The Oracles Prophecy

Chapter 4 - Absolute Quidditch and H.O.G.G.

Harry sat in an overstuffed armchair in front of a roaring fire. His eyes were unfocused. He could only think of Ron. He had realized on the way back to his room that Ron might not play as large a part as he usually did in whatever adventure Harry knew was coming. As he stared into the fire, lost in thought...

"HARRY!"

The voice quavered, as Harry was shaken awake. He jerked his head off the armrest where it had fallen the night before. He immediately regretted it, as spasms of pain shot through his neck. He turned to the speaker.

"Hermione, what in Merlin's name are you doing in my room?" he asked groggily, rubbing sleep from his eyes. His left arm was asleep, he noticed.

"I suppose since I'm a Gryffindor, I can just come in. I knocked, and when you didn't answer, I tried the door. And it let me in. I suspect it works on all the Gryffindor doors. You know, the ones painted red," she mused. Harry stood up quickly, and his scroll rolled to the floor. He had forgotten that it had been sitting on his lap. He reached out to grab it. Hermione stared as it rolled open onto the floor. Harry grabbed both ends and rolled it up quickly. He walked over to his desk drawer and shoved it inside. He turned back to Hermione. She opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped by a bell ringing.

"What's that?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Oh, Prefects are supposed to be the first ones at the breakfast table and we're supposed to take charge during emergencies and such, so there's a bell to let us know what to do. Two rings is a meal, three a meeting, and four is an emergency. I'm hungry, so I'm going. You, on the other hand, should change your robes. You're starting to smell funny." She laughed as she left the room. Harry quickly changed and followed her.

He found Hermione sitting next to Ron. Harry took the empty seat on her other side. Ron and Hermione chatted throughout breakfast, and Harry talked to Ginny and Seamus. Everything went smoothly until schedules were passed out. Ron looked over his and turned to Harry.

"Double Divination, first thing on Mondays. That's a low blow, don't you think Harry?" Ron grimaced. Harry reddened, and pretended to scan his schedule.

"Um, actually Ron, I'm not taking Divination anymore. I'm transferred to Ancient Runes now. I've fixed it with McGonagall." Harry wanted to disappear when he saw the brief flicker of emotions cross Ron's face. Harry had to sympathize. Ron had taken a lot over the past two days. He nodded simply, and continued eating. If Hermione noticed anything, she didn't say so. Seamus and Ginny seemed to reach some sort of understanding, and quickly put two and two together. They flushed with empathy. Seamus mumbled something about potatoes. The rest of the meal was relatively silent.

As breakfast ended, Harry turned to Hermione.

"Hey Mione, could you show me the way to Ancient Runes? I don't know how to get there, and since you took it in third year, you know where it is?" Harry asked. Hermione turned around. Harry saw Ron walking in the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry, Harry. He needs me now," Hermione whispered. She turned and walked towards Ron. The two headed out of sight.

"Sorry about that, Harry," Ginny came up behind him. "I can show you to Runes. Fourth and Fifth years have it together this year." Ginny hooked her arm through Harry's, and led him towards the door. Harry followed obediently, trying to understand what had happened. Imogene, another Gryffindor fourth year, detained Ginny when they reached the door.

Harry walked into Runes with ten minutes to spare. He saw the classroom was empty, except for the teacher whom he hadn't noticed before. He walked to the teacher's desk, where a woman with shoulder length brown hair was taking things out of her case and setting them on her desk. She held out her hand to Harry as he approached her.

"Hello, I'm Professor Armour. I'm new to Hogwarts.

"Well, I'm new to the class, so I'm behind the other students here," he told her. She smiled.

"I'm sure with extra work, you'll be caught up by the end of the year. Thank you for telling me, though. Talk to me after class, and we can prepare a revised schedule. I was planning something different anyway." Harry took a seat in the middle of the room. A few minutes later, Ginny and Imogene came inside, along with a few other Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. No one seemed to notice Harry. Ginny sat down next to him.

