The Gryffindor team ate happily at lunch. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team at the far table whispered to each other nervously and sat in long silences. It was obvious to the Ravenclaws and Slytherins who was the more confident team.

Of course, the Ravenclaws and Slytherins never bothered to listen in to the conversation the smiling Gryffindors were engrossed in.

"But I know that Hartford is good, I had Colin watch him in practice," Ron said, that excellent impression of a happy smile on his face.

Kirke suddenly looked alarmed.

"Smile! It'll make us seem intimidating if we don't look like we're worried about the game," Ron said, once more enforcing his theory as Kirke gave a very fake smile. "Make it real!"

"I can't make it real," Kirke said. "I'm not happy or relaxed about the game."

"Guys, really," Kelly said, smiling her heart away as she picked up a biscuit. "It's Hufflepuff. We can beat them! Sure they're not that bad, but we're better."

"Never underestimate any team," Harry said. "I've learned it over and over. Don't forget, Hufflepuff was the team that beat us last time, back in our third year."

"Yeah, but then they had Cedric," Ginny said, and there was a sadness that came behind her eyes, though she refused to let up her smile.

"Like I said," Ron said again, "Hartford is good. Maybe he's not as good as Diggory was, but he's still an excellent Seeker. Harry, you might have some competition."

"I'll be ready," Harry assured.

The Hufflepuff team stood, quickly followed by the Gryffindors. It was time to get to the field and change. The two teams hustled out to the pitch, broomsticks at their sides, Ron in the lead of the Gryffindor team with a proud look on his face. The Hufflepuff team was several paces behind, looking as solemn as they had been at lunch. Harry paused, then decided and turned around, waiting for the Hufflepuffs to catch up.

"Good luck today," Harry said.

"Yeah, same to you." It had to be Hartford who had spoken; he was the only person Harry didn't recognize.

"So you guys ready for us?" Ernie Macmillan asked, who had just this year become a Chaser.

"The question is are you ready for us?" Harry asked.

Zacharias Smith laughed. "You better believe it!"

"Harry! Let's get a move on! Stop fraternizing with the enemy!" Ron yelled.

Harry laughed quietly and shook his head. "If you'll excuse me?"

"See you on the field," Hartford said.

"I look forward to it."

Harry hurried into the changing room, where the others were already changed.

"What took you?" Parvati asked.

"Wishing Hufflepuff good luck," Harry explained, grabbing his clothes and retreating where the girls couldn't see him.

"Hm," Kelly said, rolling her eyes and turning to the door, opening it slightly. The students of Hogwarts could be heard strolling by, in no hurry to get into the stands.

Harry emerged back out a few minutes later.

"Everyone ready?" Ron asked.

There was a mutual nod of agreement.

"Well, then let's get out there and beat these guys!"

They followed Ron out into the stadium, where the brilliant sunlight hit their faces, temporarily blinding them.

"Let's move." Ron stepped out first, got on his broomstick, and flew up into the air, the rest of the team following suit.

Harry rose into the air last, the wind brushing at his face. Hartford rose several feet away; they made eye contact, and smiled.

"—Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor! Madam Hooch enters the field with the chest of balls in her hand. For our first years, inside them are the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch. The Chasers handle the Quaffle and—"

"Dean, we don't need to know how to play Quidditch!" McGonagall was heard through the microphone.

"But what about the first years?" Dean asked.

"They'll understand soon enough!" McGonagall chided their new announcer.

There was an outburst of noise as Madam Hooch released the Quaffle, and a vast flurry of movement began below Harry. Ginny grabbed the Quaffle and headed down towards the Hufflepuff Keeper—

"—Oh, go, Ginny, go! C'mon, love, get it in! Get it in!" Dean encouraged. "She's racing past Graham, dodging Sparks, she throws and—SHE SCORES!"

Harry looked around. The Snitch was still nowhere to be seen. Harry kept a close eye on Hartford, who was circling the other side of the field.

"Macmillan takes the Quaffle. He shoots past Patil, flies upward, throws the Quaffle down—oh, it's the Porskoff Ploy, and Damen has fallen for it! C'mon, ladies, pick it up!"

There was cheering and screams of rage as Sparks flew down the field, Ginny and Ron now the only people in her way.

"Sparks is cutting it close! Ginny moves for a steal, but—no! Sparks does a sharp turn and Ginny flies behind. Now it's only Weasley in her path, c'mon Ron!"

There were groans from the Gryffindor end of the field as Dean added a point to Hufflepuff.

"Damen takes the Quaffle. She's—wow, she's flying well today—shooting past Macmillan and dodges Graham, and passes to Ginny! Ginny moves spectacularly throughout the field, Sparks just ahead. Sparks moves in, Ginny flies up, Sparks moves to block—oh, another Porskoff Ploy! Damen now holds the Quaffle, heading toward Freemont, she flies straight down—what in the world is she thinking? She tosses the Quaffle randomly up in the air—! Oh, and Patil grabs the Quaffle and throws! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Hartford made a sudden dive to the ground, where Harry saw the Snitch hovering. He raced after Hartford, urging his broom to speed on as the crowd gasped, and the Chasers and Quaffle were momentarily forgotten.

C'mon, c'mon…

Harry was level with Hartford; they were racing toward it, each daring the other to go closer to the ground and a crash. The Snitch was suspended tauntingly above the grass, waiting for them to reach it.

At the last moment, it dashed upward and right past them.

There were more gasps from the crowd and Harry and Hartford had a nice encounter with the ground.

