Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's Note: These stories are all one-shot, 1000-word responses to the Summer Writing Series Challenge, so each one is not related to the next.

Summer Writing Series Challenge (July 12)
Challenge: Single Story Week: Harry/Hermione receives an anonymous gift/card/letter that they think is from the other...but it's not...
Challenge Conditions: Each day we'll post a challenge topic as usual, but each consecutive day you will continue your story from the day before...and on Friday you'll have a 6000+ word story that flows from beginning to end and includes each of the daily challenges as given.
Title: Quidditch and Quills
Word Count: 1,014

The orange sun rose slowly over the dew-moistened grass, bathing the grounds of Hogwarts in a warm, glowing haze. Softly-chirping birds chased away the silence of the night, and the fresh scent of heather wafted through the air. Sunlight's first rays danced on the surface of the lake, adding just a touch of motion to the picturesque scene. It was simply a perfect morning; like a beautiful landscape painting. Nothing could have been more different from the scene inside the castle.

It was Saturday and the Great Hall was filled with students, noisily enjoying their breakfast and discussing the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. A group of girls at the Ravenclaw table giggled shrilly at an inside joke as a Hufflepuff boy chased a girl from his class around the entrance doors. At the Gryffindor table, the seventh year boys were anteing up bets on a game of exploding snap, while their red-headed classmate was busy downing a plate of sausages and eggs.

"Bacon," Ron said gruffly.

Though it wasn't a question, Harry knew his best friend well enough to understand that, if he wouldn't mind, Ron would like the bacon passed to him, please-and-thank-you-very-much. He handed the plate across the table without looking up from the paper he was studying, and heard a muffled "'nks" in reply.

Harry nodded silently and set the plate back down. "So two of our Chasers come up from beneath their Chaser - who has the Quaffle - with our third Chaser just above…," he said surveying the paper. "And the Beaters are…over there. Yes…yes that might work...."

"I 'fought sho," Ron said through a mouthful of bacon.

"Morning!"

Harry glanced sideways briefly and saw a chipper Hermione sit down beside him.

"Morning," he said, looking back to the play sheet.

A muffled, "Mmm'nn," came from across the table.

"Mmm! This smells so good…I'm famished!" Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione helping herself to some eggs and toast. "Could you pass the jam, please, Harry?"

He reached over blindly and grabbed for the jam jar, accidentally sticking his finger into it, and handed it to her, his eyes never leaving the paper. He absentmindedly put his strawberry finger into his mouth and let out a, "Hmmm."

"Thank you. What's that you've got?"

"Quidditch plays," he said, still concentrating on the little X's and O's. "Ron's drawn up some new moves he wants to try." He felt her move closer and look over his shoulder.

"It might be better if the Beaters came from this direction," she said, pointing out the modification. "Then you've got them surrounded, and the only way out is up into…"

"…The path of our Chaser. That's brilliant!" Harry said excitedly, finally taking his eyes from the paper. He turned to smile at Hermione and came nose to nose with her; he'd forgotten that she was leaning over his shoulder.

She was just inches away, and his eyes were immediately drawn to her lips…her soft, pink lips...but they quickly traveled up over her nose and stopped at her eyes…those deep brown eyes…which seemed to hold the same expression of shock and…well, he wasn't quite sure what the other part was, but it looked like the same thing that he felt certain she was seeing in his eyes…the thing that was making his stomach feel all tingly inside.

A second later, although he'd have sworn time had frozen completely, they both pulled back. Harry quickly looked away, his eyes meeting with Ron's, and he heard Hermione laugh quietly. Ron's brow furrowed briefly, before he glanced back down at his plate and picked up a sausage.

"Sorry," she laughed apologetically.

"It's fine," Harry heard himself say. Realizing that he was still in a daze, he shook free of it and smiled. "That's a great idea about the Beaters. What do you think, Ron?"

Ron looked from Harry to Hermione and back again with his mouth pursed tightly. He swallowed, and then shrugged. "Sure. We can try it."

"Since when do you know so much about Quidditch plays?" Harry asked teasingly as Hermione spread the jam onto her toast.

"Well, I have been to twenty or so games, you know…including the World Cup. You may not believe it, but I do actually pay attention to what's happening," she said with a slight grin, then took a bite of toast.

Harry smiled at her and shook his head. Even after all these years, she still surprised him from time to time. He watched her lick a bit of jam from the edge of her mouth and subconsciously licked his own lips. Ron made a snorting noise from across the table.

"You alright over there?" Harry asked with a laugh, tearing his eyes from Hermione to look at his friend, completely oblivious to why Ron was snorting at him.

Ron just raised his eyebrows and grinned. "Fine, mate. So, erm…about those Quidditch plays…." They continued to discuss Quidditch while Hermione finished her breakfast.

"Hermione, it's Saturday," Ron said when Hermione took out a quill and some parchment a few minutes later. "You don't have to do homework today."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm just making a list of things to get in Hogsmeade, Ron. Besides, I've got all my homework finished."

Harry grinned at Ron's bewildered expression and glanced over at Hermione. She was writing with a handsome gold-tipped quill he'd never seen before.

"Is that new?" he asked curiously. She nodded. "It's nice. Where'd you get it?"

She held it up and admired it, smiling. "It was a gift."

"Really?" He looked closer. "From who?"

"I don't know, actually. There was no note with it," she said, leaning slightly in to him.

"Huh." Harry furrowed his brow in thought. "Wonder who'd give you that?"

"Ginny thought it might be from an admirer," she grinned.

"You sure it wasn't jinxed or anything?" he asked seriously.

Her eyes studied him. "Fairly sure," she replied, her smile fading slightly.

"Well, be careful with things like that. You never know…"

"Yeah," she said, putting it and the list away. "I will."