She Loves You

Chapter 2: The Intervention

Lavender and Parvati were having a very interesting conversation. They were discussing the pros and cons of becoming Aurors. Lavender argued that her 'inner eye' could come in use when on the job. She could sense danger coming. She could know where to find dark wizards lurking. She felt it would be in her best interests to pursue this dream of hers. Parvati contended that being an Auror was a tough job full of dangers and possible risk of death. It was unpredictable, even with Lavender's 'inner eye', and there was no guarantee that she'd make it home alive every night she was on the job.

The two girls were politely and happily chatting away until their dorm room door was thrown open, a mass blur of black robes and brown hair came charging in, then the door was slammed shut, followed by a 'thunk' noise as the brown black blur threw itself on Hermione's bed. Lavender and Parvati exchanged looks before rushing to the bed. There lay Hermione, face down as if she was trying to suffocate herself on her pillow, her whole body shaking with sobs, her voice muffled. Her hair was an absolute mess, more so that usual, as if she had just walked through a tornado. She was giving off the telltale signs of a heartbreak. Lavender recognized this much.

"Hermione…hon…" she started slowly, knowing that if she pushed too hard, Hermione would shut her out completely and they'd make no progress at all. "What happened? What's wrong?" She gingerly put her hand on Hermione's shaking back in an attempt to sooth her. Gradually, the bushy-haired girl turned her face to the other two, her eyes red and her face wet with tears.

"Ron and I had a row…" she whispered, taking gasping breaths, trying to calm herself. Parvati smiled gently.

"That's nothing new… What did he say?" she asked carefully, sitting on her knees so she was level with Hermione's eyes.

"He…" Hermione's voice wavered and her bottom lip trembled. "He called me ugly…" Lavender groaned while Parvati 'tutted'.

"What a sodding twit…" Lavender grimaced. "But that can't be all…" Hermione shook her head and took a raspy breath to continue.

"Then… he… c-called me a… a M-Mudblood…" At that word, Lavender and Parvati gasped.

"He didn't!" Parvati exclaimed disbelieving. "How could he! How dare he!"

"I don't believe him! He broke up with me to blow his second chance?" Lavender yelled to no one in particular. Hermione gave her a curious stare, her heartache forgotten for a moment.

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.

"He's an idiot, that's what!" Lavender growled, punching a loose pillow for good measure. "I saw what was going on between you two, so I stepped aside. It hurt like hell, but who am I to interfere?"

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked a little more forceful. Lavender was being very vague.

"I wasn't the one he wanted to be dating that whole time," Lavender explained, looking Hermione in the eye. They stared at each other for a long moment, as if talking to each other through their eyes. But then the moment passed and Lavender looked away, brushing a loose lock of blonde hair out of her eyes. "But it doesn't matter now because he just blew his chance. It's over." Hermione was slightly confused. Was Lavender implying what she thought she was? No, that was impossible. If Ron felt anything beyond contempt for Hermione, he had a funny way of showing it.

"So what's the plan then?" Parvati asked excitedly. "Itching powder?"

"I'm thinking Deluxe Dung Bombs in his bed!" Lavender chuckled evilly.

"What?" Hermione suddenly looked up at the two conspiring girls.

"Payback, sweetie. No one hurts our favourite smartest witch and gets away with it!" Lavender smiled warmly at Hermione. She returned it with a shaky smile of her own.

"That's sweet of you, but…" she looked down at her pillow. "I just need time away from him, that's all. No payback right now." She flipped herself over to she was facing the ceiling. "I said a lot of hurtful things myself."

"What do you mean 'Now I've done it'?"

"What's the matter with you, anyway? You're not that thick, Ron!" Harry was packing his things up roughly; he was too steamed to see where he was putting papers in his bag. "You shouldn't have brought up her looks. You NEVER insult a woman's looks, even I know that!" He stuffed his textbooks into his bag. "And then you brought up her parents! It's bad enough Malfoy takes a stab at them every time they speak, she didn't need you, her best friend, doing it too!" He straightened the table that Ron had knocked over. "Oh, and bravo with the icing on the cake! Mudblood! Wasn't there a time you thought that word was disgusting?" He put the chessboard back on the table and rounded on Ron. "Maybe one day, you'll thank me for this!" And with that, he punched Ron across his chin, knocking him down. "Think about it, mate." Harry slung his bag over his shoulder. "I'm going to bed." He stormed out of the common room, up the stairs and disappeared into the boys' dormitory.

