Story: Stress
Chapter: 20
Rating of Chapter: PG-13
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The only things I own are the plot, any characters, spells etc that you do not recognize.
Author Notes: This chapter is written a little differently to others, it focuses on different characters stories. It will be simply separated with a ***. This may be the way the rest of the story is written but I am not yet sure. We may even get into the mind of some of the other characters, but you'll have to wait and see. At the bottom of this chapter there are a couple of snippets of info about the sequel.
Chapter 20: Seeking a Seeker
After Dumbledore had announced that Ron had died and then come back to life, the school heaved a huge sigh of relief, although they had been very confused. Most of them had been called back early from their Christmas break.
Ron was sitting outside with Harry and Hermione when he saw his mum and dad walking up towards him. He sat up and Mrs Weasley pulled him into her arms.
"Oh Ron, I'm so glad you are alright. Hello Harry dear, hello Hermione," gasped Mrs Weasley, barely pausing for breath.
"Harry…Hermione," said Mr Weasley, shaking their hands.
"Harry, I have to go, I have things to do," said Hermione. She quickly walked away, leaving Harry and Mr Weasley alone.
"So Harry, any new eklectric appliances come out over the summer?"
"Err…yeah, I think there were some new four slice toasters," lied Harry.
Mr Weasley gasped, "And does it work…with a plug?" he asked. Harry nodded and quickly turned his attention to Mrs Weasley.
"Come on Arthur, we should leave these two to their studies, I am glad you are all right dear," Mrs Weasley said, pulling Ron into another tight hug. "Tell Ginny we stopped by."
"I will," moaned Ron. Once the two Weasley's were out of sight, he turned his attention to Harry. "Parent's can be so embarrassing."
***
Hermione made her way to up the Grand Staircase, once she got to the top she moved down a corridor until she was facing the door to Professor McGonagall's office. She knocked on the door.
"Come in," answered McGonagall. Hermione entered and noticed that the strict Professor didn't even raise her head to look. She was grading some papers, but she quickly looked up when Hermione dropped a huge heavy book on her desk. "What's this Miss Granger?" she asked.
"It's the official Quidditch rule book. I was reading through it and I think I have a way to get Harry out of his ban," she said confidently. "According to this book, a player must only be suspended if they attacked a player without first being provoked."
"And?"
"And…Harry was tugged on the robes by Draco Malfoy. He told me himself, so I wondered if you could maybe put in a word at the Ministry Of Magic?"
McGonagall sighed deeply. "Miss Granger, dear, I understand that you want to help out your friend but…there is no proof that Mr Malfoy provoked Potter. And without evidence the Ministry won't give it a thought. If you can find me some proof I will gladly get in touch with the Department of Magical Games."
"Don't worry Professor, I have an idea," said Hermione thoughtfully. She turned and left, searching for the key to her plan.
***
Draco Malfoy sat quietly in the dark Slytherin Common room; Crabbe and Goyle were staring at him like he was an uneaten cupcake.
"What's your problem?" spat Draco.
"What's our problem? You are!" bellowed Goyle.
"Yeah, why were you helping Gryffindors?" blurted out Crabbe.
"I was doing the right thing," answered Draco confidently.
"Since when do you do the right thing?" Goyle asked.
"Since when do you ask questions?" replied Draco.
"Me and Crabbe were thinking…"
"I guess there is a first time for everything," butted in Draco sarcastically.
"We were thinking that we don't want to be friends with somebody who betrays the Dark Lord!"
"Ok," said Malfoy coolly. Crabbe and Goyle scowled at him, but Malfoy took no notice and walked by them, leaving the common room. He was on his way outside for the lunch break when a bushy haired girl stopped him. "Oh, it's you Granger," said Malfoy, continuing along, but she walked up quickly behind him.
"Malfoy, I need your help with something," she panted, having to walk faster to keep up with his pace.
"Sorry Granger, no time," he added, continuing along.
"Will you just stop for a moment," she pleaded. Malfoy turned sharply, startling her.
