It was the next morning as Hermione's eyes fluttered open. Immediately the memories of the night before flooded her mind as she turned her head to see the head of a still-asleep Y/n resting next to hers, they had given themselves to one another as they lay there holding one in the same way they had fallen asleep.
Hermione moved her forehead to gently rest against Y/n's own as she kept it there for a few moments. "I love you Y/n." she quietly whispered, still happy he was going to start getting back to normal.
A few moments later Hermione could feel Y/n starting to stir as his own eyes slowly opened to look at hers.
"Good morning..." He said, his voice sounding deep and full of sleep, but to Hermione it was endearing.
"Good Morning..." She said back to him.
Neither said a word as they closed their eyes and connected their lips in a long soft kiss before breaking apart.
"I do not want to leave this room Hermione, all I want to do is lie here with you in my arms as we let the world pass us by." Y/n said.
"We have to Y/n." Hermione told him.
"I know." Y/n sighed. "I still owe Harry and Ron their explanation from last night." He sat up and looked down at her. "Guess we had better start the day." He said looking around the room. "Do you perhaps remember which way you threw my shirt last night?"
"Huh.." Hermione suddenly went red. "Oh, Um..." She began to look around the room as well.
Harry and Ron were sitting down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall eating breakfast when Harry spotted Y/n and Hermione walking hand in hand into the Great Hall. Harry nudged Ron with his elbow to get his attention.
"Whut?" Ron replied through his mouthful of bacon.
"He's here." Harry said.
Ron looked up and saw the two who quickly reached them on the bench and sat down opposite them.
"Morning." Y/n and Hermione greeted them.
"Morning..." Harry replied.
"Didn't see you in the dorm or common room this morning. We were going to wait for you." Ron pointed out.
Hermione's cheeks and face quickly became a dark red. "T..Th..That's because....because..."
"We both awoke early and went to speak to Professor Snape so I could thank him for healing me." Y/n said beginning to cover for Hermione who was looking terribly flustered. Y/n knew that Harry and Ron wouldn't want to talk to Snape and his guess seemed true as he saw Ron just shrug.
"Forget that, what happened last night Y/n?" Harry asked Y/n immediately.
"One moment." Y/n said quietly then took out his wand. "Muffliato." He cast as Hermione looked a little annoyed with the use of the spell but didn't argue with its use for once. "What I tell you is private, it could get not only myself but also Dumbledore into a lot of trouble do you understand?" Y/n asked Harry and Ron who nodded.
And so, Y/n spent the next few minutes telling Harry and Ron everything that had transpired the night before, stopping at the point he had returned to Hogwarts.
Harry and Ron just sat there shocked by what they heard.
"He took you to meet your Great Uncle?" Harry asked.
"Bloody hell...Gellert Grindelwald." Ron uttered. "What was he like?"
"Not like I expected him to be." Y/n admitted to them. "I expected him to be cruel and spiteful but, he just seemed to have no fight left in him. I told him about my Grandmothers passing."
Harry and Ron looked at one another, this was their first time hearing Y/n come to terms with her death.
"And how did he take it?" Harry asked.
"I think he was deeply hurt...If I am sure of anything, it was that Gellert still loved and respected his sister." Y/n replied.
"Y/n, about you using dark magic...you're not going to...you know?" Ron began to sheepishly.
"No, I am not going to keep pursuing it." Y/n reassured Ron who looked relieved. "I made a mistake, but now it is time to get back on the right path and keep moving onwards. That is what my grandmother and Sirius would have wanted us to do, right Harry?"
Harry felt as if something had stabbed him in the gut with those words slightly.
"Right." He nodded.
Y/n let out a deep sigh as if a huge burden had now been lifted and he pulled a plate towards him and he began to load up his plate with more food than they had seen him eat in weeks. The night's exploits had worked up an appetite.
After Breakfast the four made their way down to Herbology as Y/n spoke to Harry. "I forgot to ask before, How did your lesson go with Dumbledore?" He asked.
And so Harry began to tell Ron, Y/n and Hermione about his lesson with Dumbledore.
"Wow, scary thought, the boy You-Know-Who." said Ron quietly, as they took their places around one of the gnarled Snargaluff stumps that formed this term's project, and began pulling on their protective gloves. "But I still don't get why Dumbledore's showing you all this. I mean, it's really interesting and everything, but what's the point?"