Ron was left sitting on the ground, rubbing his sore chin, checking if anything was bleeding. 'He hit me!' he thought angrily. 'The bloke actually hit me!' He pulled himself up to the couch and sat, thinking long and hard about what had just happened in the last half hour. He and Hermione had a row. Nothing weird there. She went a step too far and insulted his family's wealth – or there lack of – so he insulted her heritage. She called him a bad wizard, compared him to Malfoy, so he took it a step further and called her a Mudblood. Then Harry hit him! Thinking about it made his head hurt. He was torn.

On the one hand, he felt terrible for calling her such a nasty word. But on the other hand, he felt justified in what he did. She had no right bringing up how poor his family was. The only people who had the nerve to do that were the Malfoys, Draco's cronies, and on a couple rare occasions, Snape. And the final straw was bringing up Draco. Saying he was a better wizard than Ron was like a stab to the heart.

In the end, Ron's stubborn side won out. He was going to continue to be mad at her until she came to her senses and apologized, or one of them died. Whichever came first.

Ron winced slightly as he picked up his books.

"Bloody hell, he's got a strong one-two!" he moaned, rubbing his chin again.

When Saturday morning arrived, Harry woke up bright and early to beat both Ron and Hermione to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. He was in no mood to put up with any of their squabble. No doubt they were going to rope him into their new rivalry and he had learned better from the time in their third year when their trio had been so divided. In the end, it had been a maniacal Animagus bent on murder that pulled their friendship back together, but Harry sorely doubted they'd have such luck this time around. No, this time, he was going to avoid them until the whole situation blew over. Or one of them killed the other. But he was sceptical the latter would actually happen.

Harry arrived in the rather quiet but bright Great Hall, a few students here and there, and was surprised to find Hermione already there. She looked up hesitantly, but when she was sure he was alone, she relaxed and turned back to her cold eggs and bacon. Harry sighed as he walked up to her. If he was forced to take a side in this mess, he was tempted to take hers simply because of that defeated look on her face.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked quietly. She pursed her lips and nodded slightly, not saying anything. Harry sat down and helped himself to some bacon and bread. They were silent for a few minutes, Hermione playing with her cold food and Harry counting his bacon several times. "You know…" Harry spoke up suddenly. Hermione looked up. "He didn't mean what he said…" He wasn't sure how true that was – sometimes Ron was unpredictable – but he was trying to offer some kind of peace to help comfort Hermione. She looked back down at her plate, clearly not convinced.

"I have to be fast…" she whispered. "If I don't finish eating soon, he'll…" She trailed off.

"Show up?" Harry offered, not quite sure if that's what she meant. She looked at him again, but pushed her plate back.

"Something like that…" She checked her watch and sighed. "I have to go. If you need me, I'll be in the library, revising my notes on Arithmancy." She paused, looking around. "And if he asks where I am, tell him you don't know." She picked up her back and shuffled out of the Great Hall and up the grand staircase. Harry breathed out sadly. Something told him this wasn't going to 'blow over' like he hoped it would.

After about fifteen minutes of Harry picking at his food, the rest of the boys in his year walked in, chatting amongst themselves about this and that. Harry caught Ron's eye and the redhead seemed to stumble while he was walking. He quickly brushed it off and sat furthest away from Harry, probably twitchy about him hitting him again. There was a rather noticeable purple bruise on his chin.

"Alright there, Harry?" Seamus called from down the table. Harry nodded at him, pushing the basket of bread down their side. "You hear 'bout the Quidditch game between Poland and Ireland? What a game!" Normal conversation continued on with Ron not responding to any comments Harry made and vice versa. The two boys completely ignored one another the entire time they were in the Great Hall. Thankfully, no one noticed. And by the sounds of it, no one had bothered asking Ron where he got his bruise. They probably assumed he bumped into something or got into a tiff with Malfoy.

