Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They all
belong to the gifted Joanne Kathleen Rowling so don't sue me! All I have are my
plot and my computer =).
A/N: These first few chapters are mainly on relationships as
I want to settle that issue first before the actual action/adventure. I
wouldn't mind any suggestions on what you want to see in the coming chapters
and I'll try to oblige if possible. I'm leaving more possibilities for
different couples so if you list your choice, you might get what you want. =)
Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been busy lately.
Friendships…Relationships…Coupledom
Harry strolled into the Gryffindor common room with a dreamy
smile, not noticing Ron's murderous looks towards him. As he made his way to
his friends, he was still in oblivion as Ron said sarcastically, "You're
finally back, I've been waiting for you," before pouncing on him. He was
stunned by the punch and just stood still in disbelief as his best friend threw
punches at him. If not for Jess' and Dudley's timely intervention, Harry would
have been bashed into pieces. Just as Ron was about to try to go for Harry
again, Fred and George walked in. They got over their initial shock and
immediately kept those two apart, though Harry was not really doing anything to
defend himself.
"What are you trying to do?" Harry shot at Ron after he
recovered from his shock.
"How could you hurt Hermione?" Ron spat back.
Harry was speechless with that and didn't know how to reply.
He did not mean to hurt Hermione and what had happened earlier was just a
mistake. He did not even know how to explain his actions to the rest. He had
been in ecstasy from his earlier time with Cho and was not ready for this
interrogation.
"What happened?" Fred asked as George nodded his head at
Fred's question.
"We're curious too. We know that Harry kissed Hermione and
then left but nobody told us anything else." Jess spoke for herself and Dudley.
"Ask him," Ron motioned to Harry in anger.
"I…er…" Harry stammered.
"I can't believe you Harry. I thought you were more
sensitive than that." Jess said, assuming his guilt due to his inability to
explain.
"I can explain." Harry said hurriedly, seeing that Ron was
about to inflict more harm upon him.
"I doubt you can say anything to change what had happened."
Ron said in a feat of fury.
"Uh…" Harry was at a loss of words.
"Speak before this gets way out of hand," George urged while
all the others looked at him with similar looks of anger.
Harry
immediately took the lifeline they handed to him and explained that he did not
intentionally mean to kiss Hermione, moreover hurt her. He gave them the gist
of it, skipping all the parts with Cho and just said that he was stunned when
she kissed him. He did not even know that she liked him and she wouldn't budge
when he tried to resist her. At that, all except Ron who still looked pretty
incensed looked at him with a kind of pity at this misunderstanding. They all
seemed willing to let this matter rest but Ron was not. He seemed to think that
Harry deserved to take some of the blame, of which Harry was willing to. It was
rather tense between them as they walked up to their dorm with Dudley trying to
act as mediator but at least they did not come to blows.
******************************
Morning arose and both Ron and Harry woke up about the same
time. Neither of them knew what to say to the other after the events of the
past night. As both of them made their way down to the common room, each had
conflicting thoughts running through his mind.
"Sorry," both of them said at the same time after some
thought.
Before Ron could get a word in, Harry said in a rush, "I
really didn't intend to hurt Hermione but I just don't feel that way towards
her. She's a good friend and I don't want to lose the close friendship that we
share."
"I guess I over-reacted last night. I just felt a need to
defend her." Ron replied.
"I knew you liked her," Harry smirked.
"I don't know how I feel. It's just that…Argh…I don't know…"
Ron tried to explain.
"Ah…that's something called love," Harry smiled at his
friend's confusion.
"How would you know? You haven't been in love." Ron mumbled.
"Just don't hurt Hermione. I'll come after you if you do."
Harry threatened cheerfully.
"It was you who had hurt her," Ron said, regaining some of
his vigor.
"To me, she's just like a sister I never had." Harry stated.
"Talking about sisters, you better not hurt mine," Ron said,
trying to change the subject.
"Huh…" it was Harry's turn to be confused.