"Dunno." said Harry, inserting a gum shield. "But he says it's all important and it'll help me survive."
"I think it's fascinating." said Hermione earnestly. "It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?"
"So how was Slughorn's latest party?" Harry asked her changing the topic.
"Yes, how was it?" Y/n asked having skipped out on it himself.
"Oh, it was quite fun, really." said Hermione. "I mean, he drones on about famous exploits a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he's so well connected, but he gave us some really nice food and he introduced us to Gwenog Jones."
"Gwenog Jones?" said Ron, his eyes widening. "The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?"
"That's right." said Hermione. "Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself." said Hermione "Anyway Slughorn's going to have a Christmas party, Y/n, Harry, and there's no way you'll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you can both come."
Harry groaned. Meanwhile, Ron, who was staring down looking rather annoyed said angrily. "And this is another party just for Slughorn's favorites, is it?"
"Just for the Slug Club, yes." said Hermione.
"'Slug Club.'" repeated Ron with a sneer worthy of Malfoy.
"We did not come up with the name Ron..." Y/n began.
"It's pathetic. Well, I hope you all enjoy your party." Ron said. "Slughorn can make you and Hermione King and Queen Slug..."
"We're allowed to bring guests." said Hermione, who for some reason had turned a bright, boiling scarlet. "and I was going to ask you to come so we could all go, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!"
"You were going to ask me?" asked Ron, in a completely different voice.
"Yes." said Hermione angrily. "But obviously if you'd rather we all went without you..."
There was a pause while Harry pre occupied themselves with the lesson.
"No, I wouldn't." said Ron, in a very quiet voice.
"Then apologize to Hermione, and she might still invite you." Y/n said to Ron.
"S...Sorry." Ron said not looking at Hermione.
"Speaking of Quidditch..." Harry said backtracking to Hermione's mention of Gwenog Jones earlier. "We are having a practice session tonight at seven Y/n and I want you there, and from all future sessions from now on."
Y/n just smiled. "You will find no dismissals from me Harry. However, I cannot guarantee I will be able to attend every single one this month."
"And why's that?" Harry said getting ready to be annoyed.
"Harry...I performed Dark magic and stole books from the restricted section...I was lucky Dumbledore decided to give me only a month of detentions with McGonagall."
"Oh...right." Harry said dropping his annoyance completely.
"I still can't believe how stupid you were...You could have been expelled or put in Azkaban." Hermione said quietly.
"Well, I was not in the right frame of mind." Y/n said. "But Dumbledore and you have helped me see sense. For the first time in months, it is like I can think clearly without feeling burdened. My grandmother sacrificed her life to stop me from losing mine. It is high time I live that life to the best of my abilities to honour that."
Katie Bell was still in St. Mungo's Hospital with no prospect of leaving, which meant that despite Y/n's imminent return to training the promising Gryffindor team Harry had been training so carefully since September was one Chaser short. He kept putting off replacing Katie in the hope that she would return, but their opening match against Slytherin was looming, and he finally had to accept that she would not be back in time to play.
Harry did not think he could stand another full-House tryout. With a sinking feeling that had little to do with Quidditch, he cornered Dean Thomas after Transfiguration one day. Most of the class had already left, although several twittering yellow birds were still zooming around the room, all of which were either Y/n or Hermione's creations, nobody else had succeeded in conjuring so much as a feather from thin air.
"Are you still interested in playing Chaser?"
"Why...yeah, of course!" said Dean excitedly. Over Dean's shoulder, Harry saw Seamus Finnegan slamming his books into his bag, looking sour. One of the reasons why Harry would have preferred not to have to ask Dean to play was that he knew Seamus would not like it. On the other hand, he had to do what was best for the team, and Dean had outflown Seamus at the tryouts.
"Well then, you're in." said Harry. "There's a practice tonight, seven o'clock."
"Right." said Dean. "Cheers, Harry! Blimey, I can't wait to tell Ginny!"
He sprinted out of the room, leaving Harry and Seamus alone together, an uncomfortable moment made no easier when a bird dropping landed on Seamus's head as one of Hermione's canaries whizzed over them.
Seamus was not the only person disgruntled by the choice of Katie's substitute. There was much muttering in the common room about the fact that Harry had now chosen three of his classmates for the team. As Harry had endured much worse mutterings than this in his school career, he was not particularly bothered, but all the same, the pressure was increasing to provide a win in the upcoming match against Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, Harry knew that the whole House would forget that they had criticized him and swear that they had always known it was a great team. If they lost...well, Harry thought wryly, he had still endured worse mutterings...