"I figure you're going to need some help, since you haven't taken the class." Ginny smiled. They turned as Professor Armour began to speak.

"Hello class. My name is Professor Armour. I have been teaching Ancient Runes for five years at the Salem Institute in Wizarding Massachusetts. Now I have transferred here. To give you all fair warning, I teach differently than most Runes professors. You are all old enough to complete projects on your own, and that is what you will do. I will assist you, of course, but I want you to work at your own pace. You will submit a Statement of Intent to me one week from today. Now, for me to judge your level of knowledge, I'm going to quiz you to see what you know." Professor Armour passed around quizzes. Harry was somewhat surprised that Professor Armour had plunged right into class, with very little heads up. He looked down at the quiz on his desk. There was a note at the top of it.

Do your best. This is the test I'm giving to the new third years, so it will be easier. Look at the runes. Sometimes they speak for themselves. Good luck!

Harry looked down at the page. He was surprised that he recognized almost all of the runes from Arabella's teaching. He managed to translate the entire page with only a little struggle. And a little help from Ginny, who whispered translations when he seemed stuck on a rune. Harry spent the rest of the class reading a book the Professor Armour had given him and doing third year worksheets. She said she thought the book was better than the one on the Hogwarts booklist, and let she him keep it. Harry was so engrossed in the history of Egyptian hieroglyphics that he didn't notice that the class had been dismissed. He felt that he was being watched, and jerked his head up from the book. And looked straight into the eyes of Professor Armour, who was leaning over the desk, watching him. She smiled.

"I'm glad you like the book," she said.

"Yes, very much. Thank you," Harry replied.

"Do you have a project in mind?"

"Yes, actually, I do." Harry told her about the scroll, and how translation charms hadn't worked. Professor Armour frowned at that. Harry decided not to mention that fact that supposedly, only four people could even see it, let alone translate it.

"I hope you can translate it, but remember, translating runes is like translating any foreign language. There is always something lost in the translation, so get to know the language well. I'm fairly surprised you did so well on your quiz. Do these worksheets for homework. If you need help, visit the library."

As Harry left the room, he realized that Professor Armour reminded him a lot of Hermione.

**********

Hermione tried to talk to Ron on his way to Divination. It was like talking to a wall.

"Ron, please listen to me." She grabbed his arm with a strength that surprised him.

"What Hermione?" There was an edge in his voice that made Hermione stop short. He jerked his arm out of her grasp.

"Ron, what do you want me to say? I didn't know that Harry had made a course switch, and I apologized for forgetting to tell you about the Prefect thing. Please, be strong and get past whatever is bugging you. Talk to me, please!" Hermione leaned forward and grabbed him into a hug before Ron could pull away. He stiffened at first, but then melted into her embrace.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I'm so sorry I acted like a prat. It's just the same old thing again. Harry is a Prefect, Harry will be Head Boy, and Harry will save the world." Hermione was a bit discouraged when she heard this. She squeezed him one last time and broke away.

"I'll see you at lunch Ron." She smiled and turned. Ron watched her as she began to walk toward Arithmancy.

At lunch, Ron was in a slightly better mood, especially when Katie Bell announced that there was going to be a Quidditch meeting later that evening, and Fred whispered to Ron that they were going to discuss team tryouts. Harry felt a twinge of excitement when he thought of Quidditch practices starting up. He finished his lunch quickly. Sometimes, he missed his mouth, and he later discovered a few beans stuck to the front of his robes.

Care of Magical Creatures went off without a hitch. In fact, Harry thought that it had been very informative. Hagrid had really come through this time, and he hadn't made too many mistakes.

"Now all you know that there are many interesting creatures in the Forbidden Forest, and I thought it might be good if you learned something from them. They're not all evil, you know. We'll have a few speakers coming in over the next few weeks, and they'll let you know things. Um, about them, and what they do. Yeah."

All too soon it was dinnertime, and Harry gathered his resolve and cut Ron off as he headed for the door. He turned to his best friend.

