Chapter 6: Potter v. Corner

A/N: Ok… I suck at writing Quidditch games…

A/N 2: Tonks and Amanda aren't really sisters. They think of each other as sisters though, just a heads up.

November passed quickly. It felt as if Harry had only fallen asleep with Amanda by the lake the night before, but it was actually three weeks later and the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch match was about to start.

Ron had forcibly shaken Harry awake; an unusually cheerful grin on his face, considering the sun hadn't even risen yet. "Come on, Harry! We have our first match today!" Harry grumbled and reached for his glasses.

"Okay, okay, I'm up." He managed to mumble before Ron could pull him out of bed by his feet.

Ron moved to wake Seamus and Dean, having to forcibly remove them from their beds and drench them with water. After they agreed to stay awake, Ron asked Harry to hold them to their words and left to wake Euan and Dennis.

"Bloody mental, that one…" Seamus said, shaking his wet head.

Harry, Seamus, and Dean showered and dressed before making their way to the common room. Ron was down there lying on his stomach in front of the girl's staircase. Euan and Dennis were rolling in the floor, laughing. Harry saw why when he noticed that the staircase had turned into a stone slide.

"Ron, you know we can't go to the girl's dorms…" Harry laughed, helping his friend stand up.

Ron shook his head before shouting for Amanda and Natalie. No less than three dozen angry women stormed down to the common room intent on flaying Ron within an inch of his life. The two Chasers, Beaters and the Seeker were smart enough to take seats when the female voices started shouting back from somewhere up the stairs.

Hermione tried desperately to protect her boyfriend from the wrath of the Gryffindor girls, shooting a desperate glance at Harry for help. Harry sighed and braved the crowd, walking to stand beside Amanda. Pointing his wand at his throat he magnified his voice.

"Oi, you lot, at least he didn't grab your feet and start pulling you out of bed." Seamus and Dean stood up and magnified their voices.

"He tried drowning us!" They said in unison. The crowd of girls had calmed down slightly by this point.

Euan laughed, getting off the sofa he was stretched out on. "He turned my pillow into a rock."

Dennis joined in with the other boys; "He made my blankets too hot. I thought I was going to burst into flames!"

"See, a little shouting didn't hurt anyone. He just wanted the team to wake up… for some reason." Harry said, his voice back to normal. The girls stopped trying to kill him. "You can all go back to bed.

"Amanda needs to stay… and someone should wake Natalie!" Ron protested. Amanda nodded, confirming that she would stay.

"Natalie's fine, no need to wake her since I'll be playing. We don't need two Seekers."

The early morning troubles weren't forgotten by the time the rest of Gryffindor Tower woke up. Luckily, Ron was on the pitch with the rest of the team. Harry was grateful for being responsible for the evening practices; he never had problems with all the Gryffindors being asleep.

After an hour and a half of practice, Seamus and Dean aimed the bludgers at Ron. "Oi, Weasley! Our match is in three hours! Let us rest or we'll lose!" Seamus shouted. The rest of the team agreed.

"I can keep going, what about you Harry?" Ron shouted his reply. Harry pretended not to hear, diving at the Snitch for the sixth time. Ron relented and allowed everyone to go in for breakfast and rest.

Back inside, Ron forced his team to eat as much as they could. For Seamus, Dean, and Dennis the first match nervousness would start soon. Amanda, while she played at her own school, was nervous about her first game at Hogwarts. Even Euan was jittery. Ron and Harry were abnormally calm, as if they had taken a mild sedative potion, which was entirely possible if the Slytherins had tampered with their food. Harry and Ron tried to ease everyone's fears and doubts, telling them to remember their tough training, but nothing would work.

As Amanda cleared her plate, and glared at Ron as he suggested more food, a voice in her ear caused the blood to drain from her face.

"Sleeping together by the lake… nice…" Tonks's voice called. Amanda turned to see a woman with dark blue hair and violent pink eyes. "You move fast, lady!"

"Tonks! What are you doing here?" Amanda blurted, trying to hide the fear she had of anything Tonks might say about the Halloween Ball.

"And here I thought you might be happy to see us," Tonks replied, shaking her head. Amanda looked to her other side and saw Remus beside her, talking to Ron and Harry. "I'm here for your match. Didn't you miss me, little sister?"

"I didn't miss the teasing…" Amanda said, emphasizing the last word.

