The next day was Sunday, so Harry had a lie-in. When he woke up, the dormitory was empty except for Ron, who was sitting on the end of his bed, talking to himself.
"Hermione, I like you. No, no, no. Hermione, I think I really like you." He was apparantly practicing what he was going to say to Hermione.
"Whatever you say will be fine," said Harry, making Ron jump.
"Harry! Er, didn't see you mate," stammered Ron, embarassed. Harry just grinned and went downstairs into the Common Room.
"Harry! how's Ron? I figured he would react like that when he realized how you were with his little sister. But is he okay now?"
"Hermione, what are you talking about? "
"Didn't Ron tell you he was upset about you and Ginny?"
"Wh-Oh yeah. Yeah, we talked and it's all good now." said Harry, realizing what Ron had done.
"Oh, good, I was worrying." They stood in silence for a minute until Ron came down. The trio went down to breakfast together before heading back up to the Common Room to do their homework. They worked for awhile until Ron gave Harry a meaningful look.
"Er, I need to get my, er, History of Magic book." said Harry, heading upstairs. He waited ten minutes...
When he emerged at the top of the staircase again, it was to witness an amazing sight: Ron and Hermione were kissing!
"Do you mind not snogging in front of the first years? " said Harry sarcastically. They looked up and smiled. Harry ran downstairs and gave Ron a thump on the back. "C'mon, let's go visit Ginny."
This was Ginny's last day in the hospital wing, which made her very restless. Her leg was healed, but Madam Pomfrey wanted to be completley sure she was well. When Ron and Hermione walked in holding hands, Ginny jumped out of bed, causing Madam Pomfrey to emit a shreik. She walked back to her office, muttering something about "restless teenagers".
"Urrgh, I can't wait to get out of here," said Ginny.
"Yeah, Quidditch practice tomorrow." said Harry. They all laughed.
***
The day of the rematch against Ravenclaw was on Wednesday, so Gryffindor practiced hard for two days. The day of the match, Ginny looked rather miserable at breakfast.
"It'll be okay, Gin, you'll be fine," said Harry, patting her on the back.
"I dunno, I'm just scared of falling again." said Ginny.
"This isn't like you, Ginny, you usually bounce right back, get right back on that horse," observed Hermione. Ginny put down her fork, having eaten about one bite.
In the locker room, Harry gave his team a pep-talk; not nearly as long-winded as Oliver Wood's had been.
".....so don't worry, it's not a big match, but just play hard, not dirty, use the new moves, and we'll be fine" he finished. "alright, it's time," he said. They went onto the pitch to take their positions. A blast from the whistle, and they were off.
Again, Harry flew high above the rest of the match to search for the tiny Golden Snitch. He flew ever so slowly, circling the pitch. Then, he saw it- a glint of gold, a flutter of wings, the Snitch was hovering around the Ravwnclaw goalposts. With a burst of speed, Harry was off towards the opposite end, not turning to check if the other Seeker was following him. He reached out his hand...closer...closer... yes! His fingers closed around the tiny struggling ball. He heard someone curse behind him and saw the Ravenclaw Seeker descending slowly.
Harry landed and his team surrounded him, all grinning and laughing joyously. Harry heard the new commenator, Colin Creevey, yelling the results into a megaphone:
" The final score of 190 to 40 gives Gryffindor the first win of the season!"
Maybe it was going to be a good season after all.