Harry Potter and the Book of Souls

Authors' Notes:

Hermione: We are all very sorry for the long delay...

Ron: But I'm sure they'll all agree it was worth the wait!... Except there's still no romance!

Hermione & Cho: *Thwap*

Ron: *Rubs head*

Cho: Thanx to all who reviewed...we really appreciate it!

Harry: Yep! You guys are what keeps us going!

Ron: I dare you to find some errors!

Cho: ...we went over this sucker four times!

Harry: ...We're not perfect, guys!

Hermione: From now on...we'll try not to take over 4 months to post! Enjoy!

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>Chapter 7<

Let the Games Begin

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of footfalls on the stairs in the hallway. "You've got one more before we can move on," Bill's voice resounded in the corridor. Harry turned his gaze toward the door just in time to see Percy following Bill and Charlie who were bringing him his final gift---the biggest one yet. Draped in swirls and curls of ribbon, the rectangular white paper wrapped-box floated his way like a cloud in the sky. Harry, seeing the intricate design of the paper and the tedious job of decorating Bill and Charlie did on his present, took extra care in opening it, leaving everyone in silent, gawking stares with all impatient eyes on him. As each piece of wrap slowly slid off the box, the anticipation in the room became more and more palpable, until, finally the entire gift revealed itself with climatic epiphany. A puff of neon orange smoke burst out of the box as hisses of popping bright crimson, fluorescent pink, and midnight metallic blue fireworks blazed in the air.

Smoke and fireworks continued to pour endlessly into the room, much to the disapproval of Mrs. Weasley, who shook her head disapprovingly just imagining what it would take to clean afterwards. Beyond the thick, dazzling display flying from the box, Harry could make out a nebulous shape emerging. Mrs. Weasley pulled out her wand and cast a spell that began drawing the smoke into the wand like a magic vacuum cleaner, and Harry could see, beyond the partially clearing smoke, the figure becoming increasingly distinct. It looked like a ball, save that in place of a smooth, spherical surface, and dozens of brightly coloured spikes protruded from a central pivot.

As it slowly drifted nearer to Harry, he was able to see that it was ornately adorned. Various hues of scarlet, gold, ginger, lime, cerulean, and indigo danced across its glossy surface as it levitated over the floor and into Harry's hands. As the levitation spell slowly wore off, he was surprised as the object's weight almost caused him to drop it. Seeing Harry's struggle and surprised face, Ron and Hermione rushed to Harry's aid as the brunt of the weight of the object fell into his arms.

"What on earth is inside this thing?" Harry asked incredulously. "Never mind that, what is this thing?"

"I think it's called an Esmerita," Ron replied excitedly. "It's filled with sweets. Mum must have filled it to the top, judging by how heavy it is!"

"Hmm... I saw something like this during my trip to Spain with my dad when I was eight. I think Muggles call it a piñata," explained Hermione in a bookish way.

"And it's FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH SWEETS!!!" Ron called out, almost jumping with giddiness.

"Oh, Ron!" chastised Hermione. "Honestly, are sweets the ONLY thing you think about?"

"Of course, Hermione," Ron countered cheekily. "Why do you think I'm so skinny?"

Harry rolled his eyes at the antics of his two bickering friends as they snapped at each other like vicious piranhas. "So what exactly do I do with this?" he asked in an attempt to diffuse the fight.

"Well, you have to break it open with a wand, a pole, or a stick," clarified Hermione as she turned her attention back to the highly decorated Esmerita.

"Yeah, just pretend it's a Bludger, or the head of someone you hate, like greasy Snape or the amazing bouncing ferret," added Ron with a mischievous grin, earning a dark glare from Hermione.

Just as Harry realized that the three of them were alone in the living room, Bill returned, followed by a slightly ruffled Percy.

"Hi, Percy," Harry said, receiving a low grunt in reply. "What's wrong with him?" Harry asked Ron quietly.

