Harry was exhausted. The Quidditch practice alone was tying him down. Plus, in order for his O.W.L. preparations, the
teachers were piling on more homework than usual. Harry was acting captain since they hadn't had a chance to
properly vote for one, but Harry had other plans for the captain position. He returned one night, muddy and tired to
the bone, to the common room, to find Hermione immersed in Hogwarts: A History for the millionth time. He rolled his
eyes as he plopped down next to her, and saw Dean and Seamus playing a game of Exploding Snap in the corner. He smiled
a little, too exhausted to go the distance.
"Harry! You're dripping mud all over me!" she exclaimed as she shoved him. He laughed and scooted closer to her.
"Is this better?" he asked. Hermione laughed as she got up and moved to the opposite couch. After a minute, Harry got up and moved to the spot next to hers.
"You know, somehow, its warmer over here," he said as he sat and curled up next to her, making her entire right sleeve drip with muck.
"HARRY!" she laughed, slamming her book closed.
"What!?" he asked, putting on an 'innocent' face, but a grin fought its way through. She smiled, and he couldn't pull his eyes away. Harry, you SAID you were going to get over her. This is not the way to go about it, he sternly reminded himself. At this point, he tore his eyes away.
"Harry? Can I ask you something?" Hermione asked, completely serious now. She had made up her mind last night that if she was going to find out anything, she had to look in the right places.
"Sure. What?" he replied. Hermione took a deep breath.
"Has Ron... mentioned me at all to you?" she asked. Harry didn't know how to answer. It was true that Ron had mentioned her practically every day since that night, trying to be subtle about it by saying things like, "Did you see Hermione at all today?" or "I think Hermione's in the library now. She always is". But how was he going to tell her that? He couldn't tell the girl he liked that his best friend also liked her. Plus, he didn't want to make Ron out to seem like a fool.
"Um, yes," he answered cautiously. Hermione seemed to stiffen up.
"What did he say?" she asked casually. Harry knew this was coming. He hesitated, then just decided to tell
her the truth. He thought it would at least make her happy.
"He...he's mentioned you a lot. He seems to be subtle about it, but he's extremely obvious. He keeps
wondering where you are every 5 minutes, and he keeps saying things like, "Oh! Hermione missed lunch! I wonder if
she's OK!" I think…I think he cares about you a lot," Harry said. Immediately, he felt like he had
swallowed a Bludger. A huge lump formed in his throat all of a sudden. This was a lot harder than he had thought.
Hermione, however, seemed cheered up.
"He has?" she asked. "N-not that I care especially," she mumbled right after, but she was still smiling as she looked down. Harry couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out of there. He stood up quickly and grabbed his broom sitting on the floor, and made a quick exit, saying, "I have to go clean up" over his shoulder when Hermione asked him where he was going.
Hermione was happy about Ron, but she was very observant. She had noticed that Harry had seemed stricken when she had been happy about Ron. She could've sworn she had even seen tears glistening in his eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Slytherin vs. Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan screamed into the microphone. It was the first Quidditch match of the year, and everyone at school was filled up to the top with excitement. The players were filled with anxiousness and determination. Harry had given them a short but great pep talk minutes before the match, and they were psyched and ready to win. Both teams' Captains (Harry and Draco Malfoy) shook hands. Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and both teams rose in the air and circled the field.
"I want a nice, clean game!" she announced, and then blew he whistle once more and threw the Quaffle up in the air, which was followed by the two nasty Bludgers, and finally, the tiny golden winged ball the size of a walnut, the Snitch. It gleamed before Harry's eyes for a split second before disappearing. The same thing happened to Malfoy, who was the other Seeker for Slytherin. He gave Harry a malicious look before speeding off. Harry shook his head. He was determined to win.
"Quaffle passed to Angelina Johnson, a very attractive girl, now to Bell, who puts it through the hoop AGAIN! Gryffindor STILL leads, 50 to 30!" Lee exclaimed. Harry pumped his fist in the air. He was happy with the way things were going, but Slytherin was gaining fast on them. Harry had to catch the Snitch. He happened to glance down and saw a speck of gold, so he immediately dived. Malfoy, being sharp and quick, grabbed hold onto Harry's Firebolt tail twigs so he followed Harry closely behind. Harry glanced back for a second before looking forward again, but it was too late. The Snitch was gone. He felt Malfoy let go and grin at him evilly as Harry before going off in the other direction. Harry silently cursed him.
