snarryhols (snarryhols) wrote in snarry_holidays, @ 2009-12-26 13:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | fic, rated: pg, round: 2009 |
Fic: Coming Home - for torina_archelda
Title: Coming Home
Author: The Grinch that Didn't Steal Christmas
Giftee: torina_archelda
Word Count: ~20.900
Rating: PG
Pairing: SS/HP, GW/DM
Warnings: Post DH, EWE,
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: 2013: Severus Snape gets a job offer he cannot resist. For once Ginny gets what she wants. And Harry gets what he needs. Win-win for everyone.
Author's Notes: Dear torina_archelda: This is the first time I’ve participated in an exchange fest, my first Snarry ever, and my first attempt at a romantic story ever. - So many firsts! I admit I would have never done it if I didn’t have to fulfill the requirements of the assignment — and I am so very glad because I learned so much!
Dear snarry_holidays mods: Thank you for organizing this fest, your support and your patience! Thank you so much to my betas l and uhm, l, for being fast, reliable and efficient! Danke schoen!
Chapter 04
December
“He should have never played,” whispered Ginny.
A day or two before the final confrontation with Russia — a merciless opponent — the coach had actually asked permission to withdraw Potter from the team and replace him with an unknown, Irish seeker.
When the team president consulted the sponsors, they refused. Too much money was at stake, and Potter had cost them already a lot. They insisted on him playing that night.
The Munich finals were important for many reasons. Many were wondering why Germany, a country famous for harsh winters, had been chosen for this World Cup. In fact, it gave a whole group of wizarding industries the opportunity to display a new technology: warming charms and spells interwoven in the supporting framework of the whole stadium. The new technology was supposed to be sold to the UK and the US, and what better way to advertise it than the Quidditch World Cup?
Potter had lost control of his broom, Ginny told him. During the whole game, he had been reacting too slowly or too rashly, losing his temper over insignificant things and overlooking the important ones. The Russian players had capitalized heavily on Potters erratic, confused performance.
He had almost missed the Snitch and then set off in a jerky, uncoordinated movement to follow it when he finally did see it, then flew much too close to the support beams. The Russian Seeker performed a manoevre and managed to get the Snitch out of Potter’s reach. Then the Russian flew straight up, yanking his broom up in a vertical movement and averted the support beam that Potter crashed into a split second later.
Most of the stadium construction was supposed to be secured so that players who flew at neck-breaking speed had a chance to survive collisions with them. It was an unfortunate coincidence that the charms on these particular beams had, unbeknownst to anyone, worn off. The theory supported by the German authorities was that the new warming spells had interfered with the cushioning spells, weakened them.
The broom crashed against the unprotected beam and spun madly against the railings, throwing Potter with brutal force against the walls for nearly 4 minutes. He had been going full speed — almost 150 km/h — and he would have been hurled from his broom if his right leg hadn’t been fastened to the broom - in that case he would have fell onto the lawn and suffered bruises and maybe some broken ribs.
Eventually, the broom dropped down from its height of almost 300 metres. Potter's limp body was connected to the broom only by his right ankle. His left leg was almost disconnected, and his head was more or less a bloody pulp, when the medics finally retrieved him.