“what?” harry mouthed, disbelieving, to ron, whed. they would never uand hermione’s logi wheo exams.
harry flopped down on the ouh, ompletely bored. he had exused himself from breakfast, leaving ron to hermione, and fouh aurday of potential boredom. normally he had something to do, an essay or something, but today he fouh no shool work at all hanging over his head.
drao, who was sitting in a hair aross from him, did on his state of boredom, if the blohat harry was in the room. his head was bent over some parhment of homeen book lyi of the hair.
wathing drao aluting some ahing that looked like aever it was it was some form of arithmany—from where he stht of something to do with this free saturday afteruro the bedroom and sought out a small box from the depths of his truried out the pratie sen at christmas yet. grabbing his firebolt iher hand, he headed bak iher room.
“drao, let’s go py quiddith.”
drao looked up with a look that learly stated that harry roahing insanity.
&’s a beautiful day and i have no homework.” he poihe arithmany (or whatever it was) with the handle of his broom. “a isil friday, knowing you. so let’s go outside.”
drao sat bak against the hair. “and suddeying a semi- friendly game of quiddith will look normal to everyone else in hogwarts?” he drawled.
harry pouted trust drao to find some problem with his idea. “we’ll fihey ahen.”
drao thought for a moment.
“e on, i want to see how i do against a veriae.” harry was almost begging.
a slow smile pyed s. “all right, you’re ohe edge of the forbiddeen minutes.”
harry fh the forbidde doath that he had never been dow ould truly be alled a path. it seemed, though, that drao kly where he was going, aes the two boys had reahed ahat was only a little smaller thas quddith pith. sunlight splihrough an rowth of leaves, turning the grass a golden green olor.
“not bad.” harry murmured iion.
“i used this learing when i was learning how to fly.” drao offered iion.
“so you an fly with s now?” harry asked. “i see you didn’t bring your broom.”
“my wiheir proportiohey’ll oo grow as i do, but there won’t be ai hanges. so, yes, they’ll suppht in flight.”
both boys removed their outer shool r them over a ree branh. harry then began fiddling with the pratie snith’s ontrols.
pratie snithes worked exatly like real s o where they went. it wouldn’t do, after all, to be hasih all over the forbiddeself. harry estimated the size of the learing, thinking there was maybe 1/8 differehe learis quiddith pith.
drao met him in about the middle of the learing, holding a pratie bludger. pratie bludgers were ohe same ratie s you ould also set how hard they would knok into you.
&o be reasonably annoying.” drao smirked as he let it go. the bludger arhed out of sight, iops, but both boys ould hear it moviheir heads.
“ready?” harry held out the snith.
“always.”
both boys let the snith go. harry then mounted his firebolt ahe ground as drao leapt upward, wiending as he did so.
almost instantly the bludger arhed dh the leafy anopy and whizzed by drao’s ear. it headed fround and then arhed upwards to follow after harry for a while as he tried to evade it.
harry had never onsidered how absolutely woers were, as when there was no way to deflet the bludger. you had to evade it until it got bored of you aer the other pyer.
“this is ‘mildly annoying’?” harry yelled to drao after the fifth time he had to evade the bludger.
“yes. we ould set it worse if you want.”
“no, this is fine.”
hermione was buried in the library, all of her ourse books (ahat weren’t required for the ourses she took) spread out over the table in front of her. she was writing furiously, w oudy guide, and roable with some trepidation. she had beehe e and it was he afternoon. even hermione would er that.
“umm…hermione?” roly.
hermione made some sound of ak, her haopping the furious speed that it was w at.
“you know, you’ve beehe m, and it’s abht now…” a nod was the only thi ron know she was eveo him. somewhat more boldly tha, he ontinued, “and anyone would er that…so i wondered if you…might want that walk now?”
&iopped. ron braed for a leture on hoas more important, bh bh, and rised whe dowhe admo he’d been waiting for turo be a smile and a “that sounds like a good idea. let me lean this up, and drop my books off in the dorm, aake that walk.”
as hermioo put her books bak int, ron blinked ihat he ining though.
harry duked uhe bludger ahe greehe learing, suessfully losing the annoying thin