Just As We Lose
Chapter Two
Gold
Harry's eyes snapped open and he found himself staring directly into his pillow.
With a soft groan he turned on his side, and lay still. His head was spinning. He thought he might have been dreaming, but if he had he couldn't remember for certain.
After a few more idle minutes of staring into the dark, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and wrestled on his robes. He stood up and quietly padded to the door, trying not to wake any of his fellow dorm mates in the process. Closing the door behind him, he descended down the staircase and surveyed the empty common room. The fireplace was peacefully dark, with only the radiating glow of the moon and twinkling stars shining through the two grand windows that were as tall as the ceiling. There was not a soul about, and Harry slumped back into a comfortable blue arm chair. He closed his eyes.
Blue.
He remembered the Sorting, then. From his first year. The frightening murmur of voices. The shimmer of floating candles and smoke. Headmaster Snape fixing him with a glare as he approached the old three-legged stool. Professor Sinistra giving him a reassuring smile as he climbed up and sat nervously, fidgeting like a goldfish.
And then black. The world instantly hidden behind the large rim of the sorting hat. The strange voice in his head. A decision to be made…
"Harry?"
His eyes snapped open. He glanced towards the staircase and smiled.
Luna Lovegood smiled back at him.
"Couldn't sleep?"
Harry shook his head. "No, unfortunately."
She nodded slightly, not moving from her place on the stairs. "Did you have a bad dream?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't think so. I just woke up and didn't feel tired anymore. How about you?"
Luna eyed him briefly, before her gaze was drawn to the twinkling sky past the glass windows. "I couldn't sleep either."
A long silence fell between them and Harry turned to lean back in his chair. He was used to Luna. A lot of the other students in Ravenclaw were terribly mean to her. Hiding her things, calling her names – but he found her tolerable. Sure, she was weird. Everyone agreed on that. But at the same time, she wasn't arrogant or cruel, and because of that Harry accepted her. In fact, though he wasn't proud of it, Harry was probably the only person she ever talked anymore. Aside from the occasional quarrel she had with Draco of course, whenever his blood-thirsty owl tried to attack her black cat, Milo.
Harry broke the silence. "My brain insists on thinking a lot lately," he said. "I guess that's because it's my last year at Hogwarts. I keep remembering things from the past…little, mundane things. I think it's my brain's way of telling me how much I'm going to miss it here." He glanced back at Luna, only to find her staring solemnly at him.
"Are you all right?"
She nodded while she turned and slowly made her way back up the staircase, hand gripping the rail.
"I'll see you in the morning Harry," she whispered.
Harry watched her go with a confused expression on his face, before leaning back in his chair and shutting his eyes once more.
"Harry! Harry…"
His eyes opened groggily. He groaned and swatted forward. His hand hit its mark with a satisfying thump.
"Ouch! Harry, what the hell was that for?"
Harry gave a tired sigh and rubbed his eyes. He opened them again and found Draco glaring down at him.
"Sorry. It's just a reaction."
Draco rolled his eyes. Harry noticed that his friend was already changed into his quidditch uniform, his Nimbus 2001 in hand.
He sat up with a panic. "What time is it?"
"Half past eight. Thirty minutes until the match starts."
"Where's Neville?"
"Downstairs looking for you like a confused house elf."
Harry didn't reply as he dashed back up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He wrenched open the door and quickly changed into his proper robes before sprinting back down to the common room. Draco scowled at him, tapping his foot.
"Well?"
"Ready."
The two boys exited from the Ravenclaw portrait hole and found Neville waiting just as Draco had claimed, shuffling from foot to foot looking as if he were close to panicking. As he spotted them approaching however, his shoulders finally relaxed and he waved excitedly. He was dressed in muted Gryffindor colours, obviously not wanting to irk his friends but having pride in his house nevertheless.
The match was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw this time.
Draco, dressed in the solid blue, sneered at Neville's clothing before pushing past him to join the rest of the Ravenclaw team at the end of the corridor. Harry shook his head and greeted his friend with an amiable "good morning."
"Good morning to you too, Harry. Excited?"
Harry dramatically coughed and patted his chest. "Can't wait."
Satisfied, Neville ushered him along the crowd of Ravenclaw students moving steadily towards the Entrance hall and out onto the lawn.
"Harry! Neville!"
Seamus Finnegan, a tall boy from Gryffindor and a housemate of Neville's waved towards them. He was dressed from head to toe in red, Harry couldn't help but notice, and wondered if he should hex his skin blue, just for the heck of it.
"Morning Seamus," answered Neville happily. After the two boys exchanged a few words, Seamus turned to Harry and thumped him on the shoulder.
"Think up something incredibly humorous and witty for today's match?"
Harry just winked and walked on ahead. He could make out the colours of the quidditch pitch in the distance. Red and gold against his beloved blue and bronze.
Time to let the games begin.
"And Malfoy dodges that little surprise bludger from McClaggen. So unfortunate, really. Malfoy hasn't had his nose smashed in weeks. And here comes a second bludger but ooh! That doesn't reach its target. Poor Johnston. She doesn't look to happy. Look out Ravenclaw, Robins has the quaffle, she throws and…well. That was interesting. Funny, most almost everything that Gryffindor touches doesn't seem to be heading in the right direction this morning. Madame Hooch might want to look into this…"
There was a collective eruption of boos and chuckles from the Gryffindor corner of the crowd as the watched their newest chaser throw an awkward attempt at the hoop. The quaffle was easily caught by Draco Malfoy, who darted quickly towards the other end of the pitch.
