Chapter 13
"Oi! Guys!"
Harry, Ron and Hermione both paused in eating their breakfast and looked up at the sound of Ginny's voice coming upstairs. "What's up Gin?" Harry asked loudly so she could hear.
"Hogwarts letters are here!"
The trio looked at each other for a moment, than all at once they dropped their silverware and shot up from their seats. "But you haven't finished your breakfast!" Mrs. Weasley called out as they tore out of the room.
Remus chuckled as he sipped on his coffee. "I think eating's the last thing on their mind, Molly."
"But it's the first thing on my mind," Tonks said as she held out her plate. "How bout another helping of some fried eggs, Molly?"
Mrs. Weasley beamed. "Coming right up, Tonks."
Remus shook his head. "Honestly, Nymphadora I don't know how you stay so skinny, you eat more than Ron."
"Watch it pal," Tonks warned as she pointed her fork at him, than gave Mrs. Weasley a smile when she set down her plate. "Thanks!" She then leaned over to Remus and spoke softly so Molly couldn't hear. "And I thought I made it quite clear that there are certain times you are allowed to call me that. I think you know which times."
Remus grinned. "My apologies…Tonks."
XXX
"I wonder if I made Head Boy?" Ron said as he went tearing into his letter.
Harry picked up his letter and collapsed on his bed, but wasn't in a hurry to open it up. It kind of bummed him out knowing that this letter was his last Hogwarts letter he would ever open. "I'm sure it's you or Draco."
"No badge," Ron said with a sigh, but quickly shrugged it off. "Oh well, less responsibility for me then. Draco must have gotten it."
On cue, Draco strolled into their bedroom. "Hey guys, Ron did you get Head Boy?"
Ron blinked. "No…I thought you'd get it."
He shook his head. "I didn't get it."
"Then who…"
Harry blinked when he saw Draco and Ron slowly turn to look at him. "Me? You think it's me? But I didn't even make prefect."
"That doesn't matter," Ron said. "It's just assumed that Head Boy would have been a prefect, but it's not in the rules that says it has to be. Go on, open your letter."
Now that he thought about it, his letter did seem a bit heavy. He tore the seal and peered inside the small envelope to see a metal badge gleaming inside. Stunned he pulled it out to see the letters "HB" shining brightly at him. "You've got to be kidding me."
"I guess Dumbledore finally thinks your ready, eh?" Ron said as he walked over to him. "Let's see it then!"
Harry never told Ron that he was Dumbledore's second choice for Prefect. He didn't want to crush his ego. Harry sat up from the bed and handed the badge for Ron to see. "Nothing special, really."
"Sure it is," Ron said as he looked at the badge. "You get to boss everyone around."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Come off it, Ron."
"He does have a point," Draco said with a shrug. "But at least we're still Prefects, Ron. I'm going to have fun taking points away from Crabbe and Goyle. Why I was ever friends with those buffoons is beyond me."
Just then the door opened and a very pleased looking Hermione walked in with a badge in her hand. She looked and saw Ron holding the badge and Harry saw that her smile dropped only a quarter of an inch. He was probably the only one that noticed. "Ron, you made Head Boy, congratulations," she said in a very high pitch fake voice.
"Actually, I didn't," Ron said and plopped it back in Harry's hand. "It's Harry's."
Harry watched her eyes turn from confusion and then filled with complete joy. "Really!" she exclaimed as she beamed at Harry. When he nodded she let out a shriek and ran to him, giving him a hug so hard he nearly toppled over on the bed. "Oh Harry, congratulations!"
Once he found his balance again he gave a little laugh and hugged her back. "Thanks Hermione. Congrats to you as well, of course we all knew you were going to get it."
Hermione blushed as she pulled back. "Thanks." She then smiled and practically jumped up and down with excitement. "This is going to be so great, Harry. You know we get our own dorms and everything! I'm going to get so much studying done with all that privacy and not to mention we…."
"Wait, wait," Harry said as he held up his hands. "Back up a second. What do you mean…our own dormitory? Don't we just have a private common room?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, that's for the prefects. We get a whole common room to ourselves. It's really close to Gryffindor's common room."
"You mean he won't be staying in Gryffindor this year?" Ron asked. "Bummer."
"Oh Ron, you'll still see each other all the time, plus you can come to our room when you want."
"Cool! Hey, we could have parties and everything!" Ron exclaimed.
"Not a bad idea, Ron," Draco agreed. "With girls. Lots of girls." And Ginny.
"We are NOT having a party," Hermione said as he glared at both Draco and Ron.
"Er…Hermione," Harry finally said as he pulled her aside. "Don't you think…sharing a dorm will be kind of…I dunno…awkward?"
"Awkward?" she repeated and gave him a look. "Why? We have our own rooms, Harry, even our own bathroom. The only thing we share is the common room."
"Yeah…okay, I guess that makes it better then," Harry said with a small smile.
"Harry, it will be fine. We're comfortable around each other, right?"
"Of course," he said quickly. "I'm just glad you're okay with it, I just kind of wanted to make sure, you know?"
"Of course I'm okay with it, I'm glad it's you. I trust you more than anybody, Harry." She then reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Remember that."
Harry blushed a bit and nodded. "Thanks, Hermione."
She just smiled. "Can I borrow Hedwig so I can tell my parents?"
"Of course." He turned towards Hedwig who was perched on top of her cage resting. "Hedwig, mind doing Hermione a favor?"
She blinked at Hermione then gave a soft hoot before flying towards her. Hermione laughed as she held out her arm for her to land. Harry smiled when Hedwig nipped her fingers affectionately and Hermione giggled in delight. Next to himself, Hedwig was most fond of Hermione. "She likes you," Harry said.
Hermione beamed. "She's a great owl," she said as she stroked her. "Thanks again, Harry." She then said a quick good bye to Ron and Draco, who were in deep discussion about Quidditch, before finally leaving the room.
"So, sharing a dorm with, Granger huh?" Draco said once she left. "That should be interesting?"
Harry gave him a look. "What do you mean?"
Draco chuckled. "Nothing," he said shaking his head. "See you guys later, I have homework to do."
"What do you suppose he meant by that?" Ron asked. "I mean, its just Hermione."
"Yeah," Harry said softly. "Just Hermione."
However, Harry found himself agreeing with Draco. He had a feeling it would be interesting to be in such close quarters with Hermione. Who knows could happen.
XXXXX
Well, that's it…next time it's off to Hogwarts.
Also, guys. If you could please lay off the comments about making my chapters longer, because its not going to do any good. This is how I like to write and this is how it's going to be. Sometimes my chapters are longer, sometimes they are going to be short, okay? It just depends on how my mind is working. Just please leave the criticism to my writing ability only. Thanks
HM