Written In The Body

Poetheather

A/N: If you haven't read it yet, please go read Young Toad in Love, a story of unrequited love between Trevor and… well, I'm sure you can imagine. :D

A/N 2: I took the I Write Like test, I guess you could say, inputting a good sized section of the last chapter and it said I wrote like J. K. Rowling. How cool is that? Apparently I can write my Harry Potter fanfic like actual Harry Potter. Who knew?

Still not JKR. I am nothing like her nor do I have that accent. Granted I can affect such an accent but that still doesn't give me ownership of this series.

Thirty-Three

Despite Cameron's very real concerns about the Slytherins and their justified anger nothing had happened since the Celebration of the Victory against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Since the warning, she had been on her toes and all the Prefects had been briefed to be even more on guard, because it was very likely that some of the other Slytherins would be irritated over the slight. Hermione could even sympathize with their concerns to a degree. The more she thought about it the more she had to say that it honestly wasn't their fault that Pugsly Parkinson was a stupid slag and so worried about her own bloody safety that she had been willing to sacrifice Harry in a heartbeat which in turn made her whole House seem to be on the same page as her and Voldemort. Granted there was the fact that Pansy had obviously never even thought past the ridiculously obvious fact that once Harry was gone what was going to deter Voldemort from coming in to the school and doing whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted. Yes she was worried for herself like any sane person would be in that situation but because that's where her thinking stopped she didn't see the consequences of that action and how it cost everyone else. Because tensions were running so high, and there had been enough Slytherins that had supported the Carrows and had worked as their enforcers, the whole House had been booted rather than for the defenders to take a chance on those who might have actually wanted to protect the school.

And now they were dealing with the further fallout of Pansy opening her bloody trap. Because of her there had been potential wands taken from the defense of Hogwarts, which might have saved lives and their removal, no matter how well reasoned it was at the time, was now fueling attacks by a group of angry students. And if that weren't enough now more dissent was formed thanks to a well-meaning but short sighted move by the Ministry. Sure those awards had been earned the hard way but it seemed time and again like the Ministry did not think of the larger issues involved. How the hell were she and Cameron going to fix this complete disaster? How were the teachers going to do it? It all seemed to be a bit too much to deal with and made her want to scream a little. Taking care of yet another seemingly insurmountable problem… did she have a sign on her forehead or something saying that she liked to do that, that it was a hobby?

If she could catch the bullies and stop them, then maybe she and Cameron could calm things down before the tensions between the Houses rose back to prewar levels again. As it was going it would end up with everyone versus Slytherin and it would be a slaughter. Fundamentally, it wasn't Slytherins fault that it was the House that held most of the blood purity idiots and the supporters of Voldemort. All that told her was that it was the House where the supposedly cunning had hitched their wagons to Voldemort, hoping for greatness and power in the end. It must have been a terrible shock for those power hungry bigoted idiots to discover that their precious Dark Lord didn't share power with anyone. When she had seen the Malfoys right after the battle they looked horrible, worn down, haunted, as if they hadn't slept in weeks, looking almost as bad as she and Harry did. After those years of peace and some of them starting families, things had to have been a revelation for so many.

Hermione shook her head. That was enough ruminating on things she couldn't do anything about right now. She remembered what that could lead to if she let it go on for too long and certainly wanted to avoid it. That level of stressing out did not hold any real appeal for her. Maybe she needed to go see Ginny and see how she was doing? With the game against Ravenclaw later today Ginny was really psyched and filled with all sorts of nervous energy that had her a bit agitated. While she had actually slept, when Ginny awoke she had bounded out of bed and had started moving about the room like a crazed thing. It had been exhausting to watch. Hermione had needed to get away from her after breakfast because Ginny's constant frenetic movement had been making her a touch motion sick and was doing something unpleasant to her anxiety. It was safer to be elsewhere while her love calmed down enough to think straight. Hermione had never really seen Ginny this bad and it had her worried.

