The Daily Prophet

Monday, December 18th, 1995

Ministry unveils massive chocolate statue which is to be the centrepiece of Ministry Christmas Ball!

The statue, a scaled-down copy of the Fountain of Magical Brethren, was revealed by Minister Fudge himself yesterday. It stands six feet tall and weighs an estimated 1.5 tons.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Fudge said to reporters. "There'll be enough for everyone attending the ball to have a piece."

Fudge did not respond to questions about whether this was meant as a distraction to Albus Dumbledore's claims along with several high-profile security breaches at the Ministry. Nor did he answer whether he intended to eat some of the goblin.

For more on who is on the guest list for the high profile Ministry Ball, see the society pages.

Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was a grim place at the best of times, despite the efforts of hospital directors to improve the atmosphere by painting the interiors in bright, welcoming colours. However, those who were sick or those visiting sick friends and relatives were rescued from their misery, pity and fear when the beautiful woman swept by them. Grimaces were transformed into wide-eyed wonder, frowns into smiles and for what were among the worst days of some people's lives were made just a little bit brighter by her presence… at least, that was, for the men.

Fleur sighed with relief when she found Ron in the tea room.

"There you are," she said.

"Fleur!" Ron scrambled to his feet, squeezing behind Harry's seat and striding forward to hug her.

"I came as soon as I could," she said into his chest. Ron didn't reply, but she felt some of the tension leaving him. It was strange to surprise him. Usually he could feel her allure before he saw her, but she couldn't blame him for being distracted at a time like this.

"I saw your father downstairs," she said. "But you had already left."

"Sorry," said Ron. "It was getting a little crowded in there. Do you want some tea?"

A moment later, they were both sat down next to Harry and Ginny.

"Where's 'Ermione?" Fleur asked.

"Still at school," Ron said. "We left in a hurry. Besides, she wouldn't have wanted to miss the last few days of school, anyway."

"Ron!" Ginny said. "Hermione is not that bad!"

"Alright," Ron said defensively. "That was a little unfair, but there's not really a good reason for her to leave the castle anyway."

"And 'Arry?"

Ron and Ginny shared an awkward look. "Harry," Ron said. "He, uh…" Ron glanced around. The tearoom was quiet, but there was still a bored witch reading a magazine behind the counter and an old man slurping at his tea noisily in the corner.

"Oh, excusez-moi," Fleur said. She drew her wand and a moment later the sounds of the rest of the hospital faded away.

"Thanks," Ron said. "So, Harry, he, uh…" He looked at Harry awkwardly.

"I did it," Harry said, his eyes downcast. "I… I bit him."

Fleur raised her eyebrows at that, but didn't say anything.

"I keep telling you, Harry," Ginny said forcefully. "I'm sure that's not what happened. Apparating you halfway across the country? Turn you into a snake? Compel you to attack? If Hermione were here, I'm sure she'd be able to explain why it wouldn't be possible."

"I don't know what to tell you," Harry snapped. "But I felt the desire to bite him."

"Why?"

Harry looked up at Fleur at her question. "It just overwhelmed me."

"No, I'm sorry," Fleur said. "I meant, why should You Know 'Oo do zat to you? I agree zat it would be impossible, but even assuming it could be done, why would 'e want you to see what 'e was doing? By all accounts you saved Mister Weasley's life and foiled You Know 'Oo's plan. What would his motive in forcing you to do it or even just to watch it be?"

Harry stared at Fleur, his jaw hanging just a little open.

"See," Ginny said, poking Harry in the shoulder. "You were being stupid, weren't you?"

"Uhh," Harry said intelligently.

"Now come on, come and buy me some cake," Ginny said. "I want cheering up and need you to buy me something chocolatey."

Ginny dragged Harry away from the table and over to look at the meagre selection of sweets available, leaving Fleur and Ron alone.

"Thanks," Ron said.

"No problem," Fleur replied. "Are you doing alright?" she asked seriously.

Ron hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Yeah," he said, staring into his teacup. "It was pretty scary, let me tell you, but Harry managed to save the day again. Dad'll probably be here a while, but he should be on his feet in no time… maybe after Christmas." Ron looked up at Fleur. "Thank you for coming."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said. "Of course I'd come. Besides, it's not all bad. At least this way, we get a longer Christmas break together."

