|
Harry Potter And The Twists Of Fate | ||||||
|
Category: Alternate Universe Characters:All, All Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, Humor Warnings: Extreme Language, Sexual Situations, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 475 Summary: What if the fates let Harry's parents live that night he got his scar, plus gave him a younger sister and become friends with the Weasleys, especially Ron earlier. What would be different? Hitcount: Story Total: 324101; Chapter Total: 8678 |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
Chapter 24: Quidditch and Halloween Wood called for another round of practice the next day, right after lunch. At least we can sleep in since it’s a Sunday, Harry thought. Unfortunately, Fred and George had other ideas. Someone jumping on his bed roused Harry from an interesting dream where he was chasing a laughing red haired girl around the grounds. He blearily opened one eye to see the blurred image of two tall redheads standing on his bed. He groaned and lay back down. “Come on, Harry,” one of them said, “wake up. We want to do some planning before practice.” “No, lemme sleep.” Harry said into his pillow. “You asked for it,” he heard someone say. Then he was suddenly drenched in very, very cold water. “HEY! What’d you do that for?” Harry said, sitting up, soaking wet. “Oh, come, come,” one twin said. “Oh, esteemed leader,” the other said. “Don’t tell us that,” the first twin said. “You’re too lazy to…” the second twin said. “…plan a prank,” the first twin said. Harry heard several other people laughing and felt someone else’s amusement. Oh, oh. Harry quickly reached for his glasses and put them on. As the room swung into focus, he noticed that Ron and Neville were hugging each other as they laughed uncontrollably over to his left side. Near the door, hands to their mouths to stiffle their laughter, were his sister and Ginny and behind them, was Hermione, glaring fiercely at the twins. Harry quickly pulled the bedcovers over himself, as he had slept shirtless the night before. He felt a blush creep up his cheeks. “Hey, you girls shouldn’t be in here,” he said. The three girls then smirked. “Hey, bro,” Rose said, “there isn’t anything there I haven’t seen before. Ginny, of course, might be more interested.” Ginny then quickly backed out after shooting a glare at her best friend. Harry could sense her embarrassment. “Come on, Rose,” Hermione said, “let’s just wait for them in the common room.” She closed the dorm’s door once they were through it. Harry glared at the twins, “You two are gonna get it.” He got out of bed and cast a drying charm on his bed. Picking out some jeans and a red short sleeved shirt, he went to the bathroom for a quick shower. He then dressed and descended to the common room. The others were waiting for him in the empty common room. The twins’ back was turned to him. He took out a paper bag and snuck up to the twins. He blew up the bag and popped it right behind them, causing the twins to leap up at least six feet and tumble down in a heap of limbs. “All right, you two,” Harry said to the twins, “that’s for getting me wet. Now, about this prank you wanted, I assume it’s for Halloween?” “Yup,” Rose answered for the twins who were still picking themselves up, glaring at Harry. “All right, guys. Let’s have some ideas,” Harry said, drawing them to sit around the fireplace. They spent the rest of the morning planning then went to lunch. After lunch, he and the twins went off to practice, where Wood was his usual manic self. When Harry woke up Monday morning, he heard the rain falling against his window. He hoped the weather would clear soon. Unfortunately, it didn’t. In fact, it got worse and worse so that by Wednesday, the wind was howling like a banshee. It got even worse at lunch when Oliver approached them. “I’ve just been told that we’ll be playing Hufflepuff on Saturday, instead of Slytherin,” Oliver said angrily, “Flint claims his seeker is still injured.” “What!” Harry said, “That’s a load of crap! Malfoy’s arm is fine now. He doesn’t even have it in a sling anymore.” “I know, Harry, I know,” Oliver said. He looked out towards the window. “I bet they just don’t want to play in this bloody kind of weather.” The rain and wind continued so that on Saturday, it was difficult to stay on a broom, yet the match wasn’t called off. As Harry circled high above the pitch Saturday morning, he shivered in his thoroughly wet Quidditch robes, holding tightly to his broomstick. Lightning flashed through the sky every few minutes. It was a good thing Hermione had cast a charm on his glasses to keep it dry or he wouldn’t have been able to see a thing. Harry hovered for a few seconds to watch Angelina and Katie make a spectacular goal. He could barely hear the commentary from Lee Jordan over the howling wind. He glanced up to see the Hufflepuff seeker, Cedric Diggory, watching him. He was a sixth year, much larger than Harry was which made him slower but his size gave him a greater reach. Harry hoped his broomstick would give him an edge. Harry heard a scream and turned back to the game. He saw someone in red robes hurtling towards him, their broom’s rear on fire. From the screams, he recognized Alicia Spinnet’s voice. She