Amie's World of Lies (Harry Potter fan-fic) Book 3 COMPLETED

Poor Neville

Ron and Hermione's fury with each other made Amie forget about her worries for some time. It looked as if they'd never be friends again. Ron was angry that Hermione had never believed him about Crookshanks, that she hadn't kept a close watch on him, and because she insisted that he was innocent. Hermione was angry at Ron because she thought he had no proof of Crookshanks eating Scabbers, the ginger cat hairs must have been in his dormitory since Christmas, and he had hated Crookshanks since he jumped on his head in the animal shop. Amie would love to just tell them everything, at least then they wouldn't be mad at each other. But Sirius had made her promise, and she was going to keep that promise. Ron had taken the loss of Scabbers very hard.

"Come on, Ron, you were always saying how boring Scabbers was," Fred tried to comfort him. "And he's been off-color for ages, he was wasting away. It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly -- one swallow -- he probably didn't feel a thing."

"Fred!" Ginny scolded.

"All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself," said George.

"He bit Goyle for us once!" Ron said sadly. "Remember, Harry?"

"Yeah, that's true," said Harry.

Amie was thinking that he probably only did that because they were disturbing his sleep.

"His finest hour," Fred said. "Let the scar on Goyle's finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory. Oh, come on, Ron, get yourself down to Hogsmeade and buy a new rat, what's the point of moaning?"

Trying to cheer Ron up, Harry invited him to join their last Quidditch practice before the match against Ravenclaw. He was finally going to ride the Firebolt, and so was Amie.

"Great! Can I try and shoot a few goals with it?" Ron said cheerfully. They set off towards the field, leaving Hermione behind in the library. Madam Hooch was overseeing Gryffindor's practices, because of Sirius Black, and she was just as smitten with the Firebolt as everyone else.

"Look at the balance of it!" she exclaimed when she held it. "If the Nimbus series has a fault, it's a slight list to the tail end -- you often find they develop a drag after a few years. They've updated the handle too, a bit slimmer than the Cleansweeps, reminds me of the old Silver Arrows -- a pity they've stopped making them. I learned to fly on one, and a very fine old broom it was too..."

She kept her rambling for some time, until Wood interrupted her and said they needed to practice.

"Oh -- right -- here you are, then, Potter," she said. "I'll sit over here with Weasley..."

Madam Hooch and Ron left the field and sat down in the stands. The Gryffindor team gathered around Wood for instructions for the match.

"Harry, I've just found out who Ravenclaw is playing as Seeker. It's Cho Chang. She's a Fourth year, and she's pretty good... I really hoped she wouldn't be fit, she's had some problems with injuries..."

"That's a terrible thing to say, Oliver." Amie scolded, but her voice gave her away that she was only kidding. Wood rolled his eyes at her before continuing.

"On the other hand, she rides a Comet Two Sixty, which is going to look like a joke next to the Firebolt." he looked at Harry's broomstick with admiration, and turned back to the team. "Okay, everyone, let's go,"

Amie had barely mounted her Nimbus before Harry was off, and once she was in the air he was zooming around so quickly that Amie thought he would fall off. Once he turned so sharply that she screamed in fear. He proceeded into a dive, touching the grass, and then he rose again. Amie just watched worriedly.

"Harry, I'm letting the Snitch out!" Wood called, shaking Amie out of her thoughts. But she hadn't even begun to do anything before Harry caught the Snitch. The entire team cheered for him, and Harry let it go again. It wasn't long before he caught it once more, and that's how the practice continued. It was the best practice they had ever had. Not only Harry was doing good, but Wood was an even better Keeper, Fred and George managed to get the Bludgers wherever they wanted, and Amie, Angelina and Katie scored some spectacular goals. When practice was done, Wood didn't have a single criticism, which George said was a first.