That made Ron smile properly.

There was a mixed mood in Grimmauld Place in the lead-up to Christmas day. There was still some concern for Ron's dad, as his injuries were healing worryingly slowly, but his general prognosis was good. Sirius was ecstatic to be playing host to everyone and could be heard singing O Come All ye Faithful at all hours of the day. Harry was still upset about the snake attack incident, but Ginny was there to comfort him.

Fleur and Ron couldn't meet as often as they might have wanted to, due to her work and Order commitments, but she managed to get Christmas Eve free on her schedule.

It was actually a busy day at Grimmauld Place, as there was to be an Order meeting that afternoon. With that in mind, Ron's mum pulled out all the stops and made Christmas Dinner for everyone who was staying over Christmas and for those in the Order who didn't make their excuses and leave at the conclusion of the meeting, like Snape.

After crackers had been pulled, stomachs had been filled, complements had been extended and dishes cleared away, Ron took Fleur's hand and led her to his room.

Fleur eyed the violently orange Chudley Cannons poster while Ron rummaged through his trunk.

"Happy Christmas," he said, presenting her with a package wrapped in wrapping paper that fluctuated between pink, violet and indigo. "Sorry about the paper, but it was all that mum had left."

"Thank you," Fleur said, taking it. "Should I open it now?"

Ron nodded and gestured, so Fleur pulled at the paper very neatly.

"A chessboard. No, excuse me, two chessboards," she said. "I assume there is more here than meets the eye."

"Yeah," Ron said, putting both boards on his bed and quickly setting them up. "Make a move," he instructed her.

Curious, Fleur pushed a C pawn forward on the board closest to her. Ron tensed for a moment, but relaxed when the C pawn made an identical move on the board closer to him. He played e5 on his board and the black piece on Fleur's board moved by itself.

"Now we can play together, even when the mirror is out of power," Ron said.

"Ron, this is incredible," Fleur breathed. "'Ow is it done? Surely not the Protean Charm."

"Yes, it is the Protean Charm. Hermione gave me the idea."

"But, there's thirty-two pieces, all too close together," Fleur objected hotly. "All zat magic in such a small area would interfere with itself."

"Oh, I see what you mean," Ron said. "Yeah, that was the original problem, but I worked out a way to apply the charm to the whole set, rather than the individual pieces."

"It really is impressive," Fleur said, moving more pieces and watching the other board respond in kind. "What about promotions?"

Ron smirked. "Here," he handed her a pawn.

Fleur examined it closely then tapped it with her wand. "A transfiguration?"

"Yeah, it's in a constant state of being transfigured, only between five different forms and you have to use your wand to force the change to occur. Let me tell you, that was not an easy thing to implement."

"Ron, this really is incredible," Fleur said, shaking her head. "Now you've made me feel inadequate for what I've got for you."

"Don't be silly," Ron said. "I'm sure I'll love it."

Fleur took a slim envelope from her pocket and presented it to him. Ron took it and opened it up.

"Uh, it's in French," he said. "An invitation to… something?"

"It's the annual French Ministry tournament next summer," Fleur said.

Ron's eyes lit up. "You mean, I'll actually be able to go and watch the games in person? That's amazing! Fleur, thank you." He grabbed her hand affectionately, still staring at the tickets.

Fleur laughed lightly. "Not quite," she said. "It's an invitation for the open section. It won't be against the masters, but it'll be against some of the best amateurs in Europe."

Now Ron's mouth was hanging agape. "But… I'm not… I can't…"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," Fleur said, using a finger to push his mouth closed. "You're as good a player as any of them, I'm certain."

"I'll need to practise," Ron said.

"Well, it's a good thing that you have a strong opponent to play against," Fleur said, straightening her back and giving him a challenging stare. "And now you can play against me every day."

Ron nodded, then looked back down at the tickets he was holding. "Thanks," he said.

"'Appy Christmas," Fleur replied.