She pulled free the Map and hunted down her girlfriend amongst all the other moving figures. It took her a little bit, as she had to scan wide swaths of area, but from what it looked like her girlfriend was pacing down in the Great Hall. There would be no one in there since it was between meals so it probably was a good place for her to vent some of her excess energy. So long as she didn't tire herself out too much before the game it should be okay. Hermione could understand why Ginny was nervous since it was her girlfriend's first match as Captain of the Gryffindor team and she was taking her position very seriously. Not Oliver Wood seriously, because Hermione wouldn't actually stand for that level of crazy, but seriously none the less. It was unsaid, but they both knew that the Headmistress was interested in seeing how she was going to do as the head of the team. And it would be interesting for a number of reasons.

There were a number of new players on the Gryffindor team, primarily because some of the better players had graduated or had not returned to the school for one reason or another after the war. There had been some attrition in all Houses thanks to the war but the Gryffindor team had been hit harder than any of the others. Ginny hadn't had to start the team from scratch, but with a new Chaser, two new Beaters and a new Seeker, Ginny had been working very hard to turn them into a team, let alone something to be reckoned with. From everything she had seen Ginny had been fighting an uphill battle.

Hermione had learned enough about the game and how to train for it thanks to reading Quidditch Through the Ages and the book on the Harpies, even grabbing a few books of Ginny's more specific books on game tactics that she had browsed, to know that taking a team this green and winning anything would be a difficult feat for anyone to pull off. It had become clear that Ginny had her work cut out for her. From what she had seen in the first match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin, those two teams were actually quite good in their play style. They had even trained up their few new players pretty well and did not have massive gaps in their skill levels. The only hope for the Gryffindor team in today's match was if Ravenclaw had sort of lost some of their edge somehow, and since they did have two new players it was possible that such was the case, especially since one of them was the Keeper. A new Keeper in their first actual game could be a definite liability if you could figure out a way to unnerve them. With a toss of her head, Hermione had to chuckle at herself, when had she actually gotten into this ruddy game enough to know all of this stuff so comfortably, let alone think about it on her own without any real prompting from Ron or Harry? True, she was no Ron who could have tossed off stats, history and the like for which she was very grateful. She did find it rather hysterical how much Ginny was corrupting her in their short time together whereas Ron had failed to corrupt her like this in over six years of active trying. Ah love, it was so powerful, so evil.

She walked past the double doors and sure enough there she was, her Ginny in the Great Hall pacing around, looking like she was fairly frazzled and somewhat sick to her stomach. Hermione's heart went out to her love, this really couldn't be easy. There was a lot of stress on the Captains and on Ginny more than most. In a lot of ways this game was kind of like one of the NEWT exams of her Professional dreams and she was going in with a team of mostly new and untested players. She could see where it would be like taking a test without studying beforehand and it only made her more empathic for her love's problems, not less. Hermione walked closer and held her arms open invitingly, "Oh Vixy… come here."

Ginny paused in her pacing, turning slowly in place, and spotted Hermione standing there, ready to hug her. The redhead's smile was weak but it was still there and that really let Hermione know how bad this had gotten since her girlfriend had left the room earlier that day. Maybe she shouldn't have escaped the nervous pacing if it could have helped her love avoid this state. Ginny strode over there and grasped Hermione tightly to her, crushing her girlfriend to her in a very Molly Weasley-esque hug. Hermione didn't really mind and hugged back, trying to take in little sips of air as best she could with her ribs so compressed. She ran her hand down the girl's hair, whispering soothing words to her with what air was available for that purpose, knowing that was what was most important. If she could calm down her girlfriend things would be good.

The death grip loosened and Hermione was thankfully able to get more air into her lungs. That was a pleasant sensation and she tried not to make a big deal out of it, even though her body wanted her to. Fundamentally it was of no consequence, making sure Ginny was okay was far more important. "Hey now… there is no reason to be this worked up Love. You will be great today. I am sure the team will be fine."

Ginny shook her head no, her face still down in Hermione's shoulder.

"Gin, what's wrong? If you don't let this out and let me help you relax some then you'll never be able to play in this state. I want you to play at your best so please share how you're feeling with me. What's going on Vixy?" Hermione was getting more and more worried about Ginny, seeing how emotional she was. Something strange was going on with her love and she had no clues to work from. It had to be connected to the match but outside of that she had no idea what it could be.