Harry had no reason to regret his choice once he saw Dean fly that evening, he worked well with Ginny and Y/n who despite not having played with this new team adapted quickly to fit in as if he had never been absent. The Beaters, Peakes and Coote, were getting better all the time. The only problem was Ron.
Harry had known all along that Ron was an inconsistent player who suffered from nerves and a lack of confidence, and unfortunately, the looming prospect of the opening game of the season seemed to have brought out all his old insecurities. After letting in half a dozen goals, most of them scored by Ginny, his technique became wilder and wilder, until he finally punched an oncoming Y/n in the nose.
"It was an accident, I'm sorry, Y/n, really sorry!" Ron shouted after him as he flew down to the ground, dripping blood everywhere. "I just..."
"Panicked." Ginny said angrily, landing next to Y/n and examining his nose. "You prat, Ron, look at the state of him! You've broken his nose!"
"Gweat fiwst pwactice back Hawwy..." Y/n groaned sounding awful.
"Hold on I can fix that." said Harry, landing beside the two, pointing his wand at Y/n's nose, and saying "Episkey."
Y/n groaned and felt his nose fit back into place. "Thank you."
"And Ginny, don't call Ron a prat, you're not the Captain of this team..." Harry warned her.
"Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should..."
Harry forced himself not to laugh. "In the air, everyone, let's go..."
Overall it was one of the worst practices they had had all term, though Harry did not feel that honesty was the best policy when they were this close to the match.
"Good work, everyone, I think we'll flatten Slytherin." he said bracingly, and Ginny, Dean and Beaters left the changing room looking reasonably happy with themselves.
"I played like a sack of dragon dung." said Ron in a hollow voice when the door had swung shut behind Ginny.
"No, you didn't." said Harry firmly. "You're the best Keeper I tried out, Ron."
"Your problem is not your keeping ability, it is your nerves. Once you can get over them your true potential will shine through." Y/n said patting him on the back.
He kept up a relentless flow of encouragement all the way back to the castle, and by the time they reached the second floor, Ron was looking marginally more cheerful.
When Harry pushed open the tapestry to take their usual shortcut up to Gryffindor Tower, however, they found themselves looking at Dean and Ginny, who were locked in a close embrace and kissing fiercely as though glued together.
Y/n felt his body become hot and flushed, and he could not help but remember the night he had spent with Hermione previously. He began to look around in all directions desperate for some form of distraction and soon one arrived as he heard Ron's voice as though from a great distance away.
"Oi!"
Dean and Ginny broke apart and looked around.
"What?" said Ginny.
"I don't want to find my own sister snogging people in public!"
"This was a deserted corridor till you came butting in!" said Ginny.
Dean was looking embarrassed. He gave Harry and Y/n a shifty grin and Y/n gave him a small polite smile back but he was curious to see Harry did not return one to Dean.
"Er...c'mon, Ginny." said Dean. "Let's go back to the common room..."
"You go!" said Ginny. "I want a word with my dear brother!"
Dean left, looking as though he was not sorry to depart the scene. Y/n could not blame him.
"Right." said Ginny, tossing her long red hair out of her face and glaring at Ron. "Let's get this straight once and for all. It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron..."
"Yeah, it is!" said Ron, just as angrily. "D' you think I want people saying my sister's a..."
"A what?" shouted Ginny, drawing her wand. "A what, exactly?"
"He doesn't mean anything, Ginny..." said Harry automatically.
"Oh yes he does!" she said, flaring up at Harry. "Just because he's never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he's ever had is from our Auntie Muriel..."
"Shut your mouth!" bellowed Ron, bypassing red and turning maroon.
"No, I will not!" yelled Ginny, beside herself. "I've seen you with Phlegm, hoping she'll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her, it's pathetic! If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn't mind so much that everyone else does it!"
Ron had pulled out his wand too, Harry and Y/n stepped swiftly between them.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron roared, trying to get a clear shot at Ginny around Harry, who was now standing in front of him with his arms outstretched. "Just because I don't do it in public..!"
Ginny screamed with derisive laughter, trying to push Y/n out of her way. "Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?"
"You..."
