CHAPTER XV A DREAM, A MEETING AND A GUESS
Harry woke up next morning with his head throbbing. It's probably because of the lack of sleep he went through last night. He patted for his glasses on his side table then he wore it and got out of bed. Beside the headache that he was going through right now, something else was bothering him. His fight with Hermione last night was still troubling him. Ever since he woke up until showering, he still couldn't help thinking some ways to say sorry to Hermione since it was kind of stupid how it all started. Harry got out of the shower still thinking about Hermione, he changed on to his school robes and then headed for the Great Hall.
As he went to the entrance hall, Harry immediately saw Hermione walk out, he thought of why she was early to eat her Breakfast, she was avoiding him, apparently she's still upset with him because of last night he thought to himself. He called her but she hurriedly walked away, he thought it would be useless if he ran after her, she'd probably ignore him for doing so. Harry went in the Great Hall instead.
When he approached their usual seats, Ron suddenly walked towards him and made him sit down their table.
"What on earth did you do to her?" asked Ron
"Did you two had a row or something?" asked Neville
"Yeah, it was pretty bad, and the sad part of it is this is the first time we ever had a real serious fight," said Harry miserably, then immediately, someone sat down beside him
"I've seen Granger earlier Potter, what did you do now?" said Draco
"I have enough problems Malfoy," said Harry
"Yep, it surely looks like it,' said Draco smiling at him
"Why don't you just go and disappear Malfoy," said Ron
Draco just ignored him and gave him the finger. He took a sip of his Butterbeer and patted Harry on the back "Potter, Potter, Potter, I see this is the first time you had a real fight with a girl, if I were you, I'd go and fix it, well... that is if I like the girl, if I don't, I'll just go and hook up with someone else, it's just that simple, then again, you're not me," said Draco
"What am I going to do?" asked Harry
"Say sorry?" said Ron
"Ron, I would have done that if it were that simple, she really hates me, now she thinks I'm like Malfoy now," said Harry
"Oh really? She thinks that you're a handsome mysterious bad boy that's every girls fantasy?" asked Draco
"You're not helping," said Harry
"Was I suppose to?" asked Draco
Harry laid his head on top of the table muttering things to his self while Draco occasionally laughed at him. Later that day, the other Gryffindor girls came up to Harry saying things like "How dare you hurt that girl's feelings!" It was the same with the other Houses; Even some of the Teachers were starting to act weird around him, namely Professor Vector, the Arithmancy Professor who gives Harry glares of death whenever they come across the hall. It was getting worse and worse every class, namely, at Potions where Snape spent all of their time ridiculing him, it didn't bother him though, the thought of getting revenge through Sirius made the embarrassment bearable.
Harry had enough of this cruelty to him by the whole school; He decided he would go and make up with Hermione. Harry knew that he isn't going to have an idea how to just pop up in his head like magic, which is quite an irony because he was living in a world surrounded by it, so he told Ron to get Seamus and Dean and meet him later at the Gryffindor common room later that night at twelve so they were sure that nobody would bother them. Ron was happy to do what Harry had told him to do. In his mind, he knew Ron was excited because they never had a boy's only gathering before.
Harry survived the day of blaming and vindictiveness, he thought that they might have tied him to a steak already and started to burn him alive... good thing they didn't he thought.
After a regretting dinner alone, Harry went back to the Gryffindor tower; he went inside the portrait hole after saying the Password to the Fat Lady. He didn't saw anybody at the common room yet, a fact that made him glad. He didn't expect to see Ron and the others until later that night so he went to their dorm and took a much-awaited shower.
