Disclaimer: None of the characters that you recognize are mine. They belong to J.K. Rowlings and not to me!
A/N: Once again, I must thank everyone who reviewed! Thank you all so much! You know who you are! It means so much to me that people are actually reading this fic and like it!!!
Louise- You're on the right track! :)
Also, whoever gave the wizard play idea, thanks! Your name isn't showing up so I don't know who you are, but I do like that idea and might do something with it.
Chapter 9
4 days later…
~
"I think I'm gonna be sick."
Hermione looked up from her scrambled eggs and noticed that Ron, as he stated, didn't look so good.
"Ron. There's nothing to be worried about," she said as she took a drink of pumpkin juice.
"Nothing to worry about she says!" Ron exclaimed. "This is only the most important day of my life!"
Harry, seated across from the two, scratched his head. "I thought that was when you tried out for the Quidditch team."
"No! That was nothing! This is much more important. It's my first actual game! What am I going to do? I'm going to make an idiot out of myself," Ron moaned.
"Well, it seems the Weasel actually got something right," a voice drawled from behind Hermione. At that moment both Ron and Harry jumped up from their seats and turned to face Malfoy.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Ron spat.
"Nothing," Malfoy smirked. "Just to wish you good luck. Too bad you're not playing us for your first time. I would show you how to really play Quidditch."
"Yeah," Goyle growled from behind Malfoy.
"Yeah!" Crabbe echoed.
Hermione saw Malfoy roll his eyes and take a deep breath.
"Look Malfoy, just get lost." Harry said firmly.
"I'm sure you have better things to do than tell us all what a wonderful Seeker you are," Hermione commented. "Really. I happened to see your team practicing last week. Was that a new move when you fell off your broom and landed in the mud? Because I don't know how well that's going to work in a game," Hermione said innocently.
Malfoy turned pink slightly and didn't dignify that with a response. He just sneered and motioned with his head for his two faithful 'friends' to follow him to the Slytherin table.
The trio turned back to the breakfast and managed to keep a straight face for all of 5 seconds. They all started laughing hysterically after that.
"Did – you really - see Malfoy – fall into the mud?" Ron managed to get out in between laughs.
"Yes," Hermione giggled. "He was in the air and then – all of a sudden – splat! He just fell! Right into the mud! His hair was more like petroleum blonde than platinum blonde."
That led to the friends to start laughing all over again with worries about today's game against Ravenclaw forgotten.
* * * * *
"Go Ron!"
Hermione was standing on the bleachers next to Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny, screaming at the top of her lungs. The three other girls exchanged looks. Hermione had always been supportive of Harry when he played and cheered for him, but nothing like this.
Ginny gave the other girls a 'told-you-so' smile before turning her attention back to the Quidditch game. She had known that Ron liked Hermione (girls intuition) but only suspected that Hermione might be harboring feelings for her brother. Hermione never came out and said anything and never really showed possible feelings so it was hard to tell, but if this wasn't proof, she didn't know what was.
"You can do it! Don't let it get by you! Yes!!!" Hermione jumped up and down and clapped her hands. She felt six eyes watching her intently (with about 100 more from a far) and slowly stopped jumping.
"I mean, go Ron. Yes. You did it." Hermione said lifelessly.
"You don't fool us, Hermione," Parvati said with a perfectly plucked raised eyebrow.
"How do you do that, Parvati? I could never raise just one eyebrow and not the other," Hermione said conversationally.
"Oh! Well, it's not that hard- Hey! I know what you're trying to do! You're trying to change the subject! Well. It's not going to work missy. You know that we know that you like Ron!" Parvati finished proudly.
"How do know? Trelawney see it in her tea leaves or something?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
"Hey!" Lavender exclaimed. "Professor Trelawney is very credible. She probably did see you and Ron together in the future but didn't want to say anything."
"Uh huh," Hermione agreed distractedly. "Look! Harry's about to catch the snitch!" That halted the conversation in its tracks. All four girls held their breaths as Harry flipped on his broom, reached out his hand, and grasped the snitch with his fingers.
There was an explosion of cheers from the Gryffindor side as the team flew to solid ground with Harry still clutching the snitch with a mile-wide grin.
Hermione ran onto the field and reached Harry first.
"Harry! You were brilliant! Good job," she commended as she gave him a big hug.
"Aww, thanks Mione," Harry said as the rest of the team proceeded to congratulate him.
