Just A Stupid Crush
Chapter 12
Harry's POV
No way. It couldn't be. How could I have missed this? Why didn't they tell me? I stared angry at Hermione, then at Sirius. Neither of them noticed. It made me angrier. I made sure to pay close attention to both of them during Defense Against the Dark Arts. Looking from Hermione to Sirius, I could instantly tell what was going on but why it never hit me before was beyond me. Glancing over at Ron on the other side of Hermione told me that he was completely oblivious to the way Sirius and Hermione kept looking at each other. It made me feel slightly sick and I wondered what they were playing at. Sirius is my godfather and our professor and Hermione is Head Girl and has not even graduated from Hogwarts yet. I decided to talk to Sirius after class just to confirm my suspicions. I hoped to Merlin that I was imagining things and there was nothing going on.
Sirius's POV
I wonder what Harry looks so upset about. I think he's figured out the secret. This could mean trouble. He'll probably be angry for not telling him. Perhaps I should explain everything to him before he ends up getting mad at Hermione. I would rather him be mad at me than her. I finished up class and dismissed everyone asking only Harry to stay. I caught Hermione's interested look out of the corner of my eye but forced myself to stay focused on what had to be done.
"Something bothering you, Harry?" I asked sitting in the desk next to his own. I knew this was a stupid question; something was obviously bothering him. Had to break the ice somehow though I suppose.
He had an almost pleading look in his eye as he responded with, "Is there anything going on between you and Hermione?" I looked away from him, unable to look into his hurt eyes.
I closed my eyes and said slowly, "Harry, listen. It's not Hermione's fault. I told her not to tell you and Ron. Actually, I told her not to tell anyone. I thought that if we told a few people the whole school would end up knowing and Hermione and I could both get in trouble for this."
"So you thought that I would tell the entire school so that you and Hermione would get in trouble? You don't trust me?" He asked standing up quickly. I stole a glance into his hurt eyes and immediately regretted doing so.
"Harry, I know how you must be feeling, and I want you to know I'm sorry," I told him letting all of the regret I felt into my voice.
"Save it. I don't want to hear it," he whispered in a dangerously low tone and stormed out of the room.
"Harry, wait! Harry, come back!" I begged to his retreating form. I sighed heavily realizing that he wasn't going to come back. My thoughts darted to Hermione and I hoped that Harry wouldn't take this out on her as well. I put my head in my hands, wishing that I had never told Hermione to not tell anyone about us. What had I been thinking? My thoughts were interrupted when a tapping on the window could be heard. I went to the window and let the owl in; the message it carried did nothing to improve my mood.
Harry's POV
I found Ron back at the common room and sat in the chair next to him. He noticed that something was bothering me and before he could ask, I jumped right into the explanation about the conversation I had just had.
"Do you realize what they've been doing behind our backs?" I stared angrily at the table as if it had been the one who hadn't told us what was going on. When Ron didn't answer, I looked up at him and saw a completely blank look on his face. I sighed heavily and told him who I was speaking of. "Sirius and Hermione, Ron!" I glanced around quickly hoping no one had heard me. Everyone seemed too busy to be interested in what we were saying. Even though Sirius and Hermione had betrayed my own trust, I didn't want to betray theirs.
"No, what?" Ron blankly said.
I lowered my voice and leaned closer to Ron so that no one would hear and then I explained everything to him. He looked slightly green, but furious. Standing up quickly, he yelled, "We've got to do something, Harry! Does Dumbledore know? What were they thinking?"
"Ron!" I said pulling him back to a sitting position and glancing nervously around to the room to make sure no one was listening. The room had quieted and I decided that this was not the best place for this conversation. I told Ron that we should talk about this somewhere else, but then I heard a voice behind us that I dreaded to hear.
"Do something about what? Does Dumbledore know about what? What was who thinking?" Of course it was Hermione. Of course she sounded very angry and slightly scared. Of course I couldn't turn around and face her. Of course Ron could.
"Hermione, what in the name of Merlin were you thinking? He's old enough to be-" Ron was suddenly mouthing words, but no sound was coming out. I turned to look at Hermione and saw that she looked furious. Her wand was being held lazily in her hand. She was actually quite scary when she looked this angry. I quickly looked around and noticed that many people were staring. I was angry too, but I didn't want the whole school to know about Hermione and Sirius like they both feared. I was about to suggest that we all go talk about this somewhere more appropriate when I noticed an owl at the window. I walked past Hermione to let it in and noticed that the message was for her.