"Don't pretend, Hermione said that you ran off last night
because you saw Ginny watching you guys 'kiss'. It's obvious you like her,
future brother-in-law." Ron grinned.
"What? Ginny saw us too?" Harry questioned, intent on
finding out what is going on.
"You mean that you don't know?" Ron exclaimed.
"I didn't see her at all." Harry replied.
"So why did you run? Or should I ask who saw you too?" Ron
inquired cheerfully.
Trying to his a blush, Harry tried to look nonchalant as he
replied, "Huh."
"Don't deny it. You mentioned someone other than Ginny saw
you." Ron was having fun disarming Harry.
"Oh…" Harry mumbled, thinking furiously on ways to get out
of this uncomfortable situation.
"So who was it?" Ron persisted.
"Cho," Harry muttered.
"I see…" Ron sniggered at Harry's discomfort.
"Yeah," Harry replied.
After a while of silence as they sat at a table in the
common room, Ron asked, "So are you going to have a talk with Hermione?"
"Yeah, I have got to explain, though I still don't know how
to break it to her" Harry answered.
"It's better to get it over sooner than later. I'm waiting
for her as I promised to go to breakfast with her. Why don't you come with us,
and…ah…try to ease the tension? It won't be too uncomfortable since we'd be in
a group." Ron suggested.
At his words, Harry remembered that he had made plans to
meet Cho about five minutes ago and exclaimed, "Shoot…I'm late."
"What are you late for? It's Sunday and there're no classes
or whatnot." Ron hollered to Harry who was already dashing out of the common
room.
"Guess I'll ask him later," Ron muttered to himself.
"Ask who what?" came Jess' voice as she suddenly appeared,
trying to quell her joy at seeing Ron.
"Harry said he was late for something and I was wondering
what he could be up to so early on a Sunday morning." Ron explained.
"You guys made up?" Jess inquired.
"We never even fought," Ron teased.
"Really," Jess said with her usual sarcasm lacing her words.
"Yup," Ron replied, smiling at their light-hearted banter.
Just then Hermione came into the common room, smiling wanly
as she tried to hide her puffy eyes. Ron immediately voiced his concern but
Hermione just waved it off, insisting that she was fine. Jess found herself
feeling jealous as Dudley approached.
"Willing to wake up finally, sleepyhead?" Hermione was glad
to shift the object of attention from her.
"It's still pretty early, you know." Dudley replied
cheerfully, giving off a wide yawn.
"Early for you, but not for us," Jess cut in with a mocking
smirk.
"I'm starved. Can you guys argue later? I want my breakfast."
Ron groaned.
"You're always hungry," Hermione teased as they made their
way to the Great Hall.
******************************
All this while, Harry was sprinting to the Ravenclaw common
room where he was supposed to meet Cho. Panting for breath, he finally spotted
Cho who was surrounded by a group of friends. As if sensing his presence, Cho
turned and gave him a grin. She turned back to say something to her friends who
all looked at them knowingly before they left in the direction of the Great
Hall.
"Hi there," he said, grinning broadly.
"Hi yourself," she replied.
"What did you say to your friends? They seem to look at me
as if they know something that I don't." Harry inquired.
"I told them to scram as I want to be alone with you." Cho teased.
"Really?" Harry raised his eyebrows at her.
"No," Cho giggled before continuing, "I only said that we
had something to discuss."
"I doubt that they believe you," Harry snickered as he
wrapped his arms around her for a morning kiss.
In a matter of moments, Cho found herself with her back to a
wall and Harry leaning into her. After a while, Harry finally broke the kiss
despite Cho's protests and murmured, "Now that's a perfect way to start a new
day."
"We could do that every morning if you want," Cho offered
mischievously.
"If we do, we would probably never get to class." Harry's
eyes twinkled.
"What a pity. That was such a great idea. I even have a good
excuse to skip class." Cho said in mock sorrow.
"Well, I wouldn't mind skipping class for you." Harry
replied with dramatic heroism.
"That because you gain too. You'd jump at any excuse to skip
Snape's class." Cho teased.
