Chapter 18: Uncloaked
"You slept with Hermione!" Ron's anger flared up within mere seconds.
"Well, I didn't…" Harry stammered. He wanted to explain that it was just to reverse the spell, but in the end, he couldn't say that he had done it just for that.
What the hell…Harry's mind was having an inward war right now.
Not to mention that Ron didn't let him speak.
"You didn't or you did! You just said you did!" Ron barked.
"Now, Weasley…" Oliver tried to cut in.
"Nobody got you into this Quidditch freak!" Ron spat.
"Ron, it isn't what it looks like," Harry tried to explain.
"Oh? Then what is it? Did you sleep with her or not?"
"Excuse me, Oliver." Hermione's voice interrupted her best friends' argument as she
came in with a bunch of books, apparently addressed to the coordinator of the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry buried his face in his hands. He actually thought that things couldn't possibly get worse. Oh, he was very wrong indeed.
"Herm, not now," Oliver tried to whisper, but Ron was in no mood to let her off the hook just yet.
"Hermione!" Ron shouted angrily.
"What's wrong? Lower your tone of voice with me Ron," Hermione said coolly. She was sick and tired of Ron treating her like he was superior to her.
"I won't! I deserve an explanation!" Ron kept on shouting.
"Explanation?" asked Hermione, kind of lost. That was before she saw Harry's and Oliver's frustrated faces.
"Leave her out of this Ron. She didn't…"
"Stuff it Potter!" Ron shut him up.
"Hey! Ron, what's the matter with you?" Hermione asked, her temper rising. Something was going on and she was going to get to the bottom of this. If only she knew what it was…
"You know Herm, that's an excellent question. Maybe you could answer it for me," Ron voice had suddenly turned dangerously calm.
"Ron, don't…" Harry pleaded.
"Try me," Hermione challenged before catching a glimpse of Oliver signaling her to shut up.
"So, `Mione', what did you do last night?" Ron asked as casually as he could.
"Sorry?" Hermione stammered. Oops. Could he be…?
"You know, last night, in your dear old bed. She was in her bed, wasn't she?" Ron
glanced at Harry.
"I don't know what you mean," Hermine kept on stammering.
"Hermione, this is simple, what were you doing in your room last night?" Ron
asked, kind of exasperated by now.
"Uh, sleeping?" Hermione's face was turning pale. She knew perfectly well what
she had done.
"Really? Are you sure you slept?" Ron asked. His statement succeeded in intimidating her more.
"What do you think one does in one's bed at night Ron!" Hermione spat, her tone of voice rising.
"You tell me. A lot of things can happen at midnight."
Hermione's heart started to beat wildly, but she remained composed, her mouth tight shut. She knew that Ron had found out about her last night…activities, yet she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Meanwhile, Harry's uneasiness, contrary to Hermione's, was very palpable, fact that got Ron red with anger as he glanced from one to the other.
"So it's true!"
"What is?" Hermione couldn't seem to stop shrieking by this point, perhaps as a result of her own nervousness and uneasiness.
"You slept with Harry, didn't you Hermione?" Hermione's face was rid of all possible color as her books collapsed on the floor.
"Well Ron, it's not quite what it seems," Hermione's nervousness got the better of her as her last statement came out as a squeak. She was not expecting Ron to be so direct, but knowing Ron, she should have known better.
"It's not? Did you like it?" Ron asked defiantly.
"I beg your pardon?" Hermione was outraged He had some nerve!
"You know, did you enjoy being his?" Ron clarified in a sarcastic tone.
"Uh…I…." By now, Hermione didn't know where to put herself.
"You did," Ron said triumphantly.
"I certainly don't have to answer that to you!" Hermione smacked him square in the face.
"Why don't you leave her alone Ron? Now you know what we did. Whether she liked it or not is my business to find out, don't you think?" Harry's voice came out like a block of ice. He was getting tired of this. No matter what she did, or they did for that matter, he was not going to let Ron treat Hermione like she was some sort of harlot.
After hearing this, Ron literally prepared to jump on top of Harry. He just wanted to punch him, right there, right then. Harry knew that he wanted Hermione! He was not supposed to do this, much less talk to him like that.
"Oh, no, don't do that… No need to use violence," Oliver whispered. But his statement didn't help.
"I'll get you Potter!" Ron threatened, taking him by his robes. It was as far as he was allowed to get however.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Ron," Hermione threatened back, pointing her wand directly at him.
"Uh?" Both Harry and Oliver were stunned.
"Oh? Got your girlfriend to protect you now Potter?" Ron was out of himself.
