Pride Crushed, Dignity Rising

The usual disclaimers: None of these characters except Cheria are mine...and no, Cheria is not me or some "love interest"; she is just another friend of theirs. The other characters belong to JK Rowlings. Enjoy!

Pride Crushed, Dignity Rising

By: CNJ

PG-13

1

Ginny:

"We're in our last year and if Malfoy hasn't succeeded in getting the best of us yet, I don't think he ever will," my older brother Ron Weasley told his friend Harry Potter as I caught up to them in the hallway. Then they saw me and waved.
"Hello..." I called. As I joined them, our two other close friends, Hermione Granger and Cheria Radwin came up and we headed down to the great hall for lunch, talking a mile a minute.
"...Malfoy hasn't managed to make either Ron or Harry cry yet," Hermione added. "That's what you two are proud of." Harry pushed his glasses up his snubby nose and grinned at Ron, then the rest of us.
"And he won't this year," Ron added with a cocky grin. I had to smile a bit too as we entered the Great Hall and sat that Monday in mid-November. True, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Cheria are in their seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I, Ginny Weasley, am in my sixth year, so I'll still have one more year to go. Draco Malfoy is a seventh-year Slytherin who happens to thrive off of making other kids' lives miserable with the exception of a few of his cronies in Slytherin. He especially despises Harry. Malfoy's made just about everyone cry at least once...including Hermione and Cheria and me. Everyone except Ron and Harry. I know he'd especially love to see Harry break down and cry, but so far Harry won't give him that pleasure. As the five of us ate, we talked about the upcoming Quidditch game this Saturday as well as the Gryffindor retreat which is being held from November twenty-fourth to the twenty-seventh. I'm the Seeker for the Gryffindor team; Ron is the Captain; Harry is one of the Beaters and Cheria is one of the Chasers. This upcoming game is Gryffindor vs Slytherin.
After lunch I had Potions. None of the others were in that class; they have it earlier, so we parted ways. Professor Gromer gave us an assignment that involved mixing animal hairs with transformation fluids. Up until last year, we had a Professor Snape for our Potions teacher. But he left last summer after a fight with one of the other teachers and being burned out from teaching. Our group had been at Hogsmeade last summer when we ran into Snape and we talked and he said he'd accepted a position in Ireland doing potions research. He'd had no patience with us students and seemed crabby most of the time. None of us had cared for him much, but then we wished him well before we parted. Looking back now, I can see why he was the way he was with his sarcasm and sour disposition. Gromer is more cheerful and I think he likes teaching this class.

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As I headed back to the Gryffindor dorms that evening after dinner, I heard laughter in the hall. A loud, rather malicious laugh. I stopped when I saw Malfoy with two of his yes-men, Crabbe and Goyle. They were surrounding Neville Longbottom and Malfoy was clutching a notebook.
"Give it back..." Neville pleaded. He tried to reach out for it, but Malfoy, being taller held it just out of his reach.
"Give it baaack..." Crabbe mimicked and he and his cronies laughed. Neville is a seventh year Gryffindor and is often targeted by Malfoy.
"Leave him alone!" I cut in, running up to them.
"Oh, butt in where it's none of your business, why don't you?" Malfoy's gray eyes sneered over at me.
"Give that back to Neville..." I said in a low voice.
"And suppose I don't?" Malfoy glared. He pulled out his wand and with a spell, held the notebook higher, leaning it toward the window. Goyle went to push it open.
"You won't...?" Neville squeaked.
"Don't you dare, Malfoy..." growled Harry, his eyes narrowed as he came up the hallway.
"Oh, it's you...Potter," Malfoy spat, his eyes narrowing back. "Of course as Head Boy, you think you have the right to be giving orders." Harry is Head Boy and Hermione is Head Girl this year. The two of them glared at each other, eyes slitted dangerously for a long minute. Harry slowly pulled out his wand. Malfoy must have seen it because he leaned out the window and said a quick spell and the notebook went flying out the window.
"Oh...God..." Neville gasped. Malfoy grinned maliciously.
"Ooops, it landed in a puddle of mud out there," Malfoy banged the window shut and gave a shrug of false "apology." "Never meant for that to happen, Roundbottom....I mean Fatbottom...I mean, oh, I can never remember these names of these idiots except...Potter." Harry's fists were clenched and his eyes were still slits. "Cool off, Potter," Malfoy brushed past him, practically pushing him into the wall. "It's not as if it's your precious notebook I accidentally dropped." He stalked off to the Slytherin dorms with his yes-men behind him, snickering all the way. Neville wiped a few tears from his eyes.
"Oh, Neville, we're sorry..." I put an arm around him.
"I'm going to kick Malfoy's ass one of these days," Harry raked a hand angrily through his thick black hair. "Really, that snob is getting on my nerves worse every day!"
"I think we should just try to ignore him," I said softly as we said the password and entered our common room.
"We've done that, Ginny and his shit is getting worse all the time," Harry's face was a patchy red. "That jackass has no respect for anyone but himself. I'm afraid one of these days he's going to really hurt someone." We sat by the fireplace.
"I'm concerned about that too," I admitted.
"So what can we do to stop him?" Neville asked.
"I don't know," Harry's fists twisted in his robe pockets. "But all of us has to gather together and do something."

