Nothing really to say here that warrants putting off the story any longer.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Ginny had agreed that using Teddy for a password was a good idea, though thinking of him clearly made her as sad as it made Harry. They spent the next hour or so deciding on a system to organize the notebooks. Kneeling next to each other and under the deliberately faint light of Harry's wand, they designed calendars for each year, starting with Harry's first year and going up through the year Victoire was born, when the last of the high profile Death Eaters had finally been tracked down. They would start filling in important events later. They only needed to write in one book, though they had the other open next to it in order to make sure the protean charm was working.

Next, they made a list of important people, followed by lists of important objects and places. Each entry would eventually be followed by every detail they knew about it. Harry then cast a charm that Aurors used to coordinate information that connected each entry to every single time it appeared on the timeline, which would make for easy cross-referencing.

'We're going to have to charm more pages into these by the time we're done with them,' Harry said casually as he glanced at the dwindling number of blank pages left. They hadn't even started filling in any details.

'That'll be fine,' Ginny said. 'Some version of the undetectable extension charm, you reckon?'

'Probably,' he agreed. 'A shame we can't ask Hermione to do it for us. I never really learned how to do that one.'

'Neither did I,' said Ginny. 'But I'm sure we'll figure something out. Worst case scenario, we just start conjuring single pages at a time as we need them and hope the books don't get too fat before we can extend them.'

'Good thinking. Where did you want to put our contingencies and protocols?' It felt weird to be talking to his fiancee using the type of language he'd use at work, but nothing about this entire situation was normal, so he supposed he'd just have to get used to it.

'We can put them in the back, separate from everything else,' she said. 'And we should start with what to do if someone close to us sees or hears something they shouldn't.'

'Definitely. But we don't have to do it all tonight,' said Harry. 'We've got a good start here; we should get some sleep.'

'Oh, all right,' said Ginny, reluctantly closing her notebook. 'I suppose you have a point.'

'This was a good idea,' he told her. 'I'm glad you insisted on it. We've only just started and it's already taken a huge load off my mind. Did I tell you I was freaking out because I was convinced Ron would notice something when we played chess, like we would give away how well we knew each other or something? Even as I told myself I was overthinking, I couldn't stop.'

She laughed. 'I was wondering why you looked so worried, especially considering I've never really played before.'

'Why the sudden interest?' Harry asked, genuinely curious.

'Oh, I don't know,' she said, shrugging. 'I just thought...well, if I'm reliving my life over again, I don't want everything to be the same, you know? Might as well try some things I've never tried before. Maybe I'll find something I really like that I would have missed out on before.'

'Like having a boyfriend before you even get to Hogwarts?' he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

'Yes, exactly like that,' she said, rolling her eyes and shoving him playfully. 'But you know what I'm talking about, right? I mean, you told me you've already made an effort to make friends with more of the people in your year than you did before. Aren't you and Ron friends with Stephen Cornfoot and Natalie Moon now?'

'No, you're right, and I see your point,' he said. 'I have been trying to talk to more people, though I guess I hadn't really thought about why I was doing it.'

She nodded in understanding. 'I'm going to take different classes this time, too,' she said. 'I mean, I'm still going to take Hagrid's class, obviously, because I love him, but I don't really want to take Divination again, you know?'

'Ron and Hermione and I all tried to warn you off of that one,' he reminded her.

'I know, I know, and I should have listened. But I wanted to take everything you were taking,' she said, biting her lip. For a fleeting moment, he forgot they were children and had the overwhelming urge to kiss her. Restraining the impulse, he leaned over and pecked her on the forehead instead. She smiled and his heart burned brightly. Merlin, he loved this woman. No matter where or when they found themselves, that was a constant he was grateful for.

'What were you thinking of taking this time?' he asked.

'Well, I've got a few years to think about it – bloody hell, I hope we aren't stuck here for that long, but I know we can't count on it – but I was thinking maybe I'd like to take Muggle Studies. I like going out into the Muggle world with you, but I always feel so...unprepared. I'd like to be able to go and just enjoy myself without having to ask you to explain everything to me.'

