Hey guys! I profusely apologize for updating so late! Actually, I am a student of college/university and the teachers won't stop giving us assignments and keeping us extremely busy. Therefore, I couldn't update soon. So sorry for that! Moreover, thank you again for viewing this story and leave a review for your thoughts. Have fun!
The remaining days of October went like a blur. Classes got harder and harder as teachers piled them up with homework, tests, and quizzes. Hagrid was having severe trouble being a teacher, especially since the Slytherins were so judgemental. The trio secretly dreaded that he would get sacked, and their only hope was Dumbledore. As for the headmaster, he was hardly seen around, and Harry never got the chance to tell him about his dream, which he continued to have. The horror of Lord Voldemort's return still hung around the school, and Harry's scar pained more often than it used to, which clearly meant anything but good.
Easily, the worst thing about this year was the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes and the teacher. Besides never wavering from her theory and reading-based syllabus, Umbridge was now appointed the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts by the Minister, Cornelius Fudge. Everyone in the school, even the teachers, was not at all happy about it. The new position granted her the unfair right of punishing any students she wanted to punish in any way. And for the record, Harry continued to serve detention with Umbridge every Friday, thus missing every Quidditch practice, but he never told Ron and Hermione what the detention really was. They had won the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw by inches. Angelina was furious, but there was nothing she could do that would change Umbridge's mind. The latter also watched over other teachers' classes and asked them all sorts of questions to see if they were fit to be a teacher or not and were teaching the way the Ministry wanted them to. In addition to that, she would also issue 'Decrees,' a set of rules she wanted the students to follow, and all those decrees were more unfair than their precedents. It was all too much. People were starting to hate Umbridge with all their might.
But there wasn't only one female figure to hate. Harry had started to show obvious interest in the Ravenclaw girl, Cho Chang, and Hermione was surprised to find that she could hate a fellow girl student that much. Cho Chang was a Ravenclaw Seeker, and according to Harry, a really good one, too.
"She isn't that good," Hermione argued with Harry, at lunch, just after Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which went awful as usual, "Not as good as you."
"Well, I'm not saying she's as good as me, but she is good," Harry said, "Her way with broomsticks is...amazing."
Hermione fumed, wishing she could hex Cho Chang for winning Harry's heart. Cho was sitting on the Ravenclaw's table with her friends, where Harry kept glancing at.
"Harry fancies her," Ron teased while getting another drumstick, "Don't you, mate?"
"How can I not?" Harry replied, grinning, "She's awesome."
He had never been this open before, which made Ron giddy. But to Hermione, she wished he kept his mouth shut.
"Can't blame you there," Ron said, smirking, "She's a looker."
That's it.
"Can we please talk about something else?" Hermione snapped at them, "Like, the bigger things on our plate?! That dream, Dumbledore's bizarre absences, the possibilities of Hagrid being sacked, and Snuffles being in danger?! And most importantly, how are we not learning anything useful for possible duels in the future? I mean, aren't these things more important than talking about a stupid girl?!"
She didn't notice that she was speaking very loudly, causing nearby Gryffindors to look at her, surprised. Realizing her mistake, she lowered her head and stared at her plate. "I'm sorry," she added feebly.
For a moment, neither of the boys said anything. After what seemed like a long time, Ron spoke up.
"Wow, you must really hate Cho Chang..."
"I don't hate her!" Hermione retorted, her lower lip trembling. She was about to cry like she always did in extreme anger, but she forced herself not to. "I just can't believe that you two would talk about something this petty when we have a lot bigger fish to fry."
"Okay, but still..." Harry spoke up, looking at her in an incredulous way, "You don't need to belittle someone."
"I'm not belittling her!" Hermione exclaimed, "This is so stupid. Why won't you two understand?!"
"Why won't you understand, Hermione?!" Harry yelled back, anger rising in his voice, "I know we have many important things to do, but don't we all have lives? And what did she do to you? Scored better than you in her fifth year? That is why you called her stupid?!"
Hermione's mouth hung open. Harry never insulted her. Never.
Ron was glancing at the two of them with wide eyes, probably enjoying the show.
Hermione didn't speak. She couldn't speak, so Harry spoke for her in an angry voice.
"Wow, Hermione. And here I thought you were the brightest witch of our year..."
That was too much, especially coming from him. But she didn't stay quiet this time.
"Fine, then!" she shouted, "Go and spend useless time with her while I'll search for ways to help Hagrid and the Order. And don't come looking for me when you need help!"
With that, she grabbed her bag and ran away from them. She kept running, her mind going haywire, until she reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where she could get some privacy. She closed the door behind her, sunk down on the floor, and burst into tears.
Her whole body racked with sobs as she relived the moment that happened a few minutes ago. Why was Harry being such a jerk?! Him defending a girl he barely knew over his best friend, who helped him in every possible situation, enraged her. Her anger and sadness came in the form of tears, which wouldn't stop falling down her cheeks. She didn't know how long she sat and cried there, until a ghostly voice echoed around the walls.
"Is someone crying?!" Myrtle said with glee as she came into view, "Oh, what a lovely sound! To hear someone else cry!"
Her voice made Hermione finally get a grip on herself. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood up to wash her red face.
"Oh! So it was you?" Myrtle asked joyfully, floating beside Hermione.
"Yes, it was me," she replied, drying her face with a tissue, "I'm sorry if I bothered you."
"Bothered me?!" Myrtle exclaimed, "Oh, no, no! You can come here and cry anytime you want to! Such good company that will be."
Hermione smiled weakly at her, "Thanks, then."
"So, why were you crying?" Myrtle curiously asked, looking at Hermione as she picked up her bag from the floor, "Was it a bully? Some girl teasing you about your hair?"
"No," Hermione told her and decided to give in, "It was a boy."
"Broke your heart?" Myrtle giggled.
Hermione chose her next words wisely. She couldn't tell the ghost her true feelings about Harry, lest she told it to him. Myrtle easily liked him the best out of the three.
"Well, sort of," she answered her, "He insulted me. And...and fought with me," she sighed, "I have to go to class now."
"Surely, this boy must have a name?" Myrtle said.
Hermione paused at the doorway and replied, "His name was Neville."
With that, she was gone.
Hermione had never felt so lonely - and angry before. She spent the rest of the day hanging out with Lavender and Parvati. Hermione sat with them, made notes with them, hung out with them, finally retiring to the common room and did homework with them, too. She even browsed the library with them to search for ways to help the Order or Hagrid. But she didn't tell them what she was up to because she couldn't. They were extremely sweet, supported Hermione, listened to her talk, and insisted on coming to the library with her lest she felt alone. There was a way with your fellow gender friends that the opposite gender could never achieve.
Throughout the course of the day, not once did Harry come to apologize to her, and she tried not to glance his and Ron's way at all. But when she once or twice involuntarily did, they weren't looking at her and kept talking among themselves. Hermione was suddenly reminded of Harry's secret that he promised wasn't dangerous. Thinking of him now keeping secrets from her, her anger rose and she glanced away.
The worst thing about this whole scuffle was Ron. Poor Ron didn't upset Hermione, and now he was forced to not ask for her help. She knew he would choose Harry over her, but he wasn't at fault. Snape had set them a complicated homework of three rolls of parchment on nasty potions and they were bound to ask for help, but they didn't. Hermione helped Lavender and Parvati when they got stuck, missing the time she did the same for Harry and Ron. Well, I won't go apologizing to them, she thought to herself, they should apologize.
Lavender yawned, "Finally, it's done!"
"Yeah, mine too! Thanks for the help, Hermione," Parvati smiled. Hermione gave her a half-hearted smile, "Don't worry about it."
The girls exchanged glances of concern, and Parvati said, "You never really told us what made you so mad at them?"
Hermione sighed, "It's not important. I just lashed out a bit too strongly."
"Well, it seems more than that," Lavender pointed out, "Trust me, you will feel better if you share it with us."
Hermione's eyes brimmed with tears again. Their sweetness ached her heart.
"Okay, fine," she told them, taking a deep breath to stop the tears, "But not here. In our dormitory?"
Parvati nodded, "Sure! Besides, all our homework is done. Thanks to you!"
Hermione beamed, and they packed their bags and retired to their dormitory.
They changed into their nightgowns and sat on the floor. Lavender and Parvati leaned a little forward, eagerly waiting for Hermione to spill.
"Okay, so..." she began, "It went like this..."
She started to tell them what happened, how Harry and Ron went on talking about a girl they barely knew when there were so many other important things they could talk about, like Hagrid and Umbridge. She skipped the Dumbledore, Sirius, and Voldemort part, as it was their secret. So, while she was reminding them about the other things, Harry had snapped and shouted at her for belittling Cho Chang.
"Then I ran away," Hermione finished and sighed, "The end."
The girls stared at her for a few seconds before Parvati broke the ice, "That was harsh..."
Hermione sighed sadly and nodded, "Very."
"But Ron didn't do anything," Lavender insisted, "Why are you avoiding him?"
"Because I have to. Since I'm avoiding Harry, I automatically have to avoid him too," Hermione answered.
"Poor Ron...he seems like a nice guy," Lavender said, blushing a little, "He doesn't deserve any of this. He's so brave...and handsome."
Clearly, she said more than she should have, and her eyes widened in realization. Astonished, Hermione asked, "Do you like him?"
Parvati started to giggle, "Tell her, Lave!"
Lavender blushed harder and didn't look at Hermione as she said, "Yes, I do like him. He's my crush."
Hermione's mouth dropped open as she registered Lavender's words. All this time, she had a crush on her best friend, and Hermione failed to notice. So much for my observation skills.
But, Lavender and Ron? Together? Hermione pictured them as a couple, and her face started to stretch in a smile - the first genuine smile she got throughout the day. They seemed like a cute couple!
"Ohh, so that was why you guys were giggling secretively that day?"
"Yeah!" Parvati laughed, "Lavender was not ready to tell you, so that's why we had to hush up."
"But now I am, Hermione," Lavender put in, "I know that I can trust you."
Hermione stared at her, awestruck. Then finally spoke, "Wow...thank you for trusting me, Lavender."
"No biggie. Also, who would know him better than you? Is he single?" Lavender asked curiously. Hermione grinned, "Yes, very single. To be honest, he doesn't like sappy things like love, holding hands, giggling, and stuff. But, I'm sure he'll be great and grateful if he finds the right girl," she beamed at her friend, "And in my opinion, I can totally see you two working out."
Lavender's eyes popped open, "You can?!"
"See? I told you!" Parvati put in, "Even Hermione agrees."
"Your personalities mingle together nicely!" Hermione told Lavender, "He's very playful, and hates work but loves play kind of guy. You're like a girl version of him, but sweeter. Mind you, Ron is extremely sweet, too. He just doesn't show it."
"You're making me like him even more!" Lavender blushed.
"You should! You two deserve each other," Hermione said, and she meant it, "Ron feels very lonely sometimes, and you're the girl he needs. I can set you up with him on a date if you want to!"
Lavender's mouth dropped open in a silent scream. "Y-you can?!" she squealed. Hermione barely had time to nod when Lavender engulfed her in a huge hug.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, "You don't know how much this means to me. I liked Ron since I was 12! But I dropped all hopes of ever being with him. But now, I think I have a chance because of you. So thanks, Hermione! So much! And I hope you sort things out with them as you deserve it."
"I'm always happy to help!" Hermione giggled as she hugged Lavender back.
"But, how will you talk to him?" Parvati wondered, "You're mad at him, right?"
"No, I'm not mad at him. I'm mad at Harry," Hermione corrected, "I know he'll approach me, and we'll start talking, hopefully."
Lavender squealed again, "I'm so excited! I don't think I can sleep now!"
Hermione's mood brightened up considerably as she joined the girls into a round of more giggles, chatting, and occasional teasing. Eventually, all three of them went to bed.
I'm positive Ron and Lavender would work out, Hermione thought, staring above. I wonder if it will ever be the same for Harry and me? Probably not.
Stop thinking about him! Another voice yelled inside her mind. He has no right to be in your thoughts right now.
But what if he was right? Hermione's dominating voice, her reasonable one, answered. What if I was the one to blame? It wasn't a big deal, but I made it into one. And that's because I was not too fond of the idea of Harry crushing on another girl.
Well, whatever. I was right, too, at a point. If he comes to apologize, only then will I apologize back.
Making up her mind, she rolled to her side and fell asleep.
