Time for chapter seven! Thanks for reading and reviewing guys, it means a
lot as always. I'm not sure how soon this chapter will get out there; I'm
currently typing it from my laptop that will be transferred from here, to a
floppy disk, and then onto my computer with internet access. Last time I
tried doing this, I had the first three chapters on disk, but the fourth
one mysteriously disappeared and has yet to be seen. Hopefully, this won't
happen again.
Also, I'm trying to keep the characters as close to how they are in the book as possible. Can you guys tell me if I am or not after you read and review this chapter? I don't want to venture too far away from what can happen.
One last thing before you guys read: I recently purchased the newest Harry Potter hints book by Galadriel Waters. This book pokes hints at what may come in future Potter books. As my readers, would you guys like me to lace some of these things into the story, or would you rather I not? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Suddenly, everything was making perfect sense to Hermione. The awkward silences, tense conversations, and odd looks seemed so obvious now that she felt slightly stupid for not having picked up on it until this very moment.
"Hermione? Are you okay?" Harry asked her uneasily.
Hermione looked up, realizing she had been lost in her thoughts for some time now; she had almost forgotten that Harry and Ginny were there with her.
"Yes, I'm fine, but - wait, hang on just one second! You two knew about this and it didn't occur to either one of you that I just MIGHT want to know?" Hermione said, her voice rising as she spoke.
"We wanted to tell you, we really did, but Ron made us swear we wouldn't!" Ginny said, a note of pleading in her voice.
A new thought had just occurred to Hermione.
"Is that why I wasn't invited to the Burrow this summer? He thought that the two of you might spill the beans?" she inquired.
Harry and Ginny looked at each other, then at Hermione and nodded to her.
"Alright, well since the cat's out of the bag now, would you fancy telling me what's been happening from beginning to end?" Hermione continued to badger.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Harry said, thankful that Hermione hadn't resorted to shoving her wand up his nose, which he knew she was very capable of doing. Her nail marks in his arm still hadn't faded completely.
"Well.I guess it all starts around last year," Ginny started, but after seeing the look of fury on Hermione's face quickly added," But we didn't KNOW then, Hermione, wait until we're finished!"
"We didn't really notice anything until the Yule Ball last year. And that went.well, you know how it went," Harry said hastily.
"He was so jealous seeing you and Krum together at the dance. And then after he pulled you out of the lake during the second task, I thought he might go ballistic," Ginny said, a broad grin sweeping over her face at the memory.
"But I thought he didn't hate Viktor anymore! He asked for his autograph at the end of the year, for goodness sake," Hermione interjected.
"Yes well, that was just the eye of the storm," Harry continued. "When he found out you spent your holiday with our favorite Bulgarian." he stopped and let out a low whistle.
".that's the main reason why he didn't ask you to stay with us and Harry. He thought he might lose it and blurt everything out faster than any Veritaserum can make you," Ginny said.
"And to top it all off, his potential competitor shows up mere days ago and sweeps the girl he fancies off her feet," Harry finished.
The end of this speech brought on a slightly stunned silence. The pieces were fitting together, and the puzzle was becoming complete.
"And you didn't tell me because?" Hermione said, raising her eyebrows slightly.
"We told you, we couldn't tell. And plus, you never asked," Ginny said, checking her watch.
Before Hermione even had time to argue, Ginny interrupted her.
"Listen, if we don't leave, Ron's going to think we're doing exactly what we're doing now. Let's go," she said, and grabbing Hermione by the upper arm, pushed her out of the portrait hole.
They descended to the Great Hall in silence, Hermione silently fuming at her friends. She wished they had told her sooner. She didn't know what to make of this mess, and her thoughts were so scrambled that she barely had time to stop from walking head on into one of the doors of the Great Hall. Thankfully, Harry grabbed her just before she caused her head another trauma for the second time that day.
"Now listen," Ginny said to her in a low whisper. "Try to act like we've been doing exactly what we told Ron we were doing. If he catches on, we're fried," she said, motioning to her and Harry.
