"Enter," said Dumbledore's voice behind the heavy wooden door. Hermione pushed the door open and walked inside.
"Ah, Miss Granger, what can I do for you this morning?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing at one of the chairs on the other side of his desk. Hermione sat down and held the letter from Annabel out. Dumbledore took it and smoothed it flat on his desk, peering at it over the tops of his half-moon spectacles. A few minutes later he looked back up at Hermione.
"It shouldn't be a problem for you to leave school on Tuesday after lessons are done for the day. If you like I can send a note to your teachers today and tell them to give you the week's homework before you leave. But I must ask you, how are you planning to get home?" Dumbledore asked as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together. Hermione bit her lip; she hadn't thought that far ahead.
"By Floo powder, I suppose. I know the train won't run until the weekend. I could floo from somewhere in the school to my parents' house, I'll write them this afternoon and tell them I'm coming," Hermione decided. Dumbledore nodded.
"You're welcome to use the Floo connection from my office if you wish, then that way I can cast the charm on you before you depart the school," he suggested.
"Thank you sir, I'm sure that will work fine," said Hermione as she rose. Dumbledore handed her Annabel's letter back and bid her good day. Hermione closed the door softly behind her and headed down the stairs to where Cho was waiting for her. Upon seeing Hermione, Cho rose gratefully from her spot on the hard stone floor.
"You didn't need to sit on the floor you know," said Hermione as they set off down the corridor. Cho nodded, she knew her backside would be sore later on and was wishing she'd conjured a cushion to sit on while she'd been waiting for Hermione.
"Shall we go to the Room of Requirement, it will be quiet and no one will be able to overhear us there," Hermione suggested.
"Sure, sounds good," said Cho. The two girls walked in silence to the third floor corridor, each lost in their own thoughts. Cho was thinking that if it hadn't been for her own stupid pride and jealousy, she could have had Hermione as a friend for a lot longer. Hermione was wondering if Cho just wanted to be friends with her to get closer to Harry and possibly try a romantic relationship with him again. Coming to a stop in front of the Room of Requirement, Hermione walked back and forth three times before the door materialized and she and Cho entered the room. They settled down in the armchairs before the fire and Hermione waited for Cho to speak.
The Asian girl stared into the fire for a few minutes before turning to Hermione.
"Please don't think I'm just talking to you to get closer to Harry," pleaded Cho, unknowingly hitting on Hermione's train of thought from earlier. Hermione gave her a questioning look.
"I thought you wanted to talk about him," she said.
"I do, but I wanted to spend time with you because I genuinely enjoy your company. After Cedric died I shut myself off from the world and I lost a lot of friends because of that. I knew from watching you with Harry that you were helping him cope with Cedric's death. I guess I was jealous that Harry picked you to talk to about it and not me. I can see now how stupid that was," said Cho. Hermione shook her head.
"It wasn't stupid at all, in your shoes I probably would have been the same way. I don't know how much you know about Harry's home life, but maybe that's a conversation you need to have with him. It took him a long time to open up to me and to Ron. Maybe the reason he didn't open up to you about Cedric was because you guys haven't known each other for long enough," said Hermione. Cho nodded as she settled back in the armchair.
While Hermione and Cho were in the Room of Requirement, Harry had just come from setting up his detentions with Professor McGonagall. He was going to be helping Professor Snape with marking some first years' essays. It could be a lot worse; you could be cleaning bedpans in the hospital thought Harry as he stepped through the portrait hole into the common room. He spotted Ginny by the fire, writing something feverishly on a piece of parchment; and Dean and Seamus and Neville close by. He headed over to join them, only sparing a glance at Ginny.
"Where have you been, mate?" asked Dean as Harry sat down.
"Sorting out my detentions with McGonagall, I'm helping Snape all week," Harry responded as he reached up to remove his glasses and rub his eyes.
"Do you know what Ron's doing? For his detentions," Seamus asked. Harry shook his head.
"No and I don't care. We're not friends anymore so I don't care what he's doing or not doing," said Harry as Ginny walked by. Smirking at the four boys, she flounced up the stairs to her dormitory to fetch an envelope and mail her letter. As she sealed it away, she thought Harry and Hermione are going to regret dumping us.
Meanwhile, Cho and Hermione were still in the Room of Requirement.
"What do you think my chances are of asking Harry to try again?" Cho asked. Hermione bit her lip, facing her new friend.
"Well, he just dumped Ginny this morning, so I'd give him a little time. Maybe you can approach him later in the week and ask to talk," Hermione suggested as she yawned. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was close to lunchtime.
"Why don't we go get some lunch and meet up with the other girls?" she suggested. Cho nodded and the two of them got to their feet. As they left the Room of Requirement, they failed to see Draco coming down the hall, ready to ask Hermione if she wanted to have lunch with him one day in Hogsmeade. But the question died on his lips as Hermione and Cho headed down the hallway. Blaise came up beside him.
"Draco, you just have to man up and do it," he said as he spotted Hermione disappearing around the corner.
"I know, I know, but it's not that easy!" Draco said.
"Mate, we're Slytherins, we don't do easy, we're cunning! Think of a grand gesture, sweep her off her feet in style," said Blaise. Draco rolled his eyes at his friend.
"You've been reading too many of those muggle romance books," he said, taking great pleasure as he watched Blaise blush.
"Tell anyone about that and I'll make you wish you'd never been born," he threatened. Draco snorted as they headed to the Great Hall. He knew Blaise's threat wasn't serious; he just didn't like people knowing that he had a soft spot for all things muggle. Draco decided that by the end of the year he was going to ask Hermione Granger out on a date, pureblood status and his father be damned.
Author's Note: I Am SO Sorry I haven't updated in over a month, please don't hate me! I started school again in April and have been up to my neck in readings and classes that I haven't had a lot of time for anything else. I hope this chapter was worth the wait, looking forward to hearing your thoughts; I always like reading your reviews Till next time, XOXO.