Chapter 10
The Quidditch Switch
Harry didn't meet up with Hermione till before dinner and they headed down to the kitchen to get food from the Houselves.
Unconsciously, Harry laced his fingers through Hermione's. She smiled, knowing he didn't realize what he was doing, so she didn't protest, and squeezed his hand, to see if he noticed. Sure enough, he didn't. When they reached the entrance to the kitchen, a delicious smell wafted past them. When they were noticed by the houseelves, they eagerly ran to them, giving them their orders. Hermione would have originally said something if she hadn't been so enthralled that Harry was holding her hand. When they finished putting in their orders and telling the houselves that they were to deliver the meals to the Gryffindor common room, they started down the hallway again.
"Are your hands cold?" Hermione asked, after a few moments of silence.
Harry turned to her. "Huh? No--they're warm actually." He looked down at his hand and realized he was holding Hermione's. He let go quickly and put his hand in his pocket.
Hermione frowned, realizing that she shouldn't have said anything. "It's all right," she insisted, pulling his hand back out of his pocket and re-lacing her fingers through his.
"Hermione, I um--I meant to tell you, um--I'm--um--playing in the Quidditch match tomorrow."
Hermione blinked. "Excuse me?" she asked in her usual bossy voice. She let go of his hand and stepped back. "Harry--do you KNOW how many people will see you?"
Harry sighed. "Well--how many people have seen us already, Hermione? Besides--I'm substituting for my Dad. Snape hurt his arm."
Hermione grabbed Harry's wrist. "What happened?" She asked, and Harry told her the entire story. When he finished, Hermione felt a bit faint and had to sit down.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked, kneeling down beside her.
"You were seen by all of those people--" She leaned her head against his shoulder.
Harry blushed. "Oops. It was an accident--really."
Hermione gave him a nasty look. "I would SO hurt you if you weren't my friend." She snipped, letting him help her to his feet. He swallowed nervously, remembering the time when Hermione had slapped Malfoy across the face during their third year. Eventually they got inside the common room, and saw that their meals were waiting for them on trays on card tables. They ate quickly and left the room, before the rest of the Gryffindors returned.
"Hey--let's go up to the Owlery. We can watch the stars from the window there."
Hermione cocked her head, putting her hands on her hips, her lips curling into a small smile. "What?" asked Harry.
"Nothing, Harry. Nothing." She followed him the rest of the way.
When they reached the Owlery, Hermione held her nose. "Ugh--it smells awful up here."
Harry glanced around. "Yeah--you're right. Let's find an empty classroom or something."
Hermione put her arms around his shoulders. "Why, Harry? Are you implying we--"
Harry quickly kissed her lips to shut her up and they remained that way for a few moments. Eventually, Hermione pulled away. "Let's go find that empty classroom." She grabbed his hand and pulled him away.
When they found one, they cuddled up in a chair close to the window. Harry rested his chin on top of her head, and chuckled softly. "Ron's going to flip when he finds out about this," he whispered.
Hermione giggled. "Forget him. Come here." She wrapped her arms around him and they began to kiss.
*PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH*
Hermione broke off the kiss when she heard a strange noise. *PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH*
"Harry?" She whispered.
"Mmm?" He asked.
"What's that noise?"
Harry strained to listen and he heard it too. *PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH* He quickly reached into his pocket for his wand and Hermione did the same. "Lumos!" He said quietly, and Hermione got up. A light protruded from his wand and they found that the noise was coming from near the fireplace. *PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH*
"What do you think it is?" Hermione whispered. Harry raised his wand higher, only to see a plastic Muggle bag attatched to the soot pipe. It was inflating and deflating with air that pumped from the chimney.
"What the hell?" Harry asked.
"Harry!" Hermione laughed.
"What is that doing there?" Harry proceeded to pull the bag off of the spot, but that was a big mistake. An emormous cloud of soot and ash blew into his face, turning it black. Hermione started to laugh so hard that she clutched at her sides, gasping for breath. Harry coughed and sneezed as he stood up, wiping the soot away from his eyes. "Damn." He cursed again, coughing. Hermione managed to stand up again and wiped the soot away from his cheeks.
"It's practical, actually." Hermione told him in her school voice. "They must have used this Muggle-method so that they didn't have to worry about any spells going awry. They must not use this classroom enough to supervise it. Oh poor thing." She laughed as he continued choking on the soot. "Come on--we need to get you some rest. You're playing tomorrow. Remember?"
