Disclaimer: I own absolutely none of these characters! They are all owned by JKR. Basically, I am only borrowing them and will later return them all hot, sexy, and sweaty… I am in no way trying to make any sort of profit off of this story. It is just hear for your enjoyment, pleasure, whatever…
Author's Note: If you notice something needs a correction, don't hesitate to let me know, I would be ecstatic if you helped me. At the end of all chapters I will post my author ramble. Oh yes, if you get annoyed with all my "…" (dot dot dot's) too bad. I use them a lot, so oh well :)
Ok, here's the deal: This story is a HP/DM SLASH. Whish means boy with boy, though there may not be any for awhile. If you don't enjoy these sort of stories, please leave now.
Perfection Learning
Chapter 2. Leaving to Hogwarts
Oh she's nice, she's kind, Innocent too. She's probably pretty The right one for you So Just forget me: I'm only a friend Though I'll be with You Until the end
-Only a friend, Sharon M.M.
"Yes…?" Harry asked. He had a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he hoped that what she was about to say to him wasn't what he was thinking.
"Just please assure me you won't get mad…" she said looking somewhere near Harry's left foot.
"I won't." he sighed.
"You do know that you are one of my best friends, and that you really mean a lot to me." she said as Harry nodded, "And, well… It's just that I am in love with--"
"--Hermione… Don't say it…" Harry said softly, "I know what you want to tell me…"
"Y-you do?" Hermione said her mouth a perfect 'O', "Who told you?"
"No one told me, I already knew…" Harry said giving her a weak smile, "I just don't want you to spill out your heart to me, as there is something you should know before you tell me."
Hermione didn't reply.
"I can never feel that way about you… You are really pretty, but it's just that I can never like you that way because--"
"--Harry? Are we even on the same wavelength here?" Hermione said laughing, "What are you talking about?"
"Wha? Err… You mean you're not in love with me?" Harry said as he reddened.
"Where did you ever get that idea?" Hermione said laughing, "No, that's not what I was telling you at all!"
"Oh…" Harry said biting his lip, "Then what were you going to tell me?"
"Well, do you want me to start at the beginning?" Hermione didn't wait for an answer, "Well, I visited Bulgaria over the summer. I met Victor once again, and we… Hit it off per say, and well… We both started discussing our feelings for each other, and… Well… I'm very much in love with him, and we are both thinking about getting married over the summer. And I'm sort of engaged…" she finished blushing slightly. Glancing down, Harry saw a small ring on her wedding finger he hadn't noticed before.
"Krum?! You're engaged to Victor Krum?!"
"Well… Yes…" Hermione said, her face falling "Is it really that bad? I hoped you would understand and maybe--"
"--That's great!" Harry said giving her a big hug, "Sorry for misunderstanding you…"
"Oh, that's alright, Harry!" Hermione said once again beaming, "But… When do you think I should tell Ron?"
"Um… Well I guess you should wait awhile… You know, let him know you're not interested in him or anything like that…"
"… Does Ron think that I like him…?"
"Uh… Well… He said… Err I mean, he has told me that he thinks that you… Um… Like him…" Harry said avoiding Hermione's gaze lest she find out he was only telling her half the truth. For Ron not only liked Hermione, he was in love with her and thought she felt the same about him.
"Oh…" Hermione said closing her eyes for a moment, "Would he be mad at me?"
"Um…"
"Harry, please tell me the truth." she said weakly.
"I don't think he would be very… approving of your decision –but only because he doesn't like Krum!" Harry finished breathlessly.
"Oh… He still doesn't like Krum…" Hermione said slowly.
"But I'm very happy for you Hermione! And I'm sure that Ron, if he liked Krum, would be overjoyed, too!" Harry said trying to hide the fact that he just told an outright lie. Ron would probably hate Hermione for the decision she made even if he loved Krum as a brother…
"Oh thank-you, Harry." Hermione said smiling as she hugged Harry again.
'Don't mention it.' he thought bitterly, 'I just love lying to my friends…'
There was a moment of awkward silence as Harry noticed Ron looking mad at Harry hugging Hermione.
"Well… Um I have to get my robes now. How about you and Ron go and shop together and we all meet up in front of Gringotts at…" he glanced at his watch, "Around 5 o'clock?"
