Potter, No Angst

Averis

Chapter Three: My Aching Head Games/Shot to the Heart

Harry woke with a start, having had a restless night and feeling more than a little hungover. Upon returning to the common room after one in the morning, he had immediately popped the cork from the bottle of Ogden's he had been hiding for nigh on three semesters and, without even a grimace at the dry taste, he had pounded a few shots. He wasn't a liberal drinker, but he dealt with his conflicting emotions the best way he could under the circumstances. His aching head took some time to come to grips with the sunlight streaming through the window closest to him, and it took him quite a while longer to realize that the conversation between Hermione and Ginny had not been a dream.

He looked at his watch and frowned. He had three classes with Gryffindor over the next few hours, one of which was set to commence in less than twenty minutes. With a gasp he shot from the bed, tripping over his sheets as he struggled to untangle himself from them. As quickly as he could he grabbed his clothes, used magic to set his toothbrush to work, and hurried to get himself dressed. In a rush, he ran his fingers through his hair a few times and spared only a moment to check himself in the mirror, finding himself to be satisfactory by Hogwarts standards if not by his own. He banished his things back to their proper places and escaped his room, running down the stairs while tightening the tie around his neck.

Luna was waiting for him, her tiny face as serene as ever and her eyes glancing up at him knowingly. Harry spared her a tight smile and she joined him on his swift walk towards the Transfiguration classroom. After ten or twenty metres she asked him a question that took him completely off-guard. "What did Hermione say last night?"

Really he shouldn't have been surprised. Luna had a knack for knowing things that no one else did, and even the most tight-lipped Ravenclaw had been undone by her questioning eyes. Annoying as it was, Harry had chosen to just tell her the truth the first time rather than lie and risk being exposed in the most embarrassing way possible. He could still remember telling her he had been visiting Hagrid, only to have her explain in detail his first tryst with Aurelia Quirke, while her actual boyfriend stood not ten feet away.

His cheek ached just thinking about it, and with his brain still bothered by the alcohol from the last night, he didn't care to deal with any more head games.

"Believe it or not, she's got some kind of crush on me, I just never noticed it before. Ginny was arguing with her about how quickly they should ask me to tutor them and it got a little bit heated when Hermione started naming off girls I had lied to. Ginny ignored her in favor of saying I'm perfect for her-"

"Bullshit," Luna said, feigning jealousy. "You're perfect for me!" Harry just gave her a bored look in return, drawing her laughter.

"Anyway," Harry continued. "Long story short, Hermione accused Ginny of following me around the castle and wrapping me up in a lie, which is probably true considering she's a good Charms student and Hermione's at least as smart as me and twice as patient. Ginny said she should be supportive, Hermione said she should tell the truth, and in the same breath accidentally told on herself. It was a nightmare."

Luna laughed again, but as they were approaching the classroom door, she turned suddenly serious. "You're going to be so screwed today." She had summed up his opinion quite thoroughly but Harry didn't have time to reply as the bell rang while he was standing right outside the door. The best he could do was raise his eyebrows and grunt in agreement before he entered the classroom. He could hear Luna's lilting laughter as he closed the door and faced his angry Professor.

"I have told you time and time again, Mr. Potter," she said with her stern Scottish accent. "Do not be late for my class, and yet it is still a regular occurance for you, and you are only adding insult to injury by looking like you just woke up!" Fortunately, Harry didn't mention that he really had just crawled out of bed. His Professor continued, building up a head of steam, her tirade rising in volume. "What do you have to say for yourself this time?"

Harry smiled at his teacher, going as far as to touch her lightly on the forearm. Rather than recoil in disgust, her angry countenance faded somewhat. Harry simply said, "I'm sorry, Professor. I had patrols last night and woke up after breakfast had ended."

McGonagall looked like she wanted to thrash him but her softer side won out in the end. "Do not let it happen again, Potter, or you will be doing detention with Professor Snape, and I promise you he will not be as lenient as I. Are we clear?"

