Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of its' characters, names, or settings.
Chapter 17- Conflict And Harsh WordsThanks for the reviews. . .
StacyCarlton: Aw. . . thanks.
GEmory: Thanks again for your review. You were the first person who reviewed this chapter when I checked it tonight. I honestly don't know how you do it. I hope you know, that if it wasn't for you and your review about what everyone's reaction in the Order for the foursome lying to them would be, I wouldn't have EVEN thought of putting some consequences for them Thanks a lot, and I'll try to focus on that a little more.
gazy: Lolz. . . yah. . . I'm trying to update as much as I can, so I can make up for that really long period of time when I was too busy to post anything up. Thanks again for your review gazy, and I still can't wait to read more of your story. Please update soon.
hothunnies16: Thank you so much for all of the reviews you have sent me. I really appreciate having a constant reviewer like you. It's because of people like you, that I want to put more and more chapters up even faster. Thanks again!
gazy (again)- Just read your updated chapters, and I would have to say that I am NOT pleased! I swear to God gazy. . . why the hell do you have to take EVERYTHING you read or hear so friggin seriously! I swear. . . you are just really pissing me off right now. WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT THAT STUPID STACY'S MOM WROTE ABOUT YOU? Just to make that one biatch happy, you have to ruin your whole story line? Uh uh! That is NOT gonna happen. . . k! Jeez! Just forget about it! You can't expect EVERY SINGLE ONE of your reviewers to love your story. Hey. . . even I had issues with a reviewer, but you don't see me changing my whole story just to make HER happy. It's not worth it!
Mz.Undastood-Actress- Lol. . . thx a lot for your three excellent reviews. Can tell that you were very hyper. . . LoL. Also wish you happy holidayz, and whatever else you may celebrate!
gg- Wow. . . thanks a lot for pointing that out! How could I be so stupid?
Chach-A-Lot- Wow. . . you must've been pretty sick. Meh. . . I just got the stupid flu, cuz I was too wuss to get my flu shot. I wasn't really scared of the actual needle. . . just scared of my doctor, cuz she's always p.m.s.ing and it's REALLY scary. (actually. . . I think it's because she looks really scary too, lol) Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
Typical-Teen- Lol. . . I only said I was 18, cuz I thought that if in the future I wanted to write rated r stories, I wouldn't be able to. But, I'm not going to write any rated r stories anyways.
Sparcle girl- Lol. . . thanks again for your review, and don't wurry. . . cuz I am working like mad to try to update faster now that there is no school.
gazy(again)- Just replying your OTHER review. No. . . that's not why I'm pissed. Read the reply above, and you'll probably have it figured out by now. Gazy. . . I think that maybe you are taking this whole fan fiction thing a little too seriously. Why do you take me as a person who acts like I own every single thing, and that I'll always get pissed for the tiniest things?
Emma Knight- Thanks for your review, but I didn't really get it. Can you please explain to me what you exactly meant?
"Hey you guys!" Hermione greeted to Luna and Neville, who were both standing right outside the entrance of the Head's Quarter. "You guys didn't have to wait for me."
"Morning 'Mione," Luna said, stifling a yawn. "That's okay. . . just thought it would be nice to walk to the Great Hall and eat breakfast together."
"Thanks," she replied gratefully, as the three of them started to make their way down the corridors.
They started to chat from where they had left off last night. During the lively conversation, Hermione was fighting with herself from inside, trying not to think about a certain gray eyed Head Boy.
However, in no time at all, they had reached the large heavy wooden doors that were already opened up to the Great Hall. As they walked into the large elegant room, the aromas of breakfast greeted them, and also the many heads from the houses that swerved in their direction as they came in.
Hermione, feeling her face growing warm, found herself thinking to herself, 'Not again.'
She, Neville and Luna quickly sat down near the left end of the Gryfinndor table. Hermione suddenly realized how hungry she felt, as she filled up her plate with buttered toast, eggs and sausages.
"Aaaah," she sighed contently, taking the first bite of a crispy toast that was spread over with light butter. "Have always loved Hogwarts food."
She then turned to Luna and Neville, who were both sitting to her right. They were engaged in a deep discussion concerning the separation of the Hogwarts students that the four houses created.
"You know. . . it's actually weird," Neville commented, after draining his glass of milk. Wiping the white milk moustache that formed above his upper lip, he continued, "Here is a school filled with students bent on rivalry over a silly thing like which house you belong to, but here you are Luna, breaking every single one of those rules by sitting with us Gryffindors, when you know you belong to Ravenclaw. Very weird."