"Dunno, Harry," Ron said, shrugging his shoulders. "He's been at the Ministry all day--I suppose he doesn't like his new boss."

"What's wrong, dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley concernedly as she stepped into the room and saw her son's long face.

"Nothing, Mum. Nothing you need to worry about."

"Oh cheer up, Percy," Bill called out. "Come and have a go at the Esmerita. It'll take your mind off of things, if it doesn't do anything else."

Percy shot a glance at his older brother, before shrugging his shoulders apathetically. "I'm too old to be playing such a childish game," He replied haughtily.

"Awww, Percy, chided Fred as the twins made their appearance from the kitchen. I don't think you've ever played this game, even when you were young like the rest of us,"

"I think that he's just too shy to admit that he can't do anything fun if his life depended upon it," George announced seriously, earning glares from both Percy and Mrs. Weasley and sniggers from everyone else.

"Of course I can play this!" Percy exclaimed. "It's only a game after all."

"Go ahead," called out Fred cheekily. "Be my guest. You can use your wand, since you're not underage anymore."

Percy puffed out his chest huffily, with a determined gleam in his eye, as he whipped out his wand from within the folds of his spotless Ministry robes, and turned to the Esmerita, now floating in the middle of the room.

"Reducto!" he shouted. As soon as the word left Percy's mouth, the Esmerita emitted an unexpected puff of smoke. Percy's reductor curse disappeared into its obscurity. A loud crash was heard as it made its way through the hazy curtain around the Esmerita, and judging by the intense volume of the boom, Percy's spell missed and had blown a huge whole through the wall. What had once been solid was now a splintered crater.

As the smoke cleared suddenly with a rush of air, the unforeseen smirking face of Draco Malfoy, emerged. Malfoy's floating head contorted into a look of smug satisfaction as his thin-lipped mouth opened and formed the words of a spell.

"Tarantallegra," he hissed venomously. A streak of electric blue light zoomed towards Percy and hit him square in the stomach, causing the red-head to begin a jaunty quickstep. Ron began laughing hysterically at Percy, but another shout from the transfigured Esmerita gave Ron his just-desserts.

"Arachno Mottus!" shouted the smirking head of Malfoy. A stream of multi-colored wings flew from Draco's parted lips straight at Ron, who tried unsuccessfully to avoid the myriad of butterflies, moths, and spiders being hurled toward him. Mrs. Weasley had to stifle a giggle as she watched her son being engulfed in a writhing mass of wings and legs, many of which fell to the floor as Ron screamed and cried out in horror.

"Spiders! Moths! Butterflies!" he screamed, madly clawing at the screen of insects and arachnids crawling all over his body.

Sighing, Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at Ron, or rather at the mass of insects creeping all over him, and cried almost lazily over the entire ruckus, "Finite Incantatem!" In a puff of smoke similar to that which had come when the Esmerita had transformed, the colours of the butterflies' wings and the hairs of the spiders' legs vanished from Ron's body. He stood there heaving, trying desperately to clear the feeling of prickly appendages and dusty wings from his skin. He shuddered violently as the last of the sensations left his body.

Hermione turned to Ron, who was quite shaken: "are you okay?" she asked, trying to stifle a giggle; guys afraid of insects like that were more boy than man, in her opinion. In reply, Ron only shuddered again. Unseen by the humans in the house, the Esmerita stealthily floated behind Hermione.

The Esmerita shot off another spell at Hermione. She shrieked as the Rictusempra curse hit her square in the hindquarters.

"Fin-finite...HAHAHA...Finite Incantatem!" she squealed through massive convulsions of laughter. The tickling stopped at once, thankfully.

"Vetus Accidio!" the flying head cried. A bolt of fine thread, which looked to Harry like a stream of Dumbledore's grey hair, flew directly into Harry's face. It took hold there and grew until it covered his whole body like a cocoon.

