Harry awoke early on Saturday morning and put on his Quidditch robes before heading down to breakfast. He filled his plate and was about to start eating when he saw the Headmaster enter the Great Hall. Harry got up from his seat and sprinted to the head table, where Dumbledore was just sitting down.
"Good Morning, sir." Harry said. Dumbledore looked up, and then suddenly averted his eyes. Harry looked at the man quizzically for a minute, but pressed on. "I'm very sorry to bother you, sir, but I had a dream that involved Voldemort last week. I've been wanting to talk to you about it, but, well, you're a busy person."
"My apologies, Harry. What was this dream about?"
"Well, sir. I saw Voldemort try to Imperious someone. I know I've met the person, but I just can't think of who it was. An older man, with shoulder length light brown hair. Voldemort was trying to make him open a door. When he touched the doorknob, he was stunned, or something. Voldemort was very angry about it."
"Indeed." Dumbledore said, still avoiding Harry's gaze. This really puzzled Harry, but then again, a lot of what Dumbledore did confused Harry. "Allow me to think on this, but I do not believe it to be unimportant. In the future, should you have another dream of this nature, please write it down, and send me an owl. I do not think it would be wise for us to be seen talking together like this. Someone may get the wrong idea, if you take my meaning."
Harry felt confident that Dumbledore was talking about Professor Umbridge. He nodded his understanding and turned to go. He took two steps before turning around.
"Sir, thank you for you help at my hearing."
"Think nothing of it. Good luck to you and the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year." Dumbledore smiled, and waved to Harry, who nodded again and went back to his seat, where the rest of his team was gathering.
The first practice was one of the most chaotic and unfulfilling Harry had ever been a part of. Angelina Johnson was not nearly as bad as Oliver Wood, at least in regards to long winded speeches. However, she was a ruthless task master.
She put her new team through it's paces, flying in formation around the pitch for an hour before she broke them up to run drills. Harry felt that for the most part, the team had really worked well together. Unfortunately, the team's new Keeper was proving to be more than a handful.
Harry wondered how Angelina had not cursed Cormac McClaggen once during practice. The boy just seemed unable to get it through his head that Angelina was the captain of the team. After practice was over, Harry hear Fred tell Angelina that he and George could slip a few Canary Creams onto his plate at supper time.
Harry returned to Gryffindor tower, where he showered and changed and then he headed for the Great Hall for lunch, where Hermione, Neville and Ron were waiting for him.
"Hi, Harry." Hermione smiled as he sat down. "How was practice?"
"I'm not sure if our new Keeper is going to make it to the first game. He's not really endearing himself to the rest of the team." Harry sighed, pouring himself a goblet of pumpkin juice. He saw Ron perk up at the news about the new Gryffindor Keeper.
"What happened?" the redhead asked.
"I think he wants to be captain, or something. He kept trying to correct everything Angelina told us, like he's some Quidditch god or something. She told him off at least three times that I know of for certain."
"He better get his act straight before you guys face Slytherin next month." Neville said, looking up the table where Cormac was sitting with his friends.
"What are you doing the rest of the afternoon?" Hermione asked.
"Actually, Daphne and I thought it might be fun if we all got together and did something fun." Harry said, taking a bite from his chicken sandwich.
"I'm in." Neville said with a smile. "What did you have in mind?"
Harry shrugged. He swallowed his bite and smiled. "There has to be something to do other than reading and studying. We're all caught up on homework."
"We could organize a pick up Quidditch match." Ron suggested, looking excited at the thought. Neville looked a bit wary of the idea, while Hermione looked thoroughly annoyed. Harry guessed Ron hadn't been on his new broom since his disastrous Quidditch try out.
"Not everyone has a broom, Ron, and some people don't even like the game."
"What about football?" Hermione asked. "We could transfigure a ball, and anyone could play, it's a pretty simple game."
"That's not a bad idea at all." Harry smiled.
"Are you talking about that mental game that Dean likes so much?" Ron asked.
"A new experience might do you good, Ron." Harry said, giving Ron a pointed look. Ron looked as if he was about to retort, but caught himself, and turned back to his food. "We could play on the pitch." Harry said, looking back to Hermione and Neville. "I'm pretty sure that it's open for the rest of the day."
They all finished lunch and met Tracey and Daphne, along with Millicent Bulstrode, who the girls had invited along with them, in the Entrance Hall. Harry explained their idea, and the three Slytherins agreed. A few more people had overheard their plans, and asked to join in the game.
