Disclaimer: It's JKR's not mine, I highly doubt my version of the events would even reach her radar on a good day.

As always many thanks to my beta chem prof, he is the one who makes everything all readable and hopefully believable.

''''''''''''''''''''''''

"You aren't going to get away with this!" Hermione shrilly stated as her detention with Umbridge was ending. It had involved lines, which in and of themselves weren't a terrible punishment. No, it was the fact that she had been forced to use a blood quill instead of a usual quill. As her lip quivered Hermione sardonically thought of everything she had read on the torture device she had been forced to use. The quill would carve the writings of the victim into the back of their hand using the blood of the cuts to replenish the 'inkwell'.

Umbridge eyed Hermione maliciously for a long moment before she stated, "Little mudblood, your boyfriend may be the flavor of the month right now, but I have friends that reach higher and further than yours do. The ministry will not cower in the face of purported great wizards like Dumbledore or Baby Potter."

With tears in her eyes Hermione softly, but coldly retorted, "Harry is ten times the wizard Fudge will ever be." It was said in such a soft tone that Umbridge never heard it, and Hermione simply gathered her book bag and exited the defense classroom in search of the Gryffindor common room.

"I hope you have learned your lesson about what happens to little girls who lie," Umbridge sweetly called out as Hermione staggered out into the hall.

Anyone who knew Hermione could see a few conflicting things in her face. First, was the pain and a certain amount of shame for being placed in such a situation in the first place. Did she regret standing up for Harry even in light of her bloody and scarred hand? Nope, not a chance but that didn't change the fact that it had happened.

"Oh, and don't forget, this stays between us or I'll have your prefectship pulled, and your little boyfriend brought up on some trumped up charges personally endorsed by the minister himself." Umbridge called out with one last threat before the door slammed shut.

Second, was the intensity in her eyes as she began to piece together a particularly tricky puzzle with her prodigious intellect and work ethic to back it up. How was she going to hide this from Harry? She was certain he would go ballistic if he saw the end result of her detention, and while she would tell him eventually, telling him now would only cause more headaches and problems. As Umbridge had said earlier, even if Fudge was soon to be on his way out, he was still the most politically powerful individual in all of Wizarding Britain. While Hermione doubted Fudge would try a direct attack on Harry, she wouldn't discount the possibility and for that reason this incident had to remain secret from him.

Finally, in addition to her other emotions she felt more vulnerable at this moment than she had in a very long time. It was one thing she had prided herself upon since the troll incident in her first year. She was never left helpless in the face of danger; she had always given herself an out of some sort. Second year she had grabbed a mirror to protect her from the basilisk. Third year she had carried around the time turner which was a good fallback if something went seriously wrong. In the end it had saved her life, and Harry's, and eventually led to the freedom of Sirius and Buckbeak.

Last year she had been the one to help Harry find the answers in order to survive the Tri-wizard tournament, and caught Rita Skeeter, and she would not let this vile woman get the best of her now. Her brown eyes shone with determination and she walked into a little alcove to give herself a moment to gather her emotions before she had to deal with keeping Harry off of the scent for tonight at the very least.

She snorted lightly as she dabbed at her eyes and pulled the small compact mirror from her carrying bag to check her progress. Harry had never been what she would have considered observant in his first three years of school, but as he had told her before, he reevaluated a lot during the summer after his third year. Having seen that glimpse of a better life with Sirius, he had altered his perspective and while it had been great to study with him and not need to pester him to do so, it was now going to make things much more difficult.

With a sigh she nodded to herself in the mirror before she snapped it shut and returned it to her bag. It was Showtime and she had to make a good performance.

Approaching the Fat Lady's portrait Hermione smiled slightly as she uttered, "Pride of the Lions."

The Fat Lady nodded and said, "Of course it is dear, have a good night."

The portrait door swing open revealing the bustling common room of Gryffindor house, with several of the older students piled around the front two couches near the currently dormant fireplace. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Lavender were in the far right corner of the room, and it appeared that Harry was the only one doing homework as Lavender watched Ron and Ginny play some chess.