"Wow, you are subtle as a Hippogriff in a tutu dancing with naked women. How did Harry not get any hints?" Tonks laughed, shaking her head. Tonks knew that Amanda was shy, which made it all the more fun to tease her. "Tell me, are you pregnant?"

"WHAT?" No!" Many Gryffindors turned their heads toward Amanda.

"Then I do believe that you may want to rescue your boyfriend. Remus was going to have a nice little talk about finishing school before starting a family, or something like that." Any color that had returned to Amanda's face had faded again. She immediately stood and walked to the other side of Remus where Harry was sitting.

"Er, sorry Remus, but I need to borrow Harry for a little while." Remus laughed as she grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him away from the table and out of the Great Hall. Tonks sat down in Amanda's seat and filled a plate with food.

"I've missed decent cooking, what about you Moony?" Tonks said, shoving a sausage in her mouth. Remus refused to reply on the grounds that he might get hurt.

Amanda had pulled Harry into a broom cupboard without thinking of what she was doing. "We have a slight problem…"

"Hmmm? What's wrong?"

"Remus is going to have a little talk with you about… things." Amanda blushed furiously. "He's going to talk to you about not starting a family until we're out of school, according to Tonks… she asked if I was pregnant." She was looking at her feet by this time and failed to see Harry's eyes bulge.

"B-b-b-but we… we haven't… we're not…" Harry couldn't string a coherent sentence together.

"I know, but I think they think we are, after someone wrote them about us sleeping by the lake. Did you ever figure out who that was?"

"No, but my guess is that Ron told one of the twins… and if he did…" Harry shuddered. Amanda's face contorted in horror.

"Welcome to the second Quidditch match of the year! Today we have the champion Gryffindors going against Ravenclaw! This proves to be a great game after Ravenclaw's astonishing victory over Hufflepuff three weeks ago." Lee Jordan had completed his seventh year in Harry's fifth, and was replaced by Colin Creevey.

Ron and Harry stood side by side while everyone else pulled their robes over their pads. "Ok everyone! We've already won this match if you fly like you did in practice." Ron half shouted.

"Right, we'll win without trying if you guys play like that." Harry agreed. They were quickly learning that their pep talks didn't have the same effect as the ones they had been given by their previous captains. Exchanging glances, they nodded.

"We have the best Beaters since the Weasley twins, the best Chasers not on a professional team, and a Keeper that can somehow defend every goal at the same time. Then there's me."

"Oh you're a decent Seeker, Harry." Amanda chimed in.

"Yeah, mate, how many times have you missed the Snitch without Dementors crowding the pitch? Right, NONE! Now, you three," Ron said, pointing at the Chasers, "don't give Ravenclaw a chance to score. You two keep us safe, and maybe knock a few Bludgers into the Slytherin stands, and Harry… get the snitch or die trying." Ron grinned evilly. Harry paled.

"Ron! The last time I heard those words I lost all the bones in my arm."

"Right, because our Defense teacher had the brain of a Billywig. You'll be fine."

Harry shook his head and laughed. "Ok, lets go!" He and Ron shouted at the same time.

The Gryffindors shouldered their brooms and walked out to join the Ravenclaws on the pitch. "And here are our champion Gryffindors! Abercrombie, Creevey, White, Finnigan, Thomas, and Co-captains Potter and Weasley!" The Gryffindor team took its place opposite the assembled Ravenclaws. Madam Hooch walked out with the Quaffle under her arm.

"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch's whistle gave a shrill scream and the fourteen players kicked off.

"The Quaffle has been released! Abercrombie is in possession, zooming past Turpin and Goldstein on his brand new Nimbus 2003. Watch that Bludger!" Euan was hit in the back by the heavy black ball. He managed to stay on his broom but lost the Quaffle.

"Lisa Turpin of Ravenclaw recovers it. She's fast! She shoots… AND WEASLEY BLOCKS!" Cheers came from the Gryffindor stands.

Harry looked down and saw Luna Lovegood with a lion head on her hat. Odd, she's a Ravenclaw… shouldn't she be cheering for her team? He thought as he resumed his search for the Snitch. Harry looked around and saw Michael Corner looking around on his own. Wow, someone is doing their own Seeking for a change… A smirk crossed Harry's face.