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Later on that night, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Cheria, Neville, and I put on Harry's invisibility cloak and headed out into the courtyard to look for Neville's notebook. It was rather damp, cold, and windy outside. We eventually found it, all wet and mostly muddied. Neville sighed and thanked us for helping.
"No problem..." Harry told him as we headed back inside. Good thing we had the invisibility cloak because we almost ran into Malfoy and Goyle as we were going in. We waited until they'd gone back to their dorms before uncloaking partially to give the Fat Lady portrait the password.
"Shhh..." Neville told Ron as we looked nervously up and down the hall, then went in quickly and headed up to bed.

Disclaimer: None of the characters except Cheria are mine; they all belong to JK Rowlings.

Pride Crushed, Dignity Rising

By: CNJ

PG-13

2

Harry:

I smiled softly as I leafed through my parents' photo album after school the following afternoon. I never tire of looking through it. My parents were killed by an evil wizard, Voldemort when I was just a year old, so this album is very dear to me, my biggest link to my beloved parents. I usually keep it in my nightstand in a low drawer. My great-aunt Miranda and Hagrid tell me I have a lot of Mum's personality and her eyes and snub nose and I have my dad's black hair and thin mouth. Oh, I can tell my parents really loved each other. They met at Hogwarts and became a couple in their seventh year. They didn't marry until they were twenty-six and they had me two years later. I smiled wryly as I remembered hearing that I was born in breech position...feet out first. Miranda, who is my dad's aunt, had been at my birth. She's now my legal guardian and I was looking forward to going home to her for the Christmas break. A little over a month away, I thought, closing the album and putting it away. I then pulled out some of my books and started my homework. Transformation and potions, not too much tonight. It must have been about an hour later when Ron poked his red head in and called, "Heyy, Harry, coming to Quidditch practice?"
"Oh...yes, I am..." I closed my book, put my little vials away and Ron and I started out toward the field to join the rest of the team. The sun was partially out, but it was windy and cold and we practiced flying our brooms in wind.
"The important thing is that the wind can't really push your brooms," Ron told us. "It may shake some, but don't let it distract you. So...are we ready to beat Slytherin this Saturday?"
"YEEAAAAH!" All of us crowed. We then headed in. It was growing dark by then and in another hour and a half, it would be time for dinner.

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I showered, then headed to my dorm and got more homework done. I finished early and leaned over to get the album out again. But...it wasn't there. "Oh...dear..." I muttered. Had I misplaced it without realizing it? I was sure I'd put it in the low nightstand drawer. But it wasn't there. I searched my bed and all around and even in the closets with no luck. Oh, God. My stomach lurched painfully. It was time to go eat, so I went, hoping it was in some place I wasn't looking.