Hermione stepped back and scanned the crowd for a familiar red head. She spotted Ron being praised by Alicia, Fred, and George for his fantastic plays during his first game. As she drew nearer, the three walked away leaving her alone with Ron.
"Ron, you were fabulous," she said truthfully as she pulled him into a hug. Somehow, hugging Ron was different than hugging Harry. With Harry it was more like hugging a brother, or a best friend you've known your whole life. With Ron, it was just a totally new experience each time. Each hug they've shared she had wanted to hold on just a little longer. She was afraid that one day she would never want to let go.
When they parted Ron was slightly pink. "Thanks. See, I told you there was nothing to it. And you were worried I'd screw up."
Hermione rolled her eyes with a small smile on her lips. "You got me. I should have had more faith in you. Good thing you weren't worried or so nervous you almost threw up."
"Good thing," Ron agreed with that lopsided grin of his that had started affecting Hermione in ways that made her knees go weak.
Stop that! She commanded to herself. This is Ron. Your best friend. You're just tired. Weak knees? Yeah right. Hermione was so busy yelling at herself that she didn't realize that Ron was staring at her expectantly.
"Umm, what?" Hermione asked sheepishly.
"I see how it is. You don't listen when I talk. Ok well maybe I should go where I'm more appreciated." Ron said in mock anger.
"No! No. I'm listening." Hermione promised as she grabbed his sleeve to pull him back.
Ron smiled again and Hermione concentrated very hard to hear what he had to say. "I said, do you want to go up to the common room? It's starting the sprinkle."
Hermione looked up and a rain drop hit her square in the eye. "Good idea. Let's see how all are fellow Gryffindors are celebrating."
* * * * *
The next day"Ok, class! Whose ready to start our next project?"
Professor's Starr question was met with a roomful of "no's" and "I'd really rather not's."
"Come on! That's not the spirit. You were all – well, most of you were- very good for your first performance," she stated with a glance at Millicent and Blaise. "This time, however, you are to work alone."
The class gave each other horrified looks and Hermione could hear Neville muttering "Please no! Have a heart."
"It's not that bad!" Prof. Starr protested. "All you have to do is pick a song and sing along with it. But," she continued with her pointer finger held up, "If you decide to sing along with just music and no background singing accompanying you, you will receive 20 points extra credit. Add that to the extra credit of wearing a costume – handmade the muggle way – and adding some dance moves you'll be set for the rest of the quarter. Oh! Just so you can't say I never told you, as this is Muggle Arts and Entertainment, it must be a muggle song. I don't want the Weird Sisters or any group like that. Ok, are there any questions besides Mr. Malfoy?" Prof. Starr asked with a glare in his direction.
Malfoy, who had been inching his hand up, slowly snuck it down, matching her glare with his own.
"No?" Prof. Starr asked with a glance across the room. "Alright then. Today is Monday. You have exactly 2 weeks from today. You will have time in class but you'll probably have to do some out of class. Remember, costumes are not mandatory, but you will get more points. You don't have to sew the whole thing, just alter some clothes you already have. The dance moves don't have to be like the NYC Ballet Academy, as I don't think many of you could accomplish anything that… technical." She added with a glance at Crabbe and Goyle.
"I would like you to sign up with the title of your song by Wednesday so I can get the tapes to you by Wednesday night or Thursday in class. All right, I think that's it. Happy planning!" Prof. Starr finished cheerfully.
Hermione turned to face Ron and Harry who both didn't look pleased.
"Why do we have to do this?" Ron hissed. "Didn't we suffer enough humiliation last time?"
Hermione was surprised. He did very well for their previous performance and she had told him that several times since that class.
"Ron! You'll do fine. At least you have a good voice and aren't stuck with Crabbe's singing voice. Then, I'd be slightly worried if I were you."
"What song are you going to do, Hermione?" asked Harry.
"I'm not sure. There are so many wonderful muggle songs. It will be so hard to choose."
As if Prof. Starr had magically heard Hermione's response, she was giving out song lists to each student. "Here's a list of suggestions to help you all out. These are just a few of the millions of great songs in the muggle world."
"A few? This is like 15 pages! Front and back!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione gave him a big smile. "Well, you better get to it!"
~
Ok! I'm going to try to make all the chapters after this even longer so it will probably take me a little longer than a day to get out Chapter 10. It could take me a week but there will be more! Please review! Thanks! :)
Oh! If anyone has any suggestions for what songs any students should sing, please tell me. I've figured out some of the main characters but I'm always ready to hear a better idea. Thank you!