Operation: Get Bob

Chapter 2: October

After the incident in Great Hall, nothing notable really happened. Malfoy would shoot daggers at me, which was normal. I would see Bob in classes or across the room at meal times, but I decided to let her make the next move. I knew she would. At least I hoped she would. Ok, I gave her 24 hours to talk to me or I was going to do something drastic.

On the outside, the persona that I put on for my friends and house was one of calm confidence. On the inside, I knew, I just knew that if I didn't get to be within one foot of her soon, that I was going to burst. And I figured that with all the pent up longing, it would be a spectacular display when it finally happened.

On the first Saturday in October, I wandered down to the pitch to watch the Slytherins practice. That was something that I knew really teed them off, but that they couldn't do anything about. Well I guess they could have hexed me into oblivion...so in retrospect maybe it wasn't a very smart idea. But I had heard that Bob was the new Slytherin seeker so I did it anyway. I climbed to the top of the Gryffindor box and watched.

There she was, in all of her Slytherin glory, practicing with the team. The new seeker! Malfoy was playing chaser. I vaguely wondered how he felt about the change, but then passed it off. Who really cared how he felt about it?

I watched her feint, twirl, and dive in a series of moves that resembled a ballet more than a Quidditch practice. In a moment, if I were to be completely honest with you, I knew that Gryffindor was in trouble. I made a mental note that I needed to double the teams efforts.

"What in the hell are you doing here, Potter?"

I looked up and saw Malfoy hovering on his broom in front of the Gryffindor box. I wanted to wipe that sneer off of his smug face.

"Sod off Malfoy. I've got as much right to be here as you do you sorry git!" I nodded toward Bob. "I see you have a new seeker, she's good."

"Yeah, she is, to good for you, and you'd better stay away from her if you know what is good for you!"

"Ooh now there's a threat that makes me shake in my boots."

"I mean it Potter, stay away from her!"

"You know, I'm really sorry that I missed the show the other night. It gives a whole new meaning to the name 'Pea Brain'.

"Why you filthy..."

"Draco, what are you doing? Hi Harry!"

"Bob." I smiled at her and completely ignored Malfoy.

I watched her roll her eyes. "I told you not to call me that! What are you doing here?"

"Watching Slytherin's new seeker, you are amazing. Then again, I knew that already."

Malfoy growled, he literally growled at me. "Get out of here, Potter. Roberta, if you want to fly with the team, then go practice with them."

She smiled and suddenly the arena became brighter. "Now Dray, you came to me, not the other way around. It doesn't matter to me if I play or not. If you want me to leave..." She let the sentence hang and I watched him sputter. What a beautiful sight that was.

I tried not to gloat. However I had this monkey on my back. Whenever Malfoy got his, I just had to gloat; it was written somewhere in the Harry Potter rules of behavior.

I shouldn't have gloated! Bob didn't appreciate it very much. After all, he is her family, poor girl.

"Harry Potter! I want you to leave...now!"

Now it was Malfoy's turn to gloat. He stayed back, but I could see the smug grin on his face from where I was.

I shrugged. That was all I could do. "Sure thing Bob, I've seen what I came to see anyway." Which was true, I was hoping to see Bob. I left with as much dignity as I could muster. Looking back at Bob I smiled and started whistling 'Somebody to Love then sauntered down the steps and made my way back to the castle slowly, as if I hadn't a care in the world.

As soon as the castle doors were closed behind me I ran all the way to Gryffindor tower. I was out of breath by the time I reached the portrait hole and gave the password to the 'fat lady', "friend"

"Ron!" I looked around the common room then ran up the steps. In a minute I returned to the common room. "Seamus, where's Ron."

"Don't know Harry, probably somewhere snogging Hermione."

I went to where Seamus and Dean were sitting playing a game of exploding snap. "How about Ginny, Don, Ted, Miriam and Nedra, do you know where any of them are?"

"Sorry Harry. Hey what's up? Why are you looking for the team?"

"Because we are in big trouble. I need to recruit you guys. Your mission, find the team and have them meet me here as soon as possible." Seamus nodded and began to walk away. "Oh and Seamus, if you run into any of the Slytherins, don't let them know that anything is up, ok?"

"Sure thing Harry."

Several others took it upon themselves to go in different directions. Someone went to the Library, someone else went to the Great Hall, I think it was Dean that chose to go to the Astronomy tower. No surprise there, he's a bit of a voyeur. I started drawing up new plans trusting in my fellow Gryffindors to get the team rounded up.

One by one they all started to arrive. And by the time they were all there, I had a few new plans drawn up that hopefully would counter what I had seen of the Quidditch Pitch just one hour earlier.