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Ginny:

Hermione, Ron, Cheria, Neville, and I managed to grab seats next to each other at dinner that night We were talking fast about homework and Quidditch when Harry came running in, slightly flushed and a little out of breath. Ron patted the chair next to him and Harry sat, his dark hair messier than usual. I then noticed he looked really worried about something, his bushy brows drawn together in a nervous frown with a small vertical line between them.
"What's the matter?" I asked softly.
"I...can't find my parents' photo album," he told me softly, looking around as if to make sure no one else except our group heard.
"Oh...God," Hermione gasped. We all know how precious that album is to Harry. "I'm...sure it'll turn up someplace under a bed or something." I wasn't sure I was too convinced, because Harry doesn't lose things.
"When did you last see it?" Cheria asked.
"I had it on the bed this afternoon and was looking through it," Harry said shakily. "I then started my homework and I guess put the album...somewhere...I thought the nightstand drawer. We had the Quidditch practice then and when I came back to the dorm and went to look at it more, I couldn't find it..." Harry's hands had started to shake and he clenched them together. We ate quickly, then headed back upstairs and looked all over the room. Several other dormmates helped us look around, but no album turned up. I got late, so reluctantly, we headed to bed.
"Maybe you dropped it somewhere and we can look in the lost and found," Neville told Harry sympathetically.
"Possibly..." Harry was unconvinced, I could tell and the vertical line was back between his brows. We all headed to our beds.

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Harry:

I still had no luck finding that album the next day or on Thursday morning either. "Damn!" I swore as I almost ran late for my first class, Supernatural Psychology on Thursday. I ran and barely made it there. Unfortunately, Malfoy is in that class too and he noticed my state.
"What's the matter, Potter?" he jeered.
"None of your damned business..." I muttered, sitting down. None of my other friends are in this class, so I'm stuck with Malfoy alone in this class. Some of the others snickered. I silently willed Professor Bilrock to get in here.
"Did you by chance...lose something, Potter?" Malfoy kept up. Was it my imagination or did he put emphasis on the word lose? But he couldn't have...my heart began to pound. None of the Gryffindors would let slip our password and Malfoy couldn't have gotten into our dorm, not without one of us knowing about it.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" I snapped. Just then, Professor Bilrock came in from her office.
"My, my, are we crabby this morning, Mr. Potter," she said cheerfully. Oh, great, isn't it just my luck that she heard me tell Malfoy to shut up. "I would take five points off Gryffindor, but I figure you just got up on the wrong side of the bed, Mr. Potter."
"I'm sorry, Professor Bilrock," I apologized.
"He's come on the wrong side of life..." Malfoy whispered and he and Crabbe snickered. Bilrock started the class then and thank the stars we had a lot of notes to take, so Malfoy had to shut his horrid face for once to keep up.

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Ginny:

