I own a couple of notebooks, some bookmarks, all four books, and toothpaste with the likeness of Harry Potter on them. I do not, however, own the real Harry Potter.
I like reviews.
Thanks to all of those who have reviewed so far.
My Beta, Nat, ROCKS!
That being said:
*****
"Quidditch trials are in exactly 35 more minutes," Ron muttered. He looked down into his goblet of Pumpkin juice thoughtfully.
"You know Ron, that would do you a bit more good if you would actually drink it," George suggested. Ron turned a murderous glare towards George.
"Attention students, I have an announcement to make and a few points to award," Dumbledore said. He stood up at the staff table and looked across the hall at his students.
"I wonder what Wonder Boy and the Weasel have done now," Draco muttered from the Slytherin table. Pansy laughed loud enough for a good portion of the people at the next table over to glare at her.
"As you know, you have all completed or attempted to complete a scavenger hunt in Defense Against the Dark Arts class this past week. As you attempted your tasks, many of the teachers, portraits, ghosts, and I have been observing you and I have decided to award house points to a few of the more exemplary groups." A general murmur or excitement swept over the assembled students. Ron actually pushed Quidditch trails to the side of his mind for the first time since Dumbledore had announced the date.
"First off, the Ravenclaw seventh years. I award you all 20 points for the lovely nail polish that actually changes colors with the mood of the wearer," Dumbledore said.
"No fair!" Someone from the Slytherin table called.
"Yes, Mr. Flint, I'm afraid it is. You see the Ravenclaws made their nail polish from scratch and it really does change colors with the mood of the wearer," Dumbledore said. Everyone in the great hall clapped politely for the seventh year Ravenclaws.
"Also, to the fourth year Ravenclaws, 10 points for turning in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, not just the requested play." Another round of polite clapping ensued.
"To the second year Hufflepuffs, 20 points for the ingenious idea of turning in Romeo and Juliet as a book on CD, counting for both the play and the CD. And another 20 points because every year insisted on working as one large group instead of several small ones." The Hufflepuff table broke out in cheers, and the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw cheers were a little louder than they usually would have been in light of Cedric's death.
"To Slytherin, especially the Slytherin fifth years, 40 points for retrieving all of the objects in a style that would have made Salazaar Slytherin himself proud." Cold looks from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff met the overzealous Slytherin cheers.
"And Gryffindor. 10 Points to a certain seventh year group for their interesting use of Fillibusters Fireworks in retrieving every item on their list!" Fred, George, and Lee Jordan all jumped to their feet and bowed deeply to everyone in the Great Hall.
"Also, 20 points to the fifth years for their interesting exchange of items and generally working together to play to the groups strengths and weaknesses." All of the fifth years smiled at Harry, as their compromise had been his idea. Everyone else cheered for them. "Also, 20 points to a certain fifth year group for their retrieval of Romeo and Juliet and Skelegrow. I'm surprised a certain fifth year doesn't have extra teeth after that. The same fifth year group also gets 10 points for turning in a wand with a Phoenix Feather core as their bonus item rather than trying to break into my office." Dumbledore concluded his announcements and sank back down into his chair.
"What is he talking about with the teeth thing?" Fred asked Harry, Ron and Hermione curiously.
"Harry over there held Skelegrow in his mouth for upwards of fifteen minutes for us," Hermione explained.
"He's not exceptionally bright," Ron added.
"Excuse me, you were the one who didn't understand that the potion was in my mouth and I needed something to spit it into!" Harry exclaimed.
"And Ron, you know picking on the guy that's going to be helping run your big Quidditch trial in a little while probably isn't the most intelligent thing for you to do either," Fred said. Ron turned bright red and looked back into his pumpkin juice.
"So exactly who is going to be the captain this year?" Hermione asked.
"Harry," Fred and George replied instantly.
"That seems to be the popular opinion," Hermione laughed, "Who is trying out?"
"Everyone!" Ron cried.
"Technically, Ron, there are over 6 billion people in this world! The majority are muggle. Of those that are wizard, only a few go to Hogwarts. Of the ones at Hogwarts, only a fourth are Gryffindor. Of the ones in Gryffindor, only 6/7 are eligible to try out. Of those 6/7, six are already on the team. I HARDLY think it's everyone," Hermione reasoned.