Ron sat on his bed, back in the fifth year boys' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, in front of him was an open book, a chess set and a little mirror showing his own reflection.

His brow was severely creased as looked between the book and the very complicated position on the board. Hesitantly, he made a move, then followed with a flurry of captures from both sides. When he finished, he looked down at the board and swore.

"'Aving trouble?"

"Gah!" Ron exclaimed. "Fleur! How long have you been there?"

"'Ello," Fleur said, her face now showing in the mirror. "Not long. You didn't notice me, so I thought I'd just watch you for a moment. What are you doing?"

"Practising, of course," he replied, sweeping the pieces off the board and closing his book. "I've got to admit, I'm feeling pretty excited about this tournament, even if it's still six months away."

"Good," said Fleur. "I expect you to do well."

"Yeah, I even went to McGonagall to get some experience against different opponents. She's pretty busy, but when I explained my situation to her, she found enough space in her schedule to oversee a little chess club."

"Sounds fun."

"Yeah, except Malfoy showed up too. The little ferret is actually pretty good, damn him."

"Surely 'e didn't beat you," Fleur said.

"Well, no," Ron admitted. "But he gave me some difficult games. Can you believe he played queen h5 against me?"

"He tried to Scholar's Mate you?" Fleur asked in amusement.

"The nerve of it!" Ron said angrily. "It's an objectively bad move, where the only hope is that your opponent doesn't know to play knight c6. It doesn't mean you are any better at chess, just that you memorised one of the simplest tricks."

"It was very… under'anded of him," said Fleur.

"Well, what do you expect from the Slytherin son of a Death Eater?"

Fleur hummed in agreement.

"Sorry," Ron said. "I got a little worked up."

"Non, don't apologise," Fleur said quickly. "I like seeing you passionate about something. Didn't you 'ave one of your DA meetings today?"

"Yeah. Oh, right! Finally managed to get a proper Patronus."

"You did?!" Fleur spluttered. "Zat's incredible! Show me!"

Ron, blushing slightly, pushed himself back to give himself more room. Screwing up his eyes in concentration, he cried out, "Expecto Patronum!"

A shining, silver dog burst from his wand and began bouncing on top of his bed.

Fleur clapped enthusiastically. "Well done," she said. Tell me, what was your 'appy memory?"

Ron blushed.

"Oh," Fleur said, smirking at him. "I see."

"Nothing like that," Ron protested. "It was just… do you remember the Yule Ball?"

"Yes…"

"Well, once we had finished dancing and you had spent all of your allure on me, you just looked so happy in that moment… your smile… knowing that I had really helped you… it made me happy, too."

Fleur's smirk had morphed into a loving smile that she rarely used. "I was happy," she admitted. "It was a beautiful evening."

"You were beautiful," Ron said. "You still are of course—"

"Flatterer," Fleur accused him.

"—but I don't really remember much else of that evening other than you," he finished. "Except for my brothers, of course." Ron saw Fleur's scowl. "They've been much better this year, actually. They've kept their promise to not play jokes on the younger students, at least. Maybe becoming legal adults has finally matured them a little."

"I still 'aven't ruled out revenging myself upon them," Fleur said, still unhappy.

"Hey, you'll get no objection from me," Ron said. His dog Patronus came and settled into his lap and Ron prodded at the animated charm with his finger.

"Our time is almost up," Fleur said.

"Yeah," Ron agreed.

"But I've got enough time to play a few rapid games," Fleur said, tilting her mirror to show the chess set Ron had gifted her.

"Sounds good. I'll let you start as white." Ron said. "You free same time tomorrow?"

"Oui. Goodnight, Ron."

"Goodnight, Fleur."

Her angelic face disappeared and Ron snapped the mirror closed. He pulled his chess set that was linked to Fleur's towards him and began setting up the pieces. A moment later, Fleur played e4. Ron briefly debated whether he should play the Scandinavian, but in the end decided to just play e5. Without hesitation, Fleur played queen to h5.

Ron narrowed his eyes. "That cheeky little…"

Hermione Granger

Gryffindor Tower

Hogwarts

Scotland

Fleur Delacour

46-B Diagon Alley

London

Dear Fleur,

I'm sorry to say that Ron won't be able to join you for your regularly scheduled mirror call this evening as he is currently convalescing in the Hospital Wing.

