FireOpal's Comments:- Chapter 2 guys! Hope you like it!
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Chapter 2.
Harry was awoke next morning, and stretched luxuriously in the warmth and comfort of his darkened four-poster bed. The run of nightmares was still pretty bad, but he might as well take this opportunity to try and relax now, especially seeing as he still felt tired and worn from last night's lessons. Pondering, Harry thought of all the things he had learnt so far this year.
How to mess with Dark Detectors came first of course. He sniggered, once again picturing Professor Turner's face. Then he sobered a little and continued with the list. Ron fancies Hermione, and vice versa (though he suspected that one had been coming a while, and he only noticed just now). Professor Dumbledore, great wizard though he is, cannot choose Defence Professors. He grinned at that one, and continued the imaginary record. Snape is a bastard.
Hastily, that one got scratched off the list, a wry grin on his face. No, he had always known Snape was a bastard. Snape is a hopeless teacher, maybe? Yeah, that fitted better. And the denouement – that Snake Face had attacked another village of muggles. He sighed as he remembered the vision he had just had, interspersed between his nightmares. Children as young as five, and younger, being tortured whilst their parents watched, sobbing and screaming. Blood everywhere, bodies littering the floor, the sound of laughter from the hooded Death Eaters, and, all too late, the cracks that signalled the approach of Aurors. The entire village had been decimated by the time they had finally arrived, and all they had been able to do was clean up the mess and catalogue the incident.
Harry shook his head as he got up groggily and winced at the bright sunlight beyond the sanctuary of his bed. It looked to be late morning, and the rest of the dormitory was deserted. At least he could have a shower in peace.
When he eventually walked down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room, it was lunchtime, and Harry was starving. His two best friends greeted him happily, Ron joking that he would be turning into the regular old Rip Van Winkle if he slept any more. Harry and Hermione where a bit surprised that Ron knew about this muggle fairytale, but when they asked, Ron scornfully explained it was all a large sleeping charm some eccentric hermit-wizard had placed over his mountain to keep trespassers away.
They left the common room to go to lunch, Hermione still grilling Ron on the precise spell and incantation used to put entire sections of mountain under enchantment, and Harry yawning. Luckily, it was a Hogsmeade weekend, so all the usual crowd of annoying third years up had gone out to enjoy the first weekend of the year. Honestly, he was sure he'd never been an annoying little brat like all the third years seemed to be nowadays, but then he did have a supposedly insane mass murderer on the loose and after him. That, of course, brought his mind onto thoughts of Sirius, so he was especially grateful when they got into the Great Hall, and sat down.
"Morning, Harry!" chirped Colin Creevy, waving from his seat next to a small group of Gryffindor fifth years. Harry groaned. Why hadn't he gone to Hogsmeade? Now he had to endure a whole day dodging the (as Ron had dubbed it) 'Harry Potter Fan Club'. He waved back reluctantly, and sat, reaching for the sandwiches and pumpkin juice, a frown already forming on his features.
"You OK, Harry?" Ron said in an undertone from his seat on the right of Harry. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, fine, except the little gang over there is making plans to stake me out in the common room." It was true, he could hear them quite clearly from where he sat, trying to hide his face.
"I'll get 'em to buzz off." Ron said confidently, reaching in his pocket to show Harry something, holding it low under the table so it couldn't be seen.
"What's that?" Harry asked curiously. It was a bright red packet, bearing white letters. 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes – Antsy Antics'.
"Fred sent me some, as a sort of 'school survival kit'. I was planning to use it on Professor Turner, but then Fred said that it might react quite badly, and I didn't want a detention. Creevy and the others'll be fine," he added hastily as Harry raised an eyebrow. "Fred reckons a good wash and some Bite Balm on the worse ones will leave 'em fit as fleas." He sniggered at his own joke. Harry grinned.
"Ta, mate. I didn't want to spend the whole afternoon hiding in the dorms again just to get away from them."
"What are you two up to?" Hermione said suddenly, looking up from her book. Ron hid the packet swiftly, a slightly guilty look on his face and the tips of his ears starting to burn.
"Nothing." He said hurriedly, causing Hermione to shoot him a sceptical look. Harry took over, knowing how bad a liar Ron could be, especially in front of Hermione. He also knew that if the studious girl knew about 'Operation – Avoid Colin', she would immediately confiscate the powder and glare at them all day.
"Planning a surprise for Professor Turner next lesson," he invented smoothly. "I thought maybe the whole Detector thing could be getting old, and we were going to send a letter to Fred and George for ideas."