As though he could sense her presence Harry glanced up and gave her a weary smile before he softly asked, "How was detention with the b-witch?"

Hermione grinned as she plopped down in Harry's lap, waiting for Harry to pull his book and parchment up before she replied, "It was fine, she had me do some lines about not lying. But, in the grand scheme of things it wasn't bad. Unlike some people I know, I don't get a new detention every other week."

Harry arched his eyebrow and poked his tongue out before he began to tickle Hermione's sides in a maneuver which was most definitely unbecoming for a prefect. So caught up was he in the giggles and laughed protest from her, he never noticed the grimace that lit up her face as he grazed the back of her right hand. However, one set of eyes did catch the look of pain and the witch silently made a note to bring it up later when they were alone.

By the time Harry and Hermione had settled down he idly glanced down at his robes and noticed a speck of blood. Frowning he spoke, "When did I get blood on my robes? Did I hurt you?" he finished in a concerned whisper as his eyes bored into hers.

Hermione quickly answered in a slightly high pitched voice, "You probably got it when you were mixing salamander blood into your potion during class today. Remember I told you to be careful with it because it stains horribly."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged. "I suppose it's possible; good thing Snape didn't take points off for wasting ingredients or some such nonsense."

Hermione laughed softly. "He seems to be in a much better mood so far this year, so I doubt he would take points for something as silly as that."

Ron snorted. "Nice for Snape is horrid for normal people Herms."

Hermione snapped, "Don't call me Herms, or I'll be forced to call you Billius..."

Lavender's eyes shot up from the latest edition of Teen Witch Weekly as she asked, "Billius?"

Ron's ears went red as he muttered, "It's my middle name."

Lavender giggled before she consoled, "It really could be a lot worse Ronnie."

Ron sighed before Lavender gave him a quick peck on the cheek in consolation, which seemed to lift his spirits from the sulking mood he was about to enter. Hermione and Ginny shared a look, where a brief conversation took place before talk shifted to Neville's whereabouts and the happenings in class for the day.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Hermione finally managed to get away by around nine, begging off with the excuse of keeping ahead on sleep to avoid a repeat of third year. It had been a convincing lie and one that Harry couldn't really find any fault in as he retired to his own dorm to rest after the longest day of the week.

Hermione snuck into the bathroom, which was fortunately empty, as she squeezed her tube of murtlap essence and began to rub the soothing slave into the cuts on the back of her hand. As she watched the cuts slowly close up a voice called out, "You didn't actually write lines in detention, did you?"

Hermione glanced up into the bathroom mirror and sighed at the sight of Ginny looking at her wounded hand with a skeptical expression on her face.

Glancing around, she pulled her wand from her pocket and cast silencing charms around the bathroom before she answered, "Professor Umbridge did have me write lines. But, instead of using a regular quill I used a blood quill."

Ginny's eyes opened wider as she sputtered, "A blood quill? But those are extremely illegal. My dad found some muggle pens charmed the same and the wizard with them went to Azkaban." She paused for a moment before she added, "You have to tell someone Hermione."

Hermione frowned and shook her head forcefully in the negative before she said, "We can't Ginny. One, if Harry finds out he is going to go ballistic and probably get expelled from school for attacking a professor. Also, Umbridge is the Senior Undersecretary of the Minister and they are not going to believe a muggleborn witch's word over hers."

Ginny frowned noticeably before she deflated and asked, "So you're going to let her get away with this?"

Hermione shook her head again, "No, she won't get away with this. But I am going to deal with this in my own way. I promise I'll tell Harry, but I need to do it in the proper way or it might get ugly. Promise me you won't do or say anything Ginny."

Ginny sighed heavily before she mumbled, "I promise."

Hermione nodded after she gazed at her friend, seemingly measuring the sincerity of her words before she spoke, "Fine, now I have a feeling you wanted to talk about something else. Let's get back to my room and we can chat without worrying if someone wanders in that we don't want hearing what we have to say."

