The next three weeks passed rather uncomfortably. In an effort to avoid forcing Harry to choose between his best friends, Ron had opted to spend more time alone, going over Quidditch strategies and visiting Dumbledore’s office to handle his Head Boy duties. Unfortunately, Hermione seemed to have the same idea, and was usually seen unaccompanied in the library or with the Ravenclaws during mealtimes. The only time Harry found with either of them was Potions with Hermione and Quidditch training with Ron, and the rest of the time he found himself hanging around Siobhan or putting in extra hours with Alex for his defence classes.
On the bright side, neither Ron nor Hermione seemed to be suffering as they had been in the week directly after their split. Ron was still rather subdued, but it was an improvement from the sullen and guilty face he had been wearing. Hermione, on the other hand, was no longer a tearful mess, but strong and seen smiling more often than not. Harry worried how they were dealing with the issue on the inside, but as both scurried away from him every time the other walked into the room, it was difficult to talk much.
“Everything’s fine…” Hermione told him with a sigh that Saturday morning when he managed to pull her off to the side at breakfast. “We’re both just taking a breather, while we get used to… being apart. We need to adjust, and then everything will be back to normal.”
“Are you alright, though?” Harry pressed. He doubted things would ever be normal again, with Ron and Hermione as friends, but he at least wanted to make sure they were each healing.
“I’m good,” she reassured him. “Yes, it still hurts, being apart from him. But I’m doing fine, I promise.”
“You had better be telling the truth,” Harry warned, trying to push a playful grin onto his face.
Hermione just smiled back. “Good luck catching the Snitch today, Harry.”
It had been quite some time since Harry had played in an official Quidditch match, and as he approached the field of the stadium, the sound of his cheering classmates reaching his hears, he felt the familiar pre-game excitement rushing through his body. He inhaled deeply, letting go all his other anxieties as he released his breath, and tightened his grip on his broom, determined. It was the last time he would be facing Slytherin, and he was ready to handle anything they threw at them.
This is going to be fun, he thought to himself with a grin.
As Harry entered the dressing room, he saw that he was the last to arrive. Ron was already pacing back and forth, not green or pale-faced as he might have been two years ago in this situation, but fierce looking, his eyes focused.
Erimentha was eyeing him with slight fear, but Ryan seemed inspired by Ron’s attitude and was standing tall and confident. On the back bench, Zahira, Derry and Euan were sitting discussing something quietly; Harry gave them a nod when as he walked in and they grinned at him.
Harry took up the back of the line and followed his team mates onto the sunny pitch; he scanned the members of the Slytherin team, many of whom were brand new this term. The captain was a tall and thin, mysterious looking seventh year with dark hair and light brown eyes; Harry recognised him as Samer Bannourah, but none of the other team members struck him as familiar - until he spotted the red haired figure rushing onto the field behind her team, late as usual.
“Siobhan?” Harry asked, dumbfounded as the teams turned to face each other, and Ron and Samer nodded curtly, sharing a quick hand shake.
“Hope you’re better at flying than you are at walking down stairs, Potter,” she said teasingly. “Wouldn’t want you to fall and hurt yourself, would we?”
“Positions!” Madam Hooch said sharply, placing her whistle in her mouth.
Harry shook himself from his surprise, and took his place. At the whistle he kicked off, high into the air and did a quick lap around the top of the arena, trying to tear his eyes away from Slytherin’s new Seeker, as he knew he should be watching out for any glimmer of gold.
In the few glimpses he did take of his Slytherin rival, he saw her gliding smoothly threw the air, carefully scrutinising the surroundings. Harry could already tell she was much better than Malfoy ever had been, thinking it was a shame for Siobhan’s sake that he had bought his way onto the team second year.
Harry turned his attention back to looking for the Golden Snitch, feeling slightly apprehensive about how much of a challenge Siobhan would provide as a Seeker.
