The Off Season

Ginny was perched on her stool behind the counter at Flourish & Blott's a few days later, flipping through a well-worn copy of The Mists of Avalon. The weekday afternoons were always dreadfully slow, and since she was the only person in the shop at those times, usually boring as well.

The bell attached to the door jangled and Ginny glanced up from her book. Walking through into the shop was Katie Bell, carrying a clipboard and wearing simple robes emblazoned with the words Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"Hi, Katie."

"Oh, hi, Ginny. I didn't know you worked here," Katie replied. "Is Mr. Blott around?"

"No, sorry, he's not in today. He'll be back in tomorrow around noon." Ginny resisted the urge to tell her that the old man was getting his weekly manicure and pedicure, a source of much amusement among the shop's staff.

"Well, maybe you can help me," Katie said doubtfully.

"Sure," Ginny agreed, setting aside her book. "What do you need?"

"I work at Quality Quidditch," she said, pointing unnecessarily to the logo on her robes. "And I thought that people might like it if we carried a few books on the game. Not to compete with Flourish & Blott's, of course, just a small selection."

"That sounds like a great idea! What did you have in mind?"

"Well, actually, I was hoping I could get some suggestions from Mr. Blott," Katie admitted. "What are the bestsellers, that kind of thing."

Ginny laughed. "He'd probably just send you to me. He doesn't even listen to the World Cup on the wireless."

Katie looked a bit relieved at this news. She tucked her blonde hair behind her ears with a quick two-handed gesture, and leaned forward intently. "So what do you think?"

"Well, you already sell Quidditch Monthly, right?"

Katie nodded.

"Right, well they publish special editions from time to time - profiles of champion teams, that sort of thing. We don't carry them here, and people have to special order them if they want them. You might try those."

Katie nodded again and made a note on her clipboard.

"And then there are a few classics that you might want to try. I can sell you some at a volume discount, and then Mr. Blott will have no reason to complain."

"Perfect," said Katie.

"Okay, you'll want Quidditch Through the Ages -- that's a classic for sure, and then... oh, probably The Beaters' Bible, Goal-Keeping and Avoiding Injury, Strategy in the Sport of Warlocks, and Seeking for Complete Morons. That should cover it."

"Thanks, Ginny, this is brilliant," Katie said, scribbling furiously on her pad. When she looked back up, it was with a calculating look on her pretty face. "Say, do you still play?"

"Oh--" Ginny started to say no, but then she remembered how it had felt to sink the Quaffle through the goal the other day, and reconsidered. "Ah, maybe. Why do you ask?"

"I get together with a few friends on Sundays for a kind of pick-up league," she said. "We could use a good Chaser."

"Oh, I don't know if I'm really..." Ginny began, then stopped. Why would she refuse? She wanted to play, and if it was just a few friends, like Katie said, it wouldn't matter that she wasn't much good. "You know what? I'd love to."

"Brilliant," Katie grinned. "Just meet us at Quality Quidditch on Sunday at noon."

"Cool," Ginny agreed, smiling, as Katie turned to go.

She opened the door and stepped through it, then stopped and stuck her head back inside. "And if anyone else asks, just tell them you're already on my team."

-----

Ginny had wondered about Katie's comment at first, but by that night she wasn't wondering any longer.

She was in her pajamas, finishing the washing-up from dinner that night, when an owl tapped on her kitchen window.

The mail usually arrived first thing in the morning, so when she received a note this late at night, Ginny's first thought was that something terrible had happened to someone close to her. She ran to the window and opened it as quickly as she could, letting the big white owl inside.

"Hedwig? Oh no, what's happened, is everyone all right?" Ginny did not expect much of an answer from the bird, but she spoke out loud to her anyway. Hedwig hooted disdainfully and ruffled her feathers a little, but Ginny was too preoccupied to notice.

She untied the note from the owl's leg with trembling hands and unrolled it on the counter.

Ginny,

I'm helping Wood put together a team for pick-up Quidditch this Sunday, and we need Chasers. No pressure, just a few friends out to have a good time. You in?

Harry

Ginny was so relieved that no one close to her was dead or even grievously injured that she burst out laughing. Only when she realized that Hedwig was looking at her as though she needed serious mental help did she stop. Grabbing a pencil stub, she flipped Harry's note over and wrote him back.

