Chapter Seventeen
Quidditch Championships
Author's Note: Thanks for being so patient, it rained, so I worked all week since we were sold out. Also I started school, but that's not a problem, it was more of a writer's block and lack of focus. I will finish this story soon. I thank you for your reviews and your patience, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story. Thank you!
Ron was surprisingly getting back to his normal ways, or what was better for him, as the word normal for him was changing constantly. While he brought up his grades, he didn't hold back his comments, resulting him being the school's janitor on weekends. However, he was excused one weekend for Quidditch practice. He was surprised Sean wasn't made the new keeper, since he had been away so much. Ron made his way down to the locker rooms and joined his brothers while they changed their robes.
"You're not going to clean the castle?" Fred asks with disbelief. "It won't be as clean now. I mean it actually sparkled!"
"Stop it." George warns.
Fred and Ron looked at George.
"George, I was just joking. Lighten up." Fred says.
"Last time we were just joking we weren't able to let him know." George reminds.
"He's still alive George. He's not going anywhere. Dumbledore can protect him here, and McGonagall won't dare suspend him again after what happened. Mum and dad will be able to protect him at the burrow when summer comes. Chill out, will you?" Fred asks annoyed at his brother.
"We almost lost our brother! You couldn't stop crying, or don't you remember?" George asks in disbelief of Fred.
"How can I forget? He almost died George. Almost, but he didn't! He's right here! He's fine! Everything can go back to normal now! I'm allowed to joke. I apologize if I offended anyone. I always joke. I'm not going to be depressed all the time, because of something that didn't happen. I'm allowed to move on! Ron's still alive!" Fred yells.
"Everything can go back to normal now? Nothing can ever be normal again." George says.
Fred rolls his eyes. "It can." Fred says loudly.
"Can it Ron?" George asks.
"You should be able to move on. I know Fred was only joking, and I appreciate you sticking up for me, but I haven't taken anything you said to me seriously since I was nine." Ron says.
"See? Now, knock it off, we've got practice." Fred says irritated, leaving the locker room.
"Why should we be able to move on, if you aren't able to?" George asks.
"I wish I could forget about everything, and I'm starting to, but I guess I'll always remember it. I like your and Fred's distractions. It gets me out of daydreaming while I'm supposed to be doing Snape's essay. Sometimes I can't control what I think about, and it's good to have you and Fred making entertaining distractions to bring me back to reality." Ron says.
"You know, if you ever want to talk… about anything, I won't tease you or tell Fred." George says.
"Thanks." Ron says.
"All right!" Harry yells happily as Ron and George came on to the field.
"So, what have you got to say about the match against Slytherin?" Harry asks.
"We have to win." Ron says grinning.
"Well, besides the obvious…" Harry says rolling his eyes.
"We can't screw up." Ron adds. "I'm not even worried about you catching the snitch as Malfoy hasn't caught it ever. Fred and George, you'll need to have control of the bludgers. I can't have Goyle or Crabbe sending one towards Harry, the girls, or me." Ron says.
"That last time was an accident!" Fred insists.
"Yes, but we can't have any accidents this match." Ron warns.
"I told him to go before the match, but he never listens." George jokes.
"But I told you, I didn't have to go then!" Fred argues.
Ron rolls his eyes.
"Any advice for us?" Angelina asks.
"I have a new strategies. Rather than two of you passing it back and forth, or even three of you, you should trick them up once or twice, and have one of you by the scoring posts, one of you around the middle, and another by me. This way, say the one in the center has it, well they'll all expect say its Katie for example, to fly toward the other keeper. They'll all fly to her, and all she has to do is throw it down to whoever's at the scoring end say Alicia, and Alicia just has to worry about getting it past the keeper. Oh, and the person by me, could play defensively. If the Slytherins intercept the Quaffle they'll try to get it back before they try getting it past me and they can throw it back to the center, but you shouldn't use it every play, sort of alternate it to confuse them, and then if they catch on have the defensive player fly to the center. And if they do catch on and start after the center player, the defensive player could try sending it to the scoring player. Try it. It will confuse the hell out of them." Ron says.
"You are wickedly clever, little brother." Fred says.
"I learn from the best." Ron says.
"Oh stop! You're embarrassing me!" George blushes.
"You? He meant me!" Fred says shaking his head exasperatedly and rolling his eyes.
"You keep thinking that. We all know I'm the best!" George teases and flies up into the air.
"Let's see if you'll still be the best with your head smashed." Fred says before flying in the air with a mischievous grin on his face.
Ron follows them up in the air.
"Fred, you and George are going to rotate being defensive and offensive beaters every half hour. I want George to hit them toward players, and you stopping them! We can't afford any accidents in the match so we're going to practice now. In a half hour everything's going to rotate." Ron says.
Sean came out of the locker room. "What's going on?" Sean asks.
"I need you to be captain on that side. The girls are trying out a new tactic." Ron says.
"All right." Sean agrees.
Practice was perfect. Ron was able to stop every Quaffle thrown at him, while dodging bludgers, which wasn't as much of a threat as the twin chasing it was. Sean wasn't able to stop one Quaffle. Once Sean figured out their strategy, they changed it, and each play was different. Meanwhile, Harry had caught the snitch more than ten times. He had caught one under every half hour, which ended a particular play, where everything stopped and things rotated. The girls would alternate positions, and the twins would switch as well, with their hit and block form.