"Oh." Hermione said, slightly disappointed.
"Not that we don't value your ideas, Hermione." Ron added hastily, catching on.
"Of course, that one where you showed me how to make it flash Slytherin colours so she would suspect them, and then turned it into a snake – genius." Hermione, slightly mollified, turned back to her book and salad, a small smile on her face.
"How do you do that?" Ron hissed to Harry.
"What?" he asked, puzzled. Ron took a bite of sandwich, chewed and swallowed.
"Lie so convincingly." He replied in a low voice. "Even I was starting to believe what you said!" Harry shrugged.
"Skill?" he said, before finishing his toast and swigging the last of his juice. "Come on, we have a letter to write."
"A letter?" replied Ron, almost indecipherable as he stuffed the remnants of his lunch into his mouth.
"Yeah." Said Harry meaningfully to Ron, who remained stumped for a second. "You know, to Fred and George…?"
"Oh, yeah." Said Ron unconvincingly, and Harry rolled his eyes. Honestly. Luckily, Hermione was immersed in her book again – "Banishing Brain Blocks for the Brainy.", and didn't hear a word. Ron wordlessly removed the packet again, slit it open (carefully, so as not to get it on his own hands) and tapped his wand at the powder inside. To Harry's astonishment, it turned invisible, and he watched surreptitiously as Ron moved his wand, a slight shimmer in the air where the powder was floating, and moved it to sit in the air directly above Colin. With a swift flick of his wand, hidden from view by Harry's arm, the powder fell onto the unsuspecting group.
"Now what?" whispered Harry to the trying-not-to-grin redhead.
"Now we wait a few seconds." Ron whispered back, trying to continue eating his chicken sandwich. Harry followed suit, selecting an apple to munch on, his eyes continuing to drift back to the poor prank-victims.
A few seconds later, Colin yawned and stretched, scratching at his shoulder as he relaxed again. Then he scratched his arm. Then his nose. Pretty soon, Colin was rubbing his arms panic-stricken as the itching got the better of him, and, wide-eyed, he dashed out of the Hall. Dennis and the others quickly followed suit as tiny red marks appeared on their skin, and several titters followed their exit.
"I wonder what's up with them?" Hermione said, frowning slightly over the top of her book. With a straight face to beat Fred and George, Harry shrugged and replied calmly.
"Maybe they're allergic to something." Ron was red-faced trying to stop laughing, and hid behind Harry quickly, his hand clamped over his mouth.
"Mmm." Hermione murmured, already going back to her book. Harry gave his best friends a small smile, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he tried to stop Ron choking on his pumpkin juice.
"So, what are you two doing today?" Hermione said after a while, snapping her book shut and smiling at them. Ron shrugged, his face finally returning to its usual hue, but Harry's face fell.
"I've got to go and see Dumbledore." His friends' faces fell, and Hermione shot him a sympathetic, concerned look.
"Another vision?" Harry nodded.
"Yeah." Harry forced the pictures of torture and death out of his head as he returned to his lunch. He picked at the food disinterestedly for a few minutes, before he stood abruptly. "I'd better go."
"See you later, mate." Ron called, patting him on the shoulder as he left. He waved, and set off for the familiar gargoyle statue that led to the Headmaster's office. The statue seemed to give him a wink as he gave it the password, but he wasn't surprised, as he had probably been into this office more times than Fred and George, or even his dad and the Marauders.
He was drawn out of his usual musings as an elderly voice called out to him from the other side of the door.
"Come on in Harry." Shaking his head with a small smile at the older wizard's mischievous nature, he opened the door and entered. As usual, the wizard had already conjured him a cup of tea, and a plate of assorted biscuits sat near his preferred chair, and wore a twinkly-eyed smile. He glanced fondly at the painting of Uldrius Pentaximus, a Roman wizard Harry was acquainted with, and whom he knew for a fact had followed him from the Great Hall to inform the aged wizard of his arrival. He had met the amiable painting when he had taken a wrong turning on the way to the Room of Requirement, and the classical wizard had been more than happy to point him on his way, but not before he had told him his life's story.
"Ah, Harry. Not that I am happy to have you join me, but I was wondering if there was a particular reason for today's visit?" Albus said cheerily, attracting Harry's attention. Harry sat down and picked up his cup of tea to fill his hands.
"Yes, there is sir. I'm afraid I've had another vision." Albus' face turned sorrowful and sympathetic.
