Disclaimer: Though, my name has the initials of Rowling, I am not her and Harry Potter and it's characters doesn't belong to me. I am just happy that she created this world and let us write about it.
AN: This is a fanfic and its plot doesn't bore any resemblance to the canon. It is different from the original. If you want to read what was in the canon, I suggest you read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
Chapter 3
Hermione woke up a bit early than her usual on Thursday morning. She grabbed her toiletries and rushed to the bathroom attached to the sixth year girls' dormitory. She came out twenty minutes later and started getting ready for the day. She put on her school uniform, put on a robe on top of it and picked up her book bag which lay on top of her trunk under the window sill.
She walked down to the Common Room and sat on the couch. The sun was up already and it's rays filtered into the room through the curtains. She was to go to the Infirmary but she waited for Harry to come down. She pulled her 'Transfiguration for NEWTs' and started reading while keeping an eye on the staircase. She just hoped that Ron wouldn't be the one to come down first.
Hermione's head was buzzing with lots of thoughts. She had so many things to do. She was behind in her study plan for NEWT which she had drafted for herself. Although, Harry had said he had forgiven her, she still had a tiny bit of doubt lurking in her mind. Harry was never the one to show his true feelings. He hid them behind the round glasses he wore. She always had to coax them out of him. Harry had at least begin to talk to her and she wanted to make Ron pay for what he did.
She wanted to storm up the boys' dorm and curse that bastard. She wanted to break furniture in the Common Room just to release her frustration. She looked at the book in her hands and tried to remember what was written in it. She had reached at the end of the page without knowing what she was reading about. She closed the book and closed her eyes. Getting all worked up thinking about Ron was going to do more harm than what had already been done. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.
The portrait swung open and Hermione opened her eyes. Harry entered and he looked startled as soon as he saw her on the couch. His breath was a bit heavy.
"Good morning, Harry. I was just wanting for you to come down but you...where did you come from?" said Hermione, slowly standing up.
"Just outside, walking around the lake, thinking, clearing my head, you know." Harry then smiled and continued, "It is a good weather outside. It also helps to clear Wrackspurts infestation."
"Huh?"
"Its nothing." Harry said smiling at her. "Why were you waiting for me?"
"I thought you could go to the Infirmary with me. Madam Pomfrey called me to take a potion. I will understand if you don't want to go, I just thought..." said she, uncertainty creeping in her voice.
"Sure, I'll go, Hermione. Let me freshen up. I will be down in ten minutes."
Hermione sat down on the couch after Harry went up to his dorm. And here I was thinking he was still asleep. "Ugh!" she slammed her fists on the couch on her sides. Its like I don't even know him anymore. He has matured so much, become confident...independent. And that last thought scared her. What if he doesn't need her anymore. Yes, she had a problem, a big red-headed one, but it paled in comparison to what she would face if, ever she had to be 'not friends anymore' with Harry. He was the only one who truly cared for her beside her family who were not in the wizarding world. A memory of her telling Harry she didn't want to be friends anymore surfaced and she felt nauseated as she remembered the look on her face.
Damn it, Weasley.
She was getting herself all worked up once again when Harry arrived. She looked at him and just like that, Ron went to the back of her mind.
"Let's go, shall we?" asked Harry.
She picked up her bag and started walking alongside him. They were halfway to the Infirmary and neither had uttered a word.
"Harry, can I ask a question?"
"Sure, Hermione." Harry was calm, as if this awkward tension was not even bothering him.
"Are you angry with me? I said and did a lot of awful things which I am really ashamed of. I don't even know how can I make it up to you."
"It doesn't matter anymore. I was angry at first. Well, if I think properly, I don't know if I was even angry. I don't know what I was feeling, loneliness, maybe. I always expected this behavior from Ron. He hasn't always been by my side. I have thought a lot about it this year. I think, I kept on forgiving him for what he did to me, to you because he was the first one ever to extend a hand of friendship to me. I was friendless before I came here. I was, maybe, scared that I would end up friendless her too. But not anymore, this time he has gone too far and he deserved to be punished."
"When did you find out that Ron was feeding me a potion?"
"Feeding? I don't think he is giving you orally. It must be something with smell, maybe the cologne he is wearing. It was that same day, I got suspicious. I...we, Neville and Luna too, saw that day in the Great Hall. I had thought about it earlier but not much."
"First, I thought you were getting tired of me too and ignoring me." Harry continued, laughing casually.
Hermione looked horrified at that. "I would never do that to you, Harry."
"I know, I know. It was just my mind thinking about different scenarios. I even thought, one time, the real Hermione was kidnapped and someone was impersonating you, just like what Barty did back in our fourth year." Hermione, too, let out a laugh imagining of herself taking a swig from a bottle. Then, her expression grew serious.
"I am sorry, Harry."
"Its alright. Its not your fault, Hermione. What do you think we should do about this whole situation?"
"I am going to talk to him first, find out why he did this, who helped him. Then, I am gonna hex him and turn him over to the authorities."
"You know, I thought, you would be getting all frustrated, do something foolish when you found out." said Harry, looking at her warily.
"I have thought about it a lot too, Harry. I didn't want to make it worse than my problem already is. I don't even care about him anymore. I have more pressing things to put my mind to."
"Like NEWTs." Harry said, smiling.
"Yes, that and you, too. I don't want to lose you, Harry. You are my only friend."
"Nonsense. Why would you lose me? And you have other friends. Neville, Luna, we all are with you, Hermione."
"Thank you, Harry."
They both entered the Infirmary. Hermione took the potion which Madam Pomfrey told her would neutralize any love potion given from now on making her immune to it until it remains in her system.
Hermione came out of the Infirmary, more confident and happy. Confident that she wouldn't get controlled again and happy that her friendship with Harry was healing. They walked, towards the Great Hall, in silence which wasn't uncomfortable anymore.
AN: This is more like a filler chapter and I know it's short too. I am sorry, don't get angry with me. I have my exams this weekend and will be a little free after that. You can expect regular and larger updates from then. The plot will run forward too. That is all, a week from now. Sorry, once again.
And, please Review.
