(Saturday Morning)
The next couple of days passed by rapidly as he worked on his different projects. His Animagus Ward Web Trap was developing well and should be completed by the end of the weekend, since he had arranged to have the whole of Sunday off so he could finish engraving the runes for it.
But for now, he was sitting in the stands, getting ready to enjoy the upcoming Quidditch match.
"Damn, it's cold!" Padma complained, her hot breath visible in the cold morning air as they waited for the game to start.
"Yeah, winter is coming. Just be grateful you're not playing, it's even worse with the wind chill," he replied as he pulled out his wand and cast a simple Warming Charm on them both, which would hopefully last for the duration of the game.
"Thanks. I don't know how you can get up at 6 in the morning to run when it's this damn cold."
"Warming Charms to start with for the first 10 minutes or so, but as soon as you get your blood pumping, you don't really need them anymore," he shrugged, feeling better now that the Warming Charms were starting to take effect. "You should try it."
She shook her head vigorously. "No thanks, I like my warm cozy bed."
Chuckling at her instant refusal, he scanned the stands, looking for his other friends. He saw Penny was sitting with her year-mates, with Terry talking with Michael, Steven, and Anthony, but Kevin was missing for whatever reason. He didn't have much contact with Michael, Steven, and Kevin, since they mainly kept to themselves, preferring to hang back in the shadows.
The two second-years still hadn't gotten over the events of the first year when he refused to help them with their studies. Terry spent most of his free time with Anthony, who seemed to be an okay bloke overall, but for whatever reason, they failed to get along. They could work together effectively in class, but they just had different views about everything. 'Oh well,' he mentally noted. After all, he couldn't be friends with everyone that would be impossible nor did he want to be, since that would be counterproductive in the long run. Plus, he was more than happy with his current friends, since they offered something in return, which benefited him.
He scanned the rest of the Ravenclaw stands and found Cho and her friend Marietta were up to something, as two balls of water collected on the tip of their wands. As soon as the spell was finished charging, they threw the balls of water at someone. His eyes tracked the spell as they sailed through the air and eventually splashed onto a small blonde-haired Ravenclaw girl sitting by herself, soaking the back of her robe. The girl turned around to see who was responsible for the attack. He recognized the girl as Luna Lovegood, the rather unique first year with dirty blonde hair coming down to her waist.
Luna clearly knew who was responsible since her eyes were resting firmly on her attackers, Cho and Marietta. The two older girls were now playing innocent, pretending to gossip, but they had a smug look about them as their eyes flickered down to the first year before she turned back to the game, her hands running through her hair trying to get out some of the water.
Only for another two balls of water to hit her, causing the first year's head to spin around with a surprising amount of speed, catching the pair trying to hide their wands. He wondered how this was going to play out.
"That was cruel of them," Padma said lowly, having been watching the same thing he was.
He kept his eye on the first year as he replied, "It seems Chang has found her target," he stated, referring to their first-year discussion about Chang being a bully and wondering if he should get involved. He did owe the first year a favor, and he always repaid his debts.
"She must be freezing now," Padma said as the first year tried to dry herself unsuccessfully, clearly not knowing the necessary charms.
"I hate bullies," he mentioned quietly, remembering his cousin, who would often do similar things to him. He weighed the pros and cons of helping the girl, finding a very unbalanced choice between the two.
"We should help her," Padma said, clearly feeling for the girl.
He found himself agreeing with her but thought it was necessary to play devil's advocate. "We should, but you know Cho could just set her sights on us if we do. Not that I'm too worried about her, she's a small fish in the grand scheme of my concerns."
Padma seemed to straighten up. "I'm not worried about Chang. Plus, it gives us a chance to keep an eye on her. After all, you said to watch for any odd behavior, and she is definitely odd," she countered with fierce confidence.
He smiled at his friend, wondering if Padma had swapped with her sister for the day. "Alright, stay here; I'll go and talk to her," he said, standing up. Padma nodded, sending him a bright, happy smile before he left, walking down a couple flights of stairs and over to where the first-year Ravenclaw was sitting. He slid in next to her, greeting the girl kindly. "Hi, Luna."
"Good morning, Harry," Luna said dreamily.
