A few days passed by and Ron and Hermione had not spoken to each other since the incident in the Great Hall, and Harry was starting to worry for his friends. They had had a little dispute in forth year and went through the same silent treatment situation, but what Ron had said just a few days ago was a lot worse than what happened last time. He wasn't sure they were ever going to be friends again. And he couldn't just take sides; they were both his friends. He almost took Ron's side, but even though he's Harry's best friend, he insulted his love, Ginny. But if he took Hermione's side, he would risk losing his friendship with Ron, and they'd been friends since the very first train ride to Hogwarts; not only that, Ron had been Harry's first friend, ever. He didn't know what he was going to do if they didn't make up soon.
But more importantly to the rest of the school, the dueling tournament was winding down. This poster was up all over Hogwarts:
So now the last few duels gave Gryffindor a fifty-fifty chance of winning the House Duel Championship. But Draco was not about to let that happen. When he found out that he was up against a forth year, he was certain he was going to win. But before that duel could happen, Harry and Cho were up, and it was time for them to decide who was boss off the Quidditch Field.
The two shared their moment of sportsmanship with the wand salute, in which Harry snuck a glance at Cho's face. But as soon as she met his eyes, he looked away quickly. As he turned around to go to his corner, Harry looked over to Ginny, who wasn't smiling, and subtly winked at her with a smile. This changed her expression pretty quick. He turned quickly and waited for the signal from Professor Snape to start the duel.
"One…" He very much wanted to get this over quickly. He felt uncomfortable being in the spotlight with Cho in front of the whole school.
"Two…"Especially since that fiasco in forth year when he asked her to the Yule Ball. What a mistake that was. Ron still teased him about it.
"Three."
"Expelliarmus!" Cho shouted straight away, knocking Harry off his feet. He wasn't concentrating very well. But he got up quickly and assumed the stance.
"Tarantallegra!" Harry shouted back at her, but before any damage could be done, Cho came back.
"Finite Incantatum!" Cho shouted, and Harry's spell was stopped.
"Er.." Harry had thought that would work. "Expelliarmus!"
"Finite Incantatum!"
"Serpensensia!" he yelled, as a snake appeared out of the end of his wand. But this did not make Cho falter the least bit.
"Locomotor Mortis!" she said. Harry really didn't know what this meant, so he went to take another step, but found himself falling to the floor again. His legs were bound together, and he couldn't move.
"Miss Chang is the winner for round seven," the professor declared. "NEXT!"
Next were Ron and Carol. Ron went to his place in the center of the mat. He was soon joined by his competitor. They bowed and went to their places. Ron knew exactly what he was going to do.
"On three. One… two… three," Snape said with a lack of enthusiasm.
"Hominardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted out, and his opponent was raised up in the air at the control of Ron's wand. Carol didn't really know what to do, but wait to be let down. Ron led her right and left in the air above the crowd, then back over the mat, where he let down his wand. Carol fell with a loud "ooof!" Just like that, Ron was declared the winner.
"NEXT!"
Now it was time for Draco and Cali to duel.
"Scared Misnet?" said Draco. But Cali was too busy with other thoughts on her mind to respond.
Damn he's hot. I can't believe I get to duel him! All my friends back home have seen the pictures I've sent of him, they're going to be so jealous!
"Hey! Wake up American!"
"Wha Oh… yeah, I'm ready for this. More than you know, Draco," she said, with a sly smile across her face. Draco wasn't sure what to make of this.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing. Let's get started," she teased him, and put her wand up to her face, as he matched the gesture of the salute. They brought their wands down, turned around quickly, and walked to opposite sides of the dueling mat. As they faced each other again, Draco winced at the smirk Cali was giving him.
Okay, you know what you've got to do, Cali. Its either now or never, this is the perfect opportunity. This is the whole reason you entered this stupid contest. She saw Snape assuming an attitude of utmost pride and heard him speaking excitedly.
"All right Draco, on and Ms. Misnet as well on three. One... two... three!"
"Accio Draco Malfoy!" Cali cried out, as she pointed her wand directly at him. A bright stream of light poured from the end and shot straight at her competitor, and encircled him like a lasso. Before Draco could realize what was going on, he was flying across the room toward Cali, who was now beaming from ear to ear. He stopped suddenly, inches away from her face, but he did not stay motionless for long. She had wrapped her non-wand hand around the back of his neck and pressed him to her face, when she kissed him.
"Miss Misnet!" Snape yelled.
She had a good bind on him for about three seconds, before Draco got away and shouted out, "Rictusempra!" his wand pointed at Cali, standing only three feet away. The spell hit her hard, and Cali immediately broke out into hysterics and fell on the floor, rolling around to try to get the tickling to stop.
"Ahh! It tickles.. ooh heee hee EEKKK! stop stop STOP PLEASE!!" she cried out between bouts of laughter.