Practice ended with the players dripping with puddles of sweat. Even though there was more than a foot of snow on the ground, their adrenaline had been rushing, and they had been playing for eight solid hours. So the eight (including Sean) sweating and exhausted players made their way through the snowy field below into the locker rooms, cooling off, and wanting showers.
"If there's any precipitation tomorrow, we're practicing. I don't think anything's worse playing Slytherin unprepared for bad weather." Ron says.
"There was a blizzard last night, dear brother." Fred reminds.
"Yes, but all the snow is on the ground now, none of it was falling while we were in the air, and as we don't exactly play on foot there were no weather interferences." Ron reminds.
"The wind was pretty strong." Alicia yawns.
"My worry is precipitation. Wind's nothing compared to rain or snow." Ron says.
"So you're hoping for precipitation to get us sick right before our match against Slytherin? Aren't we all glad we elected him as captain?" Katie asks.
"Rain wouldn't be as bad as walking in this snow. We could catch pneumonia much easier walking through this, as the feet and head are most vulnerable to temperatures." George says.
"How the hell do you know that?" Fred asks stopping and turning.
"Something I remember dad saying ages ago." George says.
"You listened?" Fred asks amazed.
"Yes, because then I went out into a storm in bare feet with no hat on to see if he was joking or what, and I had pneumonia for a week." George says.
"I don't remember that." Fred says.
"That was the week that you and Ron played hide and seek and Ron turned the dryer on to see if you were in there, and you were, and you had a concussion and a memory problem for like a month." George laughs.
"I regained my memory the following day, I just didn't want to do chores so I played dumb and pretended to forget what they were and how you did them." Fred says.
"That's why you weren't pissed at me?" Ron asks.
"Yea, you bought me a month of no chores." Fred says.
"I had to do them all because you were faking?" Ron asks incredulously.
"Wow, you catch on quick, Ron." Harry teases.
"You're getting as bad as them, don't make me kick your ass Harry." Ron warns.
"You doing my chores spared you a spider nightmare." Fred teases.
Harry could see Ron shiver.
"Oh, sorry, I thought you had worse that spiders wouldn't bother you anymore." Fred says.
Smack! Something cold and hard hit Ron in the back of the neck. Ron turned around to get smacked again by the same cold and hard thing in the face.
"Snowball fight!" George yelled pegging Fred and Ron.
"NO FAIR!" Fred yells and ducks as the snowball went to hit him. It missed and hit Angelina.
Angelina and Fred got revenge two-to-one on George, but Alicia helped him. Sean and Katie joined George as well, while Ron and Harry joined Fred.
The team went from sweaty and exhausted to freezing, wet, and even more exhausted. They entered the castle dripping water on the entrance hall floor. Filch walked over to them looking at them in disgust, as everybody was leaving the Great Hall. Everybody gathered around watching Filch tell off the eight students who were wet, shivering, exhausted, and trying to hold back laughter by looking elsewhere.
Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore came out to see what the hold up was. Snape smirked seeing McGonagall's students being told off, while Dumbledore smiled at the lot of them.
Filch turned as he heard the Professors shooing the students up the stairs.
"Professor McGonagall, your house's Quidditch team has dripped mud, snow, and water all over the entrance hall causing a hazard to students and staff walking by. I think they should be punished for their actions, maybe removing them from the house team would teach them a lesson." Filch says.
"I second that." Snape says.
"Oh that wasn't too planned." Harry mutters to Ron.
"Professor, Peeves has thrown water balloons in the entrance hall last year, but nothing was done about it, and nobody was hurt, and-" Katie begins. She wasn't that good coming up with excuses.
Ron sneezes. "If it's that big of deal, I'll clean it up after I change into dry robes." Ron offers.
"You'll do it now." Filch says.
"What's the point of that if my robes are wet and dripping?" Ron asks with another sneeze.
"To teach you a lesson Weasley." Snape says.
"What's the lesson?" Ron asks trying not to be smart.
"It will teach you to think twice about when you schedule your practices." Snape says.
Ron sneezes. "Excuse me." Ron apologizes for sneezing. "Sir, I just don't understand how it's our fault there was snow on the ground." Ron says trying not to cough and turning red while doing so.
"You could've cancelled practice once you saw snow on the ground." Snape says.
Professor Dumbledore dries the ground and their robes with his wand.
"Professor McGonagall will have your dinners sent up to the common room, I suggest showers, dinner, and rest. Mr. Weasley, you might want to see Madam Pomfrey." Professor Dumbledore says.
"Why?" The twins ask in unison.
"I feel fine." Fred says.
"So do I." George says.
Professor Dumbledore chuckles. "My apologies, I meant Ron." Professor Dumbledore says.
"For why must I go to the hospital wing?" Ron asks.
"Some pepper-up potion might help that cold." Professor Dumbledore says.
Ron walks off to the hospital wing.
"That's just like Snape… trying to get us kicked off the Quidditch team. It's like he had Filch and McGonagall under the Imperius Curse. She didn't even try to say anything. Though Filch is mean, he wouldn't be so clever as to think of that punishment all by himself." Harry says.
"Filch is just as much a jerk as Snape, he's always trying to punish everybody. You had your Quidditch robes on, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out the ultimate punishment for a Quidditch team. Dumbledore was right there, and McGonagall knew he wasn't going to let that happen, so she didn't have to say anything. She probably didn't say anything in fear of laughing in Snape's face." Hermione says without looking up from her essay. She sounded quite irritated.
