As the whistle blew sharply next to his ear he refocused his mind on the game ahead of him and drifted slightly higher than the players so that he could get a better view. He tried to keep his mind concentrated on locating the snitch but that soon became impossible as the mayhem unfolding below him proved too enticing to resist. Gabrielle was closely following Fred and keeping up a long steady of dialogue in which she was doing all the talking. Every time Fred swung the bat he would find Gabrielle far too near and would fall off his broom while attempting to keep the bat from hitting her.
George, on the other hand, kept hitting the bludger at Percy. Twice, while Tonks’ attention was elsewhere, George had hit Percy with the bat itself. Bill had his hands full trying to keep George from seriously injuring Percy. Meanwhile, Ginny was scoring loads of points for her team. This was a rather simple task since Hermione, who was afraid of being hit by the quaffle, would simply fly away anytime Ginny got near her goal posts. Every time Ginny would score for her team Ron would go into a rousing rendition of “Granger is our queen!” Harry felt worse for Ron than Hermione. That was because the look on Hermione’s face promised severe retribution.
As Ginny grabbed the quaffle yet again and zoomed to Hermione’s end of the paddock Fred finally managed to hit the bludger her way while a preoccupied Gabrielle showed off her flying skills to Penelope. Harry didn’t even have time to yell a warning when the bludger collided with her back pushing her to a dangerously low point on her broom. Terrified that she would fall Harry rushed to her aide. Fred had apologized profusely as she was a member of his own team. However this seemed to wake George up to the fact that Ginny had gotten a strong lead for her team.
Once Harry guaranteed she was safely back on her broom he went back to his job, looking for the snitch. Another crack signaled yet another bludger being hit in Ginny’s direction. This time George had taken a shot at her and the bludger had hit its mark. Ginny was knocked off course and dropped the quaffle. While she attempted to regain the quaffle from Percy, George hit a bludger that hit her so hard it knocked right off her broom. Luckily, she was merely a foot or two from the ground and didn’t have far to fall. Harry was incensed all the same and shot at George like a rocket in an effort to knock him off his own broom.
By this point Harry had lost track of the points. He split his attention between looking out for Ginny and looking for the snitch. The sooner the game ended, the sooner Ginny would be safe from her brother’s callousness. Charlie spotted the snitch before him and went hurling towards the ground where Ginny lay moments earlier. Harry managed to level himself with Charlie as they spiraled downward. The blood rushed into his ears silencing his teammates who were shouting at him as he focused his mind on the bit of gold twittering near the ground.
As he had judged, his firebolt soon overtook Charlie’s outdated broom. Unexpectedly, the snitch shot itself straight into the air. They were forced to turn their brooms upwards which meant Charlie had the advantage. Since he had not been going as fast as Harry, the change of direction was much easier to pull off. At that moment, George hit the bludger with a resounding crack. Afraid that Ginny was once again his target Harry took his eye off the snitch. Yet the bludger had been aimed at Charlie causing him to swerve to avoid being hit. With that Harry regained hope and with a spurt of energy shot up after the snitch securing it with incredible ease.
He landed with the snitch quite secure that his team would be well pleased with him. They were not. A downcast Bill patted him on the shoulder and told him, “Well at least you put an end to the humiliation.”
George refused to meet his eye at all. Instead, he took a seat on the ground shaking his head.
Wanting to know the extent of his stupidity Harry asked, “How much did we lose by?”
“Ninety points,” Hermione responded looking shamefaced, “I’m just glad it’s over.”
Ron choose that moment to break out into another rendering of “Granger is our queen” causing Hermione to attack him in a fit of rage with her broom. Fred and Gabrielle began to tease George as Bill was paying Charlie the sickle he owed him for losing the game. Harry didn’t really think there was any way that they could have made up the ninety points so he didn’t beat himself up over the loss. Besides, Ginny looked so happy celebrating her win that he decided to go over and congratulate her.
“Not too shabby,” he teased her playfully.
“I suppose some things are relative,” she confided in him, “if you’re describing my performance I’d have to agree; not to shabby indeed.”
She than put a shocked expression on her face, “Shabby pretty much describes the type of goose you’ve turned into!”
Her gloating was softened when she put her arm around him in a mock effort at consoling him.
“There…there…Harry, no need to cry.”
Flabbergasted at her accusation that he was crying he attempted to defend himself but she replied, “Now…now…Harry, no reason to get all emotion man, get it together!”
The two of them had a good laugh as they began to force the bludgers back into their box. Harry couldn’t help but to study the contours of Ginny’s face. She was glowing from her win and her enthusiasm radiated through her laughter and charming demeanor. With her quick wit she challenged him and than stung him with her sharp tongue. He could not remember ever enjoying being in a woman’s company as much as he enjoyed being with Ginny.
