a/n: o.k., y'all know the drill. All Characters belong to J.K. Rowling. And, like I've said a trillion times, I'm sorry Ms. Jackson...oops(sweatdrop) ,...what I mean is, if the thought of two people of the same gender in a meaningful relationship makes you cringe, then get lost!!! A little bit more romance happening this chapter BTW, since the first two were on the fluffy side a bit. As always R/R! And special thanks to all those who have been reading this so far, it means a lot.( Esp. shell and minx, b/c... *sniff* you guys are my inspiration, even though I may not be a very worthy protege.) And even thanks to the ppl who read but don't review.

Rivals Ch.3
By: Cloud_Strife_73

The next day after school, Hermione opened the door to an unused classroom, after checking to see if the coast was clear. Earlier that day after lunch, Hermione had asked Cho to meet her there after school because she had something urgent to tell her. Cho had noticed the odd look in her girlfriend's eyes and agreed without a moment's hesitation.

Hermione entered the room, closed the door and put a locking charm on it and a soundproofing spell on the room itself. She saw that Cho had arrived already and was sitting on a large desk. Cho smiled and beckoned to Hermione to come sit down. Hermione sat down next to Cho.

"So, what's the urgent thing we have to talk about?" Cho inquired.

Hermione explained the whole thing, about Draco knowing about them, the magical recorder box, the blackmail plot, and Hermione's plan to tell Harry before Draco could. 'It'll be easier for him to hear it from us anyway' she said.

"That little asshole! I'll kick his skinny-" Cho's sudden outburst was silenced by Hermione's hand over her mouth. Hermione was confident in her ability in the soundproofing charm, but still didn't want to take any chances. "Shh, its alright. I think my plan will work, so don't worry." she said, trying to calm Cho's temper down.

After a while, after her anger subsided, Cho reached for Hermione's hand and gently removed it from her mouth. "Thanks for helping me calm down," she said. "It's just how dare he spy on us, then make such an outlandish demand in exchange for his silence..." she paused . "So when do you want to tell him?"

"The sooner the better. Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Are you sure? I mean- if you're ready.." Cho trailed off.

"I'm sure." She then smiled at her girlfriend, and chided in a playful tone. "You know if we're going to be together, you have to learn to trust me more, you know."

"Hey babe." Cho murmured. She slid over closer to Hermione, (a seemingly impossible feat, considering the were only a few inches apart) and draped an arm across her shoulder . "I'd follow you the edge of the world and back, but I just don't want you to do something you don't feel ready for that's all."

Surprised at Cho's sudden concern, she smiled.

"What?" asked Cho.

"It's just that one moment you can be so irate, and the next, be so concerned about me the next."

"Err.. is that a good thing?"

Hermione didn't reply-at least not in the spoken sense. She pulled Cho into a long, deep kiss that lasted for several minutes. Once Hermione pulled away, Cho displayed a devilish smile.

"I guess it is a good thing huh?" she teased, hoping to get the reaction that she wanted.

Hermione smiled innocently, then pushed her girlfriend mischievously onto the table. [a/n: 'can you feel the love tonight' plays :D]

"You're damn right it is." she said as she lowered her lips to meet her girlfriend's tantalizing ones yet again. The feeling of the kiss was just as strong as the one the night before, if not stronger. Adrenaline racing, she gently opened her mouth and pressed her tongue against Cho's teeth to get her to open them, by which Cho readily obliged.

If you had asked Hermione what she had thought of french kissing when she was younger, she would have said it was disgusting, and she would never do it, because of all the germs in the human mouth and who would want even more germs in their mouth. But now, she'd say that it was one of the most electrifying sensations in the world, having someone's tongue caressing your own. Now, she could positively couldn't give a damn about the billions of germs more than likely being swapped.

She dimly felt Cho's hands snaking up her back, and she gave an involuntary shudder because of it.
She ceased her tonsil hockey with Cho and started to lightly kiss her neck. Cho moaned lightly and tightened her grip on Hermione's back. Hermione reached up to brush her girlfriend's hair out of her face (Cho was apparently too interested in what she was doing to notice, but it annoyed the orderly side of Hermione terribly, being strewn about that way, although the hormonal side found it immensely sexy.), when she caught a glance of her hand-wound watch (electronics weren't allowed on Hogwarts grounds after all) when she noticed there was about 7 minutes until dinner. Unfortunately it was at exactly the same moment that one of Cho's hands was making its way up the front of her robes...

