Disclaimer: The only character I own is Hope.

A/N: Omg! You all are probably really mad at me for not updating. Well, my computer crashed and my brother couldn't fix it until he had the time to drive all the way up to Salt Lake City. He just got the part the day before yesterday. He fixed it yesterday. Now, I'm finally able to get the chapters I've written. Believe me, I am really sorry. Thanks for the reveiws and I hope you enjoy the chappy.

ONLY HOPE by Lina Shay

Chapter Five: Quidditch Me This

Ron and Hope met with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team on the field after school. Hope's hands were shaking as she held Harry's broom close to herself.

"Harry, I want to see you do some catches," Angelina called to Hope.

"Catches?" Hope repeated.

"Yeah," Angelina gave Hope a questioning look. "Where you fly up on your broom and we throw apples at you."

"That doesn't sound very pleasant," Hope muttered to herself as she mounted the broom. She had seen it done a hundred times, but had never attempted herself. It never seemed necessary in her coarse curriculum to learn to fly, she supposed. Luphenda wasn't much for flying herself. Everyone was watching her, so Hope had to try. She took a breath, then kicked off the ground. To her great amazement, the broom went off. She was flying. It was incredible. Suddenly, she realized that the broom wouldn't stop. It just kept going up and up.

"Stop! Stop it!" Hope cried.

The weight of the broom began to catch up with it, and it started to plummet. Hope held tight to the broom, screaming her lungs out. Here she was falling from a hundred feet in the air. She couldn't possibly survive this. She prayed under her breath that someone down there knew some sort of levitation charm.

"Wingardium Levosa!" came a most heavenly voice.

Hope was suspended four feet from the ground. Her heart was pounding so hard it would burst of the strain. Ron held out his wand toward her, gently letting her down to the floor.

"Harry, are you all right?" Ron asked, kneeling beside where she lay.

Hope sat up and threw her arms around Ron's neck. "Oh, dear! I could have died! You saved my life, Ron!"

"No worries, Harry," Ron pulled away quickly, blushing. "It was nothing at all."

"We would have done something earlier," Angelina began, "but we thought you were just playing around. How did it happen?"

"I don't know," Hope breathed. "My broom just ran out of gas or something."

"Maybe you should rest a bit over there with Ginny, Harry," Angelina told Hope, watching her as if she was mad or something.

Hope took the captain's advise and went over to where a redheaded girl sat on the sidelines. She was a skinny little thing with almost as many freckles as Ron had. Hope wondered if this "Ginny" girl might be related to him somehow.

"Don't worry, Harry," Ginny comforted. "Even professional Quidditch players have an off day now and then."

"It's not an off day. I'm not good at Quidditch," Hope insisted.

"You are, Harry," Ginny told her warmly. "You've always been good at Quidditch. You're just a wee bit out of practice."

"A wee bit?" Hope repeated, upsetted. "I almost killed myself on that bloody thing."

"How long has it been since you were on a broom?" Ginny asked.

"Um...I donno," Hope shrugged. "I had a rough summer. I didn't have time to play on the broom."

"Oh," Ginny said blankly, watching the practice.

Hope looked up and watched Ron defend the hoops. He was so fast, going this way and that way. The wind furled his hair in the most wonderful way. How could any boy be so completely perfect?

"My brother's really been different since he got on the team and made prefect," Ginny announced. "It's really made him...I donno...happier."

So Ron was her brother. Now she had a reliable source to probe for information about him. But Ginny would know that Harry should be Ron's best friend. Which means that Harry should know all the things about him that Hope would want to know. Therefore, Ginny was no more help to Hope than anyone else was. "So..." Hope began. "I should know this...I know I should, but what is it you do?"

"I don't do anything in particular anymore," Ginny said sadly. "Um... since last year, I've really gotten into Quidditch. And I really like it, so I talked to Angelina, and since you're back on the team, she let me be your back-up. You know, just in case something weird happens, a bludger hits you or your broom goes crazy...that kind of thing."