Ron couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. He didn't know what it was but something about her looking irritated and trying to concentrate, made Ron like her even more.
Hermione felt Ron's eyes on her and looked up. "What?" Hermione snaps.
Ron forced himself to lose his grin, and looked away. "Nothing, nothing." Ron says standing up. He had to go somewhere out of her earshot and laugh. He liked her even more when she was angry.
Ron left for his dorm. It was late, and he was getting a bit tired. He thought he should change into his pajamas.
Hermione stopped writing and puts her quill down. She closes her book and rolls her parchment up before putting it in her bag. She wouldn't dare give anybody a chance at seeing her essay. She'd break rules, but she didn't believe in cheating at all.
"What's wrong?" Harry asks.
"Ron is up to something, and I'm going to find out what it is." Hermione says.
"He was just going to bed," Harry says shaking his head.
"No, he sounds like he's up to something. I'm just going to go check." Hermione says getting up. She walks up stairs to the boys' dormitory, without anybody noticing.
She walks over to Ron's bed and pulled back his curtain to find him… She gasps. Ron was naked.
Ron turned around once hearing his curtains pulled back and somebody gasping. He turned to find Hermione covering her mouth with her hands as not to scream. Then he covered himself.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asks grabbing his pajama bottoms.
"I… thought you were up to something." Hermione says. She pulls the curtains closed and turns around. "I mean you were acting weird just now, and you left without saying why, and…" Hermione couldn't think of the reason why she came up into a boys' dorm.
Ron pulled the curtains apart with his pajama bottoms on. "It's not like you haven't seen me naked before, honestly." Ron says rolling his eyes.
"I didn't actually look at it before! Besides, you were the one covering yourself up like it was a big thing. I mean deal, big deal!" Hermione says.
"You were the one who did…" Ron mocks her gasping and covers her mouth.
"Don't touch your face until you've washed your hands! Honestly!" Hermione says frantically.
Ron rolls his eyes and drops his hands. "You were also the one who can't say thing because you think of something bad." Ron says.
"You're the one who can't say the name of it, and there's nothing bad about a… a…" Hermione couldn't say it out loud. She pointed toward Ron's legs without looking.
"You're pointing at my leg, and you're the one who can't say penis! I can." Ron says grinning.
Hermione's eyes were darting everywhere. She seemed to be thinking about anything and everything to say that would change the subject and still win an argument.
"Well, I just came up here, because I thought you were up to something… I mean I thought you had a plan that might cause trouble for me later, and I was just making sure you weren't. Who undresses as fast as you anyway?" Hermione asks.
"You do." Ron teases trying to hold back his laughter.
"I do not!" Hermione says.
Dean walks in the dorm.
"Hey Ron, Harry wants to talk to-." Dean forgets what he was saying, seeing Hermione standing in front of Ron who was topless. He stopped where he was in the doorway glancing between the two of them.
Hermione turns around. "Dean, what's wrong?" Hermione asks calmly.
"He and you…" Dean couldn't find the right words so kept babbling.
"Ron and I were talking, what's the problem?" Hermione asks.
"Oh! I suppose it looks awkward with my shirt off?" Ron asks.
"That and the fact that Hermione's in here… a boys' dorm." Dean says.
"She came in here, because she thought I was taking too long. See I told her that I would show her my essay, this way she would stop nagging me to do it, because she didn't believe I wrote it, but she thought I was taking too long finding it and came in to make sure I wasn't going to sleep to avoid showing her that I hadn't written it, but I was getting changed for bed and unable to put my shirt on before she walked in, so I forgot about it." Ron says.
"Oh." Dean says believing Ron's story. "Well Harry wants you to go downstairs so he can talk to you. Said something about… somebody acting weird."
"Okay. Thanks." Ron dug out a piece of parchment from his drawer and handed it to Hermione. "I believe certain words are in order." Ron says grinning. He knew Hermione had to say the words if they didn't want to be caught.
"All right. You could elaborate more, for a few extra inches, that wouldn't hurt your marks, and it's good of you to get it done early for once." Hermione says.
Ron drops his grin.
"Why can't you just admit that you were wrong for once?" Ron asks.
"I can, but really I'm not wrong, you could elaborate." Hermione says.
"No, you doubted me, and you were wrong." Ron says.
"Well, I better go, I really shouldn't be in here." Hermione says.
"You're wrong for being in here as well!" Ron teases.
"A prefect breaking the rules, what is the world coming to?" Dean teases.
"Tell Harry I'm going to bed, and I'll talk to him tomorrow morning." Ron says throwing a pillow at Hermione.
Hermione stops and looks behind her to see what was thrown at her. She looks down at the pillow and then up at Ron. She picks the pillow up and walks back over to Ron. She hits him in the face with it causing Ron to fall back on his bed.
"I'm never wrong." Hermione whispers in Ron's ear. She runs out of the dorm before he could react.
"So?" Dean asks.
"So?" Ron asks Dean bewildered.
"Don't play dumb. What's going on between you two? Are you more than friends or what?" Dean asks.
"No, she's my best friend." Ron says rolling his eyes.
"She's your best friend, who is a girl." Dean corrects him.
"Right. Now, what are you on about?" Ron asks.
"I think she's a bit keen on you. You would've thought that you were her boyfriend the way she attacked Malfoy the day we all thought you died." Dean says.
"She's a great friend, but that's all we are… friends." Ron says.
