Chapter Eight: In Alliance with the Slytherins
�Miss Weasley?�
Ginny woke up to the concerned voice of Madam Hooch early in the morning. The night before the match of Slytherin, Ginny found out that she couldn�t sleep at all. She was tired and restless and most of all, guilty. Giving up, Ginny decided at 4:30 in the morning to go down the Quidditch field and try to clean the Slytherin�s Quidditch robes just before their most humiliating fight against Hufflepuff. She was right in front of the broom shed when she remembered that it was locked.
Sighing, Ginny sat beside the door, hugged her knees, placed her head in her arms and slept.
And so, here she was now, staring at Madam Hooch with a glazed look on her face.
She gave her a smile.
�I was thinking�maybe before the match,� Ginny shifted from her position nervously, �I could�I don�t know�clean the Slytherin�s robes or something��
�That�s nice,� said Madam Hooch, nodding. She unlocked the door and gestured kindly for Ginny to come in.
Ginny entered the shed with a heavy heart. This was the first time she was inside this cramped room without Malfoy. She didn�t know why but deep inside, even though Malfoy�s words had scarred her severely, she still thought that what she did was plain wrong. Everyone knew how Malfoy wanted to win the Quidditch cup this year, since he was the Quidditch captain. Knowing his dreams will crash and burn made Ginny all queasy and uncomfortable.
She needed to talk someone�fast.
�Madam Hooch?�
�Yes?� Madam Hooch answered, her voice coming from somewhere at the far end of the shed, behind the piles of robes and broomsticks. Not seeing Madam Hooch made Ginny more confident about asking her for advice.
�For example, you did something that other people think is right, and while you�re doing it, you thought it was right too,� she narrated while she paced back and forth, wringing her hands in nervousness, �but now, after you had some time to think about it, you realized that it was really wrong. You know that it�s wrong because when you hurt someone�s feelings that means it�s not right�and what you just did will really hurt this person�s feelings. And then you come to the point of no return and it�s either you take back what you did and make everyone turn their back on you, or you keep that mistake and convince yourself for the rest of your life that this person deserved it. Madam Hooch, what would you pick?�
The professor popped out suddenly from the darkness, holding a tiny flask filled with bluish murky water and a golden ball. She slowly walked to where Ginny was standing, held out her wand, made the flask and ball float in air and stared at her.
�First off, is the person worth it?� she asked seriously.
�Yes,� Ginny answered quickly.
Madam Hooch shrugged before she twirled her wand, making the ball fall on top of the flask. Since the ball was so much bigger than the flask�s hole, it just sat there, perfectly, without dropping inside.
�Before a Quidditch match, the Snitch is charmed with this potion for it to become harder to catch and see. The Snitch is dipped into the potion for five minutes until it grow wings, decrease size and be able to fly out of the flask and into this box,� she held out a tiny red box from her pocket and showed it to Ginny.
�I don�t get it,� said Ginny, eyeing the large golden ball with curiosity, �don�t you have to charm the Snitch first so it can pop inside the flask?�
�Wizards tried that centuries ago�but they found out that other wizards that have been entrusted to bewitch the Snitch for it to decrease size also adds some extra spells, favouring the team they want to win.�
�So how can you possibly fit the Snitch in the flask?� asked Ginny, sounding confused.
�No matter how impossible things may seem, Miss Weasley,� she answered in a soothing tone, as she produced a light at the tip of her wand and placed it beside the flask, �there�s always a different angle for everything.�
After a few minutes, the heat from the teacher�s wand made the hole expand, making the golden ball plop inside with the potion.
�If the person�s worth it,� she continued, �I�m sure they�ll understand. The golden ball�s inside the flask, after all.�
�Thank you, Madam Hooch,� said Ginny, her whole face lighting up, �thank you very much.�
*.*
The loud applause coming from the hundreds of students watching the match made Ginny dash out of the library, a copy of Kennilworthy Whisp�s Quidditch through the Ages clutched tightly in her hand.
�Thank you Madam Pince!� she sang out as she passed by her desk.
�No problem, Miss Weasley�and please keep your voice down!� Madam Pince also sang out, cheerfully thinking that no one will bother the precious library for quite a while due to the ongoing match.
Ginny ran towards the Quidditch field, her long red hair billowing behind her.
�And the Quaffle is thrown�the Bludger is out�the Snitch took flight�and the game begins!� Seamus Finnigan�s booming voice filled the whole pitch just as soon as Ginny had opened the back doors.
She squinted and saw tiny figures hovering in the air. After a few seconds, they sped all around the pitch. Ginny then ran towards the stands, pushed a great deal of fellow students aside, before spotting a tiny crowd of Gryffindors consisting of Colin, Neville, Harry and Ron, who were only there for the sole reason of seeing Malfoy die in embarrassment. It was no surprise for Ginny to find out that Hermione wasn�t there. Like her, she probably disapproved of their plans.
