PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: everylittlething

Story: Towards King's Cross

Part: 10:Badges and Brooms

Rating: Teens

Setting: Post-DH

Status: Completed

Reviews: 19

Words: 5,667

Updated: February 23, 2008, 11:56am

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10:Badges and Brooms

Disclaimer: JKR's world is amazing. Sadly I don't own it myself but I'm just so grateful that she left us this little nineteen-year gap to play around in and guess what might have gone on for Harry before we see him again on Kings Cross Station in 2016!

Author's Note: Firstly, let me apologise for the really long wait! There's been some crazy stuff going on for me recently so this has taken a little bit of a back-seat in my list of priorities but I'm finally here at what turns out to be my second-last chapter rather than my last. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and I look forward to reading your responses…

Thanks also to my fabulous Beta, Trelawney 2213, for all of her help and enthusiasm and for her friendship.

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry were exhausted. Harry's party the night before had been a late one and of course the two couples had taken an extra hour or two in order to adequately farewell one another before parting ways for the night.

Hermione had been woken bright and early the next morning by her parents who were keen to get out and investigate the property market. The poor girl had been dragged from house to house all morning, barely able to keep her eyes open.

Ron and Ginny had been put to work by their mother; gathering, cutting and arranging flowers for the enormous bouquet that Molly intended to send to Bill and Fleur that morning to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary. This process, which thankfully only happened very rarely, inevitably involved the struggle of de-gnoming the garden first, much to Ron and Ginny's dismay.

Harry had lain awake for hours only getting to sleep just before dawn. He and Ginny had brought all of his birthday presents through the Floo after the party then spent a very pleasant hour or two on his couch before they'd finally and reluctantly parted. After she'd left, he'd laid the hammock against the door ready to carry out his plans for the next day, set up Isla's cage and Hagrid's collection of accessories for his beautiful new owl, laid his Quidditch passes carefully on the mantelpiece where they wouldn't get lost and taken his books, clothes, bag and chocolates along with Mrs Weasley's quilt through to his bedroom, contemplating the possibility of starting the day reading about curses while eating a confectionary breakfast in bed. After wriggling his way under his new quilt and getting comfortable, Harry had found himself reflecting on all of the things he was enjoying about this new phase of his life, Ginny featuring prominently among them.

Yet somehow, only a few hours after they'd parted company, the four found themselves reunited at The Burrow, draped all over Mrs Weasley's lounges as they yawned their way through the afternoon.

Ron was lethargically thrashing Harry at wizard chess, Ginny was curled up and dozing fitfully in a squashy armchair and Hermione, true to form, was stretched across the lounge with her head in a book and her feet resting on Ron's lap.

The three more conscious inhabitants of the Burrow's comfy living room barely mustered the energy to be surprised when Molly ushered Professor McGonagall into the room.

Harry, the only one who'd had the opportunity to sleep in that morning, leapt to his feet and greeted the professor with a warm embrace. Slightly taken aback by Harry's newfound confidence and affection, tears immediately sprang to the usually stern woman's eyes and she chuckled at herself as she fished in her sleeve for a handkerchief once Harry released her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," Harry said sheepishly as he stepped back.

Minerva beamed at the young man before her. How different he was now to the tiny bundle she had first encountered in Privet Drive, and even to the quaking little boy whose head she had placed the Sorting Hat on when he'd first arrived at Hogwarts.

"My dear boy," she said warmly, still dabbing at her eyes. "Happy birthday for yesterday. I have a gift for you."

"Thank you, Professor," said Harry, taking the small package out of her hands and unwrapping it gently.

He found himself holding a weather-beaten book and as he opened it and turned the pages, he immediately recognised the spidery script that filled it.

"This is Professor Dumbledore's writing," Harry whispered.