He changed his clothes afterwards. Realizing that there is absolutely nothing to do but to stare at the wall, he went and took his Firebolt out of his trunk and polished it with Ron's Polishing kit he had given to him last Christmas. He cleaned it all over leaving it spotless, a few moments later, he saw the gift that Hermione had given to him lying neatly on his side table, Harry fixated on the figurine, thinking how much happiness Hermione had given him ever since he went to Hogwarts. She's so beautiful he thought, now, all kinds of things had entered his head, he was in love with the smartest girl in school, he was in love with the most beautiful girl in school and most of all, he was in love with his best friend, a fact that he tried to deny ever since he felt feelings for her, feelings that seems to have a life of its own, they were getting out of control, he didn't know if he can hide them if she would have been standing right in front of him. Harry laid down his Broom down on his bed and leaned towards the side table to pick the figurine up, even by now he's still amazed by the way it resembled to him and his Firebolt, he scanned it from top to bottom and was surprised to see an inscription at the bottom it says 'To one of my best friends, Harry, love, Hermione' Harry's depression was quickly replaced by an overwhelming desire to tell Hermione that he loves her, but Harry suddenly shook his head as if he was waking up from a nightmare he wants to forget.
"C'mon Harry, wake up, you're delusional, you can't be in love with Hermione, you can never be in love with her, even though she's beautiful, smart, understanding," Harry shook his head again "what the hell is wrong with you Potter? Don't make me kick your ass!" he said to himself
Harry paused for a few moments; he studied the figurine once more "Oh crap!" he yelled at himself "I'm going insane, what the hell am I going to do? Crap! Crap! Crap!" he laid on his bed and closed his eyes; he attempted to sleep to able to forget what torture he has been going through these last few times.
############DREAM SEQUENCE###############
Harry found his self at some kind of park he had never been at before, the environment had a feeling of spring all around, it was filled with different kinds of flowers, he saw benches that were neatly cleaned up, as he walked around, he later saw a woman sitting by one of the benches, she was reading a book of some sort but he couldn't make it up what the title of the book, he walked towards her slowly, when he finally reached her, he recognized that the woman he was watching was his best friend Hermione.
"Hermione?" asked Harry
She turned around to him and smiled "Harry, there you are, I've been waiting for you," she said to him
"Really? Well, I'm here already, so... now what?" asked Harry
Hermione chuckled slightly at him "Don't tell me you forgot," said Hermione
"Forgot? Forgot what?" asked Harry
"Our anniversary," said Hermione
"Our anniversary?" Harry repeated
"Why are you answering me with questions? You're so odd sometimes, why don't you just make it up to me," said Hermione
"Err... make it up? How? He asked
Harry immediately saw Hermione's cheeks blush red, she leaned a little close to him "Come here and find out," said Hermione
Harry knew she was talking about him kissing her; he leaned close to her and kissed her lips passionately, it was the most strangest sensation he had experience his entire life, for once in the longest time, he felt that there was nothing more right that moment, they stayed like that for a few seconds, next thing that Harry knew, he was at the same park, but the weather was totally different, the park was covered with snow, all of the different flowers that he saw before were now all completely covered by the snow around him, the benches were undistinguishable he turned around and saw Hermione standing right in front of him feeling, she was crying and her expression was nothing but anger.
"I wish I'd never met you Harry!" she screamed at him
"What! Why?" he said immediately
"Don't give me that! I wish I never fell in love with you!"
"What the Bloody hell is going on!"
"I hate you Harry," said Hermione softly in rage
Those words felt like someone reached into his chest and squeezed the life out of him, he stood there motionless with his mouth slightly open; he stared at Hermione's face seeing nothing but hate, he couldn't stop thinking how much it hurt the way she said she wished she never met him, but now the pain has even risen upon the level that Harry ever knew, just as Harry started to pace towards Hermione, she quickly turned around and ran as fast as she can away from him, Harry started to run after her , but it seems he was not moving from where he was standing.
"HERMIONE!!!"
############END DREAM SEQUENCE#############
Harry opened his eyes to find himself lying on his bed next to his broom, he sat up and shook his head trying to fully wake his self up, he suddenly felt something in his hand, he opened it up to find the small figurine of him, then, Harry recalled his dream, how much pain it would be if he and Hermione would end up the same way in his dream, Harry gave a deep sigh and made up his mind, he decided not to pursue with his feelings for Hermione even though it means denying himself from a chance of real happiness. He looked around the room for no apparent reason, he glanced at Dean's side table a small little football like alarm clock, he got out of bed and tool a look of what time it was. It was twenty minutes pass eleven. Harry's stomach started to grumble; he realized that he was still hungry because he ate quickly just to get out of the Great Hall at once.
