Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or anything Harry Potter related.
A/N: SO I realized that I made a slight mistake. Not a big one... It only just occurred to me that Ron was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team in 5th year. Oops. I have updated Chapter 21 to include that... now on to the chapter!
Things were slowly beginning to look normal again. Everyone was friends again, though I was slightly weary around Ben. I knew that he was sorry for his mistake and that he was doing something to fix it, but I still couldn't bring myself to trust him just yet. I was proud of him for doing something so dangerous to help protect Harry, though. It was only a matter of time before he had gained back my trust.
Other than the Ben stuff, everything was pretty much boring. All of the Professors were piling on assignments and tests to prepare us for our OWLs which were slowly approaching. I had never seen so much homework in my life. Hermione had already created a study schedule for us, since we were taking all the same classes...even though it was only November. She forced me to study Ancient Runes with her every evening after classes.
This proved to be extremely difficult, as I was also balancing my lessons with Dumbledore and quidditch practice. The lessons were going pretty well. Athena, Ben and I had been focusing on making our powers work together better. We were getting really good at anticipating the other person's next move. Dumbledore seemed really pleased with our progress, so I wasn't so worried about the lessons.
Quidditch, on the other hand, was a whole different story. Our first game against Slytherin was coming up on Wednesday, which was just two days away. Angelina was obsessively pacing around the Gryffindor common room, muttering to herself about different plays that we could try. It was almost like Oliver Wood was back...
The team seemed strong enough this year but I was still nervous about playing against Slytherin. They had no problem at all with knocking people off their brooms. Ron and I had started practising together quite a bit recently. I could tell that Ron was terrified of the first match, which was resulting in him letting in more and more Quaffles. I tried to be encouraging, but it was starting to make me even more nervous.
Angelina had scheduled us to practice every night that week. Hermione was certainly not happy about setting the entire study schedule a week back, but I figured she would get over it eventually.
Today's quidditch practice had been especially brutal. The weather was starting to become cold and rainy. Today was no exception. The poring rain made it exceptionally difficult to see the goal posts. I couldn't imagine how Harry was managing to see the snitch. Ron's nervousness was at an all time high today, and he managed to let in every goal that we sent toward him.
"Team, stop your whining! We have to practice in this weather! We never know how it''s going to be on Wednesday!" She called when we began complained upon exiting the changing rooms. I knew she was right, but that didn't stop me from making faces at her when her back was turned. Harry found this amusing and began to laugh loudly, but turned it into a cough when Angelina gave him a suspicious glance.
Speaking of Harry, things were going great with him. We were both so busy at the moment that I felt like I hadn't really talked to him in days. We had organized an official date for this coming Saturday, as it was a Hogsmeade trip. This meant that we had four days to tell Ron and Hermione about our relationship. We decided to leave that until after the quidditch match was over.
By the time the practice had ended, we were all soaked from head to toe, and shivering. I had never been happier to see the inside of the change rooms that I was today. I took a hot shower before changing quickly and going back to the common room. I had to finish my Charms homework before tomorrow, so I collected my books and found a nice corner of the common room to make my nest.
Ron was silent for the rest of the night. He just sat on the couch in front of the fire, watching the flames flicker. I felt really bad for the guy, but I couldn't think of a way to cheer him up.
The homework too me twice as long as I had hoped. It was probably because I was so tired that I kept falling asleep on top of my books. Harry, being the gentleman that he is, kept shooting rubber bands at me every time he saw me dozing off. I made a mental note to get him back later. After several hours of hard work I managed to finish the work. My eyes were tired and my body was cramping up. I looked around me and realized that the common room was completely empty except for Neville who looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"Neville, do you need some help?" I asked reluctantly. I was longing for my bed but he always had a helpless quality that made me feel the need to help him.
"I'm just having trouble with these potions questions! Snape makes me so nervous," he muttered, embarrassed. I suppressed a smile. It was pretty common knowledge that Snape terrified the poor boy. I was sure that Neville would be an adequate potion-maker if Snape wasn't constantly breathing down his neck.
"Let me see!" I said, grabbing the piece of parchment. I looked it over and corrected a couple of mistakes he had made.
"There you go! It should make more sense now," I told him, handing him back his work.
"Thanks, Ava," he said gratefully.
"No problem, Neville! G'night!" I said, and continued to the girls' stairs.
"Night!" I heard from the common room.
Today was the quidditch game against Slytherin. I had managed to get a good night's sleep, with the aid of a tiny sip of sleeping potion from my stash... clearly I'm an insomniac. I got up bring and early and got ready for the day. I went to make sure that Ron and Harry were awake, which they weren't. I had to threaten both of them with a tickling charm to get their lazy asses out of bed. After quickly getting ready, Harry, Ron and I went to the Great Hall to grab a quick bite to eat before going to the changing rooms. Ron had a sickly, green tinge to his skin. He looked like he was going to be sick at any moment. I tried giving him some encouraging words, but nothing was working.
