"Hermione?"

She looked up. Oh. Looks like Ron was awake as well. He entered the Common Room.

"Good morning," she greeted him.

"You okay? You look…"

"I'm fine."

"Where's Harry?"

"Already off to breakfast."

"Well let's go then, I'm starving."

"Oh. Yeah, okay."

The two of them went to breakfast. Ron was dreaming out loud about bacon without a clue about the turmoil going on inside Hermione's head. Even when she almost fell down the stairs, he barely noticed.

This was bad. This was really bad.

She should really try to avoid Harry for a few hours until her spell wore off. But how to do that without making Ron suspicious?

Come on. She was smart enough to come up with some excuse. It-

"There we are." Ron smiled broadly as the smell of bacon and bread hit them through the open doors of the Great Hall.

Fuck. What now?

"Hermione? You coming?"

"Uh… Yeah, of course."

Left with no other choice, Hermione followed him inside.

Maybe Harry was already gone? Or they wouldn't find-

"Harry, there you are."

Ron sat down opposite of Harry. Hermione sat down next to him.

"Morning," Ron said.

"Morning," Harry replied. He was already halfway through his porridge.

Ron grabbed the bacon and filled up his plate.

"So uh," Hermione asked, avoiding Harry's gaze. "Did you make up with Cho?"

"Not yet," Harry said.

Hm. At least he was replying normally. Still… "You better hurry, before-"

"I'm still waiting for something."

The post arrived before she could reply. Hundreds of owls swarmed over the tables, looking for their recipients.

A handsome tawny owl landed in front of Harry. Before he could untie the letter, a second one landed. And then a third one.

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

"I think I know," Hermione said. She picked out one of the owls and untied a magazine.

The Quibbler.

"Wait," Ron said. "So all of this is…"

"Readers I would guess," Harry said.

"What's going on here?" An icy voice asked. "Why do you have so many letters?"

Umbridge, obviously.

"Because I gave an interview. Look."

Harry held up the cover.

Umbridge turned red. "When did you give this interview?"

"Is that important?"

"Mr Potter," she said, barely controlling her anger. "When did you give this interview?"

"I wasn't aware that giving interviews was illegal, Professor."

Umbridge chewed her lip. "Of course. Of course. Well, I think all future Hogsmeade trips will be cancelled."

"What?" Ron looked up from the letters.

"Is there a problem, Mr Weasley?"

Now it was Ron's turn to chew his lip.

"Good," Umbridge said.

She walked off.

"How long do you think it will take her to ban the Quibbler?" Harry asked.

"Before lunch," Hermione said. "This is going better than expected."

"Huh?" Ron said. "Why?"

"Well." Hermione grabbed the letter Ron was about to open. "If I said you couldn't read this, what would be the first thing you'd want to do?"

"Give me that."

Ron snatched it from her hand.

"Oh," he realised. "I see."

"Anything interesting in there?" Harry asked.

"It's a mixed bag," Ron said. "Some are convinced, some think you're crazy. This one is good. It's from a witch. Oh look, she included a picture. Damn."

"Can I see that?" Harry asked.

Ron handed him the picture.

"Not bad," Harry said.

"Aren't you with Cho?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe," Harry said.

"What do you mean, 'maybe'? I didn't help you to-"

"Help you?" Ron cut in.

Hermione turned red.

"She gave me some advice," Harry said. "Last night."

"Oh, right. So how is the book coming along?" Ron asked her.

Hermione said nothing.

After breakfast, they went off to classes. It didn't take long to confirm their suspicions. During recess, there was a new decree banning the Quibbler. But something else happened too. Cho walked up to him.

"Can we talk?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Harry walked with her to an empty classroom.

Cho sat down on one of the desks.

"I'm really, really sorry," she said. "That interview was so brave. It made me cry."

"Thanks," Harry said.

"Are you mad at me?" Cho asked.

"Why? Because you immediately assumed I was ditching you for a second date with Hermione?"

"I'm sorry. I just… it's hard. I mean… you're the Boy who Lived. The leader of the DA. There are so many girls interested in you. And…"

"Look, Cho, if you're gonna be this jealous and possessive, this is not gonna work."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. I just thought…"

"And what if I was?" Harry said. "I never promised I'd be exclusive to you. It was our first date."

"You're right," she said. "I'm sorry. I just assumed we'd spent the whole day together."

"You could have come along. I would have liked you to be there. It would have helped a lot. It was a… a difficult interview."

"I'm so sorry. Can we start over? Please?"

"From where exactly?" Harry asked.

"Well." Cho gracefully hopped from the desk. "I suppose that first kiss was a little… bad. I shouldn't have cried so much."

"Well if they are tears of happiness, I'm good with it."

Cho smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"We could do our date over as well."

"I'd like that." She moved closer and closer to him.

"But you do know-"

"Yes, I know," she said. "You're seeing other girls too. That's okay. Just… tell me if you're gonna bring one of them along on our date, okay?"

"Alright."

Cho took his hand. She leaned forward and-

The bell rang.

"Damnit. We should go."

"One second."

Harry pulled her in for a deep kiss. She was surprised at first, but then, she eagerly kissed him back.

After what felt like an eternity, Harry gently pulled back.

"That's not fair," she whispered. "I was crying again."

"We can just keep trying until you have a first kiss you're satisfied with."

"Thanks, Harry. You're amazing."

"I know."

She chuckled. Cho gave him one more quick kiss and then she went off to her next class. Harry went off to his next class too. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Umbridge would be looking for an excuse to give him detention after his interview. Best not give her one.