"Why are we sitting over here?" Hermione asked curiously, following behind Susan's confident strut to the Gryffindor stands.
"Because he isn't a teacher, or a parent, or a reporter." Susan pointed at the man sitting next to the announcers box. "Which means he's a recruiter."
"And you're going to irritate him into recruiting Harry?" Blaise asked.
"Don't be fucking daft." Susan rolled her eyes. "We're going to sit behind him and 'ooh' and 'awe' at every single move Harry makes. And probably talk him up a bit-"
"Not that he needs it," Luna said sweetly. "Everyone knows Harry's the best flier in the country."
"Precisely." Susan smiled at one of her best friends and linked their arms together. "That's just the type of thing we should mention."
"Subtly of course," Theo said. "Don't make it obvious or else he might ignore us."
"I know that," Susan scowled.
It honestly irked her how none of the boys seemed to think she could be subtle. She definitely could be, she just usually chose not to.
Subtlety was for when you wanted to hide your actions, Susan didn't normally want to hide anything. She would do what she needed to do, usually for this large group of idiots that she loves, and she would accept her accolades or admonishments with pride.
"Are we sitting with Brown?" Blaise hissed as they neared their seats and Susan's direction came clear.
"We are," Susan said simply. Lavender Brown and Neville were friends. It wasn't her fault that Blaise had already hooked up with her back in fourth year, if she only flirted or fooled around with people Blaise hasn't hooked up with then she might as well transfer schools entirely.
It helped that Lavender was dreadfully pretty and seemed to be pretty openly making her way through most of the fifth years, gender be damned. Susan had caught her with Dean Thomas in an abandoned corridor one night during patrols, and another night she found her brazenly with Padma Patil. Lavender hadn't even seemed ashamed in the slightest to be caught with two different people in such a short time period. And it was that refusal to be ashamed of her desires that caught Susan's interest.
Especially as she had vowed to herself to use this year to explore herself and her sexuality. Johnny was great about it, he knew what they were when they first got together. Neither of them wanted a full-time relationship, so they settled for hooking up here and there when they had the time and mutual desire.
So if Lavender was sitting behind the recruiter, then Susan would kill two birds with one stone.
"Hello," Susan smiled brightly at Lavender, ignoring her look of surprise as she slid in the seat beside her. Luna sat next to Susan, a bemused smile on her face, Neville on the other side of her. Theo, Hermione, and Blaise all took the seats directly behind them.
"Hello," Lavender said slowly, a puzzled look on her face. "Why aren't you sitting in the Slytherin stands today?"
"Better view from here," Susan said with a small wink. A wink that made Lavender's tanned cheeks turn juuuust the slightest shade of pink. "Are you ready to watch your team lose?"
"I'm hoping they'll win," Lavender giggled, a sort of annoying noise but not an entire deal breaker.
"They won't," Luna said with her softly spoken confidence. "Harry's never lost a match before."
The recruiter in front of them seemed to shift in his seat at that, his navy blue capped head perked up with a bit more liveliness than he had shown before. Which proved Susan's point she made to her friends at breakfast once Harry left. The recruiters (she had hoped to see more than one, but one was better than nothing) might show up because Harry's famous, but they'll pick him because he's brilliant.
"Didn't he lose a match in our third year?" Lavender asked, instantly dropping Susan's view of her.
"Only because of the dementors," Blaise said in his typical bored drawl behind them. "I think I'd fall off my broom if two hundred dementors stormed the field as well."
"I could have sworn it was more like four hundred," Neville said casually. "It was amazing that Harry didn't die, he's got to be the most resilient bloke I ever met."
Susan loved her friends so, so much.
Lavender gave them a curious look, but didn't say anything else at the moment either.
"Ooh it's starting!" Luna squealed excitedly beside Susan. "Look! There's our boys!"
Susan looked down on the pitch and saw as Harry, flanked by Draco and Ron, led the Slytherin team on the pitch. Harry looked brilliant in his quidditch gear, as he always did. He always seemed to stand taller, his shoulders more squared, and his expression happier when he was on the pitch.
"Wager on the match?" Blaise poked Neville. "I've got 100 galleons that Harry's team wins."
"Pft, nobody's dim enough to take that bet," Neville scoffed. "Look at his team! Slytherin's a shoe in for the cup, again, this year."
"I want a nice clean game!" Hooch was saying firmly from the ground. "Captains- shake hands!"
