Well, it seems Lily and James got through the Quidditch Cup match all right, but what about Harry and Ginny? Well, actually just Harry seeing as Lily doesn’t play Quidditch. This should be good.
Harry was still asleep in the boys’ dormitories when a small group of three of three other Gryffindors stood over him. The curtains were still drawn covering his gold and red plaid pajamas and messy black hair. Just then Sirius piped up, “You’d think he’d be at least a bit nervous,” he held his fingers about a millimeter apart to signify this then he rolled his eyes.
“Well, he’s been playing the game since he was eleven,” Ginny replied shrugging. The bewildered looks on Remus and Sirius’ faces made her laugh. “Well, he’s got the skill.”
Lupin’s eyebrows were raised slightly. “Whatever. Are we going to do this or what?” After getting a small nod from the other two he whipped out his wand making the bucket above Harry’s bed wobbled violently. “Okay.” At his command Ginny retched open the scarlet curtains and pulled them off the rack.
“Whas a matter?” Harry asked groggily. He was obviously still half asleep. As he fumbled around in the dark for his glasses Sirius started laughing. “What?” Harry demanded catching sight of Ginny’s flaming head in the darkness.
“Nothing, Harry,” was her simple reply. And then the bucket tipped spilling chocolate all over his head. Not your usual prank, eh? One of Sirius’ stray ideas but anyway the result of this was of Harry spitting the brow syrupy liquid at the other three covering them all in chocolate. The dormitory was now officially a mess. Since that weekend everything had been going amiss with odd pranks every few days. Now the once gold and scarlet room was a mix of chocolate, yellow feathers, scorch marks, and oddly enough green jell-o.
After changing into some clean clothes they wandered down the stairs towards the Great Hall. Sirius had that stupid glint in his eyes again. “So, Harry ready for Chaser action?” At this question Harry missed the trick stair that the other three had jumped making his leg sink into it.
“Great,” Harry muttered sarcastically. It was a combination of being mad at himself for forgetting that he wouldn’t be playing Seeker today but Chaser and that he had missed the trick stair.
Ginny was gaping at him open mouthed and Remus looked utterly disgusted but Sirius on the other hand was now rolling on the floor with laughter. “I say we leave him here and let Ginny here play Chaser. After all she’s got experience…”
“Lily’s not on the substitutes list you idiot,” Remus shot back taking one of Harry’s arms and tugging on it to no prevail; he was stuck and stuck well. Sirius’ face went from amusement to concern. He started pulling at Harry’s other arm resulting in his bones making a strange cracking sound. Now the Marauders were completely panicked along with Harry, but Ginny on the other hand was yawning.
“You can’t tell me none of you know how to get out of the trick step?” The blank expressions on all three boys’ faces told them they hadn’t. “Honestly, have Fred and George got you beat that badly?” Sirius and Remus exchanged confused looks as Ginny sighed heavily and started stroking the wooden grain of the step. It immediately started purring and a mouth like hole appeared releasing Harry’s foot.
He opened his mouth to thank her but at that very moment Sirius pulled him away. “Sorry, but you’ll have to make kissy kissy goo goo later! It’s time for the match!” And with that they rounded the corner to the outside.
Upon reaching the entrance to the Gryffindor changing room they began to change into scarlet and gold Quidditch robes. It seemed they were the same ones they used to this day except without their names on the back. Harry was now pondering if their school was in fact that poor when the captain walked in. He looked uncannily like Oliver Wood, but anyway the long pep talk began and Sirius fell asleep dog-like at Harry’s feet.
Noticing that one of his Chasers had fallen asleep the captain rolled his eyes and kicked him. “Black I’d swear you’re part cat the way you fall asleep all the time.” At this Sirius awoke with a start and began making an odd growling noise as if specifying that he was certainly not part cat. Harry tried to stifle his laughter but began hiccupping. “And you, Potter, can never seem to keep your mouth shut for more then a minute.” Harry huffed indignantly. He had been one of the only ones who had been listening. Oh well. At least this ended the pep talk and like a herd of crimson elephants they appeared at the field.
