HARRY
Quidditch tryouts were more stressful than they had ever been before, now that the fate of the team rested on the carefully considered positions appointed by me. Not to mention Ron was slowing creeping into an anxious mess as time crept closer and closer to the auditions. I kept a sharp eye out for any new students that showed particular skill, as did Mcgonagall, and she furtively kept reminding me of them whenever she spotted me in the halls between classes.
"Harry you ready?" Ron gave me a pleading look,
"Yeah yeah." I said finishing up the paper I was writing. I had promised Ron that I would practice with him before tryouts. I ran up to my trunk to grab my broom and gear. As soon as we were outside on the grounds my spirits began to soar. The warm autumn air was fresh with sea spray, we walked over to the quidditch pitch. We kicked off into the air, but even with simple passes Ron was so nervous he was dropping then more then anything.
"Harry do you think you could postpone tryouts til ya' know. Just so you can have more time to prepare."
"Ron!" I laughed, "You still have a week, and you played last year so odds are you'll do just fine!" I said reassuringly, Ron gave a nod as if he was trying to comfort himself, but then turned a shade of yellow and touched to the ground carefully. We practiced blocks, and flying in general, within an hour Ron was performing so badly that I thought it would be better to quit before he lost all faith in himself.
"Maybe that's all for today, after all you have been off all Summer!" I chirped positively, trying to raise his spirits. He grunted in response and followed me as we walked out of the pitch and began to make our way back to the castle. We mounted our brooms and began to fly, racing to different points and crashing plenty. Rons mood seemed to have risen, and we were about to enter the castle when a head of white blonde hair caught the corner of my eye, emerging from trees in the distance. Thinking fast I grabbed ron and pulled him down behind the wall.
"Wha- ARG!" I put a finger to my lips and he raised my eyebrows back at me.
"Follow me." I mounted my broom again and flew low to the ground hiding behind barriers as I went. We circled behind him and took cover in the trees he had just exited.
"Harry…" Ron began exasperated, but I knew Malfoy was up to something and would not be perturbed. I narrowed at my eyes, he seemed to have been laughing at something, and that's when I noticed a girl with long dark hair emerge from behind him.
"Harry isn't that that girl…ya know… that beat you?"
"Yeah." I breathed, "Wheres Crabbe and Goyle?"
"You know Harry usually when I take a girl in the creepy forest I don't bring my big lunk head sidekicks." Ron smirked, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
"Well what do you think they were doing, I mean what if Malfoy is hiding something in the Forbidden Forest? That'd be a really good hiding place Ron!" I protested at the look of humor on Ron's face.
"Harry I mean you've only dated Cho, but you're not that thick. Malfoy alone in the forest...with a girl. I mean what'd you be doing?"
I could feel heat rising to my face and turned away from Ron so he couldn't see. Malfoy and Chloe looked like they were actually enjoying each other's company, she kept shoving him in laughter as they walked.
"Oh." I replied, the words just have formed in my mouth.
"But you know what is weird," Ron began looking after them thoughtfully,
"Malfoy actually is acting like a decent person?" I asked bitterly.
"Well that, and they look like they just got out of the showers or something…" Barely hearing him, I stood up. The couple were far off now and only the laughter was faintly heard bubbling over the hills. The sound put a scowl on my face, I shook my head trying to clear it.
"Let's get inside." I mumbled to Ron feeling immensely embarrassed. He shrugged and followed after me back up to the castle. When we got back to the common room I mumbled something about having left a quill in the great hall and set off stuffing my invisibility cloak under my robes. The sun was setting and the corridor was flooded in a soft pink glow. Half running, half walking, I made my way down to the Room of Requirement careful not to draw too much attention to myself as I went.
"Potter." A sneering voice drawled behind me, I stopped in my track and feeling thoroughly annoyed turned to face Snape.
"And where are you headed to this lovely evening?" His face twitched in annoyance.
"I-the library." I lied, fully aware that I was walking in the opposite direction.
"You'd think after 6 years you'd know that the library is that way." His crooked finger pointed away from the Room of Requirement.
"Right er- I just got turned around." I said and having no other choice began to walk back down the hallway. Trying to decide when I could turn back and Snape would no longer be lurking I turned the corner and spotted a familiar face.
"Chloe?" I ran up to her, her hair was still wet, as Ron had to carefully observed before. She jumped in surprise and stuffed something under her cloak.
"Oh Harry! Hi!" She laughed nervously.
"What was that?" I laughed, taking a playful swipe at her arms which were hidden. She sidestepped me, getting out of my reach.
"Just a book." She answered, taking another step back.
"Just a book?" I teased, "What are you cheating in potions?"
"Yup that's it. I am definitely cheating in potions. We don't all have your natural ability." She said giving me a wary eye, and then they sparkled and she added, "After all, all you have is just a book."
I looked at her confused, she knew about the prince? We stood there for several minutes just staring at each other, then Snape appeared from around the corner dragging Draco Malfoy by the collar engaging in a heated argument that stopped abruptly when they noticed us.
"Fullmer! Potter! What are you doing in the corridors? Get to your common rooms immediately!" Asking no questions I darted away and back to the common room, full of renewed curiosity.