"Hermione?" Ron asked.
"Yes?" Hermione replied innocently. Fred and George had already leaned under the table to hide their laughter from their younger brother.
"Shove it," Ron instructed. Hermione smiled sweetly at her friend.
"Ron, be nice to Hermione," Fred instructed.
"Who picks the captain?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Uh," Began George.
"Well," continued Fred.
"We're not quite sure," George finished.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Wood was already the captain by the time we all got on the team, so we haven't necessarily ever had to go through the captain selecting process," Fred explained.
"This should be interesting then," Harry laughed.
"So who all is trying out?" Hermione asked.
"Ron wasn't far from lying when he said everyone," Harry replied.
"We're picking eight positions. Everyone from second year up is trying out," Fred said.
"Eight positions?" Hermione queried.
"Yes. Dumbledore wants us to have a full set of reserves," George said.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione I think you're the one person in Gryffindor Tower who doesn't know this already," Ginny laughed.
"Yeah, I'm a first year and I've even heard about the Quidditch trials!" Astrid piped up. Hermione glared at Astrid.
"Guys, lets go! We need to get some things set up before trial!" Alicia announced from just behind Hermione's left shoulder. Harry, Fred and George all got up and followed Alicia out of the Great Hall.
"So which position are you guys trying out for?" Hermione asked Ginny and Ron.
"Keeper," Ron replied instantly.
"Reserve Chaser," Ginny said almost as quickly.
"I want to be the seeker when Harry leaves!" Astrid squealed.
"You play Quidditch too?" Hermione asked.
"Of course," Astrid replied.
"I really am surrounded," Hermione muttered more to her food than to anyone sitting around her.
*****
About half an hour after dinner, the majority of Gryffindor students made their way down to the Quidditch Pitch for the biggest Quidditch trials Hogwarts had ever seen.
"As you know, trials will be a bit different this year," Alicia announced to the group of nervous students gathered before the current team.
"Since this is the last year for all of us except Harry, and Dumbledore is making us have a full set of reserves," began Fred.
"And we need a keeper," George added.
"We will be choosing eight new members of the Quidditch team," Fred finished. Half of the crowd looked excited while the other half looked positively sick.
' "The reserves chosen will be next years team," Katie said.
"Except for Harry and possibly the keeper," Angelina amended. The five seventh years looked expectantly at Harry who was standing at the end of the line.
"Er, right! Good luck!" Harry exclaimed. Alicia again took charge.
"Everyone trying out for chaser go with Angelina and Katie. Beaters follow Fred and George. Seekers and Keepers come with Harry and me!" she called. The team immediately split up and went to opposite parts of the field. With only minimal confusion, the mass of people followed the team members.
From her spot in the stands with Astrid, Hermione could just pick out Ginny and Ron among the masses of hopeful keepers and chasers.
"So why exactly does Dumbledore want a full set of reserves?" Hermione asked.
"Well, you know about the inter-school league, right?" Astrid asked.
"Yes. Harry and Ron have done nothing but talk about it since Dumbledore announced it at the Welcome Feast," Hermione replied.
"Well. In the case that the bigger part of a team needs to be away for a match and there is an inter-house match at the same time, the reserves can play the inter-house match," Astrid explain.
"Can't he just schedule the house matches around the school matches?" Hermione reasoned.
"You know Hermione, for a smart person, your common sense really isn't that great," Astrid laughed.
"What?" Hermione asked. She glared at the younger girl.
"I mean really, supposedly Dumbledore was a Gryffindor," Astrid began.
"Really?" Hermione asked.
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I've heard about it."
"Oh really?" Hermione asked. "Don't you think he's a bit too good at the manipulation thing to be a Gryffindor?"
"I don't know. At any rate, if he WAS a Gryffindor, he wouldn't want to see his old house loose the Quidditch cup now would he?"
"There is no way they can loose this year!" Hermione cried.
"Probably not this year, but next year the Slytherin team will be more experienced. And most people think Draco bought his way onto the team. Well, okay, he did. But he is fairly talented in his own right," Astrid said.
