He woke up the next morning, and rubbed his fists against his eyes, gently. Trying desperately to get rid of his sleepiness. He reached to his right, to the nightstand, groping about for his glasses.
He stood up out of bed, and found a suitable outfit for the day. He shuffled to the bathroom, and got ready to start the morning.
He walked down to the common room to meet Hermione, and – Ron? This was odd. Usually Ron was finished later than he was. Oh well. Together, the three of them walked down to the Great Hall, to get breakfast.
Harry trailed a little behind Ron and Hermione, as they walked. He saw Cho standing by the doors, talking with a few friends of hers. As Hermione and Ron wakled by first, Cho shot Hermione a dirty look. . Apparently, Cho thought less of Hermione than she did of Harry though, because as Harry walked by, she did not once glance towards him.
Hermione still had yet to be informed of Harry and Cho's breakup, but that would soon change. As Harry sat down next to Hermione, she turned her body towards him, and said, "Harry, what's with Cho? She gave me this horrible look as I walked by."
"Oh, well, uh…we uh, we broke up," Harry said, nervously.
"You did? Why," asked Hermione, shocked.
"Oh. Well, uh…she thought I was cheating on her," he said. "With you," he added in a quieter tone.
"What was that, Harry?"
"Cho thought that I was cheating on her with you."
"What?! That…that…urgh! I can't believe her!"
"Just chill, Hermione. It's alright. I wasn't that attached to her."
Hermione calmed down, visibly. It was Harry's problem to deal with, but she was a bit insulted. 'Whatever,' she thought. 'I'll probably talk to her later.'
Later that evening, as Hermione walked back from the library, she thought about what Harry had said at breakfast that morning. It was so very confusing. Hadn't Harry explained to her that they were only best friends? Maybe Harry should try to talk to her again.
All of a sudden, she was knocked to the ground, and hear a loud, "Ow!"
She looked up, rubbing her forehead to see the one person she wanted to see least – Cho Monique Chang.
"Oh. It's you," Cho said with disgust apparent in her voice.
"Just who I wanted to see," said Hermione, not trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
"So Hermione, I'm glad you hit it off so well with Harry. Didn't want him, 'till he was my man, did you?"
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Cho. You wrongly accused Harry of cheating on you. We aren't going out, secretly, or publicly, okay? So get over yourself. I didn't steal your man, alright?"
"Yeah, sure Hermione. You can lie all you want, but I see right through you. So I'll get over myself when you get over bein' jealous. I never thought you'd sink so low as to go after somebody else's boyfriend."
"Whatever, Cho. I know I didn't do anything with Harry, and that's all that matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving," she said as she brushed past Cho, who whipped around and grabbed Hermione's arm.
"Don't you just walk away from me, Granger! I'm not through talking to you!"
"Well, unfortunately, I'm through talking to you, so shove off and let me go," Hermione said, forcefully.
"Fine. I'll talk to you later, Hermione," said Cho. She stormed off the opposite direction Hermione was headed, until Hermione turned around to speak to her.
"Headed the wrong way, aren't we, Cho?"
At the sound of her voice, Cho stopped abruptly, but after comprehending what she had said, looked around her, and stupidly turned towards Hermione, and started stalking towards her dorms. Hermione too, resumed her walking, but at a much slower pace.
"Harry, I don't know how you ever stood that girl," Hermione shouted at she entered the common room. "She is so….so…urgh! I don't know, but she's something!"
"What happened 'Mione? Did you talk to Cho, or something?"
"Yeah, I did talk to Cho. I was trying to set her straight, and tell her that we had never gone out, but she refused to believe me. She said I only wanted you, because you were her man. Urgh! She's just stupid, you know that?"
"Hermione, don't waste your anger on her. She's not worth it. I don't think we'll be getting back together."
"Good. I don't know how you stuck with her, Harry."
"Now that I think about it, I don't either. You know, you look like you could stand some rest, Hermione. Too much studying, most likely. You should go to sleep."
This was one of those *hint hint* *wink wink* *nudge nudge* kinda things. Well, she knew how to take a hint. Harry wanted her to go upstairs to bed, so he could talk with Ron about something. She supposed she would find out what it was in the future.
"You're right, Harry. I am pretty tired. I'm gonna hit the sack. I'll see you two in the morning. G'night."
"Night Hermione," the two said, in unison.
"So Ron, what was it that you were hinting at, last night? 'My girl could be right under my nose'? What's that supposed to mean? You think someone is perfect for me, and they're here at Hogwarts?"
"Well, there's a rock solid foundation, Harry. I was being a bit more specific. There are tons of girls here at Hogwarts. Now come on, think about it. Really think about it!"
"Well, I'll narrow it down to Gryffindor girls. They're more under my nose than any others, I suppose. I really don't know who you're talking about though, Ron."
"Harry, you disgust me," said Ron, with a roll of his eyes. "It's simple!"
"Well, then why don't you tell me?"
"Well, that would be simple. I could tell you who it is. I could even tell her, now couldn't I? But where would the fun be, in that? It's fun to watch your feeble attempts at figuring it out."
"Whatever, Ron. Truth is, I told Hermione to go to bed, 'cause I wanted to ask you about this. I'm beat, though, so I'm gonna head upstairs to sleep. G'night, Ron."
AN~ Now, I'm sure we all know who is 'right under his nose', but I've gotta drag it out a bit. Harry's a bit dim in this chapter, I suppose. We can all slap some sense into him later, but I'd like it to take him a bit to figure this out. I dunno. This chapter kinda sucked, but please R/R anyway. I love reading your thoughts/comments/suggestions.