Title: Basketball Lessons
Ship: Harry/Hermione
Name/Pen Name: Qualyn/Hobbes
Word Count: 1,509
Theme #/Theme: 1/Muggle Confusion
Challenge count: 2/7 finished

Content: PG
Spoilers: Books 1-6
Warnings: Passing mention of R/L
Summary: While teaching Ron about basketball, Harry learns a few things of his own.


“Harry, what does this line mean again?” Ron scuffed at the thin strip on the cement.

“That’s the foul line. You stand from the middle of it,” he moved the spot, “and you shoot the ball.”

“And what is this game called again?”

Wearily, he answered, “Basketball, Ron. Basketball.”

Ron scratched his head. “Basketball, yeah. And you say Muggles love this?”

“Some of them do. I’m not the expert, but I know the basics.” Harry dribbled the ball a few times. “Now, we’re going to have to work on your shot. It’s pretty bad.”

“Isn’t there something I can do that doesn’t involve shooting the ball?” he whined. “Hey, Harry,” he blurted out, “what’s the ball called?”

Harry almost tore his hair out. “It’s called a basketball.”

“Oh. That’s weird that they only have one ball.”

“Not really,” a voice called from the back porch. Harry and Ron turned to find Hermione coming from the inside of Harry’s house, dressed in t-shirt, shorts, and trainers. “The exciting part is trying to figure out how they’ll work with it.”

Ron kept complaining about the lack of expertise (“There’s nothing remotely deadly about it!”), but Harry didn’t hear. His hormone-ridden mind was watching Hermione come down the steps in slow motion. Hermione owns shorts? When did she get those and how come she doesn’t wear them more often? Cor, she…stop right there, Harry. Focus on the game, only on the game. He let off a few foul shots to keep from staring. Each one went in with a satisfying swish.

Hermione watched approvingly. “Wow, and you’ve never seriously played?”

“Nope. Only a couple of times when the Dursleys weren’t around to breathe down my neck.” He handed the ball to Ron. “Now you try from where you are.”

Ron clumsily dribbled the ball and threw it. It sailed over the backboard and landed somewhere in the bushes at the end of the lawn. Harry and Hermione cringed.

“We’re going to have to work on your release,” Hermione sighed.

Ron lifted a palm and growled, “Accio Harry’s basketball.” The ball soared from where it had landed and smacked into his outstretched hand. “You try.”

“Ron! What if one of the neighbors had seen you?” Hermione hissed.

“They’ll get over it.” He thrust the ball into her hands. “Now here.”

She rolled her eyes, but concentrated on the goal in front of her. She’s doing that ‘thoughtful crinkling nose’ thing again, Harry noticed. After watching her for years, not a lot of things she did went past him. Now she’ll start to chew on her lip so she can concentrate, then sigh and crinkle her nose again, and then shoot the ball.

Hermione didn’t deviate from her “order of thinking.” All three watched the ball intently as it sailed through the air and into the hoop. A grin spread over her face as Harry and Ron gave her a round of applause.

“Very good form. Almost like a pro.”

“I’m amazed she got it into that bloody small hoop. I don’t know how you do it either, Harry.”

“All it takes is practice, Ron,” Hermione replied. “Lots and lots of practice, but nothing’s worth it if you don’t work for it.”

“Actually,” Harry murmured, “center might be a good position for you.”

“Center? What’s that?”

“He helps guard the goal from the other team by staying near it. He’s usually pretty tall too.”

Ron’s face brightened. “Like a Keeper?”

Harry and Hermione nodded. “Kind of like one, yeah,” said Harry.

“Well, that sounds like something I can do. Hey, why don’t you two show me how to play?”

“How, you can’t shoot yet,” Hermione chuckled.

“You and Harry play. You guys obviously know what you’re doing. I’ll just sit here,” he moved to the steps and flopped on the bottom one, ignoring its groan, “and you can play. It’s an exhibition match.”

Harry turned to Hermione and quirked his eyebrows. She nodded and ball began to roll towards Harry. When it tapped against his leg, he picked it up and handed it to Hermione with a, “Ladies first.” She took the ball with a smile, but in her eyes, he saw something he had seen in Oliver Wood’s eyes before a Quidditch match…the want to win. He gulped. Uh-oh.

He took up a defensive stance as she dribbled the ball slowly. Minutes went by without either of them moving. Harry was beginning to wonder if she was doing this to confuse him, when she flew past him towards the goal. He ran behind her, but he already knew it was too late. She executed a neat lay-up and grinned.

“Way to go, Hermione, that’s showing him!” Ron shouted.

Hermione gave him the ball. “One to zero.”

“That it is. But not for long,” he teased. Within a few minutes, he had scored a basket.