"And next year Harry and possibly the keeper would be the only returning players from Gryffindor," Hermione added.
"Exactly. This is a way Dumbledore has of making sure next years Gryffindor team has a year to train together before they have to play any matches," Astrid explained. "At least that's what I think."
"It does make sense," Hermione agreed. "So who do you think the new keeper will be?"
"Ron with Neville as the reserve," Astrid replied promptly, "or maybe the other way around."
"Neville?"
"Yes Neville. He's built like a keeper and he's not a bad flier," Astrid said.
"How would you know?" Hermione asked.
"I saw him practicing Wednesday night," Astrid explained. "Seamus and Dean were throwing to him and he stopped most of them. Of course, Ron has had practice with the actual chasers, who are probably quite a bit better than Seamus and Dean, so don't count him out."
"Who will the chasers be, since you have such an opinion on this," Hermione asked.
"Dean, Seamus, and Ginny," Astrid replied.
"Ginny? Really?"
"Ginny is good," Astrid replied, "probably from all of the practice she's had with her brothers and everything."
"Do you and your brothers play Quidditch?" Hermione asked.
"Are you kidding? I can't stand the Princes Purebloods' attitudes long enough to practice Quidditch with them."
"The princes who?"
"The Princes Pureblood. Draco and Keiran." Astrid replied.
"Are they really that bad?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, they're really that bad. Keiran is, if anything, worse than Draco."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you," Astrid replied solemnly.
"Why not?" Hermione replied.
"I've already risked being disowned simply by being in Gryffindor. Divulging family secrets to someone my brothers regularly call the m-word probably wouldn't be the best idea on my part," Astrid said.
"Alright," Hermione replied. She discontinued the conversation with Astrid to pay attention to where Harry and Alicia were working with the seekers.
"I think he's going to kill her!" Hermione squealed. Harry and Natalie McDonald, a hopeful for seeker, were both on brooms rocketing towards the ground as fast as they could. Harry, on the Firebolt, had pulled considerably ahead of Natalie, but she had pushed her Nimbus 2001 to its limit in trying to keep up with him. Suddenly, about five meters from the ground, Harry pulled his broom to level out right above the pitch. Natalie followed suit, leveling out only about three meters above the pitch.
"She just went farther than Harry in that feint!" Astrid squealed.
"Yes, she did, but I suspect Harry was taking it easy on her. He's done much better," Hermione reasoned.
"And he's not trying for his own spot either," Astrid added. Harry returned to a group of people hovering on brooms a ways above the pitch. He selected the next person from the group and proceeded with flying straight at the pitch again. This person pulled out of the feint at least 15 meters above the pitch, while Harry waited until he was two meters off of the ground.
"Look at Ron!" Astrid squealed. She pointed down to the other end of the pitch. Alicia had procured a box of muggle footballs and was proceeding to throw them as hard as she could at all of the three goals. Ron, taking advantage of his height, was stopping the majority of the balls. Alicia had a habit of shooting at the left goal and then the right in quick succession. Ron was fearless on his broom. He didn't use his hands on his broom at all, rather gripped the broom between his legs and left both hands free for stopping shots. After stopping his fourth pair of extreme shots, Alicia stopped and put Neville in front of the goals.
"I'm impressed. Even Wood usually kept one hand on the broom!" Hermione said as Ron flew over to the group of keeper hopefuls.
"That was fairly impressive on his part" Astrid said. Hermione could see Ron's smile from almost the other end of the pitch. Neville had taken Ron's spot in front of the goals. Alicia began bombarding him with the football's. Surprisingly, Neville stopped almost as many as Ron did. Almost. He was a bit hesitant on the consecutive shots on extreme goals though, and missed several of the second shots.
"He's good," Hermione said appraisingly of Neville.
"Not as good as Ron though," Astrid replied.
"Neville didn't spend most of his childhood on a broomstick either," Hermione replied.
"Really?" Astrid asked.
"His Grandma wasn't really a big fan of him flying. And then in first year he broke his wrist right before our lesson had a chance to really start," Hermione explained.