It was a huge crowd by the door at the Great Hall for dinner that night and while our group waited to go in, Hermione, Ron, and I talked about the Divination homework assignment.
"The part in the second unit is confusing," Ron told us, his freckled long nose scrunching up. "I wonder what Professor Trelawny means at that part?" Harry was quiet and I knew he'd had no luck finding that album. Finally, the crowd by the door thinned and we were able to get in. We had to pass by Malfoy and his yes-men. Oddly enough, they were by our table. Malfoy sneered in our direction.
"So...Harry, did you find whatever you...lost?" Malfoy called. We turned to look at him. How did he know about Harry's album? Unless...
"Who said I lost anything?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at Malfoy.
"Let's just say...a little owl told me," Malfoy grinned maliciously and something red gleamed from his robe pocket.
"Hey!" I shouted. Just then Malfoy pulled it out and it was the album. Oh...God! How had Malfoy gotten in?
"You didn't say...you lost this dear thing?" Malfoy held the album up high and Harry stared at it, his eyes wide with horror.
"Give it back, Malfoy..." Harry whispered. By then, almost everyone was looking over at them.
"How did you get into our dorm?" Ron demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Malfoy's gray eyes glinted meanly.
"Give it back!" Hermione demanded.
"Maybe if you say please," Malfoy jeered. Harry tried to grab it, but Malfoy held it high. Being much taller than Harry, he was able to keep it out of Harry's reach. Malfoy's six-two while Harry's only five-six. Ron tried to reach for it, but had no better luck, since Malfoy was able to dodge him too. Anyway, Goyle stepped in front of Ron and pushed him back.
"Give it here, Malfoy..." Harry pleaded, breathing fast.
"Where's the please in it?" Malfoy laughed rudely. "If you can say that, you'll get this back."
"Please..." Harry lifted a lip in disgust.
"Sure thing." Malfoy gave a flick of his wrist backward and tossed the album...back into the torch's flame! Several students gasped in horror as the album rapidly blackened and dwindled into black ashes. Harry stood stunned, his eyes wide. It was a long minute and I couldn't believe Malfoy could be that cruel. Ashes tumbled into the plate under the torch and Crabbe reached for a handful. So did Malfoy and they tossed the ashes to Harry, who backed up several steps trembling. "Here's the album back, Potter," Malfoy singsonged. Harry's eyes filled with tears, he ducked his head and fought against the tears unsuccessfully. The tears spilled down his face and he covered his face with his hands and turned to weave his way though the crowd, soft sobs ripping out of him. Malfoy and his yes-men laughed cruelly. Ron's face went bright red as he lunged at Malfoy and landed a few punches at him before Crabbe and Goyle held him off. Ron yelled curse words at Malfoy and Hermione, Cheria, and I added a few choice words of our own. The next few minutes were bedlam as students pushed against each other and finally, the deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall come through the crowd to see what was going on. We told her and Malfoy tried to butt in with his version, claiming that we'd started a fight and all. McGonagall had to blow her whistle to quiet all of us. Then she saw crying Harry, who was struggling through the crowd.
"Mr. Potter, are you all right?" she called. Harry shook his head and kept going, leaving the Great Hall, sobbing. Finally, I guess she wasn't able to get a clear story of what exactly had happened but Slytherin did end up losing ten points since I showed McGonagall the ashes of what had been Harry's parent's photo album.
"Great..." Ron muttered angrily as we sat down to eat. "Just fantastic!" Ron jabbed his fork into a chicken piece so hard it flew off the table and landed into his lap. "Harry cried in front of Malfoy! Malfoy's goddamned happy!"
"It was precious to Harry," I said softly. "Harry couldn't stop his tears."
"Oh, I know..." Ron heaved a breath, his face still red. None of us were very hungry, so we wrapped up some food for later and to take to Harry.

Harry:

I don't know how long I cried. I was just too humiliated to go back down there and face Malfoy and the others again. I sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, weeping for what seemed to be eternity, embarrassed at being unable to stop my tears. Just thinking about that album kept making me cry. Usually I cry very quietly, but tonight, I could feel gasping sobs tear out of me. It might have been an hour; it might have been fifteen minutes, but I heard others in the room, felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, Harry..." Ron sat on a nearby stool, a look of disappointment on his face. I knew I'd broken our informal pact not to let Malfoy see either of us cry and that made fresh tears come again. I tried to speak, but my throat tightened so painfully and chokingly that I couldn't speak for a long minute. I'm so sorry, I barely managed to mouth out before my lips tightened into more crying. Hermione stroked my shoulder and Cheria and Ginny handed me tissues. Good thing it was just the five of us here. My glasses slid down my wet runny nose and I let them fall into my lap as I wiped my face more.
"It was a nasty prank," Hermione said softly.
"Hey, hey, it's not a deal about our...agreement," Ron put in, attempting to ease the sting of my humiliation. It didn't really ease my pain, but it did help to know he was on my side.
"I really don't know how I'm going to face tomorrow," I told the others shakily once my tears had finally slowed.
"You will," Ginny told me. "Think of all the other difficult situations you've faced."
"Malfoy is going to be worse than ever knowing that he got the best of me," I caught my breath in a shuddery sob. "Oh, I made a fool of myself and everyone saw it."
"Hey, listen, we'll face him down together," Hermione told me, her brown eyes peering at me in support. "He may think he's gotten you down for now, but you'll go to class tomorrow and he'll realize that he can't drive you out of your day to day activities. We'll show Malfoy that we stand by you all the way."
"Wh-what...if I cry again tomorrow right in class?" I worried, wiping a stray tear from my face.
"I can tell you something funny so you won't?" Ron suggested.
"And even if you do, you'll survive it and go on with your life," Cheria put in, pulling out foil-wrapped remains of dinner. "Feel like eating?"
"Not really, but I guess I have a bit of butterbeer," I blew my nose and put my glasses back on, still feeling very embarrassed. My heart was still very heavy, but it was good knowing that I had friend on my side. Others then came in and some of them asked if I was all right. I nodded weakly and tried to smile, but couldn't.
"It was rotten, what that ass did," one first-year put in. "You're far better than him, so don't let him pull you down."
"We're rooting for you, Harry..." a third-year added.
"Thanks..." I told him. I was grateful for their support.
"And don't forget, we have a game this weekend," Ron put in. "We'll blow those Slytherins out of the water!"
"Yeah..." the others put in. I hoped I had the courage to face tomorrow or I was in trouble. I wondered how long it would take me to recover from this. I'd just gather up the shreds of my shattered pride to just try to get through the next few days.

