Friends Forever....Or Not?

It was the next morning. Harry was up very early. He had a Quidditch game today. He got dressed, found Ron, and they both went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"So, are you excited Harry?" asked Ron.

"I suppose so."

"I hope you catch that snitch right away."

"I'll try."

"You better do more than try," piped in Dean.

"Why is that?"

"Malfoy. He really wants to catch the snitch today. He's already gotten enough crap from his team about not having caught it once this year. And the one hundred points he lost not too long ago doesn't exactly help things for him either. They're almost ready to kick him off the team. If there's going to be a time where he really wants to catch it, it's going to be now. So, good luck!" said Dean as he walked away.

"Well, that was sure comforting," said Harry, sarcastically.

"Oh, don't worry about him. Malfoy won't catch it."

"It's easy for you not to worry. You're not the one out there playing."

"True. But Harry, I've seen you play before, you are better than him. And plus, the weather is perfect. You'll do great!"

"Well, thanks."

They continued eating breakfast, until Harry had to go. Since he was now the captain, he had to be the first person down in the locker rooms.

"Well, I better go, Ron. I don't want to be late."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you after the game, ok?"

"Ok, good luck!"

"Thanks!"

Harry left the Great Hall and headed for the locker rooms. He was hoping that he would be the first person there. He wasn't. There was already someone sitting on the bench.

"Harry, Harry, Harry...you're late!"

"Oliver! Hi! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I thought I'd come by and watch the game. See how you guys are doing with out me."

"We're doing really well actually. We've only lost one game against Ravenclaw."

"Yeah, that's what Alex told me. So, how is Alex doing, anyway? Did I train you a good Keeper?"

"Yeah, he's really good. Well, not as good as you are, but almost."

Oliver laughed. "How do you like being captain, Harry? It's a lot of work, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's fun. I only learned from the best!" Harry joked.

"True...very true," said Oliver.

"So, how did you get in here anyway? I thought they only let the Quidditch players into the locker rooms."

"Well...they do. I, uh, knew where the extra key was...I stole it, and I unlocked the door..."

"Oliver! Why didn't you just ask McGonagall? She would have let you-" Harry stopped. Oliver was laughing at him. "What's so funny?"

"Harry, I was only joking. I didn't mean for you to take it seriously." Oliver was still laughing.

"Oh...ok, I get it now!" Harry started laughing with him. "Very funny. I didn't think you'd really do something like that."

They settled down after awhile. "So, how did you really get in here?" asked Harry.

"I did ask McGonagall. She was a bit reluctant, but I convinced her. After all, I used to be on the team. And my brother is on the team now, so..."

"Yeah...Well, I am going to go change. The team should be arriving soon."

"I can't wait to see everyone," said Oliver.

Harry went to his locker, grabbed his Quidditch robes, and changed.

"So, Harry," said Oliver, "Why were you late this morning? Shouldn't you have been here an hour earlier? I was here then but no one else was so I left and then came back."

"We, uh, had a team vote. It was unanimous. We don't come that early any more. We figured sleep was more important," said Harry, smiling.

"Oh, so I got you up too early, did I? Oh, well, you survived."

"Barely..."

"Oliver!" shouted Fred and George. They had just walked in. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd come by and surprise you all."

"That's great! Are you staying the whole game?"

"Of course!" said Oliver.

Shortly, the rest of the team arrived. They were all glad to see Oliver. Instead of using their warm up time to practice, they talked. After awhile, Harry finally said something.

"Ah, guys, maybe we should go warm up and practice. We aren't going to win if we don't focus."

The teamed groaned. "Can't we just stay here a little bit longer?" begged Fred.

"No, we need to go practice. No offense Oliver, but practicing is a little more important right now."

"Don't worry, I understand."

"Ok, come on let's go," shouted Harry.

"I'll be in the stands cheering you on! Good luck Gryffindor!" Oliver left the locker room and went to go find a seat with the other Gryffindors. He wanted to say hi to some students and some teachers.

Harry took the team out to warm up. After that, he gave a speech. It wasn't nearly as long as Oliver's used to be. Thank God. Finally, they put their hands in the middle and yelled "Gooooo Gryffindor!" They took their positions and the game begun.