A streak of orange light flew under Harry's left arm and missed Y/n and Ginny by inches, Harry pushed Ron up against the wall.
"Ron don't be stupid..." Harry tried to tell him.
"Harry's snogged Cho Chang!" shouted Ginny, who sounded close to tears now. "And Hermione and Y/n have snogged!"
Y/n just cleared his throat wishing Ginny would keep his and Hermione's love life out of the conversation.
"It's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old!" And with that, Ginny stormed away.
Harry quickly let go of Ron., the look on his face was murderous. The three stood there, breathing heavily, until Mrs. Norris, Filich's cat, appeared around the corner, which broke the tension.
"C'mon." said Harry, as the sound of Filch's shuffling feet reached their ears.
They hurried up the stairs and along a seventh-floor corridor. "Oi, out of the way!" Ron barked at a small girl who jumped in fright and dropped a bottle of toad-spawn.
"Sorry!" Y/n called out as he pulled out his wand and waved it to repair the jar but kept moving forward to keep up with Ron and Harry.
Harry hardly noticed the sound of shattering glass, he felt disoriented, dizzy, being struck by a lightning bolt must be something like this. It's just because she's Ron's sister, he told himself. You just didn't like seeing her kissing Dean because she's Ron's sister...
They soon reached the Fat Lady's portrait. "Dilligrout." Ron said darkly to the Fat Lady, and they climbed through the portrait hole into the common room.
Hermione was sat in the common room in an armchair by the fireplace.
"Did practice go well?" She asked lowering her parchment but neither Ron nor Harry spoke to her, in fact they barely spoke to each other and instead went to bed in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts.
"Was it a bad practice?" Hermione asked Y/n.
"Well, it could have been better, Ron accidentally broke my nose." Y/n told her.
"He did?" Hermione asked worried as she stood up and looked at it up close now.
Y/n felt himself become slightly nervous with Hermione this closeup, inspecting his face. He had never felt like this before in her company, not until last night, was it going to be like this from now on?
"It looks back to normal to me." Hermione said gratefully.
"Harry used Episkey." Y/n said.
Hermione just nodded in understanding. "Do you want to sit down?" She then asked Y/n indicating to the chair.
Y/n just looked at it. They had not shared a chair together in some time and despite how nervous and awkward he felt his desire to be as close to Hermione as possible was greater. He sat down and Hermione soon sat down in-between his lap her legs over one of his.
"I've missed this." Hermione said quietly as she rested her head against his.
"So have I..." Y/n admitted.
"I knew Practice must not have gone well. I saw Ginny and Dean arriving separately." Hermione said as the two looked down at the fire together.
"Practice could have gone better, but it was Ron who caused the sour mood." Y/n admitted. "We happened to run into Ginny and Dean...making out on our way back to the Gryffindor common room. Ron was not pleased one bit and some unkind words were exchanged between himself and Ginny." He told Hermione now.
"I...I see." Hermione said.
"Harry and I had to separate the two." Y/n elaborated and sighed.
"It was that bad?" Hermione asked.
"Mmh..." Y/n just hummed as he snaked his arms around Hermione's frame now and held her. "You were right...I have missed this."
Harry lay awake for a long time, looking up at the canopy of his four-poster and trying to convince himself that his feelings for Ginny were entirely elder-brotherly. They had lived, had they not, like brother and sister all summer, playing Quidditch, teasing Ron, and having a laugh about Bill and Phlegm? He had known Ginny for years now...it was natural that he should feel protective...natural that he should want to look out for her...want to rip Dean limb from limb for kissing her...no...he would have to control that particular brotherly feeling...
Ron gave a great grunting snore from his bed.
She's Ron's sister, Harry told himself firmly. Ron's sister. She's out-of-bounds. He would not risk his friendship with Ron for anything. He punched his pillow into a more comfortable shape and waited for sleep to come, trying his utmost not to allow his thoughts to stray anywhere near Ginny.
Y/n awoke the next morning feeling slightly frustrated, in fact he had been feeling like this ever since they had run into Ginny and Dean last night. Ron however seemed to have become, overnight, as touchy and ready to lash out as the average Blast-Ended Skrewt.
To Harry's dismay, Ron's new aggression did not wear off over the next few days. Worse still, it coincided with an even deeper dip in his Keeping skills, which made him still more aggressive, so that during the final Quidditch practice before Saturday's match, he failed to save every single goal the Chasers aimed at him, but bellowed at everybody so much that he reduced one of the beaters to tears.
