ORIGINAL: The Amour

[Chapter Two]


The next morning, he woke up to bright blinding sunlight pouring into the room through the open curtains. Everyone but Ron was still asleep. Ron was nowhere to be seen. harry assumed that he’d probably left the dorm in a rush so that he wouldn’t have to talk to Harry.

He glanced at his watch and was surprised to see that it was already half past eight. The Quidditch match would be starting in less than two hours. With a sight, he clambered out of bed and changed out of his pajamas, consisting of Dudley’s old sweats and polo. Both five sizes too big for Harry.

“Hey Seamus, wake up. Quidditch Day!” he said nudging Seamus’ sleeping form.

Seamus opened one bleary eye and smiled when he saw Harry.

“Morning Harry.” he muttered sleepily.

“Good morning Seamus! Rise and shine, we’ve got some nasty play to do today.” Harry smirked and gave a playful guy spank to the Chaser’s buttox.

Seamus gave a groan. “Fuck Harry, did you have to do that?” he stumbled out of bed and gave a huge stretch.

Harry tossed him a random pair of slacks and shirt from Seamus’ trunk and waited impatiently as Seamus stood looking at him oddly and then down at the clothes in his hands.

“Gee, you my mother or something?” he asked sarcastically.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Just change already.” He strode across the room towards the door. “I’ll see you in the Great Hall, Captain.”

And with that, he practically leaped down the stairs and through corridors to breakfast. He was definitely feeling a bit high and tense today because he was absolutely determined to catch the Snitch before Malfoy at all costs. Today was a day that couldn’t be wasted.

As he expected, Ron was sitting at the Gryffindor table already, but he was looking tired and unrefreshed, like he hadn’t slept a wink the night before.

Ron didn’t bother to look up when Harry came in. The only sign he showed that he was aware of Harry’s presence was his lips, which had pursed themselves into a very thin line.

Harry truly felt like dumping a bucket full of ice water on the red head but instead he just shot him a cool look and sat down across from him.

“I’ve really got no idea why you’ve suddenly decided to hate me but I think it’d be wise if you quit being a five year old at least during the game or else there’s no way we’re gonna win this match.” he said flatly.

Ron finally looked up at him with fire in his eyes.

“Me? A five year-old? You should talk.”

“Well, I’m not the one who’s acting like a dumbass all of the sudden.” Harry snapped.

“Dumbass my arse!” Ron retorted. “And I suppose you’re a saint?”

Harry slammed his fists onto the table. “Listen Ron. I don’t give a fuck whether you choose to be a complete bloody prat towards me. But I won’t forgive you if you mess up the game because of it. Gryffindor team doesn’t need an idiot for a Keeper.”

Ron looked murderous for a minute until his mouth twitched into a smirk.

“i’d like to see you try and kick me off the team hero-boy.”

“I’m not kidding when I say I will. I’ll have a good talk with Seamus-”

“What kind of good talk?” the voice of Seamus spoke up from somewhere behind Harry. Harry spun around.

“Hey Seam.” Harry greeted. “I was just reminding Ron here about the importance of today’s game.” he said offhandedly. “Can’t afford to lost, you know.”

“Good Harry.” Seamus said thumping him on the back. Then he turned toward Ron. “Actually, I was going to talk to you about your practices sometime. Ron, no offense but your keeping has been getting pretty lousy lately. You’re not trying hard. Something bothering you?”

He was looking at Ron with a concerned expression on his face which seemed to make Ron even more pissed off.

“Oh so I’m not a satisfactory player am I? Wish Harry had a perfect twin to take my fucking place, do you?” he spat, freckles jumping out terribly against his crimson face.

Seamus shook his head calmly.

“No Ron, I just want to know if you’ve got something on your mind that might be keeping you from concentrating on other things. Because I don’t want it to interfere with Quidditch. You should know that.”

Despite his fury, Harry was looking uneasily at Seamus. To tell Ron all this before the match was not a good idea. Ron would probably stay moody throughout the game and when Ron was in a shitty mood, he rarely did anything right.

Just then, to make matters better or worse, Harry didn’t know, Cho came into the Great Hall smiling brightly. She spotted Harry and bounded over to him, giving him a huge hug and kissing him adoringly on the cheek.

“Good morning Harry!” she whispered giddily into his ear. “Good luck at beating the Slytherins today. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if they won after yesterday.”

