I disclaim Harry Potter and Twilight.
So sorry for the long wait. With school starting up, a new job, and crazy dramatic friends there was no time to write. So I apologize. I hope you enjoy the chapter just the same.
The corridors were full for so early in the morning. I walked quickly on my way to breakfast that Saturday morning. Qudditch tryouts were in half an hour and I wanted to get down to the great hall to wish Ron and Ginny good luck. Harry was made captain this year so none would be needed for him. Two steps from the large doors and I tripped over own feet, nothing new but still terribly annoying.
I was about to face plant but, thank Merlin, I was managed to catch myself on my hands before making contact with the marble floor.
"Ugh!" I scolded myself as I got up on hands and knees. Dang it, I was a total klutz.
"Steady on, love." A voice said to me. Soon a hand wrapped around my upper arm and pulled me up to a standing position. I flung my hair back out of my face and brushed my black leather jacket clear of traces of dirt and dust. I finally looked up at my helper, and to my surprise it was Cormac McLaggen. I smiled up at him.
"Thanks, Cormac." I said as I took in his appearance and noted that he was dressed in Qudditch robes. "Trying out for the team?"
The blond boy smiled. "Yes. I'm trying for Keeper." He explained.
I nodded. That was the same position Ron was trying out for. I looked at Cormac's biceps that were large with muscles and thought about Ron's somewhat scrawny arms. This wasn't going to turn out very pleasant, but I could still hope for the best. "Well, um, good luck to you, Cormac. And thanks again." I smiled and started to walk away.
"Oh, Allie. Wait just a moment." I spun around to face him and see what he needed to say. He looked around us before taking a step closer to me and leaning in close to whisper in my ear. "You're best friends with Hermione Granger, right?"
I turned my head to look at him with raised eyebrows. Hermione? He was asking me about Hermione? I just nodded so I could hear more of what he was saying, very intrigued. "Well...is she snogging anyone?" He asked.
My mouth dropped open at his question. I took a step back. "I'm sorry?"
"Ya know, is she dating anyone?" He questioned with a smirk playing across his features.
Whoa, Cormac was into Hermione? I didn't see that one coming. I thought he was the type of guy who would go after a blond bimbo rather that an intelligent girl like Hermione. As I was babbling inside my head, Cormac waited for my response a little impatiently. "Oh, um, no she's not seeing anyone right now." I finally said.
He smiled. "Great. And the two of you will be at tryouts, yes?" He asked. I just nodded, not really knowing if I should have told him that bit about Hermione being single or not. Perhaps I should have just kept my mouth closed. Cormac waved goodbye and headed in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower. I shook my head, still kind of stunned by his questions, and walked into the massive hall. It was bright in the early morning sun light. I scoped out the long Gryffindor table until my eyes met the sight of jet black hair. I walked over to Harry and placed a kiss on his cheek before sitting down between him and Neville.
"Morning all." I greeted. Everyone said hey except for Ron. He sat next to Hermione looking very small and pale. I thought he was about to be ill. "You okay there, Ron?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow.
He nodded really fast before going back to shaking in his seat quietly. Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to reading the paper. "Ignore him. He'll go great at tryouts, he's just being nervous for no reason." She informed me. I sighed and shook my head. Poor Ron. He had to calm down if he wanted to beat Cormac.
"Oh, Hermione!" I started, remembering my encounter with the tall boy this morning. "You'll never guess who asked me about you this morning!" Ron stopped shaking for a moment and looked at me with stunned eyes.
"Who?" Red and Hermione asked in unison. They looked at each other and blushed. I narrowed my eyes at their strange glances before going on.
"Cormac McLaggen. He asked me if you were dating anyone."
Hermione snorted. "Cormac? He has a brain full of saw dust." She said. Her blush grew despite her indifference on the matter. I smiled in response. It might be true that Cormac was not the brightest light bulb in the bunch but it was no secret that he was one of the better looking guys in the school.
"I don't know. I'm just saying." I chuckled once more at Hermione's red cheeks. Suddenly, her face fell from teasing and embarrassed to stunned as her eyes scanned the words on a page of the paper she was reading.
"Oh Merlin." She breathed out.