Harry was so distracted that he failed to hear what his old Head of House was saying in response. He turned the little journal over in his hands and acknowledged the reality that he no longer felt pain at the thought of his mentor. Loss, yes, but not that dull rage that had spurred him on on the day of the great man's funeral. He could feel a measure of peace about his death now and even the involvement of Harry's unlikely champion, Severus Snape.

With new contentment, Harry turned his full attention back to Professor McGonagall.

"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall. What did you just say?"

"It's a book of Albus' original verse," she replied with a wry smile. "Why don't you read some aloud?"

Harry held the book up closer to his glasses, squinting at the barely legible script.

If a bird in the hand is worth two in the willow,
Then I'll transform my hat and transfigure my pillow,
Till I have a fine duck and a swan, called "Magistra",
And I'll make them a home in a nice aspidistra
'Cause what is a bird in the hand really for,
Than to make one feel grand when one isn't quite sure?

Harry blinked once or twice. He supposed he had never really imagined that his headmaster would have written terrific poetry. He was brought back to reality by Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Now, as I've said, I really came to talk to you about school."

Harry hesitated for a moment but then sat obediently back on the couch.

"Should we wake Ginny?" he asked.

"Not just yet, there are a few things that I'd like to discuss with the three of you first."

She smiled at the three expectant young faces before her and noticed the new wisdom and maturity that seemed to crown their foreheads, even that of Ron Weasley.

"Well, firstly, you will have heard that Hogwarts is as good as new thanks to the efforts of Kingsley and so many others. I'm glad that we were able to keep the three of you away from the place, you so very much needed and deserved the break that you've been able to have. However, now I'd like to enquire about your plans for the new school year – do you intend to return to complete your N.E.W.Ts?"

The three exchanged glances and Ron and Harry leaned back smiling as Hermione spoke on their behalf, perhaps taking a few liberties as she expressed their shared mutual enthusiasm for learning.

"Oh Professor, we can't wait for school to begin again! We'll absolutely be back!"

Professor McGonagall glanced towards Hermione's companions in time to catch Ron affectionately rolling his eyes behind her back for Harry's amusement. She struggled to prevent the corners of her lips from turning up.

"Well, now that's settled, I wanted to ask your opinion on holding positions of leadership within the school next year. All three of your names are regularly mentioned to me as obvious choices for Head Boy and Head Girl."

Harry interjected quickly. "Professor, please don't think about making me Head Boy. I've had enough of being responsible for now. I'd love to just go back to Hogwarts and relax, if that's ok with you. Ron and Hermione will be perfect for the job. I would love to stay on as Gryffindor Quidditch Captain though."

Harry stopped speaking to see Ron and Hermione smiling wryly at him and he knew that they weren't in the least surprised by his decision. Hermione spoke next.

"Professor, Ron and I have thought about this too. We know Harry too well now and we'd guessed that this might happen. As honoured as we are that people have mentioned us as possibilities, we don't want the roles either. We're hoping to fade into the background a little this year." Ron nodded his approval.

Where Harry had failed to surprise Ron and Hermione, his friends had succeeded in completely flooring him. He stared open-mouthed at the two of them and then just had to lean back and chuckle at himself for failing to see this coming.

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Well, the three of you have made the path very clear to me and my choice is now obvious. One boy and one girl willingly and capably led the students at Hogwarts during the horrific course of the last year putting themselves in grave danger in the process. Of course, I'm speaking of Ginny, here, and Neville Longbottom." She looked at the three beaming faces in front of her. "I take it that the three of you approve of my decision?"

"There's no one better, Professor," Ron said, "and Mum is going to go off her nut!"

"Professor," Harry ventured tentatively, "I was wondering if I could ask you for a special favour for the year."

Minerva smiled. "I imagine we'll be able to find some way of granting you a favour, Harry. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I wouldn't like to be parted from Teddy for whole terms at time. Do you think I could have permission to leave the castle and Apparate to Andromeda's fairly regularly so that I can see him and help her out?"

The Head Mistress' eyes welled up and threatened to overflow again. "Of course, dear," she half-whispered. "So many of us wish every good thing for that little boy."

