pretty girl diggory- R.Weasley

5:15

Only Celeste, Harry, and Hermione were in the common room when Ron finally came.

    He was very pale indeed and there was snow in his hair. When he saw Harry, Celeste, and Hermione, he stopped dead in his tracks.

     "Where have you been?" Celeste said anxiously, springing up.

     "Walking," Ron mumbled. He was still wearing his Quidditch things.

      "You look frozen," Celeste said. "Come and sit down!"

      Ron walked to the fireside and sank into the chair farthest from Harry's, not looking at him. The stolen Snitch zoomed over their heads.

       "I'm sorry," Ron mumbled, looking at his feet.

      "What for?" Harry said.

     "For thinking, I can play Quidditch," Ron said. "I'm going to resign first thing tomorrow."

     "If you resign," Harry said testily, "there'll only be three players left on the team." And when Ron looked puzzled, he said, "I've been given a lifetime ban. So have Fred and George."

    "What?" Ron yelped.

     Hermione told him the full story; Harry could not bear to tell it again. When she had finished, Ron looked more anguished than ever.

    "This is all my fault —"

     "You didn't make me punch Malfoy," Harry said angrily.

       "— if I wasn't so lousy at Quidditch —"

     "— it's got nothing to do with that —"

     "— It was that song that wound me up —"

    "— it would've wound anyone up —"

    Hermione and Celeste got up and walked to the window, away from the argument, watching the snow swirling down against the pane.

     "Look, drop it, will you!" Harry burst out. "It's bad enough without you blaming yourself for everything!"

    Ron said nothing but sat gazing miserably at the damp hem of his robes. After a while, he said in a dull voice, "This is the worst I've ever felt in my life."

     "Join the club," Harry said bitterly.

    "Well," Hermione said, her voice trembling slightly. "I can think of one thing that might cheer you both up."

     "Oh yeah?" Harry said skeptically.

     "Yeah," Hermione said, turning away from the pitch-black, snow-flecked window, a broad smile spreading across her face. "Hagrid's back."

      Harry sprinted up to the boys' dormitory to fetch the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map from his trunk; he was so quick that he and Ron were ready to leave at least five minutes before Hermione and Celeste hurried back from Hermione's dormitory, wearing a scarf, gloves, and one of Hermione's own knobbly elf hats.

      "Well, it's cold out there!" Celeste said defensively, as Ron clicked his tongue impatiently.

     They crept through the portrait hole and covered themselves hastily in the cloak — Ron had grown so much he now needed to crouch to prevent his feet showing — then, moving slowly and cautiously, they proceeded down the many staircases, pausing at intervals to check the map for signs of Filch or Mrs.Norris. They were lucky; they saw nobody but Nearly Headless Nick, who was gliding along absent-mindedly humming something that sounded horribly like"Weasley Is Our King." They crept across the entrance hall and then out into the silent, snowy grounds. With a great leap of his heart, Harry saw little golden squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from Hagrid's chimney. He set off at a quick march, the other three jostling and bumping along behind him, and they crunched excitedly through the thickening snow until at last, they reached the wooden front door; when Harry raised his fist and knocked three times, a dog started barking frantically inside.