"Of course, but that's not the main reason. This is." Harry
murmured as he lowered his head.
Even after they pulled apart, they still stood in each
other's embrace, basking in the magical moment. They were just savoring each
other's presence when Cho, pulling his arm said, "We better get going if we're
going to have breakfast."
"Ow…that hurt." Harry exclaimed at the force of her hand.
"What's wrong with your arm?" Cho said, concern written on
her face.
"Ron kind of injured it last night," Harry explained.
"Was it over…?" Cho started.
"Yeah," Harry cut in before she could finish her sentence.
"You should go and see Madam Promfrey," Cho remarked.
"I'll go later. It really doesn't hurt much. What about we
get our breakfast before there's no food left?" Harry tried to change the
subject.
"If you say so," Cho said rather uncertainly.
"Don't worry about my arm alright. It'll be fine." Harry
tried assuring her.
With that, they strolled hand-in-hand to the Great Hall
talking about whatever was in their minds. They just enjoyed being with one
another and felt so at ease to voice whatever they wanted to. On the way, they
saw Draco with some other Slytherins who stared at him with utmost hatred. He
could even hear one of them muttering, "Dumbledore's Pet". He was livid with
rage but he felt Cho squeezing his hand reassuringly and felt strangely
comforted. It's incredible how such little gestures from her could lift his
mood.
"Thanks," he said once the Slytherins were out of their
earshot.
"For…" Cho teased.
"If you weren't here with me, I would have probably tried to
hex them." Harry stated simply.
Before Cho could make a reply, they heard Draco calling
towards them, "Wait up."
"You're friends with him?" Cho asked incredulously.
"Don't worry. After you know him, he's actually not as bad
as he seems." Harry replied with a smile.
"Are you sure? People are saying that…" Cho said dubiously.
"That he's only acting so that he can harm me. It's not
true. Trust me on this okay." Harry tried to convince her.
Just then Draco caught up and gave Harry an apologetic grin,
"Sorry about just now."
"It's not your fault," Harry replied while Cho just looked
stunned at the sight of a Malfoy apologizing.
"Are you two…?" Draco asked, seeing their entwined fingers.
"Yeah. Are you on the way to breakfast?" Harry asked.
"Yup, my stomach's growling." Draco smiled.
"Let's go then. We're on our way too." Harry replied.
Though she was initially surprised at this different side of
Draco and trusted Harry, Cho was still a little cautious. But after a while,
she was also contributing to their conversations and realized that he could
actually be fun to be with. Moreover, without that usual smirk on his face, he
looked much more approachable. Their conversation soon shifted to Quidditch and
the three seekers had fun poking fun at each other. Ravenclaw was also facing
Slytherin first and both Cho and Draco were confidently saying that he/she
would win.
The two just kept up their friendly sparring until Harry
finally had enough. "Aw, quit it. You know that neither of you are a match for
me."
Both of their heads finally snapped towards him and they
started attacking him cheerfully.
"We'll see about that Potter," Draco smirked.
"Don't be so confident." Cho said with a smile.
"I'm not. That's just a fact." Harry ran before they could
launch any attack on him.
They finally caught up with him just outside the Great Hall,
all of them laughing heartily. As they entered, many heads turned to look at
them, surprised to see that they were together as they were all from different
houses. Ignoring the stares, they separated and went to their own House table,
but not before Harry said softly to Cho that he'd see her at ten o'clock at the
broom shed.
******************************
Most of the Gryffindors were shocked to see Harry enter with
Cho and Draco, though one more than the other. Hermione even thought that he
had changed his best friends after what had happened last night while Ron was
practically the only one not really stunned. He knew that Draco and Harry were
friendlier now and Cho, well, Harry has always liked Cho and there was probably
more to last night than what Harry gave out. The other Quidditch team members
were rather surprised to see Harry hanging out with other seekers but knew that
he has the right to choose his own friends.
