Chapter 18
"Sure. Why not? It'll be fun." Leila smiled at him. Voices neared the cabin. Ron and Leila could recognize them as Thor and Lupin. Thor was sounding sympathetic. Lupin was angry. Ron had never heard him like that before.
"She said what it was for, Lupin! Shouldn't you accept that fact instead of going on about it?" Thor was saying.
"I don't care! I don't want her to have anything to do with him. There's no telling what he'll do if he finds out what she's really up to!" Lupin kicked open the door, Thor hurrying in after him.
"She says she has it under control."
"End of discussion." Lupin hissed. He had a letter clutched in his fist.
"I see you made the potion, Leila. Thank you." Thor said, acting as though nothing had happened. Lupin stared at the potion.
"I'm not taking it." He said.
"What?" Thor gasped. "But... But.... The moon! Where are you going?"
"Out. Side." Lupin said sternly and headed towards the door.
"You better be back before the moon rises, Remus!" Thor called. Lupin slammed the door.
He stormed down the path and hurried to get out on the Hogwarts grounds. He crept along the backs of the greenhouses when...
"Remus Lupin. Where do you think you're going?" said a voice in the shadows
"To see you." Lupin said, staring at the shadow.
"I suppose you got my letter? Of course you did or you wouldn't be here."
"Why? Why did you have to do that?" Lupin hissed, just a bout moaning.
"I told you! Tom wants to take over Hogwarts and then attempt to kill Harry."
"I know that. Everyone knows that, except for the Hogwarts part."
"I'm only buying time! Stalling! So we can prepare!"
"Whats the use of buying time, Ophielus? Time's already been messed up enough." Lupin said, a bit loud.
"Shh!!! There will be less toying, I promise. I just need to keep a watchful eye on him. And if he attempts anything else from what I've predicted, I'll take care of the matters."
"But...." Lupin stuttered in the dark. The shadow moved forward.
"What's wrong?" Lupin didn't reply. The shadows hands moved upwards. Then they slowly fell back to the shadow's sides.
"Oh, R.J. I won't let that happen. I may be vulnerable to giving an heir, but I have powers that can prevent that. You see?" Lupin's head bobbed in the dark.
"Now you get back and take your potion or I'll force it down your throat." The shadow made a movement, quite like blowing a kiss, before running off. Lupin hurried out of sight also.
"Do you think Ron got our food?" Hermione asked Harry, she was giving him another after practice massage in the common room.
"Probably. I mean, he's just a mile away."
"Well, what if.... Some of those Blood Sucking Bug-bears got the food instead?"
"Hermione. Will you chill out?" Harry snapped. Hermione shut up and slowed her massaging.
"Do you know something about Ron that I don't?" Hermione asked. Harry said nothing.
"Well?"
"Maybe."
"Harry, what is it? Tell me, please!" Just then, there was a tapping at the window. Harry recognized the owl as Pig. It was hard to tell with the night so very dark. Harry let Pigwidgeon in. He had a short letter tied to his leg.
"It's from Ron! I wonder what it says..." Hermione sat next to Harry as they read the letter.
"Dear Harry and Hermione,
Thanks for the food. I'm not starving." Harry read aloud.
"Thank goodness!" Harry continued.
"I will be attending the morning practice tomorrow before the match. Don't worry, I will be there. From, Ron."
"There's a P.S." Hermione said, pointing to the very bottom of the note.
"P.S: I'm bringing a friend to the match. Hermione, please keep her company." Harry lowered the letter.
"HER? Harry, you better tell me what he means by this." Hermione pointed a finger in his face.
"Well....... Ron... has.... A girlfriend."
"A WHAT?"
"She doesn't go here, so don't go around talking about it." Harry said.
"Why hadn't you told me!" Hermione wailed.
"There never was a chance!" Harry said loudly. Hermione ran a hand through her hair.
"What's her name?"
"Leila."
"How do you know."
"Ron came and got one of his old school robes for her to wear and she was with him."
"Why?"
"How am I supposed to know! He didn't say!" Hermione crossed her arms and sat down next to Harry.
"Aw, come on. We didn't tell him about us. You can be mad at him." Harry tried to compromise. Hermione sighed.
"You're right." She leaned over and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. "I can't be mad at him."
"That's good." Harry muttered. He wrapped an arm around her. There was a moment of silence.
"Do you think Hagrid will be okay? I don't see why You-Know-Who wants to kill off the weak. Or animals." Hermione said. Harry frowned at the thought of Hedwig.
`Maybe he's tricking us. Killing the weak. Soon, stronger people will start being killed off'. The portrait swung open and students began to pile in to finish homework.
"I have practice in the morning." Harry said, standing up.
"All right. Bye." Hermione said, reaching for his hand. She squeezed it. Harry smiled and went up to his dormitory.
The morning was a chilly one. Fog drifted over the grounds and the Gryffindor Quidditch team began to wake for their practice.
"It's COLD!!!!!!!!!" whined a voice outside of the Quidditch stadium.
"Shhhhhh! Wait here." Ron emerged from the farthest end of the stadium. He crept along the wall and knocked softly on the locker room. Harry opened the door.
"Ron!"
"Is Hermione here?" Ron asked.
"Here I am!" Hermione said. She bounded out in her cheerleading uniform.
"Where's your girlfriend?" Hermione eagerly asked.
"She's over there." Ron said, pointing to the other end of the stadium.
"Then who's that?" Hermione pointed over Ron's shoulder. Ron turned around.
"Hi! I'm Leila! Ron, you were going to leave me over there weren't you?"
