Chapter Eleven: Down to the Pitch

"Another ten points to Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan called into the microphone, causing the red and gold and black and yellow sections of the stands to erupt into cheers. It was a nice day, as wintery days at Hogwarts go, and once again the entire school was bundled up and had turned out to watch Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Gryffindor was at a slight disadvantage with Ginny as Seeker, she was good but nowhere as good as Harry, but they were holding their own.

In the stands, the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff sections, three sets of eyes were focused on a faraway point.

"Can she even see up there?" Harry asked Cedric, on whose shoulders he sat as Draco was perched on Kevin's.

"Yeah, you see it?" Cedric sounded slightly astounded.

"Sure. Gold against white, pretty easy…"

Cedric chuckled, "Should've figured as much…I think Julie's seen it as well…."

Indeed Julie's eyes were also trained on the glint of gold flittering by the Ravenclaw hoops.

And then disaster struck. Ginny got broadsided by a Bludger to the skull and was rendered unconscious. Thankfully George, or Fred, managed to grab her before she slipped from her broom. A quick intermission was called, with Ginny taken to the Hospital Wing.

"We need a Seeker!" Angelina Johnson, Captain of the Quidditch team since Oliver Wood had graduated the year before, shrieked, panicking as what was left of her team gathered in their showers. This couldn't be happening! This couldn't be happening! THIS COULDN'T BE HAPPENING! First Harry, now Ginny, "WE NEED A SEEKER OR WE FORFEIT!"

Suddenly the twins snapped their fingers and took off running out, nearly tripping over their own robes. Minutes later they came back, carrying a very resistant Julie, "Got a Seeker!" they declared happily, setting her down.

"I don't play!" she said heatedly, giving a glare that would have made Molly Weasley proud. The boys were cowed but the rest of the team wasn't, "Please Julie!" Alicia Spinnet begged, "We're so close to the cup!"

"Yeah! And you're the third best Seeker in the house!" Dean Thomas, filling in for the regular Keeper as he was ill, added.

"And get killed? No thank you!"

"You won't get killed." Fred rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, only seriously injured." George finished.

"Gee," Julie deadpanned, "that's comforting…"

"We'll have a twin shadow you." Angelina offered, "Just you…"

"You're not going to let me go without me agreeing are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Just gimme a damn broom!"

They cheered and got her ready, leading her out onto the pitch as Lee Jordan announced, "And playing for Gryffindor for the first time in her life, in place of Ginny Weasley, Julie Yamamoto!" She sighed, her feet dragging. If she died she was so going to haunt the pitch.

The balls had been placed back into their crate; the two teams lined up in the center once more and waited calmly for Madam Hooch to reiterate the basic rules and game play before she kicked off, blew her silver whistle, and opened the box, unchaining the Bludgers and Snitch and levitating the Quaffle a good few feet into the air and letting the ball drop, with a spell as the teams swarmed up around her. The Keepers shot off to their posts, the Chasers scrambling for the Quaffle and shooting off to score.

The Seekers went above them all, higher than the rest, one of the Twins trailing after Julie.

"You'll do fine!" Cho Chang shouted to her rival Seeker, "Just keep an eye on everything around you!"

Julie smiled and signaled her thanks for the vote of confidence and so it began.

"What the hell is she doing up there?!" Ben shouted, having been looking for Julie and finally finding her.

"Seeking." Gwen replied causally.

"Can they force her to do that?!" Hermione gasped, knowing her friend's distaste for the game.

"Yep." Cedric nodded, "But last time they gang-pressed anyone was in nineteen-seventy-eight, Slytherin versus Hufflepuff. The Slytherins made Severus Snape Seek after their Seeker got expelled…"

"W-wait! Snape?!"

"Yep. She'll be fine."

"—moto is riding a borrowed Nimbus Two-Thousand-Two and apparently this is her first time Seeking for anything more than fun." Jordan narrated.

"Can someone tell him to shut it?!" Julie called to the twin following her. He nodded and signaled to the other who signaled down to Angelina who peeled off to tell Jordan. Angelina then signaled to one twin who signaled to his brother who signaled to Julie that it was taken care of. She signaled her thanks and concentrated on Seeking.

"Watch it!" her protector called out causally as he zipped in front of her, causing her to stall upright in midair in order not to hit him, as he batted away a Bludger.

(Down in the stands Ben was having a panic attack, clutching his chest).

And then suddenly she saw it, flittering by the Slytherins. She sped off towards it, leaving her own Beater in the dust. Then she realized that if she just went for it she'd collided with the students and, even though they were Slytherins, she couldn't do that to them. Out of the blue she remembered Ben-Jetray's favorite maneuver and grinned; she increased her speed to as fast as the broom could go, grabbed for the Snitch with one hand before rolling onto her side, spinning one-eighty, and breaking like mad to stop her progress. As she closed her hand around the cold metal ball the tail end of her broom just barely brushed the stands' waist height barrier.

"Wow! Look at her pull that broom around!" Jordan was screaming as the crowd went nuts, all except the Slytherins of course, "BUT DID SHE CATCH THE SNITCH!?"

Grinning like a loon she thrust her fist into the air and showed the audience that yes she did have the Snitch.

"GRYFFINDOR IS GOING TO THE FINALS! GRYFFINDOR IS GOING TO THE FINALS!" Jordan chanted as Julie was slammed into by the entire team and carried to the ground. On the ground she was hefted onto the team's shoulders and carried back to the castle for a celebration party. (Only after Ben dragged her up to the Hospital Wing for a once over).

"Julie," Angelina and the rest of the team cornered her, "We want you to take over Seeking, until Harry's good to go…"

"But you guys have Ginny…" Julie said bemusedly.

"She never would've pulled the stunt you did today," Fred voiced.

"Are you going to trap me here until I say yes, again?"

"Pretty much…"

"Fine. I still get my own Beater…"

"Deal." They left her alone.

"Ben," she waved him over, "I need to get my own broom…"

"Why?" he asked apprehensively.

"They've gang-pressed me, permanent service. Until Harry's back to normal…"

"…Fine. We'll get you the best on the market…"