The Great Hall was filling up fast when you arrived, the talk louder and the mood more exuberant than usual. As you passed the Slytherin table there was an upsurge of noise. You looked round and saw that, in addition to the usual green and silver scarves and hats, every one of them was wearing a silver badge in the shape of what seemed to be a crown. For some reason many of them waved at Ron, laughing uproariously. You tried to see what was written on the badges as you walked by, but it was no use. You received a rousing welcome at the Gryffindor table, where everyone was wearing red and gold, but far from raising Ron’s spirits the cheers seemed to sap the last of his morale; you saw Ron collapsing on to the nearest bench looking as though he were facing his final meal.
"I must’ve been mental to do this," he said in a croaky whisper. "Mental."
"Don’t be thick," said Harry firmly, passing him a choice of cereals, "you’re going to be fine. It’s normal to be nervous."
"I’m rubbish," croaked Ron. "I’m lousy. I can’t play to save my life. What was I thinking?"
"Get a grip," you said sternly. "Look at that save you made with your foot the other day, even Fred and George said it was brilliant."
Ron turned a tortured face to you. "That was an accident," he whispered miserably. "I didn’t mean to do it - I slipped off my broom when none of you were looking and when I was trying to get back on I kicked the Quaffle by accident."
"Well," said Harry, recovering quickly from this unpleasant surprise, "a few more accidents like that and the game’s in the bag, isn’t it?"
Hermione and Ginny sat down opposite you wearing red and gold scarves, gloves and rosettes.
"How’re you feeling?" Ginny asked Ron, who was now staring into the dregs of milk at the bottom of his empty cereal bowl as though seriously considering attempting to drown himself in them.
"He’s just nervous—" younsaid.
"Well, that’s a good sign, I never feel you perform as well in exams if you’re not a bit nervous," said Hermione heartily.
"Hello," said a vague and dreamy voice from behind them. You looked up: Luna Lovegood had drifted over from the Ravenclaw table. Many people were staring at her and a few were openly laughing and pointing; she had managed to procure a hat shaped like a life-size lion’s head, which was perched precariously on her head.
"I’m supporting Gryffindor," said Luna, pointing un necessarily at her hat. "Look what it does…" She reached up and tapped the hat with her wand. It opened its mouth wide and gave an extremely realiztic roar that made everyone in the vicinity jump.
"It’s good, isn’t it?" said Luna happily.
"That's amazing, Luna!" You smiled at the girl, quite taken aback from her hat.
"I wanted to have it chewing up a serpent to represent
Slytherin, you know, but there wasn’t time. Anyway… good luck, Ronald!" She drifted away. The other four had not quite recovered from the shock of Luna’s hat before Angelina came hurrying towards them, accompanied by Katie and Alicia, whose eyebrows had mercifully been returned to normal by Madam Pomfrey.
"When you’re ready" she said, "we’re going to go straight down to the pitch, check out conditions and change."
"We’ll be there in a bit," Harry assured her. "Ron’s just got to have some breakfast." It became clear after ten minutes, however, that Ron was not capable of eating anything more and you thought it best for the both of them to get him down to the changing rooms. As they rose from the table,
Hermione got up, too, and taking Harry’s arm she drew him to one side.
YOU ARE READING
One Of A Kind ||A Fred Weasley Fanfiction||
Fanfiction(Y/n) Black, the daughter of Sirius Black, was nurtured by the Weasley family, forming strong bonds with all of its members. However, her affection ran particularly deep for Fred Weasley, the older twin. As time went on and their lives became intert...