"Ron, I'm really sorry about this afternoon, and last night, and everything. I know it's been a lot to take in a really short time." Harry sighed.

"It's alright Harry. But you're right, I was about to go bonkers, because I didn't know what to think. I felt like I was losing my best friend." Harry smiled at that and the two boys walked back to dinner.

The Quidditch meeting was held in the common room, after Katie Bell, Harry, and Hermione had shooed the younger students into their rooms. It had been fairly exhausting explaining to several first and second years why they had to go to bed at eight o'clock. The third and fourth years just grumbled and the rest of the Gryffindors did as they were told. Hermione kissed Ron and headed into the Prefect common room, and Ron went upstairs to his room. Katie and Harry plopped into chairs by the fire, Harry between Fred and George, and Katie next to Alicia Spinnet. Angelina Johnson stood up with an agenda.

"All right, you all. The first order of business is to vote on our new captain. I have a list here from McGonagall, and it explains the voting procedure, as well as these ballots. You are aloud to vote for two people, and both votes cannot go to one person. It is a process of elimination, so to speak. I'll hand out ballots and you all vote. Alright now."

Katie stood up and turned towards the team.

"I withdraw myself from the vote. It would be too hard to be Head Girl and Quidditch Captain." She sat back down. Harry watched the ballot he had been handed. Katie's name slowly faded away, and the names around it pushed into their new positions. Harry looked at the list. He checked Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson. As much as he liked Fred and George, Harry wasn't sure if they'd enjoy being captain. They liked having fun and playing the game, and they probably wouldn't mind either way. Angelina walked around and gathered the ballots. She put them into a pile and tapped them with her wand. All the pages dissolved into one large sheet. Angelina looked it over.

"Well, it seems we have a tie. The Gryffindor Quidditch Team's new Co-Captains are Alicia Spinnet, and Harry Potter." Harry was dumbfounded. He honestly had never expected to be voted Captain. Fred and George began slapping him on the back and making rude noises. Katie was hugging Alicia, who's face probably mirrored his own.

"Well, Monsieur Captain, what are we going to do?" George asked Harry. Harry stood up.

"I think the first order of business would be to hold some tryouts." Angelina handed him a piece of paper McGonagall had given her.

"It says here that we need a new Keeper for the main team, two reserve Chasers, and a reserve Keeper. They all graduated last year. One of our reserve Beaters will graduate this year, plus all three Chasers and both Beaters, so we should probably get someone to fill those positions, too. I suppose we should have tryouts soon, since we should get some practice time in before our first game."

Alicia was scanning a sheet that Angelina had handed her.

"This says that our first game is against Hufflepuff, on September 31. We should have tryouts by next week." She looked up at Harry, her face asking for acceptance. He nodded.

"Alright team, I'll put up a sign for try-outs sign up. We'll see who signs up, and schedule things accordingly. Now team," he said, doing his best Oliver Wood impression,
"bed!"

***********

The next morning, Harry wasn't surprised to see that the first person to sign up for Quidditch tryouts was Ron. What shocked him was that Ginny had signed up right behind him. Harry hadn't known Ginny liked Quidditch, but he supposed she had a lot a practice with all her brothers around.

As the week passed, the list began to fill up. The team had decided that they would try out the first thirty people who signed up. If they didn't find what they were looking for, they would post another sheet. However, at the week deadline, only twenty-eight people had signed to try out. Harry wasn't sure if he should be happy or not.

The Saturday morning of tryouts dawned early. Professor McGonagall came to watch and judge some of the Keepers, and Madame Hooch came to referee the scrimmages the team would hold later, the main team against the reserves. Harry nearly dropped his broom when he heard McGonagall announce that she had played Keeper when she was a student. Harry walked halfway up the bleachers, muttered Sonorus, and began to speak.

"You are all trying out for positions on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Please sort into the positions you wish to try out for. Keepers go to Alicia Spinnet. Chasers go to Katie Bell. Beaters please go to Fred and George Weasley. They will instruct you further." Harry walked back down to the pitch. Ron jogged over to him.

