A small and kind of pointless update, but I wanted to get this out of the way. Hopefully the next chapter will be better.

Chapter 10

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE FIRST EVER HUMAN V. ELF QUIDDITCH GAME!" Ron sighed and rested his chin in his hand. He didn't give them a prayer. Lee Jordan was as enthusiastic as ever with his commentary, and Harry's team had been practising every night since they agreed to the match. The elves had also practised and Ron knew that had been mostly posturing. The elves' team consisted of, Elladan and Elrohir (beaters), Cilath (why he did not know), Vanlanthiriel, Alya (Chasers), Earithramir (Keeper) and Lomli (Seeker). The Gryffindor team was Harry, Fred, George, Ginny, Katie Bell, Dean Thomas and Cormac Mc Laggen. It was strange to be back in the stands, especially in the Teachers box, which had a brilliant view. His seat however put him next to Snape, who he was desperately trying to ignore.

"I wouldn't give your precious Gryffindors a hope in the world." the greasy man said in an oily voice.

"Well maybe they'll surprise you Snape. That Cup hasn't been in Mc Gonagall's office these past few years for nothing." Snape narrowed his eyes at him and he returned it levelly. He didn't like or trust Snape any more than he had in his first year, even after spending two months working one on one with him. He looked up just as the whistle blew. The elves shot up into the air, mere blurs, and Ron could just make out Harry right behind them.

"AND THEY'RE OFF!" The elves were all dressed in white, a colour that represented the united forces of the three most powerful realms that once existed. Mirkwood, Lorien, and Rivendell. "AND CILATH TAKES THE QUAFFLE. PASSES TO ALYA, WHO PASSES IT BACK." Cilath caught the Quaffle and went shooting across the pitch. Dodging around the twins she headed straight for the goal posts. Ron could hear a swell of cheering. The Slytherins were on the elves side for this. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were divided. Ron knew how they felt. He really couldn't decide who he wanted to win. Cilath suddenly froze and seemed to be very confused for a second. She was right in front of the goal posts but she looked around as if dazed. Ron stood up in concern. Cilath suddenly tossed the Quaffle up into the air and as it came back down she flipped her broom over and the tail whacked the Quaffle, sending it straight into the hoop. Mc Laggen swore, he'd been unsure what to do when Cilath had stopped. Cilath flew off and rejoined Alya.

"10 POINTS TO THE ELVES!" Lee said then he moved the mic away from his mouth. "Ron!" he hissed. Ron looked at him. "How the hell do you pronounce that other chasers name? Val…"

"Vahn-lahn-theer-ee-ell." Ron spelled out. Lee looked at him in frustration, "Just call her Van, that's what I call her."

"Thanks." Lee returned to the mic, "AND GINNY WEASLEY HAS THE QUAFFLE! PASSES TO DEAN THOMAS WHO PASSES IT TO KATIE BELL- THE PASS IS INTERCEPTED BY VAN ON THE ELVES TEAM. SHE'S HEADING STRAIGHT FOR THE GOAL POSTS, COME ON MC LAGGEN!" Mc Laggen missed again and even from Ron's seat he could see his face colouring. Harry was hovering above, watching them all carefully. Suddenly Fred belted a Bludger at Elladan who whacked it away smartly and nearly unseated Katie. Ron tuned out Lee's commentary and watched as Ginny grabbed the Quaffle. She dodged around Cilath and Earithramir and headed straight for the goalposts. She shot- "SHE SCORES! 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" Lee screamed and a great roar came up from the crowd. There was a lion's roar mixed in there as well. Luna Lovegood's hat! Ron laughed. The match continued and Gryffindor scored another 30 points. Ron knew better than to think the elves were actually loosing. He knew that the Gryffindors were good but the elves were just that bit better, and he knew that they were holding back. Why he did not know but he knew they were. He hadn't played with them over the summer (when time allowed) not to know their skill. The elves scored another 20 points and they were now just 10 points behind. The game continued. Fred and George were battling with Elladan and Elrohir. Twins against twins. Ron winced as Elladan sent a bludger hurtling into Ginny. Thankfully it was her side and not her face. She kept playing. Fred sent one back and hit Alya but she too refused to stop, even though it had caught her in the face.