"Anyhow, gents, I'm off to watch Ravenclaw practise!" Dean Thomas announced, standing up as his plate vanished. "Seamus here thinks I need some 'brushing up' in my Quidditch lingo."

"That's right!" Seamus chuckled, standing as well. "I caught him muttering some kickball reference at the last Quidditch match!"

"It's not kickball, it's football!" Dean retorted playfully. "Neville, you in?"

"Uh, sure," Neville replied, surprised he had been invited. "See ya guys!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you two have plenty of trouble to be getting into, so hop to it!" Seamus joked as the three walked out, leaving Ron and Harry alone. When they were out of visual range, Harry reluctantly looked at Ron. Ron returned with a glance, but looked down at his plate. They said nothing for a long while, but finally, Harry broke the silence.

"How's the chin…?" he asked quietly. Ron smiled weakly, rubbing the spot.

"Tender…" he replied. There was a pause before Harry continued.

"You still mad at Hermione?" Ron took a moment to think about it. He looked up and around the Great Hall, his eyes resting on the Slytherin table, namely a white-blonde-haired boy who was chatting up a girl with short black hair. Ron quickly looked away, feeling his anger rise again.

"Yes." He was upfront about his attitude. Hermione's poor comparison to a certain pureblood racist and her insults aimed at Ron's family were still fresh in his mind. How could he not be still fuming?

Harry sighed for what felt like the millionth time that morning. "Well are you at least going to take back the Mudblood comment?" Ron's head dipped low so Harry couldn't see his face. A part of Ron wanted to shout 'Yes, I take back everything I said!' but his pride and stubbornness snuffed it out. Instead of saying anything, he grabbed his bag and rushed out of the Great Hall, wanting some time alone.

Harry held the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb, trying desperately to sort things out in his head. How was he going to convince Ron to forgive Hermione? How was he going to get Hermione to do the same for Ron? He really did have some difficult friends.

Up in the library, Madam Pince was keeping a close watch over the small number of students in her presence. She expected quiet in the library at all times and she got just that. Her eyes swept over one of her frequent visitors, Hermione Granger, who, as usual, had her nose in a book. Madam Pince was about to return to her bookkeeping when in walked Harry Potter. She sent him a rather nasty glare before turning back to her pile of books that had just been signed back in. If there was ever a noisemaker, it was that Harry Potter and his tall friend Ronald Weasley, always disturbing Miss Granger and keeping her from her studies. She disapproved of his lack of respect for school rules, him probably thinking they didn't apply to him since he was the miraculous 'Boy Who Lived'. Madam Pince snorted at that thought. There were only so many times you could keep using that title before people started to get annoyed.

Harry was completely oblivious to Madam Pince's thoughts as he made his way over to Hermione's table, which had books scattered all across its surface. Without waiting for an invitation, because he knew he wouldn't get such one with her distracted by the large, dusty book in front of her eyes, he sat down across from her, quiet and waiting. She went on reading, unaware that he was there. Looking around awkwardly, Harry cleared his throat loudly. Madam Pince sent him another glare. Hermione glanced and jumped when she saw him.

"Oh goodness, don't sneak up on me like that!" she hissed, keeping her voice low.

"There was no sneaking involved," Harry whispered. "I've been here a good minute now." Hermione flushed with embarrassment.

"Oh… well next time make some noise before you get really close."

"What, and risk getting thrown out before I reach this table? You know how Madam Pince gets…"

"Yes, well… Can I help you with anything?" Harry sat back, surprised at this question.

"Since when does a friend need a reason to hang out?" Hermione considered this a moment before slipping her bookmark into her heavy book, closed it and laid it down on top of her pile.

"I guess I'm just surprised, that's all. Normally, you're off hanging out with him somewhere on Saturdays. You hardly visit me here unless we're researching something."

"To be honest… I wanted to check up on you… make sure you're alright." Harry studied her reaction in the hope of catching anything she might try to cover up later.

