Life's Detours

Chapter 1

As Harry and Ron made their way back to Gryffindor Tower following Quidditch practice, Harry wracked his brain on how to get his best friend out of his recent funk. The pressure of the upcoming match against the Slytherin team on his mind, Ron was convinced that he wasn't good enough to be on the Quidditch team. Harry couldn't understand where Ron's insecurities were coming from, he was a great Keeper. His efforts however, had done little too calm his friend's nerves by this point.

"Come one mate, you've got nothing to worry about. You're an incredible Keeper, you just need to see it."

"I guess," came Ron's reply. He acted as if he didn't really hear Harry, as his gaze remained cast down to the ground. They were coming up on a shortcut that the pair normally used on their way back to the common room, but Harry prevented Ron from turning that way with a quick arm around his shoulders. He figured that with the extra travel time he might be able to break through his friend's defenses. He ignored Ron's puzzled look as he tried reassuring him with a quick grin on his face.

"Besides Ron, who was it that was a part of Gryffindor's winning team last year."

"Yeah but you were-"

"No buts mate. I was only in for one game, and if you were as bad of a Keeper as you seem to think you are, then how did Gryffindor win?"

Ron tried to find any kind of error in Harry's statement but was unable to after a few moments, "I guess you may have a part," sounding as if he wasn't completely convinced, but the smile on his face told Harry that his efforts were appreciated.

The conversation continued in this manner the whole way up until they made it the portrait hole, where Harry provided the password. Once inside, they made their way to their favorite spot right by the fire where unsurprisingly, Hermione sat waiting on them.

As they made their approach, Harry couldn't help but notice how nice his other best friend looked. It had been a long time since he had noticed that she was, in fact, a girl, but lately he found himself realizing this more often. Even though she was just wearing her Hogwarts robes, he had to admit that she had become very pretty.

He was shaken from his musings when he saw the slightly confused look on Hermione's face. "Hello boys," she supplemented, receiving a reply from Harry and a subtle response from Ron. At her questioning gaze, Harry figured he should fill her in.

"Ron here seems to think that he isn't a good Keeper and should resign from the Quidditch team."

"Oh Ron, you're just nervous. You're a fine Keeper."

Ron looked up at her words, causing Harry to feel slightly put off that Hermione was able to have such an instantaneous effect on him. "You really think so?" Ron's voice sounded extremely hopeful, so hopeful that both Harry and Hermione couldn't help but feel for him.

"Yes Ron," she motioned between her and Harry, "we both do."

The portrait hole opened once again, revealing a ruffled looking Ginny along with her boyfriend Dean. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the pair were doing up until they decided to return to the dorms. Harry was thankful that he and Ron hadn't accidently walked in on them, if the slight tightening of Ron's fists were any indication of his reaction.

The trio went to bed that night, Harry and Ron so they could be rested for the game tomorrow and Hermione because she had gotten done all her assignments. As he laid down for bed, Harry could only hope that with a bit of luck, Ron would overcome is nerves in time for the game.

Luck

An idea quickly formed in Harry's mind one that he hoped would help Ron's confidence during the upcoming game. Little did Harry know that his choices over the last few hours would change the course of him and his friend's lives irrevocably.

When he awoke the following morning, he found that Ron had already gotten up and presumably head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Quickly throwing on his uniform and grabbing his bottle of Liquid Luck, he too headed down to the common room, where he found Hermione waiting on him.

"We'd better hurry down," she started. It was apparent that the reason for their haste wasn't simply so that they could eat enough before the game. "Ron just came through here and it seemed that he's sulking again."

Harry groaned internally. Even though he had planned for just this scenario, he had hoped that Ron would feel well enough that Harry wouldn't have to go through with it. Resigning himself, he decided to go through with his deceit.

The only snag in his plan was that Hermione would definitely not approve of it. Deciding that it was a better idea to avoid her wrath all together. Halfway down to the Great Hall, he grabbed ahold of her forearm to stop her.

"Hey Hermione?"

"Yes Harry?"

"I think I have a way for us to help Ron with his nerves." Hermione looked at him for a moment, unable to figure out what he could do to help out their best friend. Deciding to just come clean, Harry pulled out his vial of Felix Felicis from his robes, causing Hermione to gasp.

"Harry you can't do that. You know what Professor Slughorn said," he voice dropped to a near inaudible whisper, "you could be expelled."

"Only if I pour it in his drink."

"What do you mean?"

"All I need is for Ron to think that I poured some of this in his drink. In order to do that, I'll need your help."

Hermione thought about it for a few moments before nodding her head. They continued their trek down to breakfast as Harry told her exactly what she need to do.

Once they had made their way to the Gryffindor's table, they saw that Ron was in fact in a similar mood to how he was yesterday. Harry immediately tried to repair the damage that Ron's nerves had caused, but it seemed that he was even worse off than yesterday.

