Fire of the Phoenix

Chapters 17 Quidditch

Time was passing by quickly for the Hogwarts' students. All the Professors had been going at a furious pace in the classroom and assigning ever-larger amounts of homework. This year Harry and his classmates seemed to have two hours of reading and essay writing for each hour of actual class. If Hermione hadn't drawn up schedules for her friends they would have been totally overwhelmed with studying and not gotten any quidditch practice in either. As the temperature outside cooled, the leaves on the trees around the campus turned brilliant shades of orange and red. It was time for the first match of the season and all of the Gryffindors were hoping to claim the Quidditch Cup again this year. Their first opponent was Ravenclaw and as usual all the school's students were supporting their own house or at least had picked sides for the upcoming match. Throughout the school, Ravenclaw blue or Gryffindor red badges were displayed by most all students and even some Professors.

The Slytherns were all wearing Ravenclaw badges, but the Hufflepuffs remained a little bit more neutral. They were showing support for both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

Harry had been feeling nervous about the upcoming match, as it was his first game against Cho since they had broken up the year before. Even though he no longer cared about her, he still didn't feel right about knocking her off her broom and hoped it wouldn't come to that.

The day of the game, Harry woke up early with the usual pre quidditch jitters. He had faced many dangers and trials over the years yet a simple game still made him queasy. At breakfast, that morning, he barely ate anything. His stomach felt like it was flipping one way and flopping the other. Across the table Harry could see Ron looking a little green. Both boys played with their toast instead of eating it.

Harry saw Hermione whisper something in Ron's ear and Ron kept nodding nervously.

Harry glanced over at Ginny, she was talking animatedly to Collin about the up coming game. Instead of looking nervous she looked like she could face anything head on. She had the aura of courage about her. Ginny glanced over at Harry and gave him a warm smile. With just that one smile, Harry felt his stomach calm down instantly, at least as far as the quidditch match was concerned.

His toast tasted much better and breakfast was finished quickly. Before he went to Potions, Harry walked over to Ginny and planted a kiss on the top of her head. She reached up, gave his hand a squeeze and said; "I'll see ya later."

Harry walked with Ron and Hermione down to the cold and damp dungeons for a much-dreaded lesson with Snape. It seemed as soon as he entered the room Gryffindor started losing the house points.

That day Snape seemed to be in a worse mood, and even more vindictive than usual if that was even possible. Harry took his seat next to Malfoy and got his cauldron out, ready to brew that day's potion.

"Today we are going to start on brewing elixirs. This potion will give you an extra boost of energy for about two hours. Its effects closely resemble the same effects as the muggle drink coffee. However, it won't leave you all jittery and all you need is one small vial, compared to having to drink a whole pot of coffee. It even tastes better." Snape glared at the class as he continued to lecture. "After following all the directions on the board, your completed potion should be a charcoal gray color. If it is not, you will receive a zero for the day."

Harry felt Snape's eyes on him as he said the last part. He willed himself to remain calm. Malfoy and he worked surprisingly well together, now that they weren't taunting each other all the time.

There were no explosions or melted cauldrons (well, except for Neville) and at the end of the class Harry took his charcoal gray vial up to Snape's desk to be graded. Snape just looked at it, trying to find something wrong with it. When he could not find any mistakes, he scowled at Harry and told him to get out. Harry did not need to be told twice.

Harry just laughed to himself and left. Ron and Hermione quickly caught up with him. They headed down the corridor together to their next class, Care of Magical Creatures.

Before they reached the door to the outside, Malfoy joined them.

"What do you want," Ron sputtered out indignantly.

"I just want to wish you luck on your quidditch match tonight," Draco replied evenly.

"Don't worry, we won't need any luck, especially from you." Ron countered angrily. "Just because Harry trusts you now, it doesn't mean that I do. You're still a bloody Slytheryn."

"Ron, calm down," Harry began, but Hermione cut him off. "Harry, let him be, he feels a lot of anger towards Malfoy. I don't feel too loving towards Malfoy either. If Malfoy wants our acceptance, he has a lot to make up for, the truth for starters. Also Harry, how are Ron and I supposed to accept everything you say? You leave us in the dark too much of the time. You no longer share anything with us. What happened I thought we were all best friends?"

Harry looked back between Ron and Hermione, he felt guilty for not telling them everything as he used to. He hated to betray the new trust between him and Malfoy though. Harry looked over at Draco, and he saw Draco nod his head, saying that it was all right. Harry smiled slightly back at him. His heart was feeling a little lighter. He looked back to Ron, and Hermione's indignant expressions, he knew he needed to tell them.

"I'm sorry, you're right. We've been mates to long for me to keep things from you guys. After the game we will talk and I'll tell you everything." Harry told them quietly.

Ron and Hermione looked at him and nodded their heads in an agreement.

