Can A Phoenix Love A Lion? (Hermione Granger x Male Reader)

5. A First Game . . . Let's Say Particular

The next day, the first Quidditch match was taking place. Y/N, Hermione and Ron were eating in the Great Hall when they saw Harry coming. He was thinking of everything but the match.

"You know, I thought a lot," he began. "Yesterday, when Quirell arrived to tell about the troll, Snape went directly to the back door . . ." He showed the one behind the professors' table. ". . . and, when he came back, he was hurt at the leg. I'm sure he tried to get past the three-headed dog."

"Harry, it's absurd!" Hermione replied. "Think, why would Professor Snape do that?"

"It's not because he's hard with you that he's bad," Y/N added.

"Then how do you explain the scratches on his leg?" Harry asked.

"Mr Potter." The voice was too much recognisable not to freak. Snape was just behind Harry. "Good luck. Now that you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you, even if it is against Slytherin," he said.

Then he limped away.

"Look, what did I say?" Harry told Y/N and Hermione.

"Okay, maybe you're right," Y/N replied. "But why would anyone want to even go within one hundred yards from the dog?"

Harry took some time the think, then explained, "The day I went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid, he took something out of one of Gringotts' vaults. He said it was Hogwarts business, very secret."

"So you're saying . . ." Hermione murmured.

"That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape wants," Harry finished.

Y/N gulped his toast and took another.

"Yes, your theory is really interesting, Harry," he said, mouth full, "but you've got to eat some breakfast."

"I don't want anything, I already told you."

"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry," Harry said again.

"Harry, you need your strength," Seamus Finnigan said as he sat near them. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

"Thanks, Seamus. Know that your help is appreciated," Y/N said wryly.

He put a bowl of cereal in front of Harry just when the owls arrived. As soon as the bowl was on the table, it flopped, propelled by a package that had landed right in front of Harry. For a few seconds, neither of them moved, too much surprised. Then, Harry stammered:

"But . . . I never get mail. . . ."

"We don't care! Let's open it," Ron said.

They all began to tear up the paper.

"It's a broomstick!" Harry exclaimed.

"Not just a broomstick," Y/N and Ron said. "It's a Nimbus 2000!"

They were focused on the broomstick, so they didn't see the smile on Professor McGonagall's lips. They finished eating, then Harry left Y/N, Hermione and Ron.

"Come on, we have to take seats! I want to be in the front row!" Y/N told the two others, almost jumping with enthusiasm.

They ran to the Quidditch pitch. There was already a crowd, dozens of students, hundreds, maybe even all the school was already here, with the firm intention to enjoy the first Quidditch match of the year. Today, it was Gryffindor against Slytherin, and there was a well-known rivalry at Hogwarts between those two houses. The atmosphere was even crazier than Y/N would have thought. He could feel the stands trembling under his feet and the noise was so loud that it had to be audible ten thousand yards away. He spotted Harry, smaller than the other members of Gryffindor's Quidditch team, and the Weasley twins. Captains of both teams shook hands, then all the players rose in the air, forming a circle. Madam Hooch reminded the rules briefly. Then, she made her whistle howl. Almost immediately, the Quaffle, Bludgers and the Snitch flew up and players mingled. Shouts, cheers, cries, joy and anger, all of those things and more were represented in the stands.