"I'm fine, thank you very much." Harry was not convinced by piece of information. He was under the impression that she would be more upset about the disparaging comment on her ancestry.

"What about –" Harry was cut off by Madam Pince's 'hushes' from her spot behind the checkout counter. He didn't realize how loud he had gotten, so he lowered his voice. "What about what Ron called you? Aren't you… in a bit of a state?" Hermione seemed to look far away, as if she were miles in another place.

"I won't forgive him for that blunder unless he actually tells me he didn't mean it." She shook her head, probably trying clearly her thoughts. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I've got lots of studying to catch up on, so if you'll excuse me."

"Hermione, don't brush me off," Harry argued softly. "If you want to talk –"

"I know where to find you. Now if you'll excuse me…?" Hermione's face disappeared behind a big dusty book. Harry knew he wouldn't make any more progress today, so he stood, straightened his uniform robes, bade Hermione farewell and left the library.

The rest of the weekend went by without incident. Hermione avoided Ron and he did the same. When they were in the same room, they pointedly ignored one another, telling Harry to pass messages back and forth to each other, even when they were a mere metre away from each other and could hear each other. Ron spent all his free time with Seamus and Dean, talking about Quidditch and anything else to keep his mind of Hermione and their fight. Hermione spent all her time locked away in her dorm or in the library where Madam Pince would throw out anyone being loud or making a scene. Harry found the whole thing to be rather juvenile and wanted to stay out of it but found it increasingly more difficult when Hermione kept asking him to help her study or Ron would challenge him to a game of wizards' chess. He could tell they both wanted him on their side. Harry thought it was unusual that Ron was even talking to him after Harry had hit him.

Their funny ways of trying to avoid each other started to get people's attention. Ginny would mention Quidditch practise to Hermione and asked if she was going to watch them practise next time they did, but Hermione would throw an evil glare at Ron's back before refusing outright. Occasionally, when Hermione would enter the same room as Ron and other Gryffindors, Ron would groan and turn his back on her. Seamus ended up asking what was up and got a biased version of the fight told from Ron's point of view. By the end of the day, most of the boys in Gryffindor were on Ron's side, thinking he was the victim. However, since Hermione had already told Lavender and Parvati her version, by the end of the weekend, all the girls thought Ron was at fault the most. Ginny gave Ron a rather long lecture about how to be nice to a human being, threatening to tell their mother what he called Hermione.

Whenever they went to classes, Hermione hung way back while Ron walked in large strides to stay well ahead of her. They sat on opposite sides of the classroom in tight nit groups, whispering amongst their 'allies'. Harry often got paired up with Neville or some timid Hufflepuff.

Every attempt Harry made at trying to convince Ron to talk to Hermione failed. Ron firmly believed that Hermione should be the one to come forward first and apologize about her comments regarding his family's expenses. When Harry talked to Hermione, she refused to discuss Ron, saying he should take back his 'Mudblood' insult first.

By the end of week, Friday morning, all the girls were sitting at one end of the Gryffindor table while the boys were way on the other end. Now every house was starting to notice the rivalry but couldn't pinpoint who were the ringleaders. Then there was poor Harry. As soon as he stepped foot inside the Great Hall, a chorus of 'Sit here!'s rang out across the Gryffindor table, each side speaking for Ron or Hermione. The staff had bemused smiles on their faces, curious to see which side Harry would take. Harry thought this whole situation was ridiculous. In the end, he sat in the very centre between the two factions, a little section known as 'No Man's Land' now, all by himself and looking rather loner-ish.

While walking to their first class, double Potions with Professor Slughorn, it was evident again that a rivalry was going on, one that Ron and Hermione had inadvertently brought on. Lavender and Parvati walked at a slow pace with Hermione, who was trying her best to avoid Ron, even though they shared many classes together. Seamus, Dean, and Neville walked proudly ahead of the three girls with Ron, acting as though they were his bodyguards or something. The look on Ron's face suggested he was not pleased with this arrangement. Harry, again, was in the middle of the two small groups, getting sniggers from passing Slytherins who whispered things like 'loser' and 'friendless'. It was getting harder to ignore.