"You shut up and leave them alone!" shouted Peakes, who was about two-thirds Ron's height, though admittedly carrying a heavy bat.
"ENOUGH!" bellowed Harry, who had seen Ginny glowering in Ron's direction and, remembering her reputation as an accomplished caster of the Bat-Bogey Hex, soared over to intervene before things got out of hand. "Peakes, go and pack up the Bludgers, you played really well today. Ron..." he waited until the rest of the team but Y/n were out of earshot before saying "You're my best mate, but carry on treating the rest of them like this and I'm going to kick you off the team."
Y/n really thought for a moment that Ron might hit Harry, but then something much worse happened. Ron seemed to sag on his broom. all the fight went out of him and he said. "I resign. I'm pathetic."
"You're not pathetic and you're not resigning!" said Harry fiercely, seizing Ron by the front of his robes. "You can save anything when you're on form, it's like Y/n was saying it's a mental problem you've got!"
"You calling me mental?"
"Yeah, maybe I am!"
They glared at each other for a moment, then Ron shook his head wearily.
"I know you haven't got any time to find another Keeper, so I'll play tomorrow, but if we lose, and we will, I'm taking myself off the team."
Nothing Harry or Y/n said made any difference. They tried boosting Ron's confidence all through dinner, but Ron was too busy being grumpy and surly to notice. Harry persisted in the common room that evening, but his assertion that the whole team would be devastated if Ron left was somewhat undermined by the fact that the rest of the team was sitting in a huddle in a distant corner, clearly muttering about Ron and casting him nasty looks. Finally, Harry tried getting angry again in the hope of provoking Ron into a defiant, and hopefully goal-saving, attitude, but this strategy did not appear to work any better than encouragement, Ron went to bed as dejected and hopeless as ever.
Harry lay awake for a very long time in the darkness. He looked over to Y/n's bed hoping to ask his advice on the situation but Y/n was fast asleep and Harry thought it best not to wake him. He did not want to lose the upcoming match, not only was it his first as Captain, but he was determined to beat Draco Malfoy at Quidditch even if he could not yet prove his suspicions about him. Yet if Ron played as he had done in the last few practices, their chances of winning were very slim...
If only there was something he could do to make Ron pull himself together... make him play at the top of his form...something that would ensure that Ron had a really good day...
And the answer came to Harry in one, sudden, glorious stroke of inspiration.
Breakfast was the usual excitable affair the next morning, the Slytherins hissed and booed loudly as every member of the Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall. Harry glanced at the ceiling and saw a clear, pale blue sky, a good omen.
The Gryffindor table, a solid mass of red and gold, cheered as Harry and Ron approached. Harry grinned and waved, Ron grimaced weakly and shook his head.
"Cheer up, Ron!" called Lavender. "I know you'll be brilliant!"
Ron ignored her.
"Tea?" Harry asked him. "Coffee? Pumpkin juice?"
"Anything." said Ron glumly, taking a moody bite of toast.
A few minutes later Y/n and Hermione walking hand in hand walked into the Great Hall as the Gryffindor table once again erupted into cheers for one of their Chasers.
Y/n just smiled and waved with his free hand appreciatively and soon they reached Harry and Ron.
"How are you both feeling?" Hermione asked tentatively, as they sat down.
"Fine." said Harry, who was concentrating on handing Ron a glass of pumpkin juice. "There you go, Ron. Drink up."
Ron had just raised the glass to his lips when Hermione spoke sharply.
"Don't drink that, Ron!"
Harry, Y/n and Ron looked up at her.
"Why not?" said Ron.
Hermione was now staring at Harry as though she could not believe her eyes. "You just put something in that drink."
"What?" Y/n said confused.
"Excuse me?" asked Harry.
"You heard me. I saw you Harry. You just tipped something into Ron's drink. You've got the bottle in your hand right now!" Hermione said.
"I don't know what you're talking about." said Harry, and Y/n saw him stowing the little bottle hastily in his pocket. Y/n instantly recognized it as the potion Harry had won from Professor Slughorn.
"Ron, I warn you, don't drink it!" Hermione said again, alarmed.
But Ron picked up the glass, drained it in one gulp, and said. "Stop bossing me around, Hermione."
