Chapter 2: The Reluctant Stalker
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The Great Hall was buzzing alive with students from all four houses as they came inside for a bite to eat before returning to their common rooms.
But there was only one person that Harry wanted to see coming thru those double oak doors, and is the one person he hadn't seen since they had left Snape's classroom.
"Ron, could you please close your mouth when you chew? You are not a pig, contrary to popular belief. And next time, could you please not put half the table's servings on your plate? You are eating enough food to feed five giants," Harry absently heard as the redheaded Ginny, the youngest and only female of the Weasley clan, scolded her older brother. She was sitting next to Ron, who in turn was chewing loudly next to the distracted Harry.
His mouth still half-full, Ron replied, "I would worry more about what's on your plate, Ginny. Look at that!" Ron pointed at Ginny's plate; aside from some slices of watermelon and a few grapes, Ginny's plate looked awfully empty.
"I didn't feel like having a heavy dinner. Besides, Harry hasn't even touched his food. Go worry about his dietary habits," Ginny said, pointing at Harry's plate. At the mention of his name, Harry forced himself to look from the oak doors toward Ginny and Ron.
"What?" Harry replied absentmindedly, not having followed the siblings' petty argument.
"You haven't touched your food. Are you okay, Harry?" Ginny asked worriedly. Ron, however, was giving him a wicked grin, for he already knew the reason why Harry was so distracted.
"I… I'm not hungry, I guess," Harry replied to Ginny, forcing a nonchalant smile.
"Yeah. He's too busy looking for someone," Ron winked at Harry, putting his hand over his mouth to hide the smirk that came over his face.
After the initial shock of finding out Harry had drank the love potion while looking at Hermione, Ron had decided this was the perfect opportunity to make fun of his best friend, who was now looking at him as if he was fighting back the desire to strangulate him.
"Looking for who?" Ginny asked as she took a bite from her watermelon, the juice dripping lazily down her chin.
"For Hermione," Harry said before he could stop himself. He already had enough on his plate with Ron making fun of him; he didn't need to have Ginny, heir apparent to Fred and George's mischief legacy, making fun of him too.
"That's right. Where is she?" Ginny asked, scanning the Gryffindor table just in case Hermione had seated somewhere else. She winked when she caught Neville's eye.
"That's what I'd like to know," Harry mumbled. Ron cleared his throat in a not so conspicuous manner.
"What? I'm just worried about her. That's all…" Harry replied unconvincingly.
"Yeah, right. And I'm Snape's bastard son," Ron whispered out of Ginny's earshot.
"I am! You know she usually spends all night studying, and… and… Well, the brain needs proper nutrition to work… and… and…" Harry tried to redeem himself. It was in vain.
"And you are now a love sick fool," Ron interrupted him with another wink.
"Who's a love sick fool?" Ginny asked, frowning.
"NOBODY!" Both Harry and Ron answered, slightly startling the smaller redhead. They were spared further interrogation by Ginny when Harry decided to change the subject.
"Where's Luna?" Harry asked Ron. Luna Lovegood was the blond, blue-eyed sixth year Ravenclaw whose strange personality had managed to capture Ron's heart last year. Ron beamed when he heard her name.
"She's in her common room. Had to finish an essay. Told me to stay away… she says I'm so cute, she can't keep her hands off me," Ron said proudly. Harry smiled in spite of himself.
"You are a regular boytoy, Ron," Harry joked, drinking down his juice as he stole another glance at the Great Hall's entrance.
He grunted inwardly when Lavender and Parvati, also known as the Gossip Twins, sat in front of Ginny and Ron.
"I can't believe in less than a week we finally get to celebrate the Halloween Ball!" the trio caught the end of Parvati's sentence.
Harry groaned. He had forgotten everything about the Halloween Ball. Truth be told, he was in no mood to celebrate, dress up, or dating for that matter… not when Voldemort and his Death Eaters were still on the loose.
"Bet you pretty girls already have dates," Ginny said with unconcealed girlish enthusiasm.
"Of course! I'm going with Seamus," Lavender answered, batting her eyelashes seductively. It was the signal that Seamus was going to have the time of his life.
"And I'm going with Dean. He's a great dancer, you know," Parvati added with a small smile.
"I know," Ginny replied timidly, not wanting to inform Parvati that she had dated Dean for more than five months and was fully aware of his dancing skills.
