A/N: Okay, I am SO sorry I didn't do my two chapters this week! The technician will be coming to my house on Tuesday and he'll fix my computer. Right now I'm using my brother's old (and not very good) computer, which he is always on. Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to hear my ramblings, so onwards ho!
Disclaimer: None of this is mine! So there! ;-)
~***~
Hermione sat at a far table in the common room tapping the end of her quill against her cheek as she read a library book on the wizard community in Dyra, the village where the case study for DADA was taking place. She finished a chapter, took some notes on the parchment beside her and looked up. Her partners were all at the same table each working with a different book.
Everyone had their own part: Ron was to research on goblin tactics commonly used, Harry was to look up spells that could be used to prevent the goblins from coming any further, and Neville was to compile all the basic information that they had (for example, how much time they had, how many goblins there were, what weapons they had, what time frame were they in, etc.).
She smiled slightly to herself. This was the first time that she didn't have to pressure her best friends to do some homework. Not to say that they didn't put up some resistance, but not as much as they usually do.
She noticed that Ron was frowning at his book, his quill stopping midway down to his parchment of notes.
"What's wrong Ron?" she asked. He looked up alongside of Harry's and Neville's curious glances.
"hmm…oh, nothing really. These goblins do some nasty things when they're angry though," Ron replied. "Like hanging enemies upside down on tree branches until they give them answers to their questions or until they die."
Hermione heard a little squeak that came from Neville's corner and gave a little smile of reassurance in his direction.
"Don't worry Neville," Harry said in turn, "we can use Untiro to undo the knots and fall to the ground."
"And fall to the ground on our heads?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
"Ummm, yeah, I'm still working on that," he mumbled back, fidgeting with his glasses.
Hermione went back to her book on Dyra. It was a fascinating village, very similar to Hogsmeade in fact in that it is the only non-muggle village in Australia. She kept working completely focused on the landscape and citizens of Dyra until she heard a loud rumbling in front of her.
"Sorry," Ron said with his face turning bright red. Harry and Neville started laughing openly at him. "Hey, it is dinnertime, and I'm a growing boy, unlike some I know," he said defensively giving a smirk to Harry.
Hermione glanced around and realised that there were only a couple of Gryffindors left in the common room, and that they were heading out of the portrait hole too. She packed her books quickly and walked with her group to the Great Hall, once she managed to stop Harry and Ron from their mock wrestling fight.
As they walked down the marble stairs, they saw three shadows moving up from the dungeons.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the four Musketeers," came a sneering voice from the shadows. Hermione sighed. It wasn't too hard to guess who it was.
"Although, Potter, I wouldn't have picked Longbottom to join your group. It should be called the Mouseketeers," he said giving a cold look to Neville. His two goons, Crabbe and Goyle chuckled, but Hermione could see the confused look in their eyes.
She steeped in front of Neville, "I'm surprised you would have read a book that was written by a muggle," she retorted.
He narrowed his eyes at her, "I study my enemies, mudblood."
Harry, who had been holding Ron back the entire time, almost let him go to get his wand out. Hermione beat him to it, and pointed her wand at Malfoy.
"Miss Granger!" Professor Andsware came sweeping down the staircase, her eyes cold and her hair flying behind her.
Hermione caught the smirk Malfoy gave to her and watched as he put on a grotesque display on how she threatened him.
"It's all because she knows I'm a pureblood, Professor. She's been jealous of it ever since first year," he said with wide-open eyes.
Hermione regained her voice, "Professor, please. I never -"
Professor Andsware raised her hand to stop her. "No need Miss Granger. I witnessed the entire thing from above." She turned slowly towards Malfoy and gave him a steely gaze until he broke the eye contact and looked down.
"Twenty points from Slytherin for calling your classmates names," she said. She turned to Goyle and Crabbe, "As for you two, 10 points each will be taken away from Slytherin."
"They didn't do anything," Malfoy yelled outraged, while his housemates looked on.