* * *

Hermione was lying in bed the next morning. She couldn't decide if she wanted to go to the game or not. If she did, she would see Harry. But seeing Harry only reminded her about something. His journal. She sighed and looked over at her desk. There it was. Just as she had left it. She still had to give it back to him somehow. And she had no idea how she was going to do that. Eventually, she went to her last resort. She would write a short message at the end of it saying she was sorry and she wouldn't tell anyone. Except she would use a charm to disguise her handwriting. She didn't really want him to know that she had taken it. After she got dressed, she went out to the common room. Ginny was out there too, getting ready to walk out the door.

"Hey, Hermione, are you going to the game?" asked Ginny. "I'm on my way there now.

"I haven't really decided yet."

"You really should go. It'll be a very exciting game."

"Yeah...I guess I will go...Hey, can I sit with you?"

"Sure, I don't care. But I do have to mention something. I'm also sitting with-"

Hermione cut her off. "Great! I'll be right back. I have to do something real quick. It will only take a sec." And with that, she ran to her room. She didn't hear who Ginny was also sitting with. It was Ron. Ginny thought she might object to that but didn't say anything after that.

As Hermione ran to her room, she was thinking, "I have to quick write a message in Harry's journal. I will have to come up straight after the game and slip it in his room. I have to get it over with." This is what she wrote inside: Harry, I'm so sorry I took this. I won't tell anyone, I promise.

But she forgot to do one thing. She forgot to disguise her handwriting. She was in too much of a hurry.

"Ok," said Hermione has she ran out back to the common room. "I'm ready."

"Aren't you going to wear a cloak? It's awfully chilly out there," said Ginny.

Hermione looked at what she was wearing. A tank top. She really didn't want to make Ginny wait even longer. "No, I'll be fine."

"Ok..."

They talked as they walked down to the Quidditch field. When they got down there, Hermione was looking for two seats together. "There are two seats over there," she said pointing to them.

"Uh, actually, I was trying to tell you that I was already sitting with someone, but you can sit with us too."

"Oh." Hermione was a little hurt, but she tried hard not to show it.

"Come on, follow me."

She followed.

"So where are the seats at?" asked Hermione.

"Right up here."

Hermione looked up. She saw the seats all right. The person she was sitting with was no other than Ron.

"Ginny, why is she here?" asked Ron as he pointed at Hermione.

"Because she is sitting with us," said Ginny.

"Oh, no I'm not," piped in Hermione. "I'm not sitting next to him."

"You don't have to. I'll sit in the middle."

"Don't worry about it Hermione," said Ron. "You can sit with her. I'm leaving." He got up to leave.

"NO YOU AREN"T!" shouted Ginny, as she shoved him back down. "You are both going to sit here whether you like it or not! I am sick of you guys fighting!" She then turned around and shoved Hermione in the chair one away from Ron. She stood in the middle of them with her arms crossed. "Can you two please, for once act like your age and be civil. At least this once? You don't have to say a single word to each other. This is all I ask of you...Any questions?"

The two, very shocked at what Ginny had just done, slightly shook their heads. They've never seen Ginny this angry before and weren't about to argue with her.

"Good...Thank you." She was very satisfied as she sat down.

"I thought I was going to enjoy the game, but not if she's here," Ron mumbled.

"Ron...SHUT UP!!!!"

"FINE!!" he yelled back.

All three of them were sitting there with their arms crossed. Finally, the game started. There were some pretty close calls. It really was a good game. And surprisingly, Ron and Hermione had not said a word to each other for over two hours. Ginny was impressed. All of her bitchiness had paid off...She would have to apologize for that later.

An hour later, the game was still going on. Every time the snitch was seen, Harry and Draco would rush over to it until they lost it. There was one time where Harry would've gotten it, but Draco deliberately ran into him so he would miss it. A foul was called, but that didn't change the fact that the game could've been over with and that Gryffindor could've won. So the game went on. The score was pretty much tied the whole time. This was one of the longest games this year. She had never seen two teams want to win so badly. Ginny had managed to keep Ron and Hermione under control for the most part, but there were a few outbreaks. They got through them though.