They got to the pitch, where Hermione found a good sized rock, and transfigured it into a suitable football, while Harry explained the game as best he could. Tracey Davis elected herself a team captain, and Harry suggested that Daphne should be the second team captain.
"My team is going to smear your team all over the pitch." Daphne giggled. Tracey merely stuck her tongue out at her best friend while the rest of the group lined up to be picked. Harry was very surprised to see such a diverse group all ready to play a fun muggle game.
Tracey's team had consisted of Neville, Hermione, Ron, Dennis Creevey, and Ginny Weasley. Daphne's team was made up of Harry, Colin Creevey, who looked ecstatic to be on the same team as Harry, Millicent, Luna Lovegood, who Harry was more than certain had not listened at all to his description of the game, and Daphne's younger sister, Astoria, who kept shouting threats of cruelty at the other team.
Once people were assigned positions, and Hermione managed to make a couple of goals, the group got down to it. Harry was made center against Neville. The two boys grinned as they faced off, with Harry managing to get the ball past his friend. Hermione proved to have a real flare for the game and was able to steal the ball away and lead her team toward Daphne's team's goal.
Hermione made it to the goal almost unimpeded, as no one had expected the bushy haired bookworm to be quite so athletic. She took her shot and scored the first goal of the game for Tracey's team against Millicent.
"When I was younger, my parents thought it might help me to make friends if I joined a team. I loved playing, but the kids were a bit crueler than the ones at school." Hermione explained when Harry asked her about her skill.
The second goal of the game was made by Astoria, who was not going to be outdone. She and Colin Creevey had worked well together, getting the ball past Tracey's team, and right up to the goal where Ron was waiting for them. Astoria faked to Colin, distracting Ron, before kicking the ball with all the might her skinny frame could muster. Ron looked more than a little upset as he tossed the ball back into play.
Hermione took possession of the ball, and with Tracey and Neville guarding her, almost made it back into enemy territory before Harry, Daphne and, surprisingly, Luna blocked her progress. Harry kicked the ball through Neville's legs where Astoria was waiting to take the ball back towards Ron, but tripped over Dennis Creevey, falling right on top of him.
Harry noticed that Astoria didn't seem in too much of a hurry to get back to her feet, and had to fight to contain his laughter when he saw Daphne's look of utter shock at her sister lying on top of a very frightened looking Dennis.
"I think baby sister has found a lion of her own." Tracey whispered to Daphne, who snorted in a very unladylike manner, which was the noise that finally brought Astoria back to reality. Her cheeks pink, Astoria climbed back to her feet, helping Dennis back up as well.
The game progressed with neither team able to score, but laughter was filling the air, and it wasn't just from the players on the field. Harry and the others noticed that more and more people were gathering around the pitch to watch the game.
Harry was racing after Daphne, who was quickly making her way up the field, with Neville, Tracey and Hermione in hot pursuit. Tracey kept shouting things in an effort to try and trip up her best friend.
"You're never gonna make it, Greengrass." Tracey called out. "You run like a girl!"
"I AM a girl!" Daphne shouted back. However, she had turned to look over her shoulder, and subsequently tripped over herself. Harry tried to leap over her so as not to fall on her, and failed miserably. Daphne shrieked as Harry fell with a heavy thud right in front of her. Daphne began laughing, while Harry rolled over, a grin on his face.
"They got the ball." Harry laughed.
"So what?' Daphne laughed as well. "I don't think Tori's going to let them by her. She's really competitive, but I don't think I've ever seen her so excited about a game before."
However, it looked as if Daphne was wrong as Hermione managed to slip past Daphne's younger sister and managed to get the ball past Millicent again. Turning around, Hermione leapt into Neville's arms as he swung her around, both of them laughing.
"Hey, when did that happen?" Daphne asked as Harry helped her to her feet.
"I'm not really sure if anything has happened yet. I think they're still figuring things out." Harry shrugged heading back to the middle of the field.
"They look happy." Daphne smiled, taking Harry's arm. "I hope things work out for them."
"Me, too." Harry said
"What's the score?" Someone on the side of the field asked. Harry and the others could only shrug. No one had thought to keep score. Well, almost no one.
"Two to one!" Ron shouted. "We're ahead."
Harry shook his head. Not unlike little Astoria, Ron was very competitive as well. Perhaps a little too much for his own good, he thought. This was supposed to be a fun, friendly game.
"Ready to give up, Potter?" Neville grinned widely as he and Hermione got into position for the next play.
