Chapter Ten; What If
"Did you hear that!?" Ginny exclaimed as soon as their performance was over. "They loved us!" she cried as she followed Harry, Ron, and the rest of The Cheetah Girls out of the great hall.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Hermione began. "but that was the most fun I ever had in my life!" she cried as she stopped to catch her breath. "It was totally Cheetahlicious!" she cried excitedly.
"Hey, that's good Hermione. I think I'll keep it." Ginny told her when suddenly Neville and Luna walked up to them.
"Hullo Ginny, so you're in the talent show too then?" she questioned her when all of a sudden the excitement on Ginny's face turned into a scowl before she folded her arms and glared at her.
"What are you talking about!?" she sassed.
"Neville and I auditioned and we just got our owl telling us that we got in." Luna explained.
"Well congratulations Luna." Harry told her but Ginny wasn't having any of it.
"Excuse me!?" she snapped. "Do you honestly think that you stand a chance against The Cheetah Girls!?" she exclaimed.
"How would you know!? You never even gave me a chance!" Luna shouted before she glanced over at Harry. "Besides, it was Harry's idea not mine!" she cried as Ginny quickly looked over at him.
"What!?" she shrieked.
"Listen Ginny, I really think that you should learn to give people a chance. But even if you won't, that doesn't mean that you can't stop someone else from chasing after their dreams." Harry told her.
"Harry's right Ginny, you just need to take a chill pill!" Luna snapped. "Or is it just because you're afraid you're going to lose?" she mumbled under her breath in a cold whisper as she took a step towards her and they both stared deeply into one another's eyes.
"Oh that is it," Ginny began as she wiggled her finger in front of her face before snapping her fingers above shoulder. "it's on!" she cried. "Cheetahs, let's bounce!" she exclaimed before she quickly turned on her heel along with Amber and Casey but Hermione just continued to stand there as she watched Neville and Luna walking away.
"Hermione?" Ginny questioned as she turned around to face her. "Are you coming?" she asked her.
"You go ahead, I've got to go to defense against the dark arts. I'll catch up with you later." She told her before Ginny quickly turned around again to leave. "See you guys later." Hermione told Harry and Ron.
"See ya," Ron said before the two boys turned to watch her leave. Hermione ran outside into the courtyard and then slowed down as she walked out onto the grass singing a song called What If before it started pouring rain.
Hermione raced back towards the castle as quickly as possible and then she stood in the doorframe and watched as it continued to storm outside. Her defense against the arts teacher wasn't thrilled about her being late and it costed her ten points from Gryffindor in the end, but at least later that day she would be able to see Ginny's first Qudditch game, if it stopped raining that was.
…
"Hey Hermione." Ron greeted as she met him and Harry down at the Qudditch pitch. "I heard that you showed up late to defense against the dark arts." He added as she sat down next to him. "I've got to say that isn't like you at all." He said. "Is everything alright?" he wondered as he took ahold of her hand.
"Yeah, I guess the pressure's finally getting to me a little bit. That's all. I just needed a little fresh air and then I was fine." She told him. "Hey Harry, we need to start working on your wolfsbane potion. There's going to be a full moon on Halloween night." She explained.
"Oh yeah, that's right. With everything going on with The Dragons and The Cheetah Girls, I guess I just forgot." He told her.
"Yeah, me too." She admitted when suddenly Neville and Luna sat down in front of them hand in hand.
"Hullo Harry." He said as they turned to grin back at them.
"Hey Neville, hi Luna." Harry greeted back.
"Hi Luna," Hermione began. "listen Luna, I'm very sorry about what happened with Ginny this morning." She told her.
"It's alright, it's not your fault." Luna said.
"Well I've got to say one thing about Ginny," Neville began. "she might be hard to get along with sometimes but she's nowhere near as bad as Brittany." He said.
"Who's Brittany?" Harry asked.
"She's the lead singer of The Dragonettes." Neville explained.
"You mean the blonde diva from Hell?" Ron questioned.
"Yeah word is that she's the youngest death eater ever, well except for maybe Malfoy." Neville told him.
"How can she be a death eater? Voldemort's dead, isn't he?" Ron questioned.
"I dunno," Neville began with a shrug. "it's only a rumor anyway."
"Well then it's a stupid one, I mean nobody's going to believe it. How can someone be a follower of a dark lord when there isn't one anymore?" Ron wondered when all of a sudden the game began.