This chapter was a lot of fun to write. I know it probably won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm not getting paid so the most important thing for me was that I had a good time.
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The quidditch final was always a hotly anticipated event. On a year like this, doubly so. Gryffindor were still the favorites to win, but it could still go either way. The three other houses all one win apiece; Ravenclaw had beaten Hufflepuff but lost to Slytherin, who had in turn lost to Hufflepuff. This meant that if Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor, both teams would have two wins and it would come down to points. Gryffindor couldn't afford to lose by more than sixty points (their low scoring win against Slytherin coming back to haunt them a little).
Most people were of the opinion that this meant they had it in the bag; nobody expected Cho to beat Harry to the Snitch, after all, and it was extremely unlikely that the Ravenclaw chasers would be able to produce a two hundred and ten point cushion. Still, stranger things had happened in quidditch.
The two teams walked down to the pitch together. Not on purpose; it just seemed to turn out that way.
'Don't go easy on me, Harry,' Cho said as she marched down the path next to him. He could tell just from looking that she was full to the brim with both nervousness and excitement.
'Wouldn't dream of it,' he said. 'If I did even for a second, you'd catch the snitch from under me and I'd never hear the end of it.'
'I wouldn't gloat,' she said earnestly. He laughed.
'I meant from Wood and the twins.'
She laughed, too.
'Good luck,' he said, splitting away from her to join his team in the changing room as she left to join hers.
'You too!' she called back.
He was glad they'd had that conversation, knowing what was to come later in the match. He hated hurting people's feelings, and for whatever reason he always felt extra guilty when it was Cho he was hurting. He couldn't explain why. He didn't know just how much he'd have to fake during the match, but he obviously had to keep the real reason a secret and he didn't want her thinking it was because he didn't take her seriously as an opponent. (He didn't take anyone at Hogwarts seriously as an opponent, but that was neither here nor there, and they didn't need to know it).
Wood made one of his long-winded speeches that Harry tuned out while pretending to listen (he wouldn't be surprised to learn one or two other members of the team were employing a similar tactic, although he knew that the game meant a lot more to all of them than it did to him).
At last it was time to head out onto the pitch. Harry felt the familiar butterflies he often got before a match – even one against school children – though this time he suspected they weren't for the usual reason. He just hoped he could make it convincing.
Cho smiled at him from her place across from him and he smiled awkwardly back, reminding himself that she probably still fancied him and that he shouldn't encourage her too much. He had said they could be friends, but he'd never tried to be friends with a girl who'd rather be more before, and wasn't entirely sure how to do it.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and they shot up into the sky. Harry was immediately darting his gaze around, scanning for the snitch. Whatever happened, he could not let Cho catch it, and that would be much easier to accomplish if he could manage to keep her from seeing it, which was something he'd never attempted before.
For a while, everything went normally. The chasers traded a few goals, the beaters smacked the bludgers back and forth, and he and Cho circled the pitch, watching for any glint of gold. He had been counting on his familiarity with Cho's tactics – she tended to mark him rather than search for the snitch herself – but evidently he'd changed things too much because Cho was on the complete opposite end of the pitch, scanning every which way for the little golden ball.
He cursed his luck; he wasn't sure what had instigated this change on her part – it could have been any number of things, really – but the why wasn't important. What mattered was that if she wasn't following him around, his task of keeping her from the snitch would be exponentially more difficult.
He altered his search pattern such that they were no longer flying opposite circuits. He needed to make sure he was close enough to her to block her if she saw the snitch first, but no so close as to cause her to fly away from him again. It was a difficult balance to strike, and he though she must have seen what he was up to because he saw her giving him something of a side eye and a smirk a few minutes after he got into position. No matter. As long as the strategy worked, it made no difference if she was on to him or not.
The score was fifty to forty when Harry first saw the snitch. It was just out of the corner of his eye, off to his right and down low almost skimming the grass. He didn't turn his head; he didn't want anyone else to know he'd seen it. The important thing was to make sure Cho hadn't seen it. He turned slightly, pretending to be scoping around, and glanced casually her way. She was currently looking in the opposite direction of where he'd seen it, and it was already gone by the time she looked back. He let out a sigh of relief.
There were a few more close calls like that, and Harry was beginning to think his nerves couldn't take it. The score was in the hundreds by now, and Lee was loudly wondering whether the seekers had forgotten what their jobs were.
It's not really that bad, he thought to himself. It's a really tricky snitch today. The few times he'd seen it, it was only for a few seconds. Sure, he could have gone after it any of those times, but the fact of the matter was the snitch was being very coy, and was very difficult to see. He didn't doubt that, if he were really in his second year, the game would still be going anyway and he'd be in the same boat as Cho, not having seen a glimpse of anything.