Hermione looked scandalized. "You should be expelled for that. I'd never have believed it of you, Harry!" Y/n could hear her hiss.
"Look who's talking." Harry whispered back. "Confunded anyone lately?"
Hermione just stormed up from the table away from them. Harry watched her go without regret. Hermione had never really understood what a serious business Quidditch was.
"Oh brilliant..." Y/n just sighed and rubbed his eyes frustrated
He then looked around at Ron, who was smacking his lips. "Nearly time." said Harry blithely.
The frosty grass crunched underfoot as they strode down to the stadium.
"Pretty lucky the weather's this good, eh?" Harry asked Y/n and Ron.
"Yeah." said Ron, who was pale and sick-looking.
Ginny and Dean were already wearing their Quidditch robes and waiting in the changing room.
"Conditions look ideal." said Ginny, ignoring Ron. "And guess what? That Slytherin Chaser Vaisey...he took a Bludger in the head yesterday during their practice, and he's too sore to play! And even better than that...Malfoy's gone off sick too!"
"What?" said Harry, wheeling around to stare at her. "He's ill? What's wrong with him?"
"No idea, but it's great for us." said Ginny brightly. "They're playing Harper instead, he's in my year and he's an idiot."
Y/n smiled back vaguely, but as he pulled on his scarlet robes he could tell Harry's mind was far from Quidditch. Malfoy had once before claimed he could not play due to injury, but on that occasion he had made sure the whole match was rescheduled for a time that suited the Slytherins better.
"Fishy, isn't it?" Harry said in an undertone to Ron and Y/n. "Malfoy not playing?"
"Indeed." Y/n said. "But we can focus on it after the game, It will do us no good now." Y/n said back.
"Lucky, I call it." said Ron, looking slightly more animated. "And Vaisey off too, he's their best goal scorer, I didn't fancy...hey!" he said suddenly, freezing halfway through pulling on his Keepers gloves and staring at Harry.
"What?" Harry asked.
"I...you..." Ron had dropped his voice, he looked both scared and excited. "My drink...my pumpkin juice ...you didn't...?"
"And the last horse crosses the finishing line..." Y/n said shaking his head as he pulled on his Quidditch robes.
Harry just raised his eyebrows, but said nothing except. "We'll be starting in about five minutes, you'd better get your boots on."
They walked out onto the pitch to tumultuous roars and boos. One end of the stadium was solid red and gold, the other, a sea of green and silver. Many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had taken sides too, amidst all the yelling and clapping Y/n could distinctly hear the roar of Luna Lovegood's famous lion-topped hat, something that made him smile.
Harry stepped up to Madam Hooch, the referee, who was standing ready to release the balls from the crate.
"Captains shake hands." she said, and Harry had his hand crushed by the new Slytherin Captain, Urquhart. "Mount your brooms. On the whistle...three... two...one..."
The whistle sounded, Y/n and the others kicked off hard from the frozen ground, and they were away.
Then a voice that was jarringly different to the usual commentator's started up.
These words were greeted with jeers and applause from the Slytherin end of the pitch. Y/n craned around on his broom to look toward the commentator's podium. A tall, skinny blond boy with an upturned nose was standing there, talking into the magical megaphone that had once been Lee Jordan's, Y/n recognized Zacharias Smith, a Hufflepuff player whom he disliked.
"Well, there they go, and I think we're all surprised to see the team that Potter's put together this year. Many thought, given Ronald Weasley's patchy performance as Keeper last year, that he might be off the team, but of course, a close personal friendship with the Captain does help..."
Y/n had fought hard when the Quaffle was released to try and win it first but Slytherin had faster brooms and were now quickly soaring towards the Gryffindor goalposts.
"Oh, and here comes Slytherin's first attempt on goal, it's Urquhart streaking down the pitch and...Weasley saves it, well, he's bound to get lucky sometimes, I suppose..."
Y/n just grinned Smith didn't know how right he was about luck, Harry dived amongst the Chasers with his eyes searching all around for some hint of the elusive Snitch.
"Y/n!" Ron cried out and Y/n quickly looked to see the Quaffle being thrown his way. He sped forward on his broom to catch it and quickly turned his attention to the Slytherin goal. Urquhart was too close to the Gryffindor goal but the other two Slytherin chasers would provide Y/n with work to do. He saw them closing in on him but this was perfect...He wound his arm back as they got close and threw the Quaffle far in the air into the receiving arms of Ginny who had a free run at the Slytherin goalkeeper.