"What is it?" Harry asked, his mouth full of food. Hermione sighed and slammed the paper down on the table. She twisted it so Harry and I could read. I leaned in and looked at the flashing headline of the enchanted newspaper.
Stan Shunpike Arrested
I felt confused. "Who is Stan Shunpike?"
"He's the Knight Bus driver." Harry told me as he began to read the article. The Knight Bus driver? What was the big deal about him? It didn't seem like something that unusual. I read the article under the caption and gasped. It said that he was working for the Dark Lord.
"Whoa." I said as I realized what that meant.
"Yeah." Hermione added. Ron, as always, was stuffing his face with toast and eggs. He suddenly looked up, pale again. "What happened?" He asked, his voice muffled by food.
"Swallow then speak, Ronald." Hermione sighed as she scanned the page of the Daily Prophet.
Ron did as instructed. "What's goin' on?"
"Stan was working for You-Know-Who." Hermione informed him.
Ron's forehead furrowed. "Really?"
"Mhmm." Hermione said, still reading.
Harry was quiet next to me. I looked over at him and the dark haired boy seemed to be deep in thought. I put a hand on his arm and gently rubbed it. He snapped out of his trance and looked over at me. I smiled. He did the same. "Whatcha thinkin' babe?" I asked.
"I don't think Stan Shunpike is a Death Eater. He is too simple to be one." He observed. I'd never met the man so I could not say if what Harry said about him was true or not. I pursed my lips, thinking over why Voldemort would want someone who worked on the Knight Bus ...
"That might be, Harry, but... but what if he didn't care if Stan was an idiot? He worked on the Knight Bus. He had to have overheard conversations that witches and wizards had during the ride, right? Perhaps Voldemort thought that some of that information could become useful so that is the reason why he recruited Stan?"
No one answered me. Hermione and Harry thought while Ron went back to being pale and nervous. Finally, Harry shook his head 'no'. "He's not Death Eater material. I'm sure of it." Harry said again, confident in his opinion.
I nodded for lack of anything better to do. The dark haired boy sighed, dropping the subject for the time being.
Speaking of time...my eyes dropped down to Hermione's watch and saw that it was time for the Qudditch trials. I smiled and turned to Red. I gave him my most creepy vampire look and said "It's time."
Ron looked like he was about to puke. I softened my expression and smiled at him. "I'm just kidding, Red. You'll do great, I know you will." He didn't look convinced in the slightest but nodded just the same. I chuckled once and got up, grabbing Harry as I did so.
He latched onto my hand and the four of us began the long walk down to the pitch. The grass was dewy and wet and I nearly slipped a few times but Harry was used to this by now so he was able to help me keep my balance. Hermione and I walked with the two boys to the changing room. I went over to Ron, got up on tip toes, and gave him a big hug. "Good luck, dude." He weakly wrapped his arms around my shoulders before chuckling and looking over at Harry.
"Merlin, mate. I don't know how you hold on to her as tightly as you do. She is so bloody cold." He teased. I smacked him on the arm playfully and shook my head. I wasn't that cold but if my body temperature was the thing that would get his mind off of the tryouts then so be it. He needed to stay calm if he wanted to do well.
I moved out of the way to give Hermione her turn to wish him luck and went over to Harry. He grabbed both of my hands in his own and placed a kiss on each of my knuckles. I raised my eyebrows at the action. Harry never did anything like that. "What was that for?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I don't really know. But what I do know is you do some strange things to me, Allie Cullen."
I laughed. "Nothing bad, I hope."
He shook his head. "Definitely not." He smiled once more and kissed my forehead. "See you after." I waved bye to both the boys and Hermione and I went up to the high stands.
The wooden benches were mostly empty except for girlfriend's of the boys trying out. Lavender Brown was also there which was strange but the girl herself was strange so I wasn't going to ask any questions. The two of us settled on the top most bench where most of the action would be able to be seen. Finding the pitch to be chilly, I grabbed the charcoal gray gloves from the pocket of my leather jacker and put them on.
Hermione sat next to me, wringing her fingers nervously. I wrinkled my forehead. A moment earlier she had been as calm and collected as ever but now she looked like a wreck. "'Mione?" I questioned her. The poor girl jumped slightly and turned to me. "You okay?"
She smiled and tired to laugh it off. "I'm just fine. Ron is being so silly about these tryouts. No one with any skill is trying for the position, right?"
