A couple things to say before this chapter. First, I just wanted to make sure something is absolutely clear, and that is that Ottery St Catchpole only became an entirely magical settlement after the war. I mentioned in Chapter 3 that it was part of our cover up, so with my story still being in 1994, Muggles were still able to access the village at that point. It became entirely magical from June 1998 onwards, shortly before the release of Chamber of Secrets.
Secondly: TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS! That shouldn't need any explanation, especially to anyone in the UK who's seen the Muggle news today! We have trans people in the wizarding world too! Honestly, I feel disgusted that the majority of people think I'm a creation of... of her!
Once I got home after my conversation with Matthew, I spoke to Dad.
"Ginny, how was your day today?" he asked.
"Good, until a Muggle boy showed up and insisted on talking to me"
"A Muggle boy?!". He suddenly became alarmed. "Ginny, you're wearing-"
"Yes, yes I know, it was a close shave, and honestly, I'm not sure how long the excuse I made will last. I told him the Harpies are an obscure Spanish muggle band, but he said he's gonna look them up"
I bit my lip and looked down at the floor
"I'm sorry Dad, I know I messed up" I said
"Hopefully you won't encounter him again"
"Well see, this is the problem, and why I wanted to talk to you about this"
I started twirling my hair around my finger nervously.
"The boy was watching my throws, and he said I'm really good, and that I should join his basketball team. The thing is, I agreed without really thinking, and-"
But I trailed off, because I saw Dad's eyes lighting up, and there was now a smile on his face.
"Basketball you say? Oh but, Ginny that's wonderful! You should take him up on that offer, as a chaser, your set of skills would be very useful!"
"But Dad, I don't know a thing about the game, and he seems to think I'm a natural, I'm gonna make a big fool of myself!"
"Nonsense, you've got myself, Harry and Hermione remember? They grew up in the muggle world, I'm sure they would have played it before! In fact, let me them now, I'm sure they can show you how to play"
"No, Dad, really-" but before I knew it, he had left the room, and a couple minutes later, he returned with Hermione
"What's this about you wanting to play basketball?" she asked, giggling "Harry wasn't too interested, but you? I'm surprised you even know about it!"
I rolled my eyes, frustrated
"Look, I don't want to play it at all, it's just- I had a run in with a Muggle boy while practicing chaser throws in the village today, and he said I'd make a good basketball player cause of how accurate my shots were"
"But basketball is fun! I've played it before, I played on the girls team at my primary school! I've missed it these last few years, let me show you, hell, maybe I'll even play in the game if he lets me!"
"Guys, seriously, there's no need-"
I saw the eager looks on their faces though, so I thought I probably didn't have a choice at this stage.
"Fine" I said reluctantly. "Let's go then"
We went down to the village basketball courts, where the game would take place the next day, with me now in a plain black T shirt. Hermione began explaining the rules. They sounded very unusual, though not particularly complicated. After she showed me how to shoot a goal, she turned around and said "This is why I started playing Chaser, because the techniques we use are quite similar to basketball shots"
"Quick question" I said "why is it called "travelling" when you run with the ball in your hands?"
"To be honest mate, I don't know" Hermione replied. "All I know is that it's a foul if you do so. You have to bounce the ball when moving at all times"
I was beginning to see the merits of this game now.
"I suppose that requires good agility and reflexes, especially to avoid having the ball snatched from you... You know what, it kinda does sound like it could be fun thinking about it! You're gonna have to help me a lot over the next 24 hours though, if I'm going to be in any way effective in the actual game!"
She did so, and by the time the next evening, a Thursday, rolled around, well, I wouldn't say I was good by any means, but I felt like I was competent enough not to embarrass myself. Hermione and I arrived for the game at around 5:50pm, to find 2 sets of players warming up.
"Ginny!" called Matthew, and he ran over to us. "So glad to see you could make it!" "And you are?" he said to Hermione
"Hermione Granger. I'm a school friend of Ginny's. I like basketball too, but haven't played in a few years, so was hoping I could join in!"
Matthew looked around, then said
"Well we were only one player short, and I was intending that to be Ginny, but by all means you can sit on the side as a substitute if you want!"
"Why are you in all blue?"
"Because I like blue!" he said indignantly, "why does everyone comment on that?"
"Most people don't go around dressed in only one colour" I said
"Yeah, well I'm not most people! Now, are you gonna play this game or not?"
"Yes, yes alright!" I held up my hands
"You're gonna need one of these"
He threw a bit of fabric shaped sort of like a vest to me. I caught it, confused, then turned to Hermione.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" I mouthed to her frantically
Hermione's eyes widened
"Oh my god I'm so sorry Ginny, I completely forgot to tell you! Those are called bibs, the teams wear them to differentiate each other!" she said quietly
"Great, bit late now isn't it!"
I quickly turned around and saw that Matthew was busy handing out bibs to the other players. Our team would be playing in green, the other team red.
It was now or never. Hermione rushed over and I allowed her to place the bib on me in the right way, and she'd just secured it when Matthew turned around, tossing one to Hermione.
"Right, team talk!" he called.
I went over to him. Matthew introduced me to our teammates, then gave us some complicated sounding tactics, which I struggled to understand. Clearly this was evident on my face, because Matthew came over to me and whispered "don't worry, just roam around, you'll get the idea"
I wasn't too sure about that, but I didn't have time to think, because the game started right then and there, and almost straight away I found myself clutching the ball! The fast paced start caught me completely by surprise, so I shrieked and dropped it! I wasn't prepared for this! Hermione had taught me the game at a much slower pace, so I didn't even consider the fact that an actual match might be played faster!
This lead to our team being all out of shape, as they'd rushed forwards expecting a pass from me, and the opponents quickly grabbed the ball and scored.
"Ginny, what the fuck was that?!" yelled Matthew
"I'm sorry, I didn't think it would start that fast!" I replied
"What do you mean, every game is like that, come on, concentrate!"
"Ok, ok"
From the restart, someone else on our team got the ball, and we surged forward. I started watching how everyone was playing, and eventually got the hang of it. From the 4th restart, with us now 30-10 up, I snatched the ball, dribbled forward and scored a great solo shot!
"Great job Ginny, that's much better!" called Matthew, and I felt a surge of pride. This Muggle game wasn't so bad after all!
After half an hour had gone, with the score 80-60 to the opponents, I was subbed off for Hermione. Fist bumping her as we passed each other, I said "you were right, this is actually pretty fun!"
"Told you!" she beamed back
Hermione scored 3 goals during the remaining time, with the match eventually ending in a 130-130 draw.
"Same time next week you 2?" Matthew asked
"Sadly not" I said, and I legitimately meant it! "We go to boarding school up in Scotland see, and term starts tomorrow. We get the train from London and won't be back for a couple months at least!"
"Today was great fun though, and we'll be sure to try and play again once we're back, well, I live in London so I'm not sure when I'll next be here, but you know..." Hermione trailed off
Matthew looked disappointed.
"Damn, the second I get 2 fine new players for the team, they have to leave! Oh well, not your fault, I'll see you guys soon then!"
"Yeah see you later" I said
"Well that was good wasn't it?" said Hermione as we walked back to the Burrow
"Yeah, surprisingly good"
"We should try and teach it to all your brothers!"
"Woah, slow down mate!" I replied, laughing "It was difficult enough getting me to agree, they'll be 10 times worse!"