"After so many years of being 'good friends' that argue all the time, I wouldn't doubt that there's something going on between you two in secret. I don't see you with anybody else. Parvati Patil said that there was nothing going on between Hermione and Krum. And you both came in at the same time the other day, and it would've been all right, only Harry wasn't with you." Dean says.
"I was talking with Hermione." Ron says.
"Call it whatever you want, but don't lie to me. We've been sharing this dorm for five years now. I may not talk to you as much as Harry does, but I listen and I watch. I observe, and I know there's something going on between you and her." Dean says.
"Dean, you need to open up your eyes wider and clean out your ears. There is nothing going on between Hermione and I." Ron says.
"You know when you lie your teeth clench." Dean says smiling.
"They clench, because I'm annoyed." Ron insists.
"Honestly, you aren't keen on her at all?" Dean asks.
"How could I like her in such a way, if we can't even be friends without arguing?" Ron asks.
"So if I were to ask her to the spring ball, you wouldn't mind?" Dean asks.
Ron gritted his teeth.
"I thought so." Dean says grinning.
"Oh shut up!" Ron says angrily and throws his pillow at him. "Wait! What spring ball?"
"There isn't one, I just wanted to know what the deal was with Hermione and you." Dean teases.
"Your lucky you still have my pillow." Ron warns.
"Don't make me go get Hermione." Dean teases.
"Oh no, what is she going to do, hit me with a book?" Ron jokes.
"So seriously, what's going on between you two?" Dean asks.
"I'm tired, can I have my pillow back?" Ron asks.
"Tell me or I'll tell Harry and Seamus!" Dean says.
"You can't!" Ron says.
"I can, and I will unless you tell me everything!" Dean says.
"I seriously hate blackmail. There's nothing going on, honestly. Our feelings are a bit more strong than they used to be, but I'm sure that if there were a spring ball, she'd go with you if you asked her." Ron says.
"Harry's your best friend, why doesn't he know?" Dean asks.
"I don't know. I guess because there's nothing really happening to tell. I mean if I liked Hermione more than I do now and we were more than friends, I'd tell Harry, because if I was Hermione's boyfriend, I'd ruin the relationship and our friendship, and Harry would be there to stop that from happening. It's not like that though, so we can pretend we never had this conversation." Ron says.
"What conversation?" Dean asks.
"The one we just had!" Ron says.
"You're an idiot." Dean laughs and throws Ron his pillow.
The match against Slytherin was approaching, and it seemed as if everybody except the Slytherins were supporting the Gryffindors to win the Cup. Only the Slytherin's had a very strong supporter that could crush the Gryffindors, as they all found out a week before the big match.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione were taking notes in Transfiguration when the door opened and five Gryffindors stood at the door looking peeved.
"Boys, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Bell, Ms. Spinnet is there something I can do for you? Right now, I'm teaching a class, and you should be learning in one." Professor McGonagall says.
"Actually there is something you could do. Could you kindly turn Snape into a bug so we can step on him?" Fred asks.
"That would be after class of course." George says.
"Excuse me a moment." Professor McGonagall says to the class who was still busy copying notes.
"Now, somebody explain how Professor Snape upset you." Professor McGonagall says.
"What makes you think he's upset us?" Fred asks.
"We've been wanting to learn how to do that for years." George adds.
"Professor, please… Professor Snape won't let us play in the match. He's given us all detention cleaning the castle with Filch. The twins were even being… well acting, good for once. They knew how vital it was to not get in trouble before the match, especially not with Snape, I mean Professor Snape, but he gave us all detention on the day of the match just because Lee had asked George for an ingredient, and he called him on being disruptive." Angelina explains.
"How did that include the four of you?" Professor McGonagall asks.
"He told George he couldn't play because he had a detention on Saturday, and Fred went to defend him, and he said Fred couldn't play either, then he said that none of us could play, because the class was all riled up, and he said education should come before other activities, and some other bull that we walked out on. This is our last year, and we want a shot at winning with our names on the cup. Even though there's the possibility of not winning, we want to lose somewhat fairly than not play at all." Alicia explains.
"If Professor Snape wonders why you're playing on Saturday, you can tell him that as you are all my students, I have the final decision of your punishment, and you can clean the castle on Sunday." Professor McGonagall says. "And any further unfair punishments may be complained to the Headmaster. Now, if you all don't mind, I have a class to teach, and you have a lesson to attend."
"If we go back to Snape's lesson, he'll kick us out and make sure we don't play on Saturday." Katie cries.
Professor McGonagall writes something down on a piece of parchment and hands it to Katie. "There's your pass." Professor McGonagall says.
"What about the rest of us?" Fred asks.
"Shut up and go." Katie says pushing Fred out the door.
At dinner in the Great Hall Professor Dumbledore made an announcement.
"I've chosen to inform you, since the Quidditch cup for Hogwarts will rest on Friday's match, that Durmstrangs have beaten Beauxbatons, and may I remind you that whomever wins between the other schools, will compete with our winning team." Professor Dumbledore says.
An uproar of conversation roared across the Great Hall. "Even if we win against Slytherin, Durmstrangs will crush us! They've got players on their team that are twice our size." Ron says.
"Which is good for me than. Wood told me you had to be light to be a seeker." Harry says.
"Krum wasn't the lightest." Ron reminds.
"I don't know what you're all worried about… Durmstrangs isn't worse than Slytherin. When you beat them you'll find out, won't you?" Hermione asks.
"But you all don't know that Durmstrangs will beat the other schools. There's more than just Beauxbatons." Lee reminds them.
