The Difference One Choice Makes
28th September 1995
Grasping Harry's hand tightly, Katie had been surprised to find out that the first visit to Hogsmeade was taking place this weekend, with the first visit usually taking place around Halloween time thanks to the idea of extra Hogsmeade visits being put into place for the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year and had been kept in place this year to the joy of many.
She let Harry pull her close to him, finding the fabric of his slightly thick hoodie rather comfortable as they walked along the path down to the village as part of the mass of students visiting the village.
True to her slightly tomboyish nature, Katie had opted for a hoodie and jeans like Harry, blushing slightly with a soft smile on her face when he told her that she looked great when they left the Common Room together to go down to breakfast before the Hogsmeade visit.
As the two walked down the path, the snide but familiar voice calling out to them from the wall brought them to a halt momentarily.
"Sinking low aren't you Potter… going out a freak like Bell" sneered Pansy Parkinson who was standing near the cobblestone wall with a few Slytherin girls who Harry and Katie did not recognise.
Feeling anger boiling inside of him at his girlfriend being insulted to both of their faces, Harry was surprised when Katie placed her hand on his chest.
"Let me" whispered Katie.
She turned to face Pansy with a wicked smirk on her face.
"Try not to sound too jealous Parkinson… I doubt Malfoy would be too happy if he saw you flirting with Harry, it might make him just as jealous as you" said Katie mockingly.
Pansy's jaw dropped in shock as Harry and Katie chuckled.
"Or perhaps he might not care… given that he was following Daphne Greengrass around like a lost puppy yesterday" said Katie amusedly.
Had Pansy been smarter in this situation, she might not have fallen for Katie's lie and thus reacted differently.
"If that harlot thinks she can steal my Lucan for herself then she's going to pay big time… come on girls" said Pansy, shock and anger rolling off of her in waves.
As she and her little gang of Slytherin girls started walking down the path towards Hogsmeade, with pace and determination in their steps Harry and Katie burst out laughing.
"What an idiot" said Harry amusedly.
Katie pulled him over to the wall.
"If you want to deal with a girl like Parkinson, you make up a believable lie about either their boyfriend or someone they're obsessed with… trust me, they'll believe anything you say… no matter how outrageous it sounds" said Katie amusedly.
Harry smirked and gave her a kiss which was eagerly returned.
"You're amazing you know that?" said Harry, letting her loop her arm around his waist once again as they stepped away from the wall.
"Am I now?" said Katie teasingly.
"On occasion yes" said Harry jokingly.
Katie chuckled and rested her head on his shoulder as they carried on walking down the path to Hogsmeade.
Ten minutes later…
"Where do you want to go first?" said Harry softly as he led Katie into the village square where the students were going off in different directions, some heading towards the various shops while others went off in the direction of the Three Broomsticks or towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest where the Shrieking Shack was located.
Katie glanced up at him for a moment before squeezing her arm around his waist holding him tighter against her.
"Mmm… you pick?" said Katie softly.
Harry pressed a kiss to her forehead as a few students in Hogsmeade gazed at them making hushed comments about their closeness.
"What about Quality Quidditch Supplies… I could do with some new Quidditch gloves, mine got a bit battered after last night's practice" said Harry softly.
"Let's go then" said Katie.
When the two walked past Scrivenshaft's, they saw Professor's Severus and Lily Snape walking through the village towards the archway entrance leading back up to the castle with a floating stretcher containing the bruised and twitching form of Pansy Parkinson as she was taken back up to the castle, followed by her little gang, all of whom were looking concerned as well as occasionally glancing behind them with fearful looks on their faces.
Stood outside Zonko's Joke Shop with a bitter look on her usually icy face was the blonde-haired Slytherin Prefect Daphne Greengrass along with her brown-haired, third-year sister Astoria and her best friends Tracey Davis and Jeanette Farley, watching the disappearing Pansy with angry looks on their faces.
Harry and Katie glanced at each other before laughing as it became obvious that Pansy, believing Katie's lie, went looking for Daphne Greengrass out of jealousy and confronted her, only to be thoroughly beaten in what must have been a brief duel by the elder Greengrass girl.
"What is it with Malfoy and his little gang lacking the brain cells to discern between a lie and the truth?" said Harry amusedly, ignoring the glare sent his and Katie's way by Daphne Greengrass who probably deduced that Pansy came after her because of Harry and Katie.
