Harry Potter and the Galator
Chapter 12
Mind over Heart
The next month and a half Harry spent trying to avoid being alone with Hermione and getting her out of his mind. Neither Harry nor Hermione mentioned the kiss on her birthday. Both were scared to acknowledge what the kiss did to them and both were waiting for the other to bring it up. Instead, Harry tried to forget it with other girls as he first thought. He was kidding himself, of course, but he would have to learn from his mistakes. He practically had a different girl every week.
First it was Hannah, but that was short lived. Next it was a girl named Sarah. Then it was Ellen. The girls didn't mind at all. They practically jumped at a chance to be with The Harry Potter even if only for a short time. The only girls Harry stayed away from were Gryffindors, siblings of Gryffindors in other houses and Slytherins.
As co-captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, an honor he shared with Ron by his choice, he decided to start quidditch practice early to occupy more of his time. Everyone assumed Harry would be the new Quidditch captain, even Oliver Wood assumed when he saw him during the Grand Opening of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Though he was not inclined to protest at that time, he did so when he was appointed captain. He felt he'd needed help because he didn't want the team left alone when and if he ever got hurt and for the most part, he remembered what Ron saw in the Mirror of Erised in their first year at Hogwarts. He also knew that Ron did not want to be given the title as a cast off from Harry, so they both settled on being co-captains for the team. They received snide comments from Malfoy, but they just ignored him.
They'd planned strategies and trained at least twice a week to get their players ready. They held try outs to replace the positions that were vacated when the others graduated. Harry even held longer practices for himself after the team left the field. It kept him occupied and helped free himself from thinking about things too much, especially about Hermione. He hadn't been able to erase the kiss she'd given him on her birthday. The simple kiss affected him more that he was comfortable with and not even kissing other girls had alleviated his feelings.
In addition to quidditch practice, Harry studied with Lavender, Ron, Ginny and Hermione, but as soon as he felt Ron and Lavender might take off, he excused himself first so as not to be alone with Hermione. Hermione didn't think anything of his actions. She was hurt by all the different girls he dated and she tried to act supportive of his relationships, but she just brushed off his escapes by passing it off as time he wanted to spend with his latest girlfriend. She in turn gave her attention to her studies, prefect duties and extra credit work. But no matter what she did, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about the kiss she had given him on her birthday. She knew she was head over heals with Harry and she stopped fighting it, but could not bring herself to tell him.
All of Harry's girlfriend attempt stopped one day, one week before Halloween. Harry met Ellen in the charms classroom as their usual rendezvous place.
"Hi, Ellen." She didn't even answer verbally; she just wrapped her arms around Harry and started kissing him.
Harry was trying hard to fend her off, but Ellen was more aggressive than all the other girls put together. She was acting like a dog in heat. She was putting her hands all over Harry's body while Harry was trying to hold her hands still. Then just like all the other times he started imagining that he was kissing Hermione. He started being more passionate and when he pulled back instead of Ellen's face, he saw Hermione's. After a few seconds he realized what had happened, he held Ellen at arms length and started shaking his head.
"I'm sorry Ellen. I just can't do this."
"What do you mean? I'd say you were doing just great a moment ago."
"It's not fair to you if we keep going on this way. That's the reason why I asked to meet with you tonight."
"You asked to meet with me to break up with me!"
"Yes, I'm sorry." She slapped him and stormed out of the room. Story of my life he thought. Maybe I should just tell Hermione how I feel and get it over with he thought. She's your best friend you git, he chided himself.
Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor common room. He wasn't prepared for what he saw; he couldn't believe that nothing was working to get Hermione out of his system. He gave the Fat Lady the password (Fincayra). As he walked in he saw the familiar red head sitting on the couch. At first he thought he walked in on Ron and Lavender, but upon closer examination he realized that Ron was holding Hermione. Heat started to rise within Harry. He felt jealousy and anger beyond anything he'd ever felt before.
"What the bloody hell is going on here!" He yelled with a slight tremble in his voice. Ron and Hermione both looked up and Harry saw Hermione's puffy eyes obviously from crying. Lavender appeared holding a box of tissue and thought it better to stay silent. She was getting tired of hearing Hermione cry over Harry practically every night. She loved Harry, he was her friend too, but sometimes she just felt like hitting him on the head to help him come to his senses.
Ron was torn between his best friends. Harry hadn't told him how he felt about Hermione and every time he brought up the subject of whom he really liked and why he was with a different girl every week, they would end up in a heated argument. He decided to just let Harry do whatever he wanted and just be there for Hermione when she needed him. Tonight was one of those times she needed him and if Lavender hadn't been giving him the eye to calm down, he would have punched Harry's lights out for breaking Hermione's heart. He stayed calm and let Harry see for himself what Hermione was going through and hoped he'd come to his senses soon or he'd have to do something drastic to force Harry to come to his senses.
Harry's heart sank when he saw Hermion'es face, and was sorry he lost his temper. Lavender continued to walk toward the couch to give Hermione the tissue box.
"Thanks," Hermione whispered.
"I'm sorry for yelling. What's happened?"
Ron, Lavender and Hermione looked at each other. Ron and Lavender knew what Hermione's feelings were for Harry, but were sworn to secrecy. Lavender signaled Ron for them to go. For two people who usually blurted out the secrets, Ron and Lavender were loyal when it came to Hermione's secret heartache.
"Oh, I just received a letter from Professor McGonagall telling me that my grades are slipping a bit," she lied. She couldn't tell him that she'd witnessed Harry's passionate kiss with Ellen in the charms classroom accidentally. She was walking back from the Library when she heard his familiar voice in the classroom. She should not have looked in, but curiosity got the better of her and just as she did Harry was already lost his thoughts of her and returned Ellen's kiss fervently. She'd been doing okay with Harry's relationships, but just witnessing him in an actual kiss was too much for her.
"I'm sorry 'Mione. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Well, we'll let you two talk. Lav and I are going to bed." Harry started to panic. He was going to be alone with her. He hated seeing her hurt, but he was letting his fear of losing control cloud his better judgment when it came to Hermione. He did not want to jeopardize their friendship, but in avoiding her he was doing what he was afraid of.
"I'll be okay. I think I'll go to bed too. Goodnight Harry." She walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He felt her sadness. He almost wished he could heal sadness with his hands. He didn't know that he could heal her sadness with his touch; he was letting his mind override his heart.
"Goodnight 'Mione." He felt terrible. He hadn't been a good friend at all to her that term. He'd been trying to avoid her since her birthday and that kiss. No matter how hard he tried to forget it, it haunted his dreams. He had a lot of what ifs and his inner voice responded by telling him because she's your best friend.
He had to find a way to spend more time with her, but not alone. He still didn't trust himself to be alone with her. An idea popped in his head. He'd have to talk to Dumbedore and Sirius.