Hermione was just polishing off her breakfast when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Harry, who was looking at her nervously yet hopefully.
"Do you think we could talk? In private?" he asked. Hermione took a sip of her orange juice. The other girls were watching them.
"Sure. But if all you're going to do is yell at me and throw a hissy fit because I didn't wait for you guys yesterday, then I'm not interested," Hermione responded.
"I wasn't planning to do that at all. Come on Hermione, please?" Harry pleaded. Hermione scrutinized him; he seemed to be genuinely sorry. She nodded and stood up.
"See you guys at lunch, yeah?" she said. The other girls nodded. Parvati mouthed Good Luck as Harry led Hermione away from the table. Luna and the other girls, along with Ron and Ginny, watched them go.
Once they were away from the prying eyes of the Great Hall, Hermione looked questioningly at Harry.
"Where did you want to talk?" she asked. Harry gestured to one of the empty classrooms on the first floor. Hermione nodded and followed him inside. Perching on one of the desks, Hermione watched as Harry closed and locked the door behind him. He came and sat down on one of the desks across from Hermione. They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. Hermione was just wondering whether she would have to be the one to break first when Harry spoke.
"First of all, Hermione, I want to say how very sorry I am that we blew you off at lunch yesterday. That wasn't right and I know it. Ginny said we lost track of time, but that's not exactly true. I kept an eye on my watch the whole time we were in the Quidditch shop and when it got closer to 12 I said we should leave but Ginny and Ron wouldn't listen. And I'm sorry I didn't speak up when they were berating you at dinner last night," Harry said.
"Why didn't you? You could see that they were ragging on me and yet you stood back and did nothing," Hermione said stoutly. Harry sighed.
"I wanted to apologize to you in private. Ron agreed that we should apologize to you and we were going to as soon as we got back to the castle, honest. But then Ginny saw you sitting with the other girls, and well, she got jealous. She's already jealous about you going home for the cheerleading thing, and I guess seeing you sitting with people other than us just added fuel to the fire," Harry admitted.
"Okay but that still doesn't explain why you didn't speak up last night. Why, Harry? After everything I've done for you, after standing by you when no one else did after you'd been selected to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, why couldn't you stick up for me?" Hermione said, sounding close to tears. Harry looked down, shamefaced. He knew Hermione was right.
"I guess, because I didn't want to cause more gossip and turn Ron and Ginny against me. But after what you said to Ginny last night, I thought a lot about it. You're completely right, Hermione, on more than one count. You did stand by me in the Triwizard Tournament, which I don't think I ever thanked you for, so thank you. Ginny is everything you said and I knew that but didn't realize how strong it was until last night. I told them both this morning that it was over," Harry confessed.
"What?! You broke up with Ginny? You're not friends with Ron anymore? Harry, I-I can't believe it. Why did you dump them? And thank you for your apology," said Hermione. Harry shrugged.
"I dumped them because I realized that they've never been good friends to me or to you for that matter. And I also realized that Ginny loves the idea of being with The Boy Who Lived, not who I am as a person. I want and need someone who loves me for me. Ron, well, I don't know what I can say about him really. I kind of feel like he's used me the same way we've used you for our schoolwork to be honest. I'm sorry about that by the way, I'll try not to do that anymore," Harry rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, thank you. For all of that," said Hermione. Harry nodded and held out his arms. Hermione slid off the desk and stepped into his embrace. As she pulled back, he looked at her.
"So, tell me more about this cheerleading competition that you're taking part in, it sounds wicked," he said as he unlocked the classroom and he and Hermione stepped into the hallway.
"Well, my cousin's squad is going to finals and Annabel asked me to stand in because one of the girls got kicked off the squad for being nasty to Emily, who is a good friend of ours," said Hermione as she and Harry set off up the spiral staircase.
"And, what do you do? Flirt with the crowd?" Harry asked. Hermione laughed.
"Sort of, I suppose. Cheerleaders get the crowd going at various sporting events and they're there to show school spirit and support the teams. I hope my uniform isn't too slutty, I've seen some that are pretty out there and revealing," Hermione said as they stopped in front of the Fat Lady and Harry gave the password.
"That sounds cool. I wish I could come watch you," said Harry as they stepped into the common room. Hermione smiled at him before she went off for a shower. Just you wait, Harry, just you wait she thought.
After he'd walked Hermione back to the common room, Harry remembered that he had to go see Professor McGonagall to sort out his detentions. While he wasn't looking forward to spending his week in detention, he knew that his actions the night before had been wrong and he had to pay the consequences. As he walked along, lost in thought, he failed to see Malfoy coming towards him.