Harry, on the other hand, was delighted by the news. If Dean was going with Parvati, it meant that he wasn't interested in Hermione and that the reason he had stood up for her during Potions was nothing but friendship.
'You git, why do you care? You shouldn't! It's the potion speaking! I am such an idiot! When has following Dobby's advice resulted in anything but trouble?! And who the hell will drink ANYTHING while on Snape's classroom?''
Harry slapped his own forehead with the palm of his hand. Ron raised his eyebrow at him worriedly, but thankfully no one else had noticed. The three girls were too busy talking about their favorite subject: boys.
"I didn't know you fancied Seamus," Ginny said to Lavender as she finished the last of her watermelon slices.
"He's a nice guy. Although I have to admit he wasn't my dream date," Lavender added with a tinge of regret.
Ginny looked around the table to make sure Seamus wasn't nearby before whispering, "Who was?" Lavender and Parvati leaned over the table until their faces were less than a foot away from Ginny's.
"Roger Davies," Lavender and Parvati whispered simultaneously, getting an audible groan from Ron. The expression on his face was not open to interpretation.
"What?" Lavender asked Ron, personally insulted that Ron didn't share her views.
"It's clichéd! Of course you are going to like him… he's handsome, rich, Quidditch captain, and Head Boy. If you ask me, Seamus is much better a date than Big Head Roger," Ron said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, come off it Ron. You are just happy to know that Seamus is not taking Ginny to the ball. You are worse than a hound on a trail. Leave the girl some space to breathe!" Parvati said before she bit loudly into a very juicy apple she had been holding since she sat down. Ron glared at her, and she glared in return. Ron finally looked down. Parvati was the undisputed champion of staring contests.
"Well, that too," Ron whispered before he stole a glance at Harry, who had gone back to looking at the entrance to the Great Hall.
However, Ron was the only Weasley at the table who found the subject of Roger to be non-welcomed.
"So, Roger has a date then?" Ginny asked nonchalantly, although the answer interested her more than she could tell Ron or Harry. She didn't know if Roger had a date, but she was sure she knew whom Roger wanted to ask. And that person really deserved to have the night of her life.
"I don't think so. But Padma told me that Susan told Diana that she had heard Roger telling Justin that he was going to ask the Head Girl to the ball," Parvati said, her voice falling into a whisper full of mischievousness.
The loud "WHAT?" that came from Ron and a resounding "YES!" that came from Ginny brought Harry's attention back to the table.
"What?" he asked densely as he looked from the two redheads to Parvati and Lavender.
"Oh, this is so exciting!" Ginny exclaimed giddily, ignoring Harry's question.
"What is exciting?" Harry asked, even more confused by the fact that Ron was now looking at him with an expression of "sorry" written all over his freckled face.
"Oh, it's nothing that will interest YOU, Harry," Lavender said with a conspiratorial glance at Parvati, getting a giggle from both Ginny and Parvati.
"Didn't you heard what Parvati said, mate?" Ron asked, his unusually serious tone carrying in his whisper. Harry had reached the end of his tether.
"If I had heard I wouldn't be asking now, would I?" Harry snapped.
"What these two vipers just said was that Big Head Davies is going to ask the Head Girl to the ball," Ron said between clenched teeth, out of hearing range from the three Gryffindor girls around them, who were now talking about the costumes they were going to use and speculating about who the guest musical group was going to be.
"So, what's the big de…" Harry started, but the sentence trailed off before he had a chance to finish it.
He had just remembered who the Head Girl was.
"HERMIONE!?" Harry said loudly, receiving annoyed glances from the people around him.
It wasn't until Ron opened his eyes wide in surprise that Harry heard the familiar feminine voice behind him ask, "What is it, Harry?"
Harry looked over his shoulder. Standing less than a foot away from him was Hermione Granger.
"Hermione… err… nothing! I just… I called you to… to… to tell you to come join us!" Harry lied not so smoothly, trying to find a way for Hermione not to find out that she was the object of fancy of the most popular (albeit conceited and hateful!) guy in Hogwarts.
Hermione didn't seem to notice as she playfully hit him on the shoulder. "Silly git. I always join you," she said, going around the table and sitting next to Parvati and directly in front of Harry.
"Oh, that was smooth Harry… very smooth," Ron whispered to Harry with a wry grin. Before Harry could step on Ron's foot under the table, Hermione spoke.
