Light in the Darkness

Chapter 14: The Final Quidditch Match

"All in favor of the D.A.?" Hermione said, glancing about to count the number of hands in the air. "That's a majority-motion passed!"

Finally, Harry was able to call attention to the Disarming Charm. "I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful-" Harry was saying when he was interrupted.

"Oh, please," Zacharias Smith said, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him," Harry answered quietly. "It saved my life last June." Smith opened his mouth stupidly and the rest of the room was very quiet. Fred considered for a moment testing his new Daydream Charm product on Smith. Sure, he would be unconscious indefinitely, but he might be doing the world a favor.

"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry told the room. No one moved. "Okay, I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."

Before anyone could do anything, Fred jumped forward and asked Hermione to be his partner. "What about George?" she asked with an amused expression on her face.

"George partnered with Angelina," he replied. "I've lost my brother to his girlfriend." He looked down at the floor in mock sadness. Hermione chuckled.

"Sure, you can be my partner."

"What about me?" said Ron in outrage.

"You can partner with Neville," Fred suggested before turning to face Hermione, his wand raised.

Fred wasn't going to fool himself into believing that he needed to go easy on Granger. He had known her long enough to know she was strong. In fact, he was more worried about himself than he was for her.

He was right about Hermione. She held nothing back and wasn't afraid or intimidated. She was strong. She sent his wand flying a few times, making him go chase it down. "You don't have to go easy on me, Fred," Hermione told him, after retrieving his wand the second time. Her arms were folded across her torso like she was daring him to argue with her.

"I'm insulted, Granger," Fred answered, placing a hand over his heart like he'd been wounded. "That you consider my best so far beneath you." He shook his head a little, smirking. "Don't worry, I'm not going easy on you. I know you can handle yourself."

She smiled at that and stepped back, preparing for his attack. Fred was only able to succeed in forcing the wand out of Hermione's hand. Half-way through, George asked Hermione to practice with Angelina for a few minutes. When Hermione raised an eyebrow, silently wondering what he and Fred would be up to, George said logically, "It's important to switch partners. You know, to practice on more than one person. It makes you better." She didn't fully believe him, but turned to Angelina, ready to through the Disarming Charm at her.

Meanwhile, Fred and George took turns pointing their wands Zacharias Smith. Every time the Ravenclaw would open his mouth to disarm Anthony Goldstein, his own wand would fly out of his hand. "This is good practice," Fred commented to George.

Harry caught them before long. "Sorry, Harry," George said hastily. "Couldn't resist." But the twins could tell Harry didn't mind that much, probably encouraged it somewhat. Once Harry turned to look at other groups, correcting where needed, Fred and George continued pointing their wands at Smith.

"Well, that was pretty good," Harry said loudly a few minutes later, "but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"

"Sooner!" Dean Thomas yelled eagerly. Fred had to agree with him. This was the most fun he'd had learning something in a long time.

"The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too!" Angelina said quickly.