A/N: I own nothing except for this dinky little laptop I'm doing my work on. And that doesn't count. So don't sue me. Also, I apologize for the looong delay in getting this chapter out. I've been sooo busy what with school and all...
-Thoughts-
***
"I lose, eh?" Ron asked, once the kiss was broken. "Seems more like I won something if you do that, Maybe you should change the rules of the game if that's what you call losing."
"Ah," said Hermione, "But I'm not done." Hermione pulled Ron closer to her, feeling his hot breath on her cheek distinctly. She gazed into his deep blue eyes and noted how they seemed to twinkle in the lighting. She looked away. This was not going to happen to her.
Ron had different ideas of what was going to happen to Hermione, though, and leaned down a bit to kiss her again. Hermione turned her face away.
"No," she whispered. "What about Harry?"
"Nothing about Harry!" Ron replied, his tone equally as soft. "This is about you and me, not him."
"He's our best friend, Ron," Hermione murmered. "If that doesn't qualify him as involved, I don't know what involves a body. He's got just as much to do with this as you or me." Hermione's voice was rising, and anger was seeping into her soft voice. "I don't think you should just discard him like that. You should have a bit more tact than to do so in front of a girl you're trying to score with. That's what I am, right? Someone you want to score with?"
"Don't shout, Hermione!" hissed Ron. "You're more that just a girl I want to score with, you're my best friend, and I l-"
"I don't want to hear it," Hermione snapped. "I'm going to go watch Harry practice." Hermione whirled and ran out of the common room.
This was just great. She'd kissed Ron (of all the stupid things to do), but worse, he'd tried to kiss her back. If Ron was the only part of the equation that mattered, Hermione would have been jumping for joy, but there was also the Harry variable. Hermione might have a chance with Harry, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to blow it by doing anything with Ron. Sure, she wanted to do _plenty_ with Ron, but she also wanted to do just as much with Harry, and she wasn't sure which she wanted more. Ron had just made it clear that Hermione had a chance with him, but did she want that chance? What if she took it and ended up ruining all possibilities with Harry? What if she took it and ended up wanting Harry more?
"'Mione!" yelled Harry gleefuly to Hermione as she neared the Quiditch Pitch. "We just finished. Why aren't you in there hanging out with Ron?"
"I don't want to talk about it," mumbled Hermione. Harry couldn't hear her, of course, for she was over 200 feet away from him.
"I'll be over there in a second, let me just put my broom away!" Harry yelled, ignoring Hermione's lack of audible answers. He proceeded to stow his broom in the broomshed, then race accross the field to reach Hermione. "What's wrong, Hermi?" he asked sweetly.
"Nothing." Hermione replied, trying to sound as collected as she wanted to, but failing miserably.
"I know you too well for that!" Harry muttered, smiling. "Something's up, and I have a feeling it has to do with our redheaded, firey tempered little Weasley. Am I right? What did he do to you? Do you need me to talk to him about anything?"
"He didn't do anything, it was all my fault," Hermione sobbed. She hadn't realized she was crying until she spoke. Teary eyed, she recounted her story to Harry, leaving out the bits with his name and replacing her thoughts about him with thoughts about "someone".
"Shhh, shhh," Harry crooned to her, wrapping his arm about Hermione's shoulders. "Everything'll be allright. I'll bet that 'someone' likes you, who couldn't? The only problem I see here is your internal battle. I-"
"Harry," Hermione laughed through tears, "you're not a therapist, so cut the jihad shit!"
Harry looked hurt. "You don't believe me?" he querried. "Really, the only thing that'll stand in your way is yourself. The real question is about who you want, not who wants you."
"Since when are you an expert on this? You never did very well with Cho, it seemed that after you got her to go with you, you lost all interest, and haven't gone with a girl since."
"I have my reasons," Harry said, sighing. "and I just didn't know Cho. All I really liked her for was her body. I know that my reason now is not about looks."
"Yeah, well, you're one of the lucky ones, who knows what he wants." Hermione said dejectedly. -All I know is that I'm hopelessly in love with both of my best friends. Here Harry is, being all comforting to me, and all I can do is bitch and moan about "someone" and Ron. I am such an idiot.-
"Hermione," Harry said after a pause, "you wouldn't happen to want to tell me who this 'someone' is, would you?" Hermione shook her head. "Well, if I knew, I could tell you whether or not he, it is a he, right?" Hermione nodded her head. "Well, I could probably tell you whether he liked you or not. Then, at least you would know whether or not you should even bother holding off with Ron and all."