"I can't do this Harry. I was stupid for thinking that I could do this. We're going to have to forfeit the game," Ron continued to ramble on leaving Hermione at a loss.

"Listen Ron, you'll do fine," he made a show of reaching into his robes, grabbing his vial of Liquid Luck and appearing to pour it into the goblet in front of him.

"Here Ron," he pushed the cup forward towards him, "you'll do fine. All you need is a drink."

Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, Ron quickly downed the contents of the goblet. Hermione waited until he placed it back on the table before beginning her part of the plan.

"It was nice of you Harry to put a calming draught in Ron's drink." Ron looked to his left and saw a brief glimpse of Harry stowing the bottle of Felix Felicis away in his robes. Ron's eyes widened as he put it all together.

"Harry…you …my drink…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Ron. Why don't you head down to the field and get ready for the game?" Harry supplied Ron with a smile, as his friend's face morphed into one of supreme confidence as he stood up from the table and left the hall.

Harry and Hermione followed shortly thereafter, but stopped once outside the Great Hall to have a quick talk.

"Thank you Hermione. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have worked without you."

Hermione blushed slightly at his statement, casting her eyes away from his. "It was no problem Harry. I know I don't normally approve of such methods, but I think it's great that you're trying to look out for Ron."

She suddenly engulfed him in a fierce hug and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You're a great friend Harry." Before he could respond, she removed herself from his arms and continued to travel towards the Quidditch pitch, while Harry's hand drifted up to the spot she just kissed, a small grin adorning his face.

After the game, the party in Gryffindor Tower was in full swing. The game was a complete wash out, as Gryffindor had beat Slytherin 280-0, thanks mostly in part to the amazing performance of one Ronald Weasley.

Under the impression that he was under the effects of Liquid Luck, Ron didn't let a single goal in all game in one of the strongest showings of a Keeper in Hogwarts history.

Across the room, Ron was retelling one of his amazing saves for the fourth time to the likes of Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil who both seemed to be hanging on his every word. Harry felt happy for his friend, feeling he deserved to be recognized for his performance. He made sure to tell Ron that he hadn't actually taken the potion which only caused for Ron to feel even more pleased with himself as he basked in the attention of his house mates. Harry was also thankful that some of the usual attention he received after a game was now significantly less thanks to his best mate.

He gazed around the room and saw many of younger students excitedly discussing the game and about their hopes to one day make the house team. His sweep continued onto both Ginny and Dean who both seemed extremely cozy off in a corner of the room. Thankfully Ron was too wrapped up in his appreciation to notice the less than appropriate position the two were in.

His eyes finally settled on Hermione, who had planted herself onto her favorite chair, currently engrossed in one of her books. Even though she tried to appear that the atmosphere of the common room wasn't affecting her, the smile on her face was a clear give away.

In that moment, Harry thought she never looked more beautiful.

As if sensing his attention, Hermione locked eyes with Harry and gave him a small smile. He felt his face heat up slightly, companied by a strange feeling within his gut. He then saw her close her book and stand up, before taking a few steps toward him.

Before she could make it any farther, both her and Harry noticed Ron approaching Hermione in the middle of the room with a look of determination on his face. Hermione was about to ask him what he wanted, but was cut off when Ron wrapped his arms around her and planted a kiss on her lips.

Immediately, Harry felt an eruption in his stomach, causing it to twist into a painful knot as cheers began to erupt around the common room. He could only watch helplessly as Hermione's eyes initially went wide in shock, before closing them and melting into the kiss. The knot moved to his chest, making feel as a scaly monster was clawing at his insides. Jealousy flowed through Harry's veins as images of himself kissing Hermione ran through his mind before he had any chance to ponder it.

When the pair disengaged, Harry could clearly see a smile grace Hermione's face, one which he could only assumed was mirrored by Ron since his back was turned to him. Upon seeing the clear happiness on her face, Harry immediately felt ashamed of how jealous he was feeling, which was immediately replaced with a more morose feeling.

Still, he didn't want to see anymore, whether it was due to jealousy or to spare himself his sudden and out of nowhere heartbreak, Harry turned and made for the exit, feeling a nice long walk. If he had hesitated for just a few moments, he may have caught Hermione glancing around the room for her other best friend, followed by the crestfallen look when she noticed his absence.

AN: So this is my take on a H/Hr 6th year story, My reasoning is that the whole Ron/Hermione/Lavender love triangle was all started by Harry and Ron catching Ginny and Dean kissing. If that hadn't occurred, then Ron wouldn't feel the need to kiss Lavender and the next most likely candidate would be Hermione. This event also may jump started Harry's feeling for Ginny. If he can suddenly have feeling for her after seeing her kissing someone, then it stands to reason that t could've just as easily happened with Hermione.

I hope this is a good start. I had a previous draft typed up and was happy with it, but I lost a lot of my files before I could save a back-up. This version is close but I can't help but feel dissatisfied with it. Maybe at some point I'll come back and try to rewrite this.

As always, thanks for reading!