23As i said in the summary this is NOT my story. I did not write it and i do not take any credit for it. This story was written by Blackhawk13 mid to late 2010. I was a friend of his and i exchanged daily emails with him for over 18 months when in January 2011 (10th was the last day i ever spoke to him) he stopped responding to all communication from myself and everyone else for no reason. 3 months later his email account deactivatived itself due to lack of use. I have always hoped for the best but after so much time it is hard not to fear the worst. In discussion with his former beta CutewithAcapital-Q i have decided to post this story of his on this site which was always Joseph's (Blackhawk13) intention before he disappeared. Anyway from this point onwards none of the words mention in this story are mine and all credit must go to Blackhawk13 for his amazing writing ability and his great understanding of the Ron/Hermione relationship.
Story Notes:
The word "augurey" in the title is a reference to a scene in HBP where Ron's spellcheck quill loses its charm, and seems to have spelled the word "orgy" instead of "augurey".
A Gryffindor "Augurey"
Prologue – "Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes"
Late October, 1996
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley made their way up to Gryffindor Tower following a nighttime Quidditch practice; the team was doing well, and their new temporary Chaser, Dean Thomas, seemed to fit right in. Ron, however, had made a disastrous showing as Keeper during the practice and was completely down on himself. Harry was doing his best to cheer his best friend up, firing off a near-constant barrage of encouragement from the Quidditch Pitch all the way up to the second floor of the castle, and Ron was looking a bit more cheerful than he had at the end of practice. The two friends were just about to take a shortcut through a passage hidden behind a tapestry when they heard their names being called.
"Ron! Harry!" Hermione Granger ran up to meet them, smiling brightly, her warm brown eyes locked on Ron, "How was practice?"
"Horrible," Ron groaned.
"It wasn't that bad," Harry replied, feeling that he wasn't lying since everyone else besides Ron had done just fine, "Ron just gets nervous when he's up there protecting the rings."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for moral support," Hermione said, frowning slightly. She reached out and patted Ron's arm in a comforting manner. She and Ron had been much more polite and considerate to each other over the last few days, ever since she invited him to be her 'guest' at Professor Slughorn's Christmas party.
"I'm glad you weren't; that way you didn't see how much of a crap Keeper I am," Ron replied, getting down on himself again.
"You're an amazing Keeper, Ron," Hermione corrected him, rubbing her hand up-and-down his arm soothingly, "Gryffindor wouldn't have won the Quidditch Cup without you last year!"
"You mean that?" Ron asked, looking at her with a hopeful expression.
"Of course, I do, Ron," she replied, her smile brightening, "You just let your nerves get the better of you…that's all. If you want, I could research relaxation techniques that might help you calm down when you play."
"You'd do that to help me?" Ron asked, finally breaking into a small sort of smile.
"Of course I would," Hermione responded.
Neither of them seemed to be paying any attention to Harry at this point, and he took that as his cue to leave. Moving aside the tapestry, he disappeared from view into the concealed passageway.
"If you don't mind going to the library with me, we can go look for some books right now." It was now Hermione's turn to look hopeful. She wanted to spend some time alone with Ron instead of in the common room surrounded by Harry and the other Gryffindors.
"Sure," Ron replied, nodding. He, too, was anxious for some alone time. If anyone could make him forget about what a miserable display of keeping prowess he'd put on tonight, it was Hermione.
When Ron agreed to go to the library with her, Hermione nearly cried out in happiness. Instead, she smiled her broadest smile yet and grabbed Ron's hand, leading him off towards the stairs that would lead them up to the fourth floor and the library that awaited them.
As they walked off, Ron and Hermione missed a disgruntled Ginny Weasley leading her boyfriend, Dean Thomas, out from under the tapestry and storming off in the opposite direction. They also didn't see Harry's head pop out from under the tapestry moments later offering a weak apology to Ginny's retreating back.
As Ron went off to the library with Hermione…instead of following Harry behind the tapestry into the hidden corridor…he would never know how close he came to turning the Trio's sixth year into a complete disaster.