Harry Potter & the Dark Lord – Chapter 5
~First Date~
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything.
A/N: Thanks again everyone; you're the best! As promised, this one is the Hogsmeade trip. There's really no action or mystery in this part, so I hope you're not disappointed. It's only on hold until next time, so don't worry. This one is kind of romantic, I guess, though not really mushy. I put it in romance anyway. Everyone is just figuring out whom they like. I also tried to fix the Muggle Studies mistake (not perfectly, but it'll do for a fanfic). Yes, this will still be H/G and R/Hr.
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The next two weeks passed quickly. Although it was still very early in the term, all the teachers were piling on the work, supposedly to prepare the fifth years for the O.W.L.s. Ron was struggling over his Divination homework, with crumpled up bits of parchment all around him. Hermione looked over at him smugly and said, "I don't understand why you still take that class. It's absolute rubbish. Why do you waste your time?"
Ron glared at her. "Waste my time? What about you? Your parents are Muggles and you're still studying them!!! I thought you gave that up anyway."
"Well, I decided to take it up again because I had a free spot in my schedule," Hermione said shortly.
Harry, who was also struggling with Divination, looked up at Hermione. "Free spot? Where'd you get that? Even our schedules are packed!"
Hermione blushed slightly and spoke so low that Ron and Harry had to strain to hear her. "I took a special test on Ancient Runes at the end of last term and scored so high they let me skip a term."
"Figures," snorted Ron, "she gets some free time and immediately fills it up with more work!" Ron tore at his hair and groaned, "I can't look at homework anymore!"
With that, he shut his books and lay back on his chair, pretending to fall asleep and ignoring Hermione's disapproving stare. He started pretending to snore, occasionally squinting his eyes open just a bit to check that it was still annoying Hermione. Noticing this, Hermione did her best to pay no heed to Ron, although her face still wore a scowl. Ron's pretend slumber was interrupted by the arrival of Neville.
"Hi everyone. What are you all up to?" Seeing Ron reluctantly sitting up, Neville asked him, "Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
"Is that this weekend? I'd nearly forgotten. Yeah, I suppose we're all going, aren't we?" Ron asked, glancing at Hermione and Harry.
Neville grinned. "Oh, Harry's definitely coming, aren't you Harry?" Neville actually winked at Harry, who had gone bright red and stared at Neville in horror. Harry wasn't quite ready to tell them about his 'date' with Cho. Although normally he would've wanted to share that news with Ron at least, he was so unsure of his feelings lately, he didn't want to discuss it. Harry also certainly didn't want Ron to find out about Neville's date with his little sister, and to think that Harry had kept it from him, though that technically would have been correct. Trying to recover, Harry thought quickly.
"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you, I promised Neville we'd all meet him at Hogsmeade," Harry tried to say as nonchalantly as possible. He tried to plead with Neville to shut up with his eyes, but it just made him look cross-eyed.
Neville, misunderstanding Harry's explanation, said, "Oh, a triple date? I didn't know you and Hermione were a couple, Ron. That's great! When did it happen?" Harry just dropped his head down in his arms and gave a small cry.
"WHAT!?!" Hermione and Ron both said at the same time. Ron glared at Harry, "What kind of rumors are you spreading?"
Neville, looking confused, mumbled, "Er, no one said anything, I, er, must've been thinking of someone else." He backed away while he was speaking, eventually turning and running out of the common room.
Ron and Hermione were still glaring at Harry, when Fred and George popped up behind them. "Did we just hear ickle Ronniekins has a girlfriend?" said Fred, in a sickeningly sweet voice.
George added, "I wish you had told us. We thought you trusted us. After all, we're family!" George and Fred were both feigning insult.
"Hermione and I are not dating! What makes you think I'd want to date her anyway? Harry, tell them!" Ron pleaded with Harry with a desperate look on his face. Hermione, upon hearing this, quickly transferred her anger to Ron from Harry.
"Oh, now I'm not good enough to date you," she said icily. "I was good enough last year when you couldn't find a date to the Yule Ball, wasn't I? I guess I just don't compare to those brainless pretty faces! Well, did you ever think that maybe I don't want to date you!" Hermione's face was all screwed up and full of anger. Fred and George, realizing they'd started something they hadn't intended, slowly slunk back to the other corner.