The voice that answered from her shoulder was small, weaker than she had ever heard it before, weaker than when Ginny had opened up to her about Fred, weaker than when Gin had come to her that one summer nervously asking for help in attracting Harry. Her girlfriend was almost curling up protectively around herself nestled tight inside her arms, almost sounded as if she were hurt inside somehow and it almost broke Hermione's heart to hear it. "I'm… I'm scared 'mione."

"Hey now… what does my brave little Vixen have to be afraid of? You have stood up against some of the foulest things this world could throw at you and you are still standing. You are one of the bravest women I know and I admire that about you. It is one of the things I love about you. So what scares my love?" Hermione tightened her grip as she kissed Ginny softly on her temple.

"The match. McGonnagall told me that a scout for the Harpies was going to be here today and I… I just can't stop freaking out over it. All I can think about is that I'm going into the most important game I've ever played with a team that isn't ready." Ginny fidgeted some and Hermione rubbed her back to calm her down, scritching her back lightly with her short nails.

"That's wonderful Ginny. I'm so excited for you. That means that they can see what the rest of us already know, just what an amazing player you are. All you can do and all you need to do is play your best and motivate the team to play its best. The rest will take care of itself." Hermione was trying reason on her to see if that was going to help calm Ginny down. It would be a disaster if Ginny played a game this important in this state.

"I know. I keep telling myself that but Hermione… this is a scout from the Harpies, the Harpies! at our first game of the year after we fought in a bloody war against a rutting madman with a team that can barely find its own feet with or without magic! How the hell am I supposed to be ready for this?" Ginny pulled back and looked at Hermione and her girlfriend's brown eyes were wide in her panic.

"Love, if you are going to impress this scout and show them what all the students here know, that you are a brilliant player who is more than ready to play professional Quidditch right this very moment, then you need to calm down and breathe. You can do this. I know you can't take a calming draught as it would affect your game play far too much but if you could I would totally give you some of mine if it would help. How about some chamomile tea? That might take the edge off your anxiety but not hurt your game play?" offered Hermione, thinking back to some of her earlier Herbology lessons. Professor Sprout had covered the simple uses of herbal teas in their first year, things that many muggles already knew about common plants all while they were still getting used to the nature of plants in the magical world. She had never forgotten those lessons.

Ginny nodded, seeing the wisdom of the suggestion. Hermione led her over to one of the tables where they sat down, facing each other. She laid a hand on Ginny's cheek and stroked it briefly with her thumb before lowering her arm and calling out, "Topsy?"

The House Elf that had been assigned to her arrived with a slight pop and asked, "Yes Miss Grangy? What can Topsy do for you?"

"Thank you for coming Topsy. I was wondering if you could get Ginny here some chamomile tea to help with her nerves?" asked Hermione politely, smiling at her house elf.

"Absolutely Miss Grangy." She vanished and then reappeared shortly with a cup of steaming fragrant liquid resting on a saucer. "Here you go Miss Wheezy. Feel better."

"Thank you Topsy." That concern from the House Elf seemed to help Ginny some.

The House Elf smiled and looked slightly embarrassed with the thanks she was getting from both Hermione and Ginny. "You're welcome Miss Wheezy."

After Topsy left and the two girls grinned at each other, Hermione fluttered her eyes at Ginny and said in a worshipful voice, "My Wheezy!"

"Hush up you!" Ginny pouted a little and sipped her tea while Hermione giggled at the slight blush on her girlfriend's cheeks. It was clear that despite everything that Ginny had enjoyed that.

"You know I will do anything to help you relax." said Hermione honestly.

Ginny looked suddenly interested in that notion, perking up quite a bit. "Wait what? Anything?"

Hermione blushed a little, knowing some of the ideas lurking in the redhead's mind as she often had similar thoughts herself. Ginny was nothing if not creative which was a trait that Hermione certainly appreciated. "How about anything within reason, especially this short before a game?"

"Spoilsport." teased Ginny, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, perhaps that can be your victory reward, the better you play the more… fun we can have afterwards. Just so you know… I finished that section of the book and… well, let me just say that I have some lovely ideas for passing the time. The fact that someone already invented the spells I needed for those particular purposes has saved me so much work." Hermione smirked lustily and winked at Ginny.