"Just worry about the match against Slytherin." Hermione says.
"I just stopped dreading it, why must you remind me to do everything, especially worry?" Ron asks.
"You'll do well, I know you will." Hermione says.
Nerves were high on Saturday morning. Ron couldn't eat, neither could Harry. The girls picked small crumbs here and there, and the twins didn't eat more than half a slice of toast. The Slytherins had devoured their meals though. It seemed as if they had no fear. Ron wondered if Snape was refereeing, that would be an advantage for the Slytherins and would most definitely make them confident about themselves.
Somehow, they found the way to the locker rooms and dressed in their robes. Ron said nothing to anybody as they made their way from the locker rooms to the gates.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" Alicia cries. She was desperate for some kind of reassurance.
Ron couldn't reassure anybody though, because he couldn't reassure himself that he wouldn't throw up before the match.
"He's as scared as all of us, it's a lot of pressure." Katie insists.
"I'm not scared!" Ron says pulling himself together. "I was just thinking. You all know what your doing. Just do your best, and watch out for bludgers. Your worst problem should be managing your brooms. This is Slytherin after all."
"That's why I'm so nervous." Katie says.
"They're a bit of a challenge, because the other teams weren't. Don't worry!" Ron says growing paler by the minute.
They made their way onto the field, and as soon as they were in the air, all fear left them and what filled them was determination.
"Captains, shake hands." Madam Hooch calls.
Ron looked incredulously at her, as did Malfoy. Ron held out his hand not wanting to forfeit the match, and Malfoy quickly shook it. Ron flew over to the goal posts, and watched as the game started, while listening to Lee Jordan's commentating.
"And they're off! Johnson of Gryffindor with the Quaffle… she throws an amazing pass to Spinnet at the post, and she scores! What an excellent play. Slytherin in position… they're going to score… YES! Another brilliant play by the Gryffindor Chasers! Bell's got the Quaffle, and she throws it to Johnson! The Slytherins know the plan they're by Spinnet, but no! That isn't the play! Johnson is going to do it herself. The Slytherin Chasers are blocking her way… the cheaters! But oh, look out! The Slytherins have sent two bludgers toward the Gryffindor Chasers! But no! The Weasley twins have control of both bludgers, being right behind them! Oh look out Angelina! What a play! Fred and George Weasley send the bludgers at the Slytherins, before they could hit the chasers, though the Weasley's were more of a danger than the bludgers were. Johnson pitches the Quaffle into the hoop, and they score!" Lee yells.
Ron's whoop of victory was cut short when Malfoy flew over to him. "Are you going to insult me for winning?" Ron asks calmly.
"No, there are too many other good reasons to." Malfoy says.
"Oh, because daddy told you to, is that it?" Ron asks raising an eyebrow.
"No, what my dad has in store for you is too great for me to tease you about just yet." Malfoy says grinning evilly.
"Why don't you go tell somebody who cares?" Ron asks trying to listen to Lee's commentary, but not hearing him over Malfoy's taunts and his own anger. He could see the crowd cheering, but as far as he knew they were flying down around the other half of the field. Ron flew up to see over Malfoy and flew down just in time to catch the Quaffle. Ron threw it over Malfoy allowing Katie to take it.
"An excellent play by the Gryffindor keeper! Great stop!" Lee gasps loudly. "Harry Potter is diving for the snitch!"
Malfoy turned around and darted down after him.
A whistle sounded the end of the game.
"Harry Potter catches the snitch! Gryffindor wins the cup!" Lee yells.
Ron flies down to Harry, as does the rest of the team.
"WE WON! WE WON!" Fred and George yell excitedly.
"Excellent Harry!" Ron yells happily. That match was shorter than any one he'd seen or played in, and… it qualified them to play in the International school championships.
There was a huge celebration in the Gryffindor Common Room that evening. However, three Gryffindors were engrossed in a serious conversation to join all of the excitement, and they were the last three people you'd expect to be talking rather than celebrating at an opportunity like this, when it was allowed.
"I swear that's what they said. Not that I believe them, after all they are Slytherins, but still…" Lee Jordan whispered to the twins.
"They're liars." George says.
"Most of the time, but what they said is too dangerous to ignore." Fred says.
"You can't be serious." George says.
"Look, I'm not saying I believe them, but I'm not just going to ignore it and let somebody get hurt if they're telling the truth." Fred says.
"What are the odds of them telling the truth?" George asks.
"About the same odds as an attack happening at the burrow." Fred says.
"About the same odds as Ron crossing over. Not that I believe them, but they weren't very happy or calm about it… they were shocked and pissed if anything." Lee says.
"And You-know-who didn't kill Ron. Why not?" Fred asks.
"Because he didn't have enough time, and Ron wouldn't answer him?" George tried to argue for Ron.
"It only takes two seconds to whisper the curse, and if he was running short on time, he wouldn't have wasted any trying to get answers if it was obvious Ron was that strong." Fred says.
"I bet you it was a setup. You know how Ron's always been in Harry's shadow. He probably pushed Malfoy's buttons to get suspended so he could secretly meet with You-know-who. He probably did tell You-know-who information about Harry." Lee says.
"He does know everything about him. Harry said so himself." Fred says.
"And he did tell Grandfather to go." George says.
"Exactly." Fred says.
"But why would he be tortured so badly?" George asks.
"To cover it all up." Fred says.
