Disclaimer: These characters and settings are not my own.
A/N: Originally, this was going to be chapter 24, but then I decided that I was moving much faster than I had planned. So instead I made a different chapter 24 and moved this ahead. Hopefully, this works here and makes the timeline a little better. Don't worry…I'm at over 100,000 words now (yay) and I've got many, many more chapters to go. So hang in there and tell me what you think!
By the way, responses to reviewers will be at the bottom of this chapter.
00000000000000 Chapter 25: Hufflepuffs 0000000000000
Harry's heart pounded in his chest as he heard the roar of the crowds increase. Somewhere just outside those double wooden doors, there were hundreds of students anticipating this match. It had been the talk of the past week, and Harry had spent a great deal of the time trying to help Katie Bell keep the rest of the team calm. Ron was much too busy dealing with strategy and the weight of being captain, and was almost as nervous as Ginny and Mark. It felt very odd to be a veteran team member, and made him realize that he was very close to actually living through his seven years at Hogwarts.
Don't jinx it now, he told himself. Focus on the match.
Ron had been completely unable to focus at their secret DA meeting the night before, his mind entirely on the upcoming Quidditch match. Harry had been able to push the excitement from his mind Friday night, but it hadn't made any difference. Even though it was just his second night attempting the 'Aminagus Apparato' spell, he'd still felt a little disappointment at making no progress whatsoever.
His only consolation was that no one else was making any progress, either. Even Hermione hadn't been able to get even the slightest change out of her hand.
He shook his head, forcing himself to focus back on the match.
This match was important. The reason this particular match was so important was because there had been many rumors that the new Hufflepuff seeker was very good. Apparently, he'd refused to join the team until third year, preferring to train up until then, and he was said to be amazing on a broom. He just hadn't been tested in a match yet. Harry didn't want to put much stock in this new kid, but anything uncertain in a quidditch match bothered him. He had no way to know what this kid would do, if he did manage to do anything. He might just freeze up, Harry told himself. Experience was important.
Of course, their team was pretty new as well, which could hurt them. Kirke and Sloper had gotten better…at least, they didn't hit any of their own teammates with the bludgers anymore, and they didn't get themselves hurt very often, either. Ron seemed to have found his confidence with the win the year before, and Harry had been practicing as often as he could for the match. Ginny, Katie, and Mark were working together fairly well, and Ginny seemed to definitely like the position of Chaser much more than Seeker. But they hadn't played a match, a real match, yet.
And now it was time to prove themselves. Their first match of the season, and they were going to show the other teams just what they could expect from Gryffindor. "AND HERE COMES THE GRYFFINFOR TEAM!!" Harry suddenly heard.
"That's us," Ron said, face grim. "Give it all you got, people. This is it."
Everyone nodded and kicked off, shooting through the door as it opened wide. Harry tailed the rest of the team, watching the stands full of screaming students as the team circled the pitch at full speed. He kept back, unwilling to put that much energy into a show of nothing, and instead found his position for the start of the match.
He watched Ron shake hands with the Hufflepuff captain, each smiling tensely. "I want a good, clean game," Madame Hooch told them, then indulged in a smile. "Not that I expect any trouble."
"'Course not, Ma'am," Ron said seriously. The Hufflepuff captain nodded as well, and then both mounted their brooms and flew up, facing each other for the quaffle.
"I've got a Firebolt, too," Harry heard, jerking him out of watching the game's start. He looked up, startled.
It was the other seeker, the third year boy that he didn't know. "Er, all right," he said.
The other boy smirked. "Just so you know that having money isn't going to win this match."
Harry regarded the other boy a moment. "We'll see who wins today," he promised.
"Wh—" the other boy started to say, but the shrill whistle that started the game cut him off. Harry didn't stick around to hear the rest of what the boy had to say, either.
He circled the pitch at a quick but not too fast pace, letting the other seeker think that he wasn't going to have to work to keep up. Harry purposely didn't push his broom, content to almost coast around, eyes scanning for the snitch.
The lighting was terrible for a seeker, he realized. Clouds hid the sun, keeping reflections to a minimum, and the half-light glinting in between each cloud did nothing to help. He couldn't see anything at all.
It didn't look like the other seeker could see anything, either, but by the way the other seeker was actively looking, Harry was pretty sure the Hufflepuff wasn't going to wait for him to find the snitch. At least the boy was that smart. If Harry saw the snitch first, he knew he'd get it.