"Hmmm. . ." she nodded, as she continued to chew up her breakfast.
"I agree," put in Hermione. "Why exactly aren't you sitting with the rest of the Ravenclaws? Of course. . . not that we don't want you sitting with us."
"Well. . ." Luna answered swallowing her food, carefully choosing the right words. "I don't know. . . I guess it's because I feel more comfortable with you guys instead. You do know that the Ravenclaws think of me as a little 'weird'. But, once I got to know some of you Gryfinndors, it turns out that I really like you guys."
"You know what I don't get," Hermione spoke up, sounding thoughtful. "Why everyone assumes that just because a person's in a different house then them, it means that that person's the bad guy in some rivalry thing. It's like, people judge who you are, just because you're from some place else. Heellooo. . . aren't we all people here!"
"I really wouldn't mind getting to know more people from other houses. . . even people from Slytherin," Luna thought out loud, with her usual soft and dreamy voice.
Hermione couldn't help but stiffen up slightly at these words.
'I thought I was the only one,' she thought in astonishment. 'I thought I was the only one that cared about this whole situation. Oh my gosh! These two actually understand me. Not like Ron and Harry. . .no. If I told them that I wouldn't mind befriending Draco Malfoy, or any of the other Slytherins, they would think I was going mad, and they'd just stop talking to me.'
Suddenly sitting up, Hermione knew that she had to check just to make sure.
"I totally agree with you Luna," Hermione said. Then after gulping, she continued. "So if I were to tell you guys something like I wanted to become friends with a Slytherin, let's say. . . oh, I don't know. . . Malfoy. . . you guys wouldn't think I was mad, and you guys would actually encourage it, right?"
"Yah," Neville agreed nodding.
Luna, who was very good about telling what other people thought or felt, suddenly had a look of suspicion on her usual calm face.
"Why?" she asked quietly, with her eyes slightly narrowed with curiosity.
"Oh, nothing," Hermione quickly answered turning away, as she pretended to be completely engrossed in the breakfast on her plate, which was now almost clear of food.
But, Luna could tell that something was up, even though she kept it to herself. Neville, who didn't have the same girls' instincts that they both had, could also tell that Hermione was hiding something else from them.
After exchanging puzzled glances with each other, they both bent down to their breakfasts, and continued to eat in silence. It was an actual minute, before Hermione finally noticed it first.
"Hey you guys," she said as she looked up from her plate, sounding confused. "Isn't the Gryfinndor table a little too quiet? We're usually the loudest out of the four house tables."
"Hey, you're right," Neville agreed, as both he and Luna quickly looked up. "And, don't we usually have a lot of people joined into our mealtime conversations?"
The three started to look around them, to notice that there were indeed people sitting around them, except that the people on their right were all turned toward the right side of the Gryfinndor table.
"Hmm. . . looks like someone's catching everyone's attention," Luna observed, as she slowly lifted herself up from her seat to see what was going on in the other side of the house table.
"I wonder who, though," said Neville, as he also looked up.
The sudden sound of Ginny's immature and extremely fake laugh, brought Hermione's stomach to a complete drop.
"Well," she said quietly, shaking her head, before turning back to her almost empty plate. "There's your answer Nev'."
Harry's laughter drifted up to their side of the Gryfinndor, and as they remained silent, snippets of the conversation floated up for them to hear.
"Yah. . . what a bitch she is," Ginny was saying in a smug voice, as nearly everyone in Gryfinndor had their attention to her, Harry and Ron. "Who does she think she is, completely ditching us?"
Hermione, realizing that all of the bad mouthing was about her, turned red, as she felt herself slowly sinking down on her chair.
"Augh!" Luna chocked on her drink in disgust. "She really must be enjoying all of the attention she's getting right now. Disgusting!"
Neville, turning to Hermione and looking completely concerned, asked, "'Mione, you okay? Aren't you going to do anything to stop them from spreading lies about you?"
"What. . . no, it's no big deal Nev'," she replied startled. "I'm okay, and I don't give a damn about them."
"But," he started, but was soon interrupted.
"Look, I already made a deal to myself that the only way I was going to get through this, was to just keep my cool," she put in. "I already made a lot of mistakes yesterday by losing my temper so often, so this time. . . I'll try to do better."
Harry's voice now drifted toward them.
"A complete backstabber, she is," he was telling all of the intent listeners. "Anyone would be extremely stupid to be friends with her now, let alone talk to her. Leaving her was the best thing we ever did. I mean. . . don't even get me started on how much she can use you, just to get what she wants, or where she wants to be."