"Harry, you don't want to know who it is," Hermione said. He wouldn't, either, she decieded, for it would ruin their friendship. Especially if Harry didn't have feelings for her.
"Hermione," Harry began, as if to say something, but then stopped. After a minute, he ventured a question. "Hermione, is it me?"
"What?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Is this certain 'someone' me, Hermione? I won't get all scared and weird if it is, or anything, I'd just like to know."
Hermione didn't answer at first. A thousand possibilities ran through her head. It was Harry, so what if she told him and he liked her too? They could go riding off into the sunset on his firebolt and forget about Ron. But if Harry didn't like her, then would Hermione be content with Ron? For some reason, she was beginning to think that she liked Harry better. If Harry didn't like her, she was almost sure that she wouldn't be able to just forget about all of her attractions to him and go out with Ron, but if Harry did, she had the feeling that she would leave Ron behind in a flash. And hurt Ron very deeply.
"No, it's not you," Hermione stated after a bit. She thought she saw disapointment flash accross Harry's face for a moment, but it was too quick for her to be sure.
"I see," Harry said rather coldly. "I'll be changing, now. I think you should go with Ron, then, and just leave whoever this 'someone' is behind. If you won't even tell me who he is, he must be someone pretty terrible." Harry turned to the changing rooms and walked off, leaving Hermione standing alone on the pitch.
She stood there for a few moments, wondering what had caused Harry to become so distant. There wasn't anything that she said that could have offended him, was there? She blinked back some tears that had come to her unbidden, then turned and ran into the Hogwarts building. She didn't stop running until she had reached her dorm, where she collapsed and allowed herself to break down and cry.
"Harry!" she wailed. "Ron!" she cried. When her final sobs subsided, Hermione was asleep, dreaming of one raven haired Gryffindoor and zero red haired Weasleys.
***
A/N: Okay, so I'm leaning towards Harry... someone change my mind if they have objections...
-Thoughts-
***
"I lose, eh?" Ron asked, once the kiss was broken. "Seems more like I won something if you do that, Maybe you should change the rules of the game if that's what you call losing."
"Ah," said Hermione, "But I'm not done." Hermione pulled Ron closer to her, feeling his hot breath on her cheek distinctly. She gazed into his deep blue eyes and noted how they seemed to twinkle in the lighting. She looked away. This was not going to happen to her.
Ron had different ideas of what was going to happen to Hermione, though, and leaned down a bit to kiss her again. Hermione turned her face away.
"No," she whispered. "What about Harry?"
"Nothing about Harry!" Ron replied, his tone equally as soft. "This is about you and me, not him."
"He's our best friend, Ron," Hermione murmered. "If that doesn't qualify him as involved, I don't know what involves a body. He's got just as much to do with this as you or me." Hermione's voice was rising, and anger was seeping into her soft voice. "I don't think you should just discard him like that. You should have a bit more tact than to do so in front of a girl you're trying to score with. That's what I am, right? Someone you want to score with?"
"Don't shout, Hermione!" hissed Ron. "You're more that just a girl I want to score with, you're my best friend, and I l-"
"I don't want to hear it," Hermione snapped. "I'm going to go watch Harry practice." Hermione whirled and ran out of the common room.
This was just great. She'd kissed Ron (of all the stupid things to do), but worse, he'd tried to kiss her back. If Ron was the only part of the equation that mattered, Hermione would have been jumping for joy, but there was also the Harry variable. Hermione might have a chance with Harry, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to blow it by doing anything with Ron. Sure, she wanted to do _plenty_ with Ron, but she also wanted to do just as much with Harry, and she wasn't sure which she wanted more. Ron had just made it clear that Hermione had a chance with him, but did she want that chance? What if she took it and ended up ruining all possibilities with Harry? What if she took it and ended up wanting Harry more?
"'Mione!" yelled Harry gleefuly to Hermione as she neared the Quiditch Pitch. "We just finished. Why aren't you in there hanging out with Ron?"
