The Adventure Continued

Chapter 13: The Perfect Clash

A/N: I'm so sorry that this has taken such a long time! For the first few weeks, I had the worst writer's block: not because I had no ideas, but because I didn't know how to continue. When I finally got the chapter running and finished, I sent it to my beta-reader who ended up getting sick and hung up with midterms. Yucky, huh? Anyways, after probably a month of working on this chapter, I think this is the longest chapter so far. Please enjoy and tell me what you think!

"You're looking worse by the day, Harry," Sirius peered at him from his portrait the next morning. "Perhaps you're not cut out for this job…"

"Thanks, Sirius," Harry answered a little too grumpily. Sure, he was a bit grumpy every morning, but it didn't help that all night he dreamt of giant pot roasts destroying Hogwarts and some doll named "Polly" wanting to bite his nose off. Although Fred and George denied ever creating such a potion that would cause the victim to dream of the food they eat, they also ensured him that it would wear off…in a few months. However, a nightmare about pot roast was the last thing he needed before a Quidditch match.

Harry made his way down to the pitch after eating breakfast down in the kitchens as he did every morning now. The sky reflected his grumpy mood with heavy, gray clouds and drops of rain pattering the ground around him. His stomach tied in nervous knots as he examined the weather. This was the first Quidditch game in the last four years and already the weather was against him.

"We have to beat Slytherin," Harry told himself. "We just have to."

He took a seat among the other teachers in the stands and down the row, he saw Ginny's face looking equally grim and determined. The two of them had not spoken a word to each other since the beginning of the Quidditch season and Harry actually enjoyed the peace. However, he felt that this tranquility would not last long, especially if Gryffindor won.

"Harry! Looks like a good day for a Quidditch game!" Hermione sat down next to Harry. He replied with a look of astonishment, as if to scream "how could anyone call this foggy, cloudy day 'good?'" But he also knew that Hermione wasn't an expert in Quidditch-strategies like the Weasleys.

"Harry, what's that?" She pointed in the direction of the Gryffindor poles, where the keeper, Alexander Floor, had just flown over to guard.

"That's a keeper, Hermione. You know, like what Ron played?"

"No, not that: that over there!It's an owl! What is it doing? It's going to get hurt!" Hermione gasped, as the owl flew right in front Alyssa Wood, who was fighting with Marcus Powell in search of the Snitch.

"Stupid, ruddy owl," Alyssa grumbled as she flew right over Harry, swearing profusely while returning her to attention to the game.

The owl landed in front of Harry and held out its left foot which carried a letter.

Dear Mr. Potter,

This is an urgent matter and I would deeply appreciate it if you could get away from the interesting Quidditch game to come meet me at the Three Broomsticks this morning at 11:00. I know of whom you are searching for and I believe that I can be of service to you.

Sincerely,

Your Faithful Friend

"What is it Harry?" Hermione looked over his shoulder.

"Nothing," he responded putting the parchment in his pocket and returning his attention to the game. "Nothing at all, just some…er…person wanting a book interview."

"I really don't think you should meet them. You will miss the whole match!" Hermione whispered in a harsh tone so that others around them could not hear. "Besides, you don't know who this person is."

Harry looked angrily at her. "I didn't say I was going to meet them," he returned, "but I will excuse myself for more personal reasons."

"Oh?"

"I need to use the loo."

The castle was always peaceful when students were not present. Harry now found a new use for this peacefulness as he prepared to meet the mysterious "friend." Well, after he took his promised trip to the loo. Still, the Quidditch game seemed as unimportant as one of Luna's History of Magic lessons compared to the unexpected letter he just received.

I know of whom you are searching for and I believe that I can be of service to you.

Did it mean what he thought it meant? Who else could know who Harry was searching for? Perhaps it was someone from the ministry...but if they have any knowledge, they would have spoken before now. Or maybe it was a previous Death Eater wanting to save his skin now that his master was gone? Then again, maybe that would be too extraordinary.

These thoughts went through Harry's brain while he went through the castle after relieving himself. He was so distracted that he did not see the object that he was walking into and tripped down the staircase into the Entrance Hall, his glasses falling off his face.

"Potter, what are you doing now? You are supposed to be watching the Quidditch match!" a voice spat from the stairs behind him.

Harry put his glasses back on his face, but he didn't need them to recognize Ginny's fiery red hair. "I would think the same thing of you. Is a wizard not allowed now to use the loo?"

"Oh, really? I think differently," Ginny challenged, coming down the stairs to stand a few feet away from Harry.

"You think I can't go potty?"

"No!" Ginny huffed. "I don't think you actually went to the bathroom."

"So, do you think differently…or Hermione?" Harry answered coldly, realizing who his best friend went to after he left. He was thankful that Hermione did not go to someone else, such as McGonagall, but then again Harry was a teacher! He was allowed to do and go where he wanted! Why was she making such an issue of this?

