A Game of Wizard

Ron looked up at the sky. He was currently perched on his broom at the abandoned Quidditch Pitch, trying to get in some last minute practice. But it was getting really dark and becoming harder and harder to see. Not only that, it was rather difficult practicing by yourself. Bewitching the Quaffle to fly at you reasonably and then try to keep it from going through the hoops was a nightmare.

Ron heard footsteps as a bewitched Quaffle flew past him. He looked down and saw someone making there way to the Pitch. He flew down closer and saw it was none other than Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang. He knew why Harry liked the girl. She was, by all standards, perfect. From her shiny raven mane to her delicate figure. It was hard to believe a girl like her played a sport as rough as Quidditch.

"Well if it isn't the Tornados hater," Cho said.

"Hermione thinks I should apologize for that," Ron said as he flew down and dismounted. He also managed to flick his wand and mumble the counter spell that sent the Quaffle back to its usual dormant state.

"And of course you must do what Hermione says. Do you and Harry wait for her instructions before you get dressed in the morning?"

"You shut up about Hermione," Ron snapped.

"What do you two see in her?" Cho asked.

"Have you missed the fact that she's probably the most clever student in the whole school."

"Obviously you haven't."

"She's my friend, all right? And despite her being... well her, she's gotten me and Harry out of some rather tough spots."

"Why do you think she does it, for you or Harry?"

"Both, like I said, she's our friend?"

"Don't you think it's only a matter of time before a pair of you becomes more than that?"

"It is possible for boys and girls to be friends."

"Yeah, well I heard from Padma you couldn't keep your eyes off of Hermione during the ball last year."

"She was dating the enemy," Ron said defensively.

"So if Krum turned up today for a date with your friend, you wouldn't care. I mean our schools are no longer competing. He's not even in school."

Ron didn't answer; he looked at the ground and shifted his feet.

"That's what I thought."

"Cho, why are you here?" he finally asked. "Want me to talk to Harry or tell him something?"

"No," Cho said looking a little insulted. "If I have anything to say to Harry I'll say it myself. I just wanted to practice a bit."

"That's what I'm doing," Ron told her.

"Well good then, it's always difficult to practice alone. How about a game of WIZARD?" Cho asked. She picked up the Quaffle and threw it at him.

"I don't think..." he began as he caught the Quaffle.

"Scared of getting beat by a girl, a fan of the Tornados instead of your precious Cannons."

"How'd you know I was a Cannon's fan?"

"When you have bright red hair like yours, wearing a bright orange cap over it tends to make it stand out like a binding light."

"All right then," Ron said. "Lets play."

They both mounted their brooms and flew to playing height.

"Ladies first," he said tossing her the Quaffle.

Ron flew over to defend his post. Cho came toward him carrying the Quaffle. She seemed to be tossing it toward the right ring, he flew to defend it and with a simple reverse of her hand she was able to toss it through the center ring.

"W," she said as she flew around the ring and returned with the Quaffle.

She managed to misdirect him again and earned her "I". He stopped her third attempt, giving himself possession of the Quaffle.

Cho blocked his first sloppy throw of the Quaffle and he was back in a keeper defense position. This time he managed to block Cho's first attempt and also managed to get one past her, earning his "W". She successfully blocked his second attempt at a goal.

"Learn that from the Tornados?" Ron questioned as he went back to keeper position.

"That's right," Cho said making another goal. "Learn that from the Cannons," Cho said with a laugh as Ron grunted in frustration at his failed attempt to block her goal.

"You shut up about the Cannons," Ron said throwing her the Quaffle.

"You can talk about the Tornados, but I can't talk about the Cannons."

Cho managed to get another one past him.

"That's W-I-Z-A, two more and."

"I know, I know, you win," Ron said. "You know, it's easy to pick on the losers and support the winners."

Cho didn't bother to throw the Quaffle again, she flew up to Ron.

"Is that what you think?" Cho asked. "That I support the Tornados because of a winning streak."

Ron didn't answer.