Fifteen minutes of circling later, Harry was getting bored. He watched the game below him—Gryffindor was up forty points, but the game was far from over. He saw Ginny do a loop and flip the quaffle to Mark, who shoveled it over to Katie in order for her to score easily. Harry smiled. The team was working well together, he felt. They looked good.
He saw movement. The Hufflepuff seeker was diving fast. Harry couldn't see the snitch, but he knew if he was wrong it would be too late. Not even taking the time to think about it anymore, he shoved the handle of his broom down sharply, relishing that sudden moment of free-fall before he leaned in close to the handle of his broom.
"AND CARTER HAS SEEN—"
Harry didn't hear any more of the announcer screaming, since the screaming of the wind past his ears overtook it. He narrowed his eyes to slits against the air, steering gradually on a course that would intercept the other seeker. He couldn't see anything yet…but there was no sun, no glint of gold to see.
He caught up to the other seeker—Carter, he figured—and smiled grimly as the other boy chanced a quick glance, surprise on his face. Obviously, he hadn't expected Harry to catch up so fast.
And they dove together, side-by-side. Harry didn't feel any need to try to push the other off course. That, he reserved especially for Slytherin and their rough tactics.
The ground was coming up fast, though, and Harry wondered just what Carter had planned. He was fairly certain now that the snitch was nowhere around, but perhaps Carter thought he could trick Harry into hitting the ground. Of course, he also couldn't see that well, with the wind blurring his eyesight, so the snitch could be there, and he wouldn't be able to see it.
Harry forced himself not to smile. He hadn't been practicing hard for no reason. He figured his feints were nowhere near as good as the professionals, but they weren't bad. If on more than one occasion, Harry had gotten into trouble with Ron for 'scaring him so much,' then he must be doing something right.
He figured they were thirty feet up now. He could hear screaming…the announcer? The crowd? He wasn't sure anymore, his entire attention focused on the ground. Carter glanced at him once, then again. Harry just leaned down harder, forcing his broom faster.
Now he was fifteen feet above the ground, and whether Carter was there or not anymore didn't matter anymore. His eyes were on the pitch, rushing up at him like a solid wall. He blinked by the tears in his eyes as he focused harder, knowing that this would be the closest he'd ever gotten to the ground before pulling up. He just hoped Madame Pomfrey was nearby, in case things got really ugly.
But when he blinked away the tears in his eyes from the vicious winds, he realized something very important. The snitch was RIGHT THERE. It was too late to grab it though, and with a sudden thrill of fear he jerked up hard on his broom, not even realizing that Carter had already pulled up, fifteen feet behind him.
The snitch was right in front of him, zipping parallel to his flight path, but it was behind him about five feet. The force that was trying to smash him into the ground was keeping him from reaching the snitch, which was now zooming just above the turf. It was as if the snitch was chasing after him, and there was no way for him to double back to grab it. He was much too busy trying not to smash into the ground.
His shoulders screamed in protest of the wrenching pull as he curved sharply, and he realized with a sudden triumphant feeling that his feet were actually skimming the grass, he was so close to the ground. He was flying faster than he'd ever flown before, and he smiled into the roaring wind.
The snitch was nowhere in sight now, but he was fairly certain that Carter had lost it as well. There was no way he could double back to find the snitch now. By the time he got himself turned around, it would be long gone.
His consolation, though, was that he'd never flown quite like this before. The other side of the stadium approached in a matter of seconds, and he had to curve sharply to the left, reluctantly angling upward in order to lose a little speed.
He passed close in front of the Hufflepuff stands, barely able to see their blurred faces as he roared past. By the time he reached the top of his climb, he slowed down considerably, and he did several laps of the pitch in order to relax from that dive.
"DID YOU SEE THAT!! DID YOU…I'VE NEVER SEEN A WRONSKI FEINT LIKE THAT!! VICTOR KRUM, YOU'VE GOT COMPETITION!!"
Harry heard the frenzied screaming, and realized belatedly that they were talking about the dive. Which reminded him…Carter was on the other side of the pitch, circling the area. He must have seen something, Harry decided. Carter had no stealth when it came to looking for the snitch. He should have slowly gotten closer to the snitch, Harry felt, and then made a dash at it. Harry wasn't sure he would have been able to make up ground fast enough.
He glided up to Carter, smiling breathlessly still, and the boy glanced at him. "You're nuts," the Hufflepuff said, voice full of awe. Harry grinned.
"Not so bad yourself," he said. "That's the best I've seen of any Hogwarts seekers."