Seeing Cho with Harry this morning made Ginny remember the
last night. She guessed that they made up after that 'kiss' between Harry and
Hermione. After sleeping over it, she finally convinced herself that she would
never have a chance with Harry and should move on. Though she got over Harry,
she was still faced with the Hermione problem. Hermione refused to believe that
she never came between them and she could do nothing more than explain but
Hermione refused to even listen too. She hoped that Hermione would listen to
some sense soon and realize that Cho and Harry are meant to be. Ginny could see
how happy the two are with each other and knew that nothing could come between
them, not even Hermione.
As Harry approached the Gryffindor table, he noticed many
had been staring at him. Not knowing what to do or say, he just grinned at them
and took his place beside Ron. At least Ron did not seem to want to do him
harm, after seeing him with Cho.
"I think you have some explaining to do." Ron grinned at him
while he grabbed some food off the table. Dudley and Jessica were also looking
on in interest while Hermione was pretending that nothing was happening.
"Alright, I was meeting Cho this morning. We met Draco on
the way and came into the hall together." Harry said in between bites.
"I meant last night although I don't mind hearing about this
morning as well," Ron grinned deviously.
"We…er…got together last night." Harry said while stealing a
glance at Hermione to see how she was taking it.
"Can't you be more explicit?" Ron said exasperated.
"Later," Harry mouthed, noticing that Hermione was trying
hard to control herself.
Jess and Dudley were rather surprised when they heard that
Harry and Cho were together. They had not expected it after last night. Jess
was happy that Harry had gotten the girl of his dreams, knowing fully well that
nothing was possibly going to happen for Ron and her. He liked Hermione while
she just can't fall in love. Dudley, on the other hand, admired Harry for going
after the girl he liked, breaking other girls hearts in the process. He wished
that he were as courageous as his cousin. He knew he was fitter and looked
acceptable though not as handsome as his enigmatic cousin but he just did not
have any experience with girls. This was even his first time in a mixed school.
He had only been to all-boys schools in the past. Each absorbed in their own
thoughts, neither noticed that the other was suddenly silent.
******************************
In
the common room, Harry noticed Hermione sitting alone in a corner reading and
asked, "Can I speak to you for a second."
Shocked to suddenly hear his voice, Hermione was silent for
a moment before she replied, "Sure, have a seat."
"I…er…wanted to…er…apologize for running off last night
without an explanation," Harry stammered.
Thinking it's better to pretend, she replied, "I understand.
I shouldn't have forced myself on you."
"Phew. I thought you would be mad at me. It's just that I
only treat you as a sister. Just like Ron treats Ginny." Harry sighed in relieve.
Carrying on her act, she teased, "I hope you'll treat me
better than that."
"I will. Both you and Ginny are like sisters to me." Harry
grinned.
"Uh oh, did he say Ginny was also like a sister to him. She
must be angry with me now." Hermione thought.
"So you are alright with me and Cho together right?" Harry
continued.
"Yeah," she muttered without thinking.
"Great," Harry replied as he went off to watch Jess teaching
Dudley how to play wizard chess better.
Hermione's mind was a whirlpool of chaos. Harry and Cho? How
could this be? I'm much better that that Ravenclaw. I guess I have to apologize
to Ginny for accusing her. Oh my, how could Harry fall for Cho Chang? I thought
that was only a crush. Maybe it still is. Maybe he just doesn't realize that it
is just a crush. I just have to make him see sense. I can even manipulate Ginny
to help me. She's in love with Harry after all. But in the end, Harry will be
mine and Cho will suffer. After all, I'm not the best student in this school
for nothing. Pleased with this new knowledge, Hermione carried on with her
book, not knowing that Jess was watching her.
******************************
A/N:
Lovely ending huh? What role Jess plays will be known soon. Is Hermione this bad?
That will also be revealed so just wait patiently. How will it all turn out?
This is barely the beginning. Though the plot travels pretty slow, it will get
more heated up in a few chapters to come. Just want to tie up some loose ends
first, in case I forget to later. =) Now, do you see the box below? Just a hint
for you guys to review. I need reviews to write better. Thanks to those who
have reviewed so far.
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