I bit down on my lower lip. "Yeah, about that..." At that moment, Cormac walked onto the pitch looking very tall and very muscular. He carried a big fancy broom in his arm. The boy really looked unstoppable down there. Hermione's glance drifted to where I was looking, at the same moment Cormac looked up at us and waved to Hermione. The bushy haired girl quickly lowered her glance.
She took a deep breath. "Oh my."
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Finally, the tryouts started. The... um... the ones who carry around that big ball? What were they called? I never could remember. Chasers! That's what it was. Anyway, the chasers kicked off of the ground at the same time Harry did. Next came the beaters (I remembered them because they got to carry clubs that they were able to beat the crap out of people with) who got into position.
After that, the two boys trying for keeper got to the opposite goal posts. Ron struggled on his broomstick slightly but managed to keep his composure. I looked over to the other post and saw Cormac sitting confidently on his broom, ready for the practice game to start. I shook my head and mumbled under my breath. "Come on, Ron. You've got this."
Seconds later, the game began. Kids were flying in every direction, chasing this, chasing that. I really had no idea what was happening until Ron whipped down to the bottom most goal ring and stopped a ball. He did it with his knee though. Now, I knew absolutely nothing about Qudditch but I thought you were supposed to catch the ball with your hands. I rolled my eyes. Who knew what was going on.
Ron threw the ball to someone who was playing on his team and all of the brooms turned to head in the opposite direction. The ball was thrown to one of Cormac's goals and he blocked it effortlessly, aggressively even. He got hold of the ball (with his hand, not knee) and the whole process started all over. I shook my head as Ron blocked every shot, he was really rough around the edges, still he caught them none the less but would that be enough to defeat Cormac? "He hasn't a chance, has he?" I asked Hermione, not taking my eyes from the scene in front of me.
"I-I'm not sure." She said. Now they were both tied with four saves each. The ball was headed to Cormac and the girl who had it, I think her name was Katie Bell, threw it towards the goal. Cormac made a dive for it, there was no doubt in my mind that he would catch it as gracefully as he had been doing all day. I vaguely heard Hermione mutter something and suddenly, Cormac headed in the opposite direction of the ball. The rust colored ball went threw the hoop and Ron's team scored a point.
How could he have missed that? He had it in the bag and then it seemed as if he got confused about where he was supposed to go...confused?
My mouth dropped open and I turned to Hermione. "Hermione Jean Granger! You did not do what I just thought you did!"
She blushed and grabbed my arm roughly so she could whisper in my ear. "Would you quiet down? Honestly, Ron could get disqualified if people overhear you."
"Why did you do that?" I asked, stunned beyond belief. Hermione Granger, rule-follower of the school and prefect extraordinaire, just broke a couple of the rules. For Ron. The dream I had before school started came back to me in a flash. Harry had said Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron. My eyes widened. Could that part of my dream be true after all? "Oh." I said out loud to myself as if something was clicking in my mind. That would definitely explain it... but it seemed so silly. Those two were as compatible as a mouse would be to a elephant. I turned from her and back to the action.
"What?" She asked.
I just shook my head. "It's nothing. I'm not going to give you any crap. You did it for a good reason, right?"
"Yes." She said slowly and that was the end of that conversation.
The chaser with the ball was getting close to Ronald now. He had to catch this one or else he and Cormac would be tied. Who knows who would come out of that rematch as keeper or who would be able to come out alive for that matter. Both boys wanted this bad. The ball flew through the air unexpectedly far from the goal and was headed for the medium height ring. It was going so fast, there was no way Red would be able to catch it... that was until he came out of nowhere and snatched it. Instantly, Hermione and I began to whoop and holler at him. "Go Red!" I yelled though cupped hands. The two of us were cheering so loudly that I could hardly hear the gasps of surprise that suddenly sprung up from the spectators around us.
I turned to the field in just enough time to see Harry's body fall the remaining two feet to the ground and hit the grassy pitch with a soft thump. My heart stopped. It took me a second to realize what happened. Harry. Had. Fallen. Hermione gripped my arm tightly as she covered her mouth with the other. I wretched my arm from her grasp and ran at vampire speed to the field. I prayed that he was okay. Let him be okay. I made it to Harry before any of the brooms made it to the ground. I collapsed beside him. He was laying on his stomach, I gently turned him and put his head in my lap.