Then again, so was Harry. He was just tired of Ron mocking Hermione, so he threw the first punch, breaking Ron's lip in the process. When Ron was going to punch him back, Hermione took action. She too, was out of herself, or else she would have known what she was about to do.
"Accio Harry!" she summoned. As a result, Harry flew right towards her, landing on top of her, right in the cold floor. Suffice to say, Ron was absolutely shocked. And there's no word that can describe how Harry was at that moment.
"I should've known. It's always you Potter! You always get what I want!"
"You forget something Ron. What about what I want?" Hermione spoke again, this time in a cool and calm tone of voice.
"What the…?" Harry thought. What on earth was wrong with her?
"I'm sorry Hermione, what do YOU want?" What? Don't tell me you're going to kiss him now. Go ahead. Make my day."
Harry was pale. What was Hermione up to? But to his surprise, Hermione took him by his neck and brushed her lips against his in a brief kiss. But right after they tore apart, one look at his darkened green eyes made her catch his lips again in a more passionate embrace. Harry returned it with the same intensity, which left her quite shocked.
Once they did tear apart, she gave him a thin smile. But apparently, he wanted another kiss from her. He made it quite evident by lowering his head yet again. His wish was denied however, as they heard Ron's screams.
"You'll pay for that Potter! Hermione's mine!" Ron shouted, but just as he pulled his wand out, Professor Snape entered.
Harry got up instantly, and offered his hand to Hermione, who didn't take it, getting herself up.
"What is all that screaming I hear? If I didn't know better I'd say…" Snape smiled maliciously. He was eager to extract points from Gryffindor.
"Professor," Oliver addressed him.
"Wood? Do I hold you responsible for this?"
"Of what? We were just practicing a play for the Wizard Student Council. You know, for the holidays," Hermione commented.
"Right. That's the screaming you heard," Harry added. Hermione had quite a way of improvising at the last minute.
"Play?" Snape asked again, indifference evident in his tone of voice.
"Yeah well, they are pretty identified with their characters," Oliver explained, smiling, when inside, he was sweating. "One just has to let them."
"Quite. I'm watching you Potter. Your role as goody and stoic Head Boy is something I will never buy." With these final words, Snape took his leave.
"Ahem!" Hermione cleared her throat, "I guess I can go too. See you Oliver. Oh, and those books are for you. Minister Fudge sent them for the Tournament." Hermione composed herself. However, as she was about to leave, she took Harry by his robes, leading him outside with her. He didn't expect this and had to take her by her waist to avoid a fall. She kept quiet, though tense, and exited the locker room.
"This isn't over Potter," he heard Ron whisper threateningly.
****
Hermione let go of her green eyed friend, clearing her throat once again.
"Sorry about that Harry."
But he just couldn't resist his urge any more and took her by her shoulders, getting her closer to him. She gasped and put her hands on his chest to maintain what little distance she could.
"I'm not," Harry confessed, leaning closer to her, his intense stare focused on her moist lips.
"What?" she tried to whisper, but her eyes were already closing, her lips parting to let his mouth in.
"Ey!" Fleur's voice sounded in Hermione's ears. She was dressed in baby blue robes and had her hair brushed into a high pony tail.
"Hi," Hermione smiled, getting out of Harry's embrace.
"Am I missing somezing `ere? Did I interrupt you?" Fleur frowned.
"Interrupt what?" Hermione said naturally as Harry sighed. Things were back to normal it seemed.
"In `zat case itz okay `zen. So, where's my Quidditch boy?" Fleur grinned broadly.
"Looking for me?" Oliver circled his arms around her waist.
" `Zere you are! I've been searching `igh and low!" Fleur whined in protest.
"Why? Did you miss me?" Oliver grinned.
"Where were you?"
"Inspecting some Quidditch matters," Oliver chose to say.
"I'm not surprised," Fleur scoffed.
"What?"
"Well, are you too busy to spend time wiz your girlfriend now?"
"Let's see…"
"Come on Oliver, enough Quidditch for one day," Fleur whispered seductively.
Oliver grinned once more and, rest assured, they were gone in a flash.
As soon as her friends left, Hermione glanced by her side, hoping to be on time to catch that last thought on Harry's mind. But he was gone.
She sighed exasperatedly, hitting the floor with her boot. She had wanted to kiss him so badly. As soon as that thought reached her mind, Hermione reprehended herself. She couldn't be in love with Harry Potter. He was her best friend! He was sweet, but he was still Harry, the one who was so thick that she had to end up saving his arse every year, just Harry Potter. But her heart told her quite the contrary. Things had changed after last night. She had given herself completely to him, had thrown herself in his arms. And that…certainly hadn't been an act.
If only she had known that Harry was frustrating over the exact same thing, all the way from the boy's dormitory.
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