A/N: This chapter has been UPDATED (Paragraph 11 and 12).
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.
Naruto wasn't in the least mad at Sasuke about last night. Hell, he was barely what you could call upset.
No. Naruto was fucking furious.
That bloody stupid, ass-hole, moronic TEME, he raged in his head. What the hell is wrong with that bastard? Coming on to me, then fucking leaving me hanging with a fucking hard on!
That part wasn't entirely true, Naruto conceded, deep within the confines of his mind. His little soldier had just begun to stand at attention before Sasuke had up and left like that. Naruto had been dazed, to say the least. After the portrait had swung shut after Sasuke, he'd seemed to snap out of whatever reverie he'd been reduced to.
And he'd been livid.
He'd further made up his mind that he'd have nothing to do with Sasuke from that moment forward. That bastard wanted to play games? Well, he could find someone else to look stupid. Naruto wasn't falling for it anymore. The blonde firmly made up his mind to force the raven-haired bastard to endure his silent treatment.
It had been hard. Later that night, when Naruto had gotten into bed after staring at the portrait hole for what seemed like an eternity and then heading upstairs, he'd heard the dormitory door open. He'd immediately shut his eyes tight, having no wish to face the raven. Sasuke, too, it seemed, hadn't wanted to talk to him, if the way he led himself straight to bed without so much as pausing at Naruto's four-poster was any indication.
Naruto knew that Sasuke hadn't paused because, although his eyes had been screwed up tightly, his ears had been honing in on every little noise like mini-satellites. And he'd heard Sasuke's footsteps move from the door straight to his own bed.
Bloody teme.
And Naruto was now going out of his way to avoid Sasuke. It was kind of hard, seeing as so many of their subjects coincided.
Naruto hadn't been lying when he'd told Sasuke last night that he'd been with Tsunade. That had been the truth. He had told their big-busted principal that he'd be takin Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies, Astronomy and History of Magic for his OWLs. For his NEWTs, he'd be taking the first five of those subjects.
She had promptly waved her wand over a piece of blank parchment lying in front of her, and then handed it to him. His new time-table was neatly printed on the parchment, telling him where he should be at certain times. Due to his special circumstances, three days of the week required him to be in two classes at once. Tsunade had warned him not to let anyone see this particular time-table, or he'd be bombarded with questions he couldn't answer without giving away his secret of the Time-Turner.
Naruto had four of his nine subjects with the raven. It was difficult, to say the least, to avoid Sasuke in those circumstances. But you couldn't blame the blonde for lack of trying.
When Sasuke sat next to him in the Great Hall, Naruto instantly started up a conversation with Gaara, who was generally beside him, or Kiba if the red-head wasn't available. He never went so far as to actually move, mainly because he felt it'd be too childish of him if he did. Although the urge to do so never ceased.
In class, Naruto avoided talking to him unless he absolutely had to, which was never except during Defense Against the Dark Arts with Itachi. Sasuke's older brother had no idea, of course, as to why the bright blonde was avoiding the raven, but tried to put them together as much as possible, for his own sadistic amusement if not for Sasuke's sake. It never worked out really well, though, because Naruto would pout and look off in another direction whenever he was paired with the raven. Sasuke found himself at his brother's desk after class one day, asking that he stop pairing him up with the blonde unless he wanted Sasuke to fail. The blonde was far too distracting with the way he pouted, although Sasuke didn't admit that to anyone.
But days turned into weeks, and before the school knew what had hit them, the first Quidditch match was about to begin.
Sasuke was miserable. What on earth had possessed him to do that to Naruto that night? Seeing the blonde had somehow triggered some sort of primal instinct in him, prodding and urging him to leap. And leapt he had.
Look where that had left him.
Naruto refused to even make so much as eye contact with the raven. Sasuke had tried, in vain, to get to talk to Naruto. He'd willingly sat next to the blonde whenever he could. But Naruto seemed to ignore him in favor of whoever was available at that point. He'd even enthusiastically talked with Gaara, and thattraitorous Quidditch Captain had willingly participated in the conversation, all the while throwing hidden smirks in a disgruntled Sasuke's direction.
