Chapter 15
Gryffindor vs. …Hufflepuff.
Another reason to hate Draco over the Hippogriff thing…he had to get his father to get the Slytherin Quidditch team to reschedule their match against Gryffindor. Now, Harry and Ivy were going to play Ramona and some new Seeker…Cedric Diggory. Not me! And I really wanted to kick Drosie's ass into the next ice age.
I brought the name up the morning of the match, and several of my friends giggled.
"What's so funny about his name?" I asked, biting into a piece of toast.
"Oh, Cedric Diggory is only the cutest Hufflepuff ever!" Sheila said, glancing at the Hufflepuff table. "There he is!" she added pointing toward some dark haired boy "Oh, he's looking this way!"
I looked over to the Hufflepuff table, and sure enough the dark haired boy looked my way and winked before returning to his breakfast.
"Oh, he winked at you, Han!" Sheila said, taking a swig of my orange juice, causing me to wrench it from her. "Get your own Skinning orange juice!" I said angrily, taking a sip.
"I just did!" Sheila protested, reaching around to get it back "Give it here."
I looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw that the Gryffindor team was heading to the pitch. I got up and followed after them, chasing down my brother and Ivy.
"Guys!" I shouted catching up as Ivy, Harry, Fred and George turned around.
"Han!" the four Gryffindors said together, stopping to let me keep up.
"How's our favourite Slytherin friend?" Fred asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder in a brotherly way.
"Aren't I your only Slytherin friend?" I asked, smirking up at Fred.
"Not to mention sharp as a whip." George stated, wrapping his arm around me as well as we headed towards the pitch.
"Hey!" Ivy shouted, glaring at the twins "Last time I checked…I was the smart one!"
"No, V." Harry said as Ivy entered the change room of the pitch "That's Mione!"
"Screw off, Harry!" Ivy shouted from inside the change room. "Ok, I'm decent. You boys can come in now!"
Fred and George steered me into the change room and plopped me on a bench, waiting for Oliver Wood to make his pre game "pep talk".
All I heard was blah, blah Final year blah, blah Want my name on the Cup blah, blah, blah. I tuned him out and filed my nails with my portable nail file.
Wood kicked me out of the dressing room fifteen minutes before the match started so I could find my seat. On my way out, I ran into two people. Cedric Diggory and some Ravenclaw boy.
I slammed into Cedric on my way up the stairs to the bleachers. I knocked his broom and clean robes out of his hands.
"Sorry!" I cried, bending down to pick them up "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I said repeatedly as I cleaned the robes again with a flick of my wand.
"It's alright." Cedric Diggory said, taking the robes from me "No harm done. I'm Cedric." he added, holding out his hand.
"Hannah." I said, shaking it. I was grateful that he didn't cut me off as I introduced myself as some people do.
"I know. Your brother's playing against us today." Cedric said, giving me a smile.
"I know." I said, smiling back "And speaking of which, I'd better get up to the Slytherin seats." I added, starting up to it "Nice meeting you, Cedric!" I called out behind me.
"Likewise!" Cedric called back.
I almost swore I ran into Draco as I ran up the stairs with the crowd of first coming students, and I swore I heard almost the same growl as I had heard when I kissed Theo.
The other boy I ran into was right in between the Ravenclaw and the Slytherin seats. His platinum blond hair almost reminded me of Draco's, minus the fact that it looked like silk, as this boy's hair was thick and fell to his shoulders. His robes were pressed and there was a Ravenclaw scarf around his neck.
"Sorry!" I said, blushing "I don't know why I'm being so clumsy this term."
"It's ok." the boy said "I'm Archimedes Lovegood." he added, holding out his hand.
"Hannah Potter." I said, holding my hand out and shaking "Lovegood, Lovegood. Why did I hear that name before?"
"Oh, you must have heard of my little cousin, Luna." Archimedes said, glancing behind him "She was coming up with me."
"I'm here, Archie." A girl with matching blonde hair as Archimedes said, walking up beside him. Her pale blue eyes glinting with anticipation for a good match. "Oh, hello."
I smiled at the girl "I'm-"
"Hannah Potter." the girl said smiling airily as she performed my biggest pet peeve. "I'm Luna."
We shook hands as Ivy snuck up behind me.
"Hey!" she scolded, prodding me in the back "You're supposed to be in your seat. The match's gonna start soon! She-Cat, why are you under Hannah's feet?"
I looked down between my legs and sure enough, She-Cat was between my legs, smiling gaily at Luna Lovegood.
