Chapter Eight: The truth hurts

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used in my story.

A/N: Okay, okay. So I left hardly any time for reviews. But I couldn't wait to start this chapter. Thank you to moirariordan for giving me some good ideas! I will use them, if you don't mind. And I have kind of neglected Rachel. I'll bring her in again now. Well, read!

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Melanie stood there, and watched Hermione kissing Ron.

Not crying, not angry, just quietly standing there, watching the love of her life being swept away by someone else.

Rachel tried to drag her away, but Melanie wouldn't budge. She wanted Ron to see her.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, and felt disgusted.

"How could this happen?" he asked himself, "How could Hermione do this? She knows that Ron is with Melanie!"

He looked over at Rachel, and put his arm around her waist.

She held his hand, staring at Ron and Hermione in disblief.

Lily and James stood by as well.

James thought, "Good for him! That's exactly what I would do!"

Lily thought, "I know we said to tell him, but I didn't mean for her to kiss him!"

Harry coughed.

Ron and Hermione broke apart quickly.

"Um..er...hi everyone." said Hermione, looking at something on her shoe.

She spotted Melanie, standing near the back.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," she thought, "Why is she there?"

Ron hadn't seen Melanie though.

He addressed Harry bluntly.

"Harry, I've liked Hermione for ages, but I just never said anything. I like her better than Melanie. I think I'll break up with Melanie tomorrow."

This was too much for Melanie. She couldn't hold in her tears anymore. Her feet wouldn't run.

She collapsed on the floor, crying her heart out.

Ron looked shell shocked.

"Oh, Melanie, I....um....I didn't see you there."

Rachel let go of Harry's hand, broke away from the group, and looked at Ron with utter hatred and disgust. Her usually placid brown eyes were alive with angry fire, her uncertainty gone.

"That," she said coldly, "Is all too obvious."

She gently helped a heart broken Melanie up from the floor.

Rachel led her out of the common room, and paused before closing the portrait.

She turned around and looked Ron squarely in his eyes.

Ron squirmed under her stony gaze.

"You bastard." she said icily, "You know, this is probably for Melanie's good. She is too good for scum like you. It's no wonder you didn't get a girlfriend before this. You have no respect for Melanie, and I have no respect for you."

With those last cutting words, Rachel closed the portrait, and Melanie could be heard crying outside.

Lily and James tried to make themselves look small and stepped out of the way.

Lily led James to a corner, where they muttered and consulted.

There was an awkward silence between the three old friends.

"Harry, look. I don't know what just happened. But-"

Harry refused to look at either of them.

He breathed deeply.

"Can I just say something before either of you start trying to explain what we all just saw?"

Hermione and Ron nodded mutely.

Harry didn't smile. In fact, he felt as disgusted as Rachel. But he made an effort to sound polite and unworried.

First, he addressed Hermione.

"Hermione, I don't know how you could do that. You know Ron is...well...was with Melanie. You're smart. You probably knew that this would ruin his relationship. You probably knew exactly what you were doing. So don't say you didn't mean to."

Harry turned to Ron.

"Have you got any idea how much you've hurt Melanie? Rachel and I were talking to her just yesterday, and she was telling us just how lucky she felt to have such an honest, kind guy. She was so happy with you Ron. You've just thrown her friendship and trust back in her face."

Harry turned abruptly away from them both, and went over to join Lily and James.

The three got up, and stood together, facing Hermione and Ron.

And Hermione was struck by the effect of the three people, standing together.

Linda, with her hand on Harry's shoulder, and Jason, standing next to her.

She forgot about everything that had just happened, and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"No," she breathed, "No, it can't be..."

As Lily and James steered Harry away towards the portrait hole, they both looked back, and Lily's eyes pleaded with Hermione.

She knew that Hermione had figured them out. Her worst nightmares had come true.

And she wasn't sure if she could trust Hermione anymore.

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Rachel sat down on the floor in front of Melanie. (A/N: Melanie and Rachel are in...Ravenclaw, by the way. Heh, I forgot to mention.)

For a while, they just sat in silence.

"Melanie, just forget him, okay? He's not worthy of your attention."

Melanie managed to smile sadly through her tears.

"Oh, but Rachel, I can't! He was my first boyfriend! I really liked him! I can't let him go that fast."

A strange expression crossed Melanie's face.

"Oh, but Hermione! Does she hate me? Why did she have to do that? If it weren't for that GODDAMN KISS, RON AND I WOULD STILL BE TOGETHER!"