Harry kept a forlorn expression and nodded his consent though he inwardly smiled. The Gryffindor Head of House was appallingly easy to manipulate, especially when your parents had been some of her best students. He imagined he could slay a Griffin in her classroom and still get off with only having to scrub the floor.

Harry could see Ron Weasley jeering him for almost getting detention, but he ignored him until the Professor asked him to take a seat. Harry took the only empty desk, quickly taking his text from his bag and turning to the page noted on the board. It was only after he had been sitting down for a minute that he realized he had coupled with Hermione for the duration of the class. He mentally slapped himself for not noticing sooner and struggled to keep a straight face around the Gryffindor girl. It didn't help matters when he noticed she had applied make up and fixed her hair that morning.

He smiled at her when she greeted him as a friend, and her pretty blush confirmed that what she had said the previous evening was still very much in effect. He couldn't resist egging her on a bit, and once McGonagall had announced that they were to practice turning their off-hand into an eagle claw, something they had been doing for the last few class periods and very few people had mastered, Harry struck up a light conversation with Hermione.

"How are you this morning, Hermione?"

Usually he didn't talk to her very often, so the surprised face she made wasn't entirely unexpected. After a moment or two of continuing with her Transfiguration she turned her attention to him. "I'm fine, I guess. What about you?"

"Honestly? My head is throbbing. I kind of overdid it during rounds last night."

Hermione nodded, looking thoughtful. "What part of the school did you cover? You had the sixth and seventh floor, right?"

Harry nodded, mentally applauding her memory. They had only barely touched on one another's patrol areas two weeks ago when Cho Chang was handing them out. Harry could scarcely remember his own schedule and it was posted next to his bed for easy reference.

"Wow," he said, flexing his distinctly claw-like but not fully-transfigured left hand. "You got a brain on you. I care so little I can barely remember where I was last night."

She scrunched her face up at his terrible grammar, but thanked him for the compliment anyway. "Thank you. It's important that we patrol the school the entire time though. You never know what kind of trouble lurks around the corner and its not right for the younger students to be out alone at night."

Harry neglected to mention that as a first year he had unexpectedly found a cerberus on the third floor. He also didn't mention that he had caught her hanging out in his patrol area having an argument with her friend who wasn't a prefect. After all, gloating would be bad form.

Instead, Harry said, "I know you're right. I try to take it serious because I've found plenty of people out of bounds, but some nights it just seems pointless. A lot of times I just post up near the closest common room and try to catch students on their way back."

Hermione didn't say anything for a long time and Harry almost laughed out loud at the implications of his off-handed comment. She had to turn away to hide her embarrassment, and he could tell that she had put two and two together, but he knew that she couldn't be sure whether he had heard their conversation or not. Maybe he was getting too much enjoyment out of having the upper hand, but then again, it was rare that anyone got the upper hand on Hermione so he might as well savor the occasion.

At long last she recovered enough to say, "That's an... efficient way to do it." Her face and neck were still a little red, but her friend saved her further embarrassment from Harry by butting in unnecessarily.

"Potter," Ron said by way of greeting. He didn't seem thrilled that Harry had chosen to sit by Hermione, despite the fact that Ron could have easily sat there himself when he had the chance. "You two are getting awfully cosy," he observed, addressing Harry more than Hermione. "What? Are you tired of chasing every slag in school and now you want a real woman?" The back-handed compliment was almost as welcome as a turd in the punch bowl.

Rather than hurt her feelings as Harry had expected, Hermione turned around in her chair and merely flicked her wand once, turning his mouth into a flawlessly transfigured bird beak. Just as quickly she reversed her spell, causing Ron to involuntarily squawk and then gasp for breath. Seamus, who was sitting to the left of Ron, burst out laughing and nearly fell off his chair.

"What the bloody hell?" Ron exclaimed, standing up and pointing his wand at Hermione. The entire class went silent and everyone's heads turned to see the disruption caused by Ron.

"Ron Weasley!" Professor McGonagall screeched. "What do you think you're doing?"

Hermione continued to work on her transfiguration, admiring her left hand, and the fingers which had elongated into sharp talons. She refused to pay any attention to Ron, who was still foolishly pointing his wand at the back of her head.