"Do you think I'll get in?" he asked.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Ron stepped back, almost tripping over his robes. He flushed.

"Oh, Quietus. Sorry Ron. I think you'll do great. Just do your best." Ron ran to the other two Gryffindors who were trying out for the Keeper position.

Suddenly, a figure came running out from the broom closet, robes flashing, towards the pitch. Harry had to do a double take. It was Hermione, clad in the crimson robes of the Bulgarian Quidditch team. She wore beige corduroys and a gold sweater. Her boots were slightly scuffed, but they were made for Quidditch playing. She had pulled her hair back into a plait, but several curls had sprung loose and framed her face. She had a broomstick, a Nimbus 2001 Harry realized as she came closer. She jogged up to Harry.

"Sorry I'm late. I tried to make a grand entrance." She certainly had. All the Gryffindor fifth and sixth years were staring. They younger students sensed nothing amiss, but then again, they didn't know that Hermione had never played Quidditch. Ron, whose mouth was open wider than anyone, strode over to the two of them.

"Hermione, what is Merlin's name are you doing here. Where did you get those clothes? Where did you get that broom? Why..."

"Ron, please. Viktor taught me." That shut him up.

"Hermione, what position are you going to try out for?" Harry asked.

"Oh, the Keeper. That's what Viktor taught me. He even got a few Bulgarian Chasers to test me."

"Well, Keepers are over there with Alicia. Have fun you two."

As Harry watched Ron and Hermione walk towards Alicia, he had a realization. Hermione would be going against Ron, her boyfriend, the man she said she loved. And she hated to lose at anything. This would be interesting.

Harry flitted between groups. Katie was showing the sixteen Chasers how to hold the Quaffle. Then she put them into groups of three and had them hover while throwing it to each other. Harry saw natural skill in some players. Others needed more work. After ten minutes or so, the potential Chasers went back and forth across the pitch tossing the Quaffle. They alternated groups every few minutes. Harry saw that Katie was slowly putting the more advanced Chasers into one group, trying to see how they worked together. Towards the end, she called Angelina over to guard the hoops. Each pair had one chance to get the Quaffle in.

Fred and George had a more extreme way of teaching the new Beaters. They transfigured buttons into balloons, and set all nine Beaters loose to pop them with Bludgers. Professor McGonagall looked proud. Harry saw that both the Creevey Brothers were whacking the Bludgers as hard as possible. Colin took more aim, and managed to pop two of the balloons. Dennis was more sporadic, but he seemed to hit the Bludgers harder. Both could cause a lot of damage, Harry figured.

Alicia had the easiest time with the keepers, since there were only four. She called Angelina over and the two of them took turns throwing Quaffles at each Keeper. The first two candidates, a third and fourth year, stopped some of the Quaffles, but they were no match for Ron. He swerved and dived, and stopped most of the Quaffles. When Katie called Angelina over to help with Chasers, Alicia continued on her own. She spent so much time with each Keeper that the other two groups had finished, and had all turned to watch Hermione take her turn. Harry had a suspicion that the Weasleys and Katie had stopped early just to see what Hermione could do. They were in for a shock.

Hermione mounted her broom with a skill that astonished Harry. She glided up to the starting position just below the middle hoop. Alicia took up a Quaffle and threw it gently. Hermione grabbed it minutes before it neared the hoop.

"Alicia, give my your best shot," she called out. Alicia stepped up to the challenge.

She began with more complex maneuvers, making the ball spin. She threw it harder than she would have done normally, yet Hermione still stopped every shot with ease. Alicia, fed up with the game of throw-and-catch, motioned for Katie and Angelina to join her. The three, each with Quaffle in hand, chucked them as hard as they could at Hermione. Fred began sending Bludgers up in her direction, and soon George joined him. Hermione took it all. She dodged the Bludgers and stopped all the Quaffles.

