Disclaimer: I only own my plot and characters. Nothing of J.K Rowling's is mine.
A/N: man I had trouble getting chapter 15 in..but I did it. I've been kinda slow on the story..Sorry, but I'm just trying to build up suspense and make sure everything's swell. Welp, here's more story!
Chapter 16: All A Blur
There were no classes today because it was New Year's Eve. Classes would've still been held if it weren't for one of the eighth years telling Dumbledore it wasn't fair. Hence the change from now on; No classes on New Year's Eve. The luck of this day falling on a Friday was surprising to me. Now the whole school had a long weekend.. I wasn't complaining.
So I spent my day getting to know the trio-Harry, Hermione, and Ron. They're pretty cool, but I still think Ron hates me. He never acts too cruel to me like Malfoy, but ron has his insults here and there. They spill out less than a toddler spills their supper, so yet again I'm not complaining. Harry isn't snobby, and I'm glad. I thought he was a tad on the snot side because he is now Veronica's boyfriend, but I was proven wrong. (Thank Merlin.) Last, and definitely not least is Hermione. Her and I have been slowly moving into a nice friendship since a couple months ago. So, as I said twice already, no complaining.
However, I still have on complaint that has been dwelling in my mind for some time. Draco Malfoy, the Ferret Boy Wonder who I hate to like and like to hate. Since he kissed me the other night, I felt some kind of likeness growing towards him. I admit, I do like him, but not love..Never love. Love is the epitome of all evil..In my opinion anyways. As much as I hate admitting it, even to myself, Draco is the type of guy you just want to hug so tight that it hurts him..Or kiss him so much, that the imprint of your lips can be felt for a million nights and days. So that was my conclusion, I liked him, but would I ever tell him this? I don't think so.
According to Ron, Seamus Finnigan is going to be the "bouncer" for the party tonight after the game. He is going to make sure no one unwanted is going to enter. Also, I guess if non-Gryffindors want to join the party, Seamus will say the password to let them in the common room. I'm a little anxious though; What if Draco goes and tries to spike my drink like he did at the Christmas Ball? Knowing he'll just get in trouble again, I don't think he will. But you never know...
"You ready Slow Poke?" Hermione called to me as I fastened a red ribbon in my hair.
I pulled up my gold and red striped knee-high socks, which were leant to me by Hermione, and brushed off my red skirt. I looked at the mirror and laughed as my gold and painted face matched the red top that went with my ensemble. "Yeah," I walked out of the bathroom and saw Hermione's eyes light up, "I'm ready."
"Brilliant," Ron stated as Hermione and I walked downstairs into the common room from the dormitories.
"You think I look ok?" I hoped Ron would answer honestly.
He smiled and nodded, "You look like a true Gryffindor."
Hermione had almost the same attire as me, but instead of a knee-high skirt, she had gold flare pants and a red shirt with gold stars on it. Her face was painted too. Ron didn't have any face paint, but he dyed one side of his hair gold. He didn't need to dye the other half because he was already a red-head.
As we walked into the Quiddich stadium, I looked around in amazement. The seats were situated so high up, but they weren't hard to get to. Once we reached the Gryffindors, we stood in front of the croud near Neville and a few third years.
"Welcome to another Quiddich game!" A voice came over the entire stdium, obviously from some loudspeaker, "I am Robert Hayes, your new official announcer for these astronomical games. It is nine o'clock on New Year's Eve, and in about five minutes our two dueling teams should begin the game, Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"
I stood in the middle of Ron and Hermione as we stared at the entrance for the teams. No words were spoken from us three, making the suspense even greater than it was. All around us we could hear screaming, talking, yelling, cheering, and whistles as the Gryffindor team appeared with brooms and uniforms on the field. Robert Hayes announced the players' names and their positions. Hermione, Ron, and I cheered happily as Harry was announced.
After the Gryffindors were announced, they flew into the air and hovered in their positions. Slytherin appeared in another entrance across the field. Their names were announced and I felt my eyes widen as Malfoy came onto the field. Merlin, he looked different in a uniform. Almost like he was unable to be mean from then on. I felt my hands almost clap, but I stopped myself. Why was I going to clap? I liked him, but not that much.
"Now that we have the teams out in the open, let's get our game on!" Robert Hayes announced as some weirdly shaped balls were thrown into the air.
Hermione described the game to me, while watching the Gryffindor's score three times. It seemed like a really fun game, and looked like it too. My eyes were glued to the sport, and soon found them glued on Draco sticking his tongue out at Harry. Of course harry didn't pay any attention to him, but I found it a bit funny.
"Watch out!" A fourth year screamed as we watched a bludger whiz past one of our player's arm.
Another time, a boy cheered, "Go Gryffindor, kick the crap out of Slytherin!"
About an hour into the game, a tiny, gold ball with wings showed up: The Snitch. Harry and Draco exploded into a race trying to grab it. The ball zoomed in and out of the stadium seats, and finally found its way towards our area. It flew over Ron, Hermione, and I, and no more than one second later Harry flew by. About two seconds later, Draco flew by and looked down at me very quickly. I felt my eyes returning the favor, for I didn't want to watch Harry.