"Potter's diving! It looks like he's seen the Snitch! Corner is closing in! Come on, Harry, You're on a Firebolt!" Harry pulled up a second before he would have hit the ground. Michael Corner wasn't as lucky. "And Potter executes a perfect Wronski Feint! Professor Krum couldn't have executed it better!"

Harry returned to his search for the Snitch as Michael pulled himself from the ground. His arm was broken, but Michael managed to return to the air. "Corner seems to be ok, though his arm is dangling limply by his side."

"White has the Quaffle. She looks like a red and gold blur! Watch out, Amanda!" Harry couldn't help himself; he searched for Amanda and saw her perform a Sloth Grip roll to avoid a Bludger that had sent her way. "White's in scoring range… AND IT'S GOOD! That brings the score to 40-20, Gryffindor in the lead."

"Corner's flying as fast as he can! Go Potter!" Colin shouted. "Corner would be completely mad to try feinting with that arm!" Harry caught Michael and spotted a glint of gold. Nothing mattered at that moment besides getting the Snitch, Harry put on an extra burst of speed and reached for the small golden ball. Harry pulled ahead of Michael and stretched his arm out. After a second, the golden ball seemed to fly into Harry's hand.

"POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! POTTER CATCHES THE-" A Bludger struck Harry in the back of the head as he held the Snitch in the air. Harry lost consciousness and fell off his broom. His body hit the ground with a dull thud. The entire Gryffindor team rushed to his side, as well as Terry Boot. Terry had been the one to hit the Bludger at Harry before the Snitch was caught. Amanda had tears in her eyes and Ron looked like he was twenty years older.

Harry found himself in the hospital wing when he woke up, a sharp pain in his back. "Did you finally wake up, sleepyhead?" Amanda's voice rang out. Harry's blurry vision located a blonde haired shape hovering over him.

"Can I kill Ron?"

"Sure, mate, I deserve it. Remind me not to say that ever again…" Ron tried laughing. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was hit by a rampaging manticore. My back is killing me." Harry laughed. Madam Pomfrey pushed Amanda and Ron away, pulling Harry up and examining his back.

"Nasty bruise, Mr. Potter, and some broken ribs. Take this." She gave him a potion. "Then you can go. It'll heal the ribs. The bruise you can keep until it heals itself." She walked off mumbling something about Harry ending up in there after every match.

Amanda, Ron, and Hermione helped Harry out of bed and to the door. The rest of the team was waiting outside for news. Harry shook his friends and girlfriend off and proved to everyone that he was capable of walking on his own. As the eight Gryffindors reached the end of the corridor, they came face to face with Terry Boot. He looked distraught.

"Harry, how are you? Not too much damage, I hope?" Terry asked nervously.

"I'm fine, just a bruise and some broken ribs."

"I'm sorry about that Bludger. I hit it before you caught the Snitch, but it didn't get to you until after the match."

"It's ok, it wouldn't be a Quidditch match if I didn't end up with Madam Pomfrey." Harry clapped Terry on the shoulder and laughed.

Remus and Tonks were waiting for Harry in the Great Hall to discuss the match, at least that was their excuse. Remus took Harry to the opposite end of the Gryffindor table while Tonks kept Amanda busy.

"Is there going to be a party tonight?" Tonks asked, looking as if she wanted to join in.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Just don't end up drunk and pregnant." Amanda was about to protest but Tonks held her hand up. "Your birthday is next week. Do whatever you want after that. For now, Remus is still your guardian and he's asked me to tell you this." Tonks grabbed a goblet of pumpkin juice and drank half of it. "Now that the big sister-slash-godmother duties are done, how is Harry's back? That was a nasty hit."

Remus and Harry were walking to Amanda and Tonks, Harry looking pale. "WAIT! Sister-slash-GODMOTHER? You mean… you and Remus are…" Harry looked up at Remus, who just shrugged and shook his head. The two men stood back for a moment to listen.

"No, not yet. He proposed during the summer, you know, but we aren't married. What? You don't want to think of me as your godmother?" Tonks poked Amanda in the ribs.

"No, no, I was just shocked is all. Is Remus as thick as Harry was?"

"Yeah, I think he is." Tonks laughed. Remus and Harry cleared their throats, though neither of them looked offended. "Yes, Remus is quite thick. He did propose, however, so I do believe that I'm ahead of you."