Hermione bit her lip as she studied his face, "Are you sure about this Harry? I know that you like being alone sometimes, and I don't mind… It's just that after that--"
"—I'm sure." Harry cut her off. She was about to mention the death of his Godfather, Sirius Black… He still woke up with nightmares about a veil, and a hand reaching out for his own hand that was never there in time…
"Well, alright. If you say so." she grinned a little then raised an eyebrow, "Do you have any news to tell me besides the Head Boy business? You know, any new people?"
'What?' Harry mentally thought before he knew what she was getting at, "No, there's no new love interest in my life." he said chuckling.
Hermione giggled, "Well in that case would you mind me setting you up with a hot young lady for a blind date?"
He rolled his eyes, "Do what you must."
Narrowing her eyes she grinned an evil grin, "Alright, but I get to pick what you wear."
'Oh Merlin… She's gonna make me look like a pretty boy.' Harry thought as he ran his hand through his hair, "Fine…"
She still had that evil look in her eyes, "Alright, I'll go find Ron… and Harry?"
"Yea?"
"Please try and be early… I don't want to have to worry about you…"
He nodded and then turned to walk away. Hermione, always acting the mother…
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20 MINUTES LATER: MADAM MALKIN'S ROBES FOR ALL OCCASIONS
A tinkling sound issued from an unknown source as Harry opened the door to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. It seemed as if the shop was being re-done for there were white boxes stacked high on the shelves. All were labeled in the same neat and spidery writing. He heard something 'ka-lack ka-lack' sound as someone approached him wearing flip-flops. The said person then stepped out from behind a dangerously leaning pile of boxes.
It was a young girl, around the age of twenty or so. She had curly blonde hair and hazel eyes. This person was definitely not the short and squat Madam Malkin Harry had met in his first year. Perhaps she was a niece or grandchild. She hurriedly went and stood on the counter, pulling out a large black book and stared at it –quill in hand.
"Name please… Last then first." she said in a bored voice. She still hadn't even looked at Harry.
"Potter, Harry." he said.
"Harry Potter?" she whispered as she looked up at him, slowly turning crimson. Her eyes, as hundreds before her had, ran over the spot on his forehead where his scar was.
"Yes…" he said ignoring her last actions, "I need navy blue robes. Um… I'll take two."
"Oh, you too? A bloke was just in here, asked for navy, too." said a squat witch who had walked up next to Harry, unheard.
'Another boy was in here? But I thought only the Head Students whore navy…' Harry thought to himself before speaking, "Another boy?"
"Yes…" the squat witch said who could only be Madam Malkin, "Now if you don't mind, I need you to step over here so I can measure you. You are buying robes for yourself, right?"
"Yes… Navy." Harry said repeating himself as he stepped where she gestured. The curly blonde haired witch watched him the whole time, Harry was used to this, but it was a little annoying as he was trying to think and he kept on seeing her out of the corner of his eye.
As he was buying his new robes he saw the curly haired witch pause over his receipt and write something. She handed it to him, blushing, and gave a big smile. As Harry walked out of the shop he looked at the receipt. She had written down her phone number. He rolled his eyes as he balled it up and threw it away in a nearby trashcan.
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TWO HOURS LATER: FRONT OF GRINGOTTS
True to his word, Harry arrived at the front of Gringotts early. Ten minutes early. As he had nothing to do for twenty whole minutes, Harry decided to people watch for a bit. Five minutes had passed by when he saw Ginny Weasley making her way towards him. She looked tired, and sat at the bench he was currently sitting at.
"Hullo Harry." she said closing her eyes for a moment, "Merlin I'm tired."
"Where's Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked looking around.
"Oh yea…" Ginny said, eyes still closed, with a small smirk on her face, "There was a book signing by Dr. Phil Alright. He's an author of one of the books on your list… He's basically the new Gilderoy Lockhart except more… Nerdy…" she finished with a laugh, "Mum couldn't resist. She told me to run along."
"I see…" Harry replied absently as he watched a vendor walk past totting a cart of moving cheese behind him.
"So what have you been doing?" Ginny said, "Where are Ron and Hermione?"
