The Game of Love
by Erise
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. The same for 'The Game of Love', except that Santana and Michelle Branch owns it. However, I do own the ChatterParchment, and of course, this fic. =)
"It just takes a little bit of this... A little bit of that..."
The next day, at breakfast in the Great Hall...
Everyone was still talking about the Angel/Mortal game, and excitedly discussing what they would do for their mortals, and wondering who their Angels were. Harry wondered for a moment who his angel was - Not Draco Malfoy I hope... Not any Slytherin for that matter. His thoughts then turned to his mortal - Cho. His eyes scanned the Ravenclaw table for her, but he did not see her there. Weird... I wonder why Cho isn't here... He comtemplated asking someone at the Ravenclaw table, but felt a little too embarrassed to do so.
He turned to see Hermione reading Advanced Transfiguration, and suddenly realised that he had not brought it with him. How could I forget? McGonagall will have my head for this. I'd better go get it. He quickly told Ron and sped off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.
Harry reached the stairway he usually used to reach Gryffindor tower, but found that it had moved. Of all times to change, now? This must not be my lucky day... Some planet's in the wrong alignment, like Trelawny would say... He sighed and ran in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower, where he knew had a passage to Gryffindor Tower.
He was nearing Ravenclaw tower when he crashed into someone, his glasses thrown off by the impact. He reached for his glasses, to find it cracked. Oh great. Like I said, not my lucky... He looked up to see an apologetic-looking Cho.
"I'm so sorry, Harry! I was rushing to the Great Hall... Oh no, your glasses are cracked... What's that spell to repair stuff now...? Oh, reparo." Cho took her wand out and pointed it at Harry's glasses. "Reparo." The crack disappeared, but a large scratch remained. "Oh... I guess I'm not good enough... I'm sorry... I'll..."
"No, it's okay... Thanks a lot," Harry quickly interrupted her. "Er, you dropped your things... Let me pick them up for you."
Both of them bent down and picked up the scattered parchments and books. Harry picked up the last book ("The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six") and handed it to Cho. Their hands met briefly, and Harry blushed. Cho, however, seemed unaffected.
"Thanks a lot, Harry. And I'm sorry about your glasses. I'll make it up to you someday, all right?"
"Err... yes... okay..." Harry stammered, something he didn't usually do.
Cho walked off, and Harry hurried to Gryffindor tower, looking at his hands in wonder.
Hermione stepped out from the shadows, feeling a strange, gnawing pain... at her heart? She had saw Harry hurriedly leaving the Great Hall, and feeling worried for him, she had followed him. She saw Harry looking at his hands, and felt a twinge of jealousy. And she can't even do a Repair Charm properly, that pretty face.
...:::...
-in the Charms classroom-
"Vanishcus! Vanishcus!" Harry waved his wand over the feather he was supposed to cast a Vanishing Charm on. The feather disappeared for a moment, then reappeared.
"Why can't I do this?" With a look of frustration on his face, he picked up his wand to try again. To his surprise a hand closed over his own. He turned to see that it was Hermione.
"Your wand movements are wrong, Harry. You must -" she guided his hand slowly "do this. It's like drawing a wave. Have you got it?"
"I think so... Vanishcus!" The feather vanished, and Hermione smiled.
"See, it was just your wand movements. Now try the Reappearing Charm. It goes like -" She picked up her own wand and showed it to Harry. " this. Quite simple, really."
"Okay... Appearement!" No feather reappeared.
"No, no... You got it wrong, Harry. It's like this -" She put her hand over Harry's to guide him again. "You draw a wave with a curl at the end... See?"
"All right... Appearement!" The feather reappeared this time.
"There, you've got it! That wasn't too hard, wasn't it?" Hermione looked quite pleased.
Ron observed Harry and Hermione silently, wondering when did Hermione give such 'personal' lessons. Maybe Hermione'll help me too, if I can't do it... He waved his wand over the feather, all the while going "Vanishcus! Vanishcus!" He looked hopefully at Hermione, who was busy writing something down.
"Hermione? I seem to be having problems with the Vanishing Charm too... Could you er... help me?"
"Okay..." She picked up her own wand and demonstrated the wand movements to Ron. "Like I said to Harry, it's just like drawing a wave... Got it?"
Ron could not help feeling slightly disappointed that Hermione had not held his hand like what she did for Harry, but he tried to do it properly anyway.
"Vanishcus!" The feather stubbornly refused to vanish.
"Your wand movements are still wrong, Ron... Here, let me help you..." her hand was about to touch Ron's when Professor Flitwick announced that the lesson was over.
Hermione quickly withdrew her hand and packed her things. "I'm sorry, Ron... Perhaps you could ask Professor Flitwick himself..."
"Whatever..." Ron muttered. This is so unfair... He thought as he gathered his things.
As Hermione walked out of the Charms classroom, she felt another stab of jealousy as she realised that Harry did not seem as affected as he did when Cho touched his hand briefly. Do I really mean so little to Harry? She thought sadly as she walked to the library...
...:::...
-in the girls' dormitory, Gryffindor Tower-
Ginny was trying to compose a letter to Draco, something she felt was immensely difficult. She bit the end of the quill, trying to figure out how to start. Eventually she managed to write out something decent...
Draco,
This is your Angel here... I don't really know what to say, so I'll just ask you the normal stuff first. How's the new school year so far? Fine, I hope. I'm kind of hoping that this year will be rather uneventful... The past four years sure have been full of excitement, not to mention fear...
So... What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, Draco? Since you're the Slytherin Seeker, I guess that would be Quidditch. I was thinking... We could relate to each other our childhood experiences to get to know each other better... What do you think? Do send a reply soon.
Your Angel
Ginny went to the Owlery and sent the letter using one of the school owls. The letter's quite short... But I guess it'll do... She thought as she walked back to Gryffindor Tower.
...:::...
-in the Slytherin common room-
Draco Malfoy was reading a book on Seeker moves when a school owl flew in and dropped a letter on his lap. He opened the letter, read it and smiled. Draco then went to his dormitory to get his quill and parchment.
He raised his quill and began to write...
Author's note: Whew! This has been a rather long chapter... But I think you all will enjoy it anyway =) Thanks for all those reviews for the first chapter... And for those who felt that I was using 'the god of irony' too much, I was trying to create a even greater sense of irony... Think about it, wouldn't it be really ironic that all three of them (Hermione, Ginny, Ron) are being made fools of by the god of irony? This sounds weird, but yeah... That was what I was thinking. There's another irony... But I'm not revealing anything yet. =P Like I said before, feedback, suggestions and criticisms are welcome... Although I prefer good feedback ;)