When they were all there, I explained why I had called them all together. Then we moved all the furniture against the walls while the rest of the Gryffindors looked on. We walked through each move until we had it committed to memory. We did this each day, away from the prying eyes of any Slytherins, or for that matter and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. By the time we had our next practice, we were like a well-oiled machine.

That week it was Slytherin vs. Ravenclaws. I sat front and center in the Gryffindor bleachers. I didn't want to miss a moment. Bob was magnificent! The rest of the Slytherin team was good too, but Bob...aah, Viktor Krum has nothing on her. I had instructed my team to watch the Slytherin moves closely so that they could see how our new plays would work.

Slytherin wiped the boards with Ravenclaw. It was 520 to 130. I had seen the snitch several times and thought for certain that Bob had too. Nonetheless, she continued to scan the pitch, looking for that little golden ball. It seemed that she was purposely letting Ravenclaw rack up a few points.

That was when I had another talk with myself. "She is definitely not being nice." Everyone around me decided that 'yes, she had seen the snitch and yes, she was letting Ravenclaw get some points so that they wouldn't feel so badly.' But, I knew better. Bloody hell, she is a Slytherin. And by definition, Slytherins are scheming. I knew exactly what she was doing. She was giving them a false hope. That way, their defeat would humiliate them all the more.

My eyes narrowed as I came to this realization. I whispered to myself at that point. "Not to my team you Slytherin wench!"

Hermione leaned over to me at that time. "What did you say Harry?"

I smiled at her. "Nothing, why"

Hermione is not stupid, plus the fact that she can see right through me. "Tell me Harry"

"We are so going to humiliate Slytherin."

Mione grinned but did not reply.

Everyone made their way back to the Great Hall just as dinner was starting. The Gryffindor team was huddled around me and I was dipping my finger into my pumpkin juice, and drawing diagrams on the table. I never would have believed it, but I had become just like Oliver Wood. When I looked at them, they were all smiling and nodding.

Mione leaned over and whispered in my ear "Malfoy alert!"

I was prepared for this. I took out an old copy of the Daily Prophet and promptly laid it on the small puddles of pumpkin juice then proceeded to tell them all a story of how I had escaped from my Aunt and Uncle's house the year they put bars on my window.

"Hey, Potter."

I looked up and saw Malfoy standing a bit back with his faithful guard dogs Crabe and Goyle. "Yeah, what do you want?" He came closer, and as one body the team stood ready to fight if necessary. "I better never catch you spying on our team again. It will be the last thing you ever do!"

I laughed at him. "Malfoy, if I had been spying, you never would have known I was there."

He crossed his arms and sneered at me "Then what were you doing at the pitch?"

"I don't have to explain my actions to you Malfoy. But if you really want to know, I was looking for Bob." I knew that would just kill him. I then turned my back on him and started talking to the team again, dismissing him without a second thought.

"Her name is Roberta, and you had better stay away from her. She is too good for the likes of you."

I turned back to him again and grinned. "Maybe Malfoy, I guess it is a good thing that it isn't for you to decide now is it!"

I love it when I can say something that will leave that git speechless. After looking murderous, he found his voice again.

"I mean it, Potter!" Then he stalked away.

* * *

Two weeks later, Ron, Mione and I were sitting in the charms classroom having a heavy debate.

Mione was looking at Seamus sitting across the room and shaking her head. "I'm sorry Harry, I just can't agree with you. Seamus is terrible at charms and that's that!"

"Mione, you just aren't giving him a chance. I think he is brilliant! He is always pushing the envelope, always trying new things. You just watch, one of these days he is going to surprise you. He is going to find a way to change the way we do things."

Ron shook his head. "Sorry Mate. I don't see it either. Seamus is hopeless."

I didn't notice a shadow pass close to our table. "I'll make you a bet. I bet that Seamus doesn't blow up anything today."

"I'll take that bet Harry."

The three of us looked up. There stood Bob. My mouth went dry and I felt like an idiot all of a sudden.

She leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, sending shivers all through my body. "If Seamus doesn't blow up something today, I'll...well what? What do you want Harry?"

I stood straight and swallowed hard. "Ahh...let's see. I still want to see you wearing Gryffindor colors at the next Gryffindor game. But I also want you to sit at the Gryffindor table and have dinner with me that night."

"Huum, ok, I accept that. And If I win you will go with me to the Halloween Dance dressed as my Arabian slave boy. You will follow me around all night with a large feather fan and do my every bidding for the entire night."

Inwardly, I smiled. That sounded wonderful to me. It had all sorts of possibilities. "You're on Bob." She rolled her eyes, but this time she didn't bother to tell me not to call her that. I must be making progress I thought. I watched her walk across the room and sit in her seat.