"I've been walking around… I bought a few things, too." he said, "We agreed to split up. Hermione went with Ron and I went by myself."
Ginny abruptly stared at him, "You went off by yourself?"
"Well… Yes…"
"Harry! That's really irresponsible of you! A Deatheater could have captured you and no one would have known!" she said sounding like Hermione.
Harry didn't answer. He continued to act indifferent to the fact that she was right and he was wrong. He hated it when Hermione did this, but it was just as bad when Ginny scolded him, too.
"I'll talk to Ron and Hermione about it…" Ginny paused, apparently thinking, "Do you have your badge with you?"
"Yea, why?" Harry said reaching into his pocket but finding only his wand, "Wha? It's not there!"
Ginny only nodded and continued to watch him, a red eyebrow arched.
"Do you know where it is?" Harry asked still confused.
Ginny opened her mouth to answer, but a yell overpowered whatever she was about to say, "HARRY!"
Running up to the bench was Hermione and a very ruffled looking Ron and Mrs. Weasley.
"Sorry, mate, but me mum got all worried when she saw you weren't with us. Started to rant, too…" Ron said blushing for no apparent reason, "She was mad that we forgot all about… That we were busy… erm… Left you by yourself." Ron stuttered, his ears turning their trademark red color. Hermione, too, was blushing profusely, though Harry couldn't imagine why.
Mrs. Weasley ranted and rambled to Harry, Ron and Hermione about the dangers of leaving Harry alone for a good twenty minutes. It was then that they noticed people had begun to watch, which was when the furious Mrs. Weasley decided it was time to leave.
As the small group walked back towards The Leaky Cauldron, Harry heard Ginny murmur, "Oh yes… They were busy alright… Snogging…"
'I thought Hermione was engaged! To Krum, too! But now she had a snog session with Ron? Merlin, what's up with her… I should talk to her later…' Harry vowed he would talk with her later, but he dearly hoped he had misunderstood Ginny, too.
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ONE WEEK LATER: JUST ARRIVING AT PLATFORM 9 ¾
"Is everyone all ready? Alright… On three say Hogwarts!" Mrs. Weasley said holding a 'wizards' camera. It looked just like a muggle camera except with a special incantation, the pictures will move.
Over the past week, nothing much had happened, except for the fact that Harry was constantly under supervision by the Weasley family. Harry still had not confronted Hermione about her supposed snogging incident with Ron, and he dismissed it as a mistake on Ginny's part. He doubted Hermione would have an affair when she was newly engaged to Krum.
"Ok… One… Two… Three!"
"Hogwarts!" Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and Ron yelled as the camera produced a large purple flash which made several muggles blink stupidly. Mrs. Weasley smiled as a picture popped out of the bottom of the camera.
"Oh! You all look so grownup!" she said, her eyes becoming filled with tears.
"Oh great…" Ron muttered as he hurried towards his mum, "She's going to cause a scene…"
Harry and Hermione almost collapsed with laughter as they watched Mrs. Weasley start crying with great wracking sobs, "I j-j-just c-can no-t-t beli-eive that you ar-are both s-s-s-so grown up-p-p! And you are b-b-oth more then-n-n a –sniff- moth-er-er-er could ev-v-ver as-s-sk for!"
"Mum, calm down!" Ron said looking around nervously at the staring people, "Just stop crying… Err… I'm fine just… Um… I'll write you and take care of myself… Have to go now!" Ron said as he hurried towards the train. He turned to Harry and mouthed "She's fine! Run now!" But it was too late, for Harry felt Mrs. Weasley clutch onto his arm and cry against his shoulder.
"We a-a-a-re al-l-l-l so p-proud o-of you H-h-h-har-r-ry! I l-l-lov-ve you l-like –sob- you w-were my ow-wn s-s-son!" Mrs. Weasley was barely understandable as she sobbed against Harry's, now wet, shoulder. He didn't know what to do, so he patted her head a bit awkwardly. A small crowd of people had gathered at the disturbance. Most of them, it seemed, thought that Harry was her son and moving away.
Harry slowly turned to see if Ron would help, but he was no where to be seen, as was also Hermione. The only Weasley in sight was Ginny, laughing hysterically. Slowly, Harry eased Mrs. Weasley off of his shoulder, and turned her so she was facing him.