Disclaimer: None of the characters except Cheria are mine; they all belong to JK Rowlings.

Pride Crushed, Dignity Rising

By: CNJ

PG-13

3

~The Greatest Dignity is Not In Never Falling, but in Falling and Getting Back Up Again and Going On~ ~Quote by Confucious~

Harry:

It was hard, but I pushed myself to go into the Great Hall on Friday morning for breakfast with Ron�s encouragement. Cheria, Ginny, and Hermione walked down with us. Thank the stars that the Gryffindor table isn't next to the Slytherin table, but I could still see Malfoy there. Crabbe saw us and poked Malfoy, who looked up. His eyes widened a second, I think in surprise that I had the nerve to show my face here of all places, but then his face twisted into a cross between a smirk and a scowl. I looked him briefly in the eyes, then turned to my own friends as we went to our places and sat. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking, but I felt a bit braver since last night. At least I didn't mortify myself by breaking down again. I still wasn't very hungry, but I made myself take a few bites. The others ate as usual. Ron and Ginny chatted on about Quidditch and tomorrow's match. I gulped a sausage nearly whole and just hoped I could play well tomorrow. Malfoy's the Slytherin Seeker and I had the feeling I'd have to watch my back at the game tomorrow. Just then, Dumbledore had the announcements and one of them was the Voldemort had been spotted in some wooded areas near here, so there was a possibility that the upcoming Gryffindor retreat could be postponed. Ohhhhuuhhhh...a bunch of us groaned, including our group. I hope not, I thought.
"I do apologize, but we have to verify that Quarry Grounds is safe. I will give you the final word by Monday," Dumbledore added. I gave him a weak smile. I knew it wasn't easy for him either having to disappoint us.
"So if it's postponed, when will it be?" Micheal Johns asked.
"That I cannot confirm until Monday, I apologize," Dumbledore told him.
"Ohhhh, shiiit..." Micheal muttered. "Just when I needed a break from studying." We were just about done with breakfast when the mail came. Owls flew overhead, dropping letters and parcels and one came for us from Hagrid and I got a letter from my great-aunt Miranda just saying hello. Hagrid sent an invitation for all five of us to come to tea that night. We knew he'd gotten the okay from McGonagall for us to go over to his hut tonight and she smiled over at us. We nodded thanks to her. My heart was still rather heavy from last night, but I did feel a stream of light come into my heart getting these letters. I made a mental note to owl Aunt Miranda tonight before bed as we got up and got ready to head to classes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank the stars I don't have Supernatural Psychology on Fridays, but still I was a bit nervous around Malfoy. Struggling, I barely managed to hide it, otherwise Malfoy would have had a field day.
"So, Potter, so sorry you got your album back...in ashes," Malfoy jeered in a low voice in Deviation near the end of the day. I winced, then struggled to keep my composure. I could hear Goyle and him snigger and it made my spine crawl. Just...ignore them, I willed myself, clenching my teeth and concentrating on Professor Trelawney coming into the class. She gave a quiz that day, so I just concentrated on that. I surprised myself by being the first to finish.
"Goood..." Trelawney smiled at me as I turned it in. As I sat, I noticed Malfoy was giving me an odd look. It was kind of a mixture of outrage and maybe bewilderment. I ignored him and concentrated on going over my notes for next week as I waited for the others to finish their quizzes. Once the class ended and we headed to our last classes of the day, I heard someone call my name. I turned, thinking it didn't sound like anyone in my usual group of friends. It was Lavender and Parvati catching up to me. They had two others with them, a sixth year and a fifth year.
"We just wanted to tell you how courageous you are," Lavender told me once they caught up. "After what Malfoy pulled last night, we worried that you'd be too distraught to face classes and all today."
"Bravo, Harry," Parvati patted my shoulder.
"It takes a lot of courage to get back up again after what you endured last night," the fifth-year, Jon Brusher put in.
"Thanks," I blushed some as we walked to our last class.
"It's high time someone showed Malfoy he can't push the rest of us around," the sixth-year, Sara Berman added. Lavender and Parvati had this class, Muggle Studies with me, so the others parted and the three of us headed there together.
"Thanks..." I told them again once we got to class. "It makes me feel better knowing you're on the other side with me." Class started and I did feel better, more encouraged. If only I could be sure that the Quidditch match went well tomorrow. Going through classes and getting regular classwork done is generally easy for me and especially this year, I'd been on the honor list with Hermione, but actually playing an active game like Quidditch is a different matter. I just hoped I could concentrate on beating that Bludger away from my teammates.

