"Captain, Vice-Captain, aren't we going to celebrate? Now that the new team's been put together?" Once the Quidditch players had been selected, Romilda Vane sidled up to Katie Bell and Harry with a grin.
Harry genuinely hadn't wanted this young girl, who clearly had designs on him, to join the Quidditch team.
But there was nothing he could do. Her flying skills really were very good, and Katie was the captain, after all. Besides, Katie and Romilda got along quite well.
Harry could hardly say to Katie, "Hey, Katie, could you keep that Romilda girl off the team? I keep feeling like she's after my body."
Harry felt that if he said that, his reputation would be utterly ruined.
And deep down, Harry was actually a little pleased.
After all, Romilda was quite a pretty girl. Being liked by a pretty girl did trouble Harry somewhat, since he worried about how Qiu would feel.
But to say he felt not even a tiny bit of joy at having a pretty girl like him would have been impossible, too. Harry was, after all, only a sixteen-year-old boy with perfectly normal thoughts and tastes.
"Well, I don't see why not." Katie had no idea how much had gone through Harry's head in that instant. After thinking it over, she nodded and said, "Today happens to be a Hogsmeade weekend. Everyone got permission from their parents this year, right?"
All the players nodded with grins.
This year, the Quidditch team's first-choice players, reserves, and substitutes were all in their third year or above. That meant they could all go to Hogsmeade, as long as they had their parents' permission.
And barring special circumstances, parents generally wouldn't refuse permission.
"Right, let's go celebrate at the Three Broomsticks this afternoon, then. A little get-together for