All characters and subject matter taken from and used in the following are
from Harry Potter and therefore owned by J. K. Rowling, excluding Christina
Spinnet who is entirely my own invention and is just there for convenience
sake.
A/N: Thanks to Serena again and be warned this fic is going to take a while to finish, a bit like the latest Harry Potter book! Thanks for all of you who are bearing with me, my creative juices are flowing and chapter four should be up and about by the end of the week. Happy reading!
An hour later Hermione was still lying on her four-poster bed catching her breath. She had not expected her training to be so exhausting, and began to wish that the Ministry of Magic had chosen someone else. She was no longer sure whether she was up to the job in hand.
"I'm not scared of some two-bit Slytherin supporter," she whispered aloud. She knew she was lying as she said this but it helped her get her nerve back she refused to take up Fudge's kind offer of, 'If you get too scared or find it too much hard work we will all understand and not think worse of you if you back out.' She knew she would never be able to forgive herself if she gave up fighting just because she felt a little worn out. She reached through the scarlet hangings and checked her wristwatch. It was just passed midnight and she knew no matter how worn out she was she would not sleep until at least two. She got up and checked the Marauder's Map, which Harry had leant her last week to help her with late night study. Hermione considered what she could do; homework? No, she'd finished it all because of her late night rendezvous with Severus. The only other thing she could think of was to practise the skills shown to her that night. Like a shadow, she went down the spiralling staircase to common room. Finding it devoid of human life and light she used her wand to light the multitude of candles that lined the walls and conjured a target. She knew that perfection of most of the new skills required accuracy. She positioned herself two metres away from the target and started with the easier spells. As she did this, she thought of her meeting with Malfoy earlier that day and her threat. She shuddered thinking of how close she had come to harming him; 'he really isn't that bad,' she thought, 'he just thinks being in Slytherin gave him the right to insult everyone else.
********************
Harry and Ron met Hermione at breakfast the next day and didn't notice she'd been up most of the night - in fact to them she appeared quite refreshed.
"Did you enjoy your long sleep, Hermione?" Ron said looking much better himself.
Hermione had to bite back a laugh as she answered with a remarkably chirpy,
"Yes, you?"
Harry, who had been attacking his bacon and eggs as if they were going to run off his plate, looked up and asked
"Are you two looking forward to the Quidditch match today?"
Hermione got the feeling that Harry had got as much sleep as she had but, unlike her, he was feeling the after effects of a night spent worrying.
"It's only Slytherin, you'll beat them hands down again Harry!" grinned Ron, "You're the best Seeker any team has had since Viktor Krum, and you've only ever lost one match against them."
"All the same that's one too many." said Harry glumly.
"Don't worry, Harry," Hermione soothed, "the conditions are perfect and you have been practising on your Firebolt since the second week of term!" All the same Hermione began to worry on Harry's behalf, not because he might lose (she was sure he wouldn't) but because the match was a perfect chance for someone to attack Harry and make it look entirely like an accident - she knew how easy it would be, it had happened in his first year. This time it was Hermione, not Severus, who would have to save him.
********************
Hermione and Ron joined Ginny and the rest of Hogwarts streaming out to the Quidditch pitch. Ginny looked worried.
"Don't worry Ginny, Harry will be absolutely fine, he's got fantastic conditions for this game and the Slytherin seeker's not as experienced as Harry." Hermione shouted over the excitement of the rest of the crowd.
As they took their seats, they saw Harry, the newly appointed captain of the Gryffindor team, head to the centre to shake hands with the captain of Slytherin, universally known as Warrington. Hermione scanned Harry's team as they took off, he had the two beaters who had been there longer than him, the Weasley brothers, he had also recruited some new blood, the previously seamless chaser team had been split up due to the fact that two of the girls had left last year. As Lee Jordan took up the commentary, Hermione relaxed somewhat. She knew there was no danger - the weather was bright and cloudless, removing any chance that Harry might fall from his broom.
"Spinnet flying like a bullet up there straight at the goalposts, this first year is showing the real Spinnet family talent." Christina Spinnet was the younger sister of Alicia who had joined the Wigtown Wanderers when she left Hogwarts last year. "Spinnet scores!"
Gryffindor cheers filled the air; the Slytherins were booing and hissing their goalkeeper. As Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin seventh year headed for the Gryffindor goal posts to the sounds of great delight from the Slytherin supporters, Hermione nudged Ron and pointed at Harry, who had gone into one of his now trademark sharp dives. Hermione put her three-year-old ominoculars to her eyes and focused on the space below Harry. Seeing the snitch, she screamed, "Come on Harry, you're so close!" As Harry pulled out of his dive, the snitch was clasped in his hand. The Gryffindors started to yell the score as one, "One hundred and sixty to Zero!" With this, they headed back to the Gryffindor tower knowing that Fred and George Weasley would be stealing food from the kitchens for the victory party at this very moment.
********************
A/N: I am very sorry for the destruction of the noble game of Quidditch in the previous pages, I have never been a very good action writer and although no Harry Potter story is complete without Quidditch, my commentary is fairly bad. Once again sorry and review my work or you will get no more.