Harry stepped forward and quickly shook hands with Angelina Johnson, a pretty black girl with long dark braids. If Angelina wasn't dating George Weasley, then she would have been Susan's first choice to explore her sexuality with, but not all her dreams were meant to come true apparently.
Plus, today she had to focus on helping make one of Harry's dreams come true. He wanted to play professional quidditch, and she'd be damned if she didn't help make it happen.
"Who's the little black haired boy with the Slytherin's?" Lavender asked. "I thought they could only have seven players?"
"He's the reserve seeker," Susan said. "Since Harry is great at all the positions, he wanted a backup seeker in case he got hurt and needed to replace one of his other players."
She knew that was a secret Harry was trying to keep the other teams from knowing, but since Bailey was on the field with Harry now, and it gave her an excellent opening to brag more on Harry's skills, she figured he'd forgive her.
Also, she could see the recruiter scribbling like crazy on his notepad. So, Harry probably wouldn't even be upset when he found out.
"That's a good idea," Lavender said thoughtfully.
"Of course it is, it was Harry's," Susan said simply.
She quieted down as the teams took to the sky at Madame Hooch's whistle. The Gryffindor team was solid- Angelina, Katie, and Alicia were best friends and you could tell that from the way they worked in unison so easily. McLaggen was an idiot, but he wasn't unskilled as a keeper. Little Ginny Weasley (who also had gotten rather attractive lately) was quick on a broom and dodged bludgers easily as she searched for the snitch. And, of course, Fred and George seemed to share a mind as they played their positions.
Susan had hoped that maybe in his campaign to win Harry back that Fred would play to just a little less than his best abilities, but maybe that was a plan in itself for him. Harry wouldn't respect him if he threw a game, Harry liked to be the best without assistance.
Regardless of how good the Gryffindor team was, Susan (as unbiased as she could be) truly believed Harry's team was better.
The new beaters, Bradford and Oscar, weren't able to read each other's minds like Fred and George did, but what they lacked in coordination, they more than made up for in determination.
Their keeper looked a bit like an arrogant twit as he floated lazily in front of the goal posts, but as long as he blocked the Gryffindor chasers from scoring, then Susan could overlook a bit of arrogance.
She did it for her boys all the time.
Daphne, Draco, and Ron were zigzagging, passing, throwing, and communicating quickly as they took possession of the quaffle. They actually seemed to be just as coordinated as the Gryffindors who had been playing together for years. Ron smacked the quaffle out of Alicia's hands, letting it drop to Daphne's waiting arms, who then dipped to the left and threw it to Draco and Draco quickly scored the first goal for Slytherin.
"GO DRACO!!" Luna jumped to her feet and waved her giant green snake flag, ignoring the boos from the Gryffindors that surrounded them.
Draco peeked over at them from his spot in the air and Susan grinned to see the broad smile on his face.
Susan, personally, thought that Draco and Luna were the absolute cutest couple. They were both blonde haired and grey eyed. Draco's eyes were darker, more like steel. And Luna's were as bright and sparkling as the mist. But more than their similarities, it was their differences that made them so damned sweet.
Draco was too stiff sometimes, too proper. Luna was like some magical forest fairy, she was just drifting through life with airy optimism. Draco was terrible at sharing his thoughts and feelings, and Luna shared every emotion she had at the moment she had it.
Susan had used to worry about Luna, worry that her airy demeanor was just a way to keep herself from being hurt by rejection, but the last couple of years Susan really thought she found herself.
And it was beautiful.
And Draco was a good person who deserved someone as amazing as Luna by his side.
They just seemed so natural together. They brought out the best in each other. Draco never laughed as freely as he did when Luna was around, and Luna would stay focused on entire conversations if Draco was the one involved in them.
Susan personally couldn't wait for the wedding, she wanted to be the maid of honor. Especially because she was sure Draco would make Harry the best man.
But she needed to keep her eye on the current prize.
"Look at Harry go!" she cheered loudly as it looked like Harry was about to fall in to another feint. "Did he spot the snitch??"
"I think so!" Lavender cried from beside her. "Look! Ginny's following him!"
Harry was streaking to the ground in a dramatic dive. Susan knew he was just showing off for the recruiter that he didn't even know for sure was there, but it was still funny to her how theatric he was on the field.
"GINNY WEASLEY YOU AREN'T A FIRST YEAR! YOU KNOW POTTER FEINTS!!" Lee Jordan yelled from the commenter box.
Ginny either didn't hear Jordan's comment or thought he was wrong, because she streaked after Harry allllllll the way-
"TO THE GROUND!!!" Susan jumped up and screamed as Ginny crashed in the dirt and Harry did backflips and barrel rolls back up to the sky.