"Well, for your information, the Tornados were the first Quidditch team I ever saw in action. I had a cousin on the team and he took me to one of the practices. It wasn't just the first time I ever saw real Quidditch, it was the first time I ever flew, and my cousin let me use his broom. It was the most amazing sensation ever. So my support isn't about a winning team."

"Oh," Ron said unable to think of anything else. "Well let's finish then."

The bitterness worn off, Ron threw her the Quaffle and they resumed the game. Ron found himself blocking much better. He also managed to get 'W-I-Z', before Cho won her 'R'. And he got to 'A' before she got her 'D' and won.

Game over, the two landed and entered the school chatting about Quidditch.

"You know, you're not too bad when you're relaxed," Cho said.

"Not bad for a Cannons fan you mean," Ron replied.

"No, just, not bad. Actually, playing a real game... properly relaxed... you'd be rather... good."

"Thanks," Ron said, his ears going a little pink. "You're pretty good too. I mean I knew you were a decent seeker, of course not as good as Harry." Cho smiled. "But you did pretty good with the whole Chaser/Keeper thing for our game of WIZARD."

"Well it's much easier when you're just focusing on one person and not trying to cut between a whole team."

"You know, I kind of like the Cannons for the same reason you like the Tornados. First real game my dad ever took me to was the Cannons. They won the match, my brothers and I were cheering together when they did, even Percy. My brothers and I are rarely all on the same page at the same time, so it was a really good moment."

"So I guess we have a little something in common then," Cho replied.

"I won't tell anyone if you won't."

They both laughed.

"Listen, I did sort of have other motives for wanting to talk to you."

"I knew it."

"It's just, I know you like Hermione..."

"I don't..."

"But does she fancy you or Harry?" Cho said ignoring his protest.

"Neither... I told you we're just friends."

"Fine, but if she was likely to fancy one of you, who would it be?"

Ron didn't answer for a while. He looked up and down the corridor, it was deserted, and then he paused his footsteps. Cho followed suit.

"Who do you think? I mean, I know what I am. I'm awkwardly tall; I have this annoying bright red Weasley hair. I don't get top marks. And I'm a big Quidditch blunder. Who would you choose? The guy who saved the very Wizard World before he was out of diapers, the hero of Hogwarts or his goof ball loser friend."

"You're right, with that perspective the choice isn't difficult."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Ron said. "Well, Goodni--"

"But it's not true," Cho interrupted.

"What?" Ron questioned.

"You think Paravati would have set up her sister with a goofball loser."

"I just thought she wanted to go out with Harry and her sister got stuck with me."

"You really sell yourself short, don't you. Well here's a revelation for you, they don't make goofball losers prefects."

"Thanks," Ron replied, a little shocked Cho bothering to try to make him feel better. "And you need to stop worrying about Hermione. Hermione's like Harry's sister. They hated all those articles that Skeeter woman did saying they were more than that."

"Would you have hated it?"

"I don't know- I wasn't important enough for her to pay much attention to."

"But you were the one they picked for him, to motivate him during the second task, weren't you? Not me, not Hermione, you."

"I guess you're right."

"And you and Harry, you're like this famous duo around here. Okay maybe you're talked about as the sidekick sometimes, but you and Harry created most of the good stories in this place."

"And Hermione too, I mean she's done loads of stuff with us and Harry's done even more stuff without us. And Hermione likes you, from what I can tell, she's not working against you. "

"Yeah, well I just think Hermonie should be working on her own love life with Harry's handsome and charming friend," Cho told him.

"Yeah, well," Ron said blushing even more. "Goodni--"

Ron didn't get to finish, Cho's lips suddenly touched his. It was his first lip contact kiss ever, sweet and very soft (and Harry would kill him if he knew). She stepped away after the brief kiss and smiled.

"Goodnight, tell me if you're ever interested in another game of WIZARD."

"Yeah," Ron replied, still a little shocked. He watched her disappear and returned to the Gryffindor common room hoping he wasn't glowing to much. After all, if Harry knew, he would kill him. He'd take the memory of this kiss to his grave.

THE END

August 27,2003