The Grey | Hermione Granger

|16| Chapter Sixteen

S I X T E E N

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Saffron and Hermione walked down to breakfast together the morning of Harry's debut Quidditch match. The cool breeze on their way down signalled to them that it was going to be a typical day in the highlands of Scotland, wet, cold, but hopefully, no rain.

"I'm nervous for him," said Saffron as they entered the Great Hall. Harry was there, front and centre on the Gryffindor table, surrounded by supporters. His face was grave and a picture of nervousness. "You can tell it means a lot to him,"

"You can tell it means a lot to everyone," said Hermione thoughtfully, with a frown. "Honestly, you'd think Quidditch means more to them than actual school."

Saffron didn't reply and she didn't need to. She and Hermione knew that for many students, this was the case.

Just before Saffron took a seat near Harry and his crowd of supporters and well wishers at the Gryffindor table, a hand tapped on her back and Saffron turned around to greet Lavender who was sitting slightly away from the crowd around Harry. Parvati sat opposite to her.

"Excited?" asked Lavender enthusiastically.

"For me," nodded Saffron took a seat next to Lavender and started to pick at a slice of toast. "But I feel awful for Harry, he's really just been thrown into this, hasn't he? McGonagall sort of just said he was the seeker and that was that, I mean look at him,"

The three girls heads turned towards Harry, who stood out amongst the group of excitable students, he had his quidditch gear on, had a chalk white face and looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than where he was at that moment.

"He looks rough," remarked Lavender raising her eyebrows.

"They've been trying to convince him to eat ever since he got here," Parvati told Saffron, throwing a worried glance in Harry's direction. "I think he's afraid he'll throw it up if he even takes a bite,"

"He'll be fine though," said Lavender, the look on her face told Saffron that she wanted to steer the conversation in a different direction. "No one dies in Quidditch, well...," She considered the matter for a moment. "Not usually, anyway, speaking of Quidditch," Saffron and Parvati exchanged a grin with one another. They knew exactly what was coming next.  "I can't wait to finally see my beauty Ollie in action today,"

"Your Ollie?" asked Parvati incredulously, as Saffron laughed. "Wow, I didn't realise the two of you're actually together, I thought it was just in your head, my mistake,"

"Ha-Ha," Lavender rolled her eyes as both Parvati and Saffron laughed again. "Can a girl not dream? Look, it's a big day, getting to watch him yelling at his team with that lovely Scottish accent, why can't it be Quidditch day everyday?"

"You should just go to his practices if you're so obsessed with him," Saffron told her through some toast.

"Oh, she's tried," Parvati said to Lavender as she finished her cereal. "But Katie Bell told her he'd go mad at her if she did, apparently a couple years back some first year was paid to spy on the Gryffindors for the Slytherins, Katie says Oliver hasn't recovered since,"

"That's why it's such a big day," Lavender told Parvati and Saffron sincerity. "So when I tell my grandkids stories about how their grandparents met, I can look back on this day and tell them that was when I knew he was the one,"

"And you can tell them that while you thought all this he still had no idea you existed," Parvati gave her a sarcastic wink.