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We got to Hagrid's at six that night. It was drizzling slightly and chilly, so Hagrid had a fire going and the hut had a cozy feeling.
"'Ello, com'ny, how was this week?" Hagrid asked. We looked at each other. Harry seemed to be in better spirits and it was great that he was able to get up and go through classes and all after he was badly wounded last night, but he still was a bit down.
"Eventful...interesting," Ron took a sip of tea and a huge bite of a chocolate lizard leg. "Quidditch match tomorrow, are you coming."
"Ohhh, yeh, definitely, I'll be there rootin' for yeh," Hagrid nodded, sipping his tea. Fang, his dog, nosed into his lap, then went around licking each of our hands. We talked some about the early part of the week, then Harry said softly, "Hagrid...yesterday..." he cleared his throat and his mouth trembled some. I guess Hagrid sensed Harry's distress, because he peered over in concern. If I remember correctly, it was Hagrid that had given him that photo album that Malfoy destroyed.
"Are you all ri', 'Arry?" Hagrid asked softly, putting a giant hand on Harry's small one.
"Last night I wasn't..." Harry then told him about last night. Harry couldn't hold back more tears, so the rest of us put in our comments. By the time we got done, Harry had leaned on Hagrid, his glasses off, weeping again and Hagrid was stroking Harry's jet-black, thick hair.
"I always figured Malfoy to be an arse just like his dad Lussus..." Hagrid muttered indignantly. "'Arry, I'm so sorry, dear. Malfoy's bullied you too long. Maybe I could git 'im alone and give 'im a 'barrassment of 'is own..."
"N-no, please, Hagrid..." Harry wiped his eyes and sat up, his thick brows relaxing from being slanted at the bridge of his nose. "I'm...feeling better...than last..." a fresh sob burped up abruptly and Harry had to take deep breaths.
"Tha's good, dear..." Hagrid got some tissues and handed them to Harry, who wiped his eyes, then blew his nose. Hermione stroked his arm as Harry put his glasses back on.
"Harry really showed a lot of courage today going to classes and all," I added. Harry did seem to feel better having a good cry and we talked about the Quidditch game tomorrow. It was late by the time we got ready to leave. "I'll be rootin' for yeh..." Hagrid told us as we headed to the door. "And 'Arry...glad you're keeping your chin up and went to classes and ever'thing. If Malfoy tries anything funny tomorrow, I'll be on his arse faster than he can say pureblood." We all laughed some. Harry managed a weak grin as well. "G'night..." Hagrid called.
"Good night..." we called back as we headed back to our dorms.

Disclaimer: None of the characters except Cheria are mine; they all belong to JK Rowlings.