Ron's face had gone white. He had forgotten his anger and just looked scared of Hermione. Harry didn't blame him; he would be scared too if the look she had on her face were directed at him.
"I, er, didn't mean it that way," Ron stumbled over his words. "Any guy would be lucky to go out with you, I mean, other blokes of course. And you're just as good as the brainless pretty faces, er, not that you're brainless…" Ron was rambling, urgently trying to find something to calm Hermione down. Harry looked at Ron's stricken face and knew he had to help him. With his jaw set, Harry was determined to tell the truth.
"Hermione," he said firmly, "it's not Ron's fault. Neville misunderstood…because I'm meeting him at Hogsmeade for a sort of double date." Harry felt himself blushing, but he was relieved that Ron and Hermione merely looked curious, and no longer angry at each other.
"A double date? You got a date?" Ron asked. He continued, demanding, "Who are you going out with? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Uh, it's not really a date date. I'm, er, just meeting Cho at the Three Broomsticks. It's no big deal, really." Harry was trying to think of a way to change the subject, but he wasn't successful.
"You git! Of course it's a big deal. You're going on dates before me!" A wave of realization passed over Ron's face and his mouth opened in horror. "And Neville too! How'd he get a girl to go out with him? Who is it anyway?"
Ron and Hermione both looked at Harry expectantly. "Er, I'm not really sure…" Harry stammered.
"It's all right Harry," a small voice said from behind them. The three turned to see Ginny standing there. "You can tell them it's me."
Ron and Hermione both had their mouths wide open. Ron recovered first, hitting his head and groaning, "Great, my little sister is going on dates before me." At that, Ginny looked at Ron in disgust and walked away.
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By Saturday, Harry's nerves were definitely shot. Now that Ron and Hermione knew about the so-called double date, he had convinced them to join him. He got Ron to agree to come under the pretense that Ron should act like a big brother and watch over his younger sister. Hermione had the option of spending the day with Parvati and Lavender, and she wasn't looking forward to that at all. The three of them had overhead the teenage girls giggling over Seamus and Dean at lunch. They apparently were planning on staying close by them at Hogsmeade in the hope that they would get asked out. Her face showing disgust at the prospect of witnessing this, Hermione had agreed to come along with Harry and Neville. She and Ron made it clear, however, that they were only tagging along as friends, and it was not a date in any sense of the word. Harry didn't care what they called it; he was simply glad to have his friends along to make the whole situation slightly less uncomfortable.
Harry and Ron discussed the Quidditch team in the common room as they waited. Ron had tried out for the Keeper position, but Fred and George hadn't made a decision yet. They would have to make it very soon, though, as the first Quidditch match – against Ravenclaw – was only three weeks away and they needed to practice as a team. To Harry's surprise, Ginny had also tried out for the team. Ron wasn't too pleased about this, but Harry didn't think Ginny had a very good chance anyway, as she was a little too small for the position. In the back of his mind, Harry found himself slightly relieved at this, as he somehow thought she would be a distraction.
Hermione soon joined her best friends, cradling Crookshanks in her arms. The cat had reappeared and was acting as normal as ever, or at least normal for Crookshanks. She sat absently stroking her cat's soft coat and staring into the fire. Harry could tell she was restraining herself from commenting on Ron's Quidditch team hopes, and he was quite proud of her self-control.
Before long, Ginny walked towards them. She was wearing her hair up again – she did this quite often lately – and this made her look older than Harry was used to seeing her. A little voice inside his head kept repeating, It's just Ginny, Ron's little sister, over and over again. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice this, and Hermione and Ginny began discussing schoolwork. Advanced Muggle Studies apparently had both fourth and fifth years in it, and the girls were in the same class. Harry was thankful when Neville finally appeared, as he was having a difficult time concentrating on his conversation with Ron.
"So, where are we meeting Cho?" Neville asked.
