"There is, I believe, no person, however insignificant in the world, but, if an account of his life and adventures were committed to paper, would be entertaining in some degree: the follies of our own life, and those we are liable to be drawn into by others, will constantly afford matter for serious reflection." ― Henry Spencer Ashbee
The Great Hall was buzzing with chatter as I walked in, everyone seemed to be up bright and early for the first Quidditch Tournament match. Even the Ghosts seemed to be floating around the hall eagerly. Durmstrang's team which was up against the Slytherins sat huddled in one corner lazily munching their toasts while masses of fangirls sat around them whispering and giggling weirdly at them. My eyes swept around the hall and landed on the bunch of people clad in emerald green robes and talking animatedly among themselves. I was yet, not surprised at the distance they obviously kept from a certain blonde head. Draco sat at a distance, head bowed and seemed to be deep in thought.
What always amazed me was the extent to which boys dragged the whole quidditch business, like it was just a silly game- but pigs would start flying the day my two best friends in particular realized that. Before I reached my spot for a quick breakfast, Luna came strolling out of nowhere,
"Hello Hermione" she greeted me in her airy voice. Her long blonde hair were dyed silver today with green stripes mixed in which gave her a veela look. I had to admit, however weird the hairdo might be, she had managed to pull it off quite well.
"Hey Loo- I mean Luna.." I corrected, blushing. She gave me her signature unfocused smile.
" The wrackspurts seem to have taken a liking to you." She stated bemusedly.
" Excuse me?" I retorted back. There she went again, throwing weird ideas around. But that was the thing about her, weirdness and all.
"Oh anyways, Lavender told me to tell you to get "your two buffoons" moving. They are in some kind of argument I think." she told me fleetingly. Oh Lord, what was with boys and fighting all the time? Turning around, I dashed back towards the Gryffindor Tower. Upon entering I found Harry yelling at Ron,
" WILL YOU STOP BEING A NUTTER? THIS IS NOT MY FAULT. PROFESSOR SPROUTS WAS MAD AT YOU FOR DISAPPEARING FROM CLASS LIKE THAT. STOP BEING AN ASS," he yelled at a stubborn Ron.
" YOU COULD'VE HAD TRIED TO CONVINCE HER. I MEAN C'MON YOU'RE HARRY DAMN POTTER-"
" WHAT THE HELL DOES ME BEING ME HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THI-"
" Will you two please shut the hell up and stop making such a fuss?" I'd finally had enough of their bickering and cut in. Both stopped their yelling immediately and turned towards me, Ron's ears going red as usual.
" Sorry Mione but Harry-"
"Don't you put this on me okay? I tried convincing her but-"
"If you both don't shut up now I will turn you into sloths. And I mean it." I told them, with an exasperated sigh. They both stared at me wide-eyed and shut up instantly perhaps recalling the one time a certain Blonde got turned into a ferret by Moody. And yes, I'd learnt from the very best, McGongall.
" Fine, now Harry explain to me what this is all about. And you have exactly ten minutes before we have to leave for the match." I stated, glancing at my wrist watch.
" Well Professor Sprout called me up last night after dinner to tell me that Ron would have detention on Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of the month since he skipped that lesson last week. I tried to tell her that we cant possibly let that happen since we have a match coming up next Saturday and Ron has to be on the team but she wont listen and well Ron here got mad at me as if it was my fault." He babbled out quickly.
" Well, Serves you right for skipping a class like that Ron." I retorted. Ron groaned and stomped his foot. I had a hard time trying not to laugh, " But don't worry, I'll try and talk to Professor McGonagall, I'm sure she'll help you. Its for the team's sake anyways."
" Oh My God Hermione, You're my life saver. I love you." he gushed, engulfing me in a tight hug. We all laughed at his antics.
******
The stands were buzzing with excited chatter as we made our way through students. Hagrid and Neville stood in front of the railing, leaning over it eagerly. We made our way over to them.
"Hey Hagrid," Ron thumped him on his back, although I doubt he even felt it. Hagrid turned around and greeted us with a cheerful smile, holding his omniculars in one hand. While Harry and Hagrid shared a moment, I squeezed myself between Neville and Ron and sweeped a glance across the pitch. All the fangirls stood across from our stands holding banners with a half naked Krum drawn on it sitting on a throne with a lioness in his lap.
" If I didn't know any better, I'd say those girls there were trying to portray you and Krum." Harry laughed, whispering in my ear. I turned to him sharply and glared at him, while he guffawed with laughter.
