A Ripple In TIme Keeperoliver Chapter 8 The Try Outs
A/N: There was quite a concern about the changing of Ron's personality. It was too fast for most. However, if he truly loved his family, like I am sure he did, then seeing someone save his sister from a certain death could cause this change. The only drastic part in his change was the admiration he showed for Harry. The rest was just accepting the others rather than belittle them. He didn't go all out to win them over. However, in this chapter, we will see Ron start to change again as he sees Harry taking a liking for his sister. As always, Ollie the Keeper.
ARIT-}
There were over two hundred students awaiting the start of the try outs. They were all seated in the stands looking on with anticipation. The judges were setting up a scorer's table in which to tally the points for each participant. Then they all stood, and turned to the students. Using a sonorus, Albus called out, "Thank you all for attending the try outs for the Hogwarts Quidditch Team. We will be selecting both starters and reserves for each position. That means there are fourteen slots that will be filled. There is no guarantee that if you are on a house team that you will automatically be on the School team. Now, each of you will pick the spot you wish on the team, and that will be the only position that you will be allowed to try out for. Once you are eliminated you will return to the stands, and may continue to watch as the others progress. If you feel the call for your elimination was unjust, a review can be used if the judges feel it is a just complaint. Since this looks to be a long day, I suggest you all take your positions for the try outs. Keepers will please gather under the north goal. Chasers will gather under the south goal. Beaters will gather on the east side line, and Seekers on the west side line. We will give every one 15 minutes to make their decisions, and then we will begin."
Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Draco were sitting together and when the Headmaster was finished with his opening statement, they talked about their choices. Ginny was the only Chaser, and Ron the only Keeper. Both Harry and Draco chose to be Seekers. They wished each other good luck, and took for for their other hopefuls.
There were six gathered for the Keeper position, with Oliver being the one with the most experience. Ron had not changed his opinion that he would be starting for the team, but, he was not as brash as he was before. He wished the others good luck, taking a little longer with Wood. "Good luck Oliver, I hope it is you and I at the end, and you can take being my back up?"
Oliver smiled at the smiled at the comment as he shook hands with Ron. "Well I hope you feel the same way if you should end up being my back up Ron."
They parted and waited for their name to be called.
Ginny had joined about 125 other hopefuls for the chaser position. She was nervous at the number of participants, and thought her chances of making the team were slim. She was grateful when she learned that all chasers, in order to have an equal chance were to be using the same broom type. Each would be using a Nimbus 2000.
Ginny joined Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, who were the chasers for the Gryffindor team. They all wished each other luck.
On the Beater side, Fred and George was keeping every one loose with their comic antics. No one knew who would be picked, and no one was bragging about their chances. They were all just as loose as the twins, which would be good for when the try outs began, as there would be less chance for someone getting hurt.
On the Seeker side, Harry and Draco talked with the other 15 people trying out, They also were given the same type broom so that there would be no unfair advantage. It seemed the school was taking every chance at making this as fair as they could so that there would be few complaints. They knew that some would complain because their personal broom was far better than the one they were using, but they were minor complaints.
The first portion of the try outs was speed and maneuverability for each position. The Keepers were split up and five were sent to each goal where they took to the air and were asked to move between rings, as if preparing for a rush from opposing Chasers.
The Beaters were asked to pair up, and hit the bludger back and forth while flying different patterns set forth by the judges. Fred and George paired with each other, and took to the air and began their pattern.
The Chasers were set up in sets of three and were to fly back and forth between goals passing to each other while avoiding the other participants flying from the other direction. 24 players or 8 teams were on the field for each reound, due to the large number of people trying out. Ginny was not in the first set, of hopefuls. The Gryphs starters were, and Ginny watched as they were flawless in their try outs.
The Seekers were asked to fly above the rest of the people and show off their search patterns. They were then told to be on the look out for three snitches that would be released. You were not restricted to just catching one. If you have already caught one, and have a chance to catch a second, then go for it. Draco shot off for the south goal, and set up his pattern from there. He was joined by six more. Seven others took off form the north goal to begin their pattern. Harry was set above the announcers table to begin his pattern.
Draco saw Harry take this position, and wondered why he had taken such a different approach to starting. He had been taught that you saw more of the field if you began your search at on end or the other. He never questioned this, until now. On instinct, he decided to try it Harry's way, and began his pattern on the east side.