'I don't mind,' he said.

'I know you don't, but all the same. If I knew more, we could do more, too, and it wouldn't all feel so alien.'

'I always liked how excited you got about things,' he told her fondly. 'You so obviously take after your dad in that way and it's bloody adorable.'

'Stop making me want to kiss you,' she said, looking at him from under her lashes. 'It would be too weird.'

'Sorry,' he said, chuckling. 'Well, I'm not, really, but you know.'

'I do know,' she sighed. There was a pause. 'What about you? Are you going to take the same classes again?'

'There's no way I'm sitting through Divination again,' he said, shaking his head. 'And I don't need to take Muggle Studies. I guess that means Arithmancy or Runes.'

'Runes is supposed to be fun,' Ginny said. 'I wish I'd taken it. Bill uses it a lot for his job and he's taught me a bit about them.'

'Well, like you said, we don't have to think about it for a while,' Harry said. 'Let's head back inside. We've got a long day of Quidditch ahead of us, I expect.'

'How ever will we cope?' she joked, but climbed onto the broomstick behind him. He smiled happily when she held him tight.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The last few days at the Burrow were mostly spent playing as much Quidditch as they could squeeze in. Ron was keen on the idea of improving his keeping skills so he could try out once Oliver left school. Even if he'd been able to, Harry wouldn't have had the heart to tell him he'd have to wait a whole extra year.

Harry and Ginny's last night behind the pond wasn't spent planning. They knew they wouldn't be able to see each other in person again until the middle of summer, so they were enjoying what time left they had. They laid on their backs, hands joined, and looked at the stars for what seemed like hours, talking about everything they couldn't talk about in company: They'd have been married by now, and coming up on their seven month anniversary. Teddy would have been turning six soon, and Victoire would have turned four shortly after. Fleur, who had just announced she was pregnant before they'd been forced into the past, would have had her baby. Was it a boy or a girl? What would she and Bill have named it?

'Bet it's a French name,' Ginny said wistfully. 'Fleur always did have Bill wrapped around her finger. She'd have gotten her way on that one for sure.'

'You're probably right,' Harry agreed, chuckling. 'But it's not as if there won't be any Weasley grandkids with English names.'

'There certainly are enough of us,' Ginny said. 'Though I had wanted to get in at least one or two more playing years before starting a family.'

'We can wait as long as you want,' Harry said.

'I love you, Harry, but that's not exactly something we need to worry about anymore, is it?'

'No, that's not true,' said Harry. 'Even if we never get home, even if we're stuck in this new life forever, there's no way on Earth I'm not going to ask you to marry me again. And if I know you, you'll still join the Harpies, and I'm telling you to play for them as long as you want. I want to have a family with you, but there's no rush. We'll have all the time in the world.'

She squeezed his hand, then brought it to her lips and kissed it. 'When I was a little girl,' she said, gazing up into the stars, 'really a little girl, I only wanted two things in the whole world, and they were both incredibly embarrassing and exceptionally unlikely. I wanted to play Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies, and I wanted to marry Harry Potter and have babies with him.' She paused and Harry could feel the heat rising in his face.

'Of course I didn't understand at the time the full extent of what I was wishing for, or what it would demand of me. It never occurred to me for a second that I couldn't do them both at the same time. But one dream has to finish before the next can truly start. I think five or six seasons is plenty long enough.'

Harry was rendered speechless. She'd never told him that before, though he supposed it wasn't particularly surprising. 'I wanted a family,' he said. 'I've told you that's what I saw in the Mirror of Erised, right? Just...my own family. Ever since I was old enough to know what that meant – to know that the Dursleys weren't it.'

'Harry...' she began, but he continued.

'I don't think I told you what I saw in it this time, did I?' He looked over and she shook her head. 'The same thing as before,' he said, squeezing her hand again. 'Only this time, you were in it too. We were adults, standing together, and your parents were laughing with mine, and...and I know I can't have all of that obviously, but you and I, having our own kids, raising our own family...'

