Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, just the plot.
A/N: Well I was going to wait a bit to post this chapter, but I just finished it and I can't wait, so you guys got lucky. I think this chapter will also make up for the kisses in the last chapter, hopefully. =)
Chapter 5
And Lavender ran all right. She got up from the table and was gone through the doors of the Great Hall before anyone else had time to understand what was going on.
And Hermione was gone right after her.
For a moment everyone stayed where they were in stunned silence.
Then Ginny turned to Harry and Ron. "You guys do know that if you let Hermione find her and hurt her, then there's no possible way that Hermione'll get to be Head Girl next year, right?"
Ron shrugged. "So. Lavender deserves whatever Hermione's got to dish out."
"Maybe so." Ginny agreed. "But you both know Hermione'll never forgive herself if that ends up being the one thing that keeps her from being Head Girl. She's wanted to be Head Girl ever since she knew what it was. Are you guys really going to let her throw that all away over Lavender?" Her eyes bore into them as she waited for their response.
"I hadn't thought of that." Harry said uncertainly.
"Then perhaps you guys should go stop her." Ginny told him impatiently.
Harry nodded and stood. He looked over at Ron. "You coming?"
Ron stopped mid-bite and looked at Harry in annoyance. "But I'm not done eating." he whined.
Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed Ron by the back of the neck, yanking him from his seat and dragging him through the doors. Harry let Ron go once they were in the entrance hall. "You go right, I'll go left." he ordered.
"Fine." Ron said huffily before turning and going down the corridor on the right. All the way muttering about how he never got to eat nearly as much since he started hanging around those two.
Harry suppressed the urge to grin, before turning to the corridor on the left and hurrying down it. About five minutes later, Harry heard a scream off to the right. He quickly followed it and soon found Lavender pressed up against a wall in the corner, and Hermione advancing upon her, holding her wand out steadily.
"Hermione no!" Harry yelled at her, still hurrying towards them.
Hermione ignored him and opened her mouth to speak.
Harry didn't know what to do so he simply reacted on instinct and did the first thing he could think of.
He tackled her.
Hermione's wand flew out of her hand as they both fell to the floor. They rolled a few times, both struggling for dominance. Finally Harry ended up on top, his knees on the floor on either side of her waist, his hands harshly gripping her wrists and holding them against the floor above her head.
Lavender took that as her opportunity and quickly ran out of sight.
Hermione was furious. "Harry! What do you think you're doing?" She exclaimed; breathless, angry, and looking completely confused.
"Keeping you from doing something stupid." Harry countered, just as breathless. Who'd have thought she was so strong? He guessed lifting all those books must've had something to do with it.
"What are you talking about? You know very well this entire thing is her fault! What are thinking of accomplishing by not letting me get revenge? We all need some as far as I'm concerned and at this point I'm ready to give up on thinking of a plan and just beat the hell out of her instead. What's so wrong with that?" Hermione's eyes were still blazing with anger and her cheeks were flushed as she continued to struggle out of Harry's grasp.
Harry was finding their position entirely too erotic for comfort and trying with difficulty to pay attention to what she was saying. Unfortunately he found himself staring at her very kissable lips instead.
Hermione seemed to notice his lack of attention and stilled. "Harry, are you paying any attention at all?" she questioned.
Harry snapped back to life and shook his head, before nodding.
Hermione gave him a confused look.
"You can't beat up Lavender, because then there's no possible way Dumbledore can make you Head Girl next year, no matter how much you deserve it. I had to stop you so you wouldn't ruin your chances of becoming Head Girl over Lavender." Harry said, confidently reiterating what Ginny had said at the Gryffindor table.
Hermione stared at him.
"What?" Harry asked, starting to rethink his earlier confidence.
"Oh Harry." She breathed, wriggling her hands from his grasp. He let her. Hermione threw hers arms around him and pulled him close, so that he was lying practically flat on top of her. "That's so sweet of you. I'll be honest, I wasn't thinking anything about being Head Girl next year; I was just so mad that I wasn't thinking at all. Thank you, Harry." She rambled into his ear, her hot breath tickling the hairs on the back of his neck.