Angelina whispered something to Katie, and then she and Alicia backed away. Katie took a Quaffle and began to fly. She zipped, faking throws and maneuvering out of Hermione's vision. Finally she threw the Quaffle so that it spun and zipped around before shooting straight at Hermione. She prepared for a hard catch, but seconds before it reached her, the Quaffle spun off to the right and straight for the lower hoop.

Within seconds, Hermione zoomed forward, then locked her ankles and threw herself over the side of the broom, which caused several gasps from the crowd. She hung upside down right in front of the hoop, so that her arms were centered next to the hoop. She grabbed the Quaffle as it shot between her arms. The roaring was deafening.

The tryouts were temporarily adjourned at noon so that the nominees could rest and the main team could vote on who would take what positions. As the meeting began, a small white owl landed on Alicia's shoulder. She opened up the parchment. Harry became concerned as horror dawned on her face.

"Mina Sparrows is leaving her post as reserve Chaser. She says she doesn't have the time. This is a nice way to tell us, by Owl Post." Alicia threw the letter down and stomped on it. Harry raised his eyebrow. Katie spoke up at this.

"Ok, let's talk Chasers. It took a while for me to pick out the naturals, and three people stood out the most. I put them together at the end of the tryout, and they work together excellently. I vote for Seamus Finnegan, Parvati Patil, and Ginny Weasley."

"All right! I knew Ginny had it in her." Fred exclaimed. George nodded.

"Anyone object?" Harry asked. No one said anything.

"Then we have our reserve Chasers." Alicia smiled.

"Well, we don't know if it's a Gryffindor curse," George started,

"Or if brothers have always been excellent beaters," Fred continued,

"But we both vote for Colin and Dennis Creevey!" They finished together. Everyone laughed at this. Alicia, who was writing everything down, added the Creeveys to the reserve list.

"I think it is pretty obvious who the Keeper is," Katie began. Harry felt a surge of dread. He knew what Katie was going to say, but he didn't know what to think.

"We must have Hermione Granger." Harry's stomach hit rock bottom.

"And Ron Weasley as the reserve." Fred and George slapped hands.

"Four Weasleys on one team. Imagine that." Fred was jovial. The six watched as the nominees trooped back onto the pitch to hear the verdict. Alicia handed Harry her list, and Harry Sonorus -ed again.

"The Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch Main team is...HERMIONE GRANGER!"

The crowd went ecstatic. Ginny threw her arms around Hermione, and Hermione hugged her back. Dean and Seamus patted her on the back, and Parvati Patil joined the massive hug that was growing.

Harry didn't want to look at Ron. He knew what he would see. Instead, he continued his announcements.

"The reserve team is as follows. Reserve Keeper is Ron Weasley (another cheer), reserve Beaters are Colin Creevey and Dennis Creevey (more cheering from the younger students), and the reserve Chasers and Seamus Finnegan, Parvati Patil (a scream shook the pitch), and Ginny Weasley."

This time is was Ginny who got squeezed and patted on the shoulder. She simply stood in shock as Hermione tried to swing her around. Ron hugged his little sister, and she slowly brought her arms around his shoulders. Harry sighed. Hermione, he noticed, was staring up at him. He couldn't determine the expression on her face. It was either incredible happiness, or tremendous anger.

"Now, there will be a scrimmage between the main team and the reserves. Gather with your teammates. Dean Thomas, you will play Chaser with the reserves. Ginny Weasley, you will play Chaser with the main stream. And I will play Seeker for the reserves." Alicia gave Harry a challenging stare. Madame Hooch stepped onto the field as the players hovered in their appropriate positions.

Madame Hooch let all four balls into the air and the game began.

********

Harry set his Quidditch robes aside and stepped into the shower in the Prefect's bathroom. He simply stood, letting the water cascade over him. The game against the reserve team had been one of the hardest he had ever played. Of course, the new reserves wanted to prove themselves, and Alicia was a fair Seeker in her own right. Colin and Dennis were deadly with their Bludgers, and Fred and George said as much when the game had finished. Just as Katie had said, Ginny, Parvati, and Seamus worked together wonderfully. Obviously, Katie and Angelina had taught them some Gryffindor attack plans. Ron stopped almost every Quaffle, and nothing got past Hermione.

