Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns all the Harry Potter characters, although I created Julianne Michaelson and any other characters not part of the original Harry Potter 'cast'.

Chapter 7: Baseball

"Bloody hell," said Ron with a grin as they walked out of the castle and onto the grounds of Hogwarts. Juli had just told them about the new Hogwarts band that would be playing at the Masquerade Ball during the Christmas holidays and they were all ecstatic. "That's brilliant, Juli!"

"Yeah, Juli, that's so cool. I can't wait for it!" exclaimed Hermione, who nearly had fallen off the bench she was sitting on next to an old oak tree.

"You're so amazing," said Harry, giving her a hug. "I can't wait to hear you play," he added, smiling.

"Just remember you can't tell anyone, okay? I don't want one of you guys to end up ruining the surprise," she added carefully. "I don't think you'll tell, but you know how secrets are around Hogwarts."

"Not kept, that's how they are," said Hermione, but Ron was already babbling away.

"I can't wait 'till you get rich and famous!" said Ron, grinning. "Just think about it ... You'll ... you'll be richer than Harry!" Harry, Hermione and Juli all burst into laughter.

"Don't get too far ahead of me, there, Ron," Juli said after she calmed down. "Who knows if we're even any good? And with Malfoy in the band --"

"MALFOY!" Harry, Ron and Hermione interjected all at once.

"Er ... yeah," said Juli. "He's not terrible either, I've seen him play, because I know you'd like to think he's got no talent at all," she added, playing with her ponytail. "But, who cares? It's not like I'm going to be spending all my time with him just because we're in the same band," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Speak of the devil," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead and twirling her fingers around a strand of her hair. The group turned and saw three Slytherins walking their way.

"Ah, you think it's smart to be walking out on the ground alone, Potty?" Malfoy said as he approached. "With the Death Eaters out of Azkaban and all," he said, smirking. "You might want to be a bit more careful, hanging around with Mudbloods and a Weasel."

As he finished his sentence, Ron jumped up and started to walk towards Malfoy, his ears flaming red, though they no longer matched the color of his hair. "You filthy, slimy---" was all Ron managed to get out before Harry jumped up and kept him from hitting Malfoy.

"Ron, not now," Harry said, restraining Ron. "Don't do this here."

"Where do you get off insulting two of the best students in the school?" Ron continued as if he hadn't even heard Harry. "You son of a --"

"C'mon Ron, he's not worth our time. Let's go visit Hagrid," Hermione said, tugging on Ron's sleeve and Harry let Ron go, leaving Hermione free to drag him down to Hagrid's hut. Ron glared in the direction of the Slytherins before turning around and going with Hermione.

"Hagrid? That idiot wouldn't know what a bludger was even if it hit him in his giant head," said Malfoy, laughing with his goons.

"And you wouldn't know what a baseball bat was even if I smacked you with it," Juli said angrily. He could insult her as much as she wanted, but he had crossed the line with insulting a professor. "Let's go, Harry," she said, taking his hand and turning to leave.

"And what would an orphaned Mudblood know about American sports?" Malfoy said as Juli spun around and smacked him hard across the face before Harry could even lay a hand on him.

"Strike one," Juli whispered as she stepped closer to Malfoy. "Wouldn't want to get three if I were you," she said, and then turned around to walk down with Harry to Hagrid's hut. "And," she said turning around. "Your insults today are just not up to par. Wouldn't want to waste your talent if I were you."

"Why hello, Harry," Hagrid said as they approached his hut. He looked as big and hairy as ever, but still had a large, giant-sized grin on his face. Juli hadn't been inside his hut before, and was looking around. 'It's a little small, but cozy none-the-less,' she thought.

"Bin wonderin' when yeh'd show up," Hagrid said and then turned to Juli. "Welcome, Julianne ... er, would yeh like some tea?"

"That'd be wonderful, Professor, thanks," she said, smiling. He was much nicer than he had ever seemed during his lessons, but Juli supposed it was because he was in his home now, after all, she was much more comfortable in her room at the orphanage than in a dungeon learning potions.

"It's Hagrid, Julianne," he said, handing her a cup of tea. "Anyways," he continued. "Ron says you made it into Hogwarts' band," he said smiling to Juli. "Congratulations."