Harry blushed at being embraced so in front of Ron and Seamus, and he managed to naturally shift his position so that he was out of her arms. He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder and grinned.

“Don’t worry. We won’t let anyone down.”

He saw out of the corner of his eye that Ron’s eyes were narrowed dangerously again. Even Seamus didn’t look to happy. The last thing the team needed was a less than cheery Captain.

Seamus coughed loudly and nudged Harry. “Well, we should get down to the stadium-”

Cho frowned. “But you’ve still got an hour until the game!”

Seamus shrugged and smiled good-naturedly. “Yeah well, I’ve got to go over some moves a bit and discuss some new tactics with the team beforehand. So it’s never too early.”

Harry nodded as if he knew of this plan and gathering his Firebolt, he stood up from the table.

“I’ll look for you.” he said softly as Cho hugged him one last time.

“Don’t you dare Harry! Don’t waste precious minutes looking for me! Just make sure to get the Snitch!” she giggled quietly into his ear. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Harry grinned and followed Seamus and Ron out of the castle to the Quidditch Pitch.

No one could wish for more perfect whether conditions. Clear, cold air, warm sunlight, fresh morning dew.

Their trainers squeaked across the moist grass on the field and into the Gryffindor boy’s locker room, where Seamus began donning his Quidditch robes. Ron and Harry followed suit.

“Why didn’t you call out the others?” Harry asked. “You are going to go over the plans right?”

Seamus gave him a calculating stare and frowned.

“I will obviously but I never intended to do the whole Oliver Wood business of going into hysterics hours before the match. I only said that back there cuz I didn’t want you to get al lusty and unfocused before the dang thing.”

Harry felt his cheeks growing warm but didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, Harry. You’re the one who should be trying to keep their mind of the game and nothing else.” Ron jeered. “If you let your girlfriend distract you, the whole of Gryffindor won’t forgive you.”

“Shut up Ron.” Harry said, trying to stay composed. “like I need to be lectured by you.”

Suddenly, they heard the locker room door bang open and Ginny, Tristan, Chad, and Keegan all filed in looking anxious.

Tristan Freechild, Chad Bergesen, and Keegan Platt were the new Chaser and Beaters that year. Apart from Harry, the whole team had been renewed during Harry’s fifth year and beginning of sixth since all his former teammates had graduated from Hogwarts.

It had been a bit difficult to adjust to the changes but since Harry’s position hardly required interaction with other members, he hadn’t been too troubled.

In fact, the number of Gryffindor fans had increased so much since the new team had been put together that even former team Captain and Keeper, Oliver Wood's old fan club was outnumbered by the hundreds. And that was saying something.

“Ready for the big game?” Seamus asked them as they sat down on the cold benches next to Harry and Ron. His eyes were glinting with determination.

“Yes Seamus.” Ginny replied with her nose scrunched up. “God, do you guys ever clean this pig stye out? It smells like heck!”

“Of course we do.” Ron said defiantly. “It’s cleaner than last week isn’t it?”

Ginny’s eyes roamed over the muddy shoes and towels discarded all over the place and the smelly and unwashed Qutch tch robes dangling off the hangers.

“If you call this clean, then I would hate to see it when it’s dirty.”

“Okay, fine. You want us to tidy it up a bit later, we’ll do it, but can we discuss this after the bloody game?” Seamus asked irritably. “We’ve got more important things to talk about right now.”

“Sorry.” Ginny said hastily, seeing the look on the Captain’s face.

“Anyways.” Seamus pulled the board resembling the Quidditch pitch, out from under the mounds of clothes and rubbed some mud off of it. Muttering something, he tapped the shiny surface with his wand and different colored dots and lines began to fill the board.

“All right. So here’s the plan.” he said seriously. “Ron, take third after second whistle. Tristan will be in position at first on our side.”

“Okay.” Ron nodded. “So we’re aiming for a feint?”

“Yes, I saw it played by the Chud’s last season and it worked spectacularly.” he then turned to Keegan and Chad. “Keeg, Chad. You two will be positioned at rank two and three at first whistle, after that, you’re on your own.”

“Right.” they replied in unison, etching the movement of their dots on the board into their minds.

“Ginny and I will work on tactic four. We’ve been practicing it for a while and I think we’re good with it. And Harry-”

“Yeah Captain?” Harry said.