With half an hour of the game gone, Gryffindor were leading sixty points to zero, Ron having made some truly spectacular saves, some by the very tips of his gloves, and Ginny having scored four of Gryffindor's six goals all of which had been set up by Y/n who outmaneuvered the Slytherin chasers with ease. This effectively stopped Zacharias wondering loudly whether the two Weasleys and he were only there because Harry liked them, and he started on Peakes and Coote instead.
"Of course, Coote isn't really the usual build for a Beater." said Zacharias loftily. "They've generally got a bit more muscle..."
"Hit a Bludger at him!" Harry called to Coote as he zoomed past, but Coote, grinning broadly, chose to aim the next Bludger at Harper instead, who was just passing Harry in the opposite direction. Harry was pleased to hear the dull thunk that meant the Bludger had found its mark.
It seemed as though Gryffindor could do no wrong. Again and again they scored, Y/n scoring these extra goals now as he found the Slytherin formations too easy to dismantle and again and again he scored, at the other end of the pitch, Ron saved goals with apparent ease. He was actually smiling now, and when the crowd greeted a particularly good save with a rousing chorus of the old favorite "Weasley Is Our King," he pretended to conduct them from on high.
"Thinks he's something special today, doesn't he?" said a snide voice, and Harry was nearly knocked off his broom as Harper collided with him hard and deliberately. "Your blood-traitor pal..."
Madam Hooch's back was turned, and though Gryffindors below shouted in anger, by the time she looked around, Harper had already sped off. His shoulder aching, Harry raced after him, determined to ram him back...
"And I think Harper of Slytherin's seen the Snitch!" said Zacharias Smith through his megaphone. "Yes, he's certainly seen something Potter hasn't!"
Smith really was an idiot, thought Harry, hadn't he noticed them collide? But next moment, his stomach seemed to drop out of the sky...Smith was right and Harry was wrong, Harper had not sped upward at random he had spotted what Harry had not, the Snitch was speeding along high above them, glinting brightly against the clear blue sky.
Harry accelerated, the wind was whistling in his ears so that it drowned all sound of Smith's commentary or the crowd, but Harper was still ahead of him, and Gryffindor was only a hundred points up, if Harper got there first Gryffindor had lost... and now Harper was feet from it, his hand outstretched...
"Oi, Harper!" yelled Harry in desperation. "How much did Malfoy pay you to come on instead of him?"
He did not know what made him say it, but Harper did a double-take. he fumbled the Snitch, let it slip through his fingers, and shot right past it. Harry made a great swipe for the tiny, fluttering ball and caught it.
"YES!" Hairy yelled, wheeling around, he hurtled back toward the ground, the Snitch held high in his hand. As the crowd realized what had happened, a great shout went up that almost drowned the sound of the whistle that signaled the end of the game.
Y/n quickly dove to the ground and brought his broom to a stop beside Harry and dragging him into a large ecstatic hug as both boys began to laugh merrily and the rest of the team quickly began to join them.
"Ginny, where're you going?" yelled Harry as Ginny sped right on past them until, with an almighty crash, she collided with the commentator's podium. As the crowd shrieked and laughed, the Gryffindor team landed beside the wreckage of wood under which Zacharias was feebly stirring.
Y/n heard Ginny saying blithely to an irate Professor McGonagall. "Forgot to brake, Professor, sorry."
Laughing, Harry broke free of the rest of the team and hugged Ginny, but let go very quickly. Avoiding her gaze, he clapped cheering Ron on the back instead as, all enmity forgotten, the Gryffindor team left the pitch arm in arm, punching the air and waving to their supporters.
Y/n felt once again back on top of the world.
The atmosphere in the changing room was jubilant. "Party up in the common room, Seamus said!" yelled Dean exuberantly. "C'mon, Ginny!"
Ron, Y/n and Harry were the last three in the changing room. Harry and Ron were just about to leave when Hermione entered. She was twisting her Gryffindor scarf in her hands and looked upset but determined.
"I want a word with you, Harry." She took a deep breath. "You shouldn't have done it. You heard Slughorn, it's illegal."
"What are you going to do, turn us in?" demanded Ron.
"I know what Harry did was not exactly fair Hermione but..." Y/n began.
