Ten Things I Hate About You
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR while Ten things I hate about you belongs to its rightful owner!
Author's Note: So…this is the next chapter…I hope you'd enjoy this one! J…oh and please review! I dunno but I can't check out some of the reviews for some strange reason…I mean…according to ffnet… I actually have 16 reviews…and yet, I could only read some of them…oh well…on with the story! And thanks for your reviews!
Chapter 4
When Harry arrived at the Library, he immediately proceeded at Hermione's favorite spot- the one at the very back of the Library. There, he found her staring at an empty space and muttering to herself.
"Hey Hermione. Do you mind if I could study with you?" he immediately asked upon approaching her.
"Sure. Where's Ron?" she asked, peering over his back to see if their other best friend is there.
"He's at the Great Hall, grabbing a quick breakfast. Um, Hermione? Do you think you could help me with my potions' essay?" He asked, saying the first homework that came to his mind.
"But Harry! You should've done that last week! I mean the due date is tomorrow! I've done mine last weekend, you know."
"But Hermione! You know that we also have Quidditch to think about. You know that if we don't practice, we'd lose the next game against Hufflepuff!" he whined, making puppy-dog looks at her.
"And you think I don't have lots of stuff to do too? I have prefect duties, S.P.E.W, studies and you two to think about! But if only you would use time management, then you would be able to finish your homework earlier!"
"I know, I know. But I promise that if you would help me on this one, I'd do my homework sooner and maybe we could do it together," Harry pleaded again, thinking that if he really did that, then he could be able to spend more time with her.
"Okay, but you promised," Hermione replied, probably convinced of Harry's conditions. After that, she made room for him by removing a stack of books on a chair next to her and gestured for him to sit on it.
"Thanks! I'm having trouble on determining the purpose of a dried doxy wing in a calming potion," Harry explained as he flipped through his rolls of parchment. This time, what he is saying is true. He really is having trouble determining the purposes of ALL the ingredients of his potion. In fact, he never did think about the assignment until now.
They did their schoolwork the whole day while Ron popped in and out of the library occasionally to Hermione's disapproval.
"You should really follow Harry's example! Have you done your potion's assignment? It's due tomorrow!" Ron's only response is a look of guilt which was nothing compared to Hermione's look of deep disgust.
"I-I'm halfway through. I-I was just taking a break at the kitchens. After this, I'm going back to the Common Room to do it," Ron replied nervously. Clearly, he is only saying this to avoid Hermione's wrath.
"Good! Why don't you get your stuff and do it here with us?"
"Well, I need some peace and quiet while I do my potions assignment. And don't worry I'll do it. You could check what I will do once you come back," Ron said as he turned around and made his way to the Library door, Hermione all the while giving him suspicious looks. Harry, of course, knew that he was only giving him time alone with her.
They immediately came back to his potions assignment after that. They only stopped what they were doing to go to the Great Hall to eat their lunch and dinner. Along the way there for dinner, Harry suddenly remembered that they have a Hogsmeade weekend next week. He thought this would be a great opportunity to ask Hermione out. But then again, how will he ask her? It would be awkward for them both to just ask her out of the blue. He thought about it all the while as they ate and even as they did his Charms homework on searching charms later on. Hermione noticed this after a while after Harry came up with an excuse to ask her out.
"Harry? Is there something wrong? You seem to be out of focus for a long time now," she asked. She really looked concerned from the look in her eyes. "Are you tired? Maybe we should rest for a while or something."
"No, it's okay. I've just been doing some thinking. Um, Hermione? I want to thank you for helping me in my homework. I can't say I would enjoy doing it without you or that I would make some progress without you."
Hermione blushed at this. Clearly, she didn't expect him to be all appreciative of all the help he got from her right now. She quickly told him that it was nothing, really. But Harry cut him off.
"And with all the help that you have given me, I realized that I never really have expressed my gratitude for being there for me. So, um, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked nervously.
"But Harry, we always go to Hogsmeade together. Why did you still ask?" she asked, confused.
"I-I mean, just the two of us," Harry said, mumbling the last five words.
"Is this a-a date?" she asked nervously.
"Whatever you think of it," he replied. Hermione was clearly in deep thought after he told her that.
"Um…Harry? I…suddenly remembered…I have lots of things to do…the Yule Ball is in a few weeks and…we prefects are extremely busy helping to put it up," she replied uncertainly. She was obviously choosing the right words to turn him down, but Harry was not ready to give up yet.
"Can't you just take a day off, at least? I mean, you never really had any real rest when we came here."
"Well, I would have that kind of rest when we have our Christmas break," she said shortly. "Maybe we should continue doing that tomorrow. The due date's next Wednesday, anyway and its getting late," she snapped. Never, in Harry's life in Hogwarts has he witness Hermione procrastinate over an assignment. This could mean that she is upset.
They fixed their things and went back to the Common Room without uttering a single word to each other. Hermione quickly went back to her dormitory without even acknowledging Ron's presence. Harry, on the other hand, sat down beside Ron and sighed in a defeated way.
"What happened?" Ron asked excitedly.
"I tried to ask her out but she refused," Harry said. He was tired after a whole days' work on his homework. He really needed some rest.
"Well, are you giving up?"
"I dunno. Listen, I'm going to bed and I don't want to talk about it now," Harry said as he stood up and walked to their dormitory.
"Harry, don't give up! Remember your promise!" Ron called out from the nearly emptied common room to Harry who was climbing the stairs to their room.
'Yeah, that bloody favor that I agreed upon that lead me to this mess,' Harry thought bitterly. Now he's in an awkward situation with his best friend. He has to think of a way to convince her to go out with him. But he seriously didn't know what to do. Thinking that he would just ask Ron since it was his idea at the first place, he changed to his nightclothes and went to his bed to get some much-needed sleep.
Author's Note: I know, I know…my submission is too late. I just had problems thinking of this chapter. But anyway, its here! Tell me what you think! I think its in the middle of okay and it sucks. How about you? Anyway, somebody (forgot the name, sorry!) reviewed about my invisibility cap. Well, you see, its performance is under observation. You're right about what you said in your review. That's why this factor would lead to an incident that will happen soon. J