Hermione nodded, and with that, Ginny opened the door to the Great Hall and they made their way down to the Gryffindor table.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Over the next few weeks, Hermione barely had time to dwell on the news her friends had so unceremoniously dropped onto her head. Her time was devoted to her studies and steadily preparing for the O.W.L.S. She knew that these tests could change her whole future, so she often sacrificed her free time spending hours in the library, looking up various spells and charms her teachers had told her might come up on the exams.
On one crisp November afternoon, she was again residing in the library, looking up the countercurse to the Knee Knocker curse, when Krum strolled into the library. She was so focused on the read in front of her that she didn't realize he was there until he cast a shadow on her sunlit book.
"Oh! Vikor, you frightened me," she said, jumping from her break in concentration.
"I am sorry, Herm-my-own-ninny. But I haff come to talk to you about something," he said, pulling out a seat and sitting down next to her.
Hermione marked her book and closed it, setting it back down on the table.
"Do you remember last year when I asked you to the Yule Ball?" he asked her, looking at her intently.
"How can I forget," Hermione answered him, blushing.
"Vell, I vas vondering.," Krum started, but was interrupted by a screech that was at a pitch only Madam Pince could hit.
"NO TALKING IN THE LIBRARY! OUT! OUT!" she shrieked at them as Hermione picked up her things and they both ran out the door.
Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before Madam Pince caught up with them, so she turned to Krum and said, "Viktor, I better go. I'll catch up with you later, alright?"
He didn't object; he was looking awfully bewildered for someone who received frequent blows to the head from flying Bludgers.
"See you later, then," Hermione said, and with that, turned around and quickly made her way up to Gryffindor common room.
Once there, she found Ron, Harry and Ginny in the coziest armchairs by the fire. Harry and Ron were immersed in what looked like a very brutal game of wizard's chess. She made her way over to them and dumped her books in front of the fire.
Ron looked up from the chessboard, where one of his bishops was brutally annihilating Harry's knight. "I thought you finished all of your homework; you can't possibly be THAT far behind," he teased her, motioning to the stack of books she had abruptly flung on the floor.
"That's not homework, I'm studying for our O.W.L.S. exams," she said with a tone of voice that hinted that he should be doing the same. She plopped herself down on Ron's chair; there was just enough room for her to fit. When she looked back up at Ron, she noticed his ears had gone red.
"So you were studying that whole time in the library?" Ginny asked around a mouthful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"I was for awhile, but then Krum came in to ask me something," she said, automatically aware that she shouldn't have.
"What did he want?" Ron asked in a stiff form of casual conversation.
"I don't know, we got chased out by Madam Pince for talking," she said, cringing at the memory.
Hermione saw Ron visibly relax after that. He finished off his match against Harry, and Hermione tried to help him out every once in a while. Slowly, the sky outside darkened, and the common room began to empty. It was well past their bedtime when Ginny finally sat up and stretched.
"Alright, I'm going to bed," Ginny said, stifling a yawn.
"Yes, me too. Goodnight, boys," she said, waving her departure to Ron and Harry.
Hermione and Ginny climbed up the spiral staircase that led to the girl's dormitories. When they reached the fourth year's door, Ginny stopped and turned to Hermione.
"So, have you gotten a date yet to the New Year's Eve Ball?" she asked, and it made all forms of sleepiness leave Hermione's head completely.
"No! I've completely forgotten about it up until now," she answered truthfully.
"You might want to hurry, it's only a few weeks away, you know," Ginny said, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Have you gotten a date yet?" Hermione asked her friend, nervous that she had waited to long to find someone to go with.
"No - well - erm.yes, I have actually," she said bashfully. "Harry asked me a few days ago. Just as friends, or course," she added quickly.
"That's wonderful!" Hermione said to her friend, genuinely meaning it. "I just hope someone might ask me before it's too late."
"Are you blind, Hermione?" Ginny asked exasperatedly.
Just to make sure, Hermione waved a hand in front of her face. She definitely saw it.
"No, why?" she asked, completely lost by the turn in conversation.
"You said Krum wanted to tell you something before you were chased out of the library. I reckon that he wanted to ask you to the ball Hermione," Ginny said, shaking her head at the thought of her intelligent friend being this slow on the pick up.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So how did you like this one? I hope that the stories aren't going down in quality, because they certainly aren't in length. My book should be arriving in the mail soon, and I want to get this chapter up as quickly as possible.