This made his job easier, of course, and should have allowed him to relax a little, but he was terrified of growing complacent and kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The Sun was making its way back down in the sky when Harry had his first big scare. He happened to be facing Cho when – just for the briefest instant – there was a flash of gold just behind her. Maybe it was already gone, maybe it wasn't, but if she turned and looked and it was there…
Harry made a dive for the center of the pitch, staring straight ahead with all the intensity he could muster. The crowd, after hours of absolutely zero seeker action, was on its feet in an instant. Lee Jordan was howling into his megaphone, which was lucky, because it told Harry Cho had taken the bait. He waited a few more seconds and then pulled up slowly, hovering around twenty feet over the middle of the pitch. Cho must have seen this because she ended her dive as well, though she took one last look around after she did.
'Did you really see it or were you feinting?' she asked. She was just close enough to him that she didn't have to shout.
'I saw it, but just for a moment,' he answered truthfully. Just not perhaps the truth she thought it was. 'Though I don't know why I should tell you that. Tough little blighter today, isn't it?'
'I know!' she exclaimed. 'I've never gone this long without spotting it before!'
'Neither have I,' he said, slowly getting back into his search pattern. 'Hope your broom is comfortable; we might be out here all day.'
'Oh, and I barely had any breakfast,' she pouted. 'I'll see it before you next time!' With that, she flipped over and flew away.
I really hope not, he thought. He knew what he'd have to do then, and it would be a lot more work on his part.
A little while later, they were both flying up toward the Gryffindor end of the pitch. Harry was on the left side, Cho was on the right, and a little ahead of him. It had been at least half an hour and probably longer since Harry's feint, and the crowd had once again been lulled back into the mild dreariness of a snitchless game. Some people who, like Hermione, only liked quidditch so far, had started to trickle out of the stadium to find other things to do (not Hermione herself of course, who would never leave a final match Harry was playing in). It wasn't very many – certainly not enough to disrupt his and Ginny's plans – but he hoped this trickle didn't grow into a steady flow. Perhaps he needed to make the match more exciting?
As if the universe were reading his mind, the snitch flew straight across the center Gryffindor goal hoop in a distinct golden line. Harry swore. There was no way Cho had missed that. He leaned forward and put on a burst of speed, shooting for where the snitch would hopefully be now based on where he'd seen it. To his right, he could see Cho zooming forward as well, aiming for the same spot. She had a head start on him, but he was riding a Nimbus 2000, after all.
Taking great care not to crash into her, he came up along her left side to block her, though neither of them (as far as he knew, anyway) could actually see the snitch yet; they were only flying toward where they'd seen it going.
'I was really hoping to see it when you weren't looking,' Cho said through gritted teeth; they were moving too fast to speak normally. As soon as she said it, a flash of gold flickered just to the right of where they'd been aiming, and the chase was on.
Cho would've had the advantage, being on the right, but before she even had a chance to change course, Harry rolled over the top of her and came down on her other side. Now he was controlling the chase. He heard her grunt in annoyance, but didn't expect more than that. Neither of them could afford the added exertion or distraction of trying to speak now.
Harry didn't turn as much as he normally would have, letting the snitch flitter farther away to the right. This forced Cho farther off course and meant she'd have to wait for him to make a move and be stuck chasing after him, or else try something fancy to get around him.
She chose to go fancy. She rapidly decreased her altitude and shot off after the snitch as soon as she was clear of him. He had to make a hard turn after it to compensate, but she now had the better line on its trajectory and was in a good position to fly up and snatch it from underneath. The crowd was going absolutely wild.
Harry, unconcerned and having fun in spite of himself, steered toward her instead of straight for the snitch. When he was directly above her, he lowered himself just slightly so that she wouldn't be able to get to it without going through him, effectively blocking her again.
'Potter playing defensively, expertly removing his opponent's advantage not once but twice in the span of fifteen seconds!' he heard Lee Jordan yell. 'Chang was able to counter quickly and effectively the first time; what will she do now?'
She didn't do anything at first, but then started to sway back and forth. Her plan was obvious: make Harry thinking she was going one way and then as soon as he moved to block her, go the other. A common chaser tactic when making shots on opposing keepers. Harry kept steady, however. He knew he didn't have to move either way; she was the one who needed to get around him, and if he didn't take her bait then she wouldn't be able to. He really wished the snitch would disappear or something, though. Ten more seconds or so and it would start to strain plausibility that he hadn't caught it yet.
'Potter not falling for Chang's tricks, keeping his focus completely on the snitch!' Lee announced. 'It looks like this could all be over in a few – OH! LOOK AT THAT DIVE!'