Ginny nodded as she padded behind Hermione into the fifth year girls dorm as they could hear the chatter of Lavender and Parvati inside of the cocoon that was Lavender's bed.

Hermione smiled blandly as she stripped down out of her clothes and Crookshanks began to purr as Ginny rubbed him behind his ears. Pulling on a baggy pair of sweat pants, Hermione grabbed a hair tie and pulled her mane back into a loose ponytail before she pulled on the POTTER jersey she had gotten at the Quidditch World Cup from the year before.

Ginny smiled as Hermione slid next to her and then closed the hangings around her bed before she flicked her wand ensuring their privacy. Tucking her legs into a lotus position she smiled back and asked, "What's up?"

Ginny pulled a pillow from the head of the bed and lay down. Using it as a prop, she rested on her side looking up into Hermione's eyes as she said, "I just wanted to talk about stuff, and no not the kind of stuff we talk about in the common room."

Hermione beckoned Crookshanks and the ginger haired cat-kneazle breed crawled up into her lap purring as she asked, "How are things with Neville going?"

Ginny frowned thoughtfully before she sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "Sometimes I think everything is fine, and then sometimes I get this feeling like we are missing some sort of spark between us. The snogging is fine, but sometimes it's just kind of flat. What about the snogging between you and Harry?"

Hermione smiled serenely, "The thing with us is that we don't need a spark, we can just be and still make things work. We just have this unbelievable comfort level between us. When we kiss I don't have to worry about being embarrassed if I try something new and he doesn't like it...or he likes it too much. We've done a little bit of petting, and I think it has been fun and if Harry's face is any judge he has liked it too."

Ginny smirked and said, "Well of course he would, even the great Harry Potter is susceptible to the wiles of a beautiful and intelligent witch."

Hermione waved the compliment away and asked in a conspiratorial whisper, "How are things with Ron and Lavender going? I mean I saw that they've been sitting together during class and meals, but what does that mean exactly?"

Ginny giggled. "Well he did ask her to the Hogsmeade weekend and she accepted. I think Ron is trying to emulate a lot of what Harry does with you."

Hermione frowned. "But why would he do that?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "He's Ron, if he can find a way to actually do something without learning how and why he should do it, then he will. He always has been rather lazy, but smart enough to get by when he needed to."

Hermione sighed. "You're right, he would do just barely enough to pass or succeed without wasting any energy. Of course, that's also why Harry was named a prefect instead of him, and if Harry wants it he'll have the Quidditch captaincy next year."

Ginny poked her tongue out. "As much as I adore Harry, I really don't want to talk about him right now. Let's focus on my doofus brother, and what his officially being with Lavender might actually be like now that we've seen them in action."

Hermione shrugged. "Ginny, we can't hold his hand on this forever and frankly he needs to learn some things all by himself."

Ginny frowned and sat up squeezing the pillow to her chest. "I-I know but I don't like seeing Ron get hurt if I can help it."

Hermione sighed. "It's how you learn Ginny, and while I love your mother to bits she has this tendency to not let her kids, you two especially, make any mistakes or learn from them. Did you know that if you help a butterfly out of its cocoon it will die?"

Ginny blinked. "What?"

Hermione explained slowly, "If you help a butterfly out of it's cocoon before it emerges, its wings will never fill with the fluid that allows it to fly and live properly. The struggle of learning for yourself is one of the things everyone who grows up has to deal with. If you and your mum keep helping Ron out of his cocoon beyond offering him words of encouragement then he will never learn to live as himself, but as a combination of you and your mother. I'm through forcing Ron to do anything; it's time to see what he can do on his own terms. I'll help him if he asks or if I see he absolutely needs it, but I won't force my beliefs and solutions onto him any more."

Ginny slumped her shoulders in defeat before she fished for a change of topic. "How are your OWL classes looking after the first day of class?"