Harry,

Thanks for the invitation, but

Just as she was about to write out a quick explanation of her meeting with Katie and the fact that she'd already been enlisted for a team, she had a burst of inspiration and decided otherwise.

but I'm afraid there's no way I can play on your Quidditch team this Sunday.

See you soon,

Ginny

She laughed again and tied the note back onto Hedwig's leg before offering her an owl treat and sending her on her way.

Picking up her wand from where she'd dropped it in her run to the window, she cast a few more spells to clean up around the kitchen before turning out the light and retiring to her bedroom, smiling all the while.

Ginny had been hesitant about agreeing to Katie's offer at first. It had been years since she'd played Quidditch last, and in between, she'd suffered a debilitating injury. She'd been worried about who would be there, and whether she'd make a fool out of herself, and whether she'd disappoint Katie, who she'd always thought of as an older, cooler kid.

Now, with the chance to put one over on Harry, all that was forgotten. She couldn't wait to see his face when he realized she'd already been recruited for another team. All she had to worry about now was winning.

On impulse, she grabbed the Quaffle Harry gave her from the floor where she'd dropped it and got into bed with it.

Lying on her back, she practiced tossing it into the air and catching it again, first with her eyes open and then, as she gained confidence, with her eyes closed. When she first made the Gryffindor team as a Chaser, she used to do this. She even slept with the Quaffle in her arms the night before important matches, in the hopes that it would teach her not to drop it.

She smiled at the memory of her silly younger self, and set the Quaffle lovingly beside the bed before drifting off to sleep.

-----

That Sunday, Ginny awoke early with the Quaffle clutched in her arms. She looked at it in surprise for a moment, but when it failed to explain itself, she just laughed. She gave it a few practice tosses and then set it aside.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood gingerly, holding onto the nightstand for support. As she leaned her full weight on her leg, the slight ache intensified to a sharp pain, and she winced. Still, she resisted the urge to grab her wand and perform the numbing charm. This pain was nothing compared to what it had been before Healer Jacobs and his leeches, and besides, she wouldn't be able to fly with a numbed leg.

She limped off to the shower, knowing that she would need another one right after the game but wanting to look good anyway. There would be lots of people there, she told herself, that she hadn't seen in a long time.

After she had dressed carefully and spent an inordinate amount of time on her hair, Ginny grabbed the broom she'd borrowed from Ron and prepared to Apparate to Diagon Alley.

She arrived at the Apparition point near the Leaky Cauldron and walked down the cobblestone street toward Quality Quidditch, still limping a little. Katie was already standing outside the store, talking to two tall wizards.

"Ginny!" she called out, waving happily. Ginny took a few more limping steps and watched a frown cross Katie's face. She said something to the two wizards and walked up the street to meet Ginny out of earshot from them.

"Hey there, how are you doing?" she asked cheerfully, but with a note of concern on her voice.

"I'm fine, Katie, how are you?"

"Fine, fine." Katie brushed off the question with a wave of her hand. "Listen, I'd forgotten that you were injured. Can you still play?"

Ginny bit her lip and swallowed heavily. Of course Katie wouldn't want an invalid playing for her. "Once I'm in the air, I should be fine," she said honestly. "But taking off and landing are a bit trickier. And I haven't played in a long time. If you want to replace me--"

"No, no, of course not," Katie said, sounding relieved. "We'll just have to keep you in the air--" She looked at Ginny out of the corner of her eye and winked. "No falling off allowed."

Ginny smiled back and said, "Deal."

Katie led her over to where the two wizards still stood.

"Lads, this is Ginny Weasley. She'll be playing Chaser. Ginny, I think you know Roger Davies, our other Chaser." She indicated Roger, who was every bit as good-looking as Ginny remembered him being, and seemed to be admiring his own reflection in the shop window every few seconds. "And this is Klaus," Katie said, indicating the other wizard. "He's our Keeper." Klaus smiled and nodded at Ginny, but said nothing. A few moments later, they were joined by two big burly wizards named Bole and Renwick, and a tiny little witch introduced as Felina Flitwick. "Professor Flitwick's her uncle," Katie explained. Ginny noticed that Felina didn't carry her own broom, and thought that she might even be too small to. Instead, Renwick held two in his big hands.

