Chapter 5:
It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon in which the first game of Quidditch this
year was to be held. Crowds were already seated around the Quidditch pitch
eagerly waiting for the players to come out.
It was raining heavily this morning but luckily as the Quidditch match drew
closer the rain subdued. In the changing rooms the Gryffindor players were
changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes and the Slytherin team were changing
into their green Quidditch robes.
Harry rubbed his hands together.
"Today is the day we show those Slytherins what we're made of!" Harry said
enthusiastically. The rest of the Gryffindor team cheered. Harry ran through his
strategy once more before heading out with the team, out into the open crowds.
Dean was this year's commentator and Professor McGonagall was standing by his
side, making sure he didn't end up commentating like Lee Jordan did.
"Here, we have Gryffindor's team!" Dean stuttered with his unusual booming voice
that he had to get used to. Harry led his team out onto the fresh Quidditch
pitch, gripping onto his Firebolt tightly. He saw Hermione sitting with Ginny,
Parvati and a few girls from fifth year; no doubt Ginny's friends. Harry waved
to them before focusing on the game.
For this game, Madam Hooch was refereeing, standing out in the middle of the
pitch as usual, waiting for the two teams.
"And here we have Slytherin's team!" Dean started to ease as he grew more used
to his voice.
The Slytherin team poured out, receiving cheers from their house. Malfoy, with
his pale face and glossy blonde hair held his Dragoness easily, its polished tip
shining even though there was no sun this morning. Ron was holding a Shooting
Star, and was embarrassed, seeing Malfoy's Dragoness. He could have sworn he saw
Draco dart a glimpse at Hermione.
Harry narrowed his eyes hatefully as he looked at Draco, who was calm as usual.
"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch ordered. Calmly, Draco stepped forward and
shook Harry's hand.
"Mount your brooms please." Madam Hooch began. Each and every player from both
teams mounted their brooms obediently. Here on the pitch Harry could clearly see
a few Aurors standing around the oval Quidditch field. The blast from Madam
Hooch's whistle brought him back to reality.
"O-okay, um Slytherin chaser gets hold of Quaffle first- throws to chaser Pansy-
who fails to catch it- Gryffindor chaser Colin Creevy gains Quaffle and throws
to younger brother Dennis, who swerves around Beater Goyle- wrong move! Dennis
is hit on the back by a bludger sent by Goyle; Quaffle is now in the hands of
Warrington- who almost clashes with bludgers sent by Gryffindor team, whizzes
past Seamus's unsuccessful snatch at the Quaffle and is facing Ronald Weasley-
Gryffindor keeper."
On the field, Warrington was facing Ron, who was determined to guard his hoops.
Sensing that Warrington was about to throw the Quaffle into the left hoop, Ron
flung himself infront of the hoop- only to discover that Warrington threw the
Quaffle to Montague, the other Slytherin chaser who scored in the right-hand
side hoop.
"AND MONTAGUE SCORES FOR SLYTHERIN!" Dean Thomas bellowed unhappily. Cheers erupted from the Slytherin side and that was when Harry spots the snitch. Seeing that Malfoy was busy grinning at Slytherin's team, Harry made a mad dash for it, praying that Draco wouldn't notice.
Unfortunately, Dean shouted something like- 'Harry Potter may have seen the
snitch!' and that was all Malfoy needed to hear before he looked in the
direction Harry was facing, and raced down to get the snitch before him. The
Dragoness was at least five times faster than the Firebolt and within seconds
Malfoy was neck to neck with Harry. Reaching out one gloved hand, Draco tried to
seize the snitch. It flew further, and Malfoy sped up.
"Come on, come on!" Harry mumbled, hoping that his broom was fast enough.
"Your Firebolt is no match with my Dragoness, Potter!" Draco shouted infront
without losing eye contact with the snitch. His fingertips were now touching the
wings of the snitch and Draco grinned broadly.
"Suffer, Potter! Watch me rip every smile off every dweeb that is in Gryffindor
and-"
SMACK.
Malfoy was cut short by a bludger that hit his jaw and at once he fell from his
broom and onto the green grass with a thump.
"So much for the Dragoness." Harry muttered before he soared ahead.
Crowds gasped and some screamed. Harry continued to speed ahead, but found that
he had lost sight of the snitch.
Pansy sped up to Madam Hooch on her Nimbus 2001. She was much paler than usual
and she had a concerned look on her face.