"Is Occlumency still not working then? I did hope that your new lessons would stop them."
"No sir." Harry said, looking into his cup, as if trying Trelawney's method of foretelling the future.
"Where was it?" Albus said with a sigh. "Any chance of survivors?" Harry shook his head, a lump forming in his throat. He swallowed, trying to clear his throat to speak.
"He was there, there was no chance of survival. I'd say about fifty Death Eaters at least, about ten Dementors." He didn't add that all the children had been rounded up with their families watching as they were tortured brutally by the wizards, then left to feed the ecstatic Dementors. Their screams had echoed round his mind, as well as the sobs and cries of the families, before they were silenced. Harry took a deep breath and continued.
"I heard one of the Death Eaters say where they were – Prestwold. I think it's near Nottingham."
"Thank you Harry." Albus said gently as Harry tied to keep his composure. He knew how the visions affected the boy, but short of forcing him to talk about it, which knowing his temperament wouldn't help, he was at a loss unless the boy asked for help. So like his father.
"I'll inform the Minister in case he doesn't already know." He added. Harry nodded, and fidgeted.
"May I go, sir?" Albus smiled.
"By all means. I'm sure Mr Weasley and yourself will be free of Messers Creevy today, so I wouldn't want to stop you enjoying yourselves." Harry looked up sharply to see the light in the headmaster's eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about sir." Harry replied calmly, putting down his cup.
"Of course. Pardon me." Albus said as Harry stood. "Have a good day."
"Bye sir."
"Check mate, mate."
"But I was just about to win!"
"Will you two stop arguing?" Hermione interrupted. Harry pouted at the slightly annoyed brunette. They were in the common room, Harry and Ron sitting over a rampaged chess set, Hermione sitting and writing her homework (an essay on nerve stimulating potions) with a satisfied-looking Crookshanks curled over her feet.
"But arguing makes it fun!" countered Harry. Hermione just sighed and flicked her wand so that the textbook currently floating in mid air beside her changed page.
"It's still check mate." Ron said, and several of his white pieces nodded, muttering amongst themselves about bad losers.
"You're all ganging up on me!" Harry protested feebly as a particularly violent bishop of Ron's decided to wreak revenge on the death of it's brother by knocking out the remaining black pieces.
"Who's ganging up on who?" said Ginny as she came through the portrait hole, clutching her broom in one hand. Harry turned with a grin, which he quickly changed to a pout, pointing at Ron and Hermione.
"They are." Ginny grinned, placing her hands on her hips.
"Are you accusing my older brother of ganging up on you?" Harry nodded.
"Yup."
"Fine. Want me to hex him for you?" Ron turned, his mouth agape.
"Hey, you're supposed to stick up for me! You're my sister!" Ginny grinned maliciously.
"Yes, and?"
"Besides, why would I need you to hex him for me?" Harry said, quirking an eyebrow, and holding up his wand. Ron paled.
"Honestly, stop this!" Hermione said hotly, her book closing with a snap and floating down to the floor.
"Sticking up for Ron, Hermione? Didn't know you had it in you." Ginny commented, before dashing out of the room as Hermione cast a quick tarantellegra at her, missing by millimetres. The red head's happy laughter floated down the staircase to the girl's dorms, making Hermione blush red and Ron's ear tips to flush. Harry wisely chose not to comment, but instead gathered up his chess pieces silently, having to stun the rogue bishop of Ron's in order to get back his mangled queen.
"Um, I think I'll go to bed." Ron said eventually, avoiding Hermione's eyes, and leaving as fast as possible whilst trying to not be too obvious. Harry hid his grin, and instead turned to Hermione, who flatly avoided him, instead staring at her essay, pretending to be correcting it.
"Right, spill." He said, standing and collapsing onto the nearest armchair. He remained in the same position, looking directly at the brunette until she gave in.
"Spill what?" she said absently, her heart beating in her ears as she maintained some semblance of calm. Harry grinned.
"You, Ron, spill."
"I really don't know what you mean." The brainy girl replied, fighting the heat that was trying to rise in her cheeks.
"Oh yes you do." Harry said, his voice light, his eyes shining with mirth.
"No, I honestly can't say –" Harry rolled his eyes.
"Oh yes? Stealing glances across a crowded room? Sticking up for him, all the time? This sudden need to lend him your homework – 'just in case'?" Hermione avoided his eyes, her cheeks hot. "Now, normally, I'd expect this sort of behaviour from, say, Cho Chang and company," he mock-shuddered, "and Lavender and Paravti occasionally, or at least when Justin walks past, but you Hermione?" he shook his head, grinning. "I thought you were more subtle than them."