"That's nice," Hope muttered. "Do you expect anything...weird to happen this year?"

"I surely hope not," Ginny said, look surprised. "It would be awful if something happened to you again. Nothing like my being in the game would compel me to wish you harm in the least way."

"Well, me too," Hope said, getting an odd feel from this girl's frantic reaction to the question.

Ginny stared off that the practice again. Hope briefly looked up a how Ron was doing. He was just sitting there picking his nails while two redheaded beaters hit a bludger back and forth. There certainly were a lot of redheads in this school. Maybe the wizard gene usually runs in redheaded families or some such. Hope really didn't know much. History of magic certainly wasn't her favorite subject.

"Hey, um. what would you say if I wanted to give my position to you," Hope said quietly, casually.

"What?" Ginny blurted.

"I mean, like," Hope began, "what if I don't feel like doing Quidditch this year. Like with my studies and everything, I might not have time."

"You want me to take your place?" Ginny almost looked excited for a moment. Then she shook her head and said insistently, "You want to quit Quidditch. You can't quit Quidditch. You love it."

"It's just a game, Ginny," Hope muttered.

"Are you the same Harry?" Ginny gasped. "I mean, like, how rough was your summer?"

"Oh, well, there was the whole death eater attack and everything," Hope told her. "Gave me a fresh perspective on life."

"I can imagine," Ginny lowered her eyes. "I heard. Ron told me a little bit about it. But you can't always believe what Ron says- he said something about a Dementor trying to kiss you."

Hope just laughed. "Yeah, he did add some embellishments to my story."

"Yeah," Ginny shrugged, "Ron tends to do that."

Hope smiled and stared up at Ron. He was so wonderful. His hair and eyes were brilliant and his voice was divine. He was funny and exciting. Ron Weasley....Hope Weasley. Oh, it sounded so perfect. Hope Weasley. Mrs. Ron Weasley. They could have a dozen little redheaded kids. Hope let out a sigh.

"I saw that!" Ginny exclaimed with a queer smile.

Hope looked at her in surprise and dread. "What? I wasn't staring at anybody."

"You still love it," Ginny insisted. "How can you give up something that makes you feel like that?"

Hope let out a sad sigh and looked at a Ron. She knew that Ginny was referring to Quidditch, but it seemed to fit the situation with Ron as well. The point was that Ron could never see her as anything but his ole pal Harry. It was really pointless to think of Ron...but Ginny was right. How could she give up on something she wanted so badly. There had to be something she could do to make Ron realize who she was...without spilling the beans on the whole plan.

"I knew it!" Ginny said confidently. "It's inside you. You can feel the wind rushing around you, the pumping adrenaline. You can't give that up."

"You really love Quidditch, don't you?" Hope observed.

"Oh, yeah," Ginny blushed. "I always have. But I never was much for playing it until last year when they kicked you off the team. And I had to take your place. It was wonderful, though I wasn't very good. I mean,. I wasn't nearly as good as you."

"I bet you're way better than I am...really," Hope muttered.

"Harry, you're legend," Ginny told her. "You were the youngest seeker in a century."

Hope was beginning to get annoyed with the fact that she was always expected to live up to Harry. "Yeah, I guess I was. I was good at Quidditch. Good in school. I was one talented bloke, wasn't I? I was a bloody idol."

Ginny stared at her unsurely.

"I guess I just lost the passion for the game," Hope continued, forcing herself to calm down for image sake. "Now, I bet you're way better than me. You know, you should really be up there. If it's something you love and something I'm not really fond of anymore, why can't you be out there instead of me."

"Harry," Ginny began lowly, "I understand the pressure of things are getting to you. But if you quit Quidditch you'll never forgive yourself."

Hope decided to let the whole thing go. What did it really matter anyway? When the war with Voldemort began, no one would really care whether or not Harry Potter was playing Quidditch. They would be too worried about whether or not he had the ability to save them. Hope didn't think she had.