Harry sputtered and Amanda choked on her pumpkin juice. "What's wrong, Harry? Don't you want to marry her?" Tonks asked innocently.

"I… b-but… I… We're…" Harry looked at his feet. "After Voldemort is dead maybe. I'll have to put most of my life on hold until then."

"Then Voldemort has already won." Albus Dumbledore's voice came from behind them. "I don't mean to intrude on your conversation, Mr. Potter, but I couldn't help overhearing what you said." The headmaster looked grave.

"Harry, if you refuse to live life to the fullest, and instead you choose to push everything aside to destroy him then you will never destroy him." Professor Dumbledore continued. James and Lily said they wouldn't have a child until Voldemort was destroyed. Had they stuck to that, Tom wouldn't have been destroyed, or Neville Longbottom would have the scar on your forehead." Harry blushed.

"I suppose you're right, Professor." He looked at Amanda and caught her eye before both gazed at the floor, blushing furiously. The aged headmaster handed Harry a slip of parchment and made his way out of the Great Hall. Harry looked at the parchment. Before your Care of Magical Creatures lesson on the Monday following Amanda's birthday, meet me in my office. The password is Blood Pops.

Six days later, Amanda turned seventeen and came of age. Harry had been charged with keeping her busy for the afternoon, a task that he was more than happy to be given. The two had gone for a walk around the grounds, talking about whatever came to mind. When the sun began to sink behind the mountains and the air became too cold, they went back inside. Harry could only hope that the final preparations were complete for Amanda's birthday party.

Gryffindor Tower had been busy all afternoon. Ron had borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak to go get butterbeer from Hogsmeade, Hermione had enlisted some of the other girls to decorate the tower, Seamus and Dean had asked the house elves to send up enough food for the entire house, and the younger students, even though few knew Amanda, did whatever they could to help out, though they were mostly in Hermione's way.

When the portrait hole opened and Amanda stepped through, she was pleasantly surprised. "How… Why…" she turned and saw Harry staring at her, smiling widely. "You knew about this?" He nodded, suddenly fearful that she was going to smite them all. "Thank you!" she said, tears springing to her eyes as she leaped into his arms and kissed him fully on the lips.

"This is the first party I've had since I was ten. My classmates at the Salem Institute didn't think it was necessary." She kissed Harry again. He smiled stupidly as she pulled away and turned back to the party.

After the initial shock of her housemates throwing her a party had subsided and the party was nearly half over, Harry and Ron disappeared to their dorm and returned with their arms filled with presents. All of the seventh years had gotten her something. After opening all of them, she found herself disappointed that she hadn't seen one from Harry.

Harry smiled as he came up behind her. "I think you forgot one." He said, whispering into her ear. She turned and saw him holding a gold necklace with an intricate pendant of mixed emerald and sapphire. Her jaw dropped as he moved to put it on her. Her hand moved to the unfamiliar weight resting on her chest. The beautiful mixture of blue and green was almost hypnotic.

"H-Harry… Th-this is…" she turned to face him. "I…" she pulled him into a passionate kiss. "Thank you!"

Later that night, Harry and Amanda were sitting alone in the common room. Everyone else had gone to bed already because of lessons the next day. For ten minutes they had been yawning and were both ready to go to bed. Amanda stood and pulled Harry to his feet.

"Did you mean what you said to Remus? About spending the rest of your life with me after you kill Voldemort?"

"We have only been dating for a little more than a month, but we've technically been together since August, what with it being just the two of us most of the time. We both thought of dating the other back then… I'm rambling." Harry laughed lightly. "I may not be a Seer, but I don't see any reason why we wouldn't be together after Voldemort's annual attempt to kill me, and I get the oddest feeling that this time will be the end. I've been training with Dumbledore since sixth year to fight him. Occlumency and Legilimency, extremely advanced spells and ancient magic, things like that. If I can kill him before he can kill me, then I don't see why we wouldn't be together for a very long time."

Harry's speech had brought tears to her eyes. "Stay alive, Harry. I've lost too many loved ones lately… I can't lose you too." She said before kissing him goodnight and moving to the staircase. "Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night." Harry said, his mind racing. I've lost too many loved ones lately. Too true, and Harry was determined that she wouldn't lose anyone else. I can't lose you too.­­­­ He could win this war. I've lost too many loved ones lately… I can't lose you too. Did she just say… she loves me?