I could have sat and watched her all day, but all too soon Professor Flitwick started class. "Today we were pouring water from a bucket into a cauldron." Simple enough I thought. A quick use of Wingardium Leviosa, lower the bucket into the large barrel and float it across the front of the room and pour the water into the cauldron. About half of the class had managed with only a little spilled water. Then it was Seamus' turn.

It was going very well. The bucket was full and began floating across the front of the room. But a noise on the other side of the room distracted Seamus. Bob had dropped a large pile of books. The sound was enough to break his concentration. The bucket began to vibrate. I was glaring daggers at my opponent and mouthed "That's cheating!"

She looked at me as innocently as she could and mouthed "What did I do?"

The vibrating bucket by this time began to hum and I heard Professor Flitwick say "Oh my". I just put my head down on my desk and banged it a couple of times. The bucket exploded, showering the students in front with water and pieces of the bucket.

I lost it at that point. "BLOODY HELL SEAMUS, DO YOU HAVE TO BLOW UP EVERYTHING?

Hermione and Ron were laughing; Bob was sparkling as Bob always did. With a deep sigh I left my desk and went over to Bob. "Even though you cheated unashamedly, I guess you win."

"How can you say I cheated Harry? It was an accident!"

I gave her a half smile, "yeah, right!" I walked away and she called after me. "Pick me up at 8:00 p.m. and don't forget your fan."

I just mumbled something unintelligible and went over to Seamus. "Seamus! How can you possibly blow up water?" I shook my head and walked away from him, leaving him with a confused look on his face.

Now, I wasn't really that angry. To tell you the truth, I had been expecting something along those lines. I mean c'mon, she's Slytherin for Merlin's sake. I'd have been disappointed if she hadn't tried something like that. Then again I would never tell her that. I really did expect Seamus to make a better showing though. I really did believe what I told Ron and Mione, about him being a genius and all, but I wondered how long we were going to have to wait for his genius to manifest itself. In any case I decided, just a bit too late, that I would not bet on Seamus again.

This time I wrote to Mrs. Weasley for help. After I told her what I needed, I felt inspired to ask her for some motherly advice. Never having had that privilege before, I poured my heart out to her. I told her all about Bob, who she was, and how I felt about her. I think by the time that I was finished; I filled up two rolls of parchment on the subject. It felt good to get things off my chest. I knew she wouldn't laugh at me or try to remind me that she was a Slytherin and a Malfoy. Better yet, I knew that she would be able to look past Bob's last name and give me an unbiased outlook.

Within two days of sending Hedwig off, I received a package and a long letter from Mrs. Weasley. I tucked the letter in my robes without opening in and put the package on the bench next to me. Ron and Mione looked at me strangely. "What's all that stuff Harry?"

"Just my costume for the ball."

Ron laughed, "Well, let's see then."

I started laughing,"no way, at least not here. It's going to be embarrassing enough to wear it on Halloween let alone letting everyone see it before hand."

Mione laughed at me. "Well, you made the bet Harry."

"Yeah I know but, I have to win one of these times."

After breakfast that morning, I told my friends that I wanted to go down to the pitch and get in some practice and that I would see them later. I did go to the pitch but I went to the locker rooms and sat on the sofa to read my letter from Mrs. Weasley. It said...well, why don't I just read it to you. Lets see, its here some...oh here it is.

Dear Harry,

I've sent along the costume you asked for. Try it on soon so that if there are any adjustments that need to be made, we will have time to make them. Blah blah blah. Oh here!

As for Roberta, Harry, were I to try to guess, I would think that she likes you very much indeed. If she didn't, she wouldn't even give you the time of day. If you are sure that she is the girl for you, don't let anyone tell you differently.

She goes on, but that was the most important part. So with a light heart, I began to day dream about being Bob's slave boy. Believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to the Halloween dance.

I should have known. I really should have known. The chant that I kept running through my head, (She's a Slytherin, she's a Slytherin) should have warned me. Either I was too deaf to hear it or too stupid to heed my own warning, In any case, what she had planned for me was...in-human by anyone's standards. Well, maybe not Malfoy's, but anyone normal.

The night of the Halloween dance, I was standing outside the entrance of the Slytherin common room, waiting for her to show her beautiful self. Mrs. Weasley had outdone herself. I was wearing a black vest that was heavily embroidered with gold and silver threads. (No shirt) Very full white balloon pants with elastic at the ankles and a waist band that matched the vest. And to top it all off (literally) a black pill-box hat with the same gold and silver decorations on it. I had also learned a quick tanning spell from Hermione. Oh, and I was barefooted as well. I looked good, if just a little ridiculous. But it was Halloween after all.