"What's the matter, Potter? Lost your clique?" sneered a familiar voice from behind. Harry turned to see Malfoy, no surprise there. His two cronies were snickering mindlessly at Malfoy's comment.

"Watch out, Malfoy, Mad-Eye Moody is behind you!" Harry retorted, putting on his best shocked look. Malfoy seemed to jump and subtly checked over his should to make sure no one was actually there.

"Very funny, Potter!" he drawled. "You're a bit arrogant for someone with no friends." He nodded his head towards the absurd display of hostility between the girls and boys of Gryffindor. "Trouble in paradise?" He smirked coolly at Harry.

"That's none of your business, isn't it?" Harry replied with an equal amount of cool in his voice. Malfoy was about to pursue this fight, but Slughorn opened the door to the Potion dungeon, admitting the students into his classroom.

Inside, Hermione sat with Lavender and Parvati, Ron sat with Seamus and Dean, leaving Harry to sit with Neville, much to the amusement of Draco and his lackeys.

"Today," Professor Slughorn announced proudly, his stomach puffed out. "we're going to learn how to brew the complex Veritaserum. Now can anyone tell me what the Veritaserum does?" Hermione's expected hand flew up at once. Not to be out-done, Ron put his hand up as well, remembering what the serum was from when Harry had told him it was used on Barty Crouch Jr. and when Umbridge tried to force it down Harry's throat. Apparently, this was unexpected that another student besides Hermione would try and answer a teacher's question. It caught Slughorn off-guard as well.

"Well now…" He considered the two students in front of him, both seeming to send short glares at each other. Slughorn chuckled. "Ronald, what can you tell me about this potion?" Hermione gaped at the professor, dumbfounded that anyone but her was picked on to answer questions like that. Ron sent her a smug look before clearing his throat.

"Veritaserum is a truth serum," he said in a very matter-of-fact voice, on that was remarkably like Hermione's. "Three drops can make a person say just about anything they're keeping secret. But if you're good at Occulmency, it can be resisted. It's not always reliable."

"Very good, Ronald! Take 15 points for Gryffindor!" Slughorn exclaimed, quite pleased that someone besides Hermione was on the ball. A couple students gasped while Seamus and Dean clapped Ron on the back on a job well done. Hermione could only stare in shock, her mouth open wide. Ron sent her one final smug look before turning back to the front.

After Professor Slughorn went over their instructions and their list of ingredients, he told them to get started and a small test at the end of the lesson would prove who made a successful potion. All the students worked quietly at their tables. Hermione was giving Lavender and Parvati orders, like who should get what, when something should be mixed in, which way to stir the mixture. Harry was having a difficult time getting his and Neville's potion to actually become a liquid form. Occasionally, he would sneak a peak into his Advance Potions textbook and check what the Half-Blood Prince had to say about this. Ron's group were doing alright, except Seamus added the dragonfly wings too early and their potion was turning a murky blue colour.

About half an hour before the end of the lesson, Professor Slughorn got everyone's attention and told them time was up.

"And now for the testing part," he declared happily. "Everyone is to have a small sip of the potion you mixed together. If all goes well and you mixed your potions properly, you'll be telling me who your grade school crush was and your greatest ambition is in no time. If not, well… we have bezoars on stand by, just in case." He gave Ron a meaningful but humorous look. Ron turned pink around his ears. "Well go ahead, give it a try!" He began circling around, asking students various funny but humiliating questions, like "What's was your most embarrassing childhood moment?"

"Getting my head stuck in my grandma knitting basket," Neville replied, sounding a bit like he was in a trance. The class giggled.

"Who was your first crush?" Slughorn asked, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"A girl named Penny when I was five," Harry blurted out, unable to stop himself. "She helped me find my glasses one time…" The class erupted into laughter again.

"Who do you fear the most?" the professor asked Malfoy. Malfoy seemed to resist the effects of his potion, probably because he made it wrong, but ended up saying his answer anyway.

