Trials and Tribulations
Part 2
"Welcome to the Room of Requirement," said Harry as he addressed all of the people who had shown up at the Hog's Head meeting, "this is where we will be having our meetings, and it is very safe here."
Hermione was sitting on a leather brown cushion reading Jinxes for the Jinxed that she had found after entering the mysterious room.
Well, all of the people who were at the meeting actually decided to show up here tonight. Perhaps they actually are really interested in learning more about the defense against the dark arts. Oh well, I have a good book to read. I'll pay attention after Harry's speech.
"As you guys know by now, we are really, really upset with Professor Umbridge, and we all probably wish to do a few hexes against her, but today, we'll just be studying some basic defensive spells. No complicated things until probably alter on, maybe when it gets a bit closer to O.W.L. time. Okay, you guys all know Expelliarmus, right? Get into pairs, and we'll practice."
Zacharias rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like the word tedious. Nevertheless, everybody chose their partners, and began to try and shoot each other's wands away from their hands.
Hermione continued to sit in her cushion as she observed everyone in the room attempts to perform the Expelliarmus against one another. Harry was walking around, surveying each person's attempts, giving a few pointers here and there, but he continued to eye Cho Chang in periodic intervals. Hermione shook her head and sighed.
Boys will be boys I guess…"Hey Hermione, come practice with me!" shouted Ron. Upset with having being disrupted from her reading, she gave him an evil scowl, but decided she should go help him out anyways.
"Expelliarmus! Bah, I missed. Expelliar- Ow! Guess I'll have to go fetch m' wand again…" Ron seemed to be having an off day, seeing as how this spell was a very simple one. She was already successful in deflecting, and then knocking away his wand multiple times.
"Ah!" a wand went flying through the air and poked Hermione in the eye, allowing Ron a chance to knock her wand away, which also just happened to hit her in her other eye. "What's wrong with your peoples' aiming! Honestly…" She shook her head as she continually kept blinking her stinging eyes. Tears blurred her sight, but as her vision started to return back to normal, Cho's worried face came into view.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, uh, what I meant is, it was an accident. Marietta knocked my wand and it went sideways and hit you… in the eye. Yeah, that was me, sorry." She apologized. Hermione grunted at the black-haired Ravenclaw. It was not so much her apology that annoyed her; it was just her presence in general. She is distracting me as of late. It is starting to get on my nerves…
"You guys! Hey you guys! Agh. LISTEN UP!" Harry yelled. Everybody stood still as all eyes turned to Harry, who, after seeing Cho stare at him, suddenly lost all ability to speak once again. Hermione once again came to the rescue and began talking to everyone while she had their attention.
"It's really late, and we are supposed to be in our dormitories in a little while, so I believe it is time to call it a night and leave. You all have your coins, so you will be alerted as to when our next meeting shall happen. Most likely, it will be next Monday, same time same place, but the situations can change according to conflicting activities such as quidditch, or detentions. We will see you all next week."
With that, everyone went back to their separate houses in the dark, hoping not to be caught by any prowling teachers.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Days were going by like seconds as the school year progressed. Quidditch practices were still intense for everybody, and the homework load was not helping at all. Scheduling D.A. practices was starting to get a bit more difficult for Harry, not to mention frightening. Professor Umbridge was passing new decrees left and right. Sooner or later, Harry felt like they were going to get caught. Even so, the secret meetings did continue, and they had eventually come upon Patronuses.
One of the more difficult spells to perform, Harry described how to do it as best as he could. "Well, you just kind of… think of your happiest memory. The stronger the memory, the more effective your Patronus will appear. It will take a shape unique to each and every one of you. Mine is a stag, but yours can be something very different."
Naturally, the first one to successfully perform a Patronus with a definite shape, besides Harry, was Hermione.
"Expecto Patronum!" she exclaimed as a silvery stream of mist shot out of her wand. It cascaded out of her wand like a shimmering waterfall until the shape of an otter bounded around her. She smiled widely at her Patronus. "It's an otter! How… adorable." She said.
Neville seemed to be having trouble. All that shot out of his wand were flares and sparks of bright light. He furrowed his brow in concentration and tried over and over again, but to no avail. "I just don't have good enough memories for this to work. Oh why bother…what's the use…"
As Harry was walking around the room looking over all of the other people, he noticed that Neville was not the only one having trouble. It turned out that quite a lot of the other students could not perform the Patronus correctly, except for Hermione. He saw her sitting in the corner on a cushion watching as her spectral otter floated around her. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a lovely, familiar voice.