****

Distressed by the sight of Molly surreptitiously wiping away tears as she fruitlessly waved her wand over the sink full of dishes each night, Arthur had enlisted Bill's help in a spot of "Muggling" as Fred and George had dubbed it. Bill had been sent to find an old dishwasher by the side of the road and the two of them now had the back off it and were prodding at it with their wands in a fairly kamikaze fashion.

Ginny and Fleur watched on in amusement as Bill and Arthur scratched their heads and poked about looking generally baffled.

"So, Ginny," Fleur turned to her sister-in-law with rather frightening intent. "Tell me all about what 'Arry 'as planned for your birthday next week!"

"Erm, well, I don't know much. He's planning some sort of a surprise," she responded. "All I know is that he's going to pick me up in the morning and take me somewhere for the day. He's going to bring me home in time to get ready for my party that night."

"Ooh, Ginny! I wonder where 'ee is going to take you! 'Ee 'as probably organised to take you to a beautiful restaurant for lunch." Fleur looked like she might swoon as she anticipated the day. She leaned in conspiratorially. "And 'e'll probably spend some of 'is lovely money on some beautiful jewellery for you. Oh, you are a lucky girl, Ginny!"

Ginny tried to smile but only managed a kind of grimace. A day like that sounded positively terrifying! A fancy restaurant and expensive jewellery? She was constantly losing earrings because she inevitably took them out to play Quidditch and then never found them again. She'd have to be so careful with anything Harry gave her.

She must have been looking thoroughly frightened because Fleur patted her arm comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Ginny. I'll find you something magneeficent to wear." Ginny gulped; she hadn't even moved on to worrying about clothes yet. "In fact, you must stay with Bill and me the night before your birthday. I will do your 'air and your makeup and dress you up and 'Aarry won't believe his eyes!"

****

Ginny nervously approached the front door, enduring a last minute primp from Fleur and opened it to find Harry dressed in shorts and his new Australian Quidditch jersey. Her whole body relaxed, he wasn't going to take her to any terrifying restaurants, he hadn't transformed over night into Fleur's somewhat scary version of the perfect boyfriend:, he was just Harry, exactly as she wanted him. She beamed at him, convinced he had never looked more dashing than he did right at that moment.

Harry stood speechless on the front step. Who on earth was this waiting for him? He felt tempted to look behind him, wondering if he'd see some Guilderoy Lockhart look-alike who had a higher claim, but no, her brown eyes were definitely dancing for him. Then realisation dawned. Here was Ginny, dressed up to the nines for her birthday and he'd clearly planned a very different day to the one that it seemed she'd been hoping for.

Ginny registered the flicker of doubt in Harry's eyes and watched his face fall. She grabbed his arm and indicated with a nod over her shoulder that she was not alone.

"Ah, 'Arry, let me 'ave a leetle look at you," Fleur called from behind the door as she moved to appear next to her sister-in-law. Her smile immediately straightened out as she checked Harry over and glared at him for getting everything so patently wrong.

Harry finally found his voice but he sounded distressed. "Gin, I'm sorry." Yet he couldn't help but notice hopefully that while Fleur was glaring daggers at him, Ginny's smile seemed only to have brightened.

"Fleur, would you mind if I talked to Harry alone for a moment?" she asked.

"Of course, you poor leetle dear," Fleur replied sympathetically and with one last angry appraisal of Harry's appearance she disappeared into the house and closed the door.

Harry was quite confused. Ginny didn't seem to be angry like Fleur, and he knew that she must be disappointed, but her smile was positively beatific. He looked at the ground, waiting for her to speak but she didn't say anything. She just stepped in so that she was pressed right up against him and kissed him tenderly.