The grin on Ginny's face increased, as her mind fell even deeper into the gutter, if it were even possible. "Well my love, you have certainly provided me with an alternate thing to think about before the match. I play well and then you try out things from that book you keep teasing me with. I think I like your system of barter."

Hermione's eyes sparkled playfully as she said, "Well… I don't know… seeing as you are actually younger than me, I wouldn't want to, you know, corrupt your poor innocent mind with my dreadfully perverted ways."

Ginny goggled at her as she spoke and then started laughing. Her laughter grew so loud and strong that the redhead bent over and eventually fell off the bench, barely able to control her fall. She was rolling on the ground, kicking her legs in the air, which gave Hermione a very lovely view of Ginny's lucky game panties, the girl all but gasping for breath. This was a sight she really was enjoying. Who knew that helping Ginny feel better would result in a show? When Ginny finally had some air back in her lungs, she gasped out, "Hermione Jean Granger, corrupter of innocent minds!"

That started the redhead off again.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Ginny was clearly no longer distressed now but at what cost. This was, while a lovely sight, not a very dignified position for her girlfriend. She glanced down at the amazingly clear view of Ginny, the way the material of her Gryffindor panties tightly cupped her pudenda and ass that she knew she had to do this. It was honestly too good to pass up. Quickly she leaned down and swatted her girlfriend's muscular butt with a good deal of force, getting a good contact and a nice sound. Ginny yelped in surprise and pain, bounding to her feet, rubbing the sore spot. Hermione affected her best McGonagall as she said, "Are you done oversharing yourself with anyone who has eyes to see?"

Blushing brightly, Ginny said, "What? What you said was really funny."

"I know Vixy and thankfully no one saw anything and we all know I enjoyed the show you gave me. But I figured there was no reason for you to overshare with anyone else. They haven't earned the privilege. You're mine after all Weasley." growled Hermione possessively.

Ginny smiled at that, "You know… I kind of like this possessive side of you."

Quirking an eyebrow, her thoughts racing with all the interesting possibilities such a phrase could imply, Hermione replied, "Do you now?"

Grinning in answer, Ginny came over and hugged Hermione before kissing her. "I do indeed. I happen to think that it makes you even sexier if that were even possible Kitten."

Trying not to moan after Ginny bit and sucked on her earlobe, Hermione focused on speaking as her eyes fluttered from the pleasure, "I believe I said after the match Vixy."

Snickering, Ginny kissed Hermione's cheek and leaned back. "Yes, yes you did. And trust me, I will hold you to that Miss Granger."

"Did you need to get ready?" asked Hermione, trying to get her mind off the notion of ravaging Ginny long into the night. Ginny was always so much more aggressive and playful after a workout she kind of wondered what it would be like after a game. There really were some interesting spells in that book that she was so looking forward to trying out.

"Uhm… yeah, now that you mention it I guess I should. You probably should get ready as well. I wonder if Luna is going to wear her lion hat today. I love that thing." commented Ginny.

Hand in hand the two of them headed upstairs towards the Gryffindor Tower. Once in their room, Hermione watched Ginny change with a blissful look on her face, pleased with the sight of Ginny taking off her bra and then putting on a muggle sports bra which her mother had bought for Ginny over the summer. Once her girlfriend was fully dressed in her Quidditch uniform with the exception of the pads, Hermione blinked back from lust filled sight to regular awareness and simply grinned at the redhead who shook her head at Hermione, amused.

"I'm going down with the team so we can talk last minute strategy and such. I have a few ideas about how we can win this match but it is going to take some clever talking to get some of them to believe it. See you after the game love. I am really looking forward to our own celebration." They shared a passionate kiss that hinted at just how good the victory celebration would be later that night.

"See you Gin, play smart." said Hermione, calling out to her love. She really did love how good Ginny was at kissing. It simply took her breath away.

"Always." Ginny closed the door behind her with a confident grin, winking at her girlfriend as she did.

Hermione lay on her bed looking at the ceiling and grinned like a fool. Her life was so good right now and despite all the other issues she had going on, she really had very little to worry about. She was healing even if it was slow going and things were looking up over all. Then there was the fact that she had literally found the girl of her dreams, which was also a huge plus. Getting healthy and being in love, life really was good.