Katie laughed.
"Some questions might never have an answer" said Katie amusedly as they approached Quality Quidditch Supplies.
One hour later…
"And you don't mind meeting up with Neville and Hermione in the Three Broomsticks… instead of spending some more time to ourselves?" said Harry as he and Katie walked out of the busy as ever Honeydukes Sweet Shop holding onto a bag of sweets each.
"He's your best mate Harry, let's have a few drinks with them… we can find some more time for ourselves later" said Katie giving his free hand a squeeze.
"Buy you a butterbeer?" said Harry softly.
Katie leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"You can buy me one or two yeah" said Katie.
As they walked up the street towards the Three Broomsticks, hoping that they would be able to get a table, Harry glanced down at Katie with a teasing smile on his face.
"Or do you want to get a booth?" said Harry teasingly.
Katie looked up at him and pecked him on the lips.
"Maybe some other time Harrison Potter… or perhaps we could snag ourselves a broom cupboard later on" said Katie with an even greater teasing tone to her words, using his full first name to effect.
Harry turned a bit red as he pictured himself and Katie snogging in a broom cupboard where they would not be disturbed.
Noticing this, Katie smirked and patted his arm before taking hold of it.
"Come on… there'll be time for that later" said Katie amusedly before she started to pull Harry towards the Three Broomsticks.
Once through the door of the popular pub which was a hangout for students, teachers and village residents they saw that the pub was indeed busy though most of today's clientele were students.
It was so busy in fact, that it took nearly a minute to spot Neville and Hermione sitting at a table near the corner of the pub, holding conversations and sharing mugs of butterbeer with three other people at their table.
Janet Spinnet, Jennifer Black and Talbot Desford.
As Harry and Katie made their way over to the table, the four occupants looked up at them.
"Someone looks like he's having fun" said Jennifer teasingly as she sipped her butterbeer.
The teasing look she was sending at Harry caused him to scowl slightly as he and Katie sat down.
"Have you guys seen Ron by the way… I thought he was with Seamus, Dean and Josh but we saw them half an hour ago and he wasn't with them" said Hermione curiously.
Katie glanced at Jennifer for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
"Angelina and Alicia have given up their Hogsmeade visit today… so they can give him some extra practice" said Katie flatly.
Noticing the Gryffindor Chaser's wary eyes on her, Jennifer held her hands up in front of her in a slightly defensive manner as Harry ordered a butterbeer each for himself and Katie.
"I'm not going to go bragging to my teammates about him having extra practice… but I can't promise not to score double figures past him when we play Gryffindor" said Jennifer with a hint of amusement in her voice at her last words.
"Is he getting better at least?" said Janet.
Harry let out a small sigh with Katie letting out an even bigger sigh.
"A bit… if he could get over his nerves then it would make him a much better Keeper" said Katie warily.
The Gryffindor's around the table sighed.
"Angelina's doing everything she can to help him become a better Keeper… I've never had so many practice sessions this soon into term" said Harry flatly.
"Sounds like you'll need them" said Talbot sarcastically.
Katie sighed, knowing that the Ravenclaw boy was right but she did not want to say anything too harsh against Ron, knowing she was in the company of a few of his friends.
As if he could read her like a book, Harry could see exactly how she was feeling about Ron by simply looking at her.
"If Angelina and Alicia keep giving him more private practice sessions like the one today, I expect he'll make a great Keeper" said Harry, with Katie managing a supportive smile.
"Here's hoping… I'd dread to see him play the first match against Slytherin with his nerves as shot as they can be" said Janet warily, with Neville and Hermione nodding in agreement.
"How come you and Harry aren't helping Ron today Katie?" said Hermione curiously.
"Angelina told us to sit this one out, she said the same to the twins as well… said she'd see us at the next practice session tomorrow" said Katie as the famously dark-blonde haired, curvy barmaid Madam Rosmerta returned to their table with two mugs of frothy butterbeer for Harry and Katie.
"More like she told us to go and spend the day together in Hogsmeade since it took us took far too long to get together in the first place" thought Harry as he gave Madam Rosmerta a few sickles for the drinks before taking a sip of his butterbeer.