"It all makes sense to me. I think we should talk to Dumbledore." Lee says.
"What if that was the Slytherin's plan? What if they wanted us to believe them, and go to Dumbledore? Dumbledore will surely throw him out if we tell." George tries.
"Dumbledore might know, and he won't throw him out. He knows if somebody's lying or not, but either way we should let him know what we heard and think." Fred says.
"I just hope we're wrong." George says.
"Wrong about what?" Angelina Johnson interrupts them causing them all to jump.
"About how we think we did on our Potions essays." George says casually, careful not to make Angelina curious.
"What do you want?" Fred asks grinning as she started to get angry. He was toying with her, making her think he wanted nothing more than her one minute, and making her think she was a pest the next.
"I wanted to dance, but I'm sure I can find somebody else. As it is the life of the party is engrossed in a secret conversation. I'll go ask Sean to dance." Angelina teased expecting Fred to get jealous and hop on his feet.
However, Fred was uninterested in dancing as he went back to his conversation, and Angelina decided to play by that old motto that said if you can't beat them, join them. So she sat in between Fred and Lee, ending their whispers once more and smiling at them.
"So what are we talking about?" Angelina asks.
"We aren't talking about anything. What do you want, so we," George gestures to himself, his brother, and Lee, "can continue our important discussion?"
"I want to dance with your brother, but I'll wait patiently right here, until you all are done." Angelina says with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"No need to wait, Ron's right over there. Though you may have to fight Hermione for him." George teases.
"Not that brother…" Angelina wraps her arm around Fred, "This brother."
"Give her one dance so she'll go away." George pleas.
"Look, Angelina, I'm saving all my energy for later. I can't have fun when I'm allowed to, because… I'm allowed to, and nothing's really fun unless it's a scandal in which you try not to get caught, and I really need another detention to beat the record, so I'm waiting for tonight. You don't want to destroy that for me." Fred says with a pout that he used to get himself out of trouble with that never worked anymore.
"You owe me a dance during this scandal when you pull it. By the way who holds the records for having the most detentions?" Angelina asks looking at George.
"Guilty as charged." George grins.
"How many more do you have on him?" Angelina asks.
"Fifteen." George says.
"None, we have the same amount, but I want to be the one who leaves Hogwarts with the most detentions in their records." Fred says.
"Oh… now there's a goal everybody should aim for." Angelina says sarcastically.
"Yes, and we're going to go see Dumbledore… now… to see who has the most detentions out of the two of them, and to see if anybody else in the History of Hogwarts has had more… so we're going now." Lee says hinting back to their original conversation.
Fred and George could go on and on with stories that originally started out as an excuse or a lie.
"Wouldn't you go see Filch for that though?" Angelina asks.
"Yes, Filch… you know what I meant… I mean Dumbledore and Filch, well their both old and about the same size. I turned all of Filch's remaining hair gray the other day so you can see where I could confuse them." Lee says.
Angelina laughs. "I'm going away now." Angelina walks away, laughing.
As they were walking down the hall the boys talked.
"That was a good one Fred." Lee says.
"I wasn't joking. Though your excuse about Filch and Dumbledore was a good one. That would be amusing." Fred laughs picturing Filch's hair gray.
"I wasn't joking either. I really did turn his hair gray, but it only lasted until he saw his reflection. Then he made Snape fix it, and assumed it was you two giving you two another detention." Lee says.
"That's why? I thought he was just giving us one for no good reason as usual. I thought something was up when he was muttering about his hair… though I just thought he was upset because he's old and going bald." George laughs.
"Going bald? Please, the man is bald; he's got no hair on his… Headmaster, we were just coming to see you." Fred says innocently as they ran into Professor Dumbledore.
"Ah, and what is this about?" Professor Dumbledore asks.
"Nothing important, we were just wondering who holds the records for having the most detentions, but we should've known you were too busy for something so stupid…" George says.
Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "I believe you do George."
"What? How? How many does he have on me?" Fred asks.
"Well I don't know the exact amount of detentions off the top of my head, but I do know he's had to help Filch three more times than you did." Dumbledore says.
"Oh, we also wanted to know who Gryffindor's playing?" Lee asks.
"The whole school will find out on Monday. I will not reveal anymore information until that time." Dumbledore grins.
"We really came to see you because we overheard the Slytherins talking… about Ron. They were saying how Ron's on their side." Fred says.
"And Malfoy was talking to Ron during the match." George adds.
"And they weren't happy about having Ron on their side at all. They hate Gryffindors, and if he can help You-know-who more than they can, well they really can't be too happy." Lee says.
"Now which side is Slytherin on? I'm confused." Professor Dumbledore says calmly.
"The dark side. You-know-who's side." Fred says.
"Nobody in this school is a follower of Voldemort." Professor Dumbledore says clearly. "Mr. Malfoy was taunting your brother during the match, trying to get Gryffindor to lose by having their talented keeper fall to the ground in a violent distraction. There is no doubt in my mind that Ronald Weasley is on the good side. Mr. Jordan I believe they set you up to come to me, so that you would tell his brothers, and they would have trust issues, and the team would fall apart, leaving them to take Gryffindor's place in the International competition. I'm sure their attitude would reflect their disappointment in losing."
"Right." George says miserably.
"So you still aren't going to tell us who we're playing?" Fred asks.
"I will tell you… on Monday." Professor Dumbledore grins and walks away.
"I can't believe how stupid we are." Fred says.
"We were concerned is all." Lee says.
