"Cherry twist." Hermione spoke quickly to the Gryffindor portrait. The fat lady, who had been snoozing soundly, opened one eye groggily and snorted in frustration.
"What on earth are you two doing out of bed?" she flared up almost immediately.
"Cherry twist." Harry's voice still echoed with anger. The fat lady gave him a reproachful look, and swung the door open. "She's getting a bit ornery isn't she? It must be the old age setting in…"Harry mumbled as he walked into the common room.
"Old age! Old age! Come back here you git and I'll show you old-" The fat lady's door shut before Harry and Hermione could hear the rest of her rant. The two friends walked over to the overstuffed chairs by the fireplace, which was still glowing red with embers.
"Harry…tell me what's wrong…" Hermione shifted nervously in her chair, looking over at her friend.
"Everything…" Harry spoke in a tone of defeat.
"It's Alysious, then?" Hermione crossed her arms across her chest, her legs sitting indian-style in the chair. Harry sat upright at once.
"What do you know that I don't?" he spat.
"I know a lot that you don't know…" Hermione smiled at him. "including a lot about Alysious." Harry put his head in his hands.
"I'm just so confused, 'Mione. I don't know how to feel about all of this. I know I need to make up my mind, but it's not that easy."
"Harry, there's something I think you need to know…" Hermione faltered. Harry looked up at her with hope in his eyes. "Alysious…well… she's loved you since she first saw you, Harry! She's always been so nervous around you, hoping that you would return her feelings… it's been very hard for her. We've all been so close these past years, she didn't want to say anything to upset everybody's friendship." Hermione finished and saw Harry's emotionless face.
"But-but…you and Ron…you two date… and nobody complains!" Harry's voice began to rise. "She never let me know, Hermione! She never gave me a chance to be what Malfoy is for her now!" Harry punched the arm of the chair as hard as he could. "I never got a fucking chance at all! Do you know what Malfoy is doing to her right now?" Harry had a wild look in his eyes. "He's feeling her up, half naked in the lake and shoving his tongue down her throat!" Harry practically bellowed the last words. Hermione could almost swear she softly heard him say, "And that could be me…".
Alysious was back in her room that night by two in the morning. Her head was buzzing with everything that had happened, but she still managed to fall asleep. The next day, Hermione corned her in the hall on her way down to breakfast.
"Alysious, I think I made a horrible mistake last night…" Hermione whispered to her.
"Are you and Ron okay?" Alysious gasped.
"Yes, yes, it has to do with Harry. I told him… everything…" Hermione looked frightened into her best friend's eyes. Alysious groaned.
"Everything? All five years of it?"
"I'm afraid…yes…" Hermione looked tearful. "He didn't take it well at all. I should warn you- he's very angry."
"Who is he angry at? Me?" Alysious asked incredulously. "I can't believe he's acting like such a prick! It's not fair, 'Mione!" Alysious began to tear up faster than she could control herself.
"Shh, shh, come on, let's go talk somewhere else. People are starting to look at us…" Hermione latched onto her friend's arm and dragged her up to her private quarters. Once they were inside Hermione's room, Alysious really let loose.
"He's choosing now to be upset just because it's Draco! He doesn't know who Draco is anymore! People can change, you know! I don't think he wants me to be happy… he didn't want me, but he doesn't want any other guy EVER to have me either! It's not fair, it's not fair!" Alysious sobbed into Hermione's pillow. "Now, this is going to ruin everything! We won't even be able to friends anymore… I tried so hard to prevent this from happening all these years… and now it has anyway!" Hermione let Alysious vent before she began to try and soothe her.
"I know, he's being such a prat about it all," Hermione sat beside her friend and patted her hair lovingly. "But it's going to be okay. You can't let what Harry thinks of you ruin your entire self. You have the right to be with whomever you choose. And just because it's not Harry doesn't mean it's wrong, either." Hermione lulled her. Alysious sniffed loudly.
"You're right. I shouldn't care…" Alysious stood up, and then flung herself down onto the bed again suddenly, "But I DO!" she began sobbing again.
The girls heard a couple of soft knock's on the door to Hermione's room. Then, a familiar voice.
"Hermione? Are you okay?" Draco spoke. Alysious gasped up at her friend, wide-eyed and blotchy.
"How did he get in through the portrait?" Alysious whispered frantically, wiping her face and attempting to tame her hair.
"He's Head Boy, Alysious, we're suitemates." Hermione answered her softly.
"I didn't know he was!" Alysious said, not knowing how she felt about the idea.
"Yes, Draco, I'm fine. I'm just…erm… chatting with a friend…" Hermione called.
"Oh, okay…it just sounded like…well, never mind. I hope things go alright-" Draco sounded like he was walking away from the door. Without warning, Alysious jumped off the bed and flew to the door. She whisked it open to find Draco halfway across the common room. He stopped and turned around. "My god, what happened to you?" he asked Alysious as he strode quickly over to her.
The doors to the Great Hall flew open as Draco paced his way to the Gryffindor table. He had spotted Harry almost immediately after the doors had opened. The Hall grew silent as Draco marched swiftly over to Harry. Harry stood up and faced Draco, hate spread across his face.
"You can't run her life, Potter!" Draco shouted at Harry as he progressed to a light jog over to the table. Harry balled his fists and started walking towards Draco. The entire Hall screamed as the boys collided and started fist fighting. A ring formed around them and blood spattered on the floor from fists and flesh. The boys hadn't been fighting more than a few minutes before Professor Dumbledore had them both hovering in the air, separated from one another. Draco's lip was bleeding, and he spat blood onto the floor. Harry had a rapidly swelling eye, and his nose looked broken. His face was red from being hit so often, and made him look lumpy. Harry had obviously come out worse in the fight.
The Hall was filled with shouts and murmuring of Draco going back to the Dark Side, trying to kill Harry Potter under Lord Voldemort's requests. Dumbledore shushed them all before speaking.
"Fighting is not tolerated at this school, as both Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter should both rightly know. After you have both been cleaned up by Madame Pomfrey, I should expect your House leaders to punish you accordingly.
"But Professor!" a young girl shouted from the crowd, " Malfoy was trying to kill Harry! He should be expelled!" The crowd began shouting again.
"Quiet!" Dumbledore roared with amazing voice capacity. "Like I said before, I expect both boys to be punished accordingly. No one is trying to kill anyone else, I shall assess the situation myself considering the great controversy, if that is amiable with the other House leaders." Dumbledore glanced at Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape meaningfully. They both nodded fervently. Without another word, Harry and Draco were shipped off to the infirmary.
(A/N: sorry about the short chapter! I have my May Mini-mester final tomorrow so I had to cut it short for study purposes! Please review everyone! I love feedback!)
