Wind whipped in Noah Puckerman's ears, as he soared around the Quidditch pitch, the screams and cheers of the school roaring in his ears. It was his very first game and he had been a bit nervous that morning, though he tried to hide it. He did seek help from Harry that morning and sat with him and his friends at breakfast that morning. It wasn't much help though; Ron was looking worse than Puck was and he was Harry's main focus - at least until Harry snuck him that lucky potion. While Hermione started to get anxious, Puck and Harry shared a discreet high five under the table.

Puck snapped out of his reminiscence of the morning when a bludger went zooming right over his left shoulder and skyrocketed towards Angelina. He chased after it at top speed and hit it so hard the thud was heard around the stadium. He beamed with pride as he heard that snotty Hufflepuff kid announce his name and what a particularly spectacular hit that was. That's what Puck heard at least. He raced off to seek more bludgers, his adrenaline racing. He looked up just in time to see Ron make an amazing save, barely catching the Quaffle with the tips of his fingers. Puck only knew Harry fairly well and hardly knew Ron at all, but from his brief knowledge of the boy matched with how utterly nervous Ron was this morning, he knew that save was something the Gryffindor's should be proud of. He fist pumped the air and grinned at Ron before racing after a bludger that one of the Slytherin team beaters had aimed at Ginny.

But a certain thought was eating away at Puck's mind - Malfoy. He knew that spoiled, snot-nosed ferret had eyes for Quinn, who was his girl, even though no one knew it yet. And all jealous feelings aside, he knew if Malfoy got too close to her, she would tell him about the baby. He knew Quinn was in no position to turn down sympathy wherever she could get it. Above all, Puck just wanted to be Quinn's boyfriend and the father of the kid, his kid. He already had Finn in the way, he didn't need Malfoy there too. Even Puck couldn't deny that Malfoy and Quinn would be a great match and he didn't want her to realize it.

It had really deflated his spirits when he saw Malfoy wasn't playing that day. He was really looking forward to hitting a bludger straight at Malfoy's turned-up nose. Puck flew upwards and took his anger out on a bludger that wasn't heading anywhere in particular yet. He looked below him and tore out of the way as Harry and the Slytherin seeker whizzed past him, arms outstretched. He watched eagerly as Harry said something he couldn't hear that distracted the Slytherin. He turned around and Puck knew what was going to happen a second before it did. Harry thrusted forward and caught the snitch in his hand and the crowd let out a roar that hit Puck's eardrums like a tsunami.

"Yes! We won!" Puck said, fist pumping the air as he flew back down to the ground and hopped off his broom. He turned just in time to see Ginny crashing into the commentator's stand and collapse the whole thing, submerging Zacharias Smith in a huge pile of wood.

That's what you get when you diss my team during a game, Smith! Puck thought triumphantly as all the team grabbed their brooms, laughing and whooping as they walked off the pitch amid cries of "Party in the Gryffindor common room!"

Puck changed as quickly as he could and speed walked out of the changing room, looking forward to the party that had surely already started.

"Well, if it isn't the new Gryffindor beater," said a malicious voice behind him. Puck whipped around to see Malfoy, flanked by a couple of random girls. Puck's mind was instantly ripped in half. Part of him cheered in a rather angry way and part of him wanted to tackle Malfoy. But above anything, he didn't like how Malfoy said "Gryffindor beater" like it was an insult.

"Yeah, that's right, Malfoy. Why'd you chicken out today? Afraid Potter would beat your ass?" Puck retorted angrily. Malfoy looked like he had just swallowed a lemon whole.

"Well, at least I don't fly like a sloth having an aneurysm. That's not proper form for a beater, is it Puckerman?" Malfoy said as a rather nasty grin spread across his face. Two things occurred to Puck at once. The first was how Malfoy was starting to look sick, he was pale and skinny and had dark circled starting to form under his eyes. The second was how much Puck wanted to hex him. The girls behind him giggled in a way that was hardly feminine.

"Shut up, Malfoy! You know I can jinx your ass so hard you won't be able to walk for a week!" Puck said. Now, instead of feeling like he could finally get back at Malfoy for liking Quinn, he was just angry. Malfoy scoffed.

"'Jinx my ass?'" he started sceptically, raising an eyebrow. "Please. The worst you could do is run to McGonagall like a first year girl." he said, chuckling to himself.

Every fibre of Puck's being told him to walk around and leave and go to the party and celebrate with Finn, Harry and Ginny. But instead, he lunged forwards and punched Malfoy hard on the face. The girls beside him looked anxious and annoyed, as if they wanted to do something, but they stayed rooted to the spot. Malfoy's knees nearly buckled and his hands flew up to his nose. He looked shocked more than anything and looked up at Puck with pure surprise etched upon his features. Puck was about to walk away until he saw a thin trickle of blood leak out from between Malfoy's fingers. The Gryffindor in him stopped him and it was more fear that McGonagall would punish him than guilt that made him pull out his wand and say "Episky" in a sore way. With a little snap, Malfoy's newly broken nose worked its way back to normal. He was still speechless, so Puck finished his work off with, "Next time you're about to insult a Gryffindor's flying skills, stop and think about what you're doing… and stay away from my girl," he added menacingly.

Noah Puckerman jogged back up to the castle, feeling more satisfied than he had in weeks.

