THE MOST FAITHFUL

ASPIRATIONS

Breakfast was the usual irritating affair, the Slytherins booing and protesting loudly as each member of the Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall. Harry looked up at the ceiling and saw a clear blue sky: a good sign.
The Gryffindor table, a solid mass of red and gold, cheered as Harry and Ron approached. Harry smiled and waved. Ron smiled faintly and shook his head. «Come on, Ron!» Lavender urged. «I know you'll be great!»
Ron ignored her.
«You?» Harry asked him «Coffee? Pumpkin juice?»
«Nothing» said Ron, visibly agitated, biting into a small piece of toast.
A few minutes later Hermione arrived "How are you feeling?»
«Good» said Harry, who was concentrating on making Ron a glass of pumpkin juice. «Here, Ron. Drink.»
Ron had just brought the glass to his lips, when Hermione demanded urgently.
«Don't drink it, Ron!»
Harry and Ron turned to look at her together.
«Why not?» Ron asked.
Now Hermione stared at Harry as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
«You put something in that drink.»
«Excuse me?" Harry reacted.
«You heard me. I saw you. You just poured something into Ron's drink. You had a bottle in your hand just now!»
«I don't know what you're talking about" Harry replied, pushing the bottle to the bottom of his pocket. «Ron, I'm warning you, don't drink it!» Hermione called again, alarmed, but Ron raised his glass, emptied it in one gulp and exclaimed. «Stop bullying me, Hermione.»
She looked scandalized. Ducking low so only Harry could hear she hissed.
«You could get expelled for this. I never thought you could do something like this.»
«Look who's talking» he whispered back. «Have you Confused anyone else lately?» She stormed away from them, moving along the table.
Harry watched her walk away without feeling any regret. Hermione had never realized how serious a business Quidditch was. She turned to look at Ron who was smacking his lips.
«It's getting close to time» Harry said cheerfully. The frozen turf crunched under their shoes as they sped toward the stadium.
«We're pretty lucky to have such good weather, huh?» Harry asked Ron.
«Yeah» said Ron, looking pale and sickly. Ginny and Demelza had already changed into their Quidditch uniforms and were waiting in the changing room. «Conditions seem ideal» Ginny observed. «Try to guess? The Slytherin Chaser, Vaisey... took a Bludger to the head during their training yesterday, and it hurts too much to play! And even better than that... Malfoy is sick too!»
«What?» Harry exclaimed, whirling around to look at her. «He is sick? What's wrong with him?»
«I have no idea, but it's the best for us» Ginny said brightly. «They'll have Harper play instead of her. He's in my year and he's an idiot.» Harry smiled vaguely back, but while he was wearing his scarlet robes, her mind was far from Quidditch. Malfoy had pretended once before that he couldn't play due to injury, but on that occasion he made sure the entire match was postponed until he was fit enough to rejoin the Slytherin team. Why was he now so ready to allow a substitute to play? Was he really ill or was he faking it?
«Strange, isn't it?» He said softly to Ron. «The fact that you don't play Malfoy?»
«Luck, I'd call it» said Ron, sounding a touch livelier. «Even Vaisey out, he's their best shooter, I would never have believed it... Hey!» He suddenly exclaimed, stopping in the act of putting on one of his Goalkeeper gloves, staring at Harry.
«What's up?»
«I...you...» Ron stammered as if he had lost his voice, sounding both scared and excited. «My drink... my pumpkin juice... isn't that...?» Harry raised his eyebrows and said nothing except.
«We start in five minutes, you better hurry with those shoes.»
They walked out onto the field towards the tumultuous shouts and whistles. One end of the stadium was a solid mass of red and gold, the other a sea of green and silver. Many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had also taken sides. In the midst of the shouting and applause, Harry could clearly make out the roar of Luna Lovegood's famous lion's head hat. Harry took a few steps towards Madam Hooch, the referee, who was waiting ready to let the balls out of the box.
The match had been tiring but not too long, they had managed to resist magnificently with Ron guarding the goals with new confidence, he hadn't missed a single shot, Ginny and Dean played in perfect harmony and scored several noteworthy goals. When Harry finally spotted the snitch he managed to beat Harper, Malfoy's replacement seeker with ease, his Firebolt was unmatched.
As soon as the public understood what had happened, a huge scream reached them almost drowning out the whistle signaling the end of the match.
Harry who found himself locked in a mid-air hug with the rest of the team, Ron and Harry were the last ones left in the changing room. They were almost ready to leave when Hermione entered. She clutched the Gryffindor scarf in her hands and looked shocked but determined.
«I need to talk to you, Harry.» She took a deep breath. «You should not have done that. You heard Slughorn, it's illegal in competitions.»
«What are you trying to do, overturn the result?» Ron asked.