"My father." He slapped a hand over his mouth as if he had let a dirty word slip. The Gryffindor students sniggered at his answer.

"What is your greatest regret?" Slughorn questioned Ron.

"Calling Hermione a Mudblood," uttered Ron. The class went quiet. An amused smile found its way on some of the Slytherin students' faces. Ron had gone visibly pale. Seamus and Dean looked at him as though he had betrayed them somehow. Hermione covered her open mouth. She wasn't sure how to react to this revelation.

Slughorn cleared his throat awkwardly. "Ahem, uh, class is dismissed. Ronald, may I have a word before you go?" The class packed up their things and slowly exited the room, hoping to catch the beginning of whatever Slughorn was going to say to Ron.

Harry had to jog to catch up with Hermione, calling her name several times before she stopped and looked at him.

"What do you want?" she demanded coldly. "Don't you know when to give up?"

"Hermione…" Harry replied angrily. Since when was he the bad guy here? "I –" He cut himself off, seeing a couple students here and there walking leisurely around them, attempting not to look obvious. The Slytherins weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping, standing off to the side with their trademark smirks on. "Could we talking in private somewhere?" Hermione glared at him, her eyes glassy.

"Sure," she replied after a moment, looking down. The two headed off to the Entrance Hall and slipped out to the castle grounds. Once they were a good deal away from any prying students, they stopped under a tree. For a few minutes, they did nothing but stare out to the lake. Harry vaguely wondered if the merfolk were still there, singing their underwater songs that sounded dreadful above the water.

"Why are we here?" Hermione suddenly snapped.

Harry wanted to say 'No reason' but instead, he said, "I want to know how you feel about what Ron said." He touched his mouth, realizing he was still under the effects of the Veritaserum.

"I don't know," Hermione said, unsure of herself. "I wish we could talk! I wish he would just look at me! Oh god I miss him!" She paled. "Did I really just say that?" Harry pretended he didn't hear the last part.

"Why can't you just apologize?" he asked. "That's what he's waiting for, you know! If one of you would just make the first move, you could be back to being friends in no time!"

"But that's just it! I don't want to be his friend!" Harry felt a sting. Was this the end of their trio? Hermione bit her lip. She looked on the verge of tears and her face started turning purple. Harry gave her a funny look. She looked like she was starting to suffocate.

"Hermione, are you alri—"

"Oh god, I can't keep it in! I want to be more than his friend!" She shut her eyes tightly, breathing normally now. "Damn truth serum…" Harry's eyes widened. She wasn't going to cry, she was trying to stop herself from admit her feelings. "There's no chance of that now. He must hate me for what I said!" She hugged her knees close to her chest.

"But Hermione, you heard what he said! He takes it back! He didn't mean to call you a Mudblood!"

"That's all he said. He didn't say he regretted the whole fight. He did say some other nasty things, you know. He called me ugly and he said he was surprised that Viktor asked me out."

"That's not how I remember it!" Hermione gave him a curious look. "He was clearly jealous that he wasn't in Viktor's shoes." She scoffed.

"Is that the Veritaserum talking or is it an assumption you just made?"

"I'm serious! If you would just talk to him, I'm sure he will apologize for the rest of that stuff."

"I'm too stubborn!" she suddenly blurted out, then winced. "I wish I never brought up his short robes! I wish I never compared him to Malfoy! He's not a heartless bastard like Malfoy, I know that! But he should have never brought up my parents and called me ugly. That really hurt! I want him to apologize first." Harry sighed. There was no getting through to her. If the truth serum was still active, then these thoughts of hers were absolute and she wasn't one to change her mind.

"You know he won't first."

"Then we're going to remain not friends for a very long time." She got to her feet and walked towards the castle.

"Wait, Hermione!" Harry called. She stopped and looked back. "Do you… do you love him?" Her eyes got big and she bit her lip, her face turning purple again as she struggled to stop herself.

"Yes…" she squeaked out before turning from purple to scarlet and charging back to the castle. Harry laughed out loud at her reaction. So she was in love… Now he really felt the need to do something.