Disclaimer: characters - nope, not mine. The entire little universe - unfortunately not. Juliette and the plot - hey, that is mine!

Unrequited Hate

Chapter Five

The Gryffindor common room was in one large, chaotic mess. Not that that was unusual after a Quidditch victory. But Ron was getting tired of it and managed to slip out of the common room unnoticed. It was after curfew, but he wasn't worried about getting caught. After all, he could just say that he was on prefect duties. Even though he wasn't wearing robes or his badge, and was dressed in just a pair of Muggle blue jeans and a white fitted t-shirt. As he was walking, he heard two people speaking. He stopped walking, and listened for a moment.

Pansy's voice. He would know it anywhere.

"Pansy Rebecca Parkinson, you cannot seriously believe this? You and I both know that half of what Millie says is total bullshit," a girl said.

"Don't lecture me, Juliette Sabrina Avery! And yes, I believe this one, even if it was Millie," he heard Pansy say stubbornly, and he could picture her face as she said it.

He heard Juliette sigh. "What if I could find out for sure? Would you believe me over Millie?" she asked, her voice softer than before.

"Yes, I would believe you over Millie. But how are you going to find out?" Pansy asked with a hint of cynicism in her voice.

"I have my ways," Juliette answered vaguely.

He heard Pansy give a small laugh. "Liette, you sound like you're in one of those stupid Muggle spy movies," she said, and Ron could hear the smile in her voice.

"Thank you so much Pans," Juliette said with a laugh.

The two girls continued to talk, but their voices got quieter as they moved away from him. He gave a small sigh. He wanted to be the one who could make her laugh. He wanted to make her smile. He loved the sound of her voice, and played the conversation over again in his head as he walked back to the common room.

Then he paused. Gossip that was upsetting Pansy? His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He shook his head - he doubted that he would be able to find out what was bothering her. He told the Fat Lady the password and walked into the common room - it was still loud and boisterous. He talked to Harry for a while and then left for the dormitory - he just wanted some sleep.

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Harry woke up late the morning after the Quidditch match. He dressed in a pair of jeans and slightly-tight black t shirt. He was walking down to the Great Hall for a late breakfast when he was pulled into an empty classroom. He pulled out his wand to attack whoever it was that had attacked him, and found himself face to face with… Juliette.

"Holy shit," he said, annoyed. "Don't do that."

Juliette rolled her eyes. "I have to ask you something. Is Weasley planning on asking Granger out soon?"

Harry looked at her as though she was crazy. "No! Where the fuck did you hear that?" he asked.

"Millicent was going on one of her gossip sprees at the match yesterday and we heard it. I had to know if it was true or not. Pansy was getting kinda upset by it," she told him with a shrug of her shoulders.

As she was talking, he took in her appearance. She was wearing a pair of plain dark blue jeans and a white, somewhat low-cut t shirt which was extremely flattering. She wasn't thin, but she did have possibly the greatest curves he'd ever seen on a girl.

He looked back up to her face, which was tilted to one side, studying him. "I found the locking spell for the broom closet," she said with a tiny smile.

He grinned. "Really?" She nodded. "When should we do it?"

Juliette bit her bottom lip in concentration and looked up at the ceiling. Harry's eyes unconsciously locked onto her lips, but he was jerked away from the thoughts forming in his mind by her voice saying, "How about later in the week? Wednesday, maybe?"

"Wednesday works. I'll meet you outside the Charms classroom at ten-thirty," he answered. She nodded her head. "See you later I guess," he said before walking out the door.

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Harry sat down next to Ron and across from Hermione at the Gryffindor table and began to put food on his plate.

"Why are you so late Harry?" Hermione asked, looking up from her pancake.

"Overslept," he told her before taking a bite of his eggs.

Ron and Harry, along with Dean and Seamus, began to discuss tactics for the next Quidditch match - which was in a month, while Hermione was talking to Ginny about her Arthimancy class.

Ron chanced a glance over at the Slytherin table, and saw Juliette telling Pansy something, and then Pansy smiled at her and with a look of relief said something back. He looked back down at his eggs before she could catch his eye.

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After Harry had left the classroom, Juliette had waited for a few minutes before walking down to the Great Hall herself. Once she got there she slid into a seat next to Pansy and put a bagel on her plate and began to butter it.

Pansy had been talking to Draco when Juliette had gotten there, but then turned and opened her mouth to say something when Juliette cut her off.

"It's not true," Juliette said.

Pansy looked at her, half skeptical, half excited. "Are you sure?"

"Hundred percent - there's no way my source is wrong on this," Juliette told her firmly.

Pansy smiled, and said quietly, "Thanks." She felt very much relived, and chanced a quick glance over at the Gryffindor table. Ron was sitting next to Harry, his hair falling into his eyes. She felt an urge to brush it back, so that it wasn't hiding his wonderful blue eyes. She looked back at her bacon, not wanting him to see her looking at him.

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a/n: ick - transition chapter. Definitely not the best chapter. And I'll give you a warning - the next one is short. And sorry guys, but no real action till chapter seven, and no more Draco/Hermione till ten. And I'll update as soon as I can, but I've got some bad news - I probably have carpal tunnel syndrome, meaning it hurts for me to type for extended periods of time. I'm going to a doctor and I've got a brace, but I am gona hafta make some changes when it comes to my computer. But I can promise that chapter six will be up by then end of the week.

.-Tiarwen-.