"Well, with someone like Ron you can't exactly afford to be subtle!" Hermione said hotly, then throwing a hand across her mouth, her eyes wide. "I-I did not just say that…"
"Oh yes you did." Replied Harry, thoroughly enjoying himself. Besides, the two needed a prod in the right direction before Gryffindor Tower collapsed down on them with the build-up of romantic tension.
"Please, don't tell Ron, I don't mean it-" Hermione blustered, ignoring her essay completely.
"Of course you meant it, I'm not thick. Well, no more than most." He grinned again. "And all you need is a little help…"
"No, really, please Harry…" Hermione protested, seeing a mischievous gleam appear in his eyes.
"I really must do something, for the safety of the House don'cha know." He said melodramatically. "Now, here's the plan…" Harry continued, talking over her meaningless flustering, detailing his full and simple plan – Operation Weasley/Granger Matchmaker.
The next evening, Gryffindor Common Room…
"I think I'd better go to bed." Harry said yawning and laying aside his homework. He threw a glance across at the bushy-haired girl opposite and winked, and she blushed in return.
"Don't go mate, I'll be up in a minute and I need your help on the uses of Defensive Jinxes…" Ron protested, scribbling away at a sheet of parchment.
"Do it tomorrow Ron, it's not as if she's going to collect it in. And I know Hermione, I know." He said, cutting off her usual stern remonstrations about how he 'shouldn't be neglecting his studies just because the subject teacher wasn't up to standard'. "And I'm really tired, I've got another headache." It was true, there was a slight pressure around his temples that was starting to spread, and he knew it would be a killer if he stayed up any longer.
"Fine, be up in a minute." He replied absentmindedly, still scribbling. Harry shot Hermione another wink and left, dragging his satchel upstairs and dumping it at the end of his bed, before changing and getting into bed.
Meanwhile downstairs…
"Ron…" Hermione said, putting aside her own homework and trying not to fidget nervously.
"Mmm…?" he replied, not looking up. He was trying not to blush at the fact that they were both left, alone, in an empty Common Room, and trying to complete his essay at the same time. 'The things you do for love' he mused silently as he contemplated his essay.
"Never mind." She said hurriedly, turning back to her essay, a small smile on her lips. Ron inwardly shook his head and tried to remember the exact incantation of the Circumagio-Invertus curse. A few minutes later; the silent common room was still blissfully empty and the only sound coming from the scratching of Ron's quill and the crackle of the fire. Hermione looked up.
"Ron…"
"Mmm?" Ron replied again, looking up briefly. Hermione quickly affixed a serious expression on her face as she tried to contain her giggles. Merlin this boy was so innocent! "What is it? Is there something wrong?" 'But so wonderfully loyal and caring' she amended to herself.
"I think we need to talk." Ron looked up fully, his essay forgotten.
"What is it? Is it Harry?" She nearly rolled her eyes. If she didn't know better, she would think he was obsessed with Harry Potter. But after Harry's revelation of the broken prophecy at the beginning of the year, she had to admit they both tended to worry more over the introverted teen. With careful movements, she aside her essay and threaded her fingers together in her lap worriedly. Time to take the bull, sorry, Weasley, by the horns. Wand maybe? She giggled inwardly.
At Hermione's obviously tense movements, he put aside his own essay and crossed the room to kneel in front of her, his eyes concerned. He reached tentatively for her hand and held it gently in his own. Check One.
"Are you all right?" he said softly, searching her face with his eyes. She avoided his eyes with her own carefully, knowing the plan would be foiled the second her eyes joined with his beautiful blue ones.
"No." she said as softly as she could, closing her eyes tightly. Ron started to look alarmed, but he tucked a strand of her soft brown hair behind her ear tenderly, his fingers ghosting her cheek.
"What is it? Can I help?" She smiled inwardly. Now for the killer…
"Yes, you can…" she whispered, opening her eyes and reaching down swiftly to brush her lips with his. He was startled for a second, and that was how was all the time the contact took, and she drew back slowly, still keeping her eyes averted.
"Hermione?" he asked weakly.
"I can't live without you knowing." She blurted. "I don't expect you to feel the same or anything, I just couldn't go on without you knowing about this," her fingers almost absently brushed across her lips, "I'm sorry."