'We'll get there, Harry,' she said.

'I know,' he said, copying her earlier gesture and kissing her hand. 'Then we'll both have all we ever wanted.' A thought entered his head that he considered not giving voice to, thinking it would spoil the moment. But he couldn't help himself.

'And so help me, if we have to take down Voldemort any more than twice to get it..." he said, feigning a growl. Ginny laughed her beautiful laugh. He knew she'd understand.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

A good portion of the train ride back to school was spent finishing homework that had been neglected during the week. This was no problem for Harry of course, but he ended up helping Ron a lot, who was far more concerned with how Hermione would react to him not being finished than he was about the professors.

'She'll be a nightmare; you know it,' he said, desperately trying to finish off his Transfiguration essay. 'Never let us live it down, she won't. "I told you going home was a bad idea!" And Percy isn't likely to be any better.'

'Well Ron, if you're fool enough to let Percy find out you didn't finish your homework, you deserve whatever you get,' said Fred, himself finishing up a Charms assignment.

'I want to know how Harry's finished already,' complained George. 'When did you find time for it? You were right there with us all week!'

'Don't let him fool you; this one's as swotty as Hermione,' said Ron, jerking his finger in Harry's direction. 'He just hides it better.'

'Harry!' said Fred very dramatically, placing his hand over his heart. 'Say it isn't so!'

'It's not,' said Harry, laughing. 'Ron's just jealous that I have an easier time with it, that's all.'

Ron grumbled, but did not retort. Possibly because he was still planning on asking Harry for help on his next unfinished assignment.

That evening, Harry made a quick swing by the library so that he could look up the ingredients to dreamless sleep potion. He noted them down, divided them in to three separate lists then dashed to the owlery to send Hedwig off with orders to three different apothecaries, so none of them would be able to immediately determine what he wanted them for. Tamping down the voice in the back of his mind telling him he was being paranoid, he sent Hedwig off with a stroke of her wing and a pat on the head. He just barely managed to make it back to Gryffindor Tower in time to let in Neville, who was pacing outside the portrait hole trying to remember the password.

'Thanks, Harry,' the blond boy said once they were back in the common room.

'Don't worry about it, Neville,' said Harry. The two of them made their way over to the dormitory stairs, where they met Ron on his way down.

'I was just coming to check the corridor for you two,' he said. 'I thought maybe you'd both forgotten the password.'

Harry laughed as he and Ron started back up the stairs, Neville coming up behind them.

'Seriously, were did you go, though?' Ron asked. 'Hermione and I couldn't find you after dinner.'

'Just had to check something in the library,' he said. 'Thought it best not to mention it; no need to be giving Hermione ideas so close to curfew.' Ron laughed again and they entered the dormitory. Dean and Seamus were there and greeted Harry cheerfully. The five of them stayed up for a little while, mostly bemoaning the fact that the Easter holidays were so short, but finally Harry was able to close his bed curtains and cast his silencing charm. Within minutes, he was looking at Ginny's face in his mirror.

'Have a good trip back?' she asked.

He shrugged. 'Same as ever. No dementors or Death Eaters, and what else has ever happened?'

'Didn't a bunch of you curse Malfoy and his goons into oblivion once?'

Harry grinned widely at the memory. 'Oh yeah, we did,' he said. 'Nothing like that either, sadly.'

'There's always next time,' she offered.

'True. I did order your dreamless sleep potion ingredients, by the way,' he told her. 'Hedwig's going to bring them back here and then I'll send her along with them to you.'

'You're the best,' she said, smiling brightly. 'That's going to help so much, really. I'm honestly amazed I made it a whole week without waking up screaming once. It has to be because you were here; I'm sure of it.'

'Considering I didn't either, I'd bet good gold you're right about that,' he said.

'You should make some for yourself, too,' Ginny said.

