Harry woke up the day of the match against Hufflepuff with butterflies in his stomach. The memory of the match from last year still haunted him. Not only had they lost, the only reason they had lost by a slim margin was because Ginny had been so quick to catch the Snitch. Ron had certainly improved since his first two games on the Gryffindor team, but what if he lost his confidence and he couldn't catch the Snitch quickly enough?

After several minutes of imagining the worst case possible scenarios, he finally pushed the curtain aside from his bed and decided to face the day. The other beds were still closed off, Harry tiptoed to the window to gauge what the weather looked like.

It was sunny...almost too sunny. Sirius had shown him how to cast a spell on his glasses to double as sunglasses, which would help, but he was the only one on the team who wore them. It would be hard for everyone else to see what was going on, what with the sun glaring in their face.

On the other hand, the other team would have the same problem in a few hours' time. Harry wasn't sure if any of the Hufflepuffs wore glasses, or if they knew the charm. It was a very handy one, although not taught in the early years. Or ever, most likely.

Harry smiled to himself. He knew he was doing better this year with his lessons than he ever had before, and it was thanks to his godfather. Sirius didn't try to force extra lessons on him, either. He just made the offer available, and taught the way Remus had, making everything easier to understand. Also, he wasn't like Hermione, who often sounded like she's swallowed the textbooks.

He just hoped his godfather wouldn't be disappointed.

"What are you doing?" came Ron, causing Harry to jump. "Sorry."

"Checking on the weather," Harry answered.

Ron stood beside him. "Reckon we got nice weather for the match. Bit sunny, though."

"More than a bit."

"Er, yeah." Ron studied the sky. "Maybe, some clouds will move in."

It was unlikely. From their view, at least, there wasn't a single one in the sky.

"Maybe." Harry shrugged, then turned to Ron. "We'll be fine. Our extra practices have really helped, and I expect I can catch the Snitch soon."

"Probably," Ron said, with a grin. "Remember how you nearly swallowed it during our first year?"

Harry had to laugh at this. "They said the win shouldn't count."

"Like they'd say that if it had been one of them. Who was their Seeker, anyway? Flint?" Ron asked. "It's been so long."

"I think he was their Keeper. Not very smart, as he got held back a year," Harry recalled.

"Think he's a Death Eater, now?" Ron wondered, sitting down on the window seat.

"Not all Slytherins are Death Eaters, you know," Harry reminded him. "Anyway, I don't know what happened to him. Haven't thought about him in ages."

"Wood's with Puddlemere, isn't he?"

"Last I heard."

They sat quietly for a bit. Harry felt the nerves, if not disappear, at least go down a bit. Ron didn't seem nervous, or not very, which meant things were looking up.

A couple of hours later, glancing down at the stands, as he, Ron, and Hermione waited for Sirius, Harry thought that there weren't nearly as many people as there had been for the match against Slytherin. Perhaps, everyone assumed that Gryffindor would beat Hufflepuff. Or, there just weren't as many students at school. Harry had noticed some gaps in his classes, with parents taking their students home. After Katie's encounter with the locket, and Hogsmeade trips flat out canceled for the remainder of the year, it was as though there was a nonverbal admission that Hogwarts was no longer entirely safe.

Ron seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Not as crowded as usual, is it?"

"Well, there aren't as many students here, are there?" Hermione pointed out. "Some of their parents evidently think that Hogwarts isn't the safest place to be right now."

"Can't blame them, after what happened to Katie. Though I wish they hadn't canceled all of the Hogsmeade trips," Ron groused, only for the millionth time that week.

Hermione gave him a rather tolerant look, but said nothing.

Part of that, Harry suspected, was that his godfather had just come into view. Wearing bright scarlet and gold robes, he waved a hand enthusiastically as he approached them.

Harry grinned at the sight. His godfather had worn similar colors to the last match. He wondered, briefly, if Sirius would have been the type of parent to go all out like that whenever Harry had a game.

Probably.

"Looking good, Sirius!" Hermione said, cheerfully, as he approached.

Sirius chuckled and extended his arms to her. Immediately, Hermione stepped into the hug, a warm smile on her face. Ron was next, smiling a bit less broadly than Hermione, but still happy enough to receive a hug.

Harry was sure he was grinning ear to ear when it was his turn. He might have grown a few inches since they had first met, but his godfather was still a good head taller. Harry savored the warm hug, feeling the love from his godfather that had been entirely missing from his life before starting school.

And even then, having Ron and Hermione (and yes, even Mrs. Weasley, although she meant well) was not the same as having a guardian.

He let go of Sirius rather sooner than he would have liked. Perhaps seeing this, Sirius put an arm around his shoulder.

"How are you feeling about the game?" he asked, once they had sat down on a nice patch of grass.

"A bit nervous," Harry admitted. Lest Ron should think he was the reason why, he quickly added, "Did Dad ever feel that way after he became captain?"

Sirius chuckled. "Your father became captain in our fourth year. Threw up before every game."

"You're joking," Ron said, incredulous.

"I swear it." Still smiling, Sirius added, "Me, Remus, and Peter all witnessed it. None of us were on the team, of course. Remus because of his furry problem, although he was a decent enough flyer. Rather thought he would have been a good Keeper or Chaser had things been different. As for me and Peter, we preferred to keep on the ground. Mind you, I can fly a broomstick all right, but it's my least favorite way of travel."

