"Hey Ron do you know where my- OH GOSH WHAT SORRY!"
"WOAH HERMIONE GET OUT!"
"I AM SO SORRY BUT REALLY YOU SHOULD HAVE LOCKED THE DOOR."
"Says the girl who APPARENTLY can't hear the sounds of running water."
"I am so sorry that I was distracted by the hideous screeching noises you were making! Singing in the shower? More like strangling cats."
"Hermione?"
"What, Ron."
"…You're still standing there."
"Oh."
Harry Potter groaned loudly and closed his laptop dramatically. Two seconds later he panicked because while being dramatic he had knocked a glass of orange juice over onto his computer.
He found himself wishing that he was a wizard and could clean up this mess with a flick of a wand. With an impressively large sigh he stood up from his seat at the small kitchen table and went to find a towel.
"Will you two please shut UP already? I am trying to work on my essay here!" He yelled in the direction of his roommates. He grabbed a bright pink dishtowel that Ron's older brother George had given them as a housewarming gift and went to clean up his mess.
Harry, Ron and Hermione had lived together for the three most hectic months of their lives. During high school they had all been the best of friends, so they thought that the obvious next step was to move in together once they went on to university. Not surprisingly, they found that three very different people living in a very small apartment while each trying to get an education was a challenge. Well, Hermione worked hard to do well in school. Harry and Ron just enrolled for an excuse to move out of home.
As Harry wiped up the mess and threw the dirty dishcloth into the sink, a very flustered Hermione walked into the main living area.
With a mass of bushy brown hair unsuccessfully tied into a ponytail, sweatpants and a school sweater, Harry's only female roommate had a facial expression on that could only mean one thing: she'd walked in on someone showering again.
"Harry," she shout-whispered as she walked over to the short bespectacled man and grabbed the front of his shirt. "We have got to install a lock on that door or I swear I am going to go insane with all the scrawny boy butt I've been seeing lately."
Harry snorted and waggled his eyebrows at Hermione, which only made her blush harder.
"Oh, don't lie. You like the butts."
"Argh, you are insufferable! I was just looking for my phone charger. Shower boy keeps stealing it and I need it to finish typing up my lab," Hermione muttered and let go of Harry's shirt. She started wringing her hands with stress. The brunette girl looked over at her roommate's battered silver laptop covered in football stickers. "Can I borrow your laptop? I saved my work on my USB key and will be done with it in around two hours."
Harry's eyes widened with surprise and he made spluttering noises that sounded something like, "Sorryitgotavirushahahfunnyst oryarbfhgh."
Hermione's eyes narrowed and she grinned deviously.
"You spilled something on it again didn't you."
"Wow, okay, no! I am way too responsible and mature for that to happen. Wait, was that my phone that just vibrated over there on the sofa? Gotta go!" Harry gave his roommate a quick wave and leapt over to the sofa, much to her amusement.
It turns out that a phone had vibrated, but it wasn't Harry's. Ron's little flip phone was wedged between the dark red sofa cushions and emitted a broken sounding vibration noise.
Harry quickly looked back at Hermione through his 'stylish' (his words) glasses and instantly regretted it. She was chucking into her hand and texting someone herself, sending her message with a flourish.
The dark haired boy swore and pretended to check his messages. Basically, he decided to check Ron's. As he opened the latest one, an alert from the football team's coach reminding them of a meeting they had later that week, the phone went off again.
Harry opened the latest text message and nearly choked. It was from their friend Seamus who was in one of Ron's Liberal Arts classes. The text read: "so did you finally ask her out yet man? it's getting ridiculous, i've got three bets running on how long until you cave and the odds aren't in my favour."
Covering his laugh with his hand, Harry stifled a chuckle but still managed to catch Hermione's attention.
"What does the message say?" She asked, walking over to the sofa.
"What? What message? I don't see a message," Harry replied, letting out a short laugh as he crawled to the end of the sofa and hid the phone.
"Is it about me Potter? Hand it over!" Hermione jumped onto the sofa beside Harry and reached for their roommate's cell phone.
"H-hey! This is a boy only phone! Beep beep, no girls allowed sorry." Harry curled up in a little ball as Hermione threw herself at him, clawing at his hands.
Ron stumbled from out of the hallway with a puff of steam, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, "I'm done in the shower if you want to ask me that question Hermi- What are you doing?" He looked at Harry and Hermione's entwined bodies on the sofa and raised an eyebrow.
"Um, urgh. Just hanging out! You know, yoga. It's um, healthy?" Hermione squeaked, and as Harry's grip on the phone faltered she took it from his hands. They sprung apart as Ron nodded his head cautiously.
"I'm going to choose to believe that and go get changed." He readjusted his towel on the well defined hips that came with a strict workout regimen, the water from his shower beading up on his slightly defined stomach. Harry noticed Hermione staring and grinned when she caught herself and looked away.
"Can I talk to you later, Harry?" Asked the redhead, giving his dark haired friend a pointed look.
"Sure! Whatever, man." Harry said a little too enthusiastically as his suspicious best friend left. With a sigh, he looked over to Hermione who was furiously checking the messages on Ron's phone.
"What did he say this time…oh. Wow. Ha…haha. Is this about me?" Hermione paused when she saw Seamus' message.
Harry stood up from the sofa and brushed his dark jeans off.
"Who knows? Maybe it is." He was poised to continue but saw the look on Hermione's face and paused.
"Screw it. Yeah, it is. The guy is totally into you, has been for ages. And now," Harry said quietly, scratching his head, "He probably thinks something's going on between you and I. So I have to go and manage to convince him that nothing is while not letting him know that we were reading his messages."
Harry looked at his companion for a few moments, and once he realised that she wasn't going to move from her pensive position he made his way towards the bedrooms down the hall.
"Oh by the way, Ginny's coming to visit in a few minutes." Hermione said in a thoughtful daze.
As if on cue, a few short knocks rapped on the door. Harry froze in place, his stomach clenching.
The boy wondered if he'd live through being trapped between an angry and jealous best friend, a nosy roommate who learned something she shouldn't have and the girl he'd been in love with silently for years all together in one place.