'I could, if it gets bad enough,' he said, though he had never really felt it necessary. 'I don't really need to though since I can cast silencing charms.'

'I meant for your benefit, not everyone else's, Harry,' she admonished, narrowing her eyes at him. 'But I won't pester you. Not right now, anyway. Do you have your notebook with you?'

'I do,' he said, pulling it out from underneath his pillow. He was eager to get her off the topic of dreamless sleep potion.

'Let's get to work, then.'

The two of them spent the next hour or so filling in details and coming up with plans. They were careful to note how what they had already done may have altered what was to come, though miraculously they couldn't seem to think of any negative consequences outside of not confirming the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone. Yet.

This was their new routine for the next several weeks. They tried to go in chronological order, but they kept remembering things later on and having to go back and make additions. Harry was astonished just how much he actually did remember from his early years at school. It certainly didn't feel like that day to day. Save for the material covered in his classes, which remained child's play, it felt like he didn't remember anything at all until it happened. He was getting tired of experiencing déjà vu at random intervals every day, though it had decreased significantly with all the changes he'd been making. As far as major changes went, they knew they wouldn't have to worry about Norbert, or the detention in the Forbidden Forest, or any of the other nonsense related to Voldemort for the rest of the year.

It was the next couple of years that were going to be trouble. There was a lot they needed to get done, which was bad enough in itself, but they also had to do it all without anyone getting hurt and without anybody noticing what they were doing. Harry was trying to figure out how he was going to get the Marauders' Map from Fred and George when he noticed something odd.

'What's this you've put in here under '92-'93 Goals? "Sharon and Rikissa"?'

'Oh, those are two of my dorm mates,' Ginny said, looking up from what she'd been doing. 'You remember them.'

Harry had spent some time around Ginny's friends during the brief time they'd been dating while at school. He thought back, trying to put faces to those names.

'They're they ones that were constantly sniping at each other?' he asked.

'That would be them,' said Ginny, smiling.

'What's our goal regarding them?'

'Well, it's...I'd feel responsible, even though I know I shouldn't. But...well, they didn't exactly get along during first year.'

'Didn't get along later either, from what I saw,' said Harry.

'Oh, don't be silly, they fought the way Ron and Hermione fought. But in first year, they legitimately hated each other. Never really figured out why, to be honest. I think they both just had very forceful personalities and weren't used to having someone else command as much attention as they did. Anyway, Sharon was the last person who spoke to me before I...before I disappeared.' Her face darkened momentarily and Harry longed to reach through the mirror and touch her. Comfort her. But she recovered quickly.

'Everyone in my dorm was really broken up about it, apparently, but Sharon was hysterical. Convinced it was her fault, that she should have noticed something was off, that if she'd been paying more attention maybe she could have helped me or saved me.' She paused to catch her breath. 'I found out about all this later, of course. Anyway, apparently it was Rikissa who calmed her down, told her it wasn't her fault, there was nothing she could have done. She was really worried too, but she was trying to hold it together so that Sharon and the others wouldn't panic, you see. And then you saved me and I came back and they all hugged me and we cried all night and it was really very comforting, and the two of them have been best friends ever since.' She paused, looking into the distance. 'Well, they're not, now, are they? None of that ever happened.'

'And you're worried that if it doesn't happen again, they won't have that bonding moment, and they won't become friends,' Harry finished for her. She nodded.

'They're best friends, Harry. Sometimes I think they're even more than that, but they've never said anything. If they never get to have that with each other because of changes we've made, I'll never forgive myself.'

'I understand,' he said. And really, he did. If Ron and Hermione had never found each other because of alterations he'd made to the timeline, he'd never forgive himself either. 'And you're right; they definitely need to be on our list. But don't you think you might be overthinking it?'

'What do you mean?' she asked, arching her eyebrow.

'Well, you were worried Ron and I wouldn't make friends with Hermione without the Troll to get it rolling, so to speak, and look how that turned out. Maybe just a few subtle changes here and there instead of one big one is all we need.'

