Name of the Game

Chapter 5: Significant Risks

By TK's Angel

Teaching Hermione how to be a Beater had been, or so it seemed, like an excellent idea… two days ago. "I swear Harry! I've got an exceptional talent for sticking my foot in my big mouth."

His best friend had been very supportive of his idea; and as such, he had all the right to mock Ron about it.

"Hermione, a Beater?" Ron let out an exasperated sigh.

Harry however had just about enough of both his friends.

"Give her a chance. It's only been a couple of days. Really Ron, you can't give up on her just like that!" Harry could see in Ron's eyes how desperately he needed some encouragement. "When you think about it, it is the gentleman thing to do after she came all this way" Ron arched his brow, questioning; Harry kept on talking "I mean, what else will she do all this time?"

He was a Weasley and to his nature he owed the fact that he still hated being wrong. "She could just watch us, or interview us or anything."

Harry formed a cocky grin. "Well, that would mean that she'd be out of here in no time"

His comment had worked, as he could already notice poor Ron begin to ponder the matter. "You know, on the other hand, I wouldn't want to be rude and… and, she did come all the way here for something right?"

He accepted that as a good answer.

"Might as well give it her money's worth"

"Sure." Harry smirked.

"Frost loved the idea you know" his tone was eager to sound convincing "He said it would make us look incredible if we took a female writer and made a Beater out of her"

"Look Ron, I believe you, and I'm pretty sure Hermione is just as excited as you are about this." Actually he knew it for a fact.

"I'm not excited about anything mind you." He felt his cheeks go warm as a soft crimson blush crept through them. "Really I'm not!"

He didn't really know where to place his feelings, he was nervous about coaching Hermione, feared that she would get hurt; he was anxious about getting to share something so important to him with her, but most relevant of all he was hopeful that their interaction would lead to what they once left behind: their emotions.

This wasn't of any news to Harry, he was aware of both Ron and Hermione's feelings towards each other, mainly because they hadn't changed since their grim parting at Hogwarts.

"So when are you two supposed to get started?"

Ron merely gulped as he shifted his gaze to the window. "This afternoon."

"Good luck then." He turned in his seat, fixing his glasses on the rim of his nose and taking the opportunity to take a more serious note. "Like I said, give her a chance…."

Hermione had come to terms with the idea in her own customary way: reading books. Lucky for her, the facility was full of Quidditch books and other nuisances.

She was currently enveloped in The Beater's Bible; her face twitched several times as she ran the gory images, the book described so profoundly, through her mind. She especially didn't like the fact that women were ill-advised against being Beaters; it required too much stability and physical strength (two things she already had trouble controlling whilst on the ground.).

Despite everything, she was committed to playing the best she could, even if it wasn't just for her own sake. She had to admit she was restless about beginning training; in the last days or so, she and Ron had gotten along smoothly.

"All right," she mumbled to herself, "I'm ready for you, Ron."

She hadn't noticed the lean, red-headed figure standing behind her.

"Good to know, Hermione."

It managed to frighten the living daylights out of the poor girl.

"Don't do that! I'm not even on the field and already you're trying to kill me!"

"You're such a baby," he half chuckled at her "I came to get you, were out on the field in twenty minutes so you better gear up." Ron was already wearing his own attire. "Sorry if they're a little big." He held a large pile of clothes and equipment in his hands.

She merely shook her head, offering Ron a smile "They're perfect."

Ron beamed at her statement. "OK, so I'll see you there in a while," he put her equipment next to her on the table and turned to leave, but not before giving into the impulse of kissing her cheek. "Er, sorry, old habits you know"

"Yeah, those really die hard" And Hermione half admitted to herself that she was extremely glad that they did.

Ron mindlessly stood on the field, replaying the events of the last fifteen minutes. He did not regret acting out on a whim, he could still feel his own lips burn from that small interaction. What he didn't understand was what had come over him. His answer came just a few lapses later when he looked up to see "Hermione?"

She looked unbelievably adorable with all her robes and protection on. "I used a reduction charm on them. That's why they look a bit silly." Ron couldn't contain his grin. "Fine, a lot silly."

"No, no! You look great" He drew forward and handed her an old Cleansweep. "Like a true professional." He helped her mount her broom steadily since it hovered slightly over the ground.

Again, there was a melancholy sense of nostalgia around them. "Almost like before Ron. I couldn't keep myself on a broom for the life of me." He responded by merely getting on his own.

"After I get up about 12 metres in the air, you start chasing after me, all right? And hold your club, you need to practice balance." She eyed him oddly. "It worked for Fred and George. I know first hand. I was their crash bunny."

"So that might explain why you became a super-chaser. Honestly, is there any position on the team you haven't played yet?" He winked and took off, leaving Hermione to slowly count the distance he spaced from the ground. "That's about ten metres, I reckon." All restriction and reminders of her fear of flying seemed to have faded as she took off.

"Come on! Is that the best you can do? Just try and catch up to me. And hold that club."

That was easier said than done and it didn't help that Ron kept barking orders at her. "You better pray I don't catch you Weasley or you'll really see me put the club to good use!"

"That's the spirit!" His little plan was working. He led Hermione to focus on her objective by making her angry. Things always seemed to work better that way. "If you really want to, why don't you try that bludger that's coming your way?"