"Harry!" Ron and Hermione cried simultaneously. They ran to him and tried to pull the grey, matted strands of hair off of him, but the more they pulled off, the more hair grew back. Harry's shape was lost behind the growing mass of grey hair, and Mrs. Weasley promptly fainted upon seeing Harry--or rather, not seeing Harry.

The floating head of Malfoy resorted to laughing and taunting them all from afar as it slowly sailed out the door, knocking everything in its path of destruction. Had Mrs. Weasley still been conscious, she would have tackled the Esmerita for the mere fact that it had chosen to bounce over everything in her house. Being unconscious, though, the task was left to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"What are we going to do about that thing?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I, for one, would like to know what made it turn into Malfoy's ugly face," Harry replied. Hermione and Ron quickly turned to stare at Harry, as did everyone else in the room.

"What on earth happened to you?" Ginny whispered.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. Hermione pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket and cast a quick spell.

"Reflecto panoptes," she said. The paper spontaneously turned into a reflective mirror, which she promptly held up in front of Harry.

"WHAT ON EARTH?" Harry cried out as he saw himself. He'd grown a long, grey beard, which seemed to be the only hair on his head. His scar was hidden by a mass of wrinkles and a mane of tangled glistening white hair. Yet, something about the expression of his aged visage--the twinkle of his eyes and the familiarity of his contorted and crooked nose--reminded him of his venerable and wizened headmaster. After looking in the mirror again, Harry tugged at his new silver beard, which graced the wooden panelling of the living room floor. He was puzzled at the fact that he felt no different than before the hex was cast. After commenting on this, Hermione replied offhandedly:

"Oh, it's only a glamour charm, Harry."

"Yeah, you look sooo glamorous," added Ron jestingly.

"Well, now that I know what it is... does anyone know how to stop it?" Harry answered darkly. "I'm going to decay before I get to Hogwarts!"

"Keep your hair on," snickered George, "or you'll have yourself a heart attack."

"I'm surprised that you don't know the counter curse, Harry. I would think such an experienced wizard as yourself would be able to stop it with the flick of the wrist. I guess wisdom really doesn't come with age," Fred continued, earning himself a clean slap on the arm from Ginny.

"Don't make fun of Harry," she cried, "he didn't do this to himself you know," She had been awfully protective of him since second year when he saved her from Voldemort.

Rolling her eyes with an audible sigh, Hermione pulled out her wand and muttered, "Rejuvenis!" Once again, a light flashed through the room and Harry felt a tingling sensation on his face as the wrinkles melted back into his skin and the grisly hair on his head and chin shrank back into its roots and returned to its jet-black colour.

"Thanks," he breathed as he saw his normal appearance return in the reflection of the transfigured parchment.

"Eh, we like you better this way," Ron replied offhandedly. "I don't think any of us would have been able to stand the old you griping about your looks."

"Besides," interrupted Ginny, "Mum would have grounded all of you if you didn't change him back."

"Speaking of mum," replied Ron, "how are we going to get her up?"

"We can just use enervate," stated Hermione frankly.

"Yeah," Ron replied, "but then she might punish us for picking on Harry. We have to figure out a plan so she won't know what happened."

"Ok, so here's the plan:" George announced quietly, "We follow the others outside to try and finish off that Esmerita. And Fred, you'll wake mum when we reach the door."

"Sounds ok, but if I get caught, you're all going down with me," the other twin retorted with a raised eyebrow. Everyone followed George to the back door which opened out into the expansive back garden with slight reservations, especially Hermione, who glanced concernedly at Mrs. Weasley. Just as Harry stepped out onto the terrace, he heard Fred's whispered: "enervate," before hearing the stirring sounds made by Mrs. Weasley as she came to.

Harry could see Sirius and Remus relaxing on the lawn, slurping strawberry sundaes surreptitiously under a chestnut tree. Meanwhile, Bill and Charlie were chasing the bouncing Esmerita with their wands drawn. The Esmerita had invoked a miniature fire ball in the shape of a dragon which was currently zooming after a distraught Percy and snapping at his back.