“Try to stay higher up like in practice, you get a better eye from a distance.”

“Sure thing.”

At that moment, a great rumbling was heard from overhead, announcing the arrival of the rest of the school.

“Oh gods. is it time already?” Seamus cried out. He checked his watch. “Ten minutes until the game starts. Everyone got what I was saying?”

The team nodded and a chorus of “yes” was murmured.

“Okay, so make sure you got all your gear in place- Ginny! Top snap’s
undone, button it.”

Ginny rolled her eyes and did the top button. “You’re too strict Finnigan.”

“Well, this isn’t a slut show, it’s a Quidditch game.” he snapped. “All right, ready? Let’s go.”

He grabbed his broomstick and strolled towards the door. Everyone followed him in a specified order.

The minute the door was opened, a great roar echoed through the stadium.

Scarlet and gold flashed out from all around them and the students all but the Slytherins were jumping up and down waving flags.

“Here come the Gryffindors! We have! Captain Finnigan, Weasley, Freechild, Weasley, Bergesen, Platt, aaand Potter!”

Another deafening noise erupted from the stands.

Endless shrieks of, “We love you Tristan!” and “Keegan! *scream* Keegan!” was heard from the female spectators. They were easily the most popular players of the Gryffindor team with their dazzling looks. Not that the rest weren’t highly sought after either. Harry and Seamus were bombarded with fan letters all the time since the start of the season, and it was driving them insane. Ron was the only one who didn’t get any. He had to help them carry the letters because he had none of his own.

They Slytherin team came strutting out of their locker rooms next, with huge identical smirks plastered onto their faces as usual.

A weaker but sill considerably loud cheer exploded from the Slytherin end.

The two rival teams advanced upon the other and Harry’s throat clenched when he came nose to nose with the opponent’s Seeker.

Malfoy’s eyes never left Harry’s and harry forced himself to glare right back at him, to intimidate him, but Malfoy’s lips just curled wickedly.

“Good luck Potter.” he hissed.

“You’ll need it more than me.” Harry shot back.

“Captains, shake hands!”

New team captain Zabini and Seamus shook hands unflinchingly before stepping back.

“Mount your brooms-”

Harry swung his leg over his Firebolt.

A whistle sounded shrilly and fourteen players sprang up into the air.

Harry didn’t stop until he was well above the rest of the players. He began his search quickly for the Golden Snitch.

Once or twice, he’d spotted a flash of something sparkling but both
times, it had only been Malfoy’s hair.

“Damn his bloody perfect hair!” Harry muttered angrily as he turned his broom to go in thposiposite direction.

But for some cursed reason, Harry couldn’t help but sneak glances at Malfoy every now and then.

Harry almost had the desire to brush the strand out of his face for him but then he froze.

What the fuck was he thinking? Revolting thoughts, that’s what! He exhaled heatedly, unnerved at his own mind.

Enough about the ferret, he had to find the Snitch.

Twenty minutes later, Harry was getting desperate, and it was plain to see why.

Ron was doing surprisingly horribly and he’d missed four attempted saves. Although Seamus, Tristan, and ginny were managing to score, the Slytherin Keeper was doing much better than Ron.

If Harry didn’t catch the Snitch now, victory would be out of reach for the Gryffindors, and Harry would rather die then see that happen.

That’s when he saw the thing that made his heart stop. Malfoy, shooting by him toward a pair of silver wings.

Harry didn’t waste a second. He raced after his archenemy with a fire that only the Snitch could ignite.

“Faster!” he yelled at his broom. His broom obeyed. I inched towards Malfoy until he was only a foot behind him. Then all of the sudden, he heard people screaming and a whistling sound.

Instinctively, his head shot up and he saw a Bludger pelting in their direction.

“Watch out!” he bellowed as he kicked out his leg and knocked Malfoy off course.

“What the fuck Potter!” Malfoy shouted angrily, just as the murderous Bludger zoomed past them exactly where they’d been a split second before. His face paled.

Harry swung his head around. The Snitch was gone.

“Dammit!” he swore, slamming his hand against the broom handle.

Malfoy was looking at him sgelygely when the Snitch appeared again near harry’s broom tail.

Harry made a lunge at it and felt his fingers close around it before malfoy screamed, “Potter!”

And he felt the wind knocked out of him.

He slipped off his broom and everything went black.