Exactly what Naruto hoped to accomplish by pretending he didn't exist, he had no idea. Whatever it was, it couldn't be working too well, because the blonde looked damned near unhappy whenever Sasuke managed to catch a glimpse of his expressions.
Worst of all, Naruto's fans had seemed to increase without Sasuke around to shoo them away. The girls crowded around the blonde without him noticing, throwing him flirtatious looks that he completely missed, and striking up stupid conversations about the weather and whether or not their new hairstyles looked alright. The only thing that consoled Sasuke was that Naruto was so oblivious to whatever was happening around him.
Meanwhile, Gaara had kept the entire team up late at night for practices. It was his final year at Hogwarts, and he wanted to graduate the captain of the winning Quidditch team. He'd glared the team down into submission, demanding they win, and Sasuke had been the only one in the group to stand up and glare back. They'd glared at each other for a full five minutes before realizing how stupidly they were behaving, so they'd scowled and gotten on with the practices. The team had been heartened knowing that they were in capable, but not entirely unbreakable, hands, and had done fairly well.
Before they knew it, it was time for their match against the Slytherins.
Naruto walked dejectedly down to the fields. He'd have to rethink this whole Ignore-Sasuke strategy of his. All it did was make the blonde miserable. And while he felt that Sasuke did deserve it – no one got him turned on and then left half way through…hell, no one should be getting him turned on, on purpose! – this thing had gone on for long enough.
I'll talk to him after the match, Naruto thought as he followed Hinata up to the stands where Gryffindor supporters sat.
'Blondie!'
Recognizing the voice and familiar nickname, Naruto twisted around and, looking up, saw Itachi waving at him from a particularly high up stand. He gazed at Itachi questioningly.
'Come over here,' he mouthed at him. 'Better view.' He pointed at the fields to emphasize he point.
'Can she come?' Naruto mouthed back, pointing at Hinata, who was watching the exchange with a curious expression.
Itachi nodded at him, so Naruto turned to Hinata.
'I just got us box seats,' he told her proudly, jerking with his head at where Itachi was sitting. 'Let's go.'
Hinata grinned and followed him.
When they reached the stand, they found Itachi idly examining a fingernail as he waited for the match to start. He glanced up at them from his chair when Naruto cleared his throat. 'Blondie, next to me,' he instructed.
Naruto rolled his eyes and plonked himself down onto the chair next to Itachi. Hinata followed his example and, much more gracefully, seated herself next to Naruto.
The excited chatter of students that were milling around and trying to find seats near their friends washed over them, effectively drowning out most other noises. Naruto didn't even try to make small talk. His attention was focused entirely on the pitch…this was his first Quidditch game!
'WELCOME, STUDENTS!' a loud voice boomed over the stadium, making Naruto jump, startled at the sudden noise. He glanced around and caught sight of a student he'd seen around before, but didn't really know the name of, speaking animatedly to the air. Naruto squinted carefully. There wasn't a microphone in sight.
'My name is TenTen, and I'm from Ravenclaw,' the student announced to the crowd, and Naruto realized with a jolt that the speaker was female. She looked as tough as any of his male acquaintances, though. Her hair was tied behind her in two buns, and she seemed to be glaring determinedly at the pitch. 'Long story short, today's match is Gryffindor versus Slytherin! The hostility between these two houses is nothing short of legendary, and this year, the teams are captained by none other than Gaara Sabaku and Kabuto Yakushi!'
The Gryffindor and Slytherin stands erupted into roars that held cheers and jeers in equal amounts. Naruto and Hinata were among the ones that clapped hard for their team, while Itachi, an old Slytherin, merely touched his palms together twice in what Naruto assumed was supposed to be an encouraging applaud. He rolled his eyes a clapped harder for Gryffindor.
'And now, I give you our Gryffindor team Captain and Keeper, Gaara Sabaku!'
Gaara walked onto the pitch and lifted a hand in acknowledgement of the team's supporters, who broke out into raucous cheers once more.
'Unofficial Most Valuable Player of last year, and Seeker of the Gryffindor team, Sasuke Uchiha!'