He could tell she was starting to come around, though she still looked slightly skeptical. 'But they hated each other, Harry.'

'So did Ron and Hermione,' he reminded her. 'I wasn't too fond of Hermione myself, come to that.'

'But you're the difference,' she said. 'You clearly didn't hate Hermione this time around and Ron picked up on that. I had nothing to do with Sharon and Rikissa's fighting nor with their friendship.'

'Sounds to me like you had everything to do with their friendship, but maybe you've just hit on the answer right there,' said Harry, getting an idea.

'What do you mean?'

'You said you didn't have anything to do with their fight, which makes sense. How much time did you spend with your dorm mates that year?'

'Not much,' she said. 'And even when I did, I was really withdrawn; you know that.'

'I do. But obviously that's not going to happen this time, right?'

'Right. But I still don't...oh!' her face lit up. 'You just might be a genius, Harry. You're thinking that if I just do what you did for Ron and Hermione, be the adult in the room, so to speak, that maybe they'll pick up on it and lay off each other?'

'It's worth a shot,' said Harry. 'If it doesn't work, we'll still have time to think of something else. But I think it will. I know what you said about their clashing personalities, but I don't think that'll be a problem once you step in. No one's got a more commanding personality than you.'

She beamed at him.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

If his nights were spent planning with Ginny, his days were spent preparing for the last Quidditch match against Ravenclaw (he certainly didn't need to study for exams, though he was careful not to let Hermione think he was skiving off). He hadn't gotten to play in this match before, having been unconscious in the hospital wing at the time due to his tussle with Quirrell, and he was rather looking forward to it.

As expected, Fred and George spent the first practice back after break raving about Ginny.

'She's incredible, Oliver, you won't believe it!' Fred said as their captain was dragging out the chest containing the four balls.

'She's as good as Harry!' George added ebulliently. 'They played together against us and Ron, and we could barely touch them!' The two of them were hopping along on either side of Wood like excited little children.

Harry allowed himself a private smile at George's comparison. He knew that, despite claiming she wouldn't, Ginny had held back some during their games at the Burrow. He was good, but he wasn't a professional. Plus, he wasn't even a chaser. But for her to have outshone him might have been pushing their luck a little too much.

Wood, for his part, looked absolutely elated, but it wasn't long before his face reset itself into a more practical expression.

'This is fantastic news, and if she's half as good as you say, I can't wait to see her play,' he told the twins. 'But you know she won't be able to join the team next year, right? McGonagall convinced Dumbledore to bend the rules for Harry since we didn't have any other seeker candidates, but we've already got three chasers, and they're excellent.'

'Yeah, we know,' said Fred, deflating a little. 'It's just...she's a natural, Oliver. An absolute bloody natural. You should have seen how quickly she and Harry adapted to each other. It was like they'd been flying together for years!'

'And Harry's not even a chaser!' George added. 'Imagine what she could do with Angelina or Alicia or Katie.'

'Oh, I'm imagining it,' said Wood, letting the chest drop to the ground. 'Maybe we should start building up a reserve team. She'd still have to wait for her second year, but even just getting her some practice time with the others would be great.' He paused. 'Come to think of it, we really should have some reserve players anyway, just in case.'

'Something to think of for next year, then' said George.

Right, thought Harry, making a mental note to himself and thinking of the notebook under his pillow. Next year.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Exams were a breeze, of course. Hermione, as had always been her way, wanted to discuss them in excruciating detail afterwards, and though Harry was slightly more inclined to humor her this time around, he still didn't understand her fixation on it. He was a fully qualified wizard (albeit one who was admittedly coasting rather than putting forth any semblance of effort), and her grades were as good as or better than his in every subject except defense. If there was one person alive who did not ever have to stress over exam results, it was Hermione Granger, and yet she needed to, so he let her.

That is, until the end of the week.