She shook her head and sat up. This was not really the time to be daydreaming about such things. She needed to gather up her things, like her jumper, coat and knit hat as it was going to be somewhat cold and windy out there. Unlike Luna, she was happy to show her support for the House team through less flamboyant means. Of course, the fact that she was wearing one of Ginny's extra uniform tops was less than subtle to anyone who saw it but it wasn't like she was going to be wearing just that in this weather. It was certainly cool enough that bundling up was the important thing to do. However, wearing the top made her feel closer to Ginny which was why she was wearing it.

Once back down to the common room, Hermione spotted Simon sitting with the girls in his year. She headed over to where they were all huddled around a small table chatting and then asked, "So Simon, I take it you're going to go down to the game with your lady friends?"

He looked up at her then over at the girls, who seemed very expectant of his answer to this question. Their looks made him blush a little and get a touch flustered, making him look down at the table top. "Uh… yes. We went together last game so I thought this time I would go with them."

She beamed at him, so happy that he was making friends amongst his year mates. So what if it wasn't what most boys his age would be doing, hanging out with all those girls. It was kind of the opposite of what she had done and that was perfectly alright. After all it's not like she could say that turned out badly. He was happy and these girls seemed happy to have him around so all was right in the world. If only the other boys in his year would really interact with him. That would make things even better. She gave him a quick hug and then said, "Have fun and I'll see you at the match. I'll tell Luna that the reason that you're not coming with us is that you're going with your girlfriends."

"Hermione!" Simon sounded truly scandalized and his face was bright red. He was looking at all the girl's faces to see if they were offended.

The girls were laughing and making kissy faces at him, giggling mightily as his red color darkened. Hermione shook her head as she walked away laughing as well. Yeah, Simon had found some really nice friends who had embraced him for who he was and really seemed to enjoy his company, liking him for him and drawing him out. It was really nice to see the boy more chatty and interacting with more people. She walked out of the portal and after saying goodbye to the Fat Lady, headed towards the Ravenclaw tower so she could pick up Luna.

When she reached the corridor with the door to Ravenclaw tower she spotted Luna leaning up against a wall, wearing her lion hat waiting for her. She looked over at the curly haired girl with her usual dreamy smile, "Hello Hermione. Are you ready to go down to the game?"

She grinned at the eccentric blond and said, "Absolutely Luna. I am looking forward to watching Ginny play."

The two of them headed on down the stairs, chatting happily about her relationship with Harry, classes, and sharing a little chuckle over Simon and his girls. "It is rather funny to think that all evidence shows that Simon is more of a ladies man than Harry ever was. Of course, he could have gotten most anyone in the school, even a few of the boys, to drop their knickers for him if he had just asked you know."

"Really Luna?" Hermione seemed surprised by that statement. The idea that her best friend Harry was that attractive to the overall population of the school was a strange notion. He was just Harry after all, the slightly annoying little brother who would do anything for his friends and those he saw as family. They saw each other as family, especially since those days during the Horcrux hunt when it was just the two of them alone against the world. It was where their already deep friendship effectively turned to something more akin to siblings than anything else. She knew that messy, clumsy, humble boy who would fight off the world for his family was there for her, just as if they had been raised together. So, it really was a bit odd to think of her "brother" as someone so sexually desirable to a majority of the school.

"Absolutely. I heard so many girls pining over Harry for years that it was rather silly. I have heard lots of angry rants about you and how you were keeping him from their loving hands. Thanks to my date with him to Slughorn's party I actually had even more of my things stolen from me as a result. As if their anger and spitefullness would make Harry care for them or make me like him any less." stated Luna, her eyes rather dreamy as if she could look back and see their date.

Hermione pulled Luna into a hug. "I am so sorry that you had to endure that. I know all about bullying and how bad it can be. I wish we could have done more to stop that."

"It's okay Hermione. I knew that if I really needed the help you would be there. I had friends then, I have friends now. I had Harry then, I have Harry now. Clearly their endeavor to keep us apart failed most spectacularly. If they had spent more of their time studying for classes as opposed to bothering me with their petty jealousy issues they might actually be in a better place for their NEWTS as opposed to lagging so far behind us." Luna smirked slightly. "Besides they are all so infested with Wrackspurts that they probably now qualify as colonies."