�What�s happening?� she panted as she flopped down beside Colin, breathless.
�Oh man, this is good!� he answered happily, �They�re losing so badly!�
�Nothing could get better,� said Harry, grinning.
Ginny ignored her friends and instead, focused on the game. She saw Trent, and two other chasers whom she was clueless when in comes to their names, staying awkwardly in one position, not moving. She looked up and saw Malfoy, staring steadily at his unmoving Chasers.
The Hufflepuffs easily scored.
�What in Merlin�s name are they doing?� Ginny cried out exasperatedly.
�Ginny, don�t swear,� Ron reminded her.
�I can�t help it! Those three Slytherin Chasers aren�t moving! They�re just letting the other team score!�
�Aw, Ginny, you�re no fun,� said Neville, shaking his head.
Ginny brushed Neville�s comment off by focusing harder on the game. She then saw all three of Hufflepuff�s Chasers form an arrowhead, forcing other players to be pushed aside. When they were near the scoring area, the Chaser from the right side, Helen, flew below the Chaser on the middle who as Ginny vaguely remembered, was named Margarita something or other. As she expected, the Margarita dropped the Quaffle on Helen, who was below her.
It was all too late for the Slytherins to catch on.
The Hufflepuffs scored again.
�The Hawkshead Attacking Formation combined with the Porskoff Ploy! The Hufflepuffs really planned for this!� Ginny shouted through the loud screaming of unbelieving fans, all excited to see that their team was winning.
Harry then turned around suspiciously at Ginny, his eyes searching her face. She looked away awkwardly. Harry suspected something, she was sure of it. He never misses anything�never. When Ginny looked up to face Harry, she saw him staring at the book clutched in her hands. She quickly hid the book from his view.
Everyone else is enjoying the game, she thought spitefully, why don�t you go look somewhere and stop giving my brother ideas??
�I know, eh?� said Ron, clapping along with the Hufflepuffs, a huge grin on his face, in response to Ginny�s cry a few seconds ago, �And to think about it, Malfoy�s team would have easily won over the Hufflepuffs any day. Thank to us though, the Hufflepuffs wouldn�t even have to try winning!�
At these words, guilt overpowered Ginny and stiffened her resolve.
She stood up, pushed Colin out of her way, and began to climb over multitude of knees, making her way towards the stadium. She wouldn�t have looked back if only she didn�t feel a hand pull her back.
It was Ron.
�Where are you going?� he asked, his tone filled with concern.
At the corner of her eye, Ginny saw Harry stumbling over their way, muttering �sorry� to every foot he stepped on.
�Hey, you�re blocking our view!� a student cried out. Ron then led her to the very back of the stands, his expression not changing.
�Ron, please�� she murmured, suddenly unaware of the thousand of eyes that lingered at their direction.
�Hey, no pressure,� said Ron, giving her a smile, �just tell me where you�re going and I can catch up on with you later. I mean, after all, ever since Fred and George left the school last year, they did tell me to take care of you�just keeping my promise, that�s all. It�s not like I won�t let you��
�I�m going to Malfoy,� she blurted out.
By this time Harry had already reached them, sweat dripping over his forehead. Ginny was sure he was aware of what was going on.
�Gin, I know Malfoy�s good-looking and all�� Ron began before Ginny interrupted.
�Ron, I don�t like him, okay? I just�feel guilty. Let�s admit it. The reason why the Slytherins are losing badly in there is because of us! Everyone knows Malfoy wants to win the cup this year��
�Everyone knows the Weasleys are short in money, but did that stop Malfoy from finding out a way to get dad off work? No, it didn�t!� Ron yelled to make Ginny hear amidst the loud applause. His face was as red as his hair and he was breathing hard.
�It wasn�t Malfoy who did that�it was Lucius!�
�They�re all the same!�
�Don�t judge people from their relatives! If you do, you�re not any different from that racist Lucius!�
�Stop, stop it,� Harry hissed beside Ron, pulling her brother back when he advanced, �not here, okay?�
�Look, Gin, I just don�t understand why you�re doing this, that�s all,� said Ron more calmly.
�I don�t understand it too Ron,� Ginny answered, her tone filled with emotion, �I mean, I don�t know if what I�m doing is right or wrong�I�m just going with my instincts, and all of us know my instincts are no good when it comes to detecting Dark Arts and all, considering the fact that I wrote to a diary all throughout my first year. But you heard Malfoy, Ron�everyone heard him at Quarterly Galore, and I was thinking, maybe he�s right, you know. He said that if we make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes out of it. And if this is the biggest mistake I can ever do in my life, if going against you, my friends and practically the whole Hufflepuff house just because of one person, I�m�I�m sure something good will come out of this.�
Ginny touched Ron�s shoulders kindly before saying the words she thought she would never say to him, �Just trust me on this one, Ron. Trust me on this one.�
Ron�s face was unreadable for a few minutes. He just simply stared at his sister, his eyes boring on hers, studying her as if she wasn�t the sister he once thought she was. He glanced at Harry before announcing his decision.