" Not funny Potter." I huffed, crossing my arms but a traitor blush had already creeped up to my face, making me look like a tomato. As if the bitter Late November morning wasn't enough. The whistle then blew, and I looked around to finally find Madam Hooch standing in the middle of the pitch with the crate in her hands. Another whistle was blown and the Durmstrang team came out of their changing room while the Slytherin team marched onto the pitch, their faces schooled into a mask of tranquility.
I wondered for a brief second what kind of pep talk they might've received from Malfoy. Everyone watched as Madam Hooch gave instructions to both teams and the captains shook hands. Krum had a poker face on while Draco gave him his best Malfoy smirk. Both the teams then mounted their brooms and Madam Hooch released the balls. On the final whistle the teams shot up in the sky, turning into specks of Green and Red.
"And they have begun. Slytherin takes the charge right up..." Seamus' voice boomed through the microphone. The match went on smoothly for sometime, the teams scoring every once in a while. Draco and Krum could be seen hovering far above the actual game, occasionally swooping down to distract the other. After yet another goal from the slytherin side, the entire mass of enthusiasts around me erupted into a fit of cheers and whistles.
"AND SLYTHERIN SCORES ONCE AGAIN,GOOD GOING LADS! ITS 170-160 TO THE BLACK FIEND, AND HEY- whats that? GUYS IT LOOKS LIKE KRUM HAS FOUND SOMETHING.."
The whole crowd watched in anticipation as Krum swooped down towards the ground at full speed while Malfoy was hot on his tail.
"Oh Fuck!" I heard Harry mutter.
" What?" I nudged him, as he started jumping up and down in agitation.
" Oh God, Malfoy is so dumb. No No No.. what the-" he kept rambling, biting his nails altogether,
" Will you please explain?" I asked him again impatiently.
" Don't you see 'Mione, Krum is pulling the Wronski Fient on Malfoy!" He almost yelled. Oh that.
Wait. OH MY GOD. That meant-
" WAIT GUYS, WHAT THE HELL? WHERE IS MALFOY OFF TO? WHAT IS GOING ON?" I looked up in time to see Malfoy suddenly halting and zooming off to the other side. Seemed like he'd finally realized what was happening. Another gasp from Harry brought me out of my reverie and I realized in time that the whole school seemed to have transformed into wolves, howling and hollering at the top of their lungs, only difference being that it wasn't an unwelcome sound, as the applauding died down, I turned towards the pitch with a smile on my face; the smile of victory. WE HAD WON.
Only to find Malfoy nowhere in sight. The Slytherin team was being hoarded by students trying to get to them for victory greetings. Harry and Ron were standing next to me pumping their fists and I instantly knew a back-to-back recap was on its way. Hagrid was already making his way down to the stands towards his hut I s'posed.
"Hey Mione!" Ron called and I realized that the boys had left already and I was the only one in the stands, zoning out like idiots.
" Hagrid invited us all to tea. Wana hurry up?" I waved at him and started making my way towards them. As I walked a step behind my two best friends, I was thinking about where Malfoy might have gone. A slight rustling in the bushes nearby made me stop. I turned slightly to find, the blue pony staring at me from afar. Her yes seemed to beckon me towards her and for a minute I almost physically felt its pull - dragging me forward.
" Harry, Ron.. you guys go ahead, I'll be right there yeah?" the boy turned to me and I gave them a smile to assure them I was fine.
" Okay. See you there." Harry replied turning around and jogging ahead to catch up with Ron who was already at Hagrid's hut now. I stood there for a minute, to make sure the boys had gone into the hut before turning towards the trees and slowly creeping along the edge, following Rainbow Dash. Normally, I'd never let any thing this strange be my guide. I'd rather trust my brain than any magical creature but something about this pony made me trust it, no matter what.
I ended up in a clearing, which looked familiar to me. The sun was right over the canopy but the rays had barely escaped through the thick leaves. The ground was covered with layers of decaying flowers and leaves and shrubs, the little dirt track through the middle looked freshly walked upon. My eyes then fell on a space between two beech trees. Rainbow stood next to the gap and I tiptoed towards it, peeking through the bushes to find the most beautiful sight ever.
Stepping a little through the gap, I could feel the magic, running through my body- buzzing along my veins and I could feel the halo of energy surrounding me. The bushes all around the little canvas were filled with the most beautiful flowers ever. The distinct sound of humming brought my attention to the wild forest birds circling over head in a specific pattern, which on closer notice turned out to be the sign of infinity. It felt like I had entered a different world. The trees surrounding the magical clearing were ordinary looking, but the vines twisting and cris- crossing its trunks and wounding around the branches weighing them down were creating a water fall -like affect.