"So, what were you all chatting about?" Hermione asked casually as she started buttering a piece of freshly baked bread.
"NOTHING!" the five of them replied, suddenly very interested in the contents of their plates. Hermione raised her eyebrow at Harry, requesting more information, but he just shrugged and smiled shyly before focusing his eyes on the fruit cocktail in front of him.
In reality, Harry could not stop listening in to the Gossip Twins, who were discussing among themselves if it was safe to prod Hermione for more information. Finally, Lavender nudged Parvati in the ribs. Clearing her throat unceremoniously, Parvati asked casually, "So, Hermione… have you seen Roger today?"
"Yes. He came to see me after Potions ended. Why?" Hermione answered, stuffing her mouth with a giant grape.
'So, that's why she didn't wait for us.'
Harry's heartbeat quickened slightly. He felt disappointed, and didn't know the reason why. As he watched Hermione gulp half her glass of pumpkin juice, it occurred to Harry that Hermione seemed to be eating in a hurry.
It was Lavender's turn to prod. "And… did he say anything?" Lavender asked nonchalantly.
"Yes…" Hermione answered before biting on another grape. Harry felt his insides boil and he accidentally bent the fork he had been holding on his hand. Thankfully, Ron was the only one who noticed this particular reaction.
"AND?" Lavender, Parvati and Ginny asked at the same time, startling Hermione slightly.
"You are an overexcited bunch today, aren't you? He just came to tell me that Peeves had somehow come inside our common room and had tear all the curtains," Hermione said as she shrugged toward Harry and Ron, assuming the girls' interest in the conversation was because they had heard about Peeves latest mischief.
"Oh… that's… too bad," Ginny said as she exchanged knowing glances with Lavender and Parvati.
"Yes it is! I spent months trying to find the right curtains for the room. Thankfully, Roger told the Bloody Baron what happened. I'm sure Peeves is not coming to our room anytime soon," Hermione finished with a small triumphant smile.
Harry finally grasped that it was the second time Hermione had used the word "our". And it was just then that he remembered that Hermione, as Head Girl, shared a private common room with Hogwarts' Head Boy. He hadn't really thought about it before since Hermione still spent most of her free time in the Gryffindor common room.
But now… now it was different. Now, he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that the girl he loved was sharing a cozy common room (not to mention a private bathroom complete with tub!) with a guy who was six-inches taller than him, had better hair, better face, a healthy tan, MUCH better grades, and who was …according to Parvati and Lavender… every girls' fantasy.
'Wait… "girl I love"? Oh, for Merlin's sake! Get a grip, Potter! You don't love Hermione! Well, you do love her but not like that. She's your friend! Your mate! Oh, how long did Snape say the potion's effects were supposed to last? Eight hours? Damn, maybe I should just go to my room right now and don't come out until tomorrow, in case Ron's right for once and I'm under the potion's spell. Yeah, I should do that. Then everything's going to be the way it's supposed to be.'
Ron's voice brought him back to the land of the sane people.
"Harry, didn't you want to ask Hermione something?" Ron said, his eyes wide as if he was trying to communicate something important to Harry. Whatever the secret message was, it was lost on Harry.
"I don't…" Harry said, before getting a hard nudge on the ribs from Ron's elbow. Hearing the thud, Hermione stopped eating and was now looking at her two best friends curiously.
"Yes, you do! Remember? You just told me how you were stuck in the History of Magic essay that we need to submit tomorrow… and you told me you were going to ask Hermione for help," Ron said forcefully as he awkwardly nodded his head in Hermione's direction.
"Do you have something on your neck Ron?" Hermione asked, unable from her point of view to see the look of "play along" Ron was giving Harry. Finally, Harry gathered Ron was trying to help him find an excuse to spend time with Hermione.
'Ron, you sod! You are supposed to be helping me get out of this mess, not pushing me further in!''
Harry tried to force what he thought of Ron's plan into his eyes hoping that Ron would stop his meddling. But either Ron didn't understand or he was simply convinced his plan was not going to fail, judging by the way he continued nodding conspicuously at Hermione.
"Ron, are you sure you are alright?" Hermione asked worriedly, aware that there was something going on between her two friends that she wasn't privy too.