Hermione's blood was now boiling, and her patience was reaching her high point. Breathing deeply, she tried to remain calm, as she continued to stare at her now-empty plate.
"Well," Luna adruptly spoke. Her voice was hard and cold, and it was a tone of voice that neither Hermione nor Neville recognized in her. She quickly stood up, before continuing on. "I cannot just sit here and let them say shit like that about you. 'Mione, if you're not going to do anything about this, then I will."
"I totally agree," Neville nodded, as he too got up. Both he and Luna marched over to where Ron, Harry and Ginny sat.
'Oh gosh!' Hermione thought in despair and disbelief. She sunk down in her seat even lower, as she thought to herself. 'I really do hope that they don't make fools out of themselves. I mean, it's LUNA and NEVILLE for goodness sake!'
By now, Luna and Neville had approached them. There was a moment's of silence when everyone just stared, and then suddenly, Hermione heard Neville's voice breaking the silence. His tone was hard and deathly quiet as he spoke with a voice dripping with complete hatred.
"I'm sorry. . . but did I just hear right?" he questioned angrily. "Where you just having a small chat about our good friend Hermione?"
"Uh huh," Ginny replied, as she nodded. "Got a problem with that?"
"As a matter of fact," Luna replied, with forced calm. "We do, bitch, and we'd really hope that you would stop lying about her."
"E-excuse me!" Ginny asked angrily. "You did NOT just say that to my face!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Luna apologized sarcastically. "But. . . I think I just did, and here's what else I will do straight to your face. . ."
Hermione finally looked up, and what she saw next, completely shocked her.
Luna hacked up a rather large amount of spit before releasing it from her mouth, where it landed straight onto Ginny's shocked and flushed face. All of the Gryfinndors gasped in horror, and some of the Ravenclaws that were now watching, cheered, "Go Luna!", or "Show her what you're made of!"
"Augh!" Ginny exclaimed in disgust, as both she and Harry stood up. Ron was the only one remaining sitting, and as Hermione observed him, she noticed that he was staring down on his plate. He didn't say anything, and he had remained silent throughout everything.
"How dare you!" she shrieked in anger.
Hermione, who was now watching with complete attention, found herself thinking, 'So that's how Luna acts and looks like when she's actually angry. . .'
"Get her away from my girl," Harry now spoke, as he stood facing Neville. Although his size towered over Neville, Neville still looked completely cool.
"Yah. . . I better, cuz your ugly ass face has made her suffer enough already," Neville replied. "I see fame has finally gotten to your big head, Harry."
Suddenly, Ginny's hand appeared in front of Neville's face, but before she could slap him, Luna blocked her, and before anyone could say or do anything, her hand connected to the side of Ginny's face with so much force, that the sound echoed across the hall.
"Come on," Neville muttered, as he grabbed Luna's arm pulling her back towards the other side of the Gryfinndor table where Hermione sat watching. "We'd better go before any of the teachers do anything."
About 50 pairs of eyes followed Neville and Luna as they marched back to where Hermione sat waiting. When they sat down, everyone turned back to their food, but it was still a little quieter as the Gryfinndors and also the Ravenclaws exchanged whispers at what they had just witnessed.
'Oh my gosh!' Hermione thought to herself in shock. 'Who would've believed. . .'
"Wow, you guys. . ." Hermione said in amazement with her mouth open. "Wow. . . thanks a lot for sticking up for me. I really appreciated it."
"Your welcome 'Mione," Luna said shaking her head. She now looked exactly the same as usual, calm and dreamy, as if nothing had happened at all, and as if she had just remained sitting and eating her breakfast the whole time. "I don't think they'll want to mess with you, now that they know we are here."
Hermione and Neville laughed, but Hermione still couldn't help the feeling of unease that had settled in her.
'How come I've never even noticed the amount both Luna and Neville have changed since the big incident in the Ministry Of Magic last year?' she thought to herself in shame.
"Wow. . ." she told them in wonder. "You guys handled it very well. You sure showed them. I can't believe you guys have changed though."
"For better or for worse?" Neville asked.
"Better," came Hermione's short answer.
"Well," Luna said, as she got up and grabbed her backpack. "We'd better go to our classes now. Also. . . I want to see if I can make friends with a couple of Slytherins today. Do you think it'll work?"
"Uh. . . I don't know Luna," Neville replied laughing, as he and Hermione also got up. As they walked out of the Great Hall, he continued, "We'd have to try extremely hard to make friends with that bunch."
"Oh. . . I don't think it's going to be SO hard," Hermione said. "You know. . . they're really not bad, those Slytherins."
A/N: Sorry if any of the profanity bothered you people.
