Chapter 06

• Jack •

Rolling out of bed, Harry awoke quickly upon noticing Tonks staring down at him from the other side of the room.

He smiled at her, still feeling the effects of everything he'd done the night before.

Tonks was staring down at him, sitting in a chair, her arms tucked up to her chest. "Where were you last night?" she demanded sharply. "You didn't even get in until after 2 in the morning!" she continued angrily, not revealing that she had been awake at close to 4:30, when he'd actually stumbled through the door.

Harry yawned and stood up, he was quite tired since he'd only had a few hours of sleep he wasn't quite ready for someone to be at his bedside. Besides, he'd been having a really good dream, the first for a long time and Tonks wasn't going to make him feel bad. He looked over to her to her and sighed, making something up quickly. He didn't actually remember everything that had gone on, bits and pieces of it, but nothing solid.

"Korina and Riana took me to Club Craft. Time just sort of flew and it got late real quick. I had to take them back home too, so I was even later," Harry said. Then another scene flashed in front of him, he remembered Darrian offering for him to stay the night, but not what he'd said. "Darrian invited me to stay the night but I figured that it was too much. Besides, I didn't have anything else to wear. I could've transfigured my stuff again, but they still need to be washed."

Of course, there was one thing that he did remember and he definitely didn't want to include it. For some reason he had stayed and he'd woken up to a very naked Korina and without being quite sure how he'd gotten there. He wasn't sure what'd happened, but something had, and inside he felt utterly confused about it.

Tonks was sitting, quietly listening to Harry defend himself. She was well aware that Harry was wearing robes he'd been looking at a few days before. She didn't even care about that though. She'd been awake the whole night worrying and when he'd come back smelling like things Tonks didn't dare think about, she'd grown angry.

"Harry you're not sixteen. How'd you get in?"

Grinning, Harry looked up at Tonks directly. "Darrian, he's a friend of Riana's. He knows the guard, he just told him to let me past. He's so nice Tonks, not like all the people you've warned me about."

"You can't go there again," said Tonks firmly, trying to make it obvious that the conversation was over. "I know what goes on there and you're not to have any part of it. I think you should stay away from Darrian too, he doesn't sound like someone you need top be hanging around. He's only nice for now."

Finally, tired of Tonks heckling him, Harry started to get angry. He hadn't done anything bad, he'd had some fun and that was it. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" he growled. "I'm old enough to make at least some of my own decisions!" he finished, yelling.

"Then you'll have to learn to deal with the consequences like everyone else. Your training has been suspended until further notice!" Tonks announced, standing heavily and heading for the door. "You're going to have to wait until you're mature enough!" she yelled, yanking the door open.

"Fine!" Harry yelled back at her. "Get out of my room!"

"Fine!" Tonks yelled back once more, before slamming the door that connected their rooms.

Outside Tonks stopped, her back to the door. She felt horrible inside. The anger at Harry hadn't been something she'd wanted to get out of hand like this. She'd only meant to get after him, and somehow it had escalated into a full scale argument.

Inside the room Harry stared at the door, seething. Tonks was suddenly starting to act like every other adults he knew, which really bothered him. When she wasn't like this he loved to be around her, it was like being around Hermione or Ron. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong. Why couldn't she just let him make his own decision about it?

For the next hour, while Harry went about his morning tasks, the fight was the only thing he could think about. Meeting Darrian distracted him. The arranged meeting place was down near the beach, which really wasn't really a far walk from where Harry was staying and it helped him clear his head. It was quickly obvious to Darrian, who didn't mention it, that Harry was in a bad mood for some reason. The grim appearance, the forced smile, all leading to the eyes that seemed like they were on fire.

Inside the Quidditch shop things changed, the fight floated to the back of his mind and Harry engrossed himself everything the shop had to offer. It was very different from the shop that was in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. He examined everything, spending lots of time looking over the Firebolt upgrade kit. It was pretty simple to use and Harry was sorely tempted to buy it, but he knew if he did he'd have to use Tonks' money, and he didn't want to spend her money even if he was angry at her.

