The Stone

Chapter Thirteen

Before you begin reading, I just want to apologise if this chapter is sucky or if there are any mistakes. I'm currently suffering from a swollen eye which makes it difficult for me to see. The doctors say it's nothing to worry about, I've just got to keep an eye on it (get it, eye? No, okay) and continue my daily stuff. If it get's worse though, then I have to see them again. 

So once again, I'm sorry in advance!! 

Enjoy! Reviews appreciated!

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They reached the top of the marble staircase. "Well, it's true" Harry chortled 

"Yeah, if he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall, we wouldn't be on the team..." Bella agreed chuckling and holding her broomstick closer to her. 

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Bella groaned as she saw Hermione was stomping up the stairs looking disapprovingly at the package in Bella's and Harry's hand. 

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" asked Bella. 

"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron. "it's doing us so much good"

Hermione glared at them all before marching away with her nose in the air.

Bella had a lot of trouble keeping her mind on her lessons and could tell Harry was having the same difficulty as her. Her mind kept wandering up to the dormitory, where her new broomstick was lying under her bed, or straying off to the Quidditch pitch where she and Harry will be learning how to play that night. A blush formed on her cheeks when she thought about her and Harry being together as they learnt how to play...she could finally get some alone time with him. 

She bolted her dinner that evening without noticing what she was eating and then rushed upstairs with Ron and Harry to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand's at last. 

"Wow," Ron sighed as Bella's and Harry's broomstick rolled onto the floor in the common room. Thankfully, no one else was there. 

Even Bella, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought they looked wonderful. They both were sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, they had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top. Bella thought that she would have to carve her name into hers so it doesn't get muddled up with Harry's. 

As seven o'clock drew nearer, Bella and Harry left the castle and set off towards the Quidditch pitch in the dusk. Neither of them had never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in the stands around the pitch so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Bella of the little plastic sticks she used to blow bubbles through as a child, except that they were fifty feet high.

Bella, feeling too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, mounted her broomstick and kicked off the ground giggling. Harry soon joined her and together they were racing each other around the pitch, laughing the whole time. What a feeling- she swooped in and out of the goalposts and then sped up and down the pitch, Harry following her the whole time. The Nimbus Two Thousand was a treat, it turned wherever she wanted with the lightest touch.

"Hey, Potter, Swan, come down!"

Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Bella and Harry landed next to him.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant...you two are naturals. I'm just going teach you both the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week"