Far too soon, as far as Harry was concerned, she let go and stared up at him with a wide smile.
They stayed like that for a few moments before Hermione spoke again.
"Um…Harry? Could you, um…get off of me now?"
Harry blushed crimson and quickly moved off of her and onto his feet again. His muscles slightly cramped from being in the same position for so long. He held out a hand and helped Hermione to her feet as well. They started off towards the Gryffindor tower, walking in silence.
Harry was having trouble controlling his thoughts. He was amazed how she managed to affect him like this.
After a while Harry spoke. "Um, Hermione? Can I ask you a question?"
Hermione glanced at him. "Of course, Harry."
Harry nodded. Of course, they were friends, there's nothing wrong with one friend asking another friend a harmless question.
"Earlier today, that whole thing with Dean. Why did you-why did you react to him like that?"
Hermione blushed and looked away.
Harry continued. "Do you-do you like him?"
"No." Hermione answered immediately, turning back to look at him. "No, Harry. I don't like Dean. Well, not like that anyway. I just…" she trailed off, trying to find the right words.
"It's just that, well, it's not everyday that a girl gets kissed, you know? And contrary to Ron's beliefs, I am a girl, and every girl in school knows how much of a legend Dean is. Everyone knows how…skilled he's supposed to be in…in those types of things. So why not, right?"
Harry blinked in surprise. Dean? Skilled? Since when? He didn't think he should interrupt though because Hermione didn't seem quite done talking yet.
"I dunno, I just wanted…wanted to show I wasn't completely opposed to those types of things like most people think I am. Or, well, they did, until that stupid article came out anyway." She bit her lip and looked straight ahead.
Harry nodded; he thought he understood most of what she'd said. Most people didn't think of her like that unless there was some article out there proclaiming her to be some type of whore. It occurred to him that he should probably tell her he understood, so she wouldn't feel so uncomfortable.
But before he could open his mouth to speak, she beat him to it.
"Why-why do you ask, Harry?" she asked him quietly.
"I…" Harry paused. Why had he asked? It's not like he should care who Hermione likes and doesn't like. But since he's her friend and all, he should know these things and look out for her. He didn't care if she liked Dean or not, he just thought there were better guys out there for her. Yeah, that was it. "I was just curious." He answered finally.
Hermione nodded, but didn't say anything.
An awkward silence fell over them as they continued to walk back to the common room.
"So…" Harry started, anxious to break the silence. "Dean's a legend is he?"
Hermione grinned. "Why else do you think Ginny keeps him around? They've been off and on for almost a year now. She says his talents are the only reasons she keeps coming back."
Harry shook his head. "I don't think I needed to know that."
Hermione laughed. "Well you asked. What'd you think of Ginny kissing you earlier anyway?" she questioned.
"If you could call that a kiss." Harry shrugged. "I dunno. She's like the little sister I never had. It was weird."
Hermione laughed again. "I think she knows that deep down, that you don't think of her like that. But she's been kind of emotional lately, so I'm not all that surprised that she did that."
Harry glanced at her. "Well that makes one of us. I was certainly shocked. Pig snout." He added as they reached the portrait of the fat lady.
Hermione smiled. "Yeah, well you never were that great at interpreting people's emotions, especially girls." she told him cheekily.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks."
"No problem, Harry." she replied with a grin.
They entered through portrait hole and immediately went to the couch in front of the fire. Ron was there waiting for them.
"You found her I see."
"If that's what you call it." Hermione laughed.
Ron raised an eyebrow. "That sounded dirty, Hermione."
Harry blushed.
"Well if you'd ever get your mind out of the gutter, it wouldn't have." she countered.
Ron rolled his eyes at her. "Whatever. So what'd you do to Lavender?"