«What are you talking about?» Harry asked, turning to pick up his clothes so no one could see him grinning.
«You know exactly what I'm talking about!» Hermione screamed shrilly. «You added that luck potion to Ron's juice during breakfast! Felix Felicis!»
«No, that's not true» Harry said, turning to look at them both.
«Yes you did, Harry, and that's why everything went right, with Slytherin players missing and Ron saving everything!»
«I didn't put it there!» Harry said, grinning widely. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the small bottle Hermione had seen in his hand that morning. It was filled to the brim with the golden potion and the cap was still firmly secured with sealing wax.
«I wanted Ron to think I did it, so I pretended when I knew you were watching.» He stared at Ron.
You saved everything because you felt lucky. Instead you did it all yourself." He stuffed the potion back into his pocket.
«You really didn't put anything in my pumpkin juice?» Ron asked in amazement. «But the good weather... and Vaisey who couldn't play... You really didn't give me the luck potion?» Harry shook his head. Ron stared at him for a moment with his mouth open, then turned to Hermione, imitating her voice.
«You put the Felix Felicis in Ron's juice this morning, that's why he stopped everything! Look! I can save without help, Hermione!»
«I never said you couldn't... Ron, you thought it was given to you too!» Ron had already passed her, however, and left with the broom on his shoulder.
«Er," Harry whispered into the immediate silence. He hadn't expected his plan to backfire like this. «we can... we can go to the party, then»
«You go!" Hermione said, blinking back tears. «I'm feeling sick of Ron right now, I don't know what I thought I was doing...»
She also ran away from the locker room. Harry crossed the lawns slowly, heading back towards the castle through the crowd, with many of them shouting congratulations at him, but he felt a great disappointment. Would Ron and Hermione start fighting again over something so silly? Harry didn't get to see Hermione at the Gryffindor victory party, which was in full swing when he arrived. Cheers and applause revived as he appeared and he was soon surrounded by a crowd of people congratulating him. As he made his way towards the drinks table, he encountered Ginny with the Pygmy Smurf on her shoulder and Crookshanks meowing hopefully at her heels.
«Are you looking for Ron?» She asked smugly. «He IS back there, but it's not a pretty sight.»§
Harry looked into the corner she was pointing at. In full view of the entire room, there was Ron wrapped so tightly around Lavender Brown that it was hard to tell whose hands it was.
«It looks like he's eating her face, doesn't it?» Ginny said distantly. «But I think he should refine the technique somehow. Good game, Harry."
She patted his arm. Crookshanks trotted after her, yellow eyes fixed on Arnold. Harry turned away from Ron, who didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon, just in time to see the portrait hole closing. Apprehensively, he thought he had saw a mass of frizzy brown hair waving out. He rushed forward, dodged Romilda Vane once more, and pushed the portrait of the Fat Lady. The corridor outside seemed deserted.
«Hermione?» He found her in the first unlocked classroom. She sat at her desk, alone except for a small ring of chirping yellow birds surrounding her head, birds that she must have made appear out of nowhere just then. It was no
comfort to Harry to watch the spell being made now.
«Oh, hello, Harry» she said in a fragile voice. «I was just practicing.»
«They turned out well» Harry replied. He had no idea what to say to her. He wondered if there was any chance that she hadn't noticed Ron, that he had just left the room because the party had gotten too wild, when she remarked, in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice «Ron seems to like the partying.» «Um... really?» Harry wavered.
«Don't tell me you didn't see it» Hermione snapped. «It's not like she was hiding.»
The door behind them opened. To Harry's horror, Ron walked in, laughing and holding Lavender's hand. «Oh» he said, immediately stiffening at the sight of Harry and Hermione.
«Oops» Lavender said, and she walked back out of the classroom, giggling. The door closed behind her. There was a moment of horrible, growing, wavering silence. Hermione stared at Ron, who avoided looking at her, but she said it with a strange mix of bravado and awkwardness.
«Hi Harry! I was wondering where you went!» Hermione slipped away from her desk. The little flock of golden birds continued to fly around her head so much so that she looked like a strange feathered model of the solar system.
«You shouldn't leave Lavender waiting outside» she said calmly. "You'll be wondering where he went." She walked very slowly and dignifiedly towards the door. Harry glanced at Ron, who looked relieved that nothing serious had happened.
«Ooppugno!» came a shout from the doorway. Harry whipped around and saw Hermione with her wand pointed at Ron, her expression wild. The little flock of birds darted, like a rose of golden bullets, towards Ron, who yelped and covered his face with his hands, but the birds attacked, pecking and clawing at every scrap of skin they could reach.
«Make them give it up!» He shouted, but with one last look of vengeful fury, Hermione opened the door and ran away. Harry thought he heard a sob before the door slammed.