"Padma and I were wondering if you wanted to join us, rather than sitting by yourself," he asked, leaning in and saying in a quieter voice, "We saw what Chang and her friend are up to."
"You shouldn't get involved. They'll just aim at you too," she said seriously. "They'll grow bored as soon as the game starts."
"She already hates me, so I don't care," he replied easily, standing up and offering his hand to her. "You can either sit here, or you can try to do something about it."
She looked at him for a moment. "It would be nice to have someone to sit with; it would be almost like having friends."
His mind processed her statement as he flicked his wand at her, casting a Drying Charm on her robes and her dirty blonde hair, followed by a Warming Charm on her robes.
He led her back to where Padma was sitting. "Padma, you remember Luna. Luna, this is my best friend Padma," he introduced, getting a blush from his friend, since it was the first time he had voiced their friendship status out loud.
"Here," he said, gesturing at the seat next to Padma. When the blonde sat down, he sat on the other side of her, the two older students acting like bodyguards for the younger girl.
He glanced back up at Cho and her friend, absently throwing up a basic magical shield behind his, Luna's, and Padma's backs, as a pair of water balls splashed harmlessly upon the barrier. He saw Cho's eyes narrow and the spells on their wands dissipate. Chang may be a favorite with their Head of House, but he was very much the overall favorite at the moment, and frankly, he had a lot more weight to throw around than the Asian girl. He turned his attention back to the pitch.
He turned just in time to see the Gryffindor team come flying out at top speed, circling the pitch with Neville getting the biggest cheer of all. He noticed all of them were using the new brooms he and his godfather had bought. "This is going to be interesting. How long do you think it takes until the first foul?"
"Three minutes," Padma said without hesitation.
"Hey guys, do you mind if me and the guys join you?" Terry said, while sitting down in the row behind them, not waiting for a response.
Seeing that Terry had already sat down, he canceled his shield since the boy had just volunteered to take its place if Cho and Marietta tried to throw another volley of water at Luna. "Sure, why not," Harry replied with a hint of a vindictive smile.
"Do you know why the matches were rearranged so that we had the first match of the season against the Puffs and not Snakes and Lions?" Terry wondered.
"No, but I agree it is a bit odd," Steven voiced, since Quidditch was a safe topic amongst this group.
Harry took it upon himself to answer. "Draco was practicing a snake summoning charm," he started, causing the group to listen with interest. "Unfortunately, he got bit on the ass a couple of times and couldn't sit down on his broom." Harry allowed himself to chuckle along with the resulting outbreak of laughter as the knowledge was spread through the stands like a wave.
"Language, Harry," Padma scolded playfully, having accepted a long time ago that it was one of his faults.
"Gryffindor will definitely win this. Draco only just barely managed to catch the Snitch in the last couple of training sessions. That was another reason why Snape pressured for the matches to be rearranged. Their Seeker is utter crap. Combined with them losing Troy from their Chaser line, things weren't looking good. On a good note though, Troy himself, from what I've heard, is being scouted for the Irish Greens."
"Damn it," Anthony exclaimed.
"Language, Anthony," Padma repeated dutifully.
"Yes, Mother," Anthony replied blandly, causing more laughter.
"Why hasn't Draco been replaced if he's that bad then?" Steven asked from his position behind the three.
He almost rolled his eyes at the question. "Snape is Draco's godfather, remember? Would you willingly cross Snape?" he asked back.
He got an instant response of, "Hell no!" getting some chuckles at his over-the-top answer.
"That, and the fact that Draco is the only reason they got new brooms. And they don't have time to train a new Seeker, even if Flint did decide to replace the boy. Besides, Flint is just about to graduate. Do you think he's going to risk upsetting Draco when the boy's father could make life really difficult outside school?"
"Is that him in the teacher's box?" Anthony asked, gesturing toward the teacher's box.
Seeing the familiar intimidating presence of Lord Malfoy in the box, he answered, "I believe it is, Anthony. Word of advice: he's a 'reformed' Death Eater, so be careful around him," he cautioned while wondering if the Lord was truly here to watch his son play or find out more about the progress of his most recent scheme. It was a shame Rita wasn't there to spy on him.
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