"Malfoy has it again. He sprinting towards Gryffindor's keeper, wait, I think I know this play. I saw them practicing it last Tuesday. Is it…? Yes, it is. Here comes the bludger, whoa! Watch it Robins. It's heading towards the keeper, Malfoy's under control, will this work now – please Merlin – Oh BLAST! WEASLEY SAVES!"
Harry grinned and adjusted the heavy megaphone in his hand, keeping an eye on the pitch. Professor Sinistra, the head of Ravenclaw house, sat behind him, a smile tugging at her lips despite the fact that Gryffindor had just scored.
The Gryffindors supporters were cheering madly while Weasley did a series of somersaults in the air.
"Come on, Gryffindor! Stop having fun and get on with the game. Just you wait - I'm sure Ravenclaw has a plan B. Ha! That's not a very nice gesture Malfoy – you know I'm just telling it like it is. Whoa! Stray bludger almost got Sloper in the head! Nice shot Mackin!"
Harry felt a sharp tap on his shoulder and he suppressed a laugh.
"Sorry, professor. Remember folks, winner of this game gets to play the undefeated Slytherin team in two weeks."
At the mention of their team, the Slytherins in the crowd erupted into a monstrous roar and Harry winced. He turned his attention back on the game and spotted Weasley flipping the quaffle to Demelza Robins.
"And it looks like they've finally got something going again…Weasley hands off the quaffle to Robins and ouch! Nice bludger there from Ravenclaw beater Mackin. Now Malfoy's got the quaffle back. He tosses to Quilby, Quilby to Spencer, and he sets up, fakes, no, doesn't fake, Malfoy has it, Malfoy shoots, RAVENCLAW SCORES!"
The shouts this time erupted on the opposite end of the pitch, an array for bronze banners flapping up and glinting in the sunlight.
"Good play! But watch it Ravenclaw. Robins has the quaffle, she's slowly heading towards the Ravenclaw end. With a broom that old I'm surprised that she can remain airborne… sorry Professor, I was just joking, really. There's nothing wrong with your broom, Robins. Ahem. She's heading towards the end of the pitch, and yes! She drops the quaffle. Quilby has it, he tosses it to Malfoy who fakes a pass and- DRACO LOOK OUT!"
From his place in the stands Harry spotted it before anyone. McClaggen had swung his bat furiously at a bludger, connected, and sent it flying towards Malfoy who didn't have the chance to look up in time. There was a terrible crunch and the sight of Draco swinging unsteadily over the side of his broom, quaffle falling from his grip.
Harry paled. He heard the sound of a chair sliding back as Professor Sinistra stood up behind him and hurried down the stands to help. Madame Hooch blew her whistle. Draco fell through the air, utterly unconscious. The sense of fear tightened in Harry's chest until Draco's body slowed beautifully, miraculously, before it hit the ground.
Reality hit Harry like a herd of centaurs. He spotted the dark, looming figure of the Headmaster standing still, calmly at the head of the teacher's box, wand raised with the tip still glowing from the cushioning spell. Harry let out a thankful sigh and shook his head to clear it. He leaned forward towards the magical megaphone, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
"Well, looks like the first injury of the day. And its Malfoy hurt, again. At least it's not in the nose this time. Well, Ravenclaw is short a player it seems. And here comes the penalty shot."
The crowd held its breath as Quilby caught the quaffle and carried it to the Gryffindor end. He faked a pitch to the left, then threw far right. Unfortunately, Weasley seemed to be expecting it and caught the quaffle easily.
"WEASLEY SAVES! So close, Quilby. I was sure we had that one."
Harry's gaze flickered back to where Draco was floating unconsciously. Professor Snape and Professor Sprout were now on the field, levitating the Ravenclaw slowly onto a conjured white stretcher.
"Ravenclaw's chaser is now being carried off. Looks sound asleep – but boy, I'm glad I'm not him. Weasley tosses the quaffle to Robins, she tosses to Sloper, here comes Gryffindor…"
Harry squinted down at the field and spotted two players racing across the pitch. His eyes darted ahead to the tiny fleck of gold and his heartbeat tripled.
"Now keep your socks on, everyone. Looks like Bradley and Ginny Weasley have spotted the snitch. Here they go – they've got the same broom, let's see who's the better flyer! Weasley's reaching forward and so is Bradley, she's pushing his arm out of the way, elbow her in the face Bradley! They're both gaining, Weasley edges forward and NO! WEASLEY HAS THE SNITCH!"
All of a sudden, there was a sharp whistle and the Gryffindor stands erupted into a collective cheer. Harry gave a mental sigh.
"It's game over! Gryffindor 170, Ravenclaw 30. That means it will be Gryffindor who plays the undefeated Slytherin in two weeks time. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff two weeks after."
Harry tried to ignore the knot in his stomach. No one liked to watch their house lose, he thought. He sighed as he put down the megaphone.
Sometimes though, he wished he was out there. Good enough to play, himself, instead of just watching and commenting. If he was team captain, Ravenclaw would be the unbeatable house, not Slytherin.
He smiled at the thought and massaged his forehead.
See? He told himself. A LOT of thinking lately.
What concerned him most was that he had no idea where the thoughts were coming from.
"Good job, Mr. Potter."
Harry turned around and grinned back at Professor Sinistra who had returned.
"Thank you, professor."
"It was amazing how you spotted that last play," she continued, leaning over the rail to observe the students below. "I thought the seekers were just trying to out fool each other again."
Harry nodded slightly and leaned of the rail himself to spot Neville beckoning at him among banners of scarlet and gold.
Good? Bad? Atrocious? Please review. (winks)