Hermione chewed on her lower lip. "Well everything today looks like it should be manageable, aside from Defense anyways. I think we might need to form a club to practice practical application for that class." Pausing she furrowed her brow, "Ginny, when do you have Defense?"

Ginny rubbed her neck in thought before she finally answered, "I have double Defense on Wednesday."

Hermione nodded. "I'll talk to Harry; he probably wouldn't mind meeting once every couple of weeks to lead a study group. Maybe he could even teach everyone the patronus spell; I bet that would be a nice chance to get some extra credit on the defense OWL." Her eyes had lit taken on a slightly manic gleam at the opportunity to learn defense spells from Harry, who had been lucky enough to get tips from a master like Mad-Eye Moody the previous year. While their training hadn't gone beyond the Occlumency during the summer, Hermione had seen memories of the most intensive training the grizzled auror had given to Harry.

Ginny noticed Hermione in full blown academic mode and smiled softly. "Ok girl, I am going to catch up on some beauty sleep. You try to do the same Mrs. Potter."

Hermione crinkled her nose up. "I love Harry, and we might be betrothed in a manner of speaking, but I think the Mrs. Potter jokes are a little bit early."

Ginny simply laughed and gave the older witch a conspiratorial wink as she padded out of the room as Hermione sputtered in disbelief and obligatory outrage.

''''''''''''''''''''

The twilight panther stealthily crept along in the dark corners of Hogwarts, occasionally disappearing and reappearing short distances away. Harry had a bit of a plan to pay Delores Umbridge back. He may have appeared oblivious to Hermione's injury, but he certainly wasn't foolish, vengeful definitely, but no he wasn't foolish. Here he was two days later, seeking out his own personal measure of retribution for the girl he had pledged himself to, and had since he had saved her from a troll almost four years earlier.

Therefore he found himself stalking the halls on a weekday night as he tried to find something he could use to incriminate the witch that had hurt Hermione. In his mind, life was filled with this simple rule, you hurt him he would make sure you are sorry. You hurt Hermione or anyone else he considered family, then he would make your life was a living hell.

Finally he reached the professor's quarters and silently transformed back into his human form, the Marauder's Map already in his hand. With a quietly murmured password, "Mischief Multiplied", the map went into a 'security' mode that Sirius had informed him of during the summer. This would highlight and indicate any and all wards designed to detect another witch or wizard and record it.

Harry scanned the map and found his quarry, Delores Umbridge's personal quarters, a place not for the faint hearted.

Stealthily Harry shifted back into his panther form before he melted into a shadow just as Professor McGonagall came rushing out into the hall in her pajamas and bellowed, "I know you're out here whoever you are, and when I find you; you will be serving detention with me."

''''''''''''''''''

Harry cautiously stepped out of a shadow in the corner of Umbridge's room; the map had indicated no wards present and luckily enough no Umbridge was present either. Slowly he walked out of her bedroom and into the little office she had set up near the entrance of her quarters. Harry had to stifle his gag reflex as a picture of Fudge – in less clothing than he should ever be in, including the times when he invariably washed – was sitting on the desk.

After carefully and wandlessly levitating a few papers he came upon the jackpot he was seeking, a piece of parchment with a timeline which was labeled, "Ministry Procedural Orders for Educational Decrees and Seizure of Control at Hogwarts."

Harry frowned as he skimmed the parchment before he cast a quick duplication charm on it as he heard a voice outside of the door, a few scant feet away. Tucking the duplicate away he waved his hand and watched as all of the papers returned to their original places. While he wasn't accomplished at wandless magic, he could use it for little things like levitating light objects in a pinch.

Shifting back to his panther form Harry disappeared into the shadows just as the door unlocked revealing Umbridge. Her beady eyes shifted to some movement in the far corner of the room, but when she spotted nothing she wrote it off to nerves before she began to prepare for bed.

Mumbling to herself she muttered, "I swear if I didn't love Cornelius as much as I do..."

'''''''''''''''''''''''

It was Friday evening at the end of a long first week back for the term, which coincidentally meant that the annual staff meeting to discuss any potential problems with the schedule or problems with any of the students.

