Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything of the characters.
A/N: First off, thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews. I love how so many of you are enjoying the story. =)
WARNING: There will be parts in this chapter that are going to make some of you want to hate me. But before you start throwing tomatoes, rotten food, or sharp objects, please bear in mind that this IS a Harry/Hermione story and WILL end as one. Everything in between is just part of getting them together.
With that said, feel free to proceed on to the story. =)
Chapter 4
Later that night in the common room Harry and Ron were playing a game of chess and Hermione was finishing her transfiguration homework.
After putting the finishing touches on her essay and casting a quick drying charm, Hermione put her transfiguration essay to the side and turned to the boys.
"Harry move your knight up one and two spaces to your left."
"Thanks Hermione." Harry said, doing as she'd suggested.
"Hey! Hermione, no helping!" Ron exclaimed indignantly. He knew Harry never would've seen that move on his own and now he had to rethink his strategy.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's not like you're not beating him already."
"That's not the point. The point is that you and Harry are cheating and that's not right. I never would have thought that the great Hermione Granger would ever stoop to cheating." Ron mocked.
Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "Come on now, you two. We need to think of a plan."
"I dunno, Harry, what d'you think?" Ron asked, moving his queen. "Checkmate." He added.
Harry looked at the board in disbelief. "How?"
Ron raised an eyebrow as if to ask if Harry was serious. When he determined he was, he began slowly, speaking as if he was talking to a child. "You see, Harry, when I surround your king and he has nowhere to go without getting taken, then that's what we like to call checkmate. My queen there has you blocked in two different places. My knight has you blocked you in another. And my pawn finished you off by backing you into that corner with no escape."
Harry glared at him.
"Oh Harry, don't you know, never let yourself get backed into a corner, its suicide." Hermione put in absently.
Harry sighed and began to put the pieces away. "Thanks for the support `Mione."
Hermione shrugged. "I tried to help earlier, but Ronald here, called it cheating."
"It was cheating!" Ron said firmly.
"Can we please get back to the plan?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.
Harry shrugged. "I dun really know either. It's too bad no one else has done anything embarrassing lately."
"Whaddya mean?" Ron asked confused.
"Well once they have something else to gossip about, we'll be old news."
"Thanks right!" Hermione cut in excitedly. "Harry you're a genius!"
"He is?"
"I am?"
"Of course! All we have to do is come up with some gossip about someone else and then everyone will be so concerned with them that they'll forget all about us. It's perfect!" Hermione said brightly.
"Uh, Hermione, I don't think that such a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Because people aren't going to easily forget about the love-life of the Boy-Who-Lived. And besides, this isn't just gossip of the school. Anyone who read that article knows about it." Harry said rationally.
Hermione deflated at that. "You're right." she said quietly. "I just really want this to be done with. It's getting ridiculous."
The boys nodded their agreement.
"We know `Mione, we know." Ron told her sympathetically.
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"I hate Lavender." Hermione exclaimed in morning greeting.
"What'd she do now?" Ron asked fearfully.
"She told me last night that she was the one that told that reporter her theory. She was the `anonymous source'!"
"Well I thought that was pretty obvious." Ginny piped up.
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest triumphantly. "So this proves that this really is all her fault."
Ginny rolled her eyes.
Ron gave Hermione a look he seemed to reserve just for her that clearly said, "You're insane, bloody insane, woman."
Harry just shrugged.
Hermione studiously ignored them. "So have you guys thought up a plan yet?"
"A plan? What plan?" Ginny asked in confusion.
"We're trying to come up with a plan to get people to move on from the article and stop with all the rumors and everything." Harry explained.
"Oh." Ginny said. "Well that's going to be harder than you think."
"Yeah, we know." Ron said absently with a yawn. Then suddenly he brightened and one could almost see the light bulb going off in his head.
"Did you think of something?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Maybe." he started. Ron signaled for Harry to cover Ginny's ears before he continued.
Harry did so; which set Ginny off faster than a Filibuster Firework. "I am NOT a child anymore, Harry Potter! And you'd do best to stop thinking of me as one!" she yelled angrily.
She brought her hand up and for one wild moment Harry thought she was going to slap him, but she did something even more surprising. She placed her hands on either side of his face, pulled his head down towards her, and kissed him. Harry was stunned, and before he could even think to react, her lips were gone and she was stalking out through the portrait hole.
Harry hadn't even been able to begin processing what had just happened when Dean Thomas rounded on him.
"Potter! What the hell was that?" Dean bellowed from the last stair leading to the dormitories. He was in front of Harry in a second; glaring at him so fiercely it was lucky looks couldn't kill. "What the hell do you think you're doing kissing Ginny?" he demanded.
Harry looked at him in shock. He'd never been faced with an angry Dean before; he was normally so calm and collected. "I…"
"You what, Potter?" Dean growled. He looked ready to continue when Hermione came to Harry's rescue.
"Dean, it's not what you think. She kissed him, and it was only because she was angry." Hermione told him, stepping between them.