Harry was about to turn to her and scream, "He's fine. He's just being an idiot!" when he noticed how charming she looked, frowning slightly, biting her bottom lip in an expression mix with both confusion and concern.
And while his brain yelled, 'Don't play along!' Harry found himself saying, "Oh, right! I'd forgotten."
"Hermione, can you help me with my essay?" Harry asked quickly before he had a chance to think twice. The truth was that Hermione had already finished her meal, and he didn't want to see her leave again.
"Of course I will, Harry!" Hermione said with a big smile as she reached across the table and patted his hand with hers. Harry had use of enough of his brains to stop himself from grabbing her hand.
"Excellent. Harry will go with you to get your things and I'll wait for you two in the common room," Ron said triumphantly. Harry stepped on his foot while looking at Hermione, who was oblivious to Harry's predicament, judging by how she savored the last of her dessert.
"OUCH! Watch it!" Ron complained, looking tempted to return the favor.
"Sorry," Harry apologized in his most sarcastic tone. Hermione finished the last of her pumpkin juice and quickly stood up.
"Finished. See you later," Hermione she waved casually as she started walking away. Ron and Harry looked at each other with questioning expressions on their faces; Hermione always waited for them after dinner.
"Wait. Harry is going with you!" said to Hermione, adding to Harry in a whisper, "You better start ranking some points by helping her carry her books."
"Don't push it, Ron," Harry whispered between clenched teeth.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm not going to my common room now. I have to go by the library first," Hermione said.
"AGAIN?" Harry and Ron asked simultaneously; Hermione had already spent half of her lunch hour in there… and she had dragged them with her.
"Yes, I promised Roger I was going to help him with his Arithmacy," Hermione continued nonchalantly. Ginny raised a curious eyebrow at the Gossip Twins, who had just found the conversation between Harry, Ron and Hermione very interesting.
Harry, on the other hand, found the noise his teeth made when they were grinding against each other incredibly annoying.
"Oh, so Roger is going to be there too?" Parvati asked as casually as she could.
"Yes," Hermione answered with a frown. What Parvati and Lavender found so interesting about Roger Davies, she didn't know. She decided to ignore the subject and focus on Harry and Ron.
"I'll be at the common room at around nine," Hermione told them. She wasn't far from them when she stopped and turned around.
"Oh, and Harry… if you want to start sooner, you are welcome to come to the library with me," she added.
"Thanks," Harry answered as he forced himself to smile casually. Hermione didn't notice the strain for she turned around and left the Great Hall.
"If you even think of going to the library, I'm going to kill you myself!" Ginny threatened as soon as Hermione was out the doors. Harry gulped; he truly couldn't tell if Ginny was joking or not.
"WHY?" Ron asked indignantly before Harry got a chance.
"Oh, isn't it obvious?" Lavender sighed, "He's going to ask her to be his date while they are the library. He's such a gentleman."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked her hurriedly. His throat suddenly felt as dry as if he had just finished crossing the Sahara.
It was Parvati who answered by saying, "Well, he has to ask her in a neutral ground just in case Hermione is crazy enough to say no. Roger is such a gentleman that he won't risk popping the question in a place they spend a lot of time in… since they practically live together…"
"They share a COMMON room! They DO NOT live together," Harry corrected quickly, suddenly feeling the urge to slam the kidney pie in Parvati's face.
"Whatever! In any case, asking her in neutral ground means that even if she says: "No, thank you. I can't go with you because I'm being picked up by the Loony House truck," then she won't feel out of place when they are sharing sleepless nights on their PRIVATE common room while sitting next to the cozy fire," Parvati finished, winking her eye maliciously so as to not leave any doubt what kind of "sharing" she was talking about.
Harry could have sworn Parvati was enjoying how he squirmed.
Parvati and Lavender stood up and left before Ron could give them a piece of his mind. Ginny also stood up, but she did not leave the Great Hall immediately. Instead, she turned toward Harry and Ron and inspected them gravely, her eyes growing into slits.
"Now… do I have your promise you two are not going to go into the library? Hermione certainly doesn't need you two to be her third wheels!" she asked seriously, looking at them with an expression that she usually reserved for Quidditch players on the opposite team.
"We promise," Harry and Ron said simultaneously, giving her their best "I didn't do it/It wasn't me/No one saw me; no one can prove anything" smiles. Her eyes filled with suspicion as she looked from Harry to Ron and back.