Harry was chucked off his broomstick and tossed twenty feet. He had no idea what had become of Hartford.

"HARRY!"

"Oh my—are they all right? Someone should call time-out!" Dean said abruptly, even though he knew that their crash was quite fair game. "Where's Madam Hooch? There should be some kind of foul!"

"Harry, are you all right?"

Harry looked up dazedly to see the Quaffle in play above him, yet Kelly standing next to him.

"What are you doing? Get back up there!" Harry reprimanded.

"You're all right, then?" Kelly asked.

"I'm fine, go!"

Kelly stood and rushed to her broom, where she lifted off and made a dazzling reappearance into the play.

Harry sat up and looked around. Hartford was in the same feeble position, looking at Harry with a look of stupidity.

"We should've seen it coming."

Harry grinned. "Probably."

"Well, you learn something new every day," Hartford said, shaking his head.

Harry slowly stood, then walked over to Hartford and held out his hand. "I don't even know your name."

"Damian Hartford," Hartford said, taking Harry's hand.

Harry lifted him up off the ground. "Harry Potter."

Hartford smiled. "I couldn't have guessed."

Harry smiled back. "Ready to get back in the game?"

"If I have to," Hartford said with a joking shrug.

A Bludger came shooting in their direction, at neither of them in particular, missing them by only inches. Hartford and Harry exchanged a glance.

"That'll be one of our beaters," Harry said.

"Race you to your broom," Hartford challenged.

Harry fled to his broom, hopped on, and immediately started looking for the Snitch once more, listening to Dean's commentary.

"And the seekers are back! Meanwhile, Ginny has the Quaffle again, she's almost to Freemont, she throws and—oh, Freemont catches the Quaffle in mid-air and throws it to Macmillan, who tosses to Sparks, who throws to Graham, who races up the field. Graham flies past Patil, but Damen steals the Quaffle! Oh, no, Macmillan just stole it back…. He heads up the field and throws—yes! Excellent block by Weasley!"

Something shiny moved just above him. Harry stalked it, unable to decipher what it was. Was it the Snitch or something else?

A Bludger came zooming in his direction and hit him square in the face. The shiny golden watch was attached to Zacharias' wrist.

Harry fell off his broom with darkness sweeping over him. The sky above was growing dark. He was falling fast; he could hear the gasps from the crowd. He made a sudden jerk and stopped in mid-air, then gently landed. He lay on the ground and stared at the sky, trying to make it blue. It was black, then purple, but still he couldn't get the light blue it should be.

"HARRY! HARRY, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?"

"HARRY!"

"WHERE'S MADAM POMFREY?"

"SOMEONE HELP HIM!"

A/N:

Lateda… Well, I had to stop somewhere. Quidditch scene was too long. So now we're halfway through Quidditch! YAY!

I just watched "Switched". That's a great Teen Titans episode. For those of you who are clueless, the Puppet King (wasn't he in Batman?) appears and puts Robin's, Cyborg's and Beast Boy's bodies into puppet dolls of them. He tries to do the same to Raven and Starfire, and he does for a moment, but with Raven's last words, she took their souls back out of the puppets. The problem was that she put them in the wrong bodies. So now Starfire in Raven's body and Raven in Starfire's body are walking around the city, running away from Robin's, Cyborg's, and Beast Boy's bodies who are trying to attack them (they're now the Puppet King's slaves), and then they have to save their friends before the Puppet King destroys their souls. It's really good; I love it. Starfire's my favorite character, too. Let's see… then Raven, then Robin, then Beast Boy, then Cyborg, I think. I like Cy, he's just… meh, I dunno. I'm not a Cyborg fan, but I'm certainly not a basher. Kinda like my opinion on Hillary Duff….

Whoa, that was random.

So next chapter! Next chapter has a really gay name (was I drunk when I did this? I did get drunk of coke once…). Not much happens, really…. We finish up Quidditch, and then… -sniffle- … we have a little bit on Sirius. Everyone cry now! -cries- We miss you, Sirius!

AND WHAT'S THIS CRAP ABOUT JO KILLING ANOTHER CHARACTER?!?! JK, WHAT'RE YOU THINKING?!?! WHO'RE YOU GONNA KILL?!?! HAGRID?!?! GIVE ME INFORMATION!!!

So life is peachy right now. Ooh, Mad Mod's about to come on! That's the episode where this psychedelic madman who has this alternate reality world—kinda, not really—kidnaps the Titans. But they're trying to get out the whole episode. Slightly R/S fluff. Not really. No. But he saves her, and she saves him, and then with BB! xD

Review! Make me smile!

You know, that's getting kinda old…. So… um… I love you, review? No… I'll have to work on that….

Thankx for listening,

Riles

Ok, I wrote that A/N like… two days ago. Right now, it's TWO HOURS AND COUNTING UNTIL THE NEW TEEN TITANS EPISODE!!! It's called "Revolution" I think, and it's where Mad Mod comes and claims the place for Jolly Old England! SO MUCH FUN! The last episode where Mad Mod was involved (titled "Mad Mod"), it was really funny, especially with Beast Boy! Oh, I just talked about it up there…. And did you know that even though Mad Mod was about to come on, I FORGOT ABOUT IT?!?! What, I think Gwen updated on Durmstrang Institute, and I got all excited to reply, and then… somehow time passed… and it was like… ten o'clock…. So I got mad. I missed three episodes I wanted to tape this week. . THAT REALLY TICKS ME OFF!!! But I WILL tape Revolution. -runs to set an alarm so she won't forget- Thankx for listening! Byez, ppl!