"Filius, I swear to Merlin it is the same with you every year. Each year you promise your Ravenclaws will be atop the house points by the end of the year, and each year you are disappointed," Professor McGonagall teased her colleague as the assorted staff members of Hogwarts were gathered for a staff meeting.

"Pish Posh Minerva, I merely stated that my Ravenclaws have a chance this year barring any of the insane stunts your Gryffindors are so synonymous with, or the cunning rule twisting Severus' Slytherins are known for," Flitwick stated with a small smirk which seemed to fit the diminutive professor perfectly.

Severus Snape, in a very relaxed state, glanced over at Dumbledore before he inserted with a smirk of his own, "While I have supreme confidence in my Slytherins, I am willing to make a wager on the Quidditch Cup if there are any takers."

Professor Pomona Sprout was the first to chime in. "Oh Cedric has ensured a Quidditch Cup here in his last year. I'd be willing to put 100 galleons on it."

As the four respective heads of the houses bantered about each of their teams' respective chances of winning the Quidditch Cup Dumbledore was watching Professor Umbridge calmly, but in a very calculating manner.

Finally Dumbledore softly interjected, "While I enjoy a little friendly rivalry as much as the next, I am afraid any wagers will not be allowed in my presence."

All of the professors managed to portray abashed looks, but they had caught the subtle context the wily older wizard had framed his statement in.

Umbridge cleared her throat; Dumbledore hadn't been the only one closely observing the proceedings. "I quite agree Headmaster. I do believe this meeting was called to collaborate on how classes have proceeded for the first week."

Dumbledore smiled ingratiatingly at his Ministry appointed Defense instructor before he opened the floor. "Very well Delores, why don't you start with a summary of your classes for the week."

Umbridge nodded. "Well I have to admit to being somewhat confused and perplexed as to the distribution of grades that Professor Moody supplied for me."

Dumbledore's beard crinkled imperceptibly before he dutifully rose to the bait. "How so Delores?"

Umbridge tilted her head up slightly. "Moody indicated that Potter and Granger were at the top of the class and his dueling club. Yet during my first class Granger was insubordinate and spewing vicious lies about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, while Potter never volunteered an answer once."

Professor Sprout frowned thoughtfully. "I'm sorry Delores but that doesn't sound like Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger at all. Ms. Granger has always been a very respectful and intelligent member of my class. Potter has been much improved in that regard during the last year also."

Umbridge snarled, "Merciful Merlin, I see the staff at Hogwarts have fallen for all of the tripe they print about the golden boy. He is merely a creation of celebrity starved idiots who needed a hero to explain the downfall of the most powerful dark lord in centuries."

It was in that moment that Delores Umbridge thought she had committed suicide as at least a dozen sets of eyes seemed to measure her very existence. Finally Professor McGonagall spoke in a low but deathly cold voice, "That boy has seen more evil and dealt with more pain than you could ever possibly imagine, and unlike you he has stood up to this pain and conquered it. It's little political peons like you that have caused the death of numerous good people like Harry's parents. You all criticize Voldemort's methods but secretly you agree with his assessment of our world. You, you vile..." McGonagall trailed off into silence thinking her point had been made admirably, even if it lacked most of her usual tact.

The other professors seemed to be wearing a varying assortment on looks of shock, some were somewhat amused by the dressing down of their new colleague, and some were mildly disapproving thinking some things were better left unsaid. Snape was still wearing that damnable smirk that was quickly becoming associated with the greasy hair potions master much like his sneer used to be.

Flitwick spoke with an arched eyebrow, "What Professor McGonagall meant to say was, that as an educator such bias is completely unacceptable here at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, unlike the rest of us she has a more vested interest in Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger and reacted accordingly. I believe the comparison of a mother bear protecting her cubs is very apt here. You will find every professor's priority is to provide an education here in a safe and unbiased environment."