Don't worry! He's alright, but he took a bit of a pummeling in the Quidditch game against Hufflepuff and Madam Pomfrey wants him to rest.

It seems that Hufflepuff had developed a strategy in response to Ron' preternatural Keeper skills. Unfortunately for Ron, it was just to constantly attack him with both Bludgers until he couldn't Keep any longer. The two new Beaters did their best, but even so, Ron only lasted fifteen minutes before he was knocked off his broom.

He had a couple of broken ribs, a slight concussion and a lot of bruising, but he should be fine to speak with you tomorrow.

Yours sincerely,

Hermione

"It was an… interesting tactic," Ron said, sitting up in the hospital bed. He still had a bandage wrapped around his head, but he was alert and talkative, so Fleur didn't seem to be too worried. "It's actually a foul to send Bludgers at the Keeper when the Quaffle isn't in the scoring area, so they conceded a bunch of penalties, but they quickly made a comeback after I was out of the game. Ginny went for an early Snitch catch, but he still only ended the game with us twenty points up. Ginnys a bit frustrated. Harry probably would have managed to catch it more quickly. Anyway, it means that Hufflepuff are only a single Snitch catch behind us with one game left and Ravenclaw are three-hundred and twenty points behind us with two games left, so in the end, the championship is still anyone's for the taking… except for Slytherin."

"Well, just so long as you're not giving up," Fleur said.

Ron hummed in agreement. "By the next game, the new Beaters will have a bit more experience and will know to look out for me. It depends on the Slytherin games with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, too, naturally."

"Naturally. Are they any good?"

Ron shrugged. "At least as good as the Slytherins. Did I ever mention how Malfoy got on the team? His dad bought seven Nimbus 2001s for everyone. They're good brooms, but three years old now and the 2001 was notoriously difficult to keep in good condition."

"But you want the Slytherins to do well, don't you? To keep the other teams' score low."

Ron frowned. "If you put it that way… even so, I think I oppose Slytherin on general principle. Especially when it comes to sport. Especially when it comes to Malfoy."

"I like a man 'oo likes to win," Fleur said.

"Yeah, well— Merlin's pants, Neville! What happened?" Ron had looked up from his conversation with Fleur to see Neville stumbling into the Hospital Wing, blood pouring down his face. "Sorry, Fleur. Got to go. Speak to you soon."

"Take care," Fleur said, then her face disappeared from the mirror.

"Hey, Ron," Neville said. "I'm alright. It probably looks worse than it is. Madame Pomfrey?"

Within a few minutes, Neville's nose had been straightened, repaired and he was sitting on the bed next to Ron's, drinking a Blood Replenishment Potion.

"It was Crabbe and Goyle," he said to Ron. "I was trying to get to the library, but they were waiting behind a corner and tripped me face first into the floor. I hit them with the Leg-locker Jinx so I could get away, but thought it best to come here."

"Okay," Ron said slowly. "But why were you running in the first place? Wasn't there—" Ron glanced up to check that Madame Pomfrey couldn't overhear them. "Wasn't there a DA meeting tonight?"

"Blimey!" Neville said, eyes wide. "I forgot that you weren't there, Ron. We got found out!"

"What?!" Ron almost jumped out of bed, only the threat of Madame Pomfrey keeping him under the covers. "You mean the DA? Where are the others? Harry and Hermione? Ginny?"

"I don't know," Neville said almost guiltily. "Some House Elf appeared halfway through tonight's meeting and gave Harry a warning. We all just legged it, but Umbridge and a bunch of Slytherins were already outside. I got away, after dealing with Crabbe and Goyle, but I was separated from the others."

Ron sat back down in his bed. There was nothing he could do now to help anyway. Certainly not without revealing his own participation in the group, nor without risking Madam Pomfrey's wrath. "I guess we'll just have to wait until morning to find out," he said. "I hope Harry isn't kicked out, at least."

But after Ron was released from the Hospital Wing the next morning, it wasn't Harry who was missing; it was Dumbledore.