Angelina was already there, surrounded with multiple boards, covered in plays. She looked a little bit frazzled, to say the least. Clearly, she wanted to keep up the Gryffindor winning streak that we maintained from winning the quidditch cup two years ago.
I went and collected my stack of quidditch robes and went to get ready. By the time I had finished getting dressed, Fred and George had arrived in the change room, followed by Katie Bell. Everyone was gathered around, busy getting ready. Harry was sitting on a bench trimming the bristles of his broom, while Fred was flirting with Angelina. She didn't seem pretty impressed by his attempt at courting... Once everyone was finished getting ready, Angelina made us gather around her play boards.
"Alright team. We've trained hard, and we have a good chance here. We've already proved that we can be the best team. Now let's go out there and show those Slytherins how to play quidditch!" She said. The entire team (minus Ron) cheered loudly. We began getting our gear together. I strapped on my gloves, and grabbed my Nimbus 2000. We all exited the changing room and were greeted by thunderous applause from the packed stadium. I noticed that several Slytherin spectators were holding signs that said "Weasley is our King". I could feel Ron shaking beside me. I gave his hand a quick, reassuring squeeze.
Luckily, the weather was perfect quidditch conditions. The sun was a little bit bright and there was a bit of a cold breeze, but there were no hints of rain clouds in the sky, which was a definite plus. The smell of freshly cut grass and the sounds of the cheering crowds made butterflies flutter through my stomach. I alway got nervous before a game, but I knew that as soon as I kicked off the ground, those fears would disappear.
"Good luck," Harry whispered to me before running over to his position. The team took our places on the field as well. Angelina shook Flint's hand, and mounted her broom. We all followed suit and got ready for take off. I glanced around at the Slytherin team. Malfoy was standing opposite Harry. He had on a broad smirk on his face.
"I want a nice, fair game from all of you," Madam Hooch called out, throwing a suspicious glance over at the Slytherin team. We all nodded in agreement. Then, there was a loud screech of a whistle, and we were off!
Within seconds of the whistle, the Quaffle was flying toward me. I swooped down and caught it just in time. I took off toward the Slytherin Chaser. I was mere feet away from being able to shoot, when I noticed a Bludger shooting toward. I was about to be squished but thankfully George came out of nowhere and hit the Bludger in the opposite direction.
"Cutting it a little bit close there, Weasley," I joked before speeding forward and throwing the Quaffle. The chaser must have been a little distracted by my almost-death. Unfortunately, he swooped over at the last possible second and saved the goal.
The Slytherins gained possession of the Quaffle. They shot at Ron, and he missed it. The Quaffle soared through the centre hoop. I groaned loudly. Then I heard the crowd. They were singing.
Weasley is our King.
Weasley is our King.
He always lets the Quaffle in.
Weasley is our King.
I didn't have time to be angry because Angelina had called a time out. We all dived and landed on the grass beside her. Ron was looking greener than ever.
"Harry, any sight of the snitch yet?" She asked.
"I caught a glimpse of it, but it flew away before I could get to it," he explained.
"Alright then. Just make sure that ferret Malfoy doesn't get it," she ordered.
"Will do, boss," Harry joked. She turned and started talking to the twins.
"Harry, don't be afraid to know that Malfoy git off his broomstick!" I whispered.
"Don't tempt me," he sighed. A couple of minutes later, we were all in the air again. Things didn't improve very much after that. The Slytherins were still singing their Weasley is Our King song, which was making Ron more agitated. He managed to let in three more goals. Now the score was forty-zero. I was starting to get worried.
The singing was getting louder and louder. I saw the Quaffle flying in between two of the Slytherin chasers. I took the opportunity and dived, and caught the Quaffle before it reached the second Slytherin. I soared toward the Slytherin goalposts, and flung the Quaffle as hard as I possibly could.
Thankfully, it flew through the centre hoop! The crowd went wild. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye I saw Harry take a steep dive. Everyone stopped to watch. Malfoy was right on his tail, trying to snatch the Snitch before Harry could get it. But alas, Harry was a much better flyer, and Malfoy was left behind as Harry picked up speed. He stretched out his arm, and it was all over.
He raised his hand in triumph, and I could see tiny gold wings fluttering furiously in his clenched fist. I screamed loudly with the rest of the crowd! I was about to fly over and congratulate Harry when I saw him buckle in agony, as a Bludger collided into his back. The force knocked him off his broom. He was low to the ground though so he wasn't really hurt from the fall, but I charged over to where he was lying.
"Harry? Are you alright?" I said as I touched down on the ground.
"I'm ok... just going to have a nasty bruise," he said. I reached over and gently helped him off his back. He was still clutching the Snitch. I was so happy that we had just won, and I was even more happy that Harry was ok. I threw my arms around his neck, and without even thinking I pressed my lips against his. He seemed surprised, but he returned the kiss.
There it was... now the entire school knew about Harry and I. We were going to have a lot of explaining to do tonight when Hermione and Ron were able to talk to us alone. But for now, I was just happy to be wrapped in Harry's arms.
THX FOR READING! :)