Darrian changed his mindset just slightly, in the end talking him into buying a snitch to sharpen his skills. Harry decided it was probably for the best. He wasn't one to use it as his father and Darrian did, but he could let it loose in a room and practice there, alone. He wouldn't let anyone else see him, and if he did it without a broom he'd have to learn to react without the additional speed and movement which would help him out later on. He was good enough on a broom already, he just needed to be quick enough to beat the other players when he got into a hard situation.

As they left the store, Harry felt content as the snitch struggled in his pocket.

"You have anything else to do today?" Darrian asked, playing with his snitch already.

Harry shook his head. "Not anymore. Tonks and I had a fight, so everything that we had planned isn't going to happen," he said, feeling a ping of regret for yelling at her.

"Tonks, what an odd name." he said, thinking for a moment. "Yeah, well anyway, since you're not doing anything why don't you hang out with me? We could go watch the broom races, my treat."

The offer was very generous seeing that it was something Harry had been thinking about doing himself. In but a moment he had accepted happily. Tonks had passed by the stadium and Harry'd seen glimpses of the races, no doubt there to catch visitors attention. Harry had certainly been interested.

"Sure," he finally said, trying to avoid thinking about Tonks.

Darrian just nodded and set off at a quick pace, leading Harry through the back alley's of the town. It took quite a while, but as he walked several people joined him, forming a group that trailed along. He paid them no mind, and so Harry didn't mention anything.

Finally, as they neared the stadium, Darrian turned around. "So, I see that everyone's ready to see the races," he said, smiling. "I do hope everyone has brought gifts for me!"

The group of boys laughed with Darrian, who opened a door marked 'Staff Only' and ushered everyone in. Harry faltered at the entrance but Darrian reassured him. "It's alright," he said. "Nick always lets us in when there's someone at the door, he knows we'd sneak in anyway, and besides, he owes me a favor or two."

Having only known Darrian for a day Harry just shrugged his shoulders. Last night he'd done something he probably shouldn't be able to do, this wasn't much different. Besides, if Darrian was telling him the truth then it didn't matter. So Harry just followed the others through the winding hallways. All the boys seemed to have been there before, and Harry felt more like a tag along than anything else.

Finally at a brown door Darrian stopped, pushing in gently on a brick next to it. "That's the spot," he said quietly. The door creaked open, and Harry turned around still not feeling quite right about sneaking into the facility. After marching up a set of stairs a airy-room appeared. Across the far side was a solid window, with something flashing across it.

The roar of the crowd brought everyone, including Harry, to the window. "Damn!" Darrian said angrily. "They started earlier than usual, the tournament must've pushed the normal races to earlier today."

A list of names raced across the window and Darrian looked up at them and sighed. "First races just ended and." he paused, apparently waiting for a something. "WHAT! Kirby won!" he threw his hands into the air. "He didn't even pull 15's in the last rally!" he said, aghast.

"Look at him," one of the other boys said, his face plastered to the window. "He's got a Firebolt."

Darrian's head jumped forward against the window so fast that Harry thought perhaps he might break it. From beyond the line of drooling boys, Harry could see who they were talking about. "He hasn't had it long," he thought aloud, remembering his first experiences with a Firebolt. "He's holding it too high, you don't get the best response if you hold it like most brooms. He should've figured it out if he'd ridden it much. It was designed for Quidditch, not just for flying."

Looking up Harry found that the eyes of the boys were no longer below, but turned to him. All of them stared at him speechless, making Harry feel extremely uncomfortable.

"He's a visitor guys, name's Harry."

"Black." Harry quickly added.

"And he's right," Darrian added dominantly. "He's got a real broom now, and he needs to learn to ride it."

Ignoring the other boys, Harry turned and watched the racers lineup again. They had various brooms, some old, some new, and with his experience as a Quidditch player he could see which ones were more familiar with flying. Though it was hard to see their skills, he could see who knew what they were doing.

Near the end of the lineup, a rider made a familiar motion with his hands as he spoke with the female rider next to him. Harry's eyes stopped following the lineup, staring at the rider. The platinum hair seemed even more familiar and he gasped. The rider next to him said something rude and the platinum haired rider turned, throwing his leg over his broom. When Harry saw the face, he knew immediately who the rider was.