Moving swiftly again, she packed up her bags with a wave of her wand and reached down for the handle on her bag. Fingers closed over hers as she gripped the leather, and she looked up, startled. Blue eyes met brown, and they both froze.
"Don't be." He whispered, reaching up to kiss her again, gently. He pulled back and ran a hand over her cheek. "Don't be, I'm sorry, I should've, I-"
"Shhh…." Hermione said, touching his lips with a finger, a small smile on her face. "You talk too much."
In the shadows, covered by an invisibility cloak, Harry stood, a grin on his face. Finally. Silently, he swept back upstairs, his bare feet hopping over the cold stone. He was in bed and nearly asleep as Ron came into the dorms a little later that night, and without looking, Harry could imagine the look on his best friends' face. He grinned, and sank into sleep.
The next week passed without event, unless you count Dennis Creevy being held in the hospital wing by Madame Pomfrey, covered in throbbing red bites, or Lavender's hair going blue after her hair-dying charm went wrong. Before they knew it, Saturday was on them again, and, as had been the habit since the start of term, the Gryffindor Quidditch Team rose at the crack of dawn, stumbled through the corridors in hastily arranged scarlet robes, snatched some toast and met up on the pitch. The sun was peeking sleepily over the horizon, tingeing the sky pink, gold and red, and shining brightly already, promising a beautiful autumn day. The wind ruffled his teammates hair as Harry surveyed his team proudly. After the ban from Umbridge last year (hurriedly lifted by McGonagle on the condition he won all of this years matches), he had been given the honour of captaining the team. At first, he had protested and said that someone else more experienced should take the position, but Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell, the two remaining seventh years on the team had insisted he take the position, as they had to focus on their Chasing ability.
Telling Ron had posed a bit of a problem, but the redhead had taken it extremely well, congratulating his best friend with a huge grin and prophesying the cup with their names on it. For about a week afterwards, he had kept an eye on his friend as he knew he had wanted it since first year, but Ron was completely happy with the idea.
Now, he stood facing the sunlight, his hand shielding his bright green eyes and looking over the team. His team. Katie and Alicia were still there obviously, as Chasers, Ron as Keeper, him as Seeker. Fred and George had left last year (it was still the talk of the school), and had left him with two large holes, along with the need for another Chaser. After a few tryouts, he had finally settled on the ones in front of him, entirely confident with their ability.
Ginny, surprisingly, had come along, her copper hair tied back with a black band and a rather beaten looking broom in her hand. Tentatively at first, she had quickly become fast friends with the two Chasers, and, though she was two years younger than them, they formed a formidable team. She was currently battling with her masses of hair into a bobble, Fred's borrowed broom on the ground in front of her.
The Beaters Harry had quickly realised would be the hardest to replace, and for several days had dreamt and thought seriously of contacting Fred and George to fill in for him. Eventually, however, he had found two burly best friends in their fourth year – Robin Everal and Christopher Bews. They seemed friendly enough, even if they were a little intimidated by the rest of the team, who had all been together at some point last year.
"Right!" he said enthusiastically, clapping his hands to get their attention. Ron glared at him, startled by the noise, and the younger Weasley looked just as putout, but Katie and Alicia just looked at each other, rolling their eyes simultaneously. "I want you all in the air, some quick passing practise today. Ron, you go with Chris and Robin, Katie, Alicia, Ginny, you're in a three. I want you just passing first, then we can work on aggressive passing and catching, and then have a quick game if we've got time."
Everyone nodded and went into their separate groups, taking a practise quaffle and mounting into the air. Harry decided to let them get into the exercises first, and mounted into the air, taking in the beauty of the early Sunday morning as he rose higher and higher. After a few quick laps of the pitch and some dives to wake him up fully and get his muscles warmed up, he flew over to Ron and watched for a few seconds. As Robin clumsily caught the quaffle by his fingertips, Harry decided to intervene, shooting a quick look to Ron to back him up.
"Right, how we doing?" he said, and the young Beater flushed, getting a better grip on the large red leather ball.
"Not too bad." Ron replied, gesturing for the boy to pass him the ball and caught it easily.
"Why are we doing this?" Chris asked exasperatedly as Ron threw the ball at him and he caught it, immediately loping it over to his friend. "We're Beaters, we don't need to know how to catch the quaffle."
"It's not just about your ability to catch and throw" Harry explained patiently. "This is an exercise in hand-eye coordination, it should mean you can hit the bludgers better, but by practising it in a different way. And besides, if we ever need to exchange people for some reason, I'd like to see that you can all catch a ball."