The score was now 80 to 80. Harry was growing more and more anxious by the minute. Where is the stupid Snitch? He wondered, irritated. He glanced around him and suddenly spotted something else: three figures in hooded cloaks walking toward the castle. Dementors? Harry thought. One lowered his hood just before he entered the castle, and Harry realized it was a middle- aged man. Aurors, he corrected himself. What were Aurors doing here? Then, he saw it again: it was hovering about fifty feet below him. He wasn't going to let it get away this time. He raced toward it, but realized that Malfoy was on his tail again. He groaned and threw his mind about for quick ideas. Then, one hit him. Harry suddenly dived, keeping an eye on the Snitch still. Malfoy dumbly dived with him. Then, as they were both approaching the ground, he quickly turned to see fear in Malfoy's eyes. Harry grinned and turned his broom upward at the last second. Unfortunately, so did Malfoy.
Harry groaned. He was running out of ideas. Then, he decided to try something he had seen once in an old basketball game at the Dursleys'. He turned sharply to the left. Malfoy followed. Then, Harry swiftly moved to the right and reached out, feeling the wings flapping against his closed hand.
"Harry Potter's caught the Snitch!" Lee exclaimed. "Gryffindor wins, 230 to 80!" Harry grinned as he held the Snitch up to the crowd. For once, something had come along to cheer him up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been one gripping Quidditch game, and Hermione's voice was sore from screaming her head off. She was also exhausted, but not quite that she wanted to fall asleep yet. She wanted to think.
After the game, everyone filed off to their respectful houses, Slytherin the most angry as usual. Harry felt happier than he had been the past few days. Playing Quidditch, whether it was practice, a real game, or when hanging out with Ron, gave him peace of mind for a couple of hours at least. He sighed contentedly as he climbed the winding stairs to the dormitories, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The book in her hand lay open, but she was far from reading it. She was staring into the fire, events of the past few days unfolding and replaying in her mind. A smile spread over her face as she remembered the specific night in the common room. Just then, she heard a soft voice behind her.
"If that's what you call reading, you're not doing a very good job." Hermione smiled wider before straightening her face and turning around to face the boy with flaming red hair. He smiled back as he sat behind her and looked over her shoulder.
"Hogwarts: A History? Wow, Hermione. If you're not concentrating on THAT, something must be wrong!" he mocked, grinning. She laughed and turned around to face him. For a minute, they just sat in silence, staring into each other's eyes. He broke the silence first.
"'Mione, about that other night..."he said softly.
"What?" she asked, just as softly.
"I'm sorry," he blurted out.
"Sorry? Why?" she asked, confused.
"Because. I know I shouldn't have done that. I wanted to comfort you, make you make you feel better. Not snog you," he explained, looking down at his open hands. Hermione smiled and placed her hands in his, making him look up at her.
"I'm not sorry," she whispered. "And you know what? You DID comfort me, Ron. It took my mind off every crappy thing that had happened that day, and that's not an easy thing to do."
Ron smiled, then slowly leaned in and lightly brushed his lips against hers. She shivered, even though her back was to the huge fire. He started to pull away, but she placed her hands on his cheeks and captured his lips in a tender kiss. Ron didn't hesitate to kiss back. When they finally pulled away, they were both breathless. Ron attacked with full force again, and this time Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck. He slowly pushed her down so he was on top of her, never breaking the kiss. Her hands went through his soft hair while his hand traveled onto her waist under her shirt. She laughed against his kiss, his hands leaving butterflies along her skin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Did you guys see the Aurors go into Hogwarts yesterday during the game?" Harry asked his best friends at breakfast the next morning, following it up with a spoonful of porridge. Ron and Hermione shook their heads.
"Well, there were three of them who walked into Hogwarts just before I spotted the Snitch for the second time. Wonder what they were here for?" Harry wondered out loud.
"Maybe they were here to investigate the magic that had happened in Hagrid's hut," Hermione suggested, fully knowing she was right. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her lap. She knew it couldn't be Harry as he was sitting across from her. She looked to her left and saw Ron eating with a smile on his face. She smiled herself and looked back with a business-like face.
"Probably," Harry agreed.
"Dumbledore might know something about it," she said. She felt the hand slide farther up the side of her thigh. She bit her lip.
"I'm going to go talk to Dumbledore," Harry announced, standing up. As Ron pinched her lightly, she let out a small yelp, which made Harry look at her strangely as well as some other Gryffindors.
"Oh gosh! I dropped some porridge onto my skirt! Big stain!" she tried to cover, blushing. "Sorry!" Harry stared a moment longer and then left. Hermione turned to Ron and slapped his hand away.
"Ow! Don't tell me you didn't like it, 'cause I know you did," he said, grinning mischievously.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Professor, why were there Aurors here yesterday?" Harry asked as soon as he had sat down.
"Boy, Harry. You don't miss anything, do you?" Dumbledore asked, smiling. Harry smiled back, waiting for his answer.
"They were here to investigate the events in Hagrid's hut," he answered.
"I thought so. What did they find?" Harry asked anxiously.
Dumbledore sighed and said, "Dark, dark magic, Harry."