'I'm sure you did fine, Hermione,' he said, as non-patronizingly as he could muster. It was Saturday morning and the three of them were eating breakfast in the Great Hall. 'No one in our year has better grades than you, and you revised more than the rest of us put together.'

'Completely unnecessary if you ask me,' said Ron. 'I studied my arse off for that potions exam and I'll bet you could've gotten better marks than me without cracking the book once.'

'No, no, no, I failed them all, I know it!' she wailed, shaking her head.

'Look, Hermione,' said Harry with all the patience he possessed, 'If it's bothering you that much, why don't you just go and talk to the professors about it? If you're that worried, they'll at least be able to reassure you that you didn't fail, even if they won't tell you your grade yet.'

'All right,' she said, taking a deep breath and nodding. "All right, I will.' She got up from the table and started walking out of the hall.

'Dunno where she's going,' Ron said, looking up at the head table. 'All the teachers are still eating breakfast.'

'Just let her fret,' said Harry. 'She'll be fine once we get our exam results.'

'Sure, sure,' said Ron. 'Not like you don't have bigger things to worry about today anyway, right?'

The last quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw, was to begin in under an hour. It had been scheduled for the weekend after exams for reasons Harry had never really understood. He couldn't remember that happening in any other year, even after he'd left the school.

'Who's worried?' said Harry, grinning. 'I've been looking forward to this match for weeks.'

It was the truth. Harry didn't really know anything about this Ravenclaw team, having never played against them before (his first match against that house having been in his own third year). He knew that the team was relatively young, except for their seeker, a seventh year, and their captain, a sixth year named Eva Mountjoy who played beater. There were a couple of players on the team whom Harry had faced before, like future captain Roger Davies, but the rest of them must have quit the team or been replaced by the time of his first match against them – the one that had finally won his team their first Quidditch Cup.

'That's the spirit, Harry,' said Fred from behind him. He and George had come over after finishing their own breakfasts. 'Almost ready to head down? Wood wants us there before the crowd starts to gather.'

'I'll be right behind you,' Harry said, waving them onward. They left and Harry moved to finish his last piece of toast.

'If you lot win today, the House Cup's in the bag,' Ron said. 'How great would that be? Undefeated Quidditch Cup champions and the House Cup? That'll show bloody Slytherin.'

Won't be quite as satisfying as snatching it out from under them at the last moment, Harry thought, hiding his grin behind his goblet of pumpkin juice.

'That'll add some stakes to the match,' Harry said as he finished and stood up. 'I mean, Quidditch loses some of its flair when you can still win the cup after losing by up to a hundred and twenty points.' None of the other teams had done particularly well this year.

'That's the truth,' Ron agreed. 'This'll give you something to shoot for.'

The two of them headed down to the pitch, parting ways when Ron went to sit up in the stands and save seats for the rest of their year mates, as the benches were already starting to fill.

'I've got a bet with Cornfoot on this match, Harry!' he called. 'You'd better not lose!' Harry laughed, remembering Percy once telling him something similar, and he had a feeling that, like his older brother, Ron didn't have the gold needed to cover the bet if he lost.

He entered the changing rooms to find that the rest of the team was already there. He hurriedly donned his Quidditch robes and waited for Wood to give his speech.

'This is it,' the captain said. 'The one we've been waiting for,'

'Oh come on, Oliver,' complained George. 'Can't you mix it up a little?'

Wood glared at him, but continued. 'I know we don't actually need to win this match to win the cup, but that doesn't mean we can get lazy! I want you lot to be playing like we're already down by one-twenty right from the start, and keep it up for the whole game. We're not just going to win this, we're going to dominate! When it's over, there'll be no doubt in anyone's mind that Gryffindor earned that Quidditch Cup. Understood?'

