Chapter 6: Dumbledore's pub
Author's Note:
Great news. I found a beta ObsessedRHShipper and I'd like to thank her for correcting my grammar errors.
Just a small info. Millwall's stadium called The Den.
Hermione was in her office biting her lips and tapping her fingers nervously on her desk. Her cell phone was in front of her and she prayed it wouldn't ring. Earlier she had called Ginny and asked her to call her if Ron conceded a goal. If he kept his sheet clean, Ginny wouldn't call her.
It was one hour after the game started and the phone hadn't rung. She was extremely happy and she prayed it wouldn't ring for another hour. Then, the phone rang. Oh, no!
With a heavy heart, she answered and she waited for Ginny on the other end to tell her the bad news. But, instead, it was her father on the phone. "Hey, Hermione, it's me. How are you, baby? Are you at the game? Why didn't you call to tell me that Ron was playing today?" he asked.
"Okay, dad. You asked me too many questions and unfortunately, I don't have time to answer. No, I'm not at the game. I'm at work. I'll call you later. I promise. I must hang up now; I have a meeting. I love you. Bye," she said all at once, hanging up the phone to avoid chitchat.
Meanwhile at The Den.
Harry, Ginny, Fred and George were all in their usual seats watching the game nervously.
"How much more, Harry?" Ginny asked with anxiety.
"10 minutes, baby. See over there," he said, pointing out the big scoreboard.
"Ok, don't bite my head off," she snapped.
"Guys, relax," the twins said in unison.
There was an obvious tension and the reason was that the score was still 0-0. It was good for Ron, but not good for Millwall. They had to win. It wasn't a championship game. It was for the FA Cup. If they won, they would qualify for the quarterfinals for the first time in 13 years. Not that they were fans of the team, but they knew how great it would be for Ron's career if they won.
In the game, Newcastle was better and they missed a lot of chances. Ron had a great performance so far. Now it was 5 minutes to the end. Millwall had the ball, Longbottom made the cross and Finnigan scored with a header.
Harry and Ginny started to scream for joy, hugging each other, as did the twins. "Yeah, Finnigan! That's it! 5 more minutes! You can do it, guys!" they started shouting trying to encourage the players.
The next 5 minutes were very difficult for Millwall's defense. They managed to keep the ball away from Ron's posts, but in the last minute of the game, Newcastle won a free kick from a great position. Ron had 4 teammates forming a human wall and he took a deep breath. The referee whistled and Anderson from Newcastle kicked. There was no doubt that the ball was going in, but Ron punched the ball away, making an incredible save.
The final whistle was like music to everyone's ears. All the players of Millwall went to the centre of the pitch and they hugged each other. All of them congratulated Ron for his performance and Seamus Finnigan for the goal he scored.
In the stands, Fred and George were clapping, whistling, and screaming Ron's name. They were extremely happy for him. The tension between Harry and Ginny was gone now, and they were snogging passionately, which caused a loud snort by the twins.
Back in Hermione's office, she was still anxious about the game. She didn't know what happened and she was waiting for her phone to ring. It was 2 hours after the game started and now she had no idea if no call from Ginny was a good or a bad thing.
As she was doing some paperwork to try to busy her mind, she heard her phone finally ringing. She hesitated at first, praying to hear some good news and she answered. "Hello?" she said nervously.
"Hey, girl! Leave whatever you are doing and come to Dumbledore's! We are having a party for the big win! Woo-hoo!" Ginny said enthusiastically.
"They won? That's fantastic! How was Ron?" she asked worriedly.
"He was amazing. You should have seen him, Hermione. Too bad you couldn't be here," she said.
Hermione's feelings were now a mix of happiness for Ron and guilt for not having been there. Sure, it wasn't her fault. If Ron had told her sooner, she would have taken the day off and she would be there wearing a shirt with his name on it, chanting his name as loud as she could. But at the end of the day, it was the first big game of Ron's career and she wasn't there. "That's great. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'll try to come even for a little. Bye, Ginny," she said with a shaky voice.
"Okay, girl. See you later. Bye," Ginny said as she hung up her phone.
Hermione opened the bottom drawer of her desk and she pulled out a photo of Ron wearing his football outfit. She never understood why she had that picture with her, but now slowly everything started to make sense to her. She took the photo and she kissed it. "Well done, handsome," she whispered, as if she was talking to him.
She put the photo back in the drawer and she decided to forget Ron for a while and focus on her job. Besides, in a few hours, she would see him in the pub; and who knows what could happen? Maybe she would try one of Draco's suggestions.
"Okay, guys, listen up. You did brilliant today. It was a great win and I'm proud of you," Coach Snape said and everybody in the locker room started rooting and clapping.
"Now, on the technical part, Longbottom, how many times must I remind you, to never leave your back unprotected? Today, you almost cost us the game, because you didn't come back to help the defense, so Taker had no other solution, but to make a foul. And if it wasn't for Weasley and his acrobatics, the ball would have gone in and we would have gone into overtime. Judging by how tired you all are, we would probably have lost," he said almost angrily.
Ron knew that Coach Snape was very strict with his game plan. He didn't accept exceptions. They had to follow the plan, or else he would yell at them or have them do extra practice. Neville Longbottom was very often his target.