"I don't want to talk about it," mumbled Hermione. Harry couldn't hear her, of course, for she was over 200 feet away from him.
"I'll be over there in a second, let me just put my broom away!" Harry yelled, ignoring Hermione's lack of audible answers. He proceeded to stow his broom in the broomshed, then race accross the field to reach Hermione. "What's wrong, Hermi?" he asked sweetly.
"Nothing." Hermione replied, trying to sound as collected as she wanted to, but failing miserably.
"I know you too well for that!" Harry muttered, smiling. "Something's up, and I have a feeling it has to do with our redheaded, firey tempered little Weasley. Am I right? What did he do to you? Do you need me to talk to him about anything?"
"He didn't do anything, it was all my fault," Hermione sobbed. She hadn't realized she was crying until she spoke. Teary eyed, she recounted her story to Harry, leaving out the bits with his name and replacing her thoughts about him with thoughts about "someone".
"Shhh, shhh," Harry crooned to her, wrapping his arm about Hermione's shoulders. "Everything'll be allright. I'll bet that 'someone' likes you, who couldn't? The only problem I see here is your internal battle. I-"
"Harry," Hermione laughed through tears, "you're not a therapist, so cut the jihad shit!"
Harry looked hurt. "You don't believe me?" he querried. "Really, the only thing that'll stand in your way is yourself. The real question is about who you want, not who wants you."
"Since when are you an expert on this? You never did very well with Cho, it seemed that after you got her to go with you, you lost all interest, and haven't gone with a girl since."
"I have my reasons," Harry said, sighing. "and I just didn't know Cho. All I really liked her for was her body. I know that my reason now is not about looks."
"Yeah, well, you're one of the lucky ones, who knows what he wants." Hermione said dejectedly. -All I know is that I'm hopelessly in love with both of my best friends. Here Harry is, being all comforting to me, and all I can do is bitch and moan about "someone" and Ron. I am such an idiot.-
"Hermione," Harry said after a pause, "you wouldn't happen to want to tell me who this 'someone' is, would you?" Hermione shook her head. "Well, if I knew, I could tell you whether or not he, it is a he, right?" Hermione nodded her head. "Well, I could probably tell you whether he liked you or not. Then, at least you would know whether or not you should even bother holding off with Ron and all."
"Harry, you don't want to know who it is," Hermione said. He wouldn't, either, she decieded, for it would ruin their friendship. Especially if Harry didn't have feelings for her.
"Hermione," Harry began, as if to say something, but then stopped. After a minute, he ventured a question. "Hermione, is it me?"
"What?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Is this certain 'someone' me, Hermione? I won't get all scared and weird if it is, or anything, I'd just like to know."
Hermione didn't answer at first. A thousand possibilities ran through her head. It was Harry, so what if she told him and he liked her too? They could go riding off into the sunset on his firebolt and forget about Ron. But if Harry didn't like her, then would Hermione be content with Ron? For some reason, she was beginning to think that she liked Harry better. If Harry didn't like her, she was almost sure that she wouldn't be able to just forget about all of her attractions to him and go out with Ron, but if Harry did, she had the feeling that she would leave Ron behind in a flash. And hurt Ron very deeply.
"No, it's not you," Hermione stated after a bit. She thought she saw disapointment flash accross Harry's face for a moment, but it was too quick for her to be sure.
"I see," Harry said rather coldly. "I'll be changing, now. I think you should go with Ron, then, and just leave whoever this 'someone' is behind. If you won't even tell me who he is, he must be someone pretty terrible." Harry turned to the changing rooms and walked off, leaving Hermione standing alone on the pitch.
She stood there for a few moments, wondering what had caused Harry to become so distant. There wasn't anything that she said that could have offended him, was there? She blinked back some tears that had come to her unbidden, then turned and ran into the Hogwarts building. She didn't stop running until she had reached her dorm, where she collapsed and allowed herself to break down and cry.
"Harry!" she wailed. "Ron!" she cried. When her final sobs subsided, Hermione was asleep, dreaming of one raven haired Gryffindoor and zero red haired Weasleys.
***
A/N: Okay, so I'm leaning towards Harry... someone change my mind if they have objections...