"Relax, Ginny. You know you can trust us," Harry said, widening his smile. Ron gave his little sister a thumb's up and nodded vigorously.
After a few seconds, Ginny sighed and said, "Well, I guess I have no other choice. I'll see you guys later." She turned around and started walking away, not noticing how their smiles dropped like anvils in a Saturday morning cartoon.
Ginny was still within sight when Ron leaned toward Harry and whispered, "You really weren't going to keep that promise, were you?"
"Hell no!"
****************
30 minutes later…
"Are you sure this is what we want?"
Ron hesitantly asked Harry as he watched his friend open his trunk and take out a piece of gray translucent cloak from the very bottom. Ron had seen Harry use the Invisibility Cloak enough times to recognize it immediately. Harry had already hidden the Extendable Ears George and Fred had given him in his pocket.
It was definitely an undercover operation.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked absently. But Ron's answer really didn't matter to Harry. The green-eyed boy had already formulated the plan when he watched Hermione leave the Great Hall.
'You are just concerned for your friend. Because Hermione IS your friend. You just want to make sure Roger doesn't try to… you know… get funny with her. Yes, that's it.' Harry repeated in his head over and over again in a lame attempt to try to explain his strange behavior.
"Harry, you DO know you are under the potion's effects, right? Maybe that's the reason you are jealous and you want to sneak in…" Ron managed to say before Harry closed his trunk with a loud thud and glared at him.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Ron! I am not under any potion's spell! I am not doing this because I am jealous… I am simply concerned for my friend! You know Hermione has never… well, she trusts people too much! I don't want that git Roger to take advantage of her," Harry said, feeling slightly secure by how determined he sounded.
Ron, however, was not as convinced as he muttered, "Yeah, right. Whatever." Harry pointed at him with an accusing finger, deciding to fight fire with fire.
"Hold on! You too wanted to go into the library and see what was going on! Maybe you are the one who is in love with Hermione!" he said, trying to sound convincing and failing.
"Don't be a git, Harry," Ron answered calmly, "I am helping out because Roger is one of my least favorite people in this school and, if I have to go to the Davies-Granger wedding, I'm going to hang myself with my jock strap from the top of the Astronomy Tower."
"I don't know if I should be disturbed or disgusted," Harry mumbled, shaking his head as he tried to dissipate the mental picture of Ron and his jock strap.
"Anyway, Harry," Ron continued unabated, "One thing is to go to the library and, you know, interrupt them by sitting next to Hermione and badgering incessantly, but to sneak in? That's stalking!"
"We promised Ginny, we weren't going to chaperone," Harry said. He was getting angry with Ron for making him stall.
'Oh, if Roger has his hands on her, I am going to…'
Ron's voice interrupted the pleasant mental image of Roger screaming in pain.
"Oh, yes, breaking a stupid promise to Ginny is bad. But spying on our best friend isn't?" Ron argued. Harry just sighed. He was going to try one more thing to convince Ron that going to the library to check out things was the correct thing to do, but if Ron didn't agree, then he would just have to knock his best friend's lights out and beg for forgiveness later.
"Ron, think about this. We both dislike Roger. We both think Hermione can do much better than him," Harry started saying.
"And will that "much better" person be you, mate?" Ron interrupted, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.
"No, you idiot. It's not me. I already told you! This is not about me being in love with Hermione! It's about two mates looking out for the welfare of their best friend! Agreed?" Harry replied with certainty.
Ron thought about Harry's words for a few seconds before answering, "Alright… agreed."
"It's settled then. Let's go," Harry said, tucking the Invisibility Cloak under his sweater and leaving their dormitory with determination. Ron reluctantly followed him as they walked thought Hogwart's halls, occasionally encountering some of their fellow students, but marching away briskly before anyone could engage them in conversation and stall them.
When they were standing in front of the boy's bathroom that was a hallway away from the library, Harry quickly pulled Ron inside and threw the Invisibility Cloak over them. Ron had grown so much during the summer that the cloak barely reached their mid-calves.
"You'll have to bend your knees a bit, mate," Harry instructed, shifting nervously. He loved Ron like a brother, but being pressed against him was not one of Harry's favorite ways of passing the time.
"Why me?" Ron hissed.
"Because you are the one who's freakishly tall!" Harry snapped.