Ten minutes later the score was:

Gryffindor: 80

Elves: 60

The air seemed to change. The elves suddenly upped their game. Cilath and Van and Alya performed complex and confusing chaser tactics and neither the Gryffindor Chasers nor Mc Laggen could keep up. Within five minutes the elves had scored three times and were now 10 points ahead. They scored twice more before Gryffindor even got the ball again, but Earithramir stopped their attempts to score with seemingly little effort.

Ten more minutes and the score was

Gryffindor: 80

Elves: 220

Ron suddenly realised what they were doing and he couldn't believe it. He stop up and whistled. But it wasn't just any whistle, it was a summoning whistle. Cilath flew over, while Van guarded the ball. Madam Hooch came hurtling over right behind her.

"What Ron? Was it another-"

"No! What are you doing!"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? You're trying to draw the score. You're trying to set it that if Harry gets the snitch, you'll have enough points that you'll draw."

"So what if we are?"

"You can't do that Cilath! This is like any battle. You don't draw!"

"Sometimes you do. And besides this way everybody saves face."

"No they won't! The students want a winner even if it isn't the one they wanted. For goodness sake! Don't you know anything about humans?" Cilath's face seemed to tighten. Ron knew he'd been too harsh.

"Apparently not." she said stiffly and then zoomed away. She called for the Quaffle and then once she had it she flew off. Within a minute she scored again. 230 to the elves. She tossed the Quaffle to Van and said something in elvish as loud as she could. Ron tried, but he just couldn't make out the words. 'Uh oh.' he thought to himself nervously. The elves called a time out and huddled together. Ron swallowed and then shrugged 'The damage is done, may as well keep going with my gut.' He waved and got Harry's attention and beckoned him over. Harry flew down.

"What's going on Ron?"

"Look Harry the elves might kill me for this but I don't care. They were trying to draw the score, they were going to let you catch the snitch but have enough points so that you'd draw."

"Why would they do that?"

"I think it's because they're afraid of the students becoming even more unfriendly to them than they have been if they win. But they don't want to loose either, elves are very competitive. Look Harry I said something and royally pissed Cilath off. I think they're gonna play fully now. You have to get the snitch if you want to save face. Get Ginny to score a goal and get the snitch! Other wise Lomli'll get it and you loose by three hundred points!" Harry paled slightly and then nodded. Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Harry flew off. Ron prayed for his life. 'When I said this would end in bruises I didn't think they'd be on me.'

The game resumed and the elves played ferociously. Ron covered his eyes and watched between his fingers as they shot through the air like arrows, the Quaffle zipping between them. Ginny managed to get her hands on the Quaffle and scored a goal, but only just barely. Ron dug his nails into his skin as suddenly Harry and Lomli both dived. They were neck and neck, seeker against seeker, firebolt against firebolt. Ron groaned. Suddenly Harry's hand shot out and he suddenly stopped in his dive and held his fist in the air with delight. Ron nearly fainted. Harry had got the snitch. It was a draw. He watched as the elves flew down to the ground and groaned again. He may as well go now and face the music. He made his way down and walked over to the elves who were talking amongst themselves while the students talked furiously and cheered as well. Ron hoped that the draw would go down well with them otherwise there might be trouble. Lomli spotted him first and as one the elves fell slightly. They all looked at him and he looked from one to the other, finally staring at Cilath. "Ok, look I'm sorry I interfered but I didn't think it was right. I had to help Harry, I had to tell him. I just… I thought he needed to know to give him a good boost of encouragement to catch the snitch. I care about them too, I-"

"Ron. You're babbling." Earithramir grinned, Ron blushed and looked at the elves. Cilath passed her broom to Lomli and then walked forwards, until she was right in front of him, her face unreadable. He looked at the ground. She took his face in her hands and kissed him powerfully on the lips. His eyebrows shot up but he kissed her back anyway. She pulled away but still held his face in her hands.

"I'm proud of you." she told him, before letting him go.

"Huh?" Ron looked at her in utter bewilderment.

"The Gryffindors needed you and you came through for them. I'm proud of you." Ron blinked in confusion and then understood.

