Quidditch Part 2

"You have got to be kidding me," Harry said eventually.

"No we're not," Moncrief looked a little happier now that Harry hadn't completely blown him straight out of the water.

"There must be someone more qualified than me. I haven't played competitive Quidditch in over a year."

"There's no one else."

"Can't you portkey someone in from England?"

"There's no hope of that, first it's too early in the morning to contact anybody. Secondly even if we did all the professional teams are playing today, and they won't want too lose their best Seekers just for a friendly game. Lastly there's a great deal of paperwork for an international portkey, and those people that deal with it are somewhere out there in the crowd along with the rest of the Japanese Ministry of Magic."

"Harry this is a chance of a lifetime. I can't even believe you're even thinking about turning it down," Ron said.

"You did say you owed me a favour," Moncrief added.

"Go for it Harry," Hermione said.

"But I could make a complete idiot of myself out there."

"Of course you won't, you're a natural Harry and probably the only person who can beat Krum. I know you let Preacher catch the Snitch when we played with them, and don't try and deny it." Ron said when he saw Harry open his mouth. "Besides the only time you've ever missed the Snitch was when a hundred Dementors attacked you, and that pillock McLaggen hit you point blank with a Bludger."

"What do you think Gin?" Harry asked.

"I think you'll regret not taking this golden opportunity, and if you don't I'll be stuck with a grumpy git for years."

"I do not get grumpy!"

"Yes you do. Ever time someone mentions the Daily Prophet you get that look on your face." Harry perused his lips, and scowled at this. "There it is."
"She's right Harry," Hermione and Ron said together, making Harry scowl even more.

"Alright I'll do it," and even as he said it his stomach seemed to hit the floor.

"Harry…"

"I'll be careful Gin," Harry interrupted.

"I wasn't going to say that, although that would be nice. I was going to say enjoy yourself, have some fun." Having fun was the furthest thought from his mind at the moment, but Ginny's words lit a fire in his chest, and brought a smile to his face. He grabbed her in a bear hug and whispered in her ear.

"I love you."
"I love you to," she whispered back, and then in a normal voice. "Just make sure you show Krum whose best."

"We need to go Mr Potter," Moncrief said getting more agitated at the increasing volume of anger from the surrounding crowd, who hadn't been calmed by the plans for a rematch yet.

"Just a minute, nobody's said anything about any payment for Harry," Ron suddenly said. "You can't expect him to do this for nothing."

"Well I haven't given it much thought," Moncrief answered looking alarmed at this new development. "It's all been a bit rushed, but I don't see why he shouldn't get the usual fee an England player gets for a friendly. Although this will change him from an amateur to a professional."

"You mean he won't be able to play at Hogwarts anymore?" Hermione said immediately understanding.

"He won't be able to play," Ron said looking horrified, and Harry could see all his grand plans for the season going up in smoke.

"I'll remain an amateur then," he said before Ron could spontaneously combust. The next ten minutes turned into a blur for Harry, as he was rushed down to the changing rooms, where endless bits of spare kit were thrown at him, until he was finally dressed in the full England uniform. Nothing quite fitted the way it was meant to, but he was comfortable enough, and when he looked in a mirror he had to admit he looked the part, if nothing else.

"Harry if I remember right you had a Firebolt when you practised with us," Tony Foster the Captain said behind him.

"Yea, but I didn't bring it with me."

"I'd be surprised if you had," Tony said smiling. "We have a number of spare brooms here, but not a Firebolt." Harry's face fell. He was going to have to fly a different broom. That was going to make things even tougher.

"What do you have that's the closest to one then?"

"A Firebolt II, it's a lot faster in the straights, but at the top speeds it vibrates badly in the turns. Just make sure you slow down before you make any sharp turns and you should be fine. My advice is to fly it at the speeds of your old Firebolt, and you won't notice any difference." And I'm not likely to beat Krum, Harry thought.