�Oi, stand aside will you? This is an emergency!� Ron bellowed, elbowing a long-haired Hufflepuff in front of Ginny, forcing her to stand aside.
When Ginny didn�t move, Ron glared at her disbelievingly, �Well go! I thought you were going to go to Malfoy?�
Ginny felt her eyes water with joy as she jumped towards Ron, hugging him with all her might.
�Thank you, oh thank you Ron! You won�t regret this!�
�Hurry up though, you might not be able to catch up,� he said softly in her ear, �and we don�t want that to happen, do we?�
Ginny gave her brother a last loving smile before pushing aside students who were in her way. Her heart filled with joy as she realized everyone was with her into her verdict.
She especially thanked Madam Hooch.
She spotted Malfoy suspended coolly in the air, eyes squinting to find the Snitch. She jumped up and down in the stands, waving her arms in the air frantically, shouting out these words amidst the whole clapping racket, �Malfoy! Call for a time-out!!�
*.*
�What do you want??� Malfoy asked abruptly as he landed on the ground steadily on his feet, his face impassive. The other players slowly gathered around Ginny with alarmed expressions on their faces.
�Well if you haven�t noticed yet, those Hufflepuffs are absolutely creaming you!� Ginny cried out angrily, arms crossed in authority, �Malfoy, you should know better than this! Those Chasers! They�re just fluttering there converting oxygen into carbon dioxide!�
�Fluttering there and converting oxygen into carbon dioxide was in your plan, remember?� Malfoy answered back, his ears flaring.
�Oh�the plan�� Ginny suddenly realized, smacking herself in the forehead in exasperation, �well�you have to know something about that. It�s not true.�
�What?!!� The Slytherin team shouted as one.
�Oh man, you�re going to die,� Trent threatened as he walked over to her, cracking his knuckles, �I know I�m not good in spells that�s why I won�t use magic when I kill you. I�m telling you, I�m good. No one will suspect that I slaughtered you.�
�Yeah, he�ll make it look like an accident!� someone piped in.
�An accident all right,� Trent said, grinning slyly, �an accident involving you, me and Malfoy�s Nimbus 2001.�
�Wait! Before we start plotting out how to kill me,� said Ginny, raising her arms up in resistance, �you have to know this one last complicated part.�
�Oh yeah? Well, it better not be a reason for your defence cause I swear�� Trent began menacingly.
�Actually, it is a reason for my �� Ginny was only on the middle of finishing her sentence when Trent actually jumped towards Ginny, his arms outstretched, ready for some hell of a strangling. If Malfoy and the other team members didn�t hold him back, Ginny would have ended up being a limp vegetable, helpless in the hands of a person who had blisters on the soles of his feet.
�Very well then, spill it out Weasley,� Malfoy growled in a sinister way, clenching and unclenching his fists as soon as Trent was under control, �but try as I may I can�t think of a way how I, and I speak for the rest of the team, could possibly forgive you.�
�I researched about Quidditch as you can see,� said Ginny, waving Quidditch through the Ages under his nose, �and the moves these Hufflepuffs are doing is the Hawkshead Attacking Formation combined with the Porskoff Ploy�the most sly attacks united, leaving the opposing team almost helpless.�
�Why, that�s good news,� the Slytherin Keeper said sarcastically, �your defence is that we�re hopeless anyway even if you didn�t give us blimey plans.�
�Clever,� said Trent, nodding, �but I�m sorry to say I still need to kill you.�
�No, you don�t understand,� Ginny cried out, staring at Malfoy for help. He merely looked away as soon as she glanced at his way.
�I think we all understand something here for once, Weasley,� said Malfoy, shaking his head in disgust, �and that is never to trust a Gryffindor.�
�No, Malfoy listen to me!� Ginny yelped in panic, �I�ve watched documentaries in the library this morning and the Chudley Cannons were the ones that made this combination famous! They have been doing this move for years which made the team win the league 21 times! But ever since 1892, all the teams in Britain found out the counter-strike for their famous attack, making the Chudley Cannons helpless!�
�And you�re telling us that you know how to manoeuvre the counter-strike?� Trent asked suspiciously.
�Yes,� Ginny answered confidently.
�Tell me Weasley,� Malfoy murmured under his breath, looking at Ginny under his eyes, �why should we trust you again?�
�Because I�m your only hope,� Ginny replied.
It took Malfoy a few minutes to decide.
�Okay then,� he said, his grey eyes finally meeting hers, �tell us your plan.�
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