Chapter 24

Hermione POV

About a week had gone by, and Hermione had yet to see Juliette since their encounter in the woods after the First Task. She'd been a bit preoccupied with not only her own schoolwork that had been piling up, but Ron and Harry's as well, especially Ron's. Ever since he had started dating Lavender, he spent all of his time outside of class either snogging the girl or trying to impress her out on the Quidditch pitch. Unfortunately, neither had done wonders for his studies. Hermione had taken to helping the boys with their work in the Gryffindor Common Room, then doing her own work in the library. She found that she could get more done that way, especially when Krum sat with her.

"Am I okay to sit vith you again, Herm-own-ninny?" Krum asked as he walked up to Hermione's usual table.

"Viktor, you know you don't have to keep asking me. You're always more than welcome to sit with me." Hermione smiled up at Krum, receiving an uninspired smile in return.

"Thank you," he said as he sat down and began reading a book, this one about Merpeople. Hermione was taking a break from her studies to catch up on the Daily Prophet.

"Viktor, there's an article about the First Task in here!" Hermione told him excitedly.

"Yes, my headmaster vos showing me this morning…" he responded unenthusiastically.

"Did you read it?"

"No. I do not think highly of vot the Rita Skeeter voman is haffing to say," he said firmly.

"Oh? Why not?"

"Ven she vos interviewing us, it vos seeming like she did not care how vell ve vere doing in the tournament. She vos only looking for drama and dirt, especially vith me. I do not respect that."

Hermione nodded, "That's completely fair, I'm sorry about that Viktor. It doesn't seem like she wrote much about you, just about how you finished in first place. You were brilliant, by the way. Everyone was on the edge of their seats watching you maneuver around the dragon's legs!"

"It vos not supposed to be that dramatic. It vos fine." Krum shrugged, returning to his book.

Hermione continued reading the article, noting that Viktor was right in the way Rita Skeeter reported on the First Task. Viktor and Fleur had a few sentences each on them, while Cedric had a lengthy paragraph, mostly about his relationship with Cho Chang. I'm sure Harry will love that… Hermione thought to herself. She put the Daily Prophet aside, and went back to her studying. Once Madam Pince had escorted the two of them out of the library, Hermione bid Krum goodbye and headed off towards Gryffindor Tower. It was late, so she was hurrying to try to get back when

- CRASH –

Turning a corner, she had collided hard with someone who was also apparently in a rush. She looked over at the other body on the ground and saw long red hair splayed out on the stone floor.

"Ginny?"

"Sorry Hermione! I was out on the Quidditch pitch doing some last-minute training and – "

"What? In the dark?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes… It's important to train in any and all conditions…" Ginny explained.

"Well, couldn't you wait until the spring or summer when at least it's warm out? It's freezing out there right now!"

"Actually, I couldn't wait. I'm training with Juliette tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure I was ready," Ginny said nervously.

"Oh…"

"Yeah…"

"What time are you training?"

"We agreed on 4 pm. Should give us enough time to get a good amount of work in before dinner. Why? Are you coming?"

"Yes, if that's okay with you."

"Of course it is Hermione!" Ginny smiled. "It's been ages since you've shown up to a training."

Hermione gave her a small smile in return, "I know, I'm sorry, I've just been busy with my studies, plus trying to keep Ron afloat with his and – "

"You don't have to apologize. I'm just glad you'll be there. Come on, it's late. Let's get up to the common room." The two started walking towards the common room, chatting away and catching up on the past week. Once they arrived to the empty common room, they walked up the staircase and stopped outside their dormitories.

"Well, see you tomorrow! Goodnight, Hermione," Ginny gave Hermione a smile then entered her dormitory.

"Goodnight, Ginny" Hermione said softly, also walking into her dormitory.

Well, that wasn't so bad, was it? Maybe this new thing with Juliette will work after all? A little less time with Ginny, a little more time with Juliette, maybe it really will work? Hermione thought as she changed into a jumper and joggers and climbed into her bed. She breathed deeply and smiled, hoping she was right.

Ginny POV

Ginny was up at the crack of dawn, filled with anticipation for the day ahead. She was finally going to fly with Juliette. Maybe learn a thing or two, maybe show the girl up, regardless, today was the day that she broke through the anxiety and fear she had for Juliette and face it head on like a true Gryffindor. Unfortunately, she had about ten hours to get through until then, and she had a feeling they'd move by exceedingly slowly.