Ron listened as Hermione filled him in on the details of the previous evening. He nodded along, shared his commiserations and joined the others in cursing Umbridge, but there was a constant concern for Harry at the back of his mind. Ron could see Harry was blaming himself as he stabbed at his sausages. It had been the worst year for Harry at Hogwarts, even more than the last year when Harry had to fight a dragon!

Ron's gaze moved along the table. Maybe he could do something to cheer Harry up.

"Thanks for setting this up, Ron," Harry said, floating above the grounds next to his best friend.

"No problem, mate," Ron replied, hovering beside him. Ron had had to borrow a younger student's broom for Harry, whose broom was still confiscated by Umbridge. "You looked like you needed to do something fun."

Harry made a lazy turn and Ron stayed with him. Ginny, Seamus, Dean, the twins and the rest of the Quidditch team were flying and playing and racing beneath them. "I have a feeling that things are going to get worse before they get better," Harry said eventually.

Ron let his gaze wander and he almost yelped in surprise when he saw Umbridge watching them from a window on the fourth floor, but Harry hadn't noticed and Ron wasn't going to tell him. Even from a distance, Ron could see the shrewd and calculated look on her toad-like face.

"I think you may be right," Ron said back to Harry.

"Welcome to the long anticipated final game of the 1996 Hogwarts Quidditch Cup!"

A roar of cheers met Lee Jordan's greeting. Absolutely every student in the school and almost every teacher (not Professor Binns, naturally) had turned up to watch. Ron had already thought that this year's matches had been some of the most dramatic since he had started school, after both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw thrashed Slytherin, the atmosphere in the castle became even more excited.

"Now, I'm sure everyone here is well aware of the current standings," Lee continued, "but just in case you're particularly dim—"

"Jordan…" McGonagall said warningly.

"I mean, just in case you've been sleeping under a rock, here are the current standings and their implications. Ravenclaw is currently in third place with six-hundred and ten points, Gryffindor is in second place with six-hundred and thirty points and currently in first place, with eight-hundred and twenty points, the highest score in the last thirty years, are Hufflepuff!"

There was another huge round of cheers from each of the three houses as Lee called out their scores. Ron wasn't sure if Lee was deliberately snubbing or being diplomatic towards the Slytherins by not mentioning their measly two-hundred and forty points. It hadn't been the lowest score for a team ever (which went to the Gryffindor team of 1857, who scored zero points all year when they forfeited all of their games in protest of the ban of serving wine at meals), but they hadn't caught a single Snitch and had only scored a single digit number of goals in each game.

"Which means," Lee said once the cheering had subsided, "that all three of these teams have a serious chance at winning the Quidditch Cup!"

Which, Ron thought, was a bit of a stretch in Hufflepuff's case. It would require either Ginny or Cho Chang to deliberately sacrifice their chance at winning the Cup in order to win the game. There had been a lot of hypothesising in the Gryffindor Common Room and there was a non-zero chance that, if the score were something like sixty points each and Ginny was about to catch the Snitch and win the Cup, Cho might go for the catch so that Ravenclaw would end up in second place. Their slim chances didn't seem to be keeping the Hufflepuff's spirits down though.

"As it stands, Gryffindor needs two-hundred points to win the Cup and Ravenclaw needs two-hundred and twenty. And here come the teams!"

Ron took a deep breath and followed the rest of the players out onto the field. All he needed to do was keep his head, then ultimate victory would be theirs.

"—and Weasley and Weasley!" Lee's voice reverberated around the stands. Ron gave a little wave as the crowd roared around him. Beside him, Ginny didn't wave. Her body was tense, but the expression she was wearing wasn't nervousness, it was almost angry. Ron followed her gaze to Cho, who was almost cowering under Ginny stare. It might have just been an ordinary Seeker rivalry, but Ron suspected it might have been more than that. After a moment, he gave a mental shrug. It may have just been that Cho's friend had ratted out the DA and it hardly mattered if it was something else.