"I think it's safe to say that Miss Misnet here is unable to duel anymore, any protests?" said Snape. "No? Well then, I pronounce Mr. Malfoy the winner of this duel, number nine."
The next duel was between Cho and Ron. Ron won, by a long shot, so Cho now dueled against Draco. Again, Cho was beat mercilessly. Now the championship duel was upon the school. It was Gryffindor versus Slythern, wealthy versus poor, kind versus cruel... Ron Weasley versus Draco Malfoy.
"Now to introduce you to the one who'll be in charge of this match," said Professor Snape. "Headmaster Dumbledore, the floor is yours."
"Thank you, Professor. It is my pleasure to announce the finalists for the House Duel Tournament Championship Duel: Ron Weasley, a sixth year from Gryffindor House " cheers erupted from around the enormous room housing all the students of Hogwarts. "And Draco Malfoy, a sixth year from Slytherin House." and once more, cheers were heard all around, only not as many. Many of the students that were not in Slytherin were even booing.
"Now, I'd like to remind you two young men that the winner will receive one hundred and fifty points for their House, and will be the first to have their name listed on the new annual House Duel Tournament plaque in the trophy case." Several students broke out into comments of astonishment.
"Yes, students, this tournament sets a precedent for the future of this school, and will be continued for many, many years. Now, let's get to it then, shall we? Please salute to your opponent." They did, although both had sneers on their faces. They walked to the ends of the dueling mat. "When I count to three, you may begin your charms. One... two... THREE!"
Ron was the first one to utter his spell. "Confundus!" he shouted. But Draco wasn't but a second behind, and he too called out a spell.
"Stupefy!" But that was the end of the intelligent duel. Both had done the same spell upon each other.
"Er.." said Ron. "Alohomora!"
"Lumos!" Draco shouted out.
"Ferula!" Ron shouted out, as a wooden rod appeared out of nowhere.
"Nox!"
"Densaugeo!" said Ron, and Draco's teeth began growing to abnormal size within seconds.
"Orchideous!" he said back, and a bouquet of flowers spat out of his wand.
By this time laughter was roaring through the Great Hall, and Professor Snape had began to look worried. "Headmaster, don't you think we should disregard this match? It is obvious they are both beyond their… er… wisdom."
"No, no, Severus. They are both cleaver wizards, I'm sure they'll get themselves out of this before long."
"Furnunculus!" Ron cried out, and boils started popping up all over Draco's face.
"AHH!!" He yelled, but he felt his wits coming back to him. "Conjunctivitis!"
"Ow! My eyes!! They're burning!" Ron screamed out in pain, also starting to feel a little more intelligent. "Petrificus Totalus!" And Draco was in a full body-bind. He teetered over, still in pain from the boils that were growing onto his face. Everyone in the room could then hear a bone in his wrist crack, and then they knew the duel was over.
"After a very amusing, yet well fought duel," Dumbledore spoke up. "I pronounce the champion of the First Annual House Duel Tournament to be Ron Weasley, and one hundred and fifty points will be awarded to his house, Gryffindor!" Cheers erupted, through the entire school it seemed like, once again. Dumbledore had to raise his arms to gesture people to quiet down. "Now, I believe we are in a great position to have a feast to celebrate this wonderful occasion. Please meet back in here in ten minutes and your tables will be ready!" All the students left the Great Hall, and Draco was levitated up to the hospital wing.
Ron was soon surrounded by Gryffindors, and he was even lifted up on the shoulders of a few of them. But all he wanted was to go talk to his closest friends. He wanted to be away from all this hype. So he got down and went to find Harry. He went out into the halls, but before he found him, Hermione came up to Ron in tears.
"I'm so sorry Ron!!! I can't believe I acted like that, and that I did what I did," she said through sobs. "I know I really messed things up, but I just want to have things back the way "
"Hermione, don't cry! Please!! You shouldn't be the one who's sorry!" He loved having her back in his arms. "I shouldn't have overreacted the way I did. I know you only did that for us." Ron was now in tears too. "But of course, let's get back to the way things were. I missed you so much Hermione."
"I missed you too, Ron." They shared a small kiss despite the fact they knew people were probably watching. When they released, they walked back into the Great Hall and sat down next to Harry and Ginny.
"YES!! You two have " Ginny said, then changed her voice to a whisper. "Made up!"
"Yeah, we have," Ron said, gazing into Hermione's eyes. She returned the gaze with smiling eyes.
"Thank goodness. I didn't know what I was going to do. You guys can't split up on me. I have no way of handling it!" Harry said.
The four of them talked and laughed about various events that had been happening, mainly about the hilarious duel between Ron and Draco, all during the feast. Things were back to normal. Just as they were about to pick out their dessert, Dumbledore walked up behind Ginny and Harry.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, could I have a word with the two of you," he said with twinkling eyes, "in my office?"