"Before you say anything," she murmured against his lips. "I'm not angry or disappointed or any of those things that you think I must be feeling. Fleur convinced me that you must have been planning some extravagant meal at an expensive restaurant. She terrified me into agreeing to all of this preening because I didn't want to embarrass you, but all along I was holding out hope that this would be exactly what would happen. I hoped that you would turn up, just my Harry, and take me somewhere fun and relaxed, not somewhere where I'm going to feel terrified and inadequate all day!"

She felt the tension leave Harry's body and she felt his lips curve into a smile against her own. "So I'm going to go back inside and change and get this make-up off and then I'm coming back to have just the day I was looking forward to with you, ok?"

"Mmmhmm," Harry responded wrapping his arms around her and kissing her gently. "Maybe next time we go out I will take you somewhere posh. Blimey, you're beautiful, Gin!"

She smiled sweetly. "I'll be right back, ok?" and she ran inside.

A moment later, a sheepish-looking Bill came to the front door. "Sorry, mate., I did try to explain to Fleur that perhaps she might have been expecting a bit much from you. I should have stepped in earlier to spare Ginny." He ran his hands through his already dishevelled hair. "Fleur has been really intense about the whole thing. I don't think she's given Ginny a moment's peace this morning. She was convinced that you were going to turn out to be some sort of Prince Charming and sweep Ginny off her feet." Bill grinned. "No offence, mate, but all of that sounds just a little bit out of character for you."

"I'm really surprised that Fleur got me pegged so wrong! She'll probably kill me when she finds out how we really spent today." Harry laughed.

"I look forward to hearing about it later, but don't worry about Fleur, she's been pretty homesick just the last few weeks. She knows a lot of ponces in France; she was probably just hoping you'd turn out to be a bit more like one of them."

As he spoke, Ginny reappeared looking much more herself in red shorts, a stripey blue t-shirt and sandshoes.

She kissed Bill on the cheek in farewell. "Try to explain Harry and me to Fleur again; maybe she'll get it this time."

"I think I'll explain it over dinner at some terrifying restaurant. It might be a good idea for us to pop over to Paris for the weekend. Then I can end up the big hero even as Harry, here, crumbles into the dust," Bill chuckled.

****

At last they were alone and Ginny, now feeling much less constricted, threw herself into Harry's arms.

"Remind me never to make you get dressed up for anything!" Harry laughed.

"So, where are we going?"

"All will be revealed! Ok, you've got two choices for transport. One: Side-Along Apparate with me, we'll get there faster, though I've always thought that it feels like being squeezed through a rubber tube. Or Two: ride with me on my broom and we can take the scenic route."

Ginny looked thoroughly put off by Harry's description of Apparating. "Let's take your broom."

Within an instant he had Summoned it and the pair clambered on and with Harry behind and Ginny nestled in front of him they soared into the sky.

True to their Gryffindor natures, Harry and Ginny had been known to seek after the adrenaline rush and travelling by broom allowed them more than adequate opportunities to indulge this particular pursuit.

"We're getting close," Harry commented after a while and Ginny was almost sorry that the ride would be coming to an end. Her curiosity triumphed, however, and she was soon peering down at the ground far below, trying to determine where Harry would guide them down to land.

It wasn't long before a familiar landscape came into view.

"Hey, that's Puddlemere Stadium down there!" Ginny cried, pointing ahead of them. "You're going to be spending some great time there over the next year with those tickets George gave you!" She tilted her head back and grinned up at him, batting her eyelashes. "Maybe you'll take me to a couple of games?"

"Well, I'll hardly be going without you!" Harry replied without hesitationand Ginny experienced a little thrill, realising that though he recognised that her comment was merely banter, his response was completely serious..

Harry guided the broom down towards the stadium and Ginny turned her head to look at him quizzically.

Within minutes, the two of them were clambering off Harry's broom on to the grass in the middle of one of the best professional Quidditch pitches in England. Ginny was grinning madly, dying to know what Harry was up to.

"What are we doing here, Harry?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him and trying to sound as winsome as possible.

"Well," he laughed, "I guess that it's time for me to hand over your birthday present!"