"Yea, you two can be really stupid." George says.
"Hey you believed us too." Lee says.
"Yes, you said I hope we are wrong. We as in the three of us." Fred says.
"No we as in you two. I said I hope you are wrong. You and Lee, that makes we…" George argues.
"How did you get three more detentions than me?" Fred wonders.
"When you're doing you Potions homework… I don't do it, and I find myself in trouble." George jokes.
"That's why you're failing Potions." Fred observes.
"No, he doesn't look at the essays. He's failing me because I exchanged a fake wand for his, and I turned his hair into green slime." George says.
Lee laughs hysterically as he leans against the railing of the stair.
"When was this?" Fred asks.
"When we left because he tried to give us all detentions on the day of the game. I performed a swap and a last minute spell." George says grinning his eyes looking up.
"Only it stunk, because we happened to be doing a hair restoration potion, and he fixed it, and grabbed his wand out of George's cloak when he was leaving after his turned into a chicken." Lee says.
"I still can't believe you got more detentions than me." Fred says.
On Monday morning everybody was waking up, eating breakfast in the Great Hall, when the Entrance Hall Doors opened letting a gust of wind blow into the castle. They heard the door shut and everybody looked for who entered. Hagrid, who was already seated was also curious, but stood to see who came in. Professor Dumbledore just had a knowing smile on his face and waited patiently as a group of teenaged wizards entered the Great Hall with two teachers by them.
Ron grinned as he saw the seven American Quidditch players with two of his favorite teachers. Only three of the people he met were on the team. Derek, Dominique and Roxanne were there, looking at the ceiling and the walls in awe of the castle.
Then they looked around at the students, in search of something, Derek's smile widened as he saw the red hair at the one table. Derek went toward the table, before his teachers could stop him, and stopped when he found Ron.
Derek grabbed a piece of bacon off of Ron's plate before he spoke. "Yo, what's up?" Derek asks giving Ron a hug.
"Hey!" Ron says.
"Your girl is here." Derek says gesturing toward Roxanne.
"Yes, and so is Mr. Ridge." Ron grins seeing Mr. Ridgeway behind Derek.
Mr. Ridgeway grabbed Derek's shoulder tightly.
"How are you doing Ron?" Mr. Ridgeway asks patting Ron on the back.
"All right." Ron says. "How are you doing? You getting Bozo to do some work?" Ron asks.
"I do not look like some clown." Derek says defensively.
"You act like one, and he could transfigure you into one." Ron says brightly.
"And I'd transfigure him into a muggle soccer ball and kick him with my clown shoes." Derek says.
"Tell Ron you'll see him later. You remember the rules." Mr. Ridgeway warns.
"You'll see him later, you remember the rules." Derek mocks.
Mr. Ridgeway drags Derek back to the rest of the students causing Ron to laugh.
They all walked up to the staff table, where Mrs. Prewitt was speaking to a very amused Professor Dumbledore.
After she finished talking, Professor Dumbledore stood up still smiling, and spoke.
"Students and staff. I'd like you to welcome International School Quidditch Challengers, from America. They will be staying with us until the Championship match, in which our school's winner, the Gryffindor House Team will play the Americans who have beaten both Bulgarian and French Quidditch teams."
After he finished speaking, the staff found themselves in two seats at the staff table, while the Americans followed Roxanne and Derek to the Gryffindor table where they were welcome by all the students, even by Hermione, who was heartbroken to find out that Ron had a girl in America, who sat between her and Ron, Dominique sat across from him, and Derek sat between Harry and Ron. Though Harry didn't mind, he thought Derek was just as amusing as the twins.
"They shut you up again. Usually you were the one who talked and talked and talked. I think there's something weird about this place though, I mean I lost my voice for a second when I entered." Derek says.
"That's because they put a silencing charm on you to shut you up. They didn't want you giving the USA a bad name." Dominique says.
"It already has a name, America, and you know if they start calling it Derek, because of me, it really wouldn't hurt me." Derek jokes.
Roxanne rolls her eyes and turns to talk to Ron. "So Ron, are you on the Quidditch Team?"
"Yea." Ron says.
"Girl, we only asked him about a billion times, you should know! You have to excuse Roxanne, she was born blonde." Derek says.
"I never had blonde hair!" Roxanne argues.
"Sure, sure." Derek teases.
Roxanne smacks him upside his head. "Never insult a woman when she's sitting right next to you."
"What woman?" Derek asks and ducks before Roxanne could swing.
Everybody started cracking up. "That's what I thought." Roxanne says smacking him.
"So what position do you play?" Ron asks.
"Chaser." Roxanne answers. "He's a chaser too, unfortunately."
"Girl, watch your mouth." Derek warns.
"Can't, and I'm only saying what's true." Roxanne says.
"Girl…" Derek says and tickles her.
Roxanne squeals. "Ron… help!" Roxanne pants between laughs.
Derek stops. "Your lucky I'm hungry." Derek says stealing another piece of bacon from Ron's plate.
"Do you not see that platter of bacon?" Ron asks.
"Yes, and I'll get to that when I'm done yours." Derek teases.
Ron smacks his hand. "Bad dog." Ron teases.
"Speaking of bad dogs…" Roxanne says shifting his attention to her.
"I didn't do anything." Ron says.
"Exactly, you came back, but you didn't say hello to me." Roxanne says.
"I didn't exactly get a chance to." Ron says.