"Ok, what do you want?" he snapped.
"Umm…I just need you to help with Harry's Quidditch ban."
"Oh yeah, when he blindsided me in the nose…I didn't know he was banned."
"Well he is, and the only way I can get the ban lifted is if you…if you…"
"If I what?"
"If you admit to McGonagall that you pulled Harry's robes first."
"What! I'm not doing that, I might be thrown out of the game," he yelled.
"I'm sure you won't, I've been researching this rule book for the last week, if you just say that you provoked Harry into doing what he did, the ban will be dropped." Hermione was pleading so hard with him that she might as well be on her knees.
"Look, Granger, I understand where your coming from, but I don't think I can risk the chance of losing my place on the Slytherin team…sorry." With that, he turned and left Hermione to sit down on a bench in the busy corridor.
Why couldn't he agree, Harry doesn't deserve to be banned…I want to help him so badly, she thought to herself. She wiped her eyes slightly; the tears were just from sheer frustration of the whole year.
"Hi Herm," said Harry. He sat down next to her and put an arm around her neck. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…just tired," she lied. "Where's Ron?"
"He's up at the common room, I think Ginny took the news pretty hard, he's trying to be a good big brother."
Hermione opened her eyes wide. "Our Ron being a normal big brother? Whatever next?"
"Well he had to turn into a human at some point," replied Harry. They both laughed a little, and it was the first time they had really done so all year. "So, any news on tomorrow's Quidditch match?"
"Oh Harry, I've tried…but I don't think I can help you out any further with this, I'm really sorry."
"Don't beat yourself up about it Herm, I appreciate everything that you've done for me. I just don't know who to pick as a seeker, Neville hurt his back…he fell over at his Gran's. I think the only option is to forfeit…Ron already knows, he understands, so that's one team member who'll still like me afterwards."
"None of the team are going to dislike you just because you have to forfeit one game."
"Your probably right…I'm more annoyed at the minute, I would have loved to have beaten Cho to that snitch." Harry spat. "And this was my last chance, because this is her last year, although that's probably a good thing."
"No, it is a good thing," answered Hermione, smiling.
"Well," said Harry, standing up, he put out a hand to Hermione who gladly accepted, as he pulled her to her feet. "What do you want to do for the rest of the day? We still have one day left of the holidays."
"Well we are prefects, we could go into Hogsmeade?" questioned Hermione.
"Ok, Christmas Dinner on me," confirmed Harry.
*
They arrived in Hogsmeade at about 2:00pm, the ground was covered in snow, and the village was covered head to toe with Christmas lights and decorations. They walked into the Three Broomsticks and took a seat in the corner, when Madam Rosmerta came over to them. "Hello, Merry Christmas, what would you like to eat?"
"We'll have two Butterbeer's…and two Christmas Specials, thank you."
"Thank you for your order, your food and drink will arrive shortly."
Harry sat close next to Hermione in the small corner booth, the pub was not too crowded, as a lot of people were home for Christmas, and infact the Three Broomsticks was the only place that appeared to be open.
Once their meals had arrived, and they had squeezed down every last bit, they sat back and finished their Butterbeer. Harry put an arm around Hermione's waist and kissed her gently on the lips. "Merry Christmas, Hermione."
"Merry Christmas," she answered with a huge smile. "And Harry, you've made this Christmas just as special as what mine could have been. Thank you." She beamed at him, and he returned her smile.
"This is definitely my best Christmas, despite the hectic morning, everything else had worked out ok. Oh, and I have the best present too, that watch it certainly one of a kind." Hermione had had a watch specially made for Harry, it was made of black leather and told him where Hermione was. Harry looked into the eyes of the young woman he loved, and the usual thought popped into his head. God I'm lucky.
Author Notes: Well I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. I know there wasn't much happening in this chapter, so I hope you don't get too bored with it. I hope I've tidied some things up for Christmas, and I guess it's time to give you a few bits of info on the sequel.