Once and for All

Chapter 13

Harry's first thought was when that happened to him and whipped out his wand, scanning the crowd for anyone maintaining eye contact with her. Ginny was still holding on, but the broomstick was jerking up and down, more violently than Harry's first year experience. Surprisingly, Ginny held on, managing to grasp the other hand on the struggling broom and lift herself up with shaking arms. He was so focused on her that he barely felt George's bottle drop onto his foot, with George shouting in alarm and panic. 
Suddenly the broom jerked vertically, causing her grip to slip, and shot up higher than the stadium. Harry could hear her yell of surprise as she was propelled upwards, and then all of a sudden she was falling, falling towards the ground.
Harry desperately racked his brain for a spell, any spell, but he was so panicky it was hard to think-
Then he hear Hermione's sharp, clear voice shout over all others: "Aresto Momento!"
Suddenly Ginny froze in midair, fifty feet high, with the game still going on around her. Then her broomstick started plummeting down after her, about to smack her to the ground.
"PROTEGO," Harry yelled, and the broom bounced off the shield. Unfortunately it kept coming back at the shield, slamming into it as if trying to break it.
       "Give me those," He hissed to Ron, who immediately handed the Omnioculars over as Harry searched the crowd with it, keeping a firm grip on his wand. People's faces zoomed in and out of focus-an alarmed-looking woman with blond hair, a large, bellowing man in green, a little girl sucking a candy...
Then Harry saw him- a man in a dark cloak mouthing furiously, a few rows over to his right. Immediately he shoved the Omnioculars back at Ron. "Hold the charm," he said through gritted teeth.
He didn't have to say it twice. Ron whipped out his wand and shouted the word as Harry fired all he had at the man. "STUPEFY!" He roared, and suddenly the broomstick stopped bucking and stayed suspended in mid air. Ginny reached out and hopped on, immediately zooming to grab the ball.
Harry didn't see what happened after that, and instead stormed over towards the man, catching pieces of the anxious conversations floating around.
     "-Disapparated, unbelievable-"
     "Who was he?"
      "Beats me, didn't get a good look-"
        Harry shoved his way through the crowd and came to a stop along the circle of commentators, his heart immediately sinking as he took in the scene. Scorch marks covered the barrier the man had been standing next to, and the man was nowhere in sight. He had missed, succeeding only in distracting the man before he disapparated. Harry slammed his fist into the railing angrily, desperately looking around for any other suspicious figures, but there were none.
     As he was about to turn, something caught his eye. On the ground, where the man had been standing, was a pin. Curious, Harry picked it up and examined it, his heart dropping further into his throat as he saw it. A snake eating a person's head.
      They were here.
                             *****
       Harry for some reason could not find Whiffler anywhere, and had no other alternative than to reluctantly sit back down, explaining in mutters what had happened to Ron and Hermione.
      "It's lucky that you found him out of a whole stadium of people," Hermione remarked to Harry. "I guess those glasses are better than I give them credit for-you got lucky."
       "Lucky that Ron still had these," he corrected, holding them up. "And that you remembered the right spell-she nearly fell."
       "And this was all he left behind?" Ron confirmed, examining the pin. "Weird. Wonder if you can trace him through this."
       "I doubt it," Hermione replied grimly. "He's probably too smart for that-they have anti jinxes for that sort of thing, if anything, it was a warning, not a misstep."
       Harry nodded, disappointed, before glancing back at the game. "How's she playing?"
     "Surprisingly well," Hermione reported, gesturing at her. "If anything, the bats are shaken up."
      It was true-Harry could see the chaser for the Bats turning her head uneasily, as if checking for jinxes, and kept gripping her broom tightly. Ginny on the other hand was playing as confidently as always, scoring twenty more points for the Holyhead Harpies.
      Unfortunately, she was the only one who appeared unshaken-Mrs. Weasley's hands shook, Bill was gripping the armrests, and George's face was paler than Harry had ever seen. He knew what they were all thinking, and truth to be told Harry's heart was still pounding hard. They all knew that death could happen at any given moment, but to happen during a game was just...disturbing.
      A half hour later the game ended with a dramatic catch of the snitch, where the Holyhead Harpies' seeker finally got fed up with the Bats and literally shoved the other seeker off her broom as she grabbed the snitch.
      The stadium immediately erupted in cheers, and they all jumped to their feet's, shouting and clapping as Ginny's team formed a line across the field, waving to everyone on both sides before making their way off the field.
         "That was crazy," George said, grabbing his jacket. "Haven't seen a game like that since Hogwarts games with you, Harry."
        "What about the World Cup? That had a good save too."
        George shook his head. "Meant the jinxing and all."
       George wasn't the only one concerned about the incident-Mrs. Weasley practically shoved her way down trying to get to her daughter, her face ashen. "-hope she's fine, she's got to be shaken though, no doubt-I just wish I knew where the lockers were-"
     "We'll take you there, under the circumstances," a security guard with burly muscles said, who had overhead the conversation. "You're the mother of that team member? Right this way, ma'am. You lot can come too if you want, but it'll be a tight squeeze in there. Also, this is a women's team, so boys mind where you look." He gave them a stern look, and Harry felt a twinge of annoyance. Like they needed reminding...
       When they finally reached the lockers, Mrs. Weasley practically flung herself onto her daughter. "Oh my goodness Ginny, are you alright? Are you hurt? You look-"
     "I'm fine, mum," Ginny insisted, politely slipping out of her grip. "Really. Just gave me a bit of a shock, that's all."
She nodded and reluctantly withdrew. "Of course, right."
"That was one mad game," Mr. Weasley commented, giving her a sideways hug. "And you still got back on!"
"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley growled, effectively shutting him up, but he still winked at Ginny as she high fived Charlie and Bill, who were ecstatic despite being worried not so long ago.
     Harry nodded and hugged her as well, examining her out of the corner of his eye to see if she was alright. Her posture sagged and she was barely using her right wrist as she hugged him back, but her eyes were clear and focused.
      In response to his questioning look, she repeated, "I'm fine," before asking, "Were those spells by you guys?"
     "Yup," Ron said in a too-casual voice that had a hint of pride. "We got your back."
      "Mm-hm. So it was mostly Harry and Hermione then."
      "Ron helped," Harry intervened as Ron opened his mouth furiously. "And we almost caught the bloke doing it too, but he disappeared before we could get to him."
      "Wait till I find him," Mrs. Weasley snapped, her anger rising from within like a balloon, her wand raised threateningly. "I know a good place to stick that ungodly wand, right up his-"
     "Yes, dear," Mr. Weasley interrupted as Harry and the others laughed.
"I still don't get why he went after me, though," Ginny said, her forehead bent in confusion. "There were thousands of people in that stadium. Why me?"
A troubled silence settled among the group until Mr. Weasley broke it, "We'll discuss this later. There's a hoard of investigators outside that want to question everyone-we may be here awhile."
     "Harry, you did it again," Charlie groaned.
      George shook his head exasperatedly at Harry. "Every time we're with you, something happens. Every time."
       "Yeah, stop bringing the bad luck," Ron added, shaking his head.
    Harry, findings he could not deny this, instead protested, "It's an occupational hazard."
        "No kidding." Ron sling his arm around Harry's. "Now let's get this over with quick-I'm hungry."
        Harry followed him outside, trying to match his nonchalant nature, but found himself glancing at Ginny repeatedly, who returned each glance with a troubled look. He wondered if Ron knew how close she had gotten to being seriously hurt...or killed. There was one thing he needed to do for sure, though.
      He needed to talk to Whiffler.