meant to be (2)

15

Harry and I spent a lot of time over the next few days dodging out of sight whenever we saw Gilderoy Lockhart coming down a corridor.

Harder to avoid was Colin Creevey, who seemed to have memorised our timetable. Nothing seemed to give Colin a bigger thrill than to say
"All right, Harry, Julie?" six or seven times a day and hear, "Hello, Colin" back, however exasperated Harry and I sounded when we said it. Colin had also memorised Masons timetable and was bugging him all the time.

Juniper was still angry with me about the disastrous car journey and Ron's wand was still malfunctioning, surpassing itself on Friday morning by shooting out of Ron's hand in Charms and hitting tiny old Professor Flitwick squarely between the eyes, creating a large, throbbing green boil where it had struck.

So, with one thing and another, I was quite glad to reach the weekend. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were planning to visit Hagrid on Saturday morning.

I, however, was shaken awake several hours earlier than I would have liked by Angelina Johnson, one of the Chasers of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Angelina" I yawned, as my teammate shook me awake violently . "What are you doing here?"

"We've got Quidditch practie" she answered.

"Has Oliver lost his mind?" I croaked, "it's the crack of dawn!"

"I know" Angelina said, also yawning. "Hurry up, he's already angry."

Yawning and shivering slightly, I climbed out of bed and tried to find my Quidditch robes. When I found my scarlet team robes, pulled on my cloak for warmth and braided my hair very quickly, I went down the spiral staircase to the common room, my Nimbus Two Thousand on my shoulder. I don't think I've ever been this tired and looked so messy before practice.

"Good morning" I said, trying not to yawn, as I saw my best friend, Harry, looking equally as tired as I was.

"Good morning, Jules" Harry said, as we walked towards the portrait hole "You look good."

"Oh shut up." I said, being reminded of my messy hair. Harry and I stopped in front of the portrait hole. Our eyes locked and I couldn't help but smile at him. I never noticed how pretty his eyes were.

"I really mean it" he breathed, still looking into my eyes and smiling.

Suddenly I heard a camera flash. Colin Creevey came dashing down the spiral staircase, his camera clutched in his hand.

"I heard someone saying your names on the stairs, Harry, Julie! Look the picture I just took of you is printing right now-"

"That's so cool!" I said, trying to be nice, hiding my annoyance.

I looked at the photograph Colin was now holding. It was Harry and me smiling at each other. It honestly was the best picture anyone has ever made of us.

"Will you sign it?" said Colin eagerly.

"No."said Harry flatly, glancing around to check that the room was really deserted.

"Can I have it?" I asked Colin. "As a memory."

"Sure" he said, giving me the picture. I put into a pocket of my cloak, in hopes that I won't lose it.

"Sorry, Colin, we're in a hurry - Quidditch practice!" Harry said as we climbed through the portrait hole.

"Oh wow! Wait for me! I've never watched a Quidditch game before!"

Colin scrambled through the hole after us.

"It'll be really boring" Harry said quickly, but Colin ignored him, his face shining with excitement.

"You were the youngest house players in a hundred years, weren't you? Weren't you?" said Colin, trotting alongside us. "You must be brilliant. I've never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is that the best one there is?"

We didn't know how to get rid of him. It was like having an extremely talkative shadow.

"I don't really understand Quidditch" said Colin breath-lessly. "Is it true there are four balls? And two of them fly round trying to knock people off their brooms?"

"Yes" I answered "They're called Bludgers. There are two Beaters on each team, who carry clubs to beat the Bludgers away from their side. Fred and George Wesley are the Gryffindor Beaters!"

"And what are the other balls for?" Colin asked, triping down a couple of steps because he was gazing open-mouthed at Harry.

"Well, the Quaffle - that's the biggish red one-"

"The biggish red one?" I laughed.

"How would you explain it?" Harry hissed

"The Quaffle is the ball that scores goals. Three Chasers on each team throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through the goalposts at the end of the pitch - they're three long poles with hoops on the end." I answered. "And the fourth ball-"

"-is the Golden Snitch" continued Harry, "and it's very small, very fast and difficult to catch. But that's what the Seeker's got to do, because a game of Quidditch doesn't end until the Snitch has been caught. And whichever team's Seeker gets the Snitch earns his team an extra hundred and fifty points."

"And you're Gryffindor Seeker, aren't you?" said Colin in awe.

"Yes" said Harry, as we left the castle and started across the dew-drenched grass. "And there's the Keeper, too. He guards the goalposts. That's it, really!"

But Colin didn't stop questioning Harry and me all the way down the sloping lawns to the Quidditch pitch, and we only shook him off when we reached the changing rooms. Colin called after us in a piping voice.

"I'll go and get a good seat!" and hurried off to the stands.

The rest of the Gryffindor team were already in the changing room. Wood was the only person who looked awake.

Fred and George were sitting, puffy-eyed and tousle-haired, next to fourth-year Angelina Johnson, who seemed to be nodding off against the wall behind her. Her fellow Chaser, Katie Bell, was yawning, opposite them.

"There you two are, what kept you?" said Wood briskly. I heard Fred and George whispering something to each other and then laughing, but I quickly shut them up with a cold glare.

"Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the pitch, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training programme, which I really think will make all the difference..."

Wood was holding up a large diagram of a Quidditch pitch, on which were drawn many lines, arrows and crosses in different-coloured inks. He took out his wand, tapped the board and the arrows began to wiggle over the diagram like caterpillars.

As Wood launched into a speech about his new tactics, Fred's head drooped right onto Angelina's shoulder and he began to snore.

The first board took nearly twenty minutes to explain, but there was another board under that, and a third under that one. I rested my head on Harry's chest as Wood droned on and on. Harry was hugging me sideways while resting his head on mine.

"So" said Wood, at long last, jerking me from a wistful fantasy about what I could be eating for breakfast at this very moment up at the castle, "is that clear? Any questions?"

"I've got a question, Oliver." said George, who had woken with a start. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"

Wood wasn't pleased.