Chapter 63: The Match

January faded imperceptibly into February, with no change in the bitterly cold weather.

They had their next match with Slytherins. Wood was very tensed as Harry didn't have his Firebolt. Harry was going to Professor McGonagall every day to know about the Firebolt. One day as their classes were crossing, Chris heard, Professor McGonagall, snapping at Harry because of the broom.

A few days later, one Thursday evening, Chris was talking with Ginny and Hermione, who had finally decided to take a break from her studies.

"You're looking horrible Hermione. You didn't sleep for days, did you?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah. I was trying to but I've got no time. I should get back to work. I still have some essays to complete." Hermione answered anxiously.

"Relax Hermione. If you have worn yourself out, like this, then trust me, you'll be in the hospital wing in a few days." Chris said checking her books.

"I'm honestly feeling scared, I mean we also have to choose our subjects this year. If you're in this condition then what chance I've to survive? I'll definitely go mad." Ginny said with a worried look.

"No. No, Ginny, you'll be fine. Actually, it's my fault, I mean I don't regret it — It's just I took all the subjects." Hermione said.

"All? How is this possible? Don't you attend all of your classes?" Ginny asked surprised.

"You've all the notes from different classes. How are you doing this Hermione?" Chris asked looking at her notes.

"Umm — I've managed it with Professor McGonagall," Hermione answered quickly.

"You're talking like you've time machine or something?" Chris said raising her an eyebrow, Hermione froze like she was caught. Chris saw this and smirked, "I was just kidding but looks like I guessed right."

"No. Of course not." Hermione said looking away.

"What is a time machine?" Ginny asked confused.

"Shhh —" Hermione looked around. "We're in the common room."

"So I'm right," Chris said grinning. "I knew this kind of thing existed in this magical world."

Hermione looked at Chris to Ginny and sighed then whispered, "Don't tell anyone. Please. Professor McGonagall made me swore not to tell anyone."

"But you didn't, I just guessed."

"Fine. Listen, Professor McGonagall gave me a Time-Turner, at the start of the term. So I can attend all my classes. She wrote lots of letter to Ministry for me, she said that I'm a model student and I'll never use it other than for my classes." She said and looked around again. They were at a corner of the common room. Everyone was busy among them and most importantly they were almost hidden behind the mountain of Hermione's books. She took out a chain from her robes, a sparkling hour-glass hanging from it. Ginny and Chris watched it closely. Then Hermione hid it again in her robes, giggling.

"I was so excited to get it, I can't explain. Ron was so confused, It was really funny to watch him like that. I wanted very badly to tell someone about this, but couldn't. Please don't tell anyone, not even Colin or Luna. Please." Hermione said breathlessly.

Chris and Ginny seriously nodded.

"You know, you can sleep a bit more with the help of that," Chris said.

"Right. But I can't do it, you know, if anyone of my roommates sees me —" Hermione said sadly. "And there is no one to wake me up."

"Guess, I should have given you an alarm clock as a Christmas gift." Chris laughed. "In any case, you can sleep in our room. Our roommates never pay attention to."

"True." Ginny agreed.

"Really? Thanks." Hermione looked a lot relieved.

"Well it's really cool, now you can tell us about every subject," Ginny said.

Hermione smiled and started explaining different subjects; her favourite subject was Arithmancy, her least favourite was divination. Other than that she told them about Ancient Runes, Magical Creatures, Muggle studies and so on.

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After discussing these with Hermione, Chris and Ginny had a vague idea, which subjects they wanted to take. Ginny was very happy with this, cause she never liked her brothers advice, her elder brother Bill didn't remember much about his school subjects, Charlie only recommend Care of Magical Creatures, Percy gave a big lecture or advice before the start of the term, Fred and George just joked and Ginny didn't ask Ron.

Chris was confused as well, as everything was so new to her. 

Hermione's mood lifted after talking to Chris and Ginny, she felt fresh and again went to study. Professor McGonagall entered through the portrait hole. Chris noticed she was clutching a Firebolt in her hand. She looked around and Percy went running towards her.

"Anything I can help with Professor?" He said puffing his chest a bit.

"Yes. Is Potter here?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Harry's Firebolt," Hermione whispered as she looked at Professor McGonagall.

Ron excitedly went towards them and said something little quietly to Professor McGonagall and she nodded then left. A few seconds later Ron also went out, looking extremely happy.

Chris remembered Harry had his Patronus class with Professor Lupin. 

Hermione was looking happy too, she looked at Chris and said, "I'm glad it's not jinxed."

"But that proves, you were wrong," Chris said smiling.