"Exactly, Mr. Malfoy. True housemates would have stopped you from making such a disgrace to your house and name."
Professor Andsware turned to Hermione and her friends who were standing by anxiously. "As for you four -" they held their breath - "I give you 5 points each for not reducing yourselves to a name-calling level."
Hermione grinned at Harry and Neville while Ron was smirking at Malfoy. Malfoy turned to go back to the dungeons with Crabbe and Goyle when Professor Andsware stopped him once more.
"Mr. Malfoy, I don't believe I gave you permission to leave just yet."
Hermione watched Malfoy turn when she saw another shape emerge from the dungeons. "Oh no, why did he have to come now?"
"Is there a problem Professor Andsware?" Snape asked as he stood beside Draco.
Hermione watched, as she looked him in the eye; they were almost the same height. "Not at all, Professor Snape. I was just about to let Mr. Malfoy know that he will be having a detention tomorrow night, and that I expect him to be at my office at 8 pm," Andsware replied calmly.
Hermione didn't know how Andsware could do that without a touch of nerves. She was already trembling, and Snape wasn't even looking at her!
"I'm sure there must have been some mistake Professor Andsware. Mr. Malfoy is a model student and I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Potter hadn't done something to incriminate Mr. Malfoy," Snape said softly.
"There is no mistake Professor Snape, especially when a student lies to me," she told him, not backing down.
"Well, then, I'll assign Mr. Malfoy's detention, as I'm his Head of House. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Snape nodded his head an inch, bringing the conversation to a close and laying a hand to lead Malfoy away.
Professor Andsware cleared her throat. Snape threw her a clearly irritated glance. "What?"
"I respect that you are his Head of House, but as he lied to me, I will assign his detention. Thank you for your consideration though." She looked him in the eye, and Hermione knew it to be a challenging gaze, even if she had never seen one. Of course she had, as she often possesses that gaze herself.
Hermione watched Snape's eyes grow troubled, and Professor Andsware took that to be agreement. "Very well, Mr. Malfoy. 8 pm tomorrow in my office please." And with that, she strode into the Great Hall with Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Neville following in awe, leaving the Slytherins behind.
The four of them ran to their table and almost crashed into the people sitting behind them because they were laughing so hard.
"What took you guys so long? You almost missed dinner," Dean said, his mouth full of food.
"You won't believe it," Ron gasped.
"It was the funniest thing," Harry continued holding his hands to his stomach because he was laughing so hard.
"Almost as good as Draco turning into a ferret," Hermione said emphatically, reaching for the pitcher of pumpkin juice.
"What???" shouted everyone near them because they were causing so much attention.
"Professor Andsware gave detention to Malfoy," Neville said with a smile on his face, "And she told off Snape too."
Fred, George, and Lee leaned over from a couple of seats over, "Seriously? How'd ol' Snapey boy take it?"
"He was livid! He wanted to issue Malfoy's detention, which of course there wouldn't be one if he had his way. But Andsware said that since Malfoy lied to her, she was giving him the detention," Ron told everyone happily, having a dreamy look on his face as he remembered the scene.
Angelina gave a low whistle. "Malfoy lied to a professor? No wonder she wanted to give him a detention."
"And on top of that, we got 20 points because we didn't fight Malfoy," Harry said grinning at everyone, "while Slytherin got 40 points taken away, meaning Gryffindor is in lead for house points."
Hermione laughed as everyone high-fived each other. Ron leaned back into his chair, looked up to the ceiling (which portrayed a grey overcast and a continuous drizzle), and remarked to no one in particular, "Isn't it a beautiful day."
~***~
A week had passed by before the story of Snape being overrun by Andsware started to die down, and that was only because the Gryffindor tryouts were starting. Hermione didn't really care all that much, but she couldn't help notice how nervous Ron was. All week long he was reading every Quidditch book that was published. Only the Keeper position was free as everyone else had one more year to go. Angeline, Katie, Alicia, Fred, George, and Harry had decided that since the Beater positions and one Chaser position would be empty next year, they would have backup positions this year to train them.
