Hermione could barely think straight. She didn't want to stay in this house anymore -- well, she did but not if Harry was going to act so cruel to her. Looking around the room, Hermione wondered if she should pack first or send a letter to her parents first. Then she
saw Hedwig fluttering around the upstairs hallway, looking bored.
" Hedwig, come here," she croaked in a shaky voice. The snowy white owl flew over to her, landing on the desk in her room. Grabbing a quill and a piece of parchment, Hermione quickly wrote a note to her parents, tellling them she'd be arriving earlier than expected. Early, as in tomorrow.
Hedwig gave a hoot. Hermione looked up. She was holding out her leg, impatiently waiting for the letter. Hermione grabbed a piece of string, rolled the letter up, and started to tie it to Hedwig's leg. Harry wouldn't mind that Hedwig was gone. Harry didn't care about her, why should he care about an owl?
She started to pull the window open when a noise behind her made Hermione turn around. Harry was standing in the doorway, looking sullen. The usual sparkle in his green eyes were gone, and he looked paler.
" What're you doing?" he asked, taking a step into the room. His eyes fell on Hedwig, who was pecking at the window pane, ready to go out and deliver the letter.
" Hedwig's delivering a letter for me," Hermione replied stiffly, turning away. She continued to open the window, but it was hard. The stupid thing wouldn't budge. Quickly, Hermione's eyes scanned it, wondering if it was locked or not. Without thinking, she pulled out her wand and whispered," Alohomora!".
" Hermione, no!" Harry cried out in a panic, but it was too late. The window burst open, glass shattering everywhere, and the frame of it fell two stories below, into the backyard with a sickening thud.
" Oh..oh no.." Hermione whispered frantically, looking around her room. Shards of glass were twinkling everywhere and each piece looked very, very sharp. She lifted her wand and started to whisper," Red --" the spell that would put everything back together again, but Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her away.
" Hermione," he said in a calm voice. " If you do that, the glass will hit you before it goes back to the window."
" I..I knew that," she snapped, pulling herself free from him. Hedwig was still perched on her desk, as if not knowing whether or not to deliver the letter. " Go on," she said, prodding Hedwig with her wand. " Go send it to my parents."
" Wait!" Harry cried again, as Hedwig rose and was about to soar through the window. He grabbed Hedwig and yanked the letter off her leg, then pushed her in the direction of his room. She gave an angry hoot of disapproval, nipped Harry and Hermione hard on the ear, and flew off.
" What do you think you're doing?" Hermione asked indignantly, rubbing at the spot where Hedwig had bitten her. She suspected a nasty bruise would form from it. " That was a letter for my parents!"
" Hermione," Harry said in that same, irritatingly calm voice. " Your parents don't receive mail by owl. Do you remember the last time your mum saw one swooping towards her?"
" Oh..oh yes.." Hermione said quietly. She sat down on her bed, flipping absently through the pages of Hogwarts, A History. Harry was there with her that Christmas holiday when Ron, who had gone to Romania to visit his brother, Charlie, had sent them both Christmas presents by owl, forgetting that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were Muggle, and not very used to this concept. Her mother had screamed, dropping the bowl of mashed potatoes she had in her hand, and ran for the house. After her parents had calmed down, they told Hermione again they didn't want owls coming from all over dropping off letters.
" Well how am I supposed to tell them I'm coming home?" she asked angrily, tears pricking her eyes.
" They know when you're going home, Mione," Harry replied, sitting next to her on the bed. " This coming Sunday. Your parents won't forget."
" I'm not going home this Sunday," she replied, brushing the tears away from her eyes furiously.
" You're not?"
" No! I'm going home tomorrow!" she cried out, jumping up from the bed. She might as well start packing. With a wave of her wand, her suitcase and duffel bag flew out of the closet, perching neatly on her bed, open and ready to be filled. The duffel bag landed on Harry's lap, and he examined it for a minute before pushing it aside and standing up next to Hermione.
" Why?" he asked, trying to take her hands in his.
Hermione moved away, staring out the other window, which was unshattered. " I think you know," she replied icily.
Harry was silent for a minute. " No, I don't Hermione. Please tell me."
" Just..Just think of what you said downstairs! Then you'll know!" With that, Hermione pointed at the set of drawers by the desk, and the top one flew open, revealing her undergarments. " Now turn away! I'm packing!"
" All I said was that I didn't want to be compared to my mum and dad," Harry said quietly, not hearing what Hermione had demanded.
Angrily, Hermione dropped her wand on the floor and wheeled around sharply, her hands by her side, her nostrils flared, breating deeply. " Harry Potter," she said through clenched teeth. " You also said you didn't want me being compared to them either. You didn't want me to be like them. And you didn't want us to end up like them!"
Harry looked back at her blankly. After a moment, he shrugged his shoulders.