"But you bought me my Firebolt!" Harry pointed out.

Sirius squeezed his shoulder. "And your toy broom when you were one, don't forget!" Harry grinned and nodded. "Of course, and I would have made sure you had the first of the line brooms growing up, had things occurred differently. You have real talent, pup, and that needs to be encouraged. Your flying's even better than your father's." Turning to Ron, he added, "And from what I've seen of your playing Keeper, you're quite good, yourself."

"Oh, I'm all right," Ron muttered, his ears getting red. "Charlie was the real star in the family. They say he could have flown for England and all that."

"Plenty of room for two stars," Sirius reminded him, gently.

They chatted a bit more before the rest of the team arrived. After Sirius took his leave, Harry found himself face to face with Ginny.

"Hello! Not as many as usual, are you?" asked Ginny.

"What? Oh, no, you're right. Reckon I was just thinking that," Harry stammered.

"Two of the girls from my year, in Gryffindor, had to leave," she continued, "and one boy, but I can never remember his name. Sort of messy brown hair, though. Doesn't talk much in class."

Dean arrived then, and Ginny turned her attention to him, giving him a grin. Harry felt oddly annoyed, and forced himself to think about the game ahead of them.

"Right," he said, once all the team had gathered in the changing rooms. "You've all done really well in practice, so just do what you've been doing today. Oh, and watch out for the sunlight. Bit of a heavy glare today."

"At least they'll have that problem, too," Demelza pointed out.

Harry nodded. "Right," he repeated. "If there's nothing else, let's head out."

Perhaps it was his charmed glasses, but Harry didn't find the sun to be all that bad. He would have been concerned about seeing the Snitch with them, only Sirius has assured him that they would go back to normal when he wasn't looking in the way of direct sunlight. While he hadn't had a chance to practice before today, he trusted Sirius knew the charm well enough to give the right advice.

"Your dad used to use it during matches. Never had a problem," Sirius had said.

Of course, Harry's dad had been a Chaser...

Well, he had his wand in the sleeve of his robes. He could always cancel out the charm if need be.

Harry tried to keep an eye on his team as he looked for the Snitch, but ended up nearly getting slammed in the face by a bludger as a result, no less than five minutes into the game.

"All right, Harry?" Ginny called, being the nearest to his almost attack. She flew until she was a few feet away from him.

"I'm fine, Ginny," he muttered.

"Bloody bludgers," Demelza said, flying after it.

He kept an eye on the Snitch after that, but made sure to listen whenever the score was called.

From what he could make out, the Hufflepuff team's Chasers were top rate. The commentator kept saying things like, "Oh, good save for Weasley!" and "Merlin, another second and they would have scored!" After five similar comments, Harry felt rather reassured that Ron was certainly working hard-perhaps harder than the Chasers on Gryffindor-but doing well. Finally, the commentator announced that Ginny Weasley had possession of the Quaffle, and scored.

And scored again.

It wasn't until the score was 40-10, Gryffindor in the lead, that Harry caught his first glimpse of the Snitch. Far across the pitch, Harry flew after it, not knowing if the Hufflepuff Seeker had seen the tiny ball or not. If he could catch it, they'd win the game. Not by the same lead that they'd won against Slytherin, but a win was a win.

Out of nowhere, the other Seeker blocked Harry. A rather large blonde girl with her hair in a high ponytail, she grinned at Harry as he lost sight of the ball.

"Out of practice, are you?" she asked, tone teasing.

"Hardly," he retorted. "Try that again, and I might knock you off your broom."

The grin vanished, but just for a second.

Either way, the Snitch was gone.

Gryffindor was up 100-30 (the commentator announced that Ginny had scored "yet again") when Harry caught his next glimpse of the Snitch. This time, it was mere yards away. He accelerated, caught the tiny ball in his hand, and secured his team their win.

"With that catch, Gryffindor wins 250 to 30 points!" the commentator remarked. "Unless Ravenclaw pulls out all the stops, it's looking like the Cup's going to Gryffindor for the second year in a row."

Harry felt himself being carried across the field, and then nearly hurled into the Common Room, where an assortment of treats awaited them.

"Good job, Harry!" Ginny said, with enthusiasm, as she handed him a treacle tart.

"You too." He grinned at her. "How many goals did you score, anyway? I lost count."

"Seven of the ten," Ron answered, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Mind you, I saved at least as many, which gave Ginny the opportunity to score."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Have an eclair, Ron."

Sirius appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Really well done, all three of you. Mind you," he added, with a grin, "I have to congratulate Harry, as he's my godson, but it was really the three of you that scored the win."

"Didn't hurt that Demelza was going after those bludgers like they were after her little sister!" Ron put in. "Harry, you might want to put her on the team next year as an alternate. For a second year, she's really good."

They chatted about the finer points of the game that Harry had not been able to observe for quite some time to come.

Author's note:

Even though I've had ideas (and written them) for chapters, I've rather lost my mojo for this fic. As you can tell from my having gone several months without posting. I'm hoping to get it back.

As always, helpful/constructive feedback would be most welcome.

Up next: Harry's where he shouldn't be, which leads to more pain than he experienced since Voldemort's rising.