The way he mounted the broom made Harry look closer. Malfoy'd played the trick before, making it seem as if he weren't as fast as he was and Harry suspected that he'd lost the first race purposefully. His Nimbus was more than enough to take on a rider of a Firebolt if the rider didn't know what he was doing.

"He's going to win," Harry said to himself, seeing the smirk on Malfoy's face. The previous year he'd been better by leaps and bounds, and Harry had wanted to race him playing more and more with every game he saw, partly because the part Draco played in the last years Quidditch games.

"Want to bet on it?" Darrian asked, grinning from ear to ear, his eyes flirting between Harry and Malfoy.

Completely taken back Harry shook his head, he didn't have much money after having purchased the snitch. "I really don't have much." he said, trying to put Darrian off lightly.

"Oh, come on," Darrian urged. "You've got a snitch. Besides, you only loose if the player I bet on wins, otherwise no one wins or looses. And," he added suggestively. "It's the way things are done around here, you bet on anything and everything. I once bet my life, literally, that I could. well never mind, it's not something I like to relive."

Feeling a bit forced Harry started to say no, but around him he could hear the other boys betting between each other. Looking down at Draco, with his confident smirk he sighed. "Alright," he said quietly. If Draco didn't win he'd be even more angry at him than usual, even if he had no knowledge of what he'd done. "Who are you betting on?" he asked, figuring that Darrian would bet on the Firebolt.

"Meyers," he pointed to a wizard, "the one in the purple robes."

Meyers it seemed was a new contestant in the race, he was walking out of the side doors as Darrian had placed the bet. He hadn't even made it onto his broom yet. He was also carrying a Nimbus 2002, very much life Draco's. He was however older and heavier. Harry had no doubt the man knew how to handle his broom, but Draco was better, he was sure of it.

Draco seemed to still try and feign newness, playing his part masterfully. He gripped his broom all wrong, but well enough that he could change positions the instant he had to. The racers finally all leaned forward on their brooms, a signal that they were most ready Harry assumed, and a loud pop rang through the whole stadium.

The races started so instantly that Harry found himself staring at an empty starting lineup. His eyes caught the few stragglers almost immediately, but the racers were already moving so fast that it took him a moment longer to catch them with his eyes. Harry had never watched a true race before, but he could most certainly point out the more experienced riders from above.

Slowly the race began to form a line of racers, each turn them made straightening the line more and more. Harry watched, eager to learn everything he could. If Draco could be in a race, surely he could do the same.

Every racer, save four, took the turns far too wide and it didn't seem have much control. It didn't surprise Harry at all when several of them lost their stability and went wildly out of control, careening out of control into the cheering crowds. Several slowed, only to find that by the time they'd pushed for more speed in the straightaway they had no chance to catch the more aggressive riders.

When a rider was passed by the lead racer, it seemed they were no longer a part of the race. If they did not leave themselves a mediator jumped into the race from the side, pulling the racer from the track. Harry thought it was rather harsh, but by the third lap the total racers had been cut to a fourth of what it had been, only 10 people.

Kirby was ahead, still showing signs of his lack of proficiency with the Firebolt. Meyers was close behind, tailed by Malfoy and the woman he'd been speaking to before the race had started. As far as he could tell Malfoy was allowing himself the third position, every time the woman would speed up he'd push himself a little faster to stay just ahead of her.

"How many laps?" Harry asked excitedly as Draco finally dropped his body closer to the broom and tucked his legs in behind him.

"Four." Darrian replied, his mouth agape as Draco took second place. The woman had pulled neck and neck with Meyers who'd pushed more out of his broom, but could go no faster.

Across the room Harry could hear whispers. "That kids pretty good," one boy commented.

Next to him another shoved him playfully. "But Seonaidh's better, she really knows how to handle a broom," he said poking his companion. "If you know what I mean."

"Stupid, we're watching races, I don't care right now."

Harry glanced back down to the races and tried to figure out what they'd meant by the comment. She certainly was handling her broom well, he couldn't even figure what she had, he'd never seen one like it before, it seemed ancient though.

Next to him Darrian had regained his composure and was sitting down in the seats, something Harry had completely forgotten about, watching the race. "He is pretty damn good," he commented, taking the loss without question even though there were still two laps left.

