2 Kids Who Are Not Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

Quidditch Quagmire

"Chapter nine." Hermione had pulled a large book from her bag and was pointing triumphantly to one of the pages, a satisfied glint in her eye. Draco looked at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.

"What?"

"Impediment Jinxes. Standard Book of Spells, chapter nine. I knew it." Draco glanced down, saw that she was right, and rolled his eyes slightly.

"You were right, are you happy? Now will you play again?"

It was a Saturday afternoon in November and they were sitting on the steps in the courtyard. Although it was sunny, it was still bitterly cold; Draco had taken to conjuring and playing with an interesting variety of blue fire, which could be imprisoned in a jar and carried around. This sat between them now, giving off a shocking amount of warmth for its size. Draco had been teaching Hermione to play Wizard's Chess, which was exactly like Muggle Chess except the pieces were alive, and therefore liked to bark objections and unsolicited advice at whoever commanded them. She'd played Chess a few times with her father, but he was hopeless at it and consequently worse than useless as a teacher. Draco, on the other hand, was highly skilled and very keen to teach her. The trouble with this, of course, was that he annihilated her in every game they'd played that day.

"I told you I wanted to read up on the strategy," she reminded him.

"Yes, and I told you that's not how you learn to play a game."

"Just because you can't sit still for five minutes doesn't mean the rest of us can't," she teased. Draco looked scandalized and started to retort, but fell silent as Snape swept into the courtyard. So quickly that Hermione almost missed it, Draco scooped up the fire and slipped it into his robes, hiding it from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Snape's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the pair of them, but Draco was now casually watching a group of fourth-years playing with a calico cat on the grounds. Nothing about his expression suggested he'd ever broken a rule in his life, let alone this afternoon. Hermione, however, found her eyes locked on Snape. He was limping rather badly as he crossed the courtyard. As he passed them with a sour look and swept into the castle, she turned to Draco.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"Snape. He was limping." Draco frowned.

"So?" Her mind flashed back to the three-headed dog in the forbidden corridor, and she shook her head as if to clear it.

"Nothing. Doesn't matter, I suppose." And it didn't. There were many reasons a person might be limping, after all--most of which had nothing to do with whatever lay underneath that trapdoor. And even if Snape's limp was related to the three-headed dog, what on earth was she going to do about it? It was better to mind her own business and avoid jumping to conclusions.

                                                                                         ~~~

She was soon distracted, in any case, by unceasing talk of the upcoming start to Quidditch season. Gryffindor would be playing in the first match against Slytherin, which was highly anticipated by all four Houses; no one had bested Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup since Charlie Weasley had left school. People spoke of Charlie Weasley in reverent tones as if he had died, but, as Hermione learned from Percy, he'd left school only the year before last and was alive and well studying dragons in Romania.

Hermione never cared much for sports at home, and didn't see how the addition of broomsticks would make any difference. Draco had tried to explain the appeal to her, but it just sounded like a horde of people running around hitting one another. Nevertheless, she made her way down to the stands with the rest of Gryffindor, and had to admit that the air of anticipation around her was contagious. After their flying lesson, rumors had begun to circulate that Harry Potter would be playing Seeker for the Gryffindor team, and everyone was very eager to see him play. Personally, that seemed to Hermione like rewarding him for breaking the rules--something Draco had been quick to point out when he'd relayed the rumor to her, though she'd lost no time in reminding Draco sternly that he'd broken the rules first that afternoon. However she might feel about how he'd earned his place on the team, though, Hermione had to admit she was curious to see how Harry played.