"Fontis," Charlie yelled, conjuring a stream of water from the tip of his wand, which effectively doused the dragon-flame in an instant. Percy, now panting, flopped down in exhaustion to recover his breath. When he finally managed to stand, Percy stalked over to where the twins were standing with innocent looks plastered on their identical faces, shooting them a venomous glare that rivalled Snape's intensity.

"What?" the twins asked with mock bemusement, while the corners of their lips were twitching mischievously, giving away their culpability.

"You two are going to be in BIG trouble for this," Percy admonished sternly, puffing up his chest haughtily.

"What's the matter?" Fred asked mockingly, "You're acting like you've never played with an Esmerita before."

"That's because he hasn't," George replied before Percy could say anything in rebuttal. "I'd be surprised if he could even play Qudditch, even with a Firebolt."

"I'll have you know that I'm quite capable of flying, thank you very much," Percy replied huffily, puffing out his chest once again.

Fred waved off Percy's comment offhandedly. "Oh, come off it, Perce. You know you can't fly even if your life depended on it."

Percy opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by the Esmerita, which sent out another curse flying towards the former Head Boy.

"Watch out!" Harry exclaimed, drawing his wand. Fred and George, seeing that their creation was beginning to get out of hand, launched themselves at the Esmerita and managed to hold it down, giving Harry an opportunity to destroy it.

"Reducto!" Harry cried, sending a stream of sparks at the struggling Esmerita. Malfoy's head uttered an audible gasp before it exploded with a puff of smoke into a thousand pieces, causing a fountain of assorted sweets to fall down in showers onto the Burrow's lawn.

Ron looked hungrily at the masses of chocolate sweets raining down upon him as if his birthday had come early. He opened his mouth to catch the candies and it was only when he had acquired some that he realized they were still wrapped. He then attempted to spit out the foil wrappers but they only amassed to a big blob of aluminium and chocolate drool.

Fred and George wasted no time in gathering the heaps of wizarding confections into the various pockets of their robes until they had trouble walking around, burdened with their candy. Charlie retrieved his wand and motioned for vast amounts of treats to compile into a nearby litter bin. Harry, on the other hand, cautiously picked one up, looking at it warily as if it were another one of the twins' tricks.

From within the parlour, a screech focused everyone's attention back indoors. "BOYS!" Mrs. Weasley wailed "look at this mess! What's going on here?" Her stumpy, awakening figure stalked out to the yard where the pranksters abode. Fred and George shared a quick glance, before they turned to their seething mother with bowed heads.

"We just tried to add some more excitement to the Esmerita, seeing as it is Harry's first real birthday party," George muttered apologetically.

Mrs. Weasley placed her arms firmly on her hips, before shouting, "Well you could have found a less dangerous way to find excitement in your lives. Those hexes were dangerous; someone could have been hurt, or worse, KILLED!"

"Oh come on, mum," Fred assuaged, glancing nervously around him. "We wouldn't have let anything like that happen. Besides, we got it to stop, and I'm sure that everyone had a lot of fun!"

Mrs. Weasley simply glared at her son, before sighing resignedly and returning to her kitchen. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, once she was out of hearing range, at the tension that had built up. George was the first one to break the silent reverie, by turning with a grin to Percy. "So, Perce, I'd like to see your so called great talent in Qudditch."

"Well, uh, you heard mum," Percy replied meekly, "we can't cause anymore trouble."

"There's no trouble in Qudditch," Fred taunted, "unless you're chicken of course." He then began to flap his arms like wings, "bock, bock, bock, chick-chick-chiicken." George also chimed into the charade by bobbing his head back and forth, pretending to poke someone in the air like a pigeon, arms flailing wildly.

"Fine," Percy retorted indignantly, "if you want to play, let's play, but you'll regret this!" he added shaking his fist.