Around the bends the brooms flew, Harry had trouble watching them because they were moving so fast. He felt the rush of the wind as if he were flying next to him and he focused. He didn't really care if Draco won or not, he just didn't want Meyers to win.

Somehow Draco increased his speed again as they neared the start of the last lap and on a straightaway he pulled just ahead of Kirby, but made even more headway in the turn. The woman had, astonishingly enough, been able to keep up with Draco.

The race took another sharp turn and the whole lap changed, there was a single straightaway left with at least a dozen tight curves after it, eventually leading to the finish line. Harry started, surprised at what had happened. Malfoy seemed to be surprised as well.

From behind Harry could almost feel the grin bearing down on the back of his skull, Darrian seeing his chance of not losing. Harry didn't dare turn around. At that instant Seonaidh kicked it up another notch, which seemed impossible with the speed they were going and moved in on Draco.

Somehow, while still in the straightaway, Draco felt her moving in on him and was able to push himself harder, keeping a half the length of a broomstick between them. The straightaway was easy, but as they hit the first turn somehow Seonaidh seemed to be able to pull herself through them tighter, catching up on Draco after two turns.

Draco glanced back, and then veered sharply into the turn, cutting off Seonaidh's avenue. After four more turns Seonaidh back of a little, waiting for her chance to get past him. An obstacle appeared and Draco avoided it, but the wind he was putting off sucked it right into Seonaidh's path. She had a hard time dodging it and lost some distance on Draco as she pulled her broom up and over the obstacle.

The tension filled the whole room as the last two turns came into sight. Harry watched, breathless as Seonaidh followed Draco into the second-to-last turn, veering too far to make it. She got so close to the wall that Harry thought perhaps she'd struck it. He was wrong however, she twisted the broom sharply so that she was parallel to the ground, and she kicked of the wall with all her strength.

The whole stadium was so quiet that a pin drop could have been heard. Harry had never heard of such a move, it was insane at that speeds and she should have been shot from her broom just by the force that the wall would have exerted against her legs. Miraculously rather than slowing it sped her up and by the second turn she was sitting on Draco's ass again.

As she turned Draco seemed to have swerved too far, and Seonaidh took the advantage, pulling in on him. It was a ruse though. As Seonaidh pulled in tighter he veered into her again, this time not so hard. Something strange happened as he did, Harry could scarcely believe it was possible but Draco had another burst of speed and pulled out ahead of Seonaidh again.

"No." a boy next to Harry breathed. "That's. the. the."

"Darwin Draft." Darrian said behind him. "I was hoping Seona might pull it off, but she certainly wasn't prepared for the kid to do it."

"But. but." the kid stuttered.

"James it's alright," Darrian smiled. "He did it, he won fair and square."

Darrian caught Harry's questioning look and picked the snitch from his pocket, throwing it at Harry who caught it without thinking. "You're boy's good. He pulled Seona into a ploy and as she got close enough, he pulled himself into the wind she displaced, using his own to boost his speed slightly. It's not a safe move, in fact it's not a sane move, it usually gets people seriously injured, but he pulled it off without a hitch."

The roar of the crowd barely even registered in Harry's mind. He'd never once heard of such a move, not in any of the Quidditch books he'd read. His real problem was that Draco had done it, he almost hated himself for betting on Draco, feeling that perhaps Draco wouldn't have won if he hadn't.

Below Draco was standing on the podium, a smirk that rivaled none Harry had ever seen from him. He turned slightly, saying something to Seonaidh, only to be rejected again.

"Who's that girl?" someone asked.

Of course, the first person that everyone turned to was Darrian, who was sitting in his seat, composed with a smile on his face. For a brief instant, Harry was reminded of Snape. The moment passed and Harry shook away the odd feeling, watching as the other boys waited for an answer.

"She used to race here a few years back. She could pull off nearly every trick in the book, but it looks as if she's rusty, I didn't see her do anything tricky this time. I heard she was the best, that no one could defeat her if she was really racing. Look at the broom she's using. It's a Comet 907. You can't even buy spare parts for it at a used store anymore."

The broom was antiquated, Harry had already seen that, but he couldn't believe she was riding a 907, they were even a great deal older than the brooms at the school. Everyone around him nodded.