"She started it!" Ron whined before he could catch himself. After another tense moment he lowered both his wand and his head. Harry wondered to himself if Ron could already hear the chewing out his mother would later be sending him in the form of a Howler. "Sorry, ma'am," he muttered while looking down at his desk and his piss poor attempt at self-transfiguration.

"Sorry does not cut it, Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall said, livid after his cursing outburst. "You will serve detention with Mr. Filch on Friday."

Once her punishment had set in for a second, Ron cried foul. "But Professor, we have a game against Ravenclaw on Friday!"

His head of house had no such worries. "I am well aware what Friday is Mr. Weasley, and you will leave my classroom right now or you won't play Quidditch for the rest of this season!" Her anger pulsated through the classroom, and as Ron grabbed his things and left morosely, Harry couldn't decide whether to hide from her wrath or squeal in joy at his luck. Not only would he be able to slide a ton of Quaffles past the Gryffindor reserve keeper, a seventh year named Cormen McClagger or something, he would also be able to talk to Hermione as much as he wanted to for the next half hour.

After things had settled down, Harry turned to Hermione and said very slowly, "You are brilliant."

She didn't say a word, but he could see her smile underneath her bushy hair as she worked. A few seconds later, Harry tapped her on the shoulder and gave her an encouraging grin. "And he's absolutely wrong about me, you know? I've done my fair share of bad, I'll be the first one to tell you that, but I would never ask you to do something you didn't want to do."

"I know that, Harry," she said immediately. "He's just being an over-protective jerk."

Harry waved her off. "He just likes you and doesn't want anybody else to get involved." He shrugged. "I'm not surprised. What's not to like?"

Hermione looked at him and smiled, something that was a rarity in itself and made her look a lot more attractive. Harry found himself smiling back without even trying.

"You really think so?" Hermione said, looking hopeful. Harry hoped she wasn't talking about Ron, but he ignored that in favor of complimenting her some more.

"Yeah! You're great. Pretty, witty, top of the class in almost everything, great conversation, the whole schabang. I have half a mind to ask you on a date myself!"

Hermione's smile grew, but then her face paled. Harry could almost see the wheels in her head turning. She was caught between wanting him for herself, dealing with one of her friend's unwanted interest, and trying to hook up her best friend at the same time.

"Thank you," she said, looking like she had something sour on her tongue. "But I'm not really looking for a relationship right now."

Harry continued smiling, seeing right through her lie. "That's too bad," he said, shaking his head ruefully. "Maybe we can just hang out as friends sometime?"

Hermione nodded. "I think I would like that." Then she added. "As friends, of course."

Harry agreed amicably, going as far as to say, "Well, we are all going to Hogsmeade this weekend, right? Why don't we meet up somewhere and hang out for a little while? I'm sure you already have plans with your friends, but I think it would be nice to get to know you a little better."

She looked hesistant, but she covered it up by reversing the transfiguration on her hand. "That would be fine," she said softly. "What did you have in mind?"

Harry could think of quite a few things but he didn't think she was that flexible. "How about the Three Broomsticks for lunch? I'll buy."

Hermione bit her lip, still showing a bit of hesistancy. "Do you think it would be too much trouble if a few of my friends came?" Harry was slow to react as he was flexing his own newly-restored hand. "Not Ron, or anything, but maybe Ginny and a few others."

Harry assumed she meant just Ginny so he shook his head. "I really don't mind, but I've heard Ginny follows me around the school like a puppy and I think this teaching thing is some elaborate plan for her to get me to ask her out." Hermione's sudden smile confirmed this belief, though Ginny had as much as admitted to it the previous night. "Ron, was right about one thing though."

Hermione caught his eye and asked, "What do you mean?"

Harry took off his glasses, wiping them with the bottom of his robes. With care, he replaced them on his face before he fixed Hermione with a serious stare as he could while surrounded by students turning themselves into birds. "I do want a real woman. I'm sick of girls that play games and won't just say how they really feel. If Ginny wanted to date me, why not just ask me out?"