Ginny took a step back, but her fierce eyes bore into Harry's. "You're hiding something. You would want leave your Quidditch team just because some person wants to have a nice chat in a pub? The person probably had a bit too much to drink!"

"What about you? Will you listen to yourself?" Harry said frustrated, but slowly calmed down. "Ginny, you're getting angry over me missing a Quidditch match. Besides, I'm not a student anymore; I am now allowed to leave the grounds whenever I choose to."

"You are supposed to be watching over your team, Harry! Do you care if they win or lose?" Ginny questioned. "Do you care about anything besides yourself?"

"What about you? Slytherin is your team. Shouldn't you be watching them?" he answered irritably. Ginny stood surprised in front of Harry, almost resembling an angry buffalo that had ten sets of horns.

Without taking her eyes off her opponent, Ginny reached into her robes to pull out her wand, but Harry had always been quick. With a swish, he sent a binding spell at Ginny, who dodged it with ease. "Funny, Potter. If that's the way you want to play then let's get this over with," Ginny challenged quietly, sending a spell that Harry blocked with equal ease.

"Stupefy!" Harry thought, pointing at Ginny.

Ginny ducked, missing another spell, while thinking, "Expelliarmus!"

The spell bounced off Harry like a ball of rubber. "Nice try, Gin."

"Well, what are you trying to do? Stun me?" Ginny retorted.

"Better to hit you with," Harry smiled, dodging another jinx aimed for his head.

"You know, Potter, you're not supposed to hit girls."

"Well, since you're not exactly a girl, then there's no problem, is there?" Harry answered, sending three more curses in her direction.

Ginny's ears began to blend in with her red hair while she ducked to miss another one of Harry's curses and send a couple of jinxes back. "You dated me," she replied lightly.

"Don't think I will forget. It's the first time I dated a-"

"POTTER! WEASLEY!"

Harry and Ginny froze. The two turned to find a flustered McGonagall lying on the ground, appearing as if she had dived to miss a curse that Harry had sent at Ginny.

"My office! NOW!"

"I can't believe this," McGonagall shouted at the two, now sitting uncomfortably in her office. It looked exactly the Professor Dumbledore had left it before he died, except the only difference being that none of his gadgets crowded his desk and Fawkes no longer resided there. "It's one thing for students to duel, but teachers? What do you think you were doing? What kind of an example do you think you were setting? It's obvious that I was wrong about both of you. Potter, I will be contacting the Ministry at once. Ms. Weasley, you will be on temporary probation. Another act like this and I will be forced to dismiss you."

Harry glanced over at Ginny who had was silently sobbing, tears trickling down her now place face. He felt as though he got kicked in the stomach (which he almost did with one of Ginny's well-aimed spells). Ginny should be thankful! At least she wasn't getting sacked. He might as well start packing…

"Potter, I want a word alone," McGonagall called to him sharply, while dismissing Ginny. When the latter exited the room, she continued, "I am not going to fire you from your position, but rather, the decision will be left with the Ministry as to whether you stay or not. I will send you a notice sometime tomorrow."

Harry took his cue to leave, and to his surprise, Ginny was waiting for him outside.

"Harry," she whispered.

"What?" he answered angrily, now feeling even more horrible.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah," he grunted in return. "I'm getting sacked and now you're sorry. You're getting your wish, Gin. I hope you enjoy your job now that I'm out of the way. Thanks." With this last note, Harry turned away down another corridor and made his way back to his office.

Ginny, however, stood stunned with tears flowing as fast as Niagara Falls and was filled with a pain in her heart that she couldn't really describe. Through the beginning of the year, all she could think about was how terrible Harry was and how she loathed seeing or talking to him. "Now, I am getting what I wished and I won't have to suffer anymore…but why do I feel so empty?" she thought miserably.

"Ginny? What are you doing out here? Where's Harry?" Hermione came up behind Ginny.

Ginny fell into Hermione's arms. "It is all my fault, 'Mione," she sobbed into Hermione's robes. "Harry is getting sacked. I was so angry. It is all my fault…"

"There, there, Gin," Hermione tried to calm down the weeping girl, but to no avail.

"We've got to do something, 'Mione," Ginny looked up into her friend's browns eyes. "We can't let Harry get sacked. This was my fault!"

Hermione stared amazed at the girl in front of her. Something definitely strange had happened to make Ginny suddenly so concerned about the person she had loathed for the last few months, but this didn't seem like the time to find out all the details. The rumble of students' feet in the corridors below them told Hermione that the game was over and soon some of the school would see their Transfiguration teacher in her worst state.

"Come on, Gin, let's take you back to your office and tell me everything that has been going on between you and Harry. If we are going to keep Harry from getting sacked, then I need to know," Hermione held her friend at an arms length away from her face.

Ginny swiped some of the tears off her face with her sleeve and consented to Hermione's plan. By the time the students arrived, there was no trace that Ginny, Hermione, or Harry had ever stepped foot there that day except a single tear that melted into the carpet. This one, however, wasn't Ginny's.