He washed his hair and stepped out of the shower. Where his dirty Quidditch robes had been, a shirt, trousers, and socks now sat, neatly folded. He toweled off and changed, and then ran a comb through his hair. He picked up his towel and put it into the collection basket. As Harry cleaned his glasses, which had become slightly steamed over, he heard someone open the door into the female portion of the Prefects' bathroom. The silence was then broken by a loud sob, which then turned into a wail. There was something about the sobbing that made Harry want to run and comfort whoever was crying so emotionally. So he did.

Harry opened the door to the Girl's bathroom silently and walked into the room. Lying in the center of the floor was a crumpled figure. The girl was convulsing with heavy sobs, and her breathing was labored. Harry knelt down and touched her shoulder. She stiffened at the touch and jerked her head up. Harry's arms encircled his best friend, and Hermione took them gratefully. He simply held her, making a note to find out the problem. However, he had a pretty good idea why she was sobbing.

When she finished, Harry helped her back to the Prefects' Common Room, by way of the Meeting room. He wanted to avoid any Gryffindors at all costs, and Hermione silently agreed. He took her to her room and whispered Incendio. He sat Hermione down in one of her chairs, and then took a set across from her.

"This afternoon," Hermione began, but then another sob overtook her.

"Hermione, you don't have to tell me anything," Harry told her.

"No!" She brushed her tears away forcefully. Her saddened expression turned to one of anger.

"After the game, I was walking with Ron and Ginny. Seamus was there, too, and Parvati and Dean. We were talking about the match. Ginny and Dean and Seamus were talking about some Chaser move Katie had taught them, and I told them about Dimitrov. He's the Bulgarian Chaser. Viktor had him throw Quaffles at me for three hours straight. I told them what he said to Viktor after we practiced. He said that I was a natural, and that I could play professionally with a little more practice. And Ron said that, that..."

Harry leaned over and took her hands.

"Hermione, you have every right to be happy. You ARE a natural, and Dimitrov was right. You are amazing once you get on a broom, and I've been hitting myself for not noticing your potential. You are the Keeper because you are the best."

"Harry, he said you picked me to keep him off the main team. Said that you knew what he wanted, or something like that. He said you wanted all the fame for yourself. And I defended you, and everyone left, and Ron started shouting at me. He said that I agreed with you, and then he stormed off. And Harry, I've never felt lower in my life. And I started to run, and I could hear him coming up behind me, so I ran faster."

Harry nodded, glued to his seat. He remembered that night in front of the Mirror of Erised, when Ron saw himself playing Quidditch, as the Captain, too.

"I just remember wanting to get away," Hermione continued, "I couldn't get to the common room, so I went to the one other place he couldn't get to me. I just started to sob, and then I collapsed. That's when you found me. To be honest, I thought you were Ron."

"He loves you Hermione. He was just angry. Just remember that he loves you, and that's all you need."

"Harry, he says he loves me. I'm pretty sure I love him, because I've never felt the way I feel around him before. But I don't know about him. Sometimes I feel he takes me for granted. I just don't know what to think Harry."

Harry nodded and stood up. He had a bone to pick with Ron. Hermione, sensing his mission, stood up and grabbed his arm.

"Don't tell Ron, Harry!"

He'd heard that line before. But Harry nodded and hugged her one last time. On impulse, he pressed his lips to her forehead. At that, she stiffened and broke away.

"Good bye Harry. I'll see you at dinner." The note of dismissal was clear. Hermione turned and walked to her wardrobe. Harry, respecting her wish, left the room.

********

Dinner was extremely tense. Hermione refused to look at Ron, and Ron wasn't looking at Harry or Hermione. Harry wanted to yell at both of them, but an announcement from Dumbledore kept him from doing so.