Katie ducked inside the store and came out with a battered trunk embossed with her name and the Gryffindor crest, which she handed to Klaus. The group moved back in the direction of the Apparition point, and Katie handed Ginny a map, with a cunning little sketch above it of grass and trees.

"This is where we're going," Katie said. Ginny glanced it over and committed the location to memory, preparing herself to Apparate there, then handed it back to Katie, who passed it to Roger.

"All right, you lot," said Katie, already sounding like the team captain. "Whenever you're ready."

Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath before channeling her magic and Apparating to the park. She stumbled a little on arriving, and straightened up quickly, trying to ignore the sharp pain in her leg and the curious looks from her new teammates.

She followed Katie over to a couple of low picnic tables, where she sat down gratefully and massaged her calf with both hands. She felt someone sit down next to her and she looked up to see the large Beater, Bole.

"Weasley, huh?" he asked.

"Bole, huh?" she asked, teasingly.

"'Djyou go to Hogwarts, then?" he asked.

"Yep," she said. "Left last year."

"There was a Weasley in my year," he said. "Percy."

"Wait, did you play Quidditch when you were there?" she asked, choosing not to comment on Percy. "Only your name sounds familiar."

"Yeah," he said shortly. "For Slytherin." He seemed not to want to comment on that either.

"What are you doing now?" she asked politely.

"I, ah--" he cleared his throat and looked a little embarrassed. "I play for the Magpies, actually."

"Really?" Ginny sat up and looked around at her teammates again. "Are the rest of this lot pros, too?" She was beginning to feel nervous. After all, Katie had said that this group was just a few friends.

"Well, I'm just a reserve," Bole admitted. "And Klaus there, he plays over in Belgium... or Luxembourg, or some such place." He paused, surveying the rest of the group. "But no one else is, now."

"I haven't played in a long time," Ginny admitted, rolling the cuff of her jumper between her fingers.

"Well, you must be good, or Katie wouldn't have asked you," Bole said, conspiratorially. "She plays to win, she does."

Ginny was filled with the conflicting emotions of pride and doubt at this. She had been good, at Hogwarts, true. But it had been a long time since then. A very long time, with no flying in between, not to mention a major injury.

"Who are we playing today, then?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

Bole looked surprised, and turned to Katie, who was talking with Klaus, their two blond heads close together. "Hey Bell!" he called across the table. "Who's buying the drinks tonight?"

"Wood!" she answered, laughing.

"Good, cause I'm already thirsty," Renwick said, making a show of cracking his knuckles, and everyone laughed.

Ginny joined in the laughter, pleased that they were going to be playing Harry's team, but worried about going up against Wood. She nervously remembered the spectacular saves she'd seen him make at the League Championship match.

"That reminds me," Katie said, walking around the table to where Ginny was sitting. "Davies, c'mere a second."

He leaned in, and Katie crouched down, speaking just to the two other Chasers. "Wood is good," she said. "Really, really good. He'll be tough to score on today. But I played with him at school, I know some things that'll help."

Ginny leaned in, listening intently. This was exactly the sort of thing she needed. Katie went on. "Pass a lot," she said. "If he doesn't know who's about to shoot, he'll have a harder time defending. Also a lot of vertical passing. It's confusing." Beside her, Ginny saw Roger nodding.

"And talk trash to him," Katie said. "As dirty as possible. Throws him off his game." Ginny blinked, startled. Professor McGonagall had always cracked down on that sort of thing in school. Katie noticed and grinned. "You especially, Ginny," she said, winking. "You can distract him."

"Will do," Ginny said, nodding. The family games they played in a forest clearing near the Burrow always included plenty of trash talk, so she thought she could handle it now.

"Oho! Look who's here!" Klaus called to the rest of the team, in a voice that was so loud, it must have been clearly calculated to carry over to the group of people who were just walking out from under cover of the nearby trees.

"Oi, Wood!" Katie called, her strategy discussion clearly abandoned for the moment. "I hope you brought your wallet!"

"Just give up now, Bell, and save us all the trouble!" Ginny was pretty sure that was Oliver's voice, but the other team was still so far away that she couldn't tell who was speaking.