Hermione stuck up for her friend as she was a true Gryffindor despite the conflict between the two girls. "Well, she probably feels like she needs to impress you to even have a chance. You know she really thinks a lot of you."

McGonagall was helping Parvati, who had somehow accidentally transfigured her hand into a block of ice and was chattering her teeth together so badly that she couldn't say the counter-curse. Finding his Professor occupied, Harry transfigured his own hand into a rabbit's foot, swatting Hermione lightly and causing her to giggle uncharacteristically.

"I don't think very much of her or her brother to be honest with you. I'm sure she's a good friend and all," he rushed to assure her after Hermione made a face, "but if she thinks she needs to concoct some hare-brained scheme just to get me interested, then I already know she's not worth my time."

Hermione nodded, seeing the reason in his statement. "That makes sense I guess. It is pretty silly for her to put a whole study group together just to get you one on one when she could just ask you to Hogsmeade."

Harry sighed. "Please don't tell her I said that though. I don't want to go with her to Hogsmeade in the first place." At her smile, he added, "I'd much rather go with you."

Harry thought she might be on the verge of saying yes, but still she resisted. "How about this? I'll think about it and I'll let you know before Saturday. Okay?"

"Sounds good," he said, though it really didn't. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't just say yes after her late night declaration, no matter how accidental it was. Harry was left feeling kind of let down by the whole conversation. "Just let me know," he finished lamely.

The bell rang a few moments later and Hermione quickly gathered her things. Harry used a spell to put his stuff in his bag and stood at the same time as her. Hermione wished him a good day distractedly, to which he said happily, "Hey, Hermione!"

Flustered, she looked up, a questioning look on her face.

"You know we have class together all day, right?"

He followed the other students out before she could say anything. He wasn't going to let her forget her promise, and her reticence to hurt her friends just made him more determined to get an answer out of her by the end of the day.

Harry learned quite a few things about Hermione that day, and he took every opportunity to divulge a little more information from the quiet Gryffindor girl. First and foremost amongst those details was her ritualistic use of the library as a place to get away from the daily bustle of Hogwarts. The two sixth years were now hidden in an office that, according to Hermione's seemingly endless wealth of knowledge, had once belonged to the first librarian at Hogwarts in 1235 AD.

Harry had to hand it to Hermione; as far as he could tell, no other student had touched this part of the library in hundreds of years. To Harry it was just another secluded room in the sprawling castle, quite a bit smaller than a classroom but supplied with good lighting, a massive oak desk and two very squishy and comfortable chairs. On the other hand, Hermione declared it the ultimate study and her best place to get away from her over-bearing friends when she needed time alone. Harry had not over-looked the significance of being the first person to join Hermione in what was, for all intents and purposes, her own office.

Once McGonagall's class had ended earlier that day, Hermione had dragged him down the hall towards the next class, making absolutely no effort to answer her best friend's questions as to where they were going and what the hell they were going so bloody fast for. She had flat out refused to sit anywhere near Ron despite his best efforts to encroach on their privacy, and Harry had been happy to accompany her for the rest of the day.

As he expected, Hermione had discussed their classes at length, and in the process each had picked up a number of valuable facts that they hadn't known previously. At one point Hermione had remarked that she hated Divination with Sybill Trelawney so much that she intentionally broke one of her precious crystal balls and stormed out of class, resulting in her first and only detention in her time at Hogwarts. Her pride in herself for dropping that class was readily apparent, so Harry had quickly assured her that he would have done the same thing had he ever deigned to take the class in the first place. He had heard from more than one student in Ravenclaw that Trelawney was batty, smelled like she bathed in sherry, and had a penchant for predicting untimely deaths for students she didn't like.

Harry's past was a well-known but troublesome topic so he wasn't surprised that they didn't discuss it that first day, but Hermione didn't mind telling him all about her own, much happier past. As they sat down together in that office, sipping tea that had been eagerly provided by a house elf named Bruno, Harry prodded Hermione to talk about her parents.