turned away from him and plummeted straight down, out of control. Harry hesitated for a second then plunged after her. His Nimbus’ speed allowed him to catch up with her. He pulled alongside her and reached out, grabbing the handle of Alicia’s broom. He steered it to the ground to the Gryffindor side of the pitch, allowing Alicia to land safely. “Thanks, Harry,” Alicia said, breathless and still shaking a bit. By now, the rain had extinguished the flames coming from the broom. She looked up. “Go on, Harry. I’m fine now. Get back up there before…oh, too late.” “POTTER!” a voice bellowed from above, “GET BACK UP HERE!” Harry groaned. He knew it was Oliver Wood who was shouting as he looked up. Their team captain was hovering in front of the goal posts, his face red. Harry groaned again and guided his broom back up to the sky. Once he had gotten high up, he looked around. Then, he saw Diggory streaking upward about twenty feet from him. Harry moved after him and saw that the Hufflepuff seeker was indeed chasing the snitch. Harry pushed his broomstick forward, willing it to go faster. He drew closer to Diggory. He felt a sinking feeling as he saw the older boy closing in on the snitch. Harry threw himself flat on the broom. As he got closer to Diggory, he watched with bated breath as the yellowclad seeker’s outstretched right hand neared the snitch. Then, just as Diggory’s hand came within a couple of inches of the snitch, a bolt of electricity flashed between the snitch and Diggory, causing his hair to stand on end. The Hufflepuff somersaulted backwards, away from the snitch and downwards. Harry caught a glimpse of the stunned look on the older boy’s face as he passed him. Harry didn’t hesitate but sped after the snitch. Harry moved after it, weaving among the clouds. He was now so high, he couldn’t see the pitch below. Then, the snitch suddenly dove and Harry dipped his broom to follow it. Soon, he was vertical, heading straight toward the ground, gaining speed as he struggled to control the broom against the ever increasing wind. The snitch swerved below him, forcing Harry to an even steeper angle, almost upside down. Closer and closer he came to the snitch, one foot, then eleven inches, eight inches, five inches, two inches, half an inch. Then his hand was closing around the golden winged ball just as he was about to touch the ground. He rolled upright and zoomed a little higher. He lifted his hand to show the struggling golden ball as the crowd roared their approval. Then Harry saw several red and yellow blurs hurtle toward him and they jumped on him, knocking him off his broom. They all fell the last few feet to the ground, laughing and cheering. As they got up, muddy and dripping wet, the team became awash with their supporters. Harry was hugged immediately by two female redheads. Ron and Hermione looked on with a look of disgust and amusement, respectively. Harry could see his parents in the back of the crowd, waving, his father grinning from ear to ear. Fred and George shouted, “Party in the Common room tonight!” above the noise of the crowd. The crowd then started to disperse, leaving the team and their closest friends. “That was a great move, son,” James said, grinning, as he. Lily and Remus approached the team. “Thanks, Dad,” Harry said, grinning back. He stepped back when Lily tried to hug him. “Mum! Please, I’m all muddy,” he said, “and not in front of the team,” the last part in a low tone. Lily laughed and ruffled Harry’s hair, even if he was already as tall as she was. The team hurried into the changing room to shower and change to clean clothes. When they exited the changing rooms, only the Weasley siblings, Hermione, Lee Jordan, Harry’s parents and sister and Remus were left waiting. They all headed back to the castle. As they reached the front steps of the castle, Harry saw Ti waiting shyly in the shadow of the doors. “Hey, Ti,” he called to the younger boy, “Come on over here.” Ti slowly made his way down to him. Harry ignored the scowl on Ron’s face as the younger Malfoy neared them. Harry took Ti by the arm and led him to his parents. “Dad, Mum, I’d like to Ti, Ti Malfoy. Ti, meet my Mum and Dad.” Ti looked nervously at the Potter parents. Then, James smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I’m pleased to meet you, Ti,” James said, “Sirius and Harry have told me quite a bit about you. I have to admit that I was a bit surprised and suspicious about a Malfoy getting sorted into Gryffindor. I’m sure you know that your father and I have a bit of history since Voldemort’s fall.” James and Harry noticed Ti flinch at the mention of Voldemort’s name. “But,” James continued, “if my children and best mates think you’re all right, then I guess I can also.” James smiled again. Lily smiled at Ti, “That’s right, Ti. We trust our children’s judgement and choice of their friends and Sirius is a difficult man to convince. So, we’re glad to finally meet you.” “Gee, thanks, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter,” Ti said, smiling shyly, “Though I think my father won’t be pleased about me meeting you.” Ti grinned after saying that. James laughed, “No, I don’t think he will.” Harry’s parents talked to Ti a bit about his experiences in Hogwarts and Quidditch for