"Hey, Luna." She-Cat said. "I see you met my Slytherin friend."
Luna nodded "Yeah. If she wasn't wearing the scarf, I would have never believed she was a Slytherin, she's way too nice!"
"So this is Ramona, Luna?" Archimedes said, turning to Luna.
Luna nodded wordlessly.
"Well, I'd best get to my seat." I said, starting to walk away. "So, see you guys. And nice meeting you, Archimedes."
"Call me Arch." Archimedes said as I walked away.
I overheard Luna started laughing and She-Cat started meowing. I looked to Arch as I ducked into the stands and read his mind.
Wow, he was thinking Ramona's kind of cute when she's so bleeding annoying.
…
The match was pretty eventful, but not in the good "Quidditch is almost as good as Kitchener Rangers hockey and Jeff Skinner's awesomeness." way. Try more along the lines of "Second year when Drosie knocked me off my broom with a Bludger and sent me to the hospital wing." way.
Hufflepuff was a little ways behind Gryffindor when the Snitch was sought. Harry flew down to catch it when they appeared.
Two Dementors appeared in the sky around Harry. I gasped and took all the will power I had into not blacking out again like I did on the train.
I gulped. How was Harry going to manage on his broom? The Dementors were terrifying, hovering over him and him alone. Sure, it brought a chill into the stands, so much so that Theo (who was sitting beside me) shivered.
Then, Harry fell in a dive for the Snitch, Cedric Diggory hot on his tail. I yelled Harry's name as he hit the ground with a loud thud.
When I next saw Diggory, he held the Snitch in his hand and a shocked and to my surprise, disappointment on his face.
I looked around for Harry's broom as I got up and went down to the pitch, noting that it was nowhere to be found.
"Ivy!" I yelled, scanning the group of red and gold and black and yellow surrounding Harry for my best friend, wondering if she fell when I wasn't looking.
"I'm ok!" Ivy yelled, dismounting beside me "But Harry isn't. He blacked out."
My heart pounded as I wrapped Ivy into a hug, noting she was drenched in a cold sweat.
"You ok? Your sweat is chilled." I asked, wiping some perspiration off of her with my robe.
"Yeah…" Ivy said, her voice shaking "I just…I just saw You-Know-Who…killing my mum. You have no idea…what it's like. Hearing her scream as you see a flash of green light. So…" Ivy wiped her eyes "I started crying a little."
I hugged her "It's ok." I said.
I suddenly jolted straight. "Harry." I said simply, walking up to the crowd, who refused to part in my way.
"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, coming through. Harry!" I called out, walking through the crowd to find Ron and Hermione standing holding a package as Harry was being picked up by Fred and George, utterly still.
"Is he-?" I started, covering my mouth.
"No, just knocked out. We're going to Pomfrey." Fred said, holding up Harry's head, so I could see him unconscious, utterly pail and sweat dripping from his brow, but his chest rising and falling, eliciting a sigh of relief from me.
"Thank heavens." I sighed, slouching slightly. "Now, could I have Harry's broom so I can return it to him?" I asked, holding out my hand for Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand, the mirror image of mine from before Drosie destroyed it and I got a Two Thousand and One model, thanks to Draco.
"Well…" Ron said, unwrapping the red and gold Gryffindor banner and revealing a totalled Nimbus Two Thousand inside "the broom crashed into the Whomping Willow."
"How upset do you think he'll be?" Mione asked, turning to me.
"I don't know." I said as Fred and George carried Harry away. "He really loved that broom more than everything, even more than me sometimes, literally. He'll be crushed."
Ron and Hermione nodded and went to go to the hospital with Ivy to be with Harry when he came around.
I was just about to turn around when Lupin caught me.
"Hannah." he said, placing a hand on my shoulder "I'm sorry about Harry."
"It's all good." I said making an attempt to smile "He'll be fine."
"Good, good." Lupin said, nodding "The only problem is the Dementors. The school can't not have them, but they cause problems for you and Harry, and Ivy too, I heard about her seeing her mother's murder during the match. Miracle she didn't fall off, just a pure miracle."
I nodded, not being able to say anything else.
"If you and Harry want," Lupin said, turning to me "I could teach you and him to defend yourselves against them."
My eyes widened. I had read about how to defend yourself against a Dementor.
"You don't mean-?" I started before Lupin held up a hand.
"Yes, Hannah. I want to teach Harry and yourself how to produce a Patronus Charm."