"You can't still be sore at me man. You were sick as a dog, no pun intended, but still you would've died, and probably over some stupid reason like you not getting your way. Don't try to fool me, I've done it plenty of times, and the longer you're gone, the worse the parents react, trust me. I was just watching out for your back." Derek says.
"I wasn't mad at you." Ron says, though he didn't look at him in the eyes.
"Don't lie to me, I know you're mad at me, but I also know you can't stay mad at me… well, when I kick your…" Derek's mouth was stuck shut, and the reason soon appeared.
Mr. Ridgeway appeared over Derek's shoulder.
"Mr. Evans," Mr. Ridgeway began in a serious whisper. "I would advise you once more, to watch your mouth while you're here."
Derek went to say something, but his voice was still gone. Suddenly, it came back to him.
"That's not cool, I don't like those slick tricks you teachers are playing. I was only going to say butt." Derek starts.
"It wouldn't have shut you up if that was it. Control your mouth." Mr. Ridgeway says and walks away.
"Right, like I was saying…" Derek continues, yet again he was interrupted.
"Only now he'll have to think about what he says!" Dominique teases.
"He gets lost easy in thought. His mind tends to wander." Roxanne says.
"But it can't wander far, there's not much upstairs." Dominique teases.
"You two are lucky I need you for Quidditch, or I'd turn you both into something or make you disappear! Don't press my buttons, Ridge has already pushed my temper with whatever he used!" Derek says.
"Oh no!" Roxanne mocks with a gasp.
"Leave him alone… he can't curse, so he's miserable." Ron says trying to keep the grin from widening on his face.
"You don't want your bacon, do you?" Derek asks tilting the contents of Ron's plate on his own just to tease him.
"Now what were you saying?" Ron asks annoyed at his loss of food.
"I was saying that I could understand you being upset with us beating you at the Championship is all." Derek says.
"Keep dreaming." Ron says.
"Ooh, is that a challenge?" Derek asks.
"Dreaming? I don't know, is that a challenge for you? The challenge for me is having to look at your face for the next week." Ron teases.
"Oh! That was cold!" Roxanne says smiling at Derek.
"I taught him everything he knows." Derek says proudly.
"What are you talking about? You must've got that mixed up. See you probably taught him everything you knew, because he was only there long enough for that." Dominique teases.
"Why does everybody have something against me?" Derek asks sadly.
"We only tease the ones we love." Dominique says.
"She's speaking for herself there." Ron says quickly.
While they continued to joke, a heartbroken Hermione thought about Dominique's words. 'We only tease the ones we love.' Did that mean that maybe she still had a chance with Ron? She didn't want to be pushed aside every time another girl came, but he hadn't told her about Roxanne, and as they were guests, she wasn't about to make a scene.
The week passed by quickly for everybody with the exception of Hermione, who wanted nothing more for than the Americans to leave, or just Roxanne. She was being pushed to the side, and Harry hadn't noticed. She had kept herself to her books and nobody knew that she was hurting, that she was heartbroken and upset.
Finally, it was the last day of the Americans' stay. The match was today, and Gryffindor and the Americans had practiced hard during the week. Now everybody who wasn't the fourteen players in the locker rooms waited with baited breath for the match to begin.
Before anybody knew what they were doing the Quaffle was in the air, and the whistle was blown. America in possession…Roxanne and Derek easily weaved their way around the beaters, the twins, and the chasers and tried a tag team approach at putting the Quaffle past Ron. Roxanne threw it toward the hoop… Derek caught it before Ron could, and threw it at the farther hoop. Ron dodged to stop it, but Roxanne had got it and put it over Ron's head through the middle hoop.
Ron felt like they had won the game already! How had they put it past him? Gryffindor always scored the first points, and Ron had always been able to stop a Quaffle unless he was really tired or out of it, and he had never been. He had been knocked out once, and distracted as well, but it was in the first five minutes, and they had put it past him. Ron could hear the Gryffindors uproar in the stands. He couldn't wonder how everything had happened and how he had screwed up long, as they were coming back again.
Where were Fred, George, and the bludgers? Why weren't the other chasers trying to get the Quaffle? Ron felt his heart skip. Harry was head to head in a chase with the American seeker. Harry wasn't the best seeker for anything… It had vanished. Fred and George were chasing the bludgers toward the American seeker.
Roxanne and Derek were coming toward him again. He wouldn't screw up this time. He couldn't screw up again! Roxanne threw it toward the hoop, and both Derek and Ron dived for the Quaffle. They crashed into each other, both of them rolling over on their brooms! Ron still caught the Quaffle with a jolt of pain, signaling his shoulder had been ripped out of place again, and he threw it to Angelina.
The Gryffindors screamed. Nothing could stop Gryffindors in possession! Dominique was the keeper, and she was quite bored up until now, but now she was focused, trying to see through the minds of the Gryffindors… obviously, she hadn't gotten that far, since Alicia put it past her. They were tied.
Dominique, angry about missing the Quaffle, threw the Quaffle toward the other chaser, but Katie bumped her out of the way and took possession of the Quaffle, surprising Dominique, and putting it past her once again, and at that moment, the whistle blew. An uproar of applause was heard as all fourteen players looked to see why Madam Hooch had blown the whistle. Harry Potter had the snitch in his fist. He definitely wasn't the best keeper for no reason at all.
Even weeks after the Americans left, Ron had still not lifted his guilt of being defeated by his friends. They would always stay in touch, but Ron would now move on with his life at Hogwarts.