"Mrs. Weasley… I… err… Thank-you for treating my like a… um… son all of these years… And I'm glad that you would even think of me as a son… So…Erm… What I wanted to say was… Uh… Thank-you…" Harry finished lamely, but Mrs. Weasley seemed even happier for a new round of tears started leaking out of her eyes and she clutched onto Harry once again preventing him from moving, "I really have to go now Mrs. Weasley… The train is, you know, about to leave… As in go without me."
"Oh, yes… Sorry –sniffle- Harry, dear. I hope you visit –sniffle- us with Ron on Christmas." she said getting control over herself, and letting Harry go.
"Harry, hurry up!" Ron yelled out of one of the compartment window's of the Hogwarts Express, "We're leaving any minute, mate!"
"Alright Ron!" Harry yelled and turned back to Mrs. Weasley, "I'll visit during Christmas. How could I resist? Well, I have to go now… Bye Mrs. Weasley." Harry said as he hurried towards the train with Ginny at his heels.
As Harry entered the compartment that Ron and Hermione were in he was treated with one of the most shocking things he had ever seen. Hermione, sweet innocent Hermione, was straddling Ron's hips and snogging him. Ron was lying against the bench's cushion and seemed be too immersed in the moment to notice Harry, as also was Hermione. Harry stared, mouth open in shock, for a few seconds before he turned and closed the door softly. Ginny, who had just walked up behind him looked at him quizzically.
"What is it?" she said, "Why didn't you go in?"
"Oh… well…" Harry searched for an answer but found none, "They're a little busy…"
Harry made another mental note to talk with Hermione later about her and Krum's relationship.
Ginny smiled, but nodded that she understood, "Oh, Ok… Well, then I'll just be in Neville's compartment then."
Harry waited for Ginny to move, which she didn't. There was a long moment of silence before Ginny spoke up, "You should be heading towards the Head Student compartment… To… Erm… Meet your partner."
"Oh… right." Harry said, still waiting for her to move.
"You'll need your badge though." she said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out none other then Harry's badge, "Here, I'll pin it on…" She pinned it to his robes, gave him a sad smile and turned around and walked away. Harry was now thoroughly confused, but hurried towards the Head Student compartment anyway.
He stopped in front of the door and paused for a moment. He couldn't hear anyone inside the room, so he figured he wasn't all that late if the Head Girl wasn't there already. Shrugging, Harry slid open the door and gasped at the sight before him. He couldn't believe it, why were they here?! The room was filled with a tense silence, before they spoke up.
"Is this some kind of joke?" they said pointing to Harry's badge, laughing.
Harry frowned, and glanced at his badge. He could see nothing wrong with it, at first glance. At second glance he realized something was very wrong, and he had never been more embarrassed in all his life.
TBC
What is up with Hermione?
Who did Harry see in the Head Student Compartment?
Tune in next time folks for the answers to these questions! I promise I'll answer them, too :)
And to my awesome reviewers:
portmanroxsmysoxs- I made it a bit longer, I hope you like! And thank-you so much for the complements!
Puppy Kicker- I know this probably wasn't soon enough, as I was busy (gag) but I promise to update sooner next time! Yes, lots of surprises do await…
Shelli- Oh, thank-you! I don't know if this was much of a cliffie, but ah well…
Miss Smarty Pants- A tutor? Oh my… I've always wanted to be either an English teacher or an actress… Hmm… Well, anyways, thnk-you a lot! I hope you liked this chapter!
Morivanim- Oh no! More war dances! Gah! Well, I promise to the fan fiction gods that you will find out in the next chapter about the badge :D grins demonically
ashley- I wrote more! I hope you're happy!
MrsOliverWood247- Thank-you! The books sort of got messed up when I posted it, some of them are on the same line as another book, but oh well, I'll fix it later.
brandnewsemester- Here's more!
PWeatherby- All I can say for now is very very very good guess. Here's a cookie :) There will be more mystery later on in this story, a murder and such- so read closely for clues :)
I love you all! And if anyone out there who hasn't reviewed yet, and has read this story, then maybe you could review, too? (HINT HINT) I'll love you if you do! Just review! Anyone!