The try outs were into their third hour, and over 100 have been eliminated. Most of them were the Chasers. Ginny however was still in the hunt for a position on the team. Alicia had been eliminated, when she collided with another participant coming from the other end while she had her back turned to pass to Katie. Both were eliminated, and neither complained.
For the beaters, Fred and George were far and away the best and were asked to back off from the practice, and help select their back ups. They slapped their hands in victory, and looked on to do as they were asked, happy with their knowing they were the starters for the team.
The keepers were down to four and Ron and Oliver were both in it. McLaggen was also still in it, as was the Slytherin Keeper.
Then, Mclaggen took him self out, when he crashed into the far left ring during a sliding shift he thought was a perfect chance to bolster his position. It just so happened that the Slytherin keeper was in the other goal, and saw this and started laughing. This caused him to be eliminated for his poor sportsman ship. Oliver was declared the starter, and Ron his back up. Ron flew to Oliver, "Good show, Wood, you were excellent. No wonder they got you in the pros already."
"You weren't so bad your self Ron. Good to know I have some one I can count on to be there if I should fail, or get hurt." And they once again shook hands and landed to watch the end of the competition. Ron was happy to see that the twins were already on the team, and very happy to see Ginny was still in the running for chaser. Harry and Draco were also still in the running for Seekers.
Harry and Draco had each caught one snitch and were with two other seekers in the running for the two open positions.
He and Draco had been in a dog fight to catch the last snitch but it eluded them in the stands, and they had to go back to their search patterns to await it showing up again. Harry took this time to admire Ginny as she continued on trying to win her spot on the team.
This was when he saw a wild shot from one of the beaters heading for Ginny while her back was turned. Harry dived to block the bludger from hitting Ginny, while Draco saw the snitch at the far end of the field. There was no competition for him, and he caught the snitch, while Harry had taken the bludger on the shoulder protecting Ginny from being hit. He was in pain as he came back down flying with just one hand controlling the broom. He pulled up with the one hand, but due to sweat, his hand slipped off, and he fell off his broom, causing further damage to his shoulder. He was out of the competition was his only thought as he laid on the ground holding his injured arm. Ginny never knew of what Harry had done, until she had won her spot on the team, and was celebrating with Angelina and Katie, the other two starters. Ron and the twins were the ones to tell her of what Harry had done, and she ran to the Hospital wing to see how he was doing. Hermione, Luna, and Draco were already there.
Ginny wanted to hug Harry, but he looked like he was in to much pain. She did sit on the bed and take his hand. "Ron and the twins told me what you did Harry. Thank you, but why? I mean you would be on the team if you hadn't taken that bludger for me."
"Ginny, you mean more to me than a spot on the team. A friend always comes first before a silly game. You would have done the same for me. At least I think you would?"
"Of course I would you ninny. Like you said, friendship first." She then leaned over and Kissed Harry on the lips.
This was the scene when Ron and the twins entered the wing. Ron went livid with rage when he saw Harry kissing his sister. He never thought that it was the other way around. Fred and George ware just smiling at the two, as they felt that their sister had finally found some one she could possibly get to like. They were too slow to stop Ron from rushing towards Harry with his fists balled up ready to hit Harry. Draco saw this, and stepped between Ron and Harry, and took a hit to the jaw from Ron. Draco dropped to the floor, and Luna was right there to pull his head onto her lap. Ron was soon looking onto the business end of Ginny's wand. "What the hell was that for you stupid git. Draco wasn't doing anything?"
"I didn't mean to hit Draco, I was going for Potter. Draco just happened to stand when I started to swing."
"Why were you going for Harry? He hadn't done anything either. He's injured for Merlin's sake. What were you going to do, finish him off? Are you so stupid and ignorant as to think he would take advantage of a person who he just saved. I was kissing him Ron, not him kissing me. You take one more step in Harry's direction, and you will be in a bed on the other side of the room, in worse shape than Harry."
"We all told you we would protect you from any one trying to get to you for your money. That's what I was doing. How do we know that is not what he is after?"
