Chapter sixteen – Agony Uncle
Ginny's POV
Harry and I waited on tender hooks for Ron and Hermione's return. "Do you think Hermione's ok?" I asked worriedly. "Yeah, she'll be fine" Harry said reassuringly. "She has Ron doesn't she?" I nodded my head and stared apprehensively at the portrait hole.
I really could hit Seamus right now. How dare he cheat on Hermione like that? I've been going over that in my head since Ron told me but for Hermione to find out this way is just horrible. Suddenly, I heard someone scrambling through the portrait hole. I sat up alert and ready, expecting to see Ron and Hermione. But it wasn't them, it was Seamus.
I sprung up at the same time as Harry and he walked over to him. "I hope you feel awful inside right now" I sneered at him. Seamus smiled at me horribly. "Actually, I feel quite good. It's such a relief to have Hermione away from me, she was so clingy" Seamus replied with a strange twinkle in his eyes.
"Hermione clingy? What about you? You kissed her at every opportunity and wouldn't let any guy get too close to her" Harry said angrily. "Oh no Harry, you are mistaken. Do you think I enjoyed kissing her all the time? I mean, it was fun to begin with but then it just got boring. Also, let any guy get close to her? What about Ron being attached to her? I think I was quite understanding about that situation. Unlike you two, who would let their own friends suffer like that?" Seamus said, sighing and shaking his head.
Harry and I stood there glaring at him. Hot anger was bubbling inside of me and it was extremely difficult to contain. "Get out of here" I snarled. "Don't worry Ginny; I don't want to stay talking to you two. I have more interesting things to do. Lavender! Wait up" Seamus said, strutting over to a giggling Lavender.
When Seamus and Lavender had left upstairs doing who knows what, Hermione and Ron appeared from the portrait hole. Hermione looked dreadful. Her eyes were red and swollen and she appeared to being shaking slightly.
I rushed over to her and flung my arms around her neck. I could hear her sniffling into my shoulder so I hugged her tighter. Once we had broken apart, there was an awkward silence.
"I think we'd better go bed" Ron said suddenly. The three of us nodded and Ron and Hermione went up the staircase to their room. I was about to go up my own staircase when Harry grabbed my arm. I turned to face him and he pulled me in for a hug.
Harry hugged me quite tightly and kissed the top of my head. "You know I'd never cheat on you or hurt you ever" Harry whispered. I broke away from the hug to speak to him properly. "Yes, I know you'd never. I wouldn't cheat on you either" I replied, putting my hand on his cheek.
Harry leant in and gave me a soft kiss on my lips. After a little while, we broke apart. "Goodnight" I said softly, kissing his cheek. "Night" Harry replied as I turned and walked up my staircase.
I opened my dorm room door and got dressed for bed. I slid under my covers and closed my eyes. I heard a small knock on my door and got out of bed to answer it. The other girls in my dorm were fast asleep and didn't hear the knock unless they dreamt about it.
I walked over to the door and opened it to see Harry standing there. I smiled at him in the darkness and he smiled back. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Well, I was about to go to sleep when I realised, I don't want to sleep alone".
I felt a flutter in my stomach and my heart start pounding rapidly in my chest. "Come in" I answered simply. Harry entered and taking his hand, I led him over to my bed. Harry climbed inside and I closed the curtains and put a silencing spell around it before I got inside also.
Harry put his arm around me and brought me closer to him so my head was lying on his chest, just like when we were by the lake. "I love being with you like this" I said softly. "Well, I love you" Harry said, kissing me gently on the lips.
We snuggled together further under the covers and I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. This was what true happiness felt like. Harry and I drifted off to sleep in each others arms, which I wished every day could end like.
Hermione's POV
Ron and I got dressed and slipped into our beds. "Thank you for being there for me Ron" I said quietly. "That's ok 'Mione. It's what I'm here for" Ron replied. I felt an icy stab to my heart when he spoke those words and began to cry again softly.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Ron asked concerned as he turned on the light and sat next to me on my bed. I sat up also and rested my head on his shoulder. "Oh it's nothing really. It's just, Seamus used to say those kind of things to me sometimes. About how he'd always be with me to protect me and how much he cared for me" I replied, fresh tears falling down my cheeks.
Ron hugged me gently and shushed me soothingly. "It's going to be ok. You may not feel like it now but you will get over this" Ron said kindly. "I did" he added in an undertone. I looked at him with concern and felt guilt running through me again.
"I'm sorry" I said softly. "You don't need to apologise. It was your choice and I can't blame you for that". I smiled at him sweetly. "Was that a smile I just saw?" Ron said playfully, raising his eyebrows. I laughed slightly. "You always know what to say".
I laid my head back onto my pillow in tiredness, but Ron was pulled down with me. "Sorry" I said, blushing slightly. "That's ok" Ron replied, taking my hand. "Let's just lie here for a while". I agreed and we lay there in silence, still holding hands.
Ron's POV
I awoke the next morning and realised I was still in Hermione's bed and her head was on my shoulder. We must have fallen asleep like this! How awkward is it going to be when she wakes up? I'd better wake her now anyway. "Hermione" I said, touching her arm gently. She stirred and blearily opened her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily. "We fell asleep" I replied, expecting her to jump up and take her head off my shoulder quickly but she didn't.
