Disclaimer: We do not take credit in any part to the genius of J. K. Rowling, only for the piles of wadded paper behind us.

Chapter Six

Quidditch, Magic, and Love

Harry walked out to the Quidditch pitch with his Firebolt. He had been made Captain by an owl from McGonagall, as she was very sick and wasn't on school grounds, and he was going to see to it that they won in his last year. He was holding tryouts and, along with Alicia, was going to pick new Gryffindors for the team.

When he got there, a huge group of Gryffindors met him, all with the glint of hope in their eyes for making it into Gryffindor House Quidditch Team. With a forced smile from Alicia, he started tryouts. Four hours later, Harry was quite impressed. There were some really talented kids, but some not so talented. "All right everybody," he called. "I'm going to make a roster for the team after consulting with Alicia. It'll be posted in the Gryffindor Common Room tomorrow morning. If you make the team, practice will begin tomorrow morning at seven thirty sharp. Be there, or be toast." Harry walked off toward the locker rooms, followed closely by Alicia.

When they got inside, Harry invited Alicia to sit down, and then had an hour conversation with her about who he did and didn't like. After the dinner meal, which was very unusual because Professor Lupin, who was back to teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, was sitting next to Professor Nymphadora Tonks, who was taking the place of Professor McGonagall until she came back, and more than half the students noticed that some serious chemistry was going on between the two of them, Harry posted the list and went straight to sleep; knowing that he had a test tomorrow in Potions.

After a hearty breakfast, and a fast run to the pitch, Harry was waiting for the new recruits. Just in time everyone arrived. "All right everyone," Harry said. "Let's get to work. I'm still going to be Seeker, and Alicia is going to stay on as a Chaser, but joining her will be Seamus and Pavarti. Now, Keeper is going to be Neville, and Ron and Ginny are going to be our Beaters. We're not going to have a practice this morning, because as you can see," Harry gestured with his hand to the sky, "it's stormy, and I don't want to push you too hard. But, after classes, we will have a practice. So as soon as you can after classes, meet me here for practice, and the beginning of our winning the Quidditch Cup."

The team had a group yell for "Gryffindor!" before they left to go to their classes. Harry watched Ginny in particular, and realized he had feelings for her. "Ya comin' mate?" Ron yelled, waking Harry out of his daze.

"Yeah," he said, grabbing his bag.

At seven o'clock, just in time to eat in the Great Hall, Harry stopped practice. They had practiced for two hours, and everyone was exhausted. He stopped Ginny before she ran off, and asked her to wait. Harry cleared his throat before he began. "Um, Ginny?" he started.

"Yeah, Harry?" she replied timidly.

"If you're not seeing anyone, and you want to, would you go . . . um." Harry lost the words he had on the tip of his tongue.

"On a date you mean?" she tried weakly.

"Well, yeah," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Ok," Ginny said sheepishly. "My birthday is at the end of this week though, so I don't know what everyone else is planning."

"I can book you first though, can't I?" Harry asked, not knowing whether to be offended or complimented.

"Sure Harry," Ginny giggled. "Just let me know where and when."

"Okay. A birthday date it is."

A/N: We know its been a while since we updated, but school and trying to have a home life are very difficult to balance with being writers. We'll try to get the next chapter up soon.