"I'll try and remember that," Harry said through a forced smile. The butterflies in his stomach were now playing their own private Quidditch match, and Harry was itching to take off hoping that once in the air his pre-match nerves would vanish as they normally did.

"Your job, and only your job, is to either catch the Snitch, or prevent Krum from doing it. Don't worry about the rest of the game, leave that up to us." Harry just nodded his head the power of speech had temporally left him. He took the offered broom without really registering, and failed to take in a single word of Foster's warm up team speech. Forcing down the urge to throw up he followed the team out of the changing room, wincing at the sudden increase of noise on his eardrums. The crowd's mood had changed, and there was a loud buzz of excitement around the stadium again.

One by one the others took off into the air before he even realised it, and suddenly he was the only one left in the tunnel entrance. He very nearly turned around and returned to the changing room, until a little voice in back of his head said, 'enjoy yourself have some fun'. His mind made up, and a determined look on his face he mounted the broom and kicked off. He took it easy at first to get a feel for the broom. The noise was unbelievable as he entered the stadium, it felt as though everybody there was yelling at him, not that Harry could make anything out. The team had settled in a circle above a set of goalposts, and he sped towards them amazed at the increase speed and acceleration of the new broom.

"Harry, I thought you'd bottled out there for a moment," Foster said once he had braked hard, and joined them.

"I nearly did," he answered with a grin. The anxieties of only a few minutes ago had been banished with the joy of being airborne.

"What was it that changed your mind? The thought of your wife hexing you into the middle of next week," Jeff Lightfoot said.

"Something like that."

"Scary woman Harry, very scary." Harry just grinned at him. Ginny had never given him any reason to be scared of her, but he could see how others might be intimidated by her.

"Look I've had an idea," Harry said as he saw the Bulgarian team begin to take the field. They had insisted on leaving second this time. "I'll have a word with Viktor, and we'll come to some agreement not to catch the Snitch too soon. Then we won't have to do this all again."

"On first name terms are we," Nancy Sherwood said. She had long jet black hair, plated and double tied to stop it becoming a problem in the high winds.

"We know each other."

"Tri-wizard competition wasn't it," Foster said. Harry just nodded not wanting to encourage that conversation any further. "Can you trust him to keep to the agreement."

"Positive," Harry answered. His memory of Krum was of an honest but sullen man, and Hermione would have had nothing to do with him if he couldn't be trusted.

"Ok then, we'll let you deal with that then."

"Could you put in a good word for me," Nancy Sherwood said.

"If you want," Harry answered slightly bemused that he was being asked to match make.

"Alright get in your positions. The refs coming out. Harry watch your back," Foster said. Harry climbed higher to get a better view, and slowly drifted towards Krum, who was once again moving in figures of eight.

"Viktor," he said once he got close enough. "It's good to see you again."

"Harry it is good to see you too. It is a strange day, is it not." The normally grumpy looking Quidditch player had a beaming smile, and was looking happier than Harry had ever seen him.

"Well I think I've had worse, but yes it is a strange day. Congratulations on your victory that was a great piece of flying."

"Is Preacher going to be ok?"

"I think so. Look before the game starts how about we come to a deal."

"About vhat?"

"I thought that he should not try and catch the Snitch for at least half an hour. After all we're only here to entertain the crowd." Krum sat silently for moment thinking.

"England's Chasers are better than ours, you might be too far ahead for us to catch up in half an hour." Damn, Harry thought he's going to be difficult.

"Alright then how about half an hour, or when one team gets fifty points ahead."

"Yes that vould be good," and he stuck out his hand which Harry shook just in time as the balls were all released at that moment. "You are here vith your friends," Harry smiled inwardly he knew exactly who he was asking about.

"Yea they're all here and Hermione is well, although she has a nasty scar on the back of her neck."

"She is happy though," and Harry thought he saw a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.

"Yes she is." He thought it best he not pretend otherwise. Krum gave a deep sigh, and Harry could only feel sorry for him.