Hermione sighed. "Nothing, Harry didn't give me a chance to. But I guess it is for the best. Harry was right, there's no way Dumbledore could've made me Head Girl next year if I go around fighting people in the halls this year." she said reasonably.
"Well then," Ron replied with a grin. "I guess this means you guys are ready to hear my plan."
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Ron's plan was good in theory, but Hermione said they needed to smooth out some details, and that they needed some outside help.
"Outside help? Who's gonna wanna help us? Everyone's so caught up in that article, nobody believes a word we say as it is, so nobody's going to want to help us with this." Ron said somewhat angrily.
"Neville believes us, he told me so yesterday. And we know Ginny believes us, although I doubt she wants to be around you right now, Harry-"
"Yeah, about that, Harry. If you ever touch my little sister again I'm going to have no choice but to kick your arse." Ron told him with a hard look.
"I didn't touch her!" Harry exclaimed in defense. "I don't even think of her like that!"
"And just what is so wrong with my little sister?" Ron demanded.
Harry looked at him in amazement. "Nothing, there's nothing wrong with her; I just don't like her like that."
"Ron," Hermione cut in. "It's really no business of yours who Harry likes and doesn't like and why, and you saw everything earlier, he didn't touch her. If you're so worried about people touching your little sister then it's Dean and Michel you need to be yelling at, not Harry."
Ron opened his mouth to respond but Hermione continued on.
"I did want to start a fight about this, that's the last thing we need. I was just mentioning that she is one of the people that believe us. It doesn't matter anyway, she wasn't the outside help I was thinking of; Lavender would suspect her too easily. No, I'm talking about someone that people wouldn't expect, especially Lavender. Is Seamus around?"
"Seamus?" Harry asked. "He wouldn't help us, he's crazy about Lavender, and aren't they still dating?"
Hermione smiled. "They're not technically together again yet, although she wants to be. However, I think I could convince him to help us."
"How's that?" Ron asked.
"Just trust me. I think he might change his mind about a few things when he hears what I have to say. Can you guys get him alone so we can talk to him?"
"He went upstairs earlier before you guys got back, I can go check and see if he's still there." Ron offered.
"Great, thanks Ron."
Ron nodded and made his way up the stairs to the boys dormitory.
Harry turned to Hermione. "Exactly what do you have to say that's going to change his mind?" he asked her suspiciously.
Hermione shrugged. "I've shared a room with Lavender and Parvati for the past six years, I hear things."
"Hermione! Are you using dirt on people to get what you want?" Harry asked in surprise.
Hermione glanced at his expression and suddenly looked uncertain. "Do you think it's too much? I know she said all those horrible things about us and everything and I want to get her back, but I don't really want to sink to her level, but I'm just so tired of being thought of as some type of whore, and having everyone I've met in the wizarding world look at me differently. That article in fourth year really hurt when Mrs. Weasley thought it was true, and now she thinks this one is as well, and what about everyone else we've met and known, I mean, I just don't like it one bit that one person's stupid idea can change people's image of me so quickly. And I know it's bad to use this information, kind of Slytherin of me actually, but I can't just sit back and let people keep on doing this all the time. I mean Rita Skeeter learned her lesson, and if I could do that to her, then maybe I could do that for Lavender and this new reporter and then people would figure it out and stop writing articles about us like that. It's got to be getting old by now anyway, right?"
Harry wasn't sure which he was more surprised by: Hermione's sudden uncertainty, her asking him for advice, or the fact that she said all of that in just one breath.
"Um…" She was looking at him with such hopeful eyes that he knew he had to say something nice and encouraging and that would make her feel better, but for the life of him, he didn't know what. "It's not too much, Hermione. You're tired of people talking bad about you; no one can blame you for that. And don't worry about what Mrs. Weasley thinks; she doesn't know you like I do. You did a great job of showing Rita Skeeter not to mess with you, and Lavender deserves to learn the same, as far as I'm concerned we've been too easy on her. Whatever you have to tell Seamus, I'm sure it's something he needs to hear anyway. It's okay, Hermione, you're not a bad person for doing this, stop worrying so much about it." He gave her hand a small squeeze in what he was hoping would be a comforting gesture.