"Oh" she replied. "Never mind". Never mind? What did she mean by that? Did that mean she liked sleeping in the same bed as me? Things were looking up.
We got out of bed reluctantly and got dressed. "Ready for breakfast?" I asked. Hermione took a deep breath and nodded. We walked down the staircase together and searched the common room. "I wonder where Harry and Ginny are" I said curiously.
Harry's POV
I woke up with Ginny lying next to me. I smiled to myself and woke her up. "Hello" she said sweetly. "Hi" I replied, kissing her. We sat up in bed and made sure no one was watching so I could sneak back to my room. Luckily, I went to sleep in my clothes so I wouldn't be going round the common room in my pyjamas.
I was about to leave until one of Ginny's friends came out of the bathroom. "Hi Ginny, what's up?" her friend asked. "Oh, nothing Amy" Ginny replied innocently. "Why are you hiding behind the curtains?" Amy asked with curiosity visible in her voice.
"I'm getting changed" Ginny replied coolly. "Ok, see you at breakfast" Amy replied. "Bye" Ginny said as Amy closed the door. Ginny and I started laughing in relief. "That was close" Ginny said in between giggles.
"Yeah, I know. Great cover story by the way. 'Getting dressed'. I'd like to see you doing that" I said with a grin. Ginny opened her mouth in surprise and pounced on me and started tickling me. I laughed and began tickling her back, making her giggle once again.
Ron's POV
"There you are!" I said as Harry and Ginny appeared from the girl's staircase. Hey, wait a minute… "Oh, hey Ron" Ginny said awkwardly. "Don't you hey Ron me! Why did Harry just come down from your staircase?" I asked. "And why Harry, are you wearing the same clothes from yesterday?"
Harry and Ginny both blushed but Harry replied. "That's one of my disgusting secrets Ron, I'm extremely unhygienic. I went up to Ginny's room to see if she was ready for breakfast" Harry replied. I could hear Hermione stifling her laughter.
"Right…" I said disbelievingly and cocking an eyebrow.
The four of us walked down to breakfast chatting joyfully until we bumped into Seamus at the door. "Hello Hermione" Seamus said smirking. My fists clenched slightly but I was dragged away from hitting Seamus by Hermione who walked away without saying a single word.
We sat down at the table and Hermione looked down at her food. "Are you ok Hermione?" Ginny asked. "Yeah, I'm fine" Hermione replied, snapping out of her trance. "Are you going to eat anything?" Harry asked. "I'm not very hungry at the moment" Hermione replied, pushing her food away from her.
The rest of the day followed this pattern. Hermione was quiet for most of the day and ate a little at lunch but not much. By the evening, she wasn't looking good at all. I couldn't bear seeing her like this and decided I'd better talk to her about it before we went to dinner.
"Hermione look" I began as we both took seats by the fireplace. "I hate seeing you like this". Hermione stared at her lap while she replied. "Like what?" she asked. "You're in pain. You've barely ate today and you shake when you see Seamus. I'm not going to say that's wrong or you should just get over it because I know how it feels".
Hermione looked up at me searchingly. "When you chose Seamus over me, it felt like my life was ending. I could barely eat and sleep just knowing someone else had you and it wasn't me. Everyday I saw you; it was hard to bear it. It was worse when you were with Seamus, I felt so jealous but I knew there was nothing I could do about it so I just had to put up with it. The only thought that got me through it was knowing you were happy; I love it when you feel happy because it makes me feel happy. But seeing you upset is not only painful for you, it's painful me too. I want you to know that I will always be here for you when you need me. Remember that".
Hermione grabbed my hand and smiled at me. "Thank you" she said. I smiled back at her and pulled her to her feet. "Let's go to dinner". She nodded and we made our way to the Great Hall.
We entered through the doors and heard roars of laughter coming from a group at the Gryffindor table. "I have girls coming out of my ears at the moment. They just can't keep their hands off me!" said a voice which I recognised as Seamus'.
I expected Hermione to run out of the door but she held her head high and walked over to them. "Here's one of my adoring fans now!" laughed Seamus. I felt anger rising inside of me and looked at Hermione who seemed to be trying to stay calm.
"Hey Seamus!" I said, striding forward with Hermione in tow. "Hello Ron! Hermione's knight in shining armour" Seamus said. "Better than being the dirty asshole who can't keep a relationship for longer than five minutes" I replied coolly.
"Well, you know me Ron! I like to get around a bit" Seamus said, standing up to face me. "I've noticed" a voice said which turned out to be Hermione. "So she speaks!" Seamus said triumphantly. "I do more than that" Hermione replied. She picked up a goblet of pumpkin juice and poured it over Seamus' head.
Everyone roared with laughter as Seamus stood there, his smile gone and forgotten but replaced with a scowl. "How dare you" he snarled. "How dare I? I think I have the right to do that Seamus after what you put me through. You're not god's gift to women like you think you are. I'm going to make sure every girl knows what a slime ball you are" Hermione replied.
Some people clapped and cheered as Seamus stalked away still dripping wet. "That was amazing" I said to Hermione in awe. "No Ron, you are" she replied, kissing my cheek.
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A/N: Yay! I only have one chapter left! Sorry I haven't been able to update for a while but my computer wasn't working. Please review!