"Where's your sidekick, Potter?" Draco asked curiously. He'd never seen Harry without Ron or Ginny or Hermione around. If he was his twelve or thirteen year old self, he would have thought that this would be a good opportunity to give Potter a good arse kicking.
"Ron and I aren't friends anymore and Hermione's taking a shower," said Harry, before mentally hitting himself in the forehead. He was a sixteen year old boy after all, and he knew how sixteen year old boys thought. Draco inwardly chuckled at Potter; it was quite amusing to see him let his guard down.
"Had enough of him, have you? Well, frankly I'm surprised you didn't see through him sooner. By the way, I'd like to apologize for everything I've done. I've been a right prat. Do you think we could start over?" Draco asked, holding out his hand. Harry, taken aback, stared at him. Was Draco Malfoy of all people apologizing to him? Then again, maybe a fresh start was what they needed. Nodding, Harry stepped forward and clasped Draco's hand. They shook.
"Listen, Malfoy, I'd better get going. McGonagall's expecting me. But thank you for your apology. Maybe we can build up to a friendship," suggested Harry. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard Draco badmouth anyone for quite awhile. Draco nodded and Harry set off again down the hall. Arriving at Professor McGonagall's office, he knocked twice and stepped inside.
When Hermione got out of the shower, there was a letter waiting for her on her pillow. Making sure her towel was around her securely; Hermione picked up the letter and sat down on the bed to read it.
Dear Hermione,
That's great that you're allowed to come! I was worried that you wouldn't be. If you could come on Tuesday night that would be great but if you can't come then that's okay. As long as you're here by Friday morning it shouldn't be a problem.
See you soon!
Love,
Anna.
Hermione finished reading and started getting dressed. Now that she had Annabel's response, she could start making preparations for the journey home. Once she'd magically dried her hair and braided it she pulled on a cardigan over a light blue tank top. Picking up Annabel's letter, Hermione hurried out of the dormitory and down the stairs. She left the common room only to be waylaid by Ginny. Ginny snatched the letter from Hermione's hand and read it.
"I think you should tell Annabel you're not coming. Let her and her stupid little team or whatever you call it fail at the competition. You're supposed to be staying here with us, Mum's sending an Easter package and you know how much you like the Easter eggs Mom sends," Ginny attempted to persuade Hermione. Hermione reached out and plucked the letter from Ginny's hand.
"I'm going, Ginny. I've already sent my response to Annabel; I'm not going to back out because unlike you I keep my promises," Hermione said as she pushed past Ginny.
"Fine! I'll tell Mum not to send yours. Thanks to you Harry and I are broken up now!" Ginny screeched as Hermione made her way down the hall. Hermione shook her head and kept walking. If Ginny was going to act like a petulant child that was her business, and as for the Easter eggs from Mrs Weasley; well, Hermione had never forgotten the snub in their fourth year when Mrs Weasley had sent a smaller egg for her because of the bogus Rita Skeeter had printed. None of it was true of course, but it had still hurt her feelings. As she neared Dumbledore's office, Cho caught up with her.
"Hey, where are you going?" she asked. Hermione held up the letter.
"To see Dumbledore, Annabel sent me this an hour ago and wanted to know if I could come home on Tuesday night," Hermione replied as they stopped in front of the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office.
"Cool, well, when you're done, could we talk maybe?" Cho asked. Hermione nodded.
"Sure. This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain jet-black haired friend of mine, would it?"
"Maybe," said Cho casually, although the blush on her cheeks gave her away. Hermione squeezed the Ravenclaw girl's arm.
"We'll talk about it. Do you mind waiting here for me?" asked Hermione. Cho shook her head. Hermione gave the gargoyle the password and stepped onto the winding staircase. As she disappeared, Cho settled down on the hard stone floor to wait.
Hermione stepped off the staircase in front of Dumbledore's office and straightened her shirt. Taking a deep breath, she stepped up to the heavy wooden door and gave three quick knocks.
Author's Note: Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter long weekend and got lots of chocolate! I was hoping to have this chapter up earlier today but I was exhausted all day long. I'm a server at a sports bar and last night was our weekly wings night, which means I usually stay later than I'm supposed to. I didn't get home until midnight and I was supposed to be off at 9:30. Needless to say, I was a zombie all day. Anyhow, enough about that! I am so excited about this story, 5 chapters in and 24 reviews, you guys are absolutely amazing! I have been watching Hellcats and Bring It On clips on YouTube to get a feel for the story and also to study the movements of the cheerleaders. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Till next time, Xoxoxo.