"So why did she allow him to try out this year?" Astrid asked.
"I'm not really sure, but he's quite good," Hermione replied. Neither girl had taken her eyes off the pudgy boy in front of the far goals. Neville definitely wasn't as sure about flying as Ron had been, but he still managed to block a fair amount of the shots.
"I think if you give him a year of practice, he'll be better than Ron," Astrid declared.
"What makes you say that?" Hermione asked.
"Ron, while very talented, is a bit reckless to play keeper effectively." Astrid said. Hermione laughed silently at the small girl seated next to her. She was taking the critiquing so very seriously.
"What about the chasers?" Hermione asked. Katie and Angelina had conjured a set of floating cones and had the chaser hopefuls weaving in and out of the cones as fast as they comfortably could across the center of the field.
"Seamus and Dean are both impressive fliers," Astrid said. She and Hermione both stopped to watch Seamus tearing at a break-neck speed through the cones.
"I'm surprised at Dean. He's muggle born," Hermione said.
"Hermione, Harry proves that waiting till your first year to fly a broom means nothing. What exactly are Fred and George doing?" She had torn her eyes away from the chasers and looked down to the pitch where Fred and George were running a tryout for beaters. Fred stood in the middle of the pitch facing a beater hopeful and holding a small white ball in his left hand. George was crouched a ways away from him just behind the hopeful. The hopeful stood sideways with his right side facing George and a bat slung over his right shoulder. Suddenly, Fred threw the ball at the hopeful, who swung the bat in an attempt to hit the ball. He missed. George caught the ball and tossed it back to Fred.
"It looks like they're playing a muggle game called Baseball," Hermione explained.
"Why?" Astrid asked.
"They're Fred and George. I learned long ago not to question their motives on anything," Hermione laughed. Astrid laughed and both girls turned back to watching the baseball game.
*****
After two long hours, Alicia called all of the hopefuls and the team into the middle of the field. Astrid and Hermione made their way from the stands over to where Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville were standing. Ginny, Jae and Colin stood on the other side of the group from the boys. Alicia called the team over out of earshot of the majority of Gryffindor house.
"How do you think you did?" Hermione asked the boys as she and Astrid approached the group.
"I did really well, I think!" Ron exclaimed.
"I'll probably make reserve," Neville said, looking wistfully at the ground.
%%%%%
"What do you guys think?" Alicia asked, glancing over at the group of students.
"Natalie McDonald. Natalie McDonald. Natalie McDonald!" Harry exclaimed.
"So who is the reserve seeker?" Fred asked playfully.
"Natalie McDonald!" Harry said.
"Shhh! They'll hear you!" Alicia said.
"At any rate. Natalie McDonald," Harry replied.
"What about the chasers?" Alicia asked.
"Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Kyle Burns," Angelina said immediately. Harry, Fred, and George all looked kind of disappointed. They knew Ginny had wanted the position quite badly.
"Okay. Ron Weasley is the new keeper, with Neville Longbottom as the reserve," Alicia announced. Fred and George exchanged high fives, and Harry's disappointment for Ginny instantly turned to happiness for Ron.
"Dios mio," Angelina muttered. The other five players shot her quizzical looks.
"What?" She asked, "Aren't I allowed to be a little afraid now that Weasley's are taking over the team?"
"You were speaking Spanish," George pointed out.
"Spent a portion of the summer in Spain, you knew that!" Angelina said. She tapped George lightly on his shoulder. He acted hurt and frowned at her. She and George had been dating off and on since Fred took Angelina to the Yule Ball. No one was still quite sure how she had ended up with George, but the arrangement seemed to work out quite nicely.
"So what about the beaters?" Alicia asked.
"Frankly," George began.
"They all sucked," Fred finished.
"Really?" Alicia asked. She sounded very worried.
"Yes," the twins said in unison.
"Who do you pick?" Alicia asked.
"None of them?" Fred suggested.
"Colin Creevey was the best," George added.