"Crap," said Harry
He took Firebolt and the Polishing kit back to his trunk and then he laid the figurine back to his side table, he went to the common room, after seeing nobody there, he decided to go to the kitchen to get some food, a few minutes later, he returned back with a plate full of chicken legs and some Butterbeer.
"Harry!" called someone
Harry looked to where the person was "Ron!"
"Where have you been? You weren't inside the dorm," said Ron
"Oh, I went to the kitchen to get something to eat, I'm still hungry see," said Harry
"Do you think you can eat all those chicken," said Seamus beside Neville
"I don't think I can eat them all, if you want we guys can share it while having the meeting?" said Harry
"You're a good chap," said Dean taking a chicken out of Harry's hands
Harry placed the plate and Butterbeer down on the table.
"So tell me Harry, why do you want to have a meeting in the common room instead of our dorm?" asked Seamus
"That's because the walls are to thin, somebody can eavesdrop on us, Parvati proved my theory when she found out that Ron was a big fan of the Chuddly Cannons, she gave him a lot of memorabilia the next day," said Harry
"Oh," was the only thing that Seamus, Neville and Dean could say
"By the way, before I start the meeting, why didn't I see you guys for the rest of the day?" asked Harry
"Parvati," said Ron plainly
"Lavender," said Seamus
"Samantha," said Dean
"Ginny," said Neville, Ron glared at him
"What is it with women?" said Dean
"Why, what happened?" asked Ron
"Nothing, it was something involving chocolates and flowers, just forget it," said Dean at once
"Okay lets start, so, have you guys figured out a good way for me to say sorry to Hermione?" asked Harry
"First of all, what happened to you to, all I know was you two were having a contest with who has the louder voice last night," said Dean
"Long story," said Harry
"Okay, why don't you get some parchment and quills," suggested Dean
Harry nodded and reached for his wand, he waved it and suddenly, a bottle of ink, a few rolls of parchment and a quill appeared out of thin air.
"Well why don't you just give her a book Harry, you know she loves, she'd practically marry one," said Dean
"She's still our bestfriend Thomas," warned Ron
"Hey don't attack me, I'm just suggesting-"
"I cant give her a book, I gave her one last Christmas, besides, it's going to be too cliché for her, I want to give her something she wouldn't expect if I were to give her a present," said Harry
"So you say that you give her anything, is that correct? Why don't you go to her at breakfast and kneeled down to her and shout her name on top of your voice until she says she forgives you, that might work," said Neville
"She'd just pull out her wand and use a silencing charm on me," said Harry
"If you ever do that kind of stunt at Ginny, I'll say you'd pretty much say goodbye to her, all the humiliation will be too much to bear for her," said Ron sneering at Neville
"I was just-"
"Shush, do you hear that, that's the sound of common sense at work, why don't you shut up and let it do it's fantastic acts that you're not familiar of," said Ron
"That's just plain cruel Ron," said Seamus
"What, are you Draco Malfoy now?" said Dean
"Common guys! Concentrate," said Harry
Suddenly, they heard a knock coming from the Fat Lady's portrait. Harry stood up and walked to see whom it is.
"I wonder who could this be?" said Harry
Harry uttered the password from behind the portrait causing it to open, Harry instantly saw Draco leaning on the wall beside the Fat Lady. He looked like he was beaten up; Harry was surprised to see him in this kind of condition.
"Malfoy?" said Harry
"Oh, what's up Potter," said Draco sounding exhausted
Harry quickly helped him inside but Draco pushed him away.