"POTTER PULLS OFF ANOTHER PERFECT FEINT!" Jordan yelled to the cheers of the Slytherin's and the boos of the Gryffindor's. "THE SCORE IS STILL TIED AT 20-20 THOUGH!"
Susan glanced down at the recruiter in the row in front of them and was happy to see that his eyes were glued to Harry. She turned her own attention back to the sky and watched as Harry flew over to Ron and said something before zooming back up above the others to search for the snitch. It wasn't long before Draco scored another two goals with Ron and Daphne's assistance.
"Draco's flying great," she said to a beaming Luna. "This might be his best game yet."
"Remember the game in third year?" Theo leaned forward to say. "When Draco was the only one to score before Harry caught the snitch? I think that was his best game."
"That's probably why Harry asked Professor Snape if he really had to add players or if he could just be a two man team," Neville laughed. "Harry's a cocky bastard."
"It's easy for him to be cocky when he's the best," Susan said.
"I think Ginny's very good," Lavender said. "But..." she smiled wryly with a little shrug, "probably not as good as Harry."
"No ones as good as Harry," Hermione said stoutly.
The recruiter was scribbling like mad without even looking away from Harry and Susan could not be more pleased.
"AND GREENGRASS, THE FIRST GIRL ON THE SLYTHERIN TEAM IN OVER TWENTY YEARS, TAKES POSSESSION OF THE QUAFFLE AND SHE- OOOH, TAKES A NASTY BLUDGER FROM EITHER FRED OR GEORGE AND KATIE BELL TAKES POSSESSION!"
Susan saw as Harry zoomed over to Daphne, his face was difficult to make out from here, but she thought he looked concerned and irritated. Daphne looked miserable and determined to keep flying despite the way her arm didn't look quite right.
"IS HE ALLOWED TO HEAL HIS PLAYERS DURING THE GAME?!" Jordan howled after Harry very obviously grabbed Daphne's arm and fixed whatever Fred (honestly the way everyone acted like those boys were identical was so annoying) broke. "HOW DO WE KNOW HE DIDN'T GIVE HER SOME SORT OF STAMINA BOOST OR SOMETHING?"
Harry flipped Jordan off before zooming away, which did cause Madame Hooch to blow her whistle.
"Penalty shot to Gryffindor for unsportsmanlike conduct by Captain Potter!" she yelled. "And there is no rule against wandless healing spells on the game clock!"
"Probably because they didn't know they'd need one," Blaise laughed. "It'll be changed by next year."
"I wonder if professional teams let their seekers silently and wandlessly heal their teammates if they're injured during a game," Susan mused loudly.
"There's no rule against it," the man in front of them murmured without taking his eyes off the sky.
Susan turned to her friends and they all shared the same eager look in their eyes.
There was no way that this man wasn't recruiting Harry.
The question would be of how good of an offer he'd come up with.
The game went on, and it was proof of why Slytherin and Gryffindor always opened the season at Hogwarts. They were the biggest rivals, they played the hardest, and they were the most exciting to watch.
Susan and Hermione snickered at one point when Fred hit a bludger directly at Harry's head, causing Harry to roll his eyes even as he grinned.
"I can't wait for them to get over their nonsense," Hermione whispered. "It's soo obvious."
Susan didn't agree with many things Hermione said, but she definitely agreed with her there.
They had all been exasperated by Harry's determination to make Fred jealous with Romilda Vane. Which was ridiculous, because Romilda was pushy, and needy, and only liked Harry because he was famous. She didn't even know anything about him. She had spent the entire time in the Three Broomsticks just trying to use her chest to catch Harry's attention.
And Susan was all for freedom to express yourself, but she also knew there was a time and a place and the middle of a crowded pub was not the place.
She carefully looked around the Gryffindor stands until she saw Romilda, who was pouting from her seat in the back. Which was ridiculous, because even though Harry had been a bit of a dick to use her to make Fred jealous, he'd also sent her apology/ 'let's be friends' flowers Monday morning in the middle of the Great Hall.
Which was probably the kindest thing Harry had ever done for someone who wasn't in their gang, which meant it was probably Snape's idea.
Susan, personally and privately, having only shared this thought with Luna, thought that Snape was a secret romantic. He had tall, dark, mysterious, and brooding down to a bloody precise formula. And the way the Daily Prophet went on about him back in their second year? Who wouldn't find it terribly sweet that Snape was best friends with Harry's mum and turned spy because he wanted to protect her? And the way he fights for her Harry all the time?