“That’s the way, Harry, show her who’s boss!” Ron shouted.

“Hey, whose side are you on?” Hermione asked.

“If I root for only one side, I get hexed by either you or Harry. So I’m doing both. Don’t worry, Hermione! You can come back!”

Rocks started to come his way. “Hey, cut it out!” More rocks zinged past his arms. “Gits!” he cried. He scrambled to the door. “Fine, I’ll watch from inside!” The door slammed behind him and leaned against it. “Let’s resume play, shall we?”

“One of these days….” Hermione sighed.

Harry chuckled, “I know. Do you want to keep playing?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

They played for well over an hour until Harry sat down on the court and panted, “I’m quit. There is no way I can keep going.”

“Ah, victory feels fantastic,” Hermione laughed as she sat down beside him.

“Where did you learn to play basketball like that?”

“My dad is a closeted fan. When I was younger, he used to take me to the local court and we’d play for a while. Mum never understood and given my track record with sports, I shouldn’t have either, but it…clicked for me. It was fun to play with my dad like that and I guess that bled over into my love for the game.” She rolled the ball against her palms. “Weird, I know.”

“No, it’s not,” he insisted. “It’s perfectly normal. You and your dad are pretty close, huh?”

“Not as much as we were, but I love him all the same.” She leaned over and laid her head on Harry’s shoulder. “Are you thinking of going to Godric’s Hollow soon?”

“I might. It’s hard to go back and know that my mum and dad used to sleep there, breath there, live there. You would go with me, wouldn’t you?”

“Don’t I always?”

Harry kissed her on top of the forehead. “Thanks.”

“Harry, why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Kiss me.” She added quickly, “On the forehead.”

In the red glow of the sunset, it was hard to see the features on Hermione’s face, but he saw a definite red tint to her ears. “I’m not sure.” Yeah, right. Perhaps it’s because you fancy the woman. “Did that bother you--?”

“No, not at all!” Hermione interrupted. “It just surprised me.”

“What are really surprising are those shorts you’re wearing,” he joked.

“These? It was a spur of the moment thing since we were going to be outside and all.”

“They look nice on you. Brings out the shape of your legs.”

“So you’ve been checking me out, have you?”

Harry smacked his forehead with his palm. “Er, well--”

“Looks like someone has a secret crush on me,” she chuckled. “Go on, you can say it.”

“Yeah, I do,” he said unthinkingly. When Hermione backed away from him, he muttered, “Bollocks. I said it, didn’t I?” She nodded, and he sighed. “Well, there’s the truth. I am madly in more than platonic love with Hermione Granger.”

She gaped at him. “Do you mean me? Bushy haired, bossy, know-it-all me?”

“The one and the same.”

Hermione chewed her lip and stared into the twilight sky. She said, “There’s no need to apologize, which what you were going to do. It’s just a shock to think that you’d care for me more than a friend.”

“How come?”

“Because it’s me! Hermione! It doesn’t make any sense!”

“It makes loads of sense to me.” He scooted towards her. “You’re the brightest, kindest, and most beautiful witch I know.”

She blushed. “But I nag, and get snappy when I’m mad, and--”

“I don’t care.” His bluntness surprised even him and he backed away. “Sorry. Should we forget this ever happened?”

“No.”

“What?”

“No. I don’t want to. I want—I want to try this, Harry.” She held his hand. “I want to try us.”

Harry wasn’t sure how to react. A whoop got caught in his throat. “Yeah,” he croaked. “Yeah.”

Ron chuckled from the doorway of the back porch. “Luna’s going to love this.” He turned to go inside the house. “Now to find something to eat. It’s hard work watching people play basketball.”

'Twas cute...

I especially liked Ron in this story...and I was really glad you didn't go very technical with basketball because I'd have had a hard time following (I felt so much like Ron not knowing what was going on, but like Ron all the HHR stuff--I got.)

Weird that this hasn't gotten a few more reviews. It's really very nice I really liked how the whole thing started off. Ron obviously was hopeless, and you made him so adorable

NAPPA

Lol, that was cute, I liked Ron's comment about that there was no expertise in basketball, that there wasn' t anything remotely deadly about the game. That made me laugh, it seemed like a very "Ron" thing to say. Keep up the good work in your writing!

Thanks to all of you, guys. I love Ron so he always gets the best lines.

That was real cute. Loved it. Especially RON!!

I thought it was really cute. I liked it. Nice job. I like how you had Hermione play basketball even though one would never think she would. Ron was very cute.

Nice one!

Aww! This was adoreable Good job

i love your story
it's really cool i like basketball alot but i can relate to how ron feels, my cousin tried to teach me to play handball and i just couldn't understand anything.

ah! thats really cute!!

good story... Ron is as natural as he is... little stupid but okay...