The snort Hermione gave was less than dignified and actually hurt her sinuses a little. The whole notion was pretty funny the more she thought about it.

"You know, the Chang Memorial Colony has done very well from what I've heard. It is apparently being used to help with rebuilding the Wrackspurt population. They have had great success with their breeding program." Luna said dryly, no smile to give away anything that she was feeling.

Unable to resist, Hermione just started laughing out loud, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes. The very concept Luna was putting forth was just too messed up not to be funny.

"Honestly Hermione, viable long term Wrackspurt colonies are no laughing matter. These things must happen if the species is not to die." Luna eventually broke into a wide smile, unable to maintain the serious look on her face any longer.

"Oh Merlin Luna… that was priceless. God… the Chang Memorial Colony… we have got to tell Ginny that one, she would love it. Harry might enjoy it as well." Hermione one arm hugged the blond. This was another of those times where the blond girl was just too adorable for words. If it weren't for Ginny and if Luna weren't straight, they could be wonderful together.

"Well, while it's true that Cho's head is just packed full of wrackspurts on a long term basis, I'm not sure we can officially call it a breeding colony." stated Luna seriously.

Hermione felt like she was being wound up some more but went along with it anyway knowing that Luna had to have a reason for this. The girl almost always had some sort of strange logic behind the things she said, "Why's that?"

"I don't think they have a flag."

Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved Luna lightly. "Prat."

Luna smiled blissfully at Hermione and they linked arms as the two of them exited the school into the brisk October air. There was a stream of students headed down towards the pitch, wanting to see the match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. There was a lot of excitement about it due to how dominant the Gryffindor team had been for the last few years thanks to Harry and Ginny's playing but this was a different team and things could prove to be very different this year. Hermione was a bit curious about something and asked, "So, do you think people will give you any grief for supporting Gryffindor?"

"I think not. They never cared about me doing so before so I don't see why they would start to care now. Besides, it's not like my House has really supported me." replied Luna rather dispassionately.

Hermione gave the girl a hug. "Well you know us Gryffindors support you."

Luna's only reply was to make her hat roar, getting some attention from the students walking towards the pitch, mainly from some of the younger years who were staring.

Once in the stands they found themselves some seats that would give them a good view of the action and got settled. The rest of the school arrived and soon the stands were full of excited students and teachers, with even a few parents in and among the crowd all clamoring excitedly. Hermione knew that this game was going to be interesting because of the strategy that Ginny had come up with, which sounded crazy to her but had to admit that Ginny knew what she was talking about. Since the Gryffindor Seeker was so new with barely enough experience to really be a challenge for the other team, they were not going to count on them catching the snitch for the win, but rather by getting more points scored than the Claws. It was an ambitious and aggressive plan given that the Ravenclaw team had so much more experience on their side. The fact that their Keeper was green was their biggest advantage in making this plan work. That was the weakest link in the Ravenclaw team after all.

From what she had been told, Ginny was planning on a total blitz, on aggressive, almost reckless flying, especially on her part, in order to get the advantage and hold it for as long as it took. Ginny now had the fastest broom on the field, faster than the brooms of either of the Seekers, thanks to her birthday present from Harry. Hermione was worried but knew that Ginny was an amazing player and would be able to handle the broom to maximum effect. She knew what she was doing. Tonight's victory celebration would be so worth it since Ginny would be buzzing from the win.

The players came out of their locker rooms to loud cheers and fanfare, each team taking their warm-up laps to a veritable wall of noise. She had no problem picking out Ginny as the red hair in a braid was a bit easier to spot than the black mop of Harry's had been. Thankfully all of her girlfriend's play would be down closer and somewhat easier to see as it would be all within the same general area. Sometimes watching Harry play as Seeker was so boring and really not all that interesting to watch until he spotted the snitch. Then it almost always made her stomach drop and her heart jump into her throat as he defied magic, logic and physics to catch that damn thing. She was okay with not having to watch that anymore as she wasn't sure her heart could take it. Ginny's play as Chaser was a good bit more engaging since it was a certainly a bit more dynamic but also worlds safer. Certainly less death defying.

