A/N:Hey, another chapter! Sorry this isn't as long as some of you would like, I wanted to get something out there and this is the result. Good news: I've got A's in my important classes and at least a B in English (Shakespeare) so I made it through midterms well! Finals are coming up and I'll have more time during the Christmas break to write! Look for more updates then and my new story is coming along nicely :). Well, without further ado, here's chapter 6, sorry again that it's so short...
"Ron!" Ginny shouted excitedly from farther down the Gryffindor table the next morning. "Here comes Errol!"
Ron looked to the flock of owls and found his family messenger fighting against the tide of leaving birds. He shook his head in disgust and wished that Pig was large enough to carry the game his mother had sent them from home.
Errol, in his usual, clumsy style, landed haphazardly in Hermione's cereal just after she'd poured in the milk. She looked down in irritation and glared at Ron.
"It's not my fault he seems to land in your food each time he delivers something," Ron said with a poorly concealed grin.
"Next time we expect him," Hermione said heatedly as she wiped up the mess of milk and cereal from the table, "I'm moving farther down the table!"
"He can't help it, Hermione," Ron said as he glowered at her. "He's old!" Without waiting for a retort, Ron quickly untied the bundle that his family's owl had brought him. "This is it!" he said with a wide grin as Ginny finally joined them. Colin Creevey had been pestering her constantly for the past two days in an attempt to take her to Hogsmeade on a date. Ginny had been too nice to say no and with a disgruntled sigh, she slumped next to her brother.
"I'm getting tired of making excuses," she said as she buried her face in her hands. "He's a nice enough bloke, but I just don't see him that way."
"Well, you won't have to worry for long," Ron said with a broad smile. "This weekend you have plans with me and Hermione."
"Did it make the trip ok?" Ginny asked excitedly, remembering why she was trying to get to her brother in the first place.
"Yeah," Ron said with a smile. "One or two of the pieces might be broken, but we can patch them up well enough. The pitch might need some tuning since it hasn't been played in so long."
"Broken pieces and pitch tuning?" Hermione asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Of course," Ron said with an impatient sigh. "It hasn't been played in a long time and there's a good chance that it's out of repair."
"Oh," Hermione said, still unhappy with the news. "I should get to class, I'll see you in Potions."
"Don't remind me," Ron said with a groan.
"See you tonight, Hermione," Ginny said with a smile. "I'll show you how this game is really played!"
"Right," Ron said with a challenging smile. "I'll stomp you just like I always have!"
"I just let you win because it was your game," Ginny said with a sniff of superiority.
Ron laughed aloud and Hermione shook her head in amusement as she hurried off to Ancient Ruins.
"Ginny, I always play the Scarlet Ravens!" Ron protested loudly.
"Not this time, I'm tired of playing the Puce Pumpkins," Ginny retorted with a low growl. "Besides, Harry's robes don't match a Slytherin colored team!"
"Does it matter who plays which team?" Hermione asked in exasperation. "It's just a game."
"Yes! It does matter!" Ron said hotly. "Would you want to play Slytherin when you could be Gryffindor?"
"It doesn't really matter to me," Hermione snapped back. "It's just a silly board game!"
"Oh, and like Quidditch is just flying on brooms," Ron replied vigorously.
"It doesn't matter to me," Harry said with a sigh. "Is there anything different about the pieces?"
"No, just the colors," Ginny said with a glare to Ron. "When you charm the piece you want to move independently, you choose the team member here," she explained as she held up a sheet of statistics. "They play like your favorite Quidditch player then!"
"So, the only thing that's different is when you charm your piece to act like a player on a sheet of parchment?" Hermione asked inquisitively. "Then what's the harm in letting Ginny play red?"
"It's his lucky color," Ginny deadpanned before Ron could open his mouth. "Mum started knitting him maroon jumpers because of his fascination with this game."
"She knits me maroon jumpers, not red ones!" Ron huffed. "And you wonder why I don't like the stuff she makes for me."
"You didn't complain when you were six," Ginny put in with a wicked smile. "Or seven, or eight, or-"
"I do now, ok?" Ron said snappishly. "Ok! Ok, you can play the Scarlet Ravens!"
Ginny squealed in delight as she waved the game's wand to set up her pieces just as Ron did with his team's pieces. A small referee walked onto the miniature pitch and the magical board game announced the players.
"IT'S THE SCARLET RAVENS VERSUS THE PUCE PUMPKINS!" the referee shouted and began calling out the rules of the game. "PLAY A FAIR GAME!"