"James?" Darrian said. The boy who stood next to Harry dropped his head and pulled something out of his pocket. He tossed Darrian the object and Darrian caught it in midair, before the snitch disappeared into the air.

Amazed Harry looked at Darrian, who was grinning at him. "Gotta know hot to play the odds, but you gotta know how to win too," he laughed.

The crowd roared and Harry's eyes turned to the track again.

Every player except those who'd come in top four left the track, brooms in hand. While, meanwhile, on the other side of the field a dozen more players joined, all marching out in order. Harry wondered why they didn't come out on their brooms, but didn't bother to ask.

"Rally time," Darrian said behind him. "Your friends up for the first race, wanna give him another shot?"

With the snitch tucked slightly in his hand, Harry shook his head. "He's not my friend," he said quietly. ". and I'm not betting on him winning again. He's up against real racers now."

"Yeah, true," Darrian said, absent mindedly, he was making a motion to one of the other boys. "He doesn't have a chance now."

Behind him, the boys made bets while Harry watched intrigued. One of the players, riding a Nimbus 2004, approached Seonaidh. He said something that seemed to annoy Malfoy and Harry smiled. Apparently, the two racers knew each other.

After a short conversation the man, who Harry assumed was Simmons because of Darrian had said that he was riding a Nimbus 2004, motioned to the sidelines. An attendant came running out and after a few words disappeared back into the stadium. Seonaidh jumped on him, hugging him tightly when the attendant returned holding a much newer broom.

"Hey," Harry started, but was interrupted by another boy.

"Look at Simmons! He's givin' the new girl a better broom."

James laughed. "He wants some competition!"

It seemed as if everyone looked to Darrian again to see what he would say. "Nah," Darrian responded. "He owes her, the last race she was in she gave her broom to him when she got disqualified for cheating. She'd won the race, but when the judges reviewed the tape they saw that somehow she'd managed to take a turn at an impossible angle. They called it cheating even though they could never prove she'd done something wrong. After that she gave up her broom to Simmons and no one ever saw her race again."

Harry thought it was quite informative. It was odd how Darrian seemed to know so much about everything.

A whistle created an uproar in the crowd and the racers lined up, \brooms tucked tightly between their legs. The track had returned to its normal state, a simple oval shape with a few obstacles. Harry wondered why it was so simple for the riders which where out there. These riders were a far cry from the muddled group who'd raced in the last race.

"Gibbons has made an announcement everyone!" a commenter said somewhere in the distance. "She says . that she'll be throwing in a bonus. the person who wins this race will receive a. kiss?"

The crowd roared again and Harry looked down to see who it was that was shouting. A woman, another woman, it seemed was doing the shouting. "And what's this? She's telling Seonaidh she'd better win! What a statement. I can't believe what I'm hearing!"

Snorting behind him the boys could barely keep in their cheers. Harry looked down at the woman and shook his head, it was gross to even think of such a thing. It was like him kissing Ron.

"You suppose Seonaidh will let that slow her down?" one of the boys asked.

Another boy smiled unpleasantly. "I hope not. I want to see what Gibbons does to Seonaidh, it won't just be a kiss I think," he said, laughing obnoxiously.

"I don't even want to see it anymore," Darrian said looking away. "Tell me who wins. Harry, I won't be gone for long, let me know if anything interesting happens."

He disappeared back out the door, leaving Harry with a group of kids that he didn't know at all. The race was about to begin and Harry really wanted to see what real racers had behind them. He knew how Draco raced, he'd been up against him enough times to be able to compare himself and so, with that he could compare himself to the rest of the racers.

A loud whistle started the race.

It wasn't the same start off that it had been before. The racers, knowing their opponents were as good as they were pushed themselves to the limit to start with, trying to take the lead. Draco was left near the center of the group, a far cry from the position he'd taken before. The leaders, once again a group of four, distanced themselves from the pack within only a few seconds. Seonaidh was among them.

Harry watched her with interest. It seemed the more she was racing the faster she was becoming. He wasn't quite sure why it was so, but upon seeing her race he doubted she was rusty. She was pulling herself so well that Harry doubted she'd ever quite flying. The broom stick, what looked like a Nimbus 2001, was a much better broom than what she'd been riding.