With a final cough, Harry nodded. "Yes--I remember. I should put this back." He held the bag still.
The next morning, Harry awoke feeling sore, but then realized he had spent the night on the floor in the common room. His arms were wrapped around Hermione and they had the invisibility cloak over them that James had given them the night before when they had gone to visit his father in the Hospital Wing. James had gotten a kick out of Harry's soot-covered face. However, that was the last thing on his mind. James had talked over their plan with the other three Mauradors, as well as his mother. Harry had seen her on the first day that they were there, but he offically met her last night. The other thing that was on his mind was the fact that Remus hadn't once looked Harry in the eye during the entire conversation. Sirius, on the other hand, had been giving Harry dirty looks. He wished he knew what thoughts were going through their heads.
"I need to get my dad from the Hospital Wing." Harry yawned, waking Hermione up as he kissed her. She gave him a quick kiss back.
"I'm going to get a seat under the stands." Hermione said, rising from the floor. She gave him another kiss, and left the corridor, Harry right behind her until they parted to go their seperate ways. "Good luck." She smiled and headed for the Quidditch field.
James was already getting his things rounded up when Harry entered invisible through the Hospital Wing. "How are you feeling?" Harry asked politely.
"Fine thanks. I have to ask you, what did you think of Lily last night." James asked eagerly.
"She's perfect for you." Harry smiled. James grinned back.
"Thanks. I think I'm going to marry her." Harry raised his eyebrows, "Sorry," James went on, "I can't talk about these kind of things with the other guys. I dunno...I feel so attached to you some how. Like I have too little time to talk to you, but I want to tell you everything." Harry raised his eyebrows again. James looked away sheepishly. "So, what has Dumbledore said about your predicament?" He asked. Harry blanched, realizing he hadn't talked to his favorite headmaster.
"I haven't heard anything from him." Harry replied truthfully.
"He must be doing something because I haven't seen him since you guys got here. In fact, I don't think anyone has." James said.
"Oh." Harry mumbled, not knowing what to say. He changed the subject instead. "Ready to go?" Harry grinned.
"Yep!" James smiled.
Harry sat in the Gryffindor's locker room, changing into his father's robes. He noticed that they were much different that the ones that he was used to wearing. The material felt more coarse, and the style was different; it had a hood. He didn't complain though. No one seemed to notice that he looked different. James sat nearby Harry. Whenever someone would ask Harry a question, he would put his head down, and James would answer for him. Luckily no one seemed to notice that his lips weren't insync with what he was saying.
"You ready Gryffindor?" Mundungus Fletcher, the Quidditch captain said.
"Yeah!" They shouted and cheered as they grabbed their brooms and walked onto the Quidditch field.
"Good luck, Neville." James said, watching him leave.
"Thanks." Harry whispered, hoping he wasn't speaking to the wall. He couldn't quite tell where his father's voice was coming from, and now he understood how Ron and Hermione felt talking to him when he was wearing the cloak. He mounted his broom and soared into the air. The Referee Madame Donya, blew the whistle and released the Quaffle into the air. Harry watched the red burrs as they chased after the Quaffel. He smirked and saw that even the Slytherins back in his father's day were just as bad as they were in his own time. A plump Hufflepuff was commentaring in a monotone voice "And now Gryffindor has the ball ONCE again. The girl passed it to the blonde haired boy. He passed it to the black-haired boy. He passed it back to the blonde haired boy."
Harry watched in amusement as the Slytherin seeker was drifiting in and out of sleep after each announcement. Harry couldn't blame him, though. He was annoyed that the names of the players weren't even mentioned. Harry laughed as Sirius grabbed hold of the mike. "OKAY LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!"
Cheers erupted from the crowds as Sirius ran, holding the portable mike, dodging the Professors who were attempting to stop him.
"FLETCHER BEATS THE BLUDGER AWAY FROM PRICE--OOH--WHAT A SWEET MOVE FROM WOLFGANG! INTERCEPTING THE BALL FROM CHASER MALFOY (Harry had a nasty suspicion that it was Lucius Malfoy's younger self and wished that a bludger would find it's way to Malfoy's face)--OOOH--THE HIDEOUS SLYTHERIN BEATERS CRABBE AND GOYLE (Sirius ducked as the Slytherin's head-of-house tried to grab him in a headlock) TRY AND KNOCK THE BLUDGER TOWARDS CHASER WOOD (Harry jolted again--he wondered if this particular Wood was in any way related to Oliver Wood) BUT MISSED AND HIT THE KEEPER SNAPE! SWEET!"