"Well," she said, after taking a moment to arrange her thoughts while consuming the warm tea, "My mother and father are both dentists at a practice in London so its easy to see why my teeth are so clean." She smiled, showing them off, and Harry returned it immediately. He noted that the longer he spoke with her, the more she seemed to open up to him.

"Let me guess," Harry said, ignoring his own tea. "They met in Medical School and married soon after, having you within the year." It seemed like the up-bringing a girl like Hermione would be accustomed to and she would probably expect the same type of fairy-tale ending for herself one day.

Hermione rolled her eyes, surprising him. "Actually they weren't even married when I was, pardon my french, conceived. My father's mother absolutely abhored my mother and wouldn't support the marriage that they had been intending to pursue. So, the two of them conspired together and decided that they would go ahead and have a baby since they knew that they could afford it and were madly, deeply in love." She smiled at her own story. "Of course, Grandmother Granger encouraged them to get married soon after."

Harry laughed. "I can only imagine. Is she as harsh as she sounds?"

Hermione nodded. "Harsher, if you can believe. She makes Ron and Ginny's mum look calm and collected."

Harry smiled as she continued to talk about her Grandmother. Apparently she had raised Hermione's father by herself and though she had hated Hermione's mother with a passion, now that Hermione was a teenager the three of them would often take a few days to themselves during the summer so that they could relax in her cottage somewhere in Edinburgh. Once there was a momentary lull in the conversation, Harry decided to steer the exchange in a different direction.

While Hermione took a long drink of her tea, Harry said, "I probably shouldn't, but do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Hermione just waved her hand, urging him to spit it out. "Well, these last few days I've seen you spending a lot less time with Ginny, and you're outright avoiding Ron at every turn. I can understand getting away from Ron, as he obviously doesn't approve of us hanging out together and he's being an idiot about it, but I guess what I'm trying to ask is what's wrong between you and Ginny?"

Hermione's tea must have been cold because she made a sour face and put the cup back on the desk. She looked at Harry and shook her head. "Its kind of personal and its my fault. I said something I didn't mean to say and she hasn't spoken to me since."

Harry already knew what she had said, but he wasn't completely sure how Ginny reacted to the news. He figured it couldn't hurt to pry a little bit. "What did you say? If you don't mind me asking."

Hermione gave him a long hard look and Harry began to think that maybe he had pried too much. As quick as he could, Harry apologized. "I'm sorry, Hermione. You don't have to answer. I was just wondering what would have happened to make three best friends hardly even speak to eachother anymore."

"You," Hermione said, wincing after she said it. "I mean, not that it's your fault!" She hastened to inform him that it wasn't his problem and that he shouldn't take any of it to heart. Despite her attempt at convincing him he wasn't responsible, he would have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to see the evidence to the contrary.

"I figured that," Harry said, running his hands through his hair. "Look, if you would rather have everything back to normal I definitely understand. Not to sound like a sad sack, but most of my best friends already graduated so I don't really have to worry about stepping on their toes anymore. But you," he said, pointing at Hermione, "need to fix this thing before it gets worse and I don't want to break up a six year friendship just by asking you on a date."

Hermione looked like she wanted to object but she relented. "I know you're right, Harry. I do need to fix it before its too late, but I'm not going to stop being friends with you just to suit them. You haven't been anything less than a gentleman, and Ron's being a right prat for no reason."

Harry knew the reason as well as he knew his own last name, but he didn't want to tell her that. "Well, I just don't want to start trouble."

Hermione stood up, her hair becoming as frazzled as her appearance. "Well, I do! I'm sick of catering to their expectations just because they think I'm some little bookworm who is supposed to do their homework for them, clean up after their mistakes and just hop right into their family tree when I turn seventeen!"

Harry knew that she wasn't in the same betrothal situation as Pansy, but that didn't mean that a relationship with Ron wasn't expected of her by the two youngest Weasleys. In Harry's honest opinion, Hermione would be much better off with someone who could relate to her above-average intelligence, could actually show respect to a woman, and wouldn't mind being put in his place every now and again.

