The Captain's Jersey

Quidditch Practice

Not for the first time, the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was running late for practice, and by the time he stumbled into the locker rooms, the whole team had already changed into their robes. Ginny Weasley, who had been standing and talking in an attempt to fill the void of their missing leader, turned to face him as he came to a halt on the threshold and she put her hands on her hips.

"Where have you been?" Ginny asked suspiciously, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Sorry," Harry said automatically, hurrying over to his locker and slumping his broom and bag onto his bench.

"I bet I know where," said Ron Weasley, his best friend, coolly from the end of the bench. "You were making out in the stacks at the library again, weren't you?"

Harry didn't deny these claims, but he didn't confirm them either. He gave his friend a fleeting glance and a shrug and then when he felt his cheeks turning slightly red, he went back to rummaging around in his bag.

"I lost track of time," Harry said defensively, clearing his throat as he took out his Quidditch robes and pulled them over his head.

He reached back into his bag and began to rummage around for another important item of clothing, but he couldn't find it. He frowned as he went through the contents twice over in silence, and then he checked his locker, he checked his bag again, he checked under the bench and then sat down on it with a sigh.

"What is it?" Ron asked through the silence, as everyone stared at Harry.

"My jersey," Harry said shaking his head, "it's not here."

He heard sniggering in the corner, and when he looked around, Katie Bell and Demelza Robbins had put their heads together and were whispering about something.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked of them, forcing them apart and making them smirk.

"Nothing," Demelza said shyly, putting her head down, but Katie, being the older and bolder teammate of the two, smirked at him.

"We were just saying what everyone else is thinking, Harry," she said happily, shrugging at him, "your girlfriend has stolen your jersey again, hasn't she?"

Harry stared blankly across the room. There were a few sniggers that broke throughout the room, but no one except for Katie was making eye contact with him, and after a moment, he had no other choice but to stand up and clear his throat.

"It's only practice," Harry said carefully, he could feel his face getting hot again, "I don't need it for today... let's go over some of our strategies, shall we?"

Several of his teammates gave each other bemused looks, but eventually their minds returned to Quidditch and they were able to focus on the practice session at hand.