"So you think he would risk his life, and almost die, just to get his hands on what would be just a drop in the bucket to what he already has? You are completely insane Ron, do you know that? Did you see Fred and George come running over threatening Harry? No. Why? Because they have more common sense in their little fingers than you have in you whole body. They saw Harry flat on the bed, with me leaning over him, kissing him. They didn't see him on top of me, pinning my arms, and taking advantage of me. You have a weird sense of pride. Now get out of here before I do some damage. NOW! MOVE IT BEFORE I SET FIRE TO YOU'RE ARSE."
Ron turned and left the wing, and Ginny turned back to Harry, "Now, where were we, Oh ya, here." And Ginny was once again kissing Harry to which he had no complaints.
A few minutes later, Albus walked in and told Draco and Harry the results of the judging. Draco knew he was on the team, but after seeing Alicia, McLaggen, and the Slytherin eliminated for colliding, they thought Harry was done as well.
"Draco, and Harry, it is with pride that I announce you two as the seekers for the Hogwarts team. Since Draco caught 2 snitches, he is the starter, but, Harry, don't let this bother you, as you were every bit as good as He was. What you did to protect Miss Weasley, was greatly appreciated by the judges and myself. Congratulations to you all. I expect we will make a proud showing during the tournament. Now I expect Harry could use some rest, so why don't you all go done and get you a bite to eat."
Albus left, but that was all who left. Fred and George had conjured some chairs, and took seats to one side of Harry's bed. And Draco and Luna were on the other side. Hermione and Ginny sat on the bed with Harry, until Harry needed to use the Loo, and Hermione had to get up and let him out. As she stood up, she stepped on Harry's trainers and turned her ankle, and plopped down on Fred's lap. A smirk from Fred sent Hemione blushing. "Well it's nice to see you as well Miss Granger. Fancy meeting you here."
Hermione went to get up, but Fred put his arms around her waist. "What's the hurry, I was just getting comfortable?" Hermione glared at him, and he releasaed her to get up. She was ready to do that when she saw Harry struggeling to get up, so she stayed where she was. She started thinking, 'This is rather cozy.'
But the minute Harry was gone, Hermione stood up and pulled another chair over but, did put it close to Fred's chair.
Harry sat on the loo, thinking of the kiss he received from Ginny, and felt he liked it. Quite a bit he liked it. He wouldn't mind doing it again in the future. He finished up, and went back into the wing to see Hermione sitting close to Fred. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. She then looked down to see Fred reaching his hand over to take hers, and she completed it by reaching over and intertwined her fingers with his.
Harry stretched out on the bed, and Ginny gave him another kiss asking him, "Everything come out alright, Harry?" causing every one to laugh.
Harry winced as he laughed, and Ginny felt bad about causing him pain. Harry saw the concern in her eyes, and he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. "Don't fret Gin, it didn't hurt that much, and I enjoyed the laugh."
Harry's stunning green eyes took her breath away. She felt like she was swimming in the clearest green water she ever saw, and never wanted to come out. She smiled back at Harry, and continued to hold his hand.
ARIT-}
Harry was released from the wing four days later, and joined everyone in the great hall for lunch. He received cheers from the rest of his classmates, except Ron. Ron didn't glare at him, but he didn't smile at him either. Harry didn't know how to take this look he was getting from him.
He sat next to Ginny, and she took his hand under the table so Ron couldn't see it. Luckily she could eat with her left hand as well as her right, and Ron was too dense to notice the difference.
Harry noticed that Hermione and Fred were sitting very close. He turned his head to find Draco, and saw him sitting with Luna at the Ravenclaw table. They did not appear to be eating much, just staring into each others eyes.
He turned back around and started eating. He felt Ron staring at him with that unknown look, and tried to ignore it. Harry could not get over Ron's mood shifts that seemed to happen when ever something happened that Ron could not control. Harry decided to stay away from him, until he could accept him for who he was. Accept him as someone Ginny may be interested in, as He was definately interested in her.
Ron soon got up and left the table, and the hall going who knows where. Since it was Saturday, there were no classes, and it was too nice a day to be staying in the dorm, so maybe he went outside.
Since Ron left, Harry took Ginny's hand and brought it up and laid them on the table. Harry didn't care who else saw them holding hands, and neither did Ginny.
Harry thought back to when Sirius wanted to go back and let Greyback do his deed to Remus, and how he had been able to get Sirius to change his mind. He was never happier than right now for that decision, as He and Ginny were starting to feel an attraction for each other, and Sirius and Alice were very close, which made Neville very happy.
They were settling in to this new time line very well.