Cheers sounded through the stadium as Ryan scored the first ten points of the game, and Harry grinned. Nodding congratulations to the young Chaser, Gryffindor’s Seeker dipped down into the lower area of the playing arena, darting his eyes around for the Snitch.
Siobhan was imitating his movements about twenty feet above him; he felt his stomach tighten nervously. Something about this game felt different, he didn’t know why, but he felt a tension surrounding the opposing teams. Not the usual house tension, but an anxious determination between two equally able sides.
Another loud cheer chorused through the stadium, quickly followed by Seamus’ happy commentary, “Erimentha Patrons scores her first goal of her Gryffindor Quidditch career, with a beautiful assist by Euan Abercrombie… that’s twenty-nil to Gryffindor!”
At that moment, Harry saw something glimmer in the corner of his vision and quickly took off in that direction only to realize it was the sun bouncing off Siobhan’s red curls as she sped in the direction of a sparkle Harry had not noticed. He pressed forward, blurring across the field on his Firebolt, and he heard a collective sharp intake of breath from the spectators. He gained on Siobhan quickly, but the Snitch darted to her left, away from Harry, so he opted to fly under her and turn upwards hastily, cutting off her path, and allowing the Snitch to escape from both of them.
She braked harshly, and raised a brow at him.
“Nice block, Potter. But you’ll have to do better than that if you’re actually going to win.”
“Same to you,” he competed playfully, grinning and taking off towards the Gryffindor goals, once again in search of the evasive Snitch.
Siobhan shared a smirk with him across the field, and though Harry was still determined to beat her, he realised he’d never had such a so much fun playing Slytherin. Just to shake his rival up, he pulled a Feint and dove quickly towards the centre of the grassy pitch; he felt her following determinedly behind him, and as he was less than a foot from the ground, pulled up slightly and skimmed evenly across the field. Siobhan skidded to a halt, and he turned to catch her reaction.
“Damn you, Potter,” she said, hiding a smile and wiping sweat from her forehead; he winked and they both took off for the sky again.
The game moved quickly, providing great excitement for the crowd. The teams seemed evenly matched enough, and it was making for a fantastic show. Euan was working well with the two new Chasers, and Derry was managing not to injure any of his own team mates with Bludgers “ while Zahira had managed to get a nice hit on one of the Slytherin Chasers. Ron, in the meantime, was pulling off a few spectacular saves “ and Harry’s heart lightened as he whizzed past a section of the crowd where he was sure he heard Hermione cheering on the red-haired captain with great enthusiasm.
“Bannourah passes down the pitch with the Quaffle, passes to Knightley… Knightley takes a shot - - and it’s blocked by Weasley. Gryffindor is back in possession, Patrons is making her way back towards the Slytherin goals “ ooh! But she’s takes a hit from a Bludger courtesy of Slytherin’s Goyle; Knightley intercepts the Quaffle.”
They Slytherin Chaser sped towards Ron, and moments later Harry heard a tumultuous cheer from the green and silver section of the stands.
“Knightley scores “ that’s fifty to twenty, Gryffindor “ and it seems Abercrombie has already recovered the Quaffle and is leading a Hawkshead formation with his fellow Chasers towards the opposite end of the pitch “ Bannourah is flying in to cut them off “ but Beater Kadar distracts him with a heavy flying object we like to call a Bludger. Gryffindor continues towards Keeper Bennett, Abercrombie moves into shoot “ no, I’m sorry, he was faking! Quaffle passed off to Healy “ who scores! Sixty to twenty, Gryffindor!”
It was the scarlet and gold clad students who erupted in ovation this time, but it was the extra shimmer in their section of the stands that caught Harry’s attention, and he quickly set off in pursuit. His sudden flight caught Siobhan’s attention, and she was quickly trailing him.
“Both teams’ Seekers seem to have spotted the Golden Snitch!” Seamus exclaimed. “Murphy is gaining on Potter, who has the lead.”