So please don't forget to read and review for me please! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far, I make sure to read every single one of them. Your words of encouragement mean so much.
Also, I'm trying to keep the characters as close to how they are in the book as possible. Can you guys tell me if I am or not after you read and review this chapter? I don't want to venture too far away from what can happen.
One last thing before you guys read: I recently purchased the newest Harry Potter hints book by Galadriel Waters. This book pokes hints at what may come in future Potter books. As my readers, would you guys like me to lace some of these things into the story, or would you rather I not? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Suddenly, everything was making perfect sense to Hermione. The awkward silences, tense conversations, and odd looks seemed so obvious now that she felt slightly stupid for not having picked up on it until this very moment.
"Hermione? Are you okay?" Harry asked her uneasily.
Hermione looked up, realizing she had been lost in her thoughts for some time now; she had almost forgotten that Harry and Ginny were there with her.
"Yes, I'm fine, but - wait, hang on just one second! You two knew about this and it didn't occur to either one of you that I just MIGHT want to know?" Hermione said, her voice rising as she spoke.
"We wanted to tell you, we really did, but Ron made us swear we wouldn't!" Ginny said, a note of pleading in her voice.
A new thought had just occurred to Hermione.
"Is that why I wasn't invited to the Burrow this summer? He thought that the two of you might spill the beans?" she inquired.
Harry and Ginny looked at each other, then at Hermione and nodded to her.
"Alright, well since the cat's out of the bag now, would you fancy telling me what's been happening from beginning to end?" Hermione continued to badger.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Harry said, thankful that Hermione hadn't resorted to shoving her wand up his nose, which he knew she was very capable of doing. Her nail marks in his arm still hadn't faded completely.
"Well.I guess it all starts around last year," Ginny started, but after seeing the look of fury on Hermione's face quickly added," But we didn't KNOW then, Hermione, wait until we're finished!"
"We didn't really notice anything until the Yule Ball last year. And that went.well, you know how it went," Harry said hastily.
"He was so jealous seeing you and Krum together at the dance. And then after he pulled you out of the lake during the second task, I thought he might go ballistic," Ginny said, a broad grin sweeping over her face at the memory.
"But I thought he didn't hate Viktor anymore! He asked for his autograph at the end of the year, for goodness sake," Hermione interjected.
"Yes well, that was just the eye of the storm," Harry continued. "When he found out you spent your holiday with our favorite Bulgarian." he stopped and let out a low whistle.
".that's the main reason why he didn't ask you to stay with us and Harry. He thought he might lose it and blurt everything out faster than any Veritaserum can make you," Ginny said.
"And to top it all off, his potential competitor shows up mere days ago and sweeps the girl he fancies off her feet," Harry finished.
The end of this speech brought on a slightly stunned silence. The pieces were fitting together, and the puzzle was becoming complete.
"And you didn't tell me because?" Hermione said, raising her eyebrows slightly.
"We told you, we couldn't tell. And plus, you never asked," Ginny said, checking her watch.
Before Hermione even had time to argue, Ginny interrupted her.
"Listen, if we don't leave, Ron's going to think we're doing exactly what we're doing now. Let's go," she said, and grabbing Hermione by the upper arm, pushed her out of the portrait hole.
They descended to the Great Hall in silence, Hermione silently fuming at her friends. She wished they had told her sooner. She didn't know what to make of this mess, and her thoughts were so scrambled that she barely had time to stop from walking head on into one of the doors of the Great Hall. Thankfully, Harry grabbed her just before she caused her head another trauma for the second time that day.
"Now listen," Ginny said to her in a low whisper. "Try to act like we've been doing exactly what we told Ron we were doing. If he catches on, we're fried," she said, motioning to her and Harry.
Hermione nodded, and with that, Ginny opened the door to the Great Hall and they made their way down to the Gryffindor table.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Over the next few weeks, Hermione barely had time to dwell on the news her friends had so unceremoniously dropped onto her head. Her time was devoted to her studies and steadily preparing for the O.W.L.S. She knew that these tests could change her whole future, so she often sacrificed her free time spending hours in the library, looking up various spells and charms her teachers had told her might come up on the exams.