The whistle was blown and a recorded crowd cheered the start of the game. Ginny waved her wand this way and that as her lead chaser had control of the quaffle. The announcer was calling out the plays like mad as Ron's chasers wrested control of the board. He sped his players to the opposite end of the pitch and just as the miniature Quidditch player approached the goals, it fell from the air like a rock and bounced off the faux turf below him.
Just as that happened, three of Ginny's pieces-one being the seeker-also fell. The seeker's broom snapped in half from the impact and Hermione gasped.
"Harry can't play on that!" she hissed in a harsh whisper. "He'd kill himself!"
"We just have to tune the game," Ginny said offhandedly and waved her real wand over the broken seeker. The figure and its broom reassembled as if nothing happened and Ron began fidgeting with a series of knobs along the length of the small stadium.
"Yeah, all we have to do is adjust these knobs," Ron explained as he twisted them this way and that. "Then we'll try again. We could usually get it working fine after a few tries."
"I don't like this," Hermione said with a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Everything will be fine," Harry said from Hermione's pocket.
"You could get hurt on this thing, Harry," Hermione whispered so only he could hear.
"I could get hurt playing real Quidditch," he replied with a sigh. "Everything will be fine," he said reassuringly then started coughing violently.
"Are you ok?" Hermione asked worriedly and helped him from her pocket.
It took Harry a few more seconds to calm down and nodded. "Just an itch in my throat," he said uncomfortably.
Hermione looked through her bag and pulled out a vial of liquid. After filling a small goblet and shrinking it down to Harry's size, she had him drink it down.
"Madam Pomfrey said you might start coughing and told me to give this to you if you did," she explained. "Drink it all down."
Harry did as instructed and smiled up at his caretaker. "I feel better, thanks," he said.
"Right, that last run looks like we've got everything up and going fine," Ginny said with a smile. She decommissioned her seeker and set the miniature broom down in front of Harry. "I had a feeling the pieces might be a bit too small for you," she said with a shrug. "I forgot how small they were."
"That's fine," Harry said as he mounted the broom. It was smaller than his Firebolt felt but he seemed fine with the reduced broom size. "This even has a cushioning charm on it!"
"It's a pretty accurate game," Ron said with a grin as he watched the Scarlet Ravens's normal seeker skulk around on the sidelines. He laughed and pointed to the action figure. "Does he remind you of anyone?"
"Hey, he's walking around like Krum does!" Harry said with a grin.
"That's the real reason Ron loves the team so much," Ginny said with a mocking grin.
"It was not!" Ron said with a frown and looked back toward the action figure. "Get it off the pitch, Gin," he said irritably, "you don't need a reserve seeker."
Smiling wickedly, she did as she was asked and turned her attention to the now flying Harry Potter. "So, how's the control?" she asked with a softer smile.
"Not too bad, not as good as my Firebolt but it does come close to my old Nimbus Two-Thousand," Harry said with a grin as he flew around the pitch. "It's a little short, but that's ok."
"Be careful, Harry," Hermione said worriedly as he went into a shallow dive.
He put the broom through its paces and smiled satisfactorily as he took his customary spot above everyone else on the pitch. "I'll be fine, Hermione," Harry said with a quick smile before concentrating on the game.
"AND THE MATCH YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!" the miniature referee announced loudly to the recorded cheers of the crowd. "THE SCARLET RAVENS VERSUS THE PUCE PUMPKINS!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "Just get to the game, we don't need the announcements!"
The miniature referee glared at him and cleared his throat loudly. "AS I WAS SAYING..." he started and went through the rules despite Ron's reddening face. "NOW PLAY A FAIR GAME!"
The announcer piped in at that moment and called each play as it happened. Ginny had squeezed through Ron's defenses and scored ten points while Ron flicked his wand irritably in an attempt to control his players. Each one shouted what they thought would be the best move to make next but Ron would have none of it.
"JUST GET MOVING!" he bellowed at the action figures and reluctantly they began to listen to his commands.
By this time, Ginny had scored an easy two hundred points when the crowd went wild. "THE RAVENS'S SEEKER HAS THE SNITCH!" the voice crowed in delight as Harry held the snitch high in the air. The rest of the Ravens tackled him in midair, locking their arms around him in a victory hug. The scene was very much akin to watching several seventh years try and give Hagrid a hug while he sat on a training broom.
Ron glowered at his team and sneered at his sister. "You were lucky because my team hasn't warmed up to me yet."
"As I recall, the Ravens didn't listen to you for the longest time," Ginny gloated as Hermione congratulated Harry.
"Right, next match," Ron said heatedly and reset the game.