"Tell you what we could go and see them if you want while we wait. They're in one of those boxes over there," he said pointing in what he hoped was the right direction.

"No, no it is best I don't, she made her feelings clear in her letters. I am being silly." Harry didn't press the issue. He knew that Hermione would love to see him, but he wasn't really sure what Ron's reaction would be.

"Well Nancy Sherwood said that I should put a good word in for her, and that was just after you beat her in a World Cup final." Krum turned his head and looked at the Chaser who was busy launching a shot at goal which was knocked clear of the hoop."

"She is quite pretty," Krum said almost to himself.

"Well I'll leave it up to the pair of you. I need to get some practise on this broom."

"You 'ave not flown that broom before," Krum asked looking surprised. Harry just shook his head. "In that case let us fly, you lead and I'll follow." A wide grin spread across Krum's face, mirrored by Harry's own. He didn't reply but dropped the front of his broom, and fell into a steep dive heading towards the Chaser action.

He intended to skirt the action, but at the last second saw that one of the Bulgarian Beaters was teeing up a Bludger to hit the back of Sherwood's head. So he aimed directly for him, yelling in exhilaration at the same time. It was enough and broke Vulchanov's concentration, so that he miss hit, and the Bludger rocketed upwards as he sliced the shot. Vulchanov glared at him, and having achieved his aim he continued his dive, with Krum close behind.

The Firebolt II had handled superbly up to now, and Harry didn't think he had ever moved so fast on a broom. With the ground rushing towards him it was time to test its turning ability. On his old broom he would have waited until he was much closer to the ground, but he didn't trust the one he was flying yet, and he didn't want to show Krum all his moves before he had to. Yanking the handle up, and to the right as hard as he could he felt the vibration that Foster had warned him about. The more pressure he applied the worse it got, but he thought it was controllable, and nothing to really worry about.

Next he thought it was time to test its climbing ability, so he pointed straight up, and hung on for the ride of his life. Krum had stuck to him like glue until this moment. Risking a look back he could see that Krum was falling behind. He levelled out and came to a stop, allowing Krum to catch him up. He glanced at the score board which showed England leading forty to twenty, and less than ten minutes into the game.

"I am impressed Harry," Krum said.

"Have I got you worried then," Harry answered the adrenaline still pumping through him. Despite the huge crowd he was having fun, and was regretting the agreement already. He really wanted to start looking for that Snitch.

"You fly well, but I fly better, and 'ave much more experience. You vill not beat me."

"I have youth on my side. You're getting too old to play Seeker." Harry couldn't believe he had just said that, but he wasn't going to let Krum try and put him down without replying.

"I 'ave just won the World Cup, and I am twenty-two," Krum said looking outraged at Harry's statement.

"Yea, but that was an hour ago. It's old news now." Harry didn't dare wait for a reply, but sped off on a circuit of the stadium enjoying the rush of wind through his hair. This was his element there was nowhere else where he felt so at home. It wasn't until he was half way through his second lap that he looked behind to see that Krum was still behind him. He gave him a quick wave, and went into a steep climb. A quick look at the board showed that the score was now seventy to thirty. He would have to keep a close eye on the game now. Krum had stopped following, and was now actively looking for the Snitch.

Harry too began to search while keeping an eye on the score board, and the length of time played. As fate would have it was bang on thirty minutes that England scored again, and were now ahead by fifty points. Game on Harry thought, and his chest constricted as the reality sank in. This was for real. A few minutes of looking made Harry realise that the only way he was going to spot the Snitch would be from above, against the green of the pitch. The constantly moving crowd and endless flashing of cameras made an impossible background, so he gained height.

Krum followed Harry upwards not wanting to leave him the height advantage. Every time he moved up Krum would catch up with him, Harry would move up higher again until finally they were three times as high up as the tallest part of the stadium. It was no good Harry thought, any further and they would be unable to see the ground, so he settled into a roving search pattern one eye looking for the Snitch, the other trying to keep an eye on Krum. For a split second he thought he saw something flash right below him, behind the England goalposts, but it vanished just as quickly.