He remembered what they had discussed before the match. Perhaps he would take a go at being Ginny’s friend and confidante. What he really wanted to do was hold her in his arms and check to ensure that she had not been bruised when George had unleashed his full brutality against her. He considered who would be added to the coming year’s quidditch team. Without a doubt, Ginny would be able to get a position on the team. Could he really just watch as the beaters from the other team attacked her? If she was his girlfriend…but she wasn’t. They locked the trunk closed and Harry offered to carry it into the house.
Walking side-by-side with her Harry gave voice to his thoughts, “You’re a pretty good player Ginny, let’s hope Dean allows you to play for Gryffindor.”
In that instant time seemed to stop. Ginny looked at him in ashen-faced disbelief. Looking behind him he saw the Hermione had frozen in mid-swing during her attack on Ron, broom still in the air. Even Ron’s mouth had dropped open in stunned incredulity. Charlie and Bill looked at one another eyes wide open to verify that they had indeed heard correctly. Penelope swore vehemently while Percy tried to calm her down. The look that Tonks wore warned him that he had crossed some sort of line. Fred and George sat shaking their head as if to say ‘beginner’s error’.
It was Gabrielle who finally broke the gauche silence.
“What did you say?”
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“There’s no time for blame now, we have to stand by him!” Fred argued.
“There’s always time for blame,” George shouted back as they continued to search for the last bit of floo powder.
“I know it’s here somewhere!” Ron insisted as he ripped the room apart.
“What on Earth possessed you to say something like that?” Charlie asked as he walked to-and-fro in front of the fireplace.
“He lost his mind!” Bill replied heatedly without giving Harry the opportunity to respond.
“What sane man would do something like that?” Charlie continued obviously attempting to find a reasonable explanation.
“I just hope you’re happy,” Ron told Harry, “It’s not just you that’s going to be punished for this; we are all going to pay!”
“Calm down,” Bill exclaimed at the riled bunch, “We’ve all done some thing like this before and we know that the key is to stick together.”
Three rapid taps followed by two slow ones signaled that Percy, who was standing guard at the window, wanted to be let in. As he climbed in gawkily he informed them that ‘she-who-must-not-be-named’ was coming, with reinforcements. This sent Ron into a more furious search whereupon he came up with a very small satchel.
“The emergency floo-powder,” he yelled triumphantly as the foot steps of the mob of women grew closer and their voices grew frighteningly loud.
Five pops in rapid succession indicated that the eldest Weasley boys had apparated to Grimmauld Place. Ron gave him a baleful glare and threw a handful of floo-powder into the fireplace. The women were now close if their angry sounds were a clue. As soon as Ron had gone Harry throw the last bit of floo powder into the fireplace. The kitchen door swung open with a crash and everything seemed to go in slow motion. With a glance over his shoulder he saw Ginny point while yelling ‘get him’ to the mob of women. All he could hear was the thumping of his heart as he turned and ran towards the fireplace. He felt a familiar pain to his knees as Pépère’s cackle filled his ears.
He fell headlong just outside of the fireplace and felt a hand wrap around his shoe. He did the only thing he could think of and used the other foot to take off his shoe while simultaneously pulling himself into the green flames. He arrived at Grimmauld Place with one shoe where he was unceremoniously yanked from the fireplace. Charlie shouted to Bill to seal it shut but before they could do that the sound of an object falling down the chimney caught their attention. The fireplace seemed to convulse and spit out an object that Harry caught. He held his other shoe, highly deformed and burned to the crisp. That launched Bill into action and he sealed the fireplace shut.
“They’re so sensitive,” Percy innocently remarked. They all laughed, whether it was from fear or relief Harry didn’t know or care.
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In the wee hours of the morning Mr. Weasley arrived at Grimmauld Place and rang the doorbell waking everyone up. He seemed cheerful and rather optimistic considering the events of the previous night. As they all gathered in the kitchen to eat the doughnuts that Mr. Weasley had brought from them, he filled them in on the compromise that he had negotiated with the women.
“You lot were rather lucky that today is the wedding. Once Fleur heard that Bill had run off she came to the Burrow in a fit of rage and forced the women to accept a ceasefire. Well, for the day anyways. At the stroke of midnight, however, it’s every man for him self.”
Having completed his mission, Mr. Weasley turned away from them wearing a somber expression on his face and whispered, “May God have mercy on your souls.”
With that, the five eldest Weasley boys went to the Burrow to dress for the wedding. Minutes later they appeared back at Grimmauld Place attire in hand. Percy told them that the women were still fuming over the forced compromise and wouldn’t give them a moment of peace to dress. The rest of the morning went peacefully by as they showered and dressed all the while teasing Bill about his last few hours of bachelorhood. By noon, Mr. Weasley was again at their doorstep informing them that it was time to go to the wedding hall.