Once 4 pm rolled around, Ginny grabbed her broom and headed out to the Quidditch pitch. It would only be Gryffindor players or Gryffindor hopefuls today, along with Juliette. Demelza, Ritchie, and Colin (with his camera) all met her just off of the Great Hall and walked to the Quidditch pitch together. Once they got to the pitch they warmed up, flew a few laps around the stadium, and started training a bit. Angelina, as usual, was in charge, flanked by Katie and Alicia. Fred and George were there, not taking much of anything seriously, but still trying their best. Harry and Ron were there, Harry very comfortable and calm, Ron the complete opposite. No matter how many of the training sessions Ron had attended, he was still just as nervous, if not more so, than the first one he showed up at. A burly fifth year named Cormac McLaggen also had his sights set on being the Gryffindor Keeper, and had belittled Ron at every opportunity he'd had. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan were there as well, Chaser hopefuls, as well as a few other Gryffindors looking to make impressions on Angelina for next season. Everyone was extra punctual and energetic today as by now they'd all heard about Juliette Marat coming out to fly with them.

Demelza pulled up to Ginny at a break, followed by Ritchie who had flown over from where he was working with Fred and George.

"Do you think she forgot?" Demelza asked.

"My guess is that she's aiming to be fashionably late…" Ginny muttered, "Wanting to make an entrance no doubt."

No sooner were the words out of Ginny's mouth did Juliette arrive, swaggering onto the pitch holding her Firebolt. She walked to the center, then looked up, expectantly. Everyone flew down to where she stood on the pitch, landed, and introduced themselves. After the introductions, Juliette spoke to the group.

"Ginny 'ere requested zat I come out 'ere and work with 'er and ze rest of ze Gryffindor team," Juliette said confidently.

"Uh Juliette? I'm not actually on the team," Ginny admitted, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly

"Not yet," Juliette smirked at Ginny. "First, I would like to see what ze Gryffindor team 'as got. Feel free to continue whatever you were doing before, I will fly around and observe, and will jump in if I am finding it necessary to do so." The group nodded, before they all kicked off the ground up into the air.

The vibe on the Quidditch pitch had changed significantly, and every single person out there was trying to impress Juliette. Ginny was trying her best to lay low, keeping what Krum had told her about getting Juliette to underestimate her in the back of her mind. As she worked an attack with Katie and Demelza, she wove in and out with great control, making sure not to go too fast. She passed to Demelza, who passed to Katie, who passed it back to Demelza. Ginny acted as a decoy for Demelza, streaking across the pitch in front of Angelina who went with her. Demelza faked the pass to Ginny, narrowly avoided the Bludger hit towards her by George, and scored just beyond Cormac's outstretched arm. Katie, Ginny, and Demelza celebrated up in the air, and for the first time Ginny noticed that Hermione was up in the stands, watching. She smiled and waved, Hermione waved back. She suddenly felt a presence coming towards her and Juliette shot past her and stopped, on a dime, blocking Hermione from her sight.

"Come 'ere, I want to talk with you," Juliette said, motioning for Ginny to fly over to her. "You were great as a decoy zere, but you need to take more control of ze game. Are you wanting to be a great teammate, or are you wanting to be a great star?" Juliette asked her, genuinely.

"Can't I be both?" Ginny asked.

"You can, but not like zis. I can see already zat you are a much better flyer zan Demelza, zan most of ze players out 'ere. You are lacking ze speed and aggression necessary, sometimes it is okay to be a little selfish. Go, show me somezing," Juliette challenged Ginny.

Ginny went to work, but still held some back. She swapped with Demelza, taking more control over the Quaffle. She passed to Katie, who passed to Demelza, who passed it back to Ginny. They wove in and out, Ginny gathering more and more speed. She flew directly at an incoming Dean and Seamus, then dipped the last second, sending the two boys crashing into each other. She then juked out Cormac, sending him flying past the hoops, then calmly tossed the Quaffle through the one furthest from him. Everyone but Cormac cheered at this, even Juliette applauded Ginny's efforts.

"Juliette, why don't you come in for the boys?" Ginny suggested, motioning to Dean and Seamus who had flown to the grown wincing and looking to take a break.

"Sure, I would love to fly with Angelina and Alicia," she said, offering a smile to the two Chasers. They blushed slightly, then refocused.

Juliette grabbed hold of the Quaffle, and Ginny immediately reminded herself that she'd have to be smart, just as she was over the summer dealing with Harry on his Firebolt. She knew Juliette would be much faster than she would be, so she'd have to outsmart her, somehow.

