When it was time to eat in the Great Hall, Hermione had a smile plastered on her face. She couldn't stop thinking about Mr. Weasley and his cute red hair. Hermione suddenly snapped out of her mind.
"Ew, this is gross. Why do I have a crush on my teacher? He's like, four years older than me!" she said to herself. "Ugh! But it would be so amazing to have him kiss me and-oh my God, shut up Hermione!"
She had said that a little too loudly that someone heard her. "What's wrong Hermione?"
Hermione suddenly felt a rush of embarrassment. Luckily for her, it was Harry, her best friend. "Oh, I'm just mad at myself for not knowing the answer to a question on the homework. I'm just sort of quizzing myself."
Harry laughed, "Come on, let's eat."
The Great Hall was packed. Each house's table was full. All the student chatted amongst themselves. Out of the corner of Hermione's eye, she caught sight of Ginny and Neville.
"Hey guys!" Hermione brightly smiled and waved to her friend.
Ginny's hair was curled and she wore hints of makeup. Hermione was sometimes jealous of her beauty. She hated her bushy hair and always wished that she has pin straight hair.
Ginny brushed her hair behind her left ear. "Hi Hermione! Harry, it's nice to see you again."
Harry gave her a goofy grin. "Ginny, hi! You look really pretty. Not that you don't always look pretty, I meant like in a good way!"
Ginny giggled, she knew how nervous he was around her, she thought it was adorable. "Thanks Harry."
Hermione witnessed this. Ginny was her friend since second year. She remembered when she introduced her to Harry for the first time. He choked on his soup when he laid eyes on her. She giggled at the memory.
"You guys, I think the tables are already too full," Neville stated.
Hermione glanced at all of the students. She then looked over to the front of the room. Dumbledore was in his usual spot. She continued to scan the room but something caught her eye.
It was Mr. Weasley! He had a seat next to Professor Snape. She suddenly felt her heart racing again. In seconds, she ran her fingers through her hair and fixed her shirt.
"Guys, can we just go to the front of the Gryffindor table and wait for people to finish?" Hermione suggested.
Harry thought for a moment. "That's an excellent idea, 'Mione. Come on, Ginny," he said, completely forgetting about Neville.
Hermione smiled and took Neville's arm, "Let's go, Neville," she whispered to him when Harry left with Ginny.
Hermione sighed in relief when nobody had asked her why she wanted to be at the front of the table. She secretly wanted to get closer to the High Table so she can get Weasley to notice her.
Once they reached the front, she turned around and saw him. He was talking to Snape who didn't look very interested in the conversation. Hermione couldn't help it, he was so tempting. She suddenly remembered what she was thinking again and shook her thoughts away.
Hermione tried to think of reasons why she should have a crush on the new teacher. Hey, some girls even thought Snape was cute, but that wasn't enough reason for her.
"Who are you staring at?" Ginny asked her.
Hermione suddenly blushed once she turned her head back. Ginny had asked that quite loudly that Neville and Harry seemed to be curious.
She scoffed, "What are you talking about? I wasn't staring at anyone!"
Ginny pursed her lips, "Well, you were looking at something. Or someone, for that matter."
Hermione was getting defensive, "Hey, I was only looking at the staff. Can't a girl be curious?"
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever."
Hermione sighed, she had a sense that Ginny probably knew about her infatuation on a certain Mr. Weasley. She was just glad that the conversation faded. Sometimes Ginny got her frustrated.
Hermione looked up again, but not at the staff, but at the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy caught her attention. He was the boy with bleach blonde hair with his two 'minions' by his side, Crabbe and Goyle. He gave her a dirty look. She scoffed and looked away.
"Oh hey, four kids just finished eating!" Neville said pointing his finger to an empty space.
They quickly made their way to the seats. In the middle of the table were plates of gelatin, macaroni and cheese, soup, cake, fish, and chicken.
Neville took a plate of chicken and pinched off a piece. He reached into his pocket and fed it to Trevor, his little pet toad. Hermione smiled, she knew how much Neville loved Trevor. He was his one true friend.
She took a plate of fish and ate slowly. She wanted to take the time to see what the staff were doing and if Weasley was still there.
Her thinking and worrying was interrupted by two humorous boys. None other than the Weasley twins. They were both a year above Hermione. They loved to tease her and make her laugh.
Fred took a seat next to her, "Hey Hermione!"
"How was your summer?" George asked on from her other side.
"It was alright, thanks," she responded. "What about yours?" she glanced at both of them to let them know she was asking each of them.
George shrugged, "I mean, it was good I guess."
"Still can't believe Ronniekins got the job as a teacher, can't you believe it?" Fred said chuckling.
Hermione cocked her head, "Wait, who got a job as a teacher?"
Fred looked at her. "Ronniekins? Oh, yeah. He teaches out Potions class. I can't believe we have to sit through his annoying lectures."
"I know, don't you just want his head to blow up?" George laughed.
They both high fived each other while Hermione was trying to process the information Fred had just told her.
"Wait, he's your brother?" she finally asked.
The twins looked at her as if she should have known that. "Yes!" they said in unison.
Hermione must've been so occupied with her thinking and her daydreams to notice that he had the same last name as Ginny and the twins.
"You never knew that Hermione?" Ginny asked from across the table, eating her chocolate cake.
Hermione just stayed motionless. "Well, no. I guess I wasn't really paying attention to that. And I just assumed that Weasley wasn't really an uncommon name so I figured that you guys might not have been related."
"Wow, George, can't you believe that? This is coming from the brainiac who got a higher score than us on her O.W.L.S!" Fred high fived him again laughing.
Hermione just rolled her eyes while she finished her food. "How come you never introduced me to him?"
Ginny swallowed her food, "Well, he's always been shy around other people. Especially with girls. He still hasn't met some of my other friends either."
Hermione frowned, how could she have never known about Ron? Was her friend keeping a secret from her or something?
After lunch, Hermione departed from the others and walked down the hall, carrying her books. As she strolled along the corridors, she wondered if any of her friends knew about her little crush on Mr. Weasley. Hopefully nobody knows, she thought. People would think she was weird and she didn't want that.
Suddenly a Slytherin crashed into her, making her books fly. "Watch it!" he yelled, followed by laughter. Hermione fell to the floor and hit her head. She groaned in pain when she tried to get up. The laughter sounded like Draco. She hated him, she never knew why he was so mean to her.
She suddenly heard someone's voice. "Are you alright? Let me help you up."
Hermione was in too much pain to notice who was talking. Her hand was to her head, her eyes closed, still groaning in pain. The person lifted her up. Still rubbing her head, she opened her eyes. She gasped, it was none other than Mr. Weasley.
Hermione's thoughts were racing with questions. He just found her on the floor! How was she supposed to know if he thought she was clumsy? She kept thinking about how different it would've been if he found her not on the ground and showing off her best smile and flipping her hair around. She totally blew it!
She put her hand to her mouth, "Oh my gosh, Mr. Weasley, I am so sorry! You didn't have to help me, it was just a little fall!" she said, understating the situation. "You see, I just tripped over my heels."
He chuckled slightly and handed her the books she was holding.
She smiled gently, "Thank you," she adjusted her skirt. In that moment, she thought of kissing him on the cheek to thank him but thought that it would be weird.
She was still staring at him, looking at his gorgeous blue eyes. She felt a sort of happiness inside her. She wondered if he thought about the way she looked.
Hermione looked down and smiled, "Thank you again Mr. Weasley. I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning."
He smiled back to her as she waved goodbye and took off running to her next class.