"Pretty sure of yourself there, Longbottom." Daphne chuckled.
"Maybe it's because I've got Hermione on my team." Neville smiled as he looked over at the bushy haired girl, who looked away, slightly embarrassed. Neville smiled at the bookworm, and turned back to Harry. "She's all but dominated the game."
"She's good." Harry admitted. "But I've got something up my sleeve."
"Yeah?" Tracey asked, a wry smirk on her face. "What's that? Skill?"
"No." Harry said, then laughed. "I mean, yes, but that's not what I was talking about."
"Then what?" Neville asked, his eyes narrowing in mock skepticism."
"Astoria." Harry smiled evilly and waved the younger girl to take his place. Neville's eyes went wide, while both Tracey and Hermione looked a bit worried. Other than Hermione, Astoria had been the fiercest player that afternoon. Standing more than a head shorter than Neville, she was surprisingly intimidating as she squared off against the much bigger Gryffindor.
"Come on, Longbottom!" someone shouted. "Knock her on her…"
"Kick his butt, Tori!" A younger voice shouted. All at once cheers and jeers began being called out. Astoria didn't even appear to be listening as she readied herself.
"You can do it, Nev." Hermione encouraged, though she did look a bit scared as she saw Astoria narrow her eyes. The young Slytherin girl crouched a bit, as if she might leap in the air and attack the much bigger boy before her. Neville gave a very audible gulp before squaring himself and readying to make his move.
Whether it was her intimidating stare, or the noise from the crowd, or just fear of hurting the second year girl, no one could say, not even Neville himself. No matter what the reason, Astoria was able to knock Neville over as she kicked the ball towards Ron's goal. Daphne slipped past Hermione, who looked to be more concerned over Neville, while Colin dashed by Tracey. Luna and Harry followed their team mates down the pitch as Astoria slipped past Ginny and Dennis. Ron however looked like he was not about to let this little snake get one by him. Perhaps that was why he was so surprised when instead of kick the ball right into the goal, Astoria kicked the ball back to Daphne who was coming up behind her, and lateralled the ball to Harry, who kicked it past his red headed friend.
Daphne leapt into Harry's arms, just as Hermione had done with Neville. Harry swung her around and set her down a moment later. They stared into each other's eyes, both of them smiling softly.
Daphne's heart was pounding in her chest, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she had just been running. She looked into Harry's eyes and saw something that made her shiver. He was bending towards her, and Daphne began to lift herself up towards him.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!"
Both Daphne and Harry pulled apart and turned to see Ron screaming. However, he wasn't even looking at them. He was in fact, looking to Hermione and Neville, who were still in the middle of the field.
Harry and Daphne turned to see Hermione in Neville's arms, looking quite flushed, while Neville was grinning stupidly. They were standing very close, and Daphne knew that only a moment before they had been locked in a kiss. Daphne was suddenly a bit jealous of her new friend.
"What do you think your doing, Longbottom?" Ron shouted as he ran towards Hermione and Neville.
"Oh, this won't be good." Harry said. Quickly, he and Daphne ran over to join the group who was now converging in the middle of the field, along with more than a few of the game's spectators.
"STOP IT, RONALD!" Hermione shrieked. Ron had just shoved Neville to the ground, and looked ready to pummel the boy.
"Ron!" Harry shouted. "You need to back off right now." Harry pulled Ron back a bit, and then positioned himself so Ron would have to push him out of the way to get to Neville again.
"Did you see what he just did?" Ron asked angrily, not looking away from Neville, who looked more than a bit scared.
"No." Harry said calmly, keeping his eyes locked on Ron's.
"He was forcing himself on Hermione!" Ron shouted.
"He most certainly was not!" Hermione shouted.
"No I wasn't!" Neville said as he got back to his feet. Daphne noticed that Neville didn't look scared, or even the least bit intimidated by the fury of the redhead. In fact, Daphne thought, Neville looked almost powerful. The normally shy, introverted Gryffindor had squared his shoulders, and the was a definite fire in his eyes.
"Actually, it kind of looked as if she was…" Tracey started but stopped at the deadly glare from Ron.
"Who I date is none of your business, Ronald, as I informed you last year." Hermione shouted. "Neville is a really nice person, and I like him. You do not get a say in who I spend time with, just as you have no say in who Harry spends time with."
"I…It's…" Ron stammered, his ears burning crimson. Harry made sure to keep himself between Ron and everyone else.
