Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers.
Chapter 4 The Giant
Ron noticed the Gryffindor table was glummer than usual for it being a Saturday Quidditch match, and he knew why.
"I still can't believe you…" Ron began as he approached Hermione and Harry.
"I can," Harry said through gritted teeth.
He had been kicked out of his House team thanks to Umbridge.
"Well, I better get going," Ron said, feeling a little awkward now.
Harry, with his head down, replied, "Yeah, don't want the team to say anything."
It hadn't come out as sarcastic as Ron had imagined it would have, though.
"I'll talk to you after the match," Ron said.
As he approached the Slytherin table, Draco said, "This is perfect with Potter being out of the picture."
"Yeah, that is going to be a help," Ron admitted as he sat down.
xxx
It was a couple of hours later, and Slytherin was ahead of Gryffindor forty to twenty.
"And Slytherin scores again," Lee Jordon yelled. "That's fifty for Slytherin, twenty for Gryffindor."
Ron looked around at the Gryffindor stands, but he couldn't see Hermione and Harry anywhere.
"Oh, and the Slytherin Keeper just let the Quaffle pass him," Lee declared, making Ron groan. How had he'd missed it? "The scores now fifty to thirty… still to Slytherin. Although, I don't know how long if the Slytherin Keeper can't…"
'That's enough, Mr. Jordon," Professor McGonagall replied.
"Sorry, Professor," Lee apologized.
Ron looked around again for Hermione and Harry and asked out loud, "Where are they?"
"And Gryffindor scores again," Lee yelled out, causing Ron to curse under his breath.
The match finally ended when the Seeker replacing Harry caught the Snitch. Ron had just landed when he saw Hermione and Harry running on to the pitch.
He didn't get to talk to them until the next day at breakfast.
Ron had run straight up to them in the Great Hall and asked, "Where were you two yesterday?"
The two looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, sounding almost like they had been caught.
"Don't lie to me. I looked up to find you in the stands during the match, but couldn't." Ron said.
Hermione glanced over at Harry, and then she looked back and Ron and leaned into him and whispered, "We'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone."
"Yeah, all right," Ron nodded.
"Hagrid has a giant half-brother in the Forbidden Forest," Harry said.
"Has he gone mental?" Ron said, going into complete shock.
Harry and Hermione started laughing at the long on the look on Ron's face.
xxx
Everything seemed to be going from bad to worse. The D.A. had been caught. Dumbledore had disappeared, leaving Dolores Umbridge as the new headmistress.
It was also now the fifth years' last O.W.L.s examination for History of Magic.
"Good luck," Hermione whispered into Ron's ear as they entered the Great Hall.
His eyes grew and he felt his cheeks get warmer as Hermione then kissed his cheek.
A couple of hours into the exam, or it could have been more in Ron's opinion, he heard someone scream out, "Harry!"
And then another loud scream came, but from a different person. Ron turned and saw Harry on the ground, screaming.
"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" the examiner asked Harry as he finally came to, looking absolutely terrified.
"Yes, sorry. I fell asleep," Harry explained.
"Perhaps you should visit the hospital wing after finishing," the examiner suggested.
"I'm about finished. I'll just go now," Harry told him, and without another look back, Harry left the Great Hall.
"As you wish," Ron heard the examiner say under his breath.
Ron looked down at his parchment and saw where he was at. There was no way Harry was that far ahead of him.
He and Hermione caught up with Harry after the exam was over. They both had been worried about him.
"What happened?" Hermione asked Harry at once.
"Voldemort…" Harry started, but stopped when Ron tightly closed his eyes and shudder. "Sorry, Ron," Harry apologized, "but I'm too used to saying his name. He has Sirius in the Department of Mysteries."
Hermione leveled her eyebrows and said, "That's in the Ministry of Magic.'
"Yeah," Harry nodded.
They looked over at Ron, waiting for him to say something.
"Why would they be there?" Ron asked, deciding to go for the more detective approach.
"There's something there that You-Know-Who wants," Harry said.
Ron didn't know what to say. He hadn't heard anything about something the Dark Lord wanted.
"You didn't know that either?" Hermione asked, seeing the clearly stunned look on his face.
"I'm sixteen," Ron told them. "They're not going to tell me anything."
As the words came out, Ron realized just how true they were. If he wanted to know anything, he'd have to be a… he didn't want to think about that.
AN:
Just two more chapters to go.