Naruto's heart leapt as he watched Sasuke coolly walk onto the pitch. He saw him throw a glance at the stands as if looking for something, and then frown.
'Let's give a warm welcome to Gryffindor's Beaters, sixth year Kiba Inuzuka and fourth year Konohamaru Sarutobi!'
Kiba stepped grandly onto the pitch, grinning wildly and revealing his pointed canines as he waved at the crowd. He was accompanied by a smaller boy who looked somewhat similar to him. The kid grinned cockily at the Gryffindor supporters, who broke out into a fresh wave of applause.
The Gryffindor Chasers were then introduced, followed by an introduction to the entire Slytherin team. Professor Anko, the Hogwarts flying instructor, walked onto the pitch soon after, holding a heavy-looking chest under one arm. When she reached the center of the pitch, she placed down the load and talked to the captains.
'What's she saying?' Naruto asked Itachi, keeping his eyes on the pitch.
'She's telling them the rules. She'll be releasing the balls in a few minutes,' Itachi told him.
After the team had mounted their brooms, she bent down and undid the catch on the chest. After releasing the Snitch and the two Bludgers, she took the Quaffle and held her whistle to her lips.
She heaved the Quaffle into the air and simultaneously blew hard on her whistle.
'And they're off!' TenTen cried as the teams kicked off from the ground. 'The Quaffle is immediately grabbed by Gryffindor Chaser Lily Potter – she was on the team last year, and she's back again after an excellent trial – and there's a neat pass to her brother, Albus, and- ooh, bad luck there, that Bludger knocked his broom off course – and Slytherin's got the Quaffle, that's the Captain, Kabuto Yakushi, speeding off toward the goalposts, but he's blocked by a Bludger sent his way by Gryffindor's new Beater, Kiba Inuzuka – and it looks like another new find of Gryffindor, Lee Rock has gotten the Quaffle – look at that, folks, he's really going for it! Wow, what a dive, Lee narrowly misses a speeding Bludger, and it looks like the field ahead is clear – Uh oh! And Slytherin Beater Scorpius Malfoy hits a Bludger toward Lee, it's definitely going to hit him, and Lee- Lee passes! Lee manages a last-minute pass to Lily Potter, she hurls it at the goalposts – Keeper Baddock dives – misses – GRYFFINDOR SCORE!'
The cheers of the Gryffindor supporters filled the stadium, along with the dismayed groans from the Slytherins. Naruto hooted excitedly and clapped till his hands stung, but not caring in the least. The match was terribly thrilling, and he was going to cheer until he was hoarse.
Sasuke, meanwhile, was circling the field, his eyes darting around in search of the elusive Snitch. It was nowhere to be seen. He and the Slytherin Seeker, Kimimaro Bones, were on opposite sides of the pitch, trying to catch a glimpse of a glint of gold.
'Sasuke, over there!' Kiba was suddenly next to him and pointing him in the direction of the stands where the professors sat.
Sasuke saw it. A flash of gold. Before the crowd could fathom what was happening, Sasuke was speeding toward the Snitch, excitement pooling in the pit of his stomach. This was why he loved Quidditch. It was all for this, this feeling he got whenever he flew, hard and fast, for a little golden ball that could disappear in a second.
Naruto had been watching Lily Potter steal the Quaffle from Kabuto when he noticed Sasuke flying toward him. He blinked in surprise. What the hell was that bastard doing? He then realized that Sasuke was after the Snitch. And that the Snitch was heading toward the stands. And that Sasuke wasn't stopping.
He's going to crash! Naruto thought, horrified. Sasuke, you stupid moron, slow down!
There was no time to stop. The Snitch would either hurtle into the stands, or suddenly change direction, and Sasuke had no time to change the direction of his broom.
Naruto saw it all like it was in slow motion. Sasuke's eyes leaving the Snitch for a fraction of a second, to make eye-contact with him. Him winking at the blonde. And then, throwing himself off his broom.
'Sasuke!' Naruto yelled.
Sasuke had leapt off his broom with both hands stretched out, and grabbed the Snitch. By now, the crowd had seen what was going on. Kimimaro had been streaking across the pitch, but it was too late.