"I hadn't thought about it like that." Chris said thoughtfully, and Harry grinned, nodded at Ron and flew off to observe the girls.
"How's it going?" he yelled, perching in the air. Alicia, Katie and Ginny flew a little closer to him, still tossing the ball expertly between them.
"Great." Katie replied, taking the ball and passing it swiftly to their captain. Unruffled, Harry dived a little way, swung off his broom to the left, caught the ball in one hand and easily pulled himself back up.
"Nice throw." He said, with a grin on his face, tossing it back up.
"Just checking our captain wasn't just preaching, but practising." She replied with a smirk. They played a quick four-player came of catch, until Harry, slightly winded, looked at his watch. He took the whistle McGonagle had given him with his badge from round his neck and blew it sharply, gesturing for them to join him on the ground. Once they had all landed again, Harry opened the large trunk that contained the balls and set the quaffle on top.
"As we have seven players, this isn't going to work out exactly. I want two teams – Ron, if you take Katie and Robin, and Alicia, you go with Ginny and Chris. I'll swap in with Ron halfway through. It's a simple set-up – Beaters' play Beaters, Chasers play Chasers and one Keeper per team. We won't use the Snitch; we just play until I stop the game. OK?"
Everyone nodded, and Harry carefully let out the two bludgers. Released from their bindings, the two magical balls flew directly into the air as Harry passed the bats out and they mounted into the air. And they were off.
Ginny and Ron decided to take the positions of Keeper, leaving Alicia and Katie to play against each other. The two experienced Chasers put up a good dance, as two scarlet blurs across the pitch, giving the Weasleys a run for their money. Harry grinned with satisfaction as he watched his flawless team, and, shielding his eyes, happened to glance over at the stands. A small black dot was moving along the topmost row, and sat down, it's hair blowing in the wind. He flew over to get a better look, and realised as the bushy brown hair came into focus, that it was Hermione. Speeding up, he raced to the stands, swerving at the last moment to avoid a collision and hanging in the air.
"Harry! Don't do that!" said Hermione, clutching her chest, shocked out of her life. Harry smirked, his green eyes bright.
"Sorry." He said unapologetically. Hermione shot him a harmless glare, but unwrapped the small stack of toast she had brought out with her. Playfully, Harry swiped a piece, and flew off a little distance as he ate it.
"Oh, you! Anyway, how's the practice?"
"Fine, in fact I should probably swap in in a moment. So, how've you and Ron been recently?" he added teasingly as Hermione blushed.
"Fine." She said, avoiding his eyes. With a chuckle, he flew off slowly, calling over his shoulder something he heard in a movie once.
"You want to kiss him, you want to hold him, you want to touch him…"
"HARRY!" Hermione screamed embarrassedly, blushing further when the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team turned to see what the noise was about. She watched as Harry flew up, blew his whistle and swapped places with Ron, passing across the whistle and instructions on when to blow it. She watched the red head nod and start the game again, a tinge of wistfulness in her gaze as she watched the players swoop and glide, weightless. Closing her eyes in jealousy, she didn't notice when her boyfriend flew up next to her, and leaned across. The first she knew was when Ron leant across and kissed her lips gently, making her eyes fly open.
"Hello." He said quietly, a small smile on his face, which she returned.
"Hello to you too." She fiddled with one of the remaining pieces of toast with her fingers.
"Are you all right?" he asked concernedly, reaching out to tuck a few strands of her hair out of her face.
"Fine." She replied distractedly, before looking up and smiling properly. "I'm fine."
"You want to come for a ride?" he asked casually, gesturing to his broom. Hermione's eyes widened and she paled slightly.
"Um, no thanks." She said, swallowing.
"Sure?" he said gently. "I'll fly slow and be really careful. I don't think you've ever really been on a broom, have you?"
"Not really." She acceded reluctantly. Actually, she had never been on a broom. The only lesson they had on flying in first year was enough to put her off, and the subsequent Quidditch matches almost made her sick. But it looked so graceful, and peaceful with nothing but the air around you.
"Come on, Mione, live a little." He teased gently, making the broom hover just above the seats and getting off. The scholar bit her lip, looking from her boyfriend to the rather thin and shabby looking broom. Well, one little ride wouldn't hurt, would it? And if Ron were there, he wouldn't hurt her. Seeing Hermione start to crumble under his careful suggestions, he went for the kill. "I'll get Harry to catch you if you fall off."
