Desperately Seeking Seekers (Drarry)

Back at Hogwarts

"Ready to lose, Potter?"     

Harry felt a surge of pure joy at the words, and glanced over at the man riding a broomstick near him. He never thought he'd play Quidditch again, and yet here he was, in a game with Draco as the other Seeker, their old rivalry still as strong as ever.

But there were differences from the last time he'd been on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. The stands were only half completed, and yet full of students cheering and supporting their houses. All the players, including Draco and himself, were a lot older, and still showing effects from the all too recent battle. And many of the players were playing for different houses.

It was all part of Headmistress McGonagall's plan to get Hogwarts and its students back into good shape, in every way. Starting in the summer, many students and alumni had volunteered to help with the cleanup and repair of the ancient buildings. Harry, Ron and Hermione had been among them, coming in August after all the trials were done.

By the time the school term started, the school was looking good in the main common areas. Professor McGonagall had welcomed all the students back, and promised many changes.

Eighth year students were given their own tower and common room to stay in together, and their own Quidditch league. Since there were so few Slytherins available, McGonagall had mandated that the three teams must contain players from all the houses. So, the Gryffindor team had Ginny, Ron and Dean, but also Blaise Zambini as a Chaser, and Susan Bones and Terry Boot as Beaters.

Draco was wearing the black and yellow uniform of the Hufflepuffs, and so were Seamus Finnegan and Mandy Brocklehurst. He glared at Harry and then looped around the field, a fast streak of yellow that reminded him of a wasp.

Jarring himself out of his musings, Harry circled the field in the opposite direction, scanning for that tiny glint of gold. There was something so freeing about letting the world fall away and only focusing on what was happening on the pitch. Feeling the wind rushing through his hair, enjoying the speed of his broom and the lush greenery of the Scottish Highlands. They were all sense memories of the best times of his school years, and Harry had happily dived right back into the busy schedule of practices and games.

Many of the returning eighth years were new to playing at this level, with the more experienced players often in the Chaser positions. It meant both teams were scoring often, and Harry tried to pay attention to the score as he flew. It wouldn't help to catch the snitch if Hufflepuff had enough points to still win.

Harry saw the snitch and raced towards it, with Draco only a second behind him. His heart was pounding and he could barely catch his breath as they swerved to follow the speedy ball, zipping every direction to shake them off its tail. He nudged against Draco, their padded uniforms protecting them from the rough contact of the game. But when the snitch took a hard left, Draco shoved hard against Harry before following it, making him almost fall off his broom.

It took a second or two to regain his balance, but by then Draco was far away, and Harry could swear he heard him chuckling as he raced to catch up. Luckily the snitch swooped down low, and Harry was able to drop into a steep dive to intersect it. He had always been the better, faster flyer, and he was soon reaching for the ball.

Draco almost crashed into Harry as he pulled out of his own dive, pushing against his left side as they raced close to the ground, both reaching out for the snitch. It moved upwards and Harry followed faster, finally grabbing the ball.

Unfortunately, they hadn't been watching their surroundings close enough, the wall of the spectator stands suddenly far too near for the speed they were going. They both veered the same direction, hitting each other and unbalancing, crashing down on to the grass six feet below.