"I was cautious —" Hermione said looking a little sad but then she smiled, "— but I'm happy to be proved wrong this time — don't tell this to Ron or Harry."

Chris smiled. Hermione really was a great friend.

After a few minutes, Ron and Harry entered the common room. People looked at his Firebolt but he didn't get many excited expressions as there were already two Firebolts in Gryffindor. Chris remembered when the first time she went to practice with her Firebolt. Almost everyone in the team rode her Firebolt, Ron and George had a fight over who will ride Ginny's Firebolt first. Even Madam Hooch was excited to see the Firebolts. The Gryffindor common room buzzed with excitement, few Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw also came to see the broom. Slytherins made some faces of disgust and jealousy.

Harry and Ron approached the table where Chris, Ginny and Hermione were sitting.

Hermione looked up from her books.

"I got it back," said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt.

"See, Hermione? There wasn't anything wrong with it!" said Ron.

"Well – there might have been!" said Hermione. "I mean, at least you know now that it's safe!"

"Yeah, I suppose so," said Harry.

"Hey congratulations," Ginny said to Harry smiling.

Harry smiled back. "Thanks."

"Yeah. Congrats. We have got a match soon with Slytherins. It's good." Chris said.

Harry nodded. "I'd better put it upstairs —"

"I'll take it!" said Ron eagerly. "I've got to give Scabbers his Rat Tonic."

He took the Firebolt, and, carried it upstairs.

"Can I sit down, then?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I suppose so," said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair.

Harry looked around at the cluttered table, "How are you getting through all this stuff?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, well – you know – working hard," said Hermione, giving a side glance to Chris and Ginny.

"Yes. I was asking her the same. She is really hardworking." Chris said smiling.

"I agree," Ginny said smiling too.

Hermione went pink.

"Why don't you just drop a couple of subjects?" Harry asked.

"I couldn't do that!" said Hermione, looking scandalised.

Suddenly a strangled yell echoed down the boys' staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. There came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder — and then, Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet.

"LOOK!" he bellowed, striding over to Hermione's table. "LOOK!" he yelled, shaking the sheets in her face.

"Ron, what —?"

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!"

Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking utterly bewildered. Chris looked down at the sheet Ron was holding. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like —

"BLOOD!" Ron yelled into the stunned silence. "HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N-no," said Hermione, in a trembling voice.

Ron threw something down onto Hermione's Rune translation. Hermione, Chris, Ginny and Harry leant forward. Lying on top of the weird, spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs.

"YOUR CAT KILLED HIM. THAT BEAST KILLED HIM." Ron shouted like a madman. "IT'S ABSOLUTELY YOUR FAULT. I WARNED YOU BUT YOU DIDN'T LISTEN"

"Ron! It — can be — from the Christmas day — I think Scabbers is alive — why — don't you check — under the beds." Hermione said in an almost choked voice.

"UNDER THE BEDS? YOUR CAT KILLED MY SCABBERS, HERMIONE." Ron said more loudly.

Hermione was trembling. Chris and Ginny held her.

"Can you stop shouting like a mad person, Ron?" Chris said raising her voice a little.

"I knew you'll take her side. Of course, you'll." He said fuming then turned towards Harry. "You say, Harry? What do think?" He shouted again.

"Ron. Please." Ginny said seriously. "I know it hurts but you never liked Scab—"

"Not you too Ginny. You can't take that beast's side?" Ron said furiously.

"We're not taking anyone's side, Ron. I'm just asking you to calm down a little. Shouting at Hermione will not bring your rat back," Chris said calmly and Hermione looked at her. Chris hurriedly added. "That's if he is dead."

"Of course he is dead. That cat killed him. I told Hermione, I warned her, didn't I, Harry? But she just said every cat chases rat. Now see." Ron said and saw Harry wasn't saying anything, then he looked at Chris and Ginny and threw his bedsheet aside and looked at Hermione. "That's it, Hermione. You can spend your time in your stupid books and with your new friends, we're not friends anymore."

And he stormed off towards boys dormitory. Everyone was silent then Harry ran after him. Ginny looked at Chris and Chris nodded. Ginny went to Fred and George to go and check on Ron. Hermione looked terrified, she was about burst into tears, suddenly she ran towards girls dormitory and Chris followed her.

Next day was no better, Harry tried to reason with Hermione that it could be her cat, which had killed Scabbers and Hermione lost her temper. Hermione refused to believe that it was her cat. Chris knew maybe Crookshanks killed Scabbers but she couldn't leave the fact that Crookshanks was no normal cat, other than that, Chris felt Hermione was behaving stubbornly and Chris could've sympathized with Ron if he hadn't broken a three years old friendship over his rat, which he almost hated himself.