Finally, she stepped out of the door and I knew that I had died and gone to heaven. But then, someone else stepped out as well. Blaise Zabini. Her date! Her date! The wench went out and got herself a date. I was ready to kill. I was ready to maim. I was ready to yell "Why, oh why are you doing this to me you heartless, insensitive cave woman?" But instead, I summoned all the Gryffindor courage I could and smiled at the two of them. She in her Arabian princess costume and he in his matching prince get up.

So, true to form, I followed the two of them, with my big pink-feathered fan. It wasn't too bad actually...at first. Then the first song played. I had to stand there and watch her dance with Zabini.

As he led her out onto the dance floor, she crooked a finger at me. "Come on slave boy. You can't expect me to dance without a fan now can you? So I followed them, waving the fan over them and watching her make eyes at her wretch of a date. I was mortified. I was making everyone either mad for being in the way, or extremely joyful when they saw what she was doing to me. The latter was mostly Malfoy.

It was a long night. She danced with everyone. And I mean EVERYONE (the heartless bint) Even Ron. I was shooting him daggers with my eyes, but he was studiously avoiding looking at me. Hermione was also furious at him.

Finally, finally, Professor Dumbledore called a halt to the festivities and the hall started to slowly empty. Still I followed her. She hadn't spoken a word to me all night. I watched her tell her many admirers good night then she grabbed Zabini's arm. I followed them to the Slytherin entrance. Before she went in, she whispered something to Zabini and kissed him on the cheek. He went in and she turned to me.

With a mischievous smile she walked closer. "You've been a good little slave boy tonight Harry." These words were whispered in that low seductive voice that flowed like honey across my ragged nerves. "I've one more order for you before you go."

I didn't say a word only looked at her suspiciously.

"You have to do whatever I say, is that right?"

"Yes." I answered. Oh, now I cringed. What other subtle torture has she got planned for me?

She stepped a little closer. "What do you want, Harry? You must tell me before I consider your debt paid in full.'

I was sweating now. She smelled as sweet as an apple blossom and my senses were running in high gear. If I told her what I wanted, she would probably laugh at me. On the other hand, who in the school hadn't laughed at me tonight?

I dropped the fan to the floor. "How about I just show you what I want Bob." I slid an arm around her tiny waist and pulled her closer. Then I slowly lowered my lips to hers. Just before they met, Malfoy came sauntering around a corner.

"Don't you do it, Potter!"

I closed my eyes in frustration. Enough was enough. I looked at him with fire in my eyes. "Shove off Malfoy."

"I swear, Potter, if you..."

This time Bob's eyes flashed angrily. "You heard the man, Draco. Shove off."

He was furious. "Potter, I'll make you pay!"

Both of us yelled then. "Shove off Malfoy." Then I laced my fingers through her hair and pulled her face closer to mine. Her lips were soft and sweet and I savored her taste. My tongue begged for entrance and she obligingly parted her lips to allow it. Our tongues fought for dominance. Before I pulled away to break the kiss, I lightly sucked on her lower lip.

My heart was beating so hard that I was sure she could feel it. Again I ran my fingers through her hair and enjoyed the silky texture of it. I kissed her forehead, both eyes, both cheeks and lightly teased her earlobe with my teeth. I whispered. "I'm a man of few words Bob. Did that answer your question?"

"Ummm, I believe so."

She caressed my cheek and looked into my eyes and pulled me into another kiss.

"Bloody hell Roberta, you don't need to have a snog session with Potter right where everybody can see you. I think I'm going to be sick."

I nodded my head toward him. "He's still here."

"I noticed." She turned to Malfoy. "Look Dray, I may choose to do more than snog him right where everybody can see us. So if you don't want to get sick, I suggest that you leave."

I was caught between hysterical laughter and overwhelming shock. I felt like she hit me in the chest. Somewhere in the back of my subconscious I think I heard Malfoy huff, stomp off and slam a door after him, but it really didn't register.

She looked at me. "I'm sorry about him Harry, sometimes he can be a real git. But he isn't always that way."

"Don't apologize for him Bob." Then I smiled and pulled her closer again. She twined her arms around my neck, and I kissed her again.

"I really do have to go in now Harry. I'll see you tomorrow."

I was having none of it. She had teased and taunted me all night. So I pulled her back into my embrace and crushed my lips against hers in a fevered kiss that sapped both of our strength. I traced the line of her jaw brushing it with light kisses and then I nuzzled the soft skin of her neck.

This time, she broke the embrace. "Harry, I..."

"Goodnight Bob." I kissed the tip of her nose then turned and left the dungeons and returned to my dorm room. I remember thinking that this wasn't such a bad night after all.