"What do you plan on doing?" Alicia asked. Harry looked over to where his friends were standing. They were standing in two distinct groups about 15 meters apart from each other. Ron had just thrown something at Ginny. He, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Hermione and Astrid were all looking expectantly to where she and Jae were standing. As soon as Ginny looked at the boys, Astrid, and Hermione, they all tried to look nonchalant. Ron went as far as to put his back to Ginny and Jae. Ginny picked something up off of the field. She stepped a few feet away from Jae and tossed the small rock into the air. When it came back towards the ground, she hit it with the handle of her broom. The rock sailed towards Ron with tremendous speed. Hermione noticed it at the last second and yelled for Ron to duck. Instead, Ron spun around and caught the rock. He picked up the bat from the beater trials and hit the rock back at Ginny.
"So how do you propose we choose reserve beaters?" Alicia asked. Harry zoned back into the conversation.
"Ron and Ginny," Harry said quickly.
"What?" Alicia said.
"Ron and Ginny. They're over there hitting a rock back and forth using the handle of a broom and their baseball bat. Ginny is deadly accurate and Ron's not too bad himself. And if they can hit a rock with a broom then they surely can hit a bludger with a beater bat" Harry explained.
"Yeah they can. You should see them at home! As long as they don't get mad and start hitting the bludgers at each other, they're usually pretty good!" Fred exclaimed.
"But they're our brother and sister and they didn't even try out for Beater," George said.
"The real problem is, how can our keeper be a reserve beater?" Katie said.
"How much worse than Ron was Neville?" Harry asked.
"Not much," Alicia admitted.
"When Ron has to play beater next year, Neville can play keeper. With a year of training, Neville will improve so moving Ron won't hurt us that much," Harry replied logically.
"Genius Harry," Fred laughed.
"But that still doesn't solve the brother, sister, not trying out problem," George reminded the group.
"Leave that to me," Alicia said. She began walking back towards the group, so the rest of the team had to follow her.
"Attention!" Alicia called when she got to the group of students. Her statement was a bit unnecessary as everyone had gone instantly quiet when the team started walking towards them.
"After a bit of deliberation, we have decided on our keeper and reserve teams!" Alicia announced, "Now some of you may be a bit surprised, as you didn't try out for the position on the team you received. Don't worry, we paid careful attention to all of you and are quite sure our selections are best." Harry, Fred and George exchanged excited glances. Alicia had handled their problem beautifully.
"So I suppose we shall start with the reserves," Alicia said. Ron groaned in loud protest.
"The reserve seeker is," Alicia looked expectantly at Harry.
"Natalie McDonald!" He, Fred and George chorused. The small second year girl looked positively elated, and did quite a good job ignoring the glares she was getting from the people gathered around her.
"The reserve chasers are Seamus Finnigan," began Alicia.
"Dean Thomas," continued Angelina. Dean and Seamus exchanged a high five followed by a very manly hug. Ginny clenched her fists next to her sides and tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to hide the hopeful look on her face.
"And Kyle Burns!" Katie finished. Kyle, a sixth year, jumped straight up and pumped his fist into the air. Ginny instantly looked down at her shoes. Jae reached over and draped an arm lazily around her friend.
"The reserve keeper is Neville Longbottom!" Alicia announced. Neville jumped straight up in the air, a la Kyle, and received high fives from Seamus, Dean and Ron. Hermione hugged him when he was finally through jumping. The expression on Ron's face definitely said "Since Neville is reserve, I'm most likely the starter!"
"The reserve beaters are," Alicia began. She looked expectantly at Fred and George.
"Ginny Weasley and Ron Weasley!" They cried at the same time. Ginny literally jumped onto Jae. Jae spun her friend around several times. Ron, on the other hand looked murderous. Harry was quite glad he couldn't hear what Ron was saying, as both Dean and Seamus were shying away from him, Hermione and Astrid looked positively horrified, and Neville well, Neville was still a little excited about his appointment as reserve keeper so he wasn't paying too much attention to Ron.
"And now, I suppose we should announce the new keeper," Alicia said. She looked down at the rest of her team. They all nodded their approval.
"However, we must add, before we announce the player, that they will be expected to step down from their position after a year to allow the reserve to play next year," Angelina added.
