Yay! People are reading my second story! *does a little dance* Thank you very much to Ramy, Lady Starlight so kiss my ass, clyde, usha88, SummrMagic, Danski (how'd you do on your exams??), Irish Phoenix, PotterGirl, Alexi Lupin, Bachy A, babygirl4U, Hawkeye and cyberfrogX, who reviewed the first chapter!
Now, I will admit, this chapter isn't my favourite, as it's more of an informative chapter than plot-advancing, but this is stuff you kinda need to know for future reference.
If I haven't scared you off, please r&r and enjoy!
Oh! And the title is a little play on words of the song "Happy Together," by the Turtles.
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, so therefore, Harry Potter (sadly) does not belong to me. And neither does the song Happy Togetherbecause that belongs to the Turtles.
~*~
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Lavender asked mournfully.
"Yes," Harry insisted, holding her close.
"Promise?"
"Promise. But I have to go, I'm already late. And so are you."
"Yeah, all right. Bye, Harry." Lavender reached up and kissed him. Just as Harry began to get into it, Lavender pulled back. "Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow. Bye, Lav."
Finally Lavender let go and slowly slinked out the front door, her face tragic. Harry suppressed a grin as he hurried back to his room, searching for his robes. Lavender could be so dramatic.
"Harry! Are you almost ready?" called out Ron from across the flat.
"Yeah, almost!" Harry shouted back, who began to frantically search his room. Relief washed over him as he spotted his robes bunched up on the floor. He stuffed them into his bag and ran to meet up with Ron.
"Took you long enough!" Ron said, but Harry saw him grinning. Together, they left the flat and set out for the Ministry of Magic.
This was a daily tradition: the two would walk to the nearby Ministry, where Ron stopped to go to work and where Harry Apparted the rest of the way to the Quidditch pitch to practice. It gave them a chance to talk without interference.
"So, you and Lavender are doing all right, I take it?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I guess. It seems like it."
Ron glanced at him sideways. "What do you mean?"
Harry shrugged half-heartedly. "Mixed signals, you know? At first she has no time for me, then she doesn't want to leave my side. It's weird."
Ron laughed. "Women are strange."
"You don't have to tell me that twice. How are things with you and Daisy?"
"It's all right. But I'm not sure if I want to have a steady relationship. She's getting serious and I just want to have fun."
Harry laughed heartily. "Bet your mum loves that."
"Yeah, right." It was common knowledge that Mrs. Weasley was constantly on Ron's case about settling down and getting married. "Just because of Fred."
Fred, one of Ron's many brothers, was getting married in a few months to Angelina Johnston, a fellow ex-Hogwarts student and Quidditch captain and player. Ever since the engagement was announced, Mrs. Weasley had begun harassing her other sons—and Harry—about marriage.
Ron shook his head. "She'll just have to wait a few more years before I settle down."
The two walked the rest of the way to the Ministry together, where they went their separate ways.
"See you tonight, Harry. And don't forget. You have to cook dinner tonight!"
*
Hermione was in a rotten mood by the time she got home from the university. Between the horrible way her day had started and how awful it felt to be leading Derrick on, she wasn't feeling very happy. To top it off, it was Thursday, which had meant that she'd had evening classes. She was tired, grumpy and hungry when she finally walked through the door.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is, Harry! It's Little Miss Sunshine!" Ron teased.
"Oh, shut up," she grumbled, dropping her bag to the ground. "I'm not in the mood."
"Obviously."
"Ron you're—" Hermione began, but Harry cut her off.
"Hey, 'Mione, come here and taste this!"
Reluctantly, Hermione joined Harry in the kitchen, where he appeared to be making a type of sauce.
He casually put his arm around her as he offered her a spoonful of the sauce.
"Hey, this is actually good!" Hermione exclaimed, surprised.
"I'll pretend you didn't say that. Now, if you'll come over here…" Harry lead her over to a large pot on the stove and opened the lid. "See?"
Hermione peered into the pot. "Spaghetti. Again. Great."
Harry grinned sheepishly. "It's the only thing I can make that won't burn. That, and salad."
Ron rolled his eyes. "That much is true. He may be the famous Harry Potter, but he can't cook worth a damn."
Hermione felt her spirits lifting as they drifted into a conversation that took place every three nights, when Harry made dinner.
"Actually, you'll be pleased to know I'm learning how to make lasagna," Harry announced, stirring the pot.
"At least we'll have variety now," commented Ron.
"That's right. Lavender's teaching me."
"I don't like lasagna," Hermione said tersely.
"Really? Uh-oh."
Ron laughed. "Nice going, Potter."
Harry sighed. "I'll just get her to teach me to cook something else. But in the meantime, dinner's ready."
A few minutes later, they sat down to eat. "So, how was your day, Hermione?" Harry asked.
She sighed in frustration. "Long and unpleasant. And I'm thinking of breaking up with Derrick."
A stunned silence filled the room. Then Ron said, "Why?"
Hermione shrugged. "It's just not working out. I don't really like him that way anymore."
"That's too bad," Harry commented.
"Well, I can sympathize. I'm thinking of chucking Daisy."
"Ron, no! I like her. She's very nice."
It was Ron's turn to shrug. "Then you can date her. Look, it's like I told Harry this morning, she's getting really serious about us, but I'm not ready to settle down yet."
There was an uncomfortable pause in which no one seemed to know what to say. Then Harry laughed.
"Aren't we three doing well?" he said. "Ron's chucking Daisy, Hermione's chucking Derrick and I'm—"
"You're chucking Lavender?" Hermione asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice.
"No. But things aren't going as well as they used to be, so I don't know what's going to happen next."
"Oh."
As dinner progressed, Hermione felt her bad mood coming back. She wasn't looking forward to tomorrow. True, it was Friday, which meant she didn't have any classes, but tomorrow she'd be breaking up with Derrick. Though she didn't have feelings for him anymore, she still felt guilty about doing it. They'd been together for close to a year. She didn't want to hurt him, but in all honesty, she didn't want to be with him anymore.
Tomorrow is not going to be fun.
~*~
Ok, chapter two is (obviously) done. Please do not hold this chapter against me, I promise that chapter three—which will be posted in a couple of days to make up for this chapter—will be tons better. So, on that note, please review!!