000

Hermione walked as fast as she could out of the empty classroom. Angry, hurt tears were rolling down her cheeks. She knew she couldn't go back to the Gryffindor common room, the party was probably still going on and she didn't want to talk to Harry anymore. What just happened was too embarrassing. Why did she think it was okay to make those birds attack Ron? That was an awful thing to do, it didn't solve anything. She briefly considered going to Rachel, but she had never been comforted by the Slytherin girl before and she didn't know if being around Rachel would just make her feel worse or not. While Hermione felt awful, wrecked and jealous, she knew one thing. She wanted her place of comfort to be secure. Hermione turned a corner, heading towards one of the spare classrooms that they used to help Harry practice for the Tri-Wizard Tournament in their fourth year. Before she could reach it though, she heard a shrill, bossy voice ring out behind her.

"Hermione! I've been looking all over for you, I think I've found the solution to our-" Rachel said, but as Hermione turned around, she stopped dead in her tracks. The sound of footsteps in the corridor stopped and the scene grew silent, save for a small sniffle from Hermione.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, her voice suddenly much softer and sympathetic. Hermione's eyes darted briefly to the boy who was standing silent next to Rachel before she looked at her friend. Hermione arched a hand up and wiped her own tears, trying to look a bit prouder than she felt.

"It's nothing really. It's a silly thing to be angry about," she said airily, although her voice quivered a little.

"Is it Ron?" Rachel asked. Her voice was still soothing, but Hermione thought that she was being rather blunt about things. But there was no reason to lie.

"Yes," Hermione said after a moment of hesitation. Rachel's eyes bore into Hermione's and pressed for more details. Hermione let out a sigh, feeling slightly back to her old self.

"He's been snogging Lavender Brown in the common room and he's just run into Harry and I with her," she said a bit stiffly. Rachel nodded sympathetically. The boy next to her was just looking at Hermione slightly skeptically. It was starting to get annoying.

"Actually Hermione, that's perfect. I think I've just found a solution to our boy problems. This is Kurt Hummel and I ran into him in the Slytherin common room today," Rachel said eagerly, smiling again.

The first thing Hermione noticed about Kurt was his Slytherin tie, then the pin he had fastened on his robes. Was that a tiny zebra head on it?

"Hello," Hermione said politely, but it was very clear she didn't know what to think of this stranger, especially since he was a Slytherin.

His method of examining Hermione was much different and took much longer, creating a gaping hole in their conversation. His eyes started at Hermione's feet and slowly glided up her entire body, finally resting on her hair. Hermione got the feeling that she was being severely judged. Rachel was watching them both eagerly.

"Have you ever thought about doing something with your hair?" Kurt Hummel said, which was, in Hermione's opinion, not a proper way to start a friendship with someone. A tiny part of her was mildly shocked about how high his voice was and she started to notice his incredibly feminine features in the dim light of the corridor. She was hardly being judgmental of him, just observing, when Rachel started to speak again with her almost annoying enthusiasm.

"I've kind of filled him in on everything that's been happening with us. Kurt tells me he's never had a boyfriend before, but I just feel like he could help us find the right answer. I've always said there would be a sure-fire way to get those boys to like us and guess what?" Rachel asked, then ploughed on without waiting for either of them to say 'What?'.

"Kurt is Finn's step-brother! Well, almost. Their parents are dating, so he will be at some point. And Finn is friends with Ron and Harry, right? So Kurt will know about both of them. Right Kurt?" Rachel asked, looking eagerly at the boy. He raised an eyebrow at him.

"You can't expect too much from me, Rachel," he said coolly. Hermione was still unsure of what to think. He was so different, and he was a lot to take in, especially when one is tired and emotional and rather confused to begin with. "I have no experience. The best I can suggest right now is to make a love potion."

Kurt had intended it as a small joke and Hermione actually let out a little laugh that Kurt returned with a tiny smile. Their first brief moment of bonding was broken by Rachel reaching out and clutching the sleeve of Kurt's arm dramatically, her mouth open in shock.

"Kurt, that's perfect! Hermione, it's perfect. Why hadn't I thought about it before?" Rachel said excitedly. Hermione stared at her, thinking she must be joking. Kurt seemed to know that she wasn't and his eyes widened.

"Rachel, you can't do that. It was a joke, I was joking," Kurt said, as if repeating his words would knock the bad idea out of Rachel's head. Rachel seemed not to have heard at all.

"That would break a lot of rules, Rachel. I don't think you understand the repercussions of using a love potion, either. It's like… making someone lie to themselves about something really serious. We could get into a lot of trouble. And I don't mean to sound rude, but I think I'm the only one here who could make a working love potion and I won't do it," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

Kurt looked on at her with just a bit more respect than before. Kurt found Hermione refusing to make the potion rather interesting, if not respectable. Rachel seemed to have heard Hermione and said "But we don't have to make it. There's a cauldron of it sitting in Professor Slughorn's room."

Hermione just widened her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No. No, no, no. Rachel, I am not letting you walk into a Professor's room and steal. That is only acceptable on certain occasions and your banged-up romantic life is no special occasion," Kurt said harshly. Hermione would have said it differently, but she had to agree with Kurt. Rachel was being insane. Rachel, seeing that Kurt would never agree with her decision, rounded on Hermione.

"Hermione, do you want Ron to love you or not?" Rachel said, and Hermione knew the answer, even though she didn't say anything. They stood staring at each other for a good thirty seconds before Kurt brought his hand up to his forehead.

"Oh god," he said. "I'm surrounded by idiots."