Knocking me out of a trance, Hermione pointed to Harry's location. He was flying in the middle of the field, high in the air, reaching his hand out to take the snitch. Draco was not far behind. Within a few seconds, it started to rain...Pour, even. The snitch was out of sight, and Harry and draco went back to flying aimlessly around the field while the game went on.
I looked around where we stood and saw a blur of a man. A rather large man who was very tall....Hagrid, nonetheless. I glanced again, and remembered my "trip" back to the past.. The man I saw who entered the room. I knew I had seen him before, but I didn't realize it until the very second I saw him again that it was definitely Hagrid. But, how did Hagrid know me when I was a little baby? I put this question in back of my head and returned to speculating Quiddich. I decided to interrogate Hagrid next time I visited him...Tomorrow.
"We're starting to fall behind," Hermione stated, "We can't let Slytherin score anymore..We just can't!"
"You're telling me!" Ron shouted.
Before we realized it, the snitch had appeared once again through the clearing sky. The rain was just a light drizzle now, which made it easier for Draco and Harry to spot the little gold ball. Nose-diving, Draco took a head start at chasing the snitch. Harry followed as quickly as he could, and soon pulled an inch ahead of Draco. With all his might, Harry reached out for the snitch...Closer...Closer...then Bam! draco rammed into Harry's broom which sent them both off track of the snitch.
"Oh bloody Hell!" Ron swore, and shook his head.
Hermione gasped, "I hope Harry's alright."
Harry was fine. He caught up with the snitch again, chasing it through the grey clouds. He avoided getting hit with a bludger, which gace Draco a few seconds to laugh. Harry gave his broom a fast boost as he finally caught the snitch. Landing on the wet, muddy ground, Harry raised his hand in the air and grinned. Draco landed as well, and pushed Harry before walking with his teammates into the castle, probably to change out of their uniforms. Hermione and Ron cheered, but I stayed silent. Was that it?
"Gryffindor wins!" The announcer came back on the speaker system to profess our victory.
Hermione looked at me, "Aren't you happy we won?"
"Yeah," I confessed, "I just don't understand how it's over. I mean, I don't know...I just don't want it to be over. This is probably the most fun I've ever had at watching a sport. Whenever the orphanage put on football or baseball, I didn't watch it because it was ... boring. But this game, well, was terrificly awesome!" I smiled at last, and Ron and Hermione laughed at my bluntness.
I decided not to wait for Harry, Ron, or Hermione, and I walked into the castle by myself. Within a few minutes I was taking a shower, scrubbing all of the face paint off. I changed into black pants and a sparkly pink t-shirt, put my hair in a ponytail, and headed down the the common room. Most of the other Gryffindors changed as well, but a lot of them kept their faces painted because they thought they looked "cool."
"Do you have a pass to be in here, Miss Maguire?" Seamus chuckled as he spoke.
I laughed, "Aren't you supposed to be outside saying the password for people to come in here?"
"Yes," He nodded, "I was about to go out there. Only the Gryffindors have showed up so far."
"I noticed..." Almost all Gryffindors were in the common room, which made it quite crouded.
"Well, I'm going to 'bounce' now. See you all when I come back in." Seamus left the common room as Neville walked in.
I found Hermione chatting with Ron in a corner of the room. Harry was talking with Neville and some other guys next to the fireplace. It was quite comfortable in the common room tonight; Some of the guys moved the couches and furniture into the dormitories where they would stay until the party finished.
"So, Maranda, you enjoy yourself?" Hermione seemed concerned about me.
In a short reply, I stated, "Of course."
"Awesome, just awesome. Oh, it was so amazing when-Merlin!" Hermione was obviously distracted.
"Merlin?" Ron questioned stupidly.
"Who let Malfoy and his posse in?" Now irascible, Hermione stomped over to Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
With a smug smile, Draco declared, "Look, it's Granger! She thinks she's going to scare me by looking angered.."
"Oh I'll scare you alright-" 'Mione muttered.
"C'mon," I stepped in, "This is a party, where you have fun. Tonight it isn't supposed to matter what house your in. I sure as hell don't care! Now, Hermione, if you and Ferret Boy Wonder stay away from each other, then maybe, just maybe, this will be an enjoyable night."
"Well said," Ron complimented me in a subtle manner.
Seeing the smile on Draco's face made me want to stay close and get to know the angelic side of him, but I followed Hermione back into our corner of the room. In a few minutes, Harry helped Seamus bring in a boombox and began playing music. As the hour progressed, more and more people came to the party. Veronica Watson came in, scoffed at me, took Harry's hand, and brought him into the croud of dancers. I continued talking with 'Mione and Ron, and several times we found ourselves mocking snobby girls.
"Maguire," Draco found a path through the thick croud and stood in front of me, "Will you come dance with me?"