Ron gave a start when the whistle sounded and he quickly concentrated and shot off towards the Gryffindor goalposts, Peakes right behind him. As a team, they felt more confident about the new Beaters' ability to keep Ron safe if Ravenclaw applied the same 'Bludger the Keeper' method that the Hufflepuffs had used, but that didn't account for any different ideas that the Ravenclaws might have come up with.

For the moment, however, Ron just surreptitiously put in his enchanted earplugs and turned to face the rest of the game. One of the Ravenclaw Chasers had won the Quaffle at the start of the game and was already winding up to throw. Ron deliberately relaxed and let his instincts take over. The Chaser pivoted at the last moment, shot, and…

"Save! Weasley ignored the dummy throw and made a confident catch." Ron almost dropped the Quaffle when he heard Lee's voice. Clearly whatever Silencing Charm he was using on his earplugs didn't interact properly with the Sonorous Charm Lee was using. Ron adjusted his grip and threw the Quaffle forward. "Now he passes upfield and Gryffindor has possession."

Ron let out a breath. The first save was always the hardest.

The Chasers began their scramble for superiority, but despite the skills and fervour of the girls, the Ravenclaws were winning more and more possession. One of them came up for another shot against Ron, but just before he shot, one of the Bludgers came out of nowhere, heading straight towards Ron. He twisted away and managed to make it miss his body, but it just caught the tip of his broom. The Ravenclaw Chaser scored while Ron struggled to get his broom under control.

"Come on, Peakes!" Ron exclaimed angrily.

"Sorry!" The second-year apologised.

The game had restarted, but Ron's broom was still struggling. He waved to get Angelina's attention and signalled to call for a timeout.

"It's not good," Alicia said, two minutes later on the ground. "It'll take hours to realign all the charms."

There were groans all around.

"Should we switch brooms?" Katie suggested.

"No," Ron said. "Everyone else needs a properly working broom more than the Keeper. I'll manage, but please try and finish the game quickly."

It had been one of the longest sixty minutes of Ron's life. The Gryffindor Chasers were great, but the Ravenclaw team had brought out their best performance and then some. The younger boys were trying their best, but the Ravenclaw Beaters had years of experience over them. The Gryffindor Chasers could hardly hold the Quaffle for a moment before a Bludger would be streaking towards them and the Ravenclaws took advantage of it. Ron hardly got a moment to relax the whole time, with shot after shot coming at him. What's more, is that they had found out how to get goals past him.

They must have been practising it all the time, because their play was worthy of the professional leagues. When they had possession, their three Chasers would cluster together and pass the ball to one of them, then they would all make dummy shots at Ron's three hoops. It turned his one in three chance at prediction, which he could make easily, to a one in nine chance, where he was essentially no better than anybody else. It didn't help that Ron was constantly struggling with his broom and he could still see the Slytherins jeering at him, even if he couldn't hear them. Ravenclaw took a strong lead and quickly pulled ahead and had almost overtaken Hufflepuff with goals alone.

Eventually though, as they entered the second hour, the girls, with some of the quickest passing that Ron had ever seen them do, had managed to slip their fifth goal past the Ravenclaw Keeper.

"Goal!" Lee screamed. "Ravenclaw one-hundred and ninety, Gryffindor fifty! Now either team will win the Quidditch Cup if their Seeker catches the Snitch."

The Gryffindor spectators' cheers almost drowned out the cries of dismay from the Hufflepuffs, who were now limited to only second place, maybe even third if the game dragged on.

Ginny didn't seem to want the game to drag on though, as she could be seen frantically searching for the Snitch. She had twice already had to body block Cho from making a catch and ending the game in Ravenclaw's favour, but now she was free to go for the Snitch herself. Luckily, she had more than just skill in her favour. Angelina had petitioned McGonagall, who had petitioned the… headmistress… to have Harry's Firebolt returned to him, with the promise that he wouldn't fly it. Umbridge had initially refused, but McGonagall had threatened to go to the Board of Governors and even to file a report for stolen property and without a specific law on her side, Umbridge had reluctantly conceded. Now Ginny was rocketing around the pitch on the top of the line broom.

Ron made one more save and let in two more goals before Ginny shot past him at top speed. His earplugs stopped him from hearing the roaring of the crowd, but he could feel the hundreds of screams reverberating through his body.