Ginny also knew Ron didn't do the right thing but she was feeling bad for him.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," said Fred bracingly. "And he's been off-colour for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly. One swallow — he probably didn't feel a thing."

"Fred!" said Ginny indignantly.

"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself," said George.

"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said miserably. "Remember, Harry?"

"Yeah, that's true," said Harry.

"His finest hour," said Fred, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat. What's the point of moaning?"

At last, Ginny asked him to ride her broom as much as he can for a week and Ron agreed.

After that, they had their best Quidditch practice. Wood was very happy to see his seeker in a Firebolt too.

"I can't see what's going to stop us tomorrow!" said Wood, after the practice. "Not unless — Harry, you've sorted your Dementor problem, haven't you?"

"Yeah," said Harry, nervously.

"The Dementors won't turn up again, Oliver, Dumbledore'd do his nut," said Fred confidently.

"I agree," Chris said, though her reason behind her confidence was different.

"Well, let's hope not," said Wood. "Anyway – good work, everyone. Let's get back to the Tower – turn in early. . ."

"I'm staying out for a bit, Ron wants a go on the Firebolt," Ginny told Wood.

"You want me to stay, Ginny?" Chris asked.

"No need Chris, we'll stay," George said.

Chris nodded and left the field with Wood, Angelina and Harry. While going to Gryffindor tower, Harry fell behind and came beside Chris.

"How is Hermione?" Harry asked quietly.

"Stressed out. So much school work, fight with her best friends and taking care of a cat all the time. What else do you expect?" Chris said coolly.

"True. Look, I really don't want this but Ron is really angry and Hermione have to understand that her cat killed Scabbers." Harry said defiantly.

"Harry, first, cats chase rats. That's the thing and second, if Crookshanks had killed Scabbers then it's definitely not Hermione's fault." Chris said firmly. "You can't break a friendship for rats, cats or broomsticks."

Chris walked passed Harry.

Next Morning Chris, Ginny and Hermione went for breakfast together. Chris heard Wood saying that Malfoy has no chance against the Firebolt. Chris felt Wood loves his seeker too much, she and Ginny also have the same broom but Wood never got this much excited over it, he was very nice but this was extreme. For a moment, Chris thought, she should've tried for the seeker.

After breakfast, Hermione, Luna and Colin said all the best to them and left.

At a quarter to eleven, the Gryffindor team met in the changing rooms. The weather couldn't have been more different from their match against Hufflepuff. It was a clear, cool day, with a very light breeze; there would be no visibility problems this time, and Chris started to feel excited. They could hear the rest of the school moving into the stadium beyond.

"You know what we've got to do," said Wood, as they prepared to leave the changing rooms.

They entered the field and saw Slytherins standing their green robes and malicious faces. Draco Malfoy was looking happier than others which Chris found very odd. He should've been worried, according to Wood, but he was grinning especially looking at Chris.

"Wood, Flint, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with Flint, glaring at each other and gripping each other hands more tightly.

"Mount your brooms — on my whistle — three – two – one –"

Chris kicked off into the air and the Firebolts zoomed higher and faster than any other broom. Chris heard the Commentary which was being provided by the Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan.

"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolts, same as the last time. Gryffindor have won last two matches with two Firebolt riders: Christina Norton and Ginny Weasley. And in this match, Harry Potter has also joined them, so everyone can guess who is going to win this match. Three best brooms in Gryffindor —"

"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" interrupted Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Right you are, Professor — just want to give a bit of background information. The Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and —"

"Jordan!"

"OK, OK, Gryffindor in possession, Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor heading for goal — and GOAL!!"

Ginny did the first goal of the match, Chris dive in and seized the Quaffle, two Slytherin chasers trailing behind her. She found an opening and threw the Quaffle towards Angelina. Angelina caught it and headed towards the hoop, but the Slytherin Chasers didn't move. They were flying side by side to Chris, she understood something fishy was going on. Surely, soon enough, a Slytherin Chaser dive down and Chris saw a Bludger coming towards her, thanks to her Firebolt, she dive out of the way and missed it so close that she felt her hair brushing the Bludger. Fred came and hit the Bludger back.

"Careful Chris. Again they're trying to play dirty." Fred said gritting his teeth. 