Hermione knew that Ron wanted the Keeper position; it was what he always played with his brothers when he was growing up. She didn't want to go to the tryouts, but Ron kept begging her to lay down the books and come and see it all until she reluctantly agreed.
The three of them trooped out of Hogwarts on a bright sunny day. Harry and Hermione were laughing over some silly story about Dudley. Ron looked a little green and he kept muttering to himself, "Eyes on the Quaffle. Eyes on the Quaffle."
Hermione laid her hand on his arm, "Don't worry Ron. I'm sure you'll do fine." She watched in amazement as Ron's face became mottled with interchanging colours of red and green. She quickly withdrew her hand and wonder if he was about to retch in Hagrid's prize daffodils. Luckily, he composed himself, managed a weak smile and muttered to himself once again.
Hermione left her friends on the field, while she clambered up the stands. She watched as the Gryffindors who wanted to be Chasers were timed as they went around a difficult course and the Beaters-to-be practiced hitting moving targets, whiled Fred and George marked down their accuracy. It turned out that Ginny seemed to be a competent Chaser, while a third year student named Daniel Freebush was a skilled Beater.
Finally the Keeper position was tried out. Those who were trying out for other positions were placed in teams with Keepers for each. The top three Keepers (ie, with the best save percentage) would then be tried against Angelina, Alicia, and Katie.
Hermione didn't pay much attention to the other Keepers, but gave a supporting shout when Ron was finally called up. Dennis was to be the Keeper on the other team.
Hermione grimaced as in the first few shots Ron let an easy goal in. She watched as Ron led his broom in a frustrated loop before settling down again. "Come on Ron!" she shouted.
He seemed to have calmed his nerves because he let no goals in after. Dennis let in almost every goal because he was so small that he could stretch out his arms far enough to save anything.
The final three contenders were Ron, Dean, and Trevor (a fourth year student). The three drew lots. Dean was first and Ron was going last. Hermione watched anxiously as Dean guarded the goals from the three girls swooping in before him. After 10 minutes, a bell rang and Trevor took his place. Trevor did better than Dean, but Hermione knew there was some room above.
When Ron was called to try, Hermione stood up to get a better view. The girls set out, Angelina holding the quaffle on the right side. Ron moved to block her when she passed it cross-field to Katie who had an open goal. Hermione groaned. She knew Ron was beating himself up over this, and she only hoped he would compose himself.
It turned out that he did. After that one goal, neither Angeline, Katie, or Alicia were scoring. After the 10 minute bell, the team, Ron, Trevor, and Dean were all up in the air.
"As the oldest, and because we don't have a captain yet, I would like to congratulate Ron Weasley as being our new Keeper!" Angelina announced with a broad smile on her face.
Hermione started clapping and shouting, but not as much as Ron was. He started doing loops in the air and flew towards her. He jumped off his broom in front of her lost his balance and fell on top of her.
They were both laughing hard, and she could hear the team on the field laughing too. She looked up with a smile, "Congratulations Mr. Weasley." He looked down, his eyes dancing. "Why thank you Miss. Granger." She watched, as if in slow motion, as his head came down lower and she closed her eyes at the last minute. She felt his lips on hers. Briefly, softly, yet sweetly. She raised her eyelids and felt his eyes on hers. "Thank you very much Hermione," he said softly before raising himself and extending a hand to her. She took his hand, and for the first time that she could remember, it was her face that was flaming red, and not his. And she watched as Harry, Fred, and George swept down upon them to congratulate Ron as well.
~***~
A/N: Okay, I have quite a bit of reviews to do, so…
Bluetreeleaves: I hope your chapter is fixed now! I would love to read it. Sorry I didn't update fast for you… My bad.
Omega: thanks!
