Different

concussions

"Are you sick?" Hermione said worriedly. "We don't have to go to the game."

"You're a little warm," Draco noted. 

"I'm fine," Claire promised, grabbing Draco's scarf from around his neck. "I'll be back when the game is over."

Draco frowned but nodded. Hermione interlocked her arm with Claire so they could walk side-by-side through the crowd of students. It was a Hufflepuff vs Slytherin game, but it was also close to the final match so the crowds were packed. 

"Do the boys not want to watch?" Hermione asked. 

"Draco will watch since he's the captain and we'll be playing Hufflepuff soon, but the others won't want to watch," Claire shrugged. 

"Why didn't Draco sit with us?" 

Claire looked at her friend as if she had grown antlers. 

"Draco? Sitting with the Gryffindors?" Claire scoffed. Hermione blushed a little and nodded. 

"Probably not the best idea," Hermione agreed. "Where's he going to go over the summer? If he goes home he might end up like-"

"We know," Claire interrupted, not wanting to hear the name or think of what was going to happen in the future. Hermione noticed the change in the atmosphere and didn't say anything, finding a seat near Neville. 

"How is Luna the cat doing?" Hermione asked awkwardly after a few minutes of tense silence. Claire smiled at the question. 

"She has decided that she lives with Draco now. She's always curled up in his room and only leaves when I do. He claims that he's impartial to the cat, but I found him holding her like a baby and calling her a little princess a few days ago," Claire giggled. 

"Oh, Ron will love to know that," Hermione chuckled, her cheeks going pink when she said his name.

"So what's going on with the two of you?" Claire asked, watching the game as it started. The cheering of the crowd delayed Hermione's response a few seconds. 

"Nothing."

Anyone could tell that that was a lie, especially with the way the teenager blushed and looked at her shoes.

"There's nothing wrong with liking him, you know," Claire said as soft as she could over the cheers around her. Luna Lovegood was presenting, which didn't help the noise level because she was commenting on the game and any clouds that she saw. 

"But I don't like him," Hermione lied. 

"Sure you don't," Claire teased, bumping their shoulders. The girls decided to watch the game, which was not going well for the Gryffindors. It was obvious that McLaggen disagreed with everything that Harry was trying to say, and it wasn't going well. 

"Does he have a beater's bat?" Hermione asked, panic clear in her voice. 

"You might want to look away now," Claire said, a bored tone in her voice. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut at the exact moment that McLaggen swung the bat. Claire focused and stopped the bat with a small forcefield before it could actually crack Harry's skull, but there was no argument that he would have a concussion. Especially when he fell off of his broom and almost hit the ground if the professors hadn't intervened and stopped his fall. 

"Oh my God!" Hermione shrieked, pushing past the other students to run after Harry, who was completely passed out, the professors already on their way to the Hospital Wing. Claire followed after, a small smirk on her face. She knew it was wrong to let Harry get hurt, but maybe the concussion would knock some sense into him.