A/N: Thanks to Serena again and be warned this fic is going to take a while to finish, a bit like the latest Harry Potter book! Thanks for all of you who are bearing with me, my creative juices are flowing and chapter four should be up and about by the end of the week. Happy reading!
An hour later Hermione was still lying on her four-poster bed catching her breath. She had not expected her training to be so exhausting, and began to wish that the Ministry of Magic had chosen someone else. She was no longer sure whether she was up to the job in hand.
"I'm not scared of some two-bit Slytherin supporter," she whispered aloud. She knew she was lying as she said this but it helped her get her nerve back she refused to take up Fudge's kind offer of, 'If you get too scared or find it too much hard work we will all understand and not think worse of you if you back out.' She knew she would never be able to forgive herself if she gave up fighting just because she felt a little worn out. She reached through the scarlet hangings and checked her wristwatch. It was just passed midnight and she knew no matter how worn out she was she would not sleep until at least two. She got up and checked the Marauder's Map, which Harry had leant her last week to help her with late night study. Hermione considered what she could do; homework? No, she'd finished it all because of her late night rendezvous with Severus. The only other thing she could think of was to practise the skills shown to her that night. Like a shadow, she went down the spiralling staircase to common room. Finding it devoid of human life and light she used her wand to light the multitude of candles that lined the walls and conjured a target. She knew that perfection of most of the new skills required accuracy. She positioned herself two metres away from the target and started with the easier spells. As she did this, she thought of her meeting with Malfoy earlier that day and her threat. She shuddered thinking of how close she had come to harming him; 'he really isn't that bad,' she thought, 'he just thinks being in Slytherin gave him the right to insult everyone else.
********************
Harry and Ron met Hermione at breakfast the next day and didn't notice she'd been up most of the night - in fact to them she appeared quite refreshed.
"Did you enjoy your long sleep, Hermione?" Ron said looking much better himself.
Hermione had to bite back a laugh as she answered with a remarkably chirpy,
"Yes, you?"
Harry, who had been attacking his bacon and eggs as if they were going to run off his plate, looked up and asked
"Are you two looking forward to the Quidditch match today?"
Hermione got the feeling that Harry had got as much sleep as she had but, unlike her, he was feeling the after effects of a night spent worrying.
"It's only Slytherin, you'll beat them hands down again Harry!" grinned Ron, "You're the best Seeker any team has had since Viktor Krum, and you've only ever lost one match against them."
"All the same that's one too many." said Harry glumly.
"Don't worry, Harry," Hermione soothed, "the conditions are perfect and you have been practising on your Firebolt since the second week of term!" All the same Hermione began to worry on Harry's behalf, not because he might lose (she was sure he wouldn't) but because the match was a perfect chance for someone to attack Harry and make it look entirely like an accident - she knew how easy it would be, it had happened in his first year. This time it was Hermione, not Severus, who would have to save him.
********************
Hermione and Ron joined Ginny and the rest of Hogwarts streaming out to the Quidditch pitch. Ginny looked worried.
"Don't worry Ginny, Harry will be absolutely fine, he's got fantastic conditions for this game and the Slytherin seeker's not as experienced as Harry." Hermione shouted over the excitement of the rest of the crowd.
As they took their seats, they saw Harry, the newly appointed captain of the Gryffindor team, head to the centre to shake hands with the captain of Slytherin, universally known as Warrington. Hermione scanned Harry's team as they took off, he had the two beaters who had been there longer than him, the Weasley brothers, he had also recruited some new blood, the previously seamless chaser team had been split up due to the fact that two of the girls had left last year. As Lee Jordan took up the commentary, Hermione relaxed somewhat. She knew there was no danger - the weather was bright and cloudless, removing any chance that Harry might fall from his broom.
"Spinnet flying like a bullet up there straight at the goalposts, this first year is showing the real Spinnet family talent." Christina Spinnet was the younger sister of Alicia who had joined the Wigtown Wanderers when she left Hogwarts last year. "Spinnet scores!"
Gryffindor cheers filled the air; the Slytherins were booing and hissing their goalkeeper. As Adrian Pucey, a Slytherin seventh year headed for the Gryffindor goal posts to the sounds of great delight from the Slytherin supporters, Hermione nudged Ron and pointed at Harry, who had gone into one of his now trademark sharp dives. Hermione put her three-year-old ominoculars to her eyes and focused on the space below Harry. Seeing the snitch, she screamed, "Come on Harry, you're so close!" As Harry pulled out of his dive, the snitch was clasped in his hand. The Gryffindors started to yell the score as one, "One hundred and sixty to Zero!" With this, they headed back to the Gryffindor tower knowing that Fred and George Weasley would be stealing food from the kitchens for the victory party at this very moment.
********************
A/N: I am very sorry for the destruction of the noble game of Quidditch in the previous pages, I have never been a very good action writer and although no Harry Potter story is complete without Quidditch, my commentary is fairly bad. Once again sorry and review my work or you will get no more.