As if the golden ball itself were taunting his hubris, it plunged almost straight down, giving Cho the advantageous position yet again.
'You've got to be kidding me!' Harry grumbled, flipping over and diving down after them.
'Chang has a good angle,' Lee was saying excitedly, 'and Potter's almost completely vertical. He's gaining on her, but she might be close enough to catch it before he can get there! Gryffindor is only up by forty points, so whoever gets the snitch wins the match and the cup!'
Harry flattened himself on his broom and shot downward as quickly as he could. He yelled, mostly to make sure Cho knew he was there; he didn't want to collide with her. This was going to be close.
'NO!' cried Lee a moment later. 'I don't believe it! Potter overshot and missed the snitch! Chang had to swerve to avoid him, and now both seekers seem to have lost sight of it! The match continues! This is madness!'
'I really thought I had it!' Cho yelled from above Harry. Her head was turning in all different directions, still trying to find the snitch again before it got too far away.
'I thought you might have, too,' Harry called back. 'I can't believe I overshot,' he added for good measure, though he'd absolutely done it on purpose.
'You were going really fast,' Cho said, finally giving up her search and looking at him. 'I'd have been really surprised if you'd managed to get it, honestly.'
'Well, let's just hope we don't have to wait another three hours for it to show up again,' he said. He gave her a half salute, half wave and flew off. Half of him did want it to stay out of sight for that long; it would make things easier, after all. The other half, the quidditch loving half, could not deny that the chase had been exhilarating. He'd never been in one before where his goal was something other than catching the snitch, and added a new layer of excitement onto the game.
After another hour – or near enough, anyway – Oliver called a time out. Both teams were relieved and flew to the ground as quickly as possible to take advantage of the short break. Perhaps Madam Hooch would be merciful and give them more than just a minute or two.
'What's going on, Harry?' Wood asked first thing. 'You've never taken this long to catch a snitch before.'
'It's not coming out, Oliver,' he said. This wasn't even entirely a lie. He had seen the snitch briefly almost a dozen times, and in a normal match would have gone after it, but his main focus had been on distracting Cho from seeing it. If he hadn't, he knew she'd have spotted it at least a handful of times herself by now. Even so, it was a particularly reclusive snitch. In most games he was sure he'd have seen it at least twice as often by this point.
'You almost had it that once,' said Angelina.
'Pity its flight path seemed to favor Chang so much,' said Fred.
'You did a good job holding her off of it, Harry,' said Wood, 'but I really wish you'd managed to catch it. I don't know how much longer we can keep going; if we get tired we're going to start getting sloppy.'
'Ravenclaw's just as tired as we are,' Alicia pointed out.
'I suppose that's true,' said Wood, considering. 'It's a war of attrition, then. All right, here's what we'll do. We've got a fifty point lead; ease up and play defensively for a bit. Try and conserve your energy. We'll see if we can't make them tire out before we do. If they tie up the score we'll reconsider, but let's go with that for now. We're counting on you, Harry.'
Harry nodded just as Madam Hooch's whistle blew.
'All right, that's long enough!' she yelled. 'Back in the air, all of you!'
The match continued.
Wood's strategy of playing defensively seemed to work at first. Gryffindor weren't scoring any more goals, but they were managing to prevent Ravenclaw, who were having to work a lot harder, from scoring any either. Ravenclaws were known for one thing above all else however, and it didn't take very long for them to get wise to this new approach. Their beaters began escorting whichever of their chasers held the quaffle, and firing bludgers at any Gryffindor chasers who came near them. Were Gryffindor playing more aggressively, they could have adapted to this, but Ravenclaw managed to score two goals in rapid succession before Wood decided the plan wasn't working and told them to go back to their regular strategies.
Cho, meanwhile, had managed to spot the snitch again and it was all Harry could do to keep her away from it without catching it himself until it disappeared once more. Luckily one of the Ravenclaw beaters hit a bludger at him just as he was closing in on it and he was able to over exaggerate his dodge so that it wouldn't look too suspicious when he didn't make a catch.
Lee was loving every second of it.
Another hour went by. They were entering the home stretch. If he could just keep Cho off the snitch for one more…
A flutter of wings whizzed by his ear, speeding downward and away. He swore. He couldn't not chase it. Not without giving the scheme away. He dove.
Come on, Cho, he chanted in his head. Block me! Stall me! Do something! Do anything!
It was becoming increasingly clear as the seconds ticked on that if she didn't appear, he was either going to have to catch it or pretend to fall off his broom. He didn't know which he'd rather do less.