Hermione was starting to get a little chilly. She wished she would have gone back to get her cloak when Ginny had mentioned it. She hoped Harry would catch the snitch soon. She glanced over at Ginny. She had her cloak on. Then she glanced over at Ron. He had a sweater on. He also had his cloak lying on the floor. He was plenty warm. She wished that for just this moment, they were friends. Just so she could borrow his cloak. But they weren't. So she sat there shivering to death.

"Hey, Hermione, are you ok? You look like you're a little cold. I told you that you should've brought your cloak along."

"I'm actually all right. I'm pretty warm," she lied.

"Whatever you say."

Hermione continued shivering and sat and watched the game again. All of a sudden, something came flying at her. It took her by surprise when she realized what it was. Ron had just whipped his cloak at her.

"Here. Take it!" he said.

"What?!" said Hermione. She couldn't believe he was doing this.

"You heard me just fine," he said. "You're sitting over their freezing to death. I know you are. And I'm not using my cloak. So just take it."

"Are you sure?" she quietly.

"Positive. But this doesn't mean that we're friends again, got it?" he said.

"Of course."

After that, they didn't say another word to each other. Ginny was amazed. She never thought her brother was capable of doing something like that. She continued to watch the game.

* * *

Cambridge was sitting in her office waiting for Rita to come back. Finally, the tiny beetle came crawling in. She transformed into herself.

"So, what's going on?" asked Cambridge.

"Our worst nightmare," she said.

"What?!"

"Hermione's fighting the curse! I told you this would happen. She's giving the journal back to Harry after the game. We can't let her do that. She feels sorry for them. She wants them back as friends. We have to do something. And fast."

"All right, all right. I know what to do. I've had it planned. Ok, have you ever heard of the Fidelius Charm?"

Rita gave her a stern look. "Of course I have. What about it?"

"Well, as it is a very complex spell, I made arrangements and I will use that charm under Miss Granger."

"You have me confused. Why don't you just give her the memory charm now? It will be a whole lot easier."

"Rita, then what am I going to do the rest of the year? No, trust me. I have it all planned out. I knew this was happening so I took the honors of setting up a one time use Portkey in Hermione's room. I used an old book. I put it on top of Harry's journal so I know she'll touch the old book first. The Portkey will send her to a room down in the dungeon where the Fidelius charm will have been placed. No one will be able to find her in there. She will be missing. This is good for several reasons. One, there is a major story here. I'm sure Dumbledore will try to hush it up, but we will know everything behind it. Second, she will be out of the way until the end of the year. We will modify her memory then and let her out. It will just remain a mystery on where she was. After that, our work will be done. Are you starting to catch on now, Rita?"

"Yes...And let me guess what will happen after that. We'll write the big newspaper with my name under it and make tons of money. I'll be giving half to you and everyone will love what they're reading because it's actually true this time. I'll be famous again. And they don't have any proof on what I did was actually illegal! This is great. You'll come back next year and we'll do it all over again."

"Yes, precisely. Except next year will be different. No body will find out about us except dear little Draco of course. He will be the only one to help us then. Things will go great for us Rita!"

"I have a question though. Who will be the secret keeper for the Fidelius Charm?" she said smiling. She was hoping Cambridge would let her do it.

"Stop smiling, Rita, I'm not letting you do it."

Rita frowned. "Then who? You?"

"No, no, no. Don't you see? Draco Malfoy will be the secret keeper. Trust me, it will be for the better," said Cambridge.

"If you say so."

"Well, I do...Now if you would please go back down to the game. I need you to keep an eye on Hermione. I have to go talk to Draco. There should be a time-out soon. I need to explain what he is going to do."

"Ok, I'll be back shortly," said Rita.

And with that, she turned back into a beetle and left.

"Oh, I hope this works," said Cambridge as she walked out of the door. "If not, we could get into serious trouble."

* * *

Just as Cambridge had predicted, a time out was called. Everyone needed a break badly. Gryffindor was in their locker room, discussing what to do next. Oliver was with them again. He was acting more like captain than Harry was today. He missed that position and now that he was back for this game, nobody minded. Harry was actually very glad. He needed a break.

"All right, Harry, you need to catch the snitch. That's all there is do it. We're winning right now, but not by much. Catch it now and win the game," said Oliver.