The day of the Quidditch game was clear, cold, and windy. I was the first in our dorm to awaken and I lay there in the purplish sunrise, mulling silently over the last few days and stroking Hedwig, my owl. From a distance, Hedwig appears all-white, but up close, you can see that she has tiny gold specks. The game was starting at two. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep again, so I read a while, then slowly got up just as I heard soft stirring down the room. Neville had been snoring softly and his snores petered out, telling me that he was coming awake. I had to pee, so I quickly got dressed and headed to the loo.
At lunch, all of us in our group sat talking and eating. I was mostly quiet and McGonagall passed by our table at one point.
"Harry..." she said softly. "I just wanted you to know how sorry I am about...your album. You've handled yourself well with Mr. Malfoy's bullying. I let him know that we will be watching him closely today and from now on."
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," I whispered, touched by her caring. My friends were also hearing this.
"And it's twenty points awarded to Gryffindor for your courage and dignity," she told me with a smile before moving on to the teachers' table.
"Wow, great!" Ron grinned.
"Way to go, Harry," Hermione added. I smiled his first real smile in days.
"Thanks...all of you..." I told everyone. "Hey, it's getting late, let's head on over and change." The lunch crowd was thinning out, so we got up and headed upstairs to get ready.

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Once we got out on our broomsticks and were centered in the Quidditch field, I saw Malfoy's eyes widen when he saw me, then his lip lifted in disgust. I think he was hoping I'd be too crushed to show up on the field. Look out, Malfoy, I am going to play and play my best, I thought, filled with a fresh determination. Yes, you got the brief high of seeing me in tears and humiliated, but I'm not going to let you destroy my will and my life. I was still a bit nervous facing him and a bit embarrassed about everyone seeing me cry, but I was able to look into Malfoy's cold gray eyes this time without wincing. I heard snickering somewhere in the stands and was worried that I was the one being laughed at. I looked around nervously a minute, then forced myself to concentrate on the game once I saw the source, Crabbe and Goyle.
"Looks like you didn't knock Potter down!" I heard Goyle jeer. Malfoy glared over at them and opened his obnoxious mouth to I guess tell him off, but Madame Hooch tossed the Quaffle into the air, starting the game. We all plunged into it except Malfoy for a minute, who was yelling something at Goyle.
"MALFOY, pay attention to the game!" roared Slytherin's Captain, Berle Pauce. I was concentrating on beating the bludgers away from players while Ginny peered around for the snitch. So did Malfoy eventually. Ron and Cheria played their end. Cheria managed to score one. Then Slytherin scored and Ron groaned, rolling his eyes. I must have batted away a dozen bludgers including one from Ron. I could also see Hagrid, there bouncing around and whooping it up along with the rest of the crowd. An hour later, Slytherin was twenty points ahead and Ginny and Malfoy had gone head-to-head for the snitch. Malfoy naturally tried to knock Ginny off her broom, but she clamped on. We really needed this win; last year, Gryffindor lost two games in a row at the end of the season. A niiingk sound told me that someone had scored and I looked up and groaned softly when I saw that it had been Slytherin. Now they were thirty points ahead. A bludger headed toward me and I barely batted it off, wobbling on my broom a minute. Then I saw another bludger headed toward Ginny and Malfoy. I swooped down and saw that it was on the way to knocking Ginny's shoulder, which could break her concentration, since the snitch was fluttering right in front of her. Malfoy was edging up as well and I guess heard the swish of my broom because he looked up and gave me such an evil glare that I had to suppress a shudder and just raise my bat, standing up to take aim. Maybe it was a mistake to stand because Malfoy pulled his broom upward so it was headed right towards me and before I realized what was happening, he'd rammed into me and I was falling toward one of the towers by the stands. As I lost my balance and fell, I felt my bat contact the bludger. It was just a ten-foot fall, thank the stars of Merlin, but I felt a sharp pain in my mouth as my face hit the broom, then a hard jolt as I hit the ground below the stands. I vaguely heard people gasp and someone yelped. The next few minutes was blurred, but I could tell the game was over. I sat up, feeling a bit dizzy and flopped back down, feeling warm blood drip out of my mouth. I couldn't see anything but a blur and I fumbled around until I found my glasses. Oh, dear, I thought seeing that they were bent.
