cassie been alone when they reached the "pitch," she would have stopped and stared in amazement at what she saw, but as she was with two people who would find it impossible to believe a witch, whether pure-blood or Muggle-born, would have never seen a Quidditch stadium, she just looked around trying to display only a mild curiosity. The stands were extremely high, due, Cassie imagined, to the fact the game was played in the air. At each end were three poles with big circles on top. The students were milling around happily, calling out to each other and chanting various things she could hear on the wind. Most of the Gryffindors were happily singing some sort of ditty that seemed to amuse them. Cassie couldn't hear all the words, but she could have sworn the chorus was "Weasley is our King." She hoped she remembered to ask about this later as she couldn't tell whether it was complimentary or not. There were banners all around the stadium, some pro-Gryffindor, some supporting the Hufflepuff team. These were very impressive, as they all moved and flashed in different colors. They sat down on the metal bench and Cassie hoped that she didn't just freeze solid to it before the game was over. She had never been in such cold before, and the thought of being out here for what could be hours was truthfully a little scary.
Colin was sitting next to her on the right and Hermione sat down on her left, looking around briefly to see who else had come down to the match. Cassie did her own fair share of looking around, trying to be sly, hoping that none of her roommates had yet arrived. She didn't see them and hoped they were big Quidditch fans and would brave this weather to see the game. "Sit down, sit down." Hermione spoke to Luna who was still standing, looking over the stands for someone. "I want to cast a warming spell on all of us. Pia isn't used to the cold here and I think she's turning blue." Cassie was glad to hear this as her hands already hurt and they still had about 20 minutes before the game actually was supposed to start. A moment later, she felt a lot warmer, not exactly hot, but warm enough that she would probably survive the experience.
Then, just when she was starting to get discouraged that her plan would actually not work, she saw Elspeth, Saffron, and Rhiannon climb up into the stands. She stood and waved at the three of them. Elspeth looked over at her and Colin and Cassie could see her stiffen. Cassie motioned them over. "Come sit by us. The nails work better if they're in a group." Of course, she thought to herself, the quiet roaring of their lion nails was going to be completely drowned out by the still very loud noises coming from Luna's head, but it was a good theory.
"No thanks, we've got friends in another house who are waiting for us." Rhiannon and Saffron moved off, although Elspeth still stood there, looking at Cassie with a hurt expression.
"Come on, Elspeth. There's room by Colin if I scoot down a little bit." Hermione looked a little disconcerted when Cassie said this but dutifully scooted over a little toward Luna so that Cassie could move. Colin smiled at Elspeth, as well.
"Yeah, come on. Hermione's cast a great warming spell." The girl's eyes got wide and she sat down a moment later by Colin. Cassie looked behind Colin's back and Elspeth leaned back and caught her eye. Cassie winked at her, smiled, and turned back toward the pitch.
The three of them talked for a few minutes about their Defense class and Cassie mentioned that she hadn't started her essay yet. "Neither have I," Colin admitted. "I spent yesterday afternoon developing some pictures to send home. I had to make them stills as my mum likes to show them to her friends once in a while. That always takes longer."
Cassie thought she knew what he meant, but Elspeth got a rather confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"
"My parents are Muggles, Elspeth. You know that."
"Well, I know, but what do you mean by stills?"
"The pictures don't move." Elsepth's expression at that moment almost made Cassie laugh out loud. It had to be very similar to hers the first time she saw a picture that actually did move. It was complete shock.
"You mean you can take pictures that don't move? What do they do?"
"They're just frozen. A little moment in time - it's actually quite wonderful. I think it's more of a challenge to make a good picture when you only have an eighth of a second to capture the image forever."
"You take pictures of people that way?" She still looked slightly off balance.
"Yes. You mean you've never seen Muggle pictures?"
"I don't think so."
Cassie decided this was the opening she had been waiting for, even if it had come sooner than she had anticipated. "Colin, I think seeing your photographs, especially the stills, would be fascinating. Do you have an album or something we could look at?"
"Uh, well . . . yeah, but I don't know if you would find it interesting."
"I'm sure both of us would love to see it. Wouldn't you, Elspeth?"
"Yes. That would be really neat. The pictures really don't move?" Cassie thought she would have said that a collection of candy wrappers was interesting if it was Colin who was showing it to her, but she restrained herself from saying this. She had been hoping there would be an opening where she could somehow arrange for the three of them to get together in a more intimate setting. It was obvious that Elspeth had a huge crush on Colin and Cassie was determined that she would do everything she could to get the two of them together. They were cute together. Colin just hadn't noticed that yet.
"They really don't move. I have to develop them differently, but it's worth it."
"How about tomorrow, then?" Cassie forged ahead, pressing the issue. She just didn't have the luxury of a slow set-up. She didn't know how long she would be here.
"Uh, sure. Tomorrow afternoon would be good. I've got a study group in the morning." Cassie smiled.
"Great. We'll plan on it."
A moment later, when Elspeth was occupied speaking to someone sitting next to her on the other side, Colin leaned a little bit toward Cassie. "I guess I better take those pictures of you out that I took in June, huh? She doesn't know about the hair and stuff, right?"
"What!" Cassie whispered. "I thought you destroyed all those?"
"Well, I meant to, but I just . . . couldn't bring myself to do it. That's why I recognized you so easily when I saw you yesterday. I've been looking at your pictures for months, waving and smiling, and definitely blond."
"Yeah. Definitely take them out. And you should probably destroy them." Colin looked a little crestfallen. "I mean it, Colin. This is a matter of life and death."
"All right. I'll take them out. I don't know if I can destroy them or not, though. Truthfully, I like looking at them too much." Cassie wanted to press the issue but Elspeth had turned back to them.
"I think the match is about to start. Madam Hooch just came out." Sure enough, Cassie looked down on the field to see a gray-haired witch carrying a big box which she set in the middle of the pitch. Suddenly from an area underneath the stands 14 people walked out, 7 of them dressed in the familiar scarlet robes Cassie had seen before and 7 of them in bright yellow. She put her omnioculars up to her eyes and looked down. She easily picked out Harry, Ginny, and Ron from the other four. They looked slightly nervous and also very cold. She sincerely hoped they could use warming spells on themselves.
"All right, Hogwarts! Put your hands together for two very good teams. Today's should be a great match!" The announcer's voice was loud although when she looked around, Cassie could not see a speaker. Everybody clapped and whistled and the Gryffindor stands broke into song again, which made Hermione laugh. Suddenly, there was a whistle, 15 brooms rose into the air, and Cassie prepared to see one of the most amazing things she could possibly imagine.