Chris nodded and without waiting zoomed towards the Slytherin Chaser who just snatched the Quaffle from Angelina. He was heading to goal but Chris came in front of him, she flew very fast, circling him and took the Quaffle back and head to the goal. But as soon as she did the goal, Draco Malfoy came and tried to knock her over. Chris made her balance perfectly but Flint came out of nowhere and pushed her out of the broom. Chris tried to balance but a Bludger came and hit her hand. Chris realized her wrist must have broken.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. Everyone got down from their brooms.

"Chris are you ok?" Ginny asked, looking very worried.

"Can you play?" Angelina asked next.

"Those Slytherins, I knew they'll pull something like that," Fred spoke angrily.

"True. Now their target is Chris." George said. "Sorry Chris, we should've been more careful. We're beaters that's our job."

"Guys!" Chris said silencing everyone. "I'm fine and I will play."

"Are you sure? I know how much a broken arm hurts." Harry said.

"I'm ok. I'm tougher than this. I've faced lots of injuries last summer. Don't worry —" Chris said and mounted her broom. "Just catch the Snitch fast."

Madam Hooch angrily talked to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor.

As Chris zoomed up, she heard Lee Jordan's commentary and chuckled.

"So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating —" he said loudly.

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul —"

"Jordan, I'm warning you —"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Chaser, Christina Norton, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Angelina Johnson, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue to play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Chris looked at every player in the field and smirked. A Slytherin beater threw another Bludger towards her, she dodged, 

'If you wanna play like this. We will play like this.' 

She zoomed towards a Slytherin Chaser who was behind Ginny, she turned so fast beside him that the Slytherin Chaser got imbalanced. Ginny took the advantage and scored. They high-fived each other while passing. Soon Chris was only disturbing the other players by the Firebolt's features and Ginny and Angelina were doing the goals. And because she didn't touch anyone, there was no foul. At last, when Chris saw Harry and Draco flying towards the Snitch, she did the same thing with Draco, he almost fell from the broom and Harry caught the Snitch. Draco glared at her. Gryffindor crowd roared with joy.

"Well, told you, don't mess with me. If you start then I will finish it." Chris said looking at Draco and Flint, then speed towards the ground.

Everyone hugged Chris, Fred and George lift her on their shoulder.

"Who would've thought she can do so much with one arm!" George said happily.

"You did great." Wood said. "You too Harry. Best Seeker we have."

"You should've seen the Slytherins faces," Fred said laughing.

Chris looked at a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the pitch, Colin and Luna in the lead.

"Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air. "Yes! Yes!"

"Ruddy brilliant!" boomed Hagrid over the heads of the milling Gryffindors.

"Party! Gryffindor common room, now!" George roared.

"Right," said Harry.

"First, Chris needs to see Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said coming towards her. Then Ginny and Hermione dragged Chris out of the crowd.

Madam Pomfrey was right. She needed only a few minutes to fix Chris's broken wrist. But she warned her to take caution for at least one hour.

As Chris entered the Gryffindor tower with Ginny, Luna, Hermione and Colin, they saw a huge celebration going on.

It felt as though they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Fred and George Weasley disappeared for a couple of hours and returned with armfuls of bottles of Butterbeer, pumpkin fizz and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets.

"How did you do that?" squealed Angelina Johnson, as George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd.

"With a little help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs," Chris heard Fred muttering in Harry's ear.

Hermione tried to go and study but Ginny and Chris stopped her. Chris advised she can turn time and finish her work. At last, Hermione agreed.

"So who's this Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs? I heard Fred whispering into Harry's ear." Chris whispered to Hermione.

"Oh! They —" Hermione thought for a moment then said, "Fred and George gave a map to Harry, a few days ago. He was using it to sneak into Hogsmeade, the map was made by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."

"What kind of map?" Chris asked curiously.

"It shows everything and everyone around Hogwarts," Hermione whispered.

"Really? That's really cool." Chris said and an idea popped into her head.

Hermione was having fun with Chris and Ginny but not too long as Ron suddenly said loudly, "If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of these Fudge Flies, he used to really like them —"

Hermione burst into tears. Before anyone could say or do anything, still sobbing, she ran towards the staircase to the girls' dormitories and out of sight.

"Can't you give her a break?" Harry asked Ron quietly.

"No," said Ron flatly. "If she just acted like she was sorry — but she'll never admit she's wrong, Hermione. She's still acting like Scabbers has gone on holiday or something."

"You know Ron, you're are the worst friend a girl could ask for." Chris snapped angrily. "I guess, Malfoy is better than you. At least he doesn't hurt his friends."

Ron glared at Chris, which angered her more and when Ron was about to say something bad, Chris stepped on his foot and went to the other side of the room. Ron moaned badly.