Ugh.
It was no wonder that Tonks spent most of her time patrolling the dungeons. Susan would too if she was just a few years older.
Susan turned back to the game and thought that Harry must have decided to drag the game out a bit, because he usually caught the snitch before the scores got too high. But it was already 80-100 by the time Harry did the most dramatic race across the pitch towards the stands where they were seated.
"IT LOOKS LIKE POTTER IS AFTER THE SNITCH!" Jordan yelled again.
Susan thought it was wildly unfair that Jordan always announced when Harry was after the snitch, but not when the other seekers were. The bias against Slytherin was ridiculous. It was no wonder they'd already recruited 20 kids to the gang, Harry was one of the few people that everyone knew didn't hold any house grudges.
Unless it came to quidditch.
Harry was speeding to the spot just above the commenters box, where if Susan squinted she was pretty sure she could see little flashes of gold.
"COME ON HARRY!" she yelled. "GO GO GO!"
Her friends were all on their feet, screaming and shouting at Harry. Lavender was yelling for Ginny to catch up, but Susan didn't hold it against her.
Because it didn't matter.
"AND POTTER CATCHES THE GOLDEN SNITCH, ENDING THE MATCH! SLYTHERIN WINS 230-100." Jordan sounded disappointed, which was fine. Because Harry flew right past them, right past the recruiter, and held the golden snitch high in the air with a broad smile on his face.
"Harry always wins," Susan said smugly. "He's brilliant. It's no wonder Viktor Krum begged him to join his team."
The man in front of her finally turned around, and Susan could now see the little tornado logo on his navy hat.
"Excuse me Miss." He had a gruff voice that matched his whole bearded Viking aesthetic nicely. "Did you say that Viktor Krum, from the Bulgarian National team, asked Potter to join his team?"
"Oh everyone knows that," Lavender giggled. "Harry and Krum flew together all the time last year, it drove Fred crazy! He was always whining about how Krum was trying to steal Harry away to Bulgaria."
Susan could have kissed Lavender in that moment. Annoying giggles be damned.
"Really?" the man's eyes lit up and he offered Susan and Lavender each his hand. "Pleasure ladies, if you'll excuse me."
"How soon will Harry get the letter?" Susan asked Luna as soon as the recruiter was far enough down the stairs that he couldn't hear her.
Luna hummed and squinted up at the clouds thoughtfully. "By the end of the week," she said with confidence.
"Nobody tell him!" Susan instructed everyone harshly. "Let it be a surprise."
"Because Harry seems so fond of surprises," Theo rolled his eyes, but he looked just as pleased as Susan was.
"What are we waiting for?" Neville laughed. "Let's go celebrate!!"
Susan almost forgot her side mission until she was partially down the stairs, caught up in the momentum of her friends' joy.
"Later Lavender," she winked at her over her shoulder before rushing off to go find her boys.
Harry's team were all in a group huddle over near the Slytherin locker rooms, which is where Susan and the rest of her friends all headed. But on the way Susan passed Fred, who was walking slowly towards the castle, obviously lagging hoping for a chance to talk to Harry.
Harry better appreciate her because Susan didn't even really like Fred.
"Party in the common room," she told him. "You coming?"
"Me?" Fred looked surprised, which was honestly so insulting. Just because Susan thought he was annoying didn't mean she couldn't see how much Harry liked being with him. And she knew it had been unfair to Fred how Harry ended their relationship.
She could understand Harry's thought process. But, like her Auntie told her once when she was complaining about a coworker she tried dating when Susan was little: just because it was logical, didn't mean it was right.
"No, your twin," Susan rolled her eyes. "Yes you, idiot."
Fred gave her a tentative smile, as if unsure if she was joking or not. "Want me to bring Lavender?" he asked.
"Yes please."
Susan didn't always hate Fred.
Just usually.
She caught up with her friends though and threw her arms around Harry tightly. "Way to go!!" she cheered.
"Thanks," Harry smiled, but it didn't seem like a good one.
"What's wrong?" she frowned at Harry's fake smile. She hated his fake smile.
"Nothing, I just... I thought- maybe..." Harry shook his head and pushed his glasses up. "Nevermind," he said. He threw an arm over Susan's shoulder and smiled at his teammates. "Let's go celebrate!"
It took until they were nearly to the dungeons that she realized Harry must not have noticed the recruiter sitting in the stands in front of them. She shared a sly smile with Luna.
She couldn't wait for Harry to get that letter.