9th November 1995
Harry took a bite of toast coated with some marmalade, glancing opposite him at Ron who looked moody while remaining silent.
While the youngest Weasley boy would usually eat his breakfast without hesitation, today his plate had remained empty while everyone else ate their own breakfast.
The reason behind this was that today was the first Quidditch match of the season, with the current Hogwarts Quidditch Champions Gryffindor facing off against their Slytherin rivals.
As for Ron, he had been making slow progress in their practice sessions, only playing well when he held his nerves though conceding goals almost always resulted in him losing his confidence and resulting in more mistakes.
Some of the Slytherins like Lucan Malfoy used Ron's poor confidence to their own advantage, miming him dropping the Quaffle whenever they passed the Gryffindor Keeper in the corridors which embarrassed and angered Ron to no end.
Harry and Katie who were sat next to each other along with the rest of their teammates at the Gryffindor table, were glancing at Ron hoping that he would be able to hold his nerves in the fast-approaching match and finally show how good of a Keeper he had the potential to be.
She and Harry were dressed in deep red jumpers with horizontal gold stripes across the chest, back and sleeves, sporting the Gryffindor crest as were the rest of their teammates.
Up and down the Gryffindor table were students clad in Gryffindor scarves, hats and other clothing, some of whom were holding onto banners and flags while a few students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had also donned Gryffindor colours for the match.
The one that stood out the most was perhaps Luna Lovegood who was sitting next to Ginny with a hat shaped like the top half of a life-size lions head which would roar on command, making a few surrounding people jump slightly as it did.
"You should eat something Ron… you'll need your strength today" said Katie in a serious tone of voice, trying to convince her boyfriend's friend and their teammate to eat something.
"Not hungry" mumbled Ron.
"She's right Ron… you need your strength today" said Angelina in a soft but stern voice.
Even his Captain and then his older twin brothers telling him to eat some breakfast in preparation for the match did little to convince him to have even a piece of toast or some eggs.
Several minutes passed before Angelina stood up and told her teammates that they should make their way down to the Quidditch stadium so they could get changed into their uniforms ready for the match.
Ron, now feeling even more nervous, was walking behind the rest of his teammates trying to steady his nerves in preparation for the upcoming match.
As they left the hall, Harry caught sight of fist-sized crown-shaped badges attached to the Slytherin's chests and tried to get Ron out of the Great Hall quickly so he the message engraved on them which read.
Weasley is our King
Thankfully, Ron did not see the badges or take notice of the laughter and mocking comments hurled his way by several of the Slytherins most notably Lucan Malfoy and Felix Lestrange as they left the Great Hall.
Half an hour later…
Pulling his brand new leather fingerless Quidditch gloves tight against his hands, Harry emerged from the changing rooms into the Gryffindor tent behind the stadium wall where the rest of his teammates were waiting for them.
Taking his seat between Ron and Katie, the latter gave his hand a squeeze for good luck which he returned. They watched Angelina, who was sitting at her desk looking over a few pieces of parchment at the opposite end of the tent next to a large chalkboard covered in diagrams of formations and different tactics.
After nearly a minute of silence, Angelina finally stood up, holding one of the pieces of parchment in her left hand while her broom was in her right hand.
"Alright… I've got the final Slytherin team sheet here, Pucey and Avery both left the year before last, but it looks like Montague's replaced them with the usual gorillas, names are Crabbe and Goyle, I don't know too much about them though" said Angelina looking down at the team sheet.
"We do" said Ron, glancing at Harry for a moment who nodded.
Angelina turned to him for a moment before putting the parchment back on the desk as the thundering sounds of dozens of footsteps could be heard above their heads.
"Well, they don't look like they have the faintest clue which end of the broomstick is which… then again I was always surprised that Avery and Pucey managed to find their way down to the pitch without signposts or a map" said Angelina.
"Crabbe and Goyle are in the same mould" said Harry.
"Bletchley and Flint are also gone as well… Robert Runcorn is the new keeper and some fifth-year named Nott is their new Chaser… and Potter" said Angelina, looking at Harry as she addressed him.
Harry looked up at her.
"Keep an eye on Black… I've seen him fly when the Slytherin's were training and he's a much better flier than Malfoy" said Angelina.
Of course, Harry knew that his younger cousin Eric was a good flier and with practice and experience, could one day rival Harry for skill as a Seeker.