Dean wasn't convinced. "That sounds like an awfully convenient excuse there." he said still glaring at Harry over Hermione's head.
"Well it's the truth, she was angry because she thought he was treating her like a child. I'm sure if you go look for her she'll tell you the whole story." Hermione said, gently hinting that he would be spending better time going after Ginny than standing here arguing with Harry.
Dean glanced at Hermione then and the look he gave her was as if he'd just seen her for the first time. He stared at her for a moment, before reaching towards her and cupping her face gently in his hands, he leaned down slightly and very softly he pressed his lips to hers. Hermione's eyes widened and she "eeped" in surprise and Dean took that as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, invading her mouth and kissing her thoroughly. One of his hands traveled into her hair, while the other traveled to her waist, pulling her closer. Hermione was stiff at first but it didn't take her long to succumb to the kiss, closing her eyes and bringing her arms up to wrap around his neck. The kiss lasted a little while longer, before they both broke apart in need of air.
They pulled away from each other after a final chaste kiss on the lips. Dean then looked up at Harry and smiled. "Now we're even." he said simply, before turning and leaving through the portrait hole.
Harry glared at Dean as he watched him leave, the unexplainable urge to hurt him coursing through Harry's veins.
There was a long silence.
"Well, er, that was…unexpected." Harry said awkwardly, unable to get the picture of Dean and Hermione kissing out of his head. Followed by the fond image of Harry proceeding to punch Dean in the nose.
"Wow." Hermione breathed.
Now Harry's mental image was also including a nice kick to the stomach as well.
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione blinked and shook her head to clear it. "Sorry. What?"
Ron gave her his infamous "you're-so-bloody-insane, why-do-I-hang-out-with-you-so-much" look. "You're acting like a girl again." he whined.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at that. "Well if you haven't noticed already, Ronald, I am a girl." she said coldly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know you're a girl. But you don't act like one." Ron responded.
Hermione opened her mouth to retort but Harry beat her to it. "Come on, guys, we've got to get to breakfast." he said quickly and then taking Hermione by the arm, and Ron by the other, and he pushed both of his friends out the portrait hole while they continued to bicker between themselves.
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After stopping three different times from outbursts from both Ron and Hermione on their way to the Great Hall, they finally made it to breakfast in time for the morning mail post.
As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, three owls swooped down and simultaneously dropped three different red letters into each of the trio's cereal.
They all stared at the letters, wide-eyed, for a moment.
Ron's letter started to smoke first, before it burst into flames and the very angry voice of Molly Weasley filled the Great Hall.
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY! What in Merlin's name would posses you to-"
Mrs. Weasley was cut off, however, when Hermione's letter burst into flames as well and another, mousy, high-pitched voice joined in.
"HERMIONE GRANGER! As President of and on behalf of the entire Official Harry Potter Fan Club, I have just one thing to say to you, you horrible little-"
Harry's letter was the last to burst into flame and soon Viktor Krum's gruff, heavily-accented, voice entered the fray.
"HARRY POTTER! Vhat do vou haft to say for yourself? You lying little [edited for younger viewers]! You do NOT treat a vomen like that! You-"
All three voices were now speaking at once and it was getting difficult to discern one from the other. If they all didn't have such different voices it would have been a near impossible task.
"-My baby boy finally gets his first girlfriend and he doesn't even have the decency to tell his mother! And now look what's happened-"
"When will you ever learn, Miss Granger, that you cannot toy with the heartstrings of every male you meet!"
"Her-my-own-ninny is a vonderful girl and you haft no right to hide her avay for your own personal enjoyment and then toss her aside vhenever you think somevone is looking-"
"I understand she's your friend Ron, but she's not exactly girlfriend material, now is she? You would have known that if-"
"Love potions most likely-"
"You selfish little-"
"You deserve what you got, after all that ogling you did this summer of that girl down the road, why I wouldn't be surprised if-"
"You'll get what's coming to you, Hermione Granger-"
"You best vatch your step, Potter-"
"You watch yourself, Ronald! And-"
"Keep away from Harry Potter-"
"Stay avay from Her-my-own-ninny-"
"-Or you'll regret it!"
Silence filled the Great Hall as the ending words from the letters still rung in the air. Everyone was staring at the trio.
Hermione was the first to finally speak. "Lavender?"
Lavender's head snapped up and she looked at Hermione with no small amount of fear on her pretty face. "Yes?" She squeaked.
"Run."
A/N: Okay I have a few comments on the kisses in this chapter. First, the Harry/Ginny kiss was not a big deal, it barely lasted a few seconds and Harry did not, I repeat, did not kiss her back. Second, the Dean/Hermione kiss was a bit more, but I personally think that it would take a lot for Cannon Harry to realize his feelings, and to watch some other guy with His Hermione, well I think that would be enough to wake up about any guy, so yeah. There is a reason for both of them, and I'm pretty sure that Harry and Hermione won't be kissing anyone else but each other from here on out.
So tell me what you think!! =)
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