Dream Chasing
Title: Dream Chasing (01)
Author name: Romulus Lupin
Author email: galigad@yahoo.com
Category: Romance
Sub Category:
Keywords: Harry Hermione Fantasy Island
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF
Summary: Harry and Hermione are unconscious in the Hospital Wing after an accident on the Quidditch
field.
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.
Author notes: Dedicated to Augurey, whose question on the HMS Pumpkin Pie thread let loose a vicious, rabid plot bunny that refused to let go until I sat down at my computer and started working on this. Special mention to my jailers, Lils and Erin, for the supply of Pumpkin-Scented Parchments and Quills, Nicole and Sarah (bingblot) for our frequent chats which helped to keep my feet firmly on the ground.
Glomps and hugs to you all!
"The Snitch! The Snitch!"
The shrill screams of Lee Jordan cut through the roaring crowd just as the Quaffle passed through the goal, bringing Ravenclaw's score to 160 against Gryffindor's 20 points. It wasn't through any failing or lack of valor on the part of the Gryffindors - a generous alumni donation to the Ravenclaws' saw their entire Quidditch team entering the field astride brand-new Firebolts.
While they were no longer the latest, top of the line models, they were still far more superior than the rag-tag collection of broomsticks that the Gryffindors possessed. That the Gryffindors were at a disadvantage was patently obvious within the first thirty minutes as the Ravenclaw Chasers quickly scored six goals to Gryffindor's none; despite the valiant efforts of Ron Weasley (the new Gryffindor Keeper), blocking nine goals out of fifteen was simply not enough.
Angelina, Katie and Alicia had also done their valiant best - but again, their best was simply not enough, as Terry Boot, the Ravenclaw Keeper easily blocked their attempts. They'd scored twice only through perfect timing - both times, the Twins were able to send the Bludgers directly at Terry; evading the twin cannonballs gave the Chasers the precious seconds they needed to score.
Down in the stands, the Ravenclaws in their blue robes were roaring … this was the closest they'd had to winning the Quidditch Cup in twenty years, and they were on their feet, cheering. They knew that there was only one way left for the Gryffindors to win the game - if Harry Potter, without doubt the best Seeker that anyone had seen in a long time - was able to get the Snitch before they could score another goal.
The same thought had apparently occurred to the Ravenclaw Beaters - rather than sending Bludgers at the Gryffindor Chasers, they were deliberately aiming them at Harry, who had to do some fancy maneuvering to keep out of the way - and keep his eyes peeled for the Snitch.
Fred and George were doing their best to cover Harry; in their turn, they kept sending the Bludgers back at the Ravenclaw Keeper, or their Chasers … but this was a wearying effort. The Firebolts were simply too fast, too maneuverable - and given three Chasers on Firebolts against two Bludgers, the odds were against the Gryffindors.
A palpable sense of doom could be seen among the Gryffindors in the stands … while they found the game exciting, the lead that the Ravenclaws had established was simply too great. Already, the minds of many were focusing on other matters - homework, how to pay back on bets made and lost, detentions, but most of all … having to face the taunts and jeers of the Slytherins.
There was no doubt in the minds of many that the Slytherins would be in ecstasy at this development; they knew that even if the Ravenclaws were all on Firebolts, the sheer cunning and sneakiness of the Slytherins would tip the game in their favor - and Gryffindor would be fighting it out with the Hufflepuffs for the honor of being last.
In the highest row of seats, however, four girls were on their feet, watching the game in morbid and horrid fascination … Ginny Weasley's eyes were darting all over the place, concern for her brothers (including Harry!) at the forefront of her mind … the Terrible Two were hugging each other tightly, wincing at the near-misses on Harry and Ron - torn between fascination at the game and consumed with worry for the two older boys who had been their guides and mentors ever since their first meeting in Diagon Alley the previous summer.
And Hermione was standing as still as a statue - a magical statue, that is, with an extremely animated face - as she stood with the veins standing out on her tensed arms, fists clenched tight enough to crush anyone's fingers if she were holding them (which was why Cindy and Carolyn had given up on holding on to her), eyes alternately wide open or closed tightly as she watched Harry gracefully evade the Bludgers, a constant stream of murmured words coming from her lips, even as she bit on her upper or lower lip in a constantly alternating fashion.
She'd closed her eyes as the two Bludgers headed straight for Harry, opened them in time to see Harry escape them by going into a steep dive between the Ravenclaw Beaters, stopped herself from drawing her wand and hexing the two for fear that she may hit Harry instead, closed her eyes tightly again as she prayed that Harry wouldn't smash into the ground from that dive … opened her eyes wide at the sudden cry of "The Snitch! The Snitch!" from Lee Jordan, in time to see Harry pull out of his dive and accelerate for the stands, headed directly towards her and her cheering squad of three!
In the end, it was luck and fortunate positioning.
Harry had dived at just the moment the Golden Snitch broke out of its hiding place and zoomed past him, upward as he was on the way down; he'd been able to break out of his dive and zoomed after the Snitch while Cho Chang was at the other end of the pitch and looking in the wrong direction.
There was no contest.