"What are you three talking about?" asked Harry, turning away to hang up his robes so that neither of them would see him grinning.
"You know perfectly well what we're talking about!" said Hermione shrilly. "You spiked Ron's juice with lucky potion at breakfast! Felix Felicis!"
"No, I didn't." said Harry, turning back to face them both.
"Yes you did, Harry, and that's why everything went right, there were Slytherin players missing and Ron saved everything!"
"I didn't put it in!" said Harry, grinning broadly. He slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket and drew out the tiny bottle that Y/n and Hermione had seen in his hand that morning. It was full of golden potion and the cork was still tightly sealed with wax. "I wanted Ron to think I'd done it, so I faked it when I knew you were looking." He looked at Ron. "You saved everything because you felt lucky. You did it all yourself. "
He pocketed the potion again.
"There really wasn't anything in my pumpkin juice?" Ron said, astounded. "But the weather's good...and Vaisey couldn't play...I honestly haven't been given lucky potion?"
Harry shook his head. Ron gaped at him for a moment, then rounded on Hermione, imitating her voice. "You added Felix Felicis to Ron's juice this morning, that's why he saved everything! See! I can save goals without help, Hermione!"
"I never said you couldn't...Ron, you thought you'd been given it too!"
But Ron had already strode past her out of the door with his broomstick over his shoulder.
"Er." said Harry into the sudden silence, he had not expected his plan to backfire like this. "Shall... shall we go up to the party, then?"
"You go!" said Hermione, blinking back tears. "I'm sick of Ron at the moment, He's been taking his bad mood out on us for days."
Harry just turned to Y/n looking for some input.
"It is alright Harry, you go. I will stay with Hermione."
"Right..." Harry said not needing an excuse to leave the two alone.
It was just Y/n and Hermione now in the changing rooms.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Y/n asked.
"There is nothing to say Y/n. I'm just fed up with Ron." Hermione said annoyed as she made her way over to him and put her head against his chest.
"I am not quite sure there is anything I can say in this situation, but just know that I am here for you." Y/n said as he draped his Quidditch Robes around Hermione now.
Y/n wouldn't admit that he could understand why Ron was upset with Hermione. He would feel angry and upset if he or Harry had no confidence in his playing abilities.
Hermione looked up at him.
"You know...my Quidditch robes look rather good on you." Y/n smiled down at her.
Hermione wrapped her arms around Y/n's neck and pulled him down so that his lips met her own.
Y/n quickly enjoyed the sensation as he moved his hand to her waist to hold him close to her and soon they broke away from each other.
"Do you want to go to the party?" Y/n asked her.
"I don't really want to celebrate with the others." Hermione admitted.
"Well...there is always the room of requirement perhaps?" Y/n suggested daring to be bold.
But the feeling of Hermione grabbing his hand gave him the answer he needed.
Harry walked slowly back up the grounds toward the castle through the crowd, many of whom shouted congratulations at him, but he felt a great sense of let-down; he had been sure that if Ron won the match, he and Hermione would be friends again immediately.
Harry could not see Y/n or Hermione at the Gryffindor celebration party, which was in full swing when he arrived. Renewed cheers and clapping greeted his appearance, and he was soon surrounded by a mob of people congratulating him. What with trying to shake off the Creevey brothers, who wanted a blow-by-blow match analysis, and the large group of girls that encircled him, laughing at his least amusing comments and batting their eyelids, it was some time before he could try and find Ron. At last, he extricated himself from Romilda Vane, who was hinting heavily that she would like to go to Slughorn's Christmas party with him. As he was ducking toward the drinks table, he walked straight into Ginny, Arnold the Pygmy Puff riding on her shoulder and both Noctis and Crookshanks mewing hopefully at her heels.
"Looking for Ron?" she asked, smirking. "He's over there, the filthy hypocrite."
Harry looked into the corner she was indicating. There, in full view of the whole room, stood Ron wrapped so closely around Lavender Brown it was hard to tell whose hands were whose.
"It looks like he's eating her face, doesn't it?" said Ginny dispassionately. "But I suppose he's got to refine his technique somehow. Good game, Harry."
She patted him on the arm, Harry felt a swooping sensation in his stomach, but then she walked off to help herself to more Butterbeer. Crookshanks and Noctis trotted after her, their yellow eyes fixed upon Arnold.
Harry turned away from Ron, who did not look like he would be surfacing soon.