Harry ignored Ron's smirk in his direction and replied, "I told her we'd meet at the Three Broomsticks, so we can get going if you're all ready." Everyone was, so they headed out of the castle, and started walking towards the village.
It was a pleasant autumn day, the air was brisk and the sun shone brightly overhead. Ron and Hermione walked up ahead chatting amiably for once, followed by Neville and Ginny. Harry hung just behind them, pretending he was enjoying the scenery so he could hear what Neville and Ginny were discussing. Neville was talking about Herbology, telling Ginny about the latest magical plants he had discovered. Harry was surprised to hear Ginny knew quite a lot about the plants herself and easily kept up her side of the conversation. Why hadn't he ever noticed she was smart? Harry asked himself. Why hadn't he ever noticed her, a voice deep inside him added.
Harry continued along the way with conflicting emotions and thoughts racing through his head. By the time they had reached Hogsmeade, Harry had convinced himself he was imagining things, and that once he saw Cho, everything would be back to normal – normal meaning that seeing Cho's pretty face was enough to make him forget everything else. Listening to Ginny, he had realized that he didn't know much about Cho, either, besides that she was a Seeker for Ravenclaw, very pretty, and that she had dated Cedric Diggory last term. Harry still felt guilty about Cedric's death, so he quickly shook the thought out of his head. As long as he didn't think about it, Harry could deal with it. He decided he would make an effort to actually get to know Cho, to prove to himself that he liked her for more than just her looks. After all, she'd always been rather nice to him.
Cho smiled when she saw Harry and the others enter. They found a table and Cho left the group of Ravenclaw sixth years she was with. After they all had a round of Butterbeer in their hands, Harry directed all his attention at Cho resolutely. He figured they had Quidditch in common, so he started on that topic.
"So, who's the new Keeper for your house?" Cho asked, her eyes shining and a smile on her lips. Harry noticed she was wearing a lot of make-up, with glitter all over her face like Parvati and Lavender wore.
"Um, we haven't chosen yet. I'm not sure if Fred and George want to let anyone know before the match anyway, you know. They think we might have a slight advantage if it's a surprise," Harry responded.
Cho leaned towards Harry and touched his arm, "Come on, I won't tell anybody!" Ron, hearing the conversation, was shooting a nasty look at Cho. When Harry just shook his head at the older girl – the feel of her hand on his arm had made him speechless for a moment – she pouted and added, "Well, it'll be fun playing against each other again anyway."
Harry, unsure of what to say to this, turned his interest to Neville's conversation with Ginny. They were discussing how much better Neville liked Potions without Snape, although Professor Fletcher had a few peculiarities of his own. Cho listened for a minute before turning to Harry and saying, "Snape was always rather nice to me. I don't know why everyone complains about him so much."
Ron, hearing this, said, "Are you absolutely nutters, or what?" Harry quickly asked Cho who her favorite teacher was in an attempt to ignore Ron's comment.
"Oh, that's easy. I loved Professor Lockhart. He was the best Defense Against Dark Arts teacher we ever had!" Ron had to stifle a laugh and Hermione turned slightly red. She herself had thought rather highly of Lockhart until they found out he was really a lying coward. The rest of the school, though, hadn't heard the truth, believing he had left the school to go on another of his daring adventures.
Cho, oblivious to Ron's reaction, continued, "Of the current professors, I adore Professor Trelawney! Divination is my favorite class. She thinks I may have the Gift." Cho said this last bit with the tone of one imparting some great knowledge. Harry looked nervously at Hermione to see how she would react to this, but it was Ginny, not Hermione, that responded.
"Are you kidding? Do you actually believe that rubbish?" Everyone's heads turned towards her, shocked at seeing quiet Ginny make such a comment. Ginny looked back at everyone and added, "Please, don't tell me any of you think that drivel Professor Trelawney shovels down our throats is useful."
Cho, looking a little red, turned back to Harry, ignoring Ginny, "Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil are in your house right? Professor Trelawney started a special study group for her best pupils and they're in it! We've become quite good friends this term. They're fun – keep my mind off of things…" Cho's face clouded for a moment, but she quickly turned the conversation back to Divination and smiled brightly.