Hermione jumped off the table in a near-panic. Cho sat up, alarmed.

"What? What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" Cho asked worriedly, obviously hoping she hadn't inadvertently pissed Hermione off somehow, as she watched Hermione hurriedly smoothing her hair and robes back to their original state.

Hermione looked up, startled by Cho's question.
"Huh? Oh,-" she sat back on the table next to Cho. "No, you didn't do anything wrong... Actually-" she started to blush. "...you did everything right, especially towards the end. Its just that we have about 6 minutes to get to dinner, that's all."

Cho looked at Hermione absolutely in awe. She lay back down on the table and looked up at Hermione.
"Damn, Herm, I can see you not wanting to be late for class, not wanting to miss any important knowledge or anything..." (Hermione gave Cho a playful jab for her comment on her bookwormish habits in class) "..but not wanting to miss even a few minutes of dinner? I mean come on!"

"I just don't want to get anyone's suspicions up, that's all."

"So, even if we were, you know, would you still run off so you wouldn't be late?"

Hermione thought for a moment. She leaned over and gave Cho a quick kiss on her forehead.
"I wouldn't.. at least if you were any good..." she said jokingly as she stood up.

Cho opened her mouth to defend her sexual prowess (not that she had actually done anything before, but she was still confident of her ability.), but Hermione had pulled her up off the table and was trying to smooth her clothing as well. Hermione pulled her wand out and dispelled the locking and sound proofing charms on the room with one hand while finishing with Cho's robes.

"Come on. We don't wanna be late.." she said. She looked up at Cho, who was still looking upset.
"Listen I promise I'll make it up to you later..." she trailed off suggestively. This cheered Cho up, the unhappy look on her face now replaced by a lecherous grin.

"Alright, but you'd better make it up to me soon." Cho said, as she pushed her fingers through her hair, taming any stray strands that may have been sticking up.

"Of course! But," Hermione checked her watch-yet again- " For now, we have to go." She opened the door and began to walk down to the Great Hall.

Cho, not wanting to get into an argument over how she didn't think anyone would notice if they didn't show at dinner, just sighed, and followed Hermione.

As they reached the Great Hall, they noticed, that much to Hermione's relief, there were still quite a lot of students filing in. Scanning the crowd she spotted Ron and Harry, and thankfully noted Draco was not around. Waving to get the two boys attention, she waited until they walked over.

"Hey Herm, hey Cho." Ron said. "Where have you been?"

"Just hanging out, talking about ,you know, girl stuff." Cho said, effectively satisfying Ron's curiosity, who simply nodded.

"Well, shall we go in? I'm starved!" Harry exclaimed.

As Harry, Ron and Hermione headed towards the Gryffindor table and took their seats, Ron noticed that Cho was sitting down next to Hermione.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be at the Ravenclaw table? Ron asked.

"There isn't a rule against it, its just not common. Do you mind? I mean, I'll move if you don't want me sitting here.

"No, I don't mind you sitting here! I just don't want you getting into trouble or anything." Ron replied.

Professor Dumbledore stood up, and everyone quieted. He didn't really have any thing groundbreaking to say except to issue a new warning to stay away from the Whomping Willow, as a first year had had his arm broken while playing hide-and-seek near it, and to announce that there was a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow. After these minor announcements, food appeared on the tables, and conversation ensued yet again.

Cho whispered in Hermione's ear. "We tell them in Hogsmeade tomorrow, agreed?

"I guess so, but now I'm kinda scared" Hermione whispered back, admitting her fear over Ron and Harry's reaction.

She felt Cho's hand close over hers underneath the table. "Don't worry," came the hushed reply. "I'll be right there with you."

"What are you two whispering about?!?" Harry asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"About what we're gonna do in Hogsmeade tomorrow." Hermione answered truthfully. Harry nodded then turned his attention to a rather large helping of steak and kidney pie.

She looked at Cho, who simply grinned, gave a small squeeze to Hermione's hand before releasing it and started to eat her own dinner. Heartened by her girlfriend's reassurance, she put aside her worries, and piled some food onto her plate as well. After all, her mind said, Tomorrow is another day.


A/N: Alright, I know the last line probably didn't make much sense, but It was all I could think of... Don't hurt me! Pleeaze review. Flames will be laughed at and ridiculed however.