"I would like to announce that Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff House has an announcement for you all. Please be attentive, as I'm sure you'll enjoy what he has to say." Ernie stepped to the teacher's platform with a long sheet of parchment. Harry had a feeling that this was going to take a while. Ernie began, in an agonizing monotone.

"Good evening Hogwarts. As Professor Dumbledore said, my name is Ernie Macmillan, and I have been elected President and Spokesperson for a new, Hogwarts based organization. We are the Hufflepuff Organization for the Greater Good, or H.O.G.G. This small organization plans to start by making Hogwarts a friendlier place, and planning needed entertainment. We hope to expand, making this the Hogwarts Organization for the Greater Good. However, we are starting small. The first planned event, which has been accepted by Professor Dumbledore, is an All-Hogwarts Talent Show, which will be in two months. Yes, that is a lot of time, but you all need time to prepare your acts. A sign- up sheet will be posted. We encourage everyone to submit an act. Thank you."

No one said anything. The hall was disturbingly quiet. All of a sudden, a shout was let out and the entire Hufflepuff table broke out in loud screams and cheers. The rest of the hall remained silent. The Ravenclaws looked indifferent, the Gryffindors looked confused, and the Slytherins were giving death stares in the Hufflepuff direction.

Over the next few weeks, the Talent Show sign up sheet remained almost empty. A few Hufflepuffs had signed up, and one or two acts belonged to Ravenclaws.

The rift between Hermione and Ron continued. Ron complained to Harry one morning that Trelawney had assigned a project on the history of various tools used in Divination that was to be ten percent of their final grade. She had also chosen the pairs, and Ron had been placed with Lavender Brown. They spent a lot of time together, in the Library or the Gryffindor Common room, working on the project.

Hermione went to her natural defense. She threw herself into her homework, and into Quidditch practices. She was often talking to the Chasers about possible moves, influenced by how the Keeper would see them. She took notes and wrote down various plays Harry and Alicia had thought up. After the first week of practices, she was named the Official Secretary, which thrilled Hermione to the core. Harry always showed the team the letters Oliver Wood sent, with tips and Quidditch plays he had written. One day after practice, Hermione walked with Harry to the Prefect Bathroom to shower.

"Harry, I'm sick of this thing with Ron. I want to be the bigger person, but he won't let me speak with him. I just don't know what to do."

The September 31 game Gryffindor against Hufflepuff was a joke, since not one Quaffle got past Hermione, and the Gryffindor team always worked together perfectly. Harry caught the Snitch after twenty minutes, and the team had their first party late into the night. Fred and George had gone overboard. Katie whispered to Harry that this was probably because this was their last year to throw a Hogwarts party. Harry could only wonder what they would do for the last party of the year.

Around two in the morning, long after the first through fourth years had been forced to go to bed by a slightly tipsy Head Girl, someone produced three bottles of Firewhisky, two bottles of Bourbon and several shot glasses, and the several fifth through seventh years started a shot competition. Ron grimaced in disgust and went to talk to Lavender Brown in a corner of the Common room. Hermione, seeing this, joined in with a vengeance.

Several shots later, Harry, Alicia, Dean, Seamus, and Fred were slightly tipsy. Hermione was royally drunk, as were Katie, George, and to everyone's surprise, Neville Longbottom. Harry could only watch with fuzzy vision as Hermione stood up and headed towards Ron. He knew what was going to happen, but in his current state, there was no way to stop it. He leaned toward Angelina, the only one left who seemed unaffected by the shots.

"Angelina, can you sober me up? I've got something I need to do."

Angelina muttered the spell, and Harry's fuzzy vision and the pounding in his head melted away. He walked quickly over to Ron and Hermione as fast as he could, but he was too late. Hermione was on a role.

"And Ron, when are you (hiccup) going to get that big stick out of your arse. You know that (belch) I love you, and Harry loves you (hiccup), but sometimes, you're such a prat. You said (giggle) you'd gotten over this jealousy thing..." Hermione couldn't say anymore, mainly because she had fallen over into a heap and was laughing hysterically. Harry helped her up.