"Madam Hooch! Can we please ask for time out? Our seeker's knocked out by a
bludger!" She cried. Madam Hooch shook her head.
"Only a Captain may ask for time out. As for Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure he'll come
around." She assured her. Pansy turned around angrily and flew back high into
the air.
For a second Harry saw the snitch again, but it disappeared just as fast.
Concentrating, He flew around, searching for the snitch through his glasses,
which were beginning to get fogged up. Pansy dodged past Harry and ignored the
Quaffle that was being thrown to her by Warrington. She hovered just above the
unconscious Malfoy and she gulped.
"Draco? Can you hear me?" She held out her hand.
"Draco, squeeze my hand if you could hear me!" She ordered, fearing that he
might have a broken jaw or something. To her relief, he stirred slightly and
opened one eye.
"I don't squeeze people's hands," he muttered, half his mouth buried in the
grass. With as little help from Pansy as possible, Malfoy mounted his broom, one
gloved hand rubbing his jaw.
"And the Slytherin seeker, Draco Malfoy remounts his broom and is back in
action!" Dean bellowed. The Slytherin crowd cheered as they saw their seeker fly
on his broom again. Gryffindor was finally getting even with Slytherin's score,
with seventy points to ninety, Slytherin's way.
Although Dennis was preoccupied with catching and throwing quaffles, he caught
sight of the snitch, which was flying lazily near where the Ravenclaw crowd sat.
"Harry! Snitch!" He pointed to Ravenclaw's direction. Harry jerked awake
suddenly and made a blind dart towards Ravenclaw's crowds. He scanned the area
but saw no snitch. Suddenly the crowds were pointing and gaping to his left.
Harry felt a stab of fear when he saw Malfoy chasing the snitch.
"Shit, shit, shit!" He whispered as he saw Malfoy closing in on the snitch.
"Heads!" Someone shouted from behind. Harry went along with his first instinct
and ducked. As for Malfoy, his first instinct was to catch the snitch. Wrapping
his hand around the cold, golden snitch, Draco had no idea that a solid, black
bludger was going to forever ruin half his brain tissues.
"Draco Malfoy has caught the snitch. Give yourself a pat on the back." Dean
added sarcastically, receiving a look of warning from Professor McGonagall. Dean
smiled awkwardly at her and immediately the crowds gasped and a buzz of chatter
erupted. Dean swallowed once he saw what had just happened.
Malfoy had been hit by a bludger that plummeted for his head. For the second
time, he fell onto the grass, unconscious. From the crowds whom were bending for
a better look, Hermione covered her mouth with both her hands.
"That bludger did look promising, didn't it?" Parvati said, nudging Hermione.
But when she didn't take any notice, Parvati rolled her eyes. Hermione was
obviously absorbed in Draco's safety.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and walked towards the center of the field.
"Slytherin has won this match, seventy to two hundred and forty." She conjured a
stretcher to carry Malfoy to the hospital wing, and Crabbe took the Dragoness
back to the Slytherin common room.
*
"The boy?" He hissed.
"Sorry Master, he couldn't make it."
"A lie."
"No, Master. It will be a while before he is well again."
"A lie!"
"I wouldn't dare, Master."
"Bring the boy to me!"
"Aurors, Master."
"Aurors are nothing,"
"Yes, Master."
"Then bring him to me!" He roared.
"He has had an accident, Master." Wormtail said shakily.
"I will get him later, then."
"Of course, Master."
"See to my Death Eaters."
"I will at once, Master." He trotted off into the dark opening.
*
Harry slumped out of the change rooms gloomily. Even though Malfoy probably had
inevitable brain damage, losing a Quidditch match that badly was almost as bad.
Ron patted Harry's shoulder.
"Cheer up, Harry. It's only because he's got a Dragoness." He tried, but Harry
just shook his head.
"Gryffindor was catching up to Slytherin already- before I failed to see the
snitch through x2 vision." He flicked his glasses miserably.
"Ah well, that madwoman Professor Qupid did say you were gonna get a Dragoness!
That's something to look forward to, at least." He smiled sadly. He was using
one of the school brooms, naturally.
"I'll give you my Firebolt if you like." Harry started. Ron's eyes lightened up.
"Wicked! You think I could? You know, use your Firebolt?" Harry nodded. For the
rest of the trip back to the common room, Ron talked about nothing but the
Firebolt.