Juliette flew in behind Alicia and Angelina, whispered something to the two of them, then they all shot off in different directions. Alicia took a hard left, Angelina took a hard right, and Juliette flew straight up before flipping upside down and allowing her speed to slingshot her back towards her own goalposts. As she came right side up, Alicia and Angelina joined her, and they flew directly at the opposing goalposts in the Hawkshead Attacking Formation. Fred and Ritchie hit a Bludger each at them, Juliette dodged both with ease. Demelza and Katie tried to interfere by flying alongside the trio, trying to bump Angelina or Alicia out of position, but they wouldn't budge. Ginny was flying along the bottom of the pitch, when she was suddenly had an idea. She sped up, pushing as fast as she could, flying towards the base of her own goalposts. Just before she hit them, she looked up, knew her timing was just about right, and shot herself straight up towards Ron. As the trio got closer, they wove just a bit to shake off Demelza and Katie, and Juliette wound up to shoot. As she shot, Ginny blew past her, intercepting the Quaffle. Once she realized what had happened, Juliette immediately changed route and sped after Ginny, who was now flying towards Cormac and the opposing hoops as fast as she could. Juliette caught her quickly and bumped Ginny hard in an attempt to get the Quaffle to drop, but Ginny had braced herself and kept a strong hold on the Quaffle. As Juliette wound up to try again, Ginny reacted too early, and braced herself for a bump that wasn't actually coming, as Juliette had faked it to throw Ginny off. In bracing herself for another hard hit, Ginny had thrown all of her weight at Juliette, but Juliette had backed off, throwing Ginny off balance and causing her to lose her grip on her broom. Ginny slipped off, dropping the Quaffle, just barely hanging onto her broom with one hand. Juliette pulled hard on her broom and quickly dove to try and grab Ginny, but it was too late, Ginny hadn't been able to hold on. Ginny was falling fast, and before anyone could do anything, she had hit the ground, hard.

Hermione POV

Hermione had just finally made it to the Quidditch pitch and had settled into her seat up in the center of the stands. She was a bit late as she had to grab a heavier sweater and a cloak, temperatures had dropped significantly since the First Task had concluded and didn't feel like they'd be coming back up anytime soon. She watched the Gryffindors fly around for a while, of course watching Ginny more than most. Her flying really had improved since she'd gotten back to Hogwarts, and Hermione was impressed, knowing how much work Ginny had been putting in. As everyone began to fly down to the pitch, she saw Juliette walking in, and she felt her pulse quicken. She was wearing a light blue Quidditch sweater, with cream pants. Her hair was plaited back into three delicate rows that were tied back with a light blue ribbon. She strode in with confidence, and Hermione couldn't keep her eyes off her.

The group down below spoke for a while, then everyone flew up into the air again, this time much more intensely than before Juliette had arrived. She watched as Ginny worked with Demelza and Katie, noting that Ginny had seemingly taken a bit of a back seat to the other two. Hermione smiled as she remembered what Viktor had suggested to Ginny, and wondered when Ginny would reveal her true talent to Juliette. Demelza scored, and the three Chasers were celebrating when Ginny spotted Hermione. She smiled and waved, and Hermione did the same. Suddenly, in place of Ginny was Juliette's back. The two spoke for a while, then Ginny shot off to rejoin Demelza and Katie. Juliette turned in the air and looked at Hermione, raising an eyebrow at her expectantly. Hermione hadn't seen Juliette since the night in the woods after the First Task, and she blushed at the memory of them snogging late into the evening. Juliette gave her a quick wink, then turned back to observe the play at hand.

Ginny was flying much more aggressively now, weaving in and out of Demelza and Katie. She was headed straight for Dean and Seamus, who didn't seem to know what to do. At the last second, she dodged them, sending them crashing into each other. Ginny then faked out Cormac, and easily scored on him. Everyone applauded, and Hermione found that she had jumped to her feet to clap for the redhead. As Dean and Seamus flew slowly down to the grass, Hermione assumed training would be over as they no longer had enough Chasers to fill both sides, but then she saw Juliette flying over and talking to Alicia and Angelina.

Well, I guess I finally get to see the famous Juliette Marat fly, Hermione thought. That, she definitely did. As Juliette took off, she soared straight up before allowing her momentum to take her upside down towards Cormac. Hermione's jaw dropped. She was reminded of what Ginny had said about Viktor during the Quidditch World Cup, it looked as if Juliette and her broom were one, that's how effortlessly and beautifully she flew. As she came right-side up, she burst forward towards Ron with Alicia and Angelina at her side. Hermione thought that surely, they would score, and easily, as Ron could in no way be any match for Juliette. Hermione saw a flash of streaming long red hair flying straight up underneath Ron. Hermione gasped, sure that Ginny would crash into Ron, when she saw Ginny fly directly in front of an attacking Juliette and intercept the Quaffle. Hermione's jaw dropped again. Ginny had anticipated, to the millisecond, the window in which she could get the Quaffle from Juliette. Juliette had taken off after Ginny, and had bumped the girl hard to try to get the Quaffle back. As she wound for another bump, it looked like Ginny had miscalculated the timing of bracing herself against Juliette, and suddenly she was plummeting to the ground.