"I told you to wait!" Ron moaned. Leila ignored him and stuck out her hand towards Hermione. Hermione shook it politely.
"I have to go to practice now. You stay with Hermione until the match is over." Ron instructed.
"All right, all right." Leila said. She hugged Ron and he went in the locker room.
"Um. Nice shoes." Hermione said.
"You like them? They're my hooker boots." Leila lifted up her flared pants leg to show the knee high boots.
"Great." Hermione said. "Uh. Let's get seats. You hungry?"
"No. I already ate." Leila said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and flouncing away towards the stairs of a pair of stands.
"All right, team!" Harry said, pacing the locker room. "This is our match against Slytherin. We're going to have to really hold onto our brooms. If one of the players run into us, we'll be knocked off our brooms." Harry warned. Isaac Garet raised his hand.
"Isaac?" Harry asked.
"I have a question. Shouldn't there be a weight limit for Quidditch Players?"
"There is, but the Slytherin team needed players so Dumbledore had to bend the rules." Harry said. Isaac looked slightly put off about the rule bending.
"Now, we're going to get out there and kick some butt!" Harry roared, thrusting his fist in the air.
"YEAH!" echoed the team. They hitched their brooms over their shoulders and strode out of the locker room. The people in the stands cheered.
"YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO RON!!!!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!" Leila screamed. Hermione buried her face in her pom poms.
"I want a fair game, do you hear me?" Madam Hooch sternly asked the Slytherin team. Draco spat on the ground.
"Sure. Whatever."
"Mount your brooms!" The teams mounted their brooms. Madam Hooch blew her whistle. The brooms rose into the air.
"I'm going to kick your ass off that broom, Potter!" Malfoy yelled, speeding after Harry.
"Not if I do first!" Harry yelled back. He shot up in the sky and began circling. Ron flew back and forth across the Gryffindor side goal-posts, protecting them from Slytherin goals.
The rest of the crowd was cheering their teams on. Other's were chatting about the game.
"So..." Hermione said to Leila, her eyes following Harry. "Enjoying yourself?" she asked.
"Oh I am! This is so much fun! I've never been to a Quidditch match before, I mean, I've wanted to go to one but I haven't been able to get a chance to. I've been to basketball and baseball games and other events, but none as cool as this! This is so awesome! Can you believe the acceleration of the brooms? Geez! It's amazing! I don't know how you can hit those things that far with--" Hermione's mouth fell open. Leila was talking at about 50 words a minute. Hermione shut her mouth. `I guess it DOES get lonely when you live in the forest with only Ron to talk to.' Hermione thought.
"--and are they allowed to follow them all around the field? I mean, you can hardly do anything with them on your tail!" Leila paused. "Did you know Ron moves around a lot in bed?" She clicked her tongue and took a breath. "That move was so pathetic! Did you see that? If he had moved to that side of the field, he wouldn't have been blocked! -" Hermione's eyes were very large. She turned to watch the game.
The Gryffindor team had 4 scores and the Slytherin's had none. Crabbe and Goyle looked like green lumpy marshmallows on sticks. Their brooms flew slowly and they hardly got a chance to hit a Bludger toward the other team. Occasionally their bats hit the Bludgers, but their lanky arms sent them downwards. Harry kept slowing down to make Malfoy mad. He was tailing him all around the stadium. Harry went up, Malfoy went up. Harry went down, Malfoy went down. There was no escaping him. Unless... Harry put on a burst of speed and headed straight towards Crabbe and Goyle. Crabbe and Goyle were wobbling helplessly on their brooms, towards the Bludgers who were trying to attempt to attack Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. Goyle bumped into Crabbe, they were flying so close together. Harry could hear Malfoy behind him.
"Just a little further..." Harry muttered to himself. He hurtled towards Crabbe and Goyle. When he was about to crash, he pulled his broom up.
"NOOOOOOO!" Malfoy yelled, but it was too late. He couldn't stop his broom in time. Malfoy crashed into Crabbe and Goyle who both tipped over on their brooms. They yelled, dangling from the brooms. Malfoy's head was spinning from the impact. Harry smiled at his success and tried to find the Snitch. He looked all around the stadium. He looked down by the goalposts. He looked up. Above the Slytherin goal posts, the Golden Snitch was flapping its wings almost lazily. Harry darted forward.
"Potter! I'll get you for this!" Malfoy yelled. He was gaining on Harry. Harry leaned all the way down on his broom urging the Firebolt faster. He was almost there. Harry took one hand off his broom and inched himself forward. Arm outstretched, his fingers fastened themselves around the Snitch. The stands erupted in tumulus applause. The Gryffindor team soared to the ground. Dennis had a goose egg sized lump on his forehead from accidentally hitting himself in the head with his beater stick.
"Party in the common room!" Colin yelled. The Gryffindors cheered. Draco spat on the ground again. He wiped his mouth furiously on his sleeve. Crabbe and Goyle imitated him. Sick lugies slowly trailed to the ground. Ron snickered. Hermione and Leila were rushing towards them from the stands.
"You were great Ron!" Leila said, flinging her arms around him.
"Can we stay for the party? Please?" she begged. Harry looked at his watch. He turned his wrist towards Ron.
"I wish we could Leila, but we need to get back." He nudged her.
"Oh! We almost forgot about Innocence! I mean, we left him with the centaurs in the forest! We have to check on him!" Leila grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him off. Ron turned and waved to Harry and Hermione. Hermione waved back.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked.
"Don't ask me. Let's get to the common room."
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