A/N: A resulting fic during one of my daydream sessions. hope u lyk it!
Hermione entered the Three Broomsticks, shivering. She was glad to finally get out of the cold. The place was packed, both with locals from the village and Hogwarts students. She scanned the entire crowd for her two best friends.
"Over here!" someone shouted over the din. Hermione wheeled around to see Ron waving at him, Harry smiling earnestly at the sight of her.
Hermione plopped down on the seat they had reserved for her.
"Madam Rosmerta, I'd take a Butterbeer as well, thanks," Hermione said as the waitress passed by. "By the way Harry, what's the big reveal?"
"Yeah, I didn't give up that free taste of Honeydukes' newest line of chocolate for nothing," Ron added.
"Here's the thing," Harry began. "I just told Cho how I feel about her."
"WHAT?" Hermione burst out. Ron almost spat his drink. "Can you—please—repeat—what you—just said?"
"I just told her I loved her," Harry said simply.
"And?" Ron pressed on.
"I asked her if she could go out with me . . . when it's warmer," he continued. "And . . . she said, 'sure, why not?'"
"You didn't kiss her?" Ron asked incredulously.
Harry's eyes knit together. "Should I have?"
Hermione groaned while Ron smacked his forehead with his palm.
"Harry, for someone who's not afraid of Voldemort, you can sure get freaked out about kissing a girl," Hermione said.
"Promise me you'll do it first chance you get," Ron said.
"Okay, I promise," he replied.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then looked at Harry before shaking their heads in mock dismay.
Hermione was walking out of her Arithmancy class, all smiles. She had just aced another one of their arms. Before she was able to fully get out of the room however, someone grabbed her shoulders and dragged her aside.
"He did it!" Ron said triumphantly.
"Who did what?" she asked confused.
"Harry! He finally kissed Cho!"
"Hallelujah!" Hermione replied. "I need details."
And together, she and Ron walked to the Great Hall for dinner.
"Hey, just heard about it," Hermione said to Harry, who was absentmindedly picking at his food.
"Oh," he replied, smiling a crooked smile. For some reason, it made him look even more handsome than before . . . Is it because he's in love? Or have I never really noticed anything before? Hermione suddenly asked herself. She shook her head once and pushed the thought to the back of her head.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Harry asked. Apparently, he had seen the head-shaking thing.
"Oh, bug," she lied lamely. "So you're officially together, then?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Harry said, the crooked smile on his face again.
"Score!" Ron cheered.
Weeks passed. The whole story spread through the school. Most people thought they looked good together, but still, some people were still bitter.
Hermione was about to exit the bathroom when she heard a group of giggly girls. She heard Cho's voice, so she decided to do a bit of spying.
"It's as easy as that," she said as they entered. "Harry is so easy to wrap around my finger."
"I heard you kissed him," one of her girlfriends asked. "How was it?"
"Oh, please!" she scoffed. "It was nothing! I've had better kisses."
The others laughed. Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Are you going to take this seriously?" another asked.
"Does it look like I will?" Cho asked back, like the answer seemed so obvious. "Once I get what I want, I could just break up with him. Easy as that."
They finished their vanity session and began to walk out of the lavatory.
"You are so mean, Cho Chang," one of her friends said admiringly.
"I know," she smirked.
"Hermione pushed open the door of the cubicle and counted slowly to ten before pelting towards the Gryffindor Common Room.
"She's just using you Harry," Hermione said for the millionth time. "I heard her in the bathroom."
"I thought you were happy for me?" harry said angrily. "I thought this is what you wanted? And now you want me to break up with her? Without solid proof that she said what you said she did?"
"Who do you trust Harry, me or her?"
"Judging from what you just did, I trust her even more."
Something inside Hermione broke into a million tiny pieces.
"Hey," a voice said in Hermione's ear as she was studying in the library. She didn't look up. "Look, I'm sorry. You are my best friend and you'll forever be. But, I just lost my temper. Will you forgive me?" he touched her hand.