"Oh Harry." For a second he thought she was going to hug him again, but she restrained herself, and instead she squeezed his hand back and entwined her finger with his. "You seem to be getting better at this handling emotions thing, that's the second time today you've known just what to say to me." She grinned. "Thank you." She then leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. The light pressure of her lips was gone as quickly as it came however as Ron entered the room.
"Seamus is in there, but so is Neville." Ron told them as he sat back down on the couch.
"That's alright, he can hear if he wants to. But we have to make sure no one sees me going up there." Hermione replied as she gently released Harry's hand.
"Got that covered." Ron said with a grin as he pulled out Harry's invisibility cloak.
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Seamus gave Harry and Ron a nod of acknowledgement as they entered the boys' dormitory and closed the door behind them. Ron went to his bed and sat down, running a hand through his hair. Harry went to his own bed and sat as well. Hermione was the first to speak as she handed the cloak to Harry, who quickly stowed it in his trunk before the other boys could see what it was. She was already sitting on Harry's bed, cross-legged when she spoke.
"Seamus, we need to talk."
Seamus started and Neville almost fell off his bed in shock.
"How'd she get in here?" Seamus asked sharply.
"Girls aren't supposed to be in the boys rooms." Neville added, looking at Hermione with wide eyes.
Hermione waved them both off. "That's not important-"
"But you're a prefect." Neville insisted.
Hermione sighed and turned to him. "Does it really bother you that much?"
Neville thought for a second. "No. But one of us could have been changing or something."
"But you weren't."
"But we could have been."
Hermione thought for a moment. "I'm sorry?"
Neville nodded, seeming satisfied. "That's okay, Hermione."
"Good." She turned back to Seamus then. "We need to talk."
Seamus regarded her for a second, and then looked at Harry and Ron, who were watching him as well. "Please don't tell me you want me to join." He said at last.
"Don't make me hex you, Finnigan." She replied harshly.
Seamus nodded. "Just making sure. So what's this about?"
Hermione took a small breath. "It's about Lavender."
"What about her?"
"I want you to help us get her back."
Seamus blinked. "You want me to help you guys exact revenge on my girlfriend?" he asked her incredulously.
"I knew he wouldn't go for it." Ron muttered from his bed.
Hermione wasn't as easily deterred. "Oh, I wasn't aware you two were back together." She said calmly.
Seamus blushed a bit. "Well, not technically, but we might as well be."
"I see. Perhaps you should let her in on that fact."
Seamus' head snapped up. "What do you mean?"
Hermione shrugged. "You remember when you two broke up? How angry she was with you for cheating on her? And how she made you feel terrible for it all? Well, I just thought you might like to know that she's not quite so innocent herself." Hermione uncrossed her legs and turned and placed her feet on the floor. "But, of course, you're right. She is practically your girlfriend and you should stick up for her. I mean, what do I know? I only live in the same dorm as her, I only hear all of her and Parvati's late night talks while they paint their nails, I only know when she comes back in at night. You're right, it was silly to try and talk to you." She stood then and began to head for the door.
Seamus' voice stopped her. "Alright, what do you have to say?"
Hermione smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."
She sat back on Harry's bed and began to speak. It turned out that Lavender had been cheating on Seamus as well, and was ecstatic when he got caught and she didn't and she used that to her advantage. Also the guy she was cheating with was none other than Theodore Nott, a Slytherin. She was still seeing him occasionally, but not nearly as much as before. Seamus was furious at this turn of events and instantly agreed to help them.
Hermione sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned back against Harry, who was currently sitting behind her. "Well, time to begin faze one."
A/N: Alright, please REVIEW and let me know what you guys think!! Also I hope you all enjoyed the H/Hr moments in here. =)
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