"I will" said Harry, nodding his head to her.
Few more words were exchanged as the seven players just sat there in their tent, waiting quietly and anxiously until it was time for them to enter the field of play.
The time for them to emerge onto the pitch came minutes later as the sounds of passing footsteps died down to a halt as the rest of the spectators took their seats for the match.
Angelina checked her pocket watch before turning back to them.
"It's time… let's go" said Angelina.
Harry stood up and took his Firebolt in one hand, following Katie out of the tent towards the player's entrance.
When they walked out onto the pitch a few minutes later, they saw that the Slytherin players were already waiting for them, with all of them with the exception of Eric Black wearing the same crown-shaped badges that Harry had seen on a large number of Slytherin's in the great hall.
Turning his gaze on Ron, the weedy fifth-year Chaser Theodore Nott smirked at him and tapped the crown-shaped badge on his chest, making Ron's ears turn red with anger and embarrassment.
Harry glanced at him, silently hoping that Ron would not let the badges get to him as Angelina was having her fingers crushed by Montague when reluctantly shaking hands with him.
Soon enough, Harry felt that familiar rush of excitement and the wind blowing hard against his whole body as he took flight.
"Boy, I have missed this" thought Harry as he followed his team in doing their customary lap around the pitch.
Nearly ten minutes later…
The game had only been played for about five minutes before a song began to reverberate from a large number of Slytherin's in the crowd, with the sole purpose of putting Ron off in his first game as Keeper.
"Weasley cannot save a thing, he cannot block a single ring, that's why Slytherin's all sing, Weasley is our King… Weasley was born in a bin, he always lets the Quaffle in, Weasley will make sure we win, Weasley is our King!" coming from the sea of green and silver behind the Slytherin goal hoops.
"Alicia Spinnet passes back to Angelina Johnson… come on now Angelina, she's dodged a Bludger from Crabbe, or is it Goyle… I can't tell the two apart, they both look like the usual gorillas we see Slytherin using as Beaters!" shouted Lee Jordan, trying to drown out the words of the song.
"Jordan, get on with the commentary!" shouted Professor Mcgonagall, who herself was not pleased to hear the song.
"It looks like she's just got Runcorn to beat… she shoots… damn… Runcorn saves it and throws it to Warrington!" shouted Lee, still trying to drown out the Slytherin's singing.
The singing, which increased dramatically in volume as Warrington weaved between Katie and Alicia dodging a Bludger from George as he got closer to the Gryffindor hoops where Ron was watching him carefully.
"Weasley is our King, Weasley is our King, he always lets the Quaffle in, Weasley is our King!" bellowed the Slytherins.
"Warrington's out of Bludger range with just the Keeper to beat!" shouted Lee.
"Weasley cannot save a thing, he cannot block a single ring!" sang the Slytherins even louder than before.
As Warrington lined up the shot, Harry could not help himself and halted his search for the Snitch to turn to face Ron with Katie and Angelina streaking towards Ron as well, hoping to catch a saved shot if he could make it.
"It's the first test for the new Keeper Weasley, brother of Beaters Fred and George and a promising new talent on the best team at Hogwarts… come on Ron!" shouted Lee.
Harry beat his hand on the handle of his Firebolt as the Quaffle soared past Ron's wildly outstretched arms through the middle hoop to groans from the Gryffindor's and wild screams of delight from the Slytherin's, whose singing increased in volume yet again.
"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN, HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN, WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN, WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"
Harry could only hope that his brother Edward and older cousin Cassiopeia had not joined most of their housemates in the singing, which was obviously the brainchild of Lucan Malfoy and possibly Pansy Parkinson, both of whom were stood up at the front of the stands with their backs to the game conducting the roaring Slytherin's with looks of glee on their faces.
Harry forced himself to turn away and resume his search for the Snitch as Katie and Alicia went soaring towards the Slytherin hoops exchanging the Quaffle with each other as they did so.
The game went on for several minutes with the Slytherin's adding even more lyrics to the song, while Fred and George decided to stop protecting their Chasers and just pelted Bludger's at the Slytherin Chasers in an effort to try and stop them from scoring goals.