With a collective gasp, the spectators watched in horror as their Gryffindor Seeker plunged toward the ground.
When Sasuke woke up, he was in the hospital wing. He, however, wasn't alone. Sleeping in a chair next to the white hospital bed he was in was a certain blue-eyed blonde, who was snoring for the world to hear.
'Dobe?'
Naruto jerked awake. He looked around the room blearily before his eyes settled on Sasuke. 'Sasuke! You're awake!'
Sasuke refrained from rolling his eyes, but his heart thudded rather painfully in his chest. 'How long have you been here?'
Naruto shrugged. 'An hour or so.'
'Oh. Well, what happened?'
Naruto looked at him curiously. 'You don't remember the match?'
Sasuke really did roll his eyes this time. 'Dobe. Yes, I remember the match. What happened after I caught the Snitch? How did I end up in the hospital wing?'
Naruto frowned at him. 'Teme, what the hell did you think you were doing? You threw yourself off your broom, nearly gave everyone a heart-attack in the process, mind you-'
'Including you?' Sasuke quipped hopefully.
'Shut up,' Naruto scowled. 'Anyway, as I was saying, well, you fell, obviously. Gaara had seen what was going on and saved your sorry ass just before you hit the ground. He's happy we won the match – well, I think he's happy, I don't think I've ever seen him smile – but he's pissed as hell that you pulled that stupid stunt.'
'And the match?' Sasuke pressed, not caring in the least what his Captain thought.
'We won.' Naruto couldn't stop a grin spreading on his face as he said it. 'We won the match. It was really quick. 160 to 0.'
Sasuke was suddenly quiet, staring at his sheets. When he looked up, he was frowning.
'You're talking to me?'
Naruto blushed and looked away. 'Um, yeah.'
'I'm forgiven?'
'Um…yeah, you're forgiven.'
A small, genuine smile appeared on Sasuke's face. 'I'm sorry.'
'Bit late for that, teme,' Naruto said, returning back to his usual teasing self.
'Well…thanks.'
Naruto looked away. 'Just…just don't do that to me again, alright?'
'I can't do that,' Sasuke said seriously.
Naruto looked back at him, surprise and confusion etched on his face. 'Why not?'
'Naruto,' Sasuke sighed. How was he going to explain this to him? 'Look, it's just…It's…'
'What, Sasuke?' Naruto asked softly.
'Never mind,' Sasuke said, his courage failing him. He'd tell the blonde later.
An hour later, Naruto was walking back up to the Gryffindor tower alone. Sasuke would spend one night in the hospital wing, for observation, as Professor Shizune put it. Just to make sure that he was completely alright. He hadn't suffered any serious injuries from the fall, since Gaara managed to prevent any major damage, but she wasn't taking any chances.
While Naruto walked, he thought about what had happened during the match.
He had been terrified. No point denying that. When he'd seen Sasuke fall, and was convinced that the raven had met his end, he'd quite literally felt an empty hollow in his heart which he was sure shouldn't be there. He'd never felt like that before.
And he'd lied to Sasuke. He hadn't been there for an hour. Hell, he'd been there for 6 hours, at least, worried sick, even though Shizune had assured him that the Uchiha wasn't in any danger.
Naruto sighed. He didn't know when it had happened. One minute he hated the raven, the next… Naruto shook his head. He couldn't believe it.
I'm in love with Sasuke.
A/N: Hi.
Okay, so while I was working on Chapter 12, I realized that there was a bit of a mix up with the subjects Naruto chose. After doing some research, it turns out that he needs to take nine OWL subjects, and then there is no limit on the number of subjects he takes in NEWTs.
I'm sorry if this causes any confusion for anyone. I think it's pretty clear, but if you still have a few queries, feel free to PM your questions, and I'll get back to you.
One last thing: Thank you to for one of my anonymous reviewers, cynlee, for pointing out that I haven't mentioned the Time Turner in a while. I forgot to put it in, so...yeah. Thanks.
Anyway, thanks to all for sticking with the story thus far!
REVIEW!