The group chose captains, which reminded Harry of his Muggle primary school days when he had always been picked last. Therefore, it was to his surprise when he was chosen to be a captain along with Charlie, another seeker. Following the knut toss which Harry won, the two began to divvy up the remaining team-mates. Sirius and Remus, who had been watching the sequence of events unfold from their resting places on the lawn, now strolled up to the group to join in the game.

"We must play with the household rules," explained Charlie, conjuring a Bludger that zoomed to and fro as soon as it appeared; a scarlet Quaffle; and a hoop on each end of the back garden. Harry retrieved his father's snitch for the game, releasing it for its first game in many years.

"Let me go over the rules," Charlie began loudly so everyone can hear, "This will be quite different from the Qudditch that you're used to." Charlie paused for a moment to count how many players there where. "...9, 10, 11.....hmmm...that may be a problem."

"Why don't I just be the announcer?" proposed Remus, after seeing the uneven number of players.

"Thanks for the offer. This means there will be two teams of five players each," Charlie continued, "Each team will have one seeker, one beater, one keeper, and two chasers."

"Alright," Harry responded.

"There will be one hoop on each side of the garden. Also, each goal will still be worth ten points, but catching the snitch will only be worth 30 points."

Hearing this, the twins both threw mocking grins towards Harry and said, "Looks like you won't be able to save the day this time, Harry!"

"Now, let's choose the players," Charlie announced. "Harry, you can pick first."

Harry glanced around the small crowd of friends, frowning slightly in indecision. Harry had never been in this position before; he was unsure how to go about choosing the best players for the team.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Pick me already!" Ron called out impatiently, interrupting Harry's reverie.

Harry shook his head exasperatedly, "Alright Ron, come on then." Ron, who had been chosen as the Gryffindor beater the year before, grabbed his bat excitedly and rushed to Harry's side with a grin plastered onto his eager face.

Charlie and Bill exchanged a glance before the former Gryffindor seeker gave a slight nod, prompting his older brother to join his side.

Seeing that it was his turn to choose again, Harry looked back into the crowd and saw Ginny's timid face staring down at her slightly worn and much stained shoes.

"Ginny," Harry said warmly. Ginny, slightly surprised, looked up before blushing and rushing to Harry's side. Harry smiled at her warmly to ease her nervousness, and Ron clapped her on the back. She glared at him as Charlie looked through the remaining players.

"Fred!" Charlie called proudly. "We need a good beater!" Fred ambled smugly toward Charlie and Bill. He stopped midway in his stroll and quickly ran into the house. A moment later, he ran back out with his bat and rushed over to his brothers. Charlie turned to Harry, who was still pondering his next choice.

"Who's it gonna be, Harry?" Bill asked.

"Hmm..." Harry mused. "I'm not sure yet." He slowly scanned the remaining players: Sirius, Hermione, Percy and George. Each of them looked back at him eagerly, and out of the corner of his eye, Harry was amused to see his godfather waving his hands above his head, making pointing enthusiastic gestures at himself. With a wide smile tugging his lips, he called, "Sirius, you're on my team."

At the sound of his name, Sirius smugly strode toward his godson with a haughty expression. Charlie smirked at this, and shook his head slightly. "You know, you're not supposed to influence the captain, Mr. Black."

"You accuse ME of manipulating a captain?" Sirius countered, feigning a hurt expression. "If you're going to accuse me of any mischief, at least have the decency of addressing me as Mr. Padfoot, master purveyor of tomfoolery and honorary member of the infamous Marauders."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Black," Bill replied with a wink. "Let's continue, shall we, Charlie?"

"All right, then," Charlie agreed. "Come on, George, you're with me." George bowed deeply and strutted over to stand by his twin, as the two began to converse in hushed tones.

