Chapter 8: Quidditch Tryouts and Truth or Dare

Wednesday and Thursday were both very uneventful, as was Friday. The Gryffindor four were heading towards History of Magic, their last class on the last day before the weekend. They all sat down and Professor Binns floated through the blackboard as usual. Nobody even noticed any more, though it had come as quiet a shock in their first year. Binns began talking and Hermione quickly took out a quill and some parchment. She had recovered quickly after hearing about her mother's death and showed to everyone that she was made of much sturdier material than they had all thought.

"Herbarius the Horrible led one of the first goblin rebellions in 1476, causing a big massacre to occur. It was years after that, in 1492 that more wars were fought. This was an important…" Binns droned. Nora looked out the window onto the grounds, barely keeping her eyes open.

"I so don't care. I wish Dumbledore would hire a new teacher," she muttered to Hermione who was scribbling furiously, trying to keep up with everything Professor Binns said. After fifteen minutes Ron leaned his head on his hand, with his elbow on the desk, and fell asleep, not snoring for the first time. Harry looked at Parvati's hair, noticing how nice it fell down to her waist. Suddenly Ron's elbow slipped and his head crashed onto his desk causing him to yelp. Every one turned around and starting laughing, making his ears turn a dark red. When Professor Binns had calmed everyone down, he went back to his teaching and every one started daydreaming again, except for Hermione of course.

After class they went downstairs to the Great Hall to eat dinner. They were halfway through when Ginny joined them.

"Hey guys! How was class?" She asked them happily.

"Did you know something really boring happened to someone really ugly like five hundred years ago?" Ron told her sourly rubbing his forehead where a bump had appeared. Ginny looked at the others puzzled and Harry told her about what had happened during History of Magic.

When Nora and Hermione reached their common room they both sat in the two armchairs in front of the fire. Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, Hermione burst out in tears. Nora, of course, knew what was wrong, feeling sorrowful herself. She had actually thought it weird that her friend hadn't broken down sooner and was still getting her homework done well before it was due. She felt that Hermione was dealing with it all better than she would've done, but then Hermione was a lot stronger than she was.

"I-I m-m-miss my mohohom!" Hermione sobbed. There wasn't much Nora could do except put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Hermione pulled her into a very tight hug and Nora was pretty sure she heard a couple of her bones crack. The two of them sat there, hugging each other, until Hermione had calmed down and went upstairs to sleep. Nora stayed downstairs and sat staring at the fire and thinking, hardly moving, as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Until Malfoy walked in that is, then she hurried up the stairs and went to bed too, not wanting to talk to him.

That Saturday was the Quidditch tryout for the Gryffindors. Ron had gotten very good as keeper, having practiced over the summer with Fred and George and in august with Harry. Now that Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell were gone too there were only two players left on the team: Harry and Ron. Ginny was there too but she didn't want to be a seeker and was going to try out for chaser, as was Nora. Hermione wasn't planning on trying out at all. She had never flown a broom before and wasn't planning to either. On Saturday morning Harry, Nora and Ron walked over to the Quidditch pitch waiting for the others who were going to try out. When all of the Gryffindor's had tried out, Harry, now captain, picked the best ones.

"Now, when I call your name you will step out of the line and join the team," he said, "Ginny Weasly: Chaser. Nora Glassyd: Chaser. Mathew Charles: Chaser. Seamus Finnigan: Beater. Jessica Jensen: Beater," Harry called out. "Now, the rest of the time we'll be practicing to work together. The three chasers will try to get the quaflle past the keeper by working together. The two beaters will be trying to keep the bludgers away from me while I fly around the pitch, got it?" The team murmured "Yes" and Ron led the the chasers to one end of the pitch with Nora, while Harry flew up into the air with the two beaters.

Practice didn't go too well. Seamus and Jessica (a 5th year) couldn't keep away all of the bludgers with the result that Harry got hit by the ones they accidentally let through. Nora, Ginny and Mathew (a 7th year) didn't work together at all, and even though they got a few Quaflles through the hoops, they didn't hear and couldn't sense when the other was going to pass to them, with the result that they had to fly down and pick it up from the ground, which took up time. At the end of the day they went over to the castle to have a late lunch.

"How'd it go?" Hermione asked them, getting glares from everyone on the team. After lunch the four went to the library to do their homework for next week. That night Harry put up a notice for the Gryffindor team that they would be practicing every other evening starting Monday.