"This whole thing was a setup."

"Yes."

"You wanted me to… to prove to Harry and the others that I was still loyal to them. Since Quidditch is so important to them and me… clever little elf." he whispered finally. Little was not an appropriate word for Cilath who was just a little taller than him. He smiled and kissed her, lightly sucking on her lower lip before pulling away, feeling eyes staring at him hard. He looked to the side to see the whole Gryffindor team gaping at him, as well as a lot of other people. "What?" he asked Harry who was closest to him.

"You and Cilath are…?" Harry said slowly as if his mind was going too fast for his mouth.

"Yes." Ron put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He rested his forehead against hers, giving her a tender look before looking back at his old friend. "What of it?"

"I thought you were gay!" Harry blurted, and then slapped a hand over his mouth in shock. Ron stared at him in equal shock.

"What?"

"I, we…" Harry stammered and then fell silent, his cheeks going pink.

"We thought you and Lomli were together." Hermione said, frowning slightly.

"Me and… Lomli?" Ron stared at them a moment longer before he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that Cilath had to support him. "You thought… me and… oh that's good! Really good!" Ron kept laughing as he turned to Earithramir and Lomli who, it turned out were kissing each other in victory. "Where'd you get that idea anyway?"

"Malfoy said you were and we saw you and Lomli wrestling and we…" Harry shrugged, smiling as he realised how stupid it had been of them to believe anything Malfoy said.

"Actually, Malfoy never said you were gay. He said Lomli was. We saw you two wrestling and just assumed." Hermione said slowly, a faint pink in her cheeks.

"Well you know what they say about assuming, don't you." Ron chuckled, "And Lomli isn't gay."

"He sure seems to be judging by the way he's glued to Earithramir." Fred said matter of factly.

"Elves don't have a sexual orientation like humans do." Cilath said, still cuddled up to Ron. "I suppose the closest expression you have for us is bisexual, but even that doesn't really qualify what we are. Bisexuality can suggest that we limit ourselves to one partner at a time. We're not like that. We can have several lovers at once."

"You mean like a threesome?" Ron asked, paying full attention to her now.

"Or more."

"Why am I only learning this now?"

"Well I thought I should take it slow with you. Our intimate moments are not exactly… what word do you use? Kinky?" Ron went crimson as Fred and George fell to the ground with howls of laughter.

"You elves are full of surprises aren't you?" he muttered in her ear, before throwing caution to the wind and licking along it. She shivered and smiled at him.

"We try." she purred, pulling him into a possessive kiss. It felt good to kiss his princess in the open like this. It told the whole school she was his and would hopefully stop a good half of the population to stop ogling her. They finally pulled apart and Ron slid his arm down lower so his hand rested on her hip.

"So…" he turned back to his old friends, "Are you going to have a party? Steal some sweets from Honeyduke's?"

"You, uh, won't tell the teachers about that one will you?" Harry asked urgently.

"And loose my own chance to sneak free sweets? Fat chance. I still have to introduce Cilath to the place."

"We could go next weekend, the mid term's coming up." Cilath offered. "I'm curious about these every flavoured beans you told me about."

"Cilath, you are not going to find one that tastes like Spiced Wine."

"Oh well, maybe there'll be one that tastes like boiled ham. That's something I've become extremely fond of."

"Just go down to the kitchens!"

"But I want to taste it in a sweet. That's something I've never done Ron."

"You want to experience the weirdest things my love." Ron chuckled.

"Which explains what you're doing with Ron." George stated.

"Well he has his charming qualities." Cilath purred, linking her fingers through his at her hip. "One of which is his wonderful accepting quality. He just embraces new cultures and new experiences with such a relaxed eagerness." Her radiant smile shone out as she spoke. "Among other… impressive qualities." Ron grinned stupidly as she started making him walk back to the school. He could feel Harry and his brother's stupefied gazes on his back and he grinned to himself. He couldn't deny it was certainly nice to come out on top.

Ok, hopefully some proper action next chapter, review and let me know what you think. Also I'm considering rewritting A warrior's Life. I think if I explain and set up more in that, then this will work out better. Keep an eye on it to see what happens.

Night's Darkness