"Oh, wow." Astoria said. "You like Hermione." Everyone turned to looked at the young girl, who quickly clapped her hands to her mouth. Harry was strongly reminded of Ginny's slip two weeks ago, and couldn't help but look at the youngest Weasley, who was staring at Hermione and Neville. Harry wondered if Ginny would be happy for Hermione, or if she was holding some kind of grudge from their argument the previous evening.
"I never said that!" Ron shouted.
"Maybe that's the problem." Daphne said softly
"Why don't you shut up!" Ron hollered, making a move as if he might do something stupid. Harry pushed himself in front of Ron, and made him back away.
"Calm down, Ron." Harry said firmly. "She's right, and you know it. Hell, the whole school knows it."
"That's not the point!" Ron stammered, looking murderous.
"Actually, it is." Tracey said. "Maybe if you'd been a bit more open with Hermione, and not a clueless, immature git, it might've been you she was locking lips with."
"That's not helping." Hermione said, blushing.
"Shut up!" Ron shouted. "Everything was fine before you stupid Slytherins started hanging around. You've gone and twisted everything."
"Yeah, because that's what we do." Tracey said heatedly.
"You're a bunch of meddlesome, scheming serpents. You wanted to split us up! This was your goal from the start, to get Harry away from us. To isolate him. You got Hermione to fall for Longbottom so she wouldn't help Harry anymore. Then, you got Harry to turn against me so he wouldn't trust me anymore. Don't you see what they've done, Harry?"
Ron's eyes searched Harry's, hoping his friend would see reason at last. Harry simply stared back at his friend. Harry gave a great sigh and shook his head. This only aggravated Ron further.
"Fine." He said coldly. "I get it. I see." Ron glared at everyone before stomping of towards the castle. They all stared after him as he left, along with everyone else who had come down for the show, as it turned out to be.
"So…"Astoria cleared her throat. "Does that mean the game's over?"
No one said anything for a long time, all of them still watching Ron stomp up towards the castle.
"No. No this isn't over." Tracey said firmly, and she suddenly began running after the redhead.
"Should we follow?" Hermione asked worryingly.
"No." Daphne said. "I think she's got it under control."
Ron was nearly to the Entrance Hall, when he was grabbed and spun around. His eyes narrowed as he faced Tracey Davis.
"What do you…" He started, but Tracey wasn't about to let him control the conversation.
"Listen up, Weasley." She started. "This whole vendetta you have against me and Daphne is stupid, childish, and it's going to cost you in the end. First off, as you don't know the first thing about Daphne, let me clue you in. She is the most loyal and devoted person I've ever known. She would rather die than to see Harry hurt. Understand that, because it is extremely important. She's stood up against our entire house defending that boy. She and I are now all but outcasts within Slytherin."
Ron looked a bit astonished at that statement, but quickly hid it.
"You think that just because we're sorted into Slytherin House that we're all evil, scheming Malfoy-clones. Had you even bothered to pay attention, you'd see that most of the house hates him."
"Then, why do they follow him like he's royalty?" Ron countered.
"Fear, you moron!" Tracey shrieked. "Malfoy senior's a pretty influential and powerfully rich man. He's also from one of the oldest pureblood families left. You, of all people, should understand what that means."
Ron merely shook his head. "That doesn't matter."
"Gods, you're so blind, Weasley. The world isn't black and white. There are shades of gray. You're so busy trying to show how evil Daphne is, that you don't even see that you're pushing your friends away. And what's going to happen to you when neither Harry nor Hermione wants to be around you? Who's going to put up with all your paranoid delusions?"
That comment seemed to get through to Ron, as he took a step back, almost as if Tracey had slapped him. His anger all but evaporated. He looked back towards the pitch where his friends were most likely to still be at, probably cursing his very name.
"Hermione is happy. You should support her. There's nothing to say that she and Neville will be together for the rest of eternity. Maybe if you actually tried to be a friend to her, and do some serious growing up, she might see something in you. Then again, maybe you're destined for someone else. Either way, this jealousy thing only serves to piss everyone off, and make it to so that no one wants to be around you."
"But you girls…I mean…" Ron stuttered, and Tracey rolled her eyes and let out a long growl of frustration. She suddenly reached out and grabbed Ron's shirt, pulling him close to her before kissing him hard. Ron's mind went blank as Tracey's lips caressed his. Her hands went into his hair as she deepened the kiss. Ron's hands had only just found her waist when she broke off the kiss, and stepped back.
"I want you to think very hard about this moment, Ron, and ask yourself this one question. How could anyone who would do that to you be evil?"