- THUD –

"GINNY!" Hermione cried, running down her row in the stands to get down to the pitch. Her fellow Gryffindors were already speeding towards the ground to get to the girl. Once Hermione had made it to the crowd, she pushed her way through to where the Weasleys, Harry, and Demelza were trying to attend to Ginny. Ginny was lying unconscious, and she had a noticeable bump just off to the right of the base of her neck. Demelza was grasping Ginny's left hand, tears in her eyes. George had gone running off to get Madam Pomfrey from the Hospital Wing, while Fred, Ron, and Harry knelt beside Ginny. Harry stood as he saw Hermione.

"She's breathing, so she's just knocked out," Harry told Hermione. He put an arm around her shoulders, "She'll be okay. Madam Pomfrey is brilliant with this kind of stuff. Quidditch accidents happen all the time, she'll be okay Hermione," he tried to reassure Hermione, but the tears had already started. She shook him off and spun around, directly into the person she was looking for. Juliette was standing there, holding Ginny's Comet 260. Hermione snatched the broom from the girl's hand and tossed it at Harry.

"You should go," Hermione said furiously, making sure to keep her voice down so only Juliette could hear her.

"'Ermione, zat was purely an accident. I did not mean for 'er to fall, I was just – "

"You were pushing her too hard! She doesn't have the experience or build that you have, it was too much! And now…" Hermione sobbed, failing to keep her emotions in.

"'Ermione, I am sorry. Come 'ere," Juliette took a step towards Hermione, but Hermione simultaneously took a step away from her.

"No, Juliette, just go," Hermione said as forcefully as she could muster.

"'Ermione, please – "

"Go!" Hermione urged angrily, still trying to keep her voice from reaching anyone but Juliette. Juliette looked at her stony-faced, except for the slight flicker of sadness that Hermione caught in her hazel eyes before she turned to walk away.

Hermione turned back to the group to check on Ginny. Nothing had changed. She was still lying there, helpless, her body crumpled on the ground. Hermione could feel tears of both anger and fear spilling down her cheeks. As soon as she saw Madam Pomfrey rushing to the pitch with George, she left. She ran out of the Quidditch stadium, and headed for the mostly deconstructed arena of the First Task. Once she got there, she leaned against the rock wall of the tunnel leading into the arena, sank to the ground, and sobbed. She was so angry with Juliette for pushing Ginny past what she should have. She was terrified that Ginny was seriously hurt. She was sad about the whole thing. She fought to keep her eyes open, because when she closed them all she could see was Ginny plummeting towards the pitch, her body flipping around in the air. It was horrible. Hermione tried to slow herself down and rationalize what had happened.

Harry's right, Madam Pomfrey is brilliant, she will be able to take care of Ginny. You've seen worse things happen to Harry during Quidditch matches, and he's just fine. Ginny will be alright. She'll be just fine.

Hermione focused on those thoughts, trying to convince herself they were true. Her emotions were refusing to let her think truly rationally though, as it became nearly impossible to get herself to calm down enough to breathe and think as clearly as she'd like. She heard footsteps coming from outside the tunnel. She stood, and drew her wand, waiting for whoever or whatever it was to show itself. A head of messy dark hair and glasses came into view.

"Harry!" Hermione cried as she lowered her wand, "What are you doing?"

"I saw you run off this way, so I came to check on you." Hermione rushed forward to wrap Harry in a hug.

"Is she okay?" Hermione asked in a muffled whisper.

"She's going to be just fine. They've already got her up in the Hospital Wing. She's got a broken collar bone and hadn't woken up yet when they'd started taking her to the Hospital Wing, but Madam Pomfrey was certain she'd be fine. There's nothing to worry about Hermione, she'll be okay," he reassured her as she clung to him tight. They separated and Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Thank you, Harry, for coming up here," Hermione said still trying to dry her face.

"Of course, Hermione. So, what did you say to Juliette?" he asked.

Hermione stared at him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I saw you talking to her. You know, she tried to save Ginny during the fall, and if Ginny hadn't thrown her momentum off so significantly, Juliette probably would have been able to stop her from falling. I don't think anyone else would've gotten that close to grabbing her, it was impressive how quickly she was able to process what was happening and try and react," Harry said earnestly.

Hermione stared at him conflicted, lips pursed. She hadn't noticed Juliette trying to save Ginny, all she had seen was the redhead falling to the ground.