Hermione had opened her eyes to see the Snitch fluttering a mere five feet in front of her face; before she could even shout to Harry to get it, she could see a red-and-gold blur aimed her way and she could feel her throat tighten even as she yelled, "Get it, Harry, get it!" as she felt herself jumping up and down, arms held high …
In a heartbeat, Harry had zoomed past her … in a blink of her eyes, she knew that the Snitch had disappeared, and she quickly turned, one arm against the glare of the setting sun to see Harry above her, eyes sparkling and with one of the happiest grins ever to grace his face beaming down at her … heard Lee's hoarse voice shouting, "Harry's got the Snitch! Gryffindor wins, 170 to 160!"
Without thinking, without any thought given to the Gryffindors around her, Hermione blew a kiss towards Harry … the latter, with an even broader smile if that were possible, made a motion of grabbing the kiss and pressing it to his lips … in the same second, Hermione saw Harry's eyes widen in shock - and he was suddenly in another steep dive aimed towards her …
A Ravenclaw Beater, extremely frustrated at the unexpected loss of the game, had unthinkingly smashed a Bludger towards the Gryffindor stands. Seeing this, Harry dived after Hermione, fully intending to grab her and shove her out of the way …
It was a near-miss.
Harry felt the Bludger pass the nape of his neck by mere millimeters, actually grazing the skin … the momentum of his dive was such, however, that he had rammed, off-balanced, into Hermione who had thrown her arms around him to cushion his dive … they'd both fallen - Hermione backwards, the back of her head smashing on a seat; Harry, stumbling forward and crashing the top of his head on the stand's wall, and landing on top of the unconscious Hermione, whose arms were limply around him.
Ginny and the Terrible Two stared in shock at what had happened; none of them could move for seconds … and were suddenly galvanized into action when the flash of Colin Creevey's camera blasted into their eyes.
* * *
A solemn procession, led by a tight-lipped, stern-faced Minerva McGonagall, made its way down the corridors of Hogwarts, heading towards the hospital wing. On floating stretchers behind her were Harry and Hermione, still unconscious, the stretchers borne by the combined wands of the four Weasleys. Following behind the Weasleys were the Terrible Two, worried looks on their faces, quiet whispers being exchanged between them …
The solemnity of the procession was broken, as to be expected, as Fred or George stage-whispered, "Did we have to conjure up two stretchers? We could have made do with one …"
"Hush it, you lout!" Ginny whispered back. "What do you mean one stretcher? Harry and Hermione are hurt …"
"Did we have to break them up? They looked so cute together - oww!" the other Twin responded as Ron tried to cuff him on the head. "Awww … is ickle Ronnie still jealous of Harry?"
"Shut it, you moron!" Before Ron could say anything more, a glare from Professor McGonagall froze him to his spot. The Deputy Headmistress' eyes lasered from one to another, easily cutting off any words - in the case of the Terrible Two, their breathing - before she turned away and continued walking towards the Hospital Wing, curious paintings pointing and whispering among themselves.
They walked on in silence for a few more minutes before one or the other Twins again opened his mouth, "Awww … isn't that sweet?" - followed by giggles from Cindy, Carolyn and … Ginny? With an exasperated sigh, McGonagall turned back to the procession behind her, wondering whether the magic of the two youngest Gryffindors would be enough to help carry her favorite students to the Hospital Wing while she Transfigured the two older rascals into pumpkins …
And stopped, mouth hanging open, at the sight before her.
Magically-conjured and levitated stretchers are not immune from jostling and shaking; it takes experience, concentration and a great deal of magic to ensure a smooth stretcher ride. While Minerva had experience and magic on her side, her concentration was shot as she stood, shaken, at the sight of the near-accident that affected her favorite students. At the same time, she could not refuse the offer of the Weasley siblings to help - they were, after all, the closest thing to family that Harry, and even Hermione, had in Hogwarts.
As such, she expected a little bit of jostling to happen to her stricken students; she had judged, however, that these would not be enough to further hurt them - given the cushioning charms she had placed around their heads and necks.
She was not prepared, however, for the sight that greeted her.
Somehow, the jostling had caused a limp arm to fall outside the blankets that they had wrapped around the two, and two arms were swaying outside the stretchers they laid in. For some reason - or was it an automatic body reaction? - their arms were touching each other and (she stepped forward to peer closely) … were their hands entwined in each others'?
Suspiciously, she looked closely at the faces of the two … and assured herself that they were, indeed, truly unconscious. There were noticeable bumps on their heads which, oh my!, she thought - their heads were turned towards each other and, while their faces were slack, one could almost imagine that they were smiling at each other
With a shake of her head, she looked at the faces of the students with her - Ginny, looking away with a blush on her face; Ron, also looking away but with a pained expression on his face, the Twins staring straight ahead but with bodies shaking as they manfully held back their laughter ... Cindy and Carolyn, eyes sparkling and hands over their mouths, giggling - doubtless wishing that they had a camera on hand at this moment.
Professor McGonagall contented herself with a glare at the Twins and the Two - a glare which simply bounced off them; with another exasperated sigh, she turned away and continued walking towards the hospital wing - thankfully, a very short walk away by now.
As she walked, a small but warm smile broke out on her face.
'How sweet,' she thought.