" And?"
With an angry scream, Hermione grabbed the contents of the open drawer and flung them at Harry, yelling at the top of her lungs," YOU STUPID PRAT! YOU'RE CRUEL!" Undergarments, shirts, pants, bathrobes, and even a hair dryer smacked into Harry as Hermione continued to yell, not knowing what she was saying anymore.
" What is all this?" came Sirius' loud voice from the right of her. Hermione dropped the projectile she was planning on aiming at Harry's head down onto the floor, and looked around wildly. Harry was standing, hunched in a corner of the room, looking petrified. He had a nasty bruise on his face, where the hair dryer had hit him. Hermione didn't say a word.
" Hermione, are you all right?" Sirius asked, stepping into the room. He dodged a heap of clothing that had missed Harry. " What happened?"
" Harry! Your face!" Narcissa flew into the room and headed straight for Harry, who was staring at Hermione in shock. With a flick of her wand, an ice pack flew into Narcissa's hand and she gently placed it on Harry's purpling bruise. She turned to glare at Hermione and asked the same question Sirius just said. " What happened?"
" I-I'm sorry..sorry..the mess.." Hermione mumbled, looking around at the mess she had made in her anger. With a flick of her wand and a spell she muttered under her breath, everything flew back to it's proper place. The hair dryer, which was behind Harry, hit him hard against the head before flying back to it's appropriate spot in the bathroom.
" Excuse me, Narcissa," Harry said in a quiet voice, pushing past her. He glanced over his shoulder at Hermione, a hurt look in his eyes. Hermione's heart skipped a beat, she could feel the hurt as if it was her's since, after all, she was the one who had put it there. Then he left, hurrying into his room and slamming the door shut behind him.
" I'm really sorry.." she muttered again. " I don't know what came over me."
" It's alright, Hermione," Sirius said, and he too, looked at her in shock. " Narcissa's starting to cook dinner..so..why don't you rest or something before it's ready? How 'bout it?"
Hermione nodded dully as Narcissa and Sirius left the room, closing the door shut behind them. She sighed in desperation and felt tears streaming down her cheeks. What was she supposed to do now? It would be impossible for her to sleep right now, after having the look of hurt on Harry's face flash continuisly in front of her eyes. With a deep breath, she headed out of her room and a few seconds later, found herself in front of Harry's, knocking quietly on the bedroom door.
" Go away."
" Harry, please..it's me."
" Go away."
" Please, Harry..I'm awfully sorry. Can I just talk to you for a minute?"
The door flew open and Harry appeared, looking hurt and angry. " 60 seconds," he snapped. " Go."
Hermione looked at him curiously, suprised at how mean he was being. He had a right to be, of course. His girlfriend had just yelled at him, calling him rude names and smacked a hair dryer in his face. She'd be mad too if Harry had done that to her.
" 55 seconds."
" Harry, look. I'm really, really sorry over what I did to you." Hermione touched his bruise gently with her fingers, then pulled away after noticing Harry's blank expression. " I don't know what came over me. Actually..yes, I do. When..when you started yelling downstairs about your parents, I was so suprised. I didn't know you had that side of you. Then you told me you didn't want me to be like them..and you didn't want us to end up like them..and it hurt, Harry. I got so angry. You understand, don't you?"
Harry blinked, then pulled Hermione into his room, shutting the door behind her. Hermione got ready to let Harry kiss her, or hug her, but he didn't do any of that. Instead he pushed her down on the bed and started to pace. After a minute, he stopped and looked down at her oddly.
" You actually want to end up like my parents?" he asked in a disbelieving tone.
" Of course, Harry. I want us to end up like them."
Harry started muttering to himself, running his hands through his hair, stopping every few seconds to look down at her in disbelief. Hermione's heart skipped a beat anxiously. Obviously Harry didn't want to end up like his parents. She should have known..the idea at this age scared him. What an idiot she was. " Look, Harry..I understand if you don't
want -- "
" Of course I don't want to end up like them!" he interrupted loudly. " I don't want to end up dying like that. I thought you didn't want to, either."
" I do --" Hermione stopped and leapt to her feet in suprise. She ran what Harry had just said through her mind a couple times, then broke out into a wide smile. " Of course I don't want to die, Harry! What gave you that idea?"
Harry stared at her, his eyes wide. He thought she was going mad, didn't he? With a laugh, Hermione pulled Harry to her. " Is that what you meant? When you said you didn't want us to end up like your mum and dad?"
Harry nodded mutely, and Hermione squealed in delight. The two of them had gotten completely different ideas of what he had said. " Oh, Harry..I'm so, so sorry for hitting you and yelling. Will you ever forgive me?"
" I've done a lot of forgiving these past few days, haven't I?" he asked with a small chuckle, pulling her into a hug.