"Harry!?" I said as I smoothed his hair. "Harry. Come on, baby. Say something." My eyesight went red. I kept running my hands through his hair and praying. I prayed he was okay. Suddenly, the boy groaned and reached his hand up to grab mine that was still in his hair.
"That bloody hurt." He finally breathed out. His eyes slowly opened up and met mine. He smiled a little. "I'm fine, love. No need for those red eyes." He told me sweetly. I wasn't convinced. Without saying anything, I helped him to sit up. I began to check him over. "Allie-"
"I just want to be sure." I told him with a warning tone in my voice. He sighed and nodded. I looked everywhere on him to make sure no blood was present. Sure, I would be able to smell it if he had shed some blood but I still had to be sure. After looking him over completely, I sighed. "Are you sure you are not injured?" I asked.
"Yes." He reassured.
"No internal bleeding?"
He sighed. "No."
"You are not dying or close to it?" I asked one last question.
He smiled. "I am fine, Allie. Really, I only fell about nine feet."
I stared at him for a moment, trying to see if I could see any pain in his eyes. There was none to be found. Feeling relieved, I sighed again. "Okay."
I tried on a smile and wrapped my arms gently around Harry's neck, practically sitting in his lap. He chuckled once and engulfed me in his arms. One of his hands ran comfortingly up and down my back. "Are you okay though? Your eyes went red back there. What was all the worry about even after I said I was fine?" He asked into my ear.
I had to think about it. It's true, I did overreact to his fall. But why? It was more than just worry about what happened to him right here, right now. There was more to it that my subconscious wasn't sharing. All I did know was that I wanted him to be safe no matter what. I pulled away from his hug and smiled at him. "Since when is it a crime for a girl to worry about her boyfriend?" I teased. Harry chuckled and stood up, helping me to my feet in the process.
"What did you fall for anyways?" I asked.
He looked around him before whispering in my ear. "I was cheering for Ron a little to excitedly and lost my balance." He said. I chuckled and shook my head, yeah that sounded like the right reason for Harry to fall off of his broom, there is no other way he would.
Hermione was making her way to the field now, worry in her eyes. I smiled at her to show that all was well. She did the same in return and slowed her pace. I turned around and saw Ron standing there with a confused look on his face, broom in hand. Before I could help it, I threw myself into his arms and wrapped my hands securely around his neck. My feet did not touch the ground because of Ron's height and I just dangled there.
"Red! You're keeper! I'm so proud of you." I heard his heartbeat quicken as he realized this fact, too. He started laughing and twirled me around once before my feet hit the ground again. I stepped back from him. Hermione was coming over to us. I noticed her looking a Ron, eyes bright and cheeks flushed red.
She beamed up at Red when she got to the two of us. "Congratulations, Ron! I knew you could-"
A flying purple thing flung themselves at Ron, cutting Hermione's comment short. It stopped flailing around long enough for me to see that it was Lavender Brown. "Great job, Ron! You were amazing out there!" She squealed, still clinging to the boy for dear life. I gave her a strange look that was seriously questioning her sanity. Ron looked as if he was doing the same.
"Um, thanks." He finally said. I couldn't help but chuckle. Could Lavender be anymore obvious about the fact that she was completely into Ron? I looked over to Hermione, about to say something but when I turned she was not there next to me. I wrinkled my forehead as I searched around. I caught a glimpse of her walking off the field, arms wrapped tightly in front of her chest. I watched her go, wondering if I was right earlier when I said that there was something more going on between Hermione and Ron than friendship.
A hand was placed on my lower back and I saw Harry with his broom in his hand. "Trials are over." He said. "Want to go for a little ride?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Do I ever want to go for a ride on a broom?" I questioned him back.
He shook his head. "No, I guess not... but would you?"
I sighed as I looked at the thin wooden broom stick. "Alright." I finally agreed. "But you have to promise you won't let go." I told him warningly.
He smiled. "Never."
I hope you liked it. A little break from Draco chasing and getting beat up. Lol. Updates should be coming sooner now that things are settling down. Leave a review please! You know I enjoy them. Thanks for reading! =]