From where the canopy was thin, the sunlight broke into the clearing softly caressing over the tops of the plants and wild grass. My breathe was caught in my throat and I stood for ages which in reality were just about five minutes gawking at the beautiful landscape in front of me. A soft sigh brought me out of my reveries and my heart suddenly shot up towards my mouth as I felt someone else present besides me in the clearing. Heart-racing and senses on full alert I cautiously took a few more steps forward, my foot caught a slight rise in the otherwise flat surface and the next thing I know was the sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through me like boiling lava as I fell- face first.
Closing my eyes, I waited for the impact of the ground as I landed, but instead my ears were met with a painful groan and a well chosen swear word that if my mother ever heard me say would probably claw my tongue , I opened my eyes and was met with the most beautiful grey eyes ever.
" What the fuck is your problem Granger?" The iciness in his voice sent shivers down my spines and I was suddenly reminded why I hated this ferret face so damn much,
" I-I- I'm so s-sorry! I didn't s-see.. wait..." I squeaked out, frantically trying to scramble to my feet which resulted in me kicking him right in the balls -literally. Another anguished groan and some more swear words later, I was sitting a few steps afar from where he sat rubbing his side, which I guess I'd hit when I had fallen unceremoniously on top of him. A few minutes passed in silence. The faint noises of the forest kept reminding me of all the horrors that resided in there and I could almost hear click-clock of the centaurs passing by. The seven years that we'd spent in Hogwarts had been quite eventful to say the least and from what I knew, the best advice I could ever give the new kids would be to stay the hell away from the forest. It was 'forbidden' for a reason after all.
" Why are you here?" I almost jumped three feet into the air in surprise. It was eerie how easily Malfoy could be sitting right there and camouflage so easily. His presence was so insignificant. Which made me feel sorry for him. The bastard of the school, the rich pure blood who had walked down the halls like he owned it was now as noticeable as the fly on the wall.
I was not sure how to answer that question. I actually had no idea what I was doing there, or why I had followed the pony there or why I was so damn curious about Malfoy and his strange placidity. I sat in silence for a long time before finally saying, " I don't know." I could feel his eyes on me as he inspected my face with narrowed eyes. I was suddenly reminded of the words I'd spoken in a similar clearing, the one I'd walked through earlier in fact.
" ..the war is over.."
" .. your mighty Lord has been reduced to nothing but a scrap of nightmare for the entire world.."
"..it'd do you good to come off your high horse.."
"..Harry testified for your Mother's actions.."
" .. Doesn't mean you aren't being watched.."
"No no! It isn't like that!" I exclaimed as comprehension dawned on me. He gave me a look-the one you give a raving lunatic in a mental asylum.
"I'm not spying on you! I swear- Harry and Ron don't even know I'm here." I explained timidly. I almost felt like a little girl trying to explain to her mother how her favorite vase ended up into sawdust- under Malfoy's bewildered gaze.
" What the fuck does Potty and Weasel have to do with anything? Granger just shut up." He told me, heaving an annoyed sigh. Silence fell over us and I felt awkward just sitting there. Finally having had enough, I stood up and started making my way back. Before I was fully out of the magical clearing though, I stopped and tilted my head slightly before saying, "Congratulations on the win Malfoy," and with that I walked out.
I had decided to head to the Room of Requirement later after dinner. The whole day I had to endure the incessant speculations about the match. By dinner though, I was tittering on the edge of loosing my head. Getting up from the table with an audible huff, I bid adios to my two friends and with one hand gripping a wrapped sandwich, and the other - my bag, made my way up to start up early. Walking into the warm room, I sat my stuff down on the couch and headed over towards the newly installed plasma and turned it on.
It had taken me a little bit of coaxing and some showing off and a little bit of arguing with McGonagall before she allowed me to bring such a muggle contraption into the premises of Hogwarts. Technically, the muggle artifacts were rendered useless by the strong wards around the castle but I had found after some research that the same couldn't be said about the Room of requirement which only worked to my advantage.
It took me some time to locate the remote. Sifting through the channels, I decided to watch some rom-com before starting up on my work. Settling down in the arm chair besides the fire, I let myself get absorbed into the show.
A/N : Tada! I'm so tired but I have so much to do. Anyways, hope you liked this chapter. Quidditch is fun, wish we had this sport in real life. Well lovelies, do Vote, Share and Comment. I love reading your comments and I try my best to reply everyone (:
Shoutout to booksrockforever2 for reading and commenting, thanks for your input (: