Hi
Hope you enjoy this, as usual please review if you enjoy this.
Sirius xoxo
Chapter 7
Harry thought he would get a chance to speak to her through the week if he stayed at the castle.
He was wrong.
He was flat out and didn't even have time to scratch himself the first week. He called on Hermione more often than he liked to admit and she was being very professional and treated him like a fellow workmate and it was driving him insane.
It was finally Friday night and Harry was looking forward to sleeping in this weekend. He staggered down to dinner and was stopped by many students telling him how much they enjoyed his class and so on. It was quite flattering considering he had absolutely no idea, whatsoever, of what he was doing. He walked into the great hall and scanned the crowd for her and saw her instantly. He headed over and sat in his seat and as he was seated next to Hermione, he turned around to talk to her before Professor Dumbledore started the meal but an owl dropped a letter on his lap.
Oh what now?
Harry opened the letter and the three words said it all.
Harry get home.
That's it, that's all she said but he knew it meant much more than that. It meant if he didn't get his sorry butt back down there to that house, she was going to make life hell for him, well worse than it usually was. He sighed and stood up. Neville was sitting on his right side and started up a conversation.
"Harry, aren't you going to eat?" Harry smiled at him and then looked at Hermione and shook his letter.
"No, got to get home, see you all Monday." Hermione looked down at her food and did not let him see the disappointment she felt at him going back to her.
Dinner started and Hermione was really quiet, Neville looked over and thought some conversation was called for so he shuffled into Harry's seat.
"You know Hermione, I really like him, what about you?" she huffed and then nodded but her voice said something different.
"Just another Professor who has no idea of what he is doing Neville." Neville was surprised, he had never heard Hermione speak bad about anyone before.
"Hermione, that's a bit rough isn't it, I know he has been knocking on your door all week, but give the poor guy a chance. We can't all be as brilliant as you!" Neville knew her well enough to say these things, she was never a mean person so this behaviour took him by surprise. She was shocked he would think she thought like that and she stared at him.
"I never said anything like that at all Nev and you know it, it's not just that... look I have other things on my mind, sorry?"
"Hermione, is this about your break up with that guy?" Hermione didn't look at him but she nodded.
"Well all I can say is that if he didn't stick around then he isn't worth it, you deserve better than that." Hermione nodded but didn't trust her voice to speak. Professor Dumbledore walked over to her after dinner and handed her a note. She smiled and took it. She recognised Harry's handwriting immediately so she tucked it away inside her robes.
"Who's writing to you Hermione?" Neville continued eating his dessert and she knew he was just making conversation, not being nosey.
What to tell him? She decided on the truth.
"Harry." Neville stopped eating and looked at her.
"Whhhyyyy?" he stretched it out.
"Probably because, as usual, good ol' Hermione will fix everything since he ran off to have a nice weekend with his wife and no-one is in charge of Gryffindor."
Neville raised his eyebrows and then lent in closer to her, "You know what I heard Hermione, Alice was talking to him at lunch one day and they were talking about his wife. Alice snooped around and found out that his wife is filthy rich, like one of the Malfoy's of America, and he is a nobody. Do you think he married her for the money? I mean I didn't take him as that type of a man but really, you don't know people really, do you?"
Hermione looked at him and nodded, that one comment she could certainly agree with.
"You're right Nev you never really know a person. Anyway I had better get up stairs and check on my house and Gryffindor as well. Catch you in the morning Neville, Good night."
She left half her food and all of her dessert behind as she left the hall. She walked upstairs and the note felt like it was weighing her down. She had fully intended on ignoring it but it was screaming at her to open it. She quickly checked her house and popped her head into Gryffindor's and everyone was good so she headed up to her room.
She opened the door and threw her robe over onto the end of her bed. She took out the note and turned it around in her hands for a few minutes. She ripped it open and read Harry's letter.
Dear Hermione
Firstly I want to say thank you for all your help this week. I have never felt so far out of my depths in my life. Secondly and more importantly, I need to see you. Please come over on Sunday, Elizabeth will have left by then, but I need to see you, I need to hold you in my arms, this distance is killing me. I understand that you are upset, but please give me a chance to explain in person. I owe you that at least.
I will be waiting for you on Sunday, as I said she will be gone by the morning.
Love Harry.
Hermione read the note over again to make sure she understood it all and for the first time since all of this happened, she really felt like the 'other woman'. Up until now, she was trying to convince herself that maybe it wasn't going to be like that, that maybe her and Harry could find a way to be together. These thoughts she only let herself dream when she was in the privacy of her own bed. She thought that she needed time to adjust to the news and there was probably some reasonable explanation as to why he didn't mention it once in the whole time they were together. The more she thought about it, the more she realised she was being stupid.
Harry wants a mistress and she fit the bill. Obviously she was never meant to find out about Elizabeth and they certainly were never meant to meet, but it happened and now he is trying to cover it up.
This realisation hurt her immensely. She knew she had fallen in love with him and now she had to fall out of love and that was going to be particularly hard with him working with her. She considered handing in her resignation letter but that was becoming a harder decision to make as time passed by. It would mean leaving a position she had worked very hard for and even more dire, leaving the Weasley's.
Could she do that to them? No not really, she would just have to be stronger and make sure he doesn't find out how much he means to her.
She threw the letter into the fire and watched the flames lick at the side of the paper, it engulfed it's prey in a few short seconds. She needed to be strong, she needed to get above this.
Saturday was quiet, a few children required her assistance from Gryffindor but other than that, it was a relaxing day. She made up her lessons for the next week and also set her first revision assignment for the seventh years. At one stage during the afternoon she went to look for Neville but found he had gone to visit Jenny to book wedding arrangements. So she went back to her room and laid down to read a book before dinner. An owl flew to her room and tapped on the window. She very hesitantly unclasped the note from the owls leg and turned it over. She breathed a sigh of relief when she recognised Ginny's handwriting.
She sat down and slowly opened the letter.
Dearest Hermione,
Hi my friend, how are you going? As if I have to ask???? Your Harry is absolutely gorgeous, I am so happy for you. He is obviously very much in love with you, just his body language all night proved that. I am so glad we got to meet him, he's such a lucky guy to have my sister on his arm. You two make the perfect pair.
Any way I have some extremely important news to tell you, Colin proposed!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know, I know finally, that's what I said, but how exciting is that.
So I was planning on a spring wedding, what do you think? I want you to be my matron of honour of course so I need lots of input from you. I am writing to mum straight after I get your reply, cause I want to make sure you know first.
I am so happy Hermione, I can't even explain it, well I don't need to, you're just as happy as me.
Love you heaps and heaps,
Gin xoxo
PS start thinking about colours and themes....
Hermione read the note over again, she wanted to be ecstatic for her friend but she needed to tell her about Harry first. That way every single letter won't be about how her and Harry made such a great pair.
She took her quill and started her letter.
Dearest Ginny,
I am soooooo soooooo happy for you both, Colin is amazing and he will love you and look after you forever. I have no ideas of what colours to choose so maybe I will get some colour swatches and when you're back we can do a run through. Is the wedding going to be big or an intimate one?
Knowing you it will be enormous, with the amount of people you know, it will have to be!
Umm, just an update on Harry and me, it didn't work out, he is working here at Hogwarts but he's not the one for me. Sorry to disappoint you but its better this way.
Any way I am super excited about the wedding, so go and let Molly know before she finds out in the air or something...
Love always, Hermione.
Hermione thought she made it sound like she was flippant about everything that had happened with Harry but still excited about the wedding even though she wanted to cry. She was very happy for Ginny but it was still too fresh to be telling people that she couldn't keep yet another beau.
Not that this one was her fault, but either way, she felt terrible.
As much as she wanted to sleep on Saturday night, she couldn't. She was actually excited about Ginny's wedding. She started thinking about flowers and dresses and colours and at 12.30am she thought she should write a list. It was the only way her mind could rest and she could finally get some sleep. After satisfying her obsessive desire for list writing, she laid down on her bed and looked out the window at the stars. She wondered what Harry was doing and then scolded herself for thinking of him.
She awoke with a strange feeling, like she was being watched. She quickly glanced around her room and found nothing. It was fairly late for her, past 10am, so she got up and got dressed. By this time she had missed breakfast and she made her way down to the kitchens.
"Madame Granger, Dobby is so happy to see you Miss, Dobby has not seen miss for a long time and Dobby is worried that Miss is not eating properly." Hermione passed him a small package and he took it like it was the most precious gift in the world to him. He opened it slowly and found a small colourful outfit that would fit him perfectly. He pulled it up to his face and gently laid the soft material against his skin. It was like giving a child a present on Christmas day who had expected nothing.
He slowly opened out the small jumper and slipped it over his head. He looked down and saw the Hogwarts crest printed on it, his eyes teared up and he grabbed Hermione's legs and cried.
She pat his head and asked him to make her some breakfast and he went overboard. She had so much food she told him to join her and he happily obliged. They chatted for a while and then Hermione walked outside to go back to her room but as she walked away, Professor Dumbledore called her and she spun around.
"Professor Granger, I am terribly sorry to impose this on you, but Professor Potter is away and the Quidditch team requires supervising out on the pitch. I appreciate your help on this matter." Hermione stared at him like he had two heads.
"Sir, I have absolutely no idea of the rules of Quidditch, can't you find someone else?" Hermione pleaded.
"Sorry professor, there is no one else, all you need to do is supervise them, the captains are running the practise. Thank you Professor." Professor Dumbledore smiled that smile of his and Hermione found herself nodding irrespective of her brain telling her not to.
She walked out to the field and she was cursing under her breath.
Stupid freaking idiot, takes up a job and doesn't even do it. No, run off and play happy families Harry and leave all your work to me, you jerk.
She arrived on the field and blew her whistle very loudly. All the students stopped and flew down to her.
"Dismount your brooms now!" her voice was strong and annoyed.
"I will not take rubbish of you seniors, anyone who is out of line will have detention with me for a week, is that clear?" everybody nodded feeling slightly scared. She told them to go back to their practise and she prayed to every deity there was that she wouldn't have to get on that damn broom that was staring at her.
Well if Hermione's day could of gotten worse, it wouldn't of mattered because she was already living in her own private hell. She ended up having to use that horrid broom and she was scared out of her mind and she was trying so hard to look like she knew what she was doing, she almost fell off. Unfortunately, or fortunately, a 7th year student had to come and guide her down to the ground. She was scared, embarrassed and massively annoyed.
She went up to her room and threw her cloak on the floor and went to have a hot shower. She let the hot water caress her sore body and she felt the knots in her muscles slowly undo. She washed her hair and then used her special aromatic soaps that Ginny had bought her from France. She felt much better when she got out and she wrapped a large warm towel around her body. She shook her hair out and let it float down over her shoulders. She walked out into her room and screamed,
Harry was standing near her bed.