As they rounded the finish line for the first lap the track changed in front of them. Harry stared in awe as the riders made the necessary adjustments without more than a second to spare, avoiding the now protruding obstacles that had appeared throughout the track.

The track itself had changed its course, winding around in an S shape, and then looping around itself. On edge Harry felt his legs weakening, he wanted so bad to race, to test himself against real racers. Draco wasn't doing well at all, he couldn't handle the full sized people who were crowding him, all pushing to catch up to the leaders.

As the road twisted the leader, who happened to be Simmons, lost the lead against Seonaidh who pulled a turn so tight that Harry gasped. At that speed he wasn't sure anyone could have pulled off a turn so forcefully. It was no wonder she'd been disqualified for cheating if she could do something like that.

After the turn a burst of speed gave her almost a full yard between herself and Simmons. With what seemed almost. a swagger she turned to Gibbons, blowing him a kiss. Harry laughed at the boastfulness she was showing. It didn't stop there, with each turn she took it tighter and faster, increasing her speed until even Simmons was almost a full lap behind. Harry was extremely appreciative of her ability, he'd never seen anyone ride a broom like that in his whole life. Not even professional Quidditch players could do something like that.

Two more laps, each with continually changing difficulties. The laps seemed to extend more and more each lap, not just because the track was more winding. With each successful lap the whole inner stadium seemed to be enlarging. Harry wasn't sure if it was true, it was hard to tell while he was watching the action. Things were changing, and quickly. But Seonaidh wasn't loosing ground, she just continued to move in on the slower players, lapping them one by one.

When she came to Draco she pulled her broom in close, yelling something in his ear. In an instant he kicked out towards her menacingly. Harry's breath stopped as his feet collided with the tail of her broom. For an instant though, it was if time had stopped while her broom started to shift in the air. It veered towards Draco at first, cutting off his flight path and forcing him to change course to avoid striking the woman.

The rest of the group scattered in every direction, some stopping, some shooting into the stadiums. The crowds never had time to avoid them, and the screams of injured people and calls for help could be heard faintly. Harry couldn't be sure where Draco ended up, his concern was the woman who Draco had tailed.

Pulling against her broom, fighting the inevitable, Seonaidh yanked too hard and overcompensated, swinging the broom so hard that it twirled in the air sending her shooting towards a large brick wall. With nowhere else to go and no time to slow down Harry saw her do the most amazing thing. She pulled herself into the broom, pushing it at an even greater speed towards the wall. In the last moment she swung herself forward, completely flipping the broom over and stopping herself so fast that Harry wasn't sure if it where possible.

The whole crowd roared as the broom turned itself right side up again and Seonaidh waved to the crowd, then turned back toward the course. Her speed lost, the rest of the front group caught up to her quickly. There was something about the move that concerned Harry, something more than just familiar about it. As Seonaidh lost her first place spot he tried to remember if he'd ever seen it before, but he couldn't recall.

Seonaidh refused to give up though and never lost second place. Harry knew who he was rooting for, she'd just showed more resolve than he thought he could ever have. After a near death experience she was moving again and trying to bring herself into the front.

Simmons wasn't going to let her take his place this time though and as she cut in on one of the corners he recklessly followed, keeping her from passing him up. Twice it happened and twice Seonaidh was shut out from making the move into first place. She dropping back near the end of the final lap, following Simmons closely, but not pushing for the lead. Harry thought there was something she was planning and watched carefully. Behind him the boys were completely silent, and Harry welcomed it. Their jeers and shouts were certainly not something Harry liked to listen to.

As the final straightaway was almost in sight Seonaidh did the most ridiculus thing Harry had ever seen, she slowed again. The turn was sharp and she took it loosely. Another rider, someone Harry didn't know, pulled in between her and Harry could see what she was doing, but he doubted it would work.

In the last instant Seonaidh pulled into the rider, barely in front of him and slightly lower, almost skimming the ground herself. Her speed jumped shockingly and she shot out of the turn like a bullet, tucked so tightly into her broom that it was hard to tell she was a separate entity. The rider who she'd bummed the speed off list control and shot off into the air not able to take the bounce that the air had pushed against him. The last few feet of the race was so tight that Harry clenched his fist around the snitch so tightly that it felt as if it had popped in his hand.