"Harry, wait until we have at least three hundred points this time," Ginny instructed as she took control of her chasers. "And I'd watch out for the beaters, Ron will try to knock you out of the sky before you can see it this time."
Harry nodded in understanding and grinned at Ron's low growl. "It's for the good of Gryffindor," he said with a laugh and laughed harder when Ron's face went even redder.
"I know that," Ron said with a sigh. "I've been watching Slytherin practice, they've been paying attention to Puddlemere United's strategies and I wanted to develop a counter-offensive."
"You need your team to listen to you-" Ginny started but smiled when her brother cut her off.
"Enough, Gin!" he barked angrily. "They'll listen to me now if they don't want to end up as scrap!"
The Puce Pumpkins looked worriedly at Ron and then turned serious as the referee stepped out onto the pitch to reiterate the rules of the game. Just as before, the game kicked off with a roar from the crowds. Harry decided he'd try to lure the other team's seeker on a wild-goose-chase just in case the game behaved like real players.
Sure enough, when he streaked to the opposite end of the pitch, the announcer became excited and the Puce Pumpkins's seeker raced after Harry. He went into a steep dive and just as Hermione gasped, Harry pulled out and watched the action figure plow into the pitch.
"Nice one!" Ginny crowed as she concentrated on her chasers and scored another twenty points.
Harry laughed as he watched a miniature medic rush onto the pitch and check the playing piece. The other seeker shook his head and mounted his broom to the cheers of the crowd.
"I wish you wouldn't do things like that!" Hermione said after she'd calmed down.
"I'm fine," Harry said with a weak smile. "The game is holding up without a problem..." Just then, a golden flash zipped by his face and after a quick check at the scoreboard-which registered three-hundred and fifty to twenty in favor of the Ravens-he shot after the snitch, only to catch it right in front of Ron's nose.
"THE SCARLET RAVENS HAVE WON THE GAME!" the announcer crowed once again. Ron's demeanor easily took a steep downswing from there as they continued to play the game for the next few hours.
Each time he thought he'd gotten a handle on the current match, Harry would catch the snitch to win the game by an astounding lead of two to three hundred points each time.
"ALL RIGHT!" Ron barked after his fifth consecutive loss. "I'M PLAYING THE RAVENS THIS TIME!"
"Not on your life, Ron," Ginny returned with just as much fire in her eyes.
"If you didn't have Harry on your team, you wouldn't be winning at all!" Ron shouted back. "It's my turn to play them!"
"I don't need Harry on my team to win against you," Ginny said maliciously. "And be quiet! Do you want everyone to know where he is?" she added in a harsh whisper.
"Enough!" Harry yelled. "Look, I'm getting tired anyway so maybe we should call it a day."
"Harry, you haven't been able to train with us all week!" Ron whispered quickly. "Just a few more games..."
"Ron, I need to get off-" Harry started but began coughing violently once again.
"He needs his rest," Hermione said calmly as she fished out his potion and goblet. "I think you should get some sleep, Harry."
Harry nodded as he continued to cough when his broom gave out and he fell from the air like a brick. Ginny gasped and Ron's eyes went wide when Hermione's hand shot under him before he could fall a centimeter.
"Bloody hell!" Ron and Ginny said at the same time.
"When did you become seeker?" Ron asked as he watched Hermione swiftly administer the potion to Harry.
Hermione glared at him and flicked the tiny broom Harry had been riding into Ron's chest. "Just because I don't play Quidditch, doesn't mean I don't have quick reflexes," she said icily. "I think this is the last time we'll be using that contraption for practice," she added with such finality that all Ron could do was gape at her.
"It's ok, Hermione," Harry said after he'd caught his breath again. "But I think the game is too small for me anyway." He yawned sleepily and looked at his friends. "It was good practice though."
"Get some sleep, Harry," Ginny said with a soft smile.
"Yeah, you need to get better so we can hand Malfoy his bum on a platter," Ron said with a wicked grin.
Harry chuckled sleepily and crawled into Hermione's hand after she'd opened his box for him. "I'll see you later." He glanced at Ron and Ginny to make sure they weren't watching then smiled tenderly at Hermione before she set him into his temporary home. She didn't notice anything in the room but his face as she smiled back and closed the lid.
"I'll just head to my room for a bit of light reading before bed," she said with a yawn of her own. "Please keep that game away from me, Ron, I don't want to be reminded of what just happened."
"Hermione, nothing happened," Ron said in exasperation. "You caught him before he could fall!"
"What if I hadn't been here?" she asked accusingly. "He could have been in one of his dives and what then?"