The Snitch darted to the left, and then shot up towards the very top of the stands; the two Seekers copied its actions, soon flying in an almost vertical line of pursuit towards the tiny winged ball.
Harry was too fast for Siobhan, who didn’t seem to have a chance of gaining on him; but luck was hers when the Snitch changed direction again, directly downwards past the both of them. Harry looped around and started downwards to see Siobhan was already within feet of the Snitch. He accelerated; the ground closer to him as he fought to catch up with Siobhan. His heart pounded as he gained on her, inch by inch. He didn’t know if he would make it, she was so close to winning.
The Snitch deviated once again, and set of straight for the Slytherin goals. The two Seekers found themselves side by side as they sped across the pitch.
“This is one of the longest uninterrupted pursuits of a Snitch I’ve ever seen,” Seamus said wondrously. “The pressure is definitely on.”
The wind roared as it rushed passed Harry’s ears, he knew Siobhan couldn’t beat him now, he was too fast. Soon she had passed from his side vision, and it was just him and his golden objective. He heard whistles and chant from the crowd, cheering him on, and he pushed harder.
“POTTER! POTTER!”
As he got within feet of the Snitch, he outstretched his hand, grasping for it as it attempted to speed away from capture. But Harry came out victorious, and as his fingers closed around the tiny ball, the stadium erupted in a tumultuous celebration.
“Potter catches the Golden Snitch; Gryffindor wins, two-hundred and ten to twenty!”
With a breath of relief, beaming from ear-to-ear, Harry touched down and dismounted his broom. Instead of joining his team, he headed for Siobhan first, greeting her with a handshake.
“You put up quite a fight,” he said.
“Like you could have expected anything less,” she answered with a grin. “Congratulations, Potter.”
Harry had to admit, it was refreshing to deal with a Slytherin who was accepted defeat so graciously. He watched as Siobhan rushed over to her team mates before he was ambushed by his own and pulled away by the crowd to the inescapable celebratory festivities in Gryffindor Tower.
“So Harry, what lucky lady are you taking to the Halloween Ball?”
“Seamus “ Harry has a girlfriend, I doubt “ ”
“He can take someone as a friend, Dean…”
“Like you and Lovegood, eh?”
“That’s none of your business,” the freckled Irish boy responded with a secretive smirk, before turning back to Harry. “So “ are you taking anyone to the ball?”
“Yeah, actually. I’m going with Siobhan Murphy.”
“That Slytherin girl? You’re kidding!”
“Why’s that so hard to believe?”
“Do you think that a year ago you’d even believe you’d be doing anything with a Slytherin anytime in the near future?”
“Things change.”
“But not with you and Katie…?” Dean asked, with an air of concern.
“If things never changed with Katie and me, our relationship would be boring, don’t you think?” Harry asked, grinning as he avoided disclosing his secret.
“So…” Dean said, dropping his voice and glancing around. “What about Ron and Hermione “ they going alone?”
“I assume so…” Harry said. “Back when… they were together, they said they weren’t bringing dates so they could devote their attention to running things. It was an excuse o’ course… but I don’t think they’d go with anyone now.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Seamus said uneasily.
“What did you hear?” Harry asked quickly.
“Well, I don’t know about Ron. But Hermione “ ”
Seamus paused, looking awkwardly at Harry.
“Let’s just say… you’re not the only one attending with a Slytherin.”
“What, when did this happen?” Harry demanded. He didn’t even care what house Hermione’s supposed date was in “ just the fact that she was going with someone unsettle him.
“Lavender and Parvati told me… they asked her when they were up in the dormitory a couple nights ago.”
“Ron’s going to throw a fit,” Harry said, looking across the room at his best friend.
“You think? I mean… he is the one who ended things, isn’t he?”
“And you think that matters?” Harry said, not taking his eyes from Ron. Harry might not care if it was a Slytherin taking Hermione to the ball, but it certainly would add fuel to Ron’s fire.
One thing was for certain, Halloween was going to be an interesting night.