"Thanks again, Harry." Ron thanked. Harry grinned.
"It's nothing, Ron. Really." Ron became the slightest red. He knew he had
nothing to give to Harry in return, except maybe-
"You could stay at The Burrow if you like- you know, for the holidays," Ron
offered. This time Harry lit up.
"Yeah, I'd like that- way better than staying with the Dursleys."
Ron suddenly looked around the common room.
"Hey where's Hermione?" He asked, looking past Harry's shoulder.
"Think she said she was going down to the library to get some books for her
homework." Harry said, shrugging. They both looked over at where Hermione had
been studying previously. The table was piled with books and pieces of
Parchment.
"Or maybe to get something else," Harry shrugged again and took a seat near the
crackling fireplace. All of a sudden Ron looked shrewd.
"You know, Harry. I think Hermione's hiding something from us." He said, stroking his chin. At that very moment Neville stumbled across the common room. Ron stroked his chin more fiercely. Harry looked at his friend. He had been thinking the exact same thing. Hermione was acting all weird these days and kept going to the library. The portrait swung open and in poured all the Gryffindor Quidditch players. Harry looked at each of them apologetically.
"Sorry I stuffed up…" He brushed imaginary dust off his robes. Seamus cracked a smile.
"We'll win them back, Harry! You're the greatest Quidditch Captain!" He clapped Harry's back.
"I wish I was."
*
Hermione walked quickly towards the Hospital wing, hoping that no one will spot her, for Dumbledore specifically told no one to wander around alone. As she pushed open the doors of the Hospital wing, she felt an icy hand grip her shoulder. She let out a surprised cry.
"What do you think you are doing, Granger? Wondering around alone," Snape asked, his mouth curling into an unpleasant sneer.
"I- I'm visiting someone…" She croaked. Snape shot up both his eyebrows.
"Oh? Whom, may I ask?" It would come out to be heard as a lie if she said she was
visiting Draco.
"No one really…" She lied, hopefully looking as innocent as possible. Looking triumphant, Snape's sneer grew more radiant.
"Very well then, Granger. Ten points from Gryffindor for hoping no teacher will catch you and fifty points for planting your head at the wrong places at the wrong time. And good afternoon." Without waiting for a reply he flung around and continued roaming the school. She waited for Snape to round a corner before she let herself into the Hospital wing to see Malfoy.
Madam Pomfrey just finished bandaging Malfoy's head when Hermione ran up to his bed.
"Is he going to be okay? Is he?" Hermione demanded. Madam Pomfrey nodded before taking the rest of the bandages away.
"Draco? Draco, can you hear me?" She looked at his slightly swollen jaw, then his heavily bandaged head and regretted it as helpless tears welled up in her eyes. She just sat next to Draco, just watching him, and for the first time in her life she felt helpless. No books were going to help her now.
She felt guilty about telling Harry that she was going to the library and she couldn't stop worrying that what if they went down to search for her, and discover that she wasn't there? Sighing, she stared at Draco. For an instant she thought Draco looked extremely girly, his hair slicked back and lying feebly on the Hospital bed, but quickly cursed herself for thinking such thoughts when he could have mental problems right now. Another thought came to her mind.
Why did he say that he liked me that day in the Library? Why so sudden? That was what Hermione had been trying to figure out. Why the hell would someone who hated her for six long years sudden go 'I like you'? It was puzzling.
*
At dinner, Hermione arrived, looking glum. She had paid a visit to an unconscious Draco for a costly price- sixty points from Gryffindor. Dropping into a seat next to Ginny, she picked up her fork. Ron looked ashamed for not saving her a seat earlier.
"So where have you been, exactly?" Ron asked. Hermione began to chew slowly on a pork chop.
"Didn't Harry tell you? I was at the library," Visions of Harry and Ron invading the library to find her made her choke. Harry looked at her.
"Are you alright?" He asked, sensing she'd been doing much more than just going to the library. Hermione nodded quickly. Neville was sitting at the other end of the table, and glaring at Ron. Ron shot him a nasty glance.
"Hermione, you know, we think you've somehow changed in the past few weeks, if you know what I mean…" Ron swallowed nervously.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm still feeding myself books, checking all your homework, aren't I?" She said back. Ron flushed to the roots of his hair.
"Er- no, Hermione, I didn't mean it that way. You know, you hang around the library all the time now, and you hardly talk and stuff," Ron felt he no longer had the appetite he had come to dinner with. Hermione shrugged.
