Harry Potter 06 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

would have preferred not to have to ask Dean to play was that he knew Seamus would not like it. On the other hand, he had to do what was best for the team, and Dean had out-flown Seamus at the tryouts.
    ‘Well then, you’re in,’ said Harry. ‘There’s a practice tonight, seven o’clock.’
    ‘Right,’ said Dean. ‘Cheers, Harry! Blimey, I can’t wait to tell Ginny!’
    He sprinted out of the room, leaving Harry and Seamus alone together, an uncomfortable moment made no easier when a bird dropping landed on Seamus’s head as one of Hermione’s canaries whizzed over them.
    Seamus was not the only person disgruntled by the choice of Katie’s substitute. There was much muttering in the common room about the fact that Harry had now chosen two of his classmates for the team. As Harry had endured much worse mutterings than this in his school career, he was not particularly bothered, but all the same, the pressure was increasing to provide a win in the upcoming match against Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, Harry knew that the whole house would forget that they had criticised him and swear that they had always known it was a great team. If they lost … well, Harry thought wryly, he had still endured worse mutterings …
    Harry had no reason to regret his choice once he saw Dean fly that evening; he worked well with Ginny and Demelza. The Beaters, Peakes and Coote, were getting better all the time. The only problem was Ron.
    Harry had known all along that Ron was an inconsistent player who suffered from nerves and a lack of confidence, and unfortunately, the looming prospect of the opening game of the season seemed to have brought out all his old insecurities. After letting in half a dozen goals, most of them scored by Ginny, his technique became wilder and wilder, until he finally punched an oncoming Demelza Robins in the mouth.
    ‘It was an accident, I’m sorry, Demelza, really sorry!’ Ron shouted after her as she zigzagged back to the ground dripping blood everywhere. ‘I just –’
    ‘Panicked,’ Ginny said angrily, landing next to Demelza and examining her fat lip. ‘You prat, Ron, look at the state of her!’
    ‘I can fix that,’ said Harry, landing beside the two girls, pointing his wand at Demelza’s mouth and saying ‘ Episkey ’. ‘And Ginny, don’t call Ron a prat, you’re not the captain of this team –’
    ‘Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should –’
    Harry forced himself not to laugh.
    ‘In the air, everyone, let’s go …’
    Overall it was one of the worst practices they had had all term, though Harry did not feel that honesty was the best policy when they were this close to the match.
    ‘Good work, everyone, I think we’ll flatten Slytherin,’ he said bracingly, and the Chasers and Beaters left the changing room looking reasonably happy with themselves.
    ‘I played like a sack of dragon dung,’ said Ron in a hollow voice when the door had swung shut behind Ginny.
    ‘No you didn’t,’ said Harry firmly. ‘You’re the best Keeper I tried out, Ron. Your only problem is nerves.’
    He kept up a relentless flow of encouragement all the way back to the castle, and by the time they reached the second floor Ron was looking marginally more cheerful. When Harry pushed open the tapestry to take their usual short cut up to Gryffindor Tower, however, they found themselves looking at Dean and Ginny, who were locked in a close embrace and kissing fiercely as if glued together.
    It was as though something large and scaly erupted into life in Harry’s stomach, clawing at his insides: hot blood seemed to flood his brain, so that all thought was extinguished, replaced by a savage urge to jinx Dean into a jelly. Wrestling with this sudden madness, he heard Ron’s voice as though from a great distance away.
    ‘Oi!’
    Dean and Ginny broke apart and looked round.
    ‘What?’ said Ginny.
    ‘I don’t want to find my own sister snogging people in public!’
    ‘This was a deserted corridor till you came butting in!’ said Ginny.
    Dean was looking embarrassed. He gave Harry a shifty grin that Harry did not return, as the new-born monster inside him was roaring for Dean’s instant dismissal from the team.
    ‘Er … c’mon, Ginny,’ said Dean, ‘let’s go back to the common room …’
    ‘You go!’ said Ginny. ‘I want a word with my dear brother!’
    Dean left, looking as though he was not sorry to depart the scene.
    ‘Right,’ said