Finally, the race was over but not with a clear winner. The two had passed the line so close together that it left the crowd wondering who'd won. Harry waited breathless for the names to flash across the window in front of him. The announcers voice was speaking in the back of his mind and he turned his concentration to it, still keeping his eyes glued to the window.

"It's. the judges are reviewing the call between themselves right now. Of course the winner will be the one with the. no, here it is, the winner of the 289th semi-annual Roslin Rally is." he paused for a moment to add to the effect only to receive boo's from the crowd, "Seonaidh!"

At the same instant Harry recalled the move. He invented it. As far as he knew he was the only person that had ever used it. He'd looked all over, through every Quidditch book in the library, some in the bookstore at Hogsmeade, and had never found any mention of a similar move. The only time he'd ever even used it was when he was with Tonks.

James yelled something and Harry looked down at the group who'd won. Darrian was walking out, the first price trophy in his hand. "No! he wouldn't."

Sure enough Darrian strode right up to Seonaidh and handed her the trophy as if he were the one that was suppose to be doing it. "HE DID!" James shouted. "I'm going to strangle him!" he continued, quieting down.

From above Harry could see Darrian was grinning ear to ear and Harry wasn't at all surprised when he said something to Seonaidh above the cries of the spectators and the announcer. The whole group gasped as Seonaidh leaned over him and whispered something in his ear, turning his grin into a look of surprise.

Several minutes later when Darrian appeared at the door, a smug grin on his face, Harry couldn't help but try and rile him up. "She didn't accept your proposal, did she?"

Around him the boys laughed lightly at Harry's joke, but quieted when Darrian looked around. "Nah. She said her heart was already dedicated to someone more famous than you or I, Harry Potter."

Harry blushed. He'd never even seen the woman before and she had told Darrian that she loved him. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, seems like all the good ones are waiting for him to profess his love to them. Kor used to be head over heals for him. Seems like she's gotten over it after she met you."

Remembering that he'd woken to her earlier in the morning Harry blushed even deeper. How much did Darrian know about that?

"Kor? The ice queen?" James asked from beside him.

"Oh! Didn't I tell you, our little man here broke the ice queen in a single night."

James choked.

The whole room seemed to be staring at Harry and he wanted to shrink away from their look. He didn't even remember it! It was personal too, he didn't want anyone to know what had gone on anyway.

"Oh yeah," Darrian grinned, having won the offense in the conversation. "she's called the ice queen around here. Riana's well. well far from, but Korina doesn't date. She never has according to Riana. Some of us thought maybe she was. you know. Anyway, seems that you proved us all wrong. Certainly means that you should be given some better treatment around here. James here couldn't even get her to look his way and he's usually got a way with the woman."

The boys laughed at the comment and then someone shouted Jack.

Darrian turned to Harry, a glint in his eye. "It's a good idea. Want to play the most intense game that was ever invented?"

Harry nodded quickly, he didn't want to think about Korina at all right now. Besides, if Darrian could play something he could certainly play it.

"There's a catch though," Darrian warned.

It was hard for Harry to even stop and think about it, just the word intense made his blood pump. After watching the races he was sure that very little could be more intense, and if there was something he wanted to try it, to prove himself. Against Harry nodded to the question Darrian had asked, he was going to play.

"First you have to touch on it," Darrian said, holding out a card. "All the rules are one the card, you just touch one side, I touch the other, then we can play. It's a pretty good game, just some weird rules. But once you play. well it either makes or breaks you."

Harry nodded and touched the dot Darrian had pointed to. Darrian meanwhile touched the other dot. The card glowed and slipped slightly under their fingers, eventually forming two separate cards.

"Good. Let's get the brooms," he said, handing Harry one of the cards. On it the dot seemed to be changing color to red.

Something came over Harry and the eagerness he'd had only a moment before dimmed. "Wait a sec, why don't you explain it all to me."

"Read the card, I told you, it's got all the rules on it."

Looking down at the cards Harry could see that there was a small paragraph followed by a small list he read it over carefully.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick. You're about to jump off a flying broomstick!