Tracey gave him a very pointed look before she disappeared into the castle, leaving a flustered and panting Ron Weasley to slump against the nearest wall, his brain trying desperately to make sense of what had just happened.
After Ron's, and subsequently Tracey's, departure, everyone else seemed to realize the game was over, and began heading off in different directions. Hermione and Neville decided a nice walk alone together was in order. Millicent waved to them all as she saw a couple of her new Ravenclaw friends waving her over to them. The Creevey brothers followed Ginny back up to the castle, with Astoria trailing behind them. No one saw what happened to Luna.
Daphne took Harry's hand and began leading him to the far end of the Quidditch pitch
"Quite an afternoon." She smiled.
"I guess." Harry sighed heavily.
"I'm really sorry, Harry." Daphne said, looking at him. "I honestly never wanted to come between you and Ron. I wanted to be his friend, too."
"It isn't your fault." He said, trying to smile. "It's Ron's problem, and I'm not going to put my life on hold and wait for him to grow up."
Daphne nodded, not exactly sure what to say. They walked silently for a minute before Daphne spoke up again.
"I'm really sorry about last night. I've heard people talk about Professor Snape, and what a miserable person he is, but I honestly never saw it before. I mean, I know he's always given you a hard time, but I never really thought too much about it. Last night was eye opening for me."
"It's fine." Harry said. "He's holding a grudge against my father, and he's put it on me. He's just a petty person. I guess I don't help the situation, though. I kind of encourage it, I guess, by not respecting him, or talking back. He's just so infuriating."
"You just need to apply that anger management technique we talked about. When you start getting angry, think of something calming, or happy." Daphne smiled softly.
"I just don't have a lot of happy to think about." Harry shrugged.
"That's right, we never did get to build some happy thoughts for you. We were interrupted by my sister." Daphne chuckled.
"And Malfoy last night."
Daphne stopped and turned Harry towards her. She gave him a smile, cocking her head inquisitively.
"They say the third time is the charm."
"Not with us. Ron kind of spoiled that, didn't he?" Harry pointed out.
"Actually, I'm not entirely sure we can blame it all on Ron. After all, we were upstaged by Hermione and Neville.
"Upstaged?"
"Focus, Potter." Daphne slapped his arm teasingly. "The point is that we seem to be teetering on the edge of something here, and I for one am getting more than a little tired of being pulled back from the edge by meddling sisters, and intolerant worms."
Harry smiled, his eyes shining brilliantly. "You're right." He wrapped his arms around her thin waist and drew her closer to him. She slipped her hands up his chest and around his neck. "Maybe it's time we take that leap." He said softly.
Daphne smiled softly as she began lifting herself onto her tiptoes, and Harry began to pull her even closer. Daphne felt her heart hammering in her chest again and silently swore that if anyone dared interfere this time, she would make it her life's goal to put them into a very early grave. Harry must have thought the very same thing because just as his lips were about to touch hers, he stopped and began looking all around them.
"What?" She asked, desperate exasperation in her voice.
"Just making sure we're actually alone." He said before turning back to her, and pressing his lips to hers.
It was unlike anything he'd ever imagined. Her lips were soft, and light on his. Gently, she caressed his lips with her own. His eyes felt heavy and he closed them as she wrapped her arms around him tighter, pulling him ever closer to her. Gently, he parted his lips as she opened her own mouth. She gave the tiniest of moans as his tongue found hers and began to dance. He could feel her heart beating against his own chest, and feared his own might burst out of his chest. Slowly her hands began to slip through his hair, and Harry could not stop the small groan of pleasure.
Daphne had only ever kissed one other boy, so she didn't have a lot of experience to draw upon. However, she knew that this was something very special. Her mind felt fuzzy. When Harry had first pressed his lips to her, she swore that they were the softest things she had ever felt in her life. The way he held her made her feel as if her feet had left the ground and that they were now floating above the earth.
Slowly, they broke the kiss, though neither of them made any move to separate themselves from the other. When Daphne was finally able to open her eyes, she saw Harry staring more than a little shyly back at her.
"That was…." He whispered.
"Don't even try to do it justice with words, Harry. You'll only fail." She whispered, gently stroking his cheek.
"I think you're right." He smiled. "Well, I think I definitely have something to keep me from getting angry again."
"Well, we should be thorough." She grinned. "I'd hate to think we didn't do the job properly." She began pulling herself towards him again.
"Better safe than sorry." He smiled be fore kissing her once again.