Had it been the Snitch?

He made a snap decision, and pointed his broom straight down. This wasn't a dive, this was falling. The wind was so strong that it felt like his uniform was going to be ripped off him, and his hair was finally lying flat on the top of his head for the first time in his life. A quick turn of his head showed him that Krum was following eight or nine yards behind him, but not in as steep a dive as he was. The pitch was rushing towards him with frightening speed, and then he saw it again a glint of gold flying above the pitch, and heading towards the Bulgarian end.

He was half way down and still falling vertically. If he didn't start to pull out of it now, he was going to plant himself so deep he'd be lucky to emerge next spring. He yanked back intending to follow the Snitch, but the vibrations from the broom became so severe that he had to ease off, or be thrown off. Harry now realised that he was in imminent danger of ploughing into the pitch if he couldn't lose speed, and lose it quickly.

In desperation he swung his legs off and removed one hand off the broom, and began sky diving. Instantly he felt the extra wind resistance slow him down, and he found he could control his direction by skimming off the vicious air currents. The exhilaration he felt was simply out of this world. He was now diving after the Snitch without the aid of a broom, he loved it. Time and distance was running out though, so with a great deal of effort, and his heart pounding fit to burst, he hauled himself back onto the broom, with only a few feet to spare. He had slowed himself enough and changed his direction as well.

Gasping for breath from the effort and in full control once again, he lay flat to the handle and accelerated once more after the Snitch, which was moving at its top speed into the maelstrom of Beaters and Chasers. Krum he saw was still descending, having not taken such a direct route to the ground, and had fallen even further behind. Harry was forced to roll upside down as a Bludger blasted its way towards him. Somebody else flashed across the front of him, so quickly he couldn't even tell which team they had belonged to, forcing him to change direction. The Snitch then whizzed past the Bulgarian's goalies left ear, making him flinch, and when he realised that Harry was heading directly at him and wasn't going to change direction, he ducked down as Harry zipped past going straight through the central hoop.

Krum meanwhile had gained ground. He was now only a few feet behind him caught in his slip stream. His route had been cleared by Harry, and when the Snitch changed course to the right he had cut the angles, clawing back even more ground. When Harry turned around he saw a face of fierce concentration on Krum's face, and determination in his dark eyes, gone was the unusual happy smiling face at the start of the game. Harry could tell that he could expect no quarter or favour. Krum didn't like to lose at any time, even in a friendly. Well Harry thought, neither did he.

The Snitch seemed to have taken its quick capture in the final to heart, and it was ducking and diving every which way to avoid being caught so easily this time. Every time it did it allowed Krum to gain on Harry. For the second time both Seekers were heading towards all the other players, and this time all the beaters were ready and waiting. A Bludger was slammed at him from Volkov, and another from his own team mate Patton. Harry had a choice, continue the pursuit of the Snitch and get slammed by one or even two Bludgers, or get out of the way and lose sight of his quarry.

He pulled up hard just in time to have the Bludgers pass beneath him, one of them hitting his left foot sending a stab of pain shooting through his whole body. He heard a grunt of pain behind him, and assumed that Krum hadn't moved out of the way quickly enough either. He didn't look behind though. He still had the Snitch in view, and nothing but nothing was going to deflect him from catching it. He pushed the broom onwards to regain the speed he had just lost avoiding the Bludgers, and tried to ignore the constant stabbing pain in his left foot.

Krum was now below him, he must have dived when he had climbed, also accelerating towards the Snitch. Harry tensed himself for the coming collision. Leading with his left shoulder he crashed into Krum's right side. Another wave of pain shot through him from his injured foot forcing him to cry out. Krum also cried out in pain, cracked ribs Harry thought, before turning his attention back to the Snitch which was just a few feet in front of them both.

