J.K. Rowling owns.
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October 2000
The entire family crowded into the stands. Molly and Arthur led them in, followed by Andromeda, who was leading two-year-old Teddy. Harry was next to Teddy, and next to him were Ron and Hermione. Bill and Fleur had brought baby Victoire, Percy had brought his girlfriend Audrey, and George was with Angelina. Harry even caught sight of Neville and Hannah, accompanied by a dreamy Luna Lovegood, who, as usual, was accompanied by an issue of The Quibbler and a vacant expression, as though she had ended up there by accident.
The stands were filling quickly with spectators for the match. It was Ginny's debut as chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, and the whole family were a little nervous for her.
Ginny hadn't been nervous, when Harry bid her goodbye. Well, she had been more than a little distracted by Harry's version of goodbye.
He had also given her a gift, to say good luck. It was a beautiful gold pendant, with swirling flowers engraved on the top. It opened, and inside was one of the pictures of Harry and Ginny, that they had taken the day they moved into their house.
"Now I can always have you with me," she whispered, kissing him softly on the lips.
The game was due to begin in five minutes, and the crowd were already excited. On one side of the stadium, a few tipsy supporters were trying and failing to start a Mexican wave. The babble of talk rose, and the tone of every voice was excited.
Finally the commentator began to speak, and was interrupted by a wave of cheering. He called out the names of each player of the Holyhead Harpies as they walked out onto the pitch.
Harry felt an overwhelming surge of pride as his girlfriend walked onto the pitch, her name embroidered in gold on the back of her green robes. Her hair was tied back into a high ponytail, and looked beautiful with the green. Harry looked across to see Mrs Weasley wiping her eyes, whispering to herself.
Harry could feel the tension rising as the captains shook hands and the players prepared to start the game. The whistle blew and Harry say Ginny dive in to take first possession of the quaffle.
"And they're off. That's new chaser Ginny Weasley of the Holyhead Harpies, famously the girlfriend of Harry Potter, with the quaffle. She passes to Parry, who passes to Llewellyn. And it's back to Weasley, who's speeding towards the hoops. Nice underarm pass to Parry there, who passes back to Weasley. She's coming up to the goalposts. Will she… WEASLEY SCORES! Ten points to the Harpies! A fantastic start to her career with the Holyhead Harpies!"
Harry watched with amazement the flawless moves of the three chasers. The only time he had seen Quidditch even close to this good was at the Quidditch World Cup, over six years ago, although having been captain of the Gryffindor team, he could appreciate the complexity of the manoeuvres.
Half an hour into the game, the score was 120-30 to the Harpies, and Ginny had scored over half of the goals. Harry knew that she would be beating herself up over the two that the keeper had saved, but no one in the crowd cared, they were going wild every time the team scored a goal.
The match lasted just over an hour. The final score was 310-60. The Weasley family gave the loudest cheers as the team did a lap of honour. Ginny waved excitedly from her broom as she passed them.
The whole family waited for her outside. As she left the changing rooms, wearing jeans and a Holyhead Harpies sweatshirt, she was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug from her mother and father.
"We're so proud of you baby!" Mrs Weasley, sobbed.
"Calm down mum," Ginny said. "There's still an entire season to play before they decide they don't want me on the team!"
"Are you mad?" Ron asked incredulously. "You scored almost all the goals!"
"You're right Gin," Bill said seriously. "I'm sure that scoring ten goals out of sixteen just won't be enough to keep you on the team." He laughed, pulling her into a tight hug. "You played amazing baby sister. We're all so proud."
After being congratulated by the rest of the assembled extended family, Ginny walked over to Harry. "You were amazing, Ginny," Harry said, before kissing her on the lips. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck, and for a moment Harry forgot where he was.
"Really guys," Ron said, in a tired voice. "Do I really need to see this?"
"Leave them alone Ron," Hermione scolded.
Harry and Ginny broke apart, grinning. "Thanks for being here you guys," Ginny said. "It made me feel so much better, knowing you were out there." She paused. "Now, who's coming to the after-match party with me?"
In the end, it was just Harry, Ron and Hermione, George and Angelina who went with her. Bill and Fleur wanted to get home and Percy had work in the morning (although no one had really expected him to go).
The party was excellent, filled with excellent food and more Firewhisky than there should have been. Needless to say, the six returned home slightly the worse for wear, and all got up late the next day.
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Thank you to everyone out there who's reading this. I always love hearing your opinions.