Ron adjusted himself until the cloak finally touched the floor. "Done. And by the way, girls think tall men are sexy," Ron whispered as they slowly walked out of the bathroom.
"I'll call you 'sexy boy toy' everyday if you just shut up and walk now," Harry pleaded as they silently stepped inside the library.
The library was a huge room with at least 30 pairs of tall bookshelves surrounding multiple study tables. Madam Pince was sitting on her desk pretending to read a book about Mythological and Magical Creatures of Romania, but Harry knew better. That woman watched over her library like a hawk watches over her newborns.
"Do you see her?" Ron whispered behind him. Harry was going to answer "no", when he suddenly spotted Hermione's brown hair by the far corner's table. There was another head next to hers, with blond hair and maybe a foot taller than hers. Holding up the blond head, he could see pair of broad shoulders and a confident stance that Harry had always wanted to posses.
Harry felt his stomach drop a few notches when he saw Roger putting his arm around Hermione and patting her on the shoulder. If he hadn't taken his hand off a second later, Harry was sure he would have walked toward them and twisted Roger's arm off.
"Closer," Harry whispered as he made Ron follow him closer to where Hermione and Roger were sitting.
"Harry, I can't stand this much longer. My back is killing me," Ron mumbled painfully. Harry found a perfect hiding spot on the high bookshelf a few feet away from Hermione. He made Ron follow him behind the bookshelf. Moving a few Muggle studies books out of the way, Harry and Ron could partially see Hermione and Roger's face more closely.
Ron sighed with relief as soon as he was able to stretch. If anyone had walked by the last bookshelf on the library, they would have seen two pairs of worn out sneakers… and nothing else.
Harry noticed that Hermione indeed was working on an assignment for she had in her delicate hand a blotched piece of parchment with a confusing numbered chart. Roger, however, didn't seem to be that interested in the homework, since he looked at Hermione the whole time she was trying to explain something in the chart.
Harry suddenly fought the urge to poke Roger's eyes.
'They're talking… but what are they talking about? I mean, Hermione is trying to show him something in the chart, but now he's saying something and… she's laughing! What is it? Did he ask her to the dance yet? Wait… is he trying to rub his elbow against her breast? If he is, in I'm going to cut off his di… '
"Harry. That's enough. Let's go back" Ron whispered urgently. Harry had been concentrating so hard on spying on Hermione that he jumped at the sound of Ron's voice. He watched as Hermione turned her head sharply around and looked at the direction of the bookshelf they were hiding behind.
"Did you hear something, Rog?" Hermione asked her companion, frowning slightly.
'Rog? Why the hell is she calling him Rog? She never calls me Har or Arry…'
"I didn't hear anything, beautiful. Now, what was it you were saying about 91 divided by a prime?" Roger said smoothly as he tried to focus Hermione's attention back to his favorite subject… him.
"Chill, mate. Let's go," Ron urged.
"Not yet," Harry disagreed, "let me get a bit closer. I can't really see what they are doing under this thing."
"Any closer and we are going to step on Hermione's foot!" Ron hissed.
Before Ron could protest, Harry carefully took off the Invisibility Cloak so it only covered Ron. He had an urgent need to see everything that was going on. He was afraid that, with the limited view that hiding behind bookshelf provided him, he was going to miss something important.
Images that filled him with surprising panic attacked his mind… like Roger and Hermione holding hands… or Hermione's fingers twirling Roger's perfect locks of hair… or Roger's hands tracing lazy circles on Hermione's thigh.
So, Harry did the only thing his distrustful brain could think of.
He started climbing the bookshelf, using each shelf to go higher and higher until he reached the top shelf and sat on it. Harry looked down; he was at least 10 feet from the floor. Although he had a bird's eye view of Roger and Hermione ('At least I can now see where their hands are!') Harry now couldn't figure out what they were talking about.
Just then he remembered the Extendable Ears he had in his pocket. 'Reminder: tell George and Fred what a couple of geniuses they are' Harry thought as he pulled them out of his pocket. Slowly, he lowered one of the ears until he could make out Hermione's voice coming thru the device.
"So you see? When you divide 91 by any prime, you get what's called a vortex epsilon, a powerful number that can be used for good or dark purposes. The higher the number you get, the more powerful the base spell is going to be," Hermione was saying, making Harry scratch his head compulsively as he tried to make sense of her explanation.