Hermione was forced to duck as she felt the rapid brush of air as one bludger raced through. Ron only laughed and now she laughed as well. "I'll knock him senseless" She had no idea how fast she was going but none of that mattered since only three words ran through her head: Bludger. Ron. And kill.

He was quite impressed with her sudden increase in altitude and velocity; he hadn't anticipated her learning so quickly and had to speed up a bit himself. A wave of mischief came over him and he decided to play a small trick oh her. He turned around, headed in her direction with the intention of trying to crash into her.

Another thing he didn't anticipate was that she'd loose altitude so he had to dive in. Hermione did not perceive this in time, and it just happened that she knocked the bludger at him. "I got you now!" Even she was amazed at the precision in which it was aimed.

Indeed it was precise. Too precise. It hit him square in the head, the force knocking him off his broom and making him collide with the ground. "Ron!" She zoomed to the floor, almost dropping to the earth below her. "Ron, are you all right? I am so, so sorry!" He wasn't responding so she cradled his head in her lap. "Please just… do something."

Suddenly he popped his eyes open. "Now imagine if I had really fallen," he said in between laughs. "Saying: 'Oh please wake up,'" he mimicked her teasingly, "won't do a thing." He picked himself up and leaned next to her. "Lucky for you I have so much endurance."

"Lucky for me, you're so thick-headed"

"Woman, this is endurance!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, also in a joking way. "Endure this!" And with no scruples whatsoever, she threw herself at him, trying to pin him to the ground. It was fruitless since he was so much leaner than her. She somehow fell on him instead, leaning on his shoulders for support; his hands somehow ended supporting her lower back.

Something about the moment made Ron feel bold and so he tightened his grip around her smaller frame. "You know, this on the other hand could work." She didn't move, trying to read his eyes, maybe to find some hidden meaning.

"Even though you were just goofing around, I'm still incredibly sorry," she separated herself from him.

"It's nothing, really, it's your job to knock people out." His voice became softer as he let go of her. "You need to work on your strength, you didn't hit me very hard"

She was very aware of herself at that moment and she shifted her eyes from side to side, not being able to hide her deep blush. "Let's get back up there shall we?"

He was happy: maybe she was blushing because of him? "Definitely." And both got back on their brooms.

Everything afterwards went swiftly, neither of them could recall any other time when they had so much fun or when they had laughed that much either. Hermione gained more confidence with Ron by her side; he had to recognise that she had good abilities. He would stop once in while to see her flying or just plain enjoy her training. After some hours, they were both exhausted and quite pleased with themselves; Ron signalled her to land as he started descending with his broom.

The ground felt funny under Hermione's feet, and once again she had to work to achieve stability.

"Walking feels sort if funny, doesn't it now? That's just a beginner's thing, you'll get used to it" Ron noticed her determination, and quite admired her resilience as she took in every word he said. "I just want you to know, I think you've gotten pretty good in the past few hours." He knew from experience, he had tried to avoid several bludgers in the process. "See that?" he lifted his shirt under an opening in his robes to reveal a shiny purple mark. "You got me there. That one's a keeper!"

The bruise looked pretty bad. "I don't know how many times I'm going to say I'm sorry." She hid her face from him.

He decided that was rather cute, he led his hands to the small nook under her chin and directed her attention towards him. "Hey," the boy insisted, "look at me, come on," he flashed his most brilliant smile. "In this game, you never say you're sorry."

"Never?"

"Nope. You go all out and do what you have to. No matter what's broken in the process." He reviewed his comment. "Brooms and bones may break, but not our will. Remember that."

"I see you changed your motto."

"Yup, somehow 'cross our fingers and hope for the best' wasn't really working anymore."

"I like this one much better," she handed Ron her heavy equipment. "You know, today was really wonderful." The same crimson colour as before invaded her cheeks again. "I'm really glad you guys came up with the idea. It's just what I needed from all the stress back in America."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Do you like it there? I mean, would you ever come back?"

Hermione's eyes diverted the question. "Well, my whole life is there, my parents, my job." But not the love of her life, it had taken her the entire time she was there to realize it. "But if something was ever to happen I wouldn't mind coming back." Her brown eyes gazed back at his. "I really had failed to notice exactly how much I missed it here. It'll be hard going back."

That was the moment, he wanted to scream, he wanted to tell her to forget all that back in the U.S. This was home! But his mouth betrayed his heart. "You never know, right?" He had to come up with something better than that. "Maybe one day some of us will go there." Oh… that was a good one.

She was going to have to learn self-control because if Ron kept giving her those extremely ambiguous answers she was sure she'd hurt him. Appreciating the sudden burst of bonding between the two of them, she made up her mind to hit back with a question. "But I'm sure there's something, or perhaps even someone who you'd like to stay for?"

"Of course there's someone!" Her jaw hit the floor; he was officially marked for death. "My entire family is here." Ron didn't notice the immense sigh Hermione had breathed out.

"Yes, your family. How could I even ask a question like that?" But she wasn't going to give up. "But that's all, I mean, besides the family, friends or team-mates?"

"Pretty much; what's up with the questions?"

"Word around here is that you're quite the ladies' man. Well, it was kind of proven when I had to close the window to stop the owls bringing all those presents at 3 a.m."

"Groupies, they're nice." He then noticed what she was trying to do. "Besides you shouldn't talk about presents." she put her hands on her hips to signify defiance. "All right then, tell me, giant stuffed cats…. who's Eric?"

End Chapter 5