There were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the professors, and the meeting more or less returned to some semblance of normalcy after a few more tense moments. One thing was absolutely certain though – to those in the staff that were in disbelief after the headmaster's initial warnings about the Defense instructor, the meeting had laid those doubts to rest.

For Delores Umbridge however, she merely noted those in the staff she thought she could trust or coerce in the coming days and those that she would have to shunt aside like she would Dumbledore.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

It was a relatively new experience for Harry to watch formal tryouts for the Quidditch team, considering his first three years of Quidditch had consisted of the exact same players on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Now the only captain he had ever known in Oliver Wood was gone, and they were adding a fourth chaser to the roster to have someone else with experience in the coming years when Angelina and Alicia graduated at the end of the term.

"Harry, what exactly are you supposed to be doing today?" Hermione queried her boyfriend as he hovered in the air next to her seat in the Gryffindor stands of the Quidditch pitch. There was this indefinable tension that had been brewing between them ever since Hermione's run in with the blood quill, and Harry's retaliatory trip to Umbridge's office, the contents of the trip which still remained a secret to all but the raven haired wizard who had been there.

Harry shrugged. "Angelina told me that I was supposed to help supervise like every other member of the team. Why, is this boring you? You can always leave if you want to; I mean I didn't ask you to come and waste your day."

Hermione huffed in annoyance. "I know you didn't ask Harry, but it's important to you and I want to support you."

Harry merely nodded in response, "Thank you."

The response seemed to catch Hermione off guard for a fleeting moment. She had expected their little tiff to continue and Harry's polite response had her searching for a suitable answer. "Like I said Harry, if it matters to you it matters to me. I mean I've been to every single one of your Quidditch games and a vast majority of your practices."

Harry managed a small smile as he gazed down at the chaser try-outs. They were down to the last two prospects and it appeared that Ginny would be the one to make the team. Turning on his Firebolt slowly Harry shifted his eyes to Hermione and Lavender watching the action from the stands. Hermione was dressed in full muggle attire as she wore a pair of khaki shorts that showed off her nice legs and a Gryffindor t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase 'I like my seekers with Black Hair and Green Eyes.' It had been one of Hermione's little projects, trying to find a way to create custom t-shirts to combine her muggle upbringing with her magical life she lived nowadays.

Finally he acknowledged to himself it was time to come clean with her following practice. He didn't care if she was insulting him by keeping her secrets, he would end the petty cycle before it got any worse. He softly said, "I'm sorry I've never appreciated you as much as I should have."

Before Hermione could proffer a response to Harry's heartfelt statement he zipped down towards the ground to join the rest of the team in greeting their newest team member at the conclusion of the chaser try-outs. Frowning she glanced over at Lavender who smiled slightly and asked, "Problems in paradise?"

Hermione sighed heavily leaning against the support post at the top of the stands before she sighed, "I...don't really know. But I do know that keeping secrets in a relationship is never a good thing, and of course that's what I start off doing the first week of the term."

Lavender's eyes lit up at Hermione's use of the word secret; it was commonly known that Lavender and Parvati were two of the biggest gossip mongers of the school. However, it had also come as no surprise to anyone in the know that the gossips of the school never had any measure of the full truth when dealing with the golden trio of Gryffindor house.

As slyly as she possibly could Lavender spoke, "You know Hermione, it might help to have another girl's opinion on what your secret is before you tell it to Harry."

Hermione stifled the obligatory sigh and rolling of her eyes at such a common tactic used by Lavender. Knowing that the blonde was the girlfriend of one of her best friends she would need more tact. "I appreciate the offer Lav, but I think I already know how Harry is going to react."

Lavender looked disappointedly at the bushy-haired witch, whose eyes had focused back down on the field where Angelina briefly amplified her voice using Sonorus and announced, "Ginny Weasley has won the reserve chaser position. Thank you to all of you that came to try out. Those that are here for the starting keeper try out please line up over by the far left scoring post with your brooms."

Canceling the spell, Angelina grabbed Ginny around the shoulder and led her towards Katie and Alicia. Harry had zipped towards the twins over by the posts and he grinned at them before he asked, "So, how are we going to be scoring our contestants for the starting keeper position?"