"Um, OK." She said, and, with Ron's help, threw a leg over the hovering broom and sat down tentatively. It wasn't too bad, with her legs just brushing the wooden bench of the seats. 'Must be some cushioning charms' she mused, clutching the broom in front of her tightly. Ron casually got on in front of her, and she swiftly moved her hands to firmly hug around his waist.
"If I fall, you're going too." She said shakily, leaning her head against his shoulders, and winding her legs together.
"OK." He replied over his shoulder, gently easing the broom over the edge of the seating. Hermione shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to see the far drop below her. She could feel them moving slowly forwards, not much faster than a tortoise, or so it seemed to her. Gradually, she started to relax, letting her legs dangle, but keeping her eyes shut.
"You all right?" Ron said from the front.
"Yeah." Hermione muttered, trying to get up the courage to open her eyes. After all, what was the point in flying if you couldn't see anything? 'Come on Hermione.' She said fiercely to herself, and threw open her chocolate coloured eyes. They were up, a long way up. The ground was a dizzyingly long way away, the trees little more than matchsticks on a carpet of green. The lake was reflecting the morning sunlight like a mirror, and she could even see Hagrid's hut with its customary plume of smoke. A long long way away. She whimpered.
"What's wrong?" asked Ron concernedly, turning his head to try to see his girlfriend.
"I-It, It's such a long way!" Hermione breathed, her eyes wide. Her stomach was flipping around like a salmon, and her hair blew gently around her face.
"I can go lower if you like…" said Ron worriedly. Hermione shook her head gently, getting a grip on herself.
"No, it's fine." To prove her point, she gently moved her head away from Ron's back and loosened her grip slightly. She grinned. "I can see why you like this."
She looked across at the Quidditch team, where Harry and Ginny had broken off, Harry speeding towards them, before coming to a halt close to them.
"Flying, Hermione?" said the emerald-eyed boy amusedly. The red haired girl had a huge grin on her face as she eyed the couple.
"OK, Hermione?" she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She mock glared in return, suddenly noticing how her arms were around Ron's waist.
"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." She replied with a fake sniff. "Just out taking a flight with my boyfriend." Ron stiffened slightly, and Hermione gently tightened her grip on his waist. She knew Harry already knew, and Ginny would know sooner or later. Better it be sooner.
"Boyfriend?" Ginny said, raising an eyebrow, a grin lighting on her lips. "I see congratulations are in order." She turned to Harry. "Well done, Harry."
Ron spluttered. "Harry? What did Harry do?" Ginny looked across at her brother with a guilty look.
"Oops," Was all she said, and flew off, her cheeks reddening. Ron turned to Harry.
"Oops?" the Seeker said, a tiny grin on his face. Ron looked from Harry, to the space where Ginny had hovered, and to his girlfriend biting her lip, her hands still tight around his waist. Startling his two best friends, he grinned and rolled his eyes.
"Were we really that bad?" he directed to Harry.
"Yup." Harry replied sympathetically. He threw his hand to his forehead in a dramatic gesture, and threw himself back, holding onto the broom with only his legs. "It was terrible." Hermione looked away at the dangerous move, and forced herself to breathe.
Harry, noting Hermione's sudden movement, flung himself upright again. "Sorry Mione." He said apologetically, and she turned back to grin weakly at him.
"It looks less dangerous from the stands." She said shakily.
"Come on." Ron said, taking her attention away from the ground, which seemed to be getting further away despite the fact they were sitting still in the middle of thin air. He pressed the broom forwards again, Harry acting as escort, the Quidditch practise forgotten.
Some time later, the trio touched down near the edge of the pitch, and Hermione got of, her legs rubbery. Harry swung his Firebolt over his shoulder easily, and turned to Hermione.
"You OK there Mione?" She nodded, swallowing and standing straighter. Ron kissed her lightly on the cheek, and she turned to him with a grin.
"I'm fine." She reassured them, but then a frown crossed her face. "Oh bother, I left my bag in the stands."
"I'll fetch it for you." Harry offered, and Hermione bit her lip.
"Yeah, sure." She said reluctantly. The boys noticed this and shared a puzzled look.
"What's wrong?" said Ron softly. Hermione flushed.
"Um, nothing." She said quickly. Harry and Ron shared another look, and Harry shrugged.
"Sure?" Ron said, puzzled.
"Well, maybeIcouldgoandgetitmyself?" Hermione said, very quickly and very quietly. She avoided her friends' eyes and instead looked at the ground.