"In case you haven't noticed, that's all I've been doing the whole game. Malfoy is not playing fairly and you know it," said Harry.

"I know, I know," sighed Oliver. "There's only one thing to do. If he's not playing fairly, then you won't play fair."

"But Oliver, I'll get fouled for it!"

"No you won't. Haven't you seen how many times Malfoy has fouled and Madam Hooch didn't call it? She's getting sick of the game lasting so long so she is letting things go. Trust me. You have to be tougher. Push him out of the way. You have a better broom than him. You can beat him. Gryffindor cannot lose this game."

"Well, I'll try to be tougher," said Harry.

"You better do more then try," said Fred. "We have to end this game in our terms."

"Yeah, I-"

"You guys!" shouted Alex. "We have to go back now. The game's going to restart."

"Good luck you guys!" yelled Oliver, as he followed them out.

* * *

Before Draco could even get into the Slytherin locker room, Cambridge grabbed him and took him behind the locker rooms.

"Do you mind?" said Draco angrily. "I'm kind of in the middle of an extremely important game and this is the only-time out I've had. Whatever you have to say can wait." He turned around to leave, but Cambridge stopped him.

"You will listen to me. This is more important than any game will ever be."

"Well then hurry," he said in a nasty voice.

"After the game, Hermione will be transferred to a room that we've performed the Fidelius Charm on. You will be secret keeper for it. I trust you with this and you better not let us down. She will stay in there until the end of the year, and then we will give you further instructions."

"You mean I won't have to put up with her for the rest of the year?" said Draco, smiling.

"I knew you'd like that. Yes. You will be responsible for that. Now come on, I need to quick put a charm on you."

She performed the charm with her wand very quickly.

"Ok, now the charm is set. It won't come into affect until I place one more charm on Hermione, but I'll take care of that. Now, remember, you can't tell a single soul about this. It is in your hands. Are you sure about all of this now?"

"Most certainly," he said, still smiling. He was going to be the one to shut Granger up for the rest of the year. He was getting revenge. This was the best thing that's happened to him the whole year.

"Ok, now get back to the game. I will see you later." She turned around and left to go sit down.

* * *

After both teams were ready, the game began again.

Hermione and Ron still hadn't said a word to each other. It was total silence. Hermione wished the game would end soon. She wasn't really looking forward to spending this long watching the game, but she didn't want to leave already. She wanted to see who was going to win. She noticed that since the time-out Harry had been quite a bit rougher. There were some pretty close calls between Malfoy and Harry. She looked around the field hoping to catch a glimpse of the snitch. After about five minutes, she found it. Neither Harry of Malfoy had noticed it...until all of a sudden, they both started flying toward it. Unfortunately, Malfoy was closer. But did Harry care? No. That was the fastest she had ever seen Harry fly before. Everyone, including the other Quidditch players, stopped to stare. This was going to be it. The score was tied. It was now up to Harry and Malfoy. It was almost complete silence. Harry had easily flown right past Malfoy. The snitch went down. So did Harry. And then Malfoy. Harry knew he was going to catch it. He was so close, but not close enough. He was inches behind it. Hermione had just noticed Malfoy. He was far behind. Then, all of a sudden, he turned a sharp left. What was he doing? He got back on coarse again, but this time he wasn't going for the snitch. He was going straight for Harry, only Harry didn't see him! Hermione stood up quickly. "HARRY! WATCH OUT!" She yelled that at the top of her lungs. And suddenly she remembered that she wasn't friends with him. Her face turned red and she quickly sat back down. Ron and Ginny stared at her. She put her attention back on the game. Harry had just turned his head around and saw Malfoy flying straight toward him. Or the snitch. He couldn't tell which. Harry made one last grab for the snitch. He couldn't tell if he got it or not. They crashed. Both of them were knocked of their brooms. Luckily, they weren't far from the ground. No one knew where the snitch had gone. The game came to a standstill. Everyone was on their feet. Hermione hoped Harry was all right. She didn't care about Malfoy, because it was his fault this had happened. Finally, Harry stood up. So did Malfoy. Everyone was silent and staring at them. They remained motionless for a moment and then a huge smile came across Harry's face. How could he be smiling at a time like this? He could have killed himself. She soon found out why. Harry lifted his arm into the air and opened up his hand. Out came the snitch. He had caught it. The crowd was cheering. Draco's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe he still managed to catch it. He stormed off angrily. The crowd continued to cheer. Gryffindor had won once again, thanks to Harry.