"I'm just a bit preoccupied with homework, you know, that sort of thing. You won't be interested." She had her mind on Malfoy, if he was going to be alright. She felt sad when she looked over at the empty seat over at the Slytherin table.
"Try me, Hermione." Ron defended, setting down his knife and fork. Ginny rolled her eyes. Hermione shook her head and continued to eat absentmindedly, putting ketchup on the table, making a smiley face.
"Ha! You think I'm not into all that homework stuff! You'll see, Hermione!" Ron told her. For the rest of dinner, Ron tried to make Hermione talk to him about homework stuff, while poor Neville sat making short conversations with Nearly Headless Nick.
*
After dinner, Ron was still trying to make Hermione absorb him in homework subjects. At last, Hermione snapped.
"Ron, I don't care if you're interested or not, okay?" She was on the verge of shouting and Harry knew it, as Ron, Hermione and himself strode back to the common room. Ron grinned evilly.
"Nah, Hermione! You just don't want to tell me what you've been doing!" He clasped both hands on his waist.
"You know, maybe I don't! Leave. Me. Alone!" She was shouting all this and a silence followed. Harry looked out one of the windows from the staircases. Wow, a full moon. It was pitch black outside and there was a patch of cloud shaped like a pumpkin floating alone. The silence followed all the way until they reached the common room and when Hermione went up to the girls' dormitory, did Ron dare open his mouth again.
"I don't believe her! Telling us fibs about where she was!" He was clearly upset that Hermione snapped at him like that. Harry agreed vaguely. It was a good ten minutes filled with Ron's talk before they headed up to their dormitories and fell asleep.
*
Harry woke up, trying to catch his breath. His scar was scorching with pain, as usual. He had had the dream that Voldemort was in the Dungeons, and Death Eaters were killing the Aurors. The sky was pitch black, with a pale, white, full moon perched in the sky, and there was this patch of cloud the shape of a pumpkin.
"Pumpkin?" Harry said out loud, remembering that tonight, there was a patch of cloud the shape of a pumpkin. It was unlikely that Death Eaters were outside waiting, but his dream told him something. He felt for his glasses and scrambled out of bed to wake Ron. He pulled on his robes hastily and pocketed his wand.
"Ron, Ron, wake up!" He whispered at Ron. A snore from Neville made Harry jump.
"Hmm what?" Ron didn't open an eye.
"Come on, Ron! I had this dream!" He muttered. It sounded pathetic really, big deal. He had a dream. But the thing was, his dreams were usually true.
"And who are you?" Ron mumbled, groaning.
"Come on, Ron! Quickly!" Harry exclaimed as Ron struggled out of bed.
*
Harry and Ron now faced the stone gargoyle which stood outside Dumbledore's office. Ron's face was scrunched up with exasperation.
"The password?" Harry asked Ron. Ron shrugged irritably.
"How am I meant to know?" Harry had explained to Ron along the way about his dream and Ron seemed as worried as he was. They had tried everything from Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans to Pumpkin juice, but the gargoyle never moved.
"Hermione? Is that the password?" Ron spat. Harry looked at Ron with a raised eyebrow. The gargoyle refused to move an inch.
"I give up!" Ron cried out angrily. They had been standing out there for at least 15 minutes, trying to figure out the right password. Harry looked up and down the dark and empty corridor.
"Maybe we should try the staffroom?" He suggested. Ron drooped his shoulders.
"Yeah, like they want to help us about some weird dream about a cloud in shape of a pumpkin." Ron shook his head at Harry. Harry sighed.
"Boys?" A voice from behind startled them. Harry and Ron turned around and faced Professor Qupid in her dark robes and fluffy slippers. Her face was darker than usual and her hair was all tangled up. She wasn't a very pleasant sight.
"Potter, Weasley! What are you doing out wandering around at this time?" She asked, her eyes half hidden in her thick eyebrows.
"Ah…Well, we were just looking for Professor Dumbledore. We have something important to tell him," Harry quickly answered.
"Of course I know that. Inner Eyes are not just used in Divination, you know," She snapped.
"So, why are you telling Professor Dumbledore at this time of the night? Surely it could wait till morning?" Her dark features tightened.
"No, Professor Qupid… I don't think it can." Harry said quickly. He was keen to just get into Dumbledore's office.
Author's Note: What? You weren't expecting a Slytherin victory? Tell us what you think!