"Gryffindor wiiiiins!" I heard Madame Hooch bellow and I heard cheers rise up and smiled weakly, even though it hurt. So Ginny caught the snitch after all.
"Harry, are you all right?" I heard Ron call as a crowd gathered around.
"Trying to be..." I wiped more blood off my mouth and hoped I hadn't knocked out any teeth. So far it didn't feel like any had been. My arse was sore also and Madame Hooch rushed over and slowly got me up.
"Nothing seems to be broken..." she told me. "Mr. Weasley, get some ice for Mr. Potter's lip. Swell play, Mr. Potter." she smiled at me.
"Is he all right..." I heard voices from the stands murmur. "Oh, God..." "His mouth was bleeding..."
"Mr. Potter just has a cut lip; he will be fine," Madame Hooch called up to the stands as she kept an arm around me.
"Great shot, Harry!" "Swell!" "Bloody brilliant!" My teammates took turns congratulating me and Ginny, who held onto the snitch. "Found his broom..." Cheria handed me my broom and I nodded thanks to her. Ron brought the ice and I put it on my lip. The bleeding had slowed by then and we slowly trekked back into the field where there was more cheered.
"Way to go, Gin!" someone hollered. Ginny and I smiled at each other, silently congratulating each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was a mess, being spattered with mud and a bloody lip, so I went over to the hospital wing to get cleaned up. Madame Pomfrey fixed my glasses and gave me a potion to ease the pain on my lip. As I headed back for dinner, other students called their congratulations...even a couple of Slytherins. Later on, us Gryffindors had an informal little party to celebrate our victory.
"Knew we'd blow them out of the water," Ron grinned in satisfaction as he sipped his butterbeer.
"Malfoy was blasted big-time by Pauce," Mintra McGonagall put in. Mintra is Professor McGonagall's great-niece and is a first-year. "Ginny caught the snitch just as Harry landed on the ground."
"I noticed Malfoy suddenly veered upward and I wondered why until I caught the snitch and saw Harry on the ground," Ginny put in.
"Malfoy was smirking at Harry falling until he saw that you caught the snitch, Gin," Mintra added. "You wiped that smirk off his face fast."
"I think he also got into a fight with his yes-men," Will Beavers, a third-year, put in.
"Oh, wow, what happened?" Ron's freckled face lit up.
"Crabbe said something about how he had to admire the little dork, meaning Harry, saying that it showed a lot of grit to show his face on the field after being so badly embarrassed on Thursday." Will grinned.
"I heard that too," Beverly Kinney, a fourth-year, added. "Malfoy got mad and started yelling at Crabbe about his loyalties being mixed up and all and called him a stupid idiot. A bunch of us saw it. It was after you'd gone to Madame Pomfrey, Harry, and most of us were still out by the field."
"Oh, and Harry..." Beverly leaned back, peering at me. "I think...some of the other students, the ones that were jealous and said those nasty things about you the last couple of years...they feel kind of bad about saying them and see you with more respect now. I don't think they'll be gossiping about you anymore."
"That's good..." I smiled in relief. It was true...in my fifth and most of my sixth year, some Hufflepuff and a few Ravenclaw students said some awful things behind my back...like that I buttered up teachers and used the fact that my parents were well known around here to gain favors, all of which was untrue. Of course Malfoy fanned that gossip with his imput. My friends say it was because they were jealous, but it didn't make it any easier to bear. Sitting with my dormmates, I felt better than I had in a long time. Maybe now Malfoy would back off, knowing that I got back up again after he'd knocked me down. I smiled ruefully, remembering that he'd knocked me off my broom today, but I'm back up again. I guess that is the best way to deal with enemies and people who try to tear you down. And even if Malfoy kept up his stupidity, I knew now I could survive it and go on with my life. I'd still ache for the photo album, but I had other mementos of my parents. Best of all, I had their love and courage deep in my heart which could never be taken away or destroyed.