Harry started to prepare himself as he caught a glimpse of gold rush past him. "POTTER GOES FOR THE SNITCH! AND LOOK *GAAAH*---" Professor McGonagall managed to grab Sirius by the scruff of the neck and knocked the microphone out of his hands. The audience could hear muffled curses from Sirius as McGonagall grabbed his ear and drug him away. She lost concentration as Harry suddenly went into a nosedive, outmenuevering a bludger that had been flying straight for him. Cheers erupted from the crowd as he made the narrow escape. Suddenly he caught sight of the golden snitch, which was about two inches away from his nose, and he outstretched his hand. Suddenly his hood flew up and the snitch flew into it, and was bolting around madly as he attempted to grasp it with his free hand. The hood was practically choking him, but he managed to just barely grab it, falling off of his broomstick in the process. More cheers and laughter erupted from the stands as he recovered enough to gaze at the golden ball in his palm. He sighed, relieved. He was a little embarrassed, but he caught the snitch in record time, not to mention the fact that he hadn't let Gryffindor done by failing to catch the snitch. Not that he really had any competition. This was a Slytherin team after all.
James met him in the locker room, chuckling. Harry shhshed him.
"Shh....someone'll hear you." Harry muttered.
"I can't--help it!" He choked through his laughter. "That catch was classic!" He said. James finally started to calm down when Harry grinned michevously.
"That was nothing. You should have been there the time that I nearly swallowed it." James began an entire new fit of laughter. Harry was pleased that he could make his father laugh.
A/N: About the bag scene--at my house we have a woodburning stove, & my Dad had attatched a plastic bag to collect the soot from the chimney pipe. Whenever air pumps into the bag it inflates and makes a crinkling noise. Jelp & I thought it was hilarious so we decided to add it in as a cute scene. Hope you enjoy! More to come!
The Quidditch Switch
Harry didn't meet up with Hermione till before dinner and they headed down to the kitchen to get food from the Houselves.
Unconsciously, Harry laced his fingers through Hermione's. She smiled, knowing he didn't realize what he was doing, so she didn't protest, and squeezed his hand, to see if he noticed. Sure enough, he didn't. When they reached the entrance to the kitchen, a delicious smell wafted past them. When they were noticed by the houseelves, they eagerly ran to them, giving them their orders. Hermione would have originally said something if she hadn't been so enthralled that Harry was holding her hand. When they finished putting in their orders and telling the houselves that they were to deliver the meals to the Gryffindor common room, they started down the hallway again.
"Are your hands cold?" Hermione asked, after a few moments of silence.
Harry turned to her. "Huh? No--they're warm actually." He looked down at his hand and realized he was holding Hermione's. He let go quickly and put his hand in his pocket.
Hermione frowned, realizing that she shouldn't have said anything. "It's all right," she insisted, pulling his hand back out of his pocket and re-lacing her fingers through his.
"Hermione, I um--I meant to tell you, um--I'm--um--playing in the Quidditch match tomorrow."
Hermione blinked. "Excuse me?" she asked in her usual bossy voice. She let go of his hand and stepped back. "Harry--do you KNOW how many people will see you?"
Harry sighed. "Well--how many people have seen us already, Hermione? Besides--I'm substituting for my Dad. Snape hurt his arm."
Hermione grabbed Harry's wrist. "What happened?" She asked, and Harry told her the entire story. When he finished, Hermione felt a bit faint and had to sit down.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked, kneeling down beside her.
"You were seen by all of those people--" She leaned her head against his shoulder.
Harry blushed. "Oops. It was an accident--really."
Hermione gave him a nasty look. "I would SO hurt you if you weren't my friend." She snipped, letting him help her to his feet. He swallowed nervously, remembering the time when Hermione had slapped Malfoy across the face during their third year. Eventually they got inside the common room, and saw that their meals were waiting for them on trays on card tables. They ate quickly and left the room, before the rest of the Gryffindors returned.
"Hey--let's go up to the Owlery. We can watch the stars from the window there."