When the scoreline ticked over to seventy to thirty in favour of Slytherin, Harry, who was high in the air above the height of the towers spotted the Snitch shooting away from the stands with Eric making a beeline for it, though he had a lot of ground to cover himself.
Quickly turning his broom in a forty-fife degree downward angle, Harry shot off after the snitch, descending rapidly like a bullet.
Maybe it was the inexperience of playing a school Quidditch match or maybe it was just unlucky that Eric did not notice Harry shooting towards the Snitch from right above his head.
"Black and Potter are getting closer to the Snitch… who will catch it and seal the win for their team?!" shouted Lee.
As Eric got closer to the Snitch he was caught unaware as Harry descended from above him, snatching at the Snitch before flying away from him with his hand holding the Snitch raised above his head.
"AND POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH… GRYFFINDOR WIN ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TO SEVENTY!" shouted Lee as the Slytherin's who were singing "Weasley is our King" silenced immediately.
WHAM!
Harry felt the familiar pain of being hit in the small of his back with a Bludger as he flew forwards off of his broom, crashing to the ground which thankfully was only a few feet below him as he had descended so low when catching the Snitch.
Madam Hooch's shrill whistle, angry yells, laughter and jeering erupted from around the stadium before Katie's frantic voice yelled out to him.
"Are you all right?!"
"I'm fine" said Harry, taking the hand she offered to him and getting to his feet.
Pulling him into a hug and kiss to celebrate their victory, the two did not hear their teammates landing near them.
Both of them, however, caught sight of Ron landing near the Gryffindor hoops and walking out of the stadium looking extremely dejected.
"It was that thug Crabbe… he hit the Bludger at you after you'd caught the Snitch" said Alicia.
Harry and the others looked up to where Madam Hooch was berating a slightly confused Crabbe who was scratching his pudding-haircut head in possible confusion.
Knowing Vincent Crabbe Jr as Harry did know him, the large fifth-year boy was more than likely confused about what he had done.
"Good thing you caught the Snitch before the scoreline got too high… I thought you were going to miss it for a few moments though" said Angelina.
Harry pulled Katie into his side as they watched Ron walk out of the stadium, completely ignoring them.
"You better go and talk to him" said Alicia, turning to face Fred and George who were looking where Ron had been moments ago with weary looks on their faces.
With that, the Twins left them to go and find Ron.
Later that afternoon…
Having been pelted by the rain from the moment they left the changing rooms where Ron had been surprisingly absent with Fred and George saying they could not find him, the rest of the Gryffindor team had quickly made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower to get warm.
With their teammates having gone their separate ways, Harry and Katie were sitting on the settee with Neville, Hermione, Euphemia and Janet when Ron finally appeared at the entrance to the Common Room.
To their shock, he was still dressed in his now soaked Quidditch uniform, with the same dejected look on his face that they had seen earlier and his Cleansweep Eleven being dragged on the floor behind him.
Making his way over to them, Janet and Hermione got up to guide him over to sit in front of the fire so he could get warm, handing his broomstick to Harry.
"I was bloody mental to do this… I'll tell Angelina to get a new Keeper tomorrow" said Ron dejectedly with his back to them as he just stared into the flames.
"You can't just quit Ron" said Janet in slight shock.
"It's only been one game mate" said Harry.
"Everyone has bad games Ron, just get over it" said Katie.
Ron's shoulders slumped.
"I'm a hopeless Keeper guys, you'd have been better off with Frobisher or Hooper, they might have saved some of those goals today" said Ron moodily.
Katie frowned and moved towards him, grasping his shoulders slightly forcing him to look at her.
"And what… play with a whiner who can't follow his Captains instructions without moaning about something… or a player who can't even properly commit herself to the team in the first place" said Katie frostily.
Ron slumped forwards again.
"You might need improvement as Keeper, a lot of it if truth be told… but at least you committed yourself to this team… and the more practice you have the better you'll get, Angelina and Alicia and even your brothers will tell you the same Ron" said Katie.
Ron shook her off and stood up.
"I'm going upstairs" said Ron moodily.
Katie sat back down next to Harry, turning to face him with a sigh on her face.
"I know he's your friend… but he really does need to improve… a lot" said Katie wearily.
As she leant back into his chest, Harry placed his hand around her shoulder giving it a squeeze.
"I know" said Harry wearily as she started to rest her head against his shoulder.