MusicalRose: of course I went back and changed it! I really do read your reviews after all! You reviewers are too smart for me! I swear! I thought of the DADA homework because that was similar to what I had to do in one of my classes this term. I'm glad you liked it!
Adaren: That's so nice of you! I love stories that you just don't want to put down. I can't believe my story is one of them though! Hope you liked this chapter!
Snowgrl: sorry I didn't update for a long time! I'll be better!
Molly: don't worry, just because they kissed doesn't mean it'll be hunky-dorey!
Kori Bischoff: glad you liked it! I thought it was cute.
Madison: thanks! I've only found one of my marks (tied for highest - yea me!! ;-)) anyway, I hope this was better than the last one for you!
Tamashii87: wow, I bet word would not like that run-on sentence! Thanks for the compliment though!
HermioneM: krum will be in soon, especially now that ron's on the quidditch team!
Pam: thank you!!
Rally-as-Twiddle's: I love names from books. It's amazing how much creativity and talent authors have!
Jelsemium (Jill W.): thanks so much. I hope you read the rest of the story soon! I mean, you might have, but I don't know.
Roisin: Thank yyyyyoooooooouuuuuuuu! You're funny! What are GCSE's? We don't have those here in Vancouver.
I am a guy also: (1)Whoa! Okay, first off, sorry. Totally did not mean to offend anybody out there. I should also let you know, that I wrote you an email when I first read this review, but your inbox was full and it got sent back. What I wrote was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing because it had just happened at that time. When I wrote, "guys suck", I did not mean ALL guys suck, because some of my closest friends are guys. As I wrote in that email, if you want, I will take those comments I made down ff.net. I apologise whole -heartedly once again.
I don't know if I'll do H/G relationships but you never know.
As for the hockey, definitely ice hockey! (although, my Vancouver Canucks just lost the playoff series to Detroit). I never liked field hockey because I thought it was ridiculous that I couldn't hit the ball on the rounded end of the field hockey stick!
(2) I know he was 18 in book 4, but I didn't know how else to get him in my story! Oh well…
(3) thanks, and me too! I should find out in a week or so.
Vy: thank you! I still can't believe I'm in the 3-digit category! I wish I had a bathroom like that too. Mine's all soft rose/pink (mom decorated it) - lol! You'll find out more about the mysterious guy in the next chapter.
Kayla: I agreed, so hopefully you like this one!
Anne-girl: thanks! You know, your story is REALLY hard to find!
La La girl: ha ha! My first flame. I think. I knew it would come sooner or later. Except, you said I was a good author, and that you just don't like HP. Ah well, each to his or her own.
Goddessnb1: (1) thanks. I don't like being mean to anyone, even guys who are slightly weird in my opinion. Oh well, I don't even think of him anymore, so it definitely does not bug me.
(2) I'm assuming you're talking about hermione? I agree with you. I would have!
(3) lol! Yes, Ron and Hermione are taking their sweet time, but I must admit, I'm the same way. It drives my friends crazy! Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't updated in such a long time!
Rosie Weasley: sorry!!!!!!
Bluetreeleaves: what's a TAAS test? Sorry about your story. I really would have liked to read it! I haven't read Ella Enchanted, but maybe I will!
Madison: I hope I get my comp fixed soon too. This Tuesday it should be done. Hopefully.
I am a guy also: I agree! Xp is causing problems, but the HD was bad too. I should have stuck will Dell, but I didn't.
Elanor: Wow! I'm so surprised! Thank you! I'll check out the group site soon!
Punkpixie87: cute name! Anyway, here's some more, just like you wished!
Jiki Arosakka: Are you Japanese? I'm guessing by your name, but I'm probably wrong. Thanks for your comments though, it was really nice of you to say that. Anyway, I should be writing more soon now that exams are over and my computer will be fixed soon.
A/N: Whew! I think the reviews are longer than the chapter itself! Anyway, expect more next week when my computer gets fixed. I hope!!!
Shalara.