19 Years (HP - Drarry)

Chapter 41: Quidditch Brawl

        

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Ginny groaned, slumping back into her seat. "Merlin, they're idiots."

Luna patted her back absently, eyes trained on the circling figures overhead. "Yes, but they certainly can fly."

Ginny laughed helplessly. "Only you, Luna, only you." She groaned, craning her head back to watch her ex-husband's antics, leaning comfortably into Astoria's side.

High above them, circling predatorily in the unusually clear November sky, were Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. The news had quickly circulated through the castle that whenever the pitch was free, and they weren't in classes or meetings, both men could most often be found soaring through the air, chasing the tiny golden snitch, showing off and attempting ever-more daredevil moves in a constant battle to one-up one another, and always, always arguing. Often, the whole school turned out to watch - their seekers' games had a higher turnout than the actual Quidditch Matches, McGonagall had confided to Ginny, faintly scandalized - but by the time they gave in and descended, mid-argument, to the quidditch pitch, only the three girls were left in the stands.

"Draco!" Ginny yelled, cupping her fingers around her mouth, "you looked good up there!" He nodded politely, giving her a confused half-wave, and then turned back to what looked like a heated argument. "You too, Harry!" Ginny laughed when he glared at her. "Are you coming to ours for dinner tonight?"

"Can't," Harry called back, almost cheerfully. "Too much grading to do. Some other time?"

"You? Grading?" Draco scoffed, elbowing him, then looked away, expression confused and a bit sheepish.

Harry didn't seem to notice, merely rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, Malfoy - last one to the changing room is a rotten egg." He took off, leaving Draco gaping after him.

Draco shrugged apologetically at Ginny, nodded to Astoria and Luna, and then turned and loped off after Harry, who was jogging in place a bit further down the pitch. "Rotten egg? What the hell are you on about, Potter? Is that some muggle phrase? It's positively juvenile."

"And yet, you're wasting time chatting when you could be rid of me already."

Ginny could see the blinding flash of Harry's grin clear across the pitch, even though the rest of his figure was rapidly fading in the darkening gloom. She, Astoria, and Luna stood, staring after them, until their bickering voices faded away. "Idiots!" she muttered under her breath.

"Yes," Luna said, shrugging. "Come on, then. I'm starving."

---

Friday, December 1, 2017

"What in Merlin's name happened here?" Ginny asked, surveying the packed hospital wing in horror. For a moment, the room full of groaning, battered bodies whisked her back to the battlefield, and she stumbled. Astoria caught her, supporting her weight without hesitation. Luna's warm hand came to rest on the small of her back, lending her strength. Ginny took a deep breath of asceptic, lemon-scented air. This wasn't the war. The war had been over for years, now. This was just some schoolyard brawl.

Steeling herself, she surveyed the beds, looking for her ex-husband. Yes, there he was, and next to him, the familiar shock of ice-blonde hair. Ginny sighed. "What did you do now?" she asked them, putting her hands on her hips and feeling rather like her mother.

"Er," Harry said, glancing sheepishly up at her.

"It wasn't our fault!" Draco exclaimed. He quailed beneath the combined stare of the three girls - no, five, Ginny realized, spying Hermione and Pansy approaching, a stern, thin-lipped McGonagall in tow. "Well, not entirely," he amended. "Potter started it."