Ginny smiled warmly but was internally reminded of Fleur's certainty that Harry would give her jewellery... She'd love whatever he'd chosen, she was sure, but jewellery just wasn't something she'd really learnt how to value yet. "Must be the legacy of five brothers breaking or hiding everything that I treated as precious," she reflected without bitterness.

Well, at least she was in the most romantic location she could think of: smack in the middle of a Quidditch pitch, the goal posts soaring high above them. She giggled to herself, imagining what Fleur would think of this.

"Gin!" Harry called her attention from the goal posts back to him. "Happy Birthday!"

And he was holding out a long thin package, the style of which she'd only seen once before, when a couple of owls brought Harry's most treasured possession to the table during breakfast at Hogwarts one morning. This was no pair of earrings.

She looked at him in total shock and awe. "Harry?"

"Open it, Gin!" he urged, and the pair of them dropped to the grass with the package between them. She tore open the paper to reveal the most amazing broom she had ever seen. The gold letters on the handle twinkled in the bright sunlight: бързина куршум

She looked up at him, stunned. "Ok, give me the sales pitch!" she laughed, seeing that Harry was dying to fill her in on exactly what treasure she held in her arms.

He pulled a magazine out from his back pocket and Ginny immediately recognised Quidditch World, the most thumbed magazine at The Burrow, second only to her mum's Witch Weekly.

"This is the International Broom Issue," Harry said proudly. He turned eagerly to a page with the corner folded over and gave it to her to read. "It means "Speeding Bullet" in Bulgarian. This is the broom that Krum's team are all riding now!"

She glanced at the magazine quickly, just long enough to notice the underlining and the furious scribbling that Harry had scrawled in the margins. She flicked a couple of pages back and forward and saw the length to which Harry had gone to research the perfect broom. Instead of reading, enthralled, as Harry had anticipated, she dropped both broom and magazine and flew at Harry, knocking him backwards onto the grass where she proceeded to shower him with kisses.

Harry started to protest, wanting to tell her all about his present but she'd seen this kind of performance from all of the men in her family at various times: Bill on the properties of the diamond in Fleur's engagement ring and, most recently, her dad expounding the virtues of the particular brand of washing machine he had finally managed to charm for her mum. While she looked forward to hearing all that this new broom could do, she was far more interested in snogging her boyfriend to within an inch of his life and then getting on this new broom and finding out for herself.

Harry stopped trying to talk and caught on to Ginny's plan, responding appropriately. Eventually she pulled away, and leant on one elbow, looking down into Harry's grinning face.

"You may not be Fleur's idea of the perfect man, Harry, but you've just proved yourself to be mine."

"You're not too shabby yourself," he murmured, pulling her down to kiss her again.

Before he knew it, Ginny was scrambling to her feet.

"I can't wait any longer!" she cried. "Let me try out this new broom!"

****

After an hour or so of the two of them soaring all around Puddlemere Stadium, racing one another up and down the pitch, Ginny noticed Harry looking at his battered gold watch and her curiosity was immediately aroused. She drew her broom level with his to see if he would give anything away.

"It's nearly time for the next part of your birthday surprise, Gin. I hope you don't mind but there'll be some others joining us any minute now."

Almost before he'd finished speaking, Ginny could make out a mass of brooms soaring over the high walls of the Puddlemere grounds. George, Ron and Charlie Weasley were automatically identifiable in the lead of the pack by their fiery red hair. They were followed by Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Karina Trilby, Lee Jordan and Verity.

Ginny mentally counted her friends as they arrived and, as the last couple of brooms sailed over the high wall and she noticed the trunk that Ron and George were carrying between them, she turned to Harry with a competitive glint in her eye.

"Fourteen!" she cried gleefully, "A match!" She turned her broom and zoomed down to the grass below where everyone was touching down. She ran around greeting them all enthusiastically and showing off her broom. Hermione and Neville were eyeing everyone a little bit warily so Ginny hugged the pair of them particularly warmly.