Hermione was still seething, so Harry made a solemn attempt to placate her. "C'mon, Hermione. I bet they don't think of you like that!"

"Harry, Ron literally just asked me at lunch if I would help him with the essay part of his homework and the reason Ginny won't talk to me is because..."

She trailed off, leaving the comment hanging, but Harry finished it for her. "Because I'm hanging out with you and she wants to be in your place. I get it, really, but I'm not interested, I never will be, and you can tell her that!"

Hermione shook her head. "The whole time I've known her, all she has ever talked about is 'the great Harry Potter'. She's not just going to accept that you're not interested, and she's certainly not going to let up just because I tell her that. She already thinks that I want you for myself!"

Harry stood up and started to make his way around the desk towards Hermione. "And you don't?"

Hermione looked confused, and a little apprehensive at the way Harry was looking at her. "Don't what?"

"You don't want me for yourself?" She blanched, so Harry tried a different tack. "You're amazing, Hermione. Fine as Elderberry wine and twice as intoxicating."

She laughed a little, so he continued. "Seriously, you are gorgeous; I've already told you that before. You treat everyone with respect, and don't think for a minute that I didn't see how worried you were about that house elf that brought us the tea. Even if you weren't the smartest girl in the school you would be a catch worth bragging about for every guy at Hogwarts, and if that little red-headed friend of yours ever gets his brain out of his anal cavity he'd recognize it too."

The mirth showed in her eyes, and she was red-faced and smiling, so Harry figured complimenting her must have done the trick. "I swear to you, Hermione, I would be lucky to be able to go to Hogsmeade with you, and if we weren't in school I would ask you out to Diagon Alley or even Muggle London, but I would never try to cause trouble between you and your friends and I certainly don't want to make life hard for you by forcing you to choose."

Hermione didn't say anything so Harry slowly made his way back around the desk and took a seat, letting her get her thoughts together. For a long time she stared at her now cold tea, and Harry began to wonder if maybe she did pick up some talent for Divination from her ex-Professor. Finally, she stood up and joined him on the other side of the desk, placing one hand on his shoulder.

He had been monitoring his worn out trainers so he jumped when she touched him. She looked him in the eyes and smiled. "Harry, you have not made my life hard, if anything you just made the choice easier. I would love to go to Hogsmeade with you, and not as friends either."

He matched her smile in a flash, but he had to ask her just to be sure. "Is this what you really want, Hermione?"

"More than anything," she said without delay. She blurted, "I've had a crush on you since fourth year! Of course, that took a hit when I found out what you did that night."

Harry chuckled. "I wasn't particularly gentlemanly that evening, was I? Although to be fair, I didn't know that Katie was going to kiss me either."

Hermione slapped him on the shoulder, but her big smile didn't budge. "Enough about that. Tell me what we're going to be doing on Saturday."

Harry was silent for a moment, scratching his chin as if in deep thought, but then he smiled mischeivously and encircled Hermione in his arms gently, pulling her just a little bit closer. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment, but their eyes met and Harry wasn't deterred from what he was about to do.

"With a little luck, a lot of this."

Their lips came together softly, and they shared their first kiss in the dusty old office. Harry was only slightly disappointed when Hermione broke away a few moments later, having met his tongue only momentarily before pulling back. Still, both of them were breathless after their excellent first kiss.

For a few minutes Harry continued to hold her loosely, enjoying the feel of her warm body pressed against his chest. Eventually Hermione stood straight and he released her, though both of them still looked delighted by what had just occurred. She walked back to the front of the desk and Harry noted the bounce in her step with a snigger that she didn't hear.

As Harry and Hermione continued to talk quietly, exploring their new relationship and enjoying eachother's company, they didn't notice the dark skinned figure lurking outside the office door. She stood, nearly bursting with anticipation, and her smirk stretched across her lovely face making her seem far more devious than she would normally be capable of.

At long last, Parvati Patil had some juicy gossip to get her revenge on Harry Potter, and as she walked out the library towards Gryffindor tower, she knew just who she would tell first.