On one crisp November afternoon, she was again residing in the library, looking up the countercurse to the Knee Knocker curse, when Krum strolled into the library. She was so focused on the read in front of her that she didn't realize he was there until he cast a shadow on her sunlit book.
"Oh! Vikor, you frightened me," she said, jumping from her break in concentration.
"I am sorry, Herm-my-own-ninny. But I haff come to talk to you about something," he said, pulling out a seat and sitting down next to her.
Hermione marked her book and closed it, setting it back down on the table.
"Do you remember last year when I asked you to the Yule Ball?" he asked her, looking at her intently.
"How can I forget," Hermione answered him, blushing.
"Vell, I vas vondering.," Krum started, but was interrupted by a screech that was at a pitch only Madam Pince could hit.
"NO TALKING IN THE LIBRARY! OUT! OUT!" she shrieked at them as Hermione picked up her things and they both ran out the door.
Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before Madam Pince caught up with them, so she turned to Krum and said, "Viktor, I better go. I'll catch up with you later, alright?"
He didn't object; he was looking awfully bewildered for someone who received frequent blows to the head from flying Bludgers.
"See you later, then," Hermione said, and with that, turned around and quickly made her way up to Gryffindor common room.
Once there, she found Ron, Harry and Ginny in the coziest armchairs by the fire. Harry and Ron were immersed in what looked like a very brutal game of wizard's chess. She made her way over to them and dumped her books in front of the fire.
Ron looked up from the chessboard, where one of his bishops was brutally annihilating Harry's knight. "I thought you finished all of your homework; you can't possibly be THAT far behind," he teased her, motioning to the stack of books she had abruptly flung on the floor.
"That's not homework, I'm studying for our O.W.L.S. exams," she said with a tone of voice that hinted that he should be doing the same. She plopped herself down on Ron's chair; there was just enough room for her to fit. When she looked back up at Ron, she noticed his ears had gone red.
"So you were studying that whole time in the library?" Ginny asked around a mouthful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"I was for awhile, but then Krum came in to ask me something," she said, automatically aware that she shouldn't have.
"What did he want?" Ron asked in a stiff form of casual conversation.
"I don't know, we got chased out by Madam Pince for talking," she said, cringing at the memory.
Hermione saw Ron visibly relax after that. He finished off his match against Harry, and Hermione tried to help him out every once in a while. Slowly, the sky outside darkened, and the common room began to empty. It was well past their bedtime when Ginny finally sat up and stretched.
"Alright, I'm going to bed," Ginny said, stifling a yawn.
"Yes, me too. Goodnight, boys," she said, waving her departure to Ron and Harry.
Hermione and Ginny climbed up the spiral staircase that led to the girl's dormitories. When they reached the fourth year's door, Ginny stopped and turned to Hermione.
"So, have you gotten a date yet to the New Year's Eve Ball?" she asked, and it made all forms of sleepiness leave Hermione's head completely.
"No! I've completely forgotten about it up until now," she answered truthfully.
"You might want to hurry, it's only a few weeks away, you know," Ginny said, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Have you gotten a date yet?" Hermione asked her friend, nervous that she had waited to long to find someone to go with.
"No - well - erm.yes, I have actually," she said bashfully. "Harry asked me a few days ago. Just as friends, or course," she added quickly.
"That's wonderful!" Hermione said to her friend, genuinely meaning it. "I just hope someone might ask me before it's too late."
"Are you blind, Hermione?" Ginny asked exasperatedly.
Just to make sure, Hermione waved a hand in front of her face. She definitely saw it.
"No, why?" she asked, completely lost by the turn in conversation.
"You said Krum wanted to tell you something before you were chased out of the library. I reckon that he wanted to ask you to the ball Hermione," Ginny said, shaking her head at the thought of her intelligent friend being this slow on the pick up.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So how did you like this one? I hope that the stories aren't going down in quality, because they certainly aren't in length. My book should be arriving in the mail soon, and I want to get this chapter up as quickly as possible.
So please don't forget to read and review for me please! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far, I make sure to read every single one of them. Your words of encouragement mean so much.