Hermione cocked her head, putting her hands on her hips, her lips curling into a small smile. "What?" asked Harry.
"Nothing, Harry. Nothing." She followed him the rest of the way.
When they reached the Owlery, Hermione held her nose. "Ugh--it smells awful up here."
Harry glanced around. "Yeah--you're right. Let's find an empty classroom or something."
Hermione put her arms around his shoulders. "Why, Harry? Are you implying we--"
Harry quickly kissed her lips to shut her up and they remained that way for a few moments. Eventually, Hermione pulled away. "Let's go find that empty classroom." She grabbed his hand and pulled him away.
When they found one, they cuddled up in a chair close to the window. Harry rested his chin on top of her head, and chuckled softly. "Ron's going to flip when he finds out about this," he whispered.
Hermione giggled. "Forget him. Come here." She wrapped her arms around him and they began to kiss.
*PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH*
Hermione broke off the kiss when she heard a strange noise. *PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH*
"Harry?" She whispered.
"Mmm?" He asked.
"What's that noise?"
Harry strained to listen and he heard it too. *PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH* He quickly reached into his pocket for his wand and Hermione did the same. "Lumos!" He said quietly, and Hermione got up. A light protruded from his wand and they found that the noise was coming from near the fireplace. *PSSSOTCH* *PSSSOTCH*
"What do you think it is?" Hermione whispered. Harry raised his wand higher, only to see a plastic Muggle bag attatched to the soot pipe. It was inflating and deflating with air that pumped from the chimney.
"What the hell?" Harry asked.
"Harry!" Hermione laughed.
"What is that doing there?" Harry proceeded to pull the bag off of the spot, but that was a big mistake. An emormous cloud of soot and ash blew into his face, turning it black. Hermione started to laugh so hard that she clutched at her sides, gasping for breath. Harry coughed and sneezed as he stood up, wiping the soot away from his eyes. "Damn." He cursed again, coughing. Hermione managed to stand up again and wiped the soot away from his cheeks.
"It's practical, actually." Hermione told him in her school voice. "They must have used this Muggle-method so that they didn't have to worry about any spells going awry. They must not use this classroom enough to supervise it. Oh poor thing." She laughed as he continued choking on the soot. "Come on--we need to get you some rest. You're playing tomorrow. Remember?"
With a final cough, Harry nodded. "Yes--I remember. I should put this back." He held the bag still.
The next morning, Harry awoke feeling sore, but then realized he had spent the night on the floor in the common room. His arms were wrapped around Hermione and they had the invisibility cloak over them that James had given them the night before when they had gone to visit his father in the Hospital Wing. James had gotten a kick out of Harry's soot-covered face. However, that was the last thing on his mind. James had talked over their plan with the other three Mauradors, as well as his mother. Harry had seen her on the first day that they were there, but he offically met her last night. The other thing that was on his mind was the fact that Remus hadn't once looked Harry in the eye during the entire conversation. Sirius, on the other hand, had been giving Harry dirty looks. He wished he knew what thoughts were going through their heads.
"I need to get my dad from the Hospital Wing." Harry yawned, waking Hermione up as he kissed her. She gave him a quick kiss back.
"I'm going to get a seat under the stands." Hermione said, rising from the floor. She gave him another kiss, and left the corridor, Harry right behind her until they parted to go their seperate ways. "Good luck." She smiled and headed for the Quidditch field.
James was already getting his things rounded up when Harry entered invisible through the Hospital Wing. "How are you feeling?" Harry asked politely.
"Fine thanks. I have to ask you, what did you think of Lily last night." James asked eagerly.
"She's perfect for you." Harry smiled. James grinned back.
"Thanks. I think I'm going to marry her." Harry raised his eyebrows, "Sorry," James went on, "I can't talk about these kind of things with the other guys. I dunno...I feel so attached to you some how. Like I have too little time to talk to you, but I want to tell you everything." Harry raised his eyebrows again. James looked away sheepishly. "So, what has Dumbledore said about your predicament?" He asked. Harry blanched, realizing he hadn't talked to his favorite headmaster.
"I haven't heard anything from him." Harry replied truthfully.
"He must be doing something because I haven't seen him since you guys got here. In fact, I don't think anyone has." James said.
"Oh." Harry mumbled, not knowing what to say. He changed the subject instead. "Ready to go?" Harry grinned.