There was a chorus of cheers, and Harry couldn't help but get swept up in it. It was an exuberant and fired-up team that marched out onto the pitch two minutes later to loud cheers from the stands. Harry looked up for his friends, and saw Ron's red hair standing out in the crowd. Hermione had joined him from wherever she'd gone after leaving breakfast, and Dean, Seamus, Neville, Parvati, and Lavender were there too. They'd made another banner, this one saying "Snitch Catch: 3-0" with a picture of Harry's face that Dean had drawn and a fluttering snitch that Hermione had charmed to make its wings flicker (she couldn't make them move yet). The seven of them were holding it up while Parvati and Seamus, who were at either end, both waved red and gold Gryffindor pennants with their other hand.

'Good crowd,' said Fred, looking around. 'No surprise Slytherin's cheering for Ravenclaw.' Aside from the standard animosity between the two houses, Slytherin were in position to win the cup if Ravenclaw won by more than a hundred and twenty points.

'No loss,' said Angelina. 'At least we've got most of the Hufflepuffs on our side.' It was probably as much out of desire for Slytherin to finally lose the cup as anything else, but it did mean the red and gold of Gryffindor was fairly well balanced against the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw among the crowd.

The two teams positioned themselves on the field, and Oliver Wood stepped out to shake hands with Eva Mountjoy, who was taller than him and who looked a bit strange performing such a friendly gesture while clutching her beater's bat in her other hand.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and Harry kicked off. Right away he could see that his Ravenclaw counterpart, Harlan Reynolds, was taking him seriously. Rather than mark him, Reynolds immediately set into his own search pattern for the snitch, staying above and out of the action much like Harry was wont to do. He would either need to catch the snitch quickly before Gryffindor could accrue a thirty point lead, or else keep Harry away from it. A seventh-year, Reynolds was likely expecting to use his experience against what he must have seen as Harry's raw, unrefined talent.

Harry kept one eye on Reynolds and the other out for the snitch, all the while listening to Lee Jordan's commentary.

'That's third year Stacey McGill in possession for Ravenclaw...no! Stolen by Gryffindor second-year Katie Bell. Katie passes to Alicia Spinnet, who tears off down the pitch unobstructed!'

Harry glanced over and saw Alicia making a run on the goal hoops, both Ravenclaw beaters scrambling to get a bead on her, but to no avail.

'SHE SCORES! That's ten-nil to Gryffindor!' cried Lee. Harry grinned and checked on Reynolds before resuming his search for the snitch.

Ravenclaw answered with a goal of their own a few minutes later, but Oliver's speech had lit a fire under the Gryffindor team, and they were playing hard. Angelina, Katie, and Alicia all scored a goal apiece in quick succession shortly after to make it forty-ten.

'And the Gryffindor chasers are not letting Ravenclaw hold on to the quaffle!' Lee shouted. 'Where are Ravenclaw's beaters?'

Harry knew the answer was that they were contending with Fred and George, who had been instructed to play entirely defensively and leave the opposing chasers to the girls. And while this was a great departure from their usual style, the twins were clearly enjoying the mounting frustration of Mountjoy and her partner, Jason Samuels.

Now his team was thirty points up, Harry altered his strategy, shifting to a more active search pattern. He bobbed and weaved in and out of the action, making it even easier for the Gryffindor chasers to steal possession of the quaffle. Reynolds was holding steady above them, still scanning the whole pitch. Harry knew it was only a matter of time before he attempted a feint.

As if he'd called the play himself, the very second Harry had the thought, Reynolds dipped into a dive. Harry followed the line of his trajectory to a space near the Ravenclaw end of the pitch, but did not see any gold or movement. The sun was positioned in a way that should have given him a glint to work with if the snitch were really there. Choosing then to ignore Reynolds' ploy, he flew off in the other direction, swerving around a charging Roger Davies, causing him to lose his concentration and allowing Angelina to steal the quaffle from him. He could hear Davies cursing after him as he sped toward the Gryffindor end of the pitch.

'And Reynolds pulls out of his dive halfway through!' Lee yelled. 'Looks like Potter wasn't buying it for a second! You'll have to try harder to fool this seeker phenom!'

Evidently Reynolds thought so too, for he shifted from a circling pattern to a zigzag, and flew lower than he had been before, to where he was just barely above the bulk of the rest of the game.