The boy grinned. "Except you, of course. I thought you were going to slam into the ground. Or the stands, or my team's cheering section…"
"Well, it takes a lot of practice," Harry assured the boy. His eyes were already back to scanning the pitch, though. The snitch had to be out there somewhere.
"I think Lee thought you were going to splatter," Carter said. "He was shouting for Pomfrey to get ready to pick up your pieces."
"Not today," Harry joked. The Hufflepuff laughed.
And over his shoulder, about a hundred feet out, Harry saw it. Just a slight glint, in a narrow beam of light, but it was there. Hovering. Teasing him, waiting for him to move.
But Harry didn't want to give it away. He would have to dip under or over Carter to get to the snitch, and that would give the other seeker a good chance to catch the snitch first. Harry didn't know Carter well enough to predict what the other boy would do.
"I can't wait to see you put Slytherin in the ground," Carter went on. Harry laughed, but he wasn't really paying attention. He kept his eyes on Carter, but watched the snitch as well, trying to figure out how to get to it before Carter.
He turned lazily, away from the snitch, and Carter half-followed. Harry wanted to keep the other teen from looking the other way, at the snitch. He pretended that he hadn't seen anything, and slowly coasted downwards, lazing flying in soft curves up and down. He glanced back once, and Carter was watching him alertly, but not following his every move.
Halfway around the pitch, he caught sight of the snitch again, hovering almost where it had been before. And Carter had not seen it.
They were about the same distance from the snitch, though. And he'd only been lucky that Carter hadn't seen it so far. It was time to move. He whipped around, staring off in the opposite direction, and as soon as Carter had turned his broom in that direction Harry turned the other way and leaned forward hard. He accelerated fast, leaning forward as far as he could on his broom.
He could see Carter on his right, but the teen was behind him still. Harry had the lead, and the snitch wasn't moving at all. He reached forward, leaning…the snitch was feet ahead of him…
And suddenly a heavy metal something glanced off his fingertips, whipping him around in a sudden and bone-wrenching spin. He tried to grab onto his broom with his injured hand, but his fingers burned with agony when he tried to bend them. Instead, he had to focus on straightening out again, gripping hard with his left hand and clinging on until he was faced back in the right direction.
Carter had caught up somewhat, but it looked like he'd taken a return blow from the bludger judging from the grimace and the way he was sitting hunched. Harry had lost speed, but so had Carter. He leaned forward again, pinning his injured hand against his chest as he leaned closer to the handle of his broom. Another few inches, and his entire hand would have been broken, he realized. He'd gotten very lucky.
Carter was next to him now, their knees even with each other. Harry leaned farther forward again, trying hard to balance with just one hand, and realized he would have to reach for the snitch with his good hand.
Although last time he'd let go of the broom with both hands, he'd ended up eating pitch.
He mentally shrugged. There was nothing to do for it. He'd have to almost leap anyway, just to get it ahead of Carter. So he leaped forward.
He didn't really think it through clearly, he decided. His broom was good, but not good enough to keep up with its rider suddenly jumping forward after some little winged object.
The broom overbalanced, and his good hand closed on the snitch. "POTTER'S WON IT! POTTER'S GOT IT! IT'S OVER! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
Harry thought there might have been more. But he was a little more worried about the whole falling off his broom part of what he'd just done. He saw Carter's half-angry, half-scared expression as he rolled by, on his back with his broom just over him but also just out of reach. His bad hand tried to close on the handle and he yelped, his broken digits filling his mind with blinding pain. He didn't see much except stars exploding in front of his face, but he knew his broom had passed by without him.
And he fell. All the way down until a soft cushion seemed to catch him, ten feet off the ground. He could hear cheering, he could hear screaming, but all he could think about was the fire licking at his right hand, burning from the tips all the way up to his elbow. He couldn't seem to lift his hand to see his fingers, but he could move his left hand. And he smiled triumphantly and held the snitch up, watching it glint as it struggled in his hand.
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Madame Pomfrey tutted over his hand for over half an hour, complaining about the injury more than she actually examined it. Harry had to admit that his fingers had all swollen up pretty badly, but they'd quit hurting about the same time that he'd been released from Dumbledore's cushioning spell. The fire had been replaced with the odd feeling of having no fingers at all, reminding him somewhat of his second year, when Lockeheart had magicked all the bones out of his hand and arm.
"It's looking better already," he told the nurse, watching the swelling recede.
"Move them," Pomfrey told him. He wiggled his stiff fingers dutifully.
"I promise, that stuff really helped," he assured her. The nurse looked over her spectacles at him.
