The Golden Snitch

Plans

Of course, once a seed has been sown, it either withers and dies or it begins to grow, depending on how well it is nurtured. And Harry knew he was pretty good at nurturing ideas when it came to Draco. He faced his therapist in a state of quandary, debating whether he should voice his musings. He pushed the thoughts away in case voicing them was concreting them.

'Is there something bothering you, Harry?'

'No, actually. I feel better than I have in a while.'

'Why do you think that is?'

'Ginny suggested I needed a plan, something to occupy my mind and have some fun with.'

'The Quidditch team?'

'Yep. Breaking the news to the year eights was superb, they all really brought into it. But I've been using it to connect with Draco too, he's starting to come back, to reconnect with the world around him. I'd like him to talk to you really, but that's not my decision, that's between you and him.'

'Have you talked to him about it, Harry?'

'No, but...'

'Yes?'

'It's not my information to share, it's just I'm worried and I'm not sure how to cope with it.'

'Could you talk to Minerva about it?'

'No. It has to come from Draco, I would be breaking his trust.'

'Has he asked you to keep this secret, Harry?'

'No.'

'Do you want to talk about it anymore, about your feelings about what's going on?'

'There's not really any point. I'm just worried about him.'

'Do you find yourself worrying about all your friends?'

'Yes, no. Well, he's the one that I'm most worried about, but he's also the one that's struggling the most at the moment. If it was Ron, or Hermione, Luna, Neville, or one of the others going through the same, I would be equally worried.'

The therapist paused, thoughtful, fingertips together against the lips. Harry was being scrutinised. He met the gaze, almost challenging it.

Eventually the therapist spoke again.

'How are you managing the panic at the moment?'

'I haven't had any murmurs for a while. I've cried a couple of times, you know, when something triggers me, but its not so much about blaming myself. More to do with grief. And sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by circumstances but, generally, I'm starting to feel half-way human again. Actually, I was wondering if we should reduce the number of sessions we have, maybe to every other week.'

'I think I should be the judge of that, Harry.'

*****

Harry was sat on an arm of one the sofas, the rest of the year eights around him, waiting expectantly as Hannah, the last to arrive, rushed in apologising and flung herself on a floor cushion.

'So, Harry, what's this about?' asked Seamus. 'And why the secrecy?'

'I've challenged McGonagall.' He paused, looking around at the other fifteen students who obviously thought he had finally cracked. Only Draco smiled as he made some connections to their earlier conversation. 'First, I need to go back a step. Most of you know that I spent a couple of months here after the war, helping with the rebuild. During that time Minerva and I spent quite a lot of time together discussing the future of the school. One of the major challenges going forward is breaking down the animosity between the Houses. There's too much emphasis on it and it causes too much division. Some changes have already obviously happened. This afternoon I threw down a gauntlet. In her words, the odds are against us, there are only sixteen of us but ... I'm putting together a Year Eight Quidditch Team.'