several minutes. Then, James and Lily bid goodbye to the kids and left after congratulating Harry again for winning the game. Remus also took his leave of the kids, who hurried off to the Great Hall for lunch. After lunch, Harry managed to get the other New Marauders together in an empty classroom and they finalized their plans for their prank for the next day. Rose kept an eye on the Marauder’s map during their meeting to make sure they weren’t found by any other students or the teachers. They finished in time for dinner. After dinner, the Gryffindors trooped back to their Tower. The Common room was decorated with red and gold banners and there was a lot of food. The twins seemed to have managed to get some butterbeer in. Music, both wizarding and muggle blared into the air. Harry was gladdened by the sight of Ti happily interacting with his other housemates, who showed no animosity. The party itself lasted until midnight when McGonagall came in dressed in a tartan dressing robe demanding they get to bed. As it was a Sunday, Halloween started with a better breakfast than usual, if there was such a thing in Hogwarts. In fact, both breakfast and lunch were spectacular, leaving the students groaning from their full stomachs and anticipating the feast in the evening. Harry and his friends didn’t go on their usual morning run. After breakfast, they rested for a couple of hours then found an empty classroom to practice some martial arts. Harry still felt uncomfortable sparring with Ginny and paired off with Neville. He did notice her glancing at him from time to time. Whenever their eyes met, he felt heat creep up his cheeks and thought he saw her flush as well. Their martial arts prowess was increasing as a whole. But, Harry found he had the fastest reflexes in the group, followed by Ginny, Rose, Neville, Ron and Hermione. Naturally, the boys had more power in their strikes but the girls were more flexible and had a greater range of moves available to them. After lunch, they went out to the grounds, to play around and enjoy the day, which was sunny. A lot of the other students were there as well to enjoy the outdoors, since more rain was expected as winter drew closer. As the sun started to set, Harry and his friends slipped away from the grounds, one by one. Few noticed them leave. When it came time for the Feast, the whole school entered the Great Hall together. They gazed with awe and amusement at the different decorations in the Hall. Pumpkins larger than most of the students were in the middle of the tables, scary faces carved into them. Bats flew around the Hall. Real spider webs were strung along the ceiling from rafter to rafter. Platters and goblets made of gold and silver instead of the usual brass and tin were on the tables also, empty for the present. After the students had all taken their seats at their tables, Dumbledore stood up and said his usual Halloween speech. Then came the words the students, especially Ron, had been waiting for, “Tuck in.” Food immediately appeared on the tables in the previously empty serving platters. The pitchers filled with pumpkin juice and water. The students started helping themselves to the tremendous amount of food, including the different sweets and chocolates. Harry ate slowly, anticipation for what the New Marauders had planned building in him. His head was bent down but he was eyeing the Slytherin table through his bangs. He knew the others were excited to see what would happen, if the feelings he was getting from Ginny were a sample. About an hour into the Feast, a cloud of smoke suddenly appeared covering the Slytherin table. When the smoke cleared, all the Slytherins from third year up were in the colors of the rainbow. Every part of their body was a different color as in their heads were purple, one arm was red, the other arm was green and so on. The hall was filled with laughter as the other houses gawked at the sight. The younger Slytherins were just staring at their older housemates and glancing uncertainly around at the other houses. Harry and his friends joined in the laughter, grinning at each other. Harry glanced at the Head Table, noting that the teachers reacted just like they had on previous pranks. Dumbledore gazed on the sight calmly with his characteristic eye twinkle, McGonagall looked sternly on though a upward turn of one corner of her mouth betrayed her amusement, Flitwick, and Hagrid were laughing, Sprout and Vector were smiling and Snape was openly glaring at the Gryffindor table, most especially at Harry. Finally, unable to stand it, the affected Slytherins got up from their table and fled the Hall. Snape went up to the Slytherin table and told the rest of his House to follow their jinxed housemates. He then followed them after glaring one final time at the Gryffindors. The laughter soon died down and the Feast resumed. Harry and his fellow marauders grinned. They didn’t care to advertise their involvement this time, figuring that the rest of the school would know who was responsible. They had not included the first and second year Slytherins since they didn’t want to traumatize them, as they weren’t as bad as their older housemates. Their prank was a great way to end a great weekend. |
| Reviews 475 |
Previous Next
|