Neville was a good friend of Ron's and he knew that his problem was that he didn't have much stamina. He got tired very quickly, and that's why he sometimes failed to come back to play defense. Of course, in Snape's vocabulary, there is no such phrase "I can't do it"; to him, not following the game plan meant "I don't want to do it." That's why he always accused Neville of laziness.
The speech ended shortly after and Ron was ready to leave. He and some other guys would go to Dumbledore's for a drink. Before leaving, Snape asked to see him in his office. Ron wondered if he wanted to congratulate him or tell him that he sucked. He walked to his office and knocked on the door.
"Coach, you asked to see me?" he asked.
"Come in, Weasley, and close the door," he said motioning for him to sit.
"You did good today. Better than expected actually," Snape said, without caring how that might sound to Ron.
"Thank you, coach," Ron said, but he didn't know if he should be happy or not. What did he mean by better than expected? What was it that he expected from him? To be lousy?
"The reason I wanted to talk to you is because I don't want you to lose focus. I know that tomorrow you'll read in the newspapers good things about today's performance. Friends will congratulate you and your parents will call you to say how proud they are for you. You might even get a chance to shag. It's normal. It's happened to most of the guys after their first good game," he said and Ron was trying to understand where he was heading.
"What I need you to understand is that only my opinion counts. I don't care what everybody thinks about your abilities. If you don't show me that you deserve the position of the first goalkeeper, you'll be on the bench again. Is that clear?" he asked in a very serious tone.
"Yes, coach," Ron answered nervously.
"Good. Now go have some fun, but remember that tomorrow afternoon we have practice. We have a game on Saturday and I want you in shape," he said giving Ron a handshake.
"Don't worry, coach. I won't let you down," he said trying to sound confident, but inside he was shaking.
He left soon after his meeting and went home to get changed. Truth was that he wanted to see Hermione first and share his happiness with her, but he knew she wouldn't be home until very late at night.
After a good shower, he dressed nicely and he left to meet the guys and Ginny at the pub. He knew they would probably start teasing him, but he didn't really care. He felt great!
Ten minutes later, he was outside of Dumbledore's. It was the team's hang-out. The owner, Albus Dumbledore, is the biggest fan of Millwall and the players loved him. After every win, the drinks were free and that was always a bonus.
He went in and immediately Ginny threw herself at him, followed by Harry, Fred and George. Ron noticed that the pub was full and crowded. On his way to their table, everybody congratulated him by giving him a high-five or patting him on the shoulder. It was a new feeling and Ron couldn't hide his huge grin.
He sat at the table and Harry gave him a beer. "You earned it," he said smiling.
Ron took the beer. Before he had the chance to drink, he heard Albus Dumbledore behind the counter. "Everyone, keep it down a little. I'd like to make a toast," he said and everyone kept quiet. Everybody respected him. He raised a bottle of beer and everybody in the pub followed him raising their own.
"Today our guys made us proud. Every single one of them. But, I'd like to mention a special fellow that today had his chance and he didn't let us down. To Mr. Ronald Weasley," he said and everybody followed him, chanting Ron's name.
Ron was slightly embarrassed with all the attention. He shyly picked his own beer and gave a nod to Dumbledore. Ron felt very proud of himself and he was extremely grateful that people acknowledged his performance, but something was missing and Ron knew what it was.
He went outside to call Hermione. He needed to know when she was going to come. He called her on her cell phone and after a minute Hermione answered.
"Hey, handsome. You called to brag about your performance?" she teased him.
"No, beautiful. You know I will do that at home," he joked. "Are you coming?" he asked.
"I don't think I'll make it, Ron. There is too much paperwork that I must finish tonight," she said truthfully.
"Oh, that's too bad," he said sadly. "I guess I'll see you at home. Don't sleep at your desk, alright?" he teased her.
"Have fun, Ron. I'll see you at home," she said and she hung up the phone.
Ron went back inside, but no matter how hard he tried to have a good time, he was moody. He wanted to share his first big day with Hermione, but he couldn't.
It was two hours later when he decided it was time to go home. Fred and George had left after they had a call from work. Apparently, there was some problem with an order and they had to go there to resolve the situation.
Ginny and Harry were also gone. It was, after all, very late for them. Usually at this time, they were sleeping or trying to, if James wasn't waking them up every couple of hours.
Ron spent most of the night with Neville, his wife, Hannah, Seamus Finnigan, and his best friend and manager, Dean Thomas. The night wasn't over though and Ron realized that when a gorgeous blonde entered the pub. His eyes widened when she looked back and smiled at him. She went and sat alone at the bar and Ron was debating with himself if he should go after her.
"I'm sorry, guys, but duty calls," he heard Seamus saying. He saw him go to the bar and start flirting with her.
"A tenner that he will make it," Thomas said.
"I'll take that bet," Neville said.
Ron was looking at Seamus and the girl. She was smiling politely, but it was obvious that she wasn't into Seamus. After a couple of minutes, Seamus came back with a defeated face.
"Unfortunately, she is a lesbian," he said and everybody laughed.
Ron decided it was his turn. He hadn't been with a woman in a long time and he needed a little affection. "Watch and learn, Irish boy," he said with confidence rising up from his chair and making his way to the bar.
He walked to the girl and he sat right next to her. "Ronald Weasley," he said simply stretching his hand for her to shake.
She turned and she saw him. Ron gave her the most seductive smile he had and she blushed.
"Lavender Brown," she said shaking Ron's hand.
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