Feallan Steorra
Chapter 20: Promising
Author's jibberish: Ok, gotta answer a few people first…
SVZ and Dark_trinity69: You two are making me nervous, comparing me to JKR…those I appreciate it greatly. I don't take compliments very well and if I could, I'd hug you guys. If I had her talent, I'd be as rich as her…could you imagine how much money I could donate to buy kids toys? And furthermore, how many shoes I could buy?!?!?! Ok, girl moment, sorry…
metsmaniac2ks: Did you hear about the movie Prisoner of Azkaban? It's on mugglenet.com but I read that there will be no Quidditch, Oliver Wood, Marcus Flint, or Cho Chang. As for the Nimbus/Firebolt bit, it's in Book 3. If you didn't read it yet, I probably spoiled it for you and I'm super-sorry about that! Let's just say that his Nimbus 2000 gets in a big mess…
oneiros lykos: I'm totally with you! Out of the four books, PoA is my fave book, and I am genuinely scared on how they're going to convert this to a movie. I understand that they gotta get rid of a couple of things for time's sake, but Quidditch? I just hope these actors can hold Lupin and Black well cuz I like them a lot…
Ok, ok, story time…
"No…"
"Come on Hermione…"
"I can't…we can't…"
"You don't know that."
"But--!"
"I know you want to."
"What about--!"
"Get over here now or I'll make you!"
"You wouldn't…"
It had been about a month since the last Quidditch game and the OWLs were drawing nearer.
"Hermione whatever your middle name Granger, get over here!" Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him.
"Harry, no!" Hermione watched as Harry held her by the waist and plopped her down on his Firebolt. She hesitantly looked around the Quidditch field they stood on.
"Scared to be seen falling off?" Harry guessed.
Hermione swiftly shook her head. "No."
Harry just smiled, knowing she was. He took a seat right behind Hermione on his broom. He grasped the broom's neck in front of her, encasing her in his arms. He gently kicked off the ground.
"Are you sure it can hold both our weight?" Hermione asked.
"Of course. You're being paranoid," Harry steered the broom slowly around the Quidditch field. When he felt her muscles slightly relax under him, Harry flew faster and higher above the field.
As Harry gracefully cut through the sky, Hermione extended her arms out to her sides, as if she was really flying on her own magic. Higher and faster they flew and Hermione was able to laugh in amusement.
"Where's Hermione and Harry?" Lavender asked the very alone Ron.
Ron sat in the common room, alone, with a potions book spread in front of him on the table. He shrugged. "She and Harry left a few minutes ago."
"Hm…" Lavender pondered. "She and Harry are awfully close."
"I guess so."
"It doesn't bother you that they're extremely…close?"
He shook his head. "No." What was she getting at?
"Can I ask you a question?" Lavender asked.
"Sure. I could always use a break from the stupid OWLs," Ron pulled his parchments of notes away. "Stupid studying, last thing I need is to fail--."
"Do you like Hermione?"
Ron coughed and pulled the notes back in front of him, along with his book. "Back to the stupid OWLs…"
"Ron! Come on, you said you'd answer it!" Lavender complained. "I remember last year you were so mad when Hermione was with Krum."
Ron rolled his eyes. "That was a long time ago."
Lavender's
eyebrows lifted and she sat herself in front of Ron. "You know," Lavender
crossed her arms on the table, "if you did, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean,
aside from your mum and sister, Hermione is the closest girl to you, right?
Being friends with her for so long, you established feelings for her, right?"
Ron frowned slightly, heavily
sighing. "Say, hypothetically speaking of course--," he saw Lavender nod, "that
I did like her. It wouldn't matter because she doesn't like me back."
"But you wouldn't be absolutely bitter and shut all doors right?"
Ron had no clue what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"
"Well, if someone liked you, then you'll allow them to," Lavender asked hesitantly, "and maybe keep that door of opportunity open."
Ron shrugged. "I guess."
Lavender slowly nodded. "All right." She stood up and headed for the stairs. "Got to get ready for supper. You should too."
"Wait, Lavender!" Ron called after her. "What was that all about?" He received no response and just watched Lavender's figure walk away.
Ginny was coming out of the library when she spotted a figure coming towards her. The tall, lean figure was by himself, for a change, dressed in his Slytherin robes. She stopped in her tracks.
His face was smug, as always, with every strand of hair in place and not a trace of creasing on his clothes. To think that this was the same person who was in the hospital wing, completely mute and couldn't grasp a single thing. For a while, he was knocked off his high horse and placed on the same level as the rest of them. He was as vulnerable as everyone else was. Plus, this was the very same person whose face she wiped dry.
She realized soon she was staring at him as he passed her. It was a bad move for Ginny because Draco grasped her upper arm and spun her to face him. "What the hell are you staring at, Weasel?"
Ginny took in a sharp breath, feeling his burning grip on her arm. With all her strength, she tried to meet his grey eyes. "Nothing. I'm not staring."
Draco's grip loosened, then completely let go. He scoffed, dusted the hand he used to catch her on his robes and continued on his way. Ginny remained there, very confused.
"I love this place so much," Hermione muttered as they had a view of the sunset. She and Harry were still on the Firebolt, now steadily floating a good 200 feet in the air. "I hope, if my children are magical, that they'll be accepted here."
"Me too," Harry admitted. "Do you think we'll still keep contact by then?"
Hermione slapped his knee. "We better! I will be very vengeful if you don't talk to me!"
Harry held back a chuckle. "Alright, alright. The last thing I need is a curse…at least another one."
Hermione, whose head was turned towards her shoulder, her eyes on him, had a twinkle in her eye as she held her fist out near him, pinkie extended. "Then promise."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her little finger. "Is this a girl hobby?"
"Yes," she huffed. "You link pinkies with mine and that seals the deal." When he did, she smiled and sang "If you break your promise to me, I can pour 1000 needles down your throat."
Harry's mouth twitched. "That's…graphic…"
"Just keep your promise and you won't meet a painful fate," Hermione smiled. "We better go; it's almost dinner time."
Harry smiled back. "You're right."
Together, they descended from the sky, with their pinkies still link, keeping them connected.
…the end…
Author's jibberish: Agh, it's over!! I know what you're saying: "It can't be over! They didn't kiss! Where the hell are the smootchies?!?!" Here's the thing: I never intended for them to kiss. Think about it: Hermione is awkward with guys anyway and Harry is a very confused 15 year old boy. After the first chapter, I made myself some goals: 1) This will be a subtle fic, but with roller-coaster teen drama 2) They will be between the friendship/lovers line by the end, 3) There will be Quidditch. If you guys were waiting for a snog-fest, sorry…there's enough of those on fanfiction.net anyway… I'll leave Harry and Hermione here as a 'potential relationship point' because they are friends first, not lovers. As for a sequel, I don't know. I'll get back to you on that. After reading Order of the Phoenix, Harry's love-life is discouraging…
Oh, don't I ever shut up? No, cuz I gotta give a couple of shout-outs:
Xiaoyu Ling: Thanks for being my beta-reader and helping me out with all my stories, including this!
To all the reviewers, especially SVZ, oneiros lykos, lime, ChoChanger, Angel-Wing, lizzypadfoot, metsmaniac2ks, White Dove, Hermione101888, Bubbles, Anonymous, Russetwolf713, ThePopGurlz (cuz you guys showed up more than once): It means a lot that you read, it means double-time when you reviewed. Thanks a bunch! You all get a mental ice-cream…unless you're lactose intolerant…can you have cookies?
Hugs to all cuz I'm so happy this was fun writing! Ciao!