Hello and welcome to the game of Jack. You're probably wondering what you're getting yourself into.
The game 'Jack' was originally created in the mid 17th century by a small group of wizards who felt that Quidditch was.

Harry stopped reading for an instant, scanning until he came to the part that mattered.

There are very few actual rules in Jack.

1. In order to play the game Jack you must wager the most precious thing you have as part of the winnings.
2. When the judge says Jack you must jump from your broom (which will be at a minimum of 1.5 kilometers above the ground unless prearranged heights can be agreed upon.)
3. No use of spells to lighten, slow, or allow maneuverability in the air.
4. In order to win the game you must be the last person to apparate away from the fall, apparating before or quitting before the games starts is an immediate loss.
5. Don't kill yourself or strike the ground, you'll lose.

The rules, as simple as they were didn't explain it to Harry. He went over them at least a dozen times before he realized what they were saying. The paragraph before must have made more explanation.

He was about to jump off a broom way above the ground and be forced to apparate away before actually hitting the ground.

"I can't apparate." Harry stuttered. "It's illegal unless you're of age."

"You didn't ever read the rules?" James asked, acting as if he were supremely surprised. "You were suppose to read the rules genius."

Harry looked up to Darrian, whose grin had faded and was smiling extremely oddly. "But, I can't win if I can't apparate." he said to Darrian, "there's no way I can play at all."

"I guess you lose then," Darrian said softly. He looked and acted completely different than he had been only a few minutes before.

"But. but." Harry said, almost ready to admit defeat, he didn't have much anymore. He had an invisibility cloak with him, maybe Darrian would accept that and just let things go.

"You have a Firebolt!" Darrian exclaimed, looking at his card.

Harry shivered, looking down at his. At the bottom of the card in a previously blank box there were words. Signat 392 type 7.3 - Bambi, Firebolt. He didn't understand what that meant, it must have been what Darrian's most precious item was.

"Yeah," Harry mumbled.

"You. you never said anything about it after everything I told you."

Harry shivered, he didn't want to give up his Firebolt. Sirius had given it to him, it was one fo the only things he had from Sirius still. Between it, the clothes he was wearing, and his two invisibility cloaks that was all he owned now.

"What about if I give you an inv." Harry started to ask.

Darrian shook his head, looking quite serious. "No. Can't break the rules, the winnings have already been determined. Anything that breaks the rules means that the person doing it looses. It's not a simple rule you know, you touched on it, it means you're bound to the game now, there's no way out.

Harry covered his face as the boys around him looked at him, most of them grinning wickedly. "You know, you score once and you think that you're the best on the block." One of them said.

The joke rippled through the rest of the boys, making them laugh softly at Harry who now seemed to be completely stuck.

"Tell you what," Darrian said, a smile on his face. "I'll give you a week. That means that in a week from now you meet me at my place and we'll play Jack. Since we didn't agree on when it was and there's no predefined rule I can give you that much." Darrian paused, looking around to the other boys with a sly grin on his face. "I recommend that you learn to apparate and quick," he laughed and then left, the other boys following.

Alone, Harry stood in the room feeling completely helpless. He hadn't even looked at the rules before agreeing to them, he should have listened to Tonks when she told him not to be around Darrian again. He should have taken her advice and been more careful. In the past two days he had made the two biggest mistakes of his life and he could only remember one of them.

After what seemed like hours had passed, Harry finally took leave of the room. Outside, whatever was happening didn't matter to him, the race that was taking place didn't matter. After all the real race had ended a long time ago. One by one Harry stepped down the steps trying to decide what to do. He couldn't learn to apparate in a week, it was impossible. He'd heard Fred and George talking about it and they took almost two full months to learn and their teacher had told them that it wasn't that far behind what was standard. Supposedly they'd learn to apparate the second half of their 6th year. Harry doubted he'd be able to learn even as fast as the twins. While they weren't all that proficient in everything they had a good feel for it and therefore it cam easier to them, they just didn't apply themselves.

He'd get a book. That was the best he could think of. And, for the next week, he'd spend every hour he could keep his eyes open learning to apparate. He hoped, for the sake of his Firebolt, that he would be able to learn quickly.

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