"No thanks Potter, you might start to think that you're a freakin domestic helper, I can walk on my own thank you," said Draco forcing himself to pace inside
"What the hell happened to you? asked Harry at once
"Oh, you mean this cuts and bruises? I was walking along side a hill somewhere and then I decided to fall to my doom just for fun," said Draco sarcastically as he sat down the couch
"Isn't there a rule not to let other students from other houses inside ours?" said Ron glaring at Draco
"It was Dolohov and the others isn't it?" said Neville
"Nice guess Longbottom, I'd give you a cookie if I had one," said Draco
"Why didn't you go to the hospital wing?" said Harry
"If I went there then that pompous nurse would ask how I got like this," said Draco
"So what, you can't get an excuse to tell her, why not tell her you've been attacked by sarcastic little ass hungry bats, that might help," said Ron
"Wow," said Draco "I just saw a Weasley being cynical, if I only had a camera, I would have treasure this moment forever," said Draco to Ron
"Draco, back to my question," said Harry
"If I tell anyone then those bastards will be punished, and if they get punish then they'll know I squealed," said Draco
"You didn't have a problem squealing before," said Ron
"Yes Weasley, and I don't have a problem kicking your ass right now even if I have an injury," said Draco
"You call that injury? I call that beaten for good," said Dean
"Draco," called Harry
"Like I was saying, if they knew, then I wouldn't get a chance to get payback, and you know me, payback's a bitch Potter, it's not going to be good for them, but it certainly is going to be sweet for me," said Draco
"So you didn't tell anyone in order to get revenge on them, is that right?" asked Neville
Draco clapped his hands in difficulty "Bravo Longbottom! Bravo! Damn! Where's a damn cookie when you need one," said Draco
"You're crazy," said Harry
"Yes Potter, but you see, there's many sorts of crazy, there's mentally crazy, no offense Longbottom, just trying to make a freakin example, and there's wild, cool crazy and I'm the wild, cool crazy," said Draco
Harry stood up and reached for his wand "Hang on," said Harry
"Whoa Potter, common, can't you take sarcasm for all its glory," said Draco looking nervous
"I'm going to help you idiot," said Harry, he murmured a spell then suddenly, Draco's wounds and bruises disappeared
"Wow, you made it disappear," said Dean marveled at the result
"It didn't disappear Dean, I just transfigured his body, it's kind of a combination of Transfiguration and Charms, to all of us can't see his wounds but in fact, nothing has changed, the wounds are still there," said Harry
"Where the hell you learned that?" asked Seamus
"Got it from Ron's brother, he gave it to me last Christmas, it's entitled 'The history of an Auror'" said Harry
"Nice job Potter, I think Granger's finally rubbing off on you," said Draco
"Oh, well, yeah," said Harry facing down to the floor
"Say, what brings you all down here in the middle of the night? I knew Potter will be up but I don't know why you all are having a slumber party down here?" asked Draco helping himself to one of the chicken Harry has brought from the kitchen
"We were having a meeting," said Seamus
"About what?" asked Draco
"It's about helping Harry to get Hermione to forgive him," said Dean
"Oh, bit on a pickle aren't we Potter?" said Draco
"What the hell did you mean by me being up this late?" asked Harry
"Nothing, long story, I'll just end up insulting you again," said Draco
"He'll never change," said Ron
"That's a given," said Neville
"So, what do you people have so far?" asked Draco
"Nothing, regrettably," said Harry
"Potter, Potter, Potter, poor, innocent little Potter, truly your experience in this area are very limited," said Draco
"Okay, so what do you think I should do? Severus Snape Jr.," said Harry raising an eyebrow
"Oh Potter, if the answer would have slap you right in the face you'd still be clueless," said Draco laughing
"Lets hear it then, I'm open to any suggestion right now," said Harry
"March your ass right at her and tell your sorry, tell her it was your fault of whatever it is you fought about, it's just that simple," said Draco
"He can't do that!" Ron protested
"Why, is there a new law that prohibits being frank? Or is it because you're upset you didn't thought of it first?" said Draco
"Wait Ron, I think Draco is right about this, If I know Hermione, she would want me to be frank and straight to her," said Harry
"You see! Next time why don't you try using logic and rationality before you ever react, phlegm for brains," said Draco
"You must have been born when god showered bitterness around the world," said Neville
"Wow, what took us twenty five minutes only took three seconds for Malfoy to solve," said Harry
"Welcome to reality Potter, population, one," said Draco
"We should probably get some shut eye, we still have a long day tomorrow," said Seamus
"Yeah, Malfoy you're going to sleep at our dorm tonight," said Harry
"Yeah, but no funny business, I know where all my belongings are so I better see them all there when I wake up," said Ron
"Belongings? You mean you have belongings?" asked Draco sarcastically
"Go to hell Malfoy," said Ron