Fred grinned, "Originally we wanted to shoot off fireworks while they tried to save shots …"

George continued, "… but Angelina wasn't very happy with that plan so she told us …"

"… if we valued our brooms or our broomsticks literally or euphemistically …"

"… then we should just have the chasers take shots at the prospective players …"

"… and judge who the best is based upon technique and results."

"So of course we agreed, because while we may be pranksters we are not blind to threats to one of our best qualities."

Harry laughed. "I think I get the point guys." Furrowing his brow he said, "I am going to take my spot about one hundred and fifty feet up in the air. I'll keep an eye on things from above, you two keep an eye on things from closer to the ground."

Fred and George saluted Harry with mock solemnity as he zipped into the air with a grin on his face at their usual antics.

He took a moment to glance over at the stands to take a look at Hermione. He hated arguing with her over stuff like this. When he argued with Ron he could always see a quick and easy resolution, but when he argued with Hermione it was often like stepping through a minefield in clown shoes.

'''''''''''''''''''

Ron's hands were beyond clammy, and this was his chance to be something that no one else in his family had been. With trembling hands he pulled his keeper gloves on slowly as a seventh year took to the hoops for his try out. Taking deep but tremulous breaths Ron tried to picture himself succeeding when a tap at his shoulder broke his momentary concentration. He turned with a grimace and there stood Luna Lovegood with a mysterious smile on her face.

"Hello Ronald, the wrackspurts and nargles are out today so I thought you could use a good luck kiss." She stated dreamily but with a faint blush on her cheeks.

Ron blinked. "That's erm sweet Luna, but I have a girlfriend and I doubt she'd like that."

Luna waved his objection away. "I never said I was going to snog you, just a good luck kiss on the cheek."

Ron nodded slowly and Luan's dreamy face lit up into a smile that was beautiful in its own quirky way. She leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek before she whispered into his ear, "I believe in you Ronald."

Ron suddenly felt all of the tension and nerves in his body melt away leaving only his confidence and a goofy smile on his face. If he had glanced up to the stands he would have seen Lavender's face purple and Hermione give the scene a thoughtful look.

Luna then pulled away and with an aloof smile said, "I'm going to look for some thunderbellied salamanders by the lake, you're welcome to join me after you get the keeper position."

Ron heard Fred's voice call out, "Cormac McLaggen!"

McLaggen, a tall wiry haired wizard in his sixth year resembled Wood in a lot of ways, strutted out to the pitch before he climbed up on his new Comet 290 before he zipped up into the air surrounding the rings.

Ron rubbed his hands over the length of his Cleansweep 11 he had gotten as a birthday present from Harry and Hermione the previous year. Luna confused him in ways he was certain weren't possible after a full week of learning about girls with Lavender. She excited in ways that Lavender never really had. Sure Lavender was a pretty girl with a nice body, but she had never really challenged him in the ways Luna already had in a matter of a week.

Ron still vaguely remembered that Luna used to visit the Burrow somewhat regularly back when he and Ginny were younger, but that had all stopped one day and all his mum had tearfully told the two of them was the Luna's mum had moved on to a better place. Suddenly seven years of maturity snapped into place and he understood that Luna had lost her mother at an early age. Just as he was about to puzzle out the varying feelings that simple conclusion had led him to George called out, "Ickle Ronniekins!"

Ron refused to let the twins get a rise out of him now, this was too important so he walked with a quiet confidence onto the pitch. It was now or never.

A/N: Next chapter will be a continuation of this one, including the conversation between Harry and Hermione, Ron's fate in his try out, Umbridge begins to take steps, and Voldemort shows he isn't sitting idly by.

Thanks to everyone that has continued to read and thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review.

Question of the Chapter:

What is more important to a reader of the Harry Potter books for the upcoming finale in DH: Shipping, who lives and who dies, or just simply how well written the end of Harry's journey is?