"Huh?" Ron said, and Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"I said, um, maybe I could, like, go and get it myself." Ron was still puzzled.
"But it'll be faster by broom…"
"I meant by broom!" Hermione said, exasperated and embarrassed.
"Oh," was all Ron could say. "You mean you want to fly up there and get it by yourself?"
"Yes." Hermione mumbled, looking back down at the ground. "But it doesn't matter, I'll just take the stairs-"
"Here Mione." Harry said, proffering his Firebolt. Hermione looked up at it and took it carefully. "If you want to fly, we'll help you." Hermione smiled shyly, and Ron grinned.
"Yeah, we'll turn you into quite the Quidditch star!" he said, ducking as she swiped at him playfully. "Besides, we owe you one after all the times you've leant us your homework."
"Quite true." The bookworm grinned, then her expression turned focused as Ron explained the basics of broom flying.
"Right, just place it on the ground like we did in first year-"
"Ron, I'm not thick, I can remember our first flying lesson… Up! No, up!" Her tone turned stern. "Up! Up!"
"Try thinking about what it felt to fly behind me on the broom, and try to not feel scared or anything-"
"I'm not scared! UP!" There was the thwack of wood against flesh. "Ow!"
"A bit too much feeling in that." Ron grinned. "Now, just prop it in the air beside you and climb on. Then, put your hands here," he adjusted her grip slightly, "and push of lightly from the ground."
"Yeah, don't do a Neville." Harry said with a chuckle. "I for one don't want to have to cart you off to the Hospital Wing."
"Thanks a lot." Hermione replied, clinging tightly to the broom. She closed her eyes briefly to compose herself, and pushed down with her feet. Gently, she rose into the air, until she was hovering about half a metre above the ground. Ron quickly mounted as well, and hovered next to her, continuing to give her directions.
"Now, just lean back a bit, that's right and go forwards. Then, when you've got the hang of that we can try going faster."
"Faster?" Hermione squeaked. Ron grinned at her reassuringly.
"Yup. Bet you wish you had Harry up here now, with his reflexes, he'd catch you before you'd even fallen off!"
"No, I'm glad you're here Ron." She replied, tentatively rising.
On the ground, Harry watched the two fly slowly around, and grinning, took off for the showers, happy for his friends.
Stripping off his leather Seeker gloves and shrugging his scarlet robes over his head, he pondered on what he was going to do with the rest of his day. He winced slightly as some muscles in his back protested movement, but continued to undress and stepped into the shower, which turned on magically. The consistently hot water felt good on his skin, and he felt his mind wander as his muscles relaxed.
Several interesting ideas for pranking the good Defence Professor's lessons filtered through his mind, and he resolved to send a letter to Remus later on for some finer points. He and the older Marauder had become good friends over the summer, and, while he was no Sirius, Harry felt he was easily the most trustable adult he knew. He grinned fondly at the memory of the werewolf chasing him around the garden at the Burrow, his normally sandy hair a dark brunette with little wolf ears poking through. One of his first pranks, and, to be perfectly honest, Harry was quite proud of it. Though the idea hadn't been his, Sirius had once mentioned the idea during the holidays, but they had never got around to it.
Thinking of Sirius brought a lump to his throat, and he closed his eyes tightly, trying to swallow the emotion away. Dropping his head, he concentrated on the way the water trickled through his hair and down his nose as he forced the pain away. He just felt so guilty, and missed the older man more than anything. After a few minutes in which he finally composed himself, he turned off the shower and, reaching for his wand in his robes pocket, cast a drying spell on himself and, taking his clean clothes from a locker, dressed.
When he got outside, he saw two figures walking slowly up from the pitch, and, grinning, decided to wait for his best friends. As they got in sight, Ron looked up and waved at Harry. They sped up, and soon enough, the trio were walking back up to the castle. Unbeknownst to them, a pale teenager was watching them as they walked; pair of binoculars around his neck and an inscrutable look on his features.
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FireOpal.
Review Responses.
brightshadow133 – Here you are, and I agree… would be so cool if I was JKR. daydreams
Xock – Nice thoughts here, Snape is acting like this for a reason. Which you will find out reasonably shortly. Heh heh heh, I love writing. I'm glad you didn't find any major errors breathes sigh of relief , and I think Harry would be more mischievous now. Maybe he's trying to compensate for his depression? I haven't quite figured that, but trust me, I like mischievous!Harry, he's fun. Don't worry though, he'll still maintain the other main parts of his character too… Just giving him a bit of a lease in this. grins