"Oh, if this is too much trouble for you boys," Katie said, her voice dripping with honeyed sarcasm, "we can just go straight to the pub."

"It does get tough, beating you over and over again." That was someone else, a witch this time.

"Yeah, it's almost embarrassing, to tell the truth." Ginny recognized that voice immediately: definitely Harry.

"We feel bad for you lot." Oliver again.

"It is awfully hard for us," Katie agreed. "Being forced to play such inferior teams."

Katie and Oliver continued to go back and forth as the rest of the other team set down their things and prepared for the game. Beside her, Ginny saw Bole pick up his Beaters' bat.

"They'd talk all day if we let them," he muttered.

Ginny laughed and started for the makeshift pitch, limping along with her broom over her shoulder. She had just reached the sideline when she heard her name called.

"Ginny!"

She turned around just in time to see Harry jog up to her, disbelief on his face.

"Oh, hi Harry," she said casually. "How's it going?"

"Erm, just fine," he replied, obviously thrown.

"Beautiful day for Quidditch, isn't it?"

"Erm, yeah."

"Well, good luck today," Ginny said, smiling brightly as she turned away and walked toward the middle of the pitch.

A couple of players were already in the air, so she lifted off carefully and joined them, relieved that she wouldn't have to race to take off and be held back by her injured leg.

Hovering in the air while waiting for the game to start, Ginny watched Harry on the ground. He rustled in his backpack for a moment, then stood and examined his broom for a little while, then opened the trunk and looked at the Snitch halfheartedly. He looked, she thought, thoroughly distracted.

Suddenly, she remembered with perfect clarity the way his arm had felt around her waist when they Apparated to the Chudley clubhouse. It had felt comfortable, and warm, and their bodies had fit together just right, in a way that made her ache for more. Why was she trying to throw him off guard? What was she trying to accomplish, and why was she feeling so pleased with herself? Suddenly she was the one who was confused.

Harry released the Snitch from the case it was in, and Ginny blinked, looking around her in panic. The rest of the players were assembled in formation, and she hurried to get into place. Only the two Seekers remained on the ground. The game was starting; she could think about Harry later.

Harry tossed the Quaffle to Katie, who was hovering on her broom, and she counted to three in a loud voice before in-bounding it to Roger, and out of the corner of her eye Ginny saw the Bludgers fly into the air, followed quickly by the two Seekers.

Ginny raced down the field, angling for an open position and trying to keep an eye out for Bludgers at the same time. Roger passed her the Quaffle, and she sped towards the goal hoops where Wood hovered watchfully. Remembering Katie's words before the match, she passed to Katie, then caught another pass, then passed back to Roger, who passed back to Katie, who aimed for the right hoop. The Quaffle glanced off the edge of Wood's fingertips and soared through the hoop. Ginny cheered enthusiastically, then dove back into the game as Wood passed the Quaffle to his own team's Chasers.

The rest of the game was a blur, as she flew up and down the field, darting back and forth to dodge Bludgers, catch passes, throw to her teammates, defend against the other team, and shoot goals.

It was not until Harry and Felina flew the length of the field a meter above ground and all play stopped to watch them that Ginny realized she had been playing Quidditch. Really playing, and not thinking about it or worrying about it or being afraid of it. Not only that, but she had held her own and scored four times against the top professional keeper in the league.

As the players froze in place and watched, Harry tumbled to the ground and skidded along in the dirt and the grass and came up triumphant with the Snitch in his hand, leaving Felina behind him, still sitting on her broom.

Ginny and her teammates sank slowly to the ground, as the other team cheered loudly. She knew they were celebrating a victory over her own team, but Ginny could not help feeling elated. After years of believing that it just wasn't possible, she had actually climbed on a broom and flown in a real Quidditch match. She had played with Chasers she respected, and held her own. A professional Keeper had not been able to block her shots. A wonderful, light feeling of happiness filled her, and her heart felt as though it were flying, just the way her body felt when she sat on a broom and it lifted her up into the air. She felt as though she might burst.

She flew to the edge of the pitch, near where she had dropped the small bag with a few of her things, and jumped off her broom just as she used to do when celebrating after a match.