Finally, at nearly the last second, he saw her, barreling straight at him. They were as likely to crash headlong into each other as catch the snitch.
She can't be serious, said Harry. Is she challenging me to a game of chicken?
He knew it was the perfect excuse to turn away, but his pride as a Gryffindor had been challenged. It was the principle of the thing. Besides, he was confident that even if she didn't blink first, he'd be able to avoid hitting her no matter what.
Then he realized something else. He really was tired if he hadn't seen this right away. Whatever else happened, she would reach the snitch before she reached him. If she didn't turn, she would catch it.
Harry put on his most determined expression, making himself look every bit the crazy, reckless Gryffindor. His intended message was clear: I'm not turning.
They drew closer and closer together. In just a few seconds, Cho would close her finger around the snitch, and less than a second after that, the two of them could collide head on. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes, wondering if her plan was a good one after all.
At the last possible moment, she flinched and turned away, but the snitch uncooperative little bugger that it was, chose that same moment to veer off course, coincidentally in the same direction Cho had turned.
Seriously, has someone tampered with this thing? Harry wondered irritably, turning to follow.
It only took Cho a second to realize what had happened; perhaps at first she thought Harry had chosen to pursue her for some reason, but soon her eye was back on the snitch, and as had become a pattern, she had a better position. She was just above Harry, meaning he couldn't rise up to catch the snitch without going through her. It would also be harder for him to keep an eye on it – that is, if he had to keep his neck craned upward the entire time. He had no intention of doing any such thing.
Harry flipped over so that he was flying upside-down, almost mirroring Cho as she flew above him. Now he was able to keep looking forward at the snitch and keep an eye on her at the same time. Her eyes goggled, not quite believing what she was seeing at first.
'Have you really only been flying for two years?' she asked, the wind taking her voice so that Harry could barely hear her even though she was only a few feet in front of his face.
'Not until September,' he reminded her cheekily. 'Really though, challenging a Gryffindor to a game of chicken?'
'I thought I might be able to get to it before we were too close,' she said. 'I miscalculated, I admit it, but at least you didn't get it either.'
'Nice block,' Harry grinned. He really was having fun. This Cho seemed to have much more potential than the one he remembered from his old life. Or maybe it just seemed that way since he hadn't actually been trying to win. Still, he once again found himself wondering what might have made the difference.
She beamed at his comment, but turned her attention back to the snitch.
Surely not, he thought as a possible answer struck him. Blimey, think an awful lot of yourself, don't you, Potter?
Momentarily annoyed with himself, Harry too refocused himself on the task at hand. The crowd were once again losing their minds, and Lee was hollering something at the top of his voice but Harry wouldn't allow himself to pay any attention to what he was saying.
The blood was starting to rush to his head. He wouldn't be able to remain upside-down for much longer. Suddenly he noticed that Cho was slowly reducing her altitude.
'Hey!' he cried, being forced down, though he of course had no right to complain. He wasn't in danger of being run into the ground; they were still a good thirty feet up, but she was pushing him away from the snitch, giving herself more of an opening.
Harry swerved left and immediately darted back to the right, not giving Cho a chance to react to him. He swung wide around her side and as he anticipated, she moved to intercept him. Once again he made an exaggerated attempt to avoid crashing into her, resulting in what looked like a barely controlled tumble that barely cleared her as he flew over top her. She shrieked and flinched, but it was the window the snitch needed to disappear once again. Harry let out a relieved breath. He didn't think he'd be able to drag this out much longer. It wasn't quite late enough yet, but it would have to be enough. The next time the snitch made an appearance, he was probably going to have to catch it.
Luck was with him at last though, as the snitch remained hidden again for a while after that. What was more, far from being bored, the Hogwarts population was getting more and more drawn into this marathon match. No quidditch contest at Hogwarts had ever lasted so long that anyone present could remember, and to hear Lee tell it, the back and forth seeker match up was fast becoming the stuff of legend.
The unexpected consequence of this was that some of the people who had left the match early actually started to come back, intrigued by the grueling nature of the competition and the excitement of waiting for someone to finally win.
Both teams had over six hundred points by this time, and while Gryffindor were still in the lead, Ravenclaw had managed to keep it close enough that they could still win with a snitch catch. And unlike the beginning of the game, no one seemed to be writing off Cho's chances to catch it away from Harry anymore.
The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors in the stands were going wild. Over the course of the match large groups of them had somehow developed songs and choreographed dances and chants for their teams, cheering them on. The Hufflepuffs, who had no stake in the result, were clearly enjoying what to them must have been just a really excellent game of quidditch, and even the Slytherins had stopped pretending they weren't having a good time. Most of them, anyway.