"Mr. Potter, I think that perhaps I am the one that should be deciding whether your hand will be fine," she scolded. "You do want to be able to use your fingers again, don't you?"
"Well, yeah," he agreed, "But—"
"Don't but me!" she scolded. "You're in here until I say you can go!"
Harry rolled his eyes, but he knew better than to argue. He'd be in the infirmary all night if he argued with her, and he'd heard rumors that there was quite the party starting up in Gryffindor. Hermione and Ron had stayed with him until Madame Pomfrey had chased them out, and Harry had promised them that he'd try to get out as soon as he could.
So that meant no arguing with Pomfrey, even if he was sixteen now and a little old to still let a nurse bully him around. She didn't mean any harm by her fussing, and, Harry had to admit, it felt good to have someone really worry over his health.
"Er—can I at least not be in this bed?" he asked, feeling stupid. When he'd been smaller, the beds had seemed much larger. Now, his feet were at the end and still he was sitting half-up on his pillow. He was still in his Quidditch gear, too, and his heavy robes and pads all felt uncomfortable.
"You stay there or I'll petrify you!" Pomfrey told him. Harry could tell she wasn't really mad at him, but he didn't think it a good idea to test his luck. Instead, he waited for her to leave and then got out of the bed, stretching and plopping down in a chair.
"Mind if I come in?" a voice asked from the hallway. Harry looked up. It was that blonde Hufflepuff, Julie Thomas. Harry nodded, nervous.
"Er, sure," he said. "Uh…Pomfrey's in back I think…"
"I cam to see you, Harry," the girl said, smiling. Harry knew he was blushing, but Julie didn't say a word. "That was some pretty amazing flying you did out there."
"Mostly luck," he assured her. "Your house's team did really well, too."
Julie came closer and sat down on the bed opposite of his chair. "Everyone was watching you, I think."
"Carter's really good," Harry said, uncomfortable. Julie smiled at him again, and Harry wondered just what she was up to.
"Yeah, he is," she agreed. "We're thinking he'll be really great after…well, after you graduate, Harry. That's what he thinks, too. You're a natural on a broom."
"Er…"
"Harry, I wanted to apologize about how I acted in the hallway that day," Julie said suddenly, the smiles and the giggles gone. "I—you just sort of surprised me, is all. I didn't expect for you to ever talk to me or anything. I'd really forgotten about that letter."
"My friends think it's a good idea for me to talk to all the people that sent me letters," Harry explained. "Yours was the first I ever opened."
"I'm glad it was," Julie told him. Harry blinked. Was this girl…was she interested in him, he wondered? She was acting awfully chummy…
"Uh," he said, suddenly much more uncomfortable than before. He had images of her cornering him and trying to kiss him, and he wasn't too sure that he was up to it. So far, he'd had exactly two kisses, and both had been royal disasters.
"I just wanted to be sure that you didn't think I was a total blonde," she told him, smiling again. "It really is surprising when the Harry Potter comes up to you out of the blue."
Harry smiled back, still feeling a little unsure. "At least you aren't scared of me," he told her. She blinked at him.
"Scared?" she echoed, then laughed. "Yeah, right," she laughed. "You're the poster-boy for light wizards, Harry. I don't get why anyone would be scared of you—unless it's You-Know-Who."
Harry shrugged. "You'd be surprised," he told her. She laughed again, then studied him intently a moment.
"Friends?" she asked. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, yeah I guess so," he said, unsure again. Did she like him or not? And why did it matter to him so much?
"Well, I gotta go see how Carter is," she told him.
"How is he?" Harry asked. He didn't see the other teen anywhere in the infirmary.
"Bludger swung back around and hit him in the shoulder," Julie explained. "It wasn't a really bad hit, so he just headed back to our commons. It's just bruised, he says."
"He did a good job," Harry said, unsure if he was repeating himself now. The conversation was starting to feel awkward to him, and he was very afraid that a silent moment was going to suddenly stretch between them. "It was a fun game."
"I was afraid you were going to get hurt a lot worse," Julie told him. "You were diving so fast…"
"'S funny how I got hurt after the dive," he said with a small laugh. Julie smiled, but didn't laugh.
"Getting splattered on the pitch wouldn't be funny," she told him. Harry looked down, feeling scolded for some reason. He also had the insane urge to apologize to this girl, but stifled it quickly.
"Well, it's not like I want to hit the ground," he assured her. Julie gave a grudging laugh, then suddenly patted his hand and then whirled around.
"See you around, Harry!" she called back over her shoulder, as she almost skipped out the door.