Two weeks later the team came into the Great Hall very wet and covered from head to toe in mud. The weather had been disastrous but practice had been one of the better ones yet. They were finally showing some improvement now, but the first few practices had been terrible: Jessica had made to hit a bludger away from Harry, Seamus right at her side, but as she swung her bat she hit Seamus hard in the stomach and as she turned her head, shocked, the bludger escaped and hit Harry in the back. Jessica had brought them both to the Hospital Wing right away. Another time Mathew horribly passed a Quaffle to Ginny and she quickly flew after it, making a spectacular dive while trying to catch it, but falling from her broom in the process. Luckily for her Harry wasn't doing anything, only pretending to find the snitch, so he quickly cast Wingardium Leviosa, causing her to fall slower. Nora brought Ginny to the Hospital Wing after, since the fall had been hard, even at a slow pace. A lot more accidents had happened after those, but they were working more as a team now.

"Well, it's the first time I'm proud of my team," Harry told Hermione, "There were a few minor mistakes but the very big errors have been left out!" A smile grew on his face, and then he turned around and went towards the Gryffindor common room to take a shower and change into clean clothes.

In the middle of October Dumbledore stood up before dinner saying he had an announcement to make.

"As you all know… Halloween will be here soon… and I have decided to brighten things up here at Hogwarts with a Halloween Ball," he began. Most of the students cheered and whistled, making Dumbledore smile his warm and comforting smile. Harry and Ron on the other hand looked at Nora and Hermione disgruntled, remembering the fiasco when they were trying to ask someone to the Yule Ball in their 4th year. "I therefore advise all of you to find a date and a costume. Let us feast!" Dumbledore finished smiling.

"I'm never going to get a date!" Nora grumbled, folding her arms.

"Me neither," Harry and Ron said glumly in unison. Hermione on the other hand looked quiet happy.

"Oh, stop gloating. We know you've got Terry to go with. At least you won't be going through all the anxiety of hoping to get asked by someone cute and nice, and not by the biggest loser of the school," Nora told her, looking over at Malfoy while she said the last sentence and throwing him a dirty look. Hermione said nothing and began to eat her dinner, smiling to herself.

The week after Dumbledore's announcement and a week before the Halloween Ball Nora and Malfoy were sitting in their common room both reading in silence when there was a loud knock. Nora, who had eventually stopped avoiding Malfoy, got up and stepped out of the portrait to find Ginny standing there.

"Hi Ginny, what are you doing here?" she asked, looking down the hallway. "Is something wrong?" Ginny shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. Listen, I asked Professor McGonagall if we could play magic Truth or Dare in one of the larger empty classrooms. She said it was fine, but that the Head's should be there too, depending on the size of the group, to take control if anything got out of hand. I showed her the group and she said it'd be better if all four were there. So… can you ask if the others will come?" Ginny finished looking at Nora in the sweetest way she could. Nora laughed and said:

"Sure, I'll check," before entering the common room again, worrying that Malfoy wouldn't agree. She walked over to him, he was still reading, and knelt down beside the couch.

"What do you want, Glassyd," he said, not looking up from his book. Nora tried not to cringe, but she just couldn't bear the way he said her last name, with a long, snake-like 's' that could actually make her shudder at times.

"Well, I just talked to Ginny and she wants to play magic Truth or Dare with a large group of students and Professor McGonagall said that all four Head's have to be there in case things got out of hand. So could you please join us in the game?" Nora asked him. Malfoy pretended to think it over for a minute or so before saying: "No," still not looking up from his book.

"Malfoy."

"What?"

"Malfoy, look at me." He did as Nora asked him and nearly melted in her dark brown eyes with the little dark specks in them. "Could you please, please, pleeeaaase come? It would really mean a lot to Ginny," she said, looking and pointing into the direction of the portrait where Ginny was still waiting. Then she looked back at Malfoy, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her. He gazed into those brown eyes full of love and concern for her friends, and was hoping the impossible of him being her friend some day, before sighing and saying: "Yeah, all right, then. Fine."

"Oh, thank you so much," Nora told him and in her relief she gave Malfoy a quick hug, before running up the stairs to find Terry and Hermione, feeling unbelievably stupid and blushing a deep, deep red, wishing someone would just shoot her. Terry and Hermione both agreed at once and they followed Nora down the stairs into the common room where Malfoy was standing in front of the notice board. Nora walked over to him to see what he was looking at.

"What?" she cried in horror, making Malfoy rub is ear. Hermione and Terry walked over to see what was wrong. Hermione read out loud:

Dear Heads,

As I have told you, a Halloween Ball will be held. What I have not yet said was that I expect the Head Boys to pick one of the Head Girls and take them to the Halloween Ball, in costume. This will be necessary in order to set an example for the younger students.

Sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore.