"The new keeper is RON WEASLEY!" Harry shouted to keep the girls from stalling their announcement anymore. Ron had begun kicking at clumps of grass to show his disappointment at being made a reserve beater. At the announcement of his name, he turned to look at the team. His jaw dropped. Both Seamus and Dean ran over to him. They clapped him on his back. Hermione actually jumped into his arms and pulled him into a great hug. Neville muttered his congratulations, but his mind was more on the announcement Angelina had made. That he would be the starting keeper in a year. Ron hugged Hermione and sat her back down on the pitch. Astrid then took her turn at jumping into his arms. He spun her around several times before sitting her next to Hermione.
"Party in the common room!" Fred and George cried. Everyone started up towards Gryffindor tower.
"Thanks for trying out!" Alicia called after their retreating backs, before resigning herself to following them. Quickly enough, only Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Astrid and Ginny remained on the pitch.
"Congrats you two!" Harry yelled as he ran over to the group. He high fived Ron and hugged Ginny.
"I'VE GOT TO OWL BRAEDEN!" Ginny cried while Harry was hugging her.
"I've got to see about getting a replacement ear drum for the one you just made useless," Harry muttered, rubbing the ear Ginny had yelled into. Ginny paid no attention to him and took off running towards the castle. Ron jumped onto his broom and shot straight up in the air.
"What's he doing?" Hermione asked.
"Looks like he's taking a victory lap," Harry replied. Fred and George jumped on their brooms and followed their younger brother. Harry looked from Hermione and Astrid to his broom to the boys in the sky back to the girls.
"Go," Hermione replied.
"We can stand here," Astrid added. Harry jumped on his broom and rocketed straight towards Fred and George. Ron took a quick victory lap and then flew back down to Hermione and Astrid.
"Hey Astrid, need a lift?" Ron asked. Astrid squealed loudly and jumped on the broom behind Ron. She wrapped her small hands around him and he kicked off again. The pair shot straight at Harry, Fred and George, who were having an airborne conversation in the middle of the field. Hermione could hear Astrid's gleeful squeals from where she was standing on the ground. As Astrid and Ron approached, Fred, George and Harry scattered in several different directions. George and Harry shot towards opposite ends of the field, while Fred flew directly towards Hermione. He landed softly about a meter away from her?
"Fancy a ride?" He asked, indicating the broomstick grasped tightly between his legs. Hermione instantly turned red.
"Hermione Anne Granger! I'm appalled at you!" Fred exclaimed when he realized why she was blushing. "I meant, would you like to go flying on my broomstick!" Hermione turned almost purple and laughed loudly. Fred, too, turned red. He jumped off of the broom. It hovered just about the ground. He walked over and picked up Hermione. He carried her back to the broomstick and sat her on it. Then he climbed on in front of her.
"Hold on," he instructed. She tentatively placed her hands around his waist. She had stopped laughing as soon as she realized that she was going flying, whether she wanted to or not. Fred kicked off of the ground and the pair flew towards Harry. Hermione was simply amazed. She hadn't been on a broomstick since her first year, and flying with Fred was nothing like that first experience. The wind ruffled her hair and stung her cheeks a bit, but she was comfortable behind Fred.
"Anne's not my middle name you know," Hermione said.
"I didn't figure it was, but it's Ginny's, so I figured it would work for you too," Fred explained.
"It's not Ginny's either!" Hermione laughed. She could imagine the confused look on Fred's face.
"Okay, so maybe it's mums," Fred laughed, "what are yours and Ginny's?"
"Ginny's is Eirene," Hermione replied.
"And yours?" Fred asked.
"Lenore."
"Hermione Lenore Granger," Fred said, "I like that."
"Thanks," Hermione replied brightly.
"Pay up, Potter!" Fred called as they drew closer to Harry and George. Ron and Astrid were circling the field quite a ways above the goals.
"How did you manage that?" Harry asked, looking at Fred and Hermione suspiciously.
"I like to think it was my suave charm and my boyish good looks," Fred replied. He ran a hand over his short red hair.
"You might have the charm, but I'm the one with the boyish good looks!" George insisted.
"How do you figure?" Fred asked.
"I'm younger, therefore automatically more boyish," George reasoned.