A moment after she had committed herself to leaping from the broom, she realized her mistake, but it was too late to take it back.

Both of Ginny's feet hit the ground with a thump at exactly the same moment. The impact of the grass traveled up her leg, jarring her knees and hips and sending a shockwave of pain that traveled all the way up her right leg into her spine.

Her weaker leg could not hold her weight, and the pain in her spine would not let her stand upright. She crumpled to the ground, biting her lip to keep from screaming. Hot tears welled in her eyes and drained across her cheeks, but she was only barely aware of them.

"Ginny!" a voice called, and it sounded as though it were coming from very far away. "Ginny, are you all right? What happened?"

She looked up slowly, and saw Harry's face next to hers, looking concerned.

"Is it your leg? What happened?"

All she could do was nod weakly, not sure what she meant at all but wanting to communicate something, anything.

Harry rested one hand on her back and gently slid his other arm beneath her knees, scooping her up and pressing her to his chest as he carried her carefully to one of the small picnic tables that lined the edge of the pitch.

By the time they reached the table, they were surrounded by the other players, all looking at Ginny and then at each other, talking in low voices that she couldn't hear. She buried her face in Harry's chest, wanting to escape from their scrutiny and from the stigma of being the weird one, the one who was weak and injured.

"What's wrong? What can I do?" Katie asked breathlessly from beside them, sounding as though she'd just run the length of the pitch, which she probably had.

"Get these people out of here," Harry said. "And I need a cushioning charm."

Katie turned away and Ginny heard Oliver calling to everyone a moment later. "Come on, you lot, let's head for the pub. Davies is buying the first round, isn't that right?" Oliver continued to call to the two teams until they had all picked up their things and moved away.

Harry leaned over and Ginny clutched his arm tightly, bracing for a jolting shock as he set her down on the flat top of the table, but instead he laid her on a soft, springy surface that cradled her aching back and supported her bruised leg.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked again.

Ginny opened her mouth to answer and instead gave a great gasping sob. There was blood in her mouth, sharp and metallic, and she didn't know where it had come from. She tried to calm herself, to breathe more easily so that she could speak, but the blood seemed to be upsetting her more.

Katie reappeared next to the table with a cotton bandage, which she pressed into Ginny's hand.

"You bit your lip," she said quietly, and that calmed Ginny more than anything else she could have said. "Put this in your mouth."

Still clutching at Harry's arm with one hand, Ginny raised the other to her mouth and pinched her bottom lip between her fingers, holding the bandage against it until the taste of blood faded.

She pulled the gauze from her mouth and found that she could breathe again. Her fingers ached with tension, and she eased them carefully from Harry's jumper, not looking up into his face until she was no longer touching him. Even though she wasn't pulling him down over the table any longer, he didn't step back or move away.

"I'm sorry," they both said at once. "What?"

"I ruined your game," Ginny said sadly.

"I was certain you'd be all right up there," Harry said, "and you listened to me, and you ended up hurting yourself."

"No," Ginny interrupted. "Well, yes, but no."

"Guys," Katie said softly, startling Ginny, who had forgotten she was there. "I, ah... I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Bye, Katie," Ginny said.

"See you, Bell."

"I was all right up there," Ginny insisted, once she was gone, looking up into Harry's eyes. "I can fly, and you showed me."

Harry blushed but didn't look away.

"I just--It felt so good to play again that I forgot--I forgot about--" She swallowed and then started over. "I jumped off my broom," she finally said.

"Are you--"

"I'll be fine," Ginny said, realizing that he'd asked this several times already. "I'm just... bruised."

Harry smiled and leaned rested his palms on the edge of the table near her hips. "So the flying was fine?"

Ginny threw out her arms in an expansive gesture and tilted her head back against the table, smiling happily into the bright blue sky. "It was wonderful. Even better than I remembered."

Harry laughed, a deep throaty laugh that sent sparks racing down her spine to a pool of electric energy between her legs.

She clasped her hands behind her head and looked at him again. "Did you see me score?"

"You were great," he said seriously. "Really great. I think you should take Dan up on his offer."

"What do you mean?" she asked, sitting up slowly.

"Try out," he said. "For the Cannons."