Something shocked Hermione. His touch made a . . . spark.
"You shouldn't be doing that," Hermione said coldly.
"Doing what?"
"Making me forgive you so easily when I want to be angry with you," Hermione replied.
Both of them knew from that statement that Harry was forgiven.
"You'll be fine," Hermione said. "All you need to do is eat."
It was the Quidditch Final. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw.
"I don't want to," Harry said. "I feel like I'm going to throw up."
"Stubborn, are we?" Hermione said. She pushed Harry's plate toward her and speared small pieces of bacon and eggs and held it up to Harry's mouth.
"What?"
"What do you mean what? Are you going to eat or not?" she replied sternly. "Eat."
Harry, figuring he had no other choice left, just opened his mouth and ate.
"Much better," Hermione replied, smiling.
"You'll be fine," Hermione said again as they were down the Pitch. Only Hermione was given special permission to be in the locker room before the match. "All you have to do is let the Ravenclaws bite the dust."
"By doing that, I'll be making Cho bite the dust."
Hermione sniggered silently after figuring out the logic.
Luna's voice reverberated over the stadium. It was time.
"Good luck," Hermione said. Feeling bold, she reached up her tiptoes and pecked Harry on the lips before going out to join Ginny in the stands.
What were you thinking, Granger? Hermione asked herself. She didn't pay much attention to the game. She just kept contemplating about everything that has happened to her life so far.
The troll . . . the chamber . . . the ride with Buckbeak . . .Freeing Sirius . . . the strategy at the Triwizard . . . Cedric's death . . . and now . . .
She analyzed all these moments to the dot, seeing if there was anything she missed. There was one piece from the puzzle that she cannot find.
Do you love Harry, 'Mione? She asked herself.
Yes . . . yes, I do.
Click.
It all fell into place. The puzzle had been completed. She loved Harry. She needed Harry. Harry was half of her soul.
"Hermione! Hermione! Hello?!" Ginny was snapping her fingers in front of Hermione's face.
"Huh? What—?"
"Harry caught the Snitch! We won!" she said happily. They hugged each other very tightly and continued with the cheering. Hermione made her way to the locker room.
They walked out of the locker room together, Ron had to go somewhere else, so Harry and Hermione were on their own. They used one of their infamous shortcuts to get to the common room, but as they turned at a corner something different greeted them.
It was Cho, well, it looked like her. Her face was mostly covered up by Zacharias Smith's as they shared a too intimate kiss. Harry's immediate action was to storm out of the scene.
"Harry!" Hermione screamed. She followed him to an empty Charms classroom.
"Harry?" she said tentatively as she entered. He was sitting on one of the desks, his face in his hands.
"You were right," he finally said.
"I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry, Hermione," he contradicted. "I was stupid."
"You weren't," she said consolingly. She brushed away some of Harry's hair that was covering his face and looked him straight in is green eyes. "She's the one who's stupid. She doesn't know who she's losing. She doesn't know how brave, smart, talented, and extremely wonderful you are."
They stared some more into each other's eyes, trapped in a spell. Slowly, their faces moved closer until finally their lips met.
Suddenly, Hermione felt a thousand sparks. Not just sparks . . . they were fireworks. Harry's lips had felt better than what she had imagined. She breathed in his heavenly scent.
"I love you," she said simply after they broke apart. "I don't know when it started but . . . I just realized . . . earlier . . . during the match."
"Hermione . . . I . . ."
"I'm sorry. I was a fool to ever think you could love someone like me."
Great, now I've ruined an entire friendship.
"Hermione, you're mistaken," Harry replied, smiling his crooked smile. He kissed Hermione once again, showing her how wrong she was with her assumptions. "I love you, too."
They just smiled at each other for a silent minute and shared another kiss. They would tell Ron about this later.
I'm so very sorry! I suck at one-shots! *grins sheepishly* Hope you review, though. :)