For the next few minutes both Seekers tried to out manoeuvre each other. Nothing else in the World mattered to either of them. Harry had no idea what the score was, or cared less it was a one on one battle. Nor did he notice that the crowd had gone almost completely silent, as they watched with baited breathe for the conclusion of the Seeker battle. In the end it came down to a battle of elbows and fingers. Harry was never quite sure exactly what happened, but after a lot of scrabbling, the Snitch ended up in his hand, minus one of its wings. A quick look at Krum's hand told him where the other one was.

He never even saw the Bludger that smashed into the end of the broom, snapping it into two making it impossible to fly. Fortunately he was only a few feet above the ground, so when he hit it he added only a few extra bruises to his body. Opening his eyes he found himself on his back staring up into a bright blue sky, panting for breath. Had he just beaten Viktor Krum?

He lifted his left hand in front of his face. It was really there he hadn't dreamed it. He couldn't really believe it, and then he raised his hand in the air, and laughed in triumph. If he hadn't already been lying flat on the grass, the eruption of cheering and yelling from the crowd would probably have bowled him over.

"I think you vill need this bit," Krum said, after he had landed beside him, and handed over the wing of the Snitch that had been ripped off.

"Are you alright Viktor?" Harry asked as raised himself up on his elbow.

"I have had vorse. Your foot looks bad, you had best not move it." Harry stared at his left foot and rather wished he hadn't. His white England sock was soaked in his blood, and his ankle was twisted at an unnatural angle.

"I've had worse too," Harry stuck out his hand which Krum took.

"It has been an honour Harry, and when we next compete I shall beat you."

"You can try old man you can try." All further conversation became impossible between them, as both of them were surrounded by their team's medics.

XXXXX

The next two hours had been mayhem. The broken bones in his foot had taken a while to be mended, because of the sheer number of them. Krum's ribs had been fixed in a moment, and he was soon carried off by his team to continue their celebrations. Later a small number of reporters were let into the changing room, once the players were decent, and to Harry's pleasure all they wanted to talk about was Quidditch. Voldemort wasn't mentioned once.

It was a new experience for Harry, talking about one of his great passions to people who knew what they were talking about, and felt the same way about it. The only fly in the ointment was having a new manoeuvre named after him, 'The Potter Plummet'. It wasn't that he was unhappy with the Potter part, in fact he felt really proud about that. It was the plummet part, it somehow lacked a sense of control and daring, and no matter what else he suggested, he rather liked Plunge instead, no-one listened to him.

The tensest moment came when Ginny arrived, and stood in the doorway, Ron and Hermione were forced to wait outside only being his friends. Her face was a mask, but through their emotional link he could feel her anger at him, and a cold sinking feeling spread through his stomach. The sort that appeared when you had been caught red handed.

"I don't know whether I should curse you, punch you, or hug you for still being alive. You stupid idiotic head case," she yelled.

"I know which I'd prefer," he said meekly. The room had gone deathly quiet. The entire England team were waiting to see what would happen next. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Jeff Lightfoot had stepped out of sight behind some lockers, and Beater Rodney Patton was looking extremely uncomfortable. Ginny was the smallest person there, but everybody from trainers to wives and girlfriends parted in front of her as she walked towards him.

"Do you have any idea what you put me through? Do you have a death wish or something? And where's that idiot Patton who smashed your foot, he's meant to be on your side?" The area around Patton cleared like magic leaving him standing alone, and not a little worried. Harry climbed down off the treatment table that he had been sitting on, and stepped in front of her.

"He was aiming at Krum. I should have moved out of the way quicker that's all. Without my slight deflection he would have knocked Krum off his broom. It was very nearly a brilliant shot." Harry could still feel her seething her face red with anger, so he reached down and grasped her forearm. It was like he had turned on a tap, and the anger flowed right out of her.

"You stupid sod," she said and then clung onto him. A visible wave of relief swept through Harry as he hugged her back. The room seemed to give a collective sigh of relief as well and normal conversation resumed.