"Yep!" James smiled.
Harry sat in the Gryffindor's locker room, changing into his father's robes. He noticed that they were much different that the ones that he was used to wearing. The material felt more coarse, and the style was different; it had a hood. He didn't complain though. No one seemed to notice that he looked different. James sat nearby Harry. Whenever someone would ask Harry a question, he would put his head down, and James would answer for him. Luckily no one seemed to notice that his lips weren't insync with what he was saying.
"You ready Gryffindor?" Mundungus Fletcher, the Quidditch captain said.
"Yeah!" They shouted and cheered as they grabbed their brooms and walked onto the Quidditch field.
"Good luck, Neville." James said, watching him leave.
"Thanks." Harry whispered, hoping he wasn't speaking to the wall. He couldn't quite tell where his father's voice was coming from, and now he understood how Ron and Hermione felt talking to him when he was wearing the cloak. He mounted his broom and soared into the air. The Referee Madame Donya, blew the whistle and released the Quaffle into the air. Harry watched the red burrs as they chased after the Quaffel. He smirked and saw that even the Slytherins back in his father's day were just as bad as they were in his own time. A plump Hufflepuff was commentaring in a monotone voice "And now Gryffindor has the ball ONCE again. The girl passed it to the blonde haired boy. He passed it to the black-haired boy. He passed it back to the blonde haired boy."
Harry watched in amusement as the Slytherin seeker was drifiting in and out of sleep after each announcement. Harry couldn't blame him, though. He was annoyed that the names of the players weren't even mentioned. Harry laughed as Sirius grabbed hold of the mike. "OKAY LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!"
Cheers erupted from the crowds as Sirius ran, holding the portable mike, dodging the Professors who were attempting to stop him.
"FLETCHER BEATS THE BLUDGER AWAY FROM PRICE--OOH--WHAT A SWEET MOVE FROM WOLFGANG! INTERCEPTING THE BALL FROM CHASER MALFOY (Harry had a nasty suspicion that it was Lucius Malfoy's younger self and wished that a bludger would find it's way to Malfoy's face)--OOOH--THE HIDEOUS SLYTHERIN BEATERS CRABBE AND GOYLE (Sirius ducked as the Slytherin's head-of-house tried to grab him in a headlock) TRY AND KNOCK THE BLUDGER TOWARDS CHASER WOOD (Harry jolted again--he wondered if this particular Wood was in any way related to Oliver Wood) BUT MISSED AND HIT THE KEEPER SNAPE! SWEET!"
Harry started to prepare himself as he caught a glimpse of gold rush past him. "POTTER GOES FOR THE SNITCH! AND LOOK *GAAAH*---" Professor McGonagall managed to grab Sirius by the scruff of the neck and knocked the microphone out of his hands. The audience could hear muffled curses from Sirius as McGonagall grabbed his ear and drug him away. She lost concentration as Harry suddenly went into a nosedive, outmenuevering a bludger that had been flying straight for him. Cheers erupted from the crowd as he made the narrow escape. Suddenly he caught sight of the golden snitch, which was about two inches away from his nose, and he outstretched his hand. Suddenly his hood flew up and the snitch flew into it, and was bolting around madly as he attempted to grasp it with his free hand. The hood was practically choking him, but he managed to just barely grab it, falling off of his broomstick in the process. More cheers and laughter erupted from the stands as he recovered enough to gaze at the golden ball in his palm. He sighed, relieved. He was a little embarrassed, but he caught the snitch in record time, not to mention the fact that he hadn't let Gryffindor done by failing to catch the snitch. Not that he really had any competition. This was a Slytherin team after all.
James met him in the locker room, chuckling. Harry shhshed him.
"Shh....someone'll hear you." Harry muttered.
"I can't--help it!" He choked through his laughter. "That catch was classic!" He said. James finally started to calm down when Harry grinned michevously.
"That was nothing. You should have been there the time that I nearly swallowed it." James began an entire new fit of laughter. Harry was pleased that he could make his father laugh.
A/N: About the bag scene--at my house we have a woodburning stove, & my Dad had attatched a plastic bag to collect the soot from the chimney pipe. Whenever air pumps into the bag it inflates and makes a crinkling noise. Jelp & I thought it was hilarious so we decided to add it in as a cute scene. Hope you enjoy! More to come!