Harry listened to Cho rattle on about all the incredible things she had seen in her crystal ball and read in the stars, trying very hard to keep his attention from drifting. He noticed that Hermione and Ron had walked to the bar to get some more Butterbeer – Madam Rosmerta was engrossed in a conversation at the other side of the room – and Ginny and Neville seemed to be having a very good time. Harry saw Neville put his hand on top of Ginny's, which made her look extremely uncomfortable. Apparently too polite to say anything, Ginny let Neville's hand stay where it was. Harry's eyes kept returning to the hands; he did have to watch out for Ginny while Ron wasn't there, he thought.
The rest of the day passed quickly. Cho rejoined her friends after she finished her Butterbeer, and Harry took off with Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny. As they walked through the village, Neville took Ginny's hand again. He dropped it when Ron started making sarcastic comments about Ginny needing her hand held to cross the street, and Harry was sure Ginny looked relieved. If she didn't want to hold his hand, she just wouldn't do it, Harry thought, trying to shake the decidedly unpleasant thoughts that were going through his mind about Neville. That small voice that had been making itself heard in Harry reappeared again. Unless she's just too nice to hurt Neville's feelings. Harry scowled at the round-faced boy, inexplicably irritated.
By the time they returned to Hogsmeade, Harry was both mentally and physically exhausted. He crashed on a chair in the common room, and the others sprawled around him. Ginny was the first to get up, and Neville immediately jumped up to walk her to the stairs to her dormitory. Harry's eyes unwillingly followed the two. Neville looked like he was about to lean over to kiss Ginny on the cheek, but she turned her head at the last minute and he instead got a mouthful of red hair. After Ginny disappeared up the stairs, Neville sighed happily and went up to bed.
Hermione had pulled out her homework and somehow convinced Ron to do the same. Ron nudged Harry out of his thoughts. "Can I use your palm for Divination? I'll let you use mine for your homework."
Harry moaned and stretched his hand out. It kept flopping down, as Harry made no effort to hold it up, much to Ron's chagrin. After hearing Ron mutter curses under his breath for the tenth time, Hermione sighed and said, "Here Ron, you can use my hand. Of course, this doesn't mean I am acknowledging any truth in that fraud's class." It was no secret that Hermione did not like Professor Trelawney in the slightest.
Ron turned to Hermione and Harry fell back to his thoughts. He was staring dully as Ron picked up Hermione's hand as if he were carrying a precious jewel that he was afraid would shatter if he held it too tightly. Ron started examining her palm.
"So what do you see?" Hermione asked lightly. She had become very still and was looking raptly at Ron's face. Ron, turning red, went scrambling for his book, never letting go of Hermione's hand. Once he had grabbed the book with his free hand, he turned back to Hermione.
"Er, it looks like you have some good fortune coming your way," he read out of the book nervously.
"Really?" Hermione didn't take her eyes off of his face. The book slipped out of Ron's hand and he returned her gaze, with her hand still in his.
After watching them look at each other unmoving for a minute, Harry decided to clear his throat. Ron looked up as if he had just awoken and, realizing what he was doing, dropped Hermione's hand as if it were on fire. Hermione busied herself smoothing her hair and asked, "So, did you get enough for your homework?" Ron nodded without looking up, the tips of his ears very red as he started gathering his books.
As Harry helped Ron carry his books up the tower to their dormitory, he replayed the day's events in his mind, trying to figure out if Ginny really liked Neville. Ron saw his expression and teased him, "Well she's not the brightest thing in the world, but it looks like you've got it bad for Cho, huh?"
"Cho?" Harry looked confused for a second.
"Yeah, Cho. Who else are you mooning over?" Ron looked at him questioningly, a smirk still playing on the corners of his mouth.
"Er, right, Cho. Well, good night Ron." Harry pulled his drapes back and changed into his pajamas. It was obvious to him who Ron liked. Why wasn't he so sure about himself anymore? He lay awake for a long time, with thoughts of anything else far away.
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A/N: So, did you like it? I promise I haven't forgotten about Snape, Figg, Sirius, Crookshanks and the rest. Well, until next chapter…have fun!