"It doesn't matter. She shouldn't have been pushing Ginny that hard. She's nearly a professional Quidditch player, and Ginny – "

"Ginny flew brilliantly today, and had one miscalculation. Juliette didn't do anything wrong, Hermione," Harry stated, raising his eyebrows at the girl.

Hermione glowered at him, "If Juliette hadn't been so condescending to Ginny in the first place, then she'd never had been flying as fast or hard as she was, and she wouldn't have gotten hurt," she said sternly.

"Hermione, you don't know that. Don't punish Juliette for Ginny's accident. It's part of the game. Ginny will be alright and Juliette tried to catch her. You're making it a much bigger deal than it – "

"She could've gotten really hurt!" Hermione interrupted, the tears coming back into her eyes, "It was horrible to watch!"

"I know… But Hermione, it's something that you're going to have to get used to, because Ginny very clearly has an incredibly successful Quidditch career waiting for her if she wants it. Just take some time and relax. Ginny will be fine and Juliette is not to blame. Don't make this out to be something it's not. Okay?" Harry wiped a few tears from Hermione's face as she glared at him.

"Fine… Let's go."

"Sounds great, it's freezing up here!"

The two made their way back down the mountainside towards the castle. They stopped by the Hospital Wing. Most of the Gryffindor Quidditch players had already gone, just the twins, Ron, and Demelza were still there. Ginny was awake. She looked tired and her right arm was in a sling, but other than that she appeared to be herself. The four who were seated around her bed cleared out so Hermione and Harry could sit down. Demelza kissed Ginny goodnight, and the four of them set off towards Gryffindor Tower. Ginny looked up at the two of them from her pillow, she looked so small.

"So…" she started, weakly, "Think I impressed her?" she smirked. Harry laughed and ruffled Ginny's hair lightly, but Hermione glared at her.

"Ginny Weasley, never scare me like that ever again! What were you thinking with that move?" Hermione asked sternly.

"Yeah, how did you come up with that? That was sheer brilliance, Gin, snatching the Quaffle from Juliette last second!" Hermione elbowed Harry hard at this, making Ginny laugh. She stopped immediately as it was clearly causing her pain.

"I dunno… Just thought of it in the moment, I guess," Ginny smiled softly. "Hermione, you know I'm going to be okay, right? Madam Pomfrey said I only need to wear the sling overnight to keep my collarbone in place as it heals, then I can go in the morning."

"I know, I know… You just… You scared me Ginny…" Hermione stared at the girl, and Ginny stared right back.

"Hey, I'm going to go catch up with Ron and the others to discuss the training today. I'll see you tomorrow, Ginny? Brilliant flying today, just an absolute clinic that was," he grinned broadly down at Ginny, offering her a high five to her left hand. "Hermione, I'll see you back in the common room," and with that, he left. The two girls resumed staring at each other, before Ginny broke the silence.

"You're not really mad at me, are you?" Ginny asked weakly.

Hermione sighed, "No Ginny, I'm not. I was just, scared. I never considered that you playing Quidditch would mean that you would be in those kind of intense situations…"

"Oh and I almost had her too! Almost outsmarted her, but in the end, she got me. Not too bad for a little third year though, huh?" Ginny smiled up at Hermione, giving the brunette her best crooked smile.

"You're right…" Hermione said quietly.

"What? What is it?" Ginny asked gently.

"Ginny was that satisfactory for you, in facing your fears with Juliette? Can you be done with her now? Because I'd like – "

"What? No way! I have to beat her! This was a fluke, I can definitely beat her!" Ginny argued, trying to sit up before the pain in her collarbone forced her back down.

"Ginny… Listen to me. You nearly got the best of someone who was one spot off of a national Quidditch team. You have shown that you are an amazing Quidditch player and that you can compete with her. I think… I think it's time that you and I both say goodbye to her and move past her… If we see her, we don't interact with her, we just ignore her. Alright?"

"What? Hermione, I – "

"Ginny, please… I don't trust her… I want to keep you safe. I think if you were up against anyone else you wouldn't have gone that hard and you might not have fallen. Please… Can we just really do our best to cut her out?" Hermione asked imploringly, tears welling up in her eyes once again.

"Okay Hermione… Okay," Ginny agreed. "You really think I can compete with her?"

"Yes Ginny, you were amazing out there today. I was incredibly impressed…" Hermione admitted.

Ginny beamed at her and took her hand, squeezing it gently, "Thanks for being there. It really meant a lot to have you up in the stands again."

Hermione looked down at the redhead with soft eyes, electricity pulsing from her hand out through the rest of her body, "Of course, Ginny. What are friends for?"