The Sun was nearly where it needed to be when Harry spotted the snitch again. It was still a little earlier than they'd discussed, but it was close enough and he didn't think he could keep Cho off it again if she spotted it; it was currently closer to her end of the pitch, after all.
He subtly changed course and began making his way toward it, but Lee, who had been watching the two of them for so long and regarded absolutely anything they did with the highest possible degree of scrutiny and suspicion, loudly wondered whether he might have seen something.
This caught Cho's attention, who looked over to where he was, then to where he was going, and then…
Harry swore for what felt like the hundredth time this match. Promising himself he'd hex Lee's mouth closed when next he saw him, Harry shot forward at full speed toward the snitch that Cho was now barreling toward with a head start.
As if sensing both seekers had locked onto it, the snitch began flying erratically, like a drunken moth in a room full of lanterns. Cho and Harry had to change direction every few seconds to stay on top of it. The beaters from both teams had caught wind of what was going on, and neither side wanted to give up after fighting to win for so long. Both bludgers came hurtling at them, one right after the other. Harry jerked to his right to dodge one just as Cho swerved left to dodge another. They would have smashed right into each other, but Harry jumped from his broom, flying freely through the air right over her, briefly catching his elbow on her robes, came down on his broom on the other side, and kept going.
The snitch was still zooming around wildly, now more like a hummingbird that had drunk a few too many shots of espresso. Up and down, back and forth, changing direction at random and never flying in any one direction for more than a second or two. Harry started getting dizzy trying to keep up with it. When he caught a glimpse of Cho's face, she was looking queasy but determined. She didn't want to lose any more than her beaters did.
Harry pulled away, giving himself a bit of distance. Rather than chase the snitch as it zigzagged all over the place, he would watch and wait for an opportune moment. It was a risk, which proved itself right away as a bludger zoomed right at his face, but he rolled aside easily and kept watch. The other one came at him from his right side but he ducked underneath it.
Patiently, he hovered, only listing a bit to the left when it seemed like the snitch was wafting in that direction. Cho was getting tired, but she hadn't given up trying to pin it down.
A bludger came at him again, but Fred intercepted it before he had to do anything, and Cho was forced to dodge instead. The snitch jerked away from her, and Harry saw his chance. Fred might have just provided him a chance to prolong the game even further, but he was tired and figured this had all gone on long enough. They were only a few minutes short of their target and who know when the damned snitch would appear again?
He shot forward as if launched out of a cannon and snatched the little golden ball out of the air before it had the chance to change direction again. There was a brief moment where the entire stadium seemed to freeze in time while everyone processed what had just happened, and then an explosion of screams and cheers rang out, the likes of which Harry had rarely heard before. Hats and streamers and food and all sorts of sundry other things were flying through the air in celebration, Gryffindors were jumping up and down, hugging each other, and Harry saw more than one couple snogging rather enthusiastically, but Professor McGonagall did not tell them off or even seem to notice, so excited was she as well.
The Ravenclaws were loudly bewailing their loss, but they didn't seem as disappointed or downcast as Harry might have thought. Perhaps the residual adrenaline was blunting the sting of loss somewhat.
All this he registered in just a handful of seconds, for next thing he knew he was being mobbed by all of his teammates, who were all crushing in on him so hard he thought they might squeeze the air right out of him. They lowered to the ground in a great huddled mass, every one of them exhausted but elated. The Quidditch Cup award presentation was something of a blur, because the next thing he was fully aware of were Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and to his great surprise every other student in his year rushing over to hug him next as soon as his team let go.
He heard a clicking and whirring noise, and looked over to see Colin snapping away with his camera. He allowed himself a tiny triumphant grin. Things couldn't be going more smoothly.
His year mates moved to get out of the way, but Harry wouldn't have it.
'Get one with all of us, Colin,' he said cheerfully, and the excited little first year obliged. Ron, who had brought Scabbers to the match at Ginny's subtle suggestion that he might enjoy the fresh air, had taken the rat out of his pocket for fear he'd get crushed in the scrum and had placed it on his shoulder. The group of second year Gryffindors (plus Ginny) gathered around and posed happily with Harry holding the Quidditch Cup. He couldn't have asked for a better instigator if he'd arranged it himself.
It had been a long, brutally exhausting day, but in the end, it looked like it was all going to be worth it.
As long as the bloody potion worked.
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I seriously considered titling this chapter, "Oops! All Quidditch!", but that would have messed up my chapter naming theme, so I ultimately decided against it. I liked the idea too much to not mention it here, though.
Please leave a review when you get to the end to tell me how much you hate quidditch scenes and wish I'd just get to the point already.