The four left the Common Room, all feeling a bit unnerved, and Ginny led them towards the room where they would play the game. During the walk Hermione looked at Nora pleadingly.

"You don't have to look at me like that… of course I'm going to let you go with Terry. You two were going to go together anyway," Nora said, trying to smile at her friend, but feeling terrible on the inside.

"Thank you," Hermione told her, patting her friend's arm consolingly. They entered the room and found a very big group sitting in a circle, including Harry and Ron, who grinned as their two friends entered. Hermione noticed there were fifth and sixth years from every house except Slytherin. The four Head's sat down somewhere in the circle, leaving Ginny the only one standing. She cleared her throat and said:

"Right. So, before we begin to play magic Truth or Dare I would like to say that I have decided to play this game with all of you just for a little bit of fun and also to make it easier to see who likes who. And if there is a match they will go together to the dance. This way, you won't be rejected the whole time. There are also a few rules. First of all when you choose the option "truth" and decide you really don't want to answer the question you can remain silent, but… you will have to take of one item of clothing. Second of all when you choose the option "dare" and decide you really don't want to do the dare given, you can remain seated, but… again you will have to take of a piece of clothing. Third of all, because this is "magic" truth or dare, there is a spell on it, which will prevent you from lying when asked a question. And fourth of all: almost anything goes!" she said happily, but mischievously, and then sat down. It was decided that she would be the one to begin.

"Hermione… Truth or Dare?" she asked simply.

"Truth."

"Who do you like?"

"Terry."

"Ok, now this is an example. When you ask some one who they like, they of course will say someone's name. After you have answered, it is your turn to pick someone. What I want you to do, though, is to ask the person you named, who they like. Get my point?" Ginny explained and every one nodded.

"All right," Hermione said, "Terry, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Who do you like?"

"I like you," he replied, smiling at her. Hermione blushed. "Erm… Seamus, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"Ok… uhm… I dare you… I dare you to go to the girl you like and ask her to the Halloween Ball," Terry said with an evil smile on his face.

"What? That's almost the exact same thing as truth. And what if she blows me off? I'll make a fool of myself in front of all of you," Seamus replied, horrified at the thought.

"Dude, just do it."

"Fine," Seamus said sulkily as he got up and walked over to Georgia Havenport, a Ravenclaw 5th year. She had black hair that reached her waist and blue eyes, like the ocean.

"Willyougotothedancewithme?" He asked her quickly. Georgia giggled but replied, "Yes." Seamus wiped his forehead and sat down in his seat, his face completely red, glaring at Terry.

"Ok… Harry, truth or dare?" Seamus asked him

"Truth," He didn't want to get a dare like Seamus'.

"Who do you like?" Harry muttered something. "What?"

"Parvati, I like Parvati," he said loud enough so every one could hear. Parvati blushed and giggled along with Lavender.

"Parvati? Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said, still blushing

"Who do you like?"

"You." The game went on and after a while every one had taken off both shoes and at least one sock. A few couples had been made too: Hermione and Terry, Harry and Parvati, Ron and Lavender, Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ginny Weasly and Colin Creevey, who had stopped being so hyper, didn't idolize Harry as much and had actually become rather cute, Dean and Crystal-Rose (the new girl he had dumped Nora for) and Ernie Mcmillan and Susie Fisher. It was Ginny's turn again.

"Nora, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Nora replied, feeling that Ginny was bound to ask something incredibly evil if she had answered 'Truth'.

"All right," Ginny started with an evil grin on her face, "I dare you to kiss a boy for an entire minute."

"Which boy?" Nora asked cautiously, knowing she was going to take off a piece of clothing and skip this dare.

"Well let me see," Ginny said, looking around the circle where there were at least half a dozen guys who were eager to be chosen. But instead of picking them, she said: "Malfoy."

"What? No way, I'll take off a piece of clothing, thank you very much." But she didn't have anything to take off except her shirt and jeans. 'Why on earth didn't I bring a sweater!' Nora thought hysterically while mentally slapping herself. Hermione patted her consolingly on the arm, for the second time that night. Nora gave her a horrified look before going over to Malfoy very reluctantly.

"All right, then," Ginny said cheerfully, Nora glared at her, planning on strangling her as soon as this bloody stupid game was over. "Now, I'll set the timer, and when the minute's over you'll hear a "ping". Ok?"

"Do I have too?" Nora whined, looking pleadingly at Ron's little sister. Who on earth would've thought she could be so evil.

"Yes you do, or would you rather take off your shirt?" Ginny raised an eyebrow and Nora sighed.