At first, Care of Magical Creatures class seemed to crawl by. Harry was thinking about having lunch with Ginny and could hardly wait until it was over with. Then Harry watched in amazement as Hagrid brought out a great grandson of Arragog. Hagrid explained that the Acromantula was "Just a wee little un."

"He's a meter across, without the legs!" A voice called out from the back of the class. Several classmates developed flu like symptoms and hurried off to see Madam Pomfrey.

Harry laughed to himself as he saw Ron's face turn white as a sheet. Obviously, this was the first sign of the flu and Ron was out of the gate and off back to the castle. For the few remaining students, this was going to be an interesting class after all. It was all over too soon and Harry ran to the great hall to meet up with Ginny.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. After lunch Harry went to Charms and learned the Temporary Self-healing Charm. Well, that might be useful when playing quidditch, he silently thought to himself. He couldn't wait for the class to be over with though. Harry wanted to be in the air playing quidditch!

He felt Hermione nudge him, he looked at her and she mouthed to him, "Pay attention." He glared at her, but he put his attention to his lessons. Before he knew it class was over.

After classes, the team made its way down to the pitch and entered the locker room. Harry started giving the Gryffindor Team a little pep talk. "Alright, I know we have almost a completely different team than last year, but we are still going to win. We've been practicing hard and it's time to let Ravenclaw know that the Gryffindor team is still the best." Harry turned to Ron and said to him, "Anything you would like to add?"

Ron turned red, but he managed to blurt out, "The only thing I expect is for you guys to play your best and win the match."

While Harry's stomach had returned to normal he noticed most of the team was still looking nervous so he called out just before they mounted their brooms, "Relax, just play like we do at practice and we won't have any problems."

Harry felt the exhilarating rush as he flew up into the afternoon sky. Ron shook hands with Rodger Davis, Ravenclaw's Captain. Madame Hooch released the quaffle, bludgers and snitch. "I want a good, clean game."

Ginny grabbed the quaffle first and was seamlessly weaving in and out between the opposition. She passed the quaffle to Dennis who threw it through the Ravenclaws left hoop and got the first score.

Harry heard the roar of the Gryffindor crowd as they received the first points of the game.

He looked over to the center stand and saw Neville Longbottom commentating. Neville was a little nervous, but he was doing a great job in filling in for Lee Jordan.

He scanned the field for the familiar flash of gold. Harry didn't see it anywhere so he just continued to fly around and dodge bludgers. He watched as Ginny put in another goal almost effortlessly. She was really talented. He felt a surge of pride run through him as he watched her. As he turned on his broom a small dark shadow caught his eye. Harry watched in horror as he saw a bludger head towards her. He just turned to intercept it when Seamus came out of nowhere and darted in ahead of Ginny. Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Seamus belted the bludger back toward the Ravenclaw beater.

He suddenly saw glimmer of gold shine near the ground. He turned his broom and spiraled down into an intense dive. Harry saw Cho Chang come around to the other side of the pitch. She had clearly seen the golden snitch also. He heard Neville shouting in the background, "Ravenclaw scores 10 points. The score is now Gryffindore 20 Ravenclaw 10."

He felt a disappointment, but refocused his attentions to chasing the snitch. He saw Cho speed up with her hand stretched out. Harry urged his Firebolt to go faster. He felt like he was playing the muggle game of chicken. He flew so close he could see the fear and determination in Cho's eyes.

Harry felt his hand clasped around the gold snitch. He pulled his broom up just before he collided with Cho. As he landed on the ground, Harry felt a burning sensation come from his scar. He heard a high cold evil laughter echo in his ears. Something happened that Voldemort was happy about.

Harry held the golden snitch above his head as Ginny landed and threw her arms around his neck. Her exuberant eyes met his troubled ones and she gave him a questioning look. Harry glanced away and told her it was nothing. The rest of the team landed and Harry felt himself being lifted in the air by the over joyous Gryffindors. They returned to the Common Room to celebrate the win and Harry enjoyed the party that followed. When the party wound down, he walked over to Ron and Hermione and simply said, "Are you guys ready to talk?"

And here's to the reviewers

Marauders4eva; I'm glad you like the story, keep reviewing please.

Lourdes; in the next chapter Ron and Hermione will learn everything, please keep reading.

David M Potter; Thank you for the review

Rocky235; Special thanks to you for helping me out with corrections.

Phil; don't worry I haven't forgotten, It will be in the next few chapters

Shdurrani; thank you for all the reviews you give me, I'm glad you like the chapter.

Lord Master Omega; thank you, thank you, thank you

Aalikane; Thank you for reading my story, and I'll keep reading yours.

Cookies With Khleo; I did, I did, I did

Kyntor; Thanks for constructive critisim, but I had McGonagall teach the students to be animageous because I didn't think the ministry wanted any more surprises.

Snowman1400: Thank you, thank you, thank you, and keep the reviews coming!

And remember everyone else please reviews!