Ron grimaced and conceded the argument for the moment while he and Ginny packed up the pieces and the Quidditch arena. Ginny was currently struggling with several of the pieces that were refusing to go back into their places and she let out a grunt of irritation.
"They like to be played," Ron said under his breath as he his sister finally succeeded in packing everything up.
"As long as it's after Harry is back to normal," Hermione said coolly then stood with her things and Harry's box. "I'll see you in the morning. Good night." With that, she turned and made her way to her dorm where she placed the circular, dollhouse representation of the Gryffindor common room on her pillow.
"So, what's going on between you two?" Ginny asked from the doorway.
"What?" Hermione asked absently as she fished her Ancient Runes textbook from her bag.
"You and Harry, Hermione," Ginny asked again a bit more irritated. "Should we be worried with him sleeping in your dorm?"
"Of course not!" Hermione said incredulously. "Whatever gave you the idea that there would be a problem?"
"I saw the two of you," Ginny replied quietly. "Just before you set him inside..." she nodded towards the box on her friend's pillow.
"Ginny, nothing's going on," Hermione said with a sigh. "We're just f-friends."
"You could never really lie when you felt guilty about something," Ginny said hotly. "This is the second time you've lied to me about him! Do you think after sharing a room with you so many times that I don't know what's going on in your head?"
"How could you possibly know what I'm thinking about?" Hermione asked in irritation.
"For starters, you talk in your sleep. Then, when Harry isn't around, you talk about him almost non-stop," Ginny said as she ticked off her reasons on her fingers. "Now you're hiding him in your room and sharing secrets that don't include the rest of us," she glared at her older friend at that point. "You two are dating behind our backs, aren't you?"
"NO!" Hermione said far too quickly.
"I see," Ginny said darkly. "I reiterate: what's going on between you two?"
"You're just not going to give up on this, are you?" Hermione asked as she pressed her palm into her throbbing temple.
"Not until you spill it, Hermione," Ginny said evenly. "You're not the only one who cares for him..."
"I know, I know," Hermione said with a sigh. "Listen, this doesn't go beyond this room..."
"It won't," Ginny said softly and looked Hermione square in the eyes.
Hermione motioned for her to sit down and after they were firmly seated on Hermione's bed, she began telling her about everything. She didn't mention Harry's dream, or what she knew about it, or what he said in his sleep. But she did recount their conversations and how she'd finally worn him down and found out that he fancied her.
Ginny remained quiet through the retelling and when the story was finally over, she nodded silently. "Does Ron know," she asked in a whisper after a moment.
"No," Hermione replied without pretense.
"You should tell him sooner rather than later," Ginny advised as she got to her feet and headed to the door. "Ron's had feelings for you for a while."
Hermione didn't have time to respond before Ginny stepped into the hall and closed the door behind her. "What?" she asked with a miserable sigh as the news sank in. "Ron?"
Hermione sank back into her bed and covered her eyes with her forearm but snapped into a sitting position when Harry startled her.
"You know, I wasn't asleep yet," he said with a yawn.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said miserably. "I should have asked you before I told Ginny everything..."
"It's ok," he said with a sigh of his own. "I figured it was girl-talk and that I wouldn't be welcomed."
"You're always welcome," Hermione said with a reassuring smile. "I don't think she would have asked if she thought you were awake."
"It's good she knows," he said after a moment. "I'll have to talk to her, of course, but at least she can move on. I'm more worried how Ron will react."
"Let's just hope that he doesn't blow up like he did in fourth year," Hermione said with a groan. "I don't think I could deal with another row like that."
"If he even thinks he can treat you like some trophy, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," Harry said evenly, but the effect was dampened by another coughing fit.
"Madam Pomfrey said that when you started coughing it was a sign you were getting better," Hermione said hopefully as she poured him another dosage of his cough-suppressant potion. "Maybe you'll be back to normal soon and we can, you know..."
Harry sighed gratefully after he'd taken his potion and slumped back on his bed. "I know," he said softly and slipped under his blankets. "I know, Hermione."
She smiled softly at him before dimming the lights and stepping beyond her four-poster's curtains. Hermione reappeared a few minutes later dressed for bed and she shimmied under her covers.
"Hermione?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes?"
"Do... don't you think it might be a little strange when I'm back to normal?" he asked timidly.
"It does feel a little strange," Hermione said with a slight twinkle in her eyes. "But I think our friendship helps..."
"It does," Harry said sleepily. "Goodnight, Hermione."
"Sleep well, Harry," Hermione said as a shy grin crept onto her face. "Get well soon."
Harry's soft snores were his reply and Hermione fell asleep with visions of a full-sized Harry Potter wrapping her in his arms.