"He picked me up and put me on the broomstick," Hermione said. "Did you guys have a bet on me?"
"Uh actually, yeah. I bet Fred he couldn't get you up here without having to knock you out or getting hurt in the process," Harry laughed.
"Get him, Fred!" Hermione commanded. Fred urged the broom to shoot straight at Harry. Harry tore off in the other direction. George stayed still and looked slightly bewildered at what was happening around him. Hermione laughed quite loudly as she and Fred chased after Harry. Fred's broom was no match for Harry's though, so Harry got away quite easily. Ron and Astrid were still circling the pitch high above everyone else.
"Let's go get them!" Fred insisted when it became apparent that they wouldn't catch Harry anytime soon.
"Okay," Agreed Hermione. She had become much more relaxed, and was quite enjoying herself. Fred rocketed off towards Ron and Astrid. When they pulled up next to the other pair, Hermione actually let go of Fred and tapped Ron playfully on the shoulder.
"Tag! You're it!" she cried at Ron. Fred zoomed off.
"Ron, it's a game. Go chase someone down!" Astrid instructed. Ron took off towards George. He easily caught his brother and made George "it." Hermione and Fred had gone up to where Ron and Astrid had been. They began circling the pitch, oblivious to the raucous game of tag going on below them.
"This isn't so bad is it?" Fred asked. Hermione rested her head lightly in the soft spot between his shoulder blades.
"Not at all," she replied. She was amazed at herself. She was on a broomstick high above the ground with Fred Weasley. As much as she hated to admit it, she was having an amazing time. Fred was really sweet when he wasn't pranking.
"FRED!" George cried from the pitch. Fred turned to look at his brother. "We have to go find food for the party we threw and are currently not attending!"
Fred sighed deeply. "Coming George!" he called. He slowly turned to broom towards the pitch and began a gradual descent so as not to scare Hermione with a breathtaking dive. Hermione was personally more amazed. She had expected Fred to attempt one of Harry's infamous feints in getting the two of them back to the ground, but he didn't. He landed the broom on the opposite side of the pitch from George, Ron, Harry, Astrid and Alicia.
"That was a lot of fun," Hermione said as she dismounted the broom.
"Maybe we can do it again sometime?" Fred asked.
"Sure" Hermione replied brightly. The tips of Fred's ears turned red.
"Come on!" George insisted. He ran over to where Fred and Hermione were standing. Fred shouldered his broom and turned to his twin.
"Let's go," He said. They started back towards the castle. Hermione walked back to her friends.
"What did he say to you?" Ron asked before Hermione could get completely over to them.
"Just that we'll have to go flying again sometime," Hermione said. Ron turned bright red. He looked only slightly furious. Harry and Astrid tried to stifle their laughter.
"Come on boys, to the castle!" Hermione insisted. She tossed an arm around Harry and Ron's waists. They both shouldered their brooms and threw their other arms around Hermione's shoulders. Astrid took Ron's broom from him and threw it over her own shoulder. Ron held out his now-empty arm to the smaller girl. She rested her hand in the crook of his elbow and the four made their way back to the castle.
When they got to the common room, Ron and Harry were greeted with congratulatory shouts. Hermione dismissed herself to go find Ginny. The Wizards Wireless had been set up in the corner and charmed to play nonstop dance music, quite loudly. The chairs and couches had been pushed back to the walls and the center of the floor was filled with dancing couples. Hermione found Ginny sitting on a chair staring wistfully out of the window.
"Hey girl, congratulations!" Hermione said as she approached her friend. Ginny turned to look at her friend. She had tears in her eyes and a crumpled piece of parchment in her right hand.
"Oh no, what happened?" Hermione asked.
"Braeden," Ginny said. She thrust the letter at Hermione. Hermione unfolded the parchment and began reading.