"I get it now! Finally!" Roger said, flashing a smile that reminded Harry of Gilderoy Lockhart. "You are a great teacher, Mione," Roger added, giving Hermione a quick hug that made the blood boil on Harry's vein.
'Mione? MIONE? That's how I CALL… I mean, how Ron and I call her! What is this intruder doing calling her by our pet name?'
Harry clenched his fist until his knuckles were white.
"I'm glad to help, Rog," Hermione said coolly and stood up.
"I promised Harry I was going to help him with his essay," she said as she started gathering her things, "so, I'll see you later?"
'That's it, Hermione! Be a good girl and run from the slimy son of a b…'
Harry was so happy she was going to leave Roger to go to him that he couldn't help but grinning like the idiot he was.
"Wait! There's something I want to ask you," Roger said, his voicing sounding a little less casual than before. Harry leaned even further, until he had to use his free hand to grasp the shelf for fear of falling. He didn't like where this was going.
"What is it, Roger?" Hermione asked, her voice betraying how clueless she truly was about the direction the conversation was about to take. Roger stood up, tightened his already perfectly done tie, and faced her.
"I was wondering if… well, if you'd like to be my date for the Halloween Ball," he said, flashing one of those smiles that will surely get him nominated for Witch's Weekly Best Smile Award.
Harry was as irritated as Hermione was shocked. Harry would have enjoyed seeing Hermione at such a loss for words if the hand that was holding onto the shelf hadn't started to hurt, and if his other hand wasn't dreaming of wrapping itself around Roger's throat.
"I… um… I… well… I'm flattered that you… you've asked me, but… I… em… don't know… don't know what to… what to say," Hermione stuttered for what may have been the first time in her life.
"Then say 'YES'," Roger said with a playful wink. Betting on his own charm, Roger took Hermione's hand in his.
Harry leaned even further, willing his mind to suddenly start transmitting extra-sensorial messages to Hermione.
'Tell him to go screw himself! Tell him you are going with your two best friends because you don't want to spend the evening with a self-centered, egotistical, ambitious, slimy motherfu…'
"Alright! I'll go with you to the ball!" Hermione said, smiling up at Roger.
'SHIT! NO! WHY!?'
No sooner had the words come out her mouth that Harry heard a loud creaking sound.
With a mixture of shock and alarm, Harry found himself rapidly moving closer and closer toward the floor.
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A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Thanks for the support. And thanks so much for the reviews!
Nice: Let's see if poor Roger is as lucky as Dean. -wink-
Fenriswolf: Oh, you are totally right about the "arse" thing. Thanks for pointing that out. And by all means, if I make the same mistake again, please correct me! Thankx again!
KypDurron: Yes, very, very careless. He should know by now not to drink anything in Snape's class.
The Real HOPE: Hehe Like he says, when has listening to Dobby's advice not brought him trouble?
Zaxxon: I am very much aware of the rules in Portkey, but thanks for the reminder. It was simply a bit of a joke. Love cannot be manufactured? Hope you keep reading to find out what I think about that. -wink-
Beppo: I think the answer to the first question is already in this chapter. But on the second? Let's just say that Hermione will probably never find out about Harry's embarrassing incident. Oh, you from Germany? My favorite band is from there! Rammstein forever (random comment of the day)!
Just Breathing: Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully, this was fast enough.
Swimchick1614: You really think that? Oh… read on to see if you are correct on that one.
Creepy Susie: You are correct! This was originally posted in FF.net… but the first couple of chapters (I think up to the 8 chapter) have been rewritten before posting them here. Just a couple of loose ends I wanted to cover.
DVSEzekiel316: Aw, thanks for the encouraging message. But remember, this story is just getting started. -grin-
Davaca: Yes, another member of the "Let's torture Harry" fan club!
Bentheslayer: Thanks for the kind words!
Pillarmagic: Glad you enjoyed it!
Kinsfire: I aim to please. Glad you are amused.
Clairseach: Oh, I agree Love Potion No. 9 is a bit clichéd, but it is mentioned as a small tribute to my mother, who sang it to me incessantly when I was a child. Beats Barney any day!
Blue Lady: Hehehe I got to warn you… I am a big tease. The suspense is going to keep getting worst!
Caroline Delacour: Thanks for that Caroline! Will it work out? You'll see!
Thanks again everyone!
Anasazi