And then the weekend came. The next morning was altogether much more cheerful. When he woke up, Harry threw his clothes on. He ran down to the common room, while Ron was still asleep. He waited impatiently for Hermione, who came down the stairs in a long t-shirt, clutching two pieces of parchment. She smiled, and half-jogged to Harry.
"That's it, I've made them!" She handed one of the pieces to Harry. She thought he looked very relieved.
"Fantastic. I hope we won't need them." Hermione nodded.
They both made their way back up to their rooms, and got dressed. When Harry got back, Ron was awake and half-dressed. "Where'd you go Harry?" He asked, yawning. "I uh, forgot my ink last night." Ron yawned again and nodded.
"Thank goodness it's Saturday, I don't think I could have done one more bit of homework." Harry nodded.
//Of course today's Saturday. Hermione will be with us the whole day.// He smiled to himself. Today was the Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff game, and there would be all sorts of people around. No chance for Draco to get near Hermione. Harry frowned for a moment, and then wiped it away. Ron was now fully dressed, even if his jumper was a bit lopsided. They made their way down the stairs to find Hermione by the portrait hole. She smiled when she saw them, and asked "So who do we want to win today?" Harry considered this for a moment. "Ravenclaw is in the lead, so I think Hufflepuff."
Hermione nodded, and walked out of the portrait hole as the Fat Lady slid aside, followed by Harry and Ron. After getting caught on a moving staircase, they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Everyone in the hall was excited as it was the last game before the final match. There was lots of laughter, and loud chattering. It even looked like Dumbledore might watch the game.
Harry caught Draco eyeing Hermione, but she was too busy discussing teaching for a career with Ginny to notice. Or maybe she didn't want to. Either way, Harry glared back at him, and Draco noticed. He grinned and raised his eyebrows, nodding slightly at Hermione. Harry shook his head slowly, frowning. Draco merely smiled and turned back to Crabbe and Goyle. Harry looked at Ron. Ron had been watching the exchange. He looked questioningly at Harry, although this happened often.
"Was he looking at Hermione?" Ron asked with a slight frown. Harry wasn't sure what to say. He shook is head.
"Ginny, then?" he asked, looking more serious than usual.
"No, Ron. He was looking at me."
"Why?"
"Why does he normally?" Harry shrugged. "Draco's just a jerk." Ron seemed to be satisfied with that answer and nodded.
"No kidding."
Hermione glanced over at Harry, with a slightly worried look in her eyes. Harry smiled back, hoping she would too. She did, and then Ron did as well. They finished their breakfast of pumpkin pancakes and milk, and went outside to see how it felt. It was a chilly spring day but there was no wind, so they decided not to get their cloaks, and instead head to the field.
When they reached the field, the stands were fairly empty. Hagrid was already there with his big moleskin coat.
"Mornin' Harry, and you two as well. Nice day out, eh?" He smiled widely and looked up at the sky. "Not a cloud in sight" he said cheerfully.
"Hello Hagrid."
"Ah, it's our newest teacher, Hermione" he said, winking. Hermione smiled.
"Well, not yet" she said blushing slightly. He grinned and looked at Harry and Ron.
"You here to watch the big game too? Who're we cheerin' for?"
"Hufflepuff" Ron answered.
"Always liked Hufflepuff…" Hagrid commented as the three settled themselves in front of him. Over the next 20 minutes, the stands grew more crowded, but not as much as they were on Gryffindor versus Slytherin game days. The whole school came out to watch those, even if they weren't the final game.
Even so, Harry had learned to attend the all other games, to watch how they played. He was Quidditch captain, and he had to make sure Gryffindor would win the final. If Hufflepuff won, the cup would be theirs. Ravenclaw however, would be harder to beat. Harry was using this last chance to check his own strategy, and to figure out how much they would have to win by to get the House cup as well. He was calculating the number of points needed to win the House cup, and the game started. Hufflepuff was being unusually aggressive, and scored 30 points in the first 15 minutes. Raven claw caught up with them 10 minutes later. Both teams were holding off catching the Snitch. Clearly both of the other teams' captains were thinking along the same lines as Harry. Hermione was sitting quite close to Ron, and shivering slightly. Ron held her a bit tighter and Hermione said, "I think I'm going to get my cloak." Harry looked at her.
"I'll come with you; I'm a bit cold too."
"I'm fine, I'll just be right back" Harry gave her a look.
"I think I want my scarf. You cold, Ron?" He shook his head, with a sideways glance at Harry. "Nah, I'll save your seats."