Hermione knew she wouldn't have long. Before Ron and Ginny even noticed, she left. She went straight to her room. Absolutely no one was there. Or so she had thought. She had to sneak Harry's journal in his room before anyone came up. But before she could pick the journal up, she noticed another old book sitting on top of it. She had no idea what it was. She didn't put it there. She picked it up. Before she knew it, her feet were lifted off the ground. She let out a scream. She was being sucked into a whirl of color, with the old book connected to her hand. She knew immediately what it was. It was a Portkey. She fell to the ground with a thud. The book went flying. She looked around. She was in some sort of dungeon. All of a sudden, everything came pouring back into her mind. She remembered everything. Rita Skeeter and Cambridge were working together. She had to tell someone. But the problem was, there was no one to tell. She had already checked the door. It was locked. She was going to be stuck in here for a while.

* * *

Everyone from Gryffindor was down at the field celebrating. Harry was the star of it all. Everyone was extremely happy. They were even happier when Fred and George offered to get some food from the house elves and bring it up to the common room. There was going to be a big party tonight. Ginny had no idea where Hermione had gone, but she figured she went up to her room right away, so she didn't make a big deal about it. She and Ron went to go find Harry. They stayed there for a little while longer, talking and just plain celebrating. Eventually, they all started returning to the common room, where, hopefully, a bunch of food would be waiting. Ginny had run off with her friends, so Ron and Harry walked up to the common room by themselves. Ron was telling Harry of how he was forced to sit with Hermione. He told him that he never thought Ginny could ever get like that. Finally, they got to the entrance and noticed a big crowd of people standing there. They could hear a bunch of people arguing. The fat Lady wasn't letting anyone in.

"Hey, you guys, what's going on here?" asked Harry. "Why won't she let anyone in?"

"I have no clue," said Seamus. "She said the password was right, but she's under strict orders not to let anyone in. The professors told her so."

"Why would they tell her that?" asked Ron.

Before Ron's question was answered, Neville came up to them. "I know what happened," he said. "Well, kind of."

"What?" said Harry.

"Well, I had left the Quidditch game early, because I wasn't feeling well. I was sitting in my room and I heard someone come in. It was a girl because she went to the girl's dormitory. I really didn't think much of it. Within minutes, I heard a scream. I yelled at her and asked if she was all right. Nobody answered. Since we're not allowed in there, I went to get McGonagall. She went in to check it out. After that, she told me to leave the common room and wait by the door. She wouldn't tell me what happened or who it happened to. I didn't recognize the scream. I have no idea who it was. And that's all I know."

Just then, McGonagall, Snape, Cambridge, and Dumbledore walked out of the Gryffindor entrance. Dumbledore raised his hand in the air and all the commotion stopped.

"I suppose you are all wondering what had happened and why we won't let you in," said Dumbledore.

There was a chorus of "yeahs."

"There has been a problem in the Gryffindor tower," continued Dumbledore. "We aren't letting anyone in for safety precautions. At this time, that is all I will discuss. I would like you all to the Great Hall until further noticed. Thank you."

"I wonder what happened," said Harry to Ron.

On the way down to the Great Hall, Harry and Ron overheard a part of McGonagall and Dumbledore's conversation.

"What are we going to do?" asked McGonagall to Dumbledore.

"We will have to contact her parents, of course," he said.

"But, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, they'll be so worried!" she said.

Harry and Ron stopped in their tracks and stared at each other.

"Umm, Ron," said Harry. "Where exactly is Hermione?"

"The last time I saw her was when she was sitting by me. After the game, she had run off."

"What do you thing happened to her?" asked Harry worriedly.

"I don't know, but I really hope she's all right," replied Ron.

"Me too."

From this point on, Harry and Ron knew that their fight with Hermione was over with. She was their best friend. They couldn't fight with her forever. They needed each other. But right now, all that mattered was making sure she was ok.