Chapter One
Hidden Secrets
"PUDDLEMERE SCORES! And it's thirty to twenty with Puddlemere in the lead," shouted the commentator.
"Yes!" Harry did a loop in the air before resuming his search for the golden Snitch. A glint of gold…could it be? Yes, the Snitch was hovering just above the opposing team's Keeper's head. Harry made a dive for it, but then-
"Avery scores! The game is tied at thirty." It wasn't like Wood to miss many blocks. Harry stole a glance at his former captain and immediately regretted it. He had lost the Snitch. Wood was staring at the stands and Avery, a Chaser on the opposing team, had taken advantage of it.
Harry followed Wood's eyes, and saw a very pretty witch sitting in the front row.
"Oliver!" Harry yelled. Wood looked at Harry. "Stop goggling at the girl and keep your eye on the game!"
"Thanks, Harry!" Oliver shouted back.
Harry again went back to looking for the Snitch. He could see the other team's Seeker out of the corner of his eye. She was following him. When she wouldn't leg up, he decided to do the Wronski Feint.
He went up. She went up. He dived down, going faster and faster on his Firebolt 3000. Just when everyone thought he was going to crash, he tore upwards through the sky, leaving the other Seeker to come crashing down. He was free to look for the Snitch without worrying about the other team's Seeker catching it.
There…he saw it next to Wood's knee. He went pelting toward Wood ("Harry, what are you doing?!") and grasped the minuscule winged ball in his hand.
"Harry Potter has caught the Snitch. And Puddlemere has won the game, 180 to 30. This is Sarin Hall, signing off."
"Great match today, Harry," Hermione said, not looking up from her book as he came into the house they shared with Ron, Ginny and Lavender.
"You were there?" Harry squeaked. He had thought she was working at Flourish and Blotts, as she was the new manager there.
"Of course, silly. You're my best friend. Why wouldn't I go?"
Harry felt ashamed he'd even asked that question. He left it at that and headed towards the stairs so he could change out of his muddy Quidditch clothes. But when he passed Hermione, she grabbed his arm. He couldn't help the tingles all over his body that were aroused from her touch. He looked at her. She's so beautiful, he thought. Stop it. She's your best friend. But he knew he had given in to those feelings long ago.
"Aren't you going to answer my question?" Hermione asked, breaking Harry's train of thought.
"I…I…uh…I thought…" Harry stammered.
"Come on, out with it," Hermione beckoned.
"I thought it was rhetorical," Harry said, coming up with an excuse on the spot.
"Well, it wasn't rhetorical, so answer it. Why wouldn't I have come to your Quidditch match?"
"Because you had work?"
"That's never stopped me before." There was a long pause as if Hermione was contemplating something. "Harry," she continued, "I think you should get some rest you're obviously not thinking straight."
"Yeah, I probably just need some rest," Harry lied, for he knew that it was much more than lack of sleep that stopped him from thinking clearly. He went up to his room anyway, just to humor her.
Harry lay on his bed looking up at the ceiling.
"Bye, Harry!" Hermione had said on their last day at Hogwarts in their fourth year. Then she kissed him. Harry brushed his fingers against his cheek, recalling how good that felt. That's when it happened. That's when he fell in love with Hermione.
Hermione watched Harry walk up the stairs. She had felt the tingles too. She remembered when she started liking Harry back in fifth year. Hermione had just gotten back from Bulgaria, where she spent the summer with Victor Krum. Then he broke up with her.
When she got back to school, she was so depressed that she wouldn't talk to anyone; her friends, her teachers…she wouldn't even raise her hand in class.
Finally, Harry managed to make her tell him what was bothering her.
"Victor-broke-up-with-me-for-another-girl." Hermione had said in between sobs.
"Hermione, look at me." She tried, but her vision was so blurred from her tears that she couldn't.
"I can't," she said. He gently took her face in his hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.
"How about now?" he asked, still holding her head up. She nodded. "Listen to me, okay? No man is worth your tears, and the only one who is will never, ever make you cry." Then he hugged her for as long as he could hold on. She needed him and he would be there for her.
"Thanks, Harry. I feel much better now." Then she smiled and turned away.
Hermione recalled that day so vividly; it was as if it were yesterday. Wouldn't you remember the day you fell in love with your best friend?