"Oh, I know you two aren't as Quidditch-mad as the rest of us, but thanks so much for agreeing to come and play! We'll be nice to you, I promise!"

"We were promised that we'd at least eat first, while we're still alive!" Hermione said, wincing rather than quite managing the wide smile that she'd been aiming for.

Hermione, Ron, George and Charlie all pulled large knapsacks off their backs and began to unload the type of feast that only Mrs Weasley could possibly have put together, even in her somewhat lessened state. The pies and chicken legs and salads and puddings and cakes rivalled even the offerings of the house-elves on a special occasion at Hogwarts and before long all of the potential Quidditch players were sprawled on the grass in the brilliant sunshine recovering from some severe over-eating.

After half-an-hour or so of Ron-declared "digestion time", Neville began to hope that a reprieve was in sight.

"Don't s'pose we can play Quidditch when we're all stuffed like this, eh?" he ventured tentatively.

"I'm right!" said Ginny, jumping to her feet. "Shall we play then?"

Hermione rolled over onto her side and caught Neville's eye. "Nice try!" she mouthed.

Within minutes she and Neville found themselves perched precariously on their borrowed broom sticks trying to remember the instructions they'd been given about their positions.

Ginny was playing in her favourite position as Chaser, and Harry was on her team as their Seeker. They had Ron in goals, Hermione playing as another Chaser along with Angelina Johnson and they had George and Karina as their Beaters.

On the opposing side, Oliver was in goals, Charlie was playing Seeker, Neville, Katie and Verity were Chasers and Luna and Lee were playing as Beaters.

Without a referee, the game began somewhat chaotically but the players, even Hermione and Neville, soon got into the swing of things and the Quaffle began flying around the pitch. The Beaters were playing cautiously because everyone knew that the game was just for fun and that Madam Pomfrey was a long way away.

Harry and Charlie soared high above the rest of the game, enjoying the sunshine and looking for the glint of gold that would reveal the whereabouts of the Snitch. They were both feeling well-fed and happy and Harry was particularly pleased that Ginny seemed to be having the time of her life.

Charlie soared up next to Harry and the two made conversation for a while, not expecting to see a sign of the Snitch for a long while yet.

"Bill told me about poor Ginny's ordeal with Fleur this morning," Charlie chuckled. "I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to fill him in on your plans for the day. He would have known to call off his wife!"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Mate, I was terrified when Ginny opened the door. I thought she'd be so disappointed in me. All turned out ok, though!"

A cheer went up from the players below as Ginny made a fantastic catch of a somewhat wobbly pass from Hermione and dummied the Quaffle past a frustrated Wood, scoring first for her team. She looked up and gave Harry a mock salute which he returned, grinning.

"Well, mate," Charlie grinned, "You're clearly the right chap for my little sister, and believe me, I was never going to give that phrase away without a fight!"

Harry didn't think he would ever get tired of all of this Weasley approval. Other than the one he had envisioned with Sirius, there was never a family he had wanted to be a part of more.

He turned to reply but found the space next to him empty. Charlie must have spotted the Snitch as he'd rocketed off towards the goal hoops that Ron was guarding. Harry bent low towards the handle of his broom and took off after the stocky red-head. George fired a Bludger at his older brother to try and slow him down but it was no use, Harry couldn't catch him.

He could only watch as Charlie performed the type of hair-pin turn that suggested he'd just closed his fist around their buzzing golden target. Harry pulled up right next to him.

"You've caught it already?" he asked. "That was quick! Ginny will be disappointed!"

But Charlie laughed and opened his palm, revealing it to be empty.

"Just thought things were getting a bit soppy over there," he laughed. "We're blokes, Harry! We needed some action to counteract all of that talking."

Ron's laughter at his brother's antics caused him to lose concentration, allowing Katie and Verity to pass the Quaffle up to Neville who was hovering near the goal hoops. While Ron was distracted, Neville flew right up close and tossed the Quaffle through the central hoop, evening the score between the two teams. Neville's team crowded around him in celebration while he merely blinked repeatedly and grinned in a dazed sort of way, quite unable to believe the feat he'd just performed.