Harry took a breath and shifted his gaze away from the last two players who were patiently waiting under the blaring summer sun. The seconds ticked by, as Harry stared intensely at the grass beneath his feet and continued to debate whom he should beckon onto his team, feeling everyone's eyes bore into his skull. His first instinct was screaming for him to choose Hermione, as she had been his best friend for all these years at Hogwarts, but Harry felt sorry for Percy, who not only had to endure the continual pranks from the twins, but also the constant jests from most of his siblings. Lifting his head once again, Harry met the gaze of both Percy and Hermione, torn between the two, both of whom he considered as friends. As Harry's emerald green orbs met Hermione's hazel brown ones, Harry recalled the events of his fourth year, during the times that she had believed and supported him when others had turned their backs, as well as the Rita Skeeter article that slandered Hermione's name, making Mrs. Weasley's attitude cold towards the Muggle-born for several weeks. Hermione, like Harry was an outsider in this family, despite the fact that they both were treated as the others in the house; she didn't deserve to be picked last in a home where she was already different.

"Umm...Hermione, welcome to the team," said Harry quietly with a sheepish smile, as if still unsure of his decision.

Hermione smiled back before pouting slightly, playfully hitting Harry on the arm. "What took you so long?" She took her place beside Harry and the others while Percy sauntered over to Charlie.

The teams then proceeded to grab broomsticks from a shed in the back. Seeing Percy pick up a tattered, old Shooting Star, Harry recalled the twins' taunting jests, which reminded him of Dudley's snide quips and swift punches from his childhood.

"Here, Percy," Harry offered, holding his Firebolt, "you can use it for the game today. Go show them what you can do!"

"Thanks, Harry," replied Percy gratefully. They all assembled in the middle of the yard, between the hoops, and Remus commanded them all to mount their brooms. Harry and the rest of them swung easily over their brooms. Being old brooms, however, they were all off like a herd of turtles. Hermione, as in her first year at Hogwarts, had a bit of trouble, but after she had successfully conquered her broom's adverse attitude, she seemed as graceful as Harry in the air.

Percy, on Harry's Firebolt, was literally flying circles around all of them. Ron heaved a long sigh of disappointment, forgetting just how slow these old brooms were. Nonetheless, they all made the most of their Qudditch game.

Below them, Remus was pointing his wand at his throat and casting the Sonorus spell.

"And they're off!" he shouted to the spectators--which consisted of Mrs. Weasley and the gnomes--who had come out to observe the game. He threw up the bright red Quaffle, and all four chasers made a mad dash to catch it. "The Quaffle's up," Remus shouted. "Which team will start the game?"

Harry immediately soared above his fellow players and took his normal place fifty feet above the rest of his team, peering keenly at the game and scrutinizing every inch of the field below him. His perusal, however, was interrupted by Charlie, who flew up beside him.

"Now, I've heard quite a few things about your Qudditch talent and have seen you fly in the first task, Harry, so I won't go easy on you," Charlie called out cheerfully with determination glinting in his eyes.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to give you a run for your money," Harry returned, with a smile forming on his face. This was going to be an interesting game.

Their attentions were soon drawn to the game once more, as their team mates struggled for possession of the Quaffle below them. In a surprising move, Hermione dived downward steeply, using gravity to her advantage. She gained incredible speed, and pulled up at the last second as she was right beneath the falling Quaffle. It fell right into her arms, to the delight of Harry's team. She smiled inwardly and used the last of her speed boost to get to the hoop.

"And Hermione's got the Quaffle! She darts between Fred and Percy...oh, but here comes the Bludger! Ooh, excellent hit, Ron! She's going for a goal...but it looks like Bill's defending the hoop very well..."

Hermione raced blindingly fast towards the goal--considering the type of broom she was using. It wasn't easy though, as Bill came up to block her throw, causing Hermione to swerve dangerously around him and almost get hit by the Bludger once more. She gained speed and now the hoop was less than three feet away; she saw the goal wide open and quickly threw the Quaffle.