"I'm I forgiven?" he said so that only Ginny could hear him.

"Nearly."

"It is Quidditch after all." Ginny pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"Yea you're right it is Quidditch, but don't expect Hermione to understand. She might kill you for that stunt."

"You'll protect me won't you," Harry said smiling.

"Maybe, I'll see. What was it like free falling like that?" There was a bright look in her eyes when she asked this, and Harry could tell she wanted to try it herself. Seekers they're really are half mad he thought, and as much as she wanted to play Chaser she was a Seeker at heart.

"It was amazing. Did you know that some Muggles do that as well?"

"Don't they kill themselves?

"They have parachutes. I'll show you a picture of it sometime," he added when he saw the quizzical look on her face.

"Are you free to go yet?"

"The Healer said I couldn't walk on it for about three hours, and he wants to check it before hand so I can't leave yet."

"I'd better go and tell Hermione and Ron. They won't let them in."

"Tell them we'll see them back at the hotel."

"Ok. By the way," she whispered in his ear, "you were magnificent out there. I'm so glad you're mine." Ignoring the catcalls and whistles Harry gave her a full blooded kiss, knowing that they were alright with each other. As she left the locker room his heart fluttered. He hated seeing her leave his sight, even when he knew that she would be back in moments.

"Hell of a woman, she scares the life out of me," Rodney Patton said behind him.

"I'll admit I was a little worried there for a second to," Harry replied.

"How did you calm her down so quickly? Power was just radiating off her. I thought I was a goner."

"I've no idea, but you would have been fine. She loves Quidditch as much as I do. She understands these things happen. What was the final score by the way?"

"Two hundred and sixty to seventy."

"Shame it wasn't the real score."

"Yea but at least we have something to be happy about."

"How's Preacher taking all this," Harry was feeling desperately sorry for the man.

"Not well, but he'll deal with it, all players lose at some point in time, and we all have to cope with it. Don't concern yourself about it. We wouldn't even be in the final if it wasn't for him. At least the papers will be leading with your exploits tomorrow rather than our defeat." Harry wasn't really sure how he felt about that. "We're going out tonight do you and your good lady want to come with us?"

"I don't think I'll be up for it to be honest. My body clock doesn't know what time of day it is." Ginny re-entered this time beaming at Harry. "Hi love were they all right?"

"Well Ron was worried that I'd killed you, and Hermione wanted to know whether there was enough left of you for her to finish off, but apart from that they're fine and they'll met us back at the hotel."

"Mrs Potter perhaps you could persuade Harry here that a night out would be fun for the pair of you. He's wimping out saying he's tired," Patton asked. Ginny looked at Patton and her eyes narrowed.

"Don't think I've forgiven you," she snapped. Harry watched as Patton stepped back swallowing nervously.

"Gin leave Rodney alone," Harry said. "Look Rodney we didn't get much sleep last night, our Portkey activates in about eight hours, and frankly I've had a busy day. I wouldn't be fit company, perhaps another time." Patton looked disappointed, but with Ginny eyeing him he didn't dare push the point.

"Ok Harry, but if you want advice about your Quidditch career anyone of us would be happy to give it."

"A Quidditch career!" Harry exclaimed. "I don't know about that."

"Are you serious, both of you are good enough to play professionally now."

"I doubt that," Harry said, "but thanks for the offer."

Harry was forced to shake everybody's hand as they left. Harry wasn't sure how he would have coped if Ginny hadn't been there with him. He could've done without her glaring at every good looking woman there, and there were plenty of them he thought in a small corner of his mind. It would be good to go home, and get ready to start his last year at Hogwarts. Now the time was close he was almost looking forward to it, except maybe the homework.

I'm a little anxious about this chapter I wanted to make the Quidditch realistic. (I can't believe I just wrote that.) I know what I envisioned I just hope it came out on the page. Thanks for the reviews they mean a lot.