"That's disgusting," Ron said. Hermione couldn't process the insult, and continued to giggle. Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"You know Ron, she has a point. She loves you enough to see aside your faults. And if it takes a little liquor to get her to speak her mind, then so be it. She loves you Ron. She told me. I found her sobbing on the floor of a BATHROOM for goodness sake, because she didn't want you to see her cry. Think about that Ron." With that, Harry propped Hermione under the arms, and led her to the Prefects Common room. He set her down on the sofa. Hermione stopped laughing.

"I hope that works, Harry."

"Me too, Mione. I hope he sees the light."

"Goodnight Harry. We'll just have wait until tomorrow."

"Goodnight Hermione."

**********

The next morning, as Harry and Hermione headed towards the Great Hall, Ron ran to catch up with them.

"Hermione, do you remember anything about last night?" he asked.

"Ron, I was so drunk, I don't know how I got into bed last night. Please don't remind me." As she spoke, Harry backed away slowly and down the corridor to the Great Hall. He could only hope for the best.

Everyone noticed that Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall together. They talked quietly, and Hermione smiled for the first time in a week. The only person who didn't seem happy was Lavender Brown, who whispered something to Parvati. No one saw this but Ginny, and she didn't show it. Later, she told Harry what she'd seen.

"I think Lavender got it into her head that Ron was hers now. Which is a bit creepy, by all means. She just rubs me the wrong way. I think we need to keep an eye on her." Harry agreed, and said as much.

However, Lavender didn't stand a chance. Hermione and Ron did everything together, from Quidditch to homework. After a particularly cold and windy practice in late October, Harry stayed late with Alicia, trying to refine the practice schedule to meet the approaching season. He also wanted to talk to Hermione about a Keeper strategy Oliver had sent, but he hadn't had time to cover in during the meeting. He walked to her room and knocked on her door. No one answered. Harry figured he could talk to her at dinner, so he went to his own room. He opened the door, but then jumped back in shock. Hermione was holding something, her brow furrowed. It was his scroll, the one from Egypt.

"What's this?" she asked, scanning the page. Harry tried to grab it from her, but she ducked out of his grasp.

"It's just something I got in Egypt," he explained. He sat down on his bed, figuring it was useless to try and take it from her.

"Well, it's not Egyptian, nor Arabic, or any other language from that area. It looks like an ancient form of Greek, but then it changes to more ancient runes. The runes get older the longer the parchment gets..." She raised her head, only to see Harry staring at her in shock.

"You can read that?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"Yes, of course. Shut your mouth Harry, you're beginning to drool." He shut it.

"What does it say?"

Hermione scanned the page, "These words spoken by the Voice at Delphi, Great Oracle of the Gods, at its last appearance on this plane of existence. The rest of the Greek is just the glorification of some King." She examined the rest of the page. "The runic part is a Prophecy of sorts. The Oracle's Prophecy, as this author likes to put it. It's really long, and I can't read most of the runes. The word for four, the number, shows up rather frequently. This will take a long time to fully translate." She looked at him, "That's why you switched to Runes, isn't it, to translate this parchment?"

"Yes, but I have an idea about what it's about already. Well actually, all I know is that there are The Four, as you saw. Only these people can see, let alone read, that thing. You can read it, and I have tried, so we must be two of them. We just need to find the two others and translate it. What else can you read, Hermione?"

"Well, 'Four Chosen ones', which you just told me about. There is something about the 'sun and moon being equal' and "when the light shines". It couldn't be an eclipse, since it talks about lots of light. So it's probably an equinox. There's 'A portal', and 'the Four will stop a great evil'. This is pretty self explanatory Harry."

~

Next Chapter: Amas Veritas in Action and The Talent Show

Hermione and Harry begin translating. The Third is discovered, with a little help from Firenze and the Fourth by a spell called Amas Veritas (think Practical Magic). They must kidnap number Four and explain everything. The Talent show has surprises for all, including an act no one would ever expect.