"Not really, no." She looked at Malfoy and indicated him to stand up, just knowing he was enjoying every moment of this. Malfoy, however, looked indifferent, though Harry and Ron were seething with rage. When Ginny said "Go" Nora pressed her lips carefully onto his and began kissing him, wishing it would be over very soon enough. But unfortunately, time seemed to slow down making it last at least twice as long. She continued to kiss Malfoy, counting the seconds in her head but she couldn't help but think 'he's not a bad kisser, how'd he get so good?' A bell rang and Nora quickly pushed Malfoy away from her, hurrying to her seat beside Hermione, giving Malfoy one last glare. While Harry and Ron were plotting ways to kill him. After that the game went on and a lot of people ended up kissing a lot of other people. Finally, when it was getting late, Ginny said she had a truth for all of them.

"Ok. Now boys stand up," she said. The boys did as they were told and got out of the circle. "Now girls, make a space so that one boy can sit in between you and your neighbor. I want the arrangement to be boy/girl/boy/girl ok?" They did as they were told and the guys mingled a bit before sitting down in between two girls at random, most of them being directed by Ginny. "Now I want the boys to kiss their right neighbour first and then their left neighbour, and when that's done you have to tell the whole group who kissed the best. Girls have to say that too.

"Ginny?"

"What, Nora?"

"I can't kiss Malfoy, he's my worst enemy! And I'm not kissing Harry, he's my best friend!"

"Stop complaining and just do it." When everyone had kissed both their neighbours, Ginny went around the group making them tell who kissed the best. Hannah Abbott found Justin Finch-Fletchley a better kisser than Ernie McMillian, Hermione found Terry a better kisser than Seamus, Nora found, feeling embarrassed once more, Malfoy a better kisser than Harry, Dean found Crystal-Rose a better kisser than Lavender and so on… After that was done every one went to go to their common rooms. Ginny made to go, too, but Nora held her back so that they were alone.

"Why'd you do that!" Nora hissed, annoyed and furious.

"Do what?" Ginny answered innocently looking at Nora questioningly

"Making me kiss Malfoy! For an entire minute! You know what he did to me! Hermione must've told you." Nora shuddered, trying to get rid of that feeling of being filthy.

"Because… if… and…" Ginny mumbled.

"What? I only heard half of it!"

"Because! He said that if I made you kiss him he would give me twenty galleons, and you know I need the money! Well, it wasn't really that, I thought it'd be fun to tease you and if I got money out of it, even better. Look, I'm sorry. I really thought you wouldn't mind that much," Ginny said truthfully, shrugging. "I thought you'd recovered for the larger part. It's been almost two months since it happened..."

"It still feels like yesterday though," muttered Nora darkly, but she quickly tried to stop the memory from playing in her head for the hundredth time. But it certainly makes matters different. So if you'll excuse me, I have to go yell at Mr. Can't-keep-his-fingers-nor-his-money-at-home." Ginny chuckled and walked out of the room with Nora, who then ran through the corridors straight towards the common room. When she entered it she found Malfoy sitting on the sofa talking to Hermione and Terry.

"I need to have a very long word with you!" she snarled pointing a finger straight at Malfoy. The other two knew this as their cue to go and they hurried up the spiral staircase, holding hands.

"What's up?" Malfoy asked her innocently, obviously pretending he had no clue why she was so angry.

"You know damn well 'what's up'! You bribed Ginny to dare me to kiss you!" Nora shouted, jabbing a finger in his chest, her eyebrows forming two severe lines and her eyes narrowed in fury.

"So?"

"So?" shrieked Nora. "You know I don't want to kiss you! Especially not after what you did! And don't act like you do nothing wrong!"

"Hey!" yelled Draco, getting up angrily. "It's hard for me too you know! Seeing you with Potty and Weasel and making me wish I was one of them, so I could hang around with you every day! And it makes me loathe myself!" The two stood barely a foot apart, glaring at each other, but Nora was sincerely shocked; she'd never thought of it that way.

"But you didn't need to bribe Ginny to make me kiss you!" she shouted, recovering from that little, and quite nasty, surprise.

"Well, I didn't have a choice did I? I can't just ask you! What other options are there?" Nora sat down; she was beginning to feel sorry for Malfoy, despite the rage bubbling inside her. He sat down across from her.

"All right, look," Nora said, calming down. She looked deep into his cold gray eyes, but they seemed to have melted, for they were no longer cold, and looked more like blue than gray. "When we go to the Halloween Ball together, I'll let you kiss me once, ok?" Malfoy agreed, but very hesitantly, and Nora stood up and went upstairs, for some reason satisfied with her decision.

A/N: Nice long Chapter D

Lorsparrow: Thanks for pointing my mistake out to me. I changed it as soon as I read your review.