"I just can't get the hang of it either. Am I not trying hard enough?" Cho seemed to be having problems conjuring up her Patronus. Marietta sauntered over to her disappointed friend with a ghostly looking fox following her on the pretext of giving her moral support, but really only to gloat in her face about the thing that she was able to perform better than her intelligent friend.
"Oh it's alright Cho," she said, sickeningly sweet, "You'll do it eventually. I mean, not everyone can do it on their first try…" at that point she gave Hermione a glare, "…but not many people can also do it on their first day; like me. Maybe it'll happen next time, right?"
Cho's still eyes looked at Hermione as Marietta was talking, and then she smiled, "Yeah, you're right. Not everyone is that able."
Everyone continued to try their hardest in order to summon their patronus, but their attempts were not showing much results besides a small spark of white. Harry glanced at the clock on the wall and decided that it was getting late.
"Okay everyone, thanks for coming again today, and our next D.A. meeting will happen when I see another opening to schedule one. Get back to your dormitories and get a good night's rest."
Hermione picked up her bag and put the book she was reading back into the dusty shelves of the Room of Requirement. She coughed a bit as the light filth flew in her direction as the book was shoved into place. Walking out of the room, Hermione heard some voices talking, which sounded oddly like Harry and Cho. She pressed against the wall right next to the door and couldn't help but eavesdrop.
As much as I hate to admit it, it would have been nice to have those extendable ears right about now. I can't really make out what they're saying…
She listened harder, trying to focus on what they were discussing, but all she really heard were sounds. It sounded like Cho was distressed, almost on the verge of tears. "No, don't cry! Oh I'm so sorry!" She could hear Harry lamely attempt to comfort her. Someone broke out into full tears right at that moment, and Cho kept talking about Cedric and the stress her heart was feeling right now. Then, there was nothing. Well, that's odd. Maybe I should just take a tiny peak… Slowly and carefully, she turned her head and tried to see what was going on.
Before she ran back to her dormitory, all she saw was Harry and Cho very, very close. So close, that they were kissing. She was crying and talking about Cedric on top of that! Oh that Harry has some kind of nerve to toy with a girl's feelings like that. He's practically caught her on the rebound for all he knows… that's it. I think he's taking advantage of her confused and saddened state, even though Cedric did die about a year ago.
"Not that any of this concerns me. No, not at all, why do I care what Harry does to Cho? I don't even like the girl, and I daresay that –" Ginny walked into the room and stared at Hermione quizzically. "Um…is someone in here? Or are you just…?" Surprisingly Hermione laughed at how she was caught rambling on about foolish nonsense to herself.
"Yes, I was talking to myself. I tend to find that I do that quite often lately. I don't know why, but some things have just started to bother me more recently."
She walked up to her bed and plopped down on top of it, not wanting to change into her pajamas just yet. What has gotten into me? I must be loosing my mind what with O.W.L. exams coming up so soon. Why, it's probably just lack of a good night's rest. Sleep, yes, sleep, that's all I need.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
The library.
Who knew that such a place could harbor such a feeling like safety? Most of the time, all it did was cause students to complain about how much schoolwork they got, or how they weren't allowed to talk loudly in it. Hermione on the other hand, enjoyed this place of solitude better than most of the rooms on the whole school grounds. It was the only place where she was able to find some peace since neither Harry nor Ron would come in here without an actual good reason to.
Currently, she was indulging in an interesting book labeled Transfiguration Through the Ages. She appeared to be most worried about this class, though deep inside, she knew that this was only a false pretense. She had something on her mind, but the reason why she was frustrated was because she didn't know what it was, and not knowing things upset her.
This is just ridiculous! Unnecessary things are cluttering my mind, and I can't even sort through them to throw out the trash. I need to focus. If I fail any of my O.W.L. exams, then I will just positively freak out! That would mean my entire career, and quite possibly my whole future could be ruined. What is it that keeps my mind so confused? Certainly I am not hexed or jinxed; it is something that is not magical.
