The Healer | Part 3: The Survivors

Blast From the Past

Edith

The next weekend was George's turn to pick what we did. I wasn't surprised when he managed to secure tickets to a professional Quidditch match and we found ourselves in a very different stadium the following Saturday.

The pitch was even different from the Quidditch pitch back at Hogwarts. The seats were all at least twenty feet in the air. We had to walk up several flights of steps to get to our seats, which, according to George, were very good ones.

'Edith?' Someone called my name, I wheeled around, about to follow George into the row of seats.

'Cho?' I exclaimed. 'What are you doing here?'

'Oh, that's nice,' she rolled her eyes and hurried over to meet me. 'I see you haven't changed.'

'It's really good to see you!' I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around her. I hadn't written to her since George had come back.

'I've missed you,' she said. 'I've been meaning to write, I just haven't had a chance. Oh, hello George. You came back, that's brilliant!'

'Hello, Cho,' George called somewhat awkwardly from behind me. Cho let me go and I felt George's hand on my back.

'Alright, George? Sorry to hear about your brother,' she said.

'Er, thanks,' he replied quietly. I felt his hand leave me and missed it at once.

'So what are you doing here?' Cho turned back to me.

'Watching a Quidditch match, aren't I?' I chuckled, trying to break the tension from the mention of Fred.

'Wood must have got you tickets, I hear he's playing this match,' Cho nodded. I didn't understand what she was saying, but George appeared to.

'He's a good bloke, Wood is,' George said. 'He was Captain of the Gryffindor team while I was on it for four years. He plays for Puddlemere United now, but he's only the reserve Keeper. He told me he'd be playing today and sent tickets.'

Ah, that made more sense. I had a feeling he explained more for my benefit than Cho's.

'Are you a Puddlemere fan too?' I asked Cho, feeling more confident now that I was following the conversation again.

'No, I support Tutshill,' she indicated to the light blue scarf around her neck. 'My boyfriend is their new Beater, but I've supported them for years. Anyway, I'll catch up with you later, I need to find my seat before the match begins.'

As if on cue, the players started flying out onto the pitch at that moment.

'See you,' I waved somewhat awkwardly as she left. George reached for my hand and led me to our seats.

'That's Wood,' George pointed to the goal hoops nearest us where a man dressed in navy blue and gold Quidditch robes was hovering on a broomstick. 'Oliver Wood, excellent bloke, a little bit mad, but a cracking Keeper.'

'Do you know any of the other players?' I asked, curious if he might know who Cho's boyfriend was. This was the first time I had heard her mention a new boyfriend. The last bloke she had been interested in was Harry Potter, and they had only had the one disastrous date. Harry had been going out with George's sister Ginny for a couple of years now.

'I don't think so,' he mused. He pulled an odd set of binoculars out of his pocket. I recognized it as the same set he used back at the flat the day we saw a dragon burst out of Gringott's bank. He put them to his face and scanned the pitch as the balls were released and the match began.

'No, I don't recognize anyone else, but that Beater for the Tornadoes does look familiar,' he handed me the binoculars and I scanned the pitch myself. 'That one, number three.'