He looked ahead of Ginny and saw the glint of gold in the centre of the field. He could also see Cho approaching the Snitch from the opposite direction and both Bludgers shooting towards them. Ron's heart almost jumped out of his throat, due to both concern for his sister and excitement that they might win, but just when both Seekers and both Bludgers were all about to collide, Ginny made a dramatic spin, with just one hand on the Firebolt, the other hand darting through the air to catch the Snitch from right in front of Cho. They were both immediately struck by a Bludger each, but no one in the crowd seemed to care about that.

"Weasley makes an incredible catch! Gryffindor gets a hundred and fifty points and ends the game. Ravenclaw win, two-hundred and ten to two-hundred, but Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup with eight-hundred and thirty points, and tied for second place, just one goal behind them are Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff!"

It was the most ridiculous chain of events that anyone could imagine. Ginny had caught the Snitch, but lost the game, but won the Cup. Ron pulled out his earplugs as he sped towards Ginny and was assailed by cheering that out the crowd at the World Cup Final to shame.

"Ginny!" Ron cried, landing beside her. "Are you alright?"

Ginny nodded at him, but she was holding her fist, still with the Snitch clutched inside against her abdomen. "I'm okay," she wheezed.

"Sounds like broken ribs," Katie said, rushing up behind them. "Don't jump on her!" she then shouted at the rest of the team as they approached. "She's hurt."

The Ravenclaws were clustered around Cho and the crowd had sensed the atmosphere among the players, but they all cheered again when Ginny waved the Snitch above her head.

Madam Pomfrey tried to rush both her and Cho straight to be Hospital Wing, but they had both emphatically insisted on being present for the awarding of the Quidditch Cup. The moment was slightly soured by Umbridge being the one to give them the Cup, and she appeared to make a remark of some sort to Angelina as she did, but the seventh-year just ignored her and waved the Cup above her head. The whole team, Harry and the twins included, took a turn holding the Cup before Angelina gave it to McGonagall.

Ron rushed up to his dorm before the party started in the Common Room and played g4, a predetermined message to mean that they had won. He would fill Fleur in properly later, but for the time being, there were celebrations to be made.

The next day was a Sunday and the Gryffindors had partied late into the night the previous evening, so the Gryffindor table was unusually quiet the next morning. Despite everything, Ron woke up early and found himself sitting next to Harry and Hermione for breakfast.

"It's strange it being just the three of us again," Hermione said, buttering her toast. "Not that I mind Ginny sitting with us, of course," she added.

"Madam Pomfrey gave her a pretty strong set of potions for her broken ribs," Harry said. "She said that Ginny might sleep in."

"Oh, right," Hermione said, sitting up. "I just remembered that I had a Quidditch related question."

"It only took five years," Ron said to Harry. "But we've finally got her interested in the noble wizarding sport."

"Do you want to try out for Chaser next year?" Harry asked her with a grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes dramatically. "I was wondering," she said emphatically, "what would have happened if Ginny had caught the Snitch a goal earlier."

"And what, if the Cup had ended up as a three-day tie?" Harry asked. "In that case it comes down to… is it who has more Snitch catches or more goals scored?" Harry asked Ron.

"Goals scored," Ron said. "Which would have meant that Gryffindor would have come third, instead of first. If that still results in a draw, then I think that it comes down to the number of fouls committed, which would probably mean that Ravenclaw would have won. Yeah, we definitely won by the skinniest part of the skin of our teeth."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Well, at least this sporting nonsense is over and we can focus properly on our OWLs."

Ron groaned. "Hermione, that's still weeks away."

"Exactly! Only weeks! Now, I've made revision timetables for all of us, so we can focus our efforts properly. I've had to make some guesses about Divination, because I don't study it anymore and also…"

Ron caught Harry's eye as they listened to Hermione go on and they both smothered grins. Despite everything going on outside of school and the actions of Umbridge in the castle, Hermione fretting about exams was a comforting constant. OWLs might even end up as a nice distraction. Ron couldn't imagine anything terrible happening during them.