The Ravenclaw beaters had changed their tactics as well, now altering their attacks between the Gryffindor chasers and Harry, so that Fred and George never knew where they needed to be in order to defend. Harry had to hand it to them; it was effective. The Ravenclaw chasers managed to score two goals before the twins could adapt, and Harry himself was now forced to stay on his toes; twice a bludger had come whizzing right past his head and he'd had to quickly roll out of the way.

The score was now seventy-thirty and the chasers were matching each other, Gryffindor no longer able to hoard possession as they had been. Harry saw the snitch zipping past Stacey McGill, who cried out in surprise when it almost flew right into her face. He shot toward it, not bothering with any type of subterfuge. Not even Hermione or Neville could have missed that, much less a seasoned player like Reynolds.

He saw Reynolds coming in from on his right out of the corner of his eye. The older seeker sidled up next to him and tried to force him off course. Without taking his eyes off the snitch, Harry rolled over the top of his opponent and came down on his other side. Reynolds's momentum kept him moving off to the left while Harry continued making a beeline for the snitch. The crowd was going wild.

'Potter's at it again!' Lee cried. 'Rolled right over Reynolds like he wasn't even there! Both beaters now bearing down on him...come on, Fred and George, where are you?'

The first bludger was easy; he just let go of his broom with his right hand and shifted his body to the left as it whizzed on by. The other was coming straight for his face and he had to duck down while still keeping his eyes on his prize.

'I DON'T BELIEVE IT!' bellowed Lee. 'He's dodged them both! Katie Bell scores off the distraction, and now it's smooth flying to the snitch for Potter with a fifty point lead!'

The stadium was as loud as it had ever been. If Harry caught the snitch now, Gryffindor would not only break Slytherin's winning streak, but they would complete the first perfect season at Hogwarts in over a decade, and be the youngest team to win the Quidditch Cup since an all second and third year team of Hufflepuffs in 1645.

The snitch was drifting to the left. Harry altered his flight path to intercept it and saw Harlan Reynolds swinging back around. He couldn't directly block Harry without taking a foul (if Harry were playing against Slytherin, this is the tactic he'd be anticipating), but he could cut through his line and "miss" his own catch attempt, hoping that Harry would lose sight of his target and the game would be forced to continue.

Harry pulled up. Not straight up, but just enough that he'd fly over anyone trying to come between him and the snitch. He heard Lee loudly wonder what the hell he was doing, but it didn't matter at this point. Reynolds flew by exactly as predicted, only he was not even bothering with the pretense of trying to catch the snitch. His gaze was locked on Harry, a look of utter confusion on his face.

Roger Davies scored while the Gryffindor chasers were as caught up in watching him as everyone else.

Once he'd cleared his opponent, Harry rolled himself up-side down and went into an inverted vertical dive. He'd timed it just right, so that he came down right on top of the snitch. He reached out and snatched it, continuing to fly straight down for a few seconds before leveling out and holding his prize up high in triumph.

The whole stadium went mad. Whether it was Gryffindors cheering for their win, Ravenclaws and Slytherins loudly bemoaning their loss, or Hufflepuffs and visitors just appreciating a fantastic bit of flying, everyone seemed to be shouting at the top of their lungs.

Harry didn't have time to do much of anything before the rest of the team started crashing into him, and together they formed a sort of mass group hug that slowly made its way toward the ground.
It didn't matter how many times he did it (though come to think of it, this was only the second time he'd been present for it out of four), winning the Quidditch Cup would never get old.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

I was debating whether or not to end the chapter here or not, but ultimately decided this was the best place to break as far as pacing is concerned. I did end up spending more time on the match than I'd originally intended, but that usually ends up happening when I do action scenes.

Also, something else that went on here: I thought it was important to show that stuff that happened to Harry wasn't the only stuff happening while he was at school.

Hope you all enjoyed it, and please leave a review. I love seeing your thoughts and reactions.