Rachel was frozen with shock. She had never seen Melanie angry.

Melanie was no longer sad. She was furious.

"WHY DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME???" she screamed, and in her frenzy, picked up a potions book, and threw it across the room, where it hit a snow globe that Ron had bought for her on their first date.

She picked up several other books, and dropped them one by one on the broken glass.

Sadness overwhelmed her again, and she began to sob into her hands.

Rachel crossed the room, and put her arms around Melanie. Melanie cried into her shoulder.

"I feel so...betrayed!" she whispered.

Rachel hushed her, and said, "It's alright. You're better off now. Don't let it worry you. Just remember, you were perfect. He was the one with problems. He was stupid enough to let you go. Just don't let him try and win you back, when he realizes what a mistake he's made. You're not trash. You can't just be dropped and picked up again whenever he feels like it. Find someone who really deserves you. Now lets go and get your face cleaned up a little."

Melanie let go of Rachel, and her eyes said it all.

"Thanks, Rachel. You're the best friend I ever had."

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Hermione and Ron were left alone in the common room again.

There was a very long silence.

Ron took a great breath, and looked at Hermione.

"Look Hermione, I was going to tell you anyway. So you shouldn't feel bad. And...well...I was going to break up with Melanie. Because I really....well....I'd like you to be my girlfriend."

Hermione felt secretly flattered.

"What about Melanie? Won't she be very upset?"

"But it's not like I care." Hermione thought to herself.

"Oh, Rachel will probably hate me more. But I'll manage."

Hermione pretended to consider, before walking over and kissing him again.

"Okay."she whispered in his ear.

Hermione felt extremely happy.

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Harry, Lily and James met Melanie and Rachel in the corridor.

Harry pulled Rachel away for a minute, and saw with appreciation that Linda and Jason had stepped up, and Melanie was laughing.

"Look, I'm sorry about Ron, and I'm sorry about Melanie," Harry began, "But I hope that you won't hate me, just because Ron is my friend."

Rachel looked uncertain for a moment, before putting her arms around his neck, and giving him a quick kiss. (A/N: lots of kissing, eh? Hehe.)

"Of course not. But will you be offended if I...err...take the liberty to...well...tell him on a regular basis about what a complete and utter moron I think he is?"

Harry looked uncertain for a minute, but then kissed her back.

"No. In fact, I think that he's a bit of a moron right now too."

Rachel laughed, and led him back to Melanie, Lily and James.

"Hey, are you new friends of Harry? I don't think I've seen you around before! I'm Rachel." Rachel stuck out a friendly hand to Lily and James.

Lily smiled at her, and shook her outstretched hand.

"Hi, I'm Lily."

James shook her hand also, but shook it for a bit too long. Lily elbowed him hard.

James released Rachel's hand, and introduced himself.

"Jason."

Rachel said hello to them both, and introduced them to Melanie, who had been standing quietly.

Lily and James went into sympathetic mode.

"Oh, are you okay?" Lily asked gently.

Melanie took a deep breath, and grinned.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Lily smiled at her understandingly.

"You know what?" Rachel said.

"What?" everyone else asked.

"I think that this has brought us all closer together. That is the only thing I can give Ron credit for."

Melanie smiled, but she had felt her heart wrench at Ron's name.

"Well," she thought to herself, as the group began to walk down the corridor together, "I just have to get over this step by step. I'll be okay soon."

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Hermione was in a frenzy in the library.

She had forgotten that she was now Ron's girlfriend.

"Time travel....future....no, there's nothing here!" Hermione threw down the book she was looking through.

She had made an obvious connection between the "exchange students" and some people who were long dead.

"Lily, Linda, Jason, James, how could I be so stupid! But why are they so young! Wait....maybe we're the future...yes, that would be it! They're not our past now, we're their future! They must have some forward from their time! And in the future, they're not here anymore, because....well, I don't fully understand it myself..."

Hermione muttered to herself

She was about to give up on her absurd theory, when she caught sight of an interesting looking book. She pulled it off of the shelf, and flipped through it.

She was about to put it back, when the words 'time travel' caught her eye, In the side effects section.

As Hermione read, her eyes became wide, and her mind battled against what was now reality.

From a seemingly empty portrait, Dumbledore watched the truth coming to light in her eyes.

He sighed, and turned away to address his portraits.

"It seems," he said quietly, "That Miss Granger now knows the truth."

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Well, that's it!

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And thanks again to moirariordan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!