Together (A Harry Potter love story) 3

36

"Yeah, Dumbledore'd do his nut," Fred agreed confidently.

"Well, let's hope not," said Oliver, shaking his head. "Anyway - good work, everyone. Let's get back to the Tower - turn in early..."

"Yeah, you can come to my room," whispered Harry, smiling at me charmingly.

"Erm, no," I said, pulling away from him and beckoning Ron out from the stands. "Ron wants a go on the Firebolt, remember?"

Harry muttered something under his breath, but agreed, though somewhat reluctantly. The rest of the team headed off to the changing rooms, while Ron, who had vaulted from the barrier to the stands as soon as I'd waved at him, came to meet Harry and I. Madam Hooch had fallen asleep in her seat.

"Here you go," said Harry, handing Ron the Firebolt.

"Nice catch by the way, Harry," said Ron, with an expression of ecstasy on his face. "And that goal was wicked, sis!"

And before we even had time to thank him, Ron had mounted the broom and zoomed off into the gathering darkness while Harry and I walked around the edge of the pitch, watching him and talking contently. Night had fallen before Madam Hooch awoke with a start, told the three of us off for not waking her, and insisted that we go back to the castle.

I shouldered my Nimbus and the boys and I walked out of the shadowy stadium, discussing the Firebolt's superbly smooth action, its phenomenal acceleration and its pinpoint turning. We were halfway towards the castle when, glancing to my left, I saw something that made my heart turn over - a pair of eyes, gleaming out of the darkness.

I stopped dead, whispering, "Snuffles?"

"What's wrong?" said Harry, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards him.

I pointed, and suddenly felt Harry's grip tighten. Ron pulled out his wand and muttered, "Lumos!"

A beam of light fell across the grass, hit the bottom of a tree and illuminated its branches; there, crouching amongst the budding leaves, was Crookshanks.

"Get out of it!" Ron roared, and he stooped down and seized a stone lying on the grass, but before he could do anything, Crookshanks had vanished with one swish of his long ginger tail.

"See?" Ron said furiously, chucking the stone down again. "She's still letting him wander about wherever he wants - probably washing down Scabbers with a couple of birds now..."

For once in his life, Harry didn't say anything. His hand was still gripping mine, and I heard him take a quiet breath of relief.

"H?" I whispered, while Ron continued ranting about Mione and her cat. "You okay?"

Harry smiled weakly, shaking his head. "I'm fine. I just thought - I thought it had been the Grim or something...don't worry though...just Trelawney putting things in my head..."

"You haven't seen a dog anywhere, have you?" I mumbled, rubbing his finger with my thumb.

"No," said Harry, frowning at me. "Have you?"

And, though I'll never really understand why, I muttered, "No, of course not."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I went down to breakfast next morning with Katie and Angelina, to find Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville already sat at the table. I saw, to my enormous satisfaction, that the Slytherin team were all looking thunderstruck.

"Good morning, love," said Harry, as I sat down beside him. He draped one arm around my shoulders, while resting the other one on the table. To my extreme amusement, I saw that Harry had placed his Firebolt in the middle of the table.