Redemption

Chapter Fifteen

Hermione stood in the Quidditch stands beside Hagrid, and cheered along with the most of the crowd as the Gryffindor team took their places on the field. This was the first match of the season, and Harry, Ron and Ginny had been so excited that morning. All three could be seen grinning and ready to enjoy the match against Ravenclaw.

In no time, both teams were in the air. Harry and Cho were circling far above the others, Ron was manning the goals, and Ginny was zooming up and down the field in her debut as a chaser. Collin Creevey was announcing the match, and had launched into a detailed replay of the Ravenclaw keeper's brilliant save.

Hermione paid little interest to the game, at first turning her eyes towards Harry. He was very high up and obviously searching for the snitch in hopes of locating it before the rival seeker did. Seeing the two of them up there together distracted Hermione from the match completely.

Only last year, Harry had been smitten with the older Ravenclaw. He'd had a crush on her since third year and had finally managed, last year, to get her to go on a date with him. Well, vice versa, really. That should have been her first clue as to Harry's true preference, and there were many more where that came from. Now that she thought about it, Harry's relationship with Wufei didn't seem as sudden as it had originally.

Ginny had been right about the way Wufei affected him. That much was evident in the turn around his attitude had taken since hearing his boyfriend was in their world. The weariness and sorrow which had seemed to lie so heavily on him since their return to school was almost gone, and when he smiled, it was for real, instead of the patronizing, 'I-really-have-nothing-to-smile-about-but-if-it-will-get-you-of-my-case...' half smile that Hermione had really come to hate. It was good to see the old Harry coming back to them.

On the other hand, the more Hermione looked at Ginny, the more she noticed just how much the girl had grown without them noticing. Somehow, she'd managed to hide from all of them the maturity she'd developed. Everyone still thought of her as innocent, kind, funny little Ginny Weasley, but now Harry and Hermione had gotten a peek under that false exterior into something darker. Hermione was the only one who knew it for what it was, and even then, only because Ginny had all but told her.

Hermione had really begun to worry about the younger witch. She couldn't help thinking about the things she had been told that night in the bathroom. Of course, the ordeal the poor girl went through in the Chamber of Secrets was bad enough, but to have been studying dark magic in secret at her age? Who knew what kind of effects that could have on a person? Hermione worried that studying something so dark and morbid was taking its toll on Ginny and that she would forever be marked by it.

"Ginny Weasley takes a goal for Gryffindor!" A roar of cheers went up around her, and Hermione was startled out of her gloomy thoughts.

She looked up to see Ginny make a quick celebratory loop before zooming down the pitch to assist her fellow chasers in retrieving the quaffle. She really did look like such a natural up there; flaming read hair floating upon the wind, a look of determination on her face. Hermione smiled to herself, and promised that if Wufei could save Harry, then she could do so for Ginny.

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Harry continued to search for the golden snitch whilst keeping an eye on Cho Chang. He could see her searching a little desperately since Ravenclaw was so far behind. Thanks to Ginny Weasley, Gryffindor was in the lead by about sixty points, now. Although, if Cho caught the snitch, the other team would still win by ninety points.

Even as he searched, Harry couldn't help but reminisce about his old feelings for the Asian seeker. He used to believe that she was the most unattainable thing on this planet until she had kissed him. He should have realized at that moment that he wasn't truly interested in her; that it was a passing infatuation. There were no fireworks, no passionate fluttering in his stomach, nothing that indicated a wild romance.

With Wufei, he had felt warm to begin with; almost like he'd found a safe little pocket of the world in which he could hide forever. Then came the time when they'd been allowed to indulge in each other again after a very long week. Warm didn't even begin to describe it, more like heated, downright volcanic!

His thoughts had run away with him, and Harry suddenly found that riding his broom was quite an uncomfortable experience. Vaguely, he heard an announcement that Gryffindor had reached 100 points above Ravenclaw.

"Harry, are you okay?" Cho asked him, riding close.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" He thought it odd that she'd ask something like that in the middle of a game.

"You look a little flushed, that's all. And I could have sworn that you were a million miles from here." Cho smiled at him, not noticing the blush that followed her observation.

"I was just thinking... it's warm up here," he replied a little absently. "I don't suppose you've caught any sign of the snitch," he added with a wink, trying to change the subject.

The Ravenclaw laughed. "Well, I certainly wouldn't tell you, would I? But, as a matter of fact..."

Suddenly, she made an unexpected dive, heading straight for the Gryffindor stands, riding low, she whooshed over the student's heads, grinning as Harry followed after a moment later.

As they zoomed over the heads of his fellow house-mates, something caught Harry's eye. As he flew passed, he turned his head slightly and almost fell off his broom to see who was sitting in the stands next to Molly Weasley.

Wufei waved at him and once he'd finally caught up with himself, he waved back. Unfortunately, this gave Cho an advantage of speed and Harry had to drag his mind back to the task at hand. He flattened himself to the broom and concentrated solely on catching up to Cho, but realized too late as the girl made a sudden turn, straight back in his direction. On the spur of the moment, he did the only thing he could think of and veered out in front of her, causing her to pull off course, just in time to avoid a head on collision, but not to miss whacking him in the face with the tail end of her broom.

Harry felt his head snap backwards and he lost his balance for one terrifying moment, forgetting the pain as he struggled to stay in the air, and then it all came right back to him as he felt warm blood trickle down his chin. Slightly dizzy and sporting the makings of a large headache, Harry pushed it to the back of his mind and forced himself to focus through the pain. Cho was momentarily frozen by what had happened. She seemed horrified to see the blood covering her opponents chin and had obviously forgotten the game.

That's when Harry noticed it. The snitch had been right in front of Cho before it took a sharp turn and hard just raced passed Harry's ear. He turned his Firebolt as fast as possible, and ignoring his head spinning, reached out and just clasped the snitch in his hand, tipping himself off balance and falling, what seemed like a very long way. He never even felt himself hit the ground, as he had passed out on the way.