Ginny,
My Angel. How are you? Things here at Beauxbatons are… boring and empty. I miss you. There is an interschool Quidditch team this year. I may get to come to Hogwarts at some point, as I made keeper for the team. We had trials last night. I miss you. I hope we travel to Hogwarts instead of your team coming here. If we go to Hogwarts we'll get to see each other. Did I mention I miss you? More than anything. I'm trying to convince my mother to go to England for the Holidays, so possibly we'll get to see each other over Christmas. I know that is quite a ways away. I don't know if I'll be able to stand it. I don't feel complete without you. At any rate, I've got to go. My friends want me to go to dinner with them, and Brantley is pestering me about my girlfriend. (He means you). So I need to go talk to him. I miss you!
Love Always,
Braeden.
P.S. I miss you.
"Aww Ginny, that is so sweet!" Hermione squealed.
"I know," Ginny said. A fresh wave of tears made its way down her face.
"Oh Ginny," Hermione exclaimed. She threw her arms around her friend. Ginny sobbed into Hermione's shoulder. "I miss him SO much!"
"FOOD!" someone cried from the portrait hole. The someone sounded very much like a Weasley twin. In reality, it was both of them with their arms full of stolen sweets from Honeydukes and the kitchens.
"You should go dance with someone!" Hermione insisted.
"Is Braeden here?" Ginny asked.
"No," Hermione replied.
"Well then I'll not dance!" Ginny said. She wiped the few remaining tears out of her eyes.
"Watch out, here come Harry and Ron," Hermione warned.
"Hey Gin, what's wrong?" Ron asked.
"Braeden," Ginny sobbed.
"WHAT HAS HE DONE!?" Ron roared.
"Down boy!" Harry said.
"She misses him," Hermione replied, "He's done nothing except go to school in France rather than here."
"Oh" Ron said. He unclenched his fists and his face returned to its normal color. He reached over and patted Ginny roughly on her shoulder. "It'll be okay." Ginny smiled weakly at her brother.
"Hermione?" A redheaded someone behind Harry and Ron asked. They parted to reveal Fred standing behind them. His face was as red as his hair.
"Yeah?" Hermione asked.
"Wanna dance?" He held out his hand to Hermione.
"Sure," Hermione replied. She took his hand and he led her towards the dance floor. Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it at the radio in the corner. He muttered a few words under his breath and the fast techno song that had been playing changed abruptly to a slow one.
"Like that wasn't obvious," Ginny laughed. Harry grinned sheepishly at her. Ron looked murderous.
"What is his problem?"
"You know Ron. Sometimes a guy will fall for a girl. We like to say he 'fancies' her." Harry said. He made little quotation marks with his fingers when he said the word fancies.
"Are you saying?" Ron asked.
"Yes, I'm saying that I think Fred fancies Hermione!" Ron sank down next to Ginny. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Ginny reached over and patted him roughly on his back. "It'll be okay." She and Harry turned to watch Fred and Hermione. Both looked a little surprised at the sudden change in songs, but neither seemed to mind too much. Fred placed both of his hands on the small of Hermione's back and she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck. They stayed a good distance apart.
"You know, they're relatively cute," Ginny commented.
"Yes," Harry agreed.
"And she's doing pretty well to be dancing with Fred," Ginny laughed.
"What?" Harry asked.
"He's a living terror on the toes," Angelina said. George was pulling her past the group on their way to the dance floor. No sooner than the comment left Angelina's mouth did Hermione wince visibly.
"Sorry," muttered Fred, turning bright red.
"Oh, it's alright," Hermione said. Fred accidentally stepped on her toes again. She winced a little more this time. Fred turned even redder and in his embarrassment stepped on her toes again.
"How about this?" Hermione asked. She flipped her shoes off and kicked them towards the wall.
"Oh gosh no! Now I'm going to murder your toes!" Fred cried. Hermione laughed at him before gently placing one sock covered foot on each of his steel-toed Quidditch boots. Fred laughed and held her closer.
"If I'm standing on your toes you can't stomp mine," Hermione laughed. Fred, despite turning another shade of red, laughed along with her.
"Oh my gosh they're closer!" Ron cried from the corner.
"Shh!" Harry and Ginny insisted. Sure enough though, Fred and Hermione had barely an inch of space between the two of them. Hermione lazily leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I think that's one of the cutest things that I've seen in a while," Harry laughed.
"What happened to Krum?" Ron voiced the question on everyone's minds.