She scowled out of aggravation and then nearly screamed as a hand touched her shoulder. As soon as she turned around, she regretted having that scowl on her face. Immediately smiling, hoping to not have offended someone, she realized who she was looking at. Long soft black hair and a cool pair of eyes to match.
"Oh… um, hello Cho. You startled me. Do you need something…?" she asked hesitantly. Cho gave her an odd look but then took a seat next to her. She fiddled with her thumbs for a few seconds before staring off at a seemingly interesting dusty bookshelf.
"Well, you know about the Patronus, surely since you were the first of us to perform a perfect one. I was kind of wondering if…well, seeing as how you were so successful, that you could just help me out a bit. It won't take long, I just need a little pointers," she said, all the while not looking Hermione straight in the eyes.
This kind of made her a tad bit uneasy, but nonetheless, she agreed to help her tonight. She was free, after all, she had finished all of her homework in the free period that she had and during lunch.
All day, Hermione couldn't stop thinking about it. I realize she is Harry's object of affection, but I can't quite help thinking that she has some ulterior motive. Why wouldn't she just ask her boyfiend, right?
The word boyfriend seemed oddly bitter in her mind. She decided to push the kiss out of her mind, but still couldn't help thinking just a little about it. It was playing with her mind, and she didn't know why about this either. Everything just seemed a bit confusing.
Later that night, she made her way silently to the Room of Requirement. Checking to make sure nobody was watching, she summoned the door with her wish and then walked inside. Sure enough, Cho was waiting on a cushion with her wand, biting her lip and looking a bit nervous.
As soon as Hermione entered, she waved and gave a meek smile, "Hi Hermione. I was just waiting for you to arrive. Care to help me?"
Hermione gave her a wary look, but gave her a fake smile. "It would be my pleasure." They faced each other as Cho raised her wand, "Okay, here goes. But… don't laugh at me please. Expecto Patronum!"
A stream of silver spurted out and then quickly disappeared. Hermione giggled inside, but no emotion was visible on her face as she walked over to the taller girl. She examined her wrist placement and wand grip. Looking again, as Cho attempted another Patronus, she saw nothing wrong.
"There's not a thing wrong with what you're doing, or your pronunciation of the spell. I believe your only fault is that you don't have a strong enough memory. You need more emotion, more feeling, more dignity." Cho looked astonished, "Excuse me? Dignity did you say?"
Hermione's face remained neutral, "What ever do you mean? I said nothing of the sort. But tell me, is there another reason as to why you called upon me for help, since you normally just ignore me?" At first, a flicker of hurt shot across Cho's crystal clear eyes, but she averted her gaze.
"Well, yeah… I suppose you have a right to have suspicions. Yes, I came to practice as well as ask about…" she looked sheepishly into Hermione's unforgiving gaze and spoke nothing. Hermione's frizzy brown hair swayed as she decided to finish the sentence for her, "…Harry, right? He does like you, just for your information."
Cho suddenly looked a bit angry, "What? I already knew he did like me. I merely wanted to ask about how much Cedric's death has gotten to him, if he really did kill Cedric… or if he's actually just acting."
"Harry would never act about something so deep and grave such as that! Unlike you, who seems to have no honor in dating Cedric's best friend only a year after his death, when you two supposedly were made for each other! Some girlfriend you are, Cedric would be turning in his grave by now, and don't give me that look, I saw you kissing Harry last D.A. meeting." She huffed as she took in deep breaths of air.
Cho looked so angry, that when she raised her fist, Hermione expected to be returning with a few bruises, but nothing happened. Hermione looked straight at her and was a little bit shocked to find that tears were sliding down her pale, delicate cheeks. What she said next made Hermione feel worse.
"You're so mean! No wonder nobody likes you, you heartless…person!" she stormed out leaving Hermione at a loss. She never really wanted her to start crying, she just wanted to make Cho feel a little remorse rather then go jumping into a relationship with Harry.
She shook her head and grabbed her wand. Making her way through the shadows, she silently crept into her bed despite not wanting to sleep at all. It had not gone so well, and she even felt guilty for making Cho feel so bad about Cedric and her predicament.
"Maybe I am just a mean, lonely person."
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
The next day Harry, Ron, and Ginny walked into the Gryffindor common room only to see Hermione sitting there, already with a cup of hot chocolate and a large, beat-up textbook by the fire. Her face was a bit pale, and she had shadows underneath her eyes.