"And Hermione chucks it--AND SHE SCORES!" Remus roared over Harry's team's cheers. Mrs. Weasley joined in to cheer, though five of her sons were on the opposing team.

The game continued with Percy using the full potential of Harry's Firebolt to his team's advantage, scoring two consecutive goals and placing them in the lead.

"This is going to be a close game," Remus' voice resounded through the patio. "Ginny has the Quaffle; she passes to Hermione. Hermione double-backs and gives it back to Ginny. Whoa, this is incredible! Ginny just skilfully executed the Porski Ploy by leading Percy in an upward spiral and dropped the Quaffle into Hermione's cushioning hands."

This plan, however, was foiled as Fred shot the Bludger zooming across the field straight towards the distracted Hermione. She, taken aback, dropped the Quaffle into George's awaiting arms as he veered to obtain it.

"George is now in possession of the Quaffle folks, and he's advancing all the way," Remus continued excitedly, his eyes darting quickly to keep up with the speeding broomsticks. "Charlie's team scores another goal under Sirius' failed attempt to block. Sorry Padfoot, looks like you're too old to keep up with the young lads. Charlie's team now leads by twenty points!"

The action prolonged as Charlie's team made major gains, pulling ahead by thirty points. Meanwhile, outside the immediate excitement of the game, Harry continued furiously searching for the Golden Snitch, swerving this way and that to dodge Charlie's merciless pursuit. In an attempt to shake off his formidable opponent, and frankly to create an uproar, Harry decided to try out a new move he had been perfecting since fourth year-- the Wronski Feint. He furiously dived down, yet with total control, pretending to see the snitch. His scheme succeeded with flying colours, as Charlie sped after him, hunting feverishly for what Harry didn't really see. At the very last possible second, Harry pulled up swiftly, with his feet almost touching the grass below. Charlie was not fooled, however, and reacted a split second later, flying beside his fellow seeker. As Harry twirled upwards, he caught a glimpse of the golden glitter-- for real this time-- and darted towards it. Charlie did not miss this decisive action and pursued directly after, only a few moments behind. The snitch, on the other hand, acting like it knew it was being chased, quickly twisted its way around Ron and Ginny and went through Sirius' hoop with Harry and Charlie in tow.

Harry slowly gained speed--no thanks to the broom he was on--and was about an arms length to the snitch when he heard Lupin shout, "And Hermione takes possession of the Quaffle...Oh! That was a close one. She skilfully dodges the Bludger sent to her by Fred and..." At that moment, Harry jumped off his broom, reached for the snitch, and crashed into Mr. Weasley as he opened the gate and began to stride into the garden, "Hermione scores! Yes! She scores... and... incredible! Harry just caught the snitch! Harry's team wins the game!"

Mrs. Weasley would have burst into thunderous applause if Harry hadn't just landed on Mr. Weasley, causing her to run to their aid.

Everyone settled on solid ground and followed Mrs. Weasley over to Harry as he slowly got to his seat, clutching his side and apologizing profusely.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Hermione concernedly.

"I'm fine...I think," muttered Harry, wincing slightly.

Mr. Weasley and Harry slowly rose and brushed the dust off their clothes.

"Don't worry... I'm used to this type of welcome, I mean... with six boys and all!" said Mr. Weasley jokingly, seeing that Harry couldn't stop apologizing for what had happened.

Harry and Hermione were then drenched in a flood of praise as everyone cheered at the last exciting moments of the game.

"Wow, Hermione. I didn't know you were that good!" said Ron, joining everybody's patting Hermione on the back as they all entered the house.

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Authors' Notes:

Cho: Wouldn't it have been great if the snitch went into Ron's room and the Chudley Cannon's started chasing it too?

Harry: Well.... It's not in Harry's character to go chasing after a snitch in someone else's home!

Hermione: Oh stop it you two! You've been at this for days!

Ron: So what you guys think? Please R/R!