"Er ... yeah, thanks." said Juli almost glaring at Ron. He and Hermione couldn't have arrived at Hagrid's more than two minutes before Harry and herself did, and he'd managed to tell Hagrid about it even so. "Ron's very excited for me, I see," she winked at Ron, who blushed profusely.

"He's allowed to be excited, right?" Hermione said as she set the cups of tea down to serve for herself and Hagrid. "We're all excited for you," she said as she poured the tea and sat down.

"What? We don't get any tea?" Harry exclaimed sarcastically as Juli and Hermione sipped their cups.

"You didn't get any because you never want any," said Hermione, on the brink of giggles.

"She's got you there, mate," said Ron. "Though I think I would fancy a firewhiskey---"

"RON!" exclaimed Hermione; Juli, Harry and Hagrid just laughed. Hermione rambled off on how he wasn't allowed, but Juli was thinking something else.

"But even if you were allowed, there's no way you could get any, is there?" she raised her eyebrows as if she knew something they didn't and took a sip of tea. She saw through the corner of her eye Harry and Ron glancing nervously at each other and continued, "I mean, it's not like you could smuggle some into Hogwarts, McGonagall would know. I know, I've tried--"

"WHAT?" Hermione squealed and spilt her tea on her cloak.

"Jeez, Hermione, calm down ... I'm only teasing," Juli said and with a simple spell cleaned Hermione's cloak of the tea.

"Hmmm," said Harry. "Still, did you ever hang out with Fred and George? Or maybe---"

"I think it's time we got back up to the castle," said Hermione. "Lunch will have been served already, and after that I've got Arithmancy. Thanks for tea, Hagrid," she said, smiling, grabbing Juli's empty tea cup as well as her own and putting it near the sink. "We'll stop by again sometime soon."

"Right," said Hagrid, standing up. The four students walked out of the gamekeeper's hut towards the castle. "See yeh tomorrow in class!" he yelled after them.

"What was that?" asked Juli after they'd gotten out of earshot.

"What was what?" replied Ron. "I've always wanted to try --"

"No, not that. Do you guys have a way to get around without being caught or something? I saw the look you two gave each other after I said there was no way we could get a bottle of firewhiskey," she asked seriously, and stopped.

"Er ... not now," said Ron as they stepped into the Great Hall. "Later."

"Okay," said Juli. The four of them sat down at an empty space at the Gryffindor table, but Juli soon found she wasn't very hungry. Being back inside of the school reminded her that there was a dungeon down some stairs that would be very nice to visit right now.

"We've got the rest of the day off, Juli," said Ron, with half a sandwich in his mouth. "D'you want to go learn how to fly?"

"After lunch? Won't I get sick?" Juli asked apprehensively. "I don't need to get sick," she said, smiling tentatively.

"Nah, I think you can handle it," he said. "Don't you think so, Harry?"

"Yeah, I think so," Harry replied, looking at Juli from across the table.

"Brilliant!" she exclaimed, excited for her very first flying lesson. "I can't wait," she said, smiling, munching on a cookie.

"Well, don't go about breaking anything," said Hermione, gathering her books. "I'm off to Arithmancy, I'll see you at dinner," she said as she gracefully carried her heavy books across the Great Hall, stopping at the Ravenclaw table to wait for Padma Patil.

"Hermione doesn't have much faith in us, does she?" asked Juli, now eating a turkey sandwich. Now that she was eating, she realized she was hungrier than she thought.

"No, she doesn't really," said Ron, pausing to decide what to eat next. "Not when it comes to breaking things. I mean, it's not like we're Fred and George," he said casually, picking up a chocolate frog.

"Not quite," Juli said, smiling. "So, since I'm going to learn to fly, why not learn Quidditch too? It's not hard, is it?" she asked Harry.

"No, it isn't really. My job's the hardest. Finding the tiny golden ball and catching it before the other team. The easiest part is flying away from the Bludgers. Even easier if you've got a bat."

"Sounds kind of like baseball," she said, smiling and Harry nodded. "Ready to go?" she asked as she stood up and smoothed her robes. "Oh, d'you think I'll need a sweater or something? I can run up to the Tower really quick before we go out."

"Nah," said Harry, unfastening his robe. "I think you'll be alright. If you get chilly you can put your robe back on, but I don't think you'll need it," she smiled, and Harry smiled back. 'Ah, home at last,' he thought to himself as they walked out onto the pitch and began Juli's first flying lesson.