"Hermione, you look like a piece of-"
"-sunshine! What're you reading? Is it interesting?" Ginny had cut off Ron's stupid comment and kicked him in the shin before running over to join Hermione near the fire. Harry nudged Ron, "Very smooth you master of words." Ron looked as if nothing was wrong with what he wanted to say. Instead he just shrugged, "What? I was just speaking my mind…" he trailed off.
Meanwhile, Ginny decided to talk to Hermione. "Something wrong? You look very tired."
Hermione put her book down and smiled a weak grin, "Well, I managed not to get sleep at all. I left my room with this textbook and decided to read it. I've been reading all night and now my eyes hurt, but besides that, I'm okay, just okay." Ginny was not convinced even in the slightest; she knew her better than that.
"Okay, so maybe you're running on some sugar and no sleep, but really, what is on your mind, and what really happened yesterday? You were gone for a little bit, and nobody knew where you went."
Hermioned snorted, "So, people actually realized I wasn't present, what a good thought that is. Maybe I really am not alone. Oh, by the way, I made Cho cry yesterday. Made me feel good, then despicable. And you might want to move away, here come the dynamic duo."
Ginny looked surprised and then scooted away as Harry and Ron were arguing and approaching quickly. Once again, it was a heated argument about Quidditch, the only thing that these two ever talked about constantly.
"Talking about that again, are we?" said Hermione nonchalantly, "is there anything you guys were talk about besides that? I truthfully don't understand why it is such an exciting sport, and quite frankly, I really don't care. It's just a sport. Why don't you guys ever talk about school related subjects? Like the oh-my-god-it's-coming-closer O.W.L. exam?"
Ron looked at Hermione with a scrutinizing gaze as he shot back at her, "Well, no wonder you don't have a boyfriend."
Ginny was able to disguise her laughing snort with a very twisted sounding cough as Hermione nearly choked on, then spat out, hot chocolate. She looked at his freckled face accusingly. "Pardon me? How does my ability to get boyfriends relate to Quidditch?"
Harry suddenly thought the ground looked very interesting as he stared at it intently while Ron retorted with another somehow witty comment, "Well, Quidditch is the sport that most men play. So, guys like to relate to it with other Quidditch girls. Since you don't like it, they don't like you apparently. Maybe you should learn a bit of it."
Hermione glared at him, "Well it's no wonder all you guys play that game so much seeing as how you all ride on rather thin and sleek brooms while catching and throwing around balls for fun. Then you go into those locker rooms and change while attempting to slap each other in some way or another. Yes, I see why guys enjoy it so much."
Ginny, who was attempting to take a small sip of Hermione's hot chocolate secretly, had been caught since she sputtered out all of the liquid, with some of it even partially shooting out her nose. "Ow…" she muttered as she went to go grab some towels to clean up the mess.
Harry decided to talk this time, "Well, yeah? You say that you know the most information about everything, yet you know nothing about Quidditch just because you claim it is a waste of time! Well, I bet you that no matter how hard you train or try, you could never make it on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"
Hermione's eyes widened as she grinded her teeth in anger as her ego, and also her intelligence, was insulted. "I can learn how if I tried hard enough! I can make the team if I just made my best attempt and if I practiced! So don't make me laugh."
It was Ron's turn to talk back to her, "Oh yeah? We'll make a bet with you. If you can't get on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a backup, then you'll have to apologize to us and do both our homework for a week! That includes all of Snape's horrible potions assignments… ew." Hermione glowered at them as she nodded fiercely making her demands. "And if I do make the Quidditch team as a backup, then you two will have to do what I say for a week!"
Harry and Ron looked at each other, completely knowing what that meant; homework, library, and other things that required using their brains. They nodded hesitantly as they made the bet.
The pair went laughing down to the Great Hall talking about what they were going to do during their week off of homework. Hermione looked at the two retreating figures and let out a deep breath of air. She had not even the faintest idea on the rules of Quidditch. She could barely even ride a broom with precision properly. Grim, but also determined, she figured out what she needed to do. For helping someone out as a favor, one usually needs to repay the other, and she knew someone whom she had helped who she would need a favor from. However, it would not be pretty.
"I've got to find Cho."