"Hermione, I think it's for you," I said nervously, handing the letter out to her. She spun around and snatched it out of my hands. The more she read of it, the more fear crept into her eyes.
After reading it through another time, she said in a small voice, "I've- I have to go." I watched her leave wondering who the letter was from. I almost had forgotten that I wanted to be mad at her, she sounded so sad and nervous. I saw Ron waving at me out of the corner of my eye and realized he still had the silencing charm on him. I smirked and realized it couldn't hurt to leave it on for a few more minutes. He didn't look happy as I just shrugged at him.
Hermione's POV
The walk to the Headmaster's office was the longest of my life. My palms were sweating slightly and the thoughts were racing through my mind. What did Professor Dumbledore want? I spoke the password to Dumbledore's gargoyle and it sprang aside. As I went up the spiral staircase, I could hear an angry voice coming from inside the office. Drawing even nearer, I realized it was Sirius's. This was definitely not good. I knocked nervously on the door, then entered.
General POV
"Ah, Miss Granger. Please take a seat if you will," Professor Dumbledore said kindly, but there was no twinkle in his eyes at the moment. Hermione sat and was shaking nervously. She glanced at Sirius next to her and saw that he looked angry, but his eyes told her that he was scared.
"Now, I have asked you both here to discuss something very important. Lemon drop?" Hermione politely shook her head but Sirius glared angrily at him. "No? Well then, onto business. It has come to my attention that there has been a certain relationship going on between the two of you that is not strictly student-teacher," Professor Dumbledore said slowly. Hermione was staring at the ground and the tears welling in her eyes were evident.
"So what?" Sirius said angrily. Hermione's head snapped up to look at him. She knew that Sirius didn't care what he said to who, but she was surprised that he took this tone with the Headmaster. "Hermione is of age now, she should be free to make her own choices!"
"While that may be true," said Dumbledore patiently, "she is still your student and I'm afraid people may get the idea that she is doing this only to manipulate you into receiving a better grade."
Both Hermione and Sirius's jaws dropped in surprise. Sirius recovered quickly and looked angrier than ever. "Hermione would never do that. Anyone who knows her at all knows that she isn't like that," Sirius said through clenched teeth.
"Professor," spoke Hermione softly, staring at the ground now, "I wouldn't. The thought of receiving any better grade never even crossed my mind."
Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I know. However, not everyone would see it this way. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you two to end this relationship until Miss Granger graduates," he said sadly. Hermione and Sirius looked at each other and both knew that now that they had found each other, they never wanted to lose the other.
"I'll leave you two to talk for a moment," said Professor Dumbledore as he stood to leave the room.
Hermione looked sadly at the floor, unable to look at Sirius for if she did, she would surely leap right into his arms. "It's only until I graduate, right?" She asked softly, hardly daring herself to speak at all.
"Yeah, just another six months," Sirius said with an annoyed voice. He silently stood and left the room. Hermione remained where she was, still staring at the floor, the tears silently streaming down her face. This can't be happening. Please let this be a dream. Please don't let this really be happening. She hugged her knees and jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her red eyes located Professor Dumbledore looking sadly down at her.
"I'm sorry, Miss Granger. It had to be done." She nodded slowly and turned her head to sob into her knees.
AN: See? I really am alive! I must be to get two chapters out in just a week. Sad, sad chapter. I warned you there had to be drama. I think this is one of my better written chapters. I actually took the time to write it well instead of just writing it in very laid back kind of way. I want you to know that if you're still reading, I really appreciate it. I've taken the time to plan out the rest of the chapters which I think should get the story moving along a little faster. Like I said before though, this semester has been my busiest thus far and I can make no promises about chapter updates. Hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you thought.
PadfootBlack4Ever
PS: I have a new story up as well called More Carefree. It's going to be a very laid back story and hopefully pretty funny. I'm working on the plans for that as well but I promise this story will come first. It'll be much different than this story so don't expect something along the same lines. Might eventually be the same pairing, but I might also decide to do a Hermione/Snape. Still very much in the planning stages, I just thought I would post the first chapter to see what kind of response I would get.