Standing at the center line was the Slytherin team, as well as their captain who looked like an older version of Draco Malfoy. This sent a sort of shiver up Harry’s spine as the two captains shook hands. These two didn’t seem to want to break each others’ fingers, but they did lock eyes the entire time with what seemed to be electricity emitting from both sets.
Then a woman walked onto the pitch carrying the crate containing the four balls. Harry barely cast her a glance before doing a double take and staring with his mouth open at the younger Professor McGonagall. She had a whistle around her neck as well as a broomstick in her hand. Without saying a word she released the snitch and two bludgers.
Then she blew the whistle and threw up the Quaffle as fourteen broomsticks rose into the air. Harry rocketed upward on the old broomstick and was engaged in a sort of fistfight for possession of the red ball. In the end Slytherin got it and threw it through Gryffindor’s goal posts making the score 10-0. Obviously McGonagall hadn’t seen the Slytehrin beater elbow Harry in the mouth, but the stands had. Ginny was practically hanging off of the railing in the stands moaning for a foul.
Laughing lightly Harry got hit in the head with the Quaffle. Darting forward he tossed it to Sirius for the goal. At least he had tied the score now. Out of habit, he began circling the pitch glancing around every now and then for the snitch. The Slytherin team were all pointing and laughing at the mismatched Chaser as he flew stupidly around the field. Not that this mattered much; Slytherin kept stealing the pass from the Gryffindor Keeper to one of the Chasers for a goal. The score was now 50-10.
Sirius was now yelling “JAMES!” at the top of his lungs as he threw the Quaffle to the last remaining Chaser. Luckily she had caught it and forced in a goal reducing Slytherin’s lead to thirty. In desperation Sirius grabbed one of the beater’s bats and launched a bludger in Harry’s direction.
It made contact with his nose making an odd cracking sound. “Nice one, Padfoot,” Harry yelled hovering slowly back to playing level. His nose was bleeding, but he didn’t care. He was mad now at himself and at everyone around him. He let out a weird grunt before flying in front of the Slytherin Chaser and wrestling the struggling Quaffle out of his hands. Putting on the acceleration he sped off towards the goalposts and scored a goal all by himself.
“How do you like them apples?” he yelled as he resumed circling the field. Apparently one of the Slytherin beaters didn’t like his comment because he sent another bludger collision knocking him to the ground. Gryffindor got a penalty shot and Sirius ‘bravely’ took it and made it. The score was now 50-40. Flying steadily upward, Harry began flying around again. Since the other team had the Quaffle it didn’t make much difference if he did this or not.
Eventually Slytherin took the lead by twenty and Harry was getting anxious. He spotted a glint of gold for a moment but quickly turned away. Looking back again he knew it was the snitch! He silently pantomimed to the Seeker where it was and in a heartbeat the Cup was theirs and it only took a broken nose and another bludger hit to do it. Okay, so his nose wasn’t broken, but still it was rather violent.
Slytherin hadn’t seemed to realize that the snitch had been caught because after the Gryffindor returned to the ground, the captain began throwing the Quaffle repeatedly into the abandoned Gryffindor goalposts trying to rack up the points. Harry pointed this out to Sirius who began laughing hysterically. McGonagall slapped her hand on her forehead irritably before blowing the whistle to make them come down.
The teams stood opposite each other with what seemed to be electricity flowing in their veins. Harry sighed and was the first to shake hands with the Malfoy-looking boy. The Slytherin held out his hand but quickly balled it into a fist and threw it at Harry who ducked. This made Sirius get hit in the face much to the enjoyment of the Slytherin team. Being Harry he pulled a canary cream out of his pocket. “That was pretty good,” he admitted handing over the yellow cake.
“Thanks,” said the Slytherin captain as he took the cake and ate it savagely. The Cup was awarded to the Gryffindors, but not before the Slytherin burst into yellow feathers in front of the whole school. Cheering erupted throughout the stands as the gold and red crested students streamed into the pitch to carry their heroes to the victory feast. Ginny ended up right behind Sirius and Harry and she was laughing uncontrollably.
“I must say that was brilliant.” Lupin was behind her apparently speechless at what had happened. Holding the silver Quidditch Cup over his head Harry dropped it on the floor with a crash only to make the students laugh harder at what had happened.