Hermione could tell something different was going on when the game started and Ginny practically exploded from the ground, snatching the quaffle from the air almost before anybody moved as she launched herself skyward, exploiting the acceleration of the Firebolt perfectly. She blazed downfield and scoring a goal passed a stunned Keeper who apparently could not believe how fast that had happened. The Gryffindor stands erupted in cheers for that but Hermione was a bit concerned. Ginny was not usually so wild or aggressive in her style of play. True that was what she said she would have to do in order to have a real chance of winning but hearing it and seeing it were clearly different things. She took Luna's hand and squeezed it tight.

While the Ravenclaw team was nominally better there was something about Ginny's strategy that seemed to be keeping them flatfooted at every turn, unable to take advantage of any of their opportunities. The three Chasers play was hyper aggressive, even the new one, striving to intercept passes and then shooting towards the opposite goal like a bullet. They started flying straight towards the Keeper before passing the Quaffle to someone following at the last possible second before they had to pull up or dodge to avoid hitting him. While it was a technically legal strategy of play it was not really a very nice one. It was obviously seriously unnerving the new Keeper as he was getting sloppier and sloppier as the game progressed making it easier on the Chasers to get shots past him and through one of the three rings.

This tactic that Ginny had come up with was working rather well for them, as the Gryffindor team was easily outscoring Ravenclaw at least five or six to one. The Gryffindor Keeper was working very hard to deny passage of what few shots came towards her and was playing amazingly; actually a touch better than Ron but that might simply be this match and the smaller percentage of shots on goal. Regardless of the reason, they were playing great. But above all, Ginny was something else, playing like something out of this world. Hermione knew that Ginny was phenomenal on a broom but this display of flying prowess was at a whole other level. The majority of the Gryffindor points were thanks to her and the others were often thanks to assists by her. The Ravenclaw Beaters were now focusing on her a good bit more and were barely missing her with their shots as she was moving so fast thanks to the Firebolt. Hermione's heart was in her throat almost worse than when she watched Harry play. At least that boy was generally safe until her did his insane dive after the Snitch; Ginny was in the thick of things. She understood what Ginny was doing and it made sense, it really did and she kept telling herself that. This particular tactic really was the only way to compensate for a new and green Seeker who would win thanks to sheer luck rather than any skill on their part but it was scaring the life out of her.

"Ginny is doing quite well." commented Luna rather calmly.

"I'm going to kill her." murmured Hermione, her hands now clenched tightly in the fabric of her jacket as they were unable to close around Ginny. Her eyes never left the redheaded streak that was blazing over the pitch.

Luna rested a hand on her shoulder, "You know Hermione, from everything I've heard, killing the one you love is not usually a helpful response to a high stress situation."

"Not helping Luna." ground out Hermione, gritting her teeth as Ginny dodged around a Ravenclaw Chaser and ducked a Bludger as she chased after the Quaffle.

"And there goes Dewhurst, I think he's seen the snitch!" cried out the announcer, making people look skyward. Hermione instead kept her eyes focused on the woman she loved.

Ginny sped forward snatching the quaffle from a long forward pass between two of the Ravenclaw Chasers and began racing towards the opposite goal. She was dodging around the Chasers attempting pursuit, maneuvering her way closer to the three rings. It was another virtuoso example of flying and she was handling the high end broom as if it were nothing. She was almost there when Dewhurst began stretching out his arm for the golden ball, a short distance away from victory. The roar of the crowd grew until it became an absolute cacophonic wave crashing over everything. Both she and Dewhurst were juking back and forth towards their individual goals, each drawing closer towards their aims moment by moment.

Finally in the position she wanted to be in, drawing back her arm, Ginny feinted right and threw left, the ball leaving her hand just as both Bludgers finally found her. One impacted solidly at her hip and thigh, just over where she was seated on the broomstick. The other Bludger slammed into the back of her head, driving the Gryffindor Chaser from her broom, making her topple forward, falling head first towards the ground below.

Hermione's world stopped, and she barely heard anything else as she watched the love of her life begin to plummet earthward. She barely registered bounding to her feet, her hand shooting out, stretching forth her arm until it ached, almost as if she could catch her tumbling love, and calling something out with a tear filled voice. All she saw was Ginny falling in slow motion towards the hard earth, the red of her hair tainted with a deeper color as it seemed as if everyone else around her erupted into cheers of victory.