Karina turned out to be a fairly formidable Beater, having played for Ravenclaw during her years at Hogwarts. She was a bit less cautious than some of the other Beaters and nearly took out Oliver Wood with a Bludger at one stage before George had to have a word with her.

"Karina!" he cried delightedly. "By all means play to your strengths, but let's just be careful of the one player here who actually needs to make a career out of this sort of thing."

"Sorry, Wood!" Karina called across the pitch. "I just had a flashback to the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw final in 1990!"

"You nearly broke my arm then too as I recall!" Oliver called back, grinning, but still rubbing his arm where the Bludger had made contact.

For a moment, both of them seemed lost in their memories until both their faces soured and they spat "Bloody Slytherin!" in unison.

George looked at Karina with renewed admiration. She recovered from her moment of cursing Slytherin, smiled sweetly back at him and then zoomed off to protect Ginny from a Bludger that had been sent her way with accidental force by Luna.

The game continued on for hours but everyone was having such a good time that they didn't really notice the day slipping away. Ginny and Angelina had scored seventy for their team and Hermione had nearly fallen off her broom when she took the count to eighty.

Katie, Neville and Verity had been only slightly less successful on sixty points and this was after Oliver and Ron had managed to hold out many more attempts on goal throughout the long afternoon. Harry and Charlie had both gone their separate ways above the pitch now, each scanning the sky for the Snitch.

Harry watched with interest as Ginny drew her broom up to her brother Charlie and engaged him in conversation. She was holding her hand strangely behind her back and Harry wondered if she'd pulled a muscle until he realised that she was pointing down on the ground towards the base of Oliver's goal posts.

Harry immediately turned and saw the glint of gold just above the ground. He turned the nose of his broom down and shot off after it, looking briefly over his shoulder to see Charlie bearing down on him, not far behind.

The Snitch was in his sights and he loved the feeling of closing in on the tiny golden ball. Hand outstretched, his broom nearly vertical, he charged down, almost parallel to the goal post. He heard the collective intake of breath from many of his friends but Ginny was yelling encouragement without a hint of concern in her voice.

His fist closed around the golden blur and he managed to pull up just in time to save himself from ploughing head first into the ground below.

He had caught the Snitch and he held it aloft as his teammates zoomed down to embrace him.

"Well, it's right that the birthday girl's team should win, isn't it, Charlie?" Harry said, grinning as he shook the older man's hand.

"Guess so," Charlie shrugged in response, smiling cheerily. "Nice work! Two hundred and thirty points to sixty!"

Ginny charged to the ground, jumped off her broom and leapt onto Harry.

"So much for you not being able to keep your eyes off me!" she laughed. "I'd been gesticulating wildly for a few minutes before I decided to try and distract Charlie to get your attention!"

"Well, you might be the better Seeker, Gin! We've yet to be pitted against one another to find out," Harry replied. "Do we need a rematch with you and me as Seeker?"

"Nooo!" groaned the rest of the exhausted players who were touching down and collapsing on the grass all around them.

"Well, if you've still got some energy left, Harry, come and give me a hand, will you?" said Oliver, offering Harry a hand up.

The two of them traipsed off the field and Oliver dug a key out of his pocket.

"The team stores," he said with a wink as he opened the double doors and led the way into an enormous cool room. "Let's help ourselves to a bottle or two of Butterbeer, eh?"

"Is this ok?" Harry asked warily. "It was so great of you to organise use of the stadium for us, I don't want to get you into any trouble!"

Wood laughed. "I happened to mention your name, Harry, and I was told to use whatever I wanted and not even to think about the cost. There are some advantages to being you, you know!"

Harry grinned sheepishly as he hoisted a slab of Butterbeer bottles onto his shoulder. "I'll try to remember that!"

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