Just as Ron and Hermione came in, Ron now wearing a grin. As soon as the door closed behind his friends, Harry rolled his eyes. He could clearly tell what the glint in Ron's eye meant—he was going to get teased.
And he wasn't wrong.
"Oh, Harry," Ron said, coming to stand in front of him, Hermione plopping on a nearby bed. "You didn't tell us about your new love interest!"
Harry shook his head. "You're nutters, Ron," Harry assured his best friend. "We're…friends," he said.
He heard Hermione stifle a chuckle, and glared at her. "What?" he demanded.
Hermione pasted an innocent expression on her face. "Just take it slow," she advised. Harry knew he was blushing bright red by now, but he couldn't stop it.
"We're friends," he insisted again. "She was just stopping by to apologize for being all giggly last time."
"Uh-huh," Hermione agreed, looking like she was holding back laughter. Harry realized there was no way he was going to win this argument and instead slouched down in his chair, flexing his still-stiff hand.
"When are they letting you out of here, mate?" Ron asked, seemingly done with his teasing.
"Pomfrey's being protective," Harry griped. "She threatened to petrify me if I left before she gave me permission."
Ron eyed his hand. "It's going to heal all right, isn't it?" he asked.
Harry grinned. "Yeah, Ron," he promised. "I'll still be able to catch the Snitch just fine, I promise."
Ron actually breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Good," he admitted. "We still need you plenty, Harry."
"How did the rest of the team play?" Harry asked, trying to change the conversation. From what he'd seen, they'd played well together, but if it got Ron off of his hand, then he was willing to listen to Ron's take on the match.
"Good," Ron said, plopping down next to Hermione. "Ginny and Katie do really well together, and Mark's working fine. He just needs more practice—when you pulled that stupid stunt with that feint, he froze up, though. Most everyone did, mind you, but we could've scored again during those few seconds."
"Well, we won, didn't we?" Harry pointed out. Ron nodded.
"Yeah, that's true," Ron reluctantly admitted. Harry hoped that was the end of it, but was proven wrong as an almost maniacal glint came into the redhead's eyes. "We're going to have to practice more, if we're going to beat Ravenclaw by as much…"
Harry groaned.
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A/N: Well, finally. I had to redo the end of this chapter because I finally decided I didn't like it. I'm behind again in chapters, so it's going to slow up a bit as far as updating. I'll try to definitely get one more up before Christmas, but then it'll be three weeks until I update again, since I go on break. But I'll type over break, since I won't have any homework or anything!
And now, for the first time in a while:
Thanks to Reviewers:
Niathor – Thanks for the comments. Snape and Harry's 'relationship' has always intrigued me, and it will be revisited very soon. I just have to develop a few other parts of the story and work up to the point where Harry might be willing to actually speak to Snape again. Right now, Snape's still feeling somewhat guilty, though he'd never admit it, so he's staying away from Harry.
Fortuna's Smile – A lot have said that about my Harry in the beginning. I'm just of the opinion that the DoM thing really took a big bite out of his confidence, and he has to regain it slowly. I mean, I guess he seemed pretty headstrong and willing to jump to conclusions in book five, and the whole DoM thing would have knocked the wind out of his sails rather effectively, especially after being left at the Dursleys to struggle through his feelings. This also gives me a chance to make Harry's growth more apparent through the story.
Spaziazi – Hagrid's kind of faded out right now. I figure he's busy or what not, and classes are like normal. Harry doesn't have much time to think about that class, I suppose, and maybe it'll come up in the spring or something. And Murkwater—well, he's lurking, but it's not on the forefront of things…right now. And Snape and Harry will resolve their issues in some way, don't worry.
Ceejaytee – Yeah, I try to get that animagus/animagi think right, but sometimes I confuse myself. Sorry if I get it wrong!
Hazel-a – Your encouragement was wonderful. Thanks for reviewing and giving me that little bolster.
Scarhead101 – Hmm, you might be on to something there…or not…bwah ha ha
Jamesyankee7 – I've gotten lots of comments about Harry being a little wussy, and I'm sorry, but he's trying to regain himself. He'll get it together soon enough, don't worry. I'm a little prejudiced about this, cuz I reeeeely like my last chapter for this story (which is already written) but I think it turns out good.
Also thanks to:
Lashajayne, CurlsofSerenity, AD, Sponge Hearts, HPFreakout, Child-of-Darkness1988, Dianne, Zaptor, Meggplant, Crackerjacknpez, Latuca, Averie, Jenn the Freak